Well, Garren stopped Avar from showing persistence, not me. I mean, she hadn't actually said "no" or "go away." Maybe she would have rewarded him if he'd kept trying.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Oskav thinks the Chuul impersonator might be Alannah's brother, so he goes to try and find her and tell her about it. But resilience against how awful she is takes a lot out of him, so he needs to load up on calories and will visit the banquet table first.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
The ball's kind of in Oskav's court, at the moment. I look forward to his discussion with Alannah regarding the propriety of the other guests' costuming decisions.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Is Avar going to trail along to see what happens with Alannah and her brother, or go with Oskav to eat something, or stick around to try to flirt with bug girl, or what? I'm presuming that Garren's heading to the dance floor, since he asked the girl to dance. Alannah's going the same way.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Oskav immediately recognizes that whoever he is, this Trogar fellow isn't from the Kingdom of Merethrone. Aside from the fact that his accent is unmistakably similar to that of all the humans in Port Hope, there's the fact that he doesn't mention his clan name (Oskav is specifically forbidden from doing it, but no dwarf of the Mountainmere would otherwise omit something like that). And of course, he's shaved off his beard and left a huge, bristling mustache, which no Merethroner would ever do.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Alannah (and anyone with her) can attempt Knowledge (nobility and royalty) or (local) vs. DC 12, if they have ranks in the skill. Or bardic knowledge, DC 17.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Alannah recognizes Qillanthenna Vrinian, Baroness of Rightwood as the wolf-costumed elf woman dancing with her brother. She's a major noblewoman, notable for thrill-seeking, a casual but vicious disdain for the Church of Agon, and considerable wealth from her title and estates, which she holds in her own right rather than deriving from a spouse.
She's also EASILY seven times his age. Admittedly, she doesn't look it, being that she's an elf, and is probably equivalent to a human a woman in her mid-30s.
But it's still weird because she just buried her fifth husband two years ago. Alannah knows because she was the topic of scurrilous ballads afterward. They were all middle-aged or elderly human men, she inherited a widow's portion of their lands and wealth, and the ballads dwelled on the idea that . . . uh, let's just say that in the public imagination, they died happy, but not of snoo-snoo; she's a tiny thing, maybe 4'11" and 90 lbs. Public imagination devises that she makes up in energy what she loses in brawn.
Boromil does not seem like her "type" at all, being young, vigorous, and neither particularly wealthy nor especially likely to inherit. So that's kind of fishy, and Alannah might have some reason for sisterly concern.
On the other hand, if she's taken Boromil as anything more than a passing fling, then their father is going to be livid. So maybe that's one in the plus column?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I was distracted... I've gone back to playing the original Might and Magic (a computer RPG from 1986). Good times! Garren is planning on dancing - as long as his partner seems amendable. He understands that she was in unpleasant company and he doesn't want to have her go through that again. If there is anyone that she is particularly interested in, he'll try to help make that happen. No ranks, but Wisdom is pretty good for him.
When Oskav is finished eating he will go ahead and take this dude to talk to Alannah about the missing sword. If Avar wants to do it first, that's even better.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Alannah has a hard time humanizing others as actual people with their own minds and motives, so she is likely unable to sense anything. The masks don't help.
Just because we sometimes appear to be in a world of coincidences, Alannah doesn't recall anything particularly unique or interesting about either sword Cole was swinging around while trying to cut Chuul several new ones, does she?
So interesting observation. I can't find any spell that allows the copying of mundane text. This would seem to be a very low-level task replicating the work of a scribe for one hour. It seems, at least from a brief pondering, then it may be in the realm of a Prestidigitation spell, as writing is, in essence, soiling an item in an exact manner. If not, perhaps an application of unseen servant or spectral hand? Spectral scribe maybe? Is there already a spell in one of the larger volumes?
Amanuensis, clr 0, Sor/wiz 0, copies non-magical writing at a pace of 250 words/minute for up to 10 minutes/level. Duplicates the text perfectly, including handwriting, leaving gaps where magical writing and/or illustrations would have been. Triggers magical writing-based traps. Found in Spell Compendium, page 9.
It's a retread of a 3.0 spell from Magic of Faerûn, where it was a clr 3 (Deneir), sor/wiz 3 spell. The original worked on spellbooks, provided that the caster provided the necessary inputs of costly writing materials as a material component, vastly reducing the time requirements to copy spells from a scroll or friendly spellbook.
I don't really see that the Spell Compendium version would be very attractive to anyone in this party. I'm divided concerning the 3.0 version of the spell. On the one hand, it is extremely convenient. On the other hand, I'm an unrepentant sadist.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
It seems to me that the spell isn't an overly important tool in and of itself, but it seems remarkably useful for pricing a magic item that might duplicate its effects, such as a quill that transcribes what the user is saying, or simply one that copies books.
There are some magic items associated with one of the dragonmarks from that setting that have to do with writing.
As far as the general utility of the spell, I would say that even as a magic item, it's one of the weird cases where you could play multiple campaigns and never have any use for it. But when you need it, you need exactly this thing and nothing else will do.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Sorry, I was pausing in case someone else wanted to do anything as it seemed like the conversation was wrapping up. Now that the business with the creepy twins is over, Alannah goes to see if anything else interesting is going on.
Blue 1 = Alannah
Blue 2 = Chuul
Blue 3 = Avar
Blue 4 = Garren
Blue 5 = Oskav
Green 1 = Earl of Eastrit
Green 2 = "Milkmaid" (Belling)
Green 3 = "Scorpion Lady"
Green 4 = Thario
Green 5 = Carolina
Green 6 = Barefaced Dwarf
Green 7 = Snake Girl
Green 8 = Baron Greenshore
Green 9 = Lord Wæmunding
Green 10 = Trogar
Purple 1 = Wolf Lady
Purple 2 = Boromil
Purple 3 = Marta
Gray 1-4 = Musicians
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten, mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Unless you referenced a different helmet in the IC post other than the new magic one, Tal, then Avar didn't remove any helm. He just aced the domino mask.
Well, Garren stopped Avar from showing persistence, not me. I mean, she hadn't actually said "no" or "go away." Maybe she would have rewarded him if he'd kept trying.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Chalk it up to bovine intervention, I guess. Imagine her udder disappointment when he steered clear.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I'd think you could have Congress with her, as long as you don't caucus with her.
How does a man have congress without his caucus?
Oskav thinks the Chuul impersonator might be Alannah's brother, so he goes to try and find her and tell her about it. But resilience against how awful she is takes a lot out of him, so he needs to load up on calories and will visit the banquet table first.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Just a reminder that Avar isn't rolling with his armor at this little soiree. He is wearing his sallet, a domino mask, and a nobles outfit. Commando.
Not sure how his perfectly bronzed balls and awkward attempts at conversation haven't panned out for him.
The ball's kind of in Oskav's court, at the moment. I look forward to his discussion with Alannah regarding the propriety of the other guests' costuming decisions.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Oskav's not wrong.
Is Avar going to trail along to see what happens with Alannah and her brother, or go with Oskav to eat something, or stick around to try to flirt with bug girl, or what? I'm presuming that Garren's heading to the dance floor, since he asked the girl to dance. Alannah's going the same way.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Avar will abide to the old Aureshean adage "When out of place, feed your face" and follow Oskav to get something to eat.
Oskav immediately recognizes that whoever he is, this Trogar fellow isn't from the Kingdom of Merethrone. Aside from the fact that his accent is unmistakably similar to that of all the humans in Port Hope, there's the fact that he doesn't mention his clan name (Oskav is specifically forbidden from doing it, but no dwarf of the Mountainmere would otherwise omit something like that). And of course, he's shaved off his beard and left a huge, bristling mustache, which no Merethroner would ever do.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Alannah (and anyone with her) can attempt Knowledge (nobility and royalty) or (local) vs. DC 12, if they have ranks in the skill. Or bardic knowledge, DC 17.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Barding so hard...
Local then Nobility
Alannah recognizes Qillanthenna Vrinian, Baroness of Rightwood as the wolf-costumed elf woman dancing with her brother. She's a major noblewoman, notable for thrill-seeking, a casual but vicious disdain for the Church of Agon, and considerable wealth from her title and estates, which she holds in her own right rather than deriving from a spouse.
She's also EASILY seven times his age. Admittedly, she doesn't look it, being that she's an elf, and is probably equivalent to a human a woman in her mid-30s.
But it's still weird because she just buried her fifth husband two years ago. Alannah knows because she was the topic of scurrilous ballads afterward. They were all middle-aged or elderly human men, she inherited a widow's portion of their lands and wealth, and the ballads dwelled on the idea that . . . uh, let's just say that in the public imagination, they died happy, but not of snoo-snoo; she's a tiny thing, maybe 4'11" and 90 lbs. Public imagination devises that she makes up in energy what she loses in brawn.
Boromil does not seem like her "type" at all, being young, vigorous, and neither particularly wealthy nor especially likely to inherit. So that's kind of fishy, and Alannah might have some reason for sisterly concern.
On the other hand, if she's taken Boromil as anything more than a passing fling, then their father is going to be livid. So maybe that's one in the plus column?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I was distracted... I've gone back to playing the original Might and Magic (a computer RPG from 1986). Good times! Garren is planning on dancing - as long as his partner seems amendable. He understands that she was in unpleasant company and he doesn't want to have her go through that again. If there is anyone that she is particularly interested in, he'll try to help make that happen. No ranks, but Wisdom is pretty good for him.
She seems fine.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I just reinstalled Might and Magic VI (circa 1996, I think). I have extremely fond memories of the Might and Magic series.
When Oskav is finished eating he will go ahead and take this dude to talk to Alannah about the missing sword. If Avar wants to do it first, that's even better.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Let's get a Spot check and a Sense Motive check from Alannah and Garren.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Alannah has a hard time humanizing others as actual people with their own minds and motives, so she is likely unable to sense anything. The masks don't help.
Yeah, looks like the other guests are background noise to her, for the moment.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Spot +9
Sense Motive +5
Haha, Avar is just looking for trouble.
Oh, look. Alannah's back.
Were those rolls intended for something?
Yes, they were used to determine whether Garren noticed Lord Waegmunding.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Just because we sometimes appear to be in a world of coincidences, Alannah doesn't recall anything particularly unique or interesting about either sword Cole was swinging around while trying to cut Chuul several new ones, does she?
No. Cole would find it extremely unpleasant even to touch this thing.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
It also sounds like Alannah would find it extremely unpleasant to touch this thing.
Alannah will be well served by her usual reaction to things that she finds unpleasant, which is to make them some other person's job.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
So interesting observation. I can't find any spell that allows the copying of mundane text. This would seem to be a very low-level task replicating the work of a scribe for one hour. It seems, at least from a brief pondering, then it may be in the realm of a Prestidigitation spell, as writing is, in essence, soiling an item in an exact manner. If not, perhaps an application of unseen servant or spectral hand? Spectral scribe maybe? Is there already a spell in one of the larger volumes?
Amanuensis, clr 0, Sor/wiz 0, copies non-magical writing at a pace of 250 words/minute for up to 10 minutes/level. Duplicates the text perfectly, including handwriting, leaving gaps where magical writing and/or illustrations would have been. Triggers magical writing-based traps. Found in Spell Compendium, page 9.
It's a retread of a 3.0 spell from Magic of Faerûn, where it was a clr 3 (Deneir), sor/wiz 3 spell. The original worked on spellbooks, provided that the caster provided the necessary inputs of costly writing materials as a material component, vastly reducing the time requirements to copy spells from a scroll or friendly spellbook.
I don't really see that the Spell Compendium version would be very attractive to anyone in this party. I'm divided concerning the 3.0 version of the spell. On the one hand, it is extremely convenient. On the other hand, I'm an unrepentant sadist.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
It seems to me that the spell isn't an overly important tool in and of itself, but it seems remarkably useful for pricing a magic item that might duplicate its effects, such as a quill that transcribes what the user is saying, or simply one that copies books.
Don't the magewrights have something like this in Eberron?
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
There are some magic items associated with one of the dragonmarks from that setting that have to do with writing.
As far as the general utility of the spell, I would say that even as a magic item, it's one of the weird cases where you could play multiple campaigns and never have any use for it. But when you need it, you need exactly this thing and nothing else will do.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
I believe we're waiting on Alannah.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Sorry, I was pausing in case someone else wanted to do anything as it seemed like the conversation was wrapping up. Now that the business with the creepy twins is over, Alannah goes to see if anything else interesting is going on.
Which way is Alannah going to go next?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Also, which way is Avar going?
Blue 1 = Alannah
Blue 2 = Chuul
Blue 3 = Avar
Blue 4 = Garren
Blue 5 = Oskav
Green 1 = Earl of Eastrit
Green 2 = "Milkmaid" (Belling)
Green 3 = "Scorpion Lady"
Green 4 = Thario
Green 5 = Carolina
Green 6 = Barefaced Dwarf
Green 7 = Snake Girl
Green 8 = Baron Greenshore
Green 9 = Lord Wæmunding
Green 10 = Trogar
Purple 1 = Wolf Lady
Purple 2 = Boromil
Purple 3 = Marta
Gray 1-4 = Musicians
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
She's going to head straight east. Mingle with the crowd and such. Look horribly bored for a while.
Oskav follows Trogar's gaze to see if he can figure out what's upsetting him.
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
He'll saunter into room 4.
Is Avar still amusing himself by scanning for evildoers?
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Sure. May as well get some mileage out of it.
"Hey baby, I sense you have some evil intentions. You know, I have been known to smite evil a time or two."
Unless you referenced a different helmet in the IC post other than the new magic one, Tal, then Avar didn't remove any helm. He just aced the domino mask.
Noted. Thank you.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Holding for reactions from (variously) Alannah/Oskav/Chuul.
Wæs se grimma gæst Grendel haten,
mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold
Pages