Jun 24, 2022 6:28 pm
OOC:
Tilma wouldn't act before they leave either.Chapter 3: Secrets
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"I'm totally against this, 'Nothic'! He looks hell of a shady. I even feel kind of bad for the chap working for him. Imagine, having to do what ever that thing asks you. At least I hope that he gets paid well. Not that he is going to get paid cause we're going to get those stones first!" Tilma advances to the the border of the ruins and looks at the pentagram shaped destruction of the town. "I'm not really willing to find out what that creepy thing would do with the seals or their stones. So I'm voting that we get them first. The problem is that we would have to face that dude in combat and I'm pretty sure that he is Strong." she accentuates the word strong. "And I think that they also have greater numbers so they will be able to search the indicated places more quickly." she points at the points of the pentagram. "Problem is, that I personally don't know anyone we could trust around here besides you guys, Norran and that elf chick that was with us when we discovered the seal. The elf I believe has already left I believe. Norran could be of help if I can convince him to help us. He is strong. Perhaps he could check out one of the other locations while we check another. Though perhaps it would be too dangerous for him to go alone... I don't want to loose him. My cockatrice could be of help but it hasn't even hatched yet. Not even talking about being battle ready. Ps. I never trusted that tribunal. Just the name sounds too high and mighty."
Jun 26, 2022 6:52 pm
"Shady indeed. If we move quickly and quietly, we can beat this elf to the goods. We are a strong unit and he can't be in more than one place at once. I would say he's most likely to head to the closest first and no matter how many men at his disposal, I doubt he'd entrust them with something so important. I mean, they seem like a bunch of uneducated thugs without much of a clue of anything. Plus, we're the heroes, right?"
Jun 29, 2022 8:45 am
The mercs just left through the portal. Do you follow, or wait til they're good and gone? Tailing them might provide some good intel, though of course you would risk being spotted. Letting them go would avoid a confrontation but you've no idea how much longer the portal will last.
The fault lines indicate Seals located in each of Iskandar's six districts except for Templegate. Berry surmises the mercs will head to the nearest one next. From under the bridge in Harborside, that's even odds between Southward and Old Town.
The emissary said "you only need three" of the violet crystals. You already have one. Obviously you want to deny the mercs, and by extension, the Tribunal, access to the Seals. But might you be doing them a favor by unlocking the Seals yourselves? This bears some thought.
What do you do?
[ +- ] Pentagram Fault Lines
The emissary said "you only need three" of the violet crystals. You already have one. Obviously you want to deny the mercs, and by extension, the Tribunal, access to the Seals. But might you be doing them a favor by unlocking the Seals yourselves? This bears some thought.
What do you do?
Jun 29, 2022 6:21 pm
"Shall we go before the portal closes? We should be stealthy, but we can't stay here if we wish to get to the stones first. I wouldn't want to loose the precious time by swimming back to town."
Jun 29, 2022 8:47 pm
"If you’d like I can follow them alone but we might move faster if we go directly. They don’t know it’s a race yet so we have that to our advantage."
Jul 5, 2022 5:31 pm
Laurent listened silently at the exchange between his companions. He seemed to be internally struggling with conflicting emotions, or perhaps just lost in his thoughts.
Looking at Tilma, he gestured at his scholarly garments before stating the obvious: "If we swim, our little cotterie will be down one member...". He was clearly lacking in confidence in the athletic field.
As to Timbers' suggestion, he responded with an air of concern: "Do you think you can follow them undetected? What would you do if you were seen, on your own? It would be good to know where they are going, but it might be too risky..."
Going back to the game,
Are we sure the portal taken by the Nothic is "deactivated"?
I think we should return via the portal under the bridge, if it's still active. Berry following the half-elf would be a great opportunity to gather intel on our opposition, but the risks are real. We could follow from some 120 feet away, and Laurent could communicate via message from time to time. But the risks are commensurate with the expected returns... I think it's Berry's call. Also — but I don't want to metagame — I was under the impression that after recovering the stones from beneath the warehouse, we were headed to a downtime period.
Looking at Tilma, he gestured at his scholarly garments before stating the obvious: "If we swim, our little cotterie will be down one member...". He was clearly lacking in confidence in the athletic field.
As to Timbers' suggestion, he responded with an air of concern: "Do you think you can follow them undetected? What would you do if you were seen, on your own? It would be good to know where they are going, but it might be too risky..."
OOC:
I am, once again, awfully sorry for my absence. In normal times, I should at least have been able to post at night, or over the weekend. These haven't been normal times. If my rate of posting is killing the party's momentum, I'm ready to step out — temporarily or definitely, depending on what you want — if that works best for you. For the last few months I've been telling myself, and my fellow GP players and DMs, that "things will get better soon", but those assurances feel hollow when I seem unable to keep a pace. I have no desire to leave, but I don't really want to sink this awesome game.Going back to the game,
Are we sure the portal taken by the Nothic is "deactivated"?
I think we should return via the portal under the bridge, if it's still active. Berry following the half-elf would be a great opportunity to gather intel on our opposition, but the risks are real. We could follow from some 120 feet away, and Laurent could communicate via message from time to time. But the risks are commensurate with the expected returns... I think it's Berry's call. Also — but I don't want to metagame — I was under the impression that after recovering the stones from beneath the warehouse, we were headed to a downtime period.
Jul 7, 2022 6:56 am
"If you're leaving it to me, my personal preference would be to race them. I have supreme confidence in my ability to stay hidden and in the very unlikely event I am spotted, to get away. However all, even if I tailed them, it means they'd get to the destination first and I likely wouldn't be able to get hold of what we're looking for anyway."
Jul 7, 2022 1:17 pm
"I agree, we need to hurry to get there first, grab what we need and get to the next one. We'll grab as many as we can. Though now that I think about it... Didn't it knock you out last time?" she turns to Laurent while they walk towards the portal. "You know, when you touched it. For a second I thought that you were a goner."
Jul 8, 2022 10:56 am
"You assume they are immediately heading for the next seal," Laurent responded to Berry, entering his calculating state of mind. "It might as well be that the black cloaks need to regroup, plan, scout. As do we. I don't imagine that all these seals are sitting beneath abandoned buildings, or are necessarily adjacent to the sewers", he continued, his gaze shifting to Tilma, the party's expert in all things sanitation-infrastructure related. "But knowing where they are based is useful information. I for one am in no condition to tangle with that band of cutthroats, so I'd say if you feel able to follow undetected, I'll trust your judgment on that."
As he accompanied the party towards the portal to the door beneath the bridge, he answered Tilma's query. "For a moment, yes. I was uh..., taken away, as it were. Knocked out in this plane of existence, while my intellect floated elsewhere. I uh..." the youth scratched his hair, his expression suggesting he was conflicted about delving into those memories, or perhas about sharing them, "had a vision, some would say. Experienced a mystical epiphany others might claim. In any case, I was just some dead weight for you two... we must plan around that contingency, for sure. The envoy, well, was it just me or did he just care about the violet stones? I wonder why that is... he also said something about a templarum something..." He furrowed his brows in concentration, and recalled the passage of the Nothic's speech, as spoken: "They have played the role of the Astaroth Templarum, unlocking the First Seal", he stated, even trying to imitate the inhuman tone of the tortured creature's voice.
As he accompanied the party towards the portal to the door beneath the bridge, he answered Tilma's query. "For a moment, yes. I was uh..., taken away, as it were. Knocked out in this plane of existence, while my intellect floated elsewhere. I uh..." the youth scratched his hair, his expression suggesting he was conflicted about delving into those memories, or perhas about sharing them, "had a vision, some would say. Experienced a mystical epiphany others might claim. In any case, I was just some dead weight for you two... we must plan around that contingency, for sure. The envoy, well, was it just me or did he just care about the violet stones? I wonder why that is... he also said something about a templarum something..." He furrowed his brows in concentration, and recalled the passage of the Nothic's speech, as spoken: "They have played the role of the Astaroth Templarum, unlocking the First Seal", he stated, even trying to imitate the inhuman tone of the tortured creature's voice.
Jul 8, 2022 11:05 am
‘It’s human nature to take the path of least resistance," notes Berry in reference to why they would head to the nearest one first, "Gnomish too, come to that. I’d say it’s a fairly solid guess."
Last edited July 9, 2022 2:09 pm
Jul 10, 2022 1:53 pm
"Ok, then let's go! Laurent, you brake that smart head of yours to figure out how we will take that seal and the rest of problems. And let us do the manual work, slash, fighting, if need be. Berry, you know the old town the best. So you lead. Any idea of the exact location from what we saw from above." she talks as she crosses the portal and steps back in town.
Jul 10, 2022 11:36 pm
OOC:
As he has his lodgings in Old Town, Berry knows the district like the back of his hand. Can I get a read on where that point might indicate?Jul 11, 2022 9:46 am
As his companions walked towards Old Town, Laurent kept musing about what they might be able to do to gain advantage over the Tribunal's agents.
"We still have the mirror. We could use it to set Bartoz after the black cloaks. They could interfere with those thugs activities, while we look for you know what..."
"We still have the mirror. We could use it to set Bartoz after the black cloaks. They could interfere with those thugs activities, while we look for you know what..."
Jul 11, 2022 5:19 pm
Berry reckons the fault lines meet in the vicinity of Founders' Square, just a couple of blocks from his lodgings on Long Alley. Tonight, the square is the site of the Night Market, a vibrant once-a-month bazaar set up in a different location each time, where goods of all kinds are traded, and valid currency consists of anything the seller may place value in. Wares and currency alike consist of weapons, clothes, food, and trinkets, but also services, favors, and things most people might not think of as valuable.
Berry knows something else most folk don't: the vendors in the square are only a small part of the Night Market. Sellers of shadier or the more exotic kind set up shop up on rooftops or below street level, away from the eyes of the authorities and other upright folk.
Berry knows something else most folk don't: the vendors in the square are only a small part of the Night Market. Sellers of shadier or the more exotic kind set up shop up on rooftops or below street level, away from the eyes of the authorities and other upright folk.
Jul 13, 2022 10:27 am
Having led a very cloistered life for the last few years, Laurent is both impressed and somewhat wary to be within the vibrant and colourful street market. He shrinks somewhat within, and becomes quite concerned with the proximity of the crowds of folk perusing wares, hawking their goods and services, and generally walking about. He focuses his attention on following Timbers, who is not only a local, but also much more street-savvy than he.
Jul 13, 2022 10:33 am
"I think we should head underground. There will be some activity down there but if we can pinpoint where the fault line is. Hopefully no-one has stumbled across what we're looking for."
Jul 13, 2022 6:56 pm
Tilma puts her arm around Laurent's shoulders. "Don't worry! As I said, think! Don't worry about anything else, we'll keep you safe." and she taps her crossbow. "In a place like this there is a good chance that someone has found it. Perhaps there will be some people keeping watch? But I don't think that they have touched it or else the catastrophe we caused would have happened earlier." she follows Berry underground.
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Last edited July 13, 2022 6:57 pm
Rolls
Secret Roll - (1d20+4)
(8) + 4 = 12
Secret Roll - (1d20+4)
(17) + 4 = 21
Jul 14, 2022 9:02 am
Nodding silently, Laurent allowed himself to be guided and comforted by his comrades. He seemed to be having some difficulty processing all the disparate threads emerging from their actions of the previous day.
In his mind, this was supposed to have been a carefree adventurous romp, thrilling but ultimately harmless : a few hours later entire neighborhoods were in ruins, and they were exhausted and stretched thin — spying on dangerous forces while trying to avoid the insidious reach of an infamous crime lord. What a day!
In his mind, this was supposed to have been a carefree adventurous romp, thrilling but ultimately harmless : a few hours later entire neighborhoods were in ruins, and they were exhausted and stretched thin — spying on dangerous forces while trying to avoid the insidious reach of an infamous crime lord. What a day!
OOC:
Laurent is somewhat tapped out, in a meta-gamy sense. I'm not suggesting we take a long rest or some downtime — we're running against the clock now — but he might be less than fully effective if we run into serious opposition.load next