As Veratash attempts to make psychic contact, the weasel shakes its head repeatedly. It twitches and Veratash feels something connect... and then his mind is filled with snapping jaws and hissing acid before whatever the connection was is suddenly severed. The weasel stands unsteadily and shudders.
Briar took note and nodded.
"I approve of your choice."
The weasel stared warily, eyes like slits.
"It doesn't matter how hard you hate, only that you direct it at our foes. Come now."
The weasel stared, unmoving, glaring at Veratash. Briar turned to regard the Kalashtar
"Listen, this is not a pet or companion, this is a creature created for one purpose, to kill aberrations. "
She gestured at the weasel's spittle, sizzling away on the ground.
"That's not poison there, it's acid. It's nature provides some protection against its foes." her gaze flickered to Nyd in a partial answer to his question.
"If it chooses to come along, please give it a wide berth. "
She began to move off then turned back to Veratash
"Do not attempt to stroke it if you value your hands. Or your face. Or your flesh in general."
She walked away, and after a moment, the weasel followed too, sniffing the air and limping along after the Gatekeeper.
Briar nodded at Nyd's comment
"It is a fair observation, sometimes the constant shades of grey grow arduous. "
She glanced at the warforged, up and down
"You know, I prefer seeing the colours, they remind me of the vibrancy of life. If it is ok with you Nyd, I would prefer you always light a lantern, if you feel it appropriate of course..."
She turned away and headed off deeper in to the cave, her throat making a guttural clicking noise. The weasel snarled, then moved off after her, glaring back at Veratash.
Briar threw out her arms as the group rounded the corner and saw the crystal ward stretching across the cave.
"Ware!"
The weasel's eyes rolled back in her head and her hackles stood on end, she seemed twice the size she had been, a ball of white fur and pure hatred, all directed at what lay behind the crystal.
"This is a Gatekeeper seal... its power is what keeps the denizens of Xoriat at bay"
She indicated the blood and sniffed
"This is fresh, Tam Tam enacted this ward and it is a vital part, do not disturb it"
The air felt like it was vibrating, pulsing, it was the very air around the weasel, it felt palpably deadly. Limp barely felt, she dragged herself before the seal and hissed, flecks of acid spattering across the crystal.
Briar's eyes narrowed.
"This is a dangeroud place, the walls between here and there are thin and whilst Tam-Tam may have repaired the wall, other things can still pass through. We would do well to leave. Soon..."
Tharivol picked his way down the tunnel clearly uncomfortable. His shield was readied. His rapier was readied. He scrutinized every shadow that moved with Nyd's lantern. The relaxed, elegant elf had been left among the dead dolgrue and grandma druid.
When Briar suggests that they leave, he waits as long as he can before asking, "So, that's it? We leaving now?"
Veratash turned to Nyd and said "You should come visit us at Adar one day. There are many mountains and natural caves. It was a refuge, it still is even! Maybe we kalashtar can change your view on such natural formations". He was smiling, thinking some thoughts of his home would make him feel easier too.
Veratash held his breath as Briar added terror to this already menacing weasel. He made sure to step back and keep clear of it.
As the shadows shifted, Veratash heard Briar's warning, but said "We can make it! We have to get to the bottom of this." with a wink. He felt he was producing jokes like his dwarf friend Nocki, but seemed to be in a good mood. Thinking about Tharivol's words made him braver too.
OOC: just the order of events and things to consider; feel free to paraphrase and use for RPing
- someone/something weakens the crystal seal
- dolgrims come out and search for Veratash
- dolgrues come out and attack cabin
- Tam-Tam stumbled upon (was called? sensed?) the broken seal
- Tam-Tam fights additional dolgrue and repairs the seal
- seal is now repaired (nothing comes out) and cannot be broken/weakened unless someone/something has enough magic to do so (note that this goes against what Briar stated but maybe she doesn't know any better)
- the cave's haunted reputation comes from the fact that there are indeed sounds coming through the seal (and also shadows can be seen by those brave enough to go to the seal itself)
- the trail you were all following has disappeared and you need to plan your next actions
Questions?
Game on!
"Fascinating." Nyd pulls out his spellbook and begins taking extensive notes about the seal, much like he did at the standing stones.
"That such magics could last so long is a true testament to those that made them."
Nyd will study the seal as long as allowed, fear of the cave and dark temporarily forgotten in the face of a research subject. Nyd will at some point during the proceedings break out a wand and spend a charge of Detect Magic from it.
"I can only hope that my own magics will last this long."
"I still think collasping the tunnel entrance is a perfectly viable option. Artur, you've some explosives, right?" The minstrel offers his sound strategic advice.
"I don't have anything that can collapse a tunnel, no. More importantly, I think even if we did, it would be a short-term solution at best. The best thing would be to fix the seal."
"I'm pretty sure that opening that seal would not end the way you imagine it. Think of it like a door with someone constantly pushing from the other side; if even opened a crack, what's on the other side will come pouring out. Better to keep the door locked."
"It seems an intricately designed and well-honed blade, clearly made by a master smith. If I had my ledger on me, I could find the smith's mark and tell you who made it, but now is not the time. You should keep it Briar; I have this feeling that it's meant to be carried by one of your order."
Artur recommended they strike camp and make a plan for going forward.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that night around the campfire, Artur pulled off his boots with an audible sigh and said "It seems to me like we have 3 options for what to do now." Artur held up fingers as he listed off his options. "One) we can just quit now that we know the source of the Dols has been resealed. I don't think anyone would speak poorly of us for doing so; what we managed to accomplish is worthy of merit; Two) we make our way to the city where Veratash met his patron and see what we can find on that end. We'll likely spend a great deal of time gathering information and then hopefully catch up with the man to have a discussion with him about his shenanigans; or Three) we try to follow a days old track that Veratash took when he fled from his captors."
Artur lowered his fingers and took a sip from his mug before continuing "Before we continue, does anyone else have another option that I missed or didn't think of? I am used to making plans and giving orders, but I know that I'm no more in charge of this group of people than anyone else. I'd like to hear each of your thoughts and ideas before I offer my opinion. Once we know how everyone is thinking, we can debate what to do from there."
Veratash took in the thoughts of everyone and realized he was feeling a little overconfident. It was indeed a bad idea to insist on the tunnel. He forced himself to acquiesce to the recommendations.
Veratash was impressed at the master craft. Being a craftsman himself, he acknowledged the details of the weapon, but gets distracted when Zdravko tells its story. "So, did the smith and the medusa end up together?", he asked as if it were a children's fairy tale.
After the group has made camp by the cave's entrance, Veratash stayed silent and unusually serious. He thought furiously on his next course of actions, worried that the group might not want to accompany him to rescue his kalashtar friends. He had grown fond of them.
As Artur proposed his options, Veratash nearly interrupted him as he proposed they give up the search, but kept quiet as the soldier kept talking. He waited nervously for him to finish. As he paused, Veratash looked and didn't know what to say, but the man continued.
"I remember marshlands", the kalashtar said suddenly. "If we keep going for Zarash’ak on foot, we'll probably come by some of the aberrations, seeing how careless they are with respect to covering tracks. If we don't, well, we'll reach the city and check out Dah'mir's blue mansion." As he finished, he punched his palm to try and convey how determined he was.
"When i say we should leave, I mean that there is nothing left to do here. Tam-Tam repaired the seal before she fell. If we linger here all that will happen is we will begin to hear the whispers of those on the other side. "
She turned and her gaze impaled Veratash like a spear thrust.
"You have something going on with your mind, I am concerned you may be vulnerable, that is the other part of the reason I suggest we move on."
As Nyd brought his book out she blinked slowly
"It's a mostly oral history, though those that know it oft live longer than some fo the tales used to keep it alive."
She pointed to the crystal
"I know naught of druid magic, only the ancient ways of the forest and the power of the natural, the sacred places. This is what Xoriat fights against, what it craves to corrupt."
She shakes her head at Tharivol
"Artur is thinking right, if you collapse the cave it might disrupt the seal. And collapsing it means it can't be maintained either. It would become a permanent crack for things to seep through."
Briar listened to the goblin talk findly of the sword.
It is interesting to know its history, or the history of its style at least Zdravko. Also it is made at least partly of Byeshk, hence its effect on the dolgrue.
She stares at the blade, then looks at Zdravko
"This blade was made for killing Daelkyr and other abominations. From what little I know of you and your clan it seems you share many things with the Gatekeepers, not the least fo which your hatred for aberrations."
She made a curious gesture with the fingers of one hand.
"I think you should carry the blade, I favor the glaive foremost in my style of combat, the shortsword suits you better and you will make greater use of it against our mutual enemy."
She stuck out her hand, proferring a warrior's clasp to the goblin.
Briar sat on her heels on the edge of the firelight, listening to Artur. The weasel had curled up a few meters away, but opened its eyes to glance around every few minutes.
"It is good that you are open to counsel. I offer you a clarification. The crystal gate, newly resealed, may have been the conduit that they entered our realm by, yet it must have taken dark magic to weaken the seal enough for that to happen. I would wager that such a wielder of dark magic may still be abound, and thus a threat. Also, with no true way to know how many came through the gate, we do not know if all are vanquished."
She points at Veratash
"Veratash is connected to this, even without druid sight it is plain to me. The seal-breaker and dolgrue master may be one and the same..."
OOC: Good stuff everyone. Thanks Zdravko for another entertaining story. BTW, the shortsword is NOT magical but we can make it so if you take a liking to it. And I did intentionally make it a shortsword and usable by monks in case you wanted to use it. I would imagine that it could also be outfitted as the blade of a glaive if the party had a decent artificer that could help with that. :)
TRAVEL
I just noticed that the Lyrandar wind galleon got downgraded in 5e; it went from 20 MPH in 3.5 to 10 MPH in 5e.
- to Zarash’ak walking (500 miles) at a normal pace of 24 miles per day would yield 21 days but about 400 miles of that is swamp and difficult terrain (800 miles equivalent) so a weighted travel distance of 900 miles at 24 miles per day yields about 38 days
- to Zarash’ak via ship from Yrl (1,500 miles) via regular sailing ship at 2 miles per hour (48 miles per day ) yields 31 days or Lyrandar galleon at 10 miles per hour (240 miles per day) yields about 7 days. It will take 2 days on horseback to get to Yrl. BTW, this is the route that Artur, Nyd, and Tharivol took to get to Bull Hollow but their departing port was Sharn.
Also, are you really going to trust a young kalashtar who made a feverish escape through swamps and marshlands to know which way he came. :)
As always the choice is yours; I am jut giving out information so you can make a more informed decision.
Questions?
Game on!
OOC: Hey! /frown
OOC: Hey! /frown
OOC: BTW, I also think that you're doing a great job playing Veratash. :)
OOC: Thanks, but still...
Nyd has just finished copying down his notes on the seal, and returns the book to his bag when a there is a faint metal-on-metal crunch. Nyd looks startled for a moment, and then grins in happiness.
"Well, I was beginning to think our work had been a failure."
Nyd withdraws his had from the bag of holding and attached to one of his fingers is a small, metallic owl, which is busy biting one of Nyd's fingers with it's beak.
”Please let me introduce Ansuz, which means inspiration or wisdom one of the a runic languages upon which magic is based..”
If seen at a distance, particularly if back dropped by trees, Ansuz looks like a smallish Short Ear Owl. At a much closer distance Ansuz is obviously some sort of construct. Her feathers are composed of metal, with a couple of different metals to produce a multi-hued effect. The metal has been carefully burnished so that her feathers are not reflective. Her eyes are bright blue gemstones that do shine when the light strikes them.
Nyd put his other hand under the owlet and, as if with reluctance, the owlet lets go of the finger to rest in the other hand.
"Scout now? Seek now?" Ansuz's voice is not particularly loud and is quite high in pitch. It sounds--young, in ways that Nyd's voice does not.
"No. Planning now, fly later." Nyd says to the owlet.
"Okay. Sleep now." And the owl's eyes immediately close and it stops moving completely.
Nyd looks a little embarrassed. "Please pardon her. She is still green. It will take some time to complete some basic training." Nyd places the owlet against the shoulder of his robe and its claws immediately dig in, but there is no other sign of movement.
"Still, it appears that our work was a success Aurtur. The next time we are in a location with sufficient communication infrastructure I will have to discreetly pass word of our success."
Nyd looks pensive. "The Treaty of Thronehold was a great thing for my people, but it also contains a hidden trap that dooms us as well. One of its stipulations freed us, yet at the same time it ordered that all Creation Forges be destroyed. A simply lack of maintenance and slow attrition means that one day there may be no more warforged. And while at this time no one truly knows if the spells that make us whole have a duration limit."
Nyd gestures at Ansuz. "While she is a prototype, and one sustained by the rituals we performed at that, this tiny warforged being made without a Creation Forge. This may be the major breakthrough my people need, and I would appritiate your assistance in observing how Ansuz develops from this point forward."
"But I am rambling. There are many who seek to use my people to their own ends, whether they want to use us like tools or to simply see us all destroyed. I have little desire to be targeted by such people before I see to this project's success."
Veratash looked at Ansuz with a touch of apprehension. although extremely cute, the kalashtar didn't want to invoke a weasel-like reaction from it. "It's cure", he said unenthusiastically.
Nyd pulls Ansuz off his shoulder and holds the owlet towards Veratash.
"You may examiner her if you wish. One of Ansuz's primary functions is to aid the groups as a whole. Just pardon her lack of social niceties; she was just born today.
Veratash petted little Ansuz with much reticence at first, but grew to stroke its metallic feathers vigorously. One could see he was excited.
In response to Nyd's comment about discretely, Artur says "That damn treaty was a giant mistake, which will set back technological advancement by at least a century, all because of some superstitious fools."
Artur then shot Nyd a smile before turning to Veratash and saying "You keeping going like that and you'll rub off the sheen on it. Let me see it."
Once Veratash relinguishes the bird, Artur will pick it up and begin looking at it intently from all angles, like a swordsmith might check a blade he created. Satisfied, he returned it to Nyd.
Ansuz 'wakes' up long enough to say, "Pets nice." And then goes back to 'sleep'.
If they spend time to honor the old druid's body, Tharivol would offer a dirge to celebrate her life. He has had better performances. Clearly the day had rattled him.
total 16
"Yes, let's return to civilization. In exchange for the information that we have, we might be able to get a divination from the thing Artur put on his head or the description of the tentacled guy. We certainly can find more leads there than in a swamp." Tharivol offered his biased opinion. He continued to polish his Battle at the Standing Stones ode.
total 22
He offered some pleasantries to Nyd about his new toy to be polite and congenial, while not caring one wit about it.
See what I mean?
This turn, I would have to give inspiration to the following PCs:
Zdravko for her cool story about the Dhakaani shortsword;
Nyd for bringing in his familiar Ansuz;
Briar for her cool imagery (Briar sat on her heels on the edge of the firelight, listening to Artur...);
Artur for taking charge of the group and setting up everyone else;
Veratash for being very attentive and contributing RP to everyone; and
Tharivol for playing his aloof, elegant elf to perfection.
So no one gets any inspiration! :)
Recapping now...
"Briar brings up a good point. Whowever did this might still be hanging around or have left tracks. In the morning, we should at least check to see if there are tracks around that show someone leaving in a different direction then the Dols, and maybe also see if the tracks we can find heading away from here roughly match the numbers of Dols that we have fought."
Now that everyone had had a chance to speak their mind about their course of action, Artur took another sip of coffee from his mug and said "Personally, I'm of the mind that we should try and backtrack to Zarash’ak, for a couple of reasons: 1) tracks fade over time, and any information that we can get from this line of investigation has an expiration date; and 2) we can deal with any potential wandering critters that our mystery cultist let loose. I know that there are Gatekeepers throughout the area, but everyone here now has experience dealing with these specific creatures, which even some gatekeepers likely don't."
Artur thinks for a moment before adding "Oh, and if we backtrack, we might get a chance to warn other Gatekeepers further afield of the situation and share information. Maybe some of them closer to our destination will know more about the group of hunters that chased Veratash."
"So, that's my thoughts on what we should do now. It sounds like everyone has an idea for what they want to do going forward, so I would suggest that we put it to a vote among the group."
"All those in favor of tracking the cultists through civilization, raise your hand," Artur counted the responses before continuing, "good, now all of those who want to try backtracking to Zarash’ak raise your hand," Artur raised his own hand here and counted the other responses as well before saying, "finally, those of you who want to do something besides these two options, raise your hand." and Artur tallied those options as well.
"Well, looks like our group has decided to..."
Briar nodded at Zdravko
"It would be good to return her body to the earth"
She spent some time working with the others to dig the hole, and lowered Tam-Tam's body in as Tharivol played his dirge. The weasel twitched, teeth bared, but kept herself to the side as the druid was honored.
"She would have been glad to know you all, accept my gratitude on her behalf."
She lowered her head for a moment, then retrieved her glaive and moved on.
Briar's eyes were like a cat's as she watched the mechanical bird flutter.
"It is an amazing feat of artifice truly, I have never seen its, her like"
She glanced across at the sleeping weasel for a moment, thoughtful. Then the conversation turned and her brow furrowed.
"This treaty, pah. I have no understanding of politics, but it is plain and true that gelding your race is dishonest. It seems more a way of solving the 'problem' in the long term, if your numbers can only decrease."
She shook her head
"I am glad for you, and Ansuz, one step closer to a brighter future."
She spent time then listening to the others.
Briar caught Artur's eye and nodded as he mentioned backtracking to Zarash'ak.
"Whilst talk of divination back in 'civilisation' may hav emerit, we could do that at any point. Whilst there is still a trail here, whilst there may still be these foul beasts roaming the area, it were better if we spent our next steps hunting and scouting. Thistle's family is not the only homestead abound in this area, it would be good to warn as many as possible."
She looked at Veratash
"This is a burden to accept, our reliance on you to help with finding this estate you mention, tracing back the way you have come. It must be frightening, but I ask you to have courage and face your fears."
She gestured to the group
"You have allies now, we can help make sure no-one else suffers."
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After trancing his four hours, Tharivol is awake most of the night, silent to let the others sleep. Even a lullaby can be too much.
Prestidigitation ensures that the dragonmarked elf is as elegant as everyone breaks fast in the morning. He continues working on his ode to accompany the morning rituals of the others.
total 18
And, clearly signals his desire to return to civilization as soon as possible with both his hand raised and happy music. He accompanies other votes with a sad melody.
Veratash had always had trouble dealing with death. A kalashtar that dies is separated from their Quori spirit as their own travels to Dolurrh. It is a bitter end to have to spend the rest of their memory without such an integral part of themselves. Of course Tam-Tam didn't share this fate, but Veratash had learned to experience the death of others with the same sadness.
That is a beautiful ode", he said to Tharivol, avoiding to say anything else. After the burial, he was very tired from the physical effort, so he sat down in contemplation.
Artur's words sprung Veratash into activity. He helped prepare breakfast and wash everything. Happy that there was coffee, he listened to the pragmatic man. I have to thank whoever brought the coffee later, he thought.
Listening to Briar's words, Veratash took a moment to control himself. It seemed he feared the woman, even more now that the weasel seemed to be her companion. He was uncomfortable in the wild, and he voted to go to the city when Artur put up the vote, but Briar's words were true. There was no real hurry to go to the city as long as there was even the tiniest of tracks to follow out there.
He puffed his chest before saying "Lady, I have a responsibility to my friends who I left behind before. I will do whatever it takes, and I am grateful that you're coming with me." He looked at everyone and said "I agree that there are things to find in the wild, but how will we know that we're on the right track? It seems they came from this cave, and this has been taken care of. The laboratory I was being experimented on was in some sort of marshlands, but other than that I can't remember a thing about which way we should go. The mansion in Zarash’ak is a sure track." Then, he thought to himself without saying anything and I also want to take a bath.
Seeming that the seal has been strongly renewed, Veratash relaxed. However he made sure to stay as far away from the weasel as he could. He tried to avoid eye contact as well.
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Nyd raises a hand. ”I believe we have one more resource we might be able to deploy.”
Nyd removes Ansuz from his shoulder and taps the bird in the forehead. “Ansuz, I need you to search for anything unusual in the area for me.”
Ansuz cocks her head sideways in a confused gesture.
”Oh. Right,” Nyd says a little embarrassed. ”Ansuz, I need a maximum range scouting sweep. Use a rolling search pattern. Prioritize stealth. If you encounter any structures or unnatural creatures abort the search and report immediately.”
Ansuz nods, hoots, but does not take off. Instead she points a wing over towards the weasel and says, ”Reporting unnatural creature.”
Nyd, if anything looks even more embarrassed. ”Please place all allies onto an exclusion list unless otherwise directed.” Ansuz nods and is gently tossed aloft by Nyd.
”To be completely honest,” Nyd says once the owl flies away, ”She’s unlikely to find anything. But another pair of eyes cannot hurt things.”
As Briar's compatriot grave was being closed, Artur said quietly "Thank you for saving me. I didn't know you, but I truly and humbly appreciate your sacrifice and will do my best to live my life in a way that has value, so that it wasn't in vain."
OOC: let me make sure I understand the voting here.
1) tracking through civilization means going to Yrl, taking a ship to Zarash'ak, and picking up the trail there (blue mansion by the water) (9 days assuming a Lyrandar ship is available).
2) backtracking to Zarash'ak means roughing it all the way through swamps and marsh until getting to Zarash'ak (38 days).
Votes so far:
1) Tharivol, Veratash (soft?)
2) Artur, Briar (not sure if only if tracks are available or all the way)
Nyd? Zdravko?
Is the above correct?
Game on!
Now that the group had a direction, Artur returned to his more normal self. It was easy to see that he disliked situations where there was not clear direction to move forward.
Again, Artur relied on the expertise of the others as an idea began to foment in his mind: a suit of armor, powered by magic....He sketched some quick formulas as the group walked, but was more than happy to rely on others to warn him of danger so that he could focus on his idea.
With the trek ahead, Veratash thought it a good idea to get to know these people better. [b]"So, Tharivol, tell us a story of you, Artur and Nyd traveling together!
Hours passed as the group moved around, doubled back, circled and trekked. Eventually Briar shook her head and muttered under her breath.
"We could search Sul to Sar and find nothing more than the tracks of creatures we can already account for."
The weasel seemed to share Briar's frustrations, or else she took any excuse to be ornery. She had shadowed the party for hours, staying just within sight, snuffeling and hissing in equal turn. When the group had stopped to discuss the lack of progress, she had eyed Veratash somewhat hungrily then disappeared off.
"If there are no other loose aberrations, then as much as I prefer the wilderness, it would seem sensible to take the more expedient route."
She glanced at Artur
"The longer we take to get to the mansion, the more time they have to either prepare or flee..."
As the weasel looked as Veratash, he shuddered and said to Briar in a desperate tone "Please feed your.... thingie".
"The most expedient route is by airship." Tharivol masked his exasperation of the situation with frequent use of Prestidigitation to keep his clothes clean and fresh. Might as well be looking for fifty feet of shore line, a right-handed smoke bender, or snipes, He thought to himself.
The dragonmarked minstrel had paused his ode-making while hunting in the wild to avoid aiding potential hunters, and the silence clearly did not improve his mood. It was not his first time in the sticks, but he did try to limit it. Nice place to visit. Don't want to live here.
"I have no strong opinion on which route we follow. Given the activity level of the OpForce we are likely to run into them far before we find them."
Artur glanced up from his musings and realized the group had stopped. He was working on his second slate, and caught the tail end of what Briar had said.
Putting away his slate, Artur looked at Veratash and said "So, I know you said that your escape was confusing, but do you remember any landmarks or anything that stands out regarding your escape? Also, I know this might seem like an odd question, but I don't know enough about psionics yet, but I have heard that powerful psychics can draw upon other people's memories and view them. Is this true? If it is true, do you have such an ability? and finally, if you do, can you use it on yourself?"
At Tharivol's mention of an airship, Artur asked "Do you know where we might catch an airship nearby?"
Replying to Artur, Tharivol nods with a smile, "Back the way we came, to Yrl."
You got it. Almost there. The elegant elf waits for others to come to their senses and want to return to civilization.
I recapped but did not move the game forward. A decision needs to be made and it's yours to make. :)
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
@Veratash: I responded in the turn recap.
Veratash replied to Artur saying "I'm afraid I'm not that a psychic powerful. The most I can do is nibble at the mind of others."