I kinda need a DM summary of what the situation is now, for Barik to act appropriate to events. I want to know where his last speech fit in, and how everyone's actions up to this point fit together.

No rush, just so ya know why Barik's apparently not doing anything...
posted by Scholeologist at 5/28/2004 08:06:00 PM

Sigh. "Yes, a moment ago, we decided to come in and talk to him. And since we were heading in to talk to him, and since you [Linnam] knew more about him than anyone else, and since it is obvious to everyone that Slthm doesn't have the same cultural background that you do, isn't used to these improvised explanations, and might not be keen on explaining to everyone how he was embarrassed by a child, I might jump to the conclusion that perhaps you would give us a little bit of an idea of what you knew about him, what might upset him, and so forth. Really, I do sympathize with your position, but my comment was directed at both of you: the free flow of information between us is our road to success, and even relatively trifling matters can blow all out of proportion and cause discord between us. And that, I think we all agree, we cannot afford.

"Slthm, I know you are not used to us, but in matters both magical and mundane, please let us know what you know, as soon as you can. As you say, you are the wuwu, and able to see things we cannot. For the hunt to succeed, all the warriors must be told what the wuwu has seen, I think. Please be patient with us, for our ways are not your ways, and we often do not understand what you mean. But if you speak to us as plainly as you can, I am sure we will benefit greatly from your wisdom.

"And Linnam, I understand that this is a tense moment, and you are deeply concerned, but surely you know that you were better suited to prepare us for this meeting, and to tactfully describe both sides of that exchange, than Slthm was?

"But I said it once -- that's behind us now, and there's no use worrying about it. Now, if you stop to consider what Slthm was saying, it's clear that he's trying to proceed with, ah, `explaining' the situation, and no one's looking to, shall we say, set into motion any ideas that were tossed around in the other room.

"Now, the complex interactions between grown-ups are hard on my mind, and I would prefer to indulge in a more straightforward conversation with someone younger. So, would you like to acquaint us with each other?"

[regarding Linnam's concern over weapons, Barik didn't come in to talk with the kid with an axe ready. Or a bow. In Bob's experience, that doesn't usually help generate good rapport. Except with the tough kids. :) ]
posted by Scholeologist at 5/28/2004 11:27:00 AM

"Settle down, everyone. Clearly some rather significant things happened that no one saw fit to tell Drusilla and myself about. Come now people, we're a team! It can only hurt our cause when we keep such secrets from each other. Surely a little warning, a little `try not to startle him, he's rattled already and this is what he does when he's frightened' would have been appropriate, don't you think? Well, that's water under the bridge now. No point in getting our noses all out of joint.

"Slthm is fine where he is. [I assume he's at the doorway, not still near wherever the kid was.] Clearly dividing up the party leads to misapprehensions and strife." If Linnam looks doubtful, I add "You're not going to change his opinion unless he gets a chance to see the kid in a nonthreatening way." I walk into the middle of the room. "So, `Ack Ack', are you going to introduce me to your friend here?"
posted by Scholeologist at 5/28/2004 04:55:00 AM

I've got a proposed draft of the equipment list up: the .xls file is here. As before, the .sxc file should be right-clicked and saved, not left-clicked -- if you have OpenOffice, the .sxc file is here.

Notes: everything listed as gone "Tentatively now" is stuff I'm proposing to leave behind at the ogre cave. Much of this was chosen specifically so that Barik would be carrying a light load. I don't know what sort of load other players have, so I didn't try to tweak what they were carrying very much. Obviously, some of the silver would fit in the duffle bag too, but I wasn't going to worry about it until the other contents were agreed upon.

The most notable thing is that the equipment list has Drusilla toting the 50 lb. water keg, which she might not be thrilled with. (We can put it in the duffle bag, but then have to get rid of 50 lbs. worth of the stuff in there. Or we can leave the keg and keep the waterskins.) I don't know what other people had in their saddlebags that they wanted to bring -- we could make space in the duffle bag by throwing out some oil, rations, quivers, and/or gold.
posted by Scholeologist at 5/27/2004 09:14:00 AM

"Now, now, hold on, there's no need for fighting amongst ourselves. Linnam seems quite clear on the point -- he won't permit hurting the child regardless. Voting on whether we're in favor or not seems like it can only be divisive: let us accept that Linnam is dedicated to his principles, and not pursue this course further. Instead, let us each think on what we should do in the morning -- is there some way to take him with us? If not, shall we leave him here? A thorny problem, but perhaps not one that has to be solved right now.

"Besides, I haven't even seen this ogreling; how could I be asked to cast judgement on him? I would like to meet him myself, and see what he's like. In addition, we should search through this house for other entrances, other pets, perhaps useful items...Durin says the ogre mage kept his stuff in that back room, so let's go check it out, and meet this ogre child also.

"Last but not least, Linnam, you say you have found the treasure? You mean what the key goes to? If it's treasure of gold and jewels, I fear it will only weigh us down, and we may as well leave it here in the hopes that we might collect it on the way home. I hoped we might find something more immediately useful, such as weapons or magic. There's no need to be cagy with us, what is it?

Barik gets up and moves to follow Linnam into the back room.

"I said `let's go check it out', but I don't know if other people really want to come. Grell might prefer to stay with his patient, for example. Drusilla and Slthm, I know you've already seen the boy, and may have made up your mind about him, but I ask you to put that aside for the moment, and indulge Linnam for tonight at least.

"More to the point, your skills might be needed to determine the nature of any magic items in this treasure, and you might spot some other important object or feature in the room that Linnam and I miss. It looks like we'll be staying here tonight, and so we should be sure we are secure -- we don't want any nasty paralyzing crawlers sneaking up on us in our sleep, like the last time we stayed in a cave."
posted by Scholeologist at 5/27/2004 07:35:00 AM

While gravedigging, I've got another question for Durin:

"So, going about killing the ogreling -- would he put up much of a fight? As you can see, some of us are injured, and if it'd be a serious undertaking, we should prepare for it. Can he affect people's minds or shoot rays of frost like his father did?

"Also, what do you want to do now? We are not headed for Clangeddin's Peak, but we are going in that general direction [I think]. Do you wish to return home immediately? I must warn you, we are on an urgent mission against a new orc wizard who is threatening the land, and he has a vast army besieging Clangeddin's Peak. Our reports say the army is ten thousand strong, and that they have taken the Mines already. It would be a cruel fate indeed to escape the tyranny of these ogres only to be captured by foul orcs, but I fear that is what will befall you if you made your way straight home."

posted by Scholeologist at 5/26/2004 06:12:00 AM

That sounds fine with me -- unless someone buttonholes me while we're dragging out the last body, I'll just dig graves until the big "What do we do with the kid?" conference.

Does Durin know what that key might go to? Or of any significant items in the cave -- healing potions, normal-sized weapons, etc.?
posted by Scholeologist at 5/25/2004 05:25:00 AM

"Grandfather, I believe we have still more good news for you..." Barik finds/asks for whoever's got the ogre mage's head and shows the old dwarf. (If this is Linnam, then Barik'll show off his fancy cape instead, and just _say_ that the ogre mage's head is in the pack of one of my companions.)

As soon as I find out about Linnam and Rugrat, I'll take off the cape and put it in my backpack. "Hm. We have much to do then, and not much time. Grandfather, how do you feel about the ogre child? What do you know about him? I wish to hear your whole story, but urgent matters first."

"Let's make sure the area is secure -- Grandfather, is there anything dangerous, or that we need to know about, back down the passage you came from? If there's no immediate threat, then let Grell and I handle the bodies and collect the animals." (If Grell thinks Bishop needs more care, I give him one of my potions of CLW.)

"Drusilla, Slthm, wash away the blood. There's probably water or beer or something stored here -- if not, we can use the water in the barrel (which is in the duffle bag of holding, which I'll leave here with you), and refill it tomorrow." (Eying Slthm's bloody maw) "Don't forget to clean yourselves up, too, if you get blood on you. Indeed, that's a good idea for Grell and I also."

"Drusilla, it sounds like you thought Linnam...was not himself. The father was able to cloud Bishop's mind...do you think the son might have done the same to Linnam? Slthm, could you detect such a thing? Maybe this ogre-child is more than what he seems...try to find out what you can, as soon as you have the opportunity. Until then, though, we may as well go on with Linnam's charade. We'll probably need a few minutes -- if anyone thinks they're presentable and can help Linnam occupy Blue Boy, go right ahead.

"Grandfather, you are free to do as you choose. If you would like to tell me of yourself, I would appreciate the company, but perhaps you'd rather stay here with these friends of mine." [or even hang with the kid, if the two of them get along...]

I'll start dragging bodies out -- both weasels and ogres (Grell can probably drag out the ogres on his own -- I can only drag 1150 lbs. on my own, so I might need help with dragging one.) Let's drag them a little out of the way outside -- I don't want the tyke seeing them if he leaves the house. The mother, at least, I'll bury, and I'll try to get Spade (the badger, not the tool) to help me. (This would count as a "push", since he doesn't know a "Dig" trick.) Since he's got a burrow speed of 10', I would think that he could dig a hole large enough to throw bodies in pretty freakin' fast. If Barik figures it'd be worth it, I'll take the couple of minutes to take 20, if I can. I'll help dig with a pick (if the ground's hard) or my hands (if it's not.) If only we'd kept the spade... :)

While burying the bodies, I'll give them a quick once-over -- the ogress might have something worthwhile on her.




posted by Scholeologist at 5/24/2004 09:06:00 AM

Barik calls back to Grell: "I'll be right there -- it looks like there's another one here in need of healing."

[A lifetime of healing, from the look of it.]

I carry the dwarf to Grell. He (the dwarf) and Bishop can have whatever healing potions I've got that Grell sees fit to give.

[Bob's TB] Of course, we may decide to stay here for the night, and we can worry about healing more tomorrow, if they're not going to croak.

After a few minutes of checking out the dwarf and seeing if he can talk coherently, if Dru and Linnam haven't come out or said anything Barik'll wonder what's happened with them.

Oh, and yay, 7th level! One step closer to that Quick Draw feat I covet so... :)
posted by Scholeologist at 5/23/2004 01:27:00 PM