Yeah, I think I'm going to bow out at this time too. I hope everyone has fun with whatever new games you start up! Take care all!
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Brev translates Knezul's words for Caelin and Venedictos. "It seems we're getting somewhere after all," he says afterwards, a big smile across his face.
Brev translates Simon's and Venedictos's words as closely as he can.
I just spent a game session playing a level 9 paladin in Kingmaker... in five combats, I did 35 total damage in two swings. I was about ready to hang myself. In a 2nd Edition game years ago, I played a paladin who just could not hit anything. I had absolutely terrible luck. It became an ongoing topic to joke about at the table. The DM even arranged to have my character find a holy avenger just to make it more likely that I would hit. Instead, I just started rolling even lower. My character still missed 9 times out of 10.
Brev translates Caelin's words, hoping to do a bit better this time.
He also adds in Draconic, "And please let Meekis go. If an error has been made here, it was ours, not his. He acted only in a way that he felt would be best for your people."
"I'm afraid they're not very happy with us," Brev says. "I must have translated Venedictos's words poorly. My apologies for that. I will attempt to translate theirs better." He then tells Caelin what the kobolds said.
Brev pats Venedictos's leg. "Well said, my friend, well said." He looks at the kobolds. "You'd do well to listen to them, and in the unlikely event you don't understand his language..." He repeats what Venedictos said, only in Draconic this time.
Really?! Another Nat 20 on Diplomancy? [ dice] Please please please be a 20! 1d20 +X Oh thank you thank you thank you Dice Gawds/Random Number Generator[ /dice] Venedictos is like a god of diplomacy or something. Nat 20 after nat 20.
Brev's ears perk up at the kobold whispering. "They've tied up Meekis and are planning to betray us!" he calls out. Then he turns to the kobolds and says in Draconic: Draconic: "I would think carefully about what you're trying to do. Let Meekis go, deal with us as planned, and everything works out wonderfully for all of you. Do something stupid, and there are some here who won't hesitate to kill you."
I have to agree with Nazard/Venedictos's concerns. The problem is, it makes reacting naturally extremely difficult as we're often in possession of information our characters have no way of knowing. We end up doing a lot more separating of player and character knowledge than is normally necessary. With a bit of surfing around, I've found that there is actually a term for this sort of thing: metaposing. This site has a pretty good description of it. It may just be my stage and improv training working against me here, but I've had "show, don't tell" drilled into me so much, it's hard to work against. I do like Kiptera's suggestion of the spoiler compromise.
It looks like Venedictos, Brevaddelar, and Caelin are going out in the open to talk to the kobolds, Kiptera and Isis are guarding the goods, and Denis is staying hidden. Brev nods. "I think my best place is up talking to the kobolds with Venedictos," he says. "I understand Draconic, so can help with any translations if necessary. Also, the fact that I am a gnome and not a human may help convince the kobolds that cooperation between races is possible. And if the worst should happen, I can help lend some spell power to those caught in the middle, possibly put all the kobolds to sleep and end things with a minimum of bloodshed."
Brev watches Vendictos intently, and will be ready to cast a daze spell if the kobolds become violent.
Brev will stick by Venedictos until the group is ready to proceed, unless somebody needs him to do something else.
"It seems to me," Brev says, standing up on his chair to be seen better, "that there is a lot of talk of betrayal. Betrayal by the kobolds, betrayal by the dwarves, even betrayal by us. The fact of the matter is, any of the sides could potentially betray, but going into things assuming that somebody's going to betray somebody else just makes the whole endeavour pointless. The deal with the kobolds gives us a possibility of resolving everything with no further bloodshed. Are we guaranteed no further bloodshed? No, but there's a chance. All the other options will require fighting the kobolds at the very least, if not others. We're guaranteed bloodshed in those circumstances. So it seems to me that making the deal with the kobolds is the only viable option for us. Diplomacy: He waits a moment to see if anyone responds to him. If not, he will sit down again.
Brev has a single drink with the others before deciding to do some insect hunting for the rest of the evening. He happily invites any of the others who are interested to come along with him and he can show them the wonders of the insect world. If no one's interested, he'll go on his own. When he's done, he spends the night in his usual spot against a tree.
Brev looks back and forth to either side of Simon. He starts to move towards the left side, but then stops and looks back at the right, and sighs. "The problem," he says, "is whether we can be sure no one will find out about the gold anyway. If we could, I would vote for not telling about the gold and never having to think about the gold again. However, I really don't think we can be sure of that. So best to tell everyone and deal with the situation now before it can get any worse." He moves over and stands to the right of Simon.
Brev shakes his head sadly. "I think we are in a very precarious position," he says. "I believe Venedictos did a wonderful job with the negotiations, but there will be resistance on every side, as Mercy here has just shown, and we need to do our best to calm feelings everywhere. Mercy, you say that kobolds are not people, but how do you define people? Humans? That would eliminate myself, Kiptera, and Denis. Is it creatures who just look close enough to your definition of human? Denis has horns. Does that eliminate him from being people? As for badgers, I might actually try to parley with it if I thought it would help. I can talk to animals, although an enraged badger can be very hard to parley with. If the badger needs to be...put down as you say, it is because there is no reasoning with it. However, Venedictos just proved that there is reasoning with kobolds. Even if they turn around and betray us--which they might; it's just as likely as the town really--but even if they do, they have shown that they can listen and reason." He turns back to Simon. "So Simon, my opinion is that we have a very hard road ahead."
Yay! XP! One question: Are we on the medium XP progression?
Brev nods and gives Asvora a friendly pat on the arm. "I can totally understand your frustration. You've had a trying time. I'm sorry for your losses. But thank you for the information on the mine and your campsite, and I will try to remember all those names, but I must confess, my memory for such things isn't the best." He doesn't pause to see if she's surprised that he understood Dwarven. Instead, he starts rummaging through his backpack. "I'd like to offer a gift to a new friendship, but I'm afraid I don't have much to give." He stops rummaging through his pack. "Do you like fish by any chance? I could catch you a fish if you like. As soon as we pass a location where I can catch fish, that is. Or perhaps I can find you a butterfly." He starts to gaze around, looking for insects, seeming almost to have forgotten the rest of his surroundings.
Brev has remained totally silent during the exchange, just standing beside Venedictos, watching and listening. Finally, he pats Venedictos's legs. "Well done, Venedictos, my friend," he says. "I've always said that you're a fine talker as well as a fine singer." He goes over to the dwarf and holds out his hand in greeting. "How do you do? My name's Brevaddelar. I know we've had a bit of a rough start, but why don't we just start fresh? Perhaps we can all learn to be friends: Tanner's Crossing, dwarves, and kobolds alike." He pauses to see if she takes his offered hand. Diplomacy:
Brev moves slowly forward, being as unthreatening as he can (not that he ever really looks threatening), until he's beside Venedictos. He just listens intently to the conversation. He, too, can speak Draconic (something he completely forgot to mention to the party), and so he pays particular attention to what the kobolds are saying amongst themselves. Perception, in case it's needed:
Brev's face reddens slightly in embarrassment at his mistake. Initiative: He will cast sleep if the kobolds attack first. If not, he waits to give people a chance to talk. Edit: He will only cast sleep if he can be certain of not targeting any of the party members.
Brev is noticeably excited by this turn of events. He casts a mage armour spell on himself and then waits to see what happens next.
Brev tries to keep himself in the middle of the group, moving as quietly as he can.
Brev looks at Denis in fascination. "What magnificent horns!" he mutters, and then regains his composure. "My name is Brevaddelar," he says to the group, "but, if you find that difficult to pronounce, most people just call me Brev. I'm not really a weapon person, although I have my staff and a sling in case of emergency. But I'm not at my best toe-to-toe with other creatures. What I can help you out with is a little bit of magic. With a little bit of luck, I should be able to put many of our opponents to sleep or at least daze them long enough for our warriors to knock them about a bit. I also have a knack for making people laugh, although to do that magically, I need to be up close, which is really a last resort. But I'm pretty good at making people laugh in more mundane ways too." He smiles and pauses a moment. "Now, let's see, what else? Oh yes, I'm experienced at living off the land, and so can be of assistance in getting us around and finding food and such. I'm probably not as good at that as our friend Kiptera here, but I'm certainly willing to lend a hand."
Brev comes running down the street as fast as his small legs will take him. "Wait for me! he calls. He reaches the others, panting for breath. "I'm here and ready to find some kobolds."
Brev smiles. "It does indeed. It works for ants, and it'll work for us against kobolds." He pauses a moment, then adds, "I hope."
"I can understand liking insects...but why carry them everywhere you go?" Denis moved away, not wanting one of those creatures to start crawling on him. He didn't want to seem rude, but he wasn't too much of a fan of insects, though he did enjoy playing with them as a kid but that was years ago. He was older now and was more focused on what other people... Brev places the last stray insect back in the sack and ties it shut. He then ties the sack back onto his belt. "Where else would I keep them?" he asks while helping Venedictos out from under the table.
Brev shrugs and places the spider back in the sack. "I like insects," he says. He begins gathering up any other stray insects. He continues to speak as he crawls under the table after some ants that are getting away. "I'm preparing a catalogue of all the local insect species and I need reference materials. Unfortunately, the spiders have a tendency to eat the other insects, so I'm constantly having to replace them. Makes doing the catalogue difficult, but anything worth doing is difficult, right?"
Brev goes over to Denis and climbs up on a chair beside him. "You look unhappy, my friend," he says. He takes a sack from his belt and starts to untie it. As he does so, several insects start to crawl out of it. "Let me see if I can cheer you up a bit. I find that you just have to look towards nature to find examples of anything you want. There are funny things, somber things, and things to remind you of home." He looks into the sack and starts to rummage through it. Ants, spiders, and other small things begin to crawl up his arm. Finally, he pulls out a fat, dead spider. "Take this spider for instance. This reminds me of my father. It's fat, see, and my father was absolutely humongous. Well, in gnome terms that is. Perhaps you'd care for look inside? He holds out the sack to Denis.
Anybody out there have a GM Mastery Guide with helpful tables for naming your riding donkey? Well, the GameMastery Guide has a Random Adventuring Party Name Generator. That's the closest to what you want. Let's give it a try, rolling on the 1st and 3rd columns: Potent
Your riding donkey is hereby named "Potent Demons". :)
Brev awakes early with Venedictos and accompanies his friend while he prays. He listens to Venedictos's pseudo-lecture and interjects with several suggestions on how he might alter the rituals to make them more interesting and more efficient. After this, he'll patiently wait while Venedictos packs (Brev always has his things packed since he normally lives off the land), examining a few spiders while he waits. He then accompanies Venedictos to join the others at the Everfull Mug.
"Ah, my good friend, thank you ever so kindly," Brev responds. "You know, I was thinking about what you were saying about redemption, and came to the conclusion that redemption is much like a fish: slippery and hard to get a hold of, and quite capable of slipping away from you again..." His voice fades out as he and Venedictos leave the tavern.
Brev waves as they leave. "Till morning then! He then hops off his chair and heads to find a place to sleep for the night.
Brev turns to Claire. "Thanks for the kind words, Claire." He turns back to the others. "I like her. She's the only person in town who calls me by my full name."
"Name's Brevaddelar," Brev says, holding out a small pale-blue hand in greeting to Caelin. "I come by here from time to time to sell my fish, but I'm not normally a customer, that's true. Most people in town know me, though. Do you like fish? I love fish personally. Can't go wrong with a good fish dinner, I say. If you've ever had fish here, I probably caught it."
Turns to look at Mercy with a very curious look "Did you put something in my drink... because there's something weird talking over here... er... this gnome suddenly out of the blue!" looks at the gnome like not wanting to believe it's actually there and looking at Mercy waiting for an answer. Brev glances all around himself in surprise. "Something weird? Where? He looks back at Caelin. "Oh, you mean me? Yeah, I suppose I am a little weird. And blue too. It works. You had me worried there for a moment.
Brev's goals are pretty simple. His immediate goals are to ensure his fishing hole and the surrounding lands don't fall prey to kobolds. He's gotten used to living here and would hate to be forced to move on (if he ever moves on, it will be at his own choice). His long-term goals are simply to have fun. If he can manage to improve magically, that would be a great addition. He's not really a very religious individual. He pays lip-service to a number of gods (whichever ones seem appropriate at the moment), but is not devout in his following of any of them.
A gnome with crazy blue-green hair climbs up onto a chair, standing on it so he can see over the top without too much trouble. "Sorry I'm late," he says, "but there were these beautiful butterflies I had to stop and observe a moment. What this about something worse? There's always something worse. Something worse than what?"
Greetings! My name is Brevaddelar, but most people just call me Brev. They seem to find my full name as something of a tongue twister for some reason. I'm good friends with Venedictos--there's nothing like hearing that man sing! I would love for the opportunity to adventure with him if you'll have us. Click on my name to see my stats and background. I'll have an avatar soon. |