GM Rednal's Planehopping from Bard's Gate (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

"Yes, let's. Is there any particular area that your gargoyle infestation has taken root, or do they just roam about? Any particularly tasty minerals we could use as bait or a known location of a nest? we'd like to get to work if possible."

Will stares blankly at creature of threes. "I do not understand your analogy. All minerals are homes? We make homes of trees and rock. But we still have plenty more we use for other things besides homes."

Is this a small, finite plane? No floating islands of minerals that no one lives on.

"Right, then. Hands to myself, got it."

Well, 'small' is relative for planes. It is, however, of a definitely limited size, and that size isn't overly huge. There are places nobody lives.

"We would not suggest the use of minerals as bait." the celestial noted. "The gargoyles have been spotted most frequently on globes with softer stones, which they find easy to chew - although they are easily able to fly between the spheres, and so can often avoid pursuit. There are several gatherings of hunters in Ostelraun, the Mithral City, who may know more about the exact places to go." After a moment, the celestial added, "Do be careful if they offer you Ulahal. It is a popular drink amongst natives - some gain the ability to teleport for a time, others tend to lose their wits, and it would be most unfortunate if you were to rely on its powers and fall out of the plane."

"Long range or short hops?" Will asked. If he wasn't getting any minerals then this was at least a good trade. There were some boots he was thinking of making. And the risks might be worth it for the ability to teleport. While he had a number of medium range options, he had none for long.

"A teleportation drink? That seems pretty remarkable. And definitely dangerous if you gained teleportation and lost your wits at the same time. I've had a hard enough time climbing atop my horse after a particularly late night. I can't imagine trying aim appearing somewhere while inebriated."

"Sounds fun." Mused Asem, while on one side he did share his companions concerns the young man still found the idea of trying it quite entertaining. "But ok, we will be careful thanks." He conceded.

"I have not witnessed the effects of the drink myself. They do appear to be potent enough to be useful... but, at the same time, dangerous." Your guide(?) explained. "I would not expect to easily jump from one of the globes to another, though, especially because far more people suffer from the drink than benefit."

Will nodded and waited for them to get done with the inspection and lead them wherever they were going.

"All right, we'll be sure to keep your advice in mind, thank you. Let's head to this Mithral City, and see if we can find the best place to start our hunt." With their inspections concluded, Anders followed any directions given to the city.

"Ok, thanks, good to know... shall we move on?" Told the young man.

As it turned out, the city's name was quite literal. The walls, the buildings, even the streets were made out of pure mithral - hard enough to resist erosion and daily activities, no less, so things still looked pretty sharp and clean. More worryingly, however, there was a faint silvery sheen to the atmosphere as well, and many of the residents looked like they'd been covered in mithral dust. For all that, however, the place was an active city in every sense, and you heard loud cheers and calls coming from a tavern just inside the gates (which weren't so hard to get through, aside from another check for mining tools). Further in, you could also see a marketplace where various goods were being hawked by the locals.

"Even when the streets are paved in mithral, a city sounds the same. That tavern seems like a good enough place to start our search for other hunters. Shall we?" Anders headed towards the tavern with his companions, finding himself excited about starting their task, but also genuinely excited about the new experience of exploring a strange city. He felt guilty for a moment, until he felt the reassuring presence of the invisible spirits that accompanied him.

Well, Mithril City indeed. Will swivelled back and forth to focus intently on whatever caught his attention. The silvery sheen. The bluish hue. It certainly looked like mithril. But couldn't just look at the city. He had to touch it. He knelt just inside the gates and rubbed a finger across the road. Smooth and cooler than one would expect with continuous light. He knew mithril by touch. Rodzin had allowed him to work with it under close supervision. It took a lot of work to heat mithril. Not as bad as admantine but you could still loose a day if you didn't do it right.

It takes a physical pull to get Will to follow but he does so without complaint.

To the tavern.

There was a light of wonder in Asem eyes as he navigated the city. It also made sense that the locals wouldn't want planar visitors to go around and take their building blocks, especially as it was mithral. Honestly speaking, the young man was almost tempted to borrow a piece or two for himself, but well,they were paid well enough and it wouldn't have likely been worth the risk.

As outsiders - compared to the various earthy entities that made up a large part of the city's population - you got looks as you passed by. On the bright side, taverns were taverns, even if they didn't have any drinks on the shelves that you were familiar with. This particular one was quite loud, and you saw representatives of more than two dozen different races filling the place and generally having a good time. A few were performing stunts, most were drinking, and cheers could be heard as something entertaining or embarrassing happened. The owner - or at least the barkeeper, it wasn't entirely clear - was a being similar to the person you'd met when you first arrived (the local, that was, not the celestial security force). It ground its teeth for a bit, then sniffed the air. "Human, or close enough." it said in passable Common. "How drunk do you want to be?"

"Human," Anders confirmed. "While the prospect of sampling your popular brews does sound appealing, I'm not one to drink on the job. We've actually come hoping to meet with some of your customers that know about the gargoyle problem your king has been having. After the job is through, we'd be able to stop by again for pleasure instead of business. With a fair bit more coin to spend as well, I should think."

"Ulahal," Will says. He blinks and shakes slightly as if remembering something. "Please."

Anders raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. Will could make his own choices, even if Anders thought it might be a mistake. He knew he had made his share of mistakes in the past.

“Yeah why not, I'll take one too.” Told Asem cheerfully, still scanning the room and studying the other customers, many of species that he had never seen.

The barkeeper's expression was hard to read, given its very non-human face, but there was an air of amusement. "Two silver each. You wanna talk, go up to the crowd." it said, moving over to a keg and pouring out two mugs of a frothy beer that it set on the countertops.

Will and Asem, give me a Fortitude save and roll 1d6.

Will pays the two silver but doesn't immediately take a drink. Instead he takes a few small vials, each slightly different. He pours a little bit of the brew in each and seals the stoppers. He then puts them away. This still leaves over half the drink but he still doesn't take a sip. Instead he examines the brew, smelling, swirling, and casting some kind of analysis on it.

K:Alchemy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 Using Alchemy to identify properties or K:Alchemy as part of Poison Lore. I think an alcoholic beverage is considered a poison. Not drinking enough yet for an effect.

"Thanks" Asem tried to give the creature a look in at least one of its eyes before taking a generous sip from his mug, it was unlikely that a tavern would sell something poisonous to its customers, so what could go wrong right?

Fortitude: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
1d6 ⇒ 5

For the time being, Anders was content to observe, ready to step in if his companions needed his aid.

There were quite a few eyebrows raised as Will began examining the drink. "Whassamatter, outsider, drinks not good enough for you?" someone called as he examined the esoteric beverage. Asem, meanwhile, was able to down the pint of acrid, heady drink without any ill effects... although it certainly had a distinctive taste.

"Any good?" Anders asked Asem, curious, but cautious. Even though he had left the service of the church, a lifetime of strict codes of conduct was hard to walk away from.

This will require further testing, Will thinks ignoring the comment. Now that he had some to work with, he could move on to an empirical study. "Another please." He pays for another and downs this one.

Fort: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 +4 if poison resistance works.
1d6 ⇒ 1

"Yeah, Great" Replied enthusiastically the young man, addressing Anders, but mostly for the benefit of innkeeper and the patrons of the tavern.

"I mean it has a bit of a weird taste, but I have tried worse stuff when I was with in my Uncle's caravan." He added grinning playfully shortly thereafter.

With his companions apparently safe for now, Anders looked to the other patrons, hoping to find friendly looking people that might know something about the gargoyle situation. If he could find such a group, he planned to buy them their next round and hopefully get them to open up.

The drink hit Will like a cavalry charge, immediately starting to numb his senses.

Dexterity and Wisdom Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Seeing his near-instantly clumsier movements, laughter broke out across the rest of the bar. "Looks like he needs to practice drinking before he starts trying to figure 'em out." the same speaker from before called, to another round of laughs from the assembled figures.

@Anders: A Diplomacy (Gather Information) check will suffice.

Diplomacy (Gather Information): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

Well that was...that...words were hard all of a sudden. And Will's head felt heavy. But heavy in a nice way. Was that possible? It felt like it. But, in a detached kind of way, he realized what he was feeling wasn't necessarily what actually was. Academically he knew the alcohol had altered his brain chemistry and thus his perceptions. In reality, the room was swirling in a fun way and he felt extraordinarily loose. He knew it was a bad thing to feel before the mission but right now he didn't seem to care. He turns to Asem and waits for the his face to stop spinning. "I believe I will be little more than a liability for the next...hour or so. Maybe less with water," He turns to the bartender, leaning almost too far out of his stool. "Bartender. Water please."

Does he feel teleporty? That's some heavy damage to his two main stats. Still leaves him with above average wisdom and intelligence so looking to flush his system with water while Anders gathers info.

"Come on! Water already? It didn't look that strong." he joked raising his eyebrows and giving a Will a playfull pat on the back. At least, he reasoned, while Will looked pretty wasted he wasn't still out of his mind.

Meanwhile, before another round of drinking could start, the young man tried to inspect the room to see if there was any other patron could catch his eyes as someone involved in their same task.

Asem's diplomacy sucks so he won't be able to help Anders much... however he will just try to inspect the room a bit if he sees anything that can catch his attention... perception I guess?
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

And I guess he won't notice much...

Will does not feel floaty or teleporty.

The crowd wasn't inclined to reveal everything to outsiders, but their good cheer at seeing Will stumble had definitely helped. It didn't take Anders too long to find someone willing to talk a little.

"Well, it's pretty simple, really. Gargoyles eat the rocks, metals, and gems. Locals don't like that much, 'cuz this isn't one of those nice planes where things easily regrow. I hear the King occasionally calls on a genie or wizard or something for a great working to restore the place, but hates doing it any more than he has to. Now, the beasts fly from sphere to sphere, right? So landbound folk are stuck to the roads and any globe they can walk on. Makes them hard to get to, though they're not so tough once you actually corner them. Plenty to go around, too, which is why we've made a sport of it."

"Makes sense. Fixing the place is likely quite a bit more expensive than hiring people to hunt down the gargoyles. A sport you say? Any tips for a beginner? There's gotta be some good way to draw 'em in close, or lie in wait for them. My friends and I would like to give it a go," Anders started to explain, before Will stumbled over and leaned on his shoulder, "in a while, I suppose. Probably wouldn't do to be chasing gargoyles and have someone step off a cliff."

Will futilely tried to identify the differences between alcohol-induced inebriation and a balanced mental state. But just thinking the word inebriation sent him into a giggle fit from which it was hard to get out of. Crap. "More water."

"Do they have any known nesting grounds? Dens, or whatever Gargoyles use to congregate?" Asked Asem, it sounded like a good place to start after all.

"Or perhaps we can try to go for some particularry 'tasty' rock formations, to see if we can catch some redhanded."

"I can fly you around, I think..." Added the young man as he grabbed another pint of the local drink, hopefully it would be as devastating for him as it had for Will. "But it won't be exactly safe for more than a few minutes." He added, before taking a sip from his glass.

I guess that Asem can transform into a large flying beast and try to carry the others if needed, but he would have to use a move action pretty frequently or tons of points to stay in that shape for longer than 5 minutes or so

Fortitude: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
1d6 ⇒ 1

Eventually, someone set a glass of water down in front of Will. Asem, meanwhile, didn't appear to have consumed enough of his own drink to be at further risk of its... effects.

"Well, if we knew exactly where they hid, they'd probably all be gone by now. You ask me, though, they're probably hiding on one of the lead globes. Plays ten kinds of hell with attempts at divination, and easy enough for them to make lairs inside without risking a collapse. They usually go for the mid-grade gems. The really valuable places are protected by the angels, and the gargoyles aren't going to muck about with them."

"That certainly makes sense, and it's a decent place to start our hunt. I don't suppose you know any decent shops around here that I could buy a map of the various globes?"

"Makes sense..." He commented. "Any sightings of them recently? Maybe we can start in the general area where they have last been seen and look for a lead sphere nearby."

"Lead. Solid at room temperature. Melting point 330. Density 11.34 g/cm3. Usually combined with Sulfur in nature. Build up in the body can lead to blindness. Useful and cheap as sling stones. Can shield against divination," Will rambles.

The speaker shrugged and gestured to the door. "Plenty o' shops outside, though if you really wanna find somewhere, ask a local. All of the spheres have their own magnetic orientation, see, or none at all. It's pretty subjective here, and makes navigating by compass all but impossible. Easier to get something like go to the iron globe, than the pumice one connected to it, then a big sapphire... 'course, you gotta know your rocks and gems, but it's better than tools." be explained. "And yeah, there's sightings all over the place. That's why we're here in the first place - good coin for good work."

"Makes sense. Thanks for your help." Anders politely excused himself, and then went to round up Will and Asem.

"Once you feel like you're not in danger of falling over, I suggest we head out of town and start searching. We should be able to find clues indicating the gargoyle's presence like gnawed on rocks, and track them back to wherever they are. Any other suggestions?"

"Oh I can walk just fine. Just don't expect me to fight to...well." He doesn't help his argument as he wobbles when standing up on the last word. But he seems stable enough after a moment of concentration. Walking should improve circulation and remove the intoxem, intox, alcohol quicker." He pondered the why circulation was easy to say but intoxicant fumbled around his mouth but did not get far when a haze settled over the thoughts, making them hard to focus on.

"I guess we can wait for a hours for you to get better, just in case."

"Well if they were traditional animals I might be able to track them down, here though, I'm not sure that will work. Still I guess we can ask the locals for the last few sightnings and the nearest Lead orb."

DC 15 Diplomacy (Gather Information). Plus shopping for most things within your budget - gargoyles can fly, after all, so you may want to ensure you can act at range.

As they walked off Will's drink, Anders took Asem's advice and asked around the people they met for any recent gargoyle sightings.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

Asem just followed around keeping his eyes open, after all, he was not as good with people as he was with beasts and perhaps even less with strange extraplanar beings. Still there was an expression of wonder in his eyes as he walked, after all he still was into a new unknown land.

Will followed silently. His eyes drooped slightly and he had a lazy smile. He also only wobbled a few times. Apparently he was a happy, silent drunk.

How long for that to wear off?

There'd been plenty of sightings - that was a bit part of why people were being recruited from around the realms to begin with. Eventually, though, you did get some specific directions pointing you in the... er... 'direction' of a massive emerald sphere where multiple gargoyles were said to rise.

*Smiles cheerfully at Will* That's a good question. It's something best discovered in-character, though. Or, y'know, magical healing.