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A note to all of my games: My availability will be sporadic from now until the end of next week. Please DMPC me as needed.
Good to hear from you! I'm glad you're doing better :) I'm alright with some voice conversations, but I need to schedule it ahead of time. The reason I play with PBP so much is because of my tight schedule. I am only available in the evenings on weekdays, and on the weekends. Also I advise before moving with another gameplay post that we get a recap of where we are to avoid any confusion.
Am here, am ready to continue if you're up for it but also content to wait for the right time, at your discretion.
I love whiskey but I'm pretty picky on it. I can't stand Irish, I primarily drink bourbon.
Just polished off my bottle of Angels Envy, I'll pour one of Eagle River for you :D
No worries GM, we appreciate being kept in the loop. Also I transferred ownership of the Discord server to you, so no worries, nothing needs to be done on your end.
I talked to Dain on Discord, and Talar will be picking up Tharag Thulan but it will take the rest of the month until he's able to actually speak in it, and I'll be handling the RP in gameplay thread as that moves forward.
"Yes...let us canvas the city, scouting the brothels. I know of a few of the more prominent ones, but I have far from an exhaustive list." Talar pauses, then finds a piece of parchment and starts making ntoes. "Mortar and pestle...gems..." He nods, writing everything down. "Thargarian...well with so many speaking it in the group already." He grimaces. Learning languages had never been a particular strength OR weakness of his, but he knew it could be a process. "Being followed...if I scratch the mole on my face." Talar says, pointing under his right eye. "I normally avoid touching it because it can get easily irritated." He nods to the simple but effective password scheme. "Now." He says, steel in his eyes. "Let's begin canvasing."
Sounds great Yasala, solid plan.
Mal seems like he's going to be an EXCELLENT addition to the game, bravo on your entrance thus far. Also a gentle reminder to all: Talar is a short-tempered hothead and a bit of an emotional mess, but CampinCarl is a jolly soul and is reading along quite happily! :) I believe it was mentioned that Mal doesn't care for discord, so private messages on the forums (or just discussing here) will be perfectly fine.
Talar, with teeth gritted, nods in thanks to Yasala, who he does remember having promised her help. However Tairin and Paten's responses only seem to make him bristle more. Distant, business-like responses. Virtue signalling their support while offering nothing of substance. He remembers why he hates such people, focused on their politicking and deception as they were. He also remembers that despite knowing them for longer, overall he hasn't know anybody in this group much longer than the others. "Then we move at dawn." He sneers, addressing Mal and Yasala.
Talar lapses into silence as the others levy a veritable novel of questions and concerns onto him. Finally he slips, his newfound patience wearing thin. "I hired him because I am desperate+" He cries, slamming a hand onto the table. "For weeks I have sought her, and before that months on my own! I have tirelessly chased down lead after lead, always ending with naught but dust in my hands! And patience is a shit virtue when every day she's gone it increases the chance I will never see her again!" He roars, tears stinging at his eyes. "I know the rescue of my sister is some secondary chore for the rest of you to pay me back for my fighting, but for me it's all that there is. There has been enough talk, enough diplomacy, enough pussy-footed politicking around this!" He jabs a finger at Mal. "This man has shown more compassion for my sister in the last hour than anybody else has in weeks! Either I will trick the slavers into revealing her, or I will carve a river of blood and hope that with enough corpses under my feet I can see her." He is shaking by the end of it. Clearly his anger had been mounting, and the monumental patience he had expressed lately had been an active struggle for him.
Talar shrugs. It does not appear a threat, just a statement of what must be done. "Consider it extra incentive to not betray us. I may be utter shit at lying to people, but you'll find my tracking skills are hard to shake."
"We have spilled blood together and in that time you have not betrayed me or or any of our company; though, maybe, not all of your actions were very wise," he says with a toneless voice, then grunts. Talar simply nods; he knows he has made poor and shortsighted decisions. He would not deny it.
Talar frowns at Samir. "Mal is his own man. I hope things go well and he does not have cause to betray us, but if it comes to that I cannot take the burden of making the decisions that he chose to. Simply the inevitable responsibility it will be to hunt him down and deliver him to the god's mercies for daring to put me further from my sister."
Talar shakes his head to Mal's question. "Just my own tongue and a couple other useful trade languages."
Talar is quickly lost by Mal's examples, but he does perceive that Mal is not a man of rules and rather of man who follows his instincts. That is a double edged blade that can cut both ways, and with the exception of deceit Talar is much the same way. "Well...I do hope the allure of the job proves itself to be a formula for loyalty. I will not deceive you and lie about the possible danger, but it is for the cause of reuniting siblings who were stolen from each other by force, and the means of achieving this can be rather...entertaining." There's no smile with this statement. It's clear Talar has a negative opinion of slavery and the associated sex work with it. "I would counter with this." Talar says, suddenly struck by inspiration. "If you are given an offer to betray us, I would have you bring it to us. If after we investigate and find out that the offer is true, we will make sure to adjust your rates so that you have no stray thoughts of betraying us only for the sake of money, and at the same time it will prevent you from simply claiming better offers for the sake of squeezing more coin."
Honestly, don't take it personally Mal. Most of the party isn't the original, and Talar in particular had a very hard time getting over the distrust factor. So please, understand that compared to previous new editions this is practically a welcoming fanfare. Just kind of the nature of the beast for this campaign. I do imagine that this "side quest" (to Talar it is his main quest) will be giving Mal quite the opportunity to prove himself, and do not fear about being sidelined in the meantime; we don't have any large overarching narrative points at the moment (since we have killed The Spider God's Bride) and Talar will be absolutely focusing 100% of his time on this mission. On a side note, we should drop a link to our discord channel so Mal can stay in touch there as well. Link
So I've finally bit the bullet and put some ranks into diplomacy. Not a class skill, charisma of 10, and Talar isn't that socially capable, but diplomacy is just called for so many damn times in this campaign that I can't justify not putting some ranks into it. Especially since intimidate doesn't even make people helpful short term, just immediately pissing them off instead.
Talar Level 6
Wow ok Talar got a lot scarier this level. Those feats are no joke, I forgot that at level 6 the ranged feat options exploded open. Ramul Level 6
Fun fact: Ramul's light load is 400 pounds.
"My head aches, yet we came away with what we desired from the meeting," Talar nods in understanding. Although he was playing with an open hand with Mal, he understands that they won't do the same on the rest of their goals. Talar recognizes the half truth that Mal states, the intentional vagueness. However he bites his tongue; did he not go intentionally searching for a man capable of such falsehoods? He would be a fool to chide him now. "Welcome, Mal Steelcutter. You have recently met Talar and already you have become such firm friends? I do marvel at such a capacity to trust. Indeed, what a marvel," "It was my own decision." Talar returns to sitting, taking a drink of wine. His initial standing and recognizing of Tairin shows that he respects her, but his follow up shows that he sees her as an equal, although superior in social circles. "He is a foreigner and I met him with only talk of coin, so that is where his loyalty lies. If he had some sort of pernicious plans to sabotage finding my sister, then I fear whoever holds her is far too insightful and resourceful to be able to overcome." As Mal continues to talk Talar is more and more surprised. Bjoern had lead him to believe that their kind was combative and non-talkative, but Mal was a veritable cacophony of words and social mannerisms. Like my own kind, they seem to come in all stripes. He stares in open confusion as Mal addressed Bjoern in his native tongue, but visibly stiffens when Tairin responds. I didn't even know she spoke his tongue...and he was so brazenly disrespectful. Was it simply part of his culture, part of acknowledging one from his homeland? Talar was far too ignorant in the ways of the northern barbarians to know and looks caught between being stiff to defend Tairin and awkwardly wanting to say something to smooth tensions, settling on looking very uncomfortable as he glances between the two.
Talar joins Mal in eating, but is much more reserved in the quantity. He must have been surviving on scraps to be so famished. "A native, this is my city. And...conquest would be the closest to the most accurate term, I would imagine." He nods sadly. "Yes, my path is one of violence." Talar stands as Tairin enters. "I hope all went well on your mission this morning?" He inquires. He gestures to the sitting man. "This is Mal Steelcutter. This morning I devised a new plan to to retrieve my sister." To Mal this was the first time he said who the person was to him, but he doesn't seem to notice that as he continues. "Somebody would pretend to be a travelling foreigner, rich enough to warrant respect but not so important to draw unwanted attention, and would inquire at the local brothels about sampling the local girls. This person would be extraordinarily picky, and would continue to be more narrow and narrow with their demands until they are all but demanding to have my sister brought to her. This way we can set honey to find her instead of chasing her all over creation." He gestures again to Mal. "Samir and I met Mal and he fits the criteria perfectly. He can disguise himself and he has a flair for the dramatic, and even if things turn to blades he will be able to hold his own. But since we would be so heavily involved with each other I thought it wise for you to meet him first, as well as request assistance in the finer details of my plan."
Talar leads Mal to a quiet street in the Foreign District of the city, to a mansion well hidden by a tall masonry wall. Behind the
The garden contains a small dwelling for the servants and a set of stables near the main gate. A freshwater well is located within a circular clearing in the garden. A small pagoda stands west of the main house. The broad stairway leading up to the double entrance doors of the mansion is flanked by two massive dragon statues carved from green stone. Talar gives Mal a tour of the interior, showing the various rooms. He also introduces the servants. A dark-skinned, spear wielding Azimban man named S'bu, the guardsman of the estate. A Jairanian man by the name of Kara Ben Nemsi is the steward/head servant and oversees all of the other servants. A Bhangari woman named Jiya is the cook and kitchen aid. A Susrahnite woman named Hanala is housekeeper and Head Housemaid. And lastly is a Taraamite man named Bast, the gardener and head groom.
Talar nods to Mal when he is agrees to come and wait at the manor. He makes sure Mal has an opportunity to retrieve any gear that he needs to, then gracefully hops on Ramul and leads with a slow trot back to his humble abode.
Talks of Violence on a Peaceful Street:
Talar follows the movement. "Hidden blades in the scarf? Haven't seen that before." He says, revealing how sharp his eyes are. "Good. If things get violent you'll definitely have backup too." Talar blushes and looks down as the man sees right through him; clearly he did not intend to reveal how close he was to Aisha, but what's even more obvious is how plainly awful he is at lying. Even when just trying to be intentionally vague he has tells so obvious a child could spot them. He grabs onto the next sentence to change the topic. "Friends. Ones that owe lives to each other from a variety of situations, bonded by battle. Of course." He looks slightly ashamed at how rude he was. "We are well stocked, and you are welcome to parch your thirst while we wait, and while we talk. If you have other gear you would bring it may be wise to grab it now, we have ample spare room for you to stay in, free of coin." Luckily it seems that Talar is showing as more and more of an honest man. Far from a charmer with a silver tongue, he seems a blunt and coarse man despite his early age, and it is no wonder he is seeking somebody more capable in disguise and deceit for such a mission. On top of that his casual reassurance of food and shelter also lends credibility to his access to wealth.
Mal: Talar nods to his summary of Talar's plan. "Indeed. Instead of searching and kicking down doors, which I have found is largely fruitless, we will plant honey and wait for them to come to us." Despite his nervousness and caution, he does manage a dryly amused smile. "Yes, as part of this cover you will be traipsing around enjoying the red light area of the city." When Mal suggests the other situations his sister may be in, Talar stiffens. "No, I am not entirely certain where she is. It's possibly she's not even in the area anymore. If that seems to be the case, then this may turn into more of a "Tell me where she's been taken and I won't break your leg" kind of mission." Talar shakes his head, sighing. "I know so little about where she has gone." He takes a deep breath. "She is a native of these lands, just slightly on the shorter sight, thin but hardy, and with a sharp jawline. She keeps long hair that grows curly at the end, and has dark green eyes." He points to the left side of his forehead. "She has a small scar here, faint and not obvious, but clear to see if you are close to her. Her name is Aisha." He finishes quietly.
"I...do have an abode that we can operate out of. But there are others you would need to be introduced to first, as this would involve them. We will not start immediately, a number of my allies are keener of mind than I and can help to create a more cunning plan than I can alone." "So...we can return now. I know they are busy with other work at the moment and I'm unsure of when they may return, so we may have to wait. If you have other business we can meet later."
Mal: Talar nods, hoping his beating heart will still itself soon. Perhaps a long shot, but I've gotten extremely fortunate here. He leads Mal outside, not answering the name question until they're a block away and he has looked for anybody following.
"Talar, and this is Samir." He will continue moving, aiming to find a back alley they can tuck into where it will be very difficult to observe or eavesdrop on them without being in plain sight. "Mal, we are looking for somebody who can play a part and deceive others to help rescue somebody. A girl who was captured and sold as a slave. We need somebody to take the part of a wealthy but not overly important foreigner who is traveling through the area and is looking to 'sample' the local girls. Hopefully that can attract some attention, and we will have you be extraordinarily picky and be more and more specific until you are all but basically asking to find this particular person. In this way we can locate the girl and rescue her." He says this all quickly, as if nervous the idea might turn to smoke if he doesn't get it all out. "You will be compensated, of course. For your time and skills and any expenses you occur. Is this something you can do?"
Talar is completely taken aback by the suddenly extroverted man approaching him. He stares suspiciously, and notices something is off about his speech. This is all bluster. Just an excuse to get close. The hair on the back of his neck raises and he grips his dagger underneath the table in preparation for some kind of attack... But then the man reveals his true appearance and has Talar even more confused. Talar simply stares at him for a few moments, letting the brief pause stretch into an uncomfortably long silence. But the wheels in his mind start moving again. Wait, somebody who can throw disguises like that, somebody this extroverted, and somebody who can lie like this? It may be just the man he needs. After the awkward silence Talar stands, seeming excited but containing his emotions. "Ah, please, sit sit!" He gestures the man to come to their table, then stops on a dime and lowers his voice. "Actually, do you mind conversing elsewhere? The privacy of this situation is critical to its success. And money can be negotiated, I promise this will be worth your time." He looks on hopefully, indicating the door so they can find somewhere more private to converse.
Talar knows they're going into a shadier part of town, so he keeps his true intentions vague. He's looking for somebody who can essentially take on an acting roll, disguising themselves and lying in exchange for a very generous amount of coin. Talar also makes it clear that this is contingent on the success of his mission (and for anybody with an eye for blood he also mentions he doesn't have the coin on him right now), mostly focusing on getting narrowed down who is capable of helping him before attempting to talk to them and be a little more honest about his motives.
Talar, the man with 7 archery feats, is not impressed at your ability to do damage at a distance. He does however have a healthy respect of your up-close dagger damage, and is happy to engage you in a fair fight from the rooftop.
I definitely missed that he was a sniper, all I saw was "two weapon fighting" and no ranged feats, so I assumed he was a melee character.
Talar frowns at Samir's idea: not because it is unreasonable, but because it may be considering the situation. "If it comes to it, I have clothes stained with her blood." He doesn't seem interested in going into detail. "I have one other plan before resorting to such risky measures. I've considered...searching for my sister in the guise of a rich outsider looking for pleasure." The entire idea rolls off his tongue like poison. "Somebody who is an outsider so their origin is hard to question, of enough wealth to be influential but not so wealthy to attract undue attention. He will originally be unsure of what he wants, but over time will narrow it down to experiencing a local, and we will be more and more specific until we are all but asking for my sister." He offers a pause for Samir's thoughts. "Of course...I am certainly not capable in such a farce...we may have to find someone who can help us."
Mechanically, another fighter type and a frontliner will be welcome. Our poor Bjorn takes a beating most fights. Lore wise, I believe I have a perfect way go get him into the story...
Talar would want to go since Yasala will no longer be with him, but Tairin has already spoken and he bites his tongue. Oh well. I would likely do nothing anyways, keeping my mouth shut to stay out of trouble.
After Hoteth leaves, Talar listens intently as Tairin recounts their investigations into his sister, nodding and saying nothing. Another dead end? Sister...where are you? At Tairin's cautions about speaking unwisely, Talar sneers. "I will likely just keep my tongue to myself, it has gotten us in enough trouble as is." Samir barges in and Talar's hand twitches before he sees who it is. His eyes flick to the new equipment. Lucrative work, I'm glad he's putting it into his fighting equipment. Talar sneers at the news from Abu Khafi. Complicated bullshit. I hate getting involved in this. The news of the hooded man selling steeds was of more interest. The rest that we abandoned? If he was following us, either a desperate or a greedy move to draw attention like that. "Somebody following you since Susrah? This was before my time with you, do I need to know about this?" He asks the others. However the presence of Samir does give Talar hope to be productive today. "Samir...what plans do you have for the rest of the day? The others have a...more important meeting to get to, but I could use your help in digging up more leads on my sister."
Weekend short post: I don't currently have time to read that massive wall of text Dain GM just planted, but I quickly skimmed and it seems Yasala is also going with the others, so Talar will go as well. He doesn't think he'll have much success on his own given his track record.
Talar is happy that the man feels off balance after Tairin's response to him. "Bjoern shall accompany you, Lady Tairin, as well as Patenemheb. Yasala and I will see to our other interests." The way he says this is a suggestion, not a fact, and he looks for confirmation from the others.
Talar's only words are spoken quietly to Tairin; he does not offer anything to the stranger, trusting Tairin and Paten's words far more than his own. But he does assess the stranger, as well as act as a watchful bodyguard.
Alright I think this is the best plan I can think of given the lack of leads at the moment: Let's set up a demand for a slave. Somebody new is in town, somebody of minor importance but of huge wealth, who wants to purchase a slave girl. Initially he will be unsure of his exact needs but as he develops relationships with the slave traders he will be more and more specific until he is asking for a slave girl exactly like Talar's sister. The only question is: who can play such a character? Talar certainly isn't adept at disguises and certainly not lying.
Talar raises his brows. Thoth-Apep? We're starting to get the attention of some powerful and dangerous people. He lowers his voice, speaking to the others. "I don't think it wise to send anybody alone. We should definitely not ignore this request. Are you comfortable with Bjoern at your side or would you like more fighters?"
In response to Talar looking for his sister: In character I'm basically at a dead end right now. I'm not sure who to as beyond just doing a generic diplomacy check. I tried going to that one pleasure house but that didn't yield anything. I suppose I could try other pleasure houses?
Talar nods, still steadying his heart rate from hearing about his sister. "Yes...yes we should all be there. Bjoern come, we should be at the side of the others as they negotiate." He leads the big man into the room.
Talar stops mid-bite and stares at Yasala like she just told him she has his sister in a caravan outside. He stands quickly, clattering his plate down, then stops himself. "That...is excellent to know. Let me know anything I can do to help. Anything." He stares a moment longer, then slowly sits down.
Talar was awake earlier than most, practicing his archery in the early morning twilight (a regular exercise that helps to keep his eyes sharp) and making sure Ramul gets the exercise he needs to stay in fighting shape, riding him sharply about the grounds. As he hears the servants up he frowns with curiosity. They normally don't get up this early. He spies on them for a moment, but when it appears they're just being more productive than usual he puts it aside and continues his exercises. Talar enters into the room from outside, dabbing sweat from his brow as Farrokh begins his short monologue. He cleans up his sweat and changes his shirt, not adding much to the conversation but nodding and grunting at appropriate intervals to show he's listening. Once he seats himself and Tairin talks about the violence, he breaks his silence. "Well, I can tell you he definitely deserved it, but I can also advise you that it would be pretty hard to prove to outsiders, particularly ones biased towards the city." He says to Tairin. But as Yasala adds her peace he nods; they were careful when it came to violence within city limits. Talar takes a couple hasty bites, although he slows down on the third when he realizes how good this morning's breakfast is. He moves to Bjoern, unceremoniously lifting the back of the big man's shirt to check one of his wounds. "This healed very nicely. I think you won't need a fresh bandage today, and we can probably take the stitches out soon." In response to Tairin's suggestion of rumor spreading, Talar frowns but says nothing. Tairin knows that he has a strict code for himself and will not lie, but he does not hold his companions to that same code and will do nothing to interfere with their interests, but he will not help in this regard either. Talar snorts with sudden laughter at Bjoern's quip. He is not one to laugh much, and not at what other people normally laugh at, but Bjoern's blunt worldview and timing caught him off guard. Talar nods to Tairin's last update. He finishes a bite, wiping his mouth before speaking (a new polite thing he has learned recently). [smaller]"I still would see the rescue of my sister, above all else. I fear I may be at a dead end again."[smaller]
Reading gameplay now. Very much interested in continuing this campaign, provided that you're not pushing yourself too hard Dain GM.
As a heads up to all of my games: I am traveling from Friday-Monday and will likely be unable to post very much, please DMPC me as needed. My posting will return to normal on Tuesday.
It'll be a nice change of pace to just go for violence instead of delicately stepping around the politics of the city.
I echo the sentiments of the others!
As a heads up to all of my games, I will be completely unavailable from the 15th-20th. I will be in an area without cell service or internet and as such will be completely dark. Please DMPC me as needed to keep the game moving.
In my experience, a hiatus can often be very healthy to find some calm in your life again. No worries here GM. Keep us updated on any changes. I'll be here when you return. |