Revery is actually a badass!
Work is hell at the moment, so I won't have much energy for a novel like Sajeek's. Will do my best...
Part deux still to come....
The building is closing in five minutes, and I have to get the hell out.
JFC Sajeek take 1000gp for that post. That's insane. Never had someone put that kind of time/effort into a post for one of my games. I'm touched!
Or maybe he's touched!
;-)
500gp to Revery. Great energy and well/truly appreciated.
*HIGH 4!*
Oh and another 500gp as well. I just had to split the coin into two parts : )
We don't do it for the money, but we'll take it. At least, Revery will...
Great post, btw, Russ. At first I was too intimidated by its size to begin reading it, but once I started it went smoothly. Been reading for a while, so that must be why :-)
My original vision of how Gwendalyn would want to spend her time didn't work with the terms of the fast-forward, but I think I figured it out.
Great post Fredrik! Take 1000gp for your troubles and spider bites!
thanks for the complements :)
I tried for something enjoyable to read.
Oh, and I have tried to redo Sajeek's sheet several times now, and met with failure. I think the solution is grabbing the labtop and going upstairs were the signal is strongest. Because that's about the only thing I haven't tried yet.
I lost an hour's worth of posting, thanks to Paizo and my net connection failing to update my post that I was editing
ouch!
Please tell me that you have Lazarus.
no, I mainly use Crome for most of my surfing. From now on I'm just going to open up word, then copy and past from there. Although that lazarus might not be a bad call
I usually write in WordPad, but then sometimes I don't. Lazarus still saves my butt on a regular basis, and I hear that they have a multi-browser version 3.
I tried Lazarus, but it was messing with other stuff, including character sheets, so I removed it.
I lost an hour's worth of posting, thanks to Paizo and my net connection failing to update my post that I was editing
I gave you 1000gp but then lost them somewhere....hmmm : )
I lost an hour's worth of posting, thanks to Paizo and my net connection failing to update my post that I was editingI gave you 1000gp but then lost them somewhere....hmmm : )
Oh wait, Lazarus has it for you~
Congrats!
OOOOO Shinies!!!!
Thank you good sir!
I need some guidance.
The group was hijacked into a situation where it was just survival without any big decisions to be made, then a homecoming to reset and meet later.
The group met later and I offered a number of quests and things going on in the world (magical bags sold over here, racial battles, side quests, political intrigue, et cetera) and a unifying theme of epics to hold the group together.
Enter barfight and a side quest to get Nogglegrop back, and then freedo...nm mouthing off the Captain lead to another side quest (well two since you were working for a paladin at the same time).
Here is where I asked the group to sit down and work out what you want to do/accomplish/see and though there was some great roleplaying there really wasn't much int he way of a direction.
Then you were free and hooked your wagon to the star of the toil that Nogglegrop suggested.
Language acquired, now you have a day to come up with where in the entire realms you wish to go, and it seems the group still doesn't have a direction, so they defaulted to someone's backstory.
Backstory fulfilled, marriage enacted...now what? You're looking to leave Odus because you're going....where?
It would be lovely to have a clue what the group's plan is so I can plan something, but it's really feeling like there's a preference for Crash Bandicoot, where I offer the illusion of choice, but just force you to keep going where I want (read: the idea that you have free will suggests that you might have ideas of what you would like to do, motivations that might run into conflict with each other, and just simply something that makes this feel less like masturbation for me).
Nogglegrop = Wanderlust. This is a 1-dimensional NPC motivation that pretty much is my way to justify him being happy going anywhere, and be an easy B-personality type to follow the group's lead. I'm hoping from more depth from a PC.
For serious, what is your character after?
e.g. In the other game: Loki saying a unifying "let's go after the slavers that captured us", which got a resounding, "No let's not do that", which is sad to me because we could have laid hands on the game and shown some initiative of what we want, rather than just passively waiting for the dinner bell to ring.
p.s. The epics are not something to actively knock off, they are a backstory piece that justifies the group being together and gives an excuse to level (chasing epics), learn and gives the occasional push for the group to go in one direction or another. At higher levels that changes completely :)
I still think we should read the scroll and see what it says. Assuming it gives some good stuff but no immediate indication of direction, at least some more background would be useful. And then we should work towards achieving the goal, even if it's a long way away. Researching Iksar culture and history may be one way to do that. Perhaps there are others.
Aside from that, finding a relatively safe place to work out of would be a good start. Somewhere we could live that wouldn't put us at peril every time we stepped a foot in it. Maybe a smaller city, or a small town outside of a bigger city. Or even a natural place. Somewhere they speak common, and have a port and a library.
Fair enough. Here are some questions to spur our thinking: Why shouldn't we settle down in an island paradise with friendly, friendly cat people? I mean really, that's some people's life goal. They wouldn't accept Brontide, of course -- who just got married. Why shouldn't he settle down in connubial bliss with his wife? Why shouldn't Kwen stay and spend time with Rin, to develop the potential there?
Heck, we wouldn't even have to stop fighting, if that's what we want. We'd be close enough to all piss off our significant others by taking long vacations to domesticate Toxxulia! I'm sure that it would just be a matter of time before the kobolds would be making their little ones behave with horror stories of us.
So. Why leave Odus? When we have the answer to that question, then we'll know what to do next.
I have a better idea, we find a plot of land and build our own city. Still we should gain some more still more ranks in learning Iksar. Plus we are 'Hero's' settling down this early in our career.... no dice, plus I really don't want to have to deal with city full of people who think that are always looking down on those of us who are not of there race, yada yada yada.
There we go! We build a new city around the bridge over that river, whassitcalled. A neutral place where everyone from kerrans to erudites to gnomes can all find acceptance. Maybe Brontide's sis will join us! And Gwen could send for her warrior brother Tudan! (I'm sure that a report of friendly, friendly cat people would be worth a boat ticket for him to investigate.) Yes, this idea has promise.
So, aside from the out-of-character consideration that it's rather early in our careers for settling down, why wouldn't we? In-character, I mean. The notion of founding a city is actually pretty awesome.
ETA: Holy $%&*! This was my 3000th post! I'm simultaneously proud and disturbed.
As for the evil game, I'm trying to get you guys off the bloody island as quickly as I can, I haven't been able to post as much as I want too in that game, last couple of days due to work and the R and D department is making me working late the last couple of days.
Sorry dude, I vetoed the slaves initially because I am sick of dealing with the slave/slaver arc. At this point, it's like playing a WW2 first person shooter. Oh, look the bad guys are nazi's. It has just been too common of a theme for several games in the past, and I am burnt out on it. Not your DMing, jsut to clarify :) Just the segment of slaves and stuff. I know, it's just because I've been gaming with ya for a while :)
As far as leaving Odus, I had just brought that up because of Loki's post that mentioned that we were going to end up there, before all the wedding stuff went down. I'm cool with whatever, just not slaves/slavers.
However, if you want something to build on, Qeynos was the last place that Sajeek had any mention of his foster parents. which was why he was searching the Plains of Karana for the year before he was captured by slavers.
As far as reading the page goes, is Sajeek allowed to show the others now? 'Cause I have been operating on the "Only the most trusted of slaves will be allowed to read this," thing. I didn't want to lose the epics just cause somebody wanted to look at it. I know after I get my f+~~ing myth-weaver sheet back up, I will use skill/training points to make sure that he can actually read the page. I actually think Sajeek was the only one who couldn't read it, which was pretty pathetic.
The sound of our own city or port, a place the characters could have as a home/base of operation would be nifty. Someplace they could all feel safe, or at least safe enough. The open races city idea is also nifty. I imagine that if we do start our own town, the all races thing would probably go hand in hand, lol.
And, thinking about it, Fredrick raises a couple of good points. One, about Rev just getting married. I mean I know he is an Erudite ( = prude, lol), but he probably is loath to pick up and jet. And two, also it would give Kwen a chance to RP a bit, rather then solely being focused on picking locks/pockets.
So, staying on Odus for a while is fine, a somewhat relaxing spot for us to plan our next move. That and fine tune some skills, and make sure everyone is up to speed with the iksar lang (stares at Sajeek).
Caveat: Text is a horrible medium for tone. Let me assure you that I am not frustrated/angry/upset/homicidal at this juncture. As humans we are schema making machines, and relatively binary in our thinking, so if I am expecting one outcome and I'm not getting it, then it generally stems from a misunderstanding somewhere along the lines. I am seeking to rectify a disconnect, so we can find an updraft for our proverbial wings.
I still think we should read the scroll and see what it says. Assuming it gives some good stuff but no immediate indication of direction, at least some more background would be useful. And then we should work towards achieving the goal, even if it's a long way away. Researching Iksar culture and history may be one way to do that. Perhaps there are others.
You have an interesting situation language-wise. With 3 ranks, Nogglegrop, and with 3.0 ranks (cross class required a 6 skill investment to get that many ranks) Revery they the front runners in terms of the language. Sajeek has the potential to achieve higher heights (can get to 4.0 ranks), but that investment will require 8 skill points, since it's a cross class skill and BST do not get tonnes of skills, nor is INT a core attribute for his class.
- 3 ranks in a language provides the reader with simple concepts.
- 4 ranks provides fluency as an average native speaker.
So your initial read gave you sufficient information to be sure that it is on the continent of Kunark (a logical place to look for iksar bones), that part of the reading you're sure of. To be positive of anything else, rather than just accepting a wild goose chase in one of the most dangerous places in the known world, someone will need to get to 4 or 4.0 skill ranks in language: iksar.
Meta/Behind the scenes: This mechanism is purposefully crafted to slow down how fast the group blindly runs to Kunark, because it's a playground for total party wipeouts. You will likely be at least level 6 by the time you go there, unless Sajeek invests some training points and becomes a cunning linguist.
Speaking of the "blindly" thing I mentioned above, yes researching Kunark, culture and history can only help for when you finally go there. I have given you a bit of a head start for those that listened to Fropze's ramblings. There is not tonnes written about Kunark/the iksar, since it's not a well-traveled destination (most that go there die), but what is known can be of benefit to you.
You have had sufficient time in Erudin that I will give you the benefit of having scoured the tomes for information on your next step in the journey (you know all the information on pages 17-19 of the Player's Handbook in relation to Kunark, and the gist of page 41-42 about the iksar, including the iksar-specific information on page 32).
So. Why leave Odus? When we have the answer to that question, then we'll know what to do next.
Tis a good question for if we don't know where we're going, or why, then it is a wonder of why we're leaving in the first place.
What are each of you after?
I would get happiness in my man panties if there was a point where someone wanted to go left, someone wanted to go right, and someone wanted to stand put, forcing a conversation of priorities because everyone was so bound and determined to get what they wanted done. This would be nicer vs. the current situation of "we drink until a quest falls in our laps...and then we'll complain about the arduous restrictive nature of not having choice...then getting back and going back to drinking and waiting for the next DM-inspired outing."
Really really subtle: There is a goodly force moving against the iksar in a full out war. If I was looking to go to Kunark I might use the beachhead of Fironia Vie as my jump off point. You know the rudiments of the native tongue and would be great translators. Heck I can't imagine many places on the planet where they are talking about the iksar/Kunark more than at that beachhead.
I have a better idea, we find a plot of land and build our own city. Still we should gain some more still more ranks in learning Iksar. Plus we are 'Hero's' settling down this early in our career.... no dice, plus I really don't want to have to deal with city full of people who think that are always looking down on those of us who are not of there race, yada yada yada.
The nation-builder/generativity (in the Erikson sense of the word)/legacy things has followed us through a bunch of our games, which suggests to me that it potentially has legs. If that's an ultimate goal of this party then that certainly would help to guide their steps.
If so you'd need to start looking for a good spot to place it, which would force extensive travel to find the best locale.
After that it would be to create influence/fame and fortune to be able to carry it out. Then it would be protecting the location while it's being built, and then coming up with laws and peopling it, and....
Thought: This is where, as a DM/GM/Guide it is nice to lean on those characters with a strong motivation. It is a convenient handle set in place for heavy lifting. I want to party to turn left and it's a proclivity for whore flesh that I know I only need to put a brothel in that direction to lead one of your number in that direction.
e.g. Loki is seeking to knock a god off of his high perch and assume the position. Insane? Yup. Going to happen? Nope. Power means everything to him, but he is trying to fashion manipulations where everyone benefits from his interactions because he is playing the long game. He is a commoner that was gifted with exceptional attributes, so that shapes his opinion of royalty and power players.
e.g. Nogglegrop is seeking out a family to fill a hole that has only previously been filled by judgement and hard words. Will he get in the face of the group? Nope, he doesn't want to lose what he has. Would he be on board with creating a society? Indubitably. He is also a crazed tinkerer, so that will chase him down a path as well, and he's also connected strongly with a deity, so again I can drag him this way or that without issue.
What handles do I have for your character to do the heavy lifting if need be?
As far as leaving Odus, I had just brought that up because of Loki's post that mentioned that we were going to end up there, before all the wedding stuff went down. I'm cool with whatever, just not slaves/slavers.
However, if you want something to build on, Qeynos was the last place that Sajeek had any mention of his foster parents. which was why he was searching the Plains of Karana for the year before he was captured by slavers.
I am providing you with the information for the only boat-based exit strategy and the route it takes, in response to Revery's post that he was drawing in information in his time aboard the good ship dysfunction that is Erudin.
I mention it specifically because it connects with another backstory, and gives some idea of where you might end up next.
When, why, and how you leave is up to you cats and kitties.
As far as reading the page goes, is Sajeek allowed to show the others now? 'Cause I have been operating on the "Only the most trusted of slaves will be allowed to read this," thing. I didn't want to lose the epics just cause somebody wanted to look at it. I know after I get my f%*~ing myth-weaver sheet back up, I will use skill/training points to make sure that he can actually read the page. I actually think Sajeek was the only one who couldn't read it, which was pretty pathetic.
Sajeek can show it to Gwendalyn, Nogglegrop, Revery, Khae and Syn.
Kwen seeing it would be bad.
Training points is what you'll need to put yourself over the edge this level. At 6 skill points per level (think a BST is 4 per and you have a +2 to INT) you'd be able to get to 3.0 ranks in the iksar tongue, unless you're going to use the aforementioned training points. Now by level 6 you can read it all without the use of training points.
The sound of our own city or port, a place the characters could have as a home/base of operation would be nifty. Someplace they could all feel safe, or at least safe enough. The open races city idea is also nifty. I imagine that if we do start our own town, the all races thing would probably go hand in hand, lol.
It is a beautiful concept, but don't judge the entire world on two cities. Kerra Island showed you that there are some cultures that will embrace beyond faction (though Revery never stepped foot there), and while Freeport is a den of inequity, you could all hang there.
And, thinking about it, Fredrick raises a couple of good points. One, about Rev just getting married. I mean I know he is an Erudite ( = prude, lol), but he probably is loath to pick up and jet. And two, also it would give Kwen a chance to RP a bit, rather then solely being focused on picking locks/pockets.
So, staying on Odus for a while is fine, a somewhat relaxing spot for us to plan our next move. That and fine tune some skills, and make sure everyone is up to speed with the iksar lang (stares at Sajeek).
The sole issue with Odus is that Nogglegrop cannot come near Erudin, which is a 3 day march from the river. To this point I have left the battles out of this roleplaying opportunity, but the group is going to stop being so lucky with chance encounters very quickly.
Some of those chance encounters will be with goodly erudites attacking your companion, which places you in an awkward position (well not for Revery cause he posts in both the good and evils game, he'll probably drink their eye fluids and go back for seconds).
tl;dr - Go back and read it!
Sorry dude, I vetoed the slaves initially because I am sick of dealing with the slave/slaver arc. At this point, it's like playing a WW2 first person shooter. Oh, look the bad guys are nazi's. It has just been too common of a theme for several games in the past, and I am burnt out on it. Not your DMing, jsut to clarify :) Just the segment of slaves and stuff. I know, it's just because I've been gaming with ya for a while :)
Oh it doesn't bother me that the group isn't on board with that suggestion. I can take or leave the slavers concept.
My issue stems from discounting in, but not offering up something in its place. Now the pressure goes onto our DM's shoulders to justify us staying together, rather than us finding a premise for male bondage on our own.
Perhaps we're looking to raze Kelethin, or simply to slit every high elf's throat we find...as long as we're together on it, I'm on board.
For Loki it is simple. Find him the shortest distance between current power and being a deity and he's on board. I offer the means to easily manipulate my toon into action.
So far our only "glue" is the tomes, because certainly trust is not on the menu : )
As for the evil game, I'm trying to get you guys off the bloody island as quickly as I can, I haven't been able to post as much as I want too in that game, last couple of days due to work and the R and D department is making me working late the last couple of days.
There's always the old standby of fast forward.
Weeks later you find yourself aboard the sailing vessel Venture. Your exodus from the island was easier than you initially imagined. Piter had sweet-talked those in the know into providing this ship, and only for a single favour. It is that favour that you are sailing towards as we speak.
<enter next plot hook>
Tis an easy way to escape an enervating scene that might not be bearing the fruit that you initially expected.
Well of course trust is not on the menu and it looks like party cohesion is on the menu though, I just have to make sure that you don't kill each others.
hmmm fast forwarding eh. hmmmmmm.....
A few thoughts:
* Brontide was playing with fire even just mentioning the page in front of Kwen. Bast's above-animal intelligence is a result of being a class feature, so he should be safe as basically an extension of Sajeek; but please be more careful around others, both of you. It's a cool quest and I'd hate to lose it.
* Gwendalyn's a bit of a blank slate. (Sorry about that.) Her adventurousness has been driven by her youth, idealism, and willingness to try new things. Heck, even becoming a shaman was partly out of just not wanting to be a seamstress.
* I envisioned her developing more focused motivations later, out of her experiences, but it turns out that she has remarkable equanimity. She'd rather act on her desires than her hatreds, seeing the latter as just another form of being controlled by others. Which means...
* I think that if the idea of founding a city were broached in-character, it could really have legs. She'd much rather provide a refuge for ex-slaves than hunt down those that enslaved her (see the point before this one). Non-evil races only; but if the Shamans of Justice can tolerate the Rogues of the White Rose (pg. 73), then there's room for non-good guilds -- but only as long as they can control themselves and color inside the lines. For example, no grave-robbing. (She'd probably mandate cremation to reduce temptation.)
* As a mystic of the Tribunal, she has some built-in hooks, like not being able to tolerate injustice. Also she can have visions. And she would have some *very* strong opinions about how a city should be run, now that she has a title to back them up. (She was raised to respect her elders, which is basically every other adult in the world, and a lot of non-human children to boot. But now she's somebody!)
* I've become a character-as-plot-device for Noggy's spell collection... I feel so used. ;p
Bast's above-animal intelligence is a result of being a class feature, so he should be safe as basically an extension of Sajeek.
Sajeek "speaks" to Bast through body posture, intonation and strange noises, not through words. It is the same the other way back, as the tiger will growl, purr, have its hackles up, and rub against his leg. To the rest of you it seems like an affectionate pet relationship, rather than true communication.
Worry not you won't find the warder with wire-rimmed glasses scouring over the day's paper anytime soon, nor is the kejek tiger equipped to understand such heady concepts.
I get your paranoia though, and a default position of paranoia is a good thing, especially around party members that make their living lifting things off of people.
Gwendalyn comes home to the castle from a hard day's work of peasant-wrangling, to find Sajeek's pet kitty poring over a wide spread of thin paper with small letters all over it. "What's that on your face?"
"Glasses. Noggy made them for me," Bast rumbles.
"Ah." Gwendalyn reaches for a response and comes up empty. "What are you reading?"
"The news."
"News?"
"Yes, reports of things that have happened recently." He twitches an ear in amusement.
Gwendalyn looks at the wide pages of tiny script in disbelief. "Can't have been *too* recent, with how long it would to scribe it all."
"Yes, well. Faster than taking a boat to Kunark, interviewing the locals, and sailing back." He flicks his tail impatiently.
"Oh, anything interesting happening in Kunark?"
"Yes, the high elves are amassing to attack Cabilis. They're rumored to have a magic weapon."
Gwendalyn snorts. "I could've told you that over a year ago. I can't believe that anyone actually makes a living at writing such things."
"Of course they don't. They're paid to make sure that people hear the version of events that their employers want known."
"Ah, that makes sense then. Carry on!" Gwendalyn nods sagely and continues on her way to the kitchen, to fix herself a sandwich.
Bast adjusts his glasses with a large forepaw, watching her exit with annoyance. "I was being sarcastic!" he growls at the empty room, his hackles up; but then he looks thoughtful, puts his nose to the paper, and begins re-reading the article from the beginning -- this time looking for what *wasn't* said (and who didn't say it), as much as anything else...
Kwen already took the vow to join us back in Freeport, just before we helped Fropze. I am gathering that was either forgotten about or didn't take. I didn't realize that Loki had never added Kwen into the epic quest.
And as far as caution about showing off the page goes, this is the first time anybody else has actually seen the page. My post was put out with the thought that Kwen was part of our little circle. Since he had taken the vow, or so I thought. Don't worry, after this no will see it again until everyone has 4 ranks in Iksar :)
Grumble grumble, I'll show them all..... I'll just take all there coin purses and take note of any other gear that I want stupid no good.. mutter mutter.
Well I did take the oath but as usual Kwen is the new guy so he's gotta be kept at an arms length. Perhaps I'll just bribe the tiger to tell me what is going on :)
Worry not, there is a method to my madness.
Nope, Kwen is not welcome in the cool kids' club...yet :)
For Revery, the thought that he might be cooler than a slick rogue boosts his ego far beyond the height of a safe fall.
Kwen's going to stab Revery in the head... while he sleeps, the enchanter could use some more oxygen running though brain. :)
Zaruksis reclines, self-satisfied in how intelligent, refined, moral, and good-hearted he is. Truly, I am a god among lizards.
Worry not, my rationale for the evil group was that so both sides can fight.
It's coming.
Oh it's coming : )
Damn, I wrote an excellent OOC post about where and how to build a settlement, but I see I neglected to post it!
Some of my points were also made by Gwendalyn, in context.
We need a place that:
- Is politically and militarily safe
- Is on a trade route or port
- Is near access to libraries, labor, materials (likely near a city or a crossroads near a city)
- Has nice weather
- Has good neighbours
To "build" a city we would need to be super rich. Even to build a large castle.
But we could start with a house and an inn. Arwen could come and live with us.
Next goal could be a keep, with a small militia force.
That is how cities are grown, I believe.
I like what you got there, and would like to add a few things:
-Perhaps a decently defendable location. This depends a fair amount on terrain and where and how hard we go looking for a place to set up.
-If we can't find a politically or militarily safe area (seems somebody is always going to war these days (sorry, our bad!)), we should try to find someplace out of the way.
-If we do the out of the way part, I believe that would require setting up a new caravan route. Well, once/if things get up and running as far as trade.
I do agree with the building of a cities requires super amount of loot, at least it has in the past when groups made cities. Soooooo, starting small is more then likely going to be our best bet, as Mike pointed out.
Oh, and if we start with the Inn, a good bet would be a blacksmith as well (those guys come in handy). So really, if the characters find and scout out a good spot, it's probable to find people who would have a frontier spirit and would be willing to be a part. Especially, if it's an open race city, lol.
and I hate when I have a post all ready to go and send it, and the site goes down :) I've gotten in the habit of saving before posting to save me from putting my fist through my screen.
And did you know, when you put your fist through the screen, they don't even see that on the website? Frustrating...
Another idea for location: "The route between A and C is long because we have to skirt the impassable mountains in between." Creating a mountain pass, with a keep half way, and thus creating a new trade route.
There are huge problems with that, for us, namely 1) lack of expertise in creating mountain passes, and 2) monsters. But perhaps there are variations on the idea that could be workable?
I finally managed to surmount my job-hunt anxiety, write a resume, and submit an application! That is especially good because I quit my job two weeks ago. I just couldn't take even one more day of that emotionally-toxic work environment. (Which is why I've had more time to post lately.) But I was severely under-employed anyway, and I kind of needed a kick in the pants to fix that. So I think that it will all work out for the best in the end.
Good luck!
A good job makes a big difference in our lives.
I finally managed to surmount my job-hunt anxiety, write a resume, and submit an application! That is especially good because I quit my job two weeks ago. I just couldn't take even one more day of that emotionally-toxic work environment. (Which is why I've had more time to post lately.) But I was severely under-employed anyway, and I kind of needed a kick in the pants to fix that. So I think that it will all work out for the best in the end.
Good call, I know so many people that are absolutely miserable at work and never do anything about it.
Good thee luck sire!
We're going back to Erudin, right? To smugglegrop on a ship? So let's get started.