GM Giuseppe's Kingmaker (Inactive)

Game Master Giuseppe Capriati

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Rok can't read the weather any better than Serolt can but she too remembers the sense that it would be cold at least for today. "I hope someone has a deck of cards to pass the time." She pouts, not the type to enjoy staying put.

Kryolani's question about bears gets a laugh from her despite how intently she was listening to Father Kavken.

"Depends on the bear Kryo, but it's nothing we shouldn't be able to handle. Just keep those flaming hands ready." Turning to the Father she gives a genuine smile. " I don't share your faith in your particular god, but my own is known as something of a guide, and I'd be loathe not to follow that example and help you find this temple of yours. We'll add it to the growing list of things to find here in the Stolen lands!"

survival check to assist Rok

Survival Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Oathday, Pharast the 9th, 4609 AR
Time — Morning to night
Location — Oleg’s Trading Post
Weather — Rainy
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
You spend the rest of the day at the trading post. The rain outside keeps pounding, and you are forced to stay in the guesthouse talking with one another and occasionally speaking to Father Kavken. Throughout the day, the Erastilian priest proves to be a sociable individual, sharing stories from his travels and discussing all manner of topics with you, from the more mundane to the more complex and sophisticated.

Since you’ve spent a full day at Oleg’s, if you want to attempt a Craft check, create a magical item or otherwise perform actions that would take a day to complete, please feel free to roll the appropriate checks at the beginning of your post.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Fireday, Pharast the 10th, 4609 AR
Time — Morning to night
Location — Oleg’s Trading Post
Weather — Rainy
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
You spend this Fireday in the warm quiet of Oleg’s trading post. You have plenty of time to discuss among yourselves and with the other people currently staying at Oleg’s. In the afternoon, as predicted, sleet falls down on the trading post. Comfortable and relaxed, you use this full day of vacancy to relax your nerves and rest your muscles.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Starday, Pharast the 11st, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — Oleg’s Trading Post
Weather — Rainy
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
When you wake up, the rain has not stopped, but you can instantly feel that the weather is not that cold anymore. Despite the rain, it would now be possible to start exploring the Stolen Lands again. Where would you like to go?

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Jacobus woke up feeling renewed; he could feel it in his bones that the weather had turned. "About time, spring should be setting in here shortly."

He wakes up his explorer buddies, "C'mon, lazy boys and girl. No more car playing today. No more sorcerer tricks. No more cat tricks. Time to get up and get going."

He pulls out the map, "This where we ought to go. And pack accordingly, we should be out for a week or so."

Kryolani wakes up with a yawn, a stretch, and a smile. "I think this happy outdoorsman thing is starting to grow on me. I'm actually starting to look forward to getting out of this stuffy trading post and stretching my legs."

He looks over the marked passage on the map and nods, "Seems reasonable to me. I'll go let Oleg and Svetlana know we should be out for a few days." The sorcerer the goes and tells their hosts that they'll be out for about a week. Less if they run into trouble. More if they run into a LOT of trouble, perhaps.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Roksana growls at Jacobus when he wakes her earlier than she likes but the warmer weather does much to calm her.

"I can say with full confidence that the weather will be nicer today after the rain, but I can't promise anything more than that." She looks over Jacobus' proposed plan and nods. "It's good, it keeps us close by incase we need to hoof it back to the trading post here. Personally I'd like to go farther out but securing the land around our little base here seems like the best bet."

Roksana checks the saddlebags on her horse to make sure there are enough rations and she fills her waterskin.

"If we start to the south east we should be able to cover these grassy areas without much resistence, and then we can follow the river back north and use it as a source of water while keeping an eye out for anymore kobolds. That land isn't far from where we found those four drunk on moon radish."

Another assist with weather prediction! Let's see if my knee is hurting this morning...

survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Nope!

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Serolt spends a fair bit of time with the good priest, chatting him up. He does not craft anything though as he has no real skill in that direction. He does do some whittling though to help pass the time.

"I agree, let's get going. We're as ready as we may be. So, are we going to risk bringing our horses, or just our trusty mule for supplies? Myself I think we should go mounted. It'll speed our return if weather proves to be a problem for us. We've lots of rations left - 11 days worth, give or take a day."

On the day of departure Serolt spends an inordinate amount of time packing and repacking his horse Mitsy. Just eager to be on the road...

Having a 50' move won't matter in the plains, but it'll really save us time searching the forest hexes.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Starday, Pharast the 11th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — Oleg’s trading post
Weather — Cloudy and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

After greeting everyone in the trading post, you soon depart while the sun is still rising over the Narlmarches. Each of you exits on his horse, receiving a cold greeting also by the guards stationed atop the trading post’s walls.

You travel for about an hour and a half before reaching the new area you wish to explore, then begin exploring that area. This first day of exploration is quite uneventful: thankfully, the weather is good, but the area is clear of surprises. After a long day of exploration, you find a shelter and rest there for the night.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Sunday, Pharast the 12th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — The Greenbelt
Weather — Temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Today is Sunday, but while everyone else stays at home and devote his time to rest and worship, you find yourselves in the wilds, bound to continue your exploration even in this holy day of the week. You mount again and reach your new area of exploration in the Narlmarches relatively soon in the morning.

---

As you travel through the forest, everyone keeps his eyes open for trouble, but Serolt is the only one to notice a small and somehow bizarre nest 40 feet high on a fir tree branch.

Even to a closer inspection, however, the nest does not reveal any useful or interesting information.

---

You spend the rest of the day exploring the woods. The day is quite uneventful, apart from a strange thing that happened at noon: when Serolt returned after voiding his bladder, his hairs were hot-pink. Unfortunately, there were no streams of water nearby to wash his hairs, so the shoanti has had to continue the exploration with a new hair color.

---

At night, during Jacobus’s guard shift, he sees a strange source of light shimmering in the dark. The lights dance in the night, moving behind the trees. When Jacobus goes inspecting, the lights suddenly vanish. But he hears a roar coming from the depth of the forest: the savage roar of an angry dire bear! He also hear an eerie giggling coming from above his head. Terrified, Jacobus darts back to the camp, informing his companions of what he’s heard and warning them to prepare for battle, but the bear’s roar cannot be heard again through the whole night.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Moonday, Pharast the 13th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — The Narlmarches
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
You wake up to the sounds of the forest. While you get ready to depart, you have the chance to discuss the recent events, including Serolt’s sudden change of hair color and Jacobus’ terrific experience during his guard shift.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

______________________________________
You gain 50 XP for having explored two new hexes.

Please subtract 8 rations (10 if Regin is with you) from your pool of trail rations.

I’ll be posting again at 07:00 P.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Jacobus tried to look away from Serolt but in the end just chuckled, "I like your hair. Is that a--um... a tribal custom?"

a little later..., Just based on the pink hair and the giggling, I would think that we figured out that it's some sort of prank, even without making the knowledge rolls. If not, just strike out the stuff below.

The young man stopped laughing after a few seconds, "OK, OK. This is obvious some sort of prank. As long as it's harmless, then we can go along with it. Does anyone know how to make contact with whoever is doing this?"

He turned around and yelled, "Hey? Are you listening to us right now? Good job on the hair but I think orange is more his style."

diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Rations, check. Should Regin be eating half rations as he's small? By the rules, rations for small folk are 1/4 the weight. Not a big deal, just need a ruling for tracking and planing purposes.

As he wakes and stretches, he tries to get a sense of the weather for the next few days.
Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

"Looks like the good weather will hold, at least for today. Hard to tell through the canopy though what it'll be like tomorrow."

- - -

Later, Serolt tries to look at his own hair but can only just see a bit of some of the longer hairs. "Pink huh? I don't know, but pink hair, a bear that isn't there, and an odd nest sounds like we've found a 'friend'."

He wonders if Jacobus' attempt will reveal anything. He sort of doubts it, but watches the forest keenly.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Kryolani raises an eyebrow, "What kind of creature changes hair color and pretends to be a bear, while living out deep in the woods alone? And is it dangerous?"

---

I'll take ten to assist Serolt's Survival check, raising it to a 20

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Roksana takes Serolt word for the weather as she's unable to read it herself. She averts her eyes from him as he speaks, unable to take him seriously since his hair color change.

"I understand what your trying to do Jacobus, but shouting into the woods is potentially risky, especially if there is a bear anywhere near by."

Unable to determine if the recent events point to any particular creature Roksana focuses on the task at hand, exploring and mapping the wilderness.

"Whatever it is will reveal itself to us eventually."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Moonday, Pharast the 13th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — The Narlmarches
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Jacobus’ words echo through the woods, without receiving any answer.

---

You hit the road quickly upon awakening, and reach the area surrounding the Thorn Ford Camp early in the morning. You spend the whole day exploring the area and mapping it out, while also keeping an eye out for possible bandits’ presence. But that’s not the case, at least for today, and your exploration is quite uneventful as you record and mark all the noteworthy features of the environment.

---

At noon, while you were taking a break to eat and drink something, something strange occurred though: Roksana had been busy with helping cooking a stew with your rations and a rabbit Serolt had hunted along the way, when suddenly the campfire erupted in a burst of dazzling fireworks, causing Roksana to jump instantly, the sudden explosion almost scaring the life out of her. All of you were blinded by the burst of dazzling explosions for a few seconds before regaining your normal sight, and when that happened Roksana discovered that her flint and steel had been taken away from her while she was blinded. The fire had been extinguished by the sudden burst of fireworks, and you had to make it again in order to eat your craved stew.

---

At night, during Kryolani’s guard shift, the man experienced something weird. He had untied his pouch, containing his coins, from his belt to empty his bladder. When he tried to grab the pouch, his pants still half down, the pouch suddenly moved, causing him to clumsily land on his face. From that embarrassing position, he tried to catch his pouch again, but again it moved almost as though it had suddenly gained its own will. Crawling desperately to try and catch his pouch, Kryolani failed twice. Then, the pouch hovered over his head and suddenly turned overturned on itself, just over Kryolani’s head, pouring on the poor man’s head his own coins and scattering them on the leafy floor. A giggle was clearly audible again when that happened. Thankfully, the prank stopped after this finale, allowing the man to gather his coins, wear his trousers and get back to his guard duties.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

______________________________________
You gain 25 XP for having explored a new hex.

Please subtract 4 rations (5 if Regin is with you) from your pool of trail rations. Serolt, for Regin you can remove 1 ration every other day instead of each day.

I’ll be posting again at 12:00 A.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Spellcraft Roll 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Spellcraft Roll 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Taking 10 to assist with someone else's weather prediction.

[ooc]Did anyone try those knowledge nature checks?

Having cleaned himself up with judicious applications of Prestidigitation, Kryolani waits till morning, and shares his revelation about the magical abilities of the pranksters.

"Whatever it is, it seems more intent on amusement than harm. I wish we could talk to it. It's trick of casting spells without sound would be useful to know if I could figure out a way to mimic it. It can do it because it comes naturally to it." Kryolani muses for another moment, "It would also be nice for it to have a better pronoun, so I can stop calling it it."

None of us are trained, the DC's are too high for an untrained check.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

"Call it whatever you want, it better give me my flint and tinder back." Roksana shakes her head angrily. "At least we won't be freezing today, but I'd really like to find something to smash my hammer against."

Ahhh, didn't realize no one had knowledge nature yet. Yeah, can't make untrained knowledge checks anyhow

"Well, I didn't mean our amusement. And there doesn't seem like a lot we could do to stop it either. We just have to hope it doesn't progress to violence, and that the perpetrator might be willing to chat once he or she has had his fun."

Serolt does his best by the weather.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

"Ayep." he agrees with Rok.

"It would be nice to know our tormentor. Well that's a strong word I think. I just hope they don't do something odd during a battle!"

Serolt remounts Mystic after carefully checking that the saddle belt was buckled. You never know who's next on the trick list!

Rations check.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Toilday, Pharast the 14th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — The Narlmarches
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

You hit the road quickly after waking up. In the very first hours of your exploration, you exit from the Narlmarches, entering into an area of small hillocks.

While you’re exploring the southern border of this area, you all see a particularly rocky crag rising from the hills, but Serolt is the only one to spot, at the crag’s base, an overgrown 5-foot-wide crack. Tasked with exploring the entirety of these lands, you tie your horses somewhere near the crag and pass through the crack. It leads down 20 feet to a 30-foot-diameter cave. The cave wall directly across from the entrance sparkles slightly

---

Apart from the crack in the rocky crag, the rest of the exploration is quite eventful―apart from the unavoidable pranks.

When you exited the crag, Serolt found out that both Mitsy’s and his horse’s saddlebags were lacking. It took a while for you to find the saddlebags…and to fill them again, because all of their contents lied scattered across the hills.

Also, during the night shift, Roksana had a pretty horrific vision: she saw a naked, muscular orc blinking at her from behind a tree with a feminine attitude. He brought his hand to his lips and mimicked a kiss with a feminine blink before sensually―and even quite ridiculously brushing against the tree’s bark, before disappearing, nowhere to be seen again. Roksana heard a childish laughter filling the air just after this embarrassing (but for some funny, as it seems) encounter.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

______________________________________
You gain 25 XP for having explored a new hex.

Please subtract 4 rations from your pool of trail rations.

I’ll be posting again at 12:00 A.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Roksana is to aggravated from the continued pranks to properly assess any precautions for weather they may need to take. Instead she spends the day stomping around the forest secretly hoping to attract something that she can fight.

"The next vision of anything naked that I have to see is going to be surrounded by the white hot flames of a forest fire." She growls the next morning when they break camp.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

"I think we'll be safe enough from the cold for the next couple days."

"C'mon Rok, it's just a little light hearted humor. Sure we're the brunt of the jokes, but we're at a disadvantage." he grins.

"I'm surprised they've lasted this long really. We must have attracted the attention of a very powerful spirit to be following us so long."

Appraise: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13

"Pretty. Anyone know what it's worth? We should take some and have it checked by someone who knows rocks. I have a shovel... anyone have a chisel? Or a pick?"

Rations check

"Pretty. Anyone know what it's worth? We should take some and have it checked by someone who knows rocks. I have a shovel... anyone have a chisel? Or a pick?"

"Not everything that sparkles is gold." A pessimistic saying of Brevoy escaped Jacobus' lips.

He shrugs, "But I'm no miner so I wouldn't know. Let's take some back and mark this on the map anyway."

later
The pranks were getting silly by now and the young man has just about had it. But there wasn't anything he could do about it. So he feigned that he was enjoying it and hoped whoever was watching would tire of the pranks.

Have we perceived anything or anyone during the pranks?

"Maybe we can hire someone to come down and make an assessment? If it is gold, it might be nice to stake a claim."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Wealday, Pharast the 15th, 4609 AR
Time — Dawn
Location — The Kamelands
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Another day of exploration awaits you. Thankfully, this is going to be last one before finally coming back to Oleg and enjoy the comfort of a true bed and a hearty stew. But for today, you have to keep exploring.

You travel northeast, entering an area you haven’t ever seen before. In the morning, another prank has been played on you: upon awakening, Jacobus found his golden armor, which he had removed to sleep comfortably, completely covered in mud and…animal droppings.

---

In the evening, you reach an area strewn to a radius of nearly 200 feet with the skeletons of boars, deer, bears and a few human. As you’re examining the area, you fail to notice that a beast is lurking nearby. A giant spider hiding into a sort of natural trapdoor, similar to a shaft, on the ground. The spider suddenly comes busting out of his den, attacking Jacobus. Thankfully, the man’s armor protects him from the spider’s assault even though Jacobus himself was distracted and had completely failed to notice the creature before its attack.

--------------------------------
---- INITIATIVE ORDER ----
--------------------------------

• Jacobus
• Kryolani
• Roksana
• Spider
• Serolt

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

______________________________________
New Roll20 map available!

I’ll be posting again at 10:00 P.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Roksana has all but given up on predicting the weather this trip, too distracted constantly looking over her shoulder waiting for the next prank or ruse. She almost didn't believe the spider was real for a moment, but when it was still there after it's attack on Jacobus she realized a fight had finally arrived.
Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Round 1
Drawing her warhammer and shield Roksana rushes toward the spider with a smile on her face, happy that something had arrived that she could release her anger on. Once close enough she swings with as much might as she can muster, hoping to feel the satisfying crunch that tells her she's hit her mark.

Warhammer: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 191d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

reaction to prank if any of you want to roleplay
The smell of dung was still in his nostrils and contaminated his entire mood. Enough was enough.

Jacobus looked at his companions, "You know that we are just about to get back to Oleg. So what are we going to do about this prankster we have picked up? I mean it would wreak havoc in the trading post and we would be responsible for this. Any thoughts?"

fight
The foul mood had become almost deadly for the inquisitor. His mind wandering about the prankster had failed to perceive the threat. Luckily, his... stinking armor saved the day.

With pent up rage, he picked up his heavy mace and swung it to shatter carapace.

to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

You travel northeast, entering an area you haven’t ever seen before. In the morning, another prank has been played on you: upon awakening, Jacobus found his golden armor, which he had removed to sleep comfortably, completely covered in mud and…animal droppings.

When Serolt, on his watch, realizes the armor is covered in feces he calls out to the prankster, "Now that's just foul. Tricks are one thing, but you don't mess with, or in, another mans armor. C'mon."

"You want to talk? Let's talk!"

Serolt looks long and hard for the creature. It may be invisible, but surely it leaves tracks?
Survival, tracking: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

- - -

As the sun rises Serolt tries to gauge the days ahead.
Survival, weather: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

"Hehehe," he laughs, "Your guess is as good as mine Rok."

- - -

Round: 1

Serolt, reacting slowly as he hunts for the prankster, realizes what's going on eventually. Look at the size of that thing!

He worries, and concentrates on the creature for a moment to really line it up.* He then moves off to get a clear shot drawing his bow as he does so, and shoots!

Longbow (cold iron): 1d20 + 5 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 3 = 14 (focus, point blank) damage: 1d8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 3 = 13 (focus, point blank)

* Swift Action: Ranger Focus on target for +2 attack and damage rolls

Kryolani spends a few minutes magically scouring the armor with repeated applications of Prestidigitation, and a sour look on his face. He would have to keep a look out in these woods for an incontinent moose, it would appear. Inspecting his work, he hands it back to the Inquisitor. "There you go. Right as rain and half as smelly."

---

Kryolani certainly does not squeak unmanfully when the enormous spider reveals itself. That's what he tells himself as he rushes up to blast it with flames.

cast defensively dc17: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Unfortunately. his revulsion of the monster throws off his concentration, and the magic sputters on his fingertips.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
ROUND 1
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

As Jacobus misses the spider and Kryolani loses his spell in the attempt to cast it without exposing himself to the spider’s attacks, Roksana reacts quickly, smashing her warhammer against the human-sized creature and destroying great part of its carapace. The spider, frightened, tries to bite Roksana one last time before retreating back into its lair, but the creature miserably misses, badly disabled by Roksana’s previous strike.

As the spider retreats, Roksana, Kryolani and Jacobus can attempt an attack of opportunity against it, provided that they’re armed.

---

Should the spider reach its lair, Serolt’s arrow would miss due to the cover gained by the creature.

--------------------------------
---- INITIATIVE ORDER ----
--------------------------------

• Jacobus
• Kryolani
• Roksana
• Spider
• Serolt

______________________________________
Roll 20 map updated!

I’ll be posting again at 02:00 P.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Round: 2

Serolt moves around the lair to get as clear a shot as he can.

(I don’t know where that is on the map, so please place accordingly - 30’ move. I still assumed -4 for cover in my attack.)

Longbow (cold iron): 1d20 + 5 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 3 - 4 = 8 (focus, point blank, cover)
damage: 1d8 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 3 = 9 (focus, point blank)

...and again Serolt shoots wide of the mark. "Sorry guys, I'll get the hang of this bow someday."

Jacobus recovered quickly from his missed swing. He side-stepped and brought down the mace once again.

to hit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

The mace split the arachnid's carapace, splashing some foul ichor onto the inquisitor's armor.

"Well, there's that. We should search its nest and these bodies near by."

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Kryolani flexes his hand to try and rake his claws across the giant arachnid, but Jacobus smashed it flat before he could even try to land the blow

"Whew, good shot Jacobus! Take care everyone, there may be more of them..." the sorcerer scans the ground all around for more hidden spiders that might leap to attack. As he does so, he begins to mentally add up the dozens of scattered bones.

"Wow, this thing must have been here for a while. This...this is kind of horrifying."

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
ROUND 1
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Jacobus hits the spider before it can retreat to his own lair and kills it.

---

The spider’s lair is a 5-foot-diameter, 25-foot-deep shaft. The thick webbing along the walls makes it relatively easy to clamber up and down the shaft.

Who wants to climb down? The characters choosing to climb down the shaft must attempt a Climb check to climb down the shaft without harming themselves and a Perception check to determine what they find in the spider's nest.
______________________________________
Guys, I don’t like when you assume too much about the monsters or the outcome of your actions. I don't like it at all. How can you be sure that the spider is dead? That your strike hit? And that the damage possibly dealt is guaranteed to kill the creature? That strikes me as very metagamey, without mentioning that I could have changed the encounter, maxed out the spider's HP, etc. Please, pay attention to this, because I don’t want it to happen again. These things significantly make me lose my interest in the game itself, because I don’t like them at all. Sorry if I say this in public, but I need everyone to know that I don’t like when you assume the outcome of your actions. Also, please try to avoid to flood me with Perception checks when not expressly required. I will explicitly ask you to roll those checks if needed (as above) or just roll them for you.

You gain 25 XP for having successfully explored an hex and 100 XP for having defeated the spider.

Jacobus peers inside the spider's hole and softly whistles, "Well, where's our intrepid adventurer?"

He touches his still stinking armor, "I'm not the best of climbers and with my armor on, it would be difficult. Any takers?"

"Same here Jacobus, but I've got some rope, give me a couple minutes to put in some knots and it shouldn't be too difficult to climb down."

Pulling fifty feet of rope from her pack Roksana looks for a secure place to tie it off after adding the knots, if she finds one she throws the rope into the shaft and begins her decent.

"Make sure it doesn't come untied." She snarls referencing the recent 'pranks' that have befallen the party. Once on the bottom she takes a look around, but doesn't move too far, waiting to see if anyone is going to join her below.

Knotted rope with a wall to brace makes a climb DC0 or DC5 for a regular climb
Climb: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (5) + 0 = 5
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Serolt watches Rok climb gingerly and uneasily climb down the rope.

"Hang on... Does anyone have a light spell? I'd rather not use a torch down there, could catch the webbing on fire. I didn't think to buy any sunrods."

He quickly follows assuming some light can be arranged.

Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 (I knew I should've taken ten, sheesh!)
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

If it looks safe down there, Serolt will take his time searching (take-20 if there's time):
Perception: 20 + 6 = 26

Kryolani casts light on one of Serolt’s mundane torches.

Serolt and Roksana have no difficulty in climbing down the shaft. Once they reach the bottom of the shaft, they begin searching around the lair for something useful. They take their time to ensure that their examination is accurate. They find a few dead bodies at the bottom of the shaft. One of them resembles, at least in terms of equipment, to that of a bandit: he’s still dressed in leather armor and carries a short sword and 10 gp. He also wears about his neck a
silver amulet worth 20 gp, identical to those worn by Happs and Kressle. Of perhaps more interest is a scrap of paper tucked in the bandit’s left boot that bears a simple drawing of a claw-shaped dead tree atop an otherwise barren hill, with an “X” in blood scrawled by the tree’s roots*.

---

As Serolt and Roksana climb their way up and joins their companions, the group has to decide whether to stick to the original plan and return to Oleg’s now, after completing the exploration of this area, or to follow the clue given by the bandit’s drawing. Indeed, the location is a three hours ride from here (which is, in the next hex to southeast).
______________________________________
* I’ve marked that spot on our Roll20 map for you to see!

I’ll post again as soon as at least two members of the party agree upon where to go next.

He climbs back up the hole (taking 10 this time for a 16 total) and shows everyone what he and Rok found.

He looks at the pendant, "Kryolani, you might be careful who sees you wearing that pendant. Seems like it's a gang-sign. Wearing that could get you in trouble with the law if anyone notices."

Then he holds up the map. "I think we should search the killing ground here for more loot, and then check out this map. Could be nothing, but could be another bandit lair too - or even buried treasure. Hard to know. We should be ready for anything."

"It's already late, so after we search we should camp here - we'll have fewer predators in this area. The spider was clearly the top predator around. Then tomorrow, a quick side trip to this 'x' and then onward to Oleg's I think. Unless we want to check a few more regions while we're out here?"

He thinks a little and pulls out their master-map. "I'm game to stay out a little longer actually. Dunno what the weather's going to be like, but I suspect it's still too early for our wands to be in either so we might as well while the weather holds..."

I've marked a 6 day route, by numbers, if we're interested. I think we have enough rations - there's 8 days from the treasure sheet I need to bring over to our supplies, and I haves some on my horse yet. Weather might push us back sooner anyway if our luck doesn't hold out.

Giuseppe, do we need to search the hex Oleg's is in too? If so, it's a seven day run, but we can camp at Oleg's I assume that night.

"I'm fine traveling a bit longer, especially if it gives us a chance to shake whatever creature is following us."

She looks over the scrap of paper they found on the bandit. "I'm particularly curious about this. We should be careful approaching, like you said, it might be another bandit hideout, but exploration and bandit clearing are why we're here so we might as well go sooner than later."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Wealday, Pharast the 15th, 4609 AR
Time — Morning to Evening
Location — The Kamelands
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

The rest of the day after the spider’s attack is quite uneventful. You explore the area but nothing else seems to happen. Apart from pranks, of course.

Today, the first prank was played on you all at once: while you were exploring the area near the spider’s nest, suddenly all the plants in the area begun growing and wrapping around you and your horses. Kryolani and Jacobus fell from their horses, but the most unfortunate was Regin, who was near to a parch of thorny plants. The plants wrapped around him, piercing his flesh and making the firepelt cougar bleed.

The second prank had Kryolani as its target: during his guard shift, the noble man was suddenly invested by a huge splash of greasy slime, turning his clothes dirty and foul-smelling in a second. Kryolani also heard a chorus of female human voices laughing at him from somewhere, but the voices soon vanished. The greasy substance, though, remained.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Oathday, Pharast the 16th, 4609 AR
Time — Morning to Evening
Location — The Kamelands
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

The next day, you wake up early in the morning and enter the area where the bandit’s map appears to be pointing you to. You spend the whole day exploring the area without anything bad happening, but at noon you find something noteworthy: an old lightning-struck oak tree stands atop a low hill—the only tree in a 2-mile radius, in fact. Approached from the north, the tree looks eerily like a claw reaching for the clouds.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
⁞⁞ WEATHER ⁞⁞
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

______________________________________
* Rangers can apply their follow tracks bonus on this check. You also gain an unmotived (XD) +4 bonus on this check.

I’ll be posting again at 08:30 P.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

He looks at the pendant, "Kryolani, you might be careful who sees you wearing that pendant. Seems like it's a gang-sign. Wearing that could get you in trouble with the law if anyone notices."

Kryolani lifts the pendant on it's chain and stares at it for a moment before responding, "I thought of that before, but I decided to keep wearing it anyway. Two reasons. First, we basically are the law out here, so no worries about misunderstandings of that sort. Second, wearing it openly might give us a chance to not get ambushed if we're spotted by other affiliated bandits in the area. Their hesitation could save our lives. Besides, it looks good on me," he finishes, with a grin.

---

Recognizing the effect, as soon as the Grease spell splashes over him, Kryolani stands stock still, so as not to fall to the ground, then carefully takes to cleaning off the slick residue with more Prestidigitations.

He calls out to the woods, "The pranks are fine. We get it, haha, fun is fun. Be more careful though, please. You actually injured our cat. That's no longer fun. That is a threat, and cruel, and not the least bit funny."

Once he is sure of his footing again, he goes to lean against a tree trunk, and wait out the rest of his shift.

---

The sorcerer looks at the oak on the hill and murmurs to himself, "Well. That sure is needlessly ominous. This is a good landmark though. Anyone we need to ask directions from would probably remember it if they are at all familiar with the area."

Though not a fan of animals in general, the damage caused to Regin enrages Roksana even further and she shouts into the woods despite the warnings she'd given to Jacobus just a few days earlier.

"Show yourself! You've drawn blood now, get out here and face me with honor you coward! Show Yourself!"
Intimidate: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

The prank on Kryolani just drives her to an even heightened rage but instead of shouting again she just spends the rest of the day with her weapon in hand ready to crush the first thing that shows it's face.

The next day, when they arrive at the place on the map, Roksana notices an area between the dirt that looks to have been disturbed recently, and to take her mind off of the recent turn of events she begins digging in the area.

"If there's any bright side to this, it's that the next few days will stay relatively nice, unless you hate the rain of course."

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 Bandit Area
Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25 Predict Weather.

Roksana immediately spots a hollow amid the tree’s roots on the north side where a section of earth has been disturbed a few months ago. You dig the area where Roksana has seen the disturbed section of earth for about10 minutes, revealing a cache wrapped in a heavy leather cloak.

The cache contains a masterwork dagger, a wand of burning hands (CL 2nd, 4 charges), a silver ring worth 75 gp, and a spellbook. Unfortunately, rain seeping down into the cache has damaged much of the spellbook, but five of the spells (identify, mage armor, reduce person, silent image, and unseen servant) remain intact.

---

For the rest of the day, you explore the area but it seems like the hidden cache was the only noteworthy things in this area. There’s also another novelty: today no pranks were played on you. Instead, you have found a shiny gem next to Regin while you were making camp for the night. The gems isn’t worth more than a few coppers and it’s nonmagical.

______________________________________
You gain 25 XP for having explored a new hex.

Please subtract 9 rations from your pool of trail rations.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Date — Fireday, Pharast the 17th, 4609 AR
Time — Morning to Evening
Location — The Kamelands
Weather — Clear and temperate
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

The next day, you wake up early in the morning and hit the road quickly. The whole day of exploration is uneventful and only the rain helps to shake up things a bit. Apart from the usual pranks.

Today, as Serolt is starting the fire for lunch, the campfire explodes in a dazzling burst once again. Everyone is blinded again, but you can overhear someone speaking with acute and ringing voice. Unfortunately, the voice is not speaking common.

---

In the night, while you’re all gathered around the campfire to drink and eat, you suddenly feel an inexplicable urge to stand up and dance along merrily. Thakfully, everyone except for Roksana is able to ward off this urge. The half-orc, though, stands up readily and starts dancing and singing in euphoria.

______________________________________
You gain 25 XP for having explored a new hex.

Please subtract 4 rations from your pool of trail rations.

I’ll be posting again at 08:30 P.M. GMT +1, botting everyone who has not acted yet.

Kryolani turns the wand over and over in his hands, examining it carefully. "This performs the same kind of fire magic as I use, but it's slightly more powerful. And almost drained, as well. If no one minds, I'd like to use it if we encounter any dangers. Waste not, want not, and all that. The spellbooks, though...not my kind of magic. Might be able to sell it for a speck of cash." Kryolani when turns to look Regin, "I could be wrong, but I think they regret how that last prank played out, the one with the thorns that scratched Regin. The creatures doing this aren't malicious, just...very taken with their pranking."

---

Kryolani can't help but smile, try though he might to stifle it, as Roksana breaks into dance. Rather than leave her to look a fool on her own, he stands and attempts to match her jig as best he can...

Perform: Dance: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

...and manages a fairly acceptable two-step, much to his own surprise!

Unexpectedly, everyone suddenly hears a resounding of spontaneous applause coming from somewhere far above your heads. "Great! Great! That's how you dance Kryolani! Keep it up! We like it, don't we, Tyg?"

"Ooooh yes!" exhults another voice, ringing in its very high-pitch. "Please, we need someone to start singing or playing an instrument! Come on! Let the party begin!"

Serolt is VERY displeased at Regin’s injury and joins the others in admonishing their tormentors. ”Play fair now - no picking on Regin or the innocent horses!”

He ire calms however with time as they scour another region.

Survival, tracking: 1d20 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 4 = 19 vs DC 20

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 for weather prediction

Rations check. Twice.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23 for weather prediction

When the party starts dancing, Serolt happily goes along - particularly when other voices join in. He has no particular skill, so he just stands in place, stomping his foot to the beat and clapping a little rhythm, badly…
Perform: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (2) + 0 = 2

Serolt can't quite find the beat, no matter how hard the tries. Eventually, he gives up laughing and cheering on the dancers - still on his feet. Grinning like a fool in the rain.

Muttering to the others, Kryolani says, "They want a party? Ok, maybe we can give them that. I'll try a song."

Thinking for a moment, Kryolani remembers a song one of his clients sang at a pub, after a particularly long set of negotiations. Trying to recall the words, the young man sings...

perform: singing: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

"Oh, the wife in the dark
she likes to dance
The red wine likes to flow!

Oooooh!"

As he starts singing, Kryolani feels something crawling up his leg, his back and then his shoulders. Something small. Something with several little legs. “You’re very good at singing Mr. Big. Please, another one!” begs the tiny creature on Kryolany’s shoulder. The noble man can feel the tiny being on his shoulder, but he cannot see it.

“Yes, Yes! Another one, please!” begs another voice from above. “We like songs! Why don’t we dance all together?” Then, out of nowhere, a strange scene shows up in front of you. Instead of the hilly horizon, your eyes find themselves gazing at a thriving forest crawling with a number of strange, tiny creatures, most likely fey. All of them are dancing together, as in a ball.