The patrol consists of Captain Varning and six men, all mounted. They leave at dawn tomorrow. For opsec reasons, the details of patrols are never discussed in advance, but a typical patrol lasts between three and six days and goes along the border either to east or west.
During the day, the Judge will attempt to investigate how many of the guards/locals are expected to be at the performance.
Tickets are selling pretty well. Only off-duty guards and officers can attend, of course, so only about thirty or so of them. At least double that number of villagers.
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
We have the names of all three captains now.
Mounted. Not a full deal breaker, that means if we attack it should be when they are camped and sleeping.
The patrol will in theory not be missed for at least the first 7 days.
----
DM I really liked you character Lieutenant Ivan St. Austell-in-the-Moor Biggleswade-Brixham, very well thought out back story even for your behind the scenes NPCs.
He is perfect. For Jax! Sorry I think you misunderstood, Jax was helping create the letters with forgery.
Cуровую is looking for someone she can impersonate without difficulty.
Cуровую is looking for someone she can impersonate without difficulty.
A woman.
Hm. Harder! Less reason for a woman to be carrying that sort of a message, and the Tower would certainly offer her hospitality (and expect her to accept it) if she did.
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Hence the very 'wealthy but eccentric Lord Stanley' you had mentioned while we were still on the ship. If she is a relation perhaps the familial trait of strangeness is strong in her as well.
(Your words were 'Lord Stanely is probably the single richest noble in the north, but he's eccentric and strange.)
She is no courier, the letters of credential are for her!
She is a wizard by her own right who is 'interested in history, arcana, and the ruins of the Triple Empire.'
Hopefully the magister will see similar interests as a bridge to sharing ideas, knowledge and spells!
Although Jax could now come along as he has a great persona and a great liar.
Or Jax could herald her arrival by a few days but I actually want to invite the magister to the play.
Hence the very 'wealthy but eccentric Lord Stanley' you had mentioned while we were still on the ship. If she is a relation perhaps the familial trait of strangeness is strong in her as well.
She is no courier, the letters of credential are for her!
She is a wizard by her own right who is 'interested in history, arcana, and the ruins of the Triple Empire.'
[rubs chin] Okay. Could work. However, be aware that making yourself the relative of a well-known noble opens you to being unmasked by anyone who can roll a successful Knowledge (Nobility) check.
Anyway, if you're going to impersonate Lord Stanley's half-grandniece, you'll have to do it on Day 8. Let us turn now to the evening of Day 7, as three people and a shadowy nonesuch approach what seems like a blank wall...
I'm rolling Stealth for Morsum [roll roll]. Gosh, you all think you're being really stealthy! So you go murmur the silly pass phrase, and then slowly, slowly step forward into the darkness...
Jax, Dren, Zimu and Morsum: everyone has darkvision, right? (How did Morsum get darkvision again?)
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Cуровую зиму wrote:
She is no courier, the letters of credential are for her!
She is a wizard by her own right who is 'interested in history, arcana, and the ruins of the Triple Empire.'
[rubs chin] Okay. Could work. However, be aware that making yourself the relative of a well-known noble opens you to being unmasked by anyone who can roll a successful Knowledge (Nobility) check.
(Also, what's the duration on that?)
I may have to ecplain further - Cуровую was looking for a relation to a known noble, but who herself was more obscure - one who would
a. have plausible (if not real) ties to the royal court
b. have reason and resources to pursue the arcane art
c. one who at least had some physical similarities to Cуровую (I mean who is dear cousin Elsie portraying?) and
d. unknown enough that whoever did have Knowledge Nobility better match my Knowledge roll of natural 20/33.
:)
Not a spell, this will be Cуровую in a more posh outfit, using wit and charm, without her magical disguise I think. She will color her hair and tan her pale complexion with Cуровую's Lingering Presence.
All eidolons have Darkvision. I think he is the only one with Darkvision.
No, Paizo hands out darkvision like bad weed at a Phish concert. Tieflings have it, Aasimars have it, Dhampirs have it, eidolons have it. Pretty much every new race gets it. And Dren has it as one of his Oracle powers.
Not that I'm cranky at losing the power to turn out the lights, or anything.
M DEAD!! KILLED BY EVIL EVIL DMDM!! Rogue1/Barb (Feral)1 temp hp 14/17 and 9 con (HP 24/25+4 when Raging; AC21/17/15(-2 Raging) ; CMD 16 (18 Rage) Fort +4(6); Ref +8; Will +1( 3); Init +6; Perception +5/6 for Traps; Darkvision
a. have plausible (if not real) ties to the royal court
b. have reason and resources to pursue the arcane art
c. one who at least had some physical similarities to Cуровую (I mean who is dear cousin Elsie portraying?) and
d. unknown enough that whoever did have Knowledge Nobility better match my Knowledge roll of natural 20/33.
They wouldn't have to match your roll, alas. Anyone prominent enough to have ties to the royal court will be known to someone who has good Knowledge Nobility.
This doesn't mean it's auto-fail. More like, it could work... but you really want to stay away from anyone who has K/N. Especially if they start asking questions, because then it becomes K/N versus your Bluff, with appropriate modifications.
In a Talirean context, most (though not all) people with high K/N are nobility themselves.
Quote:
(I mean who is dear cousin Elsie portraying?)
A wealthy Continental noblewoman with no direct ties to the court, of course. A beautiful young widow, converted to Mitra's true faith by a traveling missionary, she has come a fair distance to dwell in the blessed and pious land of Talingarde. Her stunning good looks, great wealth, natural wit, sweet and gentle personality, and deep (if slightly naive) religiosity are all combining to ensure that she has the entree to every noble house and aristocratic social gathering in the North.
Naturally, the Cardinal has gone to some effort to ensure that her backstory will stand up to a moderate level of scrutiny.
And file it is -- single file -- because the passageway is quite small; not quite 3' across and just a bit over 6' high. It's a bit claustrophobic. On the plus side, it's clean and dry; the stonework is closely fitted, obviously dwarven work. You can see torch marks on the ceiling.
The passageway is several hundred yards long. Eventually it ends in a door with a handle.
[fast forward: the door is neither trapped nor locked, and listening gives you no sounds from the other side.]
The door swings inwards towards you. Beyond it is a large, dark room. (There are sconces for torches, but there are no torches.) Since you can all see in the dark, you see that the room is filled nearly to the ceiling with supplies -- barrels, boxes, crates, tuns. Various food-y smells drift on the cool, still air: in one corner of the room, hundreds of sausages hang from the ceiling; somewhere, there are hard cheeses.
There are several trap doors that appear to go down to a lower level. However, upon investigation they lead to bins holding root vegetables.
There is another trap door that is the cover to a well, tank, or cistern. The water level is about 20' below the floor. It's impossible to tell how deep it goes. It doesn't appear to be in regular use.
One corner of the room appears devoted to the storage of non-food supplies; there are several coils of rope, some basic construction equipment (hammers, mortars, a barrel of cement), planks of cut wood, and the like.
The room is dark and quiet. There doesn't seem to be anyone in here right now.
There is a trap door in the ceiling, with wooden stairs leading up to it.
All eidolons have Darkvision. I think he is the only one with Darkvision.
No, Paizo hands out darkvision like bad weed at a Phish concert. Tieflings have it, Aasimars have it, Dhampirs have it, eidolons have it. Pretty much every new race gets it. And Dren has it as one of his Oracle powers.
Not that I'm cranky at losing the power to turn out the lights, or anything.
I liked Infravision and Ultravision. Infravision was elves, gnomes and halflings. It gave them the ability to see heat presences, essentially seeing into the infrared spectrum. Dwarves and many other underground dwellers had Ultravision which allowed them to pick up on ultraviolet light, but became less useful the farther underground one went where the natural stone did not allow the ultraviolet light to penetrate. At least that system from AD&D made sense.
Ultravision was a strange one. UV light doesn't actually penetrate underground... still, yeah, the current system is kind of annoying. "Low-Light Vision"? really?
[Jax notes on the other thread that he has Craft: Alchemy]
orly?
(roll roll)
Okay, here's what you know. The arsenic has a pleasant sweet taste that is easily masked -- that's why it's such a good poison. The Waters of Lamashtu are odorless and tasteless.
Arsenic's toxicity is dose-sensitive, so it will depend on how much stew vs. how many men eating it. The good news is, it takes a fairly small dose to cause nasty effects. The bad news is, it takes a much bigger dose to kill quickly. Intermediate doses have effects ranging from "you get sick as hell but then you get better" to "you get sick, then sicker, then you die".
The Waters are quite expressly non-lethal. (The Mother doesn't want to kill you!) But they cause convulsions, vomiting, hallucinations, insanity, and various sorts of unpredictable side effects.
Combining the two... well, again, it's going to depend on how much stew there is and how many people eat it. But the likely outcome is that (1) large numbers of the consumers will be incapacitated for some period of time, but (2) it's probably not going to kill any of them outright -- arsenic requires too concentrated a dose to kill quickly, and the Waters don't kill at all.
How "incapacitated" and for how long are somewhat open questions. But for sure you wouldn't want to eat this stuff, and nobody who does is likely to forget it.
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Whomever has sharp ears, listen at the door. Do we want to make someone invisible and do a quick review of the area around this entrance? Dren whispers.
M DEAD KILLED BY DMDM Lore Warden 2/Arcane Duelist 3
Stats:
HP 4/45; AC 20(25 w def/CE)/16(21)/14; CMD 19; Init +5; Perception +4; Fort +7 (8 vs Poison), Ref +9, Will +3; Fire Res 1; BP 10/12; Spells Lvl 1 3/4 Initiative +5
DM be happy! The party is split! I think that I am not with you guys, assuming I read the thread correctly
Correct and correct. It's the other three PCs plus... oh, wait a moment. Morsum is more than 1,000 (though less than 10,000) feet from the Judge. So, he's at -75% hp.
Female Aasimar Wizard 6 (HP 53/53; AC 18/18/15; CMD 16 Fort +5; Ref +7 Will +8; Init +3; Perception +11; Darkvision 60 ft)
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
But anyway, yes, it's Dren, Jax, Zimu and Morsum.
What could possibly go wrong?
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
They wouldn't have to match your roll, alas. Anyone prominent enough to have ties to the royal court will be known to someone who has good Knowledge Nobility.
This doesn't mean it's auto-fail. More like, it could work... but you really want to stay away from anyone who has K/N. Especially if they start asking questions, because then it becomes K/N versus your Bluff, with appropriate modifications.
-
Actually I am rather counting on some of those in the fort making Knowledge Nobility rolls, but not too high. A good cover is better if the individuals being conned have some impression of who they think they are dealing with. Cуровую is still interested in a noble with the above 4 criteria from the cardinal's book he gifted to her.
Sadly, DM loves sweet cousin Elise for some reason :(
The Judge is once again sitting in the common room, watching the door while staying in contact with Morsum.
When the innkeeper comes by, the Judge flags him down:
I need a refill.
The Judge takes and looks at the bottom of his glass of wine.
I think your glass has a hole in it.
When the innkeeper returns with the wine, the Judge asks him a question.
Who was that short person who was here last night?
The Judge gives a general description that is similar to Nimby's.
Is he new here at the Inn? I have not had a chance to meet him and was wondering if he is also a merchant. Perhaps he would know of some artisan with unique local arts.
The Judge leans in and whispers:
You know those little people, they always know where the good stuff is.
Bluff: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 15 <-- apparently the Judge has been drinking too much of the wine this evening
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
Of course. Guidance.
We should send someone through invisible to scout the area and see if we can proceed as a group or just have one person scout. We can't be seen yet or get into a fight for some reason.
HP 169/169; AC:37/21/29; Saves: +22/+23/+20; Init +10; Per +28(See Invisibility), CMD 42
Misc:
Effects: Resist Cold 30, Fly 30', Telepathic Bond
I have but brief invisibility spells, nothing that will help in this situation. If you cast it on me, I am willing to scout ahead though. We have a clear way into their supply area though. We should foul up their food for sieges at a later date.
In order to speed things along if I can't post later, presuming Cimu has and does use invisibility, Jax will explore further.
Perception for this storage area and for the room above us where the stairs lead d20 +9 +1
You can't really do Perception for *both*.
But okay: Zimu conducts a slow, careful scan around the room, peering carefully for clues and hints. What she finds is that (1) there's nothing hidden in this room; what you see is what you get. And (2) there's not a lot of traffic through here. This is the major storage room for the Tower. It's where they keep supplies against a siege. There are enough rations here to last 100-some men for six months, and there's also a backup water supply in the well.
It looks like they come down here periodically to turn over supplies -- add new ones, take the older items out and eat/use them before they go bad. But judging from the dust, we're talking weekly visits at best, maybe monthly.
M DEAD KILLED BY DMDM Lore Warden 2/Arcane Duelist 3
Stats:
HP 4/45; AC 20(25 w def/CE)/16(21)/14; CMD 19; Init +5; Perception +4; Fort +7 (8 vs Poison), Ref +9, Will +3; Fire Res 1; BP 10/12; Spells Lvl 1 3/4 Initiative +5
I bet she can dance to, and has a great understanding of wine.
If you were interested in loot, there are several thousand gp worth of stuff in here -- though most of it is bulky and would be quite difficult to transport and sell.
There is a small wine cellar, which was founded decades ago by a Barcan commander. The current Commander got a gift of a crate of expensive wine when he took the job; he's a teetotaler, so he put the crate in the back of the wine cellar, from which Innkeeper Barhold has been pilfering it. The rest of the wine is much less valuable, but a few of the bottles might be worth a few gp.
Morsum looks at the others as they discuss how to proceed forward.
Then the voice from this long distended neck grates forth:
Master says I go. Morsum hard to see. If guards see, Master can send Morsum home. Master say witch can talk to Morsum with magic.
Assuming the rest of the party does not object, Morsum will do the scouting. His Stealth is +14, 5 better than Jax, and if he runs into trouble, the Judge can simply dismiss him resulting in the guards thinking they just saw a shadow (with bloody red eyes and teeth).
If necessary:
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
-->Ok, he cannot pay attention, but he is invisible.
I will try to find out:
1. who is in charge
2. What exactly are they doing
3. Do they have blasting equipment
4. Can they give me a specific rundown of the defenses
Morsum goes up the ramp and, very carefully, lifts the trap door.
The room above is dark and nobody seems to be there right now. It is a circular room, smaller than the storage cavern, and about 30' across.
There is a forge here. On racks on the walls hang weapons -- you can see halberds, longswords, breastplates and heavy steel shields. (All bear the marks of the Talirean army.) On another, smaller rack hang smithing tools. A table holds bits and scraps of metalwork, including some chain mail that appears to be in the process of being repaired.
Male Human Oracle (FC) 15 Init: +8 Perc: +0 AC:24/14/20 F:+13 R:+14 W:+15 HP:124/124 Freedom of movement, Resist Cold/30, Air Walk 30'
As Morsum looks into the next room, We should send Jax out invisible beyond this room. It makes no sense to risk any of us being seen. I think it is better to have one of us be able to evaluate what we see vs. the Judges summoned beast.
