10,000! Huzzah!!!
It's....uh.....on a leyline axis. Yeah....
“Who knew a hole in the ground in the middle of a blizzard would attract so many visitors?”
"Coods be th' reek ay booze brings them."
“That it could be.”
The group is, oddly, unmolested the rest of the night.....the black cat sneaks away, and in the morning the blizzard clears up enough to see somewhat, and to trundle forth after their new friends the trolls.
After two hour's march through the snow, the forest reaches gentle hills, and beyond that can be seen the edge of a mountain range that dips down from the north.
The group can also see, at the southern edge where the peaks begin, a waterfall that plunges a good 200 feet. Steam rises from where the water plummets; a river can be made out winding away from the mountain, south and east towards the Iving.
Back to the present,....
Slight retcon....
home in a couple hours...okay;
Vilya meet the group;
group meet Vilya;
she walks in the door at about midnite to find two guys on watch, buncha guys sleeping, and Stiggy sleepdrinking.
Remembrances of the meeting.....of things past...
Oh, and Altai,....
pick a time of day; I'll give the results of the trollscrying event when I get back home I reckon.
Glimpses.....of things to come.....
That's cool; it'll give me time....time...to think....
mwahahaha!!!
The scrying:
Maurice lies flat on his face, arms spread out in genuflection. A spider crawls out of a crack in the floor, crawls over his eyeball.
Three trolls sit facing him, on thrones made of bones.
One speaks;
"How do we plan to take them?...they....come for us in our home. The glabrezu failed,...."
the second;
"ssssssssshhhhhhhh.....flies on the wall, brother....flies on the wall....."
the third....
"pauggh! These failzits...primers....primemeat boys. Who cares what they know? They shall fail. You are such a sissy. To fear them!
I say we go down there. Don't even let them set foot in our valley! Sick bastards."
The second;
"you are such an ass! We shouldn't discuss anything in front of Maurice! You know he has a drippy bum; these fools probably scry his spoor!"
the third;
"and if so, you goat's anus,.....you just let them know we know what they know. Not that it matters! We'll kill them!"
The second;
"Oh, shut up, Mister Pink!"
The third;
"Don't...don't start that Mister Color crap! I'm not playing your sissy girly game!
When we catch the little godling, you won't even want to piddle her!"
The second;
"Pauggh!!!
Go forth from here, Maurice, you moron! Go to the goatherds, tell them to make ready!"
Maurice gets up;
"Yesss, my brothers..."
He leaves the room. He goes into a side room; does something unmentionable for two minutes...
Then,....,he makes his way through some caverns. He exits into the morning from a yawning cave. It's a beautiful valley, tundra, lichen, not too much snow.
Looks left; there's a river and a largeish lake on the east of the valley. Steamy fog rises off of the water constantly, making everything damp.
It flows down the east wall; miles away to the south. He trudges southward. You can see in the center a massive earthwork mound, covered with massive stone circles, like stonehenge.
Before them, on the left and right, are two more massive mounds, about 1/2 mile northwest and northeast of the stone circles.
And far off to the southwest, there's a complex of wooden buildings with a wooden walled enclosure; he spends most of the remainder of the 12 or whatever minutes of your scry trudging off towards this set of buildings.
There's quite a few goats in this valley, munching the copious lichen.
If you guys wanna scry and die this thing, that's cool; I just need time to build the throneroom.
He sees one about 1/2 mile off; kinda disheveled looking guy in a cowl, with a walking staff.
*phweep* *phweep* *phweep*
hurrrm
“The silent type eh?”
nomnomnom...
"D... d... d... dibs"
On call through Sunday.
Called in tonite.
Might be around in about 4 hours or so.
Beldan rolls his eyes at Altai. “Yeah, a dream that looked like a cat. Well it could be ... anyway, before you go back to sleep mister smarty, there’s a girl there now,” he points at the door, his other hand reaching for his rapier in his case this exotic and weapon-decked woman turns out to be both real and dangerous. “Is she real?"
"Why wouldn't I be real? And where am I? I walked into a stone circle, and the next thing I knew, I was here."
The newcomer is a small, slim woman with long black hair, olive skin, and startling blue eyes. She is dressed in a brown wool coat and skirt, and fur-lined boots. They don't look like they fit particularly well.
And her hands really do have only five fingers on them, with the normal number of joints. Her tongue looks normal, too.
Beldan shrugs. “I don’t know, plenty of things aren’t real. Upside down trees, explosion dogs, the perfect crime. You could be one of those things. As for walking into a stone circle ... well, that was your mistake right there. Never trust a stone circle I always say.”
"Why wouldn't I be real? And where am I? I walked into a stone circle, and the next thing I knew, I was here."
The newcomer is a small, slim woman with long black hair, olive skin, and startling blue eyes. She is dressed in a brown wool coat and skirt, and fur-lined boots. They don't look like they fit particularly well.
Pip looks over the newcomer.
"We've seen plenty of unreal things that looked real to begin with. As to where you are, it's Asgard. Home of gods, trolls, giants and various other mythic icons of northern folk"
Pip shivers as a blast of icy wind swirls dry snoflakes around his leather duster
"If we had to go poking about mythic locations, I would rather be visiting Sheela Peryroyl's cider brew house, but that's just me."
He extends a hand
"My name's Pendobar, but everyone calls me Pip. We are the Regulators, lately of Sasserine, a lovely TROPICAL city."
Pip shivers again
<He sticks his hand out to Vilya.>
"Stigwold Mach'Hammar originally ay th' Woodhell dwarrow, also lately ay Sasserine, althoogh Ah cannae seem tae min' mair than puckle feckin' minutes ay livin' thaur... afair 'at lang term denizen ay th' Lizard's Boot in Saltmarsh. Aam th' goon, hauraboot. Every bin tae Greyhawk? Hoo abit a sip ay Icefyre, wifey, it's frost giant vodka, a damn braw warmupper ef ever made."
<Stig thrusts out a mug of potentially lethal vodka that even the snow seems to be avoiding.>
"Keep it under tois mugs an' ye probably willnae piss yerself. But withit it Ah guarantee yer fingers an' toes will faa aff by th' day's end."
...
"My name's Pendobar, but everyone calls me Pip. We are the Regulators, lately of Sasserine, a lovely TROPICAL city."
Pip shivers again
"Yoo're fallin' behin': tak' yer antifreeze, weebody."
“Oh yeah, I’m Beldan, that’s Altai and his good friend Claw, the elf is Elgan, I can’t pronounce the giant’s name ... so who are you exactly?”
Pip looks over the newcomer.
"We've seen plenty of unreal things that looked real to begin with. As to where you are, it's Asgard. Home of gods, trolls, giants and various other mythic icons of northern folk"
Pip shivers as a blast of icy wind swirls dry snoflakes around his leather duster
"If we had to go poking about mythic locations, I would rather be visiting Sheela Peryroyl's cider brew house, but that's just me."
He extends a hand
"My name's Pendobar, but everyone calls me Pip. We are the Regulators, lately of Sasserine, a lovely TROPICAL city."
Pip shivers again
Vilya shrugs. "This is definitely Asgard. I came here on a... uh, errand. I was wondering where this particular place was."
She takes Pip's proffered hand. Pip gets a sudden sensation that there is something terribly wrong with her aspect and anatomy, but it passes quickly.
Dwarf things
Vilya does not, in fact, take Stig's hand, instead recoiling slightly at the smell.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
“Oh yeah, I’m Beldan, that’s Altai and his good friend Claw, the elf is Elgan, I can’t pronounce the giant’s name ... so who are you exactly?”
"Name's Vilya. I come from Oerth, by way of Sigil."
She pauses for a moment.
"What is it, exactly, that all of you do"
“Kill things, take their stuff.”
Getting to knooooooow youuuuuu.....
I think me discription mighta been confusin;
ergo...
they're essentially inside a big, 10 foot diameter stone (a la wall of stone spell) "igloo" half sphere, which was dug out underneath by disintegration spells, to provide room for an Asgardian shieldmaiden, 5 adventurers, a summoned stone giant, and a patchwork golem named Claw.
There's a nicely fire going, and it's smoky and stinks of an obese drunk dwarf, but it beats the hell out of the blizzard outside.
“Kill things, take their stuff.”
"Ooooh... That's exactly what I do. I bet I can do it better than you."
For just a second, Vilya's features blur and distort, her eyes elongating and turning inky black. But only for a second.
Getting to knooooooow youuuuuu.....
I think me discription mighta been confusin;
ergo...
they're essentially inside a big, 10 foot diameter stone (a la wall of stone spell) "igloo" half sphere, which was dug out underneath by disintegration spells, to provide room for an Asgardian shieldmaiden, 5 adventurers, a summoned stone giant, and a patchwork golem named Claw.
There's a nicely fire going, and it's smoky and stinks of an obese drunk dwarf, but it beats the hell out of the blizzard outside.
The shieldmaiden speaks up.
She's lovely. Too lovely...too perfect....makes-you-wanna-gag-if you're a catty chick HOT.
"I'm Hnoss. I met these good folk on the ferry cross the River Iving from Asgard to here, in the Mittelmarch, twixt Asgard and Jotunheim.
Friends of mine of some group from Sigil called the Harmonium said they'd help me on a mission.
My father is held. Imprisoned by the Black Dragon Svipdag. We quest through these wood against that dragon.
I don't know, dear one, if you want to join this dangerous quest, but...you're welcome to our home and hearth, such as it is.
We wouldn't dream of committing you to that horrid blizzard out there."
Getting to knooooooow youuuuuu.....
I think me discription mighta been confusin;
ergo...
they're essentially inside a big, 10 foot diameter stone (a la wall of stone spell) "igloo" half sphere, which was dug out underneath by disintegration spells, to provide room for an Asgardian shieldmaiden, 5 adventurers, a summoned stone giant, and a patchwork golem named Claw.
There's a nicely fire going, and it's smoky and stinks of an obese drunk dwarf, but it beats the hell out of the blizzard outside.
“Uh ... r i i i i ght ... I probably should clarify that we restrict our killing and looting to bad guys ...”
“Uh ... r i i i i ght ... I probably should clarify that we restrict our killing and looting to bad guys ...”
For just a second, Vilya's features blur and distort, her eyes elongating and turning inky black. But only for a second.
"Ho-ooo-old it. You walked in here uninvited, so you are probably not a vampire. But normal people don't flicker and blink like that. What spells are currently active on you?" Altai narrows his eyes in suspicion.
“I dunno Altai ... does a hole in the ground count as a house?”
"Ho-ooo-old it. You walked in here uninvited, so you are probably not a vampire. But normal people don't flicker and blink like that. What spells are currently active on you?" Altai narrows his eyes in suspicion.
For just a second, Vilya's features blur and distort, her eyes elongating and turning inky black. But only for a second.
"It has walls, a roof and an entrance. It's a dwelling, which vampires cannot enter uninvited."
"Or are you trying to say that it isn't quite enough for a dwelling, and that she may actually be a vampire after all?"
“Yeah, I wouldn’t call this a dwelling. No offense Altai. And let’s just say that nothing that she’s done so far has proved to me that she’s not a vampire.”
Elgan sniffs derisively, then sniffs again, like he's enjoying the smell of something enjoyable. (Highly unlikely, considering the aromatic dwarf in the enclosed space).
"NAw. I tol' yeh, yew worry tew much Beldin. She don' smell lahk undead. Shes hoomin. Er' pert' near anyhoos." The druid speaks up, eyeing Vilya curiously. (Not suspiciously, like Altai, but more curiously, like a child examining a new kitten.)
"Sorry, did you say something?"
<Looks over at Beldan.>
"Bapit chookie legged uplander. Jist whit we feckin' need."
"...My father is held. Imprisoned by the Black Dragon Svipdag. We quest through these wood against that dragon.I don't know, dear one, if you want to join this dangerous quest, but...you're welcome to our home and hearth, such as it is.
We wouldn't dream of committing you to that horrid blizzard out there."
<Stig looks shocked.>
"A feckin' dragon, whit th' buck ur ye talkin' abit. Noooooobody said nuthin' abit a dragon."
"NAw. I tol' yeh, yew worry tew much Beldin. She don' smell lahk undead. Shes hoomin. Er' pert' near anyhoos."
<Blank look. Looks down at Tenser.>
"Whit in th' nam ay Moradin is he gabbin' abit? Dae ye kin 'at, Tenser?"
<Wags tail.>
"Ruh HUH!!"
<Licks Elgan. Sniffs his ass.>
"Sorry, did you say something?"
<Looks over at Beldan.>
"Bapit chookie legged uplander. Jist whit we feckin' need."
“Well to be fair Stig, I don’t understand half of what you say. I just try not to be a smart ass about it, seeing as I’ve seen the bloody paste and crushed body parts that’re left smeared across the ground after someone’s pissed you off.”
<Wags tail.>
"Ruh HUH!!"
<Licks Elgan. Sniffs his ass.>
<ooc>For Shiny: The dog is wearing an amulet of intelligence.</ooc>
oh, yeah; I forgot the dog too.
It never gets killed for some reason.It's like "Riot Dog." Skilz.
“...seeing as I’ve seen the bloody paste and crushed body parts that’re left smeared across the ground after someone’s pissed you off.”
"Aye. Ah tray. Ah tray."
"...My father is held. Imprisoned by the Black Dragon Svipdag. We quest through these wood against that dragon.I don't know, dear one, if you want to join this dangerous quest, but...you're welcome to our home and hearth, such as it is.
We wouldn't dream of committing you to that horrid blizzard out there."<Stig looks shocked.>
"A feckin' dragon, whit th' buck ur ye talkin' abit. Noooooobody said nuthin' abit a dragon."
“It was discussed. I think you were passed out ... but ... didn’t you wonder why we were telling you to buy all those acid resisting potions?
“Anyway ... Hnoss likes her and Elgan’s smelled her ... that’s good enough for me.” Beldan turns to the strange woman. “Yeah, so anyway, we’re going to kill a dragon, probably, then go and find some giant to read some book or something. You’re welcome to travel with us for a ways, so long as you don’t try to kill us or anything.”
oh, yeah; I forgot the dog too.
It never gets killed for some reason.
It's like "Riot Dog." Skilz.
“Yeah, so anyway, we’re going to kill a dragon, probably, then go and find some giant to read some book or something. You’re welcome to travel with us for a ways, so long as you don’t try to kill us or anything.”
<Nods his head.>
"By Rapunzel's beard! Mince some coal up mah crease an' caa me a hen."
<Waddles back to the keg and resumes his drinking. Mutters to himself...>
"Gonna need a wee pick me up tae gie ben thes tae be sure."