Kingmaker. The shadows behind the throne.

Game Master DBH

I thought someone might have something to say about the time-traveling nerd who suddenly appeared in our midst, but apparently not :D

I didn't know those were ones we could comment on. Mouse is a bit of an outsider to it all. Sorry, Marten!

Yeah, I dropped both of those threads as potential RP hooks. Dalsin Kerr, the chronomancer, is Marten's latest weirdo recruit. He is, obviously, not entirely truthful about his origins and purpose here, and I was hoping to rope Niadroub into a (potentially comical) short scene about having a wizard drop in who claims to be the MASTER OF TIME but is actually kind of a goof.

The wedding is something that has been simmering for a while and since we have a little downtime between expeditions, I figured I'd kick off the preparations for it. Actual wedding will likely show up later in brief.

Or, if people just want to get on to the next quest, that's fine too. :)

Shoot, sorry Marten. Work has been super busy, so I haven't been feeling very creative when I get home. I meant to get back to Dalsin Kerr, but obviously that didn't happen.

That was pretty crazy, but I figured I'd leave it because Vibenia's not in the scene. Reading with interest though.

Shoot, sorry Marten. Work has been super busy, so I haven't been feeling very creative when I get home. I meant to get back to Dalsin Kerr, but obviously that didn't happen.

It's not a problem at all. This is just for funzies. Nobody has an obligation to participate!

I have appointments today so no update I'm afraid.

Sorry, no update today and tomorrow. Busy with appointments I'm afraid.

I've been busy all day and missed updating. Sorry about that. Things are hectic at the moment.

Thinking about the party, attending an official event as representatives of our nation, made me think of an anthem. This feels fitting

Sorry, got home too late to update.

Hmm, question, what do the two women with the King look like? Do they look like nobles? Maids? Concubines?

Concubines. Good looking and provocatively dressed. Though still covered enough to be in public... Just. :)

Hi team, just letting you know that I'll be out of town Friday evening through Tuesday and unable to post.

The herald in charge of events Nunzio Arpaia introduces himself to you and explains the events as, an archery contest using longbows, a test of strength using handaxes or greataxes, a boasting contest, and a drunken jousting competition.”.

Archery - Vibenia

Test of strength - Marten?

Boasting contest - Zelera, are you interested? If so, it's yours. If not Waffles will totally step up.

Drunken jousting - I think Marten is more than qualified.

Mouse, any hidden talents that I'm overlooking?

Any followers I'm overlooking? I think it's just Gunoke, Tessara, and Waffles.

Sadly no. Mouse is great at certain things but they don't fit those categories well.

I've tried to post a 'No update' notice several times. Why won't the board accept it?

Okay, now it does?

Bad news - I have no time to update today.

Good news - Things are settling down and I'll have more free time to update in future.

It will be nice to wake up on a Monday and not have appointments taking hours out of my day!

Great to hear that, DBH!

Technically I could've gotten more points if I attacked a different log on round 10 (getting 2 points for "damage" on another log), or tried to destroy log #4 by doing a 5-ft. step in conjunction with the mind arsenal attack in round 9 and then stepping again to do a full melee attack in round 10 and scoring more damage (mind arsenal gets a lower damage bonus b/c it uses my casting stat instead of my strength), but Marten was just kinda focusing on one thing. :)

Sadly I have no ranks in Bluff or Intimidate.

Sadly I have no ranks in Bluff or Intimidate.

But you do have a high Performance score, and that's part of the boasting also.

Overall Performance: Each boaster must select one style of Performance to augment his boast. Once the three stages are complete, he makes a single Perform check of the appropriate type to determine how loudly the crowd cheers for his tale. The result of this check counts as points toward winning the contest.

Ah, I missed that part.

Event 4: The Midnight Joust[/b[

...

[b]Who is taking part from your team?

We've already established that it's Marten, right? The only question is if he'll be drunk or not!

Mouse can help with the drunk part, if you want Marten!

Oh man, I feel like I'm going to get some kind of kobold mushroom hooch from Mouse, and some kind of magical experimental run-off hooch from Niadroub.

Well, bottoms up!

Well, you know what they say: "Kobold mushroom hooch before magical experimental hooch makes you sick as a pooch..."

Actually, I don't know that they really say that.

They certainly will after this!

And then they threw a holiday at me!

Sorry, no update today.

Did we ever do the two months of kingdom turns with our downtime?

You talked about it but I didn't see any decisions.

And no you didn't have two turns of beefing up the army. :)

Yeah I know, I just figured we should not forget to get that paperwork out of the way. Dance halls and taverns everywhere!

The contests end and Chantal Urena is declared the winner. Receiving a Rod of lordly might as the prize.

...

It seems that while the festival was taking place an army from Pitax attacked your kingdom!

If I were a less honorable man, I would suggest that since our nation is now at war with Pitax, any attack against that nation's soldiers is justified, and the Rod of Lordly Might could be considered as part of the spoils of war.

But I am pretty honorable, so I won't suggest it.

Sadly the rod is long gone by the time you get Colwyn's message.

Your best bet is to slip out of the festival grounds while everyone is partying. Dodging anyone watching you.

This is one of those books that is poorly set up. You're supposed to explore around the Highlands, wrecking Pitax's military infrastructure before going to the capital city.

Obviously anyone with a brain thinks taking out Irovetti first is the best plan.

I'm not going to railroad you. Do what you think is best.

So should we se So should we settle the two turns to get that out of the way, while we try to carry out our objectives from Colwyn? (and possibly try to take out Irovetti?)

If it weren't for the requirement of being Neutral Evil, Vibenia would actually make good use of the Oculus of Abaddon

Niadroub Kliip has five potions of vanish, which provides invisibility for a few rounds. Additionally, he can dimension door himself plus four others 920 feet in any direction. Anyone outside of those five people can jump in the portable hole for the brief trip as long as they promise not to touch Ovinrbaane, the cursed artifact that changes its wielder into a CN barbaric warlord.

He also has the teleportation spell, but the spell description doesn't say that it can be used to travel to a completely unknown location. I'm assuming we can't, unless we can find some way for NK to scry a location in or near Pitax. We'd need to use the portable hole trick for this spell, also.

The main problem I see with either of these spells is our horses. We'd have to leave them behind. We might be able to bring Tracer, but I haven't done the math on that.

So should we settle the two turns to get that out of the way, while we try to carry out our objectives from Colwyn? (and possibly try to take out Irovetti?)

I'm for it, but I don't remember who's doing those rolls and decisions.

If it weren't for the requirement of being Neutral Evil, Vibenia would actually make good use of the Oculus of Abaddon

Where is the Oculus, anyway?

The main problem I see with either of these spells is our horses. We'd have to leave them behind. We might be able to bring Tracer, but I haven't done the math on that.

Remember that Marten can just magically summon Tracer.

Same with Vibenia having Dusk hosteled in her breastplate. I also have +22 to stealth in an urban environment, and can use stealth even when being observed or with no cover. So if there aren't enough vanish potions to go around I can just do the skill based version of the same thing

Looks like the last thing that was done with the Oculus is that it, and the sold jars taken after killing the lich, we're stored in a portable hole for safekeeping, just before properly annexing Varnhold.

Oh s%#@! I have Ovinrbaane and the Oculus of Abbadon in the same portable extra-dimensional space? That doesn't feel like it will turn out all right.

Anyway. DBH, would you mind marking on the Festival Grounds map where our tent is, where our horses are, and where the barracks of Pitax soldiers are? Thanks.

Red 'X' is where you are, your horses are there as well. You and the other visitors were given silken pavilions to use, Large ones for visiting dignitaries.

The Wardens barracks is the orange 'X'

The yellow 'X' mark where a Pitax herald is standing as a guard. Each of the pavilions has a pair of guards as befits their importance. :)

This is going to be a very stream of conscious post as I work out the details of this plan as I type. I will try and summarize at the end.

I'm unclear if we have one Pitax herald outside our tent or one pair of heralds outside our tent.

Okay, here's what we've got to move:

Niadroub Kliip
Waffles
Marten
Tessara
Zelera
Gunoke
Vibenia
Dusk
Mouse
NK's horse
Tracer
Tessara's horse
Zelera's horse
Vibenia's horse
Does Mouse have a horse?

I've crossed out Tracer and Dusk, because they have other means of travel. I've crossed out Gunoke and Waffles, because they can fly and be invisible. Plus, they'll be good lookouts. Well, Gunoke will be.

The portable hole description doesn't say exactly how many people can fit inside of it. It seems like the space is 6 feet wide and 10 feet deep. If that's not enough space to carry four medium sized creatures and one small sized creature over two trips, then Mouse and/or Vibenia can stealth it. I don't think that will be necessary, though.

But we need to bring the horses, too; otherwise we're traveling to Pitax on foot, and the Pitax garrison here will easily overtake us, which defeats the purpose of sneaking out. So, NK will fold up the party into his pocket, and then use dimension door to bring the horses. Since horses are large creatures, he can bring two per casting. (If Mouse has a horse, that's five horses. Would Mouse be okay with us leaving his horse behind, and he can double up with someone?)

That's two castings of dimension door. To get back to the tent after the first casting, NK can use overland flight and vanish to slink back in to spirit away the other two horses.

We need to go southwest (which is away from the garrison, fortunately), but I think teleporting into the woods to the southeast and traveling under tree cover for a bit would be a good idea.

The only outstanding issue here is the one or two Pitax heralds standing guard. NK could try and cast mass suggestion on them to get them inside our tent where we tie them up or something. But if anyone has a better solution for the guards -- especially something that doesn't require another one of my limited spell slots -- please speak up.

Okay, here's the plan that I'm proposing:

1. Take care of the guard(s) in a manner that doesn't set off the alarm.
2. Gunoke and Waffles go invisible and do aerial reconnaissance.
3. Vibenia hostels Dusk in her armor.
4. Get as many party members as we can into the portable hole. (DON'T TOUCH THE CURSED ARTIFACTS! VERY IMPORTANT.) NK pockets the hole.
5. NK casts dimension door to bring himself and the two horses into the woods to the southeast. (He'll bring the horses into the tent if he needs to do this out of sight.) He lets the party out of the hole. Vibenia lets Dusk out for walkies.
6. I just thought of this: Waffles can create an illusion of two additional horses outside our tent.
7. NK casts overland flight and vanish as needed to return to the tent.
8. NK teleports two more horses into the woods, bringing along any remaining party members via the portable hole.
9. Any final party members get out of the hole. Marten summons Tracer. Gunoke and Waffles rejoin the party.
10. We ride south towards Pitax.

Guys, Waffles loves this plan. It's such a good prank.

Tessara is a psychic sorceress and her spells include greater hypnotism and suggestion, assuming we get lucky enough for the Pitaxians to fail Will saves. She also has hidden presence, which would let her just walk on out without being detected (again, assuming failed Will saves).

Fortunately guards would likely be warriors or fighters, not known for their will saves

Fortunately guards would likely be warriors or fighters, not known for their will saves

Well, DBH specifically called them "heralds," so they could be bards or something.

Mouse is good riding with someone

The other alternative would be a 1st World retreat again. I don't think it is the best option but it is an option if we need it.

Okay, sounds like we are good with the simple, easy-to-follow, foolproof ten step plan I laid out above, with Tessara handling the first step.

DBH, is there one or two Pitax heralds outside our tent?

I don't think it is the best option but it is an option if we need it.

You really know how to sell it! :)