Armor and Ice

Thowin Four Fingers, a fighter, and his torchbearer, Boarface

Imorfin the elf

Durik the cleric

Fretta the Dark, a thief

Balork the Medium, a magic-user and Bursus, his man-at-arms

Sunday, 23 Harvester

We rejoin the party as they sit around a table at the Bone House, the tavern/inn that they call home for the time being. It is their first time together after a couple days of individual exploration of the city. They recount their experiences of the previous two days and discuss the next course of action….

Thowin Four Fingers and Bursus

The fighter and man-at-arms made their way down to the Arena District in search of an armorer whose price list fit the budget of the adventurers. They had heard the best armor and weapons were to be found in the Merchant District, but one paid handsomely for that quality.

 

The streets of the Arena District were filled with all manner of men. They saw slaves, slave owners, fat merchants with their entourages, robed and perfumed and no doubt looking to trade in human flesh, and of course the fighting men of the Arena. The latter trained on small swaths of grass in between the streets, swinging wooden swords and engaging in various forms of strength training. The massive Arena loomed behind them.



Art by Angie Gomez

Thowin yanked Bursus by the collar to pull him to safety as a horse-drawn cart rumbled by. On the back of the cart was a cage covered by a tarp. Loud and strange noises could be heard from underneath - a combination of roaring and croaking. Whatever manner of beast was in the cage, it was no doubt on its way to the Arena.

Eventually the pair found an armorer and after some discussions about price, they were fitted for new armor, plate for Thowin and banded for Bursus.

(The City Encounter roll for Thowin and Bursus' jaunt came up empty and the only other roll needed was for the time needed for the armor to be ready. The result showed it would be ready the following day.)

Imorfin

(For Imorfin the elf's visit to the Bazaar District, I made use of some random tables I have yoinked from various blogs to find out what he came across during his day out. I flesh out the 'finds' below. The City Encounter roll also came back with a hit…)

The Bazaar was a maze of narrow streets and alleys connecting larger squares where stalls and shops of all sorts could be found. Imorfin smiled as he walked along, taking in all the strange sights and exotic smells.

He stopped to watch as a robed man created strange, smoky shapes out of thin air, weird colors swirling about. Onlookers clapped and tossed a few coppers in a hat at his feet. The man bowed and moved on to new tricks.

Imorfin also saw a bearded man wearing a strange, purple hat selling frozen water in small wooden cups. The elf had never seen 'ice' before and he readily paid the gold coin for a small portion. As he enjoyed the cold treat he watched as islanders, the native folk of the many smaller islands that made up the Southern Isles, tried to sell all manner of exotic fruits and vegetables to passersby. He also kept a sharp eye out for pickpockets, urchins, and other denizens of the Bazaar who were up to no good.

Art by jbcasacop

After a bit of 'window shopping' Imorfin was actually close to making a purchase, a set of writing elements made from the bones of some beast, when he was approached by three members of the City Watch. The elf was informed that he had been 'randomly selected' to donate to Enharza City Tax #9, Contributions to Help Enharza's Poor . A 'contribution' of 12 gold was in due. Not wanting to cause trouble, especially since he was outnumbered three to one, Imorfin reached into his pouch and handed over the coins. The guards smiled slyly and moved on. The elf did his best to forget the experience.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but once he returned to the Bone House, he did pick up one piece of information over ale in the Common Room…

Here is the process I used to determine Imorfin's search for leads. First I asked Mythic if he picked up the rumor at the Bazaar, but despite a high likelihood, the answer came back a big No. So it must have been at the tavern. Then I made use of the below table which I have written about before.

Try and discover new leads

Base chance of success is 25% per day; increases by 25% per day up to max 75%; cost is d12gp per day in drinks, food, and general schmoozing. If successful, roll on d00 table below:

1-30: Regarding known adventure locale (determine randomly)

31-60: Regarding unknown adventure locale (create one!)

61-80: Make a connection (see subtable)

81-00: Potential patron looking to hire party (create a lead using TOAD)

So Imorfin ended up spending 18 gold (over two days) and the roll on the above subtable (28) meant the info was about Stonehell. I then made the below ad hoc tables to figure out exactly what he learned:

Is the lead about Level 1 (60%), Level 2 (30%), or Level 3 (10%)? 69, so the second level.

I then looked over Level 2 and came up with the three possibilities:

1 - Treasure can be found at the bottom of a well…

2 - Lizardmen infest the level beneath the Quiet Halls

3 - An elevator room with access to the depths of Stonehell can be found on the second level where the lizard folk live

I roll a 3, so Imorfin learns of the elevator room and its general location.

To be continued with the rest of the party's actions…