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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Not going to lie, I expected this'd be just a little harder... but then fire damage is pretty easy
5 Calistril
Hex H2; Former Scythe Tree/Forest Fire Territory
South Narlmarches - Murque River
The female, a solid brute well over 9' even hunched forward, was ignoring Kyrie's best efforts no less than the male had ignored anyone but Kyrie. Giles quickly redirected the phantom ink blade to her, trying to buy himself just enough time to cast a spell before she was upon him.
The spiritual weapon blinked over to the female. She snarled at it while Giles focused on his next spell. The blade stabbed but failed to penetrate the leathery troll hide. Meanwhile Giles' physical sword burst into flames, suddenly drawing the female's attention back to him.
"Miguel! Do you still have your flask of fire oil?" Giles called. "I think I'm going to be busy." He stepped toward the female, daring her to try him even as he mentally shielded himself with a divine protection.
The female paused at the sight of the flames flickering on Giles' sword (+5hp TrollF). She knew what the flames would do to her regenerative immortality if she kept on the fight.
It probably said something about troll psychology that this moment of reflection lasted hardly a second. The female threw herself at Giles face-first. He narrowly avoided being gored by those tusks only by warding her off with his burning blade, and even then he was falling back (-10dmg Giles 32/42). Before he had regained his footing, he ducked a right hook aiming to take his head off by a narrow two inches (-7dmg Giles).
Kyrie hooked her sickle into the troll's left arm. "I'm still here, you know." (-7dmg Troll-F) Even though the male was not yet dead, Kyrie added a new target, radiating with protection against evil. Kyrie stepped into the narrow passage between the two walls of green flesh. "Giles, to me!"
Outside of the female's reach (barely), Miguel drew the small flask of liquid fire with his buckler hand. He had already been thinking it when Giles had said it. This particular flask had come a long way, since it was removed from the possession of Happs, the bandit lieutenant, almost two years ago.
Miguel hurled the flask at point blank range. The glass shattered, splattering alchemical oil all over the troll's back, which immediately caught fire on exposure to air (-2fire Troll-M). At this range some backsplash was unavoidable, and Miguel himself took a mild spray of flaming droplets (-1fire Miguel).
Zeran came up beside Miguel, holding his hand axe over his head (speaking of items retrieved from the bandits two years ago,). Even before Miguel he had heard enough stories about the immortality of fallen trolls to rest. He struck like a butcher into the troll's flank—the wound did not immediately behind closing, thanks to the fire consuming the troll's regeneration (-6dmg Troll-M)
Giles 25/42 - Protection, Heroism (--50min), Spiritual Weapon (3/5), Flames of the Faithful (1/5), 16 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - Bastionx2, Divine Shield (5/50), Faith (4/10)
Miguel 40/41 - Courage (3/15), 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - -1G, Heroism (--), 28 bullets
Troll-M: Unconscious, On Fire, Bastion Target
Troll-F: Barely Injured, Bastion Target
(We should really stock up with a dozen fire oil flasks for the next time we go out troll hunting. They're cheap and probably our most reliable source of fire damage besides carrying around torches.)
Spells:
Giles 0/2
Miguel 0/2
Posted on 2015-12-13 at 16:42:37.
Edited on 2015-12-15 at 17:02:25 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Now try invading a tribe of them the way we did the mites... that's what's next
5 Calistril
Hex H2; Former Scythe Tree/Forest Fire Territory
South Narlmarches - Murque River
Giles' next spell died in his throat. There would always be time to cast that after he was sure he was still going to be alive. He raced over the terrain, running in a wide arc around behind the male. He was originally planning to get behind the brute, but he hadn't expected to be trying to take cover back there. Fortunately, his spiritual weapon spell needed no direction while he fled, harassing the male and cutting into his flesh (-7dmg TrollM).
The female followed relentlessly. She had eyes only for him, barrelling toward the fight on a more direct path. Kyrie saw her coming and shifted to the right, taking her attention off the male for a moment. She hooked her sickle out as the female passed her, slicing into her belly (-8dmg TrollF).
The male grunted, reaching after Kyrie. Miguel took the opening and lunged at the troll. He thrust his sword into the troll's exposed lower ribs, driving the blade as deep as it would go (admittedly not very deep) (-13dmg TrollM Badly Wounded). The troll snarled and swatted back at Miguel vaguely without turning his head.
Despite the increasingly mortal looking array of wounds accumulating across the troll's body, he barely seemed to notice (+5hp TrollM). Almost mindless in his focus, he reached out to Kyrie with open claw, trying to grab hold of her so she would quit moving around so much and be crushed.
Kyrie saw the claw coming at her. As she pulled her sickle from the female's side, she spun and rammed the tip into the troll's palm (-6dmg TrollM). He howled in pain, evidently more infuriated by the inconvenience than by the punctured lung.
The male rose up, followed by the sharp crack of Zeran's pistol. The ball struck the side of the troll's neck at a shallow angle, blowing all the way through. There was to much dense flesh at too glancing of an angle for it to have been considered a vital shot, but the force of impact sent out a spatter of red blood (-12dmg TrollM).
The male snorted, as if disgusted, then lost his footing. He fell to the ground with an expression that more closely resembled disgust mixed with mild surprise than the terror of death (Unconscious).
Giles 42/42 - Justice, Heroism (--50min), Spiritual Weapon (2/5), 16 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - Bastion, Divine Shield (4/50), Faith (3/10)
Miguel 41/41 - Courage (2/15), 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - -1G, Heroism (--), 28 bullets
TrollM: Unconscious, Bastion Target
TrollF: Barely Injured
(Obviously, with the benefit of common knowledge plus more specific knowledge, you know better than to assume the male is actually down and out of this fight.)
Spells:
Giles 0/1
Miguel 0/2
Posted on 2015-12-13 at 01:07:31.
Edited on 2015-12-15 at 17:02:37 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: I learned a lot about trolls recently. I was right about them mostly.
5 Calistril
Hex H2; Former Scythe Tree/Forest Fire Territory
South Narlmarches - Murque River
Giles strafed around the troll in a wide circle, drawing his sword as Kyrie charged in for a direct assault. He gestured at the troll, forming a blade of force in the air next to the troll with a spell. The sword thrust itself at the troll hardly as soon as it appeared, but the troll stepped back, waving the phantom blade away.
Before the troll knew it, Kyrie pushed right up inside its range. She struck at its thick hide with her sickle. The tip barely nicked the troll's thick hide, but drew up a little blood anyway (-4dmg).
Miguel charged in beside her, relying on her to distract the troll from him. He filled his lungs and set out an old folk song about a halfling giant slayer. Whether or not the troll understood the words, it slammed down on Kyrie. She rolled with the first swipe, blocking with her shield. She anticipated the second arm coming, but instead the troll lunged at her face-first, tusked maw wide. Kyrie fell back a step to avoid the bite, ducking just as the other arm came in, graced by her aura of protection to throw the troll's strike off.
While the two fought, Giles' arrows continued to drop out of the giant's body, and the bleeding slowed (+5hp Troll).
Zeran popped another bullet in his pistol while the others ran in. If the holes keep closing up, you just keep putting more in. Sooner or later the ship will sink. Any river pirate worth his boots knows that simple rule. His next shot blew a small hole in the troll's forearm (-8dmg Troll). Despite the rate at which the holes were closing, they were making clean progress cutting up the body faster than it could heal (Bloodied).
That's when the female returned.
"HRROOOAAAAR."
She seemed not to realize that her partner had already given that particular greeting. Giles saw her only a second before she roared, stepping out of the forest. She was bigger than the male by at least a foot, and her hide was a darker green.
Giles realized immediately that she was going to be on top of him any second if he didn't move right away.
Giles 42/42 - Justice, Heroism (--50min), Spiritual Weapon (1/5), 16 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - Bastion, Divine Shield (3/50), Faith (2/10)
Miguel 41/41 - Courage (1/15), 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - -1G, Heroism (--), 29 bullets
TrollM: Injured, Bloodied, Bastion Target
TrollF: Uninjured
(Ah, well there's the other one. I was wondering where she got off to.)
Spells:
Giles 0/1
Miguel 0/2
Posted on 2015-12-12 at 02:45:47.
Edited on 2015-12-15 at 17:03:00 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Troll takes beating before it even engages in combat
5 Calistril
Hex H2; Former Scythe Tree/Forest Fire Territory
South Narlmarches - Murque River
Though the brute must have stood over 12 feet tall, it was hunched over almost to the point of dragging its knuckles along the ground as it lumbered up onto the shore. Giles nocked another arrow in his bow, and planted another shaft in the troll's body, this time square in the shoulder joint (-11dmg Troll). The troll seemed more annoyed by the pain than anything.
Kyrie began glowing with sacred light to go with the glow already coming from her shield. She drew her sickle and braced for impact while Miguel turned to bestow morale on Giles.
Out of the water the troll moved much faster, stomping through the packed snow and ice as its wounds sealed off almost as fast as Giles could place them (+5hp Troll). The brute drew up short less than a dozen paces from Kyrie, drew its head back, and bellowed. The farm girl stood fast in the face of the troll, blessed with the divine courage in the face of cheap intimidation tactics.
Intimidate 10+?=Target Immune
Zeran stepped forward to answer for Kyrie. He drew his pistol in a swift motion and pointed at the centre of mass. "Quit yer barkin'." He shot and the troll's muscle rippled from the impact of the bullet (-14dmg Troll Injured). Despite the injuries accumulating on its body the troll didn't seem to notice it was losing.
Giles 42/42 - Justice, Heroism (--50min), 16 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - Bastion, Divine Shield (2/50), Faith (1/10)
Miguel 41/41 - 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - -1G, Heroism (--), 29 bullets
Troll: Injured
(Whee~ oh btw I've decided the frozen snow and packed ground actually makes this specific section of swamp normal terrain. Yay. Enjoy your 5' steps.)
Spells:
Giles 0/0
Miguel 0/2
Posted on 2015-12-11 at 15:10:55.
Edited on 2015-12-15 at 17:02:08 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Yay! Another never-before-seen class ability! This one's pretty new, though
Traveling H2
1-4 Calistril 4702
The Greenbelt Charter party met up with Falchos toward the end of the second day of Calistril. The satyr guided them south to the area where he had discovered the troll tracks. He told them that it seemed like the pair were staying mainly around the banks of the river—the Murque according to Zeran's map.
The Murque River was well named—the slow moving, cloudy river was surrounded by wide swampy stretches of wetland. Despite the winter cold partially freezing the river, the near bank was covered in the trolls' tracks, marked in snow and shattered ice.
Falchos told the crew that he believed the trolls were hunting along the river in the area. With that last advice, he left them to return to his hibernating lover.
The party followed the tracks downriver, first going north, then curving east. They kept back from the river's edge, not only to avoid getting caught in the uneven ground of the frozen marsh, but also to keep from being spotted by the pair of trolls before they spotted them.
5 Calistril
Hex H2; Former Scythe Tree/Forest Fire Territory
South Narlmarches - Murque River
In the afternoon on the fifth, the party came upon their prey—or at least one half. A single, large green humanoid, topped with hair that resembled a tangle greasy weeds, stood several yards out into the shallow river. Seemingly unfazed by the icy cold water, the troll stooped with its back to the bank, peering into the silty depths, occasionally swiping with one long, clawed arm at something moving below the surface.
The creature did not seem to see the party yet at this distance. There was no sign of his companion, though Giles noted that the tracks seemed to support the probability that the second was probably still in the general area.
Together the party dismounted, and Miguel drew one of the scrolls that Giles had purchased in case diplomatic contact was going to be possible. Together they stepped out onto the edge of the frozen swamp, snow and ice crunching softly under their boots.
The troll raised its head, suddenly. It turned to face the Greenbelt party, having heard their approach even at this distance. From the front they could see is sizeable tusks protruding from its lower jaw, and its inky black eyes.
Miguel called out first, "Hell—"
"HROOOAAAR!"
",oh," Miguel finished.
"This, was a terrible idea," Giles said flatly, drawing his bow. He willed his arrows to be guided with divine judgement as he nocked the first and let it fly.
His shot struck the troll square in the stomach (-11dmg Troll). The giantoid hardly seemed to notice other than to become even angrier—a disturbing trend the party was seeing with their opponents over the last year.
Kyrie instinctively stepped out onto the frozen fen, painting herself with a bright target. Her left arm found its way into the straps of her shield and she presented the spiked face to her enemy. To make her challenge even more apparent, in case the troll missed her intent, the face of the shield suddenly lit up from within.
Behind, Miguel drew his sword. For a fight of this scale, he wanted every hit to count. He placed a hand on Zeran's shoulder and cast a spell to fill the gunslinger with high spirits and great bravery. Not that Baron Stormsinger had any lack of those qualities, the morale boost steadied his aim.
The green giant pushed through the river to the edge, stepping onto the bank. Giles couldn't help but notice that his arrow merely fell out of the troll's body as it moved (+5hp Troll), leaving a much smaller wound than he'd hoped.
Zeran flexed his pistol hand. He was ready for the troll, he just needed it to get closer. He hovered over the still-holstered handle of his father's gun, waiting for the moment to strike.
Giles 42/42 - Justice, 17 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - Bastion, Divine Shield (1/50)
Miguel 41/41 - 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - Delay, Heroism (--50min), 30 bullets
Troll: Barely Injured
(Our first real fight with a troll! Just think! Last time we saw a troll up close we were hiding. Of course there were four of them at the time,)
(Also first post officially 100% written on the new compy... a much less momentous occasion.)
Spells:
Giles 0/0
Miguel 0/1
Posted on 2015-12-11 at 03:06:56.
Edited on 2015-12-15 at 17:01:34 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Trolls are a variety of giant but they're not Giants, you see?
Kuthona 4701 Kingdom Update (25-31 Kuth)
Upkeep
-Stability: Secure +1BP
-Consumption: -3BP [26]
-Magic Item: Shrine - Potion of Owl's Wisdom
-Unrest: 0 - Calm
Improvement
-Claim Hexes: B4 -1BP (+1Size/Cons) [25]
-Cities: House + Gnomish Tinkerer -13BP +1Econ, +1Stab +minor item [12, E=31, S=27]
-Roads: B4 -1BP (2/4, 6/8.) [11]
-Farmlands: B4 -2BP (-2 Cons) [9]
Income
-Generate Income: +15 BP [24BP]
Event
-Troll Sightings (continuous): Troll rumour mill is still quiet this month. Can only mean no good. Or maybe they're just hibernating. Trolls do that, right? No Effect.
-Public Scandal: Stefan is caught in an embarrassing scandal. He defends himself stating it is all a big misunderstanding, but the damage to public opinion is done... at least until the gossips find new things to talk about. +2 Unrest and -4Loy for next month
In the cold, chilly month of Kuthona, Viridian became a hotbed of political scandal. At the center of the affair was the young diplomat-squire, Stefan, facing down accusations that he had gotten a local maiden pregnant. Cited against him were his youth, his penchant for keeping a variety of female company, and his recently regular daytime visits to the brothel house (though heavens only know how they overlooked Giles' almost nightly trips to the same establishment).
For his defense, Stefan said, "Oh gods, not this again," and protested his innocence, maintaining that the situation was all a big misunderstanding. The squire insisted that he hardly knew the maiden in question, and at any rate, it was impossible that he could be the father.
Regardless whether Stefan was innocent or not, the whole affair had stuck fast with the gossips. Within a week endless variations of the story were flying through the streets, each wielding the tiny kernel of truth to support the wildest plot twists. The damage was done, and public opinion of the quality of leadership took a turn decidedly for the worse. The only thing to be done now was to wait for the gossips to grow tired of the story and people would soon forget all about the scandal.
Abadius 4702 Kingdom Update (25-31 Abad)
Upkeep
-Stability: Secure -1 Unrest
-Consumption: -2BP [22]
-Magic Item: Tinkerer - Ring of Protection +1
-Unrest: (-1RE) 0 - Calm
Improvement
-Claim Hexes: B6 -1BP (+1Size/Cons) [21]
-Cities: House + Herbalist -13BP +1Loy, +1Stab +minor item [8, L=24, S=28]
-Roads: B6 -1BP (3/4, 7/8.) [7]
-Farmlands: B6 -2BP (-2 Cons) [5]
Income
-Generate Income: +17 BP [22BP]
Event
-Troll Sightings (continuous): Trolls in the forest! Trolls are milling about again. +2 Unrest
-No Other Event
After a few months of no reportable activity, forest patrols and hunters returned with sightings of trolls moving beyond the official borders of the barony. While this would be far from the first time the trolls had traveled as far north, the nation's borders crept further south. The proximity to the fearsome giants put more than a few ill at ease.
The leaders of the nation knew they could not ignore the troll menace, though they had no way to combat it effectively. There was too much territory unexplored and unmapped to make any serious effort to track down the trolls' lair--besides which, the task of striking at the lair of an unknown number of fearsome giants was by no means an easy one, even should they locate it.
No sooner had the Greenbelt party resolved to take action toward finding this lair (if only to gather intel and keep better tabs on their movements) and repel the trolls from the border than did Falchos' report come in with some interesting news.
The satyr had been scouting the tracks of two trolls for the past few days. While loathe to engage them himself, he has noted that they have been hunting near the river to the south--not far from where the scythe tree fell last autumn.
Seeing their opportunity to make their first serious contact with the giants, the Greenbelt party geared up at once and set out south.
Posted on 2015-12-09 at 05:15:18.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Did you know that Malgorzata is a real name? It's the Polish equivalent of Margaret
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
It was hard, chilly work getting the wagon unstuck from the mud before it hardened over, but at length they managed to wrest it from the cold muck. The persistent fog refused to fade as they worked, but nothing else took advantage of their blindness that day. Once they finally freed the wagon and stepped out of the small cloud, they saw that the light of day was fading quickly, so the Greenbelt Charter party set up camp not far away, quickly getting a fire lit for those who had more than their fair share of the cold and damp.
That night they were unsurprisingly not bothered by the sounds of wolves howling in the night. What remained of the pack—including the wolf that fled, whom they saw upon leaving the fog cloud, watching them from a distance—had gotten the message to try their luck hunting elsewhere.
Finally the next day, they finished off their exploration and mapping of the region, then set the wagon's course for home. In totally it hardly took a week away from town. Winter months were not good for long travels, but they still had plenty of time left in the month to visit and keep a close eye on things. For a change, there were no immediate emergencies going on at home for Frodrick to report when they arrived.
7-23 Neth
Viridian City; G5
Barony of Volga
Despite the coldest, darkest days of the nation's second winter still ahead of them, some were already looking to the following spring. With Tanya's waistline beginning to swell noticeably, Jhod announced the good news to the leadership of Volga; he and Tanya were due to have a child sometime in the spring.
Jhod buzzed about in the course of his duties, chattering excitedly to any body who would listen about how Tanya was being looked after by the best midwife in town—a tall, wise woman whom everybody called Goodie Niska. The middle aged priest looked like a man half his age, and few could remember him happier.
On the wings of this happy addition, Frodrick announced his plans to set out traveling in the spring. He would return, he promised, assuring the others that he knew he would always be welcome in the barony, but he would be away long enough that the others would need to look for a new warden to fill his role, as well as a replacement chief diplomat to take over for Stefan. To that end he prepared a short list of names he would recommend from his subordinates who would be best qualified.
Neth 4701 Kingdom Update (24-30 Neth)
-Stability: Secure -1Unrest
-Consumption: -3BP [24]
-Unrest: 0 - Calm
Improvement
-Claim Hexes: G2, E5 -2BP (+2Size/Cons) [22]
-Cities: No Buildings (Plan House+Gnome Tinker)
-Roads: G2, E5 -5BP (4/4+1/4, 5/8.) +1Econ [16, E=30]
-Farmlands: E5 -4BP (-2 Cons) [13]
Income
-Generate Income: +15 BP [28]
Event
-Troll Sightings (continuous): Nothing going on with them at the moment.
-No Other Events
Posted on 2015-11-28 at 01:37:53.
Edited on 2015-11-28 at 05:35:38 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: No kill like overkill to make sure they maybe stay just a little bit dead this time, you know?
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Zeran's ears perked. The bastard had gone around the other flank. He wished his targets would just sit still for a moment. He climbed over the wagon—going around the bleeding, weary Miguel as he did—and hit the mud a few feet in front of the dirt statue shaman. The shaman twitched just slightly, struggling to fight off the paralysis.
Zeran didn't have time to line up a nice and pretty bullet through the head, so he fired with the best focus he could muster. The bullet wedged deep into the druid's gut (-13dmg Nugrah) with no perceptible reaction. For a moment Zeran wasn't certain if the shot had even done any harm (what vitals were there to damage in a dirt body?).
Without warning the gemstone eyes rolled to the heavens and a moan escaped his mouth (Near Death). Nugrah shook off the spell, but had only the strength to collapse to his knees. "Do it. Kill me."
"We should have killed you when we found you in that cellar." Giles raised his flaming sword.
"Finally." Nugrah closed his eyes, grimacing in expectation of the final blow. Giles did not disappoint. The old druid's death was nigh instantaneous (-18dmg, -6fire Nugrah DEAD). Before Giles finished withdrawing his blade from the body of dirt, it was already shifting and growing back into human flesh.
Kyrie finally pulled herself out of the muck (-1bleed). She glanced around her briefly. Dead wolf on the ground, dead warg in the wagon. With hardly a thought she willed her bleeding bat bites closed with the power of light (+15hp Kyrie FULL) (End Bleed), climbing into the wagon as she did. At this proximity she could see Miguel, preparing his own spell to cure his wounds. She decided to lend a hand, pouring energy and life back into his battered, frozen, and repeatedly bitten body (+12hp Miguel 26/41) (End Bleed).
"Thanks," he said, then finished casting his own spell (+17hp Miguel FULL). He glanced to the right where Zeran and Giles' voices came. It sounded like they were done here. "So... how about we figure out how to get this wagon unstuck?"
Giles 38/42 - -1SS, Bane [Human] (4), Destruction, Flames of the Faithful (3/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -4LoH, Bleed, Power of Faith (10/10), Stuck
Miguel 41/41 - -8M, 18 arrows
Zeran 30/42 - -4G, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Gadzooks!
Nugrah the Dirtman: Oh man he dead,
Fog (Round ? / How Long This Spell Last?)
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(Technically one of the wolves never actually died. Seeing as how it is a common wolf obeying the warg's orders, and how it is probably scarred from this encounter, I expect Kyrie might want to let it have some spare health and be sent off to roam free. Especially once we see that the one that fled has been waiting, watching from a far hill for the last minute.)
(In other news, we still have our trophy--the warg's corpse--already loaded into the wagon for us. If we want we could take the druid's body back with us or just leave him to be eaten by wild animals. Maybe one last meal for the wolves before they gtfo b/c omg humans are scary.)
Spells:
Miguel 3/2
Giles 0/2
Posted on 2015-11-25 at 19:26:37.
Edited on 2015-11-25 at 19:30:12 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: I've got the most pleasantly suicidal and/or nihilistic villains hanging around here...
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
With the bats gone, Giles took a half-second breather (-1bleed). He shifted the divine energy of judgment to repair his body (+2hp Giles 36/42), then chanted a spell to ignite his sword in flames. Below him Zeran was wriggling his way out from under the wagon. He rolled over onto his back next to the corpse of one of the common wolves.
He set his rapier down next to him and quickly popped another ball in his pistol. "I don't need any of that attitude out of you," he told the (probably) dead wolf next to him. "You started this when you bit my horse."
He grabbed his rapier off the ground just in time to notice that everything was quivering. The earth beneath the party was shifting, but this was no earthquake. Magical ripples shooting through the ground churned the soil into a soft, thick mud.
The shifting ground acted like quicksand. Zeran cursed and rolled free before he sank too deep into the mixture. Next to him, the wagon sank almost to the point where the bottom touched the ground. If he hadn't move out from under it, he'd probably be trapped right now. Kyrie and Miguel weren't as lucky. By the time they could react, their boots were already claimed, and every motion to escape only dragged them deeper until they were buried up to their waists (Stuck).
Giles, safe atop the wagon, watched one of the horses get dragged under and start panicking, while the other struggled not to be pulled down with it. After the first few seconds the shifting stopped, leaving the ground with a stable layer of thick, soft mud, and leaving those who sunk trapped in its sucking embrace.
Kyrie fought to wrest herself free, but her heavy armour had turned against her, ensuring that she sank as deep as possible into the muck (-1bleed). Every which way she turned, it took about as much strength as she had in her body to even shift one foot. Miguel, meanwhile, alone on the other side of the wagon, was making scarcely any better progress. To make matters worse, unless he was imagining it, he could swear he felt something moving through the mud beneath him (-1bleed)
Giles 36/42 - -1SS, B(2), Healing, Flames of the Faithful (1/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 44/55 - -2LoH, Bleed, Power of Faith (8/10), Stuck
Miguel 20/41 - Inspire Courage ( , Stuck, 18 arrows
Zeran 30/42 - -3G, Prone, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Earth Wolverine: Injured, Embattled, Fog
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
Summoned Wolf: Desummoned
Bat Swarm: Desummoned
Zeran picked himself up out of the mud, groaning. "All right, where'd he get off to now?" he asked aloud. He stuck his rapier back into its sheath.
Giles didn't respond at first, listening carefully for sounds of movement in the fog. "Can't be far if he's still casting spells." His gaze slowly tracked around the tiny radius he could see while he waited for a clue where he should strike.
Miguel's song broke for just a moment. "What is this? Beneath the ground! A strike from below!" he sang. There was a Giles hopped out of the wagon—there was still some snow around the wagon, but the battle had turned most of it to slush that soaked into the mud with the spell. Either way, the effects were the same.
Miguel was still in deep to his knees. He was looking behind him, over his shoulder, so Giles went around him. Sure enough, the druid was there, only this time in a more familiar form. His body was still composed entirely of earth and stone, with rough gems for eyes, but he resembled himself—the old man they had found in the Stag Lord's cellar more than two years ago.
Nugrah the decrepit looked up to Giles, hate in his gemstones—with limitations of his earthy body, he was only 4' tall. The soldier had seen that look a lot, lately, from things he was about to kill. Giles swung his sword at Nugrah's head. The druid shielded himself with his forearm, deflecting the blade from the center of mass.
"Go ahead, then, take my life, if you can. The cycles of nature will turn against you, too, in time; just as you overthrew that foolish bastard of mine, and just as he overthrew me. You will soon see how stupid you were, believing you could deny the brutal simplicity of violence."
Miguel finally wriggled his legs free of the mud (-1bleed) and rounded on the creature that had attacked him from behind. He recognised the druid, too, finally. Nugrah returned his gaze, daring him to strike.
"Kill me now, or I will only find other ways to make you suffer for your weakness."
Miguel sighed. He was actually thinking about using his magic to cure the bleeding wounds left by the bats, but he pushed that aside. The druid's words warranted at least a fragment of his attention. With his next breath, he wove a spell into his song once again, but not to attack.
Nugrah's gem-like eyes only had time to widen in surprise before his body locked down.
"Shut up already," said Miguel.
It was true, they'd probably have to kill him, but the sound his voice was getting tiresome (Nugrah Paralyzed). He turned his back to the vicious little man. "He's yours. That spell won't last long, so finish him or tie him up quickly." he said to Giles. He walked back to the cart. The warg threat was done here.
Back on the far side of the wagon, Kyrie was close to finally freeing herself, which was good, because the surface of the mud felt like it was starting to refreeze in the cold. Certainly she was beginning to feel the chill (-1bleed).
Giles 38/42 - -1SS, Bane [Human] (3), Healing, Flames of the Faithful (2/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 43/55 - -2LoH, Bleed, Power of Faith (9/10), Stuck
Miguel 14/41 - Music (, 18 arrows
Zeran 30/42 - -3G, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Nugrah the Dirtman: Injured, Embattled, Fog, Hold Person Paralyzed (1/5),
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(A lot of nihilistic villains, ain't there? I wonder if it runs in the Stag Lord's family. Giles' attack came so close to hitting despite rolling so low, meanwhile Nugrah's high will save falls just short on against Miguel's spell.)
Spells:
Miguel 3/1
Giles 0/2
Posted on 2015-11-24 at 00:20:36.
Edited on 2015-11-25 at 19:30:01 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Giles recognises the wolverine now, I forgot to mention that in the post
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Giles reversed his steps when he heard Miguel call out (-1bleed). He climbed back into the wagon ahead of where the swarm was attacking and crossed to the other side. There it was—the elderly wolf that had cast the fog, and probably the summons, too.
"Got you." He willed divine judgment through his blade and struck down over the wagon's edge. This was obviously no ordinary wolf—the elderly animal moved like a trained combatant, stepping back as Giles' sword struck a glancing blow, complete with a distinctly woody 'thock' (-15dmg Old Wolf Embattled).
Zeran under the wagon heard action overhead. Before he could be rejoining any fight he figured it'd be better to stop the free flow of blood. Still, no sense in wasting a bullet. He pointed to his right, following Giles' footsteps and the sounds of snarling. He couldn't see worth a damn but if he just got lucky...
He was rewarded with a surprised yelp (-4dmg Old Wolf). Zeran pressed the still hot barrel to as many of his bleeding wounds as he had time for in this cold (End Bleed). Rolling over onto his stomach, the river pirate turned co-baron crawled under the wagon toward the other side.
The grizzled old wolf snapped at his face the moment he came into view, but he flinched back even quicker. "Yikes."
The wolf stepped back. Before Zeran and Giles' eyes, the animal suddenly transformed. Its body became earth, its teeth and claws became stones, and its eyes gleamed like uncut gemstones. The shape of the creature also changed, the soil of its body shifting effortlessly to resemble a small bear-like wolverine.
"I will have my vengeance!" A deep, rumbling voice issued from somewhere deep in the earth creature's throat. "You're not different from that pathetic boy. Children playing at the game of lords and ladies!"
The old man turned elemental creature suddenly dove into the ground, gliding into the mixture of snow, blood, and mud as smoothly as an otter into a pond. Zeran thrust out with his rapier, but couldn't tell if he struck the creature until he realized his tip was stuck into the dirt.
Then the bats came.
Zeran didn't see them coming until he was surrounded by them all over again. Overhead Giles was also being engulfed in the swarm (-4dmg Miguel 22/41) (-5dmg Giles 30/42) (-1dmg Zeran (18/42).
Kyrie heard Giles and Zeran's curses and suspected her target was no longer there, but that was not going to stop her from being sure. "Nice doggie get out of my way doggie."
The wolf suddenly relaxed. Without warning its body simply dissolved like mist before the sunlight. A faint, vaguely wolf-shaped glow lingered and faded where it stood. Kyrie didn't know much about magic, but she guessed this meant that the spell that summoned the wolf spirit had ended (Wolf Desummoned). Either way, she knew it meant there was nothing standing in her way anymore. She stepped through and found she shaman wolf had fled.
A paladin's work is never done, though. Without an obvious target to hit, she reached under the wagon with her healing hands and patted Zeran on the head, keeping her eyes open for the shaman's next strike (+12hp Zeran 30/42).
Still embroiled in the bat swarm on the wagon, Miguel rubbed his face. One more shot would do it. He couldn't do it from in here, though. Not without hitting basically everybody else. He jumped out of the wagon to clear his head, and took a few steps away from the wagon. He couldn't see the bats anymore, but he didn't have to aim very carefully. He pointed himself at the spot where he had just been standing and unleashed another blast of crystalline shards.
He couldn't see the results like the rest of his team, but over the next few seconds the high pitched squeaking and sounds of flapping faded. The others meanwhile saw another tide of bats blown away by Miguel's magic, only to have those few who remained, too few in number to maintain a cohesive swarm, begin winking out of existence one by one (-10dmg Bat Swarm Desummoned)
Giles 35/42 - -1SS, B(2), Destruction, Bleed, 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 45/55 - -2LoH, Bleed, Power of Faith (7/10)
Miguel 21/41 - Inspire Courage (7), Staggered, 18 arrows
Zeran 30/42 - -3G, Bleed, Prone, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Summoned Wolf: Desummoned
Earth Wolverine: Injured, Embattled, Fog
Bat Swarm: Desummoned
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(I swear, I never remember twice in a row what my 'bloodied' tag for class-level-having monsters is.)
Spells:
Miguel 3/0
Giles 0/2
Posted on 2015-11-19 at 18:17:44.
Edited on 2015-11-25 at 19:29:09 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Miguel turns out to be a stone cold badass... and a plain cold badass... it`s cold out, man!
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Giles ducked his head (-1bleed) and hopped out of the wagon, escaping the colony of bats that had spontaneously claimed it for themselves. Rather than stumble around blindly in the fog, he moved toward the vague blip of light in the fog until he could see Kyrie's glowing body semi-clearly.
Zeran didn't need any convincing (-1bleed). With the bats swarming around him, he stood, clamping his wrists protectively around his neck. He followed Giles's egress, but he didn't stop there. As soon as his boots touched the snow, he reversed his course and dove under the wagon for protection from the swarm.
Unbeknownst to him, Zeran narrowly escaped a far chillier fate than laying in the snow. Moments after the gunslinger disappeared from Miguel's sight, a final wolf with cunning eyes and a spectral glowing blue mist wafting from its mouth appeared beside him, striking out of the fog without warning. Miguel never had time to dodge. The wolf's jaws clamped around his forearm, but it wasn't the bite that was the most painful (-4dmg Miguel).
A heart-stopping chill numbed Miguel's sword arm and shot up his body into his chest. When the baron bard wrenched his arm from the wolf's maw, the fabric was coated with frost (-14cold Miguel 12/41). The cold forced the breath from his lungs, but he managed to suck in enough air to croak, "Found the shaman!" before picking up teeth-chattering verse to his song before the magic faded (Staggered).
Around him the bat swarm shifted, the ravenous mob engulfing Kyrie, too. Even Kyrie, despite her armour, suffered many tiny bites which she ignored (-1dmg Miguel) (-3dmg Kyrie Bleed). She thrust her hand through the swarm into the wagon and grabbed Miguel's leg (+15hp Miguel 26/41 Bleed End). "You get back."
Kyrie pushed her way around the wagon (-1bleed), but found first the heavily wounded wolf. It hadn't fled yet, so Kyrie assumed it was one of the summons. She couldn't see the shaman yet. No doubt she would have to go through the minion to get to the master. "All right, puppy. Move it."
Miguel obeyed Kyrie and fell back to the far side of the wagon, but not for the same reasons. He closed his eyes and focused his mind. His body was shaking too damn much to move far or fast, but he couldn't simply relax. He knew he was the only one who could disperse the swarm. With Kyrie out of his sight, he had no way of knowing whether she'd made it out of the area or not, but he couldn't afford to wait.
For just a moment, Miguel managed to push the bats, the cold, and his own chattering teeth out of his mind. His voice rang out with magic and he held his hand out, directing the crystalline shards out into the swarm and toward the wolves at the edge of the wagon.
First thing Kyrie saw was a small wave of bat corpses flung toward her, bursting into energy where they struck the snow, propelled by the force of the spell. For half a second before she saw the bats dying, she believed the swarm was coming after her again, so she was completely blindsided by the shards (-6dmg Kyrie) (-9dmg Bat Swarm).
Against all the odds, the badly wounded summoned wolf in front of her managed to duck low enough to evade the spell. There were no eyes on the shaman anymore to confirm whether or not he was caught, too. The bat swarm meanwhile, short at least a couple hundred members, continued to circle around Miguel's head.
Giles 36/42 - -1SS, B(2), Protection, Bleed, 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 45/55 - -2LoH, Bleed, Power of Faith (7/10)
Miguel 26/41 - Inspire Courage (7), Staggered, 18 arrows
Zeran 20/42 - -3G, Bleed, Prone, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-D: Near Death, Bloodied, Summon? (?/?)''''''
Old Wolf: Unseen again, Fog
Bat Swarm: Badly Wounded, Summon (2/?)
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
Wolf-E: Desummoned
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: So Dead
(Gotta work, no time for GM side-notes today. Got not much to say tho' besides that was one hell of a concentration check rolled by Miguel just now.)
Spells:
Miguel 2/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-18 at 18:02:53.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: I swear, this fog cloud is probably more annoying to me than it is to you.
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Giles and Zeran followed Kyrie's example. There was only one more opponent they needed to worry about. The fog was blinding, but they kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the shaman making a last-ditch effort to strike.
"If he's smart," Giles said, "he'll be running by now."
As if to prove the marshal wrong, a now familiar flickering circle of light appeared on the bed of the wagon. More summoned minions. The party in the wagon looked to their feet, but it was above them that the spell started. Tiny bursts of light filled the air around the wagon, each leaving in its wake a small, black bat. Within a second's notice the air was completely filled with the beatings of over a thousand wings.
And each of those pairs of wings came with a tiny set of teeth. The swarm struck without mercy from every angle (-4dmg Zeran, -6dmg Miguel, -2dmg Giles). It was by no means a mortal threat, but the bats were too numerous to avoid anything less than a dozen painful snaps each.
Zeran raised his pistol into the air, but quickly realized there was no point wasting his shot on a single bat out of a few thousand. Besides, it was all he could do to swat the bats away from his face (Zeran Distracted).
Rather than flee like a mortal wolf, the last remaining pack member struck at Zeran as he was distracted. Taken off-guard as he was, Zeran lost his footing, falling to the wagon floor, dragging down at least two bats caught in his hair (-3dmg Zeran 21/42 Prone).
It was virtually impossible to see anything through the fog, much less through the swarm of black leathery wings. Miguel thrust his sword at the summoned wolf that brought Zeran down, but he could barely see it, much less strike it.
At the same time Miguel was the first to realize that the wounds left by the bats bled rather freely (-1bleed Miguel).
Giles 37/42 - -1SS, Protection, B(2), Bleed, 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (7/10)
Miguel 30/41 - Inspire Courage (7), Bleed, 18 arrows
Zeran 21/42 - -3G, Bleed, Prone, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-D: Near Death, Bloodied, Summon? (?/?)'''''
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog, Unseen
Bat Swarm: Uninjured, Summon (1/?)
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
Wolf-E: Desummoned
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: So Dead
(A diminutive airborne swarm is composed of up to 3000 members. Divide by eight 5' cubes and that leaves 375 bats for each of you. The average density of bats to air volume is 3 bats per cubic foot of air. Now nobody has to share!)
Spells:
Miguel 1/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-17 at 17:03:47.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Coo-day-grahs
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Giles took no chances with this beast. When he decided to cut the head off the snake, it wasn't just a metaphor. He raised his sword over his head, then struck down on the beast's neck (-32dmg *coup de grace* Howl). The beast bane in his sword helped him to cut through the thick neck like it was a sculpture made of butter (So Dead).
With the warg dead, Zeran looked to the last two wolves. "All right, which one o' you tried to bite me?" One snarled in response, so he picked that one. "Surprise between the eyes!" He brought the butt of his pistol down square on the wolf's forehead (-7dmg Wolf-E), dropping it to the ground. Less than a second later the animal simply dissolved into a cloud of light (Desummoned). "Wait, what?" The remaining wolf snapped at him, but he was not far enough out of his wits to leave himself exposed that easily.
Kyrie blew out a breath. That was one already down. She could hear fighting ahead, to the left of the wagon, but so far no mention of somebody spotting the shaman. "Somebody shout if you see the other one!" She called.
Miguel meanwhile stepped back over the warg's corpse. The very last traces of the wolf Zeran clubbed were just floating away. "It was a summon?" He looked down to the last remaining wolf. These two had not run when their leader had been slain. Perhaps the other was also merely a spirit inhabiting a constructed body. He thrust downward, striking a severe blow (-12dmg Wolf-D Near Death).
Giles 39/42 - -1SS, Protection, Bane [M. Beast] (2), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (6/10)
Miguel 37/41 - Inspire Courage (6), 18 arrows
Zeran 28/42 - -3G, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-D: Near Death, Bloodied, Summon? (?/?)''''
Wolf-E: Desummoned
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: So Dead
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog, Unseen
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(What could that rascally shaman be up to? Well, assuming those wolves were from his summon, that explains at least one of his recent rounds.)
Spells:
Miguel 1/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-16 at 22:14:45.
Edited on 2015-11-16 at 22:16:34 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: You caught him.
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
When the warg didn't reappear to attack him, Giles rolled his eyes. Typical. Calamity back around the wagon guided him back to the action. He climbed back in next to Miguel—that's where the warg had gotten off to. The blighter had healed somehow, he realized. There was an easy way to fix that.
Giles charged his sword with deadly power and struck. The beast bane in the sword guided the superficial strike into a long wound across the warg's side, from shoulder to flank (-14dmg Bloodied). Howl snarled with pain and hatred, turning to Giles.
Zeran took advantage of the warg's fury. He whipped around with the butt of his pistol, catching the warg right across the snout mid-turn (-6dmg Howl Badly Wounded). Stunned, the warg lost its footing, dropping to its side in confusion (Prone).
The two common wolves still outside the wagon leapt and snapped at the only target they could see—Zeran. The fog impeded their aim no less than anyone else. Only one came near close to chewing on the gunslinger's tender flesh (-3dmg Zeran 28/42)
There was no room left in the wagon, so Kyrie ran around the back. The warg had no place to escape to, even if it could stand. Miguel mentally charged his sword with magic and thrust downward at the warg that had attacked him. His sword sank into the beast's flank with a gasp (-16dmg Howl). The warg's red eyes unfocused and closed (Unconscious, Dying).
Giles 39/42 - -1SS, Protection, Bane [M. Beast] (1), Spiritual Weapon (5/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (5/10), Bastion [Howl]
Miguel 37/41 - Inspire Courage (5), 18 arrows
Zeran 28/42 - -2G, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-D: Uninjured'''
Wolf-E: Injured'''
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: Unconscious, Dying
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog, Unseen
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(Zeran is best tank AU. One underpowered boss monster down. One to... find... where the hell is that other one?)
Spells:
Miguel 1/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-14 at 15:46:35.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Fog tricks ftw
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
(Giles & Kyrie)
Giles didn't go chasing after the shadows in the fog. The warg was already injured—if the beast wanted to play this game, Giles could play all day. Kyrie picked up her sickle and stowed it. All she had to do was catch the warg and Giles would do the rest.
(Zeran & Miguel)
Suddenly Zeran found himself holding off another two wolves. First thing was first, though. He flipped his gun in his left hand, gripping the barrel. "Nobody. Touches. My. Horse." He slammed the butt of the gun down on the rear end of the first wolf (-9dmg Wolf-B Dying).
The wolf beside it jumped for his arm. Zeran twisted his body and annoyed the wolf with a love tap on the snout from the butt of his rapier (-6dmg Zeran). Beside him Miguel was holding off the last wolf with little trouble.
"Don't move," Miguel told Zeran between melodies. He stepped back suddenly to the far side of the cart, the magical echo in his voice swelling to the spell incantation. The magic broke the air with a ringing of crystal, and razor sharp shards burst from the air in front of Miguel. The cone passed Zeran harmlessly, but the wolves lay directly in the path. One was quick enough to drop down, but the other took the discharge in the face (-6dmg Wolf-E Injured).
Miguel wished he could simply get a shot at the warg. Provided with enough discouragement, he was sure the common wolves would be forced to flee the area, but with the warg leading, they were still a threat to the barony. He tried to think back to how many had been defeated. The average pack size was only about six members. Not enough to seriously challenge them without the warg or the mysterious 'shaman'.
Without warning, a large dark shape bounded out of the fog to his left, leaping into the wagon in front of him. The red eyes fixed on him. "Missed me." Howl snapped at Miguel, but already the aegis of Kyrie's protection was holding back the warg's attacks. The warg's jaws closed on Miguel's leg, robbed of their crushing strength (-4dmg Miguel).
Though Miguel hadn't seen the warg up close yet, he saw Giles' spell blade give it a new scar earlier, but the creature before him was barely injured.
Giles 39/42 - -1SS, Protection, Spiritual Weapon (4/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (4/10), Bastion [Howl]
Miguel 37/41 - Inspire Courage (4), 18 arrows
Zeran 31/42 - -1G, 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-B: Dying, Unconscious
Wolf-D: Uninjured''
Wolf-E: Injured''
Howl-of-the-North-Wind?: Barely Injured?
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog, Unseen
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-C: Unconscious
(I was thinking of playing up the angle that technically you have little to no way of knowing that the warg attacking Miguel is Howl and not some other, thanks to it being healed, but I figure that'd be more work than it was worth. Also, I could swear I have not rolled higher than a 4 on a free trip attempt.)
(Oh yeah, I never found a place to work it into the post, but when Miguel backed up, he's standing right beside Kyrie on the ground. Technically her aura extends far enough that he'd be safe where he was, but it's even more thematically appropriate that he backs up to Kyrie right before the warg strikes.)
Spells:
Miguel 1/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-12 at 15:41:45.
Edited on 2015-11-12 at 15:43:15 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: The warg doesn`t realize that stalling is not going to help his case.
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
(Giles & Kyrie)
"Found the leader!" Giles called over his shoulder to Kyrie. He willed the spirit blade to strike at the same time as he. The thick fog soured Giles' aim, but warg could not evade them both. The spell sword tore another bite out of Howl's hide (-5dmg Howl Injured).
Kyrie glanced over her shoulder. She couldn't see the warg, but she could guess where he was. She leveled her gaze at the wolf. "Scoot," she told it firmly. It didn't need encouragement. It turned and vanished back into the fog. If it was smart, it wouldn't be around to try again.
She came around by Giles' side. It was the warg all right. Kyrie dropped her sickle without a second thought and grabbed the warg by the scruff of the neck. Not one to appreciate obedience training, Howl twisted around, snapping at Kyrie's arm. He wrenched himself free of her grip, but she pulled her arm back before he could sink his jaws into anything tender.
(Zeran & Miguel)
It was the shriek of his horse that revealed the location of the third wolf to Zeran (-6dmg Mathilda Injured). The grey furred wolf snuck through the fog right under his nose. "Not happening," he said. He stabbed straight down into the wolf's backside. The limp it acquired then would be remembered for a while, assuming it survived the encounter (-10dmg Wolf-B Badly Wounded).
A sort of crackle from over the side of the wagon, just beyond his range of vision, drew his attention. Before he could worry about what it might have been, two healthy new wolves bounded through the snow and lunged at him. The first didn't clear the wagon's sideboard, but the other nearly mounted the wagon, narrowly missing his pistol arm (-5dmg Zeran). Funny, he was planning to feed them with that hand, anyway.
Miguel heard the sudden commotion. Unless the wolf he stabbed was a lot faster and a lot braver than he thought, trouble had arrived. He drew his buckler as he stepped back to the other side of the wagon and found trouble for himself. He swung his sword one-handed at the first wolf he saw, but it ducked back down.
(Giles & Kyrie)
Howl-of-the-North-Wind glanced from the heavily armoured Kyrie to the well-armed Giles and reconsidered his angle. The warg turned tail and vanished into the fog without a trace.
Giles 39/42 - -1SS, Protection, Spiritual Weapon (3/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (3/10), Bastion [Howl]
Miguel 41/41 - Inspire Courage (3), 18 arrows
Zeran 37/42 - 30 bullets
Mathilda 9/15 - Egads!
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded, Retreat, Unseen
Wolf-B: Badly Wounded,
Wolf-C: Unconscious
Wolf-?: Uninjured'
Wolf-?: Uninjured', where'd these two losers come from?
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: Injured, Unseen
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog, Unseen
(I rather like how neatly the battle has been split into two different groups of character so far. It really helps to emphasize the effect of the fog to making it seem like you're isolated from your allies. That said, Kyrie's Bastion, assuming she activated it when she saw the warg, actually covers almost the enitre party from where she is beside the wagon, anyway XD)
Spells:
Miguel 0/0
Giles 0/1
Posted on 2015-11-11 at 18:58:09.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: This battle is barely less of a curb stomp that I expected. More interesting tho' hopefully
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
(Giles & Kyrie)
Giles snorted. "A smokescreen. Cheap tricks for an inferior foe." He gripped his sword with both hands and waited for the first strike to come to him, rather than go wandering blind in search of trouble. Motion in the fog to his right was his only warning.
Using the fog as cover, the wolf was almost on top of him before he noticed it. The cunning beast lunged at his leg, but got nothing more than a scrape of boot leather for its trouble (-3dmg Giles). Giles caught his balance before the wolf could drag him off his feet. It was going to regret that failure. He slashed a bloody red gash through the beast's fur while the wolf was still overextended.
With nary more than a whimper, the wolf dropped into the snow (-14dmg Wolf-C Dying).
Behind him Kyrie found another wolf. It, too, leapt out of the fog before she saw it coming. Unfortunately for the wolf, the weren't many weak points in her shining new full plate, even if it could get through her shield.
The farm girl moved away from the wagon, strafing around the wolf while drawing her sickle. She didn't know when and where the warg was going to attack, but she would be damn sure it wasn't going to get far. "Stay down wolfie," she told the animal, swinging at at the fog. "I know you're just hungry and friends with that guy who is not a good person so don't want to kill you."
(Miguel & Zeran)
Aboard the cart, Miguel and Zeran kept watch for the third wolf, last seen closing in on their side of the wagon.
Nothing.
Over his singing, Miguel heard the other two already engaging in the fight. The distorted glow of Kyrie's power retreated deeper into the fog, almost vanishing. In a step he crossed to the right side of the wagon and glanced at Giles standing over the body of a fallen wolf. All good here.
He climbed up to the front next to Zeran. From here he saw the blip of light that was Kyrie. In the snow next to Bogdan was one of the mundane wolves. His horse stamped restlessly, unable to turn and kick in the skull of this predator.
Miguel brought his sword down on the wolf (-11dmg Wolf-A Badly Wounded). The wolf yelped in surprise, tail dropping between its legs. It suddenly liked the idea of fighting a lot less than it did a second ago. Where were its pack?
From the sound of things, Zeran figured his allies were more than handling whatever was going on over there. He drew his pistol to go with his rapier and kept watch for any sign of wolf, whether the 'shaman' or not.
(Giles)
The second time a shape loomed out of the fog, thirsting for his blood, Giles was ready. He learned in and stepped back the moment he saw the silhouette of the warg lunge. The red eyes and vicious jaws appeared out of the mist, only to snap shut on empty air.
Giles permitted himself a small grin as he vanished before the wolf's eyes, reappearing a full step to the right, back to back with Kyrie.
The warg flashed a toothy grin. "Who's using cheap tricks, now?"
Giles 39/42 - -1SS, Protection, Spiritual Weapon (2/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (2/10)
Miguel 41/41 - Inspire Courage (2), 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - 30 bullets
Wolf-A: Badly Wounded
Wolf-B: Unseen
Wolf-C: Dying, Unconscious
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: Barely Injured
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog (--), Unseen
Posted on 2015-11-10 at 17:55:38.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Pasted from iPad. Technology is awesome.
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
Giles drew his sword, leaping out of the wagon to the right. He looked up to the warg standing up the hill from him. Of course the clever beast would choose the high ground for himself, forcing any attackers to trudge up through the snow if they wanted to cut out the leader first.
No matter. He raised his free hand to the warg, incanting the spell to call forth a weapon of force. The spectral calligraphy blade would keep the warg busy.
Howl-of-the-North-Wind, the warg, snorted in surprise as the phantom sword appeared in the air next to him, and yelped as it nipped his side (-6dmg Howl). He turned to his pack. "Hunt!" His voice was as much a bark as it was a word in common.
The wolves moved in, the one from the front of the wagon coming around the right while the back two splitting one right and one left. This meant two were coming for Giles. They bounded through the snow, but then drew up short, waiting just out of range, as if waiting for something.
"All right, shaman!" The warg barked again in thick, but intelligible Taldane. "This is your revenge. Prove your worth!"
On the opposite hill from the warg, to the left of the party, appeared a haggard old wolf, his muzzle completely white with age. This was no warg, but his eyes clearly betrayed a malicious intelligence to match. He glowered at the party, then uttered a combination of snarling and howling. An spell aura appeared around its muzzle for a brief moment, then suddenly everything went white.
A fog descended on the wagon, so thick that the party could hardly see one another, much less anything beyond. Giles' spirit sword blinked back to him the moment he lost line of sight on the warg. Around them the sounds of predators bounding through the snow resumed, unseen.
Rather than let the party get separated so quickly, Kyrie leapt out of the wagon next to Giles. Immediately she lost sight of both Miguel and Zeran—hopefully they wouldn't wander off. As she landed in the snow she drew her shield, channeling the power of faith into a shield for all her allies, seen an unseen.
The glow coming off Kyrie's body became a blip in the fog for the other two. They couldn't see her, but they had a vague idea where to go if they wanted to find her.
Working on a similar thought, Miguel raised his voice to song as he drew his duelling blade. Zeran drew his rapier, raising his voice, too, but not in song. "Bad dog! I thought I told you to fetch daddy's slippers, not the weather forecast!"
Giles 42/42 - Protection, Spiritual Weapon (1/5), 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith (1/10)
Miguel 41/41 - Inspire Courage (1), 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - 30 bullets
Wolves (3): Uninjured, Unseen
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: Barely Injured, Unseen
Old Wolf: Uninjured, Fog (1/?), Unseen
Posted on 2015-11-09 at 16:37:31.
Edited on 2015-11-09 at 16:38:39 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Well, this should be easy-peasy
Exploration & Mapping
1-6 Neth
Hexes: G6 +25XP Each
The party set out for the hills across the broad river Shrike on the chilly first day of Neth. It was quickly decided that there was no good to be had letting rumours of monsters so close to the city go unchecked, even if there was a border of a river between them. Frodrick remained behind to keep an eye on the kingdom to make sure nothing happened while they were gone this time. The old dwarf had been more contemplative than usual the last few weeks, and the others thought he was looking a tad tired.
While they had made many trips now out in the direction of Tatzlford, this was their first expedition to the southeast. In sharp contrast to the fields, farms, and town in the west, the trappings of civilization fell away surprisingly quickly from the moment they crossed the bridge. The familiar shrikes that gave the river its name had long ago flown south, and soon enough there was no road to follow through the snow.
Though the snow was hardly a foot deep in most places, it took most of the first day just to reach the official border of their barony, just past the last small collection of frontier houses. By the second day, they were in wolf territory, proven that night when the still night air broke with the distant, sombre sound of howling.
Giles covered for Frodrick's usual role in wilderness survival, but the four couldn't help but feel just slightly exposed without the dwarf's years of experience and familiar grumble. The third day they finally set out to map the terrain, figuring that if the reports of warg sightings in the area had any merit, they'd probably run into one if they merely stuck around long enough.
Finally on the fourth, they spotted their first wolf. It was a big one, watching them impassively from a distant hill. From the creature's size, it had obviously been feeding well, though at this distance it was impossible to be sure whether or not the tell-tale red eyes that would have marked it as a warg were merely in their imaginations.
5 Neth
Warg Territory; G6
South Kamelands
By the fifth day they were proven right. While passing through a narrow valley between two hills, a grey wolf suddenly burst out of hiding before the cart. It bared its impressive rows of teeth and growled at the wagon. The horses jerked up in surprise, but Bogdan and Mathilda were better trained than to bolt at the sight of a single wolf.
Two more wolves appeared behind the wagon, with the large, dark-furred, and now obviously red-eyed warg they had seen before standing atop the hill on the right. If this was an ordinary wolf pack, operating under an ordinary pack leader, not panicking would have ruined their only advantage. With a cunning and malicious predator in charge, there were no guarantees.
Giles 42/42 - 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 -
Miguel 41/41 - 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - 30 bullets
Wolves (3): Uninjured
Howl-of-the-North-Wind: Uninjured
(Note that thanks to the difficult terrain, just like last winter, we can only move at half speed. Fortunately, there are no areas of deep snow around today. Unfortunately, the wolves are playing it cautious enough not to be standing in melee range, so it's going to take a bit of shooting or walking through the terrain to engage them in combat—or just wait for them to come to you, of course. Either way, the two wolves behind are about 30' behind the wagon's backboard, the one in front is 30' in front of the horses (so like 40' from the wagon's front) and the warg is uphill 35' to the wagon's right).
Posted on 2015-11-08 at 17:41:58.
Edited on 2015-11-08 at 17:47:28 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: If I spell it 'wargs', I still mean the same thing. Also de-curse.
Lamashan 4701 Kingdom Update (25-31 Lama)
Upkeep
-Stability: Secure -1 Unrest [3]
-Consumption: -3BP [29]
-Unrest: 2 (-1RA) -
Improvement
-Claim Hexes: F2 (-1BP, +1Size/Cons) [28] - Peaceful Annex
#+1 Road, +2 Houses, +1 Water Mill (Econ/Stab), +1 Brewery (Loy/Stab), +1 Graveyard (Loy) [Econ+1, Loy+2, Stab+2] +1 Control DC, +5 Blocks (1250 POP)
-Cities: Horologium (Monument) +2 Loy, -1 Unrest, -6 BP [1U/22BP]
-Roads: NA and F2 (3/4 3/8')
-Farmlands: NA
Income
-Generate Income: Nothing
Event
-Troll Sightings (continuous): Trolls sighted, no real reaction. Falchos delivers report.
-Economic Boom: A booming trade network makes up for economic slump, +5BP [27]
The month of Lamashan brought the first real snow to the Greenbelt. After the trial Grigori was only too eager to be out of Viridian. The same day he departed, escorted by the barons' agents, travelling to Olegton to the north, where he would be pointed in the direction of Restov.
The night after Grigori's departure, Sootscale, bundled in a tiny cloak, appeared on the barons' doorstep. He came complaining about the cold and the snow, but more importantly to deliver news about the public reaction to Grigori's exile. Most people were simply glad the nuissance was gone, no longer bellowing his rhetoric every time they went out to the market. The scandal of the enemy spy will be the talk of the town for a while, then likely will be forgotten except as history.
A very few voices still grumble that it all seemed rather suspect, and question the findings. None make open accusation of mistrial, though some, especially those getting too deep into their drink, do speculate whether or not Grigori was right, despite working for the enemy. Of these, Sootscale figured most would simply quiet down after they realized no one was paying attention to them, and those who took exception could be simply 'reminded' that they didn't need to stay if they agreed with the exile.
At long last Tatzlford was officially inducted into the barony proper, after several months of expansion to encompass the small town within Volga's borders. The annexation came with very little resistance by the people and moved along more or less seamlessly, with the Rezbins now reporting to the higher authority of the barons.
Shortly after the joining of Tatzlford, a report came in of a satyr appearing suddenly out of the forest. The guards of Tatzlford didn't know what to make of him, but they took down his message and passed it along. Tiressia says that with the coming of the snow, so too has her seasonal torpor. Nevertheless, she is able to maintain her oath to watch the forest over the winter months, with the help of Falchos to cover what she cannot do.
The dryad's report noted that her area of the forest was settling down for the winter. Movements of trolls in the south have mainly stayed south of the Murque, leaving very little cause for alarm at this time. Additionally she notes with some consternation that the keep of the Dancing Lady appears to have been abandoned by the former powerful dark fey that lived there, and muses whether or not we remembered to heed her advice to avoid the area.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Councilor Kyrie heard the people's concern over wolves to the east, across the river. The hills south of the Shrike were yet wild and unexplored despite their proximity to the capital. The folk who travel that way speak of sightings of a wolf pack led by a worg* called Howl-of-the-North-Wind. They are concerned the proximity of the pack might encourage them to acquire a taste for citizens over the hungry months.
In other news a bizarre looking dwarf woman with short turquoise hair arrived in the capital, bearing the summons for an artificer mage to augment the party's gear. While blunt, laconic, and responding to any glance in her direction by snapping about whether the offending party had 'ever lost a bet with a gnome?', her work was impeccable, working her magic over the party's armour and weapons.
Finally, the last event in an already busy month, Jhod came to the fort looking dreadfully tired, but very excited. He announced proudly that he had mastered a new level of magic and was willing to wrestle with Miguel's curse for as long as needed.
Jhod's efforts were unable to shake the curse the first day, through returning fresh from his prayers the following afternoon, he finally untangled the magic suppressing Miguel's mind. In a rush the bard baron was back to his normal self, with twice as much energy to spare after the previous two weeks' indolence.
Frodrick 58/58 -
Jargon 42/42 -
Giles 42/42 - 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 -
Miguel 41/41 - 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - 29 bullets
Stefan 17/17 - 20 arrows
Grigori: Exiled
(New Quest Get: Northern Howls (see Q&A once I get there), slay the worg and display his body publically as proof of his defeat. A reward of 1,200G is approved for this bounty, though try not to think about that too hard since you're probably the ones who approved of this)
(Meanwhile as you can probably see I've decided to advance Jhod to a 5th level cleric. He can now cast any 3rd level cleric spell for us if given proper prep time and material components.)
(*As for the worgs, think more along the lines of Tolkein, if you've seen more than a few of these depicted. If you haven't, general knowledge on worgs is that they are intelligent, evil wolves with red eyes who delight in hunting intelligent prey. In terms of specific knowledge, Miguel and/or Giles have enough arcane learning to confirm all this, and add that these magical beasts are actually capable of humanoid speech, and are known to work with goblins at times, though this one appears to be the head of a pack of mundane wolves.)
Posted on 2015-09-22 at 16:32:36.
Edited on 2015-09-22 at 17:06:23 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: The Trial of Grigori the Rabble-Rouser
24 Lamashan
Viridian City; G5
Capital of Volga
It snowed every day for the next week, inducting the unofficial start of the freeze almost a month late. By the time the date of Grigori's trial finally rolled around, the entire town of Viridian City was buried under a solid blanket of white. Despite the cold and the snow, however, a modest-sized crowd of people showed up at the fort to attend the trial.
It took a few moments to get the audience settled before the hearing could begin. The people were restless to view the proceedings of the trial—whether that meant a popular figure drawn through the mud, or to see for themselves what the truth was behind so many public accusations for themselves.
The judge cleared his throat several times. "You, Grigori, are hereby charged with one count of unlawful enchantment of the public, one count of espionage for a foreign power, and one count of conspiracy to threaten the peace of the land. How do you plead?"
The crowd immediately set about a quiet buzz at the words 'espionage' and 'conspiracy'. After a brief pause Grigori answered, "Not guilty, your honour."
With those words, the trial was set to begin. On the table for all to see were placed the material evidence gathered from Grigori's items, including a handful of potions, two scrolls, and his weapons and spell components.
Giles opened by presenting the case against the rabble-rouser. "The crown is seeking a sentence of exile from the lands of Volga, on the charges that you, Grigori, did willfully and knowingly use illegal enchantments on a public street on the seventeenth day of this month, with the purpose of inciting the people to rebellion, disturbing the peace. Furthermore we shall prove that your presence here in the capital is, in fact, not as a voice for the people but as an agent sent by an enemy power unknown to spy upon and destabilize the barony of Volga."
Grigori was brought up to the stand. Jhod rose to perform the cast the spell, announcing that all present would only be able to speak the truth as known to them for the duration of the spell. With that he called upon Erastil to ensure that justice be done properly and cast his spell. A shimmering golden ring of light appeared over the table in the centre of the room and swiftly grew outwards until it pressed up against the walls.
Kyrie knew the limited duration of the spell and did not hesitate to announce her first question. "How long ago did you arrive in Viridian City?"
"As I recall it was late in the day on the second of this month," Grigori answered. Unless he had defeated the compulsion, the fact that he was able to speak the words at all proved that he was telling the truth.
"And how long after that did you begin to make your public speeches around town?"
"I took a few days to familiarize myself with your fair city, which is when I learned of the alarming frequency of the monster attacks upon the kingdom. It was after that—about four days, I think—that I took it upon myself to address the people."
Kyrie nodded and returned to her seat as Zeran stood up. "That would be when you started using illegal enchantment magic on the people to sway them to your opinion, yes?"
"Any magic I used was purely for the purposes of enhancing my performance—"
Zeran interrupted him before he could side-step the question any further. "Did you or did you not use magic during your speeches, however minor?"
Grigori stopped. "I did use a little magic—albeit nothing more than any common bard or priest might use to keep the attention of their—."
This time the judge cut off Grigori. "Please try to contain your responses to answering as directly and accurately as possible. You will have your chance to speak as much as you want in your defense after the prosecution's examination has ended."
Zeran added next, "Would you use stronger magic in the future, to achieve your end goals?"
Grigori scoffed. "Preposterous. The effects may be mild, but the Enthrall spell is among the most complex spells I know."
"Very well, seeing as how you are so very new to our town, tell us, where did you come from and what was your business with our people—before you learned about the monsters and things."
"I have come most lately from Fort Drelev* to the west. I am a storyteller by trade and I have been travelling the River Kingdoms in search of a patron to take me on. I am quite gifted in rhetoric, so when I arrived in this here fair land, however, I knew I had to turn my talents to speak out against what I beheld!"
Zeran snorted, with a skeptical glance at Grigori's clothing. "A travelling storyteller? I doubt it." He returned to his seat without further question.
Giles took his place. "You say you have been travelling in search of employment... yet here I observe you seem well-dressed and well-fed. No doubt you will have some tragic story of being cast out on the street by your former patron. Forgive me for making assumptions but this strikes me as off."
"Perhaps you should ask your priest whether his truth enchantment is still functioning, then?" Grigori offered.
"I do not doubt your claim that you have indeed been travelling in search of employment—yet you have conveniently omitted any details regarding your business in our land. You have described what you were doing before you arrived, and what you have done since, yet you seem to have forgotten about the juicy middle.
"Think hard on your answer—I am sure it is to your greatest benefit to be thorough and honest in your response: Before coming to Viridian City you were in Fort Drelev, searching for an employer who could make use of your oratory skills. Were you successful before arriving in Viridian?"
Grigori swallowed audibly. His gaze locked on Giles, the message received, taking a few moments to consider his response as suggested. Finally he cast his gaze down. His acting was a bit melodramatic, but it was convincing enough to have the audience and jury on the edge of their seats. "Yes."
"Elaborate." Giles commanded.
"Yes, I did find an employer before arriving here, who sought my skill in rhetoric for a job." Grigori fell silent.
"Can you tell us the details of this job?"
Grigori sighed. "I was hired by a proxy to come to Volga. Once here I was to use my oratory skills to cause trouble for the leaders of the Greenbelt, that being you five."
The audience exploded. Shouts of every nature drowned the fort in sound—every utterance being the strictest truth by mandate of the spell still in effect. It took several moments for the judge to quiet the room, by which time Jhod's spell was nearly finished.
"Does the defendant wish to cross-examine himself?" The judge questioned.
"No," Grigori said, defeated. "I wish only to say that, in my defence that it was never my intention that anyone should be harmed by my actions. I was merely a player performing my role, and for this I am sorry."
Grigori's false contrition turned more than one pitying, sympathetic eye in the audience, but to most his words were worth nothing.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, how do you find the defendant?"
The jury conversed for several moments, before finally selecting a verdict. A representative stood before the court and announced a final verdict of Guilty. Grigori was sentenced to exile from the nation of Volga, and given 24 hours to collect his things and leave the capital. Giles hinted to Grigori that he had best travel north to Brevoy, lest his employers in the River Kingdoms take exception with his failure.
While Grigori had the sense to look contrite as he was led out of the room, he thought perhaps he sensed a measure of relief in the man's face. He was free to run as far as he could from these political machinations.
(*Fort Drelev—you know very little about this place, except that it was founded by Brevoy on a charter the same as you, in the Hooktongue Slough to the west of the Greenbelt. The slough is an important trade route between Brevoy and Pitax, so the Swordlords sent a group of high-ranking soldiers and diplomats to secure the region. The fort is named for Baron Hannis Drelev.)
(I could have gone on for much longer, windbagging a defence for Grigori, but it ultimately would have led to the same outcome. I've got places to be and things to do, so imagine if you like a sentimental and impassioned defence attemtping to pick apart technicalities and de-emphasize the severity of his actions and his role while simultaneously admitting all points. It would have toed the line between 'I'm guilty' and 'I'm still right, and I was forced to do this anyway'. Regardless, I get the sense that it's time to be done with Grigori so done with him we be.)
(Next post should revolve around Jhod's attempts to seek a cure for Miguel's condition and the kingdom update for this month. Oh yeah, and I think there's supposed to be experience associated with defeating Grigori... I'll find that out sometime later.)
Posted on 2015-09-20 at 17:57:22.
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Topic: Kingmaker Q&A
Subject: Shopping Spree
Heh, it's been a while since I've used this. Either way, we're going on a shopping spree. In just a few weeks the following gear which has been orders (and/or a wizard to enhance our existing gear)
Kyrie
-Fullplate +1
-Heavy Wooden Shield +1
-Spiked " " " +1
-------------------------4974G
Frodrick
-Stoneplate +1
-------------------------2950G
Miguel
-Augment Dueling Sword with +1
-Buckler +1
-Mwk Studded Leather
-------------------------2330G
Giles
-Augment Chain Shirt with +1
-------------------------(1000G)
Zeakol
-Augment Pistol with +1
-Augment Dovan's Armour with +1 (Studded Leather)
-Forge some Bullets
-------------------------3004G
Posted on 2015-08-28 at 19:43:59.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Temporary Success
17 Lamashan
Viridian City; G5
Capital of Volga
Zeran fired a blank shot into the air. In an instant all eyes were on him, including Kyrie and Grigori's. In the moment-long silence that followed, the grey sky let loose a gentle dusting of fat snowflakes.
"Can anybody confirm for me that this pompous oaf here has been using any kind of hocus pocus on the people here?" The royal enforcer pointed to Grigori with his free hand, leaving the smoking barrel pointed skyward.
Catching onto Zeran's line of thought, Giles stepped forward. "I can identify that there was clearly some form of enchantment. Somebody bring me the city watch. I am placing this man under arrest on the suspicion of using enchantment magic to tamper with the public."
"No need, my lord." A young red-headed city guard stepped forward, his own mind recently freed from Grigori's spell. The crowd parted for the guard and the leaders of Volga to attend to official business.
"I- Wh- You can't do this!" Grigori cried. He put up no resistance as the guard stepped up to him, dangling a pair of manacles. "Brevic support or not, this land is still part of the River Kingdoms. The first River Freedom is 'Say What You Will, I Live Free'! The people will remember that you have violated this most basic right!"
Words lept to the mouths of all three Kyrie, Zeran, and Giles, but were beat to the punch by the guardsman. "You are under arrest on reasonable suspicion of unlawful enchantment and tampering with public affairs," the boy quoted mildly. "You have the right to remain silent."
Grigori was not interested in excersizing his new right to its fullest extent. "I was merely using a simple Enthrall spell! The harshest punishment for that is barely a slap on the wrist!"
"I suggest you tell the judge all about that when you get there." The guard finished doing up the manacles and quickly frisked the man for weapons.
"Fear not," Giles told Grigori loudly, ensuring the surrounding crowd could hear him. "I will personally see to it that you are treated fairly, and that no harm comes to you while under our custody. If you should have any question or concerns, we will answer them directly. If everything goes well, I'm sure this little misunderstanding will be behind us all very shortly."
The guard found Grigori unarmed, and the leaders of Volga took an unexpected prize back to the fort with them. Behind them people shook their heads, processing the spectacle the had just witnessed as they returned to business before the snow set in.
Frodrick 58/58 -
Jargon 42/42 -
Giles 42/42 - 18 arrows, 20 bolts
Kyrie 55/55 - -1LoH, Power of Faith
Miguel 41/41 - Cursed -6Cha, 18 arrows
Zeran 42/42 - 29 bullets
Stefan 17/17 - 20 arrows
Uriel
Grigori: Uninjured, Fettered
(Taking Grigori into custody has temporarily removed the threat he represents to the barony, however he is in on basically trumped-up charges unless further evidence is found of wrong-doing. He can remain locked up without trial for a time, but eventually he will have to be either released or given a fair trial to avoid any further unrest.)
Posted on 2015-08-28 at 02:08:14.
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: The Virtue of Rule he was about to list was 'Righteous Anger'
17 Lamashan
Viridian City; G5
Capital of Volga
Though the first snow had come and gone most of a month ago, the next day served as a reminder of the season with grey skies and chilly air. Around the town of Viridian hearth fires were lit to keep the homes warm, and extra layers were found buried in closets where they'd been left last year, soon to be needed again.
With Grigori in town and a quarter of the governing body still abroad, there was no point in tending to matters of official duty. Instead, the party decided to focus the whole of their efforts for the week on tackling the problem of what to do with the charismatic rabble-rouser stirring up the populace in their nation. Unfortunately they didn't have a whole lot to go on.
Instead, the first order of business for the day came to them. Lily Teskerten (Local Flirt) arrived at the fort seeking an audience with the rulers.
"I heard a rumour that you were back in town and that you had returned with a wagon full of treasure recovered from the wilderness. I was curious, there wouldn't happen to be anything in that wagon that might fit my request, would there?"
As it happened, there was. On seeing the treasures retrieved from the Dancing Lady's keep, Miss Teskerten's eyes lit up. Her gaze danced across the ancient water clock, the alabaster statue, the harp, and the statuettes of the elven goddess and the jade snake.
"Well, the alabaster is nice, but I just don't think I have that much room for it in my bedroom." She picked up the smaller, clothed statuette of Findeladlara. She ran her fingers over the detail on the mithril archway. "Now this, on the other hand, this is just positively delightful. Yes, this is exactly the kind of item I'm looking for. Who do I have to thank for recovering this little item."
Zeran stepped in, "Well, I suppose we all take equal credit, since we all fought to slay the dark fey living in the keep."
"Oh, my, a treasure guarded by monsters, how very exciting. Come here, then." Lily casually stepped into Zeran's face and planted a kiss on his mouth. Without missing her stride she turned to the next closest.
Kyrie opened her mouth to protest, "Well, I don't remember picking it up—"
Lily silenced her with another kiss, an anecdote about weeding dying on her tongue. In order, she 'rewarded' Miguel and Giles next. Turning to the crotchedy old dwarf the human woman showed the first instance hesitation, but stooped over and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek, despite his flat expression.
After rewarding everyone in the party in this manner, Lily slipped a hand into the basket she brought with her, drawing out an old but good quality cloak. "Of course, I haven't forgotten the more material reward. This belonged to my father. It's old, but he kept it in good condition before he died. I'm sure it's still got some magic left in it, if you want to check. You can see flecks of steel sown into the fabric. It's supposed to give you some protection from harm or some such. He wasn't wearing it when he died, if that bothers you."
After a short process of elimination, it was decided that Miguel should wear the cloak for protection, since he was the one of the five barons designated the official 'ruler', his status might make him a target.
(Later - See Q&A for Shopping List)
The episode with Miss Teskerten reminded the party about the rather significant treasury worth of personal loot they had begun to acquire. Seeing as how the further south they went the more dangerous the threats became, it stood to reason that they should arm themselves to be equally dangerous, beginning with enhancing their weapons and armour for greater lethality or sturdier protection against the stronger and stranger magics of the beasts and beings of Golarion's wilds.
With their assortment of spoils freshly sorted and stored, and a comission freshly penned to have an artificer mage come to enhance their equipment, the party was ready to when word of Grigori's latest movements came in. The man had been spotted beginning his daily routine by a corner store across from the brewery.
It took all of thirty minutes to travel to the street corner where the portly man had set up shop. As with before they could hear the sounds of his hot air before they could hear him. Unlike before the moment they turned the corner, two thirds of the leadership suddenly stopped, listening intently to Grigori's words.
"It is said that the leaders of mighty Ancient Thassilon decided that there were seven qualities of a good leader, and vowed to rule with these virtues in their hearts. The first is wealth—but what good is wealth if the prosperity of the ruler becomes the prosperity of the people?"
Kyrie, unaffected by the magic and undetered, marched straight toward Grigori without giving the others a second thought. There was already a decent sized crowd gathered around to hear him listen, and nobody seemed to notice her approach, forcing her to physically push her way through to get to the front.
Grigori glanced at her, but did not acknowledge her in his speech at all. "The second is fertility—look to your ruler, Baron Miguel. He is a healthy young man in his prime, but should he not be taking a wife and ensuring the propegation of the bloodline? It is my understanding that he does not lack for suitors, but perhaps he lacks for ability?"
Kyrie stood beside Grigori, completely ignored by audience and orator alike. The crowd's attention was focused solely on Grigori, as if she wasn't even there. This was not the glassy-eyed captivation of the Dancing Lady, but something underhanded was going on, and Kyrie had already had enough of enchantments to last her through the rest of the year.
She moved back through the crowd to where Giles was surveying the various people who walked into the street and were caught in the effect like travellers following a will-o-wisp. It was easier going this time, since the people she moved aside had not even stepped back into place, leaving a tight path.
"But my friends we must use caution when talking about the Seven Virtues of Rule—when taken to their extreme, as they were before the fall of ancient Thassilon, these virtues become deadly sins. Now tell me, who among us has heard the rumour that the most valued patron at the local brothel is none other than Lord Giles Alexandria Nox?"
Giles, standing not a hundred feet from the speech snorted and reported to Kyrie. "I can't tell what spell is going on here. It seems to catch people as soon as they can see Grigori, though, so he and his performance are obviously the focus."
Kyrie nodded going to Miguel. "I need to borrow this for a moment," she told him. The farmgirl reached into his pocket and took a small, rough stone from him.
"Huh, oh, okay," Miguel muttered. It seemed unlike the crowd, he and the others were still vaguely aware of their surroundings, even if their attention was entirely absorbed by Grigori.
Kyrie aimed to change that. She returned back through the crowd as Grigori went on, trying to ignore the smug look on his face. Looking up at the wall she felt out the weight the thunderstone that Miguel had found earlier in their inventory. The same stone that Adela had given to Frodrick more than a year ago.
She pitched the stone up high against the solid side of the shop.
".. The next virtue being that of righteous—"
KRAK-A-THOOOOOM
The thunderous crash of sound rattled the windows of the shop in their frames. Grigori screamed a curse and immediately hit the deck. Despite their proximity to the sudden noise, the people did not seem to notice at all, turning from watching Grigori's speech to conversing with each other. None were harmed thanks to Kyrie's careful
Across the street at the far back, Miguel, Zeran, Frodrick, and Stefan came out of the enchantment, turning to each other like the crowd did. The adventurers recovered faster than the general populace, however, turning back to see the robust man get to his feet.
The man beside Kyrie stood up, red-faced. "What in the blazes did you do a thing like that, you daft girl?"
Something in Kyrie snapped. "I think it might be fair to ask you the same thing. If you want to talk it out, then talk it out to us, rather than going behind our backs, and trying to pull special effects on people to just use them. Unlike you, I'm here to LISTEN to THE PEOPLE! Not put words in their mouths! Do I make myself clear? If I have to, I will follow you and do this again if you try pulling the same stunt anywhere else!"
Grigori turned from red-faced anger to shock to alarm, backing against the exterior wall of the shop. The people gathered were starting to come out of their reverie and quickly turning to confusion and concern as they beheld the scene play out.
The opportunistic rat that he was, Grigori threw his arms into the air, looking to the crowd. "Do you see the violence inherent in the system? The tyranny that is hidden below the veil of sweet-voiced lies? Heed my words, one man may be subdued, but the will of the people will not be thwarted so easily!"
Zeran started to move to get to Kyrie's side, but the anxious crowd was even more difficult to navigate than the charmed one earlier.
Posted on 2015-08-27 at 05:14:38.
Edited on 2015-08-27 at 05:16:08 by Sibelius Eos Owm
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Topic: Kingmaker Adventure Path 2.0
Subject: Stir until plot thickens, then pour onto ungreased cookie sheet
16 Lamashan
Viridian City; G5
Capital of Volga
As the people started dispersing, Zeran got it into his head to introduce himself. "Keep an eye on the horses for me, would ya?" he called to Frodrick as he hopped out of the driver's seat. He approached Grigori with a wide smile as the well-dressed man dusted off his finery. With casual ease he laid a firm hand on Grigori's shoulder.
"Excuse yo—," Grigori started, but Zeran ignored his protest.
"Lovely speech and all, but it's hard to bullshit a bullshitter. These people are smarter than you give them credit for. Once they see past your honey they'll realize you're only here for your own gain"
Grigori fixed Zeran with bored look that showed through with naked contempt.
"When I look at you I see your fancy clothes, your politician's words, and your obvious good-eating, and you know what?" Zeran dropped the smile, narrowing his eyes. "I hate people like you. It's my job to troubleshoot problems like you before you can fill our fine citizens with false promises."
Zeran shifted his stance, turning so that the pistol on his hip was plainly visible to both men. "Now I"m not going to strongarm you or get rough. I'm just going to ask you to move on. There's nothing here worth risking your life over. You know, because of all the werewolves and whatnot."
The gunslinger Royal Assassin released Grigori's arm and turned to walk away without waiting for any kind of reply. Behind him Grigori snorted, muttering, "Was that supposed to be a threat? How droll."
In a louder voice he called after Zeran and to the party in general. "You won't shake my resolve! I am the voice of the people. These folk deserve to know just how and why your little venture out here is domed to fail so that they can choose for themselve whether or not to jump ship before it's too late."
He bit his lip, almost nervous for a moment, but had nothing further to add. He turned and strode away at a steady pace.
Giles sighed, not satisfied to leave it quite there. "Don't wait up for me, I'll just be a few moments," he told the others. At that he took off down the street, going after Grigori.
(Giles+Grigori)
Giles caught up to the man shortly. At first Grigori ignored him, as if pretending not to see him. Giles didn't give him the option. "I'd really rather we didn't leave matters on that sour note. Maybe we can get to see one another's points of view better some time over a couple drinks?"
Grigori stopped suddenly and regarded Giles icily, not even bothering to mask the suspicion in his expression. He said nothing for several second, then finally came to a decision. "Fine. I accept. I'm free most evenings." Giles was in luck, it seemed the man had reached the same conclusion Giles had—that there could be something to gain out of getting to know one's enemy better.
Giles tipped his hat to the rabble-rouser and turned back to the fort. The false smile fell away from his face. Now it was matter of seeing who could get the most dirt on the other the fastest—and this man had a headstart. For that they'd need to talk to Sootscale.
(All)
The remainder of the party returned to the wagon and made their way back to their headquarters in the old refurbished fort. There were other matters to attend to that also required their attention. A messenger was dispatched to fetch Jhod, the High Priest from wherever he was at this time of day. That was not who they met first, however.
Spymaster and kobold chieftan Sootscale awaited their return. The small black kobold had been alerted to their return and had suspected they would want to see him very shortly given the current state of affairs in the barony.
"My informants have been unable to determine where this Grigori fellow comes from, but he has wasted little time gathering what he needed to twist words against you in his speeches. He's only been here for near two weeks but he is gifted at being the loudest voice in any room.
"His speeches mostly follow the same pattern—convincing people that your absence is a sign of poor leadership, and that you are spending your time lining your pockets with treasure hunting while leaving the people to the mercy of the wild. Recently he has been using fears of troll sightings to incite restlessness.
"Grigori spends most afternoons moving around the town commons to spread his cries to a wider audience. When he's not in public he spends most of his time at the inn where he keeps a room. It is known that he possesses two weapons, a rapier and a small bow, and that he wears a shirt of mail beneath his clothing."
Zeran told Sootscale to keep his spies on Grigori in case the man let slip anything that would be useful if turned against him. The kobold returned to his duties as Jhod Kavken finally arrived.
The middle-aged cleric was out of breath. "My apologies I took so long, my lords, I was—err, tied up—in matters with my wife."
Jhod looked over Miguel for a few moments, then cast a spell to allow him to view the magic working on his body. After observing him for a few moments, Jhod shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid I do not have the skill to undo this curse. My magic is not strong enough to cast the spell that would undo the magic that is supressing the baron's mind. If I had a scroll I could do my best to activate the magic within, but I dare not think that I would be up to the task of unraveling the spell."
He place a hand gently on Miguel's shoulder, turning to the other. "The counter-curse is not a simple spell, but it is rather common. I would recommend that you see if Lord Alexandria could be capable of activating the scroll. In the meantime, I will pray to Erastil for guidance in this matter."
He bowed his head to the lords and lady of Volga and left.
"Well," Miguel said after Jhod left, "I guess there's nothing for it at the moment."
Posted on 2015-08-24 at 04:32:14.
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