Bag of Clouds - Out of Character Discussions
What the characters know so far about Air Ship travel: Aerial Adventures.
There are also some Non-weapon Proficiencies that can help.
Here's a brief synopsis of what happened last week/what we know as far as the Duke and the negotiations. Please correct any mistakes I may have made.
I'm sorry if I proved a distraction last week. I tried to take Indigo outside so the others could take control of the diplomatic situation. My goal was not to try to bring you all out to my character. There is a ton a small talk conversation that can be had with the Duke that I didn't see working with Indigo. If I had Branwyn, it would have been a breeze. She could have discussed how wonderful meeting Domville's ambassador was, what kinds of gems the Duke mined, asked about his estate, so sorry we could not visit his house and give regards to his family, etc. etc. to find out what is important to him. But she is locked away and can't ask all those girly hostess-type questions, so I fell back on what is important to Indigo and he doesn't like the thought of ladies being mistreated. When he heard that you would have to have a strong stomach to get a glimpse of her and she was 6 days out, he drew his own conclusions and marched off. In any event, here is a timeline as I gathered it.
Place: small stronghold rather than manor house
Participants: Duke Brandish of Domville; Minecrafter Jorid; Isla Falcon – ex-pirate and hired escort for priestess; Patron Trisha Rosary, a priestess of the god, Alcim – dead priestess in loft; Mistress Erindale requires an invitation to come inside – she doesn’t want to go in until the negotiator has presented her
Timeline:
Unknown – Negotiator of Temple of Air and Light did not arrive. We assume this is Ambassador Waverlyn. Duke says he sent message
Month 4 – Ambassador Waverlyn is murdered
Month 6 -- Mistress Erindale received message from the Duke’s men that the negotiator was dead
c. month 7 or 8 – Isla Falcon and Patron Trisha start out for Domville -- 23 days away Isla hired by Kayugan Church – no one has asked/answered the question as to the starting point other than they were coming from the opposite direction of Dryads Lair (NE)
c. month 8 or early 9 – Mistress Erindale comes to Dryads Lair looking for Branwyn
9/10/1266 – Mistress Erindale meets with Branwyn and Tristan is commissioned to go
9/10/1266 – Patron Trisha killed by bandits wearing an circle/arrow insignia (IC no one knows what it means and waiting for Tristan)
9/12/1266 – Isla Falcon arrives at Duke's with the body
9/16/1266 – Tristan and party arrive in Domville. Duke talks about Ambassador having a keen mind and liking chess as if he was still expecting her to show up even though he sent message that she was dead??
So – we have two dead negotiators. Tristan seems to be the only one that’s made it there alive. Third times a charm?
So now you have learned the importance of asking the participants of a defense treaty who they are defending against.
You do have time to make it home, attend the Festival {see Calendar of Events} and them return to here with who ever you wish. Presuming that the others make it home in time from Who What Were in Northam. You could also be creative in how you will notify them and or just stop by and pick them up, etc.
Depending on the information you gather before leaving for what you will know about the upcoming meeting on the 1st.
1/28/15
As I understand it, there is an issue with transport from the stronghold to deliver the dead body. I think Miranda should stay behind with her spell book, we can say she does some recon. Hopefully the group will have no issues they can't handle and they pick up Hoffman and whom ever to come back and help kill the dragon. As future plans, I would suggest the air ship is nowhere arround when the dragon comes. I think it will be more of a liability, but it is not my call.
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You could maybe leave a crew member behind on shore leave. I had no idea it was so small.
John ---
If only we could trick the dragon into swallowing Indigo whole, the battle would be over quickly.:)
John
LOL John, I did mention that in a side conversation already.
BOB
We could check to see if the Duke has a catapult... - TMO
Players/Characters involved in this story arc currently.
Lisa - Indigo Eric - Tristan TMO - Marisu Michael - Hugh Spring - Kenna Corvus - Isla Mike - Galduk John - Miranda, Hoffman
Corvus has not been around because there has not be anything for his character to do. Once there is something directed at Isla or we know that the group will be at the minecrafters cabin during a session I will contact him to let him know.
My post was to his character. I was just putting his name in summary. I want to start another conversation on the ship currently but not sure where to put as not to confuse the different threads as I already may have~ John
So there we all are at the cabin! Given the deaths related to this mission, suggest we not only plan a few ways to defeat the dragon but also watch out for any non-dragon murder attempts.
- Spring
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I have not had a lot of luck in character so I want to try out of character for a bit. Planning involves to types, known and unknown. Let concentrate on the known and get as much information as possible. What direction does the dragon come in from, what time and what is the expected set up for the dragon to land? Do they ever have someone in the tower?
A quick summary of your assets.
- Hoffman
- Tristan
- Indigo
- Hugh
- Miranda
- Marisu
- Kenna
- Galduk
- Artiark
- Minecrafter
- 25 various mine workers
As you saw on the map there is not any vegetation around the entrance to the mine. There is a small tower up on the top of the hill. Elevation is about 200 foot to the top of the hill, tower is 30 foot tall. Tower is stone, cabin is wood.
Entrance to the mine is about 12-15 foot wide and about the same tall. Then it narrows and lowers as it gets deeper.
The Minecrafter will not allow the workers to stop to assist your preparations. His reasoning is that they need the output for either A - the Dragon or B - to pay Captain Erindale
For the timeline:
You have the 21st through the 25th to work on planning. Tristan, Miranda, Marisu only. On the night of the 25th Indigo, Hugh, Galduk, Artiark, Kenna and Hoffman all arrive. You have the 26th, 27th, 28th to plan and work on things.
The dragon shows up on the 1st. There is not a definitive time. It comes down and around from the hill.
Don't we also have the airship and Mistress Erindale and crew as long as the task is something she would agree to?
Yes you do have that also :)
I still think the airship should be out of site, From my understanding, it may have to be far away not to be seen. I want the dragon to have no reason not to land as normal then we attack him with everything we have.
So here a couple of my ideas/questions so far...
1. How many ballistae does the airship have? Can they be removed? I thought taking 3-4 of the ballista from the airship. I can cast my concealed campsite spell where we place them. It grants a hide bonus. Basically, camouflages them. I have to check on the duration but the spell says the invisible helpers use surrounding material to conceal the campsite. So it should be permenant? This will allow us to shoot from a few different directions. However, I don't know what we have for helpers. We'd need some of the Duke's soldiers... Not sure what he has to offer. But if we're protecting his mine I'd hope he can spare 10-12 people.
Off the top of my head it has 6 built into the ship. They are built in and not removalbe without at least partially dismantaling them. Tristan has the skill to do that when the ship returns if he can talk the Skycaptain into letting him.
2. The airship in my opinion should only come in when we have the dragon weakened. It's an easy target. No real mobility. No where for occupants to displace... Who's on the ship? Any of us?
Currently no one is on the ship except the basic crew. Misstress Erindale is with the group currently.
3. How many of those magic javalins do we have? Can they be used in a ballista?
There are two of the magic javelins. Yes they can be used in a ballista.
4. How do we keep the dragon from escaping? I was thinking the entangle spell but I doubt it is strong enough... We need to be sure we take it out... Not let it escape to bring its vengeance later... I'm open to any ideas there. It's the big piece in the puzzle I'm lacking.
I am not giving hints there. :)
I don't have an easy answer for that either. But how fast can the airship take off and chase? It seemed pretty fast since we had to sneak out of Dryads Lair to avoid getting shot down. Could we keep the ship on the ground and maybe camouflage it? Then use it to follow the dragon if it does fly away. Not to engage, but to follow safely at a distance and find out where its lair is. Then it can fly back and bring us there. Just another thought.
4. If all else fails we can always dip indigo in batter and hang him as a lure!!
Not going there :)
It's okay. Indigo is used to it. :)
-Eric
Lol well thanks bob for your insight. Some of these were for the group. Do we want to put anyone on the airship. And does anyone have any ideas to get the dragon grounded... As for Indigo, I was in a dark place today. SORRY LISA! I know indigo prefers to be ingested raw...
-Eric
Some unknown and some things you should already know. We are going to have at least one flying warrior. Depending on the landscape and how the battle goes, there stil may be a way to web the dragon and if the dragon manages to fly off, we should have a good idea where to from the tower with the spyglass. We may want to try continual light on the dragon if just for tracking purposes. I will not stop from killing it just on the hopes of finding its lair, even if we can not talk with a dead dragon. I would not expect Mistress Erindale to endanger her ship and I do not want to risk tipping our hand. I would also not ask to remove arms of the ship even temporary. I was just thinking we could scout arround for a cave big enough to hide it in but that cave is probably already taken.
If we can score a snake shin, some rope, and sinew of a strong animal,I can put a snare on the ransom chest ...
Spring
5/12 John
I was going to start a second conversation in character but the other one just got a little more interesting for me. I still feel we should have some agreement what the group is going to do so whomever shows up Friday is prepared and whom ever does not still has an input.
I propose we do not take on the dragon at the moment but have Mistress Erindale collect her payments of gems and take Galek and whomever wants to head back to the city and the rest of us will go to "talk" to the gnomes and try and rectify that situation.
5/18
A couple of point here to clarify things.
1 - Tristan was the negotiator for the treaty. The original point was that Mistress Erindale wanted gems, and the Duke would provide them but only would negotiate with a member of the faith. Tristan did that for them.
2 - The treaty ended up being Mistress Erindale would help defend the mine in exchange for 1,000 gp worth of emeralds a month.
3 - It was only after the treaty was signed that the dragon complication was revealed.
4 - (so more than a couple) Tristan chose to assist Mistress Erindale in the dragon attack on the first because he felt it was his duty as negotiator of the treaty.
5 - The gnomes were a thread in the many conversations prior to the encounter with them on the 1st, just no one followed up on them.
6 - If you want Mistress Erindale to go on the offensive (chase after gnomes) that would be different than the treaty.
7 - (just how many is a couple?) The Duke said he would give 500 Gp worth of emeralds to Mistress Erindale.
Dragons were never part of the treaty nor were gnomes.
BOB
5-20-15 Lisa
This is too hard to do IC and allow people to fully understand what I am trying to say. One of two things have to happen for me to move Indigo.
1. Bob has to say that Artiark can fly himself home to Dryads Lair/Imari safely by following us or on his own.
OR
2. Mike has to say that he is okay with losing Artiark or willing to play the odds of a dice roll on him getting home safely. Mike lost a henchman and has a rare animal companion stuck 200 miles away. He has no character to speak IC about what he wants to do. He should not feel like he is holding up the group for wanting his hippogriff back.
If it were me and I spent a NWP on being able to train/ride a hippogriff, I would not be happy to just lose it because the rest of the party didn’t bring it home to me. It’s not like Mike can just have Imari pick up another one at the local pet store. If Imari loses Artiark then I believe it will be a long time, if ever, that Imari can get another one. Please Bob, correct me if I am wrong. I would love to be wrong. This issue has been worrying me since the bonus game. We don’t leave one of our own behind. Artiark has fought with us and belongs to one of our group so he is one of us. We don’t dump him unless the player tells us to. But this is an Indigo thing and does not have to delay the rest of the group.
The group used a teleport coin to transport a dozen of us at once for a great white north adventure. So I know they can be made. Thinking about what John said and trying to figure out how much a hippogriff weighs, we might not be able to take everyone on such a device, but we should be able to get at the least the bird and Indigo home with it.
I personally don’t care about the gnomes, dragons or whatever. I care about taking care of the group and right now that means Artiark. Problem is that no one can ask the Duke about priest/mage capabilities until Eric/TMO/Kenna feel like roleplaying. Worst case – Duke can’t hook Indigo up so Indigo will send a message with whoever leaves now to Branwyn for her to do it. Branwyn has access to the Guild and the Celestry and should be able to get this done. (Bob – correct me if I am wrong). Indigo waits with Artiark and feeds and waters him until he can get him home.
The others can and should do whatever they want. I am not up for 12 hour planning sessions but simple planning is quick, easy and a good, smart thing to do. No need to abandon it altogether. Corvus said let the gnome loose and follow him home. I said turn him into a mini-lighthouse. Boom! You have a tracking plan.
I think John just wanted a head count on who wants to go do gnomes and who wants to get home now. I couldn’t give him a quick answer because my character needs to take care of the hippogriff. And so what I ended up doing was not giving an answer and irritating John. I am sorry for that.
Decisions just need to be made and mandatory questions to the NPCs asked. I have a couple questions to deal with the teleport issue – give me a character that can talk to the Duke and it will be done in 5-10 minutes. People need to say they are staying or going home. Quick show of hands. We know by now that Erindale is not hunting gnomes. So the only questions to her will be about her taxi service. She already agreed to bring people back once as part of the original deal. She has room on her ship for 4 people. Take the slots or leave them. Then ask her if she will make a return trip or if not the party that stays will have to walk to the river. Know what that means and make your choice. Ask Bob if he will click you or encounter you back.
Indigo is taking care of Artiark. Hoffman and Miranda are going after the gnomes. Everyone else just needs to spit out what they want to do and do it and then we can move forward. And I will avoid mentioning the confiscation of stolen goods potential of the gnome village, as that could turn into a 2 hour discussion. :)
Michael( Hugh) 20, May 2015
There's the leader I've been waiting for! I vote to stay here and take care of the animal and slaughter gnomes. Hoffman and Miranda have a companion. Anyone else? We can feel free to divvy up confiscated/spoils of slaughter later. Sound good? Less talking and more acting for the moment? Hopefully the others will quickly make up there mind either online or through the game. See you all in two days!
My thoughts: The treaty was for Mistress Erindale to defend the mine. We've eliminated the immediate threat of the illusionary dragon. Also 1/10th of the thieves. TBH, the Duke is currently getting *our* help for free. The Dragonslayers technically is a mercenary company. Tristan is here as the negotiator of the treaty and feels responsible, and we're along as friends. Mistress Erindale is correct that her task is to protect the mine, not attack a gnome village. Marisu has been just going along with the group, but really doesn't have any idea what direction we should take yet, so she hasn't been very vocal. As I think about it, I'm coming around to the opinion that if the Duke isn't satisfied with Mistress Erindale being able to adequately defend his mine against gnomes, he needs to hire us, or appeal to the Church to help with the treaty they negotiated.
It looks like the group has already spoken to Erindale, so not sure what Marisu should chip in with.
Thanks for the input TMO! So far, we have all pretty much established that we are now freelancing at this point unless I am misunderstanding the tone of the conversation. Myself, Miranda, and Hoffman are all for sticking around for the duke and hopefully getting paid and stuff. Indigo wants to stay with Artiark right now. I still have a point for a skill that I was going to put into engineering because It opens up possibilities but If the group really wants me too, I can put it into animal handling or whatever was the necessary point to get Artiark home. I don't know if Bob already put that point in or not, I didn't get a look at my character sheet before I ended the game last Friday. So if Marisu stays we have an extra person for the gnome raid and that would be cool. The more people we have the greater the chance for success. Hopefully Kenna will be around for some healing. But, she might go home. She still needs to put her two cents (coppers) in. I don't really know what Tristan wants to do, but if he wants to help the Duke still, that is his business. I just want to see something come of it.
5/20
Good to see lots of fun stuff when I get home.
Michael any slot you have open would have to be trained for. Which means you need someone to teach you the skill you want to learn. Typically the averages are 7 weeks and 700 GP for training when it is done by an NPC. So not something that can be done to solve the current problem.
BOB
John 5/21
It is unfortunate that Eric will not be here Friday and yet the game must go on. I am conceding we do not have the numbers to deal with the gnomes and we should all work together to get home. I am sure we can get the hipogrifon to follow us, hopefully we can all get to a place where we can all get on the ship and pretend it is a normal boat and get home by the end of Friday game time.
So we have a group of characters still in Domvile after the other group left on the airship to return to the city.
Indigo, Hugh, Hoffman, Miranda, Tristan and Isla have to decide how to get to the city. You are starting on the morning of the 2nd.
You can walk 30 miles through wilderness to the Velikaya River, hope to find a ship to sail down the river towards the city. That would be a group of adventurers or pirates or the rare merchant. That will entail some roleplay for encounters.
You can walk 50 miles through Domvile to get to the Narva River and then sail down towards the city. There are a lot of merchant ships on the Narva as well as potential navy and other ships. You used a barge from the city up and back for the Who What Were adventure along the Narva. We can just calculate the time of the trip and click you off either here on the site or in game if you choose this option.
Of course (not to muddy the waters again) your group of 6 could stay and explore the gnome problem and then go home.
It would be good to try to come to an agreement here on the site this week so we know what is happening on Friday.
A key thing to also pay attention to is on the 15th there is a party you are hosting at the residence. The group at the residence needs to start that planning for what you want to happen when during the night. There is the trial that Branwyn will be officiating over at the party as well.
I should be more available this weekend till Tuesday then I have several heavy days at work.
Friday I will be running the game from Tampa so knowing ahead of time which files I need will be very helpful.
BOB
5/23
5-23 Lisa
I am not deeply invested in this choice and would be happy either way. But since Bob needs a decision, I vote for encounters and danger trip knowing that we may possibly miss the religious fest on the 15th.
5-24
So we have a slight alteration now here with John not being in the game for the foreseeable future.
Indigo and Hugh are the key people to make the choice.
Isla has a voice and can and should contribute to that choice.
Eric should let people know his likely hood of being in with Tristan so that people can make plans accordingly.
Hoffman and Miranda will be one round behind so are not a consideration in this.
BOB
5-24
I would like to do encounters or whatever is going on, I didn't really understand the whole situation. If this is for the trip back I am fine missing a religious holiday in exchange for adventure and butt kicking!
I think?
5-25
I am still wanting encounters for the trip back. Lisa
6-12
Oh sure, Bob. We make a decision that we just want to go home. Home is where we are headed and you toss us into the dreaded gnome village! Taunting us with emeralds and feisty gnomes. Evil Bob. Pure evil.
Lisa
I say we just book it. Run out into the winter storm and freeze to death. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to be around gnomes because I am still a little P.O.'d about Galduk and I would probably like nothing more then to slaughter them all and take their stuff.
