[IC] Ytria

[nothingforyou]

The color red is the DM! When I use this color, I am talking OOC.

Out-of-Character Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?376180-OOC-Ytria)
Roll20 Campaign (https://app.roll20.net/join/543377/eV14IQ)

Somewhere on Ytria...

There was a damaged merchant ship, being pulled with ropes onto the beach by many sailors. A captain stood by the sailors, telling them when to pull.

"Heave!" said the captain.

"Hah!" yelled the collective voices of the sailors.

On the beach were stockpiles of crates and goods, surrounded by merchants who had set up their tents. The ship was to be repaired; it was a miracle that it floated them safely to shore at all. The sea monster attack had taken the lives of many and caused the ship tremendous damage.

The merchants were busy determining who among them had died, who had lost goods in the attack, and how to distribute the goods of the dead among the living.

A group of adventurers stood at alert; they were protecting the merchants, watching for hostile local wildlife. They were on edge, yet at the same time, they were weary and wanted nothing more than rest.

An adventurer squinted into the distance. His hands went to his weapons. "I see something!" he shouted.

Somewhere on Ytria...

With a tremendous crash, the dead body of a gargantuan white dragon fell out of the sky and hit the ground, sending out a massive shockwave and scattering debris.

Immediately afterwards, the body of a woman fell to the ground as well. It struck the ground with a horrific crack. Closer inspection would reveal that the woman was alive, barely breathing. Her body was covered in horrific gashes and lacerations. Her face was ripped off and hanging from the bone.

Yet even so, as the debris settled and the air grew quiet, magical sparks danced on the wounds of the woman, and they started healing immediately. It was a slow process, and the only sound which could be heard as the magic worked silently was the woman's labored breaths.

Footsteps approached. The woman reached for her rapier. Her bones and muscles had healed sufficiently, and despite her remaining injuries, she knew she was more than a match for most. She slowly got to her feet.

Standing tall, with horrific wounds on her body, she still somehow looked as regal as a king. Her face was mangled and unidentifiable, but the magic was slowly returning it to its natural state.

Four native islanders appeared. Shamans and barbarians. The natives kept their distance, put on edge by the magic dancing across the woman's wounds.

"Outsider!" said a shaman. "Is this your doing?" The shaman indicated the dead dragon.

The woman nodded.

Fear, respect, and wonder showed on the faces of the natives. "What is your name?"

The woman took a deep breath. Her vocal chords were now healed and working; moments ago they were hanging out along with the rest of her throat.

"My name is Artemisia."

[copycatcat]

Somewhere on the east coast of Ytria...

A ship crashes into the coast, carrying many settlers and slaves. After they gaze upon the land for the first time, they turn around and waste no time in unloading the supplies to begin their queendom.

[nothingforyou]

ZUPOTE CIPOLER

The large group on the beach had reorganized. Caravans and supplies were packed and ready to go. The beach had a chilly breeze and it was dusk, fast approaching dark. Debris and damaged ship-parts floated up onto the shore. Seagulls were flying ahead, around the scene of the wreck.

Miri, the captain of the recently-wrecked ship, approached Zupote.

"It's a shame, but to be expected," said Miri. "Ships around Ytria go missing quite often. That we still have our lives is a blessing." She looked around the beach and appraised the group. "I think I'll be going off on my own. I intend to travel northwest to the valley. I wish you all the luck in the world. If there's anything you want of me, now's the time to ask."

[copycatcat]

"I don't suppose you know of anything around here, do you? Could you help us out with exploring this starting area of the land before you leave us?"(Suggestion, Will DC 20, to help explore 1st hex(where my mark is))

Edited for clarification on "1st hex."

[nothingforyou]

ZUPOTE CIPOLER

Miri blinked as the magic invaded her mind.

"Well, I don't know if there's anything around here," she said, "but I guess I'll help you explore the region. But I should make haste; I don't fancy my chances against the local wildlife here."

Zupote surveyed the landscape. Inland from the beach were plains, and then some woods in the far distance. Southwards, Zupote could see only plains.

"If you're ready," said Miri. "I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible."

[copycatcat]

Miri, Zupote, and three of the more barbaric women of Pontrel went across the long plains, looking for any possible dangers.

"Say, Miri, other than shipcaptaining, of course, what.. talents do you have?"

[nothingforyou]

ZUPOTE CIPOLER

"Me?" said Miri. "Oh, not much. I used to adventure a bit, then worked on a ship, then combined my two loves by captaining dangerous expeditions. Always loved the idea of adventuring, never was too great at it. The stories drew me in." She sighed.

The walk around the plains was uneventful. There were no signs of civilization, just untamed wilds. After a while, the group had fully and satisfactorily explored the region. There was nothing of interest, but the lands were beautiful, with gently sloping fields of tall grass under the orange dusk sky. The group returned to the encampment.

Dusk turned to night, and it began to rain.

"Oh, hell," said Miri. "Well, I'll be walking in this rainy dark. Can't possibly go wrong." She sighed and prepared to set out.

[copycatcat]

"Here's a gold piece for your troubles."

Bringing five barbarians to explore this occasion, Zupote attempts to ready the hex just south of her starting point. While she does this, she sends her cohort and followers above level 1, along with the last barbarian, to explore the hex to the west.

Can you give us individual IC threads?

[Thorium-229]

On the North Western coast of Ytria

From the ruins of a formerly sturdy vessel, a group of new settlers hesitantly set foot on Ytria. At the forefront of the group stood Ankou Dumaya. He surveyed the land stretching out before him, and cracked one of his rare smiles.

[nothingforyou]

Join this Roll20 campaign (https://app.roll20.net/join/549695/P6UHRQ) and place your troops and you on the map to the left of the red line. Separate campaigns will be used to do tactical battles, because players can't be split in normal campaigns.

In the dead of the night, under heavy rain, a cry of alarm rang out. Zupote's scrambled to ready.

Multiple figures advanced through the dark.

Ankou stood on a shore, inland of which was a large plain. It was night, and the sky was clouded.

The shore was quiet and serene. There was a warm breeze blowing through.

A mast which once stood tall on a ship was now cracked and embedded in the shore's pebbles. The mast creaked as the waves rolled over it.

Ankou's group had reorganized and was ready to go.

There were signs that the beach had been occupied fairly recently—old campfires, broken crates, wagon wheels.[/COLOR]

[Thorium-229]

"You, (points at most of the settlers) go set up camp, we aren't getting any exploring done in this darkness. Be on guard, we may not be alone. The rest of you are coming with me. We're going to figure out what happened here." The settlers accompanying Ankou begin to pick through the debris looking for clues as to what happened, and anything that may be salvageable. Ankou will cast Detect Hostile Intent (Range 30ft, Duration 1 hr, 3pp), and Object Reading (3pp) on anything that looks valuable/ important in the rubble.

[copycatcat]

The settlers retire for the night and hopefully remain that way. One of the rogues is sent out to keep lookout.

IF no more attacks occur, everyone regains spells, and the next day, my slaves, my followers, and I construct the new settlement, building various buildings. Details will be posted in OOC.

[nothingforyou]

Ankou's group began to set up camp.

Ankou detected no hostile intent in the region. He approached the leftovers from the shore's prior tenants and manifested a power on the most important looking object, a relatively intact but empty crate which read "FRAGILE" across the front.

Ankou determined that the last owner of the crate was a thirty-three year-old neutral good male half-orc, who gained the crate in the trading commons of some far-off port, and left it behind on these shores after removing its contents. The next-to-last owner was a one-hundred and eleven year-old lawful good female elf, who gained the crate by ordering its manufacture, filled it with contents, and then gave it to the half-orc.

Nothing will happen yet. I am waiting on 1) mods response to multiple threads 2) Erik Vale to post and 3) Ankou to catch up with the next day.

[Erik Vale]

Far to the north, a Orcish Slaving Vessel lands, disgorging a small number of slaves and orcs, each and every one knowing what to do, and each and every one knowing what's going to happen as soon as it leaves.
And not too long afterwards, pre-built walls go up, a watchtower begins it's rise, and the boat leaves. Discussion is still minimal, so much having been pre-arranged that everyone is too busy with work and living.



Founding Step:
Starting Settlement: House + Watchtower [15 BP]

Alignment: NG

Leadership Roles:
Magister: Expert Slave [Old High Int Dwarf Adept[/other magic class] with Breadth of Experience. Int mod of 18 Minimum with below assumptions, so +4 Economy, not 2]
Grand Diplomat: Expert Gnome Slave [A Linguist with ranks in Diplomacy and Knowledge (Local), Charisma 17 minimum with below assumptions]
Ruler: Me.
Heir: N/A
Viceroy: N/A
Others: Standard Slaves

Notable Characters: Expert Slave Healer, Expert Slave Animal Handler with 5 Hippogrif eggs and 15 Domesticated Wolves.

Start Treasury: 25 BP

Starting Attributes:
Determining Notes: Assuming not using leadership skills. Assuming Expert Slaves are level 3 NPC classes with a base 15 in a relevant stat, while standard slaves have 10s in all stats.
Size: +1, Consumption: +1, Loyalty: +2, Stability: +5, Economy: +4, Unrest: +0, Treasury: 26

Turn:
Upkeep:
Stability Check: Can't Fail
Consumption: -1 BP [25 Total]
Magic Items: N/A
Modify Unrest: N/A

Edict:
Leadership Roles: Unchanged
Hex Claiming: Skip
Terrain Improvements: Building a Fishery + Farm [Plains] [6 BP]
Settlement Improvement: Building House and Mill [9 BP]
Create Army Units: Skip
Issue Edicts: 1 Holiday Edict, Token Promotion Edict, Light Taxation Edict, Improvement Limits [1 Building, 2 Improvements]

Economy Phase:
Withdrawal: None
Deposit: None
Sail: None
Tax: [roll0]/3=4

Town: 'Georges Freehold'
Capital
Buildings/Improvements:
Watchtower [Building]
Fishery, Farm
2*House
Mill

Stats:
Defence: +2, Lore: 0, Crime: 0, Productivity: +1

End Turn Kingdom Stats:
Size: +1, Consumption: -2, Loyalty: +2, Stability: +6, Economy: +5, Unrest: +0, Treasury: 14
Note: Kingdom currently Unnamed. Event left to GM.

[nothingforyou]

At the end of the first week, several rumors began floating about, spread by passing travelers:

1) There was an abundance of necromancers on Ytria, since they came to the island fleeing persecution in other places.
2) A black dragon was spotted soaring the skies above the mountains by the swamps.
3) Bandits were preying on travelers and merchants.
4) Local tribespeople were hunting travelers and merchants.
5) The ancient white dragon Ereshki was slain by the famed adventurer and sailor, Artemisia.
6) Some horrifying creatures from other planes were sending scouts to Ytria.

Don't know where you're starting; also, if I recall the rules correctly, your first turn is spent constructing the house + watchtower. Next turn you can start on the mill + house. Finally, you need to spend 1 BP to claim the initial hex.

A week passed. Pitwhip's orders were carried out to completion and the settlement of George's Freehold was established.

Unfortunately, local insects got into the settlement's food storage, and George's Freehold found itself short on supplies.

Attempt a Stability check. If succeed, Consumption next turn increases by 50%. If fail, Consumption next turn increases by 100%.

Zupote found the week following the first night of combat to be relatively peaceful and productive. The settlement of Pebanot was established.

A rare species of autumn flowers bloomed at around the same time. The grassy plains were, briefly, colored vibrant blue and sunset orange from all the flowers, instead of the regular green of grass. Gain a +4 to Stability for next turn.

The night following the first week, a man on horseback accompanied by a retinue of knights arrived and stayed at the inn. The man requested audience with the head of the settlement.

[copycatcat]

Zupote will attempt to know the man's surface thoughts(Rakshasa bloodline power.) DC 21.

[nothingforyou]

The man sat at one of the inn's tables, with four knights at his side. Seeing Zupote enter, he smiled cheerily.

Zupote read his mind. He was of slightly above-average intelligence. He was thinking about the journey ahead of him. It seemed to be long and arduous.

"A pleasure," he said. "My name is Ethan. I am a nobleman on pilgrimage. Let me get straight to the point. The flower fields around here are beautiful. I wish to construct a park to celebrate these lands. I will foot the costs. So, with your permission...? Oh, also, I will be staying the night, if you'll allow."

[copycatcat]

I learn all of his surface thoughts, he has to be thinking about more than 'I have a long and arduous journey ahead of me.'

Zupote telepathically orders her followers, elvenslaves, cohort, and other settlers who came with to put on a facade of not speaking Common. She telepathically informs the man of this language barrier, and asks if he can speak Undercommon or Elven.

[nothingforyou]

No, I've judged correctly. His surface thoughts are literally only about his journey ahead, with no specifics since he's not planning or calculating, just thinking about how annoying it is. You can always steer the direction of conversation to something specific and use your bloodline power again, then his surface thoughts may contain more information.

"I see," said the man, switching to Elven. He repeated his prior offer. "I'd like to build a park to commemorate the flowers growing here. With your permission. I will supply the funds."

[copycatcat]

No, I've judged correctly. His surface thoughts are literally only about his journey ahead, with no specifics since he's not planning or calculating, just thinking about how annoying it is. You can always steer the direction of conversation to something specific and use your bloodline power again, then his surface thoughts may contain more information.

"I see," said the man, switching to Elven. He repeated his prior offer. "I'd like to build a park to commemorate the flowers growing here. With your permission. I will supply the funds."

I call one of my elvenslaves(in Potrelen.) I inform him what the man is saying, and ask him to interpret. I telepathically signal for the man to repeat. After he does, I telepathically say, "What is your name and your kingdom?"

I can only use Mind Reading 1/day.

[nothingforyou]

"Ethan of Thurbane, that is, the Kingdom of Thurbane," said the man in Elven. "It is many continents from here."

[copycatcat]

She telepathically sends, "Please send your men off into the rooms. There should be two open. Make sure they knock. I wish to have this conversation privately," and walks into a back room of the inn, but slowly, motioning for Ethan to go ahead. When he does, she casts invisibility.

[nothingforyou]

Ethan looked to the knights. "Please leave us," he said.

The knights shifted uncomfortably. "Sir, it is inadvisable."

"I'll be fine."

The knights walked into an adjoining room. Ethan followed Zupote's directions and walked into another room.

When Zupote cast invisibility, Ethan stiffened.

Roll initiative. Even if there's no combat. But if there is none, you may continue with whatever you are doing. If there is combat, when I get back from classes I will boot up Roll20.

[copycatcat]

[roll0]
After entering the room, Zupote uses her hat of disguise to appear like her cohort(the magister). She then dismisses the invisibility. She begins "I apologize for the spell of invisibility, and the deception over which languages I speak. It isn't false that nobody else speaks the language, but I do. I merely felt that I had the need to conceal my identity from your guards. It was a matter of urgency relating to the gods themselves, specifically the cruel drow Lolth."

For the bluff(including a use of Silver Tongue)(modify for unlikely or far-fetched afterwards): [roll1]

[nothingforyou]

Ethan blinked. "...I see," he said. "What is it, then, that you can discuss with me, but not my knights and protectors?"

[copycatcat]

"Oh, it is not the discussion. That is simple enough. I merely prefer to have discussions in person, and I am attempting to mantain my identity as a secret, lest it fall in the wrong hands, like the priestesses of Lolth. Why would you like to build a park, and what would that entail? I believe your first answer is 'for the flowers,' but I cannot know the second."

[nothingforyou]

"It would entail nothing," said Ethan. "I have the resources to develop the park at this very moment. We'll have it finished by the end of this month. As for why, I really do enjoy the flowers, but this is also part of my pilgrimage, to help and honor those I pass on my way to enlightenment. Or, in theory. I don't know if my ancestors have really found any enlightenment from this tradition..."

[copycatcat]

"I meant, not what it would entail I must do, but rather what this 'park' would be. A playground? A place of nature's beauty?"
If you'd like, I can take this to roll20 for ease.

[nothingforyou]

Having completed the meeting, Ethan and his knights left the inn and rode off.

"We will return this evening to stay the night," a knight had said. "At the moment we leave to bring workers, lumber, and stone for the park. Tomorrow we leave for good."

[copycatcat]

Zupote sleeps the night atop the inn rooftop.

When she wakes up, Zupote is invisible, lying in wait above the front door of the inn.

She searches to the north for what has been making those who wander not return.

[nothingforyou]

In the morning, as she lay hidden atop the inn, Zupote spotted Ethan and his knights leaving. They rode their mounts northwest and disappeared from view.

She could see workers constructing the new park. Add a park to the list of settlement buildings. Ethan was good to his word, and there were ample resources and labor to complete the construction.

Not long thereafter, Zupote traveled northeast with the magister and priest and spent the next thirteen days exploring. While traveling along the river plains, she ran into a merchant, fought several undead, and explored the forest to the west.

In the forest, Zupote and her cohorts came across a small clearing. It was innocuous otherwise, but had a bloodstained stone slab sitting dead center.

[copycatcat]

She looks around the clearing. If she doesn't see anything, she flies up and closer to the slab, eventually becoming straight 15 feet above it.
What were the potions?

[nothingforyou]

Hovering above the stone slab amid the meadow, Zupote saw and felt nothing out of the ordinary. The stone slab remained as it was, a stone slab.

Did you identify the things?

[copycatcat]

I don't have a wand of identify or anything, so no. Point taken.
EDIT: I updated Zupote's sheet to show her leveling up. (Also, if the guards had all died, she would have leveled twice. So there's that.)
I'll have my wizard identify them when we stop exploring.
I do gain information from detect magic.
Also, any time we're both on, and you have access to roll20, I can take a conversation there.

Zupote looks around for any evidence of bloodshed other than the rock, a bit more carefully.
[roll0]

[nothingforyou]

Zupote noticed nothing else. Searching the slab, she noticed a small scroll hidden in one of the slab's crevices.

[copycatcat]

Zupote removes the scroll and casts read magic on it.

[nothingforyou]

As Zupote handled the scroll, she began to feel sleepy.

Will save, for you and your cohorts.

[copycatcat]

[roll0]Zupote
[roll1]Moge
[roll2]Ditirfok

[nothingforyou]

Zupote and Ditirfolk slumped to the ground, asleep. Moge remained awake.

Assuming Moge immediately awakens the others: Zupote got up. The scroll lay on the floor in front of her.

[copycatcat]

Moge awakens Zupote and Ditirfok. They leave the scroll and begin to head South and every slightly East. If no attacks occur, they begin to search here, as well, for any more signs of the necromancer.
First: If I use Detect Magic on the potions, what would be the results?
Second: If you have access at the moment, we can take this to roll20.

EDIT: Actually, Zupote casts Scorching Ray at the scroll.

[copycatcat]

Zupote continues her search, and battles several undead and a necromancer. She returns to Pebanot, leaves her two followers, and comes back out for more exploration. She meets a dwarf and a merchant. She comes across some dinosaurs in a forest, and chooses to slay them by setting a forest fire, rather than in a more sane way. She starts to search west.

[Erik Vale]

Don't know where you're starting; also, if I recall the rules correctly, your first turn is spent constructing the house + watchtower. Next turn you can start on the mill + house. Finally, you need to spend 1 BP to claim the initial hex.

A week passed. Pitwhip's orders were carried out to completion and the settlement of George's Freehold was established.

Unfortunately, local insects got into the settlement's food storage, and George's Freehold found itself short on supplies.

Attempt a Stability check. If succeed, Consumption next turn increases by 50%. If fail, Consumption next turn increases by 100%.



OOC: At the very top of the Island, where the river meats the sea, on the side where there's a forest hex directly below. Was not my understanding but ok, will dial back. Also, aren't turn's the progress over a month?

Stability Check: [roll0]


Gorgnuk curses their misfortune seeing the food supplies.
"Going to need to dump this. Maybe burn it... We have nets right? We're just going to need to start fishing faster, worse to worse we'll have to eat more of the animals instead, but seeing how this is mostly their food, that shouldn't be a problem."

Gorgnuk looks around at those gathered around him, shrugging as if the solution was obvious.

[nothingforyou]

There's no hard and fast rule regarding when pre-settlement constructions are built, so I considered it instead a kingdom turn. You need spend only 7 days of a month on kingdom ruling, during which all phases Upkeep, Edict, Income, Event occur. This suggests buildings take 7 days at most to construct, or are at least serviceable at the end of 7 days, because after the Event phase the buildings are a part of the settlement's statblock and may be visited in person outside of the kingdom building rules.

Anyhow, you essentially spent your Edict phase building the buildings required to create a settlement. You only fulfill conditions 1-3 of settlement founding before the building phase, the 4th and 5th conditions come from the existence of buildings, which I think is reasonable to say are built during the Edict settlement improvement phase, since it is specified nowhere else when they are built.

The day after George's Freehold was established, a merchant caravan stopped by the watchtower and made camp.

There were eight members of the caravan. Two wagons, five guards, two merchants, and a merchant's son. They spoke little and started packing their supplies into crates.

If you're available on Roll20 we should do your turn on it, so that we don't have a slow back-and-forth post schedule for your turn.