AVB - Skeletal Companions

[planswalker]

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yes, that IS metagaming, and not in a vague sense, in a very simple and real sense. Don't do it.

and thread length is a BAD indication of character power. Hagan is only 7th level, and we have one pc with a large character thread who is still 6th level. And several with smaller threads who are 7th level. Our highest level pc is only 9th.

also, with flight being a simple thing, WHY did you think a non-mage would EVER answer? I just don't get what you were trying to do.

were you trying to get Perry specifically?

[planswalker]

"Right... You need to come down now."

You feel an invisible force attempting to pin you to the ground.

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grapple check.

[hustlertwo]

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Well don't tell me his level! That's worse than me inferring it! And duly noted, although it still was irrelevant in this sense. No mages if it can be helped. Even the NPC mage in the clan initiation could easily have cooked Wilstaff's goose if that Charm Person had landed. I was so sure I had an anti-caster caster with the spiked chain, able to surround and eliminate any NPC caster and PC ones if needed, but I'm too used to level 1 and 2 character fights. Forgot that at this level people can almost autosucceed on casting defensively if they've been paying into Concentration (and who wouldn't?). And OK, I get it, it wasn't a well-phrased lure. It was the heat of the moment, that's all.

Perry would have been nice. Two birds with one stone. But no, I was trying to get a non-mage, because I'm reasonably convinced that when not on ground level, only three things can kill, or even injure, my character: mages/psionics/Incarnum guys/any other class along those lines, big hidey types, or someone with a potion of Fly (which costs a lot to just have lying around). A barbarian or monk, or a ranged fighter who isn't a Rogue with some way to hide in plain sight, they're meat in the grinder.

[hustlertwo]

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A rather odd thing to do to a civilian.

(1d20+4)[20]

The goblin shrieks for help from anyone in the surrounding area.

Hey man, get offa me! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

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Whoa, nice! Roll like that, maybe I should have attacked. Does this count as him interacting with the illusion, and do I know if he fails the will save? I might voluntarily be grappled if doing so doesn't give him a chance to interact with the illusion.

[planswalker]

unfortutnately, you do not manage to overcome the force grappling you and you are dragged onto the platform.

[hustlertwo]

Awwwright, awwright, leggo already. I'm goin'.

[planswalker]

He lowers the platform to ground level, pushes him off, and dismisses the power.

"Here you go ma'am. Don't let him on any more rooftops for awhile, okay?"

[hustlertwo]

Wilstaff cuddles to his mother and waves to the mage. Thanks Skyman! I love you! I forgive you for touching me inappropriately!

[planswalker]

The mage flies to the west without paying any more attention to irritating goblins.

[hustlertwo]

Wilstaff and Bennett head back to the HQ, still in disguise. I hope you're happy, No-Nose. Skunked again. Oh, I know you are, because you're a goody-goody, just like that one. Why do I have to be the one crazy person in the world whose voices are telling him NOT to do fun things?

Constructive outlet? I'm intrigued. Tell me more.

They 'talk' all the way back, where he once again approaches the Khan.

[planswalker]

He is busy at the moment and does not receive you today.

[hustlertwo]

Poop. I guess we have been coming to him a lot lately. Here Bennett, you dictate the message, I'll write it down.

Wilstaff leaves the following note for his boss.

Greetings, sir and/or madam! We here at Bennett and Friends, Inc. have come to you with an exciting business opportunity! Our corporate think tank has recently decided that the best way to energize profits, synergize brands, and jazzercize the Blue's Clues into fighting shape for the Skulk slaughter would be.....drumroll please...an underground fighting ring! B&F Inc. will manage the operations of it (while kicking a healthy portion of proceeds up to a certain spiky individual who is so near and dear to us), get some wards to make damage nonlethal to placate the squares, sell tickets, take bets...and encourage Blue Bell members to participate, further honing their combat prowess. We conservatively estimate that there are one, maybe even two buttloads of slum residents willing to get bruised for some bread (Bread for Bruises...sounds like a good charity program. Keep that in mind for a tax write-off), to say nothing of what a subtle ad with the town crier might do. Do not delay in your response, operators are standing by!

That done, Wilstaff finds himself without a direction for the day. He goes to remove the ad from the crier in the disguise from before, as the old couple. he then goes back to see if there is any training, physical or magical, available to him with the Blue Hands.

[planswalker]

"Well, you're in luck. Someone in the slums is just now advertising a fighting arena. Says that grand prizes and honors await the winner."

[hustlertwo]

Really! Hey Bennett, didya hear that? Boss musta liked our proposal! Can we see him, or is he still all tied up?

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Oh. Should I forget I saw the words Blue Hand, then?

[planswalker]

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yes you should.

"Are you talking to me, sire?" The town crier asks.

[hustlertwo]

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Oh, we're still at the crier? OK. I missed that part. I thought a guy at the Blue Hands was telling him this when he went back for training.

I simply wanted to inquire about the details of this pugilistic display, my good man.

[planswalker]

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oh, it wasn't clear from what you said whether you went to the town crier or not, and that's what I assumed you had done.

"They didn't give any. Just said to go to the Slums."

[hustlertwo]

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My bad. I was going to the crier to remove the ad, then going back to the Blue Hands looking for training. I know they offered some to Perry, and was probably going to get in on that since I don't know about taking any quests with all the other balls currently in the air.

Now, I won't metagame it, but I must know: did the Khan steal the idea, or someone else who saw the memo? Or will Wilstaff still get credit and/or payment for it? If it's the Khan, it's gonna be a "Say it ain't so, Joe" kind of moment. Despite knowing the guy's a crime boss, Wilstaff's developed a doggish loyalty to him, as evidenced by the Perry thing. That kind of betrayal could have interesting results. Whereas if it's another Blue Hand, then presumably if he finds out we get to call 'em out and have some fun there.

Wilstaff does as the man says. He returns home, and asks in passing about the Khan's availability to see if it has changed. If he doesn't see the boss, he asks other Blue Hands what they know about this new fighting tournament. He doesn't tell anyone but the Khan about having come up with the idea, though.

[planswalker]

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oh, the Khan will reward you for the idea. He'll thank you for it and give you credit, but publicly, it being his idea gives him a stronger position. In essence, he just quietly promoted you to councilor so he retains public credit. He is grateful to you though.

"He just got done speaking with the head of the Cabal when a new warrior spoke with him. However, the warrior doesn't have an appointment, so you can drop in on them if you wish."

[hustlertwo]

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Ah. Wilstaff probably won't care too much about that. He didn't want the glory, he wanted some cash and to boost up his bosom buddies. Although he was looking for this to be a steady occupation as well (and I was thinking it could potentially become a public thread a la Riz's store, at least until the Watch inevitably broke it up). That being what I took away from seeing Riz's PC, and thinking that with a regular income source I could probably shore up Wil's weak points through swankier gear and buttloads of consumables.

Wilstaff decides to drop in and see what the boss has to say about the fighting ring.

Heya, Skip. So I take it you liked our idea? Nothing like violence to bring out our creative flair. And Bennett thinks this might keep me from indulging in more...self-destructive impulses. Or maybe the self part isn't really the case.

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Congrats on 10k posts, Plans.

[planswalker]

The Khan is currently laughing and saying something about barrels of oil with a likely-looking warrior hobgoblin.

"Ah, Wilstaff the Funny, come, meet Gurntz, another new recruit into my family. He just told me a gut-buster about how to flush the skulks out of the sewers. As to your arena idea, I love it. A little bloodsport is just the way to generate some money. Hells, we'll even take bets on who long it takes the Watch to break it up!"

[hustlertwo]

Flush them from the sewers? I thought that was normally where things were flushed into, not out of. Hyuk yuk yuk.

He looks to the skeleton next to him as the joke falls flat.

No, that's it. I don't care about your Jewish ancestry, you're done writing my material, Bennett. Stick to drama.

Anyway, sounds intriguing, Khannonball Run. Gruntz, what's the skinny on your plan to deal with the sewer-dwelling Teenage Mutant Ninja Skulkies?

[planswalker]

The Khan whispers something to Gurntz while you await his response.

[hustlertwo]

Wilstaff preens a bit under the Khan's praise.

And I'm glad you like it! We figured you might. Filling up our clan banks is good, as well as the purse of your very favorite manic and murderous mage. If you don't mind, we'd like to oversee the operation of the bloodsport in the clan's name. Got some interesting ideas for it. And we've been looking for a salaried kind of job, in between hunting traitors and stalking Skulkies. But don't worry, we won't both expect to be paid; Bennett is fine with me being a bit of a mooch.

[hustlertwo]

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Are you waiting on me to do something? I didn't think the Khan was done with him yet.

[planswalker]

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no, actually, I'm waiting on the other pc who is speaking to the Khan. I left to eat supper and he's now back.

"3 thousand hey? Hmm I'm not much of a merchant, but I'll see what I can do. How much gold can you forward me? I figure to get that amount, merchants may bump up their prices as they sell."

He turns as the other hobgoblin appears and speaks after the Kahn introduces them.

"Hail Wilstaff the Funny, as the Kahn says I am Gurntz Fellhand. The Skulks lock up tight in their hole where shadow is their friend only coming out at night. As far as I can see going into the sewers is likely to be a one way trip so I propose to try and get them out at daylight. We flood on end of the sewers with oil and then light it, as the oil drifts down the sewers it should force them out the other end or bottle them up into whatever ratholes they have. At any rate it should put them out into the open in daylight where they lose their natural advantages, letting us clean them up.

But we have to be careful, the Watch maintains the current status quo on the provision that the Skulks don't attack civilians. If we burn down the docks we will bring too much attention on our heads, its likely to attract too much attention as it is. Having said that if we can clear out the Skulks with a minimum of collateral damage we should be in a position to bargain with the watch. To this end I have arranged for a goblin bucket team to keep the docks from burning.

If we want to make money, then my suggestion would be to take over the watches duties of policing the docks, our selling point being that we are better equipped to deal with other races that frequent the area. The docks could then be our "legitimate" face for a whole range of operations and business deals. I don't know much about the clans finances, but I assume the majority of it currently comes out of protection money, if we want to grow we need to get involved in business, its the only way we could keep control. However the sewers also opens up opportunities for smuggling and illicit business, if we can also secure the slums sewers from the ratlings.

I have spoken to one member of the watch, but only discussing information. I initially understood the Skulks to be attacking the Watch and thought that might be a way in to get their support. Now I'm not too sure, they most likely see us as a containable threat. This is why I would propose working with them, at least in the docks."

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Plans and Hustlertwo (I read the streets forum!) I will most likely reply tonight and tomorrow morning due to work so apologies in advance. Timezones will slow us down if you want to do a team-up, I'm rarely on when Hustlertwo is unfortunately. I'm happy to co-ordinate efforts though using pms to exchange in-game information.

[hustlertwo]

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Gurntz is a PC? Must be one of the ones like me, whose thread title does not reflect the character name. Didn't realize others had signed on with the Blues., good to have company. Makes me wonder if the Skulks have any PCs, even though they're homicidal.

You had me enthralled with the plan as soon as you said you were setting the city on fire. Exquisite! I'll be looking forward to being on the other end of that rat trap, with a fist full of cheese and a hunger for justice! And I suggest that if you don't want to draw attention to such a large barrel purchase, you get the boss to lend you one of those disguise hats. No one will think as much if several different individuals make oil purchases, compared to just one. Look at us, we're a font of good ideas today, Bennett! You need anything else to help pull this off, just ask for us. I am Wilstaff, and this chatty Cathy here is Bennett.

He gestures to the skeleton. It stands motionless and mute.

Oh, and maybe if you get time later, you can swing by the fighting ring the boss and I are whipping up. You seem like a nice guy, so we'd love to shoot you in the face and club you in the gut in the name of good fun and great profits.

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Thanks for the warning on that, Sky, I'll keep that in mind if we do end up teaming. What timezone are you? I'm Eastern, in the U.S., which I believe is -5 GMT.

[hustlertwo]

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Does the Khan say anything about Wilstaff's wish to be the manager for the fight club?

[planswalker]

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did I forget to have him say, "sure"?

[hustlertwo]

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I dunno, too many blocks of text to tell.

Thanks boss, we're going to run this thing so well...well, that it'll be quite well-run. Well.

*ahem* And you know, Khanticle for Leibowitz, that we are your gals Friday. The clan's been good to us, we relish the chance to do something for it that doesn't involve almost getting you ganked by that nice merc traitor. And we also know money is quite expensive these days. Would you be willing to pay us 1,500 gold a week to manage the tournaments, at least until the po-po put the kibosh on it? As well as two scrolls of spells of my choosing, provided they are within the power of your mages to cast. I'm not such a good hand with magic scribble-scrabble, but having spells on call seems like a blast. Of magic fire. Sound like a plan, spiky man?