Sidonie Gavidan-Brishen's page

Sticking with San's tack toward honesty, Sidonie just tells him the truth, especially if Derrol doesn't much like the Gorumites anyway.

"We've tried talking to them, and we're getting answers that we know aren't true. One of the people we came here with, a priestess named Ordwi was whisked right off the dock as soon as we got here by one of the Gorumites, to help with the outbreak of the illness she said. Now, nobody from Stonehome has so much as heard her name."

"We've checked with the crew of the ship in the harbor as well. Same thing, the captain went to Stonehome and now the first mate can't even get anyone to admit he went there. Stonehome isn't so big that a growing crowd of outsiders could just go completely unnoticed, and the Gorumites aren't even trying to lie convincingly about it. So, we're down to taking a look ourselves if we want answers."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

Oof! So sorry! It's been a wicked rough couple of weeks for all sorts of surprising reasons. I'll be in the clear to get a gameplay post in on Saturday.

Yep, ready for tomorrow.

Wow, sorry for my rather long absence. I had a weird and sudden digression brought on by getting a new couch last week. It is larger, and meant to replace the old couch and loveseat. But what do you actually do with huge furniture after you replace it? Well, the couch got (violently) disassembled (fun!) so it can slowly go into the garbage. The loveseat got a new cover and went to a new room. But starting to move things about caused secondary and then tertiary effects that eventually resulted in almost all of the rooms getting reshuffled, and two of them getting painted.

It was like a temporary sickness.

Sidonie eats more or less in silence. The idea of trying to get into Stonehome has her stomach in knots. She's heartily in favor of finding a Gorumite, maybe a couple or more, so they know everything they possibly can before making the attempt.

Sidonie is indeed interested in seeing the place they seem to be conversationally drunk-staggering toward agreeing to break into. It had happened very quickly, and with a shockingly natural feeling. Sidonie doesn't object in general to breaking into places, she's done it a few times before, but those times had been for kicks and involved little risk.

Janis's description of Stonehome made it sound like pure menace. Also, the problem with Gorumites is all the violence. It's really the religion's outstanding feature. It seems to Sidonie the chances are pretty good they will f$%+ things up and get pummeled into mush by a praying mob of battle-crazed freaks. Sidonie sighs.

"I really wish this town was being run by Shelynite clergy. We could just go on the day they give pottery classes and slip away for a look around."

"Yeah, I want a good look at the place before we're there trying to figure out a way through the gates."

Sidonie gets up to go with the First Mate to the crow's nest.

Sidonie is jealous. :p

Mostly Sidonie quietly stews over Autumn's reception aboard the ship compared to her own, which she feels has been roughly analogous to a barrel of fish heads. Obviously (to Sidonie) it's because Autumn is such a glutton for attention.

By extension a couple of decisions rankles her as well. The first one is Autumn's seeming need to lean into extravagant lies as the go-to solution for any situation, first Froderson and then the ship's crew for example, when the truth with a bit of tailoring would serve just as well or better. Then, when of course the deceptions are too much to swallow, poor Bastiano has to lay all cards on the table trying to fix things. So now the ship's acting commander knows everything there is to know about them, which may not be for the best.

Unlike San and Bastiano, Sidonie isn't inclined to think Thassilonian this or that is neat. Her view of such things is jaundiced by the stories she's grown up hearing from her Auntie Ro about the first awakening of a Runelord, and all the trouble and misery that followed. Nothing has since has led her to believe the subsequent Runelords' awakenings are any more benevolent, and her aunt is of the same opinion.

But, they're in it now. So it's probably best to be friendly and cooperative until they can get their priestess back and get the hell back to Sandpoint. With that in mind, Sidonie adds a couple of thoughts.

"It's creepy that both ships to arrive recently have been immediately decapitated, by that I mean had their leadership removed, then been left with no answers about why."

"It might be due to the disease, but that explanation doesn't line up very well with what we already know. Our priestess had dero assassins sicced on her before she knew anything about it. If I had to bet real money, I'd put it on a plot by the Gorumite priests. They're up to something, and the disease being coincidental. Like, maybe the dero had the disease and have been spreading it as they've been looking for our priestess..."

Sidonie only kind of thinks some of what she says is maybe correct, but the main point is to coax Janis along toward thinking they have shared interests and hazards that require honest cooperation.

Diplomacy is +6 if needed. Is that how we're handling rolls?

Sidonie waves as well.

"Hello up there! Yes please, can we see the ship? It's the most beautiful one I think I've ever seen."

There might be a slightly competitive edge in Sidonie's voice as she makes the request.

Aid: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Thinking sneaking onboard the ship sounds, or could be construed to appear a lot like piracy, Sidonie says "Why don't we just go say 'hello'."

Since chatting with Froderson seems to be rough going, Sidonie decides to stay out of it. She doesn't really know what she could say or do that would help. Instead she gives Bastiano's sleeve a gentle tug to get his attention and, when she has it, nods her head toward the dry dock entrance to let him know he should come with her.

Once they're back outside, Sidonie suggests an alternative for the two of them.

"I don't think things are going anywhere with Froderson, so why don't take a stroll down closer to the piers and find a place to watch the Thassilonian ship? We might see something interesting."

Without waiting for a reply, Sidonie starts walking toward the closest pier, looking for a place where they can sit and observe without being too obvious.

Sidonie frowns to herself at Vildran's loose tongue. She's about twice as worried now compared to before she'd heard the Gorumites had stopped coming out of Stonehome when the Thassilonians went in. Maybe the Thassilonians are just that good as company, but she doubts it.

Now Ordwi's gone in as well. It might be better if they keep a lower profile until Ordwi returns, if she returns.

Something big, bad, or both is happening...

She ponies up two silver coins. One for herself, and one to cover San.

Sidonie's spirits fall with the news from Elsie.

More sleeping on wooden planks until whenever we finally get back to Sandpoint.

At that moment Sidonie genuinely misses Sandpoint, rather than finding it "quaint" or "amusing", her usual stance toward the town.

But, Elsie is talking, unlike everyone else in Iron Harbor apparently. Sidonie figures she'll try to make the most of it. Besides, she now a little jealous of the Thassilonians because they're probably sleeping on something nicer.

"So what's up with Stonehome anyway? Is it like a town hall of something?"

Sidonie buys a muffin.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

Sidonie pipes in with her particular wish, adding to Vildran's request to the halfling.

"A place with good beds if there's a choice."

Sidonie helps out as best she can during the journey to Iron Harbor, lending a hand wherever it's needed. She sulks quite a bit though. While she may been among those to voted to Iron Harbor, it doesn't mean she's happy about the detour.

She isn't impressed with Iron Harbor when she gets a closeup look at it when the ship has docked either.

Less than half Sandpoint's size, and none of Sandpoint's charm is her mental assessment of the place.

Still, it will be nice to be able to stretch her legs on land and maybe (hopefully) get a good meal somewhere.

"Let's find a place to stay first. That way we can dump some of this gear off and not look so conspicuous. It might also be some passengers or crew are staying in the same place. It's a natural and convenient way to meet people you wouldn't normally cross paths with."

Ordwi volunteering for the first watch is all Sidonie needs to hear. She finds a place, ideally with some nets or sacks or cloth on the deck and flops down to sleep.

Sidonie finds a place to sit down, putting her head in her hands as Ordwi reads the letter. Although the letter matters, it was checkmate when Art speaks up as willing to go on to Iron Harbor, knowing the way.

The problem for Sidonie is she has a really hard time saying 'no'. If the journey can be made, refusing to make it becomes about something other than feasibility. She doesn't know what they, or Odrwi for that matter, can do about a plague. But, the awfulness of returning to Sandpoint along with all that time togther with Ordwi and her desperate disappointment makes Sidonie's skin crawl; so she flinches.

Sidonie finally says "Alright let's go to Iron Harbor", albeit without enthusiasm. "If it might help, we can't not try."

Sidonie isn't against going to Iron Harbor (wherever that is) in principle, although she would have to figure out how to amend the story she had told Ryn to somehow explain the longer timeframe of her absence. Really it's the practicality of choosing a different destination that bothers her.

"We might be able to get back to Sandpoint with some luck; we'd be backtracking to where we started from. But to sail off to some new place? I really think we'd need an actual crew for this ship. Does anyone even know how to navigate? Or where Iron Harbor is from here? Aside from whether we want to or not, how are we supposed to manage doing it?"

If the boredom of being on the ship gets too dire, Sidonie would eventually ask Art if she can help him. She's never been on a ship before and it is all very interesting.

Not sure if the above counts for anything, but Sidonie might have learned a little something that's useful at the moment?

Sidonie volunteers to help out as best she can in getting the ship underway. The "dero from the deep" scenario she had disbelieved seems to be true after all, and she doesn't like it one bit.

Sidonie asks Ordwi about it.

"That first attack on the other ship that got you marooned here, same attackers as these or something different? How far out away from here were you when it happened?"

Sidonie quickly searches the dead dero. While valuables might to nice to find, she's looking for documents, letters, messages, anything written that might supply some clue about who put them on Ordwi's trail.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Sidonie continues to press her attack on the dero, trying to end the fight quickly.

1. Feint, 2. Attack, 3. Raise buckler.

Feint: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 3 + 4 = 16

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + (6) = 9

Not sure where your extra +2 to hit is coming from Sidonie.

Me either. I had it last time, but I don't remember why. I just left it in because I didn't know one way or another.

Sidonie squares off with the dero, keeping to her now well tried routine of feinting and thrusting.

"Well San, here we are back to back like I said. Not as dire as I imagined though."

1. Feint, 2. Attack, 3. Raise buckler.

Feint: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 3 + 4 = 17

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + (4) = 6

The next round depends on what happens with the previous attack. If Red is still standing, Sidonie will 1. Feint, 2. Attack, 3. Raise buckler. If Red is down, she will 1. 5' step, 2. Feint, 3. Attack. Her new target will be Yellow.

Deception (Feint): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 4 + 2 = 28

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (6) + (5) = 11

Sidonie slides in behind San, figuring she can best help both San and Bastiano by targeting the dero between them. As she moves around the dero, she tries the same trick that had worked for her before, making a gesture toward an obvious attack that she doesn't follow through on. Instead she waits for the dero's response before stabbing at any opening that appears due to the dero's reaction.

1. 5' step, 1. Feint. 3. Attack.

Deception (Feint): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 3 + 4 + 2 = 18

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + (6) = 8

Sorry to go missing for a few days. Last week was busy with the end of the school year, and my allergies wrecked me. The pollen count here is off the charts. It's kind of like having a bad cold while being functionally half-blind from eye irritation and watering.

Sidonie does her best to count the pairs of eyes out there in the dark...

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Not opposed to doing more rope shenanigans if you wish. Feel free to commandeer my grappling hook if it'll help.

Oh, I don't really care. IRL it is faster because you can pull a rope continuously and there's no need to spend extra time steering with oars because the boat is already tied to the ship. But, within game rules I don't know that it makes any difference. Coming back to shore from the ship still requires oars.

Sidonie looks over at San.

"You and I wait for the last round to go San? Your bow to keep them at bay if need be, and back to back with swords if they move in anyway?"

@Autumn: Ah yes, fixed it. Thanks. I'm really tired as well. I forgot the priestess in my count. I think I've amended the post to correct all that, but if it's still slightly off kilter I think the basic gist will still make sense.

"We don't want to lose the boat trying to take too many people at once " Sidonie says as she watches for eyes out in the dark.

"There are seven of us in all. We could take things slowly two people at a time, but one person has to come back with the boat, so that's really one at a time. If three went, two of us can stay on the ship while one comes back with the boat. That totals three trips with three people. But there are only two people left on the beach until the boat gets back to pick them up for the third trip. Maybe no so safe."

"If we have the rope for it, we could speed up the boat the second and third time out. We still have the pulley. If the first people over to the ship attach it to something there. Then we tie one end to the boat while the rest is left in the boat after running it through the pulley. The second and third groups can use it to reel themselves in toward the ship without having to row. I'd think that'll go faster, and hopefully offset the extra water the boat is taking on. If it doesn't, at least they have something to hold on to if the boat goes down. They can still get pulled in by it."

Sidonie sounds really tired.

Sidonie hangs back, taking the rear. The dero are real creepers, so somebody should be watching their backs.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

"Well, I don't think we should just kill him. That's an awful thing to do to someone just because it's convenient. Besides, as long as we have him on the island, we have a hostage. That might be worth something if we come across more dero."

After taking a few minutes to collect herself, Sidonie walks back over to see how things are going with the captured dero. She says nothing about her brief absence.

When the dero goes limp in San's grip, Sidonie steps back. Now that the fight is over, she doesn't feel so good. The intense activity has left her sweaty. As the adrenaline in her system drains, Sidonie begins to feel nauseous. Afraid of what might come along with the feeling, she walks a short distance away to lean over with her butt resting against a tree and her hands on her knees.

Sidonie has never killed anything before, not so much as a chicken (insects and a rat or two don't count). She was able to keep a clear head, and her mother's training certainly showed its worth, while it was all happening. But all she can think of now is the feeling of an instant of initial resistance before her rapier penetrated skin, followed by the ease of the blade sliding into flesh.

I'm neutral on the dero being dead or alive. I can see advantages and disadvantages either way.

Sidonie isn't sure what the dero might do next. But, given the determination they've shown in word and deed so far she doubts the creature is giving up on assassination attempts, even if it is fleeing for the moment.

She hurries over to see if she can help San as he tries to restrain it. She decides on a leg wound and a warning. Stabbing the dero in it's thigh, she warns it to give up.

"Be still and drop your weapons. We're going to talk to you."

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

1. Stride, 2. Attack, 3. Intimidate

Sidonie thinks she and the priestess are both in a spot of trouble now. "It's been a helluva day" she responds to the woman.

It doesn't go unnoticed to her that the dero ignore her in favor of the priestess even after she has killed one of what the ridge-top dero had called 'kin', assuming Bastiano's translation had been correct. Either way, they seemed determined and focused on carrying out their assignment regardless of anything else.

Sidonie thinks she might just be able to use that to her advantage. She orders the priestess to "back away into the thicket behind you and keep going until my friends get here."

She then turns her attention to the dero in front of her. Sidonie sidesteps to put some distance between herself and the other dero, making it look like she will strike with her rapier as she moves. Instead, that move is just a quick gesture, immediately withdrawn. She waits until she's repositioned around to the dero's side to make her true attack.

Feint (Deception): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Attack: 1d20 + 3 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 4 + 2 = 28

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 + 1d8 ⇒ (4) + (4) + (5) = 13

1: 5' step, 2: Feint, 3: Attack. The feint looks likely to succeed at 24. I'll add +2 to the attack if that's correct. That should give me flat-footed for sneak attack. It also looks like I'll crit again, so I'll add a d8 roll for that. I think sneak attack doubles on a critical hit as well, but I'm not sure if that adds a 1d6 or doubles the one already rolled. If the latter, it looks like 17 HP damage total? Oh, or is it that the OG 1d6 becomes a 1d8 due to the deadly weapon trait, and that 1d8 is doubled? If that's the way it works I believe the total damage is 18.

Okay. I did 2 rounds worth of stuff. Maybe it works right. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sidonie resigns herself to the necessity of just flat out getting to where she's going without anything fancy added. With so many people thrashing through the forest, the dero is going to have a target rich environment anyway. Maybe she'll get lucky.

She leaves Vildran behind in the stream bed and then Autumn a little farther on. Once she's out to Autumn's left, Sidonie turns to go straight at the dero. The last few feet before reaching the creature takes her through a thicket, from which she emerges to strike at the dero. She expects to have the dero's full attention afterward, so she keeps her buckler at the ready.

Okay. Starting round will be move x3. The next round will be a move, which a believe gets Sidonie to her position on the map. An attack, no idea if I'm getting sneak attack or not so I just rolled it in case. Last will be raise shield.

Attack:1d20 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 2 + 4 = 25

Damage: 1d6 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + (3) = 6

I guess what I'm not understanding is the location of our tokens on the map paired with "...Sidonie and Autumn are particularly stealthy and manage to capitalize on that to get closer and act."

If the tokens are correctly positioned, there's no way to get anywhere near the closest dero without spending the first round doing anything other than moving, which rules our any attacking or anything else. The absolute best I'd be able to do to arrive in round 2, and I'm not sure how stealth or sneak attack would interact with so much movement and getting there in round 2. There are a few different routes that might shave off or add 5' or so, but I measure Sidonie at around 105' away from the blue dero. She has a move rate of 30'. Moving 3 times is only 90'.

Also, based on current position Autumn and Sidonie are very much not capitalizing on stealth to get closer, they're positioned well behind some other characters.

What am I missing here? Are the current icon locations correct? If so, how does Sidonie get anywhere near the blue dero and have an action to hide or attack?

Just to clarify, do you mean Sidonie is close enough to make an attack within the round? Will she need to move some distance first? This is the premier of 2e combat for me so I may need a bit of guidance. For example, can she move (stride), attack, and raise shield on this turn? If so, will she have surprise for a sneak attack?

Sidonie whispers her opinion just in case dero hear better than she expects they do.

"They will have the advantage in the dark if we try being too clever surprising them. They also don't seem too keen on getting up close in a fight. From the sound of it the woman is alone and they're still hanging back shooting."

"I say we move in quick and just mob the first one we see, take 'em down quick, and move fast on the next one after that. It'll throw their game completely off balance and force them to improvise in ways I don't think they'll want to."

Sidonie prepares to move out following Bastiano, keeping close enough so he'll still be in sight given the poor visibility.

Stealth +7, Perception +5

Sidonie is conflicted. She isn't confident they'll accomplished much more than getting themselves lost if they continue on in the darkness. But, on the other hand, she doesn't like the idea of stopping and potentially being found by the dero.

"I think we should keep going for a while, at least as long as we have some idea of a trail to follow. If we get lost, at least we are on an island. Any direction will take us to the coast before too terribly long."

"Also, if the dero are also trying to find the priestess, we might be giving up our only chance to find her first if we wait."

I must admit I know so little that I don't know what botting instructions I should give.

On the other hand, I'm not going anywhere this summer.

Sidonie is with Autumn for a couple of reasons. First, there is a decisive difference between making a hard climb while going toward someone shooting at you and hustling away from someone who might shoot at you if they were unhappy with your direction of travel. Second, she happens to know that the little hand crossbow causing so much consternation doesn't have the range of a proper field crossbow. It won't take so terribly long to be out of range anyway. Besides, it seems like they're all sort of guessing on the east versus west thing anyway.

She tries to telegraph a friendly and cooperative smile, accompanied with a wave, before she starts walking away with Autumn.

"Couldn't hurt to set a brisk pace" she mentions to the other woman.

I'm going to assume Bastiano would fill us in on what he knows.

Sidonie isn't so sure as San that whatever is up atop the ridge is the same as whatever it was the attacked the ship. Martin has described the ship attackers as "rising up out of the water", which, in her head at least, meant something more fishy or maybe frog-like that the mystery person up above.

But, she knows the poisoned darts they've found are shot from the kind of crossbow it's holding, so they may have found their local killer. As much as it would be desirable to ask some questions of them, the current asymmetry of their standoff with the creature doesn't leave them with a strong hand to play. To wit, trying to climb the ridge while getting peppered with darts sounds bad.

Besides, whatever the creature is up to doesn't seem to involve them, and given the circumstances Sidonie thinks they should take it's word on that.

"I think we're better off taking it up on it's offer and being on our way" she tells the others.

Sidonie gives Bastiano a heavy tap on the shoulder with her hand to let him know it's time to move. They've done what they came to do, so there's no reason to linger on exposed in the open.

After they're back under the shelter of the ridge, Sidonie lays out what she thinks they can conclude to Bastiano.

"So, she had the same thing that Martin in Sandpoint had. That means whatever caused it happened before he and the people in the boat separated from each other. It also means the priestess and anyone else with them could have it too."

"We now know they did make it to this island, and at least some of them came this way. I didn't see anything that would have killed her aside from the mottled skin, so maybe that's what did her in? If so, the people we're looking for could very well have it and it can be fatal at the very least."

"Depending on whether it's a poison, disease, or something like a fungus, it might also be contagious."

Sidonie isn't thrilled to be the one Bastiano calls on to go with him, but she does. She stays low and keeps her buckler ready since somebody has been popping off poisoned darts at people, and somebody just might be up on the ridge above them. Stealth +7

As they creep out to check, Sidonie raises a question for Bastiano.

"Do you think the she has the same thing as the man who washed ashore in Sandpoint? Look at her skin..."

Well Sidonie is a city girl so she's not of great use for scouting or making sense of her surroundings. Besides, there is apparently someone about somewhere who's shooting off poisoned darts. She'll avoid notice. Stealth +7.

Sidonie continues on with the others while trying to make herself variously small, out of sight, or otherwise not easily detectable to observers in the area.

@Vildran: That's good to know.

I am starting to think I should have gone with Thief instead of Scoundrel though.

Sidonie smiles in a friendly way at Bastiano as he asks his question.

"Oh no, I've never climbed using ropes or anything. I learned it from theater. If a performance calls for any characters to fly or float, those sorts of things, it's done with rope and harness. There's a few different kinds of ways to do harnesses depending on what's called for. Sometimes big budget productions at the most prestigious theaters might use real magic, but mostly it's ropes and harnesses."

"Anyway, it wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't had a pulley."

For the first time ever a theater kid saves the day. :p