Dungeon Master S's "The Extinction Curse"

Game Master Chris Marsh

There are two doors in this room with unknown things beyond. The one to the north is blocked by a heavy font.

Dendillion takes a moment to consider whether this area is indeed safe. He moves quietly over to each door, then takes a moment to listen for the sounds of activity.
Stealth and Perception are both +6

The south is completely silent, but Dendillion hears faint and belabored groaning beyond the blocked door to the north.

Dendillion moves back and lets the group know. "I'm afraid someone might be hurt. And not just Chark. Personally, I think we should risk investigating, but I'm just one voice in our choir. Thoughts?"

"Let's make sure Chark doesn't die on us first." Charlie holds out his own weak and shaky hand.

I am fine with going through but Chark should probably be made conscious first. I am good with waiting another 10 minutes for it.

Tiny responds "I'm in pretty good shape, we should check it out, lemme wrap some bandages on folks first though..."

Looks like I've used Battle Medicine on myself and Chark today, so here' some more:

battle medicine vs Dendillion DC 15: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
fail

BM vs Bear: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
healing: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 8) = 10

Assuming people have been keeping their headers updated that's

Tiny 32/34 (BM used)
Haldan 22/22
Charlie 30/30
Chark 0/26 (BM used)
Dendillion 16/26 (BM used)
Bear (12/24) (BM used)

Do we have anything to get Chark up without waiting another ~40 minutes? Also please correct any incorrect details.

Charlie usually keeps his current info in a spoiler below most of his posts.

"Thanks Tiny, he is looking m..m..much better." Charlie says as Goliath slowly rises to his feet.

Thanks.

Tiny does his best to bandage the worst of Charlie's wounds as well.

battle medicine on Charlie: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
healing: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9
extra crit healing: 2d8 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7

Tiny 32/34 (BM used)
Haldan 22/22
Charlie 26/30 (BM used)
Chark 0/26 (BM used)
Dendillion 16/26 (BM used)
Bear (12/24) (BM used)

My vote is to peek at the next room with the gurgling rather than waiting 40 minutes, but it could be rough without Chark.

Seeing Tiny head to the door Charlie seems a bit apprehensive but nods. "I..i..if you think he will be alright?" Feeling a small vial dig into his hip Charlie's thoughts brighten. He pulls it out and pours it into Chark's open mouth, rubbing his throat so he doesn't choke.

Minor Healing Potion: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Chark coughs a bit as her eyes flutter open. She tries to sit up and immediately thinks better of it with a soft groan. Finally she is able to support herself on her elbow. [b]Thank you, Charlie, she says softly, still gasping for air a little. I thought those demons would be the end of me.

A heartbeat later she begins to look about frantically. How is Goliath?

Tiny hands Chark the remaining healing potion.

healing: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Seems Tiny got the real potion while Charlie's was watered down.

"We still have lots of wounded people here. We should gather our thoughts and rest for another hour or so while we continue to heal each other."

I loved that they added an in between combat option for healing in 2e. But making people immune to. it for an hour is tedious. I get that it would be abusive if the same person would keep doing it over and over, but if 3 people are working on you, it should go quicker.

If you have someone with a solid shot of aiding, that's a bump to the skill roll, and a more possible crit, yes?

"Everyone, stay back. Especially you, Chark. I'm going to see what's what. Someone else is in pain, but there's no reason to risk you all. If something goes wrong, I will shout and you all should run."

Dendillion then walks up to the door where the groaning was coming from, pushes aside all of the detritus blocking it, and opens the door...

It takes all his might, but Dendillion pushes away the barricade and gets into the room. Within is badly injured, but conscious man. Many of his
wounds are gruesome and swollen. He speaks gingerly at first before gaining some hope in his voice, "You're not them. Ha! Are you here as rescue? Praise be to Abadar!" He struggles to stand, "I am Nellyn Drend, the priest-banker and operator of this establishment. I... owe you a debt."

Dendillion breathes out, surprised that he had been holding his breath. "Are you alright, Nellyn?" he asks, moving forward to help the priest-banker stand. He helps the man out into the main area of the church, and introduces him to the rest of the circus team.

"Can you tell us what happened? These were incredibly deadly, and we were fortunate to keep our lives. They wear various bits of Gozren iconography too. What is this about?"

Nellyn is exceedingly grateful in his tone, "Thank you! Surely it was Abadar’s will that sent you to my rescue. The attack was awful. A hunchbacked demon, two flying fiends, and two masked men charged into the church. I tried to fight, but the hunchbacked demon overpowered me and I was forced to flee. I took shelter in the one place he knew Abadar would never permit to be violated..." He gestures with his arms to the room in which you now stand, the church’s vault.

"Although the demon didn’t follow me, it jammed the door shut from the other side. I've been trapped in the vault ever since. I've been thinking back over the attackers and feel the masked men looked familiar, but I can’t remember who they are."

He sighs a bit before fumbling for some keys, "I haven't seen the church since the attack, and I'm afraid of what I'm going to find. Still, it is my sacred duty to give you recompense." Nellyn uses his keys to open two lockboxes in the vault. He offers (with an explanation of their function) an onyx dog wondrous figurine and a brooch of shielding. "If you don't mind staying here while I assess the damage, I'd appreciate it. I shall pay you for your services."

Chark moves forward. Not yet, my good man. You are wounded. Let me take a look and see what I can do.

DC 15 Medicine: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 success
healing: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 7) = 9

Charlie helps the wounded man to a nearby bench that he uprights. "No ww..w..worries, we will hang out for a bb..b..bit. That hunchbacked demon nearly took u..u..u..u..us out as well." He is glad the man is alright and will gladly stand by so no further harm comes to him. "C..c..can we rest here for a bit?"

"By all means you can rest here. Sadly, I don't know tha tI can heal your wounds." Chark's first aid helps, but much like some of you, the wounds are ragged and will take time to heal.

When Nellyn steps out into the main chapel he appears crestfallen. He immediately begins looking for items of import to see if they're still here. His frustration mounts, and he chokes up with tears. After a few moments, he stands tall, straightens his shoulders, and insists that order will prevail and Abadar’s worship will be restored. After looking over the devastation, he quickly adds, "The church’s two most holy books, The Manual of City-Building and The Order of Numbers, are both missing. They were on the altar when the demons arrived, and their pages aren’t among the shredded papers littering the church. I would like these books back, and I’d also like the remaining intruders brought to justice. If you accept this transaction, I'll pay you... twenty gold golds."

"I have a feeling that this mystery will lead to your books. If we find them, we will return them," Dendillion promises. "But I have to ask: do you have any why the demons carry items linked to Gozreh?"

Dendillion will continue to chat with Nellyn, but when the others rest and tend to the wounded he will work on composing a song about a group of demons allergic to the written word, only to be defeated by a group of writers. He calls it Hypergraphian Heroes. "It's a working title."
Refocus x2. I'm assuming we're here longer than 20 minutes

"It does seem weird. The demons came in with that garb. They didn't take it from here obviously. The only... the only place I can think of is the Hermitage of Blessed Lightning, but that doesn't make any sense..."

He squints his eyes as if thinking, "Come here." He leads you to the other room in the chapel. It's mostly vestments, candles, polish, and other accoutrements for running a church. He opens a box and produces a trio of vials, each containing impossibly pure water. "Take these holy waters, you may need them."

The party rests and recuperates for a complete hour. Nellyn begins the long task of cleaning up. For uncovering the clue about the Hermitage, the party earns 10 XP.

"Well, we c..c..can always head to the Mad Mug and try to take c..c...care of those thugs there. May be the same ones that tried to ruin the show earlier." Charlie brushes his hand through his hair. "Or is there a Temple to Gozreh around?"

"The Hermitage is the only one for some distance. I mean there are small shrines here and there, but nothing of note. The Hermitage of Blessed Lightning stands on a wide ledge along the sea cliffs a day’s walk northwest of Abberton. The trail to the hermitage is narrow, windy, and frequently wet, discouraging casual visits. Forgive me saying so, but even though you saved me and the chapel here, that's not a trail I think you're ready to tackle."

"So M..m..mad Mug then." Charlie looks to the others for any other suggestions.

Tiny nods "We might even call it a day and go check the Mad Mug tomorrow, it's' been a long day. Definitely need a better clue before travelling to the Hermitage."

Still quite sore Charlie nods in agreement. "Yea, some rest will help." He pats the limping bears side and clicks his tongue to follow.

With a handshake and a mission from Nellyn, the party walks the half mile back to the circus. The professor greets you with a call to the others to provide a hot meal. Water, tea, and ale are all readily available. It feels good to get a night's sleep in your own cot...

Current date: 9 Calistiral 4720 AR

The next morning is clear and chilly. Camp coffee and biscuits waft their way to your noses. The Professor is already awake Does he ever sleep?

He calls you over to sit with him. "I'll not mince words, we need a show. What you're doing in town is important, and I don't know that things will ever be right until we get to the bottom of Myron's murder. But we need the work. I'm guessing we'll be here at least a couple more days. I suggest we put on another show. Abberton's got something rotting inside of it, but most people are living their lives and need some entertainment. What say you? With a little bit of direction, the show prep can take care of itself. If we start now, we'd be ready to go on the 16th."

"S...s..sure I'll help where I can. That c..c..can give us some time to hopefully find the cause of the M..m..murderer." Charlie's face hardens as he takes a long sip of the tea. he never did like tea. He explains to the Professor what all they have found in town so far, taking far long to get to the point due to his recent speech impediment. "Why would demons be here?"

Putting on a show requires some work on your part in game and out. The first thing you'll need to do is tell the professor if you'd liket o invest in any temporary upgrades. You don't have the money and prestige for the big stuff, but you do have some gold in the coffer.

In some games, it can help to treat the minigame like it's a combat round. The only thing is, for each action anyone can post. Once an action is taken care of, you're good. you spend the rest of the day adventuring (unlike Kingmaker where the week is dedicated to management.[/b]

PREP
Temporary Upgrades? Given your coffer (11 Gp) and your Prestige (3) the only temporary you can handle is Beer Yes or Beer No. We can handle the rest of the steps the day of the show, which is now marked on the calendar.

Yes beer.

PREP:
Advertisements? you can also purchase advertisements. At your level it's likely just flyers. the goal is to build anticipation for the show. The greater the anticipation, the higher the bar to meet, but if you DO meet it, the pay off is ever that much more.

Dendillion would put flyers out. Let's increase the stakes!

Tier 1 or 2 Dendillion?

Tier 2 if we can afford it

Looks we can do that and leave ourselves a shinny gp in thee coffers.

Watching the others prepare the circus and purchase kegs, Charlie heads out into town to help promote. He drags along Goliath for show and to help build on the excitement, stopping at a few corners to do some tricks here and there.

Society: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Still refreshing guys. I went out of order. Beer is decided upon JUST before the show starts. Tier 2 advertisements are under way! It's going to be 6 days until the show.

In those 6 days, you've got to promote the show if it's going to have ANY success. The Downtime activity is 2 days long. I'm guessing you won't want to let any leads go cold, so lets say you've got 2 days of adventuring before you've got to do your day jobs.

----------

The Circus of Wayward Wonders gets cracking; practice, advertising, and prep work take a lot of hands. MEanwhile you think you can buy yourselves a couple of days to drill down on why Miron was murdered...

Where to?

Since we've started, let's cover 2 days of downtime:

Day 1:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Go
Tiny: Earn Income (to be rolled.)
Haldan: Go

Day 2:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Go
Tiny: Earn Income (to be rolled.)
Haldan: Go

”Come see a very good show! It’s really quite good. You will not be disappointed. I assure you. Good show indeed.”

Haldan hands out flyers with what seems like a modest amount of enthusiasm. He’s hoping he’s more “on” when it comes to showtime.

Society: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

”Not your bet performance, mate. Not your worst either...”

Charlie and Haldan alike have solid success drumming up anticipation for the show!

Dendillion plies his craft for a couple days. Setting the Mug as a level 3 as it's not the best Abberton has to offer, but it's the only inn, so you won't get a better chance especially after REDACTED the day before.

Performance: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 His performance is right on!

Dendillion earns 10 Silver.

Day 1:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Earn Income crit!
Tiny: Earn Income (to be rolled.)
Haldan: Promote Show

Day 2:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Earn Income crit!
Tiny: Earn Income (to be rolled.)
Haldan: Promote Show

Earn Income DC 18 lvl 3 task: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Success!, that's 3sp/day=6sp!

What's Tiny's Skill?

Day 1:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Earn Income crit!
Tiny: Earn Income Success
Haldan: Promote Show

Day 2:
Chark: Go
Charlie: Promote Show
Dendillion: Earn Income crit!
Tiny: Earn Income Success
Haldan: Promote Show

Lore Circus! Somebody's gotta do all the grunt work around here.

Performance: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Chark tries her typical shtick, but comes across a particularly boorish group of irreligious people, and her routine is not well received.

Performance: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9 oh FFS

On er next attempt, Chark tries again, but as luck would have it one of the very same people from her last attempt comes by and ruins the show.

She is careful not to pass out leaflets for the Circus of Wayward Wanderers at the close of either show.

Chark does earn 4 coppers from passersby who assume she's a begger.