Penultimate Day Of 2025
Dec. 30th, 2025 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crossover_chickAnd I didn't get as much as I would have liked to have get done, done because I ended up spending my morning making sure my computer was fully up to date in preparation for getting all the programs I need to install and quickly mod Fallout: New Vegas. Which included finally uninstalling Sims 4 to free up some space on my C: drive. Didn't realize just how much real estate that game was taking up! But as I'm not planning on playing it again anytime soon...yeah, time to dump it. *nods* I've got all my saves and stuff backed up if I ever do decide to go back to it! (Which is unlikely, given EA's bullshit, but -- still.) So yeah, didn't do any drafting on Victor Luvs Alice (N Smiler), nor watch anything on FreeTube. Meeh. But I did get to:
Baldur’s Gate III: After a morning spent making sure my computer was fully updated and my settings all correct and all that jazz, I found myself somewhat more concerned with checking in on one of the games I had currently installed and making sure everything was still running correctly over downloading yet MORE stuff to make sure Fallout: New Vegas would install and run correctly. So today we took a trip back to Faerun, where Smiler spent most of their time chatting with all the people around the tiefling camp! Lot of people to chat to in there, after all, and as a new player, I want to have all the conversations with all the NPCs. :p Here’s how it all went:
A) After the usual time spent waiting for the game to load and everything to pop into the starting area (and I have to admit, after all the updating I did this morning, it seems like all the scenery did pop in a tiny bit faster), I had Smiler and company leave their Wilderness camp to return to the tiefling camp – arriving just in time to hear one of the tieflings nearby talking about how they’d like to be a teacher, or a baker, or a butcher – the latter because blood excites them. O.o Encouraging start! Smiler ignored that though in favor of heading over to say hi again to Rolan and his siblings, standing and bickering nearby. Rolan was complaining again about how they should have left by now, but instead they were just sitting in the camp, “practically begging to be attacked,” and how staying was a mistake. Smiler tried to encourage him by saying “You’re doing the right thing. The tieflings need help” –
Only for Rolan to come back with “And what about us?” And to continue by saying that they could have doomed themselves trying to help these people, and bitching that “we will end up fodder for some goblin’s blade – all because Lia insists on helping every wounded foal we see,” before concluding that “our best chance to make it to Baldur’s Gate is on our own. This place is lost.” Dude, rude. >( Smiler, more polite than I would have been, was like “why are you so eager to reach the city anyway?” and Rolan smugly explained that he was the newest apprentice to the wizard Lorroakan, greatest in Baldur’s Gate. An interested Gale cut in and commented that he’d heard the name before, confirming with Rolan that Lorroakan was a young man who lived in Ramazith’s Tower in the Upper City –
And then revealing “word in Waterdeep has it he’s a bit of a cad.” XD Roland insisted that he was “the greatest spellcaster along the Sword Coast” and that he would have never settled for a lesser mentor, though, so Gale, ever diplomatic, said that he’d quite appreciate Rolan arranging an introduction should their party reach the city after him. Smiler agreed, saying “powerful acquaintances never hurt” (picking up some approval from Wyll and Gale) –
Aaand cue Rolan going “If it’s powerful acquaintances you’re after, you have to look no further than yours truly. Few can match me – in either magic or talent.” Before bragging that one day Smiler would boast of the meeting and promising to see them again in the city. *rolls eyes* Rather full of yourself, aren’t you, Rolan? He’s just lucky I already know he can back his claims up, and thus it’s a smart idea to keep on his good side to get him as an ally later!
B) Having just endured a solid blast of smug from their brother, Smiler proceeded to check in with Cal and Lia – Cal saying that Rolan and Lia would never actually admit it, but they’d each take an arrow for the other...or stab each other, so he’s glad Smiler cut in before their earlier argument turned into more than words; Lia simply declaring that “Those goblins will rue the day they chose to tangle with this grove. You and I will do some good here – I can feel it” – before noticing the old tiefling hunched over a cauldron in the background – Okta, according to the mouseover text. Smiler went to say hello, and she said that she’d seen them fighting the “slimy bastards” at the gate and offered them a bowl of whatever it was she was cooking, stating it was “best to fill your belly now – while we still can.” Smiler asked what it was she was offering, exactly –
And she replied, quite bluntly, “Food. You want it or not?” XD Smiler was like “sure” and took a bowl after that. Okta, mollified, explained a little more kindly that it might not be much, but it could make all the difference in times of trouble. After all, the only way they were going to make it to Baldur’s Gate was to “run, and run hard” – and if a gnoll sniffed them out? They’d need every bit of strength. Wonder if she’d tussled with them before...at any rate, she and Smiler parted on good terms, and Smiler got a nice bowl of gruel out of the encounter – which doesn’t sound particularly pleasant, and was indeed described as not particularly appetizing, but it both counts as camp supplies AND as a decent healing item! So basically, this woman knows how to cook! Even if she was complaining about lacking salt in her idle chatter. :p
C) Having gotten a free lunch from Okta, Smiler then found themselves intrigued by the stall right next to her cookpot, with a few potions lined up on it – along with a book, entitled “Volo’s Complete Guide To The Behavior of Nymphs.” A curious Smiler took a peek inside, to find a handwritten tome that had been very thoroughly marked up with red pen. Along with two inscriptions inside the cover – one from Eliminster to Volo, telling him “Absolutely not,” and one from Volo back to Elminster, stating that “while you may lack imagination, nymphs, I assure you, do not” – but that he’d refrain from publishing the book for now, so he could do more thorough research. XD Oh Volo...I am looking forward to meeting you, you ridiculous scamp. XD
Anyway – with the book perused, Smiler moved on to saying hello to the stall’s owner – one Auntie Ethel! She greeted them warmly as the “talk o’ the camp” and started in on the usual line about it being good that they showed up when they did – only to stop herself midway through and note that there wasn’t a bit of color in Smiler’s cheeks and as if they were hurt or ill, before stating that she could sort them out – she had “lotions and potions galore!” A curious Smiler asked if she was an alchemist – she replied that she was just the latest in “a long line of women with a dab hand at such things” –
Before coming up to them with a potion bottle and insisting that they’d feel “right as rain” as soon as they took a sip. Now, having just made one, I was pretty sure that what she was holding was a Potion of Greater Healing, but – knowing a few things about what Auntie Ethel is really like (let’s just say she’s not as friendly an old woman as she seems) – had Smiler ask her what it was, exactly. She assured them it was just a healing potion, but fortunately didn’t force them to take a drink – instead she just let Smiler pocket it for later, saying they looked like they needed a pick-me-up. *shrug* I’ll take a free potion – especially since, post-conversation, I was able to confirm it was a Potion of Greater Healing. Never hurts to have more of those!
Anyway, once Smiler had popped the potion into their bag, Auntie Ethel started going on again about how they were looking peaky – Smiler admitted they’d been better, but their malady was difficult to explain. Ethel laughed and assured them that she’d seen it all, cheerfully relaying a story of a man she’d had to treat after he had a tryst with a dryad and his wife found out and “introduced him to a pot of boiling oil.” Apparently, in the right light, he looks good as new! XD But yes, she assured them that it didn’t matter what ailed them, she’d probably seen worse. Prompting Wyll to be like “Tell her. But if she pulls out a pot of oil, run!” XD Smiler was like “all right” and explained about the mind flayer parasite (gaining Astarion’s approval, but Shadowheart’s disapproval). Ethel was appropriately shocked and said her heart went out to them, and that they did need serious help – because while she saw no signs of tentacles yet, that could change at any instant. She admitted that she didn’t have anything in her little shop that could be of use, but said she just might have something at home –
And that’s when the game presented me with the option to have Smiler note there was something strange about her, thanks to their being a Warlock. I dithered for a moment about whether or not to click that option or just “Such as?” but in the end, I couldn’t resist the class-specific fun, justifying it as Mar-Mal maybe warning their friend that she wasn’t all that she seemed. Ethel was like “Oh? Whatever do you mean, petal?” and Smiler explained that her bearing gave her a fey-like quality (the other options were to accuse her of being devilish or asking if she was from Thay, but – again, knowing what I know about Ethel…). Ethel was like “Fey?” and declared she hoped Smiler wasn’t accusing her of being a dryad or, worse, an Eladrin (“flightly buggers,” apparently – a little research indicates they’re Feywild elves who are tied to the seasons, with their mood and personality influenced by what season they’re connected to), before insisting she was just a simple woman and that “tea and potions are as exciting as it gets for these old bones.” She then said that she’d be heading home soon and that she’d mark it on their map (making me laugh – who are you, lady, Preston Garvey? :p) before warning them to be careful in their travels, as “I’d hate if something happened to you.” Yeah, I bet you would… Smiler thus left the conversation with a free potion and another lead on someone who might be able to wrangle their tadpole –
D) But without a look at any of Ethel’s wares! And as I knew she wouldn’t stay long as a trader, I wanted to see what she had in her store before she left – given her whole deal, I suspected she had to sell at least a FEW alchemical ingredients. I thus had Smiler talk to her again and agree to take a look at what she had for sale –
And discovered that not only did she have a bunch of ingredients they could use – three acorn truffles, two balsam, a daggerroot, a mergrass, and two wispweeds – she also had a pair of Marsh Strider boots – lovely wrapped leather boots that, when worn, increased the wearer’s jump distance by 5 feet and movement speed by 10 feet! :D Unfortunately, they proved to be expensive, costing 320 gold on their own – and after I added in all the alchemy stuff I wanted, I realized the whole purchase would cost 464 gold, more than Smiler had on them. “Well, we have all those gemstones Astarion’s carrying,” I thought, and offered up for barter the five onyx that were in his inventory –
Only to discover she’d only give us 90 gold for the lot. When I had been pretty damn certain they were supposed to be worth a lot more than that. Annoyed, and remembering I didn’t necessarily need her to think well of Smiler when it came to trading (as she was a very temporary merchant), I decided that it might be smarter to just have Smiler straight-up buy what they need, and swapped back to the regular old “Trade” menu. Smiler thus bought all their alchemy ingredients, then sold the onyx, a copper ring, a peridot ring, a couple of milk cans, a couple of carafes of water, and five bottles to get enough gold to afford the Marsh Strider boots. Left them with just over 100 gold (plus the little bit of extra Gale was carrying, I don’t remember exactly how much that is), but I think it was a worthy purchase! That little bit of extra movement should come in handy in combat – and being able to jump higher or farther should be useful too. *nods*
E) Having finished their business with Ethel, Smiler headed back to the other side of camp, and the big wooden structure covered in bedrolls and crates and such, where they encountered the tiefling child Meli peeking in some of the boxes. Smiler’s attempt to say “hi” was met with “I’m waiting on someone, and you aren’t him. Do you mind?” so Smiler continued on to where Barth and Aradin were having a drink at a table nearby –
Only for Barth to suddenly exclaim “Don’t make me hurt you, boy,” and suddenly run off after someone! Startled, I looked around, and noticed that Meli was suddenly nowhere near the boxes. A little scanning around confirmed that he and Barth were now atop the wooden walkway that led to the training area and the entrance, arguing with each other – Barth insisting that Meli give “it” back and Meli insisting that he didn’t have whatever Barth was asking after, and if Barth touched him, he’d bite his fingers off. This felt like something Smiler and party should intervene in, so I had them climb the ladder back onto the walkway and – once all the gang was gathered, try to speak to Barth –
Who promptly ignored them to tell Meli that he was only going to ask him one more time to hand over his locket. And when Meli insisted he didn’t have his ugly locket, threatened to “slap the teeth out of your head.” O.O Smiler was immediately like “Don’t you dare lay a finger on that child,” causing Barth to asking they were threatening him – Smiler promptly pointed out he was the one making threats, to a child no less, and demanded he pull himself together. Prompting a DC 10 Persuasion check that – with the help of their various bonuses, Guidance, and a quick cast of Friends to give them advantage – they easily beat with a 19. Barth remained belligerent for a moment, insisting the kid stole his locket –
But fortunately gave up after that, declaring “the hells with this.” Though he did tell Smiler that “these little devils get away with everything because of coddling bastards like you” and Meli that “you’ll get yours some day. I hope I get to see it.” Meli was unconcerned, replying “Maybe you will. But, personally, I doubt it,” before scurrying off in the fade to black, with Barth grumpily returning to his table. *shakes head* Dude, I appreciate that you were upset about your locket being stolen, but you don’t threaten to slap the teeth out of the head of a KID. I don’t care how annoying they are, thanks.
F) With that sorted, Smiler and company returned to ground level, where they spotted Remira, Aradin’s other mercenary companion, hanging out by the stairs up to Barth and Aradin’s drinking spot. Smiler approached to say hello, and realized she was daubing a nasty scratch on her arm with a cloth, grumbling about goblins. They suggested that she ought to get it looked at –
Only for her to sarcastically return, “Oh aye? I was just going to let it fall off, stick it my satchel.” She then explained that she didn’t plan to let anyone in the camp anywhere near her, not after they all just sat around and watched while Zevlor nearly got her and her companions killed at the gate. Smiler pointed out that Zevlor did let them in and that it could have been worse, which earned them a sarcastic “Oh, very gracious of you.” *rolls eyes* He was going to let you in, Remira – just the goblins YOU led to the camp killed the guy who was actually operating the gate! Honestly...anyway, she continued more sadly that they’d been expecting a soft job when they set out, something to train their newest recruit on, not a goblin nest – and recounted how while most would have turned and ran at such a sight, their compatriot Liam charged them. Smiler guessed that didn’t end well for him –
And Remira shamefully admitted that it hadn’t, and he must have thought his compatriots were following him. “Always the optimist, was Liam.” And that she hoped the goblins cut him down before he saw the others were gone. :O Oh, you bloody bitch – you didn’t even TRY to help him, huh? Poor Liam, he deserved better. >( Ugh, why is saving her and her companions worth an inspiration point for Lae’zel…
G) Having encountered and been less than impressed by two of the three mercenaries, it was time for Smiler to move onto to leader of the group, Aradin, and hear what he had to say for himself! He greeted Smiler as “the fearless goblin-slayer” and asked if they were sure they wanted to be seen with him, as he wasn’t popular with the tieflings. Smiler pointed out that he could try to be a little friendlier –
Only to get a “Thanks, mum. Now please do feck off” in return. Annoyed, Smiler replied, “Charming. I can see why the locals like you so much,” only for Aradin to remind them that the tieflings were refugees, saying that the “fella who runs this place offered ‘em shelter.” Smiler, remembering what Zevlor said earlier, mentioned they should speak with that fellow and asked Aradin if he knew where he was. Aradin said yes –
And followed it up with “His name’s Halsin, and if he’s still alive, he’ll be cursing the day he laid eyes on me.” Oh dear… Aradin explained that he and his little band had received a contract to find a relic, and Halsin, upon hearing about it, insisted he wanted in on the job. However, things went bad when they stumbled across the goblins, and he was captured after he, Barth, and Remira started running. Aradin was pretty sure he was “either diggin’ latrines or boilin’ in a cookpot by now.” Charming! But I knew that contract started a very important quest, so I had Smiler ask to see it (presumably to figure out what could be worth such danger) –
And Aradin handed it over very willingly, saying, “Job’s all yours, if you got a death wish.” He further explained that it was from a wizard in Baldur’s Gate that was apparently willing to pay “gobloads” for the relic, which was buried in this bit of the world. Smiler asked if he had any idea what the relic actually was – Aradin replied “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be back here with half my crew gone.” But then he decided if Smiler was that eager to “meet Kelemvor” (one of the gods of death, who guides the departed to the right plane of the afterlife), he wouldn’t stop them, and provided a bit more detail – namely, that the relic was called the Nightsong, and was supposedly hidden beneath the temple where the goblins got them. He would have give them the party’s map as well, but apparently his friend Brian kept a tight hold of it, and he was killed pretty quickly in the scramble to get out of there. So all Smiler was getting was the contract, which would at least show them where Aradin and his lot turned back. Smiler, ever polite, thanked him –
And got “Heh, don’t thank me. I’ll be well on my way to Baldur’s Gale when you die.” *shakehead* I should have had Smiler give him the business for leaving Halsin to die/get captured along with Liam...ah well. Now they have the contract, and don’t have to speak to him or his compatriots until Act 3. Speaking of which, I had them read it over once they were done with their conversation –
And lo and behold, the wizard offering “fame, glory, and incredible fortune” to adventurers willing to go on a “perilous and profitable quest” to secure the Nightsong and bring it back to be safely preserved in Baldur’s Gate? None other than Lorroakan – Rolan’s new mentor! How interesting...I wonder if you can talk to Rolan about the contract after you receive it? Might have to check next time I play…
H) With that unpleasantness over, Smiler turned their attention to the only other people hanging around on the wooden platform – the tiefling couple Bex and Danis, who were puttering around on the upper platform, rearranging their things and talking about what their lives might be like once they reach Baldur’s Gate – as it turned out, Bex was the one I heard before talking about how she’d like to be a butcher, as blood excites her. XD Smiler climbed up to their little perch to say hi, and – as per the cutscene – caught them mid-conversation about their future house and their future pets. Bex was keen on getting a dog at first, but changed to a little orange cat after Danis said dogs weren’t allowed in the city (???), stating their home would have a little door so the cat could come and go as it pleased –
And then Danis spotted Smiler listening in and noted that their house would ALSO have a big fence to deter eavesdroppers. Smiler apologized for interrupting and wished them both luck, and Danis, mollified, thanked them, saying they’d all need it. Bex, curious, asked what Smiler’s plans were upon arrival in Baldur’s Gate, and Smiler said that “A pint and a clean room would do me a world of good.” Danis commented that sounded like heaven, and Bex assured him that it wouldn’t be long before they could finally rest. :) Mood lifted after the chat, Smiler turned to go –
And then noticed a book in the corner of the platform – “The Realm According To Bumpo.” Curious, Smiler took a look inside, and found a dog-eared page describing Bumpo’s encounter with an adventuring party consisting of an aarakocra (a bird person – head and wings of a parrot on the body of a human), a tabaxi (cat person, like Rust from Oxventure), a genasi (element person, not familiar with them), and a tortle (turtle person, also seen in Oxventure – hell, Corazon ended up as one during the grand finale of the original D&D series). The encounter mainly consisted of Bumpo “casually” asking what the hell they all were, and them ignoring him. He assumed it was because he was just one of a billion boring humans to them. XD You keep thinking that, Bumpo!
I) At that point, though, I was coming up on an hour of playtime, meaning it was probably about time I wrapped things up so I could quit for the day and do some other stuff. I thus had the gang very quickly swing by their personal camp so Smiler could dye and slap on their new boots (I – should probably just have them carry the Amaunator dye with them, really), then head back to the tiefling camp so I could save and quit –
But just as I was preparing to do so, I noticed something – Gale had an exclamation mark over his head! Which meant he had a Very Important Chat for Smiler. I couldn’t pass that up, so I had Smiler go inquire what was up. Gale noted that all this traveling and adventuring was a tiring business, and suggested that they take a little break – a moment to rest and talk about something rather important. Smiler was like “‘Rather important’ no less? All right, go ahead” –
Which prompted Gale to talking about how they’d been on the road together a while (technically it’s just been two days, Gale), surviving perils and overcoming obstacles, and praising Smiler for demonstrating “remarkable guile and courage” – in particular, defusing the argument between Aradin and Zevlor. As a result, he’d grown to trust them – which meant he finally had the confidence to tell Smiler something that he’d never told anyone else except his cat. Namely that he had a condition – quite unlike the parasite, but just as deadly. Smiler was naturally like “what kind of condition,” but Gale insisted the specifics were personal – he was only willing to share that he’d learned to live with the malady, though it took some effort, and that living with it meant obtaining a magical item every so often to absorb the Weave (the raw magical energy of Faerun) inside of it. Smiler was like “Your illness causes you to consume raw magic? I’m going to need the details…” but Gale refused to elaborate just then, asking Smiler to just trust him that it was of vital importance. He then explained that he hadn’t consumed an artefact since before their abduction, meaning that his craving was due to return soon, and that was why he was bringing it up now – because he would need Smiler’s help in finding the magical items he requires to feed his condition. He stressed again that it was vital, nay, critical he do this, prompting Smiler to ask “Where do you suggest we find the artefacts you need?”
And Gale to respond, “We’ve already done the finding. In fact you have one in your possession.” Presumably talking about The Amulet Of Lost Voices Smiler was carrying that they got from Withers’s tomb (and later replaced with the Amulet Of Lost Voices, no capital The, from Arron in the grove, because that version gives them both Speak With Dead AND Speak With Animals). Gale then went on to say that Smiler knew how hard won the item was (yeah, that skeleton fight WAS a bit of a bitch), and warned that getting more to appease his hunger wouldn’t be any easier. He fully expected danger or great cost to be involved. Smiler admitted they’d expected as much too, but assured Gale they were happy to help.Even if sometimes he’s rude about them being a warlock. XD Gale was pleased and commented that “a bit of boldness will serve us well,” before reassuring Smiler that he didn’t think they’d have to look too far for what he required, given “Faerun overflows with magic-infused treasure” (oh, even more so than usual, buddy, given all the equipment mods I’ve added) and they already had an item he could eat in their packs. He ended his speech with “I hope I can count on you” – don’t worry, Gale, you can. ...mostly because I’m well aware what happens if we DON’T let you eat magic, and it involves a VERY big boom. *grimace*
And so the session finally ended with Smiler and company hanging out in the tiefling camp, having just learned a big secret (or at least part of one) from one of their party! I didn’t realize I’d gotten enough approval with Gale to advance his “The Wizard of Waterdeep” personal quest. Nice to see he already trusts Smiler enough to ask for their help in managing his condition. :) Next time, I’ll probably have the group continue exploring the camp – I gotta go back to the main gate and talk to Timber, after all! And find more of the tiefling kids, and talk to more of the guards, and – just generally bum around getting to know everyone. *nods* Very important, that!
Workout: Another night on the bike, another night with “Blades in the Dark RETURNS! 🎁 | Oxventure Holiday Special - The Effugium Contract” by Oxventure! The adventures of The Crawford Quartet and Barnaby “The Butcher” Fortescue III continued tonight, and featured:
A) The results of the group Sway roll (including Barnaby but excluding Gabriel) – Troy got a 6, Barnaby got a 5, Eliza got a 4, and Winnie got a 2. Meaning they passed the check but Troy had to take one stress because apparently Winnie didn’t do a very good “convincing face” or something. She was like “it’s fine, we’re all in this together” as Troy glared. XD At least they got past the now-very-apologetic guard!
B) While all that was going on, Gabe taking the opportunity to use their Prestidigitation power to flavor the “sniffer dog” prisoner’s sinuses with spicy peppers; cue the prisoner flailing around in agony and falling off the airship – this MIGHT have killed him, but Luke, after confirming it was the prisoner and not the guard (as he’d originally assumed), did another roll to see how he fared when he hit the ground – and the guy got a six, allowing him to land like a cat and sprint off to a new life, pursued fruitlessly by the guard! Everyone was very pleased with that. (On a more serious note, we also learned what Gabe thought about their new magical powers – a mix of “oh shit now I’m marked for life” and “well these powers ARE kind of useful” – and who they’d told – just Eliza; Winnie and Troy were so far ignorant. I suspect that will change over the course of the adventure!)
C) Barnaby walking with the group onto the ship and sharing a brief conversation with them, which included:
I. Barnaby revealing that he’d noticed the “sniffer dog’s” reaction to Gabe, and that’s why he made the fuss he did, to help them out, which was surprisingly nice of him
II. Barnaby introducing himself as “Barnaby Fortescue III, at your service – well, no, you’re musicians, that means you’re more at my service,” which was MUCH more on brand XD
III. Barnaby asking the quartet what their deal was, and Gabe saying that they were a humble band...here to kill a man; cue the other siblings desperately trying to cover by saying that he meant like “kill it on stage,” but Gabe happily pressed onward, explaining with simple-minded directness that they were there to kill Oswin Fry because Uncle Merton stole all his meats – no, wait, he stole all of Uncle Merton’s meats. And then protested that Barnaby “seemed cool” when the other siblings were like “why are you not shutting up” (Winnie: “DOES he?”) – though, to be fair, given it was specifically THEIR bacon Barnaby saved, I guess they have their reasons to think he’s cool
IV. Barnaby revealing to the team that he was here on an investigative mission because he and his organization didn’t think the supposed mission of this airship (to find a new settlement) was on the up-and-up, and Troy realizing that their interests aligned and maybe they could help each other out (especially since Barnaby’s opinion of Oswin Fry was “I have to tolerate him”)
V. And Eliza managing to browbeat out of Barnaby (aka beat him in a contested Sway roll) who he was working for (I like to think, given it was Jane who played both characters, that somehow the willowy Eliza reminded Barnaby of Zillah for a moment), with Barnaby confessing that he was one of the original “ecological anarchists” who was behind “The Attack” that made everything go screwy, and declaring that he “selflessly volunteered” to go on this dangerous mission because he had experience with air travel (cue him gazing off into the middle distance as he presumably remembered a certain balloon race), and he executed a daring act of subterfuge to get on – namely, he ASKED for an invitation, which is something that can ruin you socially XD
D) The Crawfords being shown to their big old shared “staff quarters” cabin (while Barnaby went and relaxed in his nice cabin with a window) and being introduced to the Head of Staff, Mr. M (I don’t know how to spell his full name), who proved to be an extreme stuffed shirt who didn’t care who the four were, just that they could play good music with no, could take requests, and knew to be quiet when not spoken to (Gabe: “No, but if you hum a few bars, we can probably play it.”) He also indicated that they would be given extra duties around the ship if necessary, that they were responsible for the care of their instruments, and all expenses for said instruments would be coming out of their pay, before ending with trying to impress upon them how important it was that they do a good job in helping their “betters” relax so they could change the world or some such nonsense. Troy and Gabe both talked about how he was such a bootlicker he was practically gagging on it the moment he left.
E) Troy sharing the picture of Oswin he was able to find with his siblings, then going to Consort with his fellow staff members to learn more about the ship; on a 6, he ended up getting a bunch of info from an excitable young steward, including a map which showed a bunch of banquet halls, and fancy cabins, and a “Bacchanalatorium” (Barnaby was excited about that one), but not a lot in the way of the supposed “scientific” things the expedition was supposed to be doing in addition to ferrying the best and brightest to a new settlement…
F) Upon learning that Troy was not able to secure a passenger manifest from his new friend, Jane attempting to flashback to Eliza breaking into the office where it would have been stored to grab a copy early, only to fail the roll to find it; cue Andy then doing his OWN flashback to have Troy break into the same office on a separate mission to find that manifest, and also failing the roll to find it, resulting in the two siblings finding each other in the office, being like “what are you doing here,” and deciding to go have a drink at a nearby pub instead XD
G) Eliza barging her way down to the kitchen with her accordion (and I mean barging, Jane rolled Skirmish to get down the hall) on the pretext that she needed to wax it (Jane does not know how one maintains an accordion) to try and find more info – only for one of the chefs to ask why she thought she’d find wax in the kitchen; fortunately, Eliza thought quick and pointed out they should have beeswax for the breakfast buffet, which the chef allowed, saying that breakfast was surprisingly wax-based. XD And then revealing that they actually had loads of wax specifically designated for the Bacchanalatorium – not that he knew what they were doing with it (Andy: “waxing THEIR accordions, if you know what I mean”). End result of the trip was Eliza ending up with a waxy accordion AND managing to get a look at the seating arrangements for dinner that night, memorizing where the minister, his wife, Oswin, and the other cabinet members would be sitting – surrounded by their security detail, which did make things trickier…
H) A flash-forward to the big launch dinner, and the Quartet having to roll to see how they were playing – everyone failed except Andy, meaning poor Troy was basically carrying everyone else, doing a magnificent job on his cello while the rest of the group essentially flailed; Johnny, meanwhile, used the poor roll as an excuse to flashback to Gabriel getting a new mandolin that was made almost entirely of LEAD (covered in wood) for use as a “fine heavy weapon,” explaining their poor performance as having to come to grips with the new instrument
I) And one of the guests, a woman sitting with Barnaby, complaining about the music and getting up to raise a fuss – despite Barnaby’s attempts to cover for the group’s poor performance by claiming that “shanty-like” music was in vogue (as Andy, Ellen, Jane, and Johnny all pretended to play their instruments very poorly and very loudly) – causing Luke to start a four-piece clock for the band getting ejected; cue Johnny trying to confirm “just from the room, right?”, Luke giving them a significant look, and the players being like “uh-oh” XD
Hehehe – excellent stuff, as always! Ah, I missed the Oxventure – and while I’m a little sad to only see one member of the old BITD group, I like the new characters a lot. They’re very fun. And of course, the one returning character is my favorite, so… XD Looking forward to seeing how things go from here!
Writing: Spent about an hour working on the final edits for Chapter 2 of “The Van Dort Vacancy” – quickly reviewing what I’d done yesterday (and spending some time cleaning up a section where I’d used the word “allowed” WAAAY too much) before picking up with the group encountering Barry at the front steps of the mansion. Got all the way from Barry spotting Victor and giving him the business about being away for so long (and falling in with such poor company) to Victor entering the main ballroom after having been yelled at by his mother for being away for so long (and falling in with such poor company). *nods* Not bad! Tomorrow, we pick up with Victor overhearing his mother go “what ghost would marry our Victor?” and realizing that the people he’s known for four days have treated him better than his parents ever did – dunno if I’ll get to the end of the chapter, but I’ll try! Be nice to be able to post this on New Year’s Day...
So yeah -- I was gonna say "maybe not as productive a day as I might have liked," but you know what? Updating my computer and clearing out my C: drive was plenty productive, even if it involved a lot of waiting around that annoyed the hell out of me. *nods* Still, tomorrow I hope to actually get some stuff done over on tumblr -- figure out a few more post rough drafts, at least. Also would like to watch the OXBox end-of-year quiz and OXBoxtra "best games of 2025" videos, if I can, along with editing more of Chapter 2 of "The Van Dort Vacancy" and pedaling my way through more of "The Effugium Contract." We'll see what happens, though -- it IS New Year's Eve tomorrow, and that means I'll be spending most of the night sitting up with the parents marathoning James Acaster comedy specials on Netflix as we wait for midnight. Meaning I have a rather stricter time limit on everything I'd like to get done...again, we'll see what happens! Night all!
Baldur’s Gate III: After a morning spent making sure my computer was fully updated and my settings all correct and all that jazz, I found myself somewhat more concerned with checking in on one of the games I had currently installed and making sure everything was still running correctly over downloading yet MORE stuff to make sure Fallout: New Vegas would install and run correctly. So today we took a trip back to Faerun, where Smiler spent most of their time chatting with all the people around the tiefling camp! Lot of people to chat to in there, after all, and as a new player, I want to have all the conversations with all the NPCs. :p Here’s how it all went:
A) After the usual time spent waiting for the game to load and everything to pop into the starting area (and I have to admit, after all the updating I did this morning, it seems like all the scenery did pop in a tiny bit faster), I had Smiler and company leave their Wilderness camp to return to the tiefling camp – arriving just in time to hear one of the tieflings nearby talking about how they’d like to be a teacher, or a baker, or a butcher – the latter because blood excites them. O.o Encouraging start! Smiler ignored that though in favor of heading over to say hi again to Rolan and his siblings, standing and bickering nearby. Rolan was complaining again about how they should have left by now, but instead they were just sitting in the camp, “practically begging to be attacked,” and how staying was a mistake. Smiler tried to encourage him by saying “You’re doing the right thing. The tieflings need help” –
Only for Rolan to come back with “And what about us?” And to continue by saying that they could have doomed themselves trying to help these people, and bitching that “we will end up fodder for some goblin’s blade – all because Lia insists on helping every wounded foal we see,” before concluding that “our best chance to make it to Baldur’s Gate is on our own. This place is lost.” Dude, rude. >( Smiler, more polite than I would have been, was like “why are you so eager to reach the city anyway?” and Rolan smugly explained that he was the newest apprentice to the wizard Lorroakan, greatest in Baldur’s Gate. An interested Gale cut in and commented that he’d heard the name before, confirming with Rolan that Lorroakan was a young man who lived in Ramazith’s Tower in the Upper City –
And then revealing “word in Waterdeep has it he’s a bit of a cad.” XD Roland insisted that he was “the greatest spellcaster along the Sword Coast” and that he would have never settled for a lesser mentor, though, so Gale, ever diplomatic, said that he’d quite appreciate Rolan arranging an introduction should their party reach the city after him. Smiler agreed, saying “powerful acquaintances never hurt” (picking up some approval from Wyll and Gale) –
Aaand cue Rolan going “If it’s powerful acquaintances you’re after, you have to look no further than yours truly. Few can match me – in either magic or talent.” Before bragging that one day Smiler would boast of the meeting and promising to see them again in the city. *rolls eyes* Rather full of yourself, aren’t you, Rolan? He’s just lucky I already know he can back his claims up, and thus it’s a smart idea to keep on his good side to get him as an ally later!
B) Having just endured a solid blast of smug from their brother, Smiler proceeded to check in with Cal and Lia – Cal saying that Rolan and Lia would never actually admit it, but they’d each take an arrow for the other...or stab each other, so he’s glad Smiler cut in before their earlier argument turned into more than words; Lia simply declaring that “Those goblins will rue the day they chose to tangle with this grove. You and I will do some good here – I can feel it” – before noticing the old tiefling hunched over a cauldron in the background – Okta, according to the mouseover text. Smiler went to say hello, and she said that she’d seen them fighting the “slimy bastards” at the gate and offered them a bowl of whatever it was she was cooking, stating it was “best to fill your belly now – while we still can.” Smiler asked what it was she was offering, exactly –
And she replied, quite bluntly, “Food. You want it or not?” XD Smiler was like “sure” and took a bowl after that. Okta, mollified, explained a little more kindly that it might not be much, but it could make all the difference in times of trouble. After all, the only way they were going to make it to Baldur’s Gate was to “run, and run hard” – and if a gnoll sniffed them out? They’d need every bit of strength. Wonder if she’d tussled with them before...at any rate, she and Smiler parted on good terms, and Smiler got a nice bowl of gruel out of the encounter – which doesn’t sound particularly pleasant, and was indeed described as not particularly appetizing, but it both counts as camp supplies AND as a decent healing item! So basically, this woman knows how to cook! Even if she was complaining about lacking salt in her idle chatter. :p
C) Having gotten a free lunch from Okta, Smiler then found themselves intrigued by the stall right next to her cookpot, with a few potions lined up on it – along with a book, entitled “Volo’s Complete Guide To The Behavior of Nymphs.” A curious Smiler took a peek inside, to find a handwritten tome that had been very thoroughly marked up with red pen. Along with two inscriptions inside the cover – one from Eliminster to Volo, telling him “Absolutely not,” and one from Volo back to Elminster, stating that “while you may lack imagination, nymphs, I assure you, do not” – but that he’d refrain from publishing the book for now, so he could do more thorough research. XD Oh Volo...I am looking forward to meeting you, you ridiculous scamp. XD
Anyway – with the book perused, Smiler moved on to saying hello to the stall’s owner – one Auntie Ethel! She greeted them warmly as the “talk o’ the camp” and started in on the usual line about it being good that they showed up when they did – only to stop herself midway through and note that there wasn’t a bit of color in Smiler’s cheeks and as if they were hurt or ill, before stating that she could sort them out – she had “lotions and potions galore!” A curious Smiler asked if she was an alchemist – she replied that she was just the latest in “a long line of women with a dab hand at such things” –
Before coming up to them with a potion bottle and insisting that they’d feel “right as rain” as soon as they took a sip. Now, having just made one, I was pretty sure that what she was holding was a Potion of Greater Healing, but – knowing a few things about what Auntie Ethel is really like (let’s just say she’s not as friendly an old woman as she seems) – had Smiler ask her what it was, exactly. She assured them it was just a healing potion, but fortunately didn’t force them to take a drink – instead she just let Smiler pocket it for later, saying they looked like they needed a pick-me-up. *shrug* I’ll take a free potion – especially since, post-conversation, I was able to confirm it was a Potion of Greater Healing. Never hurts to have more of those!
Anyway, once Smiler had popped the potion into their bag, Auntie Ethel started going on again about how they were looking peaky – Smiler admitted they’d been better, but their malady was difficult to explain. Ethel laughed and assured them that she’d seen it all, cheerfully relaying a story of a man she’d had to treat after he had a tryst with a dryad and his wife found out and “introduced him to a pot of boiling oil.” Apparently, in the right light, he looks good as new! XD But yes, she assured them that it didn’t matter what ailed them, she’d probably seen worse. Prompting Wyll to be like “Tell her. But if she pulls out a pot of oil, run!” XD Smiler was like “all right” and explained about the mind flayer parasite (gaining Astarion’s approval, but Shadowheart’s disapproval). Ethel was appropriately shocked and said her heart went out to them, and that they did need serious help – because while she saw no signs of tentacles yet, that could change at any instant. She admitted that she didn’t have anything in her little shop that could be of use, but said she just might have something at home –
And that’s when the game presented me with the option to have Smiler note there was something strange about her, thanks to their being a Warlock. I dithered for a moment about whether or not to click that option or just “Such as?” but in the end, I couldn’t resist the class-specific fun, justifying it as Mar-Mal maybe warning their friend that she wasn’t all that she seemed. Ethel was like “Oh? Whatever do you mean, petal?” and Smiler explained that her bearing gave her a fey-like quality (the other options were to accuse her of being devilish or asking if she was from Thay, but – again, knowing what I know about Ethel…). Ethel was like “Fey?” and declared she hoped Smiler wasn’t accusing her of being a dryad or, worse, an Eladrin (“flightly buggers,” apparently – a little research indicates they’re Feywild elves who are tied to the seasons, with their mood and personality influenced by what season they’re connected to), before insisting she was just a simple woman and that “tea and potions are as exciting as it gets for these old bones.” She then said that she’d be heading home soon and that she’d mark it on their map (making me laugh – who are you, lady, Preston Garvey? :p) before warning them to be careful in their travels, as “I’d hate if something happened to you.” Yeah, I bet you would… Smiler thus left the conversation with a free potion and another lead on someone who might be able to wrangle their tadpole –
D) But without a look at any of Ethel’s wares! And as I knew she wouldn’t stay long as a trader, I wanted to see what she had in her store before she left – given her whole deal, I suspected she had to sell at least a FEW alchemical ingredients. I thus had Smiler talk to her again and agree to take a look at what she had for sale –
And discovered that not only did she have a bunch of ingredients they could use – three acorn truffles, two balsam, a daggerroot, a mergrass, and two wispweeds – she also had a pair of Marsh Strider boots – lovely wrapped leather boots that, when worn, increased the wearer’s jump distance by 5 feet and movement speed by 10 feet! :D Unfortunately, they proved to be expensive, costing 320 gold on their own – and after I added in all the alchemy stuff I wanted, I realized the whole purchase would cost 464 gold, more than Smiler had on them. “Well, we have all those gemstones Astarion’s carrying,” I thought, and offered up for barter the five onyx that were in his inventory –
Only to discover she’d only give us 90 gold for the lot. When I had been pretty damn certain they were supposed to be worth a lot more than that. Annoyed, and remembering I didn’t necessarily need her to think well of Smiler when it came to trading (as she was a very temporary merchant), I decided that it might be smarter to just have Smiler straight-up buy what they need, and swapped back to the regular old “Trade” menu. Smiler thus bought all their alchemy ingredients, then sold the onyx, a copper ring, a peridot ring, a couple of milk cans, a couple of carafes of water, and five bottles to get enough gold to afford the Marsh Strider boots. Left them with just over 100 gold (plus the little bit of extra Gale was carrying, I don’t remember exactly how much that is), but I think it was a worthy purchase! That little bit of extra movement should come in handy in combat – and being able to jump higher or farther should be useful too. *nods*
E) Having finished their business with Ethel, Smiler headed back to the other side of camp, and the big wooden structure covered in bedrolls and crates and such, where they encountered the tiefling child Meli peeking in some of the boxes. Smiler’s attempt to say “hi” was met with “I’m waiting on someone, and you aren’t him. Do you mind?” so Smiler continued on to where Barth and Aradin were having a drink at a table nearby –
Only for Barth to suddenly exclaim “Don’t make me hurt you, boy,” and suddenly run off after someone! Startled, I looked around, and noticed that Meli was suddenly nowhere near the boxes. A little scanning around confirmed that he and Barth were now atop the wooden walkway that led to the training area and the entrance, arguing with each other – Barth insisting that Meli give “it” back and Meli insisting that he didn’t have whatever Barth was asking after, and if Barth touched him, he’d bite his fingers off. This felt like something Smiler and party should intervene in, so I had them climb the ladder back onto the walkway and – once all the gang was gathered, try to speak to Barth –
Who promptly ignored them to tell Meli that he was only going to ask him one more time to hand over his locket. And when Meli insisted he didn’t have his ugly locket, threatened to “slap the teeth out of your head.” O.O Smiler was immediately like “Don’t you dare lay a finger on that child,” causing Barth to asking they were threatening him – Smiler promptly pointed out he was the one making threats, to a child no less, and demanded he pull himself together. Prompting a DC 10 Persuasion check that – with the help of their various bonuses, Guidance, and a quick cast of Friends to give them advantage – they easily beat with a 19. Barth remained belligerent for a moment, insisting the kid stole his locket –
But fortunately gave up after that, declaring “the hells with this.” Though he did tell Smiler that “these little devils get away with everything because of coddling bastards like you” and Meli that “you’ll get yours some day. I hope I get to see it.” Meli was unconcerned, replying “Maybe you will. But, personally, I doubt it,” before scurrying off in the fade to black, with Barth grumpily returning to his table. *shakes head* Dude, I appreciate that you were upset about your locket being stolen, but you don’t threaten to slap the teeth out of the head of a KID. I don’t care how annoying they are, thanks.
F) With that sorted, Smiler and company returned to ground level, where they spotted Remira, Aradin’s other mercenary companion, hanging out by the stairs up to Barth and Aradin’s drinking spot. Smiler approached to say hello, and realized she was daubing a nasty scratch on her arm with a cloth, grumbling about goblins. They suggested that she ought to get it looked at –
Only for her to sarcastically return, “Oh aye? I was just going to let it fall off, stick it my satchel.” She then explained that she didn’t plan to let anyone in the camp anywhere near her, not after they all just sat around and watched while Zevlor nearly got her and her companions killed at the gate. Smiler pointed out that Zevlor did let them in and that it could have been worse, which earned them a sarcastic “Oh, very gracious of you.” *rolls eyes* He was going to let you in, Remira – just the goblins YOU led to the camp killed the guy who was actually operating the gate! Honestly...anyway, she continued more sadly that they’d been expecting a soft job when they set out, something to train their newest recruit on, not a goblin nest – and recounted how while most would have turned and ran at such a sight, their compatriot Liam charged them. Smiler guessed that didn’t end well for him –
And Remira shamefully admitted that it hadn’t, and he must have thought his compatriots were following him. “Always the optimist, was Liam.” And that she hoped the goblins cut him down before he saw the others were gone. :O Oh, you bloody bitch – you didn’t even TRY to help him, huh? Poor Liam, he deserved better. >( Ugh, why is saving her and her companions worth an inspiration point for Lae’zel…
G) Having encountered and been less than impressed by two of the three mercenaries, it was time for Smiler to move onto to leader of the group, Aradin, and hear what he had to say for himself! He greeted Smiler as “the fearless goblin-slayer” and asked if they were sure they wanted to be seen with him, as he wasn’t popular with the tieflings. Smiler pointed out that he could try to be a little friendlier –
Only to get a “Thanks, mum. Now please do feck off” in return. Annoyed, Smiler replied, “Charming. I can see why the locals like you so much,” only for Aradin to remind them that the tieflings were refugees, saying that the “fella who runs this place offered ‘em shelter.” Smiler, remembering what Zevlor said earlier, mentioned they should speak with that fellow and asked Aradin if he knew where he was. Aradin said yes –
And followed it up with “His name’s Halsin, and if he’s still alive, he’ll be cursing the day he laid eyes on me.” Oh dear… Aradin explained that he and his little band had received a contract to find a relic, and Halsin, upon hearing about it, insisted he wanted in on the job. However, things went bad when they stumbled across the goblins, and he was captured after he, Barth, and Remira started running. Aradin was pretty sure he was “either diggin’ latrines or boilin’ in a cookpot by now.” Charming! But I knew that contract started a very important quest, so I had Smiler ask to see it (presumably to figure out what could be worth such danger) –
And Aradin handed it over very willingly, saying, “Job’s all yours, if you got a death wish.” He further explained that it was from a wizard in Baldur’s Gate that was apparently willing to pay “gobloads” for the relic, which was buried in this bit of the world. Smiler asked if he had any idea what the relic actually was – Aradin replied “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be back here with half my crew gone.” But then he decided if Smiler was that eager to “meet Kelemvor” (one of the gods of death, who guides the departed to the right plane of the afterlife), he wouldn’t stop them, and provided a bit more detail – namely, that the relic was called the Nightsong, and was supposedly hidden beneath the temple where the goblins got them. He would have give them the party’s map as well, but apparently his friend Brian kept a tight hold of it, and he was killed pretty quickly in the scramble to get out of there. So all Smiler was getting was the contract, which would at least show them where Aradin and his lot turned back. Smiler, ever polite, thanked him –
And got “Heh, don’t thank me. I’ll be well on my way to Baldur’s Gale when you die.” *shakehead* I should have had Smiler give him the business for leaving Halsin to die/get captured along with Liam...ah well. Now they have the contract, and don’t have to speak to him or his compatriots until Act 3. Speaking of which, I had them read it over once they were done with their conversation –
And lo and behold, the wizard offering “fame, glory, and incredible fortune” to adventurers willing to go on a “perilous and profitable quest” to secure the Nightsong and bring it back to be safely preserved in Baldur’s Gate? None other than Lorroakan – Rolan’s new mentor! How interesting...I wonder if you can talk to Rolan about the contract after you receive it? Might have to check next time I play…
H) With that unpleasantness over, Smiler turned their attention to the only other people hanging around on the wooden platform – the tiefling couple Bex and Danis, who were puttering around on the upper platform, rearranging their things and talking about what their lives might be like once they reach Baldur’s Gate – as it turned out, Bex was the one I heard before talking about how she’d like to be a butcher, as blood excites her. XD Smiler climbed up to their little perch to say hi, and – as per the cutscene – caught them mid-conversation about their future house and their future pets. Bex was keen on getting a dog at first, but changed to a little orange cat after Danis said dogs weren’t allowed in the city (???), stating their home would have a little door so the cat could come and go as it pleased –
And then Danis spotted Smiler listening in and noted that their house would ALSO have a big fence to deter eavesdroppers. Smiler apologized for interrupting and wished them both luck, and Danis, mollified, thanked them, saying they’d all need it. Bex, curious, asked what Smiler’s plans were upon arrival in Baldur’s Gate, and Smiler said that “A pint and a clean room would do me a world of good.” Danis commented that sounded like heaven, and Bex assured him that it wouldn’t be long before they could finally rest. :) Mood lifted after the chat, Smiler turned to go –
And then noticed a book in the corner of the platform – “The Realm According To Bumpo.” Curious, Smiler took a look inside, and found a dog-eared page describing Bumpo’s encounter with an adventuring party consisting of an aarakocra (a bird person – head and wings of a parrot on the body of a human), a tabaxi (cat person, like Rust from Oxventure), a genasi (element person, not familiar with them), and a tortle (turtle person, also seen in Oxventure – hell, Corazon ended up as one during the grand finale of the original D&D series). The encounter mainly consisted of Bumpo “casually” asking what the hell they all were, and them ignoring him. He assumed it was because he was just one of a billion boring humans to them. XD You keep thinking that, Bumpo!
I) At that point, though, I was coming up on an hour of playtime, meaning it was probably about time I wrapped things up so I could quit for the day and do some other stuff. I thus had the gang very quickly swing by their personal camp so Smiler could dye and slap on their new boots (I – should probably just have them carry the Amaunator dye with them, really), then head back to the tiefling camp so I could save and quit –
But just as I was preparing to do so, I noticed something – Gale had an exclamation mark over his head! Which meant he had a Very Important Chat for Smiler. I couldn’t pass that up, so I had Smiler go inquire what was up. Gale noted that all this traveling and adventuring was a tiring business, and suggested that they take a little break – a moment to rest and talk about something rather important. Smiler was like “‘Rather important’ no less? All right, go ahead” –
Which prompted Gale to talking about how they’d been on the road together a while (technically it’s just been two days, Gale), surviving perils and overcoming obstacles, and praising Smiler for demonstrating “remarkable guile and courage” – in particular, defusing the argument between Aradin and Zevlor. As a result, he’d grown to trust them – which meant he finally had the confidence to tell Smiler something that he’d never told anyone else except his cat. Namely that he had a condition – quite unlike the parasite, but just as deadly. Smiler was naturally like “what kind of condition,” but Gale insisted the specifics were personal – he was only willing to share that he’d learned to live with the malady, though it took some effort, and that living with it meant obtaining a magical item every so often to absorb the Weave (the raw magical energy of Faerun) inside of it. Smiler was like “Your illness causes you to consume raw magic? I’m going to need the details…” but Gale refused to elaborate just then, asking Smiler to just trust him that it was of vital importance. He then explained that he hadn’t consumed an artefact since before their abduction, meaning that his craving was due to return soon, and that was why he was bringing it up now – because he would need Smiler’s help in finding the magical items he requires to feed his condition. He stressed again that it was vital, nay, critical he do this, prompting Smiler to ask “Where do you suggest we find the artefacts you need?”
And Gale to respond, “We’ve already done the finding. In fact you have one in your possession.” Presumably talking about The Amulet Of Lost Voices Smiler was carrying that they got from Withers’s tomb (and later replaced with the Amulet Of Lost Voices, no capital The, from Arron in the grove, because that version gives them both Speak With Dead AND Speak With Animals). Gale then went on to say that Smiler knew how hard won the item was (yeah, that skeleton fight WAS a bit of a bitch), and warned that getting more to appease his hunger wouldn’t be any easier. He fully expected danger or great cost to be involved. Smiler admitted they’d expected as much too, but assured Gale they were happy to help.
And so the session finally ended with Smiler and company hanging out in the tiefling camp, having just learned a big secret (or at least part of one) from one of their party! I didn’t realize I’d gotten enough approval with Gale to advance his “The Wizard of Waterdeep” personal quest. Nice to see he already trusts Smiler enough to ask for their help in managing his condition. :) Next time, I’ll probably have the group continue exploring the camp – I gotta go back to the main gate and talk to Timber, after all! And find more of the tiefling kids, and talk to more of the guards, and – just generally bum around getting to know everyone. *nods* Very important, that!
Workout: Another night on the bike, another night with “Blades in the Dark RETURNS! 🎁 | Oxventure Holiday Special - The Effugium Contract” by Oxventure! The adventures of The Crawford Quartet and Barnaby “The Butcher” Fortescue III continued tonight, and featured:
A) The results of the group Sway roll (including Barnaby but excluding Gabriel) – Troy got a 6, Barnaby got a 5, Eliza got a 4, and Winnie got a 2. Meaning they passed the check but Troy had to take one stress because apparently Winnie didn’t do a very good “convincing face” or something. She was like “it’s fine, we’re all in this together” as Troy glared. XD At least they got past the now-very-apologetic guard!
B) While all that was going on, Gabe taking the opportunity to use their Prestidigitation power to flavor the “sniffer dog” prisoner’s sinuses with spicy peppers; cue the prisoner flailing around in agony and falling off the airship – this MIGHT have killed him, but Luke, after confirming it was the prisoner and not the guard (as he’d originally assumed), did another roll to see how he fared when he hit the ground – and the guy got a six, allowing him to land like a cat and sprint off to a new life, pursued fruitlessly by the guard! Everyone was very pleased with that. (On a more serious note, we also learned what Gabe thought about their new magical powers – a mix of “oh shit now I’m marked for life” and “well these powers ARE kind of useful” – and who they’d told – just Eliza; Winnie and Troy were so far ignorant. I suspect that will change over the course of the adventure!)
C) Barnaby walking with the group onto the ship and sharing a brief conversation with them, which included:
I. Barnaby revealing that he’d noticed the “sniffer dog’s” reaction to Gabe, and that’s why he made the fuss he did, to help them out, which was surprisingly nice of him
II. Barnaby introducing himself as “Barnaby Fortescue III, at your service – well, no, you’re musicians, that means you’re more at my service,” which was MUCH more on brand XD
III. Barnaby asking the quartet what their deal was, and Gabe saying that they were a humble band...here to kill a man; cue the other siblings desperately trying to cover by saying that he meant like “kill it on stage,” but Gabe happily pressed onward, explaining with simple-minded directness that they were there to kill Oswin Fry because Uncle Merton stole all his meats – no, wait, he stole all of Uncle Merton’s meats. And then protested that Barnaby “seemed cool” when the other siblings were like “why are you not shutting up” (Winnie: “DOES he?”) – though, to be fair, given it was specifically THEIR bacon Barnaby saved, I guess they have their reasons to think he’s cool
IV. Barnaby revealing to the team that he was here on an investigative mission because he and his organization didn’t think the supposed mission of this airship (to find a new settlement) was on the up-and-up, and Troy realizing that their interests aligned and maybe they could help each other out (especially since Barnaby’s opinion of Oswin Fry was “I have to tolerate him”)
V. And Eliza managing to browbeat out of Barnaby (aka beat him in a contested Sway roll) who he was working for (I like to think, given it was Jane who played both characters, that somehow the willowy Eliza reminded Barnaby of Zillah for a moment), with Barnaby confessing that he was one of the original “ecological anarchists” who was behind “The Attack” that made everything go screwy, and declaring that he “selflessly volunteered” to go on this dangerous mission because he had experience with air travel (cue him gazing off into the middle distance as he presumably remembered a certain balloon race), and he executed a daring act of subterfuge to get on – namely, he ASKED for an invitation, which is something that can ruin you socially XD
D) The Crawfords being shown to their big old shared “staff quarters” cabin (while Barnaby went and relaxed in his nice cabin with a window) and being introduced to the Head of Staff, Mr. M (I don’t know how to spell his full name), who proved to be an extreme stuffed shirt who didn’t care who the four were, just that they could play good music with no, could take requests, and knew to be quiet when not spoken to (Gabe: “No, but if you hum a few bars, we can probably play it.”) He also indicated that they would be given extra duties around the ship if necessary, that they were responsible for the care of their instruments, and all expenses for said instruments would be coming out of their pay, before ending with trying to impress upon them how important it was that they do a good job in helping their “betters” relax so they could change the world or some such nonsense. Troy and Gabe both talked about how he was such a bootlicker he was practically gagging on it the moment he left.
E) Troy sharing the picture of Oswin he was able to find with his siblings, then going to Consort with his fellow staff members to learn more about the ship; on a 6, he ended up getting a bunch of info from an excitable young steward, including a map which showed a bunch of banquet halls, and fancy cabins, and a “Bacchanalatorium” (Barnaby was excited about that one), but not a lot in the way of the supposed “scientific” things the expedition was supposed to be doing in addition to ferrying the best and brightest to a new settlement…
F) Upon learning that Troy was not able to secure a passenger manifest from his new friend, Jane attempting to flashback to Eliza breaking into the office where it would have been stored to grab a copy early, only to fail the roll to find it; cue Andy then doing his OWN flashback to have Troy break into the same office on a separate mission to find that manifest, and also failing the roll to find it, resulting in the two siblings finding each other in the office, being like “what are you doing here,” and deciding to go have a drink at a nearby pub instead XD
G) Eliza barging her way down to the kitchen with her accordion (and I mean barging, Jane rolled Skirmish to get down the hall) on the pretext that she needed to wax it (Jane does not know how one maintains an accordion) to try and find more info – only for one of the chefs to ask why she thought she’d find wax in the kitchen; fortunately, Eliza thought quick and pointed out they should have beeswax for the breakfast buffet, which the chef allowed, saying that breakfast was surprisingly wax-based. XD And then revealing that they actually had loads of wax specifically designated for the Bacchanalatorium – not that he knew what they were doing with it (Andy: “waxing THEIR accordions, if you know what I mean”). End result of the trip was Eliza ending up with a waxy accordion AND managing to get a look at the seating arrangements for dinner that night, memorizing where the minister, his wife, Oswin, and the other cabinet members would be sitting – surrounded by their security detail, which did make things trickier…
H) A flash-forward to the big launch dinner, and the Quartet having to roll to see how they were playing – everyone failed except Andy, meaning poor Troy was basically carrying everyone else, doing a magnificent job on his cello while the rest of the group essentially flailed; Johnny, meanwhile, used the poor roll as an excuse to flashback to Gabriel getting a new mandolin that was made almost entirely of LEAD (covered in wood) for use as a “fine heavy weapon,” explaining their poor performance as having to come to grips with the new instrument
I) And one of the guests, a woman sitting with Barnaby, complaining about the music and getting up to raise a fuss – despite Barnaby’s attempts to cover for the group’s poor performance by claiming that “shanty-like” music was in vogue (as Andy, Ellen, Jane, and Johnny all pretended to play their instruments very poorly and very loudly) – causing Luke to start a four-piece clock for the band getting ejected; cue Johnny trying to confirm “just from the room, right?”, Luke giving them a significant look, and the players being like “uh-oh” XD
Hehehe – excellent stuff, as always! Ah, I missed the Oxventure – and while I’m a little sad to only see one member of the old BITD group, I like the new characters a lot. They’re very fun. And of course, the one returning character is my favorite, so… XD Looking forward to seeing how things go from here!
Writing: Spent about an hour working on the final edits for Chapter 2 of “The Van Dort Vacancy” – quickly reviewing what I’d done yesterday (and spending some time cleaning up a section where I’d used the word “allowed” WAAAY too much) before picking up with the group encountering Barry at the front steps of the mansion. Got all the way from Barry spotting Victor and giving him the business about being away for so long (and falling in with such poor company) to Victor entering the main ballroom after having been yelled at by his mother for being away for so long (and falling in with such poor company). *nods* Not bad! Tomorrow, we pick up with Victor overhearing his mother go “what ghost would marry our Victor?” and realizing that the people he’s known for four days have treated him better than his parents ever did – dunno if I’ll get to the end of the chapter, but I’ll try! Be nice to be able to post this on New Year’s Day...
So yeah -- I was gonna say "maybe not as productive a day as I might have liked," but you know what? Updating my computer and clearing out my C: drive was plenty productive, even if it involved a lot of waiting around that annoyed the hell out of me. *nods* Still, tomorrow I hope to actually get some stuff done over on tumblr -- figure out a few more post rough drafts, at least. Also would like to watch the OXBox end-of-year quiz and OXBoxtra "best games of 2025" videos, if I can, along with editing more of Chapter 2 of "The Van Dort Vacancy" and pedaling my way through more of "The Effugium Contract." We'll see what happens, though -- it IS New Year's Eve tomorrow, and that means I'll be spending most of the night sitting up with the parents marathoning James Acaster comedy specials on Netflix as we wait for midnight. Meaning I have a rather stricter time limit on everything I'd like to get done...again, we'll see what happens! Night all!
