Lair Of The Orc Lord - Intermission 2

Asmodeus is waiting to see the professor of the Sorcerer's guild and is presently wandering Eidolon as a tourist. Xera also takes the gondola up to Eidolon to see her guild to learn her new spells as well. The other party members are presently milling around outside the Temple of Eissa.

Asmodeus and Xera both take a few days to learn their spells, this is because neither of them are Channelers. You see, in my game a Channeling spell user receives their spells from their god rather then having to study them. Since both Asmodeus and Xera are of Essence and Mentalism respectively, they go to their guild hall in the city of Eidolon which floats above the city of Sel-kai.

Game Mechanics: my requirement for spell learning in RMFRP is fairly straight forward. For Pure and Hybrid Essence and Mentalism spell users:

1. Level 1 - 10 spells - 1D4 hours time requirement + 1 silver piece (10 bp) per hour payment for a tutor.
2. Level 11 - 20 spells - 2D4 hours time requirement + 1 gold piece (10 sp) per hour payment for a tutor.
3. Level 21 - 30 spells - 4D4 hours time requirement + 1 platinum piece (10 gp) per hour payment for a tutor.
4. Level 31+ spells - 8D4 hours time requirement + 1 mithril piece (10 pp) per hour payment for a tutor.

For semi-spell users of Essence or Mentalism:

1. Level 1 - 10 spells - 1D6 hours time requirement + 1.5 silver pieces (15 bp) per hour payment for a tutor.
2. Level 11 - 20 spells - 2D6 hours time requirement + 1.5 gold pieces (15 sp) per hour payment for a tutor.
3. Level 21 - 30 spells - 4D6 hours time requirement + 1.5 platinum pieces (15 gp) per hour payment for a tutor.
4. Level 31+ spells - 8D6 hours time requirement + 1.5 mithril pieces (15 pp) per hour payment for a tutor.

Learning spells is more expensive in both time and money for semi-spell users because of the greater difficulty of developing spells, that is, it takes more development points to gain additional spells.

The only other way to learn spells is by research and that can take months. The benefits of a tutor are obvious, but the costs, especially for a "poor" campaign, could be prohibitive and hence would need adjustment.

While on the subject of character development, I will add that non-spell users do not suffer these conditions whatsoever. Non-spell users learn and improve their skills by doing, that is, through the refinement of form and technique. Suffice to say that, at higher levels, spell users are quite powerful indeed so earning coin shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

You may be thinking that Channeling spell users get off lightly. Well, yes and no. These spell users will invariably be called to serve their god in one way or another and this is seen through their tithe (10 % of earnings) offered to their temple for its upkeep and growth, &/or through sacrificial quests - the giving of one's "life" to protect others - "life" could be any number of things: money, time, compassion/empathy, or it could literally be their life!

Back to the game: Hanu, Cavell, Kodos and Rikku all decide to find out more info on the last piece of the Life Stone amulet. The note the PCs found earlier suggests an orc named Gorgut has the dwarven backing of the Life Stone amulet and it is the location of this orc that the four PCs in Sel-kai try to find out. Rikku and Kodos go to seek their contacts in the city, neither of whom can provide them with the relevant information. On the other hand Cavell and Hanu seek out their old militia buddies. Cavell's military contacts have nothing on the orc, however, Hanu shouts a few rounds of ale to six of her off-duty friends and it so happens that one man has heard that Gorgut is known in these parts for raiding caravans and that he comes from the western forest area. The orc has no present bounty on his head as his activities appear to have gone quiet the last couple of years and he is known to employ the use of poisons with the aid of a goblin shaman, Skabnoze. This information was well worth the cost of a few rounds of ale.

Wanting to inform Xera and Asmodeus as well as find out how long they will be at their studies, Cavell asks Kodos to teleport up to Eidolon and speak with them; Rikku, the party leader is not presently with them as he is out looking for the thieve's guild location. Kodos refuses citing he doesn't know the city all that well and so doesn't want to risk teleporting and missing the floating island altogether. Cavell then decides to go up and see them himself.

While waiting to see Asmodeus and Xera, Cavell does some herb shopping looking for poison antidotes. He finds nothing he can afford, but the herblist did give him a half usable antidote sample in the hopes that Cavell will find some more on his journeys. He was offered a handsome price for each intact specimen - in this case it was a cone, known as Menelar.

Cavell finds the two spell casters will be another two days at least before completing their studies. He then informs them that they can find the rest of the party at The Limping Dog inn upon their return to Sel-kai as it is too expensive to stay in Eidolon. They are, however, staying in a private room, not the Common Room which had no lock on the door.

While on his way to the inn, Cavell fixes up stabling for the horses as Hanu had only expected to stay one more night, not another two. He also checks in on Shashari only to find she had been wounded quite severely after she had left his sight when in the dungeon. Either the Temple abused her or maybe Kodos hasn't told him everything. Upon returning to the inn the four have dinner. Rikku then heads out for some night time burglery in the hopes of attracting the attention of the thieves guild and thus finding out how to contact it more easily.

Rikku's little romp around the residences of the city proved fruitless as he was noticed going in circles casing joints, then was being watched by two city guards, who themselves proved to be incompetent. Well, at least one was. The guard in training dropped his sword three times on the stone-cobbled streets, however, this was still not enough to deter Rikku from his stupidity who broke into an empty house, found nothing and was almost caught exiting the house.

Two uneventful days later, Xera and Asmodeus return to The Limping Dog late in the afternoon. The party then organises their gear the next morning and prepare to head out to the western forest - a third time. Being thoughtful they hire an Hirazi scout who will fly above their path looking for an orc encampment and maybe some of those cone antidotes.

The PCs are presently at the city stables, all packed and ready to head out.

See you next time...