GM Rednal |
"We'll avoid what we can, but don't let your guard down even if it's safe for weeks." Ulf said. "The Crown is nothing like the lands here - it has beasts of its own, to say nothing of the weather. Let's be on our way, then."
With everything set and done, it was time to get going. Which unneeded things did you want to sell?
Aleksson |
Well, the oni's club still needs identifying. Otherwise we haven't divided her loot, but I reckon we don't need the large-sized armor. I've updated our Party Loot sheet after slacking on it for ~1/2 a year, and I don't think I missed anything... :-X we didn't do any looting at the locations between the burning ship-scapade and our arrival at the Rimerunner fortress to my memory, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Shutai |
"I suppose we can trade in most of the trade stuffs we found, like the copper and silver bar, and the Xian spices. Perhaps taking the drinking horns to trade across the ice wouldn't be too foolish, but we shouldn't bother taking anything from there to trade. A good story rarely adds value."
Aleksson |
"I can agree to that. We should off-load the trade bars as soon as possible: the longer we wait, the more likely that their sale will put a target on our heads." Aleksson wasn't sure how Ulfen laws about raiding might interact with their haul, but he did know that any surviving Rimerunners would likely be out for revenge. Nevermind that spies could report that information back to the remaining members of The Five Storms.
Shutai |
I think we're selling the;
Ogre's war gear
Bronze and Silver bars
Xian spices and goods.
The gold will take less weight and be useful to trade, and we'll likely get a better rate paying by the lump. The horns will also probably get a better rate across the ice and sell for more, but I don't mind selling them now.
Aleksson |
Well, I for one was also looking for an answer on the enchantments on the oni's club before deciding either way. Otherwise I'm good with that list.
GM Rednal |
The club has a name - Oathtaker. This Large +1 tetsubo is banded in corroded iron bearing brass studs that are embossed with wicked Tien characters of punishment and pain. Once per day, the wielder can bestow a blood geas upon a willing subject who swears an oath to the wielder (the wielder and the subject must agree on the exact nature of the oath). The blood geas functions as a mark of justice that activates if the subject of the blood geas breaks his oath, dealing 12d6+9 points of damage to the subject. If the subject survives, the blood geas is removed, though the subject can swear a new oath and receive a new blood geas if he chooses. A character can be under only one blood geas at a time. A blood geas is permanent unless removed by the wielder.
It's pretty nasty-looking, but it does not have an aura of evil.
Shutai |
Unless one of you gents wants it, I say trade it in.
Aleksson |
Yeah, we can sell that, neat as it is.
Shutai |
Assuming we take 4000gp each and using 1,550 for part consumables, I suppose the traditional Cloak of Resistance is the main thing I'd grab.
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
Yeah I will get a +2 cloak of resistance as well with my 4k. I would suggest another wand of CLW out of the 1550 leaving 800 for other consumables. The wand we have is low :)
Aleksson |
^^I'm good with that, and I dunno if we'd wanna go for some scrolls of lesser restoration with the other 800? They're 150 a pop, so I'd think get four of them? With my 4k, I'll opt for a headband of inspired wisdom +2.
Shutai |
Hmm...in that case I'll trade in that cold iron +1 mace, too, and get a +1 Cloak of Resitance and a Headband of Alluring Charisma if that's OK? And Scrolls of Restoration seem smart.
Aleksson |
I remained satisfied with my purchases.
GM Rednal |
= w= b
You had supplies - some, at least. You had a group that was a bit bigger than before. You had more experience. Now you just had a journey still ahead of you... a long trek over the mountains to the far side of the world, more than three thousand miles by wagon.
And also an important decision to make. o wo The next book is essentially a long, slow journey across the north with a lot of potential stops and weather encounters and so on and so forth along the way. If you want to have a relatively chill journey and go through that part, we can. Such things don't work too well in PbP, though - so, if you'd prefer, we can basically hop straight through that part and go right to Tian Xia.
Aleksson |
My preference would probably be skip ~75% of it. I had kinda focused the ranger part of my build on being able to survive the journey across the Crown, so I'd be a little disappointed to skip it entirely. Aleksson also struggles with the fact that the last time he rode along with a caravan across the crown, he ended up getting everyone killed, so he was hoping to prove how he'd learned from his mistakes on the return journey.
Additionally, having taken the (handle animal) package of Beastmastery, I was looking forward to perhaps encountering some wild animals to tame. :-)
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
I trust you Rednal, I'm fine skipping or doing as much as you think. I'm not going anywhere besides vacations. I'm here for the long haul though I would prefer it not get too boring. As you said some things just don't translate to PbP well.
Shutai |
Skip whatever will drag in PBP sounds good.
Shutai |
One of each?
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
Not familiar with any of the Jade regent past where we are so whatever you want to run us through :). Also. Hey all. My parents came for a visit so the wife and I are taking a mini vacation and heading to Orlando to worship at the alter of the big mouse for a few days. Regular posting will resume Monday. Please bot me as needed. I will try and check in on phone. Thank you.
Aleksson |
Have fun Taka! Yeah, I'd say one of each. Maybe start with the open area one, and if it does drag, we can opt out of #2?
Shutai |
I'm guessing that it would be something like clearing out a passage we need to go through, or helping a village who has something we'd need?
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
With Taka having a +12 to survival and +15 to track he would be helping to provide support with our guide, scouting, and hunting for food along the way to supplement rations.
Aleksson |
Yeah, I think keeping a decently wide perimeter to keep an eye out for threats, and foraging for food as practical to keep the caravan supplied. I'd also keep an eye out for any tracks or droppings of animals I'd want to tame: things like wolves, polar bears, or wolverines.
GM Rednal |
Passing over the top of the world took time - weeks, even months.
Still, you make the pass to the Crown of the World under the guidance of Ulf Gormundr.
The initial passage beyond the northern mountains of Avistan is surprisingly easy, but the caravan had to make choices about how best to proceed—should you take the easier road following the Path of Aganhei, likely much faster but perhaps more exposed to unfriendly eyes, or a more difficult shortcut through the rugged wilderness?
To obtain information about conditions on the road ahead, Ulf detoured to the Erutaki village of Iqaliat, where you discover that the Path of Aganhei is blocked by morozkos, and that the village is suffering from the predations of a white dragon. The village shaman, Tunuak, tried to blame the attacks on you, and you had the opportunity to uncover Tunuak’s corruption and his hidden shrine to Sithhud, the fallen demon lord of blizzards and the frozen dead, before journeying to the dragon’s subglacial lair to end the attacks on Iqaliat.
Returning to the village, you found clues pointing to the source of the shaman’s corruption and the increased danger of the morozkos. If the full brunt of the storms is unleashed, the caravan will never make it across the Crown of the World, so you and your caravan must travel across the High Ice to the strange ruins at the North Pole.
When you get within 50 miles of the Storm Tower, you can see a bluish glow at the northern horizon that intensifies as the tower comes into view. Within 10 miles, you can see the massive black spire itself, and the strange blue light emanating from its apex. The so-called Storm Tower is a hexagonal spire of black basalt, towering hundreds of feet into the air. The tower is mired in a lake of black slush, with a shattered stone causeway leading across the lake toward a gaping hexagonal opening in the wall at the base of the tower. A huge, crackling ball of blue light floats just above the tower’s roof, while a raging white storm turns in an expanding spiral overhead.
Aleksson |
Alright! While in cold terrain:
• Aleksson gets +4 to initiative, Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
• My allies while in LoS get +2 to initiative, Perception, Stealth, & Survival
"It's your decision to make," Aleksson told Ameiko, as they stood discussing how to handle the tower with Ulf, Taka, and & Shutai. "But the caravan can't follow us to the tower's entrance. So how close will it draw?"
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
"I would suggest close enough for us to pull back and support if it were attacked while we go to investigate. I am ready when the two of you are."
Taka is prepared to assault the tower if that is what it comes to.
Takamatsu Kaijitsu |
So I"m guessing we lost Shutai? I don't want the game to die. I know all of us are not going anywhere should we recruit a third?
Aleksson |
Hear, hear. What's the word, Rednal?