Chapter 1: The Rise of the Ancients. (IC)

[golahm]

Spoiler: OOC

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anyone who says 'come with me to see how much I'm NOT cheating', without having been accused of such beforehand, is...ehrm...What's the word I'm looking for?... Dodgy?

True story, however I think it's in character for Garrett as he feels like he is 'under suspicion' . He has been repeatedly lying to everyone about something, and the last mage implied his skill with lock picks meant he was an immoral thief.

"Perchance, in the future, could you refrain from so boisterously declaring yourself a mater lockpick? I have
no judgment of your skill, but with guards and citizens about. And impressionable children..."

Of course it's not bad advice, especially considering all of the potentially illegal burglary equipment in his backpack, but Garrett was offended by the request (despite it being polite and reasonable)...

I'm thinking he would probably have phrased his request that someone go with him more as a teaching moment for the newbies, showing them best business practices in case they ever have the misfortune to work with an untrustworthy individual, rather than 'come be my witness so everyone knows I'm not cheating' even though that's exactly what he wants.

Also, Garrett is small. He will need somebody to help haul all the gear even assuming the implicit trust of the rest of the party with their money.

[tschel23]

Spoiler

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Works for me going forward too. As for items, I think round robin/who needs what would be best, and whatever isn't needed or spoken for gets sold and profits split.

Tess greets Plinius in her gruff sort of way. She's not unwelcoming, but clearly uncomfortable for some reason or other. "I'm going to see if anyone can check over this sword. It seems pretty well cared for."

[PH7]

Spoiler: OOC

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@golahm: heh heh. Meaning he is a moral thief?
Your suggested aproach is fine with me going forward. Seems logical that whoever has good ranks in appraise and the social skills makes the deals. Also, don't go confusing mages. Plinius does not know of, nor care yet about, Garrett's rogue skills.

Seeing the young man with the sword catch up with the halfling, Plinius greets him uncertainly. For simplicity's sake, Plinius assumes the other to be an adventurer to, even though the young swordsman lacks the bravado of the halfling. Meanwhile, the name Gerrett Fedrick suddenly rings a bell. Plinius had read the name in a history book once. Garrett seems a bit young to have achieved all that was described. Plinius thinks about asking him his age, but shies away from it, reasoning that it might be rude in halfling culture to ask someone's age.

[golahm]

Noticing the young mage's uncertainty, Garret offers reassurances;
"Don't let Tess' youthful appearance fool you; He's not an overly muscled giant, but he's more than proved his worth with a blade in my opinion. I would trust him at my back any day. Speaking of muscular giants... Is Ukiah coming with us to meet our employer, or has he opted to wait back there with Sasha and Kyrias while we do all the heavy lifting?"

Spoiler: OOC

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"I'm here at the request of the Brotherhood, actually. Investigating the... 'happenings'... that have been reported. I'm not averse to getting an extra bit of coin for my few needs; however, I'll not cut into your pay from the Adventurer's Guild. My pay would be a fair share in whatever gold or gear is to be had as loot on this adventure. I'd be honored to have you all as travelling companions,"

"Also, in further answer to your questions, Guildmember-san, I'm not a member of the Guild; I am a Seeker of Knowledge. The Seekers are specialized orders within the Brotherhood; there is little more I can say that would explain them."

I guess according to that Ukiah technically isn't in the guild, though I'm not sure my character knows that (he was speaking to the rest of the party while I was off being a goofball). He might want to talk with our contact anyway as part of his 'investigation', but that's up to him.

Spoiler: OOC

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..."don't go confusing mages. Plinius does not know of, nor care yet about, Garrett's rogue skills."

Fair enough.

Meaning he is a moral thief?

To be honest, I don't think Garrett considers himself a thief at all. Sure, he has taken things without asking, but he always rationalizes it to himself. He doesn't really care about money so much as fame and adventure. He imagines himself as a heroically clever trickster, like Peter Pan or Robin Hood, and disdains the idea that he might be considered a lowlife or thief.

[Tyg3rW01f]

Ukiah was wrapping his fist even more tightly than usual since his "heirloom" wrap was two inches shorter. "Who's shirking? I'm not above getting my hands dirty, or my body sweaty."

[PH7]

Plinius watches the humbly dressed man approach with wide eyed amazement. Wow, there's a lot of him, isn't there?, he thinks. He bows to the man with the fistwraps. "Greetings. I am Plinius, spellcaster by training. A pleasure to meet you. Are you with these fine gentlemen?", he asks gesturing to Garrett and Tess.

[Tyg3rW01f]

"Not exactly. I'm on a mission for the Dragonspire Brotherhood, investigating the "happenings" that have been reported. My path, for this time, parallels with these men and women."

[sarlon]

Hey guys, since I'm leaving town for a week tomorrow, and I'm waiting on the cleric to post, why not use this time in character to let each other know about yourselves....there's a fine elven pub not far and the gentleman who hired you can't see you till later this evening))

[tschel23]

Spoiler: OOC

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Great idea! Let's do some character development! While the DM is away, the characters can play! Have a great time away, Sarlon!(well, a little!)

Tess eyes the stone in the sword and looks at the others. "Getting this blade looked at can wait. It's a fine day, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a nice meal and a cold ale. What say you to finding a place for both and learning a little more of one another. If we're to be working together, it is probably a good idea to know what our strengths are, no?"

[golahm]

....there's a fine elven pub not far and the gentleman who hired you can't see you till later this evening

"I guess if Woodlawn can't meet with us for a while yet, and the village seems to have its defensive preparations well in hand, an ale and chat would be refreshing. Are members of the brotherhood allowed alcohol Ukiah? First round is on me, and rumor has it the elves of this forest are renowned for a fine blackberry Lambic brewed from only the sweetest wild berries. Perhaps there will even be entertainment? I am partial to a bit of elven verse myself, especially when sung by a pretty young lass. And Plinius, you will join us, yes? Perhaps you can tell us more about the situation here."

[PH7]

Plinius blushes a little. "Erhm...Well, I don't know about the young lasses, but there is an elven pub not too far from here. I haven't been there yet, but I suppose they'd serve the beer you want. As for the situation, I will tell you what I can of course, but it might not be much. I've only just returned from finishing my training at the Mages Guild in Loti'pac, you see."

Spoiler: OOC

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Not a bad choice of beers, Golahm. You're getting close to me home too.

[golahm]

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm in love with the fruit Lambics I have tried, but I don't think I have ever seen a blackberry lambic. Blackberries are very popular here in the American Pacific Northwest and I brewed some fantastic blackberry Mead with a friend a few months ago, which has me thinking it would be good in a lambic too (the orange pomegranate Mead we made turned out awesome as well).

Perhaps you can enlighten me; if it's not brewed in Belgium would it still be considered a lambic, or is that name a region specific thing like calling something a Champagne vs a sparkling wine?

[PH7]

Spoiler: OOC

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I believe it is protected as a regional product / traditional speciality. It originated in a specific region south of Brussels, but some are also brewed in West-Flanders. I'm not too clear on whether the protection is worldwide...
Side note: I'm not too fond of them myself, as I prefer Trappists. Those meads sound excellent though, especially as we're headed into the warmest part of the year!

[tschel23]

Spoiler: OOC

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Ohh...Lambic....I love me a good lambic...and MEAD! There's a local meadery that keeps me well stocked. I was once a brewer, but now I let the experts do it and simply enjoy their products!

[Tyg3rW01f]

Ukiah smiled. "Tales are told of a Brother who could drink an entire flight of dragons under the table and still out-fight even the most frenzied berserker."

Inside the pub, he requested, "Your darkest beer, please." As it foamed like an enraged sea after pouring into the glass like cold molasses, Ukiah examined the brew. "Looks like something that belongs on the shelf of a mad alchemist's apothecary."

He nodded at its light-devouring blackness, then toasted the bartender. "Perfect."

Fort (1d20+5)[18]

Spoiler: REAL beer

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http://www.curtailedcomic.com/comic/brew/

OoC: MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD!!! DUNKLEWEISSE BIER!!! GIMME!!!

[golahm]

Garrett smiles, happy to see the monk enjoying himself. The feeling of dread when he thought the goblin had slit Ukiah's wrists in order to buy itself time to escape still haunted him, but he was determined not to let it show. Perhaps a few drinks would lighten his mood and help him forget?

He slides a small stack of gold coins to the bartender, motioning to the party;
"Put all of our drinks on my tab until that runs out, eh? I'll start with a pint of this blackberry beer I've heard so much about. Tess, Plinius, what are you having? "

Spoiler

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-10 gold

[PH7]

Dragons don't drink alcohol, do they? Plinius continues to be amazed by the large man, both by his statements and by his choice of drink. Plinius thanks Garrett for his offer and orders a simple mug of ale, which he intends to nurse for a while. He does not want to take risks drinking, as he is quite new to the experience. His father and tutor mostly kept him away from the stuff. It wasn't until going to the mages guild and seeing other young wizards that he learned that, yes, mages DO consume alcohol. As much as others and some even more, in fact. The way he sees it, he has some catching up to do, but he's not in a particular rush. And he definitely won't do so on some else's costs.
Turning to his new companions he asks, "So, do either of you have an idea of what those goblins might want? Having already tangled with some of them, I mean. Master Fedrick, perhaps you've encountered similar threats before?"

[golahm]

"Well, I spent the last two decades living the simple life with a caravan of traveling halflings. And while we experienced our fair share of goblin raids, it was never like this.

Take their weapons and armor for example. The seven we fought on the road were outfitted with fine leather armor, shortbows of excellent make, and their leader was wielding that gem encrusted blade Tess has taken a shine to.

If that's not unusual enough, they seemed to have a grasp of tactics, trying to lure us away from the caravan into an ambush, and on top of that their speech was much more refined than any other gobliniod I have ever heard. They seemed almost educated.

As far as what they are after goes, when speaking in their native tongue their leader shouted some orders about finding a book, but when he tried to parlay with us in common he seemed to want to trade the life of his captive for the caravan's weapon shipment without mention of any books... and then when I tried to bargain with him in his own tongue instead of looking for a better deal he stole part of an heirloom from Ukiah and bolted, leaving behind his fancy sword for no apparent reason. It was all terribly unusual...

Oh, and they all wore this symbol. "
Garrett produces a piece of leather cut from one of the suits of armor with the symbol of fist clutching an eye emblazoned on it. " I already asked around the caravan, and even the elderly hadn't seen or heard of this. Perhaps you have encountered it in your studies? Or if you have time later we could question the village elders? "

Spoiler

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sorry, I realize it's not fair to ask you to make a knowledge history check with the GM out of town...

Speak of the devil and she shall appear...

[sarlon]

Knowledge history, and pm me the results (can't see rolls on my phone))

[PH7]

K(hist): (1d20+7)[8]

Edit: Yikes. natural 1. No need to pm, methinks. I can guess Plinius' sum total of knowledge on the subject of the symbol...

[sarlon]

Plinius' voice changes slightly as he speak of what he knows (translation: DM is speaking for him)

Actually that kinda reminds me of something I once read in a book on the war of the anicients ( the first war that created the world's first heros, and brought about this long period of peace). It's an old symbol that those who followed the shadow rallied behind....but I don't remember more than that.

[PH7]

Spoiler: The rose by another name

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Plinius looks at the symbol, then closes his eyes. When he speaks, it is more slowly and in a slightly lower register, as if he is trying to recall something quickly read long ago.

“I…seem to recall seeing a drawing of a similar symbol once, long ago. It was in a book on the War of the Ancients, the first recorded war of this world, waged 200 years after its creation by Almira, Great Mother of all. That war saw the appearance of the first heroes, but also many villains. The latter rallied behind just such a symbol in their blind devotion to the Shrouded One.”

Plinius opens his eyes and sighs. "That's all I can remember I'm afraid."

[golahm]

" An ancient evil shadow cult of legend, eh? That doesn't bode well. But let's not jump to any conclusions. It probably just means that whoever is equipping these goblins read the same book as Plinius, and has some delusions of grandeur. I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it in no time."

[tschel23]

Tess settles into a chair in a group with the others, and orders a simple ale also. She'd been drinking them long enough, as water itself wasn't really something that one would drink, being that one could become ill from it. The alcohol, she was told, killed off the bad in the water. So even watered ale was an acceptable drink at quite a young age for her. She sits back, and takes in what the others have to say, pondering over Ukiah's wrap and the holy symbol. It may appear to the others that she's brooding, but really, she's just deep in thought.

[Tyg3rW01f]

Ukiah, finished his beer, and ordered a second as he gave Garret half an ear.
Know (History) (1d20)[19]

Spoiler: O.O

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Ho'ree chit. And that's straight Int, no mods...!

[PH7]

As Ukiah seemed to be deep in thought while enjoying his beer,...

Spoiler: OOC

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And because it might be that our DM won't be able to reply much this week, as mentioned. So the knowledge roll might go unanswered for a while...

Plinius asks the group about the encounter they already had with the goblins. "You say there were seven of them, well-armed and eager to get their hands on the caravan's shipment. How did you manage to fend them off? And, perhaps more importantly, how could we prepare to fight them next time? As I said, I am a spellcaster, but I have not yet had a chance to practise my art in actual combat. I was hoping you could enlighten me on the tactics I might best use to complement your own fighting styles."

[golahm]

"Well, Ukiah went on the assault, challenging their leader and taking out his guards, throwing punches so fast you wouldn't believe. I swear I could hear him breaking their bones all the way back where I was positioned. Tess took position guarding our caster, gutting the ones that came for him while he laid down arcane support, blasting them with missiles of force, and in all the chaos I managed to snipe two or three of them from cover without getting bogged down in the melee. In the end we won the day, but it could have gone better. Ukiah was badly injured by their leader, while our cleric who should have been providing him support was no where to be seen."

OOC: So, yeah. You can read back through the posts, but I think if our dwarven cleric had been there to slap a few cure light wounds on Ukiah, who took almost all of the damage from that fight IIRC, we probably could have taken down the leader too.

I am thinking in the future if we have another battle out in an open area like this maybe we try to put our characters back in the 30 foot / 10 meter range where we can take cover and use terrain to our advantage, while the fighter and monk try to get up close and personal. That way they can split the damage between them. Then we put a cleric between the to groups to intercept enemies from peeling off to take a swipe at us (if they pass through threatened squares the cleric gets attacks of opportunity and I can flank and sneak attack anyone who takes the bait and comes for you) and to provide emergency buffs or heals to either group as needed.

In an enclosed space like a dungeon crawl our tactics might need to change a bit. I have a high stealth and perception, and probably would be scouting ahead for traps in most situations. In theory if I found enemies I could try to gank one in a surprise round and then lead the rest back into an ambush set up by the party.

How is everyone else's stealth? I anticipate sneaking up on a goblin encampment may be in our future.

Also, we should get everyone a ranged weapon. You get free attacks against enemies while they waste rounds closing the distance, then as a free action you can drop your ranged weapons and switch to melee. Composite Longbows and thrown weapons allow you to add your strength bonus on damage, which would probably be good for the fighter. What ranged weapons can monks use? I think you can flurry of blows with shurikens right? But you might need quick draw... Not sure.

Thoughts?

[PH7]

Spoiler: OOC

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Err...sure. Plinius is a level 1 wizard so his statistics are pretty much as expected. Stealth is just his DEX bonus, as are his ranged attacks at the moment. He's got few spells per day yet, even counting the one from his specialization. A full list of those lvl 1 spells he knows:
-Ray of enfeeblement
-magic missile
-detect undead
-identify
-cause fear
-mage armour
-obscuring mist
...with the last 3 prepared at the moment. I imagine he'll just be a secondary archer for most of the battles at this point, although obscuring mist certainly grants some tactical options.

Plinius licks his lips. "Well, I hope I'll be able to replace your previous arcane ally. I know how to conjure a missile of pure force too, though it's not my favourite course of action. Most of my life I've found it easiest to influence the energies of living things themselves. I know there are spells to attack the mind of others, but I prefer to manipulate something...deeper. More primal, if you know what I mean."
He takes another larger gulp of the ale and fails to keep his nose from crinkling.

[sarlon]

Ukiah speaks up in reference to the symbol as well, his voice also changing slightly (same translation, DM is speaking for him).

You know....now that you mention it, I have seen it before too...

only thing I can add though is that according to what I've read before, this cult came near close to winning the war to tear apart this world, but the forces of good and evil, heaven AND hell, banded together with the heros of old and pushed back against the darkness and through sheer luck managed to force the Shadow back into the void from wence It came.

[golahm]

Garrett takes a long pull from his drink, enjoying the contrast of the sweet fruitiness and the sour aftertaste.
"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing similar tales as a child... "