Aubrey's Rise of the Runelords campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Aubrey the Malformed

I'll tally up the treasure later tonight. Did Hudak take the STR +4 belt and toss his STR +2 belt into the pot?

Yup.

Ach! Tis good ta be seein' ye all again. Looks like ye be be findin' a wee lil' replacement fer ol' Dravite eh? If'n me friends be liken' ye then I 'ave no problem addin' ya to da list o' allies. Oof. Still a bit achy. I better be healin' oop a bit more!
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 51d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 2 charges from my CLW wand.

"Hey! That wand fixed your face! I can look at you now and not puke!"

Loot distribution:

"Aye...and now our friend Dravite is back, so your understatement is gonna get even more...undererstatier....

heh heh...don't be afraid; he doesn't bite."

"...Much."

Thanks Aubrey, that was a fun battle.

“Well met again Dravite Schorl,” calls Elisile gaily, clearly in a good mood after killing ogres – a task she was well trained for on the borders of the Meriani Forest. “How does it happen that you have found us again?”

After surveying the fort and seeing the depravity of the ogres, her mood darkens. She does what she can to cleanse some of the mess they have left, and treat what remains of non-ogre bodies with some respect.

Veth can take first dibs at the acid arrow wand, if he doesn’t want it I’ll take it. Everyone gets a potion of CMW except one of us who gets the CSW – maybe Camlo, as he keeps getting himself into precarious positions? Else Hudak, who probably takes the most damage.

heck yeah! that was the stuff!!!

Give it to Camlo; I didn't take any damage this fight...

Quick update - I forgot to include the giant longbows in the 'sell' categories. Thus, everybody receives 235 gold 7 silver and 1 copper in addition to the sum under the spoiler.

There was some awesone stuff in that fight. I think the ogres were tough enough to be scary, but weak enough to be single-attack heroic kills. Hudak's three-ogre kill was a classic. Fighters suck in PFRPG, clearly.

Everyone gets a potion of CMW except one of us who gets the CSW – maybe Camlo, as he keeps getting himself into precarious positions? Else Hudak, who probably takes the most damage.[/ooc]

As a tactical suggestion, Camlo should probably stick like glue to Alwyn or Hudak in the initial set-up. He didn't really get very many flanking opportunities in this fight and without them his damage output is low. He really spent most of the fight trying to get back from his position at the front while surrounded by hostile ogres.

Elisile Starbrow wrote:

Everyone gets a potion of CMW except one of us who gets the CSW – maybe Camlo, as he keeps getting himself into precarious positions? Else Hudak, who probably takes the most damage.[/ooc]

As a tactical suggestion, Camlo should probably stick like glue to Alwyn or Hudak in the initial set-up. He didn't really get very many flanking opportunities in this fight and without them his damage output is low. He really spent most of the fight trying to get back from his position at the front while surrounded by hostile ogres.

That, is a very good point. The trouble with trying to flank, is that it often leaves you out on a limb. I need more practice I think... :)

Oh, and Camlo will gladly accept the potion of CSW!

Vethran seems relieved when the remainder of the keep appears clear. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd prematurely exhausted my arcane repertoire. I'm pleased to know that I hadn't."

Hmm... the wand of acid arrow would give me something to do at long ranges besides fireball but I'm already fairly laden with wands as it is. I'll stick with my wand of magic missiles and let Elisile have the acid arrow if she wants.

Anything else you want to do or just wanting to head back to town?

I think we could head back.

Yeah. Once the bodies have been taken care of (one way or another) we should go back to town.

While the others go to collect the horses from where they have been hobbled and concealed, Alwyn, Hudak and Dravite undertake their grisly task: to show the violated corpses of the rangers some of the dignity of which they were deprived in their dying; and disposing of the stinking carcasses of the ogres.

Outside the keep, fallen rock lies at the base of the cliff and theey can gather enough stones to build a cairn. Even though they do not know the names of the warriors they bury, and some are barely recognisable anymore as men, they find the bodies scattered throughout Fort Rannick and place them under the stones with reverence. Then, while the horses protest at the stench, they use their mounts to drag the corpses of the ogres out of the fort. But the weather is not with them, as the rain continues to pour unremittingly, making a pyre impossible. So they leave the bodies to rot at the edge of the forest.

It takes some hours to collect and dispose fittingly of the dead, but eventually the party are ready to ride back to Turtleback Ferry. They leave the shattered fortress behind them, their return witnessed only by a host of severed ogre heads, arranged at the base of the wall of the fortress. Their mute gaze warns off others who might have designs upon Fort Rannick, or who might draw the ire of this particular band of heroes.

A very small, very depressed, and very, very wet Camlo stands at the edge of the clearing as the others are about to set off.

"Ah, errmmm, Thank you all. When I saw those ogres attacking the fort, I thought my last had come. When I was alone, in the dark. Hiding in a barrel, waiting for the brutes to find me, I instead found you. You truly have saved my life, and I am eternally grateful.
My life till now has been one bad decision after another, and I would like to change that. Would it perhaps be possible to join you? Or at least ah, share a horse back to the town?"

Once everyone is reasonably sure the last of the ogres is put down, Illes slumps down to rest in the least vile room he can find. When the others are so intent on dragging around bodies in the middle of a thunderstorm he waves them off,  "Can't a guy take a minute to breathe here?  Relax!  They'll be there when the storm passes."  The Varisian settles in and heals the last of his injury then says a quick prayer to Desna for helping them to pull through in the end.  While slowly chewing on a days old roll that was nearly shoe leather by now he thought about how much his life had changed in the last months, wondered where Grandma Alistrina was by now, how his sister Eliska was doing somewhere out there on the road, and with a sigh fondly remembered sneaking into Mariska's  wagon those cold winter afternoons in the weeks before he left the caravan with Vethran. 

He shook his head and smiled at the memories, but the smile faded away into the grim reality. Illes got up with a grunt and found the fort's shrine then set to work cleaning and restoring it as best as he could. Then pulling a sheet of parchment and his best quill out he wrote in swooping decorative script, "This shrine is rededicated in the memory and honor of those rangers who died here defending it."
He examined his work and was satisfied so he placed it in the center of the altar and carefully lit it on fire. He watched it burn slowly until nothing but ash remained and then went to the hall just inside the fort proper. Here he wrote with a piece of chalk in huge script, "Mokmurian-  We are coming for you."  Then he walked out into the rain to join the others in building the cairn. 

One small note;
on all the rangers/guys/whatnot, I try to find something....anything that could be used later to identify them, so their fate was known perhaps to their survivors....not body parts, maybe just an innocuous possession.
Then give them to Alwyn; "this....looks like man-of-god type stuff, for you to carry, brother. Maybe they had friends, or family."
And try real hard to notice something about all of them, so I can say like "yeah, the blonde guy, with the scar on his right cheek and the tattoo of a wolf.....he was there" or whatever.
"I'm just trying real hard to remember who they all were, for identifying. It's hard though."

A very small, very depressed, and very, very wet Camlo stands at the edge of the clearing as the others are about to set off.

"Ah, errmmm, Thank you all. When I saw those ogres attacking the fort, I thought my last had come. When I was alone, in the dark. Hiding in a barrel, waiting for the brutes to find me, I instead found you. You truly have saved my life, and I am eternally grateful.
My life till now has been one bad decision after another, and I would like to change that. Would it perhaps be possible to join you? Or at least ah, share a horse back to the town?"

"You're one of us now, I reckon....you proved yourself through blood and storm."

"Indeed, you've passed the Test of Battle with flying colours. I, for one, would be delighted to have you travel with us."

CLW (x2) 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (8, 4) + 10 = 22

From earlier. Illes last two 1st level slots left him fully healed.

"Let's head back then..."

The party rides through the rain along the forest trail. The sky is darkening as they finally make it, miserable and wet as the flush of their victory wears off, back to Turtleback Ferry. The streets are simply channels of flowing mud as they make their way to see Father Sheed and the rangers where they are recuperating in the temple to Erastil. They duck inside the main entrance, through the scaffolding which holds up the front wall, and shake and wring the water from their travel clothes out on the red tiles of the floor.

"You're back! Thank the Forest Lord for answering my prayers."

Father Sheed emerges along with Jakardros, who limps in on crutches but is nevertheless determined to hear what happened to his compatriots at the fort.

Ah, Crag yer arse be as boney as e'er!

I have an extra Healing Belt if someone wants it. I am now wearing Hudak's old strength belt so I don't need it.

HAWWWW-KEYYYEEE!!!!

"I..I tried to remember what all of them looked like so you'd know about your friends..."
1d20 ⇒ 11 wisdom check(?)

Hudak tries to impart the identities of all the rangers' slain.

"We did put the Grauls, and the lot of the ogres under cairn though.
They feed the worms now. Now yon forest is fit for kinder habitations, unless there be more freakish things about."

"We snuck in through the lizard-infested tunnels you showed us and assaulted the fort from an unexpected angle. First we killed their inhuman advisors that were hiding out in the basement before sneaking upstairs and putting the giant leaders to the sword. We then attacked the courtyard, killing ogres by the bushel. None of the foul degenerates escaped."

"Sadly, we were unable to save any of the rangers. However, we were able to recover their bodies and give them a proper burial." Alwyn skips the details of the ogres' fondness for mutilation, cannibalism and amateur taxidermy to save Jakardros' sensibilities. "Of course, we gave no such honours for the ogres; instead, we left their bodies for the crows and the wolves in the forest and piled their heads by the fortess gate to serve as a warning to future would-be raiders. The ogre women will never dare speak of Fort Rannick for many generations."

Jakardros lowers his head sadly and Sheed nods sympathetically.

"I'm sure Erastil has taken your compatriots to his bosom," he says.

Jakardros replies, "This is a hard land. We all knew that. Many of us were in Fort Rannick to hide from our past deeds, to atone for our crimes, or to just lose ourselves away from other people. None of us were saints, and we could hand out frontier justice without mercy when we had to. Like I say, a hard land, and it called for hard men and hard hearts.

"The Black Arrows Rangers are now gone. I'm too old and injured to carry on, and I don't think any of us left have the heart to try and carry on now. I know what those ogres were capable of, so I know many of us didn't die easy, or quick. But we all knew the risks. I'm just glad those ogres got what was coming."

He turns and limps away.

OK, anything you want to do? You probably need to arrange to inform Magnimar what has happened and wait for further instructions, but that will take a few days or weeks, especially with the weather. You probably have some down time for a few days.

What's the gold piece limit in this boig?

What's the gold piece limit in this boig?

A fairly pitiful 200gp.

I need to get my WIS restored to acceptable levels. One casting of Restoration will return it to a level where I can memorise the spell myself and fix the rest of the damage. After that I can memorise some proper spells. How much does the local clergy charge for that?

The local clergy can't cast it. But they have a scroll they will donate gratis due to the assistance you provided. However, they aren't rich here so you get the impression a donation would be appreciated.

The normal price for a 4th level divine scroll is 700 gp. I'll offer 350 gold and my services until we receive new orders from Magnimar. As I can (or, rather, will be able to) actually cast 4th level spells I guess I'll be the most powerful cleric in town! I'll heal anyone who needs it, cure the sick and do all sorts of other good deeds for the month or so until word comes back.

I can lift heavy stuff.

I’ll assume we can’t actually get the gold from the loot we plan to sell until we reach Magnimar. I guess we hang about and rest up for a few days before heading back. If there’s anyone in town who is willing to ride out to Magnimar now with a message, we’ll send them; otherwise I guess we go ourselves once it is dry. Elisile is in no hurry to return, but it would be good if they could send a garrison to Fort Rannik.

Once Alwyn’s WIS is restored, Elisile suffered one point of drain too, and I think some of the others did too.

We should all throw in some gold for the donation, its in all our interest to get our cleric back to full capability.

I'll throw in 200 g.p.

Elisile will throw in 150gp.

That gets us to 'store price' - it should be more than enough.

I'll still offer to work with them until we have a better idea of what we're supposed to do next.

A very small, very depressed, and very, very wet Camlo stands at the edge of the clearing as the others are about to set off.

"Ah, errmmm, Thank you all. When I saw those ogres attacking the fort, I thought my last had come. When I was alone, in the dark. Hiding in a barrel, waiting for the brutes to find me, I instead found you. You truly have saved my life, and I am eternally grateful.
My life till now has been one bad decision after another, and I would like to change that. Would it perhaps be possible to join you? Or at least ah, share a horse back to the town?"

“I would have no qualms if you decided to travel with us for a time, Camlo Zenovia,” says Elisile. “You should know though that trouble seems to follow us ... and I would say that we are committed to seeking out the being who bears the name that the snake-women told us of ...”

Camlo smiles, "I'm quite ah, good at getting myself in, emmm, trouble. At least with you around I stand some chance of getting ahhh, out of it again!"

Camlo will spend a fairly quiet time around the town. He doesn't have much ready cash until these items get sold, but once he does, he'll want to invest in something to make him a little more useful at range...

I went ahead and just added the GP value of the sold stuff to my character sheet now, even though we haven't sold the stuff yet. I don't plan on buying anything here anyway, but I figured it best to get it done before I forgot about it. :)

Unfortunately, with the gold piece limit and the fact that we can't buy/sell stuff here... I'm guessing that I won't be able to make use of my Craft Wondrous Item feat here? That's about the only productive thing I can think of with an extended downtime.

There are golem paddle-boats up and down here from time to time. Assume this is one of those times. You can sell your loot and buy some gear if you wish - you don't have so much money I'm worried about you all making vorpal swords over the weekend.

Camlo spots a paddle-boat at rest at the dockside, the Titanic. Newly-minted and very fast, it could probably get the whole party to Magnimar in a few days. The captain declares it is unsinkable, and is so confident he has dispensed with lifeboats. Yet something about the ship makes Camlo doubt...

Nevertheless, there are several traders on board who are happy to buy up the ogrish items the party has to offer, as they can easily be converted to more normal sizes or simply sold to curio buyers. And they themselves seem to have interesting wares from their contacts downriver.

The next day, the ship heads into the ongoing storm. As it disappears into the veils of heavy rain, the onlookers can't shake the feeling that they probably won't see that ship again.

There are golem paddle-boats up and down here from time to time. Assume this is one of those times. You can sell your loot and buy some gear if you wish - you don't have so much money I'm worried about you all making vorpal swords over the weekend.

So... how many days of downtime do we have, then? If it's only 2 or 3, I can't really make much of use, but with a week or so...

How many do you need, and I'll make it one less than that?

I actually never spent money before we went on this leg of the adventure and with a couple other minor items I'd like to trade in I have around 5,000. Would it be ok to pick up a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend (3000) from the traders? Probably round it out with some more scrolls.

Yes - go ahead. For reference, I'd say you have just under a week. Your characters don't know that, but it saves you wasting time and money on crafting stuff.

I'll make myself a pearl of power, 2nd level, then. Base price is 4000gp, so 4 days to craft it. I only pay half, though, for the materials. So I'll knock off 2k and we'll call it good. The great thing about pearls is that, if I don't happen to need it, I can give it to any other spellcaster in the party and they can use it. You never know when you'll want another, say, lesser restoration on hand. :)

I am currently sitting on a Healing Belt that I have no use for. Anyone want it? If not I will probably donate it to the local clergyman in return for a promise to use it for good and to help any rangers in the area that may have need of it.

I be goin' doon ta da tavern ta try ta stimilate de local economy. Anyone else fer gettin' plumb snookered? Come on Hudak! I'll be drinkin' ye under da table, ye durned child-gut!
Dravite will go on a small binge for a couple days, paying twice what drinks are worth and tipping like an idiot. Then he will cruise the town looking for nice toys and play things for sale to buy at increased rates and immediately give the toy/thing to the nearest youth that he sees, tucking a couple silver pieces into each to be found later. I figure that about 300gp should cover all that and help the locals out a bit....Good deed of the week and all...