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We just lost our healer/face, but it's the kind of group that can accommodate any concept :)
Hey everyone! We just started a new Dragon's Demand game and are missing one more player. Would any of you be interested in jumping on board? http://paizo.com/campaigns/GMNeirikrsDragonsDemand/discussion&page=last
Ack! Coming back too late, it seems. Thanks for the great game, Wolfspirit. It was really fun while it lasted.
Audsley lopes forward, his overlong arms hanging by his sides, knuckles brushing over the knee-high grass. He cuts around the corpses of the wolves, chuckling at the sight of their ice-rimed fur, and then, when he's in range, hurls another bomb at the wolves who are savaging Turante. "Get off her, you mangy, flea-bitten, whey-faced excuses for downtrodden curs!"
Gasping with excitement, Audsley slings another bomb up on high!
Audsley's been guzzling potions ever since the spire of rock came into view. In quick succession he downs three vials, and their effect is immediate; his brow slopes back, his jaw grows prognathous, and his arms extend to adopt their simian length. When they sight the wolves, the alchemist slips of his mount's back and lopes along the length of the fallen tree to their south, hunched over and pulling a bomb from his bandolier. When he's directly south of the pack, he grins and hurls his bomb up high, arching into the cerulean sky so that it comes careening down to explode in a blast of blue flames on the closest wolf.
Audsley, fortunately enough, is in the stable trying to catch mice for an experiment. When Flora is called for, he immediately follows after, and at the sight of Emil and Janna he grows pale. "What's happened? Are we being invaded? I should have known we were being invaded, my apologies for failing, I'm only now beginning to set up my network, oh -" He blinks when he's set straight. "Oh, wolves? We can deal with wolves, can we not? Here, I shall accompany you all, of course. I have my satchel, my glasses, an emergency pack of delicacies... yes, good to go." So saying, he fetches his own mount, and is promptly ready to ride out with the others.
With all respect, is it inappropriate for me to ask if this game has lost a critical amount of steam? I know we're all fond of the characters and campaign, but... well... it's been limping for some time. I guess I'm just asking: do we think this is really going to pick up speed again, or should we just give up the ghost and bid farewell to our heroes once and for all?
Audlsey looks mortified. "Me? I'd probably lop my own leg off. The gods forfend! No, I'll stick to setting our foes aflame from a nice, tidy distance, Thank you very much."
Audsley forces himself to listen to the Shoanti's murderous howls, sitting vigil out of some perverse desire to both learn from the experience and pay testament to the man's illness. Indeed, he insists on lecturing anyone who will listen that the affliction is a disease like any other, and just as one should not blame a man for falling under the sway of devilwort or the crimson weeping, Kundal should not be blamed for the curse that has befallen him.
Each morning, just before the howls cease, he hurries to the kitchens where he orders a large meal served up for the poor Shoanti, a meal which he helps cook and has steaming hot and ready to be devoured after a night of brutal labor. Piping hot eel pies in glazed pastry, vegetable and ham frittatas in cast iron pans, hot coffee, rashers of bacon, glistening sausage links, fried potatoes with oregano and imported Chelish paprika - all and more awaits the Shoanti each morning out of something akin to sympathy from the spymaster.
Finally, when all is done and Kundal presents his blade to Emil, Audsley is there, standing to one side, beaming at everyone present as he rises to the balls of his feet and lowers over and over again, hands linked behind his back. When the Shoanti finishes saying his piece, he lifts his hand and whispers to anyone close by, "Most noble, oh yes, very gracious, quite generous, a most valiant expression of gratitude." Still, that said, he casts an inquisitive eye upon the blade, trying to determine if it has any magical properties.
I'm back! Still sleep deprived, but that's not going to change for a few months yet at the very least. Thanks for being patient with me, everyone!
Audsley, pale faced, stands at the back of the group, washing his hands as the tension of the moment gets to him. When the Shoanti agrees however to follow their requests, he heaves a sigh of relief and nods profusely. "Yes, our many thanks, tendered and delivered with heartfelt sincerity, I am sure. We shall do everything within out power to help you, and if needs be will even send for a powerful cleric to lift this curse from your shoulders." He blinks and smiles nervously. "Don't fear. Agreeing to receive help is the first and most important step toward being cured."
Little guy called Gabriel. Thus far he shows a delicious predilection to sleep lots :)
Our baby has arrived! Please bot Audsley for the next week or so as needed. Thanks!
I am! Though things have been a little busy irl, as my wife and I are expecting our second child literally any day now. So please have a little patience if I'm slow to respond, but I'm too fond of Audsley and this group to ever think of giving this game up :)
Turante:
Audsley barely manages to twirl and spin back without tripping over his feet, and blushes furiously as he does so, stepping away when it's polite and rubbing his palms on his tunic, then reaching up to adjust his glasses.
"But, my dearest Turante, you speak as if we're not running a fledgling kingdom! There is far too much to be done, and to delegate, why, at this early juncture I barely know whom to trust, and the time it would take to train them would be much more than any one task would take in and of itself - as for influential, you're too kind! I am working on that, but believe me, it's going to take much more work, hours and hours upon weeks and weeks! Not that I don't relish the challenge; information flows through out kingdom like words across a page, and I am slowly learning to read the language, to decipher it and enjoy the ebb and flow of its rhythms." He smiles hesitantly, "As for not building a kingdom out of paperwork, well. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to disagree with you there - the more I study the matter, the more it seems kingdom building is paperwork. Taxation, writs, property titles, legal disputes, correspondence, communiques, reports - oh the reports! - and so on and sundry. The warriors and scouts and laborers are but the visible tip of what is a mountain of paperwork. And should one neglect this teeming pile for but a moment, ah! It shall fall, cascade, and sweep us all away in a jumble of confusion and anarchy, rendering all chaos and bedlam, leaving us buried to our ears in contradictory orders and requests, with no hopes of ever returning to the land of orderly progress." His smile widens. "I may be exaggerating just a little, but believe you me, not by much." Audsley nods, wiping his mouth and setting down his napkin. "My agreement in this matter with you, our rightful king, is as voluble as it is confidence personified. Interrogations must be offed, doubts skewered, and truths revealed, lest murders foul and profane be enacted forthwith and summarily upon the populace, innocent being, and deserving, oh so deserving, of our ministerial oversightedness." He pauses and stares at his goblet. "By the king's beard that was some very good plum wine."
Audsley is often gone from the hallways of the main keep, though where he spends his time isn't often in evidence. He always seems to have a project in mind, a new elaborate plan to improve obscure elements of the fledgling kingdom. He loses some weight, and drops hints here and there that he's spending a lot of his time simply walking around, talking to people. His blithe cheerfulness, if anything, makes up for his lack of subtlety; the builders and farmers and merchants find his grin and sparkling eyes disarming, his naive enthusiasm charming in a childlike manner, and soon he's building a sense of who is where and what they do. One evening he comes back to the keep with a large crate of pigeons, that he explains excitedly he's been raising at Oleg's outpost, and to which they'll fly back with a message when in need. His next goal is to raise a flock at the keep, so that they can be left with Oleg. He begins to correspond with agriculturally oriented druids from across the realm, asking about innovative crop practices and seeing if any are willing to relocate to their kingdom. This doesn't seem to go very far, but he has fun pursuing this goal regardless. Further, he's generous with his small funds; it becomes well known around Summergold that Audsley King will pay the value of a piece of information with largesse; soon his quarters feature a small line of urchins, layabouts, mendicants and concerned citizens, each eager to share what they've seen or dreamed or thought they overheard. And on one or two occasions, Audsley returns to the others with a grim visage; this or that new arrival has an aura of crackly sharp, vicious black energy around them, he'll report, and share the information with their guard. And sure enough, those new arrivals start causing trouble sooner or later, either while in their cups or when they think nobody's watching. They're quickly rounded up and cast out, the damage they're able to inflict curtailed by the kingdom's preparedness. It's a busy, exciting time for Audsley, and he's never still or in one place for long. Boasting a tan and a rakish ponytail, he's always in and out, smiling and munching on some delicacy, and can often be found snoozing in the keep kitchen, a book flat on his chest, close to where the scent of food is richest and the cooking fires are warmest. Turante: "I - ah - excuse me? Relax? Well, that's very kind of you, my dear Turante, and perhaps with your ample lifespan you can afford to move a little slower, but I, oh, the sheer list of items on my list is staggering, stupendous, and I must hurry if I'm to accomplish them all! But thank you, all the same, for the thought, for thinking of me. Most generous of you. Here. Would you like some shortbread? Fresh from the oven!"
Audsley nods, to0 preoccupied with patting his many pouches to make sure he's got everything he needs to do more. Moving out into the castle courtyard, he sets to checking his horse's saddlebags, muttering to himself, "Candied walnuts, plenty of maple smoked bacon, good, good, and let's see, nuggets of honeyed almonds sprinkled with cayenne, lemon shortbread cakes, ah - hmm. Where did I put the cinnamon buns?"
Hang in there amigo! Take care of yourself first and foremost, and I'm sorry to hear about your vehicular woes.
"Hmm," says Audsley, and then he gives a nod. "I suppose so. But... well. I'd be worried of future developments. What if something nasty comes through? Having someone on watch would at least give Akiros warning of trouble. But! I am willing to let the group consensus reach a decision on that front." He wipes his hands on the front of his tunic as if seeking to clean them of the taint in the room. "Shall we head to the fae? I for one am eager to resolve this enigma before the apocalypse strikes us."
Audsley nods slowly. "It's as important as it is vague, unfortunately. And does seem to be scrawled in human blood... which is ghastly. I think we should put this room under guard from hence forth, and, ah, perhaps try to find experts in the Aether with whom we can consult? Perhaps the fae we met with earlier? Either way, something dire seems to be approaching..."
Audsley stands still at the entrance, hands on hips, mouth moving soundlessly as he mutters the words to himself. He takes it all in, then removes his spectacles and cleans them on his shirt, brow creased in thought.
Audsley takes the scrap of parchment and studies it carefully, holding it up to the sunlight even and then rubbing the pads of his fingers over the letters.
He frowns and it hands it to the next person. "Someone - or a group - are postering our town with these parchments? They're all identical? Any idea who might have been putting them up?"
Audsley is still gaping at Emil, potion held high where he was about to quaff it. He shakes his head in amazement, and then suddenly laughs. Emil! We should have had a bard with us to watch you take down that thing! If your people knew how well you handled your lance, they'd fall to their knees in a trice in awe and devotion!"
Uh... is the combat over? That was insane!
Lessee... raised INT from 17 to 18 which is fun, which results in +1 bomb/day ontop of my level increase and an extra +1 to damage... Oh, took Frost Bomb discovery. DC 16 Fort saves or the bad guys get staggered now ;) And...2nd level spells! Took Cat's Grace to help with throwing bombs. DM, can I buy spells with my gold?
Audsley has been riding at the back of the group, doing his level best to keep up with the others as he reads through a thick report, the scroll bouncing and jouncing in his hands as his horse insists on trotting in a manner most unhelpful to a steady reading environment. Still, he persists, underlining sections, making notes in margins, and clucking his tongue in exasperation every now and again. When he does look up, he realizes he's missed out on a good chunk of the decision making process, and hastily rolls up his thick scroll and stows it in his saddlebag. "Acid? That, ah, I can do. And from a distance, even. If we can draw it out, I could fairly saturate its frilly fronds in a most fricative acid bath. Ah, as it were." He smiles at the others. "Oh, it is good to get out and about, isn't it? I never thought I'd say those words or miss being saddle sore, but I suppose I may have become addicted to the excitement of our perilous adventures. Tally ho, and so forth!" When Franka makes her suggestion, Audsley removes his glasses and rubs them on his cloak. "Um, at the risk of being gauche, Turante, would you be willing to extend your peerless neck on this one? If the Mound has a predilection for elves, well. You know."
Fifthed!
Hey guys, I have to admit I'm a little swamped with stuff IRL (2 year old toddler, second child due end of Feb!), and don't have the wherewithal to dig into the kingdom building side of the game. Instead, I have complete faith in whatever decisions you guys make, and am happy to keep playing along on a post-by-post basis even if it means I miss out on some of the more thorny and intricate discussions about the allocation of points and resources. Hope you all don't mind!
There's got to be a way to port that music across our fledgling nation. Freestanding speakers connected by Message spells?
Same here!
Just want to say an ooc 'bravo' to Turante as well! I loved the language of that notice. Well done!
Audsley holds it a good two feet away as he peers at it, mouthing the words and nodding in agreement. When he's done he hands the scroll to the next person and beams at Turante. "Superlative. You have a true gift for this manner of language, Turante. You write it so cleanly and simply that it seems the easiest thing in the world, yet were I to try my hand at it, I would spend weeks tying myself in knots and come out with something twice as long and half as clear. Bravo." He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "How about printing copies and having them nailed to posts along the main entrances to our domains? Or even sending copies to our neighboring nations?"
It's hard to show love for someone whose still unstable....
I know! Do you go purely by the best stats? Do you allow IC considerations to hold sway? I don't think anybody liked Pennington, for example, yet he's our best candidate for diplomat, isn't he?
Audsley leans back in his chair, fingers rippling over the curvature of his stomach, and he nods as the mercenary captain outlines his forces and thoughts. "The, ah, order and safety of our fledgling realm is highly - if not almost exclusively - dependent on people knowing that the law will be enforced, and that they won't be raided at a moment's notice by bandits or worse. So, thank you for your service thus far, unofficial even as it's been." Audsley nods and looks around the group, fairly confident that he's said nothing outrageous. He looks back to Kesten. "Could you tell us a little about yourself? What brought you to this table, as it were, with an interest in taking on a more official role? A man of your talents and authority could have, um, assumed a number of positions across a number of different nations, I'd warrant. What brought you to this one?"
Brilliant! Everything Audsley will do will be done for the greater good, I swear!
On a mechanics level, it looks like the Spy can influence different roles depending on what's needed, which could be useful in the long haul. On an rp note, I think Audsely's intense curiosity could extend to everybody's business, and when coupled with his shrewdness and people's probable tendency to underestimate him or consider him harmless, could result in his being pretty effective. Also, Paymaster sounds more fun than Treasurer!
I'm fine with some leisurely free form rp over the holidays. One thing Audsley can do is talk.
Done voted! Wolfspirit, can you move Audsley's votes? I can't edit them now, for some reason. I'd like 1 in Spymaster, 2 in Treasurer. Thanks!
Audsley nods, hesitant. "Perhaps I'm thinking too aggressively? Still, they might be good points to keep in mind, even as we continue to grow. It's best to, ah, set precedents early than late." He then shifts forward, growing excited. "Incidentally, I've been doing a little scouting of all our new friends, using a newfound power I developed while on the road this week past. This vial here, no, wait, this one - it allows me to determine the, ah, shall we say morality of the people I view? I but drink it and I can see a ghostly shimmer around people whose world view is in alignment with what I am seeking to discover." He waggles the silvery test tube. "That is to say, I've been doing a little reconnaissance of our candidates, trying to determine if there are any bad apples amongst them, and to my delighted surprise there are not. Some hew to a more structured approach to goodness, such as Jhod and Latricia, while the others fall into a generally more haphazard approach to doing good or simply focus on the essence of goodness over the importance of rules or, ah, vigilantism. So, a good group of folks! I for one am relieved." Audsley slips the vial away. "My one surprise was Akiros. He radiates both a lawful approach to doing good, but also, and perhaps confusingly, a - well. Absolutely selfish and amoral approach as well? At the same time, it seems. Perhaps a fractured personality? Or there might be more going on there - he could perhaps be a good soul under a curse, or magical spell, or... I don't know. But it's very interesting."
Good catch! And thanks for posting the info. And I must admit to being surprised - no NE or LE? I could have sworn we'd have a few to contend with... but either way that makes things much simpler, knowing that on a basic level we can trust them to have their hearts in the right place. Thanks!
Audsley's eyes go wide and he nods emphatically to Turante. Turning to the others after Emil responds, he rubs his chin and frowns. "I'm, ah, speaking off the cuff here, as it were, but what do we think about, you know, systems?" He blinks at the others, then realizes he should elaborate. "I mean, if we're building a nation from scratch, at what point should we start to implement basic systems for control? Such as establishing a means for our people to contact us in case of an emergency while we're in the field, or summoning help from our future guards when one of our outposts are attacked? A pony express? Could we, ah, use some of our gold to hire some low level mages to act as communicators between key settlements..?" He taps his lips, deep in thought. "We should also establish a legal code very soon and post it visibly. As a quick fix, perhaps we could emulate an existing nation's set of laws, and then refine it to our liking over time?" He looks around the group, waiting to see if anybody chimes in. "And, ah, taxation. Death and taxes, am I right? We're going to be soon building roads, bridges, outposts, hiring professionals, raising an army, employing just about everybody to get this business going, and I for one would feel a little safer being as independent from our benefactor as possible. Should we start at least thinking about taxation, or tolls, or the like?" Finally he looks back to Emil. "And, ah, it might pay to start making it clear we're in charge. Perhaps hiring people to proclaim our deeds and post paintings of you around town so that people can put a face to your name? Or sending regular updates to our people so they know we're active and haven't been eaten by an owlbear? A public relations campaign, as it were, to solidify our ownership? What do you think, Turante?"
Question: for my new formulae I've selected See Alignment. This allows me to quaff my potion and see a ghostly radiance surround those whose alignment matches one I specify. So I can choose 'Neutral Evil', for example, and everyone I see within two hours who matches that will glow. What I'd like to do is cast this spell five times a day (my max allotment) while at Oleg's, and wander around searching for individuals who are evil of any stripe, first and foremost (especially the leaders who have come to us), and then also try to detect any Chaotic Neutral individuals or Lawful Good folks. On the next day I'd try a different set of alignments till I had them all covered. How do you want to handle this? How I interact with the personalities we're talking with will be colored by my discoveries. Do you want to list the main NPC's here and tell me what I discover their alignments to be over the course of a couple of days? Or...? Let me know what works best. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/see-alignment
It's a lot to take in. Worse yet, each passing moment and encounter is fraught with importance, their every decision like a pebble cast into a lake, sending ripples whose consequences they can't predict throughout both their fledgling kingdom and future. Such that Audsley spends most of his time alternating between feeling giddy at the potential of what they're about and being thrust into deep bouts of introspection and gloom as he wonders if they're up to the task. During their private conversation, he nods along to almost everything Turante has to say, and only pipes up at the very end. "I know very little of statecraft, aside from what I've read in fables and ancient histories, but, ah, one thing that strikes me Emil is that if you are going to be our leader - king, or emperor, or lugal as it were, then you really must change your attitude. Hmm." He wiggles a bit in his seat. "See, you have to see yourself as the leader. You have to embody that faith in your right to lead, or, well, nobody will believe your claims to be such. Your telling us right now that you are just a man on a horse who points a stick at monsters, is - ah - amusing? But horribly off tone. Before anything else, before we make any proclamations or grand decisions, you need to spend some time alone really coming to terms with what you're about." Audsley blinks owlishly behind his glasses. "There is a time for modesty and self-effacement, but not when you're trying to create a kingdom. No. This is a time for raw charisma and confidence. Now is when you must rise up, bold and beautiful, and seize the right to lead! You must impress upon the masses that you know best, you can create this kingdom like no other, that you are equipped with both the wisdom and strength to carve a peaceful land out of this wilderness, and that they had best fall in line and do as you command or they will suffer the consequences!" Audsley simmers down a bit with an embarrased smile. "Ahem. Sorry. Got carried away there. Not that you have to become at tyrant or the like - but you must have more confidence in yourself. We're doomed if you don't. And if you can't muster it? Fake it when in public, and then confess your doubts to us. But please. Deep breaths from now on before speaking. Less stammering! Less jokes at your own expense! Remember that you can always fob off a decision if you're in doubt by saying you'll think on it and telling them to wait. You are to be a king, so, for better or worse, a king you must become."
Sorry, been traveling, back now, should post very soon!
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