Table filled! Here are the six:
Jidai Oyuki
ShadowKhan
Mari Clock
Gerald
Twigs
PJP
Be thinking about who you want to bring; pregens are fine as well. I'll make a thread when the time comes.
Search Posts
So I could run a Consortium Compact game within a few days of it hitting shelves, but there would be a few caveats. One, it'll probably be put on hold during the week or so around Christmas-- most of my time gets spoken for around then. Two, the plan is that I'll be taking a week-long business trip to New York during December as well (though it might get pushed off to January), so I can't guarantee updates during that time. The first six people who are ok with that can play. Given my other time commitments, I'd like to stick to one table for now.
Hm. Lemme look into it, I might run it if I get the PDF.
Ok here's a Chronicle sheet for Shoris too. That should care of everybody, PM me if there are any issues (I'll leave the thread active for a few more days).
The venture-captain nods. "Can't say I'm surprised, Zamir does like his own skin. He'll do whatever it takes to be famous, but he wants it in his own lifetime. As for the Thakur's men, I'll make sure the message is relayed. He often says I'm quite a thorn in his side, and I'm sure he'd like nothing but for the entire Society presence to leave Jalmeray. That being the case, I'm impressed that his men gave you such leeway. "Well I would've preferred you had brought Zamir with you, but you did accomplish two important goals. One, you've stopped his operations for now. It'll take him awhile to gather enough men to become a problem again. Two, you've proven that he can be baited, and that the wayfinder was effective. That information will be useful the next time he turns up." Venture-captain Mihir gives a single nod, his closest approximation to a compliment. "Dismissed."
Arngrim turns his bow against the tiger. An arrow flies straight toward the beast's right eye, but it jerks its head at the last moment and takes only a cut to one ear instead. Taklinn is still unable to land a blow on the big cat. Shoris's eagle continues clawing at the tiger before winking out of existence.
With a final roar of pain, the big cat hits the floor and loses consciousness.
Anyone who rushes into the next room after Zamir finds a nicely decorated and comfortably furnished area, unlike the rest of the complex. A large tapestry depicting a battle of a dozen dervishes in a bright yellow sandy desert adds color to the room. The air is scented with cinnamon, and trophy heads and animal skins decorate the walls and floor. To the south is a tunnel opening, which has collapsed; Zamir is nowhere to be seen. Strangely, the tunnel is blocked not by fallen rock but by large chunks of semi-hardened clay that seem to have fallen from the tunnel ceiling above. Spellcraft DC 17:
You recognize the effects of a soften earth and stone spell. Through gaps in the clay you can feel air flowing, suggesting that the other end of the tunnel opens to the outside and that, by the time you could clear it away enough to pursue Zamir, he'd be long gone. A search of the office reveals a keyring that can easily be used to unlock the slaves' collars. Also in the office are a few components that the slaves tell you are disassembled pieces of the Pharaoh's Crook of Order, a magical morningstar. With this weapon and a few former captives, but no Zamir, you head back to Venture-Captain Mihir. -------------------- "Well?" the venture-captain demands, without so much as a hello. "Did you find him?"
Lol thanks. B.S. in computer science, I've already got a job lined up with a friend of Taklinn's and mine. Start a week from Monday.
Shoris begins casting another summoning spell. Ashara and Tusk both hit with their attacks. -------------------- On command and clearly well-trained, the tiger lunges forward at the dwarf. However, when Ashara lands a crossbow bolt in Zamir's side, Jumra switches targets and goes after her.
Meanwhile, Zamir flicks the scepter a second time. "Why isn't it working? Ugh, I'll deal with it later." He speaks a short chant, and his other hand is engulfed in flame. He makes a throwing motion, and a ball of fire flies through the air at Tusk. Spellcraft DC 16:
Produce flame --------------------
He glances at the scepter, still pointing it like a weapon. "You're wrong. My wizard slaves in the next room, they appraised it themselves. It's real. Jumra, attack!" With that, he flicks the rod like a wand at Arngrim. Initiatives:
--------------------
Before Taklinn can reach the door, it opens. A man who can only be Zamir walks out, wearing fine but well-worn clothes and pointing the fake scepter at each of you in turn. "Stay back. I WILL use this if I have to. I can only assume you've killed all my men, so now I'll have to start all over." At his side is a large tiger, well-groomed and formidable.
The man glances at the others. "Zamir's quarters are behind the statue in the next room. He's probably waiting for you." Aside from the six-armed statue, the next room contains only weapon racks along the northern wall. On the racks are various nonmagical quarterstaffs, nunchaku, siangams, sai-- the same weapons the statue is holding. Behind the statue is a single door.
"Zamir warned us you would come," the woman says. "He said someday people would come and kill all his guards, and take us away to be tortured. We have to be loyal to him. Only Zamir." "Only Zamir," two of the others agree. "When... when you say free us," the fourth one asks tentatively, stopping his work and meeting Ashara's gaze, "what does that... mean, exactly?"
Between Arngrim's sword and the eagle's talons, the man goes down in a bloody heap.
On the body of the man, aside from mundane clothing clearly designed for movement, you find a single potion. His fearsome-looking tiger's mask, while nonmagical, can also be removed.
Spellcraft DC 11:
The humans chained to the benches continue their work throughout the bloodshed. Though they act like nothing is any different, you can see each of them stealing glances at you every few seconds.
Arngrim shoves his longsword under the other bandit's armor. Shoris finishes his spell, calling forth another celestial eagle which attacks the remaining bandit.
--------------------
"What is it?" calls a voice from one of the cells. Into the hallway appears a man wearing a tiger's head mask. Though the man is unarmed and seemingly unarmored, upon seeing Ashara and the others behind her he dashes forward and swings out with his bare hand.
-------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
Tusk's weapon sounds off in the small room, the noise seemingly amplified by the stone walls all around. Meanwhile, Shoris attempts another spell. -------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
GM:
The man's initially hostile demeanor softens somewhat, but he doesn't move. "Hmph. You're probably the reason for all the yelling and clattering around outside, aren't you. Well, we got our orders. Nobody's s'posed to be down here while they're working." He indicates the people behind him, chained to the benches, who say nothing and barely glance up as they continue what appears to be disassembling items on the table. -Posted with Wayfinder
Taklinn takes the northwestern stairs, and the others follow. Rather than descending into darkness, the light level actually brightens as you descend, the way lit by torches along the wall and in the room below. The bottom of the stairs opens into a large basement area that is set up as a workshop. On either side is a corridor along which are doors that lead into small holding cells. In the main basement area, four workbenches are covered with odd tools. Three men and one woman work at the benches, each chained in place by a heavy iron collar. Two bandits oversee their work, who turn as the dwarf comes lumbering down. "Who are you? You can't be down here, get out."
The bodies of these bandits are equipped with the same provisions as the ones who attacked earlier-- leather armor, a composite shortbow and quiver of arrows, a handaxe, and nothing else of value.
Tusk reloads and moves closer. Menarul shoots again.
With a cry of shock, the man falls from the wall as an arrow lands with a thud in his chest. Shoris's eagle, making the most of its last moments, tears out the last bandit's eyes and has just enough time to see the man fall bleeding to the ground before vanishing.
Tusk aims his weapon, careful not to hit his allies, but he can't get a clear shot and misses. Menarul tries again to fire at the other bandit up on the wall.
Shoris moves in and his eagle dives down at the other bandit, but it too misses its mark. -------------------- The bandit on the far wall, seeing a new and potentially easier target, lines up his next arrow at Arngrim.
The other one on the ground steps out from between beard and feathers, and swipes at the dwarf again.
-------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
Red bandit: -8
Tusk, gun loaded, makes his way through the gap in the wall. Menarul does the same but heads in the other direction, trying to line up a shot against the bandit from around the corner.
Shoris finishes casting his spell, and an otherworldly eagle swoops down and claws at the bandit's face. Screaming in pain, the man falls off the wall and lands with a hard thud on the ground below. As Taklinn rounds the corner and meets the bandit face-to-face, he sees that between the two doorways on opposite sides of the tower is a single open area. Statues ring the central open area, each depicting a tiger-headed man in a martial-arts stance. Behind the statues are four sets of stairs; the stairs to the north descend into darkness, and the stairs to the south once led upward but have collapsed in a heap. Arngrim isn't having much luck with those arrows... Ashara holds and waits for the enemies to react. -------------------- The other bandit on the wall finally shakes off Ashara's magic. He steps out, sees Menarul inside the walls, and fires.
The bandit on the ground drops his bow, draws a small handaxe, and swings at Taklinn.
The blow, like so many others before it, glances off the dwarf's armor. -------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
Red bandit: -8
Tusk fires his weapon, but it goes wide. Menarul moves forward and fires at the bandit again.
Shoris heals his wounds with a not-too-effective potion. Taklinn continues his charge forward. Arngrim shoots an arrow as well, but it misses the mark. Ashara casts a spell against the nearer of the two bandits.
As soon as Taklinn runs through the gap in the crumbling wall, the bandit that had succumbed to Shoris's grease spell and had been waiting for the first person to breach the wall fires.
Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
Red bandit:
Tusk moves forward again and lands a bullet on one of the bandits (yellow). Menarul shoots from a distance, but misses. Shoris runs as fast as he can toward the monastery to get within range. Taklinn does the same, though his short dwarven legs don't take him as far... Arngrim moves forward and actually manages to hit the bandit that landed an arrow in his shoulder. Ashara casts guidance, then waits to see what the enemies do. -------------------- "Nine hells, there's more of 'em!" The bandits position themselves on the front wall, facing the intruders. In the interest of preserving their base of operations, the bandits on the walls fire at the closest target: Shoris.
As luck would have it, two of them miss completely and one glances off the shimmering magical barrier protecting his torso. -------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
Red bandit:
Ashara delays to see how things will turn out.
--------------------
Both bandits now realize the dwarf in the bushes is not alone. "INTRUDERS!" the uninjured guard yells, seeing his ally hit by an arrow. "INTRUDERS FROM THE NORTH!" Both now train their bows on the new, more definite target.
The bandits' shorter bows have difficulty reaching as far as Arngrim's longer counterpart, but one of them finds him anyway. As soon as the the one guard yells for backup, the other two run to join their allies on the north wall. -------------------- Initiative order (BOLD is up!):
GM rolls:
Tusk accidentally steps on a few twigs as he draws his gun and moves forward. However, due to a combination of factors such as the distance, cover of darkness, and the odd fact that they don't appear to be much concerned with keeping watch to the north, the guards on the wall don't notice.
As you watch the wall and wait for nightfall, you notice that when the sun starts to set they light torches on top of the wall. There's a brief pause during the changing of the guard at sunset, but it doesn't last long. Fortunately for you, no other bandits return from your direction to the structure that evening.
Tusk: From this side you don't see any openings in the wall. There are low parapets on each corner, but no holes.
Arngrim: It's hard to tell from your direction, but two of the men on the walls seem to be staying on the near side of the wall while the other two stay on the far side-- indicative of some type of gap in the two side-facing walls.
Arngrim: You watch the walls of the ruined structure for several minutes, and notice a few men making rounds on top of them. You spend long enough studying to conclude that there are four of them, and you notice that not only do they appear not to have noticed you, none of them give more than a cursory glance in your direction as they pass. GM:
Menarul opens the fake wayfinder at his belt and holds it flat. Strangely, though the bandit you captured had said Zamir's camp is due north of where you are, the wayfinder is pointing north by northwest. As you follow it, you come upon a small trail leading into the woods. Though the wayfinder is currently pointing right down the trail, you find not the slightest clue that any humans have been here lately. Survival DC 10:
You're following a game trail that, if not for the wayfinder, you're unlikely to have considered noteworthy. You guess based on how long you waited that the other bandits are about half a day's travel ahead of you. After the first day, the wayfinder needle starts turning more and more drastically to the left. Ahead of you, the game trail you're following starts to slowly curve in a similar direction. At the end of the second day, through the trees you can see the ruins of a stone structure. Bushes and debris litter the hillside with the remains of the structure's outer walls, reaching about fifteen feet up. The shattered stone remains of a taller building are visible inside the walls. (There's enough foliage between you and the structure that you're fairly sure no one on the walls would be able to see you yet.) Survival DC 15 (separate check): You get the distinct impression that if you'd followed the bandit's directions, you'd have come to the same place from the opposite side.
You spend the rest of the night and into the morning sleeping after a somewhat grueling night. By the time you wake up, flies have started to gather on the bodies of the slain bandits.
That's cool, we'll give you a few days to get readjusted. I think as long as you play most of a module you can still get credit, so as long as you're back in time for the last encounter that's fine with me. Congrats on the new job!
"I know he keeps men on top of the walls. How many I can't be sure. The band is a few dozen or so, but they're rarely all there at the same time. They don't rig the place, but Zamir's tiger is pretty nasty." With the help of two of Phalgun's men, the man gets up and leaves with them down the path leading back south.
Phalgun shrugs. "Maybe you get Zamir out of commission, maybe this guy was just following orders. A few years in jail and he's out." The man's condition noticeably improves at the notion of being able to go back to the city and keep his head. He pushes himself off of the tree trunk, sitting upright. "Zamir's camp is in an abandoned monastery that way," he says, pointing north into the trees. "Go straight that direction for about two days and you can't miss it."
Yea I tried to make it ambiguous as to whether they were friend or foe at first, but also make it clear that they weren't being actually hostile.
The man shakes his head. "If Zamir sees it's me what leads you to him... Jumra'd eat me alive." He considers for a moment, then looks at Phalgun. "If... if I tell you, would you help me back into the city? Only... I can't go now, because Zamir told us... all about what they do to criminals there... But I know you work for the Thakur. I recognize you... I help you, you help me?" Phalgun grunts. "It's them who'll decide that," he says, gesturing to the group. "This is their show now." He turns to Ashara. "This plan of yours is a good one. On your word you'll tell Mihir not to go behind our backs in the future, we'll let you work this one out on your own. Can't be seen finding Zamir and not taking him back ourselves, of course, so we'll go back to the city and leave you to it."
Lol yea I'm a math minor so I can help.
Hey you know what happens when you expect, you make an EXP out of... Wait, that's not it.
|