Mike Tuholski's page

Back at the mansion, Jorgan solemnly walks into one of the spare room without a word and without meeting anyone's eyes.

Some time passes without sound but gradually you hear what sounds like moaning from within the room, which grows into a low growl that you recognize as Jorgan's voice, muttering a rhythmic mantra in Dwarven. As his voice grows a bit louder, a soft light begins to escape from beneath the door.

The chanting stops with a half but the light only grows brighter, like a thousand candles lighting one after another until the door nearly glows with the light escaping from the bottom.

A few clunks are heard, as of something knocking on the wooden floor of the room. A few more clunks sound within the room until you recognize it as the familiar sound of hoof-steps.

Suddenly the door is thrown open and Jorgan is standing within the opening, his eyes sunken, his face haggard, and his shoulders slumped. However, glowing radiantly behind the dwarf in a coat of magnificently white hair is Jorgan's friend and companion, Spirit, sent from Gozreh himself to accompany the dwarf on this mission.

"It's done." Jorgan says as he slumps against the door frame.

Jorgan takes a negative level for that but Spirit is back!

Well, our family has been farming for generations since before my great-grandparents moved over from Poland so there's a lot going on. Let the novel commence.

We have a 6000+ acre grain farm that grows popcorn, field corn, and soybeans. We used to grow seed corn but have gotten out of that. We also used to be primarily a dairy farm until 2000 when we either had to double our herd or get out so we decided to get out and focus on grain instead. We still used the pasture ground to raise about 200 heifers for another nearby dairy though. This is all run by my dad, two uncles, and two cousins, with me helping out part time (really full time in the summer when I'm not teaching).

And then on our personal homestead we just started this year with what I would consider just a freaking huge garden (a couple hundred pepper plants, a few dozen watermelons, for example). We've been taking all that to the local farmers' market on Saturdays and have been successful enough to afford a fairly large greenhouse that I've been building a few hours at a time here and there.

Next year we plan to put out over an acre of vegetables (so I think we've surpassed the 'garden' term) and start a CSA ("Community Supported Agriculture") subscription service. It'll be similar to Blue Apron or one of those services, but more like a "Vegetable of the Week" club or something. Pay $X up front at the beginning of the season to help us buy seeds, irrigation supplies, etc, and we deliver to you a box of fresh produce every week until the end of the season. And it'll include recipes and tips on how to use things that aren't so common (like turnips, for example); part of the appeal is to get you to try new foods you've never had before or at least cook them in a different way. My wife teaches Nutrition and Wellness and loves to cook so I do the growing and she does the marketing for that type of stuff.

We're also expanding into pork next year. We'll be selling half- and whole-hogs directly to consumers with customized butchering available. We were going to start that this year but just got too busy. We might also be taking some of our pork products to the farmers' market too but there's already two pork people in that small market so we'll see about that.

Oh, and we're getting laying chickens.

And if the CSA subscriptions work out next year, we'll potentially add some hydroponics or aquaponics systems to our greenhouse to grow certain crops (like lettuce) all-year round so we can offer a service through the winter as well (like a fresh-salad-every-week type of subscription service).

The TL;DR is that this whole homestead/direct-to-consumer thing is totally new and different for us and there's a lot going on but honestly I like this type of farming better than the large grain farming the previous generation has been doing. I've always been a gardener and there's a lot of room for expansion for this type of thing in the local market.

We don't update the website often but feel free to follow us on Facebook to keep up-to-date if you don't mind the weekly "We're here at the market!" posts every Saturday during the market season. Only two more weeks of that though. I promise we don't post too often.

Yeah, I think Jorgan's totals are off too. Maybe the temp hp weren't counted or something? Too late for me to do the math right now.

@Wren: Unfortunately Wren chose to adventure with dwarves so the logical approach is not always taken, haha....

"Seems we're gonna face the risk one way or another. I'd rather just get it over with." Jorgan says with a shrug. "I say we just keep moving if we've got a line to the top. Let's see where this leads at least."

Spirit stomps forward and Jorgan angrily stabs at the manbearpig shouting back to Wren, "I'M THE BLOODY STABLEMASTER, YA IDYIT! The halfling don't know the first thing bout animals!"

heartspit: 1d20 + 19 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 19 + 2 + 2 = 27
damage: 2d8 + 18 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (7, 3) + 18 + 2 + (5, 2) = 37

heartspit: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 11 + 2 + 2 = 17
damage: 2d8 + 18 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 18 + 2 + (4, 2) = 31

heartspit: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 + 2 = 13
damage: 2d8 + 18 + 2 + 2d6 ⇒ (6, 5) + 18 + 2 + (3, 1) = 35

gore: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16
damage: 2d8 + 22 ⇒ (3, 3) + 22 = 28
Plus 1 bleed

gore: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
damage: 2d8 + 22 ⇒ (6, 3) + 22 = 31
Plus 1 bleed

Oh, I came back at a good time!

[Wayne's World time warp effects]

As Jorgan watches the crew battling scorpions from afar, he and Spirit try their best to catch up from 1000 feet away. I can't believe they went off without me! I don't know where my mind has gone!

Fade to next scene

Jorgan, his face bloodied by the golem, grits his teeth and wonders What's goin' on here? I'm losing my concentration! Like something's comin' in my mind....

Fade to next scene

Jorgan has stayed quiet, trying to work out the fog his mind has been in since storming the castle. He is so preoccupied to regain focus that he doesn't even see the attacks of the winged bear apes coming and takes another few hits. Damn! It's like... it's like when you're trying to talk to someone but you can overhear someone else talking across the room. And you just can't focus on that person at yer table anymore... no, you keep listening to the feller across the room, cause he's way more intrestin. Like yer mind just keeps wanderin...

Worried that something must be wrong with him, Jorgan decides not to bring these troubles up with the group and instead keeps them to himself.

[Wayne's World time warp effects], back to present time

Jorgan takes a step back as the spirit appears, raising the mattock in a defensive posture. He does a double-take upon noticing the familiar religious accouterments on the giant and lowers the mattock. As the visions pass through the room, the fog in Jorgan's mind slowly lifts. "Of course!" Jorgan exclaims as he turns to Renfal. "It was you! You, tryin' to get my attention, drawin' us here! I could sense... well, somethin'. It's the brotherly bond, I spose." He motions to Spirit and the ram's curiously intelligent eyes. "A gift from Gozreh hisself, you'll notice."

Jorgan bows his head. "Jorgan Steelkeg, at yer service, High Priest Renfal. Just tell me how to defeat this Tyrant and I'll help put you to rest."

Hey all! Just checking in.

Last day of school was last Friday and I should be finished planting beans in the next few days. I see I've missed quite a bit but hopefully by the end of the week I can jump back in and you guys can catch me back up.

Thanks and I'll see you all soon!

"Wait! He's Master of Stables? Really? This is why people don't like you, Wren. Tonedeaf is the word, right Spirit?" Jorgan pats his goat on the flank and then climbs up. "Well, whatever. Let's just keep moving."

Ugh, this website is terrible. It either hasn't been working at all or it keeps logging me out and then I think there are no new posts because it doesn't say (new) next to my campaigns.

At mentions of a roc mount, Jorgan's eyes widen and take on a sparkle as he grins uncontrollably. "A new pet? Can we keep 'im?" He instinctively looks to Wren as the party member most likely to shoot down his enthusiasm for a new animal in the group.

"Gee, Farin, if we find this roc I'll help you train 'im up real nice. Always wanted a pet bird. I imagine he won't mind a little fella like you riding on his, not nearly as much as a giant, har har! Yep, I'll get you flying around on that thing in no time."

After coming down from his excitement, Jorgan remounts Spirit and suggests, "Well, I'm ready to keep moving. Let's follow that northern tunnel and check out the first room. Kray, you want to lead the way?"

Gwydion does not exactly exhibit the strength and power normally associated with an ogre, but he is quick and his mental discipline shows through during the training. He stays focused and does not become discouraged when his bigger companions best him in a spar. Soon enough his black-and-white robes are flowing about with grace as his small bare feet stomp and kick.

You would think most parents would want harder teachers. I mean as a kid I sure didn't but I know I would have appreciated it more later on in life.

Well, no one was concerned that I was too hard. They were just concerned that their kid wasn't doing well in my class.

Most of the parents who came in had the type of kids who got all or mostly As in middle school without really trying and now they're getting a B-C in my class. I just reassured them that, first of all, a lot of kids are in the same situation. Kids at that age (freshman, so 14-15) just haven't learned how to study yet or prepare for a test because they probably haven't needed and have gotten by on their natural intelligence. But we cover so much material in my two bio classes and the tests are so tough that no one really gets an A on all the tests unless they've put in at least a little time studying their notes and looking over the book on their own time.

So I gave the parents a few tips to make sure their kid is taking and studying their notes (they get fill-in-the-blank notes to follow along with during lecture) and I reminded the parents of a few things like test retakes, which are allowed but only a few students have actually taken advantage of. Especially after hearing that last bit, the parents felt a lot better and were ready to go home and whip their kids into shape and I've had a few more kids than usual asking me about test retakes this week, haha!

And yeah, even if the kids don't like that I'm the hard teacher (although really none of them complain to me, I just know I've got that reputation already) I'd much rather be the tough teacher that actually teaches you things than the blowoff teacher who just wastes your time. It might be fun when you're a kid but some day you'll probably wish you'd actually learned something in that class.

Yak is fine, thanks! First round of parent-teacher conferences were this week. I survived! But Biology is the hardest class for most freshman and apparently I'm the hardest biology teacher so I had a lot of concerned parents, haha....

the elf yet lives.

Despite the dwarves' best efforts at inducing hypertension.

---

Good to hear from you, Tek! I'm a lot quieter on the boards than I have been. Still sticking with this game but haven't picked up any new ones in a long time. Busy farming, then teaching. Just not enough time for PbP any more. I'll let you know next time we're down in Bloomington to see if you can make it. That would be pretty awesome; long time, no see.

"Too late now," Jorgan responds to Wren as he lets off a troublingly long flatus.

Jorgan turns to the doppleorc and says, "Well, them orcs have been through enough as far as I'm concerned. I don't think they need to risk their lives any more unless they're willing. I think we just show them the way out and if they want to cause havoc on the way, all the better."

Jorgan wanders into one of the room and you hear a distant shout of, "I call top bunk!" followed the sounds of excessive dwarf-movement and then a terrible splintering crash. Jorgan's voice comes echoing in from the room, "Well... I'll just take the whole bunk I guess. Sorry, Wren!"

Thanks for the bot! Phew, this first week of teaching has been stressful and hectic. Character info is above; no day job for Gwydion.

I'll be out for the weekend visiting my brother. Please bot as needed. See you all when I get back!

Ok, news time:

I've been back in Indiana working on the family farm for a few months now but unfortunately it's only been "part time". Of course, on a farm this means I was still working 50-60 hours per week but I'm paid by the hour and I don't have benefits, so I've been making about 2/3 as much as my salaried cousins (probably 1/2 as much if you take out how much I'm paying for market insurance).

So I've been looking for a more secure job with benefits but nothing had come up yet and my aunt (who is the director of special ed) happened to mention me and my background to the high school principle. He called me as soon as she left his office (she didn't even have time to call and warn me) because by total coincidence they just had a biology teacher retire the day before and were in desperate need to find one before the end of the month, as school starts on August 11.

Anyways, I just had my interview (with my former high school genetics teacher) and it looks like I will be teaching the freshman biology courses at the high school this year! Unfortunately because I'm the new guy they're also giving me the "learning community" classes this year (the classes for the students who struggled in middle school) and as I have no background in education I think this will be quite a challenge for me but nonetheless I'm pretty excited that this opportunity just sort of fell into my lap. And they reassured me that I won't have to have the learning community classes forever, which would be nice.

"Someone musta fed this pig alchemist fire, 'cause its farts r' steamy!"

"Why do you think we don't let you do the cooking, eh? We'd all be steaming out our arses every night!"

There's a Gwyneth Paltrow joke in here somewhere....

Weapon? I'm a wizard! I don't take out such plebian things if I can avoid it. ;)

Falco backs away from the quasit (can't edit map atm) , takes out a scroll, and then covers the quasit in glitter so it can't disappear!

DC 13 Will against blindness for glitterdust from the scroll.

Edit: corrected! Syrak is right I think. Forgot it's not 1st level.

'nuff people say they know they cant believe,
Tien Xia, we have a bobsled team

Nudge, nudge: Falco always acts in the surprise round.

Sensing something coming, Falco quietly pulls out an oil of daylight.

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

---

On his turn after the baddies (as I may not be able to post tomorrow):

"Black elves! Three of them!" Dorvhan quickly casts a spell of Spiritual Starknife, and directs forward At green [dice=ATK]d20+9 for [dice=DMG]d8+2

Dorvhan feels a small halfling hand slap him in the arm. "Don't be so insensitive. The correct term is Mwangi Elf but that's besides the point because these are drow. Not all pointy-eared humanoids are alike, you know!"

Falco then smashes the bottle of daylight oil over the dwarf's shoulder.

Hey everyone!

1. Yes, I'm still around. I am just taking a break from GMing as I have moved back near my family to work on the family farm and for some crazy reason I moved back right before planting season so I've been working 50-60+ hours per week. I'll get back to GMing eventually though.

2. Check out the new link at the top GM Hmm put together with info about PbP Events and Conventions. Now you no longer need to search endlessly for dates and announcements about future events!

Heads up: Our internet at the old house in Madison is being shut off some time tomorrow and we are moving back to Indiana on Saturday but won't have internet in the new house until Tuesday at the earliest. Sorry in advance if I disappear for a while but I'll try to get back on as soon as I can.

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Karina delivers a blow that severs the amphisbaena's spine and renders it unconscious!

Kel then summons a writhing chain next to the medusa which wraps around her legs and pulls her to the ground, snapping at her face in the process!

Initiative:

1. Medusa (4 dmg, prone, shaken 4 rnds)
2. Jane, Kel, Anuum, and Karina

Jane and Anuum are up!

I'm not totally on hiatus, just not able to update as often as I used to right now as I'm living in Wisconsin but working in Indiana, which is making things a bit difficult traveling back and forth every 4-5 days.

I have had the same thoughts as everyone else about the spreadsheet links but wasn't sure what to do about it.

They used to serve a purpose back at the inception of the lodge because it was only for active GMs who were constantly recruiting for games or GMs who liked to have players vote for the next scenario and things like that. It actually prevented a lot of clutter in the threads because you could just check the spreadsheets for upcoming games. Unfortunately many of those GMs no longer run games or no longer use those spreadsheets.

I don't want to get rid of them completely in one fell swoop so I will move them to the long description of the campaign and put them behind a spoiler for now.

If someone sends me a list of the ones who are no longer active I'll clean those ones out though. And if it doesn't seem like even the active GMs are using them consistently I'll get rid of them completely. Personally, I still use mine but I always link to it in my recruitment posts anyways so having it linked at the top is a bit redundant.

Jorgan notices Wren's hesitations and says, "Jorgan! Torgan is the one in the bag!"

"And I'm trying to be careful with it! But look!" he moves the opening of the bag over so the elf can look inside.

12.5 hours in 16 degree weather but I'm checking in anyways! (You're welcome, Wren!)

Regarding healing: Wren mentioned briefly "raise yak" but Jorgan can cast raise animal companion at will now by taking a negative level for himself. So really we just need to worry about having some extra restorations around in case he has to use it.

I will figure out what I want to do with Jorgan's share later. I'll be back in Wisconsin by tomorrow afternoon so maybe then. It will most likely involve getting Spirit new armor and buffing Jorgan's AC as well. Or maybe a cloak of displacement...

Very awesome! And I am humbled to see my idea take such root in the community and to see the Flaxseed name live on into time immemorial on Golarion and beyond!

"Yes, poor Grim had aspirations of joining my show," Ali explains, following Karu into the Lodge, "but unfortunately the lead role was just too much for him. May he find his defining role in the afterlife!" The elegant and flamboyant magician pulls a multiclolored handkerchief from his sleeve and dabs at his eyes, then pulls a bit more to elongate the handkerchief, handing some down to Joesef. Looking around, he keeps pulling and pulling until there is enough handkerchief for anyone who needs some.

I understand your decision. I have really enjoyed this AP and I'll be sad to see it go but I could use a decrease in my games as well. I was away at a con this weekend but I feel like I've been struggling to push this game along for a while with not much interaction so it's probably time to just put it to rest.

Thanks for all the hard work, GM and thanks for taking over when our first GM disappeared. We appreciate the effort and it was fun while it lasted!

Luckily, despite the philosophical and religious disagreements, the party works quite well together in navigating the wilderness towards Starwatcher Tor.

Atop a high hill choked with tough grasses stands an enormous vine-covered ruin of granite blocks; this is all that remains of Starwatcher Tor. The upper levels of the ruin are collapsed, exposing a balcony upon which a shining ivory sphere is plainly visible. A narrow path between the tumbled blocks leads into the ruin. The sound of steady pounding, as of metal on stone, rings from deep within the structure.

As you round a bend in the path, you can see two creatures lurking near the boulders ahead: a large cobra and a six-headed snake-like beast!

And the other is just a large cobra, nothing really special other than the obvious poison.

Initiative:

1. Anuum, Karina, Jane, and Kel
2. Why did it have to be snakes?

You guys are up!

Jorgan takes another hit to the chest and snarls, "Ok, you've got me angry now!" He and Spirit then charge in, trying to trample down the giant.

Improved Overrun from Spirit. First time used!
overrun: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (3) + 20 = 23

Booo... I guess that means Jorgan and Spirit are stuck in the hallway behind Torgan. Now we're the ones bottled up....

"Good thinking, Steve." Zadok says as he walks with Giri to the door.

"Yes, and I am Mark!" Zadok calls out, "Mark of the Thomson clan, an elven traveler and companion of Steve! We seek shelter!"

Hate to do this when we're just getting starting, but:

From Thursday 12 - Monday 16 I will be traveling. Hopefully I'll still be able to post a couple times during that interval but just wanted to warn everyone in case I'm (much) slower than usual.

We've got a busy extended weekend moving a truckload of stuff to our new house, cleaning it up, and getting all the walls and ceiling painted. And there's no internet there yet so to update I have to go elsewhere because I really hate using Paizo's site via phone or tablet.

Thanks!

So preoccupied with your own quest to locate and defeat the Runelord Karzoug before his dramatic and terrible rise to power and the reinstatement of his ancient empire, it is only upon returning to Sandpoint and settling down that you hear about another ancient threat that was only recently defeated just off the coast of Magnimar. And indeed, the Pathfinders who accomplished the task are the very same who took an interest in your growing fame. It seems they were following a parallel path to locate seven fragments of the ancient Sihedron, not only in the name of historical research but also to prevent the powerful artifacts from falling into the wrong hands. And although Empire Xin, ruler and master of the Runelords, attempted his own resurrection and global takeover, luckily the Pathfinders were able to deal with the threat. And thanks to the Saviors of Sandpoint, they did not also have to fight two fronts against both Xin and Karzoug.

So now with two ancient forces put to rest for good, it seems that Golarion is once again at peace and with several more heroes to grace the history books: the Pathfinders Brelar, Bert, Argust, and Karnhousk and, of course, the Saviors of Sandpoint: Miana, Kufieno, Rissi, Seal, and Lucian!

Back from vacation!

"Hey... did we lose a dwarf last night?"[/b]

Seherab looks at the ground for a moment and then clears his throat. "Indeed we did. I was on watch when brother Teos came up behind me; he had already packed his things and I don't think he had slept at all. Signed that he had made a mistake in leaving the monastery so early, before his training was complete. He found his faith wavering in the face of so much undeath and senseless violence so he wished to return to the monastery lest he break his vow and lose his faith completely. I only nodded and let him go quietly; I thought it best that way."

How's that?

I won't take RyckyRych's spot if he wants it (he's a hoopy frood and is much fun), but if he declines I'll apply with my 13.2 Inquisitor. :-)

Bonus points for the reference. Proud I didn't even have to click the links.

This is just a reminder that I will be traveling a lot in December and unfortunately it is probably going to be a very rough posting month for me.

December 6-15: In Florida. First and last days (travel) I will not be able to update. In between I hope to have time every day but that will depend on my workload in the field (which should be pretty light most of the time actually).

December 22-31: In Hawaii with family. I will probably be unable to update the whole time I'm there and maybe for a day or two before and after as I have to travel to/from Indiana/Wisconsin as well.

Come January I should be a bit more stable, at least for a little while. I can't give any details yet but some time by April at the latest I might be going through a relocation and job/career change. This will of course temporarily disrupt my posting but I hope that after that I will be able to get back to a more steady routine with all of my PbP games.

GM Evil wrote:

As I said before, I haven't seen a conversation in the Lodge get messy. Every talk I've seen here has been civil and polite.

I quite agree.

As the owner/maintainer of the Flaxseed Lodge, I'll just say that I try to do as little moderating and policing as possible and so far I have not really had to do any. Everyone here is really great about keeping things civil and organized without me holding everyone's hands and I'm really proud of our community for that.

The Gameplay thread is supposed to be in-character and can include recruitment announcements but should be kept in-character as much as possible.

The Recruitment thread is strictly for recruitment.

The Discussion thread is for anything else. If that happens to be a political discussion, I see no reason to stop it as long as things stay civil. Frankly, there have been some (non-political) off-topic discussions that I didn't care about and didn't want to read... so I didn't read them. I just clicked on the little thing to get rid of the "(# new)" message. So even as the owner of the thread and the PbP Venture Agent I see no reason to stop a discussion as long as it's civil.

Carry on, everyone. You're doing a great job.

Ah yes the fresh scent of burning dino-orc and malt. I am reminded very clearly why I fear remorhaz. There was that one in that early PFS mod (atop the peak) that was my first GM - pc death.

Ah, that one. I gained an infamous reputation with that one in Bloomington after I accidentally killed my wife's wolf companion with the remorhaz. She actually cried about losing that wolf and I was jerk-of-the-month-year in the local lodge. :/

Naximarra wrote:

"I thought I mentioned subtlety..."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. But we are what we are. We can't deny our natures, can we, Dragon?"

As if to punctuate the point, Jorgan lets out a disturbingly long battle cry from his rear end. When finished, he looks up with a self-satisfied look and when he notices Wren and the dragon glaring at him, his face goes slack and he asks, "What were we talking about?"

---

"Collapse the mine?" Jorgan thinks on the plan. "I guess you're right, that'll mess them up. And like Kray said, even better if we can collapse it with a few still inside."

Jorgan looks down at his wounds, still unhealed. "I'm a bit beat up but I might have one more fight in me today if you wanna collapse that mine before we find someplace to hide and sleep."

Sorry, getting late for me so I'll try to catch up tomorrow. We're in the peak of pollination right now and a little short on help so I've been out in the heat all day. Might rain later this week and give me a day off though.

There's a new slide on the map link with a brief reminder of who each person is, although you can also come back to this post. Feel free to add notes about the people in the map link if you want though.

Temel gives you a brief overview of each of the guests and promises to formally introduce you at the events whenever you request it.

"First there is Cyran Androtus. No one really knows much about Cyran. He’s an elf; perhaps one of the longest lived devotees of the Prophecies. He is said to traffic outside of Golarion, supplying extraplanar factions with raw materials and facilitating negotiations among them. He possesses considerable magical abilities. If you can learn something from him, you’ll do better than most."

"Next is Irith Nomzamo. Can barely get close to that woman; what, with all the eccentric clothing she wears. If she speaks more than ten words a day, I’d be surprised. Can’t help but feel sorry for her though; Irith made a good run of ruling Alabastrine since the last bid, and now that trade looks to be on the upswing, her time as lord-councilor is running out. I’d be surprised if she manages to acquire more than a single district."

"Now Myrosype, she’s no prophet, nor does she even hail from
the Inner Sea. I have heard that she hails from the distant land of Iblydos. I hold no grudge against Myrosype, though I know your Society does. She’s always been pleasant in our interactions, and she has a reputation for always keeping up her end of a bargain. She has enough clout to have made her way into the bidding, and is poised to take the lion’s share of the districts if left unchecked."

"Vayde Petronax is a veteran to these affairs. He’s a damn skeleton of a man. Some say he adheres to the strictest tenures of the Prophecies when it comes to the consumption of food and drink. I can barely stand listening to his hoarse voice for more than a few minutes, but it’s clear the wizened elder of the Petronax family knows much about the city. After all, his family’s servants and soldiers have been working the streets since before High Prophet Kelldor enacted the bidding process."

"And, of course, there is me." Temel finishes with a smile. "What can I say about myself? I’m a devout follower of the Prophecies of Kalistrade. I only hope to carve out a single district, though I remain unsure if I possess the wealth to contend with the likes of Myrosype and the other attendees."

"I will be hosting the first round of bidding in my mansion on the waterfront of Lake Encarthan. I hope you will enjoy and I look forward to seeing you there."

With that Temel Passad gestures for the door to indicate that you are to leave so he can continue with his preparations.

And I'll give you a bit more time to prepare and make a plan before we jump into the first event.

And the rules for these events will be similar to Blakros Matrimony if you have played that, but a bit different. You can start the social encounter making a Recognize check. Making this gives you a bonus on your Discovery check, which can be used to discover their strengths, discover their weaknesses, or discover the skills necessary to influence them.

You can also just make an Influence check, although without doing some Discovery checks first you are left simply guessing what skill is required and thus you might waste your check if you guess poorly. (But you can still try an Influence check blind if you want.) Usually more than one successful Influence check is required to win over an NPC to your cause.

Sorry, family visiting this weekend and didn't get a chance to update yesterday.

Jorgan finishes his spell. Not wanting to show up Wren, he simply brings forth a giant shark which charges in from beyond. on yellow.

bite: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Jorgan himself them swims over a couple of feet to help finish the same one off.

Heartspit: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
damage: 2d6 + 11 ⇒ (4, 5) + 11 = 20

Oh, and if it's needed (only moved 5' but I think it's still a move action):
Swim: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

"Enough of this!" Atum bellows. "Faldoc, I'm going to break down this wall. Go in and disable the trap. Then I'll break down the next one and continue around. We'll find the exit door in one of the rooms. And if not we'll break our way out and what's left of the Decemvirate can fix it later."

Atum starts smashing walls with his adamantine weapon to speed up the exiting process.

Just a reminder that you don't need to announce in this thread that you have signed up on someone's spreadsheet. It tends to clutter the thread and make it harder for others to find the original announcement.

Ali waves his hand dismissively. "Animal acts are old-fashioned, my friend. So last season."

"Whales? In SPAAACE? Yes, that certainly sounds like drugs, my friend. Did you happen to take anything from this pouch? That's not tea, you know."

Ali is oblivious to Joesef pulling out his endless kerchief and assumes the sailors are applauding him and his wisdom. He takes a deep bow and comes up grinning, using a small cantrip to spell THE AMAZING ALI - TELL YOUR FRIENDS! in the air above his head.

The next day, Ali pulls the captain aside. "I seem to have misplaced my handkerchief. Well, handkerchiefs, really. If you find them aboard, please forward them to my home in Qadira, if it's not too much trouble. Thank you for the comfortable journey!"

Off the ship, Ali is tired before the short mile walk is even halfway done. "Where is this contact we're supposed to meet? I am famished! What say we stop for a bite? No? Fine, let's just get there then."

What if there is no audience... Joesef asks no one in particular as the magician has long since left the conversation.

"No audience?" Ali asks, legitimately confused. "But my dear boy, there is always an audience! Haha!" He pats Joesef on the head as if he were an unknowing toddler asking a silly question. "Why, even you yourself are an audience to your own magic. And an audience of one is the easiest to impress! Trust me on that, dear boy!"

Ali sleeps in far later than is decent. He stretches with an exaggerated yawn and spends the next hour walking about in a haze. When Joesef approaches him about learning magic, Ali simply takes a cursory glance at a few pages of the amateur wizard's spellbook, commenting, "You see, my boy, the first thing you need to do is throw this thing away!", making a gesture like he is going to throw it overboard. Clearly he meant to pull some impressive sleight-of-hand to hide the book but in the midst of the maneuver he drops the book on the deck with a loud fwack!

Ali looks down at the book with a frown, as if the book has insulted him somehow. "Well, that's what I did anyways. It's all about weaving a good story, setting a good environment, and letting the audience's imagination take over from there. If you're studying from a book, you're doing it wrong!" With a dramatic flourish, Ali turns away and walks over to the others.

"Did I hear mention of an octopus? Where exactly are we? And where are we heading? I'm afraid I had quite the long night last night and have gone and forgotten the mission."