When they are done talking with Gleamsilver, Dervish exclaims, "Great goblins! I had forgotten about that letter." He goes with his companions to what appears to be a secluded area to try again to read it.
Although Piotr acted on Gleamsilver's warning about the oatmeal (which was not all that tasty, anyway), he does not fully trust this newcomer. Piotr spends some time watching him to add or subtract from his concerns. Insight 24
Dervish asks how far they are from any population center including their destination. "Why tonight?" he wonders to Gleamsilver.
Piotr's insight is spot on. He senses Jemna Gleamsilver isn't being quite on the up and up with them.
Dervish figures out that you are just 3 days from Waterdeep at this point and three days from Daggerford you reckon.
Gleamsilver asked to get help with the cultist wagon or if you have information on what it is carrying?
Actions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Piotr gives a winding and unprecise account of their activities and interests to Gleamsilver but is uncertain how successful he will be. (Deception 9)
Jemna nods along with the story, "Interesting so the cultist has a small stash they've got in there is my guess. Who know where they are taking it. Oh well I will leave it be then."
Dervish later on once Jemna leaves finds a spot to look over the note privately with the group. The note says, "Be warned adventurers. Two will join the caravan and both are rotten in their own way. Watch yourselves trouble surrounds them both. Watch but don't get involved. Your time will come."
The note turns to ashes and flies in the wind once read.
Two days later, the camp awakens to a killing. One of the cultists acting as a wagon guard was murdered overnight. He was stabbed in the back with a sword (the wound is too big to be from a dagger) and left where he fell beneath a cult wagon.
The cultist immediately accuses Ven and demand to inspect the characters’ weapons.Ven snaps back, "You can see I only use Rapiers." The cultist doesn't stop there. "One of you did it we're sure of it hang them all."
The wagon masters look over the crime scene and spot many footprints are around the wagon. They make some checks and determine that they are all from people crowding around the body in the morning. The wagon master point out that the group has saved the caravan multiple times and believe they are not involved. The cultists, on the other hand, are not so popular.
An onlooker in the crowd adds, "Let's open the crates in the wagon. That may yield some clues."
Uncharacteristically, Azbara Jos comes forward and tries to calm the situation, "Easy folks there is nothing here to see. We should just move on and head out to Waterdeep a day and a few hours away."
In the end, the caravan’s most prominent merchants agree that without witnesses, nothing can be done. The gods will punish the guilty party and life will go on.
Most of the cultists never again look at the accused character with anything but undisguised hatred.
The carvan makes it to waterdeep by late morning the following day.
When the caravan rolls into Waterdeep after two months on the road, most of the merchants disperse to the city’s markets, warehouses, and stables. They’ve reached their destination, and the characters are paid off in silver and thanked for their service. Since you did a great job their wagon owner gives them a referral to use for other work, they’re told they can find work with these shippers any time in the future. You notice you can’t waste much time closing accounts with their own employers or sightseeing in Waterdeep, however, or they lose the treasure wagons in the crowded metropolis.
Perception checks Successful checks DC 15 for three required to see the spoiler
You spot the fact that the cultist caravan doesn't follow the route of the rest of the caravan.
Guidance can be given out as you all are looking around.
what have we learned by the imp being invisible for the last week or so. Also was there ever chance to see what was in the cultist crates? Ie would there have been a crack a spider could climb into and see what is inside?
what have we learned by the imp being invisible for the last week or so. Also was there ever chance to see what was in the cultist crates? Ie would there have been a crack a spider could climb into and see what is inside?
Jemna killed the cultist guard and couldn't help but steal an item from the treasure horde. Nobody could prove it though since she dusted her tracks. It's your word against hers and the cultist are pushing to blame you. Pax and the Imp are the only who know the full story. Jemna uses a dagger so how the wound looks like a shortsword wound does make you think a bit. The cultist doesn't have an inventory, so they don't know anything was taken. No tracks or any way to show who did it leave it a mystery no one wants to trouble with finding out really.
Piotr and Dervish accept the payment and referral then quickly consult with their companions. "Months ago (OOC: posting #323 in December IRL, no wonder I couldn't remember!), Elanthar and Frume asked us to track the treasure the cult is shipping to Waterdeep and further north. I am not certain we have gained enough knowledge yet to truly help our cause. We could locate some Harpers here for additional support but that might cause us to miss a movement. Or we could continue to try to track the merchandise to the best of our abilities. Either way, we need to protect Ven since the cultists blame him for the murder."
Piotr and Dervish accept the payment and referral then quickly consult with their companions. "Months ago (OOC: posting #323 in December IRL, no wonder I couldn't remember!), Elanthar and Frume asked us to track the treasure the cult is shipping to Waterdeep and further north. I am not certain we have gained enough knowledge yet to truly help our cause. We could locate some Harpers here for additional support but that might cause us to miss a movement. Or we could continue to try to track the merchandise to the best of our abilities. Either way, we need to protect Ven since the cultists blame him for the murder."
Ven says, "Yeah we have to track the cultist's wagons my friends..That's our primary goal here."
Jebar adds, "I'd agree with that Ven. Let's see where they go and get hired on to the caravan they get in going further north. That's our play I think."
Ven adds, "Good memory about Elanthar and Frume my friends. Let's stick to the job then."
I'll Guess that Pax sends the imp to watch the cult wagons as they don’t follow the same pattern as the others from the caravan. Instead, they head for the north side of the city before looking for a place to spend the night. Everyone who the characters know to be associated with the cult gathers at the same spot by nightfall. Azbara Jos remains with the cultists during this time.
Jamna offers to stick around with the group to see where it's going.
The cultists spend a day resting their horses at a stable on the north side of Waterdeep. Other wagons are already there, covertly carrying treasure from all over the Sword Coast to the collection point. During the day, some of the cultists visit a large warehouse just inside the northern city gate, where construction supplies are stockpiled for shipment north and where wagons are gathered and loaded for the trip.
If characters ask around Waterdeep’s northern gate about anyone matching Rezmir’s description, they hear rumors of a half-dragon being sighted in the area at least a tenday ago. Everyone remembers the incident; chromatic half-dragons are almost never seen, and they tend to cause alarm when they are. If the rumor is true, then the half-dragon was traveling with a strong escort of mounted guards, headed north. The rumor is true, of course, but it can’t be confirmed 100 percent.
By asking around, characters learn that the road to the north, called the High Road, used to connect Waterdeep to the city of Neverwinter. A cold, coastal marsh called the Mere of Dead Men lay between the road and the coast. Over the years, the mere continually expanded. Each time it grew, it flooded the road, which had to be relocated farther inland. That was the situation until a century ago, when Neverwinter was nearly destroyed by the eruption of Mount Hotenow. With the city in ruins, efforts to keep the road open simply stopped. It no longer served a purpose.
But now, Lord Neverember is rebuilding Neverwinter and the road is needed again. The warehouse visited by the cultists is where shipments of supplies to the road-building camps are coordinated. If freight haulers went there, it must have been to see if they could haul supplies to the road-head for pay. Are they hiring guards for supply caravans? Sure, you bet they are. The Mere of Dead Men is wild and dangerous. Lord Neverember’s agents in this endeavor are perpetually looking for laborers to build the road and fighters to protect the laborers. Turnover in those jobs is pretty high.
You all have no trouble getting hired as wagon escorts at the supply warehouse. Unlike in the caravan, guards are not hired by individual wagon masters but by the High Road Charter Company, a consortium of guilds and noble houses partnered with Lord Neverember. A human veteran named Ardred Briferhew commands the entire convoy. It consists of six supply wagons, twelve escorts (including you all and Jamna), and two dozen laborers marching out to relieve a group that is coming back to Waterdeep for some time off. Those cultists who weren’t hired as teamsters for their three wagons are coming along as laborers.
The cultists are not happy to see the characters again, so the characters are the target of dirty looks.
The work camp the convoy is headed toward lies 200 miles up the coast. For most of that distance, the road winds through rough coastal hills nestled between the Sword Mountains and the sea. On the seventh night, the convoy camps on a hilltop from which characters have their first sight of the Mere of Dead Men. It is a chill tangle of trees, brush, boggy ground, standing water, reeds, and cat-tails stretching farther than the eye can see. The rest of the trip is within sight of the mere. The destination is reached sometime on the tenth day.
Everyone roll a D20 please..Pax, Spenser and Piotr roll a second one with +2 on the second D20 for them please.
Jemna 20
Ven 14
Jeybar 12
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
The Caravan heads out the first day and the caravan has the group out ahead of them scouting the road ahead. The day drags on as you scout for good road paths and other things. It's getting past mid afternoon having stopped for breaks along the way. No decent camp spots really look good so far. Your best spot was a bit behind you really. You probably 300 yards ahead of them to spot mud pits in the road or game or monsters that might lurk ahead of the caravan. You're getting paid well. 10gp a day plus expenses. Your reputation proceeded you thanks to your previous employer.
The day wears on and you get to a grassy marshy type of terrain.
It's starting to get to dusk, dimly lit, so you've sent word back to stop to setup camp where the caravan is at rather than come forward. It'd be safer where they are you feel than continue on. Not that anywhere in the past 2 miles has been ideal. You get ready to turn around and head back to the carvan and Pax and Imp, Steeldog with Jeybar pause.
Pax and the Imp along with Steeldog alert. There is something just ahead coming out of the water on both sides of the road.
When in a secure place can we attempt to read the note again. It’s been a day.
When they are done talking with Gleamsilver, Dervish exclaims, "Great goblins! I had forgotten about that letter." He goes with his companions to what appears to be a secluded area to try again to read it.
Piotr's insight is spot on. He senses Jemna Gleamsilver isn't being quite on the up and up with them.
Dervish figures out that you are just 3 days from Waterdeep at this point and three days from Daggerford you reckon.
Gleamsilver asked to get help with the cultist wagon or if you have information on what it is carrying?
Actions.
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Piotr gives a winding and unprecise account of their activities and interests to Gleamsilver but is uncertain how successful he will be. (Deception 9)
((What was the note??))
Jemna nods along with the story, "Interesting so the cultist has a small stash they've got in there is my guess. Who know where they are taking it. Oh well I will leave it be then."
Dervish later on once Jemna leaves finds a spot to look over the note privately with the group. The note says, "Be warned adventurers. Two will join the caravan and both are rotten in their own way. Watch yourselves trouble surrounds them both. Watch but don't get involved. Your time will come."
The note turns to ashes and flies in the wind once read.
Two days later, the camp awakens to a killing. One of the cultists acting as a wagon guard was murdered overnight. He was stabbed in the back with a sword (the wound is too big to be from a dagger) and left where he fell beneath a cult wagon.
The cultist immediately accuses Ven and demand to inspect the characters’ weapons.Ven snaps back, "You can see I only use Rapiers." The cultist doesn't stop there. "One of you did it we're sure of it hang them all."
The wagon masters look over the crime scene and spot many footprints are around the wagon. They make some checks and determine that they are all from people crowding around the body in the morning. The wagon master point out that the group has saved the caravan multiple times and believe they are not involved. The cultists, on the other hand, are not so popular.
An onlooker in the crowd adds, "Let's open the crates in the wagon. That may yield some clues."
Uncharacteristically, Azbara Jos comes forward and tries to calm the situation, "Easy folks there is nothing here to see. We should just move on and head out to Waterdeep a day and a few hours away."
In the end, the caravan’s most prominent merchants agree that without witnesses, nothing can be done. The gods will punish the guilty party and life will go on.
Most of the cultists never again look at the accused character with anything but undisguised hatred.
The carvan makes it to waterdeep by late morning the following day.
When the caravan rolls into Waterdeep after two months on the road, most of the merchants disperse to the city’s markets, warehouses, and stables. They’ve reached their destination, and the characters are paid off in silver and thanked for their service. Since you did a great job their wagon owner gives them a referral to use for other work, they’re told they can find work with these shippers any time in the future. You notice you can’t waste much time closing accounts with their own employers or sightseeing in Waterdeep, however, or they lose the treasure wagons in the crowded metropolis.
Perception checks Successful checks DC 15 for three required to see the spoiler
You spot the fact that the cultist caravan doesn't follow the route of the rest of the caravan.
Guidance can be given out as you all are looking around.
Jeybar Perception: 19
Ven Perception: 12
Your wagon owner gives you each 10pp, 5gp, 20sp 10cp 1 blood stone 50gp, 5 azurite 10gp and a note of referral.
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Spencer 21
what have we learned by the imp being invisible for the last week or so. Also was there ever chance to see what was in the cultist crates? Ie would there have been a crack a spider could climb into and see what is inside?
Jemna killed the cultist guard and couldn't help but steal an item from the treasure horde. Nobody could prove it though since she dusted her tracks. It's your word against hers and the cultist are pushing to blame you. Pax and the Imp are the only who know the full story. Jemna uses a dagger so how the wound looks like a shortsword wound does make you think a bit. The cultist doesn't have an inventory, so they don't know anything was taken. No tracks or any way to show who did it leave it a mystery no one wants to trouble with finding out really.
With Spencer's roll that's 2 so far.
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Do we know what was taken?
also anything else worth taking the imp could potentially take something right after when Jenna does
Piotr perception 18
Dervish perception 6
Piotr and Dervish accept the payment and referral then quickly consult with their companions. "Months ago (OOC: posting #323 in December IRL, no wonder I couldn't remember!), Elanthar and Frume asked us to track the treasure the cult is shipping to Waterdeep and further north. I am not certain we have gained enough knowledge yet to truly help our cause. We could locate some Harpers here for additional support but that might cause us to miss a movement. Or we could continue to try to track the merchandise to the best of our abilities. Either way, we need to protect Ven since the cultists blame him for the murder."
Piotr is the third to beat the DC 15 check, so the spoiler is shared to all.
Ven says, "Yeah we have to track the cultist's wagons my friends..That's our primary goal here."
Jebar adds, "I'd agree with that Ven. Let's see where they go and get hired on to the caravan they get in going further north. That's our play I think."
Ven adds, "Good memory about Elanthar and Frume my friends. Let's stick to the job then."
I'll Guess that Pax sends the imp to watch the cult wagons as they don’t follow the same pattern as the others from the caravan. Instead, they head for the north side of the city before looking for a place to spend the night. Everyone who the characters know to be associated with the cult gathers at the same spot by nightfall. Azbara Jos remains with the cultists during this time.
Jamna offers to stick around with the group to see where it's going.
The cultists spend a day resting their horses at a stable on the north side of Waterdeep. Other wagons are already there, covertly carrying treasure from all over the Sword Coast to the collection point. During the day, some of the cultists visit a large warehouse just inside the northern city gate, where construction supplies are stockpiled for shipment north and where wagons are gathered and loaded for the trip.
If characters ask around Waterdeep’s northern gate about anyone matching Rezmir’s description, they hear rumors of a half-dragon being sighted in the area at least a tenday ago. Everyone remembers the incident; chromatic half-dragons are almost never seen, and they tend to cause alarm when they are. If the rumor is true, then the half-dragon was traveling with a strong escort of mounted guards, headed north. The rumor is true, of course, but it can’t be confirmed 100 percent.
By asking around, characters learn that the road to the north, called the High Road, used to connect Waterdeep to the city of Neverwinter. A cold, coastal marsh called the Mere of Dead Men lay between the road and the coast. Over the years, the mere continually expanded. Each time it grew, it flooded the road, which had to be relocated farther inland. That was the situation until a century ago, when Neverwinter was nearly destroyed by the eruption of Mount Hotenow. With the city in ruins, efforts to keep the road open simply stopped. It no longer served a purpose.
But now, Lord Neverember is rebuilding Neverwinter and the road is needed again. The warehouse visited by the cultists is where shipments of supplies to the road-building camps are coordinated. If freight haulers went there, it must have been to see if they could haul supplies to the road-head for pay. Are they hiring guards for supply caravans? Sure, you bet they are. The Mere of Dead Men is wild and dangerous. Lord Neverember’s agents in this endeavor are perpetually looking for laborers to build the road and fighters to protect the laborers. Turnover in those jobs is pretty high.
You all have no trouble getting hired as wagon escorts at the supply warehouse. Unlike in the caravan, guards are not hired by individual wagon masters but by the High Road Charter Company, a consortium of guilds and noble houses partnered with Lord Neverember. A human veteran named Ardred Briferhew commands the entire convoy. It consists of six supply wagons, twelve escorts (including you all and Jamna), and two dozen laborers marching out to relieve a group that is coming back to Waterdeep for some time off. Those cultists who weren’t hired as teamsters for their three wagons are coming along as laborers.
The cultists are not happy to see the characters again, so the characters are the target of dirty looks.
The work camp the convoy is headed toward lies 200 miles up the coast. For most of that distance, the road winds through rough coastal hills nestled between the Sword Mountains and the sea. On the seventh night, the convoy camps on a hilltop from which characters have their first sight of the Mere of Dead Men. It is a chill tangle of trees, brush, boggy ground, standing water, reeds, and cat-tails stretching farther than the eye can see. The rest of the trip is within sight of the mere. The destination is reached sometime on the tenth day.
Everyone roll a D20 please..Pax, Spenser and Piotr roll a second one with +2 on the second D20 for them please.
Jemna 20
Ven 14
Jeybar 12
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Piotr 4, 21
Dervish 17
Pax 6, 17+2=19
spencer 4,5+2=7
You can't get higher than a 20 on a D20 roll grin. 1d20 plain no pluses to it.
Same here. Flat 1d20 roll nothing added to it.
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
The +2 on the second roll were directly because of this statement asking us to roll a second time and add two
”Everyone roll a D20 please..Pax, Spenser and Piotr roll a second one with +2 on the second D20 for them please.”
My apologies...Ugh.. You are correct.
My apologies here too.. Yep the second roll was with +2. Ugh.. sorry.
All good then. That should give me enough to go on for our encounters headed out of waterdeep.
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Glad to help just trying not to die
The Caravan heads out the first day and the caravan has the group out ahead of them scouting the road ahead. The day drags on as you scout for good road paths and other things. It's getting past mid afternoon having stopped for breaks along the way. No decent camp spots really look good so far. Your best spot was a bit behind you really. You probably 300 yards ahead of them to spot mud pits in the road or game or monsters that might lurk ahead of the caravan. You're getting paid well. 10gp a day plus expenses. Your reputation proceeded you thanks to your previous employer.
The day wears on and you get to a grassy marshy type of terrain.
It's starting to get to dusk, dimly lit, so you've sent word back to stop to setup camp where the caravan is at rather than come forward. It'd be safer where they are you feel than continue on. Not that anywhere in the past 2 miles has been ideal. You get ready to turn around and head back to the carvan and Pax and Imp, Steeldog with Jeybar pause.
Pax and the Imp along with Steeldog alert. There is something just ahead coming out of the water on both sides of the road.
Roll for Initiative:
Signature
Levi Flint - DM - Mad Mage; Korvin - DM - Tyranny of Dragons; Player Lucan - The One Breath, Player Gildor Surion - Balder's Gate-Decent;
Dervish initiative nat 20+4=24
Piotr initiative 19