AAR: [4th] Raise the riverboats (2020-03-28 @17:00 GMT)

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ChrisDDickey
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Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:02 pm
AAR: [4th] Raise the riverboats (2020-03-28 @17:00 GMT)

Post by ChrisDDickey » Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:21 pm

LFG: Raise the Riverboats
Time: 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT (Saturday afternoon 1pm Eastern)
GM: Chris D
Rating: 4 - Medium / Hard
Eligible Characters: ECR 3 and 4.

Rumor:
The T'Skrang Nial at the boarder of 44,13 and 44,14 has two riverboats that were preserved through the scourge by elemental magic. They have contracted with a group of accomplished Elementalists in Throal to retrieve them from their storage. The elementalists will fly in comfort to and from the village, but they have several wagon-loads of very valuable magical tools and supplies that must be escorted there and back, and are hiring Adepts to take responsibility for the shipment. Wagons, drivers, grooms, and supplies will be provided.

Session Philosophy Note: Sometimes player choices don't seem to matter in RPGs. No matter what the players choose, the GM will see to it that characters inevitably arrive at his next scheduled encounter, which will always be carefully balanced to the parties level and capabilities and the same, regardless of what happened earlier in the adventure. That is not going to happen this session.

If things go right, players will be faced with choices where the best choice, and the consequences of those choices, are not necessarily immediately obvious, but are important.

Choices and events in earlier encounters might affect (ether positively or negatively, or sometimes both) later encounters. It is not impossible that, due to things that happened earlier the PCs might find a situation where they have to evaluate how the situation has shaped up and choose whether to press on, or to escape with nothing but their lives and the tattered remains of their reputation.

Rules Note: Instead of two possible outcomes, mission success and mission failure, I envision three not unlikely outcomes. Mission success, partial mission failure, and total mission failure.
Mission Success reward will be as a hard mission,. Partial Mission Failure will be counted as a medium mission success. Total mission failure will count as a medium mission failure (same as an easy mission success).

Please sign up with the following.

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b] 
[b]Circle:[/b] 
[b]Discipline:[/b]
[b]Quote/Unique:[/b] 
[b]Notable Abilities:[/b]
[b]Downtime:[/b]
Last edited by ChrisDDickey on Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:53 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Montaugh
Posts:203
Joined:Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:49 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats

Post by Montaugh » Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:25 pm

Name: William Carver
ECR: 4 (10,605 LP)
Race: Human
Discipline: Scout 3, Thief 3
Quote/Unique: I'll get you there and back again.
Notable Abilities:
Roles: Security, Quartermaster, Pathfinder All talented. Usually is pathfinder.
Talented: Locks/traps, Stealth/Scouting, Ranged combat/melee, map making.
Skilled: Alchemy, animal handling, swimming.
Versatile: Forging, Animal Bonding.
Items: Pure Water Pot (cast the Purify Water spell, p. 190, with a Spellcasting and Effect Step of 8/2D6 on any liquid placed in them). Multiple weapons people can borrow.
Mounted: Huttawa named Charlie
Downtime: Forge Weapon (2) Step 8
Last edited by Montaugh on Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

nathaniel
Posts:347
Joined:Wed Dec 13, 2017 1:48 am
Location:Dallas Texas

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats

Post by nathaniel » Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:58 pm

Name: Jael
ECR: 4
Discipline: Beastmaster
Notable Abilities: Pets, Punching and Grapples
Downtime: Animal Training (Rank 4) 14
Last edited by nathaniel on Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:30 pm, edited 4 times in total.

ottdmk
Posts:462
Joined:Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats

Post by ottdmk » Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:05 pm

Name: Dubhan Goronich
ECR: 4 (7,090 LP)
Discipline: Wizard (3rd Circle)
Quote/Unique: "Really? That happened? Wow, hope I get to see something like that!"
Notable Abilities: Spells! Alchemy, Medicine
Downtime: Research (Step 20 + Library Access if needed)

bronzemountain
Posts:606
Joined:Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:02 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats

Post by bronzemountain » Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:00 am

Name: Dvarim Bolg
Circle: 4
Discipline: Weaponsmith
Quote/Unique: Prepare to be civilized!
Notable Abilities: Physician, Lock Pick
Downtime: Item History 4/15, Forge Weapon 4/15

Waijhou
Posts:245
Joined:Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:27 am

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT

Post by Waijhou » Wed Mar 25, 2020 3:13 am

Name: Xeviouz
Circle: 3
Discipline: Warrior
Quote/Unique: Lets do this!
Notable Abilities: Sword and Board
Downtime: ----

ChrisDDickey
Posts:1011
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:02 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT

Post by ChrisDDickey » Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:37 pm

AAR:
Player Rewards:
Dvarim Bolg: 3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs, Belt TI
Dubhan Goronich: 3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs, Wand TI
Jael: 3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs
Xeviouz: 3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs
William 3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs: Troll Sling TI
GM Reward: Zil: 2,200 Legend, 375 Silver, 3 TIP.

Downtime Actions
Item History 4/15, Forge Weapon 4/15
Research (Step 20 + Library Access if needed)
Animal Training (Rank 4) 14
Forge Weapon (2) Step 8

Further Information:
The road to the ruins of the port town of Ardanyan is about 2/3 completed. The Naill with the unpronounceable name at the headwaters of the Coil now has two riverboats undergoing refit.

GM Note: Not one encounter went the way the GM had expected it to.
Last edited by ChrisDDickey on Sat Mar 28, 2020 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bronzemountain
Posts:606
Joined:Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:02 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT

Post by bronzemountain » Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:18 pm

No Evil Greater than Greed
Or, the Dark Side of Organization

The progress of civilization continues! The Niall we had recently woken (see: Waking the T'skrang) had stashed two riverboats at the bottom of the Coil river, well protected by a mix of True Earth, Air, and Water. Such ingenuity!

A group of elementalists was already en route to recover the boats. However, their supplies were both bulky and valuable and required protection both there and back. Just the sort of work for Adepts of good character (more on the other sort of Adept later). William Carver, a Dwarf-minded Human, served as our scout, with Jael, Dubhan, Xeviouz, and myself as the guards.

The initial part of the journey was pleasant and without interruption. Road building has progressed apace and new bridges have been built. Dwarves tame the world!

At one of those bridges, however, we saw signs of an ambush in waiting. We decided that the tactical option was to ambush the ambushers and, to that end, Jael and William circled around stealthily while the rest of us preceded the wagon on the road. Unfortunately, these bandits had sharp eyes! We dispatched the first group handily, but found that, just as the rest of us had been organizing and collaborating, so too had these avaricious ne'er-do-wells. There were upwards of 20 of them!

What followed was a pitched battle on the bridge between their entire company and our small band. Jael and Xeviouz held the bridge while the rest of us did what we could to winnow down their numbers. A stray arrow shot very nearly ended poor William's life right there and then, though he hung on by a thread. Brave lad.

It was bloody business, but we protected the wagon. The bandits eventually retreated, their numbers sharply decreased, and we were left to nurse our many wounds. Thank Upandal the rest of the journey was quiet. We did have occasion to meet a road-laying crew, which was most exciting and invigorating.

At the Niall, the elementalists began their fascinating work. I formed a particularly good bond with one Dorsha Mennanir, a dwarf woman of patience and insight. The T'skrang of the work camp were friendly to us at first, then abruply, two days later, turned quite chilly. I investigated and found that two T'skrang had recently escaped a bloody encounter. I offered my sympathies, and spent time with them to earn their trust. And I found was most disturbing indeed.

They had, it turns out, been waylaid by a band of five Adepts. Robbers! Thieves! Miscreants! And while escaping from that vile ambush, had been attacked again by two Orks. These brigands were giving the rest of us a bad name.

Upon hearing the news, William went ahead to gain a sense of where these Adepts might lay their trap, and I made preparations reinforcing the wagons. When William returned, we used his knowledge of the area to chart a course that skirted the hunting grounds of these predatory Adepts.

As we made camp one night, however, Dubhan noticed that two of the creates of True Earth we were carrying were missing! Somehow, they had been stolen, despite the fact that we had set two-man watches for the entire night. Sneaky buggers. William and Jael and Jael's pet crocodile (I will never understand Beastmasters) set out to track the thieves, while Dubhan and Xeviouz and I guarded the wagons.

William and Jael (and Sobek) turned out to be deadly stealth assassins of the night. Not only did they defeat the two Orks (for it was, indeed, an Ork Thief and his friend, another Ork), but they recovered the two crates of True Earth and two thread items - a belt and a wand. I took the belt for myself, and Dubhan accepted the wand.

The rest of our journey was uneventful, and there are now riverboats that will soon ply the Coil river.

Montaugh
Posts:203
Joined:Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:49 pm

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT

Post by Montaugh » Sun Mar 29, 2020 3:39 am

My name is William Carver and I am a third circle Scout, and third circle Thief.

The Niall needed some supplies and help from a group of elementalist. Before the scourge they had the foresight to hide two riverboats at the bottom of the coil river. They were well protected. We were hired to deliver the wagon load of goods, a very expensive wagon load of goods. A road is being built to the Niall and is 2/3 of the way complete.

We had our first encounter when we were almost ambushed. We were able to see through the ambushers plans and decided to attack them ourselves. We dealt with that first encounter easily. That was when the rest of the ambush arrived... all 20 of them. I will admit I was getting cocky. I thought we few adepts could be like elephants fighting ants. It was going well, a large number of arrows flew my way, most of them were easily blocked or avoided but one of them struck true and nearly killed me. I believe the one that shot that arrow could be a potential adept if they are not one already, but I don't know much about how archers find their own. I am not exactly certain what happened as I found myself shortly after in the back of one of the wagons, we arrived at the Niall a few days later and I was able to recovery from my injury and heal my wound.

We stayed at the Niall for a short period and then we heard about a group of T'srang that were attacked by a group of adepts and later on attacked by a pair of Orcs. We didn't wish to be ambushed on the way back and so I set out by myself to find out where the adepts were located.

What I was doing was dangerous, I don't suggest others follow in this course of action. I set out and followed the trail to the ambush sight, once there I was able to find a dagger with a bit of blood on it from one of the adepts. Using that blood I used Mystic Pursuit and tracked them back to what I believe was close to their camp, I had to pull back when I was almost caught. I returned to the others and we were able to avoid the ambush of the adepts.

On our way back we were camped for the night, on second watch it was noticed that two crates were missing. Jael his alligator and I went after the two that stole the crates. We killed the two of them and returned with the stolen goods. We found some items on the bodies, I claimed the troll sling for myself. My fame must be increasing as soon as I start favoring a troll sling it seems they keep popping up in the people that I travel with or meet along the road.

The rest of the time was uneventful as we returned to Throal for our reward. I also asked Dvarim to teach me Item History, and Dubhan to teach me research. It is good to have such good friends that would take the time to teach me what they know.

Afterwards,
I have returned a few days later to add to my journal entry. I find myself with troubled sleep. I talked about killing the two orcs that had stolen the goods, I did not talk about something important. One of the Orcs I killed did not fall to my blade in battle, rather he was still alive, gravely wounded and unconscious. I knew that we couldn't take him with us to face trial for his crimes as we had to carry the chests back. If we had just left him behind he could have attacked our backs potentially. I slit his throat and we headed back to camp. When did I become so cold in regards to the life of another, it wasn't all that long ago I questioned a similar course of action when we were seeking out an item lost over the side of an airship. Another group of adepts had found it before we had and a fight for the item almost broke out. We are supposed to be the heroes, the ones that people look towards in the darkest of times. We are the ones that face the abyss and shine brightly. We are the ones that should be held to account for our actions. No one deserves to die, not out in the wilds like that. I understand he didn't deserve to die and it was his actions that earned him death. I didn't give them a chance to surrender, I had done that earlier and it nearly killed me. We didn't even say a word, I tracked them down and we drove blade, tooth and claw into them as if they were some horror tainted beast that we could show no mercy. No one deserves to die, but rather you earn death through your actions and I don't know if those Orcs earned death. I am adding this to the journal in the hopes that someone down the road will pause before they kill someone and ask themselves if that person has earned death, and if they are not sure then to perhaps find a way to show them mercy. We live in a world full of monsters, we can't afford to become monsters ourselves.
Last edited by Montaugh on Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Waijhou
Posts:245
Joined:Sat Oct 27, 2018 2:27 am

Re: LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT

Post by Waijhou » Sun Mar 29, 2020 1:51 pm

LFG: (4th): Raise the riverboats 2020-03-28 @17:00GMT
March 28, 2020
From the journal of Xevious, Human Warrior

Rumor:
The T'Skrang Nial at the boarder of 44,13 and 44,14 has two riverboats that were preserved through the scourge by elemental magic. They have contracted with a group of accomplished Elementalists in Throal to retrieve them from their storage. The elementalists will fly in comfort to and from the village, but they have several wagon-loads of very valuable magical tools and supplies that must be escorted there and back, and are hiring Adepts to take responsibility for the shipment. Wagons, drivers, grooms, and supplies will be provided.

Escorting a couple wagons of equipment and goods. The party consists of myself, Jael Elven Beastmaster, William Carver the Human Scout, Dvarim the Dwarven Weaponsmith,and Duban the Dwarven Wizard.
We leave Throal with high spirits. The first few miles of road are excellent. THen we get to an area that is marked well, but not a stone road, more of a trail. After a few miles, our scout William Carver notices an area with many feet have trambled the grass. Must be an ambush. THe scout moves off stealthily to check it out. Sure enough, when Wiliam gets back from scouting he indicates there is an ambush set, and a rear guard force just up in the trees hiding. We decide to ambush the ambushers. The first group of 6 go down quickly, but the next 24 bandits that coming running around the corner is a different matter. It is a long drawn out fight at a bridge. We are able to do massive casualties to the bandit group, but in the process, William Carver is severely wounded and Jael’s goat is severely wounded.

After we leave the amush site with Jael and the goat riding in a wagon, we come across a road crew. They have 50+ soldiers to guard the workers.

After 2 days, we arrive at the ruins of the town of Adenvin. THis used to be a main port for Throal, before the scourge. We are able to catch a barge ride across the Coil River, and continue to the spot we need to meet with the Elementalists that are going to raise the river boats from below the water. Something to do with elemental earth, and elemental air. All I know is this will take a few days.

On about the 4th day, all the T’Skrang seem to be more standoffish than the previous days. Dvarim is able to speak to them and ask whats up? They indicate there was a small group of them traveling along and were set upon by a group of adepts that stole all there trade goods. The adepts were fighters and casting spells. The T’skrang out numbered them 2 to 1 and only 2 of the T’skrang survived to tell the tale. As the T’skrang tried to retreat and run, they were hit by a second smaller group of adepts. THey tell us where it happened. Dvarim is able to get descriptions of the attackers. First group had 5 adepts, the second group had 2 Orcs.

William Carver goes off to scout the region, looking for the adept bandits. He has 3 days to perform his task then get back to the group. He does a great job and as we are stepping off the barge leaving the area along comes William Carver. He had gotten close to the bandit camp but had to retreat as he was almost discovered.

William tries to pick a route that will make us undiscovered by the bandit adepts. We are successful at avoiding them. We continue on towards Throal. THe second night in the middle of the night we notice one of the wagons has a couple crates missing from it. William Carver is able to track the individuals that stole them. William, Jael and his animal companies go off after the missing crates. Myself, Duban and Dvarim stay and protect the wagons and their contents.

The next morning William and Jael are not back so myself and the wagons proceed on our way back to Throal. After only aboyt an hour we come upon the road crew with there guards. We leave the wagons in there care and head back the way we came to search for Jael and William. THey are spotted shortly after we started back for them. Jael and William are able to recover the missing crates. They also recover a fancy troll sling, a wand of some sort, and a fancy leather belt. We are able to make it back to Throal.

3,000 lp 563 sp, 5 TIPs

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