i think we'll be doing our best to crank through this dragonbane campaign for a while. here's hoping all you readers are enjoying it as much as we are!
GM Elle: Anybody get any exciting new Heroic Abilities rolling for Experience last time?
MSG: I don't know how exciting it is, but I added a couple more hit points by picking Robust.
Claire: Zip for me.
Ariel: Ooh! I didn't see that one! What's Zip do?
Sasha: Zip means nothing, Aers.
Ariel: Oh, dang. Sorry, I wasn't trying to rub it in or anything.
Claire: No sweat. It's pretty par for the course. I've only gotten one Heroic Ability so far compared to MSG's dozens of them. I'm used to lagging in the Experience department.
Ariel: Um, actually I meant I wasn't trying to rub it in that you didn't get any and I got two last session.
Claire: Ouch. Well, sooner or later I'll start catching up. Although it may take until everybody has all 18's in every skill and every Heroic Ability in the book.
Ariel: Anyway, I took Fearless so I won't have to roll those Fear checks anymore, and Robust like MSG did so I can have more hit points.
Sasha: No Abilities for me. I'm in the boat with Claire. Only one H.A. in the whole game so far.
Akane: Zedeja also received no Abilities of Heroism this time, and has only one from previous Experiencing. It seems very usual for our group. Only Ariel and MSG are otherwise.
Harriet: Dilfriida's a nose ahead of you. I got my second one this time, but rather tediously took the same Robust one MSG and Ariel did, in hopes of being a big more durable.
Heddy: You have to raise a skill to 18 to get one, right? I don't think that's happening for me anytime soon. I just now bumped my Myths & Legends up to 16, so even with a donkey-drawn cartful of luck, it would be at least two more sessions before I qualify. I'm glad to hear most people aren't all that far ahead of me.
GM Elle: Well, with so many people Robusting it up, now I don't have to worry so much about killing you all by sending more monsters your way.
MSG: You were worried about it before?
GM Elle: No. I suppose I should have said I can worry even less. At any rate, you don't currently have any monsters in front of you, just two badly wounded bandits who surrendered.
Sasha: Sir Q isn't convinced they're not monsters. He's still confused why Zedeja attacked them, if it's not because she saw through some monster-magic disguise.
Akane: We will unconfuse you. Zedeja demands confessions from the surrenderers: "Your one-ear leader planned betraying us, correct? Answer!"
GM Elle: One of them fearfully says, "No, how could she? We didn't even know who you were or that we might end up making a deal with you!" The other one has a tone of guilt in his voice as he adds, "It does sort of sound like the kind of thing she'd do, though."
Akane: Aha! Again, Zedeja is proven to be so wise!
Sasha: I wanna hear more about this giant. Is it a monster kind of giant, or more like a big person kind of giant? Quackers is still on the fence about giants after that last one.
GM Elle: They look a little uncertain about that, but one says --
Akane: Stop! If a mouth opens on a bandit, Zedeja says, "I am the questioner!"
GM Elle: They immediately shut their mouths and look at Zedeja with terrified expressions.
Akane: Tell us about this giant!
GM Elle: The bandits glance at each other like they're both scared to talk first. They've broken out in a panic sweat.
Akane: You! The sweaty one! Answer!
GM Elle: Now they both try to talk at the same time. "Sh-she's called G-glim-Gl-Glam!" and "Ursic made a deal with her, but ... uh ... you go first, Feder!" and then, "N-no, g-go ahead, Rilke!"
Akane: Silence! I demand the guilty-sounder who admitted wrongdoing before answer. "You! What deal was made with this Guhglim-gluhglam?
GM Elle: He says the giant was supposed to help dig out the treasure in the tower in exchange for a bunch of supplies so she doesn't have to start raiding nearby villages. But the work has been going really slowly, and Ursic thought Glim-Glam was dragging it out to keep the gang benefiting her with their foraging.
Sasha: Damn it. This sure sounds a lot more big-person-y than monster-y.
Akane: Zedeja points at these bandits with accusing fingers. "You are liars! One says a giant's name is Guhglim-gluhglam, another says Glim-Glam! Tell the truth, or it's pounding for you!" The mage makes stony fists of power at them.
GM Elle: The one who was talking says, "It's Glim-Glam! It's Glim-Glam! Feder just stutters sometimes when she's scared!"
Akane: A Zedeja fist shakes at Feder. "Stutter on less important words than a giant's name! If we speak to this giant and name it wrong, it may be angered! Also, very rude, this mis-pronouncing of names. Be better!"
GM Elle: She nods her head fearfully.
MSG: I'm keeping an eye out for any of those other bandits who might decide to start shooting at us with their bows from long range, by the way. I'll have my shortbow out.
Claire: Filvius sees that as a great opportunity to gain more knowledge about this giant and get ahead of Dolora in the knowledge game, so she's paying attention to Zedeja's interrogation.
Ariel: I'm resting a little. Knifing that guy took a lot out of me. Or did I knife the girl? I don't think you actually said if the bandits were guys or girls except the leader, last session.
GM Elle: You stabbed the man, Rilke. Sir Quackenscrump chopped on Feder with his sword.
Sasha: Which I haven't put in its sheath yet, by the way. I'm ready to block any incoming arrows with my shield and chase down any archers I have to.
Akane: Zedeja has more questions for this Rilke. How large and dangerous is this giant? When does it sleep?
GM Elle: Rilke says the giant sleeps a lot, actually. It's one of the reasons Ursic was getting fed up. But even though she'd started talking about ambushing the giant and trying to pincushion her with arrows, she looks big enough that it might take dozens of hits to bring her down, and with her long legs, she could probably close to fighting range before they got in that many shots.
Claire: Filvius asks exactly how long the giant's legs are. Also, since she's a she, he asks if she's good looking by human standards. He imagines she's probably pretty unrefined on the elf scale.
Akane: No idle trivia questions or romancing of this giant, junior mage!
Claire: I wasn't planning to romance her, just get a sense of how giants fare on the attractiveness scale overall, since we've only seen one before, and that one was male.
Akane: Exercise your curiosity elsewhere! Possibly there are goods to be looted in these bandit tents.
Harriet: Dilfriida perks up a little at that, then realizes she's responding to something Zedeja said and tries to hide it. She'll wander closer to one of the tents when she thinks no one is paying attention to her.
Heddy: I'm sticking close to our mallard knight, by the way. That seems safest to me.
Claire: Since Zedeja doesn't seem ready to let me learn anything about the giant, I'll do what she said and have a look in the tents.
GM Elle: I'll let you find a couple dozen rations and one treasure card worth of loot. Here's the deck.
Claire: Oooooh. 2d6 copper coins. And I roll ... 7.
Sasha: Can we just take those copper coin cards out of the damned deck? I feel like they're really insulting.
Ariel: It's part of the story! Now we know how broke and desperate these bandits were.
Sasha: Seems to be a lot of broke and desperate going around whenever we draw from that deck, though.
GM Elle: If you get into a real peach of a location I'll whittle the deck down. Meanwhile, Zedeja's further questioning doesn't yield a lot from Rilke and Feder. They've been here a week, with nothing to show for it.
MSG: Do we want to go and try talking with the giant, then?
Claire: Fine by me. I don't see anything better to do here in this camp.
Ariel: Should we tie the two bandits up before we go? Or actually, if anybody wants to hang out with me here we can chillax and keep an eye on them.
Heddy: According the backstory you gave me, Elle, my character has a strong interest in the tower and, what, a magic fountain in the basement? So I'm eager to actually see it, although pretty nervous about there being a giant. As long as most everybody is going, I guess I'll be --
Akane: Stop! All this individualling! Our combined goal is in the tower, according to a junior mage's spiderweb dream. No staying behind for anyone! What happens when some go and some stay? Bandits return! If three of adventurers are in one place, and four of adventurers are in another place, then six of bandits can shoot many arrows into outnumbered adventurers!
Heddy: Yikes! We definitely don't want that, right?
MSG: Sounds like we should all head for the tower, then.
Ariel: Boo. Don't people need to like, do some stretching and get back their Willpower Points? Then I could at least get in another 15 minutes of chillaxing.
Claire: I am feeling kind of depleted.
Akane: Hm. Zedeja also, I find when looking at my character sheet. So then, 15 minutes to rest -- no more!
Claire: Okay. I'm gonna meditate, then, and get back the most WP I can. Everybody watch out for me while I'm zonked.
Sasha: I'm not out any HP or WP, so I guess I'll just tie up these prisoners and keep an eye out for other bandits sneaking back here.
GM Elle: The stretch passes uneventfully, then, and everyone who rested can roll their dice to recover WP and HP.
MSG: I'm only down a few, so I'm saving my rest for later.
Ariel: I'm only down two, but I'm slothful, so I'm definitely stretch resting to get the most out of my little wolf-nap.
Akane: Resting over, then! Time for a giant confrontation. We march to the tower!
GM Elle: The path up to the tower is steep in places, and as you walk it, the sighs and wailing grow louder and louder. It's an eerie, mournful sound, but as you near the top of the island's peak, you start to hear another sound competing with it -- a deep, rumbling snore that almost seems like it should be shaking the foundations.
MSG: Should we go right up to the entrance? Or maybe shout and see if we can wake the giant up?
Heddy: I'm extremely nervous about the possibility of startling a giant by getting too close while she's sleeping.
Harriet: Do I take it you're voting for someone to shout, then?
Heddy: Actually, no ... because I'm also extremely nervous about making a giant mad by interrupting her sleep.
Akane: Solution! Our thiefly halfling can sneak in and observe. Become useful, halfling!
Harriet: Dilfriida says, "Sure, why not?" and uses Sneaking to move up to the entrance of the tower.
Ariel: Wait, what? Dilfriida's just doing something Zedeja said?
Akane: No. Zedeja is crafty. If she tells a halfling to sneak in and observe, the halfling will sneak in and try to do crimes. The halfling believes this is disobeying Zedeja, so of course she will do it.
Harriet: That overlaps my intended motives as a player with shocking congruity. Do I need to roll?
GM Elle: Yes, but with a boon because the snoring and ghostly moans are both so loud.
Harriet: I succeed. What's to be seen in here?
GM Elle: As Dilfriida rounds the corner and climbs the last stretch of trail, she finds herself at the wrecked entrance of the tower. Heaps of rock and rubble lie beside the head of the trail, clearly strewn out here by someone clearing debris from the interior. The stone of the building is deep red, old, and very weathered. A great swath of it has been blackened by scorch marks, and the upper floors are severely damaged. There's a rope ladder hanging at the entrance leading up through the wall-less broken east side of the building. It looks like it goes up past the second and third floors all the way to the roof. Inside the ground floor are more piles of rubble, and in the far corner a sleeping area of branches and animal skins, in which a giant you presume to be Glim-Glam is sleeping while giving off that titanic snore. In the center of the chamber is what's left of a spiral staircase. Fragments of it show where it used to reach up toward the upper levels, but nothing climbable remains going up. Darkness and shadow lie within the hole where the staircase descends below the ground floor. Here's the situation:
Ariel: Oh, are those letters us?
GM Elle: Yes. I'm assuming your standard marching order, with Sir Quackenscrump up front and Brandywise at the rear. Dilfriida and Dolora are the lowercase and uppercase D's.
Ariel: Ooh! So I must be the F with the puppy ears on it!
GM Elle: Correct.
Harriet: Well, it's plain that my first order of business is to head up the rope ladder, since Zedeja doesn't even know about it, so I won't be following her demands even slightly by exploring the upper floors. Do I need to make any kind of roll to make it to the second floor?
GM Elle: Only if you're trying to go quickly.
Harriet: I am not.
GM Elle: Then you find that the layout of this floor matches the one below fairly closely, except where the eastern part is collapsed. Around the walls are a number of digging tools -- pickaxes and spades, chisels, hammers, and whatever else might be handy in excavating ruins.
Harriet: Dilfriida has no interest in those at all. She'll keep climbing.
GM Elle: On the next level up, you see a small chest sitting over to one side of the room.
Harriet: Exceptional. I'll hurry over to it, almost certainly incautiously so. Hopefully the floor isn't weak up here.
GM Elle: You arrive at the chest without the floor giving way beneath you. It has a sturdy-looking padlock on it.
Harriet: I'll immediately use Sleight of Hand to pick it. No. I will not, because I roll a Demon. Always when it's crucial.
GM Elle: I'm going to say that in your over-eagerness to pick the lock, you slip and jab yourself with one of the pointier thieves' tools in your kit. Take 2 damage and make a WIL check to avoid crying out in pain and frustration.
Harriet: My Willpower is not one of my better abilities ... but I succeed with a 9. Can I try again?
GM Elle: Go ahead. But another Demon will have even worse repercussions.
Harriet: I roll a 12, which succeeds.
GM Elle: Draw two treasure cards from the deck, then.
Harriet: Surely the bandits would not have hauled this chest up here to store 6 copper coins in it ... do you perhaps want to unburden the deck of its more worthless cards?
GM Elle: Let's see what comes up. Maybe I'll tell you to skip a card if it's too worthless -- but considering the bandits are obviously not rich, I'll also tell you to skip if it's too valuable.
Harriet: While fair, I find that disappointing. Let's see what the deck has to say, though. My! 2d6 x 10 gold coins and 4d6 x 10 copper coins. Do I need to draw a replacement for the gold card?
GM Elle: Let's see what comes up on your roll.
Harriet: 80 gold and ... also 80 copper.
GM Elle: I'll say half the 80 gold is under a false bottom where Ursic was keeping it hidden from the rest of the bandits.
Harriet: Well, since I'm at my encumbrance limit, I can't go over 100 coins, and I'm already at 27, so ... I'll take 73 of the 80 gold and leave the rest of the gold in the secret compartment.
Claire: You're really loaded by now, right? Don't you still have that ghost's crown from the huge statue dungeon?
Harriet: Yes, and it looks like a gold ring I picked up in the Magna Woods. I'll have to hock those when we get back to town. At any rate, once I've taken what I can carry, I'll re-lock the padlock ... or does it close just by clicking it shut like a modern one? Because I roll a 19 if it requires a key to lock.
GM Elle: I'll say it clicks shut. Are you going to continue up to the roof?
Harriet: No, I've probably spent enough time at this already, and either Sir Quackenscrump or Zedeja is about to get impatient and barge into the tower to see what I'm up to. Not to mention the fact that it seems unlikely they'd leave anything valuable exposed to the elements on the roof.
GM Elle: What do you do once you climb down, then?
Harriet: I'll go directly back out to the group and say that the giant is still sleeping, and that I tried to sneak closer, but she kept shifting like she might be about to wake up, so I came back.
Akane: Zedeja is disappointed in the failure of her plan's second part. Hope was for a halfling to wake the giant with attempts at crime, so that stoppage of snoring or halfling cries would alert us. Then, time to go in and possibly prevent the crushing of her bones. Frustration! The mage complains to Dilfriida. "Next time, sneak better!"
Harriet: Dilfriida gives a surly rebuttal of some sort. Along the lines of, "Next time, do it yourself." I also report on the layout of the ground floor and the fact that there's a rope ladder leading upwards.
Heddy: I'm getting a bit dispirited by the bickering in this group. My character, I mean. I reread the entry for her kin, and it says if I can't enjoy reveling and singing and dancing with my friends on a daily basis, I get droopy and all my rolls get a bane.
Sasha: Wow, I would have really considered that feature more seriously before playing a satyr in this adventuring party. We've got a dour dwarf, an elf obsessed with learning stuff, a mallard who only wants to talk about killing monsters, a lazy wolf-person, a domineering mage, and a halfling with a really short fuse. It's not the chummiest bunch.
Akane: Solution: befriend Zedeja. She will tell you when to scamper and revel.
Heddy: I don't know that she seems very open to making friends.
Akane: This is because she has never demanded anyone to attempt friendship with her. If she did, they would have to.
Sasha: Well, since she's not demanding that now, I say we get moving. Quackers will go ahead and move up to the tower entrance. "Hey! Giant! You've got visitors!" I'll yell it again if she doesn't wake up the first time.
GM Elle: She stirs a little and makes grumbly noises the first time.
MSG: I'll step up behind Sir Q when I hear him yell and say, "Maybe that's not the best --"
Sasha: I yell it again.
GM Elle: The giant wakes and sits bolt upright, grabbing up a spear from the floor beside her. She sees you and says, "Punies! Is it new ones? What do you want?"
MSG: I'll say, "We're friendly. We want to help get the treasure from under the tower."
Claire: Filvius is going to move up too, to check out what a giant that's not as immediately hostile as the other one is like.
GM Elle: The giant gets to her feet, hunkering a little under the very tall ceiling that still doesn't let her stand to her full height. "Already make deal with one-ear puny. What your offer?"
Akane: Zedeja arrives.
Harriet: Oh, great. Dilfriida definitely doesn't follow her back into the tower.
Akane: "We offer news of another giant kind! We can direct you for social opportunity!"
Claire: Didn't our Beast Lore rolls last time tell us giant's are really territorial? Is socializing going to be good bait for one? I'm not saying this out loud, just wondering it.
GM Elle: I think I actually said "some" giants were territorial.
MSG: That one definitely seemed to be one of the some.
GM Elle: Glim-Glam actually looks like her interest is piqued. "Other giants? Where? Not Grim-Grum, is it?"
MSG: I'll tell her we didn't get a name. We ran into him while traveling along the --
Akane: Quiet, dwarf! This information is for bargaining, didn't you hear?
GM Elle: She says, "Grim-Grum is cousin. Squatting in my cave, day south of swamps. Had to leave and come here. Very bad houseguest. If that your news, no deal."
Sasha: This is great news to Quackenscrump. I'll step up and say that he was very rude to us too, and we'll be happy to help her drive him out of her cave if she'll work with us to dig up the treasure here.
Akane: No, terrible! Why does this mallard talk?
Harriet: Is Zedeja really objecting? Out of character -- which it has to be since my character is around the corner -- that sounds like a decent deal to me.
Akane: Yes, a fine deal! But no because our hound is the bargainer. Now a mallard must roll to convince this giant. Zedeja has chagrin at this.
Harriet: Ah, I understand better, then.
GM Elle: Akane is right, and Quackenscrump needs to make a bartering roll.
Sasha: Yeah, my Bartering is 6 and I roll a 14. You called that one, Akane.
Akane: No, Zedeja did. I'm happy to see all characters involved.
Ariel: Even if they're being Fail-y McFailingtons.
Sasha: Don't rub it in.
GM Elle: Glim-Glam responds to the offer with a frown. "Grim-Grum ... very tough and strong. Will be hungry after beating him. This deal better if you add two wild boars for cooking."
Akane: With frustration, Zedeja calls, "Hound! You are necessary!"
Ariel: I guess I'll go in.
Claire: Can I roll Hunting and Fishing to tell if the area the other giant was in might be good for finding wild boars? Not really for any practical reason, just to show off my knowledge.
GM Elle: Sure.
Claire: 10 against a skill level of 14.
GM Elle: It seemed like pretty typical hunting territory. Which means a 1 in 6 chance that anything you hunt down in a shift will be a boar.
Claire: Then I'll say, "Based on the lay of the land and the foliage there, my expectation would be that a successful boar hunt might take more than a week to produce two boars."
Ariel: If I showed up in time to hear that, I'll say, "A week hunting boars! That sounds exhausting!"
Akane: Negotiate, then!
Ariel: Well, we could go to Outskirt and buy a couple of pigs way faster than a week. Uh ... the book says they're only 2 gold each, so, easy-peasy.
GM Elle: Roll Bartering.
Ariel: I totally make it.
GM Elle: She seems to find that acceptable. You see her move over to the hole where the stairway leads down into the darkness. Looking a little closer, you see that it is blocked by a large boulder a short distance down. The top of the boulder looks like work has been done to chip away at it, but instead of doing any further excavation work, Glim-Glam reaches down and gets her fingers into a couple of gaps at the edges and heaves at the stone with brute strength. You see the muscles of her enormous arms cording up with tension as her brow furrows. Then a slow, deep, grinding and scraping sound fills the room and the giant heaves the boulder inch-by-inch up and out of the stairway's depths. She drops it nearby with a bone-jarring impact.
Ariel: Wow, she didn't even have to roll a Strength check!
Harriet: I believe that would have undercut the drama with which the GM was demonstrating the creature's enormous might.
Ariel: Oh. I thought maybe it was like how monsters don't have to roll their attacks.
MSG: I guess now we know the bandits were right about her dragging her feet on clearing the way to the basement.
Sasha: Quackers says it's a good thing we knew about Grim-Grum and it turns out she has a beef with him.
Akane: Yes, very helpful in a hound's bartering.
Sasha: Quackers actually meant it's good because now he gets to fight that giant after all with a lot less worry about it killing the rest of the party. That part I'm not saying out loud, though. I don't want Glim-Glam knowing I sorta think she's a monster.
GM Elle: She points into the stairwell and says, "Too small for me. You punies must carry out other rocks."
MSG: I'll go have a look.
GM Elle: The big boulder seems to have kept too much other rubble from packing the way down. The stairs descend about 7 or 8 meters, ending at a heavy iron door. Smaller boulders and piles of rock force you to weave as you make your way down the steps, and at the bottom, there's a good-sized heap of rock holding the door shut. You can tell the wailing and sighs are coming from just beyond the door.
MSG: That makes me a little nervous, but we have to get in there one way or another if we're going to get whatever treasure there is out. I'll call up to let everyone know, then get started heaving rocks out of the way.
GM Elle: If everyone helps, it's the work of a couple of hours to clear the way for the door to open. Everyone needs to make a WIL save against Fear to avoid being Scared by the ghostly noise.
Heddy: Can I sing a cheerful song to give everyone a boon on their rolls?
GM Elle: Sure, that's a fine idea. Make a Performance check and spend the 3 WP for your Raise Spirits ability. It's not how the book says to use it, but I think this is a nice application.
Heddy: Next question: can I sing from the top of the stairs instead of going down there myself? I'd really rather not get any closer to those spooky sounds.
GM Elle: It's not that great a distance, so I'll say yes.
Heddy: I make it pretty easily with a 6.
GM Elle: Everyone who's helping roll against Fear, then.
MSG: Safe.
Claire: Fail, even with the boon.
Ariel: Safe!
Sasha: Pshh. No problem.
Akane: Very safe.
Harriet: This could be a problem for Dilfriida ... no, two successes!
Heddy: Well, I'm glad to have been some help.
MSG: Do we have light down here, by the way?
Ariel: I would have gotten my lamp out, I guess.
Harriet: So ... who will be so bold as to open the door?
Sasha: Quackers, obviously. Anybody else want to stay with and back me up in case these moaning M-F-ers want a fight?
MSG: Dolora will. I'm curious to learn what's making the sound.
Claire: Filvius too. Plus, I have a spell for kicking undead butt that I've never had a chance to use.
Ariel: I did my part bringing the lamp, so I'm staying up top.
Sasha: Do you mean you didn't even help carry up rocks?
Ariel: It was scary enough just carrying my lamp down there, and those rocks looked really heavy.
Akane: Zedeja will stay upstairs and complain about a hound being unhelpful.
Ariel: But I'm old!
Akane: Zedeja also! Labor dismisses frailty. Exercise every day!
Harriet: I don't want to listen to Zedeja or go down in a hole with ghosts, so I'll ask Brandywise if she wants to explore the upstairs part of the tower with me.
Heddy: That sounds absolutely peachy! Let's go right now.
Akane: No stealing up there, thief! A goat girl is watching you!
Harriet: I stick out my tongue at her.
GM Elle: When Quackers opens the door, the moans and wails from beyond suddenly cut off. Instead, you now hear a faint trickle of water from the dim chamber beyond. But before you can look in to see where it's coming from, a file of ghostly figures trails out through the open door, one by one. They're faint and indistinct, but have an orcish cast to them. Then the last passes you and the way is clear.
Sasha: I'll wait and make sure they're all the way up the stairs before I turn my back completely to them. Then I'll pick up Fidu's lamp and see what's inside.
GM Elle: Skeletal remains lie scattered throughout the chamber, strewn about under tattered clothes. You see a glint of jewelry here and there.
Harriet: Damnation.
GM Elle: One figure in robes lies before an altar on the far wall, and as you watch, a final spectral form rises from it, clearer and more distinct than the others. She was definitely an orc in life, and she speaks to you in an archaic dialect that requires a Languages roll to understand.
MSG: Got it exactly with a 12.
Claire: Languages aren't really my thing ... but I roll a 3! Whew!
Sasha: It really chaps my hide that I did all that work heaving rocks and now I may not even understand this thing. I'll spend 2 WP on my Ill-Tempered ability to get a boon on my roll, which still leaves me a lousy chance ... nope, I'm clueless.
GM Elle: Dolora and Filvius glean most of her meaning. She calls herself Acha Bonebreaker of Clan Takrûk, and she thanks you for freeing the spirits of her group, which starved to death after being trapped in the tower basement during an attack. She declares three gifts for you, and points to the altar, where you see a piece of the statuette. "A relic from the days of the Dragon Empire." Then she points to one corner, where a mysteriously unweathered war banner stands, its surface depicting a grinning wolf, the bronze of its pole gleaming without any touch of time's hand apparent. "The Banner of Takrûk, which aids any righteous orc commander in battle." Finally, she gestures to another corner, where a spring wells up in a rimmed basin set in the floor. "The Fountain of Truth. Drink from it to swear an oath that cannot be broken. Now ... farewell!" She follows her parted comrades up the stairs and disappears upon reaching the sunlight.
MSG: I immediately go to the fountain and drink from it. "Filvius! I swear I will accumulate more knowledge than you!"
GM Elle: A shock of pure energy and intent rushes through you as soon as you speak the words. You feel compelled to out-do Filvius in the pursuit of knowledge.
MSG: More compelled, you mean.
Claire: Well, Filvius is smart enough to know that if we both swear the exact same supernatural oath, one of us is going to fail, and who knows what the consequences will be? So I rush over and drink and say, "Dolora! I swear I will accumulate better knowledge than you!"
Sasha: I don't know what the hell is going on, so I just shake my head and start searching the bodies.
GM Elle: Filvius feels the same energetic rush Dolora did. Quackers, despite the flavor text making it sound like there was a ton of valuable jewelry, you only find two things of particular value. The rest seems to be bone or iron jewelry with cut glass stones. But the two items of note are both gold -- an amulet on Acha Bonebreaker's body, and a chalice on the altar. Together, they're worth 85 gold pieces.
Sasha: Sweet. I put them in my backpack. Then I ask, "Hey, you two, what's with the spring and the swearing? What kind of wack idea did that ghost put in your heads, anyway?"
MSG: I'll summarize what the ghost said to us.
Claire: And I'll point out the strangely unaged banner and go over in detail what Acha said about it. I'll also roll Myths & Legends to see if I've heard anything about her, or that clan she mentioned. Whoof. Demon.
GM Elle: You get it confused with another legend you've heard and start going on and on about incorrect details.
MSG: Can I roll Myths & Legends to see if I know the mage is full of crap?
GM Elle: Sure.
MSG: 2.
Claire: Great. Now you're going to rub my nose in it.
MSG: No, because the knowledge of how wrong you are is knowledge you don't possess, so by keeping my mouth shut, I'm getting ahead of you in total volume of knowledge acquired.
Claire: Sneaky. Oh, crap, this means you're not going to willingly share anything you learn from now on, doesn't it?
MSG: Probably, unless it's pretty life-or-death. Meanwhile, if you're going to have better knowledge than I do, you'll have to be able to constantly compare things you know to what I do, so you're kind of obligated to tell me stuff you find out.
Claire: True. But I'll also need to hold back the juiciest details to make sure my knowledge of them remains better than yours.
Sasha: So what are these lousy details Filvius tries to fill me in on?
GM Elle: The banner was created during the appearance of a great nebula shaped like a grinning wolf's head. It was carried by a clan that became invincible as long as the nebula remained in the sky, but over hundreds of years the nebula faded, and the clan fell from power and had to flee their lands. A prophecy says that someday the banner will be used by a great orc chieftain to summon the nebula back to the sky and return his people to greatness.
Sasha: Anything about using it to kill monsters?
GM Elle: No.
Sasha: Boring. Okay, one of you can bring it if you want. I head back upstairs.
Claire: I guess I'll bring the banner, since I feel like I know so much about it.
MSG: And I'll get the statue piece. Don't want to walk out without that!
GM Elle: Moving on to Dilfriida and Brandywise, you discover the same things on floor 2 and floor 3 that Dilfriida did before. What do you do?
Heddy: I'll probably poke around looking at the tools more than Dilfriida did, but the chest will seem more interesting.
GM Elle: Who's going first up the ladder each time, by the way?
Heddy: Dilfriida, obviously. I'm nervous enough about the heights without also being the first one into unexplored territory.
Harriet: That's certainly acceptable to Dilfriida. When she gets her head above floor level at the third floor, she says, "Ooh! A chest!"
GM Elle: That's technically a bluff, since Dilfriida isn't really surprised.
Heddy: I think Brandywise would be pretty easy to fool, though, since she's a bundle of nerves from being on the ladder and doesn't have much experience with adventuring parties or thieves, making her assume she can trust those around her.
GM Elle: I was going to give a Boon, but that persuades me to make it a double Boon.
Harriet: A failure, a Demon, and a 4. So I definitely needed every Boon I could lay my half-sized little hands on. I'll help the satyr up and accompany her over to the chest, assuming that's where she goes.
Heddy: It's the only thing of interest on this floor, right? I'll definitely go examine it.
GM Elle: Make a Spot Hidden check, then.
Harriet: Should I be nervous? What's she supposed to be spotting?
Heddy: I succeed.
GM Elle: You notice a small smear of fresh blood on the surface of the lock.
Harriet: Oh dear. I suppose I might have been more careful about that wound, considering two hit points of damage is not just a tiny scratch.
Heddy: I believe my faint-heartedness would put me on edge enough that I'd feel a need to rely on my Intuition, so I'll spend 3 WP to ask the GM a question.
Ariel: Ooh, this should be good!
Akane: A question to reveal thievery!
Heddy: Well, not entirely. Naively, the shock of seeing fresh blood makes me worried that one of the fleeing bandits somehow got hear ahead of us and is hiding on the roof, since the ladder goes all the way up there. So what I'm going to ask the GM is whether the two of us are alone here in the upper floors of the tower.
GM Elle: The answer to that is yes.
MSG: Way to role-play it, Heddy. Kind of a waste of 3 WP, though.
Heddy: That's another "not entirely," though. Remember, Dilfriida never went up to the roof. So for all we knew as both players and characters, there could have been someone hiding up there. Now I know better.
MSG: Oh. Good point. Even better gaming than I thought!
Heddy: And Intelligence is my best score, so I can put two and two together and reach a conclusion that makes me ask Dilfriida, "Did you already come up here before?"
GM Elle: Two birds with one stone. Nice.
Harriet: Dilfriida shall hem and haw momentarily before attempting to play the sympathy card. She explains that she simply can't take orders from Zedeja, so whenever she goes along with something the old biddy says, she has to do it a bit sideways. "I poked my hand picking the lock. There's a bunch of copper and some gold in there, and I took some of the gold for my troubles and left the rest." All of that's entirely true, so I shouldn't have to roll Bluffing.
GM Elle: I wasn't going to make you. But it's up to Heddy whether her character buys it.
Heddy: The sympathy card will almost always work on Brandywise, and she's certainly observed Zedeja being unnecessarily unkind to the halfling. I'll ask her to open it back up and put most of the gold back.
Harriet: Dilfriida pouts mildly and tries to re-open the lock. Can I have a Boon for having figured it out once already?
GM Elle: I'll allow it.
Harriet: Success.
Heddy: Hmm. I don't see any gold in there, just copper.
Harriet: I'll scoop the gold out and show her the false bottom. "It's hidden in here. See?"
Heddy: Ah. Clever. Did you check to see if there's another false bottom under the false bottom?
Harriet: I didn't even check for the first false bottom. Elle just gave it to me, I thought out of the goodness of her heart.
Heddy: Is that a typical characteristic of Gamemasters?
GM Elle: Not that I've noticed.
Heddy: So maybe the first false bottom was deliberately easy to spot to lull people into not checking for the second. Spot Hidden, right? I roll a 2.
GM Elle: There is indeed a second false bottom. Inside you find five silver coins and a folded up note.
MSG: Why would they hide their silver in the super-secret secret compartment and their gold in the easy-to-spot secret compartment?
Claire: Maybe whoever put the gold in there found the chest and wasn't even aware that the super-secret secret compartment existed.
Heddy: I'll read the note.
GM Elle: It says, "Put this silver coin in with two others and the two will spawn overnight. Put it in with more than four others, and the extras will be consumed."
Ariel: Ooh! Two free silver coins a day! Fidu would like that.
Sasha: Because he's a merchant and likes money?
Ariel: Because it's money and he doesn't have to do any work for it.
Sasha: Got it.
Heddy: There are five silver coins, though. Which one is the magic one? I assume it's magic if it can keep making more coins. I'm going to look at them closely and see if one is different.
GM Elle: You do see that one has a different design than the other four.
Heddy: Fantastic. I do see a potential problem, though. You have to have someplace to keep it where it's not mixed in with your other coins, or it will eat them. Can I assume our clothes have pockets? If so, I can put most of my current money in one pocket and the magic coin and two more in the other. By the way, I tell Dilfriida that I hope it's okay for me to keep the magic coin, since I'm not making her put back all of the gold she took.
Harriet: Dilfriida's okay with that. She's not enough of a long-term planner to work out how many days of two silver coins a day equals dozens of gold coins. And Brandy said "most" of the gold I took, so as long as I put back one coin more than half, I can keep a pretty tidy sum. Oh, and I'll ask if it's okay for me to call her "Brandy" for short.
Heddy: I refrain from making a crack about "for short" being a good reason to let a halfling use a nickname for me. But since we're essentially becoming co-conspirators here, I feel enough of an intimate connection to not take offense at my name being abbreviated. "Have you any rope for us to use to lower this chest down to the others? We should re-lock it and wipe off the blood first."
Harriet: I put back half the gold I took and tie my rope around the chest to do that.
GM Elle: Once everyone is down from the tower and up from the basement, then, I think this is a good place to call the session. Let's see ... no dangerous opponents this time, but you explored a new location, everyone participated, and you overcame an obstacle without using force by negotiating with Glim-Glam. So three experience marks for everyone plus whatever marks people feel they earned for their weaknesses.
MSG: I think my rashly sworn oath about learning more knowledge than Filvius definitely counts.
Claire: I think the same about mine for learning better knowledge than Dolora.
Ariel: I was lazy about moving rocks!
Sasha: Quackers was walking the line about whether Glim-Glam was a monster, and is hot to go and fight Grim-Grum because of his monster slayer weakness.
Akane: Zedeja excelled with overbearing, I say.
Harriet: As usual. I'm also counting the usual sparring between Dilfriida and her mage nemesis. It might be going too far to say that on top of that, I was literally thin-skinned enough to be seriously damaged from gouging my hand with a lockpick.
GM Elle: That's entirely up to you.
Heddy: And I was definitely quite the scaredy-cat, so I'll take a mark too.
GM Elle: All right, then. Next time we can see who else might want to go drink from that fountain and then you can hit the road with your new giant friend.
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