Dragon Age: West Hill Woes (Inactive)

Game Master stardust

Sorry. Guess I should cut back on the graphics.

Feel free to be as graphic as you wish, doesn't bother me none.

Hearing Nicholas whining from the other room, Legnar shakes his head and takes his time going through the Goblin's possessions. Muttering to himself, most likely about their damsel in distress.

With the battle at an end and Ser Nicholas' cries indicating that the young lord is very much alive, Rylan stows his wand away and shouts back with "We're on our way... have you been harmed in any way, Milord!?" to the hidden room in reply.

Glancing over at his two companions, Rylan then says to Ser Calder and Legnar, "I'd better go and see if Ser Nicholas is alright- will the both of you be alright in the meantime?"

After hearing their replies (and healing them if needed), Rylan will head towards the hidden room, ready to administer a heal spell to Ser Nicholas, if needed.

"Aye, we're fine. Let's see if these bastards had a key between 'em...", Calder says. He looks a little more pale than usual.

Noting that Ser Calder does seem a bit pale and Legnar not being in much of rush to see to Ser Nicholas, Rylan nods to them and mentions, "Very well- I should go on ahead to check on Lord Nicholas; he is able to speak and that's always a good sign, thank the Maker.".

With that, the mage respectfully lets the two do what they need to- after all, it was a fairly close fight with what appears to be the leader of the goblynkinde- and heads off towards the direction of Ser Nicholas in the hidden chamber.

Just a bump to keep out of the archives.

Rylan, when you reach the cell door, in the secret room, you can determine immediately that no key is needed. The door is barred with a huge piece of timber instead of a lock.

Ser Calder, I will need a Perception check to search each body.

Perception 1: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 3, 2) + 1 = 7
Perception 2: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 5, 4) + 1 = 11

Sense Legnar was going through them too...

Perception 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 2, 5) + 2 = 14
Perception 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 2, 6) + 2 = 16

Legnar does find a key on a chain around the one-eyed giant's neck. It is made of black iron.

Finding nothing of interest, Calder follows Rylan toward Nicholas' cell.
"Legnar found a key... though I guess it's not to Nicholas' cell eh? Need a hand with that door?"

Where do you think this goes to? Legnar says, holing the key up for the others to see.

Legnar starts looking in the room that Nicholas is in for something that the key could go to.
Perception 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1, 4) + 2 = 12

"Legnar found a key... though I guess it's not to Nicholas' cell eh? Need a hand with that door?"

Looking over at the huge unwieldy piece of lumber barring the doorway, Rylan nods over at Ser Calder's direction, "Most certainly so, Ser Calder- judging by the size of the one-eyed monstrosity that we fought, I'd say that it would've been the likely culprit for placing this fine piece of wood over the entryway"

Where do you think this goes to? Legnar says, holing the key up for the others to see.

Glancing over at the key that Legnar is holding up, Rylan takes out the light box from where he stowed it away during the fight and shines the unearthly light over the entire barred doorway.

Rylan will try to see if there's any apparent keyhole in the door; if he doesn't see any, he'll motion over to the large wood barring the door and say something to the effect of "There might be something either behind this piece of wood or there may even be another door with a lock beyond this one"

There is no keyhole in the door, just the heavy wooden plank blocking the way.

It will require a Strength check to move the wooden plank (but you probably already knew that).

Calder steps up to the wooden plank and attempts to heave it aside...

Strength: 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 5, 6) + 2 = 16

If Calder cannot get it Legnar will assist.

Strength 3d6 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1, 3) + 4 = 11

The two of you working together barely manage to move the barricading crossbar away from the door. (The TN was 18).

The door swings outward easily once the crossbar is removed and Ser Nicholas steps forward, a few scratches and bumps, and somewhat dirty from the hole he had been in, but apparently no worse for wear.

"Thank the Maker, you're in one piece.", Calder exclaims.
"And our reward, along with your father's good regard, is secure...", he thinks to himself.
"I've got some armor for you, nothing too heavy. Just put it on in case we run into any more of those things and we'll get out of here."

Ser Calder pulls out his old suit of heavy leather armor for the Arl's son.

Ser Nicholas looks at the armor distastefully, but surprisingly does as he is told and puts the armor on.

"Yuck... it stinks."

"Yuck... it stinks."

"Welcome to life, boy. Now explain how you got caught buy these gobbledygooks in such short order!" Legnar scolds, as he searches for more potential secret doors, or some use for the found key. People, err... things don't wear keys as fashion accessories.

Were we able to salvage any armor, weapons, or gear from one-eye and his squishy friend?

With Ser Nicholas released from where he was held and armored up shortly after, Rylan goes to taking out the healing kit from his pack and doing a quick examination/lookover of the young lord to see if there were any serious injuries present in short order.

either Perception at +1 or Cunning (healing) at + 2, 3d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3) = 13, if there are any present, will either use the healing kit or cast a heal spell (if serious injuries are present)

After listening to Ser Nicholas' explantion to Legnar, Rylan asks "Were there any others besides yourself who were held captive by these creatures?".

"Well, I ran, like you told me to. And then I thought I saw someone go into this cave, so I followed them. And then it turned out to be a green thing."

Ser Nicholas has no idea what the creatures are, but he does not seem to be injured in any way.

"They chained me up for a time on that rack thing, but the big one put me in here instead. I think they wanted to eat me..."

The giant's plate armor and greatsword are somewhat scratched and bent up, but usable if they can be cleaned, as is the chain mail armor the brutish one wore.

"Denerim's not coming to us. Let's get moving. Legnar, you got the sharpest eyes, you should take the lead. Rylan after Legnar, Nicholas after Rylan. I'll take the rear in case there are any surprises. Stay close from here on out."

The journey out of the cave, underground dungeon system, is uneventful.

And you all Level to Level 2

Trundling along after Legnar in the agreed-upon party lineup, Rylan takes the opportunity to "admire" the scenery, so to speak, as the mage mentally catalouges the various bits of information about the party's entire experience with the goblynkinde and reconciling that information with what little he recalls of what he's heard about them in the Circle.

For level 2, Rylan will have his cunning increased by +1 to a grand total of 3. He will also gain Cunning (Healing) focus. In terms of health points, he gets 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 hit points extra and for mana, he gets 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 additional mana. As for his 2nd level spell, he will take Daze as his next spell.

The dungeon system is unremarkable except for its crude and ancient architecture. It bears no specific details of worksmanship except for the basic architectural square.

Examining the cave behind the waterfall leads you to believe that the cave itself has been carved by water. Everything else has been, for the most part, crudely constructed.

Night has fallen and the forest is now black except where the light from the light box illuminates the trees, rocks, and bushes that are scattered throughout the landscape.

Ser Calder lights one of his torches for extra light.
"Best we try to find the horses and set up camp soon. Let's head for the road."
Perception: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 1, 6) + 1 = 14

"Maybe it would be better ta set up camp in tha cave?"

"If the horses are nearby, perhaps we can lead them back to here- at least we know that the cave should be relatively safe enough". Rylan does leave unspoken his own thoughts of if we did manage to clear out all of the goblynkinde from it.

"Personally, I'd rather not sleep in a cave where vengeful little green men might come after us while we rest... but I'll find the horses first and figure it out from there. Maybe there's someplace more defensible around without the promise of bandits or goblyns."

"Wherever is fine. Lets just find a place ta rest. Been a long day..."

The horses had not wandered far from the road (I forgot if you tied them up or not), and were grazing peacefully in a field near a bridge over a clear stream.

Calder whistles to the horses, trying to round them up and bring them back toward the party.
Communication (Animal Handling): 3d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 2, 2) + 3 = 11

In what light remains, he surveys the land for the most promising and advantageous campsite.
Cunning (Military Lore) If it applies.: 3d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 1, 5) + 3 = 11

Once the horses are gathered together, Rylan will transfer the items gained from both the unfortunate spider's victim and the goblynkinde that he's currently carrying and stow them away into the appropriate saddlebags for the party.

When that is all done, the mage will try to assist Ser Calder in finding some nearby campsites.

perception 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (4, 1, 4) + 1 = 10 to help find a campsite

You find what seems like a suitable place near the road.

Ok, to speed things up let's say we set a watch- Legnar, then Calder, then Rylan and camp for the night.

"Ok, I've got first watch then."

With all of the effort spent setting up camp, to say nothing of the events that had happened earlier, Rylan find himself weary and more than ready to set off to some much needed sleep. Before he dozes off, the mage readily agrees to the arrangement with, "Wake me when my watch is up"

If there's no disturbance during the night, Rylan will recover 13 health points plus all of his mana while he's asleep; I'm guessing that each watch will be in 4 hour shifts

CHAPTER 2

All characters heal up completely, both hp and mp in the interim. This next chapter takes place at Geldheim, a small hamlet two days ride west of Denerim. The community is a small one, consisting only of a tavern, a small chantry, and a few houses and farms. Traveling to the hamlet is uneventful, and Ser Nicholas does not complain (too much) about the journey thus far. He seems anxious, now, to get to Denerim, and given the adventures you've had so far, you might also be. Because Geldheim is a small hamlet, the wealthiest person only has 100 silver pieces. Most items with a value of less than 20 silver pieces can be purchased at normal price.

As the party comes upon the small hamlet of Geldheim, Rylan lets out an appreciative sigh of relief as he catches sight of the various buildings. Compared to the prior days of "roughing it" out in the wilderness, the modest community seems a sight for sore eyes.

"We'd best see if we can find some lodgings here for the night", the mage addresses the rest of his compatriots.

"Sounds like a plan. Even the horses are looking forward to a night under a roof. If you'd like, I'll take care of getting them stabled."

"I don't know about you two, but I'em excited ta 'ave a home cooked meal 'n some fresh ale! Hmm...Don't look like we'd be able ta sell tha armor 'n stuff here if the whole town gone and chipped in ta pay."

The tavern is a shabby building, but what might be more alarming is the silence from the chantry. Normally, the Chant can be heard throughout the day. The chantry seems remarkably still.

An older peasant, apparently drunk, lurches out of the tavern. "Jona-? That you, boy? Where you been?" He looks at Ser Nicholas who pulls his horse away from the strong stench of inebriation.

Ser Calder steps between Nicholas and the drunk.
"Not quite, friend. What's going on around here, what happened to the Chantry?"

The drunk looks at Ser Calder, his eyes still glazed over.

"The Chantry? What's wrong at the chantry? Nothing there now. All gone."

At that moment an older man comes out of the tavern, putting a firm hand on the drunk's shoulder.

"Now Tomas. Get on home to your wife, I'm sure she's worried about ye."

The older man has graying hair and wears a barkeep's apron.

"I suggest you move on, friends. The past week has been dark indeed. Strangers aren't welcome here. There's a larger village closer to Denerim you can reach before midnight if ye hurry."

Legnar raises an eyebrow. "Chantry gone, strangers not welcome, "dark" times... What's go'n on here pops?" Legnar asks, throwing some coin down for some ale and answers.

Rylan glances over in the direction of the "empty" Chantry from time to time but otherwise will stay in earshot of the conversation between the older man (whom the mage presumes to be the tavern's barkeep) and the others.

Will try to see if anything is wrong with the Chantry building via Perception, 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (2, 3, 3) + 1 = 9

The Chantry does seem quiet, but not necessarily deserted.

The tavernkeep hands most of the coin back to the dwarf. "A drink ye'll have, if ye need to parch yer first. But I won't have outsiders pokin' around here. We've enough problems as it is."

Looks like you might actually have to use that Communication attribute a bit here.

Communication 3d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 5, 4) + 2 = 13 | Bargaining
Not sure if bargaining applies here, if it does, add +2

Legnar raises an eyebrow as he takes a swig of the ale. "How could we make things worse? We only meant ta stay tha night. We've been on tha road fer days, and we'er exhausted. I'm sure whatever problems yer town here is having, a few passerby's spend'n tha night won't matter. Wha's so big ah problem tha ye are willing to push out travelers willing ta spend a little o money?"

Is there an inn attached to the tavern, or is it another establishment?

If the drunken man- Tomas whom the barkeep referred to him as- begins to stumble off to home, Rylan will try to see where and which direction the drunkard will be heading off to. Perception for 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 5, 1) + 1 = 12

Otherwise, if the Tomas stays where he is, Rylan will begin to head over to where Ser Nicholas is standing and say, "Milord, perhaps we should go and check upon the horses", moving to lead the young lord away from the drunkard.

The fireplace in the tavern is large enough, its obvious its sometimes used as a common room. The tavern itself isn't large enough for separate rooms.

"As ye say, its our problem." The man isn't impressed by your negotiating skills. "If I were you, though. I wouldn't stay around to find out."

Tomas wanders off into the night, apparently heading towards one of the homes nearby.