Marpenoth 7th – 10th Back to Overlook

You exit the Lost Mines of Karak and travel back to Dunesend where you are welcomed with fear. Once the people learn of your success against the Queen, they rejoice. While this poor community can offer little in the form of reward, the are eternally grateful. Lothos Elberesk, owner of the Dunesend caravansary welcomes you to a free stay in his inn as the villagers stock your backpacks with food and water for your return home.

Travel through the Thornwaste is much easier this time and you reach Overlook in the early evening of the 10th. Your first stop is to seek out Bram Ironfell and inform him of your results.

The Dwarf is disheartened by the news, and tells you that he will leaves the mines closed in order to prevent others from suffering the same fate of his clanfolk who perished there. As promised, he gives you the other half of the 1,000 go he promised (500 gp).

As you exits your meeting with Bram Ironfell you are met by Kalad, “Welcome back friends, good to see you are still among the living.” The dwarf smiles and pats you on the back and speaks just above a whisper, “Word on the street is that someone is looking for you. A messenger from Rock Hammer. She was in the market, asking everyone in earshot if they knew you. She said her name was Marina, and she sounded desperate.”


Hint: This is the start of a skill challenge.

I've been reading up on Skill Challenges in the DMG2 and I want to change how we do them. I want to make them a little less structured and a little more organic.

• First of all, we are throwing out initiative on this
  
• Next, I'll give you a situation and then a heads up that we are entering a skill challenge (like I did above)
  
• Then everyone, in character, will try and solve it. You wouldn't say things like, "I'm going to make a Diplomacy check to see if I can get someone to talk". Instead you'll say something like, "I'm going to talk to the bartender and say, 'Seems like a lot of the villagers don't know who is behind these attacks'". Then me as the DM will say, "Hey, that sounds like a Diplomacy check, why don't you roll it"
  
• With each success I'll dole out some information like, "The bartender mentions that the captain of the guards has been unusually quiet about the attacks" or something like that.
  
• I think I'd limit the "aid another" to one person for a grand total of +2. Failing a skill challenge isn't the end of the world, it will never disrupt the adventure, it just might give you another slight obstacle to overcome along the way.

Bastion will say, "Well Gentlemen, it appears Umberto's underling is urgently needing our attention. Let's head to the market and see if we can pick up her trail." Bastion will lead the way to the market area of town and try to take a good visual survey of the area, trying to pick Marina out of the crowd.

Excellent start Mr B!

Er,uh....sounds like a Perception check! (I just realized that I don't know anyones skill numbers), but like a good DM, I'll wing it.

You scan the crowd with the hop of spotting your colleague from Rock Hammer. While you don't spot her, you do see a couple of merchants talking to each other but looking and pointing at you.

"Let have a talk with those merchants," Umberto approaches them. "Good merchants we are looking for a young lady who was seeking us out. She was this tall, etc, have you seen her?"

The merchant nods, "Marina you say? The girl who was looking for the Lords of Rock Hammer? She passed this way an hour or so ago, but I saw her go off with some of them Lost Ones. They seemed a little too happy to see her, if you know what I mean."

The merchants go back to work (they didn't really have any more information).

"Marina was the archer, yes? Maybe the local fletchers would have remembered her as well."

You find a bowyer who remembers seeing Marina, "She ducked in and looked around briefly, asked if I had seen you, and then left. A few minutes later two of the Lost Ones poked their heads in and asked what direction she went." The bowyer scratches his beard before continuing, "I asked them if they were friends of hers, and one of them just smiled. But it was a creepy smile."


The bowyer goes back to work.

"This does not bode well my fellows. Whom could we talk to that would maybe know where these Lost Ones took Marina?

"Where all the white women at ?"

*I'll try and talk to some contacts in town, see if I can hear some news.

*Sam wrote this of course

"I don't know nothing about no kidnapping, but Gorral over there," he points to a filty and gruff looking individual near an alleyway,"well, I thought he was talking to the Lost Ones right before they picked her up."

Grognack, let us play good constable, bad constable with these ruffians. Umberto will approach them. "My fellows, I understand you might know where my friend is."

The gruff looking individual kinda blows Umberto off at first, but when he sees Grognak crack his knuckles, he seems a little more insightful, "Duh, I don't know what going on, they just took her to some place in the Nine Bells (district), I don't know nuthin' else!"

Seriously, he doesn't know anything else. But you are one step closer.

You leave the gruff individual and head back to the market square to think of your next move.

"I'd be careful if I were you," calls a voice from above.

Looking up, you see a heavily armed elf sitting casually on the slanted eaves above the door of a nearby building. The elf wears an patch across one eye, appraising you carefully with the other. "The Lost Ones aren't going to be gentle when you find them. They've got reason enough to kill you, even if you didn't already have a bounty on your head."

"Ach, and the Lost Ones are the ones who've put the bounty on our heads, no doubt. What's it up to anyways?"

The unnamed elf considers what you have said for a moment, "It's not the Lost Ones who are offering this reward," he says with a snicker, "they don't seem to have the resources to put 1,000 gp on your heads. Each." He smirks as he points his finger at each one of you.

He laughs and holds up his hands, "Don't get me wrong, they do seek revenge upon you Lords of Rockhammer. You have become, shall we say....popular?"

Speaking in Elvish, "You seem to be full of information, Brother. It is all welcome, but what we truly need to know is where these Lost Ones have taken our compatriot..."

DM = slacker!

The elf smiles and responds in common, "Oh, I'm sure you will find her. Any heroes who have a 1,000 gp per head price tag on them must be resourceful enough to find someone, am I right Bastion? What about you Kregnok? Umberto?"

The mysterious elf straightens himself out on the top of the door eave and dusts himself off, "I'm Gilgathorn by the way, Thorn to my friends," in one quick move he is already on the roof as he add with a wry smile, "I think I'll see you again, Lords of Rockhammer."

Back to the Skill Challenge!

Let's head to the Nine Bells, and keep your eyes and ears open. Loz, why don't check about for any word on the street about Marina. I have a feeling that the price on our heads might be going up.

oooohh....sneaking around town....seeing what I see....

*The DM doing his best MF impression.

Lozigee comes back to the group and informs them he overheard some people talking about where the abduction took place. Not far from where you currently are, maybe 7-8 block away.

"Let's head to that location fellow Lords." Bastion (and the rest of the lords hopefully) will follow Loz to the spot he indicated. Once there, Bastion will take a good look about there area for anything that stands out that may indicate a struggle or that Marina had been there. If nothing presents itself, Bastion will then focus more on the ground and see if he can make out any tracks or indications of a group of 3-4 going off in a specific direction together.

You scout out the area, which is just inside an alley, for signs of struggle. A crate has been overturned, but it was empty and it looks like it was stacked next to some other empty crates.

You do however find some tracks. Tracks that are thick with mud. That might give you a place or area in the Nine Bells to keep an eye out for when you do head down there.

Back on our way to the Nine Bells right? Grognak will keep an eye out for a muddy place that migh have been the source of the tracks.

You begin your search of the Nine Bells and the rain that has been threatening all day begins to fall. After a hour of seeing the temples to the major religions of the region, you come across a run down building on the outskirts of the district.

Asking a local the story behind it you get a curious response, "Ah, the old Temple of Pelor. Why that place has been abandoned for years. It started to fall into ruin and I don't think they had the money to fix it."

The rain really starts to come down as you approach the abandoned temple the streets are all but empty, the inhabitants of the district fled to shelter. From the outside, the temple entrance is set above a short flight of stone stairs. The flare of lightning shows where relief carvings once adorned the temple's outer walls, but these are unrecognizable after years of neglect and abuse.

As you enter, water covers the cracked marble floor where broken freestanding frescos block four doors in the far wall. Rain pours down through a square opening in the ceiling, shards of stained glass clinging to its edges. Beneath it, a young woman in tettered traveling garb has been gagged, blindfolded, and bound to a wooden chair.


What a cliffhanger! This is where we will pick up on Sunday!