Rannik's Crypt of the Everflame (Inactive)

Game Master Patrick Levasseur

"Yep. I know I'm exhausted."

It is morning now, right? We entered the tower at night, then explored it all night till now, right?

That's what I was wondering.

That is my understanding. Can we move forward to talking to the barroness? Its been more than a week since we found the body.

Is the smell of the corpse getting to you? ;)

Is is currently morning of the day after you entered the tower. I would put the time around 8:00 am. Since winter is coming, the sun was up a bit later, but you are pretty sure that the Baroness would be up by now.

After a bit of rest and food, the group heads to the Baroness's Estate. The first thing you notice is that it's a big place. The only other building that can compete is Hunclay's Manor. As you walk toward the front entrance, the door opens and a sharply dressed man look at you. "You must be the people that are investigating the tower. The Baroness told me to expect you. Though I was expecting, I don't know, some more professional looking people. Nevertheless, the Baroness is enjoying her morning ride on her horse. You can find her just over there." He points to a stable just north of where you are. "No, no. No need to thank me. Off you go." Not waiting for an answer, he walks back inside and close the door.

With this charming conversation over, the group follows the direction and find the Baroness in an enclosed field, skillfully riding her horse through a series of gate and obstacles. When she notices you, she turns her horse and head toward you. She comes to a halt next to the fence. From the saddle, she looks at you. "Good morning, what news do you bring me? Is Hunclay responsible for the collapse of the tower, or was it due to something else?" She seems eager to learn what you have found.

Good morning Baroness. Kyras says with a smile and diplomatic nod. He had managed to clean up and put on his best suite of clothing before coming to talk. While I have never personally met the man I do believe we have found your Hunclay, though he is quite worse for wear. If you will step this way I will ask you to identify the body. As to the question of is he responsible for the collapse of the tower, well I can tell you that he was not, at least not directly. We found direct evidence that the tower was undermined by small reptilian humanoids commonly known as Kobolds. And even though Hunclay's body was found in the collapse our expert opinion is that he was killed by a blade before the fall of the structure. Still it is possible that the tower was brought down to mask the murder of this Hunclay.

Diplomacy to make a good impression: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Kyras goes on to tell the Baroness about all their experiences under the ground. If, in his state of fatigue, he forgets to include all the details of the raven, well he could hardly be blamed. There was a lot to tell and decisions had to be made as to what to describe in detail and what to be brushed over.

Kakrish stands next to Kyras while he's telling of the encounters and does his best to presenting a charming face.

Aid Another(Diplomacy): 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (7) - 2 = 5

Tamora tells Hoga to unload the bundle, unveiling the corpse to further the evidence of the man in question was murdered.

Aid another diplomacy: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

The Baroness looks at the corpse. "Yes, that is Hunclay. He was killed by a blade you say? While the man wasn't popular, I can't think of anyone wanting to kill him in the village. Also, we knew about a clan of Kobolds living nearby, but since they never stirred up any trouble we never chase them out. They have settled in the old abandoned mine not far from here." She pauses for a moment, still looking at the corpse. "I'll have to think this over. I was hoping that this could be a simple investigation, but it seems to go deeper than I thought. Would you mind continue your work here and get to the bottom of why the Kobolds would want to collapse the tower and kill Hunclay?"

Once you agree...

"Good, good. Now if you don't mind bringing Hunclay to the Sunset House. It's just over there, further down the road." Building #25 on the town map. "For now get some rest, you look like you might need some. Then, do what you do best and flip every stones you think you need to get to the truth. I'll also inform Talia Orem at the inn to send me the bill of your stay there, so don't worry about that." She signal the stable hand to come and take her horse, then start walking toward her Manor. "If you have more questions, don't hesitate to contact me."

-------------------------------------------------------

So, where do you go?

A. Get some rest and restart the next morning.
B. Get Hoga a wolf cloak.
C. Head to the mine to "Talk" with the Kobolds.
D. Explore the village and do some shopping.
E. A combination of the options above.

No "going to the library" option? It is, after all, part of the main quest. :p

Also we have some keys from Hunclay and iirc Hunclay has a house in town right? Do we get paid by the Baroness? Can we quickly sell and buy stuff if we need to? When we inestigate the Kobolds I recommend we go back and check out that little tunnel.

Right, rereading earlier post, she did promise 500 gold for investigating the tower. So you can add that to the treasure you got under the tower. As for visiting the Hunclay's manor, you might want to wait to have her authorisation... unless you don't care about that. ;)

As for information on the main quest, you can always go around the village to see what you can find.

Kakrish listens to the Baroness while she tells about Hunclay. At her invitation to do more investigation he pipes up. "I can see that you're a wise woman. Suggesting that we help with the investigation. Clearly we are the best people to help. We have the heart, mind, and strength to do the job." He chuckles and points at himself with his thumbs. "Some of us have all three."

After she leaves he turns to the others. "Let's go get some rest then we'll go find out what we can. Doesn't Hunclay have a house here? Can't we go investigate it?"

Right, rereading earlier post, she did promise 500 gold for investigating the tower. So you can add that to the treasure you got under the tower. As for visiting the Hunclay's manor, you might want to wait to have her authorisation... unless you don't care about that. ;)

As for information on the main quest, you can always go around the village to see what you can find.

Please help me refresh my memory - Main Quest? Was that before my time? As to permission from the Baroness she did say "Then, do what you do best and flip every stones you think you need to get to the truth." Seems like permission to me, right?

Memory refresher right here!

As for the "leave no stone unturned", up to you to interpret that one...

Yeah. We still have a dragon and a dark god to stop.

Around here, we call that Wednesday!

Memory refresher right here!

As for the "leave no stone unturned", up to you to interpret that one...

Ok. So I read, and re-read the memory refresher but I do not see anything about going to a library.??? I guess Kyras recomends 1) Resting enough to not be fatigued and to regain spells and such, 2) Liquidate items we want to sell and divide up coin, 3) Maybe buy some stuff to be better equipped IF we have enough coin to do so AND what we would like is for sale in this small town, and 4) deal with the Kobolds. I still want to check out the tunnel we found and have not explored IF it large enough for us to get through. Or we could go above ground and maybe deal with the wolves on the way IF we know where to go.

You can navigate the tunnel. Small size people would stand normally in there. The dwarf and dwarf-size people would be slightly uncomfortable. Human and taller would have to bend down, similar to the squeezing rule.

Here is the page.

Hmm. Didn't see anything about library unless there is one in town. But Bessy is a historian so she must owned an archive at least. I think we can add "visit Bessy" to the list.

Yes, good idea. Let's drop off Hunclay, rest, then see if Bessy can help us. Then, we get Hoga some snazzy new duds!

"Well Hoga. Do you mind carrying that bundle a bit further?" Kakrish looks down the street towards the Sunset House. "It doesn't seem to be very far. Then after that, back to inn."

Sure. Let's finish the job.

The list wasn't meant to be complete, but more suggestions of possible action. You are always free to go into a different direction, but sometimes, people like having hints of possible thing to do.

The group walks to the Sunset House. It's a simple structure, made into an "L" shape. One side seems to be the official business, while the other seems to be the personal quarters of the one in charge. Entering the business side, the group notices that half the space is a simple shrine with multiple holy symbols on the walls. There is one that is more imposing than the others. It is a giant golden key to, inside the loop, the carving of a sun shining above a city. In the back, you notice a doorway, not fully close by a curtain. Taking a peek you see that the next room looks like a carpentry shop, but the only thing being assemble there are coffin.

You wait for a few moments, when you hear a voice coming from the back room. "Be right there." Seconds later, a woman walks into the shrine with you. "Good morning, my name is Calladastina, how may I be of service?"

Pleased to meet you, Calladastina. My name's Hoga, and I'm carrying the body of the wizard Hunclay. We think he was killed by kobolds. We're told he wasn't that well liked, but he deserves a proper burial, so we're here to see that he gets one.

Hoga shifts the bundled corpse off his shoulders. Where should I put him?

Kyras tags along ready to assist if needed.

Same for Kyzen...

Tamora nods her head.

"Hunclay?" She walks toward Hoga and take a look at the body. "Yup, that's him alright. Bring him in the back, there is an empty table where you can lay him down." Moving aside to let Hoga pass, she turns to the rest of the group as she produces a small parchment and an ink pen. "So, which one of you is paying for the funeral service? Do you want a ceremony, if so, what type? To which god? Also, we need to discuss the burial. Crypt or in the ground? Can't forget the casket. We got simple wood all the way to more exotic. On special order, we can get one in stone..." She pauses for a moment, looking again at the group. "Oh, right... sorry for your lost." She then walks to a small counter, dipping her pen in an ink pot. "So, what will it be?"

None of us are related to the man. You will have to either debit his estate or see the Baroness for your recompense as bringing the body to you was her request.

"None of you are relatives nor friends of the deceased? Debit his estate, you say? Well, I guess that can be arranged. Is there anything else I can do for you?" She looks at you and wait for a response.

You can either keep talking to her, or you can move to your next destination.

Kakrish walks up to the lady and raises his hand to offer her a "high five".

"Thanks for helping out. We're headed to bed now. We've been up all night, if you know what I mean." Kakrish winks at Calladastina.

I think the plan is to head back to the inn to rest, right?

Rest, sell sellables, split up gold and such, maybe shop, and then head out.

Hoga concurs.

You walk back to The Wise Piper. As you enter you notice that Talia is the one behind the counter. "Welcome back. Looks like you could use some rest. Follow me, I'll lead you to some rooms you can use." She signal someone that is in the kitchen and then walks over to the stair heading up. Once upstairs, she walks to the far end of the hallway. "There you should a far away from the noise as possible. Some of you might have to double up in the rooms, however, I hope that this isn't a problem. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

I'll skip to when you wake up. If there is something you want to do before sleeping, you can still do it, worst come to worst, we can do it in a spoiler or give me your actions by PMs.

You wake up refreshed after a good sleep. Looking out you notice that is is now about mid to late afternoon. You estimate that you have about two hours before shops start closing for the day. Walking down stair, you notice Talia and two others setting up the common room for the evening meal. As you finish climbing down the stair she turns to you. "Slept well? We should have some food ready in about two hours. You can wait here if you want, but I'm afraid the Entertainment won't be here until later."

Get a quick bite and then sell stuff and divide cash? I'd prefer to handwave that if everyone can agree. Not sure the loot list is 100% up to date. I do not see the two mithral daggers. And I believe we have a spellbook too?

Kyzen vote for selling/shopping first, then eat. After that, if we have time (or we want to work in the night) we could either go see Kobolds, explore Hunclay's manor or fetch a Wolf coat for Hoga. Else if no time, then we should enjoy the evening and leave tomorrow morning.

The loot was to help tracking the stuff you find. Looking at it, I think some people claimed stuff on it and didn't remove it from the sheet. Also, I didn't mark the Mithral dagger because I thought that someone (either Kyras or Tamora) had them on their character sheet. The spellbook is pretty much unsellable in the condition it is in right now.

If everyone wants to handwave the loot selling and stuff, I have no issue with that. Everything you sell if at 50% of market value, and you buy at full. Ask before buying magical stuff, there is a chance it might not be available.

Hoping I can copy some of the spells in the spell book into my formulary. Sounds like we need to go back and make a complete treasure list from the posts.

What Kyzen took from the loot, I removed it...

Do we need erase scrolls to read the spellbook or does the succeeding on the will play a part bypassing the protection to read it?

I'd like to keep one enlarge person potion and then the rest I'm fine with handwaving the sale and then split the gold evenly.

I've updated the loot sheet to show the values of each item. If you want something, I think the protocol should be that you post here.
If no one objects in 24 hours (real time) then you can have it. Remove it from the loot sheet.

At times (like now) we all decide we want to convert everything. Then the GM gives us a total, we split the gold,
and clear the loot sheet.

Sound good?

Sounds good. Hoga's saving for some better armor. Not there, yet, I don't think.

Sounds good for me too... Kyzen don't need anything else from the loot. When possible, he wants to buy 5 potions of CLW...

Do we need erase scrolls to read the spellbook or does the succeeding on the will play a part bypassing the protection to read it?

The protection is on multiple pages. Erase will work for two pages. You are unsure if erasing it from the 2 first pages will change anything. Maybe you are missing something else that could help you with that.

While you decide about the loot and your future shopping budget, is there anything else your character would want to do in town before heading back out?

Not for Kyzen, he's ready to go...

I guess we are adding the spellbook to the list of loot we need to sell.

Unless someone needs it, right? Why would we not? Depending on what is in it I might be able to scribe a spell or two into my formulary but after it should be sold.

We will need to get rid of the protections first via erase. The the scrolls are inaccessible to us aka not on our list other than a UMD check which Kyras can attempt to activate it. Otherwise, it is unreadable at the moment therefore useless to us. Or we can buy erase spells by spellcasting services from town. It is a matter of preference really. Now the questions are: how many pages of spells are there and how many pages worth of protection do we need to erase?