After a night of light drinking, as befits adventurers about to set out on a quest, Beranhond, Darvin, and Johan set out the next morning from Baldur's Gate with Alixondra and Ragnar tagging along.
They set out at a reasonable hour, and Beranhond set a moderate pace for the horses, allowing them to travel without dawdling and taking more than two days to get there while not jeopardizing the horses and allowing the riders to be alert and not too tired when they arrive at Candlekeep.
The beginning of the first day is mostly uneventful. They see small groups of refugees streaming toward Baldur's Gate, as well as several small groups of bandits that make themselves scarce as soon as they realize how well armed the band is. As they travel, they begin to discuss where they will camp and how they will approach Candlekeep.
The two most common ways to travel to Candlekeep are to either camp on the plains about halfway between or to push through to Beregost the first day to find an inn and then leave a bit later in the day for the shorter journey from Beregost to Candlekeep.
What I need:
- Please decide whether you will camp on the plains or stay in Beregost.
- Please give me a perception check.
Johan votes for Beregost. the wilds to the southwest of Baldurs Gate are not known for their kindness to travelers, so he'd rather not risk waking up to being gnawed on by a gibberling.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Perception:
19+11=30. He sees all the things!
Beranhond agrees with Johan, the last time he camped out in the plains around Baldur's Gate bad things happened to his companions.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask when that was? The last time I remember Beranhond camping around Baldur's Gate was during the earthquake/tsunami at the very beginning of the game.
ReplyDeleteWhen his Paladin companions were slaughtered by the Druids. Or was that around Waterdeep? Either way, he doesn't like camping out on the sword coast.
ReplyDeleteThey were killed by clerics near Waterdeep, not druids near Baldur's Gate. I see you truly cherish their memories. ;)
ReplyDeleteWere the clerics just hanging out in the camp of the druids? I remember there were druids at the badlands camp. Regardless, some religious folk who said they believed in life attacked my companions. I do recall that...
ReplyDeleteThere were some druids you met while camping near Red Larch and the Goldenfields, but I don't remember everything that happened there. I'm getting back to work on my recap posts, but they are very time consuming. I am writing up Nym's introduction right now.
ReplyDeleteYou were right. The druids there killed a bunch of your paladin companions in the night. Here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://stormspout.blogspot.com/2010/02/camping-for-night.html#comment-form
I knew it!
ReplyDeleteDarvin, are you providing any input?
ReplyDeleteI still need perception rolls for Darvin and Beranhond.
Roll(1d20)+8:
ReplyDelete11,+8
Total:19
Beregost is fine with Darvin.
ReplyDeletePerception:
Roll(1d20)+10:
8,+10
Total:18
The trip to Beregost is mostly uneventful. You arrive shortly after dark, and are accepted into the city after the guards at the gate search your things and deem you not a threat.
ReplyDeleteWhile in Beregost, is there anything you want to accomplish? Or are you just trying to get a good night's sleep before heading to Candlekeep on the morrow?
General information about how the city has been faring, bandit attacks, whether they've seen any undead.
ReplyDeleteAs Beranhond, Darvin, and Johan enter the city, they see an odd duality to things. One one hand, there are a lot of well-armed men who look to be hired guards for merchants or the town and you see some merchants in several inns who seem to be rather wealthy. In stark contrast, there seem to be far too many empty and abandoned buildings in the town.
ReplyDeleteThe inns you find are mostly empty, with plenty of rooms and food for your party. The patrons there are almost entirely merchants and their guards.
I assume you will each want your own rooms?
And are you going to try to talk to the innkeeper, the merchants, the guards, or some combination of the above to get your info?
ReplyDeleteYes. If the inn has a tavern, Johan would like to sidle up to any merchant there with either no or only 1 bodyguard, preferably none, and strike up a conversation, asking about how the trading season for [insert common Beregost trade good here] is going.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy:
Roll(1d20)+13:
12,+13
Total:25
Streetwise:
Roll(1d20)+8:
17,+8
Total:25
Beranhond is going to chat with the innkeeper about the current state of the city. If that doesn't go anywhere he will likely just pass the evening playing chess with Alixondra - a game that they both spend a lot of time playing on the march out to the coast.
Darvin does all that shit Beranhond and Johan do but I'm at school and don't have my character sheet so I don't know my modifiers. Let's just assume I got 20's.
ReplyDeleteDarvin has:
ReplyDelete+8 for Diplomacy
+6 for Streetwise
I am rolling for you.
Diplomacy
Roll(1d20)+8:
16,+8
Total:24
Streetwise
Roll(1d20)+6:
1,+6
Total:7 FAIL!
Ooh, Darvin, I think that hobo you just kicked was the drunken son of the captain of the guards...
ReplyDeleteSorry I've not been very good at posting this week. I've been rather busy at work and trying to take care of Ang at home as she's been under the weather. I'll email you the info that you've collected shortly. Sorry again that I'm slow.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond is going to try to chat up one of the merchant groups, asking about their wares, their destination, and the possibilities of trade.
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy:
Roll(1d20)+13:
18,+13
Total:31
Beranhond, just so you know, when you stand up to go talk to merchants, you see that Johan has stood up from his discussion with a merchant and is walking toward the table where Darvin is sitting. Currently, the guard Darvin is talking to has an arm around Darvin and is waving a knife in the air, brandishing it at an imaginary enemy.
ReplyDeleteDo you still want to talk to a merchant group, or do you want to try to join the other two?
hmmm, no, I'll go and hang out with Alixondra actually, see what she's uncovered.
ReplyDeleteDarvin has learned nothing of any real significance during this info gathering session. It's a great time to be a guard in Beregost and my sword wielding friend has been cuckolded. Other than that, I think it's time we move on.
ReplyDeleteThe town is mostly surviving due to the large number of wealthy merchants. The innkeeper mentioned that they were almost too wealthy. I'm not sure we want to get too involved in their lives here.
ReplyDeleteAlright, so are you all done at the tavern and going to bed?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that sounds like the consensus.
ReplyDeleteGreat!
ReplyDeleteYou head to your rooms for the night to retire, but around 2 in the morning, you are all awakened by the sound of a scuffle in the street outside.
Looking through the window, you see two dark figures engaged in hand to hand combat. One of the figures uses a club and hits the other in the head. With a "thunk!" and a muffled fall, the struck figure collapses. The figure with the club grabs the fallen figure, throws the body over a shoulder, and quickly ducks back down a side street.
The entire confrontation is over quickly, and nobody shows up to help or interfere. After the two figures leave, the streets are empty.
Just let me know if you plan to respond. If I get no responses by tomorrow morning, I'll assume you are all just going back to bed.
ReplyDeleteBernahond curses his urge for virtue and wakes up Alixondra to accompany him before going out to the street.
ReplyDeleteIf there is anyone in the inn room I'll quickly as them about the event, if not I'll try to investigate what is going on outside.
Johan mentally logs the incident, double-checks that his door and window are locked and sealed tightly, and then goes back to bed.
ReplyDeleteThere is nobody in the inn room. There is a single lamp burning near the door to the innkeeper's rooms, close to the main entrance, but nobody has stirred.
ReplyDeletePerception check, please?
Roll(1d20)+6:
ReplyDelete11,+6
Total:17
Beranhond runs into the night to where he saw the ambush occur, and sees a large stick laying in the street where the scuffle occurred. It could be used as a walking stick or a quarterstaff. Beranhond did not see either of the two figures using the stick in the scuffle. As he passes the stick, he hears what sounds like a door closing, from the general direction the two figures were traveling.
ReplyDeleteDucking down the side street that he saw the figures go down earlier, Beranhond travels several blocks without finding any evidence of what could have happened to the two figures. He passes several other side streets, but sees nobody else out in the night. The night is dry, and the streets are hard enough to not show any footprints. He is unable to hear any labored breathing, talking or rustling of cloth that would give away the location of a person carrying another person.
"Snore, snore, snore," Snored Darvin.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond is annoyed, but seeing as he has little training in forensics, and is certainly not going to barge into random people's homes he will make his way back to the inn.
ReplyDeleteSorry I've been MIA. Life got in the way.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond and Alixondra make their way back to their beds, and after a bit of tossing and turning, Beranhond is able to get back to sleep.
The next morning Beranhond, Johan, Darvin, and Alixondra set out for Candlekeep. There are no other travelers on the road from Beregost to Candlekeep, and they come within sight of the fortress shortly after lunch.
I leave it up to you how you will approach the place, and whether you'll do any scouting before you approach the gates.
How does the area around the fortress, any signs of people, dangerous people, French guards on the wall?
ReplyDeleteYou are just within sight of the fortress, so you can't make out whether there are any guards on the wall, French or otherwise. You see no signs of people on the barren sand and scrub grass surrounding the fortress, either. There may be low places in the sand for people to hide, but there is little to no vegetation to disguise a large force.
ReplyDeleteYour father reeks of elderberries!
Alright, we'll keep walking toward the fortress and keeping an eye on the surrounding area. If we do see movement we'll stop and make new decisions. If not, we'll just keep going until we get to the door.
ReplyDeleteAs you get closer, you are able to start seeing some guards along the walls. They are spaced every 50-100 meters along the walls. They do not appear to be especially heavily armed, and you cannot see any polearms or ranged weapons at hand, but they could just be hidden behind the wall.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteInsight:
Roll(1d20)+6:
14,+6
Total:20
Do they look curious, uninterested, like the living dead, or what?
They are watching your group closely, but there is not much of urgency to their actions. You see one guard leave their post to be replaced by another, presumably to report, but other than that, they don't seem especially responsive, either positively or negatively, to your appearance.
ReplyDeleteOK, let's get to that door.
ReplyDeleteYou see several very large crabs down closer to the water, and you frighten a couple birds into flight, but no other people outside the fortress until you arrive at the The fortress sits on a hilltop, with steps carved in stone lining the last 60 meters to the large double door at the front, which is bound with metal straps and studded. There is a portcullis, but it is currently raised.
ReplyDeleteAs you arrive at the door, a small porthole in the center of the right hand door opens to show the clean shaven face of a man who asks, "Who are you, and what business have you with Candlekeep?"
Stupid OZ...
ReplyDelete"Greetings good sir. My name is Beranhond, this is my friend Darvin, and my fellow compatriot Johan. We wish to speak with you the magister of this keep about events on the coast and in the rest of the world." Thinking that this was probably not enough he added. "We bring gifts of books as a sign of our respect for learning and knowledge."
"May I see the books you mentioned?" the man asks, a bit gruffly.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond removes the book donated by the councilwoman, and his own book of wisdom from his backpack and holds it up for the guard to see. He makes sure to keep his hands firmly on the books.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Well played... ;)
ReplyDeleteThe man gives Beranhond a sour look. "The magister does dearly love exotic poetry. However, she is not meeting anyone at this time. We know all we need to know about the world and talking won't help." The man takes this opportunity to spit through the small opening on the ground near Beranhond's feet.
Beranhond keeps his pleasant smile. "We are presenting books as gifts and only asking for conversation. I am sure if you bring this to this attention of the magister you will be rewarded for helping to procure some rare books for the library."
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy:Roll(1d20)+13:
16,+13
Total:29
The man gives Beranhond a sneering smile, and promptly closes the porthole in the door.
ReplyDeleteCan I get a perception check from all Darvin, Johan, and Beranhond?
ReplyDeleteThrow in an Insight check, just for kicks. :D
ReplyDeleteperception:
ReplyDeleteRoll(1d20)+6:
6,+6
Total:12
insight:
Roll(1d20)+6:
15,+6
Total:21
Beranhond continues to smile, but turns to Johan and Darvin and quietly tells them that "I think he's a small petty person and uses this to get a tiny iota of power. He'll be back after talking to the magister, but it might take some time."
ReplyDeletePerception: 18+11=29
ReplyDeleteInsight: 13+6=19
For Darvin, because Nick can't post right now.
ReplyDeleteInsight:
Roll(1d20)+9:
7,+9
Total:16
Perception:
Roll(1d20)+12:
18,+12
Total:30
After what feels like weeks, the foursome hears a bar being lifted, and the door creaks open inward. The same man they had talked to earlier says dryly, "Follow me, please."
ReplyDeleteHe turns and heads down a 5 foot wide walkway. As he walks away, 2 armored guards follow him. Just inside the doorway, four more armored guards stand at attention, obviously waiting for Beranhond, Johan, Darvin and Ceilith to enter.
Hmmmm....
ReplyDeleteBeranhond will go ahead and enter the room. He'll let Ceilith go last.
"You have quite the interesting weather around here, it seemed as if I experienced several weeks worth of weather while waiting outside."
Sorry about that. I got rather wrapped up in my remodel, to the detriment of the game.
ReplyDeleteInside the walls, the keep is built as a sort of large spiral, with a large walkway curving into a tighter spiral away both to the left and up while becoming a larger curl and down and to the right. The walkway is roughly 5 feet wide, and the buildings on the outer side of the spiral are one story as seen from the walkway, with walkways on top. The buildings on the inner side of the spiral are built into the tower, and appear to be two stories tall, though it could be that they are simply the outside of the spiral a level above.
The man leads the group up to the left, and as they walk in, another guard that was out of view from outside closes the gate behind them and drops the bar to lock it. Three of the four guards that they saw standing inside follow behind the group into Candlekeep.
It happens
ReplyDelete"Quite the set of guards, have there been security problems lately?"
The group walks up what seems to be several stories, with the spiral continuing to get smaller as they climb. The only way they can tell how far they have completed several circuits of the spiral is by the direction of their shadows. The whole walk is somewhat depressing, with the large central pillar of the keep visible on their right, but no view of anything other than the sky and the walls of the keep.
ReplyDelete"We always need to stay on watch from those that seek to steal the wisdom of our library. Many have tried, many more have had the desire." The man replies to Beranhond.
ReplyDelete"Wisdom shouldn't be stolen certainly, but do you share this wisdom for the bettering of the world, or keep it to yourself?"
ReplyDelete"Those are obviously the words of a man who has much to gain and little to lose from us sharing our knowledge," The man replies.
ReplyDelete"Few in number are the those who lose much from knowledge being shared."
ReplyDeleteThe man simply ignores this last response as they keep walking up the spiral.
ReplyDeleteAs the group get another half of a spiral up the incline, the man leading turns and opens a door on the inside of the spiral.
The man steps inside first, along with his two guards, and walk inside. Beranhond, Johan, Darvin, and Ceilith can see through the door that it enters into a room that is 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, and seems to be mostly a hallway of sorts to connect to another room beyond. They can see a doorway on the other side of the room, lit by torchlight showing through the door.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond will turn and catch Ceilith's eye, he waves his signaling in the private code that the Tormish paladins had developed while battling in Torm "be alert, lead man untrustworthy."
ReplyDeleteAs the group walks through into the room, they see that there are guards stationed at the door at the other side of the room, as well as just inside the door they are walking through. There are two guards at each door.
ReplyDeleteThe man leads them through this guarded room through the door in the opposite side, and at this point, starts leading them to the right down another spiral. This spiral is open on the middle, and there are torches spaced regularly leading both up and down the spiral.
As the group starts traveling downward, the rooms they pass are mostly living quarters with spartan accoutrements.
ReplyDeleteAfter passing 5 rooms, they arrive at a door that the man gestures them to enter.
ReplyDelete"Please, make yourselves comfortable here."
Johan murmurs to his compatriots as quietly as he can to avoid being overheard.
ReplyDelete"It appears our hosts are not eager to join us in this musty cell of a room. I advise we prepare ourselves should the door "accidentally" lock behind us..."
Johan then subtly shifts his arms and crouches for a moment to itch his leg as if trying to be more comfortable as he walks, using this movement to cover as he shifts one of the daggers from his belt into his sleeve, and then into the side of his boot.
Stealth (?): 15(Roll)+12=27
The guards make no move to stop you, and don't give any indication that they noticed Johan's sleight of hand.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond frowned.
ReplyDelete"I see no reason to make ourselves comfortable in this location. If you have no intention of showing us to the magister of this tower you might as well be up front about your intentions and show us to the exit. If, on the other hand, you intend to try to trap us in what appears to be a prison cell you will quickly learn how straightforward we are in dealing with treachery." To add to the dramatics Beranhond switched to supernal, "those who live by treachery usually die by the honest"
Intimidate:
Roll(1d20)+13:
18,+13
Total:31
The man is somewhat intimidated but resolute, and draws his sword, taking up a fighting stance as he does so. The guards around him do the same.
ReplyDelete"You'll be staying in that room by choice or by force. Which will it be?"
"Do you long for your doom so much that you would face oblivion? I can see the afterlife for you, and it will bring no joy. Even now Asmodeus, the ruler of the ninth hell, prepares a cell for you. If you continue on this path of threatening the righteous you shall be stretched over hot coals and your bowels eaten by hellish dogs. Repent, cast aside your weapons, and turn your life toward virtue."
ReplyDeleteIntimidate:
Roll(1d20)+13:
16,+13
Total:29
Okay, now I'm a bit intimidated. And I'll give you props for trying.
ReplyDeleteThe man takes a step behind the two guards flanking him before responding.
"I'm sorry this is the path you are choosing. It's always much more pleasant when they're willing." He takes a moment to shake his head at the waste before addressing his companions, "Men, you know what you have to do."
The men begin advancing on the party, trying to force them into the room/cell.
Please roll initiative. I will communicate with Nick and see if he's able to participate or whether he just wants one of us to control Darvin.
Initiative:
ReplyDeleteRoll(1d20)+5:
17,+5
Total:22
Great... that's three high rolls in a row, I'm betting that my next roll is pathetic.
Johan's Initative: 15+12=27
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteCeilith initiative: Roll(1d20)+5:
8,+5
Total:13
I won't have access to Google docs until around 3:30, so I will do my best to have things ready this evening, but you'll have to hold tight until then. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll just keep the battle music going:
ReplyDeleteDun, dun, dun, Dun, dun, dun, Dun, dun, dun. Duh duh duh, duhhh, Dun, dun, dun....
I've been corrected by Nick. He points out that Ragdar is along as well, and that it is not Ceilith, but Alixondra who is with us. Sorry. My bad... I will update the map accordingly, but please just ret-con all comments in this post about Ceilith as being about Alixondra and all mentions of 4 people as 5 people instead.
ReplyDeleteExcellent points... this is the kind of messes that happen when you spend to much time remodelling Dan and not enough time playing this game with us.
ReplyDeleteSo true. If only I had your dedication to the craft, Whittaker. Then I would live only for this game, and my life would be much more complete. My kitchen would probably be, as well, because I'd still have walls and power.
ReplyDelete