Voting: Turn 3
Tag Along Android (An Isekai Quest)
- Thread starter Arcanestomper
- Start date
- Original Mature Sci-Fi Fantasy
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- original isekai lies open voting
Turn 4: The Silver Woods
Turn 4: The Silver Woods
[X] Plan Making Friends, Making Gains and Getting Gear
-[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) - Marissa x2
-[X] Go to the Market
--[X] (Optional) Generally better gear. (10 Silver limit.) - Irene
-[X] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12) - Irene
-[X] Help out around the Neighborhood - Both
-[X] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12) - Both
-[X] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10) - Marissa x2
-[X] Go to the Market
--[X] (Optional) Generally better gear. (10 Silver limit.) - Irene
-[X] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12) - Irene
-[X] Help out around the Neighborhood - Both
-[X] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12) - Both
Food: -10 Silver
Shelter: -1 Silver
Shelter: -1 Silver
The Caravanserai
Once again Marissa works the most labor intensive jobs in the caravanserai. They are full of drudgery, and while is still doing perfectly well she privately is starting to get a little sick of it. This is not how she wants to spend her life.Still she never complains. A hero helps others, and specifically a hero helps their friends. If she can make money to keep her and Irene fed and sheltered, then that's what she'll do no matter what it takes. Plus they have a trip planned.
The thought of traveling out of the city, even if it's to hunt monsters, fills Marissa with cheer and she finishes the first half of the month with a spring in her step.
Merchant Rep: +4
Coins: +18
While Marissa is working Irene searches the local stalls for proper survival gear and maybe some better weapons. She is dismayed to find that 10 silver does not go very far at all. Even the cheap rusty swords go for 50 silvers a piece. Instead Irene has to settle for bargaining with the vendors for stuff out of their junk piles.
Fortunately there's lots of salamander leather on the market due to the increased hunting parties so she's able to secure some decent leather armor for Marissa as well as some better bed rolls.
She also gets some trail rations, a good bit of rope, and two crappy knives for cutting up monsters in the field. Everything else she'll have to trust in her magic backpack.
New Item: Salamander Armor
New Item: Salamander Bed Rolls x2
New Item: Trail Rations
New Item: Rope
New Item: Knives x2
Coins: -10 Silver
While she's hunting for bargains Irene also keeps her eye out for some better method of employment. She's already got some ideas for herself. Not many people can read and write, but she's managed to teach herself the basics. She's pretty sure she can make a tidy profit scribing letters and reading them to the various people in the city.
Marissa on the other hand is a bit harder. There are trades out there, apprenticeships and such, but they seem to require an in of some kind. Relatives in the trade, a letter of recommendation from someone important, plenty of money, or sheer skill in the trade. None of which Marissa has.
Irene eventually determines that Marissa's best bet is probably trying to sign up for one of the mercenary outfits. At least for odd jobs to get a foot in the door. She returns to the neighborhood where the pair are renting a room and tells Marissa about it.
"The Red Rose looks like they're more high class. Flashy with nice armor and supposedly highly skilled. They mostly take jobs as bodyguards for wealthy merchants and traders. I think they pay the best, but it would be hard for you to get in."
"Sounds like a bunch of stuck up jerks anyway." Marissa motions for Irene to continue.
"Okay next is the Steel Company. I've heard their best in the city for real dangerous monster hunting. They take on the most dangerous jobs and charge heavily for it."
"Now that's more like it. They sound pretty cool."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure if they're taking new recruits. Apparently they're all foreigners and you have to be really good to join up. Your best bet is probably the Hammers. They just use a lot of warriors to rush things. Their pay isn't the greatest, and you'd be in a lot of danger, but they take just about anyone. And apparently they actually have some kind of health care."
"Really?" Marissa is a bit incredulous.
"Yeah everyone knows they treat their recruits like cannon fodder so the only way they get new recruits is guaranteeing good medical care to the survivors."
The two young women spend a bit more time talking about options before going to bed. The next day they rise bright and early to commence operation "Good Neighbor"
The people of Ames have been good to Marissa and Irene, and they want to pay them back with more than just silver. So they spend the next few days taking care of small chores around the neighborhood. They run errands, repair furniture, and take care of the children.
The families that receive the most help are of course the ones in the same building as Marissa and Irene. These are the Marcus, Smith, and Lornt extended families. Several dozen adults and a brood of children make the place a hive of activity from when the cavern braziers are first lit to when they're extinguished.
Two extra pairs of hands doesn't have a huge impact on the running of the households, but it does free up the other adults to spend more time on their jobs. And every little bit of extra silver saved or earned goes a long way in the shanty towns.
Ames Neighborhood Rep: +4
The Silver Woods
Finally at the end of the month the duo finally get a chance to leave the caravanserai. They exit the mountain and breath in the fresh air with relief before setting off on the trek to the silver woods. Irene was told that it usually takes three days to reach the woods, but Marissa is so excited that they make it in two.Setting up camp on the edge of the woods they contemplate the strange forest. Irene thought the woods would just have silver leaves or something, but it turns out to be even stranger than that. They're strange things with patches of almost metallic bark. Instead of leaves they have white globes that softly chime in the breeze.
Marissa gazes at the trees in awe, "Wow, this is not what I expected."
Irene wordlessly nods in agreement. And then the pair starts to carefully explore the woods. They don't find anything on the first day. So Marissa convinces Irene that they should stop being so cautious and venture deeper into the woods. Reluctantly Irene agrees.
After about an hour of traveling deeper into the strange chiming woods they finally spot a beast. It's like a deer, but not quite. It has long spindly legs and a triangular head with glowing eyes. As soon as it spots the pair it wails eerily and charges them.
It looks ungainly with its spindly legs, but its one Marissa before she can do more than bring her shield up. Whipping its head around it smashes straight into her shield and pushes her back several feet.
She responds by hitting it with her sword, but her blade just bounces off its white hide. She tries again and again, but makes little progress as the beast keeps trying to snake its neck past her shield and bite her face off.
Irene moves off to the side so Marissa isn't in her line of fire and starts shooting. She doesn't have much success either with her bullets just deflecting off the beast's apparently invulnerable hide. Then she manages to get a shot off on its knee and the beast stumbles to the ground with a crack.
That doesn't stop it though and it manages to keep scrambling after Marissa, determined to extract its share of blood.
All told it takes nearly four hours as Marissa keeps its attention while Irene disables each of its legs. Even then the thing is still incredibly vicious. Even on the ground unable to move the beast keeps trying to bite Marissa when she comes close and thrashes its legs in an attempt to hit anything and everything nearby. Marissa finally resorts to grabbing its head and stabbing her sword through each of its eyes.
As the beast finally spasms through its last death throes Marissa doubles over panting. "Oh man, that was." She takes a wheezing breath. "That was way harder than a salamander."
Irene comes over and passes her friend some water. "We killed it finally.. How much xp did you get?"
Marissa gives her a thumbs up, "I got 150. Way better than a salamander too."
Irene tries to cut the thing with her knife and is unsurprised to see it do nothing. "Well that's good. I'm not sure if we're going to get anything else off it. Not with these knives anyway."
Marissa looks up stubbornly and pulls out her sword again. "I'm not leaving until we get something. Let me try."
It takes another hour, but Marissa finally manages to get one of the legs off with a combination of brute force and levering her sword into its shoulder.
Check Failed
Coins: +5 Silver
Marissa XP: +150
Marissa Health: Injured
The Guardian of the Woods
Night is following by the time two women head back to their camp. Marissa is only carrying the one leg. The rest of the beast proved just too tough and heavy for her to carry. But based on what she's seen in the markets Irene has high hopes for what they'll be able to sell it for. And besides this is just the first day. They'll come back tomorrow and see what else they can harvest.Their walk is interrupted by a crashing sound as something heavy comes barrelling through the trees. The pair immediately start running. If the equivalent of deer gave them so much trouble they don't want to fight whatever is making that noise.
Unfortunately they don't get very far before an enormous beast comes barreling out of the woods. It would be a bear, if a bear had metal stilts for legs and a pair of bladed mandibles for a mouth. The monstrous bear roars in an eerie two pitched voice.
Marissa gasps and pushes Irene forward even as she turns to bring her shield up. "Run!! It's a boss!"
Irene turns to protest, but before she can the bear swipes Marissa with a long spindly paw. She catches it on her shield just like with the smaller beast, but this time it's too much for her. The force of the blow throws Marissa into the air, past Irene, and into a tree. There is a sickening crack at odds with the cheerful chiming set off in the tree's globular leaves.
Irene shoots the bear a few times and runs to check on her friend. Unfortunately the bullets only cause the monster to shake its head in annoyance. Almost contemptuously it rears back and smashes her into the ground before she can make it more than a few steps.
Code:
===Warning Start===
Mission Target Status: Critical
Warning Priority Directive One: Threatened
Calculating Witnesses: 0
Combat Interlocks: Disengaged
Enemy Combatant: Unknown Zoological Lifeform
Engaging Manifold Blade
Enemy Combatant: Eliminated
Checking Mission Target: Critical Condition
–Warning Priority Directive One: Threatened
–Medical Interlocks: Disengaged
Applying Surgical Package:
–Applied
Applying Surgical Package
–Applied
Applying Surgical Package
–Denied
–Warning Priority Directive Two: Threatened
–Medical Interlocks: Engaged
Medical Override Alpha One: Denied - Mission Target is Stable
Medical Override Alpha Two: Denied - Mission Target is Stable
Medical Override Alpha Three: Denied - Mission Target is Stable
Medical Override Alpha One: Denied - Mission Target is Stable
–Medical Overrides: Locked
Engaging Manifold Blade
Engaging Manifold Blade
Engaging Manifold Blade
…Processing…
Query (Witnesses): 0
Query (Mission Target Threatened by): Unknown Zoological Lifeforms
Pinging Radar: Unknown Zoological Lifeforms Detected: 3,201
New Subdirective Created: Eliminate Threats to Mission Target in location(Silver_Woods)
Evaluating Directives: No conflict found.
Subdirective Accepted: Initiating Combat Sweep
===Warning End===Marissa awoke on her little bed of hides covered in bandages and in enormous pain. Tilting her head she saw Irene staring at her with a worried look. Through gritted teeth she managed to croak out, "What happened? The last thing I remember was the bear."
With a look that mixed relief and worry Irene patted her hand. "I managed to pick you up and run away. It turns out the main road wasn't too far away and there was a caravan there. The guards managed to force the bear back and I hitched a ride back to the city with you and took you to the temple. The priests said you weren't going to die, but it's been nearly a week. I was so worried."
Marissa tries to laugh but it is aborted by the pain, "Hah well, I'm too tough for that. I'm not going to die to some random bear."
Irene smiles a little sadly and in all seriousness says, "No, no you won't."
Marissa Health: Wounded
Actions
Marissa and Irene can each take four actions each turn. Each turn is a month and each action represents about a week's worth of effort, though that time might be interspersed throughout the month.Marissa cannot take any actions besides Rest as long as she is wounded. She will take a penalty to rolls as long as she is injured.
DCs: For now all DCs are at the Bone level. Which means Marissa will auto pass any defense checks.
Other Actions: If you want to do something that isn't listed I'd be happy to add an action for it. There's no way I've thought of everything possible.
Survival - New!
Shelter
[ ] Camp in the WoodsMarissa and Irene have been roughing it in the obsidian wastes for over a month now. By comparison the side of the mountain is almost idyllic. Still not exactly comfortable though.
Cost: Free
Shelter: Uncomfortable
Danger: Low
[ ] Find an abandoned Shack
The Caravanserai layer is a bustling place full of merchants and foreigners. There are lots of buildings that get built in one year and abandoned the next when their residents leave or go out of business. Marissa and Irene can take one over. Unfortunately the good spots already have residents.
Cost: Free
Shelter: Adequate
Danger: Medium
[ ] Rent a Room (Default)
For similar reasons renting cheap rooms to travelers is a good business in the Caravanserai. There are plenty of places that can rent out small rooms for low prices. They aren't very nice rooms, but the main benefit is not needing to worry about someone stealing your stuff while you're sleeping.
Cost: 1 Silver
Shelter: Decent
Danger: Low
[ ] Rent a Nice Room
There are plenty of merchants who want somewhere actually decent to stay, and plenty of inn keepers willing to accommodate them. It won't be cheap, but if Marissa and Irene can put together the money they could have somewhere nice to stay.
Cost: 1 Gold
Shelter: Good
Danger: None
Bonus: Includes Decent Meals
Food
[ ] Cook Monster MeatThey did it in the obsidian wastes. They can do it again. Marissa and Irene will live off the meat of the monsters they hunt. Marissa will not be happy.
Cost: Free
Food Quality: Terrible
Requires: Hunt Monsters
[ ] Buy Spices and Fruits
If nothing else Marissa wants to augment their meals with some nice things. Bread and some spices at least. Maybe some fruits and vegetables. Eating monster meat all the time can't be healthy after all. This will cost a bit of money, but get the food quality up to acceptable levels.
Cost: 2 Silver
Food Quality: Adequate
[ ] Meals (Default)
There are plenty of people selling actual meals in the Caravanserai. It's more expensive than subsisting on monster meat, but Marissa will breathe a sigh of relief.
Cost: 10 Silver
Food Quality: Decent
Recovery
[ ] RestSometimes things go wrong and people get hurt. There isn't much recourse for this in the caravanserai shanty towns. The priests of Seok at least help with the worst of it, but they won't or can't heal anything beyond that. There are medicines on the market, but they're well outside the duo's price range at the moment. So all that can be done is to keep injuries clean, rest, and let bodies heal themselves.
-[ ] Wounded - Takes 3 Actions to fully recover
-[ ] Injured - Takes 1 Action to fully recover
Adventuring
[ ] Hunt Monsters (Strength vs 12, Defense vs 12)
The local monsters aren't terribly strong. At least not outside the mountain. Caravan guards, the local garrison, and higher level adventurers deal with anything too dangerous. Still there are plenty of monsters that just aren't worth their time. These monsters are too weak to threaten anything major, but they're just right for a pair of new adventurers to practice their skills on. And in a pinch eat.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
[ ] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12)
The Silver Forest is far enough out of the way that it'll be more than a day trip to get there. Marissa will have to travel for several days and camp out once she arrives. Once there she'll scout around for some of the local monsters to kill. She's heard they're a lot tougher than the salamanders so she'll have to be careful.
Irene refuses to let Marissa do this alone. She will go as well to help find weaker monsters and fight stronger ones. As such this will cost an action from both of them.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
The local monsters aren't terribly strong. At least not outside the mountain. Caravan guards, the local garrison, and higher level adventurers deal with anything too dangerous. Still there are plenty of monsters that just aren't worth their time. These monsters are too weak to threaten anything major, but they're just right for a pair of new adventurers to practice their skills on. And in a pinch eat.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
[ ] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12)
The Silver Forest is far enough out of the way that it'll be more than a day trip to get there. Marissa will have to travel for several days and camp out once she arrives. Once there she'll scout around for some of the local monsters to kill. She's heard they're a lot tougher than the salamanders so she'll have to be careful.
Irene refuses to let Marissa do this alone. She will go as well to help find weaker monsters and fight stronger ones. As such this will cost an action from both of them.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
Knowledge - New!
[ ] Learn a Language
-[ ] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 16)
Marissa got full fluency in the local languages automatically, but Irene wasn't so lucky. She'll need to study the old fashioned way to learn the language. Fortunately she's quite smart. And she's not above overclocking a bit to learn it even faster. It's not like anyone can see what's happening inside her own head.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Train a Skill
- [ ] Write In
Marissa and Irene both have things they are good at and things they need to work on. They can set some time aside to work on their skills.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14)
-[ ] Target Organization: Write In
With increasing proficiency in the language it might be possible to gather more information about a specific organization.
[ ] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
-[ ] Write In
Check something out in more detail.
[ ] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12)
Odd jobs are okay for a while, but if Marissa and Irene are going to get very far they need a stable source of income. Unfortunately they're probably going to have to start from the very bottom.
-[ ] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 16)
Marissa got full fluency in the local languages automatically, but Irene wasn't so lucky. She'll need to study the old fashioned way to learn the language. Fortunately she's quite smart. And she's not above overclocking a bit to learn it even faster. It's not like anyone can see what's happening inside her own head.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Train a Skill
- [ ] Write In
Marissa and Irene both have things they are good at and things they need to work on. They can set some time aside to work on their skills.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14)
-[ ] Target Organization: Write In
With increasing proficiency in the language it might be possible to gather more information about a specific organization.
[ ] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
-[ ] Write In
Check something out in more detail.
[ ] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12)
Odd jobs are okay for a while, but if Marissa and Irene are going to get very far they need a stable source of income. Unfortunately they're probably going to have to start from the very bottom.
The Caravanserai - New!
[ ] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10)
Haul crates, wrangle beasts, and do the grunt work that the merchant caravans need doing. This is hard work and doesn't pay much, but it provides a steady source of income.
Pay: 1 Silver + Stamina Successes
Merchant Rep: +1
[ ] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8)
It would be possible to do some scribe work reading and writing letters for people who can't on their own. With some work this could even provide a steady business. Unfortunately Irene can't read and write the local languages at the moment. And Marissa isn't really suited for this kind of work.
Requires: Language Proficiency (Ordinary)
Pay: 1 Silver + Intelligence Successes
[ ] Do Some Accounting (Intelligence vs 14, Intelligence Pay vs 10)
If people who can read are in demand, then people who can read and do reliable math are even more so. The businesses and merchants will pay well for someone to handle this. However it will require a substantial level of trust first.
Requires: Merchant Reputation: Trusted
Pay: 50 Silver + 5x Intelligence Successes
[ ] Apply to a Mercenary Company
-[ ] Red Rose
-[ ] Steel Company
-[ ] The Hammers
Marissa will apply to a mercenary company as a warrior, freelancer, janitor, whatever gets her in the door. All the mercenary companies have different recruiting standards so the result will depend on which one she applies for.
[ ] Go to the Market
-[ ] (Optional) What are you looking for?
This is the Caravanserai. There are thousands of things being bought and sold all the time. It's quite possible that Marissa and Irene could find things to make their lives easier here.
[ ] Have something made
-[ ] Write In
This is literally the kingdom of dwarves. You can get practically anything made here from pottery to crossbows to masterwork swords. Still you probably aren't going to find the best craftsmanship up here in the Caravanserai. You need to go deeper to find the better smiths. Of course those would be more expensive.
Haul crates, wrangle beasts, and do the grunt work that the merchant caravans need doing. This is hard work and doesn't pay much, but it provides a steady source of income.
Pay: 1 Silver + Stamina Successes
Merchant Rep: +1
[ ] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8)
It would be possible to do some scribe work reading and writing letters for people who can't on their own. With some work this could even provide a steady business. Unfortunately Irene can't read and write the local languages at the moment. And Marissa isn't really suited for this kind of work.
Requires: Language Proficiency (Ordinary)
Pay: 1 Silver + Intelligence Successes
[ ] Do Some Accounting (Intelligence vs 14, Intelligence Pay vs 10)
If people who can read are in demand, then people who can read and do reliable math are even more so. The businesses and merchants will pay well for someone to handle this. However it will require a substantial level of trust first.
Requires: Merchant Reputation: Trusted
Pay: 50 Silver + 5x Intelligence Successes
[ ] Apply to a Mercenary Company
-[ ] Red Rose
-[ ] Steel Company
-[ ] The Hammers
Marissa will apply to a mercenary company as a warrior, freelancer, janitor, whatever gets her in the door. All the mercenary companies have different recruiting standards so the result will depend on which one she applies for.
[ ] Go to the Market
-[ ] (Optional) What are you looking for?
This is the Caravanserai. There are thousands of things being bought and sold all the time. It's quite possible that Marissa and Irene could find things to make their lives easier here.
[ ] Have something made
-[ ] Write In
This is literally the kingdom of dwarves. You can get practically anything made here from pottery to crossbows to masterwork swords. Still you probably aren't going to find the best craftsmanship up here in the Caravanserai. You need to go deeper to find the better smiths. Of course those would be more expensive.
Relationships
[ ] Give Marissa her gift
Irene has been hauling around a present for Marissa for a while now. It's sure to raise her mood when Irene finally gives it to her.
(Locked: Until you have an Adequate place to stay. And it will have better results with increased quality of shelter.)
[ ] Help out around the Neighborhood
If they're going to be staying in the area long it would probably be a good idea for Marissa and Irene to help the local families in order to strengthen their bonds. Marissa just wants to help, and Irene somewhat more cynically thinks the locals would be less likely to sell out the pair for whatever reason if they've established closer ties with the neighborhood families.
Ames Neighborhood Rep: +2
Irene has been hauling around a present for Marissa for a while now. It's sure to raise her mood when Irene finally gives it to her.
(Locked: Until you have an Adequate place to stay. And it will have better results with increased quality of shelter.)
[ ] Help out around the Neighborhood
If they're going to be staying in the area long it would probably be a good idea for Marissa and Irene to help the local families in order to strengthen their bonds. Marissa just wants to help, and Irene somewhat more cynically thinks the locals would be less likely to sell out the pair for whatever reason if they've established closer ties with the neighborhood families.
Ames Neighborhood Rep: +2
Crime
Neither Marissa nor Irene are willing to turn to criminal activities just yet.
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
@Arcanestomper Is Marissa injured and wounded? Or did the wounded status override the injured one? Just wanna know if Marissa is gonna need 3 or 4 actions to recover.
Being wounded is one step worse than being injured. So you can't be both, but you could spend two weeks going from Wounded to Injured instead of three weeks to become fully healed.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Couple more questions. How high does our merchant rep have to be to be Trusted? Also I don't see an action to work for one of the mercenary groups we scoped out. Would that be under [] Learn more about a specific Organization?
At least 40 to be trusted.
I realized I forget to add an action for applying so I added one in the Caravanserai. It says Marissa, but Irene can try too if she wants.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
-[X] Rest - Marissa x3
-[X] Train a Skill - Marissa
--[X] 🗡️🛡️
-[x] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8) - Irene x2
-[X] Train a Skill - Irene
--[X] Spear
-[X] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14) - Irene
--[X] Target Organization: The Knives
Maybe we can try joining the Steel Company after we train a bit more
-[X] Rest - Marissa x3
-[X] Train a Skill - Marissa
--[X] 🗡️🛡️
-[x] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8) - Irene x2
-[X] Train a Skill - Irene
--[X] Spear
-[X] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14) - Irene
--[X] Target Organization: The Knives
Maybe we can try joining the Steel Company after we train a bit more
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@Arcanestomper Is there any particular reason that's the first time we got reputation with the merchants or?
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
What do you mean? You've gotten reputation from the merchants every time.
@Arcanestomper
Then I go look at the character sheet to see it as 4. Have you just not updated it yet or is the +4 the total?
Then I go look at the character sheet to see it as 4. Have you just not updated it yet or is the +4 the total?
I must have forgotten to update it last turn. I haven't updated anything from this turn yet.
@CedeTheBees We should PROBABLY get Marissa up to ordinary level sword and board skill first. (Rereading things and realized she doesn't even technically have her skill at a high enough level to use them in combat. So until now, she's been brute forcing everything. <_< )
Sword and Board (Insufficient): (Passive) Use a short sword to deal damage and keep the enemies attention while shielding yourself.
Insufficient -
Someone who has been using a skill for a while and can reliably use the skill is at this level. That is they can reliably execute in a calm training environment with some concentration. They likely still can't use it for its intended purpose.
So she'd end up embarrassing herself! (Oopsie. We probably should have looked at this sooner before we decided to fight stronger enemies. <_< )
Sword and Board (Insufficient): (Passive) Use a short sword to deal damage and keep the enemies attention while shielding yourself.
Insufficient -
Someone who has been using a skill for a while and can reliably use the skill is at this level. That is they can reliably execute in a calm training environment with some concentration. They likely still can't use it for its intended purpose.
So she'd end up embarrassing herself! (Oopsie. We probably should have looked at this sooner before we decided to fight stronger enemies. <_< )
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Yeah that's probably the smart thing to do. Went ahead and changed the merc action to that
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Changed one of Irene's job actions to a spear training one. We'll need to be at least decent with a weapon if we wanna have our girl's back on those mercenary jobs.
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
Training and hard work. Basically the same way normal people in this world do. Which notably you have not found out about yet.
Interlude: The Silver Tower
Interlude: The Silver Tower
And the human man looking at it now was very perceptive indeed. With a swift kick he launched it up and into his waiting hand where he turned it over for a few minutes while examining the extremely clean cut at what had once been the limb's shoulder. "Looks like another Skulker. What does that make it now Gros?"
Beside him the short bundle of armor that was his dwarven companion poked the rest of the beast's misshapen body with an axe. "Gotta be at least a few dozen of them I'd say. What do you think did all this?" He waved his arm at the trail of destruction they had been following. With trees sliced in half and craters littering the ground.
"I'd say some kind of monster. Either fully corrupted or getting there. Doesn't make sense for one to just clear everything out like this if it was just after territory." The man touched the cut once more. "Steel Grade at least."
"Steel! Here!" the dwarf protested, surprised and taken aback. "We're talking about the Silver Woods here, not the Dead Lands. Nothing, but the Mother Bear herself is more than Stone Grade."
"Yeah, but numbers matter. You've seen how many dead beasts we've come across just as well as I have. And I've been looking at these cuts. It doesn't matter what they were. Skulkers, thin faces, even thatchers they're always just as sharp and clean. Whatever did this wasn't exerting itself at all. I think even Captain Kard would be losing a little focus after this many."
"Steel Grade?" The dwarf muttered before turning to the man. "Well I guess we're going to need to tell the king about this. A monster like that so close to Dreosaston is big trouble."
"Boss! Boss!" A high pitched voice proceeded a young half elf careening into the clearing. "Boss! You've gotta see this!"
"Calm down Thrika, what is it?" said the man as he wiped his hands on a nearby tree trunk.
"It's more beasts, but well you've gotta see this for yourself. I can't describe it."
"Well aright then. Lead the way." The trio proceeded into the woods until they arrived in an even larger clearing. One that had obviously been enlarged recently given the numerous tree trunks laying everywhere. But that wasn't what caught everyone's attention.
No, what immediately caught the eye was the tower in the middle of the clearing. Countless bones made up the frame, and limbs wrapped around it in patterns that someone had obviously taken great care to make as precise as possible. The tower as a whole resembled a very thin pyramid with an inverted dome at the top covered with stretched beast hide. The silvery skins of the beasts seemed to shine every so often, and energy occasionally crackled along the tower.
"By Olm what is this," for once the man seemed aghast before quickly regaining his stoic expression. Pulling a medallion from his pocket he pointed it at the tower and thumbed a button on it's side. "Teresa are you seeing this?"
"Oh my," a feminine voice resounded from the medallion. "Yeah I see it. This is amazing. I've never seen anything like this before. Don't get close though. I don't recognize the enchantment on the tower, but it's absolutely loaded with lightning magic."
Behind him the half elf dropped back to talk with the dwarf, "What's going on Gros. You ever seen anything like this?"
Lifting his helmet the dwarf spit on the ground and muttered, "Not a monster, cultists. Damn cultists."
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Hummmmm. Oops?
(Totally wasn't my plan that got us involved in that forest, nope not at all. <_< )
(Totally wasn't my plan that got us involved in that forest, nope not at all. <_< )
Voting: Turn 4
I'm going to try and get this updated tomorrow. I'd do it tonight, but my sleep schedule is all out of whack and I'm about to crash.
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Turn 5: Recovering
Turn 5: Recovering
[X] Plan: New Jobs!
-[X] Rest - Marissa x3
-[X] Train a Skill - Marissa
--[X] 🗡️🛡️
-[x] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8) - Irene x2
-[X] Train a Skill - Irene
--[X] Spear
-[X] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14) - Irene
--[X] Target Organization: The Knives
-[X] Rest - Marissa x3
-[X] Train a Skill - Marissa
--[X] 🗡️🛡️
-[x] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8) - Irene x2
-[X] Train a Skill - Irene
--[X] Spear
-[X] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14) - Irene
--[X] Target Organization: The Knives
Costs
Food: -10 Silver
Shelter: -1 Silver
Money
Gold: 0
Silver: 24 -> 13
Copper: 60
Food: -10 Silver
Shelter: -1 Silver
Money
Gold: 0
Silver: 24 -> 13
Copper: 60
Marissa's Recuperation
For the first half of the month Marissa is almost completely bed bound. Irene takes cares of her with the best medical treatment available. Which unfortunately is mostly just changing her bandages and applying some herbs she got from one of the local priests.
She is understandably worried about the possibility of infection, but other than a fever for the first few days Marissa recovers remarkably quickly. In fact by the middle of the month she is limping around complaining of boredom. Irene is fairly stumped. She is certain Marissa shouldn't be recovering so swiftly, but she keeps her worries to herself.
It's not a bad thing for Marissa to recover faster than normal right?
Marissa Health: Normal
By the end of the month Marissa stubbornly refuses to stay in bed any longer. Despite Irene's chiding she recovers her sword and shield and heads to the courtyard of their tenement. She is swiftly surrounded by a dozen children who aren't going to pass up this kind of entertainment. And with their encouragement stares she commences training herself to get a better handle on fighting with a sword and shield.
Once she is confident in her basic movements, which is mostly just a matter of checking that she really is healed, Marissa makes a fairly lackluster dummy and practices fighting it. The first few times go fairly well and she's feeling fairly confident until Irene swaps out the dummy for the one she made. That results in several embarrassing defeats as the dummy's spring loaded limb smash past her shield. It doesn't hurt Marissa of course, but the laughter of the children stings.
Eventually however Marissa gets the hang of it. She learns how to angle her shield in a fight and keep her guard up while still being able to land good hits with her sword.
Sword and Board (Ordinary)
Irene's New Job
While all this is going on Irene has been going out and about through the Caravanserai looking for people who might be in need of a scribe. She sets up a small stall near the lower class of inn where the trader's servants stay and advertises her services.
Business is fairly slow at first, but she eventually gets a few takers looking to have her write letters for them. And as word spreads she slowly gets more and more customers from caravan workers who have letters they've been saving from home.
Some residents of the shanty town even come up to her with carefully hoarded letters they've kept for months or even years about their relatives. A few even have people they've left behind, and they ask Irene to write letters to try and reassure them or encourage them to come to Dreosaston.
Given their lack of any real money Irene doesn't charge these people as much for letters as she does the caravan workers. Something that they greatly appreciate her for.
Coins: +19 Silver
Neighborhood: +8
Irene doesn't just do scribe work either. She also wants a way to both fight and blend in a bit better than her handgun. So she builds a dummy to practice her spear work with. It's roughly the size of a human and she loads it with springs and mechanisms that allow it to fight back surprisingly effectively.
In fact Irene thinks she might have done too good a job. Once she's done it's interior is a rather intricate maze of clockwork. But hopefully no one will ever take a good look inside. Unless it gets destroyed of course, but if that happens it probably won't be noticeable exactly how advanced it was.
Irene then trains with her crude spear against the dummy. This is actually the tricky part. Even with her makeshift spear Irene could easily defeat a wooden dummy, but that shouldn't be possible for someone with no prior training. So most of her training is actually experimenting with how to make herself look sufficiently poor to be believable.
Once she thinks she's gotten the hang of it she pulls the dummy out of the secluded alley where she's been practicing and gives it to Marissa to use.
Spear (Insufficient)
Irene also spends some time on the lookout for the Knives. She gather more information about how they are organized and where their bases are. There isn't a lot to go on mostly because they aren't really organized at all.
The Knives are really just a couple dozen small gangs of five to ten people that manage their own tiny territories. Sometimes a street or two, sometimes just a single tenement. The only thing that brings them together is that while they're charging protection money to the people in their territories they also pay dues to a few larger gangs that cover a larger area. There are three of these, each led by a gang leader who sounds fairly tough; the Rock, the Knife, and the Chain. These in turn pay a chunk of their earnings to own final gang which is the Knives proper lead by someone called Mr. Muxton.
Occasionally orders come down from the higher gangs to organize larger operations, but mostly the small gangs are left to themselves. It was one of these that Marissa and Irene ran into. And unfortunately Irene realizes that she has been less discreet than she thought when she overhears some of the Rock's gangs specifically talking about the "two girls in Ames."
Fortunately there seems to be a bit of a jurisdictional dispute over which gang actually has the right to Ames since the last one was wiped out in some heist gone wrong. Also it seems like most of the Knives normal gang members are just desperate refugees who have turned to crime, which means they aren't really any more stronger than their neighbors.
Marissa should be able to easily handle them. It seems the three main gangs are tougher though. Irene has heard whispers of them having "Bone" thugs. She isn't certain what that means exactly, but she heard the same thing when people referred to the monsters in the Silver Wood. And given how hard it was to deal with those, it probably won't be good to run into gang members who are similarly strong.
Check Failed
A Vengeful Knife: [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
A Bag of Silver
One day Irene is packing up her scribe stall. That isn't hard as it's basically a plank sitting on two crates with a stool behind. She's getting a little tired of hauling it out to the market every day though and is considering if maybe she should ask some of her neighbors with larger more permanent stalls where they store theirs when a shadow calls across her.
She looks up to see a human man in leather armor looking at her. He looks a bit more well armored than the usual caravan guard, but that just means he has more money to spend so Irene flips the plank back on the crates and smiles at him. "How can I help you sir?"
The man eyes her and then says, "Girl, I heard you're the one who sold a Knacker leg here last month."
Irene doesn't know what a Knacker leg is. She can guess, but she doesn't like where this is going. So she gives him her best confused stare, "I'm sorry sir. I don't know what you're talking about."
"A knacker. Big skinny beasts with long legs that live in the silver woods. Don't see many of their parts in these parts. So when a skinny refugee girl hauls a leg into the meat market people get to talking."
He drops a bag on the table that jingles with coins. When Irene checks it they're all silver and on top sits a vial of green liquid. "Sir, what's this?"
"See the meat market's not the best place to sell them. They're better for alchemy than meat. Nobody is going to be able to pay full price."
Irene tries to keep her smile straight while the man eyes her before continuing, "I also heard that this girl has a friend who hunts salamanders, and last month they went out for a week and came back looking like they were run over by a herd of oxen. That's not surprising if they were fighting knackers. What's surprising is that they lived. That says they've got potential to me."
He flips a small metal token onto the table.
"If you happen to know a pair of girls like that, then you tell them to come by the Steel Company and ask for Mr. Cadwhistle. They should get some training before they run into something they can't handle. There are worse things in the Silver Woods than knackers."
As he walks away Irene considers her options. Is the man, she assumes the Mr. Cadwhistle in question, legit, or is this some kind of trap. Should she tell Marissa or not. If she does she's sure Marissa is going to want to go immediately. Marissa always assumes the best of people.
Coins: 20 Silver
New Item: Minor Health Potion
New Item: Steel Company Token
Actions
Marissa and Irene can each take four actions each turn. Each turn is a month and each action represents about a week's worth of effort, though that time might be interspersed throughout the month.DCs: For now all DCs are at the Bone level. Which means Marissa will auto pass any defense checks.
Other Actions: If you want to do something that isn't listed I'd be happy to add an action for it. There's no way I've thought of everything possible.
Survival
Shelter
[ ] Camp in the WoodsMarissa and Irene have been roughing it in the obsidian wastes for over a month now. By comparison the side of the mountain is almost idyllic. Still not exactly comfortable though.
Cost: Free
Shelter: Uncomfortable
Danger: Low
[ ] Find an abandoned Shack
The Caravanserai layer is a bustling place full of merchants and foreigners. There are lots of buildings that get built in one year and abandoned the next when their residents leave or go out of business. Marissa and Irene can take one over. Unfortunately the good spots already have residents.
Cost: Free
Shelter: Adequate
Danger: Medium
[ ] Rent a Room (Default)
For similar reasons renting cheap rooms to travelers is a good business in the Caravanserai. There are plenty of places that can rent out small rooms for low prices. They aren't very nice rooms, but the main benefit is not needing to worry about someone stealing your stuff while you're sleeping.
Cost: 1 Silver
Shelter: Decent
Danger: Low
[ ] Rent a Nice Room
There are plenty of merchants who want somewhere actually decent to stay, and plenty of inn keepers willing to accommodate them. It won't be cheap, but if Marissa and Irene can put together the money they could have somewhere nice to stay.
Cost: 1 Gold
Shelter: Good
Danger: None
Bonus: Includes Decent Meals
Food
[ ] Cook Monster MeatThey did it in the obsidian wastes. They can do it again. Marissa and Irene will live off the meat of the monsters they hunt. Marissa will not be happy.
Cost: Free
Food Quality: Terrible
Requires: Hunt Monsters
[ ] Buy Spices and Fruits
If nothing else Marissa wants to augment their meals with some nice things. Bread and some spices at least. Maybe some fruits and vegetables. Eating monster meat all the time can't be healthy after all. This will cost a bit of money, but get the food quality up to acceptable levels.
Cost: 2 Silver
Food Quality: Adequate
[ ] Meals (Default)
There are plenty of people selling actual meals in the Caravanserai. It's more expensive than subsisting on monster meat, but Marissa will breathe a sigh of relief.
Cost: 10 Silver
Food Quality: Decent
Recovery
[ ] RestSometimes things go wrong and people get hurt. There isn't much recourse for this in the caravanserai shanty towns. The priests of Seok at least help with the worst of it, but they won't or can't heal anything beyond that. There are medicines on the market, but they're well outside the duo's price range at the moment. So all that can be done is to keep injuries clean, rest, and let bodies heal themselves.
-[ ] Wounded - Takes 3 Actions to fully recover
-[ ] Injured - Takes 1 Action to fully recover
Adventuring
[ ] Hunt Monsters (Strength vs 12, Defense vs 12)
The local monsters aren't terribly strong. At least not outside the mountain. Caravan guards, the local garrison, and higher level adventurers deal with anything too dangerous. Still there are plenty of monsters that just aren't worth their time. These monsters are too weak to threaten anything major, but they're just right for a pair of new adventurers to practice their skills on. And in a pinch eat.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
[ ] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12)
The Silver Forest is far enough out of the way that it'll be more than a day trip to get there. Marissa will have to travel for several days and camp out once she arrives. Once there she'll scout around for some of the local monsters to kill. She's heard they're a lot tougher than the salamanders so she'll have to be careful.
Irene refuses to let Marissa do this alone. She will go as well to help find weaker monsters and fight stronger ones. As such this will cost an action from both of them.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
The local monsters aren't terribly strong. At least not outside the mountain. Caravan guards, the local garrison, and higher level adventurers deal with anything too dangerous. Still there are plenty of monsters that just aren't worth their time. These monsters are too weak to threaten anything major, but they're just right for a pair of new adventurers to practice their skills on. And in a pinch eat.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
[ ] Travel to the Silver Forest (Stone: Strength vs 12, Stone: Defense vs 12)
The Silver Forest is far enough out of the way that it'll be more than a day trip to get there. Marissa will have to travel for several days and camp out once she arrives. Once there she'll scout around for some of the local monsters to kill. She's heard they're a lot tougher than the salamanders so she'll have to be careful.
Irene refuses to let Marissa do this alone. She will go as well to help find weaker monsters and fight stronger ones. As such this will cost an action from both of them.
Gives: XP based on Strength Successes
Knowledge
[ ] Learn a Language
-[ ] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 16)
Marissa got full fluency in the local languages automatically, but Irene wasn't so lucky. She'll need to study the old fashioned way to learn the language. Fortunately she's quite smart. And she's not above overclocking a bit to learn it even faster. It's not like anyone can see what's happening inside her own head.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Train a Skill
- [ ] Write In
Marissa and Irene both have things they are good at and things they need to work on. They can set some time aside to work on their skills.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14)
-[ ] Target Organization: Write In
With increasing proficiency in the language it might be possible to gather more information about a specific organization.
[ ] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
-[ ] Write In
Check something out in more detail.
[ ] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12)
Odd jobs are okay for a while, but if Marissa and Irene are going to get very far they need a stable source of income. Unfortunately they're probably going to have to start from the very bottom.
-[ ] Stone Tongue (Intelligence vs DC 16)
Marissa got full fluency in the local languages automatically, but Irene wasn't so lucky. She'll need to study the old fashioned way to learn the language. Fortunately she's quite smart. And she's not above overclocking a bit to learn it even faster. It's not like anyone can see what's happening inside her own head.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Train a Skill
- [ ] Write In
Marissa and Irene both have things they are good at and things they need to work on. They can set some time aside to work on their skills.
Increases Skill Proficiency one level up to Ordinary
[ ] Learn more about a specific Organization (Perception vs 14)
-[ ] Target Organization: Write In
With increasing proficiency in the language it might be possible to gather more information about a specific organization.
[ ] Look into something (Perception vs 12)
-[ ] Write In
Check something out in more detail.
[ ] Look for more serious Employment (Perception vs 12)
Odd jobs are okay for a while, but if Marissa and Irene are going to get very far they need a stable source of income. Unfortunately they're probably going to have to start from the very bottom.
The Caravanserai
[ ] Do Some Manual Labor (Strength vs 12, Stamina Pay vs 10)
Haul crates, wrangle beasts, and do the grunt work that the merchant caravans need doing. This is hard work and doesn't pay much, but it provides a steady source of income.
Pay: 1 Silver + Stamina Successes
Merchant Rep: +1
[ ] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8)
It would be possible to do some scribe work reading and writing letters for people who can't on their own. With some work this could even provide a steady business. Unfortunately Irene can't read and write the local languages at the moment. And Marissa isn't really suited for this kind of work.
Requires: Language Proficiency (Ordinary)
Pay: 1 Silver + Intelligence Successes
[ ] Do Some Accounting (Intelligence vs 14, Intelligence Pay vs 10)
If people who can read are in demand, then people who can read and do reliable math are even more so. The businesses and merchants will pay well for someone to handle this. However it will require a substantial level of trust first.
Requires: Merchant Reputation: Trusted
Pay: 50 Silver + 5x Intelligence Successes
[ ] Apply to a Mercenary Company
-[ ] Red Rose
-[ ] Steel Company
-[ ] The Hammers
Marissa will apply to a mercenary company as a warrior, freelancer, janitor, whatever gets her in the door. All the mercenary companies have different recruiting standards so the result will depend on which one she applies for.
[ ] Go to the Market
-[ ] (Optional) What are you looking for?
This is the Caravanserai. There are thousands of things being bought and sold all the time. It's quite possible that Marissa and Irene could find things to make their lives easier here.
[ ] Have something made
-[ ] Write In
This is literally the kingdom of dwarves. You can get practically anything made here from pottery to crossbows to masterwork swords. Still you probably aren't going to find the best craftsmanship up here in the Caravanserai. You need to go deeper to find the better smiths. Of course those would be more expensive.
Haul crates, wrangle beasts, and do the grunt work that the merchant caravans need doing. This is hard work and doesn't pay much, but it provides a steady source of income.
Pay: 1 Silver + Stamina Successes
Merchant Rep: +1
[ ] Do some Scribe Work (Intelligence vs 12, Intelligence Pay vs 8)
It would be possible to do some scribe work reading and writing letters for people who can't on their own. With some work this could even provide a steady business. Unfortunately Irene can't read and write the local languages at the moment. And Marissa isn't really suited for this kind of work.
Requires: Language Proficiency (Ordinary)
Pay: 1 Silver + Intelligence Successes
[ ] Do Some Accounting (Intelligence vs 14, Intelligence Pay vs 10)
If people who can read are in demand, then people who can read and do reliable math are even more so. The businesses and merchants will pay well for someone to handle this. However it will require a substantial level of trust first.
Requires: Merchant Reputation: Trusted
Pay: 50 Silver + 5x Intelligence Successes
[ ] Apply to a Mercenary Company
-[ ] Red Rose
-[ ] Steel Company
-[ ] The Hammers
Marissa will apply to a mercenary company as a warrior, freelancer, janitor, whatever gets her in the door. All the mercenary companies have different recruiting standards so the result will depend on which one she applies for.
[ ] Go to the Market
-[ ] (Optional) What are you looking for?
This is the Caravanserai. There are thousands of things being bought and sold all the time. It's quite possible that Marissa and Irene could find things to make their lives easier here.
[ ] Have something made
-[ ] Write In
This is literally the kingdom of dwarves. You can get practically anything made here from pottery to crossbows to masterwork swords. Still you probably aren't going to find the best craftsmanship up here in the Caravanserai. You need to go deeper to find the better smiths. Of course those would be more expensive.
Relationships
[ ] Give Marissa her gift
Irene has been hauling around a present for Marissa for a while now. It's sure to raise her mood when Irene finally gives it to her.
(Locked: Until you have an Adequate place to stay. And it will have better results with increased quality of shelter.)
[ ] Help out around the Neighborhood
If they're going to be staying in the area long it would probably be a good idea for Marissa and Irene to help the local families in order to strengthen their bonds. Marissa just wants to help, and Irene somewhat more cynically thinks the locals would be less likely to sell out the pair for whatever reason if they've established closer ties with the neighborhood families.
Ames Neighborhood Rep: +2
Irene has been hauling around a present for Marissa for a while now. It's sure to raise her mood when Irene finally gives it to her.
(Locked: Until you have an Adequate place to stay. And it will have better results with increased quality of shelter.)
[ ] Help out around the Neighborhood
If they're going to be staying in the area long it would probably be a good idea for Marissa and Irene to help the local families in order to strengthen their bonds. Marissa just wants to help, and Irene somewhat more cynically thinks the locals would be less likely to sell out the pair for whatever reason if they've established closer ties with the neighborhood families.
Ames Neighborhood Rep: +2
Crime
Neither Marissa nor Irene are willing to turn to criminal activities just yet.
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