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Funny story... On Sunday I'm flying to China again...
Anyway, it's only for 4 days and I hope I'll be able to post from there this time.

So there is a down time?
How long?

Have a good trip, BishG

I'm going to schedule the new chapter to begin on Monday (the 3rd of April). Any downtime stuff not finished by then, will have to be done in game then.

Chris, the downtime is ten days. We will resume the game on Autumn Dark 4th.

Haahque:
when Grubnick goes to reveal to Haahque that he is still alive, he'll ask if the gnome knows anything about the local thieve's guild (playing to his self-image by saying Haahque would obviously know a lot about all kinds of stuff)
He will also ask if Haahque has ever been in the temple, and if he knows anything about its layout; specifically where prisoners might be kept.

He will also ask if Haahque knows where thst 'shady looking dwarf' is (Shima)


Chris:
(if able to find shima from the above, or running into him at High hand, or spotting Ne-Chanz and asking the minotaur, etc)
Grubnick will try to 'feel out' through conversation if he has any connection to the church or the thieve's guild. He will be subtle, but not trying to fool or trick the dwarf i to telling him something unwillingly.

If he admits possible knowledge of the thieves guild (or merely asks why G wants to know) Grubnick will say he needs to get into and out of a supposedly very secure place. He needs to know the layout and if there are any hidden entrances/exits. He would also casually state that he's not interested in 'material goods' but is looking for someone.
Failing any admittance, he will casually wish aloud that there were some way to get in touch with such a guild and that if someone wanted to hear out a proposition, he could usually be found smoking his pipe in or near the High Hand around noon.

if he admits any connection with the church, he will ask with interest if Shima has ever been to the temple, and what such a magnificent building might be like

Jaded: Since the temple is a building from (presumably) long before the occupation, are there any public records of its general layout? Would grubnick know enough where to find such records, or who might have been involved in its construction? He would also look for plans that involve the sewer system, hoping he could perhaps come up inside the building.

When Shima regains consciousness, he asks Ne-Chanz what happened, thanks him and insists on playing for a good wash (bath) for them both.
Obviously subject to the usual eating/sleeping/abluting, Shima spends odd days resting up and even days on walkabout. Walkabout consists of checking on the well-being of Arulia's sister (from a distance) in the mornings and the afternoons talking to whoever turns up in the tavern that he's encountered before, especialy Haque, that is willing to talk. Early evenings on even days are spent checking (from a distance) that Arulia's sister gets home ok and then a wander round the city looking and listening to get a sense of any news or changes in the place. Evenings otherwise are spent as per the early afternoons.

TristenC wrote:Jaded: Since the temple is a building from (presumably) long before the occupation, are there any public records of its general layout? Would grubnick know enough where to find such records, or who might have been involved in its construction? He would also look for plans that involve the sewer system, hoping he could perhaps come up inside the building.

Prior to being made into a temple for the Takhisians, that building was the city council hall. So ironically, if there are such records on the temple's layout, they would be in the temple itself.

Chris1234 wrote:Shima spends odd days resting up and even days on walkabout.

Okay. He should be back up to 21 HP when the game resumes then.

JadedDM wrote:

TristenC wrote:Jaded: Since the temple is a building from (presumably) long before the occupation, are there any public records of its general layout? Would grubnick know enough where to find such records, or who might have been involved in its construction? He would also look for plans that involve the sewer system, hoping he could perhaps come up inside the building.

Prior to being made into a temple for the Takhisians, that building was the city council hall. So ironically, if there are such records on the temple's layout, they would be in the temple itself.

crap

Sorry for the delay; last week was a little hectic.

JadedDM wrote:

Haahque wrote:- Scout out the city for possible prison locations and possible hideout locations

What criteria is he searching for on either?

For prison locations; he’s looking for places that dragons roost, he can detect/figure out any other sort of detect invisibility or large locked buildings in which soldiers often go in/out of. For hideout locations he’s looking for places that no one goes and the army would not think to search for (in Haahqae’s opinion) if they were searching for someone.

JadedDM wrote:The Old Fort is where the soldiers are all garrisoned.

So the soldiers travel directly from the fort to the outer walls to patrol it (whenever their shifts are up) they don’t have smaller locations for rest and supplies? How long does it take them to walk from the fort to the outer walls? 2-3 hours?

JadedDM wrote:

Haahque wrote:Find where Xleena/Yvette are staying

How does he do this?

Ask people who were watching them parade where they went afterwards.

JadedDM wrote:Out of character, I'll be up front and say Miriam and Jaymes are NPCs that are higher level than the PCs are (although some of you are getting close to catching up with Jaymes). Thus any role they will play will likely be of a more passive one, so they don't wind up doing all of the heavy lifting for you, like in the giant quest.

In character, it sort of depends on what you want them to do. Keep in mind that Miriam is a soldier and while good at fighting and strategics (with large groups, like armies, not small parties, mind you), she isn't any good at things like stealth, intrigue, or deception. She's willing to help Ismene, but how she can help is fairly limited. Jaymes, on the other hand, has no emotional attachment to Ismene so he's not willing to risk his neck without good cause. Also, he's a ranger, so most of his useful skills don't apply in an urban setting like Haven. So again, I'm not sure how much help he can be.

Out of character, I seemed to remember them being in the level 4-6 range, which is pretty close to the levels of the players now, unless they’ve leveled since then. But regardless of level, pretty much everyone will outshine Haahqae in a combat setting due to his incredibly low health and lack of melee ability. But I understand the passive role you want on them
In character, perhaps Haahqae could draw on Ismene’s knowledge of how armies are run to find a weakness in the dragonarmy? For Jaymes, he could recount the tales of all the people who the army treated unjustly so that he believes opposing the army is a just cause. (These stories could be talking about the trade guild; specifically the innkeeper, about Bear and what they did to his mine, about all the homeless that they carted out of the city, and of course about Ismene).

JadedDM wrote:On the surface, Elara is a simple young woman who sells clams on the docks to passersby for coin. But deeper investigation suggests more to it than that. She often questions people on the street on things about the old gods. She routinely visits the church (and not always during regular worshiping hours, either).

While he’s investigating her; does he see anyone else visiting the church at non-regular worship hours, or is she alone?

Haahque wrote:Figure out a system where he can stay overnight somewhere not at the Steel Tankard while staying safe

JadedDM wrote: (Although, he has no friends.)

Ouch, harsh. But no, he was looking more for a spot that he can sleep while invisible and not be disturbed at night. Like up in a large tree, or in some out-of the way spot in some abandoned buildings or such.
This also ties into how long does it take to walk from one side of the city to the other?

Tristan C wrote:When Grubnick goes to reveal to Haahque that he is still alive, he'll ask if the gnome knows anything about the local thieve's guild (playing to his self-image by saying Haahque would obviously know a lot about all kinds of stuff)
He will also ask if Haahque has ever been in the temple, and if he knows anything about its layout; specifically where prisoners might be kept.

He will also ask if Haahque knows where thst 'shady looking dwarf' is (Shima)

While Grubnick’s encouragement will prompt Haahqae into declaring that he knows a lot about thiefs guilds, shortly into the conversation it becomes apparent that not only does Haahqae not know anything about the thief’s guild in Haven, but that he doesn’t even really know what a thief’s guild is. According to Haahqae, it’s something akin to an inn where a whole bunch of daring adventurers use guile and wit to pilfer from the rich and give to the poor.
Haahqae has been in the temple, but he can’t give much information about the layout. It’s entirely dark inside and not even gnomish darkvisioin is able to make out much except for the path that visitors are expected to take. He doesn’t know where they might keep prisoners, besides giving them to the army for custody.

@ Jaded or Chris: Does Haahqae even know where Shima’s tavern is? Most people have just come to Haahqae to contact him recently and haven’t bothered giving him contact info if he wanted to contact them back.

I think yes..

Haahque wrote:For prison locations; he’s looking for places that dragons roost...

There are only two places that fit this criteria. The Old Fort (the two younger dragons roost there; one is on patrol of the city while the second guards the vault) and the prefect's mansion (his personal dragon roosts there).

Haahque wrote:...or large locked buildings in which soldiers often go in/out of.

The Old Fort and the prefect's mansion come to mind again.

Haahque wrote:So the soldiers travel directly from the fort to the outer walls to patrol it (whenever their shifts are up) they don’t have smaller locations for rest and supplies? How long does it take them to walk from the fort to the outer walls? 2-3 hours?

Yes. The longest distance between the Old Fort and the wall is 2.5 miles (if you go straight south; if you go west or east, it's much shorter of a distance). So that's 4400 yards. At a movement rate of 120 yards per minute, a draconian could walk from the Old Fort to the south wall in about 37 minutes.

However, when their shift is done they typically don't return to the Old Fort right away. They head to the local taverns first.

Haahque wrote:Ask people who were watching them parade where they went afterwards.

He learns that they live in the Noble District. This is why the party could never find them before--it's the one city district none of them have access to.

Haahque wrote:In character, perhaps Haahqae could draw on Ismene’s knowledge of how armies are run to find a weakness in the dragonarmy?

I assume you meant Miriam, not Ismene. And yes, she could provide information on how armies are typically run. Keep in mind, though, she would have some blindspots in her information (she would not take into account things like dragons or magic, for instance). But she could tell him things about the chain of command, supply lines, basic combat strategies and the like.

Haahque wrote:For Jaymes, he could recount the tales of all the people who the army treated unjustly so that he believes opposing the army is a just cause.

Jaymes is True Neutral, so he's not eager to put his life in danger to help others. (Killing the giant was actually for personal reasons, not altruistic ones.) In any case, he's well aware of how the army treats people. They wiped out that village he was staying at, after all.

Haahque wrote:While he’s investigating her; does he see anyone else visiting the church at non-regular worship hours, or is she alone?

Aside from clerics? Yes. But he does not know any of them, except for one--Burzan.

Haahque wrote: Like up in a large tree, or in some out-of the way spot in some abandoned buildings or such.

There are plenty of trees in the city he could climb up in (mostly in the local parks), but the real question is whether he would fall out of them while sleeping or not.

As for abandoned buildings, there's Kynaston's/Darga's old place. The lock is broken, but if he's invisible, he should be okay. There's also the warehouse where the Cult of the Master used to stay.

Haahque wrote:This also ties into how long does it take to walk from one side of the city to the other?

It sort of depends if he's going north to south or west to east.

If he's walking west to east (say from one gate to the other), that's 2.5 miles or 4400 yards. Assuming he's unencumbered, his movement rate is 6, so he moves 60 yards per minute. So about 73 minutes. However, keep in mind that assumes there are no obstacles, he moves a straight line, and he isn't stopped at any checkpoints. Otherwise, it's probably longer.

If he's walking north to south (say from the gate to the river), that's about 4 miles or 7040 yards. That would take about 117 minutes (almost two hours), but again that's assuming no obstacles, straight line and no checkpoints.

Haahque wrote:Does Haahqae even know where Shima’s tavern is? Most people have just come to Haahqae to contact him recently and haven’t bothered giving him contact info if he wanted to contact them back.

I am not sure if Shima has outright said to Haahqae he's staying at the High Hand, but it's where Gobax is also staying. So if he asked, Gobax could tell him.

JadedDM wrote:

Chris1234 wrote:Shima spends odd days resting up and even days on walkabout.

Okay. He should be back up to 21 HP when the game resumes then.

And is he at -15 to saves? Or.. ?

Chris: did you see or have a response to the below?

(if able to find shima from the above, or running into him at High hand, or spotting Ne-Chanz and asking the minotaur, etc)
Grubnick will try to 'feel out' through conversation if he has any connection to the church or the thieve's guild. He will be subtle, but not trying to fool or trick the dwarf i to telling him something unwillingly.

If he admits possible knowledge of the thieves guild (or merely asks why G wants to know) Grubnick will say he needs to get into and out of a supposedly very secure place. He needs to know the layout and if there are any hidden entrances/exits. He would also casually state that he's not interested in 'material goods' but is looking for someone.
Failing any admittance, he will casually wish aloud that there were some way to get in touch with such a guild and that if someone wanted to hear out a proposition, he could usually be found smoking his pipe in or near the High Hand around noon.

if he admits any connection with the church, he will ask with interest if Shima has ever been to the temple, and what such a magnificent building might be like

Chris1234 wrote:And is he at -15 to saves? Or.. ?

His saves will be at -16 when we start the new chapter.

@Tristen: Shima will happily listen, will comment that he thought the only functioning church was the one of the invaders but that the idea was worth investigation.
When the topic moves to the Guild, Shima will be more evasive and ask why he wants to know.

Chris:

To be clear, Grubnick is asking if shima has any connection to the dragonqueen's church specifically.
And if Shima has ever been to the temple, and what such a magnificent building might be like.

As above regarding the thieves guld:
If shima... "asks why G wants to know) Grubnick will say he needs to get into and out of a supposedly very secure place. He needs to know the layout and if there are any hidden entrances/exits. He would also casually state that he's not interested in 'material goods' but is looking for someone.
Failing any admittance, he will casually wish aloud that there were some way to get in touch with such a guild and that if someone wanted to hear out a proposition, he could usually be found smoking his pipe in or near the High Hand around noon."