WotBS EmeraldBeacon's Burning Sky (online game)

[emeraldbeacon]

The team travelled to Magistrate Lorb Votberd's home, hoping to earn his support in allowing the sour lake goblins to travel into and trade freely with the city of Seaquen. After a bit of persuasion, they got an audience, and proceeded to explain why it would be a grand idea to pursue this new line of free trade, for the benefit of all Seaquen's citizens and refugees... after all, a safe route through the swamp means more opportunity in the future.

The Magistrate, though, countered with the simple fact that, while a safe passage might be profitable in peace times, it would also allow refugees to flood Seaquen like never before, escalating a situation that was already untenable in the city. The team's pleas fell upon deaf ears, as he outright refused to support their efforts. As they stormed out to leave, though, they were met with panic in the hallways... for there was a fire in the cellar!

While one of their party helped to evacuate the Mayor and his staff, then set up a bucket brigade, the others stormed the kitchen, finding it filling with smoke rising through the floorboards from below. They doused everything with what water they could find before proceeding downwards, finding a cluster of fire-infused rats! After a short but heated (heh) battle, the managed to stop the worst of the fire from damaging the structure further... and upon finding a cramped tunnel breaking through the basement walls, they informed the mayor of their findings. Sheepishly, he thanked the heroes for their quick action, and vowed to honor their request out of appreciation.

With that situation handled, the group prepared to investigate the tunnels further, hoping to put an end to the rodent-ferno, once and for all!

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Delving underground, the party clears out a nest of fire rats, discovering even more, smaller tunnels leading east towards the old ruins. Realizing they can't explore further, they do come to the conclusion that the rats are finding ways into either older basements that have some deterioration, or newer ones that were never sealed off properly. Shoring up the underground construction should be enough to keep these rats, acting only on the instinct to feed, out of their cellars. The next day, town criers spread the news of how to defend against the rodents.

Visiting the Lyceum, the team collects a couple of small crates of magical supplies to bring to the goblins, but are stopped by Simeon. He hasn't made progress on the Ragesian Intelligence yet, but has some promising theories to test. Information provided by the Erinyes Jeszka has proven helpful, though, and tensions throughout the city are dropping a bit. He also asks, hesitantly, for the party to contact Torrent, to see if she has more luck contacting Lee Sidoneth. Simeon is concerned about the unnaturally prolonged rain storm, and hopes the Hydromancer has some answers... but says he hasn't been able to contact him.

Torrent, found at Seaquen's water temple, has been busy with her own duties, and hasn't spoken to Lee. However, she is eager to get back in the field, and happily accompanies the party into the Sour Lake Swamp. There, they find the goblins ready to negotiate... but still lacking a cowardly chieftain, who fled immediately after the party was spotted. Frustrated, the team heads deeper into the swamp, hoping to drag him back and finally seal the deal...

SESSION NOTES: Not too much plot this time, owing largely to the fact that one player called out absent, and two more either were no-shows or dropped out mid-session. Attendance has been a big issue for toe two big culprits, leading me to think I need to set some ground rules for the situation... but also, to make sure that they still want to be part of this game.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Descending into the swamplands, the group makes good time, eventually following a muddy trail - and the continual sounds of frog calls - to a secluded grotto a mile or so from the village. The party tried to approach quietly, but with a strong warning thanks to his amphibian alert system, Ogatar quickly disappeared from view. Everyone tried to talk him down, but a fireball in reply told them that discussion probably wouldn't work. That was confirmed when, once cornered, the team realized that Ogatar apparently could only speak Goblin! Frustrated, the cleric cast Tongues to facilitate communication, eventually earning a reluctant surrender.

Returning to the village, Hessilen dragged Ogatar away to give him a piece of her mind, while the party idly admired the fresh water fountain in the center of town, seemingly creating clean water from nothing. Upon Hessilen's return, she explained that, with her influence over her cowardly husband now solidly in place, she can assure that the treaty can move forward. Plans are made to bring the goblins into town a week henceforth, to provide formal introductions, and allow a more streamlined transition to a relationship of cooperation. After inquiring about the fountain, Hessilen was dismissive, calling it a pretty trinket and not much more, as the Goblins don't use it for much beyond washing the nearby guillotine. A trade is offered for it; the barbarian, now in posession of the Living Blade, trades his dwarven greataxe (great for head-choppin!) for it.

Back in Seaquen, the decanter of endless water initially is left in the care of the Ragesian Hospitalers (whose immediate need for fresh water possibly outstrips any other group), with the understanding that it's only a loan. The team finishes the day at Laurabec's tent, working out a plan to truly begin their campaign for a unified temple in the morning...

 

[emeraldbeacon]

The moment you realize that your resident Bard has optimized for Persuasion (+9 modifier thanks to Expertise, and as an Eloquence bard, he can't roll lower than 10 to persuade or deceive), and can't possibly fail any of the DC19 checks to unite the religious groups of Seaquen, even with disadvantage...

 

[Tormyr]

The moment you realize that your resident Bard has optimized for Persuasion (+9 modifier thanks to Expertise, and as an Eloquence bard, he can't roll lower than 10 to persuade or deceive), and can't possibly fail any of the DC19 checks to unite the religious groups of Seaquen, even with disadvantage...

Like a certain player's rogue who couldn't fail to unlock the DC 30 locks in the Ebon Triad's hoard.

 

[Fuzzybear]

The plus side is that you can plan what you're going to say. Or you might decide to make some of the checks other skills and weave them in some. Give them some benefits for their choices, but you can still tinker a bit to give some challenges that might suit other characters some as well.

E: a word

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Together, the team set out to tackle the challenge of the unified temple, starting with the Ragesian Savages, who were honored at being selected first for the project. From there, they split up to handle different goals... the Ragesian Philosophers agreed with sound logic, while the Sindairese Exiles sympathized with a need for a place to belong. The Ragesian Hospitalers were impressed by an effort to do good for good's sake, while the Dassani Dwarves respected tradition and history.

With five groups in the bag, the crew handling the Ostalin Mercinaries had a hard time convincing the military unit to join in, though they did pledge to join if an overall consensus was made. Likewise, the Ragesian Druids enjoyed a night of storytelling and camaraderie, but were reluctant to commit to such a grand project.

The Seaquen Locals balked at having one of their own argue a case before them, and forced Torrent to the sidelines... a role that she quickly balked at, and pointed out that just as religion is meant to bring people together under a higher purpose, so too would this temple... and they relented, giving the team enough support to guarantee the temple's backing! Now if only they had the MEANS to build it...

Session Notes: I upped the difficulty from DC19 to DC20, just to make the bard's rolls not automatic, and wouldn't you know it, his were the only rolls that failed. Everyone else succeeded, with a couple of nat 20s along the way! I also dropped the sobering fact that while they managed to form a CONSENSUS for the temple, CONSTRUCTION itself would be difficult given the state of the city at the moment. Laurabec shared some information about a local story she'd heard, of a musical instrument that could create buildings from nothing, but doesn't remember where the tale came from...

 

[Fuzzybear]

I was quite interested in this report from your game because I had made the whole temple event just fluff and not an interaction for the party. Since they had brought Krystin, I had her heading that up for them as I thought they had plenty of other things they were interested in anyway. Really fun to see another group do a section that we didn't. I really like that there was so many options in Seaquen that you can spend as much time there as you want.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Coming off their success at negotiating the creation of a pantheistic temple, the team splits up to handle a few different lines of thought. With the rogue in tow, the Barbarian heads to the Lyceum, hoping to gather some more information about his peculiar wild magic traits. He stumbles into a spellduel against a peppy (and mildly terrifying) halfling warlock, before asking fellow dwarf Kiernan Stekart if he has any further insights. He doesn't, as he's never heard of a BARBARIAN with magical tendencies before, but urges him to share any insights he DOES learn.

The Warlock joins the Cleric in seeking Lee Sidoneth, on behalf of the Lyceum. Finding him at his home, the hydromancer was quite busy, and uninterested in conversation, claiming that he was at his wits end trying to manage the tense situation in the harbor, all while wracking his brain over why the storms have been endlessly battering the city. He suggested that the worst of the weather seemed to coincide with the arrival of the Shahalesti fleet, requesting that the Lyceum should investigate that possibility.

Finally, the Bard travels to the Wayfarer's Guild, to continue rehearsals for The Spectacular Trials of Toteth Topec. Before heading to the ship, he happens to notice a body on the shore... deformed, misshapen, a bizarre mixture of elf and orc? Calling the city guard to investigate, he proceeded to his destination. During a break in the action, Giorgio pulls him aside, and expresses concern at Guildmistress Larkins' relative absence regarding the performance. While she claimed that researching The Burning Sky was a more important task at the moment, he explained that she had been receiving Shahalesti guests aboard. Giorgio wasn't sure if she was being manipulated, or if she were secretly conspiring with the elves, but either way, he was concerned that she'd been compromised.

The team met up in the afternoon after an unfortunate galley incident aboard the Wayfarer's Theater Galleon, to exchange notes and plan for their next actions...

SESSION NOTES: I decided to introduce some "maybe the Shahalesti are the threat" elements between Giorgio and Lee Sidoneth, to possibly throw the players off the scent of the real danger... we'll see if they nibble on any of that bait.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

As the clan leaves the Wayfarer's Guild, they notice the same investigation into the mysterious body that had washed ashore. After convincing the city guard (and the Lyceum investigator) to let them see it, they noticed the strangely mixed-race body was apparently strangled, not drowned, and that its assembly was either natural or magical, as there was no evidence of surgical alteration. Unsure of what to do going forward, they remembered two other strangely altered figures they'd met before... the Biomancer Paradim Dogwood (whom they saw at Lee Sidoneth's home), and the Ragesian gladiator they'd fought several days prior. They decided to follow those leads the next day.

In the meantime, exploring the northern shore area, they found a mysterious shop that was only opening at dusk, learning about a peculiar process called Tattoomancy, where magical items could be applied directly onto one's body... permanently. The cleric was intrigued, especially at the young drow woman performing the procedures, and elected to purchase a Cloak of Protection tattoo.

The following day, the team went to the Ragesian Savages, where they witnessed another few bouts of combat, and met the strangely altered Tusktooth. He was glad to see his prior opponent, and invited them all for drinks, where he explained that in his tribe, gaining strength was all that truly mattered. Upon hearing of Dogwood's operation, he rushed to be augmented with bestial features. Using directions he provided, they team finds the shop easily enough, and are quickly disturbed by the implications of his work... creating strange abberant creatures through arcano-scientific means. Dogwood was eager to sell them on the procedure, until they began to ask questions about a body. Denying any knowledge or involvement, he turned the group out rather suddenly...

SESSION NOTES: Dogwood's involvement is currently in flux. I'm planning on making him actually culpable for some of the missing people, slaves sold to Gremman's brothel, but innocent of the effort underway by Lee Sidoneth and the Ragesians; they are the ones creating the Shahalesti duplicates for their own nefarious projects.