AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

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Aegharan
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AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by Aegharan » Thu May 31, 2018 11:10 am

Trade Route Sweat Work
Time: 2018-05-31, 23:00 GMT
GM: Aeggy
Circle: 3
Difficulty: Medium

Player Rewards:
Jik'escala: 3 TIPs, 1400 Legend, 370 Silver
Blaethynn: 3TIP's, 1400 Legend, 200 sp of alchemical reagents, Kelix's Poultice Pattern, 207 silver 5 copper
fredi: 1400 Legend, 3 TIPs, booster potion, kelia's antidote, 287.5 silver
Avalandohamagannahnieventhallailmar: 1400 Legend, 3 TIPs, 220 silver, Desperate Spell charm
Lasairfhíona Aul’ef: 1400 Legend, 370 Silver, 3 TIPs

Downtime Actions Available:
Mapmaking (Rank 1, Step 8 - spend downtime to possess charts of locations and routes)
Forge Weapon + Karma (Rank 4, Step 15)
Item History + Karma (Rank 3, step 14)
Craftsman + 2 Karma (Rank 3, Step 18)
Alchemy + Karma - 3 for kit (Rank 2, Step 10) (Recipes: Booster Potion)

Further Information:
A trade outpost at the iceclaw moot is beginning to be established with support from the Trolls.

Reyntrannin
Posts:270
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Re: AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by Reyntrannin » Thu May 31, 2018 3:30 pm

From the personal journals of Blaethynn, month of Gahmil:

Well, this has been an interesting trip.

Lentera, an Elf merchant, is trying to set up a new trade route. Word came to me about him on the rumor mill and I decided to gather a few other Adepts and look into his plans, as it sounded like a good chance to do some exploring. Avalan, Fredi, and Lassairfhiona all joined me for this, as well as a Swordmaster I had never met, Jik’escala.

I don’t have a lot of hope for Lentera, though. At our first meeting, he had no plans for what he wanted to do, no idea where to do it, or, it seemed to me, any idea what exactly a trade route was. Our initial meeting was mainly Lentera asking Where we thought he should set up. Fortunately, Jik’escala had quite a bit of knowledge about the various established overland trade routes. I think this was mainly from insider knowledge from her Niall. She also seemed to be subtly pushing the merchant to foment competition among the land based traders to the benefit of her people, but I really can’t fault her loyalties. Plus her advice seemed sound.

After a rather lot of discussion, Lentera settled on trying to establish his outpost near the Trolls of Iceclaw Moot, so off we went. The trip was mostly uneventful, despite a brief entanglement with some wolves, and we eventually arrived at Iceclaw Moot intact.

The Guards on the gate received us politely, but with some reservation, which seems fairly normal when unannounced strangers show up at the front door. I greeted them with my most charming smile, and I think I was making a good first impression, when one of my companions, Fredi, I think, let out a booming, rather threatening laugh which raised my hackles. It clearly disturbed the guards as well, who very quickly asked that she show herself free of any Horror taint. She launched into a somewhat toneless yodeling that I think was meant to be one of the more recent modes of music, but I did not find it to my taste. Neither did the guards, who were clearly becoming worried about our presence and requested the rest of us to show our own artistic skills. My companions launched into an interesting show of dancing and storytelling, and once I finished dressing a stone from the ground, I began swiftly carving a traditional message of greeting into it while engaging the guards in conversation. I think Fredi’s laugh from earlier must have had more effect on us all than I originally had thought, since their performances were not particularly noteworthy, but talking with the guards eventually allayed their suspicions and they allowed us entry into the Moot, as well as informing where the chief might be found. Once they heard our business there, they also let us know that things were unlikely to go well in the current situation, as there had been frequent problems with local wildlife, mainly blood bees and giant ants, acting strangely.

We found our way to the Inn, where me met with Ixta, the Chieftess of Iceclaw Moot. She seemed quite reasonable, but withheld her blessing for Lentera’s plan due to the dangers currently facing the area. In addition to the aforementioned ants and bees, spiders had recently begun coming from across the river where Lentera planned to place his port. After more discussion, we agreed to look into the problem and gauge the strength of the spiders near their hive.

We left the next morning, with Lentera staying behind to discuss his plans with Ixta. Once we crossed the river, there remained about a day’s march to where the spiders were rumored to nest, so we traveled that direction, but called camp early so that we could investigate in the light of day. After an uneventful night, we proceeded towards our goal.

Since I was in the lead, I spotted the scouts first. Two spiders were approaching us quickly through the upper reaches of the trees and barely gave me enough time to shout a warning to the rest of the party before one of them flung himself at me, even though I was several yards above the ground. His managed to land a hard bite on my shoulder and inject his venom before he fell, so I quickly retreated to the stand with the rest of my companions, hovering at a much lower height as the dizziness set in. Although we had been travelling in tight formation, the swift onslaught of the spiders, as well as the addition of at least one other, quickly caused us to separate. As Fredi began to set for a charge and our Swordmasters went after their targets, I positioned myself to try and support Avalan as he cast his spells. Unfortunately, that was when the venom took its complete hold over me and I could only watch as my spear fell from lifeless hands and I collapsed to the, insensate once again. I believe that there may be a conspiracy among giant spiders to hunt me down and cripple me at every chance.

It was some time later when I recovered myself and looked around to find that I had been placed in a sack of all places. Apparently Avalan had done this so that his hands were free to carry Lassairfhiona, who had also succumbed to the spider’s poisonous bites. I probably shouldn’t complain, and I am grateful, but really, a sack? Oh well, there was no real harm done, and I extricated myself with little fanfare. It seems that our encounter with the spiders provided a good d measure of what was waiting deeper in the trees, and we decided to turn back rather than push on, since we were not equipped for a serious incursion against the spiders.

I had noticed that the way the creatures were acting had been… odd. Almost as if they were soldiers following the commands of a general. While pack hunter spiders like these use some rudimentary strategies, they should not display this kind of organization. There is definitely something strange going on out here that is worthy of more investigation. Hopefully, the ultimate cause will be something from our own plane of existence.
We finally made it back to the settlement after spending another day travelling, and when we arrived we found that there was another group of merchants who had arrived with an idea much like Lentera’s.

Ixta was pleased with the information we had provided, so consented to open Iceclaw Moot for trade, but would only allow one outpost to be set up. Despite the work we had already done, she declared that the outpost would be awarded to the group who could pass a Trial of Strength. The trial would consist of building a shelter to be used during the construction of the port, the first team to complete a shelter big and sturdy enough to provide protection for everyone on the team, would win.

My companions purchased a couple of axes for the first part, felling trees. For my own contribution, I simply used what weapons I had on hand to provide at least a little assistance. I even managed to finally fell a couple of trees. By the time we had enough that we were ready to move our raw materials over to the building site, we could see that the dwarfs were not off to a good start, giving us a nice lead.
While I was not able to provide much in the way of brute strength to help with moving the trees, I was able to construct a simple sledge and attach it to Fredi’s mount, Su, whose strength more than made up for my lack, and let us begin the final preparation stage of dressing the logs just as the dwarfs began the laborious process of moving their trees over to the site.

At this point, I felt things were moving into my wheelhouse. Preparing lumber like this is something I have been doing for years, even at my young age, so I was able to make quick work of several of the logs, as were my companions, but the dwarfs seemed to also be coming into their own and were gaining ground on us as we began the final stage of building the shelter. Fortunately, several of us had experience creating shelters on short notice, and Avalan placed himself under my direction, allowing me to focus on fastening and reinforcing things while he used his strength to move the large logs into place. This plan worked out well in the end, for when we finished, we looked over to se the dwarfs preparing to lay the las bit of thatch and sod on their roof, barely giving us the win.

Lentera was grateful to us, both for assisting him to advance his dream, and for the basic shelter he would be living for some time as he began the long process of building a new port and trying to create new trade routes through it.

Ixta and the Trolls of Iceclaw also seemed pleased with the outcome, and we were given access to some of their special merchandise, including quite a variety of alchemical reagents as well as some training and patterns in that art.

Overall, it was a very satisfactory trip, despite such an unorthodox beginning.

Fusilliban
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Re: AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by Fusilliban » Fri Jun 01, 2018 5:33 am

The Observations of Avalandohamagannahnieventhallailmar

This has been my most pleasant adventure yet. No hatred-driven undead, no starving orphan children, just good clean fun. And spiders. There were also spiders.

Blaethynn, who is becoming a regular companion, is in contact with an Elf merchant Named Lentera. She wishes to set up a new trade post of some kind. Fredi, who is also becoming a regular companion, joined us in this effort. Both of them seemed to be in much better spirits; when last I saw either of them they were quite distraught over their fallen Human companion. This is wonderful news! We were joined by two Swordmasters, neither of whom I knew. My companions, then, were:

Blaethynn, a Windling Weaponsmith,
Fredi, a Dwarf Cavalrywoman,
Jik'escala, a T'Skrang Swordmaster,
Lasairfhíona Aul’ef, a Human Swordmaster

We were also joined by Su, a troajin that Fredi is very friendly with. I am taking a liking to Su, but I am not sure Su returns the favor!

Our first task for Lentera was to help her decide where to set up a new trading post. North, at Iceclaw Moot on the Coil River, or south, at Borgan's Rest on the Serpent River. Having never in my life seen a river, and understanding little of how trade works, I could not comment on this, except to say that the Trolls I have met in my life have all been very honorable. (The one I am most familiar with is Thane Cawdor, a Sky Raider, who I am very impressed with. I wonder what she is up to lately.) Jik'escala was most insistent that Iceclaw Moot was a vastly preferable trading option, if riskier. Lentera seemed to like both ideas - risk, and reward - and so we struck out north.

Two nights into our journey, in the small of the morning, we were set upon by wolves! Two of them were larger than the others, and Blaethynn (I think it was Blaethynn - I am not sure as it was all very busy and I was not yet awake) suggested that we should attempt to destroy them first. The wolves savaged our legs (or in Blaethynn's case, her torso) and we were able to accomplish this task of destroying the largest animals first. Jik'escala was, as advertised, quite masterful with her sword. Lasairfhíona was quite masterful with her spear, which I do not understand. Are they not called Swordmasters? Is she then a Spearmaster? I am an Elementalist and do not cast the spells of a Wizard, and an Air Sailor does not sail upon water. But, Sky Raiders sometimes do raid on or from the ground. I do not understand how all the Disciplines are Named. Also why are they not Swordmistresses? Perhaps I do not yet understand the Dwarf language. Anyway, we dispatched the wolves. This was my first use of the Lightning Bolt spell. I can already tell that it hits harder and faster than Earth Darts. This makes sense; Air can strike a target faster, Earth will linger for longer.

Days later, we arrived at Iceclaw Moot. Fredi tried to strike up a conversation, but has been laughing with Su too much. The Trolls there asked us to make art for them, and they were unimpressed. The next time I am traveling to meet Trolls, I will make sure to bring some animal horn with me, so that I may make art from it. I am told that Trolls appreciate horn carving; perhaps this will help. Gaining entry took some time, but they told us where to find their chief, Ixta. Ixta told us that the problems that plague these trolls are many, and many-legged. Blood bees, giant ants, and giant spiders. (I did say there would be spiders. Keep reading! There will be more spiders!) Ixta said that if we could help with these problems, she would look more kindly upon Lentera's efforts to begin trading. We agreed to try to help. Ixta specifically charged us with investigating the spiders, areas where they could be found, and how strong the spiders were.

The spiders were to the south, and we had to cross the river. Rivers! I had not seen rivers before this journey. Rivers are huge! I have never seen so much water in one place. And the water moves! It flows freely, not trapped in a single place, moving around and over and through the land. I will have to study these more, understanding them seems key to understanding Water.

Once we were over the river, and through the woods, Lasairfhíona told us about her house and that we should go there some time. (I did not understand why - perhaps it is a Human thing.) Before I could ask more about this, we were ambushed by spiders! (I told you there would be spiders.) Spiders do not seem to like a fair fight. They lurk and like to surprise their enemies. They also have very poisonous bites. There were several of them, and it was a close fight, but we convinced them that we were not food. Fredi and Su were extremely helpful in this! Blaethynn was paralyzed, again. I thought this would happen, and opened my backpack just in time to stick her in. After the fight, the Human was also paralyzed, and so I had to carry both of them for some distance, looking for a safe place to camp. Blaethynn was quite distressed to wake up in a backpack. Perhaps she does not like the smell of stoveplant.

We agreed that we had learned everything Ixta asked us to learn, so we returned north to the Moot. While we were gone, a group of Dwarfs had arrived, also wanting to trade. They had a falling out with Lentera, and the town was not big enough for the both of us. Ixta deemed that this matter would be solved in the old Trollish way.

The old Trollish way, we learned, involved cutting down trees for their Wood, and then using that Wood to construct a shelter large enough to house our entire team. Whichever team built a shelter faster would be allowed to construct a trading pier, using the lumber that the slower team had collected. I asked Ixta if this was a contest that involved direct combat, and she assured me it did not. We negotiated the purchase of an axe from a local blacksmith, and began the process immediately. Felling trees was easy! Moving them was harder, and I cannot adequately describe how Jik'escala was able to move logs through the forest, except to say that it was entrancing to watch. Our head start collecting lumber was helpful - despite the reputation that Dwarfs have for building, we were able to build our shelter (tall enough for me!) faster than they could complete theirs. We were victorious! Had we not gotten shelter, Lentera's hopes for profit would have faded away.

Lentera congratulated us on our success. Given the number of problems plaguing the Moot, and Lentera's business aspirations, I am sure more help will be needed here in the future. I am worried for these Trolls. If things do not change soon, they may need to change their name to Insect-swarmed Moot!

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BattleChad
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Re: AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by BattleChad » Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:27 pm

The Great Library of Throal thanks Avalandohamagannahnieventhallailmar and Blaethynn for their contributions.

Journal Rewards: 70 Legend Points and 92 Silver
Last edited by BattleChad on Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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etherial
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Re: AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by etherial » Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:13 pm

From the Journal of Jik'escala, T'Skrang Swordswoman Extraordinaire:

15 Raquas, 1423 T.H.
An Elven merchant by name of Lentera sent out word that he was looking to establish a new trade route but didn't say where. After speaking with him for a few minutes, it became clear that he was not merely being secretive, he had no idea *where* he was going to build his new trade route. After consulting the maps for a few minutes, while it would certainly be advantageous to my people to have one more way of trading with Throal, that advantage would be minimal, and it would be far better for Lentera to seek alternate route.

We briefly discussed helping him build overland trade routes either to Sosonapa or to Archmouth, but these proved difficult due to Archmouth's distance and Sosonapa's Horror infestation, so we instead recommended upgrading the trail to the Iceclaw Moot from a simple path to a proper trade route. It was riskier than trading with my people, which meant it was the right thing to do!

17 Raquas, 1423 T.H.
Our mettle was briefly tested on the route to the Iceclaws in a daring midnight raid by some wolves, which gave me a chance to see my new Swordmaster buddy in action. An Alpha wolf pair was leading some younger pups in their first hunt for Namegiver flesh and we proved too hardy prey to take down. Lasairfhíona wisely led those who were awake against the Alpha male whilst I, armed with tailblade and broadsword, took down the Alpha female.

18 Raquas, 1423 T.H.
The Iceclaws welcomed us with open arms after we demonstrated that we were free of the influence of the Horrors and we descended into heady negotiations with the Iceclaws. Lately, they've been plagued not just by bees and ants but also Spiders. I'd've thought the Spiders would *eat* the bees and ants, but, alas, it seems they were interested in more sapient snacks, and so off we went to prove to the Iceclaws that we could defend ourselves against bloodsucking bees *and* bloodsucking spiders.

19 Raquas, 1423 T.H.
We were following Blaethynn through the woods when he noticed two spiders. Quickly, the battle was joined but we were unable to prevent Blaethynn from succumbing from the poison. Down a mobile attacker, it quickly looked like we would be outnumbered, but the tide turned and the spiders fled.

Our triumph was diminished, however, as a group of treacherous Dwarves had arrived to steal our thunder and open up trade with the Iceclaws!

20 Raquas, 1423 T.H.
A bargain was struck: Whichever group could build their shelter the fastest would be granted the contract. Avalan used his Strength and Elemental Wisdom to help select the best trees. Blaethynn used his sharp blades to fell and clean as well as his Craftiness to build our shack soundly. Fredi and Su used their brute strength to haul and position the timbers. Lasairfhíona chopped trees and helped put them into position. I had negotiated the purchase of an axe and used to to chop and clean trees, and then attempted to roll the logs into place by dancing on them to maintain momentum.

Things looked close for a while, but we were able to complete our shelter before the Dwarves and the day was won!

Someone will have to take care of these blasted ants, bees, and spiders, but today is a day for friendship and trade.

PCs:
Avalandohamagannahnieventhallailmar, Obsidiman Elementalist
Blaethynn, male Windling Weaponsmith
Fredi Dram, female Dwarf Cavalyrwoman
Jik'escala, female T'Skrang Swordmaster
Lasairfhíona Aul’ef, female Human Swordmaster

NPCs:
Ixta, female Troll Elder
Lentera, male Elf Merchant

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BattleChad
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Re: AAR: Trade Route Sweat Work

Post by BattleChad » Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:47 pm

The Great Library of Throal thanks Jik'escala for her contributions.

Journal Rewards: 70 Legend Points and 92 Silver

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