DM Salsa Presents: The Jade Regent (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

Vigny laughs at Reiko's comment.

"Wouldn't make a difference here. No way would I want to end up with slimy wood mold smeared all over me. Besides you'd have to reveal a secret in exchange, isn't that how it works?"

She winks at Reiko.

"Really?" Soli asks, wide-eyed. "But what if the only secrets someone had to share were really...I don't know, silly or gross? Wouldn't it ruin things a bit if your partner had to tell you that they used to eat bugs or something?"

Jerukh inwardly sighs, he liked it better when they were on the road and focussed... less time for tattle and small-talk.

The half-orc shifts uncomfortably and seems to focus on his bowl and food as if it required total concentration to eat.

"Oh, ve used to play that game vhen..." Emi blurts out before realizing that's not really a story to share with strangers and new friends.

"Well... I don't know much about it..."

Vigny takes a more serious turn, she almost seems slightly nervous.

"But the House of the Silken Veil, that's the Calistrian Temple, almost runs the, ah, hospitality business in Riddleport. The high priestess there is also neck deep in everybody's secrets. It's said she knows all the skeletons in all the closets on the whole Varisian coast, and she collects them through her clergy, who collect them by, well, you get the picture."

"You can't hardly run a bar there without having some dealings with the House of the Silken Veil, and The Broken Manacle, and a couple of places I moonlighted, did too. We were told by the Brothers and Sister Elzira to steer clear of them and not ask a bunch of questions."

"They're decent people from what I hear, but you do not mess with them. I met a couple of the girls, and a boy from there over time. Nice enough and fun in their own way, but a little intense I guess you could say."

"There's also some Cayden and Calistria stuff there, the... awkward... relationship isn't just local. Mostly the orphanage runs on the idea of letting us do as we would as long as we met our obligations. If it was something you shouldn't be doing, conversations and consequences, rather than punishments, were how it was handled. There's a few things you just can't do though. One of them is saying that Cayden Cailean took the test of the starstone to impress Calistria. That would earn you extra work, extra prayer, and extra whatever else they could come up with for a couple of days."

"Oh! But that was supposed to answer your question Soliana. It isn't about attraction, so I don't think bug eating would be either here or there. It's also serious business, so I don't think bug eating would quite get you out of having to cough up some coin."

Gkirkhan nearly chokes at Reiko's bawdy joke, since he'd been unfortunate enough to be taking a swig of the mead right as she said it. After the coughing fit subsides and Vigny finishes talking about the awkward relationship between the Broken Manacle and the House of the Silken Veil, he pipes up.

"Jah, und Hy alvays thought it vas Shelyn he vas tryink to impress," he says. "Enyvay, let's not talk about de Calistrians now. Dey iz fon vhen hyu vant some soft company, bot de revenge ting iz a little, vell, scary."

Turning to Vigny, he gives her a big, toothy grin. "Tank hyu for de blessink sister. Hy vill haff to brew somting special for hyu vhen I haff de chance," Gkirkhan tells her before settling down next to Iona and sighs.

"Hy guess Hy should start vit de beginning. De five ov us meet in Riddleport about six months ago. Hy alvays figured dot Caesar and Tristain, de prissy elf mage, vould vind op tearink de group apart, bot de money vas goot. Kill som bandits und monsters, und get som coin. Vell, et vasn't enough for de two ov dem, und de haff a habit ov blamink everyvun bot demselves. Mueller und Iona managed to keep the three ov us from killink each odder. Ve vas on hour vay to Magnimar vhen ve heard about de bounty. Caesar thought et vas easy money, keel twenty goblins und der chief und ve'd haff five-hundred gold. Dot idiot didn't listen vhen de three ov us told him dot ve vasn't goink to get de coin dot easily, bot Tristain waved et all off like ve vasn't schmott enough to put on hour own boots. De goblins ambushed us dot first night, killink Caesar's horse und ruinink vot leetle food ve had. Ve pressed on do, und den de attacked us vit poisoned blades und brought down Mueller und Iona. Dot proved dot ve vasn't ready for dis trip, und Hy refused to move eny deeper. Hy vanted to get Iona und Mueller out, dey vanted to leave dem, bot dey didn't fancy der chance vitout me takink de blows. Dot night de monster came, vit dot freaky maw of ets und de pale skin und de freaky dog-legs. Et ripped Mueller's throat out und took him. De next two days ve vas en dot camp, arguing about if ve should press on or retreat. Dot iz vhen hyu found us. Dey may not like de dirty vork, bot dey like de coin," Gkirkhan finishes with a look of just weariness on his face. He looks to Iona and sighs.

"Hy vish hyu could talk to her," he says quietly, "She iz a nize gorl und very fonny, too, vhen de mood takes her."

Jerukh takes Gkirkan's mention of Iona as his cue to shift the emphasis to a more curative focus.

He walks to the fire and prepares some tea using some strange orange petals. The alchemist absent-mindedly holds one up;

"This is Dreamer's Star. The tea will allow a deep, restful sleep to you all... We have earned it."

Once boiled the tea gives off a pleasant aroma, and the pot holds enough servings for 6.

Jerukh stoops next to Iona to check on the woman, before speaking to you all in a resolute tone:

"I will watch o'er her, and you all, when you rest. If any healing is required let me know..."

"My vounds could use some attention," Emi answers hiking up the side of her skirt to show the nasty cut on her thigh, "thank you, Jerukh."

Vigny takes the tea Jerukh offers with a "Thank you." but doesn't drink it yet.

"What order should the rest of us take watch? You can't stay up all night Jerukh."

"We saw the same monster Gkirkhan, but not very well. It stalked us yesterday, and tried to ambush us at a bridge. We saw it first though and it swam off. Do you have any idea what it is?"

Do we have a watch order? Is Jerukh staying up the whole night?

Reiko's grasp of Common is quite good but it can't keep up with the innuendoes, rapid-fire conversation, and all the new information about the peculiarities of the western Gods and their churches. Belatedly, the swordswoman realises she is staring and that this is another good reason to visit a town larger than Sandpoint. Who knew their Gods were so complex?

She gloms onto the last comment, nodding to the alchemist, "Thank you. I'll take tea after my watch."

We could do say, 2-3 hour shifts. Given the circumstances (inside a cabin with limited visibility) I don't see there is a significant advantage to any particular order. How about alphabetical?
Emi
Jerukh - unless he's determined to double-up with folks all night
Reiko
Soli
Vigny

"Yes, I vill vait until after my vatch to drink mine too."

"I suppose I can go ahead and take mine now since my watch is almost last - thank you Jerukh," Soli smiles as she takes a sip. "Mm, it tastes just as good as it smells!"

Jerukh narrows his eyes and swallows hard as he attends to Emi's wound;

Ai mamă why do they all have wounds on their thighs!

"I will take first watch with Emi."

because goblins are short...

Yep.

Hah. Except when they brain the tall half orc alchemist with the fabled Flying Thunder finisher...

Vigny drinks her tea and settles in for some sleep.

Okay, so we have four watches, each on two hours, correct? Is Jerukh only going to be taking the first watch with Emi, or is he going to be taking all of them? I'm assuming the former, but I want to be sure.

Everyone who's taking a watch, give me a perception check.

Perception (last watch): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Am I getting any actual healing? I don't know if Vigny has any spells left, but I'm down to 6hp and Jerukh and Soli have 7 and 8...

"Thank you, cousin," Emi says rubbing Jerukh's shoulder as he works on her cuts, "not just for for helping vith my vounds, but for sitting vatch vith me too... I'fe nefer been fery good at catching sneaks."

perception: 1d20 ⇒ 1

Vigny's out of spells and warpriests don't channel at 1st level. That ambush hurt us badly.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

~ During Watch ~

Reiko occupies herself by quietly honing her katana and pondering the parts of the evening conversation that confused or intrigued her.

"...Besides you'd have to reveal a secret in exchange, isn't that how it works?" She winks...

Is that a custom, a joke, an offer? And if it were a custom, which secret to share? Or is 'share a secret' a euphemism? While Reiko had never tried 同じセックスを愛する, she wasn't morally opposed to it, but her understanding of Avistani culture suggested such an offer wouldn't be made so openly.

[b]"But what if the only secrets someone had to share were really...I don't know, silly or gross? Wouldn't it ruin things a bit if your partner had to tell you that they used to eat bugs or something?"

So, not a euphemism, unless The Rose doesn't know of it. Reiko smiles at the memory of the virtuous woman with so few salacious secrets. Interesting, interesting companions.

"Oh, ve used to play that game vhen..." Emi blurts out before realizing that's not really a story to share...

The ronin mulls this intriguing tidbit over... and files it away for a private chat with Emi later. Knowing what sort of pillow games Avistani women play would be fascinating.

"House of the Silken Veil... The Broken Manacle, and a couple of places I moonlighted, did too...I met a couple of the girls, and a boy...nice enough and fun.. some Cayden and Calistria stuff..."

It was hard to follow but it sounded to Reiko as if Vigny had worked closely with the Calistrians. Was she a geisha for Calistria and then became a follower of Cayden, leaving that life behind? Reiko had never met a real Lady of the Willow World and the chance to hear about that life was irresistible. But she would have to broach the subject carefully, given Vigny's change-of-life and her hesitancy to talk about it.

I'd actually put Emi and Soli on the first watch - that way they get a straight run of rest. Jerukh will go second watch to administer healing on them both then he'll be done for the night. Make sense?

Jerukh grabs some initial sleep, then rises ahead of time to take his watch, and administer some healing to those most in need.

The half orc then settles into his vigil;

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

The first watch passes uneventfully, save the rumble of thunder, and it appears that the second will go much the same, that is until suddenly...

Perception: 1d20 + 2 - 10 ⇒ (6) + 2 - 10 = -2

perception: 1d20 - 10 ⇒ (17) - 10 = 7

Cryptic rolling of bones: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Perception (Zzz): 1d20 + 4 - 10 ⇒ (5) + 4 - 10 = -1

Exhausted from the day's events and a few lingering injuries Soliana sleeps deeply, oblivious to anything happening in the waking world...

@Salsa: Well, I will say this, not as a complaint, but as an evaluation of our situation and where it's very likely going. So far every encounter has opened with a surprise round against us. The exception is the bridge ambush encounter we avoided. We've done pretty well all in all, even with some lackluster dice. But, we're 1st level, have no magical healing outside of CLW twice per day if Vigny burns all her spells for nothing but healing, and have to wait overnight for anything else.

If this encounter results in more injuries, and it looks like it unavoidably will, we will almost certainly have to pull out of the swamp to recover for a couple of days. We just can't keep up with the HP we're losing. Going forward to actually find goblins without a fair portion of our HP, and with our magic used again as soon as Vigny can regain her spells, is sounding pretty suicidal to me at least. We can't continue forward with those kind of headwinds. For example, if I understand the rules correctly, RAW this encounter will cost us any HP we would have regained overnight even if we skate through with no further injuries.

Personally I'm fine with the idea of pulling out and recovering before coming back, but I don't know how the others feel about it. It certainly slows things down time and story-wise, (unless a withdrawal is in your plans) which tends to be a negative for PbP's.

Point taken. I will say this, I'm not going to negate the healing you get since what's coming shouldn't last more than a minute. If you want, I can use Gkirkhan who can help end this fight, very, very quickly. I was expecting that you would help Gkirkhan and Iona get back to Sandpoint, which would burn a day and you could get healed up there before getting back. To be honest, there's too much in the swamp to conquer in just one foray. I'll keep what you've said in mind, and I'll probably modify this encounter from as written, and as planned.

On the other side, it could have been worse. I was thinking about having Megus still being alive, and that would have been a bit much since she'd be at least a 7th level spell caster.

Everyone else, but Reiko, you may roll perception again, since there is a lightning strike that was really close. The DC is 0, but you still have the -10 for being asleep. Also feel free to roll initiative.

perception: 1d20 - 10 ⇒ (4) - 10 = -6

Emi quietly lays sleeping, motionless save the slow rise and fall of her chest. Even the crash of thunder seems not to disturb her slumber in the slightest.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 - 10 ⇒ (1) + 2 - 10 = -7

"ZZZZZZzzzzz. zzzzZZZZZZZ. Yeah, um,.. tribbles. ZZZZZZZ."

Reiko's head shoots up, sensing something odd. She grabs for Jerukh a second too late as the alchemist sprints out the door. With a curse, she bolts for the door bellowing like a sergeant to awaken the others, "ARM YOURSELVES, there's a threat here!" She races into the storm's darkness, determined to tackle Jerukh before he's lost to the fens - and who-knows-what-else.

Salsa, let me know if I can attempt a CMB this round or if it will take me some time to catch up to Jerukh.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 - 10 ⇒ (18) + 4 - 10 = 12
Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Soliana's eyes pop open, the sound of a nearby lightning strike having jolted her from an oddly dreamless sleep.

Huh...that's quite a storm out there. Good thing we-

Her thoughts are interrupted as Reiko's voice cuts through the sound of rain and thunder, warning of danger. The half-elf grabs for her glaive and scrambles to her feet as quickly as she can.

"Wha-a threat!? Where!?"

okay everyone's awake.

Reiko's shouting brings Vigny bolt upright with a snort. She reaches for her sword then stands up, asking "What is it? What is it?"

"Dar eu nu vreau nici biscuiți ..." Emi mumbles as she paws away the scarves blocking her vision and sits up sleepily.

As Gkirkhan scrambles to his feet and for his sword, the horrid rat-like creature answers Jerukh.

"Not Megus! Megus dead! You intruders! You not welcome! You not take home," the creature hisses in a strange tongue that, surprisingly, the hunters can understand. "You die now," it hisses again as its hackles rise. It turns to the rat and chitters something to it before it and another that had remained unseen begin to move.

Jerukh, this is round two of being frightened. You can attempt another save to end it this round and be able to act. You are about ten feet from the door this moment since you turned around and slowed to stare at the rats. Vigny, you are also up and can get to any of the rodents with a move.

When Vigny hears and sees the ratman and his buddies creeping on them, she reacts instinctively, stepping up and swinging two-handed at the ratman. Obviously she's still blurry-eyed.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Vigny's AC is 12, DEX only.

Since Jerukh is still frightened and won't be a factor this round. (Sorry, Dem's de breaks.) On the plus side, You'll be able to act normally next round.

Emi, Vigs, you both have a rat next you. They do not attack, since they used up their actions getting to you, but they are able to take Attacks of Opportunity now.

"Yes! Kill them! Kill them all my pets," the ratman urges as the rats move into place.