GM Rennai's Reign of Winter (Inactive)

Game Master Rennaivx

Martok understood the cycle of life and the fact that wolves need to eat as well but the catman was right; this was a healthy specimen.

Still maybe the re was something that was not quite apparent to them so he just waited to see how things developed. he remained close to the sled and the children.

At Matthew's approach, the megaloceros lowers its head, tossing its horns slightly and seemingly ready to grow aggressive...but as Madison follows behind, coaching Matthew on his body language and speaking soothing words, it calms again, staying in place as she draws close. The king stag doesn't seem to show any understanding of Matthew and Evelina's words, but as tensions drop slightly Matthew notices the wolves starting to back away, as if they somehow understand the situation isn't going to turn to violence and leave one party or the other weakened. It seems oddly intelligent behavior for wolves...

For now, at least, it seems the danger to the king stag is past, and it lets the party withdraw without incident. It's getting late, Nadya murmurs, still staring at the huge creature as it begins to amble deeper into the forest. We should think about stopping for the night.

"Indeed, but we must keep watch," Cithembi says. "We already know there are hungry beasts here. We must keep the children close."

Freyja never saw the wolves so not rolling.

Agreed Cithembi. Let us look for a defensible campsite.

Evelina nods, "Yeah. I'm glad that guy didn't get eaten and all...But I ain't ready to offer myself as a replacement meal."

"I'll look for a good place to camp tonight and then share watch with Martok." Maddy keeps an eye on their surroundings, analyzing all possible sites until she finds one that is acceptable.

survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Electing to stay within the pocket of warm weather, the party soon finds a suitable space, with the ground smooth and flat and the grass providing a slightly springy floor. Tents are unpacked and set up, and a fire is lit - much smaller than the rest of the journey's, as it's needed only for cooking and not for heat. Indeed, everyone begins sweating slightly as they move about inside the well-insulated tent, and as Madison and Martok keep watch, everyone else drifts off lying atop their blankets, comfortable in this tiny enclave of summer.

Still unnerved by the events of the previous night and the glade's previous occupants, everyone takes it in turns to watch with Martok, but the precaution proves unnecessary. The night is quiet, and the watchers see little more than rustling in the grass and leaves quaking in the soft breeze. In the morning, Nadya pokes her head out and looks for several long moments at the lush greenness, sighing as Orm and Mjoli shove past her to romp. I almost don't want to leave... she finally murmurs, taking a deep breath. But this won't last - nothing like this would, not in the Witches' domain. We have to keep moving on. Still, though, her voice betrays her disappointment.

The morning marches on, and the sled is once again loaded and ready to go. Moving it on the thawed road is hard going, though - where once was ice is now thick mud, and Nadya sets Orm and Mjoli to pulling up as many stones as they can to prevent damaging the runners. Hour after hour is consumed fighting through the thaw, and the sun is already beginning to redden by the time the snow comes back into sight. Exhausted, Nadya insists on camping one more night at summer's edge, to spare wearing out or injuring the hounds, and none of the Petskas seem too disappointed at the prospect of another warm night.

With one more night stolen from winter's embrace, though, the time comes to go back into the Witches' winter, and the cold bites all the more for the brief respite. The sled dogs are back in their element, though - where they'd spent much of the last two days panting and dragging their feet, they go back into the cold with gusto, pulling easily and making light work of tromping through the snow. The miles fly by with no one else coming into sight on the road, and Nadya calls for a halt at a small lean-to shelter just inside a small wood. We'll use this for the night; it's the driest place we can hope for. Let's get started making camp - Mjoli, stop playing with the dogs! You know to wait until they're out of their traces! Go with your brother and gather up some smaller branches, we'll need them to get the fire going. And stay close!

"I will go with them!" Cithembi volunteers, both because he enjoys the company of children and because he fears for their safety in this harsh wilderness.

Freyja looks back with longing as the group leaves the little spot of summer in the domain of cold. We never found out what allowed that area to resist the witch's push of winter. She says with remorse. That information could have proven useful in the days to come. I think I will write a song about the summer wood and its strength to resist the winder's cold. At camp she busies herself with the plentiful mundane chores of setting up to spend the night and hums various happy tune to herself as she works, obviously trying out different styles of song for her project.

Matt moved slowly, feeling the cold more than he had the previous week, after the respite in the summery glade. Helping where he could, he assists with getting the tents up and food ready.

"Aw man.." Evelina whined as they moved out of the warm glen. Shivering, she pulled her Yeti cloak back on. "I hope the fire gets goin' soon..." she mutters, rubbing her hands together as they move to set up camp.

"Aw man.." Evelina whined as they moved out of the warm glen. Shivering, she pulled her Yeti cloak back on. "I hope the fire gets goin' soon..." she mutters, rubbing her hands together as they move to set up camp.

"Fire I have plenty of so you won't cold around me lad. It's only a matter of finding proper fuel for it, that's all."

The shaman went about exploring the area to set up a proper camp, always keeping the children within site.

Let's see if I can skip the falling-asleep-while-posting part this time! :)

With Nadya nearing her wit's end, Martok and Cithembi shepherd the children to the forest's fringes, and the two immediately launch into a snowball fight, using the tree trunks as shields and giggling furiously. Cithembi may not be able to hear the laughter, but he can clearly see it in the boys' grins - and those only grow wider when one errant snowball smacks into Cithembi's shoulder, scattering into thousands of flakes that rest lightly on the fur of his face.

Cithembi stays close to the pair, and they soon tire themselves out - in fact, the catfolk has to remind them that they've been tasked to gather firewood. Gently, he guides them back to the camp with their arms full of dried twigs and stripped bark, and they flop down next to the circle Freyja's dug from the snow and watch in fascination as Martok easily sets the kindling ablaze. Everyone settles into routines that are quickly becoming familiar, and another night passes with the party taking turns to stare into the distance of the woods and the road that cuts through them.

The next day begins much as the last several have - with a flurry of activity, packing temporary homes onto the sled and banking the fire's embers with snow before getting underway. The morning passes uneventfully...but as Nadya pulls up the team to stop for the dogs' midmorning snack, there is a sudden yelp, and one of the dogs goes tumbling in her traces. The sled stops and the dog rises slowly to her feet, but it's clear something's wrong - she whines slightly with each step, and seems unwilling to put any weight at all on her right front foot.

Nadya assures everyone as she tends to the dog's leg that the bone doesn't seem to be broken, just a sprained shoulder. She still looks worried, though, as she carefully applies a liniment to the dog's swollen joint and wraps it in a bandage. We've got to take time to see to Eva's leg, she explains, while Hatch yips comfortingly to the rest of the team and the dogs' meal floats before them of its own accord. I won't have her lamed permanently. And she'll have to ride on the sled, at least for a couple of days - the others will be fine to pull, but it may be more time lost.

I'd hoped to make it as far as Weepingstone tonight, but we may have to stop at Luck-Run-Out instead. An old ruined town, she explains with a hint of nervousness, with Desna's butterfly on one of the bigger buildings, for all the good Lady Luck apparently did them. I'd usually skip it - there's an odd feel to it - but there's no other good place we'd reach before it gets too dark. At least there's a couple of walls there we can use as windblocks to make camp a little warmer. We'll rise before the sun and start on the road at first light, to make it to Ellsprin by tomorrow night.

The dwarf did what he could for the injured dog, "That should make him a bit more comfortable but there's still the risk of serious injury until it's completely healed."

He asked Nadya, "So, how is this place 'odd'? Should we approach this palce differently?"

Cithembi smiles at the mention of Desna, though the smile fades as Nadya continues. "I would wish to see this place," he states. "As Desna has blessed me, so I would wish to see this place with her symbol."

Severs going down ate my post. Grr.

I for one would prefer to came in the cold over some luckless place such as you describe. But I know my Ulfin heritage makes the cold bite less deeply that it does for the rest of you so if you say we should camp there then I will agree.

Maddy doesn't put much stock in the feelings of places. She trusts more in safe places that provide better shelter for the group. "I agree with Cithembi. We should at least take a look at Luck-Run-Out before making a decision about whether we stay or not."

Her brow furrows before she asks, "Has it always been called Luck-Run-Out? If one names their home that, I'm not surprised people don't want to go there."

Matt nodded, agreeing with his sister. "Let us head there."

Evelina watches over the dog with sad eyes, "Poor puppy! Here. Let's get you to the sled to rest."

Of this abandoned town she shrugs. "Yeah...What's so bad about it? Desna people are usually good people, right? Did somethin' bad happen there?"

If a cure light woulds spell will help the pup then he gets it.

As I said in Discussion talking to Martok, cure light wounds would help some with the pain and inflammation, but it won't completely restore function. That just comes with time.

I wouldn't imagine that's its real name - but that's what I've always heard it called. It's been ruins as long as I know, and as long as anyone I've talked to knows of. Might be it's been gone ever since the Winter War, I don't rightly know. Never met anyone who knew much real truth about it. I think it got its name from Lady Luck's mark, and the uncanny feel about the air when you get near. Might just be the oldness of the ruin getting to people - superstition runs deep in the blood around here. Still...best keep eyes open.

As the day draws close to its rest, you come upon what used to be a small town or village. Now, though, most of the buildings are little more than heaps of snow-covered stones, corners and crumbling edges peeking from beneath or jutting upward to stand tall. You recognize the remains of a small shop or two, and perhaps some kind of stable, but only one building remains intact enough to offer possible shelter. A stone courtyard, still mostly surrounded by a low stone wall with a broken arch at its opening, surrounds an old temple of brick and mortar. The front door of the temple lies in rotted shards on the ground, but a smooth circle of black stone hangs above the gap, a butterfly outlined in purple and blue lacquer with quartz stars still visible.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Freyja recognizes the holy symbol and breaths a sigh of relief. At least it is the dreamer's mark. She will cast Detect Magic and scan the area as the group moves through the fallen town and spend a few rounds checking out the courtyard and temple.

"Hmm..." Evelina muses as they wander through the ruins. "So nobody who know what happened to the people here? As they discuss she separates slightly, disappearing for a moment behind a ruined stone wall, before hoping up on top of it. Clambering across the ruins, she eventually winds up sitting atop the broken arch. "I dunno...It's actually sorta cool! Y'know. Like a mystery!"

Matt beckoned his sisters over. "Let's make sure we're actually really alone here. Maggie, can you fly overhead and see if you can see anybody else around? Maddy, let's you and I check it out, while they make camp. We don't want to be surprised again if we can help it."

Together the twins began to scout the town, keeping a keen eye open for others.

Old dwarf Martok wasn't really comfortable with the whole setup but he had to admit that it was better than sleeping out in the open.

He promised himself to be extra cautious during the night. He still hurt from his perceived failure to note whatever thing came and spoiled their food.

Matt will use a mythic point to cast Alarm tonight, and all nights going forward when he has the point to burn

Cithembi smiles slightly at seeing Desna's mark. "Yes, let us explore and see what is here," he agrees with Evelina. "It looks like it should be a safe place for rest."

He ambles towards the ruined temple.

Maddy nods at her brother and begins with the periphery of the ruined town making sure that there wasn't anything or anyone hiding. She also keeps an eye out for tracks that don't belong. She slowly moves through the town, ending up with the building that would be their shelter for the night.

She approaches the ruined door and listens momentarily for anything odd sounding before peeking inside.

Will search the town before turning her attention to the temple

Evelina grins down at Cithembi and hops off the arch. "Yeah! Let's take a look!" For practice, she also awkwardly tries to sign the same thing, but her attempt translated closer to 'We look'. As they searched, she beganto talk with the catfolk, as she attempted to sign along. Her words grew slow as she focused hard on trying to remember each sign she had learned. "So, how....long...have you...uh....worshipped..." She didn't know the sign for the word worship, so she instead signed the word followed. However, she had no such substitute for the word Desna. Instead she just pointed to the holy symbol. "Um...Desna..."

Cithembi shows Evelina the sign for Desna, then answers, "For very many years. My tribe all pray to the Star-Lady to watch over their travels, but for me..." He chuckles. "The stars have always captivated me, points of light that ever shine in the dark, so beautifully. How could I not follow the one who also loves their beauty?"

Sorry, folks, impromptu four-hour-each-way computer-less trip to visit my family! Good news - my little niece and nephew are as wonderful as ever. :)

As Evelina climbs up onto the courtyard wall and perches on the arch, she is suddenly surprised by movement - a man and woman appear inside the church's door, wandering through into the courtyard. Their eyes are distant and confused and their jaws slightly slack. We did not know other children had gone along... the woman intones in a hoarse voice, an eerie edge to it. Road is too dangerous, of course, for little children to play...Sent back, of course, to safety...Run along, play now, play with the others... What others they could mean, though, remains stubbornly unclear.

"Whoa...waa?" Evelina exclaims, as she nearly falls off the arch in surprise. Gripping on for dear life, she looks down to the others, "You guys see that? Those people? Told me too go play with the other kids...?" As an aside, Evelina adds, "Which I actually think is a little rude, 'cause I ain't that short...But that's not the point! Tell me you guys see 'em too! 'Cause it's creeping me out!"

Cithembi cautiously comes up and looks through the archway into the courtyard.

Freyja, both concerned and curious moves forward to take a look. People?

I assume that MMM are still walking the perimeter when this occurs?

Martok signaled for Nadya to hold back the children and approached the eerie humans, "Hello there? What children are you talking about?"

He looked around, "There's no one here now, you know?"

Yes, Matthew, they're still walking the edge when this occurs.

Run along and play...play with the others... the odd pair continues to groan every so often; they do not acknowledge that Martok even speaks, except to shift their slack gazes toward him. It's clear that the two are not in their right minds.

The pair is standing about ten feet from the church's front, near the center of the courtyard. Will anyone approach them closely, or would folks prefer to keep their distance?

Will: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Cithembi shudders slightly and takes a step or two back. "What binds you to this mortal world still, old ones?" He asks, fearfully.

will save DC 12: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Martok also stepped back and let the catman attempt to deal with the 'people'.

He conferred back to the others to let them what was going on, "They're... dead but don't seem to be undead so I don't know..."

He added, "Let's just wait and see how they react."

Will Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

They are just confused old people. Maybe they are lost?

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Evelina scampers down the archway, carefully watching the pair as to not agitate them. To Freyja, she whispers, "Um...I think they're more an jus' old...I think they're dead.."

The pair seems confused at the questions; they certainly give no answer to them. Instead, they turn one by one to go back into the church, the woman giving a slightly disapproving (but still vacant) look. Naughty children should listen, she murmurs softly as she turns to go. If you don't want to play, you can sit by yourself, then... Sit in the courtyard, the fresh air is good... Good, courtyard, good...go and play...

"Uh....." Evelina is looks unsure how to respond. She turns to the other party members. "They don' seem violent at least? Should we...er...go to the courtyard? I'm gonna go grab the twins..." Evelina backs aways slowly before shouting for the twins. "Oi! Matt! Maddie! We got a...um...thing goin' on over here!"

It was Maggie's excellent hearing that caught the sound of Evelina's voice calling them. "Ack! Evelina! She wants us!" Without waiting for her land-bound siblings, the raven winged her way straight over to the sound of the commotion. Alarmed, Matt grabbed Maddy's arm, and they followed as quickly as they could through the snow.

If they get there in time to see them, or perhaps from the description...
knowledge arcana: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

Cithembi frowns, still looking at the pair as they walk towards the church. "I think you are lost to the present," he calls after them, then shakes his head and looks at the others. "The old tales say the dead who do not sleep sometimes live still in the past instead of seeing the present truly. It seems so with these ones, yes?"

Maddy hurries back towards the courtyard, drawing her sword as she goes. Arriving back with the others she asks, "What's happening? Where's the threat?"

Freyja regards the retreating couple with awe and wonder. I hope they are not somehow tied to a haunt. They do not seem to be a threat. Freyja points to to the apparitions and says There.

"We ain't really sure to be honest..." Evelina explains. "There's an old couple in the church...an' well...they're obviously dead...an' they think I'm some kid that should go play with the other kids." She shakes her head, "Its a whole lotta weird, but so far they ain't been violent...But I figured if they're creepy dead things around, maybe it's best to stick together!"

Matthew and Maggie hurry to join the others in the courtyard, where the two figures retreat...and as he steps into the courtyard's center, the world suddenly changes around him. Spectral images of children appear huddled in the courtyard's heart, and whimpers and sobs fill the air. Gerasim! one girl cries out, reaching her arms toward the church and breaking into a run - but the next instant, she is stopped by another phantom that congeals into view. A thick, muscular phantom, with heavy arms, a long face, and a tusked jaw that juts forward in a long underbite, opening wide to reveal a huge maw of crooked teeth that rush for the little girl's arm...

Otherworldly screams begin to echo through the air as the children scatter - somehow, even Cithembi manages to faintly hear the shrieks. Mister Gerasim!? Mister Gerasim, Miss Anfisa, help! The courtyard devolves into pandemonium, with more monsters coalescing into view to fall upon the panicked crowd. Scenes of gruesome horror surround you, too many to count, and the weight of the wanton cruelty and violence begins to hang heavy on shoulders and spirits alike. But Martok and Evelina began to hear the screams just a few moments sooner than the rest...as the horror draws itself to a head, they have just a moment or two to react...

As the noise rises, one voice cuts through - the dead woman, now standing in the door of the church and staring with piercing eyes. The children never stood a chance in Baba Yaga's onslaught...but if we gave them to her, we did... As she speaks, her flesh withers and twists, as if years of rot and wasting occurred in an instant...

Martok and Evelina have both made the Perception check to notice the haunt's effects in the surprise round and beaten the haunt's initiative check, so they can attack before the haunt manifests! (If I remember correctly, holy water can damage haunts, as well as channeled energy/cure spells/etc.) If Martok and Evelina cannot deal 8hp of damage to the haunt before it acts, everyone will need to make a DC16 Will save or suffer the effects of crushing despair for four minutes.

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Looks like you did not roll for the haunt's initiative, but only the Huecuvas'. Was that intentional?