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Post by reefwood on May 13, 2011 20:12:54 GMT -5
Day 74
Brion spends the next hour trying find information on rocky areas in the region [Diplomacy 35]. Nothing of the sort can be found in or around the city. Nor in the valley that surrounds it. The closest suitable locale lies north of the valley: Boulder Fields. Rolling hills covered in tall grass stretch west, but the land to the north is flat and bare except for the misshapen rocks that provide its namesake. Small and few for the first several miles, growing in size and number over the bulk of the expanse, and ending in countless boulders bigger than a horse near the edge of the Blackfens. Nemedor has plans for the Boulder Fields once the Hydrahead Peninsula is secured. The ruined villages will be razed to the ground, malevolent spirits will be exorcised, and eventually, guard stations will be set up to keep watch over the deadly swamp. In time, should this flat land be deemed safe one day, new settlements will be established. Despite the danger, Brion is given permission to set up a base of operations if he wishes.
The next nearest area is the edge of the Wyrmscale Mountains [45 miles southeast] which borders the Thinth Forest with the Rift at their center.
Another possibility is the base of the Spine [55 miles east]. This chain of mountains runs along the far shore of the Dead Spike, and while most of the range is riddled with undead, its southern base sits relatively safely below the cursed head of the Hydra. Although, the Sahuagin are known to occasionally conduct raids over the watery mountains.
Still further is the rocky cliff line that runs north of the Blackfens and extends for 30 miles up the coast. This is also where Dragon Dock [75 miles north-northeast] is found, and the Sahuagin are less common this far west.
The last option that Brion discovers is the shore upon which Nemedor first landed [80 miles west]. The hazardous reefs wash onto sandy beaches that run into a low rocky cliff line, and beyond that lie the rolling hills that lead to Verdas.
[OOC: It is now 4pm for Brion.
Here is a blurb from Chapter 8 about the Boulder Fields:
You need to go 5 miles north to get out of the valley. Then it flattens out with the first 10 miles doesn't have anything suitable. The next 15 miles has boulders between the size of a Small to Medium humanoid. The last 5 miles has boulders the size of a Large humanoid to a Huge creature as well as rocky patches of ground between 5 to 20 ft wide. And all the areas have boulders smaller than their max size too. The last 5 miles runs along the Blackfens, and this is where you found signs of cockatrice.
Also, the difference between the Dragon Dock cliff line and the "landing shore" cliff line is... the DD cliffs are higher than the inland area but the cliff top is just slightly higher than the bay water which runs right up to the cliff line, and this water is safe to navigate in terms of natural hazards, and there is no sandy beach. The "landing shore" is kind of the opposite: the cliff line is set back from the water with a sandy beach in between, and the cliff top is higher than the beach and water but on even ground with the inland area, and the water is dangerous to navigate because of the shallow reefs.
EDIT: I can post the spoils next week.]
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Post by icnivad on May 14, 2011 13:22:54 GMT -5
I'd like to be part of the base building, since it's something Nim has always been interested in. Since we can all fly/teleport/wind walk, maybe we should try to find a small deserted island off the coast?
What's the purpose for the boulders? For stone shape?
There are some other spells that we might consider, too:
Stone Shape: 10 cu ft + 1 cu ft/level - Transforms stone into rough stone object.
Polymorph Any Object: (which I can get next level) 100 cu ft - can turn a pebble into a fully finished object up to 100 cu ft! permanently! We have a lot of options for materials, here, too.
Move Earth: Digs trenches and builds hills. Useful for landscaping.
Permanent Image: 1 10 ft cube+1 10 ft cube / level. - This doesn't make anything real, but can be used once we're done to make the place more "lush" looking. includes visual, auditory, olfactory, and thermal elements.
Wall of Iron: 1 5 ft square / level.
Fabricate: 10 cu ft / level - turns raw material into finished items. A lot cleaner than Stone Shape, and can work with any material. (1 cu ft/level for minerals)
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Post by michael on May 14, 2011 18:49:21 GMT -5
I like the idea of a small island headquarters, but my concern with that is the Sahuagins. We'll be leaving our followers at our base, so if it's anywhere dangerous, they could get slaughtered. However, if there's nothing else you want to do with the day, Nim could still look into it. I could Touch of Glory him if he needed to make any gather information checks, or he could just fly around looking. As for what Brion is doing, I can call a Shaitan Genie, which can cast Stone Shape at will and Wall of Stone 3 times a day. My initial plan was to find a bedrock foundation which could be carved into our base with Stone Shape. My backup was using Wall of Stone to construct a building, but that still has to be cast onto existing stone. All of the spots I've found are a bit too far from the main army for me, though. Right now I have a couple ideas of how to proceed, both of which involve looking for land near Verdas I could build on. (As near as possible, as long as it's suitable to build on.) The Shaitan can also cast Mud into Stone once per day, so I could use Create Water to make a bunch of mud, then turn it into stone, giving me a stone foundation that I can cast Wall of Stone on. Another option is bringing the Shaitan to one of the places where there is a lot of stone, using Stone Shape to carve out a bunch of blocks weighing close to 50 lbs, then have Garm teleport them to where we're constructing our base. At 50 lbs every 12 seconds, he can transport 15,000 pounds of stone per hour. That's assuming top speed and blocks of exactly 50 lbs, but even at half that pace, we can easily get all the stone we need in short order. Of course, I can also do both of these. Start with a small structure built with Wall of Stone, then expand it with stone blocks mined from Boulder Fields or the Wyrmscale Mountains. Or start with the blocks, and use Wall of Stone like a mortar to seal them all together, making something kind of like this. Icnivad, any other ideas? Before I do anything, what's your ruling on the feasibility of this, reefwood? Do these actions seem kosher mechanically? |
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Post by reefwood on May 14, 2011 21:59:14 GMT -5
Re: Base Building
The info I posted revolved around the idea of using existing stone. It was actually a little bit hard to think about at first because there aren't many rocky areas, but then the boulders and cliffs and mountains came to mind. Of course, you can certainly explore other options, and I think a lot of the ideas proposed have merit. At least worth looking into some more.
One main question about creating stone with mud is...how much stone do you get out of a pound of stone? Do the spells have info on this? Cos I have no idea if 15,000 lbs of stone is enough for a one-story house with a couple rooms or an entire castle.
Also, if you call an outsider, and the spell requires payment, I'd say the spellcasting service prices might be good to use, along with perhaps costs for any expensive material component.
As for the island idea...getting one in the Sahuagin Bay would not be a good idea, but you could probably find one in the ocean, but it would also probably be further than any other locale. If you do build a base near a dangerous area, I'll probably make a % roll each day to see if one of the followers gets killed.
And finally, the only things you can do on this day are using the spells already prepared.
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Post by icnivad on May 15, 2011 11:39:04 GMT -5
Michael, how big of a base are you thinking?
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Post by reefwood on May 15, 2011 12:27:40 GMT -5
Spoils have been added to the opening post.
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Post by michael on May 15, 2011 16:23:00 GMT -5
It's imprecise, because stone doesn't have a set density, but according to google, one cubic foot of stone is usually between 100 and 200 lbs, which means Garm can transport between 75 and 150 cubic feet of stone an hour.
I have Planar Ally prepared today. This requires a tribute worth 1,250 gp to cast, and payment to the creature called. It's a tribute to Gorum, so I was going to use a +1 Full Plate I have lying around for that.
A Shaitan is a 9 HD creature, and I was planning on having it around for 1 hour per caster level (14 hours). It's performing a nonhazardous task, so the total cost of the gift would be 2250 gp. It's a large creature, which rules out giving it any of my spare weapons and armor. The +2 Headband of Charisma might work.
It really depends on how big I can get it in the time I have the Shaitan. At the smallest, I was thinking one 20x20 room. If we do mine rock, though, we can probably make it much larger. I'll work on the numbers a bit later. For now, I'd like to make another Gather Information check on plots of land near Verdas suitable to build on that Brion can use.
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Post by reefwood on May 15, 2011 18:28:56 GMT -5
Re: Base BuildingIt's imprecise, because stone doesn't have a set density, but according to google, one cubic foot of stone is usually between 100 and 200 lbs, which means Garm can transport between 75 and 150 cubic feet of stone an hour. Yeah, that's why I was wondering if the spells listed a generic stone rate, but if it ranges between 100 lb to 200 lb, then 150 lb seems like the way to go. I have Planar Ally prepared today. This requires a tribute worth 1,250 gp to cast, and payment to the creature called. It's a tribute to Gorum, so I was going to use a +1 Full Plate I have lying around for that. A Shaitan is a 9 HD creature, and I was planning on having it around for 1 hour per caster level (14 hours). It's performing a nonhazardous task, so the total cost of the gift would be 2250 gp. It's a large creature, which rules out giving it any of my spare weapons and armor. The +2 Headband of Charisma might work. I'll read up on this spell and creature. It really depends on how big I can get it in the time I have the Shaitan. At the smallest, I was thinking one 20x20 room. If we do mine rock, though, we can probably make it much larger. I'll work on the numbers a bit later. For now, I'd like to make another Gather Information check on plots of land near Verdas suitable to build on that Brion can use. "Suitable" is kind of vague. What kind of questions are you asking?
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Post by michael on May 15, 2011 21:04:22 GMT -5
I don't want to build in a spot that's going to flood and wash my building away, I don't want to build on dirt that's going to sink when a house is put on it, that sort of thing.
I'm sure there are a lot of empty plots of land that are empty for a reason. Even if Brion doesn't know all of the hazards involved, I figured part of the gather information check for a suitable building site was asking people that would.
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Post by reefwood on May 15, 2011 23:21:20 GMT -5
Re: Base Building - planar problems I read planar ally, and the first thing I noticed is that you don't get to select the creature. At best, you can name a specific individual, but you may still not get that individual. Then, I looked at the Shaitan, and the first thing I noticed is that it is Lawful, so in addition to my feeling that Gorum would not send a Lawful creature in his name, the rules actually prevent this since a Shaitan would make it a Lawful spell, which a Cleric of Gorum cannot cast. Although, the offering of armor to Gorum is a good idea, and I will familiarize with non-Lawful outsiders, preferably Chaotic ones, in case you still want to use this spell. Also, this made me think more about Garm who is a Good creature. This shouldn't be an issue for most missions, but it is something to keep in mind. For example, Garm would be happy to destroy the headstone, but otherwise, he probably won't want anything to do with it. And if he had to choose between saving an Evil person and a Good person, he would probably go with the Good person. Stuff like that. I don't want to build in a spot that's going to flood and wash my building away, I don't want to build on dirt that's going to sink when a house is put on it, that sort of thing. I'm sure there are a lot of empty plots of land that are empty for a reason. Even if Brion doesn't know all of the hazards involved, I figured part of the gather information check for a suitable building site was asking people that would. Okay, so you want a geographically safe and stable location. That works. Will get something up for this later tonight or sometime tomorrow.
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Post by michael on May 16, 2011 0:51:02 GMT -5
You allowed me to adjust Garm's alignment by one step, so he's Lawful Neutral not Lawful Good, and Brion is True Neutral, so he can still cast Lawful spells. Though when it comes to something like Planar Ally, it does make sense that Gorum wouldn't send anything lawful. I also missed that I can't choose the creature I summon, good catch on that.
I'm not sure if there's anything else I can call that would be particularly useful. I'll think about other ways to proceed.
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Post by reefwood on May 16, 2011 10:01:25 GMT -5
You allowed me to adjust Garm's alignment by one step, so he's Lawful Neutral not Lawful Good, and Brion is True Neutral, so he can still cast Lawful spells. Though when it comes to something like Planar Ally, it does make sense that Gorum wouldn't send anything lawful. I also missed that I can't choose the creature I summon, good catch on that. I'm not sure if there's anything else I can call that would be particularly useful. I'll think about other ways to proceed. Garm has to be Neutral Good. The reason I allowed a heavenly cohort for Brion is because it was reasonable for his background, but a Lawful cohort would not make any sense for Gorum to send. The first idea you had was to create a new creature based on the Hound Archon but with a different alignment (since a Lawful creature would not make sense for a Chaotic deity) and altered abilities, and this came about because there are no divine Neutral creatures in the Bestiary. I didn't like the idea of making a new creature, and the fact that divine creatures are mostly Good or Evil but not true Neutral seemed fine too me. However, the new Bestiary 2 did have divine Neutral creatures, so I said you could look in there to see if something worked. Another option I presented was to change the alignment of one Hound Archon since I already let Skeletor do the same. Anyway, I didn't save my notes from this discussion, but I remember "thinking outloud" while typing up possible options of altering the alignment of a Hound Archon by one degree, so it may have not seemed clear, but I am pretty sure that I settled on NG as being the only option that made sense. And again, I don't see this being much of an issue for more mission-related matters, but it could come into play for extreme situations or extracurriculars. Also, a Cleric of Gorum cannot cast Lawful spells. The alignment of the Cleric matters too can can add additional restrictions, but the alignment of the Deity always applies: |
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Post by michael on May 16, 2011 11:24:38 GMT -5
In the backstory, Garm wasn't sent by Gorum himself, but by Iomedae, a goddess the Archons serve that was indebted to Gorum. He's loyal to Brion because he was ordered to serve him, not because of any ideology. Once I settled on a Hound Archon with an alignment shift, I remember running this by you and getting an OK. I found a little bit of the conversation here, but I'm pretty sure I specifically asked about making him Lawful Neutral instead of Chaotic Good as long as Garm wasn't a servant of Gorum, and got the ok. I can't find that on here, so maybe it happened in person. Good to know that about clerics. |
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Post by reefwood on May 16, 2011 11:34:55 GMT -5
Day 74
Settlements on the Hydrahead Peninsula are few and usually far between. This has much more to do with the independent nature of the people and the dangerous wilds than a lack of good land. Verdas is the only major city anywhere near the center of the Hydra, and the only notable populations in the vicinity lie to the west. The Boulder Fields to the north are haunted and run near the treacherous Blackfens, and all prior settlements were destroyed by the Acid Queen. Meanwhile, the land to the east and south borders the Tinth Forest that is home to enormous beasts.
Verdas sits in the center of a valley that extends for 5 miles outside the city. Some of this land has been used for farming - though, the fields were scorched to prevent Nemedor from using the crops - but there is nothing wrong with the valley floor that is still covered in grass. It is not unstable. There has merely been no need to expand the farms across the entire valley.
Outside the valley, tall grass-covered rolling hills with scattered patches of clumped trees extend northwest and west and southwest out to the coast and south several miles. The land to the northeast and east and southeast is flat with shorter grass and even fewer trees. The Boulder Fields to the north are also flat and even more barren.
Also, a military compound will be built directly outside Verdas to provide protection for the city, and Brion is welcome to locate a base on this premises.
[OOC: Diplomacy 26, 2 hrs - it is now 6pm for Brion.]
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Post by reefwood on May 16, 2011 11:46:03 GMT -5
In the backstory, Garm wasn't sent by Gorum himself, but by Iomedae, a goddess the Archons serve that was indebted to Gorum. He's loyal to Brion because he was ordered to serve him, not because of any ideology. Once I settled on a Hound Archon with an alignment shift, I remember running this by you and getting an OK. I found a little bit of the conversation here, but I'm pretty sure I specifically asked about making him Lawful Neutral instead of Chaotic Good as long as Garm wasn't a servant of Gorum, and got the ok. I can't find that on here, so maybe it happened in person. Most, or all, of this discussion happened via PM, and I cleaned out my in/outbox a while back, so I don't have my copies anymore, but maybe you do? I did overlook the "lawful neutral" mention in the post you linked, and it may have no registered because I already assumed you knew he had to be NG, but my final thinking before this was that a Chaotic deity will not send down a Lawful creature, and Garm could change his alignment by one degree, but the only other option this leaves is NG. |
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