@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

SO ...how are we all doing?

Excellent! Me, too. So, to business. I'll start rather cryptically by saying that Kathryn, in one of the posts, came very close to a piece of truth about the setting. Huzzah. But that said, I'm not going into it any further. That being said, offering brandy usually comes with consent, corpse or no.

Update is updated. Standard stuff applies, let me know in our Discord if I missed something, or if you need a ruling/dice roll/quick prayer to RNGeezus.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Alright ramblers, let's get rambling.

Or to put it differently, and as just a little bit of meta information, this encounter is drawing to a point wherein new information can only be gleaned by continuing investigation of the facts at hand. Don't get me wrong, there will be other opportunities to learn more, and there are unplanned opportunities that exist within the setting if one looks for them.

Past the next update or two, we are moving toward another time skip before something else unsettling and/or special occurs. Maybe it'll be one of those holidays. I mean, the late harvest is coming and someone has to consume rich, imperialist tidbits while sampling icewine from the harvest five years previous. Wine that has been sitting, aging in casks underground, just waiting for an opportune moment to be consumed. Best of luck.

Oh, and as usual, hit me up on Discord for the regular stuff.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Apologies for the bare bones nature of this update; it is being written on the go. Anyway, the IC is full of spiffy, flowery text designed to be evocative of one's imagination for every adventurer's favorite thing - LOOT. No, I will not be going into exact details about specific articles, I'm leaving a ton of this for player's proclivities and merely provided descriptors to kick things off.

Also, I have left the majority of stuff open for discussion, as it concerns the current clack and any plans the PCs wish to look into. Consider this a continuation, of sorts. Aside from character interactions following this encounter, let's handle any dice rolls and such in the Discord and attempt to move forward. Or diagonally. I'm good with either.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Hello again, Edgelords and M'bladies, and welcome to another amazing opportunity to figure out what the hell's going on in lovely, quiet wine country. This update gives us a time skip and a liiiittle bit of homework. But to kick things off with some clarifications:

The time, ambience, and weather portions of the update describe what is going on as of the evening of the nigh epic wine tasting, with the exception of the lit braziers (more of a coverage of the time in between). Their absence is discussed in the body of the post. Throughout the three weeks of the time skip, conditions will vary. Feel free to put whatever conditions you like as you describe your down time, so long as it is narratively responsible.

Last time skip, I asked you to describe a low point, lull, or failure that led to a learning experience in your studies and/or training. This time, I would like to see a success. Tell me how your characters overcame something, finished something, or otherwise did good and learned something useful from it. Or just an overall, feel-good example of genuine progress. Pretend a 1980s or 90s movie montage song is playing and really dig in.

OKAY - Good News: Urmdrus is done with Kathryn's armor. It looks damn spiffy. Hard as steel plates, flexible, and light. Very light, as compared to normal stuff. Taken alone, it might count as Half Plate, but layered with her mail long coat? PLATE. Congrats. You got plate equivalent at level 5. You're going to need it. Eventually. Again, he will remind that a sufficiently powerful spellcaster can easily turn this into armor of Acid Resistance. Oh, and I hope she likes green, shiny armor that was tempered with the urine of both friends and strangers. No, not kidding.

Further, within the passing of this time, further checks may be made WITHOUT Disadvantage on the things from before. In the instances of Kosara and Victoria (Kosara being from this area and Victoria's background Bardy knowledge), hearing the phrase "Yasmin Steel" and holding the items themselves will provide Advantage, but only if they get rid of the Exhaustion points first. i would also point out that Kosara will have a leg up in identifying mundane qualities of the loot, again owing to her background.

It feels like I might have missed a point in here someplace, but, we'll work that out as we go along. Please be in contact though our Discord for the usual stuff and dice rolls, and above all, have fun with it. Thanks!

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

I have made the mistake of giving a LOT of time for things in the background to amass which needs to be resolved. Bit off more than i could chew, so to speak. As of now, there are a few things which deserve more direct attention before we move along to the event. AND SO, this update and subsequent posts in this cycle will be dealing with those things, at the end of which will be the introduction to the event for all parties attending. Please let me know what your characters are getting up to if not in attendance for the tasting of the (totally not cursed) late harvest icewine.

The more astute of you will notice that the headers, ambience, time, and weather are identical. This is on purpose, as we are covering stuff that needed extra attention over the skip. If we could, let's try to finish up the time skip stuff in this post and wind up back in the appropriate time/setting at the end of our individual texts.

The stuff that could be answered in Discord has been, and we should be good moving forward between that and the IC stuff. BUT, i am the mistake-making type on occasion, so if I missed something, we can handle it OOC. For now, do process all of the awful stuff provided, and if your characters were not present for whatever moments were mentioned in the update, do get with the other characters in the IC to give a quick explanation. Thank you, and have a spiffy posting cycle.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

And we have finally arrived! Huzzah for tue next planned event, and the onward progression of the Current Clack therein! Let's get business out of the way first, shall we?

- If you are bringing along an NPC as your Plus One to the event, great! They can show up at any time, from being with you in the Coach House for a little pre-gaming before the party, to any point anong the way in. If nothing is noted, they will be waiting in the Tasting Room for you all.

- NPCs as Plus Ones do break our rule about players not speaking for named NPCs. Please don't abuse this. If I think it's going a little too far off, I'll step in and course correct. When in doubt, send me a message and we will sort it out. No big deal.

- And again, if you wish for your character to opt out of the event, let me know and provide an alternate task for them to perform in the interim. They may skip out on this task, or consider it completed in one form or another, should minds change and they want to he there. Some call it "Splitting The Party," but I much prefer the more daunting, "Giving Possible Antagonists Opportunities."

...not that you have anyone being antagonistic out there, lurking in the dark, right? Right? Nah, you'll be okay. You're on your vacation in wine country!

Speaking of opportunities, don't forget to attempt some social ones. We have a new face here as well as a couple old acquaintances, in addition to your Plus Ones. Have fun with it. Per usual, hit me up in our Discord for questions, die rolls, or rulings. Thanks!

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

There's not a whole lot to say this time around with the update, not that hasn't been covered in the last one. Please continue to write for your Plus One as best you see fit, with the understanding that anything too "off" will get the High Holy Retcon from yours truly. So far, everything is extremely cool.

Otherwise, feel free to do what your character honestly thinks is reasonable, given the circumstances and their proclivities. And consider - these little assignments I suggest as we progress the story - they're not required, but they are building toward something.

Per our usual, please be in touch via Discord for all of your skill checks, questions, and questionable actions. Thanks again!

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

And here we are again. It's a pleasure to see all of you today, typing out the continuation of our shared adventure into almost certain drunkeness. But before we all get hammered with the wine lady's wine, let us appraise the situation. Laurent is kind of a dick. Lizbeth has all of the earmarks of an ambitious, coming-of-age heiress with a bent for learning how to hurt people, Cecily is ever the diplomat, and Barbal is an irritable, pint-sized shit disturber. But let us not dwell on the negative! The party is officially started, for however long a wine tasting lasts. Full disclosure, it is not the same thing as a kegger, just with wine.

For those of you sampling this wine, as it is the reason for the gathering, you will find it extraordinarily sweet and very full bodied. Imagine drinking alcoholic grape sugar that smells like flowers. Or if anyone is a fan of wines IRL, this would be something like a tawny port mixed with a late harvest sweet Riesling and left to age for five years. If it was thicker, you could top ice cream with it and not be fully out of bounds. Hence, there are palate cleansers on the table and things to eat.

Now then, there IS a 20 minute delay until this happens. Fill in thus time however you see fit (within reason) and don't forget a blurb or two about the NPC under your control. Remember, these minor writing side quests are all building toward something. Per our usual, get with me for questions, rulings, and die rolls. And enjoy the party just as much as you're able. 😈

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Here we are again. Many thinks for sticking around this far in the oddness that is Wintering In Wine Country. Things are slowly turning to a point here, the pressure is mounting (even if it looks like a fancy wine & cheese event), and if one is paying attention, there is a opportunity present. I'm not going to go into detail, but the IC update just might if the right cards are played. In any case, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. In the meantime, please keep track on the number of alcoholic beverages your character is consuming, and if you would please give me a number that they have so far in the evening.

That aside, you know the drill. Get with me in our Discord for questions, observations, die rolls, etc. And good luck with the upcoming.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

On the one hand, it looks like only one person picked their celebrity tour guide to take them on a cosy little tour/wine sampling escapade (Thanks, Riv). In and of itself, this was a little unexpected and as such we are continuing with exchanges left off from the last update.

-However-

There is also the possibility of a simultaneous search for the missing party guest. This was also a little unexpected. If you wish to go this route (Looking at Shoe and Arty here), get with me in the Discord and we can go about setting that up, with an Official Party Split! Huzzah!

This might be an utter disaster, OR a bona fide "Two Birds, One Stone" moment. Personally, I'm all a'flutter to see which one it is. Best of luck in the upcoming! Per usual, give me a nod in our Discord for the usual rolls and rulings. And thanks again.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

To business! Party is split as shown below:

Rens - Annick, Kathryn
Cecily - Laurent, Tarace, Barbal
Lizbeth - Kosara, Victoria, Jon (I am assuming, let me know if I missed or he's wanted elsewhere)

Rens is taking his people back into the Winery Storage, just in the next room. Per Annick's suggestion, they'll start near the opposite door for her initial taste of the "something-something-Red". Obviously, Kat is paired with a true connoisseur.

Cecily is taking her people (all NPCs) into the receiving area where they handle initial production and prepare casks for shipping. Riveting stuff.

Lizbeth's group is starting their tour with the casks and bottles of reserve stuff in the Tasting Room. Trouble aplenty might be afoot.

Baronfjord's group, all ONE of them, well... Let it be said that he was truly a brave lad.

Obviously, we're getting into some stuff right now, so let's all keep our metagaming to a minimum. I understand that some is impossible to avoid, but let's try to have some fun with it. As this looks like it's going to be a split party in the middle of a touch of havoc, allow me to take this opportunity to thank you yet again for taking place in this adventure, regardless of what horrors might be lurking. Per our standard, get with me in our Discord for dice rolls or rulings about stuff, and best of luck, Adventurers.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Wow, I am late getting the OOC post up. Big oops on my end. In the spirit of "I'm doing this on my phone when I should be sleeping now," we'll keep it brief.

Kosara and Victoria have a new area to poke around in. Possibly a few treasures which do not actually belong to us. I wonder what the dice will reveal. Hmm...

Annick is on board with Kathryn's plan, but it doesn't look like Cecily is. Either way, they are looking to make a pit stop before continuing the tour, so... think fast?

And Baronfjord. What can I say? The actions of your opponent has been sent, best of luck with what follows.

So for everyone who's doing what they do to make this a success, thank you! Now let's roll is some dice in the Discord, see what shakes loose.

EDIT: The map for the Tasting Room has been updated to account for the broader venue.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Greetings once again, Edgelords and M'Bladies! We have a bit of a situation building up, but what fun would this be if everything was easy? All I can say is that, like a video game, if you start seeing trouble it means that you're headed in the right direction. To wit, here we are. Whereas violence is always an option, it's really only a viable one for Baronfjord right now.

To BB's situation: What can be communicated has been communicated through DMs and I am waiting on a roll to be resolved before I can make a hard and fast ruling on how the events will proceed. At a crossroads, like. But we'll get into all of that in DMs or in our Discord OOC and get it sorted right out. All good here.

To Kat's stall tactics: They worked. Mostly. Congratulations for that, even if we do have one making for the Tasting Room despite your best efforts to keep the groups centralized. The bit with Rens is flavor text; the gilding put over the more mundane explanation that almost everyone decided to stay put on account of Kathryn's antics, raising the party atmosphere for those who, deep down, wanted something less formal and more ...boozy... Cecily did say no, but she's still sticking around.

Those in the Study: Kosara's new little friend has tipped her off that someone is coming. Past that, descriptions for what she found in and on the desk are in our DMs, do with that what you will. As far as Victoria is concerned, there hasn't been enough time to do a full accounting of the journal, and there sure as hell hasn't been enough time to complete the ritual with the graveyard dirt. So that's where she is with that. Info to ask questions, not enough to answer them yet.

Per our usual, let me know if I missed something, and please be in touch via Discord for thoughts, comments, questions, and rulings/die rolls. And of course:

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Hello again, my fellow D&D enthusiasts! I'm keeping this really short, because it looks like we have a series of actions we're all about to go on, and this is really more of me providing the setting and having you all push forward into it. SO - here we all are, at the update. Get with me on those rolls, and best of luck with the upcoming. I'm curious to see how this all works out.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Here we are again! Obviously my connection issues have cleared up and we're good to continue. A few things:

1) Baronfjord can definitely see the group of women in front of the Estate House's winery entrance. If he chooses to book it, he can make it there during this cycle. Remember, he's still got an issue with glass and wounds from bone shards in his torso. Luckily, he's moving toward two people with curative magic and a very experienced mundane healer. ...and a Necromancer. Either way, he's got options!

2) Laurent will be joining the group outside soon. Do with this knowledge what you will.

3) I am officially taking the NPCs back over, starting now. Congratulations, object achieved. This will reflect positively for those who participated at the end of the Act.

4) No one is officially out of the woods yet.

So, here's the part where I ask you to get with me in our Discord if I missed something, and for any questions, clarifications, and for die rolls to include results therefrom. Thanks a bunch and I look forward to seeing those posts come in.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Well, the random encounter rolls are in, and... I'm not saying. However, it is safe to say that the wine tasting, such as it is, is winding down early. As previously stated, any NPC which were under the control of you all have reverted to myself, and exits are being made. Along those lines, notes are being taken which involve the characters' interactions with the NPCs, which will have an effect in future events. The good news is that no one especially got into any trouble so far with anyone important, and we all learned valuable things (whether we realize it or not). There are also new areas of investigation open for those who wish to do so, or we can all wait for events to escalate to their horrifying, logical, following steps. Either way works for me, and I do love a good dark comedy.

Per our usual, please be in contact with me in our Discord for questions, rolls, etc., and let me know if I missed something. For now, be thinking about how you want to wrap up the event for your characters. Best of luck with the upcoming.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Ello ello again, the update had been updated. It may look a little anemic, but that's because a couple of you who had specific questions and some rolls got your info to work from me over the past couple of days. To wit: You've got your info, do the things with it. However, as we are winding down the party aspect of this segment. However, it does look like the investigative part might be back on! As of yet there is still the issue of the Study, as well as Toombes's rather artfully but psychopathically repurposed into ...whatever he got warped into.

Also, we now have the added bonus of the landowner from the next farm over seeming to make a vow to cause the party trouble. Best of luck with that. But hey, it's not all bad! The wine from the party was truly masterful. I'll understand if this isn't come as a huge consolation.

ANYWAY, you know the drill. Comments, questions, die rolls, etc., please be in touch in our Discord. There's stuff aplenty to see, do, and find out yet to come.

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

And here we are again, as predictable as... something moderately regular in activity. I've really got to work on those similes. BUT ANYWAY, the update is updated. There is little difference from the last one, except that now we're all together (more or less) plus a couple of the more familiar NPCs, just in time to see she mostly fleshless, disembodied skull of one of their long-term friends and neighbors floating above his own artfully mutilated, hollowed-out corpse. Obviously, no one is particularly happy here.

However, this gives us all a beat or two to consider how to handle this moving forward. A plethora of options as well as new difficulties loom very near, and I'm curious as to how this may all work out. To this, I'll say Good Luck. Also a point: we still should discuss as a group what questions you want our resident Necromancer to ask of the poor dead bastard's body.

Per usual, please get with me for questions, die rolls, and the like in our Discord. And rememeber the wisdom of the roaches of Joe's Apartment: "You ain't never alone!"

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Update is updated! I'm going to keep this brief, as time is not my friend this hour. We have updated as far as the final questions being asked and answered, otherwise there is no change from the previous update.

One exception! The weather is getting worse, and you're all out in it. I will have to call for rolls to avoid Exhaustion if this continues for too long. Per usual, get with me in our Discord for questions, die rolls, etc.

Huzzah!

@rivaan@Shoe Thief@Sigil@Arty Fox

Well, it looks like we have some decisions to make. What do do about Cecily, what to do about Lizbeth, and what to do with Toombes's remains. There is also the issue of the only partially searched Study, and whatever the hell might have happened with Jon. Anyhow, I will also note that no one has made a move to ...well, move in the last post. If we're a little uncertain if it's an issue with distance or the party's overall decision, I'll make it easy.

Discuss in our Discord what you want to do as a party, and overall implement it your next post. If you want Lizbeth to go with Cecily or come to the Coach House, she will be fine with it. Just get your characters where they need to be.

Per usual, hit me up in our Discord for questions, rolls, rulings, etc. And good luck with the possible horrors which may or may not await.