Høle

Continued from Back to Treborg.

The DM: Setting out at 9 a.m., you’re frustrated when an hour out of Treborg, the wind dies. Completely. You row for two hours, when the wind finally picks up at noon, in the wrong direction. Nadia raises the sail and you begin to crawl your way south to Stavanger; by three you’ve made 8 knots, about a third of the journey. The wind improves, spins around to the east and you make 2 knots an hour for the next six hours, putting you 4 knots from Stavanger. The wind increases, swings to the southeast – directly in your face – and it begins to rain. Bailing, you tack the last four hours, arriving in Stavanger at 1 a.m. on the 10th of July. It is pouring rain. Nadia shrugs. She got you here. Malady checks come to naught. Embla’s parents will put you up for the night if you ask.

July 10th

Lexent: Very kind of them, I beg their hospitality and thank them for it. I collapse exhausted into whatever sleeping accommodations they provide.

Pandred: "I hate boats."

Lexent: Is there a particular gnomish deity of water, ships, or travel to whom I should be making appeals? (or cursing?) ;)

Marcule: Also hate boats.

The DM: Nicer when they’re bigger. Besides, it was the weather, not the boat. Would you have rather slogged 24 miles in these conditions? Anyway, in the morning, it is a moderate to heavy rain, with more than a quarter inch falling every hour. There is little wind and it is a “warm” rain, as the temperature is cool and nearly pleasant.

Lexent: If I calculate correctly, it is Sunday. Does that mean the market and shops will be closed? Is there a gnomish population of any note in Stavanger?

Vafrandir: Many thanks to Nadia for the crossing and Embla's parents for a roof.

The DM: What's next?

Vafrandir: If it is indeed Sunday, will Embla's parents be attending services?

Lexent: If shopping is a viable option, I would like to head first to the Weaponwright. Otherwise, I am interested in getting to know the gnomish community in Stavanger (if any) and making sure that their spiritual needs are being met.

The DM: There is shopping on Sundays. Embla's parents will be attending services.

Vafrandir: I will accompany them and meet the party at the market afterwards.

The DM: Sorry I can’t give you an updated price list, but please ask me about anything that seems suspicious.

The DM: Vafrandir make a wisdom check.

Lexent: I head to the Weaponwright. Once there I show him one of the pieces of adamantium and ask if he is able to work it for me. I am firstly interested in repairing my Godentag with some amount of the adamantium used for the spike.

Vafrandir: I roll a 19.

The DM: You get nothing from the service, I'm afraid. It occurs to me that a wisdom check could get you a +1% bonus on experience in your next encounter, or perhaps for the next 1,000 x.p. you earn (though that might be difficult to calculate). Perhaps a flat +100 bonus if you're in an encounter from which you take damage.

Stuff like that would encourage players to attend church. Hm. 50 x.p. bonus per level. With a 7-day deadline.

Lexent: What would be the gnomish practice for regular spiritual fullfilment?

The DM: Was thinking about that. The rules have to be different for clerics; something others can get that clerics can't, but in compensation there are things clerics can get that others don't. Your attending a shrine for your god, for example, would be meaningful to you but not to them. And it would matter where you put your sage abilities.

Lexent: I'm looking in the more general sense too, wanting to know what I can do FOR my community around me and how I can more meaningfully react to the world, not just benefits I can receive.

The DM: In any case, Lexent could reach out to the gnome community in Stavanger; there would be one, of several hundred. This wouldn’t give you the enlightenment Vafrandir missed out on, because as a cleric it is all old hat to you, but it might give you prospects on places to visit to shed some scales from your eyes.

The DM: What you can do for your community comes out of your sage abilities. As a physician, you could see while you’re here if there’s a call for your services in that regard.

Lexent: If permissible, then, I would like to spend the time in which the Lutherans in our group might be attending services getting to know the gnomish people here and seeing how their spiritual needs are being met.

Vafrandir: I'd very much use a rule like that even though I'm not benefiting from it today.

The Gnomes of Stavanger

The DM: I’ve nothing prepared Lexent, but I’ll draw out an outline, hopefully one not too cliche. Writing off the top of my head. The gnome community here is a group of bookbinders and scribes, committed towards the collection of works on (rolled randomly) medicine, prospecting and music.

Narina is the head of a medical school, with knowledge in your own subject and with instruction. Her school has 20 students.

Part of the community are a group of miners who venture out at this time of year and return when the light dims in autumn; they are mostly gone, but there is one aged engineer named Glinner; he is drafting plans to rework and replumb a mine north of Sauda in Ioglefeld.

There is also a small musical college dedicated to gnomish music and poetry, run by Pumbar; there are some 25 attendants.

On these three subjects there are regular books being written and two printing presses in operation.

Lexent: Excellent. Thank you. With the time I spend among them today do I learn of any of them that are in need of healing or medical care?

The DM: If you’re up for it, you can relieve a nurse in her hospital and care for as many patients (aid rest) as you’re able. But that will mean you’ll have no time to buy at a market today.

Market

The DM: Anyone here not have the Stavanger Market file?

Lexent: I have access to a copy of it here . Once the time for services is past I turn my attention to shopping and proceed to the weaponwright.

The DM: you’re giving me conflicting actions, Lexent.

Lexent: Sorry, I missed your response above. I assume that Vafrandir will only be at Lutheran services for part of the day. My intention was to spend that part of the day getting to know the community and providing whatever small comforts (or even a cure light wounds if warranted) I can, and then meet the others in the market.