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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9522553" data-attributes="member: 42582">The above post was posted prematurely!To continue:While the PCs were telling tales about one another, the Dwarven herbalist Boron, whom they had rescued from the dungeon in the Moathouse, came and found them. He had 1D of silver coins, payment in reward from the merchant they had also rescued, who - with Boron - had been able to make it to Wintershiven <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/torchbearer-2e-actual-play-of-this-awesome-system.691233/post-9504660" target="_blank">while the PCs were distracting the river pirates</a>. The players diced to see which of their PCs got to take the reward - Golin was successful.I also mentioned the religiosity of Wintershiven, with its many temples of Pholtus, and clergy who would rise early in the morning to sing their favour hymn, "O Blinding Light".We'd already done the recovery tests at the end of last session, but after working through the respite Golin then went shopping: Golin had Resources 3 (that went to Resources 4 after the first failure), and hence could afford the lifestyle cost for visiting the market during a respite. There was a failure early on, which I narrated as a success but with Golin becoming Hungry and Thirsty (meaning that he drank the wine he had purchased). Golin failed in his attempt at Haggling, which made him Angry (a roll of 5 on the Haggling failure table), and there was another Resources failure after that, when attempting to buy rope. I responded with a twist: a group of priests queried Golin about his observance and tithing to Pholtus while he had been in Wintershiven. He responded by protesting vehemently that he was already a member of another religion (ie the Explosives cult) - this was Oratory vs Ob 4 (base Ob 3 + Angry), which succeeded, and so the priests left him alone.The purchases included plenty of food, some candles, shoes for Fea-bella, a hat each for Fea-bella and Telemere, a staff for Fea-bella, a spear for Telemere, and a new helmet for Golin.It was then time to leave town. The PCs filled their waterskins at the well, and then had to pay for their Lifestyle. Fea-bella and Telemere both had to roll Resources 2 against Ob 3 (staying in an inn during respite), and so each added a Persona to their dice pool. Fea-bella succeeded; but Telemere failed. Golin had to roll Resource 4 against Ob 4 (staying in a flophouse, +1 for dealing with the priests and +1 for visiting the market). He spent his 1D of coin, but also failed.I applied a twist in response to both failure: a more senior priest, accompanied by 8 temple guards, approached Telemere and Golin, accusing them of blasphemous sedition (punishable by imprisonment or even execution) for failing to tithe and worship. The PCs protested their innocence, Golin along similar lines to before and Telemere on the basis that he had done nothing but spend his time in his inn, resting and recovering. This was a Convince Crowd conflict. I rolled 1d6 to see how many of the guards would aid the priest, and got 5 - and the disposition was 13 for the NPCs vs 7 for the PCs.Fea-bella - moved by her Creed - joined the conflict on behalf of the other two PCs.The NPCs won the conflict, with only 1 hp lost: the compromise was that Fea-bella, being a mere bystander who had already paid her tolls and tithes, was allowed to go; but Telemere and Golin were bundled into a lockhouse by the town gates, while the priest went off to decide what their fate should be.Fea-bella went to the shrine to pray for them, lighting a candle to the Lords of Light and Darkness. Her Theologian test succeeded, and she gained a +1 bonus to her next wilderness camp event roll - but this provided no immediate assistance.Not wanting to be too brutal as the GM, I had responded to the players' query that - given that Golin and Telemere had almost nothing between them - they had not been deprived of their equipment before being put into the lockhouse. Golin therefore decided that the time had come to use his petard, to blow their way to freedom. He considered trying to blow up the wall, but his Sapper skill was not up to the task even aided by the petard, and so he instead blew away the door of the lockhouse. This test was successful, and the two PCs then made a run for it. A roll on the weather table for late summer indicated that it was raining heavily, and with the additional cover that this provided both were able to flee - Telemere's player succeeded on the Scout test that I called for, but Golin's player did not and so running through the rain left Golin Sick.The PCs were able to join up - given that they had already planned their travel to Dour Pentress, on the edge of the Troll Fens, Golin and Telemere knew where they could find Fea-bella by the bank of the Yol River. Golin cooked to help alleviate Toll, and raiment also helped them (Fea-bella and Telemere's cloaks kept off the rain; Golin's galoshes kept his ankles dry crossing the river). Food and drink bought down the rest. They then camped, with the camps event roll being a propitious 14 (though they did not actually use the resulting bonus to foraging and hunting).During camp, Fea-bella was able to heal Golin's Sickness. There were other tests too, but my notes don't record the details and nor does my memory! There was some more recovery, I think (everyone was still Exhausted, and Golin Angry, at the start of the camp - but I think they were mostly all better by the end of it) and perhaps cooking?After breaking camp, they travelled the rest of the way to Dour Pentress, with a base toll of 1. The weather roll showed that the rain had eased, but between the river and the swamp a thick fog had rolled in. The Trouble on the Road roll indicated the risk of delays (one imagines due to the fog), and Fea-bella was not successful in a Scout roll to try and alleviate the resulting +1 toll. (I think there may have been a condition here: Exhausted for Fea-bella, which didn't affect her as she was already exhausted, and Hungry and Thirsty for the other two PCs helping her.)Telemere then tried to forage, but the roll failed and he got lost in the fog. The subsequent Pathfinder test to find his friends also failed, and so by the time he was reunited with Golin and Fea-bella he was Sick (perhaps having been exposed when helping to treat Golin, and with the fog having actually brought on the symptoms in full). Golin then cooked again, to help alleviate the base toll; and the rest was bought off mostly via raiment, food and drink , and - for Telemere - the loss of his hat. Golin, however, was Hungry and Thirsty when they entered Dour Pentress despite having cast aside his new helmet during the journey (to relieve one point of toll).The town event roll for this religious bastion indicated a public execution - as I explained, the guards were paying the PCs little attention as they passed through the gate, and as one of the guards explained to Fea-bella, it was a hedge witch being executed, for having practised magic upon another. "That's terrible" exclaimed Fea-bella, somewhat ambiguously!Golin and Fea-bella stayed at the flophouse. Golin went to the market immediately, to buy some wine to relieve his Hunger and Thirst, and then successfully recovered from his Exhaustion, so that he had no conditions remaining. Fea-bella also recovered fully.Telemere, on the other hand, conscious of the need to tithe in these religious settlements, and wanting to be healed of his Sickness, went straight to the temple. There he told a semi-true, semi-plausible story about how he had come to be Sick by travelling through the Troll Fens - the Manipulator test failed, and I decided for success with a condition, which would be Afraid given he is surrounded by priests and temple guards who would probably execute him if they knew who he was! But because he is a Fearless Elf, he does not take Afraid. And so he ventured into the temple, and spoke to the priests. They asked what he would offer in exchange for healing, noting in particular his 2D value Pendant of the Moon, and observing that the will of Pholtus is expressed by the regularity of both the sun and the moon as celestial bodies. Telemere's player commented that he had been saving this to pay for his lifestyle, but he handed it over in exchange for healing; and so was relieved of his Sickness.Having no further conditions to recover, he staid in the Stables of the temple-guard, so as to be harder to find if being searched for.There was then more shopping: Telemere and Fea-bella made one test each, so that they could get a success (which took Fea-bella to Resources 3), and they then helped Golin who again purchased food, a further waterskin for Fea-bella, and maybe one or two other Ob 1 common items.Telemere used his instinct to look to see if he was being watched, and succeeded on the Scout test against Ob 2 that I called for: he noticed the inquisitor who had arrived from Wintershiven, who was asking around for the people who had escaped custody. The roll of the die indicated that he was safely anonymous in the stables.Meanwhile Fea-bellas used her instinct to always scavenge for loot to look for any coins or similar valuables that might have been dropped at the market. This test (Scavenging 4 vs Ob 4) failed, and she encountered the inquisitor, who asked her if she was the Elven woman in the forest-green cloak ("You mean the beautiful Elven woman?",  Fea-bella clarified) who had been a bystander to the events in Wintershiven. Fea-bella protested that she was simply doing her shopping, and tied on the Manipulator vs Manipulator but then succeeded on the Will vs Will tie-breaker.Golin used his instinct, new this session, to repair things: in this case, his damaged helmet. The Armourer test failed; I allowed him to succeed, but he was Exhausted from the effort of knocking out the dent without the aid of tools (which he lost back in the Troll Fens <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/torchbearer-2e-actual-play-of-this-awesome-system.691233/post-9138753" target="_blank">many sessions ago</a>).It was then time to leave Dour Pentress. Golin succeeded on his lifestyle. Fea-bella failed hers, and was taxed back down to Resources 2. Telemere failed his, and I opted for a twist - he could see the inquisitor coming, and so it was time to flee!The first turn of the new Adventure Phase was therefore a Flee conflict, with Telemere as conflict captain. The PCs had only 5 disposition, versus the Inquisitor's 7, but they had the benefit of numbers and also superior scripting: in particular they anticipated and thwarted my second round, third action Feint. And so they won the success with no hit points lost (a successful Defend had recovered their one lost hp) and so escaped.They travelled again, so that they could camp just above the entrance to the valley with the Forgotten Temple Complex. The weather was rain (again). Fea-bella successfully foraged for herbs to act as supplies for Healer, and Golin cooked once  more (off-setting the base 2 toll). I called for an Ob 2 Health test (an option when it is raining) and I think, from memory, that they mostly succeeded. (Golin may have failed, but was already Exhausted.)They then camped: Telemere, having no conditions, kept watch. The Near Town camp events roll indicated polluted water - no doubt from the Troll Fens - but they had plenty of food and water still from Dour Pentress. Golin recovered from Exhausted with the aid of Fea-bella's Song of Serenity (a free test); Fea-bella then Enchanted her staff (+1D to her next Alchemist test within one phase, which will be the town phase in the Temple Complex), although the test failed and so the effort Exhausted her; Golin then Cooked to preserve some of their surplus fresh rations; Telemere then successfully scavenged up some more healing herbs to act as Healer supplies; and finally Golin trained Fea-bella in the use of a staff as a weapon. Unfortunately the Beginner's Luck Mentor test failed, and I opted for a twist on the margins of permissibility: in the course of training, Fea-bella was Injured (despite Golin's protestations, it was generally agreed this was a result of a careless blow by Golin).An instinctual Scout test by Telemere, against the Ob 3 that I set, was successful, and indicated that the Inquisitor had not followed the PCs to their camp - perhaps put off by the proximity to the heathen Forgotten Temple Complex.We ended the session there.Golin received 3 Fate - for acting on his Belief that Elves are unstable, for pursuing his goal to get to the Forgotten Temple Complex, and for using his Instinct to good effect. He earned 2 persona - for acting on his Creed (he is constantly grounding Elves in reality, including during weapons training) and for Teamworker, as he did nearly all the shopping.Fea-bella received 2 Fate - for acting on her Belief that she must become rich, and for pursuing her goal of getting the reward from the merchant; and 1 persona, for acting on her New Creed.Telemere received 3 Fate - for acting on his Belief that he must see things through to their end, for pursuing his goal of getting to the Forgotten Temple Complex, and for using his Instinct to good effect. He earned 2 persona, for MVP - as he got the decisive Scout test in the Flee conflict to escape the Inquisitor - and for his struggles with his Creed, as his desire to provide guidance to humans was overridden by his becoming constantly enmeshed in their folly and struggles!I am going on a family holiday over (Australian) summer, but hopefully we will get one more session in before I head off. After that, our next session will probably be in February 2025.</blockquote>

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