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Which I find preferable compared to the opposing wierdness of "I can jump 30' if I jump at the start of my turn, but only 5' if I do it at the end of my turn". Which is really just the other side of the coin of wierdness for turn-based gameplay.
It has been a fun 6 years of playing with all of you, and I appreciate all of you sticking around for it. While I played d&d back in the 80's, and have a long history of RPG's, I learned a lot about GMing with this experience, particularly some things that work well and some not so well in the PbP format. I was a little sad no one got turned to stone :). I placed the DC to have a reasonable chance of that without making it an instant party wipe, but those good saving throw rolls made that a non-issue.
While written in cyclopian, it's also a coded message. But it is a collection of notes to keep track of various details of the Thieve's guild and other organizations that Diguri also had a hand in. Lt Banmor was a human who saw the corruption creeping into Coran politics. He had long served in the military of Coran and became disgusted with the waste and greed he saw. He was willing to go to great lengths to overthrow the government. Characters from the original rebellion group, one had been in that first fight where Rosco was taken, but he had fled. A Marai rakshasa. Radgar left the city searching out more artifacts of Ris'jae - he was also the harp player. Like many characters in the game he relied a fair bit on illusion and disguise to move about. You actually fought him briefly at the gate, that was him in the full plate. Ky was Diguri as you correctly guessed. The Iron Gullet being one of those other organizations she "owned" that was not part of the thieve's guild. None there knew her as anything other than Ky the informant. Sela was bodyguard for her there to deal with the day to day problems of men in the establishment who didn't fully understand Ky's standing so that Ky didn't have to deal with combat situations. A few of the exiles were in Issust Hold and would have come into play had the game ever gone that direction. The others I had no specific plans for you, but were background characters that could be brought in should I need new villains.
Back at the tower, Master Veray receives you to take your report. He offers high praise at the groups elimination of Diguri. "She has long been a blight on our city, probably longer than any of us have been around given her shapeshifting ability and the naturally long life span of such creatures. But that makes me wonder about possible ties to other crime lords in the kingdom, particularly Issust Hold. That rakshasa you defeated a week or two back... I can't help but wonder if she shares a bloodline with them." He looks at the book taken from the medusa, scanning over it. "Cyclopian? That seems rather odd. At least the writing is cyclopian, but it doesn't make any sense. A code of some kind perhaps? Well we will have to unravel that mystery another time. I think you are due for a much needed break." He dismisses the group, but there is the clear sense there is something he is not telling the group. He also holds Ian back, "You've earned a longer break if you want. Your debt's are repayed, but let's keep it that way" he offers a genuine smile.
At this point, I'm going to bring this game to an end. The drow/medusa was Diguri (with some custom abilities), for those who might have been wondering. If there are any loose ends you'd like to wrap up, I am willing to do that, primarily as a role play.
Among a host of magical items, the medusa has a small notebook filled with writing in a language you do not understand.
Between the onslaught of Ian's attack, Soliel's flaying, and Edmond's burning flames the medusa perishes.
Soliel scores a hit.
As Edmond and Ian both round the corners of the building they spot the medusa again.
Her injuries are severe, but she opens fire with a volley of arrows.
Ian finishes Anthony off, leaving him dead, as Soliel and Edmond close their eyes. Dareon likewise closes his eyes.
The medusa disappears from Ian's peripheral vision, moving father south across the roof. Perception DC 18:
The sounds of feet dropping to the ground on the south side of the building catch your ears.
Sic drops to the ground dead, and Ian finally scores a hit. Between the constant damage from Edmond's holy flame and Ian's attack he falls unconscious. Dareon casts forbid action on the drow, calling for her to not attack.
There is another sound as of shattered glass, and the spell seems to have no effect. The drow takes a 5' step, "Enough!" she screams. Her face transforms, her eyes beginning to glow. Her hair begins to writhe and thicken, and suddenly her hair is a mass of snakes.
Dareon tries to recall a spell.
The drow says, "I see you rat." She focuses her attacks on Soliel.
She then shouts down to the combat going on below, "Sic, kill the halfling." The spiritual weapons makes one last attack against Edmond, then vanishes.
Anthony takes a 5' step to chase Ian and continues to attack with his claws.
Soliel:
Sic moves past Anthony and Ian, and up next to Edmond.
Soliel:
You can see Sic drinking a potion at L15 Ian and snake man both miss against Anthony. Soliel scores a hit against the drow, leaving her bleeding.
Ian's blade arcs downward at Anthony, but rebounds off the thick metal armor. Edmond moves up to support Ian, covering the drow and Anthony in the holy flame. Soliel also catches up to the group. Dareon casts a ray of enfeeblement at the drow archer.
As the ray strikes the female drow there is a sound of something shattering, and the woman seems unaffected by the spell.
With metal claws Anthony attacks Ian, while taking a 5' step to get closer to Edmond.
The archer turns her attention to Edmond, as her movements accelerate 3 arrows fly in his direction.
Dareon rounds the corner to join Ian, casting a spell at the half-orc.
The spiritual weapon continues to harass Edmond.
Two arrows fly out of the darkness towards Ian.
A cloaked figure stands on the roof of a nearby building. A female of thin build and dark skin, drow.
There is a clomping of metal on stone, and another figure rounds a corner ahead of where Ian and Dareon stand. A figure in a strange metallic like armor. [b]"I'm going to enjoy this." Anthony says.
He has not responded to a PM I sent last week either.
Snakeman hits Sic, giving him a minor wound.
Between Edmond's channels and flames, and Dareon's mind thrust the half-orc falls to the ground dead.
The man near Soliel makes an attack in the doorway, though it is apparent he can't figure out where Soliel fully is, he manages to score a lucky hit.
Outside the human with one hand attacks Edmond again, trying to finish him off.
Sic takes a step back from Ian, then casts a spell.
A man with one hand appears next to Edmond, wielding a wakizashi. Three images of the man swirl around him making it hard to pinpoint where he actually is.
Dareon sees no ones, just a bewildered looking tavern patron, the first who had gone upstairs. The man shys away as Dareon appears in the doorway.
The human's eyes glaze over and he falls to the ground unconscious.
The spiritual weapon continues to slash at Edmond.
The priest then shouts a stream of profanities at Ian and Edmond, "You will both suffer and die for what you did to Kleona." Spellcraft DC 17:
Blistering invective
Both Ian and Edmond are shaken by the verbal barrage. And flames temporarily engulf both of them.
Sic then retreats 20', disappearing around the corner of a nearby building.
Ian connects on the first hit, the second causes on image to vanish. Regardless the ifrit collapses unconscious. Dareon sees the door on the left at the top of the stairs open.
Ian slashes the irfit bard, giving her a serious injury. The building immediately begins to smolder and smoke as Edmond's spell takes effect around the base of the building while Dareon runs upstairs, seeing only closed doors on both sides of the hall and no sign of Soliel. Rocosmia immediately steps back from Ian and invokes a spell, copies of her spring forth, swirling around her, making it difficult to pick out the real one from the fakes.
Spellcraft DC 17:
Mirror image Outside in the street there is a pop sound not far from Edmond. Three figures appear, a male half-orc with a horrific looking mask. A human male in a breastplate and light shield, and wielding a tonfa. The third is a male half-orc in full plate. The plate wearing half-orc holds forth a holy symbol and casting a spell. The a short sword of pure force energy materializes next to Edmond and attacks.
Spellcraft DC 17:
Spiritual Weapon The human charges.
The tavern patron in the room with Soliel looks about in confusion, a look of fear coming upon him, standing up and drawing a short sword.
Soliel slips into the room and closes the door. The shabbily dressed human draws a dagger and stands up, looking around, trying to figure out what is going on. The other man frowns, but remains sitting. The horned creature remains motionless. The man lets out a cry when Soliel stabs him, then slumps down unconscious. The horned creatures leaps into action, shoving open the window, then grabbing the unconscious man and pulling him towards it.
As Ian kicks in the door, a great glow of light arises outside surrounding the building and pouring into the windows. Soliel pushes open the door as soon as she hears the noise downstairs and sees the light coming in through a window at the end of the hall. Soliel:
Inside is the patron Rocosmia invited to go upstairs, seated at the table with the poorly dressed man. The two have been conversing, but both were alerted something was up from the noise coming through the floor downstairs. There is a third figure in the room with them. A small horned humanoid sitting back in the shadows of a far corner. All three look in the direction of the door when it opens.
One of the patrons sitting at the tables vanishes from sight.
Rocosmia looks at Ian, recognition slow to come to her eyes as she ends her dancing.
Rather than wait for an opportunity to slip through the door when a new patron enters, Soliel finds a window at the end of the main hall on the second floor and climbs out to gather Edmond and Ian. Leaving Ian and Edmond just outside the door Soliel re-enters.
Then heads back up stairs. The doors to both rooms where Roscomia's friends waited are closed.
Soliel follows the first man up the stairs. The second story is a series of bed rooms above the common room below, and a small gambling hall above the kitchens on the south end. A human stands in shabby clothing stands in the doorway to one of the rooms and motions for the man to follow him into the room. He closes the door behind the two of them. The door opposite the first one opens, and another human, this one better dressed, and also armed with a shortsword, shortbow, and chain armor, steps out. He leans against the door jam and waits.
Soliel scans the room, but other than the irfrit Roscomia, doesn't recognize anyone from Roland or Tomlin's descriptions. She and Dareon take a sit, watching the irfrit perform her dance. The dancer takes hold of the hands of one of the nearby patrons, "You should go talk with my friend up stairs." Spellcraft DC 17:
She has cast a suggestion on the patron. The man stands and follows her advice, talking up the stairs at a leisurely pace. After about a minute she grab hold of another patrons hands and says the same thing. He too heads upstairs.
Soliel and Dareon enter into the common room, and true to Soliel's prediction, a female ifrit has the attention of most in the room. As she is speaking she is performing an exotic dance. The larger portion of those in the room seem to have forgotten their food and drinks, and stare at her enraptured.
The common room is 30' by 20', a set of stairs leads up to the second level on the west wall. A door on the south wall leads to the kitchens. Three dumbwaiters also sit within the south wall.
Meeting first with Master Isul, she indicates that a dimensional anchor would be the best option, but that they do not currently have any scrolls of such in supply. It is late evening by the time you arrive. Ian and Edmond stop a short distance from the tavern, out of sight of any of its windows, while Soliel and Dareon continue on. As the two reach the front doors there is something a little odd. Rather than the usual boisterous noise and laughter outside taverns there is a near silence other than a single melodic female voice speaking in an impassioned voice. "...while the common soldiers seek to protect our city from the evils of the world, the mages and the bureaucrats line their pockets with taxes, depriving those same men and women of the needed supplies to fulfill their duty." "And while I have no sympathy for the drow, a simple execution would have sufficed. But instead they bargain with the planes of hell to increase their power, and to instill fear upon the good people of this city. They will go to any lengths, for they seek power above all else, and at any cost. We can no longer stand idly and do nothing." Some background info for Dareon: Just for background reference: Serelina, former player, and now a Master of the Tower, obtained the true name of a barbazu, and in binding it to herself used it to execute in public display a drow criminal named Maklo. You can read about the event here. It is likely you either saw the event, or have heard retellings of it.
The Minotaur's Head is built against the main outer wall several hundred yards south of the western gate. It is an unusual building in that it comprises four stories in height, towering 10' over the wall itself. It gets its name from it's decor. A minotaur head hangs over the front entrance, and inside in the common room is a fully stuffed creature in a corner near a fireplace. The owner was once an adventurer, and will tell tales of how he tracked down and slew the beast many years ago to any who care to listen. The food and drink here is nothing special. The location gets a lot of traffic from those coming into the city who can't, or choose not to, afford the richer inns along the main thoroughfare into the city. In the past it has had no particular history of criminal activity above what might be expected of any given tavern. Minor thugs and pick pockets, a little drug trade, and so forth. Given Firyin's words though, perhaps they have just done a decent job of covering up what may actually be going on here. It's location near the wall and away from the gate would certainly be useful for smuggling items into or out of the city.
Firyin comments with a clear note of sarcasm, "I am but your humble servant." Anton di'Alkanov gives a practiced warm smile. "Glad to hear it. A more formal call would be appreciated in the future so that we might provide proper refreshment and a place to discuss matters should the need arise."
Soliel:
You are surprised not to sense any deceit in the drows words. "As I said, she has a number of contacts she maintains, many all to eager to sell out their rivals. And while Sela is her bodyguard, there are at any time a number of men in that hole of a tavern that would be all to eager to please a woman like her." "As to Anthony, Well Ian and his friends took out their gnomish ally, but that leaves the two half-orcs, the dwarf, and the human, Vaek. You should have executed him while he was your prisoner." His tone becomes angry, "Diguri is another matter. Ky is unlikely to be of use there either. I asked her, but on that matter she said there are some lines she would not cross. Ky will have to pay for that refusal someday. The drow *&!@ will likely be near her loyal associates. The real question is whether she will aid them, and thus be drawn out, or let them perish."
"Ky and her bodyguard live nearby the Iron Gullet when they are in town. For a human she is clever, and has contacts with quite a few well placed individuals both in the underworld and in your government. When they aren't brokering information in Coran, they are doing so in Issust Hold. If anyone can track down a more accurate location for our mutual enemy she can, though it will cost you a sack of coins to keep that information private."
Firyin gives Ian a look, "Figured you might be tagging along with this guy" he offhandedly waves in Dareon's direction. "But I'm glad to hear you say that, cause you only got one of them last time." "I don't have anything certain, though you may try at the Minotaur's head, that place does a good bit of smuggling goods in an out of the city. If they aren't there, maybe someone there who knows them and can give you better directions. Otherwise you could try Ky from the Iron Gullet. She usually has a good bead on the whereabouts of a lot of people of importance."
Firyin raises an eyebrow at Dareon as he casts his spell, "Just can't wait to pry all my secrets from me?" "I've tried to work with members of your organization in the past, but they have proven to be rather ineffective. So what is it that you want now?"
Anton smiles, "Is that his real name? Well that changes some things. I've heard about his crime war on the streets. Let me bring him down and you can confirm if this is indeed him. Excuse me on moment." Anton heads back upstairs and returns a minute later with a male drow following behind him. "Seldar, these gentlemen here say your real name is Firyin, why don't you step outside with them and have a talk with them." The drow gives Anton an annoyed look but nods. He gives Dareon and the sergeant a feigned smile, "Sure, let's go for a walk and talk if that is what you wish." He opens the door and steps out.
"Perhaps you could provide more detail on who this criminal is, and what their crimes are. I frequently entertain guests here for business prospects. It may be I've unintentionally acquired an unsuitable association that I have not properly vetted."
Anton blinks a few times looking confused. "I'm sorry, but I think your information is incorrect." Dareon: He is good, smooth with his words, even with his tone, but his eyes dart side to side as he speaks. You are quite certain he is lying.
The butler nods, "Of course, come inside and please be seated while I let Master Alkinov know you are here." He motions you in and gestures to several cushioned chairs in the southeast corner of the entrance hall. Two bored looking guardsmen also stand within the room. Each bears a faint resemblance to Tunny Murdoch. The butler heads upstairs, returing several minutes later followed by a well dressed middle aged man, clearly Aurelion's father. "It is an honor to have the servants of the tower in my home. To what do I owe this pleasure?" His smile and handshake are warm and sincere.
The guards join you at the home, surrounding it, though keeping back from the home to be able to get a wide view of it. Lights glow behind the windows on both floors, though drapes prevent a view into the home other than an occasional shadow moving behind them. With everyone else in place, the lieutenant approaches the front door with Dareon, giving it a few hard knocks, then steps back to let Dareon speak. The door opens to show a pristine and decorated entry hall. Paintings hang on the walls of high quality, polished wood panels. An older gentlemen stands in the doorway, gloved hands and a fine suit marking him as a butler. He looks at Dareon and the lieutenant and the guards standing farther back, a bit of confusion on his face. But he responds with a crisp voice, "How may I help you?"
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