All Welcome [regime auditions] THE SHELLBARK INCIDENT

Regime Audition: The Shellbark Incident

The note goes out mid-morning, posted on the front steps of the castle, the door to every tavern and shop in the city. An owl is sent to nail a copy to the post outside the library. Pages are sent hither and thither through the edge of the woods and the meadow to the small, quiet houses that sit there. It is a simple note, written in formal, but not flourishing, script:

I’m sure there are those of you that would want to prove yourselves as a member of Dawn’s regime, now that the crown has turned over. If so, I have a task for you. You only have to volunteer.

King Andras

Above each board sits a cardinal, red as blood, red as Illuster’s poppies, that taps at a tube of rolled parchment. Its eyes are black, and expectant, waiting for your reply. It seems you need only find something with which to write it.

Days later, just long enough to collect the volunteers needed, the replies are sent out, envelopes stamped with Delumine’s seal in forest green wax. These, too, clearly come from the king. As soon as you take the envelope and begin to tear it open, there is a sense of foreboding about the whole endeavor. Perhaps you take it inside to read. Some things, you might think, are not meant for everyone’s eyes.

And we all know the woods are watching.

Thank you. Your help will not go unrewarded.

You and the other volunteers will meet at The Leaning Tree in three days’ time. It’s an inn I used to frequent on the edge of town. There’s an alley outside one can’t see from the doorway, and this should be where you gather initially. I won’t say it’s a delicate operation but it does desire some degree of tact, considering.

Your first task is to find a man who goes only by Hops, though he may have changed names since the last anyone of any repute contacted him. Hops is a tracker, and you will need him for the long road ahead. There’s something large in the woods; it’s been shaking the trees. All the city guards sent to hunt it down have either turned up too stunned to speak any sense or haven’t turned up at all.

They have only ever said “it’s dead,” when asked what they saw. Hopefully, it is exactly as dead as they say-- but I, and now you, since you’ve heard of it, I’m sure, would sleep more peacefully seeing it for myself. I will try to meet you once your excursion is underway.

Welcome to the trial, my friends. May it be a simple one.

King Andras

The Shellbark Incident is a test to determine the next Regent and Sovereign of Delumine, and is meant to function like a sort of mini D&D campaign wherein you are tasked with working together to find the tracker, Hops, and convince him to lead you to whatever entity is disturbing the woods. You will interact with each other and several NPCs and need to use a variety of skills, but the challenge does not favor any one type of character for either role. After all, Andras is Dawn King. We don’t do normal here, anymore.

(Even if you are not interested in the regent or emissary positions, you’re still welcome to join in! Members of the court who participate will be receiving 20 signos from the dawn stipend and also it should just be fun. ;) )

Each character gets one “action” per turn. One “turn” ends each time everyone gets a chance to post. The success of each action is determined by a 20-sided die roll, with results on a scale depending on the number.
1-5 is a critical failure
6-15 is a mixed success, meaning you accomplish your goal but may lose other ground in return
16-20 is is a success

An action is anything that your character interacts with, so speaking to someone, or examining an object, or making an attack. Moving around does not count as its own action unless you are leaving a room/area.

Everyone’s first posts will be their introduction to the team. Everyone will have two weeks to put their name in the running, after which the adventure will truly begin. These introductions can include as much or as little information as you’d like regarding how you came to be here, your motivations, etc.

Under your first IC post, you will need to pick one of four skills to excel in:
Attack (your ability to do damage)
Defense (your ability to take damage)
Diplomacy (your ability to speak with others and their likelihood to hear you out)
Subversion (used for sneaking, persuasion, and any theft)

Your character’s preferred skill will get +5 on each roll. Because each character can only have one preferred skill, it’s recommended to strategize who does what to get the highest chance of success. You’re welcome to strategize in the #dawn_court channel on discord. ;)

Everyone will have until February 12 to respond, which is two weeks. After all interested parties are collected, deadlines will be shortened to one week after the @’Official Dawn Court’ account rolls results. Like I said, responses don’t have to be long, so hopefully this ends up being a reasonable amount of time.

Final results will be decided by a point count, based on successful actions, those types of actions, with bonus points added to scores based on a member vote. :)

Your first task: Everyone who would like to participate will reply to this thread with their introductory post and their preferred skill of choice. Please tag @’official dawn account’ in your replies.