My S.O. is starting chemo this month and I'll likely be spending time keeping her intact. The good part is it's a fairly short treatment and caught early, but, y'know, this is never good, and the medicine itself is sooo toxic...
Anyway, long story short, I just won't have the bandwidth to keep running a bunch of games on here. I will probably still be able to play here and there as long as I can keep my time investment low, but managing campaigns is just going to be too much. :(
Regardless, I enjoyed our time together for what little we were able to accomplish, and if you can find a new GM to take over, I hope you are able to carry on!
My S.O. is starting chemo this month and I'll likely be spending time keeping her intact. The good part is it's a fairly short treatment and caught early, but, y'know, this is never good, and the medicine itself is sooo toxic...
I've dropped running my other games, and I will try to keep this one going as my only remaining commitment. A lot will depend on how she reacts to the chemo and whether there are further complications or other issues discovered.
My S.O. is starting chemo this month and I'll likely be spending time keeping her intact. The good part is it's a fairly short treatment and caught early, but, y'know, this is never good, and the medicine itself is sooo toxic...
Anyway, long story short, I just won't have the bandwidth to keep running a bunch of games on here. I will probably still be able to play here and there as long as I can keep my time investment low, but managing campaigns is just going to be too much. :(
Regardless, I enjoyed our time together for what little we were able to accomplish, and if you can find a new GM to take over, I hope you are able to carry on!
Lyraesel sends her swarm into the building to scout...
Lyraesel:
The two-story building has several clerks, managers, factors, and guards. Your bugs sneak past them, and find that the bottom floor includes a manager's office, a closet of office supplies with a trapdoor in the ceiling, a meeting room (which you are currently in), and a pair of guest chambers. Upstairs there's a counting office with tables and chairs where a factor is counting and accounting for money with ledgers, a guard dormitory, and a secure storage room with a heavy, locked iron strongbox. Do you want your bugs to crawl into anything for more details?
Orveiss notes - just in the nick of time - that the gnoll in the corner by Bat is about to grab a rope secured to the wall. The end of the rope is fairly high up, above the usual sight-line for human-sized people, making it easy to miss on a cursory examination of the room.
He calls out just in time to let Fezzik twist away as a net drops from the ceiling.
The remaining gnoll, against all sense, advances on Fezzik with his axe. He bays wildly, letting out a savage howl that will surely be heard deeper in the compound.
Gnoll: Axe attack:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Of course, the large warrior is too deft for a simple swing like that to faze him.
Dom & Avendryl, then back to Orveiss, Fezzik, & Bat!
"We are hear to speak with a guild representative," says Alara smoothly. "As you can see we are well-heeled and well-traveled and we would like to talk about your local business."
Nothing she says is strictly a lie, and with her sunny disposition the guards are put a bit on their heels. One smiles and says, "Why of course, miss! You and your bodyguards can come in. Let me call someone."
Another pair of guards are summoned and you are escorted inside of the building. Taken through a hallway, you are ushered through a doorway and into a room with comfortable furnishings. Your "merchants" are seated in plush chairs while their "guards" are stationed in the corner against the back wall (standing room only).
Shortly thereafter, a human man enters and offers his hand. He has the blond hair of the Ulfen but looks like a businessman, with a colorful vest and bloused trousers.
"Welcome to the Guild," he says. "We are the prime purveyors of trade and intercity commerce for the city. What kind of business can we do today?"
Cassie digs into the cayman and rolls around, wrestling with it as her claws shred its thick, scaly hide. Blood flows freely into the water and finally it thrashes about. Even so, she has to lever its jaws open to get it off her leg!
Seeing how that fight is going, Jenya switches targets and with a BOOM sends a bullet into the other cayman fighting Vlad. A spatter of blood sprays from the hit but the enraged and hungry croc is too set on tearing down its prey.
Vlad and Ilystria up - will bot tomorrow if they haven't posted.
You spend about an hour selecting some clothing that will give you the appearance of merchants of middling wealth, and top it off with some perfume. With your warriors taking the role of grizzled bodyguards, you head to the Guild to make your entrance.
The door guards halt you and one says, "Good day, coin-keepers. Welcome to the Guild. What business can we assist you with today?"
Time for someone to speak up and make a Diplomacy check!
You can easily have the non-disguisable people stay about a block away in case something goes really wrong, watching the place while just loitering casually in the neighborhood, and have the disguised folks go in.
Orveiss' sword buries itself in the sternum of one of the gnolls with a gthunk noise, then shakes and pulls itself loose a second later, accompanied by a spray of blood and viscera as the creature falls limply to the ground.
(122) The walls of this place are of plain stone. Doors to the north and west are normal. Four heaps of bedding — rags, torn tapestries, rugs, etc. — lie by the south wall. Two stools stand near the entrance to the southeast passage. Opposite this entrance, along the wall, is a crude shelf, supporting several samples of pottery — bottles and mugs. Under it, in the northwest corner, stand four spears.
Orveiss is ready to leap into the fray, followed by Fezzik. Four armored gnolls inhabit this room, one watching to the side, two across the room, one in the corner. They are more heavily armed and armored than the gnolls that you fought before, and as soon as the door creaks in under a heavy shove one sets up a loud barking and howling.
Orveiss, Fezzik, and Bat are first, then the gnolls, then the rest of the party.
This combat will get complicated as the Temple is now aware that you have been invading and attacking their forces and they have started to set up plans to fight invaders. Please bear with me.
"Well, what exactly are we trying to get?" asks Shalelu. "We want to find this tracker-guide, Ulf, and we want to find out if they know about Ameiko, and we want to see if they have any idea what happened to Suishen."
N.B.: When Shalelu said earlier that she doesn't think she would be talking her way in, she was speaking for herself (8 Cha, no social skills). If the party wants to run a bluff or open a dialog that's up to you guys!
Shalelu says, "Certainly we shouldn't start a brawl in the middle of the street. I don't think I'll be talking my way in. But your insects could at least tell us if someone's held captive inside. Maybe someone else can come up with an excuse to get us in?"
I think I would call that "vacation" weekend... devastating. No free time whatsoever!
There's a fizzling sound as Vallen's gun misfires and nothing comes out, then a loud POP from somewhere inside the barrel.
Jenya's pistol, however, blasts the lizardfolk leader, and Vlad uses that opportunity to leap into action and plunge his sword straight into the foe's chest. The lizardfolk's fingers squeeze around his trident hard enough for his scales to lose their hue, then he lets out a horrid rattling noise and falls backward into the water.
Cassandra shoots one of the caymans, but the brute is undeterred as it rolls, even with a flaming arrow embedded in its back. The arrow snaps and the cayman wriggles to right itself so that it can lunge at her. Meanwhile the other cayman lurches toward Vlad from behind while he triumphantly knocks the lizardfolk down.
The cayman facing Vlad has little luck against him, as the fencer's control and speed are simply too much for it to keep up, and its tail whips angrily while it snaps at empty air. Cass isn't so lucky - the cayman's surprising burst of speed lets it whip her with its tail and then it catches her off-guard with its roll and latches on, holding tight to her with its jaw clamped shut!
Cassie takes 5 damage from the bite and 10 damage from the tail and is grabbed!
The strange floating skull reappears, hovering just behind the dying lizard chief, and seems to pulse with satisfaction.
"Sounds fine," says Ameiko. "Get some rest. You deserve it. Especially after that elemental beating."
Shalelu adds, "I'll keep an eye out during the dark of the morning in case any of those... shinobi decide to come calling."
~~~~~~~~~~
In the morning you spend a while tracking down the Rimerunner's Guild.
Diplomacy (gather info) DC 10:
The leader of the guild is a merchant of high repute named Thorborg Silverskorr, but she is rarely seen in public, and she has numerous powerful connections, including the king himself.
After breakfast you spend about two hours asking around and you learn that the Guild edifice is in the Jade Quarter - no great surprise, that; if it truly is a front for oni and ninja, then it makes sense that it's located in the Tien neighborhood.
The guildhall is an impressive edifice, two stories tall, with exterior masonry walls and a roof of shale singles. Several guards stand in front of the main door, though occasionally people go in and out, and a patrol of city guard move by the place about once every half-hour as well.
The chimneys seem to be small pipes and the windows all have shutters; it's obvious that security precautions have been taken in construction of the guildhall.
How would you like to proceed? Walk on in and talk your way through? Come back at night? Try to slip in invisibly? Use divination magic to see what's inside? Something else?
Domeric senses nothing but the usual background buzz of the evil in this temple.
Bat checks carefully and finds clumps of fur and bits of chewed bone that confirm the suspicion that gnolls once barracked here. She also finds a torn-off piece of a playing card and a hobnail from a boot that are probably from hobgoblins.
Avendryl can tell that the room was cleared out, probably shortly after your attack. Likely the temple is reallocating forces to shore up some areas and abandon others until they can get reinforcements.
Avendryl also smells stronger wet-dog scent to the south. The next chamber is possibly still inhabited?
His hasty slash is wide and the lizard-king easily sidesteps it, then hisses again.
Ilystria buzzes back to the team, greatly worried, trying to keep an eye out for the floating glowing skull. The lizard guards don't stop her as she flies over their heads by a good couple of feet; they're too busy watching the battle, awed and somewhat cowed.
One cayman bites at Cass while another comes up behind Vladric.
The city is quite large and cosmopolitan; finding an enchanter should be no trouble. The connections that Morgrym made earlier would likely be able to point him toward a dwarf priest who can do enchanting, or perhaps a rune-worker.
Ameiko says, "But... this also means we're probably getting close to something big. Is there some way we can cover our tracks better? Keep them from finding us here? We're... kinda out in the open." She gestures with her free hand to the wide space where many caravans are scattered.
Cass, the caymans have reach; you can 5' step back and shoot if you want. I'll assume you don't want to take an AoO.
Cass's flaming arrow lands in the back of one of the caymans, while Jenya blasts the lizard chief with another deadly shot. This one causes him to stagger slightly, and leaves a bloody hole in his shoulder, but he keeps coming!
The fearsome, very tall lizard chief hisses and flares his neck frills at Vladrick, waving his trident in a display of dominance.
Carpets and tapestries cover the plain stone walls of this room, and a few rugs are on the floor as well. From the appearance of all this, the room was once the quarters of some fairly important person — an underpriest of the Earth Temple, from the scenes depicted on several tapestries. Whatever furniture was once here is now gone. Heaps of cloth lie near the walls, showing where the inhabitants sleep. A small brazier stands in the northeast corner. A small keg of cheap beer is in the center of the room. The only exit is the door in the south wall of the alcove.
Whatever creatures were living here have moved, but based on the wet dog smell and the clumps of fur, you suspect gnolls at the very least.
You head back to the ogre chamber and, given plenty of time, shut the door behind you to avoid intrusions and search the room thoroughly.
Orveiss eventually discovers a secret door on the western wall, with the trigger a small stone that can be pressed in to trigger the counterweight and make the door swing open!
In addition, you discover under a barrel a heavy flagstone that Fezzik is able to move. Undeneath it is a cavity festooned with loose silver pieces (870 in total) and a silver bracelet adorned with six azurites.
124 doesn't have any other evident exits, though as I recall you didn't have much chance to search it thoroughly, as you pushed on through to the gnolls after fighting the ogres and hobgoblins in the hallway.
As you can see we've had some nutty back-and-forths here, between folks dropping (both in play and out of game) and wacky scheduling making things bonkers.
You folks want another blaster? Kyrie's one of the original group who had to drop due to personal scheduling issues.
"Then it sounds," says Ameiko hesitantly, "like we need to investigate this Rimerunner's Guild, of which Snorri was a part, and see how it's connected to the Frozen Shadows. Then we can backtrack to their masters."
"Hopefully," say Sandru. "They have thus bar been surprisingly bad about covering their tracks, but perhaps they've gotten sloppy because it's been so long since one of uh... Ameiko's family has been spotted." The Varisian man nods to Ameiko.
Shalelu twirls her bow in her hands and says, "Fire or acid... hm. Is there any way to temporarily enchant weapons like so, or are we going to need to find someone who can place runes and charms on our weapons to do so permanently?"
"Oni" is a fairly generic term but loosely correlates with "demons." Notably, oni powerful enough to overthrow the rightful emperor of Minkai are essentially indistinguishable from what you would consider demons. Technically they're spirits, but malevolent extraplanar beings that possess people and run around using magic powers to cause evil? Yeah, not too much difference.
You really are, Lyraesel. Clearly I should update more often so people don't drop out.
Ameiko says, "Yeah... it was kind of a shock to me, too. Apparently I'm the last legitimate heir to the throne of Minkai. Which kinda sucks, because who wants to be stuck doing bureaucracy all day, but it's also kinda exciting, because I never really got to experience my home, and the whole trip there is an adventure? Also we really have no choice but to go and fight to put me on the throne and win or else these Five Storms will not only kill me and anyone left related to me, but they'll continue to terrorize Minkai for... well, possibly forever."
She picks up her wok and provides Kersey with another helping of stew.
Koya adds, "Those who have broken the seal are also marked by its magic. The oni know about us, too, now. And thus conflict with their Frozen Shadows is inevitable."
It may not be Jeyna's best shot, but it's good enough. The lizard chief is armored, but against a pistol at point-blank range it just doesn't matter.
Jenya's bullet grazes the chief as he swings wildly to knock Cassie's arrow aside at the last second, barely managing to avoid being completely impaled.
Vallen fires his smokewagon as well and the bullet lodges in the chief's armor, smoldering against a chunk of hard bone worked into the material.
All three attacks hit, but he has enough hit points that he's not badly hurt... yet.
The lizard-king sees Vladric as a clear challenger with his shining blade, and rushes to engage him. The enormous lizardfolk must duck to get out through the gate, but he comes barreling out regardless, stabbing out with his equally-large trident!
Vladric easily parries the thrust, but now he's in melee. Which is right where he wants to be.
As the brawl erupts, a ghostly, bobbing light appears inside the compound, just past the gate! The two guards on either side of the gate cower in fear. Inside the strange yellow light is what looks like a glowing skull!
At the same time, a pair of swamp caymans come rushing out of the waters from behind, only barely noticed by Cassie at the last second - they must've been lurking underwater, where she wouldn't have been able to smell them!
Yes, the lizard chief and the swamp caymans are all Large size.
Party's turn - the caymans moved up from their hiding places, and the chief charged!
Ameiko puts down her wok and says, "No, not like that... when we found the Amatatsu Seal in Brinewall Castle. Opening the box opened... something. I saw... I saw glimpses of the history of my family, of our flight from Minkai, of the Five Storms - the oni that hunted us down to kill us all, to try to end the line of the emperor and overthrow the Heavenly Mandate."
"They saw it too," she says, gesturing to Lyraesel. "The ones who were there in the castle."
Since this item does not detect as magical and has no spells on it (per Koya), and it seems to be self-willed, your guess is that it is not an item at all, but a cassisian angel (see link) that has simply been keeping quiet while figuring out who you were and whether you were 'decent people'.
Botting Bernard, as this is holding up the story development.
Bernard is fiddling with some of the loot and nearly jumps backward, almost dropping the elegant Ulfen helm that he'd swiped from Snorri's funereal ship.
"Uh... this helmet just... uh... spoke to me," he says worriedly.
Ameiko is just expressing her thanks to Kersey for the praise on the food, when she raises an eyebrow at the statement from Bernard. "The helmet spoke?" she says skeptically.
This prompts Koya to slowly rise. "Let me see," says the old cleric. "It could be a spell or a trap." She murmurs several chants under her breath and hobbles over next to Bernard, then scrutinizes the helm.
"Odd. It's not a magical item, nor does it have a spell upon it," says the aged cleric. "Maybe someone used it as a focus to contact you with a mental spell?"
Shalelu idly fiddles with an arrow just in case she has to shoot the thing out of Bernard's hand, when the helm speaks aloud.
"Fear not, heroes! I have watched your deeds and heard your words. I am Helgarval! I was sent here to do good in the name of Desna. I have seen potential in some of you to be people of good spirit and generous heart, and I wish to encourage such acts and help you to strive to be your best selves!"
"I have been on this mortal plane for many years, and I have learned much about the wickedness that lurks in this city. Snorri Stone-Eye was a partner in a Guild that holds a dark secret: Among its connections are a cult of shinobi, servants of shadow, who carefully watch the city for criminal opportunities while they await the words of their masters. These shinobi style themselves the Frozen Shadows, a clan of ninja that secretly serve an even worse master: A band of oni - demons of Minkai - called the Five Storms!"
"By myself I could never hope to match their power. But now we have a common cause! You have stumbled into the clutches of a conspiracy, where these Five Storms use the Frozen Shadows to oversee theft, intimidation, and murder in this city. They cannot stand!"
Ameiko almost drops her chopsticks and recovers before nearly spilling her wok on Kersey. "The... Five Storms? Those are the oni from... from the vision! The ones who... who precipitated all of this!" She gestures around the encamped caravan with her chopsticks.
The golden helm spreads its tiny decorative wings and then floats up out of Bernard's hands. It vibrates as it speaks, saying, "These ne'er-do-wells must be defeated! To save the city, to break the power of the storms, they must be confronted, and I believe that you have the strength and the courage to do so!"
The lizardfolk hang back a bit as the leader lets out an angry screech. Obviously angry and enraged, he waves an arm and his subordinates open the gate so that he can charge out to face you, even though his minions don't seem terribly keen on the idea.
Due to the positioning, and the fact that you know that this situation is deteriorating, I'll let ranged attacks and spells go off first. If the leader survives the initial fusillade we'll worry about getting to actual initiative order.
You spread out and spend some coin and a few hours asking around town, with little luck. People seem reluctant to talk to strangers about ninja or the local thieves' guilds.
After an afternoon of this frustration, Lyraesel notes that your group is being shadowed while you are reassembling to head back to the caravan for any other news. You carefully set up an ambush, with Bernard peeling off and waiting in the shadows on a rooftop while Morgrym gets into a loud, heated "argument" with Lyraesel in a stereotypical dwarf-vs.-elf fashion, and sure enough, Bernard leaps down, graps the interloper, and pulls him back into an alleyway. You loop around to find the intruder... and discover it's a Tian teenager. The boy is quite terrified when you snag him, but when it becomes clear that you're not actually going to stab him, he opens up readily.
"My name is Kei" - you've never heard of him - [b]"and I was hired by a hooded man to follow you and leave reports of your movements under a barrel on the docks. You can tell the barrel because there's a spot of red paint just near the bottom, in a circle. I don't know who it was, just that his coin was good and you were easy to follow. You stand out a lot, you know!"
Investigating finds that the barrel does exist, but Kei insists that it's been moved. "I was supposed to leave notes under it while it was over there, but someone must've already checked it and moved it here," he explains. "I don't know why! Or who! I just know they wanted to know where you were going!"
You do your best to keep to the shadows at this point, heading back to the caravan with a crawling sensation on your backs.
At the caravan, you receive more grim news.
"I got a 'warning' from a beggar while shopping for food supplies," says Sandru. "He said 'They know who you are and are coming for you.' I asked what he meant and he simply said someone paid him two coppers to say that to the person they indicated. The coins were Minkaian coppers."
You are slowly eating supper - stir fry made my Ameiko with sesame oil and a little bit of spicy heat - and considering your next move when something very unexpected happens. Bernard is looking over some of the treasures that the group has found, wondering if perhaps they would be noticed by a pawnshop when sold and draw even more attention toward you, and he picks up the magnificent Ulfen helm that he swiped from Snorri's funerary ship.
Bernard:
The helm seems to vibrate in your hands and a voice whispers from it, "Hero! I can help!"
Domeric returns to the skeleton-filled hallway. For now, it seems quiescent.
The paladin can spot, in the dim light, that the slanting passage heads to another hallway, not as wide as the bone-filled one, with a passage north on the far west side and darkness beyond to the east.
Don't forget to move your tokens to keep up with Domeric, folks!
"It is not for us to question our ancestor spirits!" hisses the leader angrily. "They have made their will known; it is for us to appease them. You tire me, little flying bug, and I eat little flying bugs. Go before I call up all my warriors and we smite you!"
The lizardfolk on the palisade wall next to the lizard king look agitated. It's hard to get a read on them because their faces don't express in the same way as yours, but you'd guess by them gripping their spears that they are not happy and preparing for the possibility of things to deteriorate completely.
"Ah... the rumor..." the priest's voice drops to a low tone. "... the rumor is that there is a thieves' guild in this city, one that has only risen to power in the last few years."
He shrugs helplessly. "Alas, that is far outside of my personal knowledge. But perhaps you can find someone, or some tale, that will help guide you in learning more?"
Domeric pauses to try to sense evil. The pervasive foreboding of the Temple presses in on his consciousness, and he is able to discern a few flitting mild presences - possibly weak undead or evil acolytes?
Bat and Domeric both suggested doubling back, are you good with this? So far there's no sign that ahead is anything particularly dangerous and/or special, aside of course from the fact that it's an organized body of soldiers (or was, when you crashed into them recently).
