Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

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Keehnelf
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Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#1 Post by Keehnelf »

May 20, 1 VC - 8:00am

Varas the lanky thief passes under the north gate of Vaul, eyes fixed on the shrouded ruin that was once the Finger of Doom. With him, a small band of stalwarts and treasure-hunters will press their way north to recover the expected hoard of the the red dragon that was spotted flying over the forest during the conflagration.

Members of this expedition are:

Varas Varkain, luckless looter
Dorvar Thduum, also known as Dorvar of the Pike
Sir Odium Contemptous, wizard

If anyone wants to join on to this expedition, now is your chance! Please let me know marching order or any special instructions about your travel, if for example you don't want to make a line straight northeast toward the mountain.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#2 Post by Marullus »

Lady Deliah, who's beauty inspired the infantry of Vaul, will join as well.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#3 Post by Scott308 »

I would think for marching order:
Varas Odium
Deliah Dorvar

And Varas
Odium
Deliah
Dorvar
For when we need to go single file, at least through the wilderness. If we get into an area we feel may be more likely to see combat, Varas and Dorvar can switch. Odium and Deliah can swap spots if they have any strong preference. If someone else wishes to join, we can figure out where to slot them in.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#4 Post by Keehnelf »

Dorvar, I hope you like taking a lot of hits in this party with two wizards and a thief :)

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#5 Post by Starbeard »

I was thinking about that. Ideally we'd have another character who can pull second rank fighting with a pointy stick.

Keehnelf, now that the town's back up and running (and now that there is a variety of PCs retired to NPCs), what are the current rulings on approaching NPCs to come aboard as hirelings, mercenaries and henchmen?

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#6 Post by Marullus »

Deliah would ideally recruit two stout men from the war as retainer bodyguards.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#7 Post by Keehnelf »

Former PCS cannot be recruited. Any other NPC can be approached, with different conditions and likelihood of success based on the NPC in question.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#8 Post by Scott308 »

Keehnelf wrote:Dorvar, I hope you like taking a lot of hits in this party with two wizards and a thief :)
Dorvar won't like it, but if the expedition leaves with this personnel, he knows he will not really have a choice.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#9 Post by Starbeard »

Keehnelf wrote:Available Mercenaries

Zirina- available
Rates: Soldiering: 6 per day/50 per month - full share for adventuring

Mormoth- available
Rates: 6 per day/30 per month - half-share for adventuring

Jord- available
Rates: 5 per day/25 per month - half-share for adventuring

Kirren Swift- available
Rates: 2 per day/10 per month - not available for adventuring

Employer Relations:
Lug +1 penalty to all hires
How would people feel about approaching 1 or 2 of Vaul's current mercenaries? Mormoth and Jord together would cost each of us 2.75gp a day, and take away 20% of each of our treasure shares. We'd have 2 melee fighters up front and one second rank (or covering the rear).

EDIT: In fact, if we plan on being out for more than 5 days, we'd be saving money by simply hiring them out for a whole month, at 13.75gp a person. Boost their loyalty and enthusiasm, and if things go well we can keep them around for another expedition somewhere else.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#10 Post by Keehnelf »

The per-day rate is only if they're taken on for routine duties: guide, scout, guard.

If they're full-on adventure personnel, it's just the half-share rate.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#11 Post by AleBelly »

Let's do half share for a couple of them. What do you think? As mentioned in my sig line, I'll have unpredictable internet access over the next week or so, but I'm happy to go with whatever the party suggests. Varas is mounted so depending on the situation he can scout ahead on his horse or, if others are willing to babysit Mustard, he can sneak ahead and investigate particular places.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#12 Post by Marullus »

Waiting for Keehnelf's final word, but Deliah may be able to arrive with two bodyguards for a half-share each, if that's easier to incorporate for the group.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#13 Post by Keehnelf »

Hopefully I'll be able to do some rules-reviewing tonight to make the post on Deliah's merc hiring: have the mother in law in-house so things have been very hectic and not private enough to handle stuff from my laptop.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#14 Post by Keehnelf »

Accompanying Lady Deliah when she arrives to join the group are two former mercenaries who had survived the battle at Vaul and had thought to set themselves up as farmers. It turns out that the life of a farmer wasn't as agreeable to the two of them as they had thought it might be, and eventually they were lured away from this life by Lady Deliah's offers of riches in the depths of the dragon mountain.

The first is a shifty-eyed fellow with dark lanky hair and a clean-shaven face that goes by the name of Alfric Zagoby. He's sturdy of build, tall, and handsome in a traditional way, though his appearance is somewhat marred by a number of scars on one side of his face. Despite his initial impression, he turns out to be friendly and warm, if a bit on the mercenary end of the mercenary spectrum. He sports a suit of chain, a shield, and a spear. He's provided his own provisions for the journey but doesn't have much in the way of miscellaneous supplies or tools.

Frent Hawthorne, the other, is a slender man with a short blond beard and matching close-trimmed beard. Of average height, he wears his suit of studded leather comfortably, and carries a longsword and shield as well as a conical helmet that hangs from his backpack and smells vaguely of stews long past. He doesn't smile or speak much, but seems to appreciate a good jest. His pack seems light but well organized, and he carries a supply of food as well as a handful of other miscellaneous items like rope.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#15 Post by Starbeard »

Odium looks the mercenaries up and down, fastidiously rolling his tongue about the inside of his mouth. Eventually, he nods, 'They will do the job nicely, provided they do not expect a half share without a half share's work.'

Two mercenaries should be fine, I think. Regarding the bar talk about combining expeditions with Bromric's gang, Odium would be very interested in heading to the tomb (I'm sure it's pretty obvious that he intends to look for more loot there anyway). Unfortunately, there's the IC conflict with having him potentially sabotaging the mission, and the OOC conflict of him and Seadu being in the same party. As a conceit to the campaign, his position will be to head straight for the lair, and anyone from the other group who wants to can try to catch up later.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#16 Post by Marullus »

The black Raven squawks raucously at Odium, peering askance at him from Deliah's shoulder. "Alfric and Frent are stout and experienced lads and good in my service. I've no doubt they'll earn their shares more readily than you," she says playfully to Odium. "Hermes, however, remains dubious. He thinks you smell even worse than when last we met, but I have reprimanded his manners, of course. I assured him that is not possible."

She curtseys to Varas. "at your word, Master Varas. We follow your course to our fortunes."

Combining quests means Deliah and her retainers are booted out, as I have PCs on both quests. If we're separate, I don't have much of an opinion - she's along for the ride. :)
Last edited by Marullus on Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#17 Post by Scott308 »

New marching order if nobody has any objections:

Varas Alfric
Odium Deliah
Frent Dorvar

The nice thing about hiring mercenaries at half a share each, is that if this turns out like other expeditions Dorvar and Varas have undertaken, half a share of nothing is pretty affordable. :)
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.

https://www.extra-life.org/participant/Scott Peterson

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#18 Post by Starbeard »

Looks good to me.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#19 Post by Keehnelf »

May 21, 1 VC - 9:10am

The party, newly augmented with some mercenary strength, heads out on its way directly northeast toward the still-smoking Finger of Doom. The air is cool and the sky is mostly clear over the moor, with the hazy pall of the burned-out Goblin Forest lying in wait. Progress is quick as the group heads off along established paths leading to the mountain, passing within sight of the mysterious standing stone circle and giving it a wide berth as so many groups before had done. On the morning of the second day of travel, the party comes around an outcropping of rock and spots a small cluster of low hide tents approximately 200 feet distant and slightly downhill. A vague and wispy plume of smoke rises from a fire between the tents, but there is no sign of any inhabitant around them.

Please deduct one day's rations apiece.

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Re: Expedition - Varas/The Dragon's Hoard - May 20, 1 VC

#20 Post by Marullus »

Deliah distributes some fresh bread, cheese, fruit, and meat pies among her two companions' gear, making sure they eat plentifully of it during their repasts. Taking care of her people, she emphasizes. (-3 days fresh rations, 1 each)

She observes the tents with interest. "This presents more opportunity than challenge, perhaps. I need to observe from a little closer, and watch until we can determine a leader among them to... weave my wiles. We might travel with more assured safety if we adopt a vanguard of lesser creatures. If we proceed this way, approach as friends. Attacking them will dispel any enchantments, so we should do so only in response to aggression that shows the gambit already lost."

If the others support her plan, she'll try to approach discretely to 120' and watch the activity of the camp with as much concealment as she can, then cast her Charm spell on the likeliest subject before we approach.

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