secret of the dragon emperor ... part 15!

a new day dawns in the town of Outskirt!

GM Elle: So when morning arrives, everyone recovers everything you'd normally get back after a shift rest -- except Dilfriida, who wakes up feeling awful and loses -- ouch, 6 hit points. Dilfriida finds herself wracked with chills and fever, unable to keep anything down. This gives her the Sickly condition.

Sasha: Does she have the runs too?

Hettie: Sasha. Do we really need to know this?

Sasha: Hey, I'm just thinking ahead to when we get hit with an extra cleaning bill from Vagnhild.

GM Elle: Let's just say she doesn't. But she's certainly not going anywhere in her present condition.

Hettie: She won't be going anywhere except the town graveyard if she takes another hit point loss like that.

Claire: If Filvius feels better, he'll start tending her.

GM Elle: Oddly, my reading of the rules is that basically nothing happens from that until tomorrow morning when it's time for Dilfriida to roll.

Claire: Wow, so we're stuck here another 24 hours?

Ariel: Could we maybe put her in the wagon bed and have Filvius treat her while we're going?

Akane: No. A halfling befouling our wagon from all orifices will not receive Zedeja's tolerance.

Hettie: Zedeja has tolerance?

GM Elle: My reading of the rules also gives no indication that there are restrictions on the character's activities while sick, aside from the Bane on CON-based checks from being Sickly.

Akane: Excellent. Sick halfling walks, tended by elf, no inconvenience to anyone.

MSG: I think having a companion staggering along feverish and vomiting would probably make Dolora even more dour than usual.

Ariel: I know I'd get tired of hearing her being sick.

Sasha: Well, I'm betting there are monsters that can smell sick prey and will come right after it, so Quackers is fine with Zedeja's plan.

Hettie: Dilfriida refuses to go along with that plan. I'll stay here and croak before I'm forced to march across the countryside sick by a senile old crackpot.

Claire: Too bad I can't roll to learn my Heal Wound spell until the end of the session.

Ariel: Yeah, that's a crummy rule. But ... the old dude who taught you can cast it, right? What if we take her to him?

Sasha: Let's send somebody to ask him. If the price is too high, it might just be cheaper to wait and pay for the rooms again and let Filvius roll his Healing check.

Hettie: Except that if he fails his check, there's a good chance of me dying. If I hear any of this and know that the old guy can heal, I'm just going to crawl up that hill and pay whatever his rate is. Assuming I have that much.

GM Elle: Well, you'd previously been sleeping in the dormitory, and no one said they were moving into a private area for discussions, so I think it's reasonable to assume Dilfriida hears about the old man's healing abilities.

Hettie: Excellent. I'll take my 2 remaining hit points and head for that hill.

MSG: Are you really down that much?

Hettie: 6 points from the disease, and I was already missing ... wait. This is embarrassing, I seem to have subtracted the 6 points from WP, not HP. If I put it in the right place I've got 7 HP left, not 2.

GM Elle: I guess we can rewind that ...

Hettie: No, from a roleplaying perspective, Dilfriida would be pissed that everyone was even talking about making her walk behind the wagon while sick, so I think she'd head to the hermit regardless.

GM Elle: All right, then. Is anyone going to go with the thief?

MSG: Not if she's got a whole 7 hit points.

Claire: If she's well enough to get up and go, I'll let her.

Ariel: Don't look at me! You know I'm not down for unnecessary efforts.

Sasha: Quackers will go along just on the off chance another troll shows up and needs killing.

GM Elle: Then the two of you get to the hermit's place without issue. He says he charges 5 gold for Heal Wounds, or 10 or 15 if you want him to use a higher power level to heal more damage.

Sasha: Do we need that?

GM Elle: Based on the spell description, I'll say no.

Hettie: I hand the gold over, then. 

GM Elle: He intones the mystical syllables of the spell, lays his hands upon your diseased flesh, and -- wow, this isn't your day, Het. He rolls a Demon. That causes a Magical Mishap.

Sasha: Is there time for me to step further away?

Hettie: If this is bad, I'm demanding my 5 gold back.

GM Elle: Hm. I roll an 18, which causes him to become one age category younger.

Sasha: Damn, then, he should pay us for that.

GM Elle: Let's see how it affects his stats, though. He gets +2 on Strength, Agility, and Con, -1 on Int and Wil. So, he's clearly surprised, but he tries to play it off by saying, "There, that was just me getting myself ready." He fails his Bluffing check, though, so you can tell it was a major magical foul-up.

Hettie: I'm calling him on that lie and saying it looks to me like he just had a big-time bit of fortune and he should cut his price in half both because of the benefit to him and to reassure me he's actually in faith a good healer.

GM Elle: You can roll Bartering, and I'll even give you a Boon because of his shock at suddenly being decades younger.

Hettie: My Bartering is terrible, though. 6 and 16 both fail.

GM Elle: He shakes off his bewilderment and says he doesn't think a discount is in order, but he will try again for no extra charge if you want him to.

Hettie: I need to be healed somehow.

GM Elle: This time he rolls an 11, which is a success. In addition to removing the disease, you're healed for 6 points.

Claire: All righty, then. Are we heading out when they get back?

MSG: Even if it's not Glinssa, we still need to hire someone to tend our donkeys while we're in dungeons, don't we?

Claire: With any luck someone who isn't a member of a cult that would kill to get its hands on our stuff.

Ariel: I really wanted to use my Insight on her though!

MSG: You know what? I'm giving a couple coppers to a town urchin to send him or her to Graminger House with a note for Glinssa. It will just say, "Heading out of town in an hour. Offer still stands." And I tell the urchin not to give it to anyone but her. They need to ask for Graminger at the door, and then ask him to get Glinssa.

GM Elle: Vagnhild probably has a quill and ink you could borrow, but she tells you parchment is a silver a sheet from Master Ulvar's.

MSG: I'll pay it, I suppose.

Claire: Can I just say, this seems like a really dubious hire to me?

Ariel: Probably to everyone.

Sasha: Out of character, sure. In-character, Sir Q doesn't know about it yet, so no opinion.

Akane: It is unsanctioned by Zedeja. Thus, illegitimate.

GM Elle: Anyone else doing anything while waiting for Dilfriida and Sir Q to return?

Claire: I think we should go looking for someone with donkey experience to hire. If we come up bust and Glinssa really shows up, I guess we'll figure out what to do about it then.

Ariel: I like that idea.

Akane: Approved. Zedeja delegates the task to the hound of silver fur and silver tongue.

Ariel: Hey, I said I liked the Idea, I didn't say I want to go out and do the legwork on it.

Akane: Your skills are mercantile. Who else would do this? Akane? Filvius? One is excellent for commanding but less motivational to outsiders. The other is brash and lacks charm.

Ariel: Okay, okay. I guess I'll ask Vagnhild where she thinks I might be able to hire a donkey handler we can trust.

GM Elle: She tells you a couple of people in town who might be willing to do it as an odd job. You can roll a Charisma check, with a Bane if you want to complete the search in less than an hour.

Ariel: I actually don't want to try very hard. It sounds like a lot of work, and anyway, I still want to try my Insight ability out.

Akane: Treachery.

GM Elle: If you try half-heartedly, roll with a Bane. If you're just faking it, don't roll at all.

Ariel: Faking it sounds best, at least until we see if Glinssa shows up.

GM Elle: Okay, MSG, roll a die. On a 5 or under, the note gets to Glinssa and she's motivated to come and talk to you in less than an hour.

MSG: 5 exactly.

Ariel: I'm kind of moseying around the town square with the statue keeping an eye out for Glinssa coming back. 

GM Elle: Roll Awareness with a Boon since she's not trying to hide. 

Ariel: Ooh, Dragon!

GM Elle: You definitely see her, and you also notice her looking back over her shoulder toward the stairs she just climbed from the boarding house street to the town square. There's something uncertain or hesitant in the way she does it.

MSG: Like she could be worried someone is following her.

Claire: Or like someone has been walking with her most of the way giving her advice or orders and she's checking in with them one last time.

Ariel: Ughhhh. Okay, well, I'll head back toward the inn so I get there pretty soon behind her.

GM Elle: To see who gets to the inn first, somebody draw an initiative card for Sir Q and Dilfriida. Glinssa gets the 5.

Sasha: We show up on 6.

GM Elle: In that case, Dolora, Filvius, and Zedeja are in the common room when Glinssa enters. Make an Awareness check.

MSG: 4 makes it.

Claire: 14 does not.

Akane: 16 is a failure even for the vast Awareness of Zedeja.

GM Elle: Dolora notices that as Glinssa looks around the room upon entering, she spots Annabelle helping someone at another table, and immediately casts her gaze downward. Instead of continuing to look around, she heads straight for an unoccupied table and sits down.

MSG: Hmm. That's curious. I'm going to wave Annabelle down the next time I can get her attention.

Ariel: Do I get inside before then?

GM Elle: Yes.

Ariel: Do I notice Glinssa sitting all by herself and our group sitting at another table from her?

GM Elle: Yes, no roll necessary for that. It's not too crowded in here at the moment, and the light is good.

MSG: I'll try to get Fidu's attention and gesture him to come over to us.

Ariel: So ... which table is closer to the door, Elle?

GM Elle: Glinssa's is.

Ariel: Okay, I'm going there, then, and when I sit down I'm going to say, "Wow, my feet are so tired."

MSG: I'll work to avoid doing a facepalm.

GM Elle: Ariel, roll a die. If it's odd, Annabelle notices you and Glinssa sitting awaiting service before she spots Dolora trying to wave her down.

Ariel: 1.

GM Elle: She heads your direction.

Ariel: Awesome! When she gets close, I'm going to ask Glinssa a question and use my Insight to see if she's lying.

Sasha: What are you doing?

Akane: This seems overt.

GM Elle: What's the question, Aers?

Ariel: I say, "I'm having crudzy luck finding anybody to help our group with our donkeys while we're out adventuring. Do you know anybody who'd be interested?"

GM Elle: She immediately says, "What? No!" And you know that she's lying.

MSG: Wow. That was brilliant.

Ariel: So then when Annabelle gets there, I'll ask her the same exact thing.

GM Elle: Are you using Insight on her too?

Ariel: No, Fidu doesn't care what she says.

GM Elle: She says there ought to be lots of people in town who'd be interested in good-paying work. Then she asks if the two of you want something to eat or drink.

Ariel: I say no, I just sat down at the first table I came to because my feet are tired.

GM Elle: You do need to roll Bluffing for that.

Ariel: Uh-oh, I didn't think about having to roll. Whew, I get a 13 and my Bluffing is 14.

GM Elle: Annabelle seems to buy it and looks meaningfully at Glinssa, who says, "Oh ... um ... I know it's still pretty early, but I kind of need a drink pretty bad." The serving maid replies that the time is no problem if she has the coppers. Glinssa puts a hand in her pocket and dejectedly pulls out three coppers, which is one short. Annabelle frowns.

Ariel: I'll take out a copper and put it on the table and say it seems sad for somebody in need to come up just a copper short of what they need. I don't need to roll Bluffing for that because it's true.

Sasha: I'll say it is. Why are you trying to hire this chick again, MSG?

MSG: You're not there.

Ariel: So when Annabelle goes off to get the tankard of mead, I'm going to ask Glinssa really quiet, "Quick, and this is yes or no. If we hire you, are you going to turn on us at some point?" I spend another two points on Insight.

GM Elle: She says no, but she can't be seen leaving town with you. She's telling the truth.

Ariel: Well, poop, I can't think of a solution to that right this second. Maybe we could hide her under some sleeping furs in the back of our cart? Only she'd need a reason to go out in the stables where it's parked. Is it parked in the stables?

GM Elle: Yes. Annabelle is coming back with Glinssa's tankard, though.

Ariel: I'll take one of my boots off and rub my foot. I'll kind of have to turn away from the table to do that, where it won't look like I'm talking to Glinssa.

GM Elle: Once she's dropped off the tankard, she comes over to the group's table and asks if Dolora needed something.

MSG: Fidu threw my plan there off, not that it was much of a plan. Now that she's here, I'll just ask her for another mug of mead.

Ariel: Ooh, good. When she goes to get that one, I'll tell Glinssa that when she finishes her drink, she should go out the front door but then walk around to the stable entrance and hide under the sleeping furs in our cart. Hopefully there's only one cart there. Or just one with sleeping furs anyway.

GM Elle: She looks a little dubious, but gives a nod.

Ariel: Okay, then I'll put my boot back on and go tell the group they've got time for maybe one more drink and then we should be hitting the road.

Sasha: Are Dilfriida and me back yet? Because if we're hitting the road, I could use some of that one more drink action.

GM Elle: You arrive around the same time Annabelle brings out Dolora's tankard.

Ariel: When you sit down I tell you there's time for one more drink, but you need to order it when I tell you to.

Sasha: You're telling people when to order their drinks now? Who do you think you are, Zedeja?

Akane: No thinking you are me, hound!

Hettie: What about me? Can I order a drink?

Ariel: You should order one when Annabelle gets back with Sir Quackenscrump's.

Sasha: I'm very confused.

MSG: I think I see where this is going. Dolora tells everybody to just humor Fidu.

Akane: What! Telling everyone is the responsibility of Zedeja! Stop being such assumers!

Claire: Filvius wants to know what the deal is. He feels he's being left out of some crucial knowledge.

Ariel: If Annabelle isn't nearby, Fidu will tell everyone his plan. Sir Quackenscrump will order a drink right after Glinssa gets up and goes out the door. Then when his drink comes, Dilfriida will order hers. That will keep Annabelle busy while Glinssa sneaks into our cart in the stables. 

Sasha: What about Vagnhild?

Ariel: Um ... I'll go to her and ask if she needs us to pay any extra for cleaning up after Dilfriida being sick. Then I'll try to keep her chatting a while after that. Oh, and I guess I need to return the keys to the private rooms.

Sasha: You can tell her the story about the old pruney guy making himself young again.

Ariel: Well, I can't because I don't know that story.

Sasha: I'm sure we'll tell you once the drinks start flowing.

Ariel: That's too late! I need to be talking to Vagnhild while Annabelle is getting drinks and Glinssa is sneaking into our cart.

Sasha: All right, then I'll tell you now.

Akane: Zedeja insists to know why anyone is sneaking into our cart.

Claire: What about the stableboy?

Ariel: What stableboy? Is there a stableboy?

GM Elle: Odd, there's a stableboy. Even, it's a stablegirl.

Ariel: Wait, what roll means there's no stable anyone?

GM Elle: It's a 5, so, stableboy. Vagnhild runs the inn and also serves as sort of the town mayor, so I don't think she's got time to care for customers' horses and donkeys. There's a stableboy, and I'm sure there's also a cook who's been making the food you're eating while you're staying here.

Claire: Filvius will go out to the stables and give the stableboy a couple of coppers to go wherever we bought the donkeys and ask if they have a third donkey and how much it would be. I tell him to come in the common room and let me know the answer when he gets back.

Ariel: Ooh, that was good thinking.

Akane: Zedeja opposes all this planning and shenaniganning. She has so much disapproval for hiring a cultist donkey-minder.

MSG: I'll tell her -- and I'm keeping an eye out for Annabelle not being nearby for any of this, Elle -- I'll tell her Glinssa just wants to get away from the cult and is paying us to smuggle her out of town. Bluffing roll of 4.

Akane: It's believable, then. But Zedeja wants to know the smuggling price. Who negotiated without her permission?

MSG: I'll tell her it was Fidu, because we thought it should be someone old and wise and because his Bartering ability is so good.

Akane: Okay, tolerable. But next time I must know to begin with!

Hettie: Is it time for Quackers to order his drink yet? Because Dilfriida really needs it to be time for her to order her drink after that.

GM Elle: It does look like Glinssa is about to drain the last of her tankard.

Ariel: Fidu gets up to go talk to Vagnhild.

GM Elle: She's behind the bar cleaning glasses at the moment.

Ariel: Okay, I head over there.

Sasha: Say the word when Glinssa heads out the door.

GM Elle: You see her walking that direction.

Sasha: I'll wave Annabelle over, then.

GM Elle: Ariel, Vagnhild tells you she already cleaned up the dormitory area, which was where Dilfriida was sleeping, right? It wasn't too bad, because she leaves a spare bucket right outside the dormitory door in case of drunken vomiting, and Dilfriida managed mostly to get everything in the bucket. So no need for an extra fee. She does thank you for returning the keys, though.

Ariel: I'm going to ask her if the old guy on the hill has a magic trick to look young sometimes and old other times.

GM Elle: She says, "Do you mean Dranath?"

Ariel: I say I don't know if I mean Dranath. I don't think any of us got his name. He's the old hermity guy in the hut on the hill.

GM Elle: She says that's Dranath, and she's not aware of him playing any magical tricks.

Ariel: I'll tell her the story about the magical mishap, then, and if Annabelle comes over to ask her to fill up a tankard for Sir Q, I'll say, "Hang on a minute, I'm almost done with this story."

Claire: Meantime, I'm keeping an eye out for the stableboy getting back. If he comes back before we're ready to go, I'm going to figure out another errand to send him on.

GM Elle: Okay, with all this strategy coming together, I'll say it's going to come down to Fidu Bluffing with a Boon to occupy Vagnhild and Annabelle long enough that Glinssa can get in the cart -- assuming she's actually going along with this plan and trying it.

MSG: I'm going to be pretty ticked if she ditches out on us.

Ariel: All right, my Boon rolls are ... a Dragon and a 19.

Sasha: We're on fire with those Dragons tonight. That's what, two for me, two for Aers, and one for MSG?

Akane: So many bonus advancement marks. Zedeja has none.

Hettie: Maybe she needs to do less of the ordering people around and more actual utilization of her skills.

Akane: Probably it's good advice. But her weakness of "overbearing" prevents her.

GM Elle: Thanks to the Dragon, I'll say you get into your tale of Dranath's age reversal right as Annabelle shows up, and you do such a good job telling it that she willingly stands and listens in rather than trying to interrupt.

MSG: Nice job.

GM Elle: That means once you've finished all the drinks you've ordered, you can gather your stuff up, hitch the donkeys to the cart, and head out of town. Which I think is a pretty good place to end the session.

Claire: Yes! Time for some spell-learning.

GM Elle: Participation mark for everyone, and definitely a mark for solving a tricky situation without violence. I'll count the fist fight as defeating dangerous enemies for Quackers, Dilfriida, and Dolora. Weakness points for everyone, but nothing for exploring a new location. So four marks for the brawlers and three for everyone else.

MSG: Awesome. Nice game, Elle.

Ariel: I'm enjoying this town stuff even if I keep napping through most of it!

Sasha: Yeah, good times. But you know what, I think I'm going to voluntarily disqualify Quackers from the weakness mark. I don't think I mentioned monsters more than once or twice, and not even in an annoying way.

Akane: The weakness of Zedeja, impossible to dispute.

GM Elle: Whatever floats everyone's boat. All right, maybe next time you'll make it to another actual adventure!

will we, dear readers? stay tuned and find out!

secret of the dragon emperor ... part 14!

so folks, there are 11 adventures in this dragonbane campaign book we're working from, and so far our intrepid band of heroes have gotten through ... 1. by my math, that means it could take us over 140 of these blog entries to finish the whole thing. yikes! (not that we have a fantastic track record of finishing campaigns or anything.)

with that in mind, here we go on the next one!

GM Elle: All right ... after marking experience last time, did anybody manage to get a skill up to 18 and score a new Heroic Ability?
Sasha: Yes! My Riding hit 18, and as soon as I read "Dragonslayer," I knew that was the one for me. If I use it against a monster, I get an extra d8 damage.
Ariel: Ooh! Nice! Only ... how did you get better at Riding? You haven't ridden anything this whole game.
Sasha: The rules don't say you can only put a mark in skills you use for the session. I figure Quackers has just been thinking a lot about how riding somewhere would get him to the monsters quicker. Soon as I get up to 60 gold, I'm all over a riding horse.
Harriet: In other words, several dozen sessions from now.
MSG: I feel like I have to point out that in order to get to the monsters any faster, you'll either need to leave the rest of us behind or get all of us horses too.
Sasha: That's on you guys.
GM Elle: Any other new Heroic Abilities?
Claire: My highest score is still only 16.
Akane: Zedeja, the same.
Harriet: Dilfriida got her Knives score up to 18, and I was vacillating wildly between Assassin, Dual Wield, and Fast Footwork until I realized I only had enough WP for 3 Heroic Ability uses before I'm out. So I took Focused instead. It felt rather underwhelming, but I can at least Backstab 4 rounds in a row now, if I have to.
Sasha: Borrring. You should have put one of your decent scores in Willpower like I did.
Harriet: Ahem. I've peeked at your sheet, Sasha. You have 5 scores at 14 or better. I have 2. 
Ariel: Hey, why did you suddenly hide your sheet like that, MSG?
MSG: No reason.
Harriet: Good grief. Don't tell me all of your ability scores are 14 or above.
MSG: Okay, I won't tell you that.
Sasha: Anyway, what's the deal with peeking at my sheet, Het?
Harriet: For one thing, should any of us be having secrets from one another in this household? For another, I've actually never seen you spend a single Willpower Point, so I wanted to check whether your Heroic Abilities were simply all terrible. Which, to my surprise, they were not.
Sasha: I mean, when your regular attacking and defending numbers are as good as mine, do you really need to pay attention to what your Heroic-Schmoic Abilities are?
Harriet: Certainly not. I mean, not unless you value opportunities to save your fellow characters from mortal harm or something of that sort. But ... honestly, I do apologize for looking. I should have asked and not just presumed upon our familiarity. In my defense, Ariel was looking too.
Ariel: Hey! Sash, I swear, it was basically an accident. You were away from the table and I said something like, "I bet Sash's character is as awesome as she is," and somebody rolled their eyes at me I think, so I looked in order to prove it.
Sasha: Haha, I was basically joking-mad about Het's sneaky peeking, but that's hilarious, so I'm glad I pretended.
Akane: Still, it is role-playing protocol not to sheet-peek, yes?
Harriet: Absolutely. As it also is to tell someone else how to run their character, such as by implying that they should use their Heroic Ability to defend others at least occasionally. In real life, I'm highly ethical, but I'm afraid at the gaming table I'm as much a scoundrel as Dilfriida.
Claire: Meanwhile, high atop a central hill of the town of Outskirt, where dwells a mysterious hermit full of enticing knowledge ...
GM Elle: Right. Let's get straight to that. Do you head straight to the old man's hut, Claire?
Claire: You bet. Filvius is hot on the trail of some paid-for knowledge, no detours to be tolerated. I march straight up the hill and pound on his door.
GM Elle: It turns out you don't need to do that, because you find him out in his garden tending vegetables.
Claire: Super. I holler at him and wave as I'm walking up, then.
GM Elle: He looks up from his work. His wrinkled features clench up for a second, then he gets to his feet and dusts off his knees and says, "Don't come closer just yet. Your friend smelled intolerably when she was last here -- you haven't come in a similar condition, have you?"
Claire: I say, "Do I look like I'm covered in troll yack?"
GM Elle: He squints and says no, but his eyes aren't what they used to be. He walks closer, asking if you've decided what questions to ask him.
Claire: Sure. First one is, "I hear you're a mage. How do I cast the most powerful spell that you know?"
GM Elle: He says, "By paying me three gold pieces to tutor you for a shift, then practicing until you've mastered what I teach you."
Claire: I really meant he should tell me the exact process, so I tell him that.
GM Elle: He says that the most powerful spell he knows is complex enough that you will have to ask him numerous questions to learn it, and that's more than you have purchased with the treats you brought him. So you'll have to be satisfied with the answer he's given.
Claire: Okay, well, no, I don't have to be satisfied with it. But I guess I have to accept it. My next question then is what the secret knowledge is that's hidden in that image on the ruined ceiling temple.
GM Elle: He says, "There's not really much hidden there. It just shows the crown of Eledain, the Dragon Emperor. You've probably seen it on all the milestones along the roads here in the Misty Vale, if you've been traveling here much."

Claire: Damn it. Okay, then I take off my backpack and get out the map and the two statue pieces, and I say, "So what's the deal with this stuff, then?"
GM Elle: He spends a considerable period of time just blinking and looking from you to the things you've shown him and back again. Then his eyes widen and he tells you to put it all back away again.
Claire: I'll do that, but I probably can't help rubbing my hands together eagerly before I do. I say, "Sounds like we're talking now."
GM Elle: He tells you the same basic story that Annabelle told Sir Quackenscrump when you first got into town. But he adds some information you haven't heard as much about. He tells you that the pieces of the statue are currently being sought for by the Cult of Sathmog and the Keepers of the Immaculate Flame -- a fanatical group of knights and monks who worship Eledain and want to use the sword to usher in a new age of rule by Dragons. He tells you that if either of these groups finds you have the map or the statue pieces, they'll use any means at their disposal to acquire them. If they have money enough to buy them, they'll try that. If not, they'll use force to take them, without hesitation. He also tells you that the Cult of Sathmog want the sword to bring back their master's high priest, Azrahel Koth, who is entombed on the Misty Isle in the north of the Vale. The sword can free or kill him, and is the only way to get through the deadly mists that surround the isle.
Claire: Strike one and two on my first questions, but big-time score on question number three! I wish Dolora had told us all about that Truth Society Annabelle claimed to be in so I could ask him about that.
MSG: Sorry, I was a lot more interested in getting us to the Temple of the Purple Flame than going over all the nitty gritty.
Claire: I guess it doesn't matter anyway, since I'm all out of questions now.
GM Elle: The old man cautions you to be very careful who you reveal all of this to. But if you decide to turn it over to anyone because it's too much for you to deal with --
Claire: Filvius says he has complete confidence that we can handle it.
GM Elle: He says, "Yes, yes. But if you decide otherwise, the Keepers of the Immaculate Flame would be a much better choice to go with than the Cult of Sathmog, who could plunge the entire world into darkness if they have their way.
Claire: Okay, then, high stakes. I guess I'll tell him I have plenty of gold to spare if he could spend a shift teaching me a new spell right now.
GM Elle: He says considering the burden your group is bearing, he can certainly make time. He tells you his most powerful spells are Heal Wound, Lightning Bolt, and Purge, but that you'd have to know Treat Wound, Lightning Flash, or Banish to learn one of those.
Claire: Sweet, I have all three of those prerequisites. Kind of like the idea of boosting my lightning damage or damage to undead ... but realistically, we probably need me to beef up the healing. Oh, and it looks like Heal Wound is a prerequisite for Resurrection, so I guess that seals the deal.
GM Elle: The lesson is involved and takes a lot of focus. It turns out he's right that you do ask a lot of questions.
Claire: I was probably going to do that regardless.
GM Elle: True. So mark off the 3 gold and at the end of the session, you can roll to learn the spell in place of rolling to increase your magic school skill.
Claire: I guess that represents the practicing he was talking about.
GM Elle: Right. 
Claire: Okay, guess I'll head back to the Three Stags then. What's everybody else been up to?
Ariel: If you were gone a whole shift, probably Fidu took a nap.
Sasha: Sir Q is hanging out drinking mead, but after a while he starts to wonder if Filvius snuck off to kill more monsters without him and he wonders if he ought to go check on the elf.
GM Elle: Are you saying he actually does go check?
Sasha: No, just that he wonders if he should. Then he probably has another mead and stops worrying about it.
Akane: Zedeja awaits the return of our diseased mage.
Harriet: Dilfriida is sitting around in her towel waiting for her laundry to dry.
MSG: I'm waiting to see if Glinssa shows back up. Or if Annabelle shows back up to give me more of her Truth Society scoop.
GM Elle: For the time being, there's no sign of Glinssa. But Annabelle shows up for her shift a little after noon.
MSG: Great. When it looks like she has a free moment, I'll ask her if she wants to tell me a little more about the Truth Society.
GM Elle: She's cleaning up a table during a lull between busy times when you ask, and she looks a little surprised, then says, "Well, I don't know if there's all that much more to tell," and keeps working. "We're just a society that loves truth and knowledge, and it will obviously be bad for that if those terrible Eledain worshipping knights get the sword and take everything over."
MSG: I'll ask her what particular areas of knowledge are her favorites.
GM Elle: You notice her kind of scowl at that. She finishes stacking mugs and dishes on her tray and wipes down the table with a cloth. "Lots of different things," is what she says in answer to your question. "Right now though, I'm mostly focused on learning as much as I can about the dragon knights and how to stop them."
MSG: Uh-huh. That seem kind of suspicious to anyone? She's head-over-heels about knowledge, and the knights are terrible because they're a threat to that ... but the main knowledge she's interested in is the knights?
Ariel: It doesn't seem suspicious to me, but that's because I'm napping.
Sasha: Right when we could use your Insight ability to see if someone's lying.
MSG: I'm going to say, "Well, I don't know too much about the dragon knights, but at least they're against that Sathmog cult, right? Sathmog is the worst."
GM Elle: Annabelle says, "Maybe I'm not the best person to ask, because the dragon knights killed my whole family." She seems visibly upset when she says it.
MSG: Great, now I feel bad. I apologize and say I didn't realize the situation was so personal for her. Then I'll add that my friends and I are like she is -- very interested in knowledge but also eager to make sure no other people's families get killed by fanatics out to enslave and rule the world.
GM Elle: She just says, "Excuse me," and takes her cleanup tray in the direction of the kitchen.
MSG: I guess I'll go back to the table with the rest of the group, then, looking more dour than usual.
Akane: Zedeja suggests it's faulty to accost diligent workers in their duties. Now service to our table may have reduced efficiency. "This should be remedied with a large tip. Be sure to leave one at the end of dining or drinking."
MSG: Dolora grumbles that she'll think about it.
GM Elle: So toward dinnertime, Filvius returns from training.
Claire: I'll fill everybody in on where I've been and what I've found out. I'm not going to play up the fact that I basically wasted my first question ... instead I'll say the old dude told me all the different spells he knows that he could teach us. When I get to the part about the statue pieces and map, I'll be a little careful about how I talk about us having them. "I showed him some of that stuff we found, and he opened up like a book. Sounds like we've got to watch out for fanatical knights on top of cultists."
Ariel: (That's what she said.)
Sasha: Haha, that one was actually pretty good.
Akane: Zedeja immediately examines the room for apparent knights. Do I discern any?
GM Elle: At some point in the afternoon, that dark-haired woman in plate armor came back into the common room and sat at a corner table by herself.
MSG: Any sign of dragon emblems or symbols on her? I roll a 2 on a Spot Hidden check if I need one.
GM Elle: You can't see any such signs. But you do notice that when Annabelle goes to take her order, the serving maid seems to be forcing a bright attitude toward her.
Ariel: I bet she's a dragon knight and Annabelle is plotting to kill her for revenge.
Sasha: Are you actually back downstairs now? And did Dolora share that info about Annabelle's family with us? And are you actually betting? Because Quackers thinks that's an okay bet to take, considering Dolora obviously stepped in it with the maid and got her in a bad mood.
MSG: I probably would have chimed in about Annabelle's family being killed by dragon fanatics when Filvius brought it up. But I don't think I ever got around to telling the group about the Truth Society or how Annabelle said they'd give us 50 gold pieces for each piece of the statue. So if that's part of what's making you suspicious of her ...
Ariel: No, I'd actually forgotten all about that.
Sasha: Sure would be good information for the rest of us to know, though. Hint, hint. Anyway, how much are we betting?
Ariel: I dunno ... a gold piece?
Sasha: You're on.
MSG: Most likely when Filvius talks about the two groups being after the statue pieces, Dolora would bring up the fact that there may be a third group, because Annabelle told me this Truth Society would give us 50 gold for each piece of the statue if we found any.
Ariel: Fidu is kind of annoyed that you hid that money-making opportunity from us.
MSG: I was more concerned about the knowledge than the money. Anyway, now you know.
Claire: Well, I don't like the idea that there's a third group and the prune-faced hermit didn't know about them. After all the work that I went through to get that knowledge, I want it to be as close to the whole story as possible. So I'm going to say the Truth Society's probably a scam, and Annabelle's working for one of the other two groups.
Ariel: It's the cultists. Or maybe not, because she does seem awfully nice.
Akane: Hmm. The arm-wrestling opponents had cult tattoos, yes? And we did see this suspicious serving girl talking to the leading mallard of them.
Harriet: When he came in and sat down, I'll point out. It was rather her job to talk to him in that situation.
MSG: Whether she's a cultist or just angry at the dragon knights, though, it seems like we have confirmation from the hermit that both of these groups are bad news in one way or another, which sounds to me like all the more reason for us to keep the statue pieces, find the other two, and then get into the tomb under the temple and take whatever treasure's there for ourselves.
Claire: And whatever knowledge is there.
MSG: Is there a difference?
Claire: Just sayin'.
Harriet: Dilfriida points out that if we're stealthy enough about it, we could always sell the statue pieces to Annabelle after we've used them and gotten away with all the treasure.
MSG: Mmm ... seems a little dishonest to me.
Ariel: Fidu says it seems like just good business to him. She didn't say the fee for the statue pieces was only good if the loot was still in the tomb, did she?
Akane: Again, the wiseness of our hound. Zedeja agrees that this is the best plan. Thank you for coming up with it, Fidu.
Harriet: Dilfriida indignantly points out that it was her plan.
Akane: A statement of greed only, not a plan. It took an older and furrier mind to refine it.
Harriet: I'm going to go check if my things are dry yet.
Akane: As soon as the thiefly halfling departs, Zedeja asks the elf how he feels. "Any throbbing in your troll scratches? Feverishness?"
Claire: I don't know, am I feeling bad, Elle?
GM Elle: As I said, the day's lessons took a lot out of you. You can make a Healing check to see if you think it's anything more than that.
Claire: 12 is a success.
GM Elle: Now that Zedeja has mentioned it, you do feel a little less rejuvenated by your dinner than you'd expect. Your ears may have a bit of ringing in them too.
Claire: Great.
Akane: Bedtime for this elf! He must be tended! Where do we buy an herbal concoction?
GM Elle: Master Ulvar's store seems the likeliest place.
Ariel: I'll go over and haggle for some.
GM Elle: The store is closed when you get there. But you know Ulvar and his son use the back half of the building as their home, and he'll answer if you knock.
Ariel: I do. I'll say I'm sorry to disturb him, but we have some sick friends and we need herbal concoctions. I'll try to get his town spirit going and tell him they got sick because of fighting off the troll that was endangering everyone down on South Street, and I know good townpeople like himself would probably want to do their best to help the town's defenders out.
GM Elle: You can roll Bartering, but with a Bane because you interrupted his dinner and because he knows people in need of medicine aren't in the best bargaining position.
Ariel: I roll a 12 and a 13, which are both easy for my Bartering of 18.
GM Elle: You manage to touch a little of his community spirit, then, and he lets you have the concoction for 8 silver instead of 1 gold.
Ariel: So that's 16 silver for two?
GM Elle: He agrees to that, although he mutters something about how maybe you should have taken up a collection around town beforehand instead of putting the whole burden of Outskirt's gratitude on him.
Ariel: I tell him thank you and I go back to the inn.
Akane: Zedeja begins treatment immediately in one of our rooms.
GM Elle: You do need to pay for the rooms for the night, though -- and Vagnhild tells you that since Alfilia is back in town, there's another customer bidding against you for the second private room. So you'll get a Bane on this roll too.
Sasha: This town is turning into a bunch of skinflints.
Ariel: I ask who this Alfilia is.
GM Elle: Vagnhild nods in the direction of the woman in plate armor. "She's been in and out of town the last few weeks. Not too talkative about her business, but she has good coins to pay with."
Ariel: I'll try the same idea I did with Master Ulvar, that we need the room for our sick friends who got a disease helping the town out.
Akane: But only one sick friend. The other is acquainted, but unfriendly.
GM Elle: Sounds like you're making an argument against Fidu's angle with the innkeeper. I'll say the Bartering roll is now opposed by a Charisma check by Zedeja.
Ariel: Thanks heaps, Akane. I roll a 3 and a 4 though, so hopefully you have a tough time beating those.
Akane: 10 for Zedeja.
GM Elle: Sounds like the deal is good again, 17 silver and 6 copper.
Ariel: I'll pay it, but I'm going to ask Filvius and Dilfriida for a gold piece each to pay me back for the concoctions.
GM Elle: All right, then Akane can make a Healing check with a Boon opposed by the disease's virulence.
Akane: 8 and 15.
GM Elle: The disease rolls a 9. Zedeja will have to keep tending Filvius for a shift, but that and the night's rest should fix him up.
Akane: Zedeja will sleep in this room when the patient lowers in fever, then.
Ariel: I'm worn out with all this Bartering, so I'll go to sleep in the other room.
Sasha: Still drinking here.
GM Elle: As the evening wears on, then, you see Quasimund and his scum come back in.
MSG: I'm watching carefully to see how Annabelle interacts with them.
GM Elle: Make a Spot Hidden check, then. 
MSG: Yikes. Demon.
GM Elle: Not only do you not see anything, but the angry bald guy notices you and comes tromping over to your table. "What's with all the staring at us, dwarf?"
Harriet: Am I back with my things on yet?
GM Elle: Yes.
MSG: I'll try to bluff him by saying I was thinking about challenging him to an arm-wrestling rematch since he beat me so badly last night. I roll a 4, which is an easy success against my 14 in Bluffing.
GM Elle: He says he's not going to get tricked into another arm-wrestling con job after the halfling cheated last night. "So if you want some kinda rematch, let's take it outside." He makes his hands into a couple of big, meaty fists to make sure you know what he means. You see his companions back at the table take note.
MSG: I'll very calmly say --
Harriet: Dilfriida butts in before you can. "You want a fight? Great, let's make it a three on three. Losers pay the winners a gold piece each!"
GM Elle: Uh-oh. He gives a savage, gap-toothed grin and shouts back to his table, "Hear that, guys? We got a fight here!" Imvir stands up immediately. Glinssa seems to hesitate a second until Quasimund the mallard glares at her.
MSG: Awesome. Sash, Sir Quackenscrump isn't going along with this, is he?
Sasha: You bet he is!
GM Elle: Vagnhild pipes up that you're all paying customers and she doesn't want to see anyone get badly hurt, so she volunteers to mind everyone's weapons while you go out and take care of whatever you feel like you have to.
MSG: I'll put my weapons in Vagnhild's care, but I'll also try to Spot Hidden to see if any of our opponents are trying to sneak something along. Is that one roll, or one for each of them?
GM Elle: One each.
MSG: Vlort I roll an 18 for, Imvir a 3, and Glinssa a 6, so success on the last two.
Sasha: You bet I'm doing the same. Dragon on Vlort, 5 on Imvir, 7 on Glinssa, so that's success on the first two.
Harriet: Dilfriida also watches, but with a 19, an 18, and a Demon.
GM Elle: No one notices any funny business except for Dilfriida, who is positive that Glinssa's got something hidden in one boot.
Harriet: In that case, I'll try to use Sleight of Hand to hide one of my daggers. 5 is a success.
GM Elle: Vagnhild rolls a 4 and puts a hand to your shoulder before you step away. Rather than saying anything, she raises an eyebrow at you and flicks her gaze to the spot where you tried to hide your dagger.
Harriet: Blast it. Okay, I'll say, "Oh, wait, there's this one too," and hand over the dagger.
GM Elle: When you all get outside, Vlort says you've got to take off your armor. "Hardly a fair fight if we're busting our knuckles on your steel and landing useless blows on that leather."
MSG: Fine. I'll take off my leather and helm.
Sasha: It's a lot of work, but I guess I'll get out of my plate too.
Harriet: I sincerely doubt that Vlort is interested in the fight being fair, but I'll take my armor off too, I suppose.
GM Elle: You can all make an Awareness roll. Vlort is going to try to charge you while you're all occupied with your straps and catches.
MSG: Missed mine.
Sasha: Quackers makes it.
Harriet: I missed mine as well. I suppose I'll push it and get Angry, since Dilfriida is thin-skinned. Sadly, I miss the re-roll too.
GM Elle: Sash is the only one who gets to draw for initiative against Vlort, then. Here, I've mixed up the 1 and the 2.
Sasha: Great. All that and I still get the 2.
GM Elle: Everyone else can draw from the remaining cards.
MSG: 5.
Harriet: 10
GM Elle: Imvir and Glinssa on 7. Vlort heads straight for Dilfriida -- he's got a bone to pick with her for beating him at arm-wrestling last night. He gets a Boon on his roll for catching you with your armor half over your head. Do you want to dodge?
Harriet: Absolutely. I also spend 3 WP on my Hard to Catch ability to gain a Boon on the roll. 5 and 18, so I slip his grasp.
GM Elle: Sasha?
Sasha: Sir Q's ticked that Vlort pulled that one, so he's aiming to conk the guy good. 17, but I'll push and get Angry. Nope, that's a miss too, 11. We're stuck using Brawling, right?
GM Elle: Yes. MSG?
MSG: I'm going to sing a quick, stinging song about how cheaters never prosper, giving our enemies a Bane until my next round.
GM Elle: Their turn, then. Imvir goes for Sir Q and misses. Glinssa goes for Sir Q also and misses as well. New round.
MSG: I draw the 4.
Sasha: I get the 1!
Harriet: Dilfriida is on 8. Late in the round as usual.
GM Elle: You're in luck, though, because the bad guys have the 9.
Ariel: Holy moley, did our side just win by all drawing cards that beat the other team? That's never happened! Has it?
Sasha: Not that I recall. Since somebody told me I ought to use my special abilities more often, Quackers will use his Ill-Tempered ability to get a skill boon on Brawling. Whoo! Dragon and Demon. Definitely taking the Dragon there. I'm picking the extra damage die. Does he try to dodge?
GM Elle: Your Dragon means he'd need a Dragon to dodge, and he has a Bane from Dolora's song, so definitely not.
Sasha: 8 points of damage, then. MSG?
MSG: I'll keep up my singing.
Harriet: Dilfriida will try taking out Vlort. But I miss.
GM Elle: Vlort's getting angry at your singing. He's going for Dolora.
MSG: I didn't say I moved up before singing, so he'll have to break away from Sir Q and Dolora, right?
GM Elle: Yes. I didn't say he was the brightest. Sash and Hettie, you can both get free swipes at Vlort.
Sasha: I like how that Ill-Tempered thing worked, so I'm doing it again. Damn, 18 and 19.
Harriet: I get a 14.
GM Elle: Vlort's attack on Dolora includes a Demon. Oof. He slams his hand into something hard and hurts it. He'll get a Bane on his attacks for the rest of the combat.
MSG: Sounds good to me.
GM Elle: Imvir and Glinssa stay on Sir Q. Both miss again. New round.
MSG: 3. We're off to a good start.
Sasha: 2. Even better. Keep the countdown going, Hettie!
Harriet: Sorry, 6. Not right at the end this time, at least.
GM Elle: It doesn't matter, because they draw the 1.
MSG: Fine by me. That means they definitely still have the Bane from my singing.
GM Elle: Double bane for Vlort with his hurt hand. He definitely misses. The other two on Sir Q ... miss and ... Dragon, but also a miss, so Glinssa takes the worse die.
Sasha: Quackers tries his Ill Temper one more time. Nope, 12 and 9.
MSG: I'll leave off singing and take a crack at Vlort. 10 is a miss.
Harriet: Vlort moved away from me and the other two moved up on our knight ... am I free to go after Vlort without triggering a free strike?
GM Elle: On an odd roll, yes; on even, one person has you within reach. That's a 5, so go for it.
Harriet: 19.
GM Elle: New initiative.
MSG: I hope the townfolk aren't watching. It makes for a pretty sorry fight if no one has Brawling skill apparently. 5 for me.
Sasha: 7.
Harriet: Aha, 1!
GM Elle: Enemies on 2.
Harriet: Dragon, exceptional. I'll roll the extra damage die, for a total of 10 points.
GM Elle: Vlort is down for the count, then. Imvir and Glinssa try for the mallard again. 5 hits for Imvir. 9 misses for Glinssa. Do you dodge?
Sasha: I've got hit points out my feathered ass, so no.
GM Elle: 6 points, then.
Sasha: Ouch!
MSG: I'm taking a pop at Imvir. Miss.
Sasha: Me too. 7 is just what I need! 8 points.
GM Elle: New initiative.
MSG: 4.
Sasha: 8.
Harriet: 6.
GM Elle: 5.
MSG: Trying to take down Imvir ... nope.
GM Elle: 19 and 11 for Imvir and Glinssa.
Harriet: 16.
Sasha: Lucky 7 again! 10 points this time.
GM Elle: He drops like a sack of potatoes.
MSG: For my round I'll dust my hands off and ask Glinssa if she wants to discuss that job offer now.
GM Elle: She glances toward the window. Most of the patrons inside are looking out to see the fight, including Quasimund. Through clenched teeth, she says, "Boss is looking." Then, louder, she says obviously she can't beat all three of you, so it looks like you win. Before she heads inside, she says she doesn't have a gold piece for the wager, so you'll have to see if Vlort's got enough on him. 
MSG: Does he?
GM Elle: If you search him, you find 24 silver and 5 copper. You notice Vagnhild watching from the doorway with her arms folded.
MSG: I carefully count out 20 silver and put the rest back. 
Harriet: What's Imvir got?
GM Elle: 4 silver.
Harriet: That and Vlort's silver is pretty close to a gold piece. I'll take all but the 5 copper.
Sasha: You can have my share too. I was just in it for the action. Sir Q goes back to  his mug of mead.
Harriet: Dilfriida says, "Sweet," and follows him.
MSG: I'll head back inside too, then.
Claire: Nobody wants to put their armor back on?
Ariel: Or even pick it up?
Sasha: Dammit. Obviously I'm not leaving my plate armor out there. Thanks for ruining my cool exit, Claire.
MSG: Can we assume Dilfriida and I also got our armor back on?
GM Elle: Yes. Even if you'd really forgotten it, Vagnhild would have said something before you got inside.
MSG: I'm starting to take a shine to her. She runs a pretty good place.
Sasha: Just to head off any sarcasm, I'm 100% going to get my weapons back from her too.
Harriet: Likewise.
MSG: And after doing that, I'm going to look around and see if Glinssa's somewhere I can have a talk with her.
GM Elle: No, she's sitting with Quasimund, who seems to be quacking angrily at her.
MSG: Ah, well.
GM Elle: Everybody mark off you coppers for however many more mugs of mead you drink and we'll move on to the next morning, then.
MSG: I'll use my 10 silvers to buy a round of mead for the whole room, assuming there are 25 people or less there.
GM Elle: Everyone is very appreciative ... with the possible exception of Quasimund, who doesn't turn the free drink down, but doesn't take on any of the festive mood either.
MSG: No, once things quiet down, I'll retire to my spot in the dormitory upstairs.
GM Elle: Okay, on to the next dawn.

(actually, we broke for dinner at that point, and I think this is a good spot to break between posts!)

thanksgiving!

this year on thanksgiving, i am thankful for:
1. all of my yams (in order of meeting them):

 

elle
msg
sasha
ariel
hettie
akane

2. the word "yams"
3. people in general, who are mostly better than they are given credit for
4. my friends davecat and sidore
5. being alive during the greatest time in the history of sci-fi and fantasy movies & tv
6. star trek
7. star trek: lower decks
8. star trek: strange new worlds
9. the star trek: lower decks / star trek: strange new worlds crossover
10. star trek: strange new worlds subspace rhapsody
11. thanksgiving itself!
12. whoever you are reading this right now ... thank you!

with lots of love on turkey day,
claire

(bonus thankful-for thing #12! tying my record for all-time number of posts in a year ... which means 2023 is going to be another straight year of me breaking that record! woohoo!)

inquisi(ca)tion

did you ever like, decide to have a nice quiet staycation, not go anywhere, not do anything, just chill and be you and maybe play some games with your friends or blog but mostly just be in your head appreciating yourself for being yourself -- and then people start asking you, "are you okay? is there anything i can do? why are you being so quiet? are you sure you don't need anything?"

i mean, it's great to be so cared for and have people who love me and want to make sure i'm happy ... but whoosh, have a little faith in me too, okay?   XD

xoxo,
claire

secret of the dragon emperor ... part 13!

as promised, here's the next part of our latest dragonbane session! (a boarding-house owner has just told Dolora where to find a member of Quasimund's Scum that she's looking for.)

MSG: Okay, well, I guess I'll say, "Thank you very much, Mister ..."
GM Elle: He holds out a hand for a handshake and says, "Smeet. Albemur Smeet." Then he looks past you and sees Quackenscrump and Zedeja waiting, and he says if you're looking for rooms at any point, Smeet House is the friendliest and most esteemed boarding house in town.
MSG: I'll thank him and I guess give him a couple of coppers for his time.
GM Elle: He accepts them graciously and turns back into the house.
MSG: Time to go across the street go Graminger's place, then.
Ariel: Let's stay at Smeet house if we decide sometime that we want to be in town for a while.
Sasha: We're not going to do that. Too many monsters out there to kill.
Akane: Zedeja points out that a monster was just in here this morning.
Ariel: Wait, I didn't mean I was saying that. Fidu isn't even there.
Sasha: Doesn't matter. Sir Q would probably have said something like, "Why are people wasting time hanging around in boarding houses when there are monsters out there that need killing?
Akane: Yes, same response from Zedeja no matter who begins the subject.
GM Elle: When you get across the street to the Graminger house, you notice the knock isn't answered quite so promptly. Instead, you hear muffled voices inside Dolora is close enough to make an Awareness check to see if she can make anything out, but the other two characters are too far back.
MSG: 17. I remain very unaware.
GM Elle: A few moments later, then, the door is answered by Imvir from last night. He scowls at you suspiciously and asks what you're doing here.
MSG: Well this is awkward. I guess I'll say I made a wager with Glinssa at the inn yesterday and I'm here to see if she can pay up. I roll a 17 on my Bluffing check, though, and my skill is only 14.
GM Elle: He scowls even more suspiciously and says, "Wait here." Then he pushes the door to and you hear footsteps going into the house.
MSG: If it looks like he's just giving it a push so that it will close the rest of the way on its own, I'll put the toe of one boot forward to keep it from latching, and then ease it a smidge more open to see if I can hear anything.
GM Elle: Awareness?
MSG: Dragon!
GM Elle: You hear the footsteps go around a corner and then Imvir's voice along with the mallard, Quasimir. Imvir says, "Hey, boss, that dwarf and her pack from last night are here asking after Glinssa. Says she owes them money, but I'm not buying it." Then Quasimund says, "Hgh-Hgmm."
MSG: Hey, that was a pretty good duck sound.
GM Elle: You hear the mallard say quietly, "Go get her and send her to the door -- but wake up Vlort and Tetsda too. Might be another chance for us to test their mettle like Leanara said." Imvir acknowledges that, and then, even more quietly, says, "Glory to Sathmog." Then you hear the sound of boots going up stairs somewhere inside.
MSG: I'll pull the door back to where it's just open a crack, so it's not as obvious it was open enough for me to hear anything.
GM Elle: You hear more muffled voices, probably from the second story. Then after a bit, more footsteps on the stairs, as well as a muted knocking sound and still more second-story conversations. The door opens, revealing Glinssa in nothing but a long tunic, with her hair a total mess and her eyes squinting against the daylight. She says, "Agh, what are you coming round here for?"
MSG: I'll say I just thought we might finish up our business from the night before.
GM Elle: She says, "Our what?" Then she blinks a little and her eyes widen and she throws a quick, nervous glance over her shoulder. "It's too early," she says loudly. "I'm not even dressed."
Sasha: I'm looking to see if I can catch any sign of that tattoo on her forearm. But even this 8 I rolled isn't under my Spot Hidden.
Akane: It's a 12 for Zedeja, against her skill of 14.
GM Elle: You definitely see the tattoo.
MSG: I'm not bothering to look -- I don't want her to catch me at it and get any more nervous. So I'll respond to her with, "All right. I just didn't want you to forget about it. We'll probably be in town at least until tomorrow morning, so you know where to find me to discuss wage-rs." I put just a little emphasis on that first syllable and wink to make sure she understands I'm giving her cover by saying "wagers" and not "wages."
GM Elle: She's pretty hung over and distracted by the sound of more boots on the stairs behind her. Make a Performance check to see if you get that across.
MSG: Damn it. That's a Demon.
GM Elle: Roll a die. Odd, she really thinks you're talking about wagers. Even, she's still clueless, but someone else listening catches what your real meaning is.
MSG: Whew, 5.
GM Elle: She just gives you a baffled look and shuts the door quickly. Awareness check.
MSG: Fail.
GM Elle: You hear voices inside, one of them hers, one of them the mallard's. But you can't tell what they're saying.
Sasha: Sir Q says, "Well, looks like that was a bust."
Akane: No, Zedeja indicates that she saw the cult tattoo on Glinssa's arm.
MSG: And I caught two different names -- Leanara and Sathmog. The "glory to Sathmog" part sounded almost religious. Can I make a Myths and Legends roll to see if I know who, what, or where that is?
GM Elle: Sure.
MSG: 7 succeeds.
Sasha: I'm rolling too, but I got nothing.
Akane: The mage fails as well. But I think this name is familiar. We've heard it other times.
GM Elle: Yeah, several different people have mentioned Sathmog. The three adventurers you first came into town with, the goblin you rescued from those cultists, and those weirdly transformed guys standing guard at the portal in the Temple of the Purple Flame. 
MSG: I think that's coming back to me now.
Ariel: I remember those guys. They were creepy.
GM Elle: But since this is the first time anyone bothered to do a Myths and Legends check on it, Dolora's success yields some additional information about Sathmog being an ancient demon who has tried numerous times to break into our world. You think you've heard of some historical connection between him and the Misty Vale. A powerful priestly servant of Sathmog was banished here after being deposed from 200 years of tyranny in the demon's name: Azrahel Koth. 
MSG: I'm going to assume I'm equally as certain of this as I am of identifying that ogre.
GM Elle: Well, you know it's knowledge arising from legends nearly a thousand years ago, so while you think you've remembered it well based on what you heard or read, the accuracy of information that old is always questionable.
MSG: Got it. Well, I guess I'll share that with everyone on our way back to the Three Stags. Unless there's somewhere else we want to go?
Sasha: Quackers suggests maybe there's a sage of some sort in town who could tell us more about this stuff ... Sathmog and Azrawho Koth and the Dragon Emperor statue ...
Akane: No paying for saging until we have asked ordinary folk to enlighten us! Good information is equally good if it is free, and free information is equally free even if it is bad. With saging, it is cheaper to refine knowledge than acquire it with breadth.
Hettie: I think I followed that, but Dilfriida certainly wouldn't have if she were present to hear it. Heading out early has definitely paid off, Claire.
Claire: I agree ... your certainty is infectious.
Ariel: Haha!
Sasha: What? Oh, right, the troll scratches.
Akane: Where are we on our map? Is it closer to continue clockwise to the inn, or return as we came?
GM Elle: In terms of distance, clockwise. But you haven't explored this western quarter of town, so you can't be certain there's a direct connection.
MSG: I'll just ask someone which way is the closer way to get back. And maybe ask if there's any interesting scuttlebutt going around town these days too.
GM Elle: Go ahead and make a Charisma check.
MSG: Damn. 18. Dolora's Charisma is good, but not that good.
GM Elle: Whoever you stop points gruffly to the north and says the stairs that direction lead up to the Three Stags, but he's busy and hasn't the time to entertain strangers with idle gossip.
MSG: I'll thank him, but I'm glowering while I do it.
GM Elle: So are the three of you doing anything besides heading back to the inn?
Sasha: I'm going to ask people if they heard about the troll and if they know whether there might be other trolls around that need killing.
GM Elle: You can make a Charisma check too.
Sasha: 11. Easy peasy.
GM Elle: Somebody you talk to tells you they don't know about trolls, but they heard about a different monster that might need killing.
Sasha: Awesome! I ask what it is.
GM Elle: The person says, "A monstrous beast has crawled down from the mountains and attacked Blind Hildi’s farm southeast of Outskirt. There are whispers about a cave full of torn-out eyes, but also great treasures and powerful weapons from ill-fated adventurers who met their fate in the Dead Eyes Cave."
Sasha: Wait, what? That sounds really familiar.
Akane: This is the cave of the basilisk with poison that requires an herbalist's antidote to repair. We're equipped for it now.
Sasha: Fine. Whatever. Sir Q is taking this as a sign that we need to hit the road for Blind Hildi's farm right away. Let's go back to the inn and see if everyone else is ready to head out.
Akane: Zedeja has pessimism for the readiness of our halfling.
Hettie: Just the halfling? What about your fellow mage?
Claire: Mages have to stick together.
Akane: Also, Filvius the mage has fewer rude comments about the wisdom of Zedeja.
Hettie: I don't suppose I can argue with that, although Dilfriida certainly would.
MSG: Dolora is fine with going back to the inn, although she'd rather wait a bit before leaving and see if Glinssa shows up to be our donkey-wrangler.
GM Elle: If that's all you three are doing, then, let's get back to Dilfriida and Filvius, who've finished their rest. What's next for the two of you?
Claire: The ruined temple!
Hettie: Indeed. We'll be going over it with a fine-toothed comb for anything all the ages of other searchers and researchers might have missed.
Akane: No combs in the equipment list. Dragonbane is a game of unkemptness.
Hettie: You could go for a haircut. That's listed.
Akane: Wildness of hair is a sign of intellect. Zedeja accepts it.
GM Elle: As Filvius and Dilfriida climb the steps to the ruined temple, you find that it exudes an aura of ancient mystery and bygone glory. It appears to have been a larger compound at one time. Sections of crumbling walls surround the central building, which is somewhat more intact.
Claire: I guess we can check out the building first.
GM Elle: The inside is empty of real contents. There appears to be little other than dust and debris, inhabited here and there by a spider or two. There's a very large image in the ceiling, though. It shows some kind of crown. You can both make a Myths and Legends roll. Dilfriida gets a Boon -- I won't say why unless you make the roll.
Claire: Hurray, I roll a Demon.
Hettie: I roll a 9 and a Demon, so I'll take the 9.
GM Elle: Filvius, you're convinced that there must be some hidden message in the image, if only you could decipher some of the symbols, or puzzle out which directions the horns of the crown point. You definitely think there's knowledge to be had if you can solve the picture's riddle.
Claire: Awesome. I'll spend hours trying to figure it out, then.
Hettie: I suppose I'll go out and search around the grounds, see if there's anything of note in those ruined walls.
GM Elle: Roll Spot Hidden. You can have a Boon for the amount of time Claire's puzzling gives you if you keep waiting for her to be done.
Hettie: 18 and 13. Those both fail. I'm getting pretty frustrated and fed up. I think I'll take the pie and candy and jug of mead to the old man up the hill. Since Filvius is so hung up on the ceiling picture, I'll try not to disturb him.
GM Elle: Roll Sleight of Hand if you're actively trying to sneak the goods from wherever they're sitting. You can have a Boon for how absorbed Filvius is in the puzzle.

Hettie: Boons haven't been paying off too much for me today ... aha, but now they have, because I roll an 11 and a Dragon.
GM Elle: You easily pick up the old man's bribes, and because of the Dragon, I won't make you roll Sneaking to get out with them unnoticed.
Hettie: Fabulous. Up the hill to the hermit's hut, then.
GM Elle: When you knock, there's a bit of shuffling from inside, and then the door opens.   Pretty much instantly, the prune-skinned old man gives a grimace of shock and holds his nose. He asks what in the world you're doing, coming to his door in such a state.
Hettie: Dilfriida holds out the pie and says, "Bringing you your pie."
GM Elle: He gives a coughing fit and turns his head to one side with his eyes watering.
Hettie: I'll go on, "I've also got your candies and this jug of mead."
GM Elle: He's already closing the door. "Set them down on the doorstep and I'll get them after the wind has taken the smell away."
Hettie: I'll complain that the deal was, we would bring him the goods, and he would answer three questions for us. Then I'll add, "Just who do you think you are, anyway?"
GM Elle: The door closes the rest of the way and his muffled voice reaches you, saying, "If you really want that to be one of your questions, I'll answer it when you come back after a bath!"
Akane: It's good Zedeja is not there to say, "But that could be weeks for this halfling! Possibly never!"
Hettie: I like how you stay in character even when your character isn't there, Akane. Elle, if I knock on the door again, is there any answer?"
GM Elle: He just yells for you to go away.
Hettie: I suppose Dilfriida will go and let Filvius know we won't get our questions answered until after we've had a bath.
Claire: Am I still positive there's knowledge to be had from puzzling out this painting?
GM Elle: Roll Myths and Legends again.
Claire: Aha! 4.
GM Elle: That's good enough for you to decide that the key to deciphering it isn't to be found in your current store of knowledge.
Claire: Damn. All right, then I guess I'll switch back to my original obsessive goal of getting the hermit to give us knowledge. If that takes a bath, so be it. Let's get back to the inn.
GM Elle: As soon as you enter the door, Vagnhild pinches her nose in disgust and tells you to get straight back out.
Claire: Filvius says, "Look, lady, we're paying customers who need a bath. How are we supposed to get one from outside?"
GM Elle: She tells you the bathing room is between the stables and the kitchen. "Go in through the stables. I'll meet you there."
Claire: Fine, I suppose. I'll go around through the stables.
Hettie: I'll follow her. But on the way, Dilfriida points out that Filvius was the one who was so dead-set on getting the old man to answer questions. So she's not sure it's good money management for both of us to get baths.
Claire: From the sound of things, though, if you don't get one, Vagnhild will make you sleep in the stables.
Hettie: All right, all right, I guess I can spare it.
GM Elle: The innkeeper meets you in the bathing room, which is basically like an oversized mud room with a tub at one end well away from the door. There's a curtain that can be drawn for privacy. It's six coppers for the bath, and she says another silver for her or Annabelle to wash your clothes. "Which by the way, you're not coming in my inn wearing without them being laundered."
Claire: I tell her I have someplace to be and I can't wait for my clothes to dry.
GM Elle: She shrugs and suggests she can send someone to Master Ulvar's to buy you some new ones. That will be 5 silver for the clothes and another for the service fee.
Claire: These seem like really outrageous prices to me. I'm going to haggle over them.
Ariel: But ... I think they're pretty exactly what the book says ...
Claire: Book, schmook. My Bartering roll is ... 3.
GM Elle: She says she'll come down half a silver on the service charge just so she can get out of your reeking presence quicker. And you can share the bath, considering how small Dilfriida is, so that will save you another 6 coppers.
Hettie: Whatever. Dilfriida isn't particular about modesty. Maybe even a little curious about how elves look down there.
GM Elle: Then she shows you a pump that will draw water up from the well and tells you to knock on the wall when you've got the tub half full. There's a spigot there that you can open, and she'll have the cook pour the bath tank full of hot water at your signal. She warns you not to put any body parts under the spigot while the hot water's coming out or it will scald you. Soap and towels are in a small cabinet against one wall.
Claire: All right, I don't think we need to roleplay all the way through this bath, if you want to switch back to the other characters.
Ariel: We're just waiting for you guys, I think.
Sasha: You're not even doing that. You're just napping.
Ariel: Oh gosh, that's right. I should probably get up at some point.
GM Elle: For simplicity's sake, I'm going to say Filvius finishes his bath and gets his new clothes around the same time Fidu comes down from napping and the rest of the group returns from their boarding house tour. Dilfriida has finished bathing too, but has nothing to wear because her clothes are drying.
Hettie: I'll wear a towel. Like I said, Dilfriida's not modest, and a human-sized towel should be entirely large enough to make a fully covering toga for her.
GM Elle: All right, then everyone can reconvene in the common room --
Claire: Whoa up there! Filvius is lighting out for the hermit's hut as soon as he's dried off and dressed. I'm hungry for knowledge and that guy owes me three question answers.
GM Elle: I stand corrected. Anyone else have a character-based reason not to rejoin the others?
MSG: Not I.
Ariel: Me either. Fidu's all napped up.
Sasha: I'm already there and ordering my first tankard of mead for the day.
Akane: Zedeja insists that we gather and plan.
GM Elle: All right, the everyone who's there except Dilfriida should roll Awareness.
MSG: Just missed it with an 8.
Ariel: 4!
Sasha: 12 fails for Sir Q.
Akane: Zedeja is a Dragon of Awareness, according to this die.
GM Elle: All right, then Fidu notices that Dilfriida seems to have some nasty scratches where her skin's revealed by the towel, and on top of that, Zedeja catches a faint whiff of some sort of swampy, vomity smell.
Akane: Scratches plus swamp vomit equals evidence of trollery. However, Zedeja might be too lacking in interest to think much about why a halfling would be scratched and have vomit stink.
GM Elle: Make an Intelligence roll with a bane, then.
Akane: Sigh. Both dice are easy with success.
GM Elle: Then considering you knew Filvius and Dilfriida were headed for the bakery, right where you saw the troll being hauled away, you definitely conclude there's a likelihood that the wounds and smell are from the troll.
Akane: Actually, no. Remember, the thief and the lesser mage left very early. Zedeja was forced to roust other party members from slumber.
GM Elle: True, but Dolora was up when they left, so she could have informed everyone else.
MSG: Right ... but I wasn't within easy hearing distance of them talking to Vagnhild, remember? I blew that roll to see if I heard her telling them the old man was a wizard.
GM Elle: Hang on ... all right, the notes confirm it. Sounds like nobody knew where Filvius and Dilfriida got off to this morning, so it's a pretty thin set of connections to make. Still, you rolled two successes with the bane, so pretty much any mention of them fighting the troll will remind you that troll scratches can carry disease.
Akane: Only a mention that Zedeja foolishly fails to ignore because it comes from the mouth of a thieving shortster. Troll talk must be very prominent from our halfling for the mage to attend to it.
Hettie: I do believe you're in luck, then, because Dilfriida would absolutely brag about how she and Filvius saved the town by killing that troll.
MSG: Dolora says, "What troll?"
Hettie: The one by the bakery.
MSG: That was an ogre.
Akane: Silence, bard! This argument was settled already.
MSG: Sure. Right.
Sasha: Quackers is pissed to find out it was the two of them. "What's the big idea, killing a monster without coming to get me first?"
Hettie: Dilfriida doesn't take that kind of response well. "Put a sock in it, Ducky. Or whatever you mallards wear on those webbed feet of yours in place of socks."
Akane: Zedeja announces this troll fight to be a problem. "Our lesser mage may have been scratched, and troll scratches are foul with disease."
Hettie: I say, "Hey! I got scratched why are you only worried about Filvs?"
Akane: Because our elf has healing talents also. If I do not make sure he is healthy, who will heal you from your disease?
Hettie: Maybe you're right, because from Dilfriida's perspective having to listen to Zedeja while being treated would be worse than the disease. Although someone please hand me the book so I know how bad diseases are in this game.
GM Elle: They're pretty bad.
Hettie: Egad. You get one roll a day to try to throw it off, and failure means you take a d6 of damage. So three bad days and I could be dead. And if someone tries healing me, it's really only a help if their skill is better than my Con, which is relatively high at 14.
GM Elle: They can use an herbal concoction to get a boon, though, and if they fail and push the roll, they keep the boon for that roll too.
MSG: What about healing magic?
Hettie: It's not very clear about that. Which is to say, it says nothing about it at all.
GM Elle: I would probably let you use the Treat Wound spell to cure the hit point loss, but it wouldn't cure the disease. You'd need Heal Wound or Restoration for that.
Akane: Additional reason for Zedeja to tend our sickly lesser mage.
Claire: I mean, we don't actually know that we caught anything yet though, right?
Ariel: Well, right ... if you don't count those ominous "Mm-hmm"s Elle made while she was rolling.
Sasha: Maybe she's just trying to get us to waste a bunch of money on herbal concoctions.
Akane: It's unnecessary for her to. There is so little gold in this game. In Old School Essentials and Dungeons and Dragons, gold by the hundreds! In Dragonbane, I have only 25 on my sheet.
Hettie: You have 25? My net worth has increased, on average, by less than a gold piece per session. Although I suppose that might change if my thief actually did any thieving.
MSG: That does generally help.
Claire: I feel like the actual in-game discussion is being neglected enough for me to ask if Filvius has made it to the hermit's hut yet.
Sasha: Ooh, burn.
GM Elle: We can jump to that if no one objects.
MSG: Fine by me. The sooner Filvius gets back, the sooner I can start trying to pry some of his new knowledge out of him.
Ariel: I'm good!
Sasha: Me too.
GM Elle: Sounds like consensus ... except that I just looked at the time and maybe we should save the hermit encounter to start next session with. It's a bit late. 
Akane: Truthful. And now I am yawning.
Hettie: Me too.
GM Elle: All right, experience questions ... everyone participated. Dilfriida and Filvius explored the temple, and everyone but Fidu explored the boarding house street.
Ariel: Dang it, my sloth cheated me out of that one!
GM Elle: The only dangerous foe was the troll, so only Dilfriida and Filvius get a mark for that. Who wants to make a case that they overcame an obstacle without using force?
Ariel: I spent all those WP proving my Insight ability to Akane! Does that count?
GM Elle: I'll count it for the entertainment value alone.
MSG: We got some good information out of overhearing things at Glinssa's boarding house.
GM Elle: Sure, that works. And I'm satisfied everyone played to their weakness. By my count that's four marks for everyone.
MSG: Five would be better, but I'll take four.
Akane: I would take three or even two, if my rolls are good this time instead of poor.
GM Elle: Everybody do your rolling, then, and we'll pick up at the hermit's place next time.

we're speeding along now! already to part 14 next session!