12-9-13 Post Discussion

Thog grew as a character, Javan mutated horribly (and doesn't know the full extents of the mutation yet), and the party verified that 'only' Marblebush and the surrounding region was glassed.

Currently we are heading off to Holtburg as our next destination. There we may meet up with Gwydo and Z, hopefully they will join us on the way to the Light Temple, where Zeiss will finally come back to his full faculties.

One thing we may want to do while we're in Holtburg as we will have everyone gathered: we have the opportunity and resources here to rent a boat to preform the burial at sea. We may want to take the opportunity to do that while we are there.

Does anyone have any plans for Holtburg aside from seeing Bonebreaker? Anything you would like to do while we are here?

I'd like to visit with Van and the niece, nothing that requires camera time as it were.

We should also really look into gathering the ingredients for that test with the mana stones. Curing the mana loss will help the party immensely.

Okay, noted that Kolson will be visiting family. Since you are also the resident expert on the arcane and the one who discovered the method, I'll let you also be the main man to gather the ingredients if you could do that, please. If you need any gold or assistance for that let me know.

I could try to inform Lightmane of the situation in Marblebush, since we were witnesses to the Directorate's'actions. Trying something else than what Gwydo Z tried to do I mean. But I would do so only if the party want it. Me and Zeiss are indifferent about this.

And we still have the group fund. 552 gp in it for the moment.

First, I'll try to pawn off my steel battleaxe and facemask. The facemask provides a +1 AC, so if any of you aren't wearing headgear and don't mind having your face covered in conversations(or, alternatively, having to take off a facemask for conversations), I'll do a "going once, going twice" before pawning it.

I will also visit my mother, which should become a regular thing every time I visit Holtburg. She needs someone to talk to, and I do have a couple topics in mind. I'll also visit a public military office to inquire about the status of my brother and sister.

That one guy who approached me in the local Adventuring Guild municipal will probably try to find me again. I'm wondering what it is he'll ask about, and what will be safe to tell him.

And on the group fund, did we get any gold from the last battle? I feel like we should be adding to it again.

Arch, +1 entry to journal.

I will also check with the Hub for any mail. Maybe there's a convenient way to get the letter my sister would have sent to Irondell.

The group fund is only for money. We arranged a long time ago that 10 percent of the gold the party makes would go into that fund. We didn't get any gold for a LONG time...

As for the mask, I would be really interested by it... Especially since I am squishy.

Snarg of Wildpaw wrote:Okay, noted that Kolson will be visiting family. Since you are also the resident expert on the arcane and the one who discovered the method, I'll let you also be the main man to gather the ingredients if you could do that, please. If you need any gold or assistance for that let me know.

You got it.

While we're in town, we should try to buy some sleep powder enough for two Tusker-strength doses. It might be costly, but if none of you want to put money forward, I'll buy it myself.

You'll probably need enough to put an elephant to sleep while he's being jumped on by a rhino.

Btw, i'm almost wishing we hadn't had that exposition on what really happened to the airships, because i'm worried that now, any concern we (by which, i mean I) might have IC about airships themselves being the cataclysmic danger, might be viewed as metagaming. But i did voice my concerns in character way before that, so HA(?)

Regardless, if there's to be any attempt by the party to contact the Aluvian Military about the Marblebush disaster besides Gwydo's attempt at a message, i'd like to be a part of it.

Besides that, long term goal still to find some brainwash resistance for my poor boy. Hope i don't have to start reading up on self-performed brain surgery again, but hey, desperate times.

I could try to inform Lightmane of the situation in Marblebush, since we were witnesses to the Directorate's'actions. Trying something else than what Gwydo Z tried to do I mean. But I would do so only if the party want it. Me and Zeiss are indifferent about this.

And we still have the group fund. 552 gp in it for the moment.

The group fund is only for money. We arranged a long time ago that 10 percent of the gold the party makes would go into that fund. We didn't get any gold for a LONG time...

I do not know if you will be able to get in before we have to leave, but I'll leave how long you want to try up to you. If you would like to refresh the party's coffers, feel free to explore any (sane) options. Perhaps The Exchange has generated some money in the meantime?

I will also visit my mother, which should become a regular thing every time I visit Holtburg. She needs someone to talk to, and I do have a couple topics in mind. I'll also visit a public military office to inquire about the status of my brother and sister.

That one guy who approached me in the local Adventuring Guild municipal will probably try to find me again. I'm wondering what it is he'll ask about, and what will be safe to tell him.

I will also check with the Hub for any mail. Maybe there's a convenient way to get the letter my sister would have sent to Irondell.

While we're in town, we should try to buy some sleep powder enough for two Tusker-strength doses. It might be costly, but if none of you want to put money forward, I'll buy it myself.

Alright, so it sounds like you'll be busy visiting family, perhaps talking with the adventurer guild guy, checking mail, and getting sleep powder. I imagine the battleaxe will sell for a crapload, more than enough to cover the powder, but if the powder is going to be a lot itself let us know. You should probably also pick up the same type of chocolates. I will actually grab some more stuff for Thog to do should we need to entertain him again.

Regardless, if there's to be any attempt by the party to contact the Aluvian Military about the Marblebush disaster besides Gwydo's attempt at a message, i'd like to be a part of it.

Besides that, long term goal still to find some brainwash resistance for my poor boy. Hope i don't have to start reading up on self-performed brain surgery again, but hey, desperate times.

You'll likeky be going with Zeiss then if you're trying to find an in to tell the higher-ups. One thing I would suggest to both you and Zeiss would be to inquire about the Olthoi and what they're currently needing/can offer. The Aluvian military directly cut off their embassy last time we tried talking to them, so it may be safe to say that they're currently doing stuff with them at the moment. You've got two Olthoi with you as well who might be able to help you there.

If you'd like to study up on anti-brainwashing things, then I won't stop you. If you find out anything I imagine we could all benefit from it.

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Things I'll be taking care of:
- Thanking/finishing up with the Olthoi.
- Getting hub transportation arranged (if possible.)
- Getting a ship set up for the burial (make sure you make time for this if you want to come.)
- Personal purchases (small stuff).
- Following up on the mine progress.
- Bonebreaker meeting/status update. I would, uh, appreciate it if people come; I know Zeiss probably will.

If there's anything that anyone wants to purchase, now might be the time.

I'll be there for the funeral and the meeting with Bonebreaker. That guy has quite the temper and we'll want all hands on deck for that if he decides to go all Boss Battle on us.

As I said, I am indifferent about trying to contact Lady Lightmane. But if someone asked me to try, I would simply walk towards the district where Snarg broke in once, tell the guards I am an agent of Lightmane (which is something she said to all people in Holtburg) and inform them that I was a witness to an invasion and that maybe someone would like to hear what I have to say.

I don't think the Exhange made any money yet. The caravans should be almost ready to go though. And I was planning to go speak to Bonebreaker too.

I'll go to the funeral, i'll go to the Bonebreaker (if nothing else, to ensure as much as i can that it doesn't erupt into a boss fight because or the RAWR factor). Then i'll go to the Aluvian military to tell what i know of their dreaded new superweapon. It'd be nice if someone with credibility (looking at you, Kolson) could come along in order to lend me some, but i'll go alone if i must. Normally, i wouldn't bother, but this is probably the biggest catastrophe in history waiting to happen.

Btw, may i suggest that the party members of the less talky persuasion could wait outside Bones' office? It may only inflame the situation, and they can still bust in at a moment's notice if something goes wrong.

Hmm. Zeiss won't go to the funeral.

I agree K. You should have at least an Aluvian citizen with you if you're really planning to tell them what happened.

And I'll say this here : I'll go see Oghren first before we talk to Bonebreaker. I believe that he can be trusted since it doesn't look like he revealed the location of the airship to anyone. So far. He might have something interesting to say about this situation.

About the people who should do the talking with Bonebreaker, you can count on Zeiss for being there. He hasn't worked so hard for the Exchange to let others keep him out of the loop. But rest assured, he will be polite and willing to listen to Bonebreaker's explanation. Anyway, he isn't in the mood to let anger take control of him.

And sorry for the posts I write at night. I write them with my cellphone when I am taking a break at work, which is a bit tiresome since the keyboard is so small. Hence why there are grammatical errors in them (well, more errors than usual).

I think Bonebreaker would want us all to be there. He's gonna wonder where the rest of the group is, and why the people meeting him aren't bothered by their absence. I think he'd know something was up, and he's not the type of person who'd be fine with that. He wouldn't make a great politician.

It's not that you don't have a point, but seeing as we're going over there to confront him about his possible disloyalty, i wouldn't want to make him feel cornered.

Well, Bonebreaker didn't seem to be wondering where the rest of the group was when Z and Gwydo talked to him.

Also, if he IS up to something, he'll be more likely to reveal it if he feels he's got the upper hand. I don't think we'll be very effective at what we intend if we make him cautious from the get-go.

Ok. I'll stand outside.

Whoever comes in and whoever stands outside doesn't matter, I just ask that if anyone does go in that there's no breaking of ranks, speaking out of turn, or even visible disagreement. Zeiss, since this is your show, you can have the floor first. If you'd like to speak to Oghren first that's fine. We'll make a stop there and then see Bonebreaker since they're in the same area.

Zeiss and Higs can break after that to inform the military if they can get in to do it in a timely manner.

I understand what you're saying, and agree, but this may turn out more chaotic than the negotiation at Irondell, where it was clear who should speak and not, and even that fell apart rather horribly. Conversations tend to get out of hand by their very nature (people misdirect as to whether they're done talking, remember things to add after their turn is gone, and think of counter-arguments to their adversary that the speaking member does not, and have to decide on the spot whether to risk protocol or risk the end result), let alone when accusations are involved, and if there's any system to neatly compartmentalize what we'll all say and when, well...

I think if we're to have any success at having some kind of orderly discussion with him, we need to address this ahead of time. Lay out what we mean to say, clear out the rough edges, and think of what counter-arguments he might present and how to counter them ourselves. It would help if we can determine, or at least extrapolate, the reasons he might have for going behind our backs like he did, or for going REALLY behind our backs, like he may or may not have done.

In short, try to cover all our bases, in order keep surprises to a very bare minimum for when we'll actually face him, because i think they might pour out in enough abundance already when we get to it.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Maybe that was too abstract, so i'll go first.

I've little to no place talking about the Exchange's policy or whatever, nor do i know Bonebreaker well enough to confront him regarding his motivations or methods. What i do want is to try and disable any hostile air that might form, and bring a sense of bigger purpose in light of the circumstances we all face (we needing to stick together, and all that crap). You might see this as breaking rank, Snarg, but if a character and Bonebreaker start to get visibly heated, it's usually a good idea to have someone else cut in and try to simmer things down. And besides my diplomacy, i have my charges, which pretty much give me an advantage in whatever i decide to use them for, so i can use that for added persuasiveness.

My thoughts are that Higaide should wait outside with me. And if you enter initiative, yell "INITIATIVE!"

Because i have such a streak of not mending situations going horribly wrong by easing things over between parties, right?

I do believe you're over-thinking this. The reason for going "behind the back" is that he's running a business, he's a criminal, and this furthers his cause. If it's anything much beyond that I'll eat my shoes.

If we can't go to a meeting with someone and just talk without doing a rehearsal beforehand, there are much bigger problems. If someone gets heated in their discussion with Bonebreaker, it's going to do more harm than good if the party just starts squabbling with each other trying to calm the other down. As a matter of fact, if there's a confrontation like that, I expect everyone to support our side - even if you don't agree with it. The alternative is

Now, that being said, Higaide, if you feel like that is something you won't be able to do if it does come up (which I hope it does not), then I will ask that you wait outside with Rory. I'm not trying to be mean or exclude you in any way, but to someone like Bonebreaker, going at it like a debate isn't going to matter to him; you can't counter-argument his fists.