[DnD 4e PbP] Vale of Buried Shadows (OOC)

Kay

The pleasant, vague sorts are always pretty terrifying when they suddenly turn alert, intense and possibly hostile. It comes out of nowhere, sort of like being charged by a sheep.

Horseshoe

alright Snarl is set up so that you cannot help but run into him

so i'll wait until y'all show up

Aegis

IC post'll be up shortly after my hands stop shaking from my final SCII beta placement match and I take a quick shower.

Sakutian

Please don't stab, strangle, or set Kell on fire Mr. Horseshoe sir.

Horseshoe

haha

Sakutian

That's all I got, I'm not actually sure what we're looking for so somebody else will have to take the lead.

Kay

Hi there! (I got your back.)

Suggestion: We just make some bullshit up about having a five-man party on our previous jaunt, and the big man with the two-handed sword left to take care of some business, so we're looking for a local to take over his position?

Or, perhaps we heard that someone was looking for a small group for work. Throw us a bone, Aegis! I mean, I'm fine with coming up with reasons or jobs for us to do, but I don't want to step on your toes! Atherton's plan would be to round out the party again, then go check wherever we'd check for typical freelance merc-work to pick up an assignment or two, then go out and get it done.

Sakutian

I remember talk of bandits on the roads a while ago and a crime spree down in the lower portion of the city, maybe we can be of some service with those problems? I guess we'd have to seek out someone in power to see if they'd want our services though.

Aegis

Searching town for work is about where I expected the party to be, and with Snarl's own knowledge of the city it should be a simple matter of finding the correct venue to begin to get leads. In other words, Atherton's plan as you describe it is about spot on the money.

Sakutian

Alright I'm going to go eat dinner, but I'm on board with anything people decide to do while I'm away as far as seeking out work. Hopefully Snarly has some good ideas.

Kay

The plan is put into action!

Though honestly, we're sorta trusting Snarl as we know he's a PC. A little clunky, but we can make it work. Maybe he has a reputation that one of us has heard, Aidan is told we can trust him by Nadia, or something happens early on that could cement our trust, knowing that he's not going to strangle us in our sleep and take Kell's horse?

tzeentchling

I'll work something in later tonight.

Aegis

True, though in part it's to get the party together as well as the fact that Snarl'll be looking for something to pay the way just as much as anyone else (probably moreso given what he is).

Kay

Well, I hope I set it up well. Seems like a really interesting mix of characters, though we are missing a dedicated charisma-sort.

Maybe Kell or I could pick up the ritual that lets you use Arcana in place of Streetwise (and possibly other social skills, I forget) in the future. Or is that a Wizard Utility?

Aegis

The setup's fine. To be honest, the party was supposed to get their job leads from the stablemaster, but that assumed a complete party upon the entry to Fallcrest. Since we started off with Snarl already in Fallcrest and the party having to meet up with him, it just made more sense to move the job lead part from stable to Snarl himself. I think this is what's led to a bit of confusion, though in part caused by me forgetting to tell you guys you were looking for work to begin with!

As to your ritual question, you mean:

Seek Rumor wrote:

Level: 2
Category: Divination
Time: 30 minutes
Duration: Instantaneous

You sit in meditation and let rumor drift into your mind, blown in on the wind of the community consciousness. Your Arcana check for this ritual counts as a Streetwise check for gathering information. Treat the Streetwise DC as 5 higher. You learn only information you could pick up by a normal use of the Streetwise skill.

Sakutian

I don't think we need the ritual Snarl suggested three things I'm extremely interested in exploring further. Keeps, catacombs, and tieflings. This is going to be good.

Kay

Sorry it took me a while to post there, I was sorting out a few things I needed to deal with before bed. Time for me to rest, but I can check in first thing in the morning, and probably have something up there by lunchtime GMT.

Looks like I get to play at being a diplomat, linguist AND archaeologist, which is what I was hoping for with the character from the start. I want to brush dust off of old inscriptions, and translate them on the fly. I'll try not to do that while a battle's raging around us, though. That would be exceptionally impolite.

Rius

What do we want to do? The catacombs sound the most fun but potentially the least appealing to Rakash. Still, I say we go with that.

Sakutian

I'm voting catacombs.

tzeentchling

Catacombs or tiefling sound good to me.

Kay

The Catacombs would satisfy a number of Atherton's interests, so investigating there would be good. Rest up in a tavern, check out the catacombs in the evening, then maybe hit up one of the other points of interest the next day?

Sakutian

Sounds like a plan to me.

Kay

Oh god. I'm going to have to roll dice. I'm going to have to roll dice and guide the party with Dungeoneering. At least Aidan will be able to help a bit, he's almost as good as me and isn't even trained.

Sakutian

I have faith in your ability.

Horseshoe

Kay wrote: »

Oh god. I'm going to have to roll dice. I'm going to have to roll dice and guide the party with Dungeoneering. At least Aidan will be able to help a bit, he's almost as good as me and isn't even trained.

hey you're supposed to be the antiquities expert here

snarl's your "breaking and entering" guy

Kay

Horseshoe wrote: »

Kay wrote: »

Oh god. I'm going to have to roll dice. I'm going to have to roll dice and guide the party with Dungeoneering. At least Aidan will be able to help a bit, he's almost as good as me and isn't even trained.

hey you're supposed to be the antiquities expert here

snarl's your "breaking and entering" guy

Well, yeah. Poking around underground, knowing what to expect, and getting us back out again is more Dungeoneering than Thievery, I thought. I almost took Thievery too, but loldex.

I'll point out any probable trap zones, if I spot them, though. Actually, if I'm looking for 'something specific' on a perception check, I get a pretty hefty bonus. I wonder if traps count. Looking forward to using my Inquisitive's Kit a lot if I find old carvings or other such stuff, though.

Horseshoe

found a more bestial looking image you could use for your shifter, rius

like how he might look when he activates his racial power

Horseshoe

Kay wrote: »

Horseshoe wrote: »

Kay wrote: »

Oh god. I'm going to have to roll dice. I'm going to have to roll dice and guide the party with Dungeoneering. At least Aidan will be able to help a bit, he's almost as good as me and isn't even trained.

hey you're supposed to be the antiquities expert here

snarl's your "breaking and entering" guy

Well, yeah. Poking around underground, knowing what to expect, and getting us back out again is more Dungeoneering than Thievery, I thought. I almost took Thievery too, but loldex.

I'll point out any probable trap zones, if I spot them, though. Actually, if I'm looking for 'something specific' on a perception check, I get a pretty hefty bonus. I wonder if traps count. Looking forward to using my Inquisitive's Kit a lot if I find old carvings or other such stuff, though.

Far as I can tell we have some pretty good perception in the group, and Snarl has stealth well covered.

I think spotting traps tends to be more perception than dungeoneering.

Sakutian

Isn't dungeoneering more monster/creature knowledge than trap spotting?

Horseshoe

yes

it's like the nature skill, except for underground instead of above ground

basically snarl and rakash are going to be our 'scouts' regardless of situation

Kay

Oh, right. I was looking at 'spotting underground hazards', but that'd be more natural hazards underground than engineered traps, I guess.

We ready to head to the Catacombs?

Sakutian

Yep, just waiting for dark.

Aegis

I'm surprised. A party waiting until dark to visit a catacombs/graveyard. Just grabbin' some grub, then I'll have a post up.

Kay

It's going to be hilarious when no-one can see shit.

We have a WIZARD, though. So... Technically, we're breaking and entering, so it make sense to work until dark!

Sakutian

Yeah I don't think it's a good idea to make my big magical light of awe when we're trying to be sneaky haha. Once we're out of public view though I'm casting that as soon as possible. No skeletons are going to get me.

Horseshoe

Aegis wrote: »

I'm surprised. A party waiting until dark to visit a catacombs/graveyard. Just grabbin' some grub, then I'll have a post up.

it's going to be dark in the catacombs at any time of day we enter, i'd think

anyway, i gots low light vision and an everburning torch

we can use light as it's needed at the level that's needed

Kay

Okay, first time in a D&D PbP - what's the etiquette for posting order and such? I'm assuming we each get a post, wait for a response from Aegis, then continue?

Aegis

If it's not in combat, I don't really care about the order. If your action would depend upon my response to another person's action then you might just want to wait until I've made the response (and that person's told the party what he found) until making your own. It's basically about the same as exploring Fallcrest at this point unless the party stumbles on something (like finding a trap or monsters), so you can still just engage in back-and-forth conversation.

Sakutian

Am I the only one whose actually somewhat terrified by this ominous cave? Nice setup Aegis.

Horseshoe

Snarl's used to breaking and entering into guarded houses.

He's in his element with this shit, so OOC-wise I think I'll think my level of terror shall also be diminished :P