Shadows of a Crimson Blade

[Darth Ultron]

Pyarados

The tharch of Pyarados runs between the eastern edge of Lake Thaylambar and the Sunrise Mountains, right to the lower portion of the River Thazarim and the southern edge of the First Escarpment. The tharch doesn’t quite reach the High Road to the west, which is part of Tyraturos.

In addition to monster dens and old ruins, this part of the Sunrise Mountains harbors all sorts of mineral wealth. There is only one major city here—Pyarados, after which the tharch is named. Situated on the west bank of the River Thazarim, this is where the Eastern Way ends, just shy of the Surague Escarpment. Two well-worn tracks lead out of city. One follows the edges of the Surague Escarpment and the edge of Lake Thaylambar up to the city of Eltabbar. The other is on the east side of the River Thazarim, and it leads south through the tharch of Thazalhar into Mulhorand, eventually winding up in either Sultim or Rauthil, depending on which fork one follows.





Just a set up, we can fill in details as we game...

Note the year is 1350DR, if you know anything about the Realms.

[J-H]

That's about 20 years before Baldur's Gate if I recall correctly.

Do you want me to invent a current job/mission/employer or do you have one in mind?

[Darth Ultron]

At least 20 years...depending on what ''Baldurs Gate ''Your talking about.

Being ''between jobs'' works....like you just came back from a successful job.

[J-H]

Gladius Rojaferro

"To another successful job." Gladius clinks a pint of ale against that of his sometimes-friend, Shakir. "You still heading home in the morning?"

"Yep. Father says to head home, so I head home. At least the letter didn't come until we were done. I know Fillipus was supposed to be just a trainee, but that trainee was strong enough to kill his parents, and nearly did us in too. If it'd just been you or I, whoever wasn't there would be at a funeral right now. Sneaky bastard."

"Tell me about it. I'm glad the Red Wizards are on our side and we on theirs. Woe to any who stand against Thay!" A couple of people at neighboring tables mutter agreement to that. Of course, most aren't dumb enough to pick an argument with two strong and well-armed mercenaries who are still on their first pint of the eve.

"Got a lead on your next job yet?"

"When has something not come up? Pyarados has lots of land around it for ruins, budding rebels, bandits, property disputes over a new mine... the nature of man, my friend, is that I will have good-paying work for as long as I want it, and for as long as my mind and blade are sharp and my body strong.

The trick will be figuring out when to retire - but not today or tomorrow or next year, that's certain enough."

[Darth Ultron]

Brelard Tolmico a male human pokes his head in the door way, Anyone in here looking for work? Thripendra Kayn is over by the fountain looking for mercenaries for something big. Even get a sign up bonus. "

A couple people get up and head out the door.

[J-H]

Shakir laughs. "You should have been a priest or a diviner."

"Hah, no thanks. Hope everything's well with your family. Safe travels." Gladius finishes his pint, pushes back his chair, and follows the others over to the fountain.

[Darth Ultron]

The fountain of Vannitus is a large simple square twenty feet square filled with about three feet of crystal clear water in the middle of a open area. The water in the middle of the fountain shoots up in a pillar about ten feet high before falling back down. It's well known that a evil water elemental is trapped in the fountain by a Red Wizard known as Vannitus over a century ago. And the elemental is known, from time to time to reach out and attack those that get too near the fountain.



Thripendra Kayn is a seven foot tall female Gnoll with black fur in white leather clothing, though no visible weapons. There is no one else nearby when you get there.

[J-H]

Gladius slows and looks around; there should be other job-seekers here. Are they invisible, or teleported? The square and fountain area is too empty.


Detect Magic SLA
Spellcraft rolls if needed
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Darth Ultron]

The fountain glows with strong conjuration magic.

Thripendra Kayn clothing glows with weak transmutation magic.

You don't see anything invisible or teleporting.


Thripendra Kayn stands by the fountain and waits. The area around the fountain stays otherwise empty, though there are people around in the rest of the city.

[J-H]

Gladius thumbs his blade oh-so-slightly out of the scabbard, so that it's ready to draw. He then advances, stopping about 15' from the gnoll, and keeping her between his position and the fountain.

"I heard you're hiring. Looks pretty slow."

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "There was a big rush a couple a moments ago...but it died down. Yes, I'm looking to hire mercenary fighters. Need to take out a nest of ogres. You are an experienced warrior? You fight many battles? Any leadership experience? Any special talents?

We pay ten gold a day, plus a bonus of twenty gold and two potions of moderate healing, and a victory bonus of one hundred gold. More for leaders."

[J-H]

"Yes, I've fought in some battles, including against spellcasters. The trick with the ogres will be getting inside their reach. I channel a lot of the magic I know through my sword, but I have a fire spell I can use from pretty far away - if we can get high ground and assail them from a distance, it'll help us when they get close. A wizard or even a couple of apprentices for support would be good, too.

I can give orders and knock heads - does that work for leadership for you? How many ogres, and how well equipped are they?"

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "About a hundred ogres, couple goblin packs. They are entrenched in a network of caves, not sure what they have other then plenty of rocks. We don't have any spellcaster support available. This will be a simple lighting strike shock and awe attack to whip out the ogres.

We could use a leader for the force. No one has stepped up yet. More pay and bonuses, as I said. "

[J-H]

"Well, we need at least a few wands and people who can use them - maybe some of the sneakier or less battle-like folks?

I can lead, but where will you be?"

[Darth Ultron]

"You ask a lot of question manamal. We pay you gold and you fight, is that not simple enough. If you must know....I will be doing other things. There is no sneaking, this is just an open attack. Are you afraid to fight?"

[J-H]

Gladius snorts and laughs. "Are you and I not blessed with more wit and cunning than the ogres? You say there are one hundred of them. I have the wit to know that each of those is as strong as I am and longer of arm. Charging blindly in with ten or even thirty men on my side and no magic against such a force would simply earn me a fool's death."


Sense Motive with a +0 mod (d20) to see if she's trying to pull some kind of scam. The info as presented makes it looks like a suicide mission; long odds against superior melee fighters with no magical support and no healers or battlefield control.

[Darth Ultron]

You don't get the feeling that she is pulling any sort of scam. Of course, it's common enough to use mercenary troops as fodder (and normal troops too, for that matter).

[J-H]

"What forces do you have ready to face these hundreds of foes?"

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "I have recruited forty one so far, but there are other recruiters out there too. So I don't have the final number. "

[J-H]

"You should have said that first. It sounds like we'll have even numbers. I'm in. When and where do I need to be?"


Do you want to track 'camping gear' (bedroll, food, water, etc)? I have 350gp on my sheet and a note that I'll buy it if I'm selected.

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "Good, good. As just another warrior, or did you want our leader spot?"



We don't need to bother with camping stuff....unless you want too.

[J-H]

"I'll lead."

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "Good. she hands over a small leather pouch of 200 gold coins and three potions of moderate healing that she pulls out of a side sack.

"Are you ready to go now?"

Four small, about three foot tall, hairless yellow skinned humanoid-like creatures with long tails and bat like wings fly down from seemingly nowhere and land a couple feet over to your left.

[J-H]

"I'll be ready in half a bell; I have something in mind to buy."


K: The Planes [roll0] to identify the imps or quasits or whatever they are.
K: Arcana [roll1] in case I'm wrong

Gladius gets a wand chamber (100gp, Dungeonscape) added to his sword, and buys a partially charged Wand of Color Spray with 10 charges (150gp), slotting it in.... if that's okay?
Color Spray is on the Duskblade spell list.

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn "I will be here when your ready."



Planes-they sure look like demons, maybe, but you don't know what type.
Arcana-the creatures do fit the basic description of a quasit, often a familiar to an evil spellcaster





You can buy both with no problems.

Just FYI: rules in summary:
A wand chamber allows you to activate a wand that has been contained within an item (thus allowing you to hold the wand and item in one hand).
A wand is a spell trigger activation item which usually takes one standard action to activate.
Once a wand is activated, it expends a charge and allows one use of the spell contained within (as if it had been cast).
It does not work with Arcane Channeling, because Arcane Channeling requires you to cast a touch spell that you know, and activating a wand does not count as casting for that purpose.

[J-H]

Gladius returns with his newly-upgraded weapon. "I'm ready."

He watches the quasits warily.

[Darth Ultron]

Thripendra Kayn gives a nod.

The quasits jump up into the air and fly around you in small circles and drop black dust from their wings.

Then everything around fades away....and when everything fades back in....your high up in the mountains...somewhere. The land all around is quite rocky, blocking any nearby views. Five half orcs stand nearby. The four males are in plate armor, the female is in black leather armor..and she walks forward.


Sarndza Darkboil "Greetings, commander. I am Sarndza Darkboil, your aide. The paymasters have set us for the attack at dawn tomorrow. The troops stand ready. We await your commands." She says with a slight nod.

Beyond the five half orcs you can see small groups of warrior types in small camps along the stretch of flat ground, at least 50 or so people scattered around. You see mixes of humans, orcs, hobgoblins, kenku, and a couple gnolls.

[J-H]

"Excellent. Do we have a map? Have scouts been sent out to determine our best attack routes and the distribution of enemy forces? Do they know we are here?"

What are my soldiers equipped with?

[Darth Ultron]

Sarndza Darkboil "The ogres are two valleys over, about two miles. With the rocky ground we only have one attack route. The whole ogre force is entrenched in the caves. "


Like any randomly assembled mercenary army, the troops have all sorts of weapons. Most have swords, axes, maces or spears. A handful have bows. Most armor is hide, scale or chain mail and about half of them have small shields.

[J-H]

"Sarndza, I'm going to divide the troops into groups. Please help me select competent sub-leaders."

Gladius steps up and speaks loudly, addressing all of them. "I am Gladius, your commander. I've fought many things, including wizards. The paymasters have selected me as leader, and it's not just for my muscle or skill with a blade.

We attack at dawn tomorrow. For the Kenku among us - see Sarndza. You see best at night, and I want you to take shifts so that nothing can sneak up with us. We want to attack the ogres when they are sleepy, unarmed, and unarmored, and that means making sure that they don't know we're here!

For those who don't know it, ogres have very long arms! Anyone with a polearm or long melee weapon, group together. Anyone who's agile enough to duck, dodge, and get in close - group together. Once the enemy is in place, you can tumble in and attack them where it hurts!

Anyone with a bow: Group together. We will find a high place near the battle so that every ogre we fight is bleeding and hurting before it can even touch us. The rest of you - come see me; we will mix with the other melee'ers. I have some magic that can disable several ogres at a time, and will lead from the front. We're going to fight smart and well, and we'll use that to seize and keep the advantage so that we all win and get paid a lot!"

[Darth Ultron]

Everyone more or less listens.

The eleven kenku flock together.

The long weapons and dodges only make up five people.

Twenty two bowmen form a group.

Leaving a mixed group of 31 basic melee fighters in the middle.

[J-H]

Gladius and his aide assign night watches so that everyone gets rest. The camp is roused well before sunrise, and moves out in the dim early light, attempting to sneak in and find advantageous positions.

[Darth Ultron]

Before sunset, Thripendra Kayn brings over a group of 52 orcs.

The troop is up and ready before sunrise. The large troop does not sneak very well, and makes a ton of noise that echos through the mountains.

[J-H]

"No sneakyness, eh?" Gladius motions a couple of the kenku over and has them run ahead to scout. They are to report back if the enemy emerges from the caves en masse or attempts to set up an ambush.

[Darth Ultron]

A kenku runner comes back to report the caves are quiet, they see ten ogres on guard, the rest inside the caves.

[J-H]

The force presses on with Gladius in the lead. "They only have ten guards right now! Try to find a narrow point and we'll bottle them up in the caves, and kill them two by two!"


Are we going to have a tactical map when we actually get to the ogres?

The archers will be hanging back someplace high and doing a lot of the damage. I have 10 charges of Color Spray in the wand, and can tag 2 to 3 ogres per spray (usually 2), with ~50% failure chance for them on each save. We'll use that to bottle them up, and swarm them a few at a time.

[Darth Ultron]

Well did you want to have the two armies fight it out mechanical round after round while your character sits back and does nothing.

Or did you want the army fight in the background while your character fights?

[J-H]

My character's near the front, but his priority is deploying color spray to blind and stun the enemy; disabling the ogres is a lot better than 2d6+x damage. If an enemy spellcaster is sighted, he's likely to directly fight that one. A channeled Touch of Idiocy for 1d6 damage to all 3 casting stats will lower the caster's DCs, and may reduce or eliminate the spells available for it to cast by dropping it to 10 or 11 wis/int/cha.

With a few color sprays, archers, and the numbers we have, I expect we'll bring down the ten guard ogres with very few (if any) deaths and a few injured soldiers on our side.

With as many fighters as I have, I'm also going to have a few melee guarding the archers, and a few deployed on the flanks to watch for an enemy force trying to flank-attack us via another entrance/exit.

I'm hoping that the noise of battle will draw the other ogres out to our prepared battleground, vs us having to fight them in the tunnels.

[Darth Ultron]

I think you missed the question....

Did you want to use a mass combat ruleset to play out the battle, while your character sits back and does nothing?

OR

Did you want to play your character in one tiny, tiny, tiny corner of the battle field...all alone...in normal D&d combat vs an ogre or two....while the battle rages around you in the background?

[J-H]

I think something like this is probably better suited to the mass combat rules. My character vs some ogres would still have a few allies in the melee, plus archers firing in...lots of stuff to admin from the DM perspective to cover even just a fraction of what is going on.

[Darth Ultron]

I guess the next question is: what mass combat rules do you want to use/ have access to?

[J-H]

I have Heroes of Battle, not sure what other mass combat rules there are.
Without a map, it'll be hard for me to do anything other than the generalities I've given you + blind dice rolls.

[Darth Ultron]

Mass combat is worse then you think....you need to forget the D&D rules. The Tome of Battle is all about focus on the Pc's playing normal D&D, while the army fights in the back ground.

There are no official 3E mass combat rules, other then the miniatures handbook. There are some out there....the Conan D20 has a system, and there is a Monte Cook system. And, tons of other systems over the years....

[J-H]

Heroes of Battle is another book. It has several PRCs in it, including War Weaver.
However you want to run it is fine. If you just want to give me general descriptions and use a few dice rolls, that's fine.
Rolling lots and lots of dice gets boring pretty quickly as the DM.

[Darth Ultron]

The best way is to keep the war in the back ground. Like Heroes of Battle suggests: Just your character vs. the leader ogre.

There are some nice light unit rules, if you want to use them in the future.... http://www.d20swsrd.com/swords-and-wizardry-srd/for-players/characters/higher-level-play

[J-H]

Ok, sounds good. I'll save a charge or two of Color Spray for him.

Putting together a 100 man force in Thay with no spellcasters...paymasters are crazy.

[Darth Ultron]

War!

The mercenaries of your army surprise and overwhelm the ogres outside the caves...and then rush into the caves themselves. The fighting in the caves is fierce and the ogres quickly respond and push the army back out of the caves with a series of thrown and rolled boulders. The fight then moves to just outside the caves.

When the ogre general, with his giant axe and spiked hide armor moves out into the battle field.

[J-H]

Gladius is pleased overall with the progress of the battle; by fighting outside, the ogres have ensured that they will continue to absorb fire from his archers.

He moves towards the general, hitting him with a Color Spray at maximum range.

(15' range)
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/colorSpray.htm
Will DC 11 or stunned.

[Darth Ultron]

The spray of color shoots out and hits the ogre general....

[roll0]

The general is stunned....

[J-H]

Gladius

"Fall, beast!" Gladius gives a warcry as he charges forward and attacks the ogre general.


Charge 10', attack while channeling Shocking Grasp, and power attacking for -2/+4
Charge attack [roll0] +3 to roll if the ogre is wearing a lot of metal armor
Damage [roll1] plus [roll2] acid plus [roll3] electrical

Crits [roll4] [roll5]

[Darth Ultron]

The ogre general is in non metal hide armor....

...but the stunned ogre is an easy target and you hit....


Were you just rolling the crit just in case you crit?


....wounding the ogre, and he just smiles

Round 1

Ogre initiative


[roll0]

[J-H]

Gladius, Round 1
Magic glows in Gladius' eyes, as he chants a few words. The lightning of the storm crackles down his blade as he makes a well aimed overhanded chop at the ogre general.


Yes, just in case. Prevents a double post.
Init [roll0]

Using my Quick Cast to cast True Strike as a swift action. This is my only use for the day.
Power attacking for -5/+10 damage. Channeling Shocking Grasp for +5d6 elec

Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2] plus [roll3] electrical

Crits [roll4] [roll5]

[Darth Ultron]

You hit (of course)

Your sword strike cuts deep, and the electricity burns in the wound and across his skin baddy burning him...but he stays on his feet...just barley.


" Grolantor! My foe is strong, but I will not show weakness! To the end I fight for might!''

Ogre makes a wild swing....


[roll0] [roll1] plus [roll2] cold damage

Knockback Bull Rush strength check: [roll3]

Prays to Grolantor for a crit: [roll4] [roll5]

[J-H]

Gladius
Knowing that delaying to heal would only ensure his death, Gladius recovers from the blow and steps in to finish the fight.

I assume he only crits on a 20? A near thing.
Opposed strength check [roll0] but since he's not following to push, I only get knocked back by 5', leaving me a 5' step from the ogre.

5' step, channel Shocking Grasp, no power attack.
Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2] plus [roll3] electrical

[Darth Ultron]

Did you know your sheet does not have spells?

The ogre takes the sword hit right in the chest and is quite dead on his feet, even before being shocked, and his dead body falls to the ground.

[J-H]

Gladius

Gladius looks around to see how the battle is doing, and where the archer support was during his death duel. While looking, he activates his healing belt twice.

If nothing's immediately threatening, he'll do a quick check of the ogre general's body and weapon, and will take anything that looks magical or interesting. If danger threatens, he'll gulp down a potion of Shield of Faith if there's time. Gladius gives himself a mental kick for forgetting about that.


[roll0] and [roll1] healing. That puts me up to 36/38hp (I had 2/cold iron DR against the ogre's attack).

There's a check-box for "Display Spells and Powers" that expands that area. I've used 4/6 first level spells for the day.
+18 to hit while power attacking (to trigger knockback)... Was I up against an aged 10th-level Ogre with some buff spells on him?

[Darth Ultron]

The battles rage around, the ogres are all fighting to the death.

Your archers are over by a pile of rocks, using them for cover and shooting at any ogre's not by your forces.

The ogre's large axe is obviously magical as you were hit with the cold that it generated. The large sized hide armor. The ogre also has a belt that looks almost exactly like your own..... His backpack has 11 iron flasks, each full of various liquids of various colors and types, plus one well made leather waterskin and a sack of 1,000 shinny new platinum coins.


Barbarian ogre with rage and some buffs.

[J-H]

"The ogre chieftan is dead! Their leader is down, we are winning!" He yells, hoping to encourage his men, and maybe make some of the enemy flee.

After briefly pausing to grab the loot, Gladius stalks forwards into battle, looking for an exposed flank, or breach in the enemy lines that he can use to flank or start encircling some of the enemy forces.


No more than 3 rounds looting. I'll come back to the rest later if needed; there's a small war on. Priorities are axe, bag of coins, healing belt, then armor, backpack and water skin.

[Darth Ultron]

Nearby a single bloody ogre with a massive club takes down the last two humans he is fighting.....then he turns towards a group of four humans fighting another ogre with a bulb....from behind.


It will take a couple minutes to get the armor and back pack off a large sized dead body.....

[J-H]

Well, at least I have the 10000gp and the magical axe.
What kind of bulb is the ogre wielding? Are we talking light bulb, tulip, or something else?

[Darth Ultron]

The ogre with a club....


Woah....check out that auto-correct....lol

[J-H]

Gladius

"Archers, on the flame!" Gladius calls out, hoping for some support. A burst of fire erupts around the ogre.


Kelgore's Fire Bolt [roll0] fire damage, Reflex DC 13 half.

[Darth Ultron]

[roll0]



Two archers target the fire


[roll1] [roll2]
[roll3] [roll4]



The ogre stops and looks around.

[J-H]

Gladius waves for the archers to continue firing and brandishes his sword at the ogre. "Yeah, that was me."


I really wish I had skill points for some kind of intimidate, bluff, etc check. But I don't.

I'm assuming that the wand of color spray is down to only 1 or 2 charges, since it's supposed to have been used through the battle to give my troops advantage.

Gladius readies an action to 5' step and attack if the ogre gets close (this should let me step into his natural reach and attack just before he does). Channeling Touch of Fatigue, Fort DC12 or fatigued for 5 rounds.
Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

And dangit, forgot about the Shield of Faith potion again.

[Darth Ultron]

Your swing misses the ogre as he moves forward and swings his giant club right at your head....


Initiative [roll0]

[roll1] [roll2]





Two charges is good


The archers hold their fire as you enter melee with the ogre.

[J-H]

I have a +1d6 acid weapon crystal mounted and have been forgetting to roll the damage dice for it.

I guess the archers are too low-level to have precise shot.

The ogre hits for 14, -2 for my DR 2/cold iron.


Gladius sidesteps to give the archers a clearer shot, and strikes again.


Init, not that it matters since we're just trading turns. [roll0]

5' step, Attack, channel touch of fatigue again. Fort DC 13 or fatigued, 5 rounds.
Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2]+[roll3]acid

[Darth Ultron]

amazingly..this time you hit....


[roll0]


Archers take their shots...


[roll1] [roll2]
[roll3] [roll4]


Ogre
[roll5] [roll6]
just makes another wild swing

[J-H]

Gladius has 10hp left. The ogre has taken 36 to 39 points of damage. How injured does it look?

[Darth Ultron]

The ogre is baddy wounded and bleeding all over the ground.....but like all the rest of the ogre's around hr seems to be fighting until death,

[J-H]

Gladius swings his sword yet again, ignoring his wounds.


I believe that I can channel a touch spell and use my weapon to make a touch attack to deliver the spell and no weapon damage. If so, channeling shocking grasp for [roll0]
Attack roll [roll1]
If that's incorrect, then just use that attack roll as a standard un-channelled sword blow for [roll2] plus [roll3] acid.
edit to clarify, the channeling the spell option is to avoid provoking an AOO

[J-H]

After the ogre falls, Gladius uses several items before moving on to help the four humans fighting the other ogre. How are the orcs doing?


Bedtime soon, looks like that attack roll hits either way.
Belt of healing last charge for [roll0], plus [roll1] from a potion of CMW.

[Darth Ultron]

The ogre falls. The other nearby ogre falls too as the humans stab it.

You don't see any orcs standing anywhere, lots of dead orc bodies and a couple of badly wounded ones on the ground.


You can't channel a touch spell through an item..

[J-H]

Are there any ogres standing?


Ok, cool. I'm at 37/38hp and have 1 level 1 spell slot left then.

[Darth Ultron]

There are no ogre left standing that you can see. Plenty lay dead on the ground with lots of the mercenaries.

Sarndza Darkboil beaten and bloody comes over "I think we may have won"

[J-H]

"Yes, although there may be a few left to root out. I haven't seen any goblins yet, have you? A few were mentioned by our paymasters.

Did any of the ogres run, or did they all fall where they stood?

Detail a few of those in better health to watch for any enemy incursions. If you have anyone able to do so, have them see to stabilizing the badly wounded. I have two potions of healing if there's a specific need. The rest should start checking the bodies of the ogres for any useful loot.

You know, it's odd. No spellcasters on either side of this battle."

Gladius heads back towards the body of the enemy general. If he sees any of his badly wounded men on the way, he'll stop to help them. If not, he'll finish retrieving the armor and pack and will then start checking for any other injured troops who need to be stabilized.

Heal checks as needed.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

[Darth Ultron]

Sarndza Darkboil "I only saw a couple goblins the whole fight. Not that many. No ogre surrendered or ran.



She heads off to give your orders

There are plenty of wounded around, a lot of walking wounded. You do stabilize three wounded, near dying, warriors that need it.

A group of seven human women in purple robes move through the troops. Nearby, you watch a wounded man approaches them, says something and hands then a bag of gold, then one woman casts a healing spell on him, closing his wounds.

[J-H]

Gladius approaches and watches to see what they are charging, relative to what the troops are being paid.

They weren't with the army originally, right? Did they come from a specific direction?
To ID them:
K: Local [roll0]
K: Nobility [roll1]

[Darth Ultron]

They were not with the army or anywhere nearby that you saw, and no one mentioned them.

You watch one badly wounded warrior count out two hundred gold coins, and be healed some, but still has wounds. Another pays 100 gold to heal a minor wound to his leg.


They look a lot like clerics of Loviatar, from their temple in Pyarados, as you have seen them around from time to time.



All the women are quite well made up with make-up, high quality clothing and boots, perfume and hair styles. You don't recognize any famous noble women in the group, but a lot of Loviatar's worshipers are nobles. If they are not nobles, they are at least upper class, though.

[J-H]

Gladius finishes looting the ogre chieftan and stomps over to the clerics. "The battle is over and now the vultures circle. You're charging more for healing than my troops got paid for fighting in the battle."

As a mercenary, being cheated out of his pay and working for free is not something Gladius wants to see happen to anyone.


How politically powerful is the temple? Is it local to Pyrados, or does getting on the bad side of one temple mean I'm in trouble all across the land.

How many men do I have left? Approximately what level do the clerics appear to be (Sense motive? Not sure how to check)?

I may be engaging in aggressive diplomacy.

[Darth Ultron]

Shakka Aayrull "I am Shakka Aayrull, Supremar of Loviatar. Our price for healing is as you say, steep. But people buy it of their own free will, so what of it? "

there are 39 troops left, almost all wounded in the area


The church is about average in politics, though most worshipers stay hidden. The faith is world wife, but each temple is separate. .

They seem to be casting cure moderate wounds so that is at least 3rd level, going by the spells cast.

[J-H]

"I am Gladius, commander of this victorious army. How came you to my battlefield?"

[Darth Ultron]

Shakka Aayrull "We have a small sky boat for such travels. We have been nearby, waiting for the battle to end. It's our duty to our goddess to walk among the fallen and see and experience their pain and suffering. And heal them if they wish to make a donation to our cause.

You don't look too baddy hurt, would you like to buy any healing?"

[J-H]

"If you had participated in the battle, you would have experienced the pain and suffering of our foes firsthand. And maybe a bit of your own, if you're not afraid of that sort of thing; you know, even a few clerics can't stand up to a small army like this for very long."
He gestures at the remaining troops, who by this time are generally gathered around the clerics.

"But I'm sure we can all leave here alive. We mustn't waste any of your valuable time, so how much of a donation do you require to heal the rest of my army here?"

[Darth Ultron]

Shakka Aayrull "We have our ways, you would not understand.

We were asking for donations based on the injury, but you just want a heal for the whole group here? That would be a big donation of like, say ten thousand gold. "

[J-H]

Gladius snorts. "You were charging one hundred gold per man before. I have fewer than thirty badly wounded men. Twenty-five hundred gold more than pays for enough healing, or I can get them all back to town to visit another temple, and the Mistress of Pain gets nothing thanks to your greed."

[Darth Ultron]

Shakka Aayrull "We are not greedy. The love of money is for lesser creatures like goblins, demons....mercenaries. We are not here to make money. Twenty five hundred is a fine donation. Payable in advance, of course."

[J-H]

"Naturally."

Gladius retrieves 250 platinum pieces from his pack, while attempting to obfuscate the exact location of the moneybag.

He calls out to the troops: "Healing is taken care of - line up, most injured first. Help anyone who can't move to the front!"


I'm buying one of those hidden moneybelts from CS next time I'm in town!

Gladius motions his orcish assistant over. "Do you know if our paymasters wanted anything else? The gnoll who hired me did not provide much information beyond simply defeating these ogres."

[Darth Ultron]

Shakka Aayrull pulls a small sack out of the inner pocket of her robe and puts all the platinum coins in itm then slides the sack back into the inner pocket.

The troops line up of healing.

Sarndza Darkboil shrugs "I was told less then you"

[J-H]

Once everyone is healed, Gladius has them troop back to the mustering site, still paying attention to their surroundings.

[Darth Ultron]

There are plenty of birds around, but no large animals or signs of activity. The troops march along, getting back to the mustering site.

A group of five gnolls, four in hide armor and one in white robes, stand waiting by ten large sacks.

Stoat "I am Stoat! I am to say good work! good job! Win war!"

[J-H]

"I am Gladius. You're right. We killed all the ogres and did well."

[Darth Ultron]

Stoat "We got bonus victory pay!" he says as he reaches down into the large sack and pulls three small sacks.

[J-H]

"Excellent!" Gladius motions for his aide to bring them over.

[Darth Ultron]

Sarndza Darkboil gets the troops all in a line and they eagerly come forward and each get a bag.

Then Stoat comes over and hands you a small sack as well. The sack has 100 platinum coins, a small stone and iron flask.

Stoat "Goodluck stone and flask of haste"

[J-H]

"Thank you sir. It's been a pleasure doing business with your company."


It looks like I have 7600 gold (750 plat), a 20,000gp Stone of Good Luck, a Potion of Haste, and whatever equipment the ogre general was carrying. That's a lot!

[Darth Ultron]

Stoat nods, then goes over to the other gnolls and they walk away to the west.

Sarndza Darkboil counts her gold too.


Sounds about right

[J-H]

Gladius approaches Sarnzda. "Good working with you and your people. I'm glad you were along to help keep things organized. Are you based around here?"


When we get back to town I'm going to pay someone to identify the ogre general's items.

I've updated my sheet with 760 pp, the luckstone, and the potion of Haste (CL 5?).

[Darth Ultron]

Sarndza Darkboil "Good working with you. Maybe we can both get hired again and work together. I'm not based anywhere. I never had a home other then the road. I live everywhere. Only been in Pyarados a week. "I came in as a caravan guard, and that is very boring work, but at least it pays. "

[J-H]

Gladius heads back to town, and searches for a sage or wizard to identify the items he took from the ogre general.

The battle was fought in the morning, and wrapped up by two or three bells (halfway to lunchtime), so there should be plenty of time.

After that, he'll go shopping...

[Darth Ultron]

The troops break up, some wander off, but most head back to town too.

It's a bit of a hike across the rugged mountains, down to the foot hills and finally to flat land. Then to a well worn dirt road, and eventually to Pyarados.

You get to the city just after sunset. Most places and shops are closed.

[J-H]

Gladius goes back to the inn he's habitually stayed at, keeps his pack nearby during dinner, and then goes to bed. He'll use the ogre's axe to help block the door, and he double checks that the window is locked.

[Darth Ultron]

The Sword and Axe is a large inn that mostly rents rooms to mercenaries. The rooms are quiet and clean and about average safe.

The night passes quiet enough, though there are always a couple fights down in the common room and outside.

No one disturbs you.

[J-H]

Gladius rises and stretches, his muscles sore from the previous day's excursions. Unhindered by a hangover, he gathers his load of equipment and finds someone to identify the magical items, and to check for any curses or other unwanted magic.


I'm a bit suspicious of the luckstone.
Once I'm done getting things identified, I'll know the GP value I can shop for.

[Darth Ultron]

So...are you thinking of doing the more lame Video Game like of boring role play stuff just happens in a second and We can get back to the roll playing of kill, loot, repeat?

I get the feeling that your just automatically assuming the ''dumb friendly '' shop keeper just automatically does exactly what I want and charges the by-the-book lame low rates. And then your thinking of going to the super magic shop that has every single magic item in the book and you will just buy all the super coll magic items you want.

[J-H]

No, I figure I'm going to have to search around town to find someone to identify the items.

This is Thay, what kind of self-respecting Wizard just sets up a shop with a picture of a magnifying glass on top and a price list? I might get lucky and find an artificer, or maybe I have to make a donation at a temple of Oghma (not sure if he's in Thay, but he's at least a Faerunian deity of knowledge). If I'm really unlucky, I have to get a Red Wizard to ID things for me, which probably means some amount of grovelling or maybe a minor sidequest.

Then I figure out how much gold I have total (assuming I sell the ogre's armor and perhaps weapon - and where am I going to find a buyer for Large armor? Oi.) and what I want. The money belt is a low-gp value item and can probably be bought someplace in town, but weapon enchantments will require - again - finding someone to do it for me - plus time, the part of crafting people forget. Potions I can probably find, but something obscure (like a couple of Potions of Lesser Vigor for cheap out of combat healing) may be unavailable, or I may have to help a druid deal with a troll that's taken over his patch of ginseng so that he can harvest it and start brewing a batch.

Realistically, shopping may take a week, three trips around town, and doing a couple of small favors... and I still may not be able to find everything.

Without a map of the town or knowledge of what sections it has, temples present, etc., I just can't be more specific yet.



Shoot, there's probably somebody in town who can facilitate all of this shopping...for a fee. A network of low-paid urchins and a few recordkeepers could go a long ways. Maybe when Gladius is richer he can subcontract some of that work out. I'm sure that's how a level 15 wizard does it. Not yet, though.

[Darth Ultron]

Ok.

Did you want a map? I find most maps are very limiting as they draw cities with like twenty buildings. It's far better to just imagine a city.

I do like to build things up slowly, even more so in a PbP. To just have a hand out of ''here is a list of all the shops in the city'' seems boring to me. And a list is really not all that much use unless it has like a paragraph about the shop...but then that is going into thousands of words and is more ''reading a novel'' and not ''playing a game''.

[J-H]

Is this overview of Thay accurate for our game?
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Thay

Here's some info I'd like to fill in about the city... this is all info Gladius knows, but that I don't. This will let me invent minor details as we go along (like the name of the inn Gladius is staying at).

Approximately how many people live there?
How long does it take to walk from one side of the city to another?
Is the city walled? If so, is most of the city inside the wall, or outside the wall (old city/new city development)?
What are the top 2 or 3 main economic activities? A city that makes its money as a trans-shipment point for slaves will be very different from an agricultural one, or a mining city.
Is the city laid out on a grid, in concentric circles, or in traditional medieval "haphazard" style?
What are the top 2 or 3 temples in town?
Who is acting as police for the city, and how corrupt are they thought to be?
What species are generally common as free participants (vs slaves) in the city? So far we have gnolls, humans, and half-orcs.
What's the generally available level of magic and wondrous items (common, rare, common only for low levels, etc.)?
What informal districts or regions make up the city (market, nobles, riverfront, artisan, slums, etc.)? Although not every shop would be in a 'market' district, it'll still be my best shot for most shopping needs; similarly, most temples would probably be in a religious district.

[Darth Ultron]

Unfortunately that Wiki is ruined with 4E/5E information, like where ''Thay was turned into a cool zombie apocalypse walking dead land'' and then they did the ''um, well, that was dumb, um, it UN-happeneded" The ''current official'' Realms year is like 1500, I set the game way back in 1350.






Pyarados is a border city where anarchy reigns and which only the center is under a rigid authoritarianism.

Pyarados streets are muddy and crowded, full of beggars, thieves arrogant, sleazy adventurers, courtesans and others. We found all the stalls and shops selling equipment for adventurers (usually at exorbitant prices and the reliability of which is known to be lacking at the wrong time).

*Population: 50,000
*Odd question. A half hour, at say 3am. More then a hour during the crowded day.
*The city is walled. Most of the city is inside the wall.
*Mining and martial warrior arts. It's the furthest east city of Thay, so it gets a lot of the trade from the East.
*Traditional chaos. It was never planned out as a city, but simply ''grew''.
*Kossuth, Tempus and Waukeen. Then Bane, Helm, Loviatar and Talona.
*The city Watch. Not ''corrupt '', but only really care about protecting the Red Wizards, the wealthy, trade and the physical city. They could care less about most people, except ones that fit into those categories, like merchants. ''Street justice'' rules for most.
*There is no ''slave race'': anyone can be a slave. By law a slave can't cut their hair, so they are easy to spot: many free folk go bald.
*High

--Districts--
*The Old City:The central core of Pyarados, which forms the original city, is with large walls and much better organized than the rest of its surroundings. Palaces, parks, wide streets, marble statues, and other luxurious things are quite common. Several red wizards live there, as well as the richest merchants and certain influential people of Thay.
*Champion Court:It is a district where swordsmen, knights, and the like are all invited to stay, more or less on reputation. It generally stables at least a few dozen war heroes at any given time. Large mercenary companies as opposed to small adventuring parties are run a bill for practical reasons. It is fairly close to the main city gates, and any army would have to march through here first.
*Tradefair: Is an arbitrary slice of the bustling commercial area of the city, where most moderately wealthy merchants live, and much of the city's light-goods and respectable trade takes place.
*Daggerwatch: Home of the poor, it is the most crowded, dirty, and "rough" district of the city.
*Rattlestone: Its people and business are dominated by the caravan trade, with its necessary stables and warehouses. Many poor but honest Waterdhavians live here, as well as a few rising merchants and retired adventurers. This is the common man's side of the City
*Deathsgate: The City of the Dead's green lawns and white marble tombs are visited often during the day by many citizens, though its grounds are off-limits after dusk, and the gates are locked (many still hold clandestine meetings at night here).

[J-H]

Gladius will go to the outskirts of the Champion Court area. There will likely be a few reputable people there who either deal in magic arms and armor, or who perhaps make it. One of them should be able to identify the items he took from the ogre captain, or can refer him to someone who can. They might be a bit more expensive, but the area is pretty much guaranteed to have what he needs versus all the miscellaneous merchants and traders in Tradefair.

He'll start with the shop run by a dwarf, even if Gladius has to duck slightly to fit through the doorway...


Based on the descriptions, the Sword & Axe inn is in Rattlestone. Common, close to caravan trade, not on the high end of things but safe.

Any idea where I can find a good 3.5ish profile for Thay?

Odd fact: Enchanting weapons uses no enchantment spells. A weapon Enchanter can have Enchantment as a barred school, and an Enchanter (wizard) probably can't enchant weapons.

[Darth Ultron]

The Dwarven Defender is a large shop, with a high ceiling to accommodate non-dwarves. The shop is all stone, painted all white. Three forges burn in the back with a couple dwarven workers. The main shop floor is lit by large brazers. A couple weapons, shields and full suits of armor float around the shop, displaying themselves.

Hartok Darksoil runs the shop, an older dwarf dressed in fairly simple black and brown work clothing. His long black beard, speckled with gray is braided and hug back over each of his shoulders. He carries no visible weapons.

Hartok Darksoil "Hail and welcome to the Dwarven Defender. Makers of armor and shields to keep you safe, and weapons too. What can I do for you?"


A 3.5E FR site: http://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/thay/index.shtml

''Enchanting '' a weapon is a hold over from 2E. In 3E you would ''Enhance a weapon''

[J-H]

Gladius glances around. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be buying any armor or weapons, but I assume you buy as well as sell?" At the dwarf's curt nod, he continues. "I have a magical axe I took off an ogre, and some armor as well. I know the axe carries an unnatural cold, but I had to find that out the hard way." He gives a rueful smile. "I'm pretty sure I'll be selling them, but I need to know what I have to get a fair bargain." Gladius gestures at the floating armor. "Obviously, you or someone you work with has some skill with the necessary arts. Once they're sold, I may have a little bit to spend, perhaps to enhance something I already own, or maybe to buy something new. I've heard mithril can make armor feather-light."

If there are no large-sized armors in the shop, he'll also ask "Can you refer me to someone who deals in ogre-sized equipment? It doesn't look like these are something you'd have much custom for."


Thanks. Anything else in the shop, or just arms and armor?

He who names a price first loses. It's up to the dwarf to tell me he's not going to do it for free...

[Darth Ultron]

Hartok Darksoil "I buy and sell. But there is little demand for large items. This is not a city full of giants. And if some big fellow came into my shop I might just cut their knees off and then take their head.

And yes, mithril is beautiful.

I don't deal in such large stuff. You'd want Wulf Duesnot. Down the street and to the left. He is a stinking half ogre, but his work is ok, for a non dwarf.

Maybe you could come back with whatever coin you can trade for?"

The shop looks to have just arms and armor.

[J-H]

Gladius

"Thanks, I'll go talk to him; should I mention your name? Can you recommend someone to identify the magic on these items first, though? I can hardly sell something when I don't know what it's worth.

How much would a suit of mithril full plate, enchanted, run? Do you have anything like that that could be fit to me pretty easily? My sword is made of adamantine; would you be able to improve its magic, if I have the funds for that?"

[Darth Ultron]

Hartok Darksoil "You should very well, not mention my name.

I can identify the items for you, 300 gold each, and it will take a couple hours.

Mithril full plate, well the armor alone is 11,000. And enhancements depend. At least around double the cost. I don't have any mithril full plate in a closet, it would be a custom order.

Sure adding magic to a weapon is simple enough.

[J-H]

Gladius

Gladius laughs at the price of the armor. "Well, not soon then! I'll leave the axe and armor with you and pick them up after lunch, if that works? I'll pay you then.

Now, I need to get some potions, and some leather goods - a potion bandolier and the like, maybe a magical backpack. Can you recommend anyone trustworthy for those?"

After receiving any recommendations, Gladius will hand over the greataxe and the armor, and will step outside. As he walks through the streets looking for signs that indicate interesting shops, he'll keep an ear out for any mention of ogres or the battle he fought in (someone paid those ogres...), and he'll watch for any apprentice wizards who look harried or in trouble. He'll also keep a hand on his coin pouch.


The Red Wizards have an extensive trading network, selling enchanted items OUTSIDE Thay, but it sounds like they don't have one INSIDE Thay. It makes sense, though.

Each Red Wizard has up to a dozen apprentices, which just means they haven't taken levels in the Red Wizard class. They still might be up to level 4-6 or even higher, and thus good people to know. Networking is vital to finding jobs and finding people who can get stuff done.

I am assuming that the given Tharchion information (Pyrados is ruled by a Level 9 CE Fighter with zero magic) is probably not 100% accurate.

It's funny - given the large amount of coinage, Gladius has suddenly become paranoid. It'll be a while before he can pass as a noble!

Was the ogre backpack magical? If so, I'll have someone who does wondrous items take a look at it.

Current shopping list:
-Hat of Disguise (to look unarmored while really walking about armored, eventually in mithril plate)
-Two Inside Pockets (CS 108, 1gp each) to store coins away from pickpocketers. The belt I was thinking of is a 5000gp item that works sort of like a Handy Haversack
-Masterwork potion belt (FRCS), 60gp, lets you draw a potion as a free action (it still provokes an AOO to drink it).
-Wand of True Strike
-Pearl of Power I (maybe...)
-Potions of Lesser Vigor (if such a thing exists)
-Potions of CLW
-Ring of Protection +1
-Someone who can upgrade the Vest of Resistance to a +2
-Anklet of Translocation
-2 sunrods, an everburning torch, and a tanglefoot bag
-Blessed Bandages (10gp, MIC, auto-succeed at stabilizing someone who's bleeding out)

Gladius is going to be at this for a while, at least until he establishes a network of trusted suppliers.

[Darth Ultron]

Hartok Darksoil "
Make the pick up more mid after noon. It's a hour each, now.

Kardel Irongut is the only good alchemist I know. He is a dwarf like me. you can drop my name with him. Imartia Orniros is good for leatherwork and clothing, she is human, but she used to mecenary.




Note the only wizards in Thay are Red Wizards. All other wizards are killed on sight. Though there are plenty of renegade wizards that either keep very low profiles, avoid using magic or put a lot of time and effort into hiding.

By custom apprentice wizards wear yellow robes. And they are forbidden from casting spells and using magic, unless their master is present. Though they can take off the robes and use magic, of course....

Sorcerers are hated and hunted down as well. Few Thavians even bother to become sorcerers as they are not liked in society.

(It's just a coincidence that the Red Wizards want to be the only full arcane casting class in Thay...)

Sadly most ''official book information'' is written by idiots who have never played the game....so treat it more like a rumor.

Hexblades, duskblades, spellthieves, and warlocks are much more common in Thay. Thavians love art and culture, so bards are welcomed. And all divine classes are welcome. Archivist is the most popular divine class.

nothing about the backpack seems magical.

[J-H]

"Thanks!" After getting some direction, Gladius walks towards Imartia Orniro's shop. He's been in town long enough that he doesn't get lost on the way.

The door to her shop is propped open, but the entry itself is still covered from dust and noise by two layers of heavy leather that hang nearly to the ground. When Gladius pushes through them, the small bells on the bottom of each strip ring and ding-a-ling, announcing his presence.


Still in the same area of town, or is she in the Tradefair area?

Was there anything else in the pack, or am I just carrying around a smelly empty ogre backpack?

Okay, so the setting info is wrong. That really restricts apprentices heavily.

I'm surprised Spellthieves would be welcome.

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia's leatherworks and clothing is a small wooden shop in the Tradefair. The main room of the shop is very crowded with piles of cloth and stacks of clothing.

Imartia Orniros is a middle aged human, sitting in the middle of the shop at a small table, sewing. "Come in young man, what can I do for you?"


The backpack has some dry rations, a knife, five sunrods, and a small shovel.


Spellthieves walk a line between being hated by the Red Wizards, but at the same time of being such great use to them.

[J-H]

"You can take my money! Well, if you have what I'm looking for." Gladius smiles. "Hartok Darksoil said you are a good place for a merc like myself to get leather and clothing gear."

I'm looking for...(see below)... and if a couple of them are quick to make, I don't mind waiting. I heard you used to be an adventurer; if you have any tales of 'the one that got away' that involve buried treasure or strange mysteries, I'm all ears and have time to burn anyway."


Hope you don't mind the shopping list not being typed out as conversation. I don't expect her to have some of these, but it never hurts to ask.

I'll sell her the ogre backpack if she's interested; it's probably worth a gp or two.

-Hat of Disguise (to look unarmored while really walking about armored, eventually in mithril plate)
-Two Inside Pockets (CS 108, 1gp each) to store coins away from pickpocketers.
-Masterwork potion belt (FRCS), 60gp, lets you draw a potion as a free action (it still provokes an AOO to drink it). If this would cause a slot conflict with the belt of healing, I'd like to get it sewn on to the belt of healing.
-Upgrading the Vest of Resistance to a +2
-Anklet of Translocation (it's clothing, sort of, so she might have it)
-Blessed Bandages (10gp, MIC, auto-succeed at stabilizing someone who's bleeding out)

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros buys the backpack for a gold coin. "I don't deal in things of disguise. You really want to show off who you really are at all times. But your young, maybe you have not learned that lesson yet.

Inside pockets are no problem. Just need a couple hours.

A fine potion belt, I got a couple in stock. But to rework your belt into a poison belt will take a day.

I can up the magic of the vest no problem, but that will take a good five days.

An anklet is jewelry, not clothing.

Blessed Bandages are not a problem. I have some in stock. Ten gold each."

[J-H]

"Great, thanks. I'll wait while you do the pockets, if you don't mind? I didn't think to bring an extra shirt.

How much to add the potion-carrying to my Healing Belt?"

Gladius buys 5 blessed bandages.


+1gp pack
-50gp blessed bandages (since you didn't give a different cost)

I'll go ahead with the belt mod.

I'll wait on the vest until I know what the ogre's armor & weapons were.

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros sells the five blessed bandages.

"Your welcome to wait, but it will be a couple hours. And I'll need your shirt.

60 gold for the belt modification and I'll need a day. "

[J-H]

"Sounds good. Any good tales from your adventuring career while I wait?"


Deducting 60gp from my sheet and marking the belt as "at the shop for 1 day"

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros takes the coins and gets to work "Oh, why sure I'm full of stories. So with a group of companions I formed a group known as the Singing Mercenaries and we sung and fought across the land. A merchant had found a small cove full of giant clams, but also lots of sahuagin. And hired us to get rid of them. Two sahuagin barons and their pet giant sharks. as it turned out and a temple to Sekolah. So polymorphing into sahuagin, We got both barons to think the other was attacking them...and then we attacked both of them.

Then it was on to the temple. The priestess had five Water Weirds hiding in the shallows, and as soon as we emerged from underwater passageway. It was a tough fight, but we won. Then we had to take out the high matron of the temple. The skin on her body twisted and contorted. She said a single word and the pool at the center started to erupt gushing water.

Emerging from the pool’s waters was a chaos-touched dragon turtle baby. The beast attacked the with its hot-steam breath weapon, then the fray was fully on. This fight was even tougher, but we won. We looted and destroyed the temple and let the merchant go on fishing. "

[J-H]

"Wow! Was this on the Alamber Sea, or have you travelled outside of Thay?" Gladius looks at her more carefully, trying to see the leftover muscle and skill of someone who fought such powerful creatures.

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros "More in the Sea of Fallen Stars, down the coastline. I've not traveled much outside of Thay, just to neighboring lands.

Imartia has a fit body, though not exactly muscular. She has no scars on her face and hands, at least.

[J-H]

"Maybe I'll go that far some day... or maybe I'll get rich and retire!" Gladius smiles at the sort-of joke. "So what did you do? You mentioned singing, but...I don't see any musical instruments.
And how does a fisherman pay for mercenaries anyway? Giant pearls?"

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros half smiles back "I'm a bard. I sing. I do play a number of instruments. And yes that merchant did pay us with pearls. And we got to stay at his villa for a whole month too. Then it was off, back on the road after two fire giant bandit brothers. "

[J-H]

"Wow. Do you still stay involved, or are you fully retired?

I had a battle recently with some ogres that was a bit odd - I think both sides were being paid, but I don't know who bought either side."

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros "I'm mostly a retired shop keeper now a days.

Yea, you will get that a lot. Even if they tell you something it would be a lie or half truth. You just need to get used to not knowing. Or just find out whatever passes for your own personal truth. "

[J-H]

"Mmm... I just see how that could be dangerous, sometimes. Oh well." He stretches.
"After I'm done here, I need to see about getting a few more magical trinkets, like that anklet I mentioned. If you were in the market for something like that, who would you go to for a fair deal?"

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros "Magical jewelry....hum, that can be tricky. Torric Darkfeather is a good one. He is a kenku thief. His roost is an ally over in Rattlestone. He is fair enough, for a thief.

[J-H]

"Heh. I'll be glad to have my coins inside my clothes instead of on the outside then, if I visit that sort of area."


I don't have anything else to ask or prompt here.

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros works for a couple more hours and then finishes the shirt with two inside pockets. "There you go all done."

[J-H]

"Thanks. See you tomorrow...morning? Afternoon?"

Gladius carefully places all of his platinum coins on the inside pockets where no pickpocket can reach them, and purchases lunch: Chopped roasted meat and some type of cheese wrapped up in a doughy piece of bread and then cooked; when combined with a half-pint of ale, he has a full stomach and a smile on his face.

Keeping a weather eye out, he heads towards Torric Darkfeather's shop. At least he has relatively recent experience with some kenku, and perhaps birds of a feather do flock together and report his making sure his good leadership...


I'm thinking of something like a calzone, but with low-end beef and whatever an inexpensive cheddar or mozzarella-ish cheese is. I don't think there's a splatbook on Cheeses of the Realms.

Now I'm hungry.

[Darth Ultron]

Imartia Orniros "Noon is right in the middle, will see you then."


Note Torric Darkfeather' has an alley, not a shop....


Amazingly....there is such detail for the Realms. Blood cheese and maggot cheese are popular in Thay

[J-H]

Gladius heads to his alley.


I hope his alley has a roof for when it rains.

I think I'll stick with an imported cheese.

[Darth Ultron]

Blackfeather ally has no roof, as it's just a long twisting path between the back walls of several buildings. All the wooden buildings have a back door to the alley, and most are two stories high, making the alley a bit shadowy. There are no ground floor windows, but are some on the second floors.

There are plenty of broken pieces of wood scattered around in the dirt, half buried and sticking out and even some pieces of metal and broken glass. A couple of wooden crates, and broken empty barrels are also in the alley.

There are at least 20 crows hanging around the alley, sitting or flying about.

A single kenku in black leather armor sits on a crate, carving a small chunk of wood with a knife.


Maggot cheese is good. Go to a cheese shop and try some.....they have you put on safety glasses as ''the maggots sometimes jump in random directions up to six inches''. reality is stranger then fiction....

[J-H]

Gladius steps carefully into the alley, his boots crunching on the mess. "I'm looking for someone named Torric; I was told he might have some things I want to buy."

[Darth Ultron]

Kukla Deathfeather "I am Kukla Deathfeather. Who are you and what do you seek from Torric? And what do you have to offer in payment?

Kukla stands up and fluffls out all his feathers....and all his feathers are painted black with small white (bird) skulls on them.

[J-H]

"My name is Gladius Rojaferro. I was given his name as a dealer in magically enhanced trinkets that would be useful for a strong warrior." Gladius studies the kenku to see if he looks familiar - perhaps he's related to one of the surviving soldiers?

[Darth Ultron]

Kukla Deathfeather does not look familiar.

Kukla Deathfeather "and who is this strong warrior that your shopping for? clack clack But enough funnies. I will summon Torric Darkfeather for one hundred gold, payable in the now advance."

Kukla pulls out an empty small sack from his belt and tosses it on the ground in front of Gladius .

[J-H]

Gladius crosses his arms. "I don't spend money just to get the opportunity to spend more money. There are many wizards in this city; I'm sure I can find what I need elsewhere."

After a brief pause, he will turn and walk away if he's not interrupted.

[Darth Ultron]

Kukla Deathfeather interrupts "sometimes one must spend money to spend money. chak chak Many wizards yes, many spellcaster, but not so many with what you might want? Not so many that deal with people like you? Not so many that might just turn you into toad?

Me work here. Need money...have many chicks at home...lots of beaks to feed.

How about fifty gold coins?"

[J-H]

Gladius lifts an eyebrow. "You work here, you get paid by your boss. Not by random people. Does he know you're trying to get people to not buy from him?"

[Darth Ultron]

Kukla Deathfeather just ruffles his feathers "So 50 gold, up front and in my hand, and I'll call over the boss? Deal? cawk cawk"

[J-H]

Gladius turns and walks off, unless interrupted.

[Darth Ultron]

Kukla Deathfeather lets out a squawk and sits back down on his crate and resumes carving his block of wood.

[J-H]

Gladius wanders over to the tradefair area and for any signs or advertisements for wondrous items.


magical trinkets? practical magic items? enchanted baubles? Many ways to phrase it.

[Darth Ultron]

There are plenty:

"Got too much gold in your pockets? We have the magic trinket for you! Bring in all your gold and be amazed how our magic holding can make all your gold disappear.''

"Need a magic item for a fight, we got them. Be a hero with magic, stop in and see."

"Magic for sale, magic can do anything you can afford, stop in and see''

"Exotic magic trinkets from the far east for sale''

"Custom made magic items. Must pay upfront. Delivery in five to six weeks''

[J-H]

Gladius stops at the third one, and enters. "Anything, you say? Right now I'd settle for something that lets me move from here to there in the blink of an eye."

[Darth Ultron]

The shop is a small, narrow wooden building. A female humanoid with pale white skin, red eyes, red horns and a long red tail sits on a small carpet in the middle of the shop, mixing some liquids. The shop has several shelfs and tables loaded with a mix of items.

"Teleportation? If you have the gold, I have the magic." says the female as she looks up.

[J-H]

"I assume you take platinum as well?" Gladius smiles at the tiefling. "Show me what you have."


Anklet of translocation? If not, anything similar?

[Darth Ultron]

Female Platinum will do." She casts a spell and then a bone anklet with a black gem stone in it appears floating above her hand.

"Anklet of translocation....200 platinum coins'

[J-H]

"Done." As Gladius retrieves and counts out the coins, he looks at her. "Any interesting news or gossip lately?"


I do not have the patience or interest in haggling to RP saving a couple of hundred GP.

Sheet updated.

[Darth Ultron]

Female "I guess it depends on what you find interesting. Glacius Criptfeind had his keep destroied..again. The same Red Wizard as last time: Socucius Ergallas. I hear he left Glacius alive though."

[J-H]

Would Gladius already know who these people are?
If not,
K:Hist [roll0]
K:Local [roll1]
K:Nobility [roll2]

[Darth Ultron]

Glacius Criptfeind a dark hexblade warlord who has been trying to ''retire'' and build himself a keep/kingdom to rule on the edge of Thay.

Socucius Ergallas is a local Red Wizard, Invocation Circle, has a villa in the Old City, owns at least two mines in the mountains.

[J-H]

"May the attention of such never, ever fall on me."

Gladius leaves, searching out the shop of Kardel Irongut, while hoping that the inside of his shop isn't rank with some swampy odor.

[Darth Ultron]

The Irongut Hole is a small wooden shop. The floor of the shop is a good foot down from the outside ground where the door is, and that whole foot is filled with black, opaque water. A couple shelfs have a couple clay bottles on them, and a couple buckets full of glass bottles float around the floor. Most of the left side of the shop is a large wooden bath tub, full of dark green water and a very hairy dwarf male in just a loincloth. The dwarf is slowly moving around in the tub and making the water swirl.

The order of the shop is wet, damp, and even moldy.

Kardel Irongut "She had a beard so long it touched her toes and when she took a step everyone knew, she got toe tangles in her bearddddoo." sings Kardel

[J-H]

Gladius stops at the step just inside the door. "I'd like to buy some potions. Should I...come back another time?" The water sloshes just below the level of the step. He stands in the middle of it so that his boots don't get splashed.

[Darth Ultron]

Kardel Irongut "Ah, well, sure you can come back later. But my shop is only open until sundown. You looking to buy something? Fair warning, all my brews contain alcohol."

[J-H]

"Thanks, aaahhh... I don't think I have the steel belly required for that."

If it's late enough in the afternoon, Gladius will head back over to the Dwarven Defender to pick up his identified items. If it's not, he'll look around for another alchemist's shop - one not run by a dwarf.

How on earth did you come up with this guy?? Hilarious

[Darth Ultron]

Kardel Irongut calls out as you leave "If you change your mind I'm open till sundown. Oh..wait...I feel a little special ingredient coming up." There is a deep low tone that echos around the room and the water behind the dwarf fills with bubbles.

A couple store fronts down is another alchemist shop. The Elixirium is a very solid red stone building. The shop has several shelf's with glass bottles of all sorts of sizes and colors and contents. Two orange human shaped masses of liquid stand on both sides of the main door. A single human male in a yellow robe sits in the middle of the shop carefully mixing a couple small bottles in a gold pot.

Izol Symaarian "Welcome, I'm Izol Symaarian and this is my Elixirium. What are you looking for?" as he looks up at you.

[J-H]

"As you might guess by my garb, I need healing from time to time. I'd like to get some potions to help, both for fast healing and for slow. What do you have?"

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian "Healing? How boring. I have a small section. Healing small wounds, medium wounds and big wounds. A dozen of each. Buy as many as you like. " shrugging

[J-H]

"Do you have any that heal wounds more effectively, but slowly? I've seen - once - druid magics that worked like that."

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian "Druid magic? Well, don't have any of that. Maybe you could go hug a tree or something? Why would you even want slow healing?

How about something better?" he snaps his fingers and some sparkling gold liquid flows into the room and forms into a medium sized ball shape.

"A magive, a living magic spell of healing! Interested?"

[J-H]

"Tell me more..." Gladius studies the thing intently.


Activate Detect Magic SLA.
Spellcraft mod is +6, K: Arc mod is +7, Sense Motive mod is +1

I know nothing in game or out of game about living spells, other that they occupied a particularly deadly mission in DDO that I only attempted once or twice.

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian "It's a healing spell, made everlasting and formed into a mass of liquid. Then it's all infused with a tiny spark of living potential from the Lifespring plane and made alive. In this case, a puddle that likes to heal. Just touch it or let it touch you and it will heal wounds. Not too much, but then it can simply touch you again and again and again, as you need. "


The sphere of sparkly gold liquid does glow with weak conjuration magic.

[J-H]

"Hmm...how would I carry it around? How fast can it heal, and how much does it cost? Does it...die? get tired?"

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian "Well, you don't need to carry it, it will flow along with you. And it heals fast, just by touching you or you touching it. It's alive, so naturally it can die. It does experience fatigue like any other life-form.

And, ah, yes, cost. Well, the cost is open. Do you have anything to make an offer? "

[J-H]

"I'm not convinced yet. Can it keep up with me on an all-day forced march? How powerful is the healing? I'd rather have something I can keep safely on me, instead of something that'll get smashed to a pulp by an ogre the first time it gets in the way."

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian "Ah, well, I guess if you were forced to march you could carry it? If you would like, I can demonstrate it's healing power. "

[J-H]

Gladius shakes his head. "Maybe if you stick it in a bag of holding or something, so that it doesn't have to be taken care of. I'll just take some traditional healing potions."


4 CLW potions, 1 CMW potion...500gp unless costs are different.

[Darth Ultron]

Izol Symaarian just shrugs. A worker in plain yellow clothing comes out from the back room and fills a small basket with the potions you ordered.

Once your back out in the street:

"That was a good move, I'm sure that magvie was a trap for you. You were well to avoid it.

comes a voice from nowhere.

"Hear me mortal! I am Zeszattapon! I am entrapped in the anklet you wear, free me and I will grant you a great reward!"

[J-H]

"What the..." Gladius finds an out-of-the-way crate in an alley to sit on, trusting in his obviously armed and armored state to discourage casual interference.

He examines the anklet closely before replying. "I hope you've got more to tell me than just your name."


Detect Magic, and if I roll, I know what I succeeded at...
K Arcana at +7, K History at +5, K Planes at +7, Spellcraft at +6,

[Darth Ultron]

The anklet is made of bone and has a small black stone in it. The bone is plain, with no markings. Also smooth and does not reflect the light well.



The anklet glows with moderate conjuration magic



The anklet looks well crafted, as it would need to be to hold magic. Magic items made of bone are common enough. Many bone items are necromancy, but it's not a requirement.

Possession of an item is possible. Thay sure has plenty of outsiders, including fiends and magic users. Tavern tales are full of people finding demons, dragons, kings, even gods trapped in items.

[J-H]

Gladius waits for the item(?) to reply.

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "I know a great many things, mortal. By the Flame in my soul,
I gaze through this world. Through the Goodlands, on paths unknown, Through the realms, following the dark call, Shadows, unite me with Evil, Let me chare your darkest pride.

Free me and I will grant you a reward!"

[J-H]

"I think I've heard this story before. What are you, and how did you become trapped in this puny bone anklet?"

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "As I said, mortal, my name is Zeszattapon. I was summoned here by a mage, Sufulgar Akkad, and he used his magics to do this to me. I was ripped away from my existence and wish to go back. If you do this for me, I will grant you something in return."

[J-H]

"Like a quick death? I asked what kind of creature you are. Answer, or I'll buy a scarf from that lady over there and you will be a pink and green fabric anklet, instead of one of ominous bone."

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon
"My race is known as the Mercane, in your common mortal tongue. Have I answered enough of your questions? Now agree to free me and I will grant you something. Not death, unless you want that. Something you ask for."

[J-H]

K: The Planes check again? +7

[Darth Ultron]

Mysterious merchants of all things magical, mercanes are relatively weak and noncombative for creatures. They prefer to bargain and haggle rather than to fight, but because they wander the planes seeking and trading magical goods, they typically travel with an entourage of hired bodyguards. It’s said they have some great racial secret, that they have to be merchants because they require a rare spice to live, that they use magical items to reproduce, that there is really only one company of Mecanes and they can be many places at once, that they’ve quarantined an entire world for some vast experiment… no one really knows for sure.

[J-H]

"A mercane? I think I saw one of your kind once, from afar. How do I free you, merchant Zeszattapon? Once freed, will you need me to help you return to your home plane?"

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "The blood of a mortal that can use magic, the body of a humanoid outsider, a roguestone, and a pile of silver. To be taken to a Place of Power and then preform a ritual. Fairly simple.

Once free, i know how to get home.

Have you decided on what you'd want in return?"

[J-H]

"Not yet. You're asking for a lot. I'll probably need to get the wealth first, then work on the body. In the meantime, can you do anything special while you're trapped in there, or does this anklet just work like any other?"

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "Yes, I can do things. My greatest power is my matchless mind. I know a great many things about a great many things. Wealth is easy to get, but power is even better."

[J-H]

Can you interpret that for me in game terms, or do I need to just try stuff to see what works and what doesn't work?
Should I assume that intelligent item rules (ego, etc) are in play?

[Darth Ultron]

It's a possessed item, not an intelligent item.

Depending on the power of the creature the abilities it can do are:

*can see and hear everything the creature can in a 120 ft. radius
*Use spell-like abilities
*can detect all surface thoughts of its host and can communicate verbally
*can take control the object, turning it into an Animated Object.
*Bestow curse on the wearer
*Mimic magical items(it's an anklet of translocation)
* can grant its host a boon. This boon can be a +4 bonus to one of its ability scores (no max), a fly speed of 40 ft., or a +4 bonus to one skill. Can change, grant, or remove any of these abilities at will.
* Can exert direct control over a creature it is possessing the object. Attempting to establish control is a standard action. The victim must make a Will saving throw each round until the other abandons the attempt, or the victim fails a saving throw and the other gains control, or the victim makes three consecutive successful saves, indicating that the other cannot control the victim that day. Each round of struggle, the victim can take only a single move or attack action. Once the other gains control, it automatically maintains it for a number of rounds equal to its class level/HD + its Charisma modifier, + 1 for each previous occasion on which it has controlled this host. When this time elapses, the other can attempt to reassert control or not, as it chooses.

[J-H]

"Well, knowledgeable trader, what do you think would happen if I took you back to the storekeep - I think she was a tiefling - who sold you to me? And by the way, do half-bloods like her count for your purposes?"

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "You could return the anklet, but she'd never give you your money back. And, no she won't do at all. She is far too weak to be of use, and she is not fully an outsider. Outsiders native to the Prime are useless. "

[J-H]

"Well, two is as good as one. Know of any other mercanes stuck like this?"

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "I do not know of any, no. But such things are trivia knowledge, what I know is much better."

[J-H]

"Hmmm. We'll see. It will take some time to arrange what you want." Gladius heads back to the Dwarven Defender to collect his identified items.

[Darth Ultron]

Zeszattapon "I'm immortal, I know time very well."

Hartok Darksoil is waiting in the doorway as you approach. "Got your stuff ready. You got here an axe of frost and some light fortification armor. Standard enough warrior gear."

[J-H]

"Could you transfer the frost enchantment to my blade?"

+1 frost, +1 light fort?

[Darth Ultron]

Hartok Darksoil "I can steal the enhancement, sure. But it would only be in your weapon temporary . If you want the enchantment for good, I'd need to craft it into the weapon all normal like. "



yes and yes

[J-H]

"How much time would that take, and what would it cost?"

[Darth Ultron]

Hartok Darksoil "Ah, 5,000 gold and five days for that. "

[J-H]

Plus losing the axe (8000gp value)?

[Darth Ultron]

Yes, if you count it as a loss.

[J-H]

"...Maybe later." Gladius thanks the dwarf and goes down the street to Wulf Duesnot's shop. The half-ogre's shop features an oversized door, and...

[Darth Ultron]

The Big Shop has a crude sign with the words written in several languages. The shop itself is large and oversized, at least to a human. A couple of large and huge weapons and armors hang from chains on the walls and ceiling. For large half ogre females move about working. A large half ogre male sits in the middle of the shop at a large table rubbing some oils on a large shield.

Wulf Duesnot' looks up "Well met, I'm Wulf Duesnot', welcome to the Big Shop. What can I do for you?"

[J-H]

"My name's Gladius. I found a set of armor and a greataxe that are more your size than mine, and I'm looking to get a fair price for them."

[Darth Ultron]

Wulf Duesnot "Yea, sure. I pay half price for used items. If that is good for you, lets deal."

[J-H]

"You have a deal." Gladius pulls out the hide armor and greataxe, and places them on the table for inspection.


~4150gp for the axe and ~2075 for the hide, right?

[Darth Ultron]

Wulf Duesnot counts out two piles of gold coins so you can see them and then puts them in to large sacks.


Yes

[J-H]

"Thanks. Hey, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a battle involving a tribe of ogres a couple of days ago, would you? I heard a rumor that both sides were mercenaries, and I'm trying to figure out what the point of that one was."

[Darth Ultron]

Wulf Duesnot "The one just south of the Echo Canyon? Yea, I know about it. I sold some items to them ogre mercenaries. You know, being the only shop in town that sells large sized items regularly. Had to deal with that ugly frog lady...Veillayarinalil..a couple times. I really did not like her, but she payed in advance and in all nicely cut diamonds, so it was not so bad."

[J-H]

Would Gladius know what a frog person is?
K: Local is at +5 if needed.

[Darth Ultron]

Central Thay, were you are is a bit too ''like Nevada'' for most frog type races....except outsider type ones like Sladdi and fiends

[J-H]

K: Planes is at +7, K Nature +5, K Dungeoneering +5
Whatever is appropriate.

[Darth Ultron]

Slaad are common outsiders that look like frogs.
Neraphim are another frog like outsider race.
A lot of feinds are ''reptile'' or ''frog-like'', but only the Hydroloth ''look'' like huaman-oid frogs.

[J-H]

Interesting; If I work more for the gnoll, maybe I'll get to face this frog outsider and solve my other problem... Gladius thinks to himself as he leaves, searching for a jeweler who might carry a rogue stone and/or a ring of protection +1.

[Darth Ultron]

Magdelella's Magical Jewelry is an easy shop to find, right on the main street and with illusions of dancing jewelry including rings. The stone shop is small and well lit by small glowing orbs of light. A couple of small tables have a couple small pieces of jewelry.

A human female in a white robe sits on a large carpet in the middle of the shop.

Magdelella "Welcome, what can I do for you?"

[J-H]

"Good afternoon. I'm looking for a magic ring that grants me some protection in battle, so I'm harder to hit, and I'm also looking for a rogue stone."

[Darth Ultron]

Magdelella "Yes, I have both. Will a ring of protection do? How much can you pay?"

[J-H]

K: Arcana for the normal value of a rogue stone?
I know that one edition (2nd?) used them for a "gem jump" teleport spell.

[Darth Ultron]

Any gem can be of any value depending on size, cut, clarity and shape. A typical specimen had a base value of 5,000 gp

[J-H]

"Hmm... 6,000 for the pair? The rogue stone is for someone else to use with a spell."

[Darth Ultron]

Magdelella "sounds good to me"

A raven flies over and lands on her shoulder with a gold ring and a green gemstone.

[J-H]

"Well bargained and done." Gladius retrieves the funds, and carefully pockets the stone while putting the ring on. He goes in search of glasses or goggles that grant the ability to see at night - perhaps someplace run by a gnome?


Without a source of Identify, I have no way to know if Gladius is actually getting what he pays for (like with the anklet). Ah well.

Sheet updated. Still have 7k gp.

[Darth Ultron]

You don't see nay obvious gnome shop, but it's easy enough to find a huge stone sign on the side of a commoner bath house that says "Xallijk's mining supplies'' with a big arrow that points to a set of stone stairs that go down to a underground shop filled with tables of supplies and a lot of kobolds.

[J-H]

Gladius walks through the area, towering over the kobolds. Most of them scurry around or dodge out of his way, knowing that he might literally overlook him. He glances down at the tables, looking for goggles or glasses - or anything else that might be especially interesting.

[Darth Ultron]

The tables are full of all sorts of junk, a lot of it small sized, but some is medium size. One table does have an assortment of goggles and masks.

[J-H]

Gladius looms over that table. "What do these do?" he asks, as he points down at them.


don't worry about a list of 30 items, we can assume that the merchant tells Gladius about everything and he only bothers to think or care about the few that may be interesting.

[Darth Ultron]

"smoky goggles block bright light. And big um goggles make eyes look bigger, for the females that like big eyes. Dark goggles make you blind, so you no get fooled by no ill-cousins..but you does walk into walls and open pits." Say several of the kobolds all at once.

[J-H]

"Any that let you see in the darkness?"

[Darth Ultron]

Cyumsu Coalstriker "Yes, hew-mon, Goggles of Night, I Cyumsu Coalstriker have them for sale. Make with kobold scales. You wish to buy? You have gold? Lots of gold? 12,000 gold coins or maybe diamonds? says a female kobold over by the far wall dressed in black robes.

[J-H]

"Made with the scales of a dragon you mean, at that price. 4,000 gold, or I can probably just find darkvision on a wand."

[Darth Ultron]

Cyumsu Coalstriker "No dragons around...the red ones killed them all. And don't got no wands. Maybe you like potions of darkvision? Made with kobold tears. Only 300 hundres gold each and they even comes with a scale hide flask."

[J-H]

"Eh, forget it. Do you have anything else that might fit me, maybe something that helps in a fight?"


wand of Darkvision (CL3) should be 4500gp or thereabouts. I'll eventually want to make friends with someone who can Permanancy Darkvision and See Invisibility on me... but that costs XP and will probably have to be earned by saving someone's daughter or killing a rival or something.

[Darth Ultron]

Cyumsu Coalstriker "You want a fang mask? Lets you bite people. Or a mask of blood? Lets you spit poisionous blood at foes!"

[J-H]

"The bloodspitter mask sounds interesting. What does it do, and how strong is the poison?"

[Darth Ultron]

Cyumsu Coalstriker explains the magic item, "It can be yours for just 17,000 gold."





Mask of Blood

This mask of red metal constantly weeps a bloodlike liquid when worn. Any NPC who sees a creature wearing the mask has his attitude toward the wearer shifted one category toward hostile. The liquid is normally harmless, but once per day the wearer can spit it forth as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. When used in this way, the fluid acts as a poison spell upon the creature it strikes. If a barbarian wears the mask, the character's rages last 1 round longer than normal. The mask counts as a pair of lenses for limitations on wearing multiple magic items.

[J-H]

Gladius turns away. "Not what I'm looking for." He goes looking for the same merchant he'd purchased the wand of Color Spray from earlier.


Wow, that's a pretty overpriced item that's just one step short of cursed!

[Darth Ultron]

Winúŋna's Wands of War is a small wooden shop built on top of a small warehouse with a long wooden staircase that wraps around the whole building and up to the door of the shop. The shop has several wands of all shapes and sizes on the walls...and a couple that fly around in the shop with big feathery wings. The shop is also full of a lot of birds of lots of different types.

Winúŋna, a kenku sits on a carpet in the middle of the shop.

[J-H]

Gladius greets the kenku.
"I'm back. The wand I bought a couple of days ago was very helpful. Do you have a wand that will help me see in the dark?"

[Darth Ultron]

Winúŋna "Yes. Something like a wand of light? Very cheep. Or a wand of darkvision ? 4,500 gp for one of them....fully charged."

[J-H]

"Yes, a Wand of Darkvision will work, thank you." Gladius buys the wand, then heads back to the Sword & Axe for supper and rest after a strangely exhausting day shopping.


Sheet updated

[Darth Ultron]

Winúŋna nods and sells the wand.

The Sword & Axe is full later in the day and many folks come in for an evening meal.

A woman in a black robe waits until just after a server takes away your empty plate and then she comes over to your table "Well met, are you for hire?"

[J-H]

Gladius smiles. "That I am. I take it you are hiring?" He gestures at the chair across from him. "Welcome, sit down and tell me what you seek."

[Darth Ultron]

Deledra Morovan I'm Deledra Morovan, my companions, the Grim Penance. have found a bunch of caves. They are full of construct guards. Now we found seven ways in, all filled. But what we want to do, is send in forces in all seven caves. Standard danger pay so 45 gold a day. And you can keep what you kill. Sound like something that would be for you?"

[J-H]

"It might be. What are the constructs guarding? What type of constructs have you seen so far?

Also, who would I be working with?"

[Darth Ultron]

Deledra Morovan "Well, we have no idea what is down there. But guards guard something right? Dread guards and effigys are what we encountered. And like I said we will be sending people down each of the seven entrances. "

[J-H]

K: Arcana? Not familiar with either of those

[Darth Ultron]

''Effigy'' is just another word for construct. They come in all shapes and sizes, most like animals.

Dread Guards are simply animated armor with a weapon. They are pretty common, lots of shops have them for guards.