This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Back in Phlan
After a marathon or so of travel, while Neya doesn't exactly have the energy to fully find out what is happening in the strangely emptier marketplace, she does keep her ears out for any conversation she might just catch.
Doozey is tired. CRAP is tired. The party has been walking for many days now including the forest, the hills, and the roads. Denae is visually exhausted. The promise of arriving back in Phlan is too enticing for the party to even consider dedicating themselves to anything other than their beds tonight. Their own beds, in their own rooms. The Leadstopper Residence served as CRAP's official headquarters in Phlan, and their names were in the deed of the house ever since Villonah added them there alongside their own as a thank you/reward/gift for all that the group had done for her personally and professionally. Now though, at this moment, it wasn't a headquarters that CRAP was going back to. The Leadstopper Residence was also their home.
While walking through the bazaar, Neya's senses can't help but pick up a crisp nearby conversation about the flow of trade in Phlan becoming more of a trickle over the most recent tenday. There is something about the non-maritime trade routes that seems to be putting a squeeze on the local merchants. Supply chains are not following as they should. Further details are not part of this conversation, however, so the eldritch monk will have to wait for another day to concern herself with these complications.
As the group arrives at the Leadstopper Residence, Denae let's out all the air in her lungs in the form of a heavy sigh. Putting all pretense aside, she shamelessly asks all CRAPers: "Mind sparing a room for your dearest Sister? I don't think I can take another step."
Utar stays standing but sways slightly. He's been marched hard before and this is no different but the dull ache in his legs and feet will need to seen to soon. He reckons he's got enough in the tank to drag himself up to his bed, drop his pack to the floor and then collapse onto his waiting cot.
"Not speaking for Neya, but you can pick a bed to crash in here anytime we've space. I'm about to do the same. Shall we meet tomorrow, work out what's going on with the merchants out there?"
As similarly winded as Denae was, Neya somehow musters the fortitude to respond, "I have no problem with you spending the night here. And yes, while the mystery of the merchants' activity is intriguing. I also am of the mind that it's tomorrow's problem."
"Thank you," Denae says sincerely as she also drags herself inside and upstairs toward a vacant room pointed to by any of the CRAPers. In a show of gratitude for you hosting her, Denae makes sure to clean herself of any hard mud, grime, and impurities that have accumulated on her person, clothing, or gear during the latest trek. This adds quite a bit of time to her personal before-bed routine this night and pushes against the exhaustion you can see on her face. This is surely not something you have seen her care about before, but she is making sure she does it tonight. Only after she is done, does she actually go to bed.
Sagin is already asleep and, with no message being sent ahead of time, the adventuring party's official kobold chef has not left dinner out for his employers. He has, nonetheless, certainly kept up with his other duties, as the home is clean and nicely maintained. Apart from Sagin's basic upkeep, your rooms are pretty much left as you remember, and you have a chance to sleep safely in your own beds once more.
(OOC: At this point, I invite you to describe anything your characters would be doing before bed, dreaming about, or making sure to prepare for the days ahead. We'll be closing this epilogue and the episode overall very soon. Oh, and don't forget to account for your eaten rations for the days spent on the road. Since Greehall, I believe you spent 3 days hiking toward Kabel's Hill and then Phlan. If you hadn't accounted for the traveling even before that, I'd deduct at least another 3 rations from each of your inventories.)
Utar says a brief goodnight and then forces his legs to take him to his room. His pack is swiftly shed and dropped to the floor, his armour too, although he is more careful with that at least. After locking his door and checking his window, he flops onto his bed, happy to be home and on the verge of sleep, the dull ache of his legs and feet starting to abate.
He lies awake for a few moments yet, running through a list of next steps to consider. Should they speak to Ekmong, probably. He should also likely check in with Sister Ahkt and make preaprations for Doozey. If that goes well, he wonders whether he might find some time to go back to Kabel's Hill - Rerk would likely appreciate not being beholden to others for this wellbeing. Then there is whatever is going on at Podol Plaza, but Neya is right, that is a problem for tomorrow.
Utar rolls onto his side and sleep mercifuly comes for him a few minutes later. He embraces the welcome oblivion that it brings.
(OOC: Rations deducted, accounting for both Biscuit & Doozey.)
A mumble and a noncommittal shrug are the best Utar gets out of his halfling compatriot in terms of an answer to his earlier question. For despite also being no stranger to a forced march themselves, the rejuvenating aspects of the exercise had long since spent itself for Doozey and Biscuit, leaving the duo practically leaning against one another for support since entering the group's home. And without an awaiting home cooked meal for dinner, an oversight for future Doozey maybe addresses, the pair ranger carry on to Doozey's room.
However, just before entering the room Doozey hesitates at the threshold, then glanced back in the direction Denae had left as a moment of worry briefly takes him. 'Stop being paranoid. This isn't like last time. Neya knows her, and... it'll be fine' On the back of that mental conclusion, Doozey sighs and carries on into his room, locking the door, and making a half-hearted at trying to sniff out anything possibly amiss in the room before going through the usual rigmarole of establishing a silent alarm. By the time he's done Biscuit has long since slipped slunk off to sleep in a corner among a pile of pillows and old bed sheets.
The sight eliciting a warm smile that quickly fades as the stoutling went through the process of divesting himself of just about everything except his underclothes and Apostle, leaving the discarded scattered by the foot of the bed. Yet hardly had he settled into bed -- stinking to high heaven but caring not in the moment -- did he sit up to root around the pile until Halvin's cloak and all the various figurines he's thus far collected (including Pipyap) were in hand. The former is wrapped around a sheathed Apostle, and was to be hold close throughout the night. But in the case of the figurines, he gives them each a kiss on the head in turn before stuffing them under a pillow. All of them except Pipyap, who he stares at for a long few moments before warily doing the same and murmuring an apology.
Not that he really felt at fault, but it was the principal of the matter. After that, Doozey wouldn't say when exactly did he fall asleep or the moments leading up to it. Only that the nightmares that hit him back at Kabel Hill were at least short-lived, gentler, and towards in the end would leave him strangely hopeful and at peace.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
After saying good night, she crosses into the threshold of her room. As soon as she does, a wave of clarity washes over her mind of the sheer amount of events over the past few days, planned and unplanned. She even felt as if conversing with an archfey was not the craziest thing of their journey.
Upon removing her equipment to set down in one of the corners of her room, she finds that Lancet seems to be heavier. At this point, she is unsure if this is, at all, a coincidence, considering what she offered Jeny Greenteeth.
With so much stuff to process, she wonders what sort of eldritch trip her dreams would take her, and braves the sweet embrace of slumber.
As each CRAPer is left alone with their thoughts, their room, their gear, and their beds, they each find the long-awaited sleep they sought after risking their lives at the Quivering Forest and their boots on the many roads that took them there and back. Tomorrow is a new day, and a new day brings a new adventure.
(OOC: With the conclusion of this brief epilogue, we now reach the end of Episode 13. All of the XP earned in the epilogue is a reward for some fantastic RP, including these great posts immediately above. I want to try something different with the XP reward this time: go ahead and add whatever amount of XP is needed to bring your character up to a square 114,000 XP in total. That should be somewhere around 600 or 700 XP to each of you, depending on how close to that target number you already are. This should make things easier going forward as you'll all have the same XP now. There are no additional details on the XP reward this time around, so there won't be an associated table posted in the OOC Chat. I'll close out this thread in the coming days after one or two last bookkeeping posts. We can deal with downtime activities out-of-character. Thanks everyone for another great episode!)
This is our usual end-of-episode bookkeeping post. It's been a little while but it should look familiar. In this post, we'll note all the XP gained during the episode so that we all have a handy one-stop-shop in this thread to verify your XP gains. It also helps all of us ensure that we are on the same page. More details on the exact XP gained can be found in the OOC channel, and are summarized in the box below.
ACT I - Kabel's Hill....................................................................1,050 XP per character ACT II - Outside Kabel's Hill...........................................................3,400 XP per character ACT III - The Quivering Forest..........................................................9,800 XP per character EPILOGUE - Return to Phlan...........................round XP up to 114,000; about 600 or 700 XP per character
TOTAL XP earned by the party.................................................more than 14,850 XP per character
Just to confirm, you should each have exactly 114,000 XP as of the end of this episode.
Here are some last reminders before I close out this thread:
Now that the episode is concluding, you all have a good opportunity to engage in any dividing/sharing/bargaining/requesting/trading of your spoils of war as you see fit, if so desired. Please do so in the OOC channel.
I will soon initiate the conversation on downtime activities.
You should feel free to go shopping for any mundane items during downtime without the need for RPing. I'll reiterate that this only applies to more mundane items, which can be sold for 50% value (rounded down) or bought for the price listed in the PHB 2024. Potions of healing of the common variety fall under this mundane category as well. If you plan to purchase several of the same item, you may run into supply shortages as stores' inventories are not infinite. Just let me know what you plan to buy and we can go from there.
You can assume that there are enough financiers in town for you to exchange your coins/gems/art pieces/treasure as you see fit. You obviously have to keep the same overall value in your wallet, but feel free to exchange all those pesky copper pieces for silver, cumbersome electrum pieces for gold, opals and sculptures for coins, etc. The only exception here is platinum. Those coins are not readily available for exchanging.
With that, I'm closing the curtains on this episode. I have some prep to do, but we should be back for the next episode soon enough. I'll keep you guys updated.
It was a pleasure running this game for you folks, as always.
Back in Phlan
After a marathon or so of travel, while Neya doesn't exactly have the energy to fully find out what is happening in the strangely emptier marketplace, she does keep her ears out for any conversation she might just catch.
Perception: 19 (Nat 20, for 23)
Extended Signature
Doozey is tired. CRAP is tired. The party has been walking for many days now including the forest, the hills, and the roads. Denae is visually exhausted. The promise of arriving back in Phlan is too enticing for the party to even consider dedicating themselves to anything other than their beds tonight. Their own beds, in their own rooms. The Leadstopper Residence served as CRAP's official headquarters in Phlan, and their names were in the deed of the house ever since Villonah added them there alongside their own as a thank you/reward/gift for all that the group had done for her personally and professionally. Now though, at this moment, it wasn't a headquarters that CRAP was going back to. The Leadstopper Residence was also their home.
While walking through the bazaar, Neya's senses can't help but pick up a crisp nearby conversation about the flow of trade in Phlan becoming more of a trickle over the most recent tenday. There is something about the non-maritime trade routes that seems to be putting a squeeze on the local merchants. Supply chains are not following as they should. Further details are not part of this conversation, however, so the eldritch monk will have to wait for another day to concern herself with these complications.
As the group arrives at the Leadstopper Residence, Denae let's out all the air in her lungs in the form of a heavy sigh. Putting all pretense aside, she shamelessly asks all CRAPers: "Mind sparing a room for your dearest Sister? I don't think I can take another step."
Utar stays standing but sways slightly. He's been marched hard before and this is no different but the dull ache in his legs and feet will need to seen to soon. He reckons he's got enough in the tank to drag himself up to his bed, drop his pack to the floor and then collapse onto his waiting cot.
"Not speaking for Neya, but you can pick a bed to crash in here anytime we've space. I'm about to do the same. Shall we meet tomorrow, work out what's going on with the merchants out there?"
As similarly winded as Denae was, Neya somehow musters the fortitude to respond, "I have no problem with you spending the night here. And yes, while the mystery of the merchants' activity is intriguing. I also am of the mind that it's tomorrow's problem."
Extended Signature
"Thank you," Denae says sincerely as she also drags herself inside and upstairs toward a vacant room pointed to by any of the CRAPers. In a show of gratitude for you hosting her, Denae makes sure to clean herself of any hard mud, grime, and impurities that have accumulated on her person, clothing, or gear during the latest trek. This adds quite a bit of time to her personal before-bed routine this night and pushes against the exhaustion you can see on her face. This is surely not something you have seen her care about before, but she is making sure she does it tonight. Only after she is done, does she actually go to bed.
Sagin is already asleep and, with no message being sent ahead of time, the adventuring party's official kobold chef has not left dinner out for his employers. He has, nonetheless, certainly kept up with his other duties, as the home is clean and nicely maintained. Apart from Sagin's basic upkeep, your rooms are pretty much left as you remember, and you have a chance to sleep safely in your own beds once more.
(OOC: At this point, I invite you to describe anything your characters would be doing before bed, dreaming about, or making sure to prepare for the days ahead. We'll be closing this epilogue and the episode overall very soon. Oh, and don't forget to account for your eaten rations for the days spent on the road. Since Greehall, I believe you spent 3 days hiking toward Kabel's Hill and then Phlan. If you hadn't accounted for the traveling even before that, I'd deduct at least another 3 rations from each of your inventories.)
Utar says a brief goodnight and then forces his legs to take him to his room. His pack is swiftly shed and dropped to the floor, his armour too, although he is more careful with that at least. After locking his door and checking his window, he flops onto his bed, happy to be home and on the verge of sleep, the dull ache of his legs and feet starting to abate.
He lies awake for a few moments yet, running through a list of next steps to consider. Should they speak to Ekmong, probably. He should also likely check in with Sister Ahkt and make preaprations for Doozey. If that goes well, he wonders whether he might find some time to go back to Kabel's Hill - Rerk would likely appreciate not being beholden to others for this wellbeing. Then there is whatever is going on at Podol Plaza, but Neya is right, that is a problem for tomorrow.
Utar rolls onto his side and sleep mercifuly comes for him a few minutes later. He embraces the welcome oblivion that it brings.
(OOC: Rations deducted, accounting for both Biscuit & Doozey.)
A mumble and a noncommittal shrug are the best Utar gets out of his halfling compatriot in terms of an answer to his earlier question. For despite also being no stranger to a forced march themselves, the rejuvenating aspects of the exercise had long since spent itself for Doozey and Biscuit, leaving the duo practically leaning against one another for support since entering the group's home. And without an awaiting home cooked meal for dinner, an oversight for future Doozey maybe addresses, the pair ranger carry on to Doozey's room.
However, just before entering the room Doozey hesitates at the threshold, then glanced back in the direction Denae had left as a moment of worry briefly takes him. 'Stop being paranoid. This isn't like last time. Neya knows her, and... it'll be fine' On the back of that mental conclusion, Doozey sighs and carries on into his room, locking the door, and making a half-hearted at trying to sniff out anything possibly amiss in the room before going through the usual rigmarole of establishing a silent alarm. By the time he's done Biscuit has long since slipped slunk off to sleep in a corner among a pile of pillows and old bed sheets.
The sight eliciting a warm smile that quickly fades as the stoutling went through the process of divesting himself of just about everything except his underclothes and Apostle, leaving the discarded scattered by the foot of the bed. Yet hardly had he settled into bed -- stinking to high heaven but caring not in the moment -- did he sit up to root around the pile until Halvin's cloak and all the various figurines he's thus far collected (including Pipyap) were in hand. The former is wrapped around a sheathed Apostle, and was to be hold close throughout the night. But in the case of the figurines, he gives them each a kiss on the head in turn before stuffing them under a pillow. All of them except Pipyap, who he stares at for a long few moments before warily doing the same and murmuring an apology.
Not that he really felt at fault, but it was the principal of the matter. After that, Doozey wouldn't say when exactly did he fall asleep or the moments leading up to it. Only that the nightmares that hit him back at Kabel Hill were at least short-lived, gentler, and towards in the end would leave him strangely hopeful and at peace.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
After saying good night, she crosses into the threshold of her room. As soon as she does, a wave of clarity washes over her mind of the sheer amount of events over the past few days, planned and unplanned. She even felt as if conversing with an archfey was not the craziest thing of their journey.
Upon removing her equipment to set down in one of the corners of her room, she finds that Lancet seems to be heavier. At this point, she is unsure if this is, at all, a coincidence, considering what she offered Jeny Greenteeth.
With so much stuff to process, she wonders what sort of eldritch trip her dreams would take her, and braves the sweet embrace of slumber.
Extended Signature
As each CRAPer is left alone with their thoughts, their room, their gear, and their beds, they each find the long-awaited sleep they sought after risking their lives at the Quivering Forest and their boots on the many roads that took them there and back. Tomorrow is a new day, and a new day brings a new adventure.
(OOC: With the conclusion of this brief epilogue, we now reach the end of Episode 13. All of the XP earned in the epilogue is a reward for some fantastic RP, including these great posts immediately above. I want to try something different with the XP reward this time: go ahead and add whatever amount of XP is needed to bring your character up to a square 114,000 XP in total. That should be somewhere around 600 or 700 XP to each of you, depending on how close to that target number you already are. This should make things easier going forward as you'll all have the same XP now. There are no additional details on the XP reward this time around, so there won't be an associated table posted in the OOC Chat. I'll close out this thread in the coming days after one or two last bookkeeping posts. We can deal with downtime activities out-of-character. Thanks everyone for another great episode!)
BOOKKEEPING
This is our usual end-of-episode bookkeeping post. It's been a little while but it should look familiar. In this post, we'll note all the XP gained during the episode so that we all have a handy one-stop-shop in this thread to verify your XP gains. It also helps all of us ensure that we are on the same page. More details on the exact XP gained can be found in the OOC channel, and are summarized in the box below.
Just to confirm, you should each have exactly 114,000 XP as of the end of this episode.
CONCLUSION
Here are some last reminders before I close out this thread:
With that, I'm closing the curtains on this episode. I have some prep to do, but we should be back for the next episode soon enough. I'll keep you guys updated.
It was a pleasure running this game for you folks, as always.
(THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED)