General Chat

Haha, what is the law of the dungeon? Kill or be killed as I see it...

Pickles will hold Jessica’s hand and guide her through an illegal stuff :)

Ah, delightful machinations!

So, to summarize, we've got:
- kobolds running neutral territory. We saved some kobolds from getting eaten by a giant shrew.
- heavily-armed dwarves attempting archaeology
- Open Sores orcs trying to keep tabs on the Ghost Beggar bandits and beating down the Wolf Gang. The orcs were also cheering (possibly betting) on the fight between the giant shrew and the kobolds. The Open Sores boss has asked us to find out what the Ghost Beggars are trying to find in the dungeon.
- Ghost Beggar human bandits (yellow-and-black kerchiefs) stealing a "tax" on all adventurers, looking for some treasure deep within Stonehell (according to the orcs), and trying to benefit from the conflict between the Open Sores and the Wolf Gang. We've murdered some Ghost Beggars, so we're on thin ice dealing with them.
- Wolf Gang goblins feeling the pressure of losing ground against the Open Sores. We rescued a bunch of Wolf Gang members and got paid for the trouble.

Uncertain affiliations:
- the undead we encountered coming up from level 2. They may just be monsters, or there may be an intelligence animating/controlling them
- the dwarf who tricked us into pit traps
- the gnolls
- the three scruffy-looking humans we observed in the Kopper Kettle

Am I missing anything?

As for our current situation, talking to Zorrel Gnast:

I feel like it benefits us to have the different factions in equilibrium against each other, and us not obviously favoring one faction over another (so none of them are coming after us as "the enemy"). That said, I really don't like the Ghost Beggars; they're the only faction that has ever threatened or been in actual conflict with us Hellions (with the possible exception of whatever faction that trickster dwarf is from - I sure hate that dwarf). For now, it seems like Zorrel is none the wiser that we've killed some of his gang. But if and when they discover that, the Ghost Beggars are likely to come after us in force.

My inclination in the moment is to either agree to Zorrel's proposal or make some slightly-modified counter proposal, but instead of going to slaughter the goblins, we then go to the Wolf Gang and see if they have a proposal of their own. I feel like, if we can continue to play the different factions against each other, that's a better situation. It may reach a point where we actually need to honestly commit to a side, but I don't think we're there yet, and I'm not convinced that exterminating the Wolf Gang is in our best interests. A three-way standoff is more stable than a two-way one, so if anything I'd prefer to weaken the Wolf Gang's opponents.

The other obvious mercenary advantage of accepting Zorrel Gnast's proposal is that we can get out of Stonehell with our treasure intact and unrobbed. If we agree and then score a big haul, we can get it out and back to town "untaxed." Of course, while we're gone, it's likely that the Ghost Beggars will realize that we haven't killed all the goblins...

Hm. The idea of making a side deal with the Wolf Gang, letting them know that they should lay an ambush for the Ghost Beggars, pretending that we've killed them all, appeals a lot to the part of me that wants to get back at these bandits. But at the same time, that would result in the Open Sores coming out stronger...I wonder if there's a way we could tell the Open Sores about it, too, something like: "We found out what Zorrel Gnast is after: he's after the Wolf Gang's territory. They're going to head in there to take control, but if you act fast, you can get there before them!" so that all three groups end up fighting each other...

Hm. The idea of making a side deal with the Wolf Gang, letting them know that they should lay an ambush for the Ghost Beggars, pretending that we've killed them all, appeals a lot to the part of me that wants to get back at these bandits. But at the same time, that would result in the Open Sores coming out stronger...I wonder if there's a way we could tell the Open Sores about it, too, something like: "We found out what Zorrel Gnast is after: he's after the Wolf Gang's territory. They're going to head in there to take control, but if you act fast, you can get there before them!" so that all three groups end up fighting each other...

I think he meant talking the goblins in to setting up an ambush. Not us.

Oh I doubt the goblins could take any number of the bandits but you never know. I wouldn't really want to lure them into a trap that failed, that would definitely make us public enemy #1. All things said I'm game for whatever you all want to do.