Rise of the Runelords

Game Master Lloyd Jackson

For a moment, Luminita completely ignores Tsakua. She practically collapses at the mere sight of all the wonderful food. With little more than a whisper, she says to Ameiko "By the gods, this is why I can't stand my mother's cooking. This is amazing Ameiko! You've outdone yourself, along with all the other workers. What would you like in return for this?"

My girlfriend and I are now hungry and are leaving for brunch. Thanks.

I'm just stimulating the economy ;)

"Tell everyone how good the Rusty Dragon is and we'll call it even." says Ameiko.

Just then, the door to the inn bursts open. A thin silhouette stands out against the bright sun outside.

"Doko jigoku wa watashi no musumedesu!?"

An aging man in fine Tian style clothes stalks into the common room. Clearly recognizing him, most of the inns visitors nervously shift their attention to their food and a tense quiet settles over the place.

"Doko jigoku wa watashi no musumedesu!?" The stranger repeats. He slides toward the bar, scanning the room as he goes.

"Hey! Glad everyone made it!" Mary looks towards Kent with a curious look. "What happened last night? You disappeared last night. I think at least a few of us wondered if you helped Torvald get home or something."

Mary pockets the list and turns to the meal at hand. "Wow... I don't think I ever seen such food back at Skyreach even! She begins to take portions of different items. A couple sausage here, a few fried eggs there. She marvels at the food as she is eating it.

After a few bites, she turns to Tas. "The how I know Thassilonian, is where I learned how to use my musket. Back in Absalom." She playfully says as she wonders if he might figure out where she got her training from.

When crazy old men come a knocking
When the doors burst open, Mary turns around to see who it could be. Seeing and aging man, and hearing him speak in a language she doesn't understand, she tries to figure out what he is speaking by where he could be from.
Now where are you from?
Kn Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Mary knows the man is speaking Minkaian and that means he is likely from Tian-Ja: Minkai in all likelihood.

"I know I said I already ate but..." Tas happily digs in to the food as its brought to the table, he even lets Bevole sit underneath and passes the skunk some of the dried fruit, buts and even a little bacon.

He doesn't eat much but he certainly enjoys what he does.

I assume Tas would probably recognize the significance of Skyreach from his historical studies, given how long the society has been around, but I'll let the GM rule on that before saying anything more on the subject.

Tas almost chokes on a bit of sausage when the elderly man comes rushing in shouting in a language he does not recognize right away. Both Tas and his familiar turn their attention to the man, trying to figure out if he is distressed or angry.
Linguistics (To Figure what the language is): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Sense Motive (Tas): 1d20 ⇒ 19
Sense Motive (Bevole): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Just as Luminita was going to make a clever quip back at Ameiko, the old man barges in. Having lived in Sandpoint for most of her life, she knew who the old man was. She gives Ameiko a knowing look of unease, an attempt at empathizing with her, but Luminita does not say or do anything else. She sits there with her new adventure buddies, around a full table of steaming hot delicious food, as she calmly waits for the unsavory man to make a scene.

Tas knows the language and about Skyreach. He senses the man is here out of anger rooted in a deep fear.

The man marches straight up to Ameiko, his some of his gray hairs slipping free of its bindings in is haste. They fall across his face like old spider's webs.

"Zehi. Soreha yori anzendearu watashitachiha, Magnimar ni modorimasu. Anata wa ie o saisei shi, anata no tanoshimi o motte itaga, soreha jikan ga genjitsu-tekidearu koto." He says with barely veiled hostility. He reaches for Ameiko's wrist, but she steps away. He points at the ground near his feet in a manner only a father can quite manage.

Ameiko narrows her eyes. "Watashi wa anata to issho ni kuru koto wa arimasen. Watashi no bijinesu wa koko ni arimasu. Watashi no yūjin. Watashi no... Watashi wa nokotte iru subete wa koko ni arimasu." She stands up straight and tall, a look of proud defiance on her face.

The older man blinks, not quite believing whatever he's just heard. His mouth drops open and he stares mutely around the room. Then his eyes fall on Luminita and the rest and a mask of rage ripples onto his face.

He speaks in lightly accented common. "Leave. Your presence is a distraction and I would talk sense to my daughter. Go now."

Tsakua continues eating, muttering to himself "If you think you need the whole building to have your conversation..." Looking up, he meets the gaze of the older man, waiting for a response from the rest of the group. Don't worry, not starting a fight this time :)

"Seems we can't go more than a day without some sort of shouting match, eh?" Kent sighs, taking a large bite from their offered breakfast. "Look here, bud," he says, turning to the older Tien man. "I ain't got a clue what it is ya just said, but it seems like Ameiko isn't too interested in having you 'talk sense' to her. This is her place a'business, so if you wanna talk to yer daughter here, you're gonna treat the woman with respect."

After a moment, Kent's face goes a bit red. "Not to say that she can't tell ya that 'erself, course. She might have 'nough respect for ya to not tell ya to shove it, but I don't. I ain't leavin' my breakfast so you can start a shouting match, least not 'till Ameiko herself asks us t'leave."

Mary tries to figure out why this elderly man is so hostile with Ameiko and anyone else within the Rusty Dragon.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

With hearing Kent's reply to the old man, Mary agrees with him. "I agree Kent." She looks at older man. "I do not know what you said, nor the reason. While I understand that Ameiko is your daughter, she is well within her own rights to do what she will. You should be able to respect that."

Luminita simply nods in agreement with Tsakua, Kent, and Mary. Her face is worried, however, like holding a hot potato with the expectation that it is about to explode.

The man's face goes beet red and his mouth presses into a thin line. He turns with false calm back to Ameiko and roars loud enough to be heard at the cathedral.

"Ameiko wa, ichido ni nokosu tame ni, kono kuso gomi o oshiete!"

Ameiko's defiant expression slips and the old man barks another command. Her eyes fall to the floor and she whispers. "Thank you Nita, but this is my trial. You guys should wait outside."

Mary, you sense that he is angry and maybe a tad fearful.

"Ami, you're stronger than this, I know it. You can stay where there are songs." Luminita reassures her. Then standing up and putting a hand on Ameiko's shoulder, Luminita addresses Ameiko's father.

"Mr. Kaijitsu, I cannot stand silent while you yell at my friend. I will stay here and support her in any way I possibly can. This is my will."

Aid Ameiko's Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Everyone, stand up and support Ameiko. Let's be her shield.

Well, I can say with complete confidence that I do not understand anything that happens in this town.

Tas has been quietly sitting watching the entire scene play out, unsure what he could add to the situation without making it worse. He is at least thankful that Tsakua has not wrestled the man to the ground, but is unsure if he should stay or leave.

Eventually, smiling, he opens his mouth, letting everything fall where it may.

"It seems my friends, the Heroes of Sandpoint, are d-determined to eat the rest of this f-fine breakfast. Maybe you should join us? P-perhaps we can help with whatever it is that has you worried?"

He points to an open chair, and maintains his smile, cursing his stutter for revealing his nervousness. Taking a cue from Luminita he stands, late enough after the invitation for it to look like an awkward after thought.

Aid Diplomacy: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Backhand to Luminita: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 4 - 1 = 12

Moving faster than apparently possible, the old man lashes out at Luminita, but she easily side steps the blow.

Ameiko, now hopelessly angry, steps forward and slams a fist into her father's gut, crumpling him to the floor. "Anata wa watashi no yūjin o utsu koto wa arimasen! Anata no kanashī jinsei ni modorimasu."

His eyes watering, breath coming hard, the old man wheezes. "Anata wa anata no haha ga shin deta to shite mo watashiniha shinde imasu. Anata ga mienai. Watashi wa anata o kiku koto ga dekimasen."

Shakily, he climbs to his feet and stalks out of the inn.

Once gone, Ameiko, her chest heaving dangerously, excuses herself and disappears behind the bar.

What now friends?

Dayum!!

Luminita is ...stunned.

dang,it's too late for Tsakua to have responded to that,
Bristling, Tsakua stands and follows the old man outside the inn, coming back inside after he leaves. "Anyone know what that was all about?" he asks.

"His name's Lonjiku Kaijitsu, one of the 'noble' families here. He's about as dirty as a Sczarni stuffed up you-know-where." Luminita responds with absolute disgust.

The door to the inn bursts open again. This time, one of the guard rush in scanning frantically until he spots the group. He walks briskly over.

"Sheriff Hemlock requires your presences at the cathedral at once. I am to escort you there now."

Any objections?

"A bastard, that's what 'e is." Kent grumbles, kicking a stone off to the side of the Rusty Dragon. "Wish I knew Tien, give that jackass a mouthful."

"Where else do we need to go, then? Seems we won't be getting the rest of our breakfast."

"Is this traditional for Sandpoint? Are all disputes solved with violence? No wonder we camp outside the town when we're here!"

Tas gesticulates wildly as he talks, he's confused and a little angry l, and feeling oddly defensive of Luminita after she was almost slapped.

"Should we check up on Ameiko? Or, I don't know, go beat up someone else? Are you sure it was goblins that attacked this town and nit just towns folk in disagreement?"

He sits back in his chair and takes a swig of his drink, mentally calming the storm.
"I-I'm sorry, just, well Im a bit overwhelmed with what just happened. Are you okay Luminita?"

Tas quiets at the sound of the guard rushing in and shrugs at the rest of the party as if to say 'Your call.'

Tsakua turns and looks at the guard. or down on, if taller than said guard :)

"Saying please helps," he growls, grumpy at all the interuptions to breakfast. "What does the sheriff want from us?"

There are no words in Common, Tien, or the tongues of goblins for this treachery. Now Luminita stands between two worlds; A duty to Sandpoint, Mr. Hemlock, and even her own uncle... or Food, that delicious, mouth watering, home-made food.

Luminita dives to the table and snatches up the plate of maple and apple sausages, along with one of the rashers of bacon. She stuffs a few into her mouth before running out the door. "Mou kant gugdge me fer bmakon!!" she attempts to yell out as she leaves out the door.

...

Then she runs back in, picks up her pack and gear, takes a few more sausages, and runs back out one last time. Hopefully.

The guard looks back at Tsakua. "Apologies, sir. If you would please accompany me. I regret I do not know the reason for the summons, but it was related to me most urgently. I do not think delay to be wise."

"Hmmph," Tsakua growls. Grabbing some pieces of chicken and fruit, he looks at his companions. "Best not to keep the law waiting," he comments, before heading out the door.

"The sheriff? Sure, I s'pose." Kent looks back to the Rusty Dragon, then begrudgingly moves to head back with the guard.

Tas tosses Bevole one more piece of dried fruit before summoning him back to his arm and following the others.

Always an adventure where they are, it seems. Not going to pass up seeing what comes next.

The day the elderly fell.
Seeing Luminitia stand up for Ameiko, Mary was about to stand up as well, but she could not get up fast enough. She sees Mr Kaijitsu try to slap her, but she dodges him easily. Now standing, she watches Ameiko punch him and he falls to the ground. Oh... That had to hurt. When the elderly man gets back up, he hurriedly leaves the Inn. Looking around, stunned, Mary notes that Ameiko headed behind the bar. But before she could do anything, a local guard came to ask the group to come with him.

"Huh? Oh, okay." Mary is slightly stunned by the whole event that took place. She goes along with everyone else to see the Sheriff.

Was out all night. Very drunk. See you tomorrow.

The Cathedral doors stand open and cool air, sweet with the smell of incense greet you as you climb the wide, stone steps.

Inside is a perpetual twilight rich with hanging tapestries among a forest of stone pillars. Along the right wall, Sheriff Belor Hemlock seems to be holding close conference with a visibly distraught Father Zantus.

Seeing you all approach, Hemlock says something to Zantus then steps over to you.

He begins in a hushed voice. "It seems the resting place of our last dean has been desecrated. Father Zantus cannot bring himself, nor will he ask his clerics, to investigate. I am interested to see what you all make of the scene. Please find out what you can and then report to me. You will be paid for your services." He eyes Kent with fond suspicion. "Be careful Kent. This might take you down the path to becoming a useful member of society." He chuckles at his own joke as he scans for any dissent in your faces. His eyebrows jump when he sees Luminita. "You are with this lot now? No matter, you should tend to your uncle."

What do you do?

"Yeah? You found whatever's gonna make ya a decent sheriff?" Kent scoffs, his lip twitching upwards into a smirk. "But... desecrated? What exactly d'ya mean by that? And why call for me--I mean us, why call for us to investigate?"

Hemlock suppresses a chuckle. "Descrated is Father Zantus' word. In truth, I have not seen anything of this claim. I called for you lot because allying with people like you is in the best interest of the town." He shrugs. "Better to be on the right side of adventurers and have a least one string to tug on in a pinch." He smiles sheepishly as if in a partial apology.

"You could be useful to me and I need to see how you work." #sorrynotsorry - Hemlock

Going down to the Church.
After leaving the Rusty Dragon Inn, Mary was still a bit surprised by the event that took place. I hope Ameiko is alright. Such a nice person, yet to have a father like that. Along the way to the church, she notes anything interesting that might be good places to shop or have useful services.

Once they get to the church, she marvels at the exterior of the building. "Wow. Who knew that a church like this would be built outside of Magnimar."

Lets see what the Father has in store.
When Sheriff Hemlock asks to check out a desecrated tomb, Mary wonders why they would be needed for this. What? Did someone steal remains or something? I don't see much of a reason for us to investigate.

But when Kent and Hemlock share words, she begins to understand it a bit.
Oh, he wants to see us in action. Kinda makes sense, I guess.
Mary comes forward to speak to the Sheriff. "So, Sheriff Hemlock, what exactly does it look like from your view? And you are going to send us into a tomb, right? If so, who exactly was the last Dean anyway?" She tilts her head slightly and shrugs a little bit. "Sorry, I am new here. But I would like to learn more about the area."

"You got it, Sheriff. Errr which person was our last dean?"

K.Local is not her strong point...

"Ezakien Tobyn was the previous dean. Surely you lot have heard the story of the Fire of Sandpoint Cathedral?"

Kn. Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
... Somehow someone from Absalom knows all about it?

"Only a little bit, I was studying in Magnimar at the time... It was part of the Late Unpleasantness."

Knowledge Local, untrained: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
"I, yes I seem to recall some business about the cathedral, something happened a few years ago right?"
though I assume the event is common knowledge for a frequent Sandpoint visitor, I figured I'd wait for GM approval. If Tas does indeed remember information about the event he'll share it with the group.

I specifically chose to be studying in Magnimar at the the time so that I wouldn't just know everything. Sometimes a mystery or two is nice =D

The Sheriff shakes his head. "The short of it is that Tobyn and his daughter Nualia we caught in the fire that burned the last cathedral to the ground. Zantus was studying under Tobyn and naturally took over in his wake. None of this is currently important however. Right now, we need to put Father Zantus at ease. Go and check it out if you're still interested."

"Of course. We'll take care of it Mr. Hemlock." Luminita assures him.

When they do walk to the boneyard, Luminita says to Mary "Don't worry, Mary, Sandpoint isn't big enough for a huge tomb or catacomb. It's more like a... mausoleum? It's pretty small, I mean. Normally Mr. Vosk tends to this place, but I've been in the boneyard from time to time. The vault in question (#713) should be over... here."

"Right." As Mary replies to Luminita, while walking through the boneyard. "Well, best be safe than sorry." While walking, she unslings her musket and loads it with a dose of black powder and a regular bullet. "So... Both Mr. Tobyn and Nualia are both interned there, right?"

When they reach the the location, Mary looks around for anything out of place or unusual.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Survival: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
She turns to the rest of the group with a slight smirk. "SO.... Who wants to go in first?"

"Hmm, I wonder what could be in here. If it was desecrated, what would the reason be? I can go first, I'm interested to see what the trouble is."

Tas heads into the tomb to sate his curiosity, if there is no light he'll cast dancing lights. He calls Bevole put and relies on the skunks sense of smell to detect anything out of the ordinary. scent provides +8 to Bevoles +7 perception for checks made using scent

Bevole Perception (scent): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24
Perception Tas: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Scent normally adds +4. Can you tell me where the other +4 is coming from?

Bevole will not approach the vault.

Tas stops when he senses Bevole's hesitation and turns to the group.

"Um, it seems Bevole won't go near this place. I don't know what he smells, our connection isn't so specific as that, but he most certainly doesn't like what's in there."

The half-elf looks concerned, considering the amount of Ruins they had explored together, the skunk should be used to a wide arrange of smells. With a hand wave he calls his companion back to his arm, not wanting to cause him any more undue stress.

"If you don't mind, I'll uh, yeah, I'll wait for one of you to go ahead first."

Tsakua steps forward and begins walking through the ruins. "Can't be too much down here," he comments. "After all, everything's supposed to be dead already, right?" Stepping forward, he grips door and opens the vault, letting the light from Tas' spell shine in.

"Bevole is really cute!"

In case you've lost it, or if this is your first fight with us, HERE is the map link.

A rattling noise issues from the vault and two skeletons lurch out attacking Tsakua!

Attack: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (11) - 3 = 8 for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Attack: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (5) - 3 = 2 for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Attack: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (1) - 3 = -2 for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Attack: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (18) - 3 = 15 for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Surprised though he is, Tsakua defends himself well...until a bony hand slashes him across the stomach!

5 damage sir. Y'all are up.

The discussion forum is now open for discussions.

Dot. Again, thanks for the invitation.

I'm excited for this. Thanks again for the invite, and please, share suggestions for anything I can do to improve my gameplay. First time PbP, still getting used to the formatting.

Dotting. Thanks for the invitation, and I'm curious what level you're expecting this to run to (assuming we make it that far). I know a number of GMs lengthen RotRL to a full 20 level campaign, and others run it as "scheduled", so to speak.

I don't have a set level I'm aiming for. By default, it will probably be to about the level given in the AP, but that really just depends on where the campaign goes. It's possible, though I'm certainly not planning on it, that it may eventually become mythic. Nothing is off the table.

That'd be fun. I was just curious, as I like to do some rough sketching of my character build early on, just so I don't screw myself later on. It'd suck to plan on taking something in my sixth level in barbarian, for example, if the level of the campaign means I won't likely get there.

Makes sense. Runelords Anniversary says players should reach lvl17-18 by the end, so if anything we'd end up slightly higher than that. I can't think of any content that I'd be likely to cut. You should, assuming all goes well, be able to reach that level even with multi-classing.

I mean, the rudimentary build was Brawler 12/Barbarian 8, but as long as we aren't capping around like 14th level or something I should be able to work something out pretty easily. I just like to know where I'm capable of getting to for that exact reason.

Had a campaign where the GM told no one the game ended at 7th level, some old 3.5 module. When we learned that it did, we figured we'd pick up another module to keep going up. GM started a new game, leaving a lot of players furious as they made characters who's builds wouldn't come online until a higher level. Not fun, as you can guess.

Interesting. Why that particular mix of class levels?

While we may not quite hit that level, should be close.

Also, nice job on the posts so far, I knew would have suspected pig wrestling could be so exciting. ^_^ Everyone is doing a nice job on their posts. Good interaction between Kent and Torvald. If we can keep this up, things will be awesome.

Oh, Thank you for letting me know about my stats DM Grey, I updated them slightly to be a bit more optimized now. I have a con score above 10 now!

The mix of levels has a couple reasons. If you're planning on multiclassing as a brawler, level 12 gets you most of the best things they have to offer. Three combat feats as a swift action? Yes please! Most of the stuff I miss out on isn't the best, so it's a good stopping point.

8th level of Unchained Barbarian lets me grab Improved Damage Reduction, and DR is Kent's whole shtick, as mentioned previously. Also, a lot of Unchained powers have an effect of "+1 per four Barbarian levels" so stopping at eight gets me that additional +1 bonus.

As I play Kent, this could change quite a bit, and I may even decide against the Barbarian levels, although they were what I had in mind to take. I don't like to pin myself into a build from level 1, so for all I know he could end up taking bard levels.

He'd be an awful bard, but for some reason that almost makes me want to do it. He'd only ever sing "Home on the Range".

Torvald made my day with "Yer skilled wit' pigs and pig-iron akin, eh?"

Still chucking over that one.

Kent's skill with pigs remains to be seen. I'm not so confident a 16 will keep do well enough to keep a hold of that thing. But I agree. Probably made Kent's day, too.

Well, I don't know if I hit all of them, but I know the last one did hit.

I'm going to be traveling again tomorrow afternoon/evening, so there may be only one post.

Really enjoying Kent and Torvald's accents. They reminded me that Tsakua shouldn't be speaking with as grammatically correct as I might've been typing.

I find it a bit difficult to keep this accent correct, because it isn't quite clear in my head yet. But frankly I like the well-spoken former slave. It makes me think of a Frederick Douglass type, but with probably more punching.

I find it a bit difficult to keep this accent correct, because it isn't quite clear in my head yet. But frankly I like the well-spoken former slave. It makes me think of a Frederick Douglass type, but with probably more punching.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I like to think that Tsakua has a fairly "renaissance" background from traveling with the circus.

Accents are fun! I find them a little hard to get used to at first, but they're fun. I'm from a pretty rural area, so I've more or less just made Kent talk like everyone else here. The only things I refuse to have him say are "warsh" and "wooder". I won't go that far.

Honestly, I am liking all of the RP I am seeing. It is rather fun to read.

I'm really interested in seeing how all of these characters will interact. We have some interesting dynamics here.

Yeah, though I am the lone person out. By the way it sounds, I am the most recent to the town, the rest of you been here a while. With a strange weapon like wand called a "Boomstick"!

Yeah, though I am the lone person out. By the way it sounds, I am the most recent to the town, the rest of you been here a while. With a strange weapon like wand called a "Boomstick"!

yup, and i'm trying to figure out what Tsakua will do the first time he's around that thing when it goes off.

Might be like a firework going off unexpectedly, maybe. Or if there was lots of conflict in your past, maybe that might be brought to the top. Definitely if it had explosions.

Kent's a smith, so while he doesn't know anything about how to build or repair one, I'm assuming he knows what a firearm is and what one looks like. I'm not sure he knows quite how loud they are, though.

My assumption was that firearms are almost exclusively found in the wealthiest cities, where you have the alchemists and smiths and resources necessary to make them reliably. It's much harder to make something designed to withstand constant explosions than it is to make something meant to stab or smash, after all.

That means that nobody in the north is likely to have ever encountered one... but from the moment I saw Mary in the other thread, I had a plan in mind for what kind of reaction would be appropriate from my side.

My assumption was that firearms are almost exclusively found in the wealthiest cities, where you have the alchemists and smiths and resources necessary to make them reliably. It's much harder to make something designed to withstand constant explosions than it is to make something meant to stab or smash, after all.

That means that nobody in the north is likely to have ever encountered one... but from the moment I saw Mary in the other thread, I had a plan in mind for what kind of reaction would be appropriate from my side.

Oh, that makes me want to meet up with the rest of you soon! just to meet, and then hopefully right after, see your reactions!

Hope you don't mind me tweaking your trait a bit Mary. The reward will just be slightly delayed.

Some general information on guns in the world of Pathfinder. Torvald basically has the right idea. At least, this is my own understanding for sources and how I usually run it. The Ducky of Alkenstar has a pretty firm monopoly on firearm production in the Inner Sea. They actually have secret agents that hunt down people who try to smuggle excess guns out of the country or produce them independently. This is part of the reason why prices are so high.

As a result, and Alkenstar's location, guns are uncommon in the cosmopolitan cities of the Inner Sea, and vanishingly rare in places like Varisia, the Linnorn Kings, or Brevoy. You've probably, though not necessarily, heard stories about like, much like you've heard stories about dragons sleeping on golden hordes, and clerics summoning angels from the heavens.

This also means that Mary's weapon is essentially irreplaceable, at least for the near future.

Gunpowder on the other hand, because of the trade route to Tian Xia, can be found relatively easily in Varisia, if you know where to look. The recipes aren't quite the same, but with a bit of experimenting it should work well enough, and lead isn't difficult to find.

Okay! I am just interested to see how it plays out.

You know, I was thinking, maybe second level, I start going into Lore Warden, for the extra skills and knowledge to help out. And also for the bonus feat! What do you guys think? Also, in later levels, I was thinking that maybe I should look into the animal soul feat tree to see if I can make the horse an animal companion. But that would be after level seven. Though I was thinking of something else as well, but since we have not even truly started, I am not worried by it.

Apologies for no post this morning.

Lore Warden is certainly worth looking into. You'll need to balance that against delayed access to Gun Training, but the flavor fits Mary well, and the fighter bonus feats can be very handy.

Yeah, only going to do one at 2nd level, and then another at 7th. Maybe.

I think it would be quite helpful to have someone who can handle knowledge skills. I have a couple that might be of some use, but we're fairly limited there.

Yeah. Though I have to say, it wont be like a bard or Wizard in terms of knowledges though. While I might get a +5 in a given knowledge skill, a wizard will have +8 or more. And bards can do all of them untrained.

@Mary, I like it. As Torvald says, those skills will be useful. And as there isn't a wizard, rogue, or bard in the party each character's skills become more valuable. Also, don't hesitate to use skills that you wouldn't normally think of, but that make sense. Found an unusual sword? Use Craft(Weapon) or Profession(Smith) to try and learn something about it. That sort of thing.

Everyone, I really like how the characters are shaping up. Good job.

Is there more that people would like to do here, or would it be alright to move things forward? If you'd like to spend more time here, that's fine. Your characters are moving into good positions for what happens next though, and I'd just thought to double check. Everyone needs to be in the vicinity of the central podium/stage of the festival at sundown.

Torvald and Kent, if you are ready, please give a description of how you pass the time to sundown. The Two Knights pavilion is in a prime location in front of the stage, giving you good views of performances happening throughout the day and plenty of company and drink to enjoy them with.

Mary, I was thinking to start the next scene just as you are beginning to enjoy the festival again?

Tsakua, how would you feel about your conversation with Ven happening towards evening? Catching up with our unwelcome suitor at sundown would work out nicely. Also, just to double check are you wanting to know where Danny likely is now, the location of the lumber mill where he works, or where the Scarnetti's manor is? I'm a little sleep deprived at the moment.

Yup, I am ready to join in on more festivities.

Some general info about where he might be is fine (might be at x or y) or specific for evening is good too. And the conversation wrapping up at evening works great.

I was hoping for another post from Kent before posting again, but if he doesn't post in the next few hours then I'll just go ahead and post.

Ended up working a nine hour shift yesterday, didn't manage to post anywhere last night. Will be posting shortly.

@DM Gray: Just a follow up on that question (i'm a little sleep deprived all around right now). Tsakua was trying to phrase his question in such a way that Ven couldn't be held accountable for Tsakua's actions. Having had trouble with high-powered individuals before, Tsakua would know that accomplices are also punished, and would want to keep Ven out of trouble as much as possible. I figured Ven would give me a few locations and then tell me where i could most likely find Danny (Banny?) at that moment i.e., sundown. hope that helps.

That's what I figured Tsakua, thanks. ^_^

Kent, no worries.

I don't know where everyone stands, but I'm fine moving along if everybody's ready.

I'm down for it.

I'm good for moving on. I believe I am currently having Mary wander around the main part of the festival, looking for something else to try.

Kent would probably prefer not to talk about his problems, so moving on is fine with me, too.

And... we're off!

I'm assuming once we move into actual open combat, you'll be rolling initiative for us? Also, are we going "theatre of the mind" for combat, or are you using Google Maps/Roll20/etc.?

Fun either way, but I think I missed on my first swing. :(

And if we do a map program, I think I'd like the Roll20 one better than google.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 Kent
1d20 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 Torvald
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20 Mary
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13 Tsakua

There you go. Thanks for the reminder Kent. Please post your full-round action. For this first combat the party is considered to have higher initiative than the goblins, so it isn't much of an issue really. People don't need to wait for those with higher initiative to go first, otherwise things get very slow. Initiative will only be a concern, for this combat, in determining which PC actions take priority.

Usually for combat I divide it into three groups. PCs that beat the NPCs' roll, NPCs, and PCs whose initiative is lower than the NPCs. NPCs, monsters, act as a single group. Since all PCs are higher than the goblins in this combat, it's a simple, party turn, monster turn. In other combats, initiative will be more important. People will still post when able, but higher initiative determines whether you have strike before the monsters, or your comrades, do.

For this combat we are going theater of the mind. I haven't had time to get a good google map worked out, and maps of crowd scenes are a pain anyway, and don't know how to use Roll20. I'm open to either one in the future when I have time to get something ready. I'll have to look into learning Roll20. It seems to be popular.

This sound alright to everyone?

That seems fine to me. Theater of the mind makes sense here, but I would like to get to proper maps eventually.

I also appreciate simplifying initiative somewhat. Standard system simply doesn't work that well for this format.