GM SpiderBeard's Second Darkness (Inactive)

Game Master Barvo Delancy

Untrained Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Yep, never mind. Thaddeus is blissfully unaware.

"Yeah, Ah think th'crater is where we wanted t'go in th'first place. Don't need t'muck about wit'everyone else."

When Variel rises the next morning, he steps away to a private spot to meditate and pray, as always. When he returns, everyone notices a cat-sized wasp flying alongside him. He stops, and it perches on his shoulder.

"GAAAH! VARIEL! Big bug behind yeh!"

"Friends, it appears I have an introduction to make. This," he points to the giant wasp, "is Lash. The Savored Sting, my lady Calistria, has seen fit to reward my service to her by sending Lash to be a companion to me. I was not expecting such a gift, but I have gratefully accepted it."

"Wait... 'Dat's yer pet, 'dere? Oh, uh... Sorry, 'den. Was jus'bout ready t'attack th'thing. Heh, giant ol' hornet. Hope it's a lot more pleasant 'den most hornets, least towards us."

The wasp takes off again, and dips in what might be an approximation of a bow. In perfectly accented Taldane, it says, "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. As long as you are friends of Variel's, you are friends of mine."

"An' It kin speak? Yeesh, not even Old Horn can do 'dat!"

"BAAAAHH!"

"Ah meant speak so others 'kin unnerstand yeh!"

"BAAHH! BAAH!"

"Beeeehhh, baaahhh, beeehhhh yerself!"

"Beeehh?"

"Yeah, Ah've learned a bit of yer tongue, 'dere. Oh, and Beeehhh!"

"BAAAHH!"

And so the farmer and the goat began disagreeing in the apparent language of barnyard animals.

+ - + - + - + - + - +

"Wait... 'Dat's yer pet, 'dere? Oh, uh... Sorry, 'den. Was jus'bout ready t'attack th'thing. Heh, giant ol' hornet. Hope it's a lot more pleasant 'den most hornets, least towards us."

"More of a companion ... he is quite intelligent, and is himself a servant of Calistria. He is no more a pet than Old Horn, I would say."

Fiona doesn't seem too inclined to tarry much longer. "Right--shall we head out, then? We've got quite a bit of ground to cover."

Ellesbeth has been quietly watching Lash, but not with fear in her eyes. More of...an appreciation for the new companion.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she nods at Fiona's suggestion.

"Yes, let's hurry along."

She falls in step next to Variel, and walks silently with him, eyes still watching Lash not-so-discreetly.

You make your way northwest into the interior of the island, once more giving the camp an extremely wide berth. After a little ways, it becomes apparent there aren't any good trails of any kind leading to the crater, and it becomes apparent you have to strike straight through the bush. The going is hard, but doesn't take too long. Around two hours after leaving Samaritha and the Cyphermages at the tower, you find yourself at the impact crater where the star fell.

The sight is unnerving as burned out and blasted trees ring a gigantic hole on the earth which dominates this northern part of the island. More interestingly, the first glance shows that there the star itself, or what remains of it, is nowhere to be found.

Untrained Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 Nope.

When Variel rises the next morning, he steps away to a private spot to meditate and pray, as always. When he returns, everyone notices a cat-sized wasp flying alongside him. He stops, and it perches on his shoulder.

Mutt sees the giant wasp flying beside Variel and places a hand on the haft of one of his axes. However, he does not strike at it.

"Friends, it appears I have an introduction to make. This," he points to the giant wasp, "is Lash. The Savored Sting, my lady Calistria, has seen fit to reward my service to her by sending Lash to be a companion to me. I was not expecting such a gift, but I have gratefully accepted it."

Mutt's brow raises at the sight of the wasp. 'This wasp came from his goddess? This is really weird... And I don't like it.'

The wasp takes off again, and dips in what might be an approximation of a bow. In perfectly accented Taldane, it says, "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. As long as you are friends of Variel's, you are friends of mine."

Mutt is shocked that the wasp is now talking to them. After a while of staring in disbelief, his face deadpans. "Okay. Why not? It's not the weirdest thing." He looks at Lash and says, "Uh... hello. Nice to meet you?"

Mutt is too distracted by Thaddeus and Old Horn's back and forth that he doesn't even notice the exchange between Variel and Fiona.

Traveling...

Mutt frowns at the sight of the crater without the star. He takes out his greataxe out (just in case) and looks around for anything.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Just noticed that I forgot to put all of Variel's parts in quotes.

As the group approaches the crater, Variel casts a familiar spell, causing his eyes to glow briefly. (Heightened Awareness, lasts 50 minutes)

"Let us tread carefully, there may be tracks showing us how anyone else may have approached and, more importantly, left with the star fragment." He gives the entire area a close look while Lash flies around the perimeter.

Variel takes 10 for 25 Perception. Lash takes 10 for 29 Stealth and 22 Perception. If any tracks are found, Variel attempts the study them and determine what they are from and where they came/went.
Survival to track: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

"More of a companion ... he is quite intelligent, and is himself a servant of Calistria. He is no more a pet than Old Horn, I would say."

"Ahh, poor phrasin' on mah part. 'Pologies."

Thaddeus considers getting another jab at how he hopes Lash is a much better anything than Old Horn, but decides he's wasted enough time arguing and bickering with a goat.

-----

At the Crater...

"Good plan 'dere, Variel. Lemme help."

Thaddeus, cautious to make sure he doesn't stomp on any tracks himself, gives a quick circle of the area along with Old Horn, looking for tracks to follow. He's more used to following game than humans... or elves... but he did pick up a few things studying under Bofur, who seemed much more practiced at it.

Survival to track: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

The group begins to scour the area while Variel and Thaddeus check around for tracks. Their combined efforts reveal many tracks through the blast area. Heavy shod boots have combed around here extensively. More interestingly, smaller, although human-sized, light footprints are seen near the impact area. These tracks are older.

After an hour or so of searching the area to no avail, Old Horn lets out a bleat.

Heading over, Thaddeus pulls out a shard of pale green metal. A pound of the skymetal known as noqual. This is all that's found in an hour.

"Hey, guys, Old Horn found somethin' here."

Thaddeus holds up the strange green rock, bringing it back to the group.

"Huh, shard must've been left behind amid all the hubbub. Seems 'dere's been quite a bit o'traffic 'round here. Find anythin' innerestin' yerself, Variel? Ah see heavy boots, 'n a few older lighter tracks."

"Nothing but the tracks. We could try following either the recent tracks to see what has happened to the skymetal, or the older ones to see who else has been here. Any thoughts?"

"Well, Ah ain't too conerned 'bout th'Skymetal. That ain't even th'reason we're here on th'island, we're lookin' fer 'dem..."

Thaddeus stops himself, looking over at Ellesbeth. He pauses for a moment before leaning in to whisper at Variel, though it's so loud that everyone can hear it regardless.

"Ahh, we haven't told her why we're here yet, have we? An' if not, should we?"

"But either way, we ain't lookin' fer th'Skymetal, so ah say we follow th'smaller tracks, unless people figgure we kin' find some info at whatever Riddleport thugs made 'dese."

Ellesbeth smiles at Thaddeus.

"I'm fairly certain I've figured you lot out. You are looking for the skymetal, and probably that dwarf you mentioned. Am I correct?"

"Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but yes." Fiona nods.

Mutt walks over to Thaddeus as he pulls out the skymetal. "Find something?" When the subject comes to the tracks, Mutt shrugs and says, "It doesn't matter which tracks we follow first. As long as we follow both sets and find all of the parties we are hunting down." When Ellesbeth asks about what they're doing on the island, Mutt nods at Fiona's response. "Right. A lot more to do."

Variel nods at Thaddeus. "That was my thought as well. Let us see what we can find."

With Thaddeus' help, the elf starts following the smaller tracks, the large wasp keeping an eye out for trouble along the path.

With Variel and Thaddeus working together, they manage to find the exit for the smaller tracks, which leads southwards. Unfortunately, the incredible rainfall and dense forest means the tracks are lost before they can hit the road. At least six, maybe ten creatures were here, all humanoids that Variel is pretty sure are elves.

The heavier tracks lead to the southeast and can be followed a little easier. They appear to head straight for the campsite.

"Well, shoot, can't rightly seem t'follow th'lighter tracks anymore. 'Nless we wanna crawl over every square inch o'this island, looks like we're headin' to dat campsite we saw."

"Let's travel quietly, eh? Anybody good at sneakin' 'n scoutin?"

Mutt snorts. "Well, I'm obviously not good at sneaking around. So that takes me out of the running for scout."

"I fear that with my armor and shield I am less than sneaky. We may just have to approach slowly are carefully."

"I've never had any real affinity for stealth, I'm afraid."

All eyes turn to Ellesbeth.

I'll give you guys another day to sort out how to proceed before pushing on.

Ellesbeth, having been quiet up to this point blushes.

Um...I...I'm an okay sneaker. I can poke around, if you'd like."

She blushes further.

Ellesbeth, being just okay at sneaking, is still probably good enough to get a peek at the camp. She heads to the east from the crater sight with the group until the trees break to show the camp. With the rest of the group staying back, Ellesbeth creeps up.

She does fine. She manages to find a bush to hide behind on a bit of an incline, and from there she can spot the camp.

The camp has guards posted to the north and the south, doing a bit of a patrol. To the west, near-ish where she is, are three enormous birds surrounded by smaller cages. The birds are tied to trees and are behind a large pavilion.

One man wanders around, talking to the others and looking important. He is towering, graceful, and dark-skinned and has a cigar sticking out of his mouth. Everyone in the camp looks tired and miserable.

Map is updated. Ellesbeth can go back and tell the group what she saw, allowing people to make the knowledge checks.

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

Variel listens to Ellespeth's description and nods. "The huge birds are axe beaks, dangerous flightless birds that are known as difficult predators. However, they are intelligent and tame easily. The tall man with the cigar sounds like Akron Erix, a notorious mercenary in Riddleport famous for his ability to break a man with his bare hands. I have heard that he is a frequent collaborator with Clegg Zincher."

"Huh. Are dey collectin' dem big birds, 'r did dey bring 'em here t'help out with... whatever 'dey're doin'?"

Would it be a Knowledge (nature) or (geography) to determine if axe beaks are local to the island?

"Figgured one o' Zincher's goons would be 'round. But Ah can't say Ah'm eager t'fight 'em, 'nless we really need to. If th'rest of his crew is miserable, Ah'm wonderin' if dey're stayin' much longer."

Thaddeus' Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12

Thaddeus is pretty sure axe beaks are from temperate plains and there's no way they'd be local to this island.

"So somebody brought those birds with them? Why not horses?"

Mutt growls at the mention of Zincher. "Well, we know what we have to do, right? Storm the camp and kill Zincher. We get vengeance and whatever skymetal he has. We could also try to tame those birds." He looks at Variel. "If that is the wise thing to do, of course. Some of the others here might have differing opinions." At Ellesbeth's question, Mutt shrugs. "I'd think that having these axe beaks would be more practical than horses. Judging from the name, it seems like these birds can put up one hell of fight. And if their mounts, wouldn't you want a mount that can fight?"

"Well, whatever we do, we'd better decide soon, lest he get bored and start looking for trouble."

"Yeah, see, Ah don't think jus' bargin' in 'n killin' 'em's gonna help much at all. 'Dem, 'n dat Skymetal, ain't what we're after. Ah'd almost prefer t'talk to'em, but Ah'm guessin' dey ain't the sort t'invite us over fer some tea an' crumpets t'chat."

"Ah mean, ah know we ain't friends wit' Clegg, but 'dat don't mean we gotta go pissin' him off 'n fightin' his thugs at every turn."

"Dere's dat map we found by th'ruined tower. Maybe somethin's 'dere we could go fer."

"Mutt, no one even said Zincher was there, just someone who associates with him. I agree with Thaddeus, we have no reason to get into it with them, we have other more important things to do."

Mutt looks at Variel and shrugs. "Fine. Since we don't know if Zincher's down there, let's move on to something else."

Looks like we follow that map, then. The only other place is the pirates on the shore.

Agreed.

Ellesbeth walks over to Variel, and, blushing, whispers in his ear.

Variel:

As the group decides to give the camp a wide berth and take off to explore the treasure map, there's a strange sound of mass shuffling and shouts of panic and alarm from the camp. Ellesbeth checks her previous hiding place, and sees a group of void zombies, staggering slowly towards the camp with their 'tongues' lolling out. The men and women at the camp look miserable and terrified as they start to grab their weapons.

How many zombies are there, roughly?

I see the axe beaks and the people on the map, from which direction are the zombies approaching? I assume we're off the northwest corner, based on Ellesbeth's token.

Thaddeus - roughly six. The zombies are coming from the south. You guys are a short distance west.

Mutt draws his greataxe. However, he looks at the others, teeth gritted. "So. Do we go down there?"

Variel nods, readying his shield. "I can see no good coming from allowing undead to slaughter more people, regardless of my opinion of them."

As the group moves forward, he motions them to all gather around. Casting a spell, Variel touches each of his companions briefly. "Calistria's blessings on all of us as we do battle against the walking dead. ปกป้องเราจาก ความชั่วร้าย เสิร์ฟ ต่อย!"

Communal Protection from Evil on the PCs (but not Old Horn or Lash, as it's 1 target per caster level): +2 deflection bonus to AC and +2 resistance bonus to saves against attacks or effects from evil creatures and immunity to mental control by evil creatures. (Also evil summoned creatures must save to attack you, but I don't think that will come up.)

Once Variel can see the creatures, use the following knowledge check to identify them and recognize their abilities/weaknesses. GM's call on how much to give based on the roll: Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Fiona hefts her hammer up. "Right! Let's go!"

Ellesbeth nods quietly at Fiona's assertion. She seems to be mentally preparing herself for what is to come.

"Only a half dozen? Lan'Sakes, if'n dey can't handle 'dat many, what th'heck are dey doin' on 'dis island?"

"Let's see how much trouble 'dey're in. 'Dis could work out, maybe we 'kin get our info after we help out. Assumin' 'dey can't handle 'em."

Mutt grins as he feels the power that Variel has given him. He grips his greataxe tightly and braces himself for a charge.

Variel recognizes the creature incoming as the zombie-like creatures spawned from the larvae of the blue monsters which have been swarming the island. Their enormous tongues are a dead giveaway. From the prior fight, they are far faster than zombies and have the potential to infect with a bite. However, they are individually

The group charges in from the northwest and arrive at the scene of the battle! The axe beaks start sqwauking loudly as they see you, and a couple of the men in the camp spot the group approaching. Someone calls out.

"HELP! Boss is hiring anyone he can for some coin! I'm sure he'll be happy ya helped! We can't lose more to these bastards!"

You're on the map, everyone is up!

Round 1: Actions
Move Action: Move forward 20 ft into the camp
Standard Action: Start Raging Song!

Fiona grins and strides forward. Her battle hymn springs to her lips once more...

"I'M ON FIRE!"

Anyone who hears my song and accepts it gains +2 STR/CON, +2 Will Saves, and -1 to AC. Also, anyone who accepts my Raging Song gains a spirit-based slam attack that hits at +3 and inflicts 1d4+3 negative energy damage.

"In the name of Calistria, I judge you abominations!" Variel follows Fiona as he calls on his goddess, then moves ahead along the side of the tent.

Swift action for Judgment of Sacred Protection, double move. AC is currently 22 (15 touch) vs evil creatures.