(Not sure if the 70lb weight is a full or empty barrel. Rolling it is an option, but I just had a thought: What if each of us carries a bucket, then when it's time to refill, we stack 1 on top of the other 4? Fill the top, it overflows 7 gallons, and we can probably collect 3-4 of them at least. Without consulting the PHB/DMG, each person on the road should probably consume 1-2 gallons each.)
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Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
1 bag of ball bearings, 1 bucket, 1 bag of caltrops, a set of traveling clothes, 5 days of rations, and 1 water skin. I believe the total will be 8 gp, 5sp, 5cp. He will try to haggle, if possible. Persuasion10
He will also try to find to see what the games are that they were told about.
((Really sorry posting has been brief and intermittent. In Portugal for Eurovision without my laptop.))
Dahme'dre you consider what you know of the recent history of Thar, as well as its defenses and geography. The biggest obstacle to opening the mighty steel gates in the western wall is their hinging inward, meaning a million tonnes of water pressure prevent their easy parting. More problematically, the city's western end is located in a depression in the terrain, which would not allow a full voiding of the water. That's all excuses, however. The truth is the nobility cared little for the district and feared draining the water would expose a district full of bloated and potentially plagued corpses to the open air.
The Party enters the Wall's End to find it largely empty at this late hour. Serving staff move about, clearing tables loaded for various games of chance and skill. The wagers look high and often bloody. Knife scars and burn marks mar many of the tables, and the few patrons still moving about have a disreputable and dishevelled look.
At your request, several merchants are roused and while Erdans haggling leads mostly to abuse, supplies and items do eventually change hands.
((Cart would be a good investment, but the Walls End is connected to the top of the wall by a rope bridge, so it's not something
After taking a long rest, Erdan will check out the games that are being offered. If there is a game of chance that he can play for a silver, he'll play a few hands (4 silver worth).
The interior of the Wall's End is as chaotically slapshod as the outer walls, with furnishings in a hundred styles competing for space and your attention from every direction. Looted, bartered or salvaged, mismatched chairs, tables and entire sections of wall assault the senses with a jumble of color, even when lit only by the roaring hearth and several torches.
The proprietor is all smiles, even at this late hour. Welcoming you all with hearty handshakes and a keen eye on your coin purses, clearly measuring their volume and likely contents. The cook, roused from sleep but not without skill, prepares a quick repast, which combined with rooms for the party comes to 6sp each or 30sp for the entire party.
((Long rest everyone, heal thyselves, refresh your spells and abilities and do anything else long-resty)).
Late morning finds the supplies you purchased waiting outside your rooms, neatly tied up and ready for travel. Clearly, the Wall's End has seen its fair share of customers departing for long journeys.
Erdan, you descend the stairs to find the common room largely empty. At one round table, the off-duty staff of the Wall's End dice for coppers and matchsticks. They are not precisely unfriendly, but a single look tells you that they would be ill-inclined to wager with a patron, nor would they be willing to play for silver pieces as you intend to.
A second table is more interesting. Seated around a large circular table sit a strange collection of characters, playing an even stranger game. A thin woman with elvish ears in black leathers sits next to a short gnome in robes and a young human in faded leathers. Each await, tensely, the upward throw of a wooden marker by the heavily armored dwarf who rounds out the group. As soon as the wooden chip leaves the dwarf's hand, all three move. A hurled dagger leaves the fingers of the woman, a small blast of flame flies from the fingers of the gnome and the leather-clad human is suddenly holding a thorny whip, which snaps outward and upward toward the marker. The wooden chip is oblitered from three sides, and all at the table turn toward the dwarf who nods his head in the direction of the gnome. There is good natured grumbling from both sides as coins shift toward the short magician.
((What are the rest of you doing? Aio, you didn't make it clear if you wanted to fly out and deliver the chip? Everyone else, did you want to come down to the common room with Erdan? ))
Kuori straps on her gear and walks down to the common room.
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Horatio Hirschfeld - Squire imbued with fae powers, in the Coliseum of Conquest (W2/L1) DM for Reavers of Harkenwold, and sometimes The Fighting Grounds of the Coliseum
Aio, launching off the pier you take to the skies above the flooded district. The mid-morning sun peaks through dense clouds, casting a cold and unflattering light over the partially submerged buildings. Powerful beats of your wings propel you eastward, your eyes peeled but catching no glimpses of undead moving about the buildings below. Even in daylight, the water is far too filthy to yield anything but a grey-blur smudge from your aerial vantage point.
Fifteen minutes of flying brings you within sight of the pier. The area is completely deserted, but something has clearly transpired during the night. In place of several of the boats, there are mere splinters, as if they were hacked apart with huge force. A boat has once again been lifted atop the pier, and stands as a barricade, its underside scarred by flame and punctured in at least a dozen places by crossbow bolts. A half-dozen more arrows are embedded in the wood, and a plethora of stones either cast by hand or by sling lie beneath it. The wood of the pier is stained deep crimson with blood, but there are no bodies to be seen. You spy no functional boats left near the pier.
Kuori, you join Erdan at the foot of the stairs. Beyond the two games of chance and skill, there are any number of empty tables and a row of stools directly before the bar which covers the southern wall of the common room.
Aio, upon seeing the aftermath of an intense struggle on the pier, turned herself around and headed back to Wall's End to deliver the news to her companions. When she arrived, she relayed everything she had seen.
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Pit of Vipers: Watl Wiggins - Halfling Rogue(10) League of Improbable Adventurers: Alan Quatermain - Human Fighter(3)
Valen will meet the others in the main room. After staging his travelling gear by the door, he waits anxiously to leave.
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Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
When Aio returns with news Dahme'dre wears a grimace and her eyes blacken."It seems we aren't very good at this. Each quest we've undertaken has ended poorly, not to mention without pay. I doubt anyone will pay us for opening the gates..."
(Was Dahme'dre able to obtain those charges? What is the cost? Should I take the party's silence on the matter as signal to forego the attempt?)
Erdan, as you approach the table the dwarf looks up with a grunt. With a meaty hand he indicates a chair at an adjacent table, making a beckoning motion. "Care to try your luck, Dragonkin?" he asks, his voice gruff but not unfriendly. "2 silver pieces a wager and the whole pot goes to the winner," he adds indicating the center of the table. He nods to the rest of the party, "your friends can watch the call to keep me honest, if you're not the trusting sort."
(( If you decide to play, nominate a cantrip and then give me two dexterity checks. ))
(( If one of you decides to shadow score keep, give me two perception checks. ))
((Dahme'dre, even rudimentary bombs are out of your price range. A bomb goes for 150gp and wouldn't make a dent in city walls or city gates. The capital walls are serious business, warded against spells and designed to withstand the kind of army which brings a giant or two for siege weaponry. ))
Erdan will play a match while waiting for Aio to return. He is slightly unnerved that the dwarf was able to discern his power with one look.
"Sure, why not. Might as well pass the time while we wait." He will throw down 2 silver and sit down in the indicated chair with a flourish. Then crack his knuckles together and sit back with a smirk on his face.
Erdan , as you lay down the money, all three other players tense up and prepare their moves. The dwarf theatrically raises a thick fist with his thumb up, the wooden token resting upon it. He pauses for a heartbeat and then flips it up with his thumb, sending it twirling into the air. You unleash your fire bolt, slightly slower than the lithe elf but ahead of the gnome and human. The cast dagger the elf throws flies slightly wide, leaving your fire bolt, which flies true, to incinerate the wooden chip before either the thorn whip of the gnomes own magical blast can reach it.
The dwarf seems to consider contesting the result, but a glance at Dahme'dre's focused stare convinces him to call the play true. He nods to you (Erdan) and slides all eight silver pieces on the table over to you. He fishes another wooden chip from a bag by his side and rests it on his thumb ahead of the next round.
This time, while your fire bolt flies true to where the disk spins, your reflexes prove the slowest of those at the table. The thorned whip of the druidic competitor snaps out fastest, cracking against the disk. This sends it flying out of the way of the gnome's blast, the elf's dagger, and your fire bolt as all three flash past in rapid succession.
The winner is obvious to everyone on the table, and to Dahme'dre standing behind, and the pot goes to the druid. From your initial four silver pieces, you now have eight, having completed the two games.
Once Aio arrives, Erdan will get up from the table, and flick one of the silver coins to the dwarf.
"Thank you for the entertainment! But it looks like it is time for us to go."
His face will turn serious, as he looks around the table. He will speak again, with every ounce of sincerity he can muster into his voice, and loud enough to be heard around the room. "Another tip. We just crossed the flooded district, and just barely at that. The dead are rising. That has been what has waylaid Valzu's other boats. The dead are rising, and they plan on taking revenge on the city that let them drown." He will pause for a moment to let that sink in. "If you have family or loved ones in the city, warn them."
(Do you want me to roll a persuasion check?)
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(Not sure if the 70lb weight is a full or empty barrel. Rolling it is an option, but I just had a thought: What if each of us carries a bucket, then when it's time to refill, we stack 1 on top of the other 4? Fill the top, it overflows 7 gallons, and we can probably collect 3-4 of them at least. Without consulting the PHB/DMG, each person on the road should probably consume 1-2 gallons each.)
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
Erdan is going to try to buy the following.
1 bag of ball bearings, 1 bucket, 1 bag of caltrops, a set of traveling clothes, 5 days of rations, and 1 water skin. I believe the total will be 8 gp, 5sp, 5cp. He will try to haggle, if possible. Persuasion 10
He will also try to find to see what the games are that they were told about.
((Really sorry posting has been brief and intermittent. In Portugal for Eurovision without my laptop.))
Dahme'dre you consider what you know of the recent history of Thar, as well as its defenses and geography. The biggest obstacle to opening the mighty steel gates in the western wall is their hinging inward, meaning a million tonnes of water pressure prevent their easy parting. More problematically, the city's western end is located in a depression in the terrain, which would not allow a full voiding of the water. That's all excuses, however. The truth is the nobility cared little for the district and feared draining the water would expose a district full of bloated and potentially plagued corpses to the open air.
The Party enters the Wall's End to find it largely empty at this late hour. Serving staff move about, clearing tables loaded for various games of chance and skill. The wagers look high and often bloody. Knife scars and burn marks mar many of the tables, and the few patrons still moving about have a disreputable and dishevelled look.
At your request, several merchants are roused and while Erdans haggling leads mostly to abuse, supplies and items do eventually change hands.
((Cart would be a good investment, but the Walls End is connected to the top of the wall by a rope bridge, so it's not something
"If Velzu is true to his word we may have surplus funds before we leave. We may be able to secure a cart and a draft animal then."
Extended Signature
After taking a long rest, Erdan will check out the games that are being offered. If there is a game of chance that he can play for a silver, he'll play a few hands (4 silver worth).
((Back on deck!))
The interior of the Wall's End is as chaotically slapshod as the outer walls, with furnishings in a hundred styles competing for space and your attention from every direction. Looted, bartered or salvaged, mismatched chairs, tables and entire sections of wall assault the senses with a jumble of color, even when lit only by the roaring hearth and several torches.
The proprietor is all smiles, even at this late hour. Welcoming you all with hearty handshakes and a keen eye on your coin purses, clearly measuring their volume and likely contents. The cook, roused from sleep but not without skill, prepares a quick repast, which combined with rooms for the party comes to 6sp each or 30sp for the entire party.
((Long rest everyone, heal thyselves, refresh your spells and abilities and do anything else long-resty)).
Late morning finds the supplies you purchased waiting outside your rooms, neatly tied up and ready for travel. Clearly, the Wall's End has seen its fair share of customers departing for long journeys.
Erdan, you descend the stairs to find the common room largely empty. At one round table, the off-duty staff of the Wall's End dice for coppers and matchsticks. They are not precisely unfriendly, but a single look tells you that they would be ill-inclined to wager with a patron, nor would they be willing to play for silver pieces as you intend to.
A second table is more interesting. Seated around a large circular table sit a strange collection of characters, playing an even stranger game. A thin woman with elvish ears in black leathers sits next to a short gnome in robes and a young human in faded leathers. Each await, tensely, the upward throw of a wooden marker by the heavily armored dwarf who rounds out the group. As soon as the wooden chip leaves the dwarf's hand, all three move. A hurled dagger leaves the fingers of the woman, a small blast of flame flies from the fingers of the gnome and the leather-clad human is suddenly holding a thorny whip, which snaps outward and upward toward the marker. The wooden chip is oblitered from three sides, and all at the table turn toward the dwarf who nods his head in the direction of the gnome. There is good natured grumbling from both sides as coins shift toward the short magician.
((What are the rest of you doing? Aio, you didn't make it clear if you wanted to fly out and deliver the chip? Everyone else, did you want to come down to the common room with Erdan? ))
(Sorry, thought I made it clear I was delivering)
Pit of Vipers: Watl Wiggins - Halfling Rogue(10)
League of Improbable Adventurers: Alan Quatermain - Human Fighter(3)
Kuori straps on her gear and walks down to the common room.
Horatio Hirschfeld - Squire imbued with fae powers, in the Coliseum of Conquest (W2/L1)
DM for Reavers of Harkenwold, and sometimes The Fighting Grounds of the Coliseum
Aio, launching off the pier you take to the skies above the flooded district. The mid-morning sun peaks through dense clouds, casting a cold and unflattering light over the partially submerged buildings. Powerful beats of your wings propel you eastward, your eyes peeled but catching no glimpses of undead moving about the buildings below. Even in daylight, the water is far too filthy to yield anything but a grey-blur smudge from your aerial vantage point.
Fifteen minutes of flying brings you within sight of the pier. The area is completely deserted, but something has clearly transpired during the night. In place of several of the boats, there are mere splinters, as if they were hacked apart with huge force. A boat has once again been lifted atop the pier, and stands as a barricade, its underside scarred by flame and punctured in at least a dozen places by crossbow bolts. A half-dozen more arrows are embedded in the wood, and a plethora of stones either cast by hand or by sling lie beneath it. The wood of the pier is stained deep crimson with blood, but there are no bodies to be seen. You spy no functional boats left near the pier.
Kuori, you join Erdan at the foot of the stairs. Beyond the two games of chance and skill, there are any number of empty tables and a row of stools directly before the bar which covers the southern wall of the common room.
Aio, upon seeing the aftermath of an intense struggle on the pier, turned herself around and headed back to Wall's End to deliver the news to her companions. When she arrived, she relayed everything she had seen.
Pit of Vipers: Watl Wiggins - Halfling Rogue(10)
League of Improbable Adventurers: Alan Quatermain - Human Fighter(3)
Erdan will inquire about the buy-in for the game at the second table.
Valen will meet the others in the main room. After staging his travelling gear by the door, he waits anxiously to leave.
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
When Aio returns with news Dahme'dre wears a grimace and her eyes blacken. "It seems we aren't very good at this. Each quest we've undertaken has ended poorly, not to mention without pay. I doubt anyone will pay us for opening the gates..."
(Was Dahme'dre able to obtain those charges? What is the cost? Should I take the party's silence on the matter as signal to forego the attempt?)
Extended Signature
Erdan, as you approach the table the dwarf looks up with a grunt. With a meaty hand he indicates a chair at an adjacent table, making a beckoning motion. "Care to try your luck, Dragonkin?" he asks, his voice gruff but not unfriendly. "2 silver pieces a wager and the whole pot goes to the winner," he adds indicating the center of the table. He nods to the rest of the party, "your friends can watch the call to keep me honest, if you're not the trusting sort."
(( If you decide to play, nominate a cantrip and then give me two dexterity checks. ))
(( If one of you decides to shadow score keep, give me two perception checks. ))
((Dahme'dre, even rudimentary bombs are out of your price range. A bomb goes for 150gp and wouldn't make a dent in city walls or city gates. The capital walls are serious business, warded against spells and designed to withstand the kind of army which brings a giant or two for siege weaponry. ))
Erdan will play a match while waiting for Aio to return. He is slightly unnerved that the dwarf was able to discern his power with one look.
"Sure, why not. Might as well pass the time while we wait." He will throw down 2 silver and sit down in the indicated chair with a flourish. Then crack his knuckles together and sit back with a smirk on his face.
He will use fire bolt.
Dex1 12
Dex2 8
Dahme'dre watches the action with some interest... (1)Unable to parse dice roll.
Extended Signature
Aio made her way to the others. "We should leave now," she said quietly once she had gotten their attention.
Pit of Vipers: Watl Wiggins - Halfling Rogue(10)
League of Improbable Adventurers: Alan Quatermain - Human Fighter(3)
Erdan , as you lay down the money, all three other players tense up and prepare their moves. The dwarf theatrically raises a thick fist with his thumb up, the wooden token resting upon it. He pauses for a heartbeat and then flips it up with his thumb, sending it twirling into the air. You unleash your fire bolt, slightly slower than the lithe elf but ahead of the gnome and human. The cast dagger the elf throws flies slightly wide, leaving your fire bolt, which flies true, to incinerate the wooden chip before either the thorn whip of the gnomes own magical blast can reach it.
The dwarf seems to consider contesting the result, but a glance at Dahme'dre's focused stare convinces him to call the play true. He nods to you (Erdan) and slides all eight silver pieces on the table over to you. He fishes another wooden chip from a bag by his side and rests it on his thumb ahead of the next round.
This time, while your fire bolt flies true to where the disk spins, your reflexes prove the slowest of those at the table. The thorned whip of the druidic competitor snaps out fastest, cracking against the disk. This sends it flying out of the way of the gnome's blast, the elf's dagger, and your fire bolt as all three flash past in rapid succession.
The winner is obvious to everyone on the table, and to Dahme'dre standing behind, and the pot goes to the druid. From your initial four silver pieces, you now have eight, having completed the two games.
Once Aio arrives, Erdan will get up from the table, and flick one of the silver coins to the dwarf.
"Thank you for the entertainment! But it looks like it is time for us to go."
His face will turn serious, as he looks around the table. He will speak again, with every ounce of sincerity he can muster into his voice, and loud enough to be heard around the room. "Another tip. We just crossed the flooded district, and just barely at that. The dead are rising. That has been what has waylaid Valzu's other boats. The dead are rising, and they plan on taking revenge on the city that let them drown." He will pause for a moment to let that sink in. "If you have family or loved ones in the city, warn them."
(Do you want me to roll a persuasion check?)