Olivius calls out to Hawke as he's about to punch the stone, Whoh! Stop there! Those things are more valuable if they're intact!
Hawke would stop his fist mere inches from making contact with the lodestone and turn his head to regard Olivius. Eyebrow rising with interest, he would inquire, "What do you mean? This is not some of that abstract art crap is it? That stuff deserves to be destroyed."
Olivius chuckles. No. Though that crap can be worth a lot too, to the right buyer. It's a Lodestone. Very rare as they only come from things like the beast we just defeated. Very rare equals very valuable to the right clientele.
"Hmm...then I suppose I can carry it as is for now, but we may find that it will be easier to sell the gems individually than to try and sell the thing as a whole."
Easier is not always more profitable, my friend. Olivius says with a wink.
Hawke would offer a grin as he remarks, "Yet an easy profit is better than no profit and I've got my eye on some new armor. That monstrosity put my current set through hell."
Olivius shivers a bit at the mention of hell. Gah, If I never see hell again, it'll be too soon.
Hawke's eyebrows would furrow at Olivius' statement. "What do you mean? Was your life up until now that bad?"
Did you not see me in the Library? I met Death himself! All cold and big and skeletal. I nearly died!
Hawke would eye Olivius with suspension. "I saw a man unconscious on the ground. I didn't check to see if you were alive and I hope you told that f%#*ing bastard he has some debts to pay." As Hawke speaks, his eyes will grow dark.
Olivius shrugs. I got the feeling he didn't negotiate. At least not very well. He offered me my life, strings attached, or death. I took the former.
Hawke's eyes would narrow at that. "Strings attached?"
More like cables. I must perform "noble" deeds in value equal to whatever I steal. Now I just need to discern what qualifies as "noble" and which of my available "noble" ootions has the least chance of leaving me a pauper.
Nice guys, welcome to Chapter 2! We still have a few things to work out re: End of Session, Leveling Up and such, but I wanted to get a the next part started and we can continue the rest of the discussion in the Discussion thread for any remaining loose ends.
You've cleared the Mount Haujobb Monastery of threats for now, but there's still the travel up the mountain to its summit to consider. It's not easy to climb up to the highest peak in the world. There is a Move for this group action in Dungeon World: Undertaking a Perilous Journey.
Dembrath, whichever role you are selected to perform for the party will automatically succeed as if you rolled a 10. Benefit of being a ranger. :)
For reference, from the SRD:
When you travel through hostile territory, choose one member of the party to act as trailblazer, one to scout ahead, and one to be quartermaster. Each character with a job to do rolls+Wis. ✴On a 10+:
the quartermaster reduces the number of rations required by one
the trailblazer reduces the amount of time it takes to reach your destination (the GM will say by how much)
the scout will spot any trouble quick enough to let you get the drop on it
✴On a 7–9, each role performs their job as expected: the normal number of rations are consumed, the journey takes about as long as expected, no one gets the drop on you but you don’t get the drop on them either.
You can’t assign more than one job to a character. If you don’t have enough party members, or choose not to assign a job, treat that job as if it had been assigned and the responsible player had rolled a 6.
Distances in Dungeon World are measured in rations. A ration is the amount of supplies used up in a day. Journeys take more rations when they are long or when travel is slow.
A perilous journey is the whole way between two locations. You don’t roll for one day’s journey and then make camp only to roll for the next day’s journey, too. Make one roll for the entire trip.
This move only applies when you know where you’re going. Setting off to explore is not a perilous journey. It’s wandering around looking for cool things to discover. Use up rations as you camp and the GM will give you details about the world as you discover them.
Dambreth listens with one ear to the conversation between Olivius and Hawke as he tries to cope with with the enormity of what has just happened to him. He's never been an overly religious member of the Elven community preferring to spend his time off in the jungle with Scram instead of listening to words of elders. Why pick me? Why have I been given this burden?
When he has a moment, he pulls Scram to the side and puts his arms around his best friend and squeezes him tight. "Get this Scram...I've been chosen by the gods...". Scram gives his friend a look and then proceeds to purr at Dambreth as if to say everything will be alright.
Turning to the others, Dambreth says "We should get going. It's a long climb to the summit. Scram and I will scout ahead to make sure that there are no more unpleasant surprises."
Hawke's eyes would narrow at the mention of stealing. Why would Death require him to act in a noble manner to make up for stealing items from their enemies.
Before he could think too hard on it, Dambreth would draw his attention away.
"Aye, I would like to get done with this as soon as possible."
"However, would it be prudent to take some time to recuperate from our battles? Perhaps we can find some extra supplies here before we head up the mountain as well. Extra food could be of great importance as we make our way up."
Sinathel had vanished again while the others talked heading back to get anything of value off the queen. 'May this keep them from fighting over money. After grabbing anything of remote value off her kill, she looks in all windows available. If nothing catches her interest (like her spear) she heads back down to regroup with the others. She glances around the room looking to see if her spear shows up in here if she has not found it yet.
Overhearing Dambreth take up the task of scouting and Hawke discussing setting up camp. "Yes, it is a long climb. I'll watch for dangers along the path, to make sure no one takes a fall. But yes, it would be wise to rest first. It wouldn't be good to climb a mountain when exhausted. Accidents are more likely to happen."
As Sinathel searches the outer ledge, she comes upon an unpleasant sight. The monk who had run to warn the harpy queen had not caught her in the most pleasant of moods, it would seem. The druid's spear rests against the roof of the building on the outside ledge, unharmed, but you can see that the monk was punished for delivering bad news. Harpies don't know the meaning of mercy. The mind-controlled messenger had been gutted with the very spear he stole to deliver to his master.
Olivius feels his hands shaking and quickly agrees. I could use a few hours. Falling in that hole did some damage that I'd like to try to soothe.
When you settle in to rest consume a ration. If you’re somewhere dangerous decide the watch order as well. If you have enough XP you may level up. When you wake from at least a few uninterrupted hours of sleep heal damage equal to half your max HP.
You usually make camp so that you can do other things, like prepare spells or commune with your god. Or, you know, sleep soundly at night. Whenever you stop to catch your breath for more than an hour or so, you’ve probably made camp.
Staying a night in an inn or house is making camp, too. Regain your hit points as usual, but only mark off a ration if you’re eating from the food you carry, not paying for a meal or receiving hospitality.
And Olivius - sorry, bad news bud:
When you do nothing but rest in comfort and safety after a day of rest you recover all your HP. After three days of rest you remove one debility of your choice. If you’re under the care of a healer (magical or otherwise) you heal a debility for every two days of rest instead.
Houserule: If you press on despite your debility without waiting to heal, you will recover naturally within 1d4+1 days. The D4 is rolled "secretly" by the DM - meaning you can check the spoiler of course, but you can only make an educated guess in-character. You don't know exactly how long it takes for your body to mend.
Hawke will choose to take some time to search the monastery for anything of use, especially food supplies since they will be traveling up a mountain, before settling down to rest.
There are few rations remaining that the occupying harpies haven't eaten or despoiled in some way. However, you do find enough monksbread to form days' rationing, if you don't mind going a bit hungry.
Other than that, your search mainly comprises of empty hallways and lonely rooms containing some personal effects of the monks who formerly lived here.
You settle in to rest.
It's about 4 PM.
Hawke will pack the monk's bread away figuring it would be best to start off at full strength when going up the mountain. The bread could be used as a last resort.
After finishing his search, he'll sit down with the others and consume one of his dungeon rations.
"How long do you speculate it will take to reach the top of the mountian Sinathel?"
Sinathel, you'd wager about 3 days, give or take a day, based on your prior studies of Mount Haujobb.
Sinathel gives him a brief word to the spirits about rejoining the earth. His body would help nature thrive here. Taking her spear, she left the monk to his rest.
She made sure to search the Harpy queen for anything of value before she headed back inside.
"Three days give or take a day based on my previous studies of Mount Haujobb."
Your search of the harpy queen's shredded body finds a small leather pouch filled with animal skulls, tiny skins of some kind of fluid, and a tall shaker of salt. You recognize these as ritual components.
"Scram and I will head out at first light. Plan on following a few minutes behind. If we spot a danger, one of us will come back to warn you while the other watches."
You all notice an unusual behavior from Dambreth as the evening wears on. Instead of immediately going to sleep while waiting on his watch, tonight he finds a quiet corner and sits without moving or talking for at least an hour. Scram stands guard next to his friend and growls a warning at anyone that tries to approach. If Sinathel asks Scram what is going on he will only tell her "God stuff, it's a secret."
"Does everyone have enough supplies to make it that long at the least?" Hawke will ask simply of the group.
"The land provides for me. I have enough."
Olivius nods. I have four more days with me.
Your rest here in the monastery is largely uneventful. The harpies are scattered from the death of their queen and will be recovering for some time, and the earth elemental's rampaging has kept all local flora far away. It's utterly silent in the monastery aside from the noises you all make.
Olivius beds down early and wakes with the dawn. His hands still shake a little from the blow to the head he took the day before, but he still manages to pack his few belongings tightly and efficiently. He's ready to roll within ten minutes of waking.
Olivius, when you awaken you see that a small mountain-dwelling goat has come to investigate the presence of a druid on "his" mountain. This is not the first time Sinathel's presence has attracted friendly attention from local animals. The goat sniffs the sleeping elf, and begins to nibble on her braid.
Olivius clicks his tongue to get the goat's attention. You shouldn't chew on hair. He says softly, Bad for the plumbing, if you get my meaning.
The goat drops the braid and stares at Olivius, unimpressed. He walks around Sinathel's head and sniffs the thief's face.
After taking first watch, Hawke will sleep until woken.
Olivius catches his head and keeps it at least a few inches away to prevent any licking that might occur. Otherwise he lets it roam about as long as it doesn't try to eat or damage Anyhing.
He was less freaked out than the first night this had happened, but it still seemed very unnatural to him that wild animals would be this curious about a sleeping elf.
Plants also tend to grow in her direction as she sleeps. It's really weird, even by elf standards.
The goat finishes inspecting you, and notices Scram. With a sudden bleat of terror that wakes everyone up, the goat runs off, climbing the ruined rubble of the eastern wall to flee out a window.
Sinathel sits up hearing the terrified bleat looking around trying to find the source.
Olivius chuckles and points to the fleeing goat's rear end. A woodland friend of yours found Scram. Scared the daylights out of him.
This day was starting off very well.
"Ah." Sinathel lets out a small laugh before stretching. "Which way did he go?"
Olivius points out the window. He's lucky Scram was asleep. He looked tasty.
Sinathel climbs up the rubble, peeking out the window to see if the goat is out there.
Scram and Dambreth head-out to scout the way. They work together like the well oiled machine that they've become in the wild. Between the 2 of them it will be almost impossible for the group to be ambushed.
Occasionally Scram will halt then crouching stalk forward and then spring to attack. Several rabbits and a squirrel have met their fate this morning from the hunter as Scram eats his fill.
The goat is perched primly atop a narrow shard of what was formerly the monastery's roof. All of you can hear the baa'ing of the goat from above, but Sinathel hears and understands, "Good morning, two-legger."
Dambreth, you scout ahead and discover a few divergent paths off the main path up the mountain that lead to large animal dens. There's no immediate sign of the animals that dwell within, but from Scram's reaction it's a large predator of some kind. Your own hunter's instincts scream at you to leave this bigger creature to his territory so you can pass through unmolested. Fortunately, there are a few routes you can take to avoid their turf and not lose much time going up the mountain. Armed with your knowledge, you turn back toward the monastery.
You arrive back at the main gate to find Sinathel talking to a goat.