Devil's Plow - Leaving Ironcraig

[PsYcHoTiC]

"I'm likely te agree wit ya there, but may I ask me lord, how dangerous is more dangerous? Jonath asks. "If it's dangerous enought ta not come out alive then we might best be goin' the safer way. If we fall, then Ironcraig falls."

 

[Ringmereth]

"I have not ventured either route in some time, but the upper trail is narrow and treacherous, or was when I last travelled it. It would be a deadly place indeed to do battle, though the chances of such an encounter there are slim. There is little risk in the lower trail, as far as I know," replies the Duke.

 

[Komodo]

Troll looks up and glances around. "Take the lower trail," he says. "Far as I know, there aren't any troops around here, and the horses would just have trouble with the other passage." The hobgoblin shrugs, then quiets up.

 

[Phoenix]

Troll looks up and glances around. "Take the lower trail," he says. "Far as I know, there aren't any troops around here, and the horses would just have trouble with the other passage." The hobgoblin shrugs, then quiets up.

"I strangely agree with the greenskin, though for different reasons." Thraxus points to the upper trail. "In the event of an accident up there, we will have little control over our fates. At least should we meet a patrol on the lower pathes we may choose to evade, or engage, or fate will be in our own hands."

 

[Steve Gorak]

"I strangely agree with the greenskin, though for different reasons." Thraxus points to the upper trail. "In the event of an accident up there, we will have little control over our fates. At least should we meet a patrol on the lower pathes we may choose to evade, or engage, or fate will be in our own hands."

OCC: I'm sorry about not posting, I had no idea the game had started. I bookmarked the OCC thread, and only checked for updates, so I never saw the message in the title

Having keept quiet till now, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, Ethyann nods at Thraxus in approval "If we succumb now, many will die"

For those wondering, Ethyann apears to be a young looking man in his early 20's, with tanned skin, dark eyes and hair. He dons a chainmail and always carries his signature longbow and sword. He already owned a horse, and also brought along the horse offered by Duke Ghenthar.

 

[Ringmereth]

"Then we shall take the lower path, and do so as swiftly as we can," decides Duke Ghenthar. He spurs his steed onward, and he soon leads the group down the mountain and into a lower and more level route that the precarious trail farther up.

The sun lowers in the western sky, or what little you can see of it between cliffs and mountainsides. Shadows lengthen, and the Duke assures the group that a suitable campsite is not far off. Riding down into a canyon, about 100 feet long and 40 wide, by means of a narrow trail squeezed between two cliffsides, the party is surprised to find a pair of humans standing in the trail near a pair of boulders and an odd freestanding pillar of rock, resolutely . One, dirty, unshaven, and clad in breastplate, carries a heavy sword comfortably over his shoulder and wears a shield on his other arm. His companion, a considerably cleaner man, wears a fine suit of field plate, which, although covered in dust and dirt, still glistens a bit in what little sunlight makes its way into the canyon. He holds a poleaxe and wears a crossbow over his back.

"Hold there!" the halberd-wielding man shouts. "This pass be my an' Garan here's, and by our blades an' brawn it stays safe. If'n ya want to travel through, ye'll pay our toll in blood or gold. The choice be yers, and if it's coin, then we want... three hundred crowns," he demands, appraising the contents of the group. "An' if ya don't like it, just turn around and find yerself another way through!"

 

[Kerrz]

Tobe spurs his horse forward, leaving his weapon at his side. He strides up until he towers over the man in field plate and slowly dismounts. Looking the man square in the eye, he says in a calm and collected voice, "My good sir. I'm afraid that we are on urgent business. The fate of thousands of innocent lives is at stake here, and you will try to hold us up for a mere three hundred crowns? It seems petty. You are a good man to protect this pass, why lower yourself to this level?"

"I'm sure we could use men of your calibre on the road ahead, and definitely on the road behind. I can assure you that you will be more than handsomely rewarded if you help our desperate plight. Besides, in this day and age, I'm sure you would rather kill some orcs and goblins than your own kin," Tobe suggests with a nod and a smile.

OOC: Diplomacy Check? My mod is +6, roll is 11, total 17.

 

[Ringmereth]

OODM: I'll take that check, however, in the future I'll be doing all rolls myself, as I stated in post #1. There are a number of reasons for this; chief among them is the ability to fudge rolls, also, I like rolling my own dice so others get a share of their bad luck, and most importantly, I feel that posting rolls detracts from continuity of the narrative-instead of focusing on describing your action, you can just write down 'OOC: Attack with longsword, roll of 8+7=15'. Obviously, that's not the case with your post, but I've seen it before. If there's dissent to my take on the subject, I'm open-minded about it, but for now I'll do all future rolls.

Also, I'm not sure if I've brought this up before, but I've found a large improvement to the diplomacy rules at Rich Burlew's site: http://www.giantitp.com/Func0010.html What's your take on these?

 

[Kerrz]

OOC: D'OH!
It was a toss-up on posting the roll or not, as I couldn't remember what your specific take was, and some DMs waffle on the subject (myself for example.) Then I made the roll at invisible castle, and decided to post it, since I couldnt' exactly hide that I'd made the post if anyone decided to look up rolls I'd made.

Sorry, I'll keep that in mind from now on. Someone had to screw up. I'm glad it was me, now the rest of you... you learn from my mistake!

As for Rich's rules, I actually like them. It does make a helluva lot more sense than the current rules and it scales well. Now... on to the response, eh?

 

[Steve Gorak]

Tobe spurs his horse forward, leaving his weapon at his side. He strides up until he towers over the man in field plate and slowly dismounts. Looking the man square in the eye, he says in a calm and collected voice, "My good sir. I'm afraid that we are on urgent business. The fate of thousands of innocent lives is at stake here, and you will try to hold us up for a mere three hundred crowns? It seems petty. You are a good man to protect this pass, why lower yourself to this level?"

"I'm sure we could use men of your calibre on the road ahead, and definitely on the road behind. I can assure you that you will be more than handsomely rewarded if you help our desperate plight. Besides, in this day and age, I'm sure you would rather kill some orcs and goblins than your own kin," Tobe suggests with a nod and a smile.

OOC: Diplomacy Check? My mod is +6, roll is 11, total 17.

Ethyann will grab his bow and will hold it in his hands, without aiming it at the strangers. He will ready himself to act, in case the strangers attack.