DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3I - Yartar days 3-5

Zhu

"Hmm. Again Lord Drylund. One might wonder if he is behind the abductions of the Lordlings we rescued, and possibly was in league with the Aboleth? Removing competition to his influence perhaps? The Waterbaron did think there was some plot afoot. Might be a good idea to talk to the families of the Lordlings. We should be in their good graces for a few days at least. Jakkob Dawnflower and Timothy Salzberg were their names I believe."

Jaliera

"It could well be.. and maybe we should.. but first I want to check on Davroar and get him to the temple."

She smiles at Zhu, assuming that she will do any questioning if they go independently from the others.

Zhu

"Of course", she smiles softly. "He must be our first priority. Shall we?" She gestures for Jaliera to lead on.

<Bern>

Hopefully, he thgought as Jaliera was escorted away, it would be 'good news'.

DM
Zhu, Jaliera and Zhu headed for the river to find Davroar. Not a few minutes after they arrive at the river bank, Davroar makes his appearance.

Bern, Kriv, Sindar and Arus leave Lady Rossolio's estate with gold in hand.

ooc: Bern must be psychic because he was not with Jaliera. Only Zindra and Zhu were.

Actually, how are you guys going to get back together. We can fast forward to Davroar having been cured and you all deciding together what to do. If so, where shall you meet? I can write in what happens when you visit the families of the other lordlings that you rescued.

[[ maybe it means it is time for Bern to 'retire' :-/ ]]

[ooc: I'm fine with fast-forwarding with Davorar being cured. ]

[OOC Voting for fast forward ]

[[ ready to move on as well ]]

[Yeah, bring it on!]

[Concur.]

[Bring it on says the next DM]

DM

By evening Davroar is cured and the party is back together, meeting at the Wink and a Kiss, a gaudy and rowdy festhall which is known for it's labyrinth of rooms, secret passages, hanging curtains, and galleries. It was more than just a tavern. It had gambling parlors and was a brothel too.

Zindra knew the rules of the place and provided instructions to the others to safeguard their purses and keep their eyes open. The Wink was run by two 7 foot tall brothers but in reality, it was also an operational center for the Hand, the female thieves' guild that operated in town.

As annoying as it was, it was a rule to leave weapons checked at the door and patrons were encouraged to wear costumes and required to wear masks. Zindra had secured a quiet corner tucked away behind screens and netting. The makeshift room was a 20 x 20 location strewn with large cushions and pillows. It could handle about a dozen people and could offer a good deal of privacy. Zindra tried to insure that by making sure to order food and drink for everyone and then paying off the waitress with a nice tip with instructions that they not be bothered. The inference was that the activities in the area would be carnal in nature. This was quite normal and expected by the staff.

Once the food and drink arrived the waitress departed and shut the drapes that acted like a door and the group was alone. "If any of you have spells that make sounds like people enjoying each other, now would be a good time to use them," Zindra suggested.

With that, the group could now discuss what has happened and the next steps. Zhu had an idea to visit the families of the other two young nobles that they had rescued. The boys were fine, the servants at the homes said when they were visited. Although their sons had been rescued, the families were not inclined to invite the rescuers into their private manors. It seemed they were more concerned about not paying a reward than to thank the people that had saved their sons. The party was politely sent on it's way.

Those that dug into the background of this Lord Drylund, the owner of the Golden Goose riverboat casino, learned little more about him. He was away on business. He had a large and skilled team of associated and employees that answered to him. He was rich, powerful and was a political rival of Nestra Rithol and coveted her title as Waterbaron. It was a running joke in town that since the position of Waterbaron was held for life, Lord Drylund would need to wait for some time for the opportunity to hold the title.

The politics in this city were very tense but when the discussion came up about what to do, staying in Yartar was not the objective. The group would need to leave town as soon as it could.

OOC: I recommend that you all read through your PMs kind of carefully before posting about what you think needs to be done next. There's a lot that went on behind the scenes. You all need to decide 'where to next?' at this point.

Zhu

She follows the others into the Wink and Kiss and after they enter a semi-private space and hearing Zindra's comments, she gestures briefly and some very specific carnal sounds begin to emanate from the area of the curtain. Periodically she gestures to renew the noises.

[Carnal noises? What did I come back to!?]

Arus

The triton listens with casual interest to Zhu's illusion and nods to her with appreciation as if to say 'Sounds legit'.

Soon enough the party have a map of the Dessirin Valley unfurled on the table and Arus points out their destination and waypoints. He can't comment on the terrain or hostile forces between them, but that's what they're paying Zindra for.

1. Yartar. Present location.
2. 100 mi from 1. Calling Horns Inn. Next settlement on road east.
3. 25 mi from 2. Noanar's Hold. Arus to deliver harnesses to castellan, Amrath Mulnobar, for Lionshield Coster.
4. 110 mi from 3. Olostin's Hold. Next settlement on road east.
5. 40 mi from 4. Everlund City. Sindar to meet Dral Thelev, owner of Danivarr's House Inn, warn of giant attacks. (Give Darathra's token as bona fides.)
6. 50 mi from 5. Silverymoon City. Zhu to report in with Spellguard, private business.
7. 60 mi from 6. Zymorven Hall, Rauvin Road NW of Silverymoon. Party to loan giant-killing weapon from knight Harthos Zymorve, friend of Urgala in Triboar.

A busy itinery, that makes their schedule something like the following: (Assuming a Normal pace to scout for dangers ahead.)

• 1st Stop. Camp
• 2nd Stop. Camp
• 3rd Stop. Camp
• 4th Stop. Calling Horns. 1 hr Fast Forced March
• 5th Stop. Noanar's Hold. 1 hr Slow Forced March
• 6th Stop. Camp
• 7th Stop. Camp
• 8th Stop. Camp
• 9th Stop. Camp
• 10th Stop. Olostin's Hold
• 11th Stop. Camp
• 12th Stop. Everlund
• 13th Stop. Camp
• 14th Stop. Silverymoon. 1 hr Slow Forced March
• 15th Stop. Camp
• 16th Stop. Camp
• 17th Stop. Zymorven Hall

At least they will be camping beside a road on the busy trade route east.

Avoiding forced marches whilst they are on the road avoids the risk of spending a night in the wilds exhausted.

[Thanks Nep. Yeah, I assumed there were more detours/stops to come. We can aggregate them.

So everyone knows, here is a nice overview of the overland travel rules in 5e on Black Citadel.

Our default pace along the road is 24 miles a day without any penalties, and that's what I used in the above schedule.

This assumes travelling for 8 hours a day. So if we start at 7 AM, have a morning and afternoon break of 15 minutes and half an hour for lunch, we stop at 4 PM.

I used a few forced marches to push to a settlement rather than make camp unnecessarily but adding an hour's forced march onto our day only extends it to 5 PM so there shouldn't be any travel in the dark.

Afaik, the date in-game is sometime in the back-end of summer so plenty of daylight hours.

Arus wouldn't have done that planning himself btw, he's not a technical or logistics guy. Let's say he's presenting info that others have contributed.]

Jaliera

"I heard a rumour about a Doppleganger, possibly ours, who is claiming to have a 'devise' which can enchant weapons. He might well be referring to the Forge in the mines, though we know of course that it isn't portable. There was some mention of a Worvil Forkbeard, a dwarf, that he might be trying to do business with. Might want to find out what he knows about the Doppleganger if we come across him."

She has little more to contribute, happy to go where the group goes.. and Davroar of course.

Zhu

She nods at Jaliera's information, adding, it is getting late in the year, and we're heading into the mountains. Might not be a bad idea to buy some cold weather gear, warmer clothes and such before we go?"

[Thanks Nep. So in a late-October setting, we'll probably start travelling at 8 AM and stop at 5 PM, with sunset around 6 PM. The hour of forced march in the above schedule should still equate to no travel in the dark.]

Arus

"I don't feel the cold," he says, "but my stomach rumbles as well as anyone's. We'll need some provisions for ourselves and our beasts of burden."

Arus has his celestial steed, Ankyryn, to bear him but the party has a wagon and animals to pull it, in addition to their mounts.

The triton has some shopping to do in Yartar and will be about it as soon as possible. Refurbishment of his armour and a new longsword primarily.

But the question of marching order is an interesting one.

Arus proposes:

1. Zindra
2. Bern
3. Kriv
4. Sindar
5. Davroar
6. Jaliera
7. Zhu
8. Arus

Davroar

He is truly thankful to Mother Bronwyn for curing the caustic disease that forced him to remain in the river for a couple of days. The only good thing about the whole experience is he now knows all of the hiding spots around the river if he ever needs to disappear.

After their adventure in the sewers, his filthy fur armour and most of his clothing was sacrificed to the rivers depth. He only kept his ancestral bear skin hat (thoroughly washed several times by now), weapons, and supplies in his backpack. Now barefoot, shirtless, and dressed only in his last remaining pair of pants for decency sake he nods in agreement with Zhu.

Now being out of the loop for the past few days, he asks Jaliera, "Did we get any coin for selling the few items we found? I'll need to buy some stuff..."

Jaliera

"Not sure of how much.."

She looks to the others to provide the information. As long as she has money for her needs, which are modest, she has a relaxed attitude to money. A very strange attitude for someone of her background.