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The question is becoming more common for me on these boards, sadly. Where did our GM go?
Wife got some steroid shots in her lower spine late Wednesday, so we didn't take the 5~6 hour drive to either my parents or hers. Our kids are all MUCH further away than that, so we just stayed in our apartment and chilled. I made her ham. Well, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Sourdough bread, honey-mesquite smoked ham, smoked Havarti and muenster cheeses. It took me a long time to get her to try one of those, actually, but now they are one of her primary comfort foods. We spent a bunch of time playing video games together. Been pretty relaxing, honestly.
"Okay, happy to let you work on the fire. Time to earn my keep, I guess. Let's see if I can't get a little fresh meat. A deer would just be wasteful." ---
"Dark, I think, though if we can find a good enough spot, we could shield the light from the road. I would like a fire if we can find such a spot, but I'm not going to count on one."
"I think we've got enough expertise to set up a camp further up the road, but well off of it. Can't make any promises about security, of course, but I bet we can hide it pretty well."
The young human works his way through the guard gauntlet, hoping that they can get through without more of a problem than already exists, but afraid at the same time that such effort will leave the elf behind to die . . ..
Whispering back: "Fighting here means failure. Pride is not the goal."
"Those who stay won't be traveling. Time to go." Dolin agrees with Mirana, and hopes the small group can get out the door before that . . . thing starts the killing for which it was sent. "This way?" he indicates, hoping he's understood the building layout well enough.
Well, I used half+1 to update the character sheet for now, but can roll (or whatever) and correct easily enough.
"Maybe. Speeches and rallying cries and such have never been a strong point for me."
"We'll need a whole lot less 'But that's not what happened' and revealing of elven features if we're going to sneak out of the Federation territory and to your home. Once we cross into your homeland, your nature could be of great benefit. Right now, it is a way to attract unwanted attention. A hunter tries not to draw the attention of other predators in the area. We need to be part of the background, unnoticed and unimportant."
"The bow is how I have always contributed. I am a hunter by trade. The goal of any good hunter is to bring home the meat without actually risking his own skin. Military men all seem to think that if they don't risk their lives then they aren't doing their jobs. That mindset scares me."
The young human looks confused. "Funny? I don't remember thinking anything was funny about your name. You embarrassed me, is all, by pointing out that I had forgotten to introduce myself. I'm not used to meeting new people."
Dolin accepts a glass of the offered Fey wine, and nods as Bain arrives. Hearing Magelin's first introduction, Dolin starts to blush, slightly. Hearing the names Megelin and Telimnar repeated in the words to the dwarf just increases the bloodflow. "I am Dolin, from the Duhn," he adds in the common tongue, Before pointing at the dwarf. "I am afraid that I do not speak your language, Bain."
Two dedicated archers in a small group. If the GM uses close-quarters maps, much, we're in trouble.
A young human works his way into the Prancing Pony, a great ax, longbow, and multiple quivers clearly visible, with the leather showing clear signs of both wear and care. Glancing about the room, he spies the table with empty seats in the back, shrugs, and works his way towards the table. As he approaches the two at the table, he slows. Nodding at the apparent pair of elves, he speaks in elvish. "My apologies for bothering you, but this seems the only place in the room for me to sit. I hope that my company does not bother you." He sits as he makes that last comment.
Terquem: I agree, the human interaction is what I most love about the game.
To be fair, the long pauses between responses from the NPCs have just about killed this for me, because that interaction isn't being made available. If I know that an interactive exchange is going to take a month or more, I'm being given an incentive to make a die roll instead, enabling me to move on to the next set of interactions which might be more responsive. I've been staring at what was a three-way interaction between Derrick, Dolin and Finchley, watched it expand into two separate conversations involving five people and finding myself being dismissed as though I'm inherently less interesting than the barmaid from the one of the two which actually CAN BE interactive. There are several things I CAN do to bull my way into that interaction, but the decided lack of interaction and long delays waiting for responses have left me wondering if I care or not. Again, I agree that the social interaction part of this hobby is the thing that keeps me interested and involved. I am amazed that you would do as little about being interactive as you have and then complain that people are choosing low-interaction ways of interfacing with you.
"Of COURSE there's a reason for this situation. GREED. I'm a dwarf, aren't I? I've seen enough greed in my time to recognize it when it squeezes my pockets."
"Yeah. store. This whole place is set up to get you in debt to the company, until you are forced to work for them for the rest of your life, trying to pay off the debt you get into in order to eat. Great if you're the guy in charge. REALLY bad if you're one of the little people."
"And a good day to you, Derrick, wasn't it? Have you managed to find your way around this blasted company store? They want 15% of their estimated value of anything I make for another as the price for me to use their forge! That's flat robbery!" ---
--- "Are you the halfling in charge? They told me that if I want different contract terms, I need to get you to agree to them. Now, this IS the wilderness, and I am a weaponsmith wanting to open up shop. What I want to do is instead of giving your company my profits I would rather do more to help with the defense of this place. Your base contract calls for me to give you 1 day a month. How about I give you a week instead, and then keep my profits for myself? You and your military get more upkeep and repair on your weapons, and I get more control of what I do the rest of the time.
Dolin's frown remains in place. "Yeah, I getcha. So, I need to talk this Captain Finchly into altering the terms of the contract. I think I can do that. Weapons in use pretty much always need some kind of repair work done to them. I have two more questions for you, then." He points his index finger up in the air. "First, where can I find Captain Finchley?" After getting an answer, he also points his middle finger up in the air. "Second, can I keep this blank contract to have with me while I talk to him?"
"Thanks for your time! I need to find me your Captain . . .." And Dolin then leaves the facility, heading in the indicated direction to try to talk to the Captain.
Reading through the contract, Dolin smiles. Then he frowns. Then he grumbles. "I get the bit about providing service to the needs of the fort. Don't think I like the bit about 15% share of my actual gross, though. A share of net would be far more fair. A trade of, say 4 days out of twenty for the fort in order to have NO SHARE of my profits would be far better yet. That could be worth far more than the profit AND it serves to protect my interests in the business at the same time! What do ya think? Can we work that kind of contract instead?"
"Two-hundred and fifty for a year, or per month for a year's duration?" You can see the dwarf running numbers in his head. At sixty a week for just use of the forge, that price (assuming monthly) provides the room for almost free. He smiles. "Of course, I would like to understand the stipulations, but I think we can do business. One third up-front, I believe is what I heard? So, that would be 90 dollars to get thing started, right?" He pauses, giving the clerk an opportunity to cover any important details. "Now, I would say from what I've seen that there's not another weaponsmith in town. If this board is where people advertise to find labor, where do they advertise their wares?" He winks, still not having handed the clerk a copper.
Nothing is more important than your family. Especially not this little diversionary pass-time. Enjoy having the children around you while you can. Our youngest moved out this last February, and has since celebrated her 20th birthday. Life as just a couple again is nice, but it is real easy to miss the kids.
"So, if I have a contract for using the forge, I get a discount on supplies purchased through your store? Fair enough. What are the monthly rates on the forge and a small room across the way from it?" He's thinking to himself If the room is cheap enough, I can pay my third up front for a short contract and get started working right quick.
The young dwarf grunts, and turns to read the material on the board behind him.
While reading the postings, Dolin asks "So, how good's the discount? Better by the month, best by the year, what?"
"Glad to meet you, Harlow! So, you both don't own your own foundry and the fort itself doesn't own it? What kind of self-respecting commander would let an external business hold his outfit hostage?" He shakes his head as he moves out of the man's space. "Go rent a room and get a contract to sublet the forge? Got it. Don't get it, but I got it. Where's this WEAC office?" After the smith points him to the office across the common space, Dolin walks away from his gear, which is sitting OUTSIDE the foundry wall where he put it before greeting the smith. Reaching the office, he walks round to the door and lets himself in. "I'm told I need a contract from you so that I can work at the forge across the way? How much are you thieving shysters going to demand for THAT?"
"Arm wrestling? Not as much fun as simple wrestling, but it could do, I think. Let's give it a go, Portia!" Honestly, the presentation is bad enough you can't tell if that was supposed to be innuendo or enthusiasm. Arm Wrestling Dice:
Dolin unloads his stuff near the forge, placing everything against the outside of the wall, initially. Then he enters the forge area, looking for pretty much anybody. "Hey! I'm Dolin, sent to help make sure things are running right and to get some more practice in with weaponry. Who runs this forge?"
"WHAT? Well, maybe if you balance some on top of my anvil, Bjarki. I have to use both hands to carry that anyway. It'll be awkward, but, carrying an anvil is ALWAYS awkward!"
The young dwarf waves. "Allo the fort! So, where are we, again?" He starts laughing, obviously well entertained. Hopefully because he thought that was funny.
Dolin seems rather friendly, but he has really bad social skills. He's kinda like a puppy who wants to play, but who bursts the ball every time he retrieves it. You tend to get more of him than you want pretty quickly. One of his problems is an internal focus. He tends to talk about what comes to his mind, even if you are already talking about something unrelated, and frequently WHILE you are trying to get your comments made. One of his favorite topics is the crafting and maintenance of weapons, and it seems to be a topic he actually knows more than a little about. As part of this, though, he likes to talk about the history (or lineage) of his tools and the anvil he's bringing with him, even though the Fort should long since have had a proper forge established.
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