Rogath Silvertarn's page

Most notably, I no longer have access to Paizo's forums while I am at the office, thanks to updated content filters. This was where I did the bulk of my GMing work for PbPs, since I don't have a lot of spare time at home.

That's what iPads and something like Evernote are for ;)

More seriously, I totally understand. On a much smaller scale, I more-or-less lived on the Rules forum until it got blocked at work, after which I cut back on it significantly, so I totally understand. It sucks, but it is what it is and forums don't pay the bills.

If, at some point, I'm able to pull things back together and get Quest for Arcadia back up and running I will. But that may be a long ways out, and I know some of you will move on to other things in the interim. This isn't the outcome I was hoping for when I tried to figure out a balance to my commitments, but it's the only one that leaves me sane(ish) and living at the end.

Sanity, life, and making a paycheck all come before gaming, so go do those things!

I expect to be here if/when you're back, no matter how long it takes, but I'll PM you my email address anyway. Even if I've stopped posting regularly, drop me a line and I might show back up.

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Before you go, though, what effect would drawing The Teamster have on Rogath? I've been waiting months to find out!

Rogath returns a wry smile to Dakún's skepticism, as if he's encountered this argument before. "Looking for omens around us all well and good, but how do you tell a true sign from one purely concidental? In the lands where Mineko and her followers called home, the Lady I worship is known as the Resplendent Goddess of Fortune. Anything - anything at all unusual - could be a sign of her favor. So how does one tell what's significant?" He gestures towards the deck. "We ask, and in this purest form of chance, She answers."

I'm technically still here too but under the thrall of the final round of RPGSS. Once that concludes ill be back to normal.

To be expected.

Go Rob, Rob! We're rooting for you.

I'm sure Rob is busy with RPGSS, but we're definitely stuck ourselves.

Rogath continues running his fingers through the beads in his dark beard, making a continuous light tink-ing noise as they bounce off each other. "Clearly, we are at a crossroads figuratively, as well as one literally. We have two choices ahead of us, and good reasons for each." He releases his beard and instead pulls out a now-familiar wooden container from his bag. "Let us ask the cards, and agree to be bound by their decision. If I draw a card of the body (hammers of strength, keys of finesse, or shields of endurance), then we shall journey towards the mine where workers presumably toil away. If I draw a card of the mind (books of learning, stars of divine guidance, or crowns of leaders), then we will turn aside to try and find the city where citizens gather and interact."

By this point, he has removed the cards from their box and is shuffling them together. "What say you?"

"I suppose it depends on what our goals are. If our purpose is to establish friendly contact, or whether friendly contact is possible, I would think the mine is a safer option. It's a smaller outpost, we have information relevant to them, and we don't look like a raiding party, since Dwunderbran is not with us. On the other hand," (he suits action to the words with a gesture) "if we wish to establish formal relations, or if we simply wish to see what can be seen, then a city with an authority would be the best bet."

"My inclination is for the mine, but there is validity in seeking out a city as well."

Rogath strokes his beard as he considers the road, causing the beads woven into it to clink together softly. "Either their source or their destination would be appropriate places to visit. I am sure that wherever they were going with their cargo, someone would have been expecting it. That being said, I think their source would be a better choice."

He motions off towards the north as he elaborates on his reasoning. "Off that way, we know we're looking for a source of sulfur, and we know that the unfortunate ones left fairly recently." Gesturing towards the other direction, he continues, "That way, we can only assume they would follow the road to the end, and there may be other settlements or turn offs before wherever their destination was, and we would have no way to know exactly where they were going. If Luck is with us, we would find the right destination, but even then, they may not know which two were on their way there. Whereas their source would know exactly who just left."

Having stated his case, the cleric looks up at the stars, then opines that continuing on tonight appeals to him.

Dotting. Sorry I fell behind - should be caught up and ready to post by tonight.

Rogath'll go. He'll always volunteer for the away team. Unless I'm unable to post for a while for some reason, of course.

This time, I'm preparing comprehend languages at least once, possibly twice. Maybe I'll get someone to help me make a scroll of it to be the second casting.

Did we get an estimate as to how long it would take to fix it?

Rogath nods to Dakún as he comes back down to meet with the others. "Aye, that is a very good point. Just because these are descended from those who did not seek the Sky when our ancestors did, does not mean they didn't do so at a later time." Looking around at the remnants of the bodies he adds, "There have been far too many burials lately, but I think it's time for two more. In such wide open land as this, it would only be Luck or the will of another god that we should stumble across their bodies. Until such time as we know more, we should treat them as kin and lay them to rest."

With a small smile for his fellow priest, who is clearly itching to do something productive, he adds, "And then we can take their wagon, and its cargo, with us when we go."

Rogath is one of the last to reach the wagon, as he was in the back of the group of dwarves at the time. He arrives just in time to catch Quint's final questions and the other leaders' answers. Thank you for that fortunately timed summary, my Lady.

As he gets within conversational distance of the others, he asks them "Can we tell where they came from? Even having a general direction that their mine may be in could provide us a point of contact." Always the explorer, he waves at the hill and continues, "Maybe there's a trail visible from up there. I'll go check it out before we go on."

As he passes the corpses (but not too close), he asks the Doctor "Is there any way to tell whether they were attacked fresh or as carrion? The other day, Dakún and I were talking about the importance of knowing what a creature may eat... and if these things want to eat live dwarves, that's a very different story from one where they'll only tear into already-dead bodies." He shakes his head sadly. "Not that either one is particularly pleasant."

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As far as skills, I can contribute Survival or Perception towards determining where they may have come from.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Perception (dazzled): 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (9) + 5 - 1 = 13

I'll also climb the hill and look around for any sort of signs of even occasional travel, assuming no reason not to comes up.

Somebody sabotage that plane, ASAP!

Does this snowstorm count? I can certainly provide lots of snow to delay the plane...

Sorry, I've been slipping. I totally meant to catch up on the gameplay thread and make a post today, but then I got distracted by RPG Superstar. I'll try for tomorrow...

Ooh I like Dwunderbran's ability. We should totally use that to train our soldiers. Free experience! Though at our level, it might be wise not to use it just yet..

I wonder if we could somehow capture them and use them as a sort of emergency defense once we get our fortress set up? Dwunderbran pisses off Nature, spawns 1d4+2 Advanced Shambling Mounds - they chase him into a trapped area, allowing us to capture them. We then find a way to rig a trap that frees them in the midst of attackers.

A very Dwarf Fortress way to do it.

Hmm. I want to say I'll take intense training, but I don't remember what type of bonus the +1 from the kraken was, and whether it'll stack with this one or not (as I'd like to increase my Int again)

Inherent bonuses may or may not stack. They're weird, since the usual way to get them is wish spells. Normally, they only stack if you cast the wishes in rapid succession.

As for me, I'll take the Harrow card of course, as I'm sure Rob expected.

1d54 ⇒ 43

Hmm. I know what Dwunderbran and I would have drawn using my usual methods, but that doesn't mean Rob's using the same ones, or say anything about what the associated ability is. I will say that I hope his card didn't go back into the deck before I drew mine, though. :p

I just realized that all my forum games hit a lull around the same time, at the same time that work was picking up, so I fell out of the habit of watching for updates.

I'm back now, or at least as back as I was. I don't know that I'd say I'll be all that active until after the holiday season, but I'll try my best.

Rogath nods to Quint's points as he makes them. "The only magic I know which may help only goes in one direction. It's the same as helped with the journal. Invoking it on a Strix as well would allow a conversation, but convincing them to do allow it may be hard without that conversation. It was not friendly." Rogath shakes his head.

Leaning back so he can look up at the stars, he continues musing. "Splitting up could be risky, if there is anyone or anything truly hostile around. But it will allow us to establish ourselves here that much faster, and that is probably more important. We have been lucky enough to not suffer a bad storm yet, but who knows when we will need a more permanent shelter?" He looks back down at the other dwarves around the fire. "Let us explore, and acquire the resources we need, and leave the birdmen for another day."

Sorry about vanishing. I've been completely overwhelmed with work in the run-up to Black Friday - much moreso than in previous years.

I haven't caught up on the gameplay thread yet, and probably won't until Sunday sometime, but I endorse the idea of a temporary settlement while we find the perfect location. However, I'd recommend against doing anything with the mountain hex until after the temporary settlement is established enough to be defendable. If there's just the one colony, we could find other mountains nearby by exploring north or south, and if they're everywhere, we should know that before we provoke them.

Huh. You know I never noticed that about comprehend languages. I'll think on that and get back after a little digging to see if a none else has used it in such a fashion.

I never noticed it before either. But I went to go double check as I posted, to see if there was any magical aid I could provide. Sorry if it kills the skill challenge, though :(

The remaining journal entries are ones abot what Quint can get taking a 10, so if anyone else can lend (via magic, etc) aid to him he'll need it.

Rogath's got a +6, but nothing special beyond that. So just the aid another bonus of +2.

Alternatively, if this falls under Comprehend Languages's "read otherwise incomprehensible written messages" ability, then Maven could have read the whole thing long before we got back. Rogath is going to start preparing that daily now, though...

Looking slightly shaken, Rogath speaks to his companions without taking his eyes off the bloody creature. "Well, it was worth a try, but my Lady is not smiling on us right now. I know a ritual I can ask Her for which will let me understand this creature, whatever it is, but without the ability to speak back, I'm not sure it'd help." He frowns, thinking. "One more thing to try, then I'm out of ideas."

Stepping forward again, he makes a gesture to himself and the other dwarves, then points back east towards the coastline and waits for a response. Then he repeats the procedure with each other direction - North, West, and South. Each time he waits to see how the bird-thing responds.

The carts only move as fast as what's pulling them, so no.

Also, I kept forgetting to re-link to the map:

Northeast Arcadia, scouted.

Which hex did we explore into and find the ruined mill?

Map is up here

Dang, it really is! Nice!

I'm wondering if you could do a few extra for me. I'll message you about it once I get a list of what I need.. for various campaigns. :P

So far, that's just been taken from what people have actually used (or at least what they've claimed to use). I haven't actually picked any associations myself.

That being said, I'd be happy to add any new ones you might need, and I can certainly try to pick languages to match them if you don't have them already.

In this game I've also used:

* Aklo - Greek

In Crusty's Ruins game I've used:
* Polyglot - Swahili
* Druidic - Welsh (haven't used yet, but planning to)

Thanks, I've added them (and organized the table).

Yay, I got a post up. And did some cataloging too! Languages are fun.

Guide to the setting's languages

Ah, yes yes. I feel that should probably be a thing, shouldn't it?

I've established a few in Reign of Winter and -- I believe Jelani can correct me if I miss any -- they are:

Sylvan - Irish
Infernal - Gujarati
Celestial - Tamil
Tian - Traditional Chinese
Minkan - Japanese
Taldan (Common) - English

Aquan came up too, but I forget what Jelani used for it.

Just wanted to come by and drop this link here, since the quoted post was the main source of content for it. If you've used any other languages since, just let me know and I'll add them. Enjoy!

<< Western Hills | Night | Clear Skies, Windy, Cool | Oathday, Arodus 7th, 4714 AR >>

Coming up behind the two leading dwarves, Rogath misses the bloody mess of flying goat. He just hears a meaty thud before he gets close enough to see what made the noise. And the... creature behind it.

Amazing wingspan, he thinks to himself, but I definitely don't want to get on its bad side, whatever it is. As he closes the distance, he listens to its warning, or threat, or challenge, and tries to translate for the others. "It wants us to do something. Or... not do something, I think." The Desnan frowns in concentration as he studies the creature and it's posture. "I think it's friendly, for the moment. Whatever it is. Or at least not hostile. But it's trying to tell us not to do something, and I think it'll be really angry if we do. Maybe it wants us not to hunt?" He shakes his head. "So many strange languages in this land. Perhaps, if Luck is with us, it speaks another we might recognize?"

Stepping forward, Rogath asks the strange creature a question in the lilting syllables of Celestial: "நீங்கள் வானங்கள் மொழியை பேச வேண்டும்?"

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Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Linguistics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

My week has been absolutely (and unexpectedly) swamped. I haven't made it home before 11pm yet this week...

Then combine that with what Quint said, which is quite applicable to my short amount of at-home time:

it's just as this is a more intensive game it's a little harder to force myself to sit down and respond when it takes me that much longer to come up with responses to everything. There's nothing wrong with the game I just lack the attention span sometimes when it's so much easier to open WoW and blow stuff up :p

Tonight, there's nothing that should keep me from getting home at a more reasonable time. Hopefully, nothing will come up out of the blue. I will get a post up tonight, even if it ends up being a three-sentence filler.

My apologies to Rob and the rest of the away team.

Turns out, I misremembered who swung the sword. Ignore everything below the line in that last post, and make the following substitution in the previous paragraph.

Gazing at it in the light of the rising sun, before his eyes begin to water from the brightness of the day, he contemplates The Bear. Strength. Pure strength, for good or for ill. His thoughts drift to the Vulgarbeard accompanying him, Hraggir's funeral and the most dramatic demonstration of Strength as a present ill omen he'd ever encountered. Lost in a memory of a time that seems so long ago, and yet less than a year past, he idly tucks the deck away, and returns to the fire where breakfast awaits.

Rogath: Twas not Dwunderbran who swung around the giant sword—doesn't even own a sword (unless you count the bastard sword we just found). I think that was another applicant.

Oh, whoops. Serves me right for not going back and checking. My notes just had that it happened, but not who. Turns out it was Rindovaan, who had a very similar icon.

I'll go make a correction post.

<< Expedition Team: Western Hills | Early Morning | Clear Skies, Cool| Oathday, Arodus 7th, 4714 AR >>

As the stars fade into the first faint light of day, Rogath can be found leaning against the monolith, gazing up at the sky. He pulls his cloak a little tighter around him against the pre-dawn chill of the stone at his back. Such an shame, to have come so far, only to have their hopes crushed so brutally. Lady Starsong, grant that our fate is not theirs, that our journey continues in safety, freedom and wonder, and that we will find the safe haven and resources that our people need to survive in this land. As the last stars disappear into the steadily brightening sky, the lone dwarf retrieves his prized deck of Harrow cards from his robes and draws a single card to presage the day.

1d54 ⇒ 2

Gazing at it in the light of the rising sun, before his eyes begin to water from the brightness of the day, he contemplates The Bear. Strength. Pure strength, for good or for ill. His thoughts drift to the Vulgarbeard accompanying him, and the most dramatic demonstration of Strength as a present ill omen he'd ever encountered. Lost in a memory of a time that seems so long ago, and yet less than a year past, he idly tucks the deck away, and returns to the fire where breakfast awaits.

-------------

Later in the day, as the dwarves are trekking through the trackless and apparently untouched wilderness, he finds occasion to approach Dwunderbran and walk along side him for a while. "So... I've been wondering. Back at Hraggir's funeral. What possessed you to start swinging your sword around like that?" Nothing in his manner indicates he finds it odd to be asking questions about an event eleven months past and an ocean away. He just trundles on, watching his companion more than his footing, although he occasionally glances around at the magnificent (but empty) views. "If you remember, that is."

I know I'm behind on posting. Sorry about that. Got swamped this week. Should have something up tonight.

Right now its up to you who wields it. The bastard sword isn't ideal for anyone on the exploration party right now at all (unless you find something that needs cold iron to penetrate DR). Feel free to divide it up however you want adn whoever keeps it please add it to your sheet so we know where it is.

It's not just a bastard sword. It's a bastard sword on the scale of a tall human, and we're dwarves. Sure we can wield it, but it's probably twice as tall as we are.

That being said, I'm not sure if Rogath would have taken it with him as a memento and remembrance, or would have left it next to the monolith.

Hills Expedition Team:

Why don't you give me a run-down of the things you'll plan on doing once you get TimmyRogath out of the well and I'll put together a synopsis and get you all moving again. Any specifics about how you want to inter the bodies, any kind of marker you want to make, etc. Also, if you plan on camping at the ruins of the mill tonight or push on a few more hours before settling down.

My vote is for burying the bodies at the foot of the stone marker that's already in place. Wherever we put them, as we bury them I'll relay what I found out from them as a narrative (with elaborations as necessary), including the name of the sword.

No opinion on moving on vs staying. It may be better to camp inside what walls remain, or it may be better to be out in the open.

<< Expedition Team: Western River | Early Evening | Clear Skies, Cool, Very Windy | Wealday, Arodus 6th, 4714 AR >>

"Aye, I'm ready to come up. But send down something to place these bones in first. They've been here a long time, and they deserve a better resting place." He places one hand on the rock wall, and speaks to the spirits in a lower voice. "You will be able to rest and move on soon. I'll see to it." Looking back up at his companions, he adds, "I'll tell you their tale as we lay them to rest. It is a sad story, but it will honor their memory to share it."

Rogath would certainly be willing (and able!) to help out once he gets back, although it's entirely possible you'll have to talk him out of attempting to divine the contents of the harder sections instead of deciphering them.

Er, wasn't there the parent and two child skeletons?

Rogath speaks a few more questions into the darkness and damp of the well bottom: "When did this happen - what year? And were there other settlers in the area, or were you alone? (And if so, "where?")"
Then, when he's done with them, or when they fall silent once more: "We will ensure you do not lay in this well any longer, this I promise you."

Turning his head up towards the sky he calls out, "Anyone still up there? Hello?"

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Knowledge (religion) to see if the description of bloody/missing eyes and teeth falling out matches any type of undead he knows. 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

I'll get another post up tonight with some more questions to ask of them, Rob. Sorry for my own absences, but it's been an absolutely crazy week.

As he focuses on listening for quiet taps, Rogath is oblivious to the quiet whispering of his companions peaking over the well. He continues the tedious, slow process of extracting information from the spirits.

Rob: Would you like a list of specific questions, or can I just say that I'm asking about who they were and what happened here?

For the expedition team (Dakun, Rogath, Dwun and Angrin) what is your plan with the well and your discoveries there? (The sword, the shield, the corpses.) Are you going to further investigate the spirits plight (that seems to be the case.)

My plan is to talk to the spirits for a while, then properly lay the bodies to rest somewhere in the area. At some point (no later than the laying to rest), I'll have the moment of inspiration Rogath needs to translate the runes on the sword and I'll share the translation. We'll probably spend the night in the quasi-shelter of the ruins, too. After that, I don't know, but I expect to take both the sword and shield with unless the spirits object.

Given that the spirits communicate very slowly (1d10 words per minute), do I need to roll checks for each question? Or does the one check just cover the whole conversation?

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All this assumes that Rogath manages to convince the others that he isn't crazy, and that the spirits don't start screaming again any time soon.

Rogath slowly looks up after getting the wind knocked out of him and releasing his almost reflexive blast of energy. It's not that the holy light was bright, per se, since it wasn't actually light. But positive energy has always felt to him like it should be shedding light, even if that meant it would hurt his dark-adjusted eyes and light him up like a beacon.

As he registers the quiet that has settled over the well as the screams cut off, he notices the faint knocking sounds that come from no visible source. They're still here? But... they're calmer. I wonder... "Can you hear me?" he asks, in something approximating a normal speaking voice. *click* "Can you understand me?" *click*

Dragging the stories about rapping spirits from his memory, Rogath sets about trying to establish some form of communication with the spirits that doesn't involve loud wails in foreign tongues.

"If you can understand me, knock two times." *click* *click*
"If you would recognize runes, knock three times."
"Hmm, ok. If you would recognize them as I spoke them, knock three times." *click* *click* *click*
"If you're the spirits of those who died in this well, knock twice quickly, then twice again slowly."*click**click*    *click*    *click*

By testing the spirit's ability to use different patterns, and his knowledge of the practices of some fortune tellers who use boards of letters and runes to receive their "messages from beyond", Rogath establishes something along those lines by scratching such a board on the wall with a sharp fishhook, and a system whereby he can call out a letter, and the spirits can tell him to move forward or back by various increments. He also adds a few common words to have their own click sequences. It's a very crude system, but it should work for as long as the spirits deign to communicate. To anyone looking down from above the well, it would likely look like Rogath had hit his head when the rope dropped, since he's pointing at a wall and reciting the alphabet over and over with odd skips. Rogath is entirely unaware of the impression this may give, though.

His soaking wet clothes are entirely forgotten in the process.

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Linguistics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Profession (fortune teller): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
The fishhook is part of the gear he always carries with him in his belt pouch. Not with this in mind, though

Quint Bonechisel wrote:

Hmm, that post seems familiar... did anyone else from here make it into Logem's Mythic game? :) (I'm Gi'chak if you're not aware).

Dakun is Ardeshir - Vulgarbeard (aka Kagehiro) is Thorgrim, and.. those are the only other two that joined my campaign from here. Though Nexander is in Rob's Ruins of Pathfinder: Reign of Winter as well as Dakun, Vulgarbeard, and myself. Mineko is also in that Reign of Winter one.

Small post-apocalyptic campaign world. :D

Aww, I missed the recruitment thread? Sad. Not entirely unexpected, but sad. Have fun over there!

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. And I, for one, didn't mind the long gap. It gave me time to post, amidst the rest of a very hectic week.

The knocking spirits sound fun! Is language a barrier, or can I assume they speak understand Common and/or are beyond language?

As Rogath secures his rope to his waist, he takes a moment to peer down into the well. "I have no fear if you dropping me, but I'm not sure the best way to go about recovering these bones for burial. Perhaps once I'm down there you can lower a cloth or bag of some sort that I can wrap them in?" He ponders for a moment, before looking back up. "I don't expect that they will bestir themselves while I'm down there, but if they do, I will trust to Lady Luck's favor and the strength of your arms. " To Angrin's question, he adds, "I know of the spell of which you speak, but She hasn't yet seen fit to instruct me in its mysteries. But then again, I have never had occasion to ask Her to do so. Perhaps tonight I will see if She will reveal them to me."

Taking hold of the rope, he climbs up onto the endge of the well and dangles his feet over. Queen of the North Star, protect me. He momentarily touches the birthmark on the bakc of his hand, and begins to climb down.

As the history of the scene plays out for Rogath, the well feels colder than he expected. The echoing sounds of his own breathing seem to come from all directions, the moss-slicked walls closer than he remembered. The glint of metal around one of the neck of the adult skeleton resembles a chain from a necklace, and in seeing that the Varisian dwarf leans in off of the rope for a closer look.

Then the walls begin screaming, and the rope begins falling into the well. A ten foot drop into water is not a huge one, even for a dwarf less than four feet tall. However, it is very unexpected, and he lands hard, with the breath knocked out of him. This turns what may have been a call for help or a curse into a barely coughed out "'esna". The lack of breath, however, does not prevent him from releasing a wave of positive energy which briefly fills the well with holy light instead of the more usual water.

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Channel energy to harm undead: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11

Rogath traded in for SR instead of the save bonus, but clerics just win at Will saves even without it. Reflex on the other hand...

Edit (x2): Just realized I didn't up my save update anything on my sheet after adding the Kraken-stat. I did it in Hero Lab, but I apparently failed to copy it into my profile.

<< Expedition Team: Western River | Early Evening | Clear Skies, Cool, Very Windy | Wealday, Arodus 6th, 4714 AR >>

Rogath closely watches Dakún as the small squad of dwarves approach the ruined buildings and pauses when signaled. Clearly this place was abandoned, but why? I hope that it is not because of the secrets that the Mute Hag warned against, he thinks, as he gazes out across the deserted fields. Once the all clear is given and they move forward, he voices this thought more succinctly: "A lone farm in the middle of the wilderness. Where did they come from? Where did they go? And what made them leave?"

As the explorers spread out, his attention is caught by the large monolith, towering almost twice his height above the ground, and covered by the remains of strange pictures. It's clearly of significance, but why, and to whom? The questions keep piling up, with no answers in sight.

Then Dakún pulls a rune-covered sword from the mud, which pulls Rogath's attention away from the inscrutable monolith. Taking it as it's passed around, his brow furrows. "This looks familiar. I've seen the runes used this way before. But where..." He tries sounding out the gibberish, trying different intonations and ways of enunciating, before shaking his head. "I know I've heard that language before, whatever it is. Let me think about it, and if I'm lucky, something will jog my memory."

Moving to the well, he gazes down at the remains. "I guess that answers where they went. Or at least where some of them went. I wonder what killed them? If someone lowers me down there, I can try to find out. Not that there's much left to examine. I doubt they all decided to drown themselves, so there may be marks of some sort left behind. Lets finish looking around while we have light, though."

Continuing on into the farmhouse, one of the last rays of sun catches his eye as it glints off something under the floorboards. "Ouch!" he exclaims, clapping a hand over his eye briefly, before shaking it off and moving out of the reflected light to peer under the floor. As Dakún and the others look up from the burrows, he points down and says, "There's something under there - do you think we can get some of these boards up without disturbing the animals?"

With some effort, the four manage to break off enough pieces of the floor to reach the well-crafted but tarnished shield. He nods to Dakún's thoughts. "Aye, that must be them in the well. But who killed them? Were they trespassing on someone's land? Or was it some monster wandering through?"

---------------

Perception (Taking 20): 20 + 5 = 25 Sorry to steal borrow the shield find from you, Dakún, but I figured it could use more elaboration.
Knowledge (local) (untrained) on the monolith: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Linguistics on the sword: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 Rob, jog Rogath's memory a bit?
Knowledge (local) (untrained) on the shield: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

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If no one posts any objections to sending Rogath down to examine the bodies, he will make a Heal check to see how they died.
Heal: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
If absolutely necessary, Rogath can pray for restore corpse and decompose corpse tomorrow, so as to examine the corpse as it was when it died, but he would very much prefer to not do that to the dead.

<< Expedition Team: Western Hills | Late Afternoon | Sunny, Cool, Very Windy | Wealday, Arodus 6th, 4714 AR >>

At first taken slightly aback by the other dwarf's silence, Rogath nevertheless pays close attention to the things being pointed out, and spends some time observing them.

Later, when Dakún brings it back up, it is the fortune teller's turn to be silent, as he considers the instruction. After a few moments of thought, he says "You may be trying to learn the land, but you are much more knowledgeable about how to do so than I am. I knew that seagulls could tell you about land you couldn't see, so I suppose it makes sense that seeing other birds in the sky would tell one about their preferred lands, but I'd never have made that connection myself." Shading his eyes by putting his whole hand over them and splitting his fingers to look through, he looks up at the sky. "Admittedly, I don't spend much time looking up during the day. The stars are much more beautiful, and less painful to look at. I will look forward to this dense forest, if we manage to reach it before we turn back."

Motioning over to the wheel, he changes the subject. "Do you think we should we look for the settlement these may have come from? We can circle the area for a while, see if we find anything that would show us where it was. If Luck is kind to us, we'll find it quickly, and it would tell us far more than these old stones can. Especially if it's still there."

<< Expedition Team: Western Hills | Late Afternoon | Sunny, Cool, Very Windy | Wealday, Arodus 6th, 4714 AR >>

As with Angrin and Dakún, Rogath was intrigued by the discovery of the stones. "Civilization! Or at least intelligent creatures. Or at least, the remnants thereof. I wonder what happened to the carvers?" He nods to the sand dwarf's warning. "Aye, the stones may have been left out here to be forgotten, but that doesn't mean that the people who left them here aren't still in the area. Still, this seems like a very odd place to just toss something when it isn't useful. It's not like there's anything here. Why not over there? Or at the base of that other hill?" The fortuneteller seems to be having a problem with the concept of "middle of nowhere". "Maybe they were used close to here? We should look around. There may be the rest of the mill nearby."

Not that there's much in the way of distinguishing marks, but he does sift through his mental notes to see if they match any particular style of carving he's heard of.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 5 - 1 = 9 +2 with stonecutting bonus, if applicable
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 +2 if it relates to dwarves or their enemies

Robert Brookes wrote:

People Exploring: Let me know when you're done investigating the ruins and I'll move you ahead to the next part of the day.

I'm working on my exploration post now. Hopefully it'll be up tonight, or tomorrow morning.

Well, there's part of it. Rogath is turning out to be a much more jovial character than I originally envisioned. Maybe it's the "where no dwarf has gone before" thing. Isn't it weird how characters take on their own personality?