Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
-
- Tags
- pathfinder open voting
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Sell the long-ships for what you can get (Gain 200-300 gp)
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I hope decent real estate isn't too expensive in Orinilu.
Assuming the Pride was carrying 15,000 gold in tin (roughly our take before the 7,000 gold reward from the Danuk is figured in), and this is a large enough sum to bolster House Koire's depleted coffers or at least temporarily stave off financial ruin, if we're willing to spend 10,000 to 15,000 gold we might be able to get something really nice. A large walled compound with plenty of room for upgrades, storage, training, etc., would be ideal.
Assuming the Pride was carrying 15,000 gold in tin (roughly our take before the 7,000 gold reward from the Danuk is figured in), and this is a large enough sum to bolster House Koire's depleted coffers or at least temporarily stave off financial ruin, if we're willing to spend 10,000 to 15,000 gold we might be able to get something really nice. A large walled compound with plenty of room for upgrades, storage, training, etc., would be ideal.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Well, if a mommy-ship and a daddy-ship love each other very much…
- Location
- Argentina
Yes. Getting a smith who can try to make something like our advanced armor would work wonders. Even better if we can make it masterwork.
We could really have a very elite fighting force. Also we need to build an arsenal of polearms to bring more flexibility than our spears.
Welp, it looks like there is unanimity when it comes to selling
Vote closed. Who knows we may have a three update day today.
Vote closed. Who knows we may have a three update day today.
Arc 10 Post 23: What Shines True
What Shines True
Thirty-Sixth Day of Ikomi-eza (Ikomi Ascendant) 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)
The light of hundreds of candles fills the great hall, extravagant in its radiance. Amid the rustling fine linens, the clink of gold and silver, you see the great and good of Orinilu... or at the very least the good. Never too far from Esha's side, and not just for the sake of gallantry, you get the chance to hear the gossip that has drawn so many to this hall. A failing House, a fortune all but spent and creditors like wolves in winter circling, and then out of the west and north you came bearing one of the most precious of treasures to a war-torn land.
"I heard it was taken from the Tin League, did you see the longships in harbor?" one rotund man was expounding to his, evidently, much younger wife. "It was that pot-banger Ukuju Wurako, mark my words. He was the one who took the strangers into the League..."
"Over a sort of ship never before seen in these waters?" The words are sweetly spoken and to all ears that hear it a question, yet still the sting of them is so great you wince in sympathy. Antonio by contrast does little to hide his mirth... though perhaps with a purpose. He is standing a little away from the man by one of the mead barrels that had been wheeled in and then used as a make-shift table in honor of Yonla, Lord of the Drink. The fellow he is conversing with seems to rather dislike the well-fed lord.
Toki, you think the fellow's name is, Toki Ahoni and this House has a fortune in marble and granite which they had then invested in trade. Landholders, but not ones who derive most of their wealth from the land then. It does give them a solid foundation... You smile a little to yourself and share the turn of phrase with Esha who nods and adds that she thinks he might be someone to look to if you mean to build a compound in the city, probably in Farshore. "He is easily flattered if nothing else," she adds.
"You think that is why he wed her?" you ask amused, but much to your surprise she shakes her head.
"It is Elini who was the heir to the old lord and she holds the command of the House ever since, but it is the law of the city that no woman who had not wed, that is married or a widow, may hold power."
"Then why..." you are not sure how to put it in any genteel manner, thankfully you do not have to struggle long.
She answers not in whispers, but in the mind: "He is of the old blood of the Great Lands and not among the lesser kindreds either, his great uncle was a sorcerer of great and skillful art it is said. Of course no one wants to admit they seek something so perilous as to breed mages into their line, that reeks of the old order, but as ever bonds of blood are counted the strongest."
Then aloud she answers for the ears of those who might be trying to overhear and know the Anwari tongue. "Toki's kin are silver smiths I heard, and they had the wealth to hand out great loans..." But your mind has already flown far off, back to the candles in fact.
Only now does it occur to you why the scene had an odd air from the start, over the long weeks of the last journey you had grown used to the steady light of mage lanterns, never more than a whisper away for Inge and oft used. Perhaps it is in more than tin that you have shown yourself rich, coming into this hall garbed in magic as much as in steel. You do your best not to reach for the sword that is not even there, for this is a civilized home and not the mead halls of the Sunset Islands, but the space betwixt your shoulders itches as though someone had aimed an arrow there.
Yet for all that there is nothing but well wishes and curiosity about you and your company at the feast. Sometimes there might even be said to be a little too much of it. "Ho! Lord of steel, well met, well met indeed!" A cheerful voice calls out from behind you. You are greeted with the sight of a man of middling years, hair once straw gold, relatively uncommon in these lands, turning to silver. He introduces himself as 'Bargai, blower of flutes and banger of cymbals', which draws a few more laughs than is met for a minstrel and he asks for a story 'if you would care to speak it'.
It seems your men had been spreading more than newly earned silver in the city, also talk of dragons and their slaying. That tale you tell as you had done before the king in Lirman and then the tale of the otter-kin you leave to them, for many in the city are fascinated by your diminutive but dignified friends.
They had chosen to eschew clothes but not jewelry in the fashion of Orinilu, simply borrowing it from that which Antonio had bought in addition to gold Icari. A torc made for a man might be a belt of silver and a ring might instead a fine bracelet make. Yet when their tale too is done the eyes of the room are again upon you... and upon Esha beside you.
Bragai, still cheerful as ever, asks how the two of you had come to cross paths.
What do you reply?
[] Politely decline to recount that tale
[] Try to tell an edited tale
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Puns had a lot more of a good reputation before the modern age, hence why Roland is not wincing but sharing his little mental treasure.
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I think it's better to start spreading the truth, painted in the best light of course, how Esha firmly rejected her tainted origins, helped defeat her sire and then was ever a stalwart and honorable ally, standing with us against the dragon, Ulk the Neverborn and helping protect the fire spirit from the Neverborn taint.
It's better if we tell the truth because sooner or later it will come out, Anisi and her hunters in the Temple of Ikomi know it already, since the summer, in fact. Even if they won't be spreading the info, if we'll be staying in Orinilu for prolonged periods of time sooner or later someone else will find out, e.g. from sailors or our men-at-arms.
So we should get the message out on our own terms, and it's the best moment for that, we are honored guests and heroes of the hour.
I'll try to come up with a write-in.
It's better if we tell the truth because sooner or later it will come out, Anisi and her hunters in the Temple of Ikomi know it already, since the summer, in fact. Even if they won't be spreading the info, if we'll be staying in Orinilu for prolonged periods of time sooner or later someone else will find out, e.g. from sailors or our men-at-arms.
So we should get the message out on our own terms, and it's the best moment for that, we are honored guests and heroes of the hour.
I'll try to come up with a write-in.
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- Location
- Germany
So far every person with Perform skill we met was some kind of bard, skald and in one case a Paladin.
This makes me highly suspicious of the minstrel.
- Location
- Germany
[X] Let Esha take this part, she propably doesn't want half the city to know her origin and she is a much better liar than you
I don't think Roland is well suited to editing the tale into something socially acceptable while also respecting Esha's secrets and what she wishes to reveal of herself.
So let her take it, or politly decline to speak of it, if that's her choice.
I don't think Roland is well suited to editing the tale into something socially acceptable while also respecting Esha's secrets and what she wishes to reveal of herself.
So let her take it, or politly decline to speak of it, if that's her choice.
Something like that, with asking her beforehand silently and letting her choose.
[X] Silently contact Esha and ask her to trust Roland to tell the whole story as we believe it's better to get it out now and from us, than being found out as an Ajibachana by someone else sooner or later, or if she would like to tell it herself in whatever way she would like.
-[X] If she likes to tell her story herself, however edited or not, she would do it.
-[X] If she refuses to tell the story, politely decline to tell the story.
-[X] If she accepts our take, tell the whole story, painted in the best possible light and in the best possible form for a bard to latch on.
-[X] We met by chance when she was trying to escape her father who has ever held her in forced servitude.
-[X] He was not just an evil man, but a Vetala.
-[X] And yes, you heard that right, that makes Esha an Ajibachana, and many fear them, but Esha you do not have to fear.
-[X] Beginnings are false, and no flame is fairer than that which arises from deepest dark.
-[X] She stood with us bravely in combat against her cursed sire, and together we defeated him.
-[X] Ever since she was a stalward and honorable ally, helping us with her knowledge and by standing with us against the dragon, Ulk the Neverborn and helping protect the fire spirit from the Neverborn taint in the North when we secured the tin supply.
-[X] She is a valued member of the Fellowship and has our proven trust.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
On one hand, that's a pretty firm pattern and it plays neatly into my paranoia, but on the other...the pattern can't hold that steadily, right?
Even if he is a Bard with an angle, is he one willing to make an enemy of us? Sure, we haven't been around for long but we're far from helpless and we're fairly well off, and money is its own kind of power.
I like @myrix's plan to give Esha the choice on how to tell the story, though I hope she would prefer to share the truth in as flattering a light as we can reasonably manage. This is the sort of secret that isn't worth keeping, a secret that isn't particularly damaging or noteworthy now but when it comes out, and it will come out (likely at the worst time), the very fact that we tried to slant or outright obfuscate the truth will make it seem that much more sordid and shady.
[X] myrix
As far as you have been able to ascertain, between the torrent of questions and pleasantries he is not just a minstrel of a common sort, there is too much irreverence to his manner for that, or perhaps better said there is the wrong sort of irreverence. Someone who is acting the jester for pay and because he is too lowly to actually give much offense is always careful not to insult the wrong person, particularly foreigners, as they might have a different standard for what they will bear.
This guys feels almost like he is minor nobility for all he has not been given any noble title, no House and no grand heritage, even Antonio seems a bit confused and he knows more of the local scene from back in the summer.
Balsphemy!
How can you say that? Good puns are good!@DragonParadox, several questions.
1. When Inge went to the Temple of Ikomi with skulls when Roland and Antonio went to House Koire, what happened? Did we get any info, did the Temple at least agree to help us? Or something else? Did she by chance encountered Anisi and her fellow hunters?
2. Do we know anything about how Neios is doing, is he having success with his contacting his country's people, or is he doing not so good? Did perhaps Tom and our men-at-arms noticed something when they went with Neios?
3. A meta question, regarding the general question of players' judgement, with this specific example:
I understand that we ourselves should direct Roland, but we as players have an impassable obstacle in the way, we do not live his life and don't know and don't remember everything he knows and he remembers.
Obviously it is us who should make the call, but to make it informed based on previous interactions we actually have to remember these previous interactions and know the info we got from them, and at least I can't do that, it's 320k words of the quest already and I am either not attentive enough or not engaged enough, or my memory simply is not good enough to remember it all.
So that's what was behind my question, it would have helped with making an informed decision to have at a general summary in case we forgot something.
What are your thoughts on this matter?
Should we still rely on our not-so-good knowledge, incomplete and sometimes outright mistaken compared to the knowledge Roland has, risking sometimes making Roland less a compelling character and more a (here I am exaggerating for emphasis, obviously it's actually not so bad) stilted marionette directed by ignorant puppeteers? It would make the story less good.
Or would you stop us if we'll drop the ball too hard? Or something else?
- Location
- Germany
So the trend continues, all people with Perform are to be treated as dangerous unknowns!
Balsphemy!
@DragonParadox, several questions.
1. When Inge went to the Temple of Ikomi with skulls when Roland and Antonio went to House Koire, what happened? Did we get any info, did the Temple at least agree to help us? Or something else? Did she by chance encountered Anisi and her fellow hunters?
2. Do we know anything about how Neios is doing, is he having success with his contacting his country's people, or is he doing not so good? Did perhaps Tom and our men-at-arms noticed something when they went with Neios?
3. A meta question, regarding the general question of players' judgement, with this specific example:
I understand that we ourselves should direct Roland, but we as players have an impassable obstacle in the way, we do not live his life and don't know and don't remember everything he knows and he remembers.
Obviously it is us who should make the call, but to make it informed based on previous interactions we actually have to remember these previous interactions and know the info we got from them, and at least I can't do that, it's 320k words of the quest already and I am either not attentive enough or not engaged enough, or my memory simply is not good enough to remember it all.
So that's what was behind my question, it would have helped with making an informed decision to have at a general summary in case we forgot something.
What are your thoughts on this matter?
Should we still rely on our not-so-good knowledge, incomplete and sometimes outright mistaken compared to the knowledge Roland has, risking sometimes making Roland less a compelling character and more a (here I am exaggerating for emphasis, obviously it's actually not so bad) stilted marionette directed by ignorant puppeteers? It would make the story less good.
Or would you stop us if we'll drop the ball too hard? Or something else?
- I did not roll for it yet. At first I wanted to do it so that there would be some actual choice not just 'what do you do first in the vote', but at the end of he day that is false scarcity, like there is no IC reason why you could not see what was happenign there
- You will hear a bit more about him in the next few updates, but as is he is seeking some of his countrymen in the city so he will have some sort of funds and not depend on what is practically your charity
- As far as stuff that is in the quest I will do my level best to take into account what is in there and remind you guys if you need reminding while making plans, so far there have been relatively few cases of that. When it comes to 'the life he has lead' though that is a bit more complicated. There is a limit to how far I can take it because if too much of your decisions are informed by what he 'would do' then the character becomes defined by the past and does not get a chance to change and evolve. Like I could make the call 'a knight would not take a commoner child as a ward' and that would technically be informed by my impressions of what the character had lived though, but that is not Roland, it is just what I think of a Norman knight. When it comes to Roland you guys make the value judgement and I just set the bounds of what is reasonable as and if it is necessary
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] myrix
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
And it's not just silver-tongued Performers we have to be wary of, either. Their is even a martial discipline that partially relies on one's dance skills.
There's nothing like getting served to death...
Good night guys.
Did not manage that third update, but I might have more time for it tomorrow, in any case see you tomorrow guys as Roland and company try to make a home in the city and the people already at home here deal with the fact each in their own way.
Did not manage that third update, but I might have more time for it tomorrow, in any case see you tomorrow guys as Roland and company try to make a home in the city and the people already at home here deal with the fact each in their own way.
One possibility is that this Bargai is actually a part of some order or some organization, or has an official vocation, that has nothing to do with minstrelling, making his introduction a joke for those who know and explaining the laughs.
In that case his interest can be some kind of test, and if that's the case it's even more important to either tell the truth or tell nothing.
In that case his interest can be some kind of test, and if that's the case it's even more important to either tell the truth or tell nothing.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Maybe he'll end up being a helpful contact in the city? 🤞