Kingdom Building for Beginners (Inactive)

Game Master robertness

Sooner or later, we will cross path with the Stag Lord. For now, we are all tired, wounded, and we won't be a match for him alone, less even for him and his fellows. Remember the charter ask us not ONLY to get rid of banditry, but to explore the country too. We can't solve all the problems in a few days. We check about the wedding ring while the trail is still hot, brings back some stuff to Oleg's shop and see if we can trade it for some equipment-weapons or armor- that could help us in our future fight against the Stag Lord

Vivian's hand get close to Najara's hair, as if she was about to caress her head or maybe straighten a lock of hair, but she stills her hand in mid hair. She smiles and says after a few seconds

I like you Najara, even if we seem so different.. I think of both of us as the two sides of a coin, and no offense is "minted".
she giggles
While we take some necessary rest between two battles, I'd really like to know you more... Were you raised in a temple, as myself?

"How about a compromise? If the intent is to spend the day resting, I will instead scout the trail and see how far along it I can get in half a day's journey. If I am able to find the tree the mites live in in only that time, then taking care of the problem immediately would only take a couple extra days at most. If, on the other hand, I am unable to reach the tree, then I will make a note of where I left the trail and we can try to regain it at a later time after we deal with the Stag Lord. Would this be agreeable to everyone?

"Ha! I like your spunk, Gordom was it?" Jesse says. "It will get you dead, but I like it. You folks are good, but you're no match for the Stag Lord and his lackeys, yet. We were just the bunch he decided to let Kressle and Happs use to terrorize the local trappers and a pair of isolated traders. If we'd gotten a couple more lucky hits, we wouldn't be here talking about what you're doing next. You seriously think you can take the Stag Lord out now?"

Um..duh. We are adventurers. We don't know the meaning of Out of Depth challenges and running is never an option. We tackle every challenge head on and would rather TPK than run. Such is the life of the hack and slash role player.

Najara joined Vivian in her downtime and took to rest upon a tree stump. ”Aye, I was. The church of Abadar in New Stetven to be exact.”, Najara answered and then proposed her own question in return, ”If you were raised in Pharasma’s house, why have you not embraced her teachings in full?”

Since that the others have developed a peculiar penchant for adopting stray bandits, she might as well get some use out of a captive audience. ”Does the Stag Lord employ any other separate groups like yours in the area? If so, how many and where are their relative locations?”, she prodded Jesse.

Najara winced at the idea of Gordom striking out on his own. Losing one of their ranks to some unfortunate accident or encounter would set them back in their quest against the Stag Lord. Plus Gordom was an amiable fellow even if she disagreed with him often. ”These woods are proven dangerous and I am hesitant to split up unnecessarily. If you all are insistent on finding this needle in a haystack, then we should go together. But I must insist on an agreed upon time limit of no more than a day for the matter.”

Since he got hit by an avalanche, Juwwem found himself a calmer person, doing more thinking about his actions than before. Yet he was still a gnome, so Gordom's idea of heading off alone and Najara's points against splitting up, gave a spark and he jumps up.

"Yes! Let's just go together right now!"

One ring to fool them all?

"This is the only camp the Stag Lord set up outside his keep," Jesse answers. "But there will be plenty of wandering bands of ten or so bandits in the woods around here."

"Should we try and go after the arms before we go for the head? Jesse, do you know where any of these other bands are?"

"Can't really say where they'll be. You might get a few wandering into this camp, but you'd have to be willing to wait a while. Might be weeks before they show up."

Shix looks up from his cooking pot "While what we all need is a good rest, we really need to find those mites before their trail goes cold and I really don't like the idea of one or two of us going out on their own, so logically we should go now....well after lunch."

Shix then excuses himself a few feet into the wood where he promptly hacks up some bile that made its way into his throat, being a voice of reason doesn't suit him.

"Yes of course, after lunch! Juwwem says to Shix who appears to be talking to the forest in a strange language himself.

Sitting next to Najara ,Vivian answers her

You mean, becoming a priest? Well, I guess that was how my mother would have liked it... But then, sometimes I never know with her. Not that she was secretive, but she would just smiles at me, silently, with her eyes saying " I won't tell you i told you so, because you already know deep inside yourself that I gave you all the tools to make up your own mind about it."
You know, I really like my mother, and I respect her like, totally. Never knew my father, all I know about him is that he died while my mother was giving birth to me...how ironic. His family denied my mother the money she should have inherited, so as soon as she was able to walk she took me in her arms and went to the temple of Pharasma, pledging herself to the Lady of the Graves. She served there for years, first as a lay woman, then as a priest. Being quite a strong willed woman, she never rised too high in the hierarchy, because she prefers to serve the poor than the rich. In her eyes, everyone is equal, because as she says,"all will rot the same way in a grave" after Pharasma call them.
In Brevoy, where I come from, that doesn't suit well with the nobles.
My mother says that you can serve all people by serving one god, but if you serve one kind of people, they see themselves as little gods, all important.....and the worst thing is that you believe it too.

So, I grew up in a temple, surrounded by grieving people, by the cough of sick women or the wailing of deadly wounded men. The priest taught me a few things-sacred chants, prayers against unresting souls, history of Pharasma's church, all that holy stuff....- but as a child, I found that boring and dull.... and so sad.
As often as possible, I hide myself in the temple, just so I wouldn't hear the depressing stories. Got really good at hide and seek games,as sneaky as a lil" mouse.

Sometimes I would watch my mother tending to the sick and wounded, even if they couldn't give the temple any...monetary compensation. She had some troubles with the higher priests for that, but nothing too serious. Pharasma doesn't care for your money, but the medecine itself can be quite expansive, you know. That's why, later, I took upon myself to pay for the poor with the money of the rich. But that's another story.

When I was, like , maybe 12 years old, I began to help my mother tending to the sick and wounded, and got pretty good at it too. That were my best years... Soon, I found what you can call my duty: I served Pharasma as a midwife. To this day, the sound of a baby's first cries are my fondest memories. Maybe later, if you are to give birth, you will allow me to help you. I would be greatly honored.

Vivian pats amiably Najara's thigh

You see, Najara, I COULD become a priest, I truly have faith in my god, and anyway my mother told me more than once it was my fate.
I understand and respect Pharasma's teachings, I try to avoid to kill anyone, I despise those who don't respect the dead or even worse use foul dark magic on corpses. And I try to live my life to the fullest, because I bloody well know it can end sooner than expected.
I remember, a few nights before I.. went off on the roads, we discussed the point of priesthood with my mother. She asked me why I didn't want to become a priest. I told her that it was because i didn't want, having a little power of life and death with my healing spells, to have to tell someone the one they care for, the one they cherish and love, would be better left into Pharasma's embrace.

How I remember my mom's smile.... She looked at me, with her wise old eyes, and told me it was the wisest answer she ever heard, and that she was proud of me. Could you believe it?

Vivian is beaming with warm happiness, and there's tears of joy in her eyes.

Making use of the downtime, the inquisitor listened intently as Vivian elaborated far longer than she was expecting. The girl liked to talk, that was for certain. ”You were fortunate to have such a wise and caring mother. Not every child is so lucky or so loved.”, she replied with an edge of wistfulness, ”I can understand your decision. You had your mother’s approval. This is one thing just about every man desires. And when denied such from his parents, he seeks it from a higher power.”

”How far is it to the Stag Lord from here and from Oleg’s trading post? Can you show us on a map?”, she further inquired of their captive, ”Has the Stag Lord made any enemies in the area that might have an interest in taking him down? Is there anyone with more potential info on our target? You have already warned against a frontal assault, but in that case, we are open to intermediate options that directly weaken the Stag Lord’s forces.”

What’s our game plan? Are we resting the night and then tracking the mites? Or leaving now to track the mites? I’m fine with either but favor the former. And while I am not my character, the meta-me is fine with going after this ring, but I think we should limit ourselves in this side adventure to 1 day like Najara suggested. Don’t want to get too far off on a tangent or password from Jesse might expire and we lose the possibility of using the alcohol trick on him. Maybe along the way find out more info or a new in on this guy.

Let's go now, we can always run back if they're too nasty... Discussing about it takes too much time. But if anyone refuses to go now, we all should stay and let Gordom scout, but that sounds like a bad idea to me.

Sounds good to me. So am I scouting or bringing ya'll? Either way, survival check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

YOU DON'T SPLIT THE PARTY! I say we go now and hope it takes more than a day to get there.

"You got a map of these woods?" Jesse asks Najara. "Seriously, the Stag Lord's fort is about forty miles away. Follow this river until you get to the Tuskwater."

If you're all leaving, what are you doing with Jesse and the unconscious Franco?

We have some rope and a cart don't we?

Is it a new day since we took the camp or not? Does Juwwem have any heal spells left because both Franco and I could use one. And do we have any cure light wounds potions, because I seem to be an arrow magnet.

Ummm, Franco should be the last of our worries for healing. I'm still at 3/10 myself and could use another shot of CLW if we press on this day.

One CLW left... maybe we should wait after all. Including Gordom.

Well, if Najara really is only at 3 it might not be a bad idea to heal her. 3 hit points is just an average roll on practically any weapon.

I forgot that for Arcane spell casters spell recovery is controlled by the passage of time, not rest. Enough time has passed that the Arcane casters can recover their spells.

Waves with his divine hands

While we are talking out of character I must admit that I, as a player, completely forgot about Franco. Gordom, however, is going to be unwilling to just leave the man behind in the state he is in after all that he's done for us. Gordom hopes that he can save and reform Franco, and now hopefully Jesse, so he's not going to want to leave until there is some kind of solution to the problem other than leave them tied up in the cart until we get back.
I would propose, since Robertness has declared this a new day but the day is also already halfway over, that Juwwem heal everyone who needs it (Najara, Franco and Gordom) and then we possibly see if Franco can in anyway add to Jesse's information before we set off after the mites. I know this isn't a perfect solution, but we have been a pretty RP heavy group and it would be something of a disservice if Gordom just left his new friend lying unconscious in the dirt.

OOPS! I meant Divine, but I suspect Gordom and Juwwem caught that already. Gotta stop posting rules stuff first thing in the morning.

After everyone rested a little bit and ate some of Shix lunch, Juwwem makes a round to see if he can help the wounded.
First he checks on Najara.

"Could you lower yourself a bit? Touching your head makes it easier for me to channel the earth's healing."

Then he moves on to Gordom.

"Same for you big man."

Finally he moves over to Franco and sits down next to the unconscious man, touches his forehead and mumbles a bit.

"What the... Oh, hi guys." Franco looks around at takes in the adventurers' apparent concern. "So, ummm... You get her?"

Glad to see Franco is more or less ok, Juwwem replies:

"Yes Franco, we got her. And now we're going to chase after some Mites."

Juwwem turns to Gordom:

"Gordom, please lead the way."

Let's hope we find the ring quick.Never saw these "mites", wonder what they looks like. Do they have some use for a wedding ring, Juwwem, as far as you know?

"I don't know if the little buggers would have a use for a ring or not," Jesse interrupts. "But they do like shiny things."

Lunch finished, the wagons are loaded, and you're ready to head out to wherever you'd like.

Updated region map

That's your last "free" hex. Getting enough knowledge to add a hex to your map as "explored" will take a days worth of poking around in plains (like Olegs) and two days for most other terrain. Some things you may want to look for will be obvious when you arrive in the hex. Others, you can only find by exploring.

following Gordom, who's tracking the mites

Juwwem was waiting for Gordom to point them where to go but the gnome is too restless to wait for the human.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but shall we go now? The earth we walk on can hold our traces for ages but can easily wipe them away in hours."

With these words Juwwem starts to poke around in the bushes trying to find where the tracks lead.

"Well, look at you. Hardly need me anymore do we? Go ahead, I'll follow you."

roll to assist survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Juwwem picks up the mites' trail with Gordom's help and they start following it. The trail leads east.

Let me know how you're traveling, as in special precautions you're taking if any. Who's driving the cart. What are you doing with Franco and Jesse?

Jesse should remained cuffed in the back of the cart. Not ready to trust him yet. Franco is a little more trustworthy so he can just be in the cart. Maybe Shix should drive the cart because he doesn't have a horse of his own? Can't think of any special precautions other than be alert!

Juwwem pays attention as the experienced woodsman showed him some tricks on how to track the mites. He was learning a great deal about tracking and nature in general.

"I'm a mountain person Gordom, but I must say that now you've shown me some things about the forest, I think I might actually like being in one."

As they proceed together, Juwwem talks less and less, only asking Gordom a short question about possible tracks if he thinks he sees them.

My preposal: We shouldn't be too close together. I'd say Gordom and I (and anyone else participating in the tracking) should be at the front. The rest including the cart with Jesse, Franco and Shix(driving) should follow at a short distance.

I agree with Juwewem about keeping a distance and I volunteer to guide the cart

Possible precaution could be to have Vivian and najara in the back of the cart as well in order to keep an eye on the two bandits and to watch our backs. Other than that, I will keep as much of a lookout as possible while assisting Juwwem. I know that the gnomes pretty much filled us in on mites, but I would like to make a check of my own solely to see how much Gordom already knew. I doubt it will reveal any new information, but what the heck: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Works for me. Crossbows out.

Vivian climbs in the cart switly and then helps Najara to get in

Time for a new adventure, my friend. I wonder what god mites preach to.

With a smile, she adds

I know, I wonder a lot..Wandering brings wondering, as I say!

Juwwem and Gordom track the mites' trail, but it's slow going because the mites and their insect mounts leave very small prints.

Franco and Jesse ride along in the cart. Franco is eager to help you whenever he has the opportunity. Jesse is more sullen, complaining about the manacles being too tight and asking why you all don't just let him go. He promises profusely that he'll leave the Greenbelt and never ever come back. Neither former bandit is overly concerned that you've left Kressle and her minions for the woodland's scavengers.

The trail leads from the woods into an area of rolling hills.

I need two Perception rolls from everyone. Please label them N and F.

Juwwem's too busy with tracking to notice Jesse's complaints. While he certainly enjoyed learning about the woods, Juwwem is glad that the tracks lead them to an area that has altitude.

Vivian tries to stay alert, and looks if their prisoner is well tied this time, right after the cart starts to go.

hey, don't complain to me about the manacles, im not the "kinky girl"..at least you're alive, in good company, and you can enjoy the landscape! Your buddies don't have the same luck.

She smiles warmly and winks at Najara while delivering her "kinky girl" line

Perception F

Shix is unusually quiet as his eyes and head dart about every which way.

F1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
N1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Juwwem is intent on following the mites and Najara is keeping a wary eye on your captives, so they don't notice something the rest of the party does. The others see a particularly rocky crag that rises from the hills here. At the crag’s base is an overgrown 5-foot-wide crack. From the way the branches and vines move, it looks like air is passing out from the crack--a tell-tale sign of a cave within.

What's that? Here, the big rock on the left....Could the mites live in a cave, Juwwem?

"I'm afraid I don't know Miss Vivian. We could just take a look, but we better be careful while we do it."

Now that his attention has been drawn to it, Juwwem is surprised he didn't notice the cave himself. It feels very interesting to the gnome.