I think the sailors are going with you Cueta- they had cutlasses, boarding pikes, and crossbows.That's fine with me. Are the small folk armed? The dwarves can take one of the melee weapons from the sailors.
Also, good luck, walkers!
It could be an interesting few days, I think I am the only PC walking as ben would significantly slow us down. On the plus side it means I will know the route back when we come to collect all the goods.
Who was it that was talking about domesticated giant ants? They seem super handy for transporting thousands of pounds of goods.
Oops! I thought Ben was with you - sorry, Ben! I'll edit my post, and if Ben has anything to add, we'll retcon it.
Giant ants would be GREAT to have right now. Maybe there will be another wandering monster encounter...
I was mostly kidding about the giant ants, training vermin seems like...less than a good idea :P
Capturing and raising some of the larger wildlife is definitely on my list though. We'll have to see what sort of creatures we encounter?
But ants can carry more than their own body weight ridiculous distances, we only need a couple to collect all that gear
Much rather train elk or something :) Maybe there are Griffins somewhere!
*Best scarface voice*
First you get the P6 Epic Druid,
Then you get the Awaken ritual,
Then you get the ants!
I am going to try for at least an extra hour of walking a day and use channel energy to keep people from getting non-lethal damage and the fatigue associated with that damage.
Well the pregnant lady is mad at us. Not good.
That's what you get for being honest with her :P
Its okay to lie to NPCs they aren't people
Varisian+pregnant+2 kids with no apparent father+Sofiya threatened+stuck in this wilderness+skin stealers+giant ants+will we all starve after the Lillend leaves....
Not saying it's not important, just a reminder that the NPCs here have all the same worries as you guys, and a lot less ability to cope.
All that and she is Varisian. Wow she has it rough. I'm glad I'm not Varisian.
Yeeeeeah all of the npcs (and frankly us) are likely extremely stressed.
Edit- Except for Gair, him and Bern may be the only ones mentally equipped for our situation.
I'm glad you're not Varisian too, Ben.
PS, don't kill me.
Trying not too Nerk. I don't plan on you dying.
Not an epic survival roll, but I shouldn't get hopelessly lost at least.
That should be good enough I'd think. Glad you guys are coming back soon. Hopefully we'll have this situation dealt with by then.
Gair- It is definitely a skin stealer, or something that operates like one. How many skins do you think this thing has taken? It has at least Garrak's, but no one has seen him today, which makes me believe it has taken someone else as well.
Deeshka isn't a terribly reliable source of information, but we have two things- the "secret" and "don't peel me". What did the sailor know? Was he imagining the skin-stealer, thus summoning it? He could have told Sofiya those things while lucid dreaming, summoning the skin stealer from his lucid dreams later. It killed him, but did not skin him, fleeing into the woods? I believe the sailor may be the source of the skin stealer but how Garrak factors in is not clear.
That captain seemed a little spooked - maybe he's got some information for you two?
As bad as my current situation is, I don't envy Vallen and Gair right now. Friend from field is pretty easy on my mission.
Good point Cueta. We might have to talk to him again...
I don't know about summoning the skin stealer, I'm not certain it works that way but I do believe that this has something to do with the sailors. Based off what he told the child, I would currently wager that there have been at least a few missing sailors lately. I think at least some of them know about this thing and are are hiding the truth for some reason.
From what I read skin stealers are summoned from dreams. It's an accidental kind of summoning. But good point- the sailors are at the heart of this, somehow.
So Garrak is from Absalom but I'm honestly not sure what their funeral rites are like? Burying or cremation seem equally likely and it's an island culture, so committing their dead to the sea is also possible.
Oh well, guess we'll just have to ask Sorala once we're finished at the ship.
I can do a knowledge: religion check and Nerk can make something up if need be!
I am thinking it would be a bad idea for Kal'Tos and his group to walk to Newspring. Walking leaves a trail that can be followed. We don't want a trail that the shark-teeth can follow leading directly to Newspring especially since we have no defenses right now. Being picked up by the boats makes the trail end at the water. No way they can be followed further.
I agree it's a risk, but picking them up in the boats means they will have to wait at the shore for days while you guys head back to Newspring, drop off the supplies and come back for them.
It's possible if you guys want to do it but I would point out that if the trail ends at the water, the shark-teeth may well just follow the coast in their boats...which will lead them right to Newspring anyway. They've seen the boats we're using, they will know that they are short range craft. Just something to consider...
They might have to wait a day maybe two but picking them up in the boats means that the Shark Teeth have to expend more effort to find Newspring. It will delay them at least a little while. Just because they have seen the boats doesn't mean they know what they are capable of. They don't have any experience with that type of boat. I think picking them up with the boats is the better option.
Also any shark-teeth following Kal'Tos trail will have to have left their boats behind at the start of the trail. Plus crossing the spit of land to reach the bay further separates them from their own boats.
If you want me to keep people on the far side of the bay I am going to have to convince them. They will be mighty anxious to be in a safe location instead of man-shark-pig bait.
I leave these decisions to you guys.
We're sort of in a pinch because (obviously) the Salvagers are on Gozran 6th talking about the 7th, and Newspring is still on the 5th.
I was thinking of throwing another random encounter at you Salvagers, but then I end up with 2 or 3 scenes live at once, and that won't be any easier to make it come out even than this. So Ben, Cueta, Kal'Tos ... I'd love it if you could hold on just a wee bit longer to let Newspring catch up.
sounds good to me, I love that we are actually progressing a lot of PbP stagnate when things get complicated
I'm open to suggestions on what's going on here, if we don't manage to figure this thing out by the storm Vallen will prepare some touch of truthtelling tomorrow and get to the bottom of it. Unless we get murdered in the night.
Talking to that sailor should help clear things up. It would seem that his daughter talked to the dead sailor before he died.
I am okay with waiting until Newspring catches up.
So the salvagers found the survivors from the Harpy on the 5th of Gozran and started back that day.
The boats will arrive back in Newspring on the 8th of Gozran.
Kal'Tos and gang will reach the bay at the end of the day on the 7th of Gozran, and need at least two more days to walk back to Newspring.
this is what I am understanding.
We are assuming that the shark teeth were going to come back for the survivors and that they will try to follow. I think we would want to muddy the trail as much as we can. The best defense we have for Newspring right now is to keep the shark teeth unaware of its existance.
Well that was embarrassing. All I can say is that it made perfect sense in my head when I wrote it, but was absurdly vague when I looked at it again. Thanks for a quick follow-up Vallen.
When I look back on this, I'll wonder what the F I'm talking about here.
So the secret Dremon was talking to the girl about was that he (Dremon) was her father. I am not sure about the peeled part.
No problem Nerk. I was highly confused, glad it's all cleared up.
Ben- That appears to be the secret. Not sure how it factors in just yet. Tatya is not going to be very receptive about this that's for sure.
Could Tatya be a skin-stealer? That would be freaking weird. We don't have enough information at this point, anyway.
I'd follow the Garrack trail personally. If I were a skin-stealer, I'd go the places I could to get the most access to other people. Who does Garrack have access to easily? Who would let him into his or her life without thinking twice about it?
I was thinking of throwing another random encounter at you Salvagers, but then I end up with 2 or 3 scenes live at once, and that won't be any easier to make it come out even than this. So Ben, Cueta, Kal'Tos ... I'd love it if you could hold on just a wee bit longer to let Newspring catch up.
Works for me - I'm excited to see who the skin-stealer is!
It's Shalla has been the whole time. Her kids are little half halfling/half skin-stealer demon children
It's Shalla has been the whole time. Her kids are little half halfling/half skin-stealer demon children
Wow you should have told Vallen and Gair before you left!
Seems like we're on the right track, mysteries are always time consuming in RPG's. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon enough.
Ceuta, there's only really one person who would trust Garrak implicitly and she's part of the investigation. If his doppelganger shows it's face anywhere, it will be big news as people know he's missing. I don't think Garrak's skin will actually do the thing much good at this point...
Actually, it's Ben. That's why I'm dragging it out til the Salvagers get back.
Now I'm really worried...he's a teleporting monster apparently...seems kind of OP :P
Am not and you couldn't prove it if I was.
We could skin you? If there's a halfling underneath then we'll know we were wrong :P
I don't think Garrak's skin will actually do the thing much good at this point..
Exactly. :)
What is happening this is a huge web of complexity! Or lies.
Edit: Gair time for a magical sense motive. Or things are about to get real awkward with Sorala. Actually they might get real awkward with her anyway. If this guy is even telling the truth? I don't know anymore.
Mysteries get really complicated in a rpg. so much depends on getting good rolls when you need them.
I think you could actually kill him if you want. there are three sailors that survived the wreck of the Harpy coming back with the boats. They may want to go back to Avistan.
I think you could actually kill him if you want. there are three sailors that survived the wreck of the Harpy coming back with the boats. They may want to go back to Avistan.
That might start a fight with the ship though. I don't think Cap'n thinks he's a supernatural murderer (ooc, I don't either). What about a guarantee from the Cap that he's not coming on land under penalty of death? Then you set a watch to see if he does, and if he's the bad guy and comes ashore, you have a reason to kill him? Or, per the agreement, even if he's just horny and comes ashore, you still have reason to kill him per the broken agreement.
EDIT: And if he's the fey murderer and doesn't come ashore, it will be apparent from the murder happening on the ship too.
All this murder makes me think we need to set up a very basic legal code (example: you kill someone, off with your head). Obviously, psycho fey murderers aren't going to care about a legal code, but it may keep disputes from getting out of hand.
Regarding the sailors, I'd like to talk to the sailors about sticking around. Not sure they would, but I thought I'd try and swell our numbers with some experienced mariners. Anyone have an objection to this?
@DM Nerk - Did that cap'n call me a shellhead? Is this a racist term, or just an insulting nom de plum he made up for me specifically?
I was just saying there were more sailors on the way and they may not need Fergus.