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"Why don't we move together a little further and see if we can tell if it is a village or something more sinister. I'd hate to see us lose you to a family of will-o-wisps Wexley." Dourmahr strains his ears to see if he can pick up anything that his eyes cannot.
"So just who are you pal? You own this ruin?"
"Something worse? In Ustalav? Slamming doors and clanging gates are the traditional welcome are they not?" In spite of his light words, it is evident that Dourmahr is preparing for trouble. His hands fidget and he keeps looking all around.
Dourmahr lets out an uneasy laugh. "At least the worgs can't come in..."
"The path it is. What could possibly go wrong?"
Hah, appreciate you not shooting me Jeremiah. Some people actually find me cute and charming. Care to lead the way?"
"That's unfortunately Wexley. I'm not the greatest at keeping my bearings. Any chance any of you would be able to try to get some idea of which way we need to go by judging the light or moss on trees or something? I'm a little worried we could wind up just wandering in circles."
"Good idea Wexley. Be careful up there though."
"I do. The leader was no ordinary worg. We're not dealing with simple wild animals here. And, this mist is similar to magical effects, but it too is unique. Finally, the worgs could not have slipped off so easily that we are not hearing them anymore. Be prepared."
"Let us not bicker among ourselves. Unless I miss my guess, they will be long gone with no trace when we emerge. I don't think the plan was to merely slow us down. Something altogether different has transpired."
"Something very strange about that worg leader. Similar to a winter wolf, but worse. But I have no idea why he passed up taking a shot at us when he had the drop...or maybe he didn't pass up. I'm sorry everyone, but I have no idea how to get rid of these mists. Let's just stick close and see if we can make out way out." Once everyone has connected, Dourmahr will try to help guide out of the mists. I don't think he can see anything better than anyone else, but will try.
As Dourmahr's wounds begin to knit and close, he nods "Thanks Lyra, it is much appreciated." Status: hp 34/40
Dourmahr looks down at his torn and bloody arm. "I certainly got savaged a bit by that first charge, but I'll live. Let's see if we can find out way out of here."
"Right here Simon." says Dourmahr huddling in with the rest. "But, I'm not sure where here is anymore. What the devil just happened?"
Dourmahr smirks at the worg's distress and tries to continue keeping it out of the action by swiping his hand across its back again.
Seeing the new worg is a little too far away to snap at him, Dourmahr gets to his feet. Ignoring the terrible wound to his arm, he slips around behind the worg and tries to touch it with his hand.
Yes, it's a known issue and they're working on it.
I'll be sure to keep posting it as a reminder when I post. I see some of the rest of you are also posting it in your actions which will help everyone remember.
Dourmahr scowls as the worg shrugs off his spell, but stays on the ground and continues beating the little drum . Determined not to let me get up aren't they?
Going to be out your way the rest of the week Sean. I fly out tomorrow night and spend Wed at a conference in LA and Thursday at our office in Long Beach before flying back to Chicago on Friday.
Dourmahr lets out a pained squeal as the worg throws him to the ground, but he continues supporting his team mates with an occasional thump on his drum. He scowls at the worg that threw him to the ground. If I try to get up, he'll just chew on me some more. Instead, he slightly shifts his tune into a slow, sleepy beat. Effects of Oppressive Boredom:
Worg loses all interest in its current task and must make a Will save (DC 20) to perform its next action. If the worg fails, it takes no action that round. The boredom lasts 5 rounds or the worg breaks the spell's effect with a successful Will save. Status: prone, hp 31/40
Sorry, you did temporarily lose me. I had a corporate retreat that took up way more time than I thought it would (should have told you to GM PC me) and at a con this weekend. I hope the worg enjoyed snacking on me, but now I'm back. Well, couple games tomorrow, but sort of back.
Good point. I think Dourmahr's comment is probably sufficient as a reminder if Simon wants to retcon since the two of them have previously been traveling together. Honestly, I'm ok in the final watch too.
We're probably better off swapping Ensebullus and Dourmahr since Dourmahr has darkvision and Ensebullus has low light vision. Usually going to be dark before everyone goes to bed and starting to hit dawn before everyone gets up. But, I'm fine with watch 5 if that's where you want me.
As the group arrives at camp, Dourmahr hops off the horse "Thanks for the ride Red. You saved these little legs a bunch of steps. Why don't I stay up for first watch at least. I can see quite well in the dark and that will still give me plenty of sleep."
No multiclass for me. Also an FYI that I'm on a business trip with a couple big presentations so I may only get one post up today. Tomorrow should be better.
A tiny gnome slips out of the kitchen, looking over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't spotted. He brings an orange-coated finger to his mouth and smiles. It would be charming except for the mouth full of sharp teeth. "She's right, the pumpkin is sweet...and delicious." In the firelight you see that his skin is eerily pale and that his hair is white with brilliant blue. A little drum is hooked to his belt.
Yep, having a chance to dot would be handy when you get a chance. I bookmarked it, but keep forgetting and digging the thread back out of the recruitment pile. For those looking for equipment, there is a really excellent post on yesterday's blog. It is very PFS oriented and thus there will be things that wouldn't apply at all here, but I think there are probably some excellent ideas for any adventurer who might bump into trouble.
I'll go with the longer while. Dourmahr and Lyra have reasons to know one another and I could easily see Sir Simon recruiting her for a lycanthrope hunt/adventure and having Dourmahr go along.
Oooh, Dourmahr is going to have all sorts of questions for you Ensebullus. Questions that I don't think Lyra will like at all. Fortunately, he's probably smart enough to know that and ask them when she isn't paying attention :) I like the background Red. Any idea where in Ustalav you're from or free for ideas? Red might be able to help you some with the front-lining Sir Simon though she will be more cavalry to your infantry.
Well, if everyone else is going to roll for hp... :)
The presence of a witch with Dourmahr is interesting. Are both evil eye and misfortune effective against most foes or are some of them ineffective versus foes immune to mind-affecting? We should be able to get to knockout spells a little quicker by working together. So, continuing to roll with the already know each other angle there is a strong Pharasma tie with Sir Ravencourt and Lyra that we could easily work with. That would pull Dourmahr, Lyra and Sir Ravencourt together for some of those undead hunting adventures from Sir Ravencourt's background. We could easily be joined along the way by Jeremiah and Calvin, perhaps by way of Caliphas. (Still need to read your background Red) Both Sir Ravencourt and Jeremiah have seeds that lead into Barovia. So, we could either do two groups that get pulled together in Barovia or the request from Jeremiah's old friend could bring us all back to Sir Ravencourt's home where we learn that all is not well.
I'm afraid that even though I am a long, long time player and GM, Ravenloft has eluded me all these years, so Sean will have to fill you in on that question. I suppose it might help you a bit with stretching your budget at the start.
Barovia must be Ravenloft related since I don't recall it in Ustalav, so I'm not sure how to work Jeremiah in yet unless you want to have been adventuring with us in Ustalav and then received the missive from your old friend (which draws all of us in). If we go that route, we really could have met you anywhere in the country and it just becomes an idea for a specific adventure that brought us together in the first place.
Just had a chance to read Lyra's background. Not sure if you're from Ustalav, but that would fit well with something happening near the Shudderwood, which would make both of us from the same neck of the woods. Possibly acquaintances from Lepidstadt if your family had sent to a temple nearby. Dourmahr would have been very interested in Pharasma so that would be a natural way for him to have met you. Of course, not all of his interests are fully compatible with the teachings of the church (which just sees undeath as an abomination rather than something interesting or unusual) so there could be an interesting dynamic there over time.
As for coming together, Dourmahr is a native of Ustalav, Vieland specifically. So, either he has left and spent some time with the rest of you, or perhaps we have all been spending some time in Ustalav together. Vieland is up in the northwest near the Hold of Belkzen and his youth was spent amidst the hills and vales of the Ustalav side of the Tusk Mountains. Without bogging things down too much, suffice to say that he eventually made his way to Lepidstadt University (also in the same corner of Ustalav) and from there out into the rest of the country and/or world depending on our prior adventures and misadventures. Calvin looks like a possible Caliphas connection. That city seems very fitting for your character. Cannot remember for sure if there are pirates in Lake Encarthan (it is big enough to seem likely), but that might be a closer alternate for you if you would prefer not to be a globe-trotting sort. Haven't gone through enough of the other backgrounds yet to start making other suggestions.
Grats Jeremiah, PbP is a lot of fun. Definitely a different experience than tabletop because of the pace. Much easier to get deep in character. Hopefully role discussion is cool so I'll throw in some thoughts on Dourmahr. If you'd prefer we don't Sean, I'll stop on your say-so. I'll start by saying that he is not your typical optimal bard, but hopefully he'll be interesting and still effective. Out of combat, he should be a strong "face" character for people that aren't freaked out by strange-looking gnomes. Good Diplomacy, good knowledge skills, a few languages though I don't know how common they will be in this setting. Not built to be the intimidator, but can help. He can demoralize with Perform though. He also will liberally use his cantrips and silent image when trickery is required. I'm open to bumping ranks around some more if we need it, but was thinking on pushing Diplomacy, Knowledge (Religion) (which he gets extra bonuses to as a dirge bard) and Use Magic Device the hardest. In combat, I'm looking at Dourmahr being a buffing/debuffing bard. For those not familiar with the dirge bard, it means he can affect undead with mind-affecting magic - both intelligent and unintelligent undead. Additionally, he has the fey bloodline (via Eldritch Heritage) so he is going to be strong in compulsion magic in particular - suggestion, oppressive boredom, pugwampi's grace, hideous laughter are his go to spells in combat. Yes, that still bumps into strong Will saves for undead - we'll see how that goes. Saving the bonus necromancy spell for a 3rd level spell where there are some better options. I really wanted to squeeze Spell Focus into the build, but went with Weapon Finesse so he can get off some touch attacks and isn't entirely a one-trick pony. Right now he has no weapons, but I will probably add a knife just so he can threaten if it is ever needed. If forced into a melee situation or out of logical spell options, he'll use laughing touch to try to slow enemies down for the rest of you - knocks out their standard action for one round. Direct ranged or melee combat is a last resort for him. On the buffing side of things, dirge bard still has inspire courage, so you can expect liberal use of that with him beating on his little drums. He also has an ability to speed your movement up (triple time - +10 feet). If he survives, I will likely grab some more buffing spells as things go on.
Thanks for the selection Sean and no worries about how busy you'll be in coming days. The main thing I want to do with Dourmahr in addition to the mechanical pass you're taking is to make sure I build some more continuity in his story to the start of the adventure. So basically need to work on how we met, what we've done together and which corner of Ustalav we're starting in and why. If your preference is for us to have been together for a while, we can probably work together on the first two and just need your help on the latter two.
Sean, this is michaelane with a gnome dirge bard. I've been at a con today and have one more game coming up, but I will finish the submission later tonight. |