Sorry to drop at the last moment, but real life issues have arose, and I won't have time to play, sorry.

Completely understand. Hope everything goes well

Hey everyone, I'd like to apologize for my poor updates the past few weeks. Things in and out of work have been pretty crazy for numerous reasons. It's been weighing on me, and at this time I've realized that I'm at the point where I can't reliably post on any sort of a schedule. It isn't fair to anyone and I've decided that as I haven't been able to commit I should probably step down from GMing this game.

It wasn't an easy decision; I've been waffling back and forth over whether I should really call it quits after a few bad weeks, but I can't look back to when I was actually able to run the game in a way I was proud of.

I would love to give some closure, but We aren't at a really "good" stopping point. Alternatively, between the two games I had going there are enough active players that if someone wanted to organize and take the reins I'm sure there would be a good game. So, I leave it to you guys on how you want to proceed.

As much as I'm going to miss the story, playing with you all has been a privilege and I'm going to miss that the most. I'd be happy to exchange emails with anyone that wants to through Private Messages. Finally, I *am* going to be working at Gen*Con and Dragon*Con, so if anyone is and would like to meet up, let me know.

Hey guys, sorry for the radio silence this week; I had the greatest of intentions that were met with a range of stuff, the highlight of which was a tire blow-out on the interstate. I'm fine, car fixed, work progressing, though I need to get some sleep to deal with an emergency IT issue at 6AM tomorrow. Will post some more tomorrow.

Not to prolong this, moving on!

Seeing the party floundering in the waves, one of the gnomes leaps out into the water as well, and barely manages to put a shoulder against the wagon. There is an ominous sound, as if the river was going to reclaim the cart... but at the last moment it bucks free and onto the river bank! The surrounding gnomes cheer, and help drag it to a safer incline.

There is much rejoicing, and tired gnomes pat you on the back (or back of the legs, as it were...) and quickly work to stow gear and salvage whatever wasn't waterlogged, breaking a camp. Of most note, however, the leader excitedly clasps a leather scroll casing, inspecting it carefully. From the looks of it, it bears a resemblance to the map you've been working on, though the brief glimpse shows it to have more penned in to the South West of where you are now. Securing the map, the gnome turns to you, a number if recent injuries covering his face. Hopping on a wagon hitch, he regards the party.

[b]"Name is Jubilost Narthropple, and... thanks for pitching in back there. Lots of folk in these areas would just sit back and laugh, if not outright attack looking to take advantage of the situation. So what brings you to these parts? I've been mapping the area a bit... though I believe I've run into more than I can handle for now."[b]

I'm here; waiting to see if I can get some assist rolls :)

I have had some more "interesting" HOA developments. I swear, I'm going to do some *significant* research into the neighborhood HOA before I move in anywhere again

Flora would have to make a swim check... though I'll go with the swim being for her.

Emil urges Flora forward, and rides out to the ponies. Somehow his calming demeanor settles the ponies, allowing the the reins to be slipped from them.

With muscles straining, the Cavalier attempts to move the carts out of the sinking mud, to little avail. His second attempt, however causes the cart to teeter to the side...

Just need some assists...

*This* aquatic turtle certainly looks like it has a mouth that could rip flesh, but given that it is in the water and you are on land, you decide to leave it for now until it proves to be a greater menace or have better means to deal with it.

Deciding to explore closer to Summergold, you make a loop back, with a brief stop-over in the town.

The sound of unintelligible cursing echoes through the woods. Just visible through the trees, a small wagon sits mired in the middle of a swiftly flowing river as the waters threaten to overwhelm its sides. Two ponies hitched to the wagon flounder in the swirling waters, close to panicking. Two more wagons sit safely on the far bank.

A group of 9 gnomes appear to be attempting to right the wagons with little avail. One of them, appearing to be the leader, has a black eye and a disheveled appearance that offsets his otherwise fashionable adventuring gear. From the bank he shouts out conflicting orders ranging from "Get the ponies calmed" to "save the maps!" While the leader notes your presence, he turns to focus on the matters at hand (clearly too proud to ask for help), while the rest of the gnomes shout out for aid!

Any individual that wishes to help must make a DC 10 Swim check.
Once the Swim Check is made, the ponies require a DC 12 Handle Animal or Wild Empathy check to untie them, before they hurt themselves or you.
Finally, once the ponies are calmed a DC 26 Strength check may be attempted. One person can make the check, with up to 4 players aiding.
Feel free to roll as many checks as you wish to participate in, to move things along.

Since there isn't any objection or other feedback, I'll let Franka's plan stand for now.

Agreeing that it is in the party's best interest to meet with this colorfully, if dubiously named representative, you set off into the wilderness once again! Noting that you only have a month's time, does set a clock of sorts... though after spending months in Summergold and nearby might bring a harsh reminder of what "roughing" it is like once more.

Striking east and attempting to get a better of idea what lies immediately outside your territory, you begin to explore the hills of the Kamelands. The inherent pun in the name probably isn't lost as you go up and down the hilled terrain. In the initial days of travel, exploration, and mapping, there is little of immediate note; hunters from Summergold seem to have dettered any wildlife. Turning around Tuskwater lake, you do see signs of a snapping turtle that must be the size of a small pony, but as it is in the lake and you are on land, there is a stalemate.

If you want to try and lure it on land, we can detail that combat.

As you continue your explorations, the Lake Tuskwater stretches ahead with no end in sight. There is at least another several days travel to get to a place where it would be transversable without a boat. Even at point that it starts to narrow, it is still over a mile wide before expanding out once more.

Do you wish to return back to explore the woods to the west for Summergold?

H. Pennington Montrose thinks for a minute, steepling his fingers. "Ah, yes. I believe that we could arrange the meeting to be here. It would likely take over a week of travel, regardless. I'll ensure that to be the case, and make arrangements."

As for the second question, there are some empty glances around the table. Jhod answers, trying to be helpful, "Even a beast-man likely has a lair, somewhere, particularly if he keeps with worgs. Perhaps locate it?" There are some non-comital answers as well, but really, the dealing with strange monsters is more -your- forte.

With the threat of worgs subsided (for now at least) the party is able to escort the weary travelers to Summergold. The corpses of murdered settlers and worgs alike are a testament that even though you may be carving out a foothold of a settlement, the Stolen Lands hold greater dangers still.

After your arrival, H. Pennington Montrose, Akiros, and Kesten Garess ask for a "Leadership Council" (Do you have a word that you would prefer for those?)) with the party and other Leaders, with Akiros and Kesten's request being a shared one. Once gathered, the later begin first, with Akiros leading the discussion.

"My lord Emil, sirs, ladies, I am happy to inform you that settlement of Summergold is coming along quite well. We've had our share of troubles, to be sure, but with your aid and guidance we have created a knot of stability within an otherwise tumultuous land. You have far exceeded anything that the Stag Lord might have wrought." Kesten adds in, nodding. "Your aid has been indispensible these last few months, but I have been working on a local militia and permanent guard. I believe we should be self-sufficient for the month-to-month affairs, although we'll still need to convene monthly."

Resuming exploration!

H. Pennington Montrose clears his throat, tapping his fingers. "My lords, it is good news indeed about our settlement, however, I hold other of another. I have received word from a new town to the east that has recently formed, named Varnhold. Under the leadership of an ex-adventuring group lead by Jester Varn, this "colorful" sounding individual has sought audience with you all, in one months time. As much as I am sure that you are itching to have sleep under the stars on tree roots and rocks (he shakes his head), I would most humbly advise you to meet with them. Their circumstances sound quite similar to your own, and there is potentially much that can be accomplished between cooperation."

The remainder of the Leaders chime in, but generally support both assertions: Summergold is prepared for the party to resume exploration, and that it would be wise to meet with this Jester Varn.

The map has been updated with the location of Varnhold. There is a nearly impassible mountain range between the territory claimed and your charter, so it would be advisable to explore around your settlement first. Also, I'm going to stop tracking provisions, however, you do need to return every few weeks to your settlement.

At Emil's behest, the party does some tracking into the surrounding area. It only takes a few minutes to discover the corpses of the worgs that had fled; each with its throat ripped out in a gruesome manner. Of the larger canine, there is no sign. Even tracking it becomes difficult as it shows a canny intellect: using rocks and other terrain to its advantage. After a short distance, the tracks stop entirely for no apparent reason. The general direction it was heading was to the South East, luckily away from the Summergold settlement.

Moving on tonight, if is nothing else.

Despite Turante and Franka's inability to land a hit, Janna manages to slice into the beast with an augmented blow, eliciting a sharp yelp. Surrounded and badly injured, the beast slinks back and runs off into the woods, leaving only the one still frantically attempting to free itself from the magical Pit remaining visible and alive. In the distance you hear a series of howls, presumably from the injured beasts. Following the howls, however, is one loud yelp, then another a distance off. A moment of silence follows, then a louder, bestial howl rings out through the woods, almost a roar.

Staring down at the fallen and "fallen" beasts, you realize what wasn't clear in the middle of combat: these beasts are actually Worgs. Turante and Franka are fairly certain that the one large wolf that was seen that departed at the start of the battle was *not* a Worg, despite having apparently commanded the Worgs. That remains a mystery for now, however.

You have the one injured Worg in the pit for now, although the spell will end soon. How do you want to deal with it?

After the threat of the worgs has been removed, the men that had sought refuge on the stone slowly descend. Many of them are visibly injured, yet all are incredibly thankful for your timely arrival. "Erastil bless you", one says, "We thought we were goners, with them beasts snapping at us below. It was only a mater of time before we had to come down for water, or the elements got to us. Even still, that big one looked like it was trying to figur out a way to get to us all, rocks or no. We owe you our lives!"

Anything else that you plan to do here, before moving on?

Flora continues to show up her rider by braining the beast facing her, while Emil struggles to land a blow. Having little difficulty in landing a blow, however, is Audsley, whose thrown Bomb Staggers the beast... to death.

(Death is the best negative condtion.)

The lone remaining beast glances around, growling, as it is suddenly very outnumbered compared to how it was a minute ago.

Next up: Turante, Franka, Janna

The beast was staggered.

There was a flurry of blows and bombs raining down on the beasts. The one that took two icy missles growls and moves away to lick his wounds, whereas the one Preven stomps on growls and snaps back at the horse!

Attack @Preven: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Attack @Turante: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Attack @Turante: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Damage @Turante: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Turante takes another bite to the side, while the beast fighting Preven misses! Luckily(?) Turante is already on the ground.

Next up: Everyone!

I'm probably more proud of the "Prone Princess" moniker than I should be.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The prone princess again fails to land a blow, but Emil slams his lance into the beast drawing its attention. Meanwhile, Franka flung snowball lands squarely in its maw, causing it to flinch slugishly.

Next up: Audsley, Janna

*grumbles* The boards ate my post twice, with the rolls. I have all the results written down, which largely overwhelming beneficial for you, so rather than recreating them, here you go!

Franka draws on the power of the Æther to cause one of the beasts green to fall tumbling into the pit, while the other nimbly avoids it... only to be rewarded by a bomb thrown by Audsley. The same beast then attempts to press an attack on Emil, but can't manage to find purchase this time. Still growling, it then adds some distance away from the pit.

The pair that surround Turante savage the elf... but seem to merely get in each others' way! Even with a +13 roll with the prone and flank, the dice were 1 and 3... The two growl at each other fiercely as of they were saying "Quit getting in my way!" and "I will rip out your throat... after this one."

Next up: Everyone

Emil skewers a beast, as does Janna's mount. Emil's target collapses with a broken whimper, while Preven's just growls louder.

Next up: Franka / Audsley. Will Bot tomorrow if there isn't an update.

Turante lands a solid blow to the beast, but wasn't sufficient to bring it down.

The beasts exhibit cunning beyond more animal intelligence, growling in a cadence that sounds more like a language than simple communication. A pair take up a flank around both Emil and Turante, with a lone beast moving to threaten Audsley

Orange: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Red: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
Yellow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
blue: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
green: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Damage @Emil: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Trip @Emil: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Damage @Turante: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Trip @Turante: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Damage @Audsley: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Trip @Audsley: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

The beasts score hits on all three of the party attacked, two managing to trip both Turante and Emil! Due to oddity of mounted rules, Emil is prone, on his horse. Don't ask.

Next up: Everyone

Emil completely obliterates the beast he rode down, which dies skewered on skewered on his lance!

Up next Turante! Will delay tomorrow otherwise.

How could I not? I'm friends with Chris Avellone!

Heh, nice. Well, I'm certainly excited! Also, this is probably going to be my fourth physical copy of a Stolen Lands map I've gotten.

As an aside, is anyone else backing The Kingmaker CRPG?

Fort Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

The beast clearly is staggered by Audley's onslaught.

Audsley's Knowledge: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Oh, I've learned more than I ever want to about buying a house. Hope you manage to find another one!

Rule of two to engage!

Following the directions given by the survivor, the party sets off to rescue the stranded settlers! You have little difficulty, as the miles surrounding Summergold are becoming a second home to you and you approach the stone outcropping with an hour of light before dusk. If the landmark wasn't enough, as you near there is a infrequent growl or low howl that can be becomes more recognizable as you approach.

Clearing some of the more rocky terrain, you find the small copse of trees and jutting stone to be surrounded by a half dozen impressively large, jet-black furred wolves.

The creatures are fixated on the raised stone; too steep and high for them to get to the stranded survivors that all bear the signs of attack. One of the men cries out as you approach, and the beasts turn towards the unexpected arrival of those that might threaten their meal. From the back, a large black wolf emits a set of growls and noises that almost sound intelligible, before it fades into the surroundings, leaving the rest of them snarling towards you in his wake.

Next up: Audsley, Emil, Túrante

I'll be rearranging some of the links, but they're a couple posts above.

Also, yeah, the castle is a big purchase right now. In general, I'd advise against using over half of your resources in a single investment.

Summergold continues to grow, with new groups of settlers arriving almost daily. The dangers of the Stolen Lands are everpresent, however, even near the heart of your flourishing settlement. This is as evident as ever when Kesten Garress rushes to you early one morning, with a bloodied man in tow.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I have urgent news. Bernard, here, is part of a group of settlers coming in from Restov and, well, tell them." The wounded man chews his mustache some, but finally speaks up. "It started with a howling. Ever'thing was going smooth; we was maybe 3 hours out from here, when out from nowhere these wolves burst from the brush, going for the horses first! Our wagons were stuck, and more of 'em wolves started going after us too! Biggest, blackest wolves I've ever seen though. A few of us made it to start climbing up onto this rock outcropping, a few started running. I'm the only one I know that made it safety though. Please, your lordships, you have to help them!"

Kesten adds in, "Wolves have been a sporadic threat, but never in the numbers he's described, or acting with such purpose. I know the outcrop he mentioned though; you can make it there before dusk if you leave quick."

You have the option of dealing with the threat personally, or attempting a Stability Check to have Kesten and some of the militia go rescue. You can ask further questions before setting out as well.

Yeah, there's definitely no need to be cutthroat min-max. As long as you don't spend more than half of your resources at once, you should be fine going for RP reasons mixed in with Crunch reasons. So a Shrine first, with a Mill second would be completely acceptable. Then others such as Barracks would be good (especially if you hit Unrest.) Town Hall is a bit pricey for now. Unless there is an objection, I'll assume we'll have a Shrine then Mill.

As for the game continuing, I will be here to GM for as long as people continue playing. On the plus side, I am finishing training my replacement, so I'm only doing the job of 1.5 people instead of 2 people.

Anyway, incoming combat situation. I'll give people a few days to respond. Hope everyone is having a good weekend :)

*poke thread* I need some more suggestions for next step building. I have an IC post that will be up hopefully tonight, if not tomorrow.

Hey there guys. To Audsley's point, it's been abysmally slow, which clearly was never my intent. If I knew the life changes that would have come over the course of less than two years, I probably wouldn't have started the game, though it's been some amazing fun. On the other hand, every time I've said "This afternoon I'm updating...!" I've had something like spending a three hour emergency at the vet for a dog that inexplicably got dime sized holes in her legs. So, I leave it to you guys.

I did, at long last finish my updating of all the logistics for the first 1.5 turns based on the party's comments. You can check out the Kingdom Sheet and the Treasury Notes but the brief summary is that at the start of Kingdom Turn 2 (after consumption), the party starts with 32 Build Points. You've built 2 Houses, an Inn, and a Smithy.

I'm working on the next "IC post" now to at least try and prod things along if people are interested, as I'm sure that staring at spreadsheets isn't a way to regain momentum. But Summergold is coming along, if you want to continue it.

Hey there everyone. I just wanted to pop in to say that I'm back and survived the past few weeks; they've been incredibly insane, but things should be quieting down and I'll be dedicating a chunk of time tomorrow to getting things in gear again with the game.

Welcome back Audsley!

A quick update from me: I'm working on getting the next transition up, but fell short tonight. I did want to say I'm still alive and give an update on my life status:

The Good: After doing the work of two different positions for half a year now, I'm finally being promoted to the new position.

The Bad: There currently isn't a backfill for my old position, so now I'm *literally* doing the work of two people. All my usual windows of time to work on PbP have been gobbled up as I juggle things... at least for another week or so.

The Amazing: I've been selected to fly out to Vegas in about two weeks and pitch a game idea! (sadly can't share too much.)

The Ugly: I've fallen remarkably short on posting. The next leg has some logistics to get over, and I've let things get drawn out horribly bad. I am working to catch up, but it's been rough. I hope I haven't lost people, but I understand it's hard to keep a game going with a GM that can't consistently commit.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Kundal sheathes his sword and nods respectfully. "I will work to ensure that my sins are atoned for, in service to the peoples here..." His capable services are added to the militia that is forming in Summer Gold.

In the aftermath and excitement of solving the murders, one final piece of the puzzles falls into place. Investigating Osgrove's effects, you find a note detailing how the ex-bandit knew Saki, and noticed her absence, then the disappearance of the shepherd. Trying to prove himself by investigating matters, over the month he had pieced together that "the barbarian" might have had some involvement, and went to the tavern to follow him, which lead to his untimely demise. However, his sacrifice likely saved the lives of other innocents; who knows how long the killings might have gone on otherwise?

Reinforcing the door to the crypts seemed the most expedient route, and some hasty effort is put into the effort by a few craftsmen selected by Jhod Kavken. Kundal goes into the place of the dead with a measure of stoicism, leaving his sword behind and only taking a waterskin and some rations to tide him over. The extra layer of iron and shoring up with stone to trap the Shoanti in the crypts may have seemed a bit of overkill.. until the moon set and a tremendous howling reverberated, even through the stone and limited entryways. Throughout the night, loud, resounding snarls, bangs, and thuds could be heard, though the reinforced doorways held. In the morning, an apologetic and disheveled Kundal yelled to be freed for the day, though willing to return through the full moon.

Although the Wolfsbane wasn't immediately available, your efforts have given Audsley a month's time to obtain and administer a potential antidote made from the herb, just in time for the return of the full moon. Kundal retreated to his "cage" once more, setting himself in for the evening, but the morning after the cure was given, there is no indication that he transformed! Allowing a few more days of observation to be sure, it certainly seems that the Shoanti was cleared of his murderous affliction.

Once the threat of the full moon left once more, Kundal seeks out the party, proffering his Greatsword. In heavily accented common, the large man states, "You have freed me of my nightmare and prevented me from harming others; you did not have to do this. In gratitude, I offer you my sword." The way he makes his offer, it is clear that he refers to either his physical weapon, or his loyalty, though likely not both

Kundal slumps back, still gripping his sword. "No... I cannot... this cannot be. The dreams, they cannot be real, can they? Yet, this wolf you ask of? I was bitten by one that I killed while guarding a caravan, some months back. That cannot be a coincidence. Could it really be as you say? He sighs, resolutely, as if somehow he knew the truth, even if he couldn't admit it. "If this is true, what would you have me do?"

The Shoanti looks at the party at the mention of Wolfsbane, somewhat surprised at the fair treatment he is given. "I commend myself into your care, should you seek to cure me of this affliction. Should you turn on me, however..." He leaves the words dangling. "I can retire to the wilds for the next few days... Or whatever you instruct. I will do as you say, if you think it will allow others to avoid being harmed by my actions. I wish for no more blood."

There are a few options available for imprisoning him for his own good: There's a set of crypts under the keep that's used for the morgue, there's various buildings, you could tell him to leave town and hope he makes it through the night ok... If there's a general theme of what you want, you can probably accomplish it. It's good to be the Leader.

Speaking up for Audsley (who I hope is enjoying fatherhood, and getting more sleep than I have been at least ;)), you know the most likely cures. OOC, it would require a level 12 cleric, or the herb Wolfsbane.

Also, it is really hard for me to type Wolfsbane without my brain auto correcting to Wolfspirit

After some conferring and wracking of the collective knowledges of lycanthropy that the party and several of the populace can come up with, the only likely cures that come to mind are the aid of a powerful cleric, or a more available, if somewhat unreliable application of the herb Wolfsbane. If administered, the Wolfsbane is known to allow the Afflicted to throw off their curse... though there isn't any readily present at this time. It's likely that a sufficient quantity could be obtained from Restov, although such an aid is more of a long term solution rather than an immediate way to deal with the potential homicidal shapeshifter you may have on your hands for the next day or so.

Happy Easter weekend everyone, fittingly, giving this the Lazarus treatment. This week has been insane between dog surgeries, work, and taxes, but I'm finally un-undead.

I hope you have a good trip Turante. For everyone else, in order to pick things up and recap, you've gotten some pretty solid circumstantial evidence that the man is, in fact, a lycantrope, likely afflicted. How you deal with it between trying to cure him, banish him, kill him, is somewhat up to you.

Kundal glances from side to side, clearly uneasy with the line of questioning, but putting his trust in the party, for now. The large Shoanti thinks for a moment, then responds tentatively. "These dreams... they have come and gone, days at a time, then leaving me in peace for weeks. I have not spoken to a servant of the gods; I have not thought it would be needed. What could a divine disciple do about dreams?"

Audsley hasn't posted for about a month, so to speak for him...
Audsley chimes in with an elaborate series of tests that could be performed and throws in an anecdote about cooking that doesn't really help matters, particularly given that the gristly scene likely hasn't helped anyone's appetite. Examining the scraps of clothing, it seems most likely that they were shredded through expansion rather than any sort of attack.

He also comes up with a thought and returns with one of the few Half-orcs that live in Summergold, who is rumored to have a strong sense of smell. the half-orc, who goes by the somewhat uncivilized name Gorbog, takes a whiff of the Shoanti, the pile of clothing, and the victim, giving his observation. "It smells funny, alright. The murdered man smells up the clothes, but there's something odd about the vic. He smells like he's got a scent of wolf on him."

The mention of 'no memories other than dreams' jogs a memory of your own. It's possible that if he was afflicted, that without sufficiently strong will the afflicted lycanthrope likely wouldn't recall their own actions.

Kundal relaxes slightly, and with a nod, moves away from the doorframe. In his room, besides his bed are the ruins of bloody clothing, too much blood for it to have come from the Shoanti and still allow him to live without magical healing, and you see no indications of wounds on his body now. The scraps of clothing also appear to be more torn than cut by blade or claw.

To be clear, so far, you haven't seen anything to suggest that he isn't a lycanthrope.

The combined efforts at diplomacy seem to get through to the man, as he slumps down a bit. "The last night... I awoke here. I do not know what came to pass, or how blood came here, but I woke up covered in it." He looks up earnestly. "This is the truth. These dreams of red... they cannot be real." He glances at his sword, which does not appear to have blood on it. "This blade is the sword of my forefathers, and it would break if it was bathed in the blood not shed in defense" he mutters resolutely.

The man glances around, deciding to lower his guard slightly. "Kundal. I have come from distant lands, seeking to test myself and my blade against this untamed land. And witnesses? What are these witnesses you speak of?"

Not for the last time, he glances at one of the shuttered windows, visibly debating if he should go for one, clutching his sword nervously. "I have done nothing wrong. You seem to have strange behaviors, even for your uncultured ways."

The man glances around, deciding to lower his guard slightly. "Kundal. I have come from distant lands, seeking to test myself and my blade against this untamed land. And witnesses? What are these witnesses you speak of?"

Not for the last time, he glances at one of the shuttered windows, visibly debating if he should go for one.

He looks at you suspiciously, still holding his sword warily. "I do not know an Osgrove, though I know of a tavern I was in last night. I do not recall much of the night, though. It is a bit of a blur... too much to drink, I think."

He seems to be honest that he doesn't recall much, though clearly he is on edge.

He glares at the group, maintaining a grip on his sword, as his shoulders dip a bit. With a peppering for more curses, he mutters, "Come in, but keep your hands off your weapons..." He seems to have no compunction as he slides back from the door, his gripping his greatsword.

You open the door to a small house, three "rooms" barely divided by thin walls. The "main" room holds a few crude furnishings: a trio of wooden stools with ale steins on the floor beside them. Attached there is a small kitchen area, that doesn't look like it's been cleaned in a few days, with a small woodburning fire and kettle, and a small table with chair.

In the back of the room, there is what appears to be a bedroom, though it's currently poorly visible with the Shoanti standing in front of it. He blinks his reddened eyes, muttering, "What do you want? Talk fast."

The barbarian glares at Emil with bloodshot eyes, muttering in Varisian in what can only be taken as a curse.

He doesn't seem very helpful at this point, though you can force the issue. Or try a different tact.

I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but I haven't been able to see the My Campaigns tab in at least two days. I had to get here by posts by this username. Weird.

The shoanti clearly smells of alchohol, though more hungover than drunk. Maybe a bit tired, but the hangover clearly is contributing to his belligerence. He seems slightly aggressive, though he holds himself in check.

Emil moves to knock on the door, which probably sets an interesting precedent for a ruler, but is quite a statement. Luckily at this time of day there isn't much street traffic, otherwise it might draw more attention.

After Emil's initial knock, there is a moment of silence, and then a notable movement of a big humanoid muttering as they approach the door. The door opens a crack, and a Shoanti barbarian stares through, the blue of his facial tatoos contrasting with his red bloodshot eyes. He beligerently mutters, "Yeah? Whadya want?" It isn't clear if he recongnizes you, or if he is just naturally uncooperative.

The more sharp eyed of the party note that he holds the door with his left hand, and there is a slight glint of metal from behind the door, likely from a drawn sword."