Wow!  Look at the talent at work, here!

I have made a red several times, as a matter of fact.  It's one stye that I keep tinkering with, as I  have yet to be 100% happy with what I've done.  Had one that tasted great, but wasn't red enough.  Made some changes, red was pretty perfect, flavor was off. 

You're too kind.

I need to send you some beer now that I've gotten better at it. 

As some of you know, I brew my own beer.  After eight years of doing it, some of them even turn out decent. 

This past weekend, I had a tent at Auburn's Oktoberfest.... and man, did I ever have a great time.  I got so much incredible feedback on my beer, including having representatives from a pro brewery telling me how I needed to find a sugar daddy to help me finance opening my own operation - and offering to help me out if that day ever came. 

Yeah, they were probably just being nice to the hobby guy, but it still felt really good.

If you'd like to read about, see pictures, etc... I did a blog post on the subject.

I have reaced out to an outstanding player from the Inn's past to see if she might be interested in taking up Aranwen's role. 

I've flaked on her as a DM a couple of times, so she maay tell me to get bent... but it's worth a shot.

Aranwen has communicated with me via PM that I should NPC Aranwen "indefinitely", as he has too much going on.  He didn't use the words "I quit", but he thanked me for the chance to play and doesn't seem to think that he will be returning - it reads very much like a goodbye. 

Davena is tough to read.  Dating back to your experiences with her in the inn - she carries on conversations easily, but gives few to no tells about her actual feelings.  Aside from her interest in Aranwen, Kith is not sure that she has ever been able to pick up on any of the woman's actual motives. 

I can't speak for party members, but neither Garn nor Davena seem to care what happens to the corpse or his belongings.

Ch'dau may have more luck than the average bear in estimating numbers based on footprints.

Hard to say re: who killed the priest.  It was a blade, the cut is clean - indicating one stroke.  Perhaps even from behind. 

Aranwen expresses her thanks for the assitance, as well as a willingness - if not eagerness - to accopany Davena and Garn in their efforts to explore the caves, provided no one else has any serious objections.  Davena holds a glimmer of humor in her eyes regarding her smallclothes, though she makes no response or outward acknowledgement of the comment.

The party searches the area and recovers their weapons (though it takes Ch'dau several undignified tugs to pull his falcatta from the tree trunk).  As they move to investigate the dead man, Kithran questions Davena. 

"Davena, have you heard of anything like this before? Rituals concerning a death god or death cult. Anchors? Anything of that sort?"

The blonde woman stares into the distance, as if lost in thought.  "D'hurgen is the god of death; I am familiar with his worshippers, having encountered them in the past.  They can indeed be cultlike in their devotion, caring for goals that do not align with those of society."  She shakes her head.  "I cannot imagine what a death cult would need with an anchor.  I know that a good ship anchor is not a trifling cost; my family owns a vessel or two, and these can be expensive to replace... but I do not see the connection between these and any cultists."

The party locates the body of the man at the edge of the clearing Kith had found.  He is brown-haired, dressed in ebony robes, with a silver skull pendant around his neck.  A neck that has been cut open, spilling enormous amounts of blood upon his chest.  The eyes are fixed and open, the mouth frozen in a rictus of a scream. 

The bodies of the dead are collected and set ablaze.  Eventually, the exhaisted group collapses in rest.

Several hours - though not enough to feel truly rested - pass, and morning arrives.  Garn and Davena work on breakfast and preperations. 

"We will scout the area near the caves, look for signs of travel," Garn explains in curt tones.  "That will give us ideas for the best route to approach, perhaps helps us estimate numbers and the like.  I have no desire to walk into some undergorund fortress unawares."

Davena nods.  "This sounds reasonable."  She then looks around the campfire.  "So, will you be joining us?" she asks.

Post is in progress.

Anyone ever hear from Blackthorn?

Texans
Ravens
Chiefs
Chargers
Patriots
Colts
Falcons
Giants
Seahawks
Rams
Jaguars
Bears
Cowboys
Steelers

Falcons

Chiefs

Bill's

Packers

Lions 

Cowboys

Patriots 

Vikings

Panthers

Giants

Texans 

Seahawks

49ers

Rams

Bears

Ravens
Seahawks
Titans
Cowboys
Patriots
Bills
Texans
Lions
49ers
Packers
Chiefs
Rams
Bears
Eagles
Browns

I see no reason that won't work.

I've asked Blackthorn to post by Monday.  If he can't, I'll NPC and bump the story.  Too much inertia!

lol @ wisdom checks.

Dang.  I was hoping somebody would post the schedule...

Green Bay
Kansas City
Minnesota
Cleveland
New York Jets
Baltimore
Philadelphia
Carolina
San Diego
Seattle
Dallas
San Francisco
Detroit
New England
New Orleans
Oakland

Sorry for my own silence, folks.  I'm at the beach this week. 

No breath held.  I'd love for someone to take him over, but I get that it's a long way into a game.

Who to trust?  I mean, they DID save the party - you guys are dead without that intervention.  But why did they save the party, that's a fair question.  A third question might be does it really matter?

They could have killed the alleged priest, tried to avoid the horde, came back when they heard the sounds of battle.  Or maybe it's an elaborate trap!  Or maybe something else is going on! 

Are they chasing the undead, are the undead chasing them?  I like the way you think!  Just because you're paranoid does not, in fact, mean that they aren't out to get you. 

Cheese whiz.  Now they are using natural disasters as excuses for not posting.  Players, amirite??? 

I do have a big family, that helps.  And I did pick up multiple bonuses this month due to redeeming a lot of offers.

I have posted here before about Ibotta, an app that gives you cash back on groceries and such.  Would you believe that I have saved $121 in August alone?  To date - going back to March of this year - I've done $331.66, and have cashed out $300 of it to my bank account.

I mentioned before that there are other apps and such out there; while none of them hold a candle to Ibotta (in my book, anyway), there are several that are useful and do add up.  If you put back, say, $20-$40 per month, leave it in an account, and withdraw it once it's enough to feel... isn't that worth taking a few seconds to scan your receipts or whatnot?

At any rate, I did a full writeup on the subject, covering eight different cash back apps.  I hope that it's helpful to you!

Mages require an uninterrupted eight hours of rest to restore their spells, so Midge will be down a bit unless you guys give him extra time.  Clerics need to be well enough rested to still cast, but their spells are granted prayers - not just arcane skill, so they will be able to regain their spells as long as they continue to pray and worship as their religions dictate.  Both Therassor and Solanis grant spells to their clerics at dawn, so they should be fine. 

Agreed re: Midge.  I think that he will go down as one of the biggest disappointments in a group I have DMed, at least in terms of what he COULD have been verus what he actually HAS been.

I did a small update here.  Was really hoping for a Blackthorn post.

Some housekeeping:

You can assume that you will recover your gear with a little searching (it is dark, after all).  That falcatta is going to take some effort to pull from the tree, but it is doable. 

If the plan is for the priests to burn all of thier healing, you can assume that no one is worse off than moderately wounded... I'll make an official update to this soonish.  You may all be no worse than lightly wounded.  Of course, you're also basically out of divine magic, too.

As much as it pains me to do so, I am removing KDXart from the game.  It just doesn't appear to be happening.  Cest la vie. 

Davena chuckles at the suggestion that the party was concerned for her well being.  "Thank you for your care, Brother Moreno, but Garn and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves."

At the mention of the other victim, she nods.  "I assume that you are speaking of the priest of D'hurgen?  The one leading this horde of the living dead?  We slew him ourselves in the hopes of dispersing this lot.  As for your equipment and rest - I would suggest that you see to your gear, then let us find a defensible spot to heal and recover your magics.  Agreed?"

Davena makes no reply to the quip about her smallclothes, though in better light, you might have sworn that a smile touched the corners of her mouth.  "Truly," she speaks, "Garn and I are happy to see you all still alive."  Truth be told, Garn's expression suggests that he could not care less either way, but in your lmited experience, the man has always been either stoic or angry; he may possess no other actual emotions.

She does pause.  "Wait... did you not travel with another young man?  A thurmaturge of some stripe, was he not?"

"Aye," Midge answers huskily.  "Young Atharis was killed by one of the giggling bastards back in Crandel."

Davena nods slowly.  "I see.  I am... sorry for your loss.  The death of a companion is a difficult thing."

She glances sideways at Garn, who frowns, before she continues.  "Garn and I are looking to find the source of this evil.  We have heard that a shrine to the death god may be hidden in a cave system nearby.  We plan to explore there on the morrow.  If it is well defended, we might may find greater favor in numbers.  Would you be inclined to investigate with us?"

So I do need to post. 

Alacrity is only the greatest DM I have ever known.