Hey, all...
It's not a trick, I promise. But it is pretty unbelievable. No one would believe me(heck, I wouldn't believe me) if I didn't have proof.
I knew the lad'd turn out alright.
If he asks, I never said that.
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Mrs. unwell. Writing from ICU. Role on w/o me.
You know, Jelani has a point. Ark, you have soldiered on, uphill, carrying another guy's odd scenario. You have worked through static from players, and yielded where it was correct. You have also stuck to your guns where you were sure of yourself. You, sir, are a GM worthy of the title. The game has weathered loss of players, change of players, retconns back to the first scene (multiples of that). But I think maybe too many of us (me too) were too willing to ride, rather than push. I've blamed the weather, but it's also the players, the characters, and the scene. Gunser's spoken some, but I expect he'd have had more to say if our diplomats had been more active, as well. Inertia is hard. Airplanes have a 'stall speed', I think campaigns do, too. Ark, you deserve more success than I think we're going to give you. If you can drag Wolfman's weirdness and 5 cast changes this far, and make it as fun as it's been, I'm hopeful you might fly, with those burdens removed. And that you let me apply.
Sure enough of Mirrender's guardianship of Mel, or at least seeing no discomfort from her, Gunser sets a weather eye on Ann. "How many folk herein are at hand? I've a knee, rather'd not walk your stairs and halls, more than was need. How many lasses, (it'd be a lass) and how many o' them bullish fellows to glower at me in between?"
The weather or season or something I think has really taken a lot of drive out of most of my games. It's not just us. Ark, I don't think the setting is putting anyone off. Of course, they have to say that for themselves. Let's do hope Mel chimes in, what with Mirry and Gunser both in some degree of orbit of the lass, she's the center of gravity of the group at the moment.
Gunser is wearing a good-natured smirk as he embarassedly observes, "I'm guessing, you'd mean, the building? Miss?"
Gunser had glowered behind Taurven while the bard opened with some careless disdain. Glowered, not at the girl Ann, but at Taurven. Aye, the boy had every right not to 'sample' the 'second-best floozy', but Gunser didn't know of any service nor station which granted the right to say it that way. If Gunser hadn't been out of reach, he might have reflexively cuffed the lad, but the old sailor's station near Mel saved them all that additional embarrassment. When eventually he passed her, he paused to say to Ann, "Thank you for your grace, Ann. Excitement's drawn the blood from his good manners. You may've had worse, but you surely deserve better."
I think we've all sort of taken the spring off, Blast. Ifor myself surely have nothing to blame you for. Life and work, etc. Welcome back.
"We've naught to fear, is our seeming. Have we carried aught worth fighting for? Play the ruse, until we see what we're against."
Well, folks, when the GM says, "This is what I have", then 'this' is what we play. It's like one of those movies that starts with the action, or with some old guy telling a story... "I don't quite recall all of what convinced us to go it that way", the old sea-prince said in what was left of his voice, "Damn foolish, it was, but it worked out. Sometimes, I think that star-brand wore us, more than we wore it... Anyhow, Me and Jelani, being ugliest, we were planned to go in dif'rent from the pretty ones... I ever tell you about Mel? Ah, Mel..."
Not all of us have clothes correct to the task of such a visit. We've some money, we can get such. It's a week to get that done right, and we'll need several tailors involved. If it's just Recon, I don't mind the reasonable sitting-out period. I'll confess to confusion about our intention there. If this is recon, all going together makes no sense. Recon is a couple guys, and maybe a plan to insert rapid backup, turning it into a raid. If this is a raid, we have a lot of great resources. We have two rings of Transposition. Each of them can be touched to a regular ring, and later the wearer of the ring can swap places (800' range) with another person. So we can do this: Connect ring A(magical) to A'(normal). And B to B'. Send two or three of your people in, carrying A and B. They get some wimpy resident of the house to wear and activate the rings, swapping in two of our ugliest fighter dudes. The wimpy types wind up outside, in the 'swap house', where our 6th (or more) can keep an eye on them, or knock them out or whatever, but surely at least take the magical rings. We raise whatever hell inside. I'm sorry if I'm not driving things forward like I might have been before, good weather hits my email stuff hard.
"Hmm. I suppose if we're to be pretendin', we might all could use such a suit. Mel, might your auntie know a place you could trust? Or Mister Naboo, he might know someplace either to trust or to not care. And I've seen some tailors; we might just each go to another tailor, once the first is dressed proper, they might escort the next. It'd give us practice at our primpin', and our patrician patronage..."
"Well, Mirry me lad, if our neighbors upstairs knew a tenth of the truth of us, we'd have trouble, or we'd bring trouble for them. But if you keep that in mind, a short trip out through the sewers, to knock on their door, perhaps in the company of our gunman, would serve you well. And you might be honest: not from around here, never heard of such a place, needs it all explained... And the gunman busy with his own... transactions, and not available to help." "That'd be the course I'd chart for you."
Gunser chuckled. "Aye, our Mel thinks she'd be all of 'LOVE ME AND DESPAIR!', like some elf-queen out of myth. But it's none of that, that I'd fear. We're sworn. It's that I'd fear. Fear it's breakin' aye. But MORE, I'd fear it's not breakin', were we all, or even the one or two that survived the trying, suddenly as gods. For as men (or a lady...) when we've done enough, we can know it. And 'Enough', judged by a man, is going to be a fair sight kinder than 'Enough', judged by a god." Gunser let the words weigh a bit, then continued, "Not that it's not grand to think on, the power to get it done, and swiftly, the cuttin' and the burnin' that's needed. But a body cut and burned needs to heal, and I'd reckon it's the same with a nation. We'd not want to go too swiftly." "You'll think I'm arguin' against. I'm not. We've seen how little we know of what we're against. From the depths to the heights of this city, or this nation, the rot runs, and we'll need all we can bring, to the job of clearin' it. We'd be asleep at our posts if we thought we might claim such power, or even a fraction of it, and not seriously think on it."
"Refresh my memory. What do we know of the crimes of these, we're thinkin' of movin' against? And bear in mind, we might be welcome, but not armed as we'd prefer. We'll need a proper plan, even if the doors are open for us."
Been a very crazy week for me, Ark. Can't speak for any others.
"Alright, here you go, devil and knight, up out o' sight."
"We don't know where we ought not to be; we might be sittin' on the barrel that's wanted. But you sneaks know this business; I'll trust you to order me about, here."
"Any you finger-twiddlers carryin' the magics to save me the trip home?", Gunser asks.
Roll twice, Gunser always uses that Tactics gift on your rolls. :)
"One steps on the left foot, one offers the right hand...", Gunser mutters. The boy didn't have a prayer. Well, no, he might have an actual prayer... Gunser stood still, to let Orwen have his chance. Or his prayer. Whichever.
"I'm not clear on just why it is this brothel or it's madame is so much a target. Just 'cause it's the next? I'll agree it and she may be on our path, on our list. I have to wonder if either is next, or even near. To be plannin' as you are, Jelani... I would have spoke to the knight and eagle, if we could have. I'd favor such be part of any plan." "As for gettin' us in... If two of us are in, and the castlin' rings are with, with touched rings on two more of us... Well, we motivate our playmates to put them on, and say their words. Then our own are in the place, and playmates are wherever our own were, which we might arrange be both quiet and stoutly-built." "Have a proper care, we'd not want to maim some judge, nor see some prince bein' rid like a cheatin' maiden. This is one place we might win and lose all at once, and make enemies we'd not have chosen. I'll urge a gentle caution. Extra masks, mayhap. We offer them to all inside, we don't want their secrets, just the end of their ties to the Gulls." "I'll grant we have to follow what we know. But I'll just state, we don't have to follow it today, if we might know more, tomorrow."
"Well, I stand corrected. Trust you to read every bit. Even the burned bits."
"Especially for some of us.", Gunser agrees, observing the tail's motion.
"I'd only caution that 'raid' may be too strong a word. Otherwise, if that suits Naboo, it suits me. If Mel is wanting to have words above, that's a wisdom I'll not question, either."
"As I read the bits we've seen, these were the eagle-fellow's blackmail victims, and he was a Gull. And the knight, just a hired hand. We don't know how long we'll have before they're missed, but Naboo might have some idea how often the knight was seen at that taker's tavern."
"Oh? Well, Mel smarter'n me, that's already been proved.", Gunser smiles.
"I'll allow as how there may be more than I suspect. I'm no great wisdom. But them two were blackmailers; I expect that's the whole of it. Happy to be proved wrong; that also proves you're smarter than me.", Gunser grinned.
"Taurven, ... Say you know, never gave you a name for when you shouldn't wear your own... Do you fancy Mister White? Seems to fit. But anyway, as I recall, a dead drop is likely not to be checked, so much as have something left at it. I think we killed the ones might be expected to check it." "And we may as well use the swoppin' round rings, as well. Just get out of sight for a second, swop another of us in, and it'll look you got clean away. We ought to have Mel wear one, and we could call it castlin' queenside."
"Such interest goes both ways. What's asked at the Lily might be heard of at the Harlot. But I'd trust our Mel to be cautious. Might be the madam above would have more cause to speak, and less cause to speak of speakin'. If we struck next at the Harlot, the madam above would be sure to put it together. Can we trust that? Bob seemed to. Worth asking him, as I reckon."
I really do think it's going where it gives US the most punch. If we were going to go our separate ways, things would be different. But we're pretty much in this until the end. So don't sweat it.
"Alright, then. It's Gull Season."
"Desna's a fluttery dream. Sarenrae is a bright star, a beacon. A person's got need of both. I've never understood them as close their mind or heart to all but one. I loved my wife, I still do. And I never strayed. But I still listened to other women, I didn't pretend they said nothin' of value. Any light so bright it blinds, that's a darkness." "Musin' on that brothel, that means you all want not to move against the Takers? We had the plan to raid their tavern. I'll set it aside, if it's what you all want. Plans change. Was there something you saw, waved you off of it?"
Sandals of Quick Reaction. During a surprise round, you can usually only move action OR Standard Action. These let you do both. (including two moves)
Yes, I'll take that for the AC.
Gunser would take the sandals before they get sold. But Jelani blitzkreig or Mel gettin' out of dodge makes more sense to me.
"So, dead drops and blackmail. We can offer the extorted help ending the extortion. They don't need to know it's already over. Meantime, gold left is gold lost, I'd say."
"I hope there's comfort and peace for them, dyin' together. Whatever Power the bird served, I expect he's Theirs, now. And for the knight, fleein' a cause of Cheliax might just be good sense, not cowardice. He stood against us, I suppose. Though that was no good sense." Gunser seems to be looking for more words. "Bah. If I knew more of either of you, I'd say it. You took up with the Takers, and they took against us. We offered terms, and you chose battle. We offered life, you chose death." Gunser walks away as the flames catch.
Should be an INT-based caster without UMD already. Look around, and put it on. :)
I've heard no other claims to best use. I would say yes.
"ALL the loot? There's the ashes, they'll not be 'grabbed'. Aye, we'll make as ready as can, to leave. But here, Hammer, try this ring. Put it on, and imagine looking through it. What's beyond that door?"
"I don't doubt it. No, I do not..."
Gunser walks to the Southern shaft, and holds up the glowing Wayfinder...
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