SoloDark Pt. 2: Weather and Tempers

This is the second post for my solo Shadowdark game running The Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands. I use italics for oracle rolls, mechanics, and explanations.
You can find the first post here

I would LOVE questions and insights so please leave those in the comments if you have any.

Previously

In the last post I discussed the system, setting, and campaign for the game, then built out our 4 characters. Gol’shruk [male half-orc fighter], Shiori [female, elf, witch], Quibel [female, halfling, seer], and Strika [male, human, wizard].

Dulwich

The group had arrived in Dulwich 3 days ago, drawn here after hearing of an increased bandit presence in the area. They had been staying at an inn called The Dancing Bear, a raucous tavern known for its wild nights, with an interior dominated by the stuffed, mounted heads of beasts and monsters that the owner had slain. While Gol’shruk didn't care for the interior, it was the best place to stay in Dulwich that the group could afford, that wasn't a poor house.

Hunting beasts for sport and mounting their corpses on the wall for all to see, bah! What if I stuffed and mounted the heads of the people we've killed? - Gul’Shruk

During their stay the group had been spending time trying to find out what they could about the Shadowed Keep and the surrounding areas. They heard rumors that wolves with supernatural powers of stealth lurked in the woods around the keep, in Dulwich itself people whispered that things were amiss at the poorhouse, and they learned that if you wanted to buy or sell magic items, the place to go was Badger’s.

They say another of the poorhouse folk have gone missing. Seems like the third this month. I don't know what's going on there but I’m glad I'm not forced to stay there. - Dulwichian

I decided to roll once each on the Shadowed Keep, Dulwich, and Dancing Bear rumor tables for starters. I decided against rolling any of the who’s there and what’s going on tables just because I wanted to save it for later. With Gol’Shruk’s traits of Kind and Protective I rolled an oracle check to see if he would prioritize the poorhouse over the keep and got a no. Something to keep in mind for another time I suppose.

Scouting the Keep

After learning what they could and gathering supplies the group set off in the direction of the Shadowed Keep early in the morning with Strika leading the way through the dense jungle. After an hour or two of uneventful travel through the woods the group came upon the worn stone exterior of keep.

The adventure says to roll a random encounter check every hour but to use a d20. I’m going with the d6 of Shadowdark and I’m just going to estimate time. I will say that I’ll at least roll an encounter once on the way there and once one the way back since it’s 5 miles from Dulwich. I decided to roll a DC 15 (hard) INT check to navigate the trails in the forest since it’s their first time to the keep. I’ll probably lower this by one step each time they are successful until they don’t need to do it anymore.

As they arrived they didn’t see any movement inside the keep but they did see evidence of inhabitants, Quibel noticing plants that have been trodden down and tracks left in the dirt. Assuming that the bandits were somewhere inside the keep Shiori sent her raven Muninn out to do some scouting for the group but upon it’s return it too had nothing to report.

The ruins are empty my lady. I could see no movement or signs of life. Perhaps we have the wrong keep? - Muninn the Raven

The keep looked abandoned and the group was left feeling confused about whether or this was even the right location. Quibel convinced the group to wait, and that answers sometimes present themselves if given enough time, so they all decide to stay for a few more hours and see what they could find.

Oracle check: Do we see any movement when we arrive? No but…
Oracle check (w/ Adv): Does the raven see any activity in the keep? No
After that I decided to have them stay for a few hours and then maybe make another Oracle check, but the third hour prompted an encounter.

Unfortunately, before the group saw any signs of life, a rainstorm settled into the area and made things thoroughly miserable. With further scouting all but impossible they decided to abandon the trip and return to Dulwich. The weather continued to decline and by the time they reached the Dancing Bear, the streets were slick with mud and the entire town had taken refuge indoors. With the weather outside threatening to drown the town, and Gol’shruk and Shiori not feeling well, the group ate a quick meal and went to bed.

I decided I wanted the weather random encounter to actually matter so I rolled a d6 check for each character, on a 1-3 then either a torch or ration was ruined (randomly selected) and most of them got lucky.
Oracle: Has the rain stopped by the time we return to town? NO! (nat 1).
Based on this I decided to have everyone make a DC 9 Con save or get sick (-1 Con until they make a DC 12 Con save), both Gol’shruk and Shiori failed.
Given the attitudes of the group (and probably the town) in this storm I decided to make a single Oracle check (w/ d.Adv) to see if anything happens that night at the Inn…No

Chancellor Aadam Ehtaro

Oracle (w/ Adv): Is the weather any better? Yes
I also went ahead and rolled 2d6 for event/encounters, one for early day and one for late afternoon and got nothing.

The weather had broken overnight and while the streets were still muddy and the skies still overcast, at least the downpour was over. Shiori was still sick with a fever so any further expeditions to the Shadowed Keep would have to wait. In the meantime Gol’shruk decided that he would take the time to investigate the rumors that something was amiss at the Poorhouse taking both Quibel and Strika with him. Leaving Shiori feeling more than a little ignored.

Because I'm still getting to know these characters and their personalities I rolled a DC 9 (Easy) wisdom save for Shiori to see if she would be jealous that Gol’shruk didn't stay with her and help take care of her while she was sick. I think this kind of makes sense because on that romance scale of 1 to 10 we talked about in session 0 she's six and he's at a four.
I rolled a natural 1….great. This is such a minor thing that I'm still only gonna drop her score by one, but I'll keep it in mind as a dramatic point for another time.

On their arrival they found the Poorhouse practically deserted, with the exception of the injured, and were directed to speak with a man named Chancellor Aadam Ehtaro as he handled the day-to-day running of the poorhouse. He was a hard set, terse human man that seemed driven by his job and did not have a lot of time or energy to devote to yet another random adventuring group.

While typically Shiori took the lead in talking to others, given her exceptional skillset,her absence force Strika to take point. This…did not go well; Stirka’s cynicism along with Gul’shruk’s belief that something was amiss at the Poorhouse rapidly escalated the situation and Quibel had to step in, physically imposing her tiny frame between Chancellor Ehtaro and Strika, who stalked out the front door in frustration.

How DARE you accuse me of mistreating these people! I have devoted my life to taking care of the people of this town that couldn’t take care of themselves, and you come here at ask after my honor?!? GET. OUT. - Chancellor Aadam Ehtaro

Oracle (w/ Adv): Did Strika piss off Aadam with his attitude? Yes but…;
I decided to let this play out as Strika being way too confrontational but realizing it was going poorly and letting Quibel take over. From there I rolled a Cha check with Quibel and got a 19 total.

Inside Quibel was able to calm the frustrated Chancellor by explaining the situation and apologizing on Strika’s behalf. The prior day had been miserable, and their failure to scout the keep had been more than a little frustrating. The Chancellor took interest in this as the bandits near Dulwich had been making trade difficult, and when trade faltered prices increased and made feeding the poor here even more of a struggle than it already was. He hoped the group would be able to deal with the bandits so he could continue to take care of the vagrants in town. Quibel, the wise halfling seer, let the man bare his frustrations and gave him 2 gold to help compensate the Chancellor for his time and the poor attitude of his colleague.

I am truly sorry for my friends attitude, sir Ehtaro. We found our selves caught in yesterdays’ monsoon and his temper is sharp as a result. When we heard that ill was befalling the poorest in Dulwich we felt the need to investigate. Please, forgive us for causing you trouble and accept this gift as a token of our good-will. - Quibel

I think with yesterday being treated as a failure it makes even more sense that Strika would be a bit more snarky and sharp due to his Self Critical trait. 
I rolled on some of the location based tables for people and events at the Poorhouse and based on what I rolled put the pieces together that resulted in the following:

Confrontation at the Poorhouse

While Gol’Shruk and Quibel were inside entreating with Chancellor Ehtaro, Strika had stormed outside and decided to have a quick look around incase anything was amiss. Once again things didn’t work out for him as he quickly found himself cornered by one of the residents still at the Poorhouse during the day. A man calling himself Aleksi (middle-aged, male, human) practically accosted Strika, pouring out his epic sob story and begging for money so that he could finally try to make himself a better life.

Oracle (w/ d.Adv): Does Stika offer him coin? No (I decided to go with disadvantage here due to Stika’s trait of [Cynical].

Despite Strika’s unwillingness to offer him coin the the commotion was enough to attract the attention of the rest of the residents still at the Poorhouse. Spotting the obviously wealthy Strika (at least compared to them) they rushed to offer their services to him and begged for spare coin. Quickly Strika found himself amid a small crowd of desperate, ragged men, women and children all clamoring for attention.

Oracle (w/ Adv): Does someone try to steal from Strika? Twist!
Since this is the first time I’ve rolled a twist this adventure I’m going to walk through it in a bit more detail just to explain how I do it. Solodark has a d100 table to roll prompts on (each roll giving you a Verb and Noun) and I like to roll twice, take both the Verb and Noun response and look at all 4 words to come up with an answer. In this case I rolled a 13 & 79 giving me: Illuminate/Conflict and Drain/Result. I think Conflict is an easy one here and that maybe drain would mean that if things went poorly he would have to lose money just to get out.
Oracle: Is the conflict between Aleksi and the other beggars? Yes but…

While Strika tried to keep things calm it was no use, Aleksi had begun shouting at the rest to leave him and his friend alone, and things quickly appeared that they would descend into violence. Strika worried that if he caused any more issues it would only make things worse for his group so he tried to change the topic and ask if there had been any odd incidents at the Poorhouse but it was no use and things only escalated. As the group escalated to shouting and two sides exchanged shoves Stika could thing of only one distraction that would always work…gold. He reached inside his pouch, grabbed a small handful of gold and flung it into the yard before fleeing the Poorhouse to avoid any blame. Unbeknownst to Strika, a pair of eyes watched him from the kitchen window as he fled.

Uhhh….look! Gold! - Strika

I had Strika roll a Cha check to de-escalate with advantage given his Minstrel background and got a 3 and 9, then I used a luck point to re-roll and got a 2. Oof!
Oracle: Did anyone in-charge spot Strika at the Poorhouse? Yes
This lowered Aadam’s attitude and is something to keep in mind if he goes back.

Eventually the group all met back at the Dancing Bear to discuss their day and talk about how Strika isn’t allowed to talk to anyone ever again.

---

Not a great start for the group, especially Strika. He managed to make his "friend" feel abandoned and then cost the group 7 total gold because of his attitude and lack of decorum. Which is kind of a big deal because that's about four days worth of living wages for them right now. 

If things don't turn around for them soon, they might be staying in the poor house, not just visiting.