Starting the OOC thread for the Strange Aeons adventure path. I'll have character generation rules up tonight. If you haven't already downloaded the Player's Guide, you can find it here (it's free).
Hi all, just wanted to drop in for a moment and say goodbye. I've really enjoyed playing with everyone, and I'll be sure to check the thread every so often to revel in the successes of the Ninth Knot. Good luck in your future subjugation of the good-aligned forces of both heaven and earth!
Aerent charges forward, and completely misses the massive living tree standing right in front of him.
Aerent glares at Caladwhen, then abruptly changes his expression and nods thoughtfully, "Right, good idea Mistress Iconography. I'll be sure to ask your permission before speaking next time since your diplomatic skills were so much more effective. Give me a moment to make a note." He clenches his thumb and fingers of his right hand together as if holding a pen, then furiously begins scribbling into the palm of his left hand. He stops mid-stroke and looks up, "Sorry, did you say med-i-ate, or med-i-tate? I want to make sure I get this right." Dropping his hands with an eye roll, he begins moving away from the group. "I'm going to look around over here."
"Perhaps there is another way inside? I'm not interested in climbing into some goblin hole if it can be avoided." After making sure the treant is well past their location, Aerent disembarks from their zombiesaurus and begins walking forward, searching the tower for something resembling an entrance.
Several months have passed since the heroes returned to Oleg's Trading Post. Missives were sent to Restov indicating the end of the Stag Lord and his bandits. Replies were received which instructed the heroes to remain in place, and that more communication should be expected. Time passed, more delays were passed along, and life around the Trading Post fell into a busy, but predictable routine. The silver shipments from the Sootscale Kobolds have started, and despite a few initial obstacles, all parties seem content with the arrangement. Hhurstilax, in particular, is very pleased to have the silver moving out of his realm. His tribe continues its war with the grey dwarves, but fighting has been sporadic and it seems both sides are consolidating their positions in anticipation of future battles. Late in the afternoon of a day near the end of summer, the guards on the towers call out. A troop of horsemen bearing the colors of Brevoy and the city of Restov approach. If nothing else, this should be a change of pace for everyone in the Post - caravans stop once or twice a week, but soldiers haven't been seen for many months. There are a dozen soldiers escorting another man, dressed as a rider, but not a warrior. They arrive, dismount, and greet everyone in the name of Regent Noleski Surtova, a common form of address from those not of his house. The Restov heraldry gives away the reason for the social slight... Gathering everyone together, he reads from a perpared scroll. "Greetings to all the inhabitants of the Trading Post owned and managed by one Oleg Leveton, I hope this message finds everyone in good health and spirits. I shall be calling upon those of your number who received a Charter to explore the region of the Stolen Lands known as the Greenbelt on the fifteenth of Arodus. Know that the Regent, the Swordlord Council, and the good people of Brevoy and Restov seek to repay your heroic deeds in a manner befitting your succees. Respectufully, Ventris Asher, Margrave of Destin, Master of the Fourth Form, Member of the Swordlord Council." Finishing his speech, he and the other soldiers bid everyone a good day, then gallop away toward the west. ----- The day finally arrives and the Post has been decorated by Svetlana and the others in anticipation of the Margrave's arrival. Flags fly from the towers, and a large banner hangs from the barracks. The atmosphere is electric, and everyone is excited to see what happens. The Margrave and his retinue do not disappoint. Thirty cavalry come trotting into view, followed by four carriages, then another twenty horsemen. The carriages are massive, pulled by eight horses each, and large enough to easily sit six people in comfort. The lancers lead the carriages up to the gate, then watch as the occupants disembark. The first man out is obviously the person everyone is eager to see - Margrave Ventris Asher. He is a older man, but instead of the noble clothing that some might have expected, he wears a suit of polished chain armor. An Aldori Dueling Blade hangs on his belt, and he wears a burgandy tabard with the two-headed dragon of Brevoy in the center. Over his heart is the small heraldric device of Restov. He proves to be both polite and patient, though he is clearly a man on a schedule. He smiles when he meets Oleg and Svetlana, praising their spirit and fortitude. He greets Captain Garess with a formal salute, an honor for the man who is basically serving as the gate guard for an out of the way Trading Post. And surprisingly, he even bends down to say hello to the children. Those nearby hear him make a reference to a dozen grandchildren he wishes were here. After introductions are complete, his functionaries begin ushering people into an area outside the Post where a small stage has been hastily erected. While that is happening, the Margrave greets each of the heroes, taking time to personally thank them for their efforts in pacifying the Greenbelt. He leads the group to stand with the rest of the crowd, then walks up to stand on the stage. In a deep voice, he begins speaking, "Friends, it is a joyous occasion that brings me here today. Several months ago, worthy individuals were sent to this region tasked with the impossible. Explore the Greenbelt, and bring the bandits that infest the land to justice. I am pleased to say, this group of heroes has accomplished their task, and done so in a manner that brings respect and honor to Brevoy, Restov and all of her citizens." He begins clapping, and bows low toward the heroes. Everyone quickly joins in, with many of the Free Brothers hooting and hollering. Even the grim-faced horsemen bang their shields in a sign of respect. Ventris holds up his hands after a few moments to quiet the crowd. "When you were assigned this task, you were promised rewards. You shall have what you were promised, and more." At his words, various servants rush forward with crates and boxes which are hastily opened before the heroes. Suits of armor, weapons, gold, jewels, and other assorted treasures lie within. Gasps of surprise and admiration spread among the crowd, and another round of congratulations begin. This time, Ventris allows it to continue for a minute before settling the crowd. "We have no wish to see these lands once again fall into chaos. But our interests and resources lie to the north, and we do not have the ability to spread our influence into this region. Thank the Gods then, that there are men and women who are strong of arm, and stout of heart, who may be exactly what we need to maintain the safety and security of the Greenbelt." He reaches into a pouch and produces several rolls of parchment. "I have in my hands new Charters, issued by the Swordlord Council of Restov, under the seal of Regent Surtova, Rightful ruler of Brevoy. These invest the holders with the royal permission and direction to establish a new colony in these lands. A shipment of resources, and several hundred volunteers, have already been prepared and await my word to begin the journey." Ventris steps off the front of the stage and walks up to Raxus, Arianna, Bridgette, and Bydar. Holding out the scrolls, he says, "I would be honored if you would all accept this charge from my hand. I cannot promise you much beyond the initial shipment of resources and people, and I assure you, the task ahead is going to be more difficult and dangerous than you can imagine. But after seeing what you have built here, I ask you to do the same on a grander scale - create a land where people are happy and healthy, free to live as they wish without the fear of tyranny and war. I admit, I had my doubts, but seeing all this... I am impressed. Please, take these charters. Be the leaders who can guide this land into a new era of peace and prosperity."
----- Knowledge (nobility) DC 15:
The Margrave of Destin is an old title belonging to a large swath of farmland east of Restov. He is highly respected, and has a huge family, many of whom are in the military. Ventris Asher has held the title for nearly ten years, and has served on the Swordlord Council (the ruling body of Restov) for eight years. He is known as tough, but fair, and a man who keeps his word. Knowledge (local) DC 15: The "Master of the Fourth Form" is a title indicating he is a very accomplished swordsman, having attained that rank purely based on his skill with the Aldori Dueling Sword. Before you stands a very competent and dangerous man.
Hooray, level 6. Following up with a bunch of flattery and specific questions. Since Thorn wasn't sure how the Baron can help us, figured Aerent would just toss everything out and see what sticks. Toughest obstacle may be keeping Sindran from burning the place down. ;)
The tengu tears off around the street with the group breaking into pursuit almost immediately. The Professor casts a spell upon himself then breaks into a magically-enhanced sprint. Karl urges his mount forward, but the horse stops short of charging into the narrow alley. Shanoa races past, with Franc and Darren a few steps ahead. Karl spots another alley down the street and spurs his mount that direction, this time having no problem as the horse charges down the side street. Faradir's robes blow dust into the air as they swirl around the older man as he almost flies down the alley. Franc, Darren, and Shanoa keep pace with the wizard, following closely. The tengu glances over its shoulder, and quickly darts into a doorway off the main alley, cries and breaking glass signalling its passage. As the group moves to follow, Faradir's feet get tangled and he spins around, falling into Shanoa as she begins to slow down. Darren is thrown off balance, but stays upright as he catches hold of the door frame. France avoids the chaos as he not only stays on his feet, but barely loses any speed as he bursts through the doorway in pursuit of the fleeing tengu. Hearing a commotion and the familiar voices of his companions, Karl turns his horse down another street to try and head off his quarry. The tengu bursts out of a doorway only thirty feet away from Karl, but sees him and begins fleeing the other direction. As he moves away, he pushes a stack of boxes down to slow his pursuers. Karl urges his horse forward and sees Franc emerge from the same doorway as the tengu. The man speeds forward and kicks the boxes out of the way, startling the horse, but Karl's firm grip keeps the beast headed the right direction. Darren bobs and weaves as he negotiates his way through the shop, sprinting to catch up with Karl and Franc, while Shanoa and Faradir become even more entangled and end up falling down on top of each other. Franc and Karl round another corner to see the tengu prying open a sewer grate at the back of a dead-end alley. Franc leaps forward to tackle the creature, but the bird man dodges at the last second. Karl pushes his horse forward immediately behind Franc and jumps off the saddle to knock the tengu to the ground. They both roll around for a few seconds before Darren comes around the corner and stops the tengu with his sword at the creature's throat. A few moments later, both Shanoa and Faradir come around the corner, each of them red-faced and dirty.
He looks up at Lucius, "You don't know? You're not from them? Oh, thank the Gods." He looks down for a moment, then back up seeming to be a bit calmer now. "I'm involved in some stuff, and if you value your lives, you shouldn't ask any more questions."
He sighs, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. I sold some tools, for a good price, to a couple of scientists here in town. They didn't want to visit stores because all the tools are always marked. I removed the marks from the tools I sold them so they couldn't be traced. They were worried because they had lost some a while back, maybe a year or so ago." He looks toward the side of the alley as he continues, "So I sold the tools, but they wanted to make sure I didn't say anything about them, so they insisted on showing me what they were planning to do with the tools. The scientists and their assistants took me down into a basement where they had a man lying on a table, strapped down... I thought they were going to dissect the body or something, you know, to scare me. But that's not what they had in mind. When the first one started cutting, I realized the man was alive." The man looks directly at Lucius, "They all leapt in to help when he started screaming. Skinned him alive, from his head to his feet. But that wasn't the worst part. The head scientist, he stripped off his clothes then put on the fresh skin. His assistants ran over and started stitching it up, sealing him inside. The rest of the group all pulled out masks and put them on. The masks were made from human flesh too. Then they started dancing around, and started groping me, tearing at my clothes. They finally tackled me and forced a mask over my head too. I felt them grab me... lay me down on the table... and I felt the straps tighten. The scientist promised that he would wear my skin if I ever betrayed our deal for the tools." He grins and starts chuckling, but everyone can tell it's not humor, it's closer to madness.
He would just have to exterminate half of your race. ;)
Korvus stands up, drawing a surprised intake of breath from nearly everyone in the courtroom. Some of you would swear that Judge Daramid cracks a slight smile, but if so, she recovers quickly to keep her face totally impassive. One of the braver commoners yells, "Oh great, it's one beast to defend another!" to laughs and whistles from the rest of the stand. Korvus simply ignores the jibes and proceeds with his questions. Through his line of inquiry, Korvus quickly gets Lazne to poke holes in his own story. It becomes clear that the capture happened at night, and since all of the villagers are human, they could only see the monster by torchlight. Lazne admits that he could not identify Alpy with 100% certainty. The next thing he asks about is the attack by Redjaw. He encourages Lazne to stand up and help him reenact the entire scene. Lazne uses his arms to show everyone where Redjaw attacked - Korvus, looking confused, asks Lazne to wait while he gets something that may help everyone understand the situation a bit better. Korvus walks over to your table, pulls out the severed head of Redjaw, and quickly turns around with its mouth wide open. In a loud voice, Korvus asks Lazne, "So you're saying this is what tore into the Beast as it fled?" The crowd gasps as the massive jaws of the caiman are revealed. Lazne is permitted to return to the stand, and Korvus puts the head down in the middle of Otto's table to stare the pompous man in the face. With his own face turning a bright shade of green, the prosecutor gently pushes himself back as far as decorum permits. Korvus then continues questioning Lazne, asking about other attacks by caimans, attacks by Redjaw, and whether or not such vicious creatures leave scars with their massive teeth. Lazne agrees that such scars are common, and even rolls up a sleeve to show a small red line he claims was caused by a caiman. Korvus nods knowingly, then asks Lazne to approach the Beast and point out any scars he sees that were likely caused by Redjaw's attack. The Elder looks at Korvus for a minute, then gets up and approaches Alpy. The older man circles around a few times, pausing and turning his head, then finally sighs. He walks back to the stand, sits down, and says, "Honestly, I didn't see anything on its body that seemed like it was done by a caiman." The crowd erupts in anger, shouting down Korvus and Lazne. The bailiff quickly bangs his sword against the stone floor to restore order. Korvus asks one final question, "So Elder Lazne, you are known as a fair and wise leader of your people. Knowing what you do now, are you absolutely convinced that the creature who sits here on trial is the same one you caught and chased into the swamp almost a year ago?" Lazne sits in silence, staring ahead. After a few seconds, it becomes clear that the man is looking at the head of Redjaw. Finally, he looks up at Korvus, "No sir, I can't say that for certain." The crowd erupts again, and this time ignores the bailiff's attempt to calm them. At a signal, other bailiffs flood into the room from side doors and they begin ushering the commoners out, pulling and pushing as needed. Luckily, nobody is dump enough to pull steel inside the building. Korvus thanks Lazne, thanks the judges, and returns to the table. Otto quickly stands up and begins peppering Lazne with questions, but it seems the damage has been done and he knows it. After a few questions, he shakes his head and dismisses Lazne from the stand. "We have no more witnesses." The Chief Judge looks at the defense table, "Do you have anything else we need to review?" Kaple looks at you all, "I think we're pretty good - that was an important fact to point out, and I think it scored us some points."
Alchemist
He lets the alchemist know about his plans, and that the journey is going to take Thorne into an abandoned sewer line. His experience in such places is that he's going to face a huge number of rats. (Instead of asking for the arsenic directly, Thorne asks for recommendations to permanently deal with the rats - hopefully getting the alchemist himself to suggest the poison) After a bad experience with rodents a few years ago, Thorne is willing to buy several kilograms of the stuff because he isn't taking any chances. How much would 5 kilograms cost? He can send a note to Thorne at the inn when the delivery arrives (but don't say "poison"!). A woman named Trina von'Mathe may come to pick it up.
----- Later that afternoon, Thorne spends some time in the bar, talking to soldiers, buying drinks (spends up to 5 gold pieces, hopefully that's several drinks for multiple people). He mainly inquires about good places to hunt and camp in the nearby wilderness, wondering if the soldiers have any favorite areas - especially safe locations that are patrolled regularly?. He also asks about mass - can anybody attend? Do servants get the day off? How would one get a job at the Fort? Can anybody just show up, or are the servants hired for specific jobs? Thorne is thinking about retiring soon, and he likes what he's seen of Aldencross so far. Maybe moving here and getting a job in town or at the Fort wouldn't be such a bad thing. Quiet town, safe with the Watchtower so close, etc.
-----
"So Ramos, Pavo, Lucid, and I believe Filge to be unreliable. And as Lucid pointed out, he is fully capable of researching this strange worm."
Hoping Talon is right about the bugbears, Aerent makes a risky decision, "Silence! Think you that the Heralds of Asmodeus are weakling mortals such as yourselves? Look upon our true forms and despair!" Aerent's body becomes entirely covered in flames. Everyone sees his form expand and grow until he is seven feet tall and twice as wide. The flames extinguish themselves to reveal his true form - a devilish creature with cloven hooves, mottled skin the color of soot, and twisted horns curving down from the sides of his head. Gnarled teeth protrude twist around his lower face, and the very fires of Hell itself shine from his eyes and mouth. He holds a massive trident in his hands which constantly drips blood from the barbed tines. He roars at the group, then speaks in the unholy language of the devils! Infernal:
"Kneel before Aerentex, the Blasphemer!" Then in common, "You look upon the face of Hell, mortals! Who shall be first - my Lord Asmodeus thirsts for the souls of the living!"
Yeah, but as a lawful character who agreed to deliver the cargo, Aerent isn't cool with handing over the swords. But I'm not going to let the party get screwed over either. Aerent has some metal he can trade.
Greetings from vacation. Unfortunately, I have little time to post from here, but I wanted to chime in. :) Aerent would take the full plate and shield. He would not take the holy symbol. Sorry, but have not yet had time to review teamwork feats. I'm fine if one is selected before I can look at them. Please continue to bot him as necessary. Thanks!
Talon scowls "I'm not sure what food you eat human, but I wouldn't feed that to a dog unless I wanted it dead" He pauses as he looks around the room "Bastard taking all the money, no wonder we managed to break out" Aerent smiles and nods in agreement, "Oh, I agree, Talon, most certainly - as for my tastes, I usually dine on a variety of fowl, usually those that I've hunted myself. They taste great after you split their breasts open and tear off their..." He pointedly looks over Talon's shoulders. In a not-so-contrite tone, "Oh, sorry, Talon. I forgot. Must be my poor human memory. Won't happen again!" He shrugs and grins, then continues to encourage Grumblejack to destroy the armory door.
Aerent looks at Arryn, "Looks fine to me." He goes over to look down the fireplace. He looks at the rest of the group, "Arryn and I will head down and into the dining room. If that guard was right, we shouldn't find anybody. If that's the case, we'll look around quickly and head into the kitchen." Looking over at Arryn, "We might also be able to find some more of that belladonna. It would be nice to have another mug of that if we encounter any guards" Seeing Talon hiding the dagger, Aerent puts up his hand, "I don't think we should escort anybody right now. When Blackerly came to get Sindran he had a whole group of guards, not just two. It's going to be very obvious that something is wrong, even for these idiots. Just wait by the fireplace for us to signal you. And watch for other guards to come up after we've left - they may switch watches on us while we're down there."
Several high-pitched yips and howls sound out from the woods as the creatures react to Bydar's words. The large pack leader growls deeply and loudly, silencing the others. It looks at Bydar for several seconds before responding, "Your leader understands our ways, but if you wish them to live, this One are shall discuss another form of payment." Its eyes narrow and its tongue hang out of its mouth. You would swear the creature is grinning at you. "This One requires one cow every moon to make up for the losses to Our Pack." The two bandits are staring into the woods, the bald one actually shaking with fright. He turns to look at Raxus, "Please sir giant sir, don't let them eat us! We didn't know, honest. We was just having some fun, it was an accident! We'll do anything you say, we'll behave. Just don't let those monsters have us! We're sorry! We're so sorry!" Tears stream down the blonde bandit's face, and though his mouth is moving, no sound emerges. He appears to be completely terrified. ----- DM Screen:
Tekk raises his mattock to begin smashing goblin faces into last week... only to skid to a stop as they all fall over unconscious. He looks around, then nudges one with the toe of his boot. Placing the head of his weapon on the ground, he looks over at Spectrum, "Um...nice work. How many more times can you do that?"
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