The crew: Bear [Ian], Debbie [Steven], Dexter [Jamie], Myrtle [Andrew], Oliver [Jeff], Ouzo [Darryl], Scuttle [Chris], (Gillard [Kevin], Tu [Shane]).
ineffable
/ɪnˈɛfəb(ə)l/
adjective
- too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words."the ineffable perfection of the list"
- not to be questioned."the ineffable list that in need of altering is not"
[Some downtime was in order as levelling up was needed for a day by Ouzo and Debbie. This conveniently allowed the party time to identify the longsword, and studded leather we found that was magical. It also allowed the ineffableness of the list to once more prevent all arguments. So mote it be.
The origins of the list are lost in the history of the gaming group. Some say (Shane) that the list is superfluous and shall be mocked. Others say that the ineffability of the list is self-obvious (everyone else).
Its function is to prevent any arguments about magic allocation, and to facilitate the easy distribution of said magic. Everyone gets a rank from 1-4, 1 being the bottom. New gamers begin at rank 3. Rank 4 gets first choice, with ties sorted by dice. If you take a piece of magic then you drop a rank. Simple . . . and perfect ;)
"I have question. Why am I still last?"
"Because."
"I've been last for years."
"Are you questioning the list? Don't bother. It's Ineffable."
The longsword is +1 OV & DV, the studded leather weightless. Debbie learns Magic Missile, and Shield but fails to learn Feather fall and can never learn this. Having used her luck re-rolls on these, Steven decides to wait for another level in case she fails to learn something important.
Steven also chooses the skill of Listening. Seriously? Not sure this is in character. But it is funny!!
Steven gets the studded leather, and Ian the longsword.
Ouzo improves his lock picking.
After some discussion we decide not to pursue Zarbo at this point as we don't feel strong enough, so we decide to investigate the manor house in the forbidden zone that Ouzo found in the dream.]
Ouzo sneakily evaded the forbidden zone guards and sure enough retracing his steps, finds the manor house exactly as he saw it in the dream. Furthermore, looking around the outside there is the same mysterious symbol that was inscribed on the door of the brothel, inscribed on the back door of the manor.
[It was a sign! Of what, we still have no idea. But no werewolves so yay! Feeling brave, we decide to investigate as a group - during the day. Evading the guards proved easy]
From the outside, the only other interesting feature was a bell tower, which appeared damaged by fire. Using his new-found skills on the back door Ouzo searched for traps and found none. No-one else was willing to bet their life on this [see last week's blog for why] so Ouzo grumblingly unlocked the door and entered first.
Inside was a kitchen, with a cellar accessible using a ladder. Another door led to the rest of the manor. Everything seemed abandoned, and a fine layer of dust and grime covered the kitchen. Clearly no-one was living here, so we could take the time to explore without fear of discovery.
The cellar seemed the obvious choice, so leaving a small rearguard, the party descended the ladder. Small, and functional the cellar was filled with old barrels containing spoiled food, and wine of poor quality. A passageway led off into the darkness. After searching thoroughly, Bear led the way into the passage. It continued for a short distance, before ending in a metal door.
Ouzo searched for traps and this time found one - a magic trap. The party muttered nervously as this seemed unusual. But it was time for Debbie to prove her worth again! Turning the handle a jolt of electricity shot through her body and threw her backwards - a little singed, but otherwise barely damaged
[Debbie is our 'if all else fails' untrapper - she has the best saves in the party]
Unlocking the door, Ouzo flexed to the left, then to the right.
[This was deserved - there were some seriously low rolls with both searching for traps, and unlocking going on here]
The door was opened carefully, to reveal . . . another passage. Exciting times.
Proceeding with care, the party debated their order. Tu and Oliver quickly secured the most important position - the rearguard. As Oliver and Tu carefully explained to anyone that would listen, it was important not to be sandwiched into a death trap. This left Bear, and the mighty Gillard as the front rank. The squishier members of the party made up the middle.
Advancing slowly up the corridor, there was a dead body sprawled on the floor. It smelt about a week old. Yuck. Thieves tools were the only items of consequence. The cause of death - electrocution. Clearly the poor fellow had approached the door from the other side, and learnt the lesson too late, that you really need a halfling to accompany you!
The corridor continue a short distance, and came to a ladder. Listening carefully at the trapdoor above, Ouzo heard two people talking. Their conversation was mumbled, but fragments could be heard.
"Sick of waiting . . "
"Why did she bother?"
"Stupid contract."
The clink of tankards and general noise meant that we were unlikely to be able to ascend without being discovered. Returning whence we came we decided to investigate the rest of the manor.
Waiting bravely in the kitchen, brave Ouzo once again took the lead. The door to the kitchen opened into a larger room with a staircase going up and down. A chimney dominated what appeared to be a living room. "Where I see a chimney, I see a secret entrance", thought Ouzo. And so it was - searching the chimney led to the discovery of a shaft heading in the direction of the bell tower.
Returning to the living room, Ouzo proceeded sneakily to the stairs. Ruined but still functional if you avoided the holes, Ouzo descended to enter a bedroom. Searching found nothing of interest. Upstairs, Ouzo found a study containing a desk and an inkwell. The study also contained a hook, which clearly was used to pull down another ladder allowing access to the attic.
"Wait, I hear something . . . " Debbie started to say more - but then, her eyes glazed over, and she stood still.
[Unfortunately, no-one else noticed, so we just carried on without her. Let's face it, this was normal behaviour for Debbie after all. The drooling was slightly unusual. If only we'd looked].
Taking the lead, Debbie pulled the ladder down and began to climb. A singing noise became more clearly audible, and Scuttle and Ouzo heard it. They too began to climb the ladder. Wrestling them quickly to the ground, they did not resist as the rest of the party quickly immobilised them by tying them up. It was time to for Bear the Brave to lead the way.
He got half-way up the ladder before two foul creatures swooped through the opening and dropped viciously towards the remaining party members. Dropping to the ground, Bear and Tu intercepted the attacks.
[This is a fighter skill and allows them to protect the weaker members of the party in melee situations]
[This fight followed our usual script - we damn near died]
Tu opened with a mighty blow [20, but not a critical, 6 damage]. Hissing, the harpy clawed futilely against Tu's shield enabling Tu to bludgeon its throat using the edge of the shield [harpy fumble, -4/-4 winded].
Bear faced off against the second harpy. The God of Luck - Vingt Te Un -decided that it was time to even the fight. Bear missed, and despite fighting with a heavy shield, all three of this Harpy's attacks hit!! Worse still, the singing Harpy mesmerised Bear who immediately stopped fighting and began to drool.
This battle was going to go the full twelve rounds. Winning initiative, Tu swung again, felling the winded Harpy, this freed Ouzo from being mesmerised. Unfortunately, he was still tied up [in retrospect, tying them up my not have been our smartest idea] . Using his rope skill, Ouzo managed to free himself quickly and joined the fight. Tu intercepted the blows of the remaining harpy before it could rip apart the hapless Debbie [one hit - 3 damage. With only 5 h.p. things aren't looking good for Tu]. The remaining Harpy smacked its lips. Another fumble! This time from Tu. Fortunately the harpy misses completely and Ouzo sidles around for the backstab. The next round, Ouzo's slides his blade into the spine of the creature, doing ten damage! The harpy turns to face its tormentor, and charms Ouzo again. Tu siezes the opportunity and smacks it for another six damage, Oliver for one. Still it stands and turns to deal to Tu. If Tu falls only, the mighty Oliver remains. Fortunately, winning initiative, Tu managed to deliver the killing blow.].
As soon as the second harpy dies, the mesmer is gone. Myrtle quickly healed Tu, and Bear. Congratulating themselves on escaping another perilous fight to the death - it was time to investigate the harp's lair. Surely there would be riches beyond the dreams of men, hidden in the attic. Sifting through the piles of harpy droppings, feathers, bones of small animals and skeletons of other unfortunate victims - we found nothing.
It was at this point Scuttle had his brilliant idea! Remembering Tu's finding of the ring in the owlbear, Scuttle decided to disembowel the harpies. [ewww. This was pretty messy. Moreover, the stomach's contained nothing but the stinking remnants of their last meals - rats].
The desk in the study was a different story. Searching the study, Bear opened the drawer to find get stabbed by yet another needle trap [lol, because Ian burnishing his reputation as a trap magnet]. Inside the drawers we found some potions, a couple of scrools, 100 g.p.s, and silver flute and a rod which upon investigation telescoped into a quarterstaff. We also found a telescope which we could look out upon the town.
[Piling together the loot and walking through the rooms, Myrtle quickly discovers that the flute, telescope, scrolls, three potions and quarterstaff are all magical. It was time to beat a hasty retreat as Myrtle's slow poison on the unfortunate Ian/Bear. only lasts an hour. Battered and bruised, the party withdrew to our base, paid for Bear's cure, and spent a day getting the items identified, and to consider our next steps.
The flute adds +1 to ov - if Debbie plays it, that's +2! The quarterstaff is +1 ov/dv, the telescope has 150' infravision at night (but it's 10kg, and bulky), the scrolls are spider climb, and ventriloquism. The potions are of healing, neutralise poison, and invisibility. Meanwhile, the local mages guild is able to add gold leaf to the robes of every member for free guild using the exorbitant fees they charge for identify. We are poor again.
Needing funds, we decided to take on the job that has been on offer for a very long time - the art heist. We still don't know the cause of the visions, but they lead into the derelict centre of town, and since sneaking in seems relatively easy, we decide to continue our lucrative explorations
Before we can take action, we are visited by a Real priest, who offers us a new contract. There is another altar to the god of death which has been reconsecrated in town. Oliver's arm is newly blackened, and his knife is back to being magical. The priest offers us some leads - Lynley Inwood, and Ruby Jeffrey are two of the thirteen leaders of the death cult. The house we just investigated belonged to Ophelia and her mage husband who were also connected to the group who seem to be using the symbol we noticed as a code to recognise cult members, and safe spaces
We decide to kill two birds with one stone as the contracts seem related, and take on both].
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