Main / Bebbux-OOC

Bebbux - Out of Character Conversations

9/2/18 John

I would like to say that with my limited time here, I like to accomplish more than just having fun, though having fun is more important. I don't want to deny anyone their own fun or goals. So I appreciate you letting me influence the party to the larger chamber without too many distractions and I am glad you were still able to explore the side passage. Not that ridding the world of Strirges is a bad thing, maybe Ilero needs to complete his collection. But, while we may not have a clear defined goal and with our current party configuration missing a few standards, I'd like to try for us to be a little more focused, or at least clear on what our intentions are (not plans, no to plans). Even without the name of the story or the hints from the leather shop, a trail of a giant snail and a humanoid seem to be a big clue not to follow. Add to that the possibility of a passageway to the castle (to the shadows to the left, I am told) those are my player/character goals. If anyone want to clear out the caves of all unfriendlies, then I'd like to know so I can be prepared and change my tactics.

9/2/18 Lisa

Firstly, my computer went nuts and it took forever for me to get back into Klooge last Fri after Indigo was saved. So, I didn’t really get a chance to say thank you either IC or OOC for making sure Indigo was in the disappointed category and not in the never to return from the caverns category of visitors. Thank you to everyone! 😊

Great post, John! I was sort of thinking the same thing. I would like to solve the snail mystery more than simply attempting a mass stirge slaughter. We can’t go in the caverns without light and it seems like we are going to keep getting attacked by hordes of stirges and centipedes and other like creatures if we just keep wandering about attracting them.

But maybe we can approach this from a different and less stirge-filled angle. We saw evidence (or what we thought was evidence) that a man and the snail were in the caverns. Together or separately? We don’t know. But just because the Head Steward doesn’t know about a secret passage doesn’t mean there isn’t one in the castle. And don’t elves have a really good chance of finding them? Maybe we can head back to the castle and ask for a lower dungeon tour and see if we can’t find a better way in there.

Also, the gypsies said that the snail trails were found at the river and outside the castle. We haven’t actively looked for any of these trails in those places. There could be more than one way to skin a snail and it doesn’t necessarily mean batting away stirges the whole way through it.

Thoughts?

9/3 Carissa

I already forgot about poor Galad being a hold up. It's not midnight yet, or even near midnight, so we do have time for a trip to either the castle or the camp (unless we want to find things out before the moons rise). I do really want to follow those footsteps, I agree it feels like a big clue to not investigate, but how to go about it? If it doesn't take long, we could return to the castle and investigate for the passage there, but I bet we're close to it. It's just the dang stirges and centipedes right now to deal with, and the poor wolf who will need to be carried or be the cause of a party split. Could we trick the stirges and have the Hand of Reaching carry it ahead of the party? Or maybe we need to think more about who should walk were and better clump up ultravision vs blind as a bat as we explore?

And gypsy camp suggestion was because the wolves seemed comfortable there and it's closer than the castle. No secret passage to discover there, though. Just somewhere we can let Galad rest if he isn't going to be carried around (which I don't think Shi can do with her pathetic STR...). Too late for healing to rouse him?

9-3 BOB

Yes to Galad being out of it. Would need a cure light wounds to get to walking wounded so as not to be carried.

Yes you can get to the castle and back to the caverns today. As to exploring the depths of the castle that will depend on convincing someone to let you or ......

Yes to lights and blood attracting things.

To consider Extraordinary Senses when deciding what do to about those lights. Remember that just because your light source does not go out far enough for you to see does not mean that someone else out there in the dark will not see you inside of that nice spotlight.

9/8/18 Lisa

I wanted to post about how things ended last week.

To sum up – BOB blindsides me again. He could have had anybody in the Small Kingdoms universe lying in that cavern. He chose one of Indigo’s swanmays. Thanks, BOB!

Indigo had only met Seewick once, but she is the sister of Bewick who he has talked to numerous times over the years. It is just not like Indigo to leave her lying in a cavern full of centipedes.

Given the torches we saw, the probability of another exit close by is pretty high. It would be a waste to have crossed this big cavern and give up. I just don’t want to leave Seewick or carry her around the passages until we actually find the second way out. Michael offered to have Neith go with Indigo, so I propose if he is willing to have Neith do it, Indigo and Neith can wait at the bottom of the passage with Seewick while the rest of the group tries to get to a door. Once the group has the exit, then someone can come down and get us. If that doesn’t sound like a good plan, Indigo can take Seewick out the way we came in.

The more I think about it, though, the more I like the gypsies for her rather than the castle. I won’t say Seewick is dead yet. Kenna’s diagnostics check went unanswered and BOB kept saying things like she looks dead. Not she is dead. I am going to be hopeful until I hear something definitive.

Thoughts?

9/9 Carissa

You know what they say: it's a small world (kingdom) after all!

This is close to my train of thought. I wouldn't expect Indigo to just leave her (really, I don't think most of our characters could do that). If we can convince Indigo to wait with her either near the exit or there, then we won't have a true party split. As you said, we can maybe find the exit BUT that also means probably an exit to the castle, not gypsy camp which I'm not sure if he'd want to take her to the castle. We don't even know why she's there or who took her cloak or why. And we have torches to follow so I'd hate to not keep going at this point.

I agree that I don't think she's dead. Her check didn't get answered, we haven't actually tried to heal her, and something tells me that the missing cloak is a key to whether or not she actually lives. Maybe the shock of it being taken from her caused her to pass out? I don't know how swanmays work. Like mythical selkies maybe? Or maybe her cloak is nearby and we just need to hand it to her (Shi couldn't find it, but someone else can still help look...).

On another random thought: think that giant pool of water is where they rinse and boil the snail meat? ;)

9/9 John

I would not think we will have to split up the party. We get our fallen friend, see how bad it is and move on as a group, either leave or go forward, as a group. We have to meet up with Kel either way. He may act like a dwarf but I would not expect him to fins us in the cavern.

Only one slight comment. Yes you saw torches but they moved off into the darkness and you do not know which way they went. So far you discovered multiple passages out of just this one end of the large cavern.

(Technically) 9/29 Carissa

Three more thoughts and then maybe I'll maybe sleep maybe:

  1. The gypsies were surprised by the appearance of Seewick. They probably didn't take her body, but if there is the snail protection thing going on, maybe they/that man is the one that took her body, put it in the caves, and is protecting it? And the guards only thought it was the gypsies?
  2. Maybe answered earlier, but how long was the Count even married?
  3. Just a reminder that Rulers Make Bad Lovers.

Anyways going to scour the chat logs about Stewart interacts to see if anything of interest there. Probably more thoughts once I sleep if I sleep.

(I did sleep, but tossing this thought up here before putting it all together below):

  1. So far we've only heard about the guards being attacked in the forest. I don't think the gypsies have been, and it might not be by luck that we weren't, either...

---

OKAY. So here is what I am currently thinking after going through summary:

Having read the Swanmay page when it was first posted, I thought that, pest or not, a swanmay would probably want to protect giant snails as they are wildlife and that's apparently their whole job. They oppose those who would decimate them. Thinking of the title of the arc (and all the silverware), I still think they're eating the snails (or something very similar and the shells are leftovers). Perhaps Seewick first came to Ghostwood trying to help them, the Count agrees with Indigo that she's beautiful and decides that will be his wife. If the page is completely true and the sentence applies more than to just beasts, swanmays dislike anything with an evil alignment (even if it's a misunderstood vampire). So yes, still thinking charm or something there. Of course, maybe she's charmed but she probably still doesn't like them eating her snail friends. If we go off the angle of misunderstood, maybe the Count figures he can fix this by "curing" Seewick, as in turning her back human since it is her swan aspect that guides her personality. With all the werewolf hoo-ha nonsense going on in Drillian, he risked taking her cloak to someone who might know more about "curing" Therianthropes. Meanwhile, her snail friends do not like this at all for very obvious reasons. They find her body, steal it, and bring it to the safety of the caves that no one enters. Until now.

So some clarification: of all the guard disappearances, Knave says guards went to town then left town to go into the woods (20180817c). Just before that a guard said it was a couple of guards they lost. The Head Stewart claims guards only disappear in the forest, not the caverns, but yes, it was 15 of them (20180824c) including the commander. Knave was talking to Miss Elf who was checking on her wolves during that conversation. Oh and don't forget it was Knave who was originally singing about illusions of love shattering. He also keeps disappearing and leaving the group alone for hours before mysteriously reappearing. Don't forget he also told us the Countess did not recover from her illness. He may not "know" how she died, but he knew she was sick yet never told us anything about her sickness (was her sickness being charmed?). Am I suspicious of him? Very. Do I still think he's connect to her, the snails, and her disappearance? Definitely.

Having read all the chats, I don't actually think the Stewart will be of much help. Nor do I think he is the Count in disguise. But I do still think Knave is worth tying to a chair for more information. Or perhaps we should "accidentally" let him see Seewick. He may not know her name, but he might know who she is by looking at her. That would probably get a reaction. Or maybe he's the one who tossed out all that silverware. Should we show him that?

And yes, I don't think it's a coincidence that there is a Young Retainer (Knave) and a Young Man (in the caves) that we know or have seen.

Also all of this started way back in (20180720c) which does indeed seem forever ago now.

Oh and you know what Head Steward did confirm on (20180824c)? The theft was two weeks ago (but he cannot speak of what was taken). Odd, that, isn't it?

...and too late now, but maybe we should have seen if Knave was injured earlier as we did injure that man in the caves.

Edit: Actually Steward questioning might not be completely useless, but I don't think we'll get as much as we want from him. That said, though, he does at least know what was taken. Also of interest I forgot to point out later? On the swanmay page, when talking about the similar bird maidens, it does state: "Bird maidens are sometimes forced to marry men who steal their shawls; if they ever recover them, they leave their husbands, killing their sons and taking the daughters with them to become bird maidens."

So provided we save Seewick (and depending on the circumstances of the whole situation), think we'll have to save the Count from her potential wrath? :P

10/1 Lisa

So will Indigo FINALLY be able to tie someone to a chair???

This link is not Indigo by any means, but is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of film tying-someone-to-a-chair scenes. Who can argue about classic Tarrantino? Must be played with the music for full effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQFuzaSWKK0

10/1 Carissa

Yes but only if we use the nice chair we found and Grade A, Non-GMO, Organic, All-Natural, Harvest On the Night of the Full Moon by the pure hands of children, super expensive Himalayan Pink Rock Salt. We aren't complete monsters, right?

And we can play the music, too, but maybe not be quite so Tarrantino ;)

10/1 Lisa

The more people we can tie to chairs, the better! Carissa is correct that Steward did say that he could not say what was stolen. So I say that we make him say. Just saying.

Thanks to Carissa for all that research! This is great. If we think Knave is snail male, maybe we can use that info with Steward to get him on our side and start talking?

10/1 Carissa

Haha! I think chair tying is inevitable at this point.

I'm not sure. I almost feel like we'd want Knave/Potential Snail on our side if he's actually trying to help Seewick? There is a reason Seewick was unharmed in the caverns, and I'm thinking it is related to who we found during that one outing that ran from us (and/or maybe related to all those broken shells).

Still not sure how the Count would like us manhandling his menservants. If the one guess is correct, maybe all one of them needs is a little charming to even the score? Or maybe Shur can do her thing. Doesn't take much imagination for how she can convince them to get in a chair.

And then Indigo can lasso them in! I feel like he kind of has to at this point ;)

10/19/18 Lisa in sunny San Diego

Busy week took me a long time to post. I think last week went well and we made some progress. We at least know a bit more about the theft, even if we still don’t know who the thief is.

Reading Shi and Knave’s conversation and mulling this over off and on this week, here are some things I’d still like to have answered and possible things to do.

Questions for Steward and/or Knave:

Things to do: Let me know what you think tonight or just post and/or add

10/21 Carissa (in too cold NY)

I fully admit I am feeling frustrated, but tossing some ideas out there while I have them. I am half tempted to try to put together all we learned, but I'm also thinking that might just confuse further. Unless you do think it'll be helpful, I will hold off (well, technically limited to what I do want to post here). But, that said:

  1. Thing we have not done that is simple to do: cast any and every healing spell we have on Seewick. That means heal wounds, heal curse, heal disease. Everything.
    1. Reason for thought: besides it being easy to do, the old man comment from Lisa about priests and the fact that priests are lacking in Ghostwood makes me wonder if Seewick needed healing from something. Back to original wonder if Count took the cloak to try to save her from whatever might have been killing her (and if he made her a crypt, guessing he wouldn't make her a vampire). I don't think it'd hurt to try.
  2. Ask Knave about the last room in the cave (or at least Shi can since they seem to get along).
    1. Reason for thought: eh, admittedly because I hate leaving something unexplored and still covered with fog of war. Probably just a scorpion nest, but this is more personal OCD. It doesn't hurt to ask and maybe I'm wrong and something of interest is there. This might also stop us from running back and forth at this point. Er, except we do still need to get Ilero back (never asked Knave about secret passage that I remember, either. Maybe he knows of one).
    2. Oh and we can tell him (or someone can tell Shi to tell him) they found nothing in the icky pool.
  3. Possible plan: bring back Penelope, call it quits, and just enjoy the rest of our stay.
    1. Reason for thought: okay, maybe we shouldn't give up, but yes we're running all around and reaching for straws. Then again, all roads lead to the castle so maybe we'll find something out useful there. Or we'll just let it wrap up on its own. I don't know. Again, rereading the chat just left me feeling frustrated again to the point of just...seeing what happens rather than dragging the story wherever. But, that's my own feelings so don't let it influence yours.

The only other things I will add are BOB hints that were never answered or pursued to the best of my knowledge (aka I'm not scanning chats for them, but the ones I remember off the top of my head).

  1. He expected us to possibly get into a fight in the forest at one point. We never did.
  2. We still do not know why Seewick was left relatively unharmed in the cave.
  3. Was the guards being attack by the bridge something we should have followed up on?

And in conclusion, even if we haven't saved Seewick at this point, at least we found her. That's more than we can say about all those dead guards so let that maybe count for something?

10/21/18 - TMO

The only simple answer to a simple question about the cloak I can see is the typical Adventurer's Credo: The Best Treasure Lies Behind the Toughest Monster.

ie - kill the water elemental, find the cloak, save the day.

10/21 Carissa

First thought: but that's not even in the forest.
Second thought: Okay let's do it. We've a bone to pick with it anyways.
Third thought: ...it doesn't actually have bones, but whatever!

I'd have to check on Friday, but I do think Shi (and Kenna if she has it) create water spell also dries up water. And we'll need Kenna or Miranda to cast water breathing. But hey, it's a good almost 99% true credo so why not? Again, we need to go fetch Ilero anyways :P

It's always possible that there's a monster in the forest we haven't run into yet, although Bob's had a few chances to force an encounter. In fact, iirc, when we head to or from the caves, he's not even doing any encounter rolls...

A couple of things that may or may not help.

Encounters: There have not been encounters to and from the caves and to and from the gypsy camp because they are very close to the base of the cliff the castle sits on. The intersection you were visiting with the platforms is that key point. When you pass that going out to the village and the woods you could have encounters. The forest where the guards were attacked is across the bridges where you have only gone to see the village and not adventured beyond that space.

The Caves of Doom: You have effectively seen all of the caves, there might be a corner or two you did reveal with a light source but you have seen all the passageways and chambers that you could find. There is still the water elemental to deal with if you choose.

Progress: I think you have made good progress on this story arc even though it seems most feel it has been fairly unproductive. I have mentioned that I did some different things in the Wedding Crashers story arc based on the progress you made in this one. That is because you actually did more and different things than I anticipated. One thing that I screwed up on back during the Birthday Game was answering the question about "who took the cloak". You were not to know that it was the Count who took it. I think that might have distracted everyone from some of the basic mystery solving.

I will leave it to the group to fill in answers to those five questions. I will say that I do not think anyone has done any work or speculation on answering the last one of WHY any of this happened.

We have no time limits to when story arcs end, you can continue to puzzle through this one another week or five. It is based on the in time date that matters. On the evenign of the 12th the small group arrived in Nouvelle Averoigne and were greeted at the entrance to the main keep on the morning of the 13th. We are now getting to late in the afternoon on the 15th with the group here for the Bebbux story arc. If Wedding Crashers goes as planned the would arrive back at Ghostwood on the evening of the 16th while everyone is in the gypsy camp.

Who from each group is actually there at that meeting if it does take place on that anticipated date is still up in the air. What the final outcomes from each story arc and solving all the mysteries from each is still up in the air.

10/22 Lisa

Why? To me, it seemed pretty simple and not needing a huge discussion or meditation session.

Either

A) They wanted to kill Seewick. I seriously doubt it was someone with a feather fetish. Why did they want to kill Seewick? That is hard to say if or until we find out who did it. Jealous woman? Irritated husband? Bird hater?

B) It was a simple theft of something that might look valuable. However, considering that this looked like an “inside” job, this option seems extremely unlikely. The staff assures us that getting to the cloak would be difficult so this possibility seems silly.

And seriously, if you tossed such a huge red herring at us and then sat on it and watched us strategize based on something that you knew would mislead us, that seems less than fair. One of the big reasons I thought we needed to find the Count at the end was that we had nothing else BUT that he took the cloak.

Frankly, I am at the point where I just don’t care any more. Seewick is in stasis so she is relatively safe. I am worried about trying to cast a bunch on her, simply because if we somehow break the stasis and can’t replace it, we could in fact kill her all by ourselves.

Since we only have 24 game hours until Branwyn, Hoffman and Hugh (the 3 primary PCs in the WC group) come walking in the door, my only concern is having the fewest corpses lying around as possible. If John doesn’t want to bring Qui back, I would like to try to bring Penelope back unless there is a concern about using it on a NPC. Other than that? I have no goals regarding this arc any more. Personally, I’m sick of talking about it.

To clarify for Lisa,

It was not a red herring, it was a mistake on my part. I blurted out the question/answer by mistake during that discussion with the gypsies. Because I did that I reworked the other adventure to include the fact that you have that bit of knowledge. Once I give away that bit of knowledge hard to put it back in the bottle and forget you heard it.

10/25 John

Between the Gypsies, the speaking with the dead and BOB, I was not convinced the Count actually took the cloak until I read this. If he admits it was a mistake, I believe it to be true. I also believe there is no way we are expected to take on the Count. If goals were well defined, I would say we succeed in bring back the body and mostly clearing out the cave. We failed to find the monster in the woods or capture the Snail Male, but those are secondary goals. At least the monster in the woods (what ever form that takes) is a bit more straight forward and more our style.

If we were not supposed to know the Count took the cloak, maybe we would look for it more, but I feel as frustrated as Lisa in that I think we are looking for something we are not supposed to find. Knowing he took the cloak and knowing he would be the only one to cast the Statics means the Count wants her in this state when he returns, as if this keeps her safe and pure in his eyes until he returns. Not sure we should be happy about this but it is how I believe the situation will be resolved.

10/25 TMO

So it sounds like we're between hunting the monster in the forest and the water in the well. I'm game either way. I'm *currently* leaning toward the monster in the forest *maybe* being the right target, since the death of the guards is a more 'active' threat than the wellbeast that is just sitting there waiting for something juicy to come within reach.

12/30 Carissa

Will possibly add to this through the week as I think of other things (or add ones you think of, please!). Anyhow, important points to remember when both parties reconvene (and don't forget to reread Main.WC-OOC, too).

Session: 20181012c
[Head Steward (Master)] and you have found SeeWick
[Head Steward (Master)] you just admitted
Shurkural (TMO)] In the caves, sugar. In the caves.
[Head Steward (Master)] not IF you can find her but you HAVE found her
[Head Steward (Master)] so where is she
[Indigo (Lisa)] Yes Even without the Lifegiver!
[Head Steward (Master)] Right now I am pleasant
[Indigo (Lisa)] I want to make sure she is not harmed
[Head Steward (Master)] if you do not answer my questions
[Indigo (Lisa)] I don't trust him!
[Head Steward (Master)] do not trust who?
[Brother Fotopoulos (JohnAA)] Wu?
Indigo (Lisa) taps Knave on the head again with his sword
Ilero (TMO)] She answer your question. We find t'em, and her, in t'e caves.

Session: 20181026c
Ilero (TMO)] Want to see where Countess is?
[Ilero]] (TMO) points down the passage behind Knave and Kel.
Ilero (TMO)] (yes, that is the wrong way)
[Knave (Master)] You brought her back to the Castle
[Knave (Master)] you told me that
Ilero (TMO)] Hye said was, not is.
Ilero (TMO)] Countess was back t'ere.
[Knave (Master)] OH

[Knave (Master)] Seewick is safe and in the Castle thanks to you