GM Harrow’s Curse of the Crimson Throne - AE

Game Master GM Harrow

I have been waiting for Dal as well, but will likely post something later tonight in the interest of keeping things moving.

I'm here!

Yeah, so, the flu caused a sinus infection. And Wednesday morning the infection had travelled to both of my eyes in the form of bacterial conjunctivitis. I had plans to catch up while but both eyes hurt all day, even after starting antibiotic eye drops.

Yesterday, I got back to work and found out that one of my coworkers quit while I was out sick. I spent all day yesterday playing catch-up at work. But I'm here.

Well, I don't think there's any way to apologize for being impatient that doesn't make me look like a jerk, so I should probably apologize for that too.

Apologies for being both impatient and a bit of a jerk. I hope that y'all can forgive me for that, especially Dal. Truth is, I'm excited about the next part and I want to see what happens, and because of that, I did neglect to consider that we might still be waiting on Dal.

This is something that I need to work on apparently.

I can honestly say that I did not feel any sort of way about it.

Glad to have you back, Chapel. The hits just keep coming. Hope things settle down soon.

And don’t beat yourself up, Adam. PbB is a fine balance act when it comes to driving the action forward. I certainly don’t feel you have been acting like a jerk.

Our area of Denmark was hit by a massive snowstom on Wednesday and we’re still dealing with crazy quantities of snow. So I have been pressed for time and energy to post myself.

Yikes, stay safe!

My partner is travelling to Denmark for work next week and they're a delicate tropical flower so I hope they survive the snowpocalipse. :D

Depends on where in Denmark she is going. We have a cold front moving down from Sibiria, so it will be cold for a while, with temperatures down to -15 degrees C.

Good luck and hope that your partner isn't going to be too cold. One nice thing about Alabama is the lack of snowstorms.

Make sure they've got a nice hat and coat! (Not sure if they're such a tropical flower that they don't have that part of the wardrobe covered at all)

They'll be in Copenhagen, and they have at least 3 hats. :D
Wardrobe is covered, it's mostly about not being used to the cold at all.

They should be fine then. The main snowfall is in the northern part of Jutland. Only light snow in Copenhagen at the moment. But warm clothes are highly recommended.

My apologies, Pava, if those weren't meant to be snide comments. Them being that way just seems to fit with what I've seen so far. I'm fine either way, and we can just chalk it up to Audria being a bit defensive, especially after her talk with Shrike, if they aren't. If they are, well, It's not like we don't already have a couple of personalities that are bound to drive her up the wall from time to time.

@GM Harrow: I know Elric's player and I talked about a potential romance between our characters, but I wasn't expecting Bartholomew to be playing matchmaker. I'm wondering what's going to happen when Olga gets in on the act. I fear what Trinia and Jessica will do once they twig to it.

They were intended to be not-quite-gentle teasing. (Which I can tone down if it bugs anyone. If Pava ends up actually focusing that tendency on someone I'll do more regular check-ins with them)

(But yeah, Pava tends to treat basically everything hostile/fraught except actually fighting like they're in a duel. So that means some quick jabs to see how fast you are to the guard)

Ah, okay. I think Audria's reaction still works in that case. Consider this Carte Blanche to tease Audria to your heart's content. :)

(On a side note, I love banter between characters. It's one of the reasons I wind up having a lot of back-and-forths. I have a feeling that when Abella and Pava start at it, it's going to be entertaining. Audria, well, she's not at the point where she's going to start sniping back yet. That's going to take a lot more.)

Oh that reaction definitely read :-D

*pops popcorn*

I wanted to do more but at the same time, I really needed to get a post up. Year end/year beginning is )naturally) the busiest time of the year for my department and It's been a nightmare to juggle with the tasks I've picked up from the woman who left.

Fuuuuuun. Though I think it works. Dal's been pretty wary of the authorities from the start.

Loving 'beaksman' as a term for a Sable Company rider.

Would the group of them be the Hippogriffelry?

Hippogriffelry is a bit of a mouthful, though. Eagelry, maybe? If we go with where cavalry came from, then it'd be something like wasolry. (Cavalry came from Cheval which means horse, oiseau (pronounced like wa-szoh) means bird, so wasolry, which has all sorts of fun pun-tential because it's so close to wassail and ass/a@~#@%@!)

Beaksman for the Sable Company.
Robin for the Korvosan Guard.
I don't remember if there's a slang term for the Order of the Nail.
But between that and the bird-themed nicknames Abella's always coming up with and Tally, we have a veritable aviary.

Speaking of which...
Abella = Rook
Shrike = Butcherbird
Merula = Dove
Dal, Elric, and Pava = Have yet to earn a nickname. Poor Dal. :3

and of course Audria = Canary and now Duckling.

I don't think Tally's been tagged yet, but she is a bird, so...

First thing that came to my mind.

Okay, what’s the deal with the play? I haven’t made it to that part of the gameplay thread yet. Without context, Elric is going to find it a bit odd to pause the mission planning to go to the theater, even if Commander Kroft suggested it.

Shrike/Lania's social identity, Merula, is one of the understudies for one of the main actors. Audria knows Merula and Shrike are the same person, so she's trying to cover for Shrike, while also giving us some time to take care of other things, like getting stuff we don't have at the moment and completing a request by Captain Merrin. It also felt like we were edging towards talking ourselves into circles, so I figured I'd have Audria say so.

Basically, It's a combination of keeping up appearances and not wanting to let things devolve into chasing our tail.

Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that the GM has plans, and I know Audria does.

I'm also not sure what GM Harrow is planning by having most of the PCs at this performance, although I (and Shrike) did assume that Kroft was trying to communicate to Shrike that she knows about the Merula social identity. Interested to find out!

Merula does have a role in the show besides being the understudy for the female lead — she's an antagonist to the two leads, though not quite a villain. The type of performance is a sort of concert dance, more than a play: there's no dialogue, and the story is told through music and dance alone.

Ah, okay. I just assumed it was a play. Sounds like Merula's playing a rival character to the two leads.

I can see it being Kroft hinting at knowing about Shrike and Merula being one in the same person, but at the time I'd just chalked it up to Merula doing well on promoting the performance.

Kroft was suggesting a plausible cover for all of you being in the same place so you can finalize plans and discuss how you approach Devargo. The money she gave you for the tickets are enough for box seats, so you can have some privacy.

And I want to see the dance-play. :P

Alright, thanks for the clarification.

I suppose Elric has some kind of dress uniform he could wear? If not, he may want to be included in the disguise exercise.

In addition to the top of the Copper-Beater Hall, looking at the map that there is a large guard tower on the opposite bank of the narrow straight that would provide a good view of Eel's end. With our military contacts, we might gain access and carry out some observation from the waterside.

Perhaps we would be able to borrow a spyglass or something (Crazy that those are still 1.000 gp and 4.000 gp for a masterwork version).

Since Elric is supposed to be incognito, a disguise would be wiser.

And yes, you can borrow a spyglass.

Next steps: run errands before the play.

If anyone has errands to run before the play, please summarize them in a post. I have an excellent description of the play from Cinnabar that I can't wait to post. :D

Righto! I can get a summary up later today.

Is it alright to assume that Ellie and Trinia will be attending?

Oh, and Elric, there might be one other thing for you to respond to before you leave.

Trinia will definitely be attending.

Eliana: 1d3 ⇒ 1

And Eliana will as well.

Woo!

I'll try to have that up soonish.

Okay, I'm writing out the summary of Audria, Tally, Trinia, and Eliana getting ready and I'm wondering how much leeway we have. I was thinking that Audria, Tally, and Trinia would be borrowing a few of the dresses that Eliana has been gifted, along with the accessories to go with them. Those would be returned, obviously, but there's also a couple of other elements that I think make sense, but might be crossing a line.

1. Maids - To me, at least, it makes sense for nobility and royalty to show off their wealth to any of their guests by having permanent or semi-permanent servants assigned to them, depending on how much they want to impress and the importance of the guest. I think Eliana might have one or two maids assigned to her, and I was wondering if, for narrative purposes, they'd come along to help Ellie, Audria, Tally, and Trinia get ready.

2. Carriages - This is another of those things that I think makes sense for nobility and royalty showing off to provide to a guest, especially if they are wearing anything valuable or delicate, which formal eveningwear and accessories probably qualifies as both. There'd be eight of us, Abella, Audria, Dal, Eliana, Elric, Pava, Tally, and Trinia, since Shrike/Merula would be at the theatre this performance is happening at (The Kendall Amphitheatre?) I think we should be able to fit in one carriage, even if it's a tight fit. It wouldn't be the fanciest thing, but I think given how much the Queen and Captain Merrin like Eliana, they'd probably want her to ride in one just for her safety.

Also, I think the disguises are for when we go to Eel's End, not the performance, so Elric might need to borrow or buy something formal if he doesn't have anything. I don't think we were planning on disguises, or even need them, just for going to see Hommel and Brekka.

Speaking of disguises, would Shrike/Merula know about Audria being self-conscious about the scars on her back? They're thin, but still there and enough to be noticeable. She may have caught on when Jessica was having her try on different dresses for the Remembrance, but I think that would have been the first time she'd seen them or had a chance to notice that bit about Audria.

Basically, this is me blabbering on about how Audria's reaction to the disguises is going to depend on what they are and how much of which parts of her body she's going to be showing.

That was also my understanding of the purpose of the disguises, Audria. They were for going to Madame Ioana at the Dockside Doxy, because of the risk of word getting back to Barvasi that an Obvious Adventuring Party was looking to speak to him. And also the risk to Madame Ioana and her employees if something goes sideways with Barvasi and what we do angers but doesn't kill him: we don't want him to have a reason to target her.

I don't think Shrike even knows about Audria's scars, since she was distracting Dalinius with the fake fan search rather than directly participating in helping her try on dresses, and if she chose one that was backless, you didn't mention it. I think you said recently that Audria has only shown those scars around Abella. I think she does know about the beating by Lamm's goons that they came from, though, and might be the only one that does, since Audria told her about that in a separate conversation.

1. Maids generally do not accompany their mistresses to events, even if Eliana might have one assigned to her at the castle. She would be given a couple of guards to travel with her, if the queen is aware that she is going out. The way I see it, Eliana would not actually tell her and just assume she's free to come and go. Some of the castle guards might notice her going out and might accompany her for safety.

2. Carriages can be rented, so I see no problem with everyone taking a couple of them. To fit eight inside one vehicle would be too much, they usually fit four at most.

1. Thanks for explaining that. I'll keep that in mind. I'm thinking that Eliana and Audria would assume she's free to go, so do you want to roll for guards joining, or could we assume that the two of them make it out without issue?

2. Renting a carriage is 3cp per mile, so no clue what that'd be for a evening, 3 to 5 sp? So we could call it 1 gp for two carriages for the evening.

@Shrike: That's a fair point. She didn't choose one that was backless. I did a sketch of what I thought her dress would look like, but it looks like I didn't post it anywhere I would have and I'm too lazy to do it now. It covered her from the neck down, so it wouldn't have shown anything.

Eh, chalk it up to me looking for opportunities to show parts of Audria's character.

Edit: By the way, are we all meeting at the Sanctuary or the New Korvosa Theatre, where the performance is being held?

Two guards will accompany Eliana to the theatre and back (with a stop to the Sanctuary if desired). They will also hail a carriage for them.

1 gp for a couple of carriages for the evening is fine.

Righto! I'll edit the summary I sent to you to include the guards. So that's 101 gp out of Audria's pocket, 100 gp for Antitoxins and 1 gp for rides for everyone, save Shrike who's going to be at the theatre long before everyone else. ;)

Sorry for all the back and forth. If everything looks good with the latest, save the edit about the guards I need to make, I should have it up tonight.

Antitoxins are 50 gp a pop, so that is 300 to supply the entire party.

If we don’t want a crowd at the Doxies, Elric is fine with manning a lookout from the guard tower opposite Eel’s End. (With company, if we need even fewer people going for info).

Looks like I misunderstood the disguises, so Elric will just go as he is to the theater. If anyone asks, he can claim to be a hired bodyguard.

So we can use 200 GP from what Kroft gave us and 100 GP from Audria for that.

Re: Antitoxins, Pava's already carrying

Woo, for sneaky people in the group! They are much more paranoid than I or my characters are.

Kidding aside for using Audria’s hair as a climbing rope, I’ve looked at the climbing rules in case we decide to go with the sneaking up from the water side option. Shrike and Elric are both decent climbers, everyone else not so much.

So, the most viable option would be for either of us to climb up first and secure a knotted rope for the rest of the group to use. That should make it a DC 0 climb check, which everyone should be able to make, especially if you can take 10.

Of course, that’s assuming we can avoid detection. Climbing up under fire is a whole other ballgame.

Unfortunately, we'd need to borrow Jessica's shears for that. One of the rules that got put in place (and I think it's still in place despite the change in GM) is that it basically turns into fairy dust and sparkles if someone tries to grab the part that's longer than what her hair was before. It was to keep the combat mechanics of it from going screwy. To be honest, she wears it long enough that even without it spontaneously adding inches/centimeters, you could make an argument for her taking CMD penalties to grapple and dirty trick maneuvers, but that's just me.

But, if we did nick Jessica's shears, we'd have an infinite supply of rope in any lengths we want. Y'all just have to emotional abuse the paladin. :P

Getting back to more serious topics, I'd like to see what we can learn first before we try something that would put negotiations off the table. As much as I and Audria want to get rid of the King of Spiders, I thing we need a little more than we have at the moment. If we could find some cracks in his network that we could exploit, that'd be great. If not, I'd at least like to do the thing we said we'd do before we try to off him. I mean, Kroft's hardly going to complain if one of us just so happens to make him mad by making some observations about his character and really, if we wanted to truly help Korvosa that we'd put him six feet under the water of the Jeggare.

Buuuuuut, that's just me, and I'm not playing the right character to be making those kinds of statements.

I was gonna use an actual rope. Audria won't have to a Rapuntzel-impersonation unless it's an emergency.

Shrike does have a grappling arrow and some rope in case we need them. Assuming we don't learn something from Madame Ioana & co. that results in coming up with a different idea than sneaking up behind the Eel's End in a rowboat.

Are we waiting on anyone in particular? Merula can't do errands before the show, so I wasn't going to post beforehand.

No idea, to be honest. I think Elric and I are the only one's that have posted a summary of what we do before the play. Abella's still recovering from stuff it seems like, and Dal's been spotty lately because of family and himself getting ill. Maybe we just push on once Pava posts?

I’m mostly recovered now, but that means work now and having to catch up a bit. I should start getting back into the swing of things slowly. I appreciate the patience!

Ah - I hadn't read the 'let's all go to the play' as including Pava, so I was just going to leave them discreetly off screen...

Easy enough to whip something up though! I'll get it up before I go to bed