Out of Character Chat

[thesloth]

Then i would infer that the new continent has an "Arc" or "Curve" shaped coastline with Kelmar sitting midpoint between far tips of the arc?

[Powderhorn]

I can neither confirm nor deny...

[Vladim]

Fellow players: Are folks happy to at some point outline options regarding things we can do and vote on them? Since there seem to be many paths forward and I doubt we can take all of them - can't be everywhere all at once.

[8w_gremlin]

happy to, what are your suggestions

[Vladim]

7 minutes ago, 8w_gremlin said:

happy to, what are your suggestions

I'll make a list later-they won't be so much suggestions, more like a list of all available options. I'd also like to make sure I understand all the details correctly so that's extra incentive to make such a list...

[Vladim]

Ok, so tea break... let's see if I can list up everything that's been suggested. If I miss something, please let me know. This is all about potential objectives for finding ways to weaken the Maliente.

1. Visit the Oracle: As suggested by Karadoon; not sure about the exact location, and if it's practical/feasible to travel from where we are (this will be a common theme here-I am not sure about the distances and times, and how much of it we might waste).
2. Incite rebellion amongst orc thralls: As suggested by Iphi; again I have no idea where we would find them (perhaps the armory that Karadoon mentioned... but where is it?) and also, can we communicate with them? Do we speak their language?
3. Parlay with the undead: This seems unlikely and I think most PCs are unsure if it would work (Iphi included), so maybe a moot point.
4. Unite our 'peoples': Meaning humans, dwarves, elves, halflings... whoever we can get. I am not sure what forces we could muster but also have no idea of the specific settlements and their position(s) on the map.
5. Get support from Kelmar: I haven't floated this, but it's on my / Iphigenia's mind. If we can promise / lie about anything the nobility of Kelmar can gain in these lands, maybe we could get some stronger backing... but it seems unlikely. Still, something to think about.
6. The nomads: As mentioned by Karadoon-not sure we know much about them and if they'd be willing to help.

I think... I think that's it based on what everyone has said. I don't have any strong opinions personally; just wanted to list up all the options and discuss how realistic they are. I can go with the team, though if I was forced to choose... inciting rebellion sounds fun (in that it'll be messy and bloody and dangerous and chaotic and full of morally difficult choices... so we can play with interesting themes. Maybe not necessarily super-fun for the PCs themselves).

The oracle idea sounds cool too-I'm a sucker for lore!

What about everyone else?

[thesloth]

In the setting information folder we have the combined map image of everything. I can point out a few things.

Due North of Kelmar is where Haven, our outpost is. The Laisy Forest is West along the coast. If you can zoom in to the area near Haven, there is a small river and some explored area plus a chunk of black (we seem to have explored in a circle around that).

We went up the river until we hit the mountains. At the edge of what you see we saw a dragon and found the orc armory.

South west of the mountains/river in that forest area we found the chamber/pit we called the Chamber of Oracles or The Oracle. The black unexplored area is where we came across the small dog faced people. Very angry, and their winter camp seemed quite large so we have been going around them. We had planned to build an outpost a few days walk from the oracle chamber to try and engage the Maliente in peaceful trade. We knew a lot less about them back then. They may have found the outpost by now.

The East bank of the river has the forest where we believe a nomadic people shelter from time to time.

We bumped into a Maliente patrol (and killed most of them) near the edge of that circular black area. The survivor ran for the orc base. You will also see the word Oracle if you squint really closely. All those events happened in that tiny region. We left a note in Dwarvish and Elvish on the Maliente surivivor (after we tried to interrogate him) apologizing for the violence, and trying to explain the elves attacked us first. We offered to meet and trade with them. That date will be coming up in a 6-8 weeks I think, assuming we spent two weeks on the boat getting to meet our new friends.

There is an abandoned fishing village near Haven, lots of slate from ruined buildings for easy construction. But we had to kill two ghosts, which freaked us out so we haven't been back. It has a magical statue that seems to provide a blessing of some sort, but we didn't stay after the incident with the ghosts.

@Powderhorn is the island heavy coastline below Laisy Woods the area where the previous party with Tilly Frizzen and my old Paladin landed?

 

[Powderhorn]

Yours is the western most exploration - you passed through there though on the trek back.

Also, just FYI - working in person has definitely truncated my mental bandwidth on weekdays. I'll likely be aiming for my historic Saturday morning updates until I can get remote again :D (However, on that front, I have an interview coming up, so here's hoping I hear something in a few months!)

[thesloth]

1 hour ago, Powderhorn said:

Yours is the western most exploration - you passed through there though on the trek back.

Also, just FYI - working in person has definitely truncated my mental bandwidth on weekdays. I'll likely be aiming for my historic Saturday morning updates until I can get remote again :D (However, on that front, I have an interview coming up, so here's hoping I hear something in a few months!)

So the Citadel of Zeiram is where that other game took place? And Aephren and the others came East with Lilly Stoddard?

[8w_gremlin]

I'm now very confused by all this...
Some one care to put me in the picture as to what has happened?

 

[Vladim]

3 minutes ago, 8w_gremlin said:

I'm now very confused by all this...
Some one care to put me in the picture as to what has happened?

Maybe someone should write a 'story so far...' summary if/when they can, but I don't think I'd be that person-I am only a fresh addition so I didn't do too much with Iphigenia yet.

2 hours ago, Powderhorn said:

(...)

Also, just FYI - working in person has definitely truncated my mental bandwidth on weekdays. I'll likely be aiming for my historic Saturday morning updates until I can get remote again :D (However, on that front, I have an interview coming up, so here's hoping I hear something in a few months!)

Sounds good with me! I don't mind a 1/week rate game. Good luck with the hunt!

[thesloth]

If I understand what Powderhorn did, there have been three groups in his world setting. I think four actually, but the first pre-dated me.

My first group had a paladin and some swashbuckler types. We landed near an underground city, that I think was inhabited by kobolds. After clearing that we were beset by the undead. That crew was led by Lt Aephren. When that game faltered out a second game was started quite a bit later.

I'm not sure if Stavard and his crew are the second game, or if Karadoon and crew are the second game. In Karadoon's game we came back from a long trip exploring to find the Captain Lilly Stoddard (chartered captain charged with supporting our group via transport) was essentially going rogue, she was going to carve out her own kingdom in contradiction of her charter to support us. She was exceptionally mean spirited and unethical, so we opted to revolt against her revolt. At that point we encountered Lt Aephren's survivors who were apparently being ferried over to our more prosperous (and less undead filled site). That knit our two stories together (like we are doing here).

They sided with us and we prevailed with a minimum of bloodshed. Captain Stoddard is still out there, and I expect her to return at some point. I keep getting confused about where everyone else is because I can't read the landmark names very well. I only really recognize the current outpost from Karadoon's group because the small river is easily visible and it terminates at some mountains. Your story seems less politically chaotic, than ours.

I'm trying to confirm which outpost is way out there on the right side as I view the map.

 

[SirLoganofGilead]

I think...we were the ones that were out at the citadel. That's where the undead lady might have been? We've obviously done a lot less exploring.

[thesloth]

OK so that makes the heavy island chain our other game site. So the Fortress of the Shadow Emperor was near the first game site. We had a massive wave of zombies led by something else, which we thought might be a vampire or something similar that hit our encampment after we cleared the kobold (I think, might have been goblins) stonghold. I suspect the Shadow Emperor is still there.

[Powderhorn]

Just wanted to try to organize the timeline and locations a bit while I'm chilling at the hospital (nothing wild, just a procedure for my wife). As I'm sitting under a TV with just non-stop commercials (who listens to commercials anymore??), I don't have the ability to do an IC post yet (but plan to do so tomorrow morning with a good cup of coffee :) )

That said, I added a few numbers to the map to make it easier for everyone:

Map with Numbers

 

 

 

So, just to try to recap as best as possible, first: You'll note that there's about a 100 mile radius for ship visibility, there are three branching paths that ships have taken - the first to the Northwest, the second to the North, and the third to the East, with that same third one eventually going Northwest as well, and back to the East.

Locations and events as follows:

1. First expedition, these were exiled from Kelmar for a variety of reasons. They did meet the Maliente there, though did not know anything about them besides their hostility. What small settlement was made was ultimately, if my memory serves me (and I believe it does, but @thesloth can confirm) razed by the Maliente, and the survivors fled along that path in a small boat to site 2.

2. A second journey north, with less "exile" and more "opportunistic." They landed at Haven, and then the VERY NORMAL NPC, Captain Lily Stoddert, was rebelled against by the players, who were joined by those from location 1.

This group wounded Captain Lily Stoddert, who took her ship and sailed away. Where she is at now is unknown, but it seems likely that she may return, Conquistador-style.

Within this zone, along the river to the east, foundations of an ancient city were located, along with a mysteriously preserved toy. To the north of that river, the Orcish armory was discovered, and to the west of that, the Oracles. I think my memory differs from thesloth's here, because I believe the settlement established is within the same ruins they purged the ghosts from, having a ready supply of stone. Wood was being harvested from the forest to the east, attempting to avoid the dog-faced creatures.

3. Further west still, we see the Halflings of the Havenwood Union, which continue to have a simmering war against the Maliente. No large unit formations can be sent on account of dragons destroying any large groups. However, the Halflings 1. want to find their homeland, having been forced to the forest in their ancient history, and 2. finishing the Maliente so they can have their peace.

4. Separately, at this time, another expedition to the east was made, and this is the group with SirLoganofGilead, 8w_gremlin, matts, and TheWhiteFire. They have started building up an outpost. In doing so, they discovered an ancient city with a chapel and alter. One character shot the alter, releasing ghosts into the city. That character did not survive the journey.

They then journeyed north, finding a fort also filled with undead, surviving the encounter and traveling south back to their outpost, bringing us to the present.

 

I believe that covers everything. Let me know what gaps or mistakes I made :D