She goes through a rapid succession of angry, confused, and, finally, relief as the story of what happened to her pours out of her mouth as though she's been burdened by her silence on it, scarcely taking time to breathe except to catch herself from revealing too much information about her "travelling companions."
"I was new to...this wagon train. Joined in with them all the way down in the Greenfields, if you can believe it. They treated me kindly. Made me feel welcome. Gave me important tasks. I felt useful for the first time in my life. They have big plans, and they were allowing me to play a big role in them. Me! Little miss can't-do-anything-right Lillian. And what did I do? Mess things up.
"See, back in the Greenfields, maybe a week after I joined up, we just got back from our most successful rai...uhhmm...raising...fund raising campaign. That same night, while we were still celebrating, a group snuck into our camp, trying to erase all the hard work we had done. One of our leaders caught them sneaking about and had us...detain them while she met with the other leaders to decide what to do. She put me in charge of watching over them, and I completely blew it. Instead of staying where I was, I let one of them sweet talk me into leaving my post. He said he was looking for some girl named Lilliana, and the closeness of her name to mine mixed with how longingly her name was to mine just made me feel for him, you know?They escaped while I was away, obviously, and we had to pack up camp and book it in hopes they wouldn't catch up to us."
At this point, her speech slows down, and a cold fury mixed with bitterness enters her voice "When Rezmi...when it was discovered that I'd left my post, that I'd potentially ruined plans that they had been working on for YEARS, that I really can't do anything right, one of our leaders reprimanded me by yanking me up by my left arm so that we were face to face, and told me in no uncertain terms that a second mistake would not be tolerated. Still, I couldn't see why what I'd done was wrong. Turns out, that sweet talker had cast some kind of spell on me that made me think he was much friendlier than he was. It wasn't until the spell finally wore off that I realized what I'd done. To think that charlatan had me believing that someone might one day seek me out as longingly as he was seeking that woman he'd probably just made up to win my sympathy." At this, she gives one, sad chuckle.
"For the past month, this sling has been a constant reminder of how foolish I had been. A constant reminder of why I couldn't let myself make another mistake. How much we really cannot let other people get in our way simply because they don't understand the importance of what we're trying to do. How much I will repay that lying human for what he did to me if I ever see him again."
After a few moments of silence, she seems to remember herself. "That's probably more than you wanted to hear, Texford. Certainly more than I care to say. Now, if you're curiosity is sated, I'd like to be alone."
She goes through a rapid succession of angry, confused, and, finally, relief as the story of what happened to her pours out of her mouth as though she's been burdened by her silence on it, scarcely taking time to breathe except to catch herself from revealing too much information about her "travelling companions."
"I was new to...this wagon train. Joined in with them all the way down in the Greenfields, if you can believe it. They treated me kindly. Made me feel welcome. Gave me important tasks. I felt useful for the first time in my life. They have big plans, and they were allowing me to play a big role in them. Me! Little miss can't-do-anything-right Lillian. And what did I do? Mess things up.
"See, back in the Greenfields, maybe a week after I joined up, we just got back from our most successful rai...uhhmm...raising...fund raising campaign. That same night, while we were still celebrating, a group snuck into our camp, trying to erase all the hard work we had done. One of our leaders caught them sneaking about and had us...detain them while she met with the other leaders to decide what to do. She put me in charge of watching over them, and I completely blew it. Instead of staying where I was, I let one of them sweet talk me into leaving my post. He said he was looking for some girl named Lilliana, and the closeness of her name to mine mixed with how longingly her name was to mine just made me feel for him, you know?They escaped while I was away, obviously, and we had to pack up camp and book it in hopes they wouldn't catch up to us."
At this point, her speech slows down, and a cold fury mixed with bitterness enters her voice "When Rezmi...when it was discovered that I'd left my post, that I'd potentially ruined plans that they had been working on for YEARS, that I really can't do anything right, one of our leaders reprimanded me by yanking me up by my left arm so that we were face to face, and told me in no uncertain terms that a second mistake would not be tolerated. Still, I couldn't see why what I'd done was wrong. Turns out, that sweet talker had cast some kind of spell on me that made me think he was much friendlier than he was. It wasn't until the spell finally wore off that I realized what I'd done. To think that charlatan had me believing that someone might one day seek me out as longingly as he was seeking that woman he'd probably just made up to win my sympathy." At this, she gives one, sad chuckle.
"For the past month, this sling has been a constant reminder of how foolish I had been. A constant reminder of why I couldn't let myself make another mistake. How much we really cannot let other people get in our way simply because they don't understand the importance of what we're trying to do. How much I will repay that lying human for what he did to me if I ever see him again."
After a few moments of silence, she seems to remember herself. "That's probably more than you wanted to hear, Texford. Certainly more than I care to say. Now, if you're curiosity is sated, I'd like to be alone."
Rex sighs out of pity. He doesn’t regret what has to be done, but the blame lies solely upon the Cult.
Rex leans back, “If I may be so bold, Lillian. The words we say always carry truth, even in the guise of a facade. This... sweet talker. Something inside me believes that there was truth to his words. I assure you, someone who truly carries those feelings toward you is out there. It may just be taking a bit for them to arrive. Nevertheless, I appreciate your candor, and I wish you good evening.”
Meanwhile, “Tex” will find a place to change back to Rex, and contact Arliden, “Well, sounds like she didn’t take to kindly to being charmed. Seems failure brought that injury about. In any case, we need to be careful around her.”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms- The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon- Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland -Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF!- Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
[1. That was an awesome write up Rich, it's super cool that you took time to flesh that out and didn't just summarize. 2. Rex, do you literally tell Arliden what you typed or do you summarize the conversation?]
Lillian looks for a moment as if she is going to respond, but she simply shakes her head and walks away from you.
When you stop for the evening, you each find your own way to Beyd Sechepol's wagon and are in the middle of enjoying a tankard of ale when Jamna subtly approaches Arliden and says, "There's a small copse of trees just south of the rearmost Cult wagon. Stagger yourselves and meet me there, away from prying ears. Then we'll plan out how we're going to discover what's in those wagons."
"Ok, now that you're all here, we can more openly discuss our plan of attack. If we stay to the left, we can get most of the way to that wagon without entering the fire's light. We can get as close to the wagon as possible and should be able to cross the short distance between shadow and the wagon while the guard is on the other side. Once we're in position, we'll need to create a distraction to draw the guard's attention so we can get into the wagon and find out what's in those crates. Which of you wants to create the distraction, and which of you is coming with me in the wagon?"
[If you're going to create the distraction, explain how you plan to do it and roll for the related skill check (e.g., Deception, Performance, Persuasion, etc.). If you're going to sneak into the wagon, roll a Dexterity (Stealth) check.]
[My apologies, life went a bit nuts for a minute.]
[Arliden would have relayed that information to the group and then followed her instruction].
"I'm ok with creating distractions or sneaking into the wagon of any of you," motioning to the rest of the group, "have a preference. Regardless though you should let me make one of the people sneaking into the wagon invisible before you set off. Jamna, any idea how uptight these guards might be? Like if I just happen to start singing a song within their sight are they just instantly gonna shoo me away? Or just try to ignore me?"
Fjordix nodded along, "I am not great at sneaking about, but I can attempt to create a distraction, maybe stumble into the area and challenge the guards to a bout of sport?"
"Arliden, these guards are more insular than uptight. No telling how they'd react to you singing, but they would definitely know who you are on sight by now.
"Fjordix, I'm not sure that openly challenging them is the wisest idea, but that would certainly get their attention."
[Assuming Rex also spoke to Jamna mentally] Jamna looks toward Rex and, after a few moments, a confused look crosses her face. She then looks like she's concentrating really hard while looking at you and then looks at you expectantly.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
When Rex does his "One way" thing Arliden looks at Jamna. "Ya, it takes some getting used to."
"Rex, since you can transform into anyone, maybe don't be me? Then it's still me they have a problem with if something goes wrong, plus, you know, I'm apparently not real popular in the cultists camp."
Before we go sneaking into the wagon Arliden will cast invisibility on himself and then whisper to Jamna, "I'll be right behind you, just assume I'm always within whisper range."
[Not sure what that will do exactly to aid in stealth but here's the roll] Stealth: 16
She goes through a rapid succession of angry, confused, and, finally, relief as the story of what happened to her pours out of her mouth as though she's been burdened by her silence on it, scarcely taking time to breathe except to catch herself from revealing too much information about her "travelling companions."
"I was new to...this wagon train. Joined in with them all the way down in the Greenfields, if you can believe it. They treated me kindly. Made me feel welcome. Gave me important tasks. I felt useful for the first time in my life. They have big plans, and they were allowing me to play a big role in them. Me! Little miss can't-do-anything-right Lillian. And what did I do? Mess things up.
"See, back in the Greenfields, maybe a week after I joined up, we just got back from our most successful rai...uhhmm...raising...fund raising campaign. That same night, while we were still celebrating, a group snuck into our camp, trying to erase all the hard work we had done. One of our leaders caught them sneaking about and had us...detain them while she met with the other leaders to decide what to do. She put me in charge of watching over them, and I completely blew it. Instead of staying where I was, I let one of them sweet talk me into leaving my post. He said he was looking for some girl named Lilliana, and the closeness of her name to mine mixed with how longingly her name was to mine just made me feel for him, you know?They escaped while I was away, obviously, and we had to pack up camp and book it in hopes they wouldn't catch up to us."
At this point, her speech slows down, and a cold fury mixed with bitterness enters her voice "When Rezmi...when it was discovered that I'd left my post, that I'd potentially ruined plans that they had been working on for YEARS, that I really can't do anything right, one of our leaders reprimanded me by yanking me up by my left arm so that we were face to face, and told me in no uncertain terms that a second mistake would not be tolerated. Still, I couldn't see why what I'd done was wrong. Turns out, that sweet talker had cast some kind of spell on me that made me think he was much friendlier than he was. It wasn't until the spell finally wore off that I realized what I'd done. To think that charlatan had me believing that someone might one day seek me out as longingly as he was seeking that woman he'd probably just made up to win my sympathy." At this, she gives one, sad chuckle.
"For the past month, this sling has been a constant reminder of how foolish I had been. A constant reminder of why I couldn't let myself make another mistake. How much we really cannot let other people get in our way simply because they don't understand the importance of what we're trying to do. How much I will repay that lying human for what he did to me if I ever see him again."
After a few moments of silence, she seems to remember herself. "That's probably more than you wanted to hear, Texford. Certainly more than I care to say. Now, if you're curiosity is sated, I'd like to be alone."
(Is... is this the girl we charmed? Wait. I completely missed that Arleen said it was. Ah. I’m an idiot haha.)
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
Rex sighs out of pity. He doesn’t regret what has to be done, but the blame lies solely upon the Cult.
Rex leans back, “If I may be so bold, Lillian. The words we say always carry truth, even in the guise of a facade. This... sweet talker. Something inside me believes that there was truth to his words. I assure you, someone who truly carries those feelings toward you is out there. It may just be taking a bit for them to arrive. Nevertheless, I appreciate your candor, and I wish you good evening.”
Meanwhile, “Tex” will find a place to change back to Rex, and contact Arliden, “Well, sounds like she didn’t take to kindly to being charmed. Seems failure brought that injury about. In any case, we need to be careful around her.”
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
[1. That was an awesome write up Rich, it's super cool that you took time to flesh that out and didn't just summarize.
2. Rex, do you literally tell Arliden what you typed or do you summarize the conversation?]
Rex will summarize and add what I posted
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
OOC: Dude..CRich...nice! I can dig it.
Lillian looks for a moment as if she is going to respond, but she simply shakes her head and walks away from you.
When you stop for the evening, you each find your own way to Beyd Sechepol's wagon and are in the middle of enjoying a tankard of ale when Jamna subtly approaches Arliden and says, "There's a small copse of trees just south of the rearmost Cult wagon. Stagger yourselves and meet me there, away from prying ears. Then we'll plan out how we're going to discover what's in those wagons."
[Assuming you all followed her directions.]
"Ok, now that you're all here, we can more openly discuss our plan of attack. If we stay to the left, we can get most of the way to that wagon without entering the fire's light. We can get as close to the wagon as possible and should be able to cross the short distance between shadow and the wagon while the guard is on the other side. Once we're in position, we'll need to create a distraction to draw the guard's attention so we can get into the wagon and find out what's in those crates. Which of you wants to create the distraction, and which of you is coming with me in the wagon?"
[If you're going to create the distraction, explain how you plan to do it and roll for the related skill check (e.g., Deception, Performance, Persuasion, etc.).
If you're going to sneak into the wagon, roll a Dexterity (Stealth) check.]
[My apologies, life went a bit nuts for a minute.]
[Arliden would have relayed that information to the group and then followed her instruction].
"I'm ok with creating distractions or sneaking into the wagon of any of you," motioning to the rest of the group, "have a preference. Regardless though you should let me make one of the people sneaking into the wagon invisible before you set off. Jamna, any idea how uptight these guards might be? Like if I just happen to start singing a song within their sight are they just instantly gonna shoo me away? Or just try to ignore me?"
Fjordix nodded along, "I am not great at sneaking about, but I can attempt to create a distraction, maybe stumble into the area and challenge the guards to a bout of sport?"
Rex stretches and mentally speaks, “Well, I’m pretty alright at performing, believe it or not. I could disguise myself as you while you sneak about.”
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
"Arliden, these guards are more insular than uptight. No telling how they'd react to you singing, but they would definitely know who you are on sight by now.
"Fjordix, I'm not sure that openly challenging them is the wisest idea, but that would certainly get their attention."
[Assuming Rex also spoke to Jamna mentally] Jamna looks toward Rex and, after a few moments, a confused look crosses her face. She then looks like she's concentrating really hard while looking at you and then looks at you expectantly.
Rex taps his ear and says back, “One way, can’t hear you.”
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
"So much the better. Let's keep it that way."
[Assuming you all go through with the plan (as I understand it),
Intimidation: 13
Go Rex! Dance! Dance for the group!
Performance: 21
FINALLY!
Wait, I have advantage
21
24 it is!
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
When Rex does his "One way" thing Arliden looks at Jamna. "Ya, it takes some getting used to."
"Rex, since you can transform into anyone, maybe don't be me? Then it's still me they have a problem with if something goes wrong, plus, you know, I'm apparently not real popular in the cultists camp."
Before we go sneaking into the wagon Arliden will cast invisibility on himself and then whisper to Jamna, "I'll be right behind you, just assume I'm always within whisper range."
[Not sure what that will do exactly to aid in stealth but here's the roll] Stealth: 16
Rex will instead change to a wood elf, vaguely similar in grand appearance to Arliden, “Alright, how’s Barleyden?”
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
Arliden gives him two thumbs up LOL
Rex nods, “Barleyden it is then.”
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist