Any result from Oios' kn: religion on skinwalkers?
I hadn't planned on religion giving any information (fey creature so religion doesn't draw out much) but then I had a kernal of an idea dealing with animals in the dawn of man's time that would change shapes. Ever the tricksters, they are said to be the servants of Kalfu, dread amorphous beings that bring the god's penchant of deliberate destruction and misfortune into the world. Striking a bargain with such a creature is said to be a foolish proposition.
I haven't fleshed it out more than that at the moment, but that's the gist of it.
That's enough :)
BP: I don't remember if we've had this discussion or not, but how do you feel about taking 10 for some skills? If not in danger, I will usually use take 10 for climb/swim checks.
Other things, like Stealth, I will only take 10 if staying in one spot- finding a good hiding place, for example, or concealing oneself.
^ Usual rules for taking 10. If you are not in danger or distracted, you can take 10.
You all are a delight to GM for.
Very clever, Imix!
Yay! Thank you! Loving this game, I have to say - I must've spent hours thinking about this situation :)
Pity I couldn't work out a way to do it with people's blood... does Fey blood react to iron ;P
Well according to BP Fey faces react with Istiel's fists.
Sadly, her unarmed strikes are not considered cold iron yet so we can't extrapolate.
Pity I couldn't work out a way to do it with people's blood... does Fey blood react to iron ;P
I'm going to say yes to cold iron - that's a cool idea!
Busy day today, and I have presentations the next two days, so it will probably be Sunday evening or Monday before I get an update in.
I've also got to think about how Lady Bellet will respond to Oios basically flaunting the fact that he had her son executed :)
I've also got to think about how Lady Bellet will respond to Oios basically flaunting the fact that he had her son executed :)
Was just about to say- WOW Oios has some huuuuuuge stones.
Oios doesn't flaunt. He also doesn't afraid of anything.
She could just turn different colours of rage :). Oios would find that pretty satisfying and hey, no skinwalker can fake that kind of emotion Oios figures.
Do you think we could get the Rainbow Rage spell added to the spheres of power wiki?
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Was just about to say- WOW Oios has some huuuuuuge stones.I've also got to think about how Lady Bellet will respond to Oios basically flaunting the fact that he had her son executed :)
His nickname in seminary was "Boulders."
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His nickname in seminary was "Boulders."Was just about to say- WOW Oios has some huuuuuuge stones.I've also got to think about how Lady Bellet will respond to Oios basically flaunting the fact that he had her son executed :)
Great - NOW I find this out? *pouts*
Oh, wait, you were talking metaphorically. As you were.
Guest post by DR! WOOT, WOOT!
BP...did you... just kill my kung-fu master?
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SWEAR VENGEANCE ON THE GM?!
Seems like he committed suicide. I guess Isitel could swear to ascend and hunt his ascended self in the afterlife.
Edit: Maybe I'm misreading! Please don't punch me for insulting your master Isitel!
Seems like he committed suicide. I guess Isitel could swear to ascend and hunt his ascended self in the afterlife.
Edit: Maybe I'm misreading! Please don't punch me for insulting your master Isitel!
*cracks knuckles*
Looks like we've got a volunteer for some vengeance.
Imix is holding off until everyone is cleared.
@GMBP: Should we do discussions completely IC, or do them here first?
Whatever works best for you all. We can run logistics through the gameplay thread or handwave it and set it up here.
Well, I think if we do it here then Naira and Istiel can be involved.
Sounds good to me!
Either is fine with me. What exactly are we discussing? What to do about the siege?
As for Domhnall, oh boy, I've never had insight into alternate realities before. I'll have to think a bit about what to ask.
Can he only see into the past and what could have been/what the present would be like, or can he see the forks of the future as well, streams not yet explored?
I'd say from Dom's perspective, there is no past, present, future, or alternate reality. It is all and nothing, everwhere and alltime.
Ask away. I may not have an answer for you, but it won't hurt to ask!
Sorry for the vagueness, but I've never tried something like this before either. Not really sure how it is going to play out :)
OK, so everyone should be tested and approved that is currently in the room: Oios, Drazan, Lijart, Imix, Hamfatten, Telowo.
What next?
Well we might as well talk strategy in here.
Do we try to flee or hold out seems like the basic question.
Lets assume help isnt coming.
They went as far as to say they wouldn't help us for not paying taxes.
how much military is even left in Shadeholme? A few dozen?
Naira would make the fleeing by water idea far more possible.
In terms of actually taking the fight to the enemy the only thing I can think that might work is killing the leader. But scouting is really hard as we found.
I'm fairly certain the leadership has taken residence on monk's mound. As you can imagine, it would be very hard to sneak up on them unless we climbed the mound from the back or something in the middle of the night.
I'm going to ask Domhnall some questions that may hopefully guide us.
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how much military is even left in Shadeholme? A few dozen?
50 men, including Bellet's. Though you could press few more (perhaps another 50) into militia duty.
This doesn't include the named NPCs like Utzi, Hamfatten and his junior magistrates, etc.
Naira would make the fleeing by water idea far more possible.
Naira's close to joining. If I can time everything right, she'll join before dawn Gozran 21.
I'm totally open to creative ideas. Fleeing by water is a possibility.
Chukix will have his census done this evening, Gozran 20. Tex probably tomorrow will have hers done (Gozran 21). That will give you some idea of the supplies and manpower you have.
For dealing with the skinwalker we still have the Oios as bait gambit so maybe at least hold out till the census is done while we try that.
I'm fairly certain the leadership has taken residence on monk's mound. As you can imagine, it would be very hard to sneak up on them unless we climbed the mound from the back or something in the middle of the night.
I'm going to ask Domhnall some questions that may hopefully guide us.
I can call in a 140ft radius fog. If we're five feet in, we can't be seen. I can call this and maintain it without burning a spell point, and can even make the center of the area (where we are) not have fog. We needn't worry about being seen if we don't want to.
As for an escape route via water, I am limited in some aspects. I can make us difficult to pursue easy, but don't have the ability to move us all along the canals at a quick pace, short of maybe having a raging storm trailing behind us.
Don't forget that there are boats tied up a little north of Eel Mound, on the village side of the canal. Lots of boats.
Well my post was eaten by the ravenous forum demons , punishing me for not following the holy ritual of copying the text before switching applications on my phone. Really hate posting on my phone.
I'll retype it tonight.
We can't see out the fog if we're in it right? Maybe Isitel could scout ahead and the rest of us could move slowly in the fog bank to try and get to the leadership.
Lets assume help isnt coming.
They went as far as to say they wouldn't help us for not paying taxes.
The strong implication was they couldn't help us and were using the taxes as an excuse.
So we are planning to run?
If we try to run at night, then those without darkvision will be at a disadvantage, both ours and theirs.
On the other hand the fog will be enough to provide cover against ranged weapons, which seems the major issue. I note fog does not go under water - right?
How many people do we have to evacuate? How many people can the boats hold? How cold is the water (a lot of us are decent swimmers - wondering here about hypothermia).
Imix can enchant a lot of animated objects if he needs to. Could use those to help with movement, at least at the start. They'll only last a few minutes.
On the other hand, if people are using poles that might be enough.
Are we looking to get away through (A) sneak (B) speed or (C) endurance
@GMBP does bestow intelligence allow constructs to get feats? Normally - int constructs are forbidden feats.
Well I think we should hold for two days while the censuses happen and we try to bait the skinwalker. There seem to be some revelations coming that might affect our decision. Based on what Isitel finds we might have a way to try and pay back the assassination favor with Naira's help.
So we are planning to run?
If we try to run at night, then those without darkvision will be at a disadvantage, both ours and theirs.
On the other hand the fog will be enough to provide cover against ranged weapons, which seems the major issue. I note fog does not go under water - right?
How many people do we have to evacuate? How many people can the boats hold? How cold is the water (a lot of us are decent swimmers - wondering here about hypothermia).
We'll have ranged weapon protection with fog (only above water, yes, and we cannot see out, no), and if need be, I can call winds to put ranged attacks at a penalty should we require more visibility.
We could use the fog for some guerrilla tactics. Move out, assault, move back in and heal/buff before assaulting again. If we get into a good spot, I can even burn a spell point to keep it active without concentration, and be able to participate in the attack myself.
The weather domain is super nifty sometimes, as in, don't worry about hypothermia. If it is warmer than -20 degrees Fahrenheit, I can make it more than tolerable (or unbearably hot!) with some concentration.
What about the secret passage we used in scouting? We can't take many goods with us, but it's better than being holed up to die.
+1 on Istiel's suggestion. The secret tunnel would be a good way to escape. Though we would want to find our skin-spy before using it maybe.
The strong implication was they couldn't help us and were using the taxes as an excuse.Lets assume help isnt coming.
They went as far as to say they wouldn't help us for not paying taxes.
So then we're in agreement. They aren't coming.
The strong implication was they couldn't help us and were using the taxes as an excuse.Lets assume help isnt coming.
They went as far as to say they wouldn't help us for not paying taxes.
Dingdingding!
10,000 bonus points to you. When you visited Cornucopia, it was in a state of turmoil - some of it quiet, some not - that it hasn't seen in centuries. Gods born from mortals, ever-expanding slums (and poverty, and discontent), secret plots, rampant banditry and strange goings on in the hinterlands...
The king and his flunkies would never admit it (nor would a noble like Bellet), but the lid is barely on that boiling pot.
How many people do we have to evacuate?
Since it will be in Chukix's report soon enough...
I'm going to use round numbers, just to make everything easy on me. You've got 50 warriors, and another 50 men and women that are able-bodied enough to fight if given weapons and basic training.
There are another 100 noncombatants and named NPCs. The noncoms are the elderly, mentally scarred, and children, as well as those that can't or won't fight.
Of course, lots of people will die (Mwahahaha), so those numbers will be less round soon enough.
How many people can the boats hold?
You'll have to figure out how many boats are at the waterfront. On a given day, there may be fifteen or twenty canoes as well as a handful of rafts, reed-built keelboats, flatboats, and roundboats (real-world analog called bullboats, but since there are no bulls in the Valley...)
How cold is the water (a lot of us are decent swimmers - wondering here about hypothermia).
Cold. Very cold. The Cheya River, to the south, drains from alpine lakes and snowmelt. The Cheya Canal is drawn from these waters as well. Not sure how many people Naria can help with her nature powers, but hypothermia could be a problem for an entire flotilla of Shadeholmers.
@Naria: What is the range on your weather power?
@GMBP does bestow intelligence allow constructs to get feats? Normally - int constructs are forbidden feats.
I'll take a look at the rules and get back to you soon, but I'm inclined to say no.
Well I think we should hold for two days while the censuses happen and we try to bait the skinwalker. There seem to be some revelations coming that might affect our decision. Based on what Isitel finds we might have a way to try and pay back the assassination favor with Naira's help.
This is wise. Listen to the wise man. You don't want to try and evacuate 200 people while there's a hidden assassin/saboteur/spy(s) in your midst.
What about the secret passage we used in scouting? We can't take many goods with us, but it's better than being holed up to die.
That is certainly an option!
Well that post certainly wasn't as good as what I had before, but hey, it's something. My browser actually died in the middle of me typing- thankfully I was paranoid and was copying the text constantly.
I'm tired so those were some crappy questions, hopefully I can think of better ones in the morning.
@Naria: What is the range on your weather power?
Currently 140ft (Medium range at CL4) radius around me, next level it could be up to 600ft (Long range at CL5) depending on what talent I choose. If I made it my full time role to control weather, we could make a land retreat ignoring weather/heat effects.
Rules as Written, it takes around 24 seconds for me to change freezing temperatures to room temperature, though I doubt it would affect the water that quickly, especially not the temperature of flowing water. I'd suspect that there would be too much of it moving too quickly for me to affect.
Okay, so, we're not looking to leave for 2 days?
Okay - so... 2 days to prep.
WHAT WE NEED TO TAKE
We'll need to work out what to pack, and how to transport it.
We'll need to find out how much food we have (I'm hoping most people keep a couple of days of food around, but a lot got taken, I think. On the other hand the population has shrunk significantly.
Anything that helps get food (bows, spears, hunting spears, fishhooks, nets, etc) is probably in.
FIGHTING
I think we'll need everyone who can fight to fight. Hopefully most people around here do part time hunting.
We will need to get weapons for people. We might need to scavenge.
I think food needs to go to fighters by preference. Anyone who would suffer irreparable harm from two days of lowered rations wasn't going to make it anyway. The last thing we need is fighters taking some sort of fatigue penalty in battle.
We need some tactics that can cope with what we're up against. Massed range attacks might work? Swarm/Troops have weird rules that make some weapons better and some weapons worse.
RAIDING OPTION
One interesting possibility is to actually try to raid the raiders for supplies (and to kill a bunch of them). Potentially we could use that mist to do so, if we have it in time.
BURN IT ALL
Imix would like to burn everything that can burn. That would deprive the raiders of things, and possibly the smoke would even warn other towns. It will be toxic for morale in the short term, but stop people coming back.
WHERE TO
So, we're running... where to?
Capital
Possibly the capital will be prepared to take us in, but it is likely directly in the path of the attacking raiders. It's a bad option, but may be the best of a very bad bunch.
East and West
We're in the middle of a plateau in the mountains. My reading is that we could push through the mountains, then down the plateau... but this sounds like a bad plan. On the other hand...
To the east, past the eastern spur of The Worlds Teeth, it is said there is a flat lowland that ends in a great lake, larger even than the Great Glacial Lake
If true, this could be awesome.
Past the western spur of the Teeth of the world, there is rumored to be another river valley,and then another after that, and on and on, thousands of valleys for the gods to exert their might, all filled with hostile creatures strange and violent
Okay, so East or West MIGHT be cool. Drazan probably has the best chance of knowing if any of these are true. Getting through those mountains is going to kill a lot of people... but there probably aren't anywhere near the number of Frozen there normally are.
SouthTo the south the mountains turn to foothills and there is a precipitous 1000 foot cliff-face that Takayan engineers say indicate a great cataclysm in the land's past. The Father of Waters spills over the side of this cliff-face, creating a spectacular set of falls that descend the full thousand feet into the hills and valleys below. This land is marshy, as The Father of Waters is dispersed and diluted in power by the hillocks, which rise above the bogs and fens, stretches of dry land surrounded by stagnant water filled with biting flies... and worse. This is the land of the beastlings, perhaps distant relatives to the Takayan skinwalkers, malformed and mutated creatures that eek out desperate lives in the valley below the Cataclysm Cliff. The valley below the cliff-face is known to be blighted - the flora and fauna is corrupted and the waters fouled and undrinkable.
Yeah... this does not sound like a nice place to try to set up. But if we get through it...
And to the south, past the blighted valley, it is said the Father of Waters forms again and flows into a fertile delta ending in a craggy coastline. This coastline leads down into another large and deep lake, with all manners of eldritch horror dwelling in the deeps, the teeth of ancient ones rising from the water to ensnare the poor and misfortunate who end up at the southern end of the world...
North
To the north lies the Great Glacial Lake, a lake fed with thousands of small rivers, streams, and tributaries that descend from the teeth of the world. The lake is ancient, cold, and clear, and extends for hundreds of miles northward, large enough for horrendous storms to gather force on its surface, storms that often sweep southward into the valley, bringing extreme weather with them.
This would be the same lake that previous refugees were fleeing from.
If we go a bit East, past the marsh people, though, we get this:
Monument builders much like the Three Peoples, the Sky People (Wo'tah in their own tongue) build stepped pyramids instead of mounds. A relatively stable society of large city states connected by fine paved roads, the Wo'tah use slavery to build their monuments in service to their god, the Sky Father, thought to be an aspect of Ayida-Wedu by the scholars of the Three People. Blood sacrifice is practiced by the ritual beheading of (usually willing) supplicants at the Apex of ceremonial pyramids. Their bodies are then tossed down the pyramid steps, with the blood trails left examined by holy diviners to look into the future.
Contact between the Takayah and the Wo'tah is limited, but there are a few diplomats and merchants living in the foreign quarter of Cornucopia.
The Wo'tah are generally considered intelligent, passionate, and driven, with their people fine soldiers, architects, and laborers.
Imix has spent time with the Wo'tah. He liked them, and (he thinks) they liked him. If that doesn't give people pause I don't know what would.
An excellent assessment, Imix. It doesn't sound like we have a lot of shining options. I would try the capital first but have the feeling we may need to find a new home in the long run.
We also have a difficult choice to make- are we going to accommodate the infirm and disabled? They will slow us down considerably.