Oh, I misunderstood then. Well, there goes that idea.

We can still go kill some drow and see what's at the back of that room.

I think it's time for me to reach out once again and ask about your motivation for this campaign.  I felt the game slow down quite a bit but chalked it up to summer and vacations.  Now summer is over, and I still feel like the pace is slow (even for Play by Post).

Have I lost your interest?  Is the campaign not progressing in a way you expected? 

Why do you think you aren't posting regularly?

I feel that I’ve voiced my thoughts and interests in the direction we take, but it’d be nice if someone else took the lead. I joined late, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to lead the decision. 

That seems to be where we’re struggling. 

After other people pooh-poohed Begreed's suggestion to make medieval vacuum cleaners to deal with the evil cloud, he wanted to let the others speak up. (Genius is never recognized in its time.) I will list my preferences, but I'm more than willing to do what others decide.

Since Beegred was part of the original crew that was enslaved by the Drow, I agree that avoiding the duergar mission is on his mind. (Let someone else buy crossbow bolts.)

I want to take out the Bane, but didn't have any idea on how we were supposed to fight an intangible cloud.
If Wall of Wind will work to destroy it, I'd lean that way. (If not, no idea how we deal with it.)
Having allied elementals cause a distraction elsewhere, when we do a commando raid on the Pudding King's lair, would help to keep us from being flooded by oozes.

If there is time between (destroy Ogremoch's Bane) and (take out Pudding King), I'd like to get the mushrooms for armor/weapon acid protection.
If there is still time after that, Entremoch's Boon can be investigated (either before or after the mushroom gathering).

And... maybe I overlooked it, but has the council offered any rewards or incentives to do these missions?
While it would be nice to help the gnomes from their dire situation, that doesn't mean letting them order us to march to our doom without support.

Ok, Rodolfo can take the lead on this part then. I would REALLY rather not venture to either of the other cities though. Maybe Chipgrin's people can undertake at least one of these tasks?

But other than that I am still interested in the campaign. Every other campaign has died that I played in.

Seeing as I don't want to waste posts and roleplaying to just end up telling you all your 'plan' to get rid of Ogremoch's Bane won't work, let me just say that the 'suggested' methods of getting rid of it, per the module, won't be available for a couple more levels.

I don't know why the authors decided this, considering the open ended nature of the module.  If you'd have come here first instead of going to Neverlight Grove, you'd be even lower level...so I don't know what they were thinking.  I don't particularly want to try to come up with my own way (or provide an NPC that all of a sudden can take care of this...) to resolve Ogremoch's Bane 'right now' at your current level...it would feel cheap (to me).

So let me say... If you deal with one or some of the other problems listed by the council, by the time you will be looking at beginning the battle for Blingdenstone, you'll have the tools to deal with it.

My RL table wanted to be the strike force to kill The Pudding King, so they undertook one other mission and then went right into the battle, accomplishing 2 tasks (the second being training the strike force, which wasn't necessary).  However, as Skameros has eloquently stated:

As a bugbear possibly in his right mind, Skameros would rather not condemn himself to death fighting a foe he does not wish to battle for a dream he doesn't want to die for. 

Instead of doing what my RL table did, you could promise to take care of (or just keep distracted long enough) Ogremoch's Bane, an entity you have encountered and survived several times now.  During the preparations for the war, you could undertake missions to make the summoned elementals stronger.  When it comes time for the battle, your task would be to stop Ogremoch's Bane from interfering.

Or any other combination of tasks/solutions.  The gnomes are not going to ask you to take a critical role in the 'war' if you're not invested.

Perhaps we need to recognize that we don’t need to do all of it right away then. We should go get this potion or whatever to protect against slime attacks. Then we can pursue other angles?

Home with kids today.  I'll get back to posting tomorrow.

Quote from Winenose >>

(Does the symbol mean anything for Rodolfo or the others? Did we stumble across anything of the like in our travels so far?) 

Does the symbol mean anything to Rodolfo or the party?  No.

Did you stumble across anything like it in your travels?

History check:

• Beegred: 3 
• Rodolfo: 23 
• Skameros: 14 
• Grithik: 6 
• Orubis: 10 

Apparently, both Grithik and Orubis have!  They are reminded of small 'sculptures' made of stacked stones in the shape of a triangle with a hollow center, that they've seen outside of Blingdenstone.  

It's as if the locals are actually locals.. 

Well, Grithik isn't a local.  He's from Gracklstugh, the city of Blades.

If Ogermachs Bane is an elemental of air - I can see why we'd have a hard time fighting it.  I don't think anyone can banish things back to their home planes yet.

Sorry folks.  Been home with a sick kid for a couple days.

To keep things moving forward... are you all just going to leave Blingdenstone now and look for Entremoch's Boon?  Or do any further research?

Quote from Kerrec >>

"I don't have much more information to provide.  The only other oddity is this symbol next to the drawing of the circle, a small triangle within a larger triangle.  I have asked Senni if I could have a priest speak with the dead.  Surely there are plenty of corpses we could speak to in the crypt.  One of them had to have been a priest that knows something.  But Senni never took my theories of Ogremoch's Bane or Entremoch's Boon seriously before today."

Track down Senni, and find out if there is more information.

To save time:

Senni has no knowledge of those symbols.  They were copied over from an old document that is now considered stories about Svirfneblin culture, more akin to myth than fact.  Senni was only mentioned by Nomi because Senni is a leader of the expedition and could have ordered a priest to cast 'speak with dead' on some remains in the crypt.  But Senni didn't think disturbing the dead for what she thought was a myth was sensible, or would be appreciated by Burrow Warden Jaeger.

Should we ask the ghost as well? The one who promised to help fill in the maps and stuff. 

Speaking of that - we should copy a map and color in some areas to either ignore or focus on. As in create a plan :) 

Rodolfo will volunteer for this part, he's been itching to use his brains and skills instead of barely avoiding death all the time.

Also - figure out what we need to do should we find these symbols. 

Maybe Burrow Warden Jaeger would know a ghost we can ask about stuff

Senni didn't ask the dead... "before today".
That implies that she changed her mind?

If not, then I agree on consulting with the Warden. He isn't up on current events, but the Bane and Boon and symbols might be older info.

Quote from Quasimodal >>

Senni didn't ask the dead... "before today".
That implies that she changed her mind?

If not, then I agree on consulting with the Warden. He isn't up on current events, but the Bane and Boon and symbols might be older info.

It implies Nomi thinks there is now enough evidence it's not myth that Senni's decision should be reviewed.

Quote from Winenose >>

Should we ask the ghost as well? The one who promised to help fill in the maps and stuff. 

Speaking of that - we should copy a map and color in some areas to either ignore or focus on. As in create a plan :) 

Rodolfo will volunteer for this part, he's been itching to use his brains and skills instead of barely avoiding death all the time.

Also - figure out what we need to do should we find these symbols. 

The Ghost... Burrow Warden Jaeger?  Did he promise to fill in maps?  I don't recall anymore.

You want to copy a map and color in what areas?  Outside Blingdenstone, where you plan to search for Entremoch's Boon?