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

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@DragonParadox, editing:


For Arc 14 Post 67: Royal Rebirth:
Royal Rebirth ​

Fifth Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

You almost nod without thinking then draw instead your own sword, forged among the hills of Normandy just as he had and by the same craft, just as lacking in ornament, and you had made sure kept oiled and well cared for should something happen to Durendal. "Let them try..." The words ring in your ear as much as steel might growl.

Tom mistakes your smile. "My lord you don't have to..."

"I wish it just the same," you cut him off, glad indeed that he is not one to argue. It would hardly be polite to imply that the one you are about to hand the sword to might have some nefarious purpose which you would rather fall on you and not him. Actually given how Tom would react to the notion that you want to take risks in his place it is doubly good that he does not think to question you as you carefully place the blade on the 'ground' that is the creature's flesh.

"Did you do something?" Antonio's mind voice has a strain to it like and unlike the stillness before battle. "Tell me you did something..."

"Yes..."

***​

It is hard to blame the man given what you find once you are out of the 'rock'. The fog is already growing tattered and the spray of white that marks the passage of the great beast veils the deck for a few moments, but once it clears you are greeted with the sight of a man curled in on himself knees to his chest inside a yellowish bladder shot through with deep red veins. Apparently it 'popped right out of the sea like a sausage in a barrel'. This is no doubt the first time Zuan speaking of sausages is not well received by the crew. Still Zaia is nothing if not a curious soul and soon enough sharpened bronze taken from the lair of the mad mage Ipsit parts the skin of the... container to reveal a sputtering, shivering and naked, but still very much alive King Ansefu.

"Witch! Witch! Liar! Witch!" The first few words are not what you might have hoped, but he calms down at the sight of Inge at least enough that you can get him a cloak and usher him into a cabin.

"Hopefully his precious accommodations didn't sour him on his sister, it would be rather wasteful to return to Apuku only to start a war again," you hear Esha murmur as soon as the door is closed.

"Can hardly keep him around to scrub the deck," Antonio chuckles before shaking his head and turning to the helm to adjust the heading.

Hopefully the journey back will be enough for him to get his footing again at least enough to be presented to his people. The king is as much effigy as he is man, that much does not change no matter the world. In the meantime your thoughts turn to the battles of recent days and of all the time you had avoided battle. Between a conspiracy of dragons seeking to buy a stolen spear and a spirit of the Formless kindred now stalking the ship you have no doubt that you will need those skills again soon... and you would not turn your nose up at some luck either.



Arc Fourteen Complete​

Triumphs
+Entered the Dreamlands to converse with Lina
+Survived the Storm Spirits' rage
++Rescued Ohun from the grasp of the Sea Spinner
+Made Pledge of Study [Must take at least one esoteric knowledge skill or spellcraft at the first opportunity]
++Helped preserve the city of Lirman from traitors and opportunist fey
+Prevented Ohun from abandoning his calling for the wild and the company of birds and beasts
+Rescued Ro the Fey Smith and struck a bargain with him
++Entered the realm of the fey and returned better than you had gone
+Rescued Megin 'the half-again horse'
+Defeated the thief and the dragon spawn
+Gained the name and the friendship of Mynid the Wayguard
++Rescued the lost king Ansefu of Lirman from... the Formless

Total XP gained: 4,000 XP

What have been the lessons of this war for you and yours?

[] More skills in peace and war
Cost: 0 XP

[] Wanderer has learned and grown in the battles unlike any that he has faced before (Wanderer Level Up)
-[] Write in level up (Applicable as template to all future veteran Barbarian recruits)
Cost: 1,000 XP

[] You have battled beasts and spirits, you have walked the realms of the tinker fey and faces formless spirits upon the back of their great kin, though you are no wizard you are more than a knight (Lose Martial Training feat in exchange for retraining two level of Cavalier as Warder)
Cost: 2,500 XP

[] Zaia has studied the tomes of the assasin you slew and found them filled with accounts of powers and decoctions that he might know use for his own (Level Up)
Cost: 500 XP

[] Swift Pebble's daring has been rewarded by skill in subterfuge and stealth (Level Up)
Cost: 1,000 XP

OOC: You can take as many as you want, plan voting.

Changed the wrong date "Twenty Fourth Day of Elnu-Hamba (Elnu Descendent), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)", which somehow got edited in again, to "Fifth Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)".

Given that Durendal is bronze, here
should something happen to Durendal. "Let them try..." The words ring in your ear as much as steel might growl.
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perhaps "bronze might growl" instead of "steel might growl"?

Changed Zaia's level up cost to 500 XP.
 
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Goldfish said:
Ouch, yeah, I hadn't thought about that. Losing two levels of Cavalier should technically reduce Roland's HP by 2 points also.

Any chance we can keep that intact, @DragonParadox?
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As @Artemis1992 says that is the price of multi-classing, you can get those back when you have retrained everything. Think of HP less as what damage you can take and more as a composite of luck, dodging an toughness. If you are trying to make a whole new style work it makes sennse to lose a little efficiency somewhere
 
Hmmmm. That gambit that involves bull rushing and granting everybody an AoO against that target sounds awesome.
 
DragonParadox said:
As @Artemis1992 says that is the price of multi-classing, you can get those back when you have retrained everything. Think of HP less as what damage you can take and more as a composite of luck, dodging an toughness. If you are trying to make a whole new style work it makes sennse to lose a little efficiency somewhere
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Fair enough. It's a worthwhile trade-off, IMO.
Tomcost said:
Hmmmm. That gambit that involves bull rushing and granting everybody an AoO against that target sounds awesome.
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That's the Overrun gambit. The Bull Rush gambit just makes the target suffer a penalty for one round. The Overrun gambit has such a better bonus because the maneuver itself is pretty shitty.

I'm kinda partial to Sweeping Gambit myself and would have chosen it over Brave Gambit if we didn't use so many Charge attacks. Or keep running into so many enemies with a high CMD, bonus versus tripping, or the ability to fly. Being able to Trip an opponent then get a free Attack of Opportunity against them with an additional bonus damage is really nice.
 
Goldfish said:
Fair enough. It's a worthwhile trade-off, IMO.

That's the Overrun gambit. The Bull Rush gambit just makes the target suffer a penalty for one round. The Overrun gambit has such a better bonus because the maneuver itself is pretty shitty.

I'm kinda partial to Sweeping Gambit myself and would have chosen it over Brave Gambit if we didn't use so many Charge attacks. Or keep running into so many enemies with a high CMD, bonus versus tripping, or the ability to fly. Being able to Trip an opponent then get a free Attack of Opportunity against them with an additional bonus damage is really nice.
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There is a teamwork feat for Tandem Tripping. Roll twice and take highest is bound to beat most of our high CMD foes. It goes well with that
 
Tomcost said:
There is a teamwork feat for Tandem Tripping. Roll twice and take highest is bound to beat most of our high CMD foes. It goes well with that
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3rd level Warlords get a bonus teamwork feat and an ability to share it that is much superior to the Cavalier's Tactician ability. Not sure if we'll end up selecting Tandem Tripping, but it would be a decent candidate for it.
 
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Ok then Warlord it is, now let's see what the seas will bring next .
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jun 24, 2022 at 12:25 PM, finished with 69 posts and 7 votes.
  • [X] Arc Fourteen Conclusion: Goldfish Edition (Level Up/Retraining plans found HERE)
    -[X] You have battled beasts and spirits, you have walked the realms of the tinker fey and faces formless spirits upon the back of their great kin, though you are no wizard you are more than a knight (Lose Martial Training feat in exchange for retraining two level of Cavalier as Warlord)
    -[X] Zaia has studied the tomes of the assasin you slew and found them filled with accounts of powers and decoctions that he might know use for his own (Level Up)
    -[X] Swift Pebble's daring has been rewarded by skill in subterfuge and stealth (Level Up)
    [X] Plan Warlord Magician
    -[X] You have battled beasts and spirits, you have walked the realms of the tinker fey and faces formless spirits upon the back of their great kin, though you are no wizard you are more than a knight (Lose Martial Training feat in exchange for retraining two level of Cavalier as Warlord)
    --[X] Roland's Warlordification
    -[X] Zaia has studied the tomes of the assasin you slew and found them filled with accounts of powers and decoctions that he might know use for his own (Level Up)
    --[X] Zaia Level Up
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Arc 15 Post 1: Of Lost Days
  • Threadmarks
    • Of Lost Days ​

    Seventh Day of Olweje-eza (Olweje Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

    Life aboard the Marcella returns to a semblance of calm over the next few days, punctuated only by Mog's grumbling the clank and clatter of swords from the men 'so as to keep them out of mischief' according to Tom... and the screams of a king. You do not know what had been done to young king Ansefu and truth be told you are not sure you wish to know, but his nightmares hound him like the very beasts of Hell, every night once the sun is down he falls into a sort of stupor from which it is hard to rouse him even as much as to eat and all though the night he wakes screaming.

    At first it seems that not even Zaia's most potent philters would help but the good doctor is nothing if not persistent in his ministrations and by the third night all of you are starting to see some improvement if humors are to be believed though the administering of some of Megin's sweat mingled with the last of the spirits he had aqua vitae and dried blood from some quarter you do not wish to speculate on overmuch. As he grows more able to speak he shows himself interested in the path of the campaign to Korman and though you make no attempt to inflate your own part in it he comes to the conclusion that you had been instrumental in both holding the host to its task and defeating the Redman.

    "Ah, would that I had been there sir knight, then perhaps men might have called me a king and not some wretch who was chained beneath the sea and then let free by the machinations of monsters..." He looks down at the table, tracing the grain of the wood with his hand. "You do not know what it is like to be trapped in a prison not of stone or bronze, but of your own flesh, locked by the weakness of..." A shudder runs down his spine and he says nothing more for a long while. "Let us speak of brighter things while the sun is in the sky, what are your plans, your hopes for the future?"

    "A return to Orinilu as I have pledged, after that who is to say? I made a pledge to some of the marcher lords that they would have horses bred from the Fellowship's herd and we have an alliance with yet another house such that we would train their soldiers..." In your mind you pass over the Purples and their less savory nature, not that you are certain they would fall afoul of Anwa mores, but you would rather not chance it and sour what would be a fair royal patronage indeed. "After that who is to know? We have a ship and she is swift as she is fair to travel where we will north and south, east and west, in search of profits and in search of answers..."

    Answers to what? A part of you wonders. Those who had come before, the reason you had been called, the shadows growing dark, the dragons. When you lay your head on the pillow at night it is that as much as the fading screams that keeps you awake and looking into the shifting shadows of the ceiling for patterns that are not there.

    "Ah, would that I had the freedom of the open sea to wash away my sins," the young king says and young indeed he seems to you, swathed in too large borrowed clothes, for the months of his captivity seem to have eaten away some of this flesh and left him as a man two winters starved. It is the first time you had heard one of the Anwa say the word 'sin' and you can well imagine to what god he thinks that sin had been committed, Olweje for which the season was named.

    His glory had been stolen, his honor tarnished and his realm set ablaze, saved only by the hand of strangers and lesser lords. Aye it is not hard to guess that Ansefu King is no longer sure he is worth the honor. You wonder at what words might lead him from his dark thoughts, thinking back to your own days of trial when you had been a traitor lord, forgiven more for the narrowness of your lands than by any virtue. You had thought God had been calling you to raise the standard of the cross against the Saracens, the more fool you. Perhaps you can find the words to turn the boy away from a similarly foolish deed.

    How do you address Ansefu's doubts?

    [] Write in

    OOC: This is going to be a diplo roll regardless, but a hard enough one that a bonus from a good write-in would be really helpful.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • How about this angle?

    [X] Screwed by unfavorable circumstances while not bad himself.
    -[X] His leadership was actually up to par, not perfect but good taken in account his relative lack of experience and that Anwa's kings have less hold over clans than most other kings might have over their subjects, and would have been enough to win the war.
    -[X] His undoing was the fey/spirit problem, and that is a thing no man can be assured to navigate and solve to any degree, you never know with spirits and fey. And that was as much failing of his spiritual advisors as him.
    --[X] If it fits in the flow of the conversation, share our own failures in dealing with fey, including the one we lost Tam because of.
    -[X] Nothing we can do but learn from our mistakes and do better in the future. And it is possible to learn from mistakes and do better in the future, our experience tells us so.

    If anybody can formulate it better and in first person roleplay, please do, I'm unfortunately not up to the task.
     
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    myrix said:
    How about this angle?

    [X] Screwed by unfavorable circumstances while not bad himself.
    -[X] His leadership was actually up to par, not perfect but that which can be called good taken in account his relative lack of experience and that Anwa's kings has less hold over clans than most other kings over their subject.
    -[X] His undoing was the fey/spirit problem, and that is a thing no man can be assured to navigate and solve to any degree, you never know with spirits and fey. And that was as much failing of his spiritual advisors as him.
    -[X] Nothing we can do but learn from our mistakes and do better in the future. And it is possible to learn from mistakes and do better in the future, our experience tells us so.

    If anybody can formulate it better and in first person roleplay, please do, I'm unfortunately not up to the task.
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    This is pretty much spot on, IMO. He wasn't particularly wise or overly competent as a king, but he is Anwari and young, so allowances have to be made.

    What happened wasn't his fault, nor did he deserve it. All he can do now is move forward, learn from his experiences, and try to grow from them rather than letting them haunt him for the rest of his days.

    [X] myrix
     
    Maybe share an anecdote about losing one of his own men to the fey?

    One had supernatural temptation to be greedy and almost drown if not for a deal for a task that also lead to one dead man because of another one.
     
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    @DragonParadox, just thought of a possibly delicate moment, would it be reasonable for our PCs to try to not surprise Lina and Ohun with Ansefu's return, by e.g. trying to first contact them through gulls with Inge's help when we are close to Lirman, or do we need to vote for it? Or would that be a vote in a later update?
     
    myrix said:
    @DragonParadox, just thought of a possibly delicate moment, would it be reasonable for our PCs to try to not surprise Lina and Ohun with Ansefu's return, by e.g. trying to first contact them through gulls with Inge's help when we are close to Lirman, or do we need to vote for it? Or would that be a vote in a later update?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Er... about those gulls, there may be a problem that will show up in the next update.
     
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