Meet 99, Adv 5, 11/7/15

This was a downtime meeting between adventures where the party not only trained, but also took care of whatever smaller tasks they wanted done. It's a bit low key and book-keepery, but is important to help the party feel connected to the world they live in.

Write up follows:

The group had almost 2 months of separate training and needs which necessitated an almost laundry list of tasks that the group performed in the waning days of autumn and the early weeks of winter.

Avidius who was training locally under the tutelage of Pelis the Rug Merchant and other members of the guild reconnected with his wife Senna and daughters. He and Fermius cemented their friendship and spent some of the days shopping and getting ready for whatever journey or work was to come up next.

Those who had been killed or wounded by the Para-Leech as it fled Cornelius…Marcus’ Tower were visited and efforts were made to offer them succor and aid if possible. He also made it his business to visit old man Hallax, the elder gentleman who had been visited by “Mary” as well as had his clock disenchanted.

To forestall any further loss of funds, Avidius and Fermius picked up any and every back breaking job that was available. The Homesteads were still short of labor so there was always a need for strong backs willing to work – which the two men did with gusto.

Lastly, Avidius made it his business to meet privately with Baron Taugis. After clearing it with Flimflam, our scout offered his services as Seneschal to the Baron, able and willing to report to the nobleman and our liege regularly about the party’s actions and what their next paths might be. He was thanked and given a small stipend for his efforts as payment.

Erdan also trained locally, his time was spent at the fighting school under the tutelage of Zarik Ikarsbane. Upon his completion of time training, he continued to offer his services as a “tossee” – the person who gets beat up in the mock matches.

As for Scarene, she continued to confess her innocence and was eventually tried where she was then to be sent to Elven Keep where her pedigree as an elf (not a half-goblin as she had been denying) would be proven. If she was an elf, she would be indentured for 20 years, if she was a goblin, she would be crucified. Erd offered to go along as a caravan guard, continuing his relationship and wooing of Scarene.

The trip was difficult and the caravan had been beset a few times by an almost nutty amount of predators – eventually having to give up more than half their food stores to deter the family of bears that was pursuing the caravan. Eventually they arrived @ Elven Keep where Scarene was proven to be half-goblin. She was dragged to the wall and crucified while Erd stayed below and tried to “get to her”. Eventually she died and Erdan took a return trip back to Shakun.

A chair in the Pervian Gnome style had been commissioned, except this one was Erd’s size – which he placed at the table in the Hall of Heroes in a manner to let Flimflam know that he couldn’t use HIS chair. From this point on, Erdan amused himself in the remaining weeks while hanging out at the fighter’s school and devoting his attention to guard named Morera.

Tranis had travelled to Gul where he had made what trades we could for Flimflam, in addition to bringing back potions for the party after trading some of our supplies to the Alchemist League. Once back he went out often and hunted, bagging a wolf or two, plenty of deer, and in one bit of surprise – a bear! Which had Erd chuckling to hear.

Steiner had travelled the furthest to Argosility where he met with the Patriarch. At the end of the day he also imbued the Olympian Crystal there with the power of Apollo and talked with the church about establishing more a Apollonian presence in Shakun (something they typically did not do – preferring to keep their efforts more to the east and the populace sections of the country). A business plan was set up where Steiner was going to build a poor house where the poor of Tanner’s Way could come and rest, get food, maybe some light work, and even clothes. Donations would help of course, but the church of Apollo would start the ball rolling (along with Steiner’s purse).

Four acolytes went back along with a half dozen administrative people. The Patriarch was interested in Steiner could enter the Mage’s Tower and if so, could he bring someone along with him. Back in Shakun though, Steiner hired a number of local carpenters and builders as well as some of the people from Tanner’s Way to tear down three of the lots and combine them with whatever building material they could get. He paid the lease price to the Baron who also accepted the plan.

As for other activities, Steiner hired Horace as his own henchman, the very outspoken tough and local thrilled to be “workin wit the party again.” Groan. In order to further spur on donations, Steiner would visit the Hospice often and heal for free – asking people to make donations to the Apollonian Poor House of foodstuffs or old clothes instead.

Lastly we had Flimflam who did not have to train this time around. Instead, our druid worked with local engineers and diggers about expanding the Hall of Heroes. We couldn’t build out, and up was not too smart – so we cleared out the main floor near the living room and had the builders dig DOWN. The entire project was going to take about 3 months to expand two floors downward and brace them – but this would be unfinished and the party would worry about the fallout from that later. As for costs – it was going to pump over 400 crowns back into the local economy and that was a good thing.

Flimflam also approached every follower of Demeter he could and wrote away to the church, asking for their help. What he ended up getting was a number of people willing to let themselves be bled for their god, meaning that Flimflam only had to power 4 of the 7 crystals himself.

He then went to the Roaring Treat Inn where he hired Taulib, the stable boy, as his personal valet, further outfitting the young man and helping him to relocate to Shakun. And then finally he took a long trip to the Endless Forest where he met up with the druid Kaer Kohnig. They spent some time together where Whosea was outfitted with a prosthetic limb which would help the dog walk and carry Flimflam. More importantly, they discussed the ritual, the acorns, and what Flimflam would be doing next. He then travelled back to Shakun and wanted to meet with the Baron about an idea.

Meet 98, Adv 5, 10/24/15

This wrapped up the last meeting of the 5th adventure with these characters. It was a shorter meeting, we all hung out and ate steak before hand, shot the shit, and generally just hung out. The meeting was a lot of larping and the big part of it was Marcus' mage test. In my mind it's a big deal. 4th level is the last level you can be before taking the test and committing yourself to the guild and the further advancement of magic. You can fail or opt not to take the test - but that means you are capped at level 4 unless you can find a Heretic-Mage willing to train you (and they are out there - but VERY few and far between - plus they are typically all douchebags).

At that point you also pick a school and your spells from that point on are usually in that school. I used to use the 8 schools but instead boiled them down to the 4 elements - each element houses two schools. 1st and 2nd level mage spells, you can use without limit - 3rd and above - if they are IN your school - your DC save is 1 higher. You cannot use spells 3rd and above that are opposite your school (ie - Fire mage can't use Water mage spell). It's elegant, simple, and neat.

Write up follows:

The next few days had the group discuss the situations as they stood with Baron Taugis and his council. They briefly brought up Kalt and the First Sons of Shakun and then left the matter in the Council’s hands to resolve. One of the things that did come up in a private meeting between Baron Taugis and Marcus was the fact that historically the Tower Master was a member of the Council and Marcus was invited to sit on it. Which he accepted. And then he was knighted, formally adopting the title of Sir to his name.

We talked with Horace, Viridia, and Fermius after the fact, with Avidius and Tranis offering to contract and accept the vassalship of Fermius and Viridia respectively. With the two of them on board they became henchmen of our Scout and Ranger and there was much rejoicing. Flimflam was going to spend some brief time with Eherego regarding the wounding and disfigurement of Whosea and was then talking about taking a trip to see Kaer Kohnig for his own purposes.

The party was then separating for training purposes. A number of the members were able to stay here in Shakun (Erd, Geld, Avidius), while others decided to take longer tips to other towns for the sure to be longer training (Marcus heading to Woodhelven, Tranis to Gul, and Steiner taking the longest trip to Argosility). Marcus left Geld in charge of his tower while he was gone, along with a large stipend to help pay for the slow reacquisition and restocking of the place.

While Tranis was in Geld, he was able to broker with some locals to see about swapping out some of the magic items we had to get something for Flimflam who had lost a number of enchanted items during the time in the Tower.

If was Marcus’ time in Woodhelven that was most interesting. The Mage’s Guild representatives there were shocked to learn that a Neophyte was a Tower Master and a Wizard by the name of Danklage was most perturbed – since he was the next in line for the tower here in Woodhelven. Marcus finished his training as a fighter and committed himself to the study of the Weave from this point on.

Part of his commitment was to engage in the Mage’s Test – knowing that if he failed, it could actually mean his death. Suffice it to say, Marcus did wonderfully, scoring 17 out of 18 possible and getting the begrudging respect of Master Danklage for his efforts. He opted for the Rune of Preservation for his main spellbook, knowing that it would now be resistant to water, dirt, fire, and even casual tearing.

As the days were winding along, the weather was growing colder and winter was most definitely settling in.