Age of Ashes (Team Alseta)

Game Master Delta Arena

Netkin releases a breath he'd been holding for what felt like an eternity - by clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Yes, it's been... Kinder than most humanoids. I certainly would hate to be disturbed in my sleep!... At least I think so..."

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Ellaeaanda fixes Cerrus with a curious gaze. “Do you attack when someone wakes you? Animals seldom have the malice of humans.” With a distracted air, she scans the dusty room; if she finds nothing of note, she proceeds through the open door to the east.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Ardoinel nods at Netkin and Ellaeaanda.

"Moving on."

He begins looking about the bookshelves. Despite their emptiness, they may still contain knowledge.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

There is not much of value left in the room, just a few texts detailing some of the order’s history. According to the tomes, the Order of the Nail was founded with the goal of “stamping out the threats that lurk within the vast swaths of wilderness that theaten to choke civilized society.” They aim to rid the world of roaming monsters and unchecked superstitions that threaten society.

They built Citadel Altaerein atop the hill because of the natural defensibility of the place. In their time using the Citadel as headquarters, the Hellknights dug into the hill to excavate crypts, vaults and dungeons for their fortress. In doing so, they discovered the ruins of Alseta’s Ring, a damaged chamber with six archways against the walls. The purpose of which, they were never able to figure out.

After that, the order built a better funded home to the northwest, in Varisia. For a few years, they kept a small contingent to monitor the premises, but little by little they were recalled to Varisia.

There are no mentions of slavery from the Order of the Nail. But it does list the three virtues of the Hellknights: Order, Discipline and Mercilessness.

”Yes, that matches what I’ve been taught. Well, except for the ring. They never bothered mentioning that.” Alak shrugs.

***

The room to the east is a grim administrative office. It has a heavy wooden desk, armchairs and filing cabinets that are largely intact, though most of the furniture drawers have been pulled out and ransacked.

There is a Warg roaming around the room.

"More aggressive fauna?! Damn... What do we do?" Netkin nervously clutches his sling.

Ellaeaanda peers into the administrative office and immediately pulls back when she spies the beast. “Warg,” she quietly cautions the others.

Cerrus finds a mostly empty page in his tome and quickly adds a few notes about what the group learned about the Order of the Nail and the history of Citadel Altaerein.

When Netkin and Ellaeaanda quietly indicate the next room's inhabitant, Cerrus works with Ellaeaanda to determine what they know of this creature.

Nature to kee pthe Warg calm?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Resa would slowly approach the warg, trying to calm and speak to the warg. " Hey there friend, are you peaceful to us?" She was trying to not threaten the creature, given it was not bothering them, but they did need to look through the whole upper level before going down.

"Maybe don't approach and try to talk to the wolf-like monster just yet?" Ardoinel asks Resa. "At least until we know how best to approach it?"

Recall Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Recall Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Ardoinel tries to figure out how amenable the warg would be to negotiation. He knew they were smarter than the average wolf and often joined tribes of goblins, but the Bumblebrashers didn't exactly seem like the types of goblins wargs usually sought out.

Between all of you, you manage to paint a pretty complete picture of warg behaviour. Yes, wargs have joined with goblinoids in the past, but this one is not domesticated and, in fact, agressive. However, they are quite intelligent, and actually understand language.

They tend to bite rather than use their paws, and the jaws are large enough that they can swallow a small creature whole. Swallow Whole, small or smaller. So they can be a formidable foe on their own, but they are even more dangerous as a group, avenging each other when they are attacked and taking advantage of the pack to cause more harm with their attacks.

As for their weaknesses, as smart as they are, their mind is still the most vulnerable part of them, as they are fast and they are strong.

Resa
You enter the room trying to pacify the warg. It looks at you and snarls. Its eyes are fixed on you and its muscles are tense, ready to pounce. But it doesn’t immediately jump on you. The warg is Hostile, but you your movements and voice are calm enough to avoid being attacked on sight.

I mean, I can totally take a warg right? That's possible right? Lol

Resa shows she isn't meaning any harm to the Warg by reaching into her pack and pulling out some of her food stuff, reducing her own rations to share with the creature. "Hey there. Me and my friends are not meaning you any harm. Here is some of my food as a token of our good will. We are looking to get past. If you want, you can come with us and maybe find something else to eat as well."

Ardoinel watches Resa offer food to the warg and grimaces.

"Noble as your intention is, it won't end well. Wargs aren't like normal wolves, who can be pacified by the offer of an easy meal. When a warg hunts, it's not just to sate its hungry stomach, but its appetite for cruelty as well. That thing will take your food, yes, but it'll also likely try to tear your arm off taking it just to hear you scream."

"Maybe we should leave it alone then?" Netkin squeaks. "Hey there, doggy doggy... Good boy!" Maybe his babbling sweet-sounding nonsense will actually pacify the Warg? He certainly seems to be betting on that.

Diplomacy?: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Watching Resa approach the warg and hearing Netkin’s attempts at diplomacy, Ellaeaanda dreamily announces “I see death.”

@GM: Just want to clarify which room the warg is in on the map? The token seems to be in the room just north of Ardoinel, but I thought Ellaeaanda went to investigate the room to the east (where I’ve placed her token).

Cerrus overhears the conversation about the warg and slowly approaches Resa.

I want Cerrus to be closer to Resa in case a fight breaks out. BUT, I want to avoid spooking the warg and/or make it more aggressive because it feels threatened. So, Cerrus would move sure to move in a way that he stays out of sight.

For a moment the Warg seems mildly intrigued by the food being offered, but it is immediately offended by the infantilising treatment from the halfling. It prepare to pound on Netkin right away.

Ardoinel’s Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Cerrus’ Initiative(Stealth): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Ellaeaanda’s Initiative: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Netkin’s Initiative(Diplomacy): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
Resa’s Initiative: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

You can place your tokens in the area highlighted in yellow. Ardoinel, Ellaeaanda and Resa, you can take your turns, followed by the NPCs.

Ellaeaanda, North is not up on the map. The warg is in the room to the east, look at the compass star. Also, if North was up, you would have placed your token on the room to the West.

Terrified, Netkin ducks behind Ardoinel. His baby-talk seemingly does nothing but anger the beast... Which gives him an idea.

"Hey there, good Warg... Do you want to be petted? Of course you want to be petted!" he croons, stammering. With some luck, the Warg will be too riled up by his voice to realise that someone is standing with a massive sword standing between it and Netkin.

Step, Take Cover, Aid

Aid: I'm aiding Ardoinel; I'm trying to distract the Warg and act as bait to give him a bonus on his attack roll

@GM: Oops, I totally forgot that you re-oriented the map for us. And I’m so bad with directions. Sorry!

Devise a Stratagem: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Whip attack = 15 + 7 =22 Damage (nonlethal, slashing) + Strategic Strike: 1d4 ⇒ 31d6 ⇒ 6

Seeing the warg’s eyes narrow with malicious intent, Ellaeaanda instinctively reacts to protect Netkin. Lashing out with her whip in hand, she slashes a long flesh wound along the beast’s back, then retreats out of the cramped quarters, to make room for her other companions to attack.

Devise a Stratagem*, Strike*, Stride*

Ardoinel fishes another piece of scrap metal from his pocket and repeats his prayer from before, reshaping the metal into sharp shards before launching them at the warg, then raising his buckler to prepare for the enraged counterattack sure to follow!

2 Actions: Cast Needle Darts, 1 Action: Raise a Shield.

Needle Darts: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 173d4 ⇒ (2, 3, 2) = 7

Netkin, I think you have to roll to see if the Aid works.

Netkin

You go after the NPCs, only Ardoinel, Resa and Ellaeaanda rolled higher for initiative. And, as Ardoinel pointed out, you would need a check to aid as well, in this case it would be a nature or diplomacy check based on what you’re doing.

Ellaeaanda
Your whip slashes through the warg’s hide. Its fur stands as it growls in anger.

Ardoinel
As it growls, your darts cut through its snout, making it even angrier.

I’ll wait for Resa’s turn. I won’t be able to reply tomorrow due to my work schedule, but I’ll take my turn on friday.

It can be a bonus for the next round!

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Resa tries her best to calm the situation down, holding her hands up in an effort to stop everything " Stop, why are we fighting? If it can understand us, then speaking to it like a baby is most insulting. That is like me saying dwarves are all thieves, or every halfling is an arsonist. Which may be true, because the two halflings I do know both do fire things. But if it can knowingly be cruel, then it can knowingly not be."

Diplomacy to deescalate the situation: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

Ardoinel tries to keep his guard up but looks at Resa in absolute shock.

"You...have to have the most noble and generous spirit I've ever seen, Resa...you shame me."

He returns his attention to the warg, waiting to see how it reacts to Resa's entreaty...

The warg growls and howls.

Resa, you are now frightened 1. The warg is still hostile but does not attack. It is wary of you, but decided not to attack because of your diplomacy check.

It then tenses its muscles and scratches the floor.

AB: Demoralize*, Ready**

”Savagery must be quelled,” says Alak. ”Will you really let a wild warg live?”

AB: Delay

You can all take your turns.

"Will you really kill something that can't escape these walls?" Netkin stammers in protest. "You have to admit that the risks are low. Especially if we can get it back through one of the portals it probably came from."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"Wargs are cruel and savage beasts. They deserve no pity."

I'm assuming that's directed to Alak.

Cerrus decides to stay out of sight, thinking that the warg would feel threatened if he suddenly made his presence known.

Ardoinel takes a deep breath through the nose and looks the warg in the eye.

"You know you can't take us all on, and we know you're smart enough to know that. And if you strike at us, we will retaliate, and you have seen what we can do. Maybe it's best to find some new territory. You depart this place, and we let you live. Fair?"

Intimidation: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

He keeps his shield up, just in case the warg decides to express its rejection of his terms with teeth.

Unsure what Resa intends, Ellaeaanda stays her hand and waits. “What fate brings you here?” she asks the warg.

Resa doesn't make any aggressive moves, but will throw the ration over to the warg. She did say she would share, and building trust took time. " Cruel and savage is what a hell knight is, what undead are. The ability to be better, and to act better is what makes one different. Desna teaches to find the best path forward, and others teach us to find beauty. While rules can be pretty, immovable things do not change. They get destroyed. Have some faith in something other than dogma that lies."

""Wargs are cruel and savage beasts. They deserve no pity."

"But we do let humans live." A beat - followed by a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. Bit of a joke there. Comic relief, of a sort."

"Maybe you just want to get out?" he calls out to the warg. "Go back to the forest with your friends?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

"I'm not offering pity, I'm offering pragmatism," Ardoinel retorts to Alak.

He wants to retort to Netkin that wargs don't make friends so much as choose not to bully or torment creatures they want something from, but he holds his tongue, knowing that'd undermine the approach they're taking.

He returns his attention back to the warg, shield raised, to see how it responds.

The warg paces back and forth, growling at Ardoinel, until Resa’s rations land at his feet. With two bites, he devours them. Then he howls and scratches at the door behind him, leaving deep marks carved into the wood.

AB: Stride*, Interact*x2 (Once to eat the food, once to scratch at the door)

”Pragmatism you say? Say you let him leave. Then it is free to kill whatever it pleases outside the Citadel. It might hesitate to attack a group of 6 armoured fighters, but what of the lonely trader in their caravan? What of the shepherd walking their flock? They wouldn’t be so lucky.”

Once again, Alak delays.

"If it walks back through the aiudara," Netkin reasons. "It won't hurt any one."

"To where?" Ardoinel asks. "I may not be local, but even I heard of the Goblinblood Wars. Where the goblins went, wargs followed, and I suspect our 'furry friend' here came in from outside like Alak did."

He enters the room and begins edging around the wall, trying not to make any sudden moves to anger the warg further.

Stride.

"If I open this door, will you leave? Bark once for no and twice for yes."

" While we are not blind hellknights who could not see justice and truth from lies, we have a much better method of doing things. Desna, an actual holy being, protects travelers and those who need it. If she can not handle a warg, then we have bigger issues to deal with. Being rude about it, when it has caused us no issues, and perhaps could even be with our goblin friends, seems smart." Resa would eye the hellknight, clearly doubting his intelligence, but also just exactly how he planned on doing things if he wanted to kill everything, a bit surprised he did not kill the bat in the previous rooms.

When it becomes clear that Resa has no plan for the warg, other than not killing it, and the warg itself proves incapable of any speech that would aid their quest, Ellaeaanda disengages from the conversation and slowly ambles to the northwest corner of the room. There she opens the door and peers inside the next room.

Stride*, Interact* (open door), Seek* (inside room). That’s Odd in effect

The warg eyes Ardoinel suspiciously as he makes his way around the room. A low rolling growl coming from deep withing its throat. As Ardoinel approaches the door, the warg stops. It barks twice.

The warg is readying an action for when the door opens.

”If Desna was truly so powerful, there would be no need for my Order, yet someone needs to protect civilization when the wild beasts attack. But suit yourselves, I am not on official Hellknight business after all, just don’t blame me when that thing starts killing off the townsfolk.”

Ellaeaanda, before I reply, which northwest corner are you refering to? You mean the room to the far left of the Citadel (The one connected to the long room filled with shelves)?

Yes, I mean the room on the bottom left of the map. Ellaeaanda is just outside the door.

Becoming impatient after idly paging through his tome multiple times during this conversation, Cerrus steps forward to open the door indicated by Ardoinel.

"You may not have noticed me before. No fear, I won't take aggressive action. Just opening this door. If I recall correctly, there is a gap in the wall just in the next room. Please don't terrorize Breachill."

"And I'm opening it as well," Ardoinel adds. He approaches the door, shield up just in case, and checks to see if the door is locked or not.

Netkin keeps a rather anxious eye on the warg. For all that talk about not harming innocent creatures (although the warg doesn't look that innocent, and they did harm it a little bit), Alak's distrust did seem to get to him a bit.

He stays at a safe distance while his bulkier companions open the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Ellaeaanda

As you open the door to the corner room, you notice what looks like a reception desk, with a few storage lockers behind. There are a couple of long benches by the door and some shackle rings on the wall. To the east, behind raised iron gates, are several holding cells with their door hanging open.

I’ll leave the number on the next map to make it easier.

Everyone

Netkin notices the tail of the warg waging just before it moves. It pounces against Ardoinel’s shield, pushing him against the wall and out of the way, before running towards the broken wall on the northern side of the citadel and into the wilderness. A deep scratch mark left on the shield.

You each get 60xp for de-escalating the warg’s anger.

After the warg flees outside, solving (or postponing) that problem, Ellaeaanda calls out to her companions. “Back here. Something is still inside the farthest holding cells.” She steps into the room and searches the reception desk and storage lockers for any sign of Alak’s ring.

After the warg leaves the citadel and provides a lasting memory on Ardoinel's shield, Cerrus smiles slightly at the group. "I hope that's the last we see of that warg."

Cerrus quickly enters the other room when Ellaeaanda calls out. Cerrus sees Ellaeaanda searching a desk and notices the holding cells deeper into the room. Cerrus turns his attention to the desk and the bookshelf(?) near the door.

Ardoinel grunts in surprise as he takes the warg's...playful?...strike to his shield and looks at its new scar somewhat sadly.

"So do I, Cerrus. So do I."

Then he shoots Resa a look that clearly says "Happy now?" and follows Ellaeaanda into the room. When she reveals one of the cells is still occupied, waits for the others to finish their searches before making his own way there.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18

Resa looks extremely pleased with herself, and shoots a look at the hell knight, almost as if saying her belief in Desna was stronger than his belief in his false dogma. However, she does remain civil enough for her party that she doesn't slam the door on him, instead holding it until everyone got in. Once the mention of something still in the room came up, she would be curious. " Any idea what it is or do you want me to check it out?"

Ellaeaanda and Cerrus

You don’t see anything of either value or note on that side off the room. Although you do notice that the lockers are locked by a surprisingly sturdy set of locks.

Ardoinel

You do notice that there seems to be some sort of rag-covered bundle inside each of the four cells that Ellaeaanda points to. Although the bars of the cells prevent you from getting a better look from there.

Resa

Alak looks quizzically at you. “Seems like someone has a knack for beasts. I hope it doesn’t cost someone their hand, but for now, well done.”

Resa, I am giving you the next Hero Point for turning the situation with the warg.

“Does your skill with doors extend to opening locks?” Ellaeaanda asks Resa, pointing to the locks on the lockers. The elf ambles towards the center of the room, just before the raised iron gates, and half-closes her eyes to sense any magicks that might lie within the room.

Cast Detect Magic

Lock try: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

Resa examines the lock, using her skills to attempt it, but isn't sure she understands it exactly. "Yes to a degree, but I may be a bit behind on this one, it isn't a design I am fully familiar with."