This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 18:45, Wed 02 June 2021.

Re: Bless boost...good point, I forgot about that. Yes. A Morale boost would apply.

Enough time has now transpired for all lingering spell effects to have subsided.

Heads-up: I will be tent camping with my family 6-8 Jun, enjoying the great outdoors. Thanks!

Enjoy DM

This will give Vaxfar time to formulate a cutting riposte to the dwarf's barbed wit.

Hopefully it isn't so cutting that it cuts the rope. :)

A good solid elven reply and it sounds like the makings of a new spell, Silence of the Dwarves.

Back from a short but great tent camping trip with the family.

We did some light bouldering in a falls area, swam in the river, dozed in hammocks, saw wildlife (numerous people-curious deer, a lone sneaking fox, swimming snakes, and a turtle jammed between two rocks), saved a turtle, and in general, just a had a great time away from devices, internet, and all distractions.

It had been too long since our last camping trip (~Oct 2019?) and we're excited to get back out there again in a few months.

At any rate, will review game thread and update shortly.

Thanks! Shane

Sounds wonderful, glad you got some down time, and nature time.  Glad you saved the turtle!

I just realized what this means in conjunction with the game.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Vaxfar is the turtle!

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Wish we thought to name the turtle Vaxfar. Would have been very appropriate.

My daughter named the turtle Swimmigan.

Actual documentary evidence of Swimmigan Vaxfar Leaf's rescue operation:


This message was last edited by the GM at 15:05, Wed 09 June 2021.

Question: It is night time when the party emerges from the Fane. Is the intent to travel in darkness, through the slot canyon to get back to where the party left the mules ~48 hours ago?

The party had to do some bouldering to get out of the slot canyon and had the benefit of light last time. They don't now. Is the plan to carry torches, lanterns, etc.? for the trip back?

It's probably about 6 hours until dawn.

Ovo's player sent me a private message today and let me know he had a stroke a couple of months back and has been in rehab/recovery mode, still working through some cognitive issues, but slowly regaining lost abilities. I thanked him for the message, for the great job he did bringing life to the character, and wished him well (on behalf of myself and all players, really) on his road to wellness.

BREAK

Dealing with ongoing HVAC/electrical issues at Casa Shane.

Afternoon temperatures have been in the low 90s (F) with relative humidities in the 80-90 percent range and this is forecast to be the norm for the next few days. We have fans for all our rooms and portable AC units for our living room and master bedroom, which is giving us some relief, but less than ideal conditions for sure.

These issues started last Saturday and we initially thought something was wrong with one of our HVAC units (exterior heat pump condenser) tripping the main circuit breaker.
Of course we discovered this issue hours before we we're preparing to leave for our first camping trip since October 2019...perfect timing.

At any rate, called and made an appointment to have an HVAC tech come out and diagnose/fix the issue. HVAC tech came Wednesday, ran some diagnostics--not an HVAC issue--possible failing fuse/circuit breaker in the house's main electrical panel. But, HVAC tech isn't an electrician...so, I needed to hire an electrician.

Called an electrician late Wednesday afternoon, of course, they were already out for the day. Left a message. Called again this morning. First availability is Monday morning, but was placed on standing call list, basically if anyone cancels between now and then they will fit us in.

It's now Friday evening, so it's a safe bet to assume electrician won't be here until Monday.

So, we're in survival mode for the next few days, staying hydrated and trying to keep as cool as possible. Hopefully the electrician will be able to fix the issue on Monday and bring our central air (heat pump) back online same day, not have to order parts, etc.

Home ownership is grand!

My wife can tell you that I get extremely, unhealthily frustrated when things don't work.

When I flip a switch, I want something to happen, damnit!

I admire your apparent calmness.

Hope Ovo's player gets well soon.  He's really going the extra distance to avoid following Eoni's directions.

When it's super hot and muggy around here, although not that often, I find an air conditioned department store to browse.

Hopefully, the fact that he (Ovo) got in contact with you means his condition is improving.

My unhealthy habit is analyzing/obsessing/trying to understand processes I don't know much about. I don't really get frustrated by things not working. I get frustrated not knowing answers to the how, when, why, what, where, who, etc. and will dive in to learn as much as I can so I understand what's going on. But, just enough to know, not enough to attempt to do it myself in my cases.

I obsess/worry/fret...not so much get frustrated, if that makes sense. I wouldn't say I am calm about it. My mind is unhealthily whirling with all the different scenarios that may play out these next few days.

The good news is the window AC unit in our master bedroom a friend loaned me worked wonders over night and the portable AC unit on wheels (cools 300 sq feet) we bought yesterday afternoon to get us through the weekend, has made the living room/kitchen area bearable to hang out in.

At this point we at least have two rooms we can shelter in during the hottest parts of the day (1 - 9 pm). The other rooms are okay with a fan on in the morning until about 1 pm, when it just gets too unbearable.

Yeah. I hope he gets well soon as well. Strokes are tough. My father-in-law, albeit likely much older than Ovo, had a stroke about 5 years ago and still hasn't regained full functionality and likely never will. I believe Ovo is around my age, maybe a few years older, so hopefully a better prognosis.

***

We're headed to the pool today and probably the movies tomorrow. Will add the mall as another potential option. Thanks.

Yeah. I hope so too.

Well, we survived one week in the South Texas heat with no central air.

Electrician was out this morning and replaced the bad circuit breaker in like 5 minutes and that was all there was to it. For those who have never seen what these look like, it looks as simple as changing an ink cartridge on a printer.  I know there is a lot more to it than that, but seeing how easy a lot of home repair stuff looks, it's no wonder to me why many homeowners decided to DIY. But electrical is nothing to mess around with if you don't know what you're doing.

At any rate, house is cooling down now and hopefully life will go back to normal at the ponderosa.

The group that went in rejoined Emam back in #750.

Oh thanks! Haha sorry

So we regain our spells? And do we get xp and loot for this massive fight?
This message was last edited by the player at 11:26, Wed 16 June 2021.

Sorry. I suppose my post wasn't clear enough. Yes. The rescue party returned and everyone is back together again.

Yes. All PCs regain spells after resting. XP will be awarded for the fight and Sarah is working on the treasure part now. I generally don't piece-meal XP out and handle it all in lump sums. Both will get posted to the Party XP and Treasure thread:

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