Exploring the Savage World of Keltica

Game Master ZenFox42

Waiting for Arabella, if she wants to add anything to convince the mayor of this threat.

Arabella mostly sticks to a role of confirming what the others say and explaining technical details as well as she can. She's a little shy of being in the limelight, worried that word may have reached across the pond about some of her misdeeds back in the old world.

The mayor looks slightly stunned for a few seconds, then clears his throat. "Hurmph! Well, that is indeed quite a tale - and by that I don't mean a fictional one! Can you tell me *where* this army of Orcs is gathering?" and walks over to a large map on one of the walls of his study, showing the entire continent of Celtica, complete with all the other races' colonies and their territories, as well as known Orc tribes.

I'm going to try and get back to posting at least a little bit every day, just so everyone knows. Please try to check daily if possible.

Does the map have geologic features, i.e. mountain ranges, swamps etc.

Can we assume we got a "bird's eye view" of the area while flying the cart around. Therefore can we determine aproximatly where we could have been. Also, K'Don may know which orc tribe was in the mine and be able to find it on the map.

And can we get a copy of that map!

-Posted with Wayfinder

Gerta had a crude map with just a few geological markings on it, showing her lab and some other point of interest. One of you has it.
Like the human slaves, the Orc guards were from all over.

Unfortunately, after trying to compare Gerta's simple hand-drawn map to the mayor's, you decide that Gerta's is on too small a scale to match up.

The little bit of flying that Arabella did with Gerta, and the group did before being struck by lightning, also wasn't enough to be able to spot any large landmarks. All you know is that you were in the mountains. There is a large, long N/S range of mountains just east of the center of the continent.

Any other ideas?

K'Don thinks..."Damn, my armor stash is lost!!"

"Well, it must be somewhere in that mountain range. We have the flying cart, shouldn't be too much problem to fly down the range and see if we can find it, or even someone who knows where it is."

The mayor thinks for a moment. "So, you've seen a facility full of Orcs that you killed, but you're not sure if you can find it again. You've heard of another such facility, but you have no idea where it is. And you think that other facility may be arming Orcs for an attack, but you don't know *where* for sure they might attack first. Does that about sum it up?

It's not that I don't believe the heroes of Roxbury, but you're giving me precious little here to work with. *If* an Orc attack is coming, I will do everything in my power to help stop it. But it sounds like you need to gather some detailed information about this other facility, and their exact plans. Does that sound reasonable?"

"We thought it prudent to inform you of the information we had til now. We can do a few recon flights to see if anything is near by. Yes, we need to gather more info, but you might want to be prepared incase the Orcs attack before we get back"

Why do so many of your NPCs have... "issues?" :op

Connor balls his fists. "We're trying to warn you! If you don't wanna help us we'll do it on our own but if you don't get ready people could die! My uncle died!"

The mayor turns his gaze at Connor, looking him in the eye. In a friendly voice he says "young man, I am truly sorry about your uncle. But I didn't say I wouldn't help, I said I needed more information before I can act. Do you understand the difference?" He waits for Connor to reply.

<Connor's answer goes here>

"I can send some scouting parties out, but if you can't even tell me if they are northwest, southwest, or due west of us, our chances of spotting them are slim.

I will drill the town's guard some to keep them on their toes. But until we know anything for sure, I would please ask that you *not* spread any rumors among the townsfolk about Orcs coming to attack us - that can only cause panic. Is that clear?"

He goes over to his desk and pulls a knob. In a moment, an aide walks in and the mayor whispers some instructions to him. The aide leaves.

"Now, what do you need in terms of...'provisions and weapons', I believe you said?"

"Food and water, amunition, a map if you have one, a compass, pen and paper to write you notes of our progress.

We will do some recon by air cart before we head out to search for the "Big Bad Guy". I don't know how finding the old mine will help, we searched it very well and destroyed the lab. But it might be a place to start since we released the locals in that area. We may have some luck questioning them or the orcs in the area."

Do you have a map of the this place, ie the contenant

"One other idea, for what it's worth," Arabella says. "When we were out west, we were told the orcs had accepted the humans and others who had been settling that area. But then some of the orc tribes began to attack settlements, as we witnessed first hand. When we were in the mines, we observed two types of orcs. One type was similar to the tribes we encountered, but another type seemed bigger, more ferocious, better at fighting. Perhaps the reason the orcs began acting against the humans in the area was that they were being influenced or even bullied by these tougher orcs. That might suggest the mines we seek are in that area."

As WindDancer twitches her tail in agitation, Connor gives the mayor a steely look and says nothing.

"Food, water, ammo, map, compass, pen, paper - no problem.

I would appreciate if you could sweep the area northwest to southwest of here with your...aircart...did you call it? Even a large mass of Orcs could not completely hide underneath the trees. It would be good to know there are none right nearby."

Map is up. Ignore "country" lines, they don't exist. But WeMadeIt is right on the east coast, where "Nuaria" meets "Venidon".

How about a scale. Coast to coast East-West and North-South.

United States of America.

Marko glances in Connor's direction"Perhaps, before we set out, we should have a memorial service for Alex. This might help give some closure for Connor... and the rest of us"

Why not use the names on the map and call them provinces, at least we will have a frame of reference.

K'Don will point to the northern end of the mountain range closeset to WeMadeIt (WMI).

"That looks like a good place to start"

To the Mayor
"Do you have ANY information about those mountains. Rumors, hearsay, Orc locations, Settlers.?"

Looking to Connor
"What do you think Connor, do you want a memorial service for Alex?"

To Connor and WD, "How fast is WindDancer, How much ground can she cover in a single flight without getting too tired?

I suggest we use the air cart as a base of operations and have WindDancer to circular recons, if she is up to it. Connor, you will have to handle the recon by WindDancer, and keep us up to date on her flight abilities. Can you do that for us?"

"Connor, any ideas on where we should start. You seem to have some kind of gift, maybe you get a sense of where we should go?
Looking at the map and bringing Connor over to look at it as well.

I've done some marking on the map, hope that is OK.

Connor's eyes get a little watery at the mention of Alex, but he manages not to cry, and shakes his head. It's clear that the loss is still too fresh, too painful.

He distracts himself with the questions and stabs a finger down on the map. "There. Let's go there."

GM, do with the finger-stab what you will.

A moment of silence is shared between Connor and WindDancer. "She'll help. She says she can go real far real fast, but not as fast as other osts because of her injury."

I don't think speed and range have ever been discussed, to be honest. I went through old emails with ZF and came up empty. Her "book pace" is 6 and I guess we could apply that to flying. As far as range, she's an aerial creature as much as terrestrial, so other than limiting factors like her old wing injury, needing to eat and sleep, etc., staying in the air shouldn't be a problem. "Telepathy I" range was originally agreed upon at 300', but she can fly out farther than that and swing back in to report.

"What about that 'crystal compass' Gerta made? If she could find Arabella's crystals, maybe we can use it to find her mines again?"

Slapping his own forhead in a classic Homer Simpson gesture...
"Duohhh!!, In all the ruckus I forgot completely about the crystal compass. That is the best idea yet!!"

But still noting the place on the map Connor poked a hole in with his finger.

Could you note on the map where Connor plunked his finger. It edits easily as you can see by my additions to the map.

Taking a moment to push his glasses up on his nose. Marko ponders for a few seconds ... "So that crystal compass points the way to crystal mines? Facinating"

Not sure if I knew that was what it was for. Probably just missed the post.

This is an snippet of our treasure finding in Gerta's lab. Can we use her map and see if it coordinates with any features on the Mayor's Map

There was, however, that "crystal compass" she showed you - it's still in the lab. ... -You find a map of the area tucked in-between two books on the bookshelf as you search for the hidden panel. The map has several landmarks marked on it (cliffs, lakes, etc.), and a couple of X's. Hard to judge the scale. ... -There's well over 100 GP (remember, you're used to SP!) and several...

Could you note on the map where Connor plunked his finger.

"You" being the GM because that's his call...

10-4 good buddy

Connor - why don't you add a text "X" to the map? Your call will be Connor's call...
K'Don - I discussed Gerta's map at the top of this page, my third post down.
Gerta had shown Arabella how to operate the compass, and how to set it to ignore closer sources like her goggles and the aircart.

Because Connor can't reach the map from here. :op He might actually have an idea where to drop an X, but the player doesn't. With an entire world (or at least entire continent) from which to choose and no relevant data, there's no way I can place a marker that would in any way be useful. You on the other hand know how much Connor should know and how good you want his guess to be, you have at least a rough idea of how many days travel away and in what area you want the target to be, and so on. Ergo my putting the X-ing in the hands of the GM.

If you insist on my doing it, then it'll have to wait until I get home, bring the map up on my monitor, and shoot at it from across the room with my suction-cup dart gun. :op

-Posted with Wayfinder

K'Don will assist Connor by showing him where WeMadeIt is on the map and suggest Connor select somewhere on the mountain range closest to the city.

Did Arabella show Marko how to work the Crystal Compass?

Connor, Close your eyes and concentrate on finding the "Big Bad Guy" open your eyes and point to somewhere on the mountain range.

Connor already did that, in character, in game. It's just a question of whether the GM really wants me-the-player to mark an arbitrary spot on the game map.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Connor - if you don't want to, you don't have to.

Katana says "The compass is back at the inn, and we're probably wasting the mayor's valuable time. Let's go back and see if Arabella can help us figure the thing out."

Anyone want to say any last words to the mayor?

"The little dragon here is named WindDancer. She is very friendly. We will send you progress reports at regular intervals, even if it is to say we haven't found anything yet. That way if you don't get a note from us, assume something has happened. We will let you know where we are as best we can."

"Connor, how about you introduce WindDancer to the Mayor so they can get aquainted. OH, and Mayor be sure to let your guards know that WindDancer is allowed to come see you so no one takes a pot shot at her. She is a valuable assett to our team."

Connor's manner changes from distracted sadness to delighted pride as WindDancer's importance is proclaimed. He turns his head to look at her, perched on his shoulder.

-Posted with Wayfinder

She looks at her little-big as Connor thinks at her, then nods and leaps from his shoulder to flit over to the mayor.

"Kkkkello," she chirps as she hovers a foot in front of the man's face.

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Introduce your self your Execllency. She is really quite intellegent. And she won't bit, I'm sure. Maybe extend your hand for her to land on."

"We will send a message every day. Giving you the direction and distance. Plus, any land marks of significance. Please send a message back so we know what is going on there.

Connor, can you explain to WindDancer the plan. We will be sending a message to the Mayor every day, if she is up to it and the mayor may send a message back."

The boy looks doubtful at the suggestion of a hand-landing. "I dunno, she doesn't take so good to strangers."

Connor stares for a moment at WindDancer who, mid-hover, looks over her shoulder at Marko and nods.

"She says she'll carry the messages."

Are we going to be close enough to WeMadeIt for daily round-trips? If you figure the average airspeed of an unladen ost is 25MPH, then that's e.g. an eight hour round trip if we're 100 miles out. That doesn't leave much time for circular air recon as was being suggested.

-Posted with Wayfinder

OK then I'm open to suggestions

The mayor is startled by WindDancer's sudden appearance in front of him, but recovers quickly and then is filled with curiosity and delight at studying her. "Hello, little one" he says in a friendly voice.

If WD can read other people's feelings at all, the mayor is a good, kind-hearted person who is truly delighted at her appearance. Why not have WD make some kind of "reaction roll" (your choice of dice) to see how she feels about him?

"Perhaps considering the distances involved, we should save her services for emergency situations, like spotting an army of Orcs heading towards us, or telling us the location of the other facility once you find it."

If WD can read other people's feelings at all, the mayor is a good, kind-hearted person who is truly delighted at her appearance. Why not have WD make some kind of "reaction roll" (your choice of dice) to see how she feels about him?

She can only feel emotions via her mental link. So just Connor for now, until she gains Telepathy II which lets her connect to someone other than her bonded "owner." Outside of that she's no different from any person/animal. I typically use a d100 for reaction rolls, with higher being better.

Reaction Roll: 100 = 100 Wow, she just adores the mayor! :oO

The big's friendly tone (I guess we know how he got to be mayor... I tell ya, these sweet-talkin' politicians!) is both reassuring and inviting, and she quickly flits up to land on the top of his head, her tail hanging down in his face. :op

EDIT: Something's wonky with that dice roll, I think Wayfinder screwed up the syntax somehow (though it looks right on this tiny screen... unless the "d" has to be lower case?) But I'm gonna leave it like it is because it's too much fun this way. :o)

-Posted with Wayfinder

After a few moments for the two to get aquainted, K'Don speaks up...
"Perhaps we should get going. The Mayor is busy and we have lots to do before we head out so let's get to it."

So the group says their goodbyes to the mayor, and returns to the inn. Arabella shows Marko how to set the crystal compass to ignore the crystals in her goggles, and watches as he sets it to ignore the crystals in the aircart. After doing that, it vvvveeeerrrryyyy sssslllloooowwwwwllllyyy drifts to a stop pointing west by northwest. That is nowhere near where Connor picked on the map.

Later that day, you hear in the streets the call of the newsboys about a special edition of the newspaper, and that the mayor will give a speech at his office just before dinnertime.

"We can make a quick recon flight around the town before the Mayor speech. Let's go."

"Good idea."
Heading to the air cart, we will fly a few circles (each a little further out) and see what is happening if anything."[/b]