GM Fanguar's Savage Tide (Inactive)

Game Master Fanguar

I did not forget. I paid 40 gold per day for the first 36 days to live with the monks. And remaining 24-26 days he will be trying to work for his living +, I hope.

No, I forgot, sorry.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Easier to just explain ooc...

You wont be allowed to just poke around fully geared. You will be able to store your stuff without fear of it being stolen. You will will be given bath robes, so you can try to smuggle in weapons (maybe not a polearm though). If anyone has charm person or the like, you can bypass the attendants, but I'm not going to let you sweet talk your way into snooping around. You can break in after hours though.

Roger that. What could go wrong… :)

Anyone have an extra mage armor…

I'm glad I took Unarmed Combat for my Rogue Trick. ;-)

Bump.

double bump

What do you guys want to do? Savarend is enjoying a soak, and the rest of you are....?

Justified has robed up and is waiting for his tour.

Super busy weekend... Sorry.

Bron is in his robe, with his component pouch in a pocket, and wants to wander around and see if he can't duck into the mud room somehow.

Justified has robed up and is waiting for his tour.

An attendant gives a quick tour. The Physical perfection room proved to be a large gymnasium with several personal trainers a number of well-to-do citizens performing their daily exercises. A door at the rear of the hall leads out into the bathhouse's private garden. The vanity room is filled with massage tables, mirrors and chairs. Savarend sees his beard stylist at work on another very dignified dwarf. It is enough to bring a tear to the eye. Lastly the relaxation room holds a large communal bathing pool with gentle columns of steam rising from four hanging braziers of heated rocks that have measured drips of water falling upon them. A trio of attractive yougn women lounge poolside. A door at the back of this room has a sign reading "Mud room temporarily closed. Sorry for the inconvenience." Map revealed.

Ok we seem a little stuck.

Off the record, if you start a fracas, you don't have to worry about getting arrested and going to jail. This is just supposed to be a fun little side quest, so I don't want to get too bogged down.

That being said, there is more than one way into the mud room.

I was planning to scout the garden and look for a means of external entry once this scene was done. If we're stuck I can move along in that respect if it's not rushing anyone past dealing with these dagger-wielding ladies?

I would have preferred to march in and bust open the mud room doors fully armed and armored, but was going along with the group. Since this is not my "show" I was not taking a leading role. Keep in mind that that there could be consequences if we wait too long.

Any other thoughts on how we'd like to proceed here? Justified's in favor of kicking in the door while Graythan wants to look for other means of entry into the mudroom.

What's everyone else want to do?

Justified was in favor of that. Sitting in his small clothes with his weapons and armor rooms away he is interested in alternatives. He hopes that some other plan is in progress and he is ready to follow along with that plan.

We can always go change, rearm ourselves, and storm through the facility though, so the kick-in-the-door method might still be our quickest option. I don't think it's the best of the options, as I'm concerned with our growing associatation with Lavinia and what trashing this place might do to her reputation and ours.

That being said, if the majority are aching for a bruhaha up in here, far be it from me to disappoint. =P

No. We are this far along. Let us go forward with your plan. I am ready to back up whatever you do. But lets do move the story forward.

For the sake of simplicity I will sketch out some options;
1: Try to kick down the front door.
2. Swing around through the garden and kick down the back door.
3. Leave, climb over the back garden wall and then kick down the door.
4. Come back after it has closed and break in.

Any of these will work to various degrees of success.

But none of them benefit from a soak in the spa…

1. Soak in the spa and reconnoiter.
2. Break in after dark.
3. Profit.

I was thinking there was some urgency here, but have forgotten if that is correct.

That plan works, although it doesn't involve underpants.

Saberhawk did express urgency. Whether or not you heed it is up to you.

Is there a locker or sorts where we put our stuff?

In the change rooms. I think you sent your clothes to be cleaned (I might be miss-remembering that), but all your gear is readily available at hand.

Sorry, I am in Breckenridge Colorado for a quick ski trip. I hope to have time to post some, but that did not happen this first travel day. Totally exhausted and have to get up early. I'll be home Sunday.

Sorry about being quiet lately. Work's been kicking my ass.

I'll be back home Sunday evening and things should be back to normal after that. Having fun skiing but between some minor altitude sickness and physical exertion I have been exhausted beyond my previous experiences.

Still slightly confused. How many talking weapons are in the room? That is a strange thing to ask. lol. And who holds them.

I know I'm up. Got super busy over the weekend and now am super sick, so just bear with me a little longer.

As for talking weapons, at the moment, you are aware of a talking rapier on red and a talking short sword on blue.

Plus talking weapon with Moira. So three.

I hope you get to feeling better. Spring colds are the worst.

feel better Fanguar

Justified,

We are here because a talking sword we pulled out of a sewer (Saberhawk) claimed that a secret group (the 'Cabanites') was trying to take over Sasserine and they'd taken a friend of his.

That secret group now seems to be made up of other talking swords, which claim Saberhawk's faction ('Oquon', I'm presuming) is the group that's actually trying to take over Sasserine.

As for who's telling the truth though, beats me! We don't have a lot to go on, though Saberhawk's attitude and demeanor doesn't strike me as being as nasty as those of these Cabanite blades.

Justified,

We are here because a talking sword we pulled out of a sewer (Saberhawk) claimed that a secret group (the 'Cabanites') was trying to take over Sasserine and they'd taken a friend of his.

That secret group now seems to be made up of other talking swords, which claim Saberhawk's faction ('Oquon', I'm presuming) is the group that's actually trying to take over Sasserine.

As for who's telling the truth though, beats me! We don't have a lot to go on, though Saberhawk's attitude and demeanor doesn't strike me as being as nasty as those of these Cabanite blades.

That sums it up quite nicely. Saberhawk is part of the Oquon faction, but what are their motivations? Is it lying? Are they lying? Both? Neither?

Only time will tell...

And we are in Sasserine? Secret ritual in the mud room did no win points for me playing nice. :)

Just a head's up, I'll be out of town camping this weekend and there's no cell reception up on the mountain! We're heading out early Friday morning, so I'll be unavailable to post until I get back on Sunday.

Sounds fun.

I'll be out as well, leaving Friday afternoon and will not be back til Monday late. But I hope to have internet access in the evenings.

So what are we wanting to do here? Do we take the swords to question them elsewhere? If so, do we take them to Lavinia and risk her getting stuck in the middle of this?

An excellent question. I am unsure where our "home base" is, or even if we have one. I recommend w try on our own, but Lavinia might have good insights on what we should do with these blades. Can a Detect Magic with spellcraft, or maybe an identify tell us their powers, and more importantly their purposes?

Unless we can understand their purposes I have to recommend we destroy the evil blades. And likely once we know the purposes of the evil blades Justified's resolve to break them will only increase. I remember from White Plume Mountain from 1st edition there was an intelligent sword named Blackrazor. Its purpose was to consume souls. And it was only CN in alignment. Imagine what purposes a truly evil blade might have? lol.

I had the impression the Vanderboren Estate was our "base", what with Lavinia keeping us on as retainers and all.

My concern is that this is beginning to sound like a shadow war, essentially between rival theives guilds. And if Lavinia is insulated from it currently, I'd feel bad dragging her into the middle of it while she's already got enough fires to put out thanks to Vanthus.

As it stands now, I like Saberhawk's personality and I already hate these Cabanite swords, but I'm not sure either side is one to throw our (presently puny) weight behind. If most are in agreement though, we can haul the swords off elsewhere to try and learn some more. If we head to the Vanderboren Estate, maybe we can work in the basement without risking exposing or revealing our connection to Lavinia in the process?

Many apologies for the delay. I am at a training out-of-state. We have no wifi at the convention center and very spotty internet at the motel. It stinks. Thank you for your patience.

I agree with Graythan. Discretion would be wise at this point.

A few questions to help me understand and make better suggestions.

1) We we thing there are more intelligent weapons?

2) Can Savarend destroy the ones we have?

3) What would happen if all the blades of one side were destroyed? Would the others loose their purpose and become dormant?

Trying to think outside the box a little. Towns are gonna have thieves guilds. IF we could pick the lesser of two evils and help one side beat the other could that benefit both us and the town. It seem to me that a stable and unthreatened thieves guild could actually be good for a town. No?

As far as theives guilds are concerned, I can't imagine the Cabanites and the Oquon are the only two games in town.

I don't think Savarend's domain power for unmaking can overcome any of the swords' DR, even after the reduction it inflicts - so if we want to destroy them it sounds like this mother-of-all-rust-monsters up in the hills is our best chance.

Regarding their purpose, I doubt the purpose is to eliminate all the Cabanite/Oquon, but rather to establish a properous guild and take over the city.

---

Right now it seems like the Oquon and the Cabanites are balancing each other out in the shadow war for Sasserine. Siding with one group over the other could certainly tip the balance, but neither side seems, to me, like a group we'd want in power. Regardless of how many favors we feel or hope they might owe us.

I'd much rather level the playing field and remove both parties entirely if it's possible.

I like Saberhawk though. Liking Saberhawk is the only thing that's making this difficult for me. So I hope you're happy, Fanguar! =)

Again I'll state my theory, or at least a theory - that if a single thieve's guild is dominant then things run smoother. When guilds war that war spills over to the citizens and everyone suffers.

But I certainly concede that the swords might want nothing more than to totally control the city, or even kill every citizen. Normally a thieves guild would want a healthy well functioning city to graft from though.

Lets see how much more we can find out.

Again I'll state my theory, or at least a theory - that if a single thieve's guild is dominant then things run smoother.

Right, and I'm thinking there are these two magical-swords guilds in addition to more typical thieves guilds. When one of the sword guilds beats the other, I'm thinking it'll then just turn into more conflict with the traditional guild(s).

Too bad our rogue, who I love, is not the more mature "wants to lead a thieve's guild" type. We could set her up to run the primary guild. But I fear that role is more suited for an NPC.

Sassarine is enormous. If a single thieves' guild ever controlled the whole thing, they would be one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Also recall that you 'destroyed' another thieves' guild (the Lotus Dragons?) in the first adventure.

I think the bigger issue with the swords is that they can force and dominate average citizens into doing what they want. Obviously, you can handle things however you want, but Larcos is going to to want to eliminate them all. Also, off the record, this will be last adventure that takes place in Sassarine, so whatever the outcome, you wont be around to reap any longterm rewards/consequences. Basically, you can follow up on either 'ransom', help Larcos with his plan, or try something else.

Regarding Bronwenir's question about removing the intelligence from the weapons. The intelligence is a consequence of the enchanting, so I don't think you can selectively remove the bits you don't like. You could keep and use them, but they will oppose you at every turn.

I think that Justified could fairly easily sunder them all. It might take a while, but he does enough damage.

So the blades are no good to us to use. And IMHO its evil to place them where they will dominate the lives of others. Justified is not willing to allow that for financial gain.

I had a typo above. Do we believe that the guilds have more than 4 of these weapons? That would make sense for the rust monster thing to be needed. Else, we break these 4 and we are done, right?

Too bad our rogue, who I love, is not the more mature "wants to lead a thieve's guild" type. We could set her up to run the primary guild. But I fear that role is more suited for an NPC.

Moira is feeling the love. lol

Looks like our next adventure lies with another rust monster.

Larcos can confirm that there are more weapons than the ones that you have.