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Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

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myrix said:
Just happened upon it, it appears we tried to use Nikure priests' services, at the time to look at Marcella, but had no luck:

So it's not a sure thing if we could ever get long-term divination services from them. Still worth keeping possibility in mind.
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Ah, right, I had forgotten about that.

That does remind me of the scruffy seer we hired when we were here last time. I wonder what he's been up to lately?
 
Goldfish said:
That does remind me of the scruffy seer we hired when we were here last time. I wonder what he's been up to lately?
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I hope he's still where we can find him, we might need him to look at the strange owl.

@DragonParadox, as the owl leaving wasn't mentioned, I assume it is still with us on Marcella? What does it do? Does it stay with the ship always, or does it leave it sometimes, perhaps following some of our PCs? Did we discover something new about it?

Another question, it was mentioned that Zaia unloaded dragon remains to the shore, do we have something rented on shore, e.g. some warehouse or living space? Or did he do it to immediately process it? Doesn't he still lack proper tools and instruments? Or can he start working with it and crafting from it?
 
Well, recent theorizing into the local military R&D Budget has given me the segue I need to pitch a long term idea I have had for a bit. Zaia's meeting with a bookseller in the recent vote also gives me secondary support.

The Fellowship should sponsor a scribal school. While primarily providing a base of support and providing a font of scholarship for whatever city it is based in, it can also provide the manpower to produce copies of books in house. This would be handy for any internal uses, such as proliferating engineering knowledge, I prefer to indulge in a bit of whimsy.

Where ever the party goes, they impart a bit of an air of mystery. They come from far off lands, with odd technology, and with friendly miens. So why not also proliferate copies of the texts that Zaia has brought with him in their own original tongues?

Training an individual who is illiterate to reproduce meaningless symbols as a segue into learning a full writing script seems a decently valid path. Some locals should eventually be brought into speaking Latin, Sicilian, etc to ensure that it does not die off in this new land. Plus, without any understanding actually proliferated the text can still be sold. Mystery is compelling, and I can imagine a small chunk of individuals would purchase foreign books in foreign tongues solely for the adjective. At least enough to help pay for the training of scribes.

So this is my pitch for the first thing established in any long term port of call being a scribal school. After the whole fortification thing is solved. Military matters always take precedent, due to my enjoyment of being alive.
 
myrix said:
I hope he's still where we can find him, we might need him to look at the strange owl.

@DragonParadox, as the owl leaving wasn't mentioned, I assume it is still with us on Marcella? What does it do? Does it stay with the ship always, or does it leave it sometimes, perhaps following some of our PCs? Did we discover something new about it?

Another question, it was mentioned that Zaia unloaded dragon remains to the shore, do we have something rented on shore, e.g. some warehouse or living space? Or did he do it to immediately process it? Doesn't he still lack proper tools and instruments? Or can he start working with it and crafting from it?
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  1. Yep, owl is still there and getting fed by the crew occasionally, does not seem to want to leave anytime soon, but who knows what it will do. Not like the bird is talking.
  2. Technically you do not have a warehouse yet, you are using House Koire's facilities for now until you can buy something which will be a vote.
 
Jasten said:
Well, recent theorizing into the local military R&D Budget has given me the segue I need to pitch a long term idea I have had for a bit. Zaia's meeting with a bookseller in the recent vote also gives me secondary support.

The Fellowship should sponsor a scribal school. While primarily providing a base of support and providing a font of scholarship for whatever city it is based in, it can also provide the manpower to produce copies of books in house. This would be handy for any internal uses, such as proliferating engineering knowledge, I prefer to indulge in a bit of whimsy.

Where ever the party goes, they impart a bit of an air of mystery. They come from far off lands, with odd technology, and with friendly miens. So why not also proliferate copies of the texts that Zaia has brought with him in their own original tongues?

Training an individual who is illiterate to reproduce meaningless symbols as a segue into learning a full writing script seems a decently valid path. Some locals should eventually be brought into speaking Latin, Sicilian, etc to ensure that it does not die off in this new land. Plus, without any understanding actually proliferated the text can still be sold. Mystery is compelling, and I can imagine a small chunk of individuals would purchase foreign books in foreign tongues solely for the adjective. At least enough to help pay for the training of scribes.

So this is my pitch for the first thing established in any long term port of call being a scribal school. After the whole fortification thing is solved. Military matters always take precedent, due to my enjoyment of being alive.
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Organizing scribal school looks like too much expenditures for too little benefit; we don't have that many book copying needs, so we can just hire external scribe or, later, I hope we would be able to use magic like Scrivener's Chant cantrip.

Don't know if we have that many knowledge books to proliferate, and even for those we have, we shouldn't do it just because we can, we should do it because we need to. And I doubt we could find enough people who would buy a book in an unknown language just for the fun of it to pay for the training of multiple scribes.

Maybe if we happen on an intelligent enough down on their luck individual, we could take them in and train them as a scribe.

Or maybe one of the otter-kin would show an aptitude for that? They have +2 Int and +4 Dex from their race and size, it might fit.
 
[X] Yes (Gain 8,000 gp next year in the spring for stud services with potentially even more in the years to come if the breeding is successful)
 
Arhin said:
By the way, @Goldfish , what's your opinion about Shield Focus feat? We have good AC, but battle with lion and Isele's raiders showed that it is not good enough.
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It's not a bad way to improve our AC, which is never going to be as high as I would prefer, but it's not a feat I would want to pick up any time soon.

There are a few other priorities first, and if we were going to pick up a feat to improve AC, the first I would go for is Dodge. I wouldn't normally be a big fan of it, but the EitR rules we're using combines Dodge and Mobility into a single feat. Although Shield Focus gives a +1 bonus to AC, too, Dodge's bonus also applies to Touch AC (ours is terribly, like anyone who relies on armor) and our AC would get another +4 bonus against Attacks of Opportunity caused by movement.

Dodge is also a prerequisite to Spring Attack. I wouldn't normally advocate for this one because it's gated behind two feats, but EitR reduces that to just Dodge and that makes it much more attractive, IMO.
 
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Arc 10 Post 28: Of Strangers and Seers
  • Threadmarks
    • Of Strangers and Seers ​

    Thirty-Sixth Day of Ikomi-eza (Ikomi Ascendant) 1348 A. L. (After Landfall)

    "I see no obstacle barring the deal you wish to make to the betterment of us all," you say extending a hand, or starting to at least before recalling it is not the custom of this land. Horse foals born next summer are not going to be driving off the Yayar for many years hence. Even if this should match the hopes of Hengo it will be many years before there can be any talk of hosts, with armored men atop them armed with lance and shield. Yet on the other side of things if you do not set foot on a path then you shall never see its end.

    "Then in the spring or summer we shall see if any of the beasts are fit to breed," the lord offers with a wide smile on his face. "Perhaps when your current stock grows old you will pay us another visit. I vow the cost will not be heavy for the asking..."

    At that you can but do your best to keep the doubt off your face. You had heard of trying to sell the feathers of the bird still flying free, but not of the horse unborn.

    "We get paid in advance," Antonio says, reading your expression aright.

    "Still, tis odd that he would wager so much on being able to get his horses," you reply, looking at Hengo's retreating back through the crowd, colorful as his crimson cape.

    "Mayhap he went to one of their soothsayers and has some pledge from them. It wouldn't surprise me as much as half the things I've seen up north," your friend replies.

    "Aren't they still silent? They were when last we made port here in the summer." you ask, having had little reason to keep an ear for gossip these last few days.

    "Mayhap the Iki-uma have their own soothsayers that they do not speak of in the city. I have heard of the one they served called King of the Sky. A king may command fate as a wise counsel foresees it, surely."

    "I think..." you take a long drink of wine, tasting of pine resin and spices you cannot lightly name. "That we should not make any assumptions about their gods, especially where we might be heard."

    "I am speaking Sicilian, yes?" Antonio asks with a smile. "Might as well be talking dragon's tongue." He takes a long and apprising look around the chamber then adds: "Speaking of strangers, you might want to have a chant with that fellow over there, the one with a crest of hair on his head..." It is hard to miss who he means, fellow of middling height wearing what looks to be a leather kilt made out of many strips of colored leather and a tunic adorned with many brightly colored beads, yet all that pales beside his hair, black it is with the first shoots of grey and shaved everywhere but at a crest that spans it from ear to ear like some strange crown. "That is one of the Silver Bows of Agber, some of the finest archers in this part of the world. If any man would know where to find better bows for the Fellowship than the ones we claimed back on the Spear Islands it's him, but the only bow I know is a crossbow so I'd like as not embarrass myself."

    You nod, about to step out to speak to the man from the south when you spy out of the corner of your eye a familiar face, Eriran the Seer. And then your mind catches up with your eye, there is no way the man who had been scrambling to pay his debts last summer would be at the fete of a noble house in the High City, even an impoverished one. Yet when you turn to look, covertly as you may, there is no mistaking the man, his robes are finer far and there are rings of gold about his fingers and he had even grown a beard in the time since last you saw him, but it is undeniably the same man who claimed he did not wish to be bothered with trifles.

    Who do you speak with next?

    Final Social Round

    [] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well

    [] A man wearing not robes but red fringed pants, one of the first such garments you have ever seen would like to speak of your journeys. According to Esha he is one of an order sworn to carry messages to far off places while keeping them secret and safe from all eyes, likely he wants to hear of the less fantastical parts of your journeys, perhaps more

    [] Zaia managed to find a book seller of all things among the guests, but unsurprisingly rare books are quite expensive, too much so for him to make any promises of the company finances on his own account

    [] The Agberi Silver Bow, talk of the craft and where a fine bowyer can be found in the city

    [] Eriran the Seer, find out what the man is doing here of all places

    OOC: Sorry this took so long, I got distracted midway through.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Crap, this is our last chance to mingle but there are still so many options...

    Sorry, Zaia, the books will still be available in the coming days, and I'm sure we can find bows to purchase somewhere in the city, so I don't mind passing on a chance to speak with the Agberi fellow.

    That still leaves three worth investigating, IMO;

    [] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well

    I'm curious and concerned about this one. I don't want some random priest hassling our Otter-kin buddy. He could be trying to preach to her, questioning her "humanity" or "Feyness", badgering her for information about her people, etc., or he could be a friendly guy trying to have a conversation with an interesting new being.

    [] A man wearing not robes but red fringed pants, one of the first such garments you have ever seen would like to speak of your journeys. According to Esha he is one of an order sworn to carry messages to far off places while keeping them secret and safe from all eyes, likely he wants to hear of the less fantastical parts of your journeys, perhaps more

    This still seems like a potentially worthwhile contact to cultivate for future business opportunities. A fast, well protected ship that regularly travels to distant lands probably really attractive to these folks for delivering messages.

    [] Eriran the Seer, find out what the man is doing here of all places

    What the hell, dude? Unless this is Eriran's much more successful twin brother (an actual possibility, but a slim one), he has really turned his fortunes around since we were last here. Really turned them around. Although anything is possible, I'm worried he's somehow been making use of whatever proscribed knowledge he was able to learn from Inge's translation of that book, and that whatever it is, shit's gonna catch up with him sooner or later and some of it will roll downhill right into our laps.
     
    Goldfish said:
    There are a few other priorities first, and if we were going to pick up a feat to improve AC, the first I would go for is Dodge. I wouldn't normally be a big fan of it, but the EitR rules we're using combines Dodge and Mobility into a single feat.
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    But Dodge requires 13 Dex, and Roland has only 12. EitR says nothing about that Prerequisite.

    As for vote, I want to take care about otter-kin, we have ignored their development for some time, and their time is limited. Any thoughts?
     
    Arhin said:
    But Dodge requires 13 Dex, and Roland has only 12. EitR says nothing about that Prerequisite.
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    I thought DP waved all of the <Attribute> 13 prerequisites along with using the EitR rules, since there are several "feat tax" feats that are done away using these rules which have a 13 as an attribute requirement, such as Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, and Power Attack, and Dodge + Mobility are basically feat taxes to reach Spring Attack.

    Is this not the case, @DragonParadox?
     
    Goldfish said:
    I thought DP waved all of the <Attribute> 13 prerequisites along with using the EitR rules, since there are several "feat tax" feats that are done away using these rules which have a 13 as an attribute requirement, such as Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, and Power Attack, and Dodge + Mobility are basically feat taxes to reach Spring Attack.

    Is this not the case, @DragonParadox?
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    I do not recall waving that rule, so unless I am misremembering something (which is not impossible alas) I think those attribute prereqs still stand.
     
    Goldfish said:
    This still seems like a potentially worthwhile contact to cultivate for future business opportunities. A fast, well protected ship that regularly travels to distant lands probably really attractive to these folks for delivering messages.
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    It is interesting contact, but I am afraid that he'll try to give us another quest, and we have plenty of them already.

    As for Eriran – it is curious, and I am glad for him, but we can not get involved in everything we meet. As for possibility of Forbidden Knowledge, it's better not to discuss them on social rout.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    I do not recall waving that rule, so unless I am misremembering something (which is not impossible alas) I think those attribute prereqs still stand.
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    Okay, no Dodge for us any time soon. That does make Shield Focus a more attractive option, @Arhin, but still not one I would place a major priority on for a while.

    BTW, DP, is Sword Scion a trait Roland could learn if he picked up the Additional Traits feat?
     
    I'm leaning toward coming to Swift Pebble's aid. She might be fine and the priest dude might not be causing trouble, but I don't want to risk it. Also, depending on the priest's demeanor and the reason he wants to speak with Swift Pebble, he might be a good person to speak with about the potential curse affecting our men.

    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
    [X] A broad shouldered bear of a man wearing the tall cylindrical hats of the Priesthood of Ashinu, he had been the one to bless the opening of the feast thought you had not seen him since, yet now he seems interested in speaking to Swift Pebble, though she is hesitant to approach alone as she does not understand the gods of this realm all that well
     
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