Megan's Kingmaker PbP

Game Master Megan Robertson

Calinder walks over to where Gorguk and the Boggard are talking and helps examine Garuum's injured hand.

Heal Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16, well that ought to add a couple of points to Gorguk's heal check.

It appears to be an old injury, looks all the world as if someone had mashed the hand with a rock, smashing all or at least most of the bones.

Yes but was Gorguk able to help fix the old break. Reset the hand that type of thing.

Turning to the Boggard, We return to talk later. Busy now. Keep safe. People not attack you, you not attack people. Truce. diplomacy for longer lasting truce for the time being, 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

Turning to the rest, If you have a better means of communication then perhaps we can talk to him better. If not then shall we return once we have time now that we have established a rudimentary truce?

Still holding her bow and arrow, but no longer readied, Rhasadilara will step into view. While she scans the treeline to make sure the boggard is truly alone, she says, "Perhaps Barnabus can speak to him. Sounded like the same croaking to me, but I don't speak their language."

The Flying Master B tried to speak Boggard, I believe - did the fellow with the mangled hand understand him?

Barnabus flies back over and seeing the situation is well in hand he comes down close by and addresses the boggard in his native tongue.....

"Fear not yer slurk merely sleeps, comes you from the slough?....I once lived there as well, is this your home?....truce is good for us and good for you. Is any dangers nearby?"

The boggard perks up.

"Ah, a civilised being," he says. "Yes I come from the Hooktongue Slough, where I was a member of the great boggard tribe there, but made a terrible mistake the day I decided I should become the one to rule the tribe. In order to prepare for my reign, I gathered and devoured several dozen of the tribe's sacred blue dragonflies, hoping to gain great power and skill from the insects. Alas, while the feast bolstered my self-confidence, it did nothing for my battle skills. I rode my slurk into the centre of the tribe to declare war, whereupon the tribe's priest-king immediately captured me and sentenced me and my slurk to death after a day of humiliating punishment!

"Fortunately for me, luck had not entirely deserted me. I was placed in a pen, but my captors soon lost track of me after growing insensibly drunk on bog whiskey. Late in the evening, after the moon sank to shadow, I escaped my bonds by using a rock to pulverize my left hand in order to tear it free from the manacles, then freed my slurk and fled eastward into the Narlmarches. Following my escape, the priest-king branded me an exile and demanded that I be slain on sight should I ever return. So I and my slurk have settled here and would live in peace, if we may."

OK, that's a lot of croaking! (Bit like my voice sounds like at the moment!)

Gorguk, your ministrations have certainly eased the hand but you think it will need more work before it is fully restored.

Boggard....
"Tis a tale of woe, alas perhaps you might have a place to call your own here with promise that none shall try and take it."

Relates the above tale to everyone...

"This place seems tah suit him an grantin him right tah settle seems fair."

Describes to the Boggard where to find us in the future and describes how a white flag signals truce to most humans. Warns him of bandits in the area.....

Barnabus, would you please ask him why he wanted to be chief and what his goals would be. It may be possible to have him as an ally if his motives align with ours. If the Boggard tribe is lead by this priest-king and we can reach an agreement, great, if not then perhaps a suitable replacement by this Boggard would work as well.

"Let me check...."

Boggard
"Is chief usually claimed through combat within tha tribe?....Was chief bad? What would made you better chief?"

The boggard looks a bit bemused.

"Better? Um... Good chief is strong. I am strong! But maybe not strong enough."

Boggard
"I see. What would you does as chief?"

"Gorguk it appears tha tribe o boggards err none to civil likely tha strongest rules, much like tha gobliniods, though this one calling truce seems less war-like."

"Anyting anyone else like tah knows o tha boggard?"

Rhasadilara just watches. She's perfectly happy to let others handle this. As long as the boggard is respecting the land, she'll respect him.

"Um. Try to... well... make tribe prosperous. Mebbe farm a bit. Grow stuff. Trade even." says the boggard, clearly thinking hard.

"Gorguk tha boggard say he wouldst ave tha boggards start tah farm an trade, which they does not do."

Boggard
"Thanks fer yer thoughtfulness."

If that is the case then we could be well served to help him. In the future should he claim leadership of his tribe he might join us as allies or at least as valuable trade partners. Remind me to inform Lothar when we get back to the fort about this opportunity.

Suddenly, Rhasadilara has an idea for the discussion. "Ask him what he can tell us of the area and much he's explored."

Boggard
"What yah know bout tha surrounding lands?"

Calinder listens as Barnabus translates Gorguk's and Rhasa's questions to the Boggard. Hopefully, this last question will provide some information that will be helpful in their exploration of this region.

Otherwise Calinder is making notes of what he feels is important information.

"This area, swamp. Me and Ubagub lives here, grow some tubers and catch grubs. 'Round here there's a statue of Stag-Head God, peaceful place. An' there's another temple over there, and some tatzlwyrms and a big, big pig-thing with tusks..."

He points in several directions as he speaks.

The 'peaceful place' with a stag-headed statue is NNW, probably in B5. The 'other temple' is to the east, in C4. The tatzlwyrms are west, in B6, and the 'big pig-thing' is in D5.

"Gorguk an Calindar he says statue o Erastil maybe near here. Lizards an a pig thing close tah here."

Rhasadilara quizzes the witch for details about the specific threats identified. "Do you think the 'pig-thing' is Tuskgutter? What sort of lizards does he describe? Dragons? Alligators? Something in between?"

Hmm, we've seen the 'other temple' in C4, have we not? I think the map is missing some other explored areas.

"Tatzlwyrms...kinda like big snakes wit arms I think."

She looks at the witch steadily, considering what she knows of creatures by that name. "So many questions... How many? Is it a nest of young or are these adults spread through a region? Can he give us detailed directions?" She turns and looks that direction. "Gorguk, do you want us to deal with these creatures on this trip, or should we bypass them for a latter journey?"

Knowledge (Nature) for tatzlwyrms: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

Correct on finding the temple already, as far as the statue and lizard things not yet.

Gorguk quiets Donna nd listens tot he interpretations and Rhasa asking follow up questions. He was more concerned with the possibilities of allies and let the others worry about the specifics of the surrounding area. Besides, Rhasa knew what to ask and Gorguk would just get in the way. He had to admire Barnabus though as the witch was always handy with jus the right spell or ability at the right time.

feral speech hex in the wilderness, priceless

Chosing languages to learn, trickerer

The 'big, big pig-thing with tusks' does sound like Tuskgutter, doesn't it, and the location is right.

The boggard doesn't have much more information although he thinks that the tatzlwyrms are an adult mated pair. They keep themselves to themselves, and so does he!

Rhasadilara recalls that tatzlwyrms are quite rare, and only a few particularly curious and lucky adventurers can claim to have seen a living specimen. Reports do agree on some basic features, however. About the size of a full-grown human, discounting their tails, tatzlwyrms have only two limbs and no wings, and there are no reports of the classic draconic breath weapons, though tatzlwyrms do possess a weak poisonous breath. An adult tatzlwyrm is 6 to 8 feet long, its long, serpentine tail adding another 6 feet or so to its length, and weighs between 400 and 500 pounds. A tatzlwyrm's scales give the creature limited camouflage, ranging through various shades of green, brown, and gray. Most of what little knowledge there is about them comes from folklore and rumour, rather than hard fact!

Boggard
"Have you any needs? o need any helps?"

"Also should we come back this way how should we announce our arrival so yah err not alarmed?"

"If I recall properly, Oleg wanted a Tatzlwyrm as a trophy for decorating his fort. But what if these creatures are intelligent and can be bargained with, we could always use more allies."

"Well from my notes, I believe that the 'other temple' that he mentions is definatly the temple of Erastil that we've already visited, and the big pig is, or was Tuskgutter."

"I'm not sure how intelligent they are, but breaking up a mated pair for decoration is offensive to me. And only Erastil knows what would move in if we disrupted the balance by killing the pair."

She's thoughtful for a while, "We will have to see how dangerous they are. If they truly keep to themselves as our friend here says, I'm inclined to think they have as much right to be here as he does. Maybe more."

"Mayhap Oleg will settle fer a jack-a-lope head."

If they attack people though then we might have to kill them if we are to make this area safe for settlers. Granted I do not want to ruin the wilderness yet we have been tasked by the swordlords to pacify the area as well.

If they attack people though then we might have to kill them if we are to make this area safe for settlers. Granted I do not want to ruin the wilderness yet we have been tasked by the swordlords to pacify the area as well.

She nods vigorously, "Absolutely, if they are a danger to peaceful folk, they must be dealt with. If they are only a danger to fools that go looking for adventure," as she points at herself with a grin, "then I think they should be left to their own devices. Those fools seeking adventure are as much part of our future country as the farmers. If they have something to do, they will cause less trouble. I intend to try to keep an eye on such things as these wyrms as our land develops, but I hope we can settle it without trying to pacify every corner."

"So knowing tha territory an how dangerous they err is tha question, iffen they provide a barrier tah invasion an stay in a limited place, they might could stay. Tis too early tah tell."

"Exactly. That sort of information-gathering is how I think will be most comfortable aiding our fledgling nation. However, that's later - do we want to investigate these locations on this trip?"

"Just call out, that will do," says the boggard amiably.

"If we have the time, while we're here we might as well find out all we can. That's my feeling anyway."

"Aye tha best laid plans turned from our guessed course by actual information."

"Tha statute sounds o import."

So it sounds like we should check out the statue first and then come back to investigate these tatzle-things. The first to see what is going on there and the second to make sure that the area is safe for everyone, not just dangerous to adventurers looking for some excitement. Sounds like a plan, after you Rhasa if you please.

Turning to the Boggard, We will come again. Until then, be safe.

Rhasadilara nods, then turns to consider the path forward based on the boggard's description of the location of the statue. After a few minutes, she picks a path and starts off.

Calinder says to the Boggard, "May you be safe until we meet again, and may Erastil be with you."

Calinder then prepares to leave as Rhasa choose the best path to their next destination.

The boggard croaks farewell and bounds off back to his house to check up on his slurk.

The party gets organised and Rhasadilara leads the way into thicker, drier forest. It's quite peaceful, birdsong and shafts of sunlight and a few small red-haired deer which seem more curious than afraid.

Night falls, you camp. It passes peacefully.

In the morning, a soft mist curls through the trees as you press on. The day wears on, the mist clears and the forest thins out. Eventually, just after noon, you find yourselves emerging from the forest edge and looking out over a rolling plain, the Narlmarches. Here a 15-foot-tall statue of Erastil stands near the edge of the Narlmarches, partially overgrown at the base but towering above the surrounding shrubbery.

It is a particularly peaceful spot, very quiet and serene. Even the birds are quiet, and there's no rustling in the undergrowth.

"Now thats somethin."

Barnabus gets a good view of the statue. Then looks for anything that goes with it, a building, something of how it got there.....

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14

Rhasadilara dismounts at a respectful distance from the statue, noting the silence in the area. She studies the area for tracks and studies the statue itself for outstanding characteristics.

Seeing the statue partially overgrown Gorguk dismounts and silently says a prayer to his god. Once completed with his prayer, Gorguk approaches the statue and begins to carefully clear away the growth to reveal the entire statue. Once that is done, Gorguk takes a look for any inscription upon the statue indicating why it was there.

Cal, any idea why here of all places? Besides the statue is there any other reason this is holy ground?

Calinder thinks hard on Gorguk's question trying to recall anything he may have heard about this area relating to Erastil.

Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31 to see what Calinder know about the statue and this area. Well, if I don't know anything after that roll, I don't know who would, except maybe Erastil himself.

"Gorguk, let me think about that and go through my journals, perhaps there is a detail about this place that I can remember."

"This place certainly does have the feel of having been blessed and made holy, perhaps my journals will contain the information that will tell us why."

Rooting around in the undergrowth, Barnabus finds the scant remains of a building that long past was burned to the ground.

As those who revere Erastil clear the base of the statue, a feeling of peace washes over them. Then Calatin notices, or realises, something a bit more - every slashing and piercing weapon within 60 feet of the statue gains the benefit of a keen edge spell (CL 20th) for 1 week, a special blessing for Erastil himself for the devotion shown!

Is it me, or is it getting easier to cut through this undergrowth and clear the base of the statue. My dagger seems to be getting sharper, not the other way around."

Finding nothing of interest I assume, Rhasadilara pitches in with the cleanup, using Sunset to drag brush away from the statue into pile that might attract a creature in need of a best or den.

Indeed, there is power in this place. I can feel it. We must remember this place and come here often to remember and worship. Tis along with the temple we found earlier makes this whole realm one large area dedicated to Him.

You eventually have everything returned to a state of order. By then it's beginning to get late. Will you stop here for the night?