# [OOC] Dichotomy's Age of Worms: The Whispering Cairn



## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

IC thread.
Rogues' Gallery.

Many thanks to those that complied all the information I'm posting here.  Special props to Verbatim for emailing me this after the board crash.

Players Guide to Diamond Lake: [sblock]The ramblings of Knuckston Grizzlebeard, common miner and regular patron of the Feral Dog Tavern, a week before his death by a falling girder in the Tilgast Mines:

So, you wanna know what life is like in Diamond Lake? Hells man, why would you want ta give a second thought about this place? It’s a piss hole. My old bones sweat their last in those mines, and I’ve got nothing to show for it except a case of gout and the hacking lungrot.

You ain’t going away are, ya?

Well then, sit down. . . I’ll talk to ye about the sights around here, but it’ll cost ya a few rounds . . . the Good Dwarven stuff too, you cheapskate.

Okay, where was I? Diamond Lake, a cesspool like no other. . .

*Politics*

Governor-mayor Lanod Neff is the head cheese around here. He’s been appointed by the Free City itself because his father was a head cheese and got him started with a position at the Garrison that he didn’t deserve. Now, he sits in his massive manor house on the hill overlooking the town. It’s constantly under construction, mostly so Neff can try to outclass the other bigwigs in this berg.

The man himself? Hells! He’s a lying, cheating philanderer who spends more time chasing tail than doing any real work. He lines the pockets of his cronies to stay in power, and pays off that sheriff to keep him and his boys in line.

If it weren’t for his brother, Allustan Neff, Lanod’s body would have been dumped into a dry mine years ago by the other power brokers in town. Allustan’s a pretty powerful Wizard, probably the smartest man in town. I heard that back in the Free City, he had designs on being the head of a wizard’s academy, but fell out of favor and was forced into retirement. 

Since he was born and raised here, he ended up back where he started. I like to think he may have ran away from the big city with his tail between his legs, but, um . . . don’t tell anyone I told you that.

Anyway, the law around here, if you wanna call it that, is a big old bastard named Sheriff Cubbin. It’s no secret he’s in the pocket of the Mayor, and spends his time drinking and carousing in the various cathouses. When he got elected Sheriff, we laughed in our cups and threw darts at his head, until he arrested us all with his private battalion of cronies. Dark hearted bastard. . .

The only other law in town is the Garrison, ran by Captain Tolliver Trask. He runs about 60 men in the old keep, but the snots never bother to step foot inside the town proper. Mostly, they patrol the miles of wilderness outside of town, and pray to their self-righteous god of honor. Truth is, Trask doesn’t care a lick for Diamond Lake, and he keeps his men out of our affairs. He’s just here to make sure his precious metropolis the Free City don’t get attacked from our direction. If anything really bad happens here, the gates of the keep will shut so fast that any honest wage earner standing in the way’ll get dashed against the walls.

*Business*

The mines are everything here, and I’ve been breaking my back inside of ‘em for 30 years. The mine managers come and go, and deeds exchange hands over blackmail, gambling, and even downright murder and theft. At least that’s the rumor. It a tough business and I can say that through it all, I’m still here, digging away to line the pockets for every backstabbing sithspit that ever owned a mine.

Right now, there are six mine managers, who are considered to be the ones that matter in town. They have the chink to ignore the law, and hire their own thugs to keep order in their respective areas of business. They fight with the mayor sometimes, but for the most part they don’t do much but bicker amongst themselves for every scrap of ore they can squeeze out of the hills. 

You want a rundown of who they are? What’s the point of that? It won’t last. . .

Ah . . . the hells with it . . . keep the ale coming. . .

Right now, the comer is Balabar Smenk. He is a fat, lecherous bastard who got his start from his old contacts in the Free City. He spends his time gambling, drinking, and scheming up new ways to take over this entire town. The mayor hates him, mostly because he’s scared. Smenk owns 4 mines right now, and is poised to get more. Balabar may have just enough of the town in his pocket to stage a coup of his own, but he’s usually too powdered up with perfume and sweaty finery to think about lifting a sword.

Of course, this has really pissed off Gelch Tilgast. Right now I work for the old fart, but it may not last. Before Smenk come into the picture, Gelch reigned over this berg for years like a petty lord, and now he’s getting a taste of what it’s like to be on the outs. I’ve even heard rumors that he’s trying to get support from other mine managers to fight off Balabar Smenk, but that’s probably hogwash. Tilgast doesn’t know which way is up these days, and they sure as hell wouldn’t deal with him after the way he’s backhanded them over the years.

He’s still better off that Luzanne Parrin. She inherited her mines from her mother, who died in the Red Death when she was still a pup. Now, twenty years later, she’s almost bankrupt, and it’s no secret that she’s sleeping with Chaum Gansworth to try and protect her own skin. She’ll be broke soon.

Chaum Gansworth has been in town for a while, and keeps a pretty low profile. Other than the fact thathe’s sleeping with Luzanne, there ain’t much to tell. He does own the Rusty Bucket, and has dinner there quite often. I guess his mines are doing okay, but then again . . . how the hell am I supposed to know?

The same can be said for the other two mine managers. One’s an elf, some prancing panty waste named Ellival Moonmeadow. He only owns one silver mine, and doesn’t have anything to do with regular townsfolk like us. He just hangs out with his fellow elves, doing . . . well, whatever it is elves do when they’re together. Haw ha!

The other one is a dwarf, named Ragnolin Dourstone, who’s been here ever since I can remember. Like most Dwarves, he does well for himself in the mining profession, and has handpicked a number of spots to start new mines, all of them pretty damn successful. So far, neither Tilgast nor Smenk has managed to dent his business one bit . . . though they’ve both tried their best over the years.

In addition to the mines, all six mine managers share a single smelting house, located near the old piers. It’s pretty much monopolized by the city council in the Free City, and run like a tight ship. The chief smelter, Vulgan Durtch, is a recluse, and the entire operation resembles a fortress with no windows, and no unguarded entrances. They had to step things up a bit security wise, after one of the mine managers sabotaged a rival’s shipment.

*History*

Well, I can’t really go back all that far. My memory gets a little fuzzy when I think back to the old days. . . I do know that the area near the lake was run by some uppity feudal lord a long time ago. He built a keep, which currently houses the Garrison’s men. There are also a couple of old fences in the cairn hills where he tried to get his farming subjects to grow carrots and potatoes. I wonder how many of the idiot’s subjects starved to death!

Well, his sons started exploring the cairns and old gravesites that litter this whole area. I guess they found quite a bit of loot from the olden days . . . and I don’t mean 50 years ago. I mean really old days. Hundreds of years ago.

Anyway, all this loot attracted the attention of the Free City, and pretty soon they bought off the noble kids and annexed this whole area for themselves. They hired a group of adventurers to explore it all, and sucked every last treasure dry from those old tombs. That would have been the end of Diamond Lake, except prospectors and surveyors came in and took measure of the land. It’s still useless for growing anything but weeds, but wouldn’t you know they discovered a massive cache of silver lodes and massive veins of iron under the hills, including the one we’re sitting on right now? 

Now, years and years later, it’s said that that we’re the cornerstone of the Free City’s ore supply. Not like they’d pass any of that wealth onto common laborers like us, you understand. When I was a kid, getting a meal was as easily as casting a line in the Lake. Now, the smelting house and associated runoff has polluted the water so much, the merchants have to send off to the Free City just to get a week-old, salted flounder.

As far as recent history goes, there ain’t much to tell . . . honest folk are still getting screwed and the wealthy are still getting richer off of our sweat. Let’s see. . .

There’s an old ring of stones out in the boonies, called the Menhirs. It’s visited by Rangers, Druids, and other freeloaders. No one knows who built it, but they say the worn stone have been there for centuries.

The Old Observatory used to be a haven to some scholarly Monks, who used to prance about and read off astrology. They packed up shop when I was just a kid, and since then it’s pretty much sat abandoned. 

Then, of course, about 19 years ago, a pretty bad plague called the Red Death swept through and killed a good many of us. I lost my sister to the Boneyard, and me son’s still got vapors and can’t make a living. I even had it myself, but it’s weren’t too bad on me. I did get a pretty lumpy scar from it on the back o’ my head though. You wanna see it?

No?

Ah well. . .

*Entertainment*

There’s nothing like spending a day’s wage in Diamond Lake. We may not get much in the way o’ housing, sanitation, or any of that frilly city crap that doesn’t do any good anyway . . . but we do have entertainment in spades.

If you have the money, the Emporium is the place to be. It’s run by a lady of the night, Zalamadra, and she’s got a whole cadre of the sweetest ladies you ever saw at her disposal. They sit in perfumed glory in the upstairs area she calls the Veiled Corridor. There aren’t any veils there that I’ve seen, but then again, I’ve never asked for one. There’s also a Den on the top floor where you can obtain the use of other substances that twist your mind around and make you talk funny, if you’re into that. There are plenty of games of chance, and a very interesting freak show downstairs full of dangerous and exotic creatures. Just last week, I heard a rumor that a crazed demon child escaped it cage and went on a fiery rampage. They haven’t caught it yet, and I’m keeping a sharp lookout. They say its hide has magic designs on it, and I’ll bet its worth a few pennies to its owners. I have a boot dagger handy in case I run into the thing.

If you like boredom, you can always visit Lazare’s House. It’s a fancy, high class place with a steep price I remember when Lazare managed a mine in town, until his wife got sick and he was bankrupted, selling everything to that bastard Smenk. Inside his place, there’s no music, no dancing girls, and no fun. I heard everyone sits at tables and plays Dragonchess, a game with over 40 pieces and a multilevel board. Lazare used to be a champion, and has somehow pushed his habit on some of the upper crust. It’s a snore, but at least you can gamble on it.

If you find yourself a little light of chink, there are a few other places you can visit for fun. The Midnight Salute is a pretty cheap place to get some female action, but they cater heavily to the Garrison’s crowd. If you’re looking to get drunk or do some low-end betting, there’s the Feral Dog, where you can see some pit dogs tear each other to pieces, and get into a bar brawl or two. It can get rough, even for a guy like me, but it’s worth it because they don’t charge you to get in. Your other choice among the chaff is the Spinning Giant, but the other patrons are usually garrison soldiers, so you have to be tolerant of drunken chants and men who like to slap each other on the butt. They don’t tolerate stealing or bad manners, and there isn’t a card game to be found anywhere in the vicinity.

If you’re just hungry for some food, you can go to the Hungry Gar. The chef there is a pretty decent cook, but there’s only so much you can do with snared rabbits and deer meat. One alternative is the Rusty Bucket, which has a pretty decent common room as well.

Finally, if information of the outside world is your cup of tea, many out-of-towners stay at the Able Carter Coaching Inn. The main thrust of the business is running coaches and supplies back and forth to  other parts.  Boarders from all over stay there, mostly for short term business, so a good conversation about other part o’ the world are in good order there. Plus, if you’re willing to pay, they’ll take horses too. 

Nine Hells, you can always do what I do. You can always spend thirty years of your life slaving away to Gelch Tilgast, only to see your life get poured down the drain when he sells the mine to Balabar Smenk in a few years. Smenk pays two coppers cheaper, and you work a longer shift. Bastards.

*Shops*

There are plenty o’ places to get business done in Diamond Lake. You got something to buy or sell, you can most likely procure your needs right here.

Let’s see. . . we got Tidwoad’s Jewelry, run by a uppity gnome of the same name. He cheated my mother out of her jewels for half their worth, so I can’t vouch for his honesty, but you should see his collections in the window – whew! . . . He swears that his shop is burglar proof, and so far, no one’s taken him up on the challenge. I’d like a few of those baubles for myself, that’s the honest truth.

The General Store is where you can pick up just about any mundane equipment you’d ever need. Taggin runs it pretty reasonable, and has all the supplies you need to travel overland for a month, or survive a mountain climb. He stays outta people’s business, and sticks to his own outfit.

The Lakeside Stables are run by a half-elf named Lanch Faraday. I ain’t ever owned a horse myself, so I don’t know him well. I only met him once, during a card game, but I took my leave when he upset a table and pulled a knife. He’s a mean, sour drunk, but he takes care of most of the community’s horses, so he can’t be all bad.

If you’re looking for weapons, Tyorl Ebberly has a good shop. He claims to be a watch captain in the Free City, but he must’ve done something wrong to end up here. He has a few artifacts from the Cairn hills that he’s found. If your interested his place is called The Captain’s Blade.

Venelle’s contains some of the finest bows in the land. Venelle herself is happy to sell anything she has, if she can locate it through all the clutter o’ her shop. I took up bow hunting myself once, and stood all day in a tree stand, on her advice. The only thing I caught was a damned cold.

Manlin Osgood. . . now there’s a man I can hang a reputation on. He’s a right fellow and an able drinking companion, if his head’s right. He doesn’t bluff at cards, he’s always ready with a backslap and a handshake, and he makes the finest masterwork armor in the region. A few from the Free City come to Osgood’s Smithy special, just to access his team of apprentice blacksmiths.

That’s about it. There are other places in town to get things, but I wouldn’t recommend it. When your life depends on a wooden girder underground, you better make sure the right hands set it up, if you catch my meaning.

In Diamond Lake, it’s better to be gouged by an honest exploiter than outright cheated by a thief, so stick to those places I mentioned . . . you should be fine.

*Churches*

There are a few churches in town that have gained a following, but I wouldn’t recommend any of ‘em. The best church for me are the Halls of the Veiled Corridor, where you can tithe your money for a cause that’s worthy of your coin, and get a little bit of sweetness besides.

However, if you insist, you can go to the Church of Ct. Cuthbert, right on the center of town. The sermons there are full of piss and vinegar, led by Jierian Wierus, whose favorite activity is to flog his own backside with a cat-o-nine-tails, and go to the seedy parts of town to covert others to do the same. His following is 150 strong and growing.

If they’d make you feel welcome, you can go to the garrison and sit at the Chapel of Heironeous. It’s mostly full of soldiers, who like to puff themselves up with honor before riding around the countryside in their fancy armor. Valkus Dunn is the righteous bastard in charge, preaching about public do-goodery, but doing nothing about it. He opens the service up to the public, but no one goes except men who swing swords for a living.

If you like nature, you can traipse out in to the boonies to visit the Bronzewood Lodge. Its run by Nogweir, a cleric of Obad-Hai who likes to scare people about bogeymen in the hills, but I can’t imagine why they’d sit out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to entertain them. Trying to fill the coffers so he can get back to real civilization is my guess.

There’s also a Temple of Wee-Jas around here somewhere, called the Cult of the Green Lady, but you won’t see them much unless you go the Boneyard and visit the graves they tend to. When my Suzie died from the Red Death, they took her thin, deformed bones and washed her up real pretty. Then they stood around and gave a little speech about mortality and life, but I didn’t have a penny to give ‘em. They went ahead and did it for free.

Anyway, that’s pretty much a good rundown of Diamond Lake for ya. You wasted enough of my time, so get out of my face and stop asking questions. I got a few coppers left in my pocket, and I want to get to the Emporium to see that damned two-headed mule again . . .



Knuckston Grizzlebeard was buried in the Boneyard of Diamond Lake. His burial was overseen by the Cult of the Green Lady, and he is survived by his adult son Renald Grizzlebeard, in the direct custody of the mine manager Gelch Tilgast.

“The joys of the rich man are nothing, as they who hang around with sinners, scoffing at the simple paths of righteousness. Their delights are a pittance compared to eternity, and their rewards shall be devoured by the wriggling powers of darkness. They seem as trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruits, but I tell you: they are plagued from within by blind, consuming things that eat without mercy and leave nothing behind. Not a one of them will be safe on the day of final judgment, when the slithering darkness feasts upon them. We tread toward a red day, full of writing doom and a dread feast of bloated, ravenous hunger. Dark times is coming. Slithering times, when the clouds snuff the sky and the austerity of flesh is the path of salvation. Be ready, and prepare your body for the coming Age . . . an Age of Worms . . .” - Jierian Weirus, Priest of St. Cuthbert


*This guide created by WerePlatypus on Paizo.com boards.[/sblock]


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## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

BACKGROUND ON THE TOWN OF DIAMOND MINE AND ITS INHABITANTS [For characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) only]
[sblock]
The Emporium

Every week, hundreds of miners boil up from the depths, their pockets lined with freshly earned coin. The Emporium exists to separate the men from the money, and at this it is paramount among Diamond Lake's diverse businesses. Ten years ago it was simply Zalamandra's, one of a dozen vice dens along the Vein. Its ill fortunes changed the day its charismatic young madam seduced Professor Montague Marat, proprietor of a traveling sideshow and curiosity collection passing through Diamond Lake. The two soon joined forces, and a cavalcade of freaks and eccentrics moved into the building's lower floor. Thus was born Zalamandra's Emporium, and Diamond Lake has never been the same.

Upon entering, visitors encounter a small desk station manned by a grinning, businesslike attendant named Gaspar. The thin, balding man smiles wryly at all times, a gesture accentuated by his upcurled moustache. The house charges three coppers for access to the 'Gallery of Science' along the first floor's central corridor, and three silver for access to the lushly decorated upper floor, which features a large gaming hall, an exclusive entertainment club, and the infamous Veiled Corridor, where any pleasure may be obtained for the right price.


Lazare's House

Those seeking a relatively cultured nightspot often congregate at Lazare's House, a cozy gaming parlor situtated on the Vein's central square. In contrast to the ostentatious banners and garish chipped paint on the Emporium across the street, Lazare's exudes a quiet sense of class with a stylish stone and timber construction and distinctive crooked-peaked roof. Inside, Diamond Lake's elite match wits over dragonchess, a popular game in which two sides of 42 pieces contest over three 96-square boards representing the sky, the earth, and the underworld. Pieces include the griffon, sylph, oliphant, basilisk, hero, thief, and paladin. Scholars claim that the game is a metaphor for the celestial struggles of fundamental law, chaos, good, and evil. In Diamond Lake, it's principally another justification for gambling.

A central hearth, constantly stoked by the courteous staff, serves as the hub of a roughly circular interior. Along the ring, eight alcoves offer an excellent location for private conversation or even romantic trysts. Each alcove is a half-moon of posh benches encircling a rectangular table bearing a special built-in dragonchess board. Visitors are expected to bring their own pieces, but may rent a house set for 2gp. This fee effectively keeps out the riff-raff, making Lazare's a haven for visiting dignitaries and Diamond Lake's upper class.


The Feral Dog

Since both Lazare's and the Emporium charge a small fee for entry, Diamond Lake's poorest laborers must turn to a collection of run-down ale halls with more sullied reputations. The busiest by far is The Feral Dog, a sleazy tavern on the Vein's central square. Every night and especially when the workforces of several local mines let out at the same time, cheering laborers within the bar scream obscenities and wave betting vouchers over two dogs in a lethal pit fight. No one savors the tinny ale, but the place is more about camaraderie, bravado, and desperation than about expecting exemplary quality or service.

A gang of criminals casts a broad shadow over The Feral Dog's squalid taproom. The patrons know from experience to respect the word of Kullen, the silently seething albino half-orc who leads the motley band with little tolerance for insolence and a powerful backhand.

Arguments commonly erupt at the Feral Dog, especially during the dogfights, when betting often grows contentious and even violent. About once a month, a drunk miner falls or is pushed into the thrashing dog pit, with predictably tragic results. During the worst brawls, someone usually gets knifed. A festering garbage pit in the sharp crags behind the building is said to hold the corpses of as many humans as dogs.


Church of St. Cuthbert

Each of the establishments along the Vein's central square trade in the exploitation of human vice or false hope, and the tower-flanked Church of St. Cuthbert is certainly no exception. Within this austere stucco structure, the poorest of Diamond Lake's poor huddle in a torch-lit sanctuary listening to the fiery sermons of Jierian Wierus, a bombastic orator whose populist rants appeal to the best virtues and values of the common man while at the same time preying upon their fears and superstitions. Wierus endlessly preaches a creed of common sense, honesty, and self-sacrifice, encouraging his faithful to give penance to St. Cuthbert by whipping themselves in repetitive acts of self-mortification. His growing cult, now some 150 strong, gives succor to the dregs of Diamond Lake society and is seen as a menace by the town's mine managers, government, and other religious figures. Many claim that the flagellants seem to follow Wierus as much as they do St. Cuthbert, and it is only because the charismatic firebrand somehow keeps his followers from breaking the law that his sect has been allowed to thrive. 


Tidwoad's

Sooner or later, adventurers looking to sell loot will cross paths with Tidwoad, a cantankerous jeweler with a meticulously arranged shop located on the Vein's central square. Tidwoad's is as close to a bank as one can find in Diamond Lake, and the gnome keeps several small vaults in the crawlspace below his workshop. He maintains a collection of his finest gems in a showroom display case, boasting that his establishment is completely theft proof. A shield guardian named Festus helps to keep the gnome's theft-free streak alive with powerful stone fists and a constant focus on protecting the shop.


Sheriff's Office

When a barroom brawl gets out of hand or when visitors threaten to upset the balance of power in Diamond Lake, Governor-Mayor Lanod Neff relies upon the discretion and agency of his private police force, assembled from a collection of corrupt watchmen gathered during Neff's youth as a watch captain in the Free City. Nearly all of them were drummed out of service in the capital due to some indiscretion, but each maintained a hold over municipal authorities (often in the form of potential blackmail fodder) strong enough to ensure that they were not bounced from the service entirely, but instead reassigned to Diamond Lake.

Led by a boisterous alcoholic named Sheriff Cubbin, the six thugs who comprise the constabulary see to the general safety of the town and ensure that Neff's schemes go off without a hitch. They take a keen interest in unusual visitors and in the dealings of the town's mine managers, Balabar Smenk and Gelch Tilgast in particular. The police don't care one whit about crimes committed against the mine managers' agents, but decorum insists that they persecute overt crimes committed against the managers themselves to the full extent of the law.

The Sheriff's Office off the Vein's central square contains living quarters for all six constables and a twelve-cell jail filled with a motley assembly of drunks and maniacs.


General Store

Running a successful business in Diamond Lake means avoiding entanglements with the constantly maneuvering mine managers and scrupulously avoiding favoritism (real or perceived). No merchant better understands this reality than Taggin, the amiable master of the town's largest general store. Tables line the walls within, stacked high with rope coils, lanterns, bottles, gloves, and gear. Wagon wheels rest against barrels filled with nails or candles. The inventory includes most common adventuring gear, and Taggin cheerfully offers to special order anything he does not have in stock from the Free City, a process that 'usually takes about a week.' Taggin is just shy of middle age, but dresses somewhat stylishly for his class. He has a handlebar mustache and full, receding blond hair. He treats women of any race with exceptional politeness.


The Hungry Gar

Guld Tortikan, head chef at the Hungry Gar, claims to serve the finest meal on the Vein. He is mistaken.


Jalek's Flophouse

When the lake turned foul, Diamond Lake's modest fishing industry fled the town, leaving a wake of empty warehouses and bankrupted fishers. Some of these warehouses became stockades for mine managers, packed with raw ore and letters of credit from the Free City and beyond. Others fell to ruin and became infested with squatters and addicts. Jalek's Flophouse, situated on Front Street within smelling distance of the lake, is the town's most famous warehouse, as it houses nearly a dozen pitiful indigents fighting off destitution with a handful of copper. A rotting wooden framework within supports a lurching, mazelike second floor, where every step brings an alarming creak and the walls thrum with muffled conversation. Lodging is 5 coppers a night, paid to a massive, helmeted half-orc mute named Golot. The brute pummels those who do not pay until they flee or die. No one has an address at Jalek's - the room you have is the one can keep. Most rooms lack doors, let alone locks, but the shifting inhabitants and the chaotic layout of the upper floor makes it one of the best places to disappear in all of Diamond Lake. The halfling landlord Jalek lives in a rooftop apartment and is seldom seen. The Cuthbertine flagellant Jieran Wierus frequently visits the flophouse, where he recruits a growing tide of converts.


Smenk Residence

A corpulent elemental of corruption and bad taste, Balabar Smenk lords his political clout over everyone in Diamond Lake save the governor-mayor and garrison commander, whom he privately mocks. Smenk has wrestled four mines into his possession in the last ten years, and has designs upon the rest. A coven of sycophants and hired goons surrounds him at all times. Rumors suggest that he has powerfully connected friends in the Free City.

Smenk lives in a sodden old mansion a century past its prime. Three thugs patrol the streets around his home, warning anyone they see to go away with a sneer and the brandishing of a lead pipe. Despite these precautions, Smenk's front door is always wide open, fulfilling an old public promise that he would always be available to his miners.


Deepspike Mine

Balabar Smenk uses this abandoned mine only for storage (and, rumor has it, occasionally to disappear the body of a slain enemy). It is protected by a padlock on an iron door.


Garrison

Centuries ago, long before the foundation of the Free City, a petty lord commanded the shores of the lake and the nearby iron ore and silver mines from a sturdy hilltop keep. Today, the refurbished ruin of that keep serves as home to more than 60 members of the Free City Militia, soldiers tasked with patrolling the northern hills, keeping watch over the lizardfolk-infested Mistmarsh to the south, and liaising with halfling, gnome, and dwarf communities in the region.

A third of the soldiers are always out on patrol, a wide circuit of nearby roadways and wildlands that takes them away from Diamond Lake for a week at a time. Remaining soldiers drill, maintain the garrison, hunt, and familiarize themselves with local terrain.

The bored soldiers present rich mining ground for a cadre of clerics and paladins of Heironeous, who provide spiritual and magical aid to the warriors from a stately chapel within the garrison fortress.

Captain Tolliver Trask, the garrison's aging commander, distinguished himself in a recent war and has the respect of his charges and of the community at large. He cares little about the day-to-day politics of Diamond Lake, and encourages his men to stay out of local business. He sees his job as critical to the defense of the Free City. Diamond Lake is just something that happens to be near his important work.

He supports Governor-Mayor Lanod Neff out of respect for the political process that put him in power, if not for the man himself. He trusts three advisors more closely than any of his other associates. The Heironean chief cleric Valkus Dun acts as Trask's spiritual advisor and foil. Trask's best friend is Dietrik Cicaeda, the middle-aged Chief Cartographer of Diamond Lake. Cicaeda is the region's sole legal authority regarding issues of land ownership, making his journals and maps among the town's most valuable treasures. He and his work thus enjoy the official protection of the garrison's walls and soldiery, and remain safely locked away from the town's manipulative mine managers. Chief Scout Merris Sandovar, lately of the Bronzewood Lodge druidic community three hours northeast of Diamond Lake, rounds out Captain Trask's inner circle.

The complete garrison force consists of 60 soldiers. Militia members typically wear leather or chainmail armor and carry a longsword or shortbow. This force is divided into thirds, with each squad led by a lieutenant. These individuals have the ear of Captain Trask and the admiration of their charges.


Chapel of Heironeous

Most of the guards and soldiers serving in the Diamond Lake garrison honor Heironeous as the patron of justice and martial prowess. The Invincible One's temple is little more than a large high-ceilinged chamber within the garrison itself, but it boasts the second largest congregation in Diamond Lake, as well as one of the village's most dynamic personalities in the form of its high priest, Valkus Dun.

Dun came to Diamond Lake two years ago, after the previous high priest vanished under mysterious circumstances. Local gossip holds that Dun once had great prospects in the Free City's immense Sanctum of Heironeous, but that politics saw him exiled to an assignment in squalid Diamond Lake. Nevertheless, Dun took to his assignment with zeal, and the weekly services have taken on an activist spirit. While the garrison commander urges his charges to stay out of local affairs, Dun instills in them a duty to the villagers and urges them to make a difference in the community. the resulting tension, between the garrison commander and Valkus Dun as well as between the Heironean soldiers and the disreputable elements of Diamond Lake (which is to say nearly all of them), is palpable.

A massive wall fresco of a mythic battle between perfect Heironeous and his traitorous half-brother Hextor looms over the chapel's bronzewood altar. The holy image is lit by dozens of guttering torches at night and by several stained-glass windows during the day. Weekly services exhibit a great deal of fraternity and sober, harmonic hymns. The are open to the public, but are dominated by soldiers and guards. 


Lakeside Stables

While the common folk of Diamond Lake have plenty of reason to despair of their living conditions, they remain several times more fortunate than the community's horses, who predominantly dwell in the run-down Lakeside Stables under the careful watch of the brutal Lanch Faraday, a portly ostler prone to distressing mood swings. Customers commonly complain of mysterious bruises on their horses, evidence of Faraday's uncontrollable rages. Still, the price is right, and the walls around back keep the horses relatively safe from theft, so no one has yet pressed the issue. 


The Midnight Salute

This by-the-numbers house of ill-repute caters to the garrison crowd and anyone seeking a less exotic (and less expensive) experience than that offered by the Emporium's legendary Veiled Corridor. Its proprietess, the ravishing Purple Prose, stresses discretion and decorum with her workforce.


The Spinning Giant

When not drilling, sleeping, or on patrol, garrison soldiers flock to this raucous two-story tavern to meet with friends, chant drinking songs, and drown themselves in ale and good cheer. A blue-shingled roof tops filthy white plaster walls. A faded fresco painted on the building's face depicts a dancing imbecilic hill giant in a yellow dress. Patrons must enter and exit via a door positioned between the giant's legs. This is Flailing Felanore, a dim-witted young giantess captured by the garrison militia 40 years ago and 'granted' to the proprietor of a favorite watering hole to serve as a mascot. The attraction worked, drawing visitors from as far as the Free City to gawk and stare at Felanore's awkward gyrations. Though Felanore died from an outbreak of the Red Death plague, nearly 20 years ago, the free-standing circular center stage on which she once pranced remains the most prestigious musical venue in town, if not nearly the most titillating.

Garrison soldiers make up most of the Spinning Giant's regular patrons, with a handful of mine overseers and merchants rounding out the crowd. Most who come here consider themselves honorable, and expect similar conduct from others. They do not tolerate pickpockets, and respond harshly when confronted with a crime in progress. They hold a similar disdain for Diamond Lake's constabulary, and have made it known on many occasions that Sheriff Cubbin and his boys are not welcome on the premises. Nor do they welcome Diamond Lake's poor, including most miners. Regular patrons routinely "suggest" that riffraff instead visit one of Diamond Lake's other fine establishments. Soldiers act with bravado in these encounters, knowing that most of the Spinning Giant's other customers will have their backs should a fight break out.


The Captain's Blade

Tyrol Ebberly, a severe-looking man who claims to have once been a watch captain in the Free City, runs this small shop with efficiency. He's an absolute fanatic about weapons, always showing off his masterwork items with enthusiasm. He's also an inveterate gossip, and asks endless questions about peoples' affairs, trying to learn more about how they were wounded or why they're looking for money. Ebberly has any melee weapon up to 900 gp in stock, but must send away for more expensive items, a process that takes several days. He specializes in masterwork melee weapons, and keeps his surprisingly wide selection displayed on the walls. He does not offer any masterwork ranged weapons, and sends anyone looking for them to Venelle's, across town. "Don't forget your coin purse," he sniffs indignantly. "You're sure to need it there."


Venelle's

A redolence of fresh pine suffuses this handsome establishment, a distinctive structure that incorporates intricate carved patterns and upright logs. The proprietor, a curious woman named Venelle, makes masterwork bows and arrows, and also deals in other weapons and armor imported from the Free City in exchange for items of her own design. The shop is a bit chaotic, with various items piled on tables. Armor sits loosely on too-small dummies. Venelle has a touch of elven blood about her, and is pleased to entertain guests who appreciate arrowcraft and elven culture. She has friends among the Bronzewood Lodge, and greets other characters from that nearby community with smiles.  Venele carries most weapons and armor priced up to 900gp, but must send away for more expensive items.


Allustan's Residence

The "smartest man in town," a friendly wizard named Allustan, dwells within a charming red and deep blue house on one of the rare stretches of healthy grass in all of Diamond Lake. A small meditation garden abuts the face of the house, incorporating vertical stones and small pools of concentric circles. The fresh paint and well-tended yard contrasts sharply with the rest of the seedy town, a testament to the locals' respect for (or fear of) a man whose prowess is known as far as the Free City.

Allustan grew up in Diamond Lake with his brother, Lanod Neff. The sons of the town's powerful and efficient governor-mayor, they abused their influence and shamed the mine managers with social indiscretions. When finally they went too far, their father sent them both to the Free City, urging Allustan to seek an education and placing Lanod in a plum assignment with the city watch. Allustan soon found himself in the prestigious University of Magical Arts, where his apt scholarship and bravado caught the attention of a powerful master wizard named Tenser, a dynamic figure who traveled with some of the most renowned heroes of the day.

Tenser offered to take on Allustan as his apprentice, assuring him a life of thrills and discovery. What Allustan got was a window into a world of manipulative chessmasters willing to backstab trusted friends to honor abstract principles of balance and neutrality.

Though he thrived in the company of Tenser and his ilk, the politics proved too much to handle, and he split with the group more than a decade ago after a bitter ethical dispute. He retired to Diamond Lake only to find his inept brother in charge and facing challenges from all sides. So he remains, knowing that his presence supports a corrupt leader but unwilling to leave his family to the wolves. The same political disinterest that got him into trouble with Tenser keeps him from seeing the worst of his brother's offenses.

Allustan offers his library and considerable intelligence to the citizens of Diamond Lake as a sage, although few miners have reason to seek his services. Allustan charges a standard rate of 20 gp per question. He does this more to sate his curiosity than for the money; gains from his adventuring days easily cover his modest lifestyle.


Tilgast Residence

Ten years ago, the aging Gelch Tilgast held the reins of Diamond Lake's ore trade, a position he'd enjoyed most of his life. Then Balabar Smenk and his boundless ambition came to town. In his youth, Tilgast would have relished the challenge, but he didn't move fast enough to block Smenk's ascent, which has led directly to his own decline. Tilgast currently fuels enormous energy into building an alliance against Smenk that includes Luzane Parrin and a handful of weak mine managers from the neighboring towns of Steaming Springs and Blackstone.

The grandeur of Gelch Tilgast's stylish estate far outstrips its owner's current influence, which has been in free fall since Balabar Smenk first infested Diamond Lake. Tilgast maintains a family of seven fine thoroughbred horses within a well-managed stable enclosed in a stockade wall. Wealthy visitors and a few residents of the town pay 1 gp per day to stable a favorite horse within the compound, where a clutch of meticulous grooms tends to the animal's every need.


Old Piers

In decades past, nobles from the Free City flocked to Diamond Lake to sail upon its crystal clear waters. Mine tailings, waste runoff, and other pollution ended the practice almost a century ago, but the rotting carcasses of once elaborate piers still jut into the lake's murky waters. A few masts peek out from the surface, tombstones of abandoned fishing vessels from more recent times. Regular fish cannot survive in the tainted waters, leaving only dangerous, hardy predators like the ravenous, toothy gar that have become such a problem in recent years. Those who venture across Diamond Lake do so at their own risk.

For a piece of silver, a retired marine named Durskin will ferry up to six passengers across the lake in his sloop, a dingy vessel called the Autumn Runner. The destitute boatman lives on the deck of his boat, which smells of urine and teems with fleas and sea mites. Those seeking a safer passage must rely upon the Harkness, a ten-man sailboat maintained by the shadowy cult of the Green Lady, who use the vessel to cross back and forth between Diamond Lake and the cairn in which their order holds its services to Wee Jas, goddess of magic and death. Passage on the Harkness costs 3 sp, and passengers must endure bothersome sermons on the exquisite beauty of death and the arcane prowess of the Dark-Eyed Lady. In either case, it takes about 30 minutes to cross from one shore of the lake to the other.


Able Carter Coaching Inn

The Able Carter Coaching Company connects the Free City to its satellite towns via a fleet fo horse-drawn coaches and an inn positioned in every leg of the journey.  Diamond Lake’s hostelry offers 20 rooms for let at a rate of 1 gp per day.  Stable services are available for a fee of 5 sp per day.  Four guards keep watch on the place throughout the day and night and can be hired to ride with a coach for an additional 5 gp per guard per day.  The following chart shows travel time from Diamond Lake to other locations.  Journeys listed as “wild” involve at least one night in the wilderness, when the coach is a sitting duck for the numerous bandits who infest the hills and vex the garrison’s militia.


```
[b]Destination       Days     Direction     Wild?[/b]
Blackstone          1        East          No
Blackwall Keep      2      East, South    Yes
Elmshire            2        North        Yes
Free City           3        East          No
```


Parrin Residence

This is the residence of Luzane Parrian, who is one of the mine owners in Diamond Lake, which she inherited from her parents. When Balabar Smenk arrived in town years ago, he quickly started acquiring Parrian's assets and holdings.  Over the last few years she as watched as her closes friends, allies forged during her mother's time, fell into bankruptcy or were killed thanks to the machinations of Balabar Smenk, who at the same time continued to press her on the romantic front. Perrin once lived in the home now occupied by Balabar Smenk but was forced to relocate to this shabby manor about three years ago.


Greysmere Covenant

Three prominant representatives of the dwarven stronghold of Greysmere, many days to the south across the treacherous Mistmarsh, live in this sturdy brick and timber structure.  Greysmere imports some of the raw iron ore unearthed by local humans, as it bears a color prized by the most skilled artisans and metalworkers of the dwarven clans.  Dulok Blitzhame leads the delegation with straight talk and cunning pragmatism.  The other councilors, Galuth Grobadore and Bitris Ruthek spend much of their time representing the interests of Greysmere in neighboring communities.


Gansworth Residence
In the 14 years since he came to Diamond Lake, Chaum Gansworth has remained in the background, never drawing too much attention to himself while quietly amassing a fortune from three very productive mines. Gansworth lives in the heart of Diamond Lake, at the end of a cul-de-sac marked by a memorial obelisk dedicted to the memory of a mine collapse 70 years ago that killed more than 300 miners.  A low wall surrounds most of the two-story structure, and five loyal sentinels guard the compound at all times.


The Rusty Bucket
This popular restaurant used to specialize in fish, but since the lake went bad its' been forced to adapt to a land-based menu.  Within, green stained-glass windows filter eerie light into the main dining room, where the intertwining melodies of a trio of pipers enhances an ethereal atmosphere.  Guests dine in a large common room, with a handful of nicer tables situatied in a roped-off area beside the main dining hall.  The far table, on a raised platform overlooking the private room, is reserved for Chaum Gansworth, Diamond Lake's most calculating mine manager and the owner of the Rusty Bucket.  Gansworth rigorously pursues a neutral stance in all political dealings, afraid to expose himself to an enemy's treachery by making an overt move against one of the other mine managers.  As a result, all fo the town's major political plaerys consider the Rusty Bucket neutral.


Moonmeadow Residence

Unlike the other mine managers of Diamond Lake, Ellival Moonmeadow manages only one mine for the government of the Free City.  Moonmeadow owes his longevity to a keen intelligence and a reclusiveness that offers few chances to become embroiled in local affairs.  The only thing that brings him into the public eye is dragonchess, and even then he plays only with opponents capable of challenging his instinctive, complex style.  The blond, well-dressed elf rarely consorts with humans at all, preferring the company of six grey elves who also hail from his homeland, the distant realm of Celene.  Decades younger than their master, these elves mix more readily with the folk of Diamond Lake, occasionally visiting the Emporium's opium parlor, Lazare's House, or Venelle's. Moonmeadow's sprawling manor surrounds a central courtyard containing a meditation garden, an ostentation of peacocks, and two green-and-brown-pelted cooshees, mated elven dogs who have accompanied their master since his days in Celene.


Osgood Smithy

The distinctive "O" maker's mark of Manlin Osgood is a regional sign of quality powerful enough that lesse blacksmiths in neighboring communities often forge it to maintain competitive parity.  Osgood and his team of seven apprentices and journeyman smiths specialize in masterwork armor and household items like canteens, canisters, tools, and the like.  Osgood is somewhat coarse, unfailingly polite middle-aged human with a bald head and a walrus-like mustache.  He always remembers a customer's name, and greets frequent patrosn witha  hearty handshake and a slap on the back.


Smelting House

A century ago, local mine managers maintained their own smelting houses, but constant conflict resulted in frequent sabotage that choked the flow of resources from Diamond Lake to the Free City markets.  The city directors reluctantly stepped in, monopoloizing the smelting trade and basing the town's only smelting house in a massive fortress-worshop perched on the edge of the lake.  Runoff slag belched from the great sub-surface pipes accounts for the majoirty of the pollution that has killed off most aquatic life in the region, and production these days is more robust than it has ever been.  The rarely seen chief smelter, Vulgan Durtch, is one of the richest men in Diamond Lake, but few neighbors know anything about him.

A tower on the building's northwest corner serves as the residence and workshop of Benazel the Alchemist, a talkative chemist from the Free City who oversees the alchemical rituals and regents necessary for the smelting process and who makes a minor fortune selling potions from his first-floor office.


Diamond Lake Boneyard

The town's overcrowded cemetery used to be a great source of bodies for medical students in the Free City and unscrupulous necromancers, but the Cult of the Green Lady has put a stop to that.  Throughout the day, a handful of green-robed acolytes wander the cemetery chanting songs holy to Wee Jas while tending graves and clearing vines and mude from stone markers dating back hundreds of years.  Tales abound that one coffin in the boneyard -- no one is sure just which one -- contains not a dead body, but dozens and dozens of gold bars.


Neff Manor

Governor-Mayor Lanod Neff's sprawling manor house squats atop the hill overlooking Diamond Lake, a tangle of scaffolding, wires, and workcrews.  Protected by a wooden stockade wall, the manor houses the political apparatus of the town, including several meeting rooms, a courthouse, and numerous bedchambers for visiting dignitaries and (just as frequently) Lanod Neff's countelss cronies and concubines. Visitation with the governor-mayor is by appointment only, with an audiences sometimes taking weeks to arrange.


Dourstone Mine

This iron ore mine has kept strong for centuries, predating the formal establishment of Diamond Lake as a vassal of the Free City.  Ragnolin Dourstone has managed the mine since the very beginning, when he chose this spot seemingly at random.


Menhirs

This worn old stone ring is often visited by residents of the Bronzewood Lodge, and is sacred to druids and rangers, a relic from a time when teh laws of the wilderness governed man as well as animals.


Old Observatory

This crumbling abandoned observatory once housed an order of monks obsessed with the heavenly bodies of the nighttime sky.


Dourstone Residence

This squat, well-protected manor is the home of Ragnolin Dourstone, who is one of Diamond Lake's most responsible mine managers.


DIAMOND LAKE'S HINTERLANDS
Beyond the streets of Diamond Lake is a jagged expanse of wilderness. Wandering bands of militia patrol the region, keeping it mostly safe for the merchants, pilgrims, and travelers heading to and from the Free City. The following locations, while technically outside the town limits, play important roles in local affairs.


The Twilight Monastery

About two hours north of Diamond Lake, a towering crag called the Griffon’s Roost casts a dark shadow over the muddy road to Elmshire. From a perch hundreds of feet above looms the cat-infested Twilight Monastery, a three-towered monument to an obscure philosophy of the Distant West. Two score monks dwell within the monastery, dedicating themselves to a litany of exercises meant to perfect the body and spirit. The secretive monks hold dusk as the holiest of hours, and sonorous chants emit from the Twilight Monastery’s central courtyard when the night sky appears in the heavens.

Foremost among the monks is Izenfen the Occluded, a peerless masked combatant thought to be one of the wisest figures in the hills. Travelers frequently seek her council, but most leave Diamond Lake without ever having gained access to the Twilight Monastery, for Izenfen deigns to speak with only a handful of pilgrims foretold to her via the agency of the night sky and an immense mirrored lens called the Censer of Symmetry.

When word of the Censer’s predictive prowess spread to the miners of Diamond Lake 20 years ago, a desperate contingent petitioned Izenfen to predict the location of the richest unclaimed local ore deposits, appealing to her compassion with tales of starving children and dangerously unpaid debts. The masked mistress of the Twilight Monastery rebuffed their pleas, triggering the miners’ contingency plan—an ill-fated invasion of the monks’ compound that left seven miners dead.

Immediately thereafter, Izenfen gathered a cadre of stealth assassins from the ranks of her best warriors, and silently set them upon the surviving invaders who still milked wounds in the petty shacks along Diamond Lake’s waterfront.  Rumors suggest that Izenfen’s masked silent killers remain active to this day, citing the disappearance or mysterious deaths of nearly a dozen political enemies within the town.


The Bronzewood Lodge

The ring of crumbling menhirs on the bluff overlooking Diamond Lake is a remnant of an ancient human druidic culture that once inhabited the region. They too came to the hills for the ancient cairns, seeing them as monuments to great ancestors of the invisible past.  Although modern humans displaced the native druids during great migrations over a thousand years ago, pockets of indigenous architecture and culture remain. Foremost among these near-forgotten practices is veneration of Obad-Hai, the Shalm, the brooding patron of wilderness and natural order.

Druids and rangers who honor the Shalm and a host of minor nature deities and fey spirits (the so-called Old Faith) routinely congregate in great moots three hours northeast of Diamond Lake, at an ancient megalithic structure called the Bronzewood Lodge. Devotees of Ehlonna or the elven pantheon are welcome at these meetings, if a bit gruffly, but all other attendees must be invited personally by someone already within the circle of trust.

A small permanent community inhabits the Lodge itself and the wooded copse surrounding it. Perhaps 30 assorted druids, rangers, and scouts protect the sacred site and keep watch on the nearby roads and valleys.  Occasionally, they step in to rescue a traveler from some natural menace, but just as often they warn explorers to stay on the roads and let the wilderness take care of itself. Their leader is Nogwier, an aged proponent of the Old Faith who strives to keep the focus of his community on preservation of a near-extinct way of life and away from anger at the Free City and its operatives in Diamond Lake, whose avariciousness continually rapes the land.


The Cairn Hills

A few hundred years ago, intrepid explorers discovered a fantastic cache of priceless artifacts entombed in one of the hundreds of ancient burial complexes hewn into the crags surrounding the Free City. The trove attracted legions of treasure-seekers to the Free City (then a mere trading post), and unbelievable wealth plundered from the tombs. The wealthiest explorers became the city’s first nobility, and the Free City quickly became associated with easy wealth and fabulous archeological artifacts from long-dead civilizations that appeared to predate the emergence of gnomes and dwarves in the region.  But the wealth didn’t always come easy, as many of the forlorn tombs provided deadly surprises in the form of bound demon guardians, relentless constructs, and ingenious magical wards and traps.  The hilly lands surrounding the City became known as the Cairn Hills, and the hunt for lost treasure became an important part of the region’s cultural heritage.

But the treasure didn’t last forever. Eventually, the cairns dried out, and unplundered tombs became more and more difficult to locate. Every decade or so a lucky explorer managed to strike it rich, but even more came away from their endeavors with nothing more than broken ankles and clothes singed by the fires of ancient protections.  Several vanished entirely. Over the years, the Cairn Hills began to lose their allure, and the City fell upon difficult times.

Although abandoned cairns host no few bandit troupes and savage humanoid enclaves, two nonhuman communities play an important role in the Free City’s economy, so much so that they impact even the remote mining town of Diamond Lake. These are the gnome warren of Grossetgrottel and the dwarven stronghold of Greysmere.

Three days (by coach) northwest of Diamond Lake, the Cairn Hills Trail enters a region of steep crags pocked with natural caverns. Five of these caverns lead to an interconnected series of gnome villages called Grossetgrottel. The gnomes of Grossetgrottel specialize in rare gems rescued from the subterranean depths, but each of the five villages focuses on a different trade or specialization. All told, some 800 gnomes call the place home, though about a quarter as many “expatriates” live in the Free City itself or in the mining towns surrounding it. Able gnome wardens and gem-encrusted constructs stand vigil over the surface entrances to each community, and nongnome visitors are subject to the legendary gnome suspicion.

South of the immense Mistmarsh, the Cairn Hills jut up to become the Abbor-Alz Mountains, and in a tight valley stands the imposing dwarven fortress of Greysmere, its impressive stone-carved façade reflecting in the still waters of a placid mountain lake. Tall mountains completely surround the valley, making the citadel one of the most easily defended locales in the region. Unusually for the dwarves, Greysmere stands open to all visitors, who are welcome in the enclave’s upper markets and vast, agoraphobia-inducing galleries. More than 400 dwarves dwell within Greysmere, under the guidance of Fionor the Rude, a downright mean little fellow who invites all new guests to his dinner table in hopes that they might provide a moment’s entertainment.  Despite his boorishness, Fionor respects those who command respect, and is a trustworthy friend.


Cairn of the Green Lady

Far less welcoming are the brooding inhabitants of the Cairn of the Green Lady, a reclaimed tomb on the opposite shore of Diamond Lake itself. Cloaked in robes of green and quick to threaten outsiders, these two-score devotees of the death goddess Wee Jas honor a fallen saint of that deity with mournful prayers to departed spirits and mysterious explorations of the hills nearby. They base themselves in the tomb of this departed servant of the Dark-Eyed Lady, whom they believe died during a great migration of humans across the treacherous hills more than a thousand years ago. Diamond Lake’s Governor-Mayor Lanod Neff trusts the cultists only because they protect the town’s boneyard from the sinister attentions of the community’s most depraved residents. The order’s leader, the enchanting Amariss, is always on the lookout for new recruits.


DRAMATIS PERSONAE

AURIC (Human M): Braggart whoclaims to have won the Maiden's Belt from the Free City's gladitorial games. While the belt looksauthentic, none has found the resolve to truly question him on it. Perhaps this has to do with the spiked gauntlets and the huge arms that they cover.
ALLUSTAN (Human m): Wizard and "the smartest man in town"
CHEZABET (Human f): Emporium fortune teller
VELIAS CHILDRAMUN (Human m): Fatherly cleric of Hieroneous
DIETRIK CICAEDA (Human m): Chief Cartographer of Diamond Lake
SHERRIF CUBBIN (Human m): Corrupt Sheriff of Diamond Lake
RAGNOLIN DOURSTONE (Dwarf m): Mine manager
DANNATH (Human f): Lazare's daughter and hostess of his House
VALKUS DUN (Human m): High priest of Hieroneous
TYROL EBBERLY (Human m): Weapon dealer, owner of the "Captain's Blade"
CHAUM GANSWORTH (Human m): Mine manager
ARIELLO KLINT (Halfling m): "The Combustible Magician", entertainer at The Emporium
KURLAG (Half-ogre m): Bouncer at The Emporium
LAZARE (Human m): Proprietor of Lazare's House and dragonchess enthusiast
MELINDE (Human f): Charming young warrior priestess of Hieroneous
ELLIVAL MOONMEADOW (Elf m): Mine manager
GOVERNOR-MAYOR LANOD NEFF (Human m): Rules Diamond Lake for the Free City of Grehawk
NOGWIER (Human m): High cleric of the Bronzewood Lodge
LUZANE PARRIN (Human f): Mine manager
PURPLE PROSE (Elf f): Madame of The Midnight Salute
MERRIS SANDOVAR (Human m): Chief Scout of Militia
TOM SHINGLE (Boggle m): Emporium contortionist
BALABAR SMENK (Human m): Mine manager
SHAG SOLOMON (? m): "The Wild Gentleman", entertainer/freak in the Emporium
TIDWOAD (Gnome m): Gem monger and proprietor of Tidwoad's
GELCH TILGAST(Human m): Mine manager
TOLLIVER TRASK (Human m): Militia garrison's aging commander
DOBRUN TRENT (Half-elf m): Militia lieutenant
MIKKELA VENDERIN (Human f): Militia lieutenant
VENELLE (Half-elf f): Bowyer/fletcher for Diamond Lake
JIERIAN WIERUS (Human m): Flagellant high priest of St. Cuthbert
ZALAMANDRA (Human f): Queen of the Veiled Corridor
WILLIAM (Dwarf M): Lazare's Doorman and right hand to Dannath. While he allows any to enter if they mind their manners, there are few he considers truly worthy of spending time in Lazare's House.
KHELLEK: (Human M): One of Auric's companions and apparently the brain behind Auric's brawn and Tirra's brashness. A cynical man, he enjoys the game of Dragonchess and is said to be Lazare's equal at the game. Although Lazare merely smiles and waves away such claims, the fact that he has not met the stranger's challanges has given many a pause to ponder if it is true.
TIRRA (Elvish f): Flirtatious elvish woman fond of playing Rings at the Feral Dog. Using her skill, as well as her beauty, with her daggers, she has not lost a match since arriving in Diamond Lake three days ago.[/sblock]
There are, admittedly, some slight formatting bumps.  There are also probably some references to Greyhawk that I didn't catch.  Anything that mentions Greyhawk is, obviously, referring to the Free City.


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## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

I've managed to find these cached pages for the in game thread:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Some of page 4

Thanks for your help TiCaudata.

I've not been able to find any of the OOC thread nor the Rogue's Gallery.  If any of you find anything, I'd be much obliged.


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## TiCaudata (May 10, 2006)

Well I guess this would make it easier to start recruiting again wouldn't it?


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

I'm still here.  I have Vixtrin on my home hard drive and can re-post her.  

At least you're somewhat lucky, when I google searched my City of the Spider Queen pbp game for a cache of the last page, there was nothing.  I am a bit distraught by that; I'd spent enormous effort on my descriptive text.  I imagine your heart sank similarly.


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## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

It did, but I think I'll live.

I'm glad you have Vixtrin.  Alas, I couldn't find the rogue's gallery thread, and I didn't have the foresight to save copies of your characters.  Fortunately, at level 1, it shouldn't be to hard to reconstruct them as necessary.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

Hey, how did you recover your game, or at least a portion of it?

I tried checking at archive.com and I tried the google cache.  The google cache lets me see a link to the thread (for the Sunless Citadel game I was running) but for the game I _really_ want back most (the City of the Spider Queen game), it lets me view the Playing the game index.  I can see my thread title but I can't pull it up...when I click on the link, I get an error message that no thread found in the database and if I've clicked a valid link to contact the webmaster.  Did you experience similar when you tried to find your thread(s)?

Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.


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## Amal Shukup (May 10, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> Alas, I couldn't find the rogue's gallery thread, and I didn't have the foresight to save copies of your characters.  Fortunately, at level 1, it shouldn't be to hard to reconstruct them as necessary.




I have a copy of Sprout and his background stuff. I think it's a penultimate rev, so there might be a flaw or two on the character sheet (weight, gold etc.). Also any changes since we started (adding/removing stuff etc.) won't be there, but we haven't done a lot of that.

A'Mal


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

I won't know where Vixtrin was on HP.  Sorry.


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## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

Well, I was able to find a couple of pages of your CotSQ OOC thread.  Alas, I could not find in-game threads.  They may be lost.

First Page

Last page


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

A thousand thanks.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

Dichotomy, I'm working on finding some of your lost information.  I'll do some searching but if you could put up the titles of any threads you'd like found that would help.  Thanks.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

Here is Dichotomy's Age of Worms: The Whispering Cairn, page 3:

IC Thread, pg 3

Just noticed you already have page 3.  I better hang up my hat for the day...must have a case of brain drain or sommat.   :\


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## Dichotomy (May 10, 2006)

From the sticky thread...







			
				Mallak said:
			
		

> One more possibility that _may_ work for some people: local cache.  Browsers save a copy of a page on the local drive, and if you're clever you can recover that page.  Generally, you will have had to have not been to the thread since it went down for this to work, so it might not apply to most people.
> 
> Instructions for Firefox:
> IMPORTANT! Before trying to read anything from the cache, click on "File" --> "Work Offline".  This will ensure that Firefox reads from the cache and doesn't try to "update" from the website.
> ...




I've had some more success using this route.  I actually was able to find the COMPLETE page 4 of the in game thread.  So I have all of the in game stuff.  I'm still looking for more.  However, I made have inadvertently ruined my ability to do so when I was looking earlier (by causing my cache to "update" to a page that says the thread doesn't exist).  If any of you feel inclined, you could take a look.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 10, 2006)

I have my browser set to never store anything longer than 24 hours.  Sorry.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 11, 2006)

I have some time today and Friday to focus on gaming stuff.  If our new RG thread is up, I don't see it and need you to please point me to it.  I do still have Vixtrin on hand and can re-post her in a new RG thread.  

This weekend, though is both Mother's Day and is fairly close to my birthday.  I'll be at the beach all weekend.  If I have the opportunity, I will happily do some posting in the next two days.  If we're not able to resume before the weekend starts, I'll need to wait until Monday to post for Vixtrin.  If something happens, Vixtrin will move up to the front and will do her level best to strategically place herself where she thinks her chain has best effect.  If she gets to 1 HP, she'll be forced to retreat backward a little at a time.  She's pretty brave but she's not dumb and she's also a little selfish.  She won't allow herself to be dropped if she can avoid it.  She's feeling protective of Sprout and Lartis at the moment.

I think I had her standing on top of the stairs that led down to the green flame.  I'm fairly certain she was within five feet of Sprout, who was the vanguard scout at the moment.


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## Dichotomy (May 11, 2006)

No worries.  I'm actually graduating from law school this weekend, so I'll be busy as well.

I've got to finish a paper right now.  However, I hope to have the time either tonight or tomorrow to re-post some stuff and get things moving again.  But we might not actually get really started until Sunday or Monday.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 11, 2006)

Dichotomy, this time around I will be maintaining regular backups of our RG, OOC, and IC threads in full.  If the db here does drop content again, you've only to e-mail me and I should be able to provide what I have on hand.  I plan to do daily backups of the games I DM.  I can do your AoW campaign every day or less often, at your discretion.


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## Dichotomy (May 12, 2006)

I'd be much obliged for anything you'd care to do in that respect.  I also plan to keep backups.  It can't hurt to have too many...


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## Dichotomy (May 12, 2006)

I've re-posted all the background information in the first two posts.  Note that the second one is only for characters with Knowledge (local).

In a few minutes I'll be re-posting the recruiting thread for a cleric and wizard.

Here is a new rogue's gallery.

Finally, how do you all think we should handle old in-character stuff?  I could go through it and summarize it in a new IC thread.  Or I could do a lot of copy and paste.

Edit: And do any of you happen to still have the blank character sheet template I had?  I now can't seem to find the blasted thing...


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## CanadienneBacon (May 12, 2006)

I've put Vixtrin back up.  I don't have a blank template, though.  Still, I used the template you originally requested and filled out Vixtrin's sheet according to your request, right down to not only the formatting of the character stats but also of the listing of background, personality and appearance.  You may be able to infer the template from how I have her formatted in the new RG.

I'm not certain how to best handle dealing with a mix of old and new in terms of how to go about putting up the IC thread.  I can, however, tell you what I did yesterday with my two games.  First, I created a new thread and claimed the two replies.  I had on hand the first page of the IC thread.  I put my own originating post back up in its entirety--needed to do that if only for myself because it contained a heck of a lot of background information on the setting.  For the first reply, I took the entire first page of player posts and transformed them into a narrative style post.  I left the players' original words as intact as possible, and edited only to correct very glaring or very simply grammar issues or to make the words conform to a paragraph format.  For the second reply, I wrote a condensed re-cap telling what had happened, who was were, and who was currently doing what.  Then I opened the thread back up to player posts.  

Even though I had the last page of one of the IC threads on hand, I didn't mess with it.  I used only the first page--couldn't stand to lose all that good, juicy descriptive text that the  players and I had worked on.  I wanted everyone to have a feel for their character interaction but at the same time I didn't want to get bogged down too much in past events.

Copying and pasting my OP was a no brainer.  Took all of about 15 seconds.  The first reply, the one where I constructed a narrative, however...that puppy took a _long_ time to write.  I had a full page of posts for the Sunless Citadel and it took me just under three hours to whip that up into narrative format.  The second reply, the one where I provided a re-cap of events, took about half an hour to write.  I like to mull over words sometimes so what took me a long time could feasibly take someone else a much shorter time.  

For the City of the Spider Queen game, I spent probably only 90 minutes getting that one back up.  To my simultanous chagrin and relief, I discovered after starting in on it that I didn't have a full first page of player posts.  The narrative therefore took only about 45 minutes to construct.  The rest of the time was spent re-capping and cleaning up fonts, etc..  

I don't know that I'd go this route again.  It took a lot of time.  In hindsight, there's probably nothing wrong with simply copying and pasting your OP as the first post in the new thread, then writing a down-and-dirty re-cap for the first reply to the thread.  I might be tempted to skip doing the narrative of the players' posts.


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## TiCaudata (May 15, 2006)

Hey folks,

I'm trying to piece Fintan together again, I suspect that the more difficult part will come from trying to remember my wording for the background sections since the character sheet itself is hiding around my desk somewhere.  I'll post when I am established.

When does the new recruitment end?  Anyone hear from BloodCookie?


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## Dichotomy (May 16, 2006)

Apologies for not getting the game running sooner.  Between graduation and mother's day, my weekend (and Monday) vanished.  I'll try to get the game running this afternoon.

I presume that Bloodcookie just decided to not come back, since he was going to be leaving soonish.


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## Dichotomy (May 16, 2006)

And we're off again!

If I missed anything, let me know.


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## Dichotomy (May 16, 2006)

I've given michael_noah the thumbs-up for Nollan to become our new cleric.  Feel free to post Nollan in the rogues' gallery (linked at the top), as I couldn't find any problems with him.

Unfortunately Nollan will have to sit out for a bit until a proper time to introduce him.  However, I have a suspicion that an appropriate point will come about very soon...


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## CanadienneBacon (May 16, 2006)

Welcome, Nollan.     And congrats Dichotomy on finishing up school--no small feat, that.


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## michael_noah (May 17, 2006)

Hello, all!  I just wanted to introduce myself.  Hopefully Nollan will show up soon to keep you all healthy.  I'm looking forward to joining you.


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## CanadienneBacon (May 25, 2006)

Just had to be said:

OUCH!


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## Dichotomy (May 26, 2006)

Hey all, I'm going to be out of town for the long weekend.  I'll be gone until late Monday.  At least Vixtrin won't bleed to death in the meantime...


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## TiCaudata (May 31, 2006)

So I was thinking that the mine office was more than a little ways away, am I wrong?


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## Dichotomy (May 31, 2006)

TiCaudata said:
			
		

> So I was thinking that the mine office was more than a little ways away, am I wrong?



It was approximately 10 minutes for the party to walk from the office to the cairn.  Even carrying Vixtrin, that wouldn't take too long.  Also, since the walk was so short, it means it is still pretty darn early in the day (certainly before noon, probably quite a bit earlier).  Which means it would be a really long time sitting in the den before Lartis would get his spells back.

I don't mean to suggest that the party MUST go back to the office, but it would likely make sense to do so (and would give opportunity to insert new characters   ).


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## CanadienneBacon (May 31, 2006)

I have no problem at all with a little metagaming and (even though my character is unconscious and doesn't get a say) going back to the mine office to pick up new players.  It would be nice to get everyone involved in the game.  

In-game, however, Vixtrin would be _quite_ horrified if she woke up in the wolves' den.  It's probably dirty in there.  She'd _hate_ that.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 1, 2006)

We seem to be at a good place to take care of some business.

First, accounting matters.  Thus far you have found:
In the abandoned mine office: a hooded lantern, 8 pints of oil, 5 tindertwigs, 2 flasks that appear to be alchemist's fire, and 50 foot long silk rope
The leftover shards of the broken "mirror."  I don't know if you kept any of these for any purpose (they may or may not be worth anything  ).
In the wolf den: indigo lantern, marble index finger, and elven crafted armband.  I presume that the lantern and finger would both be left in the cairn.
In the sarcophagus chamber: the green lantern obviously has an everburning torch in it.  I don't know whether you wanted to leave that there, or take it with you.​I believe that is all the "loot" you've found.  I am not overly concerned about whether all of this was taken or left where you found it (like the shards and the everburning torch).  You can feel free to say that you did take it or would have done so.

I do not know who is carrying what at this point in time.  Obviously, the party composition is changing some fairly soon.  When they leave, Byron and Lartis are both going to let the party keep everything.  So feel free to talk OOC about who will carry what.  I think that of the things you found, only one tindertwig and one pint of oil have been used.

Second, this seems like a fine time to give out some XP.  For your daring bravery, you each get 400 XP.  (You guys faced TWO EL 3 encounters!)  Do any of you original players have a thought about whether our new recruit should share in this?  Given that it is not michael_noah's fault he wasn't in the game, and given the fairly tangible difference between being level 1 and level 2, I'm inclined to let him start at the same spot you are.  However, if anyone is against it, we can certainly discuss it.

michael_noah, I'll be posting some rough info later tonight to get us to the point where you can be inserted in the group.

Is there anything else with which we ought to deal?


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## CanadienneBacon (Jun 2, 2006)

Vixtrin, in-game, hadn't picked up anything from the discovered loot.  After she reaches consciousness again, however, she will be more than willing to carry whatever items others aren't willing to carry.  Her strength will allow her quite a bit more of encumbrance before things reach the heavily encumbered phase of movement.

Regarding XP, I prefer it if those new to the game do not share in the XP already awared.  I'm not saying that to be an XP hog (I actually assume they'd also get the same 400 XP and that none of the rest of us would have our award docked); it simply seems more appropriate to me that players start earning XP once they start playing.  400 XP is easily recovered via future encounters and roleplaying merit.  On that note, this is a DM decision, but as a player, I do not necessarily anticipate being awarded XP for encounters where my character was entirely absent.  It's also okay by me to give one player more XP for a really great job and not award the same amount to others.  I don't feel there is really _that_ much difference between first and second level, but will certainly understand if others feel differently.


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## michael_noah (Jun 2, 2006)

Awesome!  I'll keep checking back here and in the game thread to see when I can jump in.  

I, of course, would love the XP - but I'll be happy just getting to play if it's decided that starting from scratch is the better plan.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 3, 2006)

I'm all for the party as it is now having extra XP over the new entrants, we did take down 2 EL3's and all.  However if there is some plausible way that the new party members could have earned 400 on their own I'd be ok with that, but that is best decided between the DM and the new players.  

I am OK with a non-commie distribution of XP based on a reward and detraction system, in my perfect world it would include interaction and be useable by Dichotomy to keep the conversation and general post count active.  Unfortunately this may lead to an undesireable positive feedback loop where someone who isn't interacting well continues to not interact well out of sullenness.  

Furthermore, if there is an encounter that is entirely missed by a player that player should not recieve XP.  Otherwise I have a strong "live and learn" attitude towards XP where even if you are knocked out (or ressurected I suppose), you theorhetically would modify your behavior somewhat in the future.  This can tie into the XP distribution by handing out a portion of XP for the player, and by not awarding a player the same amount of XP if they continually do the same thing leading to their demise they wouldn't have learned and would thus be penalized the amount of XP they gained when they died.  There could of course be good RP reasons for the player to continue behaviors, but these should be made clear by the player ahead of time.

Overall this looks like alot of stuff for Dichotomy to keep track of, I'm all for a semi-arbitrary use of these ideas.  If anyone else thinks the same way of course.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 4, 2006)

[sblock=@ michael_noah]Since both Byron and Lartis are leaving the group, it seems that an easy way to introduce you would be for Nollan to have been connected to one of them.  Given the situation, knowing Lartis would make things simple.  Vixtrin is hurt, Lartis can decide to hunt you down.  There are very few clerics in town, and he surely has no love for the particular followers of St. Cuthbert in this town.  I presume that Nollan would feel likewise.

As an interesting twist, Nollan's background would make it quite possible for him to know Vixtrin on some level.  Perhaps he knows of her, but she wouldn't necessarily know him.  Take a look at her background and let me know if you have any ideas.  It could make it really interesting for you to come in to save her.  I'm seeing some strong possibilities here...  What do you think?[/sblock]

[sblock=@ CanadienneBacon]I wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVE how you've been bringing life to Vixtrin.  Hopefully she'll be back in the action soon.  Give yourself 100 bonus XP.[/sblock]

[sblock=@ TiCaudata]Thanks for helping move the game along and such.  You are doing excellent work.  Take 75 more XP.[/sblock]

[sblock=Amal Shukup]Keep up the good work!  I am magically bestowing 75 more XP onto Sprout.[/sblock]

You all are great.  I am fortunate that my first PbP game attracted such talented folks.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 5, 2006)

Hey folks, 

I'm outta town for work for the next couple days, I may or may not be able to find a decent internet connection so I might not be posting until Wednesday.


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## michael_noah (Jun 5, 2006)

@Dichotomy
[sblock]
The timelines match up in such a way that Nollan would have been stationed at the keep during Vixtrins dismissal.  So he would certainly know of her, possibly even have worked with her some.  Her prankster antics would appeal to Nollan, and her imprisonment for a simple joke would not sit well with him at all.  

Nollan's oppinion of Lartis would be based on simple acquaintance, which I'm sure they'd have based on your mention of the few clerics in town.  From what I've seen in the game, they'd most likely not be fast friends or anything, but Nollan would respect him as a fellow "healer"/"helper" and would certainly come to his aid if asked.

A closer connection to Vixtrin and her mother could be gained by matching up the brothels.  I believe that as the backstories read, Nollan frequented the Salute, whlie Vixtrin grew up at the Emporium.

In any case, both of your ideas match Nollan's history and personality perfectly.
[/sblock]


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## Dichotomy (Jun 6, 2006)

[sblock=@ michael_noah]I may have been over-enthusiastic in my last post.  I think it would be best for any significant connection between Nollan and Vixtrin to be largely "one-way," such that while Nollan knows who she is and likely has some opinion of her, she probably doesn't really know him.  I think this is best for two reasons: 1) it means CB doesn't need to change anything (including her own personal conception) about Vixtrin, and 2) it means that the pair will start on a clean slate, rather than having to pretend they already have a rapport of some type.

I think what you have is probably sufficient.  Just enough that you know who she is, perhaps as much about her that most other garrison folk of the time would have known, and have some basic opinion about her.[/sblock]


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## michael_noah (Jun 6, 2006)

@Dichotomy
[sblock]
Couldn't we use PMs for this?

And yes, that sounds perfect.[/sblock]


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## Dichotomy (Jun 7, 2006)

[sblock=@ michael_noah]In the interest of expediency, how about we go with what we have.  On this lovely day, Nollan has been spending it however he normally would thusfar when Lartis interrupts him.  Lartis is obviously concerned, and it looks like he maybe spent some time in a dungeon.  He sidesteps any queries, though.  He tells you that a friend has been hurt, and that she and her companions are staying at the abandoned mine office.  He gives you good directions and asks that you lend your healing to the group.  He knows that it is much to ask, especially since he is not willing to tell you any details, but he is also very much out of sorts.

At the end Lartis plays his "trump card."  He tells you that the girl is Vixtrin Knef, and he knows that you know who she is.  In a display of knowledge that you wouldn't suspect him to have (since you aren't really close), he also makes some comment insinuating that your experience with women like her and her mother ought to mean something.  It is clear that the dwarf is desparate to be playing such a guilt trip.

Assuming that is sufficient to motivate you (and we can work out more if you'd like), I can introduce you now.[/sblock]


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## Dichotomy (Jun 7, 2006)

For the time being, I'm going to continue NPCing Byron.  At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I'm going to admit that I simply don't think the two submissions for mage replacement that I currently have on the table are up to the rest of you.  Those of you other than michael_noah know that there were a lot of submissions for the initial recruitment of this game.  I strived to include the best of them, and I am happy with the results.  If it is okay with the rest of you, I'd like to wait until I find a replacement for Byron that meets the high bar you guys set (as I think michael_noah did with Nollan).

As I think you all know, this is my first DMing experience on these boards.  I was wondering if the rest of you have any suggestions for how we should proceed.  Should I post a new recruitment thread and hope for better results?  Do you know of specific players that might be interested?


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## michael_noah (Jun 7, 2006)

@Dichotomy
[sblock]After prying a little and having no luck, Nollan realizes that this must be rather important for Lartis to be asking such a favor and to be acting so strangely on top of it.  The news of Vixtrin gives him a little of a start, especially the mention of her mother.  After ensuring that Lartis is going to be alright himself, Nollan will head out to the mine, taking care not to be too obvious, since it was clear that Lartis didn't want to draw attention.[/sblock]


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## Dichotomy (Jun 7, 2006)

[sblock=@ CanadienneBacon]I've been working with michael_noah a bit regarding background stuff.  For your personal reference, Vixtrin most likely knows who he is, since Nollan was a member of the garrison at the time Vixtrin was.  However, in the interest of not forcing some rapport upon you, it seems best that you didn't really work together.  So at most, you'd likely know only relatively common knowledge about him.

Does that work for you?[/sblock]

In the interest of picking things up (so that two players don't have to keep sitting out), let's fast forward to Nollan's arrival.  If you guys have anything else you want to talk about specifically before Nollan gets there, feel free to work in out in sblocks among yourselves.

Cue Nollan's entry to the mine office.  And... action!


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## Dichotomy (Jun 7, 2006)

Nollan's CLW for Vixtrin gives her 7 hit points.


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## CanadienneBacon (Jun 7, 2006)

Thank you for healing up Vixtrin.

Regarding her reaction to Nollan, I haven't quite settled that in my own mind yet, but I'm sure when I sit down to type up her words and behaviour, something will spring forth.  She's likely to be fairly vitriolic at first.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 8, 2006)

I think your words flowed out quite nicely!


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## TiCaudata (Jun 8, 2006)

To Dichotomy:
[sblock]Any chance that I know of Nollan either as a minstrel or just general around town knowledge?[/sblock]


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## michael_noah (Jun 8, 2006)

It will be fun to see how the two end up.  I'm sure they both have a lot of misconstrued notions about eachother.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 8, 2006)

If I recall correctly, I think Vixtrin currently has 3/11 hit points, and Sprout has 2/6.  While Nollan isn't the best gauge of such things, he can probably make a decent estimate that they both look like crap.  

Anyone heard anything from Amal lately?  He's not been on for awhile.


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## CanadienneBacon (Jun 8, 2006)

I haven't heard from Amal, nor seen him on or about the site.

Vixtrin was at -4 when Nollan arrived.  His 7 HPs' worth of healing restored her to 3 HP, so you do indeed have that correct.


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## michael_noah (Jun 8, 2006)

I didn't realize Vixtrin was still so injured.  I adjusted my request for actions based on that.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 8, 2006)

Assuming Vixtrin accepts additional healing, she gets 7 more hit points.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 9, 2006)

my formerlly panamanian and soon to be paraguayan brother is in town for a week.  as a result I will be further north than I already am getting some good family time in.  I likely won't post until sunday evening.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 10, 2006)

I am also going to be out of town this weekend, from early Saturday to late Sunday.  I'm singing in a choir concert in DC.  Flying on private planes and getting per diem is fun!


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## michael_noah (Jun 12, 2006)

I think it's really up to Dichotomy about how we handle the trip to the store (and other things like that).  My opinion, for what it's worth, is that we can leave out mundane things like that so it doesn't take up too much time.  

I know that some of the characters were interested in making sure that noone noticed anything fishy, though, and I could definitely see that being interesting.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 13, 2006)

First, while I agree that there is no need to "play out" mundane things, I think that michael_noah is correct that a trip into town by itself could prove "interesting."

Second, to respond to TiCaudata's query, sblocks would probably work best.  I can't PM because I don't give the site any money.  Group emails are a possibility, though I think I'd rather keep things here.  That way they are all together, and there is no need for us to save emails, as the content is saved here.  (Unless, of course, there is another crash...  That's one reason why I don't give the site any money.)

Here is what I propose:

For those of you that are going to town, make a post in the IC thread in an sblock stating what you are doing.  I'll respond as needed to smooth out any "interesting" things that might happen.  We can work this through in a manner only as detailed as necessary.

E.g. You make a post saying something generic about how you want to go to X and get Y and perhaps other things important to that, such as whether you are being sneaky or trying to look nonchalant, etc.  I'll respond either generically that you do/don't find Y, and maybe I'll note that something "interesting" happened with which you need to deal.

Make sense?

For those of you staying behind, feel free to roleplay among yourselves in the meantime (in fact I highly encourage it).  In this case, I'll leave it to your personal discretion whether you want to use sblocks for such conversation, depending upon whether you want the others to "eavesdrop."

Does this work for all of you?


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## Guest 11456 (Jun 14, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> For the time being, I'm going to continue NPCing Byron.  At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I'm going to admit that I simply don't think the two submissions for mage replacement that I currently have on the table are up to the rest of you.  Those of you other than michael_noah know that there were a lot of submissions for the initial recruitment of this game.  I strived to include the best of them, and I am happy with the results.  If it is okay with the rest of you, I'd like to wait until I find a replacement for Byron that meets the high bar you guys set (as I think michael_noah did with Nollan).
> 
> As I think you all know, this is my first DMing experience on these boards.  I was wondering if the rest of you have any suggestions for how we should proceed.  Should I post a new recruitment thread and hope for better results?  Do you know of specific players that might be interested?




Thanx for not leaving us hanging...


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## CanadienneBacon (Jun 15, 2006)

My husband left this morning on deployment.  Apologies for not paying attention to our game since last Friday.  I'm back now.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 16, 2006)

I'll be running a marathon on saturday, so I'm not likely to be posting from friday not morning until sunday sometime


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## Amal Shukup (Jun 18, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> Anyone heard anything from Amal lately?  He's not been on for awhile.




Hey folks - Sorry about that. I was away from the In Campaign board for just a bit, but pretty much away from the OOC discussion altogether since the boards crashed.

No one particular reason - a bit of a 'rush' business wise combined with an almost crushing despondency after the boards ate our game. ALTHOUGH, I'm really quite pleased by how well it has been recovered.

But I am here!  

A'Mal


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## Amal Shukup (Jun 18, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> We seem to be at a good place to take care of some business.
> 
> First, accounting matters.  Thus far you have found:
> In the abandoned mine office: a hooded lantern, 8 pints of oil, 5 tindertwigs, 2 flasks that appear to be alchemist's fire, and 50 foot long silk rope​





Let us do please divvy this up. The Alchemists Fire would have served well against those bugs, but I had completely forgotten that we had it!

Sprout would be interested in a Flask of Oil and an Alchemists Fire if there are no objections... I seem to recall that  Lartis had the Lantern...



			
				Dichotomy said:
			
		

> I think that of the things you found, only one tindertwig and one pint of oil have been used.




Actually, the Tindertwig that was used was from Sprout's starting equipment (he's down t 4 of the 5 initially purchased...​


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## CanadienneBacon (Jun 20, 2006)

Thank you for a very fine gaming experience.  I'm sorry, but something totally unrelated to this particular game has made it untenable for me to continue playing (or DMing, for that matter) on this or any other website.  My apologies for my sudden withdrawl.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 20, 2006)

CanadienneBacon said:
			
		

> Thank you for a very fine gaming experience.  I'm sorry, but something totally unrelated to this particular game has made it untenable for me to continue playing (or DMing, for that matter) on this or any other website.  My apologies for my sudden withdrawl.



I am incredibly sorry you can't be with us anymore.  It was a pleasure having you.  I hope that everything goes well for you.


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## Dichotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

My apologies to the three of you that are still here for my lack of posting the last few days.  Things became somewhat hectic, and then I became indecisive as to what to do about our diminishing players.

For the sake of full disclosure, I want to note right away that I am currently less enamoured with the PbP format than I was at the beginning.  I had suspected that we'd get a least a little further along before the game degenerated.  So I am disappointed in how things turned out, and I am somewhat apprehensive about the future of this game.

That being said, I am still willing to continue if we are willing to recommit to the game.  So, the first question is whether you three have that desire.  If you are sort of "iffy" about it, I'd rather know.  I think I'd prefer not playing over playing if you aren't pumped about it.  And don't think that you need to hang on for the sake of the other three of us.  I am willing do something (though I don't yet know what) with whatever members want to continue.

Which leads to the second question...  What should we do if we decide to continue?  I can continue NPCing Byron and add Vixtrin to that, but I think that would be unwise.  I MIGHT be able to tailor the adventure for only the three of you.  We can try recruiting again.  My last re-recruitment effort didn't go well (and it seems that I may have gained some ill will from it; my fault probably).  Do you three have thoughts on that?

So, to sum up, do you each really want to keep playing, and if so, what should we do about it?


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## Amal Shukup (Jun 24, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> My apologies to the three of you that are still here for my lack of posting the last few days.  Things became somewhat hectic, and then I became indecisive as to what to do about our diminishing players.




I understand - that indecisiveness has kept me from posting as well.



			
				Dichotomy said:
			
		

> So, the first question is whether you three have that desire.  If you are sort of "iffy" about it, I'd rather know.




I AM iffy. This was my first PbP game (after 20+ years of gaming and several years on this board). I was very pumped up in the beginning, and things were fun. I felt invested in what was going on. Then the game went up in smoke when the boards went down - which really took the wind out of my sails. Then the game was reconstituted, but it never seemed to regain it's stride...

And at this point, we're effectively looking at starting over. I'm quite discouraged. I can only imagine that it's about 100% worse for you (the DM). I know I'd be significantly vexxed.

_And I'm not saying that I'm angry at the departing players - life is life and things come up, I get that. Happens in my table top game too. 
_
I guess what it boils down to is: If PbP means reconstituting the party from scratch every two or three encounters then it's not a format that's going to work for me. Then again, I've exactly one sample to base that concern on. Perhaps this is really unusual and I ought to give it another shot. I'm very open to convincing on that front. 

Also, it's not like I'm going anywhere, and I really like Sprout; so IF this game IS going to continue, then I'm perfectly willing to give it another shot (and I can commit to holding up Sprout's end). If it isn't, then this is the best time to end it.



			
				Dichotomy said:
			
		

> Which leads to the second question...  What should we do if we decide to continue?  I can continue NPCing Byron and add Vixtrin to that, but I think that would be unwise.




I agree. One NPC can be useful (good for nudging the PCs), but too many and it starts to feel as if the DM is playing a game with himself and the PCs are just spectating.



			
				Dichotomy said:
			
		

> I MIGHT be able to tailor the adventure for only the three of you.




In my home game, I'd continue with the PCs I have and perhaps one NPC (adjusting encounters as appropriate) - Still a party of four - which should be perfectly viable.

A'Mal


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## Dichotomy (Jun 25, 2006)

In any case, whatever we decide will have to be put on hold for a bit.  I will be gone from Monday until the 6th or 7th.  You should, of course, feel free to discuss things in my absence.


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## TiCaudata (Jun 26, 2006)

Maybe try another advertisment posting in your absence?  Maybe see if any of Bacon's players are looking to transition in?

I'm hanging around for as long as you keep writing responses to dialog...


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## Dichotomy (Jul 7, 2006)

Well, I'm back from my trip, and more or less readjusted to sleeping at the proper times.

Amal, your feelings on the matter seem very similar to my own.  I have only been in a few games here.  In two of them, the DM simply vanished in the middle of what seemed to be awesome games.  One is going rather slowly.  The last was supposed to begin last October or something, and has only now actually started (and is going slowly).

That was actually the reason why I wanted to start a game myself.  I thought that if I carefully picked players, we'd get a game that wouldn't dissolve.  Alas, stuff comes up even with good players.

So, it looks like there is still some interest in continuing.  michael_noah, do you have any opinion (assuming you are still around)?


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## michael_noah (Jul 10, 2006)

I'm absolutely still here.  Sorry for not chiming in earlier, I'd been checking the game thread to see if anything was happening,  and shirked my responsibility for this one.

I'd second (I think this has been proposed) that having 1 NPC, and running with a 4 PC party would probably be the best bet at this point.  If some good candidate comes along, it leaves open the option of adding them in as well.


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## Dichotomy (Jul 10, 2006)

Let's try four characters then.  That means I/we need to decide whether I'll NPC Vixtrin or Byron.  I'd like any input you three have on the matter, but here are my thoughts:

I've already been playing Byron, however I've been intentionally keeping him on the sidelines.  I could easily see that becoming problematic in the future (since Byron is both quite smart and fairly sociable).  Vixtrin, on the other hand, is also fairly smart, but not brilliant, and there would be no way that she would try to assert any leadership role within the group.  I think the flavor Vixtrin adds to the group presents a more vivid dynamic, however I'm not sure whether that quality would be good or bad for an NPC.  Mechanically, Vixtrin would be easier for me and there would be no conflicts-of-interest when preparing spells for the day.  Regardless of whether Byron on Vixtrin departs, there would be a loss of a party niche, and I'm not certain which would be easier to do without.

In the alternative, we could decide to lose both of them and I could make a new NPC.  However, that would require the creation of yet another introduction to the party, and I don't know whether it would answer any of the questions that remain.

Thoughts?


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## Amal Shukup (Jul 11, 2006)

Dichotomy said:
			
		

> Mechanically, Vixtrin would be easier for me and there would be no conflicts-of-interest when preparing spells for the day.  Regardless of whether Byron on Vixtrin departs, there would be a loss of a party niche, and I'm not certain which would be easier to do without.




It certainly makes sense to NPC the less 'social' NPC, simply to avoid having to take 'front and centre' too much. Mechanics is a factor too (spell prep and the like).

Leaves us with a Bard, a Cleric, a Rogue and a Fighter. That's not BAD. Maybe we're a bit too strong on 'Interpersonal' and 'Utility Infielder' type abilities and a bit soft on offensive Magic, but purely mechanically, it's the sort of thing that could be solved with a Wand of Magic Missiles or something...   

A new NPC might provide more magical oomph, but cost us heavily in the melee combat department...  Ultimately it depends on what's coming up. 

A'Mal


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## michael_noah (Jul 12, 2006)

I'd agree with what I think you're both saying.  Vixtrin is the best bet to keep, as losing either means we're missing something from our party, but keeping Vixtrin has added benefits.  A bard, a cleric, and a rogue should be able to solve almost all problems that might normally require a "wizardly" solution.


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## Dichotomy (Jul 13, 2006)

Alright.  I'm going to presume that TiCaudata is on board.  Let's get this thing moving again!

There will likely be some minor things still, but we can handle those as they arise.


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## Dichotomy (Jul 29, 2006)

Hey guys.  Sorry for not posting yet.  I've been forced to stay in rural Minnesota for the next couple of days.  The only access I have is terribly slow dialup on a really old PC.  I haven't yet been able to get my laptop to work with the ISP here, so I don't have online access to my maps and such.

If I have time, I'll try to figure something out, but in the meantime, the game may need to be on hold for a couple of days.


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## TiCaudata (Aug 2, 2006)

I'm out of town for work the next couple days, I'll keep firing until it's dead or reason says run.


edit:  huh I guess it didn't matter


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## Dichotomy (Aug 4, 2006)

TiCaudata said:
			
		

> I'm out of town for work the next couple days, I'll keep firing until it's dead or reason says run.
> 
> 
> edit:  huh I guess it didn't matter



Hmmm...


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## Dichotomy (Aug 10, 2006)

Alas for the bitter end.  Swarms are tough.

I'd like to know what you all would like to do now.


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## Tonks (Aug 10, 2006)

[sblock]Upon further review I realize I may have greatly overstepped myself with my first post and do offer my apologies and retract the offer until such time as it may be resubmitted with more tact.[/sblock]


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## michael_noah (Aug 10, 2006)

I for one would like to throttle the game designer that came up with swarms!

Also.

Who knew Nollan was such a bad swimmer ;-)


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## TiCaudata (Aug 11, 2006)

Well we have a couple choices:

One would be walk away since we're dead without too much prospect of coming back (I suppose my family might assume I'm dead and put the word out at which time Lartis or Byron would explain where we were and a party might be sent to find us and bring us back, but my family wouldn't likely pay for reviving anyone other than me, and maybe not even me).  

Or we could try it again by being the rescue party.  

Third, we could just start over with a new recruitment and see how many people apply.  This option shouldn't garuntee any spots to past players, if good resumes are sent out they win.


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## Amal Shukup (Aug 17, 2006)

michael_noah said:
			
		

> Who knew Nollan was such a bad swimmer ;-)




Ouch. I hadn't caught that aspect from the write up...

As to how to move forward...

I'm still very much crazy busy (I just added a 20 hour per week teaching/advising contract to my existing workload), so starting again with a new character would probably not be the best idea for me right now.

So I shall bow out at this time. It was generally fun; don't sweat the TPK - They Happen. Certain kinds of encounters are simply dangerous. As they should be. 

Best of luck to y'all!

A'Mal


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