Chapter Four: The Manifest of the Harikan Squall

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Nov 9, 2016 6:29 pm
It's coming! Writing a decent scene transition from here to the Temple is just a bit much for me today tho
Nov 9, 2016 6:58 pm
I don't think I have ever wanted to disappear into a mega D&D session as I do right now. But I also understand the hangover.

Which just means I should be working on my own campaign.
Nov 9, 2016 7:14 pm
It's all good. I really appreciate all the work you put in to this.
Nov 9, 2016 7:37 pm
Yeah, a huge thanks. Just even reading through the back threads while thinking about character ideas really made me appreciate the depth and energy you bring to the gaming table. It's seriously inspiring for me as I get ready to get back into the DM's chair myself for my kids.
Last edited November 9, 2016 7:37 pm
Nov 10, 2016 12:00 pm
I've seen behind PBO's DM screen in the past (for his Twitter 1e D&D game) and the amount of effort he puts into the backstory and detail of the world is really awesome, and what made me want to play in his game. It also inspired me to DM a game for my friends. Take all the time you need PBO!
Nov 10, 2016 5:27 pm
Unless szemely pops back up, we're going to assume Vad is no longer traveling with the party.

Later in the afternoon, after you've all had some rest (and been supplied with cloaks and other outer garments of Hazardian make, to help you blend in a little better), the party sets out with Makis Meti to visit the Temple of Isis and the elven refugees there.

From the Gahmez estate, it's a short walk past a few other mansions to a crumbling stone wall, overgrown with vines, with a wide underpass that leads to the New Temple District. Two guards stand at either side of the passage; Makis Meti greets three of them by name and introduces himself to the fourth.

Makis Meti is a chatty fellow, eager to fill up any silences with talk about the wonders of Hazard, his early life as a pickpocket and burglar, or the generosity of the Gahmez family who gave him a chance to redeem himself and make something better of his life. As you walk through the charitable houses, minor shrines, and seminaries of the outer fringes of the New Temple District, he expounds on his odd personal religious beliefs, which he claims to have developed himself through careful rational thought and meditation, about how the Sun is the one Supreme Being and all the so-called gods and goddesses are merely empty vessels through which It works Its will.

Deeper into the heart of the district, you begin to see the grand temples of various cosmopolitan deities. Felor takes note of the long wooden hall and rustic columns of Wotan's temple; it's strange for him to see such familiar Jermal architecture so far out of its usual context. Right beside it is the temple of Thoth-Hermes, a tower of black, glossy stone abutted by an imposing, featureless rectangular building that Makis Meti identifies as a library. Clusters of scholar-priests and their students are gathered all about the grounds and even on the roof of the library, holding little symposiums. Further ahead is a broad public square full of preachers and prophets, each competing to be louder and more dramatic than the others, and vendors standing by their carts, hawking foods and medicines and religious trinkets. Makis Meti steers you to the north side of the square. "There, it's right there," he says, pointing. "You can see the obelisk." On the elevated ground behind the row of temples to the north, you can see the top of a stone obelisk poking up behind some trees.

Everybody make Perception checks!
Nov 10, 2016 5:31 pm
Domarc exchanges conversation with Makis, particularly interested in his time as burglar and he came to lose his arm.

Edit - obviously, it would seem that Domarc is very interested in what Makis has to say and banters with him for the entire walk.
Last edited November 10, 2016 5:32 pm

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+2)

(2) + 2 = 4

Nov 10, 2016 5:44 pm
Mordred and Makis exchange some hot takes about the best manufacturers of thieves' tools.

Rolls

Perception - (1d20)

(14) = 14

Nov 10, 2016 5:46 pm
...

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+5)

(9) + 5 = 14

Nov 10, 2016 6:07 pm
"Didn't lose my arm! Never had it to begin with. I was a monstrous birth, you see," Makis Meti says brightly. To Mordred's inquiries he demurs, insisting that the life of thievery and its ways is no longer of interest to him.

One of the vendors in the square catches the attention of Zangua and Mordred: a man in a pale pink robe selling chunks of curative ice from a handcart. It's strange to see ice being sold at all during the cooler months of the year, and "curative ice" is a novel concept for both of you.
Nov 10, 2016 6:14 pm
Zangua truly finds Makis' story boring and has tuned out the man's babble. His eyes hover over the cart, but he remains with the group should the others decide to continue on.
Nov 10, 2016 7:58 pm
"...OK, Makis, but you are missing my blistering takedown of Sthombo Metalworkery's new line of files. No bite at all on the backstroke, I tell you. Hey, what's curative ice?"
Last edited November 10, 2016 7:59 pm
Nov 10, 2016 9:10 pm
"Curative ice? You've got me there. I don't know. Never tried it. I swear by waxen dolls when I need an ill cured, personally."
Nov 11, 2016 9:30 am
A temple to Wotan! By Fjorgyn's mighty fist, it was heartening to see a sight that reminded Felor so much of home. And Wotan, no less. There were some sects that held that Wotan and Fjorgyn were husband and wife, and parents to some of the other Jermal gods. While that was not the orthodox view, devotees of Wotan and Fjorgyn were however, friendly enough to each other. Felor had enjoyed many a tankard of honey-ale with the priest of Wotan from the neighbouring valley settlement.

Felor's reminiscing is interrupted by the discussion of "curative ice". Interesting.
Do I know anything about it?

Rolls

Medicine skill check - (1d20+5)

(16) + 5 = 21

Nov 11, 2016 1:04 pm
"What about the vendor, Makis? Seem odd in any way? Is he usually at that location? There's something about him that caught my eye, but I can't quite place it."
Nov 11, 2016 7:50 pm
Ice treatments are widely used in Jerma for various common injuries, but Felor has never seen ice with any special healing properties.

"It's the robe, I think," Makis Meti answers Mordred. "What a fetching color! I noticed it the last time I passed through here. I should like to have a robe like that! But it wouldn't do to stand out, no. I represent the servants of the House of Gahmez, it's not for me to stand out and catch eyes."
Nov 11, 2016 8:16 pm
Does that color mean anything to us? Use the following rolls, as appropriate.

Rolls

History/Arcana/Investigation - (1d20+1)

(10) + 1 = 11

Insight - (1d20+2)

(7) + 2 = 9

Nov 11, 2016 11:25 pm
The color doesn't mean anything special to Mordred.
Nov 14, 2016 4:46 pm
Any further interest in Pink Ice Guy or are we moving ahead to the Temple?
Nov 14, 2016 4:56 pm
Zangua wanders over to the curative ice man. "What's this?" he asks, bluntly.
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