The Gossip Board

[Carthrat]

Well then. I have some questions!

1) Where are we, exactly?
2) Is my Cardsense still pointing straight down? If not, where is it?
3) Let us investigate the Gruesome Ruby whilst we're here. I think we're supposed to be pretty close. We no longer have Nikkolai to work some GI magic so I guess we'll do it the hard way- I'll look for reputable jewelers or any other likely places where people who know about such things may gather. Local geologists, guides or explorers could be a decent shot, as would old mystics wise in the way of the earth (like earth elementals!!1)

I am not precisely sure where we are going next but this time I'm going to make wide enquiries about known denizens of wherever it is we travel to, so we can better prepare ourselves to deal with specific foes. If possible I'd like to chart routes around them if they're dangerous or find out if there's any way to scare them off if they're small fry (but irritating small fry.)

4) This city looks like a real harsh place, lots of drab greys and zealous earth elementals. Are there any enlivening social problems? Additionaly, iirc Kam wants some kind of magic shield. Honestly I wouldn't mind looking into that too. If there are reputable forges and smithies around here (making weapons from the VERY BONES of the cosmos) then let's check them out.

Can we get a list of interesting hotspots in town, similar to what we did for Stratusberg? Things relating to what I've just discussed would be neat, anything else of note is a welcome bonus.

[Anastasia]

Remind me of this over the weekend if I don't post, Rat. I'm busy today and I have a nagging feeling I'll forget.

[Dracos]

Surely it was higher than that.

12d10 is an average damage of 66, and the harpy had a 50% chance of dealing at least 1d8+1d6+30 or so due to power attack I think, which itself at a 50% chance of hitting... hmm okay maybe not with 100+ HP.

Yeah, you forgot that in order to kill me, they had to do at least 116 points of damage (to take me to -1).  And then I had to fail stabilization rolls repeatedly.  Or they had to do 125 damage (to instantly bring me to -10).

and that 50 percent is a pretty strong lowering aspect.  It means 50 percent of the time there was effectively zero chance of death (or the odds of rolling 115 or more on 12d10, which I misrounded to zero, but is pretty close to zero as it stands). 

Part of why I took it was that it really was immensely likely I would survive it.  But never really underestimate my likelihood to pull out obscenely unlikely occurances on dice rolls.

But yeah, it was effectively 3 1s in the session :P

And yeah, I indeed have some penalty there.

[Carthrat]

Yeah at first I was thinking "but he only had like 88 HP! surely he would die!" but then I remembered that you actually had 100+ and had to get stabbed first. The falling damage roll was spectacularly above average too by like 20, that's rough.

[Dracos]

Chatted with ko a bit, but I'm going to go offer Ogremoch a favor within reason.  What with the whole bringing me back from the dead.  Regardless of the fact he was paid for it.

I'm also going to pick up a potion of fly.

as discussed with ko a bit, I totally want to pick up a magic shield, though it really doesn't mean much till I level.  Guess no problem picking it up here and even tossing some RP in on training for it.

[Anastasia]

Well then. I have some questions!

1) Where are we, exactly?

Nixale.

2) Is my Cardsense still pointing straight down? If not, where is it?

A little bit down and a lot bit to the east, it's stronger now too.

3) Let us investigate the Gruesome Ruby whilst we're here. I think we're supposed to be pretty close. We no longer have Nikkolai to work some GI magic so I guess we'll do it the hard way- I'll look for reputable jewelers or any other likely places where people who know about such things may gather. Local geologists, guides or explorers could be a decent shot, as would old mystics wise in the way of the earth (like earth elementals!!1)

(Snipping a bunch of stuff after that's more info stuff.

You can roll GI if you like straight off(Have me in the room for it and post the result if so), but odds are you guys will have to spend some sweat and time GIing since you lack Nikkolai's super charisma and grace. As for more info, let me know how you guys want to approach this first real quick before I list it up.

[Carthrat]

Kallen says:
*Wellllll
*I appreciate asking us how we want to handle things. But it's hard to answer.
*To put one thing simply, I'm not interested in RPing shopping unless there are complications of some nature
Dune says:
*Well, a lot of what I'm looking here is a bit more structure to how you're approaching things.
Kallen says:
*Well we presumably spend a few days in town hanging out at some inn and get our basic info from there
*Then we explore it a bit, probe for information, and find out things, both relevant to our goals and irrelvant (but interesting for some reason nonetheless.)
*As for finding/buying gear, it really does all start with asking questions, following up on them, and then likely asking some more
*We have no need as far as I can see to be particularly circumspect, and it's a bit late to enter the city wearing cloaks and hoods anyhow, so we won't sneak around or anything

As for finding out where we want to go/how to get there/what's there, surely there are local guides or something that can help us figure it out? We'll find expertise, pay it, and have it help us.

[Anastasia]

Okay, this pends Mari, who said she wanted to roll a GI check today.

[Carthrat]

I'll take 10 on a GI roll for 13.

[Sierra]

<Mari> roll 1d20+3 what are the notable sights and hangouts in Nixale/any news here about Gruesome Ruby/it'd also be nice to know if any devils are hanging because, well, they want us dead
* Hatbot --> "Mari rolls 1d20+3 what are the notable sights and hangouts in Nixale/any news here about Gruesome Ruby/it'd also be nice to know if any devils are hanging because, well, they want us dead and gets 6."12 [1d20=3]
<Penuche> Mari invokes Penuche's magic: < 19 >12 [d20=16]

I chose in advance to go with Hatbot's roll. Fuck bots.

[VySaika]

> roll 1d20+1 may as well Aid Another Knight's info search
* Hatbot --> "Adail rolls 1d20+1 may as well Aid Another Knight's info search and gets 17." [1d20=16]

[Dracos]

> roll 1d20+3 Drac can't get online but he wants a roll by proxy aid another to Mari.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 Drac can't get online but he wants a roll by proxy aid another to Mari. and gets 13." [1d20=10]

I am aidful.  To whoever needs it.

[Dracos]

You know, rat makes a good point, at least it sounds it to me.

We no longer have a charisma tank.  Our GI high in the party is 3.  Mari can diplomacize, but generally, using social tricks to casually act like we have a citywide spy around. 

So what do folks do when they're too busy saving knight to deal with finding things around town?  Or too self important to spend all afternoon talking it up with random folks to know that the best restaurant in the area is old john's tavern and that the wizard Elnar likes going there on friday nights.  They do the same thing they do in modern living.  They go to the local relatively well advertised expert who sells 'knowing where the hell things are, and who you really want to talk to in order to arrange caravan stuff'.  An information broker, of the more casual sort.  GoogleEarth.com, 'Good Blacksmith, I'm feeling lucky' :P

This would probably be a good attribute to add into the general setting.  It's a reasonable entrepreneur type to see at pretty much any town large enough to take more than 20 minutes to walk through.  Not generally anyone who deals, or wants to deal, in illicit information in most cases, but in the same way most towns will have places to eat, places to sleep, places to buy things, places people live, etc; they'll probably also have one or more folks that deal with travelers, or sell town maps, or generally can point you where you need to go for a few coppers.  They probably either are near town entrances, or inns.  Mostly probably town entrances to point people to a specific inn paying them to do so.  Yadda Yadda.

Why haven't we used this before?  But we did.  We went right to the innkeeper in hardsoil to point us around, and then relied on our GI expert rather than going back and asking.  Now that we don't have someone who likes to go smooze around, we can sacrifice some coin to solve these kinds of local area knowledge bits.  For traveling adventurers who aren't good at it, it's probably worth more than spending a day irritating the townsfolk sticking their noses around.

[Anastasia]

Drac: That assumes every town is okay with that and has such. That's a presumption that may or may not be true on the whole.

Edit: To clarify when I haven't just woken up from drowsing?

You don't need and I don't want the assumption you can walk up and get an easy infodump on the town. Mystery's a part of the game as is finding out what's going on.

[Anastasia]

---Nixale---

You get a lot of sour looks from the inhabitants as you look around. You don't see too many of your kind - lots of stony faces. Earth elementals are common, as are creatures that look like bat-man crossed with stone, great wings behind them. There's living piles of dirt and gemstone, often accompanied by Earth elementals. You see a few snake creatures with human heads, carried on divans by silent humanoid slaves.  It takes you some time, it takes you some effort, you come on a little tucked away pile of stones you could call a building. You heard about it from one of the man-bat-stone things, supposed to be nice here. Friendly, he said.

Inside you see 'em all. Your type. Living, breathing, fleshy creatures. Most of them sit at tables surrounded by glowing crystals, keeping their gazes down and business private. Got a couple of humans in armor in one corner, then you got the man sized water elemental listening to a Githzerai go on and on, while a couple of tables away a gnome in singed mechanical armor tinkers with what looks to be a clockwork golem. Barkeep's always smiling,and humming. He's got it all going on. Not a hair out of place, not a stain on his blue tunic, not an unkind word. Human you think, with a faintly beige-brown tint to his skin.

Resting around her and asking around' s isn't so bad. Knight goes and starts asking her questions. She ends up shacked up at a table with the humans in armor, talking the trade. What works good on the bat-men(Gargoyles, apparently, anything smashing like a mace works), how to deal with the gravity(Lighter armor or high strength) and how not to look like a sweaty pig after butchering the locals. After all that's outta the way, she gets to brass tacks. Adail's with her, nodding in the right places and adding in a bit, as much as a celestial mouse from Elysium can. Anyway, first off you hear about the Rise of Stone. Harpies, they say. Fucking harpies. Right, been there, killed that. 'round these parts most of the problem is Ogremoch's piles of stony shit: His worshipers run this place tighter than an angel's snatch. You're in Ogremoch's territory and they damn well know it to tell you.

According to Chuckles and Giggles(Real names: Sir Anthony and Belblid the Bold from the realm of Telerath), they run patrols in the area, especially down and ahead. It ain't so hard to get around ahead if you're in good with them. If you wanna be in good with the folks that bend the knee to the Prince of Elemental Evil for Earth, that's the ticket. Now, knowing what's ahead is a hard thing. The Elementals ain't talking and going without Ogremoch's flock being okay with it's asking for find out if you can be fertilizer for Earth.  You get one of those looks, the red eye special from someone who's had a few too many droughts of liquid comfort.  Best not be asking about that unless you're in, then you can just start making the right inquiries with the right people and there you go.

Talking more, Knight changes the subject. Now, this place has a good rep for some things. Earth is known for having some fine works of metal and gemstone and Nixale is no exception.  Gilgeam's Eye, Branatos, The Silver Psionic and Gold Watch, those sorta places. Shops? Now anything weapon-ish gets you looks. Only Elementals run it, the sort that probably spend a lot of free time praising Ogremoch and making sure his horde gets bigger. Oh sure, you can walk in and buy something, but you ain't fooling anyway or so it goes. Oh, and all of them are marked up about 25%. Fun times for everyone. At this point Sir Anthony mutters about the Quickblade, about how a greatsword he bought there cost over 600 GP for a nonmagical one. The moment he said his sword broke and he needed a new one, the prices went up up up. But hey, that's why Bacchus invented booze! A few quick shots of fire-brandy from Baator leaves him smiling and happy all over again.

Since they're both on the way to being hellacious drunk, Knight and Adail move on. Doing the table shuffle for a half hour leaves you at the barkeep. You get to talking, you know, about the little stuff. What it means to be an adventurer and a woman to boot.  That sorta thing. After a bit he stops to polish a shot glass and listens to Adail mention the locals. As he polishes it right up, he says it's lucky here. If nothing else, Ogremoch keeps the city peaceful. He's the only game and town and if you don't play, you lose. Last time some high-minded paladin of Paladine came in...He doesn't even break his smile, as he describes what it's like to see crushed brain matter and skull fragments pried out of the street.

At that he slides Adail a free drink. Just good information to know, he says. Bad things happen in Nixale if you don't play the game. Bad for business and he likes having good business. Slides a free drink to Knight then, too, whiskey strong enough to stagger a vrock and sweet as apples.  Then he's like if you play along, it works pretty good for you. Says he heard your friend over there already found that out with the Delve. Pay up and place nice and they'll sell you what you want there and you'll walk out just fine. After a beat, he says to try to Twisted Mithral smithery. Ask for Divaq.  He says something else, but the whiskey's good. Easy to forget when you're drinking it, you know? Easier to end up sprawled out in bed, waking up the next morning with a hangover and a backache.

---

So Mari makes herself friendly with Kamvakua. 'course, everyone's friendly when you have 800 pounds of barbarian death on hand AND a pair of tits to admire.  A lot of small talk, a lot of learning with a bored looking water elemental and a quick talking, excited githzerai. It's words word words from the latter of the two, talking in thicky accented Common. A chaos accent, says the elemental. A guttural word in something else is the retort, as the two roll eyes at each other. Anyway, after all the touchy-feely bullshit phases pass, Mari gets to things. Nixale's all about Ogremoch. The Delve's his Temple, the Hall of Lucre is his follower's favorite hideout. Great places to go if you want to feel poor while Ogremoch feels very rich, they say. Well no, the Delve's great for making Ogremoch richer by buying the magic of  his priests. The Hall's not bad if you wanna play nice with 'em.  Or something like that, the githzerai takes an extended digression about a gemstone he lost in Limbo and is sure Ogremoch should have. Or something, it sounds kinda disjointed.

Picking up with the water elemental, who has some name that sounds like gurgling stream water for three seconds(Bulg is fine, it says) the conversation meanders for a bit. Turns out Bulg is a woman, as far as those things reckon themselves. She gives Kamvakua a wink at that, giggling and buying him a drink. After a few awkward moments that everyone will drink about to forget, the conversation continues to meander. So the Gruesome Ruby, you get that look. There's a fella who's supposed to know about it, really on the down and low. Name's Cysalis, runs Gilgeam's Eye. Jewelry shop, apparently. The elemental clams up at that, another awkward pause. Seems like a good time to go test the waters otherwise and Mari needs a new drink anyway, so off she goes.

After a few shots and a few near misses, Mari and Kamvakua feel good. Warm inside. All smiles as they sit next to the barkeep. He watches and whistles, as a man with heavy body hair - close to black fur, gets into a conversation with you.  So the D word comes up. The man gives Mari a sidelong glance and shrugs. After another drink Mari moves on...D word...nada. Devils, says the gnome as he works on his clockwork friend? This isn't Baator! Who cares? Then another..mmm...another drink or another...mmm....the night slips away from Mari...oh hey, how did that bed get under her. Wait, head throbbing? Check. Smell like booze and sweat? Check. Hangover? Check. Oh, that means it's morning!

---

As noted, there are shops available. The Delve temple can be used to purchase magical items of up to 1000 GP(Before 25% markup) without incident, anything more expensive will need to be asked about. Jewelry shops are available if you want to pursue any of those angles or buy some.  You can also buy weapons and mundane goods as observed, though Ogremoch and his amazing elemental friends run the racket.