Principled

I had a thought at work today, hearkening back to a conversation we had the other day. The pharmacists usually complain that the pharmacy is too cold while the technicians complain about it being too hot. This discrepancy is easily attributed to the fact that pharmacists typically stand in place while technicians move around doing actual work.

This brought me to the comparison of a wage-worker's exertions compared to a salaried worker's exertions and the notion of a hard/honest day's work. This does not hold true across all professions but in the general scheme a wage worker is concerned with physical matters while a salaried worker is paid for the benefit of his mind.

My thought, and the reason for this post, was a simple exchange between a white collar and a blue collar when there was physical work to be done (perhaps a shelf had fallen and the mess needed picked up) and the white collar left it to the blue collar.

The blue collar asks, "How about you help me clean this mess up?"
The white collar responds, "It's a matter of principles."
The blue collar asks, "You're principled?"
"Yes."
"Huh, that's a mighty long word for lazy."

However, I was just reminded of a most delightful word: sesquipedalian. Sesquipedalian as an adjective refers to an overly long or multi-syllabic word or one who uses overly long words. So the exchange becomes a bit more subtle and impenetrable if the blue collar responds, "Huh, that's a rather sesquipedalian term for lazy."

The Road to Mapleton (13Nov04)

Our second session and the uniqueness continues.

Neither Shockwaver (Yenao the paladin) nor Niko (Headsmasher the barbarian turned human cleric of Yelir) showed up for the game. Since Yenao had not joined the party in-game, his absence was easily dismissed. However, Headsmasher was a member of the group. Luckily, Niko and I had worked out that Headsmasher had wandered away in the several days between his deal with Gahaven and the group's departure from Thornscape. It was later suggested that the half-orc had drowned in a well. Since this would have occurred after the paat rty left Thornscape, it remains to be seen whether or not it is true.

So, at the end of the week, Gahaven, Braxton, and Kazak gathered at the Fox & Potion Tavern where they had first met and finally set out for Mapleton, a two day journey by foot. Most of their travel was occupied with conversation. Oddly enough, the disparate group began with natural philosphy and progressed from there to a more personable, if short, discussion of their homelands (except for Kazak, who seems rather uncomfortable with the subject of where he is from and why he left).

By the afternoon, conversation had wound down to silence until they encountered a curious old mill. Built not too far from the road at an almost circular bend in the Silverrock River, the mill housed an unusual half-elf miller whom they only later found out was named Cyndel. Due to some very rude, but not exactly unwarranted, comments by Braxton and Kazak, the miller was put off by the group and gave them the cold shoulder. You see, Cyndel had webbed hands and feet. And when they arrived, he was on his way to the millpond for a swim. Gahaven briefly suspected that the "fishman", as they later dubbed him, had committed some foul deed but could find nothing to support his suspicion. Not too far down the road, they met a peasant farmer headed to the mill with grain to grind. Most everything they know of the miller came from his freely flowing words of frustration and explanation.

The trio continued along the road until dusk. Deciding to make camp, they headed into the forest to hunt some game for dinner and, thanks to Gahaven's prowess with the bow, managed to bag a rabbit and two quail. Braxton discovered a fresh stream nearby for water. As they settled in for the night, Gahaven took the first and only watch. Soon after the others had fallen asleep, the elf's keen ears picked up the sound of a voice in the forest to the north. A halfling riding a large dog soon entered the illumination of the firelight, instantly waking Kazak from his light slumber. He explained his name was Briar and he was looking for a fox that was injured by a poorly set trap. After some short discussion to ensure he was not a scout for the bandits, the group agreed to help him if for no other reason that to be neighborly. Kazak decided to wait at camp while the others went searching.

Briar's companion, Dane, picked up the scent and tracked it several hundred feet away, across the road. There, scared and injured, the fox was beset by a pair of stick-like creatures latered identified as twig blights. The twig blights attacked Braxton with their poisonous claws but did little more than anger the dwarf, who shattered one with a single blow from his mace. Between a stab from Gahaven's shortsword and a strike by Briar's spell-enhanced quarterstaff, the other soon followed its fellow into pieces and, from there, into the dying fire back at camp.

Conversation followed in front of the warm for some time before everyone realized that bed would be prudent. Awaking the next morning, the now four-strong party prepared to travel the remainder of the distance to Mapleton and begin their search for the bandits.

Change in plans

Niko has decided that a half-orc barbarian does not suit his gaming tastes. Today he rolled up a cleric of Yelir, god of absurdity (a LN God of Chaos), with the Healing and Death domains.

Also, I have spoken with another player about possibly joining the game as a wizard.

Quick Announcement

I changed the settings so anyone can leave a comment.

The Party Complete . . . sort of.

We happily received our fourth player, Deanon, this weekend and he eagerly dove right into a session with Ism and Garriath.

Deanon, also known as The Deanon, is playing as Braxton Steelshield, a dwarven cleric of Derrgan (The Wandering God, deity of travel, entertainment, and the world) with a thirst for knowledge. Braxton stands among the few dwarves who have left their ancestral kingdoms for the surface world. And for good reason, as he seeks a lost heirloom of the Ironhand dwarves.

On Friday night, Ism and Garriath held a short session. Kazak, recently arrived in the city of Thornscape, had the unfortunate luck to encounter a mean drunk. Gahaven, impressed with the human's skill during the fight, approached him with an offer. He had been sent from Free City Valor to investigate the activity of a small group of bandits east of Thornscape. Kazak readily accepted, eager to earn some coin and kill some bandits.

On Saturday night, after Deanon acquainted himself with the AIM chat room dice roller, he and Ism held a session wherein Braxton met Kazak. The two conversed curtly for some time in the Fox & Potion Tavern just an hour or so after the fight with the drunk (Gahaven had left in the meantime, likely to seek out more help). Kazak mentioned the bandit problem and his deal with the elf. Braxton, concerned with his rapidly depleting purse, ventured to offer his own services as a healer to the pair. With a subtlety usually unknown among the dwarven race, Braxton proceeded to interest Kazak in his quest to find a clan heirloom, an aspergillum, that was lost near the same area as the bandit activity. After a quick dinner, a few drinks, and a wash, Kazak and Braxton headed out into the night to test each other's skill with the sword and mace. Through sheer strength and a little luck, Kazak managed to down the dwarf in only two blows. To his credit, Braxton showed considerable skill in landing a solid blow on the trained human warrior.

As Braxton brushed himself off, Kazak noticed that Gahaven was standing off to the side, watching the fight. After introductions, the three discussed what they knew about the bandit attacks. Gahaven revealed that he acted under the blessing of Lord Vayr of Valor to investigate the bandits. Rumor had it that they were not common riffraff but political rebels from Valor, former soldiers of the late Lord Marid. Lord Vayr wants to know if this is true. Further rumors indicated that there were at least a dozen bandits but not enough to warrant an official response from either Thornscape or Valor. Since they only preyed on the smallest caravans the merchant guilds were similarly not interested in investing any time, money, or effort in routing them.

The night ended with Gahaven officially hiring the two travelers (Braxton hails from the Ironhand dwarves of Blackstorm Peak in the Heartstone Mountains; Kazak simply mentioned that he is from far away) and advising them to purchase any supplies they would require for the journey with the promise of remuneration. They agreed to leave for the town of Mapleton, the closest settlement to the bandit attacks, in three days.

....

Niko did not show up for this session but I have prepared a number of ways for Headsmasher to join the group.

In the meantime, all players are encouraged to interact with each other over AIM or another medium. All I ask is that the transcripts be saved so I can compile them (if anything secret comes out, I will keep it secret). I would really like to speak with Niko, and to a lesser extent Ism, during the week. Both Garriath and Deanon developed a short character history with me last week Friday and Saturday respectively so I have a good idea where Gahaven and Braxton came from, what they are like, and where they are going. I did this somewhat with Ism last week and I have gathered much from his participation in both roleplaying sessions.

I like to give something special to each player at the beginning. Gahaven has his connection with Lord Vayr, Braxton has his clan's heirloom (well, hopes to have), and Kazak has a light-sleeper benefit by virtue of his feat choices (Endurance and Alertness - he does not suffer the -10 penalty to Listen checks while asleep and he will not suffer the -5 penalty for dozing). I am still trying to think what Headsmasher will have. It is hard to see past that 2d6+9 damage while raging.

:-)

But I think I have a good idea.

Players Three

We now have three players and three very nice player characters preparing to enter the lost ruins of Tokair.

Niko, also known as Gold Penguin, will be playing as Headsmasher, an half-orc barbarian with the strength to live up to his name. Built for battle, Headsmasher is sure to introduce blood and dust to any enemy I can conjure.

Ism will be playing as Kazak, a human fighter with a never-quit attitude and an eye for tactics. Kazak is the sort of man who can march all day with 50 lbs of gear and then sleep in his armor so he can be the first on the road for the next day's march.

Garriath, also known as Tarvalar, will be playing as Gahaven, an elven rogue with a keen mind and a deft hand. Gahaven weighs his options, calculates his risks, and takes the best course of action.

Introduction

Testing

This is a test post.