Caramip was all ears at the possibility of avoiding a civil war. If there was a way to prevent one surely that was a worthy cause. A cause that would save lives. So she decided to stay and speak with House Garess a bit more. She knew that her time was limited but the possibility of finding a way to avoid the civil war seemed a worthy use of her time and a way to perhaps bring all the factions together. She continued to talk with House Garess.

"What more can you tell me about the missing dwarves?" she asked.


OOC: 16:50, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 26 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 17.  Know (Dungeoneering) - House Garess Secret.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Sat 28 Aug 2021.

Having spent the hour ironing out details with Miss Artanix, Dominique missed much of the demonstration between Lady Gisvet and Kael, but as the lady parted ways the inquisitor joined in among the crowd to congratulate her--his reputation allowing him to stare his way past a few of the other hangers-ons. Finally in a position to be heard, he first offers the deserved compliment, "A fine showing! Truly a swordlord if I've ever seen one! I hope Mister Kael's pride will recover before our return to Rivermarch." He pauses for a moment to allow the next turn of conversation to seem more natural before getting to work, "Speaking of the swordlords, and forgive me being new to the area, but weren't the Swordlords of Mivon once allied with the Swordlords of Restov in ruling all of Rostland? Don't get me wrong, for I have no interest in our fledgling settlement getting involved in potential disputes between the Lord Regent and the Swordlords, Issia and Rostland, or however the pieces play out, but why would Mivon's offer be contingent on not supporting the independence of your fellow Aldori?" Dominique listens carefully to Lady Gisvet's response, both legitimately interested in the answer and carefully appraising her response to talk of Mivon's offer, the Aldori history, and the subtle mentions of their new lands.

15:13, Today: Dominique Telvari rolled 23 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 12.  Sense Motive Lady Gisvet Objective.

Borric peek at the exit from which Pitax made their quick escape. He wondered if he could escape as well. All of this diplomatic talk was hard work. His sword hand itched. He caught Dominique's eye. Dom seemed to give him some encouragement as if he knew what Borric was feeling.

"Ahh, Miss Hartstone." Borric approached the representative from the lumber faction. "How is your evening? I can't imagine why you'd be interested in traveling so far to chop a few trees. Surely there's an abundance of trees in Brevoy?"

---

rolled 23 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 16.  Survival Grulwa to learn Secret

Vindarn and Elena talk about artisans until Elena shifts things around on Vindarn. He grows visibly nervous with thick beads of sweat popping out on his face. He realizes he overplayed his hand in talking about this statue and tries unsuccessfully to backpedal. Elena keeps up the pressure and eventually Vindarn lowers his head defeated.

He explains that while he would be able discuss a situation where Abadar would not be the exclusive state religion he explains that the Church of Abadar is also not keen on sharing its vast resources without the freedom to operate as it so desires. Elena and Vindarn create a plan for a triumvirate serving under the high priest: three priests that had veto powers over one another's control and would serve as a check and balance to the high priest himself.

It wouldn't give the new kingdom complete freedom from religious authority but assuming the other religions chosen were reasonable rulers it would give the ruling class some measures with which to control the Church of Abadar.

The deal is that Abadar would be part of a 3-religion ruling body serving under the high priest (exclusive deal has been removed for a 3-party system). The rest would remain the same:
+2 Resources (bank loans)
+1 Operations (Church guards protecting trade)
-1 Resolve (the church still has the power to undermine the ruling class a bit if it threatens the economy)

You can either accept this deal as is or take another shot at a diplomacy roll to continue making adjustments.

This message was last edited by the GM at 20:03, Thu 02 Sept 2021.

Vaylen Goldfield and Kael discuss relics and ruins in the area but Valyen is careful to dance from subject to subject giving Kael the impression that he is interested in all of them and none of them at the same time.

He quickly turns the subject back on Kael, peppering him with questions about what had been found so far. He gives off the impression that he already knows what they had discovered in the area (somehow) but is testing Kael to see how open and honest he is willing to be. Or perhaps it is all a bluff and he is giving the impression of already knowing in hopes that Kael reveals more than he might otherwise have intended to.



Let me know if you want to actually tell him about the cyclops ruin already found. That might be enough of a situational bonus to turn the failure into a success...

Also don't be afraid of failing. You guys aren't meant to succeed at every single roll. That would be an extremely boring game :D

Anton Garess and Cara focus on the dwarves and with her considerable knowledge of underground designs Cara starts asking very targeted questions beyond "where could they be". She asks about the state of their defenses, if there were signs of breach from below or above, whether the armory was used and so on. The more she asks, the more uncomfortable Anton gets and when Cara gets the impression that despite stating this is the most important mission for the Garess family Anton doesn't seem to know very much about the details nor does he seem very interested in discussing them further.

On a hunch Cara starts hinting at making major pledges for recovering the dwarves, even theorizing she might know exactly where they are and Anton visibly flinches concerning her hunch. Anton Garess, at least, has no interest in actually finding the dwarves. In fact he seems quite upset that he, brother to the head of the family, was overlooked for a dwarf as the next head of the House Garess.

Cara figures that she can make him bend considerably if she starts making very real and tangible pledges of support in finding the dwarves versus making general platitudes of "we'll help how we can" or "we'll ask around for you...".

Secret discovered!

Andara Gisvet and Dominique talk about the history of swordsmanship between the Mivoni and the Aldori and Dominique quickly sense the incredible sense of pride that Lady Gisvet has about her swordsmanship. Being able to demonstrate it in the middle of the Aldori estate was a particular thrill for her, perhaps why she was so quick to turn a causal duel into a more serious one.

She never brings this up but Dominique speculates that she would be very eager in spreading the Mivoni style of dueling outside of just Mivon, especially as the Aldori are so well known in the area. He figures they would gladly front a lot of the finances and provide instructors so that the new kingdom could generate duelists of the Mivoni style.

As a side deal to the pledge of neutrality Dominique could propose building a training center for Mivoni duelists:

+1 Operations
+ Eventual access to special army types
-1 Diplomacy as it would be harder to convince people that you're independent of Mivoni influence when their dueling style spreads through your lands.

Grulwa Hartstone and Borric introduce one another and then Borric opens up about what is wrong about the trees in Brevoy. Such a frank and obvious question makes the dwarven woman straighten up and drop the false smile on her face. She gives a nod of respect to Borric, appreciating him getting right to business instead of wasting time circling around her question.

She point blank reveals her problem to Borric. There are plenty of trees but most of the forests in Brevoy are on noble house lands that charge a considerable amount for logging rights and with the threat of upcoming civil war many of the nobles are considering withdrawing those rights for fear of being without vital resources if the war breaks out.

She is worried that if Brevoy goes to war she will lose access to at least half the lands, if not more which would devastate the logging camps under her control. Mass layoffs, price gouging, collapses in supply chains and so on are on her lists of control. If she can gain access to the vast forest of the Narlmarches if Brevoy heats up she can just shift more camps to the new kingdom and maintain similar overall output limiting the economic impacts the war would have her on her business.

Success!


Diplomacy Tracker

This message was last edited by the GM at 20:09, Thu 02 Sept 2021.

Elena shook Vindarn's sweaty hand to seal the contract, if for no other reason than to get away from him.  Though she was doing a fairly good job of hiding it, she was quickly coming to despise the man.  This greedy, greasy boor was betraying his husband with someone half his age, and somehow he had the gall to demand moral authority over an entire country?

Politics, she thought with disgust.  No matter, he was Dom's problem, now.  And Elena had no doubt Silvermarch's new high priest could keep his fellow cleric of Abadar in line.  Dominique might have a law-book where his heart should be, but that was a far sight better than a coin-purse.

"You really should tell your husband," Elena added as she turned to leave.  "It'll be worse for everyone if he finds out from someone else."  She had said that the affair wasn't any of her business, and it wasn't.  But that was a far cry from saying she would keep silent about it.  Aksena the sculptor was a regular at Shelyn's temple, for one thing.  And didn't she deserve to know what kind of man her soon-to-be client was?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Fri 03 Sept 2021.

Akilina Orlovsky caught Borric's eye. Well if Dominique would to question him, he would have admitted that he found himself watching her on more than one occasion. He straighten his coat as there was some soft music playing by a group of musicians. "Miss Orlovsky." Borric stepped up and introduced himself. "Would you care to dance?" He lead her to an open spot in the room. While he wasn't a dancer, he did take lessons as part of his upbringing. "I apologize. It's been a while and we haven't spent much time dancing in the South. I understand why the Swordlords and Restov have their political leanings, but House Orlovsky. It is seizing the opportunity to separate from Brevoy while the other two commands most of the Regent's attention?" It was a good question, but he was having a difficult time staying focused.

---

rolled 13 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 11.  Performance.
rolled 8 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 1.  Sense Motive Akilina.

DOH!
:)

That's the ruin that Tartucchio's party went to, right? Kael's never seen it himself, so there's not much he could tell him about it regardless of what his angle is.

Kael thinks backs on the last month. "Well, there was that barbarian cairn we've ro... thoroughly explored in the interest of science. Possibly a cairn of a Tiger Lord king. Oh, and some ancient ruins others ran into, but I have regretfully not seen those myself. Too busy dodging bandits, beast and murderous fey." He signs regretfully.

As he leaves the ambassador's company, Kael takes a moment to examine any astral signatures that may be on him, curious of what he may find. People often underestimate how obvious magic can be to anyone with even a modest talent.

I guess this could be one way to use this skill to find someone's secret? Maybe? I can't think of anything better at this moment. Anyway, failed again.
16:11, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 18 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 12.  Know: Arcana (Galt, Secret).
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Tue 31 Aug 2021.

OOC: It sounded like I could accept the slightly changed deal with Vindarn as part of last turn's negotiations.  If it takes this turn's action to finalize that deal, I'll delete this post.

After finishing her deal with Vindarn, Elena spotted Kael standing alone in a corner, seemingly glaring at Vaylen Goldfield, the Ambassador from Galt.  Poor Kael, she thought with a mix of amusement and genuine sympathy.  While Elena might feel out of her depth as far as politics are concerned, at least she liked parties.  Kael, on the other hand, looked miserable enough to just walk out the door any second.

After a quick conversation with Kael, she clued in to the problem.  Goldfield was being suspiciously evasive about what he actually wanted in the stolen lands.  And that evasiveness made Elena worried.  It put her in mind of another treasure hunter who wouldn't quite admit to what he was after: Tartuccio.

She decided to help Kael get to the bottom of things.  She would tell Vaylen about what little archaeology they had done during their travels: The Elk Temple, the Tiger Lord tomb, the cyclops...observatory?  While she talked, Kael would watch the treasure hunter's reaction, to see if he gave anything away.

Smiling, Elena approached Vaylen and introduced herself.  "You know, you're not the only archaeologist I've run into with an interest in the Stolen Lands.  Have you ever met a gnome named Tartucchio?  Bald, rude, and somehow both really clever and a complete idiot at the same time?  He was certain that there was a fallen star somewhere in the Stolen Lands.  Had a map and everything, though he never said where he got it..."

Elena continued with the story, doing her best to pique Vaylen's interest in the Stolen lands.  While she was mostly forthcoming, she left out a few details, the first of which was that she never discussed where the ruins in question were.  The second was that she didn't mention Tartucchio's betrayal, merely that he had been a part of the expedition and was dead.  If Vaylen did have some sort of connection to the mad gnome, he'd be more likely to let it slip if he didn't know he was talking to Tartucchio's killers.

OOC: Using aid another to add +2 to Kael's check, and also talk about the Cyclops ruins.
17:46, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 12 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 11.  knowledge arcana to aid Kael.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 02 Sept 2021.

TIMEWARP post Grand Ceremony 3pm

Vyntis was immediately drawn to the Nesterovs. With long graceful elven strides he made his way across the room. His dark green robes were a simple but formal. He wore a sturdy snakeskin belt with rapier tucked into it. As he reached out his hand he could smell the holy herbs on them and was reminded of his time in temple. A few grains of wheat passed with each handshake. I common greeting showing respect where he grew up.

"Deals will be done by the end of this evening and I have no time to waste. You know we have common cause with to nature's beauty and bounty. If you have offer then plant the seed now with what you have in mind."

He looked around the room to ensure that no one was close enough to hear and failing to contain his since of urgency.

21:36, Today: Vyntis Overgrowth rolled 34 using 1d20+14 ((20)).

Excusing himself from the wholly uninteresting and unreasonably silent company of Lady Gisvet, Dominque begins to make the rounds only to soon come across the young Lebeda siblings. After simple introductions, he gestures to a nearby table and seats and offers, "I was interested in hearing about your offer, would you like to join me in going over some details of the arrangement?"

06:54, Today: Dominique Telvari rolled 19 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 13.  Appraise Secret Lebeda.

Akilina and Borric dance although given his time spent adventuring instead of staying up with the latest trends and fashions Borric finds himself badly out of place. The dance everyone else was doing had the same opening as a traditional Choral Waltz but quickly shifted into something else. Borric did his best to stay in time but every time he turned left, she turned right and vice versa. In the end not only did Borric make a bit of a mess on the dance floor (but thankfully his mistakes weren't too disruptive it made it impossible to get a good read on young Akilina except bemusement at Borric's dancing.

When asked Akalina shakes her head at Borric and explains that House Orlovsky does not support Surtova's consolidation of the throne. Akilina hopes that by not gaining new allies Surtova will be forced to back down from their escalation and that will avert the civil war. Borric gets the impression that she is lying, however, and that House Orlovsky absolutely wants to breakaway from Brevoy. Whether to join Rostland or to form their own kingdom he cannot figure out at this time.

Failed to learn her secret
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:23, Mon 06 Sept 2021.

Vaylen Goldfield and Kael continue their discussion about the ruins and history of the land but Kael continues to find Vaylen's motivations unscruitable. Every time Kael tries to ask a probing question Vaylen expertly deflects it with commentary about how the preservation of history is important for all peoples of Golarion.

Thinking back to Tartucchio's obsession with the Stolen Lands Kael begins to wonder what else there is to know about the region that others know but he does not. As spymaster it is a bit unsettling for seemingly all their enemies and opponetns to know more about the land's history.

To be fair the documentation and history of the Stolen Lands is notoriously poorly kept. So many kingdoms have risen and fallen without leaving much of a trace and the only witnesses seemed to be highly superstitious peasants passing down stories of dragons and fey.

Perhaps it is one of these tall tales that Vaylen is following. Perhaps like Tartucchio he has more specific information on a set of ruins or a prized artifact in the region. Whatever the case may be Kael finds he is one again unable to get Vaylen to let anything useful slip.

TIMEWARP 5pm

Vyntis was not from noble bloodline, he was was from simple stock, but he seemed to have common cause with house Medvyaed, or a least Naritha. He spoke a simple sylvan greeting to her. "We welcome your family as we welcome the morning dew and the rising sun." He reached out and shook the hand of Lord Gurev which seemed a more appropriate for him.

"Please tell me of the natural wonders of Stoneclimb and what efforts you make in your own homeland to protect them."

16:02, Today: Vyntis Overgrowth rolled 16 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 8.  Geography, Motivation Medvyed.

TIMEWARP 6pm

Vynits approached Meager Varn as the sun started to set. "Your deal seems both logical and practical in its current form. Not need to have a border dispute or an unfriendly neighbor. I appears that you are trying to add to the stability of the area just as we are. We will accept your offer."  Vynis was pleased with the progress he was making. Where was still so much to do and so little time.

OOC: You stated that if the deal is accepted as is, no diplomacy roll is needed.

The Nesterovs and Vyntis exchange traditional Erastil greetings to one another. Vyntis gets to know the pair and after a brief introduction they outline the church's offering but with a bit of prying and pointed questions Vyntis discovers that the pair are also looking at working towards an irrigation project to help bolster farmlands in the area.

Along the southern and eastern borders of the Stolen lands is the breadbasket for Brevoy. While deals have been struck establishing the borders the Nestrovs are personally concerned about some preliminary signs of drought on the Brevoy side. It isn't bad now but in a few years time could cause the food harvests to diminish. They are hoping that an irrigation project would help divert some of the Shrike river to better feed the farmlands along the border.

This would ultimately result in +1 Diplomacy as it is a sign of good will for the people of Brevoy but would also cost -1 Operations in terms of building and maintaining the irrigation canals.

The Lebedas and Dominique adjourn to a private sitting area away from the main hall. The Aldoris had known this would be a party full of deals so several side room side rooms had been cleared for just such discussions.

Talking to the twins proves...problematic. They both seem to insist on jumping in front as the leader of the discussion causing a bit of tension to arise from their side but at least they are both on the same page as to the deal being offered.

Theirs is a mercantile family whose rise to power was on the backs of trade. With a new kingdom opening up right next door they are eager to capitalize on a fresh market by carving out the lion's share for their own merchants and trading companies however they also fully understand what assets they have coming to bear so they propose a shrewd but ultimately beneficial deal for the new kingdom.

From what Dominique can tell Lander is a bit more conservative and data oriented of the pair. He seems to have a much better grasp on specific details of their arrangement while Elanna is the more driven and passionate of the two offering up charisma in spades and threatening to sweep Dominique along with her grand vision while conveniently glossing over the finer details.

Ultimately with the pair of them together Dominique realizes it is going to be impossible to get any real information out of them because any hesitation or loss of focus on one is jumped on by the other before it can be exploited. To get the real dirt on the twins, one would have to talk to them seperetly.

No secret learned
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:02, Fri 03 Sept 2021.

Naritha Medyved and Vyntis quickly adjourn because it is clear that Lord Gurev has little interest beyond the feasting table, especially not about matters of nature. Lord Gurev just gives a simple deflection that Naritha would handle things before turning his attention to a large roasted turkey leg.

Naritha meanwhile goes into grand detail about the sights to be seen from their fortress high into the mountains. Her description of it focuses less on the fortress itself and more about the beauty in the wild nature all around it. Stoneclimb is quite isolated, it seems, and once you leave the worn trail down the mountain all manner of wild and dangerous beasts can be found. Vyntis finds himself deep into a discussion about the giant eagles that are known to roost in the mountains (although Naritha is quick to point out she only saw them once from a distance) and while the conversation is quite pleasant Vyntis ends up realizing that there isn't much strategic value to be gleaned from talking about mountain goats or soaring eagles.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:11, Fri 03 Sept 2021.

Vaylen and Elena talk about the ruins and hearing the details about ancient tablets and coins the size of dinner plates causes Vaylen's eyes to go wide. Finally his persona cracks and Elena and Kael are able to discern real emotions from the man. As Elena continues to feed him juicy details and even offer to lead him there Kael can study him intently and begin to piece together the truth.

Kael comes to the conclusion that Vaylen is not here as a representative of Galt at all. When the conversation turns towards visiting the ruins Vaylen makes no mention of Galt at all and instead talks about his own personal mercantile company exclusively. Meanwhile some of Kael's advisors do a little digging into the nature of Galt and come to a similar conclusion. Galt is under continuous revolution with one revolutionary committee quickly replacing the last and executing all the former heads of government in a seemingly endless cycle of revolution. The very idea of making a treaty with such a country is ludicrous because at any given moment the people you made deals with could all be headless.

Not only is it more probable that Vaylen is making a deal on his own and lying about it being on behalf of Galt, but it is also likely that the current heads of Galt have no idea he is even here. As for what they would say if he was reported, that was another matter but given the violence that occurs in Galt under the guise of crushing counter-revolutionaries, it would likely not be good for Vaylen's business (or his neck) to be reported to Galt.

Pass!
This message was last updated by the GM at 12:30, Mon 06 Sept 2021.

The sun has set and the hour grows long. Dinner is served but compared to the massive lunch it is a smaller and disorganized affair. Many in attendance are already drunk or have adjourned to other rooms and instead of a large formal dinner instead plates are set out and people grab food as they wish.

Halfway through...

Diplomacy Tracker

This message was last edited by the GM at 12:33, Wed 08 Sept 2021.

Timewarp: 7 pm hour

In the 7pm hour Caramip continued to talk with House Garess in order to hammer out a better deal for them. She wanted to add the words "so long as quotas are met" to the language of the exclusion and also wanted to get bulk prices to the deal to add extra resources to the barony. She was not as concerned about the resources because though House Garess didn't really seem to want to find the dwarves she did.

OOC: 08:08, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 23 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 12.  Diplomacy to modify deal with House Garess.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:08, Wed 08 Sept 2021.

Grabbing a plate of food, Elena found a seat near Captain Fillinolds, the representative of Hanspur's religion.  She wasn't sure what to make of the man, or his god.  It would probably be worth it to get a feel for the situation before jumping right into the whole "ritual murder" issue.

"If you don't mind me asking, Captain," She asked casually.  "How did you even get in here?  I mean, the Brevan nobility doesn't exactly think highly of the Water Rat.  And unless that tatty coat is some kind of affectation, you don't look rich enough to get in close with any of the merchants here.  Did you sneak in?  Honestly, after seeing the Swordlords security in action, I wouldn't be too surprised..."

OOC: Trying to learn Malchan Fillinold's motivation.  6 on swimming.
10:56, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 6 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 2.  Swimming to Hanspur.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Mon 06 Sept 2021.

Timewarp Post 7:00pm

Vyntis revisits with Naritha Medvyed and begins speaking of druids. "While I know that Durids may fall under the estimated High Priest, I have a personal belief that nothing would benefit our kingdom more then having a some druids take up residence in the green belt. While we plan to civilize these lands, I hope to keep our forest healthy and expanding."


19:59, Today: Vyntis Overgrowth rolled 18 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 10.  Geography, Motivation Medvyed.

Neshka of Iron Star was a most interesting woman. Her pitch on slavery was a drag, but her intrest in the arcane was mesmerizing. Vyntis wanted to know more. "Where did you receive your schooling in the arcane? I mylsef was trained in the elven high-forest Kyonin. I started my magical training later then most but had already cultivated my connection to the element of wood."

20:20, Today: Vyntis Overgrowth rolled 24 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 13.  Arcana Side Deal, Neshka.