General Chatter

[sulldawga]

Ciarra

"Strangely met Daravek. Do you know what the necromancer was doing here? Or more accurately why he was making you dig here?"

I'll have to ask our good GM whether Daravek has an idea about the larger motive, I think? Apologies if I've missed it.

Daravek, alas, has no idea what is down the stairs. The necromancer was not big on talking, probably because almost everyone around him had an annoying tendency to be dead.

[sulldawga]

I was hoping to hear from Enoch before now but I'll advance the action tomorrow before the weekend.

[Rex]

I am heading into the woods for a few days and then off to visit my Mom for the rest of the week. I may be able to check in once or twice over the next week. Feel free to NPC my character(s) as you see fit.

Have a great week everyone!

[sulldawga]

You guys seem to be stalled out. How are we all doing?

[The_Wanderer]

Been busy...sorry about that!

[hedonismbot]

Last time Daravek camped, he and all his companions were captured by a necromancer. So I suggest someone else choose where to settle down for the night!

[Marullus]

Sorry, it looks like email notifications are on the fritz again. I keep up on what's new but can end up forgetting about something I read but didn't reply to immediately. I'll go post now.

[Enoch]

Same! I just came to check because I haven't gotten any emails about updates.

[sulldawga]

The good news is that I am glad to see the energy is still there for this game.

The bad news is that I am leaving tomorrow to take my son to Lake Placid, NY for a hockey tournament. I won't be posting again until Monday the 23rd.

[Marullus]

Forts in and around Ket
The main Fort, which is larger than any of the others, is called The Moathouse.

The three secondary Forts are on the edges of The Farms, the three hex region being settled on Land Grant Day. I am trying not to be super precise about locations but the bridge between Ket and The Farms is at the westernmost point of Ket's hex.

• Fort Progress is at the NW point of the northern hex of The Farms, so seven miles away.
• Fort Illumination is at the W point of the western hex of The Farms, so 10.5 miles away.
• Fort Advance is at the SW point of the southern hex of The Farms, so seven miles away.

Which hex on the map are we in?

You are in the Blackwater Swamp region. You're on the west bank of a river whose name you haven't yet learned. You are approximately 5-6 miles SW of Fort Illumination.

Song Lake is only a few more miles further to the SW. The Falkenhorn is perhaps 10 miles to the south. Blackwater Swamp itself is perhaps 10 miles to the NNW.

Thanks for clarifying - I thought we were in the next hex north! Looking back I can see we only went two miles south, then two miles west, then one mile south to reach "on the other side of the river, you see a dark ridge of stone that stands out."

That means we mapped the southern end of this hex and the hex that is southeast of it very thoroughly in our last excursion.

So we're only 3.5 straight line distance back to Fort Illumination, and can get this loot back to town from there. Our unexplored territory is then northeast to the swamp, where we said we'd go, or further to the hills/song lake (and harpies), and Falkenhorn (more dungeons?!?), or back to sack that druid tower and claim the promises of power offered by the Old God in the shrine nearby.

Last plot list:

Gars is grateful and ingratiating for what they're able to learn, even if his effort to avoid using his tent bore no fruit. At the least, Fort-Captain Wynne now knows the name of Ruprect's Rangers. If there's no payment for the sandstone deposit knowledge, he'll offer to tell Fort-Captain Nisus at Moathouse ourselves. Retiring for the night outside the fort (on the east side), he sets up his supplies from Belegroc and makes sure the pinions are fluttering appropriately.

As they have time to discuss that night around the campfire, he asks his companions, "A shame he doesn't seem interested in stone for building. So, options.

• We already met one set of druids in the tower, and we met an eldritch intelligence who is willing to keenly reward us for taking them on, besides the promise of reward from the Fort-Captain back in town. This captain also tells us they're only one of several groups of druids, but I don't think we're likely to make friends with any of them, being the vanguard of civilizing influences antithetical to their ways.
• We have a reward if we find the bandit fort, now.
• There are harpies at the lake... but I think we're rather ill-prepared for airborne foes with our lack of bows. I think we got lucky with the wasps that they were dumb and aggressive and we're not as likely to be that lucky with harpies blundering down where we can hit them.
• Giant creatures are all over, that we've seen, but they say particularly on the northern lakeshore. Unless we need giant meat or giant hides, that doesn't seem profitable for us. Better to seek to resolve the druid problem, or problems, for reward and handle them at the source.
• Then... there's the swamp.
  • Fort-Captain Wynne believes there's a dragon in the swamp. That's something that Fort-Captain Nisus didn't divulge. Certainly a cause for greater caution.
  • Nisus mentioning "bezerkers riding wolves" matches with Wynne citing druids riding wolves. We now have two offers for reward, and Nisus citing them being near the swamp. Not sure if that's more or less fruitful than dealing with the druids in the tower, as far as ordering our priorities.
  • Nisus told us the Bandits are in league with druids, but we don't know which ones, and he said they're also near the swamp. We now know more, with Wynne citing they've sent them to hiding and the real challenge is finding the hidden fort. Finding the fort and sending in soldiers is probably much more in our lane than trying to sack a fort or a tower. A fort needs fresh water - this may align with our goal of finding and following those streams.
  • Knowing there may be lycanthropes near the swamps here, too is a salient threat, but perhaps not one we seek... it may be enough to avoid. Ciarra, do your healing arts provide any hope against such affliction?
• I still desire that we seek along waterways in hopes of uncovering more ancient sites. I am growing more convinced that past the lake and into the hills may be the best route for that.
• Barring that, making for that raised hill in the swamp may give us the best scouting to identify where these other concerns may be found.

What do you all think?"

...IC, I am assuming we're resting the night, trying to break through the pit floor to the lower level, and then getting loot back to town. (Wanted to make sure we didn't lose these other threads, though, and that we share with the two new players.)

[The_Wanderer]

Thanks for collecting this. I'm ok with the proposed plan...

...IC, I am assuming we're resting the night, trying to break through the pit floor to the lower level, and then getting loot back to town. (Wanted to make sure we didn't lose these other threads, though, and that we share with the two new players.)

[hedonismbot]

Thanks for the catchup! Much appreciated the legwork assembling it. I know our good GM suggested we might want to start doing character-mapping. I was hoping to start to do that but work has suddenly become quite busy.

I am good with the plan of sleep then try to see if there is a lower level. I think we are still unsure of where it is safe for us to do that? Can we camp outside of the cave - I think there were animals tied up out there, correct?

I also wanted to confirm that Daravek's magical monkey familiar has been visible to the team, so he's a known resource we can use to investigate any narrow passages we uncover below the pit (even if its just a drain pipe or something).

[Marullus]

I assumed the monkey was unsummoned, and we are giving Daravek his chance for a dramatic reveal.

The problem we face presently is that it is treacherous to cross the log over there river. We are on one side and our two mules and spare gear are on the other. We need to decide our plan for that before we sleep. (Gars was just really wordy.)

[hedonismbot]

Ah! I appreciate the opportunity. And apologies, I had attempted the reveal a few posts back so it may have been missed in all the commotion!

Daravek

"I'll stay out of the way, and, er, keep an eye out for anything trying to sneak up on us!" Daravek says. He then removes his hat and shakes it out. The hat disgorges a faintly glowing simian creature that was clearly too large to have been hiding inside it. "Kledo, you take that side, and I'll take this side."

Daravek will keep an eye out, but does not have the Notice skill per se.

[sulldawga]

So what's the plan, gents? Are you leaving the donkeys across the river overnight (random chance they are attacked or attempt to wander off) and camping out on the west bank (if so, where? in the ruin, just outside, or further away)?

[The_Wanderer]

I hate the thought of giving up on the pack animals. It's basically chance the river crossing or chance something eating them. To me it makes sense to stay on this side of the river...That said I like Sleepy's chance if he has to cross.

[Rex]

I also don't like leaving the donkeys, I would be willing to try crossing to watch them.

[sulldawga]

If you are planning on crossing the river multiple times, it makes sense to you to tie a rope to a tree on one side and perhaps one of the statues on the other side and use that to steady yourself when crossing. It won't help with the pack animals but it'll make individual crossings much safer.

And in general, you're not really in a ton of danger if you fall. You might take a couple points of damage but more likely that you lose/drop an item. You can avoid that by either securing your possessions or leaving them behind until the rope is tied.

I don't want to give away too much meta information here but I also want to give you a better idea of how you'd perceive the situation if you were actually there.

[sulldawga]

As far as the second level of the Ruin is concerned, safe to assume there is one since you found the stairs downward. You are not, however, currently equipped to dig out the stairs unless you spent weeks at it. Your best bet would be to hire some workers from Ket and set them to the task.

I plan on randomly creating the floor plan for the 2nd floor the same way I created the first floor. If there is a room under the pit room from the first floor, reasonable to assume you can get to it by digging. But if the rooms on the two floors don't align, you could be in for a long dig with little to show for it. The dice will decide!

[sulldawga]

Ok, sounds like you have settled on a plan.

Looks like everyone but Gars have rations in their packs. I will assume you share food with Gars.

Lavin is the only one with a tent, bedroll, and blanket. It does definitely look and feel like rain is coming, although it's fairly warm for this time of year (aka late March). It feels like high 50s to low 60s for temperatures.

Are you building a fire? Is anyone attempting to build a shelter?

Sounds like you are planning on camping directly in front of the entrance to the Ruin, so you can watch the mules. However, you hid the mules in a blind so you can't see them either. The new moon was only 5 days ago so it will be a dark night.