Verik Jarrow's page

Grinning bemusedly Verik chants briefly before approaching with a noticable swagger in his step and leaning against the doorframe "You never told me you were an Empress your Highness! Alas I fear I have committed all manner of social faux pas! Sir Dwarf would you happen to know the penalty for pinching an Empresses bottom? I think it prudent to know these things... Just in case. I would hate to loose a hand after all, though I do have two.."

With a theatrical bow to the dwarf he adds, "Tell me Sir Bokken do you recognize anymore of my new found traveling companions? I find myself traveling in august company of a sudden and one likes to at least be aware of the rules of etiquette one is ignoring - else what is the point?"

Sadly even with magical help Verik is still Verik, and despite his bravado under the gazes of his fellows a crimson tide slowly overwhelms the clerics features, the glibness fading as he speaks until he looks like a bad actor who dearly wants to be done with a long rehearsed piece he is mangling.

Diplomacy with STH 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13
Stupid dice! lol

"I don't know about fortune, but it will surely shower you in something - and even dung makes for good fertilizer. We should of course be wary of anyone or anything that can afford to live in bugbear haunted peaks - they can evidently defend themselves." Verik says amiably following along.

Verik - trying unsuccessfully not to look gratified by Tandlara's words - rises and stretches yawning before moving over to Virtue. Brushing his faithful steed down swiftly he tacks up and carefully notes their position to mark on the map later.

"Right, well lets move with all speed for the first part of our journey. I will be searching for gold again and the more ground I can cover the better."

That said he mounts up and when the group are ready casts his spell and spurs Virtue on to a gallop - or as close as he feels he can get given the terrain.

Rising and flushing slightly as he is forced to hop back over to the group, one leg having gone to sleep, Verik shakes his head.

"Think what one could achieve in an elven life time if you did possess an orderly mind... The possibilities would be endless. But of course such a span would change a man, though it would not I think make an elf of him mentally - I think elves more alien than that."

Verik awakens as usual before the dawn, changes out of his chain shirt giving it a look of loathing - while it is possible and indeed prudent to sleep in the thing it is far from comfortable - and moves off out of sight for a shower.

After scrubbing for a time, while contemplating the lives of bugbear, and whether they are capable of becoming truly civilized, and whether that would change their seemingly violent natures, he changes into a fresh outfit and returns. Buckling on his breastplate he takes a seat on a rock overlooking the vast sweep of countryside they hope to tame and for once keeps his eyes open as he begins to pray.

Dear Abadar,

We found gold with your grace yesterday and will eventually turn that vein into lifesblood for this budding nation. Today we return to the boggards territory hoping to gain an ally, or at least a non antagonistic neighbor, but we are also prepared if necessary to eliminate a threat - do not let it come to that I pray.

As he prays his eyes roving over the landscape before him he half listening to the conversation going on behind him.

I'm a bit too knackered to make a coherent post today - very early morning. But I am a little confused by Hero Points, we started with one and gain one per level, nobody has been awarded any, is that correct? Meaning Verik would have 3 - not having spent any?

"I think what you do determines what happens to your soul, not how you are buried. But I suppose it does make me feel a little better, even if I am going to be exhausted tomorrow. At the end of the day it seems more civilized, and that is a good enough reason for me." Verik replies, panting slightly as he begins piling stones atop a bugbear corpse.

Now if someone has a link to the Wyrd Sisters cartoon, looking at that stuff made me want to see it again - its been a while. The Witches books are my favorite from the Pratchett stable, especially Lords and Ladies, which I just finished listening to.

Think I have that right.

"Oh no that was for the Stag Lord, or whatever he likes to call himself, the boggards - or possible just boggard - are much closer at hand. We should be back with plenty of time for Taxfest." Verik replies, dragging the dead weight of a bugbear corpse towards a rudimentary grave.

"I thought that was precisely what we were doing with a little exploration on the way?" Verik replies cautiously.

Verik gives Jemini a put upon looks and sighing heavily moves over to help with the burials, "I still say we should have dumped them over the side..." He grumbles, but he does not sound terribly convinced, despite working with an irked vigor.

Verik shakes his head and with thin lips turns his back on Taisper responding to Berrin. "Because they did not attack us Berrin, I've never met a Boggard and I doubt you have either, and what little I have heard hardly paints them as ravenous monsters - more like uncivilized savages, an appellation which can be applied to many human communities easily enough. If we attacked a sentient creature without provocation we would be the blood thirsty savages, not them. We go back, speak to them see if we have allies or enemies and deal with them accordingly."

"Anyway lets get rid of these bodies, the fire isn't really big enough for all of them and I doubt we will find enough wood up here. We could make a cairn, or just roll them off the mountainside, grim, but to be honest I do not feel like laboring overlong because these brutes attacked us."

Note still waiting on wether Verik was able to stabalize one and any magic so essentially ignoring these points for the time being.

I enjoyed it, was last year I think they showed it over here, but a good version - much better than the other Terry Pratchett adaptions. The lead actor is great, he was the brightest point in Coupling - a comedy series - and has had some good rolls since. I really hope they do the other Moist Von Lipwig books with him.

Have you seen the Color of Magic one with David Jason btw Berrin? Decent you can find it here in case you have not... The Color of Magic. And Part 2

"The boggard warned us off and did not attack us out of hand, the bugbears tried to attack us at night. If you cannot see a difference there Taisper I don't know what to tell you. Had the bugbears warned us off we would have reacted in the same way as to the boggard - well at least I would have. I would rather have them both as allies, but an unprovoked attack is enough to allow for deadly resiprocation to my mind - especially given we have few other practical choices for chastisement." Verik says with a hint of exasperation.

"What exactly are you arguing here Taisper? That you think it was wrong, or that it was inconsistent?"

Isn't Reggie our mascot?

And yes Verik's Sense Motive is pretty impressive, and will grow more so as his wisdom, ranks, and silver tongued haggler increase. I really like Silver Tongued Haggler its not that good at the moment, but its a half your level - rounded down - bonus to bluff, diplomacy and sense motive. And Verik gets enough uses that he can use it on virtually every check. :)

I'm pretty much using my own view point as Verik here. Assuming Bugbears are unfamiliar, but all I've heard is that they are vicious killers. If we just met them I would be wary, but not instigate, if they attacked, no mercy - well not torture of anything, but I'm not going to try lugging a creature larger and stronger than me about especially if they outnumber us, etc.

Verik would have liked one temporarily spared for interrogation purposes, but did not think about that until after he was done healing everyone. If he can get one to talk - and he has that speak language spell prepared in case the flunkies don't speak common - then he would probably be against killing it, though only if he can come up with a practical option. Like getting it to negotiate and offer trade to its fellows if there is a settlement or tribe. Verik believes that even evil people ought to see the benefits of civilization if they only thought about it.

I doubt it, if we are third level now - I imagine this will pretty much have leveled the rest of you - I would think it will happen this level. 5th level is very reasonable for a 6 man 3rd level party after all - at a guess I would say we have already faced 4hd foes or at least foe.

Verik shrugs, "Maybe cousin, but the thing is I can afford to be sure of myself, because my position is the more moderate and does not for the most part involve things that cannot be undone. With Orlivanch, once we say his basement I would have been able to change my mind with no negative consequences I can see. Had we found his huddling terrified family down there could you take back your decision?

There is a difference here, several infact, as the creature was likely to awaken soon. And if you don't think I doubt myself even in this then you are very wrong. I am not sure it is right or fair to categorize someone by their race, but still I do not think I can deny that I feel it is right to judge a bugbear by a harsher measure than a human in most instances."

"What I most objected to with Orlivanch was that you acted without hesitating when there was no reasonable need to do so..."[b] Taking a breath the cleric visibly catches himself,

[b]"Look there is no point in rehashing this, I doubt it would achieve anything. Suffice to say I see a difference, and would not have chastised you for doing what Berrin did."

Ah good, I thought it might be that, yes that will make for some fun RP! I can't imagine we are far off either! :)

Note edited in small speech to Taisper in post above.

Verik gives Taisper a faintly apologetic smile before turning to Zander and nodding, "Sure thing. Let's see.. ah, this rock should do it."

He moves over to a rock with a small depression in it and chants filluing it with cool clean water. He then casts light upon the head of his borrowed morningstar and after washing his hands heads over to Berrin's pile of loot casts detect magic. He then carefully examines anything that shows signs of magic.

Spellcraft to Identify Items jic in value order highest first. 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Sense Motive with STH 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

Verik watches Taisper's face and reads his cousin's train of though with what he imagines to be a degree of accuracy. In a placating voice he says,

"Taisper its not the same as with Orlivanch. There is a big difference between entering a defined area of a man's land when he has specifically forbidden you to do so and with killing someone who attacks you at your campfire at night in the mountains.

Its about what you know, or perhaps what you reasonably should know. Bugbears are almost universally known as a savage and violent race, that does not mean we should attack them out of hand, but it probably means we can reasonably denote them as evil brutes if their behavior leads to that conclusion. For example had Orlivanch beena bugbear planting all those traps I think it likely we would not have attempted to extend the benefit of the doubt to him.

Do you see the difference? None of us would have objected to you killing that creature either - or at least I would not have. There is also the fact that it was due to wake up shortly and still be a threat, whereas any of these others that survives will be easily held.

Of course we eventually discovered that Orlivanch was as bad as any savage, but importantly we only discovered that after you killed him. And yes, I would have stopped it had I thought to, but my mind was on healing first and only strayed to thoughts of interrogation once that was taken care of."[/b]

I am a bit confused by Taisper's auras that he sees, because I am pretty sure we have not met anything that would give off an aura yet. Probably not Orlivanch, and not the bugbears - except maybe the leader though I really doubt it.

To give off a faint aura a creature must have at least 5 HD unless it is either undead or an outsider.

Is this Taisper being crazy or do we have a rules misunderstanding?

Creature/Object Aura Power

None Faint Moderate Strong Overwhelming
Aligned creature1 (HD) 5 or lower 5-10 11-25 26-50 51 or higher

its in a table, there is an errata? next to part of it, but a search of the site quickly shows that this was because it was a change to 3.5 and Paizo intend the 5 or lower to be in place. This of course applies to all the detect alignment spells.

Verik moves everyone far enough away from the unconscious bugbears so they will not be caught in his channeling and then holds his wooden key aloft and calls forth the healing powers of Abadar. Waves of golden light pour forth lapping at the parties wounds until flesh knits back together and throbbing pains recede to memories.

"Should we keep one alive to question? It would be good to know if their tribe, or settlement is nearby for the future. I suppose they could just be lone wanderers, but it seems unlikely." As he speaks the cleric moves amidst the bodies looking for signs of life, and attempting to stabalize any of the creatures that still draw breath.

Channel Energy 2d6 ⇒ (5, 2) = 7 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 2d6 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

Stabalize 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Trouble is although Verik has selective channeling he can only exclude 2 creatures from his healing, but its a nice quick fix up out of combat.

Round 5, Initiative 6
AC 18, HP 22/13

Reeling from the bugbear's blow Verik glances anxiously over his shoulder, trying to access the wisest course of action. His ears ring from the attack and he can feel warm blood congealing beneath his breastplate, but Jemini and Berrin are in far worse states...

He looks at his companions wounds and bites his lip anxiously, but decides the best way to prevent injury is to settle things swiftly. Stepping to the side he sends his borrowed morningstar flashing towards the biggest bugbear hoping he can fell it since it seems unsteady already - leaving the heavier hitters to concentrate on the uninjured goblinoid.

Distracted by Jemini and Berrin the creature only notices Verik's cudgel ascending at the last moment and raises a powerful hand almost in time to blunt the force of the blow! But as Verik sees another failure the blessings of Abadar infuse him with a sudden surge of speed and he just manages to avoid the block the magical morningstar ploughing into the bugbear's cheek with a sickening crunch!

The creature gurgles bloody bubbles for a moment before staggering and then crashing to the ground soaked in its own gore!

Verik beams elated and relieved and gives Berrin and Jemini a little bow gesturing towards the last standing foe.

"Finish him off, then I can heal everyone up!"

Morningstar vs Leader 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Should be a 15 to hit, since I forgot bless! Phew! Assuming that the borrowed Morningstar is at least MW.

Nevermind I need to wait for the bugbears nearly jumped the gun there, lol.

Yes even with 10 hours to play with there is a great deal to fit in.

Round 4, Initiative 6
AC 18, HP 22/22

Grrr, frustrating - but he would have provoked three AOs had I rolled a 13 or less for his save so I still think it was the better option... More grist for Verik's self doubt I guess.

Verik steps back to flank a bugbear with Taisper and voice ringing with power again commands, "Flee you festering furry festival of feculance!"

But the enraged creature only looks at him blankly - mouthing feculance in puzzlement.

Bugbear 5 Will DC 15 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Yep, jazzed about that, the scene with Danerys was rather uncomfortable, but I think that kinda works. Its much better tackled this way, 10 hours should just about be enough to tackle a book a season, a movie just would not have been able to encompass the plot properly.

Oh bum, just noticed that the leader was previously listed as having a +3 will save as opposed to the +1 he was listed with in the last post - that means he passes sadly. Ah well its a dice game after all.

Anyone get to see the first episode of A Game of Thrones btw? Thought it was pretty darn impressive myself, I'm happy with all the characters, and Peter Dinklage rocks my socks off as Tyrion - the Imp beingquite possibly my favorite character of all time.

Since there is a path Bugbear 5 could take for no extra movement which would not provoke I thinks its only fair to say he took that sadly.

Bugbear 4 did not seem to have acted fyi, I've moved it befoe Taisper as this seems to make the most sense.

Round 3, Initiative 6
AC 18, HP 22/22
SA use Command SLA

Verik rushes forward and calls in a voice ringing with righteous fervor and a power far beyond the young cleric's own, "Down on your belly transgressor!" As he gazes glowers at the bugbear leader.

As the bugbear fights against his command Verik calls back, in his normal tones, "Tandlara get the ones by Berrin if you can!"

Bugbear Leader Command Will Save DC 15 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Don't forget bless +1 to hit! Not that it matters for Jemini, but you never know.

Verik shoots Jemini a glower, rather suspecting he has just been dubbed a "fragile" and not happy about it.

Round 2, Initiative 6
AC 18, HP 22/22

Trying to determine the species of their attackers Verik calls, "Abadar guide and bless our efforts." Invoking his god's blessing upon himself and his fellows.

Grabbing his shield and hefting his borrowed morningstar Verik moves forward trying to use any available cover attempting to spot the uninvited guests.

Ducking behind a rock near Zander and motioning for the archer to find cover with a pointed nod at the fire directly behind him the cleric attempts to see if these interlopers are men or something else entirely.

Perception 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Waiting on them getting a bit closer before spell casting just in case they ruin out minute per level spells.

I'll definitely take a look at the clerical archetypes, but my guess is none of them will be quite suitable for Verik - although I have some hopes for cloistered cleric. Probably be new spells though, the clerical spell-list could use some spicing up!

As for Wesh, well, he is already an archetype as a Lion Shaman, so its perhaps unlikely he will be able to fit in another.

Regarding the encounter are we actually sleeping for the night yet? I want to know if Verik has changed into his chainshirt pjs yet.

"Right well, for now we need to mark this on the map, but there isn't a great deal we can do about it now otherwise." Verik says looking pleased as he remounts virtue. "Come on you malodorous mare menacing man bag. Who is a flea ridden fart factory? Yes you are!" He says fondly ruffling Virtue behind the ears.

Oh bother, and I did not ogle anybody, how goche(sp?).

"I'm planning to try to cover as much ground as possible searching for various substances. I don't really know much about mithril saving that it is rare. I imagine it would be found in rocky terrain again though... But it will take a long time before I can cover any significant ground, sadly the spells duration is only a matter of minutes... As for a magical crafting tower, well I'm not sure its practical - I seem to be our only crafter at present, and I don't see why I would need a special edifice for it. It would certainly be nice to have other magical craftsmen at hand, but I think they would need more than just gold to lure them here..." Verik replies his brow wrinkling.

Wesh listens frowning as his fingers kneed Ramon's forehead, "Hellfire, I will never understand what makes people so attached to a few stone boxes. If you live next to a haunted accursed prison, and have cults and occult shenanigans bleeding well leave, yer people not limpets. What use is a home ye can't feel safe in? Blah, anyways I'll be off. Let's say meet at the Restlands in two hours? I ain't sure exploring the graves on yer own is a good idea though."

Pushing Ramon over playfully the young druid darts off into the mist, with the big cat giving chase with a wrowl of protest. Soon the two disappear from sight and moving at a loping run they begin to circle around the village clockwise noting landmarks and terrain as well as they can in the mist.

Survival if needed (Ramon aides). 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Yay, theres a nice DM!

Veriks twig nearly jerks out of his hands, and he hurriedly dismount beaming - maybe it was not such a useless spell after all! "It has to be gold, I've got no idea how much there might be, or how much it might be worth, but even a little gold is valuable and it might prove even more useful in attracting people here! If we can set up an operation ourselves we could funnel all the profits into the settlement... We could certainly use them to enable us to start out with a solid inferstructure... Or I suppose we could sell it to experts, dwarves maybe? I'll have to look into how these things are usually handled, any ideas Jemini? Or anyone else for that matter?"

"Well its a possibility I suppose, but even so it seems reasonable to assume that there is a native population. We don't really loose anything if we are wrong after all, and we are already going to be proceeding with caution." Verik replies.

"Intelligent creatures do not tend to dwell alone, I am assuming there is a small tribe at the least. I was rather under the impression that we were encroaching on the edge of their territory, but I will admit that is pretty much whole cloth speculation." Verik says frowning.

Common ore is well and good, but by necessity any mining operation we had to start would be small, and more importantly we are looking to expand the population and nobody ever heard of an iron rush - right?

And as for not work again, well I'm trying to write a book, well edit, while doing an online degree. Came back from the U.S recently after getting divorced and the job market is terrible and I've got a decent amount of savings so I figured I would take a while to be self indulgent, lol.

Failed the perception check, but am using Locate Object - since I pretty much have to.

I figure that a galloping horse does 250ft per round, so that's 7500ft. over 3 minutes with an extra 1000ft. for the 480ft. radius of the spell. So 8460ft with 480ft. off to each side scanned. Of course that does not account for gradient, etc., so probably less than that.

I did look at the perception box, but honestly I am not sure what else I would use the spell to search for, silver, or diamonds, but gold seems the obvious winner here. By my reading it seems like it is not stopped by normal rock, etc., but lead is specifically called out as stopping it. And as I say in the OOC, Align Weapon Lawful is so situational as to be useless so I am virtually obliged to prepare Locate Object as my domain spell.

Workwise I am in a very nice position because I used to do a very specific job for the Royal Signals - as a Systems Engineering Technician - and they have not replaced me. However they still use some of the tech that I had managed to repair and maintain even though it was hopelessly outdated, they just have nobody who can fix it... The fact that it is used for counter terrorism - not really but sort of - and they legally are required to have it working means I have them over a bit of a barrel. Cannot be much more specific than that, even though its really not terribly interesting at all.

Still having a worried general screaming at you for three days is not much fun.

Perception - come on! 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

As the group ascend into the mountains Verik casts locate object and holding a forked twig scans for a scant few minutes searching for gold ore. Before he does this he explains what he is doing to the group and urges them to push their mounts to cover as much ground as possible for 3 minutes galloping where possible - because the spell will cover more ground that way.

The cleric also takes care to make a clear mark in the stone before he casts the spell, and another approximately 500 feet from the point where the spell ends.

He also has Zander note the area on his map, explaining that he intends to scan as much ground as possible and does not intend to cover the same ground twice.

Verik is quiet as the group talk of disguises, though he does blanch a bit at the thought of Jemini impersonating Kressle.

He is more concerned about what to say to the Boggard and how he might persuade the creature to let him touch it with his spell.

"I suppose we can offer them friendship and the opportunity to trade, there must be things they want and can use, and getting them to bring pelts and other valuables to exchange would be valuable. We can hopefully gain ourselves while making their lives better, and more civilized..."

Honestly I was planning on doing this anyway - though since it only lasts 3 minutes its unlikely he will find the vein mentioned. Verik's domain choices for 2nd level are Locate Object and Align Weapon so he will be doing this a lot and gold does seem the most obvious target for it.