The Snows of Summer ❄️ ❄️ ❄️Reign of Winter 2E ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ (Inactive)

Game Master Reckless

"Agreeing with the Poppet inside the snow, here. You aren't getting out of this easily," Lilyana mutters behind her arquebus. She eyes her adventurer's pack, wondering if it'd be worth it to tie the man up.

What action would I take for that?

Ai had been following as quietly as the others when they spotted the man ahead. She did almost give it all away when Yorah apparently turned into a rabbit as she stifled and aaaawwwwww and the urge to pet the bunny. She waited until the others began to move in on him. She hung back a little but did activate her aura and kept watch just in case any pesky fae or other things decided to attack them.

Athletics maybe Lilyana?

Vhekk's expression softens. "Look, friend, I am not heartless - as a matter of fact, I have three. All that talk about 'soul eating' was just talk, you understand? You are trying to leave the bandits, and I fail to see why we have any reason to kill you." His staff practically leaps back into his talons, and he holds it at the ready, though not in a threatening posture. "That said, though, we can't let you go running off and tell the other bandits about us, so we'll have to tie you up. If we succeed, we'll come back, free you, help you find your stash, and you can go on to Golsifar and start your new life. If we by some unforeseen chance should die, you'll probably die out here, cold and alone. Listen, we both want the same thing - for you to leave the bandits. If you tell us more, we have a better chance of surviving, and thus, so do you."

"There was a day I'd not be inclined to cross Rhokar, but that was before he fell in with that icy devil and her master. Now, half the men are dead-- not that he cares, he just brings them back as zombies. I'd rather die at your hand than his, at least I'll have a chance pleading my case with Pharasma that way." he says bitterly.

"We're called Rhokar's Raiders. Used to be about twenty of us, until Rhokar fell in with that fey devil Izoze and her minions..." he trails off, shivering slightly. "At first, things were ok. We were able to finally rid ourselves of the High Sentinels and even take over their lodge. But this assault cost us a few men. Rhokar didn't care, just raised them as zombies. We lost a few more fighting those caravan guards and now we've got a dozen men sick from this cold. Some of them died, others aren't even strong enough to lift a sword. I imagine you'll find Rhokar's Raiders easy prey, but Rhokar, Izoze, and her fey minions, all them that work for this Teb Knotten, they're just as liklely ro kill you as you them." He volunteers, all fight left in him.

"Izoze... That's an icy sounding name if I've heard one." Noemy pipes up "Who's Teb Knotten? Is that the witch? And are they all still at this high sentinel lodge place?"

"Never met Knotten, just know Izoze is cared of them, and that's good enough for me." he shrugs. "Yeah, the Raiders are at the High Sentinel Lodge, hell, half of them or more are bedridden there, waiting to die of the shakes."

Lilyana pipes up from behind her arquebus in the snow, "I suppose I'll ask this now: do more than Raiding? Kidnapping, perhaps?"

"Wow, that sounds terrible. I bet by the time we get there, that jerk Rhokar is going to have already turned them." Noemy mulls it over "But that doesn't mean we can't beat him, Izoze, and anyone else who's behind this!"

She listens in to see if Lilyana's question earns any useful info, before adding "Can you describe how we'd get to that High Sentinel Lodge?"

"Rhokar thought that lady might fetch a good ransom, it's true, but it seems Izoze has other plans and now we're stuck listening to her complaints and demands as she's treated better than we are. So what if we roughed her up a bit before bringer her with us. Being born into the right family don't automatically make her better'n us." he speaks bitterly. "The lodge ain't far. continue down this game trail about a quarter mile and you'll see it. Just be careful, Rhokar's got some kind of icy skeletons wandering the grounds as guards, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's invisible fey flying around neither."

Up until now only watching from afar, the white rabbit makes a series of short leaps closer to the crowd and tilts its head curiously.

"I think that's all the information we need out of you. What should we do with him now? Leave him, take him with us tied up, or send him to the Boneyard?"

Maq'la shakes her head. "That's up to him."

Turning to the bandit, she says, "If you are telling the truth about Rokhar, and these skeletons and fae, this is your chance. You can choose to break from the dishonor you've brought on your family thus far, and attempt to redeem yourself by helping us defeat this Rokhar. If you die, at least it will have been part of a honorable, courageous undertaking. And if you live, you will have helped to undo your past mistakes and finding a new path for yourself.

"The choice is yours."

Vhekk pipes up from where he was standing near Maq'la. "Even if you don't wish to fight alongside us, our goals are truly quite similar. These woods are a dangerous place, and you've told us you want to get out. You've given us information, and I see no reason we can't help you in return. Unfortunately, I don't know if we can help you find your stash, but we can give you information ourselves - a trade in kind, yes?" He glances up at the sun, getting his bearings for a moment before extending an obsidian talon to the east. "If you follow the road that way, it leads to the port town of Golsifar. A friend of mine is a sailor aboard a merchant ship called the Horizon Glory - he says the captain pays a fair wage."

"He was really helpful, and even if he's bad, he doesn't seem bad bad. Not like Izoze or even Rhokar. I say it's only fair we let him go so he can get to safety, maybe even with a snack as thanks." Noemy peers out of the snow at the bandit "He looks like a weakling, so it'd be mean to make him come and fight with us."

Despite her words, she doesn't seem too resistant to Maq'la's suggestion. It certainly would make a good story if he wanted in. On the other hand, she also nods at Vhekk's offer. That seemed fair. She fishes out a cookie she swiped a couple days ago from under her stuffing, passing it to the bandit. It's only a little stale and cold.

When Ai saw Yorah, cute bunny that she was, hop to them, she could no longer resist the urge and knelt down to try and run her hand through the soft fur and scratch her ears. While she otherwise seemed more focused outwardly Ai had been listening and she finally added her own thoughts, " I agree, it would do you good to aid us in fighting your former boss to earn a measure of redemption. If you choose to flee then so be it," she decided to leave that she may be able to uncover his stash until he decided. If he was going to flee, she wasn't letting him keep hi ill-gotten goods if she could help it.

He winces as the little doll calls him a weakling.

"I won't help you kill men who've been like brothers to me. As some of them are still loyal to Rhokar, it would come to that. Kill me or let me flee. I'll be of no further use to you." he says, resigned to whatever fate you have in store for him.

Maq'la nods. "Being unwilling to kill your brothers is it's own form of honor, even if it's sullied by your cowardice. And being a coward is no killing offense. As my companions have said: Go far from here, and make a new life for yourself; an honest one this time."

Noemy nods along with Maq'la's proclamation, then makes sure the man has the cookie she offered him in hand, before sending him on his way. She turns to the others and says "Wow, so there's going to be a real horde at that lodge! We should dash right there and catch them off guard."

Lilyana also nods to Maq'la's suggestion, before speaking up herself, "I agree. Let's just leave him to wander off, and head for the lodge ourselves."

Vhekk nods assent to both Maq'la and Lilyana, still watching the bandit. "As I said, my friend, we have no quarrel with you. I wish you luck in finding your stash, and if we find any other bandits who are willing to see reason, we will send them your way. Good faith to you." The young hunter retrieves his staff and begins to set off down the game trail towards the lodge. "So the High Sentinels are no more. Troubling news indeed. Still, there may be some survivors - Sentinels who fled the lodge or were on patrol when the attack happened."

The bandit nods and leaves, leaving his weapons and cache behind in the snow and chipping his tooth on Noemy's cookie.

Noemy takes a peek into what he was digging as he leaves the scene. "Anyone else wondering what these ice faeries and bandits and witches wanted with the Lodge? Is it special somehow Vhekk?"

"Anyone else wondering what these ice faeries and bandits and witches wanted with the Lodge? Is it special somehow Vhekk?"

Vhekk glances over at Noemy, shrugging. "In all honesty, Noemy, I haven't met the High Sentinels much - those who our friend said once used the lodge. Some kind of peacekeepers in the forest, I think, but their territory doesn't overlap much with the best hunting lands, so I don't run into them often. Still, those of their number I have met were skilled archers, and Heldren is in greater danger for their absence, I think."

Lilyana just shrugs. It's been 30 years since she's been in Heldren, she has absolutely no clue what's going on.

"It's been too long for me to remember much. I was barely an adult when I last left Heldren... but maybe they could use the nobility as leverage? Don't see any other reason to capture nobility."

Noemy waves her needle in response to Vhekk "Greater danger for now, but not after we're done today I think! Whatever they're planning, it's time to smash some bad guys."

After we're done checking what the bandit left behind, I'm ready to head onward to the lodge, though I'd want to approach the place stealthily if possible.

Same here. Ready to head to the lodge. Will be stealthing some distance behind the party as always. Hoping I can put the 150ft range increment on the Arquebus to good use.

After the bandit is out of eyesight, a cloud of smoke surrounds the rabbit. A second later, Yorah walks out of the mist cloud "So we're just a few minutes away from our mark. I can use a similar trick to check the place out. When we get closer. I just need to recenter. Give me a few minutes. If you think another approach is better, put it don't he table."

After saying that, she sits down in the snow and muses on something.

Refocusing, if allowed.

Ready as well

It takes enough time searching the area to find the bandit's stash and dig it out from the snow that those who need to can refocus.

The stash, wrapped in a old sackcloth, consists of a dagger, a dented and bloodied silver bracelet, somewhat tarnished by the dried blood, thirteen copper coins, three silver coins, and a brass ring with an emerald inset, also bloodied, although this blood is more frozen than dried.

Moving further up the trail, you can soon see the lodge...

After climbing at least a hundred feet into the hills, the snowy trail finally levels off. In a clearing among the trees, a large wooden lodge overlooks a ravine spanned by a long rope bridge. Smoke rises from the lodge’s two snow-covered chimneys, and large woodpile is stacked against the outer wall and ten-foot wide porch.

A small outbuilding stands east of the lodge, and a stone well nearly blanketed by snow is barely recognizable to the north. Several tracks lead southwest toward a detached stable.

You're still downhill from the lodge, able to keep obscured by the treeline, below the trailhead.

Is the ravine and bridge between us and the lodge? Or on another side? Are there any individuals moving around in the scene?

Noemy pops her head out of the snow, peering across at the lodge while she most remains submerged. She talks quietly to the rest of the group "Sooooo, if YOU were a sneaky flitty fae, or a gross necromancer, or a winter witch, what kind of tricks and traps would you leave behind?"

Is the ravine and bridge between us and the lodge? Or on another side? Are there any individuals moving around in the scene?

The bridge/ravine is on the far side of the lodge. You don't see any movement, but know all about invisible fey by now.

Is there a map so I can position myself?

"Invisible ambush, dead bodies to resurrect, and freezing people at a moment's notice. In that order," Lilyana spurts out with a slight chuckle. She then shrugs, as she isn't really sure of what they would do beyond the basics.

"I suppose the big question is - what are they capable of?" Yorah whispers while kneeling down and hiding behind a tree trunk.

"So - plan? One step at a time - cut off the rope bridge?"

As the group approaches the lodge, Vhekk makes sure to stay close to the treeline, holding his cloak close to his body so as to trap whatever heat he can. At Yorah's words, he shakes his head. "The rope bridge is a good distance away. I agree we should destroy it before entering the lodge, but I think we had best start with the stable - it's some distance away, so our actions should go unnoticed there." His onyx eyes scan the lodge again as his brow furrows in thought. "As for how I would protect this place, I would put lookouts in the lodge to spot invaders, and I would rig the rope bridge to collapse at a moment's notice. As for the well and the outbuilding... I don't think they should have ambushes unless our foes are unnecessarily fearful - they have no reason to suspect an attack, so there is no cause for anything other than the normal." He shrugs before continuing. "Then again, there may be some form of well spirit that lives there on its own. The presence of the fae complicates matters; I am only a human - well, mostly human, anyway - and can only look at these problems as a human would."

"How... how would we use it to cross then if it's down, after this is over?!"

Am I mistaken on where the rope bridge is?

I was under the impression that we were approaching the lodge from the other side - that the bridge would not affect us either way but could let enemies from that side attack us. GM Reckless mentioned that the bridge is on the far side of the lodge.

I meant when we pass it when leaving? Best no to burn cut our bridges too early. Don't know which way we'll need to go after. Not even through book 1 yet.

Ai listened to the discussion and tried to figure out what she would do if she were a nasty necromancer or fae. After a minute or two of thought she said, "Ambushes wouldn't need magic, just have zombies lie still beneath the snow until someone comes close and then have them attack."

For right now, This remake arial map will suffice. You are coming from the upper right corner of the map.

"Hmmm, that's really smart Ai. They could just stay there, shivering in the snow, for ages. In the stories they always need to eat brains, but I've heard they actually don't need to eat almost at all." Noemy surveys the approach to the lodge and says "Well, we can't do too much about invisible faeries or zombies hiding in the snow. If they're there, we'll just have to punch them in the face." She puffs herself up.

"But maybe we can find out what the leftover bandits are doing? Lets check the well and the little house that's right after it." She points at the two closer points of interest. "If that's an outhouse or something, maybe we can lay a trap for the first bandit to come out and use it."

"I can..." Yorah steps in again "try to scout? As something smaller?" she shrugs "A squirrel or something?"

"I'll stand behind to shoot anyone that causes trouble on the outside. I'll try to remain hidden," she whispers.

Don't know the scale of the map, but Lilyana would likely be off the map, and using the Avoid Notice exploration action as always. One Shot One Kill my beloved.

"Alright. I should be right back, but if you hear screams, they are in trouble." Yorah nods, and pulls out another berry from her pouch. Again, it turns into a small cloud that envelops her, and dissipates, revealing a pale squirrel.

The critter immediately starts heading for the lodge to see what's up, and disappears from sight.

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

"Squirrel!" Noemy heads in with Yorah, keeping her distance as the more "natural" looking critter takes point. She stays 20 or so feet away from the well as Yorah gets close to the lodge, and stays largely submerged in the snow for better cover. If the zombies can do it, she can too!

Stealth: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Noemy will be avoiding notice.

As they discussed their approach Ai considered what she could do to help. She, unlike Lilyana, needed to be closer to do much good. She knew that she might be able to at least create a barrier that would help provide some cover for Lilyana while they waited and had an idea of what else she might be able to manage if she could go unseen.

Making sure she was out of sight from any of the windows Ai opened her gate and allowed her elements to flow around her. Once she was ready, she focused on the snow and began to move it, slowly, cautiously, slowly building up a "snow drift" that would provide some cover for them. Once she was done with that, she turned her focus to a patch of snow nearby and tried something else. She hoped she could melt the snow and let it re-freeze as ice.

Using basic kinesis to try and slowly mound up a snow pile and then to change the snow in another spot inti water/ice. Unclear if any of this will work or not but i tis worth a shot.

"I'll stick with you, Noemy. There may be glory to come for each of us...but that doesn't mea I want to let you get the leg up on me in battle!", Maq'la jests.

"To Glor-" Noemy's about to cheer to Maq'la's jest, but remembers she's supposed to be staying quiet to not draw attention to Yorah. She instead whispers "Bet you one silver I kill more zombies today!"

"Спасибо (thanks), Ai," Lilyana responds quietly as she nestles herself behind the newly formed pile of snow to hide.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22