Salomae Amsel's page

Still here, still doing well :)

I'll be here as well! Truth be told, having one less game to monitor for a short bit probably wouldn't be a bad thing for me either.

Still here and thanks Joe; hoping everything is okay!

No worries GM, hope things settle down and that your wife feels better soon!

And I'll still be that one person that won't quit with the noise-makers!

#cantstopwontstop

No worries GM; thanks for the update and I hope you can get your computer unborked!

Yuck! Stay warm!

Although willing (if a bit grudgingly) to slow down and see what was going on anyway, the issue suddenly becomes a lot more urge in Sal's eyes when Marcus talks of blood. She quickly hops down off of her horse and crouches down low as Marcus casts some protective magics over most of the group.

"I can't sense anything with Kaede's magic right now but I'll try and get a little closer and see what's going on. Someone might just be hurt but it might be something worse that we don't want to just stumble into," Sal advises.

Still crouching down low, she tries to quietly sneak forward until she can get a better view of what's going on.

Stealth: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

yeah, they totally won't come back as zombie horses...

Zorses? Hombies?

"Mother Hera, we're going to take some of the horses out," Sal calls out over her shoulder as she heads for the door. "That'll be a lot quicker than walking or bothering with a carriage. Don't worry, we'll take good care of them!"

Okay then, following the road around the hills and then cutting across the farmland sounds like the best - and hopefully least complicated - of the options to take.

Regarding the method of travel out to Misgivings I'd vote for horses if possible (since I'm assuming we can probably take them all or most of the way there) and as such, attempting to go as the crow flies.

Sense Motive (DC 24): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Even amid the seriousness of the situation Sal can't help but smile at Mother Hera.

She always seems to know just what to do and say. I wish I had that talent.

"Okay Mother Hera, you have our word. We'll be back with Tera before you know it."

At least, Sal hoped so.

She turns to Kaede and the rest. "Everyone got what they need? If so, let's get moving."

"Kaede's right," Sal nods, thankful for the Shelynite's backup. "You know Tera better than any of us - she wouldn't and won't hate you for any of this."
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Whoops, had a brain fart on that even after having read the relevant posts!

"R-right," Sal nods, a little startled by Ivan's change in demeanor. "Elizabeth, I'm so sorry, we can't stay - but you're in good hands and you'll be okay now. We'll bring Tera back and make sure whoever did this will pay!"

Oh Tera, why did you go along with it!?

"We don't know," Sal responds quietly. "When neither one of you turned up for breakfast this morning and we couldn't find you anywhere, we got worried. We were actually about to head out to look for you both when we spotted you in the alley under the woodpile."

She then hesitates and then adds, "Look, I can't go into it too much but we...we have reason to think that something might've happened to Aldern. Before this our plan was to head out to his old family home to see if we could find him. Tera knew that too, but...I don't know, I guess she thought maybe it was safer to go to that meeting without telling the rest of us."

"I don't know if that message was really from him or from someone posing as him," Sal continues, gently. "But I know you thought you were doing Tera a favor and you couldn't have known any different so don't blame yourself, okay? That's not going to help anything right now. You know we won't stop until we get Tera back - I promise!"

"Hey, whoa, it's okay," Sal tries to reassure the confused Elizabeth. "You've had a rough time but you'll be fine. We found you outside in a wood pile; I guess you'd been out there all night or close to it."

She waits for a few moments, giving time for her words to sink in and for Elizabeth to hopefully calm down just a little bit.

"Elizabeth, what's the last thing you remember? Can you tell us?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 19

"Right! I'll be right back!"

With that, Sal sprints back out of the kitchen and off towards the stables to catch Father Zantus. She resists calling out until she reaches the stable doors, so as to not worry or scare her fellow acolytes.

"Father Zantus! Are you in there? It's Elizabeth, we found her but she's hurt!"
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Sal can't make that check, sadly!

Sal likewise largely ignores the gawking as they work to help Elizabeth back to the cathedral, though she does shoot Ivan a thankful look as he attempts to quell some of the curiosity.

"Biscuits!" Sal hisses, though there's also a palpable sense of relief in her tone as well. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth, can you hear me?" she calls, gently shaking the injured woman's shoulder. Sal then looks up at the rest of her friends and Ivan.

"Come on, we need to get her back to the cathedral! Help me carry her!"

An ill, nauseous feeling rises up from Sal's stomach and she feels a tightening in her chest as her brain registers what her eyes are seeing.

"Over there...in the alley," she manages, trying to keep her voice calm and quiet. "I think there's something there."

She turns and slowly begins walking towards the alley to get a better look, desperately hoping that the foot and slipper don't belong to who she thinks they do.

"Yes," Sal nods. "All of Tera's usual gear and equipment was gone but it didn't look like Elizabeth had packed to go anywhere. Kaede thinks that maybe someone kidnapped Elizabeth so Tera would follow after them. I hope that's not true but...it makes sense," she admits with a worried, frustrated sigh. "It'd have been a good way to make sure Tera came out alone, without the rest of us."

Once Kaede is ready to go, Sal hustles her way out of the cathedral and out towards the gate where she expects the others to be. As she comes jogging up the hopeful expression that she'd been unconsciously wearing drops when she sees no sign of Tera nor Elizabeth.

"We're here! Sorry it took us so long; we went back to have another look in their room before we came out to meet you," Sal explains. "Did you find anything?"

"Well...I guess that could make sense but who would've grabbed Elizabeth?" Sal responds, looking troubled. "If it were the murderer or someone working for them then why go to that much trouble? They should've known that Tera and the rest...of us..."

Sal stops, looking sick.

"We all would've gone together. But if they wanted to get Tera to come alone..."

Straightening up, Sal shoulders her own pack and turns toward the door. "We need to go. And if you're wrong then I'll leave some money with Sister Hera too."

Slightly Earlier (Before Starting the Search)

Sal nods. "Yeah, I usually try to pack the night before so I don't feel so rushed in the morning." Then she shrugs. "Probably don't have to since my armor and weapons aren't quite as heavy to manage as yours but doing it that way makes me...feel better, I guess. It's relaxing, if that makes sense?"

"But anyway yes, let's go back and check their room before we leave," she continues with a nod of her head. "I didn't want to bother anything earlier, since I thought they might still be somewhere close. But now...well, at least they're both the forgiving sort."

Yes, actually, Sal will and she'll Take 20 if there's time for it.

Once she's finished helping Kaede and gotten her own gear packed, Sal returns to the room Tera and Elizabeth share. With a guilty sigh, she carefully begins to pick through things, looking for anything that seems amiss...

^Yeah, starting a separate thread or group or something would be best I think. Normally I'd suggest Facebook or a blog or something but that might be more trouble than some folks want to go to (not everyone uses FB) so maybe just a separate thread here on Paizo. And it actually works out since folks will be coming to the forums anyway to check their games :3

PbP Weight Loss Group Go? :3

(Nate definitely has some good advice about consulting your doctor - and if you don't have one, get one!)

^Hey, great job! :)

"Right, right, will do," Sal agrees, hurrying off with Kaede to help the woman with her armor as well as grab her own gear and supplies.

Sal shrugs helplessly and shakes her head.

"I don't know. I don't think so? Not anyone here in town, anyway. But look, what's Sheriff Hemlock told you about what's been going on around here? Because there's a little more to it but it's not something we should talk about while we're in earshot of other people."

"Well...not usually, but..." Sal hesitates, trying to decide how to best describe their friend. "Tera wears her heart on her sleeve, most of the time. If she's happy, you'll see it. If's she mad, you'll see it - maybe feel it too, if you're the one she's mad at. And if she feels sad or guilty about something...you'll see that too."

"We're not as close with Elizabeth but the two of them are a pair of tricksters when they're together," Sal continues as she also moves to follow Kaede. "And Elizabeth's pretty stubborn, too. If Tera did sneak out...I could see Elizabeth threatening to tell unless she got to come along, too."

"I really hope not, but....after everything we've learned I wouldn't put it past her," Sal admits, reluctantly. She didn't really want to go into the details now, while they were all still in the dining hall and could be overheard by their fellow acolytes. "It'd be just like her to sneak out, thinking she'd be sparing us the trouble..."

Or thinking she deserved it.

"I think you're right Marcus, we'd better ask around and see if anyone's seen either of them!"
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From just the cursory look around the room could Sal tell if Tera and/or Elizabeth's belongings were missing, like they'd packed to go somewhere?

That's...really strange...

Now a little more worried, Sal carefully eyeballs the room for any further clues as to where the two women might've gone...

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

...before hurrying back to the others.

"She's not in her room - neither one of them are," Sal reports, trying to keep her voice steady. "Both their beds are made and it looks like Elizabeth's has been sat on since then but there's no other sign of either of them."

"Oh...that's right, you're not from around here. Tera's one of us - one of the Marked," Sal explains. "And our friend. Elizabeth is one of the acolytes that lives here; she and Tera are really close."

Not immediately spotting Elizabeth anywhere in the dining hall, Sal pushes her chair back from the table and stands up. "I'll go check on her really quick. Be back in a minute!"

And so Sal makes her way from the dining hall through the Cathedral until she's standing outside Tera's door. Raising her hand, she knocks gently.

"Hey...Tera? Are you in there?"

Sal chokes a little bit when Ivan offers a rather different take on Lord Kaijitsu's manner of death but thankfully Kaede's able to quickly correct him on the matter.

"Yeah, what Kaede said," she finally manages to say after some hacking and coughing. "And that's a good question, where is Tera? Usually she's one of the earliest ones here. But she might not be feeling well, with everything that's happened and all."

She begins scanning the dining hall. "Elizabeth would probably know, anyone see her?"

^True! And I've slowly gotten better at recognizing that when this sort of writer's block/posting apathy hits, it's usually a sign I need to take a breather for a day or two and go fire up a video game or do something else that's fun but isn't PbP.

Sorry guys, my mind has been rebelling a bit when it comes to trying to post (for PbP in general) the last few days - hopefully just a combination of work + holiday focus. I'll try and at least get a few items posted here in Discussion later that Sal might want to pick up later, if I have a quiet moment at work.

Definitely seems more seasoned than most of the sheriff's men.

"Yeah, have a seat," Sal agrees, grabbing her plate and scooting over to make some room at the table. "There's plenty left if you've not had any breakfast yet. I'm Salomae but most people just call me Sal," she continues, sticking her hand out for a shake.

Aw, thanks! I will; I'll still get to hit most of the usual family gatherings. The shindig with my FiL's family will be early afternoon on Christmas Eve so I can hit that before heading to work and then the shindig at my parents' will be around 8p Christmas Night. The only thing I'll miss out on is the gathering with my MiL's family in Nashville during the day on Christmas Day and they completely understand.

And it helps that after working Christmas Eve I get four nights off :)

Huzzah! Shopping is done, cards are mostly done, still got a little last-minute crafting and baking to do which I'll have to get done tomorrow since I'm working tonight and then Sunday & Monday night.

Hokay, found the relevant post about the money and the split here. So if anyone has anything they want to buy, it looks like everyone gets 820 gp to spend on top of anything else they might already have.

I'm guessing we're probably good to transition to the next morning; maybe anything anyone wants to buy can just be handled over in Discussion? I'll try to go back in a bit and find the exact amount of cash Sal & Tera got for selling all that stuff so we know how much we have to spend.

"I think we should still have most of our basic equipment from that business with the goblins - at least I do, anyway. Haven't needed to go out of town very much since then," Sal shrugs. "Probably things like rope, tents, and some rations - in case we can't come back to town quickly."

"That's fine, just figured we'd ask. Um...unless Tera or Kaede or someone's thought of anything that I've forgot, we'll let you get back to work," Sal nods. She glances up at the sky, frowning.

"It's getting too late to do much shopping now. Let's figure out what we need, if anything, and then get some rest," she suggests. "If we might be tangling with more ghouls then holy water and maybe antiplague would be a good idea."

"Dolkov? Sounds foreign."

Turning to Tera, she adds, "If he's not out somewhere like the Rusty Dragon then he's probably staying at the barracks...right Sheriff?"
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No real questions at the moment that pertain to the case at hand. Do we want to pick up any extra supplies for the trip out? Even if we don't do it tonight we'd probably have time before setting out in the morning.

"I'd rather have too many hands than not enough, so that sounds good to me. Especially if it means not having to leave town less defended than usual," Sal nods. "What's his name?"

Sal looks equally worried once the sheriff further explains the situation with Grump. "Kaede's right, if it's in the same direction as the Foxglove estate then we should definitely stop there first and have a look around," she agrees. "We'll probably want to make sure we're prepared too - holy water and the like."

"Um...it's...it's a long story," Sal whispers to Marcus, shooting Tera a worried look. "We'll tell you about it later."

Raising her voice to address the Sheriff, she adds, "When we went to speak to Grayst he rambled about how his 'master' or whoever was killing in Tera's name but that if we went out to the Misgivings it would stop. Then he died and turned into a ghoul and attacked us."

"We had to kill him and Kaede was bitten - but Mother Hera at the cathedral took care of it," Sal continues quickly. "And that brings us to now. We'd planned to make for the Misgivings in the morning but wanted to check in with you first."

Her eyes track the watchmen and Maester Grump before flitting back to Sheriff Hemlock. "If it's not too nosy to ask, what's that all about?"

"Seems like the best plan we've got so far," Sal nods to Kaede. "And besides, the Sheriff needs to know what we've got in mind just in case anything else happens and he needs to find us in a hurry."

Or if we don't come back at all.

But Sal keeps that last one to herself.