If the gift can't be money towards a mithril chain shirt, I'll take a wand of mage armor. Lubella can't keep wearing her starting chain shirt — the max dex is too low and the armor check penalty hurts. She'll have to wait a few more weeks until the rebellion advances to rank 8 for her mithril chain shirt (gift: armor or wand). I had hoped to be able to buy it before then, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Lubella is expecting to head to the Lucky Bones, to have a look at the entrance for herself. If Arcos and Sidius think it's a bad idea at the moment, she will reconsider.
FYI - I am flying to Seattle for business tomorrow afternoon and will be there until Friday night. So posting will be late/limited from hotel.
Options available:
1) Lucky Bones
2) Mission for Captain
3) Follow up with Order of Torrent at Tooth and Nail
4) Other rumors heard, but not yet investigated.
I was mostly thinking of 2). It just seemed to make sense to visit the Lucky Bones location to get a general idea for later planning purposes.
For the Aulorian estate mission, I think we want to:
a. Talk to Rexus/Laria about how to enter the Greens District with the minimum of fuss.
b. Enter the district late in the day, given that we want to do a night mission.
c. Perhaps do a daytime reconnaissance?
d. Find a discreet spot to wait until nightfall.
e. The actual mission
f. Hide/sleep until after curfew is lifted.
g. Leave the Greens and deliver the reply.
We'll probably be depending on Talvek to deliver the message (climb to 2nd floor balcony). Lubella can sneak, but she's not so great at climbing (+3 with no armor).
I think we have to expect a guard dog at the estate. Ideally, Talvek can sneak in and out without being detected. If the dog notices, it would be preferable to put it to sleep. Not sure how we could keep it asleep more than 5 minutes, though (Sleep spell).
We don't want the father to know that we've been there, so killing the dog would be a no-no. Knocking it unconscious would be a last resort — better than killing it, but likely to make a lot of noise, and arouse suspicion.
I suppose drugged meat is a possibility, although we wouldn't want to leave any traces behind. Also expensive: Oil of Taggit is 90 gp, and we'd have to find a place to buy it (Newt Market?).
Lubella can provide Heroism and Cat's Grace (the later only 5 minutes duration). We will obviously want to be in disguise. Arcos knows Invisibility; do we have access to Levitation?
Interested to hear others' thoughts.
Who can look the fanciest? It would be easy to stroll around there with 2 halfling slaves in tow to not create any fuss really.
I can do Aid and a few other 1 minute buffs nothing that is longer than that. Life Links will allow me to "feel" if someone is damaged which is good if I cannot get into there.
I can get up to +6 (Without armor) on Stealth if needs be.
That might be good for going through the gate into the Greens. I'd like to double check with Rexus/Laria just in case (we'll want to drop in at Long Roads anyway).
Let me know if someone feels they don't have the right spells/extracts ready for this mission. We're better to wait a day than risk not being properly prepared.
As far as mission order, My thinking is that we should do this one first because we've just talked to Captain Sargaeta, and it seems like something we don't want to leave hanging.
After that, I'm good with doing the Lucky Bones — getting a more secure base is starting to look pretty important. I would like to at least get the rebellion "gift" before we go into the Lucky Bones, so I can get Lubella's armor sorted out (Mage Armor from a wand will let her get the full AC benefit from Cat's Grace). Somehow I get the feeling there might be some tough fights in there.
By the way, I'm not sure that Lubella herself is aware of any other rumors about possible missions.
There is the rumour about the murders in the Devil's Nursery happening again, that's all I can recall off the top of my head.
Ok you should have no problems with purchases. Security has reduced a bit since the last two days of the breakout. Crossing bridge is still a hassle
Due to my travel - I will be brief . Will try to get Estates post up this evening if that is the plan.
The Knights of Torrent are hanging low for now since weak and need to recover health and grumble about getting their armor and equipment back from holding house but agree too risky right now. So they are not yet able to aid teams.
There is the rumour about the murders in the Devil's Nursery happening again, that's all I can recall off the top of my head.
I don't recall Talvek mentioning this to the group. Keep in mind that if Lubella hasn't learned the information in-character, I don't act on it.
You're right, the information doesn't seem to have been shared IC, and I think it was Fhingle who received it, not Talvek. What Talvek shared was rumours about unofficial devil cults.
Was there also a rumor about Lady Docur’s School for Girls? I don't think that's been shared either.
@GM Aarvid: When do we get access to the Rebellion Rank 6 Gift (750 GP) award?
Ah sorry - I was going to have Laria say there was a package for each of you when you were there. Lost track with all the note passing. I will post a fix.
Lubella is selecting a wand of mage armor. When she gets a mithril chain shirt later (when we get the Rebellion Rank 8 Gift - armor or wand), she will pass the wand on to Sidius.
As I suggested, Sidius would have been handed 2 scrolls:
- Lightning bolt (375gp)
- Remove Curse (375gp)
I'll be feeding them to my familiar later.
Wand of Cure light wounds please :)
Enjoy! Compliments of your benefactors! :)
Talvek would like a wand of Disguise Self. He will use a mix of the wand and his own extracts to always be disguised when out in public.
Hm, not sure what I really need. Does it have to be a consumable?
Not necessarily consumable, but most single things for 750gp are.
A MW Darkwood composite strength longbow is one of my favorites for martials.
Hey all, Aldren's player here. It's been a year, but I wanted to apologize for ghosting on you. My job had become all consuming with a bit of depression and burn-out tossed in for measure, and I wound up ghosting on a few games. I'm glad to see the campaign wasn't impeded, but I did want to apologize. I'm very sorry for that. Aarvid, you were running (and continue to run) a great game, and in my better moments, I had a blast RPing with the other players. Life had just run away with me. Anyway, this is my very, VERY overdue apology. I'm sorry. Glad you're all continuing to game on!
Good to hear from you again, Aldren!
Hi Aldren, no worries at all. I hope things settle down for you in RL and you get a break.
We continued forward on the plot as we have a good group with good RP. I also try to work prior characters into the story from time to time.
We appreciate you stopping bye to say hello. :)
Come back if you can, remember it is just a game and meant to be a bit relaxing for sure.
Great to hear from you Aldren! I was a bit concerned after you dropped from a few games we were in, but I’m glad to know you’re doing better.
Hey Aldren, I've absolutely been there, so I completely understand. Hope you're doing better now, and if you feel that you can return to the game I would be happy to play with you again.
I know that Lubella is taking a risk divulging so much information to people we don't know very well. She feels a sense of urgency to find Rexus, and fears what may happen if we don't find him quickly.
Zachrin Vhast is the head of the Church of Shelyn, the only good-aligned church that is still operating; they would be valuable allies. She's gambling that he can be trusted.
There is also the fact that wisdom is her dump stat. :)
I'm at a bit of a loss to know where to go next. I mentioned some ideas in gameplay. We went to Crissali’s Fine Tomes with Rexus shortly after the Aria Park protest.
We can try to gather info on Rexus's whereabouts and potential places where he might buy explosives, or materials to make some. Talvek's alchemical knowledge may come in handy there.
Also, Talvek's thoughts on how much to reveal are strictly IC and more due to his spymaster role, it was not a criticism on how Lubella is acting or is being played. :)
I feel there's a nice back and forth between Talvek's secrecy and paranoia, and Lubella's more forthright and trusting nature.
Lubella is waiting to hear Nandy Crissali's reply.
Do we have any idea where Rexus has been spending his nights? My impression is that he hasn't been sleeping at Longroads.
After completing the research and the news of his parents, he has been spending more time pubs but he hasn't been staying at the Longroads, and either finds inns or tenements in Old Kintargo.
My idea is to quickly check the park and opera house (just in case Rexus is trying something now), then head to Old Kintargo and ask around at the inns and taverns.
Hi again. :) I've been PMing with Aarvid and, if it's okay with y'all, it sounds like we're going to try to work Aldren back into the campaign. For some added context, I started a new job last month and my work-life balance has improved hugely (I really can't describe how bad things had gotten last year, and how much better they are now).
Additionally, after I looked over the state of things when I disappeared, I realized I had been GMing three PbP campaigns, playing in two or three more, and GMing a F2F campaign. I was just way over-extended and this time I'm going to keep by PbP activities much more focused on just a couple of games. If you can forgive me for disappearing into the ether and don't mind having Aldren's snark back in the mix, I'd love to role/roll with you again. :)
I've used some of my time this week to read through all the posts from the last year and I think I'm all caught up on the big picture items (Fantasmagorium, Hell Knights of Torrent, Rexus has disappeared, and the integration of Fhingle and Sidius into the Ravens).
Welcome back! I missed you when you were gone, and I'm looking forward to roleplaying with you again.
Happy to hear that things are better for you, and looking forward to play with you again!
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Thanks! It’s good to be bad back. ;-)
Aldren will need a codename as well, I forget if he ever had one?
We were using colors at that point, before we switched to names of the original Silver Ravens; Aldren was "Yellow".
EDIT: There's one more original Raven name that we aren't using yet: Amyreid, who was a cleric of Milani (here's the list of names). Note also that Arcos doesn't have a former Silver Ravens nickname (he uses "The Blue Warlock" in his Vigilante identity).
Unfortunately I think the only remaining name for an original Raven, Amyreid, doesn't quite fit (i.e., "Amy Reid"). Very open to other suggestions. If we're going with an avian theme, Finch was the quickest I could come up with based on "Yellow" but I can chew on it some more.
I’m feeling the pressure of all the items on our plate. Rex, the delivery of this letter by midnight (curfew), and these kids. I don’t want to get too distracted but I’m kind of feeling while we’re here we should look into the disappearance of these kids. Let me know if you feel otherwise and I can drop it.
For Talvek, Rexus and the kids are the priority. And the investigation of the murders.
Recalling Aldren started in a different Hell's Rebels campaign that went kaput before he came into this one, I'm having trouble remembering which adventure it was, but (in one version or the other) he's already spent a few days chasing Rex all over Kintargo and is a little tired of the man, but also (from that alternate campaign) had Rex swear to Aldren he would use his position in Kintargan nobility help restore the temple of Calistria after the rebellion.
So, Aldren has very mixed feelings on it: leave the man to his own devices and be done with it, or save him so he can fulfill his oath. Plus, if there is a giant explosion that kills some Thrunes, the chaotic part of Aldren can deal with some collateral damage. But, OOC, I agree with you, and both IC/OOC I completely agree the kids/murders are a priority.
That said, while Aldren doesn't (yet) know of it IC, there are two clocks we're running against: an unknown clock on Rex's plans, and the 12 midnight clock on the letter. IC, Aldren's priority is the kids and murders -- that feeds into his vengeance portfolio -- but those two clocks are the things I keep thinking about OOC (while also wanting to minimize metagaming, I'm just trying to be conscious of them as a player).
I feel like splitting into two teams may make the most sense, but happy to go with consensus. (Also, I may very well be missing something. I think I read through everything but it was a lot to digest.)
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I don't know that we have to deliver the message to Marquel Aulorian tonight.
Finding Rexus is Lubella's priority; unfortunately, we don't know where to look for him. All of our efforts so far have basically just given us the same information several times: Rexus disappeared 2 days ago, on a solo mission to avenge his parents' deaths.
Captain Sargaeta responds optimistically If you intend to accept this mission, I strongly recommend use of stealth,
with a delivery by night preferred. *snip*I unfortunately must stress you to exercise as much discretion as possible.
Marquel’s father must not know of this message. Agreed?
/headdesk
You're right. In my skimming to get caught up, I read "delivery by night" as "delivery by midnight". Sorry about that.
...All of our efforts so far have basically just given us the same information several times: Rexus disappeared 2 days ago, on a solo mission to avenge his parents' deaths.
I'm spitballing here...
* Fhingle's idea about dispatching our teams
* Gather Information in the 'Hood to see if folks saw where he was going.
* Any spells/divination we can cast? With a night to pray, I could learn Locate Object. Do we know there is anything unique to Rexus?
* Stakeout the local Asmodean temple and the Lord Mayor's place?
* Trained animal or familiar with scent or something?
Locate Object Thoughts:
If I double-move, I can cover 400 feet a minute. That's 2,000 feet, with a radius on the spell of 600 feet. If we pick a start and end point on this map (link), could probably do a decent job of at least narrowing things down.
Locate object seems like our best bet. Perhaps leave you other 2nd lvl spell slot open, in case we don't find him with the first one?
Sorry for multiple posts; just slow day at work and I have time to think about this.
These are actually my 3rd level spell slots, but yeah, I could do that.
I came up with the possible search for using Locate Object, trying to think that if Rexus is targeting something related to the Thrunes with high visibility, he might be in this area.
Google Slides Link to Map of Kintargo
This is just an option as I'll have to pray for the spell so won't have it until the morning of the next day. If he's "pulling the trigger" this day, it'll be too late.
Figure it is getting close to 5pm so if you plan to rest overnight and get back to the locate object in the morning, that is an option.
Otherwise, you can start thinking of dusk and curfew if you plan to stay out late tonight.
So very jealous of not having to learn one's spells. :)
Seems like it could be something worth trying - though I would think we'd be more likely to find him at night - or, rather, that he'd be moving less at night.
All, I've been having a lot of trouble figuring out how Aldren was going to feel about and approach the disappearance of the twins thing. Part of it is just straight up the fact they disappeared and we have no idea what actually happened. Maybe they fell down a well. Maybe someone saved them. Maybe they're in the "Upside Down". Maybe worse. Just no idea.
But a question I got in another campaign made me realize I also have some personal discomfort with bad things happening to kids and that's part of what's causing my brain to freeze up on deciding what Aldren's going to do.
This is absolutely not a reason to not proceed with wherever this is going (seriously, GM and all, please go with wherever this is intended to go; I'm not going to disappear or anything). Just want to explain I'm not sure how consistent or thought-out I'm going to be able to have Aldren's reactions be.
And who knows... maybe they just came into some coin, bought a ton of cotton candy, and are working off their sugar high somewhere.
Kids had ton of homework last night. Will get post tonight