I tend to get hyperfocused on one or two things in my life to the detriment of everything else. It's an issue that I'm aware of, but there's not much I've been able to do to break that pattern.
I'm starting up a new career path after leaving teaching in December, and also working through some mental health stuff. I've also been fortunate enough to reconnect with a few friends from years ago. Finally, I'm starting to write a novel, which is something I've always wanted to do but never tried before.
In short, PbP isn't something I'm focused on. Running a game or playing in one just isn't something I'm committed to, and it's showing in the quality and quantity of my posts, and on how well I'm following what's even going on in my games. I really hope you guys can find a new GM if you want to keep going, but right now, I just can't do it. I've really enjoyed running the game and playing with you all. Sorry.
I tend to get hyperfocused on one or two things in my life to the detriment of everything else. It's an issue that I'm aware of, but there's not much I've been able to do to break that pattern.
I'm starting up a new career path after leaving teaching in December, and also working through some mental health stuff. I've also been fortunate enough to reconnect with a few friends from years ago. Finally, I'm starting to write a novel, which is something I've always wanted to do but never tried before.
In short, PbP isn't something I'm focused on. Running a game or playing in one just isn't something I'm committed to, and it's showing in the quality and quantity of my posts, and on how well I'm following what's even going on in my games. I really hope you guys can find a new GM if you want to keep going, but right now, I just can't do it. I've really enjoyed running the game and playing with you all. Sorry.
There is, in fact, something lurking beyond the northwest door. Something clitters and clacks in the darkness until Sethiel's light shines on Angus's weapon. Then, it becomes clear what it is.
An insect with a hard carapace and far, far too many legs, easily the size of a wolf, skitters around the room. Others sit on small mounds of some sort of mucus. As the light brightens the space inside, all four of chitter, hissing and clacking their pincers at the intrusion.
It went okay, just a lot of time commitment and energy toward friends/family for a decent length of time. I've been struggling with posting as I start a few new projects I've been meaning to work on. I'm taking some steps to try to be more disciplined about it, so sorry.
"Yes, the Rose's guidebird brought them here. Filthy creatures, one and all, but with some work, a hard scrubbing or two, and some learning, they may turn themselves around, not unlike you." The words are harsh, but the priest grins as he says them. Audria recognizes him as Brother Theolan, the same priest whose holy symbol she found when she was a Lamm. "We brought them inside, with the sudden anger out here. And I grabbed one of the practice glaives and armor to stand guard. So far, I've been making it with looks and shouts, but it won't hold in a fight, I'm no good with this thing."
Theolan steps aside. "Why don't you come in? You look like you've had a rougher evening than I, and I'm sure Talanaliel will be glad to see you. Most of the street-rats you found are asleep - they acted like they hadn't seen a bed in months, even the rolls we put out - but if you want to wake them, that choice is yours."
Inside the wide, tile-roofed building, a priestess sits on an intricately-carved chair, a knife in her hand as she quietly whittles on a walking staff. Other than her chair, most of the common area is taken up with sleeping Lamms, and a few that are decidedly not sleeping. A few sparkling eyes regard the party warily, and more than a couple shake and shiver as the adults enter the room.
If you have anyone you'd like to wake up to talk to (Shrike) go ahead and find them.
The tower should seem familiar. I've been trying to remove some of the random encounters to focus the book a little on the two to three major things that kind of matter, and also to have some (small) dungeon crawls.
Nadyra joins the party, Angus's inspection of the rocks shows little danger in a scramble up them and into the tower itself, and Sethiel's small miracle heals Angus of just a few of his wounds. The party's view of the somewhat broken tower ahead shows a pair of doors, each well-sized for everyone present. The continued piles of rubble in the southern door's entrance indicate that it's probably filled with similar stones and bricks. The path to the north, however, has been haphazardly cleared of such rubble and wreckage.
As the party peers into the cave's darkness, it's clear that it's not an entrance. However, there is a large section of white crystal in the back - quartz, perhaps - that's jammed between the darker stones of the hill.
Map is up. Sorry, I've been drowning in company, so I haven't been able to update as much. I should be back to normal now.
Sorry, I got distracted. I was originally going to wait for Abella, but I've also been drowning in company the last week.
The doomsayer eyes Shrike and takes a step back from Abella, but continues to scream at her at the top of his lungs. "I SAW you! great *hack* sickness and peril, and YOU standing in it! You'll bring writhing, crawling doom on us all!" Though he shouts, however, he keeps a fair distance from the party, and especially from Shrike.
It takes a few more minutes to get to the Sanctuary of Shelyn. It sits on the corner of a wide street and narrow alley in North Point. The front is a round pavilion with white stone pillars, a stone floor, and a few benches. Ivy and flowers crawl up the pillars and the trellises between them, forming a greenish wall around the pavilion. Behind them, a wide building with a tile roof sits - outside is a human priest with a glaive in his hands. He's perhaps middle aged, and he peers into the night. "Stop and identify yourself, in the name of the Eternal Rose!" He shouts into the darkness as you approach.
As the party rides closer to the tower, it's clear that the place is, in fact, not empty. A small head, puffy and blue, peers out from a window on the top floor of the likely three to four story tower. A moment later, it slams a shutter shut over the window and starts screeching and yelling away to someone inside in a bizarre language. While the language itself sounds like it could be creepy or intimidating, the speaker's attempts at tough leave much to be desired - its voice squeaks and cracks as it shouts.
Knowledge (nature) DC 11:
This...thing...is a mite. Mites are considered one of the most pathetic of all fey. Hated by everyone, they hate everyone in turn, but usually lair up with vermin such as spiders, centipedes, and other vermin. Mites can train and direct vermin, use them as mounts, and command swarms of them.
Knowledge (nature) DC 16:
It's really strange to see mites above ground unless they're on one of their spite-and-hate-filled "rampages", usually against dwarves and gnomes, but also whoever they can hate. Mites get +1 to attack vs. gnomes and dwarves. Not relevant to us, but cool background, I guess.
This close to the tower, it's easy to see that the side of the first floor has collapsed, offering an easy way inside by scrambling up the rubble.
The formerly-barred-off cave sits well below the tower on the hill. Its entry gives the impression of a not-small cavern behind it.
Appraise or Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC 20:
Inside the cave, just beyond its entrance, is a shiny yellow vein of something - perhaps gold!
"That would probably be best, yes." Zellara nods at Shrike. "You're all welcome back any time. The key is hidden under the doormat - I know, unoriginal, but there's nothing inside worth stealing anyway." Zellara finishes her goodbyes and her ghost, or spirit, or whatever it is fades away into the Harrow deck.
Outside, the streets continue their descent into madness. It's truly shocking how the old king's death could have created this much chaos this quickly - a few tiny-looking dragons zip by, chased by a pack of imps (this being Korvosa, the imps aren't horribly out of place, though they're usually more controlled than this). A few drunken people stagger by, one of them sporting a jagged-looking wound to the head. And then, as the party rounds the corner and starts pushing into the Five Corners district of North Point, Korvosa, they come across a man, wearing rags, and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"THE EYE OF GROETUS LOOKS- *hack, hack* - looks upon Korvosa! DOOM APPROACHES! *hack*"
His gaze shifts toward Abella, and his eyes, already wide and maddened, grow to the size of metaphorical saucers. "YOU! You're the one from my dream! DOOM! DOOM upon us all!" He picks himself up off the street and starts walking toward Abella, tripping on the gutter and staggering as he comes closer.
The digging, as expected, takes a good twenty minutes, but before long, the diggers hit something with a softish *thunk*. What's uncovered is a leather cloak wrapped around a well-crafted dagger, a wand*, a silver ring, and a book of spells. Most of the book is damaged, but Alyssa can see the spells mage armor, identify, reduce person, silent image, and unseen servant.
Spellcraft w/ detect magic (DC 17):
The wand is a Wand of Burning Hands with 4 charges, 2nd CL
GM Stuff, Nothing to Worry about:
1d100 ⇒ 77 1d10 ⇒ 6
= = = = = Pharast 6, 4710 AR = = = = = =
It's a partly cloudy morning with a chill in the air that awakens the party the next morning. After a quick breakfast, the party rides to the west, angling slightly north to explore a section of the Kamelands near the Narlmarch. A dry creekbed runs toward the forest, and, following it, the party spots an old, abandoned watchtower. Below the watchtower is a cave entrance, its front seeming to have been boarded up a long time ago, judging by the rotten pieces of lumber.
Knowledge: engineering/history (DC 15) (LORE ONLY, NOT IMPORTANT):
The tower, though long abandoned, has some signs of elven architecture. It looks to be in relatively good shape for something of its age.
Angus's fears are unfounded. While the wounds he took from the spider's fangs are certainly dangerous, they're not life-threatening or crippling.
The ride turns south, toward the Kamelands hills. Here and there, a tree pokes its head up, but the land grows increasingly barren, and little more than grass grows in most places. Small, dry creeks criss-cross the plains, but for the most part, there's little sign of life.
It's afternoon approaching evening when the party arrives at the base of a hill with a tree on it. In fact, the tree looks not unlike a claw reaching up into the sky. The hill is tall enough to take a good look at the surrounding terrain.
Survival (DC 20) if you approach the tree:
In a hollow between the tree's roots, there's a section of earth that's been recently disturbed. It would probably take between ten minutes and half an hour to dig it up, which would mean it's too late to ride further today.
"The cards say things will be hard for Korvosa, and the streets now speak the truth of that." Zellara grins ruefully. "Go out tomorrow and listen to what people are saying. There's been resentment of the queen for a long time."
"And speaking of the queen..." Zellara picks up the drake-and-imp brooch. "I don't know, but that looks royal to me."
Audria's detect spell, surprisingly, doesn't ping back that Zellara is evil.
"Peace is a dream I've been chasing for a while," Zellara half-sighs, "but I took a Harrowing for the city, and I feel like I need to see things through. I can't leave right now and abandon my home when chaos and violence are coming."
She grins sheepishly. "But enough about that. What did you find at Lamm's, besides my deck and me?"
Alyssa's Grease spell does, in fact, help Angus to escape the spider's clutches. A moment later, Angus's horse chomps the spider, which Sethiel's channel heals just a bit, followed by a vicious hoof-strike.
The spider, looking a bit dazed, chitters and scurries away from Angus and into its hole. A moment later, the lid springs down over the arachnid, covering its body.
Spider has total cover from attacks. The lid can be broken with attacks (hardness 3, 20 HP), or can be lifted with a DC 18 Strength check.
That really sucks, and I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that things calm down for you in a positive way, and that you can come back sometime in the future! I get having to cut back hobbies for real life, believe me.
That leaves us with 4. Technically, the AP was written with 4 15-point-buy characters in mind, but for PbP, I'd be totally okay with recruiting another one or two to fill us out. It's 100% up to you guys though, if you feel like adding another PC or two to the mix.
It was mostly targeted at Audria/Lina, but it'd be easier to move everyone as a group. I'll do some handwavium, and if you want to chat more in Lamm's lair, you can do it in spoilers or label it as before.
Lina and Audria are joined by Garrett, Abella, and Shrike as they start making their way through the streets of Korovosa. On the way there, they pass a few groups of people, some of whom carry improvised clubs, torches, or other rioting tools. Most look at the party, however, and choose not to mess with a group that's obviously been fighting to kill.
The door to 3 Lancet Street is, once again, slightly ajar, but this time, there's no wonderful smell of cinnamon and flowers. The chair that Garrett sat in is in pieces, and no food sits on the table for the party to partake of. In fact, everything is covered in a layer of dust, as if the house has been abandoned for weeks. The only evidence anyone has been here is the footprints in the dust from the party's visit earlier that day.
As Abella enters the room, still carrying Zellara's Harrow Deck, the deck begins to glow. Several of the cards fall out of it, each matching one the party received from Zellara's Harrowing earlier, and a moment later, Zellara herself appears, standing in the wreckage of her home. She grimaces, refusing to look anyone in the eye.
"If you're here, and you have my deck, then Lamm is dead and you know much of the truth. Still, I imagine...I imagine you have some questions." She wrings her hands. "Most of them I can't answer. I told you the truth, that Lamm killed my son. But when I found his hideaway, the guard wouldn't pursue him! So I tried it on my own, and..." She shrugs, as if trying to be nonchalant about something she shouldn't be nonchalant about. "I died for my trouble. Lamm's men came here later that night and ransacked my beautiful home, but in spite of my...death..." She shudders. "...I found myself bound to my cards and to my home. With my death, and that of my son, avenged, I should be ready to move on, and yet, you seem to still be in need of my help."
"Alas, there are troubled times coming to the city, and my Harrowing was all too accurate for each of you. In the future, my Harrow deck can be used to help guide you through what may come to pass in Korvosa, but right now, there is little I can offer you beyond the four walls of my home and a few broken chairs."
Working on a post this evening, but dinner is soon so it may not be up right away.
In the meantime, Nikolai won't be rejoining us. I'm fine with continuing on with the 5 of us, if that works for you guys. If we drop below 5, I'll try to find a 5th and 6th to refill.
I'm going to assume people leaving took some of the vermin repellant, which would keep the spiders away, just in the interest of not having that fight happen right now. Also going to give people a bit to come to a decision about whether to investigate the brooch, Zellara's unique situation, or something else.
Surprisingly, Abella doesn't detect negative energy in regards to Zellara's head. In spite of the obvious death of Zellara, there's no sign that necromancy of any type was used here. However, there's something intensely magical about the Harrow deck.
The spider takes Varrus's arrow right in the abdomen and hisses, but maintains its grip on Angus. It starts to scuttle backwards, hissing as it goes, and it refuses to let go of the horseman. The party can see a slab of wood, earth, and webbing forming some sort of top for a hole, and the spider is right next to it!
Party is up. I'll resolve Alyssa and Sethiel's actions first, then the other 3 of you!
Riding ahead, Angus finds himself suddenly assailed by a spider the size of a wolf! It drives into the man, jamming its huge mandibles into his armor and starting to pull him off of Harbinger!
Lania sees that the crocodile has, in fact, started to chew on Lamm's corpse. Bits of his armor float along the Jeggare River's surface, but the beast itself is too far under the walkway to easily hunt down, at least not without tearing apart some of the wooden boards to get to it.
With some of the party outside dealing with the aftermath of Lamm's death, Garrett meticulously searches the room. It takes him a while, but he is able to find a few rather...interesting things.
The first is a ledger, inside of which is a shockingly meticulous list of something that's clearly coded and in Varisian.
Linguistics (DC 15):
The ledger includes notes that implicate Lamm or his associates, including a certain Rollth Lamm, Giggles, and Hookshanks, in dozens of crimes across the city over the last few decades. It's possible, or even probable, that the Korvosan Watch would be interested in this item.
The second is a chest tucked below Lamm's bed. Though it's clearly meant to be locked, the chest is currently jammed open slightly by one of the items inside it.
Chest Items:
The treasures include a narrow teak cigar case inlaid with tiny bits of jade (worth 25 gp,) a 2-pound gold ingot bearing the Cheliax coat of arms (worth 100 gp), a miniature gold crown (worth 350 gp), a fist-sized scrimshaw carving of a kraken with garnets for eyes (worth 200 gp), a silver ring bearing the inscription “For Emmah—the light in my nights” (worth 150 gp), a highly realistic and highly scandalous ivory figurine of two entwined succubi (worth 450 gp), a masterwork shuriken, an adamantine arrowhead, a masterwork dagger with a strange blade shaped almost like a key bearing the inscription: “For an inspiration of a father” (worth 750 gp), an abalone-shell holy symbol of Shelyn (worth 300 gp), a glass tube containing a dose of oil of keen edge, an obsidian wand of magic missile (23 charges), a crystalline vial (itself worth 50 gp) containing a dose of silversheen, and a bejeweled brooch with a broken clasp.
It's immediately obvious to Garrett that the brooch is the most valuable item in the whole collection. It depicts a house drake and an imp in a yin-yang sort of pattern, and is festooned with various high-value gems.
Knowledge (nobility) DC 15:
The brooch most definitely belongs to House Aribasti, the ruling family of Korvosa. There could be a large reward for its return.
And the last object of interest is a hatbox, surrounded by flies. On opening it, Garrett finds two familiar objects. The first is a deck of cards, the backs of which are identical to those Zellara left each of the party members to invite them to her house. And the second is a somewhat rotten, severed head, crudely covered in makeup in an attempt to give it the semblance of life. It's Zellara's head!
Heal (DC 10):
It's clear from this head's decay rate that its owner has been deceased for weeks.
= = = = = Meanwhile, The Girls = = = = =
Outside of Lamm's lair, unfortunately, things aren't any quieter. Quite the opposite, in fact. In spite of the late hour, much of the city is back-lit, though it's by the flickering glow of fires. Alarm bells ring out. A squadron of hippogriff riders of the Sable Company swoop overhead, only for one, whose hippogriff is badly injured, to crash into the side of a building.
Through the chaos, a herald's voice can be heard shouting "The king is dead, long live the queen!" over and over, until he's silenced mid-sentence and another voice shouts "Hang that usurper!" The city seems to have descended into madness during the battle against Lamm!
Bokken bids the party good bye and they begin to ride southwest. As they go, the land grows sparser and hillier - not so steep as to slow them down, but it's obvious that the party is pushing into the Kamelands. These hilly, grass-covered lands are surprisingly devoid of most big game. A few early flowers have started to grow, though proper blooms are still months away.
It's near the base of one of these hills that the horses start to sniff at the air. There's something out there, but what?
Perception (DC 25):
Stealth:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
Near the west side of the road, an oversized spider has built a hole and is lying in wait for anything move down the path.
Knowledge (nature) DC 11 with previous Perception:
This is a giant trapdoor spider. As long as it's in its lair, it has cover from ranged attacks, and it can leave its hole, attack, and retreat very quickly. It uses trip-webs to detect nearby prey.
With Lamm dead and dumped into the water, Gobbleguts loses interest in trying to eat those on the catwalk. Instead, the crocodile grabs Lamm's body and begins flailing it around in the water in a death roll before dragging it under the catwalk below where Shrike and Audria stand.
Combat over unless you want to kill a croc.
With the fighting over, or at least lulled, it's possible to get a look around. On the floor is Gaedren Lamm's dagger, which he dropped when he was killed. Most of the "treasures" on Lamm's tables aren't worth much at all, though there are seven tubes of foul-smelling vermin repellant on one table. There's also a darkwood coffer on one cabinet, made with a touch of brass filigree on it. It's not locked, and inside are 20 doses of shiver.
Behind the door to the southwest is a foul-smelling room that seems to be a combination bedroom and study. A wooden bed with a lumpy mattress stands against the east wall, while a round table heaped with dirty plates, bread crusts, stained goblets, fruit rinds, and scuttling cockroaches sits nearby. At the foot of the bed sits a large strongbox; a slightly rusted lock secures it and a moldy ledger with pages rippled from moisture sits atop its lid. A sagging dresser filled with moth-eaten clothes well past their glory days is in one corner. What appears to be a wooden hatbox surrounded by a small cloud of flies sits atop this dresser.
Bokken rummages through his potions until he finds a healing potion and a couple of the explosive concoctions. He sets the healing potion down, then tosses the explosive in his hand a few times. "THEY'RE PRETTY SAFE! HAVE TO SHATTER TO GO OFF, AND I USE THE THICK GLASS FOR 'EM! YOU'D HAVE TO GIVE 'EM A GOOD TOSS TO MAKE THEM BREAK!" At Angus's request, he steps out of the hut, taking a good look for centipedes first, then disappears. A few moments later, he comes back with a mishapen carrot. "I GREW THIS MYSELF! THE HORSE CAN HAVE IT FOR FREE IF YOU BUY THE EXPLOSIVES!"
Once all the necessary purchases are made, Bokken points south. "THE CENTIPEDES COME FROM THERE! THERE'S A BUSTED UP TOWER THEY MOVED INTO AND I THINK UNDER AND MAYBE OVER TOO!"
If Lina wants to take a second turn to catch up, I'm cool with that, but we're going to move forward for now.
Audria gets a good hold of Lamm, who panics and starts thrashing about to try and break the paladin's hold. A moment later, his armor takes Shrike's guisarme strike, which leaves a large scour down the padded cloth. He's not so fortunate, however, against Abella's sword, which catches him in the neck. While it doesn't quite behead him, it's clear that Lamm's days on Golarion are at an end.
Gobbleguts feels the arrow bounce off its thick hide and surges toward Garrett, lunging up to try and propel its massive body up toward the halfling. However, it still can't find purchase on the catwalk's slippery wood, and falls back into the water even as droplets of water and the meaty stink of its breath assault the halfling.
For reference, I messed up the alligator's swim roll. It wouldn't have impacted the outcome, but its bonus is much bigger.
"NO, NO! I HAVE LOTS OF STOCK FOR A BIT!" Bokken gestures wildly at the various alchemy supplies. "FANGBERRIES AND MOONRADISHES NEED TO BE DRIED FOR A WHILE, THOUGH, SO I CAN'T USE ALL MY SUPPLY UNLESS I GET MORE!"
"IF YOU'RE GOING TO GO GET THEM, THEN GO AND I'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME" He squints his eyes. "UNLESS YOU'RE BUYING! I HAVE POTIONS THAT HEAL, POTIONS THAT MAKE YOU BIGGER, AND CREATIONS THAT EXPLODE! 20 GOLD COINS FOR THE EXPLODY ONES, 50 FOR THE OTHER TWO!"
Linna's magic bolt slams into Lamm, just a moment before Garrett's arrow finds purchase in the alligator's hide.
The alligator roars, then flails wildly out of the water, snapping at Abella's legs. It can't get out of the water quite far enough, though Abella can feel the wind from its jaws closing near the edge of the platform!
Gobbleguts Swim:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
"Girl, you could have been a great Lamb! Without me, you'll still be nothing!" Lamm growls at Audria, dropping his hand crossbow, drawing a dagger, and stabbing away at the paladin! His eyes are mostly on Shrike's polearm, though, and he can't hit with his weapon.
Sethiel has only vaguely heard of Moonradish. It's a type of radish that tends to grow best in partially shady environments. For example, a glade in the Narlmarches. Fangberry is a total mystery to him, though.
Blue fellows with bugs as companions could be mites. They're a pretty pathetic type of fey that likes to tame vermin of various types.
"I'M AN ALCHEMIST! I MAKE POTIONS AND TINCTURES AND SUCH!" Bokken continues to be far too loud as he explains his work, but there's no annoyance in his voice. "WELL? WILL YOU HELP ME WITH THE MOONRADISHES AND THE FANGBERRIES? I NEED THEM TO KEEP MY POTIONS BREWING!" One of the glass containers near the fire starts to hiss, and Bokken grabs it, pulling it away from the fire before dunking his hand into a bucket of water.
Inside Bokken's house, most every surface is covered in either baskets and jars of bug parts, berries, minerals, and colorful liquids. A quartet of larger glass containers sit on a rack well over the fire, boiling away, and other jars await their contents.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO THEM." Bokken looks south, obviously frustrated. "CURSED CENTIPEDES! I WAS JUST OUT FOR SUPPLIES TO KEEP MY LITTLE BUSINESS GOING, AND THEY ATTACKED! IT'S ONE THING TO DEAL WITH THE RED AND BLACK FELLOWS! THEY EAT THEIR FILL AND GET SLEEPY! THE BLUE ONES, THOUGH? ANGRY LITTLE THINGS!"
He grabs a piece of parchment and starts scrawling all over it. "I CAN'T LEAVE HERE! THE CENTIPEDES WILL TEAR MY HOUSE APART! GO GET ME FANGBERRIES! LOTS OF 'EM! AND MOONRADISHES! AND DEAL WITH THE BLUE FELLOWS AND THE CENTIPEDES SOUTH OF HERE! THE RADISHES ARE IN THE WOODS WEST OF HERE, AND THE FANGBERRIES ARE SOUTHWEST A LONG WAYS! I'LL GIVE YOU POTIONS! LOTS OF 'EM!"
"NO, NO CENTIPEDES IN HERE!" The man seems prone to shouting, but he does relax a bit at the reassurance that the party is not, in fact, centipedes. "I'M BOKKEN! SINCE YOU'RE NOT CENTIPEDES, MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH SOME THINGS! I CAN MAKE A FEW POTIONS TO HELP YOU -"
Suddenly, he stops talking, whirls, and tosses the greenish bottle out the door and into the woods, where it explodes with a *bang* of greenish smoke. "DIE, CENTIPEDES! LOOK, THE LITTLE BLUE FELLOWS TO THE SOUTH, THEY HAVE IT OUT FOR ME! THEY KEEP SENDING BUGS TO BOTHER ME! COME IN AND I'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT! JUST DON'T LET ANY CENTIPEDES INSIDE!" He wildly gestures toward the door.
Audria moves into the room, hopping across the corner easily, then keeps going. Shrike moves in to menace Lamm (will resolve AoO if needed later). Abella's magic settles on the alligator, but it's an apex predator and shows no fear in the face of the woman's spell.
Gobbleguts Will):1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23That is one willful alligator!
Nicolai slides into the room, unshouldering his crossbow as he goes. Shrike's crossbow bolt finds a place in Gaedren's shoulder, spinning him around and making him groan in pain. Nevertheless, he takes a shot at Gobbleguts, which splashes into the water. "Curse you, you stupid beast! Eat them!" He takes a few steps away from Shrike, cursing and muttering.
The alligator, for its part, surfaces and starts looking up at the walkways, but doesn't make a move to attack. Instead, it eyes Abella hungrily.
Order will be:
Shrike, Nicolai
Lamm and Gobbleguts
Abella, Audria, Garrett, and Lina
Everyone's up! I'll resolve AAGL's moves first, then Shrike and Nikolai for round 2.
If you have any shopping to do that you didn't get to do prior, you can check the list of stuff that he had early on. I'll try to get a store list up soonish as well. Stuff that Oleg doesn't have can be ordered from the trading post and generally arrive a weekish later.
As the party approaches, the smoke continues to rise, and it's abundantly clear that most of it is coming up through a clay-and-stone chimney in the center of the hut. The door pops open, revealing an older man with wild hair and an untamed beard. He holds a greenish glass bottle in one hand as he glares out the door. "ARE YOU CENTIPEDES?!", he shouts. "CURSED CENTIPEDES, SNEAKING UP ON ME ALL THE TIME! IF YOU'RE NOT CENTIPEDES, SAY SOMETHING!"
"Ah. Those." Oleg furrows his brow, thinking hard. "We may have something - sometimes the farmers from Lebeda's south holdings come down the road, and their daughters want ribbons and whatnot." He leads Varrus out of the tent, into the store room, and searches for a bit before coming up with some ribbons, buttons, and assorted other knick-knacks including some bone carvings. "Some of the hunters do scrimshaw stuff, kinda. There's a little market for 'em in the cities. Sell the lot to you for 5 gold, though."
Svetlana helps Angus get his horse into the stables, which are full to bursting, then guides the Levetons' own horse out. "Claptrap, you'll be out here for the night. It's still inside the walls, and the gate'll be shut, so you'll be safe."
Tiff is able to sell the party's not-so-ill gotten gains to the Levetons, and the party is able to secure boarding for the night in the trading post's guest house.
= = = = = Pharast 5, 471 AR = = = = =
GM Stuff:
1d10 ⇒ 10
There's not a cloud in the sky as the party saddles up and rides southeast out of Oleg's Trading Post. Spring grasses are starting to work their way through the remains of the snowstorm that Varrus, Alyssa, Sethiel, and Tiff rode through on their way to the trading post, giving the plains a green-and-goldenrod hue. Before long, a thin trail of smoke is visible on the horizon, its dark black color occasionally interrupted by a few seconds of light grey and, once, a ten second wave of pale green.
Riding closer, it's clear the smoke is coming from a copse of trees, below which is a hut. A loud *bang!* echoes across the plains, and the sound of someone shouting something indecipherable.
Perception (DC 20):
The shout sounded like someone shouting something about...centipedes?
@Audria: She sure does! He's certainly older than the last time she saw him, though.\
Lamm's eyes widen as the others enter behind Shrike. He glares at Abella. "I should have killed you after her, you know? I'll have to remedy that soon." He draws his hand crossbow, but instead of loosing it at the party, he aims unsteadily toward the water! "Gobbleguts, get them, you big lunk!"
@GM: Thanks for running this game! Do you have a preference on alignments? I have a witch concept that's Chaotic Evil, the forbidden alignment, haha. Isee above that you're okay with Neutral Evil, and she's not a PvP concern or anything, just the alignment that made the most sense.
Garrett is GMing another game I'm in, so I know he's around. He was on vacation for a bit, though, and he may not have realized I'm back and moving this forward.
The air in this large room is chilly and stinks of the river, thanks to a huge opening in the floor that drops away to the river shore three feet below. A single, sodden log floats in the middle of the opening. Several pilings emerge from the waters to support the roof eight feet above the floor, with mossy ropes slung between them. In two places, rusty manacles hang from the ropes over the water. Two five-foot-wide walkways cross the hole to the other side of the chamber, where a collection of old cabinets, lockboxes, and piles of clutter are strewn about. Chipped porcelain plates, a cracked goblet, badly rusted silverware, an old wooden shield with a crossbow bolt embedded in it, the odd dented helm, and other “treasures” litter the floor of this side of the chamber. Three tables heaped with clutter stand amid this mess. In the southwest corner, a wooden door provides access to a walled-off section.
At one of the three tables, an old man leans against his walking stick. He turns as Shrike opens the door with a creak sound, squinting beneath his brimmed hat. ”Who are you! And how in Asmodeus’s name did you find me!?” His hand drops to a hand crossbow, but he doesn’t draw it. ”Maybe you’re here for business? My son had some sort of job, said he might be sending people my way.”
Perception (DC 25):
Stealth:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (12) + 13 = 25 The log is actually a massive reptile with scales, a long tail, and sharp teeth.
Knowledge (nature) DC 14 if you passed the previous Perception:
The creature pretending to be a log is an alligator. Alligators are very dangerous, and can grapple with their jaws.
With a rough path through the Greenbelt more or less agreed on, Oleg steps in. ”Supplies for your trip shouldn’t be an issue. I can offer venison jerky, enough for a person for a day, for five silver. We also have feed for your horses at 5 copper a day. You could also try letting them forage in the Kamelands, but the woods aren’t filled with good horse-feed.” He frowns, furrowing his brow and thinking. ”We don’t have much in the way of baubles and whatnot. Just dice and cards and similar; games the hunters and trappers play in camp.”
Let me know if/when you’re ready to move on, and we’ll get rolling!
The ex-bandit laughs a hollow laugh as Varrus questions him. "I suppose parole sounds better than imprisonment, don't it?" He shakes his head. "And I'm not Sneeg. Never heard of him, actually. He might be with Staggy himself, down south. Lots of us - er, them - there, and I never bothered learning names the few times they came to Kressle's camp. I'm Leonard Bohn, out of Mivon originally."
The other bandit looks at Leonard, shaking his head. His face is scabbed and bruised from his fight with Leonard in the stock room. "You never do remember much of anything, do you? Sneeg was promoted, he was. He runs a small-time band in the southeast, harassing the hunters and trappers on the Kamelands. He stopped at Kressle's a month or so back."
As far as Varrus can tell, Kesten's being up front about just wanting a general idea of where the party intends to go. Still, though, Kesten notes Varrus's searching look. "I don't intend to stab you in the back. There's plenty of bandits here for that job. We're on the same side, though, so we should be working together."
I don't really have any ulterior motive for Kesten to ask for an itinerary, except that I want to know as GM so I can plan the next few encounters.
I have a few votes for Sneeg, one for hunting the runaway bandit, and one for the elk shrine. How about a route like on the hex map, starting by heading southeast to D, then following the line and exploring each hex? That would get you across the Thorn River, let you patrol the Kamelands to see if you can find Sneeg, check for leads on the runaway bandit, and then swing northwest to the elk shrine.
Gonna bot the rest of everyone. I'm back. Lost motivation/got into a pretty bad headspace for a bit here, but I'm trying to pull out of it. I'll be trying to get posts up daily from here out.
Audria's splash in the water results in a fast-moving, streamlined shadow cutting through the water toward her, and only Shrike's assistance at pulling her out quickly keeps her from being attacked by one of several sharks that seem to be patrolling the underside of the fishery. With her out of the water, though, it loses interest, milling about for a bit before diving back into the Jeggare River's depths.
The rest of the party, with Shrike's assistance, is able to drop down onto the lower catwalk. The catwalk itself is creaky and waterlogged, but traverses the river below toward a single door to the west. The door is oddly-shaped, a result of being jammed below a support beam keeping the fishery up, and sports an obvious brass lock, which matches the key found on Yargin's body.
Perception (DC 15):
There's a hidden door crudely camouflaged behind the myriad ropes holding the ship to the fishery, which leads into the ship's hold.
With the party regrouped outside of the ship's cabin and on the deck, it's possible to see a narrow walkway weaving to the west of the ship, underneath the wooden pilings that hold up the fishery. There's a place toward the stern of the ship where someone could half-drop/half-jump from the upper catwalk to the lower one, if one were acrobatic enough to do so.
It's about 10 feet down to the lower platform, and I'm calling it slightly obstructed because of the ship and building in the way (I'm imagining it's a fairly narrow half-dro-/half-jump), so let's call it a DC 15 Acrobatics or Escape Artist check to drop down safely. Failure by 5 or more is 1d6 nonlethal falling damage, and failing by less than 5 ends up with you in the water.
Tiff knows that kobolds come in all the colors of the rainbow, though around here, red and black are the most common.
The bandits glare at their options. One looks toward Egon, who nods at him. Then, the bandit smiles and nods his head. ”Stayin’ here seems good. The Stag Lord won’t hear that we kept our oaths to him any way you slice it. Either we run from him for real or he kills us for imagined betrayal.” He looks Varrus in the eye. ”My banditing days are over.”
Once the bandits are lined out on whatever the party wants to do with them, Kesten beckons the party over to his tent. Inside is a mess, but front and center is a parchment MAP. He pokes at a house symbol with his finger. ”This is Oleg’s Trading Post. Your charter is to explore this area as well as handle the bandits, so I can either have you take the map with you or have one of my guards fill it out each time you come back here. Mirjam is an amateur cartographer, but that’s a sight better than the old rubbish maps Restov has in its archives.”
He goes on. ”I’d appreciate it if you told me which directions you were going, and roughly how far, before you left. Just in case I have to send someone after you.”
Oleg nods. ”We’re grateful for what you’ve done, but you’ll probably be needed again. Those bandits aren’t done making trouble, I think.”
Okay, so, each plains hex is about 8 hours to cross on foot, 3-4 on horseback. If you’d give me rough directions when you’re done hanging out in Oleg’s, I can plot out the course you’ll be taking and be prepared for encounters you might have. Here’s a list of plot hooks you’ve gotten so far, since it’s been a couple weeks.
1. The bandit who went southeast from the camp to track the blue things who took Svetlana’s ring. 2. Hunting a named bandit, Falgrim Sneeg 3. Hunting a Tatzlwyrm 4. The head of a boar named Tuskgutter 5. Dealing with the kobold problem 6. The elk shrine
I may have missed one or two, so if you remember something I don’t, have at it.
Hey. I know I said I was back, but I'm dealing with some weird mental health stuff. Lots of anxiety and depression issues. I'm hoping after Christmas, it'll be better, if you're willing to wait for me.
Hey. I know I said I was back, but I'm dealing with some weird mental health stuff. Lots of anxiety and depression issues. I'm hoping after Christmas, it'll be better, if you're willing to wait for me.
Kesten nods to Alyssa, smiling as he hears the news about the bandits being dealt a blow. "Then by the power vested in me as an agent of the Dragonscale Throne and all that, you've earned a reward." He ducks into his tent, rummages around for a bit, and returns with a sack of gold coins. "400 dragons, as promised. As for the live ones..." His brow wrinkles. "I can't say I condone you leaving them alive, but you have the charter for these lands, not me. It's your decision, and my guards and I will live with it." He listens to Varrus's concerns about repentance and the charter, bristles a little at the implication that the nobility isn't honorable, and then continues, quietly. "If he has information and is repentant, I suppose it's fine to keep him alive."
Egon spits on the ground. "Sneeg? The Varisian? He came with one of the Stag Lord's bands once. Man's scary - doesn't care much about violence or danger. I think he's got a death wish."
Oleg grimaces, looking down disappointedly. I...see. I don't know much about the lands south of here. Only what the hunters and trappers bring, and that could be wild exaggeration - you know how backwoods types get after a long while with no company. Bokken might know, though. He's southeast of here a few hours' ride."
When he's done talking to Oleg, Varrus goes to talk to the prisoners from the fight at Oleg's Trading Post. They listen, glaring at him. "'Course we did. So, you're going to kill us off in cold blood, after we surrendered and you said we'd live?"
