TUW: The Outpost

[Tellerian Hawke]

"...I forgot this guys name. Does anyone remember it?"

The man hops slightly in his seat. "Name. Yes. Name. I am Liam. You help me? Yes?"

Maka nods, "Yes. His name was Liam."

"...Your hire has departed town several days back. He left with a caravan heading for Boga City."

"...I have no desire to go chasing after this 'Liam' if it is not important enough for him to stay.

Maka says to Taylar: "I hate to disagree with you, my friend, but you are wrong about this, I can feel it. We should go find Liam. We should do that first, before we do anything else. This is about his family. Such matters are sacred. He will want to know what happened as soon as possible. If he left before our return, there must be an important reason. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Something about this feels off. It would be a rash move on our part to be so dismissive of him. The sooner we find him, the better. It shouldn't be hard for a small, fast-moving group like ours to catch up to a lumbering, slow-moving, easy-to-track caravan. I cannot rest soundly, knowing that our task is unfinished. We can sell our excess collections on our way out of town, but other than that, we should make haste to leave. Besides, even if Liam gave up on us for some reason, we cannot forget that OUR reputations are at stake. No matter what our 'employer' does, we should never leave a task unfinished. We should catch up to him and tell him, just on the general principle that reporting back to him was part of what we were paid (and expected) to do. Finishing the task has nothing to do with HIM, but it has everything to do with US."

Maka waits patiently for Taylar's reply, fully expecting to get punched in the face, being well-aware of his friend's rash temperament. ~If that happens, so be it. I'd rather get a black eye for speaking with wisdom than praise for acting a fool. Besides, he's no bigger than my eldest brother. And not nearly as mean.~

 

[Kwargrow]

Taylar starts rolling his eyes towards the end of the lecture. When Maka is finished he shrugs with a grin and says, "Well, I'll stay with the group, of course. If the rest of you want to go after him, then we'll go."

 

[Waynan]

Raven Elk takes in the words of Maka, and Taylar. There is something wrong about LIam's leaving before he and his friends came back with news of the family, at least their remains, found and the culprits eliminated. Whether something of such great import pulled him away, or --- he and his friends got played, Raven Elk wanted to find out.

"Maka, Taylar, everyone --- I think our next adventure IS to track down Liam and discover what was so important to draw him away from honoring an agreement to bring justice to his family, or if we've been played by a real huckster, a genuinely wicked flim-flam man; for, I feel something is not right with this deal, and I'd like to find out the truth of his motives."

 

[MacConnell]

Days 212+: Town Business, Adisakti

"Oi, can I see those stones and items you collected on our way home? I want to get a feel for how way manifests through them. How they feel when I am holding them and how they make way easier to use."

As much as possible Adi experiments and asks questions of Taylar, Vittero and Raven about the items they've collected concerning what they have discovered.

[sblock=Mineralogy]Effectiveness:

• Konokoro (Divination Task) +
• Mind + Knowledge +
• Commercial

Time = 1 week * complexity / (Effectiveness + d100)
This active task is applied to the identification of various stones and crystals. The result of the effectiveness of this task is determined by the rarity of the mineral as translated by the GM.
Adisakti: 12(konokoro) + 22(mineralogy) = 34
Nightstone: 1 week * 4 / (34 + 90(d100)) = 5 hours, 25 minutes[/sblock]

GM: Of the stones already identified by either Raven or Maka, Adi is also able to reach the same conclusions. With the Nightstone, he stops after a couple of hours, deciding that maybe his head is just not in it and that he should look at it again later. GM: [sblock=Metallurgy]effectiveness: Konokoro (Divination Task) + Mind + Knowledge + Commercial Time = 1 week * complexity / (Effectiveness + d100) Adisakti: 12(konokoro) + 22(metallurgy) = 34 Calcium: 1 week * 2 / (34 + 84(d100)) = 2 hours, 51 minutes[/sblock] GM: Taking the ingot of Calcium, which was as yet unidentified, Adisakti is almost at the point of giving up when the revelation of the item's proclivity suddenly occurs to him. The Calcium ingot can augment the vascular circulation of the bearer (Cohesion +1) or be used to restore it loss (Coagulation x2). Adi then goes to see the blacksmith about adding a blade on one end of his staff, not like a spear but curled back against the wood, and a weight on the other end to balance it out. He inquired about the price and how much material he will need. Mallen thinks about Adi's request, running the idea around in his head for a moment before responding. "Your friend Maka has made an interesting request of me, as well. I am sure I can do what it is you ask, but like I explained to Maka, you will need to provide me with the iron or compensate me for its equivalence from the Kingdom's inventory. I can make the blade about the span of a hand using a brick of iron. The cost would be 50 francs."

 

[MacConnell]

Days 212+: Town Business, Liam

Taylar frowns.

"He hires us and then leaves without closing the deal?...

Maka says to Taylar:

"I hate to disagree with you, my friend, but are wrong about this, I can feel it. We should go find Liam...

Raven Elk takes in the words of Maka, and Taylar.

... "Maka, Taylar, everyone --- I think our next adventure IS to track down Liam..."

Vittero cracks his knuckles, then looks up at his friends.
"Sorry, I was thinking. I heard everything that was said."

In an uncharacteristic show of wisdom more akin to his father, Vittero offers some insight.
"We were gone a long time. You all spoke of our reputation. Our reputation was not very good. Liam could speak our language well enough. I can just hear the townfolk from days passed. 'Those kids are not the most reliable... Vittero and Adi probably got bored and just wandered off... Taylar got hungry and ate your horse...' We left this town as children prone to mischief. When we returned with those horses in tow, we were become respected men of the community.
Liam hired us at The Swollen Barrel, even if Owen, the tavern keeper, is not such a bright individual, Liam will likely have left some word with him."

GM: Perhaps the uncharacteristic behavior gave impetus to action, perhaps fate was involved, either way, the crew took up the idea and headed for The Swollen Barrel. Owen sees the crew enter and waves at them, vigorously.

"Oh! Oh. I have a message for you. That man that hired you. He gave me a paper. Come back here to the keg room."

GM: After the crew has entered the keg room, Owen draws them toward the back where he retrieves a piece of paper.

"I am not nearly as dim witted as I portray, but the slower that I seem, the more travelers are willing to talk around me, and information has its value. Your employer did give me this note, but I cannot read Centrin. I can relate what he told me. I trust you will now guard my secret. The man basically ran out of money and had to return to Boga City to return to his work. He ignored the chiding of the townfolk who had negative things to say. He asked that should you return successfully, to come to Boga City. He said that he is a man of his word. He is one of the diggers working on some canal system, whatever that is. He said that you could ask for him at the gate and he will be located.
Also, I think Minister Plascimon, Vittero's father, can read Centrin. You can take the note to him to verify my words. Happy Hunting. Go on ahead of me. I am going to retrieve some more of this fine brew Adi's father makes as the reason I left your note in here."

 

[MacConnell]

Day 214: The Note

OOC: Progressing the game due to comments made in LINE chat.

Vittero takes the note from Owen and thanks him for the information, assuring the man that the crew will keep his secret, especially since it could prove useful for acquiring information at a later date.

GM: Minister Plascimon Luminet is rarely within the temple unless it happens to be dawn or he is teaching a lesson. The crew wanders about town until he is located, tending to one of the shepherd's children who seems to have twisted an ankle.

Vittero:
"Father, can you read Centrin?"

GM: Plascimon looks at his son and nods. When he finishes tending to the child he takes the note from Vittero. He scans through the note, then looks off in the manner of a person thinking. He reads the note a second time.

Minister Plascimon:
"One might assume that the author of the note is a bit slow or simple, but that would be wrong. The fact that he is scripted is indicative enough, for most of the world's populace lacks such talent. Something I am trying to remedy in this community."

OOC: If the players so desire, all characters can have a rudimentary knowledge of reading and writing Thisidan, except Maka who was raised outside of town. Please state such in LINE or in post. Maka can choose to learn literacy and everyone can improve their skill by stating such intent in a post when conducting town business.

Minister Plascimon continues,
"The note reads, 'I do not know if you can read this, but I must leave some word. I am out of funds. I must return home to my work. If you are successful, come to Boga City. I work near the East Gate. Ask a guard to find Liam Swanson. I will pay you what is due. I am a man of my word.'"

 

[Kwargrow]

OOC: Taylar would like to read and write Thisidan.

"Thank you, Minister Plascimon," Taylar says and takes the note, attempting to decipher the unfamiliar symbols. "Boga City," he repeats. "Such a place could be quite a challenge. This Liam Swanson is presumptuous, having us follow after him like this." He gives the others a serious look. "He could still be a charlatan, luring us away from our home turf to swindle us some other way."

 

[MacConnell]

Vittero Reacts

OOC: Taylar would like to read and write Thisidan. This has been added to your character record.

"... "Boga City," he repeats. "Such a place could be quite a challenge. This Liam Swanson is presumptuous, having us follow after him like this." He gives the others a serious look. "He could still be a charlatan, luring us away from our home turf to swindle us some other way."

Vittero starts laughing.
"Oh, cut it out Taylar!

The man loaned us a horse and paid half the fee up front. It is only 10 days' walk from here to Boga City. He did not even suggest entering the city. Just to ask for him at the gate. Let's get going."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Maka stands up, and brushes himself off. "Agreed," he says. "Let's sell our beetle parts and excess meat before we leave, also. We need to travel light."

 

[MacConnell]

Preparing to Depart

Maka stands up, and brushes himself off. "Agreed," he says. "Let's sell our beetle parts and excess meat before we leave, also. We need to travel light."

Vittero frowns.
"Traveling light would be great, but we have two horses to tow and we will need more waterskins. Let's head over to the Hunting Lodge and see what trade we can do."
[sblock=Blather]Effectiveness:

• Empathy (Collegiate Task) +
• Mind + Knowledge +
• Commercial +

This active task applies to any attempt to convince another of the speaker's opinion. It also applies to haggling for favorable commerce, whether buying, selling, or trading. This task only applies to spoken intercourse.
Maka: 15(empathy) + 14(blather) + 81(d100) = 110
Vittero: 16(empathy) + 16(blather) 75(d100) = 107[/sblock]

GM: The 11 pair of beetle elytra and the sheepskin are traded for 21 small waterskins and 5 francs.

OOC: Each person and animal should consume an average of 1 skin of water a day. So 5 people and 2 horses would need at least 7 skins per day. 21 skins provides water for 3 days travel when natural water is not encountered, which is estimated as the last part of the trip may require 5 days of travel with no access to water. Party Inventory.