GM of Rust's "Whims of Fate" Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Knight of Rust

The ride through the plains is surprisingly peaceful. The mounts seem to get along well with everyone thanks to Maggart's magics, and the ride is as smooth as riding saddleless on horses and a buffalo can be. It seems as though some of the animals are curious at the sight of you, but none seem particularly perturbed enough to give chase.

Important things to discuss. 1) The spell lasts for 8 hours, will you be resting the animals within that time? 8 hours of travel at the Buffalo's (Bison's stats) speed will get you 32 miles, which is the base of the mountain. Assuming leaving at 9 am, that would put you there at 5pm.

2) That will put you near enough to where the Gouged Eye is said to be, so whether you want to approach them or try to go around them, that's up to you guys to discuss. Only Byron, so far, has mentioned an unwillingness to seek out the orcs if it can't be helped.

3) With it being only 5 o'clock, you guys could certainly continue without mounts. With Maggart being able to Wild Shape, Byron and Hyacinth are the slowest members of the party. Going up the mountain on a road is 3/4ths speed, 1/2 if you have to go off the path, so for mathematical convenience we'll go with 2 miles per hour, or 1-1/2 when off-roading. You have roughly 18 more miles to go.

To help decide things, I need two Survival checks and, if you guys are trying to avoid the Orcs, a stealth check from everyone.

In the fields near the mountains

In the mountains (If you don't go into the mountains, then we'll save these rolls for when you do)

As the mounts leave them Drask tries to stretch his legs. "On second thought, horse next time." He kind of half-waddles as he works his bowlegged stance out.

"Mhmm, I think we bed down for now, get mounts again in the morning, or continue on foot if need be. What are we thinking about the native orcs? Avoid them? I don't think they would be a major threat to us."

Survival (track): 1d20 + 13 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 13 + 3 = 31
Survival: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18

"That field back by the mountains, lot of traffic through their. They all avoided the base of the mountain though. We should do the same. Has to be a reason for it."

He also frowns. "Upkeep is bad on the roads. Local miners must be having some issues. We'll have to go through a bit of wildnerness."

"Layla said they shouldn't be trouble if we leave them alone. She's usually right about these things. But if they are avoiding the mountain altogether, they might be worth visiting, interrogating."

"I'm against it. I'm worried about the possibility of violence--not violence that we couldn't handle, but something that would deplete us before heading into the mines. I have a bad feeling about whatever's down there, and wouldn't want to go in at less than full steam. I am aware they could provide us aid, but it's still a risk I'd prefer to skip."

The discussion doesn't seem to go very far, and the group decides to camp for the night. With the assortment of knowledge and talents comprising the team your party is able to find a place away from the game trails and hunting grounds of the Gouged Eye Tribe and set up both a Web Shelter and Campfire Wall.

As you settle in, it suddenly hits you on how quiet it is out there. Over the sounds of the campfire, gentle breeze, and scurrying of an errant hand, is an foreboding lack of noise. No birds singing the sun away, bats tracking prey, or even crickets. You are alone on the plains, the only company yourselves and the mountains looming over you.

It seems as though the only strong opinion belongs to Byron on avoiding the orcs and, out of character, he said he could be persuaded if it's what the group wants. Hyacinth had not weighed in due to their absence, but where are we at now? Feel free to roleplay it out, if we don't come to a conclusion then I'll assume that we're climbing the mountain per Byron's request.

"I've not had much experience with orcs, present company excluded," Hyacinth says with a nod toward Drask. "But based on their reputation, I believe it would be best to try to steer clear of them and focus on the task at hand."

"No one needs to know where we are going or why, not the townsfolk, not the orcs, and not some dumb kid looking for his brother."

Maggart volunteers herself to keep first watch, and should the night pass without incident, sleeps soundly.

Sorry this is late, I wasn't getting Gameplay notifications; taking ten on Perception thru her watch

As the group decides that it would be prudent to avoid the orcs, they settle in for the night setting a watch order and resting for the arduous trek ahead. The night passes without incident other than the paranoia those on watch may feel when looking out over the silent plains. While this spot was chosen with care, there should be movement somewhere.

When the sun rises and the web shelter decays and falls apart, those still sleeping are met with the harsh rays of light assailing their eyes. Breakfast is prepped and consumed, spells are prepared (if needed) cast, and the uphill hike begins.

Any animals called will avoid going near the mountains at any cost, and will need constant handle animal or intimidate checks to make the climb. It'll take roughly 9 hours of travel, barring any events, to get to the mining town.

Everyone knows what lies ahead of them as they stare up the mountain from the base. A gradual slope with a clear trail that still had the faint tracks of wagon wheels leads you to your destination.

An hour passes. You are adventurers; the hike doesn't bother you nearly as much as the silence that puts you on edge.

Two hours pass. The slope starts to get gradually steeper. To those of lesser perception it doesn't seem like much, but you feel it in your legs.

Three hours. There are copses lining the road now. Any trails have been washed away by the rains and the wind. While passing by you listen for what you would expect; lizards skittering, rocks falling, something. Anything.

Four hours have passed. The world sits still around you as if waiting for permission to take a breath. Have your comrade's footsteps always been so loud?

The fifth hour. Over halfway there. The gradual incline now takes a sharp increases and the world around you seems to open up. The plains around the World's End Mountain are a welcome change to the dull grays and browns the mountain has become.

It is here the first hurdle lies in wait. While there have been times where rock slides have caused you to have to climb over or go around the, a more dire climb awaits. The road leads to a winding path up a cliff that had been broken in several places by the rain and the rock slides that came with it.

Perception checks and spoilers galore!

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27

Maggart points out the dead and buried orc at the base of the rockslide by tapping its hand with her toe. "We wanna do something about this? It'll take time to dig them out, or I could try a spell I have to turn all this back into mud, but that might just start another rockslide."

After any investigation, she opens a jar on her belt filled with spiders, which frantically leap and spill out as she opens the lid. The druid quickly closes it before they all escape and start their mad scramble out and away, catching a few stragglers for her troubles. Squishing these in between her fingers, she rolls and rubs their gooey insides across her hands and goes around touching Byron and Drask and Hyacinth, champing her teeth and sniffing as she casts a spell to enhance their movement.

Communal Spider Climb, everyone gets a +8 to climb checks and a climb speed of 20 for twenty minutes, starting after we deal with the orc

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Byron didn't notice the Orc until Maggart pointed it out, but he immediately reduced the problem down to three likely outcomes: either the Orcs discover and appreciate that they gave a proper burial, the orcs discover and are offended by the meddling with their dead, or no one ever finds out and nothing happens. Either way, Byron is still hungry for more information--any information--about these mountains.

"Let's dig him up. I want to examine his gear, see if I can get any psychic impressions that might help us. It'll only take an extra minute or so if I can get my hands on a sword or a satchel or something. And anyway the tribe might just appreciate us giving one of theirs a proper burial. Never bad to have even a smidgeon of gratitude in your back pocket."

Perception: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (12) + 18 = 30

Drask curls his lip a bit at the crushed spiders but doesn't object to he magic. He silently comes over in response to Byron's words, poking around the rocks that buried the orc to see if they're movable, and to see if moving them might cause any other landslides.

If it seems possible without dire consequences, Drask starts moving the rocks.

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19

Feeling quite invigorated by the climb, Hyacinth happily helps Drask move the rocks to uncover the orc.

Working together, the group excavated the orc without any major incidents.

The orc has not decomposed as much as expected. While certainly not in a state where he's not pleasant to look at, and the smell was atrocious, you can clearly see the red tattoo around his left eye that signifies his affiliation with the Gouged Eye.

Byron kneels by the corpse and carefully lifts a piece of the broken axe. ”I’ll just need a minute with this.” he says before slipping into a shallow trance, half-closed eyes locked on the ruined weapon, fingers drifting feverishly over its surface.

Byron can gain simple information about the object and the last being that wielded it in this way. The action takes one minute. GM gets to decide what I learn.

Heal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Drask was far too distracted by the smell to really care what his cause of death was. He gagged. "Must have shit himself to death, the rocks were an afterthought."

Maggs' hand does more to help with the excavation than she herself does, moving rocks with surprising strength and agility.

Once the body is properly exhumed, she busies herself by detecting magic and trying to root out the reality of the broken potions.

Met with the smell, she does not recoil, but simply nods in response to Drask's assertion, her mind elsewhere

Now that everyone has Spider Climb... If you like, the party can be a little more adventurous when it comes to approaching the town, though it would be more dangerous. Survival checks are needed for any information about off-roading this mountain and getting back to a road.

Byron shuddered convulsively as the vision came to an end, and his mind became fully his own again. "Ooh, that was spicy. Maybe we should have gone to see the Orcs after all." He let the axe slip from one of his hands, the head hitting the ground with a soft thud while he kept a loose hold on the haft. He stood and tapped the Orc with his boot. "What we have here is a bona-fide rebel. He swung on his own chief, a younger orc he called a 'false chieftain.' When he did that, an absolute mountain of an Orc woman named Kadejah snapped his axe like a twig. I don't think she killed him, though: all that took place somewhere else. In the forest from what I could see, lower down the mountain. He must have come here on his own later.

He had been raging on about how they should have followed someone he called Chieftain Frazen 'up the mountain.' I'd guess that's what he was trying to do when he met his end here. Shame to get offed by a freak accident like that. I think he really believed he was doing the right thing. Nice axe though. Think I'll hang on to it, see if I can find a way to extract some power from it later on."

No info as to the spilled potions? Or is this that moment in the escape room where you're sure that something is relevant but it's literally just a brand name/maker's mark on a, like, fork

"His armor is heavy but will make the wearer, one of us now, faster while in the mountains. Potions are Protection from Evil. Maybe the orc thought the threat in the mines was extraplanar?"

Survival, Backroading Advice/Info: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23

All of the vials, both the intact and the shattered, contain Protection From Evil. It seemed like he might have been concerned with only one thing. And with a 23, you believe you could take a shortcut that would save you an additional 20 minutes on your trip.

”Extra-planar. Or something like that. He might just be superstitious but based on what my little informant told me, I think we’d best assume something serious. Hm.” Byron studied the rock slide in silence for a bit. [b]”Maybe we should’ve gone to see the Orcs after all. Too late now. Let’s just keep an eye out for that chieftain and anyone he brought with him. Could have valuable knowledge.”[\b]

Bumping so I can mark as inactive.