Grx'Tryn's page

of course her name is svetlana lol

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Grx'tryn looks at the lady and picks up on the oddity moving within the ladys hood.

pleasure, my dear. Names Grx'tryn. Glad we saw these thugs entering the fort here when we did. Otherwise thing couldve been a alot worse for you folks. Now, lets see if we can help these folks out. Cuddles, Cole? Think you two could drag the bodies out of here and burn them? Iolandra, Dravox, can you see if you can find some cleaning supplies to clean up the blood? Best not to let it stain the stone. Are there any survivors for us to question? grx turns his head, looking around.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Yup. Did a speech and everything. Granted the speech wasnt something to write home about.

Grx'tryn rolls his eyes and looks at the ceiling. whats the point of trying to be the good guys when your trying to kill the guy? he grouses at Nozhe.

He flicks his hand, and the bow at the bandits feet snaps up with sudden impact

cast Telekinetic impact

ranged attack vs bandit: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14 hopefully that hits
damage bludgeon: 1d6 ⇒ 6

i cast bump

wait a minute, the dude in blue surrendered. so we shouldnt have pinged him with magic missle...or a magic stone...or battle axe...

grx'tryn strides past the bound bandit and the scuffle happening upon the floor with Cuddles and another bandit. As he steps up, he lifts off up and tosses over his cloak, revealing a loaded crossbow. Stepping short of the bandit who dropped his bow, Grx levels the bolt at the mans head.

surrender...or die

crossbow attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

to further persuade this bandit, Grx fires the crossbow, and the bolt kisses the bandits air before burying itself into the wood wall behind him. the hum of the bolt vibrating from impact just loud enough for the bandit to hear.

Grx'tryn watches the action unfold before him. Seeing cuddles has his opponent easily contained, and another bandit surrender, Grx trains his gaze upon the bandit with the bow. Grx tilts his head to the side, mutters mine

cast Command on the yellow archer bandit. DC 14 will save.

if bandit fails his will save Grx'tryn says simply Drop, commanding the archer to drop his bow.

intimidate: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Grx'tryn will shout out Die fast or die slow, seeking to cow the rest of the men into easy submission.

Message is only a cantrip guys. I'm pretty sure its like most others: Once you cast it, any previous version you have that are still going go away.

yup. youre right. forgot about that. I was gonna say that it would be applied to cuddles and Cole, but i guess, in light of Cole's aversion, i'll apply the second target to Dravox.

Grx'tryn looks Iolandra up and down, inspecting her armor spell. That's nice. I wish i could learn that.

looking at everyone, he says alright, let's do this. Savagery of action.

reaching under his ponch, Grx'try double checks that his special wand is easily accessible.

cast mage armor on self. +4 AC., 2 hour duration.

Hold. we can wait a minute. Plus, we have to be able to communicate without needing to be close to each other.
Grx'tryn will walk up to everyone, starting with Cole, reaching out and touching everyone's right ear.
in a slight whisper that cannot be heard normally above the storm above, grx'tryn speaks.
A simple spell. it's not perfect, but it will in a way, keep us in communication with each other should we get separated. You wont be able to talk to each other, but i will hear each of you and will convey it to everyone.

i cast message on everyone. it has a 20 minute duration, range of 120feet.

Grx'tryn smiles a wicked smile. Indeed my friend. Grx reaches out and grasps Cuddles by the arm in a firm yet gentle manner. Easy there. Calm yourself. Not that kind of test. A contest, between us and them in the rock building.

Looking up at the sky, He scratches his chin and then looks at everyone. We could attack now, or, we could wait for the rain to come and storm the building when it hits, allowing the thunder to cover our sounds of combat?

fair enough. Grx says as he chews his food.

Grx stokes the fire up a bit, getting the embers to catch the logs back into a small fire. Reaching up, he cuts off several larger chunks of meat and lays them upon the rocks surrounding the fire. May as well reheat the meat while we pack up, so that we at least have one meal of the day be warm.
suiting words to action, Grx'tryn rolls up his bedroll and blanket and secures them to his backpack. He then takes the time to stack up and secure the backpacks of the dead elves.

note to self: be sure to go through both bags to get a complete inventory of the items within them.

Standing, he unfurls a large olive drab poncho and draps it over his shoulders. Its a bit frayed at the edges that fall onto the ground, but overall it is in decent shape. olive drab in color, padded with a crisscross diamond pattern to it, it hangs comfortably over Grx'tryns large frame, even with the addition of the two extra backpacks.
Amry poncho liner

Grx'tryn wakes up and looks around, rolling his head around, and then his shoulders. Dravox. remind me to get yellow and purple thread when we hit up a store. Dream i had he says, tapping his head.

Grx stands up and walks around, working the blood through his body and swinging his arms around, pausing to stretch down and touch his toes before stretching his arms up high and leaning back slightly. He looks from cole to the clouds in the sky. Do we have time for breakfast? or eat and march at the same time?

Grx dreams of the color yellow and how it can impact the process of adding 2+2 to get 4

Thanks for the well-wishes guys! My father is doing better and stable, but has a large blood-clot in his lung. They are going to try and dissolve it, but his health has been failing for years now to a mysterious lung disease. Truthfully he needs a lung transplant, but right now with Covid...just not possible.

hows your dad doing, cole?

ok

what about grx? He had first watch.

Grx opens his mouth to reply to Nozhe's retort, but instead clicks his mouth shut. He looks at Dravox and shrugs, a smile on his lips.

Watching everyone prep their areas for sleep Grx'tryn sits next to Dravox. too much?

Grx leans back against against the log and tosses another timber onto the fire. you catch some sleep first, Dravox. I'll take first watch

Damn cole. Thats harsh. And worse that you cant be there. Im sorry for ya. Im sure everyone will agree with me when i say that all of us are here for ya if you want to talk.

Grx'tryn smirks at Nohze and points at his nose, and throws a wink at Iolandra. Indeed. Actions speak louder than words. You both have just met me, and as such, aside from being a random Ogre who literally walked out of the wood work, you have no reason to believe a single word i said. And youre both correct. To ask so much from you two ladies is asking too much. And you as well, Cole. And the good man Cuddles.

Grx'try turns and walks around the fire, peering at it. He reaches out and holds the writ in his hand, near the fire. Since actions speak louder than words, perhaps i should just burn this then. If I truly beileved in this opportunity, then I should be willing to become a rebel, a bandit to Brevoy, willingly risking his life in the face of the Dragonscale throne to attempt to subdue the lands so that he can carve out a place that, in the end, a place he can call home. Granted, this task would be easier to do with an official document providing safeguard until such a time as a nation state is formed and official notice is sent to the surrounding lands declaring our freedom from other nations. But, if an official declaration must be made tonight, an action to showcase my resolve, then so be it. Grx'tryn holds the paper out to the flames, a hands breath from the point where the paper would catch fire.

just an FYI to everyone, i'll be heading up north this weekend, so my posting may be limited at best until monday.

Grx looks at Iolandra, a slight sneer comes to his face. King is not a word id use for myself, nor adopt by my own admission. I have seen how the corruption of royalty through association can easily attach itself to people with the title King. No, nothing so haughty. I hold no delusions of my self or sense of worth. I am but an Ogre who recognizes an opportunity when it presents itself. I am the first to admit, I am no saint. I am not someone who has been raised with the purpose of ruling a State, or lesser province. All that i know, i have learned from personal experience and interactions with others.

Focusing upon Nozhe as she speaks, Grx'tryn makes and keeps an even eye contact with her. Nodding, he replies Rant? the half-ogre chuckles slightly. No. Just passionate. Grx'tryn opens the paper and looks at it again but responds to Nohze. Youre correct. Conquering and ruling are two different talents. one requires an absolute desire to crush any opposition in order to complete the mission. The other requires a more deft touch, a tease here, a firmness there, a willingness to be forceful, and the knowledge of when to be gentle.

Grx'tryn looks away, up into the night sky, and continues to speak I have killed. I have ripped the life of individuals; goblins, humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, all from their bodies. This would be the time when an individual says but i did it in self defence. But I have not. I have done what i needed to to survive. I admit this not to elicit compassion or empathy, but to be honest, so you understand the Ogre who talks to you tonight. for the role of conquerer, to subject people, i can be, but i prefer not to

looking back down at the group, he looks at Dravox. But, I have a friend. A companion. One who has helped me through thick and thin. One has given good advice. One who has provided unique insight to difficult decisions. A leader needs this, a ruler needs this and more.

looking up, grx'tryn look from Nohze, to cole, to cuddles (whom Grx smiles at), and finally at Iolandra. I am no king. Never claimed it. But, if we were to do this, I would like the opportunity to prove myself to be first amongst equals.

Words flurry around Cuddles like flakes in a blizzard. He understands precious few of them, so he keeps quiet as the others discuss the paper. It seems very important indeed, for Grox to be waving it about like that. He liked to talk. He must be a leader. That DriveOx guy seemed to be interested too, but Coal was hesitant. Grox must be trying to comvince Coal to help Cuddles finish filling out the Fancy Papers.

Cuddles just hopes he picks up Lucy's trail soon. He had a hint she came this way in a caravan, but hasn't seen anything of her yet. Maybe these others have seen her? He decides to ask later.

i have to admit, the way youre playing cuddles is awesome! Great job

That pretty much sounds like a threat actually

not trying to be a threat. Im targeting the sheesh, i shouldve helped when i had the chance. Now i have this regret that i didnt emotion, not the aww crap emotion.

Coward. Grx'tryn mutters under his breath.

Thank you Nozhe Grx'tryn nods at the goblinoid.

Taking a deep breath in Yes. OUR land. Not theirs. Not anyone else. Ours. A place for monsters like us to call home. a place where those that society look down upon and use, casting off and discarding once our "usefulness" has run it's course. And, at the end of the day, we dont need permissions to do anything. Are you not a free orc? free to make your own decisions? Your own freedom of movement, of choice, of action, has led you to be here, by this fire. There isnt anything stopping us from starting something here and now, with or without this paper. However Grx'tryn waves the paper around to emphasize his point This paper grant's us a certain level of protection. "we" are authorized to take out any bandits. We can use this as a guise to pacify this region. Pacify can mean what we want it to mean. Kill bandits, or convince them to join us. We just turn a blind eye to their previous actions. Basically, we tell the bandits that they can join us and have their executions delayed, or they can accept the sword or noose at that moment.

Grx'tryn lowers his hand to his side. what would be the allure of this place? at the end of the day, it would be protection. Protection for those humans that would seek to destroy those of us they see as a threat. One of us is an annoyance. Sure, we can kill some of the humans and dwarves and elves, but they band together and push back against the threat. We here need to band together. We need to be willing to not only see to our immediate needs, like food, shelter, water, and keep our sense of self, but we as a group, need to recognize that together we are all stronger. again, one of us is an annoyance, two of us is a threat, 20 of us makes them take pause, thousands, they question the sacrifice. it is a dream. But at the end it is a dream worth having, worth believing in. In trying to achieve. Im not going to claim its going to be this wonderland of peace, prosperity, and togetherness. that's for them weird ones.

You mention swamps, mountains, plains, rivers, forests. I see resources for us to utilize. For quick capital, we raid the bodies for gold, any gold found, a portion of it would be held in reserve... basically a tax. For continued success, for continued riches, we establish trade. We find resources that the surrounding communities need and want, we trade. But that's a more in depth conversation for later.

Grx'tryn looks at Cole, an even look, one filled with understanding. You keep running, youll end up exhausted. it's time to stop running. Stop running from the fear that sits like a small ember at the back of your mind, where youre afraid that the fear will flare up and consume you. Help me start this. Or you'll regret this for the rest of your life.

trying to make the case without needing to roll a diplomacy check.

Good point Dravox. perhaps we will have to take steps to ensure it becomes exclusive

Wait a minute! Grx'tryn stands up, his face filled with excitement and surprise! The bearer! Not specific person named! Gods below and above! This is incredible! Dravox! Come see!explore the area, hunt down bandits. Explore, sure, thats easy. Look, a hill over there! A creek there Easy enough. Kill some bandits. Done. A region to pacify and make our own.

Grx'tryn squints his eyes and tilts his head slightly, concentrating on what Cuddles has said. Fancy papers...wax seal.
scratching his chin, Grx'tryn turns and walks over to the fire and sits upon a log. He unshoulders the two bags, and sets them down in front of him. He starts pulling stuff out of one bag, and then another, looking for some fancy paper.

im going to assume that i dont need a perception check to find this paper in one of the bags.

Finally, with items spread around him in an attempt to categorize the items, food, clothing, rope, traveling gear, other papers, grx finally finds that fancy paper with the large heavy wax seal pressed upon it's surface.

reading out loud, but to himself at the same time, Be it so known that the bearer of this charter...granted right of exploration and travel....Greenbelt. Exploration limited to 36 miles east and west, 60 miles south of Oleg's trading post...unlawful banditry, blah blah..punishment of banditry ya ya..witnessed by some guy and regent of Dragonscale throne.

knowledge local to recall social chatter about an expedition: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Papers? What papers?

Easy now. Grx'tryn says to no one in particular, but to all the same. Dravox is a bit pragmatic in his approach, but you get used to it. If he meant disrespect, you'd know it.

Grx walks over to where Cuddles is digging his holes. Were they good friends, Cuddles? Or just elves you worked with?

Grx'tryn does a double take at Cuddles. Back soon? Ummm... Grx look at Dravox, then out back the way we came in. The half orge scratches his chin Er, Cuddles. You...Well, how about you come with me. I, unfortunately, have something to show you. Grx leans down and picks up both packs and slings them over his shoulder.

If Cuddles has no objections, Grx'tryn will lead him back to the elf bodies

Grx'tryn laughs loudly, his mirth filling the opening and echoing into the night beyond. Oh yes! That was the first time I had tried it. you did warn me, but.. Grx'tryn sets the bottle down onto the ground next to his bag. ah, we all do dumb things. Didnt i end up running naked through that small village where we discovered this stuff? chuckling again, Grx'tryn gnashes more on the last bits of ribs and rib meat.

Listening to Cole, Grx nods along. But, he grows stone still at the mention of sanity. Who says we're sane? The half orge meets the gaze of the half orc, and holds it for a long moment. Silent, still. It isnt a look of insanity, of those that have lost their mind, of the look of rage that barbarians tend to get when in the heat of combat, nor did it hold any warmth, any compassion either. it was a single gaze devoid of any and all emotions. A void, where emotion was destroyed.

Grx'tryn purses his lips and blinks, and the void, the emptyness is removed from his gaze, and a smirk plays upon his lips as the flames cast moving shadows upon his features.
Well, it's just like tonight, funny enough. I was travelling from the north in the Tusk Mountains; finished a job in one of the mining encampments. Wanted to head south to, oh where was the place? he snaps his fingers as he waves his hand about in an attempt to think. Thronestep! Thats the place![/]b he snaps a final time to emphasize his point [b]Thronestep. was heading there Because there was more work to be done. Only ended up in the shadow cuz my map was incomplete. Didnt show gallowspire, nor the mountains there. The map showed a road running through the area, so i followed the road. Sure there was some undead, but nothing to write home about. When i set up camp for that second night, looking at that strange spike thrust into the sky, thats when Dravox found me. He sat with me, we chatted, shared food, campfire was warm and toasty. he told me that if i kept going on my current path, id be dead by half day. He helped fill in my map, and we decided to head west. Just wandered since.

Indeed it is strange. seems the gods above and below, and those around us, seem to have woven our fates to link up. grx'tryn stands up and walks over to Cuddles, and squats down next to the bags. He picks one up and begins to shift it around, inspecting it.
these bags you have here? are they yours? or someone elses?

You threw a deer spine at a druid, that means a duel!

Have at thee!

Grx'tryn tilts his head to the side at seeing how Nozhe reacts to his sharing of the meat, not only for herself, and how she catches it with her shield before offering it to the Human lady. he mutters to himself in a pained whisper but...its tenderloin he whimpers slightly.

only just met? as in all of you? Grx waves his meat filled hand at everyone around the fire, brings it back to his mouth and crushes through another hunk of meat. The way she Grx nods at Nozhe reacted, id say you two know each other. Perhaps how i know my friend Dravox here. What would you say, going on close to a year now since that fateful night in the shadow of Gallowspire?

Clicking his tongue as he absently plays at a tendon caught in between a toot and a tusk, Grx leans down and rifles through his bag for a moment with his non meat filled hand. Pushing stuff around, he finally pulls out a small glass jug filled with a strange yellowish white liquid. You sir, grx nods at Cole, you mentioned alcohol. It's not much, but it's what i have. Although, id step far away from the fire when you open that thing, as it'll catch fire otherwise. Gnomes call it their paint stripper, and Ive seen them use it as such. Even seen some seafolk use it to kill barnacles attached to the hulls of ships. although some used a bit too much and it ate through the hull. Grx laughs out loud at this.

just to be clear, im a half ogre, not a half giant.

Grx'Tryn looks at Cuddles, and although the orc stands just taller than the half-ogre, Grx conveys a sense of standing equally to Cuddles. Indeed i would, Cuddles. It is Cuddles right? The half Ogre smacks the orc upon the shoulders in a thankful manner.

Feeling his presence by his side before he speaks, Grx looks at Dravox. My friend. you were supposed to wait for the thumbs up. Ah well. We are amongst fire-friends. Grx'tryn reaches out and pats his friend upon the shoulder, pausing momentarily to squeeze it.

Grx walks up to the fire, unsheathes his large straight edged dagger, and easily slices through the proffered meat, taking a chunk from the hind quarter. He blows on it slightly and then stuffs the chunk into his mouth. Mmmmm tasty. Good juice flavoring. Needs some salt though. Id say this is done. Let me cut this up for everyone. He says, dropping his ruck and tossing it to Dravox's side.
He wipes the blade of his straight edged dagger and puts it away, only to pull out a larger, thicker blade from another part of his body. Long, over 14 inches, it has a clip point, and a heavy serrated spine. He grasps onto one of the legs and begins to slice through the meat, and saw through bone. The first leg done he tosses it to Cuddles.
You, sir, have the look of a man who is always hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for life. hungry for adventure. Did you catch this animal?

Slicing and sawing through the forward leg quarter, he offers it to Nozhe, juices flowing from the fresh cut and onto the ground. Miss, hungry? I assure you, its quite tasty.

The blade makes quick work of the back loin, and Grx easily pulls it back from off of the deer's spine. Mmmmm backstrap. For you, Lady. he says, tossing it to Iolandra.

Rotating the carcass on the spit, the half-ogre reaches inside, and runs his hand from the front, but the neck, to the rear, and removes a narrow strip of meat. The tenderloin. For you, my friend Dravox. you know how you get when you dont get meat. he says, tossing the meat at his companion.

Grx cuts off the neck, and hands it to Cole. For you, good man.

finally, Grx serves himself last, sawing through ribs and removing the section from shoulder to rear of ribs and thin meats.
he steps back and sits next to Dravox. My thanks again for allowing us to participate around your fire, and to eat your food. Name's Grx'Tryn, and you all have heard me call my friend here Dravox...well, Dravox. Heard there's jobs to be had in Isarn. Needing a wall built or house raised. Or even see if we can just get lucky and come across a corpse with some gold. We arent picky. Just trying to make some gold. He pauses, and easily chews through meat and rib bone, the sounds of bone being crushed and pulverized by his dense teeth. Dravox, in my bag. The gnome paint remover. Im sure we can share it with our fireside folks this night.

HO THE CAMP! IM COMING IN!

A voice booms out from the surrounding woods. The snap of branch, the crush of twig, easily directs your gaze towards the approach of whomever it is that is approaching the camp.

A figure resolves into effect, pushing through the brush and trees. Standing at just over 6 foot, but with a thick heavy set body, with a large backpack hitched over his shoulders, a human comes walking into the clearing. Rather, he could pass as human if it wasnt for the two large tusks that jut from his face.

The man pauses, and stares at the scene, taking in everyone. orc by the fire, orc sitting on rock by the fire, weird looking goblin, half elf lady...interesting.

Apologies for the intrusion. I smelled your fire from a mile away. thought i'd come here. You see....im lost. Got myself turned around. Trying to find Isarn.

Have we started? Or is the conversation going on in gameplay just a random precurser?

and i think im done with character generation.

still gotta work on 4 hooks and the crook, and something with magical items, but im close to done.

dotting

ive been updating my character profile. taking to using notepad to track and keep track of what i write and then the ctrl+s, ctrl+a, ctrl+c, ctrl+v routine.

i still need to work on the 4 hooks and a crook as well

oh, i wanted to put this down before i forgot about it.

im taking the bastard kingmaker background trait,
One of your parents was a member of a great family. Yet you have no substantive proof of your nobility, and you’ve learned that claiming nobility without evidence makes you as good as a liar. While you might own a piece of jewelry, a scrap of once-rich fabric, or an aged confession of love, none of this directly supports your claim. Thus, you’ve lived your life in the shadow of nobility, knowing that you deserve the comforts and esteem of the elite, even though the contempt of fate brings you nothing but their scorn. Whether a recent attempt to prove your heritage has brought down the wrath of a noble family’s henchmen or you merely seek to prove the worth of the blood in your veins, you’ve joined an expedition, hoping to make a name all your own.

so i was thinking, for my background of my character, to keep it vague since im unfamiliar with this adventure path, that my half ogre would claim royal blood through an ancient line that traces back to the lands that are now consumed by the worldwound.

or, since my characters age is rather young, id claim that a grandparent of mine is king/queen of a foreign land, and i was banished due to the embarrassment of having a half ogre in the family tree. or something like that.

edit: dang it. i need to remember to change my alias when im here.

Some of these points make me twitch, given the point that we're supposed to be forming a kingdom that will have to interact with others. Just saying.

I hadn't mentioned it, because i didnt think about it, buy to address some folks concerns, Please be aware despite being outsiders in general I was expecting civilizations to be built. That does as some folk mentioned require a certain amount of not necessarily playing nice but definitely not playing evil as an outsider.

fine. i get it. i'll play nice.

grumble grumble...spent the last half hour working on transfering all the relevant into to my profile page, with links to help me find the info faster...and when i went to submit my page, the internet timed out. and since i hadnt copied what i typed, its all gone.

screw it, i'll do it tomorrow.