A Monk, a Wizard, and a Swordmage Walk into a Fallcrest; a 4e Story Now game

[hawkeyefan]

LIEF and VORN rally the group of merchants and lead them through the streets away from the Silver Unicorn. They set a pace that's as fast as possible without taxing the weary merchants too greatly.

"We can lose them in the Tombwood," Lief says. "But which way do we take to get there?"

Vorn considers for a moment. "If they're not blocking Chandler Street, then that's the most direct route. Can you get up high and take a look?"

The shifter smiles and then scrambles up a vendor's stall, onto a balcony, and then up to a second story rooftop. From this vantage point he has a clear view of much of Hightown. "Chandler Street looks clear!"

"Then that's the way we go," Vorn says and ushers the group along. Lief ambles down from his rooftop perch and rejoins them as they make their way toward the Tombwood.

I hope this isn't a mistake, Vorn thinks to himself as they approach the haunted wood.

___________

Group Endurance check: 2 out of 3 Successes needed vs. Easy DC 10
Lief r(15) + 3 = 18. SUCCESS.
Vorn r(12) + 2 = 14. SUCCESS.

Lief Secondary Skill- Perception
Lief r(11) + 9 = 20. SUCCESS. Vorn receives a +2 bonus to his Streetwise.

Vorn Primary Skill- Streetwise
Vorn r(19) + 1 +2 + 22. SUCCESS.

___________

Complexity 3 SC, Level 5 (DCs 10/15/22)
Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep.
4/8 Successes/0 Failures/2 Hard DC Available/2Secondary Skills Available/2 +1 for "home field of Silver Unicorn Inn" Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight; Athletics; Endurance, Streetwise

 

[Manbearcat]

LIEF & VORN

Complexity 3 SC, Level 5 (DCs 10/15/22)
Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep.
4/8 Successes/0 Failures/2 Hard DC Available/2Secondary Skills Available/2 +1 for "home field of Silver Unicorn Inn" Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight; Athletics; Endurance, Streetwise


After the pair have led their cohort around and beyond the mausoleum clearing where their confrontation with The Elect occurred, a collection of sounds can be heard:

* Ravenous dogs growling and biting though clearly the apparatus that would have performed the utterance in life is confounded by the decay of death.

* The rattling of bones, armor, and steel.

* A clashing of the two creating a particularly unsettling chorus.

A minor sightline through the dense foliage gives way to the sight before them, some ten to fifteen paces:

* A pair of graves unearthed by ravenous, undead dogs (8 x Minions).

* An armor clad, skeletal knight defending his skeletal horse (2 x Standards) from the above assailants.

The dogs break off for a moment and sniff the air with their boney noses, sloughed and fetid skin oozing off...

----------------------

What do you do? This is an encounter budget of Level +2 or the equivalent of "Hard Combat" for a pair of level 2 PCs. The dogs are sniffing you out. You can go ahead and engage and attempt to destroy this, likely eternal, squabble of undead before they hunt down and slay your charges.

Alternatively, you can try to sneak by or mask your scent or something? Regardless, its a HARD DC. If you fail though, I'm escalating to combat and (a) both PCs will suffer -2 initiative and (b) you'll be in a poorer position with the dogs having a better opportunity to slay your charges.

If you elect for the combat, you can spend 1 of your 2+1 Advantages for 2 x successes (including 1 x HARD DC exhausted) in the challenge. Obviously, SC rules for Advantages still apply (you can wager 1 Advantage vs HARD DC for 2 x successes.

---

STARN & TERJON

Complexity 3 SC, Level 2 (DCs 9/13/20)
Goal (staged): Rouse the Padraig family from their grief and muster them (5) and Winterhaven itself (8) against Cardinal Erban's heresy and impending coup.
2/8 Successes/1 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/2+1 Advantages available due to beating Erban's posse to Winterhaven and arriving with Sir Terjon, Knight of Pelor/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Diplomacy, Insight.


Eldest son and father share a stretched-out moment that conveys much; emotions and unspoken words long-in-the-making. Ultimately, Lord Ernest Padraig embraces his son Emil who reciprocates in-kind and then the young man goes to be with his grieving family.

Lord Padraig exhales deeply and cranes his neck to behold the mid-day sun, looming high above cold, elevated Winterhaven. With Terjon and Starn next to him, he says a simple prayer to the sky above:

"Lord of the Sun, of the Fields, and The Shifting Sands of Time...illuminate my dark hour, till the rows within my breast so burdened by weed and vermin, grant me the patience to see all of this through."

---

MEDIUM DC.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

"I'll meet you in that abandoned orchard outside the 'wood. Keep them safe!" LIEF whispers to VORN and rushes off before he can respond.

The shifter bounds from branch to branch up into the trees and lets out a hiss at the wretched dogs. They charge headlong toward him, and Lief leaps through the Tombwood, away from the archer and the witnesses, hoping he isn't bumbling straight into the Creep. The skeletal knight fixes an eyeless look at the receding animals, then tends to his dead horse.

Intent: Draw the dogs away from Vorn and the merchants and boy.

Secondary Skill: Athletics. r(8)+7 = 15 vs. Easy DC (10). Success.

Primary Skill: Acrobatics. r(12)+12+2 = 26 vs. Hard DC (22). Success.

With the dogs snapping and snarling from below, their growls echoing and doubling and unnaturally loud, as though coming from the bottom of a dry well, Lief stops. He needs to break off from them, or they'll wait, unsleeping, to tear him to pieces whenever his exhausted body falls to earth.

He sees a downed tree, the depression in the ground left by its up-wrenched roots filled with stagnant, green-skeined water and surrounded by black mud. If we can cover himself with that ooze maybe they'll lose his scent.

Lief bursts toward the felled tree, surrendering to instinct as his body flows and tumbles, through that patch of bog—a horrible mistake.

dormant corpse lies at the bottom of that brackish pool. It snaps awake and grabs at his ankle, its water-logged flesh sloughing off with the shifter, sending him stumbling as he runs. Ten heartbeats later he stops short. Waiting, listening for the dogs, he gags on the smell of himself. He hears their jaws working. They're after that thing in the water. Lief moves quietly away, spitting death-slime from his mouth, thanking Sehanine Moonbow, goddess of thieves and trickery, for her blessing.

Intent: Use mud to mask his scent and his training to get a head start on the dogs, then slink away from them.

Secondary Skill: Nature. r(1)+4 = 5 vs. Easy DC (10). Fail.

Primary Skill: Stealth w/+2 circumstance bonus for Drunken Monkey power (which will be exhausted in a follow-on combat encounter), -2 for Secondary fail. Wagering 1 Advantage for 2x successes. r(16)+12+2-2 = 28 vs. Hard DC (22). Success.

---

Complexity 3 SC, Level 5 (DCs 10/15/22)
Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep.
7/8 Successes/0 Failures/0 Hard DC Available/0 Secondary Skills Available/1 +1 for "home field of Silver Unicorn Inn" Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight; Athletics; Endurance, Streetwise, Acrobatics, Stealth

 

[Manbearcat]

NEW MINOR QUESTS:

VORN

Minor Quest: Investigate Ferlin Azaer of House Azaer’s connection to shady folk in Winterhaven. It seems he’s involved in their trafficking of humanoid creatures to the Bllodspear Orcs and other dangerous creatures.

Minor Quest: The town of Fastormel was destroyed by the Bloodspear orcs. Rumors say this was done at the behest of a dark being who wanted access to the Mistborn Tower. Has the Tower been breached? Who was behind the town’s destruction?


STARN

Minor Quest: Help Terjon rebuild his order by researching the historical induction rituals.

Minor Quest: Learn the history of the various towers built during the time of Nerath and use the information against those who plotted to subvert Nimozaran and the line of Septarchs.

---

Complexity 3 SC, Level 5 (DCs 10/15/22)
Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep.
7/8 Successes/0 Failures/0 Hard DC Available/0 Secondary Skills Available/1 +1 for "home field of Silver Unicorn Inn" Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight; Athletics; Endurance, Streetwise, Acrobatics, Stealth


With Lief leading away the unnatural pursuit, Vorn leads the ensemble of merchants and young ex-cultist through the overwhelming fecundity of The Tombwood. Vines grasp, overgrowth encloses, thorns nick, trees obstruct...but...eventually, after an interminable series of rushing feet, falls, and cries of pain, the group spills out and sees the "finish line" before them.

150 meters of cobblestone hill separates the group from the outer stables, the bailey of Moonstone Keep, and the garrisoned soldiers in the courtyard.

But the sound of the sprinting horse-hooves racing the "procured" Moonstone Keep carriage from the heroes' left foretells their path soon being obstructed by their pursuer's vehicle...

---

What do you do?

Do you lead the group on a mad dash for the door?

Does Vorn wait for the perfect moment to fire arrows through the harness straps and lines that connect the horse to the carriage?

Do you bring your lungs fully to bear and shout for Captain Khuzdul Anvilheart and his Light Infantry to open the gates and charge to your aid?

Something else? MEDIUM DC whatever it is (15 DC or 16 AC).

Failure here = combat with Kamroth's goons and The Elect's agents in front of Moonstone Keep (with a nested challenge to possibly get aid from within).

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

As Terjon handles Emil, Starn tells his father about his harrowing non-rescue and escape at the Kamroth Estate, and reveals that the Cardinal is on his way back to Winterhaven with ill will. He tells the Lord he understands if the man doubts his story, but he has some more extensive information he can provide if they can talk in a more convenient venue at length.

Starn says he also has a small request, could he have access to the Padraig's records? "I really think that, if I can dig into the history a bit I may be able to understand who is behind the threat we're facing, or at least learn enough about them to figure out their next move. I'm happy to do so with the assistance and supervision of whomever is your lorekeeper. Some of the books I read at the Septarch's Tower seemed like they contained references to material you might have here."

As Starn, who tends to talk too much, hears Ernest Padraig's prayer to Pelor, he responds with the rest of it "And when the night is darkest, I pray you kindle the memory of light in my heart. Thus will I keep faith that the day will dawn bright in your glory once again."

At least I HOPE that's the proper refrain, not being an avid Pelor worshipper... I guess it will require a Religion check Medium DC(13), with +11, and I roll an 11 + 11 = 22, Success.

Padraig is heartened a little at hearing this refrain from the youngster's lips, and responds "Hmmm, yes, perhaps we have some records of the kind you seek, although the Cardinal and his people probably hold a significant share as well, since they have much of what The Order once kept. Others may be buried in the ruins of The Tower of Waiting, if what I hear about it's destruction is true."

Complexity 3 SC, Level 2 (DCs 9/13/20)
Goal (staged): Rouse the Padraig family from their grief and muster them (5) and Winterhaven itself (8) against Cardinal Erban's heresy and impending coup.
3/8 Successes/1 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/2+1 Advantages available due to beating Erban's posse to Winterhaven and arriving with Sir Terjon, Knight of Pelor/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Diplomacy, Insight, Religion.

 

[hawkeyefan]

VORN ushers the witnesses forward. "Up the hill to the keep!' he yells. "As fast as you can go!"

He turns to see the oncoming carriage. Normally there would be little he can do, but he knows that there is a rough patch, where the cobbles are gone or broken, and the carriage will need to avoid it. He nocks an arrow, and holds, waiting for the right moment.

As the carriage begins to swing wide to his right to avoid the rough patch, Vorn fires. The red-fletched arrow of his namesake catches the driver in his right shoulder. The man instinctively reaches with his left hand to the wound, bringing the reins along. The horses jerk suddenly to his right, and into the broken cobbles. The horses manage it easily, but the carriage's wheels do not. One of the lead wheels shatters as it bounces down into the pothole, and then collides with the cobbles on the other side. The harness creaks and breaks, and the horses go running off on their own. The carriage tilts wildly, and Vorn thinks it's going to tip, but it rocks back onto its three intact wheels.

This has bought them a few moments, but not wanting to test how many, Vorn turns and runs after those fleeing toward the keep.
____________________

Intent: Prevent the carriage from cutting off the escape to Moonstone Keep.

"Home field" advantage used for -2 to Target AC

Standard Action: Twin Strike vs. AC 14, needing 1 hit: r(18) + 9 = 27. SUCCESS.
____________________

Complexity 3 SC, Level 5 (DCs 10/15/22)
Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep.
8/8 Successes/0 Failures/0 Hard DC Available/0 Secondary Skills Available/0 +1 for "home field of Silver Unicorn Inn" Advantages available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Insight; Athletics; Endurance, Streetwise, Acrobatics, Stealth; Primary Attack

 

[Manbearcat]

Goal: Evade the Kamroth/Elect pursuit to get the merchants, the boy, and Ressilmae from The Silver Unicorn Inn to Moonstone Keep. RESOLVED.

XP

* 400/3 = 133 xp apiece.

That puts you guys at 2250 xp even. That is level 3. Please advance characters and send them to me. I'll attach here and move Starn's & Terjon's situation along and generate the follow-on conflict for Lief and Vorn in Moonstone Keep.

Spoiler: STARN

Starn, level 3
Human, Wizard
Implement Mastery: Tome
Background: Omen "All Birds Left the Area" (Arcana Associated Skill)
Theme: Wizard's Apprentice

Ranged Basic Attack (Magic Missile)
Atk: Autohit
Damage: 8 force damage

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 20, Wis 10, Cha 11.

DEFENSES/HP/SURGE
AC: 17 Fort: 15 Reflex: 18 Will: 15
HP: 32 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 8

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +13, Diplomacy +6, Dungeoneering +6, History +11, Religion +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +1, Athletics +0, Bluff +1, Endurance +3, Heal +1, Insight +1, Intimidate +1, Nature +1, Stealth +1, Streetwise +1, Thievery +1

FEATS
Level 1: Tome Expertise, Alchemist
Level 2: Skill Power (Arcane Mutterings)

POWERS
Cantrips: Light, Ghost Sound, Prestidigitation
At-will 1: Beguiling Strands
At-will 1: Magic Missile
At-will 1: Storm Pillar
Encounter (theme): Color Orb
Encounter 1: Grasping Shadows, Astral Wasp (Tome)
Encounter 3: Shock Beetle Swarm, Melting Pool (Tome).
Daily 1: Rolling Thunder, Summon Dust Devil
Utility 2: Feather Fall, Summon Shadow Serpent
Skill Power Utility: Arcane Mutterings

RITUAL BOOK
Alchemist's Acid, Endure Elements, Make Whole, Tenser's Floating Disk, Traveler's Camouflage

ITEMS
? coin, Adventurer's Kit, Ritual Book, Tome Implement +1, Cloak of Resistance +1, Cloth Armor +1

Spoiler: "ROOTER THE FRANKENRUNNER"

Spoiler: LIEF

Lief, level 3
Razorclaw Shifter, Monk
Monastic Tradition: Centered
Background: Totemic Ally (Insight Associated Skill)
Theme: Cipher

Melee Basic Attack (Unarmed)
Atk: +5 vs AC
Damage: 1d8+2

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 14, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8.

DEFENSES/HP/SURGE
AC: 19 Fort: 15 Reflex: 16 Will: 15
HP: 36 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 9

TRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +12, Athletics +7, Heal +9, Perception +9, Stealth +12

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +1, Bluff +0, Diplomacy +0, Dungeoneering +4, Endurance +3, History +1, Insight +6, Intimidate +0, Nature +4, Religion +1, Streetwise +0, Thievery +5

FEATS
Level 1: Warrior of the Wild (Ranger multiclass)
Level 2: Unarmored Agility

POWERS
At-will 1: Crane's Wings
At-will 1: Enter the Lion's Den
Encounter 1: Drunken Monkey
Daily 1: Spinning Leopard's Strike
Utility 2: Supreme Flurry
Encounter 3: Wind Through the Willows

ITEMS
? coin, Adventurer's Kit, Climber's Kit, Thieves' Tools, Sling (20), Ki Focus +1, Elusive Cloth Armor +1, Lucky Charm +1

Spoiler: VORN

Vorn Redfletch, level 3
Human, Warlord|Ranger
Warlord Leadership: Battlefront Leader (Hybrid)
Hybrid Warlord: Hybrid Warlord Fortitude
Hybrid Ranger: Hybrid Ranger Reflex
Human Power Selection: Bonus At-Will Power
Background: Martial - Local Hero, Occupation - Bounty Hunter (Stealth Associated Skill)
Theme: Vigilante

Ranged Basic Attack (Vicious Bow)
Atk: +9 vs AC
Damage: 1d10+5

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 11, Con 14, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

DEFENSES/HP/SURGE
AC: 19 Fort: 15 Reflex: 17 Will: 14
HP: 36 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 9

TRAINED SKILLS
Thievery +9, Athletics +5, Stealth +11, Intimidate +6/11, Nature +8, Perception +8

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +4, Arcana +1, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +3, Endurance +2, Heal +3, History +1, Insight +3, Religion +1, Streetwise +1

FEATS
Human: Sneak of Shadows
Level 1: Improved Initiative
Level 2: Weapon Expertise (Bow)

POWERS
Bonus At-Will Power: Twin Strike
Hybrid at-will 1: Direct the Strike
Hybrid at-will 1: Nimble Strike
Hybrid encounter 1: Vengeance is Mine
Hybrid daily 1: Skirmishing Stance
Hybrid utility 2: Hunter's Privilege
Hybrid encounter 3: Disruptive Strike

Fallcrest Contacts (Boon)
The people of Fallcrest and the surrounding farmlands are your eyes and ears.
Daily

Free Action (Personal)
Trigger: You fail a Streetwise check in Fallcrest and surrounds.
Effect: Reroll the Streetwise check with a +2 power bonus.

ITEMS
? coin, Adventurer's Kit, Climber's Kit, Thieves' Tools, Arrows (30), Vicious Longbow +1, Magic Hide Armor +1

---

STARN & TERJON

Complexity 3 SC, Level 2 (DCs 9/13/20)
Goal (staged): Rouse the Padraig family from their grief and muster them (5) and Winterhaven itself (8) against Cardinal Erban's heresy and impending coup.
3/8 Successes/1 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/2+1 Advantages available due to beating Erban's posse to Winterhaven and arriving with Sir Terjon, Knight of Pelor/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Diplomacy, Insight, Religion

With the funeral proceedings resolved, Emil's temperment sated by Terjon's promise, and Ernest Padraig's trust partially earned by Starn's testimonial and prayer, the entirety of the cohort, Sister Linora excluded, remove themselves to the Padraig Manor House.

In a village otherwise composed of thatch and wood, the stone architecture of the manor stands out. Tucked back in the corner of the structure with no access from the rear due to an imposing mount, the structure is fortified doubly by the protective walls of Winterhaven.

Ernest Padraig takes his wife in an embrace, smiles gently and says "go on" and she leads the remaining children into the structure. He looks up and nods at members of his Regulars who give silent vigil on the parapets. They nod back.

"I know you know of myself and my Regulars Terjon, but what of you, mage-apprentice? Is your tower possessed of the tale? The Ten Demise, the Ten Rise? It seems apt right about now."

-------------------

What do you do @AbdulAlhazred ? HARD DC. He wants to know (a) whether you know the tale at all and (b) whether you can infer its aptness in the present situation.

---

Complexity 2 SC, Level 3 (DCs 9/13/21)
Goal: Having secured the safety of the merchants and ex-cultist boy as witnesses, along with the Sehanine priest Ressilmae who has heard their testimony in the bailey courtyard of Moonstone Keep, convince the Markelhays to act against Armos Kamroth and The Elect.
0/6 Successes/0 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/1 Advantages available due to Sehanine Priest Ressilmae Starlight/Primary Skill Training exhausted;

While Ressilmae hears the terrible testimony of the merchants and ex-cultist, Captain Khuzdul Anvilheart rushes inside the keep to muster Lady Markelhay and Loremaster Seekingstone. There is ample moment to confer with a dismayed Ressilmae who seeks bulwarking of this terrible testimony by Vorn and Lief.

Meanwhile, outside of the gate, there is a verbal clash between Kamroth personnel and Moonstone Keep soldiers. Threats asperse from the former to the latter and they make it abundantly clear that Armos Kamroth is on his way and he will brook neither trespass nor assault of his staff on his property! (1)

The elven priest takes this all in and looks to our two heroes.

"Please. Tell me what you know of this. Convince me that all of these ill tidings are true. Leave nothing to my imagination." (2)

-------------------

What do you do? (1) is optional to engage with. (2) is mandatory. Both are MEDIUM DC.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Starn responds to Lord Padraig's reference to the story of the Ten as best he can recollect it.

Hard DC(21) History check. He recalls that the tome he recovered from the Tower of Waiting library (his +1 implement) has a quote from this story on the fly leaf. He opens the book and repeats it (expending an advantage for +2). Rolling a 5 + 11 +2 = 18, not enough for success. Obviously Starn doesn't understand the reference...

Padraig looks a bit surprised at Starn's answer, for a second, and then a wary look replaces his avuncular expression for a moment. He turns and leads Starn into a room which proves to be a study/library. As Starn's attention is drawn to the volumes shelved here, Padraig sits at a desk and brings out a bottle containing some dark liquid, and 2 glasses. He gestures at Starn and says "Yes, these are many of the ancient records of Winterhaven. Some of the secrets you desire to learn may well be within them. For myself I have had little time to devote to such matters and cannot call myself a scholar, though I read well enough."

He then pours out a drought of the liquid for each of them, and says "Come here boy! Let us share one last rare pleasure before the world and the gods have their way with us!" He hands Starn a glass, and as he raises his to his lips, he motions for Starn to do the same.

Not knowing drinking customs Starn slowly drains the small glass, and sets it down on the desk. Only then does he notice that the old man didn't actually imbibe his drink, and begins to note that his peripheral vision seems dark, and his head feels light...

 

[Manbearcat]

STARN & TERJON

Complexity 3 SC, Level 2 (DCs 9/13/20)
Goal (staged): Rouse the Padraig family from their grief and muster them (5) and Winterhaven itself (8) against Cardinal Erban's heresy and impending coup.
3/8 Successes/2 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/2 Advantages Available/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Diplomacy, Insight, Religion

The mechanical complication here is that I'm removing that +1 Advantage that you did have for beating Erban's posse to Winterhaven and arriving with Sir Terjon, Knight of Pelor. Now you have only the default 2 x Advantages for this Skill Challenge.

---

"You're awake," comes the voice of Ernest Padraig to Starn's ears.

Whether Starn actually didn't actually know that the drink was laced with some agent, whether Starn was actually asleep or faking it <"I built up a resistance to iocaine powder...">, he is in the stocks beneath The Warrior's Guild of Winterhaven.

Eyes fixed on Starn, the Padraig shouts "bring him in."

The door opens and a gruff, bearded, fur & skins from head to toe fellow ushers in Terjon. "Right this way," says Rond Kelfem, captain of the Winterhaven Regulars and lead Ranger.

Terjon enters the room flanked by a meticulously groomed figure in robes carrying a book. Terjon reflexively balks and nearly goes for the hilt of his weapon before tempering himself "...what is the meaning of this?"

The individual that flanks him speaks as he casually strides toward the bars of Starn's cell. "The meaning of this, Starn Knight of Pelor, is quite simple. You know I, Valthrun the Prescient, am gifted by both mundane erudition and supernatural foresight. I had a vision last night of lamed bird pecking the eyes out of the trusting dog that rescued it from floodwaters. Further, my intellect has afforded me the understanding that the REAL Starn of Fallcrest's Septarch's Tower is a skilled alchemist. There is no_way, the real Starn would have failed such a test here. He would sniffed out the agent I supplied Lord Padraig. Trivially at that."

Valthrun looks at Ernest Padraig who is leaning forward in a simple, wooden chair.

Looking back from Lord Padraig to Starn; "this is an imposter before us...a doppleganger most likely...a spy for The Iron Circle meant to ingratiate himself in our midst before taking our eye? Or perhaps Ferlin Azaer of Fallcrest's House Azaer has sent one of his own here to surveil firsthand our people's 'best stock' for trafficking them to the The Bloodspear Orcs in Stonemarch to begin their siege of Winterhaven anew?"

---

What do you do about Lord Padraig's trust here? Addressing that specifically and attempting to turn that around is vs MEDIUM DC.

If you go after the scrutiny of Valthrun here (either the legitimacy or application of his foresight/omen-reading or his erudition), its vs HARD DC.

You can do opt into both but, if you do, if you accrue any failure, stop right there. That will be both a micro-failure and the final failure for the macro-SC and we'll have to Fail Forward the situation significantly with respect to the SC's Goal.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

LIEF takes Ressilmae aside, out of earshot of anyone nearby. "With respect, you need to pull yourself together! I brought you here because you're a man of faith. But you're a man of the world, too! Only you can understand where the Mogul fits into the war beyond. He plans to stalk everything that walks on two legs, but also every god in the cosmos." Lief shakes the elf a little too hard and far too frantic. "Listen to what will happen on the Night of the Hunt. Listen!!" He tells the priest what he was told, slipping in and out of primordial tongue. The prophesy that Lief still believe will happen—nothing that's happened since he left the Elect suggests otherwise. Everything seems to guarantee it!

Intent: Make Ressilmae understand the cosmological threat posed by the Hidden Mogul.

Primary Skill: Religion, using Advantage to reduce Medium DC to Easy. r(8)+1 = 9 vs. Easy DC (9). Success.

---

Complexity 2 SC, Level 3 (DCs 9/13/21)
Goal: Having secured the safety of the merchants and ex-cultist boy as witnesses, along with the Sehanine priest Ressilmae who has heard their testimony in the bailey courtyard of Moonstone Keep, convince the Markelhays to act against Armos Kamroth and The Elect.
1/6 Successes/0 Failures/1 Hard DC Available/2 Secondary Skills Available/0 Advantages available due to Sehanine Priest Ressilmae Starlight/Primary Skill Training exhausted; Religion