‘Eκάτη's Endless Night

Game Master ‘Eκάτη

I am more like Gotrek from the Gotrek and Felix Warhammer books.

I remember being recommended a Warhammer novel. I didn't get the book but, you know....

Your discussions make me smile broadly.
Oh, if you only knew, if you only knew...
.)

Regarding Soryan Dirge's answer to killing Gadak, I feel I have to recuse myself from answering specifically.

I vaguely remember the interview with Undamesta from the published text, but for whatever reason, I think I specifically remember that question and what Undamesta's published likely responses are. (Early in the Recruitment Thread I informed our DM of the three or four little things I remember from canon -- all from the beginning of the adventure -- and this was one of them.)

I hope that my portrayal of Cirok is on par with my favorite drow?

And, Cirok is definitely glad Soryan Dirge is on our team! Having a Wizard is priceless.

I keep seeing Cirok and Soryan Dirge as Jaraxle and Kummeriul.

I don't know Kummeriul but I trust you and appreciate the compliment. Is Kummeriul a zealously LG character who loves to infiltrate Evil places as an operative or spy and Bluff his way to tear down the bad guys?.... (I think the closest Soryan Dirge comes to a moment of fiction is from when, in 'The Crystal Shard,' Drizzt bluffs Errtu in the cave that Drizzt is from Menzoberranzen serving Drow interests. But there could be better examples of which I am unaware.)

If you have any other requests/ideas for the evening-night, then go ahead.
Btw, were you on duty while the squad was sleeping? )

Wish me luck fighting the hurricane (in Sarasota, FL) -- internet and electricity may well go out and I've been busy getting ready for the storm (that may not even hit me, but you can't take the chance). My only concern is that I'm running low on water.

Cirok would want to set watches? 2 hours each?

> assumption that aura of courage making him resistant to fear would help him vs the nightmare? a bit

For sure. However, other's suffering can cause a lot of emotions besides fear. Even if it is supposedly the suffering of an evil being (which is also was not a fact...)

____

According to the gameplay...

Secondly, about the TOIL of your characters. Low-ranking drow don't have days off and vacations (and health insurance too). So as long as you stay at the Vonnarc House, you will work every day. Successful or unsuccessful work somehow affects your status. The growth of the status will affect something... In general, you have three segments of 8 hours, a pretty classic story. 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours for independent actions.

Most of the work routine will remain behind the scenes and be solved with one or a couple of rolls, except when something has happened or you want to do something besides performing your main tasks.

Your main gaming activity will fall on the free 8 hours... of course, provided that you will move in this direction.

Update: It looks like Hurricane Idalia is going to miss me and go north. I closed down my business earlier today in case of emergency but it looks like I'll likely open back up tomorrow hopefully by Noon or early afternoon. Anyway, it looks like good news (for my Sarasota at least, maybe not so much for Tampa or further north).

I ought to be able to pay attention to our game by late tomorrow!

If Waffle House closed down, then you know you are finished.

Ray, I'm glad you're okay!

Everyone, I'll tell you more about your work. I will use a system from PF2e with successes, failures, critical successes and critical failures. I have something like a table of your status (and by the way, your initial interview also influenced this). With the growth of the status, something will change. With the fall... well... look at the guy behind Undamesta again. For a good description and roleplaying, there will be a situational bonus to the check. If, over time, we move on to rolls without a description... Well, let's be honest. So routine devours people in the real world too .)

PF2e? Never hears of it...lol!

Catching up on posts after work.

Dad jokes?!

I just googled 'riddles with double entendres' and picked a couple. I figure, hey, Areshkagal is Demon Lord of riddles.

Yeah, I was pretty done with the laundry scene -- I guess I can roll the Sense Motive. But I just assumed after laundry day (or two or three) that we'd get another task, rather than look for places to stick our noses in.

Prestidigitation question:

Can I presto some 'puddy'-like substance on the seem of the inner door and door-frame when we exit the room -- in such a way that if anyone opens the door, the consistency of the puddy will be broken and we will be able to notice it?

It's not any kind of alarm. The puddy, a tiny amount, would not prevent anyone (with a House Key) from opening the door, wouldn't create any resistance or tug or sound. It would be just like a soft, non-stick 'glue' that would separate if the door opens, without the opener even realizing it is there -- unless he or she looks at the door-frame where the drop of puddy is.

I have to update my Spells Prepared tab -- I'll make sure I do before I jump back into Gameplay.

If I can use Prestidigitation to make a tiny dollop in the seam between door and doorframe to act as a tell-tale if anyone opens our door, I will.

Sorry Cirok, Colgrim just thinks a tune-up might appease the Demon's some.

Never apologize for instigating a combat. I do it ALL the time...lol!

Looks like I was typing my post as Cirok was posting his exit.

Soryan Dirge will wait that six seconds as Cirok begins to exit, see if anything comes of the roleplay.

Prestidigitation question

I like this idea and you can do it, but the spell lasts one hour. This means that in an hour and ten minutes, for example, there will be no trace of someone entering without you or not.

By the way, if you want to gather some information, you can just make a check of diplomacy and the number of hours, and not look for a specific NPC. The house is not sleeping at all - there are drow in the dining room, there are drow in the corridors, and so on. If the question is too complicated for ordinary inhabitants, then I will tell you about it.

I will stop posting for this scene until all others have....hehe.

Colgrim has hammer diplomacy. I need a feat that allows me to flex my arms to convince someone.

The late, great fantasy author, Robert Asprin (deep into 'The Myth' series) wrestled with "the nightlife" when he was creating a fictional night club for some 'young'(?) Vampires in Hit or Myth. His vampire nightclub has bright-white walls and gleaming, reflecting floors and tables, bright yellow overhead lamps, and mirrors decorate the walls; garlic bulbs hang low from the ceiling and, well, you get the picture: A creepy, even disturbing hangout for the young rebel Vampires.

Heeheehee, can you picture a group of young, rebellious Drow opening a creepy nightclub with sun rays, Holy Symbols of Iomedae, flowering house plants and the like? Perhaps a poetry-slam 'day' where Drow can read their blasphemous, pastoral poetry in rhyme?

Heeheehee, can you picture a group of young, rebellious Drow opening a creepy nightclub with sun rays, Holy Symbols of Iomedae, flowering house plants and the like? Perhaps a poetry-slam 'day' where Drow can read their blasphemous, pastoral poetry in rhyme?

That's very funny .)

UPD Should we then call the night life of drow (and vampires) day life?

Well, at the top you can now see the BIG MAP link. It's really big. I advise you to set the scale to about 50 percent and scroll down to see everything.

Technically there are three floors in Zirnakaynin:

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~ A marvel of construction and tenacity, the city proper occupies three massive caverns layered one over another, but its holdings include countless grottos, lightless tunnels, and black-bladed fortresses throughout the nearby Darklands. Within the city’s three central caverns — Cocyrdavarin, Eirdrisseir, and Rygirnan — live the city’s drow population, nobles and commoners alike, all vying for power and influence in a city built on treachery and pain... ~

Eirdrisseir, the realm of Zirnakaynin’s noble families. A vast, cavern dotted by groves of eerie fungus and broken by rugged cliffs, here the palatial homes of the majority of Zirnakaynin’s noble families and most influential socialites loom over the largely barren landscape.

Cocyrdavarin. The largest of the three caverns bearing Zirnakaynin’s weight, Cocyrdavarin holds the city proper. From this vast central chamber thousands of drow live and die amid the magically lit streets of the bladed city. Cascading across the shadowed plateaus from Illeccinoc at its heart, three districts comprise Zirnakaynin: The Last City, the oldest and most extravagant ward at the cavern’s height; Arshyvhar, the middle market district; and Ghenavoc upon the cavern floor, where the city’s poorest toil to survive.

Rygirnan. Bubbling beneath the deepest pits of Cocyrdavrin lies the vast lava lake of Rygirnan, the forge of Zirnakaynin and the foundry where the deadly craft of drow smiths and artisans take shape. Drawing upon the molten lifeblood of the earth, hundreds of workshops endlessly churn out weapons of peerless lethality and masterful construction, paying for such wonders with the mineral treasures of the surrounding mines and the blood of countless slaves.

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Now you are on the upper level, Eirdrisseir, where the estates are located. This is the point "32" on the map (I will use red pointers for locations). The yellow pointer is where you are now (in the same place).

To get to know the nightlife or any other kind of life, you need to choose where you are going. And how.

The IMPORTANT THING about maps is that their scale is not the same. I have arranged them horizontally from the top to the bottom as they are in the "real world", BUT it is obvious that the middle level is the largest and most densely populated.

You haven't been to the lower level yet (Rygirnan). Through the middle one (Cocyrdavarin) you went from left to right through. You have not visited the elite part of Cocyrdavarin - it is additionally surrounded by a wall. But you saw it from the outside.

Can you put an arrow (or something) at the approximate point from which we entered Zirnakaynin from The Darklands with Gadak? (I think somewhere in Cocyrdavarin?) It'll be a helpful marker to help us catch our bearings.

.

Soryan Dirge will follow wherever (someone else in) the group wants to go -- we already visited his first choice (Areshkagal Temple) so it's someone else's turn.

Yep, I marked the route with red arrows.

Let's assume that you learned the information above during today's work - just from the conversations of other members of the house that you heard out of the corner of your ear.

Soryan Dirge follows his allies as the player Behind-the-D20 busily preps for his Home-Game, a dungeon delve deep under Kaer Maga before he throws the PCs into The Nine Hells and The Abyss.

Since it was suggested we get some social skills, what feats and traits would be good for Colgrim? He can Intimidate and has a small bonus to wisdom for sense motive.

Intimidating prowess allows you to use your STR bonus instead of CHA for intimidate.

Skill focus can make up for a low stat.

Ready to explore Drashes!

While, Cirok wistfully wants a Wand of Prestidigitation, the Rogue only has currently 528gp, so just another set of Thieves Tools(MW).

Never be too paranoid!

He still wants to peruse a Wand shop, or three regardless.

@Soryan Dirge would it be asking a lot for Cirok to petition our Wizard for an Extended Heroism in the future?

Those bonuses would really tip our Rogue's current numbers to Why, yes, I can do that! status...lol.

Aren't we alone?

We're in a wagon with the driver.

Yeah, I reread the older posts -- hey, Soryan Dirge would've known Gadak was right there and spoken in code in different languages, or just waited until later -- can you really blame me for forgetting? It's been several days. Ah well.

My apologies. Crazy week and a half with illnesses, family travel, an ER visit, and loss of sleep.

Soryan's idea sound good.

Cirok probably would have seen the trio if Gadak personally spoke with them? Or whomever Gadk spoke to along the chain to Xomos Fain.

Depending on these things, Cirok may want to create some drama....

I also do not want to hijack Game Play, so if these behind the curtain Shananagins are too much, please let me know.

My Rogue can be a bit....difficult and Tactical.

I 100% knew in my head that Cirok Brokencrown was going to stealthily follow Gadak to Xomos Fain's proxies. I almost waited for Cirok to post before I had Soryan Dirge sit down at the card table. But. Um. You know.

Hey, it's PbP; it's never going to be as fluid or perfect as Over-The-Table roleplaying. In time we'll find each other's favorite aspects (Evil Outsiders, opportunities to Bluff the bad guys, and Knowledge check situations for me) and hopefully try not to step on each others toes too, too much.

Soryan Dirge offers his apology. For what it's worth -- my business has had a bad week this week, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems blocked by a Sphere of Annihilation. Next week the Financial Quarter ends and another begins which means, on top of everything else, I will have a Froghemoth-sized chunk of accounting to roll Initiative on. I'm hoping to find a few minutes this weekend when I can just relax, clear my head a little, and get into the head-space enough to post for my Wizard.

If you need to post for me on something, my Bluff is +26, Diplomacy +17, most my Knowledge Skills are in the low +20s.

Perhaps I should start a barfight to show my combat skill.

Yeah, just as a 'heads-up' -- it will be very hard for me to post in the upcoming couple weeks. I can easily see it being 18 October before everything here is resolved and I'm able. Hopefully it won't be so busy/ overwhelming. But I have much to do.

I apologize for the pause! Personal reasons.

This last week qualifies actually! We have been sick and I started working 6 days a week. .yuck

Perhaps Cirok -- or Soryan Dirge via DM-bot -- can now organize a gladiator combat with Liver. You probably won't need me to post during such an eventuality. And it ought to give me time here at work to get back above water.

> Come back in two days. I have a creature just for you.

I'll explain why he said about two days. It doesn't seem to me that these fights are going on every day and it doesn't seem that anyone who wants to fight will instantly find an opponent once they come in from the street. They need people to know about the fight and have time to place bets and stuff like that. Outside of the PbP, I might say "a week" (it sounds even more real), but on the forum, a week can take us a whole month. Too long considering that there will obviously be other events.

> I think you should fight him all together.

An absolute metagame from me. I just thought it would be weird if it was a fight where only three would fight. Will the other two drop out of the game for three or more days? However, I do not insist. If you want exactly three, I will do as you say. I repeat, this is already a metagame from the GM ))

Shine on you crazy diamond.