Dungeon World - Chronicles of Chromia

Game Master ZenFox42

Teren - as you and the child walk towards the lone figure, you eventually get close enough to see that it's a female Elf, looking bedraggled and weary.

Zathra - you're up! And since you weren't at the epicenter of the destruction like the rest of these people, what has brought you in their direction (you can just work that into your conversation with Teren)?

Rankev - I think it was established earlier in the game that verbal threats are not enough to invoke Parley, so...

Even tho he's a spider, as he moves his mandibles, somehow human words come out : "Ssskkkssskkk...Dolem does not fear power, Dolem likes power, Dolem *wants* power - I shall collect you as well...ssskkkssskkk"

And you see a long strand of sticky web shoot out from him, heading in your direction.

What do you do?

I'm pretty sure "the matter of the young-blood that you hath laid low" - a.k.a the teens we took out at the river - is the whole reason behind the blood debt that has now been paid in the first place.

Laguna looks to Sarthel, smile wide on his face. "It's always been my job to protect everyone, and deal with all the unpleasant stuff so nobody else had to. And anyway, I failed to stop all that chaos happening in the first place - you weren't going to stop me making that right. Though, uhhh..." Laguna tilts his head and quirks a non-existent brow, the tentacles that form his head going lax and his canid face bearing an expression of confusion. "I'm not sure what you're on about? I don't really feel different for gripping the blade. I mean, my hand glows like it's on fire now-" He waves the luminous, rune-covered hand about. "-but I don't think that's what you mean."
He shrugs, and smiles. "Guess I'll find out what that's about later."

-----------

After the child makes their report, Laguna nods to Teren as he makes to investigate the figure. He turns his attention to the knight. "We've got to keep our peoples safe, and help them become accustomed to each other as the leaders of each of our groups. First priority is going to be making sure that beast doesn't take any of ours again, but after that, we ought to make plans together for our trek to the ruins. Neither of us is familiar with the other's group, and we're going to need a full understanding of everything at our disposal to make it through this." He casts his gaze across the area.
"I think we should make sure the perimeter is secure and do some work toward raising overall morale, but after that, I figure it's better we start planning our journey sooner rather than later. How about you? What's on your priorities?"

Ariendel the Elven Guard's cost is The Thrill of Victory and his skills are
*Protector 2
*Tracker 1
*Loyalty 1

Onick (as a hireling) has the cost of Good Accomplished, and has the skills of
*Warrior 4
*Priest 4
*Loyalty 2

Yeah, I shoulda just rolled anyway. ...I'm not very bright. ^_^

"Oh confound!" the mage cries as he realizes that violence is being against his person.
He tries to cunningly devise the projectile's trajectory so he might move but slightly and avoid it!

Defy Danager Int!: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (1, 2) + 2 = 5
But alas the web is too verbose for him to find safety against it!

"DIE SPAWN OF DARKNESS!" Onick cries as he draws his blade and sprints to the foe, nimbly clambering up and over the damaged stair, the adrenaline of his ardor giving him strength!

Rankev nods at the example, realizes that defense will avail him naught. "By the powers of Athalos, demon be gone!" he cries, small darts of mana arcing from his fingertips!
Cast Magic Missile!: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (4, 1) + 2 = 7
Magic Missile Damage wtih Warrior bonus!: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1) + 4 = 8
Oh lets take "You put yourself in a spot" and see how bad it can get. =0

The Elf was a wild, sinous thing that moved like a coiled spring. Her hair was braided, but the ends had exploded out, and only the hairpiece prevented her hair from going everywhere. She was short but her body seemed to lack any sense of fat. Her solid green eyes scanned the horizon, and she studied a map as she came.

"Stay here. If something happens, run back to camp and tell the others." Teren tells the child, before stepping out and approaching the elf. "If that's a map, it may not do you much good, friend. Chromia's not what, or where, it was. What brings you here?" The druid's casual words aren't matched by his careful expression, or the tension with which one hand holds his spear.

Zathra pointedly looks Teren up and down, snorts, and says "I would think it would be obvious. I am looking for something."

"I assume that you are a protector or something?"

Teren's tension visibly transforms into annoyance, but he nods at the elf. "Teren, servant of the Hills. And protector of the surviving Chromians, at the moment. These are dangerous times to be wandering alone; what's so urgent that you need to find it now?"

"My ancestor's tomb. I have been sent on a quest to recover her weapon and helm."

Introducing Zathra may take awhile, so while that's going on...

Rankev - again, two things happen simultaneously : your Magic Missiles strike the giant spider, piercing his thick hide leaving bleeding holes, *and* an arrow appears out of nowhere from below, striking him in the head!

This double assault appears to leave him momentarily stunned, but before you can act again he says "Ssskkkssskkk...Dolem thinks it best if Dolem leave now - we shall meet again!" and he scuttles out of an opening at the very top of the windmill.

There appears to be someone below you shooting arrows - what do you do?

Laguna - the Knight says "My priorities are to leave tomorrow morning to get the children to the safety of the ruins. Perhaps we adults can travel to the Blackened Grove to get its fruits to sustain us on our travels, then get us all back to the safety of Scalia as quickly as possible."

Ariendel turns and stares down. "Hail to thee, brother archer!" he calls out in the direction the arrow came from--the ability to tell the direction from which an arrow was shot is a thing that all elves intrinsically know. "Come thy forth so we might parlay!"

Rankev simply nods at the mouth-noises that Ariendel is saying, as he is already awkwardly clambering up to where Onick is shouting and cursing and shaking his weapons at the hole in the ceiling through which the villain disappeared. "Thrice damned cur!" Onrick shouts. "Come back and taste my STEEL!"

Power ignores the mysogonistic blustering going on and scurries over to the human-shaped form. "Oh dead oh dear. 'Tis this LifeCleric Varus? Hast our many conversations come to an end? Or, mayhap, might my understandings of thy craft bring thee back, and in so doing, prove that I am right in a most sublime manner?"

Power leans in and begins cutting away the sticky strings to get to the person trapped inside.

Cutting is hard: 2d6 - 1 ⇒ (3, 3) - 1 = 5

Alas his feeble muscles do not make quick work of the stuff.

No, no need to roll for that, Rankev. There's no other immediate threat (that you know of) around, so you can take your time. Same as your friends, for cutting you out of your webs (which happened before your post).

While I said he appeared completely covered, once you get close to him you can see that Dolem thoughtfully provided a hole in the webbing around his mouth and nose - apparently Dolem was saving him for later.

Quill - you're up! Someone is calling down to you from high up the stairway...

Not the friendliest sort - but her spear-arm could certainly be useful if that thing returns. And she doesn't smell like those crystals.

"If that tomb was in Chromia, you may be out of luck; I'm told the city's gone entirely. If not, you can follow me to our camp; someone might recognize a landmark from your map."

The raven circles back in midair, coming to alight on the stranger's shoulder. He pulls back his hood to reveal avian features, showing himself to be a Kenku. They're fairly common as a race, though they usually keep to their own species.

He speaks. "Hail. I did not mean to interrupt your conversation with the spider, but I saw that the discussion might not have gone in your favor if I hadn't stepped in."

"You can call me Quill. I'm a ranger in these woods. Are you folks having some kind of difficulty here?"

"Prithee, do you offer me the privilege of guest then, even as I accept your place as host?" she says, suddenly very formal.

BTW, I'm waiting for the players to continue the meet-and-greet of the new PC's - or should I move the story on?

Sorry, missed that I was up!

Teren considers the question and its implications for a moment before nodding. "Yes." Hope I didn't just agree to anything I'll regret!

Power nods. "Salutations, Quill. And gratitude for thy arrow. Indeed! That 'twere a foul beast indeed! But pray tell, are you recently come here, or have you been stalking our little group abouts?

Oh dear oh dear, pause a moment. This is dear friend and he must needs use mine aid. A moment and I shall see if he has wounds that can still stand to be mended."

T3h heelz?: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 2) + 2 = 7

It doesn't sound meat to put myself in a spot. What about -1 forward?

"Alrighty then, onwards to your domicile."

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Laguna shakes his head. "Not so soon. As much as their safety is a priority, I'm pretty sure we need a good grasp of our supplies first. You're not just taking the children here - you're taking their guard, in all odds their parents too, and making sure whoever is left behind on this trip is able to feed and defend themselves too. We all need to be able to defend ourselves, and we definitely need to be sure that we don't starve. We can't waste time, but rushing will end us one way or another. One step at a time."

"We might want to consider heading to the Blackened Grove sooner rather than later." The canid guardsman casts his eye over the people he was meant to protect, gauging their current state and watching for anyone who might just cause a problem. "You'd be best talking to Teren about that. He knows more than I do."
At least, as far as this life is conncerned.
As he looks, he spots a Kenku at the bottom of the mill. He looks over to the knight. "Seems we have a new arrival. I'll check it out."

Striding over to Quill, Laguna smiles and waves, noticeably friendly and near-invisibly wary. "Hello there!"
Regardless of whether they expected it, what meets the Kenku's eyes is quite distinctly an Erze - a reincarnating goo person, to glance over the nuances. More specifically, an Erze with softly glowing green eyes and a head more akin to that of a wolf, wearing pitch black armour and carrying a bardiche - or in other words, a really big poleaxe.
The figure this creates is one that makes first impressions much harder than they need to be.
Still, as Laguna comes close to Quill, he seems more cheerful than intimidating or murderous. "Nice to meet you. I'm Laguna, the local guard lieutenant...whatever happened to Chromia aside. What brings you here?"

The Knight says "I'm sorry, but I must insist that we get these children to a more defensible location as soon as possible - remember that beast that attacked us at the river? Neither this thrown-together hut nor the mill would last a minute against that thing. The rest of you can do what you want, but I'm taking the children to the ruins first thing tomorrow. Of course, I would welcome your company and added protection."

Laguna, I'm not sure what you mean by "their guard, their parents, and whoever is left behind" - the PC's, the Knight, and the children are the only known survivors, at least in the immediate area.

Alright, misremembering the amount of people we have. I thought we had a little bit more than we do. I've definitely been running on assumptions since it's been a while, so I've done a little checking back.
Looking things over, here's what I can gather:
Using what numbers I can get here and accounting for separation of groups at the time of the post, then adding new players, we have 23 people to feed including PCs. The only one I can confirm is a child among that 23 is Mirabelle.
The knight had intended to take everyone to the ruins in the morning, with our support. Not just the kids - though admittedly, we can at least say the red-sashes in the group are most likely teens from what you learned when we encountered the group by the river. It's possible they may be counted as children too.
Actually come to think of it, we do have the surviving river rebels. Assuming the one that went for help was in the 15, there were two survivors - the one we fished from the river, and the one I hit with a Black Bane, the latter alive but in a hell of a lot of pain, his flesh stained by the darkness I wield. If they were brought to the mill, that's 25. I don't actually know how those two are faring.
Wait, 26, I forgot Onick.
Back on track, even if the survivors from the river aren't with us, we've got a red-sash named Tima with a wound. It was bandaged, but not healed, and it might be infected. Tima was the only one to get a good hit on our beast, and I don't think we learned how from him. Judging by Varus's behaviour, food is in short supply too.
And really, that's getting into what I'm concerned about. With the beast about, anyone that travels needs to a proper guard to make it. Anyone that stays needs to be able to muster a decent defence too. The parents came up simply to do with the fact that if any of the children's parents were about, they may need to come too to keep their kids calm, to say nothing of what the parents themselves might do if separated from their child.
Most importantly, though - EVERYONE. NEEDS. FOOD.
Anyone that doesn't travel? They need food. Everyone that does travel? Need food too. Everyone headed to the ruins needs enough to eat that they can make the trip in at least adequate health, and to survive until more supplies can be gathered. The non-travellers need enough food so that they can survive and make the trip later too.
I don't know how we're doing on supplies, but it doesn't sound like much. I don't know how far away the ruins are either - if we can make it in say, a day or some other relatively short time, it could be alright. But in a longer trip, there's logistics to handle so far as eating, resting, and guarding everyone, to say nothing of our path.
So, yeah, we have folks to look after, some injured, mildly drowned or afflicted with whatever my attacks do to people, and I'm concerned about them being protected, united, and not starving to death.
...I'm probably overthinking this, admittedly, but that's what's going off in my head.

As Teren passes the location where the child standing watch was hidden, he offers a brief "it's OK" hand sign.

"So, may I ask your name? And where you hail from?"

Laguna: based on this post, I kind of assumed all of our options were in the ~1 day journey range. Assuming that's true, and given that we are in a forest with an established supply of clean water (the river), I don't think we're at immediate-survival-crisis levels of starvation. So Teren will argue when we get back that "get everyone into a defensible location so we can organize foraging parties" makes plenty of sense.

"Zathra. Some among my tribe call me Bonebreaker. And you are?"

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Laguna - I don't want to quibble too much about how many people are in the group, but : 6 PC's (including Sarthel), 6 red-sashes rumaging thru our stuff when we woke up (2 of them died, 1 is wounded), 15 red-sashes approached us later, the Knight and Mirabelle (another red-sash), and Onick and Ariendel, makes 29 by my count. And all the red-sashes/young-bloods are under the legal age of adulthood (which is 16 in these parts).
Still, that *is* a lot of people, altho since the Knight's entire group was not affected by the catastrophe ("We felt the sundering of the land and dared venture into this blasphemous valley of yours. Hoping to save those sorry souls that might be displaced in the ruination."), they have all their rations that they were carrying for themselves, which if...well, rationed...out, can feed the entire group for several days.
And yes, the ruins are only a day's journey away.
Finally, two posts below where Tima appears wounded, Sarthel healed him of 4 HP, which I figured brings him up to full.

The kenku gives the approaching Erze the side-eye in suspicion as he approaches...but then, it was the ranger's choice to reveal himself to the others, so an introduction was inevitable.

His gaze briefly travels over the length of the knight's weapon, wariness plain on his avian features, but then the ranger holds out a taloned hand, to shake.

"That 'whatever happened to Chromia' matter is what brings me here, in fact," he states. His voice has an undercurrent of the croak that punctuates the speech of feral ravens.

He takes a smooth step backward and bows over his leg in a birdlike manner. The ranger's limbs are long and spindly.

"My name is Quill. Before my flock was lost, I was designated High Ranger to these forests. I have come to offer my assistance. As Ranger, it is my responsibility to aid those who are in need here. The spider was just one example of threats that I am tasked with handling." As he was speaking, he fishes a cloth insignia out of his pocket, by way of identification. The insignia shows a bird's head over a shield, with complex heraldry.

The ranger continues. "You have wounded and need shelter. I'm aware of a ruins not far from here where we could set up a camp for these survivors. If we gathered ourselves and left now, we could make it by nightfall."

"Teren of the Hills." He pauses. " Tell me, have you seen anything unusual in your last few days of travel? "

Fine with fast-forwarding and finishing the conversation in flashback if we're holding up the rest of the group."

Likewise.

"Not really. Some merchants fleeing the area and a couple of groups of bandits that left some gear by the side of the road, but other than that and whatever is happening here nothing out of the ordinary."

"Do you know what is happening here?"

Quill, Rankev, Ariendel, Onick, and Varus (he was not harmed, merely bound up in webs) head back to the makeshift shelter as the sun sets (Sorry, Quill, but the adventure so far has taken up most of the day - read back a few posts, the plan is to leave first thing in the morning), while Teren and Zathra approach from the other direction.

Once everyone is back at "home base", and as rations are handed out sparingly for the evening meal, the Knight stands up and says "It is now time to deal with the young-blood that you injured. His injuries make him useless to fight or gather food, he would slow down our rate of travel, and worse, he would be a burden on our meager resources. I will now therefore in accordance with the ways of our people put him out of his misery." And drawing her sword, she starts to move towards the injured child. While the boy looks scared, he makes no move or effort to escape his fate, nor does any red-sash object.

What do you do?

Seems like I was worrying about something that wasn't an issue. Nevermind, then. Consider the objection withdrawn.
To my knowledge, of the people we injured, we only have the guy we got out of the river (who took minimal injuries), the one who I hit (who...yeah, they're probably writhing in pain right now), and that's it. Everyone else either fled before being hit or dead.
Or are you on about Tima? They weren't part of the river group as I recall, being one of the 15 and actually hitting the beast...wouldn't call them useless, having only an arm wound, but they still need treatment - bandages don't disinfect wounds.
Just trying to gauge how bad this is. 'Injured child' says nothing about the extent of the injuries.

I'm still struggling with your use of 'child', mentally. Even if it might technically be true, 'child' conjures a different mental image in my mind than 'teen'. As far as I'm concerned, an actual child wouldn't be able to do much to help in the first place.

As one both Power and LifeCleric Varus rise to their feet, exclaiming objections. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa. Hold and pause there, good sir knight," Power says, obviously with quite a head of steam. "I admit that I have not yet attended to all that needed requirements, but so busy have I been that all could not be attended to. Alas! But! Now I find myself at ease and we canst lift hand and move to this young man's betterment!

With your permission, of course." This is not a question, simply a doctor going to render assistance and stating the fact.

Power approaches the injured young man and begins to make movements with his arms. Sigils arc and writhe in the air as the laws of physics themselves are rent assunder to change the very fabric of reality.

"Hm. You are using the Ionia Form," Varus states as Power begins to work.
"Indeed, indeed. I found it more efficient and more powerful than traditional Sestosian styles."
"Your leylines will become crossed."
"Mmmmm, not if I keep the eye of the serpent in the house of the usurper."
"What about the Etretia Effect?"
"It's neutralized if you can maintain Cleomenes."

Varus falls quiet, a learned man being shown a new way to do a thing he thought he already knew everything about.

Teh HEELZ!: 2d6 + 2 - 1 ⇒ (6, 1) + 2 - 1 = 8
MEh. We'll keep that -1 going forward. ^_^
Teh HEELZ!: 1d8 ⇒ 5

Zathra watched the healer work without comment.

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Laguna - Sarthel used "bandages" from her backpack, which according to their description heals 4 HP of wounds, so I'm considering Tima healed.
I agree with your assessment of the other injuries, there's only the one wounded teen. (And perhaps Scalians consider all those under the legal age as "children"...)
Rankev - so is that now -2 going forward? Seriously, I'm wondering if "forward" penalties stack.

Rankev's magic works, healing the boy of the wounds inflicted by Laguna. Seeing this, the Knight bows to Rankev, sheathes her sword and sits down to eat her meal. "I'm still taking my charges to the ruins tomorrow morning, the rest of you need to decide for yourselves whether or not to join us. But I would definitely appreciate the company, and added protection, that you all would provide."

Does anyone want to do anything else tonight? I'm assuming a watch will be kept, if it's important I'll assign an order, as figuring that out in PbP would take forever...

From the SRD: "“take +1 forward.” That means to take +1 to your next move roll" Hence, Um, I believe that means that you take it to your next roll only (unless its conditional, and that condition persists, like maintaining a spell.) I already applied the last one to this one, so I just still have '-1 forward' as the last one was used on that casting. Yeah?

No particular plans in mind.

As I remember, forwards stack with each other unless stated otherwise. Same with ongoing.
Forwards apply once. Ongoings always apply within their scope. If it just says take +1 or something, I'm pretty sure that's handled like an ongoing - the bonus/penalty always applies when you meet the condition that comes with it, and at no other time.

Anyway, Rankev - the option says you take -1 ongoing to Cast a Spell until you Prepare Spells, not that you take -1 forward. And yeah, that stacks. You could probably do your prep now and get rid of that penalty you just incurred, easily, but it's still something you're going to want to remember.

Teren's objections had only begin to form when the wizard's torrent of words preempts him. He watches the casting, then resumes his seat, satisfied.

Fine with skipping ahead to the morning/the Perilous Journey/etc as appropriate. Teren thinks the ruins are a good plan.
And I agree with Laguna re: stacking ongoing penalties.

Agreed, I want to hear some of that sweet, sweet battle music.

Thanks all for the discussion of stacking. I later found the same conclusion on a forum, that "ongoing"'s stack.

So, the night passes without incident. In the morning those of you who need to Prepare things can do so, while everyone else eats and packs up their meager belongings.

I know DW has rules for long journeys, but I don't consider a day's travel "long", so I'm going to skip them here.

Assuming everyone travels together, around mid-morning you all hear the crunching of leaves and branches off in the distance as you follow a path thru some woods towards the ruins.

What do you do?

Oh....balls! Okay, yeah, Imma Prepare nowish anyway, so null persp, but, yeah, okay. Mental note.

After he's sure the oncoming sound isn't a returning scout, Teren focuses inward, calling on the spirit of Spring Breeze of Dawn...

Shapeshifter: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 = 13

And moments later, a brown eagle takes to the air, trying to determine what's making that noise.

3 hold. As I read the move, flying and improved eyesight should be "innate abilities of the form", so not necessarily require spending hold. If you disagree, let me know! I'd also propose "swoop in and snatch something away" as a move.

Teren, that all sounds good to me!

Flying over the treetops in the general direction of the sounds, you eventually locate their source, but the treetops are obscuring your view. But it's something large, and it appears to be heading right towards the group.

What do you do?

Zathra moves forward and draws her spear, idly spinning it as she waits for the creature to break through the trees.

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Teren swoops down to the treetops, trying to get a glimpse of this oncoming creature without drawing its attention.

Feels like that might be a DD with...Dex? to avoid drawing notice. If so:

Well, I was expecting a Discern Realities to see the creature thru the trees, but even with a +1 bonus for "eagle eyes", you still fail. Mark XP.

Even tho you can't see the creature clearly, it seems to see you, and sense that you are more than what you seem. It lets out a howl.

ALL - you hear a howl in the distance. Its unearthly nature sends a shiver down everyone's spine.

What do you do?

ALL - I forgot to remind you to heal up to half your max HP for "Making Camp" last night, in case anyone took damage during the first day (Laguna at least, from reviewing the posts).

Rankev tries to see the creature thru the trees!

Discern Realities!: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (3, 6) + 1 = 10

What is about to happen? What should I be on the lookout for? What here is not what it appears to be?

Rankev -
What is about to happen? You are about to be attacked by a large creature.

What should I be on the lookout for? You get the inexplicable feeling that, even knowing the creature is about to attack, the attack will somehow be a surprise...

What here is not what it appears to be? The creature that is about to attack is, itself, not what it appears to be.

Teren - you see a creature black as night and as large as a horse and cart. Black shadows flail off its back. Its pink eyes seem to see right thru your current form, to see your true form.

I was going to ask if this was the same beast as last time, then I remembered Teren didn't actually see the last one!

At the first pink gleam, Teren averts his eyes and takes off, heading back to the group.

Assuming that works...
As he lands, he reverts to his human shape, and quickly describes the creature. "And its eyes are like that crystal you showed me," he adds to the knight.

"Sounds like it's back. Alright everyone, get ready! Eyes in all directions!" Laguna takes up stance with his bardiche, dark power creeping over his unruned hand as he readies to intercept any incoming attacks. "Tima, do you remember how you were able to hurt the beast when it last appeared?"

Defend the Group!: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 1) + 1 = 3
...would now be a good time to mention that I can still redirect an attack to myself on a miss? Go ahead and check. It's on my profile and the doc I PM'd you.

"What sort of beast is it we face?"

Tima answers both of the last questions together, saying "It is huge and ravenous, it appears out of nowhere and disappears just as quick. I was only able to hurt it because its back was to me when I struck."

"Then I shall draw it's attention so that you can hurt it again. Hide and be ready"

Zathra begins moving forward and shouting out a challenge to the beast stalking through the trees, banging her fist which is clenching her spear against her shield.

What are you Waiting For?: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (6, 2) + 1 = 9