Poking my head back into the room, in my regular voice, without an accent, and dead serious, I quietly and urgently say: "He is kidnapping her out the back. Tell the bouncer. Quick, now."

Once she goes, I quickly alter my appearance (put on or take off a piece of clothing or whatever) and follow them out the back.

The bouncer and the innkeep exchange looks (and heartfelt love, jk), then the bouncer start jogging for the back door.

Even before you get out, you hear the bouncer yell, "Hey, what's going on!?"

When you get out, you see the Lordling and the woman about 60' away and the man says, "What the hell do you want?"

The bouncer will say the following, unless you cut in, since there is a short pause.

"Where you goin' with her? She works in here! Stella, you ok?"

In reply to GM (msg # 52):

I will not interrupt, but I try not to be seen if the bouncer is trying to beat me out the door. Instead, I'd like to see if I can make it out the front, run around the building, and listen to the exchange. If that doesn't look doable, I'll listen from my room with the door open but out of sight.

My goal is to keep Stella from harm and tail the thwarted and raging lordling.

I figure that a double move is plenty for the bouncer to make it out, and that what you do requires moving into the room, doing an action, then moving down the hall.

You can hang out at the open door without going out and being seen by anyone.

"She's fine. Mind your business, and let her mind hers."

At his point you hear Stella grunt then run toward the bouncer, and the lordling curses, then trudges off yelling, "I'm reporting this! It's theft!"

Do you conceal yourself before they enter from outside? Do you go out? What do you do?

In reply to GM (msg # 54):

I won't hide from the bouncer and Stella, but I do:

Offer to stay to talk to the guards
- If that is not necessary, I follow the lordling
- If it is necessary, I stay and try to find out
-- what he was doing with her in the room
-- How he reacted to the show
-- Anything he said at all

If the guards come, I tell the truth about events, except for the truth about my identity. I stay in character as Ferlo for the time being.

Nobody is calling the guards. It's the sort of thing that comes with the business. They are not worried about being reported.

So, that means you follow the dude. Do your try to be stealthy? I believe I said it is still early evening, but maybe you can fact check that. So, there are still a few people out and about. I believe I mentioned it is the port area, so they are mostly sailors and longshoremen finishing the day's work, turning in for the night, or tending to late arriving vessels.

The man appears to be heading toward the city gates (the port district is outside the wall, are the map of Neverwinter, on the west side, where the river opens to the sea, on the north side of the river, there are docks and buildings, that is the area).

In reply to GM (msg # 56):

Yes--I'll follow him and attempt to be stealthy, largely by trying to alter my appearance so his eye slides over me in the event he turns around, but I'll also just try not to be seen.

If he goes into a residence/establishment, I do not follow him in, but I wait outside for him until I become convinced he is in for the night.

OK, you tail him and he doesn't notice you. He goes into the city and walks for about 20 minutes. You end up needing to hang back a lot farther and the evening wears on, but you stick with him. Eventually you approach a seedy part of town (I'd have to look at the map...) and you see him go into the alley next to an inn.

In reply to GM (msg # 58):

If I think I can do so without too much danger of being seen (DC 10 or less), I approach the alley entrance to see if I can hear anything.

You hear him talking to someone... sounds like he is negotiating with a prostitute. He wants to go somewhere else with her, she says, she don't go nowhere.

In reply to GM (msg # 60):

I'll continue to listen, but will prioritize not being seen--meaning that I'm willing to not hear the end of the conversation if it sounds prudent to move away.

You here him say, "Fine, right here then, turn around." She says, "Pay first, honey." There is a short pause... maybe coins. Hard to hear anything.

Then some muttering... Incanting?

Do you do anything?

In reply to GM (msg # 62):

If I recognize the incantation, I likely will. If not, I might. Roll?

You don't recognize it (you wouldn't even with a good roll), but let's say you recognize it as probably necromancy.

In reply to GM (msg # 64):

If there is anything to knock down out front to make a ruckus, I do. If not, I'll need to know if line of sight is required for warlock telepathy, with the intent of screaming "RUN!" into the mind of the whore in the voice of the Lady of Shadows persona.

If that isn't possible (and even if it is, actually), I walk into the alleyway entrance with my face turned away from the alley over my shoulder while saying: "I'll be right there. Just have to piss real quick."

OOC: Oh man. I liked none of those options.

Sorry for the long wait,  tool Friday off and was busy. I had to figure out some details that will matter.


Should probably roll initiative.

In reply to GM (msg # 66):

Off to an excellent start:

08:44, Today: Fergan rolled 21 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 20.  Initiative.

Ok, you definitely win initiative.

You round the corner, having yelled at the woman telepathically. You see her facing the wall of the alley, hands braced against the it.

He is standing behind, hand up, chanting. The other hand clutches the hair of the back of her head.

They both look at you if varying states of confusion. He looks angry, she appears surprised and confused by something else (the telepathy), and is just taking you in. There is a hint of fear, but nothing near panic. She looks like a soul who has been jaded by abuse and addiction.

In reply to GM (msg # 68):

OOC: Trying hard not to tip my hand about being a spell-caster.

If his chanting stops, I stop and will say something.

If his chanting doesn't stop (which I assume), I move to him and make a grapple check on his free hand (which I assume is performing some somatic spell component?) and say Bad idea ta show so much coin, Limpy. Drop tha purse and run ta yer feather bed.":

09:28, Today: Fergan rolled 20 using 1d20 with rolls of 20.  Grapple (Athletics) Check.

If I have any movement left, I move him away from the woman (deeper into the alley), breaking his grapple on her.

OOC: Fate interceded.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:30, Mon 09 Apr 2018.

In reply to Fergan (msg # 69):

Also this, if it helps:

09:38, Today: Fergan rolled 21 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 15.  (Potential) Intimidation Check .

[OOC: What's with these rolls?

So, I am fairly certain that the way skills work in combat is that for the most part they are done with an action. There are several instances, where something has the special ability to make a perception check as a bonus action or a legendary action. This implies that perception is otherwise passive. In other words, I think that skills happen as part of other actions (such as your grapple) or as reactions. Anyway, on with the action.]

You enter the alley (5'), the pair are about 15' away. You grab homeboy by the arm (because of the crit*) and successfully pull him back. It appears to interrupt his incanting*. He still manages to hold on to the whore, who is also pulled back, and loses her footing, lands hard on her rump, and is dragged on her back a couple feet. It is officially a sh!t-show in the alley.

His turn (I am giving you a heads up that I am going to modify death rules, because of massive damage... so that you won't die, die... I promise that I didn't expect to kill you.):

He lets go of the woman, raises his hand and casts a spell. You see a simple and crude, but intentionally placed symbol on the flesh of his upturned palm, which seems to darken as he finishes the spell (it sounds like the same one as before) and he swipes his hand at you.

Att: 18
Dam: 24

Fergan feels a pulse of cold pain wash over his body (have you ever felt morphine?). He numbly feels the dull thud of cobblestone on the back of his head. The last thing he remembers is a piercing scream from the woman and running footsteps, though it is difficult to place them as hers, his, both, or others.

OK, option time. You can choose to die, or come back with a minor curse. I will collaborate with you to determine what it is. The intent is to make it minorly detrimental, obvious in certain situations, and possibly beneficial. It can be complicated, or simple, like a -1 to a stat. But it should be about on par with that. It can also be rectified (by like lesser restoration or whatever the lower level spell of that type is).

I also want you to come up with what the marking on his hand looks like. I want it to look crude but specific. At your option, it could be tattoo, a scar, or a brand. The fact that I am having you come up with it is not some metaphysical, plot related thing, but I like to outsource world-building so you are more invested.

By the way, I misspoke before when I said there is no way you would be able to identify the spell, it is Inflict Wounds. I don't think it would have changed what you did and I am not sure there is a defined way to identify spells. I like the idea that every caster has their own way of casting spells. At most I think I would have given you that it was divine in addition to necromancy.

Also, remind me if you are the same persona (Ferlo, which I did pick up, btw) as before in the bar. I think so, based on the vernacular, but just want to make sure.

*Because of the critical, you got to tie up an arm, even though grapples don't normally do that, also, he lost a slot, not roll for concentration, he just lost it. He is cast with a new slot on his turn. As a result of letting the girl go, she was able to run away on her turn, which she rolled to be after his (initiative 3). So, that's a win :-/

In reply to GM (msg # 71):

Much to say, so bullet points, but I'm fine with how it all happened and am not asking for amendment:

- I think breaking the grapple on the woman was automatic as a result of him moving, per the grappling rules I have found online.
- I was still in character as Ferlo, yes. I'll try to use colors to indicate personas. Goldenrod is Fergan.
- I'll opt for the minor curse, which seems appropriately motivating, as we are now in a vengeance plot.
- Knowing it was inflict wounds would not have changed my action. I was trying hard to keep him from killing her and him using his credibility as a noble to finger me for the crime while also saving her.
- You are right about actions, and I knew it when I typed the intimidate thing, but I was just teeing up my next move in case there was an opportunity to use it to keep things flowing. I'm going to continue to do this, so don't think I'm trying to sandwich multiple actions into the same round.
- The symbol was a crude brand of a broken arrow above a bundle of arrows.
- I have never felt morphine.
- Can I take it as given that I know he cast Inflict Wounds as a divine spell?

I think the curse should be fun, and that we should work on defining it before moving forward.

In reply to Fergan (msg # 72):

I'm actually very pleased with how all of that turned out and am only disappointed that the rules had to be bent to keep Fergan alive. If he had simply dropped to zero, I think that would have been a perfect outcome, to tell you the truth.

I will look at the grappling deal, but that sounds familiar. One of the things I want to go for in both this game and Seth's is a sense of messy realism. There was a scene in Seth's campaign where he had tied up a bandit that he had previously Sleep-ed. He decided he should more thoroughly incapacitate him by knocking him out with his quarterstaff. Saran Helder has a low strength and it took a lot of hits (and misses) to bring the guy to zero hit points. I went ahead and rolled both sides of the table until the guy was knocked out. It was messy and I think the guy got a lick in on Saran.

The point is, I value that over strict RAW, though I don't think that was violated in what I described with Seth. Though I do value rules and my intention is not to hose you or your goals.

One thought I had was what if an enemy grappled you then your buddy gappled you (and you intentionally fail the grapple) then moves you. It doesn't seem like that should automatically break the enemy's grapple. Seems a bit cartoony. Also, as a matter of in-game mitigation, the guy has above average strength (14), even though he looks more like an 11 or 12.


We'll get to that in the next scene. Someone will tell you that is what it look like and it will jibe with what you heard.


Noted.


Let's. Going to consult OOC shared.

I am not going to try and describe the indescribable. Suffice it to say that you looked into the face of madness and saw it laughing back.

When you wake up you find that the things you now know (abilities) and the revelations you have, in no way resemble what you remember experiencing. It is like seeing a bird fall from the sky, bleeding from its eyes, and as a result knowing that it will rain the next day.

You also know that you are cursed. It is as if the necromancy of the spell (which you somehow know is Inflict Wounds) mixed with your metaphysical experience. You fear to ever go back to the other side. You also know, though, that your perception of death, your curse, and the man who cast the spell are connected.

In much the same way that your memory of the death-realm bears no resemblance to your revelations, when you think of the lord that cast the spell, you picture someone else.

You wake in the alley, not knowing how long it has been. It may be darker out, or maybe that's just be the bleakness which you now know occupies the world. There are men standing over you talking to the prositute. They are speaking as if they quite believe you to be dead.

You gather that she screamed, then ran, then the guy ran the opposite direction. It was just one minute ago. You remember to breathe, it doesn't seem as important as it used to be.

Your current Hit point total = 9 [- 2] + [1d4+4]
(Full, minus curse, plus false life)