So after months (IRL) of chasing the mercenaries, it turns out we've actually outsmarted ourselves. Which was my fault, I made an incorrect assumption about the Lord-Mayor's veiled threat. Sorry about that. It was actually Hotspur hiring the mercenaries that the Lord-Mayor was trying to thwart (I think). I couldn't press him for more details without spilling what we were planning (Durgan's Bluff is +0) so I made a guess.
Still, it wouldn't have mattered -- Hotspur knew about the mercenaries, out-maneuvered us, and beat us to the punch. He found them faster than we did, and the past four months have been a wild goose chase. Even had we know what the Lord-Mayor was asking, we'd still be too late.
I will go along with any plan the party wants to try now. Get to the Stag Lord a couple of days ahead of the mercenaries and wipe the bandits out? Try to find a loophole in the contract, or show that Hotspur was deceptive? Play along with the mercenaries and go with them to the Stag Lord, then Bluff the Stag Lord into thinking the mercenaries are with us so he attacks them?
It is extremely frustrating to always feel a step behind.
A couple of quick notes for clarity. First, Hotspur does not look familiar to either Numalar or Zokon (doesn't look like either of the men they saw at the bandit camp under his banner).
It is not anyone's fault that Hotspur has beaten the party to hiring (or not, I don't remember the idea ever being fully finalized) the mercenaries the company thought of hiring--it's more of a timing thing actually (much of it randomly determined by dice a while ago--starting with the timing of the bombing at Oleg's). Mivon is obviously Hotspur's home, and is well-known for its mercenary scene.
At this point there are obviously several directions this could go in including the ideas mentioned above by Durgan (with more things floating through the background). This could be anything really from an alliance to an assassination. That bit is up to you guys. At this point, the party is actually a step ahead of some of the involved parties.
Lastly, Scarlet would know that the Beetle is as stubborn as she is when it comes to honor, oaths, and contracts and such. He is probably the origin of much of her own stubborn streak.
Hmm. Hmmmm. Hmmmmm. This certainly complicates things (and I'm not just talking about our dinner)!
But the company's contract is *only* to train some ruffians right?
What if we could ask to hire them afterwards?
And then, what if there weren't any ruffians when they arrived at the Stag Lord's camp? (Say if some sort of devious adventure party would have driven/tricked them away!)
Then their contract would be up and they would be free to serve us as pre-arranged. (And maybe the rebellious upstart is worth a bounty or something ... ^^)
Now of course this leaves just the minor issue of dealing with Stagy and friends somehow ...
This throws quite a wrench in my plans.
Hiring the ruffians would work IF we had the money to pay for it. We were already mentioning how hard it would be to hire the original Company.
We need to know why Hotspur's men were on the Stag Lord's camp in the first place. If they are forging an alliance, Scarlet is against it and would rather kill the Stag Lord preemptively by sneaking out. The last time we tried stealth though we got ambushed ourselves by one crafty wizard.
This could serve as the distraction we need to gain entry to the camp and maybe single out the Stag Lord, though. Suggestions? Comments?
It seems pretty clear to me that the ruffians are the Stag Lord's bandits. Hotspur's men met with the Stag Lord, offered an alliance, and now he's hiring the mercenaries to train the bandits to be his own private army. Once they are trained, they will likely be in Hotspur's employ as he seeks to carve out a kingdom. This does raise the question of the level of trust between Hotspur and the Stag Lord.
Killing the wizard is going to be essential. Durgan has good saves and HP, a scroll of Invisibility Purge, and spells like Silence, but the problem is that the wizard likely has the advantage of information (familiar, scrying, whatever) and will be the one initiating combat. Alia does have Alarm, so that will be useful if he tries a campsite ambush. And now you know a few of the wizard's favorite tricks, and have killed a heavy hitter.
Illthir's scroll of Disguise Self and +14 Bluff check could also be useful, if she takes the form of Hotspur and betrays the Stag Lord in some way. For example, beats up some of the Stag Lord's men, tells them to send a message that the deal is off and the Stag Lord has 24 hours to vacate the fort. That way, when the mercenaries and Hotspur show up, they are attacked on sight.
Durgan's favored approach for now would be to read the contract and see exactly what it entails.
Could we join the mercenaries? If the stag lord men are the ones to be trained we can potentially infiltrate them and maybe even get rid of Hotspur. Which would in theory nullify the contract?
If anybody wants to tell Durgan to shut up and mind his manners, feel free to do so.
I'm hoping to provoke Hotspur into saying something that will turn the Company against him, but I might just end up getting us all killed.
Scarlet doesn't like noblemen very much so if this turns violent, it's all the more reason to hate 'em.
I'm 100% in favor of provoking this nobleman and then fleeing with a pot roast or two as we preemptively kill the Stag Lord. Or we're hung and we need to roll more characters.
Feel free to kibtz, I'm going to be a bit busy for the next day or three. I'll check in when I can.
If "trying to get the mercs to turn on Hotspur or at least stand aside" comes down to a Diplomacy roll, it would be very nice to have Serena or some others chiming in.
Which reminds me that I could have been using Sense Motive to discern how Hotspur might respond but I was just going on my perception as a player. Different GMs have different levels of reliance on the social skills.
Yeah, that's why I mentioned the social standing thing. Hotspur, Durgan can tell, was well-named. You can prick him, but he will make damn sure that he is not the only one to bleed.
He is basically an older Prince Tarn without the benefit of a huge, doting man servant with a large spiked club to keep him in line.
Also, Durgan would get the feeling that if Beetle is anything like his sister, Scarlet, it will be next to impossible to separate him from his charge until he's done what he is contracted to do (or died horribly in the attempt).
Also, Durgan would get the feeling that if Beetle is anything like his sister, Scarlet, it will be next to impossible to separate him from his charge until he's done what he is contracted to do (or died horribly in the attempt).
My hope was that the anger in Beetle's "We are not bandits" line indicated a potential fissure with Hotspur, if Durgan could convince Beetle of the truth about the job, that Hotspur had tried to deceive them, and that Hotspur is not a man of honor (such as by him stating his intent to betray his father).
Boing!
I'm just going to hop by and mention that I haven't managed to go trough all the latest developments yet. Sorry! I'll try to do that either tonight or tomorrow : )
Well, this is messy.
Not only is the Company on assignment, but they are supporting someone who could get us into political hot water. At least to those who are bound by the charters to Brevoy.
Scarlet doesn't care for any of that, but she does not want to fight her Company. She will never attack her brother, in particular unless he actively attacks Alia. And even then she still won't resort to lethal means.
She's trying to defuse Lord Selline (she's seen too many high and mighty lordlings go insane for no good reason before) before he does something rash.
It sounds like Durgan is trying to convince the Lord to abandon his plans, or at least delay it so we can take out the Stag Lord.
I haven't a clue how we are supposed to get out of this. Each time we try and find a solution the problems seem to get worse. Atm Zokon is all for abandoning the area and going back to Restov with news of the 100 strong merc company training the 100 strong bandit army. Much more than a bunch of lvl 4s can handle.
I haven't a clue how we are supposed to get out of this. Each time we try and find a solution the problems seem to get worse. Atm Zokon is all for abandoning the area and going back to Restov with news of the 100 strong merc company training the 100 strong bandit army. Much more than a bunch of lvl 4s can handle.
Well, the 100-strong merc company isn't all here - only a small fraction of them. And Hotspur is with them. We could end this problem right here - and maybe do it without killing any of the Scarabs. Though we'd probably earn their unending hatred for making them fail their mission.
It would be best, as Scarlet says, if we could persuade Hotspur to go check in with his father, but I think that's unlikely based on him accusing us of being spies for his father.
If it comes to a fight, I think there's roughly equal numbers of us and them in the hall. Not sure what Igor is up to or what he would do if there was a melee. And not sure what 'our' NPCs would do (Bloody Angus, Arbalasti, Erevenywg). Or how tough Hotspur is.
OOC we know there is something else happening in the keep... a wild card we haven't accounted for?
We also haven't heard from Numalar in a while, but he'd be invaluable in Diplomacy, Bluff, or taking out the Scarabs non-lethally if a fight starts.
Minor note - Illthir doesn't really have any social skills except Lie a Lot! and Sense Motive.
First might not be helpful just yet and yeah I should try and use the second :P
@Glare - "So that one is the reason Scarlet won't hang out with me? Hmph. Say if she fell down lots of stairs I'd have Scarlet back ..."
@Course of action - We could simply poke the lord mayor and snitch on his son. Maybe even cut a deal?
"Hey! Give us 200 of your best guardsmen and we'll race ahead and slay the Stag Lord for you. Then we'll tell your son to come back home!"
That sounds surprisingly reasonable. But it takes time to try *and* he might just not want to help (in a way that's actually helpful for us).
The disguise plan could work too, but that's contingent on the Stag Lord taking the bait and not going for shoot-the-messenger. But on the upside Illthir gets to use Lie a Lot! :P
Problem with getting involved in Mivon affairs is that two of us are involved in Brevic noble houses and Numalar is actually a noble.. could be grim if we were found out.
And once again circumstances overtake us and we are forced to act on intuition and instinct.
Maybe Durgan should start prepping Augury more often. Though he can't even afford the components or focus right now, and most of our bad decisions have had more than a half-hour window before the bad effects manifested.
Don't forget that you get a free Spirit Totem smack if you accept the rage (which can be done on a round-for-round basis and doesn't cause fatigue)!
It doesn't cost any actions and is always exactly as listed in Illthirs spoiler. Think of it as a free Spiritual Weapon or something glued to your square : )
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Also! Welcome back forum!
Hello forum
Oh sorry! I didn't realize I moved to the sensible bottom-of-initiative chart. I'll get a post up soon-ish : )
Also minor note - the Spirit Totem doesn't get bless or anything like that. Just a reminder : )
So the site loves to work shortly before I have to go to work (and then only when I have to post something big) so alas, I can't really post now, but will when I get home tonight (or tomorrow morning as it is technically known in these parts). Hopefully, it will be a short night (because of Labor Day on Monday), and I can post soon.
Later. ;)
Just a note to let everyone know that I am in the direct path of Hurricane Gordon. This should be fairly routine (I've weathered many such storms), but in case we lose power or I am otherwise out for a few days, that's what has happened. If you are in my game, stand tight and I'll be back. If I am in yours, please bot me as necessary.
Best wishes and good luck!
Say hello to Dorothy and Toto..
I was on vacation in the last week but found myself unable to announce that previously as the site was in both planned and unplanned maintenance, every single time I checked.
A lot of work, commute times and 2 small kids means I have to set aside 'game time' on a schedule and am not very flexible with it - so events such as this time of instability are painfully destructive for my posting rates.
I am back now, will catch up on all my games, and try to post in all of them before the end of the work week. Apologies for any inconveniences caused by my inflexibility.
I'm thinking of hopping down ontop of the guardhouse and then further down to cut off that mounted guy.
So that would be first a hop from 40' down to 25' (or less?). So probably 20'. And then another 20' down to the ground.
But I'm not sure if vertical movement count for movement?
Falling (or jumping down) from something is usually free unless you are very, very high up. Illthir, depending on how she goes about it, will still have to move horizontally and roll acrobatics checks for each leap with a failure possibly resulting in falling prone. and then rolling off a roof.
Remember too that the man on horseback is the young hotspur Hotspur, the Lord Mayor of Mivon's son.
Ahhh I thought it was someone we didn't know. Hmh then maybe I shouldn't
Well, it's not like you know him all that well. ;)
Just to keep stuff fresh in people's minds, Hotspur hired the Sapphire Scarab mercenary company (led by Scarlet's Brother the Blue Beetle) to help him carve out a bit of the Stolen Land apparently with the help of the Stag Lord (you guys know him, right?), and your host, Lady Luljeta Vsevolod (while her father is away).
The Stolen Land is of course claimed by Brevoy (AKA half of the party's bosses).
Hotspur seems motivated by the fact that while he is a nobleman from Mivon (Brevoy's traditional rival) and son of the Lord Mayor, he is unlikely to follow his father as the next Lord Mayor as Mivon chooses their political leaders on a dueling field. The Lord Mayorship is sort of like being the king in Mivon.
So maybe you do want to stop him... maybe?
Anyhow, someone apparently in the castle is trying to stop him, as they set alight the emergency beacon (and one imagines the big fire elemental) which will undoubtedly draw the attention of the Mivon city guard who are out in force searching the countryside trying to find the mercenaries for reasons that are not entirely clear to the party as of yet.
But stopping him when he has an company of angry and armed dwarves might be very hazardous for our health.
Besides someone else seems to be doing a bloody good job of screwing him over already :P
This is a brief message to let everyone know that I am going to be on vacation from Sunday, 23 September until 1 October. As many of you may be aware, my wife is 90% blind from glaucoma. She wanted to see Walt Disney World through the eyes of friends who have never been (or haven't been in many years) before she can't see at all. So I, she, and 9 of our friends are all going to Walt Disney World for a week!
During this time, my posting will be greatly curtailed, if not nonexistent. If you are in my game, I will continue upon my return, just sit tight. If I am in your game, please feel free to bot me as required.
During this week leading up to my vacation, I will be very busy and may be slowed, but I will try to get a post out before leaving for the week.
Thanks for the heads up. Sounds like a fun trip. Don't stand in line for the line ride!
Yes sorry for the delay but have a fun trip!
Another pesky question - is the drawbridge and gate open like in the picture?
The drawbridge is down (like the picture), but the gates are closed. They are big metal-framed wooden ones with a small reinforced (human-sized) door set in the southern large door.
There is a portcullis 10-feet before the doors proper. Currently they are drawn up.
Map updated.
There's a map.. yay! I don't think i could so it for whatever reason b4
I have noticed that depending on what sort of device you are looking at it on there are times when I see maps as they looked in the past. My guess is it is an update or memory issue.
For my part, I try to keep the number of slides down to avoid killing people's phones (and I'll probably strip this map of its unnecessaries soon) but it's been hard finding time in front of my computer lately without waking up on a drool-damp mouse pad a few hours later.
I tend to fall asleep sitting up so I manage to avoid that problem.
Uhm...re-checking the nightly post...I had one d20 roll in there I supposedly wanted to check the results for when writing, then "rolled" a new one for the attack.
So my attack is actually 2 less, at a total of 20. Technically still good for a touch attack, but with the +4 cover, it may make a difference, so I feel compelled to point that out...Apologies.
I noticed it at the time. Technically, you didn't need to roll the concentration check either (there are no AoO's possible if you have cover from your foe), but any of the three rolls hit so it's not a problem this time around.
Aye, regarding the concentration, I wasn't sure if the only reason would have been an Attack of Opportunity, or if hanging from a rope almost 70 feet above the ground with one hand could be distracting in some other way. I could see myself counting as 'entangled', or the rope providing rigorous motion during casting.
Figured I'll play it save and include one.
Glad to hear it, just wanted things to be in order - I was slightly shocked when I realized I had been accidentaly cheating.