You are in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, and that they have been given a map by a Pathfinder sage named Rognvald Skagni, and a charge to stop the Shadow Lodge from reaching a powerful weapon.
|
A strange oread rises from seated meditation. His skin is a seemingly random patchwork of rock, rough granite in some places and polished crystal in others. Odd look aside, he appears to be in excellent physical condition. He bows to the newly arrived Pathfinders, and, in lieu of speaking, produces a chalkboard with a message already written on it; likely pondered over and perfected for some time.
"Greetings, fellow agents. It is good we have more support, some of our number had to leave on other assignments. I am Zero, and as Pathfinders, we have a common goal in this mission. Working together, I have no doubt we will accomplish it without fail."
|
|
A human looking man covered head to toe in miners lanterns and carrying a celestial lamp walks backwards into the gathering group. He turns to face the group and says:
"The stone creature's test of melting ice begins here with the steps of the feet? The lantern king has ice in his ears or maybe his eyes...Sarting now with the gift of lanterns, yes?"
He then appears to offer a miners lantern to the oread and holding the rest up for the gathering group.
"Over your ears and on the metal, that's where the lantern king goes"
|
"Be thankful it's a natural cold," says the Varisian lady sitting near Zero, as she pulls back the hood on the fur-lined cloak she's wearing. She has a Harrow deck spread out in front of her, and a book in her lap, as she referring back and forth between the two, making notes in the book after a bit. Several scarves are scattered around her, including one with razors sewn into it sitting next to her."The last place Zero and I were was Irrisen, with it's eternal winter. In fact, that's what led us to here, though we had several people called away for different missions. I'm Carina, from the Villasani clan, Zero has introduced himself, and somewhere around here is Prothero. A pleasure to meet you, and may Desna smile on you."
After a moment, she turns to Zero. "I've recently learned to glean further insight from the cards," she gestures to her Harrow Deck, "Would you like a reading?"
|
|
Not wanting to offend, Zero makes no mention of his ability to see in the dark and dons the proffered helmet, nodding in thanks.
The oread scribbles down another note as Carina talks about Irrisen. "Indeed, I have no wish to go there again. Though it was not without its fun. We found and fought a dragon in a Shadow Lodge base, albeit a small one."
At Carina's query, he nods and produces a prerecorded message. "Thank you, that would be welcome." He vaguely hopes it does not require him to disclose his religious beliefs, but takes comfort in the fact that they may no longer be the strangest in the group.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
With a nod, Carina swiftly gathers the cards that she has spread in front of her, and shuffles them several times before splaying them out. "Choose nine of them, and keep them in the order you choose." she instructs. After Zero does so, Carina removes the other cards and expertly lays the cards out in a three-by-three grid.
"We open with the Theater," Carina opens with as she shows the first card to have a picture of a puppet dragon and knight fighting. "A calling to a scenario that you have no influence over. Something important that you have no control of, or something that you didn't realize was important until after the fact. Skagni's capture, perhaps. "
When Carina flips the second card, she faintly smirks as she displays a card with 3 ne'er-do-wells splitting a pile of ill-gathered gains emblazoned on it. "The Crows, a fitting card to have in the past, considering our journey so far. This refers to a group of dangerous and violent band and murder and theft are oft found in their wake. Likely, this represents Hjort and the Shadow Lodge and their actions."
The final card in the left column shows a merchant with jewelry in one hand with the other hand extended in payment. "The Foreign Trader," Carina states as she flips it over, "The sign of information changing hands, in this position, likely to your detriment. This could represent the reason you're up here, or the goals of your rivals."
The first card Carina flips in center column causes her eyebrows to raise in surprise. "The Betrayal, perfectly out of alignment," she says as she displays a card with a woman holding the severed head of a man, dripping blood on a handful of grapes. "Normally, this card is a sign of selfishness and envy, of evil behind beauty. However, placed here, that meaning is inverted, instead calling to the virtues of asceticism, and taking the path away from material things. I'm willing to say that this likely represents you in this situation, as a guide toward a proper resolution."
The card in the center of the spread is shown with a picture of a noble woman weeping over a grave. "The Empty Throne, a reminder to listen to the wisdom of those who are long gone, and a call to remember those whom we have lost."
The final card in the center column shows a pair of goblins harassing a man in an oversized mask. "The Idiot, in its preferred place. This card represents foolishness and greed, and where it sits means that it's important. Maybe it's the core of the problem in the first place."
The right column starts with boy fleeing from a sinister-looking jester with lights and tents in the background. "The Carnival, this card signifies illusions and false dreams. It's about putting faith in high-risk situations, or in imprudent choices. But where it is means that may be to your benefit. That a little recklessness will pay off handsomely, perhaps."
The middle card in the right column depicts a sphinx offering a man a ride across a sandy expanse. "The Desert."Carina looks thoughfully at this card. "This card is all about realizing that a task is too difficult for you alone, and getting aid to complete a worthwhile challenge. "
"And finally, we come to the Locksmith, " she says, as she flips a card with a hooded man pulling a ring of keys from his cloak. "The Locksmith gives one the tools to reach one's goals, but not the wisdom to use them. This card's position makes me worry that the fact that we don't know what we're doing will cause a problem."
Carina sits back up for a moment, glancing at the fully exposed spread. "Looking at the spread as a whole, the influence of our Shadow Lodge foes is obvious, but they're desperate, and greedy, likely not thinking past their next action." She points at the right side of the spread, continuing,"I think that these cards mean there's someone that can help us in the future, and we'll have the means to get their help, but getting that help is still a chancy endeavor." She points to the center card. "Maybe the lessons of the past are the key to this help?" she posits, before falling into deep thought.
|
|
Ailean watches the harrower named Carina closely, seemingly either truly amazed by the ability or utterly confused, it is generally hard to tell.
"You do neat card trick that shows future? I do neat card trick that shows future too! Quick quick, draw card from my stack." He says, as he pulls out a deck of standard cards, although not all appear to be from the same set.
"Hurry hurry, before the cards melt my mind! A boon from the gods my cards contain, but mayhaps they scatter your brain."
|
|
Zero finds himself thoroughly confused by the cards, not seeing how any represent him or the situation. He chalks it up to some form of magic he doesn't understand and tries to be content with that. Try as he might to remove it, however, the image of the Carnival sticks in his mind and disrupts his usual concentration slightly.
"I'll leave heavy thinking about the cards to you," he writes. "The next-best place to get information would be from a beaten Shadow Lodge agent, which is more to my set of skills."
|
|
Ailean reads Zero's board and reflects on the interesting group he is with. At the same time, he tries to understand what exactly his mission is.
"We go now to battle Shadow Men, yes? Ailean is ready and has new fancy stick making the lodge people warm!" He then pulls out a wand that has an "endure elements 50/50" parchment attached to it. He then proceeds to tap himself with it once and offers to tap other party members with it, should they ask him to do so.
"Feels like first world home, even here in ice world..."
The Ulfen have a saying: “No blade is as sharp, no demon as cruel as the winds that walk their way down the Icestair.” At the border of Irrisen and the untamed wilds of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, the meaning of those words becomes clear as the barren, snow-covered plains stretch to the horizon. Four days’ travel now lies between the eastern edge of Irrisen and the shattered remains of the Huscarl King’s keep.
To the east, sinuous snow drifts give way to rocky foothills from which pines and scrub brushes claw for life. In the distance, the massive creatures that give this land its name shuffle along at a ponderous speed, still impossibly huge even from far away.
Skagni’s map marks a clear and straightforward path, but the snow makes for slow travel. The Shadow Lodge agents have a head start, but persistence through the harsh environment and adherence to the strict map may yet make it possible to catch them before they reach the Keep of the Huscarl King and gain access to the mighty weapon held within.[/spoiler]
Knowledge (history) can be used to research the history of
Ranulf the Huscarl King and his domain.
|
|
Zero racks his brains for any information he heard on the way here, then transcribes what little comes of the effort. "Kellids are the natives here. Not the most advanced, but quite tough. One would have to be in this locale, I look forward to meeting them. Long ago, some Ulfen took a fair bit of land in this nations's west. As a result, the local Kellids swore fealty to him."
|
|
The Ulfen have a saying: “No blade is as sharp, no demon as cruel as the winds that walk their way down the Icestair.”
"I have less clues than a bat about that. Home is where the lantern is after all..."
He notices the black blade on Abaal's back and says "Night Blade man, you like warm home feeling?" He says offering endure elements to Abaal.
"We have sayings too where I am from. 'One should always learn from the mistakes of others. One cannot live long enough to make them all himself.'"
"Do any of us know the local tongues?"
|
|
Ailean looks at Zero and says "Many mind words give us smarts,
He then looks back at Abaal "And many blessings lantern king gives my tounge. My mind does not see the the language of this people but my mind does see many funny words." Ailean then pulls out a parchment from his pack containing the words Common, Aklo, Sylvan, Ancient Osiriani, Ancient Azlanti, Jistka, Tekritanin, Thassilonian, and Boggard. "Look at all these funny words, I know them in my mind but not in the world."
"Funny basket shoes that match my hat make ice melt faster." he then goes with Abaal to buy snowshoes (-5g).
|
|
At the outset of the journey through the frozen lands, Prothero introduces himself to the newcomers to the group, and greets Zero and Carina warmly. He is older than many Pathfinders of his relatively low rank and dressed in faded grey robes, his only extravagance a beautiful bow of black wood extending over his right shoulder. His coloring – the bronzed skin and a few struggling wisps of brown hair – indicate his Taldan birth, and his sparse but neatly trimmed beard marks him as being of the noble blood of that land. Strangely, his earlobes have a fringed, almost tentacled look to them, and the tops of his ears look ever so slightly like the wings of a bat.
He happily accepts Ailean’s offer of magical protection against the cold, thanking him with almost courtly grace, surprising in one so simply dressed. He then considers what he knows of the history of the area, but draws a blank. ”I know that I studied these matters at one point,” he remarks, ”but I can bring nothing to mind about these lands.”
|
|
"Funny basket shoes that match my hat make ice melt faster." he then goes with Abaal to buy snowshoes (-5g).
While out and about Abaal converses with the strange little man about his strange manner of dress, in ancient Osiriani -difficult considering it is all pictographs, but that's old tongues for you.
"Picture of a perched hawk, picture of a hawk taking flight, picture of a man's head with a picture of a lantern over it, picture of a jackal barking...."
Abaal attempts to find a local sage or scribe from which to purchase a guide or key to the local Hallit tongue.
|
|
"Picture of a man's head with a picture of a lantern over it, picture of sunshine, picture of parchment, picture of deer barking"
"Nice man take warm home stick. It ok, I know all of the nothing about every place. Good tidings in the form of smart brain talkers, but not my brain. Maybe neat card see-er knows trick of brain books."
|
|
Carina smiles as she greatfully accepts the casting from the Lantern keeper's wand, for magical protection from the elements. "I made it a point to learn as many of the languages from Northern Avistan, so, yes, I know Hallit, as well as Skald if that comes up." She takes one last look at the cards in front of her before gathering them up and wrapping in a velvet cloth and then into her haversack.
As she continues to pack up her gear, she continues to speak of the area. "As for the area we're entering, It's the territory of the Snowmask Clan, and we need to pass though their lands to reach the ruins of the Keep of Ranulf, the Huscarl King. Ranulf was a member of the Ulfen Guard, the personal guard of the Taldean Emperor. After leaving the Emperor's employ, he came up here and established is own fiefdom here, earning the loyality of the local tribes. It's said that he personally defeated a great white dragon that assaulted his keep, likely with his flaming greataxe, Jedrek's Shard. And since it was rumored to be buried with the great warrior, That's likely what the Shadow Lodge is after. While the keep was buried in an intentional avalanche after Ranulf's death, the glacier that it was hidden in has retreated enough that it's reachable now. " She stands and pulls her mystically lightened pack onto her shoulders. "Legends suggest that the keep was buried for one of two reasons. Most assume that Ranulf had the deed done as one last spike of ego, keeping his weapon out of the hands of others. but some think that it was to keep something under the keep from escaping, and to keep others from reaching whatever the danger under the keep is. In any case, our quarry has several days on us, shall we give proper chase?"
|
Grace smiles under her helm, "Well that'll be useful. I'm not much help here since I only know basic and old Osirianni and some elemental languages..." She commented about the languages. Taking off her helm, she reveals blue skin like an ocean by the shore, with hair the color of the sky.
She sighs as she looks at the bleak landscape,"SERIOUSLY, I'm a SAILOR. Why do they keep sending me to these BLEAK and dreary landlocked places?" She mutters to herself, "At least it's a little warm..." she says, some ice forming ON her skin, which she doesn't even seem to notice. Upon her back, a Darkwood Heavy shield hangs, the picture of an ocean wave etched into it.
|
|
Grace smiles under her helm, "Well that'll be useful. I'm not much help here since I only know basic and old Osirianni and some elemental languages..." She commented about the languages. Taking off her helm, she reveals blue skin like an ocean by the shore, with hair the color of the sky.
"Oh, picture of a jackal barking, picture of a raised hand?"
|
|
My parents made SURE to pound our languages into my head. I also know,
Aquan, Ignan, and Quadiran."
"So speaking of TREASURES and whatnot... what kind of lead do we actually have? It's not like there's a map that says 'X MARKS THA SPOT' or anything." Grace says chuckling silently at her own seaborne humor.
|
|
Zero looks as if he might chuckle, but instead raises a board. "I am of little use concerning languages. I 'speak' Taldane, Terran, and Giant, although I have not willingly uttered a word for several decades. On one of my assignments, there was an angry giant to be talked down, he could only speak his native tongue and I was the only other who knew it. The written form of Giant is chaos incarnate, it was miraculous we didn't come to blows."
Having taken his seemingly once-per-year moment of levity, the oread shifts back to business. "The enemy has several days lead on us, and there are no revelations here that could not be thought upon during the trek. We should depart at once, so long as everyone is ready."
You make your way across foothills and open swaths of tundra for the early part of the first day’s journey. The megafauna that give this land its name—giant sloths, massive elk, and woolly mammoths—do not approach
you, but are close enough to cause a bit of worry.
Just after noon, the trail leads through a patch of dense evergreens that end atop a low hill. On the ground below, the evidence of battle is immediately apparent.
The thick cluster of pine trees ends abruptly at the top of a low hill. At the bottom, the snow is littered with the aftermath of battle. Broken shields and spears jut from the snow like fractured bones, and blood colors the ground around a sprawl of bodies, many still seemingly locked in combat.
The corpses number 10 in all, and are of two distinct groups. Five are native Kellids who carried axes and wooden shields. The lower half of each Kellid warrior’s face is painted white in a haphazard sprawl of color from the upper lip to just above the larynx.
The other combatants wear more “civilized” clothes, including heavy winter coats.
|
|
"Here!" Abaal shouts. In a flash the daring swordsman is there, leaning over the fallen man, man-spreading in to take over and staunch the flow of blood.
"This one is still breathing!" He repeats.
"Picture of a lantern, picture of a man with a heavy burden! Picture of a man running, picture of a reed, picture of the sun, picture of a man laying still!" He says to Ailean.
|
|
Ailean runs...well more like hobble wobbles up next to Abaal and the apparently dying man. He then proceeds to shake his lantern around and channel positive energy, twice if needed.
"No need feel good stick when we have lantern. Lantern solve all problems, sticks cause all problems. Look at holes, stick holes, not lantern holes, can't use stick on stick."
"Quick look see! Shadow boots, not basket boots, only shadow boots make marching line. Here look! People shoes make line quick behind. Many chase shadows, my lantern chase shadows, these people shoes chase shadows. No basket shoes. He then points off in the direction the footprints travel.
|
|
As Ailean heals the injured man, Prothero slips his bow off his shoulder and stays alert for any surprises, looking around and remarking, "If it's a good ambush site one, it's a good ambush site twice." As he surveys the surroundings, he tries to make sense of the lantern worshipper's ramblings, and his own eyes helpm him understand what his hears cannot. "Ah, I see what you're saying, Ailean. I see the other tracks as well. Our quarry is wearing proper boots, and someone is following them in cruder footwear, flanking their trail. This gets more complicated. Buit doesn't it always?"
Satisfied that there's no further threat nearby, he turns to hear what the injured man has to say for himself.
|
|
Carina looks over the corpses. "Kellids, and some of our quarry," she muses before looking in the direction of the tracks that Prothero notes. "Can you guess about numbers of either group?" She asks before walking over to where the others are. "Will he live? hopefulyy, we can use this as good first contect with his people, since they seem to fight fiercely."
Grainne searches the fallen from the battle, but isn't able to locate a survivor. However Abaal's keen eye notices one Kellid warrior barely breathing.
Ailean channels the Lantern God's energy but it isn't enough to bring the man to consciousness.
Prothero and Ailean both notice the tracks. The ones in the path look similar to the ones the Shadow Lodge agents are wearing.
|
|
Prothero pulls out a wand and offers it to Ailean, then explains slowly and clearly - and perhaps a bit loudly - what he has in mind, as he's still not sure he understands how the cleric's thought process works, "This is a healing wand. We can use it on the injured man, to see if we can talk to him." Gesturing first to himself and then to Ailean, he continues, "I cannot use it, but you can. See? If you heal him, he will wake up, and we can talk to him, right?" He then pauses, a hopeful look on his face, to see if he's been understood.
|
|
"Yes yes, fine, your lantern stick work good too" he says taking it and using those 2 CLW rolls and then faces Abaal. "Yes! Tik-talky wand, never have been in pockets. Usually tounge make good talk stick, many funny words we can both make."
He then mumbles "Stick holes fixed by stick...what second world coming to...lantern fix holes good."
He then proceeds to look extra closely into his lantern. "Ohohoho, you silly lantern king you. Play trick on me? I love tricks! When you give me bag of ball tricks with fuzzy teeth?"
Ailean uses Prothero's healing wand on the Kellid warrior, and brings him just to consciousness.
The warrior's eyes pop open and he sees several people staining over him. He glares and speaks to you in Kellid.
|
|
and follows this up by pointing at the closing wounds at the man. Then Ailean will use his bonded item to cast Share Language by hopefully touching the warrior, giving him the common language for 24 hours. "You understand my tongue speak now, yes?"
|
|
Carina's eyes widen at the sudden rapid-fire questioning. She raises her hands up in a sigh of peace, and starts responding in kind.
"Ole rauhallinen hetkeksi. Emme ole täällä satuttaa sinua, emmekä me ole täällä muiden kanssa. Itse asiassa me metsästämme niitä, koska he tekivät kauheita asioita myös meille. Mitä sinun tovereitasi kohtaan on, arvaus on, että yhteinen vihollamme tappoi heidät korkealla hinnalla omiin numeroihinsä."
|
|
Assuming Prothero is not right next to events that are transpiring, Ailean will stand somewhere between him and the Kellid warrior, maybe about 10ft away from either. Knowing he is no longer currently needed he begins to seemingly argue with his Lantern.
"No lantern, you played trick last time. My trick for lantern is upon the field...No, lantern does not turn off!? Need lantern king speak! Look at my cards lantern! All king, you thinking talk-speak with lantern king with paper? No, need lantern, not king paper!"
He looks at Carina with unease in his eyes. "Miksi minun pitäisi uskoa sinua?"