You will have 36k now.

And please everyone, let me know when you have leveled up.

Well, having fallen behind, I KNOW what my level 9 feat will be (Maximize spell, here we come).

Okay. Done, and faster than normal

Done with the upgrades, too. On a tangent: Caitlin has a Web spell available, if one of the divine casters could memorize 'Freedom of Movement' you can cast it on one of the fighters and they can move through the webbed area as if it wasn't there.

Just a thought...

I won't be able to level up until this weekend.

Yes!
More XP, more money!

 So, with Keliantharas temporarily absent, how do we explain this?

That is a very good question.

Babylon 5, the best TV show ever 30 years ago, had very good explanations for every long-term character that left the show. The West Wing, which started after B5 ended and tied as best TV show ever, did that for some of their long-term characters, but for others they did nothing. Never referring to the character again after they had left the show.

The latter is obviously the easier option, especially for when Keliantharas returns. And it fits with how I generally treat characters in combat if their players aren't posting.

So I wasn't planning on explaining his absence. And in the same way, I wasn't planning on explaining him showing up again when Real Life calms down for him.

Depending on how long that takes, some players may find it insurmountable to come back to a game after being away from the game for a long time. While others have no problem at all. So we'll see how it goes.

In some cases, I find a way for the character to die, which isn't appropriate in this case.

I was only looking for the reasons why some items ended up in Caitlin's possession, including it in my post. Your way of handling it is fine, it is all I needed to know.

OgreShield? Ogrebond? Rockholde? Are these cities and villages of ogres? Treating with others in a civilized fashion?

Yes, they are ogre cities and villages. And yes, they do trade with outsiders.

Ogre libraries? The mind boggles....

There might be. You'd have to find that out when you get there.

Their late fees are large, of course.

We still need to identify the scarab and tube from the temple ruins.

You still have half the day ahead of you and can reach Rockholde in a few hours. If you want to make camp here, you can of course do that too.

I'm just making sure we're all on the same page.

Is it cold enough that Endure Elements might be called for?

No. It might be winter, but it's more of a Georgia (the US state) winter. It's not cold. Now that you're traveling north, it's getting colder. But it's not cold enough to snow.

Waiting for the fateful encounter with my new companions.  :)

In reply to Dragondog (msg # 715):

Well, I'm not a horse expert but I would believe that a break at mid day is a normal thing to do. We don't need to play it out, however, the way you described the previous events, it seemed like you wanted our reactions at that point during the day. :)

I have no problem to fast forward to the town if nothing else is going to happen.

I'm just trying to make sure we're on the same page. So if you want to stop, rest, talk, get to know each other better, and eat. All that is fine.

Yup, doesn't hurt to have a little grub before entering town.  Saves on buying ton of food 'cuz it all smells so good.

It'll take you a few more hours to get to town.

It's an ogre town, not sure about the food really. ;)