"I've heard there's a new version of the game out - Briefcases & Businesses, where you play a character who spends their life trying to earn a regular income in a society that doesn't value hard work. You try to save enough money to retire but always seem to have expenses that reduce what you save, unless you get lucky."
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
" That doesn't sound fun at all. I prefer the older one even though some of the characters seem unfair. Velon is so competitive . He tries to be as powerful as possible I guess that is the influence of Bahamat. Sune on the otherhand.... not so competitive . " Lia stands up and walks gracefully over and begins examining herself in the mirror. " I hate being stuck in here all this time. It is difficult to be as clean as i like. " She frowns at her image in the mirror.
"That sounds terrible Lawrance. I'd rather fight Tiamat."
"Sorry, I thought the point of games was to win."
"Let's see here, what characters are available.... warrior with big muscles but fragile ego... nah.... monk with a special rule saying you can't interact with anyone?.... nah... wizard without spells...really?.... here we go...BARD! I can use Perry as my inspiration! He'll be a dragon bard though, because obviously."
Lia laughs. " Good choice. I think i will go with sorcerer. I can model her off that psychotic sorcerer that tried to kill us all before Greenest. I.. killed her. That was a long time ago. " She pauses, lost in thought for a moment. " I will play that. Don't make me angry or i will hurl a ball of fire that will accidentaly hit you. "
Velon laughs and replies playfully "look, if anyone is going to mistakenly hit someone with a ball of fire, it's probably going to be me." He makes a face after the fact indicating that the likelihood of this may not be that funny after all.
"Ok so how do we do this without Perry since he's busy scouting? Maybe we just make it up all together, like some sort of collaborative storytelling adventure?" Velon looks to Poljen "it means group effort, I learned it from one of Lawrance's books marked 'beginner', I'll admit; something about a bunch of cultists all working together to cast the same spell, I don't know." "Ok anyway, so Balor the dragonborn Bard sees a crazed looking sorcerer woman in the streets of....ah... Green...um..Green-Winter.....'s Gate...yeah, Greenwinter's Gate. She looks like she's about to murder some business owner looking guy with a really shitty life, he seems to be begging for it. Lawrance that's you, last chance to change it. 'Hail and well met, friends. What seems to be the trouble here?' says Balor."
Velon looks at Lia and Lawrance and whispers "ok now you go!"
On the second day of observing, Perry spots something odd. A glass orb nestled into the crook of a high tree branch. It seems to be invisible, and was only spotted thanks to the cloak.
Seath seems to have gone quiet again, so feel free to assume that he dutifully informs you guys in an entirely serious manner, or not
"Seems someone sneaky planted that. The question now becomes - leave it or break it? A stray arrow from one of the villagers, perhaps? If it's still there after the meeting, maybe I can use it for my own purposes."Lawrance says after Perry reports his find.
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Velon thinks for a second and asks "is it for watching the area?" "Any chance you can tell who is watching, Lawrance?"
"Maybe we should leave it? If it's the Harpers again, then that's fine. If it's the Zents, I think we should also leave it. They aren't our enemies in this, necessarily, and probably have just as much of a right to keep an eye on the place as we do. If it's the cults of the red wizards, we give ourselves or the Harper's away by taking action."
"Considering our far too recent experience with having people casting spells through items, I wanted to be cautious. We know it's there, which is a serious advantage, so we could use darkness if it becomes and issue, but I guess I just have a problem with unknown peeping casters."
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Poljen suggests, "Velon, you should use that stone and talk to Averill. If they put it there, fine. If not, they should be made aware as well. I do agree that for now we should leave it undisturbed." He glances at the Perry and Lawrance. "I bet that for you to determine exactly what it does you would have to show yourself, eh?"
Velon nods at Poljen "oh, right!" Holding out the stone Velon asks "ah, Lawrance, did he say if this thing works all day long of if it's just once a day like our other pairs?"
Either way Velon will ask the wizard to help him activate the stone and notify Averill as Poljen had suggested.
To Velon:“He didn’t say, actually. Try it and ask him. We still a couple of days to the meeting. “
To Poljen: “Yes, I couldn’t do much investigation without exposing our presence and knowledge of it being there. “
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Mari scowls at the news. " This isn't what we needed. We have to assume they saw us arrive and where we currently are. We know it isn't the Harpers which means it's the Zhents or the cult most probably. If it is the cult they know all of our preparations and are probably planning to attempt to sieze the mask. Which means seeing us and the harpers here they will bring a lot more help now. The other alternative is the Zhents . This will arouse suspicion with them. If you are a lawless thief you expect everyone else to try to do what you would do. They are probably thinking that we might try to overpower them and take the mask This means they will bring reinforcements. " She sighs and bites her lip. " This is shaping up to be quite the party. " She walks off and stands at the doorway looking out.
Cratol will decline playing a gane as he spends most of his time in meditation or Practice of his moves to stay limber. He wants to be as ready as possible for the meeting.
Velon nods and ponders Mari's words. "Well, we could hold up a big sign that says 'just here to keep an eye on things for everyone's protection, please take no offense'."
"Whether it was here before us or not, it's just an observation device. Either they know we are here hiding, or they don't but we should just keep up our invisible patrol, in case more peeping devices are around. The deal can be watched, just not interfered with, so let them watch."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Mari shrugs. " We can't worry about it now. The hope is that it is the Zhents watching. They are at least loosely bound by this agreement. The cult on the otherhand.....Not so much. All it would have taken is one Zhent to tell them. It is fairly likely that they have a few spies in the Zhents. It is possible no matter how improbable that they have a spy working with the Harpers. It is a quite interesting situation. Interesting isn't always good, especially when it involves us directly. "
Lia frowns as she considers all the options. She walks to Lawrance. " I should probably go ahead with this healing spell for you. If i can see your ring that can store spells..." Once he shows her the ring she holds it in her hands. Her eyes closes as she asks Sune to pour divine power into the ring. The ring heats slightly as the energy passes into it. Afterwards she hands it back to the wizard. " There. That should serve you well. In a time of despair when death is coming for you....summon that and healing will be yours. "
OOC: She cast cure wounds into it. I was assuming level 3 for 3D8 +8 healing. Feel free to up it to level 4 or 5 if you wish GK. Not sure if you wish to use all the spell storing ability for one spell. Just in case you do , here are the numbers. 4th level: 4D8+9. 5th level: 5D8+10.
Averill quickly confirms the orb isn't one of his, "I'll send Hammill off to pick a few berries and take a look, where exactly did you find it?"
A little under an hour of psuedo random wandering later on the part of the mage who had detected Mari and Perry earlier, and Averill is calling you back, "Hammill's something of an expert on Zhent magic devices, and this looks like their work. That doesn't mean we can be sure of anything about it, but I think it best to leave the thing be for the moment and hope it was put here after we arrived rather than before. Damage is done anyways if otherwise."
The next few days pass by rather quietly, and with a great deal of boredom, Perry manages to spot another orb like the first, apparently set to watch the approaches to the meeting area rather than the spot itself.
Just before dawn of the appointed day, when it still dark enough to be able to barely see anything, something finally happens. Highlighted only by slivers of shimmering moonlight, a dark shape, larger than any whale, rises out of the waters about a half mile away from the shore. A few minutes later, it sinks below the surface of the water again, leaving behind a much smaller sliver of darkness.
Light blossoms, and you can see a pinnace rowing its way towards shore, the craft is far too small to have braved the open sea on its own. Ten figures can be seen moving around on board, some of them holding lanterns.
Upon reaching shore, several people begin setting up a large pavilion, while others walk the perimeter, clearly checking things out. A few people from the village cautiously approach the newcomers, to all appearances playing the part of villagers uncertain of what is going on with these strangers.
"I'll play. I'm still trying to figure out how to make sure I win though. Who won last time again?"
"I've heard there's a new version of the game out - Briefcases & Businesses, where you play a character who spends their life trying to earn a regular income in a society that doesn't value hard work. You try to save enough money to retire but always seem to have expenses that reduce what you save, unless you get lucky."
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
" That doesn't sound fun at all. I prefer the older one even though some of the characters seem unfair. Velon is so competitive . He tries to be as powerful as possible I guess that is the influence of Bahamat. Sune on the otherhand.... not so competitive . " Lia stands up and walks gracefully over and begins examining herself in the mirror. " I hate being stuck in here all this time. It is difficult to be as clean as i like. " She frowns at her image in the mirror.
"That sounds terrible Lawrance. I'd rather fight Tiamat."
"Sorry, I thought the point of games was to win."
"Let's see here, what characters are available.... warrior with big muscles but fragile ego... nah.... monk with a special rule saying you can't interact with anyone?.... nah... wizard without spells...really?.... here we go...BARD! I can use Perry as my inspiration! He'll be a dragon bard though, because obviously."
Lia laughs. " Good choice. I think i will go with sorcerer. I can model her off that psychotic sorcerer that tried to kill us all before Greenest. I.. killed her. That was a long time ago. " She pauses, lost in thought for a moment. " I will play that. Don't make me angry or i will hurl a ball of fire that will accidentaly hit you. "
Velon laughs and replies playfully "look, if anyone is going to mistakenly hit someone with a ball of fire, it's probably going to be me." He makes a face after the fact indicating that the likelihood of this may not be that funny after all.
"Ok so how do we do this without Perry since he's busy scouting? Maybe we just make it up all together, like some sort of collaborative storytelling adventure?" Velon looks to Poljen "it means group effort, I learned it from one of Lawrance's books marked 'beginner', I'll admit; something about a bunch of cultists all working together to cast the same spell, I don't know." "Ok anyway, so Balor the dragonborn Bard sees a crazed looking sorcerer woman in the streets of....ah... Green...um..Green-Winter.....'s Gate...yeah, Greenwinter's Gate. She looks like she's about to murder some business owner looking guy with a really shitty life, he seems to be begging for it. Lawrance that's you, last chance to change it. 'Hail and well met, friends. What seems to be the trouble here?' says Balor."
Velon looks at Lia and Lawrance and whispers "ok now you go!"
On the second day of observing, Perry spots something odd. A glass orb nestled into the crook of a high tree branch. It seems to be invisible, and was only spotted thanks to the cloak.
Seath seems to have gone quiet again, so feel free to assume that he dutifully informs you guys in an entirely serious manner, or not
"Seems someone sneaky planted that. The question now becomes - leave it or break it? A stray arrow from one of the villagers, perhaps? If it's still there after the meeting, maybe I can use it for my own purposes." Lawrance says after Perry reports his find.
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Velon thinks for a second and asks "is it for watching the area?" "Any chance you can tell who is watching, Lawrance?"
"Maybe we should leave it? If it's the Harpers again, then that's fine. If it's the Zents, I think we should also leave it. They aren't our enemies in this, necessarily, and probably have just as much of a right to keep an eye on the place as we do. If it's the cults of the red wizards, we give ourselves or the Harper's away by taking action."
"Considering our far too recent experience with having people casting spells through items, I wanted to be cautious. We know it's there, which is a serious advantage, so we could use darkness if it becomes and issue, but I guess I just have a problem with unknown peeping casters."
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Poljen suggests, "Velon, you should use that stone and talk to Averill. If they put it there, fine. If not, they should be made aware as well. I do agree that for now we should leave it undisturbed." He glances at the Perry and Lawrance. "I bet that for you to determine exactly what it does you would have to show yourself, eh?"
Velon nods at Poljen "oh, right!" Holding out the stone Velon asks "ah, Lawrance, did he say if this thing works all day long of if it's just once a day like our other pairs?"
Either way Velon will ask the wizard to help him activate the stone and notify Averill as Poljen had suggested.
To Velon:“He didn’t say, actually. Try it and ask him. We still a couple of days to the meeting. “
To Poljen: “Yes, I couldn’t do much investigation without exposing our presence and knowledge of it being there. “
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Mari scowls at the news. " This isn't what we needed. We have to assume they saw us arrive and where we currently are. We know it isn't the Harpers which means it's the Zhents or the cult most probably. If it is the cult they know all of our preparations and are probably planning to attempt to sieze the mask. Which means seeing us and the harpers here they will bring a lot more help now. The other alternative is the Zhents . This will arouse suspicion with them. If you are a lawless thief you expect everyone else to try to do what you would do. They are probably thinking that we might try to overpower them and take the mask This means they will bring reinforcements. " She sighs and bites her lip. " This is shaping up to be quite the party. " She walks off and stands at the doorway looking out.
Cratol will decline playing a gane as he spends most of his time in meditation or Practice of his moves to stay limber. He wants to be as ready as possible for the meeting.
Velon nods and ponders Mari's words. "Well, we could hold up a big sign that says 'just here to keep an eye on things for everyone's protection, please take no offense'."
"Whether it was here before us or not, it's just an observation device. Either they know we are here hiding, or they don't but we should just keep up our invisible patrol, in case more peeping devices are around. The deal can be watched, just not interfered with, so let them watch."
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Mari shrugs. " We can't worry about it now. The hope is that it is the Zhents watching. They are at least loosely bound by this agreement. The cult on the otherhand.....Not so much. All it would have taken is one Zhent to tell them. It is fairly likely that they have a few spies in the Zhents. It is possible no matter how improbable that they have a spy working with the Harpers. It is a quite interesting situation. Interesting isn't always good, especially when it involves us directly. "
Lia frowns as she considers all the options. She walks to Lawrance. " I should probably go ahead with this healing spell for you. If i can see your ring that can store spells..." Once he shows her the ring she holds it in her hands. Her eyes closes as she asks Sune to pour divine power into the ring. The ring heats slightly as the energy passes into it. Afterwards she hands it back to the wizard. " There. That should serve you well. In a time of despair when death is coming for you....summon that and healing will be yours. "
OOC: She cast cure wounds into it. I was assuming level 3 for 3D8 +8 healing. Feel free to up it to level 4 or 5 if you wish GK. Not sure if you wish to use all the spell storing ability for one spell. Just in case you do , here are the numbers. 4th level: 4D8+9. 5th level: 5D8+10.
Averill quickly confirms the orb isn't one of his, "I'll send Hammill off to pick a few berries and take a look, where exactly did you find it?"
A little under an hour of psuedo random wandering later on the part of the mage who had detected Mari and Perry earlier, and Averill is calling you back, "Hammill's something of an expert on Zhent magic devices, and this looks like their work. That doesn't mean we can be sure of anything about it, but I think it best to leave the thing be for the moment and hope it was put here after we arrived rather than before. Damage is done anyways if otherwise."
The next few days pass by rather quietly, and with a great deal of boredom, Perry manages to spot another orb like the first, apparently set to watch the approaches to the meeting area rather than the spot itself.
Just before dawn of the appointed day, when it still dark enough to be able to barely see anything, something finally happens. Highlighted only by slivers of shimmering moonlight, a dark shape, larger than any whale, rises out of the waters about a half mile away from the shore. A few minutes later, it sinks below the surface of the water again, leaving behind a much smaller sliver of darkness.
Light blossoms, and you can see a pinnace rowing its way towards shore, the craft is far too small to have braved the open sea on its own. Ten figures can be seen moving around on board, some of them holding lanterns.
Upon reaching shore, several people begin setting up a large pavilion, while others walk the perimeter, clearly checking things out. A few people from the village cautiously approach the newcomers, to all appearances playing the part of villagers uncertain of what is going on with these strangers.
Poljen says softly to Velon, "If you want me to send out Trammet at any point, say the word."