Trasher said:
Whew, for a second there I thought you were going to bypass Nulb
And missing the only chance to meet some NPCs that are actually half-decent? No way!
Nulb: Living amongst the bold and the beautiful
'"Then tell me kind sir," I almost failed to hide my annoyance "how else can someone judge the heart of a man? By his deeds? His piety? The way he treats himself and others?" "No," my companion raised his head "it's the place where he lives."’ Lord Grey,
Traveler's Thoughts
We welcome our heroes in the small idyllic town called Nulb somewhere in the middle of swampy nowhere. Nulb is an excellent vacation place for diving or adventure tours where shopping prices are low even for top quality merchandise. The people here are friendly and often eager to sell refreshing (and totally useless) alcoholic beverage to tourists. The first local we meet is Preston. He's a tax collector and respected man of the law.
Note the straightforward way he talks and the adorable down to business attitude. Most people in town prefer this type of approach when you get them into a conversation. It makes them a lot more likeable than the people back in Hommlet who take sadistic pleasure in tormenting you with their endless life stories.
In high fantasy settings, unlike our own, government officials don't receive any financial benefits whatsoever when working for the state including health care and are actually paid for results, not their position. That's too bad for Preston since he was sent to collect some fees from an old gypsy woman called Mona. The fine lady owns an entertainment establishment nearby (adults only). She's completely broke right now which means that he can't fulfill his duty, meaning that he won't earn enough money to pay the only dentist in town for treating his bad toothache. We promise to look into it since we want to leave a good impression on government officials. He even pays us one gold coin. In advance! No one in Hommlet was ever so generous to us (often not even after we did all their work for them).
Screamer wants to persuade the dentist to help Preston. Since it was mentioned that he is also a pirate by trade we try the person with the conspicuous black hat who stands close by.
Disclaimer: I think he's supposed to be another joinable NPC but I never figured out how you can convince him to team up.
Bertram is one of the 'other' kind of pirate. Screamer can imagine that the priests from the St. Cuthbert church would have castrated this man on the spot. He's lucky that he stranded in Nulb with all its tolerant (or at least highly indifferent) inhabitants. It’s even more fortunate for him because Tolub, the greatest pirate in these parts, took him under his wings. Although Bertram admits that the great man tends to become violent once drunk. Then again, it can't be all perfect in paradise, right? At least he taught Bertram some strict working ethics. If Preston wants treatment he'll need to pay it by himself (not that we would pay for him anyways). Maybe a little push from his foster father will make him more cooperative. Sounds like a good excuse to visit the pub in search for him. He is absent for the moment as every upstanding pirate at this early hour is already up sailing and pillaging. Screamer starts a chat with the bartender to pass the time.
We buy a new shield for Punkaid from him whereby he mentions that he maybe has a noble quest for us. He gets defensive however when Screamer digs deeper and it is only due to Johnny's masculine touch that gets him talking. He explains that the owner of this place is actually the barmaid who is revealed to be a suppressed homosexual. This forceful denial has turned into a serious phobia and she now seizes every opportunity to 'keep us men down'. If this little bastion of change and sexual diversity shall prevail then she needs to disappear. Our heroes react immediately to this urgent outcry for help. We therefore face the barmaid and her bodyguard (with a name way too complicated for an unimportant grunt). The sheer look of the two is already disgustingly hetero.
Screamer wants to use her urges against her in a cheap attempt of irony.
It works better than expected. They go out for a little walk on the pier while the screen fades out. Once it fades back in we see our heroes outside staring into the treacherous water. The barmaid has disappeared never to be seen again.
Fun Facts: Warning to all Paladins out there. Even if you do just go out with her for a walk, please note that unsafe sex in the public doesn't make a nice entry in your personal record.
While the group still examines their handiwork, they notice an old man standing near the boats. Knowing that old men always got something important to say, we greet him nicely.
His name is Grud. Everyone in town likes Grud (or so he claims).
He takes issue in no one taking him seriously since the time he started to tell stories about an enormous gar who swims in these parts. If we can catch it and bring it to him he will spread the word that we helped him which should boost our reputation. We don't hesitate to travel deep into the swamps and to the spot where the creature was last sighted.
The new area we enter is quiet hard. Not only due to my lackey preparation of healing spells. Although it only consists out of overall three encounters, those encounters are located very close to each other. Our party dies the first few tries as they fail to keep the right distance and get completely overrun. It all begins rather harmless with one of the big frog creatures that we remember from the moathouse.
Johnny kills it with one single strike. That is the time when an angry parent shows up.
This nasty creature gets two attacks per round and any adventurer it devours is not likely to survive the next turn or two. The Kingfrog seems to be especially fond of small people and concentrates all its efforts on Tumblefingers. They both run around in circles for a bit while Johnny/Punkaid keeps on striking and Screamer + Magedude are shooting. It all goes well until this point
Oh no, you don't! Magedude finishes it off with a crossbow bolt (he does this surprisingly often). Johnny guts it open afterwards to look if there is something vulnerable or at least eatable inside.
Looks like the elf that passed here wasn't up for a challenge. He's left some excellent armor though, that we give to Johnny next to a +2 sword. A protection ring and a +1 longbow go to Magedude. Now we can look for the fish we originally came for. He is a little bit to the north. Johnny cuts its head off which we keep as a trophy.
Last thing that needs some killing is a dangerous sea hag that is guarded by a few lizardmen. She has a strong spell resistance and her attacks are not only very hurtful but also poisonous and can drain abilities. We approach them carefully and initialize the battle with Screamer and Magedude casting sleeping spells like crazy while Johnny readies himself against the enemy approach that ought to follow. It turns out to be a good idea.
Now another web spell to keep the hag off from our backs.
She is half dead as Johnny and Punkaid decide to confront her directly. Not a good idea.
But anything dies sooner or later, even hags.
Johnny butchers the other lizardmen in their sleep (they got some money on them) before we return to Grud to bring him the needed evidence.
Growing tired of adventuring for the day; our heroes enter the hotel to check in only to be confronted by the very first and last unpleasant surprise in Nulb. It's a nimble wench that will occasionally try to steal money and items from your team leader if (s)he can't spot her in time. Screamer is not easily fooled though.
What follows is an unexpected act of chivalry that almost feels alien after spending so much time in Hommlet.
Screamer exchange a few nice words with this one eyed gentleman after which we get to know his name (Rentsch), that he's working for the evil temple (earth temple to be precise) and that we should meet some buddies of his there in case we drop by. We can't rent any rooms from him for some odd reasons (guess they're booked out for the moment) so we swift our attention to the second proprietor of this fine estate. Say hello to Wat.
We talk all nice and quiet until he asks us about our tragic past in Hommlet. Thank god for the Eagle's Splendor spell (boosts charisma) we prepared in foresight. We won't allow Hommlet to leave any black spot on our white west.
Like Rentsch, he is a servant to the temple (fire department for internal affairs) and he too suggests that we check the place out. That makes two votes already, very intriguing. There are still some things we need to get done first though. First, we talk to the other female servant of the hotel.
She's the lover of Wat and afraid that he might has a crush on one of the hotel guests. Screamer talks to the defiler.
She's all pure badass and so forth. It quickly turns out that she's just another acolyte from the evil temple, doing evil stuff in humble servitude. Really nothing to be concerned about, we ensure the wench. Quest complete.
It's nightfall as for now so we return to the pub to look if Tolub has returned from his cruise.
Frankly, he proves to be far too manly for Screamer to handle. Not so much in Johnny's case though.
Johnny gets 100 gold pieces for his troubles but the problem with Bertram is left to us. The gypsy lady is our best bet from here. On our way we meet a sly looking smith apprentice.
He appears to be as incompetent and unimportant as much of the other apprentices we've met so far but he has a little secret to share, if the price is right. His master got a stash underneath his anvil with many valuable goods. Might be worth checking out but first, let's go talk to the smith so we know who we're about to rob.
This is Otis. He a competent fighter that wants to join your party (+) who comes from Hommlet (--) and is the brother of Elmo (?). He also sells some good equipment and is one of the few merchants close to the temple (+). As you can see, a man trapped between good and evil. So rob or not to rob? If you loot his stash he'll know and attack you the next time you talk to him. If you just look into his stash but don't touch anything you can make him admit that he is in reality a secret spy from Furyondy who was sent to look for evilly activities in this region. He is far too valuable to be killed for some so-so magical items and some gems so Screamer leaves him be. There is an idea growing in her head but she will have to wait before it turns to something amusing. The gypsy woman comes first.
Thankfully, Mona sums up her situation short and brief.
It is another 'wait until the sun settles and catch evil doer' kind of quest.
There is also the important looking slave girl standing close to her.
Her name is Serena and she's looking for her sister but got caught up in debts. You can buy her from Mona and therefore bind her to your will. Personally, I never bothered to do so although she seems to be one of those ugly ducks that will later develop into a beautiful swan.
We also, on occasion, meet a herbmonger and her beautiful daughter. They neither got anything interesting to say nor do they sell much that is worthwhile but they got voice actors which makes them appear important enough to be mentioned.
It's time to get Maria's orb back. We are shocked to realize that the thief is no one else but an apprentice from the brewery in Hommlet. Our past yet again returns to hunt us.
He says that he's bored from his work in Hommlet so he changed profession to a full time pimp who beats up rival prostitutes and forces them to leave (Magedude predicts that he might have been sent by Mathilde who wants to expand her territory). Johnny shows him what it means to live in a cruel gay man's world.
We return the orb to Mona and bring the good news back to Preston who rewards us with a level up! As we tell him that we still haven't found any lodgings he makes us a one time offer since we helped him out. A whole holiday home all for ourselves for just lousy 500 gold! Knowing that everyone in the party has grown fond of this place it is safe to assume that the money is paid in an instance. Now that they don't need the Hotel anymore, Screamer does what she always does best: spreading grief and mischief. Funny enough, Wat and Rentsch don't know that they are basically in the same team. What would happen if someone starts to spread false rumors?
That was good. Wonder if she can top this.
Hell yes she can!
The whole story ends in Rentsch being assassinated by Wat and us getting a lot of XP. Our job here would be done now if it wouldn't be for the thieving wench from earlier who, right at this moment, decides to steal Tumblefingers clothes.
Such behavior can not go unpunished. Tumblefingers steals her stuff back from her and later lures her into a trap. Since her protector now sleeps with the fishes Tumblefingers isn't tempted to show any mercy this time around.
Too bad that pretty much anyone in the room turns hostile towards us after that. Oh well, their loss our gain.
Only the chick in the corner stays out of the fight since she's too badass to be bothered. We also loot Rentsch's trapped chest in his room, now that he won't be in need for his earthly belongings anymore. Time to visit the temple he so fondly spoke of before he died. We'll need to revisit the emo from the previous episode to gain access though. He gives us a difficult choice.
So I ask thee, which path shall Screamer choose? Saying that they are sent from Rentsch will bring us to the earth temple (the winner team) while Wat’s reputation dubs the party in the fire temple (to the losers).
I'll leave it at that but before I close this chapter, let me show you in this uncommented example the horrors that I did not dare to release on you, humble reader, during my time in Hommlet. It is the heart-melting romance dialogue between one of your female characters and the herder.