I would love a good cop and bad cop dynamic here. Mina and Syrim going full into the "Hey, we actually tried to let your father live and he proved hostile anyway", and Kori going full into "Do you want to go through the same fate?"
Can our shadow appear as a big fucking demon trying to swallow his soul or something?
General question, do you think Mythic Heroes would fit into this game?
Cause if, I think it might be interesting to start earlier than the last time.
Since the power of Mythic Ranks is very much multiplied by the previous power of the recipent.
A Rank does a lot more for a Level 17 Dragon Sorcerer, than for a level 7 Ranger.
General question, do you think Mythic Heroes would fit into this game?
Cause if, I think it might be interesting to start earlier than the last time.
Since the power of Mythic Ranks is very much multiplied by the previous power of the recipent.
A Rank does a lot more for a Level 17 Dragon Sorcerer, than for a level 7 Ranger.
General question, do you think Mythic Heroes would fit into this game?
Cause if, I think it might be interesting to start earlier than the last time.
Since the power of Mythic Ranks is very much multiplied by the previous power of the recipent.
A Rank does a lot more for a Level 17 Dragon Sorcerer, than for a level 7 Ranger.
It would be much better to start early rather than later. It would scale much more smoothly, if nothing else, and DP could introduce Mythic stuff more gradually than suddenly having it become a thing.
I would love a good cop and bad cop dynamic here. Mina and Syrim going full into the "Hey, we actually tried to let your father live and he proved hostile anyway", and Kori going full into "Do you want to go through the same fate?"
Can our shadow appear as a big fucking demon trying to swallow his soul or something?
I've been doing a reread, and uh. We sorta didn't try to keep him alive. The pharsma priest went full crazy and we didn't try and stop him. Gorok did the deed.
Next time, I suggest we either stop the murder or make the priest do it - that way the priest is the one divination will point at.
I've been doing a reread, and uh. We sorta didn't try to keep him alive. The pharsma priest went full crazy and we didn't try and stop him. Gorok did the deed.
Next time, I suggest we either stop the murder or make the priest do it - that way the priest is the one divination will point at.
Not to counter the main point, but the priest did not 'go crazy' from the perspective of the society he belonged to. That was a pretty middle of the road response from a urban Andoran faced with a hostile shape-changer. That is one of their societal problems.
Not to counter the main point, but the priest did not 'go crazy' from the perspective of the society he belonged to. That was a pretty middle of the road response from a urban Andoran faced with a hostile shape-changer. That is one of their societal problems.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 21, 2024 at 1:29 AM, finished with 24 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Group Effort -[X] Mina will cast Guidance on Sirim, and Heroism as well if enough time has passed for her to prepare new spells for the day. She will keep Evil Eye applied to the captive Wererat, continually debuffing his saving throws and skill checks. -[X] Kori will remain out of the captive's sight, using Detect Thoughts to probe the captive's mind while Sirim works. -[X] Sirim will use Shadow Enchantment to cast Bestow Insight on himself, increasing his Diplomacy bonus by +4. --[X] He will act Diplomatically/Threateningly; We do not wish for this feud but we will end it if it comes to it
When Sirim asks Gorok for the large map of the Inner Sea Region you acquired back in Augustana you are not sure what he is getting at, but all of you had learned to trust his instincts when it comes to talking to people, even if said people do not enjoy the process. You lean against a willow trunk as Gorok frog-marches the prisoner in and sits him down on a weathered piece of limestone carried here in some long ago flood. In front of him is the map, and around him, like black smoke, curls the smokeshade.
"Can you read?" The words come out in a harsh whisper.
When no answer is forthcoming he is content to wait. He can, you know instantly, as images of a large building with narrow windows and peeling paint flash through his mind. His father is there, telling the boy who would grow to be the man in front of you all the things he's not allowed to talk about. It is a very long list.
Will Save vs Detect Thoughts: 1d20+2 -2 (Evil Eye) = 10 (Failure)
"Yes," he finally gives a sullen reply.
"Can you read maps?" Sirim continues.
This time the man, or maybe from his manner and the swirling greens and blotchy purples of his outer thoughts, still a boy after all, knows better than to try to wait out the strange shadow. "Yes."
"Can you tell me how far we are from Augustana?"
"Far." Despite keeping to his one word responses his mind is filled with mad dashes in and out of hiding, with sleepless nights in rodent form so that he is sure that he'll be able to detect any moment. He seems to be particularly weary of Cob, color-changing-goblin, who he found hard to keep an eye on even when he was not sneaking. You are not sure if it would have been helpful to have him around for this, but it's too late now, for the spells will run out before you can get to camp and back, and the less time you have to deal with keeping a prisoner secret from Gavhaul the better.
"Do you think your father would have wanted you to die hundreds of leagues from home in the company of angry strangers?" Sirim twists the conversation with all the skill of an assassin twisting the knife home.
"Can't ask him now, can I? He's dead!" the boy shouts accusingly, starring daggers at Gorok.
"Oh, I don't think you ever needed to ask," the mage does not let up. "And I am not the first one to say so. There are others whom you'd have had far more cause to listen to, whom you'd have been far wiser to have done so. But you did not so here we are, wondering if we can afford to let you loose or if you are still intent on meeting your father's ghost on the banks of the River of Souls with or without Gorok's blood on your hands."
"I wasn't trying to kill myself!" That's two thirds a lie, you know. A circle of solemn faces flash through his mind, bearing a kind of 'family resemblance', all of them thin and sharp eyed, and all of them resigned. A woman maybe five years older than the boy in front of you says: "This isn't a trial, Tobyn. This is suicide..." other conversations and other voices blend in. "...the Asps have mages, diviners, dealings with devils. They'll find you and kill you... It's the last shot you'll ever take, no matter if you make it or not..."
"No, if you had been trying to kill yourself at least you'd have chosen a less drawn out way," Sirim agrees calmly. "It seems to me you are trying to sell your soul for cheap to the Ferryman. You had weighed all your life, all you might have done and achieved, all the others dear to you, that you could have protected, and decided that none of that was worth as much as a chance at revenge."
Silence is the boy, Tobyn's, only answer, but inwardly you see it is a silence tinged with growing dread as the words ring out, each truer than the last.
"That bargain is done now, you took your shot and failed. The man who took that decision is already dead. The question..." a tendril of shadow wraps around his face, just barely not touching his face. "Is if there is another in there who wants to live?"
"Stop playing games!" The words come out with less heat than he had likely meant them to, almost pleading. "What do you want?"
"I and my companions wish to know what you did so far on this journey and we would also rather wish that we did not have some other of your kin try to follow your shade into the River. Give us answers and your honest vow that you will follow us no longer, and you may walk free."
"Just like that?" the prisoner laughs bitterly. "You are just going to take my word for it?"
"Your word can only be true or false. If it is true, then we have saved ourselves a headache. If it is false, then when next you seek to kill Gorok we will kill you and be no worse off than if we killed you now," comes the answer, chilling as naked steel. It also, as it happens, a lie. The last thing you want to do is have to kill the boy in front of Gavhaul, then you would have to explain the corpse and you already had to do that with the dead daemon, but Tobyn is in no mood to be reading Sirim's voice and manner. He's just sitting there, head bowed between his knees, thinking.
Sirim Diplomacy: 1d20+13+4 (Bestow Insight) +2 (Heroism) +1 (Guidance) = 40 Critical Success
vs
Tobyn Will Save: 1d20+2 -2 (Evil Eye) + 10 (Vow of Vengeance) = 12
The decision feels like a crack in stone struck at just the right angle, and then he just starts talking. He has a lot to say: "I'm not an idiot, I didn't think I could take you out on my own. I've been trying to get people to attack you since Almas, but it didn't work out..." An image of a portly man with uncommonly sharp teeth in a heavy cloak that might once have been silk before it was patched and patched again floats to the surface, along with an impression of a... bat for some reason? Tobyn had been warned off making trouble in the city by other shape-changers.
"I had more luck in Carpenden. I pretended to be a big name guild-man from the capital putting a hit on you. I showed some of the bounty hunters in town my rat..."
"And by that of course you mean the one you can turn into." Despite the lack of lungs Sirim somehow manages a sigh. "And some of them at least must have taken it for a sign of confidence and connections, not bravado, so they will not believe whatever lies you told them about a bounty as well as no doubt inflated accounts of our wealth. We are going to have every sneak and killer from here to the Taldan border lining up a shot, lovely. What exactly did you tell them?"
"Well, it wasn't all the same thing, that's not how rumor-mongering works. You gotta read the room and tell them what they wanna hear."
"Well go and fix it then, tell them you lied," Mina cuts in. A reasonable suggestion, except for one small detail.
"Every temple inquisitor and hunter with silver in their quiver in Carpenden will be looking for a man and a rat of his description about now," you point out. "It would probably be kinder to slit his throat than have him return to where he showed himself today."
Mina winces while Gorok just nods before asking his own question: "What would your people say of you showing yourself like that?"
"This far away, they won't care," the boy says with more confidence than he feels.
You can't believe you're even thinking this but... he could come with you. He's been hiding among the caravan this long and an extra spy that you know about but Gavhaul does not could be of some use, while also getting Tobyn away from the hornets' nest he set on his own tail.
What does Kori say?
[] Propose Tobyn continue accompanying the caravan in secret
[] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
[] Write in
OOC: That was some place to roll a nat 20. Sirim took this kid's psyche apart and made it look easy. Narratively it helped that the Nidalese also have traditions of blood feuds, so he knew where he was coming from, but still damn impressive.
...I don't get why we would take him along. To save his life from inquisitors he sent after himself with this performance?
I know our party takes all kinds, but killing his father puts a bit of a damper on long-term collaboration, and usually the kinds we take in haven't been trying to kill us.
I still might have considered it were it not for a psion in our midst. He would be jeopardizing our mission with his presence more than he did with sending bounty hunters after us.
Give him a headstart and maybe Pass Without Trace that will last him 6 hours, and tell him to get out of sight.
Combination of compassion for a fellow outcast and the fact that he might be of some use along the way if you can get him to listen to you, or at least Sirim.
I'm of the opinion of just sending him home, since at this point kids has lost motivation and we don't need that for the bind we are in. We can deal with whatever comes our way later, and at least we won't have wererats hounding us anymore.
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken
Sirim really nailed that one. I think he might be able to go for the diplomatic coup de grace and really finish him off, so to speak.
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, and heal him up, hopefully ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Sirim passes along one last warning mixed with some advice.
--[X] "You might not care why it happened, only that he's gone now, but your father attacked the Temple of Pharasma in Augustana during a sacred ritual, and he was seen to be doing so by an Andoran Cleric. You certainly know better than any of us what kind of persecution a shape-changer such as yourself can experience in Andoran. Regardless of why he did it, his actions have made it harder for your kin to simply live their lives, and now you've done the same, if in a different manner." Sirim pauses to give the impression of hesitance, and when next he speaks his telepathic voice is heavy with regret.
---[X] "Speaking from personal experience, sometimes it is better to leave your homeland, even if that means you'll never see your family again, rather than return and bring further hardship upon them through your thoughtless actions. Take my advice or ignore it, it matters not to me, but you should consider moving on, not just from a destructive quest for vengeance but from Andoran entirely. Keep moving, stay ahead of those who will soon be hunting you, and get out of the country. The border of Druma is likely closer to us now than Augustana. You can start a new life for yourself, let bounties lapse and attention fade, and one day perhaps return when doing so will not risk leading hunters to your family."
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken [Lie: the life did not have to be taken. We just didn't really try to save it. At all.]
---[X] "Speaking from personal experience, sometimes it is better to leave your homeland, even if that means you'll never see your family again, rather than return and bring further hardship upon them through your thoughtless actions. Take my advice or ignore it, it matters not to me, but you should consider moving on, not just from a destructive quest for vengeance but from Andoran entirely. Keep moving, stay ahead of those who will soon be hunting you, and get out of the country. The border of Druma is likely closer to us now than Augustana. You can start a new life for yourself, let bounties lapse and attention fade, and one day perhaps return when doing so will not risk leading hunters to your family."
nopeeee. don't like this.
The kid is a part of a community. He can go back to them since we're not going to retaliate to their attempts at revenge.
He's lived his life with the fear of anti-wereperson bigotry, and him leaving or not should be done as part of his greater group, not solo.
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken [Lie: the life did not have to be taken. We just didn't really try to save it. At all.]
@Massgamer@Artemis1992@Phyrexian your votes read to me as a diplomacy roll, as opposed to a bluff roll, or no roll at all. Maybe add in an explanation as to where the depict is, as I have above?
@Massgamer @Artemis1992 @Phyrexian your votes read to me as a diplomacy roll, as opposed to a bluff roll, or no roll at all. Maybe add in an explanation as to where the depict is, as I have above?
nopeeee. don't like this.
The kid is a part of a community. He can go back to them since we're not going to retaliate to their attempts at revenge.
He's lived his life with the fear of anti-wereperson bigotry, and him leaving or not should be done as part of his greater group, not solo.
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok
-[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way
-[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken [Lie: the life did not have to be taken. We just didn't really try to save it. At all.]
@Massgamer@Artemis1992@Phyrexian your votes read to me as a diplomacy roll, as opposed to a bluff roll, or no roll at all. Maybe add in an explanation as to where the depict is, as I have above?
@Massgamer@Artemis1992@Phyrexian your votes read to me as a diplomacy roll, as opposed to a bluff roll, or no roll at all. Maybe add in an explanation as to where the depict is, as I have above?
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 22, 2024 at 2:36 AM, finished with 11 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok -[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, heal him up, and send him home, ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way -[X] Do not apologize for killing his father, but do say you regret that his life was used by another and had to be taken
[X] Send Tobyn on his way, most trackers won't be as skilled as Gorok -[X] Return his belongings, give him back his pet rats, and heal him up, hopefully ending this feud once and for all so no more rat-kin come your way -[X] Sirim passes along one last warning mixed with some advice. --[X] "You might not care why it happened, only that he's gone now, but your father attacked the Temple of Pharasma in Augustana during a sacred ritual, and he was seen to be doing so by an Andoran Cleric. You certainly know better than any of us what kind of persecution a shape-changer such as yourself can experience in Andoran. Regardless of why he did it, his actions have made it harder for your kin to simply live their lives, and now you've done the same, if in a different manner." Sirim pauses to give the impression of hesitance, and when next he speaks his telepathic voice is heavy with regret. ---[X] "Speaking from personal experience, sometimes it is better to leave your homeland, even if that means you'll never see your family again, rather than return and bring further hardship upon them through your thoughtless actions. Take my advice or ignore it, it matters not to me, but you should consider moving on, not just from a destructive quest for vengeance but from Andoran entirely. Keep moving, stay ahead of those who will soon be hunting you, and get out of the country. The border of Druma is likely closer to us now than Augustana. You can start a new life for yourself, let bounties lapse and attention fade, and one day perhaps return when doing so will not risk leading hunters to your family."
Thinking on it, now might be the time that we should use our Mirror of Sending 3/month to our Pathfinder handler?
Let's see, 25 words max and I want to cover:
1. Dragon Path Confirmed
2. Many broad rumours have been spread in Carpenden about us looking for Adamantine, might cause complications/be useful.
3. Should we mention the hag village here? The nuance of "they're dug deep into the village, but there's no way that everyone's in on it; most people there are victims, but are likely charmed" might not be expressible in so few words.
---
Edit: I regret that it feels unreasonable to invite the kid. If it hadn't been Gorok (or any of us) that killed his dad then I'd love to have him with us. he seems cool.
As it is, I'd just feel very awkward and kinda guilty for not making the priest do his own murdering.
Then again, if it hadn't been one of us that killed his dad, the son would not be here now.
"You're giving me my stuff back?" the boy blinks suspiciously at the sight of the satchel of potions, his dagger, longbow, and even his magical belt set neatly beside it. He'd flinched from Mina's hand when she healed him, but this was apparently even more beyond the pale.
"We are trying not to kill you," you point out dryly. "Given the trouble you're in you'll need everything there and your friends' help to make it back south."
"Let this be the end of blood between us," Gorok says with simple solemnity. "Other things there are who would send us against each other as your father was sent. Let is be known that I regret he was so used, and not just for his strength in battle or the wounds he dealt."
Tobyn looks overwhelmed, his face twisting with warring emotions, but he says nothing, just grabs his things and leaves with his rat companions.
There are worse ways that this could have gone. Hopefully the trouble his words have yet to bring won't make you change your mind.
Having restocked in Carpenden the caravan sets off in the late evening, hoping to make ten miles or more on the road before the sun sets, much to the grumbling of the sellswords, though the dwarves seem more of a mind with you that it's pleasant to ride in the still fresh evening air. At times like this, when the air is crisp and the wind is playful, the colors vibrant but not blinding-bright, you can see the beauty of this world above more clearly, wide open spaces that bend beyond sight.
***
29th of Lamashan 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)
The day passes, then the one after that without being assailed by hordes of thieves or footpads. It is enough so that Mina at least starts to hope that Tobyn had overestimated his skill at persuasion, just as he had his ability to shoot Gorok, but the iruxi himself is not so sure. The long shadow of an unfamiliar forest is still ahead. Villages grow less common as you approach the woods, and also more guarded with palisades that are not just for keeping chickens and small children from wandering away. Cob has to hide, not that he finds it particularly hard mind, for goblin raids are more than children's tales here, even if they are not as common here as in other lands.
Finally, on the afternoon of the second day out from Carpenden, you see in the distance a wall of green. The Verduran Forest does not trail off into a tangled halo of saltworts and sea lavenders like the southern Whisperwood where it meets the plains. It instead rises like a wall, its battlements of oak and holy and ash draped in hemlock that's poison to touch, and through it flows a river, wide and deep, carrying logs south to where it meets the Andoshen at Oldfens. Along it runs what's called the Old River Road on your map, and from its size at least it should have as much traffic as the river.
"We are still be in lands that hunters and trappers walk on the regular, where the beasts are likely to be weary of man and the fey at least resigned to our presence," Gavhaul does his best to sound encouraging, but no one is paying him their full minds, having instead an eye to the sky. It is not going to be open for much longer.
Now that you had come to the most dangerous part of your journey, Gorok thinks it wise to look over how you keep watch.
Sugestions:
[] [Cob] Sleeps in the back of a wagon during the day, allowing him to be fresh all night
[] [Cob] Scouts alongside Gorok during the day, making it more likely you spot trouble before it spots you
[] [Kori] Uses his Automatic Writing to divine trouble each day at sunset
[] [Kori] Keeps the spell back for when there's trouble
[] [Gorok] Ranges ahead on Warty, allowing him to cover more ground around the caravan, but also potentially disturbing more of the locals with the presence of the slurk
[] [Gorok] Goes off on foot, covering less ground but also being less noticeable
[] [Mina] Uses some of her magic to empower herself and her companions at night (Write-in which)
[] [Mina] Keeps back all her magic
[] [Sirim] Tries to convince one of the iruxi warriors to let him borrow his form in an emergency. allowing him to cast without drawing attention to his true nature
[] [Sirim] Sleeps all but submerges in the ground, making him very hard to target
