Game-Summaries:9/18/2021 Recollections

Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Solace is ruled by His excellency the Emperor Norfaren Diamondsinger the 12th whose family has ruled over the Empire for the last 200 years through the divine right of Pelor. Under the rule of the Diamondsingers Solace has become a center of culture and power on the continent of Eomas whose influence is shown to the world through the construction of magnificent estates, powerful armies, and strong political connections with the surrounding nations. From the outside the nation of Solace is a utopia.

But Solace appears different from within. The country is a strict feudal society with the Nobility in total control of all land within the country and the citizens relegated largely as serfs that live on the estates of the nobles. The citizens have little rights beyond access to their basic needs. Their labor provides the base of the economy but with little opportunity to move up within the social structure. Serfs are expected to work the land and sell their harvest to pay for their day-to-day lives but are also heavily taxed by the ruling noble providing nothing but the bare minimum left for those citizens to live.  The only other class of the society is the clergy who worship the God Pelor. They have a strong political position within Solace and are funded through the annual church tithe provided by the citizens who look to Pelor for grace in their annual harvest.

The grand power of Solace has waned during the reign of Emperor Diamondsigner as the large and lavish lifestyle of the nobility, nearly endless wars, and several poor harvests have eroded the royal coffers. As a result, the Emperor has implemented additional taxes on the citizens who are already nearly at a breaking point.

2.0 Character Creation

In this world you have little choice on what you get to be - your life is very much decided at your birth and which class you are born into.  To create your character Roll a D100.

• Member of the Nobility
  • Starting Equipment
    • Alchemist Supplies, Musical Instrument, or Jeweler's tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Deception
    • Persuasion
  • Starting Currency
    • 100 Gold
• Grain/Vegetable Farmer
  • Starting Equipment
    • Carpenter’s Tools, Leatherworker tools, or Weaver’s tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Nature
    • Animal handling
  • Starting Currency
    • 20 Silver
• Livestock Farmer
  • Starting Equipment
    • Carpenter’s Tools, Leatherworker tools, or Weaver’s tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Nature
    • Animal Handling
  • Starting Currency
    • 30 Silver
• Blacksmith
  • Starting Equipment
    • Smith’s tools
  • Starting ProficienciesHan
    • Athletics
    • Sleight of Hand
  • Starting Currency
    • 40 Silver
• Stone Mason
  • Starting Equipment
    • Mason’s Tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Athletics
    • Sleight of Hand
  • Starting Currency
    • 50 silver
• Shop owner
  • Starting Equipment
    • Brewer’s supplies, Carpenter’s Supplies, glassblower’s tools, Tinker’s Tools, Weaver’s tools, or Woodcarver's tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Persuasion
    • Insight
  • Starting Currency
    • 100 Silver
• 100: Clergy
  • Starting Equipment
    • Herbalism kit, Musical Instrument, or Jeweler's tools
  • Starting Proficiencies
    • Religion
    • Performance
  • Starting Currency
    • 100 Gold

No starting classes: All scores are set to 8, player can choose one to be 10

3.0 Annual Harvest Festival

Annual Harvest Festival (3)

• Roll to sell your wares
• Interaction with other players
• Checks, saves, and other options for role playing
• Taxation
• Introduction of the local Lord

As autumn approaches you prepare for your annual fall festival. After the growing season you and your fellow townsfolk will gather to celebrate a successful crop and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The fall festival is the event of the year filled with music, dancing, and selling of our wares.

The annual festival provides an opportunity to interact with friends from farms on the other side of the Lord’s territory, sell your wares, and participate in fall festival games.  With that we celebrate a plentiful harvest!

Town Name: Ironfoot, minor noble Duriz Ironfoot is the mayor of the town. Amber is his daughter.

Take this time to meet your fellow residents of the Vapetor Province.

You can take the following actions:

1. Interact and meet your fellow residents
2. Astret is hosting a beer drinking contest - Smerah Light and Smearah Dark
   1. Winner gets token for free Beer
   2. Participants,
      1. Amber Ironfoot
      2. Joesdreak
      3. Thormaline
      4. Halueth Yelstina
      5. Eltaor Reynelis
      6. Travaran Thelamin
      7. Orym Wynwraek
      8. Durlan Orikas
      9. Afamrail Ilihice
      10. Aiduin Heikas
      11. Dakath Naeynore
      12. Aymer Miazorwyn
      13. Folwin Gretumal
   3. 2 Silver to play
      1. Amber pays for all
   4. Drink three beers, max con score wins the round
   5. Goes 7 rounds, Amber wins over Eltaor!
3. Sell your wares
4. Participate in Festival Games
   1. Feats of strength! - STR
      1. DC 10 strength check, 1 attempt
      2. 1 silver to play
      3. Win 3 silver
   2. Bobbing for apples! - DEX
      1. DC 14 dex check, 3 attempts
      2. 1 silver to play
      3. Win 3 silver
   3. Pie eating contest - CON
      1. DC 15 con check, must make 3 successes before others do
      2. 1 silver to play
      3. Win all silver wagered
      4. Astrit Wins!
   4. Solace Trivia - INT
      1. 5 questions about Solace are asked, DC 13 INT to get a hint
      2. 1 silver to play
      3. 1 silver for each question answered
   5. Horse Racing - WIS
      1. Race against others making DC 10 animal handling checks, must make 5 before the others to win
      2. 1 silver to play
      3. Win all that is wagered
   6. Three Card Monty - CHA
      1. Wager as much silver as you wish
      2. DC 14 CHA checks to know where the queen is.
      3. Winner takes all

After a few games and the characters have had a chance to interact and build relationships:

You are all pulled from your games by the sounds of trumpets announcing the arrival of the local lord, Vuduin Vapetor.  Vapetor is a vibrant and flamboyant elf who embodies the nobility lifestyle.  His outfit is filled with detailed embroidery and gemstones. He wears fine jewelry of gold and platinum that glimmers in the sun so brightly that you often have to adjust your gaze when you look at him.  He arrives on a fine white steed in a procession of servants who all wear his family crest - a golden dragon with its tail intertwined into a gordian knot on a black background. His trots his horse into the middle of the festival where he announces to the crowd:

“My loyal subjects! It is I, your lord and protector Vapetor. It gives me such great joy to see you all dancing, playing games, and showing the bounty of your hard work over this difficult year. My family has ruled over this province for 200 years and there has never been a finer group of workers in all history. Through all our work this has been the most prosperous year we have ever had, even lord Reyxina has been jealous, and for that I have to thank each of you! Please accept my thanks for this timing could not have been better!” He turns to hold out his hand to his daughter who sits on a carriage in his procession. As he gestures towards she stands and curtseys.” My daughter, Lady Etenaela, is ready for her court presentation to her Majesty, Queen Finiona, this month. And with the prosperity that we all share we are very hopeful that she will give us her blessing. Thank you all, your Lord loves each of you.”

With that he, and his precession, make their way away from the festival. But the tax collector remains to take his cut.  Check the winnings of everyone and the collector taxes half.

Recollections by Amber

Well, yesterday was a complete shitshow. Trust that bastard Vuduin and my father to ruin the one bloody day of joy the town gets all year. Seriously, the taxes are bad enough, but to grab the coins right out of their hands before they’ve even had a chance to count them is low, even for Vapid-tor and the Brainless Bunch. By the hells, I still can’t figure out where he digs up those guards. The way they play with their "shortswords" all day while ogling the townswomen, it’s no great mystery what thoughts occupy those tiny minds.

It all started innocently enough! Festival day is always full of plenty of entertainments to keep a girl happy! Good old Astret sponsored a drinking contest, which of course I won. That pretty little elf even tried to take part, though she didn’t last long. She is so beautiful, with those long legs… she hardly even seems like she’s walking when she moves…. she just seems to sort of glide over the ground. I, on the other hand, go stomping about in my ruddy big boots. Even her name is prettier than mine. Tourmaline is a cute little stone, made for dainty rings and broaches… Amber is just… just a big hunk of dried sap. You know, come to think of it, I hate her and her dainty name… hate her so much.

Anyway, after the drinking contest, things get a little fuzzy. I know there was a lot of pie... most of ended up on my shirt and in the slop trough. I think Astret won that one. Hells, they'll be crowing about THAT until the next planting. Next , there was a barrel with a bunch of apples we had had to stick our heads in. Bonus there, I got to wash some of the pie outta my hair. There was also some kind of comedy contest, but none of their answers were very funny… mine were definitely better. I remember I kept trying to get on a horse, but definitely couldn’t. Probably for the best, since horses don’t really like me much. And then just when the fun was starting, Vapetor and his stuck-up little bitch arrived. And right at his heels, my father, like the good little lap-dog he is.

Makes me sick, to see my Da like that. I’ve heard all the stories about my dad in the army. They called him Bloody Ironfoot, they say. Could stomp a man to death as he ran by. Could take a giant at the knees, just to get at his head. But to look at him now, you’d never believe it. He has trouble reaching the top of the stairs, much less the top of a giant’s shoulders. Lifts more legs of lamb than axes these days. And when that Vapetor is around… he’s like a whipped warhound… “Yes, my Count. Right away, my Count. As you wish, my Count.” I mean, this is my Da’s town! These are his people! He is supposed to stand up for them! Protect them. Not rob them blind so Vapetor’s spineless runt can have a new party dress to meet the queen! And right in the middle of it, a fight starts. Didn’t see how it started, but when they started arresting people, I started throwing punches. I mean if the daughter of the Squire was in the fight, they couldn’t arrest EVERYONE right?

Must have hit a slick spot in the turf, though, cause before I know it, I’m on the ground, and Da is dragging me away by my hair. Saw him give Josdreak what for, too, before I passed out. Can’t remember why though, but it did kinda remind me of a time when Da wasn’t quite so old and slow. Actually, it reminded me of that time when he caught me and the shepard’s son, showing each other what we had underneath our tunics. I had a bald spot for a month where he yanked me up outta the hay, and I bet the shepard’s boy (what WAS his name, again???) still has the marks on his shapely ass from my Da's cane!

Anyway, when this hangover passes, I’ll go talk to my dad. I am sure I can get him to let those folks outta jail. I mean it was just a good old-fashioned rumble, after all. I may have to kiss Vuduin’s pimply ass too, though if he’s still here. Well, I can suck it up, as long as “Lady” Etenaela isn’t there looking down on me. I may have to remind her what she let her cousin do to her that one time (THREE times, actually) down in the orchard. That’ll knock her down a few pegs off that pedestal her daddy’s got her on!

Recollections by Astret

Autumn is approaching and we're getting ready to celebrate the fall harvest festival! I've prepared special batches of the popular Light and Dark Smeray Ale.

Amber, as usual, is nearby and ready to get things started. I'm eager to earn some extra coin so I start barking about to get a friendly drinking contest going. Amber, ever generous with her privilege, sponsors the event and pays for any that wish to compete against her. After a much longer than expected contest, Amber beat out everyone, though by this point, she was completely drunk. I gave her the drinking token for next weekend that she won and also offered to make a special brew at her request. She requested a flowery beer, so I'll be making a hibiscus beer shortly.

I close up shop for a few minutes to join the festivities and partake in the pie eating contest. The pies by Kymil Valquen are known throughout the area and I thoroughly enjoyed the pies . I won this competition - goes to show, don't judge by the cover! This halfling beat out all those dwarves and tall ones!!

I felt bad for Tourmaline, she's been a great source of grain for me, so I offered to pay for her entry into the trivia contest and then returned to open up my shop again.

There were some gambling games going on, which were promptly broken up by the guards - ruffians that whole lot, the guards that is. Just folks having fun is all! Shortly after, good ol' Vuduin Vapetor makes an appearance. What in Solace is that man doing here?! His personal adornments are too much to bear, it's hard to even look upon his visage without going blind from the amount of money he spends on it. His clothes alone could feed our village for a year!

He boasts about our bountiful harvest and that his daughter is to be presented to the Queen Fiona this season. His boasts much. Then he leaves, thankfully. However, immediately upon his leave, the tax collectors start to make their rounds and take half of our take from the festival! The gall of these people. I come up with a plan to have Lucan punch me to make it seem like I was robbed, but he hit me too hard and knocked me out. Tourmaline revives me with some of her herbs and I see that the guards saw Lucan and he's being hauled off by the guards! Amber, likewise, is being hauled off by her father, Duriz Ironfoot. The crowd is getting quite rowdy at this point, Lucan is really riling them up. [[|Josdreak Broadbelly|Josdreak]] decides to join the fray and punches Amber (this was not the best idea so far tonight) and knocks her down. Duriz picks him up and tosses him aside, picks up Amber and they all leave.

I believe I was about to do something really rash, but the next thing I know I'm flat on the ground along with everyone else at the festival. I come to quickly but notice that all of the guards and nobles have vanished from sight. It looks like at least a couple of minutes have gone missing, perhaps even an hour or two. I don't know what that flash of light was, but it certainly didn't seem natural. And where did everyone disappear to?

I am responsible for getting Lucan captured. I should go see Amber to see how we can get him out.