You are a citizen of the Kingdom of Redwain.

Yours is a nation defined by rivalry and intrigue. Composed of the combined lands of five Great Houses, Redwain is not so much a single country as it is a collection of loosely-allied city states.

This alliance is still young, and fragile. You remember the stories your father's grandfather told about the Red War, when the Houses nearly destroyed each other in their attempt to dominate the realm. He would swear and spit as he recounted the horrors perpetuated by your neighbors. Though you were raised to believe the Final Accord that ended the fighting was a noble act, and the peace that followed was proof of its soundness, his generation would never give up their bitterness. To great-grandad, the past sixty years have only been an intermission in a war that will never end.

Faithless doubters aside, life in Redwain has been undeniably stable. The Final Accord united the land under a single King, chosen by all from the only House that had remained neutral during the conflict; House Brescia. The first Brescian King was beloved for his just and impartial leadership, and each of his descendants have ruled in that tradition ever since. Your current King, Rothas Brescia the Fourth, is no exception.

Though the old animosities live on in new, subtler forms, Rothas IV has been remarkably able to maintain balance in spite of them. Political negotiations in Redwain often happen through a combination of extortion, blackmail, and shifting alliances, but House Brescia's characteristic integrity keeps the King immune to such chicanery. In local parlance, "As hard as bribing a Brescian," is another way of saying "impossible."
Rothas' rigid moral code has made him a respected judge and mediator. When two Houses disputed ownership of a new platinum mine, he made them share in the profits. When a Duke's ambassador caught a council advisor embezzling from the treasury, and tried to coerce Royal favors out of him, the King deported both of them. If an egalitarian solution was impossible in an argument, Rothas could always grant one side their wishes, and assure the other of his deference on the next issue. Obviously, The King cannot oversee every dealing, and much still transpires without his knowledge, but all agree that it is his steady hand that keeps the realm in harmony.

While you are aware of these things, the manuverings of faraway courtiers have never concerned you. You have spent your life never travelling far from your house's borders. Someday you will be called to serve, but you're content to wait until then.

These are the Great Houses of Redwain:

Har Hend
Sigil - a striking scorpion
"By Claw and Venom!"
Led by - Baron Balloch Hend

Located in the center of Redwain's vast desert region, Har Hend is a House of hardy survivors and fierce warriors. Their words evoke the attitude necessary to survive in such a harsh climate, through whatever means. Their control of Redwain's mining industry has made them the richest of the Houses, though you wouldn't know it from appearances. Castle Hend is a spartan place, and most of that wealth is used to bolster its impressive military.
As a respected fighter, you would most likely have made your living escorting trade caravans through the desert, protecting miners from the hordes of creatures that live far below the sand, or as an officer, endlessly drilling with your men in the wastes.


House Freewind
Sigil - an osprey clutching a fish
"Clear Eyes, Swift Wings"
Led by - Marquis Cadell Freewind

On the southern Peninsula sits House Freewind, whose naval fleet more than makes up for their relatively small territory. Port Freewind is practically the sole supplier of fish to the Kingdom, and every aspect of life in the March revolves around this. In fact, most citizens spend more time at sea than at home. The people are practical, but carefree, loving nothing more than to zip around the continent on a variety of adventures.
If you choose House Freewind, you might have a small fishing trawler of your own, or you might be a deckhand on a Great Whaler. You might be an ice harvester, dragging huge icebergs from the south arctic sea, or perhaps a sailor on a military vessel, ensuring the safety of these ventures for others.


House Longmark
Sigil - a deer's skull & skinning knife
"A Call for All"
Led by - Duke Eaden Longmark

The Longmark clan was the first family to rule Redwain, and are actually the progenitors of all the other Houses. These days, they keep to the forests and mountains of the north, acting as the spiritual leaders of the Kingdom, as well as its primary huntsmen. Whether tracking game in the woods, or meditating in their mountain temples, the Longmark people live in quiet solitude. Their House Words have a double-meaning, that honorable service to Duke & Diety is expected, and that purpose can be found in anyone or anything - even death.
In Longmark, you might be a ranger, providing game for the people, or a river-trader, sailing down the Emerald Channel and returning with goods from the Delta Port. You might also be a monk or priest in the mountains, guiding pilgrams to enlightenment.


House Osmere
Sigil - a glowcap mushroom
"Undarkend by Night"
Led By - Count Gormont Osmere

Osmere is the most mysterious of the Houses, almost entirely self-sufficient on an island of its own. The Glowcap Swamp provides all the amenities Osmeri life requires, along with some unique extras. Their fortune is in rare plantlife, crucial in spell components and potion-making. Most Osmeri have some amount of magical training, and all value cleverness and lateral thinking. Their House Words and Emblem are an illustration of this; that illumination can come from things other than fire, and that a problem without an obvious solution is never insurmountable.
As an Osmeri, you could be a Reaper, making expeditions to retrive mushrooms and herbs from deep in the swamp, an alchemist, mixing potions to be sold on the mainland, or a career scholar, studying history and scrying around the realm.

What was the battle against the cave worms like? How did the other person fight (sword, magic, etc)? What does he look like?

I'll post similar deets about Goradh soon.

Added a description of the battle to the first post of the IC thread.
For obvious reasons, I was vague about appearances and weapons used.

You guys wanna describe that stuff to each other here?

EXECUTOR, what's the name of the port city that Goradh was in ? That we talked about on the phone?

*edit* happy now?

CHARACTER INFO:

Name: Len Duros
Race: Human
Class: Fighter

Len has a sister Lydia and their parents died when they were younger in a caravan attack. Len had kept to jobs involving caravan protection and other merc work to provide for himself and his sister until she married the son of a blacksmith a few years later. Lydia became distant with Len and he believes she unfairly blames him for their parents deaths. Len has taken to doing the same type of work he always has, because that's what he knows.

Belmouth, also known as the "Golden Delta"
Its nickname refers to the vast wealth that flows through port on a daily basis.

Conveniently located in the geographic center of all five nations, this town serves as the primary trade hub of the Kingdom.
It is also the front line in a constantly escalating battle of financial brinkmanship. Officially each House is allowed a certain amount of military presence there; a balance necessary to minimize intimidation and theft (in theory). However, there exists a large pool of unaffiliated mercenaries in town who make a healthy living from jobs the nominally law-abiding Housemen cannot afford to be seen doing.
The racketeering culture is so pervasive, merchants can expect to be courted by dozens of shadow-buyers, and the most important sales criteria in Belmouth is the buyer's capacity to protect the merchant from reprisals.

It's a nice enough place otherwise.

Phone post test. ASSUMING MOBILE CONTROL

I just want to say how happy I am this is happening. Great start, guys.

For the record, I'm doing most of this via mobile, so the fine tunes that you're sharing likely won't be enjoyed by me until a later point in time.

Edit

And please excuse any egregious autocorrects.

Can you tell us what protocol exists for raising the alarm? Is it a drum, horn, torch system, or a magic effect? What about engaging an enemy after an alarm is raised? What would Goradh and Len know to do from their training?

Good question. The ramparts make a square, and at each corner is a signal horn. One blast for "friends are here, open the gate," and two for "everyone wake up. we're under attack!"

BOOSH! New developments!

May I have your passive perceptions, please? :D

Oh spit! Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

I don't have access to my character sheet atm so I can't give my perception, but I'm pretty sure it's barely anything; not my forte. Greg might fair better. I'll hold off on posting until I can make some sort of check (might need to buy even more dice in zoo York)

I'm trained in perception, and I have an Encounter Utility power that will Len reroll a skill check that I am trained in. I'll get my score in a few minutes.

The utility power is Useful or Helpful advice, I can't remember which. It may be DM's discretion if Len can say "wait, I think I just failed a spot check."

Lol at "whose sword was bigger"

Goradh - Perception is +9
Len - Perception is +2.

I'll try to send PDFs of our character sheets to you soon.. working on getting a free print-to-pdf program.

So the PDF thing failed.. Crucial advice is as follows:

Range 5
Trigger: Any ally within Range you can see or hear makes a skill check with a skill that you are trained in
Effect: Grant the ally the ability to reroll the result, with a power bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier (in this case, +2).

You were both actively "on alert," so I'd allow the use of that ability in this instance.

Goradh is using Stealth (+9 mod) to move towards the sound. If he moves more than 2 squares, he takes -5 on the check roll. He probably wouldn't be moving full speed towards it. How far away are the barrels?

Whoever they are, they were watching you the whole time, so stealth is kind of moot.
But to answer your question, think of those token icons as being 5ft across. That makes the initial distance between you and the barrels about 20ft.

Additional info: each corner bunkhouse contains stairs down to the courtyard. The door is on the long side of the building.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're considering that Len sounded the horn without the player saying so? Just trying to get a feel for how this'll shake out going out going forward.

If someone isn't able to post for days, I'd rather just move things along. Especially when their next choice is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

I did notify him via text that he was going to be NPCd for one round a few hours before I posted. I'll never take over without trying to confirm it's alright with you. Hope that puts some of your concerns to rest.