You are all assembled in the strange little collection of tents that make up Wrin’s Wonders. Its perimeter is a ring of standing stones (which at closer inspection turn out to be cleverly painted wood) connected by beams and inside there is a collection of domed tents containing all sorts of strange items. Wrin encourages you to browse and you know that here shop is always open.
In spite of her weird appearance (she is a tall, pale elf with white hair and small ram’s horns, with a thin tail to boot, making it obvious that she has been touched by the supernatural), you have all spoken to Wrin before and found her friendly if a bit quirky, but this time she has invited you all for a spot of tea. While she bustles around making tea in a strangely shaped kettle sporting a carved nosoi psychopomp on its lid that emits a wistful melody as the water boils, you are free to make your acquaintances or just explore the shop.
Wrin happily chatters away even when her back is turned, now and then flinging a little smile in your direction:
“You know, I thought I should just keep minding my own business, but when I saw the light, and the stars spoke to me. ‘Wrin’, I said to myself, ‘remember that day when the demons came for you. You know this light is bad news. You better find yourself some champions.’ But here I am, stuck in Otari, you know there is not much to do in the way of champions. I mean, you could hardly see Lardus Longsaddle or the mayor stomping down to the Gauntlight and performing heroic deeds, could you? I did try to talk to Yinyasmera, but she just laughed at me, and I don’t really trust that bad boy Carman, you know what I mean?” She winks and mimes a pair of bulging biceps before breaking out in a disconcerting giggle. “But it was so nice of you to take the time to come visit an insignificant little lady such as myself. Help yourselves to a biscuit, tea will be ready any minute.”
Still standing staring at the ring of standing stones, a small, but wiry goblin is seen. This particular goblin also has next to him a small. but long grey crocodile; which also seems to be staring at the ring of standing stones.
Mees says day bees reals!
The crocodile doesn't actually say anything; but, any onlooker may feel like he did.
The small, but wiry goblin defiantly places both his arms across his chest. He even looks away from the ring of standing stones to glare at the (smiling) crocodile.
Dirtbag! Yous bees da stupidest ov crocodiles! Every s crocodiles bees knowings dat dese stones bees reals!
The crocodile--named Dirtbag apparently--just continues to enjoy the warmth provided by the Sun beaming off the open circle.
The goblin feeling a bit a fool; kicks dirt at the (smilimg) crocodile.
"No, I can't say I'd think of Captain Longsaddle as wantin' to trudge through the Fogfen, but you could probably get the mayor to the forest if you remind him of his ancestral duty," Henry said with a smile.
The young man sat cross legged in the shade. While Henry hadn't spent a lot of time at Wrin's Wonders, he considered the woman a staple of Otari and had nothing but respect for her and her craft. Munching on a biscuit, he let his eyes wander at the oddities and wonders while he waited for the tea to finish brewing, happy to listen to Wrin speak about the town. Henry was excited to talk about the Gauntlight over tea, as well.
As a child and in his teens, he wandered out into the Fogfen fairly often. With his friends, he had even managed to get close to the lighthouse. Out of the treeline, at least. It was unfortunate that he and his friends were spooked by what they would later learn was some form of Will-O-Wisp, because it was an exhilarating experience. After that he knew that exploring the Fogfen was going to be his passion, as well as learning more about the Roseguard and their adventures that lead to the founding of Otari.
The messenger had caught up with Hilde as she was walking out of town, one job finished but nothing else in the queue. She shrugged as she read it, remembering the eccentric elf from her Menheme patron's introduction. It's not like I have anything better to do, and I might even find some sign of Brelda Venkervale's son. Poor woman...I couldn't in good conscience take her coin, even though I'll be eating hardtack and cheese for a bit.
Approaching the odd congeries of tents and "stones," the dwarf gives a wide berth to the goblin and crocodile, but nods politely. No sense in being rude. Wait...were they invited, too? She enters the shop and greets Wrin with a short bow. "You wanted to see me? Tea would be fine, thank you." I'd rather have ale, but best I get used to doing without. She grimaces as she turns away from the elf, covering her discomfiture by looking around the shop and nodding in greeting to the human. Then she turns back, as Wrin's words register. "These biscuits are goo-wait, what was that about a light? And heroes? I'm just a security consultant."
So, I am noticing a severe lack of Healing capability in our group so far.
I am willing (if allowed) to retool my character; although, that most likely would eliminate Tindertwig (and Dirtbag); because well, Wisdom is not their thing...lol.
"Well, I have seen the light for some months now and nobody else seems to mind it. But the stars told me it portends something bad and the stars have never lied to me. I was thinking of going there myself and have a look, but it is such a dark and clammy place, and the buildings are full of corners." Her face contorts into a grimace and she hisses, in a quite different voice, as if she was overwhelmed by a terrifying memory: "Bad things come out of corners!" Then, just as suddenly she reverts to her ordinary sunny disposition. "Anyway, I asked the stars and they told me you'd be fine. More tea?"
The dwarf lets Wrin's strange outburst pass without comment. "Yes, thank you." Looking around again, she extends a hand to the human. "I am Hilde Forgedottir, from Absalom. You are?"
"Henry, ma'am, Henry Shepard," the human said as he scrambled to his feet to shake Hilde's hand. "From Otari, born and raised. I've been to Absalom a couple times, though. What brought you all the way out here?"
"Oh, some tea here, Miss Wrin! Please and thank you."
"I'm Eddred Maristen out of Kintargo," says the well-dressed man at the back of the room. "I have a family connection to Otari and the Roseguard, and I've come to learn what I can about my ancestor. Miss Wrin was nice enough to invite me to this gathering."
GM: Can you open the Gameplay thread so we can dot in, please? That way this campaign will show up on our campaign pages (and I'll remember to play!)
"One of the mayor's relatives hired me to look at how to make it harder for thieves to break into her family's warehouses. She didn't trust any of the locals, so she brought me in. I just finished the job last night."
She reaches to clasp the alchemist's hand. "Kintargo? You're far from home. Family's important, eh?"
Glaring hard at Dirtbag, Tindertwig enters the tent behind the dwarf. The goblin (and his crocodile) walk around the outer ring of the tent, pausing to look at everything and anything.
Looks, Dirtbag, un cool lookings tingy! And, dat un 'ere! Anutter tingy! She bees gott'ns lotsa odd tingys here!
Dirtbag just nods in agreement; but he doesn't actually touch anything (unlike a certain goblin), because everyone knows that crocodiles have manners.
They both turn eyes to look at each individual as that person speaks.
He offers a hand to shake to each in turn.
Hellos! Mees Tindertiwig! Dis bees mees bestest ov friends (and consoler) Dirtbag. Wees bees explorerers!
The goblin suddenly turns to their Host at the mention of hot tea.
Yess, pleases!
Hilde reaches across to clasp the goblin's hand, with only a slight tremor barely perceptible to the ranger. "Good to meet someone I can see eye to eye with."
Eddredd shakes Hilde's hand. "Indeed. Family gives one something to protect and something to aspire to. A security specialist, eh? I suspect that Miss Wrin has assembled a team of professionals. For what purpose, I wonder?"
He also shakes Twindertwig's hand. "And what is it you and your...partner... do, Mister Tindertwig? What is your specialty?"
Tindertwig smiles up at Eddred.
Wees bees da muscle. Dirtbag gits ta grabbing sum fella dat wees no likes, so mees gits ta practices mees filleting skills.
The goblin relays this by taking a biscuit, shoving it in Dirtbag's mouth, and helps the not so amused crocodile chew on it.
Tindertwig then looks back at Eddred.
Pluses wees bees sneakings and guud at picking locks dat people seem ta always accidentally lock!
He does look absolutely mystified by that type of behavior.
Henry nearly spit out his tea when he heard Eddred was related to a member of the Roseguard, and hastily went to shake the man's hand. "Who are you related to, Mr. Eddred? I visit the Roseguard Museum here in town monthly, I've even volunteered there before. I'd be happy to show you around or answer some questions for you, as long as it's public knowledge, obviously."
Henry seemed to realize he was ranting, and slowly came to a stop. He didn't lose his manners so much that he forgot to shake Tindertwig's hand, though.
Eddred smiles and shakes Henry's hand. "Vol Ranjani was my grandmother, eight times removed, or so the family histories say. I've heard of the museum," he says. "Perhaps we could visit it together later and you could show me the sights."
Tindertwig (and Dirtbag) decide to help themselves to another biscuit, while listening to the conversation about the Roseguard. Even Dirtbag seems to actually be enjoying the noncoerced tasting of the fluffy, flaky delight.
The crocodile is definitely grinning.
The chewing goblin just nods his head in understanding of it even.
The goblin then walks over to Wrin. He (and Dirtbag, who seems to have gotten another delicious biscuit) pat her on the arm.
No worries fer youses! Wees bees professional explorers. Wees cans beat back the Bad things come out of corners fer ya!
Dirtbag nudges her leg in agreement.
"Okay! That means Mr. Carmen is your family here. Have you already visited him? There's also a big portion of the museum dedicated to the family. Well, I say big, but it's in proportion to the rest of the family's dedicated areas. Even the mayor, who's a descendant of Aesephna Menhemes, didn't claim the right to make his ancestor's exhibit bigger."
It becomes increasingly obvious that Henry will speak about the Roseguard all day if allowed, but he starts trailing off again.
"I can't claim anything but the most distant and tenuous of connections, and clearly I did not receive the name. But I would be happy to see the museum and meet my distant cousin."
GM, how do you deal with tracking experience/leveling?
I think at 1st level it's okay to be a little redundant and under-efficient. Clearly Tindertwig and Dirtbag are going to be better at this than Eddred. I just don't see anything for him to Investigate, so he's just keeping his eyes out.
By all means, you keep doing what you do best.
As a DM, I like to encourage my Players to actively read the entire entry for Skills, Feats, Class Abilities.
This should cover future lapses in reading....lol.
Exploration Activities
Tindertwig Scout Initiative (Perception) +4(+5)
Marching Order
Hilde Henry
Eddred
Tindertwig Dirtbag
Exploration activity: Defend
Init: Perception +7
Exploration Activity: Scout. Perception +6 (this is in my header).
Tindertwig will change Exploration Activities to Defend.
I'm good with that marching order (at least until Hilde gets hit).
Hilde's Perception is +7.
Did you want us to roll our own Perception checks for initiative?
Great, thank you. You can roll your own initiatives and if you beat the monsters, you can act immediately (don't forget your bonus from Scouting). Sorry about the delay, I hope to be back on my feet now.
My Weekly Monday Extinction's Curse Game switched to Foundry a while back. It is sooo much better, than Roll20; once you get the hang of it.
I only play though; my DM sets it all up. He does say it is easier.
Oh, I am sure it is excellent. I have played a bit in it, but this is my first foray as a DM and I am hopeless with machines. I hope I can at least learn to use the maps though. Just bear with me for a while.
I've got a lot of experience with VTT's and for my money, it's better to run a Play-by-Post game like this with your maps on Google Slides. That's also how I run my biweekly formerly-face-to-face games. We talk over Discord and use Google Slides for images and maps. Works great and there's very little to learn.
Thanks, I will probably do something like that. I just liked the map pack in Foundry but I will see what I can do with Google Slides.
I'm traveling today, and will be slow to post.
I appreciate the pics of Tindertwig and Dirtbag. Looks great!
Thank you. If any of you would prefer another avatar, just let me know.
Going for a holiday trip. Posting will be slow until Sunday.
Have fun!
Have fun storming the castle!
Castle stormed and razed. Burying our dead. Normal posting resumes tomorrow.
I am starting a new job on Tuesday; so posting may only be evenings.
Good luck with the new job!
If my accounting is accurate, we should be up to 550 xp so far. Do everyone else's numbers line up with that?
I went over the numbers and I think you should have 590 xp each so far, so close enough, and I think the discrepancy is on me. But 590 should be correct.
I also have 550xp?