Because everyone was getting concerned of hitting the 1000 post mark...

@Orila: There are three "levels" only.

There are the watchtowers, only one of which is still standing that you infiltrated through.

There is the main ground level that had the dining hall and guest quarters that you mostly explored.

There is the dungeon level that has...well the crypts and the dungeons that you are exploring now.

Gone for the weekend. See everyone after the Super Bowl :)

Whatcha think, ladies?

Clean the chapel real good, half-assed, or all-in and fix it up like new?

(I'm for fixing it up like new, but open to being persuaded to another course of action)

Talia will want to clean it up as good as they can now but would include restoring it to new with the aid of the villagers. She'd also be forfinding a friendly priest of the god to reconsecrate it. BUt not sure they can risk such knowing their location.

I think we should fix it to an adequate amount that the ghost in the basement is mollified.

Yes, getting it cleaned to the satisfaction of the long term tenant would be a minimum. So that requires a priest or someone able to sanctify the alter, yes?

If we can’t find a priest of Helm, what do y’all think about using the Holy Water in the chalice on the altar we found in the secret room with the treasure chests to provide an improvised blessing… think that would work in a pinch?

(Post #277 in the main thread)

I'm all for cleaning up like new. Maybe not right away, but it should be done.

I mentioned before that they can slot the sapphire into the good eye. Are you going to use the holy water from the secret armory below or no?

may as well, sure. I'm not sure who has it but I think it's a good shot.

I'm sorry for my silence lately. Between midterms, running our gallery, and chairing a search committee I haven't had the time to think about the game let alone post.

In addition, I will be traveling for the next 10 days and I don't expect to be posting then. Dungeon Master, please feel free to puppet master Alyssa as needed.

Yes, lets use the holy water.

Oof I finally have time to post. So early this week my father-in-law's house burned down. Everyone is fine but he also was a bit of a hoarder so the whole family has been called in to sort through the charred and soggy remains.

I'm fine, everyone is fine. I apologize for not posting sooner but pretty much I've been coming home, eating, and going to bed only to wake up and head back out again. No computer, no down time. Well, that's not entirely true but the downtime I did have was spent in a comatose state on the couch watching trash TV mentally preparing for the next day.

Anyway we are finally getting ahead of the curve on dealing with the fire and I finally have enough sleep and energy to fire up the computer and let you all know where the hell I've been for the past week.

I can't promise a post today or tomorrow. It's high on my to-do list but things are looking like it should return more to normal soon. Again, bear with me, family emergency yadda yadda yadda. The important thing is I'm still here, no worries.

Oh yeah, that's rough. Sorry to hear that but good that it is being taken care of. Good luck, hope things go well! See you when you are ready. :)

Oh dear! Terrible news! But I’m glad everyone is alive and safe. Thanks for checking in with us. By all means take care of all that you need to and don’t worry about us. We’ll be here when you return and our positive energy and good thoughts to you and your family.  </hugs>

Thanks for the notice. Take care of family first. We're still here.

And that concludes the castle exploration. Let me know if you want to do looting and/or grave robbing before we move on.

Otherwise you have a mountain of gold, a deposed count, and rumors of a small army of Lord Saxton's being mobilized.

Just as a general reminder of some other plot points that might have gotten lost on the way:

- You were sent to defeat the orcs by a mysterious wizard who prepaid you with magical items to take care of the orcs threatening Ashford.

- You struck a deal with the leader of the orc tribe to get them to leave peacefully. In return they did offer aid if the group makes a move against Saxton.

I'll let you guys talk it over a bit here but that is going to be the focus of the next section is what are you guys going to do now?

OK, so, the next step would be getting back to Ashford and to start gathering people, supplies, and gold to the cause. Talia is still adamant about informing the town council of their goals and Edmund. Hmm, something something mercenaries?

Also, something about going back to dragon's caves?

Then sweeping cinematic politic stuff?

So to be clear the plan as Talia is putting forward:

1. Talk to town leaders of Ashford.

2. Hire locals to help repair castle.

3. Hire mercs (or other army raising activities).

4. ?????

Are you planning on hiding in the dragon caves from Saxton's army? Or is that for far in the future?

I think hiding in the dragon caves — provided we don’t have to re-clear them again — is something far in the future, yes.

The rest sounds okay to me.

I thought the question on the dragon in the caves was to check if we had cleared that out. I do think that it would be a good idea to double check it.

To take it one at a time...

1) do we need to play this out? I'm game for it! If not, then what?

2 + 3) This also. Does it need to be played out? Seems ripe for a bit of fun, but may delay getting to the next stage of the game.

Also, dragon caves was about clearing it out and making sure the area was safe, I thought?

In reply to Talia Alden (msg # 23):

I'm up for playing things out, (if that's an option), and yeah sure, let's go make sure the dragon caves are cleared and safe.

Okay I'll get the meeting with the town elders set up. Someone else is going to have to remember about re-exploring the dragon caves because no promises I will remember that once the current plot line is done...

Sorry for my extended absence. I got back from Europe in time to host/coordinate 3 on campus interviews for a retiring college's position. I'm hoping it will only be a week more before things settle back to regular Spring Semester crazy.

Glad to have you back!

I’m gonna be traveling for Spring Break from this weekend until next weekend. Don’t know how much ability I’ll have to post, but I’ll try to keep up as much as I can… just don’t expect too much.

Question: Is Giselle part of the town council?

Yes

Let me know if there is anything you want to do this very day before I advance things to the next morning. Given that you gals adventured pretty much through the entire night I'd imagine that R&R is the first thing on the agenda but if there is something that bloody and exhausted you wants to pursue let me know.

Rocks fall and everyone dies  (¬_¬)

Well then please drop me from the game. It's been fun :)

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 32):

Nooooooooooo!!!!!  Can I come back as a ghost and haunt Saxton?

Of course. Also april fools :D I know I know, it wasn't big or elaborate but I had to put forward a token of effort.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 35):

I appreciate the effort.   :)

I think the best AF prank I saw here on RPOL was a post where the DM, quite convincingly, laid out his plans for transitioning his game BACK from 3.5 to 2nd edition. He seemed so serious that I actually pulled out my old AD&D books to refresh my memory on how THAC0 worked.   :o

Hello? Anyone still here?

Sorry, sorry. I am here. Just distracted.

I'll put some time in here as soon as I can.

But not today. I got a pile of essays to grade this afternoon and I expect it to be quite painful. Ugh, Freshmen English is my bane!

I’m still here as well. Nothing from me this weekend though, preparing for a big spiritual celebration, etc.

Is anyone waiting on something?

No, just been super busy. Haha. I'll try to get something up as soon as I can, but Wednesdays are not good for me.

Tomorrow, probably.

Hey crazy busy here. But I'm carving out time :)

Alright it feels like the next step is to meet these mercenaries? Or do you want to coordinate with the townsfolk?

OR if you want we can jump straight ahead and handle the fortifications and hiring process "off screen"

sorry I haven't been very active. I've been reading, but I just don't see many places to inject myself. I think a lot of the macro-level stuff isn't really Yry's cup of tea so she is fairly happy to be the mysterious ice sorcerer that doesn't involve herself very much in the 'kingdom' aspect.

Honestly, the negotiations might be fun. Plus it is a bit more grounded and concrete. Then, we might be able to handle the two simultaneously.

In reply to Talia Alden (msg # 45):

Sounds good

I've summarized what is in front of you from an army perspective and what is (or will be) known about Saxton's army so you can plan (and spend) accordingly.

Still here. Don't know what to add... yet :)
But keep going. I'll find my way.

It is starting to feel that the game has run its course. I'm not going to lie, my schedule is crazy busy right now and half the players seem to have checked out.

So cards on the table, how are you all feeling about keeping this going?

Honestly. Ambivalent. I'd probably enjoy the game as it has been laid out for the future. I'd miss Talia if I didn't get to finish her story. But, I can't drum up a lot of pique about it. I, too, have sort of seen this quiet death coming.

Yes. I'm fine with closing this book. Sorta bummed that Arthua died before his backstory could be unraveled. But those things do happen :)

AND I would like to say THANK YOU. This was my first 5e game. So everything was new here :)

This was my first 5E game as well and it was a pleasure to run for the both of you. It might not have had a concise ending but hey, you got to kill a dragon and cross dimensions, slay a knight and claim a castle so I hope it gave you a little bit of everything :)


I'll keep this up for a week so grab anything that you want as a keepsake and then I'll be shutting it down.

I've learned a lot from this game and others games beyond this one.
But I'll fondly remember that this was my starting point :)

For me, it was in my first handful of 5e games for sure. Right around when I was getting back into D&D from a long hiatus.

Also, it was a rare character adoption. haha. Grew to love the ancetral guardian path for barbarians. Running it in my IRL campaign now. Tons of fun.

But, I rarely, if ever, replay characters even if their story is incomplete. Once played, they live in the context of the game, so I tend to just keep memories.

Cheers! It's been a blast and I hope to see y'all around.

It was fun with playing with all of you. It's a shame the pbp format didn't work out very well for me, but the game was fun. Hoping all the best for you all!