Then perhaps the other two party members are more approachable/relatable. :)
Ah, sorry you feel that way, adriel. Rose is a product of growing up in an extreme environment and she has very strong convictions and opinions as a result. I'm not trying to make her deliberately unapproachable and would welcome interaction of any kind.
That said, i think part of it boils down to circumstance. Rose would normally have tried to bond with the other party members a bit during the sea trip to Ridonport, but we never really got a chance to since this time period was mostly skipped to advance the story at a faster pace. Not that that's a bad thing, but that probably contributes. And now, Marcus is escorting Rose aroundas nobles, and Konstiantina seemed naturally suited for convincing the judge. There hasn't really been a good opprlortunity to talk alone yet.
I think roleplaying being unsure of what to do is natural and brings opportunities. As an elf adult, youre also at least 110 years old and have much more life experiemce than any of us except lotti, right? What were you doing in that time and could that experience help in some way, even just as advice? You could perhaps also just lighten the mood a bit when things get too serious, or warn us if any of us goes too far, or something. Make her a bit more cheerful and lighhearted than the others?
You're probaly also our best combatant next to Mirann and the paladin atm, and Rose really sucks in that area. Still not entirely sure what to do in those until we level up, haha. :)
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This particular scenario has a lot of hooks for Marius, but I'm okay with reigning it in and looking for more opportunities to rope the other three PCs in. I don't want anyone to feel sidelined or left out!
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Results say it is not COVID! Huzzah!
Great news!
Grats! :) Hope you feel better soon!
Sorry for disappearing for a bit there, my days are very busy and the weekends not any better with the election coming up. Things should slow down after.
No worries. Nice to see you back!
@Everyone, maybe it's because I'm a foreigner and English isn't my native language, but I'm not sure what Neffery means in the last post. A chandlery is a candle-making store/the office of a candle maker, right? (At least, that's what I get when I google it). Though this one was now changed to a bar for naval officers against his will. Am i correct in understanding that he claims that Earl Vernisant upped the candle prices, and that the naval officers are usually too drunk to notice? How do the people pay for this, exactly? If they buy candles, surely they themselves would run into the insane prices too?
A "Chandler" is an older word for someone who delivers supplies for ships. Basically a specialized nautical logistics person.
So now the Earl has converted it into a bar for officers and raised the prices; since taxpayers are covering the officers tabs the Earl is skimming/defrauding Ridonport's taxpayers. At least, that's my read on it.
Marius is correct - the chandlery supplies the ships, specifically the Taldan Navy, which is financed by the empire.
Ah, thanks for clarifying. That explains my confusion quite well!
@Konstiantina, I'm not quite sure what such an observation would reveal but i did my best. Also, Rose is actively hiding her surname, since she doesn't want anyone to know who she really is at the moment. She has never mentioned it herself, at least. Same as she always went by Rose instead of Raesilia.
Ah, thanks for the clarification - I've edited my post accordingly. And your response was perfect. By wrist I meant the muscles of the upper forearm, which I imagine sword work would strengthen - but you state that her forearms are slender, so that takes care of that.
On that note, it's a bit humorous that Raesilia with 12 strength is technically the most muscular person in the group, yet only barely more so than an average woman. I guess our group skipped a lot of leg days :)
Have to say you have a real gift for sensually desribing how to drink a glass of wine, haha.
I had a thought. Marius doesn't have Bluff so might not be a good choice for this but what if one of us got a receipt for the drinks, then stomped over to the backroom to raise a stink with management? That way they get a good look at the room, take the guard's measure, see where the safe is, etc.
I can invoke my patron for a +3 Bluff if needed but one of y'all would doubtless be better at it :)
Sounds like a plan Marius! Go for it!
Isn’t Neffrey the manager though?
Yeah. You'd have to bluff being drunk too, probably. I like the idea, but I don't think Rose would go for it. Neferry just told us that the night guard works for Earl Vernisant and the current guards were heaviliy implied to do so too. If you went and made a scene now, news of it could come back to him by them and might link Neffery to us more than just this seemingly private conversation. Neferry seems embarassed/shaken enough as it is.
I'll do it, I have a decent bluff mod.
@Marius Reading back, I seem to have missed your post where you asked if the room occupied. My apologies, i think it was posted during the making of my own post and that i didn't have time to check in the next few hours.
Anything you would like to do or discuss before we skip to the evening?
A plan of action for the evening trip to the chandlery, perhaps? We've seen how flying by the seat of our pants without one works now. XD
Well, I can probably make a navy uniform for someone if I see one up close. Probably a store around here that specializes in providing materials to the navy and they might even have them on display.
Were you planning on using some magic to disguise Konstiantina, Lotti? Are we going to arrive at a time it's still open, or after closing time? And what do we plan on saying? Is the setup that a disgruntled navy officier wants to ber served after closing time and just keeps at it until the guard opens or some such?
Konstiantina would demur from being the one so enchanted.
Disguise self is, as the name suggests, a personal spell.
As for the story, the chandlery is apparently now a personal officer's club. An officer shows up, informs the guard they were sent a message by the earl to meet him here in the back office, and expects to be let in. The key is to wear the right clothes and act like you're supposed to be there.
Happy Biden/Harris day, y'all!
Re: the game: I'm worried about stalling out due to too many options. I honestly don't think this is that important an encounter to worry about so much. Can we opt for the simplest approach and try to keep the momentum? Lotti gains us access, we offer to hide the guard at Marius' estate, but if she refuses we tie her up in the main room and ransack the safe?
Yeah, I agree. Let's trust in Lotti for now to get us in and go with that as a plan to push the story along.
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To be fair, this is also the first time we've really had a disagreement in the party and we're figuring out how our characters handle that. And nobody really knows each other very well yet, which is perhaps trickier in this type of intrigue-heavy story than a "you all didn't die in the first attack, so now you must band together and strike down this evil at its source because you're our only hope" type of adventure. XD
We're also all figuring out things like "How does person X like to solve problems?" and "What is person Y comfortable with the group doing and where's the line where that's no longer acceptable?" . And those things are what make our characters feel alive and like real people rather than just spreadsheets and numbers on a page.
So the plan is to disguise Lotti as a navy officer and try to bluff the guard into letting you into the back office, or at least the chandlery - is that correct?
If at least 3 people are on board with that we'll move forward.
Agreed 100%, Lotti. It's been a valuable exchange.
True, I do feel like I have more insight into the other characters from the exchange, also on Rose's half of mine.
There's something to be said for moving the scene along as well now, though. Everyone's had a say on what to do and we've been here for quite a while, still have to finish the module and then 2 other modules before we even start book 1 of the AP, if I understand the intention correctly. We should have plenty more opprtunity for everyone to get to know eachother better during those, and I don't want to let the tempo suffer too much, personally.
To answer Catallus' tally, who supports the bluff idea and then talking to the guard once inside? (backup: knock her out and make it look like a robvery). I would support this idea, I'm guessing Konstiantina does too from above. So we'd need 1 or 2 others to support it to move forward.
I'll get us straight into the AP after this module, I don't feel any more prologuing is necessary. I have ideas about incorporating the other 2 moduled into the AP if people want to play them.
I suppose Lotti will support her own idea. XD
But did she support Rose's addendum? I'm not sure how to interpret the orphanage comment ;)
All Lotti's saying is that we might need to find a larger boat for the trip back to Oppara given Rose's... inclination, shall we say - of wanting to hire all our enemies' foot soldiers for her patron's use. XD
Did my low Perception check fail to turn up the safe?
Yup. :)
Can I roll again?
Maybe everyone take 20 and don't forget to check the safe for traps too when you find it? Don't want to explain an explosion or what have you to the guard :)
"Sigh, and now they're lighting fireworks in there without me? AGAIN? Why do I never get to experience the cool stuff..."
Question about my feat, Death from Above. Can I use it in a situation like this where I might leap on the table as part of my charge and then jump down to strike at the enemy?
I didn't use it this round for fear I couldn't, but if I could, it would add +5 to my attack.
I would say that a table would be considered an obstacle that would hinder your charge, so it can't be used like that.
Small headsup, I won't be able to post for most of today. I'll just keep playing card legitimately, looking for tells and watching for signs of opposed cheating. If the safe is broken into today I'll follow the others out to the canal.
Just in case, there's now a discussion on Discord on how to handle this situation.
@Mirann, everything all right? We haven't heard from you in a while, i believe.
Okay how would we like to play this? Getting out of the open seems good, and I'm slightly worried that if we involved the Magistrate right away this will get taken out of our hands entirely.
Quick interrogation at the scene of the crime?
Well, I was assuming we were going to arrest them and take them to the magistrate yes. We could do the interrogation first and start with that we already know most of it to cow them into revealing more? Could also suggest they'd get less of a sentence in return for a testimony against the earl.
Since the intent was to arrest them I'm assuming there's no way we're letting any of them go, so our offer is probably limited to that, with the only alternatives being capture without a plea deal/projected higher sentence or death by continuing the fight?
Hey hi I had phone and internet problems starting the same day and just got my phone back late last night; I'll catch up and post soon
So Lotheed told us to accomplish the following: If that also involves finding evidence that ties Vernisant to criminal elements, making that evidence public would cause the earl considerable distress and bring the count considerable joy."
Do we think the possession of the helm is sufficient, along with the journal, to tie Vernisant to the criminals? Or should we go to the covered tunnel and explore it, to see if we bring to light further damning evidence?
I vote for the tunnel :P
I agree tunnel, however, I don't think we should try to break into the manor as someone suggested
@GM Catullus: Did we get the bounty reward now, and how much is it? Can it be spent to buy healing supplies at night?
You did not get the bounty yet, and finding healing supplies at this hour would be difficult as shops are closed.