Return of Winter by Artofregicide (Inactive)

Game Master Artofregicide

Wulfgang moves and grabs his axe then whispers to the party.

"Yes but if it comes to feast, it will feel my axe!"

Cylina felt rather nervous at being watched by whatever was out there, but starting aggression against an unknown entity seemed unwise. Then again, they might be allowing whatever it was to formulate a strategy to assault the group. There seemed to be no good actions to take, so waiting was as good an option as any. The priestess sighed, shivering as she said, "Waiting seems wisest, though maybe we should just call out and see what it wants?"

Road to Whitethrone: Night Three

Almost as soon as you spot the glowing eyes (which you realize are no bigger than the eyes of a child or small animal), they disappear. You hear giggling and sniggering coming from the forest around. You have little doubt there are more than two creatures stalking you. But their intentions are yet unknown, and you still haven't seen them.

Nadya again looks deeply concerned, keeping her weapons close at hand...

Skald "Laughter is rarely a good sign in these lands. And this is the second night we have been watched... I don't like this."

What do you do? You could try and confront the creatures, or go to bed knowing you're being watched. Traveling and finding another camp at night is not advisable, but is an option.

"It may be worth dealing with them if we confront them and fight then we are dealing with a threat. If the don't fight then we can sleep more soundly."

"What are they? I didn't see exactly what they are?"

Cylina frowned as the conversation continued, offering a worried shake of her head to Wulfgang. "I didn't get a good look, either."

Her green eyes steeled with resolve, the priestess getting up and gathering up her morningstar and shield. "I don't like the idea of creeping out into the night to force a confrontation, but I like the idea of those things getting more bold and attacking us in our sleep even less. Let us see how they respond when we go out to them."

"Just eyes. Like before."

"All right let's go out." Irina casts light on a stone and tosses it out where she last saw the eyes.

Goliath draws Therm near. "Ready to look?"

Road to Whitethrone: Night Three

Hi, friendly GM here. Super sorry about the delay, especially considering the circumstances.

The party rises to their feet and prepares to walk into the darkness, weapons drawn but not yet brandished.

Irina tosses a shining rock into the shadows, but your watchers are over 60 ft. away. As soon as she does this, you observe a sudden scattering- about 5-6 total vaguely humanoid shaped creatures go fleeing at incredible speed into the darkness. Far faster than their tiny frames would imply. You can hear screeching laughter and goblin giggling before forest returns to darkness. But only moments later, at least two pairs of glowing eyes shine out from the darkness.

You can make a DC25 perception check to get a good look at the creatures. If you succeed, you may make a knowledge nature check to identify them (you may take 10, I'm not including a DC this time)

Nadya frowns.

Skald "They may be trying to lure us into the darkness, away from the more vulnerable members of our camp. I don't like this at all. If you continue chasing them, I will stay behind to protect the others."

Do you press forward?

"What is out there? That's a lot of creatures." Irina stays put in case anyone has the eyes to identify them.

Cylina's eyes widen as she sees more shapes than anticipated scurrying off in the darkness. With the incessant giggling, the priestess assumed there were fey at work, but they could never be sure. At Nadya's warning, the priestess sighed. "Nadya has the right of it, I think. What do you all think? Press forward, or let them linger?"

Wulfgang tries to catch a glimpse of the creatures.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

"My eyes fail me."

Well, you have a choice again. Do you pursue or fall back to camp?

Percpetion: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (13) + 13 = 26

Once he knows what he see he will likely opt to engage. Assuming they are hostile, but they may discuss a plan first.

Once he knows what he see he will likely opt to engage. Assuming they are hostile, but they may discuss a plan first.

The creatures are no bigger than a fox, but humanoid in shape. They're lean and wiry, with large batlike ears and a mouth full of needle-like teeth. As before, their eyes glow with almost an inherent orange light. Each carries a wicked looking blade crusted with what appears to be black ice...

Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"Winter-Touched Jinkins. We had assumed fey this confirms it. They are mischievous and dislike fire."

"Let's us stay close to the fire then. It will keep them away for the night. I hope." She mutters quietly. She pokes at the fire to make it a bit larger.

So what's the plan then? Confront/chase or return back to the campfire?

Also, now that Goliath has positively identified the Winter-Touched Jinkins, anyone may roll Knowledge nature (trained only) and use the results I provided for Goliath on my previous post.

Goliath votes to deal with them unless someone knows more and has a better idea.

Know Nature: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Irina shakes her head she knows nothing more than Goliath. I'll go with what the group thinks we should do. If we have enough fire to deal with them then we should do so."

I know Cylina may be busy, but I haven't heard an opinion from Wulfgang either. Is the plan to go after the fey and leave Nadya to look over the camp?

Wracked with indecision, Cylina listens to the others before offering her thoughts. "Now that we know more of what these creatures are, I agree with Goliath that they should be dealt with. At best they're spying upon us, and at worse they might magic up one of us with a baleful curse." The prietess hefted her morningstar and waited for the others to get ready.

With Qstor out for a week or so, I'll be NPCing Wulfgang as best I can to keep things moving. Let's hope they're okay. But with that in mind, I think we've voted 2:1 for going after the gremlins. Not to speak for Qstor, but my best guess is that Wulfang would also want to confront the gremlins.

With aid of magical light and torch I'm assuming that at least Wulfgang lights a torch before heading out you begin pursuing the miscreant creatures. Nadya remains at the camp, on edge with bow drawn, the more vulnerable members of your party protected behind she and her faithful house spirit.

As you head out into the darkness and cold, it becomes increasingly clear that Irrisen nights are significantly more brutal than day. And more infuriating is the impossible speed of the tiny rapscallions, who seem to always be just a dozen paces ahead of you, scampering through woods with celerity twice what their size would assume.

You pursue until camp is just a flickering light on the horizon, no closer to your quarry. You can still hear the constant snickering and giggles from the Jinkins. It's clear they intended to lead you on a merry chase- perhaps hoping you'll get lost or freeze, but more likely enjoying the sheer frustration of it.

What do you do?

Goliath would have left Therm to signal if from the camp.

"If we can't close on them we will have to keep waiting and watching and hope they make a move otherwise. we will have to set a trap for another night."

"I agree. I don't want to get out of sight of the camp. Who knows if they will slip back around and attack them. Let's head back." Irina turns back toward the far away fire.

Do we want to move forward without Cylina and Wulfgang (both have extenuating circumstances after all

Cylina frowned, but nodded her agreement with the others' assessment. It wasn't ideal, but apparently the fiendish little creatures weren't quite ready for a confrontation. On edge, the redhead headed back to camp with the others, frequently looking back to make sure the fey were keeping their distance.

Road to Whitethrone: Night Three

As soon as you turn to return to camp, there is an explosion of movement from the gremlins. For a brief second, you think they're charging you- but they maintain their distance and go around you- scrambling full speed back to your camp - nearly 1,000 feet away.

One of them- perhaps their leader- shrieks into the night:

Skald "Quickly! Leave them to cold and wolves while we pillage the camp! They have many shinies for the taking!"

The Gremlins are now moving at full speed (40 ft. move speed) towards your camp, which is 1,000 ft. away. The forest is sparse enough that it doesn't count as difficult terrain, but you cannot take run actions or otherwise move in a perfectly straight line. Due to their "surprise" round, they start approximately equivalent position to you but 60 ft. away on either side.

Cylina shouted "Nadya, Hatch, you others, watch out!", as the creatures suddenly turned to go around the group. Angry and upset at being played for a fool by the little bastards, she started back towards camp as quickly as she could, keeping her morningstar out just in case any of the little cretins got close enough to swat.

Double move back towards camp.

Wulfgang storms back to came and follows Cylina.

"Let's hurry!"

"Let's go."

Goliath takes of running.

As he steps, the player takes advantage of extra time, and Golaith shifts into the form of a Deinonychus, one of the fastest creatures he knows.

This will get him up to 60ft, 40ft with his armor.

Then he moves at full stride.

Irina keeps moving forward but she casts Glitterdust on the largest group of gremlins she can find.

100 Ft Range, DC 17 Will Negates the blinding. 10 foot square area.

Road to Whitethrone: Night Three
Stuff

Sadly, Irina is only able to target 2 gremlins at most (I assume she waits until there are 2 within 10 ft.). They are all very spread out, but at some point in your run two come within 10 ft. Both fail their saves.

You set off back to the camp at full speed- rushing through the forest in absolute haste. Branches whip across your faces, roots threaten to hurl you to the ground, and the frigid wind blinds your vision. All the time, you hear the cackling of the malevolent fey.

Goliath drops behind the pack to transform into a dinosaur- and feels the immediate burn of cold on his reptilian skin, his feathers doing nothing to insulate him from the cold. Nevertheless, he dashes forward through the snow trying to catch up with the others with his new celerity.

Irina hurls a ball of gold light at two of the gremlins, catching both and blinding them (as well as illuminating their tiny forms in shimmering light). They both manage to crash headlong into the underbrush and quickly fall behind the pack.

You manage to dash all the way back to the camp - though outpaced by the Jinkins, they seem to enjoy leading you back - a number of paces ahead of you at all times. Goliath vastly outpaces you and makes it camp long before the others- the Jinkins just let him outrun them and instead focus on harassing the others... spewing a constant stream of taunts, threats, and crude jokes.

Nevertheless, you all arrive back at camp severely winded but unharmed. The gremlins keep their distance, having succeeded in their mission of leading you on a pointless chase. They cackle with bemusement but stay slightly farther away than usual, realizing that the strange reptile-man is faster than they are...

Nadya looks up at the lot of you, bow still in hand.

Skald "We are safe. What happened?"

What do you do now? It's clear the Jinkins are more than happy to torment you all night...

Cylina cursed in exasperation as she charged her way slowly back to the camp, almost sure the fey were toying with them but unwilling to chance stopping lest they attack Nadya and her children. Angry at having been led on a silly chase, her brow furrowed furiously as she replied to Nadya.

Skald "Just being toyed with by those creatures. I suppose the same watch as usual, then."

Frustrated at the group's relative inability to deal with the meddlesome little beasts, the priestess proceeded to stare into the flames of the camp fire, sitting back a bit to let the cold suck some of the anger out of her. A clear head would be the best solution.

FYI, I will try to get my next post up tomorrow. I realize that I am the main problem with our posting rate, but I am fighting to try and make it 3/week instead of 1/week. Thanks for your patience.

The big question is whether you want to try and force the Jinkins into fighting you (which they seem perfectly happy to avoid) or set up watch and go throughout the night.

I vote set up the watch and let whatever might happen occur.

How far are the jerkins currently?

How far are the jerkins currently?

The closest Jinkins are 100 ft. away.

I vote for the watch as well. If they are just going to be annoying, we can deal with that.

Road to Whitethrone: Day Four

You take watches as normal, protecting the camp with the wards you have remaining. The Jinkins do not make a direct attack, but occasionally throughout the night will suddenly whoop and holler into the night - waking those sleeping, but not enough to disrupt spell preparation or to cause fatigue. They also toss snowballs, rocks, and debris at the camp from the treetops and shadows, but none ever manage to strike a target.

It's clear the frustrating fey are well aware that Goliath can outpace them and thus keep their distance. Just before the time morning thankfully comes, the gremlins disappear. You're not sure where they've gone or whether they intend to follow you for a third night.

You pack up camp, and load up the sleigh once again. Nadya rubs the sleep from her eyes, and yawns.

Skald "Those creatures are a blight on Irrisen. It's not enough to kill us, they must drive us crazy first."

She wraps up her boys in blankets and reassures them about the noises in the night.

Skald "Don't you worry. We are safe with our friends. Mama will protect you, and Hatch would never let any harm come to you."

This done, she turns to the rest of you and smiles:

Skald "Shall we go?"

Any additional preparations you want to make for the day?

The redhead woke up feeling rather drained, but at least the group had managed to get some rest. As Nadya smiled at them after reassuring her boys, the priestess returned her smile warmly before gathering her things and getting ready to continue the journey. Cylina was determined that if the gremlins tormented them again this night, it would be their last bit of fun on Golarion.

Updated spell list.

Golaith wakes up does some prep, gets his armor on, sharpens his weapons.

"Is everybody ready to move? Things will get more dangerous the closer we get."

Irina spends time communing with Wraak, and gets different spells for the day. She chooses, Dancing Lights, Daze, and Sleep. Replacing Light, Read Magic and Hold Person.

After she's done communing she tucks Wraak in with the boys. "Keep him safe young ones, and pay attention to him. His nose is really good."

"Is there anything anyone is going to need today? Is everybody healthy? Fed? How are you little ones? You seem to be getting bigger and stronger by the day. "

Cylina patted Goliath on the shoulder. "We're good to go, friend. Lead the way and hopefully we'll make good time towards the capital." The redhead smiled at the large man before shouldering her pack and getting ready to proceed. She felt worn from the frayed night's sleep and was anxious about their destination, but she felt pretty good about her decision and its ramifications. Better to die trying to remove the yoke than plod along under its burden day after day.

Road to Whitethrone: Night Three

Packed up and ready for the road (as best you can), the caravan moves out. You don't see any gremlins, but with their white pelts and tiny size, not mention predilection for stealth you have no idea whether they're still watching you. At the least, none with scent can smell them.

The morning sun is surprisingly warming, compared to the previous days. And putting the bad night behind you feels good, and those who are particularly exhausted from the previous night can get a short nap in the back of the sleigh. Nadya's children and the teen Lizaveta certainly fall asleep, curled up in furs. The house spirit watches over them, gently telling them tales in a gruff voice.

After about four hours of travel, you make your way to a wide but shallow valley. The floor is a mixture of snow, gravel, and mud, while the short rocky walls on either side are lightly dusted with snow. Heavier snow rests atop either side, but the terrain on either side of the valley is not traversible with your sleigh. A tiny stream trickles through the center of the depression.

Nadya looks about, a frown on her face:

Skald "This is a perfect place for an ambush. I don't like it."

You stand about 100 ft. away from where the canyon currently. The terrain on top on either ridge is difficult terrain for anyone without snowshows.

Everyone may make a perception check. Scent is no particular advantage here.

"You are right."

Goliath looks for danger but also looks to see if there is a safer way. Maybe a path more with cover, or overhangs that would break line of site from one side.

Perception Therm Aid: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Perception Goliath: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31 +2 from aid

Therm and Goliath take either side of their little caravan and look about. It is harder for something to hide from two different eye lines he thinks to himself and Therm is huff if he sees something.