Free Ferelden (BoL Hack) - Game Thread

[Tibbius]

You stand on the cobblestones at the lakefront wharf in Lothering, the evening twilight glowing red and gold through misting rain. A chilly breeze ripples your clothing and hair. The air smells like fish and smoke.

You are waiting for a boat to take you downriver from the Lesser Lake toward Denerim. About two thirds of the way down the river there is an ancient bridge with a disused road that leads south into the Brecilian Forest. That is the road that Abe says you will follow to the ruined Warden fortress, where he seeks something undisclosed but related to his studies.

First, though, you must board the boat. It is half a day late coming from the west. The wind has been in the east all day, maybe that's why it's late. You will be traveling downriver in the dark if the captain is willing to sail at all.

There are several small groups of other people waiting for the boat. To the left are a pair of Orlesian nobles, finely dressed, dark hair braided long down their backs, unarmored, wearing rapiers. To the right are a Fereldan Circle Mage wearing the robes of her order, flanked by two Chantry templars. Right next to you is a dwarven merchant accompanied by a human servant carrying a heavy box.

No-one is saying anything much to each other. Just quiet small talking within their groups.

"The boat!" one of the Orlesians - the tall one - exclaims in a bored tone. Orlesians have mastered the art of ennui. Yet somehow they rule. Indeed, the sail of a boat is visible silhouetted in the twilight, approaching the wharf from about a half mile away.

In a few minutes the boat has tacked to wharfside and one of the hands has jumped ashore with a line, which she makes fast to a bollard. Other hands put out a plank for offloading passengers, and about a half dozen disembark and hurry toward the town.

The hands begin to lower and stow the sail, which has been flapping loose in the breeze. A grizzle-faced dwarf steps to the top of the plank and flaps his hands as if shooing away the prospective passengers: "We're docking for the night. Leaving first light. Be back on time. Or wait for next boat."

You find yourselves stranded for the night in Lothering. You know of several inns that offer rooms for various rates. The cheaper ones generally would be more accepting of your types - an apparently dissolute noble, and a retinue of three rough looking servants, two of them with pointy ears. What sort of place would you like to stay?

Rules: BOL Hack (https://archive.org/details/bolhack/page/n1)

Setting: Ferelden
(https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Ferelden)
Characters:

Level 1 Elf
Max HP 11
Str 2, Agi 4, Mind 0, App -1
Initiative -1, Melee 2, Ranged 3, Armor class 19
Alchemist 1, Artificer 1, Merchant 1, Soldier 2
Chain shirt and leather greaves, Dagger x3, Dart x5, Cudgel, Handaxe x2, Runic longbow, Shield, Shortsword, Sling
Arcane power 5, Hero points 3
Tools of the trade (Artificer), Trademark weapon (Runic longbow)
Can't lie, Taciturn


Level 1 "Hero" (Rogue Orlesian Bard)

11 hp
12+2 AC
Initiative 0
Melee 1
Ranged 1+3

Strength 0
Agility 2
Mind 0
Appeal 3

Minstrel 1
Tempter 2
Dancer 1
Thief 1

Attractive
Sneaky

Hunted

No armor
2 daggers, 5 darts

Two outfits: a brightly colored minstrel outfit and a dark blue (almost black) outfit with a mask
Lutey the Lutetastical Lute
A wide brimmed hat
Assorted silver and copper coins (mostly copper)


Level 1 Hero (City Elf)

Hit Points: 10
Hero Points: 5
Str 0; Agi 2; Mind 0; App 2

Init 1(1); Melee 0(0); Ranged 3(1); AC 14(2)
Slave 1; Thief 2; Assasin 1

Keen Hearing

Dagger (D6, Light)
Throwing Darts (6)
Lockpicks, Cloak, poisons?.

Fela was born into servitude, working in a human nobles house as soon as she could walk and talk. Slavery in all but name. She learned to watch, wait and listen and eventually found a way to slip away with a enough coins to make a start and not provoke too much commotion. She lived on the streets a bit before deciding that revenge was a better course than survival. Learning how to poison, kill and incapacitate.

Fela survives by being unnoticed, she dresses like any other elf in the city and carries only light, hideable equipment. When she needs more physical stealth she has a dark cloak she can wear to blend into the night.


6 hp
2 Hero Points
15 Arcane Power
AC 9 (-1+0)
Initiative 3 (3+0)
Melee -2 (-1-1)
Ranged 2 (-1+3)

Strength -1
Agility -1
Mind 4
Appeal 3

Noble 2
Scholar 2
Alchemist 1
Artificer 2

Great Wealth
Learned

City Dweller
Non-Combatant

No armor
Crossbow (or Staff)

An old Noble's outfit kept in pristine condition
A traveling outfit
Alchemists kit
Artificers tools
A bag full of interesting books
A doctors bag
Assorted gold, silver, and copper coins (few gold)

Abe Sandous was born to the noble Sandous family. His family, having realized he was magical from a young age, secretly had him trained by apostates in the ways of magic, so he need not bear the captivity of the circle. His training began with the academic, then moved on to the practices of alchemy and artifice. Abe, growing bored of his life at home, convinced his family to let him see the world for himself. Soon, Abe fell in with what most would consider the "wrong crowed," but he considered an interesting diversion from his noble life.

World Map: Here (https://leliaanaa.tumblr.com/image/147464574945)http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24249364

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe would like to see where the circle mage is staying, then not stay there. Other than that, he would probably prefer some nice accommodations, but expects to be staying in one of the cheap rooms.

[whiteflash]

The "noble and three servants" story might be a good thing to play up, and anyway there's strength in numbers. So Jacques follows Abe. He'd prefer his own room, right next to Abe's. If that's not possible he'd ask if he could share Abe's room.

[Tibbius]

You wind up eating dinner and renting two rooms at the Silver Oar, which is a compromise sort of establishment that is just high enough class to accept the idea of a noble with elves as servants, without being so high class as to exclude said noble on the basis of his servants being elves. Abe's purse is one gold coin lighter.

After eating an unimpressive dinner, do you retire immediately to your adjacent rooms on the upper floor? Or do you stay to carouse for a while in the common room on the lower floor, where a fire under the central chimney keeps out the chill that would seep in from the dark drizzling night?

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe definitely carouses. What's the point of seeing the world if you're not going to experience it!

[whiteflash]

Is there anyone singing?

If not, I head over to the proprietor and ask if he or she would object if I started.

If there is a singer, and they're doing a good job, I sit and watch politely.

[Tibbius]

A few people - crafters out for a "fancy" evening - are trying to get going with country drinking songs and chants that involve downing gulps of ale or wine. No other professional minstrel is present, so the stool by the central hearth is open to Jacques if he wants it.

Proper carousing requires the purchase of a round for the house, and Abe finds he has funds enough to do so - another gold coin, and a silver one, gone. He makes a score or more new temporary friends who all drink to his health and happiness. Most of them are respectable folk just letting their hair down after a solid day's work. One - a blonde slender Orlesian woman, accompanied by a heavy set bearded Fereldan man and an equally thick Fereldan woman - looks like an upper cruster trying to experience the "lower" class with bodyguards to keep the dirt off. She is eyeing Abe and Jacques with interest, her gaze passing blankly over the elves. It is a bland look that James and Fela both have seen at times throughout their lives - "you are furniture," her eyes say, "sometimes useful tools." She seems completely unfazed by James' clattering array of weaponry, much of which he has stacked on the floor beside his bench.

[DominoMasque]

Fela stays to side of Abe, adopting a look of being ready to listen to any requests he may make, while not actually paying attention to what he's doing. too attentive and someone might pay attention.
Meanwhile her ears try to tune into the hum of the bar, listening for anything interesting.

[whiteflash]

I pull out my lute and head to the stool.

Do I have to get everyone's attention, or is that enough?

[MinotaurWarblad]

James watches his party from the comfort of a seat, playing with a dagger (in its sheath) by balancing it on his foot.
When he gets bored, he’ll go to the room and make sure his belongings are clean and properly fitted. Though, if our minstrel is a good one, it may take some time for him to get bored; even so, he wants to be relatively well-rested in the morning.

[Tibbius]

The seat by the hearth is special in every tavern and inn, and everyone knows that one who sits there claims the prerogatives of a bard. As soon as Jacques settles in with his lute, the serving wench brings him a cup of wine. The room falls quiet as he tunes.

Roll 20 + Appeal + Minstrel career. TN 5 to avoid disgrace, 10 to please, 15 to awe. These folk aren't connoisseurs.

Fela discerns the usual conversations and concerns of human crafters - how the insurgency is levying "taxes" on raw materials being shipped on the roads, how the Orlesians also are levying taxes on finished goods to fund their patrols of the roads, how the boatmasters are raising their shipping fees to match the increased cost of road travel, how Amworth Taylor caught John Fine cheating on his wife with Frid Tanner in the Blue House at the edge of town - but John's wife doesn't know because he's paying Amworth off -, what does that point ears think he is with all those weapons, someone ought to take those away, yeah who's the fool who'll try it, he looks the hardened mercenary or just as like a bandit, wonder whose side he's on, probably the insurgents, no chance the Orlies would have an elf, at least they've got that right, too bad they're such arrogant pricks otherwise, glad to see the back of em someday, Edward watch your mouth you never know, you see her in the corner, she's might be a spy, nah I bet she's only lookin for a rough good time ... How'd you fancy that little elf girl next the thug? Good for a tumble maybe ...

[DominoMasque]

Fela filters out most of the noise, it's mildly interesting that rebellion was talked about so openly but she already knew things were bad. She'd be quite happy to let the humans kill each other off, but her own folk would get trampled too.

Her ear twitched as she realised she'd drawn a little attention, she was no longer the defenseless girl she was, but better to gently dissuade than cause a scene if they tried anything. She'd have to see if she could split a room with James, she wouldn't call him gentlemanly - but then she didn't have the best of experiences with most gentlemen.

[Tibbius]

Jacques has been here before - not this particular tavern, but this kind of room, a little smoky, flickering light, the smells of wine and ale and moderately spiced lamb stew, the expectant silence of the audience. He does not disappoint. Out of consideration for the venue, he plays an old Fereldan folk song that he learned from a wandring minstrel in a small tavern on the shore of Lake Celestine. Then he shifts to works more familiar to him - a romantic Orlesian ballad, then a portion of the Chant of Light, then back to another Fereldan song, this one a comic story about a rare glass mug for ale. He finishes the set with a Fereldan folk dance, one of those ones where he calls the steps. The company stomp around the room and demand encores of the dance, so he tries the only other one he knows. His fingers fumble on the strings a bit - it's been a long time since he played it - but by this point the audience don't really care, they're thrilled with his performance and in a forgiving mood.

Later, after more wine and ale, you retire - leaving instructions with the landlord to wake them well before dawn.

* * *

The morning comes very early for folk who have been reveling, but somehow you all struggle awake and grab your gear before heading down to the wharf. There you sleepily board the boat, passing coins to the gruff dwarf captain. He doesn't thank you, just points to where you should put your stuff. One of the hands assists in stowing your bundles of gear under a low deckhouse built around the base of the mast. The other hands are unfurling and raising the sail as the rest of the passengers board. Someone casts off and the boat lurches away from the wharf, downriver on a westerly wind.

The boat is about forty feet long, flat decked and shallow-drafted with houses amidships and forward that give access through the deck down into dry areas where you and your gear can get out of the rain and the wind.

It's raining again, fitfully, with puffs and gusts of wind making the sail flap. The sky is grey and the sun shows as a patch of painfully bright grey in the clouds. The grass along the banks of the wide river is brilliant green, and the occasional stands of trees are a darker but still beautiful green. Deer graze in the meadows and marshes at the river-edge.

Toward mid-day you're eating your cold provisions and drinking from your ale flasks when the dwarf, who has been manning the tiller, passes his station to one of the hands and comes forward. He urinates downwind from the prow of the boat, coughs, hoists trousers, and turns back to you as he fastens his rope belt. "Where you getting off?" he asks.

Abe explains about the ancient bridge. The dwarf scratches his beard. "Heard of that. Past South Reach," he replies. "I only go to Market Square. You'll need another boat from there toward Denerim."

https://66.media.tumblr.com/ab001547b3a981395665bdf8cfb17584/tumblr_oadn0vMIv91ugge5xo1_1280.jpg

* * *

At evening the dwarf has the sail lowered and furled, guides the boat toward shore on the south side of the river, tosses an anchor off the bow, and lets the current swing the boat around to stand downriver from the anchor. He looks a little anxious and talks quietly to his crew.

d20 + Mind + any reasonable career that would include noticing things at a distance; TN 12

[Tibbius]

Abe notices it first, the thick plume of smoke puffing upward and eastward, faintly visible through the intensifying drizzle. It comes from the ruins of a ringfort and a village, about three quarters of a mile distant up a hillside north of the river, on the far side of the Imperial Highway that tracks the edge of the marshes.

In the twilight, clumps of people can be seen as shadowy figures - some on horseback, more afoot. They are moving from the smoldering ruins toward the highway.

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe calls his party members over, and in a hushed tone gesturing to the shadowy figures moving toward the highway, They seem to be comming from that smoke cloud in the direction of some ruins. What do you make of it? Nothing good, I wager, but this isn't exactly my area of expertise...

[whiteflash]

Jacques eyes the riders nervously.

"This isn't exactly what I did, either. I was more into urban skulduggery. But I think I agree with your instincts. I vote we try to find someplace to hide until they're gone, in case they come this way."

[DominoMasque]

"Wait until they've gone, pick through what they've left? Maybe there will be someone who can tell us what it was about... or maybe they'll miss something valuable.". Fela's voice is distant, she doesn't pretend she's okay with this. But neither does she want to get involved with someone else's problems blindly.

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods approvingly at Fela's caution.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I'd like to avoid confrontation in this circumstance. The ship won't likely wait up for us, but I can't help but feel that we should investigate. There could be children that need medical attention."

[Tibbius]

By this point, everyone aboard has come to the starboard side to look at what's going on across the river. The two Orlesians stand with their arms crossed, apart from everyone else. The dwarf merchant and his servant are talking in low voices. The Circle Mage is arguing with the templars. They want to be put ashore; she wants to continue their mission down the river without interruption. The dwarf who captains the boat raises his voice: "Won't wait for anyone who goes across. Can send you in the small boat to the marsh. You wade from there with all your gear. Boat won't stay for you."

[ACExtravaganza]

If the boat won't wait for us, we should probably just stay here. Besides, look at the company we would keep were we to venture forth.

[Tibbius]

The templars win the argument with their mage. She grumpily stamps over to sit down on the roof of the mid-deck house, leaning back against the mast.

Some of the hands get a charcoal cook fire going in a wide, deep, long-legged metal pot with a grate set over it. They pull a sack of potatoes up from the foredeck hold and put on one for everyone. A few others start fishing over the side. Apparently it will be grilled fish and potatoes for dinner.

When the food is ready, the sun has fully set and the moon illuminates the clouds but nothing below them. The stars are hidden. In the full darkness James's trained ears catch hold of a muted thumping and splashing from somewhere along the other side of the river. At first it sounds like the noise is approaching, then like it veers off upriver. Fela and Jacques also make out the noise in the background of the conversation around the deck. There are half a dozen hands on the boat, plus the passengers, and everyone has an opinion about what was seen at sunset.

"Rebels being extirpated," says the heftier Orlesian noble. His face is unreadable in the steady but shadowy red glow from the charcoal. He pats the hilt of his rapier. "Well done I say."

The dwarf merchant shrugs in the darkness. "Off to the Imperium for them, I expect," he says coldly. "Isn't that how Meghren funds his festivals?"

The hefty Orlesian turns to face the dwarf. "Careful, short one," he says. "That sort of talk can lead to trouble. Even for one of your ... stature."

At least the rain has stopped. It's a cool night but the clouds keep it warmer than it might otherwise be, this early in spring.

[whiteflash]

Jacques raises an eyebrow at the Orlesian noble's direct threat. No class. Didn't his parents teach him subtlety?

[DominoMasque]

Fela tenses at the Orlesian and Dwarf's exchange. She'd rather not get involved in a fight, but she'd sleep sounder without the Orlesian on the boat.

[Tibbius]

The shorter Orlesian laughs at his compatriot's short joke. His laugh is charming, almost childlike. The dwarfen captain is not amused. "No more threats or jokes," he says firmly. "We will put the templars and the mage ashore in the morning." ... With a whispering slither of silk tunic and a rasp of steel, the hefty Orlesian half draws his rapier. "I'll jest as I wish," he replies. "Mind yourself." ... The Circle Mage stands between the two. "I'll have the peace," she shouts. "You," she says to the templars, "are needed more aboard this boat to keep order than you are needed ashore to chase after whoknowswhat." ... The hefty Orlesian fully draws his sword and levels it at the mage. The templars spring forward. The shorter Orlesian comes to his feet. The dwarf captain shouts: "Hold!" But no one is listening.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James gives off his best sergeant's whistle, a blisteringly shrill note that makes the ears buzz for a second afterwards.
If that doesn't get their attention, nothing will.
"Do you really need ME, an armed elf, to tell you how to act civilized? Stop being childish and let's all forget this nonsense ever happened!"
His tone is like his father's stern tone, back when he first learned how to fire a bow. He remembers the cynical words telling him that he was so much better at the sword than the bow that he may as well run down a wolf instead of shoot it.
Of course, he proved the old bastard wrong, but not without a lot of practice. He flexes his knuckles subconsciously, reflecting on the callouses he earned with years of work.

[DominoMasque]

Fela backs away, looking like she wants no part of it, while trying to position herself behind the Orlesians.

[Tibbius]

Both the Orlesians pivot toward James. "You dog-eared scum!" snarls the shorter one. "I'll shut your mouth." His rapier makes the sound of steel on steel as it comes from the scabbard. He takes a step across the deck toward James, around his compatriot, and another step, the rapier leveled toward the elf's throat.

The heftier Orlesian acts more swiftly. He swings a backhand toward James' face. [roll0] v. AC 18. [roll1]. James has the options to duck or to take the blow.

The Circle Mage begins to speak. [roll2] v. TN 12. Weird grey-blue light springs from her hands to twist like ropes around the Orlesians' arms and legs, constricting them. They struggle pointlessly as the ropelights drag them down and pin them to the deck.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James ducks and recoils from the magic, unsure of its exact effects. As he backs away, he motions with his hands to show as much innocence as possible while maneuvering to stay out of reach of the rapier.

[Tibbius]

The burgeoning combat comes to a halt. The Circle Mage sags sideways against the nearer templar - Abe recognizes that she channeled a lot of Fade into that ropy spell. The templar supports her with his arm around her. The other templar steps forward on the boat and nudges the hefty Orlesian with his foot.

"Elf," says the templar turning his head toward Fela, "take the rapiers. No telling how long Cynara's spell will last."

"I stow rapiers," says the dwarf captain. "Return at destination."

The hefty Orlesian says nothing. The smaller one curses the templars and their bottomizing Knight Commander. The same templar who nudged the hefty one turns, takes a step, and puts his boot into the small Orlesian's groin.

"Well," says the dwarf merchant, who has seated himself atop the deckhouse, "that's a pleasant entertainment, huh? Now who will keep an eye on these two fine miscreants?"

"My spell will last til sunrise," says Cynara the Circle Mage confidently. She pushes off the templar to stand with her feet firmly planted. Faint wisps of bluish light trail upward from her hands and glow from her eyes in the red-lit shadows.

"Even so," replies the merchant, "I'd be happier were they watched. Stanley," he calls to his servant, who is in a huddle with the captain's crew back aft, "keep an eye on the two sers til you're sleepy, then wake someone up." Turning to the captain of the boat, the merchant asks, "have you hammocks or pallets, ser?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

With the threat mostly gone, James does what he can to remain in the background inconspicuously. He was very lucky for the presence of an onlooking mage today. Not that he'd have had trouble fighting a posh human preening like a peacock, but better to avoid trouble than get involved to no one's benefit like he just did.

[whiteflash]

Jacques sighs in relief and nods to the Circle mage. "Thanks, ma'am."

He considers trying to tempt her, but looks at the templars next to her and decides not to push it.

[Tibbius]

The Circle Mage maybe smiles. The charcoal is barely smoldering and its red glow has become quite faint. The clouds are beginning to part, though, and fragments of silver moonlight glimmer on the water that flows gurgling along the sides of the boat. "My name is Cynara," she replies - and, patting the arm of the templar who supported her, "this is Charles. And the mean one -" she giggles and waves at the templar who kicked the short Orlesian in the nuts - "is Ardric." It's impossible to read her face, but her silhouette suggests she's waiting expectantly for James and his companions to name themselves. She's unusually friendly considering that she's human and he's an elf.

Abe recognizes the giddiness that comes from contact with the Fade. The Circle Mage is fey. Unpredictable. Whimsical. Emotionally fragile. Filled with a memory of the might of magic. Dangerous.

[whiteflash]

Jacques smiles."My name is Jacques."

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I'm James. Thanks for the help."

[DominoMasque]

Fela curtsies neatly. "Fela, ma'am."

[Tibbius]

"Not a problem," Cynara says dreamily. "But now I must rest ... Ardric, please stop looming at the petty nobles, and fetch some pallets from under the deck house."

The groin-kicker huffs at her and goes to ask the captain where the sleeping pallets are.

The boat rocks gently under the rising moon, which now illuminates the deck and the rippling river. The clouds have mostly drifted eastward from the sky overhead, but more loom over the Frostbacks in the west. The respite in rainfall is, as usual, merely temporary. Perhaps you will get to see the sun rise in the morning.

With the rocking motion and the day of travel and the anti-climax to the brief excitement, sleep comes pretty easy. You wake to the sound of marsh-birds taking flight, their wings like a rushing of stormwinds. The eastern horizon is aglow with pink and yellow clouds; there is a clear patch of blue sky stretching from near the horizon up overhead and a little west; and you can see rain approaching from upriver.

The next thing you notice is that the faintly glowing ropes that bind the waking Orlesian nobility have begun to sublimate, wisps of glowing blue smoke drifting up from the bonds to waft away eastward on the breeze. They haven't their rapiers - the captain confiscated those while people were settling down for sleep - but they still have lousy attitudes.

You can interact with any of the NPCs, or just keep to yourselves. Post your intentions please.

[whiteflash]

The bard looks around to see if anyone looks like they could use some entertainment.

[Tibbius]

Three of the hands are working on raising the fore-and-aft sail. Another is cooking breakfast - pork and eggs with kale. The last two are counting barrels under the captain's watch. The Circle Mage and her templars are waiting for breakfast. They seem to have resumed the argument whether to be put ashore in the marsh on the north bank. The dwarf merchant and his human servant are keeping quietly to themselves back aft, also awaiting breakfast.

The hands raising the sail are whistling disunitedly, each with his or her own melody. The music seems almost to interfere with their work as their tunes and rhythms clash discordantly.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James sits against a wall and mutters to himself. His foot taps nervously. Anyone who walks by might catch "my bumbling fool self" or "need to polish up my people skills". He's too irritable for an event that already happened. Maybe he's not caring for the rocking of the boat?
Or maybe he's just hungry...

[DominoMasque]

Fela keeps a careful eye on the Orlesian's while pretending not to. She furrows her brow at the crew's singing, surely if they've worked together any length of time they should have synchronised some?

[whiteflash]

Jacques looks over the sailors, torn between wanting to help them synchronize their songs and not wanting to interrupt their work.

Finally, he stands up and walks over.

"Good day. I appreciate your work. Would you like some music, while you toil?"

[Tibbius]

One of the sail-hands is a rough looking dwarf with very bushy eyebrows. Another is an Ander man wearing a blue bandana. The third is an unremarkable human girl. They all look at Jacques with surprise. The dwarf and the girl shrug and smile. The Anderling gestures to his ears and shakes his head with a frown. "No speak," he replies. Evidently he doesn't know Common.

Performance check as before - TN 5 for acceptable, 10 for impressive. I hope you don't mind that I'll make the roll this time, and you narrate the results.[roll0]; [roll1]

[whiteflash]

Seeing that most of them seem to be acquiescing, and that the only one who said "no" was expressing that he simply didn't speak the language, Jacques shrugs and gets started.

He's a few words into "Andraste's Mabari," when he starts to wonder if that was the best choice for the audience in question. The question makes him stumble a bit. Still, it's too late to stop the performance now.

Jacques sighs as he finishes. Okay. Now: what is most likely to be a hit with any audience? And since most of the songs I know are in Orlesian or the King's Tongue, what's the one an Ander with almost no grasp of the King's Tongue is most likely to grasp and appreciate?

Jacques starts with the verse of the Chant of Light describing the Maker's dissatisfaction with his first children, who don't have to work to have anything they might want, and yet have no ability to create anything new.

He sees smiles as the sailors throw themselves into their work.

[Tibbius]

Once the sails are up and the anchor hauled, the day's sailing goes swiftly downriver. The Circle mage and the templars stay aboard, as do the quietly grumbling Orlesian nobility. By midafternoon more clouds have drifted in from the west, and the rain starts again.

Then two broad rowing boats, each about fifteen feet long, come briskly upriver from the marsh at the north bank. The boats are manned by eight men apiece - four rowers paired side by side amidships and four others crouching fore and aft, clad in chain and leather armor. They rapidly close the distance to the dwarf captain's vessel, and the biggest warrior in the lead boat gingerly stands, holding a hooked rope loosely in one hand. He hurls the hook toward the big boat. [roll0]

[MinotaurWarblad]

James is going to get his bow out and ready as soon as he sees another boat on the horizon. When he sees the man throwing a hook at the ship James is on, he takes aim and waits for the captain to start giving out commands. Though, while he might be waiting for the captain, if someone tries to board without permission, he's shooting them, orders or no orders.

[whiteflash]

Jacques puts his lute down and pulls out his darts, ready to attack anyone who's (somehow) still standing after James, Abe, and Cynara are through.

I hide before the action starts to make myself more effective. Sneaky gives me two rolls for that. So, that's [roll0] for the first one, and [roll1] for the bonus roll.

[Tibbius]

The hook bounces off the sail, clatters across the deck, and grips deeply into the gunwale of the boat you're on. With a heave of his shoulders, the big warrior brings his smaller boat alongside and as he does so the rowers ship their oars, seize axes, and come to their feet. The small boat rocks alarmingly but does not capsize.

"They's a river toll now," says the big warrior with a crooked smile. He speaks the King's Tongue well. "Two gold a passenger and five for the boat. ... In the name of the Queen!" he adds with a darting glance at the Orlesians. His chest and shoulders are above the gunwale, as are those of his eleven comrades, who each hold a weapon one-handed. They all have handholds on the gunwale and are ready to jump aboard.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James takes extra special care to aim for the heart of the one who spoke. He uses all the time he can get to line up a shot for the moment the man climbs aboard.

[Tibbius]

The Templars slept in their armor as was the fashion in their order. The other passengers - except possibly Cynara - were in no way equipped for war. ... As the captain hesitates, his hand on the tiller, one of the axe wielding pirates rolls over the rail and comes to his feet on the deck, legs braced, axe raised. ... "Give up!" says the one with the grappling hook. He ducks down briefly beneath the gunwale, possibly lashing his boat to yours.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James lets an arrow loose into the chest of the man that leapt aboard, aiming for the heart.

Attempting an All-Out Attack that will Pierce Armor:
[roll0] or [roll1], whichever is higher (minus the armor bonus of the armor the guy is wearing, then +2 for All-Out Attack) against AC, for 10 damage (since Pierce Armor uses max damage).

Also I now have -2 AC and made myself the biggest target.


Then he shouts, "Flip the tiller and their rickety raft will give them trouble!"

[Tibbius]

I realized that a dozen passengers were too many for a fifteen foot boat, and cut the numbers down to eight per boat.
Would you like to spend a Hero Point to make your success Mighty?

[MinotaurWarblad]

I would love to make it a mighty success. Let's do Knockdown, so he is blasted off the ship and into the water with a sizzling thunderclap from the Runic bow!

[Tibbius]

ok... Narrate!

[MinotaurWarblad]

James's bow builds a humming sound as the arrow fires, and as the arrowhead punches into the man's chest, a bolt of lightning forms between the bowstring and the arrow's fletching with a tremendous BOOM! The warrior is blasted off his feet and into the water, with a sizzling hole in his chest big enough to fit a hand into.
Seeing the release of the tempest spirit he had bound years ago, James grins and blows on the center of his bow's grip. In his thoughts, he wonders if now was the best time to release such a strong spirit, but he doesn't regret the magnificent display it showed for him.

[Tibbius]

There's a general shouting and confusion. Two of the river pirates fall backward into the water. Three, including the big one, leap aboard the dwarf captain's boat. The other three remain standing uncertainly in their boat. The dwarf swerves the tiller as James suggested, battering the small boat back and forth. The three warriors standing in that boat topple into the water as it wildly rocks. Now there are five armor-clad warriors splashing desperately, further and further behind the big boat as it continues swiftly downriver with the current and the wind.

"Surrender," says the hefty Orlesian, hands on his hips. "Give over your weapons and armor and we'll let you swim."

In response, the big warrior hurls his axe and pulls another from his belt; a third hangs there as well. [roll0] [roll1]

The hand axe spins through the air, blade-over-handle, seeming to move slowly, but its blade strikes the Orlesian's face with a swift crunching noise. He sways for an instant, then collapses backward to the deck with a thump that shakes the boards.

The templars draw their swords. The shorter Orlesian calls helplessly for his rapier. The dwarf captain keeps his hand on the tiller astern, watching the sail and the water. The hands have formed a line across the deck between the captain and the conflict near the bow. They hold small weapons, knives and wooden bars.

Cynara seems to be gathering herself for another spell.

The three pirates, seeing themselves outnumbered, nevertheless seem unreasonably willing to fight.

[DominoMasque]

Fela flings a dart she had hidden... somewhere, straight at the man who hurled the axe.

[roll0] [roll1]

[whiteflash]

Jacques pulls one from his sleeve and throws it too. [roll0]

Fela probably misses, unless she spends a Hero Point or I'm seriously underestimating these guys armor. And Jacques goes after her in initiative, so he'd see her miss and realize the guy who (probably) killed the Orlesian is still standing.

So unless Fela wants to spend a Hero point, I'm probably going to aim at the axethrower.

[whiteflash]

Jacques watched as Fela's dart flew past the large pirate, and stepped out of his cover to throw his own.

He considered where he might hit to incapacitate the river pirate. It had always been his way. Even when he'd been a bard, he'd never been an assassin. He'd killed: sometimes you don't have a choice. But he always preferred not to, and he'd certainly never gone into a fight with the intention of killing before.

He caught a glimpse of his downed countryman out of the corner of his eye.

Jacques aimed for the pirate's throat, and the pirate went down, choking and coughing up blood.

He fought down a twinge of regret.

[MinotaurWarblad]

Seeing the templars stepping into action, James stays his bow over his shoulder and draws his sword. He will put himself on guard as much as possible while moving to give the templars a straight path on the rocking ship.

He knows they're brawny enough to handle a couple of thugs on their own, after the others fell overboard.


Assuming it's his turn, James will use the Full Defense combat option for +2 AC, for a total AC of 20

[Tibbius]

With their leader down, and their escape route gone, the two remaining river pirates throw down their axes and fall to their knees, raising their hands and calling for mercy.

A hundred yards upstream, the other rowing boat fights the current as its passengers try to rescue men struggling for air against the weight of their armor and the pull of the river.

The dwarf captain keeps his hand on the tiller but calls forward: "Strip them! You, the templars." The templars step forward, swords naked in their hands, the shorter one kicking aside the axes. The smaller, surviving Orlesian nobleman scrambles to pick those up.

[whiteflash]

"Well, that could have gone better," Jacques says in his Orlesian-accented voice.

Jacques steps forward to take his dart out of the slain pirate's throat. He tries not to look at the pirate's face.

As an afterthought, he turns to the surviving Orlesian nobleman. "I won't insist that you hand those over. But, please don't try to start anything new with my traveling companion, if you do keep them. That's not going to end well for anyone."

"And... I really am sorry about your friend. I wish that hadn't happened."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James puts away his sword and listens to Jacques speak.

[Tibbius]

The small Orlesian shrugs and frowns. "Rafael was a good friend," he says softly. "Thank you for your kind words." He hands over the axes to Jacques. "He was always too ready for a fight," he adds.

The two river pirates are on their feet now, struggling to doff their leather and chain armor without getting sliced by the sword points extended toward them.

Cynara turns away from them and goes to look astern at the splashing oars of the receding boat that is trying to rescue men unable to swim in their armor.

The dwarf captain continues to pilot the boat downriver. The hands relax and resume cleaning, trimming the sail, and lounging about.

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods silently and takes the axes to the captain.

"Where do you want these?"

[Tibbius]

The captain nods to one of the hands - the Ander man - who comes and takes the axes and stows them under the mid-deck house.

By this time the pirates are stripped down to their unbleached linen shirts. Although muscular and bristle-bearded, they look terrified.

The captain orders the human girl - she is probably about fourteen or fifteen - to fasten ropes around the ankles of the pirates. Still held at swordpoint, they shuffle their feet anxiously as she does so, but otherwise remain silent and cooperative. Their expressions have gone from terrified to blank.

"You templars," says the dwarf captain. "You with the rune bow. And you, the Orlesian. Send these men swimming. Let them make shore if they can."

One of the pirates whimpers.

[DominoMasque]

Fela looks on at the pirates without sympathy. If things had been in their favor they'd have no hesitation in killing or enslaving her. Why should she care about them? Still there was a bit of a difference between killing a threat and killing someone defenceless.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James walks calmly over to one of them.
"For every man you've killed..."
He then grabs him by the scruff of his neck with one hand, yanking him to his feet.
"Every woman you've ruined..."
He then crushes the man's groin in his other hand, hauling him up onto his shoulders like a pig for slaughter.
"And every child you've ever made weep..."
Finally, he shifts his left foot back, and slings the man overboard like a shotput.
"Atone by crawling to shore on the riverbed."
Stretching and wringing out his joints from the effort, he says to the other one:
"The others will remove you, though I leave you with the same message."
He strides away, to sit where he was at before the boats showed up.

[Tibbius]

The pirate who whimpered bursts out in tears. "I never ruined no woman nor killed no man nor made no child weep!" he sobs. "I'm a honorable freedom fighter! Mercy, in the name of the Queen?" His beard is patchy and he looks to be about sixteen.

Meanwhile, the first one over is struggling to swim ashore, doing the breast stroke with dolphin kicks. [roll0].

It's unclear to Jacques whether the dwarf captain meant for him or the minor nobleman to throw the sobbing pirate overboard. Seems to be unclear to the nobleman, too. They both hesitate, looking at each other.

[whiteflash]

"This isn't really reflecting well on the fabulous Ferelden freedom fighters, is it?" Jacques mutters just loudly enough for his countryman to hear.

He shrugs and gestures for the nobleman to follow him to the second captive.

"We are having mercy. Your arms aren't bound. Honestly, you have a pretty good chance of making it to shore." He gestures to the bank. "See? Your friend already made it. But enough about him, let's talk about you."

"Would you like some help over the railing, or can you handle this yourself?"

[Tibbius]

The young pirate - or freedom fighter, depending on one's political alliance and viewpoint - gasps and exclaims: "Yeah Owain made it! He can swim! I can't."

The small Orlesian nobleman crouches down and grabs the youth's knees, preparatory to picking him up. "Give me a hand, minstrel," he says over his shoulder. The youth panics, striking the Orlesian's head and shoulders with his hands.

[whiteflash]

Jacques moves to help restrain the youth. As he does, he yells out over the side of the boat as loudly as he can.

"Hey! It's... Owain, right? Is it true your friend here can't swim? If so, you might want to hurry up getting out of that rope and then get back in the water."

[Tibbius]

The current is slow but the west wind is strong. Owain the pirate is a couple hundred yards astern, floundering through the shallows into the marsh reeds that line the shore.

Jacques tries to grapple the young pirate, but somehow the panicked boy fends him off with a flurry of blows.

[whiteflash]

Jacques backs off under the boy's surprisingly well aimed blows.

He can't spot enough tells in the kid's body language to know whether he's being honest or not, but ...

"Captain, this boy says he can't swim, and... I believe him. He's hitting pretty hard. I think he's honestly fighting for his life."

"It's one thing to throw someone overboard and make them swim, but are we really going to drown this kid? It's not like he's the one who killed..." Jacques turns to his countryman, the surviving nobleman. "Rafael, right? That was your friend's name?"

[Tibbius]

The struggling boy slips on the rain slicked deck and falls speaking sprawling on top of the Orlesian nobleman, who is completely distracted from what Jacques has to say. One of the Templars steps forward though, the groin kicker. roll for effectiveness of your speech on the crowd. TN 10 for the Templars and Cynara, 15 for your countryman who just saw his friend killed by this boy's comrade, 15 for the captain who gave the order, 8 for everyone else

[Tibbius]

"The minstrel is right," says the templar firmly. "It would be wrong to utterly condemn this youth."

The group agree generally and enthusiastically.

"Untie him," says the dwarf captain. "We hold him hostage to Market Square. Give back his gear there, let him go. He did no harm to us, and his friend is dead. Let him forgive that, and save his life."

"Do you pledge to forgive?" asks the templar.

"I do," says the youth with a trembling voice. "Our friend was Ennis. I am Dwight."

His ankles unbound, Dwight hesitantly sits on the roof of the deckhouse under the mast, shivering occasionally in the constant drizzle that soaks his unbleached linen shirt. The young girl of the crew goes below the forward deckhouse and brings out a wool blanket that she wraps around his shoulders. The Ander puts his armor under the same deckhouse along with the axes.

= = =

The rest of the day passes without events - just sailing under the drizzling daylight sky, then anchoring at sunset and warming up a little bit around the rain-sizzling charcoal fire in the brazier set forward of the middle deckhouse. Mid-morning of the third day, the boat reaches a fork in the river and the captain puts over the tiller for a swift turn to the north, upstream on a tributary that comes in from the left bank. "Market Stream," he says. The tributary is more than a stream, though, at least a hundred fifty yards across. Still, with the favorable wind from the west, it is easy going. By noon, docks are in sight.

So, too, is smoke. Not just the common smoke of cooking fires, but great black billows rising from beyond the hundred or more two story stone buildings that are grouped around the Market Square at the head of the docks. The docks are empty of boats and people.

"We put you off here," the dwarf captain says to the passengers. "Or you come back Lothering. Short of food, though. Hungry trip back. You pay now anyway."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James seems eager to step off the ship, even considering the smoke.
"Fair days like this to you and your vessel!", he hollers to the captain.

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe waits to hear where the templar's plans. He doesn't want to get saddled up with them for any longer than he has to.

[whiteflash]

Jacques looks between James and Abe, and ultimately walks over by Abe.

[DominoMasque]

Fela listens trying to filter out the talking, listening for any sounds carrying on the wind from where the smoke is coming from. It's more than expected... surely if it were a building fire people would be fetching water from the docks? Maybe it's a pyre for a mage?

[Tibbius]

As the boat bumps the dock, the Ander and another of the crew leap over with lines to make fast. The rest of the crew are luffing but not lowering the sail. The captain, it seems, would like a quick departure.

The market square from which the town gets its name is about a hundred yards each side. It is mostly filled with vendors stalls but they all look recently abandoned - not tattered or toppled, just vacant.

Abe previously has briefed the party what to do when they land here - rest up for a day, then cross the Market Stream at the Ford just north of town, and head southeast on an old road. Unfortunately the billowing smoke rises from the north end of town.

The Templars and Cynara have been arguing amongst themselves as the boat approached the wharf, and now they confront the captain. They want the dwarf to go back down the river to Denerim.

[whiteflash]

"So," Jacques quietly begins. "I assume we're putting off here?"

He listens as the templars and the mage try to persuade the captain to go on to Denerim. "We're heading to a ruin you wanted to investigate, right? Which way is that, again?"

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe gives a sigh, then says Toward Denerim. We were going to get another boat from here to there, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. As much as I would like us to be on our own, I think it might be advisable to stick with the ship if we can convince him to head to Denerim.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James groans. He seems a bit unsteady.
"Or, maybe fair days like this to me and my headache..."

[Tibbius]

James groans. He seems a bit unsteady.
"Or, maybe fair days like this to me and my headache..." - I don't understand?

[Tibbius]

I'm going to call this the conclusion of your first adventure, The River Journey. Because your characters are first level, one adventure is all that's required to level up. Consult the rules and let me know how you want your characters to grow. Then I will update the first post OoC thread, and narrate a cut scene to the next stage.

[MinotaurWarblad]

- I don't understand?



He previously wished the captain's ship fair weather. Since the group has agreed to stay on the ship, he is sticking with them. He doesn't like being on a moving vessel too much (I get seasick and projected that on him), so he is complaining to himself.
Sorry if the joke didn't come across as funny, I was being a little goofy.

[Tibbius]

None of the passengers seem willing to be put ashore at vacant docks in an apparently deserted town with smoke billowing up from its outskirts. Pretty quickly, Abe, Cynara, and the templars prevail upon the dwarf captain to make downriver toward Denerim. Dwight, however, is pretty much pushed off the boat onto the dock; his armor and ax are tossed after him, along with the axes of his former companions.

As the boat gets back underway in a drizzling rain, down the Market Stream toward Drakon River, a debate begins about what to do with the two bodies that have temporarily been stowed under the mid-deck house (the crew scrubbed the deck clean of blood). Eventually it's decided that a water burial would be appropriate as they died on the water. So at the confluence of the Market and Drakon, both Rafael and Ennis get heaved off the side into the water in the mid-day mist.

= = =

Two days later the food has nearly run out and everyone is grumpy when Abe spots a high bridge that spans a half-mile between bluffs that rise fifty feet or more at each side of the river. "That's it," he mutters. More loudly, to the captain: "Can you anchor and put us ashore at the foot of the bluffs?"

The captain reluctantly agrees. Two hours later, all four of you are standing on a sandy beach looking up at steep rock and dirt that will be difficult to climb with all your belongings. What do you do?

[MinotaurWarblad]

James asks, "Does anyone other than myself know how to hunt?"

[whiteflash]

Jacques shrugs. "I don't. We probably should have thought of this a while ago, huh?"

[ACExtravaganza]

Abe gives a shrug, I definitely don't.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I can collect herbs and wild roots as well, so it looks like I'm getting us food. If I'm also the only one that can cook, then I won't be going first or last when we explore."

[Tibbius]

As the companions discuss with increasing concern how they will feed themselves during the trek southeastward toward the abandoned Warden fortress, the rain ceases and a light cool breeze begins both to dry their woolen garments and to make them shiver. The imposing bluff continues to loom above them. The bridge arcs over their heads to the opposing bluff, a relatively slender span of ancient stone just wide enough for two wagons to pass each other, nearly a half mile long without supports in the middle. It must have been a marvel of engineering and magecraft even in Tevinter times. Nearby one of the four supporting feet of the bridge stands braced against the bluff, a twenty-foot-thick pillar of seamless white stone streaked with red brown veins. The pillar flares toward midstream at its top end forty feet above the companions. It has a regular pattern of indentations going up its vertical side.

The river Drakon ripples quietly behind them, lapping at the sandy beach where they stand. To either side the beach continues along the base of the bluff, material deposited at the inside of a slight bend in the river. The beach terminates at the outside of the next bend upriver, where the bluff seems lower - though that could just be the perspective of distance.

[MinotaurWarblad]

With a careful squint and a glance to make sure of the position of the sun in the sky, James clicks his tongue and gestures vaguely down the beach.
"Well, I'm inclined to get this task done as quickly and safely as possible. From the looks of it, we should head that way to find an easier time up this little cliff."
As he starts walking, he takes a look at the water and wonders if he should try to go fishing or hunt down wild game...

[Tibbius]

Forty five minutes later they've all scrambled up the tumbled part of the bluff where the river undercut it, sweeping away the sand and dirt that forms the beach on the inside of the curve just downriver. The ground at the top of the bluff is extremely uneven, grassy and bushy. A light rain is falling again.

The road from the bridge stretches away southeast. At the horizon they can make out hills covered with the dark green-grey of thick-growing conifer trees - probably the edge of the Brecilian Forest. Somewhere in there, near the road, is the ruined fortress they seek. Just before the hills they can see a faint cloud of smoke, held down by the rain. "That's probably South Reach," says Abe. "The road runs by there."

[Tibbius]

Abe, James, and Jacques stood elbow to elbow atop the low hill that ringed the hundreds-yards-wide clearing. Under their feet the ground was a mix of centuries-tumbled grey stone, rotting brown pine needles, and dark green moss. The smells of rain and pine pitch filled their nostrils. A mizzle filled the air, coalesced and dripped from the needles of the pine branches that spread above their heads, and soaked their clothing and the slippery moss. Behind them stretched the silent, chilly forest of Brecilia. The road to South Reach was a day away.

Across the clearing hulked the remnants of a sturdy grey square building pierced by arrow slits and bigger windows. The ruined fortress of the Grey Wardens, who had pulled back out of the forests long ago. Who could know what lurked there now? Abe was confident that ancient knowledge had been abandoned in its library.

[whiteflash]

"We're finally back in my comfort zone."

He turns to Abe. "Do you know where in this building we're headed?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I doubt it'll be as simple as looking for a particular room in that mess. Even something as sturdy as a vault could be well'n'buried at this point, couldn't it?"

[Tibbius]

From his studies, Abe was familiar with the original floor plans of the ruined building, and indeed had a rough copy of the same on his person. He also had some notes regarding the spells he expected to find revealed in the library scrolls... Presuming any had survived the moist environs. ACE, here is your chance to metagame. In this thread, please describe the original floor plan to your comrades IC and post a link to any map you'd like to make; in OoC, let us know a list of several second magnitude spells for which you would like to meet the casting requirement for an arduous journey... If you don't feel imaginative about spells or architecture, I can step up.

[Tibbius]

kitchen

kitchen

dining room

dining room

dining room

lesser stairs



unknown

unk

dining room

dining room

dining room




unk

unk

grand staircase

passage

training room

training room



prior's office

prior's office

Entrance Hall

Entrance Hall

training room

training room



prior's office

prior's office

Entrance Hall

Entrance Hall

training room

training room



Main Level



dormitories

dormitories

dormitories

passage

lesser stairs



training room

training room

training room

passage

dormitories



training room

training room

training room

passage

dormitories



dormitories

armory
grand staircase

passage

dormitories



dormitories

armory

top of entrance hall

top of entrance hall

dormitories



dormitories

scriptorium

top of entrance hall

top of entrance hall

dormitories



Upper Level



kitchen cellar

kitchen cellar

passage

passage

lesser stairs



kitchen cellar

kitchen cellar

passage

greater armory

greater armory



passage

passage

passage

greater armory

greater armory



dungeon

dungeon

passage

treasury

treasury



dungeon

dungeon

passage

treasury

treasury



Lower level

[Tibbius]

The map does not show any windows. However, you can guess there would be some for each room. The hill you are on appears to encircle the clearing, like a low wall. From what you can see across the depressed clearing, the roof of the building has caved in and there are several windows at each level in each side of the building - you are facing a corner of it. A raised roadbed connects the left side of the building to a portion of the wall-hill about two hundred yards to your left. It would be fairly easy to clamber along and up the rubble to get to the near end of the roadbed. You can see that the roadbed runs about two thirds of the way across the clearing, and has three bridges along its length of about three hundred yards. At the end of the roadbed nearest to the building there is kind of a ledge with big doors in the building that would open onto the ledge. You can guess that's the Entrance Hall shown on the map.

[whiteflash]

"Hm. We might be able to access the Lesser Stairs from a window... If that is an option, should we do it?"

Jacques looks out over the fortress. "We won't have to enter through the main entrance that way. But will that save us any time or trouble?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I'm not sure if the effort is worth the cost, but we can try it that way if you prefer. I can provide overwatch with my bow, in case anything strange or wild is skulking about."

[Tibbius]

There are windows even at the lowest level of the building, below where the causeway goes to the main doors. Based on the map, Abe guesses that the bottom window at the far right corner of the fortress would open onto the lowest flight of the lesser stairs. The companions set forth down the twenty foot hill and across the depressed clearing toward the fortress.

The floor of the clearing is very soft, almost squishy, composed of the same slippery dark green moss as was on the hill. The rain strengthens to a drizzle out from under the trees. It beads up into big drops on the twiggy branches and sparse leaves of the waist-high berry bushes that are scattered across the clearing.

About halfway across the clearing, James thinks he sees something move up on the shattered roof of the fortress.

I will be offline from Friday-Sunday, back Monday.

[whiteflash]

""Hey James?" Jacques gestures to the berry bushes as the group passes them. "Are those safe to eat?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I'll take a closer look after we investigate the welcome party at the keep", James responds, pulling the fletching of a nocked arrow to his cheek, his wrist hovering over his shoulder and his entire upper body slightly turning. His eyes scan the area where he saw movement.

[Tibbius]

Whatever might have been up on the roof no longer is moving. James finds no target. He relaxes his muscles deliberately, lowering the bow and gradually easing the string. The keep is barely within bowshot, anyway. He might not be able to hit something on the roof at this range.

[whiteflash]

"Welcome..." Jacques pulls a knife and follows James's eyes. "Is there someone out there?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"Or something, yes."
He turns to the bushes and eyes them carefully.

Alchemist [roll0]
Does he know what these plants are, and if they are useful?

[Tibbius]

The plants are mistberry bushes, James realizes. A small quantity - a half handful of berries - taken before sleep will lead a dreamer into the verges of the Fade. A greater quantity - not much more - will slow the sleeping heart to an appearance of death. More than that causes death.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"We should grab some of those berries, but don't eat any. They may come in handy later."

[whiteflash]

"Poison, then? Can it be used nonlethally, or is it a sure kill in any dose big enough to incapacitate?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I'm not sure it could be used as a weapon, but it can be lethal in high enough doses. I was thinking of their less deadly uses. Good idea, though."

He gathers a few handfuls to put in an empty coin pouch on his belt, and moves along.

[whiteflash]

"I see."

Jacques picks two branches of berries, leaving the berries still attached to the branch, and puts them in an empty pouch.

"So, back to that welcoming party... is there any way up to the roof, or down from it?"

[Tibbius]

They can see no obvious access to the partly-collapsed peaked roof of the fortress. Perhaps there are beams that lead up to the roof from its caved in section, or it could be accessible from the lesser stairs; the map does not show the roof. There are no external stairs or ladders to reach the roof.

As the group pauses in the middle of the clearing, two thirds of the way to the fortress, they see two large birds take flight from the roof of the building. The birds fly like ravens but they are significantly larger than one would expect. They swoop away eastward under the lowering grey clouds, just above the tops of the conifers.

[whiteflash]

Do we see anything to the east that looks odd? Other than the slightly odd birds that just flew that way.

[Tibbius]

To the east of the clearing are the branches and shadows of the deep damp forest.

[whiteflash]

Jacques follows the birds with his eyes. "I don't think those birds are supposed to be that big. Are they?"

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I've heard tell that the Wilds are home to all manner of strange things. Most of them far stranger than those. I'm not surprised."

James looks as close as he can to discern any easy ways to gain entrance aside from the crumbling main gate.

"Let's get to the base of the fort and take a look around. It might be simpler to go in the front door, but it rubs me the wrong way."

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods. "Sounds good to me." He looks to the rest of the party.

[Tibbius]

The group of three make their way to the base of the fortress without further incident. Circumperambulating, they find that the main level is about fifteen feet above the bottom of the clearing and that the windows of the lowest level are barred and above their reach by a couple of feet. At the back side of the fortress, there is a pool of dark and greasy looking liquid, dozens of feet across and right up against the base of the building. Right above where the pool touches the foundation, a cracked clay pipe protrudes a few feet from the stonework. The pipe is a couple of feet in diameter.

As they stand gazing at the pool and discussing what to do next, they hear a piece of stone clatter down the wall of the building.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James's bow comes out and an arrow is pulled back faster than a heartbeat.
"Who goes there?" he asks in the direction of the sound.

[whiteflash]

Jacques raises the knife he'd drawn a while ago and looks around, in case someone or something is using the rock as a distraction.

[Tibbius]

They see nothing.

[Tibbius]

It seems like ACE has dropped out of this game. Since his character is the main reason for your characters being where they are, I could NPC him or we could drop the game. Please let me know your level of interest for continuing.

[whiteflash]

I'm interested in continuing.

[MinotaurWarblad]

I'm interested in continuing, but maybe offer up recruitment again to try and snag another player?

[Tibbius]

Mr. Stereo is willing to step in and play Abe Sandous, he just wants a few days to read up on the thread and rules.

[MinotaurWarblad]

Perfectamundo!

[whiteflash]

Sounds good to me.

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe chuckled at his friends' jumpiness.

"Oh calm yourselves, friends!" The carefree mage waved his hand at his two weapon-waving accomplices and chastised their paranoia. "This is a ruin, of course it's falling apart! More interesting is this... substance." The nobleman looks uncertainly at the goopy black liquid pooling below them.

Taking out his Alchemist Kit Abe examines the liquid and tries to identify it. He looks for any sign of the fade as well.


Mind 4 and Alchemist 1 for +5

[roll0] to identify the Black Liquid and check if it's magic.


"Do you think you could shimmy through that pipe if you had to, James?" Abe asked his Elven friend. "I wouldn't recommend it as our first recourse, naturally, but you are a rather nimble fellow."

[MinotaurWarblad]

"If necessary, though I'd prefer not to."

[Tibbius]

The dark ichor of the pool was not water, but more like rancid vegetable oil. Abe didn't have the time or laboratory with him to run a proper alchemic analysis. He suspected, however, that this liquid was related to something of the Fade. Or darkspawn.

It seemed that they either could climb in through the big oozy pipe, try to get a rope up to the barred window ten feet above their heads, or go around to the front and clamber up the side of the causeway to get to the main entrance.

[whiteflash]

"Well, we're not getting through that window, even if we can get up there..."

Jacques looks at the stone around it to see if they can climb from that window to the roof.

[MinotaurWarblad]

“I am fine with climbing in the pipe. Vote your preference? Front or back?”

[Mr Stereo1]

It wasn't a pleasant conclusion for Abe, but a mysterious oil seeping an abandoned ruin well above ground wasn't a situation with natural causes to begin with. From a Grey Warden fortress the Orlesian nobleman was forced to the worst scenario, which also happened to be the most exciting.

"Friends, I do believe we find ourselves in as delightfully a dangerous situation as we'd feared and hoped." Abe expanded, pushing a vial of the 'tar' to the two under educated servants of his motley 'incognito' retinue. "This unpleasant substance has the touch of the fade to it, by my eyes, nose and other senses. A corrupt sort I wouldn't be hesitant to match to the Darkspawn, in the company of the honorable Grey Warden's remains. The scale of the pooling liquid suggests powerful magic was being worked here, and you may note the dripping pipe that seems to imply some of that's still lingering... and makes me wonder what stopped the Wardens tidying up." Abe trails off letting the lesser minds of his compatriots conjure up the intimidating possibilities of what lay inside the keep with what limited imagination they possessed.

"How a band of enterprising individuals such as ourselves should expect to profit from whatever produced this unpleasantness is a question for tomorrow, but I should expect today we'll be facing Demons or Darkspawn inside those walls mighty enough the feared Wardens didn't vanquished them!" Abe's voice rose to an encouraging tone his father often used when presenting honors to his Chevaliers. "We'll need to keep our every wit about us and take the fiends by surprise!"

"Storming the front gate would needlessly place your good health at risk but I can spell a rope up to the window, if I must." He allowed benevolently. "Fetch one then you may go clear the room and pull me up once our entryway is safe. Together we'll strike out and catch our foe from behind!"


Yes, Abe's a nobleman who's genuinely smarter than anyone else in the vast majority of rooms he's even been in. Feel free to deflate him but I like a pompous narrative.

I'd like to cast a spell to secure a rope to the barred window. One of the examples of a Cantrip is making a rope slither up a castle wall so would you accept a Cantrip casting to do that, Tibbius?

[Tibbius]

Yes, I'm good with a Cantrip to get a rope up there and secure it to something. What to do about the old rusty bars, that's a different question.

Gazing up at the fifty feet of rough stone wall that rose to the roof, Jacques estimated that anyone with a reasonable amount of athleticism would have a fair chance at making the climb given all the handholds on and between the blocks that made the wall. It was not a superlative work of masonry by any means, and probably drafty in the snowy winters. The salient concern for Jacques, however, was that a fall from the window or above might well be fatal.

[whiteflash]

How old and rusty are the bars? Could they be removed from the window somehow?

[MinotaurWarblad]

James carefully eyes the rope and window. He kneels and pulls of his backpack, which was more of a long, ornate, multi-pocketed brown case with shoulder straps than any normal backpack.
Since all of his weapons were hidden in the folds of his clothes or worn openly on bandoliers and sheathes, there may be a bit of mystery as to the contents of his backpack...
And there still will be, since James only opens up the smallest pocket on the case to pull out a sparkling silver file.
“One of my many tools for artificery, this item is particularly helpful for shaping ironbark, like that of my bow. I could quietly grind down the rusted bars and pull them softly free with this, as long as the spirit inside doesn’t feel the act is too undignified compared to its intended purpose. I’d say it’s about a fifty-fifty chance it will melt through those bars like a hot knife through butter, or make no impact whatsoever.”

The actual effect of my artificer tools is just to give advantage on rolls with my artificer career, but I like to add a bit of flair. More fun that way, no? :smallwink:

“I’ll give it a shot now.”
He goes ahead and starts climbing the rope.

[Tibbius]

Abe's cantrip took effect and the rope slithered up the wall, tracking the cracks between the blocks like a long and slender fibrous snake. At the window it wriggled and flailed for a few moments, then relaxed to hang limp down the wall.

James tugged roughly at his end of the rope, above the portion coiled on the ground. It wassolidly attached. With a grunt he braced his boots against the wall, leaned back, and began to walk foot-over-foot and hand-over-hand up the rope. Within a minute he had reached the window, where he found the rope had anchored itself not to the rusting bars but rather by forming a monkey's fist that was firmly wedged between two stone blocks. He dexterously tied off the rope around his waist, and with his file he made quick quiet work of the bars, within five minutes he had silently laid the last of the five on the sill. There now was more than adequate space to enter. The darkened stairwell inside the window appeared vacant, cool, and damp. He hesitated whether to enter immediately or return to ground and retrieve his pack.

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe silently shooed the Elf inside, and patted Jacques on the shoulder. "You go ahead next, friend. I'll probably need help getting up and best to have someone to watch the other's back when you're pulling, no? I'll tie your packs to the rope if you want them, too. Ask James if he'll be needing anything. Let's say a waving hand from either of you means you need your packs, and a steady one means you don't."


Arcane Power 14/15

I'd say have Jacques go up next, Abe can tie their packs to the rope if they want to pull them up, and then James can use his Strength 2 to get my Strength -1 ass up there. :smallbiggrin:

[MinotaurWarblad]

James nonchalantly waves back with a grunt.


Sounds good to me. James will need his pack for the adventure, but with Jacques helping he can pull up both Abe and their belongings.

[whiteflash]

"It looks like he needs his? I'll just skip that step, though, and tell you I won't need anything I can't carry. Anyway, that means it's my turn to climb..." Jacques approaches the rope.

Can we assume that Jacques changed out of his minstrel outfit, and into his more serious gear, offscreen?

[Tibbius]

In his dark clothing Jacques seemed almost to blend into the shadowed south wall of the fortress. Leaning back, he tugged the rope to make sure it was secure. Then he started to climb, walking feet up the wall and hands up the rope, just as James had done.

About eight feet above ground - halfway to the window - his feet slipped on a patch of fungus that James had stepped around.

Dangling from the rope, he swiftly swung toward the fortress and faceplanted against the wall. The impact battered him. [roll0].

He clung to the rope, trying to avoid a scraping descent down the wall and further damage on impact with the ground. [roll1]

After a few moments gasping for the wind that had been knocked out of him, Jacques again leaned back, planted his feet, and began the rest of the ascent. It was only less than a minute before he clambered through the window. As he did so, his knee bumped against one of the rusted iron bars that James had removed. It clattered onto the wet stone at the base of the stairwell, sending metallic echoes upward.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"That was better than breaking your neck," James shrugged, offering a hand to help him up, "but I think we might need to get Abe up here quick. Might have company, if something inside heard that."

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe grimaced as he watched his serv- friend dangle from the rope and briefly wracked his mind for a suitable god to pray to for his safety. The Maker hated mages, the Dalish's gods would likely hate him for being a human let alone an Orlesian, so he had to settle for borrowing the Avvar's. Thankfully the Lady of the Skies was true and Jacques got his grip back on the rope. Abe saw the bard tumble over the window ledge and was glad a man of his superior intellect and gentle breeding wasn't expected to partake in the exertions of the common folk like his ser.... companions!

The nobleman set to tying James' pack to the end of the rope as agreed and waited for the pair to pull it up before attaching his own. There really wasn't a reason to leave their things down here, was there? Were they to descend the tower to form a motly camp in the woods come nightfall? They certainly couldn't escape back down the rope with any speed if they were overwhelmed, and at least a moment's efforts to barricade a room in the keep might serve to allow the party a loud warning before an ambush camping in the open wilderness would deny them. Not to mention some warmth and, if they found a surviving section of roof, protection from the rain. Abe tied Jacques' pack to the rope for good measure and waited for it to be thrown back down a final time.

With a heavy sigh the soft-handed and... gently built nobleman tied the rope around his waist and prayed once more to the Avvari's gods who had served Jacques so well.


I'm in no rush to be caught half way up if Jacques and James don't give Abe the signal to come up yet and want to deal with whatever threat's approaching first. Abe is definitely sending up everyone's gear before he gets on the rope himself, on the basis that he's realizing there's no escape back down the way they came anyway.

As for climbing... at -1 stat and zero relevant career skills I'm clearly going to need help. Abe'll just wait until people are free to pull him up, as I'm not eager to spend more AP before hitting the demon or darkspawn infested tower.

[whiteflash]

Jacques cursed in two different languages as he climbed through the window, but desisted at the reminder that only the living felt pain.

"Yeah, there's that."

He nodded at the reminder that their employer was still on the ground. "You're right. We should probably get him up here. Want some help pulling?"

[Tibbius]

James and Jacques stand at the bottom of a shadowy staircase that ascends around the sides of a square with a small shaft down the middle. The thick wooden steps above them are supported by beams that are cantilevered inward from the stonewalls. In addition to the cloudy light from the window they entered, the shaft is lit from above. But the light is meager. There is a smell of damp and rotting wood.

The iron bar that Jacques knocked down lies at their feet on the paved stone floor, about three feet below the window sill.

From somewhere above they hear the sound of a door creaking open.

[whiteflash]

"Oh, that's not ominous..." Jacques whispered to his comrade.

[MinotaurWarblad]

Whispering back, James says, "I'll get him in. Head up a little and let me know if we can parley or if we need to run when Abe's with us."
His voice is interrupted with quiet grunts and small huffs of breath.
[roll0] Str+Soldier. If I have to, I'll spend a hero point or two to get our stuff and Abe up here and do it quick.

[Mr Stereo1]

"Oh Lady of the Skies, protect your loyal follower!" Abe beseeched under his breath, clutching the rope tightly as he was hoisted up and grimly preparing his mystical energies for any desperate attempts to save himself should his companions lose their grip. "I was kept from your embrace too long by the Chantry's dogs! In my heart I have always been a Avvari! My Orlesian skin is a prison I yearn to escape every day of my life."


Is everyone waiting on me? I assumed I was just dead weight atm!

I guess I'll... roll Appeal against the Avvari Gods to give James a boost. :smallbiggrin:

[roll0] + Appeal 3 and maybe Scholar 2, DC unknown (possibly nonexistent.)

[Tibbius]

As Jacques begins to sneak up the stairs, craning his neck to get a glimpse of any motion on the flights above, James heaves Abe to the windowsill. Two more of the iron bars clatter onto the floor. Echoes ring in the stairwell. Above them, something grunts and something else answers with a whining growl. Footsteps thump softly on wooden steps. A door slams.

There are no stairs descending from where they are, so they guess it is the lower level of the fortress. Directly across from the window is the foot of the stairs, which go up counterclockwise around the square walls of the well. To the right there is a heavy wooden door that stands ajar. Beyond it they can see a little grey light. To the left is a blank wall of roughly assembled stone blocks, each block about four times the size of a man's head.

[Mr Stereo1]

"Good work, both of you." Abe praised his men breathlessly, collapsing on the stone floor after 'his' exertions. "I presumed you wouldn't mind but in case you do you should know I've promised our souls to the Avarri gods. Should the worst happen with Demons and worse about for all we know I thought it best to know where our eternal remains might go. The Maker wouldn't take us, and if you'll forgive me saying James, I doubt the Dalish's lot would either. Of the available alternatives I thought you'd prefer mountaintops to swamps or dark caverns."

Abe pockets two of the broken bars before clambering to his feet with his staff's aid and with a clap of his soft gentlemanly hands saunters through the doorway. He peers suspiciously at the blocks of stone to the left, then at the ajar door and light to his right.

This thievery business wasn't his strong suit, no matter the bawdy bard's tales he'd read of as an impressionable young man, but he knew his castles well enough, having grown up passing through a great many mighty Orlesian palaces and keeps. The dog-botherers' work was cruder, as was all their culture not directly related to the canine, but still recognisable and not lacking in it's own barbaric charm.

Abe would call this room a...


I'll roll Mind + Noble Career to identify which room we're in on the map based on Abe's knowledge of castle architecture from his privileged upbringing.

[roll0]

[Tibbius]

Abe recognized that they were at the bottom of the lesser stairs from the map. The door to the right would lead into a long passage that ran under the dining room, past the greater armory, to the kitchen cellars at its far end.

Above them a door slammed open and they heard the noise of numerous feet coming cautiously down the stairs. They could see about a half dozen shadowy figures about fifteen feet above them. The figures held spears and maces and armor jingled on their limbs.

[Mr Stereo1]

Muttering in Orlesian the nobleman points to the rope hanging from the formerly barred window and animates it back to life. Like a snake of horse hair it slithers silently out into the darkness and places itself along the edges of the shadowy staircase and under a step.

Abe hands an end to either of his companions with a smirk.

"Pull when the first man reaches the last step, then fall on them like Ferelden rebels." He whispers to the Bard and Elf. Truly, whatever mixture of curse and blessing Magic had bestowed upon him the sharp military mind of House Sandous had not skipped it's Black Sheep!

The smug smirk turns to a puzzled frown when he sees James start to glow.

What is that...


To be clear I'm all for James' new plan but IC I don't think there's time to discuss it and I think it's funnier if Abe's blindsided by the display. So here he's going ahead with his original plan while just so happening to set things up for James to work his own magic.

Oh and I'm on 13/15 AP now.

[MinotaurWarblad]

As Abe hands him one end of the rope, James gets an idea and smirks. He pats his other hand to the wall with a clapping sound, and as his eyes and pack glow like sunset, the rope twisting and making a cracking sound like a whip. Wrapping around the hands of the incoming group, it tightens like a boa constrictor. Right as one of them starts trying to cut the rope, it suddenly turns to stone! James drops his end when it becomes heavier, slumping back with a huff and a sigh. Pulling his other hand away from the wall, he flexes his fingers. It was replaced by the rope, and he'd rubbed his hand a little raw; not enough to hurt or impede his fighting but it made his palm a little sensitive. "Damn."

[whiteflash]

Jacques watched as his two mage comrades cast their spells to impede the investigators.

He pulled a dart out of his sleeve? "Attack now?" he whispered as quietly as he could. "Or wait?"

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe scoffed in shock and annoyance at James' impressive display, but thankfully in the darkness none could see his undignified visage before he schooled it back to a proper haughty approval.

"Good job." He praised the Elf tightly, keeping behind him and Jacques and patting them on the shoulder. "Now at them, both of you."


I don't see a reason not to finish them off before they get up, but my Melee and Strength/Agility is -3 so even against someone handcuffed I wouldn't risk it myself.

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods and tosses his dart at the attacker in front.

[roll0] to hit, and [roll1] for damage if I do.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James pulls out his sword.
Due to the length and direction of the stone there was no way their pursuers would be able to continue down these old wooden stairs.
He walks forward and moves to systematically exterminate the immobilized footmen.
What do they look like? Are these darkspawn, possessed corpses, or something else?
Also, rolls, since I'll be slicing through as many as possible before they can damage their cuffs: [roll0], [roll1], [roll2], [roll3], [roll4], and [roll5] for attack. [roll6], [roll7], [roll8], [roll9], [roll10], and [roll11] for damage.

[Tibbius]

The rotting wooden steps squished disconcertingly under James' feet as he charged upward toward the half dozen armored and helpless darkspawn. His sword lashed out, six times, and only one of the monsters writhed aside to survive his onslaught. The rest, their hands snared firmly by the rope of rock, could not evade James' vicious strikes. They fell loose-limbed, dangling by their hands from the tight loops of the stony ligament, their weapons slipping from their nerveless grips to thud against the soft wood of the stairs or in one case spin downward to clatter and bounce on the stone floor.

Above the fracas, small bats dropped from the ceiling and took flight, squeaking and chirping and circling the open shaft of the stairwell. Below, Jacques and Abe noticed for the first time in the dim light the splashes of guano on the floor. It had not built up much. The bats must be recent residents.

The remaining darkspawn, unable to move its hands, simply snarled speechlessly at James.

[Mr Stereo1]

The still rosy cheeked and red-eared Nobleman rushes forward at the handcuffed and injured Darkspawn, pulling his staff back like a spear and ramming it into the chained Darkspawn's face with his weight. The makeshift weapon almost slips from his inexperienced grip and clatters against the stone wall behind it. The beast snarls, dreadfully close for comfort, and Abe startles back into Jacques and pushes the man forward in fright.

"Finish him!" The Orlesian yelps in shock. While his companions finish the work the shame burns him but he collects himself, holding his stave tightly in sweating palms.

"These are Darkspawn, be warned their blood is poison. Don't let it touch you." Abe tells the others. He's glad of the darkness hiding his embarrassment from his companions, but he speaks civily, if in a rather strained tone. "Now let's hurry up the stairs before they organise, and watch for Magic. The beasts are known to have a Mage or two among them."


I rolled a '3' to hit in the OOC thread and a '24' for Darkspawn Knowledge so I hope that's a fair representation.

[Tibbius]

It was good that Abe warned his companions of the venom in genlock blood. It pooled and dripped from the wooden stairs to the floor of the stairwell. The slain darkspawn, lashed in place by James' stone rope, crowded the stairway below the first door. It would be arduous and blood-spattering work to literally butcher a path through the pile of corpses. And they would have to either crawl under or climb over the rope - a challenge of agility.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James heeds the words of his scholarly companion, keeping as far from each victim as his sword's length allows. Looking back from the manacled darkspawn corpses, he considers Abe's stature.
"I can scout up the stairs, while Jacques guards you, then report back. Afterwards, we should make haste towards our goal; I'm not interested in fighting demons. Is everyone okay with that idea?"

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods his assent.

[Mr Stereo1]

"As you will." Abe assented. "There's no other stairway up from this level, if I recall corrrectly, so if we can't fumble our way up we'll have to find another rope somewhere around here. Our previous one, well..." The mage casts a glance to the rocky rope, still bound around the hands of the slain Darkspawn. It certainly wouldn't be fit for it's old purpose.

[Tibbius]

@Minotaur, does James hack through the darkspawn to clear a path?

If so, please make four rolls 2d6 + Agility (TN 9) to avoid damage from the blood spatters. Each missed roll deals 1 damage. Other effects may arise.

[Mr Stereo1]

"In fact, let me try something won't you? Hacking these things apart could be the end of us." Abe mutters, pushing his staff forward and aiming at the stone now awkwardly binding the Darkspawn together in their path. The Orlesian murmers his spell and his stave glows a light blue then the stone cracks and shatters about the Darkspawn's bound hands. "Now pull them out the way, and mind the blood."


Assuming the problem is the stone handcuffs tying them together making them hard to move I'll cast a First Magnitude Spell to shatter the stone connecting them so we can drag them out of the way like normal corpses.

Link to OOC roll here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24317144&postcount=111)

[MinotaurWarblad]

Bloodbath avoidance roll: [roll0]
Ah, four of them, my bad. The other three will be in the OoC thread then.

[Tibbius]

no worries about avoiding the blood, that only was an issue if you chose to hack through. Abe obviated that obstacle. Stereo, what are Abe's AP now? The stone rope shattered into fragments that clinked and clattered against each other and bounced thumping down the wooden steps. James, given his strength, found it easy to heave aside the gory corpses of the genlocks. The path upward to the open doorway, and to the further flight of stairs, was open.

[whiteflash]

Jacques takes the opportunity to look for the dart he threw earlier.

Can he find it? And is it clean enough to handle safely?

[Mr Stereo1]

"Well, nothing to gain from lazing about down here." Abe says with a frown at the menacing corpses of the Genlocks. Darkspawn were arguably to be expected when dealing with the Grey Wardens but they remained an extreme complication to their treasure hunt. "You'll have to take the lead, I'm afraid, but I can at least throw a little spell on you to help with the taint, friends."

With a wave of his stave over the two Abe places a spell to flow the Darkspawn's foul blood off of them, then he takes the rear of the formation waiting for the sturdier men to lead the charge.


AP down to 9/15

I cast two 'Rinse' Cantrips to make liquids flow off James and Jacques like they're wearing raincoats to protect them from getting the Taint in melee.

[roll0]

[roll1]

[Tibbius]

Jacques' dart is embedded somewhere in the ichor-oozing heap of genlocks that now befoul the floor of the stairwell. Even with the questionable protection of Abe's spell, it would be disgusting and time consuming to paw through the corpses in search of an essentially disposable weapon that most likely is bent or broken. Nevertheless, Jacques' thrifty nature prompts him to consider the task.

Meanwhile, the open doorway waits silently for their ascent. They stand about halfway up the steps, where James slew the genlocks, and it is only another eight feet upward to the doorway. Beyond that landing the open steps continue up the wall before making a turn to the left and going up the next wall, then another left turn and up the next wall, and a third turn and up, and a fourth turn, until they end at a landing almost fifteen feet directly above the beckoning doorway.

The bats have settled quietly back to their roosts at the ceiling of the stairwell. Through a small window in the wall to their right, they can see that the rain outside has ended and that yellow sunlight glimmers through mist that rises from the verdant floor of the clearing that surrounds the fortress.

[whiteflash]

Jacques reluctantly leaves the dart where it fell. "I need to start carrying more darts."

He follows his companions to the landing.

[Mr Stereo1]

"I'll buy you some nice ones when next we're at market." Abe promises the Bard, before shooing him ahead of him. For all his annoyance at the situation Abe remains mindful he's no match for a Darkspawn in close quarters.

"Now we face a choice." Abe says as they reach the Main Level. "There are two stairways between this level and the one above. The lesser set behind us and the grand staircase in the entrance hall. I'd prefer a careful sweep of this place for more trouble before trying to fortify a camp around the offices we're most likely to find useful information in. Unfortunately we've no way of knowing whether anything could sneak behind us using the stairs behind us, or be preparing an ambush in the entrance hall which is exposed to the second story."

"I've an idea if you could sweep the dining room and kitchens about us before we proceed into the entrance hall." He offers, before starting to rummage through derelict cupboards and dining ware for a good tablecloth or two and some loose nails. If he were a servant, where would he leave them....


I'm looking for a big tablecloth I could maybe use to 'seal' the lesser staircase between the upper and main level behind us with a Cantrip to nail it to the walls. I don't expect that to stop anything, just let us know something went past.

I'd like some extras I might be able to use as tools to confuse enemies by dropping them from the ceiling or wrapping up archers with them long enough for the others to reach them. Any lamp oil would interest Abe as well, if he's looking.

[Tibbius]

As Abe sought a big cloth, he reflected on the structure of the stairs. On one side the rough stone walls. On the other the sheer drop down the well. How could he seal it up with cloth? He realized he would have to ascend to the next level and close off the doorway there. Or seal the door they had just come through. After a few minutes rummage he opened the bottom doors of a very plain dark wooden cabinet and found a stack of neatly folded table cloths marked with embroidered heraldry that he did not recognize. One of those would do well. Looking at the dozen long tables and their matching benches that were crowded in the room, he thought for a moment of the history this place had seen. Battling the Blight... Training young wardens in a safe redoubt... Yet for all that the wardens had been banished. Why?

[Mr Stereo1]

Looking over the ruined staircase Abe decides to preserve his waning strength for other challenges. Sighing he turns to the others. "No gawking, onward!" Abe commands the burlier men. He keeps to the rear of the group turning an experienced eye to passageways and doors, interlaced with his memory of the map's layout and the typical features of a military fortress like this. He warns his companions of any good spots for ambushes and informs them of the likely purpose and dimensions of any room they enter.


I'll try to use that Mind and Artificer/Noble 2 to give our party some bonus to initiative by remembering the map well and acting as the navigator.

[roll0]

[MinotaurWarblad]

Unless skmething pops up to distract him, James will do exactly as Abe says, at first giving each room a quick visual scan and then digging into potential hiding spots with his blade at the ready.

[whiteflash]

Jacques pulls a dart and follows James. Trusting that James has the hiding spots ahead of them well in hand, he takes a quick glance into the rooms they come to and otherwise watches for any ambushes from behind.

[Tibbius]

The dining room is about eighty feet long and fifty wide. You stand at the end near the door to the lesser stairs. The tables stand across the room, a dozen of them each forty feet long. The room must have seated hundreds of wardens in its day. Golden light falls across the tables from the broad windows in the right wall that overlook the clearing. In their time the wardens must have had no fear of arrows coming in those windows.

At the far end the kitchens can be seen through an open set of double doors. Next to the kitchens, you know there is an area marked as "unknown" on Abe's map. Halfway down the left side of the room a large set of plain double doors stand closed. They should open onto the passage that leads past the grand staircase to the entrance hall.

Do you proceed down the dining hall to the kitchen, or out the double doors in the left wall and into the entrance hall?

[MinotaurWarblad]

Glancing back at Abe once he makes it over to the large doors, James says, "Shall we explore or use the main causeway?"

[whiteflash]

"Are we near the part of the map marked 'unknown?' I'd think that was the spot most likely to have what we're looking for. I didn't think the others looked like good candidates..."

[Mr Stereo1]

"As you say, Jacques." Abe agrees with the Bard. A large spot on the map marked 'unknown' tickled his fancy as much as the next treasure hunter's. "The 'unknown' might be reached by the Kitchens or Entrance Hall. I'm afraid the map doesn't show doorways. The Entrance Hall remains more exposed however so through the Kitchens we go. At worst we find a dead end."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James nods and moves along to the kitchen door.

[whiteflash]

James follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them.
You mean Jacques? :smalltongue:

[whiteflash]

You mean Jacques? :smalltongue:


Jacques follows, still keeping half an eye out behind them. :smallbiggrin:

[Tibbius]

The kitchen has a large hearth on the left hand wall and twowide windows opposite the hearth. Even the damp breeze through the windows and the sunlight are not enough to cancel out the acrid reek of the room, which is fouled with darkspawn waste. From the scattered bones around the hearth, it appears the twisted creatures made this their den. ... Next to the hearth there is an opening in the floor. The top of a ladder protrudes through the opening.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"If you'll light a torch and follow behind me, lethallen, I'll climb down. Otherwise, we should bar it."

[whiteflash]

"Maybe we should bar it, for now? At least until we've made sure what we want isn't on this floor."

[MinotaurWarblad]

James nods his head and tries to find something sturdy enough for the task, and works with Jacques to make a quick barricade.
[roll0] mind+artificer.

[Mr Stereo1]

"Perhaps we can find some furniture to cover the hole and weigh it down?" Abe offers, helping the others as best he can. He casts his eyes around the room for a suitably sized table or wardrobe to cover the gap, and something heavy and covered in as little Darkspawn filth as possible to hold it down.


Artificer Roll to block up the hole with the ladder.

[roll0] (Mind 4, Artificer 2)

[Tibbius]

Abe quickly finds a chef's table, covered in dried filth but not slimy. With James' brawn and Jacques' guiding hands they flip the heavy table over top of the dank opening in the floor. It slips from their hands to land with a solid and resounding thump that echoes from the room below and from the hearth next to the ladder. It would take real muscle and luck to lift that from below, while standing on a rickety ladder.

[whiteflash]

Jacques winces at the loud thump and tries to listen to see if anything heard it.

[Mr Stereo1]

"There doesn't appear to be as many of the beasts as I'd feared at first, or perhaps there are others out hunting or raiding." Abe notes at Jacques' nervous wince. "We did see a town razed on the way in, did we not? I have no proof of that but it does raise the question of the length of our stay."

"This place clearly wasn't evacuated of it's contents when it fell." Abe turns a condescendingly acquisitive eye over the Darkspawn filth covered kitchens, still hosting valuable furniture the servants would have taken away in any defunct stately home. "We might hope to find all sorts of mysteries or valuables here with a good search and a careful cleaning. We might also hope to storm the armory, offices and treasury and stow away anything interesting into our packs and be away before more trouble comes."

"For myself I'd be ready to try and claim this place as our own for a time." Abe sighs wistfully, tapping his staff lightly on the cobble stone floors. "The walls are intact enough that the remaining furniture could make a solid defense once we have our bearings, and between magic and bow we could wreak havoc on any attackers. If we clear the place top to bottom and seal off the entrances a few days of searching for valuables could earn us a far greater reward for our troubles than a simple theft, and we could always bury what we couldn't carry nearby and return for it some other day."

With that Abe waits for his companions' thoughts and urges the group to continue searching for Darkspawn, tip toeing his way behind them through the passages into the training room and entry hall.


Abe's not the man to lead a stealthy scouting but for the record he's trying to not make much noise and to keep an ear out.

Stealth Agility Roll [roll0]

Mind Listening Roll [roll1]

[whiteflash]

"Hm. I see the appeal of looting the place more thoroughly, but... is it safe to stay here? The darkspawn have been living here... the longer we stay where they've stayed, the more chance the dirt they've left behind will poison us. Right?"

[Mr Stereo1]

"In theory certainly, but it depends on how careful we are and how well we wash up." Abe argues, but trails off as he examines his peasant companions. They were loyal sorts but they weren't trained in service and he hadn't thought to bring a staff along on his 'slumming' adventures. This could be a problem.

[Tibbius]

The three men stood in the kitchen discussing their plans. Outside the barred windows, clouds passed over the sun and the world dimmed gray and wet. A damp cool breeze blew fitfully into the room. Jacques noticed the open shutters, neatly folded back against the wall, wooden panes pierced by outlines of fruits and vegetables. More decorative than functional.

Something bumped against the table that rested over the hole in the floor.

[Mr Stereo1]

"It occurs that killing something climbing up a ladder should be quite easy." Abe offers, with an arm towards the upturned table covering the manhole.

[MinotaurWarblad]

"I am inclined to agree."
James holds his sword point towards the table, using one hand to grasp under the edge, and motions Jacques towards it.
"If something tries to harm your hands or feet, drop it."

[whiteflash]

Jacques nods and moves to lift the table.

[roll0]

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe leaves his more physical comrades to their more physical task, and aims his staff at the soon to be revealed hole in case a quick spell is called for.

[Tibbius]

Jacques heaves at the table leg but fails to heft it.

The thump is not repeated.

Do they wait a few minutes, or do something else?

[whiteflash]

Jacques sighs. "Sorry, let me try that again." And he does.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James motions him to stop. "They might have another access point. Let's move fast, or they may ambush their ambushers."

[Mr Stereo1]

"James likely has a point." Abe muses. "Leave it there for now, I say. If they have no more holes in the ground, their only way up to this level is through the staircase we came up through. We can mount a counter ambush as they come up into the dining room, though they'll have found their dead comrades before then but nothing to be done about that." Abe shrugs unhappily but sees no good coming from fighting Darkspawn hand to hand in cramped corridors. "We can at least prepare the ground this way."

If the others agree Abe grabs more table cloths, rushes over to the Lesser Staircase and lays out one of his sheets on the staircase slightly above the steps off into the Dining Room, in case the enemy try to rush upstairs to alert more of their comrades. He lays another spread out on the floor at all entrances to the Dining Room, where attacking Darkspawn might step.

As he hurries about his work he casts an eye to the state of the door from the Dining Room into the Passageway and any small pieces of furniture in the room suitable for use as cover or barricade, directing James and Jacques towards it.


I'll roll Mind + Noble/Artificer again for this.

[roll0]

If we can block off the door into the passageway with a nearby wardrobe or table that'd be nice. If there's a table or two we can quickly flip over to shoot and cast from behind that'd be nice too. A chandelier might be important to Abe too.

[Tibbius]

After about ten minutes spent arranging sheets and noisily moving furniture, nothing has happened. No Darkspawn in the stairwell, no Darkspawn at the door from the entrance hall (now blocked by furniture). By blocking the ladder in the kitchen floor and the entrance hall door, they have reduced the dining room and kitchen to a dead end with one way in or out - the lesser stairs.

They wait.

[Tibbius]

Time passes. After a while the clearing outside the dining room windows brightens again as the clouds thin. But the light is not so clear as before. It is beginning to show a mid-afternoon coloration.

After some quiet discussion, the three men decide to assault the upper floor. Cautiously, weapons in hand, they proceed out the door of the dining room into the lesser stairs. Nothing happens. Descending carefully, stepping around and over deliquescing chunks of darkspawn, they retrieve their packs without incident and deposit those back in the fortified dining room. Then they turn their attention upward.

The ascent of fifteen feet around the stairwell, on the very shallow treads of the old rotting staircase, gives each man a frisson. What awaits behind the closed door at the top?

Reaching the door, James in the lead, they find it not only closed but firmly closed. It does not yield to pulls on the handle or pushes against the board. Footing on the landing before the doorway is treacherous and narrow - only about four feet of space between the doorframe and the rail-less plummet thirty feet down the well. It seems ill-advised to put one's weight into yanking on the door handle.

[Mr Stereo1]

Clutching his sheet-weapons underarm Abe tries to remember any weaknesses Darkspawn might have been mentioned to have in any Dwarvern text he'd read in his youth. His mind returns to the immediate crisis when he sees James stop at the head of the stairs and the shut door in front of him resisting the Elf's efforts to open it.

"Let me have a go. Stand back, please." Abe whispers to the men in front, pressing his staff forward gently and slowly, ever mindful of the long fall beneath them should they stumble. "I'll try to get this open quietly, but there's no accounting for what's on the other side. So be ready." He cautions before beginning his spell.

It would be a waste to let the door be damaged so he's careful with his spell, feeling out the lock, the latch and hinges. Once ready he tries for the perfect 'click' while taking a weak grasp on the air around the hinges, holding it still and preventing any creaking alerting the Darkspawn to their presence. His staff makes a quiet 'poof' of air as he mutters a spell.


I'll roll for Scholar, Mind, with the Learned bonus to know IC about the Darkspawn's weakness to fire. [roll0]

Then I'll roll Artificer for knowledge of doors that might help with the spell. [roll1]

Then I'll roll for a Cantrip to open the door silently. [roll2]

At 1 AP to cast I'm down to 8/15 AP now.

If needed I'll spend a Hero Point to make sure the door is only locked and not barred or barricaded. I have 2/2.

[Tibbius]

can't argue with those.

The door swings silently open, revealing a passage that runs about thirty feet from a barred window at the right end to a balcony at the left end. Directly across the passage is another door. About halfway down toward the left end of the passage two doors stand across from each other. So three doors total. All the doors are ajar. The passage currently is well-lit by sunlight through the window at the right end and by more sunlight from a big open area beyond the balcony at the left end.

There is no sound of occupancy in or around the passage.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James lunges through the door across from the one Abe just opened, brandishing his longsword towards the first potential threat he sees (if there is one).

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe toddles along behind them, pointing his staff at the unopened doors in what he hopes is a menacing manner and listening carefully for any rousing Darkspawn.

[whiteflash]

Jacques looks around behind the group to make sure nothing's sneaking up on them.

He also makes sure to look down into the entrance hall, to see if anything is moving down there.

[Tibbius]

Peeking over the balcony into the entrance hall, ten yards down the passage, would have taken Jacques away from the rear of the party as James burst through the door into what the map showed as a dormitory. So Jacques decided to hold off on that.

The dormitory was occupied.

A moment after James burst through the door, he beheld four twisted creatures scrambling from their sleeping places, reaching for axes and mace. They were at the far end of a room about eighty feet long and fifteen across, lined with rotting mattresses on the floor along each side. Six barred windows filled the room with greyish mid-afternoon light and raindrops darkened the windowsills and the old wood floor below the sills. A cool breeze blew in and wafted the odor of mold from the mattresses, as well as a more acrid odor. The floor within about ten feet from the door was simultaneously slippery and sticky with dark matter that stuck and stained James' boots.

{{What do each of you do as the darkspawn arm themselves?}}

[Mr Stereo1]

Abe lunges his staff forward to one of the Darkspawn stumbling awake and awkwardly grasping for a heavy looking mace and casts a minor Orlesian curse on him, causing him to lose his grip on the weapon. Abe doesn't stay to watch the result but steps back into the doorway.

"I'll watch the hallway." He tells the others briskly, fearing the alarm that the waking Darkspawn could bring and the prospect of being caught in close quarters.


I'll use a Cantrip to give one of the Darkspawn momentary clumsiness, hoping that Abe can catch one of them stumbling up at the right moment to drop a mace on their foot or tumble into another Darkspawn.

[roll0] to cast with DC 5. AP down to 7/15.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James swings his blade with an underhand grip, using a pendulum motion to build momentum as he moves forward in a blur, flicking the end in an outward arc -- the goal is to attack two of the monsters in one attack, slashing the first one's arm (better than aiming for vitals since he doesn't have to move as close to hit the creature, and such a wound, while not lethal, still buys him time) and driving the sword's tip into the leg of another one.
I hope that, with the element of surprise, he has enough time to give a couple weakening wounds and still get into position to protect his allies. Those moves would take maybe 1.5 to 2.5 seconds, but that might be enough time for one of them to get their bearigs and flank him.
Edit: Removed the comment about darting back. Here's the rolls (+2 Str +2 melee -1 fighting defensively for +1 AC, total to hit +3 and AC 20): 1d20+3 and 1d20+3 to hit, 1d8+2 and 1d8+2 damage.

[Tibbius]

I hope that, with the element of surprise, he has enough time to give a couple weakening wounds and still get into position to protect his allies. Those moves would take maybe 1.5 to 2.5 seconds, but that might be enough time for one of them to get their bearigs and flank him.

Maybe you're thinking that the darkspawn are near the door, but they're at the far end of an eighty foot room. It would take James about 4 seconds to charge across that distance (considering his Agility 4). He would easily outdistance Jacques and Abe, leaving him alone to square off against the four darkspawn, who might have readied their weapons by then.

[MinotaurWarblad]

My bad, I didn't look at the map and was just imagining a standard bunkhouse dormitory (about 20 feet). I'll edit my post to adjust.
Edit: Fixed!

[Tibbius]

because they won't work if they are added in an edit.

[roll0] and [roll1] to hit, [roll2] and [roll3] damage.

The spawn of darkness have no time to don armor and barely a moment to seize their weapons from the floor, before James is upon them striking at them. He slices one across the arm and it howls with pain and rage. The other snatches its leg back from James' return stroke. The two rearward ones, being out of his reach, retreat through a door at the end of the room, in the wall opposite the last window. The door slams shut.

What do Jacques and Abe do now that two of the opponents have escaped?

Good idea, but in the time that it took James to reach the darkspawn whichever one you targeted had time to pick up the mace that it had dropped.

[whiteflash]

Jacques throws a dart at the one with the big gash across its arm.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Edit: Shame to waste an awesome damage roll on a Nat 1.

[Mr Stereo1]

In fear of being caught in a pincer assault from all sides Abe moves as decisively as his ample frame will allow him to shut off potential avenues of attack. He snaps the doors to the hallway from the second Dormitories and Training Room closed and with a tap of his staff snaps the thumb latch, trapping the Darkspawn on the other side after a fashion.

To think his tutors claimed he was wasting his time studying furnishings like some Carpenter!

Toddling onwards to the staircase Abe lays out one of his sheets behind him as he surveys the field of battle imperiously like a conquering General.

[Tibbius]

The darkspawn: [roll0] Abe: [roll1]

While the darkspawn make whatever sinister plans, Abe executes his stratagem. The levers of the doorlatches snap with satisfying little noises.

[Tibbius]

The two darkspawn whom James engaged retaliate against him (he remains between them and Jacques, although consistent with his plan he is making a fighting retreat toward the doorway). They wield an axe and a mace (both medium weapons).

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]

[Tibbius]

Abe checks the damp stone stairwell, which is well-lit by sunlight through its barred windows. He sees nothing, but hears a faint slithering sound.

James makes a fighting retreat, easily knocking aside with his shield the incoming blows from the darkspawn armed with mace and axe.

[Mr Stereo1]

Peering suspiciously down at the hall beneath him like his sainted grandmother peering into the forests for Dalish rebels Abe toddles back towards his companions, leaving his fearsome battle blankets spread out across the hallway. He wracks his mighty mind for some etching of whatever the slithering might mean.


If there's no rush oncoming I'll go try and help, but I'm genuinely blanking on what would be making the slithering sound so here's a Mind + Scholar roll in case Abe knows IC.

[roll0]

[Tibbius]

Nothing in Abe's remembered studies informed him what might make an audible slithering noise in a darkspawn infested fortress. Maybe a giant constrictor snake? But those, he had heard, were creatures of the hot and humid northlands. He had never seen one himself.

[MinotaurWarblad]

James makes another swipe while keeping his focus on parrying incoming attacks.

[roll0] to hit for [roll1] damage, keeping up at AC 20.

[Tibbius]

James makes another swipe while keeping his focus on parrying incoming attacks.

[roll0] to hit for [roll1] damage, keeping up at AC 20.

Are you going for a Defensive Stance (+1 AC, -1 attack) or All Out Defense (disadvantage on all attack rolls, incoming and outgoing)?

[MinotaurWarblad]

Defensive stance, since the +1/-1 was already included.

[Tibbius]

The two darkspawn snarl and try to attack in sequence, one darting forward and striking to drive James back toward the door, then the other stepping forward and swinging to drive him back further.
[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]

The axe-wielder slams its blade into James' shield, making a solid clunking noise and leaving a nasty crack.

[Mr Stereo1]

Striding down the hallway, leaving whatever serpant slithers beneath them and whatever Darkspawn batter at the magically broken doors behind him for now Abe hears a disturbance. Peeking his head around the doorframe he's shocked to spy the beasts gaining an edge over his martial companion! Seeing his companion struck Abe lashes out with his staff, grasping the axe and tearing it from the savage creature's grip.


I'll Cantrip another Disarm on the Axe-Darkspawn to try and buy James some time.

6/15 AP now.

[Tibbius]

The darkspawn's axe sticks to Abe's staff as if the blade has been welded to the wood. It slips from the darkspawn's grasp like a hot greasy sausage from a child's hand. The darkspawn howls and shrieks and clutches futilely as Abe yanks back the staff and gains possession of the axe, which now drops clattering to the wooden floor.

[Tibbius]

Jacques' dart makes a low arc over Abe and James and lodges in the cheek of the mace-wielding darkspawn. It takes a step back from James and tries to claw the dart out of its face.

[Tibbius]

Jacques -> James -> darkspawn -> Abe -> repeat

[Tibbius]

It seems like this game has faded. Let me know if I'm wrong.

[Mr Stereo1]

I'm around, at least. I feel like we might have better luck in a PbP format with less step by step, door to door, dungeoneering choices and we could try something more like "here is [encounter/dilemma] how do you prep and/or respond?". There are times I really appreciate the agency to have chances to do things with my character, but in slower moving PbPs some of that needs to be sacrificed, I feel.

The choice on how to enter the castle was good, the first reactive encounter was good, but I feel like most of the choice points since had too much lag going into empty rooms and hearing noises that never turned into monsters. In real time or face to face that's just a sign of a well made dungeon and I love it, but in PbP it might be easier to just run over that with "you encounter nothing in the library, there's leftovers in the kitchen" until we get to "and there's an ogre sleeping in the staircase, what do?"

[Tibbius]

I'm around, at least. I feel like we might have better luck in a PbP format with less step by step, door to door, dungeoneering choices and we could try something more like "here is [encounter/dilemma] how do you prep and/or respond?". There are times I really appreciate the agency to have chances to do things with my character, but in slower moving PbPs some of that needs to be sacrificed, I feel.

The choice on how to enter the castle was good, the first reactive encounter was good, but I feel like most of the choice points since had too much lag going into empty rooms and hearing noises that never turned into monsters. In real time or face to face that's just a sign of a well made dungeon and I love it, but in PbP it might be easier to just run over that with "you encounter nothing in the library, there's leftovers in the kitchen" until we get to "and there's an ogre sleeping in the staircase, what do?"


Good points about the PbP format. I'll keep that in mind for other games but I'm afraid this one may be dead.

[whiteflash]

I could go with that. But unless Minotaur's still in, we'll need to re-recruit.

[Tibbius]

I'll open it up to replacement players and see who we get.

UPDATE: Giving until Tuesday to see what happens. No takers by then, I'll close this down.

[Mr Stereo1]

Well, here's hoping someone steps in.

[Tibbius]

I'm calling this over. Thank you for playing - it was not the most entertaining game I've ever run, and I apologize for that.

[whiteflash]

Hey, credit where it's due: I liked the early bits. It only slowed down once we got into the dungeon.