I will let ya'll discuss here.  Heading to Fengheld?

Let me know.  I will move us along when I return on Wednesday.

Thanks All

Portal back to Fengheld, travel to the river (esse? have to look) then up to Hamburg to get passage to Riga.

Alright.  Let's move things along, shall we folks?

Reynard, they kept telling you about a "Portal".  That turned out to be a large door, a long hallway, and then another large door.  It's just you stepped through the first door and into Italy.  You walked down the long hall in Italy and through that second door and into a large castle in the Rhine lands.

It took you an hour to travel who knows how many hundreds of leagues.

"Oh that?  We do it all the time. All the time," Felix tells you.

Leonard frowns at him.  "We do?"

A servant steps forward and gives welcome to Fengheld to you, Reynard and Alfred


Just to double check:  sounds like you guys will be resting up for the night and then hitting the road as soon as possible, correct?  Not staying in Fengheld for a season?

It is the end of Spring now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:02, Sat 15 July 2023.

Unless Glasera or anyone else has extra business, yes leave Valnastium when possible.

In reply to Emrys (msg # 4):

In that case, if one of you kind folks will make a Profession(Riverman)/Comm simple roll for good ol' Leonard please.  He's got either a +1 if you want him to check with on the level barges heading upriver to Hamburg, or a +2 if you'd like him to check with some smugglers he may still know.

Your call

23:54, Today: Leonard rolled 6 using 1d10+1.  Bargeman.

I think I was still waiting on a contact to get back to me. But it would be a relatively short time relative to the passing of seasons. Clearing it up with the SG.


EDIT: well.... I wrote that before I read the IC. It's entirely possible I'll be meeting you lot there.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:42, Thu 13 July 2023.

Leonard is fairly positive a couple of barge captains he knows will be passing through Halle about this time, heading upriver.  He's hoping you can meet up with a barge run by the Pohl family.  Fengheld has had dealings with them before.  And they are the most likely to be "friendly" towards the magi.

If not, he knows Otto Grauf runs a boat out of Halle, and he'll always be willing to take coin.  But he'd probably charge a hefty amount of coin to take the job.

Failing either of them, there is a third option.  The Rotes Wasser.  They're a company fairly active on the river.  But they're just sort of the barely-legal type.

The difference is how quickly you get to Halle.  The Pohl run a few barges on a fairly set schedule.  They usually pass through Halle on Tuesdays.  It's not a town they trade out.  They just stop to deliver any packages they've agreed to deliver before setting out again.  Grauf and the Rotes Wasser are fairly easy to find once you're in Halle.

We will say you guys wake up in Fengheld all refreshed on a Friday.

It's 40 miles to Halle from Fengheld.  There is a set of dirt roads you can take to get there.

You do not have horses per se.  Remember the magi also would have problems riding a normal horse.  Not sure if there is a horse that can handle Reynard either since he is quite massive.

Emrys, you only have so much clout at Fengheld.  You can probably get enough supplies to keep you all fed and warm for 5 days by asking Fengheld's store master.  You don't have access to a horse per se, especially one trained to let a Gifted person ride them.

We can handle this in one of two ways:

First, you can simple buy/rent a couple of wagons and horses from the stable master.  That would get you to Halle in two days.  You'd have to owe Fengheld the rental fee of course.  But it's on Velum's tab, right?  You may also purchase more supplies as well on this route.

Second, Affare if you want to make a Bargin/Comm roll for me (it would be a stress roll) to see if you can talk up some supplies, you may do so.

You can of course try other avenues like magic.  Just remember you are in a covenant.  So be careful of what spells you toss and at whom.

I'm sure there are questions.  Please ask away.

Thanks

Emrys nods to Leonard in acknowledgement as we looks to the others, "We won't be staying long then and try to get passage with the Pohls.  I'll see about getting some wagons and supplies for the road.  It won't be much but Reynard is a big fellow and I don't see much point in borrowing a specially trained horse for myself and then trying to figure out how to get it back to the covenant."

The magus chews his lip in thought before continuing, "Velum can recoup some of his money in Halle if can't find a barge large enough to transport horse and wagon and have to sell them."

Emrys explains, "Gustav's Order is a new one and they might be awfully suspicious of us if we come empty handed.  I hope Glasera is alright."

He looks a little bit troubled at the sudden departure of the maga, "Anyway we should probably pick up some cargo they can use once we reach port for a modest donation.  I'm not sure what they could use in Riga though...food, armaments, or will wine keep on the journey?"

13:28, Today: Affare Acisculu rolled 13 using 1d10+6.  bargain/comm.

In reply to Affare Acisculu (msg # 10):

Affare, you manage to connive the quarter master in providing some extra provisions, as well as lowering the rental fee on two wagons.  You also managed to talk him into giving you some decent horses.  The ones he'd been considering were nags someone needed to put out to pasture.

Leonard nods at your order Emrys.  But he won't be able to book passage ahead of time.  Only until you arrive in Halle.  It will be a matter of if you get there in time to catch Pohl's barge.

Wulfgang, you and the others get the wagons packed.  Reynard, Felix seems to have decided you are in charge of the "grogs".  Which is apparently the four men you met in the garden back in Switzerland.  Wulfgang, Felix, Evžen, and Leonard.  Felix finds you the morning you are set to pull out of the keep you're at and asks, "So.  How do you want us to split up between the wagons?  I figure Wulfgang and I can each drive one wagon.  Where to you want Leo and Evžen to sit?"

So you have two wagons.  I'll need to know who is riding in which wagon.

There are 8 of you.  Emrys, Affare, Reynard, Wulfgang, Alfred, Leonard, Evžen, and Felix.

Each wagon can hold one driver and three other passengers.  You can fit two more into a wagon if you move the luggage and supplies to the other wagon.  None of you will have a riding horse. 

The memory of the portal sticks with Reynard as he makes ready in the morning.  These wizards have such great power...  what if their had been a portal like that between Jerusalem and Rome?  Or Paris?  He wonders how such things would change the world if they were known.


He is broken from his musings by the sudden logistics of travel.  Looking over the horses, he sighs.  He's seen worse, but he's also seen much better.  He looks over at Felix, and nods.  "Good.  You two drive a wagon each, Leo and Evžen one to sit with each of you, and let the wizards sit where they choose, but also two to each wagon.  I'll walk, it will keep the horses fresher and the wagons less cramped.  Unless I can manage to find a horse, I'll give it a try.  Whoever is most familiar with these roads, take the lead wagon."

Reynard then goes off to try to find one more horse - hoping to find an Ardennais or other large breed, perhaps one who's long in the tooth and therefore might be spared as a gift or a loan.

Emrys arrives early as the others get themselves sorted.  He puts a bag on the wagon Leonard is on as he casts a glance at the lightening morning sky.

Once Affare arrives he approaches the redcap, "The Aegis may be blocking Glasera from contacting us but once we leave its protection I hope she might try to get in contact with us, likely you I think.  At least as a courtesy."

"Though if she doesn't..." Emrys shrugs, "God knows what the maga has got up to."

Evžen has Area Lore (Holy Roman Empire) with a specialty in travel routes (so +4 total) as far as navigating us.

Affare asks Emrys if he wishes to travel with him in the same wagon.  In case he wishes to discuss these matters in greater detail, perhaps?

"That would be fine."