Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="tool" data-source="post: 5312908" data-attributes="member: 94749">ACTIVITY 1A week and 4 days ago you left the city of Caane with a the merchant Puulco and his wagons. Puulco trades food, sometimes alcohol. Puulco is shorter then your average human, and a little overweight (mostly in his belly). A life of trading in regional meat and crops has the benefit of a good meal when you want it. Puulco is a tenacious bargainer but timid at physical confrontation. He hires guards when he can as the land is still wild and sometimes allows travellers to come along with him. Safety in numbers. This trip Puulco has gathered many of you. He has five wagons total. Three crop and two meat wagons.  Puulco's ultimate destination, where you are headed, is the City of Organo, with a couple stops along the way. Organo is the next Gem of civilization being faceted into this new frontier. It is not fully developed but hosts most of what a typical city has to provide. Organo is land-locked, so traders with wagons like Puulco have an advanced opportunity for profit. Organo is not culturally developed yet so it's income is based primarily on resources. Companies that profit from resources will set up camps a good distance away from the guarded city to extract them, especially if they are regionally specific resources. With plenty of poor to go around and hazard pay for people who work these camps, finding the labor is not difficult. The Briston Mining Company found a healthy iron vein on an expedition here and set up a mining camp. There is an increased focus on tracing veins over extraction right now as an intelligent method of transporting the ore has yet to be implemented. There are unique grains that farmers grow in the area, the two most popular being threshish and bilt. As is common with new agriculture a buzz is created in the mainland and its hard to keep up with demand in the early stages. Once the wealthy become bored of it (as prices are inflated over the native foods of the mainland) exports will undoubtedly go down but many farmers feel they can weather it while the land developes and brings more people to feed. Most important are the Bronze-Oaks. Trees with a deep bronze tint and much stronger then a typical oak. The Marryl and Swinging Axe lumber companiers are furiously competing against each other over them. The logs are easier to transport then ore and more valuable then the crops so it is without a doubt Organo's chief export. One new export that has begun to gain steam are potions for military use. An accomplished alchemist that has set up shop in Organo developed easy-to-use bombs for Organo's garrison for use against the Hobgoblin tribes in the region, should the need arise. Grenadiers lob them over frontline soldiers for high shock value, during which a disciplined company of soldiers wreak havoc. They passed tests against raiders and border-developing missions with flying colors. News is slowly spreading and his bombs are more in demand as excursions find new lands to colonize. It has been almost 5 days since the wagon train has left the village of Cumi, which lies to the northwest of Caane. Your first stop is the logging camp of Corander, owned by the Swinging Axe logging company. Three of those days were spent travelling. The last 40 hours have been an exercise in comedy that only people outside of the situation, and those inside with patience or ambivilance can appreciate. One of the meat wagons broke a wheel during a cave-in in the ground. Something had burrowed close to the surface and unknowningly orchestrated the theatre you have witnessed. Puulco became quite animated, and began cursing just about every living thing and known force in the universe, gesturing wildly as if he was on stage, performing solo in front of a crowd. Puulco has a container of tools, but he is not exactly what you would describe as proficient with them. He hands them to a couple of guards that came with, Drago and Neet. They have travelled with him many times so obviously he just feels more confident entrusting them with his haul. The tools are pretty old, cheap, and have never been used. They snap as Drago and Neet try to jury rig a solution (watching them operate was a fair bit of comedy in its own right).  In desperation Puulco conscripts you all to move the meat onto the other meat wagon. Fate of course is not quite done with Puulco and the axle on that wagon snaps. As Puulco's face turns a brand new shade of red he screams at Drago and Neet to hurry back to Cumi to buy the replacement parts from someone else's wagon or even a new wagon if they have to. Of course Puulco is a better narrator then I am and his instructions were much more intricate with forms of slang I don't have the talent or intellect to conjure up. Drago and Neet left, night came. The day has waned by and evening approaches. Puulco's mood has shifted from fiery to sullen to defeated. He has kept to himself, far away from the rest of you, making it clear he has no desire to socialize. You often see him staring inside his chest. Counting his purse you wager. Perhaps it helps to calm him down. Some of you have no real obligation to stay, but it is a very nice day to take a break and besides...safety in numbers. The temperature is pleasent, clouds dot the skyscape, and a cool wind blows about. The wagon path is bordered by high growing vegetation, mostly grasses (about 4' tall on average) and watching it blow to and fro is mildly mesmerizing. To the East over the grasses you can see hills and rocky outcrops. Fathered by the small mountains beyond them. **DM**A kobold hunting party is on its way back from a failed exhibition. They are starving and desperate to return to their lair with something. The meat on the wagons have drawn them to the group. Their hunger overpowers their fear and they use the vegetation as cover to advance. The wagon path is about 50' across. Situate the parth lengthwise on your battle-map and have the kobolds emerge from one side of the map. Draw 5 wagons and 10 livestock who pull themSome rough terrain will be by the defunct wagons. scattered tools, parts, etc.. **Narration** Gazing peacefully at the grass, looking at patterns of movement akin to people looking at shapes in clouds you briefly see strange patterns in the waving grasses off toward your (right or left). Something alien and unwanted in the middle of a beautiful dance. Your lips curl to a slight frown, perturbed as if someone has splattered paint on a portrait you admired. The hair on the back of your neck stiffens. Shapes emerge from the from the vegetation. Kobolds. They look thin, more-so then you've seen depicted or described. They stare lustily at Puulco's wagon of meat, eyes glazing. The appetizer for the days comedy is now the centerpiece of the kobolds drama. Then, as if awakened from a slumber they notice you. You perceive a look on their faces akin to how you felt just a moment earlier. There's however is colored in a blend of anger and the slight madness of hunger. The moment of recognition hangs between your group and there's. Then with a primal scream the kobolds launch themselves at you. **Monsters** - Add +2 kobolds for PuulcoKobold SkirmishersKobold Minions　Nature DC 15: Kobolds often dwell near a dragon's lair, maintaining a safe distance but bringing sacrificial offerings to their "god". Most dragons ignore kobolds, as a crocodile ignores the birds that pick its teeth clean. Once in a great while however, a young dragon takes an interest in its kobold cult, which then becomes a real menace to the dragons enemies. Nature DC 20: Kobolds are skilled at making traps, which they use to capture prety and to acquire sacrifices for their dragon lords. Tactics:The group must set up on one far end of the wagon train, Puulco will be on the other. **important - Two of the Kobolds will move off and attack Puulco. The kobolds will kill him early (treat Puulco as a minion) and make off with his small chest. This chest holds the PC's payment. It also holds a rather large amount of Hether.  Hether description - You see a large pouch, completely full of dried stamen (reproductive part of a flower). It is a deep brown in color, showing signs that it was a change in color from the act of drying. 　　Loot:The kobolds do not have any loot. The only money available was stolen by a couple of opportunistic kobolds who have fled. - If the party wishes to track the kobold down proceed to Activity 1B- If the party wishes to forget about it and continue down the path proceed to Activity 2 -----------------------My Notes----------------------- My very first encounter I make my very first mistake. In my excitement/nervousness/etc. I forget to include the +2 kobolds for Puulco. So later on during the encounter, after 2 of the kobolds take Puulco’s chest and make off with it, I explain to my players that I have to introduce 2 more kobolds from the brush. Also when I formed the kobolds up I put them in one big group. That was just serving them up for Brandon (wizard) to have an incredible impact on the encounter. He cast sleep and fortunately for me he did not roll too well. My first unexpected action took place when the fight was concluded. The group elected to subdue the final kobold instead of kill him, with the intention of interrogating him. What to do. I try to put myself into the head of a starving, terrified small thing that is certain that its death is imminent. I decide that this kobold is beyond reason and just screams and struggles. Its important to note that if the PC’s choose to pursue the fleeing kobolds (after all that is the bait) there will be a skill challenge for tracking the them. I can’t %100 say that didn’t factor in to it. Maybe I should have given kobold more credit and allow them to discern where the 2 were headed via interrogation. I’m not certain. Second unexpected action. Mark (rogue) hands me a note detailing that he'd like to inspect Puulco for any loot. I hadn't thought of that. I decide to reward the action with a 50gp ring. Nate (assassin) gets fed up with the blubbering and ends the kobolds life. Puulco’s chest is being taken to the kobolds lair. It is a new lair. There didn’t seem to be too many options when it came to level 1 monsters so why not kobolds. My micro-story for the kobolds is that they were annexed or fled their living area by/from the Chipped Tooth hobgoblin tribe. They finally find a location that suits them, but they are starving from the trip. Being unfamiliar with their new hunting grounds food does not come to them as rapidly as they desire, perhaps they are even finding out that the area has poor hunting. The group takes the bait and makes after the chest.</blockquote>

Verification