Lexent

Continued from The Deep Dark

The DM: Climbing up to the Great Hall, you're free to talk to one another.

At a game table, I'd certainly be asking at this time how the overall was; and how the party feels about the last encounter. It always helps to get some feedback.

Lexent: I make sure to retrieve my godentag on the way.

Lexent: Suprising. I'm glad I tried talking. If Mok-Losh is being honest with us, then he is certainly more than we would have been able to handle.

Vafrandir: Agreed. I always leave these encounters feeling there's more I should be asking but I guess real life is like that sometimes too.

Lexent: Yes, but it felt like the lines of questioning were starting to hit dead ends.

Lexent: "So what do we think? Shall we just rely on Mok-Losh to hold Grond in check for the year?"

Lexent: "Also, If we'd like, I could commune with the gods to try to ascertain if Mok-Losh is being truthful and accurate."

The DM: One thing you can usually count on; creatures with tons of power and without reason to con you have no reason to lie. If it was on Grond’s side, don’t you think it and Grond would have just gone hogwild on your selves? Consider. Why did Grond not attack you on the surface. Why was the dungeon so passive? It never came to you, though you made your presence very well known. The last overt thing it did was to use a dead goblin as a puppet to tell you to go away; and nothing whatsoever when you came back again.

Lexent: My larger concern is with the accuracy of his claims that he can hold Grond in check.

The DM: Ah.

Lexent: Another possibility is that he is not as powerful as he claims/seems and that he is lying to us to protect Grond who now fears us. I don't think this is likely, but it is possible.

The DM: Go fight him. Find out.

Pandred: That's fair enough. We should have asked about that one skeleton. I forgot entirely in the moment. Either way we'd do well I think to make a quick check of the remaining area available to us. Mok-Losh says it's nothing but flies, so as far as I can tell that means nothing but easy access to what few "valuables" remain here.

The DM: In any case, for cleaning the dungeon out to the extent you did, and more or less in a forced retreat, please give yourself a 10% bonus to your present experience. For example, if you had 3,000, you’d now have 3,300.

The DM: You can search for the next six hours but you don’t find anything alive. And there’s nothing at the bottom of the pool, either. You can’t get through the magician’s door, at least by any means you possess. If you have unknowns left about the dungeon you’ve seen, you could always return and ask Mok-Losh another question. It’s not going anywhere.

Lexent: Mok-Losh did mention the skeleton, calling it a crypt thing and saying he had it trapped.

Lexent: That is amazing. I am now 4 XP away from 4th level.

The DM: Oh, that’s cruel. I should throw in a fight with a fly.

Lexent:Nah, It'll happen soon enough, and I've done the same to players, so karma I guess.

Lexent: So shall we call this concluded for now and head back to camp?

Pandred: Suppose we should. Too bad, I was ready to crack this thing like an egg, but it looks like the wights have already been separated and the yolk is being guarded.

Lexent: Well played.

Lexent: OK, We head back to camp. Let's not forget the lamp oil and vinegar from the wet storage (not sure if we moved it out yet or not.)

The DM: Feel a little coitus interruptus? That’s fair.

Evening, July 19th

The DM: The weather is cool, dry, with a few clouds and barely any wind at all. I presume you'll camp here for the night.

Lexent: Yes. We camp here tonight. How are the sappers feeling about this outing?

The DM: Well, they want to know if you still want them to finish clearing out a pathway from the second entrance they’ve widened.

Pandred: No, I suppose not.

Pandred: Out for a bit.

Vafrandir: Some internet trouble here and there, sorry. I believe Mok-Losh, so let's stop back in a few months from now and see if things have changed.

The DM: I apologize. I wound up being pulled away and I failed to say "out." I'm moving this Monday and things are piling up. Incidentally, I won't have the internet between Sunday and the following Saturday, so running the game will be hard. I could stand on my deck and shout, but I think if I could do it loud enough for you to hear me, the neighbours would complain.

Vafrandir: I will also be moving during that time and therefore in a similar situation. I will stand outside and listen very hard.

The DM: In all honesty I was writing a post on the side of playing here and forgot entirely that I was playing here. So, not actually related to "moving," except that I'm obviously seeking any sort of escapism I can find. Again, my apologies. I should have been here.

Vafrandir: No worries.

Vafrandir: As I see it we have two major decisions to make. First, what to do about the Swedish gold. We could take it for ourselves and no one would be none the wiser. We could try to return it and gain favor (or be hanged as thieves). Second, if we should seek these goblins and return the shield as a token for their suffering under Grond. I was looking back through posts to see where exactly Arduin said he had heard of goblins - we have no idea where Roxot Horn might be, but perhaps the Father will know.

The DM: There’s always a risk, either way.

The DM: Heading Dilhak, quote “Arduin knows of a large goblin tribe east of Bronnoysund. It dwells in the wilderness between Norway and the gnome kingdom of Vastenjaur. Both Lexent and Marcule would know that Vastenjaur covers much of northern real world Sweden.”

Vafrandir: Everything is a risk. That's the fun.

Vafrandir: Thank you! I had it more or less right in my mind. Quite a ways off given that we are in southern-ish Norway.

The DM: Arduin can attest that it isn’t that far by boat. But this being the height of summer, in a few months it gets very cold and dark.

Lexent: I think that both of those goals are admirable, though the goblins and the shield interest me more. Are there any (yes/no) questions that the party would like me to ask my gods to give us more information on which to base our decision?

Vafrandir: I'm interested in that too. But "do nothing" is an option there, and its not really for the gold. So I guess questions related to that. Is anyone actively looking for it, are there location spell on it, etc.

Pandred: Don't forget all that to-do with Hamish.

Pandred: It sounds like we should take a look at our current assets, and figure out what to do from there.

Lexent: I cast augury and ask the following questions:

Lexent: Is Mok-Losh correct about his ability to contain Grond?

Lexent: Is Hamish Ross still alive?

Lexent: Is the goblin tribe that dwells east of Bronnoysund the same as those referred to at Roxot Horn?

The DM: Answers in Order:

Yes

Yes

Yes

Lexent: Thank you.

Lexent: I think the best accounting of our assets is in Vafrandir's Cargo Document

Lexent: We also have the Hamish Ross gold and a number of gems detailed here, less the shares promised to the hirelings.

Lexent: On the other hand, we also have the loan against Marcule's credit.

The DM: Things to think about. Out.

Vafrandir: In.

The DM: Thursday. But thank you for your support Vafrandir. While I'm here a moment, I need to say that Pandred's strength begins to return the moment she steps into the sun. It takes about one hour of direct sunlight per point of strength to be restored. Out.

Vafrandir: Being, as I said, between jobs and in the midst of preparing for a move, I have no sense whatsoever of what day it is. See you all tomorrow!

The DM: OOC: Sigh. I'm moving out on Monday, I'm behind on packing and cleaning; and I've got roofers over my head stomping around, dropping bales and heating up a blower for tar. Apparently, the landlord felt that since we were leaving anyway, he'd have our section of the roof redone. So I'm simply not in a state of mind to concentrate fruitfully on a game just now. This started at 7 a.m., without notice ... and there's absolutely no reason to complain, since we'll be gone in about 77 hours. As a reminder, I lose my internet on Monday also; and I'm not scheduled to be hooked up again until Friday, June 4th. However, I will be in a much nicer place, with much more room, an in-suite washer/dryer, a separate kitchen, etcetera. So, hopefully, I'll be happier. I need to write some kind of post today for the blog because this is my 13th anniversary since starting that venture; it deserves tagging. I suggest the players continue to discuss what they intend to do next and come to a conclusion; manage your food, calculate the encumbrance on your cart so you can give me an AP number when we start again ... and be well until we meet again a week from Tuesday.

Lexent: In.

Lexent: If you get a chance amidst the chaos today, it would help us to know what gems were NOT claimed as shares by hirelings, since we don't know the individual values, but know that they were allocated for experience purposes.

The DM: Sorry, I haven't been keeping track of any such. As far as I know, I've already assigned all experience gained from gems. Which gems are being referred to?

Lexent: Yes, the XP was assigned, but we didn't get the details of what we therefore can't count as our wealth. It was the gems from the tunnels below the jelly and stair detailed near the top of the page I linked.

The DM: Well ... you have an almond-sized cairngorm stone in your hand. You have no sage knowledge about gems, so from your perspective, it's a rock. It has some value, but without expertise, you don't know WHAT value. To learn the value, you need someone with expertise. I can't give you the g.p. value because your character doesn't know what that is.\

Marcule: in

Pandred: Blegh. So we won't know the gems for sure until we get to Stavanger to offload them.

Pandred: We breaking camp then? I can't think of a reason to maintain it in our absence.

Marcule: I vote for camp

Lexent: I suspect we will break camp in the morning.

Lexent: I find it most likely we will head back to Treborg, and assuming nothing else noteworthy occurs head to Stavanger to sell the gems etc. From there what we do will probably depend on what we decide to do about the gold.

Lexent: Of course we won't know how much the gems are worth until we sell them, I'm just not sure which gems are 'ours' and which were claimed by hirelings.

Pandred: If anyone knows for sure it's Vafrandir. Either way if we plan on even getting started today we should say so. So, returning to camp, we'll break for Treborg in the morning.

Lexent: A very very rough estimate (based on our how things sold last time) is that each member of the party could net around 150 GP from selling the gems and adamantium. I could easily have messed up this calculation, though.

Lexent: We should still figure out what we want to do next. Do we want to attempt to contact Hamish Ross? Or at least learn a little bit more about him?

Pandred: I don't think we got a reply from the one fellow who knew about him. We could go see ourselves, there's a boat once a week, but at some point a guy has to decide if he wants his own money or not.

Lexent: I have a meeting from 10 to 11, but I should be back after that if anyone in the party wants to discuss our plans.

Lexent: In. To the best of my knowledge the undead hunter Fraser (Also a scotsman) didn't have any knowledge of Hamish Ross, but seeing as they are countryman in a foreign land they may have had contact with one another.

Lexent: Fraser is a master of a small settlement south of Bergen: Glesvaer, but is 'drawn north' for 'at least a month' as of 16 July.

Lexent: I think that we should try to learn more about this Hamish Ross, perhaps even travelling to where we think he might be.

Lexent: Hamish Ross received the land grant on Askøy Island, West of Bergen (which would technically be north of Glesvaer).

Lexent: We could travel to Bergen (Instead of Stavanger) and try to do some research there unless we can determine via divination that Hamish Ross is elsewhere.

Lexent: In any case, we need to be cautious as we travel with this ammount of coin and recommend we take care not to advertise what it is.

Lexent: Out.

Computer Problems

Alexis: Alas, I have a very slow, very limited internet. Half the time the page times out before it loads; I can't load any images. I have trouble loading more than one internet page at a time, so it would be difficult for me to open the five to ten windows I usually open for counselling when running the game. This has much to do with the wifi signal the company has installed. I have people on it, to figure out how to fix it, but until it is fixed, I'm limited in what internet things I can do. I can post on the blog easily enough, though I have to wait up to a minute for the page to load or to publish a post. It's aggravating; I am reminded of dial-up. We're just going to have to figure this out before the game can move forward.