Halrod of Wyvernstone's page

I’m writing to each person with whom I was in a game on this board. I apologize for simply disappearing last November and for the last six months. A combination of serious health issues, work and a third child simply overwhelmed me. I kept meaning to get back to the games, but the stress got worse and I couldn’t right away. Eventually it felt as if I’d been gone too long to simply return and I felt guilty for not at least telling everyone that I was at least alive.

I am sorry for leaving without saying something. I just never planned to leave. It always felt like I was coming right back until it had gone on so long it felt like I couldn’t. That’s not a very mature way to handle things, and thus this apology.

Many, many times as I played and GM’d games on this forum, people would disappear and I’d wonder if they were okay. Were they hit by a truck? Died of a heart attack? Or did they just lose interest and didn’t say good-bye? I didn’t want you to have the same questions about me.

I am still dealing with the same health issues and other stressors. I’m not ready to start up again where I left off. I may do some things here in a small way, but until my health issues are resolved, I don’t think I’ll be starting up my games here soon.

As I get older, I have fewer outlets for entertainment and socialization outside my family and the time I got to spend playing these games has been very important to me. I hope to be able to play and even GM more in the future.

All the best,

Scott “Tarondor” Nolan (Halrod)

"Humans can be blind that way," Halrod agrees. "But I doubt not that the crusaders value actions over appearances. It is not the demon's blood that will define her but yours, my friend."

Halrod walks on a little, trying to remember. "At Wyvernstone we had a... well that doesn't matter. When we have settled the bandit problem, we should look to create a place where your daughters -can- write to you. Perhaps this Oleg could hold letters for us. Or Svetlana. She seems to be more level-headed. It is a long way to Lepidstadt, but a letter could get to "

He look east as they stride across the rolling hills of the Kamelands towards the distant unseen Tors of Levenies. "I should like to write to this Maegar Varn and to the other settlements the Swordlords are sending into the Stolen Lands. We should keep abreast of the doings of our neighbors. We may have to call upon their aid some day."

He turns back to the west and the endless rolling hills looking at their other companions. "And what of each of you? Have you any children, wives or husbands you haven't mentioned?"

"How many children do you have, Nidintu?" asks Halrod, genuinely curious about his fellow elf. In his long life, Halrod had never had any children...had he? He tried hard to remember.

Hope you stay well!

Halrod looks around, as if just realizing where he is. "I speak the tongue of dragons. I will speak to these little ones."

[color=red]<draconic>"Ho, little ones! Arise and speak, for we would have converse with you! Whose moon radishes are these?"</draconic>[/color]

Aye," agrees Halrod. "We should move quickly to take this Kressle before she learns of what happened here and is prepared."

That's a pantomime I'd like to see.

"Morn," says Halrod. "Tell us more about this Stag Lord. What manner of person is he? By your words he is no true fey, but fey...like? Tell us what you know of him, of his strangeness, his strength of men and most especially, where he may be found."

Go to the wall, Roots. You'll be safer on the walls, Roots. Too bad your spell Range ID only 30', Roots! Hahahaha!

He's a baby! Halrod wanted him out of harm's way! So... Roots has learned his lesson about Halrod, but has Halrod learned anything, I wonder?

At the critical moment when he might have tried to resolve this peacefully, Halrod blurred and shifted, as if time were flowing differently for him. When he came to himself, the melee had started.

It's getting worse, he though. Am I coming unstuck in time?

Ironically, he had no more time to think and merely reacted, firing arrows at the nearest thug.

1. Enter Point-Blank Stance.
2. Strike nearest thug.
3. Strike nearst thug.

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 1st Shot: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 141d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 8

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 2nd Shot: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 111d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 8

Gah. Sorry. This baby thing is kicking my behind!

GM, what's the plan for the NPC allies like Linzi, Amiri and Valerie? Will you run them in combat? Will they generally be used "offstage"? Or what?

Hey, since we have an archer in Xavin, I was wondering if I should shift to a bard. On the other hand, two archers is a lot of ranged damage, so I'm also okay staying as is.

Halrod thanks Svetlana for the meal. "We are in your debt, Madame. Allow us now to repay that debt."

He stands and strings his bow. "I'm going to inspect the wall and defenses. I suggest the rest of you join me. Oleg, are their any weak points in your defenses we should worry about?"

Surveying the grounds, he says "Xavin, you take the left tower and I will take the right. Roots, Eskra, I think you should also be in the towers or on the wall, but I'll leave that decision to you. Orlund, Nidintu-Bel, Amiri and Valeri, you've got the gate."

"If they come, we will try talking to them first. I intend to offer amnesty and freedom to anyone who claims it and death to anyone who henceforth remains an outlaw."

"We should be able to hold them at the gate. If necessary, we will fall back into the Trading Post and fight from there. Xavin, your task and mine will be to target spellcasters if there are any, and then leaders. Linzi, stay out of the way of melee and support those at the gate if you can. Everyone else, do what you do best. Today is the day we begin to free the Stolen Lands from rape and pillage."

"We come from Restov, aye," agrees Halrod. "And we've a warrant to police the Greenbelt, ending banditry for good. That's what we mean to do."

"You and yours have nothing fear from any of us, Master Oleg. This I swear."

The nine most terrifying words in the English language: "We're from the government and we're here to help."

Halrod would have purchased a Minor Healing potion for 4gp. from Bokken.

Halrod regards this...interesting... person with some alarm, but is willing to wait and see how his potions work.

"I've little coin, good Master, but I'd be willing to trade it for a healing potion. But first, I would know the name of him I deal with. I am Halrod, and these are my several companions. This, our good bard Linzi, is still working on a name for us collectively."

Seeing the man stare blankly at him, Halrod tries a shorter tack. "What is your name, sir?"

Once the group explores the abandoned Fort, the Root leshy turns to nod at Halrod's words. The small leshy takes out an unused dagger and begins carving

Halrod says it's ours!

Roots peers at his work. He frowns. Scratches another ! at the end.

He smiles, turns to the group and gives a vine-like thumbs up.

"Close enough!" agrees Halrod.

_________________________________________________________________

The more you could tell me of Falathiel... the more it would help of course. Xavin nods at Halrod.

The elf sighs. "I don't know. I only see her in dreams. She is...was..." He shakes his head, rustling his long white hair. "I only know that I must seek her. Somehow, I remember that. I will find her once more. I know that too. But...but I can remember little else."

_________________________________________________________________

Later, Halrod listens to Nidintu-Bel's parable. "So you're saying nothing we do will be remembered, my friend? If so, why would we need a name?" He smiles wanly.

"What name would you give us? Or should we perhaps ask Linzi, our bard? Linzi, what's an heroic name everyone will remember in a thousand years?"

Halrod listens to Xavin, understanding what it is like trying to collate memories. He speaks seriously. "Please inform me if you should remember anything of her. Even the faintest hint will be more than I have had for some time."

Turning to Fort Serenko, the elf considers. "It is worrisome that the Swordlords should abandon this fort, probably stronger than anything east of Pitax and north of Jovvox. Were it not an affront to Lady Jamandi I would demand we take possession of it now and use it as a base. Still, I fear we may regret leaving so strong a place unprotected in our rear."

"Mark this place well, for we shall return here when we have dealt with the bandits. If Brevoy will not man it, I shall do so."

He points south and west across the rolling sea of grass. "The new trading post is said to lie in that direction and I see here new-made wagon ruts leading that way. It should be easy enough to find. But now we enter the Stolen Lands and leave safety behind us. Let each look to our safety and be sharp of eye and mind."

"Let us be off," he says.

The team proceeds towards Oleg's Trading Post as directly as possible. I don't think we need to proceed with any Exploration Activities as they'll slow us down. Nor do we Hustle. We just get moving.

Halrod takes leave of Maegar Varn with warmth. "May your settlement be fruitful, Master Varn. Let there be friendship between the Dunsward and the Greenbelt! We will seek you out when we have settled the bandits. I feel we have much to offer each other."

The elf said nothing of the misgivings he had, some dark sense that trouble awaited the human in the east. "And Master Varn. Do be cautious. You will be on the edge of great Casmaron, and that is a strange and wild place."

Turning to Carageorn, Eskra, Orlund and Xavin, the archer smiles in greeting. "I am Halrod, a sometime wanderer in these lands. You know the redoubtable Nidintu-Bel and these are our companions, Roots-Sink-Deep, Linzi, Amiri and Valerie. Welcome to our fire."

The niceties done, the elf turns to Xavin. "Tell me, Xavin. You spent time in the First World. In your travels there, have you heard of an elf-maid named Falathiel?" The question is asked almost casually, but those who know Halrod can sense the weight of the question, that it means something very personal to him. The tension is betrayed to all by a slight jump, a displacement of only a fraction of an inch, as though the elf were moved slightly without traveling through the intervening space.

I owe you, my players and GMs, an apology for my ongoing absence. My daughter is now 1 month old and it’s me who generally cares for her at night, meaning I’m getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. It’s not that I don’t have -time- to play these games, it’s that I’m so mentally blasted I don’t have the energy.

As she moves into her second month of life, she is sleeping slightly longer and I hope for more sleep and thus more play in the weeks to come. Thanks for bearing with me. I will eventually get back to the old me. :-)

Halrod rarely sleeps, and is happy to take a watch while the others rest. He regards the strange piece carved by his fellow elf and reflects on how different their lives have been heretofore.

When Ndintu hurls the carving away, Halrod is philosophical. "You are a skilled craftsman, sir," he says in elvish. "Though I have not seen its like before, I feel it would fetch a fair price in Iadara or Sevenarches. But artists are ever the harshest judges of their own work, are they not? I wish it were so of scholars. Many a library would be the better for it."

"Get some rest. I do not think the bandits would dare to raid here in Brevoy, but we are close to the Stolen Lands and it is prudent to be cautious. I will watch until morning."

The archer climbs into the boughs of a large elm and alights there lightly amid the foliage, blending into the dappled shadows, his large amber eyes glittering in the reflected firelight.

Halrod looks to Jaethal and Harrim. "We must must all make our own choices. If you come to feel that you've made the wrong one, come and find us in the Greensward. We will have need of skills such as yours."

"As for you, Master Tartuccio," he says to the gnome, "Your fate is not yet sealed, but take heed, for I foresee a road of bitterness and anger before you. I hope in the end, you manage to walk that road to a place of humility and redemption. If you find it, know that I at least will welcome you."

He turns his back on the gnome, having glimpsed a tiny fraction of Tartuccio's unfortunate future.

He smiles benevolently down at Linzi and says "Good. You will be a fine historian and the people will wish to know how it all started."

Glancing at Amiri and Valerie, he says "I am grateful you have chosen to join us. There is much to be done which can only be done at the point of a sword and we have need of the best."

To the team at large he says "Have we an initial goal? I was thinking we might strike out for the trading post in the Kamelands and seek rumors of these bandits and their whereabouts."

"We should lend some thought to supplies. There are many things available here in Restov which we shall not find in the Kamelands or the Greensward."

So sorry my attendance has been spotty. I've had three hours of sleep in the last 24 and 3-4 hours been typical for weeks now. I'm still interested and my attendance will get better.

Halrod considers firing at the leader, but Nidintu and Lady Jamandi are in the way of a clean shot. So he fires instead on the giant, surely an easier target, but in the chaotic swirl of combat, both shots go wide of their mark.

1. Enter Point-Blank Shot stance.
2. Strike.
3. Strike.

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 1st Shot: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 91d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 7

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 2nd Shot: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 121d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 7

Hey, gang. My newborn daughter is now a week old and her mother and I are exhausted. I’m returning now to my games, but please forgive me if I’m slow for awhile.

Hey gang!

I’m off to GenCon and won’t be online until I get back next week. And -then- my wife is having a baby, so expect my presence to be spotty for a bit!

Thanks for bearing with me.

Scott / Tarondor

Halrod moves up to support Roots, pointing an arrow past the leshy's head.

"Ready when you are, young friend," he says, quietly.

"Nidintu! Make some room in there. Break the bottleneck!" shouts Halrod. Then he fires at the thug to the left (who has a lot of cover.

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 1st Shot: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 161d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 2

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 2nd Shot: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 221d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 8

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 3rd Shot: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (6) - 2 = 41d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 4

House Steiner's "scouting with an Atlas"

Love the Battletech reference.

Also, I love Atlases. Screw subtlety - I have 100 tons of fiery robot death from above.

Dude, you do you! I think our characters can grow and change over time both because that's what people do and because none of the PC's are human. Who's to say that a tiefling elf isn't mercurial and changeable?

Halrod stands with arrow nocked, watching Nidintu-Bel intently.

Ready an action to shoot an enemy he sees.

It is, but if we need another role, I can run a bard or rogue or cavalier or cleric or whatever. What do you think?

Halrod nods agreement, saving his breath. His bow nocked and his elven eyes alert, he follows close behind Nidintu.

I am ready to return, if that's okay.

Dear GMs and Players:

I apologize for my absence over the last 8-9 days. I have suffered a serious bout of COVID. That plus the stresses of business and family have really beaten me up, physically. I am now up and out of bed, but I continue to live life in the slow lane.

I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m not gone, but I do ask your patience.

If I am your GM, I will return soon. If I am your player, I will understand if you remove me from the game.

Best Regards
Scott / Tarondor

Halrod gives the three a hand up. Starting, it may be noted, with Valerie.

"We made a bargain with your giant. He is gone and we have information. Now let us see to the safety of the people in our hostess's home. The Guest Right has been violated and we owe her our aid."

Halrod, bow at the ready, clears the corners and doorways as he sweeps towards the rooms with Jurgindor's victims. He is startled to find Amiri, Harrim and Valerie here, mute testament to the giant's strength and surprise.

Kneeling beside Nidintu-Bel, he ascertains that each is alive, then nods at Nidintu's unasked question. "As we start, so shall we carry on. If we are not to create a miser kingdom amid the wastes, so we should share what we have with those in need. Use them if you have them."

He almost said "with those of like mind," thinking of Amiri and Valerie, but he is not so sure that any of the the three truly share his vision of a realm founded on a balance of the River Freedoms, just laws and the wisdom of Nature.

Hey folks! I’m back.

For our 35th anniversary, the wife and I took the kids to the Black Hills and Yellowstone National Park. Saw the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Jewel Cave, Devil’s Tower, the Bighorn Mountains, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We saw bison, bears, bighorn sheep and elk up close (relatively) and even (supposedly, I’m not sure) a mountain lion at some distance. Despite our best efforts, we saw no wolves.

A came home with a bonus gift: COVID. So I’m taking things slowly, but I’m getting back to my games today.

"It is probably all he knows," says Halrod. "There is enough death here. Let him go."

Hello!

I’m off to a vacation tomorrow. I’ll be back after June 21st. I will not be checking my games.

If I am a player, please bot me. If I am the GM, I’ll see you soon!

Tarondor

Halrod looks from the giant to Nidintu and back again.

"Jurgrindor. A counter-proposal. We bind your wounds and you tell us who hired you to commit these crimes. Then, you leave and don't come back."

Bye, Clementine!

How do you guys find time for Discord? I barely have time for this!

'Course, I run two businesses, raise two kids and run eight campaigns, so...

Let's move on.

Thanks, man!

Unaware of what Nidinitu hears, Halrod examines the slain, looking for any signs of something that might identify the killer or killers.

"Have you any idea where any of them headed?" asks Halrod, agreeing with Roots.

1. Enter Point-Blank Stance.
2. Strike.
3. Strike.

Halrod likes Linzi's spirit and is furious with anyone who wants to kill the little halfling. He doesn't bother with speech, but simply employs the ancient elven greeting to all ogrekin.

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 1st Shot v. Red: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 211d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 5

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 2nd Shot v. Red: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 211d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 9

1. Enter Point-Blank Stance.
2. Strike.
3. Strike.

Seeing a clear target, Halrod quickly fires his bow.

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 1st Shot v. Orange: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 181d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 10

Longbow w/Point-Blank Stance, 2nd Shot v. Orange: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 121d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Additional damage on Critical Hit: 1d10 ⇒ 3

Society: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Halrod notes the curious arcane watercourse, but concentrates on the armed figures. His bow drawn and aimed, he signals his readiness.

"We don't know that their force is overwhelming" says Halrod, moving to buckle on his armor. "And I'm concerned for the safety of Lady Jamandi, who is the likely target of these assassins. As guests, we have a duty to defend our hostess."

"Still, I agree that we should prepare ourselves well and use wise tactics. Let's start with your... counter-ambush and move on when that has done all that it will do."

Yeah, totally agree with Nidintu.