I'll try to have answers to the questions asked by end of day tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

.. hopefully an easy one.

How long is the trip from Portua to the Visden? I see a scale on the Pardinal Map (it says 40 but 40 what?) and how fast can Sna'kti travel per day on foot?

Ok that is two questions but who is counting?

OK, Sui, first you: If I've misinterpreted Shiften's intentions in life, my apologies. Your description kind of turned me towards the idea that he was opposed to politics, and kinda a Robin Hood. So, I figured that this new politician appears and Shiften would decide to "introduce" himself. He's not exactly rich either, so a little extra pocket cash won't necessarily hurt.

I've created a map for you. It is uploaded here: Manor House Map
Each square is ten meters.There are three guard patrols, as indicated by the three different colored lines. The small purple route takes about five minutes to complete. The larger green route takes about fifteen minutes, and the largest, red route takes about thirty minutes. The similarity between Shiften's cloak and the guard's cloaks is too noticeable to allow him to blend in, plus there are a limited number of guards per patrol group, and adding one to the number would definitely be noticeable. The lowest part of the balcony is twenty feet from the ground, but the rail is another four feet high, so a total of twenty-four feet to achieve the balcony. The whole face of the building on the balcony side is black--there are no lights on in that part of the building. There's a lot of stone reliefs, and some decorative pillars...it would be a hard climb, maybe a DC of 20. The snow cover is about two feet deep, except in the trail made by the various guards. To move silently in this snow would require a Stealth check DC 30, and you'd move one quarter your normal MOVE.

Blammm: Sanya would know who all of these people are, but she's not a favorite amongst the politicians as she holds real power through her magic as well as her council position. The High Speaker and his circle of friends are especially stand-offish and have been known to suggest that she uses magic to further her political ends, so they advise people to steer clear of her. Sanya has obviously never heard of the High Speaker's cousin, and has had little to do with the other people Cyeen has mentioned except in passing.

Her position in the city would not be considered among the highest of the politicians, but she is certainly not among the lowest either. The council often finds reasons to send her out of the city on business (thus the Bayris trip) both because she is effective in her work, and because they are uncomfortable with her power.

YeOlde: That forty would be miles, and you travel roughly 24 miles in a day of hard marching. In weather...well, you might achieve 18 to 20. From the location Sna'kti saw on the map it will take him between two and a half and three days to achieve the cave area. There's also half a dozen villages between Portua and the cave area, as well as Visden if he wants to head there first and then move along the coast.

Vanadia: What's the direction Caterina is going to take after she's spent an adequate amount of time in prayer, watching over Ethain's body? The servants won't be returning until late in the evening, but Caterina doesn't maintain a priest at the manor, so no one is likely to enter the chapel without invitation, though they may start looking about the manor once they see the blood on the stairs and the mess in the study. I'd just like to advance you a bit further and need to know what you'd like to do.

If you need some help with ideas, Caterina would have a very good relationship with the church of Rydor in the city, as well as some relationships developed with various people who would have likely helped her in past adventures, as well as a great relationship with the local law.

GBoy: I'll give the others a bit of an opportunity to post and then hopefully move everyone forward together.

Thanks for your patience folks, and I hope you had a Happy Holiday this past weekend (you U.S. folks)!

OK, Sui, first you: If I've misinterpreted Shiften's intentions in life, my apologies. Your description kind of turned me towards the idea that he was opposed to politics, and kinda a Robin Hood. So, I figured that this new politician appears and Shiften would decide to "introduce" himself. He's not exactly rich either, so a little extra pocket cash won't necessarily hurt.

I've created a map for you. It is uploaded here: Manor House Map
Each square is ten meters.There are three guard patrols, as indicated by the three different colored lines. The small purple route takes about five minutes to complete. The larger green route takes about fifteen minutes, and the largest, red route takes about thirty minutes. The similarity between Shiften's cloak and the guard's cloaks is too noticeable to allow him to blend in, plus there are a limited number of guards per patrol group, and adding one to the number would definitely be noticeable. The lowest part of the balcony is twenty feet from the ground, but the rail is another four feet high, so a total of twenty-four feet to achieve the balcony. The whole face of the building on the balcony side is black--there are no lights on in that part of the building. There's a lot of stone reliefs, and some decorative pillars...it would be a hard climb, maybe a DC of 20. The snow cover is about two feet deep, except in the trail made by the various guards. To move silently in this snow would require a Stealth check DC 30, and you'd move one quarter your normal MOVE.

Blammm: Sanya would know who all of these people are, but she's not a favorite amongst the politicians as she holds real power through her magic as well as her council position. The High Speaker and his circle of friends are especially stand-offish and have been known to suggest that she uses magic to further her political ends, so they advise people to steer clear of her. Sanya has obviously never heard of the High Speaker's cousin, and has had little to do with the other people Cyeen has mentioned except in passing.

Her position in the city would not be considered among the highest of the politicians, but she is certainly not among the lowest either. The council often finds reasons to send her out of the city on business (thus the Bayris trip) both because she is effective in her work, and because they are uncomfortable with her power.

YeOlde: That forty would be miles, and you travel roughly 24 miles in a day of hard marching. In weather...well, you might achieve 18 to 20. From the location Sna'kti saw on the map it will take him between two and a half and three days to achieve the cave area. There's also half a dozen villages between Portua and the cave area, as well as Visden if he wants to head there first and then move along the coast.

Vanadia: What's the direction Caterina is going to take after she's spent an adequate amount of time in prayer, watching over Ethain's body? The servants won't be returning until late in the evening, but Caterina doesn't maintain a priest at the manor, so no one is likely to enter the chapel without invitation, though they may start looking about the manor once they see the blood on the stairs and the mess in the study. I'd just like to advance you a bit further and need to know what you'd like to do.

If you need some help with ideas, Caterina would have a very good relationship with the church of Rydor in the city, as well as some relationships developed with various people who would have likely helped her in past adventures, as well as a great relationship with the local law.

GBoy: I'll give the others a bit of an opportunity to post and then hopefully move everyone forward together.

Thanks for your patience folks, and I hope you had a Happy Holiday this past weekend (you U.S. folks)!

Caterina's intentions would be to seek out the servants at the time they were expected, and instruct them to make preparations in the morning for a funeral (I believe in the other game that Ethain had no family?), then she would take the dagger to the local Church of Rydor.

We hadn't worked out contacts and connections for Caterina, so I did not want to take the post too far on assumptions.

Let's start with the character, and then we'll continue the clarification. The way you describe the character completely justifies the next question on my list (I was just getting started) which is why does Shiften have an 8 renown.

I apologize for not being clear. He is not "Shiften". He is "Joseph" "Filnor" "Barsten" etc. etc. etc. He never goes by his real name. He is a pure stealth specialist, and as such, prefers never to be seen....ever.

When I think of this character, I think of a voyeur. He sits in the back of the inn, or on occasion sneaks into the diplomatic meetings (within earshot) and hears what the problems are. Then, while they debate the matter and how to solve it, he leaves, resolves the problem, rinses and repeats.

More like the "unhired" assassin type. He prefers to skip past the politics, eliminate the problem-causers, and continue to the next stage of his life. He would minimize his weapons (which you've done pretty close to how I would) because he doesn't fight. He would maybe use a dagger to slit a guy's throat while he sleeps if the situation calls for it, but he wouldn't walk up to the guy and stab him in a public square.

This repeats the term "stealth specialist". I also imagined him much younger than you have him marked as. But that's up to you, I don't know the level of the adventure and the experience required. Most stealth specialists invariably die young, which could be a reason for shifting to the archetype you've given....

Now, let me back up. I am all for playing-ball and working with the group. Shiften may be a loner, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't work with others. If you feel the archetype is too hard to work in, I can shift and work with what you've given me. I like what you've given to me, and would enjoy playing it, it's just not what I had in mind.

Now, there's still plenty of ways for you to work out why Shiften would want to rob this place, and I leave it to you as DM. That said, let's continue the "how"s.

If I were to use the string I have and a few small branches form the tree I'm in to fashion snowshoes, I'm thinking it might logically make it easier to move (speed up my movement and lessen the move silently checks) and it should make the tracks less obvious. It would force me to work things a bit differently, but I think it's doable.

If snowshoes would not do (shiften would likely know) that or are not an option, I'm curious as to the total number of guards in each patrol and the distance between them (my guess is they're close and chit-chatting from time to time).

I also need to know the time frame for the "party" I'm dealing with, and an estimate on the number of probable guests. Stack that information with any observations I have about the number of servants and they're time frames for travel so far this evening (Likely lots given the party).

Hmm.....ok, so there's another set of questions (sorry, stealth specialist for ya). And there's clarification on my character. Let me know how you want to work it. You're the DM after all.

I'm good for it. I'm excited on finding out where this is going, and this also gives me time to kinda look over the sheet, find out what everything's about.

Um, I just realized Brom... am I supposed to kill the assassin, or bring him alive to the king? It just might be important if I'm to fulfill this mission...

The offer is for five thousand royals alive. It drops to one thousand dead due to them having to pay for a Speak With the Dead spell to get their answers.

Sui, I've answered your questions via P.M.

Looking forward to being able to post a continuance this Sunday.

Sui and Blammm are the ones I left behind for the time being. The rest of you are moving along nicely.

Yeah, I only saw the five thousand royals reward. I didn't see mention of dead or alive. Thank you for clearing that up.

Hey Brom,

Post is up... please note the OOCs at the end of the post. Thanks!

blammm

I'll hopefully be posting on Sunday again, so if you haven't posted yet, I urge you to do so.

The characters are shaping up nicely folks! Great job thus far.

I need one last reply to my PMs from Brom, and I think I'm good to post.

I replied to your PM the day you sent it, Sui. Am I missing something?