Desperate Old Men - Out of Character Discussions
_________
Forgot to mention last Friday, but did want to mention that I recognized and appreciated the My Lady - Milady controversy from last week.
Now that we are in the Citadel, here is a recap of what we are learning and what we have yet to learn. Please add, change or clarify as you see fit.
- Friendly Customs Guard is Ulrick
- Illero has 3 names of people entering Citadel before us - turns out to be a group here to sell swords
- May Saint Clig watch over you - phrase to use with guards to let them know you are good. Read story of St. Clig at end of May 18 chat log. Legend has it he still watches over the Citadel.
- Contacts at Temple are Brother Stephanie and Uncle Yulf
- Brother Stephanie has a problem with a mage perhaps we can help with
- Priests had a vision that they would have an important visitor soon but we have no other details
- There must be some mystery with the whole man named Stephanie thing but we don't have a clue about that
- The jeweler was up at the Count's Fortress showing him jewelry but we don't for whom
- Count has 2 living sons and daughters named Jessica and Penelope
- Joffrey is older, smart and the Count's favorite.
- Jeffrey is somewhat of a ladies' man and has gotten an assortment of girls pregnant
- The Count's oldest son died in battle and is buried in crypts beneath the Lord's Fortress
- Indigo & Illero's Soldier friend - Senior Private Hulm Olif
- Church of Cahus in Military District with crypts below for great warriors
- Arm of Cahus is a paladin group with headquarters in Dryad'a Lair but they sometimes come here
- The Count has a regular military force and his own Iron Guard (comprised of nobles) whose barracks are in the Lord's Fortress
- There is a pond next to the barracks. Rumor has it that a nymph comes out of the pond during the full moon and takes the first man she sees. We don't know at this point if there is a full moon coming soon
- Defeated Orc Tavern is the tavern in the military district
- Systems of cisterns exist underneath the citadel. It is a worry for the priests as they extend their cryots under the Temple of Cahus.
- There is a door by the customs tower that leads up to the high walls. The walls go around the citadel including the Lord's Manor. There are other doors to towers just south of the Shield Wall Inn, at the southwest corner of the small market, near the church building and near the nymph pool. Guards seem to go up and down the towers at the Custom House entrance.
- Wells are scattered around the citadel. Illero saw a thief sneaking up from a well and sneaking off into the shadows.
Ideas for searching Vilmar Citadel:
- Group circles around and approaches from the other side, claiming to be traveling to the city.
- Mages are not popular there, so we hide ours, so that they are not expecting to have to defend against it.
- Poly Self, Poly Other, or simple disguise.
- We can bring a gift of some sort, to make them friendlier. If that is unusual, we can always try to claim it's a custom from Ilero's homeland.
- Use Charm and Suggestion to get info from guards or others.
- Use Poly Other or Fly to help Ilero scout for likely locations to store kidnapped princesses.
Ilero
I do not know the abilities of the group but these are good possibilities. This may be one of those time that popularity may be a bad thing, or not. It may be a useful distraction. I still have some research to do to offer much more at this time.
John
John mentioned in the In Character thread about entering the citadel through two different gates. There is only the one official entrance through customs in the gate district. There are the two dungeon entrances as mentioned late last session after John left but you have to decide how you want to incorporate that into your plans if at all.
BOB
Besides being a dwarf and having some influence for that, Qui Fon belongs to the same Religon and a similar God, so his story and access make him the front man from tor the second group, unless the second group is the sneaky one.
John
I am not a big planning person. So if you all think of something concrete, I will be happy to follow along. I am not keen on polymorphing people in the group though. Someone would really have to insist upon it. Here are my thoughts on the situation. If it were up to me I would just go in and make contacts, seeing if something looks fishy and go from there.
Bob – correct me if I’m wrong, but this is like a mini-city controlled by the Count. It’s not like just by walking in the gates we are breaking into a house or anything. There are markets, hotels, a church, etc. You have to state your purpose as you come in and we just have to give something plausible. We will look like oddballs considering all our races, but that’s going to be true just about where ever we go. I really think entering the city will be the easiest part of this whole thing.
Question for Bob – Exactly how did Indigo get famous? He’s not a knight, although the fact that he wears armour may make it confusing for some. (Game of Thrones reference) He’s never been on a King or Queen’s quest or been to court. The last couple of years he’s been hanging out at Jistelle Estates. I’m not seeing how people are going to recognize him as anything other than a Halfling with a couple of short swords.
I do think it might be nice to have half of us stay at the seedy inn and half stay at the nice inn to try to gain as much intel as possible. So entering at different times sounds good to me if everybody agrees or we could just come in together and stay at different places.
Branwyn cannot go incognito. She is the Mosskin court mage and will be seeing these people at the coronation. We have to be careful about lies and disguises, especially if we want/have to see these people again.
I know the thought from Toybin and Anastacia is to scour the city and we may have to do that, but I hope it won’t have to come to that. If they have her, they have captured an extremely important person and a lady. No one knows this has happened and I am sure that Vilmar wishes to keep it that way. My guess is that they will want the fewest people to know that they have her as possible and will want to not mistreat her especially if they wish to have her marry one of the sons before the coronation.
Going on this theory, Vilmar would not toss her into a dungeon with the other criminals, nor would she most likely be in the military district. I would think he would either keep her very close in his own area. I think it said Lord’s Fortress on the map. Or perhaps he would trust a priest to hide her at the temple. That narrows down the search parameters significantly. I think maybe we could have some of us go in quite hospitably and loudly while others might explore in stealth.
Lisa
Yes this is a small town inside of the walls of the Citadel. There are normal homes, etc scattered about. You will learn more as you explore obviously. Entering the Citadel is a normal part of life for many of the locals. Each district has clues in it or people that will help solve this.
Indigo is famous because he is. In other words one of the factors of achieving a high level is that people know you or at least know of you. True it does not follow along like a light bulb over his head but stories about his prowess with his swords would be known. The group has done several very good things over time through Drillian and nearby areas. Qui will cause a stir because he is so rare.
I think Lisa makes good points on the challenges of sneaking in and risks of upsetting the people here. No matter how this turns out you will likely have to deal with these families again. I agree with the assessment of keeping the Queen Presumptive happy while she is a "guest" in the Citadel.
Act II is not supposed to be over in 3 or 4 sessions, this is a complicated social and political puzzle for the group to solve. The use of stealth and even force will be necessary at points I am sure also. A combination of thinking on your feet and planning will work well.
If this story arc takes three months to work through and everyone has fun roleplaying then it will be a success.
BOB
indigo was also a member of a winning boat during the last regatta, so if indigo is famous how does that bode for sarengar? also i wont be in til late on friday but i should be able to make it for a little while
Guy
Actually it has been a couple of years that Indigo was part of the winning team on ONE of the regattas that year with Sarengar so that will help contribute to his overall mantle of glory it is not a key factor.
Sarengar will not be known that well if at all in this area. His fame as an opera singer is much more localized on Rivers Bend and perhaps the upper nobility that travels. Only those who have traveled through the Jistille Estates will know of his singing abilities.
One thing that will bring Sarengar notice in certain circles is his weapon he picked up from the church.
BOB
thats fine with me i kind of like not being known for a change lol
Guy
I actualy was thinking from a gaming view how to split up. If Hoffman and QuiFon a second group, I can have Brother go with the other group to be involved. Lisa does not really have that option, I think only Marco does. Do we think we want to exclude someone from half the game?
John
