Having expeditiously eventually destroyed the zombies that remained around the fallen star, the brave and persistent Cockerels, and their hanger-on (Ingwe), and their prize (Yolanthe), decided it might be best if they pressed on with a short rest.
Nyx can use some hit dice to get hit points back if he likes.
Dizzy had a look over the boulder, and with her stone-cunning came to figure that what it was composed of was very rare and might be valuable. She also surmised that it was probably cool enough to touch, and that she could probably carry it on her own, but it would be quite a load, and it would be very hot work.
Nyx then set about investigating the meteorite itself, keen to investigate this wonder from beyond the night sky (that is, to assay how valuable and useful it would be). After some inspection he could comment that it would be very useful, for a trained alchemist, but was not overly valuable otherwise.
Nyx:
A closer look revealed that this was a valuable and useful find. There are seams of various minerals suggesting that there might be considerable amounts of valuable metals. You could also see crystals that tend only to occur as a result of the presence various magic effects. That, in turn, suggests that there are useful minerals here which can be used as alchemical components.
Realising the value of what is here, you decided to conceal this from your colleagues. You feel you convinced Dizzy and Ingwe of this, and Yolanthe was looking elsewhere.
Noticing that (despite some variation) it was probably cool enough to touch, Nyx then decided to take a closer look; licking his lips he leaned in to check the rock’s texture and hardness, and touched the meteorite. There was flash, and Nyx was flipped backwards and knocked out.
Nyx also takes 2hp damage. If this takes him below 1hp, rest assured that he passed his stabilisation checks and is back to 1hp, but was still KO’ed. By some weird coincidence, he will come to consciousness when you return to session.
This impressed Ingwe, Dizzy and Ingwe no end, and much hilarity ensued between them (‘Did you see that, bro! The little fella did a complete widdershins!’) while Yolanthe checked to see if Nyx was okay.
It was decided that if they were going to shift the meteorite, they had best use some sort of tool. Dizzy contrived poles out of some young trees that had been cleared to make the summoning circle, and together with Ingwe levered the meteorite off the poor unfortunate who had summoned it onto himself.
Yolanthe, Ingwe and Dizzy did not recognise whose pulped remains had lain mostly incinerated under the meteorite (which is unsurprising, because there was not much left to go on, and Dizzy and Ingwe are new to the neighbourhood, while Yolanthe is pretty clueless), but they did find three rings on his fingers that might be quite valuable, a fine pair of boots, and a brown ceramic bottle with a cork in it that somehow survived the impact. Inspection revealed a soft rattling sound from inside the bottle, as if it had a single small, dried pea or something similar inside it--but the cork could not be prised off. There was some speculation that the bottle might be magic.
I forgot to mention the boots during play. They really are fine boots; the really flash kind that none of you thugs and miscreants would get hold of.
It was also noted that the ceramic tiles out of which the mosaic was made had not been damaged by the heat of the meteorite.
While Ingwe and Dizzy were rifling through the unfortunate summoner’s jellified and carbonised remains, inspecting these bits and pieces, a bubble formed on the meteorite, and out popped a mephit of the kind that Ingwe had contended with the night before; while just a couple of feet tall it was made of magma, and looked like a difficult prospect. It looked more confused and frightened than the trio who saw it, though, and leaped onto the lava flow, fleeing the hilltop.
After some discussion, it was decided that the meteorite might need cooling, that this might stop another mephit appearing, and that if the meteorite was immersed in mud the bubbles that were still occasionally forming on its surface and bursting might well make some cool farting noises. So Ingwe and Dizzy used their sticks to lever and roll the meteorite down the hill side and into the muddy, boggy stream. The effect was extremely satisfying; there were indeed many farting sounds made.
While Dizzy and Ingwe were contemplating their success, a couple of cultists came crashing down the other bank through the thicker forest there, running in abject panic from something behind them. However afraid they (rightly) were of the Cockerels, they were more afraid of what was behind them. Trying to cross the stream, one of them fell, and got stuck.
This was unfortunate for him, because it meant that he was still staggering out of the stream when an ogre smashed out of the woods. One swing from his club felled the poor cultist.
From folk lore (i.e., conversations had on the inside while drinking hootch), Dizzy understood that ogres were particularly fond of dwarf flesh. In an inspired moment, she decided to lure the ogre onto the meteorite, now mostly concealed in mud and water. This worked, and the ogre was knocked sideways and arsewards when he touched the meteor. Unlike Nyx, he was not knocked out, but found himself sitting in a deep, boggy cloying mud.
Dizzy bravely went onto the attack, pummelling the poor brute for all she was worth. Ingwe crossed the stream in a series of acrobatic leaps and joined the fray with his rapier. Yolanthe stayed back, using fire bolts. The ogre took some beating, but the blow he landed on Dizzy after he got to his feet was nearly enough to break her. Nonetheless, flanked and under fire, he was eventually killed, skewered by the rapier of young Ingwe.
After searching the ogre (his sack had the mutilated and half-eaten remains of an uncooked human, and a pile of gold coins) and congratulating themselves, Ingwe and Dizzy selflessly returned to where Yolanthe and the conscious cultist were tending to the unconscious cultist; they then magnanimously offered comment on how to patch him up. When he had returned to consciousness, our noble adventurers decided that he and his mate would be press-ganged into service to carry the meteorite back to town. Under the threat of being left to fend for themselves in the dangerous forest, the two cultists reluctantly agreed to Dizzy’s demands.
After some discussion of the potential value of an ogre’s todger as a trophy, our gallant heroes decided not to mutilate the poor brute’s corpse any further. They took his loincloth, however, and used it as the sling for a stretcher with which the cowed cultists could be forced to carry the mostly cooled fallen star.
And so it was that they formed an order and headed back towards the road, with Dizzy easily carrying the still unconscious Nyx in a fireman’s hold while the pathetic cultists staggered under their meteor load. En route, they ran across a clockwork centipede, about 3 feet long, that seemed to be sniffing its way towards the fallen star. It seemed quite determined, and this led to a brief tussle before it was finally disabled.
The poor centipede’s remains were placed on top of the meteorite, and the group continued their journey to the road.
The night was broken by a strange moment; a shooting star blazed through the sky with a screech, and then could be seen to hit the ground with a flash in the forest to the south-west. Nyx was keen to point out one crucial thing about such a falling star: while many valued them as signs or wonders, and others found them fascinating for the secrets of the universe that they revealed, more important than that was the simple fact that they were often rich in minerals, sometimes valuable in their own right, sometimes useful as alchemical ingredients. It was quickly agreed that the intrepid trio, plus their prize the delectable Yolanthe, would attempt to find the fallen star.
They made their way early to the road, nursing hangovers of varying proportions, and headed roughly in the direction they thought the star had fallen. They had not ventured far when a strange sight struck them—a coach with four mighty horses came towards them, with four crossbowmen sitting on top ready for any malarkey. They stepped off the road to let it pass, but it stopped and a sumptuous woman in finery inside beckoned Stegg aboard. There was a Suggestion, ‘Come with me,’ which Stegg was too enchanted to ignore.
”Stegg”:
The woman in the coach is Ankarana, and she is clearly using some magic, because she looks significantly younger than the last time Stegg saw her. She knew both Cranston, Stegg’s father, and his Aunt Grya.
She had come into the Imperious Wyrm occasionally to talk to Grya, but Grya never seemed that happy to see her. They would talk for hours, hitting the bottle, and would shoo Stegg away if he tried to find out what they were talking about--but it seemed that it was often to do with family and old friends, but also touched on the gossip and events of various towns nearby. If Stegg could take a guess, it would be that Ankarana was an old family friend, but it was hard to say.
Ankarana is interested in gossip from Woodenhead and Murchmanor, and assures you that things are fine for Aunt Grya; she has hooked up with a besotted brute, rumoured to be perhaps part troll, who has taken your old role and dotes on her endlessly. You can ask her a few questions if you like.
She also gives you a horn, like a twisted ram’s horn, but huge, and intricately carved in the Wetawhakawi style. Despite its shape, it appears to be a drinking horn. It is, apparently, from Stegg’s father. She encourages you to drink from it, pouring out red wine for the purpose, and when you do drink from it you have flashes of wisdom and insight. It is from these that you learn your ranger’s magic--and some of the lessons of your father come through, also.
This left two Cockerels (Dizzy and Nyx) and their prize...
Things soon got more difficult; it was hard to figure where the star had fallen, although they could be sure that it was roughly to the south of them, in the midst of a broken landscape of hills and mires. While pondering what to do, a boyish man, or mannish boy, staggered out of the forest; he seemed to be relieved to see the thugs in front of him. He introduced himself as Ingwe, and then told a long and elaborate story of what had happened...
He had been on a stage coach to Woodenhead, keen to explore its dizzying lights, when it had been rolled by robbers. While he had given good account of himself in the ensuing skirmish, it was clear that the robbers would triumph and Ingwe took an opportunity to depart the fray and find a spot to contemplate other tactical possibilities.
In the night he had seen a shooting star strike down, and had thought to investigate. Along the way he ran across a small fire demon, and had slain that. Aware that their might be other dangers in the night, he had hunkered down and then decided that he would return to the road when dawn came.
After some discussion, it was negotiated that young Ingwe would lead them to where he thought the shooting star was.
As they made their way towards the high hill where Ingwe had seen the star strike, they ran across some Locky-ite cultists. Partially to scare them off, Nyx hit their leader with a fire bolt. When they fled, Ingwe confirmed his status of ‘fit to be a Cockerel’ by shooting the same man in the back, after which he fell to the ground. The other Lockyites, having faced the Cockerels before, continued to flee. Attempts to stabilise the poor man only made his condition worse, and in the end Ingwe was called on to put him out of his misery, as part of his initiation into the Cockerels.
Further on they ran across a pair of harpies, whose song proved enchanting to Dizzy, Nyx, and the Cockerel initiate, Ingwe. Indeed, for a while it was only Yolanthe that resisted their charm; ultimately, however, all saw the harpies for what they were, and had a go at trying to slay them. The harpies, however, saw the writing on the wall and left before they got too hurt.
Our dangerous quartet were undeterred, and closed on the hill where the star had fallen. They could see smoke rising as they closed on it. As they drew nearer, they saw that the star had fallen into the midst of a clearing, and central to that clearing was a mosaic. In the centre of the mosaic, the remains of a man lay pulverised by the fallen star, a meteorite, while around him were three corpses.
Correctly figuring that the corpses were zombies, the quartet stalked forward to attack them. Unfortunately, the normally nimble-footed Nyx staggered, and was closed in on by the zombies, who did fearsome damage. That was not the end of his woes, for having withdrawn from the melee, he committed to throwing a Chromatic Orb and missed. The battle raged for some time, because the zombies proved hard to finish (you cannot kill what does not live). Dizzy weathered considerable damage along the way, before the zombies finally called it a day.
On the road, our intrepid trio now had two ex-cultists for compaions--the tall and beautiful Yolanthe, whose senses returned to her somewhat, but was nonetheless befuddled, and the hapless Bill. The cultists behind them seemed too disorganised to give chase, and Dizzy had time to recover her kegs.
It panned out that Bill, now bereft of companions through his desertion from the Community, wanted to join the Cockerels, and they accepted him on a provisional and junior basis.
The road back to Woodenhead took them, of course, toward the site where the giant ants had caused such mindless mayhem on their journey to the Community’s camp. Thinking to lose any potential pursuit, they turned aside from their trail into the remnants of woods and by so-doing circle around their formian former foes.
En route, they espied a mantis of gigantic proportions; after much planning, our brave heroes elected circumvent that arthropodic menace also. Their northing around this enemy saw them delayed under darkneing skies, and as they travelled they heard the howls of wolves. Among them could be picked up, of all things, the baying of a heinous hound—which Stegg recognised for a Beagle or something similar.
Enlightened with this intelligence, Nyx recalled that the goblin community of Woodenhead had, at times, been tormented by a werewolf who was ever accompanied by a gigantic beagle. Faced with the prospect of a werewolf, our intrepid quintet formed an improvised redoubt with fires and the like, hoping from there to face off their fearsome foes.
By and by, in the dark of a moonless night, wolves stemmed their extemporised fortification from many directions—an assault all together too co-ordinated to be the work of mere wolves. With depleted resources and many wounds, they fought off their lupine adversaries, and even the clueless Yolanthe and the hapless Bill had their part to play.
Why hapless, you ask? Because at the last said Bill chased a wolf from their strong-point, and while his sword cleft the beast in twain, he was ambushed by the half-transformed werewolf, who severed his head with one mighty blow. Stegg warned the werewolf not to come nearer in no uncertain terms, and indeed the she-wolf--for she-wolf it was--seemed to take heed, for she did not storm up the hill, but took flight, pausing only to take Bill's head as a trophy and snarl in wolfish tones, "Don't worry... You'll get your turn."
Gladdened by their victory and resultant survival, relieved by the departure of the werewolf, and untraumatised by the slaying of the provisional cockerel
Having rapidly recovered, Stegg and Dizzy were keen to push on to the Lockyites base. Bill, their guide, now seemed reluctant to proceed, and tried to persuade his brutal comrades that their mission was foolhardy. “I don’t think you guys are right for the Community. I don’t think you guys will like it there.” He seemed afraid of something, but after some theological discussion Stegg gently insisted that he guide them further.
In truth, it seemed unlikely that anybody could believe Dizzy and Stegg’s efforts to persuade Bill that they wished to submit to Locky’s will, but (under the circumstances) Bill was willing to at least pretend to be convinced, and reluctantly agreed to take them onward. Nyx stalked the three.
Coming over a rise, they saw a small vale with scattered scrabby trees, too worthless to fell and mill, among which there was a sickly stand of maize, which the Community was vainly trying to grow into a food crop. Dizzy took a moment to disappear off the trail for a crap, using this moment of privacy to stow his casks of rum somewhere secluded.
They could see a column of smoke rising over the next rise, and Bill indicated that this was where the Community was based. He suggested again that he thought their going there was a mistake, but the half-orc and the dwarf insisted on advancing, professing their urgent desire to acquaint themselves with Locky and his wisdom.
As they crossed the rise, they saw a more densely wooded dell. Within this, there was an encampment. A wash of euphoria washed over Dizzy and Nyx, and they saw a thriving community where happy and beautiful people were idling in the sun, surrounded by simple but homely cabins. Stegg, on the other hand, saw a collection of hovels surrounded by bare mud, with what looked like a bunch of shabby refugees listlessly setting about their day’s chores.
In the midst of the clearing was a fire-pit, over which was supported a 10’ washer-shaped rock monument, carved with runes of mysterious import. Dizzy immediately recognised it as a fine piece of stone-work. Bill noted that Locky was nowhere to be seen, but Stegg and Dizzy noted a couple of people they recognised immediately.
The first they only recognised by Jervian’s description, a tall, slim woman with long dark hair and blue eyes, in bedraggled finery who was attractive enough as humans and half-elves went, and certainly attractive enough to turn Ogden’s eye. It was difficult to imagine how her father could mistake her for anything other than a half-elf, as Jervian insisted that he did.
The other was a scowling cultist they had seen in the Rueful Crab, part of a duo trying to force another Lockyite to return to camp. He was one of a few of the Community who were conspicuous in that they were armed, with a variety of cudgels, morning stars, and whips.
Bill announced their arrival: “I have brought converts from town!” Before he could even explain that Bruce had been snipped in half by a giant ant, the scowling cultist denounced the dwarf and half-orc. “These are the ones that disturbed our holy mission with their unwanted and foul violence! Kill them!”
Another of the armed cultists, a whip-wielding half-orc, over-ruled him, “No! These are potential converts and our duty is clear.”
After some negotiation, it was agreed that the new arrivals could stay, but they would have to turn over their possessions to the Community and undergo the Test, which involved going into one of the Community’s buildings.
While Dizzy and Stegg were beginning to divest themselves of such valuables as they were carrying, a fire burst out in the outhouse. Recognising this as a sign from the pyromaniacal Nyx, Stegg and Dizzy rapidly changed plans.
(Nyx had stalked around the camp, and had investigated the building concerned. It was a stronghouse, unlike the other ramshackle constructions. Inside there was what could be seen what could only be described as a prisoner. A brief whispered conversation revealed that he was undergoing the Test, which seemed to involve indefinite imprisonment and starvation. Realising the dire situation that his allies were about to put themselves into, the noble Nyx had thrown a bomb into the outhouse, with the goal of starting a fire—at which he had succeeded.)
Stegg grabbed his kit and ran over to the outhouse, where Yolanthe was standing, and shouted, “There’s a fire! We need water!” He then turned to Yolanthe and said, “Help me find water.” A shocked look clearly suggested that she recognised Stegg. This was odd, because this was the first time Stegg had seen her.
The scowling cultist was clearly upset by this, shouted “Get away from her!” and charged through, pushing Stegg away from Yolanthe. Anyone would think he was being jealous or something. This precipitated a fight, which was a chaotic affair.
Nyx threw another fire bomb, setting another shack alight. The listless, unarmed Community members could do little more than punch ineffectually, and seemed devoid of motivation or insight to do anything else. Several guys with morning stars and cudgels (including the scowling cultist) were more dangerous, but still failed to co-ordinate well. Yolanthe cast a spell and vanished. Nyx made attempts to throw alchemist’s acid at the supports for the basalt monument, fired his crossbow, and found himself under melee attack, and even taking damage. The whip-wielding leader of the Community summoned a spiritual whip, which flayed mercilessly at Dizzy, who found herself on the ropes (again).
The odds against them, and their prize having vanished, the trio fled. This took some heroic tumbling on Dizzy’s part. This was, unfortunately, undone by the whip-wielding leader’s use of a Command spell, which compelled her to return. She took the opportunity to try and fell the monument, and nearly succeeded. Nonetheless, the compulsion ended and Dizzy had the chance to flee again. Joining her companions, they were confronted by a summoned earth elemental (small) which they made short work of, finally departing the Dell of the Community with both their prize, Yolanthe, and the cultist Bill—who seems as keen to depart as they are.
The following morning, Dizzy and Stegg joined the cultists over goulash in the common room, who tried to persuade these two potential initiates to their order that they should join them in their Community in the woods. In this context, it was easy for the dwarf and the half-orc to convince these religious nutters of what they wanted to hear, namely that they wanted to visit the Camp.
They find a little more about the Community—that its leader is a prophet called Locky.
Nix goes to the kitchen and gets given steak by the kitchen-goblin (Hijit, by name), and pays him off to pass on information that might be helpful, particularly regarding Leon and the Faceless. Nix also bought a meal for Jaz Badlax, a goblin trustafarian who has attempted to make it in the real world, and appears to be failing. He pays respect to Nix, who (it appears) is somewhat of a celebrity in the goblin community.
Stegg went for a crap and was constipated, a situation which was not helped by a chirruping goblin making plans.
Following Nyx’s plan, Stegg and Dizzy accompanied the cultists (Bill and Bruce by name) into the forest (or at least the shattered remnants of forest that remained after significant clear-felling), while Nyx stalked behind.
Stegg, Dizzy, and the cultists came across some corpses—2 humans and a dog. Before they could investigate, a giant ant appeared. In the ensuing mess, ants kept on arriving, while Nyx endeavoured to remain concealed while throwing bombs and shooting his crossbow (encouraging Dizzy to pretend, at one point, that he had a supply of these bombs).
Bill and Bruce proved almost useless, with Bruce rapidly cut in half while Bill fled.
The ants arrived in a seemingly endless stream, and it was soon decided that continuing to fight them was pointless. And so there was a fighting withdrawal, at the height of which Stegg was all but knocked out, although this was delayed by his orc ferocity which allowed him to stagger out of there with assistance from Bill and Dizzy.
In a rush, Dizzy rifled the corpses, uncovering a small amount of coin and a sickle. Investigation reveals this to be a MASTERWORK COLD-IRON SICKLE.
Ok so Nyx was still trying to hide form this Bill guy as to give the boys an ace up their sleeve should things go pear-shaped. He might have suspected something was up given the explosions happening all over the show but at the point we left off he didn't know Nyx was there. Also Stegg is knocked the fvck out. I'll go with the situation I've described for my level up
Too right. I'd meant to edit the post, but left it too late and now it's locked. Consider your version canon, with the catch-up happening later.
The boys and girl settled on the slopes of Falcon’s Crest in the hopes of watching the old HQ incinerate, which was pleasant, being only interrupted by Guy, a deputy or associate of the Sheriffs. He seemed concerned that said boys and girl were thinking about reviving the Cockerels, but otherwise left them be.
Returning to the Rueful Crab after dark, Mungo directed the lads to his speaker of elvish, a man named Maramasan who was awfully fond of a tale. Stegg bullied around the punters in the hopes of getting closer to this raconteur, but in the end needed support from Dizzy to stand over Maramasan and get an agreement to some translations out of him.
Nix heard a ruckus outside, and saw there was a fire. He sloped off and chatted to a neighbour of the old HQ, a half-orc who was supervising a bucket brigade of goblins, and was all too content to badmouth goblins given his conversational partner. Nyx also saw Badrase, a Brother he had met quite often.
On leaving, he noted that Badrase and a couple of his fellow skinheads were following, which led to a sprint to the ‘Crab. Nyx grabbed Stegg and Dizzy, who were only too happy to hoe into some Brothers. Stegg tried to round up a posse, but this did not go very far.
Stegg charged into the fray and missed. Nyx started throwing bombs, while Badrase tried to cause fear. Dizzy charged into combat and nearly KO’ed Badrase, who (in turn) nearly skewered the dwarfette with a longsword.
At this stage there were witnesses to the carnage, for the patrons of the ‘Crab are ever fond of watching a scrap.
From here it was relatively quick, with Badrase and another Brother downed, and the third Brother fleeing. Nyx took a chance to plant some evidence on Badrase, and one of the on-lookers found his discovery convincing.
Following this, the intrepid trio returned to the common room, where Maramasan was proceeding with his tales. Stegg and Dizzy extracted help from Maramasan, while maintaining their identities as first-rate a!+$*!$*s, who cured Dizzy of light wounds (using divine magic, Nyx noted). He also translated the letters, which confirmed that:
1. Ogden and Yolanthe had a thing going on.
2. Yolanthe was trying to persuade Ogden to visit the Community with her, and he was having none of it.
3. Ogden was trying to wheedle (more) money out of Yolanthe to cover his debt to the Burger, for the ‘project that was dear to both their hearts’.
In conversation, Maramasan revealed that he had known of this Community, who were centred around refugees from ‘up north’ where he had come from.
Bruised and worse, the remnants of the Cockerels retired for the evening.
The following day, our intrepid adventurers journeyed to the refugee camp on the fringes of town, hoping to find a lead to the Camp.
Nix rapidly identified a junky, tall skinny, and be-decked with pimples. Nix promised him some rust for information, and then Stegg threatened violence. The junky identified where the Community came from, and let Nix know that preachers from the Community would be preaching soon. Nix used the threat of violence from Stegg to drive the junky away, and in the process betrayed the deal.
Everyone hunkered down, concealing themselves as terrain, while the boring Community guys told their story: “Idiots gonna hate on the good stuff... but these guys hate on everything... it’s like they hate life itself... You ask if these guys gonna help you... only with their words; these guys ain’t gonna heal you...”
Their babble was a weird mix of Cheliax slang and common: “Life is suffering... There is no escape... After this it gets worse... The after-life is worse... Whoever tells you otherwise is lying... The soul never dies; more’s the pity... we can teach you... teach you how to love... teach you how to love the suffering...”
While that was happening, Nix spotted that he was being observed, and that the observer scarpered. Nix followed the observer. He went to the staircase of the Faceless’s haunt. Nix threw a bomb down the staircase.
While he was gone, the Community guy continued, ranting about the evils of intoxicants and all that guff, including potions of healing. Nix returned before this ended, and it was pretty repetitive, so it wasn’t like he missed much
Afterwards, Nix followed the Community guys to their hostel. He disguised himself as a human child. The others tagged along. Nix then went to a goblin at the back, who revealed that Nix was probably a target for the Faceless because he was a ‘cook’.
The thugs then went to stake the Faceless’s joint. Finding the door closed, they searched for an alternative entrance. There was one, manned by a human bouncer. Stegg nailed the bouncer, putting him in a choke-hold and scaring the sh!t out of him. (It could not be denied, for it could be smelt.)
That guy revealed that the Faceless’s boss was a man named Glimbar, and that the Faceless had Leon. Neither Glimbar nor Leon were here. Stegg didn’t believe our poor bouncer, and pressed his case.
Moving through the Faceless’s base, they discovered a locked room, which the Bouncer identified as Glimbar’s. Attempts were made to enter, but in the end they just vandalised the lock with alchemist’s acid. Following this they stormed into a common room of sorts occupied by half a dozen dwarfs, a wench and another tall woman, who all appeared to be in the midst of a party of sorts.
Stegg threw the bouncer onto the table, Nyx threw a bomb (incinerating pumpkins), and attempts were made to intimidate the Faceless into co-operating. Not bad attempts, it might be added, but in vain, for the wench precipitated a conflict by throwing drinks at our intrepid trio.
The ensuing melee saw three dwarves and the wench downed, while the other three dwarves and woman (revealed as a witch by her use of the ‘Slumber’ hex) fled, leaving behind a snoozing Stegg, soon to be brought to consciousness by the ministrations of a none-too-gentle Dizzy. They found odds and sods, including a hammer and chisel and a bronze amulet with an etching which resembled a treble clef.
The trio then returned to the Dormitory where the cultists were staying--the Sleepy Hollow.
Much has happened, and much of it confusing. As Bill made some approximation of setting up camp, Stegg, Dizzy and Nyx tried to piece together what had led them to this situation, careful to keep Bill out of the loop by liberally mixing dwarvish, orcish and goblin among their mix of street-slang and prison argot.
With a glint in his eye, Nyx had set fire traps around the old Cockerels’ headquarters, assisted ably the helpfully taller Stegg. At the height of his endeavours, he had been interrupted. What was this? Some uptown family’s lackey who should know better than to wander around this part of town, that’s what.
Determined to feast upon this sheep striding into a wolf’s lair, Nyx invited the man in to sample the wares on offer at this newest and most unconvincing of downmarket sensibility, a boutique cafe which aimed to fleece wannabe aristocrats on the look-out for something off the beaten track, while Dizzy set about hiding the bodies inside.
Jervian, for that was the gull’s name, seemed more determined to locate Ogden of the Riverside Cockerels, but in the end Nyx persuaded him to try some coffee from this house of no repute, producing extemporised furniture that might, in a bigger city, have been mistaken for bohemian chic, but in Woodenhead could not be mistaken for anything other than the detritus of an abandoned warehouse.
Having conceded that indeed they were indeed the Cockerels, the noble restauranteurs intimated that Ogden was unavailable, but that they might be able to pass a message on to him, and that this was the best opportunity that Jervian might have to reach said Ogden. Lacking the essential provender for the beverage had been offered, Nyx proffered a brew that was not entirely unlike coffee, but not tremendously like it either. The good butler seemed unacquainted with more authentic versions of the drink he had been offered, and pronounced it worthy.
After several awkward exchanges it panned out the noble butler had an offer to make Ogden, and given his seemingly permanently absent state, he would make it to the trio of tyros who now laboured around him. He gradually confided that he worked for a certain Terbben family, and that Mr Terbben (the head of this household) was concerned in the extreme about the absence of his daughter, Yolanthe. He had instructed Jervian, who had ever had his daughter’s ear, to try and locate the nubile Yolanthe, and had backed this up with the offer of some 500GPs to such individuals who would find her alive and unharmed.
What had led Jervian to the ignoble Riverside Cockerels? Well you might ask. It pans out that while Ogden was riff-raff, he did have a certain charm about him, and to Jervian’s horror Yolanthe had always had a taste for the rough, and that Jervian was entirely sure that Ogden had been servicing those desires.
The boys accepted this no obligation mission, and were given a signet ring made of brass, by which they would be known if they tried to contact Jervian. They were also offered sight of a letter which had been found in Yolanthe’s quarters—in elvish, of all the useless scripts. Unable to read said letter, Nyx transcribed a copy, and thought it fair enough—although in truth he knew that it was probably not decipherable now.
The good butler departed, and Nyx tailed him, confirming indeed that he resided in one of the flasher new properties about time.
Dizzy and Stegg used this opportunity to take the living Brother of the Pure Men, still unconscious, on a boat-trip. For this purpose they stole a small row-boat. Lacking both rivercraft and oars they were lucky not to sink themselves. They forcefully roused their companion, and demanded information.
Our skinheaded Brother revealed that they had heard that the Cockerels had been eliminated, and that Badrase—one of the Brothers—had thought it mete that they check the HQ out for suitability—perhaps it would serve as a residence for the growing numbers of Brothers that had started to appear since they had taken as leader a certain Klabert, a mighty demagogue who would make the Brothers great.
Under heavier interrogation, this Brother lapsed further into his rant, talking about how great were the Pure Men and how their time was gonna come. He was too devoted to this Klabert to see sense, and was beaten unconscious for his troubles, and left to float to Andersport by our noble dwarf and half-orc.
By previous arrangement, Stegg and Dizzy met Nyx at the Rueful Crab. Therein they saw a strange encounter, whereby a young man was being coerced to return to a camp, by a duo of cultists who poured out his drink. In an unorthodox manoeuvre, Stegg accosted the cultists to discover if they read elvish—and indeed one of them conceded that he did. Stegg insisted that he translate a letter, but this was re-buffed. A second insistence led to a fight; not a stately bar-brawl, for one of our cultists went for his cudgel while the other struck with lethal force.
The young man they had been accosting took the opportunity to flee while Dizzy and Stegg did their best to bring the fight to a close. Nyx leapt out the window to try and persuade the young man to return, but he was having nothing of it and gapped it. Stegg and Dizzy finally did the business on their assailants.
Mungo warned the intrepids that such malarkey would likely attract the law, and while he could see their case the more simple-minded justiciars of this town would probably take them for the villians, not least because they had been such in the past. Discretion being the better part of valour, they fled the joint—but not before Mungo let them know that there would be someone who spoke elvish around later that evening.
Does Stegg remember anything about Ogden having an Elvish dox? ('Petrunia' doesn't sound Elvish).
Petrunia was not elvish; she was some sort of half-goblin mongrel who had a heart of gold and a bawdy sense of humour to match. Beneath it all, you suspected a certain sadness. It was unclear if she really loved Ogden, perhaps she knew better than to trust that ratbag? Nonetheless, they had fun together, and perhaps that’s all a girl could hope for in a man’s world...
As noted elsewhere, Ogden tended not to spend too much time away from the Cockerels--it was dangerous to be on his own, for a start--but could have found the time to start something. He was certainly not fussy as to race; he’d hooked up with Petrunia, and had a thing for dwarves. But an elf? Gozreh knows: Why not?
Stegg stoops and searches the corpse for valuables before taking that idea any further(or plot-advancing notes / occultic tattoos - whatever...)
He’s got a light crossbow, 8 bolts, and a quiver, as well as a cudgel and a knife. You find some papers in a pouch--they're some sort of printed pamphlets. There’s 4 SP & 7 CP in a pouch. He’s got a broze ring with a black crescent on it. If you want to keep on searching him you might find more, but you’re standing in broad daylight.
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GM - is there anywhere in the local area that Stegg expects we could leave this guy trussed up and come back for him later? Other than the club-house itself - expecting more baddies to come back and turn the place over. Stegg would like to try to spy on them while they do so (or watch the empty building for a spell, if in fact no-one comes back) and probably conducting an interrogation at the same time would blow the lid offa that
Nope. You always did mean to have a more detailed look around the neighbourhood.
Stegg wrote:
Survival Check - what's the likelihood that it'll spread to the whole district? Given proximity of buildings, dryness, prevailing winds, etc.
That’d be a Knowledge (engineering) check, but it don’t matter none with that roll; given that it’s fire, Nyx might have some idea. I’ll let the goblin alchemist use his craft (alchemy) skill. I’ll just roll in secret for him...
Nyx is pretty sure it should be all right.
Dizzy:
At this stage your alignment is listed as Chaotic Neutral. Burning a guy to death in order to dispose of the evidence is evil. An alignment shift is not a fait accompli on doing the deed, and there’s no foreseeable in-game consequences to an alignment shift.
Stegg:
At this stage your alignment is listed as Chaotic Neutral. Burning a guy to death in order to dispose of the evidence is evil. An alignment shift is not a fait accompli on doing the deed, and there’s no foreseeable in-game consequences to an alignment shift.
Stegg has about a year's experience in the Low life of Woodenhead - is a rumble in this part of town likely to draw the law?
Don’t be trying to sneak a knowledge (local) check under an INT check!
Stegg looks up and down the street. He couldn’t remember seeing the authorities around here much, but he didn’t tend to wander around much during the day.
The more Stegg looks at it, the more obvious it is that it’s a sh!tty part of town. Most of the buildings, including the Cockerels’ headquarters, are gradually sinking into the swampy land. Shutters are broken, there are holes in the graffiti-covered walls; there are piles of filthand the remnants of fires in the streets.
At night, when Stegg and the other Cockerels had tended to move around the Hood, some folks settle here; like the stray cats they sometimes set to scrapping. The Cockerels avoided causing trouble in their neighbourhood, and tried to scare off anybody else who might attract attention.
During the day, the night-time denizens slope off to work or whatever and it tends to be quiet. There are a few warehouses within earshot that are in use; Stegg never really paid much attention to them. If anybody was there they would almost certainly have heard the fight. Or there might be nobody in earshot, aside from the barking dog and a couple of stray cats.
Stegg heads back to where Nix has finished tending to one of the thugs, while Dizzy throws her corpse face-first into the mud and crows triumphantly.
Stegg:
Quote:
I think when we played the fight, Stegg passed an INT check and identified these guys as the "Pure Men" or something didn't he?
Let’s work with that. You’re aware that “Pure men” is not quite right, like they’re sometimes called that but it’s more complicated and they have another name as well, but you have no idea what it is.
These look like thugs to you. Given the matchy-matchy haircuts and clothing, they’re probably part of a gang together.
Stegg:
Quote:
INT check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
These guys are part of a dangerous human supremacist gang. You forget the name of it. The Cockerels tended to avoid confrontations with them, because they could get very dangerous, and you only had the one encounter with them, where you, too, avoided confrontation.
Quote:
Stegg's Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17
Ogden was fond of saying that he had chosen this part of town because it was quiet, and it seems quiet today. There’s no balrogs to be seen, nor are there lawmen or gang-bangers. In fact, the streets nearby are quite empty of human life, although you can see a couple of stray cats sloping through the detritus littering the streets. It seems unlikely that nobody heard the fight, however, and you can hear a dog barking. Whether that’s a wild dog, or some lowlife's cur, you cannot tell.
(Stegg knows better than to take Ogden at his word. He had no more chosen this part of town than a flea chooses its dog. He chose an abandoned warehouse in a swampy part of town because that was all he could get, and damn the mosquitoes.)
Nyx makes some elementary moves to clear the unfortunate thug’s airway, which involves pulling some broken teeth out of his mouth and shifting his tongue. At this point he starts breathing more easily, and you roll him onto his side. He’s somewhat singed, but the worst of his injuries are from Stegg’s boots and the ground.
”Nix”:
The Brotherhood are a bad lot. They used to be a disorganised rabble of blowhards, but they recently got a new leader from out of town. Since then they’ve shown more discipline, and their numbers have swollen. They occasionally kill goblins for kicks, and they are despised among the goblin communities.
Most of Woodenhead doesn’t really know how bad they’ve become, viewing it as the hi-jinks of young men, and some residents have human supremacist sympathies. They’re not good enemies to have.
They Brothers are mostly petty thugs, but there are some tough nuts in there. They tend to move as a pack--seeing as few as four together like this would be rare--and the Cockerels had to be wary of them.
Having been spotted by the bad guys, Dizzy flipped the table upside down. From the outside, this was an odd thing to do, but in reality it was a consequence of under-estimating her own strength as she attempted to generate some cover by turning the table on its side.
Standing by the table-legs, caught in the light of a light spell, Dizzy was a sitting duck, but a tremendously poor shot from a crossbow outside thunked into the wall.
Seeing they had visitors, Nyx scampered down the stairs and threw a bomb, which hit the man silhouetted in the doorway. With a WHOOMF the man in the door was engulfed by flame, while the others outside were splashed.
Stegg, looking over the edge of the roof, could see four guys, all in brown shirts with shaved heads, armed variously with a cudgel, a longsword, a light crossbow, and a morning-star (standing by the door). The kid with the cudgel was already backing away from the door.
(Stegg recognised the swordsman as a racist who had given Stegg some grief for being the bastard son of a rapist orc. Stegg had wanted to call him out on his mistake, noting that his father was a human, and that the moment of his conception had been consensual. This put him in the unusual position of wanting to talk about his own conception, but he had realised that this guy probably wasn’t interested in those details right then, and might have taken the opportunity to lead his comrades in a quick round of Kick-a-Stegg.
(Now Stegg was not one to be shy of a fight, and tended to back himself, but having been heavily outnumbered he had let discretion over-ride his valour and pride, taking the opportunity to depart before things had got nasty.)
Stegg seized the moment, jumped down onto the closest guy, the morning-starsman. (Coincidentally, this guy had taken a direct hit from Nyx’s bomb.) He, in turn, took the opportunity to crunch to the ground, showing no signs of life but for rasping breathing and occasional groans.
The kid with the cudgel took one look at the rapidly deteriorating situation and fled, shouting as he went, “I’ll get the others!” This seemed sensible from Stegg’s perspective. The swordsman took a swing at Stegg, but missed. The crossbowman stepped back and took a shot (it was unclear if he was targeting Stegg or shooting into the room at Dizzy or Nyx, so poor was his aim), before turning to run away.
Dizzy, raging now, charged out with a yell, smashing the fleeing crossbowman in the back with her pick-handle. The sound and feel of this would have been sickening, had not Dizzy been a hardened pit-fighter and gaol-bird. The unfortunate fell gracelessly to the ground, unlikely to rise again.
Stegg took a swing at the remaining guy, the swordsman, and hit him solidly on the arm, but he shrugged it off. Rapidly sizing up the situation, the swordsman made a tactical withdrawal. At the last, Nyx threw a bomb, hitting him just before he exited the alley-way; he appeared to be made of sterner stuff than the others, and it did not stop him.
Dizzy and Stegg muttered obscenities after the fleeing swordsman, but he was long gone. Nyx quickly looked over the bodies at the door, starting with the crossbowman. ”This one’s not breathing,” he said to the others, “And he’s not likely to start.”
Dizzy ducked down and looked over the other thug. ”This one’s breathing,” she said, ”But he’s quite likely to stop.”
The guy who’s alive is unconscious, unstable, and close to death.
Perhaps a little poesy for our conquering murder-hobos?
Welcome to Woodenhead!
The sun is shining; the weather is sweet
You’ve killed one man dead
And another man’s dying at your feet.
At this stage there have been no witnesses to the fight that you’re aware of, except for the near-corpse and the two thugs that have run away. It seems unlikely, however, that nobody heard the yells and explosions.
”NyX”:
One look at the brown shirts and shaved heads of the fallen guys identifies them as ‘Brothers’, members of the ‘Brotherhood’. This is a gang of human-supremacist thugs; you’ve had run-ins with them before, as had most of the Cockerels. The Brothers move in packs and would have happily spent the afternoon kicking the sh!t out of a goblin like yourself if you had not avoided them.
Could you make a knowledge:local roll.
”Dizzy”:
You’re aware, of course, that the general rule of what passes for justice in places like Woodenhead is that ex-cons like yourself are presumed guilty. You are no lawyer, but the likely outcome of your being arrested is a hanging.
Could you make an intelligence check?
”Stegg”:
One look at the brown shirts and shaved heads of the fallen guys identifies them as ‘Brothers’, members of the ‘Brotherhood’. This is a gang of human-supremacist thugs.
As Dizzy descends the stairs it is no mean feat to remain quiet, but she manages something close enough to it. When she is about halfway down the door opens and daylight lances through the dust, falling on the table at its centre and eclipsing the gentle glow of Stegg's fire. There are figures silhouetted in the doorway.
Dizzy pauses briefly, but figures it'd be foolish to stay on the stairs and makes her way swiftly and quietly towards deeper shadow. "Over in that corner!" hisses a man's voice speaking in common, and just before Dizzy reaches cover a ball of light comes skittering towards her. It stops under the table after hitting one of the legs with the unmistakable 'clunk' of stone hitting wood. One of the figures appears to be pointing towards where you are, still in deep shadows.
Your stealth was pretty good, but there’s no accounting for outrageously good rolling on perception tests.
Nyx winces at the racket Dizzy is making descending the stairs, but figures it should be quiet enough to go unnoticed by the small-eared mooks in this neighbourhood. He pauses a brief second, takes a small flask from a hidden pocket, sniffs it appreciatively, and then knocks it back like a sailor having his tot of run.
Stegg is moderately surprised--Nyx’s already massive ears grow longer and wiggle appreciatively, his limbs grow longer, and Stegg can see him wiggling newly lengthened and gracile fingers excitedly.
Nyx suppresses an urge to let out a contented, “Ah!” and scampers silently across towards the trap-door and looks down.
Nyx:
When the she-dwarf is half-way down the stairs, the downstairs door opens and daylight lances through the dust, falling on the table at its centre and eclipsing the gentle glow of Stegg's fire. The doorway is out of sight from where Nyx is, but the shadows thrown suggest there is more than one person in the doorway.
Dizzy pauses briefly, but then swiftly and quietly moves towards deeper shadow. Not swift enough! "Over in that corner!" hisses a man's voice speaking in common, and just before Dizzy reaches cover a ball of light comes skittering towards her. It stops under the table after hitting one of its legs with a 'clunk'. Some small object with “Light” cast on it? Seems most likely.
Stegg tries the trapdoor; it is easy enough to open quietly, and appears to have seen recent use. Light floods across the attic space, which doesn’t improve the decor. Presumably Ogden was using this trapdoor for his own secret ends. It’s easy enough for Stegg to pull himself up, and he finds himself blinking in the broad daylight on a gently sloping wooden roof.
Stegg:
It’s not hard to move to the edge quietly; but before he gets there Stegg hears a a man hissing in common: "Over in that corner!"
When Stegg gets to the edge he peers over to see down to the alleyway in front of the door. There’s four men with brown shirts and shaved heads down there. They have weapons drawn--there’s a guy with a morningstar standing right by the door, behind them there’s a guy with a longsword and a guy with a loaded light crossbow. They’re all peering at the door. Further back again there’s a guy holding a cudgel. He seems to be on lookout.
It doesn’t look easy to climb down. Jumping on one of the guys looks easier. Missing wouldn’t be pretty.
Is there any kind of window or opening out the front of the top storey? I like the image of Stegg dropping down behind these guys as they enter.
There's a trapdoor in the angled ceiling, held down with a simple bolt. It would appear that Stegg could slide the bolt back and climb out fairly easily. He'd be about 18' above street-level on the roof. The main door, where Nyx is pointing, is underneath this attic space, so he'd be right over them.
Because that was just a very cursory perception check, Stegg has time for an action before I resolve what everyone is doing. If you declare that action, I can resolve things quickly.
Nyx wrote:
"When these rubes open the door it'll take their eyes a second to adjust to the gloom. I'll chuck a bomb up in their grills and you guys jump 'em while they're stunned" He practices an underarm lob with the grenade "Oh yeah...uh...i'm a bit out of practice so you...uh...might wanna stay a teensy bit back when this thing goes off..."
It'll be quite tricky to lob the bomb at the door where the mooks are from the top of the stairs/ladder. The main door is under the attic floor, and you are essentially looking down through a trapdoor. Nyx'd kind of have to poke his head out and chuck it hanging slightly upside down. He can see most of the room easily enough, though.
Or he could go down the 'stairs' or something. It's your call as to how Nyx is set up.
Talk to the DM about the problem--away from the other players. If they're all good as people, they'll appreciate the conversation. Identify what you see as the problems, and then talk through solutions.
Getting new characters to replace the rogues would make a big difference. Make them 4th level. Get the players to make them if they're keen; otherwise you can.
Your XP system is broken. It reinforces disadvantages. Recently I was playing a campaign where one character (necromantic cleric) was one level higher (5th) than the rest of us, and it was pretty easy to feel useless. I was feeling excited about "Web"; he had zombie manticores at his command. You need to address this if you want the other players to actively engage.
A major tweak would be bringing everyone up to the same level, or at least bringing the 3rds up to 4th. 1 level is a big difference; 2 levels is a different league.
A minor tweak would see you increasing the amount of experience the lower level characters get even further. Another fix would be to have the higher level characters drop out of play for a while.
The werewolfaasimardragondisciple and Baron-Baron could temporarily disappear (imprisoned? abducted?) and you and the other player take up lower level characters for a while and let the other characters star while they catch up. Perhaps you two could take over the rogues while their players' new characters bed in?
As an aside, revenge is not a Good thing. Whether by action or neglect, if your character deliberately causes a character to die, they should be moving towards evil rapidly. Given the fixation on being a gold dragon, the character is more likely to react the other way.
Oh. Give up digging the trench. It's unrealistic. Doing something you know to be unrealistic is bad RP.
A very good sense motive roll says: When Ogden called you guys off the construction project because it was going to cause a mutiny, he employed a group of goblins to finish the job.
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when you say "a language I've seen before", do you mean I recognise the script but can't read it?
Yes. A second look reveals a bit more. Stegg criticaled an easy linguistics roll to identify the language. It’s Elvish. It’s written in Ogden’s hand, and it appears to be a love letter (there’s some squiggles at the bottom indicating hugs and kisses that Stegg recognises from letters sent to the various whores he has known).
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I guess after that he checks out the ledger...
It’s a ledger. Stegg's seen them before, but has no insight into them and it might as well be in Draconic for all it might make any sense to him.
As an aside, it’s entertaining having a knucklehead with above average intelligence. I assume Stegg is playing it quiet on that front; he seems to have thrived thus far on being underestimated.
Nyx:
Nyx wrote:
He stuffs the smack into one of his many pouches
Stegg is obviously pre-occupied with the papers, so clearly doesn’t notice. Nyx himself is pre-occupied, and notices a fraction too late that Dizzy entered the room while Nyx was pocketing the stuff. Nyx is no expert, but reckons that he got away with it.
Nyx has a quiet chuckle to himself while Dizzy goes over to search the already searched rags. This is interrupted when, immediately after saying ”DOES IT HAVE A BIG RED X ON IT?”, Nyx hears furtive whispering from outside the door to the warehouse: ”Quiet! There might be somebody inside!” It’s in Common.
11 Perception is practically a super-power at level 1, and you rolled a 19...
Dizzy:
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Dizzy sniffs the air with contempt and walks over to the pile of rags to examine it at arms reach with her pick-handle.
Dizzy finds a solitary GP loitering in a concealed pouch. Riches! Dizzy pockets it while the others are preoccupied with their papers.
Dizzy wrote:
While there was a certain charm to the sun shining through gaps ...
The ceiling does not have gaps. It is pitch dark. Not that I mind you adding local colour; in fact, I encourage that sort of malarkey.
There's a bunch of scrawled writing in various languages. You can make out a ledger in Common, some diagrams with notes in Goblin, and what looks like a letter in a language you've seen before.
I figure with INT = 12 you can read the languages you know, but in this context it will take a little time.
Nyx did not need to duck his head under the beams, nor did he take the steps two at a time. As noted, Nyx is only three and a half feet tall, so ducking the low beams would be unnecessary, while taking the stairs two at a time on such a steep staircase would be odd. That should have read as follows:
Nyx sacrifices dignity for speed, and scampers up the narrow steps on all-fours, quickly disappearing from the sight of the other two.
Nyx:
You don’t have much time to search before the others arrive, but you do find a small kid-leather bag of what you presume to be rust amongst the pile of clothes. You hear Stegg galumphing up the staircase, and scamper over to the table, looking nonchalant.
The stair-case is narrow, steep, and rickety, little more than a ladder nailed in place, and there are two beams which seem to be designed for Stegg to smash his head on. He doesn’t, but uses his hands on the beams to help stabilise himself and perhaps spread some of the load.
Dizzy is no carpenter, but makes the call that she is best to wait until Stegg is off the stairs before she ascends, lest they prove inadequate to the task of holding the combined weight of the half-orc and the dwarf.
First Stegg, and then Dizzy get to the top and look around.
There’s a low-angled ceiling (Stegg cannot stand straight in here), and Dizzy can plainly see that this room was added late to the warehouse, and was shoddily done.
It is pitch-dark, but darkvision easily picks out Nyx standing by a table with some papers and some remnants of food on it, a pile of clothes in the corner--Ogden took pride in his rags--and the best of the Cockerels's squabs; this was still little more than a straw-stuffed sack on which Ogden used to bang his doxy, Petrunia.
There's plenty of other kipple to worry about, if you’re so inclined.
Stegg and Nyx:
Theoretically, you guys would have time to do something before the dwarf clambered up.
So Nyx runs up the narrow steps, two at a time, ducking his head to avoid various beams, and disappears from sight.
Nyx:
He gets to the top and looks around. It's the first time he's been up here and he didn't know what to expect, but this is exactly it.
His darkvision picks out a table with some papers and some remnants of food on it, a pile of clothes in the corner--Ogden took pride in his rags--and the best of the Cockerels's squabs; this was still little more than a straw-stuffed sack on which Ogden used to bang his doxy, Petrunia.
There's plenty of other kipple to worry about, but if you moved quickly, you might be able to do something before the others got up here.
GM - do either Nyx or Stegg have any leads on tracking down this notional stash of Ogden's?
Apparently he was not dumb enough to try to hide anything in the club-house. Where else did he frequent?
Stegg Spoiler:
There was certainly nobody in the gang he trusted. Any hiding place would have been away from the den, as you've noted, but also away from the gang.
Ogden didn't seem to have much of a life outside the gang, but he would get away from time to time, usually after divvying the loot. You can be pretty sure that he used these opportunities to hide his stash.
The remarkable thing with Ogden is he got on with all sorts of people, as demonstrated by the racial diversity of the Cockerels themselves. The remnants of that are in the room--a goblin, a half-orc, and a dwarf. It wasn’t limited to that, however. With the racism ubiquitous in Woodenhead, this was unusual.
Nyx Spoiler:
Ogden loved the Cockerels, but there was certainly nobody in the gang he trusted. (The closest he got was with Stegg, but even that wasn't quite what you'd call trust yet.) Any hiding place would have been away from the den, as noted, but also away from the gang.
Ogden didn't seem to have much of a life outside the gang, but he would get away from time to time, usually after divvying the loot. You can be pretty sure that he used these opportunities to hide his stash. He seemed to be out more recently.
Nyx also criticaled some Knowledge (local), so this is what it’s worth:
Ogden needed to make an arrangement with someone. He had to travel to whatever place on his own; if it was secluded enough for him to hide things, it was secluded enough for him to be in danger from various enemies.
Most notable amongst these were the Pure Men, a group of human supremacists, who hated Ogden for being a half-orc, and hated him even more for his racial egalitarianism. They avoided tangling with the Cockerels as a whole, because they were out-numbered, but would happily roll a Cockerel on his own, and would have killed Ogden given a chance.
Hence: He has must have had an arrangement with somebody he could trust. You never really heard him talk about anyone from outside the Gang, so don't know who that could be.
Nix and Stegg pause as they try to think through recent events to see if there might be something resembling a clue about whether or not Ogden had some loot, and where it might be.
(I did some rolls for your various skills, which led to the following flashbacks.)
Nix’s flashback:
“This is a good haul, lads, a good haul,” Nix could hear Ogden as if he were still present, “and as is always the case we’ll divvy it up even stevens, all for one and one for all.” There was a bit of a cheer at this, for all that the boys knew what was coming next.
“But before I do that, we’d best take aside what we need for expenses. A little for th’authorities, who’re ever so obliging, and a little more for the other Man—for tho I’d reckon we’d take him and his, it seems like a needless fight f’now—” With each named expense, of course, Ogden would take a small pile of the coins and put them in a bag.
“And let’s not be forgetting our big-eared alchy—I can tell yas he charges a pretty penny for his most invaluable services,” with which words a few more coins are dropped in the bag-—more, by the sound of it, than Nix would get paid, “and he needs stuff the likes of which ye’ve never heard of,” more coins in the bag, “and a little for our food and drink, as well…”
Nix could hear the vague disappointment as the portion to be divided got smaller and smaller. “Let’s not be grumblin’! There’s none of yous as could be figurin’ out this racket, and if ah gets it wrong we’ll be squeezed ’tween them that hates us and them that wants our business, and I'll end up with you, swinging in the breeze or floating down the river with a knife in our backs! And let’s not be forgetting our future investments. For if I left it to you to figure we’d still be here doing this when we had grey beards and piles comin’ out of our ar5es!!” Nix'd always wondered what these future investments were, although in retrospect it seems Ogden was interested in getting in on a cat-house.
Nix couldn’t help but think that Ogden was probably right. It wasn’t just the complexities of the town that would end the Cockerels without his leadership, though. They’d kill each other, if left to their own devices. Things were much more stable with Ogden there, keeping the good ones onside with drugs and booze and whatever else they needed, and keeping the troublemakers in check by cutting short their supplies, playing them off against each other, for all the world like a prince in his court…
And for all that Ogden didn’t pay them very much, except for Nix, this was an expensive business. (Nix was on his own pay-scale, of course; a good cook shouldn’t have to wait on spoils.) Nix had heard Ogden’s stress from time-to-time as he muttered to himself and counted money. Cash was ever and always a problem…
Now it was the other odds and sods being divvied up. This time there were some jewels. Had someone paid in kind? Or had the boys run across something unanticipated in rolling their drunks? “You know me, m’lads. I have my preferences. I do love these little trinkets with the little stones…” Nix was pretty sure that Ogden was the only one there who knew what anything was worth. The Cockerels would take their bling and their tat, and wear it with pride. But Ogden always took classy little oddities, ornaments, little jewels, and the like.
The feathers he wore were worn out of solidarity. This time he picked out a few of the plainer rings. “Nothing special, boys, just somethin’ in keepin’ with my proclivities.”
Of course some of the lads knew what he was at, but they weren’t going to object. Ogden was all that held the gang together, and getting rid of that stuff in this town was tricksy to say the least. And it wasn’t like there was anything over valuable amongst their hauls. The Cockerels were nothing if not bottom feeders, the last to get their bite at whatever cherries came to this gods forsaken backwater.
Nix couldn’t really figure out what Ogden might be saving for, at any rate; he seemed committed to the gang life-style. Perhaps he flogged the stuff to a fence around town somewhere, perhaps he had a stash? Probably the latter, but difficult to know. In any event, it wouldn’t be anywhere around here. Ogden loved his Cockerels, but he didn’t trust ’em.
Stegg’s flashback:
Ogden clapped Stegg on the shoulder, and poured generously from a bottle of some imported spirits he had bought over the bar. “Stegg, m’boy! Have some of the good stuff!” Before Stegg knew what was happening there was a cigar in one hand, and a glass of spirits in the other one that tasted, he presumed, classy, although to him it just tasted like spirits. “When I get my pit running, you’re gonna be a star!”
Stegg could not help but be impressed by the man. This was bluster, to be sure, but much had happened, and it seemed the Cockerels were going places. Ogden was ambitious, but for now, as at many other times, he was spending the Cockerels’ gains all free and easy, like money was no object. He liked being liked, and nobody liked a miser. Hence the engaging ladies and the jovial tavern owner, for none of those would be going home broke on a night when Ogden had brought his Cockerels here.
As a half-way measure to the fighting pit Ogden had built a cock-fighting pit (“appropriate for the Cockerels, eh?”) in a basement under one of the near-by warehouses. With a bit of luck, or something a little more certain, they'd get a regular earn. Initially, the Cockerels had been enlisted to dig out the pit but this had been unpleasant work, and after a near mutiny, Ogden recovered a lot of his suddenly lost popularity amongst the gang by paying some goblins to finish the job, and bringing the boys here to celebrate the work they had done.
(Perhaps if they'd stuck to cock-fighting, and not started messing in cat-houses, they'd not all be dead, thinks Stegg to himself.)
Ogden had kept the lion’s share of whatever loot the gang accumulated, “to cover expenses”, and to be fair running a gang seemed to be quite a complicated affair; then there was the bit he kept “for future investments”, which Stegg took to mean the fighting pit. And to be sure, Stegg didn’t want to go back to digging out a muddy basement again, so he was happy enough having Ogden pay some of their spoils to labourers. In any event, while their share of the spoils might not be quite what Stegg would’ve liked, there was plenty to go around when you were with Ogden.
Stegg was impressed by Ogden’s style, as well. “You’ll be the toast of Woodenhead, m’boy, but that’s only a stepping stone to bigger and better things! Andersport! Absalom! For a man of your talents all of this is possible!” He slapped a hand down, and the rings he wore looked proper classy as they cracked down on the wooden surface. “And you’ll be swimmin’ in it. Pussy, that is. Tell me now ladies, if pit-fighters don’t get yer juices flowing!” The ladies laughed along with him, enthusiastic at the prospect of a pit-fighter.
The rings were what Ogden loved. When it came to divvying up the loot, Ogden took a particular interest in classier items, particularly jewellery when it showed up. While these were worth more than the other stuff, they were also hard to sell in Woodenhead, and Ogden did seem to know and care about them, so Stegg never had much of a problem just taking some cash and bling. Nobody else seemed to mind either.
Stegg assumed Ogden flogged off what he didn’t wear to somebody in town who could sell it off down the river. “So have yourself another one!” Stegg hadn’t noticed that he’d downed his already, but Ogden was already filling it up. He spent money pretty quick, Stegg reckoned, probably about as fast he got it.
Will have to get some more dough to start brewing pots of CLW I guess.
To confirm, because I hadn't addressed potions:
Unless I’m mistaken, Nyx could take 10 to craft a potion with caster level 1. The DC for brewing potions is 5 + caster level. You can, therefore, use your starting wealth to make potions of spells you know at half price (25 GP!).
I think this was your understanding, but I'd rather be totally clear.
My understanding of Goblins in our game world is that they are not straight out evil as they are in the canon Pathfinder books, but are just another race, albeit with some very negative stereotypes. Maybe Gypsies is a good analogue?
Sounds good to me. I reckon that alignment's hokey enough without adding intrinsically evil races.
I would expect a lot of prejudice, and goblins generally to be pretty ghettoised.
On top of the reputation for crime and general scamming that gypsies are associated with, goblins are small, ugly, and are often co-opted by bad dudes (including their own bosses) to do some pretty heinous deeds.
Amongst the general population, there would be a range of responses, mostly from barely tolerated to reviled ("I can't stand the little blighters since I lost my father in the Goblin Wars...").
I guess with unlimited time a 50% discount is reasonable.
Nyx scavenged what he could from his master’s lab; this is a mix of ingredients and finished products. This is your wealth by level. There is a cost attached to substantial failure in making products, and by my calculations this makes it pretty dicey at DC25 that Nyx would profit in any time-frame. On the other hand, DC 15 products are straightforward if you have the time—which you do. So:
DC15 and below items are 33% cost. DC20 items are 66%. DC25+ items are full price.
If there’s a problem with this, let me know.
Dizzy wrote:
Whats the opinion on multiclass archetypes? does it really matter if both classes have archetype attributes? eg hulking rager1/martial artist1?
Mixing archetypes is dandy. If you get too unbalanced I’ll figure something out, but there’s usually a price to pay.
I cannot find a ‘Hulking Rager’ archetype lying around. Is this what you were thinking of?
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I hope its ok that Im level 1 barb to start with, representing her getting out of jail after a long stint, maybe manacle scars have greatly diminished her monk skills.
That’s fine. The details are yours to develop. Perhaps she was mentored in prison, but never got to practise?
We starting at level one yeah? Or level 2 eh eh eh?
LEVEL ONE, MR GEEPS! I thought about starting you off at level 0, but it just seemed like a hassle. Level 1’s all good.
The party should be powerful enough. In terms of abilities, Stegg is somewhere between ‘Heroic’ and ‘Epic’ (23 ability points), while Nyx and Gidzy are both well epic (with 39 and 45 respectively). (See the Ability Scores Costs chart.)
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Any ideas why this isn't showing up in my campaigns?
That would be operator error on the part of the GM.
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Do I have to do something to join? Do you need to invite me?
I've got you listed as a player now, so let me know if there are still problems and I’ll do more trouble-shooting.
In terms of background:
Throw together a character, and we’ll see what happens. Keep me posted. I’d love to see some character sheets through email.
I’m with Doggziller—mysterious backgrounds are all good, unless you guys know each other from back in the day. He has given me a detailed background, which I am happy to work with.
If you other two want to throw together some backgrounds, that would be choice. You can make detailed backgrounds, as Murray did, and throw them through to me, either as you go or in one fell swoop at the end. Or you could make vague backgrounds, and we’ll cobble stuff together collaboratively. Or you could work together and develop a shared background, and throw it through to me when you’re done. Or whatever.
(We should probably have a bit of a chat about the origin of Nyx this afternoon, M. Jaguar, but we can chat about that this afternoon.)
It looks to me that Stegg and Nyx are likely to have separate backgrounds, and I look forward to throwing together the way in which you guys meet. I might be missing something, though, and if you guys know each other from back in the day that would be cool, too. I’ve got no idea what Gidzy will be, except that the avatar looks like a half-elf. Maybe. A goblin, a half-orc and a half-elf makes for some really cool plot-lines, especially if you’re not evil, so that looks groovy.
When I get the backgrounds for Nyx and Gidzy I’ll just lever it all together, organise the backgrounds into a coherent narrative, and plan a meeting, adventure paths, and some encounters... I’ve already got ideas and stuff, but it does depend on those other two.
