F is for Friends (Way of the Wicked Campaign Journal)

[AkbarTheGreat]

We started a campaign of Way of the Wicked last week, and after talking with my group we want to continue all the way through if we can, I believe one of the best ways to keep us motivated would be to tell our story. I intend to tell this more like a short story/novella in comparison to a traditional campaign journal. I think it will allow the characterization and feel of the game to come through better than simply summarizing the best parts of the action, though I will do those at the end. This first post is nothing more than character introductions and the basis for the introduction to the plot. I will post the first act itself later tonight/tomorrow morning.

For those unfamiliar with Way of the Wicked, it is an evil campaign where the PCs start in prison after committing a crime and must escape, and then slowly rise through the ranks of an evil organization, so for those of you who have never done/seen an evil campaign, here is your chance as well. We play on Saturdays normally, so hopefully I can update once a week or so after we play.

The players and their crimes (some have fleshed themselves out more than others at this stage)

A Vanaran unarmed fighter named Rafiki, mastered in (you guessed it) Monkey style, end goal is lots of intimidate, poison/bleed damage, charge attacks, and using his racial ability to climb to get surprise attacks. Will multiclass a ton to make this happen. He's played by the newest player to our group, but is played well and RPd well. His crime was multiple murders for people trespassing on his property. His one goal is to be left alone by any means possible, and he will do whatever necessary to make that happen.

Human Bard named Aethelred of Wexford, specializing in intimidate/diplomacy, planning to go Noble Scion for cohorts, leadership, and money. Probably the most experienced player and knowledgeable on the game. He's been useless so far in battle really, but once he gets cohorts he'll probably be one of the most powerful. His crime was attempting to cause a coupe in his town to regain his family's stolen nobility.

Goblin Alchemist named Chuffy Choo, who intends to specialize in all things fire/bombs. Good RPer and Good player honestly. Doesn't have much plan for his character in the long run. His characters crime was arson, and he describes his character as "Just wants to burn everything, all the time." He's played it pretty well so far.

Human Rogue named Kenneth Knife (pronounced kuh-nif), specializing in knives/short swords. Committed the crime of fraud, not much in his backstory yet. Plans to go rogue so far as of now. Good IC and good knowledge of the game.

Human Fighter named Maldrecai Blackhall, specializing in THF with the greatsword. He plans to go straight fighter. His crime was that of desertion after his mercenary band wasn't paid. He wants revenge on the men who didn't pay him.

Kitsune Sorcerer named Kami Kazi. This is the character played by the one character who likes to act out a bit. His crime was fraud also, and he's so far played the character as nothing more than a whore, which has honestly helped the group out a fair bit. His bloodline is elemental (Earth).

Now, for the story itself. I will include all of the actions the characters perform, with the only artistic licensing being for area descriptions or things the players obviously couldn't see/know. Feel free to critique the writing style or ask questions about actual events. I'll try and sum the biggest events up at the end each time in spoilers, though the best things I will make sure are obvious in the story. This first post is a bit short for the obvious reason that this is the part of the story where the plot is set up and the characters have yet to do anything.
------


"You... Are... Forsaken."

Though the cadre of criminals had no connections outside of this filthy cell they found themselves in, those three words repeated constantly in their minds. Chained upwards and together, all they can truly do was have their minds wander; what better place to return than to the last words they heard before each of their lives were truly over? No matter who was selected, each could look up or across and see blazoned on their own arms (or the arms of their "friends") the runic F that would now forever be their reminder that not only were they wicked, irredeemable, lost in the eyes of Mitra, but that they were foolish enough to get caught.

As soon as the guards left them, they did what any criminal might do, look for means of escape. However, this was no ordinary prison, this was Branderscar. This was the impenetrable and inescapable fortress built specifically to house the most evil of all Talingarde. It was quickly obvious that there was no escape from these walls, their new destiny simply to rot in this cell or soon be placed beneath the executioner's blade.

Resigned to their fates they began to speak, if only a little, of their crimes and misdeeds.

"I am no criminal," spoke a man on the far right. It was quite clear he was of a different class than the rest of the men here, his accent and his demeanor made that as obvious as their situation.

"I simply wished to regain my rightful place among the nobility."

Next in turn was a much stronger looking man, "If you are no criminal than neither am I. I was a mercenary and my clients did not pay me like they promised. So, I left them, in the middle of battle. Such a shame they still won. I fully intend to find them again someday and pay them back myself."

A Goblin on the far left spoke up, "Fire is pretty. This place could be so pretty."

The lone woman stuck in the middle simply darted her eyes back and forth, she sighed before saying, "I guess none of us are criminals, I tried to take money from a tyrant to help the poor of my town."

The wiliest looking of the bunch spoke up immediately after her, "Oh, I did the same as her. Tyrants and money for poor people."

The girl looked down to the thing on the far left of her. As strange as she was she had never seen such a creature. She could only describe him as a cross between a monkey and an ugly human, an orc and a gorilla maybe, it had a huge mane and a short tail, but her tongue moved faster than her head,
"What did you do, baboon boy?"

The Vanaran shifted his gaze to her for one brief instant, a look of murderous intent, only to respond with nothing as his eyes returned to his arms above him.

There they stood, a group of misfits and outcasts, doomed to death or servitude. Some felt they had been wronged, some felt they had not truly done evil, but the one aspect they all shared was what would bind them together in their cause. They each knew, one way or the other, they belonged there.
-------

After a few hours the misfits were interrupted by a cacophonous sound, the obvious noise of several heavily armored men walking up the stairs and towards them. The door to their room opened and ten fully armored men with halberds entered with two people in their center.

The first was a man, average height with a bit of a stomach, black hair and mustache with feint circles beneath his eyes from a lack of sleep. He carried himself with a false sense of importance and with the holy symbol of Mitra on his chest proudly. This was the head of the guard, this was someone that each of the criminals knew far too intimately, this was the man who's three words were forever lodged in their heads, the man who physically marked them not hours before; this was Thomas Blackerly and the mere sight of him caused a rage to burn within each of them as red hot as the F brand he had use on them earlier that day.

To his side was a woman of indelible beauty. She dressed as if for a
funeral, with a white veil that began on her face, but quickly was removed and used to dab tears from her eyes. She had long blonde hair, nearly silver, an hourglass shape, and skin as pale as one might expect of a corpse instead of a person walking around.

She pointed to the nobleman, "That is him, that is my dearest."

Thomas Blackerly looked at him with disdain, "Lucky you, prisoner! You have a visitor, and I have no idea what you did to get one so beautiful."

He was escorted to a nearby room where only he, Blackerly, and the woman resided.

"Please, Thomas," the woman began, touching the guard captain's shoulder with the caress of a lover, "Might I and my dearest be allowed to have some time alone?"

As if a recording, Thomas repeated in monotone, "Time alone," and walked outside the room.

The door shut and the woman's face and demeanor changed immediately from a look of sorrow and anxiety to a wicked smile of confidence.

"Hello, my dearest Aethelred, we do not have much time so I shall make this as quick as I can. I am Tiadora, and you will do well to remember my name. We possess a mutual friend who would like to have a palaver with you and your fellow cell-mates. However, he is a man of great importance and thus unwilling to meet you in your current accommodations. So, simply put, you must escape. Do not worry, though it has never been done before does not mean that you lot cannot be the first. If you are able to get out, cross the moors outside of town to the old Moor Road. There you will see a manor with a single burning lantern in the second story, that is where our mutual friend resides. That is all I can say. He did, however, wish me to give you this."

She took her veil and tossed it to the noble, as he caught it his mind ran with questions that his mouth was able to convert just as quickly, "Mutual friend? I have no idea who you even are, let alone who would want to break us from prison? And what is a glorified handkerchief supposed to do for me?"

The woman, clearly perturbed at his questions and anxious to leave, replied shortly, "How could you forget me dearest? And our friend who you will see soon enough?"

With that question the door opened, Thomas entered and spoke with a voice that the prisoners were more accustomed to, "I am sorry, ma'am, but it is time to go."

Her face and demeanor reverted back to the barely-stable and grief stricken woman from before, she replied while leaving, "Thank you, Sir Thomas, you are such a dear friend. There is no need to search my dearest." She touches Aethelred on the face with her hand and he nearly winced from the cold of her touch.

As she exited, Blackerly's eyes light up and he smiled before bowing, "Anything for you, M'lady." His eyes then clearly focused on her backside as she walked out of the room.

She was placed in the midst of the guards again as the noble was escorted to his cell and shackled once more.

She left looking at each of the prisoners before flashing a brief, yet supremely wicked, smile. In each of their minds, next to those of Thomas Blackerly, the words "Three days," flashed and burned themselves into their psyches. They know that would be when their time would be up. All of the guards and Blackerly left without so much as a word, shutting the door behind them, leaving the fate of Branderscar's storied history up to what they thought was no more than a group of six misfit criminals.

-----

In a darkened room lit only by the light of his spell, a bald man clutching a silver symbol of Asmodeus watched on intently and smiled.


If anyone knows of a better way to format, do let me know, I had this formatted in word and posting it it on the boards just looks ugly to me, but I have no idea how to make it look better honestly, even after tinkering with a bit of it, just assume every space is simply meant as a new indented paragraph/line.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Part two is now done. It's way longer than I intended it to be, but so much fun stuff happened in it, as you guys will see. I'll summarize the main action (and my comments on the group so far) at the end. For now here is the beginning of what I hope to be a very long and fun (evil) campaign.

I apologize for any spelling/grammar problems. Normally I write, then wait a day and read it again (or have a friend check for mistakes), but today was also much busier than I thought would be, so I just finished it and quickly skimmed it so this topic wouldn't be forgotten.



The Nobleman, used to speaking before being asked, didn't even wait for a question, "I have no clue who, or what, she was. All I know is she and someone else want us out."

The other criminals looked at each other with surprise, none of them knew anyone who wanted them out, let alone with the resources to do it.

"And how are they supposed to get us out?"

Aethelred held up the silken veil, "Somehow with this."

Chuffy Choo's eyes lit up, "Ooh, Pretty silk. Let Chuffy see."

Aethelred reluctantly handed the veil to the goblin, he saw nothing that could be harmed from it. Within seconds the goblin had managed to figure out the magic of the veil, as if a natural in the arcane arts. He first was drawn to the design of his own, chemicals and reagents for bombs and fire, next to the tools of a thief, and before the rest of the group had even noticed, his manacles were undone and he was rifling through the rest of the magic of the veil, as the others hung in front of him.

After mixing a few of his most basic components into his favorite combinations for weak bombs, he noticed the others staring at him intently. He undid their chains as well within a few minutes before speaking to himself, "Lady must like me. She gave me fire. This place will be so pretty before I leave."

"So, what do we need to do to get out from here?" The mercenary asked.

"I have no clue, honestly," the Nobleman replied.

As the rest of the misfits began to converse on a plan to escape, the goblin walked to the door and unlocked it with the same tools to do their manacles. The Vanara, seeing the door open, simply walked out of the cell. He looked to his right and saw an enormous metal door. He walked to it and opened the door slowly.

"Come to kill me finally, lil' ones? About time," A boisterous, yet clearly weakened, voice said.

The Vanara showed no fear and inspected the sound of the voice and noticed immediately that they were not alone in the prison.

Grumblejack turned around to see that the guards were not who had opened the door, but he was not the first to speak.

"You have a potion, yes?" The Vanara said to the goblin, who was still playing with the veil, checking it for anything else. "Let me have it," he finished.

The goblin tossed him the potion without thinking. Rafiki walked to Grumblejack, who he could see was clearly beaten and injured, he even had bumps on his forehead, and dropped to his knees while holding the potion towards him in both hands. The Ogre was taken aback, but was smart enough to recognize a potion from his time ransacking merchants, the very crimes that got him here.

"Thank you, lil' one, but why do you help me?"

"We all need to get out of here alive, more help the better. I do not think you can help us now though, will you wait for my call? It will sound like this."

Rafiki pursed his lips in a way that no human could and made a high pitched sound that was very difficult for humans, but not he or the Ogre, to hear.

"It will be louder when I do it."

Grumblejack nodded, "As long as I get to bash the men who put me here." Rafiki smiled, bowed, and shut the door to leave only a small crack open.

Within a few moments the plan was hatched, an ingenious one considering the tools they had at their disposal, the Kitsune would do her best to look as the woman from before, taken hostage by a criminal, and the rest would be up to the other players.

-----
The guards outside the cell were just done switching posts, they had hardly gotten settled when they heard a yell inside. They flung the door open only to see the gorgeous woman from before standing in front of them, with one of the criminals holding her. The nearest guard, Stephen Forelight, charged at them to get her free, whereas his partner, Lucas Anders, hung just inside the entrance to the door, ready to blow his horn if he saw much more trouble.

Before Stephen had even finished his charge, Rafiki had jumped from his hiding place above the door, knocking Lucas to the ground, Knife had come in and finished the job, knocking him out cold. With the reinforcements unable to be notified, the Kitsune transformed back to herself with a smile, before shooting a ray of elemental energy that severely wounded the guard. The Mercenary finished the job, knocking him out as well. Rafiki made a sound that was a mixture between a high pitched whistle and a primal yell, and the steel door holding Grumblejack flung open with a bang, he was ready to fight.

As he surveyed the area he responded like a child losing a turn with a new toy, "I guess the next ones."

The criminals tied the guards up in their own manacles and placed them inside the steel door before locking it, no worry of them coming back to haunt them.

With their floor all to themselves the group decided against strategy and concluded brute force would get them out of the situation, a grave error that would only be saved by their new ally, and a bit of luck.

They burst down the steps and into the hallway, Grumblejack in the lead, the furthest guard blew his horn immediately and the criminals knew fighting truly was the only way out. Within moments the nearest guard was dead, but the horn blowing guard had opened the door to run after being hit by a ray of magic that had slayed his friend. In the process he nearly ran over his own reinforcements, who entered the fray immediately.

The injured guard, stopped by his own allies, was shot from behind and finally fell to the ground. The criminals, in a stroke that could only be described as a ingeniously ignorant stratagem, decided that instead of heading to the new enemies, they should open all the doors in the hallway in an attempt to hide or ambush them from a better vantage point. With each door they opened only revealing new enemies, the numbers no longer favored them, the tally was now six guards and two dogs.

However, all hope was not lost. The majority of the new guard was caught unaware, they had no armor nor their usual weapons. Instead, they had grabbed whatever was near them as they ran to help in their sleeping clothes, bumping into each other in their attempts.

The criminals split their forces, the Alchemist, Noble, and Grumblejack staying behind as the Kitsune, Mercenary, Vanara, and would be assassin went to the double doors to the north to intercept incoming attackers, it was not seconds that they realized the error of their ways, as Grumblejack, bored stuck in the back lines, ran off in search of "That damned Blackerly," and Aethelred and Chuffy Choo tried to continue the exploration of the compound, away from the Ogre or their group. They stumbled upon the kitchen, where the servants hid in the corners with knives pointed outward, clearly hearing the commotion. The two laughed and returned to the hall, to see that the mercenary was lying on the ground, bleeding out, just outside the doors, with guard dogs coming after Kami Kazi and Rafiki.

The guard who had let out the dogs made a bolt for the gatehouse in an attempt to get Blackerly and more reinforcements, who no doubt were so drunk or far away that they did not notice the horn. The Vanara had other plans. He bolted after the man, a guards sword in hand, and cut the guard's legs off from the knees down as he attempted to climb the ladder to the next floor. The kitsune, in no shape to continue herself, fired a bolt of energy at one of the dogs and was lucky enough to scald it so severely that it ran in fright. The second dog began to come after her, but the assassin was waiting for just this moment and struck it, severely injury its leg. It too then ran to hide.

The off duty guards in the barracks were making their way out of the room, bottlenecked by the door, just as Grumblejack returned. "Blackerly's gone. I'll crush these lil' ones instead."

The most foolish guard charged at him head on, no armor and merely a longsword. The Ogre was happy to show him his folly, hammering him so hard that his arm clearly broke from the hit. The middle guard, stuck between the dead man standing in front of him, and the equally unarmored man behind him, simply froze in terror.

The goblin popped his head in the door, smiled and spoke one word, "Hi!" before throwing a small bomb at the middle man. The bomb exploded, all but burning him to the bone as he fell to the floor, and the heat of the flames caused the already injured guard to fall. The final guard, not so lucky to die quickly, slammed the barracks door and barricaded it as Grumblejack began to knock, quietly at first, taunting the guard, before tearing it down in the end to find him hiding in the corner. He walked up to him as the guard pleaded for his life. Grumblejack laughed, "No quarter," Before picking him up by his head with both arms, then crushing his skull between his hands.

The goblin followed, bouncing around the corpses with no worry as he casually checked every locker in the room. At the bottom of the recently dead guard's bed lay a slightly ajar chest. The goblin picked the lock easily before finding a small batch of cookies. He popped one in his mouth just as casually as he had thrown the bomb that had killed two men not seconds before. He looked down at the dead guard, "Good cookies!" before giving the corpse a thumbs up and following the ogre back to the hall.

While this was happening, the mercenary was bleeding out and if not for the swift death brought by Grumblejack and Chuffy Choo, he very well may have died there in their escape. Howeve,r the Goblin, seeing the area was seemingly safe now, decided another body might be useful, ran to him and fed him one of his recently made potions. He was up and moving, but hardly in shape for a fight, let alone for what was left in the prison.



-------
With the group now standing, if barely, they did their best to secure the inner garrison. In the process able to get into the armory and find a few weapons and armor themselves. They then interrogated the servants, who with almost no provocation, were more than happy to reveal everything they knew: the guards treated them terribly, especially Blackerly, and that the warden was a failure of a man who only reached his position because of his family. They knew the other rooms were locked with a key Blackerly had and found that the reason Blackerly had not come to the fight is most likely that they were having a card game and drinking.

At the moment the Vanara came into the room, eating a raw potato from the garden and holding a few leaves carefully in his hand, "Belladonna," he said, chewing on the vegetable, "Grumblejack said they used it on him."

The Kitsune immediately had an idea, taking the clothes from the servants and disguising herself as best she could, she had the Vanara put the poison in three drinks before heading towards the party.

She breathed heavily, putting on her mask, before heading into the room with a smile. The guards and Blackerly looked up at her before letting out an enormous cheer, "MORE DRINKS!" Blackerly yelled. They then began talking and hooting in such a way that she could not even hear her own thoughts, let alone for them to hear the horn from before. She hoped the warden was the same way.

"Time for the show," she whispered to herself, before adding ale from the nearby keg to the poison she had brought in with her. She turned and saw a key hanging from Blackerly's neck on a chain. That must be what she was looking for.

"You look so tense, might I bring this to you and loosen up your shoulders a bit?"

She looked Blackerly dead in the eye, and for what seemed like an eternity he said nothing. Finally, the silence broke, as he smiled and yelled, "For a pretty lass like you? With booze? You can do as you wish to me."

The other guards smiled and hollered.

"Then maybe I will," the servant in disguise replied, setting his drink down next to him, as she straddled his lap looking straight at him in the eyes. She put her arms around his neck, feeling the necklace and gauging his reactions. When he didn't move she began to pull the necklace off, slowly and deliberately, before kissing his neck in the places the necklace was. The noise the guards made muffled any sounds in the entire prison, and they were either so enthralled in her dance (or so drunk) that they didn't notice as she placed the necklace in her cleavage before turning around to stick her backside square in the face of Blackerly. She finished passing out the poisoned drinks from this position, before finally getting up and heading away. As she left, Blackerly smacked her on the ass, which she responded by turning and giving a sexual 'rawr,' almost breaking into her natural kitsune instincts. She left as the guards, particularly Blackerly, downed their poisoned drinks with haste.

She tossed the key to the goblin, who then unlocked the storeroom and a lock box under Blackerly's bed. In the box was an inordinate amount of money, more than the entire prison should have even, and they quickly pocketed it.

Chuffy Choo however did not even notice the money he was being handed. No, his eyes had never left the storeroom after he opened it. He spotted, directly beneath the hanging brands (which were also all stolen by the end of the night) three drums filled to the brim with lantern oil. He was going to make Branderscar his masterpiece.

-------

"And the Warden?"

The two servants again needed very little in the ways of threatening or bribery to give information on their bosses.

"Asleep or studying in his room, as high as he is he would've never heard the alarm. He is a fool anyway, would've let Blackerly handle it."

The Vanara replied, "We should be careful anyway."

The criminals nodded, with the three sneakiest going up the tower to hopefully kill him in his sleep: Chuffy Choo, Rafiki, and Knife.

They reached the second floor and were amazed at his collection of books, a treasure trove of knowledge and wonder. They skimmed over them quickly, with the goblin noticing the value of some, singling them out, before realizing that the vast majority were nothing more than light porn, a few of which were then quickly pocketed as well. After saving anything of value, the light in Chuffy Choo's mind went off, "The first stroke of my brush," he thought in his mind.

They continued their silent ascent, able to get into the warden's room completely undetected, clearly he was a heavy sleeper or drunk. Possibly both.

Before they realized they were each at side of his bed, his left, right, and foot.

"On three," the Assassin whispered, and just as the final number was said, the wizard woke up to the blades coming down on him. A chunk of his arm was gone, his liver punctured, and a hole in his quilt where the goblin was too short to reach him from below. He reached to his night stand, trying to grab anything to help, but the assassin was nearest the stand, and quickly brought down the final blade that would end the warden's life with a whimper, no differently than he lived.

The Vanara looked on as the others searched his room for any valuables (finding his spellbook and a map in his office, and even his college class ring). He grabbed the warden by the hair and, almost too effortlessly, cut off his head to take with him. "For our new boss," he explained, blood dripping on the floor.

As they started to leave they heard a flutter at the window. The three ran and looked as the warden's owl flew off into the night.

"That can't be good," muttered Knife.


------
"Favor, Grumblejack." The goblin spoke shortly.

"Yes, lil' one?"

"Carry something for me?"

The ogre turned his head sideways and saw the intent in the goblin's eyes. He smiled seeing the strange combination of innocence and wickedness.

"Tell the servants to run for town," the Kitsune began, "We may be criminals, but they helped us and hated their bosses, they shouldn't be punished for their crimes, and I have a feeling our friends are going to get their money's worth."


-----
The group rushed for the gatehouse doors and opened them swiftly only to have their escape plan ruined. There stood Blackerly and several men. Though they were clearly drunk, they did not think it would be easy to overcome the numbers. On the floor lay the bodies of the servants who they had told to run mere moments before, Blackerly was positive that it was through their help only that the prisoners escaped. He had killed them more swiftly than the criminals had his own men.

Blackerly picked up his sword, which he found to be strangely heavy, he thought it was the alcohol, maybe even fear, he had no idea that it was the poison now in his blood.

Grumblejack barreled into the room, cutting off half the forces himself. He was able to strike down any who came near. The doors, barred by the large group of criminals, made it hard for anyone in the back to make an attack.

However, the Vanara had a plan. He would run and use his mercenary friend as a stepping stone to leap at Blackerly, a fine idea.

He thought how strange it was that he used the word friend to describe anyone.

He enacted his plan, but as he jumped his foot instead hit the shoulder of his obstacle, and he fell on his back after a flip. He would not let this dismay him, as he quickly switched to all fours, crawled between the Ogre's legs, and struck at the guards ganging up on him from his Monkey style position.

The goblin hurled bombs, the mercenary and assassin jumped and swung, and it was quickly apparent that these men were ruthless killing machines. Even had the guard not been poisoned and drunk they would've stood no chance.

As Blackerly saw his men slowly fell, the realization came to him; even if he somehow won this fight, his warden was dead, most of his men were dead, he would surely be punished for this. He dropped to his knees as words from the Noble, his first real actions in the fight, rang out, "Guards, your captain has forsaken you! Give up now and I promise you will not be harmed from here. Keep your swords and arrows aimed at us and you will die!"

The guard's faith, in their leader and in Mitra, gone threw their weapons to the ground.

Grumblejack grew furious, "I WILL KILL THEM ALL!"

Rafiki grabbed the ogre's arm, nearly the size of his entire body, "Hold, friend. He did not promise to spare Blackerly, he will die by your hand."

Blackerly's eyes grew as quickly as the Ogre's smile, "The lil' Blackerly, not hitting me. No more poison. Deal."

They all, however, turned to Aethelred for confirmation. He sighed with a reluctant smile, "I did not promise Blackerly this deal. Do with him as you wish."

Given the go ahead, Grumblejack walked towards the guard captain, "Please!" he yelled, "I'll pay you, I have more money than you've ever seen! I promise, just spare me!"

"Hold a moment!" the noble yelled, curious if there was, in fact, even more money. He knew returning to his noble position would not be cheap.

The kitsune started to laugh, and quickly donned the form of the servant from before, "Oh, big boy, you mean the one under your bed that was locked with this key?" She held up the necklace with his key that was now around her neck.

Blackerly's mouth dropped, knowing he no longer had any leverage, but he tried anyway, "I can seek pardons! I can help you escape! I can.."

"Shut your mouth, Blackerly. You can pardon us no sooner than you can undo these scars you have given us. And from my view escape is not our problem," the noble said, interrupting his plea.

Grumblejack smiled, grabbed him with one arm and flung him over his shoulder. He then took his free arm and threw the iron bar that had locked the door open with no effort, his strength returning already now that the poisonous belladonna was leaving his system.

The group followed Grumblejack, not wanting to miss whatever he was about to do to Blackerly. Yes, Blackerly had harmed them, had cursed them to a fate worse than death in this land, but what he had done to Grumblejack was far more than they would ever wish to know.

As they reached the gate, the guard inside saw six prisoners armed to the teeth, with his boss hung over Grumblejack's shoulder, and quickly leapt into the water to avoid a similar fate. The group stood at the gate as Grumblejack put Blackerly on his feet in front of it.

"Hey, where's the short guy?" Knife said, noticing the goblin missing.

"No idea," Maldrecai replied, "Missing the most fun of the night is all I know."

Grumblejack dusted off Blackerly's uniform, tidied him up very well in fact; so much so that he was almost hopeful that it was all a joke and they were going to let him go.

Then Grumblejack picked him up, turned him upside down and pushed him, slowly, into the gate. It was then that they all had realized what he was doing. The barbed wire, the two to three inch steel spikes that stuck out every so often on the gate to keep children and others out (or in) was being used to skewer Blackerly alive, not quickly, but slowly, painfully, and very much messily. Grumblejack then pushed upwards on Blackerly's still breathing body and through sheer force opened the gate from the outside using his body as a holding point. Blackerly now hung, if not dead already, soon to bleed out, on the gate of his own prison.

"It's missing something," said Rafiki.

Grumblejack's face showed signs of curiosity as Rafiki jumped up on his shoulder, pulled out a knife, and again cut the man's head off, before throwing it in one of the many bags they had gotten from the storeroom. "For the one who made all this possible."

It was about this moment that a large explosion went off behind them and a fireball went off in the sky. Then, about thirty seconds later, another, and fifteen more, a final one. The Goblin began running down the path to meet them, smiling from ear to ear and laughing like a child. "Bombs go boom! Oil go boom! Most pretty place in Talingarde now!"

The group immediately collected themselves to run, knowing this would wake up the town. The goblin stopped and turned around to watch his masterpiece, for that night at least, before being grabbed by Grumblejack and flung over his shoulder as they ran to the Moore Manor.

The inescapable Branderscar, the most notorious prison in the history of Talingarde, turned to nothing more than a pile of ash by a group of misfit criminals.





Basically, what happened in game was pretty simple. The group came up with a great plan to escape initially, then became extremely hasty and ignorant.

Once they escaped their cells they basically tried to run straight from there, and in the process caught attention of most of the guards who were still up. Not only did they alert the guards in the hallway (room 8 for anyone with the module/pdf), but when the guards blew the horn they instead started opening and exploring as many doors as they could find, during the fight. I wish I were making that up.

Not only that, they got in the way of Grumblejack nearly every time, to the point I just had him go off looking for Blackerly because he couldn't do anything, and when he came back half the party was down or nearly dead. I had to pull a little DMPC Bs'ing, mostly on who Grumblejack attacked, to keep the PCs alive, but the module even says be extremely lenient here at the beginning.

From there they explored and ransacked the place, slowly and smartly, and Kami Kazi and Knife disguised themselves as servants (with enormously good rolls and modifiers anyway) and then Kami Kazi's player not only RP'd the hell out of his character giving Blackerly a lap dance as a distraction for getting the key and poisoning them, but also rolled a 20 on his bluff check. Blackerly also failed nearly every save he had against the poison. All in all they only missed about 200gp worth of stuff.

They then snuck up to the tower to kill Mathias (again, nearly perfect rolls) and killed him in a turn and a half before he could even act. I had the Owl alert the rest of the prison for them to not be able to just walk out of the place without a climactic battle.

From there the final fight wasn't so bad, Aethelred was able to intimidate (which I allowed due to him having numbers, killed their boss, and they were drunk/poisoned, on top of his huge modifiers) Blackerly, and then as Blackerly begged for his life and the outcome was obvious, he offered a truce if they quit. He's Lawful, and it's actually IC for him, and seeing all the people dead/dying, and their boss pretty much wetting himself, made a lot of sense for the guards to take the deal.

From there, the idea of using the oil drums and mixing his explosives in to make the fire bigger was all Chuffy's player's idea. He poured oil all over the library and had a drum setting in the 2nd floor, one in the gatehouse, and one in the main storeroom, and they burned the place down. (with a few tied up/passed out guards inside)

For those of you familiar with the module, you'll notice I left out the encounter with Lashtongue, the Giant Frog. This was because the PCs killed him in one turn and got to the Moore Manor very easily. Being 6 of them (and Grumblejack) I'll have to up a lot of the encounters, though the Horn of Abaddon and the Watch Wall won't be helped much even with 20 of them. I'm very excited to see how they handle those places.

We play Saturday morning, and Act II is probably the shortest act in terms of action in the entire campaign. I'll do my best to get more updated next week.

Any comments/critiques/questions/Advice/etc. feel free to chime in. I'm always open to comments about DM'ing and gaming, as well as writing. Hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far.

[GoldenGecko]

Hello all, Rafiki here.

You got some info from the DM, now a little bit of clarification as one of the players.

First of all, we intentionally waited until nightfall before doing anything particularly crazy, and the reason for our initial haste was manifold
A) we had reason to suspect that Brackerly and a good deal of guards were currently occupied in drink (which turned out to be the case)
B) we had no idea when the guardshift would occur
C) we had just taken out two guards unarmed and unarmored with little to no fuss, *without* our giant of a friend; there was little reason to think that we would have a problem with the guards' gear, so I bid us onward.

The problems we had were literally because of players unwittingly standing *right in the middle* of a 3 tile exitway, blocking Grumblejack (2x2) from being able to get at anything. The team, in effect, handled the encounter without Grumlejack's help except for the end in dealing with three unarmored, relatively unarmed guards, and we only had one person fall (made his save to stop bleeding out, too). At the last encounter, a basically full-health Grumblejack tanked everything and everyone :V

Nobody fell for the rest of the session, though there were a few other close calls. The only time I felt we were in danger was when the guard was running (presumably to get help), and as you saw in the story, I was quick to nip that problem in the bud; beyond that, I never felt we were legitimately at risk for a TPK.

[Mad Owl]

Chuffy Choo here,

In my defense for the party screwups, i only opened one door which turned out to be pretty important yet i decided to ignore it and it has a total of 0 gaurds in it, i also saved our great weapon fighter and killed lashtongue in two hits.

And Talingarde has never seen such a beautiful piece of art in at least a few centuries, i feel that this has been my breaktrough and i will release more pieces in the future.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Just figured I'd give you guys an update. We played yesterday all the way through act II. What I assumed would be a 3/4 hour session turned into 9 hours. So we have a whole lot to cover, including a failed attempted poker game with the White Ravens, our Kitsune smart mouthing Cardinal Thorn and nearly getting killed, and our Vanara befriending (yes befriending) the Vampiric Mist in the Nine Lessons. This will be a fun one to write.

[MrRhin]

Ouch.
Now that is quite the shift in estimated time.
Sounds like you guys had a blast though! Gonna be fun to read the details when they come up.

Hopefully, you managed to play the White Ravens out of all their belongings ;3

[Darkz0r]

Good read, keep it up!:):smallcool:

[GoldenGecko]

If you thought the first act was good, I believe you will not be disappointed with what is to come; some people in the group (*cough cough* me *cough*) were/are inexperienced, so the second act actually ended up a lot smoother and arguably more immersive than the first one had been as things progressed. *I* am certainly looking forward to the writeup, and I already know what happened.

To fill the timespan between postings with something of interest :

My character's name wasn't originally to be Rafiki, but Kesari. This lasted all of five minutes before, when I was offering the potion to the ogre, the kitsune laughingly pointed out that all he could envision was Rafiki (Lion King) holding out a baby lion. I immediately petitioned the DM to allow a rename and, thus, "Rafiki" was born.

Further, when the kitsune was looking for a name, I immediately tried to find as ironic a Japanese name as possible and offered them to mixed success. They were all pushed to the side when somebody else jokingly mentioned Kami Kazi though -- an immediate success with the results fairly obvious -- but I managed to get my wish anyway; Kami Kazi means ~Divine Wind, and with her bloodline being that of an Earth Elemental, many a nerdy snicker has been had in secret.

[MrRhin]

If you thought the first act was good, I believe you will not be disappointed with what is to come; some people in the group (*cough cough* me *cough*) were/are inexperienced, so the second act actually ended up a lot smoother and arguably more immersive than the first one had been as things progressed. *I* am certainly looking forward to the writeup, and I already know what happened.

To fill the timespan between postings with something of interest :

My character's name wasn't originally to be Rafiki, but Kesari. This lasted all of five minutes before, when I was offering the potion to the ogre, the kitsune laughingly pointed out that all he could envision was Rafiki (Lion King) holding out a baby lion. I immediately petitioned the DM to allow a rename and, thus, "Rafiki" was born.

Further, when the kitsune was looking for a name, I immediately tried to find as ironic a Japanese name as possible and offered them to mixed success. They were all pushed to the side when somebody else jokingly mentioned Kami Kazi though -- an immediate success with the results fairly obvious -- but I managed to get my wish anyway; Kami Kazi means ~Divine Wind, and with her bloodline being that of an Earth Elemental, many a nerdy snicker has been had in secret.

Hah. Now that made me laugh.
Bonus point for creativity. Heh.
Makes me want to draw up that absurd Ogre/Lion king scene. *Makes mental note for the future*

[AkbarTheGreat]

Here is a fraction of the update before I finish the rest tonight. I figured it being split into parts would be better also, the set up, then the action.

Using the map that the misfits were able to take from the warden of Branderscar, finding their way through the moores was the least difficult part of the night. They arrived as the sun was just beginning to rise, to a sight that would soon become all too familiar, that of the beautifully evil Tiadora. In this instance, however, she wore a bright green gown of silk in place of the black funeral dress that they saw her in previously.

"It took you long enough, dearest," she began with no attempt to hide her disdain now, "and you are all so unclean. Pity, the master will have to wait longer."

She clapped her hands and ten slaves, each in excellent physical shape, appeared behind her with haste. It was quite obvious these people were charmed as Blackerly had been, only to a further extent than the criminals would ever realize. At this point of constant re charming and familiarity, the spells were more akin to a drug to these men and women, and without Tiadora to cast them they would often experience withdrawals that they each would describe as "An overwhelming urge to make my own decisions and to leave this place and never return."

"They will clean you, feed you, and take care of any need. The master will see you this evening, do take care to not be as late for this meeting as you were today. If not for your fireworks show I believe the master would be most displeased."
----

The group was summoned that evening, sans Grumblejack, and with a mixture of excitement, curiousity, and a hint of fear, the group stepped into the office of their Dickensian benefactor, Cardinal Adrastus Thorn. As they entered the room he was sitting longways in a leather chair, his legs hanging over the armrest while looking at the door with a joker's smile. He was a devilishly handsome man by all accounts, a clean shaved head with a fairly long black goatee (but not long enough to be a fu man chu) and dressed in robes that mixed blood red with a black described in Nietzsche's abyss. The one bright object in the room is what he held in his hand, a large symbol of Asmodeus, made of silver, gleaming as he swung it back and forth like a pendulum. As they got closer he turned to sit properly and crossed his legs to sit, his nonchalance in their presence making him all the more unnerving.

"WELCOME!" His first word spoke all around them, booming, but calming at the same time, "I do believe you are the first people to escape Branderscar. That is no easy feat, even with their now lax security measures and a little help from the outside." He winks at this last statement.

"However, you seem as a group that likes to get straight to business, you did after all, insure that not only will people not consider Branderscar safe, but that even a petty thief will not be housed within its walls for years, if ever again after we are finished with Talingarde. Perhaps, we will make it into a monument for your first real action as a team... Ah, I digress," He speaks to them almost as equals at first, but something in every word he says feels undermining and belittling, though it is obvious he is in fact quite proud of their work. Little did the group know how ambivalent the man's very existence even was.

"Let us get down to business, for I did not save you out of kindness. My name is Cardinal Adrastus Thorn and I am the last high priest of Asmodeus left on Talingarde. Once, religious tolerance was widespread and the Prince of Nessus was seated in his proper position next to the other gods, but now that the royal family and sovereign leaders are nothing more than puppets to a Mitran theocracy it has become impossible to worship anyone openly, let alone Asmodeus. It is for this blasphemy that we will destroy Talingarde as it currently exists and raise Asmodeus as the chief deity."

The Cardinal sees a small bit of confusion in the criminals faces at the word "we" in his soliloquy.

"You see, my servants in revolution, I am just as you are," he then pulls up his sleeve revealing his own runic F branded on his arm.

"I intend to take after you, as you burned Branderscar to the ground I wish to burn Talingarde to the ground, and rebuild her into something greater. However, I am unable to do this alone, I need servants, powerful ones, have I found these servants in you?"

The Kitsune breaks the silence quickly, "Let us be very clear, I am not anyone's "servant" and I don't think Rafiki would appreciate being a "servant" either."

Thorn smiles, "My dear, We are ALL servants to the lord Asmodeus, even I," His words seemed to satiate her for the moment.

Each of the group had a similar thought in their minds however. They were nobody's servants, and as happy as they were that Branderscar was now in their past, they did not think that a revolution was equal payment. As if hearing their thoughts he spoke once more, "I can tell you are each... torn on your decision. Let me sweeten the pot for you"

"For Aethelred, I will restore your name and title."

"For Chuffy, I will make you head of my inquisition in charge of burning deceivers and of those who break the law."

"Nobody expects the burning inquisition!" Chuffy began, "Pretty fire and no Prison? Chuffy agrees!"

"For, you, Rafiki, I know you desire solitude. I will give you your own small island"

"However, you two," he nods to Kenneth and Kami Kazi, "You have not seemed to show much interest in certain things as your companions have. Do you seek revenge? Money? Power? Sex? I can give you whatever you desire, within reason of course."

Kenneth speaks up, "There is the guard who arrested me and kept calling me Mr. Knife (correct pronunciation), I guess I should kick his **** in."

Thorn's eyes light up, "Ah, revenge, excellent decision. I will give you his entire family and town if you so wish."

"Can you grant divine wishes?" Kami Kazi asked with a look of strain.

"Hmm, what is it you wish for? Perhaps not divine directly, but we shall see what I can muster."

"I shall take a raincheck on these wishes, now, are you going to twist what I ask for? or are you going to give me what I request in the way I intend it? You are asking a huge favor."

"A huge favor? After I saved you from being killed in prison? After I have offered you power over this nation after the work we will all put in? I did not put forth the effort to get you out of this prison in order to trick you."

Mr Kenneth over there said earlier, "we owe you one" which we do, but this is not a simple "one" you are asking for, I was already dead, I am still dead, to the world, I do not exist, I am a dead woman, I had accepted my upcoming death, my life is meaningless. I am grateful for your help in my escape. But you are not asking for a simple repayment.

He looks at her extremely seriously, this being the first time his smile has fully left his face. "I can most certainly return you to what you were before and forfeit your life if that is your desire."

What you are asking for is the complete destruction of a countries way of life, overthrowing the established monarchy, repressing the reigning religion. You ask for everything, what I am asking, is for my payment for bringing you the world, all I'm asking is if what I will wish for, to not be corrupted and twisted into a way that I did not want it, nor rewarded in a form that I did not intend.

Cardinal Thorn laughs heartily, "I will give you your emotion, Kitsune. That is why I wish for you to be among this group. Here is my final offer, you may take it or leave my manor now. I will give you whatever you ask for when your full task is completed, so long as that it is within my power.

"Very well, I agree."

"So, we are all in agreement! Good! Servants! Bring us the contract! It is traditional to sign in blood."

After a brief discussion of technicalities with Mr. Knife, the contracts are all signed. Thorn smiles again, "It is then the Knot of Thorns begins its journey! However, you still need training. In three days time you will have your first real test, my Nine Lessons. My servants will give you a small stipend to get you things you might need. Until then, live in my manor as lords, so that you might see what it will be like after your task is accomplished.

The group looks at each other with a mixture of emotions, before Thorn says one more things, "Oh, and though you have exceeded my expectations to this point, do not for one moment think that I will grant leniency for failure. If you disappoint or betray me, you will dream of the day that you stayed to your fates in Branderscar. Have a pleasant three days."





You will notice we are one person short. Our favorite Mercenary's player was sick and at the doctor on saturday, but we played on anyway. He should return this week.

Secondly, The discussion between Thorn and Kami kazi is 100% copy and pasted from our discussion IG on roll20. the other players, both IC and out were worried the whole time he was just going to Geas the Kitsune or just kill her outright. Luckily, Thorn knows plenty about all these PC's, as is supposed to happen, so he knew to "put up with her" in a way.

The next update will be split into two sections. First, will be the pre-nine lessons fun. The poker game, and also things the characters did alone, which I will spoiler in hopes that my players will avoid those spots that they shouldn't know about, but that so the reader can still enjoy. Then I will do the full Nine Lessons where the group, dun dun dun, split the party.

Hope this gives you all a quick story fix till I get the rest to my liking.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Sorry for the delay, and the shortness of this post. I got a call last night as I was writing the rest of the last session that I had a job I had applied for a few days ago and that I would start this morning. So, I went to bed as it started at 7 am.

This is the individual exploits of each of the PCs before the Nine Trials. I ask my players not to read a section that isn't something your character should know about. In order they are.

Chuffy
Aethelred
Rafiki
Kenneth Knife


I shall be high inquisitor, with the power and influence to burn non believers of Asmodeus, or even those I deem unworthy of our benefactor's benevolence and new culture. I shall do all of these things free of punishment. I shall make this world a beautiful portrait of flame, of constant and ever flowing energy, of the grace of the phoenix, of the great and slow entropy of the entire universe that can be viewed in its entirety in a few brief moments in the life of a candle. I do these things so that I might teach others of the real meaning of life.

Chuffy opened his eyes as he sat cross legged on his bed, his internal thoughts over. He smiled showing his crooked and yellow teeth at the hundreds of candles he had arranged in his room, all lit. He counted seventeen times, there were 374 of them in total.

"Fire pretty," he said to himself aloud, before closing his eyes once more and returning to his own mind.


"Slave, what can you tell me of the other group here?" Aethelred said to his personal servant.

"Master, all I know is they are the White Ravens, so named for their leader's familiar. There are twins, though one is a bit larger than the other, and one of them has a dark secret, though I know not which. The other is a half elf who likes to fight and drink."

"How did they catch our benefactor's attention?"

"They raided and defiled the tomb of a paladin of some fame. I know nothing else, not even his name."

"Thank you, you shall be freed when I am a lord of this world."

The slave, realizing for a brief moment what that meant, responded simply, "I do not think that would work, sir, I know no other life than this. You can make me your servant if you wish to do me anything, keep me from Tiadora."

The noble nodded, "If that is your wish."



"Tell me of the time in prison and before, Grumblejack," The Vanara said to his companion.

"That is my past, I won't speak of it. I am loyal to you and your friends now."

"Do not swear loyalty to us, we made a blood oath to this man, do not follow us for you are not obliged."

The ogre smiled, his speech much more eloquent than one would think of his kind, "Then I do it for friends."

The two beasts toasted with their drinks.
------
"Tiadora, could you bring me books? Specifically on the scientific side of Kitsunes?"

Tiadora looked at the Vanara, she had been ordered to get whatever she could that the group asked, within their small budget. She expected weapons, armor, potions, nothing of the sort the Vanara was asking for. He wanted reading material, books on creatures of the area and others, natural and supernatural, and specifically on Kitsunes and their lore. She would do as her master asked, though she still thought it strange.

"Do you have a nefarious scheme for the information on Kitsunes?"

The Vanara smiled showing his enormous canines, "Perhaps, depends on what you can find me."

This time the devil handmaiden smiled, now she had motive to find him these books, just to see what the man who brought her master the heads of his enemies might do to his friends.



Whereas most of the new pact simply relaxed, a few of the members took advantage of their three days, whether out of genuine niceness, boredom, curiosity, something more nefarious, or some combination, Kenneth decided to become acquainted with the other group of adventurers in the house. His plan was a friendly game of cards.

His walk into the other wing was uneventful, his arrival however was the opposite. His entrance into the wing's foyer was met by every member of the other group, which he later would learn was named the White Ravens.

There were but four of them in all, a beautifully fair skinned and dark haired woman, a tall half elf dressed as a northerner, and two twins (though one was taller than the other). They're looks of contempt were not hidden, until Kenneth spoke, "We are all stuck here, I figured we may as well play some poker. I'm thinking two card hold'em."

The smaller of the twins immediately jumps up, a gleam in his eye "I'd love to play, I'm Titus Rackburn, but you can call me Trik. This is my brother, Trak. These other two are Elise and Dostan. I'm not sure they would like to play though," he looks sideways at his companions.

Kenneth responds in kind, "Just us is fine with me, I'm sure we can find a place in the manor alone. It's nice to have a normal place to be, those other guys I'm with a weird as hell."

"We can go back to my room then," Trik says with a full teeth smile.

At this his brother jumps up, "I don't think that's a good idea. If they were trustworthy or we were meant to meet, Cardinal Thorn would have introduced us. I think it best if we stay apart."

Kenneth answers, "We only just arrived, Besides, he probably doubted you would all enjoy chatting with a human monkey or a kitsune."

At this Elise's ears perked up, "A Kitsune and a monkey? A Vanara? Here? Asmodeus must be desperate for that kind of help."

"I think he wanted out noble friend and we were just collateral damage, who knows. But, if nobody wants to play I think it best I leave."

Trak nods his head, "I think that would be best, for all of us." He says the last words with a hint of protection. It is difficult to tell why he is so against the idea, for he appears to be a nice enough person.

Perhaps he is fearful, of Thorn, or Kenneth, or....



Hope everyone enjoys this brief insight into the PCs characters/story. And the delight that some of this should bring to people who have played the module. I'll do my best to get the full dungeon post up tomorrow, but I'd like it to be as good as I can make it, so I don't want to post it to early/without sitting on it finished for a day or so.

[GoldenGecko]

Rafiki here once again, here to supply some updates of my own in reference to what happened before the Nine Trials, as the in-between may be confusing without some insider info.

I do request that my fellow players not read what is spoilered, of course, for that would ruin half of the fun. You have my trust.

Rafiki not only asked Tiadora specifically for scientific books as to the nature of Kitsune, but he also set about raiding the library to see if anything would be useful in a more general sense. Rafiki is ugly, bitter, and errs heavily towards the brutish side of things, but he is far from a fool; it is a known OOC factoid that he actually has the highest base WIS of the party, with an INT that is second only to that crazy goblin. He isolated himself pretty hardcore before the campaign took place (he was imprisoned for assaulting civilians that had stumbled into his "territory" on the fringes of their settlement, culminating into a bit of a bloody battle when a small expedition was sent to remove him), so literary pieces were very hard to get his hands on and it would be far from inaccurate to say that there is a *lot* about the world -- and its inhabitants -- that he doesn't know about.

He was originally nonplussed about this entire ordeal; from breaking out of prison to meeting Thorn, he was a largely unwilling participant, doing what he decided was best at the time. Breaking out of prison was obviously going to be easier with more people -- even if they were little more than disposable meatshields -- and anybody that had successfully managed to help the Forsaken break out of their fairly high-security prison almost certainly had the means to track him down if he didn't go to meet them.

The meeting with Thorn, however, changes things completely. Rafiki doesn't really give one flying care about religion or the gods, about Mitra or Asmodeus, but he can easily empathize with persecution and he can't exactly return to where he once lived -- if it even still remained. Whether or not Thorn can make good on his promise of his !own island! is largely irrelevant to the present, but Thorn's favor and resources are an invaluable asset. And if Thorn *can* make good on his promise... well, Rafiki tries not to think about that too much; such a concept as his own private island would be enough to turn him to zealotry, were he not careful.

And then... AND THEN...


"Let us be very clear, I am not anyone's "servant" and I don't think Rafiki would appreciate being a "servant" either."

This kitsune is irredeemably pants-on-head stupid. Rafiki has sort of accepted this as the unfortunate reality of the situation, and he did so long before they actually made it to Thorn's mansion, but even he failed to realize at the time just how inconceivably addled she is. Worse, still, she actually -- she *actually* -- tried to drag him in on her own stupid agenda through both direct (instigating him to her side via his pride), and indirect (implying to Thorn that he was not cooperative) means.

A very large part of Rafiki wanted desperately for Thorn to disown the kitsune; he wanted for little more than to break her arms and legs, drag her through the moor, and then leave her crippled in the deceased Lashtongue's cave to die a tortuous death.

Thorn is far more patient than Rafiki would like.

Through this and a few other comments Kami Kazi made throughout the initial stay in the mansion, such as derisively giving Rafiki a command while referring to him as a monkey, she has set herself up for a terrible time. The only thing directly protecting her is the contract that Rafiki signed for the agreement with Thorn; killing her could very well come to haunt him if he goes about it without a justifiable reason.

Instead, for now, he'll study up to see if Kitsune, as a whole, have any terrible tried-and-proven weaknesses that he can possibly use to his advantage in the future, or anything that sets them apart as dangerous or hard to deal with should the time come that it is in Asmodeus / Thorn's best interest that she be put down.
Keep a look out for the Nine Trials; I do believe it will be quite the entertaining read.

[Red Rubber Band]

Awesome. Just letting you guys know that I'm sub'd and looking forward to more :smallsmile:

[Mondasin]

Not even two hours of dickery into this next session and we've already had some card based comedy gags.

[AkbarTheGreat]

This update is a bit more mechanical, with the action being a bit of a recap of the dungeon crawl (but I included as much characterization as possible). I recognize some updates will have to be like this, so I did my best to separate it and make it enjoyable still, especially with the humor that did happen in session, and appears to be happening in all sessions, which makes this dark campaign much more enjoyable.


After what seemed as an eternity, the group was finally summoned before Cardinal Thorn for his final test. He was simple in his delivery this time, no grandiose in his voice.

"Beneath this manor you will find Nine Rooms, and somewhere in those nine rooms you will find a silver pendant with sapphires embedded in it. Bring it to me." He stood up and looked out at the setting sun, an omen that none in the room had care or reason to notice, "Bring it to me before the sun next sets or you will fail."

Tiadora leads the group to the basement and instructs them thusly, "Use whatever you wish, the Master cares not for how you succeed, merely that you do."

She leaves them at the entrance, and they embark that moment without thought of care or worry to bring anyone else with them.
-----
Inscribed upon the first archway is a message, and they would find that each room has a message before they enter it.

“Deception is a tool. Self-deception is death. Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself.”

The first room appears normal. One door and a rug flayed out on the ground in front of it. The group, smart enough collectively to know something must be up, immediately begins scanning the room. The Noble is the first to notice something amiss. His knowledge of construction and engineering tells him there is clearly a hidden room here, perhaps more than one. Eventually, he finds a hidden alcove to the north containing what the Goblin immediately recognizes as Alchemist's Ice.

Chuffy is also the first to recognize that there is a trap in the door, and decides that it must be disarmed for them to move on. As the group tries to disarm it, they fail miserably, and two of them fall into the spiked pit below, taking very little damage however. It is near this time that the rest of the party finds the second passageway, and they cautiously head through it knowing that there are perhaps traps at every turn.
-------

“Following the herd is for fools. Fear not their icy derision. Instead, fear only thy Infernal Lord.”

The misfits leap into the next room, all but ready to fight and realize that other than for an unnatural cold, this room is no different than the last save more doors and more rugs.

They read the inscription as they come in, "Following the herd is for fools," and after seeing the dirt and trodden of the rugs to the south and east, they realize that westward is perhaps their best move. Blocking their way however is a strange fungus, almost pulsating as they move nearer.

Aethelred again proves his usefulness outside of combat, "Oh, that's a creeping fungus, cold will take care of it, here," and without much a thought, throws the ice onto the fungus, destroying it almost instantaneously.

"Let's move on," he says, hoping the others will follow.

"Hold," the Vanara speaks for the first time, "Let us at least check these other doors, just in case."

"I'm not getting anywhere near that, monkey," The Kitsune replies, and stands in the dead center of the room, far back from the rugs on the floor, "This will be safe."

The Vanara then, instead of walking to the door normally, climbs on the wall of the eastern door and opens it from the side, making a pit trap impossible.

As he opens the door outwards towards him, sharp javelins loaded on springs fly out, striking the Kitsune standing in the middle of the room. Most of the group snickers, Rafiki does his best to hold back hideous laughter, "Do not call me monkey, fox."

The Kitsune angrily downs their only healing potion before they move on to the third room.

-----

“Know your enemy. Shatter all that blinds you and then burn thy adversary to ashes.”

The group follows the long tunnel to the third room and opens it to the pitch black darkness. The goblin, who can see just fine, notices nothing amiss in the room and goes inside to explore. However, after a few steps inside he is bitten by something that appears to him as a "smoke shaped man," his words repeated to the group. They decide to try and go in collectively to take care of the menace. Chuffy decides he will only go in last.

The Kitsune, with the floating torch taken from the Warden's room in Branderscar, leads the charge, and the entire group is hardly in the room when the enemy makes itself known by taking the form of a man shaped pink mist.

It bites at the Kitsune, but it is not a few seconds corporeal that it takes many hits and turns back into a gaseous form into the floor. The group is able to see it hiding in small crevasses in the floor, and Kenneth gets an idea "Bring me some lamp oil, we will burn it in its hiding place!"

The creature, apparently understanding the intent, begins screaming in a language that nobody could understand, that is, save for the Vanara.

"STOP! PLEASE! NO MORE LIGHT! LEAVE LIGHT AND ILL STAY HERE!"

The Vanara is surprised that the creature can speak and is intelligent. He asks his companions to hold and back up. He goads the creature out by a means of both kindness and intimidation, saying they will kill it if it stays in the hole, but will grant it quarter if it comes out. It comes out at the threat, begging for the light to leave his room. Kami Kazi is easily convinced to leave momentarily, and the Vanara shocks the entire party, by extending its arm for the creature to feed.

He speaks, tenderly, in Aklo, "Why are you here, creature? We were sent for a purpose, we did not mean to invade your home."

The creature happily drinks some of his blood, reinvigorating himself at the clear cost and pain of the Vanara, "Thorn took me. Gave me darkness. Feeds me some."

"What is your name?"

The mist forms a question mark, "Name? I have no name."

"Then you will be named Yomi, we are friends. I will have them leave the darkness and do our best to not bring light here, but you will not attack us and warn us of anything that comes through until we leave. Deal?"

The creature, now named, agrees, doing what could only be considered the most unsettling nod that a person could witness.

The group heads east, ignoring the north for now.

------
“The chosen are revealed by their might. The weak deserve no sympathy.”


The door is opened and immediately the group is set upon by two small metal cobras.

The group is slightly split during the fight, with Kenneth and the Vanara being out further from the fight that the rest, but the two cobras split to take on their adversaries instead of teaming up on one or the other, which surely would've led to at least one being felled.

However, the constructs, though formidable, are much easier to handle separating themselves. This is further helped by the ever constant ramblings of the noble, Aethelred. In his best attempts to... coerce the constructs, he begins an epic truly worthy of comparison to the greats of the Iliad or Shakespeare, about the status of dungeons and their inhabitants being in such deplorable and uncaring condition. Due to the constant words (or perhaps in spite of them) the group is able to survive the encounter with very little harm, none even taking the poisonous bite of the cobras.

Aethelred, once more showing his usefulness outside of battle, knows that the lumps of metal are mithral alloys, and worth a very large sum.

-------

(This part is for the group who headed south towards the false pendant, after this will be for the group headed to speak with Timeone north of the vampire room.)





The Kitsune and Kenneth headed west, while the remaining members of the group continued on through the dungeon. There, in the middle of the room was what appeared to be the pendant they were looking for. They spent many moments carefully observing the pedestal it was on, looking for traps, and finally, unable to find one, the goblin walks up and grabs the pendant.

"GIVE A SPEECH!" He yells to the noble, joking of how the podium the pendant was on appears similar to one in which a leader would speak.

As he says this he looks at the pendant and realizes quickly it is fake, "Eyes aren't sapphires" he says, tossing the dragon shaped silver token to whoever would catch it.

They look around and see no other way out.

The Vanara decides to explore, and sees the stairway to his left. He knows something is amiss by the placement of them, by the lack of light coming from the top, or perhaps just by being overly paranoid. He decides to travel up the staircase, not by walking, but by, again, climbing the wall up the side of the steps. He is not but halfway up when the secret exit is found by the Noble and Goblin. They call him over mere seconds before he would have found the trap that was intended to be triggered by the steps at the bottom of the stairs.

The group leaves and follows the passageway before reaching the next door, here they decide to halt and wait for their companions, but they do not do so in silence. No, they do so... in song.

Here is the song that they sing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtD4-WfhMw

------




“Cruelty is a tool not a pastime. Be ruthless to thy enemy but reward those who serve thee well.”

On the other side of the dungeon, Kenneth and the Kitsune find themselves in a torturers room, with a rack in the center and blood and instruments for torture all over. Kenneth's ears pick up a sound almost immediately, and it is within seconds that he finds a hidden room in the corner, and inside he finds a squire who has all but wet himself.

"P-p-please! Shut the door! Don't let them find us!"

Kenneth is very surprised to find someone here, let alone someone in such shape.

"What do you fear young man?"

"Everything! This dungeon is a madhouse! We cannot escape! I fear so much for Sir Balin. Perhaps he has escaped this wretched place."

It is about this moment the Kitsune notices the commotion from the other side of the room and moves in to listen.

"Who is Sir Balin, and what have we to fear of this place?"

"Sir Balin! He is such a devout Mitran! I wish I could be more like him! He could perhaps survive the monstrosities that are here.... the darkness... the snakes... the shrieker and the drowned men it awakens. But not you or I, sir, no no... we stand no chance... I do not know why Mitra has forsaken me so... I am but a humble servant of Balentyne."

Kenneth thinks momentarily, sees that this man knows very little, but decides he will have some fun regardless, "Stay here, you will be safe. When our quest in this dungeon is done we will come back and save you."

"Oh, thank you so, good man. I only wish I could repay you somehow."

Kenneth smiles, "Oh, you will find a way, I am sure."
------
“Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure brings death.”


The group reunites and combines their knowledge before opening the next door, and here it is where the Goblin's eyesight pays off once more, using his own knowledge, that of the Vanara, and the seemingly all knowledgeable Aethelred, they conclude the room is where the shrieker, a mushroom with a penetrating wail, resides. However, they also realize that they cannot use light well enough to see without having it go off and "awakening the drowned" as the scared squire was lamenting to them.

They solved their conundrum with teamwork, precisely as Cardinal Thorn had hoped, however they did it in a way he never imagined. Using the goblin to lead them, they formed a straight line and followed the outer walls, well out of the range of the shrieker, before leaving into the next hall into safety.

Cardinal Thorn, watching on with his magic, shook his head and placed his head in his palm. His undead warning device, defeated by a goblin conga line.
------
“Beware the fallen for they may rise once more to threaten you.”


The group silently entered the next room, taking great care of the warning the squire had given them, they knew the undead were coming, just unsure of how soon. Inside the room they found their fears true, as they saw eight sea encrusted coffins, two in each corner. The group decided to try their best to sneak by without investigating, in hopes of avoiding the altercation altogether, but just as they reached the middle of the room, a coffin bursts open and out spews an undead the likes of which none of them had seen before.

Aethelred was able to use his knowledge of lore, the hints from Timeone, and the sight of their coffins to deduce they were Draugr, powerfully summoned necromantic sailers imbued with the energy of the sea. This one in particular (and all the rest) wielded a large greataxe that was so rusted over that it would be of no use to anyone else, but in the hands of negatively imbued zombies, they were quite destructive.

Luckily, there was but one standing at the time, and they were able to deal a fair amount of damage before it moved, however when it did, it charged headlong into the fray at Kenneth, nearly felling him in one blow. Not only was he damaged, but the mix of the zombies putrid flesh and the salt from the ocean nauseated Kenneth to the point he began vomiting profusely. By the time he was able to act, that particular Draugr was already felled, but in his place was another in the opposite corner.

This Draugr, luckily, was in far worse shape than the others, and the Vanara was able to cut him in twain in one charging blow with his greatsword. As soon as this Draugr was felled, another raised. This one was able to get an attack off on the Vanara, with similar results, nearly being dropped and vomiting straight into the coffin near him. However, the Draugr's attack of vengeance was in vain as it was again taken down only getting a single action off.

Finally, the last remaining Draugr broke free of its coffin, only to see all of its brothers dead. It was able to get an attack off on Chuffy, but his experience with chemicals and reagents made him far less susceptible to the chemical mixture that sickened his allies.

Rafiki, no longer puking his guts out, charges again at the last remaining Draugr, and through the combined efforts of the group sends it back down, like a necromancer's game of wack-o-mole.

The group heals up as best as they can before preparing to enter what they believe to be the final room.

Thorn looks on in glee. He knew very well that this encounter could've killed his Knot then and there, but their surpassing of the shrieker, even in such an unorthodox manner, allowed them to have very little harm from this encounter. Perhaps, just perhaps, this would be the group he could put his faith in.

-------

“Serve thy master well and be rewarded.”

In path to the final door, they see it is different than the others. This one is fastened with a very good lock and is very thick and made of steel and wood. In haste to get in, the Vanara decides to make a charge at the door and break it down. As he backs up, Kenneth sees keys hanging on a hook next to the door, and deftly pockets them as the Vanara has his back turned. He charges furiously at the door and hardly moves it an inch. Between the drained blood from the vampiric mist earlier, his vomiting moments before, and now this door, he appears to be fairly worse for the wear.

"Chuffy heard the door crack! Back up further and try again!"

Cardinal Thorn, watching on still, sighs heavily again.

However, Aethelred saw the knife master pocket the keys, he holds out his hand for them and Kenneth relents, they open the door and find, with his sword raised due to the commotion, the man they assume (and Aethelred knows from memory) to be Sir Balin.

The group heads into the room, with the Noble and the Kitsune trying to speak to him in cordial terms, however they quickly see that around his neck is a pendant of Mitra's holy symbol, Silver with an enormous sapphire sunburst in the middle. As quickly as they saw his symbol, his eyes go to the belt of Rafiki, where the gift of Thorn, his symbol of Asmodeus hangs low and proudly.

"Worshipers of Asmodeus! You have brought me here! PREPARE TO DIE!"

No diplomacy works here, the group prepares to fight.

The battle is over in seconds, but the action that occurs is swift and nearly costly to the misfits. Kenneth attempts to flank Sir Balin, and is successful in his maneuver, however it is because he cares not for anyone but the Vanara at this moment, "Prepare to die Monkey scum!" he charges at the Vanara, and within a few moments Rafiki is on the ground bleeding, narrowly avoiding a killing blow thanks to his drained health from the vampire before.

Kenneth uses the opportunity to get a flank with the rest of the group, and Chuffy laughs as he throws his grenades at the easy to hit opponent. Kenneth gets in another blow, but it is the final fire damage from Chuffy, just before Balin charges for the Kitsune, that finally fells him. With only moments to spare a potion is dropped down the throat of the Vanara, saving his life. Had he not been alone, the group may not have been so lucky.

As the goblin administers the potion, the rest of the group decides a gift is in order for the dear Rafiki, he stands up wobbling, and they hand him the head of Sir Balin, "You seem to collect these," they muse.

Chuffy is not done with the body of Sir Balin however, he takes one of his final grenades and does the unthinkable, shoving the bomb square up the ass of Balin before jumping on top of his stomach to set it off. The explosion shoots blood and organs from where his head should be, as well as blowing off his legs and anything in his lower intestine out of his rectum. Chuffy laughs at the destruction as the group looks at the pendant they have collected.

-----

The group leaves the way they came with their quest safely in tow, with a few hours to spare in fact. They get to the dark room and Kenneth speaks up, "Oh, I almost forgot!"

He runs to the second room and gets a rug, then returns to the torturer's room. He bids Timeone a welcome and tells him that they found Sir Balin and that he was freed the same way that they were about to free him, by placing him inside the enormous rug and carrying him out as if he were spoils of war. Timeone, with nothing to lose, and in fact a small thank you, agrees.

As they exit the dungeon, two of them carrying Timeone on shoulders, they bid a moment before heading to Thorn. They take the rug outside and set it on the metal fence of the manor, upside down, before pouring a bit of oil on the entire rug and lighting it from the top. The group sits back and laughs as they watching the rug burn from top to bottom, Timeone's feet to his head, as they listen to his screams.

Thorn, inside, can hear these screams, and through his magic he can see the action outside. This time he is unsure whether to sigh or smile at the chaos his new Knot has caused.

The group heads to Thorn, tossing the pendant at him. He smiles and bids them congratulations, tossing it back, telling them to keep it, that it may be useful to hide among their enemies.

It is at this moment that they toss him the head of Sir Balin. He looks at it a moment and smiles, "Are you starting me a collection?" he ponders out loud, "I will not consider it complete until you bring me the head of the king."

The group smiles, knowing they have once again exceeded expectations for their new benefactor. Little did they know just how far the expectations they had created would lead them, to the son and back, in fact.




First, I want to apologize for this update taking so long, as we already played half of act three (which you all will love, the action is spectacular). I've been busy with some job offers recently, school, and setting up the next session for this. However, the delay was good I feel, because in the process I was able to read the entirety of the Way of the Wicked, from level 1 to 20, and seeing how the story ends, the plot connections, and how well they close up even some of the smallest plot questions, it makes writing this story much easier, knowing what I can foreshadow about or don't have to come up with on my own (the astute reader who knows this module will see the foreshadowing I was able to include in this update even). I think this will let me tell the story better, knowing certain things to focus on, thus making a better read for you all.

Secondly, we may be losing Morde's player IRL due to work. He was able to play this session (not last because of him being sick), but if possible I may try and have him in as many sessions as we can, saying that Thorn sends him on other missions due to his past in the military. I'll keep you guys updated as this changes.

Lastly, a bit of DM venting. The players as a whole seem to take a few steps forward, then many back. We spent at least an hour this past session (act 3 on the ship to the North) arguing over character behaviors and abilities. However, I think it was something that I needed to let happen to help remove some of the tension the group has (mostly IC, but apparently slightly OoC as well), and it gives me an excuse to talk to everyone as a group before the next session about what we should expect going forward, especially on player behavior at the table, both IC and OoC.

As much as I don't want to, I realize that there is the potential to have to remove a player from the group in order to keep the entire campaign from collapsing, and if I must I will. I'm going to do everything I can to keep that from happening, and though you guys don't see it in the posts, when it's obvious the only problems stem from one player, it's hard to sit there and not do anything at all.

The next one will be up later this week, with heavy metal training montages, custom made traits for the players, and a Triton Oracle being killed by what I can only describe as the first "You know what, that just kills him, I don't care that he has a few HP left right now technically," moments in my entire DM'ing career.

Part of me hopes there are more of those in this campaign.

Until then, hope you continue to enjoy.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Also, something I'll say to you guys reading and so my players don't forget again.

Not everything written in these updates is 100% what happens in the game. Dialogue (especially spoken out loud that I can't repeat flawlessly), small actions that can fit in one scene instead of writing an entire other, or even the order of actions or actions entirely may be added/removed in order to simplify the story or just for logical explanation that isn't really gotten from just reading.

So, if the players ever feel the need to come in and add to things I write, I more than welcome it, but anything I have in my updates is entirely for ease of writing or what I feel would make a better story, especially in parts that the players didn't flesh out well or look for themselves (for instance, they never learned Timeone's name IC.)

I think this was a bit implied (similar to a movie being different in parts to the book), but my players have commented on it more than once, so I just wanted to clarify to the readers (and them) that this is how I'm going to write.

Again, hope you guys enjoy the read, until the next one.

[GoldenGecko]

Hey guys, Rafiki here once again to share the story from my viewpoint, spreading some details and otherwise just being amazing. The DM's recollection is a bit sparse in some areas in an effort to cut down on verbosity, make it more palatable and flow more like a story; I have no such aims.

Spoilered, of course. Wouldn't want my fellow players to catch wind of something fishy.

At this point, Rafiki's pretty ok with Thorn; the man gave him room, food, and books, and the only thing Rafiki has done for him so far is basically break out of prison (and burn it down... and hand-deliver some officials' heads... but that's besides the point). So when Rafiki gets called to the main room, he already knows that he's probably about to have to earn his keep *somehow*, especially with how the party was given a fairly large stipend and suggested to buy weapons / armor. Rafiki, by the way, in all of his wisdom, decided to spend 20gold on books and then give 180gold to the shifty guy to play poker with because he actually dislikes having or dealing with currency. All he's got is half an outfit of clothing (he's running around bare-chested), his fists, and the greatsword strapped to his back. Well, and the symbol of Asmodeus; giving no cares, he fastens it to the side of his belt because it's a pretty neat symbol and it'd probably get him in Thorn's good graces if anything should happen. Thorn also gave us magic iron circlets to disguise ourselves with, which Rafiki has absolutely no intent on using.

Whole continent is comprised of strict believers of Mitra that would kill a believer of Asmodeus on sight? Vanara exceedingly rare, making it excessively easy to pick out the party as the group of escapees?

My cares are deliberately nonexistent.

It's a good thing the first test took place in a basement whose primary denizens just happened to be mold, vampire mists, and zombies; they tend not to be too judgmental with the whole racial or religion thing.


First room, we (as a group) haven't quite managed to figure out what the heck we're supposed to be doing here. We're in a room. There's a door. There's also a spiffy looking rug just in front of the door. Not suspicious at all. Our poncy bard starts making architecture and perception checks and figures out that something just isn't quite right (I knew we kept him around for something). Apparently, the room we're in must have some sort of secret door or something. He stares really hard at the walls. He gets the goblin to stare really hard at the walls.

They don't see nothin'.

*I* stare really hard at the walls.

I don't see nothin' either.

We basically shrug and look to the task before us -- a suspicious as heck door with a rug beneath it just screams trap. Chuffy and Kenneth start messing around with the door, trying to find the trap and trying to disarm it with terrible results while the rest of us sane people stay far enough away to offer encouraging words without actually taking any of the risk ourselves. They fall in a spike pit and take surprisingly minimal amounts of damage. Seeing an opportunity for my unique talents, I climb down the wall and hoist both of them up so they can join the rest of the party in staring very hard at the surrounding walls.

Chuffy Choo finds a secret exit to the north that leads to a sparkly pendant of alchemical ice or fire (can't remember which), and then the entire party proceeds to stare very hard at the wall to the south.

Rafiki, getting fed up, throws his arms in the air and decides to be proactive; he runs his hands along the wall like any sane person would do and finds the entrance to the next room, to the south, so that we can progress.

This first trial took something like thirty minutes+, alone.

First thing I ask upon getting to the second room is if we can break down the hidden door that we just entered through; if anybody else is forced to do the tests, they would have an easy time if the hidden door no longer exists. It would at least prove an inconvenience to Thorn to replace, and Rafiki's not feeling the most ingratiating anymore. Sadly, the DM did not see the flawless logic in my query and denied me my request.

Second room went exceptionally easily. Three new exitways, one covered by a nasty, potentially dangerous testament to nature's perversion while the other two have rugs in front of them. The party weighs their chances of survival and confronts the killer mold.

Our party can't see walls very well, but they sure as heck know an <insert obscure mold> when they find it. If this had been a Killer Mold With The Stealth Capabilities Of A Hidden Entrance, we probably would've been TPK'd right then and there, though.

Throw the alchemical whatsit on the killer mold and everyone starts to file through. Rafiki, in his infinite wisdom, decides that the other two doors must be trapped and, in another flash of insight, decides to open one -- this time without standing on the rug, clinging instead to the dungeon walls. Door opens, out goes the spike, right into Kami Kazi. Honestly, while I hadn't *planned* for this, I sure as heck enjoyed it; as did Rafiki. Seeing the opportunity to once more enforce his manly monkey dominance, Rafiki gives Kami Kazi a sneer and, in reference to an earlier altercation that erupted the animosity between the two, said in very clear tones "go get me some wine, fox."

The kitsune, the glutton she is, downed the party's last collective health potion. She had only taken ten damage from the spike; truly she is the epitome of selfishness. Rafiki could only shake his head at her lack of restraint.

Third room is pitch black through magical means, and there's only one person in our party who can see in darkness; Chuffy takes the initiative to go inside and see what's up, finds two doors and a black stone, and suddenly gets attacked for his trouble. I will note here that the kitsune is starting to have a bit of a hissy at this point towards Rafiki for reasons I simply cannot fathom; perhaps her small, addled mind is driving her to paranoia. Anyway, Chuffy rushes out and starts screaming about the mist-thing that attacked him and we all rush in to beat the tar out of it. It runs away into a crack in the floor and starts yelling feverishly in what the party assumes to be gibberish, but Rafiki -- in his infinite foresight -- understands the thing perfectly! This is a direct recording of what was said.

Vampire Mist : THORN FORCED ME LEAVE ME DARK. DARK GOOD

Rafiki : "I WILL END YOU IF YOU DON'T COME OUT YOU WEAKLING! STAY THERE AND YOU DIE! BOW TO ME AND YOU LIVE!"

That thing came out of the crevice so quickly he forms a knee to kneel on.

I like this guy.

I give the mist a bit of a treat (because screw it, I have vitality to spare) and basically tell the kitsune (who has the magical light that is pushing back the darkness) to screw off and that she's not needed here anymore. In a huff, she starts looking around the other exitways and unbars them while I console my new friend, the party leaving me behind in search of trials to the eastern exit.

I don't stay too much longer with the mist. I ask it for its name and, when it doesn't have one, I -- in my infinite generosity -- proclaim its new name to be Yomi. I wish it well before continuing on my way; I'd like to think that the vampire mist shed manly tears at my masculine backside, walking off into the light.

We get to another door and it says "only the strongest may enter" or some such, and, feeling pity for the kitsune, suggest in no uncertain terms that she may as well just leave now.

The kitsune misunderstands Rafiki's noble intentions and takes offense. Seeing no point in arguing with one so unfit to rule, Rafiki snubs her for all his worth. Until she threatens to cast Dancing Lights in the mist's room.

A great and violent verbal altercation began between the monkey and the Vanara; many insults and death threats were traded, and that was only in the first few breaths. Things may have escalated to blows if it weren't for the timely intervention of danger; apparently the rest of the party had gotten themselves into a life-or-death situation and needed his help. Not surprising.

Snakes crushed with Rafiki's help, the party grabbed the loot while Knife decided that he was going to check out the room they had since passed up -- the room north of the Mist room. Kami Kazi decided to go with him (Rafiki later checked out the Mist room to make sure she hadn't done anything to harm the Mist, which she didn't) while Rafiki basically saw this as a good opportunity to be rid of her presence and traveled with the goblin and bard.

The DM's recollection of what happened is pretty spot on. We found a fake necklace, I threw it at the bard to catch, and then I start to (literally) climb up some stairs before the goblin's experience at staring hard at walls came in handy; we found a secret tunnel.

The group that had branched off was messing around in a room that, by design, the party should've explored before the room we were in; the DM told us to sit pretty while he worked with them.

We sat. We were pretty. And we also sang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtD4-WfhMw

When I say we sang, I mean we sang. These were our singing rolls :

Rafiki : 13
Bard : 18
Chuffy : 18

Personally, I muted my mic, pulled up the lyrics, and started playing karaoke while we waited.

We were so loud that, apparently, the other party members didn't have to stare at the wall at all to find us; they just followed the trailing lyrics of SECRET TUNNNNNELLLLL, SECRET TUNNNELLLLLL and, bam, we were together again.

Rafiki is getting antsy. No offense towards bards or goblins, but when you have a singing session with them for hours on end about secret tunnels in the mountains (while in a bald guy's basement), things start to get a little loopy.

Apparently the other group found out some information, though. There's a creature that screams really loudly when there's movement or light near it, enough to wake the dead. There's also supposedly a Ballin guy hanging around down here.

The goblin hears sneaky, he goes into the next room and sees it's all dark. Natures the heck out of the thing in the middle to find out that it's a Shrieker and how it could royally screw us over. We do what any right-minded party would do -- we conga-line our way past. Rafiki intentionally gets the second-to-last position, with the kitsune at the rear, just to make her sweat, let her know that he could have flung her into the plant at any time if he had wanted to but he decided not to.

I'm not sure if she even realized.

Next room, coffins. Lots of coffins. And not those fancy ones, either, the ones that have respectable people inside. No, these coffins looked positively terrible, like they were built to house lawyers. Or zombies. Or zombie lawyers. No, Rafiki was deadset on just getting through the room and going to the next; no subpoena for him, thankyouverymuch.

Of course, apparently that just wasn't going to happen. A coffin burst open and it is only by the good graces of the divine that a zombie came out. And then another, and then another. Eight coffins but only four zombies total in the encounter, Rafiki at this point is just bursting with confidence and energy. Honestly, it is only in hindsight that I realize how poorly this could have gone (there very well could have been four other sleeping zombies in the coffins), but Rafiki's next action was to very heroically kick down the door to go to the next room. Bam, door kicked and busted off, in goes the party into what is basically a waiting room, leaving Rafiki's dramatic entrance wasted. Not to be outdone, he charges the next (metal) door... only to be repelled. He's about to get ready to do it again when someone decides to actually use the keys that had been hanging up next to the door, so Rafiki instead contents himself with just bum-rushing into the room in as dramatic a fashion he can without the door coming with him.

Turns out there's a man inside. Looks rather intimidating, decked out in armor with a weapon that he looks clearly proficient in. He's also rather on edge after the brutal pounding his door received. He sees the party, sees me, sees the pendant of Asmodeus strapped clearly visible on my belt, and he glares daggers at me while the rest of the partymembers try to talk him down.

He doesn't get talked down.

He bum-rushes me and I get a good hit in before he slices me unconscious. Could've gotten straight killed if he rolled max (I have little base Con, and even less after the mist sucked out two). Thankfully, he didn't kill me, just left me (barely) unconscious and bleeding.

My noble sacrifice was not in vain, however, and the rest of the party (coupled with my amazing fist of fury) managed to take him down before Knife revived me with one of the potions he had bought with his stipend.

Barely, though. I'm wobbly on my feet and looking around, so the kitsune chops off the guy's head and throws it at me like I wanted to keep it or something. I'm not sure why it's so hard for them to understand that the only reason I took the two heads from the prison was because I had no idea who Thorn was and I wanted it as a failsafe to get into his good graces; I have absolutely no intention of carting around every random head that happens to fall off in my vicinity, thank you very much. Too tired to argue, though, I reluctantly carry the head with me and we leave the dungeon. I barely even listen to anybody before I retire to my room and get some rest.

End of Session 2

Look forward to the start of Session 3, though, folks. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, we're currently only halfway through it so it probably won't show up for a good while yet, but it should be quite entertaining once it arrives. We all hit level 3 off of this, and Rafiki becomes far more useful in combat situations at this milestone.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Bit of an update for everyone. We didn't get to play this past week, we had two players out so we didn't want to go without them (especially since one is the party face). I was originally planning to update everything together since its all one act, but seeing as we missed a week I'm not going to go two weeks without an update. So expect an update for the half act tomorrow.

[Mondasin]

Bit of an update for everyone. We didn't get to play this past week, we had two players out so we didn't want to go without them (especially since one is the party face). I was originally planning to update everything together since its all one act, but seeing as we missed a week I'm not going to go two weeks without an update. So expect an update for the half act tomorrow.

Akbar came down with a case of the ARAM. He was since promised noon EST feb 12th.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Malevolent Montages

After the group's success the Cardinal explained that their training would begin immediately, and that it would still be months before they are given their first mission. Thorn would prove to be an enormously efficient teacher to the misfits, having extensive knowledge in each of their abilities and arts, as if he had known them their entire lives.

The days blew by swiftly during the training, but each of the misfits had moments that seemed to stand out to them, though they trained as a team almost nonstop, it was the individual tutelage and advice that they remembered most.

"Rafiki, Solitude is your refuge, but together, in darkness, we can all accomplish much more."

"Aethelred, you speak with quite a devil's tongue, let me show you how to use it to enthrall the masses."

"Kenneth and Mordecrai, you both have shown an affinity to harm those who are closer to you, use it to strike them swiftly and much easier."

"Chuffy, my high inquisitor, let me show you how to spread your art to others."

"My dear, strongheaded Kitsune, let me show you to use your seduction in ways you never imagined."

However, one thing was clear to them all. They were not alone in this training, the group on the other side of the manor was being treated in a similar way, and even though Thorn appeared to be everywhere at once when need be, it seemed that he was often away from the manor, where they did not know.

(During the training montage that occurred, this is the song that played)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDlz-l78BbU



I'm Not Hungry Anymore


The group finished their training after many days of sweat and tears, and to reward them the Cardinal held a feast in their honor.

The meal was exuberant, wines and meats, fruits and desserts that some of them had never seen before. Most of them ate until they could hardly move, they deserved it after all.

It was at the end of their meal that Cardinal Thorn clapped his hands, and a large group of slaves, far more than they thought were in the manor, came out in front of them.

"To reward you, each of you may pick a slave for your own personal needs."

The Kitsune pointed to one in particular, he was young, maybe sixteen, and had a look of a far east warrior to him.

"I will name him Pablo," she said in excitement.

The group selected their slaves and presented them to Thorn. He smiled and almost immediately all the lights in the room were removed, save for one candle in the middle of the now empty table. He chanted in a daemonic language and a pentagram appeared on the table, glowing with red energy. Aethelred knew what was occurring with the ritual, he stepped back a few feet as a barbed devil appeared in front of them on the table.

Cardinal Thorn clapped his hands and the devil leapt at the nearest slave, ripping its throat out with his teeth, then jumping to the next doing the same with each. Blood splattered across the room, and on most of the misfits as well. At the end of the slaughter, the devil stood next to Thorn, dripping the blood of the slaves onto his hand. Thorn then approached each of his followers and traced the holy symbol of Asmodeus on their heads, before returning to head of the table and toasting them all.

"The Nessian Knot is forged!"





As the group began to acclimate to the rowing waves they recalled back to what Thorn had told them before they left.

"Your mission is simple, you will smuggle weapons to a bugbear chieftan known as Sakkarot Fire Axe. He is a brilliant strategist, perhaps the smartest bugbear to ever live. He will take the weapons we provide and build an army the likes of which Talingarde has never seen. You will then travel to the city of Aldencross, penetrate the Watch Wall, and open the gates for his army to walk through and start their invasion."

"However," he continued, "The man I have hired to escort you... he has proven greedy and untrustworthy and more than a liability. Once he has deposited you at Aldencross, kill him and his men, and take back what I pay him. Sink his boat and leave no evidence that the bugbears are being aided at all."

As they floated north, little happened for the first few weeks and they had more than enough time to plan how they would murder their captain when the time arose.

But all would not remain peaceful for long, as just a few hours from a small port town the group was spotted by a nearby ocean vessel. By chance they had seen them at about the same time, giving them a few moments to prepare.

"Halt! In the Name of the King!" they heard loudly amplified in their direction.

The captain did as he was told, but made it readily apparent to his crew that if they searched the ship they would know they were smuggling goods, and be in for quite a fight. The ship was smaller and also not weighed down, so running was not an option either.

"Let them come, act normal," The Kitsune began, "I'll handle this." She then took a few moments and gathered herself, with some magical assistance, and she seemed to appear as the gorgeous Tiadora. She also had, in the open, Sir Balin's holy symbol of Mitra.

"I am Captain Sambryl, Who is the captain of this ship?"

Before Captain Kargeld can speak up, Kami Kazi steps out from behind the mast. "I am the owner of this boat, what business do you have stopping us?"

Sambryl is almost immediately smitten by the woman's looks, "Just standard procedure ma'am, not often we get ships this time of year or in this area. What are you out for?"

She shakes her head as she speaks, "If you must know, I am on a holy mission."

"Holy mission? For whom? What is your name? And who are these men then?"

She smiles, "I am of house Balin. Perhaps you know Sir Balin, the adventurer, he is my first cousin. It was he who sent me on this mission." She holds up the Mitran symbol, "This is our family's Mitran symbol, see if you do not recognize it. These... men are my bodyguards."

The man nods as he sees, "I know of Sir Balin. He is a great warrior so I am told. However we have not heard from him in Daveryn for quite some time. How is he?"

For a moment she thinks, then responds, "I last saw him well three months ago, but have not heard from him sense. He is supposed to later meet me in the north where I will distribute these weapons at the Watch Wall."

The Captain believes her, too well in fact, "You say these are your bodyguards? They don't seem much for warriors. The north is a dangerous place, M'lady. I would advise you go back, at least to get more men. I would escort you myself but our duty is done in just a few days time."

At hearing this slight, the Vaanara's ears perk up. He looks straight at the captain and swells in size, "We are more than enough to protect her," he tries to say. However, in mid sentence he burps and he shrinks back to normal size, effectively ruining his attempt to intimidate the man, much to the chagrin of the Kitsune.

Despite the seemingly ineffective show of power, the Captain, perhaps from lack of sleep or being on the ocean too long, is effected quite noticeably, "I-I-I guess you might be, if she so says..." He trails off.

The Kitsune smiles and it seems to reinvigorate the man, "I'll just need to see your papers, if you don't mind. Then we will be on our way."

At this the group did freeze. However, the Kitsune once more was somehow able to come up with a very believable lie, "This is a private charter, sir, as well as a holy mission. If need be we can get the papers from the Watch Wall itself when we get there, feel free to come with us. I can assure you this is a holy mission."

The captain, not really wanting to stay much longer regardless and simply following procedures, relents, "Fine, I understand. I hope you are able to complete your mission and stay safe m'lady."

"We Leave men! These folks are clean!" He yells as the guard fills back up into their ship.

The ships begin to pull out and head their separate ways, but the men turn around and in unison yell in salute, "Till all is light!" and the men bow to the ship as they let go perhaps the most dangerous group of men on the oceans at the time.


Not much action in this so far, as I said we had to split the session up. I've decided I want to put all the big action together for a bit more of a unifying theme, and I wanted to showcase the fact that our group managed to avoid a fight by being smart AND while failing rolls. Rafiki tried to intimidate Cambryl and rolled a 1... Which Cambryl then rolled a 2 on his sense motive check and still failed. Kami Kazi however was masterful in her bluffs with the guard, thinking of using Balin's symbol and being a cousin all on her own.

Also, yes, the guys got me to start League of Legends a few days ago. Not a good idea if you don't want it to take up free time.

[Umbranar]

Good reading, awesome bluff! Keep it up.

Enjoy League of Legends, I still do. :smallbiggrin:

[AkbarTheGreat]

Got to play today (with just 4 players out of the group) we got through the trading encounter with White Tusk and the fight with the ice elementals before finishing as the group arrived at Sakkarot's camp. I wanted to end it there because of the obvious huge implications that happen in the next few hours of the act and wanted to give all the players a chance to get back in.

On a side note, I was highly proud of the group for how they handled the RPing. Though it seems if I give Kenneth a high place he will always go up there in an encounter, maybe I should make him be El Tiburon.

[Mondasin]

So we appear to have lost our Noblemen, been bout 3 weeks of radio silence since he d/c'd mid session, while our merc is having irl issues with moving between two homes. I'll try to badger the DM to finish typing up the last few sessions since we hit a good break point, and added in a new group member who is new to Pathfinder if not tabletops in general.

Edit - Noblemen is actually alive, and was only mostly ****ed by his ISP for most of a month.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Writing the update as we speak. Got a new job officially last thursday and they've not given me a day off till today.

We do have a new member, a barbarian, who honestly kept the group from dying. Even if I don't finish the entire thing tonight, I'll post what I get, though I think I'll be done with it in a few hours.

Thanks for everyone being so patient. Trust me, the fights (and hilariously bad puns and jokes) were worth the wait.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Here is the promised mega update. Longest one I've done so far. I hope you enjoy (and be aware, this one is a bit more NSFW than the others at certain points, though if you are reading THIS campaign, you should know that's always a possibility).

Second and third, there is a link in here that occurs during the meeting with the newest PC. I implore you to click it, I've seen it a hundred times and it still makes me laugh, even moreso when tied into the story at that specific moment (They try to celebrate with a fist bump). Also, for the palaver with Sakkarot (which is when the link will appear), I simply straight copy and pasted the conversation that happened in chat (unedited) so that you guys might see a bit how everyone talks/acts, so the format there will change up slightly.



Merely a few days after the group's run in with the Mitrans they were accosted one night by a hailstorm of arrows onto the deck of the ship. Not yet able to see their assailants the group prepares for battle only to be surrounded almost instantaneously by several water elementals. Those who could see in the dark were able to determine several angry dolphins and what appeared to be the mythical mermen with crossbows in the water near them.

It is apparent quite quickly what the plan for the elementals is as they do their best to shove and push the nearest people off the deck of the boat. It takes them a few tries but finally, after taking no small amount of damage to their numbers themselves, they are able to force Kenneth into the water.

With arrows coming from one side and Maldrecai holding the center from three elementals by himself, Rafiki makes a daring run for the side of the boat that Kenneth fell off. He jumps the rail and hangs on the side in an attempt to help him back up. During this course of action Chuffy positions himself closer to the same side, not to help, but to burn. He throws his bombs at the dolphins trying to ram the struggling to swim Kenneth, severely damaging or outright killing the group he hits.

"Why don't you help us?!" The Kitsune screams at the captain and his men, working vigorously to maintain course. "We keep the boat going, you keep it safe. That was the deal!" He yells in return.

Grumblejack, Maldecrai, and Kami are doing fairly well, despite the lack of help, with the elementals on the boat, until, just as Kenneth is being pulled up, Kami is pushed off the boat on the other side, but away from any of the dolphins or mermen. Maldecrai and Grumblejack use this as an opportunity to handle the remaining elementals, giving themselves a fairly good advantage on the boat.

Kenneth is safely up, though Rafiki is much worse for helping, just as more bombs fly "I Set fire! To the RAIN!" Chuffy yells as his bombs explode, severely damaging the now closer mermen. No will save for this allusion

As the other mermen near closer for better shots, the boat begins to shine with strange lights in places, similar lights to that which spawned the elementals, and it is at this moment that the leader of the attackers clearly becomes visible, and chanting a spell of some sort.

"How high is your mast, captain?" Kenneth yells as he runs to the ladder, now that he is back on the ship.

"Nearly two stories, why do you..." he stops mid yell, as he sees Kenneth climbing the ladder to the crow's nest, where he sits for a brief moment as his friends pepper the remaining mermen with bombs and arrows (and Grumblejack does his best to pull the Kitsune out of the water). He sees the Oracle of Waves eyes leave his sight for a moment, to finish the summoning spell in fact, and he takes full advantage of the small lapse in judgment as he runs across the rig of the ship, jumping from the end back into the water in his attempt to cut the lead merman in half. The merman is quite surprised by this and raises his weapon wielding arm to defend himself, but it does no good, as Kenneth's blade slices clean through his shoulder and lops his arm off completely. Seeing their leader dying, what remained of the mermen ran, though only one was able to get away alive.

As the leader drew his last breath, he clenched Kenneth tightly with his one arm and whispered into his ear. "You may spread your darkness today, but the shining sun has seen the wickedness in your hearts. It will be then... the son... who brings your doom..."

Kenneth and the Kitsune are pulled from the ocean, with what little treasure they could hold onto (highlighted by three very well made tridents, one much better than the other two) before sailing from the spot and not stopping until morning to rest.





"We NEED WATER!" Odenkirk yelled early one morning, waking all of the Knot.

The kitsune, after waking up fully, replies, "I can make water with magic, it's easy, see" and it then starts raining dangerously near Rafiki.

The captain eyeballs her for a full minute almost as the sailors begin to change the ship's direction, "Your water doesn't have the taste we like," he finally mutters, before walking off. "Besides, it's just a day or so out of the way, and its seal hunting season, we can go for a hunt for a few days and see if we can't make a few bucks off of it, too."

The group almost immediately understands, but nobody disagrees. The root of all evil indeed.

After arriving at a small island, Seal island in fact, the group is given a very short crash course on hunting the seals. Rafiki seems to take most quickly to it, and as such he leads the parties each day on their hunt (the Captain led his own with his own men). The first day ended with Rafiki pulling in a decent amount of seals, however the Captain, in the first of many, outdoes the Vanaara. This first day Rafiki says nothing.

The second day ends much the same way, Rafiki doing fairly well, with the Captain still beating him. This time however, he speaks up, "You best not get more pelts than me tomorrow," he says, calmly yet seriously, to the Captain. Odenkirk smirks, "Then you best get much better, tomorrow will be the last day to hunt."

The next day ends exactly as before, Odenkirk pulling in a haul that trumps Rafiki, but that is not what would highlight the outing. Rafiki, again calmly, demands, "I told you not to get more than pelts than me, give me some of yours."

Odenkirk laughs this time, clearly not taking him seriously, "You can have them over my dead body," he replies.

"That may be arranged sooner than you realize..." he thinks to himself as the ship leaves the shore and heads back towards the north.

----------


It had been a few weeks after the misfits had encountered the mermen that they next saw humanoid life, however it was not life they had expected. Coming up, very near the side of the coast, were what appeared to be several kayaks and canoes filled with men dressed in heavy winter clothing.

"Ho! Want Trade!" One of the men yelled loudly.

The group signals for Odenkirk to stop the boat, and while they wait the Kitsune realizes that she has had a playing card thrown (or placed) on her head. She saw no person do it, but she is quite confident who it was.

After the men are able to reach their smaller crafts near the boat they are more able to see that they are men of the north, the Yutaks (sometimes called Nantuks by locals). One is clearly their leader as he is in a much larger canoe, paddled by two men. The man who hailed them speaks again, "We come. Trade with men of south. You trade?"

The group unanimously agrees and allows many of the men to board. Once on board the men of the south lay out their wares, several horns of fine ivory, with one specifically, a narwhal horn, being clearly the most important to them.

"We seek metal. Hard weapons. Clothes of south. Clothes of King. All here for trade."

The group looks the items up and he sees the narwhal horn and his eyes light up.

"Let Chuffy trade," as he moves to the front, to inspect the item more closely. During this, Rafiki clearly takes a liking to the simple men of the north, specifically their clothes. He makes an offer straight up, some of their nobleman's clothes and commoner outfits (his and Chuffy's specifically).

"I'd like clothes like you have," he says calmly.

The translator, Joseph Calls-Fire-From-Water, pushes a few pieces of ivory forward and explains the rest to his chief in a tongue none on board speaks. The chief barks an order and his men de-robe and throw their clothes, as well as a piece of leather armor that would barely fit the goblin, onto the pile. The two criminals agrees and both sides immediately don their new clothes, the young chieftain, White Tusk, admiring his new outfit, "Fit for king" he is able to say in terrible common.

Chuffy finishes his examination of the horn during this and asks for the mithral alloy they took from the cobra remains in the Nine Trials. He tosses it to the middle of the pile, as well as the two tridents they were not using from the battle with the mermen from weeks before. The group at first appears angry that Chuffy had made this offer, "Trust Chuffy" he says, and they quiet for the moment. At this the chieftain himself stirs from his position, grabs the alloy himself and inspects it well for at least a minute. He then walks up to the goblin and hugs him. Joseph smiles, "White Tusk agrees to your terms," before the young chieftain turns and speaks once more to the translator. "In addition," he begins, "You and your friends will be honored guests if ever you come to the northern lands of our ancestors."

Before the trading has commenced, the chieftain is emptied of all his ivory, for a very respectable horde of metal weapons and southerner clothes. Both sides part happily, though one side not knowing fully the wealth they had lost.

"This horn is of quality like no other," Chuffy begins, "Easy to cast magic on. Worth more than metal, Chuffy promises. Fit for Grumblejack." And with that, the group hands the makeshift quarterstaff, suited almost perfectly for the larger than life Grumblejack, who humbly accepts, happy to use something other than his fists for pounding on things.



Days after the encounter with the Yutak tribe the weather begins to clearly show signs of growing colder, however one night it begins to snow almost out of nowhere. The captain and the group decide to light up a few torches and some magic to keep warm, but in doing so they draw a bit of attention from some unwanted visitors.

A cackling laugh is heard from high up in the crow's nest as those of them in metal armor begin to feel it growing unnaturally cold. They look up and see what appears to be a small fairy sitting on the edge. A few in the group know it to be an ice mephit, and one even knows this one specifically as a notorious trickster, Kilikitz. It is not long after seeing him that more elementals pop into view, these of the ice variety.

The group, unable to easily reach Kilikitz at the moment, decides to focus instead on the nearby elementals and, just as they are about to move in, they hear a roar behind them. The group turns and sees Odenkirk rushing past them. He chops the nearest elemental in two with almost no effort. "Hurting you is one thing, but These demons aim to hurt my ship with their magic, I won't let them do that." The group happily accepts a new comrade in arms for the time being.

The elementals are easily taken care of in short work, but the leader remains high and out of reach, enough so that Kenneth decides he should take once more to the crow's nest. He runs to the top, but as he does the mephit breathes something quite volatile at him, which he is able to shake off with little effect. He is able to do enough damage to Kilikitz that the mephit floats back out of his range before sticking his frozen tongue out at him.

The Vanaara, unable to think of anything to do, takes his new bearskin shirt and tries to throw it into the air at the beast, hoping to entangle it or blind it perhaps, however he misjudges the wind terribly and his shirt is sent off into the nearby waters.

Kenneth, getting an idea from this or from his last fight on the boat, makes his best run and uses the ledge as a springboard and grabs hold of the creature, mid air, doing his best to drag him to the ground where his friends might beat on him easily. However, thanks to the creatures natural flight he is able to only slowly descend from the extra weight, though it takes quite a strain to do so.

Seeing this as an advantage, Rafiki decides to climb the ladder himself, but instead of going into the crow's nest, he shimmies and hangs from the bottom, wielding the trident in one arm as he gets there. He is able to poke the beast once as it falls slowly, hitting it in its midsection and doing quite an amount of damage.

Kilikitz is able to break free from the thief's grasp, dropping him (not very dangerously) to the ground, only to see him run back to the nest, this time with the Captain. Making one more attempt to cause havoc, the creature let's out another vicious cone of cold from his mouth, and though it hits them, they are able to shake off anything it might have done, with Rafiki even able to hold onto the edge of the nest.

Rafiki takes the opportunity, now that he is a bit above the creature's new trajectory, to jump and attack himself. He is able to swing himself into a somersault over the creature's head, sticking his trident out and narrowly missing, before landing flawless on the other side.

This is the only opening the captain needed, learning from his fellow criminals he jumps off his mast and tackles the Mephit mid-air. However, his bodyweight and increased speed don't result in the creature merely floating slowly, but slamming into the ground with a strong force.

Rafiki quickly runs over to the squirming Kilikitz, who is nearly free now, and finishes him with the Oracle's trident.

Almost as quickly as the snow and ice had appeared before it beings to dissipate with its creator losing life.

Rafiki looks over the edge with a frown as his bearskin clothes that he received from the Yutaks drifts away.

"Captain, a small boat to retrieve my comrade!"

The Captain sighs a bit, "It will take us a few minutes to ready the boat for launch thanks to this damned Ice, you have until then."

"And you have my thanks," the Vanaara replied earnestly.

Not many would expect such cordial behavior between murderers and victims.



It was but two days after their encounter with the ice demon that the ship encountered a river leading into a nearby bay. Odenkirk turned the ship and headed straight into the mouth, proving himself a fine captain as they traversed jagged rocks and small rapids, as well as bits of ice in the river at points. Soon they were able to spot a makeshift dock in the river and it was there that they docked before almost immediately being accosted by several bugbears.

"WHO ARE YOU! WHY DO YOU SMELL OF *sniff sniff* HUMANS!" One of them yells at the Chuffy, the only race they seem to recognize at the moment.

"We are here for the Cardinal!" he yells, "We are allies."

The bugbear looks and sees several different races, "THEN LET US EAT THE HUMANS AND PROVE IT!"

As the group of bugbears moves in, Rafiki leaps in front, pounding his chest and swelling up much larger than he is, "WE ARE HERE FOR BUSINESS," the act, along with the large Grumblejack next to him, seems to slow the bugbears to a halt. "We are here to speak with Sakkarot Fire Axe."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OUR LORD'S..." He is interrupted by a roar that would've silenced Rafiki. Out of the woods steps a Bugbear the size of which none of them have seen before, he is as big as Grumblejack, and in his eyes it can easily be seen that he is smarter than the rest.

"WHO SENT YOU!" he bellows, making one think bugbears of all kinds only have one volume.

"Cardinal Thorn," Chuffy says casually, as Rafiki swings his symbol of Asmodeus in the open.

The chiefs face contorts to a wicked smile, "Thorn sent you? And you serve our Infernal Lord? Then you are friends. These weaklings have not bothered you have they?" He looks at his men, specifically the one speaking.

"Not at all, they were doing a decent job of guard duty," Kenneth replies

"Are these the weapons?" The Fire Axe's eyes light up as he shakes the boat stepping onto it to rip open the crates. He pulls out a sword, emblazoned with a flaming greataxe on the hilt. He yells a roar of victory as he tosses weapons and armor to the bugbears near him. "Spread word, these men are my honored guests. Any who harm them will answer to me! After all, they are who will lead us to war! THEY GIVE US METAL! WE WILL END THE REIGN OF OUR OPPRESSORS! WE WILL BE FREE OF THE TYRANNY OF TALINGARDE!"

Chuffy, not paying much attention to his rallying speech still chimes in, "Talingarde will burn!"

Sakkarot's head turns quickly to his left and down at the alchemist, "You, my goblin friend. We will get along well."

Sakkarot leads the group through the camp and they see some of the most twisted, yet equally intriguing things in their lives. Bugbears arm wrestling, one beating the other and, in return, knocking the loser out cold. Ogres drinking from tankards the size of the goblins next to them, and it is then that Sakkarot says the following feast will be for their arrival.

"There will be a hunt for food," he begins.

"Might I help?" The Vanaara asks. Sakkarot smirks at first then replies, "As long as you do not slow them down, be my guest."

Kami Kazi decides to sneak off during this time, it had been quite a while since she had gotten off, and it was long enough overdue that she would not wait for a person of the right size. She sneaks into a tent and within a few moments of looking found a candlestick which she then used to pleasure herself with, quite well in fact. However, it is not her best effort, and it ends quite casually for a kitsune.

Later that evening an enormous fire is built, so much that it melts much of the snow around the nearby area. The groups sit around the fire being offered beer and meats of things they most likely don't want to know of. The fighting and celebrating continues, with bugbears fighting, some to the death, for entertainment. Goblins laugh and shoot arrows blindfolded at captured people and animals, like a twisted game of pin the tail on the donkey. As they begin to wonder what more might happen, an enormous dire boar, maybe two thousand pounds, is walked in tied with chains on all its appendages and tusks. Riding atop that dire boar is Rafiki, grinning from ear to ear. "He found it and wounded it!" the leader of the bugbear hunters screams as he points to the bleeding leg of the animal, "He is worthy to hunt with us."

Sakkarot smiles, Thorn has sent him good companions. He walks up, with Rafiki still riding, and with an effortless swing of his blazing axe, lops the head of the boar clean off. Rafiki jumps off at this, and the animal is torn apart and cooked over the pit, then passed around to the general and his new companions first, with the enormous leg going to Rafiki.

Rafiki, mid meal, decides he would like to wrestle with the bugbears. Sakkarot, impressed with his hunting skills, allows him to do so, having him fight the previous winner. The match did not prove to be exciting, a squash match in wrestling terms, as Rafiki easily outmaneuvered and pinned the Bugbear in such a way that he could not break free. The bugbear in shame was taken before Sakkarot with his head held low. Sakkarot huffed angrily and with one swift motion the Bugbear was himself cut in twain by the greataxe from which his general was named.

Chuffy decided during this time to attempt the blind folded game of shooting arrows at captured enemies, and with a bit of luck, hit one in the shoulder quite cleanly causing goblins in the camp to cheer. He returned just as the bugbear was cut in two to hear Rafiki ask, "We are gonna eat him now, right?"

Sakkarot turned and grinned with yellow and jagged teeth, "I am going to like ALL of you, aren't I?"

"Chuffy will cook him with fire!"
---------

As the party winded down, Sakkarot asked to meet the group in his private quarters, they obliged with gusto. His men were ordered to leave and they discussed matters long into the night.


"I must say, I am impressed with you lot. I don't understand why you are here. you could do great things among your own people, why are you so eager to betray them like this?"

Chuffy Choo: Chuffy is supporting his people, does not understand question.

Rafiki: "My people?" Rafiki bares his teeth at this, his arms rising above his head. "I hold no sympathy for *anyone* in that forsaken land. You are more my people in one day than those others through all my life."

(GM): "You are all Talirean, though you are not humans. Maybe that is why you are so eager to see your home burn? Have they wronged you so much?"
"Tell me, what did they do? how did you all get here?"

Chuffy Choo: Chuffy likes to see anything burn.

Kenneth Knife: "Betray my people? I was raised in a gang of halfling thieves, my people are all dead or imprisoned"

Rafiki: "We came by boat."

Chuffy Choo: Yes, boat!

Kami: Because **** my "people" I am a kitsune, we don't exactly have a people per se. And they are more likely to steal your wallet than rule a people, and I want power, at any cost.

Kenneth Knife: "Well we did some ****, and got thrown into some ****ty jail, where they branded us like cattle."

Kami: And the whole "prison" thing

(GM): Sakkarot roars with laughter at the Vanaara and Goblin. "Your humor is dark. That is a great thing."
"You say you were branded? Show me."

Kami: *shows him my arm*

Chuffy Choo: *Shows the F that covers pretty much his entire upper arm due to his small stature*

(GM): "I have seen that! Hold a moment!"
He roars and one of his men enters, an orc who looks more akin to a general himself than to that of a servant. "Show them your arm!"

Gorgu: Stepping forward, he silently strips to the waist before turning around, showing his back first, misunderstanding the order, then his arm as he figures it out.

Kami: *covers eyes* ick

Chuffy Choo: Wat.
Chuffy sees why he went to prison.

Kenneth Knife: "Another one of the Branderscar boys, eh?"

(GM): Sakkarot sighs.... "He has a mark on his arm. He's never been able to fully articulate how he got it. But he can fight like few have seen."
"I think, maybe, you coming here is a sign from thorn. I think he is meant to be with you, if you will take him."

With little provocation, Rafiki decides to wrestle him to determine if he should travel with them. It is quite apparent who the stronger of them is as the Orc quickly takes the upperhand. Sakkarot laughs in the background as they wrestle. They stop wrestling and Rafiki attempts to fist bump his companion, however it looks something more like this:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=F4rUl6WtMLxXDM&tbnid=k6shA9vBmyXzTM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gifdsports.com%2F2013%2F11%2F tom-brady-high-five-face-gif.html&ei=GikKU4vxKY-LkAfu64HgBw&bvm=bv.61725948,d.eW0&psig=AFQjCNEwJEvcVr3_C8JKMVq3O_coTmu0Sw&ust=1393261209734059

"Jackasses," Grumblejack mutters, breaking his own silence.

The orc is then given more fitting clothes by Rafiki before the discussion continues

(GM): "Now, you showed me your scars.... it is only fair I show mine."
Sakkarot pulls off his breastplate armor to reveal enormous seal of Asmodeus burned on his chest. "We all have our scars, after all." He then puts his plate back on

Kenneth Knife: *picks up his cards and starts shuffling* "So whats the plan?"

(GM): "Simple in talk. not in action."
"Basically, you are going to tear down the watch wall for me from the inside out."

(GM): "In two weeks I will have my army ready, we are still building it in fact, these weapons will bring over any of those who were on the fence. Once you are done with your sabotage, you are to light this and shoot it into the air, my army will then invade within an hour."

(GM): *He hands a rocket firework to the group*

Kami Kazi: He takes off his clothes and the guards will run in fear

Kenneth Knife: "I've got a pocket for that..."

Chuffy Choo: Chuffy thinks he should handle all kinds of explosives.
Chuffy never detonates prematurely!

(GM): "Once I get my army ready, they will grow restless. They are promised pillaging, raping, plunder. I will not hold them together long. You need to break the tower within a month for us to succeed."
"Balentyne is the heart of the watch wall that separates the northern wilds from talingarde's main cities.
"I believe you can take the wall in a month. Thorn would not have sent you if it were not his best. You will leave tomorrow and we will as well. Good luck, and HAIL ASMODEUS"



The group arrives a few hours from Aldencross the next day with no trouble, they land and are beginning to head off when Kenneth turns.

"Odenkirk, I thank you for your assistance, you wouldn't want to come with us on our own adventure, would you?"

He laughs, "You must be joking. I was paid, and not nearly enough. Nothing more. But I have more pressing matters to attend, such as leaving this gods forsaken land and never returning."

"Well, I have something in my pack I want you to have," the blade master begins, but the captain sees through his guise and gives him an opportunity to leave peacefully, one he would regret. "I'm not buying what you're selling, kid, I advise you to get the hell off my boat now."

"That's the problem, Sir," Kenneth starts, "You aren't the buyer, you are the wares." He pulls his knives out and attacks, with no warning sign to any of his companions.

The Kitsune starts the encounter by casting burning hands and torching three of his men, outright downing two of them and severely wounding the other.

Rafiki then takes charge, Yelling an intimidating tone, "I TOLD YOU YOU WOULD REGRET NOT GIVING ME THOSE SEALS, ODINDICK!" He then rambles on in fey for a few moments, however, Odenkirk is indeed effected by the threat. Half of his men were down and he had hardly had time to react to the assaults, particularly a large hit from the barbarian they picked up in the camp. However, when he did act, he acted in grand fashion.

"THIS IS MY BOAT! I KILLED MY BRO'ER TO GET ER AND YOU WON'T TAKE HER FROM ME!"

He rages himself, and in a swift strike lobs a chunk of flesh off the barbarian, dealing a large amount of damage that would've killed any of the other people on the boat.

The Kitsune, leaving the other sailors to Grumblejack, Chuffy, and Maldecrai, does her best to weaken Odenkirk. She casts a bit of black magic in an attempt to make his next attack sure to fail, but his raging and blinding anger allow him to repel her magic with ease.

Kenneth, realizing that his position would not allow him to flank with his companions, once more tries to use the ship to his advantage by jumping on top of the rail behind the captain, but he fails his attempt and falls short, barely hurting himself in the process, but not without being able to get a small hit off himself.

Rafiki runs up to the captain, allowing himself to be hit heavily in the process, but is able to damage him with a few swift punches. He uses this moment to intimidate him even more, and it seems to work, had the Captain been anywhere but his boat he most likely would have fled such odds, but in this instance he would die for his ship, and that is what would happen almost immediately after when the combination of more Kenneth and Barbarian assaults would fell him. The rest of the crew is tied up (including one who would've bled out).

The Kitsune cuts off Odenkirks genitals and his head, placing the former inside the latter, waving it in front of the remaining sailors in an attempt to threaten them into service. Rafiki defecates in Odenkirk's corpse's general direction, with much of it splattering on his body.

Kami spends most of this time trying to intimidate the men into working for them, and to save their own lives, they give her any and all answers she might like. During this combination of ranting, screaming, and interrogating, she brands them with an F so that they might not betray the group, a smart idea if not for Thorn's orders.

"Women..." Rafiki mutters, sipping a bit of whiskey that they had found in Odenkirk's private stash.

Kenneth flicks another card at the Kitsune, "Stop yelling."

Kami, in retaliation, drenches the rogue with a spell. This proved quite unwise as he then attacks her from behind as she continue to berate the men. She speaks out loud if the group is going to stop him, and nobody speaks up. Kenneth stops the assault rather quickly, but makes sure that she knows it was by his choice and nothing more.

During the infighting Chuffy wonders to himself, "could he start a new group with hookers and Grumblejack?" Before recalling that Thorn's orders were explicit, they were to kill the men and burn the ship. He does this quite easily, with much kicking and screaming from the Kitsune, who at the least wanted to sell the ship (to whom they did not know).

The group walks away as the ship burns and sinks beneath the lake, its ill gotten wares in their possession or that of their allies. They all look at each other knowingly, that this is the beginning of the end of their previous lives. Each could make a break for the town or somewhere else, inform the Mitran believers what was going on, and perhaps even be given leniency for their own crimes. They weren't merely about to do something evil, they were about to aid in a genocide and a revolution. This was their chance to turn back before they truly would be irredeemable.

Not a one of them gave redemption a second thought, and they marched on towards Aldencross and their goal, keystone of the watch wall, Tower Balentyne.




Again, apologies for the time between updates. Work has really gotten me, they're trying to push 90 days worth of stuff on me in about three weeks to get me "certified" sooner because we are so shorthanded. However, it's mostly died down so updating should go back to being much easier.

Secondly, This was a fun, and dark, update. So many natural 20's at perfect times (Kenneth's arm chopping, Rafiki's boar hunting and wrestling and the opponent getting a natural 1 in his do or die moment), and some pretty great RPing at times, including the little spat between PCs at the end, because it was all really IC. Tomorrow (in like 9 hours in fact) will be their first visit to Aldencross, and we luckily have Red back for that hopefully, because they will need a smooth talker for sure. I'm not sure how they are going to handle Balentyne, but I look forward to seeing it, because I know if they can get past this it will be smooth sailing until the Horn.

As far as adding another character, I had already edited most encounters to compensate for 6 PCs, so another didn't hurt. Plus, had our new Barbarian friend not been there, there is a great chance Odenkirk would've been able to TPK the group. He crit'd the Barb for 35 damage, which would've outright killed or felled all the PCs except him really, so just him tanking hits (and his 30+ damage didn't hurt) was enough to warrant his inclusion, and I'm glad I let him in.

Lastly, on a DM note. I love how the group freaks out during every encounter almost. They always think I'm trying to kill them with insane encounters even when its an easier fight, relatively speaking. They thought Odenkirk was possibly level 6+ at one point. And the rage from when the water elementals started pushing them into the ocean when Neranius (The Oracle of Waters, for non WotW players and my PCs who never got his name) was exquisite, especially since they were, relatively speaking, safer than they thought.

I'll give a brief update tomorrow with how the campaign goes and then do a full write up as soon as I can. Thanks for sticking with us so long, I promise we won't let you down for doing so. (and more people feel free to comment or even talk about how you solved certain things in WotW/your own evil campaign experiences up to this point if you like, just please no spoilers for the PCs as they read this topic fairly often obviously).

[AkbarTheGreat]

Got our session in today. Got Red back (woohoo party face). It was a bit boring for most of the time, just logistics and info gathering, but in it ended with quite a twist. Only a day passed In game time if that tells you how much something crazy happened.

I'll just say, I considered rolling out anal circumference checks, for real.

[AkbarTheGreat]

Now that the forums are back we've got a lot to catch up on. I'll try and get it all set by Wednesday. It involves metal kilts and scrimshaws, rape, kids with bombs, and dead dwarves.

Yes. You read all that correctly. :smallcool:

[Mondasin]

the next update should be here soon, works been kicking akbar's butt, and his right up should be 'finished' so I'll get back to badgering him to post it.
Or he could blow it off for a month.

[AkbarTheGreat]

So, with huge apologies to the time it took to get these updates up (to readers and my players), here is the current bit of action. In explaining the lack of updates, I'll simply say. Real Life + Work + School + not playing for nearly a month = sucks. No use going into a long explanation for what took so long when I think all that explains it as well as it could.





I will point out one thing, until noted, Rafiki looks like a humanoid monkey, as he is not using his circlet at this point. Anyone else who looks non human has disguised themselves one way or another.

The misfits enter Balentyne, and for the first time in quite a long time they act as normal adventurers. They sell some of their equipment, buy provisions, and get a place at the inn.
Rafiki finds the nearest weaponsmith, a man with rumored dwarven ancestry, and he claims to be the best human smith in the north. Rafiki challenges him with a task, a custom weapon that is essentially nothing more than a rod of metal. He says it will take a few days, and Rafiki leaves quite excited.

Chuffy disguises himself as a child and finds the nearest group of kids to play with. In the process he learns of where their secret play area is, a location one of the captains of the castle sometimes goes to when they are on patrol. He also learns of a new burning technique, the Indian Burn, and is almost discovered when the lead child grabs him to leave the mark on him.

“I'll show you a real burn...” Chuffy says to himself. By the end of their encounter he gives them some of his firecrackers and even a little spending money as thanks for showing him such a good time. He uses the rest of his time to make bombs in his room

This is about the point where things get wicked, and fast.

After a few drinks (some shared with the local dwarves) they all head to bed for the night, however a few hours later the kitsune is awakened by someone both on top of and inside her. Doing her best to get him off, she is immediately punched in the stomach and unable to make a sound. She is able to see that the man is bald and about average height before he runs away and jumps out of the window (not after being hit by a few magic missiles). She runs to the window and sees nothing, as if he disappeared in thin air.

In reality, he climbed up the side of the building to the roof, and ran back to his room before turning back into himself with his circlet and feigning sleep.

She screams and is as belligerent as one would expect a rape victim to be, especially considering how easily the man was able to escape (from the second floor, no less!) After berating the inn owner (who showed her the doors were still locked), and demanding the city guard (who did come the next day), Rafiki comes out of his room, half asleep, and knocks her out cold mid rant with one sneak attack from behind, then drags her to her bed and sets her on it before, without a word, going back to his room and going to back to bed. The rest of the party shrugs (though the inn owner is a bit horrified) and follows suit.

The next day, one of the captains, Zack Eddarly, and Father Donnigan (the local Mitran Priest) come investigating the recent night's happening. With no evidence of any kind, there is little they can do, and with Kami being increasingly hostile as a result, they decide it is in their best interest to simply leave (as they see no reason to punish her for being upset, considering.) Rafiki, after some basic discussion with the captain, all but calls Eddarly out and wishes to fight him, and had it not been for the presence of Father Donnigan, Eddarly might have.

Later that evening the Misfits are at the bar of the inn again, with Rafiki making something from one of the remaining bones from their trading with the native tribe of the north. Kenneth, out of boredom, begins flicking playing cards at him, with the first flipping and landing flawlessly, unnoticed, on the monkey's head. The second one is not so perfect, as it still hits, but Rafiki notices before calling him over. There they discuss what to do for fun in such a noble town before noticing some off duty castle guards walk in.

They are hardly set down when Rafiki moves in and talks to them, immediately trying to intimidate the group for information, or just out of boredom. After some snarling they find that their captain, Franz Mott's marriage is not perfect, and after some bribing they are promised that Mott will be here the next day to “speak” with him.



Rafiki gets up very early, finding it hard to sleep, as this is the day his weapon is supposed to be finished. He decides to waste some time by going hunting, eventually killing a deer with his bare hands (and eating some of it). He drags the remainder back to the inn and plops it on the table for the barhold to use in food for the day. Horrified, but not complaining, the innkeeper begrudgingly accepts the meat.

Later that morning the older Franz Mott arrives, looking far more stern than the previous captain ever dreamed. He easily finds Rafiki, and without even sitting informs him that the man was punished severely for taking the bribe, and that the money instead will go to the castle surplus. Rafiki, angrily, but also knowing he can't start a fight in the area, simply fires off taunts to no avail. However, the day is not wasted. The always opportunistic Aethelred approaches the veteran captain with a request, he asks to tour the castle because he is writing a book on the history of Talingarde's greatest castles. Mott, at first, is unsure, but after some excellent persuasion he (and his local guide, Kenneth) are allowed to see some of the first floor of the castle, with Mott's escort. Though they do not see more than any servant going in to clean might see, they get an idea of just how tall their task is.

During this time Rafiki gets his weapon from the blacksmith (a masterwork quarterstaff with reach, think Wukong from League of Legends). Rafiki is so pleased with it he hugs the blacksmith before paying him far more than the weapon is worth and leaves.



The night begins to wind down as the group helps themselves to more alcohol (with the exception of the 8 year old pretending Chuffy, of course). They see the group of dwarves from previous nights and decide to drink with them. Finding out that they work for the castle, and even help in its defense, they realize maybe something should be done about them. Kenneth excuses himself only to do his best to sneak into Barnabus's room to look for anything of value, information wise or monetary. Going in he finds what appears to be hand drawn blueprints to the castle on the table, along with a holy symbol of a dwarven god. He begins trying to copy them as best he can.
Barnabus, whether drunken or divine, has a strange feeling that something is amiss. He heads back to his room, and makes enough noise to where Kenneth has just enough time to hide. He does so buy jumping inside the only piece of furniture in the room. Barnabus looks around his room and notices things aren't exactly as he remembers, but he also knows he's drunk. He decides to check one thing just in case, and he heads for his clothes hangar. Just as he is about to open it, Kenneth swings the door open, hitting him square in the face, before trying to make a break for it. Barnabus is able to get between him and the door, and with his trusty weapon nearby, pounds the floor of his room, which just so happens to be directly above the table everyone was drinking at. The dwarves know something is up, and they begin to bolt to help their boss, however the misfits know as well. Chuffy dives under the bar and turns into his goblin self as Grumblejack, disguised as a circus performer for his height, tries to cut off anyone going up the stairs. A few get passed, but he is able to stop many of them just as a goblin comes out from the bar throwing firebombs at anything that moves. The bar quickly empties, with Aethelred and Kami running to get “help” from the guards, the innkeeper doing the same.

Chuffy makes extremely quick work of the dwarves, who are bunched together, making easy targets for him. One of the dwarves makes an exceptionally well aimed attack however, which causes chuffy to drink a potion and laugh, terrifying the other dwarves. Between he and Grumblejack, the dwarves at the bar are taken care of. However, as they are about to lose, Chuffy gives them a surrender offer, and decides to offer them drinks instead of dying. While they contemplate their decision, Chuffy drops his bomb as a show of good faith, before becoming Speedy Gobzales and kicking the bomb so quickly that the dwarf furthest away is unable to react, hitting him square in the face and killing him with fiery death. (Yes, we yelled GOOOAAAALLLL!!!) The rest of the dwarves decide to not die, and surrender, instead drinking beer with the goblin after he intimidated them with his mighty display of power.

Upstairs more dwarves are coming out of their rooms, and more of the Forsaken are joining the fray as well. Rafiki is able to damage and scare many of the dwarves, including Barnabus, who runs and hides at first in the nearest open room. Kenneth takes advantage of this and closes the door behind him, changing his appearance before stealing the blueprints and the symbol outright. The dwarves in the nearby room, hearing the commotion, come out and try and enter Barnabus's room, but it is strangely locked. Kenneth, now locked alone inside, tries to change his voice and is successful.

However, the dwarves are confused why he doesn't speak to them in their native tongue. Rafiki closes his door behind him very calmly as if he didn't just beat up half the floor, turns into another person (a plain looking human, average everything) and climbs outside the window and eventually enters the fray from the other side.
With the bottom taken care of, Grumblejack heads upstairs to help smash in more heads. Kenneth, though unaware of Rafiki's maneuver, has the same idea and tries to climb to nearby rooms, however his room that he enters isn't empty, more dwarves. It would seem that the number of dwarves didn't matter though, as very quickly the dwarves are dispatched once more, Barnabus laying unconscious on the floor. Rafiki, angry he was disturbed and also wanting to try out his new weapon, walks up and effortlessly sticks the metal rod through Barnabus's eye socket and pierces his skull. With the nearby dwarves distracted with more alcohol, Chuffy is able to sneak off and turn back into his younger, human self.

The innkeeper returns, to see his bar half aflame, unaware of what had fully gone on upstairs as well. Rafiki comes down the stairs in his normal hairy guise, covered in blood, and orders a bow of soup made from the deer he had killed. The innkeeper, terrified to disagree, gives it to him, and he sits and begins eating as if there were no trouble at all.

Guards show up a few minutes later, led by Mott and Donnigan once more. Aethelred and Kami Kazi are back as well, having “found guards.” They begin questioning people and see Rafiki in the corner. A few go upstairs just as Mott starts to ask questions, and his query is interrupted by yells of terror upstairs. The men run down, explaining how there were nearly a dozen dead dwarves, some burned to death and others simply bludgeoned.

“Oh, those, yes they started a fight so I killed them.”

Rafiki calmly says this as he continues to eat his soup. Mott, friends with Barnabus, orders his men to arrest the monkey, and Kami casts a sleep spell on the area, which puts the guards to sleep but does not affect the more seasoned monkey. Rafiki sees he is unwelcome and, grabbing his new cloak, runs out the door, carrying with him his rod while sipping his soup. Kami explains she was trying to put them all to sleep, which helps distance their allegiance even further (they met him outside the town as they came in, they claimed.) Mott, unsure of what may or may not be going on after talking to all the witnesses (Goblins, monkeys, and spellcasters in this town? Near the border, the idea of goblins and giants working together terrified him) orders guards to be stationed at the inn for a few days, just in case the murderer returns.

Off in the woods, Rafiki sat in a tree, finishing his soup and his scrimshawed figurine, which ended out looking remarkably like the Kitsune, Kami Kazi.

Small break in the story

The following brief comments took place between Rafiki's character (Gecko) and Kenneth's(Deathcount) during some of the OoC talking that happens. I thought it was too funny to not mention.


Gecko: My kittens have grown into cats :P
What are the modifiers for four cats, two dogs?


DeathCount: +10 to dying alone?




The misfits reconvene (with Aethelred missing) after some characters change their appearance, and using their sources of the nearby area decide it best to try and intercept a nearby captain on patrol, a man called Varning. It so happens that the children Chuffy had befriended snuck over to their favorite campsite (near a small lake and waterfall) to play quite often. The group heads out, prepared to have to wait for a while at the campsite a while. After only a few hours they grow bored. Kenneth disguises himself to look like a bush, Chuffy turns into a half rat midget, and Rafiki decides he's going to half bury fish bones in the immediate campsite, for ****s n gigs. Just as they are finishing up their strange actions, they start to hear the sound of many hooves in the distance, getting louder. They all do their best to hide, save Rafiki, who jumps to the top of a nearby tree and sits there with no worries as several men on horses, including one beautiful white horse, arrive at the location. A few immediately dismount, but Varning notices the fish almost immediately, and stays on his horse as he inspects the area. He looks up and sees the monkey in the tree and the two have casual conversation before the Forsaken springs their attack.

As has become custom, Chuffy's bombs do the majority of the damage, killing horses and riders in large numbers, but this time the killing is not only his to reward. Varning charges through him and nearly kills him in one drive by assault, and Kenneth, seeing this advantage, runs up and leaps off of a small rock, barely clearing one rider on his horse and clean cutting the head off of another burned rider. Varning, unable to reach Chuffy at his new location, charges Kenneth, once more all but killing his target, before a combination of bombs and Vanaaran assault causes Varning to surrender.

The combination of intimidation, torture, and threatening his men causes Varning to reveal a fair bit of information, enough to know that Eddarly is involved in an affair and something terrible is hiding in the tower Rookery, that even he does not know.

They find a key around his neck and ask what it belongs too. Varning, showing a bit of his spine in this instance replies, “My ***hole.”

The group looks at each other and shrugs as an angry Kenneth yanks off Varnings pants and starts to bend him over to try the key out. Varning finally relents, claiming it is merely the key to his room, which the group does not at first believe, but finally does.

The group agrees that Rafiki can watch the prisoners and their horses while they go back to get Aethelred to question Varning.



After what seemed to be weeks (but was only a few hours) the group returns to the inn late at night and informs Aethelred of what happened. They spend the night there, with Kenneth informing Aethelred without even changing out of his bush disguise. The innkeeper, eyeing him at first, says screw it after the week he's had.

Rafiki, bored and not wanting the bodies to go to waste decides to cook and eat the men who were dead, even offering some to Varning (he had grown to like him a small bit, both for his attitude and his love for his horse, Varlet). Rafiki wanted to have a conversation with Varning, after cooking his friends and offering it to him, and this is the word for word conversation they had. (He also used some of the bones in his scrimshaw practice, making some not so greatly made spears)

Rafiki:(Slap him around until he either passes out or starts talking philosophy with me)

Varning: You're a ****ing monster and you want me to talk anything with you?

Rafiki: I've seen more monsters in human guise than I have of my own kind; why do you think I'm out here, in the middle of the wilds, having to rely on some random stranger to have a decent conversation with?

Varning: Says the monster who just ate PEOPLE

Rafiki: You eat animals all the time. What's the difference? They're dead. If anything, it is disrespectful to waste their bodies. It is a tragedy that they died; there's no reason to make the situation worse.
Varning: An enormous difference. For one, they aren't PEOPLE. with FAMILIES. with hopes and dreams. They deserved a proper Mitran burial.

Rafiki: You sure talk a pretty talk. Can you use their bones in these burials of yours?

Varning: It would be better than nothing. But it is far too late as they are out here in the middle of the wild and not in a graveyard with their families or the guardsmen

Rafiki: If you survive this, take their bones and do what you want. But they're just going to go to rot if you use your religion as an excuse to hide away from the reality of nature. I thought you would be able to see this, from your words before.

Varning: In times like this, faith is all a man can have



Aethelred is woken in the night by the sound of something downstairs, he gets up quickly (noticing the guards all gone mysteriously) and sees the innkeeper poking around his bar in a suspicious manner. He wakes up Chuffy (who can see in the dark) and then decides to go back to sleep. Chuffy sees the man go into his basement and he follows sneakily, one of the many benefits to being tiny. Chuffy sees Barhold press a stone and a door swing open in the basement, just as he lights up a candle and goes in. The goblin in disguise follows carefully and realizes it is in fact a pitch black tunnel, not a secret room. He follows as best as he can, using his darkvision to easily see the person in front of him, until he comes to a dead end, a ladder that leads up. The innkeeper goes up and opens a hatch and enters the room above. Chuffy gets close enough that he can see what is above him, a storage room that is shaped remarkably like the vault on the blueprints they took from Barnabus. Knowing the direction they traveled he is able to put two and two together, and after asking their local know it all the next morning, his suspicions are confirmed. The innkeeper has a dwarven escape tunnel tied to the tower Balentyne, and he is stealing from their stock.



The group decides it is time to head back to Varning with Aethelred the next morning (not knowing that Rafiki is all but trying to force him into cannibalization, albeit politely.)

Kenneth decides to take a detour, to the house of Franz Mott, which is the largest home in the city, and a bit out on its own. On his way he finds a few flowers to pick, and knocks the door of the house only to be greeted by one of the most gorgeous women he has ever seen (a large breasted, large eyed, late teenager). She immediately asks “Did HE send these?” To which Kenneth reacts quickly, “Yes, yes he did.” and she quickly invites him inside. Seeing nobody is home, he doesn't even explain what he's doing before he is able to knock her out cold. He then disguises HER as a bush as best he can, puts her into a sheet to look as leaves, and starts to carry her to Varning.

Aethelred arrives at the scene a few minutes sooner and sees Rafiki eating humans and trying to feed Varning (Rafiki seeming highly annoyed that he won't take the food.) He offers some to the bard, who makes a prion joke and declines (which only further angers Rafiki). A few minutes later Kenneth arrives, just as the lovely Katlyn Mott is waking. She sees a monkey eating humans, dead people, and a tied up Captain and starts screaming. She is tied up quickly and gagged before being told to keep quiet and her gag removed.

Aethelred tries his best to talk answers out of Varning, but even with the monkey intimidating they get no new information. Rafiki shows his frustration by casually walking over to Varning, punching him in the face and grabbing his tongue before cutting it out. Varning is somehow able to stay awake through this and the young Katlyn starts to scream again before Kenneth covers her mouth. Rafiki casually sits back down and continues scrimshawing bones as they debate back and forth what to do with them both. Rafiki makes a few strong implications that he would gladly watch the young lady alone as he would find entertainment from her, but Kenneth, knowing what he intends, decides to stay with her. They do their best to interrogate her (knowing she is a better captive than Varning) and they find she was cheating on her husband with Eddarly, it was he she thought the flowers were from.

With Varning showing his surprise at this admittance, Rafiki asks if he has any use for him any more. The group agrees not, so Rafiki casually does the following (which I will let his character explain, which he does so casually)


Rafiki: (First, I'm going to put the sword over the fire and get it superheated)
(Time to amputate an arm at the elbow with the heated sword and cauterize the wound)
(Then impale him to the ground with the bicep with one of the sharpened bones)

Rafiki: (Gotta use the carving knife to cut the guy's tendons, as well)
(He's not really 'tied up' anymore, so I don't want him trying to run away when I'm not looking)

Luckily, Kenneth had moved the girl to the other side as not to see the torture that finally caused the captain to pass out.

They wanted her as mentally stable as they could if they were going to use her as bait for the other captains, after all.



I'm going to try playing next week in text based format only. We normally do skype voice calls with all of us, but I think trying it this way will cut down on the OoC talk and metagaming quite a bit. If not, it's not like it's hard to fix.

As far as actual playing, Yesterday was the first time we played in weeks, due to real life things with all of us. And a whole lot happened. The group is now all but set to take down Balentyne as they have blueprints, a secret tunnel, one captured captain and dirty info on others. Luckily, they have no clue what else awaits them IN the castle.
This update especially I think you guys can see we are dipping into some really evil levels finally, and I'm actually quite proud of how they're playing the roles. Chuffy is a believable insane genius, Kami and Kenneth and Red all seem like they are just con artists wanting more power or influence, and Rafiki.... well, as you all see he is something else altogether. I can't really explain his calm evilness any other way than to say he plays him "Casually Evil" as if anything he does is just normal, like it's not a big deal he just ate a sentient creature or cut out a man's tongue.

As far as other players go, we've pretty much lost the other PCs, which is fine by me. Much more challenging for the remaining players.

I'm looking forward to next week, as anyone who has played or read this module knows who and what lies inside the castle walls, and even having a map of the place will do little more than give the players ideas of where to go and what to do. And again, sorry for such a delay. But hey, mega update at least, right?

Also, for those who care, they are 7 days in, and have 5 VP with the possibility of 7 depending on if they kill Varning

[GoldenGecko]

I will point out one thing, until noted, Rafiki looks like a humanoid monkey, as he is not using his circlet at this point. Anyone else who looks non human has disguised themselves one way or another.

This is entirely correct. While the other players immediately took to using their circlet to appear passably human, I decided not to change forms for two main reasons : A) As a Vanara, I stood out quite a bit; with the proper manipulation, I could create an iconic "this guy is a troublemaker" identity that he could use to make a reaction later on, if I felt like it. This comes into play later on, as well. B) I'm prideful.


Rafiki finds the nearest weaponsmith, a man with rumored dwarven ancestry, and he claims to be the best human smith in the north. Rafiki challenges him with a task, a custom weapon that is essentially nothing more than a rod of metal. He says it will take a few days, and Rafiki leaves quite excited.

My first stop is actually going straight to the tailor, to refit my warm pimping polar bear coat with a little bit of durability. While I'm there, I warm up pretty quick to the guy, buy a few more things, and then I get pointed to the supposedly Dwarven-Ancestry smith. I'm excited ICly and OOCly to get the chance to blow my cash on a nice, custom weapon (basically a quarterstaff with reach).


She screams and is as belligerent as one would expect a rape victim to be, especially considering how easily the man was able to escape (from the second floor, no less!) After berating the inn owner (who showed her the doors were still locked), and demanding the city guard (who did come the next day), Rafiki comes out of his room, half asleep, and knocks her out cold mid rant with one sneak attack from behind, then drags her to her bed and sets her on it before, without a word, going back to his room and going to back to bed. The rest of the party shrugs (though the inn owner is a bit horrified) and follows suit.

Kami wakes everyone up in the middle of the night and refuses to calm down when we try to get her to calm down. I clean up some of her bloodied face, but she's still hysterical and it's quite frankly not helping anybody; the guard won't be here at so late an hour, most likely, and I'm already pretty irritated with how things have been going lately. I just give her basically a tap to knock her out so she -- and the rest of us -- can get some rest, and tell the party that I'll watch over her so that they can put their mind to ease. I didn't *actually* watch over her for too long -- there's really nowhere for me to comfortably sleep with that irritating fox so close by -- but managed to get some good sleep for my trouble once I'd left to make up for it.


The next day, one of the captains, Zack Eddarly, and Father Donnigan (the local Mitran Priest) come investigating the recent night's happening. With no evidence of any kind, there is little they can do, and with Kami being increasingly hostile as a result, they decide it is in their best interest to simply leave (as they see no reason to punish her for being upset, considering.) Rafiki, after some basic discussion with the captain, all but calls Eddarly out and wishes to fight him, and had it not been for the presence of Father Donnigan, Eddarly might have.

As mentioned earlier, I've already decided on giving the impression that I'm an extreme troublemaker, and I also wanted to see just how much resistance these guys had to some heckling. A few verbal jabs and bristling on my part seems to do the trick, but Eddarly doesn't quite bite, unfortunately.


Later that evening the Misfits are at the bar of the inn again, with Rafiki making something from one of the remaining bones from their trading with the native tribe of the north.

Nat-20'd my first craft (Scrimshaw) on one of those ivory tusks we received from the Nanatuks, wanted to make it fairly simple for my first craft and make it in the likeness of the Kitsune. Thought it would be a pretty good test and if it turned out a hideous deformed monster, I had the possibility of giving it to her and smugly explaining that I'd tried to make it in her likeness.


They are hardly set down when Rafiki moves in and talks to them, immediately trying to intimidate the group for information, or just out of boredom. After some snarling they find that their captain, Franz Mott's marriage is not perfect, and after some bribing they are promised that Mott will be here the next day to “speak” with him.

I (Rafiki) was honestly just starting to get bored and agitated, being in the city instead of the wilds, and was itching to have a bit of a scrap with some of the stronger looking guys. Lots of coin to spend, but they, too, wouldn't bite, and asking about Mott (somebody they said would mop the floor with me, basically) eventually led to me bribing them to get him to come to the inn and speak with me in person.



Rafiki gets up very early, finding it hard to sleep, as this is the day his weapon is supposed to be finished. He decides to waste some time by going hunting, eventually killing a deer with his bare hands (and eating some of it). He drags the remainder back to the inn and plops it on the table for the barhold to use in food for the day. Horrified, but not complaining, the innkeeper begrudgingly accepts the meat.

At this point, I'm getting extremely agitated from being cooped up in this tiny city with nothing to show for it. I've already attempted to try guard-hunting at night (the duty tends to be too light to retrieve any real results, though, even with the assault on Kami). A good night in the woods was just what I needed.


Later that morning the older Franz Mott arrives, looking far more stern than the previous captain ever dreamed. He easily finds Rafiki, and without even sitting informs him that the man was punished severely for taking the bribe, and that the money instead will go to the castle surplus. Rafiki, angrily, but also knowing he can't start a fight in the area, simply fires off taunts to no avail.

I was actually excited because the guards had spoken so favorably of Mott and I was hoping that he would actually be able to alleviate my boredom; I wasn't even trying to cultivate a destructive image, I was just angry that he betrayed my expectations. Had enough common sense not to go overboard, but hell, this is getting to be too much to bear, and I can feel it in my gut.


During this time Rafiki gets his weapon from the blacksmith (a masterwork quarterstaff with reach, think Wukong from League of Legends). Rafiki is so pleased with it he hugs the blacksmith before paying him far more than the weapon is worth and leaves.

It's true. I also overpaid the tailor by a ton.

My appreciation for good craftsmanship is what pushed me down the Scrimshaw / Crafting path, in fact.



Upstairs more dwarves are coming out of their rooms, and more of the Forsaken are joining the fray as well. Rafiki is able to damage and scare many of the dwarves, including Barnabus, who runs and hides at first in the nearest open room. Kenneth takes advantage of this and closes the door behind him, changing his appearance before stealing the blueprints and the symbol outright. The dwarves in the nearby room, hearing the commotion, come out and try and enter Barnabus's room, but it is strangely locked. Kenneth, now locked alone inside, tries to change his voice and is successful.

This is basically Kenneth making some silly decisions and rolls, and me deciding the best way out of the situation was to just keep beating everything until it stopped moving; Kenneth is a high-value person in this town, and if his credibility becomes suspect, things are going to get dicey if we have to rely on that poncy bard and fox.

Basically, the path of least resistance is for all of the dwarves upstairs to die. Otherwise there's simply far too many loose ends that could spoil things.


The innkeeper returns, to see his bar half aflame, unaware of what had fully gone on upstairs as well. Rafiki comes down the stairs in his normal hairy guise, covered in blood, and orders a bow of soup made from the deer he had killed. The innkeeper, terrified to disagree, gives it to him, and he sits and begins eating as if there were no trouble at all.

After that grueling display (which was actually pretty difficult... it was a lot of dwarves, plus Barnabus, and I ended up taking quite a beating), I was hungry. Sue me. I'm not exactly in the mood for either pleasantries or a shower, and I'd like to think it would be best for everyone if my mood was improved, even if by a bit.


Guards show up a few minutes later, led by Mott and Donnigan once more. Aethelred and Kami Kazi are back as well, having “found guards.” They begin questioning people and see Rafiki in the corner. A few go upstairs just as Mott starts to ask questions, and his query is interrupted by yells of terror upstairs. The men run down, explaining how there were nearly a dozen dead dwarves, some burned to death and others simply bludgeoned.

“Oh, those, yes they started a fight so I killed them.”

I didn't take down all of the dwarves, no, but it was largely to deflect the blame from any of the other members of the party, not for self-aggrandizement. The earlier troublemaker appearance probably comes in handy, too, since it's not too great a stretch of logic to see this brutish, fight-hungry Vanara eventually getting the fight he wanted in the first place. Have to throw them off the tracks of my party, and absolutely cannot have them investigate the inn too thoroughly or they'd probably end up catching scent of something suspicious in us, so I took the fall (it actually aided my plans, honestly).




The misfits reconvene (with Aethelred missing) after some characters change their appearance, and using their sources of the nearby area decide it best to try and intercept a nearby captain on patrol, a man called Varning. It so happens that the children Chuffy had befriended snuck over to their favorite campsite (near a small lake and waterfall) to play quite often. The group heads out, prepared to have to wait for a while at the campsite a while. After only a few hours they grow bored. Kenneth disguises himself to look like a bush, Chuffy turns into a half rat midget, and Rafiki decides he's going to half bury fish bones in the immediate campsite, for ****s n gigs. Just as they are finishing up their strange actions, they start to hear the sound of many hooves in the distance, getting louder. They all do their best to hide, save Rafiki, who jumps to the top of a nearby tree and sits there with no worries as several men on horses, including one beautiful white horse, arrive at the location. A few immediately dismount, but Varning notices the fish almost immediately, and stays on his horse as he inspects the area. He looks up and sees the monkey in the tree and the two have casual conversation before the Forsaken springs their attack.

In my defense, I had wanted to sort of potentially cause some damage to the horses as they passed the exposed fishbones and cause the retinue to stop, or at least give everyone a good shot at the guy in charge / his horse. With the fishbones actually spoiling the element of surprise, Rafiki just tries to act inconspicuous as first as... well, a gorilla, basically. It gets progressively more difficult to keep them from killing me for the novelty of it all, and then I just decide to go "welp" and start conversing with them. Turns out Varning isn't that bad of a guy, and I start to warm up to him, even if only a bit; I climb down and am just chatting away with everyone.


As has become custom, Chuffy's bombs do the majority of the damage, killing horses and riders in large numbers, but this time the killing is not only his to reward. Varning charges through him and nearly kills him in one drive by assault, and Kenneth, seeing this advantage, runs up and leaps off of a small rock, barely clearing one rider on his horse and clean cutting the head off of another burned rider. Varning, unable to reach Chuffy at his new location, charges Kenneth, once more all but killing his target, before a combination of bombs and Vanaaran assault causes Varning to surrender.

My contribution included missing every single round of combat, and being largely ignored because of higher priority targets.

:<




Rafiki, bored and not wanting the bodies to go to waste decides to cook and eat the men who were dead, even offering some to Varning (he had grown to like him a small bit, both for his attitude and his love for his horse, Varlet). Rafiki wanted to have a conversation with Varning, after cooking his friends and offering it to him, and this is the word for word conversation they had. (He also used some of the bones in his scrimshaw practice, making some not so greatly made spears)

I'm not about to let perfectly good bodies go to waste, and if I'm going to keep an eye on the guy, it's very convenient to have such a ready source of food nearby. As I said before, I've warmed up quite a bit with some of what Varning said before about nature, so I thought some conversation would be in order. Heck, maybe if things went well, I wouldn't have to kill him and we could keep him around in a dungeon, wasting away or something, and I could keep him up-to-date on the outside events while keeping him as a conversation buddy.

I'm not sure why he would pass up the opportunity to talk with me, considering I'm his lone captor and want to talk about something benign; if anything, he should see it as a chance to persuade me to his side, if he had such a motive to escape.

I even show him sympathy. We did just kill all of his guys, after all, so I guess it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that he might be a bit traumatized by the whole ordeal; he'll probably be more open to conversation later. Then he decides to just throw all of my favoritism in my face and betray my expectations. He talked about the beauty of nature before but, truly, he exists within it purely as a visitor; he is incapable of seeing reason, of giving me the conversation I had wanted in the first place.

Disgusting.





Aethelred arrives at the scene a few minutes sooner and sees Rafiki eating humans and trying to feed Varning (Rafiki seeming highly annoyed that he won't take the food.) He offers some to the bard, who makes a prion joke and declines (which only further angers Rafiki). A few minutes later Kenneth arrives, just as the lovely Katlyn Mott is waking. She sees a monkey eating humans, dead people, and a tied up Captain and starts screaming. She is tied up quickly and gagged before being told to keep quiet and her gag removed.

Even my attempts at keeping this guy alive and healthy are falling on deaf, stubborn ears. My patience and goodwill are drying up pretty quickly, and this shows when I start to take it out on the rest of my group.


Aethelred tries his best to talk answers out of Varning, but even with the monkey intimidating they get no new information. Rafiki shows his frustration by casually walking over to Varning, punching him in the face and grabbing his tongue before cutting it out. Varning is somehow able to stay awake through this and the young Katlyn starts to scream again before Kenneth covers her mouth. Rafiki casually sits back down and continues scrimshawing bones as they debate back and forth what to do with them both. Rafiki makes a few strong implications that he would gladly watch the young lady alone as he would find entertainment from her, but Kenneth, knowing what he intends, decides to stay with her. They do their best to interrogate her (knowing she is a better captive than Varning) and they find she was cheating on her husband with Eddarly, it was he she thought the flowers were from.

Varning wasn't coughing up any information and Aethelred said he didn't have a pragmatic use anymore, so I started taking liberties with him. He started praying to Mitra or so, and I wasn't about to have some addled, useless bag of flesh polluting the otherwise serene locale with that mess, so the tongue had to go. Certainly, killing him would have been quicker and more thorough, but there's very little practical use in a corpse that you can't get out of a living body... and I was honestly quite frustrated with everything that I've had to go through since coming to this shoddy town, after having just left the more agreeable company of the Bugbears.

Let's do some studying, some tests. Will Varning still hold true to his fervent prayers, lacking both a tongue and a whole body, now?

Our first test already shows that he lacks the capability of remaining conscious through excessive pain; he passed out with just a single amputation, though the wound was quickly cauterized in a hope to minimize any excess damage. He's less useful dead than he is alive; no point in wasting his potential, so I've put an emphasis on stabilizing and otherwise keeping him healthy despite it all.


Luckily, Kenneth had moved the girl to the other side as not to see the torture that finally caused the captain to pass out.

They wanted her as mentally stable as they could if they were going to use her as bait for the other captains, after all.

I'd actually wanted her to watch, to see how she would react to such a sight, but Kenneth was very logical in his argument that she would be far more useful fully lucid. It's fine, though; Varning still has three limbs and probably won't lose any of them before we extract what we need from her. Once she's not useful, either, there shouldn't be too many qualms with me doing what I want with her, too. She's attractive and certainly carries the disposition of someone easy to mold, given sufficient force; she'd probably make for a good slave, at the worst, and if she turns out to be more agreeable to my point of view, perhaps humanity as a whole *isn't* an unsalvageable mess. Granted, even if she does turn out to be a dud, it would be terrible of me to assume the worst of everyone else -- small sample size and all that -- but if she disproves my anecdotes, things might not be as bleak as I'd imagined.


I can't really explain his calm evilness any other way than to say he plays him "Casually Evil" as if anything he does is just normal, like it's not a big deal he just ate a sentient creature or cut out a man's tongue.

I'm a bit ill-tempered at times, but I'd like to think I can keep myself relatively in-check, even then; I haven't started any commotion within the city walls that I didn't want to, after all, and I've probably been the one to think most clearly about consequences and how to solve them before they pop up. Hopefully some of these insights will explain my 'casual' demeanor; I'm not really going out of my way to do anything exceptionally wrong, and everything seems pretty logical and straightforward, I'd say.

[Mondasin]

Some minor details were skipped:
Kenneth playing cards with and pulling info about why the dwarves are in town.
The ill-fated search for a rapist.
Kami denies plan P... (could end up in the next)
and Varnings Dental experience with Manacles.

Good to see that he got most of what happened that wasn't Aethelred screwing up bardic performances. As for the remark that Kenneth seems like a conman in the DM notes, Kenneth's crime was Fraud, so at least I'm playing him somewhere near right.

[RedJack3t]

Aethelred here, wilfully excusing away my "terrible" performances:

To be fair, I think every time I've done bardic performance I've 'failed' by about 2, and would have been making 1d6 gold even then if DM hadn't ruled the town wasn't that rich so I'd use the performance underneaths gold gain.
So I should have been getting a decent amount of gold but unfortunately all my rolls for bardic performance are 2.
Every time. Even for the 1d10 silver roll.
(this is the only time I've ever regretted not going for a perform type that lets you use a masterwork instrument, specially since my 0 combat character wouldn't really suffer from it, but thematically taking perform: oratory just made more sense.)


... I also rolled a 2 on my diplomacy with Varning, where I tried to convince him that the town was going to fall either way and that by giving us the information he'd be saving peoples lives.
So yeah, that didn't work either.

I DON'T WANT THESE DICE ANYMORE

[AkbarTheGreat]

Bit of a DM update.

We tried playing without using skype today, just roll20 posting, and it was extremely successful. Today was mostly RP stuff, but they are set to try and invade the castle next session. They honestly wanted to launch the rocket and start the invasion tomorrow, 9 days in. I gave them the polite "not gonna TPK you for being stupid" DM warning and they got it, on top of reminding them they were told it'd take 2 weeks for Sakkarot to get his horde set up. I'll do a full update over the next few days after I comb back over the chat long.

[AkbarTheGreat]

So, we uh... just moments ago finished today's session.

And wow is all I can say. Whole party is gonna have to sit on this one a bit.