The Red Arm of Absalom - Ongoing Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master GM Red

D. watches Gallix scale the cliff like a monkey, and leans in to Uesugi.
"Does he take bananas as treats, too?"

Seems survival rolls have been covered...

Though D. volunteers for the shift with Mr. Peppers.
"My eyesight is keen enough to see in low lighting, we should be good."

Although...
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
He looks sideways at Chibi-chan, "Unless you really want to share watch with him."

Cup feels a thrill that curls all the way from her toes to the tips of her ears when Tall, Dark and Fastidious compliments her spellcraft. She is practically bouncing as they work together to clean the cave.

Then D makes his suggestion and she flushes a bright pink. Are her feelings for Mr. Peppers that obvious? "Um, no... There's no reason for us to share a watch, is there? We're both castery types, and neither of us is particularly great at dealing damage... Um... Maybe I should share with Gallix and keep er... helping him with his Tien."

As the party sets up camp and prepares food by the fireplace, Sirettis takes some of her rations. Something compels her to speak, she's not sure what but it feels like the right thing to do:

One of my previous owners owned an arena. He hired gladiators of all origin: Proud warriors, desperate condemned, and slaves, buried it debt with no future." Sirettis pauses, briefly considering her similar position, then continues. They fought, often times to the death. But always for the enjoyment of the audience, who paid the owner well.

"For one week every year, when the sun was at its peak, the owner would declare no one would die. Fighters did not fight with sword and axe, but with their bare fists. He would hire acolytes and priests to use their medical abilities to instantly heal wounds. His games involved wrestling, tug-the-rope contests, and the crowd-favorite game, Catch the Town Fool." She munches on some of the rationed bread. Surprisingly not stale.

"I always thought he performed this as an act of mercy. But it was an act of mourning. A decade before, on the Summer Solstice, his son fought and died in the same arena, impaling himself on his own spear. The Summer Solstice always reminded him of the battle, so my owner did everything he could to prevent death. Yet he refused to shut it down the arena- the pay was too good, too rewarding." Sirettis trails off a bit, lost in thought.

"He had no family, no real friends. All he had was his arena and his money. When his arena was eventually shut down, he lost the will to live soon after. He had a choice and he wasted it on something he didn't want to do."

"But I have a choice. I choose to help. I want to help the people of Saringallow. And I choose to do it with you, the Red Arm. I have felt... welcomed. And I enjoy that feeling. Thank you. May our aid assist the good people of this town."

Mr Peppers nods in agreement with Cup "It doesn't make very good tactical sense for the two of us to take watch together. Best to mix skill sets and abilities up somewhat. And besides... I'm sure Gallix could use some more lessons." That won't be forgotten D...

Later On

While Mr Peppers sits by the fire, enjoying his fresh bread rations smeared with some heated fruit spread and some assorted nuts, he browses through his journal notes adding in anything that was omitted as well as reviewing things with the group. He stops to look at and listen to Sirettis as she tells her tale. Nodding quietly as she finishes.

"Sounds like the man had some compassion left in his heart, I wonder if his son did that to punish his father or if it was simply an act of fate." He then raises his waterskin to toast to Sirettis and her kind words and to the group in general. "May the Red Arm continue strong and with good fortune, and may this town change its ways and feelings toward outsiders. If we can both stop this bile plague and open their eyes to the wonders of the Arcane then we've made myself and the Society proud."

Then D makes his suggestion and she flushes a bright pink.

D. remains in his neutral composure, though he looks back at Cup for a few moments, before slowly shrugging.

That won't be forgotten D...

Hehehe. Well i did just offer to switch, so don't come complaining about missed out lovey dovey time. ;)

Gallix laughs at D's significant emphasis as he remarks on the order of the watch, but quickly composes himself when Cup turns a shade of red he's pretty sure only a gnome could achieve. "Yeah, I could definitely use some more tips on some of that tonal stuff you were telling me about earlier, Cup. I don't want to be in the middle of a fight and tell Uesugi something about his mother when I'm trying to set up a maneuver." He laughs again and settles in for the night.

As Sirettis tells her story, Gallix turns serious and silent, his gaze becomes distant, and his hands reflexively ball into fists. "Before I joined the Society, I spent my fair share of time in fighting pits a lot like the one you're talking about. I...had some nasty habits at the time and needed the prize money to feed them." He stares into the fire and brushes something from his face. "I've never seen a place so full of both pleasure and misery. The men and women who fought in the rings...some of us at least...had no fear of death. It was life that tormented us."

Suddenly, Gallix stands and steps away from the ring of men and women gathered around the small campfire. He stops a few paces away and speaks into the darkness of the woods. "For the longest time, I've lived a life that didn't seem worth all the trouble. I joined the Society as a last ditch attempt to do something to give my life some value. I never dreamed that I would meet people like you all. I never dreamed I could find people that would make me feel...worth something. Thank you all for that." He returns to the circle and sits down again, his old familiar grin spread across his face. "Now let's pound some goblins and save this girl and the town. And, hey, if we can teach some backwards farmers the difference between a devil-summoning archmage and a cute little bard librarian or a magic geek, that'll be good too."

With a soothing fire built in an otherwise uninviting goblin cave, The Red Arm of Absalom takes the night to rest and share more about their personal lives and history. The evening passes 1d100 ⇒ 84 without incident, and sunlight begins to peak through the trees as the party is blessed with the warm light of day and clear skies to boot.

1 HP per level restored, and spells reset for those who are magically inclined. I'll need another survival roll to continue following the goblin tracks.

If anyone is injured besides Yurei, you can take a free 1d8+2 Cure Light Wounds from Sirettis's Healing Hex. Take the heal before we go to bed.

Sirettis lets her hair out to lift soup bowls, and act as a branch to balance Isa. Without the town's watchful gaze, she seems more relaxed to let her hair out. Astute observers notice the stable hair lasts longer than usual. When the day comes to a close, Sirettis sleeps the night away, curled up in the fetal position. Her aim is to take up as little room as possible.

A new day begins and Sirettis spends the morning talking to Isa. Her conversation isn't specific, rambling about various topics and subjects for brief moments. Isa tweets back at her as a bird. After about an hour, Isa flutters onto her shoulder and she stands up. "I'm ready, now. Let us continue to follow their tracks."

Survival: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

You continue to follow the tracks through the woods, with Sirettis and Isa finding less obvious footprints obscured by dead foliage. Eventually, you come upon a steep-sided ravine running east to west and opening at the far western end into a wide grassy depression. The scene ahead would be idyllic if it weren't for the scattered rusting weapons and pieces of armor, a few of which still contain moldering bones, strewn about the area. Pungent moss and a few patches of mushrooms dot the field. This place looks like it is the final resting place for many unfortunate souls.

Mr Peppers is up for the early watch with Sir D, hearing the waking birds and soon after seeing the rising sun. He mostly sits silently at this time, relaxing and enjoying the lack of an ambush. "Growing up in the city most my life I guess I haven't seen this in a while. I vaguely rememeber these scenes as a young child but its been a long time." He takes a deep breath and soaks in the serenity.

Once it is fully light out and sleeping bodies begin to stir around the cave he'll get up and stretch a bit, walking around the cave entrance before taking a seat with his back to the bright morning sun, allowing for maximum spellbook illumination. He then takes the next hour (or two if people take a leisurely breakfast) reading through his spellbook, scratching a few things down here and there, while nibbling on some dried fruits and nuts from his backpack, not to mention some day old bread.

The adventure begins!

Seeing Sirettis and Isa pick up the trail, Mr Peppers takes out his wayfinder and offers it if they want to use it, otherwise he hikes along, doing his best to keep an eye and ear out for danger, and occasionally asking for a quick rest and rubbing his brow with a handkerchief. Maybe I should have prepared that mount spell afterall...

Once the ravine narrows up before them he gets a worried look on his face. "This doesn't look like a great place to be..." Eyeing up the long dead corpses scattered about, he pulls out his ironwood wand and summons in his chain shirt of sparkly goodness before stowing it back away and pulling out his crossbow. "We should be very careful here." He says in a quiet voice as he scans the area with detect magic and Elven eyeballs.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

During the early morning watch with Mr. Peppers, D. hears his comment.

"Heh, that must have been a few hundred years, you elves living a lot longer than humans. What was this city like?"

Uesugi sat by the fire as the others spoke. His words had been little to none since freeing the farm from the goblin creatures earlier in the day. He listened intently nodding or shaking his head when the others looked for him to respond.

He had truly adopted these people as his new clan, yet he still held back and they respected that. As the spirit spoke of another of her masters Uesugi thought back to Lord Takamori and the promises he had at his lord's feet during the last days of his lord's life. He would not betray Lord Takamori's final commands but he knew that the time was coming for Uesugi to tell the others of his own story. But tonight he listened and took honour in the knowledge that they shared more with him than he had with them.

Next morning
Uesugi arose as the others did vaguely remembering a scene of being visited by Lord Takamori in his dreams following his watch. He replayed the scene in his head again but what was said he could not remember although it left him with an odd feeling that something important had been said. Even as he packed up his items and went to Yurei to attach the feeding bag to her mouth his eyes darted around the shadows of cave feeding into this foreboding feeling.

When they finally resumed their journey following a trail that the spirit had been able to pick up he hoped he would feel better but leaving those caves actually made him feel worse. A tension that Yurei was quick to pick up on as she nipped at anyone who moved too close to Uesugi and her.

Mr. Peppers is sharp with his eyes, and he notices a section of the grass dotted with mushrooms and dead leaves gyrate slightly. The leaves shuffle and dance as whoever - or whatever - is underneath the foliage awakens. Soon after, green vines come to life and unravel from a pile of bones and yellow vapor shoots out of the vines' flowers. The hideous living plant whips its tendrils at you menacingly.

Terrain info -> The marshy, watery areas outlined in blue on the map are flooded from the ravine and will hinder movement (shallow bog)

Goblinblood Battlefield, Round 1
Sirettis is up
Plant
Everyone else

Knowledge(Nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
"A..." She tilts her head to a side. "Yellow musk creeper. Beware of its reach. It can create clouds of spores to entrance you."

Sirettis grabs a vial of Alchemist's Fire as her hair drags across the ground.

Move Action: Move and draw a vial of alchemists fire. Standard Action: Use my Prehensile Hair hex to get 10 ft reach.

Gallix rises with the sun, much to the surprise of Slashy and Sandy, he is sure. While Peppers reads his spell book and Sirettis talks with Isa, Gallix is busy procuring a variety of dried herbs, fine powders, and eerily colored oils from various vials and packets stowed carefully in a compact case in his pack. He mixes the various reagents with a small stone mortar and pestle, then, when his concoction is ready, he utters a few words over it and carefully tips the contents into a small sheet of plain white paper. He rolls the cigarette with practiced fluidity, then picks it up and dips one end into the few drops of oil remaining in the mortar. The tip of the cigarette turns a bright hue of red and glows like an ember for a moment, then cools down. He stows his mutagen and all of his equipment, repacks his pack with the alchemical case back in its regular spot, and scrounges up some of Gunty's bread and a some dried meat as a quick meal. "Effrybothy reathy?" he asks through a mouthful of breakfast.

That's so Ravine!

Gallix stops short of entering the ravine as Mr. Peppers expresses his concerns. "Oh lighten up, would ya?" he calls back out to the elf, a confident smile on his face. The smile disappears as the tendrils of vine begin creeping up out of the soil and flicking toward him with seemingly predatory intent. He sighs and stands ready to face what will come. "Just once, I'd love for him to be wrong about something," Gallix mutters under his breath.

As Sirettis scrambles into the wet ground, the giant living plant stretches its tendrils out and pulls itself along the ground, closing the distance to Uesugi.

Everyone else is up!

D. moves north to get a better angle at the crawling fungus.

Sand bullet: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14Impact: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 6) + 6 = 14

Knowledge: Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Any additional info to be had? Resistances, vulnerabilities, special attacks? Also how far did it move on its turn?

"Oh wow, what a coincidence, I was just reading up on those creepers between missions!"

I'll delay until I hear back from you Red.

It double moved a grand total of 10 feet! It's quite slow.
Plant traits (notably that it's immune to sleep), no real vulnerabilities or resistances. Special attacks would be the pollen spray and it's also able to create musk zombies by boring its tendrils into your brain.

Mr Peppers continues on with his 'creeper' lesson as he moves back, draws and fires his crossbow into the tangle of vines it calls a torso.
Light Crossbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 91d8 ⇒ 8

He looks to see if his shot was effective "Did that even do anything? Its so hard to tell with plant creatures. Anyhow, they are super slow so just keep moving back and firing into it, unless you'd rather risk its pollen spray and zombifying tentacles. We should be careful there aren't any zombies in that bone pile as well."

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

♫ It's a yellow musk creeper
A-wantin to dig tendrils deeper
Into your brai-ai-ain
It's got pollen to spray
It can ruin our day
So let's get slay-in' ♫

Cup backs up and inspires courage. +1 to attack and damage

Even with Cup inspiring Mr. Peppers and D, their attacks both miss the lumbering mess of vines as it continues to snap its tendrils on the ground, almost as if to provoke you to continue attacking it.

Uesugi and Gallix are up. Longjing too! When this post is 1 hour old, please bot 'em to keep this encounter moving.

Uesugi easily backs up Yurei with his knees, who can sense the alien nature of creeping plant, while grabbing his bow from the beautiful steeds side. He takes aim and lets loose an arrow at the plant.

long bow (comp+2): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Gallix is up, and Sirettis can go for next round now.

MECHANICAL GALLIX REPORTING FOR DUTY

Knowing full well that the tall dark and handsome Elf is never going to be wrong, Gallix does what he's told. He takes a 5' step back and pulls out his sling and whips a bullet at the pile of unburnt leaves.

Ranged Sling + Inspire: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 4 + 1 = 181d4 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

Ninja'd again! I was just working on a post, but I'll let the bot take this one.

Sirettis's hair reaches into her supplies and pulls out a flask of alchemical fire. She hurls it at the plant, keeping her distance.

Ranged Touch, Ranged Penalty: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 - 2 = 20
Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Miss Direction: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 - 2 = 1
Crit Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Sirettis's shot seems to be eerily accurate.

Next round, additional Fire Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Uesugi's arrow shoots through the air above the plant and into the woods. Gallix manages to hit the creeper with a stone, dismembering one of its viny arms, and Sirettis sets a large portion of the plant aflame with her alchemical weapon.

With little else it can do at its current range, the plant stretches its tendrils out and pulls itself along the ground towards the group.

Plant (-11)

Everyone (minus Sirettis) is up for Round 2

Nice strategy using its slow speed to your advantage btw

"A well placed hit, Sirettis-san."

Sand bullet, inspire: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 = 27Impact, inspire: 2d6 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 6) + 6 + 1 = 14

Uesugi lets another arrow fly aiming for the center of the root mass.

long bow (comp+2)+song: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 = 14
damage+song: 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 1 = 11

Cup is using inspire courage, which I forgot to add. So that should be +1 more damage on my flask.

don't let me have to go fruit ninja on that plant!!!

Mr Peppers seeing the plant gaining ground and knowing how long it takes him to reload his crossbow, decides to move back 30' drawing his pew pew wand and firing off a shot from that instead. Wand of Magic Missile: Caster Check/Damage: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 21d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

"Hey, I like my brains exactly how they are, I'm not risking being turned into an Elven vegetable!" He says as he 'strategically' withdraws from the plant's reach.

Gallix draws a flask of alchemist's fire and lobs it at the plant, hoping to add to the flames stoked by Sirettis's attack.

Alc Fire, IC, Range penalty: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 - 2 = 4 Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 1

D blasts the mass of moss with a barrage of sand, and Mr. Peppers launches a magic missile that proves to be fatal as it impacts the creature's core and blasts through to the other side. The creeper's tendrils twist and turn before going limp and then the entire mass drops and melts into the foliage around you.

Combat is over!

Mr Peppers stuffs his wand back in his belt, a smile being held back, only slightly. "That went well. Careful those piles of bones aren't undead zombified things over there. I'll check on the arcane while you all search about ok?"

Detect Magic
Perception Assist: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Climbs down off of Yurei. He draws his katana and shreds the creeper while holding his breath. With that done he moves closer to the bones that the creeper was wrapped around and begins to look in the area.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

So...do I keep that alchemist's fire? Just making sure.

Gallix looks around him as he wraps his sling around his waist and cinches a loose knot. "Nice shooting there, fellas. So. Shall we carry on? These look like more soldiers from the war, like the one we found above the cave yesterday. Wonder if there's any gear worth salvaging around here?" Gallix begins to move around the battlefield, carefully prodding around in the shallow bog for any worthwhile finds.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Sirettis watches the flames burn the remains of the plant before turning inert. "A carrion plant like that must have thrived in this field of corpses." Sirettis looks around at the bodies, prodding their remains with her hair.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15

@Gallix Yup! Your initiative was after D and Peps

The group surveys the decades old battlefield and finds only rusty and broken weapons and armor. Mr. Peppers doesn't detect anything magical about the area. A human-sized skeleton's bones crack and crumble into dust as Gallix removes a rusty old shortsword from underneath its ribcage. Whomever had slain these humans left them here to rot and spoil years ago.

The musk creeper itself has some coinage strewn throughout its vines. Spending 1d10 ⇒ 9 minutes collecting the coins results in a total of 26 gp. You also find a few gemstones - an azurite, a rock quartz, and a sardonyx that Mr. Peppers determines are not magical in any way.

And now, I'm reminded of Dwarf Fortress.

Does it look like these are all human sized remains? Or are there some smaller sized ones like goblins too?

"Its like some giant antimagic vacuum sucked up all the fun from this entire country and sent it away. Not even a magical gem to study! I'm going to have to start taking a closer look at everyone's glowing equipment just to keep from getting rusty!"

He pulls out his journal to take a few notes of the site and anything that draws interest, especially anything that could identify the remains, including weapons, armor, etc. "Well maybe we can find a clue on who's remains these may be, for their relative's sake."

They're all human-sized remains. I think a Knowledge History roll would be pertinent here.

Gallix drops the rusty sword and sighs at the lack of riches, though he gets some consolation from the gems and coins the others find within the creeper. "Well if there's no coin to be had here, I suppose we can find something to report to the Society. So whaddya think? More soldiers from the Goblinblood War? Let's see here..." He pulls out his small journal and makes a few rough notes about the terrain and the number of dead. He notes that the musk creeper seemed to find the ancient battlefield to its liking and recommends that agents should exercise caution when coming across such sites, as creatures like the creeper could easily give unprepared agents a very nasty surprise.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Cool. Thanks, Red. Just wanted to make sure so Ican keep track of my consumables.

"They could very well be. War inevitably results in many left dead."

"Peppers-san, do you want a sample of the fungal creature?"

D. could cut some off with a rusty weapon & telekinesis.

Knowledge: History: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Mr Peppers watches Gallix taking notes and smiles a bit. "Glad to see you're trading in your beer guzzling, bar fighting ways at least a little bit Gallix. Think of all those new hand muscles you're building from writing!"

He pauses and looks up from his note taking for a moment "I think I'll pass. I don't really have anything to hold it in and spores and plants can spread and fester in strange ways. I wouldn't want to spread this thing around. Its probably good Sirettis burned it actually."

Indeed, Gallix and Mr. Peppers recognize this clearing as one particular battlefield written about in Isger's history books. Fifteen years ago, at the very end of the Goblinblood Wars, this was the site of a battle between human soldiers and a band of hobgoblin raiders. This group of hobgoblins was particularly deadly, and they overtook the soldiers with ease, leaving their bodies to rot and rust in the wilderness for years to come.

Gallix tries to block out Peppers' comments as he continues taking notes. He pauses in the midst of his work, however, when a sudden realization strikes him. "Wait a minute. That's right! It was the GoblinBLOOD Wars, meaning more than just goblins fought. Look. All of these skeletons are man-sized, right? So obviously they aren't goblins. But I'll bet if we look close enough we might find one or two HOBgoblins! They're the right size, and I read about a battle once that was supposed to have happened around here where a bunch of hobgoblins wrecked some human soldiers. This must be it! Wow, what a find!" He bends his head over his notes again and continues scrawling in his journal, adding in as much information as he can recall from their trip into the woods for future explorers to locate the site.

Gallix isn't much for the book-learning, but let it not be said that he was unaffected by his experiences with the Sky Key. Plus, he's learned a lot from his new friends. :)

Knowledge(History): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Sirettis overhears the conversation between Gallix and Mr. Peppers. They seem to have covered everything she remembered on it, so she didn't say anything else. Besides she was too busy inspecting the bodies in their various forms of decay with her hair.

"Shall we move on?"

Ha I guess that was a bit of a backhanded compliment...

Mr Peppers nods along with Gallix's discovery. "You're dead on there, good work Gallix. It may even be worth the effort on the way back to collect some remains to return to town for proper burial rites. I'm not a very religious type but I'm sure some townsfolk would appreciate it."

Once all the information gathering is complete Mr Peppers snacks on a bit more bread and some jam and tries to help pick back up the trail. Survival Aid: 1d20 ⇒ 2 but seems to have eaten a bit too much bread as his eyes get sleepy. The dreaded 'itis..

I won't need that second Survival roll until after this part but you're lucky that was an Aid roll. :)

A few hours have passed since you left the goblin's cave, trekked past the old battlefield and continued through the woods. The sun appears to be at about its highest point in the sky, but the part of the woods you're currently traveling through is dim as the interlocking branches of the trees form a thick, shadowy canopy.

As you approach, a large, plump caterpillar with brilliant colours lowers itself down on a thread of silk.