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A little over an hour later you have made the rounds in the markets and purchased a few essentials. You reconvene at a stables near the main road leading out of Magnimar.

At the stables you are easily able to use Jeminda's letter to acquire a wagon, draft horse and two riding horses. It is late afternoon by the time you accomplish these goals but at this time of year you have several hours of sunlight yet ahead of you.

You know that the road to Riddleport is reasonable well maintained and well traveled. It wont be a problem to find safe camp sites or travelers inns for the first several days of the Journey but once you turn towards Ravensmoor its a different story. The roads turn into little more than trails winding through a series of boggy moors. At that point there are few communities or conveniences until you get into Ravensmoor itself.

You ride through the afternoon and make good time. You pass several other bands of travelers and the occasional merchants wagon as you make your way north. Sundown comes around 8:30 that evening and you havent quite found your way to the next inn. You know that you probably have about 2 more hours of riding in the dark to make a market town that has a small inn and tavern.

Do you want to push on?

Oh I am plenty safe, in policy not medicine. But we are all a little more harried than usual.

Just a heads up for everyone. I work in public health in Washington State and things are... hectic at the moment. It is possible over the next few weeks I will end up travelling for work a fair bit and it COULD impact my ability to post. If that happens its not be flaking and disappearing, its just life getting in the way during crisis and I will return after a day or two!

No need to play out everyones shopping trips. Just list out what you are buying the way Lash is. If there are more substantive non shopping things that need to be played out let me know. Otherwise I will give everyone until this evening to get in their shopping and such and then we will pick up when you reunite at the Magnimar stables

Jeminda looks visibly relaxed as everyone seems to accept her offer.

She, rather clumsily, pushes a sack across the table rattling with the sound of coins inside.

"Here is part of the payment up front, I will give the rest when you return"

Everyone gets 15 platinum pieces

Then Jeminda takes a sheet of paper out of a coat pocket. You can see that the paper is marked with the official seal of Magnimar. She rapidly writes a few lines on the paper before passing it over with the sack.

"This should let you requisition a couple of horses and a cart for your trip. Take it to any of the city stables and they will assist you."

She stands from the table and reaches out to shake each of your hands in turn. You can see the gratitude in her eyes as she speaks

"Thank you so much for helping me find Elias, should you have any need of me you can contact me at the Ushers Hall in the Capital district. Thank you again. "

With that, Jeminda gives a somewhat awkward little bow and heads for the door.

Jeminda looks relieves as everyone agrees to help her

"Oh thank you so much. And there shouldnt be any concerns about you all handling the taxes. At the moment I dont think anyone but me realizes they havent been collected so there shouldnt be many questions from officials!

Elias agreed to do this quietly and save me the embarassement if he could."

Jeminda looks towards Lash as the one who seems to know the geography of the area the best

"Do you want me to help you procure horses or do you think the boat will work better for you all?"

So I had grand ambitions about posting on weekends but thus far with the kids I am finding that it very quickly falls off my radar. For the time being I will probably mostly be posting just on weekdays. Sorry to slow things down!

Jeminda looks at Faunra and Lash as she responds

"Elias, oh well... hes my brother in law but he is capable enough. He has worked as a tax collector for at least 10 years now and I cant imagine that he would have just run off with the money."

"Its always possible that something could have happened to him, he could be hurt somewhere or..."

Jeminda swallows hard as she cuts out that train of thought.

"Its a long trip but most of it is on the main road, and the parts that arent are not really that dangerous, nothing way out in the hinterlands. I wouldnt have sent him alone if it was a route that was really high risk. I really cant imagine what might have delayed him."

"In terms of appearance, he will be wearing a red cloak and his badge of office most likely. He is on the tall side, quite thin, and last I saw him he had a short pointed beard, though he might have shaved before going into the fens."

Her confidence seems to break a bit and her voice wavers

" I know its not a ton of money but I really dont think there is any huge danger and I am truly desperate. Please will you help me? "

Hey GM, I just realized I have played this module before (and died in it, lol). If it would be alright with you, I’d like to use one of my replay credits to participate again and get credit when you hand out PFS chronicles. I truly didn’t remember until yesterday. I don’t remember anything about the module. Would that be acceptable, or would you rather me exit stage right since it’s so early.

Thats fine with me, I always assume in online / pbp there is a chance someone will have played it before. I trust players to seperate their knowledge from their character.

At nearly the same moment, Jeminda starts responding to Mathiel and Lash

"Well hopefully Elias has already gathered the taxes and is just delayed in getting back. If he has gathered the taxes already then please find him. If not then you dont have to gather them but perhaps you could give this letter to the mayor"

Jeminda hands you a cream envelope with a wax seal

"This will lay out what Ravensmoor owes and let him know that we will be sending another collector to gather the taxes in the coming weeks"

She looks at Lash

"I can provide a letter to allow you to get horses at one of the city stables, or I can provide a little extra gold to hire a boat if you choose to go by river. I am afraid I dont have a lot more gold to give beyond what was already promised though.

As you are speaking with Jeminda the kitchen door swings open and Marku steps back into the common room juggling multiple dishes. He glances around and seeing you at Jeminda's table, he moves in your direction

"Okay, okay here we go. Two fish stews and one watered wine. Can I get anything for anyone else?"

Lash you know where Ravenmoor is though you have never been there yourself. Its around 200 miles NE of magnimar well to the east of the main road that connects Magnimar to Riddleport.

Those traveling from Magnimar to Ravenmoor essentially have two choices: the Lost Coast Road or the Yondabakari River. While the Lost Coast route is overland, the river route is longer. Both routes meet up in Galduria; from there the rest of the journey is generally made via horseback along a well-traveled road on the western shore of the Lampblack River. As the Lampblack curves away to the east, this road continues north along the edge of Churlwood, eventually reaching Roderic’s Cove and Riddleport. Travelers to Ravenmoor must abandon the road at this bend in the river to follow a little-used trail up along the river’s west banks into increasingly dreary landscapes of bogland
and bleak moor.

Jeminda looks slightly embarassed as she replies to Faunra

"It was really just a simple clerical oversight, Ravenmoor has always been independent and the annual tax is really just a very small amount. It seems we just... forgot to send a tax collector out there for, well, 15 years or so. To the best of my knowledge Ravenmoor hasnt actually submitted any requests in that time either.

It was truly just an innocent mistake but I am afraid it doesnt look terribly good for me, I would really prefer if we could keep this outside of official channels."

Jeminda looks up at Grigore

"I am sorry, I didnt mean to offend anyone! I am afraid this might not be much of an adventure though. Its really rather routine bureaucratic work nothing big and exciting like you are used to I am sure.

When I discovered the error I sent a tax collector out there a few weeks ago to collect the fairly substantial back payment but he hasnt returned and I am getting a little worried about where he could be."

She looks around at you all a little imploringly

"I dont think it will be any big job. Ravenmoor is only a week or so from here by road or river. I just need you to go there, see if you can find any word of Elias and return him and the back taxes to me.

I dont have a ton of money available... I would really like to do this without involving any official procurement. But I could pay each of you 250 gold a piece for the two weeks work that it would take to go an make an inquiry for me"

Amyia as you approach the woman who is sitting alone at her table she half rises before sitting back down. You note that she is fidgeting lightly and looks quite uncomfortable.

As you get close she addresses you

"Um, yes, yes I am Jeminda. You must be... well I guess you must be one of the people I am meeting? I probably should have set up some way to recognize each other, I am afraid I am not very good at this. This is my first time hiring.. uh... mercenaries?"

She looks briefly at the others in the room uncertainty on her face

"Is it just you or....?"

As she leaves her question hanging she pulls a small bag out from under her cloak, as she places it on the table it jingles with the unmistakable sound of coin.

The man gives a little bobbing bow towards Lash

"Pardon me, my manners seem to have just up and left. My name is Marku Vestin and my wife and I are the new owners of the Drunken Dog here. Its not really much of a name is it? I think we will have to see about changing that just as soon as we can get a new sign made up.

He doesnt really pause to let you answer before he continues on

"One meat pie and a cool watered wine for this sunny afternoon. I will be right back with that"

He disappears through the door to the kitchen and you can just barely hear voices speaking.

Almost in sync with him leaving the front room, the door to the street opens and another patron enters into the Drunken Dog.

Silhouted by the sun in the doorway its hard to make out initial details about the newcomer but as they step into the slightly dimmer interior of the common room you can see that she is a smallish woman. Slight of build and a couple of inches below average height. She wears a relatively baggy gray dress of fine wool that, taken with the oddly wide brimmed hat on her head, makes it hard to pull out too many details about her.

She starts to walk to the bar but seems to notice Lash and the rest of you standing near there and turns to a table.

She sits down and fidgets nervously with her hands while discreetly peeking at each of you out of the corner of her eyes.

The inside of the drunken dog is brighter than you would have expected. The windows spread around the main room let in significant sunlight and a single chandelier hangs over the bar helping illuminate the back corner where the sun is not yet reaching.

A dozen round tables of assorted sizes are spread throughout the main common room, at this time of day all but one of those tables is deserted. At the one, small, occupied table sits a young man in travelling leathers, perhaps 25 years old. He is picking at a plate in front of him while jotting notes in a small leather journal.

You dont see any sign of your contact (who you know to be a woman), but a minute or so after you enter the bar a middle aged man comes out of a door in the back that you are guessing from the smells that accompany him leads to the kitchen.

"Oh! apologies! I didnt realize anyone else had come in. Please, have a seat, make yourselves comfortable. Here for lunch I assume? We have a fish stew hot on the stove and several meat pies left from yesterday. Our roast isnt quite ready but if you would like to wait half an hour or so we will have a Rahadoumi goat with apples and onions.

Perhaps a drink while you decide?"

Faunra you arent able to place the name despite your high level of familiarity with the political class in the city. Whoever your contact is, she cant be terribly high up in the bureacrucy

You have finally made it! There are plenty of capable adventurers and mercenaries throughout Magnimar but you can be sure that once the city government is calling on you, you are surely making a name for yourselves. Whether is was the rat swarms in the ossuary under the temple of Pelor or the rabid bear of Cableford someone has definitely taken notice.

Two days ago you received a message from a, surely important, government functionary named Jeminda Anikee. The message was rather vague about her overall purpose but asked you to meet her today at the Drunken Dog in Ordellia. It did seem a little odd that a government agent would choose such an out of the way meeting place… but bureaucrats do strange things all the time.

It is now mid afternoon and you stand in the pleasant heat of the spring sun outside the Drunken Dog. While the streets around you buzz with activity and commerce, the tavern in front of you is largely still. It would seem that few people of repute are seeking out a serious drinking haven at this hour. After several minutes outside, you have seen no one come or go from the tavern.

Despite its name, and its out of the way location, the Dog seems reasonably well maintained with fresh paint and clean windows facing out onto a busy side street. A small wisp of smoke rising up from the back of the building gives evidence that it is indeed inhabited and that the kitchen, if not the bar, is at least active.

What would you like to do?

Please note - For the purposes of this adventure it is assumed that you know each other and have worked together a couple times.

Starting today! Sorry a sick kid took up my attention yesterday. Expect a kick off post in the next 20

Discussion thread. First game play should be up this afternoon or tomorrow.

Game play thread up!

Sorry Amyia you were on my list and then I accidentally ommited you.

We will go with 5 characters!

I think that leaves us with 4 characters... which is perfect.

so Grigore, Faunra, Mathiel, Lash

Reasonably balanced. Should work great for this adventure.

I am going to get the adventure set up and will get a discussion page put up soon. Feel free to make last minute tweaks and ask any questions you may have. My plan is to start gameplay towards the beginning of next week.

Thanks for signing up to play everyone!

Keeping recruitment open through tomorrow. Get those characters in!

I looked into chronicles and it shouldnt be any problem. So yes anyone playing will get one.

I am interested. Will we receive a PFS Chronicle sheet for this module?

I havent ever been involved with PFS. If anyone really wants a chronicle for this I can look into the process but no guarantees.

Thank you everyone for the submissions so far! I am reading through them and will let you know if I have questions / concerns.

Recruitment will run through 2/19/20

I am going to be running the first edition pathfinder module "Feast of Ravenmoor" via PBP here on the Paizo forums. Anticipated start date is February 24.

For decades, the tiny village of Ravenmoor has existed quietly on the upper reaches of the Lampblack River, far from the centers of civilization in Varisia. Linked to the outside world only by an overgrown, mostly forgotten trail, the villagers are comfortable with their isolation. Their ways are humble, quaint, and at times odd, and when travelers come, they find the town awkward and unmemorable. Certainly, the lack of a village inn, the oppressive humidity, and the bug-infested moors and swamps that surround the village do little to encourage visitors. When a clerk in the city of Magnimar discovers that, due to a clerical error, the village of Ravenmoor hasn’t paid taxes in years, a tax collector is sent to the distant community to settle accounts with its mayor. When the tax collector fails to return, however, a group of adventurers must travel to the town during its Founders’ Feast celebration to investigate his disappearance. Did he really make off with the taxes for himself, as the villagers suspect? Or did he never make it out of Ravenmoor at all?"

I know running a single module is less common than AP's - but I have a good reason! I have been DM/GMing for decades and have run probably close to two dozen full campaigns from level 1- various high levels. However I am pretty much a noob at pbp. I have read a lot of campaigns to get a feel for them but have yet to run one. I am going to start with this module to get a feel for the medium and learn some of the tricks of the trade. If all goes well, after I finish this module I will consider committing to something larger like an AP.

Because this is a shorter module I dont need a 1-20 build or 4 pages of character background.

I will be looking for 4-6 players

Characters will start at 3rd level.

Anything paizo published is allowed, its a shorter game and I am less worried about anything being really broken at low levels in this format. That said if I see a concept that looks really unbalancing I will let you know.

20 point buy.

Average wealth for 3rd level.

No third party material - hard rule. I am learning this format, I dont want to have to reference a bunch of rules I dont know already also.

In terms of background, just give me a basic overview of who your character is. General temperment, interesting quirks, values, etc. You are welcome to write up as much history as you want but the reality of a module is I am probably not going to work in that nefarious villain who slew your family and set you down this path 10 years ago. Feel free to be brief.

In terms of posting rate, I would like this module to move along at a good clip. A single post per day is an absolute minimum but really I am going to expect multiple posts per day most often.

I look forward to playing with you!