The others move in Cont.
Subject The others head in
Mark, I am going to write something up, but it will be later this afternoon.
From: Kevin
Subject The others head in
Harp watches as they move around the town. He didn't know this town, but he had vague memories of when he was a child - before his mother had left him with the Order. Brutality and strength - that was what ruled here. Most people were so worried about just surviving that they did not worry about much else. Well, he was strong, and he could act as brutal as needed to get the job done.
As they walk, he says to the others " All right then, its agreed. We are are looking for someone who stole some well earned treasure from us. We'll use the name Lane as our missing "partner if pressed" but I want to avoid getting into too much detail. Also, a couple of other things. I'm going to go by the name of Hack while we are in town. It's a common name among my type so it shouldn't draw any undo attention. Also, please forgive anything I say when we are in town. We may have to put on an act that we are only travelling together out of need, not desire."
OOC: Mark, when they reach the gate, Harp will start off just saying that they are travelling through, stopping for a couple days to buy some basic supplies. If pushed, he will give a basic story that they are looking for someone, know to Harp/Hack as Lane, an adventurer who had hired them to join him on a little outing who had then dissappeared with their loot. They had heard a rumor he was in Bodentown and they were just checkin it out. He will not pay 5 gp for a pass, claiming they have little money left since Lane took almost all of it.
At the Leaky Mug cont., and Surin disappears
Subject At the Leaky Mug cont
Depending on how much time they have left in the day, Allistair would like to ask around and find out if there is any mage community here. Discreetly, if possible. There's probably not a whole lot that Allistair could do to hide his profession, but he won't go out of his way to advertise it either. Probably not large enough to be a mage guild or such in Bodentown, but he would like to find out who the prominent magic-users in town are. Also he'd like to ask around about the government of Bodentown, who the mayor/lord that runs the place is and what kind of a person they are. After gathering information, Allistair needs to rest and memorize spells.
From: Kevin
Subject The others head in
OOC: Mark as I re-read this, I may not have made myself clear. Harp will expect to pay something for a pass, but not 5 gp each. He will haggle, claiming that they have little funds left given what was taken from them by the person they are searching for (if the conversatin even gets that far).
From: Mark
Subject Turn
Ok. I will write something up tonight.
From:Ashley
Subject The others head in
tee hee..."Leaky Mug". Awesome.
Before anyone says anything Surin does a quick check of the room, making sure there wouldn't be any awkward situations if the party said anything too private. If he's satisfied that the walls aren't over thin or there isn't a peephole somewhere, he'll finally speak. "We could talk to a few people around the inn and see if they knows of anyone who would be interested in our wares, that way we can go wandering around town with a solid cover story and alibi. Does this sound like a decent plan?"
From: Kevin
Subject The others head in
OOC: Ashley, Surin has not made it to town yet. He is with Ragnar, Harp and Kal heading in the gate on the other side of town.
Salix, Mund, Allistair and Ran are at the Leaky Mug. I am sure that we will find an equally nice establishment in which to spend our time in Bodentown.
Wasn't there a little ditty in the animated version of the Hobbit "Down, down to Bodentown"? (I know it was goblin town, but it sounded close).
From: Ashley
Subject Surin disappears
aw crap. *hides*
What to do at the Leaky Mug, the others get a room
Subject Surin is found
Harp looks around - where did Surin go?? Was he hiding again, in plain daylight?? Showoff.
From: Mark
Subject Turn
Sorry I did not get anything out last night. I will tonight.
From: Kevin
Subject Surin is found
Don't do anything until we find Surin. I know we left him around here somewhere???
Surin??? Surin??? Where are you??
There you are you sneaky little halfling. Come on out from behind that sign.
Halflings... they are just like 12 year olds.
From: Mund
Subject What to do at the Leaky Mug
Mund looks around at the room. Not bad. Pretty expensive, but Mund should be able to get the money back if they succeed in beating the stuffing out of whatever's causing the problems out here.
"At lease some of us need to go down and blow some money on riotious living, or people will start to wonder about us. It might also be a good time to get some lernin' about this place. Alley -- I know you's a-wantin' to check some stuff out. How about the rest of y'all? I've never too good at getting others to talk willingly. Any of y'all good at that?"
"Salix -- how are you feeling? Are you up to strenght, or should you rest a while here?"
From: Porter
Subject Sense motive
I thought that Sense Motive was one of those skills that you didn't have to declare, like listen or spot. Am I mistaken?
From: Karl
Subject What to do at the Leaky Mug
Salix hates everything about this mission. He can't trust the forest, and he has to hide who he is in town. He isn't particularly fond of the *good* towns, but it's even worse here. Still, he didn't come on this mission to hide in a room in an inn. "I'm right with you Mund. And call me Sam, please. Salix is a pretty druidic sounding name and someone's bound to make the connection."
From: Porter
Subject Time
OOC: what time is it? Is it too late to check out the mercenary guild?
From: Mark
Subject Time
It is just past dinner time, so it is unlikely to be open.
From: Mark
Subject Sense motive
From my reading of the skill I would say not.
Here is the SRD
Check: A successful check lets you avoid being bluffed (see the Bluff skill). You can also use this skill to determine when "something is up" (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone's trustworthiness.
Task Sense Motive DC
Hunch 20
Sense enchantment 25 or 15
Discern secret message Varies
Hunch: This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can get the feeling from another's behavior that something is wrong, such as when you're talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.
Sense Enchantment: You can tell that someone's behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (by definition, a mind-affecting effect), even if that person isn't aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate person), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target's activities.
Discern Secret Message: You may use Sense Motive to detect that a hidden message is being transmitted via the Bluff skill. In this case, your Sense Motive check is opposed by the Bluff check of the character transmitting the message. For each piece of information relating to the message that you are missing, you take a --2 penalty on your Sense Motive check. If you succeed by 4 or less, you know that something hidden is being communicated, but you can't learn anything specific about its content. If you beat the DC by 5 or more, you intercept and understand the message. If you fail by 4 or less, you don't detect any hidden communication. If you fail by 5 or more, you infer some false information.
Action: Trying to gain information with Sense Motive generally takes at least 1 minute, and you could spend a whole evening trying to get a sense of the people around you.
Try Again: No, though you may make a Sense Motive check for each Bluff check made against you.
Special: A ranger gains a bonus on Sense Motive checks when using this skill against a favored enemy.
If you have the Negotiator feat, you get a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks.
Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Sense Motive, you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks.
If you check under action it says you need ot usually take a whole minute or longer.
There might be times I would make it automatic, but this was not one of them.
From: Mark
Subject The others get a room
Harp and the others with him head towards the gate guards. It is obvious that there is a line of people being inspected before entry, although many of what seem to be locals pass through with out bother. Deciding to error on the side of caution Harp has the four get into the line to check in with the guards. When their turn comes up a reasonably efficient guard approaches them asking "Your names and purpose in Bodentown?" Harp gives the preplanned response about looking for a confederate who had made off with some treasure. "Any suggestions how the fastest way to find him?" Harp asks. The guard laughs "In Bodentown, if some one wants to get lost they usually can. If you've got the money my best suggestion would be to pay a temple money to find out where your friend is and then pay the Nighthawks to kill him for you. If your broke, as you say you are, hire on with the mercenary guild. You might make enough in a few years to afford the temple and the Hawks."
Harp thanks the man and they each pay the 1 gold for the 5 day pass. The sun is just setting in the west and dark is coming on fast. "I don't think" Ragnar says "that we should risk looking for the others in the dark, in a city we know nothing about. How about we find an inn for the night and try and meet up with the others tomorrow?" Surin nods his agreement with this plan and as much as Harp would like to rejoin the others, he sees the wisdom of Ragnar's suggestion. Even Kal agrees "Hey, if this place is as rough as every one says, daylight is our friend, at least until we know more about it."
That being settled the four move deeper into the city, looking for a place to stay. Surin sees obvious signs of an active guild, and reminds himself that it would be bad mojo to do any extra activities without finding the local day master or night master and getting approval. However, that does not keep him from stopping a few young pick pockets who try to help lessen Harp's load. A few quick taps on the back of their heads with the butt of his dagger and the common street thieves know to leave them alone.
After a half hour of looking the four finally find a place. It seems to be in a fairly nice part of town, off of Merchant Street. The inn, The Boars Head Inn, stands 3 stories high and has a good crowd coming in and out of the front doors. The companions make their way into the common room and the smells of cooking meat and fresh beer fills their noses. Asking one of the customers if they knew who was in charge, they are directed to a tall, thin man with a bald head who is standing behind the bar. As they approach he looks them up and down and looks at them a bit disdainfully. "Yes, how may we at the Boars Head help you tonight?"
OODM: If you want to role play this go ahead.
What passes for passes, at the Boar's Head inn
Subject What passes for passes
Mark, did we get the same types of "passes" as the others? I know that we will not know that they are magical, but I just want to know if we got them.
From: Mark
Subject What passes for passes
You 4 got passes. The characters have no idea if they are the same type until they meet up with the other 4.
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
"We need a room for 4 for a couple nights. What d'ya have?"
From: Kal
Subject What passes for passes
Is there anything about the passes that would make Kal think to cast detect magic?
I'm not saying he's investigating them, I don't think it'd occur to him naturally. Only if there was something particular about them. (Arcane Knowledge maybe?)
From: Mark
Subject What passes for passes
Not really. Surin might have an idea as to why they might be enchanted.
From: Ashley
Subject What passes for passes
Would that be an Appraise check, then?
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
OOC: Mark, any role playing with the inn keeper? Harp asked what they had available?
I am heading out to lunch here shortly.
From: Mark
Subjet: At the Boar's Head inn
I will try and get some this afternoon. Lots of crap at the office today.
People wanting custom printed stuff in the next couple of weeks. We are booked through the end of the year and they are not happy.
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
"How much you got to spend? A basic room for 4 would run 4 gold a day. Food, drink, drugs and companionship extra. For 10 a day you get all the food and women you want. Drink and drugs are still extra."
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
"How about 6 gold for the room and the food? We may come back and talk to you about the women after we finish our business. We'll pay for 2 days upfront."
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
"Done." He takes the money, 12 gold, and signals for a young girl. This girl has an odd look about her. It takes Harp a few seconds to realize what it is. She is a 1/2 orc, just like him. He would put her age at around 12 but she is already just under 6 foot. Not ugly by Harp's standards but her orcish parentage is obvious. She eyes Harp with open lust. "You're a big one aren't you?' She says. She grabs his arm and pulls him, with the others following down a long hallway. Out into a courtyard and to a building in the back. In another door and up a flight of stairs. Turning right, she pulls open the first door on the right and shows them their room.
She hops up on the bed and leans back suggestively. "If you need anything" she wiggles her eyebrows," just let me know. I am called Thanga."
From: Porter
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
*waggles eyebrows*
From: Karl
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Would that be "Miss Thanga?"
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Too bad Mund is on the other side of the city.
From: Porter
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
*pouts*
But who knows? Maybe that's Mund's daughter.
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Naw she is better looking than that. ;) And if she and Harp get involved would that make Mund Harp's father in law?
From: Porter
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
She takes after her mother, the sweet thing.
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Harp grins at the girl and says in his best Orcish "Thank you, Thanga, but we're fine for now. We want to get cleaned up after our travels. Maybe later we can talk??"
He tips her a silver piece and pats her rump on the way out.
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Thanga looks disappointed but keeps the silver piece. She closes the door behind her.
The 4 look around the room. It is fairly spacious, with four bed placed around the room and a central table. There are two windows with bars on them on the wall opposite the door. The room is lit with 6 wall torches that look similar to Munds everburning torch. However these have dark bags attached so that the light can be put out.
Surin makes a quick inspection of the room and reports in. "The good news. We are at the end of the hallway so we only have one neighbor" he points to the communal wall. "The bad news is that the walls are typical Inn walls and not all that sturdy. The other bad news: the damn furniture is too big." As he says this he moves towards the table in the middle of the room and with a running leap jumps up on the human sized chair.
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
Harp laughs at Surin's comment, goes over to one of the beds and lays down, his feet dangling over the edge a few inches. "I don't know what your'e complaining about, at least your feet don't hang out."
"Let's get unpacked and cleaned up a bit, but don't leave anything important in the room. Then we can head down to get some food and get a feel for this place."
OOC: Mark, I assume there is a communal bathing area on the floor somewhere?
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
OOC: Mark, for now, Harp is going to try to go by the name of Hack, and will try to remind the others of that as they head to the common room.
From: Mark
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
No one saw a bathing area any where so far. There is only a small bowl with a piece of silvered glass as a mirror on the wall next to the door. Underneath is a large, empty pitcher. There are 4 bedpans, one next to each bed.
From: Ashley
Subject At the Boar's Head inn
OK, the retcon this.
"Surin, why don't you go take a quick look around the inn here. Try to get a basic layout so if we need to leave quickly, we have a good idea of where we can go."
From: Ashley
Subject What passes for passes
Before everyone splits off from the room, Surin gets Kal's attention and pulls out his city pass. "I noticed when I was looking at this earlier that the design is pretty straightforward--nothing too complicated or ornate. I figure any kid with a paintbrush could probably forge it with a little practice. I was thinking, if this really is something we should have when we go around the city, there might be something magical to set it apart from a false one. D'you think you could tell if it was?"
In the absence of Allistair, Kal's the first one Surin thinks of to do something like this, but he wants to get it straightened out before anyone leaves the inn.
Dinner at the Leaky Mug
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
Even though he is still feeling a bit out of sorts Salix, now being called Sam, insists on joining the other down in the common room for dinner. The four take off their armor and put the larger weapons in the trunks with the armor. They each keep a knife, except for Salix who takes his sling and the pouch of bullets with him. Ally puts his Ioun stone in a pouch inside his robes and tells Sysyphys to stay in the room but to keep hidden. He would bring the snake back something to eat if it did not catch anything in the room while they were gone.
When they get to the common room they are able to find a table for 6 that is empty. Taking up seats around the table Mund signals to a serving girl and she heads over to take their order. She cowers a bit as she tells them what is on the menu "We have roast venison, vegetable stew, fresh bread, cheese and several types of beer and ales. Harder drink can be gotten at the bar." The four place orders and several minutes later the girl is back with their food. The food is plentiful, if not tasty. They have all had worse but the kitchens of Gorn lay a good table and this is not even close.
As they eat in silence they listen to the conversation of the crowd around them. At this time of night the crowd is fairly restrained, especially by Mund's standards. There is only the occasional drunken outburst or squeal of a serving girl getting her ass pinched. Ran makes note of the layout of this main room and building, noting where the doors are and the windows as well as the stairs. It seems that the gambling, drugging and whoring are done upstairs and the drinking and eating are done downstairs. Several times the party is approached to see if they are interested in buying some sort of drug or a girl or a boy for the night. Polite no's are given, even when free samples are offered.
Salix and Ran have the hardest time of the four. Salix has never spent much time with crowds and Ranthir has spent many years with the elves. While the elves can be festive, they are nothing like this. Their parties are musical and full of life. This crowd seems rude, loud and obnoxious. After a couple of hours Ally sees Salix's discomfort. "Sam, lets get you back to the room and get you some rest. I need my sleep as well. Ranthir, do you want to stay here with Mund and keep an eye out for the others or are you going to call it a night?"
OODM: These four can roll play this if they want.
From: Derek
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
Allistair continues. "You might even check out some of the other taverns in this area if you have time. They won't necessarily come to this tavern, and a half-orc , an elf, a halfling and a dwarf together should be pretty easy to spot. Also I need some time to examine these day-passes."
OOC: Do we have any pearls left that we used to ID all the stuff we got from the caravan? Also, is recreational drug use pretty common in this world, or is it something unique to Bodentown?
From: Mark
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
It's not unique to Bodentown, but it is not common in many of the good countries, especially the LG ones. Even to Mund and Ally, who came from the Wildlands, it seems a bit more out in the open then at home.
From: Jason
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
Ragnar doesn't really have anything to add here, so I'm just checking in. He's looking forward to resting for the night; its been an exhausting day, first with him using nearly every blessing he had prepared, followed by a forced march. In fact if no one else wants anything from him, he'll probably start getting ready for bed immediately.
From: Randy
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
Ranthir regrets removing his armor more and more as the evening progresses. This looked like a quite rowdy group and the possibility of things turning ugly seemed quite real.
"I think that we can worry about finding the others tomorrow. What do you think Mund? Anything you want to do before we head back to the room?"
From: Porter
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
"Yeah, I want to find out what I can."
Mund looks around the room and picks out a group laughing and drinking. He comes over to them and with a good-natured grin, tries to join in on the fun.
When appropriate, Mund will try to ingratiate himself with the group buy buying them all a round of drinks. He might even get into a drinking contest with somebody. Over time, he will try to gather information, trying to find out about economic situation in the town, if things have changed recently, and who runs Bartertown/Bodentown.
From: Jason
Subject What passes for passes
Kal casts detect magic on the pass and then goes quiet for a moment.
"It's definitely enchanted, I can't be sure, but I think it has multiple enchantments. The most powerful is of the school of divination. That's generally used for spells that locate objects, read minds, and the like. That's all I can tell."
"I don't know if we're better off keeping these passes or making fake ones. If the enchantment is used to verify the passes are legit, we have to keep them. However, if the passes are used in someway to find out information about us, it would be very dangerous to keep them."
From: Derek
Subject Dinner at the Leaky Mug
As Mund get up, Allistair asks the others, "Ran, do you want to go up with Sam and get some rest? I'd like to stay with Mund for a little while and talk to some of the others here. If Mund drinks as much as I think he is, he may not remember anything. I can actually hold my liquor better than he can, though it seems unlikely."
Dinner at the Mug, At the Boar's Head, Noctis
Subject What passes for passes
"I was afraid of that. I know we're in something of a hurry, but Why don't we try just hitting a few public stops around town, not asking too many questions, and see if anyone ever stops us to check our passes, and maybe how they check 'em. Maybe they never check, and we won't even have to worry about carrying them on us." After a moment of thought, he puts his pass in a spot as far away from his bed and setup as possible. "I wanna go check out the kitchens before heading to bed. Anyone up to join me?"
From: Karl
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Salix will stick close to Mund. He'll show deference to him and in general act like a side-kick. He'll roughen up his language and try not to appear too smart. The general idea is to let people think Mund's in charge and Salix (aka Sam) is nobody important. Salix will be listening and watching intently for anything that might give some clue as to what's going on.
From: Karl
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Didn't read this before sending my last. Salix (aka Sam) will go back up at Ally's suggestion. He'll be of more use to the quest if he is rested.
(But take my last turn as the general character Salix is trying to show in town. He's just a Mund hanger-on. Nobody special, and not too bright.)
From: Kevin
Subject At the Boars Head
Harp listens to Kal and Surin talk about the passes. Well, probably not too unexpected.
"Well, we're not doing anything wrong yet. I doubt they do much more than let some mage somewhere locate us if they want to - they can't track eveyone who comes and goes in this town.
Surin, go ahead and take a look around and get an idea of the layout - kitchen, baths, exits, stable if there is on, etc. The three of us will head down to the common room and we will meet you there. Anything in particular you want to eat?"
From: Randy
Subject Dinner at the Mug
"Yes, I think I will go up with Sam. I'd rather none of us be left alone here." Ranthir speaks the second sentence in a quieter tone, not wanting to alert any who may be listening in.
From: Mark
Subject Noctis
Just a note of something that Karl and I decided. Noctis, Salix animal companion, did not accompany him on this trip.
From: Porter
Subject Noctis
Good idea.
From: Porter
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Since Alley is going to be with Mund, if Mund gets into any drinking competitions, he'll make sure that Alley is part of it as well.
If Mund ever gets so drunk that he cannot function, he has an ace up his sleeve -- he can always rage, which increases his constitution, and giving him some time to function properly before the rage ends.
From: Mark
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Unless Mund is so drunk he passes out. :)
I might write a bit this afternoon but I have a real life game tonight so it will likely be Saturday before anything major gets written.
From: Karl
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Assuming, of course, he has the presence of mind to rage. ;-)
From: Derek
Subject Dinner at the Mug
Letting real life interfere with your real priorities? :P
From: Porter
Subject Dinner at the Mug
His gaming group is "real life"???
From: Mark
Subject This weekend
Over the weekend I will be e-mailing several people information that they have picked up about the town and happenings about. I will let them decide how they want to tell the party.
Dinner at the Boar's Head
Subject Dinner at the Boar's Head
Harp looks around at the other three in the room and waits to see if there are any objections. Not seeing any he nods to Surin and the halfling heads out of the room to get a feel for the Inn. Changing out of their armor they put on normal clothes and they head downstairs for dinner. It is past the usual dinner time so the normal dinner crowd has been replaced with a noisier drinking crowd. They are able to get some of the left over beef stew, some stale bread and cheese, and a fairly good ale. They spend almost an hour eating and talking of nothing important, trying to get the mood of the crowd.
When the food is obviously gone Harp looks at the others and asks "Ok how do we want to do this? I think a couple of us should stay down here and try and pick up some info. Surin here is probably best suited to moving around with out getting noticed and eaves dropping on people. I can probably get involved with some group that is drinking, especially if I buy some rounds, and try and find something out that way. How about you two head back to the room and start getting a head start on a nights sleep. You can get up early tomorrow and see if you can learn anything from the local merchants in the morning. Or you two can go see if you can find the others. They should be at an inn close to the other gate. Sound like a plan?"
Kal and Ragnar nod in agreement and head back to the room. Bending over so that only Surin can hear him Harp whispers "Ok, you move around and see what you can hear. I am going to go be the life of the party, at least for a while. Try and see if any one pays special attention to me as well as what others are talking about." The 1/2 orc winks at the halfling "What I do in the service of my god." At that Harp stands and moves towards the largest crowd in the bar.
OODM: Ok I will send Kevin and Ashley info on what they found out. Tomorrow I will write up Josh and Jason as they go about town. I will also write up Derek and Porter.
Mund and Ally go drinking, the next morning
Subject A night of drinking
Stumbling back to his room, Harp tries to keep all of what he learned straight. Prices going up, taxes going up, new people moving into the town, rules enforced stricly and harshly, ID's for most everybody. Those passes they had were probably going to have to stay around.
Harp arrives at the room, seeing the sleeping form of Ragnar and Kal meditating on his bed. He nods to Kal and then crawls into his own bed to get a little sleep. He had not needed much in the past weeks, but he probably would need some now.
From: Mark
Subject Mund and Ally go drinking
Mund and Allistair watch as Ranthir and Salix head up to the room. Ally sends a thought to his familiar that the two would be there soon and to not be worried. The small snake sends back the image of a fat mouse and the snake swallowing the mouse followed by the snake sleeping contentedly for several days. Ally grins and sends a thought of approval. Turning to Mund he says "Ok are you ready to get hammered?" Mund grins and the two head out into the bar proper.
The two do not even hear Salix and Ranthir when they go down for breakfast. It is almost noon when Salix starts to wake them. "Ran is downstairs having lunch. He has seen Kal and Ragnar but not made contact with them yet. You two should get up and have some food. When the others get here we can report in and see what we want to do." It takes the mage and the barbarian about half an hour to get up and make themselves presentable. Throbbing headaches make wince when a noise is too loud or when the bright sun hits one of them in the eye, but they stumble down the stairs in time to get a full lunch.
Ranthir had gotten one of the larger tables and when the four were about done eating, Ragnar and the other three walk into the dinning area.
OODM: I am sending out more info to people and then you can role play the party getting back together.
From: Karl
Subject A night of drinking
Why were Ragnar and Kal sharing a sleeping form, and why was it meditating on Harp's bed?
From: Porter
Subject Mund and Ally go drinking
As soon as Mund has some food in him, he says "Did you say something about Ran seeing Kal and Ragnar? Why haven't we made contact with them? Let's make contact and discuss what we've learned."
From: Derek
Subject Mund and Ally go drining
Ally wakes up late with a headache, but it's nothing that he can't handle. Getting hit by that mandrake or those demon bugs and then falling from a tree was definately worse. Allistair gets a quick bite to eat before he goes up into the room to begin memorizing his spells. He tells Mund and the others to be sure that no one disturbs him while he is doing so, since he doesn't want it known what his real profession is. He also tells them he'll talk about what he learned last night after he is done.
OOC: Mark, do we have any pearls left over for an ID spell? If not, we'll need to do some shopping, perhaps discreetly, so that Ally can ID these city passes.
From: Mark
Subject Mund and Ally go drinking
I do not know if any one has any pearls left. Ally would have to ask the other characters.
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
After Allistair finishes memorizing his spells, he gets some lunch and joins the others. "I hear that we've found the others? Then we need to find a place where all of us can get together privately and talk. Do we want to all be in the same inn so that we can have privacy a bit more easily?"
From: Porter
Subject The next morning
Is there enough space in our room for everybody to fit in and talk?
From: Mark
Subject The next morning
Umm, Ragnar, Harp, Kal and Surin at at the Leaky Mug for lunch. They just showed up.
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
Allistair asks everyone of they would like to have lunch up in their room so they can have some privacy.
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
OOC: Sorry, I'm getting some lag between sending and receiving.
IC: "I think everyone can fit if we don't mind sitting on the beds. We can have a table brought up for the food, and I don't think the tavern keeper will care as long as we pay for everything."
From: Kevin
Subject The next morning
Harp saw Ragnar's form on Ragnar's bed (since he was covered with sheets) and Kal meditating on Kal's bunk since Kal does not have to sleep - he meditates.
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
The original phrasing was kind of strange though. I didn't think it was *that* kind of campaign. ;)
From: Karl
Subject The next morning
Ah, gotcha.
From: Mund
Subject The next morning
Mund gestures everybody to follow his brother up to their room, and then as the last person in, closes the door.
"Well, it's good to see that y'all made it in OK. Have you guys learned anything? Last night Alley and I tried to drink our way to information, but it didn't work too good. It looks like the Mayor is probably behind whatever's going on here. Since he became mayor a couple of years back, Bodentown has been growing, and all these rules have cropped up. It sounds like the Mayor also has a secret enforcement squad which makes people dissapear at night. We really don't want to piss off the Mayor until we know what we're doing.
From: Mark
Subject The next morning
Karl has been hoping though. :)
From: Allistair
Subject The next morning
OOC: I only sent this to Porter, I meant to send it to everyone.
IC: Allistair nods in agreement with Mund. "I was able to find a little about magic users in this town. It turns out that magic users are few here, and not trusted. Since I'm literate, I passed myself off as a scribe, and will continue to do so. I also suggest to Kal that he doesn't make known his arcane abilities. Since he fights well too, that shouldn't be a problem. There has been similar problem for priests and their temples here. The mayor started levying exorbitant taxes against all the temples in the town. As such, all temples and organized diety worship has either left Bodentown or gone underground."
"Anyway, as Kal may have also noticed, there is something magical about these town passes. I can determine exactly what they are, but I need one of these 100gp pearls like I used to ID all the loot from the ill-fated caravan we came across. Does anyone have one of those pearls left? With these magical passes and the discrimination against magic users, I fear that someone in the mayor's organization may be a powerful magic user and is using these passes is some way. As such we need to determine exactly what they are for."
If someone has one, Allistair will use it to ID his town pass. If not, then he'll ask if Surin or someone else would be able to go and purchase/procure one.
Allistair continues. "Since it seems that this Mayor is at the heart, or at least head, of what has been happening here, we need as much information as possible on his organization. I was thinking that I could see if they need an experienced scribe. If I could get a position there, access to paperwork at the city offices would give us a lot of information. No matter how secretive their actions may be, if it involves organizing people and their wages then it will show up somewhere in the paperwork."
"Similarly, many of us could probably find employment here as laborers or guards. The closer we can get to the mayor, the sooner we can figure out what is really going on here."
From: Mark
Subject Info check
I have contacted every one with info they found out. Different people got differing quanities and qualities of info.
I would like to see every one check in with the info they got and the group come up with a starting plan.
From: Randy
Subject The next morning
"Ragnar and I were out this morning and learned a little. The town seems to be booming financially. Prices are high compared to what we are used to though. Apparently there are a lot of taxes that the merchants all have to pay." Ranthir scratches his chin and pushes his hair out of his eyes.
"Labourers are in short supply as well which seems odd since there are a lot of new people showing up all the time. It probably wouldn't be hard for some of us to get hired on somewhere. There also seems to be a slave market. To bolster labour I would assume but it could be for other reasons as well. It seems like the mayor is behind the growth of the town over the past year or so. Also, from what folks are saying, those who oppose the mayor seem to be dissappearing."
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
Allistair speaks up briefly, "Did you hear any rumors as to what happens to the dissenters who dissappear? Are they sold as slaves and shipped out? Is there a large jail/dungeon where they all go?"
From: Porter
Subject The next morning
"I've heard the same thing about folks dissapearing, but it's not just people who talk out against the Mayor. People ain't willing to go out at night in groups less than 10 in size for fear of dissapearing themselves."
"Kinda makes you wonder what's happening to all those folks, don't it? Maybe that's what we ought to look at first. We could get jobs and work for a long time without ever getting close enough to anybody to find out what's going on."
From: Derek
Subject The next morning
"So are there press-gangs that abduct people and sell them as slaves or conscript them into military service? Or does something else happen to them?"
From: Porter
Subject The next morning
"Nobody knows what happens to them -- they just 'dissapear'."
"You know, if we really want to know what's happening, the simplest way is get ourselves, or some of us, dissapeared ourselves."
From: Kevin
Subject The next morning
Nodding at Salix to get his approval, Harp dismisses that idea. "We might want to wait before we try that. We don't know enough yet.
There seems to be a larger number of fighting types moving into the town, but I don't know why. Maybe Ran, Kal and I can try to find out if they are recruiting or hiring them as mercenaries. If they are being hired, maybe we can get hired on to get a better idea of what is going on.
Maybe Surin can check those of a little more dodgy nature to see how these changes are affecting them.
Did anyone get the name of the mayor? I don't remember hearing it, but he has to have one, doesn't he?"
OOC: Mark when the groups were heading in, did they see any fields for growing food? I thought you said something about when we met the wasps that there were just stumps cut down, the land was not being truly cleared
From: Porter
Subject The next morning
"Everybody just calls him "The Mayor"." I never heard a name.
From: Mark
Subject The next morning
The sections of the woods that had been cleared were not being farmed or converted to farmland.
The some of the land around the town was farm land, but this far north there is a very short growing season. From what was seen there would not be enough to support a town of this size.
A plan takes shape
Subject A plan takes shape
At lunch, Salix addresses the group. "I did find out that almost nothing is grown in or around the town. All produce, and presumably that means feed for the animals and probably most of the animals themselves, are shipped in from elsewhere. That definitely explains some of the high prices.
"I don't understand how a city can function like this, at least for very long. Whatever this Mayor's plans are, it's going to be harder and harder to keep this city viable if the evil that is killing the forest continues to spread."
(OOC - the first paragraph is info from Mark - except he didn't specifically say the part about animals. The second paragraph is Salix's conjecture.)
From: Karl
Subject A plan takes shape
"No more splitting up if we can help it," Salix says. "Whatever force is out there has likely bested the Stormfather, and he was more powerful than any four of us put together. We don't stand a chance if we split up."
Salix, who has looked heartsick ever since arriving, looks even more crestfallen. "I had hoped the Stormfather was silent because he was here undercover somehow. It was foolish to hope that. I have no doubt he has been taken by the Mayor or some force under his control. I only hope we can reach him before . . ." Salix sits heavily, his head in his hands. After a minute, he gets control of himself. "Unless someone has a better plan, then getting ourselves "disappeared" might be the only way we're going to get any information. I doubt the people here are going to be willing to talk openly about their suspicions, not when people are being taken in the night and sold into God knows what."
From: Karl
Subject A plan takes shape
(OOC - Assume my last turn came after this, and add the following)
"Harp, I'm afraid we don't have time to do an extended investigation. As was said, you could work for months as a mercenary and not find out a thing. Or worse, you could be "disappeared" alone simply for asking too many questions. Or at the very least, there's no guarantee you won't get stationed somewhere useless to us. It's more likely you'll be set to do something odious which you will have to refuse. I don't see how you could go a day in this town's army without blowing your cover.
"No, whatever we do, we have to stick together."
From: Ashley
Subject A plan takes shape
"I wasn't able to get a name either, but from what I hear, he's the most powerful mayor this town's ever had. He has a big fine house in town that's protected by a bunch of guards, some of which I've heard are pretty nasty. He doesn't even spend all his time there, either -- he has a another big place a few miles east of town that's got its own set of guards. Those places seem the best bet to find something, we just have to be careful how we approach it. This Mayor guy's bad news, and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if we somehow managed to avoid him completely. Though somehow I don't think that'll happen."
From: Porter
Subject A plan takes shape
"Our group is small enough that we still might get 'dissapeared' even with us all sticking together, if we wandered around at night."
From: Karl
Subject A plan takes shape
"Well we can't just sit here and wait for someone to come tell us what's going on. I don't think we'll get much at all out of the populace. Asking a lot of questions is going to get us 'disappeared' too, so we might as well get it when we're expecting it? Or what do you think about trying to take a look at one of the Mayor's houses?"
From: Josh
Subject A plan takes shape
"Perhaps his goal isn't to run the town, but to sacrafice the town to destroy the druids."
From: Porter
Subject A plan takes shape
"The elf makes sense," Mund says without the usual derision that accompanies the word elf. "Let's stick our noses where they don't belong."
From: Josh
Subject A plan takes shape
"I didn't see much when we walked around town. There were some elves around, but they didn't look to be friends of the nations. Other than that, I wasn't able to learn much."
When they speak of getting captured, Kal speaks up.
"It may be that getting captured is the only way to learn something, but to me it seems a pretty dire method. Why should we rush to it? Let's just stay together, and poke around where we shouldn't. If we figure out something without getting disapeared, all the better. If we get disapeared, nothing lost. Right?"
From: Porter
Subject A plan takes shape
"Why would he want to do that?"
From: Karl
Subject A plan takes shape
"I don't know what the town would have to do with the druids, exactly, but it's clear he is out to eliminate the druids, at least insofar as they are a threat to him. Whether that is his primary goal or not is still unknown. He could be destroying the woods here to lure the druids to destruction, using the town as an expendable tool. He could be destroying the town for some other purpose and only taking the druids that threaten him. He could be destroying both town and woods for some other darker purpose. I don't think we can guess which it is without more information."
From: Kevin
Subject A plan takes shape
"Salix, I agree with Kal and Mund. Just getting ourselves caught serves no purpose. I would rather do this on our terms, at least as far as we can, than on their terms - we don't even know what their terms are yet.
Lets take another day nosing around. A few of us can head to the mercenary guild and see what's happening there. Maybe Surin can make a few contacts with some of the less savory folks in town. These new rules gotta be causing them some stress. Maybe we can take a walk by the Mayor's house and get a feel for the security there.
Did anyone see any body selling any jewels? Allistair was looking for a pearl to he can see about these passes."
From: Derek
Subject A plan takes shape
"Do we want to try something with stealth first? We have various abilities of invisibility, flight, and shape-changing that could perhaps be used to check out the mayor's place."
From: Karl
Subject A plan takes shape
"Well, I'm not seriously suggesting we turn ourselves in. I just think we need to look closer to the source, and that's *going* to arouse suspicion. I don't think this mayor is the type to just sit back and wait to see what we're up to, which is why I'm very worried about us splitting up again. What if Surin simply doesn't come back from his 'poking around'? We'll be right where we are now but with one less man, and Surin could be. . . well, probably nowhere good.
"But I agree we can probably take another day to poke around and see if we can find out anything more specific.
"As for IDing these passes, I'm thinking that's a waste of time and money. We've seen them being checked, so it's unlikely they give off information automatically. They're probably just enchanted to prevent counterfeits. Ally, are you seriously concerned there's more to them, or just curious?"
From: Porter
Subject Big and small
How small can you go with that magicking of yours? Can you turn into a mouse or a fly?
From: Karl
Subject Big and small
"I'm not sure what good my shape-changing will be here. It's likely that an animal of any significant size is going to be more conspicuous than a normal human poking around."
(OOC - Mark, have we seen *any* animals since we got here, besides the wasps? )
From: Karl
Subject Big and small
"I can only take a wild shape that is roughly my own size. Stronger druids than I can be smaller or larger, but I'm still really new at it."
From: Mark
Subject Big and small
I think I mentioned that there were dogs. There are also the common city vermin, rats, mice, cats etc.
What was missing was the large farm animals usually associated with towns, cattle, sheep, goats, etc.
From: Derek
Subject Big and small
Allistair shakes his head. "No, nothing that small. Maybe something as small as a dog, or a large cat."
OOC: By combining reduce person with polymorph, Allistair could make someone two sizes smaller.
From: Porter
Subject Big and small
"A cat maybe could get into places without causing much alarm. Plus, they're nice and quiet."
From: Karl
Subject Big and small
Can Salix change into a large dog? Would it be a conspicuously large one?
Does Wild Shape work if he is reduced by Ally?
From: Mark
Subject Big and small
He can change into a large dog. By game standards the normal dog is a small creature. A riding dog is a medium creature. Examples given are a St. Bernard. They also list Huskey but I think that a Huskey would be a small dog. A medium dog would be a Great Dane, Irish wolf hound, Newfoundland, etc.
Does Ally have reduce person? I know he has enlarge.
let me do some research.
From: Mark
Subject Wildshape
Salix can change in to a normal or medium sized dog. A large dog would stand out very much. It would take up a 10X 10 square.
We have to be careful when we talk about large and small. In D&D, those terms have defined sizes already. So a large dog would actually be a medium creature. A normal dog would be a small creature.
From: Kevin
Subject A plan takes shape
"Well, maybe Kal can go around with Surin, if that would be OK with the two of them. Kal moves as good as any one of us except Surin, he can wield a blade and he can cast enough to get through most problems.
Mund, Ragnar, Ran and I can check out the mercenary guild."
Salix makes a decision
Subject Salix makes a decision
Ragnar learned pretty much the same thing Ran did, having spent the morning with him. He'll be happy to wander over to the mercenaries guild with Harp and the others.
From: Karl
Subject Salix makes a decision
Salix addresses the group. "Fine, Harp, you take Mund, Ragnar, and Ran and see what you can find out from the mercenary guild. But be careful. We don't want you all getting impressed into service for the mayor or something."
He looks at the others. "I think the rest of us should stick together. I'm really uneasy about any of us going off alone and not coming back. You saw all the dead in the streets. Life is cheap here and to them we are nobodies. I think we should take a walk by the mayor's house, and if Surin thinks he can get some info from the rogue population here, we can let him do that as long as we have set a rendezvous place and time. I'd like Kal to go with you, Surin, if that's possible. Ally and I can try to see if we can learn anything from the merchants or magic community if there is one. Maybe we can do that by asking where we can get something identified, make like we're looking for magic services rather than trying to hook up with colleagues."
(OOC - Mark, if you need everyone to agree with this, say so. If no one objects, then that's what Salix decides.)
From: Mark
Subject Salix makes a decision
I would like everyone to chime in if they are agreeable to this plan. This will let me know that it is ok to go on with the write up.
From: Jason
Subject Salix makes a decision
Sounds good to me.
From: Kevin
Subject Salix makes a decision
Harp is OK with this.
From: Derek
Subject Salix makes a decision
Allistair is fine with it too.
From: Porter
Subject Salix makes a decision
Check.
From: Ashley
Subject Salix makes a decision
Surin's fine with it. :)
From: Josh
Subject Salix makes a decision
Kal's a little uneasy about splitting up, but goes along with the plan.
From: Mark
Subject Salix makes a decision
Karl
I want to be clear on something. The party is only splitting up during the daytime hours? Salix wants all of the party members back to the inn by dark, correct?
From: Karl
Subject Salix makes a decision
Yes, he would have said for them to re-convene at dinner. He would also have the others get a room at this inn, too. He'd advise them to get the room separately and to return for dinner separately with little if any acknowledgement that they were all together*, then after dinner they should all re-gather in this room.
*The idea is to make it hard for the casual observer to see them as a party.
From: Randy
Subject Salix makes a decision
Check.