Chapter 1: The Black City

[hidetzugu]

Alright! Does anybody have questions for Nutesh, or are we good to head back to the city? You will arrive in the night if leaving right now, as only a few hours have passed since arriving at the camp.
If leaving now, is the intent to make your own camp, or to go right in during the night?

my intent would be to be crossing the city gates at sunrise

[VVhite-Crow]

If the rest of the group is cool with leaving at night: Farouk talks with Mekertu to make sure he is ready as well. He informs him about the structure in the middle of the city and that it's the groups goal to get there, but he misses to mention the statue, the pit and the boneless flesh.
Edit: He will mention that Nutesh saw something and will ask Mekertu what he encountered in the city already.

[Marullus]

Nutesh still appears shaken. "Night is not our ally. I think our best intent should be to go in with the dawn light, inspect the central building, and depart back to a secure camp before dusk."

[Eric.D]

You break camp slowly, packing the goods that Farouk traded for, and move toward the city, worn out and tired from a long journey and a lack of sleep. The bandits who notice say nothing, and neither Akhom nor Herzebuh come out to bid you farewell.

The night is cold, with wind blowing hard and chill through the starlit desert.

Pushing on through the night is difficult, so everyone will need to make a Health test, Ob 1. On a failure, you grow exceedingly tired and you will have +1 Ob to Perception and Perception-based skills until you rest. Remember to mark your tests!

Suen-Magir:

As you leave the city, Sabit, who walks slightly separately with her small group near Suen-Magir, leans in and whispers, "That was excellent, little brother. The terror on their faces! Don't worry about their reaction, what matters is that you are always learning. Imagine what you can do when you come into your true power."

Farouk:

Mekertu walks along beside you, his spryness belying his age. He seems content to be silent until you approach close to the city, at which point, he looks at you, and without warning, asks, "You say the ghurab visited the city with his sahar*. Did he mention It That Watches?"

*magic

Lilly:

Finnithir makes small talk on the way, praising your handling of the situation in the camp. "They could have harmed everyone if not for you. And nobody else was prepared."

Urkazzar pokes along behind, humming to himself, his voice wavering and offkey, but clearly happy. He asks, "Why are you going to the city? The elders say it is just full of dead people. My brother and cousin used to say that it was empty except for black rocks and strange markings."

Nutesh:

You walk somewhat apart, your fear still cold within you. The wind whips at you, loud and marked by strange, unfamiliar cries. Carrock keeps unusually close, constantly shifting his head to look at anything that moves. You attempt to keep your focus on what you are doing, but your mind keeps returning to the terrifying scene from earlier, and you find yourself stumbling on the sand. Righting yourself, you hear someone whispering in your ear, a voice you do not recognize, in a language you do not know. Startled, you turn, but the desert is empty, as far as you can see in the threatening dark there is only sand.

This is a strange place, and the way is dark. I will need someone to make an Orienteering test, Ob 4. Mekertu will assist with his topography-wise. On a success, you arrive at the city at dawn as planned. On a failure, you will lose the trail and encounter the source of the whispers that Nutesh is hearing.

[VVhite-Crow]

"You say the ghurab visited the city with his sahar. Did he mention It That Watches?"

Farouk is cautious with the things he tells Mekertu, because he doesn't want the old outlaw to rethink joining the group. Farouk values Mekertus presence a lot and tries to probe him for information without worrying him. "It That Watches? Nutesh said he saw something moving and rambled on about a statue that wasn't where it used to be when he saw the city through the smoke-winged ravens eyes for the first time. But to be honest, I'm already pretty exhausted from the march to the camp and wouldn't be surprised if Nutesh and the others are as well... Could be that the city and the darkness played tricks on his vision. Nutesh furthermore thinks that the red diamond is in the central structure. What do you think?"

This is pretty on the nose towards his belief to ask about the diamond. I'm not sure if an answer counts as a let it ride for the DoW.

Not having properly rested demands more from Farouk than he might have thought. Over the course of the night he and the shying tramp animal fall behind more than once.
Health test Ob1 [_4d6s4]=(1, 2, 3, 1)=0=0

From a narrative perspective I think it would make sense for Farouk to make the Orienteering test. He's already on his way to open the skill. ^^' His superstitiousness would make him do it carefully (sorry Lilly :*) but with the +1Ob, even a lot of help will probably not do the trick. Any objections? As a helper he would add 2d for B5 Perception.

[Marullus]

Nutesh is not trying to lead, so I'll defer on the Orienteering test. He'll help with his Philosophy. "Is any way REALLY the right way? How would one know empirically if a way is right or wrong? These are the questions to consider." (J/K. )

Health Test: B4 vs Ob 1
Health [1d6]=6[1d6]=6[1d6]=3[1d6]=4

3 successes.

[hidetzugu]

Pushing on through the night is difficult, so everyone will need to make a Health test, Ob 1. On a failure, you grow exceedingly tired and you will have +1 Ob to Perception and Perception-based skills until you rest. Remember to mark your tests!

Ob 2 Health Test (+1 Ob from the armour):

[hidetzugu]

From a narrative perspective I think it would make sense for Farouk to make the Orienteering test. He's already on his way to open the skill. ^^' His superstitiousness would make him do it carefully (sorry Lilly :*) but with the +1Ob, even a lot of help will probably not do the trick. Any objections? As a helper he would add 2d for B5 Perception.

I agree that it makes narrative sense. Since you're untrained you can pull Perception dice so 2D Help from Lilly if you want them (and if I were you I'd consider begging Eric for some NPC Perception dice )

[hidetzugu]

Lilly:

Finnithir makes small talk on the way, praising your handling of the situation in the camp. "They could have harmed everyone if not for you. And nobody else was prepared."

Urkazzar pokes along behind, humming to himself, his voice wavering and offkey, but clearly happy. He asks, "Why are you going to the city? The elders say it is just full of dead people. My brother and cousin used to say that it was empty except for black rocks and strange markings."

"Your brother and cousin, the ones that brought the emberstone from the city?" - she pauses - "Herzebuh shows no anger for what happened. I take it there is more to the story..."

Not very tactful of her to be asking but she is Curious. I wont directly antagonize him but I'll risk upsetting him.

[VVhite-Crow]

I prematurely rolled for the Orienteering roll yesterday but even though I checked your sheets I somehow missed Lilly's B5 Perception...

and if I were you I'd consider begging Eric for some NPC Perception dice

He already said that

Mekertu will assist with his topography-wise

BL Orienteering Ob4 +1Ob exhaustion; B5 Perception + 1D Carefully + 4D help [_10d6s4]=(1, 5, 3, 4, 3, 1, 3, 1, 4, 4)=4=4 I'd say that the helping dice are in alphabetical order. Lilly, Mekertu, Nutesh and Suen. So Nuteshs and Suens helping dice where successful
extra Dice from Lilly's help [_1d6s4]=(2)=0=0
because I missed the second die.

[hidetzugu]

This is a strange place, and the way is dark. I will need someone to make an Orienteering test, Ob 4. Mekertu will assist with his topography-wise. On a success, you arrive at the city at dawn as planned. On a failure, you will lose the trail and encounter the source of the whispers that Nutesh is hearing.

ACTUALLY! is it Ob 4 because of it being dark? it kinda sucks that we already rolled dice but for the future bare in mind that makes a difference for us height-challenged people!

And it also important to differentiate what's the base Ob and modifiers in general for the Unskilled tests

[Marullus]

Sorry for my delay. I was going to suggest an extra +1D for Carrock, which may be grey-shade?

[hidetzugu]

Sorry for my delay. I was going to suggest an extra +1D for Carrock, which may be grey-shade?

Help dice match the colour of the "helpee" (BWG p. 547)

[Eric.D]

BL Orienteering Ob4 +1Ob exhaustion; B5 Perception + 1D Carefully + 4D help [_10d6s4]=(1, 5, 3, 4, 3, 1, 3, 1, 4, 4)=4=4 I'd say that the helping dice are in alphabetical order. Lilly, Mekertu, Nutesh and Suen. So Nuteshs and Suens helping dice where successful
extra Dice from Lilly's help [_1d6s4]=(2)=0=0
because I missed the second die.

So, no on asking NPCs to help?

That's okay, I don't think any of them were all that interested.

I would agree that Carrock can help, when available, though. I don't think that could change the outcome, however, so we'll leave it as it stands.

This is a strange place, and the way is dark. I will need someone to make an Orienteering test, Ob 4. Mekertu will assist with his topography-wise. On a success, you arrive at the city at dawn as planned. On a failure, you will lose the trail and encounter the source of the whispers that Nutesh is hearing.

ACTUALLY! is it Ob 4 because of it being dark? it kinda sucks that we already rolled dice but for the future bare in mind that makes a difference for us height-challenged people!

And it also important to differentiate what's the base Ob and modifiers in general for the Unskilled tests

It is Ob 4 because it is dark. Orienteering in unfamiliar land is Ob 3, in dark is Ob 4, per the Obs listed under Orienteering. I don't think it changes anything for Farouk, but since he is unskilled, that would have made things different if Lilly had rolled.

[Eric.D]

Lilly:

Finnithir makes small talk on the way, praising your handling of the situation in the camp. "They could have harmed everyone if not for you. And nobody else was prepared."

Urkazzar pokes along behind, humming to himself, his voice wavering and offkey, but clearly happy. He asks, "Why are you going to the city? The elders say it is just full of dead people. My brother and cousin used to say that it was empty except for black rocks and strange markings."

"Your brother and cousin, the ones that brought the emberstone from the city?" - she pauses - "Herzebuh shows no anger for what happened. I take it there is more to the story..."

Not very tactful of her to be asking but she is Curious. I wont directly antagonize him but I'll risk upsetting him.

"Yes," Urkazzar says to your first question. As you continue, he shrugs and looks out into the desert, avoiding your eyes. "It was an accident," he evades, and after a hearbeat of silence, "I'm not supposed to talk about it. That's what my uncle says."

We will continue with the results of the Orienteering test once this conversation ends, assuming Lilly's curiosity keeps it going.

[hidetzugu]

Lilly:

Finnithir makes small talk on the way, praising your handling of the situation in the camp. "They could have harmed everyone if not for you. And nobody else was prepared."


Urkazzar pokes along behind, humming to himself, his voice wavering and offkey, but clearly happy. He asks, "Why are you going to the city? The elders say it is just full of dead people. My brother and cousin used to say that it was empty except for black rocks and strange markings."

"Your brother and cousin, the ones that brought the emberstone from the city?" - she pauses - "Herzebuh shows no anger for what happened. I take it there is more to the story..."

Not very tactful of her to be asking but she is Curious. I wont directly antagonize him but I'll risk upsetting him.

"Yes," Urkazzar says to your first question. As you continue, he shrugs and looks out into the desert, avoiding your eyes. "It was an accident," he evades, and after a hearbeat of silence, "I'm not supposed to talk about it. That's what my uncle says."

We will continue with the results of the Orienteering test once this conversation ends, assuming Lilly's curiosity keeps it going.

"Your uncle entrusted me and Finnithir with keeping you safe."

"The only way we can do that effectively is if we know."


Edit: trying to angle this into Ugly Truth, but not sure if I got there

[Eric.D]

"Your uncle entrusted me and Finnithir with keeping you safe."

"The only way we can do that effectively is if we know."


Edit: trying to angle this into Ugly Truth, but not sure if I got there

"I don't know," Urkazzar hesitates, "There is some sense in what you say..."

I think you did! This is clearly a Persuasion roll, you're trying to convince him that he should share something because it benefits him by keeping him safe. So it'll be Persuasion, Ugly Truth is an obvious FoRK. Urkazzar's Will is 4, so Ob 4.

[hidetzugu]

"Your uncle entrusted me and Finnithir with keeping you safe."

"The only way we can do that effectively is if we know."


Edit: trying to angle this into Ugly Truth, but not sure if I got there

"I don't know," Urkazzar hesitates, "There is some sense in what you say..."

I think you did! This is clearly a Persuasion roll, you're trying to convince him that he should share something because it benefits him by keeping him safe. So it'll be Persuasion, Ugly Truth is an obvious FoRK. Urkazzar's Will is 4, so Ob 4.

well, im unskilled so no FoRKs for me. I'm hoping that me referencing Finnithir promps him to chime in (i assumed one help die, let me know if it is two), and then I'd hope the other pcs wanna help as well, Farouk with persuasion and the others with will... Still a Failure though

[VVhite-Crow]

and then I'd hope the other pcs wanna help as well, Farouk with persuasion and the others with will.

I would love to log a test for persuasion but it feels wrong to me. Farouk is pretty tired and does his best to lead the group through the night. I don't see him participating in a conversation with Urkazzar about his past. In general my idea of helping die seems to be more conservative. ^^

[Eric.D]

I failed to state an outcome for a failed roll, I apologize. Since I didn't state one, I am going to play it conservatively and Urkazzar simply hems and haws until the result of the Orienteering roll. I am sure that won't cause you any immediate problems, not knowing something that might have been important.

"It would be good for us to know," Finnithir coaxes, "For your sake."

"I won't know," demurs Urkazzar, "The others agreed with my uncle, and they usually know best."

He peers out into the desert, then stops midstride, cocks his head and cups his ear. There is silence save for the humming of singing dunes. Suddenly, he turns, "We must circle up! Now!"

As he speaks, Lilly hears the sound of whispers, indistinct susurrations, voices in a distant mine shaft.



Ahead of Lilly's group, Mekertu, midconversation with Farouk, draws a sword, as you hear a rush of "Turn, Farouk! Draw whatever weapon you have! Gods below, Bassam, hurry!"

Nutesh, who has been listening to the voices for a moment, wondering, suddenly hears a roar of shouting whispers, cacophonous, incensed, raving. (Perhaps you would like to send Carrock to see what can be seen? If so, Ob 1 Perception test, but your body is left behind in the midst of whatever is coming)

As Mekertu shouts and Lilly's group dashes to come together with the rest, Sabit turns to Suen-Magir with an unnatural calm. "There is a sign of death in the skies tonight, little brother. A propitious sign for a church such as ours."