Anthr4xus

Could you make a new thread for your new character? It helps me when I need to check things.

Aosa spends some time working to ingratiate herself with the Oklet clan crew. It takes several hours, and while none of her new "friends" can give her direct access to the Hutts or anything along those lines, she is able to tease out the names of several trade contacts in Bestine, Arnthout, Mos Shuuta and WayFar. There can be no guarantees on the part of a third party, but should they find themselves in any of those communities, she at least knows what names to drop and where to drop them. She also does an excellent job of just building goodwill and comraderie with much of the clan. Ghost finds Akkit, Bet and the rest of the "bridge crew" up in the main pilot station of the sandcrawler. She is welcomed politely and given that the path around the ridge mesa to the appropriate canyon was fairly straight forward and nothing of too much note was on the nearby scanners, Akkit was happy to gossip about the clans. He did not have very recent updates from Clan Kekit, although he had heard they had found some great fortune a little over a year ago, and spent much of that in fielding another sandcrawler to take over an old abandoned scavenge route. Last he had heard Bruha was doing well, although getting quite old by this point. His more interesting information was in the planned routes of the other Clans that were moving towards the gathering at Omlaut. Both Akkit and Bet were particularly excited about the meeting as they both had daughters they were hoping to find partners for. Murmurs among the rest of the bridge crew also hinted at a great interest in the possibilities of intra-clan mingling. As Sophic is trying to be useful and find good things to work on, Heshiman takes a private moment to speak with her. "{Basic}Hey, Just so someone else knows. I've been trying to make sure we have some leverage if we need it in later negotiations. I've been refining their fuelling mixes and some of their control software. I've been able to eke out an almost 5% gain in efficiency overall, but more importantly I was able to implant a small virus. One command phrase on the right frequency and the primary motivator goes into a burnout overcharge. Not saying we will want it, but if we need it, I know you out of everyone would value knowing it's there.{/Basic}" OOC For her work with the crew Aosa has a standing +2 circumstance bonus on rolls related with trying to establish contacts in the listed settlements. Between her and Ghost's work, you also all get a +1 circumstance bonus on rolls related with trying to persuade or negotiate with clan Oklet.

Willa nodded at Kain's words. "There is wisdom in keeping weapons at the ready. You never know when something might come lurching out at you." When you mention Ardir, there is a momentary shift in the expression of the halfling only to fade into something crestfallen when his loss to the mists is added. Willa makes a quick gesture with one hand and Kain sees the archers hidden on the roofs lower their weapons. They don't go so far as to unnock their bows, but they are not aiming at anyone and their gaze drifts out over the wall to the far tree lines. She says, "It is a shame to hear about Ardir. What do you seek here?" Karlov could tell that these people were not so much duplicitous as desperate and afraid. These were not actions of people trying to get the jump on anyone, but expecting to be set upon at any moment. He could also read that there was definitely some personal connection felt by the halfling at the news about Ardir. Karlov was fairly confident that there was a close relationship there. He also noticed that Willa also seemed pained at the news, although she hid it masterfullyDC17 Insight to catch this if anyone else cares to try..

Kain and Harin's loud proclamations echo through the burned and ransacked nearby buildings and bounced off the town wall. A feminine voice called out from the same direction that Kain saw the dog disappear, "If you are willing to talk, we will talk." After a moment, three figures come around the corner of the building. All three have their hands empty and held out slightly from their sides, clearly unarmed, although they each have swords and other obvious weapons near-to-hand. They come to a stop at the intersection, roughly sixty or seventy feet away. Although they are are only a step our two apart, they are surprisingly different. The center figure is a female human, wearing scale mail and with her dark brown hair pulled back and tucked into her armor. She stands just short of six feet tall and carries a long sword at her side, a short rod hanging from her belt, and a shield on her back. She is out of the range of Haakon's spell, but he knows an arcane focus when he sees one. Her boots and armor are obviously well-worn and regularly maintained. The humanoid to her right is a male halfling barely half her height, wearing leather armor, two short swords and a bandolier of throwing daggers across his barrel-like chest. His nut-brown skin was almost the same color as his curly brown hair. His cleft lip twisted in an almost leering smile, revealing yellowing and rotten teeth. The figure on the right is a willowy and pallid elf, wearing chain mail with a heavy and well-used mace hanging at his side. A helm covers his head, although his silvery hair and pointed ears are still obvious. An equally obvious necklace hangs outside of his armor, a sprig of belladona on a silver kite shield. A similar motif is worked into the shield on his back, although deep gouges from various blocked attacks have heavily defaced the surface of the full-sized shield. The central woman take a step forward and says, "If you are living and not one of Drakov's goons, we would parlay with you. You can call me Willa. What brings you to Silbervas?" It is clear this is the same voice that called out before they showed themselves. Kain notices a faint creaking from the roofs in that direction can notes the tell-tale signs of archers moving into good shooting positions. They are remarkably well hidden and careful in the their movements, but as Kain catches the whiff of potential battle his training and senses come alive in anticipation. OOC Spotting the archers moving from observation posts to covering fire spots is the last Kain's Nat 20 will get you. A DC 15 Religion check (DC10 if a Ravenloft native) will recognize the symbol of Ezra, God of the Mists, as the holy symbol being worn by the elf.

The churning chaos around him made it hard to focus and control himself, yet even with that Lucas held on to his humor and himself with a firm grip. It was impossible to tell how long it took, but piece by piece he built his will into a shining golden key that stretched through the flexing distance between himself and lock on the great tower. With a gasp the key turned and suddenly the seizing tumult around him vanished, to be replaced by a calm, cool stone antechamber. A golden lock bearing his name was set in the stone wall before him. Similar golden locks were set in the wall around, yet the names on them were blurred and illegible. Lucas's focus was drawn to HIS lock again, and the golden key in his hands was practically burning his fingers.

"I would say that the Abyss itself is not chaotic, as non-existance by definition must be quite empty and still. It is the interplay of that nothingness with the somethingness of the Fallen World that causes chaos. I agree that it could be a proper view to see the Abyss as a flaw in the Tapestry, but given that the Tapestry is merely a metaphor for the totality of reality, how could one cause nothingness to cease when you only have somethingness to work with to do so?" he asks.

Arriving at the Plaza del Torio, Ehnola was greeted at the door by the butler/manservant that had carried Marygay from her townhouse. He escorted her into a foyer where Grazia was waiting for her. The old woman's steely gaze bore into Ehnola's eyes for a long moment and she said, "We will speak in the morning. Your rash actions may have turned up something useful after all." Gaeloraxus only hissed suspiciously in her mind. The next morning was pleasant, waking up next to Marygay. They even had a few quiet moments to enjoy each other before a loud knock on the door broke the mood. The butler called through the door, "The mistress awaits you both at breakfast." Marygay's eyes went wide and she said, "We shouldn't keep her waiting."

The group begins to spread back out into the nearest buildings. Falken examines the ground of the courtyard and the exiting dirt lanes. There has been an unbelievable amount of traffic through here over time, but nothing in at least a couple of days. There were several mounted riders that came through here at least three days ago, based on how much the rain had worn them away. Falken could tell that there were at least four riders, maybe more, that had rode in and rode back out again. There have been more recent foot traffic, although not much. Karlov, Harin and Kain were able to determine that all of the nearest buildings had at one point been shops or merchant stalls, but they have been abandoned for weeks. Kain specifically finds some tell-tale marks of a combat only a couple of days ago in one shop, between what he would guess was one living combatant and a couple of zombies. There were some scraps of decayed flesh, but no significant signs of bodies or blood. That hints at a possible hopeful outcome of the fight for the living. As Kain emerges back into the courtyard with the rest, he can feel eyes watching the group from hiding, although the specific location of the watchers was not immediately evident. Really it was just a raising of the hair on the back of his neck that set his well trained instincts on edge. Haakon finishes his spell, although it reveals nothing of note in the immediate area.

Almost every DM I know has done that one an Investigation, Perception or Insight roll at least once :) I know of at least one campaign that derailed as the Bard that made the roll was able to convince the rest of the group that there was a shadowy giant cabal that was working against the group and suddenly became the new big bad.

Akkit nods along with Sophic's story, looking at the few pieces of scrap that the Jawa were able to extract from the hold. He agrees with Sophic's conclusion. Meager profit with no real risk was basically free money, and no amount of free money should be disregarded. The hold also played the important and unspoken need to prove the story that bought you access to the sandcrawler in the first place. With higher hopes Akkit direct the sandcrawler on to the canyon you all pointed out as the crash site of the rest of the ship. It will take a little more than a day for the sandcrawler to draw close enough to dispatch a team. The three of you and Heshiman grab some food and find spots to relax for a bit. Show this Not sure if there is anything you all want to do while you are in the crawler or not, so providing a window.

Oh yes. If a Talon or conscript or innocent is struck down, the honorable or respected funeral treatment is a pyre. If you are poor or a casualty of a large battle or something, it is commonly a mass pyre, but the rich or powerful will have individual services. The corpse-field around Lekar is only so big because staking is the only punishment for any crime, and it is a sad and desperate times, so small crimes are frequent even with that risk, especially in the cramped city that is the last bastion.

The spiked corpses are, as Falken mentioned, just like the corpse field around Lekar, only significantly smaller in scope. If a corpse is properly spiked the end of the spike is in the corpse's brain, which means that even if the mists reanimate it, it effectively gets killed again immediately. It is also a very effective terror tactic in keeping the peasantry in line.

Garrison nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think that is the only motive we really have to look at. You were doing the sponsor calls for people that were at the event, did any of them jump out at you as odd?"

As the group gathers and catches up in the open courtyard, they keep eyes on the seemingly abandoned and partially boarded up buildings nearby. Nothing moves nearby and the only sound other than your conversation is the creak of the bodies on poles outside the wall and occasional shifting of poorly secured boards covering nearby windows. Kain slowly approaches the dog, holding out a bit of rations. Even though the dog is obviously bone thin, surprisingly it gave Kain a look and then walked away around the corner of a partially burned building, disappearing from sight.

The three women catch up with the trio of Jawas fairly easily, their longer legs easily eating up the sandy distance. Each of the Jawas had some electronic scrap they were carrying. All three of you could guess that there was certainly nothing left of value in the wreckage. One can only hope it is the last time they have to revisit their former prison. It only takes a few minutes of determined walking to get back to the sandcrawler. The massive machine had just started to clear the canyon entrance. The rear entrance opens up, welcoming the expedition back inside. Heshiman and Akkit are waiting for you along with half a dozen other Jawas. The disappointment in the obvious low quantity of the scarp is evident pretty much immediately. Everyone waits to hear your report, even your Jawa retinue seem to be waiting to hear one of the three of you tell the story.