Also on the retraining thing, I am guessing that adept synergies with all the divine casting classes? Therefore it would be 5 days instead of 7. But Septimus has to wait until either Kal'Tos or Vallen gets back.
I am leaning towards a more sneaky cleric, but also considering a druid. How do other people think Septimus should develop.
Septimus is probably the NPC I have the least idea of. Cleric or rogue would be the most likely, given who he is at this point (maybe a cleric with the trickery domain?) but by the time he gets there, who knows what will seem like a viable choice?
I would say Adept synergizes with any primary casting class.
As far as finding Hassan a mount, there might be some competition there.
Septimus is probably the NPC I have the least idea of. Cleric or rogue would be the most likely, given who he is at this point (maybe a cleric with the trickery domain?) but by the time he gets there, who knows what will seem like a viable choice?
I would say Adept synergizes with any primary casting class.
As far as finding Hassan a mount, there might be some competition there.
I was thinking trickery would be one of his domains, retraining would take 5 days once another cleric is in Newspring.
As far as finding Hassan a mount, there might be some competition there.
From a certain haughty noble I imagine?
Imagine all you want, I ain't sayin' nuffin.
Oooh I had forgotten about this spell: Carrion Compass It could at least tell us what direction the necromancer is in, if we manage to disable an undead (cut off it's arms and legs?).
Also, too bad a lot of mind-affecting spells are language dependent, or I would prepare more of them.
Yeah. I've never seen that spell before. Very cool!
Oh, important question : What is the weather like today?
Kal'Tos, I think Septimus as a cleric of some sort of trickery could work out well - it seems to be good to have sneaky types around. From a purely mechanical point of view, I would love to see a druid around. Of course, that may raise issues when Cueta wants to chop down a bunch of trees to build ships and houses...
It's also a bucketload of skills and skill points. There's a really good reason everyone except Gair took expert as their NPC class. My next campaign will have everyone start as a commoner.
I took expert for story reasons - I would have loved to be able to fit a level of warrior in there, but Cueta, though she'll never admit it, learned a lot from her time enslaved. This part of the character was inspired by the book Chains, in which
As Cueta stands in the background, serving drinks and such, she watches the Chelish game of nobles and picks up a lot about how the northerners play such a game. So, I needed a class with social skills and knowledges that a Ranger doesn't have, like nobility and local. Aristocrat was out for story reasons, so expert it was. Or a different class combination like bard/warrior, inquisitor/warrior or warrior/rogue, but those didn't quite fit the concept as well. Well, inquisitor/warrior actually worked pretty well, but I didn't want her prayers to the Mother of Monsters to be the main driving point of her personality, and I wanted to leave it vague enough that her religion, made up as it is, could have a real effect on the game world or be entirely in her head, as Nerk decides he wants to go with it. It is also easier this way for her to be more of a religious opportunist (she's already prayed once to Gozreh, and probably will pray to other deities as the campaign goes on), which I like for real-life historical reasons regarding the journey and life of slaves in the New World.
Kal'Tos, I think Septimus as a cleric of some sort of trickery could work out well - it seems to be good to have sneaky types around. From a purely mechanical point of view, I would love to see a druid around. Of course, that may raise issues when Cueta wants to chop down a bunch of trees to build ships and houses...
Part of the problem with going Druid is the lack of another druid to learn from. I can retrain the adept level to cleric in 5 days with Vallen or Kal'Tos around, little harder to do the druid retraining.
I always thought class retraining was weird. 7 days and I can go from fighter to wizard? What? I wish I could go from biochemist to concert level pianist in 7 days.
Also Nerk wants to know if we're going back to Newspring or scouting. Kal'tos and I want to go back to Newspring, Gair and Cueta want to scout, so it's up to Ben!
Also Nerk wants to know if we're going back to Newspring or scouting. Kal'tos and I want to go back to Newspring, Gair and Cueta want to scout, so it's up to Ben!
Gosh, I hope we're scouting. Cueta wouldn't have gone along with a pyre and wouldn't have done the horrible things she did with the Kuru if there wasn't the possibility of buying us some time to raid the Kuru home.
The word was scouting not raiding. that means sneaky and quiet. And I think taking a day to scout the area maybe a good idea. if we can locate the village we maybe able to learn some more about our enemy. Like how many there are for example.
@Kal'Tos, I can carry another 58# before hitting heavy encumberance.
What do you all think? Stay here and see if anyone leaves the island or comes from the east along the coast? Keep going? I can swim out a bit to get a better look at things as well. I'm interested to know if that portcullis was designed to keep large ships out, or smaller things. Perhaps a canoe or a few people could slip through?
@Nerk, are we looking at the island in hex 16G?
I thought it was the little island on 17D, but I haven't quite figured out the scale of the map yet.
We definitely need to investigate. We have to at least know who or what these things belong to. Also I'm glad we're not in a warcanoe, or they might start shooting at us. I just don't see them being associated with the Kuru, unless we're dealing with an advanced civilization that is using the Kuru/adopted them into some kind of Empire. Easiest thing to do is start a fire- they will come. Hopefully they're not hostile.
Start a fire, then move about 100ft away down the coast? That way if they look really hostile we can disappear before they find us.
I like it, Kal'tos! Given this appears some kind of guard post, they're probably armed to the teeth?
Also, I'm glad we went exploring. I was just expecting boring coastline or things that wanted to kill us.
Unfortunately I'm going to be visiting my parents for a few days starting tomorrow, and they don't have internet. I'll be visiting some friends that do have internet, so I'll be able to post sporadically. Otherwise, Nerk please play Vallen and Istiel in the meantime.
If I'm not around when we encounter these people on the island, Vallen has Comprehend Languages prepared, and a chalkboard/chalk so we can communicate through drawings. He can also be asked to prepare Know the Enemy, or Kal'tos can do it as well.
For clarity: The island is the itty bitty one in 17D. The hexes are 12 miles across.
For perspective, the bigger island in 16G looks like roughly 6 miles by 4, with that big bite taken out.
@ Galorit
Vallen: extreme handwringing that belies a fairly steady competence.
Istiel: vague disdain, bordering on downright unpleasantness for anyone not an elf.
Right?
Cueta, just the fact that you can see that it is a portcullis from a mile away should give you an idea of its size. What you can see, you'd guess, could easily allow a person, probably a canoe without the outrigger, to pass through. Of course, if you got closer, things would be clearer.
Nerk: You got it, nice! Istiel is also slow to show emotion to any non-elf, and Vallen is a bit of a coward unless he's protecting someone or following his duty.
Perhaps lighting a fire... is not a good idea anymore. We could still light it and get ready to bee-line out of there if Kuru come pouring out I suppose. Though it looks like the Kuru got our other fire message.
I'm beginning to think these Kuru work for someone, or something. Their goddess, perhaps, or we're next door to a empire that is Lawful Evil in nature but tolerates the kuru for their obedience? So many questions.
Those outrigger canoes are nice, wish we had one of those.
You had one. Then you gave it to a bunch of NPCs.
Very interesting development. I'm going with the theory that they have captured the island. I think we need to head back to the beach, kill some sharkteeth, take a canoe, and then sneak into/onto the island in the night. Is that a totally mad idea?
EDIT: Or we could do as Vallen suggests and light a fire here, drawing more Kuru out (possibly).
IF we could take that island, that might solve a lot of problems...
@Nerk, if we head back non-stealth when would we get back to Harpy Beach?
I thought we had a warcanoe, it was an outrigger?
I think that is mad, Cueta. There are 10 of them, and I don't want to fight Kuru unless we outnumber them- they have proven to be very strong fighters. Even if Gair can kill one every round I fear someone would end up dead.
Not mention their other warparty did not come back. The number they're sending now is likely hardened warriors.
I think we have the info we came for. Lets get back to new spring.
For clarity: The island is the itty bitty one in 17D. The hexes are 12 miles across.
For perspective, the bigger island in 16G looks like roughly 6 miles by 4, with that big bite taken out.
Thanks for the clarification, DM Nerk! I missed the island at 17D, and thought the island at 16G looked a little big.
If you hustled, you could probably beat the canoes to the beach.
Worth noting that the war canoe IS an outrigger canoe, and the outrigger canoes are war canoes.
Edit: Also worth noting, Manari will be EXTREMELY reluctant to return to Newspring at this point. The decision is ultimately yours to make, but when you're talking about it here, I figure she'll weigh in.
I agree it is risky. But... having a fort could do a lot for solving some of our issues. Plus, we don't have much more information - like numbers, numbers of warriors, if there are allies of the Kuru on that island (or prisoners - remember they did haul off members of the Harpy, and we know they've eaten people and threatened us with forced breeding), possible resources. Between us and the Harpy's people, we've killed 10-15 of these guys? Plus another 8 gone towards Harpy Beach. Plus they seem to be in conflict with bugbears, bird-things, and dwarves. They *may* be spread pretty thin at this point. Plus, there is a fort! With stone! And possibly other really dwarfy things! Where's all that dwarven greed? :)
As much as I would LOVE a fort with a badass tower and underwater cave, unfortunately we can't eat a fort. Nor do we have the resources to hold it down/defend it.
Nerk is right though- Manari is going to want to go in there and see about survivors. I just don't want to be at the fort when the warparty comes back... ugh, as much as I hate the idea, if we're going to go into the fort we have to take out the war party they sent first so they don't catch us from behind all tired out from fighting reserves. I don't like this at all.
We have no idea how many Kuru are inside that inland fortress, trying to infiltrate it with a handful of people strikes me as a terrible idea. Killing another couple though I could get behind.
I'll add that Cueta wants to go and see about survivors as well. The thought that people could be used like livestock to breed Kuru children is pretty infuriating to her.
While we can't eat the tower, we can grow a lot of food on that island, if there is a water source there - it is 1 sq mile in size. And I'd argue an island is a lot more defensible that what we have currently.
DM Nerk, to be clear (I think I misread the post originally), the top of the island has one structure that we can see - a tower with a tower on top of it. There isn't any walls or other buildings that we can see? If so, it is less a fort, as I originally read it, than a tower?
Presumably, the Kuru may have smaller structures around the tower on the ground, or tents or whatever else, but we can't make them out at this distance.
Cueta ... yes. There is a single structure that you can see.
We can grow plenty of food at Newspring. We have no need to expand right now. Do you mean move everyone from Newspring to the island?
If we must go to the island, we will have to go back to the beach and kill the Kuru sent to the fire. We cannot risk them hitting us from the back. If we're lucky, they will split up- one group will follow the trail we made from the beach, the other will head towards the fire, and we can take them 5 at a time.
OK.
Remind me ... there is one badly mutilated kuru at the end of Cueta's false trail ... what was done with the other body?
We never said where it went- their heads went with Jaysin in a sack. I'm going to say it was thrown on the pile to be burned with the other dead.
Nah, I was letting Cueta's excitement for islands get ahold of me. She of course sees it as the perfect home, as it reminds her of the Shackles. I do think that if there is a water source, it is worth considering moving here. We could then grow food, have a defensive structure to keep people safe in if under attack, and natural rock walls to keep enemies from us.
We don't know much right now though. There may not be a water source, the island may belong to others, it may be cursed, there may be hundreds of Kuru and thus not takeable, etc. I do think we should explore it though.
We never said where it went- their heads went with Jaysin in a sack. I'm going to say it was thrown on the pile to be burned with the other dead.
Yeah, I had forgot to add that Cueta didn't want those bodies burned - she didn't see the point in giving them any funeral rites and doesn't care if they get turned into zombies. I also forgot to send the sharktooth necklace she made with the boat group to hang around the bugbear statue. So in both cases, if they can be retconned, great, and if not that's cool too.
EDIT: Oh, and Vallen - I'm really glad you remembered to get the heads and statues to Jaysin - thank you!
No problem. We worked hard on that statue! Well, let's see what Gair and Ben have to say about this situation before we press on.
Yeah this is a pretty serious revelation. I'd say it's very likely that this is the Kuru "village" considering my knowledge check said they liked to live in ruins. We have a serious choice to make here. I really wish I wasn't leaving tomorrow haha.
Holy crap, ok I'll give my opinions here and then start working on some gameplay posts to catch up with all this.
First and least, I think it's fair to assume that Jaysin has all the stuff we planned to give him for the statue. I'm for burning the second shark-tooth body, but if Ceuta is really against it I'd at least like it dismembered so it wouldn't be worth raising as an undead.
Next, from what we have seen thus far I can only see two possibilities for the island. Either the Kuru took it from some other group or they are allied with the owners of the island. In either event, everyone on that island should be considered an enemy. The number of fires we can see should help us estimate how many Kuru we are dealing with.
If there are more than a few fires I do not recommend trying to sail around part of the island, even at night. If we are spotted we will likely bring down a larger hunting force than we have any way to deal with and I'll remind you that with Ben and Vallen in tow they are a hell of a lot faster than we are.
Given that the canoes came from the far side of the island I think it's safe to assume that there is some sort of break in the cliffs, or at least another cave on that side.
Unless it is heavily overcast tonight I'm rather unwilling to risk a canoe trip out to the island. It's way too much of a risk given how little we know about the fortress. Given it's nature I'm willing to assume that the necromancer responsible for the zombies will be there somewhere and 3rd+ level spellcasting could complicate any escape by a lot.
My personal recommendation is to head back to the beach and take out the Kuru headed there. Provided we hustle we should have all the advantage. We know the area, we know the extent of their numbers and we have time to set an ambush.
If we are able to take another few alive we may be able to learn more about the fortress from them now that we have some information to work with.
Beyond that I think we would be well served to head back here to our vantage point the following day and simply watch the island for a day, noting any activity we can. Hopefully we can learn something from their comings and goings or any other visible activity.
If we can tell it's from smaller fires we should be able to get some idea of it's one or two or if it's a dozen but I could be wrong.
I imagine that we are able to get closer to the island by moving further down the coast? Considering it just cam into view we are probably 2-3 miles away at this point no? If we moved up across from it we could get a better look without having to leave the mainland no?
Though I think that will have to wait until after we go back to deal with the warparty on it's way to the cave.
First and least, I think it's fair to assume that Jaysin has all the stuff we planned to give him for the statue. I'm for burning the second shark-tooth body, but if Ceuta is really against it I'd at least like it dismembered so it wouldn't be worth raising as an undead.
I had intended to broach that subject but forgot. Cueta was down by the ocean when the fires are started, so I think it is fair to say that she forgot to mention it and everyone else did what they wanted with the bodies.
Next, from what we have seen thus far I can only see two possibilities for the island. Either the Kuru took it from some other group or they are allied with the owners of the island. In either event, everyone on that island should be considered an enemy. The number of fires we can see should help us estimate how many Kuru we are dealing with.
If there are more than a few fires I do not recommend trying to sail around part of the island, even at night. If we are spotted we will likely bring down a larger hunting force than we have any way to deal with and I'll remind you that with Ben and Vallen in tow they are a hell of a lot faster than we are.
I was thinking we could circle the island at a far distance to start, to get an idea for fires, general layout of the island, etc. But I think your idea below is better. I'm not sure how they are faster than us in boats though?
Given that the canoes came from the far side of the island I think it's safe to assume that there is some sort of break in the cliffs, or at least another cave on that side.
Agreed. I thought perhaps that there is a beach. This is one big reason why I wanted to circle the island - if there is a beach or something similar and the situation is right we may be able to cripple their movements for some time.
Unless it is heavily overcast tonight I'm rather unwilling to risk a canoe trip out to the island. It's way too much of a risk given how little we know about the fortress. Given it's nature I'm willing to assume that the necromancer responsible for the zombies will be there somewhere and 3rd+ level spellcasting could complicate any escape by a lot.
I don't think the necro is allied with the Kuru. I think we would have seen her at Harpy Beach, or coming or going in a canoe, if that was the case. I think necro is a whole different problem to solve.
My personal recommendation is to head back to the beach and take out the Kuru headed there. Provided we hustle we should have all the advantage. We know the area, we know the extent of their numbers and we have time to set an ambush.If we are able to take another few alive we may be able to learn more about the fortress from them now that we have some information to work with.
Beyond that I think we would be well served to head back here to our...
I think this is a good plan. This is one of those cases where Cueta is willing to throw caution to the wind, but I think she can definitely be persuaded to take a more measured course of action. Unless there does turn out to be Harpyites on the island...
I imagine that we are able to get closer to the island by moving further down the coast? Considering it just cam into view we are probably 2-3 miles away at this point no? If we moved up across from it we could get a better look without having to leave the mainland no?
I think you're correct - great point!
We can't win a war of attrition with the Kuru. We need to be careful and husband our strength until we can strike a decisive blow.
I think ten of their warriors and two more canoes is a decent blow. With two clerics and solid tactics I think we can take them. Not without injury but without death.
We seem pretty divided on the issue, perhaps a vote then? I imagine Vallen will side with Ben. What about Ceuta and Kal'Tos? How about the NPC's?
Whatever is decided, Gair will go along with that plan, if grudgingly.
We could probably take them if they split up but that depends of what size groups they split into and whether the dice gods are on our side. I would bet they have several hundred warriors out on that island.
I am going to assume that Gaross finished his Warhammer. While the rolls haven't been very good I was treating it as a metal Warhammer not a stone one. If I had been treating it as a stone one he would have finished it the first day.
I lean more towards ben's side. But if the Kuru split fairly evenly we can probably take on two groups with ambushes. More than 6 at a time would be bad.
As PCs, the decision is 100% up to you.
In character, I think everyone will agree, Bern is going to vote for attacking, but we'll see if he survives the shore party. Manari also wants to go, and because of her sense of responsibility for those who may have been taken, she will be even more stubborn. But you guys get to actually make the call.
It all depends on if they split up. If they do split up, we crush them one group at a time. If they don't split up, we steal their boats and run.