DM Carbide's Kingmaker IC
Game Master John Woodford

Im guessing my crit didnt confirm then?

Jacyn: Correct, you did not confirm.

ETA: Too late to edit the last post; Bea actually connected with her shot. Havrin and Bea, add 4 to your attack and damage rolls against the bear. Havrin's arrow still missed, though.

With the others already crowding in to attack the bear, Simn opted to contribute by casting doom upon it.

Casting doom. DC 13 will save or the bear is shaken for two minutes.

Round Two:

Havrin drops his bow and draws his greatsword as he moves to engage the bear in combat.

Free action to drop bow. Drawing greatsword as part of move action and stepping forward to whatever location allows me to attack the bear.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 20 (bless, challenge)
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (4, 5) + 3 + 4 = 16

Havrin's AC: 17
Havrin's HP: 20/20

Round 2 Init:4 AC:10 HP:10/10 Status:Bless

Katya raises up her staff and holds her other hand against the gnarled top of it, a blue glow spreads from her finger tips all connecting to the head of her staff. "This is what can be done against that defense Adam."

A stream of thin blue energy shoots towards Bea and the woman and her gear suddenly grow to a size and stature similar to the bears as she shouts her words in Draconic, "Xurwk muansi wer xiekiv."

Standard action to cast Enlarge Person on Bea.

Round 3

AC 17
HP 14/14
Status bless, challenge, flanking

Adam takes a 5 foot step to the west (or southwest if possible), to flank with both Jacyn and Bea, before striking with his rapier again. Instead of attempting to deal damage though, Adam aids Bea, hoping to add 2 to her attack roll.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

EDIT: Oh, Round 3. Okay. :) Well, its hard to think when all you can see is the backside of a huge, raging bear.

round 3 adam? You already posted round 2

Round 3:

Updated map HERE.

Simn, the bear does not appear to have been affected by your spell. Havrin's sword connects solidly with the great beast.

Initiative Order:
Simn
Jacyn
Adam
Bear
Havrin/Katya
Bea

Round 3, 20/20hp, Bless, Challenge vs Bear

Jacyntries to find a more advantageous spot close by and swings again at the big animal, trying to bring it down before it can further harm his comrades.

5ft step somewhere to help get us all into flanking position, then attack.
Attack 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 1 = 8
Damage 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 2 = 10

Round 3 Init:6 AC:16 HP:8/21 Status:Bless, flank, challenge, enlarged, aided

Bea grunts at the pain of the savage bear attack and says a silent plead to Erastil for strength before swinging once again at the bear.

1d6 ⇒ 1 - Swift action: Lay on hands on self
1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 6 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 4 = 32 - attack
3d6 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (4, 3, 4) + 5 + 4 = 20 - damage

Of course...this all assumes I live long enough to take my action.

Technically wrong Bea, Enlarge Person is a 1 round action. So it will not finish until this turn, I probably should have mentioned that... and probably shouldn't have called it a standard action. My bad on that one

Ah, good catch. I didn't remember it was a full round cast either. Carbide, ignore the extra 3 damage. During bear attack round 3 I'll have AC 18 instead of 16.

Round 3:

Havrin, now that you're close enough you can tell there's something else not right about this creature--you can see what look like the stubs of small horns growing from its skull behind its ears. Perhaps confused by the multitude of targets in front of it, the bear flails away at Bea but misses her completely (although one of the claws practically parts her hair, and if she'd been even a few inches taller would have hit her).

Round Three:

Havrin attempts to shift to a more advantageous position as he strikes again at the unnatural bear.

5 ft step to gain a flanking position if possible. Standard action to attack with greatsword.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 25 (flank, bless, challenge)
Damage: 2d6 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (6, 5) + 3 + 4 = 18

Havrin's AC: 17
Havrin's HP: 20/20

Round 3 (cont'd):

In trying to get to a more advantageous position, Jacyn slips on an unnoticed patch of gravel and misses. Bea and Havrin, however, do not. First Havrin opens an even wider gash on the beast's torso, then Bea finishes up with a thrust through its chest. It looks quizzically down at the greatsword impaling it, growling softly, looks up at Bea, and raises one paw over her in something that looks a bit like a clerical blessing. Then it changes, its paw still upraised. The fur sloughs off of the beast, revealing an unbelievably ancient human man in tattered clerical robes. He smiles at you all, a weary smile. All of you can see that Bea's blow severed a pale green sort-of braided cord that hung around his neck in the moment before the cord falls into dust. His smile widens at this and his upraised hand descends on Bea's shoulder (which is not easy, as the enlarge spell took effect at Katya's action this round). He squeezes with surprising strength, whispers a single word, "...wash...", and collapses into dust himself.

As he falls, the glade undergoes a change. The shimmering effect is gone; if anything, the area seems sharper and more solid than it should. The moss softening the outlines of the elk looks like something deliberate, and the pool has turned to clear water.

"So...what just happened, exactly?" Jacyn says, a very confused look upon his face. Assuming the threat is over, he puts his sword away.

As she shrinks back to normal size, Bea kneels on one knee and offers a silent prayer of thanks to Erastil, then looks up and gives a warm and genuine smile to Katya. "Jacyn, that man was cursed in the form of a bear - and it looks like he lost his humanity in the process. We freed him of the curse...which appears to have also affected the temple itself." She winces in pain at her newly acquired injuries. "Now, I'm going to follow that man's instructions."

She proceeds to the now clear pool and scoops some water with her hands, first to her lips to taste, then washing the blood from her wounds.

"I suppose I could make a comment here about how dangerous religion is, but that's probably inappropriate."

Adam says drolly, as he puts his rapier away.

He looks around in the now clear area, to see what is present.

Perception
1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Adam, the cave has an old broken altar in front of it, and the remains of old fabric has been piled into a bed for the bear inside the cave. It is rapidly falling apart and blowing away, though. Apart from that there is nothing particular to be found.

Jacyn keeps his sword out, despite no apparent enemy. "Shall we explore the buiiding then?"

Bea turns around, looking very relieved and refreshed. "Does anyone else have any wounds? Erastil will heal you by drinking this water. Let's take a look in the cave. I believe this will be a good spot to store supplies and set up an advance base. Perhaps we can even get one of the men from Oleg's to man a post here."

Katya gives an exasperated sigh as her magic comes into effect just as the bear falls before the blades of the warriors in the party. Her eyes widen as she recognizes what most likely affected the bear and the magical energy she sensed around him. Her hair stands on end as she watches Bea drink from the pool of clear water as she looks around the open clearing.

Katya dismissively says, "I have no need for the gods' blessing." Leaving others to wonder if her neutral tone indicates a disdain for Erastil or simply the fact that she is not harmed.

In either cause, while the others go about their buisness, Katya stretches out her arms, making a wide cone with her fingers and focuses her minds eye on the tell tale signs of magic.

"Ickrak'ey arcaniss."

Wide-area detect magic, 60 ft. cone. Katya will go around the whole area with detect magic for a full 3 rounds on each area. Assuming there isn't some further attack. :)

With the poor man who had been confined in a bear's body freed, Simn whispered a brief prayer for the man's soul.

"I have to wonder what happened to the poor man to see him cursed like that," Simn said. He'd only had a brief glimpse of the braided cord before it and the man had crumbled to dust, but it certainly seemed like the focus of the curse. Just who had perpetrated itremained a mystery. Although... It was interesting that this was the second corruption of faith they'd seen in the region. First the charlatan kobold priest, now this. Coincidence, or something more sinister? Simn would keep his counsel for now until he had more to back up these suspicions.

"I'm interested in knowing where those roads lead. If this is in a pretty central location, we might be able to use it as our own base of operations." He nods to Bea in agreement with her assessment.

"For now, though, lets see what lies in the cave. I'm not hoping for much, but its likely some type of tithe at least has been left there over the years."

Adam sneaks over by the cave, keeping an eye out for any potential dangers.

Stealth 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

There is no further attack. As noted above, the cave is empty, the last traces of the bear's den falling into dust like the bear itself and blowing away. It was clearly set up as a place of rest like the shrine north of Oleg's.

"Empty. Heh. Go figure."

Not all the caves around here are actually silver mines, Adam :-).

Is this the place we were looking for? The 'temple'? How big is this place? Entrances? Ceiling height? Map?

The cave, the old altar, the stairs, the pool, and the pillars around the clearing are about it--it's not very large.

"Adam, help me make a detailed map of this place - when we get back to Oleg's I'd like to see about constructing some actual buildings here for housing and storage."

Adam nods, making all the arrangements to apply his artistic skills once more.

The rest of the day and the night pass uneventfully. At this point you could take a couple of days and finish exploring the area around the temple, or move on without fully exploring it. What do you want to do?

"I'd like to see if there are any settlements or ruins of settlements nearby. The path to the north leads somewhere, paths don't just fade into nothing usually." Adam remarks casually over a game of solitaire with his playing cards in the firelight.

"North sounds good to me, but if we are planning on making something of this little area here, don't you think we should explore the immediate area a little more first? If for nothing else, just to make sure there isn't some other monster lurking a little ways down?"

Bea nods. "Let's explore the immediately surrounding area, and then I think it would be wise to return to Oleg's. We can resupply and see about getting some of those men to come out here and start building."

You spend the rest of the day exploring the area, and figure that one more day should do it. Adam, there are indeed faint signs of a settlement north and east of the shrine, but the only thing left that you're able to pick out are the crumbling remains of a couple of building foundations. (Taking ten on your Knowledge(History) check, you recall that the Stolen Lands had been settled by Taldor after the First and Second Armies of Exploration went through the area, and that was over 2000 years ago.)

Apologies for the absence - work has been crazy-busy... even more than usual.

Just wanted to add that while at the temple, Havrin would have done what he could to clean the old broken altar while offering prayers to Erastil.

"Let's explore the immediately surrounding area, and then I think it would be wise to return to Oleg's. We can resupply and see about getting some of those men to come out here and start building."

"We should also let Jhod Kavken know about what we found here. He may want to re-consecrate this temple," Havrin suggests.

Bea nods at Havrin. "I was thinking the same thing. In fact, it was him I was primarily thinking of to live here, if he desires."

"Of course, you know I would say to let him develop it, then. Why should we waste our resources, but I know you a little better than that, so I won't say such things."

Adam smiles as he gathers up his cards.

"So long as you leave my share of things out of it, you're free to do what you want with yours."

Bea smiley wryly at Adam and replies playfully, "Adam, as long as I'm in your employ, I wouldn't dream of suggesting you spend your cash on anyone but yourself."

She turns away but looks back with a wink, "And then there is the matter of my unpaid wages..."

"Bah. Hit me up at the end of the month. You'll be paid."

"Regardless of who lives here and who's pocket the development costs come from, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be living out here alone until some kind of solid structure or defenses are built. Something to help keep the wolves and such out, at the very least."

Katya stays mostly lost in her own thoughts as she aimlessly wanders around the immediate area of the temple. Her unfocused eyes wrapped around the enigma of the place. Yet without further clues to be found Katya fails to reach a conclusion. Still, she voices her concerns the next day when the group meets to discuss their plans over breakfast.

[b]"I would not be so quick to resettle this area... the mark of the First World lingers here. Though I can't... place it. The Narlmarches seem determined to throw the fae at us at every turn."

Taking a moment to sip at her small cup of water, Katya pulls open her spellbook for the morning and prepares her spells, small lights of arcane power flitting through her finger tips in intricate patterns as she memorizes the words of her spells.

Bea considers Katya's warning. "It might be wise to ask the priest about it. Not all fae are dangerous, as we have found with our friends who led us here. That said, we should warn anyone before they come out here, so they know what they're getting in to."

Simn nodded thoughtfully, "It could be the events here were some sort of personal grudge against the priest, but there could also be wider issues at play. I'd be hesitant to commit myself without more evidence though."

The night passes uneventfully, and you go on to finish your explorations on a chilly but clear day.

Over the course of their explorations, Adam does what he can to remember anything from his histories about the settlements or the temple in this area.

Knowledge (History) (10)
10 + 7 = 17

"When we finish exploring this immediate area, are we continuing on, or do you lot want to head back?"

After going over the map of the area, Bea gathers everyone up. "Alright, I think we should head back for resupply and see if anyone from Oleg's wants to come out to the shrine. Sound good?"