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Wonder if we could use this. Maybe show up, invoke the name of the guard, get the crowd on our side. No way they'd fight if it'd start a riot, though they'd be more likely to run. There's definitely something we could do now that these people are here though, it's a good opportunity to try to exploit in some way.
Okay, that makes sense. I think, though, that it'd work better if you claimed to have been following the ghost, which is why you showed up when it did, which seems otherwise slightly suspicious.
I'm still wondering what the endgame for that plan is. How does you investigating their ghost problem help us capture Verik? Algund still holds his glaive in one hand in his helmet in the other, standing rather awkwardly with it resting against his hip. Maybe we ought to talk to one of the locals, see about using their house, if we're going to be here a while. Got identification, after all.
Just posting here to say that I'm still interested and still patient. No rush.
Don't worry about speed as much as quality. That's my opinion.
As far as I can tell, we're just waiting for the GM to post the results of us walking around the neighborhood and looking for good spots to ambush people. Correct?
I think we've all agreed that we want to scout around and take a look at the neighborhood some more before taking any action.
Seems like it's up to the GM to work you in. I'd advocate for that since you posted regularly. *Posting to all my games* Hey all, I don't know what you do with your free time, but one of the things you might do is use youtube. Youtube is a great site full of lots of awesome communities and good informational content. When I say this, I think in particular of a set of youtubers who discuss military history, use of weapons, HEMA, and related topics. There are a number of great channels run by interesting and knowledgeable people which have taught me a lot and made my life more interesting. Today, one of those youtubers had their channel shut down without warning because of a years-old video about japanese firepots. Apparently it was misinterpreted as some sort of instructional video for terrorists. If you're at all interested in weapons, history, or the free flow of information, please sign this petition. Here's a video by another youtuber on the topic. Thanks.
Could be a good idea, I think it might take a bit of time to work though. Once they trust Gadren, he's still got to lie to them to actually exploit that trust, so it's still going to work in fundamentally the same way. We'd just be trading a good liar for a person under more helpful circumstances. Unless there's some other way to exploit their trust I'm not thinking of?
As each person makes a suggestion, Algund nods at them, okay, he says, concentrating more and more on keeping each new one in his head. Hmm...these are valid concerns. Algund looks around for a bit, eyes looking up and right as he tries to remember everything everyone said and address it one by one. We could perhaps mitigate the problem that one of the guards might know sign language, which seems unlikely, by having Cataria use some gibberish signs which we agree on beforehand. Hand, Algund turns his head, chuckling like a fool, yeah...so that's a good thing to do. I like the merchant thing as well, that's another definite improvement. Algund nods at Gadren, then freezes, obviously trying to remember what was said next. The suspicion thing! He says triumphantly, holding up a finger, which he quickly lowers. I think if they're numbers are reduced it actually won't much matter how suspicious they are. We can just look menacing and because there are a bunch of us and we outnumber them and they don't, you know, want to die...I'm not saying they'll roll over, but it seems like the sort of situation where we hold a lot more cards. In our hands. Algund nods slowly. After another moment, he turns to Corwin, As for your concern that we need to give them a chance to repent...we can. If we trap them, for example, that gives us an opportunity to talk to them, and also a lot of motive for them to not carry on mutineering. Algund looks at an empty space, as if making an aside to some imaginary audience, Which is a word. He turns back without pausing. And then I'm sure some will be more determined than others, but they'll basically have to do what we want if we've got them stuck. The free meat thing is another..thing, to keep in mind. Option I guess is the word there. A thing to keep in mind would be, for example, not trying to move them very far to an ambush. Which we should look to do if possible. So I agree that we should probably scout out a bit now, look for a nice alleyway or something like that. And then... Algund turns to Pia, your suggestion that you ask for meat is also a decent one. The issue with that, though, is that I'm not sure they'll walk into an ambush unless we hire them to do it, like, they might go down an alley with a woman who gave them money and spun a convincing tale even though it looks suspicious, but if you just low investment ask for meat, I think they'll be a bit more on guard. It could work, if other people think it's a better idea than trying to lie they're probably right, but I don't think it's our strongest option.
Right, I'm gonna look to stop at the temple on the way over. It's got some stuff that might prove useful. Won't take long. My stuff:
Right, night's special cuts. Let's come up with a plan then, eh? Algund looks around to make sure everyone is listening and no one is eavesdropping, moving if necessary. After a second, Algund winces, and when he opens his mouth it's not to come up with a plan. Free meat's keeping the families from going hungry? Hmm...wonder if they're stealing it, that can't be sustainable. Wonder if they're the good guys...probably not though right? Algund looks pretty sure that they are doing the right thing by trying to stop them. Anyway, only five is not very many. I bet we could win a fight, especially if we got ourselves a tactical advantage by ambushing them. But that's not what we want, it's dangerous and we want them to live too. We've got to think of some way to spread them out and isolate the leader. I wonder if they all go out together when hired? D'you think they leave behind a guard? The neighborhood likes them, but times are tough, so there's a chance they might be worried about stealing anyway. Algund stops for a second, looking around at each member of the party, obviously concentrating. [b]So, I think I got a decent idea. Cataria, you can pretend to be some lost noble or something, if you need it I've got a signet ring to make you more convincing. The reason it's you is because you're deaf, which means you can make hand signals to us and they won't know what you're doing. The rest of us watch from far away. Now, if they separate into a group of two and a group of three, the rest of us take the group of two. If they're outnumbered I doubt they'll fight to the death, not like they're religious zealots or anything, just a couple of people not happy with the government. Then we've only got three to deal with. If they don't split up, which seems more likely, then it's going to be a bit more difficult. But if Cataria asks them to do something which they would do best by splitting up then we can isolate the leader, who she can signal out to us. That's like...a decent idea that I don't know how best to execute. Maybe she wants them to look for something or someone across a wide and not very dangerous area? The alternative to trying to split them up is to trap them. Cataria brings them to a space with only one entrance and climbs a rope ladder. The rest of us set up a barricade blocking off the exit, and at the top she can cut the ladder if they try to follow. Then we have them at our mercy, could even threaten to drop firebombs on them or something. There're plenty of spots like that in Old Korvosa, plenty of spots like that where stuff like that's been done. We'd have to watch out for gangs, maybe go ahead ourselves and speak to the locals. I'm pretty well known around that area, know a group that might be amenable to not killing us. That's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there are easier ways to do this, but I can't think of any that are better myself. Thoughts?
Ouch, sounds rough. Good luck, sounds like you're due for some.
Algund responds hastily, feeling slightly embarrassed, No I was actually thinking more for like, y'know, the people in the nearby area. They see a group of guardsman move into the house next to them, they see a bunch of us come, who do they trust? It's fairly unlikely they'd fight us, but they'd probably be reluctant to give any assistance. Which there's a decent chance we want to do something like sit around in one of their houses for a bit, for example to try to get a sense of how often they leave and if we can sneak in to talk to Vancasterkin alone. Algund finishes, looking for agreement.
Northgate, elites and old money, got it. Any chance you could give us some sort of official letter so they know we're with you?
I wasn't completely sure how visible she was, and Algund was in a state where he could easily overlook her. In other news, it's time for fall break. One of the things that means is that I'll be posting a lot for the next ~10 days.
Yeah, Algund adds quickly, what if he repents?
Algund is talkative and energetic on the long walk back, freely making jokes and obviously pleased with how things went inside the tavern. I have a reasonable amount of healing magics still at my disposal, I'm sure you have guards and prisoners that could benefit from some healing. Algund also offers to heal any injured guards, prepared to use all four lay on hands for the day if we're sleeping before heading out again. He stands at the back of the office while the others talk for the moment. He perks up, however, at the mention of accepting a body. Still haven't killed anyone. But this is real work now, work big enough to warrant a body, if it comes to that. Five hundred gold's quite a bit. I'd prefer not to extinguish a life if I have to, that's just uh, you know...bigger than I want to commit to. What if I was wrong about killing the person? I couldn't take it back, you know? Algund doesn't really seem to be looking for a complicated answer to his question, just understanding. But it sounds like it'd be for the best, that is, if he fought back and made us kill him I'd bet it'd be justified. Algund looks resolved, and glances around at the others for approval. I don't know where you've got your intelligence, but any other information about this shop, if the locals might be sympathetic, who the erstwhile owner is, might help us formulate a better plan. Do you have a working estimate of how many deserters there are? You look busy, so we can just head out if that's all you know. Algund is clearly ready to go to sleep.
Come on, Algund gestures towards the door, leaping back over the tables and landing next to Gadren, glaive once again in hand. Algund is ready to help carry the guard if need be; his mind fixed only on leaving as fast as possible.
Not worried about the dog biting through his armor, Algund easily manipulates it into a more favorable position, wrapping his arms around its midsection and lifting hard. Oofff, he grunts, the dog is a bit heavier than he anticipated, and he's already slightly off balance...
Should've bought gauntlets... Algund winces, luckily managing to avoid any bites on his hands as he gains control of the dog's shoulders. Should've bought a breyette too, gotta watch my tonkers.
You should have a chat with my associates by the door, Algund begins, taking a running leap into the arena with the dog.
Not wanting to accidentally hit the man, Algund reaches for the dog, trying to pry open its jaws and pull it off.
He's still conscious, means he's probably not in immediate danger of dying, not with magical healing available. It's better to take a slow approach, let him suffer a little, if it benefits us in the long run. The thought causes Algund great discomfort, his head cocking to one side slightly and his face freezing into a mask of disapproval. There's worse in the world already, just because you can see this man's suffering doesn't make it matter any more than theirs. It just makes me care more. Algund shakes his head, clearing his mind of moral questions and focusing on the problem at hand. Too many of them, too large a crowd, they've been drinking, next to no chance that they'll listen to someone asking them to stop. Mediocre to bad odds we can scare them into submission, though perhaps the gryphon might make that possible. They're distracted, so is the barkeep. Maybe we could put the lights out before anyone knows we're here, push past the crowd and hope to wrestle that dog away? No, the fires are too far apart, not going to be easy to put out either, even if we could drop the chandeliers. Perhaps we could spread those fires around, throw a pint full of oil on them, light the walls and floor. They'd be insane not to run away, assuming that worked out well enough, but then the whole neighborhood would go up in flames, that'd be worse than if we just let this man die. Probably wouldn't work to buy a round of drinks for everyone, seems like they'd rather watch now and drink later. What about gold on the floor? Two dozen gold coins, scattered about, might cause chaos, each man trying to make a bid for the other man's coins. No way that wouldn't cause a fight, a gold stretches far in this neighborhood. If they're all ganged together they might be more rational, though they are drunk, in which case we'd probably have to fight them, but if they are all allies they we'd have to fight them unless we turned around right now. All this passes through Algund's mind in a flash just after pushing through the door. He barely slows down, turning backwards as he walks towards the crowd in front of them and spitting out a few quick words. Move quickly. Grab a half dozen gold coins , scatter them across the crowd, and call the others. I'll make for the dog, hopefully they'll be worried about their neighbor stealing their newfound wealth. Algund follows his own advice, palming eight gold coins and checking in with the others for a brief moment to make sure they're on board.
Then he steps to the edge of the crowd and prepares to jump the overturned tables.
I don't anticipate that they'll let us avoid a fight, but I suppose there's a chance it might happen. Algund rolls his shoulders a few times, grunting slightly, and then relaxes. He raises his visor, eyes still glowing blue, and rests his glaive gently on his shoulder. I can take the lead. I'd be more confident in Old Korvosa, the people there know me a bit better, but there's a decent chance that I've got acquaintances who are friends with people inside. Then again, I'm not dressed friendly right now. Algund pats his helmet. I think it's fine if I do the talking, at least at first, sound good?
Algund walks forward slowly, staying in front of Corwin as best he can. It's difficult to tell what he's thinking when you can't see his face, and he doesn't respond to Gadren in any noticeable way.
Good luck going south.
There's a gold in my left shoe, in case we die and they forget to search. Algund picks up the foot and waggles it in the air. It'll be yours anyway if things work out, good luck. Algund nods once, and then a grim look passes over his face. His knees bend slightly, his back straightens, and his grip on his glaive tightens. Algund's brow furrows, and his eyes turn a faint glowing blue color, like the sky on a winter's day. Anyone want to look closer? His voice is lower, and he speaks each word clearly with a slight pause.
Algund raises his visor but does not remove his helmet, glancing around at their surroundings while Gadren talks. After a second, he moves in and seems intently focused on the dirty man, leaning on his glaive. So uh...if this is an ambush we'll kill you first, I suppose. Seems unlikely that you don't already know that, though, we're tough prey and you've got no escape routes and all that. Which means we can just take a moment to talk, unless we're being watched by someone who knows you've got a secret. But then they'd just kill you, since you look pisspoor and not important to anyone. Algund suddenly glances aside, voice rising slightly, I guess we could kill you too, but uh... he looks down considering for a second, I'd probably be much less enthusiastic about that. Anyway, the point is, if you made me guess I'd guess that we hold like, ninety five percent of the cards here. Or whatever people say. And the main one of those is that we've got some money, probably not a whole lot by some standards, but enough to make you happy for a bit, y'know, with alcohol and uh...revelry and so forth. Algund winks, dropping his pack. When did I become someone who winks? Also uh, we're going to want some actual results before we do anything for you, because we're not idiots. I mean, venturing down here might be considered idiocy by some, but I honestly think it'd be more idiocy than that to attack us. Just look at the amount of steel wrapped around me...I'm like...incredible. Algund seems to be aware of how self aggrandizing his statement is, and is clearly speaking in hyperbole.
So uh...I think that's about the state of things. He pulls out a waterskin from his pack and takes a drink, leaning back for a moment but making to keep his eyes open. Did anyone pack the food we bought earlier? I'm uh, kindof interested in some bread or something. Algund picks his pack up again and puts it back on, looking around at the others. He closes his eyes once more, turning them on the poor soul and searching for any evil therien.
Seems like it's feasible to let you drop for 10 weeks and then come back. Thorfinn's a member of a larger organization so he could easily get called away on business and then drop back in later. Also good luck in the army, I can absolutely see the appeal.
Algund follows behind Rebecca, taking a close look at the body and trying to feel for a pulse. His hands seem to glow faintly as he does, although you can't quite be sure. This is the guardsman, correct? He asks the injured woman without looking up.
Algund looks up at Corwin in growing alarm, raising one hand. Shhh he says softly, no need to wake them. You can barely hear his words, and there is almost no breath behind them. It's less about no good things than it is about more bad things, and we don't want those bad things to happen to us.
Yeah it's a rough area, there's a lot of cyclical stuff that happens which makes it real hard to be a good person. Which way are we going? He asks the woman, what is her name? I must have forgotten...stupid of me.
Algund looks about ready to head off in search of the guardsman. She should come with us, he gestures at the injured woman. What's your name?
Perhaps you could take in some orphans? Algund looks up at the man, taking off his helmet, we've recently found quite a few, and it's not easy to find a place for all of them. It would make the poorer residents look more kindly on you as well, which is a good thing because then they wouldn't, you know, try to kill you.
Algund doesn't respond to Rebecca, instead shaking his head, I suppose if you assume I'm an idiot that's the case, or if you assume that whoever is making my argument is. She won't listen, neither will they. It is only when they look to be leaving that he speaks up again. Shouldn't someone take a look for the guardsman? Seems like uh...a really interesting idea to not do that. He might be slightly angry, it's difficult to tell, and if he is he's very in control of himself.
And you will not be delaying that appointment. The penalty for murdering a Guardsman is death, to be carried out by any loyal citizen of the city." Uh...doesn't seem like there's any reason to be hasty. I mean, if you're sure it's the right thing to do then I guess you don't have any reason not to, but you really should uh, you know, consider what you're doing. More, I guess, since you were probably at least pretty sure of what you were doing. But uh, that's a stupid law to apply in all situations, like the riots that went on last night, and you certainly weren't right to follow it in this case, right? Algund turns to look at the woman for a second, yeah because uh...she just clearly stated that he wasn't necessarily dead. He nods to himself. So that's uh, that's at least one reason why you should, you know, just uh...think a bit more. Just don't be uh...hasty. Yeah. Algund begins to pace a bit in between the two women, not looking at either. Anyway, there's also this whole other thing where the rioting makes it, that's the law is what I mean by it, makes it much less applicable. But that's a much worse reason not to kill her. Although it might be a good reason to stop and think for a bit and question the law and stuff, at the very least to make sure it says what you think it says. Because we aren't good at remembering things...though you're not human so that might apply less to you? Hmm... Algund strokes his chin for a moment, and stops paying attention to the conversation taking place between the others for the time being. I could kill her...I could. It wouldn't even be very emotional, although that would be mainly a result of not allowing myself to feel it. "We've got the Sable Company for a reason." To be fast! Algund jumps back in, having now raised his visor.
Don't see a map yet but that should be fine, I think my description is clear enough. Old woman + Algund + Rebecca = syzygy.
Whoa! Algund shouts, perhaps not quite as loud as he could. He takes a step forward and grabs the woman, pulling her away and behind him to shield her from further blows. Take a second think about what you're doing, he warns.
Glad in glittering steel from head to foot, Algund lowers the visor of his helmet and holds his glaive at an angle from the ground. It isn't quite pointed at the crowd yet, but anyone who came within eight feet would be placing their neck a foot away from sharpened steel. "The rest of you best disperse or suffer the same fate! Especially you, sweet'ems." Algund grunts to accentuate this point, taking a slow half step forward. I hope nobody recognized me. But if they did, maybe that's not so bad either. Hopefully in a second when she takes that man away I can smile and have a chat with these people.
"Very good, Algund, please do keep writing. Spoken words fly away, but written words remain," Thanks friend. Praise clearly means a lot to him. After a moment he begins again quickly, not wanting to bask in his own happiness. I've actually just gotten a new journal, and I'm now writing all my poems in it. Should be good to read over when I finish filling it.
I suppose next we should look into Cataria's harrower next, that sounds quite promising to me.
Hey all, I've been having internet issues but they're hopefully solved by now. I'm standing in the apple store as I write this, and won't know for sure if what they did worked until I get home.
It's good to see a friendly face, Algund begins, not that these companions of mine aren't friendly. He seems to be choosing his words carefully and is speaking quite a bit slower than usual. We've been given a task by a dead woman, she was rather vague, but it seemed to be quite important. Right now my priority is getting a group of about twenty children into safe lives. They had been serving a rather unfortunate fellow who my new mates have killed, as I understand it this was a good thing. Algund pauses, and looks down for a moment, I've always been too violent, perhaps it was unwise to phrase things that way. Actually I'd never met the man so I couldn't uh, couldn't say one way or the other about that. That being if it was a good thing to kill him. Anyway, he's dead now. Only a few of the children have homes, most are orphans with nowhere to go. We were looking into different places to send them and I thought maybe we could take a few in at the temple. Maybe just one or two? Once we get them back where they belong, I don't know what my priority is going to be. Things are too chaotic and hard to predict right now. Speaking of which, how are things around here? Were you attacked in the night at all? Maybe a few friends came in looking for shelter or aid, shared their experiences last night? Or maybe we're lucky and you didn't even hear the sounds of rioting, that'd be good since I really like this place and don't want to see it get ruined. He looks unhappy at the possibility.
As they prepare to leave, Algund takes out a small journal and begins to write rapidly in it. His pen moves until he's finished. Algund looks up at the priest and, seeing his approving nod, begins to read. There was a man who lived alone
On long bitter thoughts he survived;
His whole life was before him then,
Then he woke, for struggle and strife.
Somehow, perhaps because of the way Algund smiles and raises his arms on the last four syllables, he seems quite hopeful. He shoots a quizzical glance at Cataria, winks, then realizes what he's just done and shakes his head, grimacing. He gathers his things, picks up his pack, and walks to the door. Silently.
Well sure, we did well, but uh, the rest definitely does matter, right? Like, the whole guard thing might be a problem that can easily be solved. We certainly don't have the information to decide how to solve it, so we shouldn't be making that decision, and it's not like we could anyway. But we can, I think at exactly no cost to ourselves, let someone who does have that information know that there aren't enough guards here. For example, maybe there are plenty of guards in the city but a division got killed or captured last night. And in the chaos, nobody high up has gotten word of it yet, so they think to themselves, Algund strokes his chin and uses a deep, slow voice, "yes, good, the city is back under control and there's no need to send an extra division over there." But then we show up and we say, y'know, "hey friend, no divisions over here." Algund points at the ground. Which costs us nothing and doesn't seem to have any capacity to do something bad to us, but might turn out really well for other people. Which would then be good for me, so uh, work out good for me, and maybe the rest of you as well. Basically there's no reason not to complain, and a lot of good reason to complain. Doesn't seem like a particularly interesting decision, to be honest. Satisfied, Algund approaches the corpse, looking for good handholds. Do we push it back into the sewer? He seems to be asking Corwin.
So she's alright, and will be okay in a few days. That's good, that's real good, no need for anyone to die today. Well uh, someone died today, that's just mathematics, but, y'know, no one's dying that we could have prevented from dying. I mean, maybe that's not true either, but my point is I feel good about what we just did. Algund stands up and looks around at the others. "So I would kindly recommend that if you have a complaint with their response times in the middle of a city wide riot that you either consider joining them to help bolster their dwindling numbers, or at least wait to voice them until after I am out of earshot." I mean, it's not really a city wide riot anymore. Algund begins pacing. Sure, there's aftermath and stuff, and I bet more crimes are being committed right now than usual, and maybe even some isolated pockets of rioting are still left after the night. But I think they're more talking about how there aren't guards nearby at all, so it's less of a response time problem and more of a, y'know, they don't exist problem. Although I guess they're kindof the same problem if you think about it long enough, since they'd definitely show up eventually once someone found the guard post or they stumbled across the Otyugh. Then again, maybe it is a different problem, since maybe they're numbers are low enough that even if someone had gotten to a guard post and said, Algund's voice becomes high and shrill, and he adds in a faint country accent "there's an otyug rampagin' 'round the city" they'd've said, you know, his voice becomes unreasonably low, "we don't have the numbers to go fight an Otyugh" Algund stops pacing, a look of realization on his face. Then again, they'd've at that point just gathered more guards. So it is a response time problem! He looks triumphant. Figured that out pretty quick. Also a significant response time problem like that would be uh...seriously not good. Like, it's the sort of problem that you definitely should complain about, so when we head off to file our report we can let them know...yeah? Algund picks up his glaive and leans against a wall, seeming quite interested in inspecting the blade. Just don't be an idiot he thinks to himself, smiling faintly.
Algund brings his glaive up warily, still at full combat speed, and brings it down once more to make sure the creature is dead. He then drops his glaive like a man would drop a dead animal. Good gods I'm awesome, didn't even come close to getting hit. How is she? he says, dropping to one knee beside the injured woman. His hands seem to be glowing faintly.
Today I went for a ride in a German Army surplus vehicle, a big troop transport unimog. This particular vehicle had a penchant for the driver forgetting to put the parking brake on. Also for flipping over. In particular it seemed to do these things at times after I had taken my seatbelt off but before I had actually gotten out. Anyway, I'm mildly concussed but otherwise fine. I had a hard time reading my book while the ambulance was on its way, but that's not necessarily a result of head trauma, it might have just been stress. The point I'm trying to make, though, is that I might sound more like an idiot than usual.
Algung swings his glaive at the creature as it stands up, trying to hit with just the tip and thereby concentrate the force. He then takes a step back and lines up a strong stab at its face.
Thanks Algund cries, maybe I should try a tip cut. That'll cut right through its hide unless it's strong as mail.
You he dodges a tentacle are going he parries another to pay. As the beast leans in for a bite, he brings down his gliave at its head, trying to inflict damage through sheer blunt force.
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