In reply to Nicolai Romanelli (msg # 863):

Sure, why not.  I'll add Lesser Restoration to my 2nd level spells as well.  You still need Darkvision from the 2nd level list as well, right?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Thu 09 June 2016.

Yeah, 'fraid so.

I'm up for clearing the sewers as best we can.  As a Varsovian, I'm compelled to point out that in addition to perhaps winning allies, it would give us a method to communicate and move people, arms, equipment surreptitiously in support of our insurrection/uprising.



And Ulfgar can be a very fine horse if needed!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:25, Thu 09 June 2016.

Recently cleaned out subterranean tunnels make good safehouses :)

We should get some information on Overmark's status anyway, running around in circles looking for her is a good way to go to war with a whole fortress.  Mucking up the bid process looks like fun, too.

So then a rough plan?
1) Set agents (+Vim?) out to figure out how the Guard would respond to the return of Overmark as well as where the prisoners are in the keep
2) Clean out sewer tunnels developing a nice place to hide and trying to win the hearts and minds of the Drowned Rats
3) Use the youth of the city to piss off the occupiers
4) Grab Overmark (if we have good intel)
4) Impersonate bidders and screw up the whole mess

Finally,
Maybe the amulet should go to either Gronk or Jenna.  Either the tank or the healer to keep the rest of us going.  In any case, Corros doesn't need it.

And here I just added Fog Cloud to my spell list to break LOS at 120' so everyone starts to get save vs. wisdom to break the frightened condition, instead of foolishly trying to run after them with a touch spell.  Soka....
This message was last edited by the player at 19:56, Thu 09 June 2016.

How about trying to bump off the real Caliphate delegation and take their place, with Nicolai front and centre?

Seems like the bones of a plan are starting to form. That's good. A couple points to consider:

You have access to a Fire Watch/former Fire Watch member through Lenore (i.e. her lover).

Do you mean to clear all of the sewers, or a specific section? For example, do you mean to focus on the area you've already tentatively explored (i.e. where you found the secret door & the spectator)? Keep in mind, the sewers run under most of the city (but not the rock). Clearing them all will likely take at least a couple of days, depending on what you find.

Do you want to do this with or without notifying the Drowned Rats? Do you want to ask for their help?

"Bumping" a foreign delegation seems a bit on the evil side. Temporarily detaining them is another matter.

Remember that Toesplitter controls the city's gangs. If you want all of the gangs to harass the Bloodforged, it'd be a good idea to ask his help in coordinating such an operation. If you just want the Drowned Rats and the Waterbearers to do so, you can arrange that without going through him, but he may have something to say about it.

I'm going to post an intel summary in the Adventurer's Journal notice. I like to give you as much info as possible IC, via dialogue, but I reckon stuff gets missed more easily relying exclusively on that modality.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Thu 09 June 2016.

Yeah, Nic would not have an insurmountable problem with finalizing a Caliphate delegation, but Arma might have something to say to Jenna about that.  ;)

Does Nic know the current status of Pudo?  The pawnbroker is probably our cleanest (so to speak) means of getting an audience with Toesplitter.

Those dismissed guardsmen... do we know why they were cut?  Do they have the right combination of ideology (i.e., loyalty to the city) and competence to be a good strike force for the time when we need to put hair on the walls?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:29, Thu 09 June 2016.

As far as Nic knows, at least one of the Pudos can always be found at their pawnshop a block or two away from Balint House.

You don't know for sure but it's likely the Bloodforged felt that they couldn't be trusted. Lenore's boyfriend will likely know more.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 21:31, Thu 09 June 2016.

What Jenna doesn't know doesn't hurt her...

If the Bloodforged don't trust them...



I'll let Corros have the conversation about Jenna's role in the "delegation," then.  And by "role," I mean "costume."

Please consider the possible long-term ramifications of assassinating a Caliphate delegation.

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We can blame it on the Bloodforged.

True. It's not a bad idea, just evil. Is Jenna cool with that? Not sure how the rest of the group could pull that off without her knowing. Gronk's not meant to be a stumbling block to party desires, but I can't see him being down.

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The great thing about assassinating someone from one Caliphate is that you can usually blame it on another Caliphate.

Having said that, yeah, probably not the best geopolitical maneuver for the long term...
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Thu 09 June 2016.

Jenna's in a somewhat conflicted place at the moment as it is with regard to Arma. As to the rest of the party pulling it off, she'd have no reason to disbelieve Nicolai if he was to tell her that he'd pulled some Caliphate equivalent of a masonic handshake to persuade the real delegation to return to the Caliphates.

OK, how about this for the next IC cycle?

1. Y'all talk to Lenore's beau and see if you can find out if/how many of the dismissed Firewatchmen would be willing to fight to liberate the city.

2. Y'all meet with Toesplitter to try to secure his support/cooperation.

3. You head into the sewers to do a little cleaning work. My understanding of your objectives here are that you'd like to secure a safe way to move about the city at night and/or a hiding place, and to curry favor with the Drowned Rats. Is that about right?

On that last item, I still have some questions from a couple of OOC posts back.

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I think the idea with the Drowned Rats is to head back to the secret door and see what lies beyond...curry favor by trying to figure out what happened to their buddy

Edit: Corros is still pretty much a good guy. I don't think he's down with assassination unless there's a real good reason.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:56, Thu 09 June 2016.

Turn is up. As always, you can respond to segments earlier in the narrative, if you like. Otherwise, there's some action at present to get things going again.

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Now, when you say mass of rats, do you mean like "oh gods we're going to be knocked to the ground and devoured by rats!" or "this is going to suck for a few seconds but will probably pass and we need to deal with the big bad coming behind them?"

Spell selections matter when you only get two of them...

The latter, good sir.

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To clarify, the "white log with eyes" is behind the party. The rats are in front of the party. Something else, as yet unseen, is behind the rats, driving them towards the front of the party.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Sat 11 June 2016.

Thanks! Post has been edited.

Spartan let me know that his posting availability is going to be significantly curtailed for the next few weeks or so.

If he can't post this [combat] turn, I am going to NPC Ulfgar for the first round. My planned action for him to cast produce flame (2d8 dam) w/advantage (Jenna's GB hit) and then combat wildshape into a Cave Bear in preparation for the next turn.

That will leave Gronk and Nic alone, for the time being, against the rat swarm and whatever is driving it forward.

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Had a chance to drive-by post this morning.  It's pretty much what Rae's covered anyway, so no surprises there.