8/12/18

moe: test

Dušan of Criamon: test

Horse: test

c'thinker (GM): nice avatar.

i added the other firelink shrine track to the Chill category

Guy of Bonisagus: shamog

start the game

c'thinker (GM): greetings

is moe going to show up

devil's fav demon (GM): idk

Guy of Bonisagus: im going to make an enchanted item thats a staff with a big iron ball on top and the spell invested makes the ball move at high speeds

, after learning penetration

Archibald of Guernicus: the staff, the ball and the animals

GM: i'm in the tomb with the orb and the bodies

devil's fav demon: Archibald of Guernicus: the staff, the ball and the animals

GM: well, moe went offline

how do you set a song to loop

johns: button next to play button

Archibald of Guernicus: Click the button

GM: oh. its right in front of me

well. our story begins with  archibald of guernicus  having a dream

Archibald of Guernicus: As all classic stories do

Celeste: Nice.

c'thinker (GM): i hit backspace and got sent back to the roll20 homepage.

Guy of Bonisagus: holy SHIT. someones story flaw is being engaged

GM: Archibald dreams that he is flying on the back of his owl familiar.

He soars over an endless river delta, dotted with small islands.

Shauncat (GM): Archibald, Fiorella has a 35 MuVi total if you can ever translate a level 30 WizCom

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll do that soon, probably with my seasons from last year when I do them

then people can learn communion

GM: He passes over island after island, for what seems like forever, until - - is that your good friend Dusan of Criamon?

Shauncat (GM): I spend a 1351 season learning it then

GM: you can act, if you would like

otherwise the dream will do as dreams do.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll land and meet my good friend Dusan. Or at least try to land.

"Try and land by there, Roy."

GM: Roy tips his wings and begins spiraling down towards Dusan, who is walking in a circle around a tree.

Archibald of Guernicus: "Dusan! What brings you here?"

GM: oh no

the grouped drawing came apart

Celeste: lol.

GM: well, dusan waves at you and says something you cannot hear.

Fiorella of Jerbiton:

rolling d10!+4-10 aging 1350

(

10

+

10

+

10

+

6

)

+4-10

=

30

Guy of Bonisagus: lmfao

GM: nice.

Celeste: ogh no

Guy of Bonisagus: oh fuck

fiorella died

GM: farewell

Archibald of Guernicus: lmfao

Guy of Bonisagus: hold on. let me just do  squints at giraldos last updated year and faints

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Gain sufficient Aging Points (in any Characteristics)

to reach the next level in Decrepitude, and Crisis

Celeste: Good lord.

Archibald of Guernicus: :pepeP:

johns: BR had some aging house rules

that have never come up yet

Aging Crisis Results

14 or less: Bedridden for a week

johns: 15-24: Bedridden for a month

25+: significant illness. Stamina roll of 5+ or CrCo 20 ritual required at this level, add 5 to the ease factor or minimum spell level for every full 2 points the roll exceeds 25.

Celeste: :pepe:

Archibald of Guernicus: CrCo hahahahah

Guy of Bonisagus: yeah lets just use some br rules

Fiorella of Jerbiton:

rolling d10+4+1

(

1

)

+4+1

=

6

GM: oh god.

johns: he doesnt say what the result is if you fail

well

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Bedridden for a week

GM: well, what happened to the drawing again is appropriate, here

johns: also you need a new longevity ritual now

Celeste: i dont think she had one

GM: since as you come in for a landing the ground falls away inside the circle.

Roy hoots and flails around as he tumbles into the pit.

Guy of Bonisagus: glad to see some pc death at long last

its been too long

Fiorella of Jerbiton: FIorella can never use longevity rituals

Archibald of Guernicus: grouping has some funny bugs, if i move the drawing up and down it moves archibald further away

Celeste: lol

GM: Archibald fall, and fall, and eventually realizes he is not falling at all!

He's standing in a sunlit meadow. The sun feels wonderful. --more--

There are dogs barking in the distance.

Guy of Bonisagus: you should explore the black void below the faerie regio

Fiorella of Jerbiton: BR's crisis table seems like it might have been designed around decreptidue as an art

GM: There is only the sun.

It's wonderful.

Celeste: On the normal crisis table your roll of 6 also leaves you bedridden for a week

johns: well time to delete it from the house rules now that we have actually seen it

Celeste: lol.

GM: lol

A familiar-looking figure enters, wearing green robes and riding on a red mule.

Fiorella of Jerbiton:

rolling d10!+4-10 aging 1351

(

6

)

+4-10

=

0

Silhouette: what is guy doing

is he here to initiate pvp

Guy of Bonisagus: huh?

Archibald of Guernicus: Ah, it's my good friend Guy of Bonisagus, who has just discovered dream magic.

Guy of Bonisagus: this is archibalds dream

Archibald of Guernicus: Then why are the Oreads here?

Guy of Bonisagus: why would archibald dream of pvp with his good friend guy of bonnisagus

Archibald of Guernicus: Actually, why is Sir Oak here

Guy of Bonisagus: because archibald is also thinking about his other good friend giraldo

and his best friend lavinia

Silhouette: i ahve no idea.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: It's a dream demon disguised as Guy, an effective disguise as Archibald has trouble determining the difference

Silhouette: i guess if you want to mess around in the background that's fine

"Well, hello, Guernicus!"

johns: stop trolling the GM

Silhouette: "Fancy meeting you here. It's been so long!"

Guy of Bonisagus: its his first session and we must make sure he knows what hes done

Archibald of Guernicus: I squint to see if I can make out who it is

Silhouette: hmm.

gimme an OoH + Perception roll

johns: its a spider! its ferris!

Silhouette: ferris has come to visit us!

ooh lore, i mean.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10+3

(

8

)

+3

=

11

I really do need to put points into that

Guy of Bonisagus: it is obviously the friend to all guernicii, the spider

Silhouette: You've seen this man represented in engravings and statues.

It's none other than Bonisagus the Founder (and his mule (not pictured)).

Archibald of Guernicus: "B-Bonisagus?"

johns: the second greatest wizard to ever live

Silhouette: behind pralix

johns: *vergil

Bonisagus: *the buddha

Archibald of Guernicus: *zoroaster

Bonisagus: "Of course. Who else would I be?"

Archibald of Guernicus: "What brings you here?"

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Nice incubus

Bonisagus: "Oh, nothing as exciting as we're used to. I'm merely bearing the news to Vardian's Tomb."

Celeste: oh shit.

Bonisagus: He holds a rolled-up letter in the air.

Celeste: talk about a vision.

Archibald of Guernicus: I step forward to accept the letter

Bonisagus: "But I'm afraid I don't have time to stay around and chat. Much distance to cover, you know!"

Bonisagus's mule does not move, but suddenly they seem very far away.

The letter is as close as ever, though.

Archibald of Guernicus: I take the letter

whats it say?

Bonisagus: It turns into a snake!

Holy shit!!

ah fuck!!

The snake burrows into the ground at your feet, and...

Archibald of Guernicus: "Ahh!"

Bonisagus... what the hell, dude?

Bonisagus: a forest springs up around you.

The canopy blocks most of the sunlight, but what comes through is still wonderful.

Celeste: wow!

Bonisagus: the sun is fantastic, folks

Fiorella of Jerbiton: There's probably a bunch of vim vis in Faustus's gay baby jail, if anyone wants to be the one to take responsibility for setting him free

Bonisagus: the sound of barking dogs is much louder, now.

archibald is right in front of the most prominent tree so gimme a second.

Archibald of Guernicus: lack of almond vis

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Good drawing

Bonisagus: thats a tree trunk.

and that's the snake, which has wrapped itself around the tree.

johns: eat the fruit.

Bonisagus: the sunlight is wonderful. i cannot stress this enough.

Archibald of Guernicus: Is the sinister semitic visage on the tree part of the vision too

Celeste: no

Bonisagus: criminy.

moe: i can't tell if i'm too early or too late

Bonisagus: we're almost at the end of the vision here.

Archibald of Guernicus: You've arrived at exactly the right time

Endrite: Hmm, I thought we were starting in 15 minutes and I think I might've made a mistake.

Bonisagus: that's fine since this is the archibald power hour

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Phew!

Dušan of Criamon: what hour isn't?

(putting away big ARCHIBALD #1 foam hand)

Archibald of Guernicus: Things seem to be proceeding dangerously enough on their own, anything further happen with the snake and the tree?

Bonisagus: You feel very small in front of the tree.

In fact you could just walk right up the back of the snake.

Guy of Bonisagus: the apple of bonisagus's wisdom falls into your hands. it recommends investing in herbam magic, the most versatile but underrated form

Bonisagus: if you wanted to.

it's really big.

Archibald of Guernicus: I shall ascend the magic snak

Bonisagus: wise choice!

Near the top, you find that the snake has two heads.

One runs along a branch, to the side, and the other seems to go all the way up to the top.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Guess you'll have to marry both of them.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll go up top

that way ill be high up and can see the other head from up there

Bonisagus: ok.

you're standing on top of the tree in a way that doesn't quite make sense, but this is a dream after all.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Giant caduceus

Archibald of Guernicus: Oh now I get it. Bonisagus is trapped in the chaos realm.

Bonisagus: the snake head protrudes far into the sky, stretching to reach the sun.

the sunlight is wonderful, of course

Archibald of Guernicus: Really good sunlight. the best - you wont find any like it. the moon has nothing on this.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll try the other head then instead of walking directly into the sun

Bonisagus: beneath you, you see that the tree is in bloom, bearing hundreds of red flowers.

BUT -

You spot a cluster of many-hued flowers.

The other head of the snake is moving around down there, inspecting all of the branches.

possibly critically, it is avoiding the unusual part of the tree.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll go take a look at that part then

Bonisagus: all right.

The sound of barking dogs is really loud by now. There must be hundreds out there.

All of the unusual flowers are growing from an unusual branch of the tree, and to nobody's surprise, there is a large ripe fruit here.

Archibald of Guernicus: Wow, Guy's in my dream too?

Bonisagus: gahaha.

Dušan of Criamon: lmao

Guy of Bonisagus: what the fuck

Bonisagus: wouldst thou like to live fruitily

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll check out the giant fruit

Bonisagus: You look in the mirror.

Celeste: Jesus.

Dušan of Criamon: savage

Bonisagus: but seriously folks.

as archibald approaches the fruit, a wolf howls in the distance. the sound of barking dogs (it must be thousands, by now) becomes far more menacing.

Archibald of Guernicus: who let the dogs out should still be in the music library

Bonisagus: slavering, growling, all the good stuf

f

Suddenly you realize that a thug with a hatchet is trying to kill you.

Archibald of Guernicus: Oh no!

Bonisagus: Was he hidden behind a leaf?

Or was he curled up inside a flower?

you can ponder these things after you roll initiative.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10!+1

(

5

)

+1

=

6

Fiorella of Jerbiton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pTgXSKjNvQ

Archibald of Guernicus: +2 to that, longsword

Thug: i was gonna say

Thug looks up a number

Thug:

rolling 1d10!+2

(

9

)

+2

=

11

yikes.

he takes a swing at you.

rolling 1d10!+1+3+3+1

(

9

)

+1+3+3+1

=

17

Celeste: Ouch.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10!+1+4+1

(

10

+

3

)

+1+4+1

=

19

And I parry it just fine

My turn kid

Thug: powerful.

Endrite: AFK a minute, there might be some fire.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10!+2+4+4

(

1

)

+2+4+4

=

11

Celeste: lol.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 2d10

(

2

+

4

)

=

6

no botch, maybe he manages to do worse

Thug:

rolling 1d10!+2

(

3

)

+2

=

5

Archibald of Guernicus: thats his defence?

Thug: oh, i should add 4 to that

either way.

Archibald of Guernicus: so 2 thresh

soak?

Thug: Crash!

Splinters fly, and glassware slides to the ground and shatters.

You find yourself in your laboratory, where you have just cleaved through a table.

Celeste: lol.

Weird dream.

Archibald of Guernicus: Weird, weird dream.

Thug: strange!

Archibald of Guernicus: Thankfully, like all dreams, it has no effect whatsoever on the real world.

Now lets get on with the real session.

GM: let's.

are you going to share your vision with your sodales?

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll see if Dusan's free. For one, he was in it, so perhaps he'll know the location in question. Additionally, Criamon seem the best equipped to figure out what the vision means.

GM: all right.

Dušan of Criamon: Archibald opens the door to his lab as I am about to knock

Archibald of Guernicus: It's not a door, I should explain. It's totally walled up.

I use magic to get in and out

Dušan of Criamon: ah, well, then i am about to knock on the wall

as you magically traverse it

GM: i have passed a note to a player

Celeste: archibald's unwelcome entrance is his famous signature spell

that opens a door in stone walls

Dušan of Criamon: i've seen it in action before

Archibald of Guernicus: I'm hoping to publish it throughout the order one day, when the blight's dealt with.

GM: since the archibald power hour took a full hour to complete i feel like i should suggest sharing it with everyone, so they can speculate

Archibald of Guernicus: What if their response was "why are you telling us about a dream you had"

Well. I'll send word out that I've seen a vision of something and would like help understanding it, since it seems to directly concern the covenant.

GM: then you should put them in a trash can and roll it down the stairs

Dušan of Criamon: wizards? Uninterested in strange visions?

Surely you jest

Celeste: idk man the visions are pretty important i guess. last time you had a premonition of tasso being murdered and then he really got murdered.

they havent come up a lot, but the one time they have, hey. that was a big deal.

Archibald of Guernicus: They came up another time, actually

I had a vision before the herbam blight

Celeste: also coincidentally involved snakes and vines so theres a consistent symbolic language in archibald's visions. gj cumthinker

Archibald of Guernicus: though I didnt understand what it meant at the time

GM: blessed

Lavinia of Jerbiton: dream visions are a load of nonsense, anyone who has read cicero's de Divinatione can tell you that

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll cite these examples to explain to my sodales that paying attention to something like this could potentially head off something dangerous before it happens

GM: well, if the word is out, anyone interested may assemble in the skull chamber

Guy of Bonisagus: "Salve."

Fiorella of Jerbiton: "Buongiorno."

Endrite: Ok there's no extra fire.

Dušan of Criamon: "Salve, sodales."

GM: that's good.

Celeste looks up from reading the Book of the Morning Star to notice the room's filled with magi

Celeste: "Oh, hey everybody."

Dušan of Criamon: since we're not under time pressure, I'd like to take the meditation bonus to add half my EW to my EW roll

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll give a full account of the vision

GM: go for it

Archibald of Guernicus: Though I'm hoping that Dusan's enigmatic wisdom can help

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Is this what we're doing now? Holding covenant meetings so we can talk about our dreams?"

Dušan of Criamon:

rolling 1d10+6+2

(

8

)

+6+2

=

16

Archibald of Guernicus: Wow this wasn't predictable at all

Archibald of Guernicus: What if their response was "why are you telling us about a dream you had"

GM: mortis is already wearing a trash can on his head, so you just have to shove him

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: So it goes.

Dušan of Criamon: i respect your commitment to the character

GM: your enigma score is high enough to do this in a couple minutes, right

Archibald of Guernicus: "There are distinct differences between a vision and a dream, Mortis. It is hard to explain, if you have never seen one, but I am certain of the importance here."

Celeste: "There's some Garden of Eden symbolism going on there. I don't know what kind of forbidden knowledge that snake was trying to show you, though."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I scoff.

Dušan of Criamon: i think it's one or two hours but if we cut 2 off the score i do it immediately

GM presents a player with a dilemma

Guy of Bonisagus hurls a pilum at the dilemma.

GM: dusan has been slain

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: RIP.

Lavinia of Jerbiton: how much vis is in the dilemma

Dušan of Criamon: "Sodales, what seemed to be the most pertinent part of Archibald's vision?"

I don't fear death, as it is but a stepping stone

Archibald of Guernicus: brb 1 min

GM: dusan can decipher 1 symbol for every ef magnitude of his roll

Celeste: he got a 16, so thats pretty good.

Dušan of Criamon: all in a day's work

i settled on 4 things but there's 2 left and i only got here when archibald was already climbing the snake

so input please

Celeste: oh can i roll OoH lore for the bonisagus letter to vardians tomb stuff

i have an OoH lore spec in the tomb.

c'thinker (GM): this is pretty solidly in the realm of enigmatic wisdom

Celeste: ahh

c'thinker (GM): unfortunately

Celeste: well i dont think we ever got the list of symbols.

c'thinker (GM): but thats a good fifth choice! someone just has to pick a sixth

Celeste: so sadly i cant offer input

c'thinker (GM): oh

just, like, any element of what happened

Celeste: oh.

Archibald of Guernicus: Well bonisagus represents the order, clearly, its figuring out why his letter became a snake is the thing. Something that seems innocuous is actually dangerous? And the tree is uh. we find a big tree

c'thinker (GM): is what i was thinking.

Celeste: the mule

Dušan of Criamon: oh hell yes, the tree itself

c'thinker (GM): here we find a great tree

Celeste: because mules are nice.

Dušan of Criamon: and the mule

Guy of Bonisagus:  slams fists down on table  the snake is trianoma

Archibald of Guernicus: argh, brb 1 min again

Dušan of Criamon: makes 6 with the 4 i had initially

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I think the snake represents pride and the letter represents almonds.

c'thinker (GM): Correct.

so the snake, the dogs, the thug, the fruit, the letter, and the mule

Dušan of Criamon: yeah

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: The thug represents a table.

Dušan of Criamon: Useful, yet in the way. Depp.

Celeste: "I think the fruit represents wine." I say, and punctuate the sentence by draining another bottle.

c'thinker (GM): jeb bush: please speculate

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

What if the tree represents the realm of magic, the snake represents a giant magic snake, and the letter represents almonds?

Dušan of Criamon: I think regardless of the concrete implications this would best be brought to paper as a political cartoon with the meanings actually written on illustrations of the symbols

GM: lol

Archibald of Guernicus: lack of almonds symbolises a presence of almonds

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Good idea, Dusan.

That's why you're the dream master.

Oh, you know what would be a good way to find out more about the vision?

Mentem magic!

Lavinia of Jerbiton: i know a better way, archibald should tell us his birthday and birth location so we can do a horoscope

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: That's a great idea.

Archibald of Guernicus: :pepe:

Well the dogs represent magic in some way, its my sigil

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: What if the dogs are you?

Archibald of Guernicus: My sigil is appearing in my vision, can't be a coincedence

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: So it seems like it makes sense that the dogs would represent your personal connection with magic.

AKA you.

Archibald of Guernicus: Then what did I represent in my dream

Celeste: That seems like the most prudent thing to assume.

Guy of Bonisagus: england

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Almonds.

GM: guernicus the founder

Celeste: Don't just give it away, GM.

Or, well, go for it.

GM: it was explicit!

Celeste: It was.

Dušan of Criamon: "All powerful suggestions, but I can't resolve that one."

Celeste: Bonisagus did directly call him Guernicus.

But I guess you could have interpreted that as a general (a) guernicus

Dušan of Criamon: "The snake is simple, even I know the basics of the Good Book. The second head however, strikes me as something beyond infernal: mercurial influence."

Guy of Bonisagus: "Ah, paganism."

Dušan of Criamon: "The dogs are indeed Archibald's sigil and I don't know what to make of it, but the fact that they turn violent as dream turns into true vision bodes ill."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Maybe he's going to betray magic.

Dušan of Criamon: "The fruit and the thug are related: the fruit is a boon, a product of the tree, and the thug is willing to shed blood for it."

"The mule could be a few things, one more dastardly: a Mercere. Could be the riding animal of a very distant relation of mine however."

Celeste: "Mm. Cain killed Abel. Killed him with a stone."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "If you want to find a dastardly Mercere all you need to do is throw a stone, in this Tribunal."

Archibald of Guernicus: "Though they cannae move around much lately, what with the blight."

"Although... there is one gifted mercere in this tribunal."

Dušan of Criamon: "The tree remains a mystery, but the interesting thing about it is that the snake wrapped itself around it. There's some power to this juxtaposition."

"Finally, my Order lore is simply not up to snuff compared to you, fair sodales, but Bonisagus joining forces with Mercere to make a mail delivery means 'trianoma business' relating to the tree and the snake, but I wouldn't know what to make of that."

Such is my assessment.

Celeste: i dont have any magic lore but the tree could be what represents magic itself or the magic realm or whatever. things of virtue are usually larger, more perfect versions of their real selves

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Doesn't seem likely, since we have no business with Durenmar."

johns: my stalker PDA just beeped

Dušan of Criamon: your journal has been updated

GM: updated your journal

; p;

Guy of Bonisagus: lets kill the gm

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Lettuce.

GM: Very well.

well

at this point you can continue pondering, or adjourn the meeting.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I'm thinking about thos almonds.

GM: could the tree have been an almond tree?

was the thug in disguise as a giant almond?

Archibald of Guernicus: I think we've figured out what we can for now, we'll have to keep an eye out for something that could be part of it so we can get the full picture

GM: should i make a text entry with dusan's wisdom

Dušan of Criamon: as a monument to my usefulness: yes

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Go for it.

GM: there it is.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Molto bene.

GM: ok.

A few days pass.

Dušan of Criamon: "Oh, one thing, does anyone remember the sound of a grinding mill from somewhere?"

"Just a thought I had."

johns: nill

was that ansons sigil

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "There are a lot of mills in Rome."

Dušan of Criamon: I faintly recollect so

GM: oh yeah, if you would like to roll wisdom again you can

Dušan of Criamon: I wasn't forcing that, but sure

rolling 1d10+6+2

(

10

)

+6+2

=

18

I think this isn't stressed

Archibald of Guernicus: "A grinding mill was Anson's sigil, it was present when I investigated the covenant."

Guy of Bonisagus: alright everyone. weve done a good job figuring out what this dream meant. lets go back to studying for the rest of the season in the hopes that something happens

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Maybe his ghost is trying to contact you."

GM: passed a note, etc

Anyway.

Dušan of Criamon: "Hmm. Well then another question that may seem puzzling, but after all, you know me. The question is: What has Anson or have we had to do with Owls?"

Archibald of Guernicus: "My familiar, but otherwise, nothing comes tae mind."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

GM: The covenant once again finds itself assembled in the council chamber, discussing mundane wizardly matters.

And dreams, of course.

Dušan of Criamon: "Ah well. Perhaps all will reveal itself in due time. Or we'll unravel it! Wisdom comes to those who seek it."

Derfel ap Cadwaladr: "Redcap!"

A drunk Derfel stands in the doorway.

"Redcap's here for the magi."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmmm.

johns: kill it

Derfel ap Cadwaladr: thats a good idea

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Well, don't just stand there, invite him in."

Derfel ap Cadwaladr: redcaps carry magic items worth dozens of pawns of vis

Archibald of Guernicus: "Aye."

"Let's keep a close watch on them, sodales, this might be it."

Derfel ap Cadwaladr: "You got it."

Dušan of Criamon: "Hmmm. Mail, foreboding."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: What's the news?

Josephus the Redcap: A middle-aged Redcap enters.

"Redcap here."

one sec

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I wait patiently.

Dušan of Criamon: I don't and accost him. "Salve, salve friend. Pray tell, were your travels safe? Were you chased by owls?"

Celeste: sorry, i was called away for a minute and have to catch up. rip if i missed anything important.

Josephus the Redcap: "Ah, no owls - Josephus of Mercere, at your service."

you can roll ooh lore to see if you recognize josephus's name

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10+2

(

5

)

+2

=

7

johns:

rolling 1d10+2+2

(

2

)

+2+2

=

6

Dušan of Criamon:

rolling 1d10 +3

(

9

)

+3

=

12

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer:

rolling 1d10 + 2

(

1

)

+2

=

3

Celeste:

rolling 1d10+1+3

(

1

)

+1+3

=

5

Great.

Dušan of Criamon: surreal

Josephus the Redcap: lol.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Wonderful to see you again. What news do you bring from the tribunal?"

Josephus the Redcap: Dusan has heard of Josephus - he carries letters exclusively for important True Lineage business.

Celeste: Oh shit.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Oh no, Guy!

Dušan of Criamon: By the founders beard!

Josephus the Redcap: "Here on Trianoma business--got a letter for one-"

Josephus the Redcap spots Archibald and smiles.

Josephus the Redcap: "Well, hello, Archibald!"

Celeste: "Well, this is crazy."

Josephus the Redcap: "I thought it would be you. Not many Archibalds of Guernicus running around."

Archibald of Guernicus: Help. I don't recognise this man. stranger danger

Josephus the Redcap: lol

Archibald of Guernicus: "Yes... have we met before?"

Dušan of Criamon: lmao

Josephus the Redcap: "Oh, I'm not surprised you don't remember me. We met once, when you were an apprentice."

"I never forget a magus; it's my blessing and my curse."

Guy of Bonisagus: never forgets huh

Josephus the Redcap laughs.

Guy of Bonisagus: l;ets make sure he gets familiar with the whole gang

Archibald of Guernicus: "That must be 40 years ago now, you're certainly looking health on it."

Josephus the Redcap: josephus's cyber-eye swiftly identifies all present as hermetic criminals.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Dušan of Criamon: He must not be allowed to leave with this knowledge

Josephus the Redcap: "Oh, you know how it is, a little Corpus magic goes a long way."

he's also Unaging.

Archibald of Guernicus: "Certainly little these days. If it's a letter for Trianoma, is it for Ferris or Aristocritus?"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "What could be so important it brings a Redcap to our door for the first time in years?"

Josephus the Redcap: Josephus holds out a very familiar-looking letter. "Addressed to Archibald of Guernicus and Fiorella of Jerbiton, consules, Vardian's Tomb."

The letter is in fact addressed to Archibald of Guernicus and Fiorella of Jerbiton, consules, Vardian's Tomb.

Dušan of Criamon: gasp!

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Oh my

Archibald of Guernicus: "I see. There was little chance of a message from the past like that." I say solemnly

Celeste: "Did you two report that to the Order like it was news?"

Josephus the Redcap: "Isn't it a shame?"

"Now, as much as I'd love to hang around and catch up on the last few decades, I'm afraid I don't have time to stay around and chat. Much distance to cover, you know!"

Archibald of Guernicus: "Aye. Safe travels, Josephus."

Josephus the Redcap: Josephus taps his hat. "Vale."

Archibald of Guernicus: After he's gone, I'll look at the letter "And here we have our snake, it seems."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Have you thought about investing in a pair of seven-league boots?"

Josephus the Redcap: "Who's to say I don't have some?" says Josephus from down the hallway.

Dušan of Criamon: "No rest for the deathless."

"What's the letter say, Archibald?"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I give him the thumbs up.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll open it slowly and carefully

Guy of Bonisagus: its an advertisement from enki

Julius Trianoma: It's a plain old letter.

Archibald of Guernicus: Ohh its this guy

Julius Trianoma: From - and this will shock you - Julius of Trianoma, the local

uhh

Tenens.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Who?

Julius Trianoma: he's in charge of all wizard cia operations in the tribunal.

but less sinister

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Dušan of Criamon: cia but less sinister sounds a lot like diet coke

Archibald of Guernicus: Ferris...

Aristocritus...

Only Lavinia and me even remember them now

Lavinia of Jerbiton: he's inviting you to a conspiracy to resunder house tremere

Archibald of Guernicus: Badass

I'll get my sundering boots

Guy of Bonisagus: opportunity is knocking. will you answer?

Julius Trianoma: all of the younger magi have gathered around the archon's sword to hear tales of their adventures

Celeste: Cool.

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll read through the letter first myself to see if it's intended as something private and not for everyone. But if not, I'll read it aloud.

Fiorella can read it too either way since it's also addressed to her

Julius Trianoma: the letter itself doesn't seem earth-shattering: julius informs you that there have been reports of a lost hermetic artifact being used close to Rome

Guy of Bonisagus: fiorella is too sick to read

Fiorella of Jerbiton: That was last year

Julius Trianoma: and, the necessity of recovering dangerous items aside, he reminds you that of course these kinds of treasures tend to travel together

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I didn't even gain apparant age this year

Bedridden for a week doesn't even cut into lab time

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Well, we haven't found any Hermetic artifacts lately.

Is there a description of the artifact?

Julius Trianoma: It's a sword, known to have a Perdo Terram effect.

Archibald of Guernicus: Ah, the lost sword of perdo terram. A classic.

Guy of Bonisagus: oh my god. this is it. guernicus's lost blade, which he used as a shovel

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmmmmmm.

Well, I have shovel.

Celeste: A magic sword, huh?

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I wouldn't call it lost though.

Archibald of Guernicus: Malach's first shovel

The second shovel is the one he died before finishing

Dušan of Criamon: A sword used as a shovel to maintain A MYSTICAL TREE perhaps?

Archibald of Guernicus: the first shovel was made in his time outside the covenant

Celeste: "Rosario's been spending the last year mumbling about making a magic sword. And there's one right here for the taking already?"

Archibald of Guernicus: "Speaking of which, strange he isn't around for this, tales of adventure and all."

Lavinia of Jerbiton: "Probably off murdering hedge wizards in Normandy"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "It's quite the draw.

"

devil's fav demon: hes probably actually doing that to pay off his fancy custom sword.

Julius Trianoma: verisimilitude retained

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll read on, does it say anything about where this happened

the reports, i mean

Julius Trianoma: yeah.

uhhhh one second

Celeste: Guernicus loved Terram, right? this is so real.

Julius Trianoma: i picked out a village for this and then didn't write it down, so i have to find it again.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Bene.

Archibald of Guernicus: the village of benis

Guy of Bonisagus: pene

Julius Trianoma: His reports have all come from a stretch of road that runs near the mountains just northeast of Rome.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

All roads really do lead to Rome.

Julius Trianoma: There are several villages in the area - Montorio Romano, Moricone, Montellibreti - but he suggests that whoever is using this item is most likely operating out of the hills around Monteflavio.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I suggest we mount an expedition.

Julius Trianoma: it's a little bit closer to rome than Subiaco

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Then I suggest we mount a day trip.

Julius Trianoma: Good plan.

Dušan of Criamon: After a winter of poring over a perdo tome in a damp catacomb lab, I am overjoyed at the thought of adventure

Archibald of Guernicus: Alright, gamers, lets move out

Guy of Bonisagus: interesting that the villages in that area all start with m and are in alphabetic sequence

maybe theres hedge magic about

Celeste: It's convenient.

Archibald of Guernicus: "We take grogs with us. So far, everything has been happening as seen, which means that at our destination lies hidden danger."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: The Romans and Italians share a love of tidiness.

Archibald of Guernicus: "Therefore, everyone should stay vigilant."

Celeste: "Wouldn't be anything else, boss."

GM: wait. is this map right

Celeste finishes the second bottle of wine in this conversation

GM: i thought subiaco abbey was way to the east

Bolad: idk

deal with it

Dušan of Criamon: That's the monastery near the swamp, right?

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It's right there.

GM: i shall

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It's right on the map.

Are you calling the map a liar?

GM: anyway this place is like 23 miles away as the crow flies

Archibald of Guernicus: caw caw

We'll take a grog contingent with us

GM: whos goin

Bolad: me

GM: ave

Archibald of Guernicus: Derfel is going as our guard, obviously

GM: he's busy drinking.

Celeste: That shouldn't stop him from working.

Smh.

GM: he's practicing Carouse for the benefit of the covenant

Morgana: I can keep the grogs organized while Derfel's away

Guy of Bonisagus: go adventure go

Dušan of Criamon: I go, and contribute nothing in the way of grogs

Bolad: with all magi and grogs away now seems perfect for me to interrupt with my planned adventure for an assault on the covenant.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Nice.

GM fades to black

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Let's do it.

Bolad: nah

GM: all right

Celeste: Derfel is drinking to forget the night he spent with Celeste :haruhi:

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I scoff at you.

Bolad: i am too much of a sleep cuck today

Celeste: rip

GM: Traveling is always dismal these days, between the Gift and the mass death, but this trip is especially so.

stealth bolad

The few travelers you meet are all armed to the teeth, and gracefully recommend that you keep your distance.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It's just the polite thing to do.

Bolad: Let's kill em

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Let's hire them.

GM: You can try.

Bolad: give em the ol' join or die routine

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Heh.

I think we should probably ignore them.

GM: hiring them i mean. please dont start a combat against a group of heavily armed people

Dušan of Criamon: lmao

Celeste: Oh?

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Now we have to.

Classic GM railroad!

Celeste: They'd better not try sinning.

Archibald of Guernicus: Let's keep our distance from the plaguecuck

Celeste: "May God bless you, travelers!"

Bolad: I initiate combat

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: How much cash do we have on hand?

We could do with a few more mercenary divisions.

Guy of Bonisagus: i initiate into the mysteries of the cult of mercury

Dušan of Criamon: brb 1 sec while insanity reigns

Bolad:

rolling 1d10!-1 Init

(

9

)

-1

=

8

Celeste: I toast to them and indicate we have wine.

Merchant looks at your companions.

Merchant: "Eh... I think we'll pass."

"Better safe than sorry, these days."

oh i need to delete this track

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Fair enough."

Merchant: all right.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Ah, jolly old England.

Merchant: Your trip is otherwise uneventful, and you arrive at the mountain village of Monteflavio, tucked away in a valley.

Under ordinary circumstances, it would look pretty shabby, but right now it's positively thriving - it doesn't seem to have been touched by the blight.

Celeste: "These people must really love God."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Uh oh.

Guy of Bonisagus: "Beautiful."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Could we have been robbed?

Dušan of Criamon: back

Archibald of Guernicus: Let's wander into the garden of eden and destroy it, everyone

Merchant: can YOU spot the rook of herbam vis hidden in this painting

Guy of Bonisagus: i can tell you who the "rook" is alright

Merchant: is the jukebox working

Guy of Bonisagus: yes

Merchant: i don't hear it.

Dušan of Criamon: muted tab, calling it

GM: Well, here you are.

Morgana: I sometimes have to reload to hear the jukebox as GM

GM: it's only for certain songs

ok!

Archibald of Guernicus: Yeah it seems to bug out but only for GM sometimes

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: So how big is this village?

GM: it's not huge

Bolad:

(To GM) rolling 1d10+3 central italy lore for any helpful Gm clues

(

6

)

+3

=

9

Celeste: No town.

GM: Ways of the Unincorporated Township

Bolad: let us ask around to see if the villagers have seen anything strange lately besides the band of armed men, foreigners, and stink wizards now descending upon them

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Is there a mill?

Dušan of Criamon: Can't wait for the friendly colorful locals to give us a cordial reception at the local inn house

GM: There is not a mill.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: What the fuck?

What do they do out here?

I'm incredibly suspicious.

GM: you should offer to pay for a watermill

Celeste: What are the villagers doing?

Guy of Bonisagus: im on guard after finding out theres no mill

Bolad: i inspect the town center and their farm placement

Celeste: Living a life of leisure?

Dušan of Criamon: Is the town under quarantine, self-imposed or other?

GM: they are!

Archibald of Guernicus: Let's accidentally destroy paradise

Celeste: Suspicious.

GM: you see some people dancing in a circle -- looks like a festival.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Let's strike now before they descend upon us.

Celeste: "If this is so paradisiacal what's with all the heavily armed people heading in the other direction?"

GM: The town doesn't seem to be under quarantine.

Bolad:

rolling 1d10+3 divine Lore: Who is St. Zeno

(

4

)

+3

=

7

Dušan of Criamon: This place clearly consorts with the devil.

GM: He converted some people.

Bolad: "They are celebrating Saint Zeno, one of the ancestor spirits of those who worship the Christ."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: We converted some folks.

Celeste: lol

GM: Bolad: i inspect the town center and their farm placement

Guy of Bonisagus: "Look at them, frolicking as if there's no work to be done. Relaxing when they could be out in the fields, harvesting."

GM: It looks difficult to defend.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Archibald of Guernicus: Zeno...

wait a minute, that name

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Alright, let's start looking for this magic sword.

Celeste: "It's spring. That's planting season."

GM: a child on a wooden horse could sack this village.

Archibald of Guernicus: "Aye I'm sure it's very wonderfully planted, but let's keep our mind on what we came here for."

Dušan of Criamon: "Sodales, you usually have good plans of action. You figure out something, in the meantime I'll do a little forward reconnaisance." Dušan says, mispronouncing the last bit

Guy of Bonisagus: is bolad going to roll a personality trait to not start sacking??

Dušan of Criamon: I go eavesdrop on some frolicking villagers

GM: hmm

gimme a stealth + dex roll

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: We should simply announce ourselves.

Dušan of Criamon: -roll 1d10+2

Guy of Bonisagus: mortis ex verditus, the giant slayer, the wizard

Dušan of Criamon:

rolling 1d10+2

(

1

)

+2

=

3

hah

powerful opening

confirm?

GM:

rolling 2d10

(

4

+

5

)

=

9

Guy of Bonisagus: man with visible stink lines attempting to mingle: how do you do fellow peasants

GM: Your eavesdropping targets spot you and give you a warm greeting.

Dušan of Criamon: Oh god

Bolad: everyone must have infernal MR

Guy of Bonisagus: quick give them the fig

Bolad: we must start killing them now

Villagers: "And what the hell do you want?"

Dušan of Criamon: at this point I'd like to announce I have susceptibility to the infernal so if that's what's happening i should roll to not vomit

Villagers: it's not

the aura here is divine 2, i should mention.

Celeste: Huh.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Greetings peasants, I am Mortis the Giant Slayer."

Villagers: coming from the shabby village's shabby village church

Dušan of Criamon: well that just opens up more questions

Villagers: "Uh..."

"Are you talking to me?"

Dušan of Criamon: "Ah, salve, I am but a traveller, here with my companions, we heard tales of this place."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Yes, to all of you generally."

I gesture vaguely.

Villagers: "Is this your friend? Didn't mean any malice to him."

Dušan of Criamon: Big Armor saves the day

"No, no, none taken!"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Then I'm sure you can find it in your heart to apologize to him."

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll stay near the back of things to keep the stink from ruining all hope of friendly relations

Dušan of Criamon: "No apologies necessary at all!"

Villagers: "I, uh, I'm sorry."

"Sir."

Another villager speaks up.

"I'm going to go and fetch the priest."

"Wait, no, don't leave me!"

gosh doing this on one token is going to be confusing.

Celeste: "The priest? This should be good."

Guy of Bonisagus: we really do need to roll initiative though

look at this place

Dušan of Criamon: "Perhaps he'll know what we need"

Guy of Bonisagus: they dont even have RABBLE

just villagers

this is unnatural

Villagers: theres two rabble tokens right there

Celeste: ^^

Guy of Bonisagus: i didnt scroll down

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Does he get a priest?

Priest: He do.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Greetings, father."

Priest: "Salve."

"What brings you to our little village? You're frightening my flock."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "I come seeking a magic sword."

"For monster slaying, of course."

Celeste: "Heck of an opener."

Priest: "It looks to me like you come bringing trouble. Please, leave us."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Of course, as soon as I find my sword."

Archibald of Guernicus: "Mortis, could ye show a little discretion for once? The whole world disnae have tae hear everything we're doing."

Priest: The priest recoils at the powerful Blatant Gift  qi  that rolls off of Archibald in waves.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "We're on a great quest."

"Of course everyone should know."

Dušan of Criamon: "We merely hope to recover an item fabled to have been used here within the last 12 months. Hadn't you heard tell of the events?"

it was within the last year right

i'm remembering the letter correctly i hope

Priest: The priest is growing flustered.

"Who  are  you people?"

"Monster hunters? There's no such thing!"

"Take your swords, and your talk of swords, away from here!"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "I don't just hunt monsters. You might know me better as a master magician."

Celeste: "We're all Christians here. Take it easy."

Archibald of Guernicus whistles innocently

Priest looks to the sky.

Priest: "Holy Mary, mother of God..."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: You may also remember me from such epic poems as "The Deathly Demon Affair," and "The Sailors of the Dead Seas."

I need to commission some epic poems.

Celeste: "Any earth being torn asunder lately? Stuff like that?"

Priest: "No!"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: AFK a minute, sorry.

Priest: A crowd of rabble has closed in. You're making quite a scene.

Dušan of Criamon: This might be the time to practice tactical retreat

Bolad: i suggest the people who haven't blown their cover blatantly come back later when the stink monsters have left

Priest: hmm

Celeste: "You don't mind me asking, but you're all very suspicious. You know most of the rest of Italy is barely scraping by and fighting deadly plague, right?"

Priest: you can roll folk ken to assess the crowd.

Celeste:

rolling 1d10+2+2 per+folk ken

(

5

)

+2+2

=

9

Priest: actually i'll just say that they're only gawking and don't seem dangerous

Celeste: ok.

Priest: "You- Yes, of course. We have been greatly blessed."

Peasant: "Only blessing we've had in a long time!"

Celeste: "And this is thanks to St. Zeno?"

Peasant thinks.

Peasant: "We could use another blessing, too, now tha-"

Rabble: One of the rabble pulls the peasant back and claps a hand over his mouth.

exclamation mark

Priest: "Saint Zeno? Goodness, no. This is just a festival."

i would encourage everyone to freely roll social skills.

folk ken or etiquette or whatever

Archibald of Guernicus: I'll attempt a folk ken on the suspicious priest, though thats with gift stink penalty

rolling 1d10!+3+1-6

(

5

)

+3+1-6

=

3

Guy of Bonisagus: ill do it... without the penalty!

rolling 1d10!+2

(

6

)

+2

=

8

Priest coughs up blood

Bolad:

rolling 1d10+1

(

8

)

+1

=

9

fk

Celeste:

rolling 1d10+2-6 charm+comm

(

2

)

+2-6

=

-2

Priest: all right.

Celeste: "You can tell me in private, if you want."

Bolad: Who here does NOT stink horribly

Celeste: if archibald ever shares the communication boosting ritual with rosario i might have him cast it on celeste eventually.

Priest: He's nervous about something besides the party's incredible gift stink and gigantic fantasy weapons.

Bolad: lets capture and torture him for information

Priest: and he glares at Celeste.

you may try

Archibald of Guernicus: He could share it, but it's personal range, so

Celeste: Good point.

RIP.

Dušan of Criamon: when this encounter ends, we could beat a retreat and set up camp (?) outside the town and meet the priest in private after dark

Celeste: "Well, anyway, do you need help setting up this festival?"

"It looks fun."

Priest: The priest is caught completely off guard by this, but some of the peasants behind him cheer.

Celeste: I'll help them out if the rest of the party wants to go hide in the bushes or whatever.

Priest: "But, you still haven't even told me who you people really  are ! Monster hunters, magi, what's next? The Pope in disguise?"

Celeste: I point to the magi he's met already.

"They're magi. I just work for them."

Bolad: let's go with the pope in disguise

Archibald of Guernicus: "Scholars and students of history, some of the people of Rome have nicknamed us 'magi', Mortis here likes to play along with it. That's all."

Priest: hmm

roll... perception + Latin

Celeste: "Have you heard of Vardian's Tomb? It's a sort of social club for intellectuals, I guess."

"That's them."

Priest: for a terrible realization.

Archibald of Guernicus:

rolling 1d10+3+4

(

9

)

+3+4

=

16

Is this going to be what 'magi' means

Guy of Bonisagus:

rolling 1d10+5

(

6

)

+5

=

11

add 1 if hes speaking in poem

Archibald of Guernicus: My spec is hermetic usage so none there

Celeste:

rolling 1d10+2+4

(

5

)

+2+4

=

11

Score.

Priest: ok.

Everyone realizes that Mortis did not introduce himself properly as a magus, but used a different word.

Bolad: Diabolist.

Guy of Bonisagus: what if the perdo terram swords effect is just to make itself rusted

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: That's right.

Guy of Bonisagus: thatd be a cool magic item

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I said magician.

Celeste: Hah.

Priest: totally not the same as magus.

Archibald of Guernicus: whats the damn difference

Celeste: The priest DID use the proper term for magus.

Archibald of Guernicus: ah

Priest: yeah

Archibald of Guernicus: so the priest slipped up

Celeste: Caught ya.

Archibald of Guernicus: We have people with gentle stink and social abilities, I leave it to them to pursue this line

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Cawt you having that magic time, cuz.

Guy of Bonisagus: "Interesting word choice, "priest."

let pull his mask off and reveal galafre

Priest: "What, the Pope?"

Bolad: lets come back later with the only two pcs who don't stink of shit: bolad and guy

Priest: "We may be rustics, but we still know of the Pope."

Guy of Bonisagus: galafre you fiend

youve made it so this entire village no longer has to work or suffer any stress

Rabble: "He lives in Avignon!"

Guy of Bonisagus: they spend their days in merriment

Villagers: "God bless the Pope!"

Peasant: "Long live the Pope!"

Celeste: "God bless the Pope!" I cheer with genuine exuberance.

Dušan of Criamon: It's even worse than infernalism

Villagers: "Yeah!"

Celeste: "I like this town."

Bolad: guelphcucks spotted

Peasant: "Come on, Father. These people may be terrifying, but they love the Pope, same as we do."

Priest rubs his temples furiously, Riidi WW style.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "Of course, who wouldn't?"

Dušan of Criamon: I realize discretion is the better part of... something. I silently nod in agreement.

Priest: "All right, all right. What a farce."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Said enthusiastically.

Priest: "Come, and celebrate the feast of Saint Zeno."

"I think you people have given me a headache."

Celeste: "Hooray for the Pope!"

Priest: The priest retreats into his home.

Rabble: three cheers for the pope.

Bolad: ok so when do we kill everyone and take their loot

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Let's start asking people if they've seen the sword.

Archibald of Guernicus: Let us.

Dušan of Criamon: All in good time

Rabble: hows about a charm roll

or etiquette, whichever's higher.

Dušan of Criamon: Someone without stink lines should ask about what they do for Saint Zeno that he's so generous lately

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I will enjoy the feast of this famous relative.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: We need a herald or seneschal who can do our charm rolls for us.

Celeste: Sure.

rolling 1d10!+2-6

(

9

)

+2-6

=

5

Guy of Bonisagus: yeah. some sort of grog, maybe a companion, with good communication

Celeste: Charmed.

Bolad: Napolino is a charming fella.

Guy of Bonisagus: maybe like, a nice spear too. heralds have spears

Napolino blends into the crowd

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Charm rolls never come up unless the results ar epotentially detrimental

Rabble: what if he had 5 presence

Guy of Bonisagus: and welsh. who could hate the welsh?

Napolino:

rolling 1d10+3 Charm

(

9

)

+3

=

12

Celeste: Everyone loves this guy!

Napolino: "Hiya! I'm Napolino! Pleased ta meet ya!"

Archibald of Guernicus: That's what Zita was for before, rip

Guy of Bonisagus: ah well. i dont think any of the characters have a sheet like that

maybe some day

Rabble: Heya. It's me, Napolinoen.

Guy of Bonisagus: hey! c'est mois, napolino!

devil's fav demon: im going to make a new token of napolino out of stavros halkias

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Hazm has a bunch of charm

Napolino: lavinia deliberately avoided coming here knowing that Mortis was going to make a big scene

"How's the festival goin'?"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hey, I'm not the one who has a bizarre set of alternate identities.

Rabble: ok. Everyone who asks around about the sword either sees their question deflected or hears something about bandits down on the road, except Napolino.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Mortis is the one aggressively interacting with everyone, I'll let him enjoy the fruits of his efforts.

Celeste: Prudenzio had a solid gentle gift, positive comm, and solid scores in carouse, charm, guile, intrigue, bargain, etiquette, leadership, etc

rip prudenzio

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Boy whatever happened to that guy, I'm sure he was trustworthy.

Peasant: "Oh, I'm loving it! Nothing like a day away from the plow."

let's go back and harvest faerie vis from his body

"And your friends turned out to be all right."

"Well, most of them."

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Prudenzio and Jorn are hanging out otgether in Arcadian Bookworld

Napolino: "They're good folk once you get to know em! Takes a few years, or decades for some of em."

Peasant laughs.

Peasant: "Yeah, I can see that."

Napolino: "I get to go on amazing quests with them. Like the time we saved a village from a bunch of evil Vikings! And then the time we saved another village from Hobgoblins!"

"Right now I hear they're looking for some magic sword or something."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It do be like that.

Dušan of Criamon: Where he's right, he's right

Peasant: "Yeah, I heard that."

Archibald of Guernicus: Classic Napolino

Peasant: "Listen, just between you and me...."

Napolino makes his best You can trust me face

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Who WOULDN'T trust Napolino?

Guy of Bonisagus: his personal fitness instructor

but other than that, no one

Peasant: "Well, it's a long story. But the thing is, everyone's on edge on account of we've got bandits out in the woods."

Napolino: "That's rough!"

Peasant: The peasant looks around nervously.

Napolino: "Hmm... I bet my bosses could help you out. I've seen that big one kill like, 20 bad guys, at least."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: We should kill the bandits.

I mean give them money and tell them to rob knights.

Dušan of Criamon: I'm going to make myself a midnight ramen

back in a bit

Peasant: "You wouldn't be the first to try, is the thing."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

But who cares about a bunch of bandits?

Peasant: bandits with magic loot!

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Some crooked peasants couldn't possibly beat us, I recommend we hunt them down.

Napolino: "Who else tried? And did they have  magic  on their side?"

Peasant: "Our lord de' Mancini!"

Guy of Bonisagus: lets prove that were stronger than him by killing him

Peasant: "Half a dozen of his knights, cut to pieces right through their gleaming armor."

Napolino: "Whoa! You don't see that every day."

Celeste: Cut right through the armor, huh?

Peasant: "And, look. I can't give you an answer to your other question."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmmm.

What's a French lord doing in the Papal States?

Napolino: the papacy is dominated by french cardinals

Peasant: "But I can sit here and tell you I can't answer it. You know?"

Napolino taps nose knowingly

Peasant: The peasant thinks this is profoundly clever, and taps his nose in return.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Classic peasant trickery.

Works every time.

Napolino: "Ok. I'm gonna get my bosses to go kick some bandit butt. I won't tell anyone you told me OK? It'll be our secret."

Peasant: "It's a deal!"

Peasant raises a drink.

Napolino drinks gluttonously.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Huzzah!

Napolino: I woodle over to the Magi.

"Bosses! There's bandits in the woods and they can cut through peoples armor and they killed the local lord and a bunch of knights. Also there's good beer here."

Archibald of Guernicus: "Aye. That'll be the sword. Destroys the metal and cuts right through it, that'd be our effect we're looking for."

Peasant: beer? suspiciously pagan

Celeste: "Beer? I'll be right back."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I don't drink... beer.

Guy of Bonisagus: beer

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I drink wine like a real paisano.

Bolad: "A parthian strike and we'll never come close enough that we need to worry about a magic sword."

Dušan of Criamon: "Seems the sword is found."

Archibald of Guernicus: "That, and I have a trick up my sleeve."

Fiorella of Jerbiton: "A million conjured crows need not worry about a sword either."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "How did a bunch of bandits even get their hands on a magic sword in the first place?"

Peasant: is celeste going to try to glean more information

Celeste: "If we find them, I'll have them incapacitated before they get anywhere near us."

Peasant: while drinking

Archibald of Guernicus: "I have developed a spell a few years ago, sodales. For a diameter, the person is warded against all metal. Weapons without a metal handle can still be wielded, and armour is useless against this man anyway, correct?"

Celeste: I could try, sure.

Peasant: ok. i'll try to make it quick

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "The sword would be useless against any wizard in any case, it's enchanted."

Celeste: I'll try to impress people by dancing, one of Celeste's hidden talents.

and then ask whoever wants to talk afterwards.

Archibald of Guernicus: Are your clothes and armour covered by your MR? I dont think they are

Now my sword actually has MR, of course, as a talisman

Celeste:

rolling 1d10+4+2+1 dex + carouse + dancing spec

(

9

)

+4+2+1

=

16

Peasant: nice.

Archibald of Guernicus: "It's also a sword, the perdo terram effect is magical, the blade itself likely isn't."

Bolad: "Bandits roaming wild with magic weapons barely in sight of Christendom's capital. Your world cries out for the scourge of a Great Khan to bring order to the madness."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I think the Parma Magica covers a little distance around you so your clothes don't get burnt up when someone tosses a fireball your way.

Peasant: i think it covers your clothes

Archibald of Guernicus: "We have one person here in both armour and parma."

Peasant: it's made explicit somewhere in the core book

Celeste: The sword could have Penetration.

Archibald of Guernicus: "One, Mortis, and unless ye're secretly a better swordsman than Rosario and I, I don't think protection from the Perdo Terram part will save ye."

Peasant: is archibald's sword talismanized?

Archibald of Guernicus: It is

Peasant: sick.

Archibald of Guernicus: It has his MR while he's holding it - which is considerable

and even when not holding it, it gets his form bonus

which is also considerable, for Terram

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: "The entire sword would be stopped by the parma magica, so we should be safe."

Archibald of Guernicus: "That isnae how it works."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Did we houserule it again while I wasn't looking?

Archibald of Guernicus: "You're a verditius, and a blacksmith, how could ye forget the simple pint dot example? It's one of the earliest parts of magic theory on enchantments."

* pink

Peasant: oh, everyone who is dancing or watching the dancers is very impressed by celeste's dance.

Archibald of Guernicus: "Putting a pink dot on a sword is an enchantment, but disnae stop it cutting."

"This will work once, at best, if he tries tae stab yer armour and fails. Afterwards he'll fight ye like anyone else in armour. Which is tae say, ye have one strike tae kill him at best."

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It would stop the sword because the harm to your body is allowed by the enchantment.

Archibald of Guernicus: What body? It's perdo terram

He can stab you just fine, he just doesnt ignore your soak

Peasant: nobody comes forth offering information, but you have won the hearts and minds of the villagers

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Parma Magica would stop the sword from being able to touch the armor.

Archibald of Guernicus: the part about ignoring soak fails, the sword swing doesnt bounce off you. and he can cut through your metal weapon, which isnt covered by parma, just fine

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: So it would just slide off.

Guy of Bonisagus: great. how much vis are they worth?

Fiorella of Jerbiton: "I bet there's an interesting story on how the pink dot became such a universal hypothetical spell. Perhaps an experimental spell?"

Peasant: how much vis does sub rosa say a human sacrifice is worth

Archibald of Guernicus: 69

Peasant: wow!

Archibald of Guernicus: There's a virtue for it in mysteries actually, a human sacrifice is worth something like 4 vis

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I think it only works as a substitute.

So you can't get pawns from it.

Archibald of Guernicus: I mean, not that anyone would here would learn this mystery

* anyone here

Peasant: hey effective vis is effective vis

Archibald of Guernicus: yeah

Celeste: Hey, no information, but maybe Celeste can finally get laid.

Peasant: The blessed emote.

Celeste: tfw 43 years old and still a virgin AND no wizard powers.

Peasant: doesn't celeste have hedge wizard powers

Celeste: she has a latent magical ability that hasnt manifested yet

and second sight

but thats about it

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: lol

Just keep waiting on that talent.

Any day now.

Celeste: Any day now, another GM will write it up.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer:  Crumbles to skeleton dust.

Celeste: lol

Bolad: i am boycotting all story hooks until a GM steps up and runs an adventure in which we travel to mythic Cathay and pay homage to the Khan

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: It can't be helped.

So the bandits are hiding in the woods?

Dušan of Criamon: Bolad: The Prequel

Archibald of Guernicus: Travel to mythic nippon

Peasant: as far as you know.

the Peasant wouldn't go into any more detail

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

My recommendation is that Fiorella scouts out the situation.

We should also investigate the priest.

Celeste: Good ideas.

Guy of Bonisagus: mythic cathgay

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: In fact I think we should find out more about the priest before we send a maga off into the woods alone.

I'll collar a peasant and ask, "How long have you had this priest?"

Peasant: "Uh, a-all my life, sir."

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Okay

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Does he look younger or older than the priest?

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I will summon birds to scout the woods while someone else ivnestigates the priest

Peasant: He's pretty young.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Using my spells to summon crows, control them, and talk to birds

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Young enough for his story to pass muster?

Peasant: Yes.

you are faced with the chilling realization that he may just be a priest

Fiorella of Jerbiton: How horrible

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I will never realize this!

Peasant: Pretty unlikely though.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: I'll continue interrogating peasants while Fiorella magically searches the woods.

Celeste: Nice.

I will continue being off screen while dramatic investigation happens.

Peasant:

rolling 1d10

(

1

)

=

1

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I will report my findings to my sodales at the next rendezvous

Peasant: You do not learn anything incriminating about the priest.

Actually that's not true. He's been spending a lot of time cooped up in his home lately.

Guy of Bonisagus: ah, rolling for infernalism

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Dušan of Criamon: I desire to spy on the priest

Celeste: Dusan's classic spell

Bolad: I cast PeTe on the home.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Make sure you don't accidentally commit a hermetic crime.

Dušan of Criamon: Grinning

Peasant: we are dangerously below our crime quota

can you cast the spell in a -6 aura without drawing attention to yourself?

Dušan of Criamon: good question

what's the casting penalty

Peasant: -6

unless you want to subtract gestures or words

Dušan of Criamon: still got +13 left over on a L5 spell

Peasant: in which case it is gigantic

Dušan of Criamon: and i have subtle and silent

Peasant: nice.

Dušan of Criamon: this was the original Dusan "build"

actually, now that I think about it, isn't this like scrying on God, which would be like a double offense

I should really write some bodyguard grogs for myself

Peasant: i have drawn the scene

Celeste: cool

Peasant: The priest is inside, arguing about something with a knight.

Dušan of Criamon: I'll cast whispering wind, to eavesdrop

Peasant: As you can see, some rabble are also inside.

Dušan of Criamon:

rolling 1d10!+14

(

5

)

+14

=

19

success

Peasant: nice.

hmm. let me check something

the spell does not work through solid barriers!

Celeste: rip!

Dušan of Criamon: oh hold on, we're not inside with them?

Then I will cast Prying Eyes before that

Celeste: You just cast it!

Prying Eyes is how you're seeing them.

Peasant: yeah i thought you were using prying eyes from outside

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Makes you think.

Dušan of Criamon: Ah

Well then no matter

I share the data with the party

Peasant: To wit: the priest is keeping a secret knight inside his house.

Celeste: "You think the knight's threatening him?"

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Is the knight ok?

Dušan of Criamon: All very good questions

Archibald of Guernicus: Probably keeping him safe from attackers

since the knights did get attacked before

Dušan of Criamon: perhaps trying to convince the knight to continue his foolhardy doomed campaign

Bolad: Let's start a fire to get everyone out of the village then break in and confront the knight violently. imo.

Dušan of Criamon: I should learn to read lips imo

Peasant: valid solution.

this might also be a good time for fiorella to share her information with the class

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Could be good.

Dušan of Criamon: hope you brought enough bird magic for everybody!

GM: im going to dc for a second.

Dušan of Criamon: til we meet again

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Have fun.

Visit the national monuments.

c'thinker (GM): i'm back.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: My own findings: the bandits have occupied a clearing within the woods, and have built wooden huts and are cultivating a few strips of land.

Celeste: Sounds like a lot of bandits!

GM: the bandits are proceeding through the tech tree at an alarming rate

Fiorella of Jerbiton: How long before they get writing

Bolad: is the bandit camp accessible by horse

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Uh.

Are we sure these aren't just farmers?

Fiorella of Jerbiton: DId I see any trails in the woods suitable to a horse, GM?

GM: It's not exactly the open steppe but there are some animal paths.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

How many bandits are there?

GM: Couple dozen.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hmm.

Shouldn't be too tough.

Let's find out what this knight's deal is before we go charging in, though.

Celeste: Hmm.

Let's kill them.

Haha, just kidding.

Bolad: lets kill both sides and loot everything

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Wow, can't wait to loot some flax jerkins.

We could try spying on both the knight and the bandits.

You know, looking for any kind of evidence on what's going on here.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Sure

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Hello?

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Alright

Dušan of Criamon: Did it drop our GM

Archibald of Guernicus: Cumthinker turned back into a pumpkin 6 minutes before midnight

Just kidding of course. He's turnstalling even as the GM.

Dušan of Criamon: no!

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Don't be so catty.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I will go make myself a salad but first I'll proclaim and intent to spy on a knight with crows, looking for suspicious behavior.

Archibald of Guernicus: time to take a break for food too, slept all day and didnt eat

Celeste: I guess the game is over for today.

Well, I'll give it some time.

Dušan of Criamon: y'all got it easy but i am currently in my 20th hour awake

luckily I don't feel sleep coming over me until I pop pills

I'm practically a don't rest your head character

Endrite: Am I the only person who gets enough sleep?

Guy of Bonisagus: yes

Dušan of Criamon: I do, just not on game nite

semper games

Celeste: God bless

I get plenty of sleep.

Endrite: So what does everyone think is going on?

I think the bandits might just be other peasants.

Celeste: [6:59 PM] brennon: Riidi or brennon. Can you go to the bad game discord ttrpg channel and tell them my power went out

Endrite: I mean non-violent peasants, since of course bandits are already peasants.

Yikes.

Celeste: Yeah, I think that might be a fair assumption to make.

We've seen no evidence of bandits.

Guy of Bonisagus: rest in peace samuel og

Dušan of Criamon: This does however not preclude them from having the sword

Endrite: Well for sure.

Celeste: For example, everyone is chilling and relaxing and partying and there are no sacked houses or burning crops.

Endrite: I think this knight might be a cultist or wizard.

I think we should have an easy enough time beating the bandits though.

Celeste: Yeah

Endrite: We do have plenty of magic at our disposal and they're just bandits.

Celeste: They won't be too much trouble.

If we even have to fight.

Endrite: That's a good point.

We should try to force them to surrender.

Dušan of Criamon: Hell, they can keep their arms and their racket, we just want the blade

Hermetic artefacts must be protected from mundanes

Guy of Bonisagus: lets throw pilums at them

Dušan of Criamon: then if we resolve this peacefully for all involved that's a nice bonus

Bolad: ^

the pilums

not the peace

Dušan of Criamon: we've got a good diversity of tactics here

Guy of Bonisagus: some bad news johns. i dont know if this pixelmon thing is any good

well not on the server i found at least. maybe its better with that story map, maybe you dont have level 50 enemies in the first town

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: If we captured a bunch of bandits we could, legally, experiment on them.

Celeste: Good plan.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Wait, can you sell bandits into serfdom in Italy?

Dušan of Criamon: I think you can bring them to justice, for banditry, and they are functionally returned to servitude

their lives/labor are not their own so you can at best return them to their rightful owner

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Yeah but would we get paid?

Dušan of Criamon: I suppose it would be appropriate of the lord to gift something, but unless there's a bounty I don't think we could expect it

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Then to Hell with that idea!

Dušan of Criamon: I mean if I was in your blood-soaked shoes, I'd recon if any lords have bounties on heads

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Probably not, since if you want to kill a lord and you have money you just hire mercenaries instead of hoping that some sorry bounty hunter manages to penetrate the lord's defenses and lop off his head.

Archibald of Guernicus: I dont see cumthinker, he not reappear?

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: His power went out.

Guy of Bonisagus: him dead

Endrite: I think we should probably call it at a certain point.

Guy of Bonisagus: johns can take over

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I think stealing a magic sword is the most reasonable pay to take from this adventure

It's up to the mundanes to figure out what to do with the surviving bandits

Arresting bandits sounds like a job for someone who isn't a wizard.

Mortis ex Verditus, the Giant Slayer: Think of it like bonus loot.

Archibald of Guernicus: Guess we'll call it here, then

Dušan of Criamon: I think it would have been a two-parter either way

Archibald of Guernicus: yeah

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Yep

Dušan of Criamon: good shit tbh

Archibald of Guernicus: seems like theres enough going on itd have ran 2 weeks anyway

Endrite: I guess.

RIP.

Archibald of Guernicus: indeed, neat little setup, lets slaughter bandits for fun

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Bonus loot's a bonus if it doesn't take any extra time.

Time is vis, friend.

Celeste: Cool.

Dušan of Criamon: Personal gratitude for giving my boy a serious moment in the spotlight

Guy of Bonisagus: dutan

Celeste: Yeah it's always cool when Dusan gets to do stuff.

Dušan of Criamon: I'll thank c'thinker tomorrow

Fiorella of Jerbiton: I should make a Mercere who says "Time is vis, friend." and specializes in extraction

Celeste: Maybe next time Endrite runs he can give Celeste her latent magical ability. Ha ha ha.

Endrite: Sorry, there is no such thing as magic in Traveller.

Fiorella of Jerbiton: Get those mystery virtues to build extraction devices

Endrite: How old is Celeste?

Celeste: 43.

Endrite: Ok, roll 2d6 -6.

Celeste: Traveller seems like it's going well and living up to your hype.

rolling 2d6-6

(

6

+

2

)

-6

=

2

Endrite: Nice, you have a PSI rating of 2, which prevents you from manifesting any psychic power.

Celeste: Nice.

I'll write that down.