RL:O - The City of Spices

Rafael's and Skybolt's Online Campaign
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Le Noir Faineant
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RL:O - The City of Spices

Post by Le Noir Faineant »

Image



Three months have passed when the party that met in the Silver Marches finally arrives in Cormyr,
and what was spring in the distant north is now summer at the shore of the Dragonmere.

Long was your journey, and great were the harm and the losses you suffered,
but in the moment that you see purple banners of Cormyr flying in the wind,
you realize that you made it.
Not even adversaries such as the gruesome Jander Sunstar could defeat you when you stood united against them.

Travelling on the Forest Kingdom's safe roads, and sleeping in friendly inns at Sergej's expense,
the journey through the Stormhorns and to Marsember was quick and comfortable,
especially when compared to all the harshness you had had to live through.

In the City of Spices, as Marsember is called affectionally by its citizens,
you entered the regent's castle with Sergej,
and witnessed a cordial reunion between the Count of Barovia and the Baron of Marsember.

Bledryn Scoril is, like Sergej and Alek, himself a born Damaran and distantly related to the von Zarovich family through the minor Dilisnya bloodline,
and he offers his lackland cousin whatever help he might need.
Exile, and any means necessary to assemble an army and to take back Barovia from Strahd.

While Sergej, through apparently interested to finally break the ice,
remains as looming and arrogant as usual,
Baron Scoril, a disarmingly friendly person,
invites the party to a meeting and thanks them for acting as servants to
Sergej and Alek.
(Or as George might put it, "Whatever".)

Obviously hoping to recruit you as officers for his campaign against Damara,
the Baron offers you to stay in his city as long as you want
and hands you seal rings that account you for using all public services
in Marsember, including all minor crafts, inns and hotels, for free.

Time for the party to decide the next steps.
For now, you lodge in the guest quarters of the castle,
but you might to get a home on your own.
- With that seal rings, it should be no problem just to confiscate it...

However, with the weeks and months passing,
the question will eventually arise what to do next:

Stay with Sergej and Alek, and the always-apathic, yet finally awakened Tatyana?

Search what has become of Jarryd, your companion-turned-vampire?

Investigate the apparent Amnite conspiracy against the banished Count and yourselves?

Or find out if Gondegal is really who the bards in every tavern and on every corner indicate he is...?



Assume that you have a month of time at your hands with nothing but leisure to do...

Every day, new soldiers - mercenaries from all corners of the world - arrive in Marsember,
gathering in an ever-growing military camp outside the city, under the banner of the von Zaroviches.
As long as you keep within certain boundaries, your resources are mostly unlimited,
and the royal seal rings will grant you access to whatever person you want to meet.
Sergej and Alek, as well as Baron Scoril will grant you an audience as long as you politely ask for it.

In short, life can be good and easy for the moment,
and after those months, maybe years of playing the hunted,
you get finally the chance to catch a deep breath and put your lives in order...

Please go on and describe how you spend your peaceful month in Marsember!
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Post by ewancummins »

Jamethon spends most of his month very near Tatyana. He waits on her hand and foot, really. He sits and tells her stories of far away countries, beyond a veil of mists. Doubtless, the servants think he's spinning fairy tales for the young woman.
Last edited by ewancummins on Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by steveflam »

Jarg spends most of his month discovering the city of Marsember.

P.S Van - maybe Jarg will try to get to know Inovidil better *wiggles eyebrows*
Last edited by steveflam on Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ewancummins »

Jamethon will also try and acquire as much smokepowder/blackpowder as he can! He can try and make the stuff, as he's got the Alchemy skill.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by VAN »

Inovidil will try to discover Marsehember as wel and she will visit any magic school (if there is any), wizards, sorcerers, sages etc. Everything to get more knowledge on magic...

Ah, and o fcourse she will do the talk to Jarg...that humans and drow are not to be together, that she sees him only as a friend etc... :P
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Post by kintire »

Shana will be living the high life while she can. well, not quite the high life - she will show little interest in mixing with the nobility - but certainly the upper middle life!

She will also be doing her performances and establishing a reputation on which to build for the future... as well as seeking rumours of Jarryd or anyone who might know how to cure vampires
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Post by ewancummins »

Jamethon knows how to cure vampires! You take a stake, a hatchet, some garlic.....
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by steveflam »

Rafael, do you want a real complete detail of what we all do? Can do if so ;) Just give me some idea of your version of Marsember ;)
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Le Noir Faineant
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Post by Le Noir Faineant »

I leave the description totally up to you, though you can draw inspiration from: http://www.meadehall.org/marsember.shtml

:) That should be enough to provide a dozen of adventure possibilities.

How much you detail them, I leave totally up to you.

If you like, even play them out! :)
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Post by Ken of Ghastria »

This is long, but Blaise has some catching-up to do...!
------------------------------------

In the many months since arriving in this new, brilliant world, the warlock Blaise Redman has sought to explore as many opportunities as possible. To his delight and fear, the whispers in his head have continued. Even here, he can hear the bloody encouragement of Bonescrape, the dark, reasoned insight of Glack, and the passionate wisdom of Naemera. (Occasionally, in the shadows, he still feels the tickle of her lips on his ears.)

Blaise soon discovered that a clever, persuasive man could find ways to indulge in arcane matters without worrying about an Ezraite inquisition. Unfortunately, the arrogant clerics of that blowhard, Tyr, have been just as humorless as Blaise’s former superiors in Nevuchar Springs. They didn’t appreciate Blaise’s pyrotechnic prank in Tyr’s Waterdeep temple. It caused a near-riot, which enabled Blaise to abscond with a rare religious text. The warlock’s right hip still hurts from where the paladin threw him into a wall.

He has learned much about the strange religions (so, so many!) in this land of Faerun. That knowledge, combined with his “creative” skills with official documentation, has enabled him to pose as a variety of religious ambassadors, scholars, and pilgrims. As such, he has passed without hindrance through many tightly guarded areas.

Blaise happily embraces the chance to make mischief and irritate the most serious, buttoned-up, and butt-clenched clerics, good or evil alike. Mostly recently, he infiltrated a temple of Loviatar, the Maiden of Pain, stole some valuable scrolls, replaced their jars of poison with strawberry jerry, and left evidence that implicated the church of Beshaba, a deity of bad luck who wears antlers. A silly god.

By trading on the information and trinkets he’s picked up in his exploits, he’s lived a life of, if not luxury, at least comfort. But for the most part, it has been a lonely life. The whispers and promises of his beloved mentors can’t replace the sight of a friend’s smile or the warmth of a body next to his.

He thinks often of his allies, those who escaped the Lands of Mists with him. Together, they had run the fiery gauntlet of Hell itself and freed the Lady Ezra (Did that really happen? he wonders with awe). Bonds like that can never be severed, no matter the distance or the passage of time. Whenever possible, he’s used his newfound connections within the arcane “black market” to trade messages with several of them, such as Shana and Inovidil, and he grieved to hear that Jarryd had fallen victim to vampirism. He had never thought of the Land as a “dark” place, but after arriving in this bright realm, “home” seemed a more shadowy place than ever, so ironic it was that Jarryd would escape such a place to fall into a life of eternal darkness. It’s just as Blaise’s mentors always told him, Reason is a figment of man’s creation / Embrace well Chaos and its application.

When he heard that some of his friends were gathering in Marsember, he immediately made plans to join them. It’s been far too long since he has seen most of them.

During the “calm” month ahead, Blaise will spend as much time as possible with his old companions, trading stories and finding out what tales they’ve heard. In particular, he’ll be interested in folklore, so he hopes Shana will know some interesting legends and fables. Although he’s tempted to cause mischief in the local temples, he restrains the urge so as not to get his friends in trouble during their month-long wait. However, if he hears the local stories of will-o’-the-wisps luring travelers to their doom in the fog, he’ll ask if anyone wants to investigate with him. It could make for an interesting diversion!
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Post by ewancummins »

Jamethon set a burning match to the bowl, while shielding his face with his left hand. WHOOSH! The powder ignited instantly, with a satifysing flash and a cloud of acrid smoke.


In this world, the priests of Gond kept the formula for blackpowder a secret and shrouded the truth behind a veil of ritual. The island of Lantan was the center of this work- as Jamethon knew firsthand, having gone there after his adventures among the Nelanther pirates. It was possible that the formula was different from the one Jamethon had been taught as a boy, working in his uncle's powder mill back home in Mordent. It produced a different smelling smoke, but otherwise seemed pretty much the same.

Jamethon packed up his notes and poured the remaining powder into his powder horn. He left his workshop [ an empty tower room in the Baron's castle] and went to make an appointment with the Baron.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Post by steveflam »

Jarg knocked on Inovidil's door. After the obvious who is it was said and done with as well as the reply of "Me , Jarg" done as well, he entered. " I thought today we might go into the port area and look around. Boats are interesting but the real reason is because we can gather information just by hanging around taverns there. Pirates and seedy people have all kinds of interesting things to say!"
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Post by kintire »

Shana will be delighted to see Blaise again and fascinated by the tales of his exploits. She will be spending a lot of time at the barrelstone which she will recommend for fun, tales and entertainment!

But NOT food or accommodation...

She will be enthusiastically chasing down tales of treasure, and will be right up for wisp hunting. Although the recruitment pitch may wish to downplay the whole "marsh" aspect of that!
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Post by VAN »

"Sure thing Jarg. I'm not very good at gather information, but I bet that you do, right?":
- The first 2 Feats a wizard should take are "point blank shot" and "Precise shot"!
- W H A T ! ? !
- Or they should NEVER memorize rays!
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Post by steveflam »

"Oh I am not so bad, if I must say so myself, Ino. I've learned a few things in my day. Besides I'm sure you won't mind getting a pint and seeing the nightlife rather than staying in and studying that boring book! Come now, I know I'm no Elvira but I still know how to have a good time!" He winks.
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