Dragon's Demand (Inactive)

Game Master Baerlie

Ok :)

You head back to town with all the money and valuable equipment from the cave. Some people look at you like you were robbers, but don't say anything. The baroness welcomes you once more. "Hello, how can I help you this fine day?" she asks.

Hans draws himself up and bows, before gruffly saying:

"Well M'lady, whilst exploring the manor, we caught wind of the fact that the former occupant was storing some additional stuff in a 'secure storage' cave off-site. We had to deal with some rather vicious wolves, and a zombified spider-thing, but I think you will find that there is some valuable stuff in here!"

He then sets about showing the baroness the contents of the various chests.

ting helps Hans pull the items out of the trunks, looking wistfully at the mitheral scroll tube as he mumbles under his breath. We's is bloody well doing tha wroight thing, we's is, I always wanted ta be one of tha bloody good guys, wroight."

did we ever check the scroll tube to see what is in it?

I don't think so, but you can do that before you get back to the village.

The scroll tube contains a single scroll.

"Does that mean you killed the wolves which kept attacking the Abrassus Ranch? That's good news, I suggest you head over to the ranch to collect your reward, it is a lot of money as far as I remember."

She has a look at the contents of the chest and while looking through the items she continues "A zombified spider thing? That has to be one of Huncley's pets. It sounds cruel, but sometimes I think his death saved us from something big and evil." The last sentence she says more to herself than to you.

"We will add the items to the auction list and I offer you 10% of the overall value before I send the remaining cash to Huncley's cousin. Does that sound fair?" she asks.

With a big smile and a wink of her eyebrow Felicitas answers "15?"
Diplo: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

15 sounds much better than 10 As Felicitas asks the Duchess for 15% ting smiles his cheeky Tengu smile, nodding his head vigorously in agreement.

aid diplomacy: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8

"Well, as it's not my money and Hunclay's cousin doesn't know how much Hunclay collected, she can be glad we send her what you found in the caves. 15 is ok, you deserve an extra for your honesty." the baroness answers and pays out the 15%. "We will send the cash to Hunclay's cousin, the rest will be sold at the auction. Are you going to attend the auction?" she asks.

If I'm not mistaken that's another 2817,45 gp.

Hans looks to the others, and nods.

"I think that we were planning to do so; I know that there was at least one thing my esteemed Tengu colleague was interested in bidding on..."

remembering the birds in the cage in the first room, ting asks "Is 'em birds in tha cagey thing gonna be sold? I's would likes ta bid on 'em, that's fer blood.. fer dang sure, mam" Ting looks around sheepishly hoping no one noticed the slip in his language.

LOL, Hans' post wasn't up when I started typing, Now I just need to figure out if he was talking about the birds or something else!

"Well you should have in any case a very .. very fine collection of items for your auction! Well do you have any other tasks for us?"

"If not, we should probably head across to the Abrassus ranch..."

"Not yet, Miss Sweetfingers. And the birds will be the first item to be sold at the auction. I think you will have some silent days until the auction day." the baroness answers.

you heard some rumors at the beginning of the story:
- a druid is missing
- miner ghosts
- the wolves (finished)
- Hunclay collects evil books and worships devils (finished)

And you aquired all the side quests which you were able to during the adventure so far. There are more of course, but they can't be aquired through rumors.

If you want more rumors, just roll d12s as long as you want to listen to the townsfolk. If you roll a 1, 3, 4, 8 or 9, roll again :)

Well, let's call in at the ranch, then investigate the missing druid?

Ting nods in agreement, "'At sounds like a bloody good idea gov'n'r, off ta tha ranch wroight." on the way out of town ting chitter chatted with folks, introducing himself and the team, asking general questions.

rumors: 1d12 ⇒ 5
rumors: 1d12 ⇒ 12
rumors: 1d12 ⇒ 7

three for three, cannot complain about that.

More rumors

They say Bassy's the oldest person in town, but how can that be? She look like she's a child! They say her grandmother was a friend of Lady Belhaim.

The stories say the Crypt of Tula's haunted by her husband's spirit, but no one's been in there for years, so how could anyone know for sure?

I've seen the strangest things on my hunting trips along Dragonfen's borders, including huge hairy men who howl like wolves and stand nearly ten feet tall!

You head over to the ranch of Prake Abrassus. Prake is cropping the sheep in the barn. "Welcome, how can I help you? I have some wool and sheep meat to offer. My wife made sausages yesterday. Interested?" the man asks.

"The sausage would be excellent... I would love to buy a few!"

hearing about sausages, ting smacks his beak in a loud drooling sound and answers "Sausages, we's always interested in sausages, wroight?" forgetting his manners for a second he quickly introduces the team to Prake, tipping his conical straw hat "Pardon me's Where's me manners? I be's ting tang, an the giant bisecter his self is Hans an tha pretty lady with tha bestest singin' pipes is Felicitas. We's heard yer the feller 'at was 'aven tha trouble wit' tha bloody wolves an we's come ta tell ya's 'ay aren't a gonna be troubles no more, wroight?"

Hans smiles and nods.

"Sausages sound lovely! My feathered friend speaks the truth, though - we popped-by because we had heard that you were having wolf trouble, and we thought we should let you know that we recently put down a wolf the size of a horse, and a pair of normal-sized wolves that were running with it."

"So you are here to collect the reward? How do I know that you speak the truth? Do you have a proof that you killed the wolves?" Abrassus asks while he leads you to his house. He invites you to enter a small shop at the front. The shop is filled with everything you can make of sheeps and their products. Chops, sausages, fleece, yarn, pullovers, milk and cheese. A woman sits in the room and knits a scarf.

"Welcome!" she says with a smile. "Everything you see here is home made. Do you want to try some?" she sys and offers you some cheese.

"Well," Hans says helpfully, "There is a rather large wolf carcass we can show you - the big one would probably make a decent rug - it's about the size of a grizzly! We would probably need a cart to shift it, though..."

I knew we should have made that tent.

didn't think about proof ting, trying to figure out how to prove he gutted the giant wolf and rolled around in its offal while it bled out over him, accepts the piece of cheese nodding graciously at the lady. "T'anks" turning to the man smiling If I were him I wouldn't trust me either, tengu's have a reputation. he says, "Nopes, no proofs a'tall, but we's can take ya ta tha bloody crick an cave we's kilt em at, an show ya tha bloody carcass' wroight" realizing too late he was using that kind of language in front of the misses, he turns and says with the cheese in his mouth "No Offence, Mam"

"Ok, show me." and the man follows Hans and Ting to the place where the wolves were killed. From far you smell the stench of blood and sticky, wet fur. Flies are already around. At the sky you see birds waiting to get a piece of the cadaver.

"Well, that's what I call a good job. You did not lie, you really killed those bastards." ha says and cuts off a paw of the big wolf. "I will keep this to tell the others in the inn tomorrow. And my grand children one day." He smiles.

"You really deserve the reward." Abrassus says and leaves you alone for a moment. When he comes back he carries a small chest. He opens it in front of you. "This is your reward, 800 gp. It's a lot, but our sheep are now safe and we can continue working as usual." he says while handing the chest to Ting.

Meanwhile Felicitas did some shopping and had a chat with Mrs. Abrassus. She's responsible for running the shop and preparing the sheep's meat into sausages, jerkey, cutlets and she collects the herbs her husband uses to make her famous herb sheep cheese.

Following he man back to the shop, ting takes the chest from the man, looking uneasily from Hans and to Feicitas as she comes out of the shop, he leans over and asks Hans We's gots plenty a cash, an we's kilt 'em wolves a for we knews about tha reward. Does we need's 'is sheep 'erders money? A few sausages an' sheepy cheese would do's me fine, wrought."

Hans nods his agreement to Ting Tang.

"Agreed. We are already doing quite well for ourselves."

He then turns and smiles warmly to the farmer.

"Keep your money - your farm will do all the better if you can continue to plow the profits back into it. Knowing that we have made life around here safer for you is reward enough... although I wouldn't say no to some fresh sausages and a little herb cheese - I hear that is quite excellent!"

Especially since there really isn't much to spend the money on, we might as well continue to just build our rep with the 'common folk'...

The farmer looks at you in astonishment. "Are you sure?" and after realizing you mean what you say he says "Thank you very much! I offer you free sausages, cheese, milk and whatever you like for the rest of your life!" he says and kisses his wife.

I'd say they are nor more than friendly, they are helpful.

Hans smiles warmly.

"That is mighty kind of you. Believe me when I say that it is no trouble at all to help fine folks such as yourselves."

I guess we now need to chase some of those rumours?

Mmmmm, sausages and cheese for life, maybe we should move here Ting smiles his tengu smile "Thank you's very kindlies," Turning to leave he stops and asks "Oh does you's know anything about's tha missin' druidy feller we heard about's?"

You don't need to, the rumors are going to be resolved during the module, like the wolves were part of the story. But what you can do is to verify if the rumors are true and what the folks know about his whereabouts.

"The druid? You mean Azmur Kell? Yes, I haven't seen him for some time now. And also his wife Rima. She's pregnant so I thought that he took her to her family to bear the child. I remember that they left town one morning about two months ago, but never returned. Did you hear something else?"

ting reaches up under his conical straw hat and scratches his head, then he explains, "Naw, ain't heard nothin', I's just wonderin' if tha druid disappearin' had anythin' ta do wit the miner ghosts, 'ats all, wroight?"

"In any case we are happy that you feel safer now. And, please, the next time you are in the tavern, never hesitate to mention it to other.. potential clients."

"Agreed! We are always happy to help with any... similar problems that might be besetting the local community."

Alright, so, at this point, are we simply waiting for the auction?

"Of course I will ask around if somebody needs help." Abrassus answers to Felicitas' suggestion while his wife packs up a lot of sausages and cheese. She hands the bag to Felicitas.

A few days pass and finally the auction day is here.

The auction is open to the public, and many of Belhaim's citizens attend out of curiosity, even though few have the means to compete for the big-ticket items. You are given a place of honor with front-row seats. Serious bidders, including locals such as the Adras family, Sir Pelle Benhovy, Arnholde Devy, the Belhaim historian Bassy, and Swerlo Grayhands, are seated within the first two tiers closest to the stage.

Spectators fill whatever other seats are available. The baroness is present and seated next to her son Arnholde

remember, the baroness has offered to pay half the cost of anything you bid on and win in the upcoming auction, to a maximum amount of 7,500 gp from her coffers

After everybody took a seat the auction starts. The first item is the lot of exotic birds. The opening bid is 50gp.
"50 gp for these beautiful exotic birds! It's a bargain! Look at their colors, you will never get tired watching them bath and eat!" Chosk Grellen, the auctioneer, shouts.

The bidding works like this: you tell a price and roll a Bluff or Intimidate and I will tell you what happens next, if you win the lot or if somebody else increases the bid.

the birds, that's why I'm here nudging Hans and pointing at the birds, Ting calls out "50 gp, wroight"

intimidate: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (20) - 2 = 18

Just in the moment Ting shouts his first bid Sir Pelle intended to raise his hand but stops when he sees Ting's glare in the eyes and his 'bodyguard'.

"First bid, 50gp, somebody wants to bid 100gp? 100gp for these exoctib birds ladies and gentlemen! The birds are young, they don't need much food or water, they will make you happe for many years! 100gp? Nobody? Ok. Sold for 50gp to the man in the front row!" the auctioneer shouts.

well that was easier than I thought Ting looks about surprised, looking to Hans and Felicitas, smiling his Tengu smile, he then whispers Now if I's remembers proper etiquette we's'l waits till tha bloody auction is done an 'en pay fer our items wroight?"

Ting receives a sheet of paper which reads 'Exotic Birds, Winning Bid 50gp'.

Grellen continues with the auction, he sells the kitchen lot, the parlor lot, the dining room lot and the library lot before he gets to the stuffed grizzly bear Iso is interested in. "Our next item is a stuffed grizzly bear. It stands six and a half feet tall, the fur is still fine, no moths or other virmin damaged it. The opening bid is 60 gp! Who bids 60gp? 60gp for the stuffed grizzly bear, ladies and gentlemen!"

You can see that Mr. Pickets and Melanctha Adras are interested in the grizzly.

again, Bluff/Intimidate checks, DC is higher this time: DC20

I physically cannot make that.

Hans raises his hand to signal his interest in the opening bid...

Bluff: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (15) - 2 = 13.

...but quickly bows out when he sees that there is strong interest from some of the locals.

we could talk Felicitas into bidding for it! Then we could 'aid' her as needed right?

Eh. I don't mind. To be honest, carting the grizzly around would be problematic ;-)

Looking at her friends and leaning over Felicitas remarks...
"Let´s keep to easily moveable items. The bear would look great in your home Hans... but it is how many miles away?"

Iso raises his hand to accept the opening bid followed by Mr. Pickets who rises the bid to 120 gp. "120 gp is the current bid, 180 gp somebody? 180 gp for this beautiful stuffed animal. Put it in front of your door during the night and you will scare away all the burglars! 180 gp for this grizzly!"

just making sure you are not interested any more ;)

Hans keeps quiet, waiting for the next lot.

Bluff: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (3) - 2 = 1.

I think that it is safe to say he doesn't win the potions, either ;-)

"Sold for 120 gp to Mr. Pickets." the auctioneer shouts and continues with the next lot, the potions.

"Next is a lot of assorted potions. It includes two vials of oil of keen edge, a potion of undetectable alignment, a potion of protection from acid, and a potion of protection from fire. They might come in handy if you are and adventurer. The opening bid is 660 gp!" Grellen anounces and waits for raised hands.

I had a Bluff of 1 on the potions - beyond 660gp it is unlikely to be worth it, as it starts to get close to retail price of the (actually useful) potions.

Hans raises his hand to show his interest in the opening bid, but is quickly (and aggressively!) outbid.

Bluff (Summoning Journal): 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0.

Umm... Wow. These are some terrible rolls :-/ I guess I am making up for all of the crits ;-)

Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24

ting, coughs and winks at the auctioneer.

bluff: aid another: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0

sorry, no help at all!

I decided to give Felicitas and Ting a chance to win it :D

Hans, Felicitas and Ting raise their hands at the same time, but Felicitas' hand is higher. A pink haired gnome looks at her angrily, but does not raise her hand. "Three, Two, One! The potions for the lady in the front row!" the acutioneer shouts and Felecitas receives a voucher as well.

Sever other items are sold before it's time for the summoning journal. "Next on my list is a summoning journal. Please deal with it only if you know what you are doing or Belhaim will have more daemon citizens than normal ones. Hahaha! Nevermind, opening bid for this journal is 1000 gp!"

DC25 to outbid all the others

Clausyre wins the summoning journal for 3000 gp. And after several other lots the auctioneer declares "This is the last item today. A beautiful Mithral scroll tube containing a scroll of permanency. Opening bid are 300 gp. Ladies and Gentlemen, your last chance today. The Mithral scroll tube for 300 gp!" he shouts and waits for hands.

DC25 again :)