This was going to be a town adventure and there would be lots of LARPing at the table. They had a chance to meet up with one of the quests that was possible for the party to undertake - Avulstein's testing for apprenticing from the local necromancer.
In this area of the world, necromancy is sort of legal and there are places where it's ok. However, willy-nilly raising the dead only slowly attracts the attention of the dark powers and I was able to pass that warning on to Avulstein's player.
As for the list - it's up to him to decipher what they might mean and gather the required ingredients.
The rest of the LARPing was more world building and fleshing out not only of the group's family and past - but also some of the aspects that make up the power positions in this area of the world.
Write up follows:
The next in the spotlight, Darius made his way with the party through Central Gate then through Upper Gate where he made his way to Overcliff and eventually his family home. He had been gone for some time, the 5th of 6th children; his father wanted him to toe the family line and work in the business, not run off and “be a thug” as he put it. So when Darius had requested a meeting with his family, he had sent the letter to his mother in the hopes that she would not tell his father about it.
So of course, she did.
The Diamondcutter Family was sitting in their dining room when Darius made his way in. At the great table was his parents, Gordon and Ovira. Then his oldest brother Gordson, his sister Anna, and his next older brother Dorthak who had been ordained some years ago as a priest of Odin. Missing was his youngest sister Twilaine who we were informed was at the gem shop cleaning up and will arrive after her duties are completed.
Gordon is disappointed in his son. He could have joined the company, apprenticed himself as a gemsmith, could have even gotten a place on the Andeers Mining crew and made something of himself – instead he gets paid to beat people up. He’s a thug, no better than a filthy Randari with a club. He lets him eat at his table and then tells him that he’s done his job as a father, a man, and a host. After the meal he invites his son back to talk but the consensus is that Darius is to leave associating with the “other slack-jawed rapists in Slagbottom”, stop this foolishness and hang up his swords.
Ovira is torn. She is also a gentrified woman and can’t rationalize Darius’ decision to be a sword swinger but loves her son and reminds him that he is always welcome here regardless of what Father says.
The other kids who are present at the dinner have a mixed bag of emotions but none of them are willing to piss off the family and get shut out of the family business. Anna had left home a few years ago, was cut off from the family funds, and spent a season out in the “real world” where it is rumored that she had to sell herself to get by. The elder daughter, Shaylees, had died @ 14 of Redfever and Ovira is still torn up about it 20 years later. As for Dorthak, he is the only one who understands Darius’ desire not to be here – and he will comment to Darius that he should embrace his freedom and use it to better himself.
Darius does eventually get around to asking if his family can help him find out any information on Sigurd but he is sort of led to believe it will take some time, if at all possible. Darius says he has to leave for a little bit to let his friends know where he’ll be tonight but will be back soon.
He did stop the smaller fighter guild, the Storm Ravens, where he learned a bit of their thoughts, their practices, and the way that they try to make the skills learned match the fighter’s strengths, not shoehorn most everyone into a similar fighting style. The guild is maybe 400 people, about 1/4th the size of the League of Odin, and is sponsored by the church of Odin, Thor, and Baldur.
Following this, the next spotlight focused on Connal who had joined the group through Central Gate and then made his way about Central Quarter. Eventually he made his way to the Church of Sif and the Adjoining Grim Gauntlets Fighting College. The monastic went in and had a moment of prayer to his goddess before looking for whoever was in charge to make a donation.
He came upon Adept Miragius, a priest and somewhat taciturn man. He took the monastic’s donation, was impressed to a point, but then deigned to answer Connal’s follow up questions as the monk was looking to join the Grim Gauntlets, or at least get in the guild to look around. Eventually Connal wanted to talk to someone further up the chain so the call went to High Priest Celilius to come where the gruff ex-soldier explained that it was Miragius’ job to handle this stuff and that he would have to wait for Miragius to give Connal the go ahead. The monk was invited to come back tomorrow @ 3 or so to see if there was a job or audition he could attempt then.
Connal then went next door and watched the training through the fence for a time before heading back to the Pennywhistle to meet up with the group again.
As for the next spotlight it settled on Lareth who travelled with Darius for some time, eventually heading right to Cobblehill and to meet with his father Dufin. Lareth’s mother Canesejia is elvish, father is human. The two of them had been together for 25 years and had 3 children (Illyssa (F), Celestria (F), and Lareth) when Canesejia went to Tarloni in the company of an elven musician named Feldithwyn who was travelling with the Reetersbeard Caravan. This was about 11 years ago and Dufin still has hope his “ever spring wife” will return to him. Neither Lareth nor his sisters have the heart to let Dufin know that Canesejia left because he was getting older and time has a different flow for the elven people.
Dufin is a master scroll maker for the Arcane Academy and it is his keen eye and contacts that have also garnered what training he’s been able to get for all 3 of his children. Only Lareth is a native sorcerer, the 2 girls are more wizardly bent.
He is saddened that Lareth has returned but not to accept his place as apprentice scroll maker. He can offer some help but Dufin is prone to drinking elvish wine and listening internally to some songs from a festival he and his wife had gone to years earlier, staring out the window as if Canesejia will one day walk back through. He doesn’t think much of his son eventually throwing his life away for “questionable riches from some hole in the ground which could very well be your tomb.” But he loves him and wants to help.
Lareth does drop a Charm on his dad, asking him to cut back on the drinking and maybe not be so sad about mom. Through conversation with his sisters, he learns that they’ve cone the same over the years. Both of them are effectively Level 0 wizards with a small handful of cantrips at their disposal. They offer what help they can and Lareth then leaves.
He wanders Cobblehill, looking for signs of one of the two thieves guilds in town (The Four Keys and Grimmingur) hoping to see either a safe marking or catch someone who is willing to cant back with him. It’s after 2 hours or so of wandering around when he is braced in an alleyway by two assassins from Grimmingur named Crelis and Cito. They talk to Lareth, learn who his father is (the Grimmingur have utmost respect for Dufin the scroll maker) and in a strange bit of generosity, offer to take him to one of their houses (a place that Lareth had passed by earlier and discounted as not likely).
He had the opportunity to meet with the Grandfather Illius and his right hand half-ogre lieutenant Ricillus. Through conversation it was learned that Grimmingur knows who he is, knows his father, and might be willing to greenlight an opportunity to join if Lareth and the group can get solid work and stick around Sorton for the next season. One of the things that Grimmingur does is they NEVER do anything to upset of embarrass The Thane’s Chancellor Neuvean Twobellows. Ever.
Lareth hopes to hear something back about Sigurd as the Grandfather seemed to be hopeful and helpful.
Lastly, Negan made his way to Central Quarter where he had a chance to visit the League of Odin. This massive guild hall takes up an entire city block and was the busiest structure in the Central Quarter. Boasting a roster of over 1,600 members as well as having support and ties with the Church of Odin, AND being involved in at least half of the mercantile import and export that goes on in Sorton, the League is the powerhouse economic driver in the city.
There were 12 large sized rooms and chambers that make up the majority of the public area. In these were merchants, smiths, clothiers, and other similar venues. As Negan wandered deeper through the guild halls (and buying a League of Odin shirt on the way) he came upon the recruitment room just before the guild proper. Many of the members had a pin badge of either white, red, or black coloring – with each one being a different rank of class in the League.
They tried very very hard to entice Negan to join, throwing out the fee schedule, the popularity, the needs of the fighter/cleric as well as the needs of the guild. He held firm and did not take the bite, but one of the recruiters stayed with him and another promised to meet him at the Third Reeve’s Office in the morning with the admission paperwork. Negan left unsigned but with a League rep in tow as he made his back to Slagbottom and the Pennywhistle.
At this point the party had rejoined one another and there was much comparing of notes and sharing of what we had learned about the city. Of everyone, it was Darius that the party had little sorrow for. A rich man’s son, invited back to the prestigious home for another private meal and then an evening. With good natured ribbing we wished him well as he left a bit after 6.
For the rest of us, we had a great time listening to the musicians ply their craft and eventually Einar left to purchase a woman for the night, taking her up to the room where he used her in an orcish fashion, so to speak. Avulstein decided that he wanted the opportunity to get some of the female dwarven beard hairs from his list and went to Curd to get a girl for the night. She was not pretty, at all. And took Avulstein’s reluctance with ill courtesy.
Eventually Avulstein did find company, and managed to trick the dwarven courtesan into some beard pulling fun as he pocketed the hairs and then left.
For the rest of the group, we were going to get to sleep as we had to be dressed and ready at the Third Reeve’s Office between 8 and 10. Not wanting to risk not getting a good opportunity, we were booking on showing up a bit before 8.
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