Those 'silver screen moments' have been fascinating, thus far, Cap'n... Definitely curious to discover how that bit connects with our little sliver of the story.

Good point regarding contacts in Drasnia, too, Meri... Any thoughts or inputs from the DM as to how we might want to approach that? I would imagine that, even at the lower levels of our characters, we might each have a small handful of sources (outside of the Hellkite Syndicate) to draw upon... Are those NPCs that you'd like to dole out for us, Lou, or should we 'invent' a contact or two (within reason, of course.... highly doubtful that any of us would have an 'in' with the Captain of the Guard or the High Priest of Naxiir, for example, but an Inn owner, shop keeper, bottom of the barrel psuedo noble wouldn't be out of the question would it?) *shrugs*

This is one of those things that's very tricky about rules-based gaming, and I anticipated this aspect of this game in particular, and have been trying to come up with the best way to handle it ever since.

Since knowing people and having contacts has to do with your background, it seems odd to have it randomly assigned or some such; however, it is still something that affects gameplay mechanics, so it can't be handled loosely.

So, here is the rule I'd like to go by:

You will determine where your character might have a friend, contact, old buddy, etc. It might be at "Tavern A", at "Inn B" or "Brothel C"; this is purely up to you and allows the PC to sculpt where his 'contacts' might be. When you arrive, we'll do a Charisma check. This check essentially determines a variety of factors - did this contact know you well enough to even remember you? were you good enough friends for this contact to want to speak with you, or even make himself known? were you charismatic enough to make this contact associate him/herself with you? And the random element of the check will also determine factors such as - is this person even here right now? etc.

DC 5 - Looking for one good friend; good information as to where he/she is
DC 10 - Looking for a casual acquaintance; or perhaps a good friend with unreliable information as to where he/she is
DC 15 - Looking for someone you've met once or twice; might also apply to someone who it is unlikely would want to speak with you, such as a wealthy noble
DC 20 - Looking for someone you've only heard of or someone who would (by all indications) definitely not want to associate with you.

Obviously, this is just a guideline. This might seem similiar to a gather information check, but it's different in a key way - your contact might not have any info at all; you might need him or her for some other reason. This is I'll leave it up to the roleplay to determine which factors come into play.

Ex. 1 Nyx decides to check around at a tavern at the docks for an ancient, rather dark old sailor he knows who also worships Prien. They're casual acquaintances. Nyx has a CHA of 15, rolling against a DC of 10. He rolls a 9, and with his +2 bonus, he succeeds the check. The sailor is there, and willing to speak to Nyx.

Ex. 2 Mallys and Sylla are at a high-roller pub, looking for an untitled noble that they know who might have information for them. Both of them get to roll a check; Sylla has a CHA of 17 and a bonus of +3, Mallys has a CHA of 11, +0. They're rolling against a DC of 15, Mallys rolls a 5. In other words, the noble either isn't there, or doesn't want to be seen with an elf here. Sylla rolls a 13, however, and with her +3 bonus, she succeeds. Somehow, her charms kick in, the noble can't resist at least chatting for a little while.

woooh....said a little more than I expected to. But you get the idea...I figured this would be an important part of game play.

I'll leave it up to you to determine what kind of person you're looking for (race, gender, social status, profession, etc.), but they have to be DM represented.

Sounds fair to me. I'll work on my post today and have it up tonight. For the record I'm going to have Cay go to the Goblin and look for a chamber maid. The girl has helped Cay get into rooms in the past and Cay thought she had heard she was working at the Goblin now... but this has been through the grapevine talk, so not a certainty. Which if I read the rules correctly means I need a CHA roll of 10 to make this work...
M.

...I'll throw in a post later today.

By the way, a note on the above rules for finding contacts - to get a DC 5, you must really know the person; i.e. the person should either be written into your background, or you must be able to explain how and how well you know this person. In other words, a DC of 5 on this check should be rare.

If you happen to post before I manage another (and depending on exactly how 'far ahead' you're wanting to update), Lou, I had imagined that Nyx and Sylla would do a little recon of the general area surrounding the Grinning Goblin - testing the Sea Snakes watchfulness, noting all possible entrances and exits from the Inn itself, and perhaps even getting an eyeball on Thanald and/or his entourage, if at all possible... And who knows, depending on where the night leads our 'Assassin Prince' and the 'Sultry Sister' things that don't even involve the mission could transpire.

All of the above, of course, dependant on GiGi's take of the situation and her thoughts as to what might transpire, as well. If I can get caught up on everything else, I'll endeavor to tack a little something up to this one, myself, today.

Can't acces PM at the moment to respond. I'll follow your lead on that.

see the campaign design thread in the creativity forum for info on the Braudian (and by extension Drasnian) military.

Since it's been so long since Gigi and I actually spoke this language with each other, i had to go back and edit since I made some translation errors. And because if I didn't Gigi threatened to shave my head in my sleep.

She's evil i tells ya!

I know how much money Cay has, and how important this is to her... however I don't really have a good grasp of how much that money is really worth.

So to my Capn: What are the going rates of some typical purchases currently?

I guess things like: A mug of ale, a loaf of bread, a nights board at the inn, a pair of boots... etc

Thanks!

Cay slips right up to the Goblin's back door while Nyx, on the other hand, has the distinct pleasure of stumbling into a Sea Snake convention... Niiiiice... typical Eol luck.

On the bright side, this could prove very interesting... already hints that there's much more to the goings on around Thanald than our illustrious Captain Dmitrova might've expected...

What say Glory? Do we antagonize the Snakes (divide and conquer, perhaps) or, mayhaps we should track Cay around to the backdoor of the place and eyeball her for a time... No sense in letting our little witch of the wharf stumble unexcpectedly into a seething throng of opposition and all that... ?

Son of Edit: My original intent in posting here, Lou, was to ask about the Zuun Plains you mentioned in that last post... Sounds to me like it may be the 'perfect' locale for Nyx's clan to have originated/inhabited. How far away from Drasnia would these plains be and, most important, would you mind if I 'centered' the yet-to-be-renamed 'mith'ganni' folk in that region?

Thanks, E.

Well, I have a few ideas. I'll send you a PM shortly.

Also, just a reminder that Spiders and I are away from Friday to Sunday this week. So you will have to update by tomorrow night, Spidey. In ALL your games.

Merideth-

Your average tradesman might make anywhere from 5-10 pieces of gold a day, depending on the trade and depending on the current economy. Peasants make a bit less and a merchant makes a bit more.

Food and drink (bread, cheese, water, ale, veggies, etc.) can all be bought for various amounts of silver, or (sometimes) copper; one gold piece usually buys a small meal, and two or three will get you a nice one. Stay at an inn varies greatly, depending on the inn and quality of the room. A good sword can cost anywhere from 30-50 gold pieces, depending on the make, the maker, the economy, the location, etc. etc. etc.

100 gold is a lot of money; it's an amount that might be sum of someone's entire worth (all the money to their name), but not necessarily a 'life-savings' style quantity. As adventurers, killers, mercenaries (whatever yah wanna call it), you have a good deal more. Someone like Dmitrova has several thousand gold pieces, as would your average noble. The 50 gold pieces that Dmitrova gave you at the beginning would likely be upwards of a couple hundred dollars in our world.

Eol Fefalas-

The Zuun plains are east of Drasnia, far inland (but then, almost everything is east of Drasnia, as its on the west coast). They're between the Sheshir Forest (as men call it - the location of Lyr'Galad, the conquered nation-state of the Wood Elves) and the Kal-Tar mountain range. The Naro river runs through the plains, which themselves extend south until they reach the Braudian plains, which have a somewhat different ecology.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how perfect the Zuun plains would be for the twilight elves. This is because the Zuun Plains are named for the Zuundi, a collection of tribes of men who founded the first nation, Zuundir, on the plains, over two thousand years ago. Now, it is very possible that the twilight elves migrated to the Zuun plains, as the twilight elves are nomadic and the Zuun plains are relatively uninhabited today (most settle near the coast, and climate has changed somewhat from the days of the Zuun), but I would think that they would have orginated from somewhere else.

I have a few ideas though - there are plains northwest of Lyr'Galad and a few hundred miles southeast of Drasnia, which I haven't really named yet. And northeast of Lyr'Galad, before the Naro River hits the sea, there are some plains and flatlands. All of these areas are relatively "wild" as they're aways out from civilization.

I'm not sure. We'll figure it out at some point. Having fun either way though.

Gigi and I were talking this over tonight - should we post the glossary? It's actually the language of one of the races she created and used to play here, the Nytali.

Also i am writing up a post.

Personally, I'd love to see a glossary of some sort... especially considering that Nyx has decided to 'pay close attention' to this 'strange tongue' the sisters use to communicate.

Aaaaand... while I'm at it and posting here, anyway... here's an almost done "Eol version" of our little Wharf Witch: Cay...

The DeMoria sisters are still in very rough pencils but should be ready for a preview soon.

Asatsu - (ah-SAH-soo)- take
Amin (AH-meen) - n. friend, formal
Amarin (AH-mar-reen) - n. friend, ally informal
Amarinthe (AH-ma-RIN-th) - n. the most deep abiding love ever felt, soul and heart mate
Adeuna (ah-DOO-na) - v. remember
Adeunesai (ah-DOO-ness-eye) - "I remember"
Astratu - (ah-STRAH-too) - v. Go, travel
Astrata - (ah-STRAH-tah) - n. travel, journey

Baleih (bah-LAY-ah) -
Beras (bay-RAS) - n. Brother, brothers

Cesaras (kay-SAR-us) - n. Mother, mothers
Ceras (kay-RAS) - n. Sister, sisters

Dana - while
Desa (DAY-sa) - safe, safely
Deasai (days-EYE) - "safely to me"
Denasheih (day-NAH-shay) - becasue
Deras (day-RAS) - Father, fathers
Desatatsu (day-sah-TAH-soo) - guard, protect

E (ay) - and
Esai (ace-EYE) - me, my, mine, I
Esec (es-SEK) - within, inside, part of
Ephall (ay-FALL) - hear, listen
Eseihtatsu (AY-sa-TAH-soo) - fate, destiny

Fasir (fa-SEER) -
Fendateih (fen-DA-tay) - take, grab, possess
Fimedatsu (fee-may-DA-soo) -
Fosath (foss-ATH) - force, control

Gevar (gay-VAR) -
Gentai (gant-EYE) -

Hal (HALL)
Herattsu (hay-RAHT-soo)
Hin (HEEN) - or, either
Havatseih (ha-VAHT-say) - come, arrive
Havatsu (ha-VAH-soo) - summon, call
Hanavrhe (ha-NAV-ray) - appology, appologies
Hanavrhis (ha-NAV-ris) - appologize, appologizes
Hanav (haNAV) - informal, sorry

Imaheih (ee-MAH-hay) - "I love you"
Iyasen (ee-ah-SEN) - tongue, speech, language
Ivah (ee-VAH) - guide, steer, advise
Inashet (ee-NAH-shay) - family, race, clan

Junatsu (joo-NAH-soo)
Jhanir (jeh-NEER) - perfect
jhar (shar) -

Khas (KAHs) - day (time, i.e. one day, two days, etc)
Khimuro (kee-MOO-ro) power, control
Khida (KEE-dah) - find, seek, search
Khatas (kah-TAS) Hour
Khamat (kah-MAT) Month
Khasidan (kah-SEE-dan) year, yearly

Lias - (Lee-AHS) - for
Libas (Lee-BASS) - will, can
Lasir (Lah-SEER) - will (desire), wish, (i.e., i wish)
Levydotsula (Lay-vee-doh-SOO-Lah)
Luvarreih (Loo-VAH-ray)
Lona (Lo-NAH) - out, outside
Lunasheih (Loo-NAH-shay) - Return
Lasu (LAS-oo) - of
Libatsu (Lee-BAH-soo) - what
Latatsu (La-TA-soo) - with

Madaru (mah-DAH-roo) - release, unbind
Mal (MALL) -
Madikhu (mah-DEE-koo) - pages, books, tomes
Musado (moo-SAH-doh) - Trust

Niameih (nee-AH-may) Thank you
Nasisheih(na-SEE-shay) love (family) (i.e., my mother's love)
Navar (nah-VAR)
Navekharasa - regret, regrettably
Nathasideih (nah-THA-see-day) Sadness, sorrow
Nathasiceih (nah-THA-sic-ay) Healer
Nasir (naf-SEER) - child
Nasirin (na-SEER-rin) Children
Nesdhaj (nez-DAsh) Beautiful
Nuravatsu (noo-rah-VAH-soo) Knowledge

Otsu (O-soo) - these
Ovadhu (o-VAH-doo) - that
Omitasseih (o-mee-TAH-say)
Osidha (o-see-DAH) - this
Ovattsu (o-VAT-soo) those

P

Q

Rhojhideih (ro-JEE-day) - darkness, nightfall
Riva (ree-vah) - water
Rhavan (ra-VAN) -
Rhinas (ree-NAS)
Rhu (roo) - littlr
Riveih (ree-vay) - rain

Sabvathiseih (sab-VAH-thee-say) - Bind, restrict
Scaraph (Scar-AFF) - wounded, hurting
Scara (SKAR-ah) Wound, hurt
Solaa (so-LAH) Sun, Sunlight

Toulasse (too-LAS) - "I greet thee"
Touveih (too-VAY) - Enter, come in
Touvareih (too-VAH-ray) - "Farewell to thee"
Te (tay) - you, your
Tes (TAYS) - yours
Tesatsu - yourself
Tesai (tay-SEYE) - we, us
Tsuvanthe (soo-VAHN-th) - Fear, Terror
Tsukhasai
Thuera (thoo-ER-ah) - Blood, life
Tuvest (too-VEST) - leave
Tuvestai (too-vest-EYE) - leave me
Tuvestas - left (as in left with)
Tal (Tall) - upon
Teraa (terr-AH) - earth, ground

Usevai (use-ev-EYE) - ancient, old

Vanthatsu (van-THAH-soo) - kill, destroy
Vherakhan (Vay-ra-can) - torture (active)