[Group 2] The World's Largest Dungeon - IC

[Sucrose]

As the riot begins to flare up, a booming voice rings out, aiming to quelch it.

"FRIENDS, WOULD YOU FALL ON EACH OTHER WHEN YOU NEED AID MOST?! WE CAN BEST ESCAPE BY WORKING TOGETHER!"

A tower shield rises above the throng, a mighty silver dragon ascendant.

"I AM KULKAV ILKANU. AND IF YOU STAND WITH ME, I WILL SEE TO IT THAT WE SURVIVE!"

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Diplomacy - (1d20+4)[16]

Kulkav will not end an innocent's life to protect his own. That is not Bahamut's will. If he cannot convince these townsfolk to work with him, then he will have to buy what precious little time he can for them to escape.

[Mr. X]

The Map:

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A few notes here:

Firstly, The party is up in the upper right hand corner, each character noted by their first initial.

More importantly, there are over a hundred people crowded into this area, but I only bothered to mark the ones surrounding the horses so you'd know how many could get their hands on you once you were up. Any one of these that falls, shall be quickly replaced by another.

Also, due to the crowd, your movement through the area shall be severely hampered. Each square you move through shall count as two (10ft off your speed.)

You are all significant enough that no one will give you much trouble just moving around, but once you try to go for a horse, all bets are off, and they'll be out for blood.

Additionally, the horses are taking collateral damage as the people riot around them. You've got about 6 rounds before they start becoming unrideable.

If you'd like me to clarify anything, feel free to ask OOC.

Also, just to give you an overall picture, Here's the map of central Beluvah:

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Outside the brown circle, the damage to the city simply from the massive quake caused by the Worm's eruption is catastrophic.

[Mr. X]

Kulkov's voice thunders over the din of the crowd with such power that for a moment everyone stops... Heads turn, and eyes, falling upon the banner, look desperately upon their would be champion...

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Nice move. You've got their attention. Lead them.

[Simba]

Sticking close to Kulkov, Vlorah shouts: "What shall we do, mighty Kulkov?"

[Sucrose]

Kulkav smiles as the throng put aside their personal intentions, in favor of shared hope.

"I have run from these goblins. They are not terribly slow, but if I could escape them in this armor, they could not keep up with an unencumbered lowlander. So, we will march away together into the hills, where we can remain unseen, and help each other survive. The horses will ride around our flanks, to give advance notice of approaching bands.

Malthos, Vlorah, Elias, and Demonbane: I will trust you with my life. You will be four of our scouts."

"You," he adds, pointing to the man who had tried to put his wife and child on one of the horses, "will be our final scout. The remaining five horses will be kept in reserve, to allow extended hard riding by our scouts. As for the rest of us, the weak," he emphasizes, gesturing toward the wife and child, "shall be our vanguard- the strong shall push them from behind. We march to Star Spire- I know the land in that direction, and they may have better defenses for us to work with. Now, scouts, saddle up and ride! My people, MARCH!"

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I'm presuming that there is a reasonable amount of hilly terrain south of Beluvah, since it's fairly uncommon for plateaus and mountains to start from nothing. Hopefully, this would give the group cover from any approaching bands. Since the more mountainous terrain stretches to the east and south, I would presume an approach from the north would not be too hard for the civilians to make, if pushed and aided by someone who knows the mountains?

[Quakes]

Not wanting to lose any of the momentum generated by Kulkav's inspiring speech, Elias walks boldly forward to take the reins of a horse. Mounting quickly, he calls to the people to follow, and begins blazing a trail for the crowd to follow. Any other citizens he meets on the way he calls to join them in their exodus from the ruined city.

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Knowledge Geography
(1d20+8)[9]
Survival
(1d20+9)[26]
Knowledge Nature
(1d20+10)[15]

[thirdkingdom]

Arian Demonbane, Archivist

"That sounds a decent proposal, friend Kulkov. I will do as you suggest."

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If necessary, Arian can cast calm emotions on the crowd to further pacify them.

[Mr. X]

Kulkov's speach gives the mob the first sense of direction they've had since the initial disaster, and Arian's spell calms them further. Soon they are working togather to get organized, and start moving out of the city.

"M'thanks, m'lord, uh, dragonborn, m'name's Berin, as it please ya, sir, m'lord..." The man you've chosen stamers out before bowing awkwardly, and mounting one of the horses...

The crowd moves as quickly as it can, but it still feels like a snails pace, inching away from the spreading carnage you can hear far off behind you.

Elias, Malthos, Vlorah, and Arian mount up and circle the crowd, trotting down side streets, and calling out any survivors who can be moved...

By the time you leave the city, the crowd has grown into a collumn nearly a thousand strong, all bruised, bloodied, and battered. Lost and confused as their lives as they knew them ended so abruptly, their last hopes clinging to the thread of Kulkov's promise...

By nightfall, you've managed to put a few hills between yourselves and the ruined city... There is no immediate sign of persuit.

As the collumn settles down to camp, broken and exhausted, Fredric approaches Kulkov...

"... Thought you'd like to know, They're calling you 'Godsent'..."

He looks over the mass, tucked in between the hills.

"... We've very few supplies, most have no possessions to speak of... Malthos remains our only healer, unless this Demonbane has a few more tricks up his sleeve, but it's probably better to keep that a secret. Tough as he is, he's in no condition to push through the night, none of us are..."

He takes a deep breath,

"... Most are wounded, many won't make it through the night... If we stay off the road, we're four days march from Market, and eight or nine from Star Spire... We'll never keep them all fed..."

He reaches up to clap the Dragonborn on the shoulder and smiles.

"... On the brighter side, moral is as good as can be expected, for the moment, thanks to your impressiveness. I don't think we'll need to expect another riot untill people start to get hungry tomorrow... You picked a hell of a job, my lord."

The last he tosses off as almost meaningless, but gives you a sideways look that leaves no doubt as to his loyalty.

[Quakes]

Elias is looking for outlying farms on the way out from the city, to warn the occupants, and get them to pack up all their food and join us. Using this as a way to acquire more horses for the weaker members of the group too.

[Sucrose]

Kulkav stares for a moment, before smiling slightly.

"Well, I am sent by a god. So are more than some might realize. ...I cannot do anything for those with wounds, but I will allow time for burial of the dead. I know how important such things are to lowlanders...further, it will give me time to teach a corps of able gatherers how to identify the edible plants in this region, and gather enough food for at least a little while.

We'll continue slowly, collecting what we need as we go, unless we start to see signs that the goblins might be catching up. We will rely heavily on our scouts for that. Hopefully, their lust for plunder will be sated, for a time, with ...what they are doing to Beluvah.

...Thank you very much for your support, in any case, Fredric. It means a great deal."

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It's my hope that knowledge of the local plant life that Kulkav can impart with his Survival ranks would be enough to give gatherers, and those instructed by them, a +2 circumstance bonus.

With that, presuming a thoroughly average populace with no wilderness survival skill, each person gathering can collect enough food for two people, since taking 10 results in a 12. Thus, with the healthier folks gathering, we can hopefully remain fed, without slowing down the column too much, since they'll probably be able to relatively easily catch up to those who are burdened or weak.

[Mr. X]

For Elias and the other scouts:

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Fertile areas in the area occur sort of in veins, where the rainwater trickles down from the hills and mountains, and a number of isolated farms are to be found in these areas. A few have already been evacuated, and some farmers refuse to leave their lands. Most, however pack what supplies they can and head off towards your column.

If you are not above looting the evacuated farms, you'll be able to come up with a few more supplies and several farm tools.

The haul:

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From looting:
200lbs of grains and food supplies (about enough to feed the whole column one meager meal.)
A few dozen shovels, pitchforks, hoes and picks. Not quality weapons by any stretch, but better than nothing. Good for burying the dead too.

From joining farmers:
1000lbs of grains and food stuffs
40 cattle
15 workhorses, but only 8 saddles and bridals
Another dozen or so assorted farm tools, as above.

For Elias:

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Pushing your range, you can make it to Market a few days ahead of the column.

You find the town already battening down its hatches. There's been a steady stream of refugees coming in since Beluvah's fall, and the town's lord has already upped the guard and sent riders on to Star Spire and Timaril. Word should reach them in another day if it hasn't already.

Upon hearing of your situation, the lord agrees to organize an escort and supply train to meet the column, and they will likely join with them a day's march from the town.

You should report these findings to Kulkov in person.

For Kulkov:

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Come morning, indeed nearly a hundred people have died of their injuries. Moral is low, and digging graves is slow, hard work, before your scouts return with some scavenged tools, and much needed supplies.

Providing the basics on gathering, you organize a few gathering parties whom you think will be up to the task.

The land is not terribly fruitful, and you've a lot of mouths to feed, but your gatherers do manage to return with armfulls of mostly edible herbs.

It's meager fare at best, but enough to keep your people alive, at least for a time.

For All:

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Having survived through the night, you may all recover HP and stat losses as per usual.

Malthos, your negative levels have worn of, and your up and running again.

[thirdkingdom]

Arian Demonbane, Archivist

"So guys, I don't think I've gotten the full story, but were you all somehow . . . responsible . . . for the dhole? And why exactly were you being pursued by teeming millions of troglyditic mutants?"

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Not sure which Knowledge is appropriate, but I rolled a1d20+10=26 in an attempt to identify these goblinoid thingies.

Also, just wanted to give you all warning that we are walking a fairly thin line here re: Kulkov. I do not want to see the other PCs subordinate to another. We should all be able to remain capable of independent action. I have played in campaigns before where the GM has made one PC "messianic", for lack of a better term, and the other PCs are reduced to supporting rolls. The one thing that caught my eye, Mr. X, was the note to Elias that he should "You should report these findings to Kulkov in person." Down that path lies danger. I'm not trying to criticize your playstyle; I've done similar things in the past and am offering a word of warning.

With that in mind I would like to suggest the following. I asked to join this campaign because, frankly, I like the idea of crawling around in a dungeon, killing things, and taking their stuff. I have little interest in leading a ragtag mob of thousands around the countryside for days or even months. Therefore, I propose we leave the refugees in the nearest town we come to and strike out on our own. It seems like we have a couple of contacts in Star Spire, so we might want to try there. Obviously, the goal is to defeat the goblin army and this dhole that has been released.

[Quakes]

Elias returns to the group at the vanguard of a small group of scouts from Market, as well as news that a supply train is on the way. He tells the refugees that they are being welcomed, but Market can only hold so many, and other towns may be better if anyone has any relatives. In any case, help is on the way.

ooc

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I understand your concern, third, but I'm fairly sure that we won't be burdened with peasants for very long. I was under the impression that we would drop them at town (or with their coming escorts) then go off on missions to muster armies from the powers in the world.

[thirdkingdom]

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Well, as per my OOC post, with the adventure transitioning to a more "sandboxy" style, where we go next is kind up to us, which is why I made the proposal of getting rid of the refugees ASAP and making for a larger city. My suggestion was Star Spire. Does Elias have another proposal? Arian has just gained the ability to cast 3rd level spells but does not gain knowledge of any such spells; he has to find and learn them. This will take cash and a larger city, hence my suggestion. However, if a majority of the group votes otherwise I will go along with their choice.

[thirdkingdom]

Arian Demonbane, Archivist

Glancing about making sure the party is alone, Arian exclaims, "Much good news, Elias! I must admit I have little desire to shepherd puling refugees about the continent. I agree to your suggestion that we leave them at the most convenient -- and soonest -- time possible."

"Over the past few days my understanding of arcane matters have been much increased, and indeed I believe I am now capable of weaving more complex and puissant dweomers. My practical knowledge, alas, has not kept pace with theory, and I find myself without any knowledge of these more potent spells. I therefore propose we make our way to Star Spire, a much larger city where, among other things, we may find the means to combat this new evil. Hopefully along the way we will come across varied tombs and dungeons that will be a source of wealth and knowledge. What say you all to my proposal?"

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Well, as per my OOC post, with the adventure transitioning to a more "sandboxy" style, where we go next is kind up to us, which is why I made the proposal of getting rid of the refugees ASAP and making for a larger city. My suggestion was Star Spire. Does Elias have another proposal? Arian has just gained the ability to cast 3rd level spells but does not gain knowledge of any such spells; he has to find and learn them. This will take cash and a larger city, hence my suggestion. However, if a majority of the group votes otherwise I will go along with their choice.

[Mr. X]

Fredric gives Arian an uncertain nod,
"That's an excellent question, to which the answer is somewhat convoluted..."

He turns to the shaman,

"Malthos, would you, perhaps, like to tell the tale?"

[thirdkingdom]

Fredric gives Arian an uncertain nod,
"That's an excellent question, to which the answer is somewhat convoluted..."

He turns to the shaman,

"Malthos, would you, perhaps, like to tell the tale?"

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FYI, I am caught up with the IC thread -- have been following for a while, actually -- and am well aware who's fault it is!

[Mr. X]

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Ahh, good.

Still, I'd Be interested to hear everyone's take on the situation.

Edit/: Gah, your bigger post ninja'd me, and I missed it entirely untill just now.

All, respond however you like.

[thirdkingdom]

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Any chance of identifying the goblin creatures? See earlier post at 6:08 am for skill check

[Mr. X]

For Arian:

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Ahh, yes, sorry.

They're like nothing you've ever seen or heard or even read of.

They're definitely goblins, or were once at least, so the same usual methods of dispatching them should apply, but they are mutated and malformed, likely due to thousands of generations of inbreeding and disease. The effects of the symbiotic fungus and the crystalline growths, you can only guess at.

From what the others have told you, and what you've seen, they are canabalistic. The others watched them devour their own leader, and many of their own fallen, and as you fled, you watched them eating the victims they'd killed or found.

Your Dark Knowledge Bonus shall be effective on a theoretical basis.

[Mr. X]

The days pass slowely as the column struggles towards it's rendevous with the Market escort, but even having lost everything, you can feel a certain fervor growing in the mass.

Around fires at night, songs are sung of the great heroes of Star Spire, Timaril, and Great Gate, of the Silver Horsemen, The Garrison, and The Order.

During the daily march, you hear more and more talk of joining the lists of any lord marching on their city, with oaths sworn of vengence and death...

When you finally glimps the escort and supply train over the hills, a ragged cheer goes up from the multitude, as survival and recompense now seem a certainty.

For All:

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Sorry for the delay on this post, I was working up some setting details that were necissary for what's to come. You'll find them in the OOC.

If anyone would like to take actions before getting to Market, feel free to do so.

Just to note, I believe the party has roughly 13,000 gold at the moment, plus whatever Arian was carrying, if he's willing to share. (I'm just remembering that number, so correct me if it is inaccurate.)

Four days have passed, and between Malthos and Arian's restorations, you may consider yourselves fully recovered.

[thirdkingdom]

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Arian is actually pretty much broke, as the bulk of his cash had gone towards spell scrolls, bonuses for the Old Man and The Gambler and payment for Helga. Oh well.

[Fates]

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Sorry I haven't been posting- my Internet is still not working....

Malthos has never felt so relieved in his life. The loss of his power had been his worst fear, but now he needn't worry about all that. Healers... he thinks to himself, There must be a few in the area- I cannot possibly tend for them all myself. The shaman does his best to be patient, if perhaps not friendly, with the civillians as he moves about, asking where he may find any capable healers, magical or mundane, in an official, no-nonsense tone.

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Gather info check: (1d20+1)[10]

[Mr. X]

For Malthos:

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No worries about the delay, it happens.

There are a few people in the column who have some basic first-aid knowledge that have been doing their best to tend the wounded. No one with any magical ability, however...

Elias saw that there was a temple in Market, so there should be a few clerics there once you arrive.

[Quakes]

When not performing scouting duties, Elias can help with the mundane healing.
(take 10 for 15)

[Sucrose]

Kulkav's voice roars among the multitude as Market comes into view. It seems that he'd been able to help these people provide for themselves, at least for a short while. Soon, with any hope, the remnants of Beluvah could be cared for, and a new plan could start to be drawn for dealing with this unsealed menace...

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Malthos still has his Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, right? Just wanting to make sure that I'm not somehow depriving him of their use.

[Fates]

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No worries, Malthos is definitely wearing those things.

Malthos rallies up everyone with any degree of medical adeptude, bringing them with him outside the market temple.
Alright, you lot, I may not be a great leader like my friend Kulkav, but I must ask of you that you help me to help your fellow civilians. The Godsent wants to bring everyone out of the city in a forced march, but there is no way those men, women, and children are going to stay alive without every stitch, every bandage, and every herb you can give them. If you allow me to assign you to do what must be done, I promise, I will reward you with a small fortune of gold; and, if you wish, I will also teach you to wield the spiritual forces as I do, so that you may heal or destroy as you see fit. Malthos takes on a hard, grim expression. So, do we have a deal?

[Quakes]

I suggest either heading to the Star Spire or Timaril. The Silver Horsemen are the most noble order of knights around, and are sure to assist us, but Timaril has the largest army, as well as the wealth to hire the best mercenaries. We can't allow the mercenaries to be hired by the horde, especially the Crimson Horde, as they may identify with their underground brethren...

[Mr. X]

Finally reaching the relative safety and security of Market, There is a large refugee camp settled a ways south of town, and the column is to be escorted there.

You are met by a seargent of the town guard, who informs you that tomorrow morning, once you're rested, Lord Gybern shall request your presence, and your report on the situation in Beluvah.

There are inns in town, for those with the gold to spend on them, Elsewise, there is always more room in the refugee camp.

Those of you who come from civilized areas nearly feel faint at the thought of a bath... Those of you who don't, the stream outside of town still looks awfully inviting.

There is a temple to Palor (god of light, strength, and healing), but it is largely vacant as its priests and parishoners are busy serving the refugees. There are a few acolytes still there, to conduct minor services, and organize and direct any other help that comes in.

The market the town is named for is largely desolate. With the massive influx of refugees, shops have been closed, and supplies quarantined to prevent the expected spike in crime. A few shops off the main streets remain open, and can provide some sundries, should you require them.

The town watch is not large, but it's clear that it's ranks have swelled over the last few days, and you see numerous troops patrolling the streets.

Malthos manages to gather a fair number of refugees togather into a more organized aid force, and, as the acolyte suggests, directs them to the refugee camp to report to Father Kindle for further assignment...

As the sun sets over the Town square, the party gathers to discuss the issues at hand, Elias putting forward the above suggestion of continuing on to Star Spire and the Silver Horsemen.

[Simba]

Quiet and subdued through most of the last days, Vlorah seems unsure what to do. She helps the refugees to the best of her limited ability.

"Are you sure we can leave all these people here? If we can, let's go!"