Looks like DM DoctorEvil's willing to take over. Would everyone be alright with that?
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And updated. Now just have to wait to see if we get a bite.
Yeah. I sent him a PM here, but I think it might be time just to start looking.
I pinged him on Discord, but he hasn't responded and his last post was back on the 15th. I think we should start looking for a new GM, as much as I hate to say that.
It's possible, but it's also been a month. I don't want the game to die either, and while I have everything I need to run a RotRL game, I'm also struggling as it is to keep the one game I've already got going at a good pace. I don't know. I want to give him a chance to get back into things, but the long we wait, the harder it'll be to breath life back into this.
Looks like that's most of us. :) I know the GM is having internet issues, but this game's been stalled for a month. Does anyone have any ideas about how to move forward?
Who's still here?
Hello? Anyone home?
Speaking as a player, I think the ones leading back to town should be the ones we look at. Those indicate a more immediate threat to the town. By the way, GM, I was waiting on a response to my post here. It didn't feel like that conversation was done yet.
Allow me to give you my condolences. I'll be praying for you and yours, both for comfort and for a safe trip.
In the Kitchen with Ameiko: "Wh-what? No! I-I-I-I d-didn't mean I s-said anything insulting. I--I'm not very good at talking to people, am I," Tot asks as she grabs her arms as her tail wraps around her legs in a spiral. "I-I don't want to leave here. I like it here. I like you. I like Ari. I like having a roof over my head. But, if I say the wrong things, if I don't watch my tongue and let things slip out, I'll have to leave," she tells Ameiko. "If I let too much slip, I might get people I like hurt."
Getting steamed (Ameiko and Tot):
Tot peeks out from between her fingers and sighs as she lowers her hands. Her shoulders slump as she slouches against the wall. "Ari was rubbing my shoulders, then I said something I shouldn't have and ran in here, and now with everything else going on all I can think about is how nice it was when he was just rubbing my shoulders," the tiny fighter turned cook says, the words coming out quickly without her normal stuttering.
GM: Something that Ari may or may not pick up on is that sometimes, especially when her emotions are engaged, her accent doesn't just turn a little Chelish, it turns a little Chelish aristocrat.
"I--I d-don't know," Tot admits to Garren. Unlike other times when she's felt out of her depth, she doesn't squirm and her tail doesn't twist and writhe around her. She'd never had anyone rub her shoulders before and it feels nice. "Demonic, more likely," Tot says when Izzy pipes up. "Diabolists tend to be orderly, and goblins are about as chaotic as it gets. Demoniacs favor chaos, though--" Her mouth closes with a click as she realizes that she replied without thinking. To most people there was no difference between devils and demons. They were all fiends, and she could hardly blame them for not caring. Ari can feel her tense before she pulls away from him. Her tail twitches as she moves towards the kitchen. "S-s-s-sorry! I-I-I n-n-need t-t-to h-h-help in the kitchen," she stammers before hurrying towards her refuge. She spends several minutes busying herself with the preparations for the coming rush for supper. Even though she is clearly out of sorts, she manages to do a decent job with helping Ameiko out. When a break in the activity gives Tot a moment to catch her breath and think, the tiny woman goes back over the conversation after Ameiko's father was sent running, and the thing that stuck out the most to her wasn't the topic of conversation nor the revelations that Grod, Garren, and Zorlen had delivered. It was the way Ari had rubbed her shoulders. Her face turns bright-red as she realizes that and groans as she buries her head in her hands. "What is wrong with me," she asks at a normal speaking volume, which may as well been a loud cry given how soft she normally speaks. Maybe a good night's sleep would do her some good for some other reasons she hopes, likely in vain, the others aren't aware of.
As the conversation moves to the dark purposes that the stolen corpses could be used for, Tot's blood runs cold. She curls around herself and backs into Ari, needing to feel his warmth and comfort. A part of her wonders at how much she has grown to trust him in just a few days, no a few hours. Is it his earnestness? Maybe. The rest of her is too filled with dread and fear to think clearly. "C-c-could c-cultists b-b-b-be w-working with th-the g-g-g-goblins," she timidly asks the others. "Th-the trail, the one th-that lead w-w-west, c-couldn't that h-h-have b-b-been the g-g-goblins that attacked th-the f-f-festival?"
Tot's pale, ash-gray skin does a poor job of hiding the blush that comes when Ari begins rubbing her shoulder. After the initial surprise, she relaxes, leaning into him as her tail tentatively starts to snake around his legs before she realizes what she's doing. What is wrong with me?! I--I should be paying attention. It--it is nice, though. Ari's nice. No! Not the time! Focus! Reluctantly, Tot stands a little straighter as her tail retreats and wraps around her legs. "W-wouldn't the sheriff have told them if there was anything more? Besides, it may be something specific about those bodies."
"I--I'll do it, if asked, b-b-but I d-d-don't want to draw attention. I'm s-stronger than I look, a lot stronger," Tot tells Ameiko and Ari. "A-are you a-a-alright? I--I c-can listen if--if you need me to."
"There has to be a way into town from the beach," she mutters as she thinks through what's going. "Why didn't they use it before the raid, though? Did whoever was leading them know about it?"
"I was about to," Tot says when Ari jokes about having her be the Rusty Dragon's bouncer and tossing Lord Kaijitsu out on his butt.
Tot winces as Lonjiku hurls his final, poisonous barb at Ameiko. She knows all too well how it must sting. She herself is as good as dead to her own family, quite literally if they ever find her. As Ameiko comes over, she sees the tears in Ameiko's eyes and before she knows what she's doing, she steps up and wraps Ameiko in a hug. "N-not so hard," she says softly. "I got annoyed at him. That made it easy." Then, realizing what she's doing, she lets go and takes a step back as her cheeks heat furiously with embarrassment at herself.
Tot nods her head and tries to do as Ari says. She manages to move back gracefully, her feet sliding smoothly over the floor. A part of her wants Ari to hold her and guide her, but she has to admit that it's not strictly necessary. Besides, she still wants to be able to come to Ameiko's aid if the tavernkeeper needs it. Izzy's and Ari's comments cause Tot to raise an eyebrow. She isn't sure if changing the names would do much to protect anyone. It's been years since she's let herself be so free with her words, and anyone in town can easily tell someone who the song is really about. Perhaps it's prudent, if only to keep Lonjiku Kaijitsu from trying to take some sort of petty revenge, but changing a name isn't likely to dissuade a man like him from doing that anyway. He seems to be the worst kind of petty noble, at least to her. The longer the arguing continues, the more Tot thinks that maybe she should have hauled him out instead of asking him to leave. "Ari, does anyone like that man? It seems like most of the town hates him from what happened when he didn't show up at the Swallowtail Festival."
When Ari puts his hand on Tot's shoulder, she stiffens for a moment before sliding closer to him while still staying near Ameiko. She appreciates the gesture and that Ari is there with her. His presence helps her relax a little, though she tenses as Lonjiku makes a grab for his daughter. Ameiko's dodge and counter with the soup ladle has Tot covering her mouth to keep from laughing as Ari suggests finding a table. The tiefling looks from Ameiko to Ari, and wonders if she should stay or go with Ari. "Sh-shouldn't I stay in case things get worse," she asks, unsure of what she should do, but trusting Ari enough to want his advice.
What was I thinking?! I should never have spoken to him that way, no matter how aggravating he was being! The thought, however, isn't able to banish that flicker of enjoyment from seeing Lonjiku Kaijitsu's face as her words landed, however. That is dangerous, though. That part of her is the part that had so often gotten her in trouble as a child and an adolescent, at least until she'd been beaten down enough to learn silence is far better for staying unnoticed. True she can barely talk to strangers now without panicking, but so long as she can get across her skill as a cook, she figures she can get by. What has changed, then? Before she'd never have thought to speak to anyone that way. Is it knowing that Ari, Ameiko, and Bethana all care about her? Is it now having a place that can become her home? Is it just the way Lonjiku had sneered at her, like so many of the smug and arrogant men and women that were supposedly her relations, one of whom had been her own brother? Tot doesn't have the answers to those questions, and likely won't for a long time. She pushes the thoughts away, hoping that they will disappear and she will never have to examine them too closely. Better to keep her head down and focus on building a place for herself here in Sandpoint. She grabs her arms and her tail hugs her legs as she watches the argument rage between Ameiko and her father. Better that she not stand out any more. Tot the cook, that is good enough for her. Best not to do anything to stand out.
"I-I-I t-told her I'd s-s-see h-him out," she whispers back to Ari, not so sure of her actions now. After a heartbeat or two, she decides that maybe she should figure out what Ameiko want before frogmarching the lout out. "G-go ask her, p-p-please." Turning her attention back to Lonjiku Kaijitsu, something about his tone irks her. Emotions long bottled up begin to roil and bubble as the nobleman becomes the focus of years of anger and resentment as she remembers every other time someone had put her beneath themselves for one reason or another. In that moment, her uncertainty vanishes as the wit she learned to keep hidden comes out. "My apologies, Lord Kaijitsu," she says in a cold, razor-sharp tone devoid of her customary stuttering and stammering as she gives Lonjiku a low, mocking bow. "I did not realize you had come to help Ameiko here at the Dragon. Pray tell, are you here to escort louts such as yourself, too deep in their cups to know foolishness from sense, out the door, or are you here to help in the kitchen and curdle the soup with your foul demeanor." Her heart races as she looks him in the eyes, her red orbs sparkling with a glimmer of wicked humor. For the moment, she forgets her anxieties and insecurities, reveling in the moment as she lets loose and gives her keen wit free reign of her tongue and actions.
Ameiko, The Rusty Dragon's Kitchen:
Tot opens her mouth to ask a question only to jump when the door to the tavern slams open and an angry man begins shouting in some language she does not know nor recognize. A look of pure dread crosses her face when she hears Ameiko saying that it is her father, though she thinks that perhaps she wasn't supposed to have heard that part. Memories of her own parents' tirades come back. Her mother's anger was always cold and controlled, but her father was like a roaring inferno when his ire was roused, and it seemed that Ameiko's father was of a similar temperament. "H-he--He sounds angry," Tot says. "I-I-I should come with you. No, I should see him out. H-h-he's disturbing the customers." She doesn't wait for Ameiko's response before picking herself up off the floor and heading out into the common room of the tavern.
The Rusty Dragon (Izzy, Ari, Ameiko, and Tot): A pale-faced Tot comes out of the kitchen shortly after Lord Kaijitsu comes in and starts making a scene. The others can see her trembling and paling as she walks towards the looming confrontation instead of away from it, but walk towards it she does. "E-excuse m-me," Tot stammers in voice just loud enough to cut across the man's ranting. Her tail writhes and curls around her left leg more than anyone here in Sandpoint has seen, a clear tell of her nervousness as she continues. "Y-y-y-you're d-d-disturbing th-th-the other g-g-guests. Y-Y-You'll h-h-have to leave. I-I-I i-insist, s-sir."
Ameiko: Tot nods before standing up. That could very well describe Ari, she realizes. "Wh-what about s-secrets," she asks. "I--I have some things I don't want to talk about. Some because they are painful. Others because they--they're dangerous to know."
Ameiko: It takes a few minutes for Tot to regain any semblance of composure. She looks up at Ameiko, sniffling as she scrubs the tears from one of her eyes with the heel of her hand. The tavern owner had told her exactly what she'd hoped to hear, yet Tot still feels scared, especially when she considers what Ameiko said about Erridon. She feels her heart racing and her chest feels tight when she considers what that might mean. "A-ari's a kind person," Tot says, sounding even to herself like she's trying to convince herself of that. She goes quiet for a moment, wiping away the last few tears as the odd sniffle comes. "C-can you teach me," she asks Ameiko after a moment. "H-how to find trustworthy friends?"
Ameiko: "We saw your self-esteem problem from the get-go," Ameiko replies, "and we thought that making you accept Lord Foxglove's reward would help you accept that you deserve it for your heroics at the festival. If you saw that people actually care about you for who you are and what you've done instead of what you look like or who your ancestors are, it could help you accept yourself. Shelyn knows, Tsuto would have killed to have the chance you have..." Tot winces as she hears Ameiko mutters under her breath. The tiefling isn't sure she was supposed to hear it, but it still stings to be thought of as ungrateful. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry! I-I-I d-d-didn't m-mean to s-sound ung-g-grateful," she blurts out as she looks up at Ameiko, worried that her candor has somehow upset her employer. After a moment, she calms and looks away as she grabs her arms. "I--I don't know know how to trust people or how to have them trust me. I don't even know how to tell I'm friends with or who are friends with me. It seems so easy, but it's not. I just seem to keep jumping at shadows, and I keep messing up." Her vision blurs as tears begin to stream down her cheeks. "I-I don't know who Tsuto is, but if they want this chance that I have, then--" she shakes her head, trying to banish the thought. "I'm so scared I'm going to mess everything up again. I just--I just want a place I can call home. I'm tried of being alone, and I just want someplace I can call home," she sobs.
Ameiko: "I--I j-just--" Tot stammers before shaking her head and trying to articulate the complex knot of emotions she feels. "Most wouldn't keep me around," she says after a moment. "An-and when you wanted me to go with Lord Foxglove, I--I th-thought you m-m-might--" That you might not want me around either. The young tiefling puts her back to a wall and slides down it and hides her face behind her hands. "Why did you send me out on that ride with Lord Foxglove? A mousy, devil-tainted swordswoman is hardly anyone worth knowing." Despite her attempt to hide it, a note of bitter sullenness slips into her tone, and she winces at she sounds even to herself. "Sorry," she mutters in apology as she looks up at Ameiko. "It's--it's not easy to trust people. I shouldn't be speaking to you like that."
And in case I have forgotten, I want to thank you, GM Mokmurian, for getting us this far. I appreciate all you've done and wish you well on your future endeavors. May you days be merry, may your cup ever full, and may you be in heaven three days afore the devil knows you're dead. ;)
That's three of us.
Sorry to see you go GM Mokmurian. As I said in the Discord, I understand and I think you did great. In any case, good luck with the promotion and your gaming endeavors. For everyone else, I'm up for continuing if we can find a new GM. What about y'all?
Tot nods, grateful that she wasn't getting dragged along on another errand. She walks beside Ari, still holding his hand, as they head back to the Rusty Dragon.
Back at the Rusty Dragon: When Tot finally returns to the Rusty Dragon, she goes to find Ameiko to see what needs to be done to prepare for the dinner rush that would be coming as people arrived in town or came in after a long day's work. As she helps Ameiko in the kitchen, Tot works up the courage to ask one of the questions that'd been bothering her. "M-m-miss A-ameiko? W-why did you hire me," she blurts out when she finally does get past the mental and emotional block.
Tot shakes her head when Garen asks if anyone wants to join him in searching the graveyard for clues. "I-I need to get back to the Rusty Dragon and Ameiko. She's probably wondering where I am," she explains in a soft voice.
Tot blushes at Ari's teasing, but the small, sincere smile and whispered thanks she gives him when the others aren't looking tell of her gratitude. That she still holds his hand speaks further to it.
Tot lets out a giggle at Izzy's verse. She didn't know the whole song, but she recognized the refrain, and she did enjoy a good pun. Besides, she is coming to like the gnomish songstress. she sobers as she thinks for a moment. "Maybe we should go boar hunting," she mutters to herself.
"Well, we should let Tot cook too, extra if we can, and hand it out to those who are in need ... good will gained, and it's just nice. Food can also cheer morale" The cook in question looks down at her feet. "I d-don't have a lot of money to spend on that kind of thing," she admits. She'd been hoping to save up enough for some clothes that actually fit her or at least hadn't been scavenged from wherever she could find something.
No worries, and I get it. I think Grod's proposed a good compromise of helping to train the townsfolk so they can better defend themselves. May not be what Garen wants to do, but it should help alleviate his conscious. As for Tot, well, she's mostly looking to make a home here while laying low. The fame is uncomfortable to her, and she would much rather just fade into the background. There are things coming up that will give Tot some motivation, but for the moment, she's mostly trying to find her place.
Tot tenses up as she realizes that her slip was loud enough to be heard, but she doesn't run, and even meets Ari's hand halfway with her own when she realizes that the sylph is trying to hold it. She gives a small, jerky nod to his question, though it doesn't take a mind reader to know that she's not entirely fine.
"I think some of them found it funny because it could have killed me," Tot mutters under her breath before she can stop herself.
Tot nods when Ari asks her if it's a nickname. That it's also her initials is a secret she plans on keeping for as long as she can, preferably to her grave. She feels a little better and smiles as the banter begins to flow around her. No, these people were nothing like those she grew up around. There was none of the snide, back-handed compliments nor the snipping and put downs she'd been the target of whenever she wasn't just invisible. "That or shoving the poor sap forward," she agrees with Ari, though this was the first time she's heard the phrase Andoran ambush, she's familiar enough with the tactic. That was how she wound up being the baiter while clearing out a goblin den, once.
Thanks. we appreciate it.
Tot's hand squeezes Ari's hand a little more than is comfortable as Shalelu lays out what she wants them to do and the sheriff follows up with details on The Chopper, but she lets off when she notices that Ari is wincing. At Izzy's suggestion, the tiefling finds herself bemused. "If that is all, Father Vosk, Sheriff Hemlock, and Lady Andosana, may I return to the Rusty Dragon? Miss Ameiko hired me to help her cook, and I've been away too long already," she says before she can stop that last part from slipping out. She blushes a little at her slip up, but only a little. It was the truth after all, and that seemed to matter to the people in Varisia far more than it ever did in Nidal or Cheliax.
Tot grimaces as her arms tingle. She'd forgotten why she favors bladed weapons over blunt instruments of war. The shock is gods-awful! It doesn't help that the goblin's skull seems especially thick nor does it being only one of a few whose brains now cling to the cast iron. Now that she has time to think, and has gotten over being startled by the first one that leapt at her from under a table, she draws her sword and nods grimly as Ameiko rallies her and some others to help defend the town. Damned goblins. The attack started just when she was getting a chance to show off her cooking skills for Ameiko. If she hadn't been predisposed to loath the green buggers before this mess started, she is certain that she would have after this. As it is, any goblin unfortunate enough to cross her path is not going to die painlessly. Tot, formerly known as Thirteen of the Unseen Servants of Thrune, knows very well how to make someone die screaming.
Tot slumps against Erridon as Garen starts talking about hunting the grave robbers down. She hopes that isn't what they are expected to do. She's been away from the kitchen in the Rusty Dragon longer than she'd expected already. She's not dressed for a hunt, nor does she particularly want to go on one. She knows the goblins and the grave robbers are a problem, but wasn't this a responsibility for the guards? She just wants to get back to her job before she gets in trouble with Ameiko or worse, Bethana. It's only been a few days, but Tot's learned to fear the look the older halfling can give when something isn't right.
Tot's tail wraps around her leg as she hears Erridon's answer. A part of her had hoped she was wrong. She wants to live here for a while at least. She wants to get to know Ari better, a desire that causes her cheeks to color slightly. She wants to get to know Ameiko and find out why the inn keeper is willing to employ her when before she'd mostly been treated with suspicion. She wants to make friends, to have people she can trust in her life, even though she knows that trust is not something she extends to others easily. She looks at Erridon and realizes that it is getting a little easier with some people. "Wh-what do you want us to do," she asks after a moment.
Tot moves closer to Erridon as a thought comes to her. Ostensibly, she'd been in Nidal to help hunt demonic cultists and monsters. Ever since that night she'd witnessed the slaughter of the Sarenrites, she'd wondered if there was any truth in that reason, and a couple of years ago she'd decided that there wasn't. But what if there are cultists here? From what she has seen, the governments of Varisia are not so tight-fisted as those of Cheliax and Nidal. The lands here are more wild, and she has seen some strange things in her travels. The thought blows like a cold wind, snuffing out the last vestiges of the warm feelings she was enjoying until just a few moments ago. "Wh-wh-what about e-enemies of Desna o-or th-the oth-ther gods worshipped here," she asks.
Tot squeezes Erridon's hand as Naffer Vosk tells them about the grave-robbing. She has a feeling that both the grave keeper and Shalelu are right. The corpses were taken for some ritual and someone is pulling the goblin's strings. "D-did F-father T-T-Tobyn have any e-enemies," she asks quietly.
"I didn't know writers did that," Tot admits when Erridon tells her about pen names. She's learned a good bit in the past two years, but there are still many things she doesn't know, and the list seems to get ever longer. "Maybe we should let Izzy come up with the names, though." Tot's voice trails off as Erridon leans in and whispers in her ear. Her cheeks burn bright red as once again Erridon compliments her freckles. She has always be self-conscious about them and how they make her look like a little girl, especially since her small stature only adds to that perception. Now, though, she's starting to feel--well, she's not sure what she feels. Happiness? Appreciation? The truth is, she has never felt like she does now. "B-best not do that then," she mutters. "I would hate spending a night in the gaol." The twinkle in her eyes and the small smile she gives Erridon let him know she is joking.
Tot looks at Erridon and blinks in surprise before smiling as she stifles a giggle. "A-ari, how can one be famous and anonymous? Does not one defeat the other," she asks.
"I tried to warn you. Folks saw you doing good deeds and fighting bravely, bound to get out. But you're welcome? Maybe in the future you'll let me beat the other minstrels to song making about you if it's gonna happen anyway?" "You did, and I'm sorry," Tot says. "Though I don't really want to do anything that draws attention like that."
Still feeling embarrassed about panicking and running off, Tot tries to hide behind Erridon as much as she can without letting go of his hand. When she sees Isidiana, she remembers asking the gnomish bard to keep her out of any stories or songs she told about what happened, for all the good it did. When she and Erridon get close to Izzy, Tot reaches out and gentle taps the gnome's shoulder with her free hand. "Um, th-thanks for not mentioning me in your song," the tiefling says. "E-e-even if it seems like that was in vain."
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