This is a page for planning the carousing and inter-session activities in the week following session #31, Barbarossa's Wild Ride.
It is currently the second week in the White Sandbox's equivalent of May. The sun has not been seen for almost two weeks due to the ongoing volcanic eruption; the previously rising Spring temperatures have reversed, and farmers of everything but the mushrooms beneath Hruhrudingfallor are worried about their crops.
There is an opportunity for anti-carousing, aka seeking to gain gold for something you have already gotten XP for but not converted into cash: a 24,000 gp night-blue star sapphire the size of a hobbit's fist, which catches the light and refracts it as a perfect cross recovered during Session 26.
Jarri
Jarri would like to try anti-carousing to get some cash. Is it possible to anti-carouse and then turn around and carouse in the same place with the dough gained from anti-carousing?
No, both carousing and anti-carousing take one week, so both can't be done in the same intersession.
At any rate, he would like to go to the highest carouse rate place, so I'm guessing that's the Nameless City. Jarri would like to put his poison-tolerating skills to use (typical dwarven resistance + Stonebeard resistance + Exceptionally Tough) by finding high-stakes drinking contests or offering to imbibe experimental/prototype potions by alchemists/magic-types under a deadline for a price. See, maybe you CAN die from carousing after all! Or maybe at least pick up an interesting positive/negative side-effect from this.
Since the point of contact for the Nameless is the Ninth Menegril, who is still on the defensive against the Assassin's Guild, he agrees to let Jarri pass through to Limbo only on the condition that he remain in the palace and not go out stirring up trouble in drinking contests and creating a potential vulnerability. He is glad to have an experimental tester for his recent acquisitions in the potions line, however. Jarri's roll on 2d6 is a 3; even with his dwarf toughness, this is an unqualified failure. The potions affect Jarri's substance, causing him to become entirely leached of color; this bleaching extends to hair, nails, irises, etc. and seems to be permanent, or at least shows no sign of diminishing a week later. The potion-testing also temporarily deranges Jarri's reason, to the extent that he un-dwarvishly agrees to take 11 untried potions in lieu of good, hard cash.
EN Lightenment
EN Lightement seeks to find information and meaning through prayer and introspection in Belltower. He will pay the local townspeople for the best crops he can find to sacrifice to the Killing Frost. He will also pay them to gather what ice, snow, and other cooling measures they can, in order to lower the temperature of his room. After sacrificing the crops, and paying his proper respects, he will spend the time in his cold room in prayer and meditation, hoping to seek enlightenment.
Due to fears of the crops failing due to the volcanic cloud blocking the sun, food costs are high and supplies are low; E.N. Lightenment spends 100 gp on a paltry quantity of goods, but finds the ice-house willing to make a deal and many willing helpers to cool his room at the Green Falcon Inn. He meditates atop the ice, ignoring the chill. The chambermaid shrieks to find a figure of frost in his place when she comes to turn down the bed. Surprised from his trance, E.N. Lightenment stands up; the coating of frost clings to his body. When the cleric attempts to exert his will upon this frost, it peels away from him and re-forms in the familiar shape of the Killing Frost. It is not clear exactly how this answers your questions, but you feel that you remember the path your mind took during the meditation and re-create this uncanny experience of being within the summoned Frost. (roll of 11 = complete success; 100 XP earned.)
Into, the Mystic
Into wants to again carouse by performing rituals of his order. He spends gold on vestments, victuals, incense, beer and wine, etc. in order that he may provide a feast to all comers for a week. He ministers and listens to all who come without prejudice, listening carefully for any rumor or tale that may give clues towards the emergence of his order's nemesis. He will do this at Caswyn's vicarage, the second week in a row he has done so.
Into invests his share of the vicarage vine's bounty, 100 gp, into wine and feasting (and earns as many XP). He earns a partial success and learns one of the following:
- Who knows the most about this?
- What source of useful knowledge about this is the most accessible to me?
- Who wants to keep this from being known?
- Who else is looking for this?
- What do those who know this want that I could supply?
Into chooses the answer to "What source of useful knowledge about this is the most accessible to me?"
Sans Sobriquet
Sans has no money, and wishes to anti-carouse by offering his sword-identification skills to the Ninth Menegril. He will do this in exchange for cash, for a magical item from the Menegril's stash, or, as a last resort, in exchange for later favors from the Menegril.
Tri Latu, the young woman the Ninth Menegril has hired as his seneschal to replace the treacherous Cahaya Bambang, finds Sans laughable (while this is an objective determination of fact, what in particular does he do to produce this unqualified failure?). She assigns him to witness the results of the potions Jarri has been entrusted with, or drink them himself if he dares; only on the successful reportage of this experiment will she take the time to verify his claim of being an experienced sword-tester.
Tobias
Tobais is also concerned about the lightness of his purse, and so will spend the week anti-carousing. Specifically he is going to fall back on his burglary skills, to find a jewelry or curio seller who looks a) prosperous enough to have items of above average value, and b) not so prosperous to have excessively dangerous wards or traps to watch out for. On the night in question, he will prepare his generally reliable sleep spell, as well as Detect Magic and Knock. His plan is to use his burglary skills to gain access to the shop, cast sleep on any guards or proprietors, and then use his Detect Magic and Knock spells to find and access the loot. He is confident everything will go swimmingly; what could go wrong?
(Been reading The Eyes of the Overworld recently, and have started seeing some Cudgel like qualities in Tobias.)
EN Lightenment
EN Lightement seeks to find information and meaning through prayer and introspection. (I'm not sure what town the party has settled in, but wherever they are, he will stay. He is not traveling to the Church for this.) He will pay the local townspeople for the best crops he can find to sacrifice to the Killing Frost. He will also pay them to gather what ice, snow, and other cooling measures they can, in order to lower the temperature of his room. After sacrificing the crops, and paying his proper respects, he will spend the time in his cold room in prayer and meditation, hoping to seek enlightenment.
He is seeking answers to the below questions (in order of significance), so he will concentrate his thoughts on those. Of course, he will humbly accept whatever wisdom the Frost chooses to bestow upon him. The Frost is wise, and he will do his best to understand whatever information he receives.
1. Have I in some way failed the Frost? It has given me some powers to further its objectives. However, since our encounter with Anubis, I have been unable to summon its earthly manifestation. I can only assume that our failure to defeat Anubis has somehow shamed it. The Frost is obviously much greater than Anubis and could free its earthly manifestation, if it so chose, so I can see no other reasonable explanation. What must I do in order to remove this blemish from its eyes and regain my good graces?
2. Does the Church in Hruhrudingfallor follow the true path of the Killing Frost? They believe that the path the Giants take of destroying the Stronghold of First Principles is correct. I believe that they are wrong. I believe they are going after it for selfish, earthly, monetary reasons and not because of their true faith. Both the Church and the Stronghold of First Principles believe in removing decadence from this world. This is more than enough to build an alliance on, or at least a truce. I know my beliefs are at odds with the Church in Hruhrudingfallor. But are they at odds with the Frost? Does Deaconess Caja follow the true path? Do the Frost Giants? Do I? Do none of us?
3. How can I deal with the Ookla and Rakotis issue? Ookla is understandably concerned with following through on this. Since it was I who accepted the gift, it must be I who deals with the burden. There must be some other way to resolve it. Would the Deaconess accept other gifts or tributes? Would she accept some other service? Is there a way to convince Rakotis to cease his interest? I pray for guidance and wisdom. The Frost is wise, and he will surely know how to proceed.
For those able to edit wiki pages, go ahead and enter your carousing plans directly onto the page, and I'll reply there (as I did for E.N.). If you can't edit wiki pages, now is a good time to get that fixed!