Welcome on board the Jenivere!
Before we begin, I'll give everyone the chance to make any last-minute changes to their characters. It is very important that you work out your equipment, because you'll only have with you what is on your sheet. I'm not a stickler for weight and carrying capacity, but do try to keep your character roughly in the weight range for what he can carry. You have maximum gold and if you have any crafting skills or feats, you may use them to make/craft any of your starting gear.
I'll open up the in-game thread later today. What I can tell you now is that your characters will be onboard the Jenivere, a Sargavan merchant vessel. She's currently on her way back to the city of Eleder, the capital city of Sargava, having started her return journey all the way up north in Magnimar. Many ports have passed by since and those who boarded up north are longing for the day that they can rest their head on a pillow once more without feeling their whole world sway from one side to the other. You're right now approaching Sargava, having passed by the Shackles and the Sodden Lands without running into too much trouble.
The in-game thread will tell you who else is onboards (PCs and NPCs), what exactly is going on and all that and more. Let's get this show on the road!
It's showtime! ^^ My equipment should be good.
Thanks for the pick! I'll re-work equipment later today: I originally built the character for a different Serpent's Skull game with average starting wealth.
Reporting for duty :-)
I will do a bit of tweaking regarding equipment, and get back to you :-)
Alright, equipment has been updated :-)
Equipment checked, ready to go.
Equipment updated. I'm ready to roll!
Reporting in. Thanks for picking me!
Just one more player to go... :D *chomping at the bit*
Greetings strangers, from a stranger! I am happy to share this voyage with all of you, and I am most grateful for being chosen!
EDIT: I have my equipment all set. I'll see if I can calculate the weight values. Otherwise, I am ready to embark! (^_^)
Re-read GM's post above. Since we're going intuitive on carrying capacity, I am pretty sure that my character should be able to haul all of her stuff just fine. Just to be sure, she has a master-work back-pack to increase her carrying capacity.
Got food stuffs too. Still, we might need to live off the land for a couple of days. Does anyone have the survival skill? I might switch linguistics or something else for that, as cool as speaking draconic is, it would probably be more important for us to be able to find drinkable water and edible stuffs in the jungle!
Yeeees, that seems very useful. ^^; I'll translate all the Draconic you'd like for you until you can pick it up.
Sounds good! I shall learn the dragon tongue from you, my friend, and train for surviving the jungle in the mean time! (^_^)
EDIT: Done! I swapped linguistics for survival. While as a menhir savant, I do not have nature sense, still, a trained + 7 is better than an untrained + 3. ;b
Survival does make sense for Desiona. While she has not exactly been alone out in the wilderness for much of her life, she has spent much of her life wandering Varisia with her caravan, and that takes some survival as much of the West is wilderness!
And I learned polyglot by hanging out with sailors in port cities, rather than by formal linguistics training. ~_^
With that detail in place, I am fully ready to embark!
Another Varisian! Excellent!
Hey Viorec, we played together in a short-lived Carrion Crown game. Nice to see you again!
Just as an FYI, Chimalsi's primary skills are Diplomacy (not very good at it), Perception (good at it), and Survival (good at it) :-)
"Salutări, colegi voiajor!"
So you've all been onboard the Jenivere for varying amounts of time:
-Varisia, over three months.
-Cheliax, close to three months.
-Mediogalti islands, almost two months.
-The Shackles, a month.
-Bloodcove and Senghor, a week or two.
This means that Desiona (argh, sorry for writing Desionara earlier on!) and Viorec have seen a whole lot of each other by now. Davy, John and Iomestria join the two as the Jenivere stops at various Chelish ports. It is only during the last part of the journey that Chimalsi boards the ship.
I'll leave it up to you to determine your (current) relationship(s), but feel free to post here about it or PM each other. When in doubt, just play and develop a bond during the course of the adventure. Trust me when I say that there will be plenty of time for bonding *winks*
If there are any further questions, do ask. I'll explain combat later - not that I run it all that differently than most DMs here :)
Oy! Viorec! We are as family now, no?
And mister Arie, sir, please do not worry about the mistake with the name. It is a very Varisian name, and can be difficult to pronounce! (~_^)
Re: Establishing relationships...
Viorec stowed away. I'm not sure how that's going to affect relationships with other passengers.
Arie-- What is Viorec's perception of how the crew would react if he's discovered? That will inform how secretive he would have been during the voyage. If he thinks they'll throw him overboard or in the brig, he'll always hide. If he thinks he'll just be forced to join the crew, he might try to befriend someone. If he thinks that they'll only demand that he pay for a ticket, then he just might do that.
If he does have to hide for the voyage, was envisioning that he would have spent most of the trip using Stealth to avoid the crew. If possible, he would have built himself a hidden "cabin" somewhere in the cargo hold, but he also would have been sneaking around topside, stealing food, and possibly even sneaking ashore a couple if times when the ship put into port.
If he thinks it's safe to do so, he will approach other passengers, in secret if need be
You may have met Iomestria during her running around. (See first post.) ^^ She'd probably keep your secret.
Same for Desiona once on board. She has wandered about Varisia for a time- another place we may have crossed paths!- Even so, this is her first voyage by ship. She is therefore being exceedingly cautious about any spirit or other entity that may haunt the ship, and shall be wandering about the decks, searching thoroughly.
With her crazy perception, it is a good chance she'll discover Viorec; however, Desiona would never do anything to harm a fellow Varisian! (^_^) She'll keep your secret.
She'd probably conspire with Viorec and possibly Iomestria to pass Viorec off as another passenger boarding at a later port.
I imagine Viorec used his magic mouth to convince the second mate Jamesby that he truly did pay for his passage to Eleder. The man has the insight of a fruit fly and the memory of a goldfish. He did run into some trouble with Alton, because Jamesby had troubles recalling whether or not you did pay him, but in the end it all worked out.
If you rather he stayed hidden, that's fine with me!
Oy! A man with such an addled mind is likely plagued by dangerous animal spirits! A vengeful carp ghost may very well be following our ship. Desiona shall be doubly vigilant in watching out for spiritual influence!
Hidden or not, Viorec, I like the idea of us having met once or twice prior to the voyage, and having an "it's you!" moment whenever we first encounter each other aboard the Jenivere!
St. John (it's pronounced sin-gin, for those who may not know, don't ask me, it's an English thing) spends a lot of his spare time painting on the ship, accepting just enough money to restock his paints in the next port. His cabin has a few of the port's you've been in and one of the ship.
He boarded in the last Chelish port. If he found someone hiding on board he would turn them into the captain.
Thanks, Arie.
I'm going to say that Viorec successfully Bluffed his way into a regular berth by convincing Jamesby that he is indeed a paying passenger-- and that payment was supposed to have been handled by his employer, "Mr. Igersen, of the Magnimar Merchants' Guild." He's going to try to convince people that he's a scout for a Magnimaran merchant who's looking for possible new business dealings in Sargava. (Which is sort of true...) Having lived at Magnimar's Dockway district for most of his life, he has more than a passing familiarity with merchants and trading ships. Well, at least enough familiarity to spin a convincing lie.
Desiona: I like that! Let's say we've met a few times in or around the Bazaar of Sails in Magnimar-- perhaps Viorec steered you away from a non-Sczarni conman who had no qualms against ripping off a Varisian. At the same time, I'm sure that you'd know a Sczarni when you see one...
That's perfect Viorec! My hero, you saved me from that lying, thieving gorgio dog! I shall always recognize a kinsman likewise blessed by the Song of the Spheres. (^_^)
I swear, I sense spirits, and have exposed hiding ghosts and fey among us, but sometimes it is humanity that is most deceitful. That is why it is good to be Varisian.
The Bazaar of Sails is a likely place for us to have crossed paths. My family usually travels the Lost Coast and Cinder Road, stopping at Magnimar and Riddleport at each end of the journey. We love Magnimar. It's a good place to sell, and we appreciate the protection of the sczarni who look out for fellow Varisians!
I also enjoyed looking at the monuments there. There is always a faint presence around them that is very benevolent, kind and soothing...
While I'd think you were entirely persuasive enough on your own to gain passage on the ship, my recognition of you as a friend, and a very trustworthy man may have helped, just a little bit. (~_^)
While I'd think you were entirely persuasive enough on your own to gain passage on the ship, my recognition of you as a friend, and a very trustworthy man may have helped, just a little bit. (~_^)
Of that there is no doubt!
As it says in the Eight Scrolls, "We are all wanderers. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls full of dreams."
(BTW everyone-- Gameplay thread is up!)
Well said my friend! (^_^)
And now, I do believe we have only one more to join us at the table, before we embark on the final leg of the voyage!
Hey-- I always ask this for every PbP I join...
Where are all the players physically located in the real world?
I'm in central New York State, USA, south of Syracuse. (Eastern Time, UTC-4)
The Netherlands (CET)
Same as the person above me. ;)
I'm on the West Coast of the US, PST! (^_^)
Charlotte, North Carolina. Eastern Time.
Iomestria, we meet again in another life :)
Indeed! I hope this one goes better than the last. ^^
São Paulo, Brazil / GMT -3.
I really like the technique of adding a music link for long descriptive passages. It really adds to the atmosphere of the game! (^_^)
I say we go one step further. We should have a musical theme for each of our characters, and if the GM is so inclined, maybe even a good minor key for the bad guys! ;b
To get things started, here is Desiona's theme!
(Borrowed from the wonderful show, Ghost Hunt, one of the very very good animes! (~_^)
That is some splendid music! And each theme matches each character so well!
With these and what the GM shall hopefully continue posting, (>_>) (<_<) and hopefully two more character themes (^_^), we'll have a complete soundtrack for the adventure. (^_^)
What we have so far:
LOLZ! ;b
I'm not a musically inclined as the rest of you but it was a toss up between two I could find. Here's St. John's Theme. (if anyone is interested, here's the other .)
Both are excellent themes for an artsitic military man such as yourself. (^_^)
I like the spirit of the Scottish bag pipes, but Bridge on the River Kwai is also a classic, and you've got the right setting there for sure!
While I understand if life get's in the way, I do hope you'll join us for dinner. (~_^)
That's what tipped me over to Col. Bogey's March (Kwai). The bag pipe and drums just has that British spirit to it as well. Kinda what I was going for with this character.
I'll be gone tonight, but tomorrow I'll post a big update. Be sure to have your equipment and all sorted out by then! Also, when PCs talk to NPCs regularly about certain topics it will make related knowledge checks easier or I'll outright give you the info. Example: you currently have a pretty good overview of the religious situation in Eleder. You can simply poke me to give you info you might want or need.
Do note that sometimes NPCs can lie or not have their facts straight *winks*
+ 1 to this! Although there may be more we could ask the captain, about the jungle, who's who in Eleder, and so on, we could just as well go on role-playing this scene for weeks before getting started.
I am ready for the adventure to begin!
I got an idea on how to deal with that. I can work any knowledge checks into smart flash-backs with an NPC like Kovack telling you about this or that :)
I'm typing up le big post as we speak.
Yay! ^^