Werebadger's Crypt of the Everflame (Inactive)

Game Master jlighter

The 4th of Neth dawns cold, hinting at the coming winter facing Kassen. In the chill morning air, the town begins to wake with faint hints of excitement. On this day, the annual quest to the crypt of Ekat Kassen is to take place. The town lantern will be lit from the Everflame, and the town will be bountiful and safe for another year. As the sun clears the horizon, four young people are roused from their sleep by excited friends and family.

Sorry for the delay, folks. Just wanted to make sure we knew how people knew each other and all that.

Anybody have any more business to take care of, or should we jump ahead to the square?

Boomer will want to pick up a couple things of holy water, and if possible, an alchemist's fire, an acid flask, and a thunderstone before reaching the square, but otherwise, he's good

You'll be able to pick a few of those up from Holgast's tower, with the holy water coming from the Temple of Erastil.

I'm fine for going straight into the square. Have nothing else to do.

(Ama will head to the square as well. Meditation can be accomplished at either location)

I hope we weren't waiting for my vote. Gregor's already headed to the square.

Just making sure everybody was ready. :)

You reach the square at a few minutes to noon. An odd silence fills the square as if there were no living thing but yourselves in the entire town. No dogs or cats wander the streets. Doors stand locked, windows closed and shuttered. A chill breeze blows across the square, heralding the oncoming winter and stirring some leaves as it passes. Not even a bird passing overhead breaks the stillness.

As the sun reaches its zenith, you hear the bells in the Temple of Erastil begin tolling the hour. Twelve long, dark peals ring out across the quiet town. As if conjured by the bells, figures robed in black begin to enter the square from all directions. Their steps betray very little sound, and not a face can be seen among them. The hundreds of robed figures surround you, leaving you in the middle of the square with a good forty feet between you and the nearest figures.

Under the hoods, a whisper ripples around the crowd on all sides. A gap opens in the ring, allowing through a tall, broad man through. His cloak is black, but trimmed with silver. One hand holds a tarnished silver lantern, the other leading a pony dragging a small cart into the ring. Once the cart is fully inside the ring, the wall of black closes once more, sealing you in the center of this ritual. The man with the lantern takes a step away from the ring of watchers. He raises his head, and his hood slides off. Mayor Uptal's blond head pokes out of the robe, and calls out to the surrounding crowd.

"Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest. There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Kassen himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Kassen’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?"

Just making sure everybody was ready. :)

You reach the square at a few minutes to noon. An odd silence fills the square as if there were no living thing but yourselves in the entire town. No dogs or cats wander the streets. Doors stand locked, windows closed and shuttered. A chill breeze blows across the square, heralding the oncoming winter and stirring some leaves as it passes. Not even a bird passing overhead breaks the stillness.

As the sun reaches its zenith, you hear the bells in the Temple of Erastil begin tolling the hour. Twelve long, dark peals ring out across the quiet town. As if conjured by the bells, figures robed in black begin to enter the square from all directions. Their steps betray very little sound, and not a face can be seen among them. The hundreds of robed figures surround you, leaving you in the middle of the square with a good forty feet between you and the nearest figures.

Under the hoods, a whisper ripples around the crowd on all sides. A gap opens in the ring, allowing through a tall, broad man through. His cloak is black, but trimmed with silver. One hand holds a tarnished silver lantern, the other leading a pony dragging a small cart into the ring. Once the cart is fully inside the ring, the wall of black closes once more, sealing you in the center of this ritual. The man with the lantern takes a step away from the ring of watchers. He raises his head, and his hood slides off. Mayor Uptal's blond head pokes out of the robe, and calls out to the surrounding crowd.

"Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest. There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Kassen himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Kassen’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?"

Alexander steps forward and bows

Conscious of all the eyes on him, Gregor nervously stammers: "I guess that's me. If you'll have me." He steps forward to stand next to Alexander, fidgeting with his bow, waiting for someone to shout him down.

Ama said nothing at first, only moved forward through the crowd to the center.

Since this was something of a special occasion, the clothes he wore were new, no stains or smudges on the knees or elbows, no signs of wear on the him and heel. His hands and feet were wrapped with cloth, its color a dark red as if it were spun from a sunset before the onset of night. A thong was wrapped about his left wrist, while a simple staff was in his right.

He approached to stand beside the others, looking across the crowd to incline his head to the speaker. "I will help retrieve the flame", he said evenly, his face as solemn as ceremony demanded.

Letting the heroes present themselves, the Mayor doesn't quite stifle a proud look on his face. As each one steps forward, he nods in approval. In the gap after Ama presents himself, Mayor Uptal's voice again booms out over the crowd.

"Heroes we asked for, and heroes we have among us. These three young men stand before us untested and untried. Yet they are willing to step forward, to risk death and worse fates, to protect this community they call their own. Must they face the perils of this Quest alone, or is there another here today who will brave the journey with them to see us safe through another winter?"

Sorry, I've been away from the computer the last few days.

Boomer speaks quietly, and last, as was is usual manner, "I shall lend my wisdom to this endeavor so that these heroes and this town may prosper."

Sorry about that. Lack of Internet. :(

Mayor Uptal nods, then raises his hands and face to the sky. "We have heroes to defend the town once more. Brave adventurers, the town supports you in your decision, and offers you assistance in your journey."

The Mayor pulls several packs out of the cart pulled by the pony, handing one to each of you. Once you all have your packs, he continues. "Which of you brave souls will bear the lantern, and carry the Everflame back to Kassen?" He raises the lantern high, making sure the entire crowd can see it. A ripple passes through, as if a breeze had stirred the circle of black robes.

Alexander looks up and is captivated by the importance of holding the lantern, but instead he feels he will function better with both weapons in hand rarther than carrying the lanten and looks to see who will carry the lantern.

Alexander checks his backpack, but doesn't rummage through it, giving respect and waiting for the right time.

That's me saying no so the others can bicker :p

Gregor waits for one of the others to claim the lantern, believing that, even if the townsfolk are willing to send him on their quest, they would not want his half-orc hands to hold their relic. He eyes the others warily, waiting for someone to take on the symbolic burden.

Of all of them, Ama figured he would be the best suited for carrying the lantern. He did not require both of his hands to be free, not at all. Just thinking about Illimara's training regarding specifically that made his shins and knees ache in remembrance. After a glance around to see if anyone else was set on moving, Ama stepped forward, moving the staff to his other hand.

"I will", he said, loud enough for it to carry.

Now that he thought about it, if they had a hammer and a nail, the lantern could be affixed to the end of the staff if it absolutely had to be.. However, this was not something he expected to have to happen.

Gregor waits for one of the others to claim the lantern, believing that, even if the townsfolk are willing to send him on their quest, they would not want his half-orc hands to hold their relic. He eyes the others warily, waiting for someone to take on the symbolic burden.

Alexander eyes the half-orc. There is a general dislike of Orcs in most villages like this If he was chosen to be one of the heroes for the test of everflame then he must be trusted. Reguardless, I'll keep a eye on him.

Boomer looks over his companions, pleased that one of them was willing bear the responsibility of the lantern, not surprised at Ama taking it, given the type of training he's had up to this point. Despite giving up the adventuring life so long ago, he could feel his excitement and energy growing at the thought of hitting the road once more.

Mayor Uptal nods approvingly, handing the lantern to Ama. Then, he gets up on the cart and speaks to the crowd again. "I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Kassen’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire." With that, the mayor points to the south, the direction of Kassen’s tomb. The townsfolk begin
waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks on most of their faces.

Some shuffling among the surrounding circle opens up a gap wide enough for the four adventurers to pass abreast. Led by Mayor Uptal, the entire congregation makes the sign of the starry butterfly to the group, wishing them luck in their travels in Desna's name. As the adventurers set forth from the circle, a gasp goes up and half the crowd points overhead. A shooting star, bright enough to be visible in the noon light, shoots by overhead along the road to be traveled. Many make the sign of the butterfly again, and murmured wishes can be heard.

Mayor Uptal nods approvingly, handing the lantern to Ama. Then, he gets up on the cart and speaks to the crowd again. "I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Kassen’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire." With that, the mayor points to the south, the direction of Kassen’s tomb. The townsfolk begin

waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks on most of their faces.

Some shuffling among the surrounding circle opens up a gap wide enough for the four adventurers to pass abreast. Led by Mayor Uptal, the entire congregation makes the sign of the starry butterfly to the group, wishing them luck in their travels in Desna's name. As the adventurers set forth from the circle, a gasp goes up and half the crowd points overhead. A shooting star, bright enough to be visible in the noon light, shoots by overhead along the road to be traveled. Many make the sign of the butterfly again, and murmured wishes can be heard.

Alexander remains unshaken at the words the mayor said, stating possible deaths of some people in the group. As they make off Alex notices the gnome and smiles remembering the many pleasant meals he had which were cooked by the said chef. His eyes are instantly drawn to the shooting star and even though he isn't a woreshiper of Desna, the shooting star just as they're leaving is certainly more than a coincidence.

He remains silent, wanting to speak once the four of them were alone. If they were going to risk their lives together, they might as well get to know each other whilst on the roat to retrieve the everflame.

Gregor notes the shooting stars and gives a barely visible shrug. Desna's a flighty goddess in his view. Luck, signs, portents: none of that compares to the effects of good hard work, he thinks. "Erastil smile on your servants as they seek to serve your community," Gregor mutters as the foursome makes their way to the edge of the village.

Boomer watches the shooting star quietly, "Well one way or another we seem to have the attention of the heavens," as he fills his battle aspergillum with the holy water he acquired earlier. When they get a bit out of town, he suggests they stop and figure out how they want to proceed as far as marching order, watch order, and other concerns the others might have.

Ama had smiled at the sight of the shooting star, wondering what was in store for this group. He did not think too long about it, since he figured that whatever was in store, they would know it soon enough. When the four of them were far enough away to have the formal-ness of the ceremony leave, he began checking out the lantern, comparing it to the others that he had seen in town.

Boomer's suggestion that they talk and get an idea of how they were going to work together raised his head and stopped his curiosity with the lantern. At least he was somewhat used to having the pack-- which reminded him!

When they stopped to talk, Ama put the lantern down and removed his pack, digging through it to identify everything inside of it, talking while he did. "I know nothing about surviving in the wild", he confessed. "Didn't study much, neither. But I'm quick and can be quiet, and can do just about anything." Boomer he knew. Alexander, he knew a little. Gregor was the only one that he knew next to nothing about. "Oh, sorry. 'Informal introduction', an'all", he said, looking at everyone with a grin. "Name's Ama."

I'm glad someone broke the silence.
"Hi, my name is Alexander Fellblade." he smiles putting out a hand to shake "Though I know you Boomer and I have met Ama on occassion, I don't believe I've ever met you Mr...?"

Even if no one shakes his hand he'll look through the pack and take out the peice of map, looking at the others.
"Do we all have map peices like this?" he asked wondering if this seems to be some kind of way to force the four of them to remain as a group, not like he'd have any intention on leaving. "Let's put it together and see what it shows."

Gregor shakes Alexander's hand when it is offered. He then begins digging into his pack, removing his piece of the map. "Evidently, they wanted to teach us a little lesson about getting along together," Gregor says. "I'm Gregor, called the roach by many. You might've heard about me around town. Trouble they say. Accuse me of stealing, leading other kids astray, vandalism. Most of that's not true. I've kept to the woods with Arnama these last couple years," Gregor shrugs after his brief speech. "So what have we got here?" he says, looking at the map.

"It's an important lesson, Gregor. In my youthful days on the road, I saw several people die who were unwilling to learn it. Brings back a lot of memories just thinking of those days." Boomer talks as he does a quick inventory of his stuff, adding his simple alchemical equipment to the backpack. After comparing the map fragments, "It appears that we need to head south until we come across what I hope is a major fork in the road that is clearly marked."

Ama nodded at Boomer's opinion, and set to repacking. The bottle of brandy he smiled at, and patted it before putting it back in his pack, which was then thrown onto his back as they made ready to go. "Lots of snake names..", he said partly to himself.

At least it was not cold yet. Ama contented himself with keeping an eye on their surroundings, since he had never really gone all that far outside of the village. The trees that were going to lose their leaves had lost them, and the bare branches reaching up towards the sky made the trip seem a little uncertain. He hated the cold. At least gathering branches would warm him up when they did finally camp.

That it was not raining yet was another blessing. Cold, he hated. Cold and wet would be distasteful.

The Assembled Map

When you're ready to move on...

The Assembled Map

When you're ready to move on...

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Alexander looks at the map, following his finger across the path.

He looks over everyone wondering what everyone else's opinion of what to do with the map is.
"I'll stay with the map reader, just in case anything comes at us head on. Ama, would you like to take the back in case we are attacked from behind?" Alexander suggests the order with him being at the front with the map reader, Ama at the back and the last person in the middle.

"I got not problems with the map. Besides I know this area pretty well. Don't think I'll have to hold the map all the time," Gregor volunteers. Seeing that everyone looks ready, Gregor begins heading down the path in the order that Alexander suggested.

Won't act until after the Orcs turn as I havn't acted yet.

Boomer puts himself 20 ft away from the largest clump of combat as he pulls a bomb from his belt, primes it, and throws it one of the orcs. (Preferably an unengaged one, if all are engaged in melee, he will throw it behind the orc so that the splash damage hits the orc(s) without hitting his allies.)

attack vs touch 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
damage 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
splash damage: 3 (DC 12 Reflex of half)

When the three orcs come rush out of the woods, yelling like they were attacking, Ama almost froze. This was a decidedly unfamiliar situation, and he was pretty certain the orcs did not want to chat. It took Boomer's explosion to shake him out of it, and rather than advance into the group-- fighting outnumbered was always bad-- he moved up to make himself adjacent with Alexander.

He would have dropped his lantern and pack, but the faster they could turn the momentum of this fight in their favor, the better. Even still, he was not striking with lethal force.

If they are in melee with us already, then Ama will directly attack while trying to keep them away from Boomer and remain within 10 feet of Alexander. Otherwise, he'll engage, doing nonlethal damage (Attack:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2; Fumble?:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11)

Apologies about the lack of map. Here's the image pre-Initiative: link. A couple of notes, just in case you want to revise actions based on the map:
-Gregor would need to charge to reach the nearest Orc. It's roughly 45 ft.
-Boomer would need to double-move to place himself 20 ft. away from the Orcs. Currently 60 ft. from the nearest one.

Sorry for not posting this earlier. I'm coming down with something, so I just passed out yesterday. I'll check back in the morning and in the afternoon/evening and update the map/post combat actions for the Orcs.

Apologies about the lack of map. Here's the image pre-Initiative: link. A couple of notes, just in case you want to revise actions based on the map:

-Gregor would need to charge to reach the nearest Orc. It's roughly 45 ft.
-Boomer would need to double-move to place himself 20 ft. away from the Orcs. Currently 60 ft. from the nearest one.

Sorry for not posting this earlier. I'm coming down with something, so I just passed out yesterday. I'll check back in the morning and in the afternoon/evening and update the map/post combat actions for the Orcs.

Co-ordinants will help us where to go. Go to view and click on co-ordinates. It'll help us choose where to go.

Just have Boomer move a single moved and apply a -2 penalty to the roll for the throw for the range penalty for this round.

Gregor will do a move into the middle of the clearing, trying to not leave the party too far behind, and then ready an attack for when the orcs move in.

Attack:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Damage:2d6 + 9 ⇒ (1, 6) + 9 = 16

I guess you can use either attack rolls. They're likely misses in either case.

Updated Map

Gregor moves forward to place himself in a guard position between the others and the orcs, standing with readied blade. Landing around I-11 on the map.

Ama moves forward to guard Boomer, keeping close to Alexander and ready to subdue should any of the orcs get near. Moving to K-13, then readying attack action. Seems to fit with what you said earlier.

The orcs charge the new opponents each moving to attack a different target.

Round 1

Alexander will draw his Bastardsword as a free action using the quick draw feat then use a move action to draw his hand axe into his off-hand increasing his AC to 18 and then strike with his bastardsword.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Crit confirm: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

If confirmed crit add: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"Take that! Go back to Belkzen!" he Curses the Orc as he slashes it with a powerful blow from his family sword.