The world of Dawnforge is a mythic land rich The world of Dawnforge is a mythic land rich in magic and wonder where great empires clash, intrepid explorers journey beyond wild frontiers, and mighty heroes brave epic dangers. It is a land where familiar and beloved races and archetypes are reaching the pinnacle of their glory and wonder. It is a vast and rich realm where newborn nations are still islands of civilization in a dark and unexplored wilderness sea. The world of Dawnforge is a land where the greatest deeds have yet to be done and epic heroes are wrought in the crucible of legend.
For those close enough to see through her silken veil, they will notice that a broad smile is apparent on Solia's face. The wet mist on her face and the whipping wind through her hair are enough to remind the young sailor of the open sea. She pauses for a lengthy period of time before continuing onward, soaking in every bit of the scenery as she can.
Solia then recommends that the group searches around their location real quick before preparing to load up and return to report their findings to Porfus. She also iterates that, though they have seemed to have rendered the various colonies of wildlife inoperative, that they would still be best off leaving the vermin's' proper eradication to those best suited for the task.
Once she realizes that she has been rambling on for several minutes, Solia quickly wraps things up, stating, 'œI feel confident that we have dealt with any immediate threats that these caverns had in store for any unsuspecting prospectors. I thank the heavens that we did run into both that infernal minotaur AND his pet bear at the same time! I fear that the two together would have crushed one or more of us easily if it had been so. Alas, I have prattled on too long. It is such a shame that we have to leave such beauty. It is also a shame that we have no boat. It would have been fun to sail back home as far as we could have. Alas, I reckon for now that we should give the area a proper look-over before making any further plans. What say the rest of you?'
Kharn nods his head in strong agreement with Solia's comments. 'œYes, it would have been something indeed to tackle these rapids! Sadly however, we were not hired to do so.' The hulking minotaur then reaches down and picks up a single rounded stone and skips it with all his might across the water. Suddenly realizing that his companions are watching him, he smiles nervously, commenting, 'œI am sorry. It is an old habit.'
He then tries to avoid any further embarrassment by changing the topic. 'œSolia is right. We should give the area a once over before determining our next course of action. There still is much to work out, be it the dogs, the stirges, or even the piercers. I say we take this time to devise some form of sound stratagem.'
Kharn then stands silent, awaiting response from his cohorts.
Kharn might be chaotic good, but he does have his sense of honor and I can't help but feel responsible for handling proper pest control.
Now Faldrin showed an interest in training the wild dogs for use. Does this mean he plans on staying behind while the rest of us leave? If so, with who?
I don't think that the piercers will be a problem, as long as we stay out of their cave. Killing the entire colony off could prove difficult. Maybe Solia was right about using poisons?
And finally, how fast do stirges grow up? I so hope that it's not overnight /wink /wink.
Though I would hate to leave things unfinished, I do hope that we can handle these dilemmas as well as we can before heading back. It seems the right as well as the professional thing to do.
Ariah admires his surroundings with great enthusiasm. Never before has the simple farm boy ever seen such beauty up close before. The young lowlander quickly hurries his way towards the end of the shoreline and into deeper water. Once in about a foot's depth of water, he then falls to his knees and begins to splash the cool refreshing water upon his face and neck.
'œThe Sovereign be praised, this is such a wondrous site to behold! Even though we have had our fair share of mishap here, I will hate to leave this place nonetheless.'
Ariah will stay behind if Faldrin needs his help with the dogs. Otherwise I say we pack up and head home. Hawthorn can handle the rest.
Faldrin glanced at Goren and gave a shrug. "It looks like we've just about cleared this place out," he said. "Do you want me to stay and try and train the dogs to be a bit more civil? They come from domestic stock, so they should be fairly easy to train. And while this bunch may always be a bit wild," he added, "the next generation should breed true."
Gronn squints and shields his eyes as they get acustom to the quick change in light intensity. He nods as he thinks that at last this mission is over. On to bigger and better things.
So it came to pass. The band of adventurers had finally accomplished their goal. The recently discovered cavern complex had been successfully investigated and their findings sufficiently recorded. Now all that was left to do was for the group to head back to the city of Riversend and report their findings. Two of the party members had elected to stay at the sinkhole in an attempt to try and begin to organize and try to train the wild dogs that lurked below - their ultimate objective that of hopefully teaching the animals to become obedient guardians. This goal, though somewhat lengthy of an endeavor to complete, seemed neither too farfetched nor too unobtainable of one to reach.
It takes roughly one week before representatives from House Hawthorn finally arrive and begin establishing a '˜base of operations' at the cavern entrance. The week spent waiting however, has been proven to be rather productive. Not only do the animals seem to grow used to the two of your presences but several of their number has become quite infatuated with you as well. Ariah has chosen to go so far as to lay claim to one of the female puppies; a playful little bitch which appears to be unafraid of anything. Both of you feel quite confident that as long as the proper amount of time and effort are spent with the beasts, they will in turn wind up becoming extremely loyal and effective guardians of the future mine.
Great Idea and Job Guys!
The journey back to Riversend went by quick enough; the only hazard encountered being that of a nearly constant downpour of rain. Once within the city limits, the group quickly made their way back to their hostel and in turn their rooms. A hot bath and a home cooked meal later, the group finally sent word of their return to Porfus. Pleased to hear of the party's arrival, the attorney arranged a meeting to discuss the group's findings that following morning.
The next day proved to be a busy one. Master Goren spent no less than at least three hours giving an official report on his findings. The next several hours after that were spent recording each of the group member's testimonies of their own ordeals within the caverns.
In order to save time and space I will summarize your meeting with Porfus Crudel by informing you of the main topics discussed. If any of you wish to ask/discuss anything further with the old man, by all means let me know or post appropriately.
'¢ Porfus is greatly pleased to hear about the sizeable copper vein and malachite deposits that are present within the complex. The crystals and geodes are likewise warmly welcome bonuses. He seems eager to begin the mine's construction, going so far as to begin putting together a small contingent of soldiers to return and guard the cavern entrance. In order to balance out the math, I will assume that you will have escorted them back to the cavern in order to retrieve your companions.
'¢ Porfus seems to be rather understanding upon hearing about the presence of both stirges and piercers within the caverns, indicating that he will send for a proper exterminator to handle the dilemma.
'¢ Porfus is at a loss as to what organization might have formerly occupied the caverns below and will do his best to try and find out if the moneybags you have discovered are indeed stolen or otherwise ill-begotten. He informs you that he can hopefully find this out within one week's time.
'¢ True to his word, reports come back that the coins were minted in the city of Elnaria, located to the north and was most likely some form of a payroll shipment that was originally destined for one of the numerous forts and strongholds that lay strategically placed about the Skyhome Mountains.
'¢ Porfus states that House Hawthorn is interested in gaining the prestige and favor of returning the moneybags to the Elnarian government. Each of you of course, would be reimbursed with an equivalent amount of coin from a different mint; in addition to having an equal share in the glory gained. End result, each of you gains 550 gp and a +1 reputation bonus total.
'¢ And finally, Porfus indicates that each of you will be paid as soon as he can draw the papers up and have you sign them. After doing the math it would appear that you will be paid the following, based off of your total time from start to finish being two weeks total. Ariah, Faldrin, Gronn, and Kharn will receive 84 gp plus 1% of the mine's monthly output for the next 3 years. Solia, due to her negotiations, will receive 140 gp plus 3% of the mine's monthly output for the next year.
Once business had been concluded Porfus once again expressed his deepest gratitude to the band of adventurers for the completion of their task. He then went on to state that if there was every anything that an individual party member might need, i.e. a favor, resources, etc. that House Hawthorn would try to do their best to accommodate that person; within reasonable limitations of course. Porfus finally wrapped things up by stating that the party members should be on the lookout for an unexpected surprise sometime in the not too distant future.
Sad to say, since Ariah's original player is no longer a member of Brennor's, Ariah will not be making it to the next adventure. JrKrimin67, you have been gracious enough to autopilot Ariah until the proper time arose to introduce your own character. Rest easy my friend, knowing that this next adventure will be that time. So for anyone other than jrkrimin67, know that it won't be much longer until Alexei Malenkov makes his game debut!
We still need to figure out what the heck spell you are immune to (dawn elf racial trait)!!! Also, I am assuming that perhaps you will be sticking around here for a bit to help train the dogs? If so feel free to send me a PM or an OOC post with your intentions, etc.
I never relished the idea of players spending their 'œhard-earned' xp in order to create items and what not. In order to help alleviate the situation, I usually award players 1/25th of their total xp gain into a 'œcrafting pool'. The xp within this pool in turn could be spent on a player's crafting, scribing, forging, ability instead of draining their existing experience. In Gronn's case, he gained a total of 50 xp (1/25th of 1,250) which could be used for his Scribe Scroll ability. Please note that I do NOT enjoy players abusing this rule and will reprimand and adjust any abuse accordingly. This being said, good job and enjoy!
Porfus pulls you to the side and hands you a scroll case, inside of which are several official-looking documents, each bearing the Hawthorn coat-of-arms and official seal of approval. Porfus states that Hawthorn Enterprises could use someone of your capabilities and profession within their employee. He then goes on to explain that one of the documents that he has given you is a letter of recommendation to the Captain of the House Guard in the city of Seaward for employment. The rest of the documents will provide safe passage back to the city and take care of your room and board if indeed you do accept their proposal.
Check for a PM.
Congratulations everyone! You have all done well in what wound up being one hellaciously LONG beginning adventure. Sorry if this last post was more of a summary of events rather than some verbose roleplay; I just wanted to wind things up so we could begin the next chapter in your characters' journey.
At the end of an adventure I like to give the party a basic breakdown of everything they might have achieved during an adventure. This being said, please note that you have walked away with the following:
'¢ 1,250 xp each.
'¢ 550 gp each.
'¢ +1 reputation each.
'¢ 3 small vials of an unknown murky, vicious looking fluid.
'¢ a scroll with 3 spells.
'¢ 84 gp plus 1% of the mine's monthly output for the next 3 years for Ariah, Faldrin, Gronn and Kharn.
'¢ 140 gp plus 3% of the mine's monthly output for the next 1 year for Solia.
Not a bad haul at all! Great work on the adventure guys (and gal), I am just sorry that it took sooooo long to finish, but hey sometimes that's just life! Please check of PMs in the near future and feel free to post any player comments, post party decisions, etc. in the OOC section under the forum thread entitled Party Rant. The next adventure will be your first 'œLegendary Quest' and should help you level up pretty quick, so you can finally get to your main Campaign plotline. Look for a new chapter soon! Until then'¦
