Completed Play-by-Post: In Search of the Sorcerer

[Siveon]

Marcán gets up, "Oh, thank every god that I can remember." He rubs his temples for a bit, trying to recount the morning he just had.

"Well, miss whoever-you-are, I am Marcán Macc Fionghall. The zealot of a companion is my good friend Ker Gwez. The stoic one is Rhenmyr, the ugly one is Borric, and the tall one is Sokrates. And frankly, the only reason for me even being here, is her." Marcán points at Oofa. "She asked for my help, and she got it. We went through a lot of trouble to get her to the docks, and I wasn't going to go back on my word nor my pride in fear of a couple of cultists."

Marcán laughs, "Besides, we're already on every Hyperborean bounty after the stunt we pulled at Zelkor's Ferry."

 

[Grimgravy]

"Every Hyperborean I've had the misfortune to meet hereabouts has been in desperate need of stabbing. Serious attitude problems, the lot of them. Why do they all start trying to kill random people?" Rhenmyr asks getting to his feet.

 

[Siveon]

OOC

...And so the group stood there in purgatory, never finding out what the woman wanted, never finding out if there's actually a big bad, and never finding out what kind of monster names their female non-retarded (assumption) daughter "Oofa".

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"I nothing better to do." quoth Borric.

 

[Grimgravy]

"The big guy doesn't say much, but I've gotten the impression he takes exception to evil-doers." Rhenmyr says indicating Sokrates.

 

[nikolokolus]

Marcán gets up, "Oh, thank every god that I can remember." He rubs his temples for a bit, trying to recount the morning he just had.

"Well, miss whoever-you-are, I am Marcán Macc Fionghall. The zealot of a companion is my good friend Ker Gwez. The stoic one is Rhenmyr, the ugly one is Borric, and the tall one is Sokrates. And frankly, the only reason for me even being here, is her." Marcán points at Oofa. "She asked for my help, and she got it. We went through a lot of trouble to get her to the docks, and I wasn't going to go back on my word nor my pride in fear of a couple of cultists."

Marcán laughs, "Besides, we're already on every Hyperborean bounty after the stunt we pulled at Zelkor's Ferry."

"Every Hyperborean I've had the misfortune to meet hereabouts has been in desperate need of stabbing. Serious attitude problems, the lot of them. Why do they all start trying to kill random people?" Rhenmyr asks getting to his feet.

"The big guy doesn't say much, but I've gotten the impression he takes exception to evil-doers." Rhenmyr says indicating Sokrates.

The woman sits perfectly still for seconds that seem to stretch out and feel more like hours. From behind her smooth porcelain mask, her eyes dart between Marcán and Rhenmyr as they each speak in turn - the only sign that she seems the least bit engaged. Maybe 30 seconds after Rhenmyr finishes talking she smooths her silks skirt and casually stands up. "That's a very interesting story, but you still haven't really answered my questions. How is that you could possibly know our little Oofa? She's never mentioned you and I take great pains to make myself aware of all of my peoples' relations, lovers and confidants. You say she asked for your help. Why? And what's this about Zelkor's Ferry? Speak quickly."

 

[Siveon]

Marcán speaks as fast as he can.

"Oh, well, we met her in an alleyway trying to climb the wall over and we stopped her because she looked suspicious. She asked us to take her here because she hurt her leg on the fall."

Marcán chuckles.

"As for what happened on Zelkor's Fairy... we fought against this...Hyperborean noble who was hauling this beggar for some reason with two insane men. Zelkor attacked him for some reason, and the Hyperborean killed him in cold blood. We detained him and tried to question him but he got away through some foul magic. I'm not even quite sure if he's still alive. If he ever was."

 

[nikolokolus]

The woman turns and looks at Oofa, then turns back and looks at Marcán, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I'm beginning to understand a little better I think. She's a pretty little thing, I'll give you that . . . You all must be very gallant or perhaps very foolish to risk so much for somebody you don't know." Her voice trails off a bit, and she motions to Ampelios who is standing next to her to lean in. She whispers something in his ear that you can't hear and Amepelios flashes a slightly confused look before turning to the masked woman and shaking his head lightly. He glances briefly at all of you and then hurriedly strides out of the room. "As for this nobleman, I know of no Commoric nobles in Odessos beyond The Exarch and his court and they rarely leave the comfort and safety of the Citadel - certainly not alone or without a retinue of armigers. But you say he was "hauling" a beggar? What do you mean by this?"

 

[Siveon]

"Hauling a beggar like cargo, miss. He was in a weakened and tired state, almost like he was frozen, kept inside a box you would normally see on a trade ship. If memory serves, that is.
The beggar had little memory of being captured, so we're not sure why they were doing this. Or why Zelkor had to be killed. This city was our only lead."

 

[Siveon]

Spoiler

Marcan the exposition man.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"Masked One, you may have noticed people disappearing from the streets. The Old One that we rescued spoke of the homeless going missing ever so often. What would you know of this? Surely one in your position is good at knowing the city and aught within."

 

[Grimgravy]

"The Hyperborean we fought at the ferry had bronze plate armor and had a large black horse with an attitude to match it's master. I imagine he would have been noticed in town."

 

[nikolokolus]

"Yes I know about the beggars. Their guild master never fails to complain about it when we talk - seems to think my people are responsible - and now here you are with the first solid lead I've heard in months, so for that you have my thanks." She pauses and raises her index finger to the point of her chin. "But now you tell me that one of my most trusted informants, a man I've relied on for years is murdered by some Hyperborean sorcerer and the two events are linked? You make me wonder if this Hyperborean you encountered isn't somehow connected to the Seekers you slayed today . . . although, I can't for the life of me figure why he had an abducted beggar with him; that doesn't sound like one of the Autarch's torturers."

She sits back down and crosses her legs and leans backward on the bed. "You know, when Ampelios told me a bit about what happened out in the square I was incredulous and half-figured you to be spies of the Exarch enacting some devious plan to infiltrate my organization. I had to double check if the Seekers had truly been killed or if it had all been some elaborate ruse. Had my men not told me that indeed the Torturers were really and truly dead I came down here with the full intention of having you all flayed; extracting every bit of truth out of you that I could before dumping your bodies in the harbor. Now I think maybe Bel smiles on me and my luck has changed. I'm not so sure she smiles on you however. You lot now have a rather large problem after stirring up the hornet's nest with your little attack. You see, as much as it pains me to lose a valuable cutthroat like little Oofa here, you would have been better off to let her be executed. Not to distress you, but my men were only there to observe and report back to me when the deed was done. She completed her assignment last night and had the misfortune to get caught, so that was on her and she knows the rules."

The woman lets out a heavy sigh. "But what do you suppose I should do with you all now? Rumors are already spreading like wildfire through Lowtown that a dozen out-land barbarians murdered the Autarch's men in broad daylight, and even now as we sit here and talk a full battalion of Armigers is marching en masse down from the Citadel to turn the district inside-out. Unfortunately I can't risk hiding you - we have ourselves to worry about - but for the information you've given me I'm willing to smuggle you out of the city." She leans forward. "If I do this for you, I'm going to need a small favor. Are you interested?"

 

[Helly]

Spoiler

We can't let ourselves be smuggled out yer, we still have business here, like with Marcan's family. And I don't know about you but I don't trust her one bit.

 

[Grimgravy]

Spoiler

Staying may be very stupid, but I need to get into the Wizards tower. So we have at least 2 reasons to stay. If we manage to get in, perhaps we can lay low in the tower.

 

[Siveon]

"I'd say we are, but we still have business inside the city, miss. Is there any chance we could schedule our departure on another day?"

 

[nikolokolus]

The mysterious woman barks out a small laugh before stifling it and coughing. "Perhaps I didn't speak clearly? You have this one chance to take up my offer for help. It's on the hour or I leave you to your own devices. I give you ten minutes to talk amongst yourselves." With that she rises fluidly from the bed and makes a small wave of her hand. Her brutish bodyguards file in behind her and everyone begins filing out of the room.

 

[Siveon]

"Well, that's that. I don't know about you folk, but I'm not going anywhere."

 

[Grimgravy]

OOC

Hurray for stupid decisions! Of course taking her up may be stupid as well.

"Can't say I'm ready to leave yet either. We'll need to find a place to lie low. The Sink is one option, but they may well search there too." Rhenmyr says. Then quietly, "The burnt wizard's tower would be perfect. If we can get in unnoticed, that is. Everyone in town KNOWS it is locked up tight. No on would look for us there."

 

[Siveon]

Marcán raises an eyebrow, "Now what's this about a wizard's tower? First time you've mentioned such a place, Rhenmyr. What's the catch?"

 

[Grimgravy]

Rhenmyr continues quietly. "The burned tower we passed last night and again this morning. The catch is the owner is presumed dead in the fire and the tower locked tight. From what I've gathered, no one has been able to get inside for months. I have my doubts as to whether the the owner is dead, since I was sent to meet him AFTER the fire. It may be a dead end, but it may be our best option. Any thoughts?"

 

[nikolokolus]

OOC

FYI, I'm going to let the "ten minutes" hang in the air until Helly and ERYFKRAD weigh-in. Not to put too much emphasis on a single decision, but this is kind of a biggie.

UPDATE ON VTT GAME

Also, for those of you who were interested in a VTT game, just figured I'd let you know that I'm going to try and get it off the ground in the next couple of weeks.
The time would be twice monthly on Sunday 6pm-9pm PST (GMT -8).

But, I figured I'd let you know it's going to be a bit different than what I first pitched. Instead of a D&D derivative game (Crypts & Things), I'm going to use Chaosium's Basic Roleplay/Magic World (effectively just a reprint of Elric! and Stormbringer with all of the Moorcockian references stripped out). Also after some conversations and some back and forth, it was decided that the setting is going to be something kind of out of left field - Tamriel set 10 years after the events of Skyrim. I know you may be thinking, "Elder Scrolls sucks!" I'm inclined to agree that the vidjya gaemz for anything post Morrowind are indeed balls. However, the actual lore, history, politics and racial tension inherent in the setting has great potential in my opinion. The other reason for the switch is that as much as I love the Zothique stories and their potential as a PnP setting, unfortunately almost nobody else I know is familiar with it which creates a pretty significant barrier to entry - ideally games work a lot better when people have an intuitive sense of the setting insofar as races, gods, and geography are concerned. The other option that got brought up was motherfuckingcockandballs Forgotten Realms and there is no fucking way I'll use that kitchen-sink, pile of banality.

FWIW, I've got my own take on it that's going to be quite a bit darker than the shit writing Bethesda is known for and I have some "Big Ideas"™ that I think will make it an interesting game. If you're worried about access to the rules, I'm happy to give access to my google drive folder that has all of my BRP stuff, and there's a set of Quickstart rules that are completely free. If this is a deal breaker and you guys have zero interest now, I understand. It's a big departure from what I originally was thinking, but if anybody is still interested I can say unequivocally that BRP is very easy to learn and it's very intuitive and after having had a chance to play in a couple of games using the rules recently I'm kind of hooked.

Anyway, if anybody has any questions, concerns or suggestions on that front send me a PM.

EDIT:
Oh one more thing, I think at some point my cousin and I are going to rotate the GM's chair. He's interested in running a Cyperpunk 2020 game at some point down the line, so that's something to think about too.

 

[Grimgravy]

VTT GAME

Stuck at work on Sunday nights. Have fun!

 

[nikolokolus]

VTT GAME

Stuck at work on Sunday nights. Have fun!

Spoiler

Boo! What nights/times work for you?

 

[Siveon]

VTT GAME

Cool, but I know nothing about The Elder Scrolls though, at least to where Skyrim stands (I haven't put more than 30 hours into it at most). I've played some Morrowind and some Oblivion, but I can't say that I would be all that familiar. I'm still very much interested though, for anytime in the afternoon or weekends. Consider myself a dedicated player, you're a great GM man!

I've also wanted to try out Cyberpunk 2020 so I'm game with that too.