GM MattMorris Tears at Bitter Manor (Inactive)

Game Master ChesterCopperpot

Tathane nods at Mann. "Yeah, I'm sure," he says with a slightly patronizing voice. He elbows Hekk. "I almost agree with you. But you know, the right woman at the right time... maybe it's not love but it's fun." A slightly serious look covers his face and he turns to the half-orc. "I mean, orcs do that kind of stuff, right?" He tries to hold the serious look but cracks a smile then punches the half-orc in the arm in a friendly manner.

Hekk is about to respond to the half-pint's question when he realizes it was rhetorical, even if he doesn't know there is a word for it. He is a little bewildered by the 'friendly' punch, though. He doesn't know what to make of it and is shows on his face. He looks like he's not sure if he should punch Tathane back again as he hesitantly cocks his arm.

”I do not know that many Orcs! But I know that there are bad people in any race. Even Kitsunes!! But I know Hekk and he would never do something like this so I assume his Orcish brothers and sisters would also not do something like this generally!? Right?“ Aryas asks innocently.

”Let us get the knife and he on our way. This man is not going to reveal more... “

"Oh, I could tell you some tales of orcish romance. You've never known rapture until an orcish woman has made you fear for your life in the throes of passion."

"As for this woman, I'd say we have a first rate beguiler on our hands. When we do come face to face with her, Aryas, I don't want any swooning."

Aryas nods ... hesitantly.

:-)

"Uh."

Hekk is not sure the others are ready for the truth about 'Orcish romance', and decides to keep his opinions and facts to himself. Aryas, in particular, has him confused. He is not at all sure what the heck he's saying his orc 'friends' will and won't do, but is fairly sure he has it all wrong. Leo has it about right, but, as usual, he's not sure the fellow is using the right words and would rather not try to find out.

"Yea, no swooning. Can we go now?"

With a raised eyebrow Aryas nods ...

:-)

LOL. You guys slay me. :)

One way or another, with all of the requests from townsfolk the group has a full dance card. The mayor gives you a rough map of the Verduran Forest and bids you good luck. Eager to help the beleaguered people of Cassomir, and their elderly co-adventurers, the group sets out post haste on the horses provided by the mayor.

Feel free to buy anything needful on the way out of town.

As you ride toward the Verduran Forest, you reflect on what you know of the area.

Some of you may also have heard rumors about Tristeza House, the place where the alchemist has lured his former companions.

You head north and east from Cassomir, into the Verduran Forest. In the woods, bright sunlight breaks through the canopy, casting warm rays here and there onto the forest floor. A light breeze fills the air with the rustling of trees, punctuated by the calls of birds and insects.

At the end of a hard day's ride through the forest, you come upon an abandoned village. These crumbling old hovels were once a frontier logging village.

no knowledge skills. :-(

Aryas regards his moth guardian and the sword and feels blessed.

He is on the right path!

In the village...

”So this place looks quite abandoned. Do we take a look?!“

Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 First one
Knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15 Second one

"I don't see any reason why not." Tathane starts to move into the town, keeping an eye out for traps.

Harlan is troubled by all these people being led to evil deeds by seduction. Part of him wants to blame the victims for their weak wills, but in the end he’s more interested in sussing out the evil behind this particular form of madness.

Kn(history): 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 9 + (1) = 24
Kn(local): 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 12 + (1) = 33
Kn(nature): 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 12 + (1) = 16
Kn(religion): 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 ⇒ (17) + 12 + (6) = 35
Kn(local re: Trieste House): 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 12 + (6) = 37

"Dark dealings in these woods, from fire to more lovers' quarrels. Might encounter just about any form of trouble from brigands to fiends."

sorry that is too much to artfully condense in an RP post . . . assume as we travel I regale you with all the fascinating information above.

"Wow. Just Wow. Demons and cultists and bandits and pissed off druids and body snatchers and all kinds of fun. At least I think the druids will be pissed off. I would be if I were a druid and someone was burning my forest. I don't like that talks about a haunted house though. Them haunts never fight fair from what I hear, though I've never met one myself."

Thanks to Leo's obfuscating talk, he still is not aware that what he just met was a haunt.

The buildings in the town are largely ruined. Most of the old wooden signs along the roadway have been weathered into uselessness, but a few still have visible location names carved into them. Two signs pointing toward the north road say “Bridge over Twisting Gorge” and “Serene Pool.” Another sign pointing to the west road reads “Three Cliffs Road.”

You also find a campsite in near the northern edge of town. It’s clear that the site's occupants left in a hurry, as they left behind a backpack, 10 trail rations, a masterwork bow with a broken string, and a quiver containing seven masterwork arrows and four +1 magical-beast-bane arrows.

Assuming Leopold identifies everything.

The sun is setting.

Leopold gives everyone an editorial-free account of the magic weapon properties, but he shares a lot of Psionicsology-inflected thoughts about the goings on in this forest.

"Neat! Magic arrows."

Hekk grabs two of them, figuring he will probably not waste his time using them, but then again, they are MAGIC arrows.

"Nice. Magic arrows. And these other ones are high quality too. I'll take some of those." He twirls one in the air. "Hekk, really? You will use an arrow? I know Leopold and Harlan won't either. Aryas? You've got that crossbow. Hmm. Maybe I get all of the arrows."

Did I get that right?

You folks going to camp here? If so, what will your night watch situation be while in the forest?

i dont have darkvision, but im not fussy about which shift I get. i have one more mesmerist trick for the day, so i'll give Hekk the gift of will before i go to bed. i have to be awake to activate it, but it should see you through the night.

Let’s do the shifts with Leo first and Harlan last as they’re most dependent on a good night sleep. Aryas second , Hekk third and Tathane forth.

"No objection to the arrows? Great." Tathane looks around at the bleak town, awash in the orange glow of the setting sun. "Well, this looks like a lovely place to spend the night." He drops his bag on the ground where it looks like one of the previous campers had lain. "Standard watches?"

He takes one of the trail rations from the left behind backpack and is about to eat it but pauses. "Does anyone here have the ability to see if these are poisoned?"

Aryas, the watch schedule sounds good.

Hekk clutches the magic arrows possessively.

"Hey, just a sec. I would like to keep at least one of these. You never know and I have a really good bow now! And they are MAGIC arrows, you know. I don't have any magic weapons and sometimes you run into things your fists just go right through."

I'm good with the watches.

I'm good with Aryas' plan - and as of tomorrow I should be back to posting more regulalrly

The night passes without incident. Some eerie sounds reach your campsite from teh near-by woods, but nothing ventures into the abandoned town.

Which way would you like to go from here? The two roads going in the general direction you wish to go are labeled "Three Cliffs Road" and “Bridge over Twisting Gorge and Serene Pool.”

"The first autobiographical drama I sold to the Grand Opera of Ustalav was called 'Centurion 49 On The Twisting Bridge' so I vote we go there."

Aryas raises an eyebrow... but then nods.

"OK, but I don't like the sound of that serene pool."

Tathane wakes with the dawn. Some of the others are already stirring but keeping quiet as they putter around the camp and stoke up the small fire. This is one of Tathane's favorite parts of the day when camping out of doors. There's something peaceful and fresh about the breaking dawn when surrounded by nothing much more than nature. He stretches his arms above his head and twists his torso to work out the kinks of sleeping on the ground.

The air has a slight chill to it but he knows it will wear off soon. He rolls up his bedding and packs everything away in his backpack. Approaching the fire, he sits on a large rock and nods at the others. "It looks like everyone but Harlan is up. Did I hear you say you want to go the bridge route?"

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Harlan looks around hoping someone made some coffee.

"Leopold's reasoning is as good as any we have."

Well-rested, you decide to head out the northern path.

The journey is uneventful at first, but as you draw deeper into the Verduran forest, you notice that the whole wood seems quieter than you might expect. The road follows an established pathway between the dark expanses of trees on either sides of you, but there are few sounds of birds or russles of small animals in the underbrush.

After traveling for about 3 miles into the woods, you finally hear a sound traveling through the forest--the noise of a child weeping. It seems to be coming from somewhere west of the path you are currently following.

Aryas is alarmed.

”Did you hear this? A child has to be saved!“

He starts running in the direction of the noise.

Perception : 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

"Hold, Aryas! Don't forget the 'children' we encountered in the rest home."

Aryas hesitantly slows down.

”But I cannot risk that it is really a child in danger! Harlan I trust your eyes more than mine ... if you take the lead I would follow right next to you!!“ he says and hopes that the group aids to search.

Hekk is suspicious too. He's heard of unwary orcs being lured to their deaths by fey seducers, though it is usually the sound of a wounded vulnerable animal or something like that being used to lure them, not some pathetic child whimpering.

So Hekk follows, but behind the other two, willing to let them spring the trap. Hekk unlimbers his bow, thinking that this might be a situation more appropriate to long range fire.

Tathane remains cautious as well. "So far it seems that everything we've run into has been dangerous. Let's be careful. Why don't you guys wait here and I'll sneak up and see what I can see?"

Tathane makes his way slowly through the forest towards the sound.

Stealth: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

Could everyone that is going into the forest make a Survival check to make your way through the growth toward the sound?

survival: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

survival : 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (19) - 3 = 16

Survival w. grand lodge faction card boon & inspiration: 1d20 + 6 + 3 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 3 + (5) = 23

Survival: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12

Survival
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

"Maybe we ought to do a quick e-meter reading before running off into the underbrush."

Hekk, Gift of Will? Any other takers? I can give out 2 at once and they have no real duration.

Hekk takes it for sure. It probably works on seducing fey just as good as it worked on them thetodemons.

Luckily, Harlan is able to lead those of you with shaky woodcraft closer to the sound of the crying. Instead of getting lost and seperated in the largely trackless forest, you quickly come to a clearing.

Instead of a lost child, however, what greets you there are two hideous humanoid creatures, each with a gray-skinned face stretched in a manic grin, even though it weeps steaming tears. Frost crusts their flesh.

Boy is Heck feeling smug right now.

"Well the good news is there is no child . . ."

Kn(planes) w/ inspiration: 1d20 + 12 + 1d6 ⇒ (11) + 12 + (3) = 26

DR, resistances & weaknesses, please; Have fun at GenCon!

We should establish a morning buff routine. The mesmerist tricks last all day, so there's no reason I wouldn't do a few e-meter readings over breakfast (or implant a trick on the sly if you want a buff but your character wouldn't accept one for the sake of RP.) I'll assume Hekk takes Gift of Will. If anyone else wants one in the future, just let me know.

Knowledge(Planes): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

I don't know if I also get a question but if I do, I'm asking about special attacks

Leo, I'll take that Gift of Will too, unless someone else needs it.

Tathane stops to look at the disgusting creatures. "Wow. Things just get worse and worse."

Leopold, Aryas would love a reading that suddenly creates an image of himself.

Back in action!

~+~Combat Round 1~+~
Aryas
Tathane
Blue
Harlan
Leopold
Red
Hekk

Battle Map

GM, any knowledge results?