fandomtownies | The Magpie Emporium; Friday [12/02].

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The Magpie Emporium; Friday [12/02].

Zounds, was Graham sure glad that he had plenty already planned in advance for the game, because with all the tinsel everywhere in the shop today, he was definitely not going to have a lot of time for plotting and planning today! It probably wouldn't be too much of a problem if it weren't for Saffron and Little Bot to consider. He was fairly certain that it would be a Very Bad Time for everyone if either of them managed to eat some of it (one admittedly more so than the other, but that was a lot of tinsel for one singular Roomba to handle by itself!), and he was also pretty sure it was in both their natures to probably try and eat as much of it as they possibly could.

So he was doing his best to keep it cleaned up and out of the way as possible, which was a bit like trying to empty a bucket that kept refilling itself. But just as long as he kept on top of it, he figure, they'd all be okay.

And his pockets were going to be absolutely filled with the stuff, but he had no idea where else to put all the tinsel he'd picked up after it had fallen from the ceiling where they couldn't get to it, really.

The Magpie Emporium is open!

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It's always nice to browse at your leisure, after all, and Graham's a bit distracted by constant tinselwatch, anyway.

As vigilant as he would like to be in making sure none of the tinsel gets consumed by robots or cats, he's more than willing and capable of taking a break to help someone out or even just waste some time!

Where all the gaming magic begins! Grab a game, grab some friends (or just yourself), and get to playing!

Gather, one and all, for the great feasting that awaits as everyone arrives and gets settled for another great session of eating and talking a lot with maybe a little bit of dice throwing and role playing thrown in!

Guillermo had been rather inspired by the holiday season, especially since he had spent last week with his family and had ended up making a lot of pies and empanadas this past week. He rather fond of the candy cane pie he had made since he had never made it before but he had decided to try all new recipes this week so he also had with him a hazelnut pie, salted caramel pie, coffee pie and rocky road pie.

It had admittedly taken him a lot longer than normal to carry all of those containers of pies and empanadas, he was rather breathless as he arrived, “hi, did I make it in time?”

"Just in time!" Graham assured him ~~a million years later~~, pulling himself up eagerly. "Looks like you've been pretty busy there, Guillermo! What did you bring this time?"

Guillermo grinned brightly, as he tried to adjust his containers so he wouldn’t drop them, “I thought since we’re now in December that I’d start trying to make Christmas themed pies,” he explained, “I have Candy cane, hazelnut. Salted caramel, coffee and rocky road pie,”

And if Graham's brows were lifted and his eyes wide before....it was nothing compared to the state they were in now. "Zounds!" he said. "I've never had any of those kinds of pies before, except for hazelnut! I didn't even know you could make a candy cane pie!"

Given the tinsel getting everywhere, Vi had gone for the chips and dips option tonight since those came in sealed packages.

And they'd be at least marginally more edible options than the tinsel when it came to begging cats.

"Hey, Vi!" Graham greeted with a grin and a wave ~~a million years later. "How's your week been?"~~

Jo was running a little late because she kept getting caught in tinsel but she managed to make it, “hello,” she smiled, “sorry I’m rather late,” she said apologetically.

"Hey, that's okay!" said Graham ~~who was very late in responding to this ping~~. "I think it might be a thing with everyone today, you're not even the last one here!"

"Better late than never!" Kurt announced as he ported into the play room, bringing with him a collection of cookie tins. And a good amount of tinsel hanging from his tail and his ears as much as he kept trying to brush it away.

Edited 2022-12-02 18:29 (UTC)

"Definitely!" Graham agreed ~~especially when it came to pings!~~. "And, hey, you're not even the last one, either, Kurt!"

In a rare turn of events, and keeping up with the apparent trend, it was Libby who was actually the latest to the party, hurrying in with a bag of pre-cut veggies and a dip from Turtle & Canary. "I'm so sorry!" she gushed. "I didn't hold everyone back too much, did I?"

"There she is!" Graham had to chuckle when Libby finally came rushing in. "You know, I might have to start making bets, on who's actually the last one to show up late each time! I think this is your first one, though, Libby, so you've got a ways to go if you want to win the Latest Person crown around here!"

Even though there was a very good chance that the game was likely to be stalled a great deal this week due to totally unforseen circumstances like being eaten entirely by other things going on that day, Graham was pretty eager to see at least how much further along they could move things.

"As I'm sure you all remember," Graham said, clearing his throat and lifting himself up importantly, with a serious look on his face, to show that it was time to begin, "we had been traveling for quite a while, and, as the day starts to head through afternoon and edge toward evening, you entered the great woods on the great Western Lurena Forest. The road is a rough and bumpy one, but you seem to be faring much better than the carriage you come across, upturned and upended on the side of the road, and you all have a very bad feeling about this, even Guillermo, who, from inside the carriage itself, hasn't picked up on the trouble as much as the others have. But the carriage is slowing slightly, both on part of the driver holding the reins, and in part because the horses are beginning to act a little spooked, as well, including those on which Esthrana and Wind Over Surf are mounted. In fact...."

There was a pause, as Graham picked up one of his dice, shook it a little in his hand, and rolled it on the table in front of him. He leaned forward a little and grinned, picking up another dice and rolling that, and letting out a bit of a laugh.

Just the thing you wanted from your DM throwing some mystery rolls, right?

Graham's grin grew as he lifted his face up toward the party.

"...the carriage outright stops, as an arrow whizzes through the air from the thick foliage at the side of the road and...ker-thunk!" Graham shot a flat hand through the air in front of him like said arrow. "It strikes the driver, burying itself in his chest. The reins go slack, he slumps over with a groan of pain and surprise into Deirdre beside him at the front of the carraige, and the horses start to neigh and rear with sudden fright."

His eyes bounced eagerly around the table.

"Let's roll," he said, "for initiative."

Maybe not necessarily for combat, right away, but with this group, sometimes, having a clear order for who goes when seemed to help things along a little.

Vi rolled a d20. "Nineteen," she said.

Kurt nodded when it was his turn and he rolled the dice. "Got a 16 here."

Guillermo rolled his dice, “oh hey, I got a 15,” he said, actually quite pleased with that roll.

Jo rolled her dice, “oh I got a 12,” she said, a little disappointed with her throw.

And, finally, with a faint grin toward Kurt, Libby reported her own roll. "Sixteen."

"Ooooh, so we have an initiative tie!" said Graham, grinning over his screen at both Kurt and Libby as he threw a few of his own rolls. "What do you each of you have for your Dexterity?"

"Amenken has a 12 for his Dexterity!" Kurt confirmed.

"And Esthrana's is just ten," said Libby, with a little bit of a sheepish laugh, looking a little embarrassed for her character, but at least it was double digits?

"Alright," Graham nodded as he scribbled a few things down, roamed his eyes over his meticulously written list, and then nodded. "That puts Amenken before Libby in the order, then, and....well, looks like Wind Over Surf....you've got the first chance to react! Your driver's slumped over, the horses are starting to go crazy, and the carriage has completely stopped. Anything you'd like to do to start us out?"

Vi considered her options. "Wind bounds off her horse towards where the arrow came from," she said. "When she reaches the side of the road she looks around to make sure none of her friends are too close, then she casts thunderwave, figuring that even if the archer is out of range, it'll still clear out all that cover and make it easer for everyone else to see what's happening."

Graham nodded a little, taking a second to flip through a few pages to look something up, and then nodded again. "Well," he said, "I'd say plants and brush are pretty secured objects, with their roots and all, so I'm not sure you manage to clear away a whole bunch of cover, but there was at least one of the bandits lying in wait in the woods that was just hiding under a pile of leaves, so he's pretty exposed now! In fact...."

And now he went to roll a series of three dice.

"I'm going to assume that a 6 and 11 definitely don't succeed against the Thunderwave, but that the 19 does, sooooo...you hear two startled cries as at least two of the bandits are pushed back further into the woods, but the guy who was under the leaves hunkers down and is able to stand his ground, even if his cover it completely gone now. So go ahead and hit me with some damage!"

Vi picked out a couple of d8s from her dice. Because, yes, she had more than one set of dice with her. "That's a five and a seven, so twelve all up," she said, sounding very pleased with herself.

Who only had one set of dice, anyway? Really, now! They were like potato chips. You couldn't have just one!

Graham sort of chuckled a little at Vi's roll, shaking his head a little. "Well," he said, "that's a pretty good roll right there! Those shouts of surprise quickly turn into groans of demise, because that puts the two that got pushed back out pretty quickly. One is just really squishy, and the other one was blown back into a very solid tree and collapses from the impact.

"The one uncovered by the blowing leaves, however, take the hit like a champ, crouched and ready with his crossbow and giving a snarl over at this unexpected response. Maybe this group wasn't the easy target they originally thought they might be, after all!

"Any bonus actions?" he wondered. "Or does that finish your turn?"

Vi drummed her fingers thoughtfully against the table before replying. "I use my bonus action to give Amenken bardic inspiration," she said, gently tossing a d6 in Kurt's direction and marking it off on her sheet, along with the spell slot from the thunderwave.

"Alright!" said Graham, looking pleased as punch for the effective turn and a nice little display of teamwork already in play, jotting it down so he didn't forget. "A little inspiration of the bardic variety for Amenken! But, before he takes his turn, there's another arrow shooting out from somewhere in front of the carriage, from the winding road ahead, heading toward the other person sitting up in the driver's seat, so that would be you, Deirdre, aaaand..."

Graham rolled his dice and winced, looking over at Jo apologetically. "I'm gonna guess that an 18 is definitely hitting..."

Jo couldn’t help but feel a little worried for her character, she nodded, “the arrow hits Deidre,” she said, "how badly does it hit her?" she wondered if it would be like last time and it was only minimal damage.

Edited 2022-12-05 08:06 (UTC)

"Not nearly as badly as the guy next to you!" Graham remarked with a snort of a laugh, but he hadn't actually rolled the damage yet, so he really hoped he wasn't wrong about that as he tossed that particular damage dice with bated breath.

Then let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, good," he said, "definitely not. Only one hit point of damage, the arrow nicks your shoulder, does but a mere scratch, and then thwunk! Embeds itself into the carriage behind you.

"And with that," Graham grinned out again, "Amenken, you're up."

Kurt gave Vi a nod and then took a moment to consider his action when it was his turn. "With a quick glance to make sure Deidre is alright, Amenken makes his way into the wooded area, trying to use his stealth to sneak up behind the attacker with a crossbow while he is distracted by the others by the carriage."

"Is that a sneak attack on the one that Wind Over Surf revealed hiding in the leaves, then?" Graham asked, just to clarify. "Go ahead and roll for an attack, then!"

"Aye, that's the one. Sneak attack to try and catch him off guard," Kurt confirmed as he rolled his d20. "Fifteen," he said, looking over at Graham to see what that sort of result got him.

"Oh, yeah," Graham chuckled a little, grinning at Kurt, "that definitely hits! Roll that damage, and an extra d6 for that sneak attack!"

Kurt nodded and rolled the dice. "Got a ten and then a four. So, fourteen total."

Edited 2022-12-02 12:51 (UTC)

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The Magpie Emporium; Friday [12/02].

Mod Your Shopping - 12/02.

Shop with Graham - 12/02.

The Game Lounge - 12/02.

Graham's Table: Pre-game Chatter - 12/02.

Re: Graham's Table: Pre-game Chatter - 12/02.

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Re: Graham's Table: Pre-game Chatter - 12/02.

Graham's Table: Gameplay. - 12/02.

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OOC - 12/02.