GM Harrow’s Curse of the Crimson Throne - AE

Game Master GM Harrow

Thank you to Shrike/Merula's player for the lovely description of the play and of Merula's role. Hope everyone is enjoying the performance!

I am once again playing catch-up.
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My wife's grandfather fell off of a stepladder Thursday so we've been running errands to and from the hospital and their house.

All things considered, he's doing okay and got released Sunday but they just needed some extra help.

As I said elsewhere, I'll be praying for y'all. Glad you're still with us! I was hoping I'd get to see Dal's reaction when he sees Eliana and Trinia all glammed up.

Good to hear from you, Dal and Abella, and all the best to your family, Dal.

Thanks GM, for bearing with me through multiple messages of addendums and changes. I realize the plot of the production is pretty clichéd to our modern perspective, and that was intentional. This kind of romantic tragedy that kills one or both lovers because they are of warring factions is a story we humans can't seem to stop telling. It goes back at least as far as Ovid's Metamorphoses, long before Romeo and Juliet.

I thought it was a pretty well done description, and if the plot's a little cliche, well, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It works for a reason, even if it's not really everyone's cup of tea. Sometimes we, as humans, want a sad story.

Thanks to both you and the GM for putting this together. I thought it was fun to read, and I certainly have enjoyed it. And, thanks to the GM for doing the same back and forth with me on the summary I wrote, and letting me write for Eliana and Trinia. I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write.

I quite liked it, and definitely read all the parts of it that left Nips at Heels feeling itchy as intentional and appropriate for the setting.

I’m trying to get caught up, but it is a *lot* of reading. Apologies for the delay

Hope you are recovering well after your surgery!

I expect we'll be wrapping up the theater scene shortly and jumping back into Plot™.

I’m trying to get caught up, but it is a *lot* of reading. Apologies for the delay

I think some of us (me!) got a little carried away. Apologies for that. I hope it's at least entertaining.

Sure thing, Audria, and thanks for getting into it, both of you. :)

Ready to go here. If I'm jumping ahead too much, happy to take care of anything else that needs taking care of in spoilers.

Oh, I forgot to say before: Shrike will pay Elric back for her dose of antitoxin, of course. After buying that set of lockpicks, she only has enough money to do so because of the 1000 gp reward Kroft gave Audria, Abella, Shrike and Dal. I just now put it in the loot document, but as a cash reward given directly for a specific mission, I think it's reasonable for us to have split it out immediately after that meeting. Those four should add 250 gp to their totals. Sound okay?

OOC note that got too long to reasonably put in gameplay: Audria can always be a sailor or a bard — I thought those might be suitable for anyone, and not too out of place where we're going. I did think it would be funny if she played a very small and (through stuffing the coat) plump old gentleman though, with the disguise kit to add wrinkles. Audria is probably the only one besides Shrike who cares about people seeing/recognizing her face here, since they know her well.

I also was not counting on us trying to infiltrate Eel's End proper in these outfits, though I respect Pava's paranoia. (Shrike will take in a sap and dagger under this robe, but not her spear or bow, while she will definitely be taking those to meet the King of Spiders.) It was my impression that the reason to dress up for Madame Ioana's like this is just to not be identifiable as the same group of people who eventually confront Barvasi.

There was a *lot* of text that happened while I was out so I’m just not going to worry about diving into that and what Abella was doing, in the interest of keeping us moving and not getting the timeline more tangled.

OOC note that got too long to reasonably put in gameplay: Audria can always be a sailor or a bard — I thought those might be suitable for anyone, and not too out of place where we're going. I did think it would be funny if she played a very small and (through stuffing the coat) plump old gentleman though, with the disguise kit to add wrinkles. Audria is probably the only one besides Shrike who cares about people seeing/recognizing her face here, since they know her well.

Well, I figured Audria's not used to this and isn't going to know what would work and what wouldn't so I thought it'd be fun/funny to put her at Shrike's, Pava's, and Abella's mercy. She could probably pull off the mannerisms of an older gentleman, but the voice is right out, which might make this more entertaining.

I also was not counting on us trying to infiltrate Eel's End proper in these outfits, though I respect Pava's paranoia. (Shrike will take in a sap and dagger under this robe, but not her spear or bow, while she will definitely be taking those to meet the King of Spiders.) It was my impression that the reason to dress up for Madame Ioana's like this is just to not be identifiable as the same group of people who eventually confront Barvasi.

Pretty much spot on with what I was intending/thinking. I wasn't thinking we'd go confront Bravasi tonight either. I figured this would be more fact-finding/recon so we aren't walking in blind. I still think it would be a good idea to go into Eel's end in disguise, but maybe something a little more thought out than whatever was handy from an acting troupe's storage closet. ;)

Maybe we could try posing as foreign gang members looking for a partnership in Korvosa when we finally do confront Bravasi. We could also see if there's something in his network or at Eel's End that we could exploit. I think the best way to describe how I'm thinking about this is as a fishing trip. I'm just looking to see what we catch before coming up with what's for supper, so to speak.

There was a *lot* of text that happened while I was out so I’m just not going to worry about diving into that and what Abella was doing, in the interest of keeping us moving and not getting the timeline more tangled.

Sorry again. I think the biggest things are that we met Elric and Pava and that we got a new job trying to get some dirt on Ambassador Amprei from Devargo Bravasi, the King of Spiders at Eel's End. I also think this might be the first time Abella met Eliana, and it would be the first time she met Trinia. I'm not sure if Abella would be as interested in that, despite teasing Audria about Trinia being her girlfriend.

Splitting the party is always risky, but in this case it might make sense to only have half the group go to the Dockside Doxies, while the other half observes Eel’s End from the watchtower across the water?

I’m also in favor on spending at least 24 hours on recon and information gathering, preferably 2-3 whole days. We want to get a good feel for the routines and daily rythms aboard the ships. When do the watches change, are any of the crew particlarly alert or lazy, where does Bravasi spend his time and so on.

It would also be good if we secure a small boat and make a trial pass from the water, to see if anyone takes notice. The sailor disguises might be good for that.

There was a *lot* of text that happened while I was out so I’m just not going to worry about diving into that and what Abella was doing, in the interest of keeping us moving and not getting the timeline more tangled.

Good call.

Note so we avoid another Karralo/Karallo: it's BARvasi, not Bravasi.

I have a busy weekend, so I may not be able to post until Monday.

You know, for someone who has both versions of this AP, you'd think I'd get the spelling right.

Hello all.

I've been debating with myself over this for a few days now but I have to make the a decision.

On top of my immediate family getting hit with the sickies, we found out some news that has scrambled mine and my wife's priorities drastically.

The short of it is that her paternal grandparents are in need of far more help than they had been letting on and we are the only family who can/will help.

I tried several times to hop on and make another post but I just lack the mental energy to put anything together. This group (and others) has been some of the best Pathfinder I've played in years. And not just PbP.

I wish you all the best, if were in contact via other means, feel free to shoot me a message. I may even pop into a discord for a bit here and there.

I give the GM full permission to handle my PC however they see fit.

Hopefully, when things settle down, I can reconnect with everyone.

Warmest wishes to you and your family, it is a difficult situation to be in.

It has been great playing with you, and you are welcome back any time!

Sorry to see you go, Chapel. As I said in the Reign of Winter game, Take care and I'll be praying for you and yours.

I'm so sorry to hear that Chapel; clearly your priorities are in the right place, and I wish you the best.

I totally understand. When it rains, it pours :(

I think you are making the right choice for you and your family. I know I would be happy to have you back down the line when things calm down for you.

Best of luck, Chapel!

Very sorry to lose you, Chapel, and I understand. I'm wishing you and yours all the best, and would be happy to see you around the boards again someday.

Don't want this to be a Shrike and Audria only conversation, so I'll pause and let others chime in here if they wish. Otherwise, assume Shrike helps Audria pin her chosen disguise and select a wig in a different color than her hair. Others besides Audria, Abella and Shrike don't have to disguise themselves if they don't want, and we can just move on to Madame Ioana's. It sounds like Elric might not be showing up at all.

Without Dal and Pip, we have no arcane caster, which might be something to be aware of moving forward.

Do we want to open recruitment for an arcane character?

I’ll do an in-character post for Elric tomorrow. Any thoughts on my suggestion above in the mean time?

I agree that lack of an arcane caster will hurt. I’m good with bringing in another player.

I've got someone I can ask if y'all are alright with me doing so.

As for your idea, Elric, I think it's a good one. In this case, having fewer people means we're less likely to be conspicuous, so it might help make things safer, ironically enough.

That said, I don't know if we want to have part of the party sidelined while the other part does the fun stuff. It could be a good opportunity for some roleplaying, though.

If Abella is really wanting to strut her stuff as essentially the only caster more power to her, but yeah, an arcane one would probably be the better part of valor.

I hadn't been expecting the Doxy visit to be a particularly long scene, but if it is I can certainly make an excuse to head off with Elric to give him a scene partner

I don't think it'd be a long one either, but then again I've been wrong before.

I am fine either way. I’ve gotten through whole APs without an arcane spellcaster, so it bothers me less. By all means, if you know somebody, go for it though!

In the interest of keeping everyone together and the game moving, let’s all go visit the Doxies. Then we can split into rotating shifts for the observation.

Works for me. :)

Though, I am curious about what Elric's reaction is going to be once he realizes that Audria was in the middle of trying to change. :3

I've got someone I can ask if y'all are alright with me doing so.

Fine by me. :)

I'll try to post tomorrow and move things along, but it's a busy day and I may not get around to it. For now, I just need to know who is disguised and who isn't (and please roll a Disguise check if you are).

Not that I don't appreciate the RP, but if Audria is going as herself, and is going to be asking questions about Barvasi and his defenses as herself, that pretty much removes any ability for subterfuge if we go in with her. And so she should go alone, as she usually does, if we want to avoid suspicion.

That is, if Audria and several strange people walk in and talk to Madame Ioana one night, and then Audria and several strange people confront Barvasi two nights later, or whenever, it's pretty clear what Audria was doing there and who the other people at Madame Ioana's were regardless of how they looked.

Going to Madame Ioana's in disguise was Audria's idea. We're in no rush. Why not just wait a few minutes for the hair to dissolve? Or even go tomorrow instead?

To the more meta party composition issue: I have also played through a Pathfinder AP with two 9-level divine casters but no arcane caster, and we found it fine at first but annoying at higher levels with all the spells the AP will assume you have access to. That's why I mentioned it as an issue for the future. We can certainly continue as we are with the knowledge in mind that we'll have to buy a lot of spellcasting later on, or I'm fine with recruiting a known player or opening recruitment. It's all good.

I left it vague who else is at the Dockside Doxies with Audria, I'm fine with splitting the party to mitigate the concerns that Shrike expressed above. So Audria could go alone (or accompanied by Shrike who is already masked) and the rest can go with Elric to the watchtower. In which case disregard the "your friends" bit and the woman who is familiar to Pava. :)

Up to y'all.

I'm also fine either way, and with Elric putting on a disguise. Although the superb description of the Dockside Doxies and the NPCs makes me want to hang around to see what happens.

Sorry, I guess I made a mess of this.

What if we change it up from us going to them and see if they'd be willing to come to us? Only Audria would have to go, then.

We could also wait and then disguise ourselves, as Shrike suggested. We're in no rush and the hair does fade eventually.

Alternatively, we could try disguising Audria and using the extra hair as padding.

Actually, I like that idea.

I'm going to hold off on posting to see what others think. Sorry of the disjointed post. I wanted to get my thoughts out there and didn't really have the energy to try getting them hammered together.

Alright, just want to make absolutely sure before I post IC:

- Audria and Pava are at the Doxies
- Elric and Shrike are headed to the guard tower?
- What is Abella doing?

Abella is in a pocket dimension and shall emerge from such in a scene of her choosing. :P

All jokes aside, that sounds about right to me. It seems like Shrike's intention was to go with Elric to the tower and Pava is with Audria at the Doxies. Abella did pick out a disguise, so I think it's more likely she went to the Doxies as well.

Yeah I believe that was the plan with her disguise, Doxies that is

GM, is it safe to assume that Elric has signed orders from the Sable Company commander assigning him to the Guard?

He likely won’t use them unless he has to, but it would be nice to have a way to prove he’s on official military business.

Yes, that's a safe assumption. Reminder that he's not in uniform at the moment though.

Sure, going with Elric is fine with me. Not to worry, Audria. Doing two kinds of information-gathering at once might save time anyway. Sorry to increase the burden on you by splitting the party though, GM.

To minimize the party spilt, I suggest we focus on the action in the Dockside Doxies and fast forward over Shirke and Elric getting set up in a tower. We can have Tally act as a messenger to let everyone know where to find us.

After all, the observation is going to take at least 24 hours, so there's plenty of time to add details.

Sorry, GM, if I got the details wrong. I looked and there's not much on what Halvara actually looks like, so I made up something that I thought would fit.

Also, I'm starting to think that it might be best if Audria persuades Madame Ioana to toss her out beaten and bloodied.

Shrike is of course referring to Pharasma specifically here.

Hey everyone, I just signed off on Audria's referral's PC build and background, so I'm excited for Shane Driscoll to join us on this adventure!

Woo!

Glad to have you Ridge! I'm looking forward to seeing what you came up with. :D

*Waves*

Hello. Shane Driscoll, Tiefling Illusionist and graduate of the Acadamae reporting for duty so to speak. Thanks for considering me.

First things first, you have a wizard who sucks at fireballs (Evocation one of his opposing schools) so if you were hoping for a room sweeper... my bad. ;)