GM Rednal's War of the Burning Sky (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

After some worried looks from your less-martial companions, your group of boats set off, trying to track them down. Unfortunately, it seemed the passage of time had made tracking more difficult, and the trail had gone cold.

The DC was, alas, a little above Tchakar's roll.

Eventually, deciding there was no use staying in the swamp for too long, you began to pole your way towards the far end of the swamp.

As evening comes, you see a hawk fly overhead, turning flapping into the distance. About an hour later, a group of armed figures wearing the armor of Shahalesti appear, hustling towards you - though the rather open views means you have several minutes before they arrive.

"Aerial surveillance, hu? Doesn't seem like the most efficient way of border security, but I suppose it works well enough for most refugees coming through the swamps.", Farod implies a connection between the hawk and the appearance of the Shahalesti.
"Not like we can outrun them, so I suppose we'll parley and see why they are in such a hurry.", Farod suggests to his companions. "And be ready for trouble, just in case, I suppose."
Refreshing his Mage Armor, Farod will also cast Gravity Bow once the Shahalesti enter the maximum range of his bow...but keep the weapon down and no arrow drawn, stepping ahead of the group, together with Umbriak and Tchakar.(If they are so inclined)

Tchakar followed Farod's lead and focused his thoughts inward to bolster his body, then stood beside Farod.

Activating my armor.

Are we still with the boats, or is this up on shore now?

Umbriak tried to look non-threatening while still carrying three difference greataxes.

By this point, you were in a fairly dry part of the swamp, albeit not perfectly so. It was, after all, still raining. A horn was blown when the soldiers got within 200 feet, and several of them took cover further back while a smaller group closed in.

"Travelers, halt!" the apparent leader said. "By order of Shahalesti, all travelers must submit to inspection before approaching Seaquen. In particular, we have been ordered to detain any shipments of military supplies headed in or out. Do you have any questions or anything you would like to declare before we begin?"

From closer range, they certainly looked like Shahalesti soldiers - they were elves, one and all, and all of their equipment matched.

"Hail. All my military equipment is for personal use only. I submit to the inspection, but can't help wonder why Seaquen would want to detain supplies headed for it?", Farod was wary, but tried to be as diplomatic as possible.
They had seen a battlefield full of Dasseni who had fought on both sides of the battle. Just because these soldiers looked the part did not mean they weren't working for Ragesia.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
After he had said his part and had a first opportunity to judge the mans reaction, Farod glanced towards Krystin. In the past, she had visions of events to come, and he was willing to trust her gut feeling somewhat.
Basically checking if she has a clear opinion on the matter and makes it known by facial expression.

Moving closer to the others, Umbriak murmured, "I dinnae count as military surplus, de ye ken?"

"We only have the supplies we carry for traveling as we seek refuge in Seaquen. The dangerous roads necessitate some basic armaments for self defense, but we don't carry any more than that. Are you here to help make the road safer for travelers?"

The keen-eared elves looked like they'd heard Umbriak, and a few of them chuckled as the group moved forward. Krystin, for her part, didn't look alarmed.

Meanwhile, while the soldiers began their search, the commander seemed willing enough to talk. "We've sailed to Seaquen to extend an offer of alliance. As a gesture of goodwill, my group - a detachment from the Osprey - is on the lookout for hostile forces and shipments of military goods that might be intended for the hands of Ragesian agents we believe have infiltrated the city. The last thing they need is rebels with the opportunity to arm themselves." he explained calmly. He looked over your group a moment later - the civilians, the weighty old wizard, his daughter, the fey, Torrent, and the three of you - and nodded slightly. "Frankly, you sort don't look like Ragesian supporters - too many arcane tools, and they're not so big on non-humans to begin with. Still, I do have to get through the formalities. Your names, origins, and reasons for traveling to Seaquen, please?" he asked as an elf behind him took out a scroll and muttered something over it.

"Tchakar," the tengu squawked, "and the reasons are those you already mentioned. I had a cottage in the hills surrounding Gate Pass and decided it was time to leave when the Ragesians showed up. I sort of... fell in with these find folk by accident."

"Farod Shamar. I lived in Gate Pass. Magic is inherent in my blood, and I would rather not argue about the pros and cons of killing me with the Ragesians." taking a sweeping glance at their Allies, he looks back at the Commander: "We come seeking refuge from a monstrous war machine, but we do not come empty-handed. As you aptly said yourself, our very existance is threatened by the Ragesian empire because of who we are, our nature; and we wish to stand against them, out of both necessity and doing what is right. I of course cannot speak for my comrades, but I believe that if there is a way we can help Seaquen prepare against the storm to come, we will gladly offer our service in doing so."

Standing up straight, and therefore reaching somewhere around the Elves nipples, Umbriak announced, "Umbriak Embersworn, devotee of Angradd, formerly of Gate Pass. The Raggies dinnae care for a wee bit of axing them to leave, ye ken, and so it was that I had to journey from the city a wee bit." He paused, and added, "Aye, I dinnae mind a bit 'o helpin' now and then."

"Against a force like the Ragesians, we're not inclined to turn away helping hands - just to make sure they're not really a fist. One saboteur can do worse than a hundred soldiers." the Elven commander observed - but he seemed pretty relaxed, as if he'd already decided you weren't the kind of threat he was on the lookout for. It didn't take too long for the search to be completed, though the elves seemed particularly interested in your fey friend.

"Clear, sir." one of the soldiers reported, and the commander nodded.

"All right. You lot watch yourselves - the path to the city still isn't totally safe. I suspect you can handle yourselves, but don't take any risks, yeah?" With that, he and his soldiers rejoined the rest of their group and headed off, likely back to whatever passed for a camp. Your way was... well, not immediately barred, at least, but it was up to you to decide whether to change your guard or continue as you had been.

"Everything okay?", Farod asked Tiljann with a comforting tone, having noted the special attention she had received during the search.

After he made sure the Fey Girl was fine, and everything was packed up again, he prepared to march on:"Well, good thing they told us how far it would be in which direction and what roads to take. Shall we be on our way?"
I'm good continuing as we were - maybe keep our guests in the center during marching. Not like they'll slow us down more than Haddim taking a walk...

"I appreciate the concern, but I think we'll be fine. We've already had to defend ourselves from a group of witches that thought we might make a good stew."

Tchakar is eager to get to their destination, so continuing on seems ok to him.

"Thank ye for the adivice, but we shall fair fine, I should nae wonder," Umbriak replied cheerfully as they headed along.

It was true that Haddim didn't seem in a hurry most of the time - although, in fairness, he didn't seem to have the stamina to hurry, either. He was old, and it showed. Tiljann, on the other hand, just shrugged. "Elves and fey go way back." she said.

Eventually, the swamp grew shallower and dryer, and you began to see rowboats abandoned along the road. Then more. Then more. There were also signs that a great many others had been abandoned here at some point and carried away. After you finally disembarked - your choice whether to keep dragging them overland - you continued forward.

Finally the swamp fades into rocky forest, and the road rises about 30 feet above sea level. Soon the thick stench of swamp is replaced by salt and surf. The road forks, and dozens of amateur lumberjacks are clear-cutting the nearby woods. Tiljann frowned at that, but didn't go off to bother them.

You also see quite a lot of rather large ships in the waters surrounding the edge of the penninsula, and Torrent snorted a bit at that. "We're just a few more refugees as far as most people are concerned, but unless you all want to camp out here and be peasants forever, we need to start talking to people. My mentor, Lee Sidoneth, should be up on the north coast - he can get us into Lyceum."

New map!

The boats had been an investment, but it seems pointless to drag them overland...Farod would not stop others from doing so, but is disinclined to carry one himself.

As Tiljann frowned, Farod commented:"The forests recover. Mostly, the lumberers will plant them anew, and where they don't, nature will still reclaim it's due in the long run."

"As good a start as any. I intend to make sure this place stays a sanctuary - I had hoped the guards would drop a name, or someone to talk with, but they seemed disinclined to do so. So, north coast, Lee Zidonev?", he asked of his companions.

"I dinnae believe I have anything else to do right now. Mayhap comb my beard?" The Dwarf went cross-eyed looking at it. "I dinnae think the swamp water good for it."

Looking at the lumberjacks, he added, "'Tis sad but needed. Those trees will be homes for the homeless, heat for those as is cold. There are worse reasons to be cut down, in the ends."

"I have no intention of being outside of the city when the Ragesians arrive. By all means, lets meet your mentor."

Torrent started to walk north, then paused, frowning. "Actually... well, first off, I think we're going to need a place to stay while we're here. Something long-term, not a nightly fort like we've had. Camping with the refugees is probably the easiest way to do it, but an inn would be more secure... and more expensive. I don't think we have the money for a house..."

Umbriak considered the very heavy bag of gold in his napsack, with over 4000 gold pieces in it. "Och, ye'd be surprised. But aye, could do with a wee bit of time to get yon armour refitted for my wear. Rentin' rooms should be fine, but if we all prefer camping I am nae stranger to the sleeping roll."

"I'd definitely prefer a room. Better sleep, warm and dry, plus less directions for sneaky swamp things to sneak up from."

"I'm fine either way...but mayhaps we should first see if your Mentor is there, before investing into room and board."
Farod was very much used to camping outdoors, but that didn't mean he was opposed to the comfort of a bed and the convenience of a roof.

Torrent glanced up towards the sky, where the sun was well across the sky. "Well, mostly, I'd rather not be running around trying to find a place when it's dark." she admitted. "With so many refugees, anywhere normal is going to be full up. Much as I'd like to get in contact with my mentor now, I know he doesn't have enough space for all of us, and we didn't come all this way to slip up from trying to run before we check our footing."

Umbriak shrugged. "Coin is useful in that regard. I'm sure with a wee bit of leg work we can find somethin'." He looked down for a moment. "Short leg work, in my case. Shall we meet back here in two hours?" If no one had a better plan, Umbriak would shuffle off to find lodgings.

Diplomacy (Information Gathering): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Diplomacy (Information Gathering): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

"The question is if we'll find a place regardless. It's not like the refugees only show up in the evening or at night. I'd expect "anywhere normal" to already be filled up, or demand completely unreasonable prices. But sure, lets try our luck."

Diplomacy(Information Gathering): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 Hours: 1d4 ⇒ 3

"Anywhere is better outside. Hopefully something will be available." Turning to the refugee family they had brought along, Tchakar added, "I'm guessing that any place we find will have limited vacancies and necessitate splitting up, so perhaps this is the best place to part ways. I hope you are able to find some decent work, as well as someone to help train the kids. If things go poorly with the Ragesians they'll need every advantage they can get." Bending down next to the kids the sparsely feathered bird man produced a small carved stone crow for each of them that he had been working on along the way. "Stay safe."

Profession Gemcutting: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Diplomacy (gather information, aid): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Thanks to some rather intense information-gathering, you eventually uncovered a few options. For 10 gp per day per room, you could convince an innkeeper to kick some people out to make room for you. Alternately, you could find a family whom you can crowd in with for 2 gp per day per room, but your hosts would have house rules, and likely won’t abide any ruckus. You could also purchase a small house (two bedrooms, plus a common room) for 2,000 gp, though it won’t be ready for three days (the houses are new construction - that's what all the deforesting is going towards).

"Och, thems are not the best choices," Umbriak mused. "I cannae abide the idea of booting someone from there lodgins, nor can we wait for a house to finish it's building. I dinnae even ken we'll be here three days hence. That leaves lodgings, but I dinnae wish to bring our business down on there heads." The Dwarf scratched at his chin, clearly not liking any of the options.

"Technically, someone else might have time to wait for a house - and be willing to sell theirs...but buying a house seems like a bad idea if we're only in the area for a short while, to be honest. Further, I agree that booting someone out does not work. I'd say we settle for camping outside at least today, and see what Torrent's mentor has to say. If we find we'll be in the area longer, we can still organize lodgings tomorrow. Sound good?"

"I suppose one more night will be ok. If we're not staying here, where are we going?"

I should note that your plans currently involve staying in - or at least operating from - Seaquen for the foreseeable future, as it's the de-facto center of the resistance against Ragesia. A permanent residence is not necessarily a bad investment.

Well, most of my money here was gonna go on Plate Armour, but looky what we found, so I suppose we could. So if we're gonna buy a house, can we each throw in 600gp and the NPC squad raise the remainder?

I can just buy the house and you can afford your armor. I can reopen my herbalism business, when we're not running for our lives.

I'm totally fine buying a permanent residence. But I meant to make sure we're not going to meet Mister Mentor and he sends us off on a 3-week romp through the wilderness or some remote island or what-not. As in, learn that we will stay in the region in-character before dedicating to a permanent residence in-character.
"Hey, maybe Haddim could help -", Farod ponders, turning to the old mage:"You did do some amazing things with raising stone walls. I've never seen you with a spellbook, so I'd guess your magic comes naturally, much like mine? A couple walls would make a great start for a house if you've got the juice to spend, and I'm sure we could fix a roof, or get a more permanent one fixed tomorrow. And making some windows and doors wouldn't be a serious challenge, either-"

I never quite caught it, but he did seem to have the same tricks regardless of our environment/situation, and be less adaptable to new situations(like with the resist heat stuff) - i would have guessed a wizard had more fitting spells for some of the situations, so randomly guessing he is a sorcerer himself-

Thinking it over, you realize you've never actually seen the old wizard studying a spellbook. At Farod's words, however, he snorted.

"Unlike some, I earned my magic - through hard study." he said, sneering at the idea of just 'getting' it like sorcerers did. Wizards tended to be prickly about that sort of comparison. "But yes, if you can get enough stone together - preferably a large block - I can mold it into a sturdier shape. "

Umbriak remembered the surroundings. "Dinnae ken how much stone we'll find in these parts, but it cannae hurt to search." He shrugged.

"I'm guessing that's part of the reason they're clearing the forest to build more houses. Wood is more plentiful here and easier to come by? Either way, with this many refugees and more on the way we can probably buy one of the new residences and sell it off when we decide to move on?"

Remembering his own - forced - apprenticeship, and a set of eyes that still haunt him today, Farods face momentarily darkens:"There are more hard ways to pay for one's magic. No matter what the powers origin is."
Joining Umbriak in looking around, Farod spoke up:"That said, I saw you SHAPE stone, with the bridge. But you erected a stone wall to split the darkness, from thin air. If we Shelter tonight, could you memorize the needed spells tomorrow?"
Wizard without a spellbook? Some fancy archetype of sorts or some fishery going on? Farod will attempt to catch a glimpse of Haddim's morning routine. I half expect him to be a witch with a tumor familiar or something - :P

"There's a surprising amount of stone under people's feet most of the time." Haddim said, one of his eyes twitching a bit. "And I happen to be better at manipulating it than most. But unless you want the house to crash down beneath you, I'd rather not pull the stone out of the ground and ruin the foundations. Get me a d*mn big rock and permission from the city to use the land and you'll have your house. And don't try to tell me how to do magic. Now that we're here, my daughter and I have no particular reason to stay with you anyway, so you should be grateful I'm willing to help this much."

Torrent winced slightly, then gave a small shake of her head and a shrug of her shoulders - clearly of the opinion it was better to just ignore his aggressive behavior. (There was probably some truth to that. Shaping stone was not apprentice-level magic, and quite frankly, she had no idea what he might be capable of if he put his mind to something.)

Will Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Umbriak looked at the young woman with his eyes narrowed for a moment, but nods to Torrent. He has his suspicions, but for now this wasn't the place to voice them.

...but it was oh so tempting to cut the old ass off at the knees.

Farod was well aware the old man had powerful magic of sorts at his disposal...which made things all the more strange. Back at their home near the Fire Forst, Haddim had incinerated Ragesian Inquisitors come to take him.
Yet during the battle in the swamp, all he did was raise a stone wall - rather than something more direct or destructive. And Farod very much doubted there was a lot of stone close to the surface in that marshland.

But now was not the time to question these things - if they had not hauled his fat ass across the land, Haddim would have perished in his 'last stand' long ago - a testament to the mans hard-headedness and disregard for his own daughters safety.
"I have not meant to school you on magic, I was simply trying to understand your capabilities better. We are grateful you are lending assistance, but have little knowledge of what you can or can't do. You and Krystin might not have a particular reason to stick with us, but neither is there a particular reason to end our cooperation that proved fruitful so far - so lets get ourselves a big rock and a house worthy of a mage of your caliber. I'll see about the permissions.", Farod attempted to smooth things over.
He wouldn't be a huge loss, though he is amusing in a way - but that weird relationship he has with his daughter itches me in all the wrong ways, so trying not to split ways without having solved that riddle.

Kn. Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Tchakar decided to try to find out if there was a suitable quarry they could purchase enough stone from for the magic stone house to even be an option.

"You do that." Haddim said - which seemed about as close to compromising as his excessive pride would allow him to get.

Asking around, it seemed like large rocks themselves wouldn't be too hard to come by - there was a quarry - but moving it would be another matter. You'd need to hire quite a few laborers, do it yourselves, or perhaps hire some of the wizards in town.

Umbriak scratched his chin. "Well, I can lift a wee bit of weight, but I cannae drag a house." He shrugged. "Shall we hire some strong folks to help?"

Any scrolls of Ant Haul around? With 18 Strenght, +4 from Rage, +4 from Bulls Strenght, +Ant Haul, we would look at 2,760 lbs - dragging or pushing is 5 times that, or 13800 - which can get further doubled due to favorable conditions(such as wooden logs below the stone block) for a total of 27600 lbs - now granted, even a massive 3x3x3 block of granite weights like 5 times that which means 2x2x2 would be within parameters...but maybe if Haddim hollows it out at the Quarry or could reshape the raw material provided by a smaller block? I really want to see Umbriak drag a House.

"Maybe. I'll see what options we have."

That said, with the refugees around, there's probably no shortage of people trying to earn a few coins, and we could easily afford a large amount of untrained laborers and a handful of trained ones. Possibly even the cheaper option over an Ant Haul Scroll, but less cool.

"I'm sure there are some folks out here that would be happy to work for some extra coin, and it would likely be even cheaper than purchasing the new construction since all the skilled work would be magicked away by our exceptionally talented friend."

That would be Tchakar's vote, since it gets us a safe base to work from and helps a bunch of people at the same time, buuuuuuut.... If you'd like to pursue Umbriak moving a whole house (or at least house seeds?), don't forget about the always fun enlarge person and if we wanted to spring for a bit more we could hunt down a scroll of shrink item, though we'd probably need several scrolls or very high caster levels to get sufficient stone since it's only 10 cubic feet for the base scroll level.

Ant Haul is a 1st-level spell and this is a decent town with an active wizarding group, so yes, a scroll of that is available. ^^

Umbriak waited to learn if people wanted him hauling as part of a team, and sharing the wealth, or Enlarging and Spelling up so he could haul a house on his own. It would impress town, if nothing else.