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[LordBucket]

Part 3d: Ouch

: After several more random battles, you come to a long corridor. At the end, it opens up into a small room containing two doors. One of them is carved from fine oak, and laced with a decorative inset of silver. The center of the door bears a sigil that none of you can identify.



: What does the other door look like?

: It's made of wood.

: Gee, I wonder which we should open?

: I smash through it.

: You burst into an elegantly panelled room. A small man sits hunched over a table by the east wall. He sets down his pen and gazes sternly at you.

: Well? What do you want?

: I kill him.

: No, wait. I apologize to the gentleman for bursting into his room, and explain that we are adventurers commissioned by the council of Phlan to clear the slums of monsters.

: Hmm, adventurers? My name is Ohlo. I may have a use for you. Some time ago I ordered a special potion. The potion is ready but I can't leave to fetch it. Bring it here. I pay well. It waits in a booth in the old rope guild but a short distance to the southeast of here.

: We accept your quest, sir.

: Funny. I don't remember seeing a yellow exclamation point anywhere.

: Following the directions given to you by Ohlo, you approach the Rope Guild. On the way, you encounter a fortune teller.

: Greetings, adventurers. For 5 gold I will tell you your fortune.

: I kill her.

No, you don't. Of course, dear lady, I will pay 5 gold to have our fortunes told.

: Why, what's she going to say? We're adventurers. We'll kill some monsters, level up, get better gear, then kill more monsters. We'll do some quests and collect a bunch of treasure. Probably die and reload from previous saves a couple times. Pretty standard stuff.

: Accepting Sturm's gold, the woman's hands make mystic signs over her crystal ball while she mutters some words. Her voice undergoes a strange transformation...

: Blood and violence are writ largely in your future. Look for friends where you expect enemies and enemies where you expect allies. Your fortune is done.

: That's it?

: Lame. My version was better.

: Hey, I'm reading straight from the module here.

: I kill her now.

No, you don't. I kindly thank the woman for her helpful revelation, which we will certainly ponder while on our quest. We continue on our way.

: Continuing on your way, but not quite to the Rope Guild yet, you encounter another door.

: What's this one look like?

: It is a sturdy wooden door, reinforced with two bands of iron. The handle looks thoroughly worn.



: Funny. Looks just like the door to Ohlo's room to me.

: I draw my axe and kick the door down.

: Vile humans! How dare you break into our home?



: That's a lot of orcs.

: Can I kill them?

: Aye, lad.



: Final battle results: Sturm, Alex and Raynor were all knocked unconscious, but Gimli and Max were able to stop the bleeding before anyone died. Gimli's down to 2/14, Laharl 3/9, Hanz 21/35, and Max, curiously, was unharmed.



: Go, me.

: It's because you're still the best armored amongst us, lad.

: So let's go hire some more henchmen and kill them. Remember I got my platemail off Razz? What about Hanz? Kill him and take his armor.

: You'll do no such thing. Remember that I'm here now, Kyon isn't playing me.

: I doubt we could if we wanted to. Moral quandries aside, let's get back to town before any more critters show up.

May I remind the two of you that you're unconscious right now?

: I'm not, and I say let's be gettin' back to town. In our state, an orc could look at us and we'd be dead.

: *roll* *roll* *roll* Fortunately, you make it back to town without any further encounters. Two weeks in the Inn pass in about 5 seconds, bringing you all back to full health.

: Any good loot?

: Sorting through the pile, you discover several magic items:



: The shopkeeper offers 6000 gold for the bracers, and 1-2 thousand for each of the other items.

: Six THOUSAND gold?!!?! Ahahahah!!!! I'm rich! I'm so rich, we can all be rich and I'll still be rich!!!

: Best not sell the bracers right away, lads. 6000 gold is not an easy thing to lug about.

: Finally we can finish outfitting ourselves. And the magic items will be of great use. Still, I hope we find more soon. What of the council? Have any more quests been made available?

: On the matter of commision, in addition to your current commissions the council is offering a reward for the defeat of the notorious bandit, Norris the Gray. Also, the council has received word of a strange artifact to be auctioned in Podol Plaza, and will pay for more information.

: We accept your quests.

: Yeah, but we still haven't finished the first couple she gave us.

: We also need to decide what to do about Hanz.

: What do you mean?

: Tresaure and experience are divided by the number of party members. But I double checked, and since he's level 4 and we're all still level 1, he's taking four shares to our one. The guy's sucking up 4/10ths of all of our treasure and experience.

: What? That much?

: Even so, we'd be dead a couple times over if it weren't for him. I wouldn't be too quick to get rid of him.

: But we're much better equipped now than we were. Now that we've found 4 magical weapons and can afford to equip ourselves with the best standard armors, surely we can continue on our own?

: I'm not sayin' we can't. I just want us to think it through before we decide.

: All the little girly mans need Hanz to pump them up!

Voting question 1: What to do next?
 * Continue clearing the slums
 * Investigate Sokal Keep
 * Bring Norris the Grey to justice
 * Reteive Ohlo's potion from the rope guild (Seriously not recommended. We'll die. A lot.)
 * Attend the monster auction in Podal Plaza
 * Look for information about Phlan before the fall

Voting question 2: Henchmen
 * Fire Hanz
 * Keep Hanz in the party, but accept no new recruits
 * Keep Hanz and pick up another henchman to fill the 8th party slot
 * Have Hanz meet with an unfortunate accident

[Heron TSG]

I vote that we complete the quest given to us and detain this bandit. I don't know how effective Hanz has been at keeping us alive, so I don't know whether we should part ways with him or keep him on. Also, full plate would be bomb.

[LordBucket]

: I vote that we complete the quest given to us

: You can certainly continue clearing the slums, but Ohlo's quest is in the slums, so it won't be possible to get quest credit for clearing the slums until Ohlo's quest is resolved. You could probably fulfill every other requirement, but Ohlo's quest is kind of hard, and other than Hanz everyone in the party is still level 1.

: I don't know how effective Hanz has been at keeping us alive, so I don't know whether we should part ways with him or keep him on. Also, full plate would be bomb.

: He's the only reason you guys are alive right now. But, half the party will probably get enough xp to make level 2 during the next play session, and once that happens Hanz will instantly be much less important. I'd say you guys could do it either way, with or without him. You could ditch him now, or if you want you could even keep him throughout the entire game. I think he'll level with the rest of you if you keep him, so he'll never become obsolete. But like Max says, it does mean dividing out gold and xp with him for as long as he's with you. Totally up to you guys how you want to handle it.

:Also, full plate would be bomb.

: You and Max are both wearing full plate. Max got his from when Alex killed Razz. You bought yours because as a knight of Solamnia, it was a high priority. Character sheets listed in the spoilers of the first post are now current, so everyone can see what they're using. If anyone wants a particular change of equipment, so say and I'll try to accommodate. As to plate, the party has enough gold to give anyone plate who wants it, but be aware that while platemail will improve your survivability it will also slow your movement rate.

[AussieGuy]

Bring Norris the Grey to justice, because that sounds like fun. Also, a competition of some sort sort to determine Hanz fate. How about a drinking contest?

[FuzzyZergling]

"That auction sounds interesting. Whatever magic item they're pawning off might be useful to us.
And I think we should keep Hans for now, he may be expensive but he's been keeping us alive so far,"

[Heron TSG]

"I agree, Hans has proven his mettle often enough. I wouldn't mind stopping at the auction for a bit, but we must bring the dishonorable scum, this 'Norris', to justice."

[ExKirby]

Well, all of those options look good, but I think I'll have to go with finding this Norris fellow to justice. He owes me money!

[Myroc]

"...tsk. Fine, keep that brute of yours if you're such cowards. But he better be paying pack all those shares he's not entitled to!
And I've had enough beating up orcs. We ought to go clear out my future stronghold already! "

[SHAD0Wdump]

Congratulations. You made a forum based LP entertaining for me. That's pretty hard to do.

I'll be watching this closely.

[LordBucket]

Vote results
Gimli: Bandit, proposed drinking contest to decide on Hanz
Raynor: Auction, keep Hanz
Sturm: Bandit/Auction, keep Hanz
Max: Bandit, no vote on Hanz
Laharl: Sokal Keep, reluctantly accepts keeping Hanz

Alex: no vote submitted
Axel: no vote submitted

Part 4a: Bandits and beasties and background, Oh my!

: Good evening, Lady. We wish to bring Norris the Gray to justice. Where might we find him?

: He's been reported ambushing adventurers attempting to clear the city block surrounding Kuto's well.

: How would we get there?

: Just go west through the slums.

: Is there any place we could get a map?

: Surely maps exist from before the fall, but I'm aware of no formal mapmaking efforts since the reclamation. If you find one though, the council will pay well for it.

: Fall...reclamation...what exactly happened here?

: Old Phlan was established centuries ago by the lords of Waterdeep to facilitate trade with the elves of Myth Drannor, the Dragonspine dwarves and a few other local humanoid tribes. Over the years the city's been destroyed several times by orc invasions, famine, floods, war with Zhentil Keep, megalomaniacal wizards, dragons...it's never been a very hospitible place. A few months ago a merchant trader arrived to find the city overrun and much of it burned. The lighthouse keep on thorn island is occupied by orcs, and Valjevo castle by things nastier. From the variety of creatures, orcs, trolls, goblins, lizardfolk, etc. it's clear that there was a concerted effort to occupy the city, but there's not much sign of continued organization amongst the various occupying forces, and nobody really knows who or what managed to get them all to work together in the first place, or why.

: You say the city was burned. Could it have been burned by dragonfire?

: Could be. Or fire elementals. Or angry wizards, or demons, or something else. Again, we don't know much about what happened. Everyone here now arrived afterwards to clean up the mess and re-establish trade. As you know, we've been recruiting adventurers to scout and reclaim the city, block by block. The troops granted us by Waterdeep have been mostly adequete for defense, but we're reluctant to take them out of the resettled area. We just don't have enough soldiers to simultaneously recapture city blocks and then defend a growing front. We do have a small spy encampment on the western edge of the city near Podal Plaza, but apart from what I've told you, we know very little even about exactly what monsters are occupying which parts of the city.

: What about Norris the Gray?

: The region has always had bandits and warlords looking out for their own interests. He was a notorious raider of trade caravans en route to the city. When it was overrun, he and his bandits probably took advantage of the chaos to entrench himself and go for bandit to warlord. There may be other groups just like his: thieves and murderers, but his group is the only one I've received reports of regularly conducting organized attacks on adventuring parties. Plenty of stray groups of orcs, goblins, etc. but disorganized raiders are not as dangerous as organized raiders. We'd like to have him taken out before others learn from his example.

: Of course, Lady. We will see to it.

: Good job, Sturm. That's a big chunk of info you got for us there. Did you boys catch all of that?

: Only the important part: My future fortress on Thorn Island is occupied by mere orcs!

: All I got was "go west, kill bandit."

. Right. Well, let's get to it.

(About ten minutes later)

: Before you lies Kuto's well. It is a source of water in all seasons. A short distance to the south is what appears to be a tiny, makeshift fortress, crudely pieced together from scavenged logs and woodwork.

: I'm guessing that's it. Time to crack some skulls, boys. Let's go.

: A lizardman leads a pack of giant lizards on patrol before a door that has been nailed shut. Seeing you, they attack.



: Ha! They'll need to send better than that to stop us.

: Yes, surprisingly little damage on that fight. I expected the giant lizards to do more damage. Oh well, I have other monsters I can throw at you.

: You said tha' door was nailed shut, aye? I kick it down.

: Inside you find a wide-eyed woman seated on a rug. At your entry she stands.

: Greetings, bold ones. I have long awaited your coming. My time here is short for the world enters a new age. An evil spirit from an unholy pool guides your enemies. It hides behind a fair countenance. Be not deceived.

Title drop.

: Without warning, the woman vanishes before your eyes.

: Good thing she left when she did. I didn't like the way she was looking at me.

: Maybe she left because she knew she couldn't take you.

: Yes. I'm that awesome.

: I don't see any bandits in here.

: Nor do I.

: They must all be scared of me too.

: I'm sure that's it.

: Max, what did you mean when you said 'title drop' just a moment ago?

: What the woman said: "An evil spirit from an unholy pool guides your enemies." We're playing 'Pool of Radiance' right? She was obviously talking about that pool.

: What do you think the Pool of Radiance is?

: Beats me. All she said was that it was unholy and guides our enemies. Maybe the monsters have a betting pool to see who kills us first, and it's shiny and radiant because of all the gold in it.

I'd like to see that pool.

: This was a waste of time. I came for bandit treasure. Not to listen to you people talk. I told you we should have cleared out my fortress instead of going after this bandit guy.

: What about the auction? That's supposed to happen in Podol Plaza, and the councilwoman said that was on the western edge of the city, right? We're probably close. Why don't we go check it out?

: I agree. Like you said, maybe the artifact will be something we can use.

: I can always use another magical artifact. Hang on a second, though. I'm thirsty. I'm going to get a drink from the well.


: A group of kobolds leap from the well and attack you.

: What??!



: You dispatch them easily, and upon closer inspection you see metal rungs set into the side of the well wall.

: I don't think it's water down there.

: I'll lead the way, lads. I know a thing or two about tunnels.

: About 20 feet below the surface you find a horizontal passage leading to a large room dimly lit by sputtering torches. Through the smoke you see curtains hung to cover doorways. Some movement occurs in the room's far corner and then a volley of arrows tears into the group.

: Ouch. That stung.

: They know we're here.

: Aye, and we know they're here too, so I say that gives us the advantage. Follow me, lads. I feel a draft from this corridor over here.

: Through the smoke and darkness, a small figure fires several more arrows into the party, then fades away into the shadows.

: OUCH! That hurt. How come you're in the lead, but the arrows hit me? I'm in the back.

: Video game physics. Before long, Gimli's underground senses lead you to a sturdy wooden door.

: I kick it down.

: As you burst into the room you are surrounded by the bandit band of Norris the Grey.

: Surrender or die!

: Quick question: in your entire history as a bandit, has anyone who's ever kicked in your door ever surrendered when you asked them to?

: No. They all chose option two.



: This fight won't be easy.

: Final battle results: Raynor and Gimli unconscious, most everyone else heavily thrashed, and curiously, once again Max escapes unscathed.



: Beware the bunny.

: On Norris' body you find a curious message:



: Scribbled on the back, you see what appears to be the unsent reply:



: Who is this 'Boss' we keep hearing about? That first pack of kobolds we met back in Episode 3a mentioned a 'Boss' too.

: Enough! Nobody cares about your stupid storyline. Gimmee loots!

:  The bandit's treasure comes to roughly 1400 silver, 50-some gold, and a dozen gems. His longsword and chainmail are also obviously of unusual quality, and are probably magical. You've also taken possession of the hideout, and may rest here undisturbed by monsters.

: Hanz glad little girly mans need Hanz so Hanz get rich.

: Congrats, Laharl. Looks like you've got yourself a fortress.

: Meh. Underground. Damp. Cold. Crummy color scheme. It'll make a decent dungeon to torture you all in once I'm done with you- I mean, to umm, imprison the townsfolk once I'm...no, I mean, umm...kidnap and perform biological experiments on-

: How about just stop while you're ahead?

: Good idea. Anyway, I'll take it but I still want Sokal Keep.

: We'll consider it, but first let's check out that artifact rumor. If monsters are organized enough to be hosting auctions, that could be a problem.

: I say we make the event as disorganized as possible.

: Then it's decided. We'll rest up and head for Podal Plaza. Since you say we can rest here safely, how long will it take us to heal back to full?

: 14 days. So about two seconds.



: That's convenient. Alright boys, let's head out.

[LordBucket]

Part 4b: Stealth mission and a duel

: With marble walkways and beautiful gardens now faded, Podal Plaza was obviously once the opulent playground of the wealthier residents of Old Phlan. Now, the entire area is filled with teeming masses of monsters: orcs, goblins, ogres, and others you don't recognize.

: Let us walk proudly forth and do battle!

: I'm ok with that.

: We're heavily outnumbered. I suggest caution.

: I put up the hood on my sweater.

: That's a smart move. We'll disguise ourselves and try to fit in. Laharl, you still looting armor and weapons from everything we fight?

: Yes, to savor every last gold coin they bring on resale. But I'm a demon. No need for disguises.

: You and Max can probably pass ok, but the rest of us will need somethin'.

: I'll sell you these orcish studded leather armors for 3 gold each. Only 50% more than the shopkeeper pays. Under the circumstances, I think that's a bargain.

: Tell me you're not serious.

: While you're arguing amongst yourselves, a patrol spots you.

: Growrr!

: Easy fight, just some scrapes and bruises.

: And now we have disguises.

: Stupid orcs. They had to show up just as I was about to make a sale!

: I wouldna' paid, lad. I'd have taken the leather from your own hide.

: Cheapskate.

: You advance out onto the auction floor in the midst of the plaza. A few groups of monsters give you dirty looks, but nobody stops you.

: Oh, man. I am SO not going to let that just go. Did you see the dirty looks they all just gave me?

: Alex, please...not now. We are literally surrounded by hundreds of enemies.

: Yeah, enemies! They're all enemies! Hey, YOU!

: ...wha, me?

: Yes, you!

: I cast sleep on Alex.

: I kill the ko-*thunk*

: Good thinkin', lad.

: I accept thank yous in the form of gold bullion, slaves, magical artifacts, and via direct deposit.

: The auction begins.

: Creatures of all ages, welcome to this auction for an item both magical and powerful! Behold this wand that can reduce the forces of good to gibbering cowards, compelling their hearts to such fear that they run from you in terror!

: A wand of fear? That doesn't sound like much of an 'artifact' to me.

: As the bidding approaches 1800 gold, you notice a blonde, and apparently female ogress push her way through the crowd and stand very close to a human in plain clothes.

: Bah, this was a waste of time too. Nobody cares about a stupid fear wand.

:The bidding quickly escalates to 4000 gold, high bid from the man next to the ogre, and it seems that there will be no more bids.

: Your bid, sir. 4000 gold. 4000 gold? Any more?

: 4250

: Have you gone mad?

: Let's see how badly he wants it.

: It's not a faberge egg. I don't think they'll believe you if you claim it's a fake.

: 4250 gold from the rabbit! Do I hear 4500?

: The man takes a stern look at you.

: Going once!

: I stare back at him.

: Going twice!

: You do realize, lad, we don't have 4250 gold?

: Sold!

: At just that moment the auction platform is engulfed in magical darkness, and you hear sounds of struggle from within.

: Where's our buddy with the ogre?

: You don't see him, but after a few moments the ogre comes rushing out of the darkness at a full sprint. Several groups of the monsters chase after him.

: If she has it, we won't get it.

: I don't think she does. Sturm, stay on the ogre to be sure. Max, head to the auction block. When the darkness wears off I want you on that platform. Everyone else, try to find the man who lost the bid.

: None of you see him. The ogre doesn't make it very far before being knocked over and searched. She doesn't have the wand. By the time the darkness wears off, the platform is empty. Within a few minutes, the monsters give up and start to disperse.

: Surely we see something?

: Actually yes, a few monsters have taken an interest in Alex on the ground and are poking and prodding him.

: What happened to him? Why's he on the ground?

: I put him to sleep, remember? I guess nobody remembered to keep an eye on him.

: ...wha's going on...? Why sooo sleeepy?

: A drunken buccanneer is standing over Alex.

: You! I lost my coinpurse. I bet you stole it, you worthless thief!

: What? No, I haven't stolen anything recently.

: He glares at you.

: He does what? Alright, that's it. DIE!



: Way to go, Alex. o.O

: Incidentally, that was a level 4 fighter you just soloed.

: Nobody looks at me like that and lives. Nobody.

: Now that the duel is over, the other hundred or so monsters still in the plaza begin to examine your party more closely.

: I think it's time to go, boys. We make our way out the west side of the plaza and look for this spy camp the council mentioned.

: Fortunately, the monsters fall for your disguise and none of them seem interested in making trouble over the human you just killed. After leaving the area and removing your disguises, you quickly find the spy camp and are offered passage on a small boat back to the east dock.

: No boats! I'll walk!

[LordBucket]

Part 4c: Quest turn-in and leveling

: You are to be commended for the defeat of the bandit, Norris the Gray. Your success at Podal Plaza has also been noted: A wand of fear is of no special concern. The council is pleased with your efforts. Please accept this reward of 300 gold and 220 platinum.

: That seems strangely anticlimatic compared to the resale value of the stuff we've been picking up.

: More loots is more loots.

: Also, junior councilman Codorna has heard of your exploits and has requested that you report to him to receive a special commission. His chambers are through the east door.

: Is that the heavily guarded one?

: No, that's the south door.

: Hello, adventurers. Thank you for coming. I have a personal request to make of you. My family had a treasure of purely aesthetic value hidden away in the western building of the textile house. When I first arrived I sent a number of servants to fetch it, but sadly, they never returned. I would go after it myself, but I am no warrior. The textile house is just south of Podal Plaza. Bring the treasure to me and you will be rewarded.

: What is it?

: A family heirloom of little but sentimental value.

: Bo-ring.

: Thank you for the commission, councilman. But we've got a lot on our plate right now. No promises, but we'll see what we can do.

: This is probably a good stopping point. But before we call it a night, let's take a look at everyone's experience and see who's ready to level.

: I have 3647.

: Wow. Guess we've been neglecting that for a while. You only need 2000 to make level 2, and 4000 for level 3.

: Oh! Oh! Do me! I have 1683! Is that enough for level 18? Can I cast Wish and Power Word Kill and Rule The World yet?

: Umm, no. As a dual-class all your experience is divided by two. And you don't collect any at all while you're unconscious. That's why you have so much less than Sturm. And Mage levels require more xp than Fighter levels, so you still have a ways to go yet.

: Grr. This game sucks. I don't want to play any more.

: Relax, man. We're just getting started. I'm sure if you just keep at it you'll get up there. I'm at 2227 xp, by the way.

: Really? Since you're a pure fighter and your xp isn't being divided I expected you be closer to Sturm's 3647. I guess since you and Gimli were knocked out for the fight with Norris you both missed out on a big chunk. Fortunately it looks like you both have enough anyway, just not as much to spare. Actually, looks like everyone except Alex and Laharl will gain a level. Let's take a break for a bit while I update everyone's characters.


: Alright, group huddle while we wait. I'm starting to wonder what exactly we're doin' here. What're all these clues pointing to? We have some kind of monster 'Boss' that isn't much of a boss, since Norris, at least, turned him down. We have a 'pool' of some kind that old women are waiting around in locked rooms to tell us about then disappear. Now we've got this councilman Codorna picking us out for special missions to pick up an heirloom he claims isn't valuable? None of this makes sense. What are we missing here?

: The message that Norris rejected contained orders to assist in an assault on the reclaimed area. It might all be as simple as clearing monsters out of the city so that it can resume trade.

: So all this is just about trade? We have a boss dishing out orders to attack a town, monster hordes hanging out at auctions, and disappearing ladies with clues just to keep us interested in a story about trade and taxes?

: Why not? Substitute 'boss', monster hordes and ladies for Darth Vader, clone armies and Princess Amidala, and that's Phantom Menace in a nutshell.

: I bet Cadorna is Senator Palpatine.

: I'm telling you, I don't buy it. There's something we're missing here.

: Maybe it has to do with the pool of radiance. It's the name of the game, so obviously it plays into all this somehow.

: What was it disappearing-woman said about that?

: "An evil spirit from an unholy pool guides your enemies. It hides behind a fair countenance. Be not deceived."

: Fair countenance? Maybe councilman Cadorna is Senator Palpatine.

: Personally I thought he was a jerk. Dragging us in to send us off on some stupid mission. Nothing fair about him at all.

: The goatee with Elvis sideburns was a little tacky, too.

: I prefer not to think ill of my fellow man, but it seems likely that he was lying to us about his heirloom being of little value.

: So if Sturm thinks he lying, white rabbit thinks he's tacky, and I found the guy boring and annoying, I think he fails the fair countenance test, and therefore isn't the bad guy. So we should be looking for people who are awesome with pretty hair and who tell us the truth, because they're the secret bad guy and we should kill them?

: That makes sense to me.

: What about the dragon that keeps dropping in on us?

: I'm guessing he's the boss.

: He can't be.

: Why not?

: For exactly the reason he gave. He's a gold dragon. Metallic dragons are good. Only color dragons are evil.

: How do you know that?

: I know dragons.

: Aye. And so do I. My father and his brother told me stories of a nasty one named Smaug. I'll not be setting foot or hand near this beast without an axe between us.

: But, this Smaug, he was a red dragon, wasn't he?

: Speaking of dragons, why hasn't ours shown up yet?

: What do you mean?

: Last time somebody mentioned him he appeared instantly. And the first time he showed up he said he was watching us. Why doesn't he just show himself now so we can ask him?

: This is an official episode involving actual gameplay. I think he only shows up during interludes which come in response to comments in the thread.

: Ok, sorry that took so long. Sturm, Gimli, Raynor and Max all leveled. Though Max only leveled as a thief, not as a fighter. Here are the new stats:



Sturm:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Gimli:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Raynor:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Max:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

: Thanks to everyone who made it to tonight's game.


Voting time: What to do next?
 * Clear Sokal Keep
 * Clear the slums / Ohlo's potion quest
 * Look for information about Phlan before the fall
 * Find Cadorna's heirloom and return it to Cadorna
 * Find Cadorna's heirloom and keep it

Also, Hanz is still in the party. Now that we've started to level he'll be less critical. But he's still a level 4 fighter, and he's a third of the way to level 5 now. Let me know if you'd like to keep him or ditch him.

[Heron TSG]

My 'order of importance'.

1. Clear the slums / Ohlo's potion quest (We have to finish what we start.)
2. Find Cadorna's heirloom and return it to Cadorna (A new quest!)
3. Look for information about Phlan before the fall (Interesting!)

As for Hans, I still don't really know. It looks like he'll still be useful for a while, but I haven't seen our level 2 party in action.

[FuzzyZergling]

((Raynor and Gimli's stat pages are mixed up at the end of the post.))

I agree that we should clear the slums first.
As for Hans, I think we should keep him until our entire party is level two.

[LordBucket]

Interlude 3: This is not an interlude

: It's been four days the last update, and we still need votes from Gimli, Alex, Max, Laharl-

: La-who?

: ...Overlord Laharl and Axel. Speaking of Axel, we haven't heard from you since you submitted your character. What happened to you?

: Sorry, I've been sooo busy signing autographs lately I haven't had the time.

: Oh! Is it Interlude time again? Yay! Let's throw a party! I brought punch and cups. Who's bringing the popcorn and candy and board games?

: No, this isn't-

: If it's not too much trouble, would someone bring chocolate bunny rabbits? I so love those! They're so cute and yummy! But I kind of feel bad when I bite the heads off.

: Hey, we have some questions for you.

: Welcome to our circle, noble dragon. I've explained to my companions that as a gold dragon, surely you mean the best for us.

: Awww....that's so sweet of you! Warm, fuzzy huggles for the Sturm!

: Guys, this isn't an inter-

: Aye. The knight says you're good. We don't believe it.

: What? You don't believe me? I...I...I'm so hurt! I'll I ever wanted to was to love you and hold you and cuddle you like adorable little velociraptor babies!

: Raptors aren't exactly adorable. Or little.

: They are when you're a 50 foot long dragon.

: GUYS!

: And Axel.

: Dude, I'm not a girl.

: This is NOT an interlude. Big-T, go away.

: *pout* Party pooper. I'll just go sulk in the corner until you want me, then.

: I'm only posting to reminding players that we need votes before we can continue.

: You went ahead with episode 3 when Sturm was away. It was even a plot point. And in episode 4, neither Alex or Axel ever voted.

: Right, but we had enough votes for a majority. Enough people voted that even if they had showed up and voted the other way, it still wouldn't have been enough to sway the overall vote. Right now we only have two out of six and a half votes.

: Is that how it works?

: I only count for a half vote?

: Yes, and yes. You only get a half vote since you're backup rather than a live party member.

: Oooh...rules. You'd better be careful with that. It might come back to bite you.

: Aye, lad. 1/0 comes to mind.

: If this were 1/0, I guess Axel would be the token chick? Shouldn't he have a bigger clitellum?

: Damn it! I am not a girl!

: Your centerfold could have fooled me.

: ...what centerfold?

: This one:



: Gah! Where did you find that picture!?!?!?

: Rule 34 is a harsh mistress.

: I'd do her.

: Not enough facial hair for my tastes.

: I am so leaving.

: Getting back to the point, please everyone, submit your votes so we can continue the adventure.

: Yeah, boys. Get on that. But since we're all having this chat, we still have some questions for the dragon.

: Sorry. He's not really here because this isn't actually an interlude post.

: Why doesn't this post count as an interlude? Surely it's long enough. And we had a visit from our dragon guardian.

: ...dragon guardian? Aww, Sturm...you even have a cute widdle pet name for me? I love you so much. I'll be sure to eat you last.

...what?

: Big-T, I said get-

: I advise caution with your humor, gentle beast. My companions have not the experience with your kind that I have.

: TYRANTHRAXUS! Get out of here NOW.

: Like, oh my gawd. Ok, I'll leave. I know when I'm not wanted.

: "Tyranthraxus?" So our rival has a name, then.

: Grr. That wasn't supposed to slip out just yet.

: Don't worry about it. Anyone who was paying attention saw the full name when Raynor quoted him back in Interlude 2.

: I just can't win with you people.

: Yeah. Because we're just that awesome, we can outplay the DM.

: Getting back to my question, why doesn't this count as an interlude?

: Well, it does now. So I'll edit the post to include it. Random chat and roleplay isn't important enough to be included the index. But anytime plot-relevant information is revealed or significant actions are taken, that has to be included. When this is archived nobody's going to want to read random one line posts. But consider Interlude 1: there was no actual gameplay, and I didn't start up the game at all. But Big T-

: Tyranthraxus.

: ...Tyranthraxus was introduced. And if that wasn't included in the index, it wouldn't make sense for people reading this later when you encounter him for real in the game and already know who he is.

: That makes sense. So Tyranthraxus is a plot-critical character?

: Did somebody call me?

: NO! Go away.

: ...awww, man.

: You'll all just have to find out. But, that can't happen until we get some votes in so we can continue the story. So, votes?