"The Riddleport thing? Yer askin lotsa questions aintcha, ya buddin rose?" Barid says, shuffling up. "Stopped by Alizna's place forenoon that day, heard it straight from her. She's another elder," another touch of the chest, right where the heart beats, "an I trust er wellen'ough to know she ain't talkin smoke from afire." He deals again, incapable of accepting a loss on such terms.
"Another wager," says Runa, reaching a shaky hand across the table. "You win, you can tell me about your grandson's new friend, I mean his little friend with the rose in her hair. I win, you bring me three mugs of what passes for beer round these parts."
”Dang nab it!” Barid throws his last remaining card face up on the table, obviously disgusted.
”Serves you right,” Runa says coldly.
Barid fumes on his pipe for a few long moments, wondering how someone so green could get the better of him so suddenly. ”Bright little flower, ain’tcha.” More fuming. ”It’s like this. Carroty bastard sweeps into town with a little ring and some scrap a paper as says we owe him heaps o gold. Goes round with that mace like some kinda thug, and I never saw hide nor hair a Magnimar round these parts in a long time.” The old man collects the cards slowly while he talks, neatly stacking them back into the deck with a deft hand. ”So I seen him talk to Mayor Kriegler. We’re neighbors ya see,” he says with a proud stroke of his chest, ”an I got a good view of the Kriegler manor up on the hill. I seen that stranger feller go inside the Kriegler place after noon, but I ain’t seen him come out. Not that afternoon, not the next morning neither, and I’m an early riser.”
”Early riser with cloudy eyes and a rich imagining,” clarifies Runa.
”Not true neither! I’ve got the eyes of a cat, always have, and they ain’t one whit duller than when I was a boy.”
Ingirt leans to one side in order to catch a glimpse of Ydalia around Nina's imposing figure. She quickly leans back, perhaps she didn't enjoy the view. "I've heard," Ingrit says with a flash of stained teeth. She sips gritty liquid from her mug. "Well, why're you come a knocking at our door this time'a day?"
-----------------
Nuzri wrote:
Unfetter has a 30 minute duration. So, Nzuri will play long enough to push to the edge of that time before making it back within range by time end.
That should be around the time the rest of the party gets done at Esmerelda's place
"No no no, ya half-brained hog," Barid scolds indignantly. "That ain't the trump suit, so it's about as much use as tryna haul stone with a straw." After explaining the rules once more, now certain that Nzuri understands, Barid proposes a little wager, a clever glint in one eye. "Ifn you win this hand, I'll tell ya all I know about that red feller. I win, you clean out every one'a my stirge cages." For some reason, Runa decides to smack Barid on the arm and glare at him like he's done something wrong.
"Now who could that be?" answers a voice from within. A few moments later and a petite woman with braided hair answers the door. "Well I'll be, there are strangers after all! Come for the festivities did ya?" True to Viorec's description, she holds a mug filled with a thick liquid that smells of yeast. Disappointed that you're not friends come to enjoy pre-festivity festivities, she looks you over curtly before introducing herself as Ingirt, Esmerelda's wife.
--------------
Nzuri wrote:
"My friends and I are looking for a guy that passed through town several weeks back. Is he still here?"
"Depends," replies the elderly woman, who has by now introduced herself as Runa, "Any clue where he mighta come from?" She looks at Barid, who chuckles. When asked further, Barid and Runa confirm that they saw Elias around a month ago.
"He must've stayed with the Mayor," Runa says, looking down her nose at a handful of cards. "Visitors always stay with him. They always pass on afterwards, too. Our Mayor is a nice man like that, always helping people find wherever their final place is. Riddleport it was this time, I heard."
You are definitely 100 ft apart. The houses on the map are spaced far enough apart that each villager can just about see their neighbor's yard, but not much farther.
While Nzuri continues his exploration of the mundane, the rest of the party heads to the Southern extremity of the village, having gotten directions from Viorec before leaving. High above you, the noonday sun reaches it's zenith, pouring fire onto sodden fields and flushed villagers alike. You again walk by the stretch of farmland near the entrance to town. There are only two farmers out tending to their crops now, the rest having gone inside to escape the heat and prepare for the Founder's Festival.
Esmerelda's place is decidedly not a tavern. The ramshackle building is made from dark river-rock and darker timber, and is no bigger than Viorec's house. A maple tree looms just beside the house, it's writhing boughs spread in a wide crown, beneath whose murk leans a small shed with peeling paint. The enticing smell of baking bread wafts from within.
"Boo-ray? Younger than you look eh?" Asks the older man, stroking a short beard with just a little black hair left. "You take tricks. This here's a trick," he says, picking up a stack of cards in the middle of the table. "We all go round playin one at a time, and whoever plays the highst takes the trick." The man, who introduces himself as Barid, goes on to explain the intricacies of the game, punctuated by grumbles about Nzuri's strange lack of basic knowledge about the world.
The woman says nothing, looking at Nzuri like he was born yesterday, except that if he was born yesterday he would probably know what being born is like. "Same as anyone else," says the man, breathing smoke over the card table. It hangs in the air, catching rays of alabaster light.
--------------------------
Having conversed with Viorec for some time, he eventually asks you politely to leave his house so he can get his kids ready for the upcoming Founder's Feast.
"You're welcome to stay the night," Viorec says in response to Ydalia, eyeing her cold wracked skin, "but we only got space for one in here." His house is indeed fairly small, and it would be a serious imposition for four adventurers to be laying back to belly on his dirt floor come dawn.
---------------
"Nice folk. Been here for generations." The woman who speaks peers closely at her cards. "Longer than me, and I'm old as dirt."
"One of the two families runnin the Founder's Feast this month," says a gruff old man who smokes a wooden pipe stained yellow from long use.
Viorec's house is small and disordered, but functional
"Magnolia, I got some visitors coming in," Viorec says as you enter his house.
A short haired woman with capable hands and a warm smile waves a quick greeting at you. "Ain't they just rays of sunshine?" she asks, before ushering two young children, perhaps three and five, into another room. Viorec fetches his bread and water for you. His front room has a stern wooden chair in one corner where he must whittle, judging by the piled wood shavings. A scythe with a broken handle rests nearby, it's curved blade freshly sharpened. Most of the chairs at his table are child sized, so he himself stands beside a small bathtub full of clean water.
Ydalia wrote:
GM Woe wrote:
Nina wrote:
"You say you heard he might have skipped town...who told you that?"
”Well shoot, mighta been…I think I heard it first at Alizna’s place. She’s the town weaver, you woulda passed her on your way in. Don’t she make nice threads?”
"I don't recall passing by Alizna... And maybe we should go pay her a visit. Maybe she knows more about Skendar."
"She's a wise and well seasoned lady. Got a picture of a loom outside her house? It's the first big one you pass coming into town." Viorec looks like he wants to go clean up a few corn-husk dolls his kids left laying on the floor, but decides against it.
Dal wrote:
GM Woe wrote:
Dal wrote:
"We came in by the rope-ferry thing. Are there any normal ways to leave other than that way?"
”That’a’way’s where most travelers come from. We don’t get so many as we used to though. He coulda left the other way though, circled around and crossed the river somewhere else. There’s no other towns nearby, but there’s other towns if you’re willing to walk.”
"Uhm, yes. Are there any other crossings out of town? And, if so where are they? It is my understanding that this town is surrounded by water."
"The Lampblack's on one side, and a little creek on the other that feeds it." Viorec folds his hands behind his back. Although he's welcomed you into his home, he still clearly views this as a formal conversation. "You can cross the creek though, and there's a plenty of land easy enough to cross if you're headed North or East. Most folks ain't, though."
Nina wrote:
"”Be assured, your village will only pay the tax owed by law, no more or less. If this Kriegler can show proof that the payment was made, you’ll not pay a copper more....Tell me, is there a tavern or alehouse around here? The man we seek was known to be fond of drink. Perhaps a heavy purse tempted him beyond his limits?”
"Kriegler will have your proof. I put my trust in that man, and so can you." Viorec considers what might count as a tavern. "Esmerelda's a fine brewer. Her'n'r wife've got no kids, and lotsa folks like to visit them every now and a when, when it's time for a hiatus. Not that children aren't a blessing, I love my five." Viorec touches his chest, just where his heart must beat. "Nice view a the stars over there." He smiles, unsure if this is helpful information. "Now Kriegler does like his liquor on occasion, and that strange feller woulda spent mosta the day over there talkin taxes. But I'll be a squirmin stirge's pet hog if Kriegler woulda given drink to a drunk."
”Is it safe to assume, then, that the taxes were indeed collected, and that he left town with the money?”
”Yessir, and there’s no earthly reason we ought ta pay twice. ‘Specially when we ain’t seen hide nor hair of any official folk round here in a long time, and the one guy they do send ain’t even come back where he’s supposed to be.” There is a hard edge to Viorec‘s voice, a determination in his unwavering gaze. ”Ah well,” he says, sighing, ”if that’s why you came, you oughtta talk to Andretti Kriegler. He handles the government stuff around here.”
Nina wrote:
"You say you heard he might have skipped town...who told you that?"
”Well shoot, mighta been…” Viorec kicks his foot and mutters to himself for a second, trying to remember. ”I think I heard it first at Alizna’s place. She’s the town weaver, you woulda passed her on your way in.” He pinches the blue collar of his shirt and tugs it upwards. ”Don’t she make nice threads?” He smiles, happy to have a chance to show off his festival clothes.
Dal wrote:
"We came in by the rope-ferry thing. Are there any normal ways to leave other than that way?"
”That’a’way’s where most travelers come from. We don’t get so many as we used to though.” From Viorec’s yard, you can see the Lampblack river’s swollen current down below, strong enough to foil most travelers. ”He coulda left the other way though, circled around and crossed the river somewhere else. There’s no other towns nearby, but there’s other towns if you’re willing to walk.”
Having stood and talked to you for a short time now, and seen that you’re not violent criminals who would rob him without a moment’s remorse, Viorec invites you inside for a mug of water and a ‘mite a bread.’
Pretty soon after Nzuri sits down, another elder arrives to play. "How 'bout a little boo-ray?" One asks, ready to explain the rules. Rather than fixating on the newcomer, they chatter to one another about the upcoming Founder's Festival, which will be hosted on the fairgrounds later today. "The Lepuscus've been out pitchin tents all morning. Ought to be ready soon."
"Few more hours yet Jerima."
----------------
"It's a good thing you got other ways of doin things. Sometimes a little magic can go a long way. Name's Viorec, by the way." He scratches his head. "We did have a funny lookin readhead come through town a while back. You folks want to know what I think?" Viorec looks over his shoulder and then leans in close.
"I heard he mighta skipped town with the tax money and gone to Riddleport."
You got him all the way to Helpful by sparing Applesauce into a decent Diplo roll, good work
Nzuri takes a moment to investigate the right side of the town center while the others follow Ornigaard. Past a nondescript house is a large building with an overhanging front roof that provides shade to a few benches of dark wood. A pair of long toothed elders look up from a game of cards and smile at Nzuri. "Care to play with us?" They ask. A sign hanging in front of the door reads Physic. You don't have time to take them up on this offer, however, if you want to stay with the others. Building D
-------------------
From Ornigaard's front yard, you can still see the steeple of the ruined church. You had to walk by it to get here, giving you a view of the yoke where a bell once sat, though the bell itself has long been scavenged for scrap iron. Shortly after Ornigaard enters his house, a handsome man with a well groomed beard and a collared blue shirt emerges to speak to you.
"Heard you had a meeting with Applesauce," he says, waving a greeting. "I'm sure glad no one got hurt. Stirges can be a little unsettling for new folks in town." He takes you in warily, eyeing Nina's imposing armor. He does not invite you inside.
Leaving Skendar behind, you follow after Ornigaard and Applesauce, who head straight for the heart of town. You are flanked on either side by fields of crops, golden barley on your left, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and sundry mixed vegetables, ending in row after row of unripe berry bushes. Here and there you can see people weeding or sewing fresh seed. Most wear clothing spun from natural fibers, tan or light brown in color, and many are stained by the damp earth they work in. One man stands up to look at you, wiping sweat from his ruddy brow.
"Strange folk, and well armed."
"Wonder what they want with us."
"Look at his arm."
The path leads you through two buildings, one roofed by thatch and walled with wattle and daub, the other made with rough-hewn cypress boards. An old woman emerges from this one-story building, which has a sign with a picture of a loom, and empties a wastebasket over the side of her porch. She folds her arms and examines you closely. Building C
The path opens up into a wide, round expanse surrounded on all sides by buildings. On your right, a group of people repair an old thatch roof damaged by the recent rains. To your left, a steeple rises high and lonely above the crumbling ruins of an old church long neglected. Building F
Although this was meant for Nina, Ornigaard, glances up at the witch momentarily. He quickly looks back at his feet, which make a flapping sound when they slap the ground.
-----------------
"Supply n demmand, yesm." Skendar remarks, pocketing Nzuri's gold with a smile. He retrieves a bucket from the shed and shoves it towards Nina. "You bail, I'll pull." His meaning becomes clear enough once you are on the water, as Skendar's creaking barge immediately begins to fill with dirty water. His leathery arms tug fast enough at the rope that stretches across the river, and you're in no danger of sinking by the time you reach the far side. "Lucky you don't have a horse. Those're one gold apiece."
Nina wrote:
Did we ever get a physical description of Elias Kyles besides his name, profession and the items he was carrying?
Nope. We can retcon and say that you asked. He is a short Ulfen man with a shock of red hair and a flat nose that's been broken one too many times.
"Officul business? I seen a feller like that, round about a month ago." Skendar sits on the edge of the barge once he hauls you across, resting his hands on his knees while you disembark. "He paid the fare just like you, but he never left this way. Only seen him the one day. Mebey the wolf in the water caught him, sometimes I seen it prowling the shores or the fens on mooney nights." While you talk to Skendar, Ornigaard and Applesauce quickly run off and away into Ravenmoor.
Nina:
You don't get the sense that he's lying about anything.
”Price’s higher here ‘naccount of the wolfie. Don’t like the price, don’t cross.” It occurs to you that Skender’s barge must be the only way into or out of Ravenmoor from this direction.
Since the child has been brought up to distrust strangers, his starting attitude is unfriendly (DC 20 to improve), so you're a bit short. Folks in town may be more amenable
Continuing onward, you soon reach the edge of the Lampblack river. The small child continues to clutch Applesauce close to his chest, and avoids talking to you. "Ornigaard?! Mebye ye run off too, like yer little stirge," calls a high, nasal voice from the shed on the near side of the river. A moment later and a crook backed, thin haired man comes hobbling out. "Sucking leaches boy! You found a whole lot more'n Applesauce out in them bushes." The small boy, Ornigaard, merely nods in answer.
"Well, my name's Skender, and since I reckon you'll be lookin to cross this here river, it'll be one silver apiece for my services." Despite what Jeminda Anikee might think, Skender is not likely to tally Dal and Nzuri once on a headcount. Two ropes stretch across the river, and the only way to cross must be to pull them while standing in the barge. "Ye can try your luck swimming, if you don't mind being got by the wolf in the water." Skender points to a twisted and gigantic skull nailed to a wall on the inside of the shack. "Eats little boys guts, don't it?" Skender addresses Ornigaard, who, you realize after a moment, is standing so he doesn't have to look at the skull.
"Don't it eat little boy's guts, Ornigaard?" Skender steps toward the child, his mouth hanging open to reveal yellow and crooked teeth.
Knowledge Nature DC 15:
The skull on the inside of the shack did not come from any 'wolf in the water.' It is a deformed ox skull.
”Applesauce? C’mon boy, wake up!” After a shake, the stirge does. The small child gasps with relief and then clutches it close to his breast. Applesauce nuzzles his neck disturbingly with its needle of a proboscus, then attaches itself to him. It does not appear to be drinking his blood.
After a few more moments, the boy mumbles something about needing to get home so he can put Applesauce in its cage. ”Everyone has pet stirges,” he says, confused that Nzuri would suggest otherwise. ”Wasn’t my fault he flied away.” When you repeat your questions, he looks up at you fearfully. ”You should talk to my pa,” he says finally, a little tremble in his voice, ”he knows everything.” Clearly, this child, and perhaps the whole of this backwoods village, are a little more than indifferent to strangers. Still, things could have gone much worse for you, had you injured or killed the little boy’s pet stirge.
The boy picks up Applesauce and begins walking back towards Ravenmoor. Two ramshackle huts flank the Lamblack river up ahead, sheds to house a flat bottomed ferry used to cross the black water.
The small child ignores both Nina’s scolding and Nzuri’s question, dropping to his knees to cradle the unconscious Applesauce. ”Is he…dead?” He looks up at you with wide, misty eyes.
Nzuri can keep the diplomacy check and the boy will respond if you can assuage his worst fears
I definitely forgot about misfortune by the time I got to posting, thanks for the reminder
Combat Dice:
Will:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18
Will:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
Nina's bone shattering sap doesn't quite connect. The stirge makes another lunge at Ydalia, then falls to the ground, fast asleep. A moment later and a ragged boy of perhaps eight bursts from the grass. "No! Don't hurt him! He's just a-scairt!" He cries in dismay, rushing towards the fallen stirge. He scoops up his fallen pet and pulls it away from Nina's drawn weapon. The boy has a shaggy mop of black hair, wears rough homespun clothing, and has thick cakes of mud on his hands and bare feet.
A chittering thing with a tangle of thin legs and a needle sharp proboscis rustles forth from the grass on the right side of the road, leathery bat wings straining as it flies towards Ydalia. Those of you with arcane training quickly recognize it as a stirge, a grotesquely enlarged mosquito common in swamplands, stirges are more mammal than insect, and are known to prey on livestock and anything else that bleeds.
Attack:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
Though the stirge attempts to attach itself to Ydalia, it can’t quite get a grip on her jugular.
The stirge provokes an AoO from Ydalia as it enters her space. Everyone is up.
"Aaaaaaaaplesauce! Here boy! Cm'ere!" As you move towards Ravenmoor, you hear the sound of a small boy calling out from the man high grass growing to either side of the path. Up ahead, the Lampblack river is momentarily out of sight.
Combat Dice:
Initiative Ydalia:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Initiative Valdear:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Initiative Nina:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Initiative Dal:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18
????:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
????:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
Perception DC 15:
You hear a soft rustling in the grass to the right side of the path
No map needed for this, but you are in initiative so please stick to one round (6 seconds) worth of actions. Everyone is up.
Are at least two players ready to enter Ravenmoor? Your lasts posts don’t clearly state that you’re walking into Ravenmoor, and although your intentions seem clear (and you don’t have a lot of options), I would like to get you in the habit of posting actions
”I’ve put my faith in Elias often enough. He’s disappointed me before, but not for a long time. If you get him back, I won’t let him disappoint me again.” She chews a little at some sausage. ”But I can’t stomach the idea that I sent him out only for him to abscond, or worse.”
If you want to continue this conversation, or take a last opportunity to do something before you leave Magnimar, feel free. However, since Dal and Nina have expressed a desire to follow in Elias’s footsteps, I’m gonna push
Having come clean, and hired a group of capable adventurers, Jeminda Anikee soon bids you farewell. You leave her apartment and return to your own quarters, where you pass another night in the City of Secrets.
A rosy dawn breaks on the day you commence your adventure, the sun soon rising bright amid the blue crystal of the sky. This is a merry summer land, where you might sup on oysters plucked fresh from salt foam, and where the chief danger is sunburn. Your way follows the Lost Coast road, along which traders and travelers meet beside the sea’s flood, exchanging greetings and promising one another drinks at the many bustling inns that dot the road to Sandpoint. There you find little news of Elias Kyle, who failed to make an impression on the locals.
Now your path turns east towards Galduria. For three days a drizzle turns the sky to lead and casts the world in glum shades of grey and shadow. Here and there you pass by farmlands and villages, but they become increasingly isolated by long stretches of deep forest. One night you are obliged to sleep outside. Galduria’s arcane college, the Twilight Academy, has a spire of wrought iron that looms above it’s best inn, the Sucking Stirge. As you negotiate your accommodations, a tempest rises outside, making the Twilight Spire thrum and groan ominously. The locals whisper that at night a red glow can be seen bleeding from one of the Academy's windows. They know nothing of a tax collector. The road north and east is well traveled, though the late rains have turned it to a morass of sticking mud.
Before long, you are obliged to abandon the road in favor of a little used trail that winds through increasingly dreary landscapes of bog and bleak moor. At night, mosquitoes and less pleasant things come alive. Crows circle the only dwelling you come across during your last day of travel, landing to pick at the dried corn spread by a wizened farmer. "Strangers?" he laughs when you ask about Elias. "Fewnough o them round here, and my eyes ain't what they used to be. Crows always finds em, though." He casts a wild glance at his murder, pecking and clawing at one another as they circle him. "Crows always remember, less they get kilt by ravens." Soon enough, you see the ravens, fey things with shadowy feathers and long predatory beaks.
It has been ten days, and you are now nearing the edges of civilization. The bleary village of Ravenmoor slumps across the hill on the far side of the Lampblack river.
Let me know when you're ready to approach the village, and any preparations you make the moment before arriving
”He really was turning over a new leaf. I used to think that marrying my sister was the best thing that ever happened to Elias, but now I think it was when she got sick and…excuse me a moment.” Jeminda crosses the room, sniffling a little while she retrieves a letter from Elias, which she gives to you. It is written in the large, uneven letters of a man with little education. Frustratingly brief, it merely says that he’s made the journey up the Lost Coast road from Sandpoint to the town of Galduria. Elias writes that if the weather holds, he might be back in Magnimar within a week and a half, though the letter is three weeks old now.
”He wouldn’t have been any random stranger. He had the mace and silver serpent signet ring used by any tax collector. That, and I got him a writ ordering the collection with Magnimar’s official seal.” Now that she’s begun to come clean, it is easy for Anikee to admit to the forging of official documents. ”The amount owed was substantial, six hundred and fifty gold, so he would’ve had to find whatever passes for a mayor out there.” She looks up at Nina, realizing that at any moment she could be taken in for questioning. ”Please,” she implores with much unaffected pathos, ” you have to get him back, wherever he is.”
Ydalia Ganae wrote:
... And are you the person paying for our fees directly, as Elias going there was off the books?
”If you can recover the missing taxes, I can absolutely assure you that the exchequer will repay you each with two hundred gold.” Jeminda is unable to say much about the isolated village of Ravenmoor, other than that as of 15 years ago, it had a population of 135 souls, all humans. Once the taxes are recovered, she plans to bring them to her supervisor along with a detailed report of all related documentation.
"The beginning. Right." Ms. Anikee sighs. "His name is Elias Kyle. He was never good enough for my sister, too much strong drink. He would get into fights too." She speaks slowly and deliberately, forcing the words out one after another. "After she died, I helped him get a job as a tax collector. It really seemed like he was turning his life around, but now...I don't know. He left a month ago, and I haven't heard from him in weeks." Her apartment is decorated with a few framed paintings of scenery outside Magnimar, the kinds of things you might find on a high street. There are no images of her family. She has a few smart cabinets that might easily be empty, and no kitchen to speak of. Like many, she must eat mostly food prepared at pubs and taverns across Magnimar, though with a steady paycheck she can likely avoid the mysterious slurries of seafood common closer to the docks.
"I should tell you," she begins again, after a short pause. "I'm an accountant, if we must put things simply, and it's my job to make sure the right taxes have been paid. Ravenmoor hasn't paid one single copper piece in 15 years." She's choosing her words carefully, not looking any of you in the eyes. "After some digging, I figured out that it wasn't their fault, it was because of a clerical error here in Magnimar." Another pause. She takes a sip of wine to fortify her courage. "Instead of going to my supervisor I went to Elias. I thought it would make us both look good if we collected the missing taxes first before reporting the error." Having shared a few secrets, Jeminda feels relieved, and begins to cut herself a few slices of black pudding.
Sense Motive DC 20:
She's worried about her brother in law, but there's a touch of anger when she talks about him. She might not be share everything she thinks about him unless you press her a little.
It's fine to say that you've already healed the damage for now. You shouldn't get into combat tonight, so I don't think it will matter. You will need to roll and account for this damage once you arrive in Ravenmoor.
Jeminda Anikee's residence is perched on the fringes of the Captial district, and proves much more agreeable than the Drunken Dog. The bottle of claret she opens is better than anything on offer in that rank and gloomy place, though she does not offer any further libation once it is exhausted. After choosing the four of you from amid the bustle of adventurers for hire, she has invited you here to discuss the details of the job, not fit to be overheard by any wandering stray with loose lips and looser morals. Her apartment is small but neatly furnished with efficient and impersonal furniture, a blocky table and five matching chairs, an uncomfortable divan and grey ottoman, the kinds of things you don't inherit. Fidgeting with her tablecloth, she offers you a little black pudding and some crusty bread.
"There is one critically important detail you should know before you set off," she says after working up the courage, "the tax collector was my brother in law."
Looking forward to gaming with you. What I plan to do over the next couple of days:
Review and finalize crunch with each of you
PM you a discord invite so we can talk ooc more easily
Start gameplay on Monday morning
Regarding crunch, if you could write out BaB, Saves, and AC with parenthesis explaining where the bonuses are coming from, that would be helpful
Additionally, there seems to be some confusion about fractional bonus progression. With this system, you don’t use the class tables. Instead, you use the formulas those tables are derived from, add things together, and then round down once
For example:
You have level 1 wizard /fighter gestalt, and are a wizard after that. Your fort save is good at first level and bad at level 2/3. Your fort save is 2 + 1/2 + 2(1/3) =3.167, round down to 3
Your BaB is full at 1st level and half at level 2 and 3. Your BaB is 1 + 2(1/2) =2
Please ask if you are still confused
Edit: I will add, if you want to change the details of your build, you can do so until Monday. As long as the primary class levels stay the same, you could change:
Secondary class
Point buy
Feats
Spells
Equipment
Etc
Feel free to do so if you feel it would create a more balanced party. I’m mostly ignoring party balance, so that’s up to you
Nina Vanaas
Dalbrac and Nzuri
Ydalia Ganda
Valdear
Please report to the discussion thread, which I will create momentarily
For the rest, I hope you have some fun times ahead of you, if I open another recruitment either because of attrition or because I’m running a new game, you’re welcome to apply!
Distracted again, Nzuri regards the bartender with a mischievous grin. He reaches into a mostly limp belt pouch at his side and pulls out a gold coin. He holds it up triumphantly and announces, "A round of your cheapest for everyone! Now we all belong!"
"Excellent idea!" Cries someone from the crowd
"Right proper gentleman you are," says someone else. Soon enough the beer is flowing and throngs of elated townsfolk chat noisily about bad catches and strange travelers from the Cinderlands. One thin razor of a man approaches Anikee, with an attentive bow to match his threadbare violet jacket.
"Wouldn't mind if you came more often, milady, bringing fancy adventurers with their coins, the gold kind that match the sparkle of your eyes."
"Oh dear," she says, knocking over a stack of papers. She brought far more than she needed, and as she stoops to gather them, her glasses fall right off her face and onto the floor. One of the lenses pops out.
The lad, who really is only old enough to be drinking, had really been hoping to play with a bear, and quickly demurs before returning to his friends. He is polite enough to decline Helina's offer directly, but feeling now more than a little fearful, he soon leaves the Drunken Dog altogether.
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Ydalia
"You," says a firm voice from behind the counter. You turn to see the bartender, who is missing one of his front teeth. "You gonna buy something? If not, then get out! Crowded enough in here with damn bears and elves." He shakes his head and turns away, muttering something and rubbing the counter with a filthy rag. Apparently his scorn does not extend to Nina, since he does not scold her at all.
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Noya
Please avoid making generalizations about what humans (or elves &c) do and do not find attractive. It doesn't make the world a better place. You have 100% control over your own character's behavior and the way that they present themselves. You can describe NPC reactions when it reads well (especially in a setting like this, where I am providing less of that than I would in game) but you should generally be cautious about doing so because, much like in real life, your character does not actually control other people.
"A thoughtful pace is sometimes best," Anikee says as she accepts the written forms. She chuckles several times while she processes your responses. "You listed him as your beneficiary, that's sweet," she says to Dal. She wonders if, like several of the others, Dal doesn't have anyone to remember his wealth to.
After a few more moments, she thanks the halfling for his time and then moves on to the next applicant.
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Anikee wrote:
"Can I trust you to keep an eye on anyone who becomes a little more than brash? You might need to submit documentation about your coworkers if anything regrettable occurs." She glances at the eight foot barbarian when she says this.
Ydalia wrote:
"Ma'am, your coins were already paying for my discretion. And I surely can be flexible with the terms of my contract, and what's to be in my task list."
Nina wrote:
"I'd be more concerned about preventing regrettable events rather than documenting them, Ms. Anikee. Half this lot seems likely to abscond with the missing tax payment or raze the village to the ground. You'll certainly need someone a bit more disciplined to keep the more...enthusiastic...elements in check."
"Ah!" Anikee starts at the sudden address from Nina. The armiger had stood still as a statue, and no clank of plate armor had betrayed her silent vigil. "Abscond...you know, they say 'if it wasn't documented, it didn't happen.' I wonder if that really does apply to regrettable events..." she looks down at her forms, shuffling them, and then back up at Ydalia. "Think of anything that you need to report as being our little secret, okay?"
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There is now a small crowd gathering around the bear. One young lad starts to play with it, giving it a good natured shove and miming the action of wrestling. "Go on then!" Cries one of his mates, who orders another round of beers for their table.
If I missed a question or forgot to respond to something, let me know!
Jack of All Trades
Noya Olivia Yona Abia - NG Aasimar Bard
Noya has some elven heritage, if you looked closely in the render, you might see her ears are somewhat elven
What's on the slip of parchment she handed to Anikee initially?
"How does, ahem," she raises a finger to point at the barbarian handwriting, struggling slightly to read it, how does fighting promote synergy? I'm not exactly sure it promotes a culture of trust." She scans through the forms again, reading much more slowly then she normally would despite the laconic responses. "You haven't listed a beneficiary in the event of your demise," the woman points out, wondering if Helina is capable of imagining such a fate.
Shortly afterwards, when Fullständigt arrives
"Oh dear!" Anikee shrieks. "Doesn't this type of thing require some sort of...permit?" After a moment, you realize that she's addressing the bartender.
He shrugs. "Won't be the strangest thing as happens tonight." Then he frowns.
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Lapyd wrote:
Ydalia!
Though woefully inept at reading most people, Anikee understands the shyness behind Ydalia's smile. "Thanks," she says simply. Once while reading, she lifts her hand from the paper and looks at her fingers, realizing she's smudged the charcoal. She doesn't say anything when this happens. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on anyone who becomes a little more than brash? You might need to submit documentation about your coworkers if anything regrettable occurs." She glances at the eight foot barbarian when she says this.
For a level 3 party, it's actually surprisingly balanced thus far. Only weakness is a lack of healing. But a bard can handle that, especially with a wand of cure light wounds.
If the party is imbalanced worst case is mere death
NPC_Female_Recruitable wrote:
"Ah.. mind if I sing a bit, some entertainment as thanks for the beer?"
"Go right ahead," she says, trying to keep track of a few different piles of paper.
Lapyd wrote:
Hi GM! Is it still open? May I submit a character as well?
Yeah! I'm planning to leave recruitment open for about another week
Dal nods knowingly, "Yes, and yes. We run across this situation often. It is common for us to get one head's worth of pay." He then looks to Nzuri, who is standing proudly, and back to Anikee and adds apologetically, "He's not always like this. He's just bored."
The halfling turns to leave with the papers but pauses, "Oh, do you want us to fill out one for both of us? Or one each?"
"Wonder what it's like when he's upset," she says, feeling bad for Dal. She slides two pens and two sets of paperwork forward. "One each please. You will both be part of the team, after all."
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RHMG Animator wrote:
GM Woe wrote:
....
"Did it?" The woman asks, as oblivious to any change in the room's atmosphere as she is to the fact that she's catastrophically failed to demonstrate her good faith.
...
Getting the feeling from this line, Ms. Anikee dislikes my character.....
Anikee mostly doesn't know your character. She tried to be friendly to Nina by buying her a drink. Anikee is a bit of a nerd, and is not very good at reading other people. She's also not capable of understanding that buying someone a free horrific beer doesn't exactly demonstrate a warm feeling of admiration.
Kinda like when your boss asks you to work overtime without pay, but then compensates you by offering to let you pick a reward item from the box of fun. Except the 'box of fun' is just the lost and found, and next thing you know you're picking up a dirty jacket that won't fit and holding out hope for a two month old granola bar in the jacket pocket. In this scenario, Ankiee is the boss, the dirty mug of beer is the jacket, and Nina got the granola bar already.
I do appreciate the list of submissions, by the by, however I have no granola bar to offer beyond the favorite post button. I don't think timezones are necessary.
"I wonder how you'd show up on a headcount." She looks back and forth between the two. "Since you're linked like that, I'd probably only be able to obtain funding for one of you. I'm guessing that would be you," she addresses this to Dal, since he's the one asking questions instead of prattling insufferably about the value of virtue.
"Would it be possible to write a charity instead? It could be under my family's name. I believe that doing so would bring word to them, and it would soothe any grief more than providing them with the monetary compensation."
"It would be quite the rarity," the woman says, her eyes widening momentarily, "but you certainly can! There's honour in that, no doubt."
Ah, what could be more scary than a promising future?
After talking with Valdear for a few more minutes, the woman moves on to the next candidate.
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I did get confused about the 3.5/3pp stuff. I've been responding on here pretty much off the cuff this past week, but I should have a little more time to be careful for the next few days.
is it just me or did the feeling on the room just change...."
"Did it?" The woman asks, as oblivious to any change in the room's atmosphere as she is to the fact that she's catastrophically failed to demonstrate her good faith.
You can play any type of character that you want, but I'll let you know that I don't derive joy from the dumb blonde stereotype
The woman places her hands on the table and leans forward to get a better view of the halfling. "A tax collector has gone missing out in the hinterlands, so your job will be to see him safely returned." She unconsciously smooths a lock of hair away from her face. It falls back immediately. "The missing taxes too."
She offers Dal blank copies of the application paperwork. "Are you and your friend planning to work together? I might offer the job to one of you and not the other."
"He chose violence to protect himself. I chose to end the threat."
Chakos meets her eyes again, steady and unflinching.
"If you are asking whether I regret it—no. The people he hurt slept easier afterward. That mattered more than the process."
"Oh dear." Ms. Anikee turns a little pale, feeling at her forehead for a moment. It glistens. "You...killed him? Well, as you say, he did more than just steal money to deserve that." She looks tired now, as though a weight has settled on her shoulders. "You never can tell what dire things a man will store up in his heart, what might be hiding behind a facade."
After talking to Chakos for a few more minutes, the woman moves on to her next candidate.
Just saw the house rules for firearms. I’m going to make new crunch for Valdear. Firearms are now great backup weapons, but not primary ones. As written I just don’t think my build works at all. And that’s on me for not reading carefully.
I didn't read anything other than your description, but it sounds like you would be using the gun as a means of casting spells first and shooting second, which could work. But yes, I am trying to create a setup where guns are great backup weapons but not primary ones, so if anyone's planning on shooting a lot, you better buy more than one.
Your new concept is also pretty cool. You can easily boast that you'll fight hand to hand with any monster you meet.
Edit: responding to your comment about 3.5e/3pp content, it's off the table for now. You don't need to finalize your build now anyway, however. If there's some existing Paizo material that's close to what you want, you can feel free to modify the flavor to better suit your concept
