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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9432930" data-attributes="member: 16069">Dark Squad in the Secrets of SaltmarshSession #143a: Three Months More in Castle Argentriver.Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).Daktari/Dak (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 9Fellowyn Silverstream (played by George) Male Eladrin Wizard Bladesinger Lvl 9New Tricks/Newt (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 9Ramshambo/Ram (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/2Vincenzo/Vinnie (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 9DEAD PCs<s>Nicholai Barbaros Kostyiev/Nicky (played by George) Male Dhampir Cleric of Twilight Lvl 8 </s>RIPNPCs<s>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) </s>RETIRED<s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP*<s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard </s>RETIRED<s>Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1</s> EXPLODEDUbdug (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 2 (When we remember)*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.Servants/FamiliarsGerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New TricksOwly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiarArchimedes (very scruffy & old, Owl) Fellowyn’s familiar.The Dark Squad’s to-do list-<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer from Lowhill), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetery).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood- except she's not there anymore, but a big red dragon is?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blackedge and the Goblin Stair?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall, the Witch's Tor is in the Drowned Forest, in the Mere of the Dead Men.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. Location unknown. SEE 2. ABOVE.</li> </ol>This is session 143a, and- hopefully- the last of the downtime stuff, or at least at the end of this session the Dark Squad are back in action, although… only just.So, the last three months (maybe) of downtime- which will seem like no time at all when the Dark Squad exit Castle Argentriver- because it will be no time at all, in the PCs version of reality.Now, onto the actual downtime activities.Ram Tries Again.Ram’s last study efforts were a complete bust, or else all of his various skill checks were low- all sub-10, and so we try again.Ram is doing a little flavour here, for his character, he has plans for later levels (I think). He’s also trying to figure out an old problem/conundrum, which has been bothering some of the PCs for quite a while.Back in the early days, when the PCs were working at Farhill Mine the Dark Squad went venturing in the Underdark, in search of treasure and duergar. They found both, although the grey dwarves were thoroughly investigated with a little help from Hgraam, a strange stone giant wanderer/hippy the Squad encountered all the way back in <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-dark-squad-in-the-secrets-of-saltmarsh-142b-six-more-months-in-castle-argentriver.672536/post-8230966" target="_blank">session 40</a>.This section is about Runes, and as I say- a bit of character development, although…Ram starts rolling very high for his checks, and so he uncovers a whole lot more info than he expected, more than just a bit of flavour.Hgraam is an agent of some sort of stone giant monastic order, or else something similar, the followers of this order (name unknown) seek to catalogue all the decisions that matter in the world/universe/reality. Hgraam’s job, it now seems to Ram- from his study, is to observe people and catalogue the events that shape the narrative of the world/reality.Reading around the subject- with books supplied by the Castle, Ram further learns that this unnamed society of stone giants is said to have some great subterranean library cataloguing everything important that has come to pass- for all time. Or else… that’s the implication.Critics (Ram does some more reading around) even suggest that the stone giants may play a part in shaping reality- helping some narratives along, when they coincide with their own vision/ethics. Whatever they are.Most odd.Just to make clear, Hgraam exchanged gifts with the Dark Squad- allowing the PCs to take anything they wanted from the giant’s bag (mundane items) in exchange for something personal (but of no value) to be given to the stone giant.Note, all of the PCs present completed the exchange.The items exchanged, Ram is now certain, would enable Hgraam (most likely) to scry or track the members of the Squad.Bugger.Maybe.Ram also discovers a little more about the duergar in the region, it seems that they built a number of guard stations/ small fortresses (like Deepbridge, which the PCs visited with help from Hgraam) beneath the Dreadwood some time in the dim distant past. These stations have been in existence for centuries, perhaps even millennia, although… no one seems to know why they were constructed in the first place- they seem to guard nothing, they mark no border, or else… the duergar have no industry here, just a series of seemingly randomly placed fortresses.He also, of course, learns a significant amount about Runes, which was his primary topic of investigation, specifically Rune Magic- as practiced by a number of races including the dwarves (and the duergar) and the giants, particularly, as it transpires- stone giants. Funny that.Ram tastes success.It tastes like cheese.Here's a wererat remember.We move on.Nuddy Daktari gets a High Score.Daktari spends three months in a meditative state, or else something similar- his montage sequence (see previously) has now moved on from the physical to a mental journey of the mind.Oddly, anyone observing Daktari during this time would see the following, although at times they’d be hard-pushed to keep watching, anyway, here’s the image-Naked Daktari (naturally, Fellowyn has made a big impression) save for his wizard’s hat (which is only the brim bit of the hat- Dak the ripped the rest (the pointy-bit) off his wizard hat off so that his ‘hair could breathe more deliciously’, his words).Dak is sat down.Hands outstretched before him, and always in action- as if manipulating some sort of invisible controller/device- a steering wheel?Squirming and shuffling in his seat constantly, sometimes throwing himself hard left- hard right, mirroring the gestures made by his hands.Eyes tight shut.Oh, and making noises- constantly.“Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… P’chow! P’chow! P’chow!”“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…”“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”“Kudda Kudda Kudda, Bokow BOKOW.”“Pweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”That kind of thing, only at times more so.Daktari is, the 21st century observer would suggest, playing a video game- possibly an FPS, or else a driving game, maybe a bit of both…For three months.In between snack times when he gorges himself naked on the kind of food (conjured by the Castle) that bees prefer.Sugary.Although nobody stays around to watch this performance- the naked eating of sugary things.At the end of this time, and after some superb rolls- Daktari is ready for the arrival of the Sky Pony. He is, as he states at the end of his sojourn (in a cod-Russian accent if you please)-“I am stoked! For it is rad! Maaaan!”Daktari is a practitioner of wild magic, say it how it is- ‘Daktari is Wizard’ and the undisputed Master of Blade and Spell.Which brings us to Vinnie.Vinnie Makes the Boat Go.Vinnie does two things in his three months, the first is to co-ordinate the hiring of Joe Blow (JB), an air elemental (of no little renown) who is in contract negotiations to become the propulsion device for Fellowyn’s fanboat.Negotiations go remarkably well, particularly when Vinnie meets (exceeds) JB’s demands for something ‘cool’ in the way of a uniform.I present to you-[ATTACH=full]376364[/ATTACH]The air elemental’s pyjamas- wacky waving inflatable tubeman.The guy on the right, I think- the fellow on the left must be an adherent.JB gets hired, if you build it (Fellowyn) JB will come.Good work Vinnie.The second part of Vinnie’s investigations doesn’t go so well, initially, the druid is trying to figure out a bit more about the connection he shares with Celune, and his Moonboar form.I think he wants more.Anyway, there follows some bad dice rolls followed by some good dice rolls and so- it all sort of balances out.Vinnie’s investigations conclude with the following.If he wants to know/discover more about his Moonboar form et al then he needs to see his boss, he needs to visit with Celune.I don’t think Jim (playing Vinnie) got what I was saying with the above.Let me try one more time.The words I actually said to Vinnie/Jim were- in game.‘You need to go and see Celune, again.’One of the words in the above sentence is a lie- sort of.That deceitful word is… DRUM ROLL… ‘again’.Because…You have met Celune already.You have a time and space machine.I’ll leave you to figure the rest out.Which brings us to Newt.New Tricks is the Message. Ben (often called Bear), who plays Newt, has some homework- he needs graphics and gimmicks, and a tag line, and, well… he needs a message.This for his world domination/pyramid scheme.Newt is all over the marketing, and as we all know from our own lives- with organised religion (or similar) then the message is everything.Newt’s rolls for this section are, I think the word magnificent applies. His lowest, with bonuses, is an ‘18’, all the rest are ‘20’ plus.So, we- the players and the DM, attempt to provide a little help.And just to note Newt’s opening statement to us- his little focus group, is-Empowering IndividualitySo, that’s nice.[ATTACH=full]376365[/ATTACH]My attempt gets laughed at.Vinnie offers the following statement-"Power now, Pay Later."Which, with crafting plays out to-Power. Justice. Fire.Although it too is swiftly rejected, by Newt. He’s not about fire, Belphegor is.[ATTACH=full]376366[/ATTACH]Newt gets the focus group back on track with his own suggestion.Just to say the consensus at the table is- evil wears a suit.Although the above offering is also cast aside because, well… it’s just Newt, and money, and the stench of fear and death, or else it’s lesser cousin- threat.What’s to draw folk in.Fellowyn powers through to-Weakness is a choiceWhich Newt likes, for a good long while, but it’s perhaps too brazen- also, he wants his followers weak and cowed (for the most part) so…Think again.[ATTACH=full]376367[/ATTACH]This one gets a chuckle, although again- Newt’s devotees are very Newt-like, and so…It fails the brief.Newt meantime steers the room back in the right direction with-N - Never AloneE - Everyone Is WelcomeW - Wherever You AreT - The Power Is Inside YouWhich is genius, only…There are always doubters in the room.N: Never jump over liquidsE: Everyone wants to murder everyoneW: What I want is what you wantT: Total omnipotenceWhich Vinnie comes up with about seven seconds later.So, less genius than we first thought.[ATTACH=full]376368[/ATTACH]That’s a little more like it, the table likes the clamor, but again… could it be a little more inclusive.The one audience member we can see seems to be wild-eyed unshaven moron.Is that the demographic?Don’t get me wrong, here in Faerun that represents a fairly large slice of pie.But…[ATTACH=full]376369[/ATTACH]He who has the youth… as all good dictators know.And Newt is looking sharp.Although again… the audience, Newt- who is coming up with all of these, is still fixated on a tabaxi/cat-positive audience.The pyramid on the page is also a little on the nose.Or is it brazen?Brazen is good.And so, to the winner, for now-[ATTACH=full]376370[/ATTACH]Newt is bigger, better, and more devilishly handsome. His followers are also doing quite well for themselves. The pyramid is present- but symbols add mystery, and that built to last forever feel.Also, money talks, and as in the picture- it’s to be admired, cradled even.I particularly like the eye above the pyramid, in a pyramid of its own, someone is watching- always watching.The fact that the eye seems to be shining from, or else illuminating, Newt’s groin is perhaps just a happy coincidence.Who are the dark little figures (cast in shadow- being watched by the eye) that scurry around the base of the pyramid?Well, if you have to ask… one of them must be you.Newt’s scheme is progressing well, and he- the DM has stated, has got some good dice rolls stored up for when he gets the whole thing up and running.For which, remember, he needs magical facial tattoos imbued with the power to convert the souls of those the tabaxi gorges on into the power of Godhood, or else the power of… well, just POWER!Just to make clear- Newt’s rolls were so good I devoted ten minutes and everyone in for the above scheming.In game Vinnie, Ram, Daktari and Fellowyn have no idea what Newt is working on.Although he is strutting around the place with a big cheesy grin on his face much of the time.Newt’s favourite subject is, after all, Newt.Fellowyn’s Feet Are Never Going to Get Wet Again.Here it is, or else we are between two images atm, or else George who plays Fellowyn is-[ATTACH=full]376371[/ATTACH]Pedal to the metal grandad.Or else my favourite-[ATTACH=full]376372[/ATTACH]Which has much more Gumbo.So, that’s it- Fellowyn’s last three months are spent fashioning the propulsion system for the craft, and then a bit of instruction for his new elemental friend- JB. Then, after the judicious use of an Inspiration Point or two, the rolls are all good and the job is done.Fellowyn has a fanboat.And that’s three months more in Castle Argentriver.Stay safe and well you lovely people.Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</blockquote>

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