DM Bloodgargler's Kingmaker (Inactive)

Game Master BinkyBo

"Well, we have a motivated buyer, so there will be no problems in getting rid of what we do not need.
And being allies, we can expect a honest deal from them, and they can expect a respectful price from us."

Nogmil points at Green, smiles, and winks when he mentions preparedness for a siege. Nogmil then turns to Furiel and asks him what is on his mind regarding his suggested construction. He adds to the others, "And I have heard of your plans for a menagerie of rare animals... most fascinating! Please paint me a picture of your dreams... and we will build it!" When Nogmil says this, he yanks Rillo and Bunyon over to include them in the promise to deliver.

-- -- --

Brarim steps aside with Green rolling his eyes at Nogmil. "I was just about to leave things to our bardchitect Nogmil, but I can certainly spare a moment. My time is your dime now. What is on your mind?"

The gnome twins Rillo and Bunyon look up at Nogmil.

Rillo asks "Does we mean we?"
Bunyon nods "Methinks indeed."
Rillo; confused "Youthinks indeed?"
Bunyon nods again "Yes... so it seems."

Nogmil pats them each on the back. "Yes! We will put you on team two, so we can benefit from your mechanical exper-

"Whoa no wait... " Brarim interjects over his shoulder "Team two is working the foundation too..."

Nogmil continues... still patting them on the back. "We will put you on... something special..."

Bunyon "Like what?"
Rillo "What does he mean by special?"

Kesten enters while the two conversations are going on. After a moment assessing Merick's diminished involvement in either discussion, Kesten approaches him.
"Master Merick. While I understand Norton's decision to allow the others to share leadership... I think - as a consequence, there should be double the effort for organization. What might have seemed unimportant before, having management for minor concerns will become increasingly vital... even in your own affairs."
"There is a well-known businessman in Restov named Flewder Tornatore... his influence is above politic. He has three extremely bright children who share his keen and even mind. They are several years younger than I, but I feel I know them well. All three wish to make their own lives outside their father's shadow. Any one of them would be well-suited for management positions. I have been holding onto their resumes, as well as two of their close friends."
"Please look them over... and pass them on after you've done so."

"Hmmm. This is all a bit over my head. I know I could use the help of that fellow with training as a soldier, but I don't know anything about hiring people. I've always just done my work for myself. I'd at least like to talk it over with my companions."

Once the other conversations die down a bit, Merick will relay the information and ask for input."

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"Droman Tornatore would be an excellent choice, sir. No hurry." Kesten leaves...

-- -- --

Nogmil scribbles in his journal as you discuss the necessary and desired components of your castle. He then looks down at the open blueprint on the table. The existing solid portions are lightly sketched in, and both the sewer and first portion of the escape route are depicted in dotted lines.

"Here are my current suggestions..."

"Excavate one lower level for a crypt, and another private room or two. So that would be crypt level."

"Cellar level... Storage of goods, and non combatants during sieges... We restore the sewage system, build a sanctum, couple storage rooms, one armory, one bedchamber, and we have the escape route which'll be done in a day. Leaves a bit of room... maybe a cell or two."

"Ground floor exterior ... defensive walls, gatehouse, drawbridge, I suppose, stall for a few horses."

"Ground floor interior... vestibule leading through a hallway which provides a tactical advantage to the defenders in case of an attack. This would lead into a courtyard with a balance of visual appeal, and again... advantage to the defenders. Then you have your area with a sitting room, at least one office, kitchen, lavatory, another armory, couple bunks. That doesn't leave much room, but some."

"Upstairs you have a couple more bedchambers, and the rest is up to you... I'd say a war room could by good."

>basic castle layout (above ground)<

Furiel explains:
"I would like an observation dome on top. Both for research and scouting for any approaching forces."

He adds: "Do not build it now, but leave room to add it later."

"Good...good...but as for the cellar level, I want one or two of those store rooms to be upgraded to vaults.
I would like murder holes in the ceiling on the vestibule.
Would it be possible to make some kind of contraption that covers them until they need to be put into use?
A sliding panel of some sort?"

"Observation dome.. not a problem. We can wait on it.. figure about this much space. Maybe up to this much."
(For future reference.. Observation Dome will take 10-20 of the 120 squares.)

Nogmil nods, and mutters as he scribbles in his pad, "Cellar storage... one or two upgrade to vault..."
He nods again as Green mentions the murder holes, and then smiles "There's always a way! We'll see how things look, and then tend to it."

Rillo pulls out a much smaller leather bound pad, and begins his own scribbles. Bunyon leans over his shoulder whispers comments in his ear, and tries to direct his pen strokes. The gnome twins then wander off in a minor tussle over design ideas for who knows what.

We've unleashed a beast by bringing these three together.
I better make sure they don't plan on turning the castle walls into a porcupine...for starters.

"Is it possible to lead water to the courtyard and build a statue that is also a fountain?
I...have a vision of a very tranquil place."

"Oh, and when the work begins on the escape route, I want to be present, I still need to make sure that no spirits linger."

"With the sewer system, and plentiful supply of water... plumbing a fountain shouldn't be a problem."

"Mmhmm. I am sure the workers would appreciate your presence."

Furiel looks hopefully at Green:
"We ready to ride!! I am not yet ready for my own mount."

Furiel will have the baths started in his tower. Being clean is important. The rest can wait.

Ready to explore starting the opposite way from Olegs then making a grand circle clockwise.

Norton is ready to explore too.

I read that exploring one plain hex takes 1 day. Does this mean the usual 8 hrs?
because in that case we can leave the fort in the morning and reach an adjacent hex (1.5 hrs by horse if the castle is in the middle of his hex), explore (8 hrs) and get back to the castle (1.5 hrs).
It makes sense to me since, without the fort as base camp, we should also spend time to set campo, provide food and water, cook and all the other basic camping task. With the fort we don't need to do that: we get back and find everything already there.

It would also be useful to update the charter map in the campaign info, so we can see where we are and where we go.

Correct... unless something comes up that takes up some considerable time when you are exploring, you should be able to return to the fort each night after exploring adjacent plains hexes.

"Well, let us saddle the horses and be on our way. Times a-wastin as they say in the north."

The Green Man makes sure there is plenty of room in the saddle for a little gnome comrade to join him.

"Green, I hear you are discussing with our dwarven neighbors about restoring this fort to some proper dignity. That's good indeed, just keep in mind our resouces for now are limited to what Brevoy has given us. Besides, it is not likely we will face a siege any time soon, I think we get the essential done, any fanciness can be added later on."

With the basic castle upgrade, road and farm, we go down to 15 bp in the treasury. I suggest we save some and get the idea of the system balance before doing any further upgrade to the castle

Furiel lays down a plan of economic development to jumpstart the economy. It call for a large foundry to take advantage of any ore discovered and the building of nearby smithies to create goods, weapons, armor, and jewelry out of raw materials.

By the way, dwarven fortress is a fun game!! Furiel still advocates foundry and smithies--but, like building the inn long ago, it hasn't received much popular support.

As I already said: I'm ok with the smithies, but, since we can claim 1 hex and build 1 building a month, I think we can see month by month how it goes.

Couple of things we might want to think about. Up to now we have 1 district with the castle, we can build there without a plan, and hope in the future we don't have to destroy something to make room for other stuff, or we can expand to more districts, taking penalties, and build a tidier city.
Second: this item could be of some help

"Of course Ser Ambrosi, but fear not, we are making PLANS for what will be done eventually.
Implementing the plans will take time, and be done bit by bit.
No, what we need to focus on much more urgently is to make room for more people as well as make sure they have means of support, farms, mills and perchance a smithy or two to make use of our raw resources."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that in fact.
When we have explored the surrounding areas, I would suggest we travel northeast, some of the letters we have recovered from Sal'dor seems to indicate that there might have been a few small colonies of people living there.
We could try recruiting them to our cause, also, we might see if MikMek might be amendable to having his kobolds run the mine for us...
That is, assuming he has enough of them."

Also remember the Foundry discount only applies to the first smithy. Also a Mill gives the same bonus at the same BP (E+1,S+1). And the Dance Hall gives a cheap boost to economy and loyalty (E+1,L+2) for 4 BP. Library gives (E+1,L+1) for 6 BP too. Just thinking we do have options after the first smithy.

"The mine would indeed provide the materials for a smithy. I would like to speak with them first though, to discuss how to keep the impact on the surroundings to a minimum. Mines can be dangerous for the local wildlife. But should we not head to Oleg's after exploring the local areas, and see about building a road between him and us?"

The Green Man looks a little at the map and frowns.
"The people can probably wait for a few days longer, as of now, we are moving in a circular motion around Stagsfall, and since we begin here, The Green Man indicates the area they are in, all we need to do is go clockwise, then we end up exploring the north most area last.
Then it is simple to travel north until we reach Oleg's, after that we can travel by Bokken’s hut and go in a half circle around the Old Sycamore, looking for the people, and finishing up at the Sootscale cavern."

As you are saddling up, Akiros enters the courtyard looking bedraggled with bedhead. The moment he sees Brarim Broadhammer he rushes to him and grasps him by the shoulders. Brarim searches Akiros's face to try to recognize him.. he raises an eyebrow. Brarim asks.. unsure.. "Young Master Ashmoor?"

Akiros nods.. looking emotional, and they embrace.

Errol rides up next to Norton. "Ready to go, sir." After a moment... "Cap'n Kesten said you wanted to speak with me, but were about to head out to tame the wild for the day." He shrugs "Thought I'd come with.."
He then looks over at the scene between Akiros and Brarim, and rubs his stubble. "Maybe that'll perk up the sad sack."

He turns and shoots a grin toward Norton as he turns his horse toward the gate to leave. "Shall we?"

"Riiiiight, I think that may be a story worth hearing.
But let's give them some time, we can talk to them tomorrow before we ride out again.
One day should let them both calm down."

I'm confused, Errol is not supposed to be with Kressle and Alice at Oleg's bringing stuff and fetching back equipment and prisoners?

derp.. that's right. You mentioned wanting to talk with him. I had forgotten he was supposed to have gone with them... hmmm.

You head out, and plan your route so as to finish near enough to the fort to return for the night. There are possible rainclouds far to the northwest, but the sky is otherwise clear.

The Shrike River near the fort is shallow, but wide and fast-moving. You see where the wagon trail crosses it - which the Broadhammer Clan crossed to reach you. It must be passable for horses, but would be sketchy crossing by foot.

While stalled at the bank, you catch sight of several fish splishing up from the water, and working their way upstream.

I'll take perception checks with your next posts

"It is a fine day; we move with purpose, the weather is delightful and we have accomplished something grand.
Just looking back over my shoulder as we rode out, watching the activity at our new base.
Yes, I am in a very good mood today."

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

-Posted with Wayfinder

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18 Add 2 if natural surroundings.

per: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

Seeing something in the water, Ta'de-win calls out to, "Green, look out from the water!" She then points to the strange watery emergence.

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26 In case it applies.

Ta'de-win is able to get out a warning before Green's horse steps into the river.
Grasping hands made of water reach out from the river's edge. A humanoid faceless form rises, and lifts a pointed finger at Green.
"Blood of my tormentor may never pass... Blood of my tormentor forever forbidden to cross these waters..."

The, as always, distracted Norton is relieved to see once more that Ta' is watching out for danger while his mind is wandering somewhere else.

Kn nature: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
"What in the nine hells is that?"

"Who are you, river spirit, who is your tormentor? I, The Green Man shall work to release you!"

The Green Man does move backwards, not wanting to antagonize whatever it is further.

But how does it know me? I've never been here before. It said "blood"...does it means it condemn me for being half orc?
Or...
A spirit of water, might have been tormented by a old mad druid? And if it can't see my face, only my helmet...

The Green Man reaches up and removes the helmet from his face.
"I am not the staglord, he lies dead at my feet, as does his father. Spirit, if your quarrel is with them, then it is not with me."

"Yooou are not my tormentor.... "
The outstretched arm of the watery force extends toward the removed helm.
When it reaches Green, it forms into a large hand. Its fingertips touch the helm.
"The blood of the tormentor... is caked and dried... his power.. broken. Death spoken curse will fade... into mist but others... who conspired... in rage against him ... still suffer..."

The watery form bursts into droplets and falls like a spit of rain. The bony surface of the stag helm's face begins to crack...

"Spirit! Can you as a parting gift, name these who suffer that I may seek them out to ease the burden they carry?"

The Green Man looks down at the helmet with a touch of regret.
I would have given it to ease the pain, but now I still have it, but it will do me no good without it's magic...

Furiel racks his brains for ways to put the spirit at rest.
Kn arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

"Fellow conspirators written in ink... within the walls of my crossing. Where I go to rest... and await those still suffering. Calm their rage... renew the Accord. Prepare for the one who lays the dark path... or she will close her fist around these lands." The last droplets scatter in the slight breeze.

The bony surface of the helm flakes off completely, revealing the burnished and lacquered black walnut underneath.

The Green Man grins, happy about what now seems more like a gift than a loss.
"Ah, the spirits love to speak in riddles; it comes from no longer being of the world of the living."

"I think the ink part is literal, the question then being where the walls of the crossing is."

"The crossing is probably the crossing into death, but the walls may be actual walls.
This close to Stagsfall, I think it may be within the keep itself, worth looking into later."

"The accord...that is a mystery, since we do not know what accord between whom?"

"And now it seems like we have a new foe, a female one, and a most dangerous indeed if the spirits warn us about her."

The Green man replaces the helmet on his head, and then he takes a deep breath and calls out.

"Spirits, those of you who can hear, come to me, tell me your tales in my dreams, I shall set you free."

Though it did not appear terribly murky before, the water of the river seems a bit more clear. The voice does not return, and no other signs of supernatural presence come about as you remain on the near bank.. yet to cross the Shrike River.

"The helmet was a symbol of the Stag lords power, a crown if you will, resting on the brow of a tyrant.
Just like our rule is a new thing, the helmets change can be seen as a symbol of the change we intend to build in these lands."