GM GuardYourPrivates' Shards of Golarion

Game Master SqueezeMeNow

"I can work on making explosives to crack rock but I can't help with the regular mining part. I worked with some miners once. I taught them to sing. A bunch of dwarves, seven of them actually. They had this teenage girl they had adopted. Nice fellas but they could not sing or whistle to save your life. Six months with them and those boys made me proud. They made it a constant practice to whistle while they worked."

Jaxom nods. "Right. Only here to mine the metal. Nobody is here permanent."

He turns to leave. "Alden? I'm heading back to get tools. And I think we should bring in some of Tymos's men. As long as they also accept that nobody is moving here permanent. Mines play out over time and then we leave. The land belongs to the Lady."

Alden nods in agreement with Jaxom’s statement. ”Are these terms agreeable to you, M’Lady?” he asks Tal.

Lars listened as the others discussed mineral rights and land ownership. These all made sense to him. That, and it was good to see Jaxom light up. It was clear that he had the heart of a craftsman. Lars respected that.

”So, I take it then that we will hold off on any more merging while we work the mines.” Lars said, half question and half statement. His voice deadpan, he added ”And I am sure whistling while they work will make the work go faster.”

"I don't know about faster but definitely more fun." Kevan responds with a grin.

The lady still wears that faint smile she often had around the group, and favors Alden with a soft nod.

At present the group isn't really sure who is any good at mining. Other than potentially Siegfried and Fogril. Though Tel Beys has also been known to quarry stone. Lars asks an important question: will you hold off the merging to start mining?

Jaxom wants the metal. Merging isn't even in his mind at the moment. He'll join the other to defend their land if/when it happens.

It probably would be advisable to mine, do some etherium research, and get our magic items made. If we get visitors from another shard, so be it.

I will retcon this if the rest of the group decides to roll a shard. Otherwise this roll will decide... things. Give people a day for consensus.

Percentile: 1d100 ⇒ 51

Mine and develop bombs.

Alright, so I'm going to give you all a month of downtime now to run an expedition to this mine. Traditional gathering roles won't really work well with Mithril, since you would need such a massive amount of GP rolls to match Mithril's cost. Normally you would build a mine and that would give you a certain amount of Mithril as "Goods" in the downtime system. But you're not building a mine.

So what we're going to do is assign you a few bonuses based on the help you put together to do this. If you can roll about a 10 on a D20 with bonuses you will gather enough Mithril for two pieces of light armor or one medium, and enough for a two-handed weapon. If you fail the roll you will get enough for one piece of light armor and a one-handed weapon. Weapons can be made 2-1 at a smaller size. Two one-handed for a two-handed, two light weapons for a one handed, etc.

As the group returns to town and looks to recruit aid they find many able hands willing to help them:

- Siegfried and Fogril agree to lead a small workforce with Tel Bey's permission. One or two of the detail assigned to the dwarves have mined before, but aren't particularly skilled.

- Norian volunteers his own magic to help bring the mined ore back.

- Tymos considers sending some guards with the party, but Tel Beys considers your group more than capable.

- Kevan and Varny make some minor explosives to aid in the mining.

Mining: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 1 + 2 = 6

Sadly the mining efforts don't go well. Which is an understatement. First, Kevan makes a point to brag about the explosives. Which promptly spooks the workers, as well as the two dwarves who had no idea he was capable of making such things.

Making a thicker wall at the smithy is discussed.

Then, when they start the mining the workers find the narrow shaft difficult to get people in and out of. Expanding it ends up taking up most of a week by itself. Then, they discover much of the timber had rotted and they have to bring more from the mill... then cut and fit the timbers.

Which also goes wrong somehow.

Then, because everything else wasn't bad enough, some of the ants are spotted in the distance. They end up not coming across the camp, but guards have to be set. Which takes up the parties time.

By the time the group gets back to town with a haul of their mythril... the lot of them are miserable, grumbling, and likely on each other's nerves.

You did manage to get enough Mithril for a light suit of armor and a one-handed weapon. Do you wish to continue mining exploits or join a shard. You chance of success mining will increase now that you have begun the operation. Your chance of having a shard join with your also increases.

Shall we continue mining, and hope for better results? I'm not in a hurry to join shards immediately, but will if the rest of the group votes for it.

Jaxom wants to continue mining.

”That wasn’t ideal.” Lars said, understating the situation. ”But not everything is. The ants seem to becoming and as such we don’t have time to stop if we want this ore. I think we should put our backs into this, and get what we can, while we can.”

Alright, another crack at it with a lower DC.

Mining: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

By the end of the following month some of the workers asked to be swapped out midway. Those that remain curse that this mine is just that... cursed. Support beams crack and you suffer a minor cave in. No major injuries. From that. But then there are several other accidents as well. One man has a loadstone slip free of dirt in the wall and crush his foot. Another slips and has their leg double as a lever... that snaps. The quick progress expected is quickly lost, and while ants still don't push out their territory more are spotted on the horizon.

Now, let's try this with the updated table.

Percentile: 1d100 ⇒ 42

Here we go.

Random: 1d4 ⇒ 4

I will have an update coming. Ya'll have some nasty luck on Christmas.

Over the next month, the residents of Passbog-Ostenso see that a wolf has taken to following Alden around. The paladin continues to help out where and whenever he can but, in between tasks, he can be seen working with the animal, training it to respond to various commands. If asked, he introduces the wolf as his friend, Harrier. More often than not, Alden seems to call the beast, Harry, instead.

(General Purpose Combat Training)

The unfortunate results of the mithril mining operation has him concerned. He uses his lay on hands and channel energy abilities to treat the injured miners, and thanks the Stagfather that there have been no fatalities, thus far.

He is grateful to Milton, Jaxom and the other crafters for the creation of his magical sword, cloak, and haversack, and immediately incorporates them into his arms and equipment. He offers his nonmagical masterwork longsword to the Town Council, trusting them to either bestow it upon a worthy wielder, add it to the town armory, or gift it to the smithy to be melted down and made into farm implements.

If he has time, he pays a visit to Sarana at the Swan Lake. He recalls she had been shadowing him through the woods some time ago, and he promised that he would visit.