[The One Ring] The Marsh Bell

[JoeNotCharles]

A hush falls over the crowd as Authiel sings, and when she finishes, they erupt into enthusiastic applause (jolting the old man awake, as he had nodded off, smiling, to the music). Now that Authiel has broken the ice, many of the villages pull out simple lutes and tin whistles and begin singing and dancing into the night.

Inspired by the merriment, Hobnob jumps onto a table and begins clowning. The nearest group of villagers claps and laughs along at his prancing, although they seem a bit bewildered trying to follow the twists and turns of the story. "Mommy, what's a devil?" asks one young boy, tugging on his mother's sleeve. "Some sort of foreign ghost," his mother shushes him. "Ooh..." says the child, his eyes growing wide.

After Hob takes his final bow, you turn in, bedding down in an empty hut the villagers turn over to your use. In the morning, you awake bright and early, ready to continue down the Stair of Girion and pick up the dwarves' trail...

[sblock=OOC]
Normally, I'm supposed to only give AP's for successful rolls - but in the PbP format, it doesn't make sense to call for rolls for a lot of social interactions. When Iron Sky posts a cool song, it sucks (and takes a lot of time) to post, "Ok, now roll Song to see if your character can actually sing that!" So I'm going to give out AP's for the people who posted impressive actions.

But there were two things that really could go either way: Kurin's life history got a luke-warm reception (because it wasn't really arranged as a story like they were expecting). So he'll need to roll either Awe or Persuade (his choice), Target Number 12, to see if he impressed the audience with his story after all.

And Hobnob's clowning really depends on timing and delivery, so he'll need a roll of Song, TN 12, to see how well it goes over.

Now, AP rewards:

Authiel gets 1 AP in Custom for use of Song.

Riggins can get 1 AP in Custom for use of Riddle IF you can persuade me that one of your traits applies (he needs to use a trait because he already has a dot in custom).

Hobnob can get 1 AP in Custom for use of Courtesy in complimenting the food - again, IF you can persuade me that a trait applies (he also already has a dot in custom). Or you can get your second AP in Custom by succeeding at your Song roll and invoking a Trait on that. (But you can't get a third dot this way.)

Kurin can get his second AP in Personality if his Awe or Persuade roll succeeds and he invokes a Trait.

Everyone who gained Fatigue from the trip loses 1 point for the night's rest (that's Kurin, Vardolas and Riggins, I think).

Regardless of the outcomes of these rolls, I'll continue the journey tomorrow.
[/sblock]

 

[CaBaNa]

OOC: First, arguing for trait Herb-Lore to apply to the foods spicing and preparation. If that fails rolling Song and invoking trait Merry. Hobnob tends to lighten a room, and avoid negative thoughts.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

[sblock=OOC]
I underestimated the amount of work I'd need to do to get ready for my trip this weekend, so didn't have time to post today. Sorry, everyone. I'm out of town until Monday - I'll post again then.
[/sblock]

 

[FourMonos]

OOC: I was going to use Riddle, which may be too simplified of a use since Riddle seems to be meant for 'figuring things out' and not just a game of riddles. I'll roll just in case, but if it doesn't apply, then no worries!

 

[Voda Vosa]

Kurin is rolling.

 

[JoeNotCharles]

[sblock=OOC]

First, arguing for trait Herb-Lore to apply to the foods spicing and preparation. If that fails rolling Song and invoking trait Merry. Hobnob tends to lighten a room, and avoid negative thoughts.

No, I don't buy Herb-Lore - it's not like in-depth knowledge of the spices is needed to say, "this food's really good!" But Merry is a great trait for social scenes, and 14 is a success for Song, so you get your AP.

OOC: I was going to use Riddle, which may be too simplified of a use since Riddle seems to be meant for 'figuring things out' and not just a game of riddles. I'll roll just in case, but if it doesn't apply, then no worries!

I guess I wasn't clear - I was going to just count what you posted as a successful Riddle roll, since you went into so much depth and wrote it up really well. I asked CaBaNa to roll Song because I felt that the song/story that he posted could have gone either way.

But you can't get an AP for that Riddle roll since Riddle is in the Custom group and you already got an AP in Custom. So your second dot seems to be for a more impressive feat than just impressing children at a party - unless you can persuade me that one of your Traits - Smoking, Story-telling, Burglary, Curious, or True-hearted - applies to the action you posted. I'm not really seeing any that do - the most obvious one is Story-telling, but you weren't really telling a story - but maybe you're more creative than me.

Kurin is rolling.

As I suspected, Kurin's story didn't go over very well.
[/sblock]

 

[JoeNotCharles]

It rains overnight, and you're glad of the roof overhead. Surrounded by the village, there's no need to set guards and you get a restful night's sleep.

In the morning, in exchange for a small pouch of Lake-town coin, some strapping young villagers haul your boat down the Stair, while you carry your packs. The Stair of Girion is a set of wide but steep steps cut into the rock near the falls, just far enough away to avoid the spray from the water. It is fairly easy to climb, but without the villagers' assistance you would have needed to make several trips.

At the base of the steps is a narrow strip of stony earth which soon gives way to soggy marshland. In the cramped solid space is the remains of a campfire, long cold.

The villagers drop your boats into the river, which flows away southward through the marsh, an tie them to solid stakes driven into the bank. You notice a short length of rope with one cut end still tied to one of the stakes, which must have been from the dwarves' craft.

A fetid mist hangs over the marsh, badly limiting your vision, but you've spent enough time on the stair that the morning sun is beginning to burn it away. In an hour or so you should have better visibility.

 

[FourMonos]

Riggins pauses at the bottom of the stair, taking in the scene.

"Well, my good gentlemen, we can be certain which direction our friends have traveled."

The hobbit picks through the campfire. "I'm not a tracker. Anyone have any idea how long ago they were here?"

 

[Voda Vosa]

"I was going to ask the very same question Mr. Riggins." sounds the voice of Kurin, who takes a few steps to the side, not wanting to spoil any clue a tracker might find useful. Giving the swamp around the a weary look, he adds "This surely seems the kind of place that could be swarming with creatures of the dark..."

 

[CaBaNa]

Seems the line was cut, instead of untied and brought along. calls Hobnob from his place at the bottom of the stair. Think they lost their boat?