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You find yourself on the porch of the mayor’s house overlooking the square. The square itself seems nearly deserted with much of the pomp and decorations from the day before already taken down. A few people emerge from the funeral behind the church and go about their business. There are a few spots of dried blood on the cobblestones where the wolves or villagers fell as well as a larger pool of black bile from where the larger wolf was slain.
Lash: As you all take a moment on the front porch to talk you spy what you think is Hodrick’s hat dipping into the church.
The mayor nods and opens the front door for you all. ”Of course! Of course! Take the day to think it over. If you’d like, you can join my wife and I for dinner tonight here and we can discuss your decision. Say just after sunset?”
The mayor nods, ”Of course, but I warn you, we are not a rich town. We had to scrape together what was in that sack to thank you for saving us in the first place. For the training of the militia, on top of free room and board at the Drunken Dryad we can pay each of you five silver a day until the militia is trained in full or until you must leave. Obviously only those that train the militia will be compensated and only on days that you actually train the militia. On top of that we’d commission you one gold piece for each militia member trained. Upon satisfactory completion of the entire militia, judged by our dear captain here, we will pay you a lump sum of twenty five gold pieces. ”As for looking in on the Knocts for us, we’d be willing to pay ten gold pieces. On top of that, I’m sure Master Ash would be willing to sing you some lodging of your own once he returns. I know you don’t wish to stay in town, but it may be nice to have a place of your own while you are here. Once you decide to leave you could sell it for a profit if you’d like.” He stands up and ushers you out into the hall, stopping at the display case with the green glass in it. ”As for looking into the attacks. Once you have discovered the root of the matter and made sure that we are safe from future attacks, I’d be willing to part with this. It’s a piece of Briar. The sword that was the physical manifestation of Niryssa’s ability to love. The very same wielded by the Grand General Edric used to defeat her those eighty years ago. I don’t know how much exactly an artifact like this may be worth, but it should sell for thousands if you find the right buyer.”
The mayor dabs at his brow again nervously and looks to the Captain, who returns the look from the doorway with a shrug. Woodstock waves Cornelius in and motions for him to close the door. Once you all are alone with the door closed the mayor speaks up, ”This information cannot leave this room. The town will be informed, but I want to make it an announcement and not have people find out through the rumor mill. ”I had Father Dennis send a message to the capital, informing them of what happened and to ask for assistance in the form of more men to shore up security in the town. The response we received was... disturbing.” He pulls a crystal decanter from under his desk with a shaky hand and pours an amber liquid into his tea. He tests the tea then pours more liquor in before returning the decanter and continuing. ”They sent word that the Czarina and her husband, the High Magister, have been assassinated. The attack seemed to come from within. With the capital on high alert they can not afford to send any more men to help us. ”This is why we would like you to stay with us. There are things that need to be seen to that I don’t have the manpower to see to. For one, we need to try and figure out why the attack happened. Ash has gone to the Court of Autumn to seek answers, but I don’t think it was them. They have no reason to break the Green Peace. So I need someone to possibly find answers to that. The second is there is a family to the north of town, the Knocts, that wasn’t at the festivities yesterday. I’m worried about them, especially since they weren’t here and haven’t been to town in over a week, which is unlike them. I’d like someone to look in on them and make sure they are ok. Finally, we need some help possibly help training a militia out of the people that do live in town. We’re going to need to protect ourselves for now.”
You enter in behind the mayor and the Captain into a nice entrance hall to what seems like a small, but nice, home. The hall is lined with pictures depicting different scenes of nature with a few portraits thrown in. Above your heads hangs a large crystal chandelier that doesn’t seem to have an anchor point. You see a display case with what looks like a splinter of green glass about the size of your forearm resting on a velvet pillow. The mayor ushers you to a door on your left just off the entry way. Entering inside you’re met with a simple study. Books line the shelves on all the walls from the floor to the ceiling. A large iron oak desk take up most of the floor space, with a small porcelain tea set sitting on the side of it. The mayor moves to the other side of the desk and has a seat, motioning you all to do the same, while the Captain leans in the doorway to listen in. The mayor pours tea into several cups, ”Now, to business. The town wanted to show its appreciation to you for stepping up to help save them last night. I’ve dipped into the town funds and we’ve asked for donations to pull this money together for you as our thanks,” he reaches below the desk and produces a sack of coins which he passes across the table. ”We really are indebted to you. You also may stay and eat at the Drunken Dryad as long as you need free of charge.” He looks at each of you in turn and dabs his forehead again nervously, ”You mentioned last night that you may wish to stay in town for a bit. Would... would you like to do that in an official capacity?”
As you all step out into the day, you notice it’s a chilly overcast spring day. The weather is stark contrast to the day before, but seems to fit the mood of the town well on the melancholy day. Few people are on the street. You assume they are either back to their normal routine, or staying inside in fright. As you come to the square you notice that much of the decorations have already been pulled down, and the square cleaned as much as it could be. You see a small crowd of people behind the church standing in the graveyard. To your right you see Mayor Woodstock and Captain Kimpopperton standing on the mayor’s porch talking quietly to each other. The mayor has a handkerchief that he dabs at his forehead with repeatedly despite the chill and the Captain has bags under his eyes denoting lack of sleep. The mayor notices you all, slaps a big smile on his face and waves you all over to them. ”There’s the men of the hour. Please, come inside. I have the kettle on and it will be more comfortable near the fire.”
Grognak nods, ”Of course. You can stop by my smithy anytime to chat if you’d like. I can work and talk at the same time. It’s at least a days walk to the Forrest, then maybe another half a day getting to the court. From there who knows how long it will take him to get answers. I’d say he should be back by the end of the week. The mayor should be in his house, which is the big house in the center of town opposite the church. The sherif should be in the jail next door to that, but he may be asleep. He was up all night making sure that the town was ready if the rider or any of his wolves came back.” He walks his plate over to the bar and lays a couple of copper on the bar, ”Say, give me a few days and stop by my smithy. I’ll have something for you all on behalf of the town by then.”
The half-orc give a smile and says, ”No, need to apologize. There are none too many that know the dealings of the Fey. Honestly, I probably only know because I’ve lived here in Rosewood for so long. The Court of Autumn is the closest thing that the Fey who deal with the Empire has to a ruling body. It was established by several members of the Fey after Nyrissa was defeated by the founders of Fairhaven. Since the Fey are so alien to us mortals at times they make sure that those crossing between the planes understand the rules of the empire just as the Imperial Army does the same to our people crossing into the Feywild. ”The truce is the Green Peace. A deal struck between the Czarina and the Court of Autumn protecting each other from each other. It officially brings the Forrest of a Thousand Screams and The Palace at the Edge of Time, where the court rules from, into the empire while still giving them rule over their own people.”[b] He takes a drink from his tankard as he ponders what to say next, then, [b]”As for Ash, no, I don’t think he needs you. Ash is old Fey and he works for the Court. He actually started this town with this little tavern. Sang the building right out a corpse of Iron-Oak trees. Then as others decided to stay he would sing them houses out of the trees. That’s why our town looks like it does. If anyone was strong enough to make the trek alone in this town it would be him. ”Bit of a moot point, though, he left right after the attack last night and I doubt you’d be able to catch him.” he says with a smirk. Grognak finishes his plate and says,”Anything else you’d like to know?”
Black Hat As you flourish and bow to the unseen force you feel the room grow colder for a moment and the sensation of a quick, cold slap across your bottom. This has never happened to you in all your years, but you’ve heard tell of your grandmother giving small gestures to others in your group to show her pleasure with her children. Alfred turns to you as you request breakfast and says with a smile, ”Finally!Someone’sspeakingmylanguage!Breakfastcomingrightup!” He then scurries back to grab more food. ———————————————————— Lash Grognak waves his hand to you and shakes his head saying, ”Nothing so sinister. No, Ash is just traveling to the Court of Autumn to try and find out why the truce was broken. These days the trip should be easy, but with the attack last night, Alfred thinks that Master Ash is in more danger on the road. But Ash is tougher than he lets on and no Fey would dare strike out at an Elder.”
Alfred comes to a stop as Creighton asks his question. His head tilts and he rapidly scratches the back of his head in thought before saying, ”Mybestguesswoukdbewiththemayor. Ormaybethechurch. Nolibrariesthough. Notabigenoughtownforthat.”
It worked, Blackhat! Go ahead and join the gameplay thread! It’s a tab at the top there!
The quickling pauses for a brief moment as Lash tells him to slow down, then he darts behind the counter, into the back, and returns with a plate of bacon and oatmeal. He places the platter before Lash and says, ”Rightrightnowthatyousaidthatimfeelingmuchmorecalm. Thankyousomuchforhelpingmecometomysenses.” He then darts back to his cleaning. He only other person in the dining area is Grognak. The orc stands up from his table and brings his plate over to Lash’s table. He stands there for a moment before saying, ”I wanted to thank you for what you and your friends did last night. You really saved a lot of people in this town. Myself included.” He looks to the quickling before lowering his voice to a whisper and says, ”Don’t mind him. He’s just worried about Ash.”
It is deathly quiet in the town of Rosewood. What had been a joyous day filled with revelry, ended in disaster and despair. Many stay up as long as they can, fending off sleep with fears of another attack. But another attack never comes. The sun rises over the horizon and a new day begins. Our heroes rouse themselves from their sleep and each gets ready for the day in their own way. Coming down the stairs they are welcomed by the smell of bacon and the sight of a slightly worried look on Alfred’s face as he darts back and forth around the room spot cleaning everything.
The guard tilts his head to the side and looks Tibble up and down before saying, ”As far as I know. Most everything is gonna be in the town square. Some of the families that live outside of town might stay out at their homesteads, but as for the official town sanctioned events it’ll all be here.”
Lash sends out the darts towards the targets. The first strikes the top of the first troll’s head and bounces away. Miss The second slams squarely into the bullseye of the second troll! Bullseye: 2 points! The third narrowly misses the first bandit as it dodged behind a rock. Miss! The fourth sticks nearly into the second dashing bandit, but misses the bullseye. Hit: 1 point! The last dart flys towards the circling rider and strikes it in the horse! Hit: 1 point! FOUR POINTS TOTAL! The gnome youth stops winding the winch and unenthusiasticly starts to ring a bell saying in a monotone voice, ”Winner! Winner! We have a winner! Four points will get you a whistle, sir!” the gnome reaches under the bar and produces a small wooden carving of a nightengale. At the end of the bird’s tail is a small mouth piece and a small hole in the top of it’s head is where Lash assumes the whistling sound would come out.
An elderly half-orc woman wearing a high-collared Victorian style purple dress looks at Kindling from behind the stall. The woman’s long grey hair is pulled up into a messy bun with wisps of it sprouting out in different places. Though she hunches over her cane, the woman is still quite large, showing that in her prime she must have towered over most people. A gentle smile showing one small tusk jutting out from the lower left side of her mouth greets Kindling. As Kindling offers the money, the woman adjusts her spectacles. She studies the money in Kindling’s hand then the young woman herself. The woman’s smile falters for a moment, but it is quickly replaced with a beaming smile twice as big as the last one. ”That’s quite a lot for a small little stand like this. The most I charge for my soups is five copper,” says the elderly woman as she places a bread-bowl on the stand and turns around to the large pot that bubbles gently over a cook-fire, ”Unfortunately, in my old age I forgot my change purse so I sent my son back to the house to fetch it for me. ”Now, you can wait for my son to return, though we live outside of town so it may be a bit of a wait,” she says. She paddles out a healthy portion of the stew into the bowl in front of Kindling, ”Or! You can accept this as a little Empire Day gift and be sure to tell others where you got such delicious stew.” She nudges the bowl toward Kindling and whispers with a wink over her spectacles, ”Just don’t tell my son. He’d be furious at me. Something about giving away our profits. Doesn’t matter, though, there’s a reason I’m the mother and he’s the son. Just would rather not upset him.”
The gnome youth sighs, pushing the shock of hair up out of his eye for a brief moment before stepping behind the counter and producing five darts that he places on the counter in front of Lash. In a monotone, bored voice the youth says, ”Five darts and five targets. Each hit is worth a point. Bullseye’s worth two. No leaning, no magic. Stay behind the line at your feet.” He moves to the side of the booth and starts to wind a crank. As he does the curtain in the booth pulls back to reveal a cartoonish depiction of the vale outside of town. Two cartoon trolls with bullseyes painted on their chests start to rise and fall behind two of the sloping hills. Two smaller cartoon bandits with bullseyes on their chests dash back and forth across the horizon. Finally, a tiny rider atop a winged black steed with a tiny bullseye on his plated chest spins circles around the moon.
Tibble: As Tibble rushes towards the town he sees a woman walking past a lazy-looking guard. The guard calls out to the woman to stay in line as he hands out sweets to a small mock-squad of children who crowd around him in a childish display of parade rest. He looks up as Tibble approaches and says, ”Whoa! No need to rush, fella. The festivities will last all day.” Lash: Cornelius lets a hearty laugh out as Lash starts away to the darts, ”I like yer spirit, lad! It’ll be a pleasure to take yer money” Lash approaches the dart game and the gnome boy squints up at him. He give a slight frown then points to a sign on the bar where contestants throw from that reads: 5cp for five throws! Everyone’s a winner!
The dwarf beams at the offered hand and shakes it hastily with a rough calloused hand. ”Captain Corneilous Kimpopperton at yer service, Master Lash! Pleasure is all mine!” says the dwarf as he waves Lash over to the sign up table, ”Just drop yer coin on tha table and leave ya mark on the sheet. We’ll wait about an hour to give others chance ta sign up then we’ll begin. Feel free to check around at the other festivities while ya wait.”
Ash lifts a finger to object to the money, but quickly closes his mouth. He nods in thanks to Lash as the man picks up the barrel with ease and heads out the door. Outside, Lash squints his eyes at the bright light of the sun after being inside for so long. Heading down the street he sees kids playing kick ball as their parents move towards the square to finish setting up. As he enters the square, he sees a long wooden table set up in the center, long enough to accommodate everyone in the small village. The table is covered in the dark green of the imperial house and has the Imperial seal, a stag head atop a shield cut into four quadrants containing a tragedy and comedy mask, two crossed rapiers, a fox, and a star of Desna, embroidered in gold at each end. At the far end of the table sits a raised platform with a podium, probably for the speech before the meal. Sitting behind the platform is a large, but modest church to Desna. The largest building in the town, the Church has a large bell tower that towers over the square. The building itself seems to have been grown from many different trees rather than built. The trees weave together to create an elegant, but natural looking building. Off to the sides of the square several vendors offer up games and wares for the people of the village. There’s a dart throwing game, manned by a disinterested looking teenage gnome with a shock of purple hair covering one eye. The next seems to be a shell-game manned by an elderly elven woman with a serious look. Lastly, there’s a small table with a sign in front of it saying “Arm wrastling tornment: 5 sp”. A squat dwarf with a now hawk and a long braided read beard wearing a pristine imperial uniform rushes out from the game and says, ”Great! Ole Ash has finally sent out the swill! You can set that down over by the podium then get back here quick! If yew kin carry that barrel around easily you’ll be perfect fee tha tourney! Just five silver will get you in! Winner takes half tha pot!”
Lash: You get a feeling that you may have been a little too rowdy with your partner last night. The glare that you spotted whilst descending the steps was probably from a man whose lack of sleep before a big day was caused by another’s enjoyment. Trying to not be a rude host, he quickly covered the irritation with a warm customer service smile. Kindling Kindling moves along the dusty road towards the village, without seeing or spotting another soul. Apparently, everyone had already moved to the village to put up last minute decorations and begin the festivities. As she approaches the town, she spots a lone guard dressed in a faded, bedraggled green uniform customary of imperial forces. The guard lazily leans up against the house at the edge of town and hands out sweets to a group of boys standing at mock attention with him. Kindling gets the feeling that they don’t see much trouble in the sleepy little village. The guard smiles and waves as she approaches and calls out, ”Just in time! The party’s about to start! Most of the games and vendor’s are set up in the town square! Have a happy Empire Day and try not to get too rowdy. I hate filling out paperwork.” Tibble Tibble walks wistfully along the dirt road towards the sounds coming from the town. As he moves along he spots something off the side of the road. DC 5 Survival Check:
Tracks! There’s the faint impression of wolf tracks in the earth on and around the road. The cross-crossing patterns and prints from others make it impossible for you to tell how many there are but you can tell it’s a pack on the move and relatively close to town which is unusual. DC 15 Perception Check:
You spot... are those eyes? Staring at you from the edge of the wood line to a corpse of trees.They seem to be watching you, but as soon as you see them they disappear into the shadows provided by the trees.
As Lash wakes up, he does indeed see that the woman is gone, as well as five gold from his purse. As he comes down the stairs to the only tavern in the small village— the Drunken Dryad— he catches a glare from the sleepy looking innkeeper, Ash. The burly man behind the counter towers over the few people still in the tavern, the small branches sprouting from the top of his head nearly scratching at the ceiling, causing him to hunch over as he methodically wipes are the iron-oak bar. He has dark skin the color of bark, his hair between the branches a mossy green seems well kept and pulled back into an efficient knot to keep the hair from the food he prepares. He wears a leather apron over a simple white shirt and slacks that seem to not fit him quite right. As quick as Lash sees the glare, it evaporates into a big toothy grin, filled with wooden teeth, that genuinely reaches his golden eyes. He waves lash over to the bar and bellows in a deep bass, ”You just about missed breakfast my friend! Come! We’ve meat and eggs this morning! And maybe a little ale to chase off the hair of the dog from last night, yes?” He turns around and grabs a plate, piling ham and eggs onto the wooden platter then dropping it off at the seat in front of him at the bar. Say! Could you do me a favor? That good for nothing quickling, Alfred, never showed up for his shift this morning. Probably too hung over from last night. He was supposed to take this keg down the street to square for the fest this evening. I’d do it myself, but I have to stay here to make sure the guests don’t need anything. I’ll consider is square for the room last night if you do it.”
Here’s the discussion page as well where we can talk things over if we need to or we can use messenger.
The sun crests the horizon over the Empire of Fairhaven. It first peaks over the mountains to the west, spying on the city of Restov. The Swordlords in training already up and training to become the next greates duelist in the Golarian. It touches next the Stolen Lands, the home of the seat of the empire. Though the sun is bright and brilliant, there a dark shadow cast over the castle there where the Empress and her family slowly rouse from their slumber. It falls next on the Forest of a Thousand Screams, the strongest connection to the feywilde and the material plane, where fey and all the races of Golarion mingle and dash back and forth between the worlds as easy as walking down the street to find your favorite baker. The sun does not pierce the thick canopy, though, for an unnatural darkness holds back the warming rays of the sun. Something stirs under the canopy and fey of all shapes and sizes flee... Our heroes, who don’t know they’re heroes yet, awake from their slumber, whether in a warm bed in an inn or on the street only fate knows, in the town of Rosewood. It’s a small village near the edge of the Forest of a Thousand Screams. The village has grown recently with the increase of trade between the Empire’s capital and the denizens of the Feywilde. The villagers of the sleepy village are already up and moving about the village to prepare for the day’s festivities. Children run and play in the dirt streets, while parents move to open games, roadside vendors, or take platters of food to the center square for the feast at the end of the day. Empire Day is here at last! The day will be filled with food, laughter, games, shopping, music, and plays, culminating in a speech from the mayor and a large feast that everyone in the sleepy village is welcomed to attend. After the feat there will be a display of fireworks.
Yup! This is the place! Here is the character sheet you can copy and paste into your alias so that you can fill it out! Character Name:
Proficiency Bonus: AC: Initiative: Speed: HP: Hit Die: Ability Scores: Str: () Dex: () Con: () Int: () Wis: () Cha: () Saving Throws: Str: Dex: Con: Int: Wis: Cha: Skills: Other Proficiencies and Languages: Weapons and Attacks: Features and Traits: Equipment: Spellscasting:
Spells: Character Description: Character Background: Also, if you want to jazz it up a little to make it easier to read or look nicer, at the bottom of the comment box there is a little blurb that says, "How to format your text Show". If you click on the word Show then it'll show you the code to make your text do fancy things like BOLD or italics!
Come one! Come All! To the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of the River Kingdoms under the banner of Fairhaven! Festivities include: arm wrestling, the trebuchet, pie eating contest, ring-a-bell, and more! Czarina Talia Khavortorov and Czar Naralesh Khavortorov cordially invite you to join in the festivities marking the creation of our great empire and fifty years of peace! These fliers litter the streets of Rosewood, a small village in the heart of the empire just east of the great city of Pitax and the fey-filled Woods of a Thousand Screams. A delightful even held each year throughout the empire and where our unlikely heroes find themselves at the start. Character Creation:
I'd really rather not deal with a ton of homebrew stuff, but if it doesn't seem broken and we can make it fit in the world then I'll green-light it. Down bellow you'll find a couple of home-brew races, weapons, and a feat. Feel free to choose these when making a character. They tie a little more in with the world the game is set in. Just click on each of the litle gray tabs and they'll be visible. Homebrew Races:
Varasian (Variant Human): These nomadic people have been touched by old magic. So much so that tattoos manifest themselves on their bodies at birth. These tattoos grow alongside the wearer and are etchings of arcane writing long lost to the sands of time, but once fully grown, can give a varasian simple magics to use in their daily lives.
When making a Varasian you gain the following benefits:
Half-Fey: Since the joining of Narryssa's Kingdom and the Empire of Fairhaven, many fey and other races have interacted more. Some of these relationships have gave fruit to children. Half-fey, or Fey-touched, are the offspring of such unions. They reach maturity at the same rate as humans, but then age much slower because of their fey ancestry, giving them the same life-span as elves. Many half-fey have little physical characteristics that show their fey ancestry such as: golden eyes, unusually pale and flawless skin, slight rams-horns, and, in extreme cases, cloven hooves for feet. When making a Fey-Touched you gain the following benefits:
Weapons:
[/b][/i]Martial Melee: [/i][/b]Aldori Dueling Sword: 1d8 slashing: versatile (1d10), finesse Martial Ranged Pistol 2d4 bludgeoning and piercing: 60ft(500ft), loading Musket 2d6 bludgeoning and piercing: 120ft(1000ft), loading Feat:
Aldori Dueling Mastery When wielding an Aldori Dueling Sword in one hand with nothing in your right hand, including a shield, you gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC When wielding an Aldori Dueling Sword you gain advantage on attacks of opportunity When a creature makes a melee attack against you and misses, you can use your reaction to counter attack immediately. So yeah! The easiest way to go about making your character is to create a separate alias for him/her under your account here then copy and paste the coded character sheet I'll email you into it and fill it out. You make a new alias by clicking my account at the top of the page, clicking Create New Alias in the Alias section of your account, then name the alias whatever your character's name will be and give it a picture. Once the alias is made then you can create a profile under it which is where you will store your character sheet. Once everyone has a character made we'll get started. If you have any questions post them here or message them to me and I'll respond as soon as I can! |
