"Yeah. That's the only thing I hate about the accuracy here. Lot's of walking." Logan stands and stretches. Looked like he was in for sore feet and aching calves.
Rafe nods and stows his new daggers Are we agreed on following the map?
Reiko laughs at Logan. "You should buy a mount. Mine's a class feature!" She climbs on top of Isamu as they prepare to depart.
"I would but the game quantified my physical stats as abysmal," Logan shrugs. "Be stupid to base your class choice off your worst stats. But with the money from your portion of the loot, yeah, I could," he says teasingly. She still got a pretty good deal with the armor.
I'm ready. Should we stop at Carpenden on the way, or go around it? Anyone been there before?
1. To clarify on the value of the dagger a little bit, it is meant to be somewhat outside the realm of a "standard" magical item, indicating as someone put it that its some sort of quest hint or that the loot system has become glitchy (or perhaps a bit of both??). The best guess on the appraisal is that the pair of daggers would cost arouuund 6,000 gold at most, or 3,000 each, though it would be difficult to find a buyer since there isn't exactly a huge demand for water breathing in this part of the sim at least. You do have to have the daggers either in hand or hold it in your teeth for them to work.
2. DarkDealer, you don't remember much about Carpenden, but you don't need a knowledge check to know that it's a sizeable but quaint town with quite a few players and originals, many of whom have taken to running various shops and business establishments. Some take to their various trades to save up money to over-level on gear before they go loot-venturing, and others have taken heartily to roll-playing out their lives contentedly.
"I agree. Let us make our way away from here"
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"Why would we not? Spread the wealth. Get some cool gear." He paused thoughtfully. "You think we should tell people about this? Get some help? There are a lot of people that want to leave. I imagine, and kind of hope, things get more difficult from here on out. We might need support and if things go wrong, like really wrong, someone could take over."
Hearing no other input, Darkdealer says Works for me. Let's go. And with that, he transforms into a bat and flies off into the trees in the direction of Carpenden to scout the path ahead.
It takes what feels like a few days of travel before you see Carpenden on the horizon, a picturesque bustling town on a hill with rays of sunshine pouring down on it.
Entering the town just before noon, you are greeted by smiling faces and polite nods of many of the townsfolk. The smell of fresh baked goods drifts through the air, and you hear the sound of hammer meeting metal repeatedly in what must be the smiths district.
You all may shop around a bit if you wish, find a place to stay the night, or anything else you can think of.
I believe I am more than adequately recompensed by the looted daggers from the last location. Rafe notes as they walk into the town. As an aside, has anyone in this group discovered a method of communicating to the outside world?
"Not as of yet that i know of, but we best take some rest and see what there is to do in this town"
There's no easy way to tell apart NPC's from players. Race is a good place to start since players are at the very least human-esque with their features, so folks like dwarfs, gnomes, or halflings tend to be NPCs.
Other than that, the best way is typically to ask. An NPC might get confused, a roleplayer may get a little upset, but most PC's are up front with each other since you're all trapped here together anyway (save for some deceptive or murdery PC's)
No one has yet had a way to contact anyone from the outside world, though digital knowledge banks about a variety of topics seem to be accessible normally all attempts to access the net prove futile. What little the "outside" learned about Project: Golarion came from a combination of A.R.O.D.E.N himself and live recorder set ups strapped to agents...though the few they tried recording rigs on seemed to disappear after a few minutes and there hasn't been any talk of finding them from anyone on the inside of the program.
"Alright! Let's get some food, hit the market for a bit, chill for the day. Then go over the map and see what we need for tomorrow," Logan says excitedly. Despite being in a fantasy world, civilization had its perks.
Very well. Who would be best among us to engage in trade?
"I have been known to have a good way with words" she taps her mask
"One thing I have going for me at least"
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Sounds good to me.
There are various stands selling cheap food products all along the lane into town. (you could get a sizeable meal here for a few copper). People pass you both ways on the street as the merchants call out to you to hawk their goods.
The sounds of metal hitting metal are coming from just up around the corner to the left. On the other side of the street, a sign that says "The Good Knight's Inn" paired with a picture of a knight in full-plate wearing pajamas over the top of their armor points to the right, down the street to the opposite side.
-
You can split up if you wish, feel free to RP any transactions or just state what it is you intend to buy and how much you're willing to pay for it. A Knowledge: Local check would tell you a bit more about the various goods and services you can expect to find here, but good old exploration would give you similar results.
Darkdealer goes looking for a shop that might have some low-level magic items.
"I'm ready for a good meal and a warm bed. I'll meet you guys at the inn when you're done shopping." Reiko dismounts Isamu and leads her horse to the stables before heading into the The Good Knight's Inn.
I believe I am adequately provisioned at the moment. I wonder if there are any people in town who may know of our destination.
Rafe Darr:
You quickly get a feel for the town, there really is a high population of "players" here, many leading picturesque lives without the thrill of adventuring. It seems to be a popular spot for adventuring companies as well though, and you are quick to find a job board with various bounties and requests just outside of the inn. You have a decent idea of where everything is and are able to direct the rest of your party as you'd like. As for those who may know of your destination, the Inn and its attached bar are the first thing that comes to mind when seeking information for these types of leads, as there's sure to be more adventurers there in addition to an attentive barkeep or two.
DarkDealer52:
Splitting from the group and heading towards the sound of smithing, you find a bustling group of fellow players who have mastered various craft and profession skills, and in particular there is a wizard-ly looking fellow with a long white beard and out of place flowing purple robes that seem to avoid getting dirty despite all the soot from the nearby forges. He is currently seated behind a small stand, and you recognize some of the items you are looking for strewn about said stand. In particular there are several ioun torches and a few plier-looking things you recognize as traveler's any-tools. When you request a stubborn nail, the magical seller tilts his head slightly, a bit confused. Describing it slightly more in detail, he nods his head vigorously and says in a much younger sounding voice than you were expecting-
"Aye, I ken do that. I'll have it for you by the morning, got some advance orders to ketch up on first tho."
I recommend we go to the local inn if we wish to make contacts and gather information about our destination. Rafe informs the rest of the group. Perhaps we will meet you there after you are done with your shopping DarkDealer52
Darkdealer briefly affects an impatient and disappointed tone. In truth, the morning will be just fine, but he sees an opportunity to get a few GP knocked off the price.
It is, however, far from his most convincing deception, and he agrees to pay full price for the three items, with half of the stubborn nail's price paid up front.
He then goes to meet the others at the inn.
DarkDealer52: The bearded man shrugs when you feign impatience, muttering a half-hearted apology, but he smiles toothily when you hand over the coins.
"Thank you kindly sirs, I'll have that last jigger ready at dawn's first light for ye."
Hacker: Browsing through the various crafters, you don't immediately see any alchemy stands. It makes some sense, the Alchemist class wasn't released until the 1.4 "Advanced Players" expansion, which until the takeover cost a quite a bit of credits just to access a few extra class options. Still though, even though you don't spot any immediate Alchemy crafters there may be an apothecary, either an original NPC or a Player just staying away from the main markets for whatever reason. You can roll Kn: Local, Perception, Diplomacy, or another skill you think is appropriate to try and locate someone with the supplies you're looking for.
Erin will also excuseherself to go to the inn. She had everything she needed at the moment. Not to mention her funds needed to be saved up for more expensive equipment
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Logan had to wander over the magic item shop first. It was always cool to see all the fancy, elaborate and beautiful magic items for sale. He had little money to actually get any of them but he did stock up on some healing potions for any "oh s!$@" moments that might pop up. Then he just meandered the stalls, eventually making his way to the notice board, seeing what might be on the way. After that it was off the stereotypical information hub, the tavern. A poor idea in a video game, so much better when it was real. Real people, real conversations, real information.
"Economics man. Gotta spread the wealth or else the 1% rise and rule the world. And you know, cause it's nice. I'll split the difference." A wild exaggeration but it was nice to help out the PC's in the game...world...whatever. He buys only two potions and will get two more from Hacker later.
As he makes his way back to the inn, Darkdealer uses the ioun torch to practice some sleight of hand. Though the flames are not hot, they make certain vanishing moves much more difficult, while others are impossible because they give away the stone's location.
As he approaches the tavern attached to the Good Knight's Inn, his stomach rumbles. He never quite figured out where the food in here came from. Are they eating hard light projections? While that might fill their stomachs, he doubts that it could actually provide nourishment or calories. Hell, the body rebuilds itself from things in the food it eats, so if that was all they were eating, would it even be possible for them to leave? Eventually, they would just be part of the projected world.
If they were eating real food, where did it come from? Did the system recycle their waste, and the bodies of the dead? That might actually be worse.
Either way, he was starving, and whatever the food was made of, he had been eating nothing else for some time. Darkdealer goes to the bar and orders a plate, then sees if any of the others in his group are here yet.
"I can help with the spells if needed. Cureing is my specialization after all" she offers later the day when the topic of potions and crafting comes up
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"These are in case you aren't around," he says pocketing the two purchased potions. After window shopping a bit more he finally heads for the tavern to get some info about the lands to the east and possibly some hints on some quests in that area.
The Good Knight's Inn:
When you enter, the establishment is well lit, with a garish chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a large fireplace by the bar. It's noisy, and a large variety of pleasant smells fills your nose as you shoulder past the other patrons to your destinations. There are many tables but they all seem to be full, with many patrons looking to be in full adventuring gear as they chat, play cards, and enjoy various ales and stews.
Many of the patrons are also standing around, ale in hand, and a full band is playing in the corner. There are a few spots available at the bar if you'd like, and several waitresses busy about attending to the many guests. You can likely ask one of them the going rate for staying the night.
(DarkDealer, the bartender agrees politely and goes to fetch you some cooked rabbit. It smells delicious.)
Darkdealer stands at the bar, surveying the crowd as he eats. In particular, he watches the card games, trying to assess the skill of the players, what stakes (if any) they are gambling for, whether anyone is cheating, and how likely they are to notice if he cheats, before looking for an opening to join.
Rafe accompanies BigHatLogan and attempts to aid him in his information gathering.
For the Gather info roll concerning quests:
The board outside the inn has a few quests, but they seem to be mostly either severely beneath your pay grade;
A goblin tribe is attacking Olde Man Knickers farm, AGAIN! 1 gold per goblin, 1 week time limit!
or above it :
LF: Level 11+ adventurers for Hell Dragon Raid. Bring your own healer.
After talking to a few of the patrons, you learn that many quests are reoccurring and that the various mobs and bounties re-spawn after around 2 weeks, so the availability of bounty quests can vary wildly.
However, after gathering some more information, you do find that there are a couple of quests that might be within your groups skill range-
1. An eldritch scoundrel has put out a bounty for some sort of large cobra that he claims will be stalking the very territory you have to pass through on your way to the next large red dot on your new map. The bounty is 1500 gold. Upon completion he'll also let you copy any spells he has in his spellbook as a bonus.
2. A bit out of the way, but apparently there is a graveyard location a short distance out of your way to the red dot. Apparently it's stocked to the brimm with various types of undead, but the NPC priest is willing to pay 4500 if you "Free those tortured souls from an intolerable existence (Clear the graveyard)