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That's... kind of a fair assessment honestly, at least from my reading of the books. It's very, very railroady unless you're willing to put in a lot of work to make changes. So that might not be the best one to run if we're looking to be sure we pick something that will definitely get off the ground and keep us invested. I might be a little biased because I've never gotten to play a Mythos themed game long term without it dying out, even though I am a fan.
*Raises hand* I have to think about specifics. I kind of like the idea of Strange Aeons or Carrion Crown. I'd have to think about a third one. Also, I have a ton of APs in their entirety, including Strange Aeons, so I can send the PDFs for a lot of them if you're interested in running one you don't have.
Hmmmm, well, I have no particular problem with APs, and I like horror so I would absolutely be interested in playing Carrion Crown or Strange Aeons. I actually have old character concepts from both of them that I could tweak to function. I'm currently playing Reign of Winter, Kingmaker, and Runelords and I've GMed Jade Regent and Skull and Shackles before, so I've gone pretty in-depth with those before.
I'd be willing to give something else a shot. What were you thinking?
I kind of meant to get to this a while ago, but I wasn't sure exactly what to do. If we just want to let it rest, that's fine by me.
"Ah, yes." Nicholas only follows a small fragment of the conversation, but he at least has a general idea of what's going on. "Many of my skills aren't useful out in the wilderness, but I am quite good at killing things that are a threat to me and my allies." He tries his best to make it sound like an offer of friendship, not a threat.
Nicholas sighs and carefully adjusts his robes, allowing him quick access to his tattoos. Shadowtongue: "Why can't we ever go someplace nice? Perhaps it would have been smarter to just deal with the marsh giants."
"Do you know that particular language Unafe?" Nicholas asks quietly.
I think I might go with something flavorful and take Tenebrous Spell. It's a good enhancement for my shadow spells since I can apply it without casting at a higher spell slot.
"Weren't marsh giants on the list of things that might eat us if we run into one?" Nicholas asks rhetorically. "I suppose we don't really have a choice other than to find somewhere else then. And perhaps set an extra watch tonight in case they're lurking around."
Nicholas tears his foot free from another puddle of mud. "I am learning prestidigitation as soon as possible. Or getting a wand or it. And maybe endure elements too..." He's more than happy to find a place to rest. "I suggest we take the place to rest as it presents itself. Having a place to sleep that's not boggy seems like a luxury out here."
"There's nothing to be done about it I suppose." Nicholas sighs and shakes his head. Hopefully their next mission will be somewhere more... civilized. Or at least somewhere where all the wildlife doesn't want to eat him. "Thank you kindly for your service captain. We'll try to make it back alive."
"I'm not certain if we'll be able to recover much," Nicholas says. "So I can't promise much. But we do have some leftover gold to pay for a pickup. And having an departure route prepared could be useful."
"We are looking for something," Nicholas says. "Trying to scavenge one of the ruins." He intentionally leaves the details vague. The captain doesn't need to know the details of their mission right now.
"I'm almost more nervous that nothing happened at all..." Nicholas can't help looking over his shoulder as they're getting ready to leave the next morning. "But we should move before something does."
"I believe we have some extra coin, but we might draw more attention to ourselves if we suddenly flee the city. Perhaps we should set a watch and see if anyone comes to cause trouble."
"Agreed." Nicholas heads out with the rest of the group to go check on Captain Hormond.
"I actually agree at the moment. They'll be coming after us eventually no matter what, but they have far more resources than we do. It's far better for us to complete our mission as quickly as possible and get out of here with the prize. If we escape with the artifact, then they lose regardless of whether we confront them directly or not."
Nicholas scowls, remembering a bit about the creatures from his time in Nidal. "I agree. The court favors creatures summoned from the Plane of Shadows. If anyone called them to interfere, it's them. That means that they're on to us already though. They might have been waiting for us to arrive before making an attack. We'll have to proceed with extreme caution from here on out."
Nicholas smiles and gestures for the party to follow him a little bit of a distance from the crowd. "Salla and Ciervo are tracking two suspicious people who are possibly responsible for the fire. We should find someplace to wait for them where they'll find us but we'll be out of sight."
With the two sneaks heading off to track the suspicious locals, Nicholas steps forward to check on Hassan and Cai'nan. "Breath slowly," he advises, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "Very brave Cai'nan. Reckless, but brave. And effective, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. Perhaps we should find someplace to let you rest and have a short breather."
Secret Message to the Party: "We need to talk away in private. Quickly."
"Can you track them if we let them leave, or should we follow them?" Nicholas whispers to Salla as the fire brigade arrives. "I doubt their presence here is a coincidence."
Nicholas ponders for a moment, but can't remember where he's seen the odd people's eyes before.
Nicholas momentarily looks very grateful to be given something to do when he doesn't really have the spells to help with the flames. "It seems that it could be," he agrees, his eyes immediately following hers to the pair. "Perhaps we should get them back and keep an eye on them to make sure no one is hurt until the fire brigade gets here."
"Oh dear..." The building being destroyed not long after they left was far too convenient for him to believe it was a coincidence. He elects to let Unafe do the speaking for the moment, but reminds himself to try to learn a translation spell in the future if they're going to continue traveling this much.
"I believe that gives us enough time to make sure we don't have any other business in town. If no one has any objections, we'll see you tomorrow captain." Nicholas makes a note to purchase a dose of Alchemist's Kindness to make sure the sailor is functional when they head out. Once they leave the drunken captain to his night, Nicholas frowns slightly at Unafe's information. "We have until tomorrow to investigate, so I suggest we make the most of our time."
"We're heading north," Nicholas adds. "There's somewhere in the Sodden Lands that we need to go in a timely manner."
Nicholas chuckles. "We're looking for someone who can get us up river. We need to find something important and we're willing to offer gold to someone who can be relied on to get us there. And then we heard that you're skilled by in need of work. So I think we can reach a reasonable agreement."
"That's one way to do it," Nicholas says dryly, but he can't keep an amused smile off his face.
"I don't suppose anyone has a spell that can wake a drunk," Nicholas deadpans. "Or perhaps I should go buy a bottle of alchemist's kindness from the market." He goes over to the captain and touches his shoulder to see if he reacts.
"I don't like the idea of traveling unfamiliar waters without a guide in such a hostile area. But keeping it to few outsiders gives less chances for us to be exposed."
"I think I should have enough," Nicholas says. "I didn't exactly purchase much and I have the coin to spare on transport. Provided that the captain's rates are too extreme. But discretion is something that I'm willing to pay a little extra for."
Hey. Quick heads up. My sister is going away to college for the first time this weekend and the whole family is going with to help her move in. I'm leaving tomorrow morning and I should have internet, but my posting may be slower than usual until Sunday.
Nichalos carefully weaves an illusion over his body and alters the glamours covering his outfit. The black and silver robes shift to reddish brown and white, and taking a design more common in the Mwangi Expanse. He changes his face to that of a square jawed, shaven headed Mwangi man and his many tattoos change to angular tribal designs. "Better. Unless we have more planning to do, I suggest we also head down to the river and find someone who can rent us a boat." He also takes a moment to create a new tattoo on his arm in a peculiar design.
"I'll put on my disguise just before we go out. I have to use my own magic to change my appearance and it doesn't last as long, so I'd rather give myself as much time as possible." Nicholas follows Cai'nan up the ladder into the shop and smiles. "My, these are lovely. I couldn't keep much art back home, not properly at least. Maybe I should take one of these back with us. I'm sure it will liven up wherever I settle down."
Warp wood might be useful if we need to make repairs.
Travel by water is a good idea. We're likely to run into boggards, but it's not worse than anything else we could run into and it's faster.
"Quite nicely actually. Thank you. It seems like we're going to be walking into a war zone"
"I've been a paranoid spy all my life," Nicholas replies, equally dry. "But if they're close enough to overhear us here, we're doomed anyway, so there's no reason to beat around the bush. And I think I'm still suffering a little teleportation sickness." He turns his attention back to their contact. "Disguises are easy enough. Are there any other factions that we should be made aware of? We received a rundown in our briefing, but it seems it was incomplete, since we haven't heard of these Mzali before now. Also, a map of where the different tribes and factions are most concentrated would be extremely useful in avoiding trouble."
"Isn't there a book or something you're supposed to show the man?" Nicholas says, absently rubbing his eyes. "Ugh. Let's not travel like that again for as long as we can manage."
Nicholas's frown deepens. "They must really want the blade. Osir is a fanatic, even by Nidalese standards. He's also ancient and incredibly powerful, and has a taste for tea made from the souls of the dead. He's honestly a rather polite gentleman when he's not your enemy though."
"It sounds like the region is particularly treacherous. Not that the Sodden Lands have been a particularly happy place since the Eye formed. I wonder how many died in the initial collapse. And how many places like Namame's Tomb were lost when the kingdoms fell." Nicholas sighs and rubs his eyes. "Shadowcount? That's not good. Perhaps the first thing we should do when we arrive is try to get a better idea of the local conditions. It would be nice to know where the factions most likely to kill us and eat us are located."
Mind if I swap the rank I put in Sleight of Hand into Lore (Nidal)? I feel like Nicholas should be the guy who knows stuff about the country and the people in it.
"Well, I might not have a deep spiritual reason for going along other than really hating how the Umbral Court worships their lord, but I suppose I can't say no when there's that much on the line. And I won't see Dou-Bral move even further from the light by letting his greatest weapon return and cause more pain and suffering for everyone."
I'm good.
"I admit, I took a gamble that paid off when I hoped that my new... comrades would help me deal with the Court's enforcers. I'm willing to give it a try, but we still have... kinks to work out. But I have little else I can do right now, and the rest of my allies are on the run and in hiding with your friends anyway, so there's no reason for me not to take part." |
