The Acrimonious Adventurer Association

Lord Palmere surveyed the lot of thugs and miscreants that had come to his estate this fine morning. The merchant lord has placed an ad for able bodied entrepreneurs, Lord Palmere had expected the occasional righteous individual, but as he looked over the collection of nary-do-wells he spotted several holy warriors that would have to be weeded out.

Lost in thought, Lord Palmere hadn't heard his butler slave approach him from the foyer to the Lord's left.

"Appears you're bidding will be done mi'lord." The slave spoke but dared not look upon his master's face.

"Yes, begin by moving the paladins and anyone who appears more interested in my home than my offer." Understanding Lord Palmere's meaning, the slave ushered over a dozen other slaves and assigned each one to a guest he had surmised was going to have ethical questions regarding the work his master was about the offer. However the butler mixed in some beggars and known thieves in as well, so as not to appear to the casual viewer that any one particular group was being singled out.

After the obvious representatives from the churches of Maal and Terak were separated from the rest of the guests, along with the known cheats, Lord Palmere spoke to clustered group.

"As you know, my name is Lord Palmere and I have acquired the distinct honor of receiving a very distinguished guest of honor from Virdistan. A powerful merchant in that city and one whom I hope to engage in profitable discussions while he visits our fair city." Palmere paused as a few men in the back left the entry hall and exited Palmere's estate.

"To further my ends, I have need of a select few individuals to help me with a decorating dilemma I face. I shall pay the handsome sum of six-hundred gold kings for this service." Palmere paused again to let the crowd dwindle some more to just over two dozen individuals remained.

"It requires utmost secrecy as the Overlord will not look favorable upon you if you fail." That comment got the group squirming, over half of the crowd quickly and quietly left the entry hall. Now faced with only ten of the job seekers left, Palmere felt the time was right to start on the individual interviews.

He had refreshments brought out for those remaining, small salmon appetizers on flat bread and underaged elven wine that he had planned on throwing out anyway. Palmere left the entry hall, as the last of the desperate filed up to sample the free food and wine, to personally dismiss those that the butler had separated out earlier.

When Palmere returned to the entry hall he noted the eclectic group that had answered his ad. Two ogres, a troll, a centaur, 4 humans, a teifling, and a halfling mulled around the hall, occasionally glancing between each other and the fine art work Palmere chose to display to those who knew nothing about fine art.

Palmere thought to himself that is he could get the two ogres and the troll, he might even get out of having to pay them altogether. The job was a simple one, well simple for those with mean dispositions who didn't like a little blood on their hands.

Palmere had scoured Highcastle for the perfect spot to host and impress the visiting diplomat. Palmere had paid a high marker to learn that the new diplomat was well versed in the performing arts and fine sculptures. Palmere hoped to gain favor with the diplomat and use that to leverage a monopoly on high end gems coming from the mountains surrounding Virdistan. To this end he located a crumbling and decrepit ruin on a small hill just outside of the city's east gate. Normally a haven for goblins, Palmere tried to buy the land and have the goblins removed legally. However he misplayed his hand and bribed the wrong official and now it was too late in the game to start over and go back to the courts to get it done legally.

Thus he arrived at his current predicament, he had placed an ad hoping to lure some people of desperate disposition or at least those with low enough ethics to no care for another creature, but high enough morals to abide by the six-hundred gold king gag order. He needed to remove the Maalites from the equation since their church ran the courts and legal system in Highcastle. Palmere also removed those with stronger ties to the thieves guild than to the gold currency Palmere was trying to buy them with. The overlord would not stand for Palmere circumventing his legal system, so Palmere needed men desperate enough to need the money and unconnected enough that if they were caught, Palmere could buy their silence from a well placed bribe to the Assassin's Guild.

Excited about the future, Palmere strode into his entry hall brimming with the confidence of a man who believed he had all the answers. He chose to speak with the centaur first, the ogres and troll seemed to be enjoying the food too well right now to be interrupted.

"We don't see many centaurs in the city, what brings you to this fine example of haut monde?" Palmere asked

"A desire to see what I could only imagine beyond my valley, and to embrace the sense of curiosity my father possessed." Responded the centaur

"Yes, well how do you feel about goblins?" Palmere asked pointedly

"I have heard of them and eagerly await my opportunity to meet one in person." The centaur answered excitedly

"How long have you been in Highcastle?" The Merchant Lord asked

"Only a few days, I admit to spending most of my time in the horse markets. I have been searching for an excuse to force myself to explore more of what this city has to offer, your posting seemed like the perfect solution for me."

Palmere mulled over the centaur's response, if the centaur had only been in Highcastle a few days, it was likely he had no idea of the local laws and might be perfect to help the merchant with his problem.

"I have recently purchased a small, I thought was abandoned, ruined building just to the southeast of the city. Unfortunately the goblins who were squatting there did not take kindly to my announcement that they would now have to vacate the property. I need some motivated individuals to convince them that it's best they leave. I don't really care how you do it, only that you do it in less than seventy-two hours as my decorators will not be able to turn the property around fast enough without a two-week timeframe."

"And this job will pay money with which to use to purchase services within the city?" The centaur asked

"Oh yes, yes it will." Palmere replied

"Then Xanthos agrees to relocate the goblins."

Palmere smiled, if the rest of the applicants were as socially inept as this guy, it was going to be a simple matter to get what he wanted. Palmere called for one of the ogres next.

"What brings you to the core of civilization my large fellow?"

"Doopa need money." The ogre answers

"Yes, well maybe Doopa should have answered my ad then?"

"Doopa, decorate. Get money, buy big horse." The ogre said through a forced enunciation

Palmere comprehended that the ogre's name was Doopa, "You need to get rid of some goblins first."

"Arrgh!" With the mention of goblins, Doopa became enraged and pounded his heavy wooden club on the floor in front of Palmere

Palmere snapped his fingers and five slaves formed a line between Doopa and Palmere, his butler as well came to Palmere's side.

"Shall I see this one out?" Palmere's butler asked

"Not yet, I think his rage towards goblins may serve me well in my scheme."

Next up was the teifling

"I've seen your kind before, although I've yet to have purchased the services of any hitherto." Palmere started

"Then let's not waste time prancing around your insecurities and get down to you telling me who you need killed." The teifling responded

Taken aback by the bluntness of the teifling, Palmere cleared his throat and began. "I don't need anyone killed, just removed. A group of goblins that are trespassing on some property I own."

"Really? I heard about those guys. You know my brother Tehas? He sent my a letter about some goblins he encountered in a derelict ruin outside of town."

"No, I do not know any of your kind. I am intrigued by your prior knowledge of the situation though. When did your brother visit?" Palmere inquired

"Couple of months ago, the head honcho he was working for told him he wanted to go in a different direction and wanted to start over again. I haven't heard from him since. You're not that guy are you?"

"Heavens no, are you deaf? Have you not heard that I have had no previous dealings with any of your kind?" Palmere exasperated

"Well good, so do you pay me now or when I'm done kicking the gob out of the goblins?"

"I pay you if I hire you, and when the job is complete. Were you conceived yesterday?" Palmere replies sarcastically

"Well your choice is clear then, you should hire me, Menthos Lyptus. Anyone willing to circumvent the Overlord's courts and squat on some squatters can see that." Menthos smiled at the merchant with a twinkle of full understanding in his eye.

Palmere hired the teifling in the hopes that he would die before collecting the money.

Palmere next called for the troll.

"I'm sorry mi'lord but he left. Apparently he smelled the food and followed the crowd in. He became belligerent when he ate the last of the appetizers and killed a tray holder and carried his carcass out the door with him." Palmere's butler reported

"Tsk, what a shame. Could have used that kind of go getter. Oh well, make sure we replace the tray holder by next weekend."

Palmere interviewed the other ogre next and hired him, Turgar seemed a little brighter than Doopa and Palmere especially liked the dragon motif* Turgar had adorned himself with. The Merchant Lord then interviewed the halfling and two of the humans but sent them away after admitted to having no equipment or measurable skills with which to complete the task.

The last two humans were a scout by the name of Kessen, Palmere hired him thinking he could be a guiding light to the ogres and point them in the direction of the goblins and then get out of the way. Plus he hailed from the Plains of Cairns and had previously dealt with ogres and goblins near his homeland. The last human was a Trueborn** named Haimish, blessed at birth by the gods, the Trueborn were outcasts as most people didn't want a visual reminder that they were unfit to receive the god's blessing. Trueborns therefore got along well with the trolls and ogres of society, so he seemed like a good lubricant for the two ogre cogs.

With six individuals chosen, Palmere gave them rough directions to where the ruins were located and told them in no uncertain terms that the goblins must be gone in seventy-two hours or there would be no compensation.



* Turgar's class is Dragon Shaman

** Trueborn are from Dawnforge, they're like high-powered Aasimar

Are we there yet?

Lord Palmere's slave leads the six strangers through the East Gate of Highcastle and then southeast towards a small hill that looks out of place among the farmland on this side of the city. The gigantic sprawling Dearthwood gave a dark green backdrop to the hill, even from this distance one could make out the standing stone blocks of what remained of a fort built atop the hill. The slave pointed to the hill and then left the group to return to Lord Palmere's mansion.

"Well, looks like our guide has abandoned us, who here among us has dealt with goblins before?" Xanthos asked. The centaur was still growing and had not yet attained the size usually seen in wild centaurs.

"Doopa smash!" The ogre slammed his club, so massive was it that it could double as a tree trunk for partial concealment.

Doopa swings his dire stirge swatter around his head, in an impressive manner, until he locked eyes on Turgar, the other ogre in the group. Doopa slowed his swinging and let out a low growl. "Not Gouged Wound Clan!" Doopa shouted as he pointed his club at Turgar.

"No, nor would I want to be. I say we leave the mongrel behind, he's just as likely to join the goblins as he is to kill them." Turgar responds

Impressed with the articulate response from Turgar, Haimish offers his thoughts "Seems to me that you two have more hate than a dire gnat in a salt quarry, I think it wise to complete the part where I get paid and then you two can fight it out like two snow elves in a bakery."

"What? That made absolutely no sense. If you're going to attempt to interject your thoughts into a conversation, please do so coherently." Menthos clamors

"Hey, no need to go all winged frog on me, I was just trying to calm the two beastmen down." Haimish counters

"Again with the stupid analogies and metaphors, just shut up already." Menthos shouts

Confused with all this fancy talk, Doopa shrugs his shoulders and takes aim at Turgar. The ogre rears back his weapon as Turgar whips out a longsword for defense. Doopa surges forward, only to be halted by the shining object presented to Doopa's eyesight. Almost trancelike, the ogre takes the shining coin from the outstretched hand of Kessen. Turning the coin over in his fingers, Doopa soon forgets everything else except for the shiny.

"Impressive, have you much training with them?" Xanthos inquires of Kessen

Ignoring the question, Kessen turns to the hill and calls back "Keep moving, we're going to need more of those soon."

The trip should have taken just over an hour, however Xanthos insisted upon stopping at each new plant and rock in order to sketch and catalogue each one in a small book he produced from a saddle bag draped across his hindquarters. Kessen and Menthos would have been happy to leave him behind, but every time Xanthos stopped so did the two ogres and Haimish.

"Ranger?" Menthos asked of Kessen

"Not exactly, although most of my family is." Kessen replied, "What skills do you planning on bringing to bear on the goblins?"

"Me? I'm a highly trained recluse, I've been sighted in four counties." Menthos says proudly.

"Hrmph, you thieves are all alike" Kessen says as he turns back to the hill

"Thief? No, although I do plan on playing one soon, we should stick together. I got your back." Menthos replied

Two and a half hours after departing Highcastle, the group reaches the base of the small hill. Kessen notes the wind direction and advises that the group approach from the other side of the hill, so as not to give away their presence by sent. The party agrees and circles around the hill, stopping every ten feet so that Xanthos could catalogue another plant. The party ascends the hill and views two areas of downed and crumbling stone blocks.

Kessen approaches the nearest set of stones and sniffs the air, then crouching behind a side-laying stone, Kessen spots an entrance leading down into the hill. He rushes back to the party and reports his findings.

Curious to see if he could do the same, Doopa runs to the far set of stones and sniffs the air. His stomach immediately picks up the scent of burning rabbit. Doopa's mouth begins to water, and he begins to descend the set of stairs from which the scent is emanating from.

The party yells for Doopa to stop, but the ogre's stomach it too determined. The rest of the group sprints across the hilltop to where they last saw Doopa.

"Dumb ogre, ruined a great chance at surprise." Kessen shot through gnashed teeth.

"Now, you didn't really expect that guy to follow anything that came out of your mouth did you? I on the other hand, find this tactic to be most appealing, let the ogre go in first. Then us." Menthos replies

"That ogre's as dense as the moral compass of levitating pumice." Haimish observes.

"Oh! You shall have to point me to that phenomenon, I must catalogue that." Xanthos pleads

"Maybe, remember patience is like the morose rock. Abiding by that edict will surely bring you closer to near than to far." Haimish states.

Kessen reaches the stairs and peering down, sees Doopa about halfway down. The ogre looks back up and seeing the rest of the group, motions for them to be quite. "Doopa hear voices." The ogre nearly shouts, while pointing to the bottom of the stairs.

Are we there yet?

Click to expand...

Despot Ruins

Kessen clearly heard three distinct voices, two seemed to be arguing with the third voice egging the other two on. Kessen held up three fingers and pointed below. Doopa waved him off and pointed at himself then below. Confused Kessen pointed to his ears, then held up three fingers and then pointed below. Doopa pointed to his massive tree trunk of a club and them to himself and then below. Annoyed, Menthos waved off both of them and held his finger up to his mouth and blew "shhhhh"

"I think we can take them through stealth and then a severe beating at the hands of the ogres. You and I (Menthos pointed at Kessen) will sneak in and surprise them, when they realize they're under attack the two ogres will rush in and will run them over." Menthos offers

"Do you mean to kill them? I was under the impression we should get them to leave." Xanthos asked

"Do you speak goblin?" Menthos asked

"No, but that's hardly ...." Xanthos tries to reply

"Then we'll force them out, end of planning stage." Menthos interrupts

"Doopa smash green shorties into paste!" Doopa yelled

The party got quiet as they thought for certain that Doopa's declaration would bring an alarm from the goblins. Fortunately they were too busy arguing to pay attention.

"What do you want us to do?" Xanthos asked regarding himself and Haimish

Looking down at Xanthos' hooves and then back up at his face, Menthos replied "Stay quiet."

"I could sing a song? I know many, many wonderful songs. I bought the entire liner note collection to the They Are Giants greatest hits. Their exploration of guttural whistling is brilliant!" Haimish eagerly offers

Stunned confusion washes over the rest of the group. Menthos grabs Kessen by the shoulder and leads him down the steps.

Sticking to the shadows created by the flickering cooking fire the goblins have erected in the center of the room. Two rabbits currently burn on spits set up over the fire. Kessen notes that the spits are constructed in a manner that would make them immovable so likely the rabbit was charred on one side and raw on the other.

Three goblins stand on the far side of the fire, two of them are in each other's face, engaged in a heated argument, while a third goblin watches from about ten feet away, interjecting his own comments whenever the other two seem to calm down their emotions, which quickly gets them to escalate the disagreement again. The two men also note a door on the far southern corner which is currently closed.

Kessen crouches low and takes aim at the far goblin, shaking with excitement of the pre-battle, Kessen lets loose of the bowstring and his arrow flies into the ceiling a full fifteen feet above the goblin.

"@#%&!" Kessen utters as the surprise Menthos hoped for is shattered as he creeps along the wall to south and into that corner.

The goblins quickly end their discussion and shout out at the two intruders, just as Doopa and Turgar come barreling down the stairs and into the room. Teeth bare and weapons raised. Just as battle is about to ensue, a human's voice carries into the room from the stairwell.

Oh, for sure
I just got a manicure
The sun I swear
Is bleaching out my gorgeous hair
2, 4, 6, more
There's twenty arrows in a score
Go, go. Fight, fight
Gee I hope I look alright

and repeats...

Xanthos taps along to the catchy tune, providing a drumming beat for Haimish to sing along with. Meanwhile, below the song has incited a riot as the goblins charge into the offensive and cut deep wounds into Doopa and Turgar, while Haimish's song disrupts Kessen's ranged attacks and he sends two more arrows into he ceiling above the far goblin's head.

"Hey, they're only two feet tall, what are you aiming for up there?!" Menthos shouts out as he rushes past Kessen to flank one of the goblins.

The far goblin bolts and heads for the door, Kessen stands up from his shadowed position and races for the goblin. Too slow though as the goblin flings the door open and races down the hallway beyond. Kessen reaches the door and throws it open, but his human eyes perceive only blackness beyond, and the din of battle behind him prevents him from hearing the goblin's retreat as well.

Xanthos enters the fray, skipping along to Haimish's words of encouragement, and together with the two ogres and Menthos, manage to kill the remaining goblins.

"Whoo! We rock!" Haimish shouts

"What was that awful noise coming from your mouth?" Menthos demands

"What? Weren't you inspired?" Haimish asks

"No, I was nauseated." Menthos counters

"I felt a little more sure of myself. I feel as though your words helped." Turgar states

"Don't do it again." Menthos chastises

"What? That song fit better than a cat in a whorehouse. I didn't see nothing out of you that would lead to me to believe you could plan a two-day siege of my mother's linen drawer." Haimish argues

"Hey guys!" Kessen whistles "The third one got away, we should go chase it down before it alerts any more of them to our presence."

"A wise and tactical man. Do you believe more exist beyond that door?" Xanthos inquires

"Goblins are like rats, there ain't never just one or three. There's bound to be hundreds down there, all of them breeding and performing ritualistic sacrifices of horses and gregarious woodland creatures." Kessen explains to Xanthos

"What? I had no idea these debased creatures were capable of such debauchery. Lead the way man, we must end this tonight!" Xanthos speaks

The party lines up at the door, the two ogres peering out into the darkness. Menthos taps Kessen on the shoulder.

"Nice BS job, I hope you're able to find the underground diabolical goblin lust cult that you convinced the centaur must be down here." Menthos comments.

What's this? Another Hairy Minotaur story hour?

HM, where was my notification?

Despot Ruins continued

"I need some light up here." Kessen called back to the others

Turgar went back and retrieved a good sized burning piece of wood from the goblin's cooking fire. The ogre held it aloft, allowing Kessen to check the stone floor for recent goblin tracks.

"Oh a tracker. Several of my elders are trackers, my father in fact was a tracker. While I was always much more in tune with the natural living world around me, I could always see the need to track ones enemies threw non-natural means." Xanthos spoke excitedly

Kessen crouched low to the floor, they didn't go this way I'm certain. The human spoke pointing to a southern passage. Kessen stood about thirty fee into a long passageway that ended beyond any of the group's sight.

"That leaves the stairs down over there, or down that long hallway there." Kessen said, pointing out the only other two remaining options.

"You sure he didn't passwall or teleport? Maybe he turned into a shadow? For all we know the was no third goblin." Menthos inquires

"Well, I think we should take the stairs, don't want things coming up behind us while we're fighting down that hallway." Haimish offers

"You don't take the stairs first! Everyone knows you take the stairs last, worse things are always found after you take the stairs." Menthos comments

"Doopa say we break stairs so goblins no use anymore." Doopa states

"What dungeoneering survival manual are you reading? They're goblins, there's no such thing as dire goblins, I could fling a booger at one and kill it." Kessen replies

"You should try that, you certainly can't do any worse than those arrows you fired as warning shots to the dead rabbits." Menthos counters

"Let's see you shoot a bow, here take mine if you think you're so good with one." Kessen argues

"People please, you guys fight like two ticks on a gray ooze. If you can't get along for your own greedy sake, then at least have the decency to get along so the rest of us can get paid." Haimish demands

This manages to calm the teifling and human down enough to discus tactics in a civilized manner.

"I agree, it's best not to let them surprise from behind, I like the human's suggestion that we take the stairs first." Turgar agrees

"It's suicide people, death awaits us down there. There's no way we're ready to take on any challenge the lower levels may present to us." Menthos counters

"Again with this knowledge as if you've been here before, what are you basing your fanatical fear of stairs on?" Kessen inquires

"I've read extensively on the subject." Menthos stoically replies

The group begins to head towards the stairs anyway.

"Wait I'll show you, see" Menthos digs in his backpack and pulls out a colorful book with leather string binding. The pages splayed out from repeated use.

"Let me see that." Kessen says snatching the book from the teifling's hands. "Wha...? A comic book? Order of the st.. ?" Menthos snatches the book back.

"You get all your knowledge of dungeoneering from a comic book? Look I like the comic too, but it's meant to be funny, not factual." Kessen states and then bursts into laughter

"May I?" Xanthos asks of Menthos

"No, it's mine, and after we all die down there, I'll be proven right." Menthos accuses

"Doopa think if we all die, goblins use book for wiping of rear." The ogre interjects

Down the stairs the party goes, when they reach the bottom, they are confronted with a "T" to the right the hallway goes ten feet and "T"'s again, to the left there is a room at a forty-five degree angle from where they stand at the bottom of the steps.

"Which way tracker?" Xanthos asks

Kessen kneels close to the floor and looks around for obvious sings of a goblin passing through recently.

"This way!" Kessen shouts as he points to the room

The party charges into the room and confronts a male and female goblin along with their two kids and pet badger.

"Where's the diabolical lust sacrifice altar?" Menthos asks aloud, the goblins stand back in confusion, Kessen however understood the question was more for him than the goblins.

"Obviously it's not in this room." Kessen shoots back at Menthos

"Doopa smash!" The ogre charges and gets hit with two arrows fired from the goblin children, they shots bring the charging ogre to his knees and then he collapses fast forward into the floor.

Kessen moves to the right of the doorway and along the wall, he fires a return shot but it again glances off the wall behind the goblins, some eight feet above and behind them.

Turgar charges forward and swings over the head of the female goblin. The goblin's badger pet advances and attaches itself to Turgar's leg.

"Ah! get it off me!" Turgar reaches down to pry the little beast off and opens his head up for a crashing blow from the male goblin's mace. Turgar crumples to the floor unconscious.

"See! You See that!" Menthos shouts as he fires a shoot into the chest of the male goblin. The sucking chest wound gurgles with escaping gas from it's lung, but he creature does not drop.

Xanthos advances to the downed Doopa and administers some bandages and a soothing herbal salve. *twang* *whoosh* *thunk*

"Ow! I've been shot! How rude of you, I was obviously not a threat!" Xanthos shouts in disbelief. *twang* *whoosh* *thunk*

"Hey! knock it off!" Xanthos covers his head and tries to maneuver around so Doopa's prone body can offer some defense against the goblin kid's toy bows.

Haimish rears into song:

K-I-L-L
Kill the goblins dead
K-I-L-L
Kill the goblins dead

come on sing it with me!

The trueborn then rushes the female goblin and cuts deep with his longsword and then slams his shield into her head, breaking most if not all the bones in her face and she drops like a wet blanket.

Kessen finally gets his bearings and drops one of the goblin children, sensing the turning of the battle's tide, Xanthos charges the other goblin child and stomps a puddle of blood into it's chest with his hooves.

Menthos circles around the male goblin and using Haimish to flank him, takes out the goblin with a well placed blade between the shoulder blades. Haimish turns on the badger and unloads his frustration out on the little creature, killing it quickly.

"Why did you feel it necessary to kill the badger, he could have been released into the wild?" Xanthos asks

"Guilty by association." Menthos replies for the trueborn

The humans, load up the ogres on the back of Xanthos and they agree to exit the ruins and try again tomorrow.

After traveling for an hour, Menthos looks over to Haimish who's humming along as they walk. "If your songs are more like that, than like your first. I wouldn't mind more of them in the heat of battle." Menthos admits

"Certainly sir, like I said I do have the entire collection of... " Haimish starts

"Yes, yes. As you stated before." Menthos cuts him off

"Ha! another convert to the musical stylings of Haimish. In the morning I'll make you haggis, we'll bond like pipe smoke to a purple worm!" Haimish announces

"Uh, let's just stick with you singing while I'm chopping down some goblins." Menthos returns, then looks over at Kessen and holds up his book. "It was right" he mouths to the human.

Kessen rolls his eyes and continues on.

Jon Potter said:

What's this? Another Hairy Minotaur story hour?

HM, where was my notification?

Click to expand...

Oh sorry, I added to my sig. I figured I would eventually add a link on the other story hour with my next post there.

And to make this post topical I shall include the players races and classes below for you:

Menthos - Teifling Rogue/Warlock
Haimish - Trueborn Human Bard
Turgar - Ogre Dragon Shaman (died during battle for Omen)
Doopa - Ogre Barbarian
Kessen - Highlander Human Scout
Xanthos - Centuar Druid (died during battle for Omen)
Xanthos - Dawn Elf Shifter (Xanthos was reincarnated)
Eeyore - Aranea Ranger with white tiger companion (replaced Turgar)
Adukol - Human Sorcerer
Kourk - Human Cleric of Urian (Sky god)/Converted to Moradin dwarven god of the mountains
Dahlgren - Karsite Binder
Aust - Drow Assassin


All but Xanthos & Eeyore are using Dawnforge character creation rules (edit: Xanthos was reincarnated and took a Dawnforge race when he returned to life). Haimish swapped out Bardic Knowledge with Bardic Knack (per PHB II)

Hairy Minotaur said:

Oh sorry, I added to my sig. I figured I would eventually add a link on the other story hour with my next post there.

Click to expand...

No sweat! Just givin' you grief is all.

Are these the same group of players from your other story hour? I notice certain... similarities... between the personalities of some of the characters there and here.

And I'm completely unfamiliar with Dawnforge. Any chance for a sentence or two expalining what's diffent.

Jon Potter said:

No sweat! Just givin' you grief is all.

Are these the same group of players from your other story hour? I notice certain... similarities... between the personalities of some of the characters there and here.

And I'm completely unfamiliar with Dawnforge. Any chance for a sentence or two expalining what's diffent.

Click to expand...

Menthos is played by the guy who did Paquito
Haimish is played by the guy that did Korg
Turgar is played by the guy that did Finrod
Doopa is played by the guy that did Ratchet
Xanthos is a new guy
Kessen is a new guy

None of the rest of the other story hour are in this game.

Dawnforge has Orcs, Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Ogres, Yuan-ti, Dopplegangers, Elves, Humans, Halflings, Gnomes, and Dwarves as playable base races. The races gain abilites from 1-10 level as well as some stat bumps. By the time they're 10th level the book says to give them challenges of ECL +2 their level. I like throwing hard things at them so this helps them out in that regards, plus it makes for hardier PCs. Plus most of the "big" races like Minotaurs and Ogres don't get to choose lagre size until 6th level so they're medium while fighting the kobolds, goblins, and orcs that permeate the lower levels.

This game is much more political/religious in nature and I'm using the Affiliation rules form the PHB II, and 3 characters currently have an affiliation score (one of them with a not so nice group who I plan on seeing how far the PC will go with their plot.)

I'm using Wilderlands as the campaign backdrop and Highcastle is The City State of the Invincible Overlord with some plot changes, the deities are all from The Book of the Righteous, and since I know you have that book I will say that Shalimyr, Maal, Tinel, Carnak, and Kador have all figured into the plot in the game thus far. And yes, I am using the Kador "secret" so as not to draw suspicion from the player who has affiliation with this church. I bet if you look over the character list, the aforementioned PC will become obvious.

Hairy Minotaur said:

Menthos is played by the guy who did Paquito
Haimish is played by the guy that did Korg
Turgar is played by the guy that did Finrod
Doopa is played by the guy that did Ratchet
Xanthos is a new guy
Kessen is a new guy

Click to expand...

Shows what I know! I was hearing Paquito in Haimish and Finrod in Menthos.

Dawnforge sounds interesting and you know I like BotR. I already happily noted the name-dropping you did in the first post. I'm really looking forward to how this progresses.