My actual rules are simple. -Roleplay-. Don't be afraid to use the environment just because game mechanics limit you from doing stuff. -Use your emotes-.
I'm not going to go feeding you the plot, that's up to you to find out. My events -never- have an ending planned. My setup time is simply needed to create an environment where I can anticipate you interacting with. There will not tracks to guide you where you need to go. If you just stand there expecting me to tell you what to do, then nothing will happen because that would be a form of railroading, and I'm against that. I find it distasteful to impose my imagination's limitations onto you, so use your imagination and act accordingly.
You don't need to ask me OOCly if it's okay to do something in-character. Do what your character would do. *Attempts to run along the wall* Go ahead and try. If you fail, you'll get hurt or die. If you succeed, horray!
Going in with the mindset you can't fail is the best way to fail. I've been taught to do my utmost best to make my encounters a struggle, but to never actually kill the players. But that's just guidelines I follow. Don't believe I won't screw you over if you decide your character is immortal and has suddenly become Rambo, however. Save the heroics for the heroes - if your character can't beat impossible odds then I won't rule the roleplay as invalid, I'll just give you a permadeath strike. I am actually very happy to do this equally to seeing you succeed. To me, the story is the most important thing, not you.
Actions have consequences. It can be good or bad, it can be as simple as you examining a wall and the wall gets examined. Not all consequences even need to be good or bad. It can simply be nothing. However, also bear in mind not all consequences can be seen. Kill some guy because you hate his guts? Go right ahead. He could have been the friend of a son of an important noble figure, and if there were people to witness it? Heck, the son was there? Expect to be witch-hunted.
That said, I am aware there are things beyond your control. Lag, the most obvious offender. I am totally willing to do a do-over if you were done in by that. That said, you should also be aware there are several things beyond my control. Usually, the same things that plague you, but also I have to wrestle with the worst interfact in the world. On top of that, I'm also flooded with questions by players not even in the event. Spamming me with actions and thinking my inactivity is an excuse to consider it IC is a no no, I don't type very fast and I'm usually explaining several things at once to other people also spamming me so please, be patient.
When I make my encounters, bear in mind I definitely tip the balance to work out in your favor. As long as you don't act silly, you'll probably succeed. People who I believe to be better roleplayers however, have a chance to fail more. Consider it a compliment. It means I respect your storytelling enough to give you an actual challenge. I do not tip the scales in any favor then, it is my honor to give you a world that actually interacts with you.
Feel free to send me a tell if you feel like I'm tipping the roleplay in your favor and you don't want that. If I am indeed holding back, I'll stop. If I wasn't? Well, now you'll know I've always respected you and your character is merely benefitting from good decision making
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
A worried middle-aged woman waited at the merchant camp for hardy looking travellers to help her find her missing boy. She approached the first two she spotted along the bridge, two rangers named Catam and Siriand. Then a masked gray orc shoved them all out of the way, barreling through and yelling "out of the way!" After everyone recollected themselves, she told them of how her boy had taken off into the woods where she lost track of him, and daren't not go further for the dangers that lurked there. The two promised to have him back by supper.
Upon entering the woods Catam let Siriand take the lead, as he wanted to see what the new ranger could do. Siriand was not without skill however, and quickly spotted boyish looking tracks leading toward the hilltop ruins, and then veering off to the bandit camp. There they came upon an old kobold, waving about a cloak in front of the crates asking something to come out. The two rangers immediately attacked, but a kobold does not become old without learning a trick or two, and before Catam could hack through its throat it screamed in confusion without trading blows.
It tried to explain in what little common it knew that there was a person hiding in the barrels, and he was just trying to offer aid. This did not translate very well, but it begged for its life and offered to go on in peace. When it continued to offer no hostilies, Siriand agreed to let it go and it limped off as fast as it could, and Catam allowed the less experienced ranger's decision stand. Siriand as an afterthought, left potions of healing for the poor mistreated elder kobold by the fire in case it comes back.
Siriand offered the blanket the kobold was trying to offer the boy to shield him from night's chill, and then the two rangers led him to his mother, arriving precisely on time for supper. She thanked them both as they refused her payment of ten coppers when suddenly the world ended as the server reset.
Rewards:
-Siriand recieved exp, alignment shift towards good for leaving the potions for the kobold.
-Catam recieved a shirt. It is quite breezy, green, covers all the essential bits, and otherwise does nothing spectacular.
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
A man named Marvin had walked up to the fire claiming bandits had kidnapped his wife to the south. A new adventurer named Vixielithin tried to question the man's motives whom promptly ran off due to insane worry for his children, but she had decided to lead the expidition. A small gathering gathered then, and then the server reset and it became an enormous gathering.
They made their way south, not really knowing what to expect. When reaching the outskirts of Beregost however, they heard unsured whispers in the shadows. Vanira with her keen spotting abilities managed to flush out a leader, and then chaos broke out. The bandits were not the run-of-the-mill penny pinchers however, they were clearly professional. But they were unprepared for the overwhelming amount of adventurers they were forced to face, not to mention some of said adventurers already forging legends of their own. They fought well, but were ultimately defeated. Marvin's wife Silvia used the confusion to supposedly cut free of her bonds, and she rejoiced in being walked back home by the large company of heroes.
Silvia claimed to live at the Gate, but when confronted with the Friendly Arm Inn she assured the heroes she could make it from there. Clearly, she and Marvin have some rethinking to do...
OOC Notes
It was supposed to be a one-shot thing with the few people gathered at the camp, but I waited too long to spring it that the server reset in the middle of the group formation stage. What was supposed to happen was Silvia would have been held hostage, some talking would have taked placed, alignment shifts could have been had, but I had to start from scratch with an angry horde of PCs waiting and moving very quickly so I guess I'll spring that again sometime later. She'll be back...
Rewards:
-exp for most people
-gold for Mealir
-5 less exp for Silias for not escorting the woman all the way home. Lazy!
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
Three people including a demon-summoning warlock who all could barely speak common were busy happily massacring the xvart village when they are confronted by a party of Razzaband, Ronan, and Warren. Razzaband, being particularly skilled with lore quickly determined the gnome's nature as a warlock but before much more one-sided conversation could be had, they were chased out of the village by a massive swarm of xvartians. They fled and regrouped and tried again, and were rebuked a second time. Then a third. The third time, one xvart with some grasp of common taunted them, saying something along the lines of 'Stay out of our lands!' and 'We scared them off good!' Indeed, the non-common speakers never returned again, but Razzaband and crew were made of sterner stuff, Warren even taunting the common-speaking xvart that, 'We'll be back for you.'
The completely unpredictable Langston skipped over to the group preparing to embark on a second time, when the infamous Gareth had also walked into the group. He claimed to have spotted an army of hags and giants to the south, but before the group could explain there was a different army brewing to the west, they were ambushed by a scouting party of xvartians and were forced to flee to Beregost.
Inside Beregost Razzaband and Gareth were pleading with the Fist men, saying that they should sally forth and deal with the growing horde. The Fist man at the front saw Langston, an orc, a hooded man and a wizard trying warn him of something, but he could not get past the initial thought of Langston as a clown and waved them off as being silly in his mind. An orc was trying to speak sense to him - this also did not fit into his worldview and dismissed the seriousness of the matter further. To quell the obviously panicked group in front of him, he tried, what some might call, 'diplomacy.'
"We cannot march south, could you imagine what would happen if the Amnians spotted a company of Fist moving south? War would break loose! You're adventurers, deal with them. Tell you what, if you come back alive, I'll give you a reward. What do you say?"
After grudgingly giving the healing kits Gareth begged for, the adventurers did indeed head back south and into the village. They requested the help of a passing swordsman named Fyodr, who may have turned the tide in their favor. Back into the village they pushed in, through a massive swarm of cheering and jeerking and shooting xvartians. Halfway up the cliff they slew the xvartian champion, and even further up they finally found what had the xvarts all riled up - Big Ursa. It was a mighty battle. Gareth and Razzaband suggested they flee and regroup - not knowing that would have brought down Big Ursa's wrath all over them. Luckily the rest of the group had moreless sense than that, and they stayed until the bitter end.
Afterwards Razzaband suggested they follow up on Gareth's claims of hags and giants gathering to the south that they forgot about the Fist man's reward. All but Langston. He came back and demanded his reward, and the Fist man, having not expected him or any of them to come back alive, produced an old dish drag which he then handed over to the very blue man.
Rewards:
- exp for most people
- gold to Fyodr
- dish rag for Langston
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
Narindir had been talking to Mealir and Wendel about wishing to speak with Icehauptannarthanyx, the white wyrm atop the Cloudpeaks. He spoke of the wyrm having given them a quest earlier to retrieve a ring, in exchange perhaps of some of its treasure. Judging this to be the basis of a quest, they assembled a team and set off toward the Cloud Peaks.
On the way, they came upon a mountainous amount of goblins north of Beregost. Unfortunately for the goblins, they were not aware they were dealing with bona fide heroes. The group eventually crossed Beregost, and travelled a wayward path to and then around Nashkel to get to the Cloudpeak Mountains. As they ascended, they came across a fierce flurry of yeti and frost giants, but they made quick work of the mountainous inhabitants. They entered the cave.
Inside, they found the dragon's minions. An army of them, and there was a ferocious struggle. Clearly, they were expected. Once, Mealir had been surrounded and Silias could not get to the half-elf captain in time. He had fallen, but with Corellon's blessing his soul had returned when the battle had been won. As the group recovered, they heard a loud commotion behind them. The dragon had amassed an army indeed. A choice was brought amongst the party - to press on and face the dragon, or fight their way out. Despite Wendel's warnings of their chances against such a creature, Max decided that the only way to go was forward. Reluctantly, the rest followed suit.
Inside the dragon's main lair, the party had wiped out the small gathering of disciples left and decided to argue once again whether it was wise to approach such an evil, volitile creature. Max did not participate in the discussions. He stepped forward cautiously with his invisibility spell. The dragon, amused by such brazen ignorance, casually walked up in front of the then terrified Max Steelheart and offered him a chance to explain himself before she ate him. Max then told Icehauptannarthanyx of his group, and that one sought to parlay with her. She accepted, slightly curious of what the tiny creatures could possibly want before she decided to kill them. Narandir had been trying to explain what he was going to explain, but before the talks could go much further Max Steelheart casted a haste on himself and immediately went to plunder the dragon's treasure far back into the cave.
That was obviously a bad idea. Max ran off before the others could talk him out of his greed, and the dragon did not even lift a claw, confident in the army she had gathered. True enough, to her auditory senses the sounds of the dying Max Steelheart drown out any more care she had in whatever the elf below her was trying to convey. Arkaine HalfOrken grumbled about languages, calling people who do not speak common rude, and the dragon found him amusing. She gave the group an ultimatum - leave the half-orc with her, to be her plaything for however long he would amuse her, or all of them can be destroyed. Despite Silias's feelings for orcs in general, she stated that even she was not so heartless as to abandon a companion just because of his race. The party was in general agreement - but the dragon was clearly growing bored with the conversation. Wendel sensed this - and immediately began to -briskly- walk away, encouraging the others to do so as well. They were still in some discussion when the dragon opened her mouth and walked over to bite down on the bickering party - luckily, Narandir was quick on his mind and casted a greater sanctuary spell.
The dragon laughed once again as the party fled - into the hands of an even larger group of minions. I've run out of metaphors to describe the battle, but miraculously, no one died. Well, except a large group of cultists but our heroes were not dead. Max Steelheart was, and also missing a vast amount of money, but we've already established he was dead. I meant no one in the party who had escaped the whims of the dragon had died. Anyway! They made their way down the mountain as quickly as possible and thus their quest had concluded - they had successfully run away from the dragon. At some point, they also revived Max Steelheart.
Rewards:
-exp to those below level 30
-gold to Mealir and Wendel, who are level 30
-Max Steelheart lost a sizeable amount of coin, from when the cultists robbed him when he tried to run away with fistfuls of the dragon's treasure.
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
At Last, After Ten Thousand Years, I Have Finally Awoken! 12/23/11
Players involved:
Rai Kuu Kyntilla
Seluron Jr'ein
Sywyn Ma'fer
Synopsis:
The elves Rai Kuu Kyntilla and Seluron Jr'ein were in the troll claw hills, Seluron having brought the volitile elven dagger to assist him on his crusade against trolls. Eventually after a particularly difficult excursion, Rai crossed her arms and did not want to bother being there anymore, and said they were leaving. But, while Seluron was busy trying to come up with words to agree, the winding ford had grown quiet - where were the trolls? Had they finally slunk forever within their caves? Yes. They could sense a devil approaching.
A gate tore into the Ford, and a fallen angel appeared. He called himself Lord Zed, and demanded news of the last ten thousand years from the two who would revel in slaughter in his name. He was confused when the servants did not show him proper respect, and even more confused when they had not heard the name of Lord Zed. Still, the minor devil, despite his insanity, did have proper power, and promptly revived three fallen trolls with his magic and made them grow. He bid his proper servants to make an example out of the elves, and Seluron had fallen and it was all Rai could do to disappear into the shadows, where the giant trolls and the insane minor devil could not see. Assuming she ran away, Lord Zed dismissed his servants.
He began to gloat and then begun a ritual to absorb the essence of Seluron, and that was when Rai whispered from the shadows, "Don't touch him."
Confused, Lord Zed began to uproot rocks and kick over blades of grass for the well-hidden elf who kept whispering in his ear, and eventually Rai stated that there are many more souls he could have if he wanted to. This intrigued Lord Zed, and he demanded that the woman reveal herself so he could properly judge her. Rai was delaying, and eventually Lord Zed grew impatient and claimed that her husband's soul would belong to him.
He began his ritual once again, and after an entire minute, Rai decided that she would attempt to prevent the absorption if at all possible. She stealthily stabbed Zed in the back - or at least tried to, his armor deflected quite a bit of her blow and as her hands numbed from the effort, she quickly slipped back into the shadows before Zed's blade found a target. Over and over again Rai continued her guerilla tactic, but unfortunately her strikes could find no weak spots and she began to tire. Zed was slightly scratched, and it infuriated him that a mortal would spare all that effort in trying to prevent herself from dying. Eventually, Rai managed to slip up and she was almost cleaved in two by Zed's blade.
Sywyn Ma'fer came into the scene from the north, and without properly checking to see if the elven woman was done for, he promptly spun around and addressed the Evermeet elf. "Bow down before me, or suffer those fool's fate!" he commanded, not even bothering to look behind him. He did not see Rai regaining consciousness, slowly staggering to her feet. He did not hear the sounds of Rai bandaging her wounds, then stuffing the body of Seluron into a bag of holding. No, such sounds were trifles compared to the word of Lord Zed. Sywyn was fearful, but he was not to be ordered.
"Kill him." Whispered Rai from the shadows, her bloody lips curled in anger as she asked Sywyn for his assistance. With no more questions, Sywyn charged forward against the furious devil.
But his prowess was too much for the elves, and though Rai assisted where she could, Zed was too much for either of them and Sywyn barely escaped with his life. Rai followed the half-elf out, and Zed, convinced of his god-like prowess, took off into the night.
"Bring back my friend. We can take him then." Rai told Sywyn, bringing out the body of Seluron. After deciding to track the devil through the night, Sywyn and the two elves went south, following where they had spotted the devil flying. Seluron was the first to spot the devil, who had begun to walk south from the Fields of the Dead into the Farmlands outside of Baldur's Gate. He followed invisibily, and witnessed a scene between the devil and the Fist soldiers standing guard between the areas.
"Bow down to me!" Lord Zed told the officers. Even slightly drunk, the Fist Officers were still proud of who they were, and understood what their uniform represented. They did not stand their ground - they attacked the devil. Blow for blow they traded, their defenses excellent where they could not strike much harm against each other. The elves decided to assist the officers, and thanks to Seluron's spells, much to Lord Zed's confusion, the devil began dying. After a ferocious battle where Sywyn had been struck down, the devil had fallen, and the Fist had paperwork to do.
Banter was traded, and before Seluron picked up Sywyn to find a cleric, Rai had almost gotten both of them arrested with her tongue against the officers. Luckily, Seluron was much more well versed in a thing called 'diplomacy,' and they managed to walk away with Rai's opinion of the Fist not much better than before, but no warrants had been placed on her that day. Inside the Temple of Tyr, the re-living Sywyn had a banter with the high priest about life, the universe, and everything, and through the discussion the priest learned that Sywyn would defend any who upheld the law and worked for good. Things that please The Even-Hand.
Rewards:
-exp, alignment shift to Chaotic for Rai Kuu Kyntilla
-exp, alignment shift to Lawful for Seluron Jr'ein
-less exp for coming in halfway, alignment shift to Lawful for Sywyn Ma'fer
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
A little halfling woman stood before the gates of Candlekeep, from the inside. She had awoken at the inn to find her party had abandoned her. Fearful of the trolls and ogres outside, all she could do was stare frightened at the Gate, attracting the attention of the man who attended to it.
"What's wrong, lass?" he would ask her.
"Ooh! I am a bit afraid to travel alone. I woke up at the inn and my friends have left without me!" Selanna would reply.
They chatted on a bit about safety, and she merely wished she had someone to help her get to the Friendly Arm Inn safely. The guards, unwilling to leave their posts, had an idea.
"Go wake up Trevor," one told his partner. He did, and fetched the acolyte sleeping in the stalls. "Real good with a shovel, that one is." Acolyte Trevor \\Blank FB/WM/Fighter dressed in abbot of the rising sun black robes and +5 longsword\\ came up and greeted the little hin with a smile.
"'Ello," he said, "good to go?"
"Aye!" said the little hin excitedly, and then stared at the massive longsword wielded by Trevor in wonder. "That's no shovel!"
"'Course it is. It's me grandpappy's heirloomed shovel," thought Trevor to himself. They set off.
Down the Lion's Way they walked, with Trevor making minced meat out of anything which dared approach the duo in a funny way. Acolyte Trevor's ferocity with the shovel was so intense in fact, that his very snow relocator instrument had been making his hands bleed through sheer force alone. Worriedly, Selanna called upon her Lady's powers to help mend his hands, and after exchanging words of thanks, they arrived safely at the Friendly Arm Inn.
Rewards:
-exp to Selanna
alignment shift towards good for healing Trevor's hands.
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
I fear necromancers are much too common in these lands. Today along with one of the Anu sisters, Vino, and "Knives", we set out to visit the lake Weng, which Anu dearly wished to see. Much to my surprise Vino did not seem to remember any of the dark ritual which was performed upon him on the shrine of Myrkul overlooking these waters, nor did he remember Celestia and myself's subsequent rescue of him from here. He may not have remembered it, but it nonetheless seemed to effect his body. As soon as we arrived at the lake he collapsed, taking a moment to recover but insisting we fulfill Anu's desire to see the lake. We travelled to a small spit of beach, and as Anu sat in the sand, some strange sound attracted me to the lake's edge, and I stared off into the waters. I could sense something was amiss in the lake's slowly roiling waves, the faint scent of something unnatural barely noticable in my nostrils. Just as I turned to warn the others, we were set upon by monstrous undead which had come onto our beach. I admit we were caught rather off-guard. With some struggle we managed to destroy them, but it was no easy fight. One managed to get a crippling blow in on me, which left me severely drained. Knives was stabbed with a similar blow, but she did not seem as affected as I. No sooner had we cast the last one down were we beset upon by the creatures beneath the waves, coming up from the waters where I had stood. They were the bodies of those drowned in the lake; their skin translucent and decomposing, their bodies exuding an unimaginably horrid rotting stench. I attemped to hit them, but was so drained I found I could do nothing but watch as the others fought them. After the beach was cleared, I heard them suggesting that we return to the waterfall by the river to rest. I must have been very drowsy, as I do not remember much of what happened on the way there, only that I collapsed exhausted on some grass under a tree.
I remember being awoken out of my reverie by Anu's kick. By that time it was early dawn, the sun barely tinting the dark night sky. I saw Knives keeping watch above, and Vino in meditation nearby. Anu stood over me, insisting we continued on, much to my dismay to return to the lake to discover the source of the undead. To my relief I found the reverie had restored me back to my former ability, so I hesitantly agreed to accompany her to inspect the source of this evil. Upon the suggestion I found something even more perculiar - Vino, again, did not seem to remember even the most recent attack, insisting he had still never been to the lake. It was as though he had reverted to an earlier time state, before we had arrived at the lake. Concerned for the safety of my friend, I insisted he return to Nashkel. The others did not understand. I will have to tell them later of what happened here, but for the time being it was best we continue and find whatever or whomever was causing the dead to rise. I was able to persuade Vino to return to safetly, although he did not seem to understand my concern. After he was safetly gone, the rest of us continued back to the lake.
Immediately as we decended from the trail we were set upon by a large group of animated rotting corpses. They fell easy enough to our arrows and blades, but the place was overrun. No sooner had we cleared them, the ground shook with tremmor. We continued forward, fighting through many more undead before we were able to reach the shrine. After some searching around, we came across a view from the point of an islet below. On the island we could see some kind of ritual conducted upon a human corpse, which was surrounded by foul magic. Whatever had happened -or was still happening- down there had most likely been the source of the tremmors. We decided to investigate, and cautiously descended down, where we were set upon by yet more animated corpses. There was the necromancer himself, waiting for us. He seemed dismayed that we had vanquished his horde of undead, and ordered his bodyguard to attack us. He was powerful, but with the three of us and Anu's healing magic we were able to eliminate the evil from this land. We continued around the shore to find out what was occurring with the corpse - but we were beset upon yet again this time by undead and a large water elemental. Our weapons proved largely ineffective against the elemental. I saw Knives fall and Anu badly wounded, and rushed in from my vantage upon the hill. It got a few good hits on me, but I was able to lure it and the remaining undead away from Anu, and together we managed to bring them both down. Again, I must stress the invaluableness of Anu's healing spells. She was able to heal us both sufficiently enough to allow us to move again. As she retrieved Knive's body, I went around to the islet, keeping to the shadows and the reeds, to investigate. All signs of the corpse and the ritualised magic were gone. When I returned Anu and I agreed to leave the place - eagerly, we both left the cursed lake behind.
At least there is one less necromancer in the world.
Rewards:
-exp to everyone (over time)
-Couple of alignment shifts. I forget where!
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Players involved:
Captain Kalma Hellstorm
Michael Klinga
Tamina Lightstep
Sutek
Alistair de Lioncourt
Vicala
Morticia
Synopsis:
A Brigantine ship with no colours had reportedly been sighted near Candlekeep, sailing to the south. The elven seeker Laitae Lafreth, active on duty at the time, had went to investigate. A few other people, including a hin with a crossbow named Kestrel Thunderfoot and even the half-elf captain Mealir Ostirel sought to investigate the rumours. An adventurer greeted the pirates when they shored, a man oblivious to his own demise as adventurers are often noted to do, a man with but one name: Thanos. Eventually after suicidingly walking -with- the pirates for a few moments further angering the motley crew did he finally realize the fatality of ignoring the warnings of the one known as Morticia and left of his own accord. Tamina Lightstep was within the shadows waiting for the signal to rip out the throat of the Candlekeepian agent, but none had been given and thus had left the elven with her life. A fortunate turn of events for her, as waiting in his own shadow was the elf named Izz'irik Xarran, who would have been enraged should any harm had come to his beloved.
The crew work their way south, pointedly avoiding Beregost and spreading fear and chaos whereever they went. Bre'teas Go'Qu, having dealt with such members before, went and confronted the pirates. Only after seeing their numbers, immediately tucked tail and continued running the other way, his haste spell well in effect. When the crew were at the gates to Nashkel, they then came upon a decision: Dragon, or vault? Being pirates, they decided the vault would probably contain more coin for them, as it was a vault. Not that dragons are known for hording treasures as well, but it was the vault they went.
Meanwhile in Beregost: Mealir, Laitae, Bre'teas, Kestrel, and occasionally the odd shadowy elf named Izz'irik were discussing what possible plotting the pirates could have been intending. Laistren was out and about trying to track their trail, and even the Thayan Knight Imperax was reported spotted to the south. The Fist Scouts had even reported the pirates had been seen to the south - where were they heading? Mealir's concern was to the hinny hins of Gullykin, and this made Kestrel all riled up. What were the pirates doing south? Why were the Thayans down there? Are the pirates working with the Thayans to bring harm and ruin upon Gullykin?! Stay tuned, and find out!
Anyway no they were not. As the rumours flew in Beregost, the pirates were making similar speedy approaches through the Vault of the Dead. Halfway down they were before the half-elf captain decided persuing them was futile, and the pirates themselves seemed to be having little or no trouble plundering the vault for its treasures. Their souls impressed the dracolich down below, and sought to have them. Its minions were being felled most convincingly by the crew, and so it concentrated on an even larger set of minions. Wave after wave of undead were slowly wearing down the pirate's cohesion and discipline and at one point, after a particularly large battle, the Captain and First Mate were felled.
After much discussion on what to do, Morticia summed up what exactly they did: "Raise the captain, zombie red," and so Tamina used a wand to bring life and thought back into the nigh-immortal Kalma. Morticia herself raised Alistair into her zombie servant, with unintended consequences.
"He's... he's handsome," uttered Vicala in a teasing unsure way.
"He's all charred up still," stated Tamina, blinking as she gazed upon the zombified Alistair.
"That's why there are bandages," said Morticia, proud of her work.
The pirates turned to leave, deeming it too dangerous to stay within the Vault. The newly zombified First Mate was quite a chatterbox, at one point even reaching for Vicala and moaning out, "Braaaainsss . . ." The woman, mortified, shoo'ed him away and ran forward. The captain could only tsk and correct the zombie:
"Ye are trying to reach wrong woman for brainz."
More verbal in-fighting, as one could expect from a crew of pirates. Their ranks were broken however, and they were not prepared for the ambush that awaited them on the second level.
One at a time they poured through, no rank or discipline amongst the crew. Those that were behind were probably amicably chatting away, unaware their companions were falling one by one right in front of them. The skeletal mages were in prime position, blasting away at the pirates who came through the door with spell and might, with the plague zombies keeping them penned in the stairs. Soon, they were all defeated. Tamina Lightstep was quick on her feet and took to the shadows before she suffered a similar fate, daring to ask the skeletal mage in charge if she could go.
"Who speaks?" uttered the undead, their glowing red eyes sweeping across the staircase as the woman quickly clasped her hands over her mouth to prevent more sounds. The wizard then began invoking a spell, and Tamina quickly moved out of the way, leaving her unconscious companions to their zombified hosts. They unceremoniously tossed the bodies in a circle in front of the head Lich, and Tamina stuck to the shadows, desperately looking for an opportunity to save her fallen family. As the pirates one by one regained consciousness, the Lich told them of their purpose: fuel for the master. They would make -fine- souls.
The ritual started, and those in the circle could only wallow as their strength began to drain away. Tamina could watch no longer, and she struck out from the shadows at the lich, trying anything to break the ritual. It worked. The lich immediately casted an implosion, immediately taking out the brave, if a bit flimsy, woman. But it was enough to send her crew flying. Utter chaos ensued, the dead falling one by one with the pirates, unwarded, struggling to put up a fight as well. In the end, only four stood. Captain Kalma Hellstorm, Vicala, and the invoker Sutek had cut down the last of the wizards, and Michael Klinga just sort of stood there, paralyzed by a spell.
Hastily they raised their fallen and made to flee as fast as possible - Morticia casted a greater sanctuary and a haste spell and they made to exit. Unfortunately for them greater sanctuary was just no etherealness and so they had to fight their way out of the first level, their fighting brutal and messy as they had no other wards due to their haste and once again, they continued to fall. If it were not for the heroics of Kalma and Vicala, and even Sutek for his work in dealing massive amounts of damage to as many as possible while running around like a chicken with its head cut off completely sending the ranks of the undead into chaos, the Hellstorm's tale would have ended in the Vault.
Rewards:
- exp to the Hellstorms there and under level 30
- gold to those that were level 30
- Alignment Shifts here and there
- Rumours!
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Players involved:
Bre'teas Go'qu
Cendern Blood-sail
Rai Kuu Kyntilla
Narindir Jr'ein
Ylleri
Synopsis:
The old wizard named Narindir and the mysterious woman named Knives have recently been hosting several card games in taverns along the Trade Way lately, and tonight they were in The Elfsong Tavern. The atmosphere was light, not a single person was too drunk to start any trouble. They ordered their drinks, and played their cards. One thousand gold was what was needed to join in the pot, and people came and went.
Bre'teas the elf was not even aware how the rules worked - he just liked to blissfully roll the dice. Rai, as always, was grumpy about -something- and harrassed the poor elf for his wine. Bre'teas did not care - he was enamored with the pretty serving girl who called herself Yleana (Her actual name was Esthillia, but she found Bre'teas rather creepy.), who was deftfully feigning interest in the extremely cheerful sorcerer.
Eventually she had managed to lose Bre'teas in her other customers, and later on in the night Bre'teas, blessed rediculously by Tymora herself, won a pot of twenty-thousand coins.
Rewards:
- exp
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
Explosive sounds were heard within the depths of the abandoned mines, and goblins made their way out to the Trade Way in a panic. Not finding any volunteers near any of the encampments near Beregost to investigate the explosions, an officer accompanied by a prodigious scout named Remi went to Gullykin and asked the short-handed elven defenders there for aid. Leonia was declined due to her pregnancy, but in the end Remi found three volunteers to accompany her: the clerics Silias and Baelather and the mage Bre'teas. Remi told them she would meet them within the abandoned mine.
Sneaking past the goblins littering the entrance, to her surprise, she encountered a dwarf treasure-hunter just mindlessly hacking away for treasure. She suggested from the shadows that he be careful, but the dwarf's mind was so focused on gold he apparently did not heed her warning and eventually, finding very few goblins to kill, left. Into the massive group waiting outside. The dwarf fled back inside, and Remi said what is the equivilant to, "I told you so." The two chatted amiably for awhile, with Remi assuring him that elves would be coming soon to break the scattered goblin lines. For hours they waited. Remi made a remark about elven timelines, and their penchance for dillydally. The dwarf was amused. Eventually the elves arrived, and Remi, the dwarf, and two adventurers join the elves in a crab claw attack against the former residents of the mine.
Remi explained the situation to the elves, and made another passing remark about elves, implying they dillydally. She returned inside the mine, and the elves followed. As oft as adventurers do when confronted with theater, so did the adventurers, Azeem and Quin. When Remi turned around and saw five peopl following her, she was confused. She asked which was the volunteer defense force from Gullykin, and the elves indicated to themselves. Azeem offered his services, and Quin, naturally arrogant and looking for payment as wizard mercenaries tend to be, kept asking questions and asking what's in it for him? Remi told them generally that if they are to come, then they will follow unquestioningly and quietly, as it is a stealth mission and she will not abide with arguing during a mission. Because arguing doing a mission is rediculous. You follow the orders of the people above you without question - there's no room for individualism in a military mission. That's what she tried to imply anyway - not being a socialable person, she probably failed in that regard.
Eventually they reached a place where the explosions were taking place, and Remi lowered a rope deeper underground with Quin tapping the crystals that grew around it. Remi gave him a look that anyone could translate as what the heck are you doing?, to which Quin began to question her competence. "Oh? You don't know what these are? Never been here before?" and etcetera. Remi, not particularly caring what he was going on about, knew nevertheless that this man would cause nothing but trouble, intentionally or unintentionally. So she stated that she would incapitate him, took to the shadows, and did. Quin did not even have a chance to open his mouth in protest, she was so quick about it. Remi dragged the unconscious Quin outside the door, closed it, then chain-locked it to prevent him from coming in. Then she gestured for people to follow her, and she slid down the rope. For some reason, Bre'teas dripped acid onto the chains, thus unlocking the door. Eventually, the elves and the ranger Azeem followed.
Deep in the tunnels, Remi was confident of those she brought with her. Two were wearing heavy platemail but did their best to keep quiet, and Bre'teas, naturally noisy, nevertheless also did his best to keep his noise to a minimum. She knew they would follow orders, she just now needed to be comfortable giving them, haven been given orders her entire career. When they came to a fork, she looked for her group's opinion. Bre'teas smugly mentioned that they had a bona fide scout with them, and that she should be sent to explore each direction before they made a decision. Being more fighters than sneakers, they chose the direction of "Towards the Amnians" the entire time, essentially drawing precious time away for their wards to give out rather than taking the shorter and unknown path towards the Cowled Wizard in charge of the operation.
Their first encounter, they spared an soldier for questioning. For minutes, Bre'teas did the questioning, which Remi did not object to. Eventually, his chaotic nature taking over and probably having watched far too much theater, Bre'teas began to ask more dramatic, irrelevant questions, which his group finally did object to. Azeem, in his wisdom, noted that the Amnian seemed comfortable with wasting their time. The Amnian knew that most of the group were reliant on spells, and was smugly drawing out more minutes to let their wards run out, so that they could be more easily demolished by his comrades. Eventually, the Amnian, despite having no weapons, chose to try to live, and tried to attack Silias behind him in surprise. Silias saw the elbow coming and turned her head to deflect the blow, but was nevertheless struck and the group took him down. Bre'teas shook his head and said that they would have spared him, but it was not likely he was going to surrender, as he was one of the more veteran soldiers. They heard short fighting and then a scream in the distance, the voice of Quin. Remi looked around and asked how he got through the door, and no one answered. That was very bad Bre'teas, very bad.
The group did more reconnaissance, with Remi exploring ahead and the group deciding to go towards the Amnians. Or the Amnians, hearing commotion, came to them. Their wards were slowly being worn away, though they did manage to find several supplies and at one point, a suit of armor Baelather would later get refitted to his frame. They took out many, many Amnians having decided that sparing them was no longer wise, and eventually, the long way around, got to the resting room of the soldiers. Most were asleep, unfortunately, slept with their arms and armor. It was suggested that they attacked with shock and awe - throwing down massive area effects to wipe out the Amnians before they could attack back. It was a messy battle. At one point Remi saw a staff pointed her way and immediately attacked the wielder, which turned out to be Bre'teas. She accidentally knocked him out, and after the skirmish revived him with some smelling salts. More Amnians came pouring out from the tunnels, and the group's wards had long since faded. It was turning out to be a hopeless battle. Bre'teas, Baelather, Azeem, they were slowly being picked apart. Silias called upon her deity and fled within the safety of the ethereal plane, where she could do nothing but watch as her prayers became exhausted. Remi... was unleashed. When the Amnians came back after killing or knocking out the others, she fought them all. Ten, twelve, it did not matter. Remi, her entire life devoid of social upbringing or happiness, nevertheless was in a zone where she excelled at. The Amnians just were not quick enough to hit her, and in her speed, she made them hit each other. The tide was turning... and then the cowled wizard himself walked in, griping about the commotion. He saw the Flaming Fist scout, and with a simple spell, held her. She was completely powerless. Her entire life, devoted to stealth and combat, her mind was powerless against a competent wizard. The Amnians chained her, and took her away to be tortured. With a huff, the cowled wizard turned around to resume his work. The Amnians followed to guard him, and a few took Remi away. Silias had long since snuck out her companions by then.
She raised Baelather, who had passed, at a heavy cost to herself. The other two were unconscious, but alive. Beaten, tired, they could do nothing but hide out in the supply room they'd commandeered, trying to gather their strengths. Bre'teas was blissfully asleep, and Azeem was not much further off. Baelather and Silias rested in silence, for hours, hearing the screams of their tortured companion. But they were powerless without prayer. A passing patrol however, made them overhear something very important. That the Fist would not expect the very ground they rested on to suddenly be destroyed. This was enough for Baelather to act. As quickly as possible, he sent a sending to the Fist Officer who originally tasked him with the mission, to tell him to move the camp quickly without question. Being a military man, he did in fact move the camp without question. Silias and Baelather then decided it was time to leave, but Silias refused to leave without Remi, who's screams had gone eerily silent an hour ago.
The two were encountered by a single Amnian, and for brief seconds both parties were confused at what they were looking at. The Amnian was just looking for some paper to draw on. He ran, but the two elves cut him down before he could get anywhere else to warn his comrades. Then Silias barricaded her sleeping companions within the store room, and then they followed the drag marks on the ground to find Remi in the forges. Bound to the wall, unconscious, burn marks all around her body as well as gaping wounds, and a blacksmith, contributing slowly to the woman's death. With no questions asked, the two elves charged him.
Using the last of their prayers, the two were successful in taking down the burly blacksmith. With a mighty slash from his anointed weapon Baelather cut down Remi's chains, and cought the unconscious woman before she hit the ground, and allowed Silias to work her healing on the scout. Remi was carried by Baelather at first while she recovered her strength, and eventually began to walk by herself, carried by pride more than anything. Silias used her divine might to clear away the debris she barricaded Bre'teas and Azeem with, one knocking the mage on the head thus rendering him further unconscious. Silias apologized to the sleeping elf, and then picked up both men over her shoulder and the two of them plus Remi made a break for the exit. After some rushed combat, Remi and Silias climbed the rope first, and Baelather carried the unconscious up with the two women pulling on the rope to assist him up. It was a slow process, but they eventually made it.
After reporting back to the Fist, who had watched their former camp site explode, they had recognized the heroics of Baelather and Silias. Remi gave her own account, gaining a newfound respect for the elves herself. The Fist Officer commended the two for their bravery, as well as managing not to lose anybody.
Rewards:
-more exp to Baelather and Silias for sticking all the way to the end
-less exp for Azeem and Bre'teas for almost sticking to the end
-even less exp for Quin but props for sticking to his character even if he knew there would be consequences for it. (Still owe a little exp, as he was fugued, and the group did eventually make it out so it is reasonable to assume that they saved the man.)
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Synopsis:
There was an undead necromancer in the bottom of the gnoll caves so they killed it. The end. There was other stuff they did too but, details details!
Rewards:
-exp to everyone
-gold offered to Lambe who was not part of Candlekeep, but he gave the reward to Ralzo instead
-alignment shift to good to Lambe
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
((I want a personal scribe to write down all my events. That way, I wouldn't have to do these. Or run events, and then feel guilty for not writing them down for your viewing pleasure because I'm lazy.))
Clear the Rubble February 8, 2012
Players involved:
Juez Calvo
Kestral Fyle
Arery Wrin
Ara'Uik Glori
Rith
Laisren Ua Tiernan
Amphion Mortos
Nadril Evra
Synopsis:
A team of workers was hired by Gerard Travenhurst to begin the long task of rebuilding Beregost, so they began to break up the debris in front of the ruined Temple of Lathander to begin with. A few hours later a dwarf named Ara'Uik showed up claiming that her clan had fought for the defense of Beregost, and would like to assist in the matter of rebuilding, claiming that dwarves were natural to the stuff. Not finding anything wrong with the idea, Lord Travenhurst asked her to talk to the Foreman, who also had no objections and the dwarf went to work on the debris with the hired workers.
Others arrived eventually, and Juez Calvo donated 100 gold pieces (10000gp) to Gerard to do as he saw fit, and everyone from the Ilmatari cleric to the eccentric wizard Kestral to the needlessly pointed Laisren assisted in the effort, the wizard himself making the dwarf jealous of his iron golem shapeshifting to clear and break up rocks in record speed. The tiny hin named Arery Wrin did her small part, taking out tiny rocks and running out into the woods depositing them before running back in to repeat the process.
After a long day's work and with Travenhurst gone for business, he had granted the use of his dining hall to the workers, touched by their sacrifice. Food was laid out, and the workers shared meal with Kestral, Ara'Uik and Arery before retiring for the night.
Rewards:
-exp amount dependant on how much roleplay was put in
-alignment shifts to good
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Flaming Tempers and Sunny Dispositions February 8, 2012
Players involved:
Achmetalok Firkraag (?)
Dimitri Val Naar
Segori Val Naar
Imperax
Rhona
Korona Styles (?)
Chathra De'Karanos
Synopsis:
The Red Wizards turned in the explosive Achmetalok to the Fist for questioning before being graced by the presence of Selah Shartess. They were pleasant enough, though seemed confused on what to make of the recently championed Sunny, the Flaming Fist Champion.
Rewards:
-exp
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
Players involved:
Dimitri Val Naar
Segori Val Naar
Imperax
Rhona
Chathra De'Karanos
Synopsis:
Segori, Imperax, Rhona, and Chathra began to investigate the dark crater in the Fields of the Dead swirling with negative energy. They began by throwing things in it, and then eventually attacking it. Attacking it caused it to retaliate in kind. Still trying to ascertain its nature, Segori then had Chathra use positive energy towards it. Focusing a healing spell to the void caused it to release emeralds. Eventually, a little girl's voice echos from the void, beckoning them to her gifts. When Rhona takes the gifts, the little girl assume that they are now friends, and they should come over to her to play. Eventually it is decided this is a bad idea, and the voice in the void throws a temper tantrum. Quite a lot of damage happened before she calmed down; Imperax was almost rendered unconscious.
Rhona tosses the emeralds back into the void, signalling that they in fact did not wish to be friends. The little girl's crying faded away... to be replaced by a distorted hollowy voice. Dimitri Val Naar eventually came up, and tried to familiarize himself with the voice with his negative energy tentacles. The being in the void responded by throwing a maximized meteor swarm, which did not phase Dimitri although some of the red wizard servants were struck and Segori was minorly annoyed. Eventually, Dimitri said something it liked, and it came out to talk.
Night fell, and the Nightshade manifested itself more or less before the Red Wizards. The creature's powerful aura of desecration immediately began to suck away at the life forces of all those present... except from Dimitri. He allowed the others to remove themselves from the creatures presence, which they did so quite gladly. Eventually, Dimitri bargained with it for it's freedom. It would merely need to provide the Red Wizards with a boon: lore of the void, and the ability to direct its powers against the Enclave's enemies. It accepted.
Rewards:
-exp for Imperax, Rhona, Chathra, and Segori
-gp for Dimitri
-Alignment shift to evil for Dimitri
My ship plowed through the storm.
Looking into the waves, I grew dizzy,
for I glimpsed the chasm between myself & the infinite. Yacht life. -KimKierkegaardashian
