The barkeep stares at you with some hostility in his eyes at your comments as you speak but says nothing until you finish.
They used them fancy aldori swords and dressed in fancy clothes. No one round 'ere uses either. No, ye got wax in your ears? By the time the purple man came downstairs again she was long gone. I was too busy laughing at the man who got beaten up by a lass. I was paid well to not ask questions, my lord. One thing though- when I went to check if they were gettin' out my tavern anytime soon, the man in the purple hat was fiddling with the underside of the table, told me not to worry bout it, so I did'n. Speaking of which, that'll be another five gold...
Which table?
The barkeep looks at you expectantly, scooping up the coins you had already placed and putting them into his pocket. His single eye twinkles and he grins at you with foul, yellow teeth.
Kip removes a single platinum coin from his purse, holding it in the open palm of his hand just out of reach of the barkeep.
I asked you... which table? And I am sure you won't mind if my friends and I take a look around will you...
I'll show ye myself good sirs. the barkeep says, gesturing that you follow him. Removing a key from his belt, he leads you to the second floor with eyes of the patrons watching you at every moment. The stair leads to a small corridor with a door on either side. Unlocking the door on the left, the barkeep holds his hand out for the platinum piece and goes back to tend to his bar.
Kip flips the coin into the hand of the barkeep while adding, I may have further questions of you. You have been well paid this evening, and I expect you to be forthcoming with the answers. As the barkeep turns to leave, and while standing in the open doorway, Kip speaks a word of arcane power while gesturing with his free hand. Kip's eyes flash blue as he scans the barkeep for lingering magical auras as he retreats back down the hall. As the barkeep disappears down the stairs, Kip turns his attention to the room.
You sense absolutely no auras from the barkeep, although your words of power cause him to look over his shoulder and peer suspiciously at you before walking off muttering.
Kip approaches the table cautiously and peers under the table from a distance...
Kip sees a small, folded up piece of paper wedged into a hole in the wood on the underside of the table. Other than the table, chairs and a small window facing north back towards the Stolen Lands there is little else of interest.
Kip retrieves the piece of paper and opens it...
The slip of paper reads-
Do you fools truly think i'd be so stupid as to leave a vital clue under a table with a barkeep having caught me in the act? Enjoy having Karina back, if you truly think you can trust her- and we'll be seeing each other again... Grigori.
The piece of paper suddenly lights up with a magical sigil, before exploding into pieces of paper too small for the eye to follow. Kip is hurled backwards by the force of the blast and is wounded-
While the flimsy table and chairs are flung across the room, shattering against the walls, floor and ceiling. You can audibly hear the barkeep loudly grumbling as he begins to make his way up the stairs.
Kip stands up dusting himself off and straightening his cloak. Well, isn't Grigori full of all sorts of tricks? I shall thoroughly enjoy returning the favor when next we meet!
Kip reaches inside his pack and removes a small stoppered vial. Pulling the cork, he consumes the liquid within in one quick gulp. A wave positive energy courses through his body, mending many of the bumps and bruises sustained in the explosion.
He lets out an audible sigh as he looks at the empty container. Another elixir I shall need to replace when I have the coin to do so...
Turning to look at Casimir and Kaylev he remarks, Are you two just going to stand there, or are you going to do something that actually makes this trip worth the ride? So far we have learned nothing of any use... Karina is still suspect, we have no idea where Grigori is or what he is planning next. We don't know who is backing him and what they aim to accomplish!
Hearing the barkeep upon the stairs, Kip screws his face up in as unpleasant a look as he is capable, and storms down the hallway to meet him...
Alex asked me to start the turn for month 28:
.
Strategy: Build farms, roads, a Noble Villa and save for a larger building!
.
.
Upkeep:
Start with 2 Unrest
Loyalty roll needed at +35-2 to beat Control DC 36
-1 unrest from control roll
-1 unrest from royal assassin end with 0 unrest.
3 Consumption (-3BP)
Fill Magic Item Slots:
2 Minor & 1 Medium for SwordHaven:
1 Minor for Northgreen:
2 Minor & 1 Medium for Vierkirche:
Improvement:
Vaysh becomes Queen of Kardas, Kip becomes Magister of Kardas
Road Hex A53 *-1BP*, Road Hex A9 & Farm *-3BP*
Build Noble Villa in SwordHaven *-12BP* +1 Econ, +1 Loy, +1 Stab
Edicts: Reduce Taxation from Heavy to Normal
Income:
Starting Income: 15 BP
No deposits
No withdrawals
Sell Items:
3 Economy rolls needed at +42 to sell items:
Economy roll needed to generate Income at +42
Events:
Event that occurred this month:
Ending Income: XX BP for the month.
Alex you are up to fill the slots...lots to fill :)
Item 1 (Sword): potion/oil of cure moderate wounds - 300 gp
Item 2 (Sword): potion/oil of purify food and drink - 25 gp
Item 3 (North): potion/oil of invisibility - 300 gp
Item 4 (Vier): potion/oil of resistance - 25 gp
Item 5 (Vier): divine scroll of longstrider - 25 gp
Item 1 (Swordhaven): arcane scroll of rainbow pattern - 700 gp
Item 2 (Vierkirche): arcane scroll of fly - 375 gp
Item 1: wand of lesser confusion - 750 gp
Item 1: ring of force shield - 8500 gp
Month of CALISTRIL, 4712. Kardas Founding Month 28
.
Strategy: Build farms, roads, a Noble Villa and save for a larger building!
.
.
Upkeep:
Start with 2 Unrest
Loyalty roll needed at +35-2 to beat Control DC 36
Loyalty 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (19) + 33 = 52
-1 unrest from control roll
-1 unrest from royal assassin end with 0 unrest.
3 Consumption (-3BP)
Fill Magic Item Slots:
2 Minor & 1 Medium for SwordHaven:
Item 1 (Sword): potion/oil of cure moderate wounds - 300 gp
Item 2 (Sword): potion/oil of purify food and drink - 25 gp
Item 1 (Sword): arcane scroll of rainbow pattern - 700 gp
1 Minor for Northgreen:
Item 3 (North): potion/oil of invisibility - 300 gp
3 Minor & 2 Medium for Vierkirche:
Item 1 (Vier): potion/oil of resistance - 25 gp
Item 2 (Vier): divine scroll of longstrider - 25 gp
Item 3 (Vier): wand of lesser confusion - 750 gp
Item 1 (Vier): ring of force shield - 8500 gp
Item 2 (Vier): arcane scroll of fly - 375 gp
Improvement:
Vaysh becomes Queen of Kardas, Kip becomes Magister of Kardas
Road Hex A53 *-1BP*, Road Hex A9 & Farm *-3BP*
Build Noble Villa in SwordHaven *-12BP* +1 Econ, +1 Loy, +1 Stab
Edicts: Reduce Taxation from Heavy to Normal
Income:
Starting Income: 15 BP
No deposits
No withdrawals
Sell Items:
3 Economy rolls needed at +40 to sell items:
SwordHaven sold wand of fog cloud, existing item at SwordHaven 2950gp
NorthPoint sold scroll of inviso 300gp
Vierkirche sold ring of force shield 8BP
Sales will add +1BP to total
Economy roll needed to generate Income at +40
+10BP
Events:
Event that occurred this month: TBD
Ending Income: 19 BP for the month.
Not wanting to interrupt Kip and the barkeep, Casimir and Kalev hang back at the door. As the barkeep points Kip towards the stairs, Casimir nods to Kip, motioning for him to go and investigate.
While Kip is upstairs, Casimir scans the room, looking for signs of a man with injuries to his face.
When the boom is heard from upstairs, he instructs Kalev to stay below and rushes up the stairs ahead of the barkeep.
Seeing Kip injured and about to down a healing potion, he tells him to stop, and casts a couple of healing spells on the halfling instead.
He then turns and waits for the barkeep to make it up the stairs.
Casimir sees no sign of a man with a broken nose. With a heavy sigh, the barkeep approaches the room.
Whatever ye've broken ye've already paid for it and more. Unless ye have other business here, beat it. I'll clean up...
Kalev stands near the bar, keeping and eye on the patrons in the room, returning whatever angry glares they send with a cold, stone-faced look.
Casimir sends the barkeep a cold glare. We are done when I say we are done. The woman who came here is my sister in law, and I do not take kindly to those who threaten my family. Do you know the man who tried to abuse her?
Nope. It was damn funny when she sent him sprawling though.
Kip looks at Casimir, making eye contact, before pointedly looking at the other patrons of the tavern while arching an eyebrow and subtly nodding in their direction.
The barkeep sighs, apparently noticing the arched eyebrow and nodding.
Look, my lords- no disrespect. The lads don't take kindly to strangers around here. We don't get many travellers in these parts, and your big friend by the bars making 'em nervous. So- I don't know his name, but I know a thing or two about what happened to him after the lass struck 'im down. I won't charge you anymore- but I want the word of all three of 'ye that you'll leave us in peace after. We ain't looking for trouble.
And trouble you shall avoid... if you tell us what more you know about the man who troubled the woman AND what more you know about the man in purple as well as the men whom he met. Did they leave together? What direction did they head off in? Anything else you can think of...
They went south from here but they could have gone any direction but north from the trade road really- and the man in purple took the lout the lass hit with him, as well as several of the other local toughs as hirelings. Both the men from Mivon and the man in purple were smiling when they left, so I assumed the metting went well. Now off with ye...
Turning to address Casimir and Kaylev in a hushed tone, It would seem that Karina's escape was not such a problem for Grigori or his co-conspirators... Kip looks thoughtfully towards the door for a moment before adding in a sombre tone, We have failed to ascertain Karina's level of complicity or coercion in these matters, determine anything new about Grigori's next plot or who his sponsors are and what they desire. I urge extreme caution, Master Casimir, with regards to Karina until we can determine more about what is afoot. We should also consider expanding our counter measures against Grigori.
If you aren't looking for trouble, none shall find you if what you tell us is true, Kalev says with a sigh. How has the weather been since they left?
The barkeep folds his arms stubbornly and sighs.
Bit of a rainstorm last night, but otherwise its been just peachy.
The barkeep opens the door leading out of the tavern for you.
A messenger delivers a sealed letter to the castle, and a servant passes it along to Ilya, knocking politely and apologising for interrupting his crafting. Apparently the letter is from Maegar Varn, a Swordlord leading a group of hardened mercenaries, charged with establishing a kingdom in the infamous Nomen Heights of the Stolen Lands- just off the eastern border of the area you explored and can claim.
Reads-
To- The Statkari, Guardians of the Greenbelt, Kardassians, Slayers of the Stag Lord, Neighbours-
Forgive my tardiness in responding to the kind letter sent to me by your fine representative Ilya. I write to you now from my keep atop Victory Hill in the fledgeling capital city of Varnhold, of the nation my men and I have claimed and carved out from the wilderness- Varnhome. Myself and the Varnling Host had to fight for over a year and a half simply to rid the area of Fey, Manticores, Hill Giants, a tribe of Orcs and even a nest of vampires close to the border I hope to share with your kingdom of Kardas.
Now that things are finally beginning to settle down I hope we can begin to establish amenable diplomatic relationships between our two River Kingdoms, as well as trade. It is my understanding that within your claimed territory there is a silver mine. We have also been fortunate; while exploring we stumbled across a rich vein of Iron, and Lake Silverstep has been named for the exotic and rare Silver Eels that inhabit it.
To this end- I would like to visit and tour your nation over the course of the next month and speak to you in person- my spouse Meliandra will handle the affairs of Varnhold in my absence. Please write back urgently and inform me of how large an entourage to bring; I humbly suggest allowing me a vanguard of thirty good men and a handful of servants. Should you agree, i'll meet you on the border of the Greenbelt to the east of the aforementioned silver mine with your stated number of guards and servants.
I look forward to meeting all of you, and eagerly await your reply.
From- Maegar Varn, Swordlord, Champion of the Nomen Heights, Hero of Varnhold Pass, Founder of Varnhome.
Kip looks at the barkeep, and at the open doorway, and nods to himself. I believe we have done all we can here at this time... perhaps if we can procure some magical means to help us discern the veracity of what we have been told, we can return.
------------------------------------------------------------------
When Kip and the others step outside to leave, Kips remarks, We would do well to be on guard during our ride back. The barkeep did mention that Grigori hired a bunch of local toughs... he might be planning a "trick" a little more serious than an exploding note.
Kip takes to his mount adding, Besides Grigori and his goons, trolls or that enormous owlbear could be trouble for us as well.
Lets head home. Grigori won this round and we have a wedding to attend.
A messenger delivers a sealed letter to the castle, and a servant passes it along to Ilya, knocking politely and apologising for interrupting his crafting. Apparently the letter is from Maegar Varn, a Swordlord leading a group of hardened mercenaries, charged with establishing a kingdom in the infamous Nomen Heights of the Stolen Lands- just off the eastern border of the area you explored and can claim. ** spoiler omitted **...
"I have received this letter, Malthir. Apparently our neighbors would like to get to know us better. I have drafted this reponse, pending approval by the council.
Sounds good Ilya, I would just strike the part about getting an inventory of their spells, arms, etc. I wouldn't agree to terms such as those and he is talking about meeting us at the border of both Kingdoms and being escorted by us. If he plans to attack it would likely be at the border with his men anyways. 30 seems like a lot of men, let's set it as 20 each + 10 retainers, or at least let him know that is how many we will bring.
Let him know I would be honored to meet him and personally escort him to SwordHaven to see our beautiful city! It will be good to meet a neighbor who is not actively plotting against us.
3
C
Ki
Ka
You begin to make your way back to Swordhaven, enjoying the sights of territory you have seen little of this far south into the Greenbelt. You ride a couple of dozen miles through the hilly terrain, and as the sky above continues to darken as evening draws near, you dismount to lead your horses & pony across the Gurdin River Ford. This is the only section of the river that is shallow enough to cross, but it is still generally unsafe to do so mounted. A little tired from your travels perhaps, you are caught off guard half-way across the ford. The first warning you get is a sudden surge of water that splashes over you with the force akin to a strong wave behind it...
CMB VS Kip
CMB VS Kip Pony
CMB VS Kalev
CMB VS Kalev Horse
CMB VS Casimir
CMB VS Casimir Horse
Kalev and Casimir are unmoved by the powerful surge of water as are their battle hardened steeds. Kip and his pony however are pushed by the force of the wave- Kip to the very edge of the shallow area and his pony straight into the deeper section of the river, immediately struggling with the fierce current. The source of the wave of water arrives mere milliseconds behind the wave- six monstrous, snake-like heads on long necks rising from the water and the hint of a massive, sturdy and scaled body underneath the water's surface. It appears the beast's surge of speed through the water caused the wave, and the six heads immediately lunge forward on long necks to strike at Kalev's horse.
1 Kalev, 2 Babiska, 3 Casimir, 4 Shadow
Poor Babiska is torn apart by the multitude of snake heads attacking the loyal steed, and never stood a chance. Chunks of flesh are torn apart and scattered across the ford in a gruesome display of power from the mighty beast; with most of the instantly killed horse falling into the ford.
Round 1-
Ordered Initiative-
Casimir
Shadow
Kalev
Kip
Spiced Apple Rum Cake
???
Kip- 17
Casimir- 13
Kalev- 12
???- 10
9- Spiced Apple Rum Cake
3- Shadow
Map-
Link
Terrain Features-
Notes-
Active Effects
Drowning on Pony
Applicable Knowledge Checks & Info (read all that you pass)-
SURPRISE SURPRISE, the beast before you is the legendary Hydra- a magical beast little more intelligent than an animal which can hunt prey of extraordinary sizes and abilities. Although the number of heads a Hydra possesses varies between beasts, all Hydra's possess the Scent abiliy. They rarely bother to give chase for long if they have already killed enough to ensure a sufficient meal- they are vicious but not evil in nature- true neutral alignment. They are adequate swimmers and often stay submerged until it smells or sees prey nearby...
Hydra's are renowned for being difficult to kill, possessing fast healing 5. A hydra can be killed by normal means, but Sundering the heads and sealing the stumps with acid or fire before they grow back (5 points required) is the classical method. If this is not done quickly however, two more heads will grow back where before there was only one!
Despite the bulk of their body, Hydra's are renowned for their head's swiftness. Although their dexterity scores vary, all Hydra's have Combat Reflexes and Lightning Reflexes. (Please note 3.5er's, it does NOT get to take attacks with every single head on a provoked AOO anymore). It also has the Pounce ability (as you have seen!).
A hydra also possessed low-light vision and darkvision. You can recall almost everything about the 'average' Hydra as recorded in Pathfinder Chronicles- Link
The wave removes Kip from his saddle, and while his pony is swept further downstream and into deeper water, Kip is able to remain within the shallows of the ford.
Wiping the water from his eyes, reveals the horror that is upon them! Kip shouts out a warning to his comrades,
Not confident he can make the far shore in time, Kip retreats the way he came.
He pauses at the edge of the river and looks back at his comrades who are still in mortal peril, and decides to cast a spell in hopes of assisting them, rather than reaching the safety of shore himself. Kip gestures and intones the magical words to conjure forth arcane powers to slow the beast.
The beast's many heads seem to slow and sag as they succumb to Kip's spell...