Search Posts
I have to make an unfortunate announcement. There have been some significant changes in my life, and I'll need to retire from running games here on the forums. Thank you all so much for playing.
I have to make an unfortunate announcement. There have been some significant changes in my life, and I'll need to retire from running games here on the forums. I can leave the campaign active if you guys would like to search for a new GM. Thank you all so much for playing.
I have to make an unfortunate announcement. There have been some significant changes in my life, and I'll need to retire from running games here on the forums. I can leave the campaign active if you guys would like to search for a new GM. Thank you all so much for playing.
I have to make an unfortunate announcement. There have been some significant changes in my life, and I'll need to retire from running games here on the forums. I can leave the campaign active if you guys would like to search for a new GM. Thank you all so much for playing.
Sorry to go back on my word, but I don't think I can continue, after all. There have been some more significant changes in my life, and I'll actually be retiring from running games here on the forums. I can leave the campaign active if you guys would like to search for a new GM. Thank you all for playing.
You investigate the neighboring two rooms and find these old meat lockers are not trapped, at least on the outside. The walls of these rooms are painted a stark white, with a single massive meat hook dangling from the ceiling in the center. Although the rooms are large, their thickly padded walls give them a close, claustrophobic feel. Four round, grimy windows pierce the south walls in both cases, twelve feet above the floor. In both meat lockers, several humanoid corpses - likely victims of the divs - have been piled on the floor beneath the windows. Before anyone can investigate the bodies closer, Hasimir stops you and urges caution. He notices that in the one room, the pile of bodies have become infested with rot grubs.
The fey gang excitedly take flight. Whatever fatigue their first journey may have brought is dispelled by their enthusiasm to execute the official mission given to them by the Lord of Tamlyn. With the manticore dispatched and its lair searched, once you have taken some time to rest, you are free to continue up the mountain pass and cross the tors to visit neighboring Varnhold.
The children hail from a village called Old Hill, perched above a creek a day-and-a-half's ride north from Halvon on the Boarwood, Elish explains with a natural, practiced efficiency that suggests her grandparents drilled the explanation into her mind, in case she and her brother ever got lost. The children can only say of the Gray Gardeners that they weren't supposed to ever talk about them, but they knew that they were responsible for making many other people besides their parents go away. Lord Christian has heard a nasty tale or two about them. The Gray Gardeners were a group of masked executioners that formed in the aftermath of Galt's revolution. While ostensibly meant to eliminate "enemies of the revolution" who might threaten Galt's new "egalitarian society," in actuality they were little more than thugs, vigilantes, and murderers who were quite divorced from sane definitions of justice.
Vreya eagerly leads the exploration of the archives. A stone door with a non-metallic latch has thus far kept the rust monsters from breaching the sanctum of knowledge within. Your dwarven scout reins in her enthusiasm, however, as she alerts you to some kind of time-withered but no-less-active trap laid upon the door to protect the archives' contents.
Cenna and Christian's overtures put the children at ease. They remain on edge, keeping close to each other, which is fairly understandable given what they've been through, but they are clearly opening up to trust you. "Our parents were taken away by the Gray Gardeners. That's what gammy always said, at least," Elish begins. "When the soldiers invaded, gam and gammy said it was time to leave home. A lot of people in our village left, too. But when the soldiers sent riders after us, we got split up. We couldn't find them or anyone else again, so we just kept going north." With nowhere else to go, and still wary about trolls or other terrible things coming across the river or from out of the forest, the children are eager to find safety in your camp.
"The ring is currently in possession of your high priest, the cleric of the Stag God," the pixie replies, referring to Jhod Kavken. However, the chatter from the other fey make it apparent that other notables from Horace have also put themselves forth for the responsibility of safeguarding something so dangerous, including Barris Volklev, priest of Abadar, as well as your masked Enforcer, the Vermilion Vixen. The fey are also energized by the prospect of mounting a rescue for potentially stolen baby owlbears, and they are suddenly eager to return to the Greenbelt to begin the search.
Okay. I think I can keep going. That being said, should we recruit a new player or two to replace Aaron?
The two children emerge with noticeable trepidation, their fear of the trolls only diminishing once the bodies are put to the flame. "My name is Elish," the girl explains, "And this is my little brother, Samil." As you learn, they fled from fallen Galt some weeks ago - they have lost track of how much time has passed. Finding a dearth of welcome and an abundance of danger, they passed through the River Kingdoms until they reached this river. They were forced to struggle across when the trolls emerged to pursue them, and they attempted to hide in the old ferry station. This led to the days of being trapped inside as the trolls kept watch and descended upon and consumed any travelers or woodsmen who attempted to help the children. Meanwhile, you find a surprising bit of wealth upon the trolls, much of it likely stolen from those they ambushed. Loot: +1 hide armor Ring of Jumping Ring of Swimming Elixir of Fire Breath Potion of Barkskin Potion of Bull Strength Amulet of Might Fists +1 315 gp in various coinage
The man, who formally introduces himself as Erdmond Navin, informs you that the leader of the divs, who still holds his father captive, keeps her personal room in the upper floor of the rightmost tower . He also mentions that the other divs use the upper floor of the middle tower as their own boudoir. Some of the horrible experiences and hallucinations that Erdmond describes being inflicted upon him by the divs makes it abundantly clear that these blue fiends are almost certainly the cause of the terrible nightmares that have been plaguing the people of Yanmass.
"You'll never believe what was found in the beast's lair!" squeaks the pixie leading the gang before she and her fellow sprites and grigs begin chattering all at once, excitedly talking over one another to share the news with the lord and ladies of Tamlyn. As you listen and coax them to speak one at a time, which lasts for a short while at a stretch, you do pick up the key details of what was discovered when your scouting party retraced the giant owlbear's swathe of destruction. After getting past some nasty spiders and fungi that also inhabited the large cavern in the southern hills, your scouts discovered the rotting remains of a second massive owlbear. Your scouts hypothesized that this was the mate of the one you fought, and its death may have triggered the rampage that nearly brought it upon Horace. Your scouts also found the remains of a would-be beastmaster and his gang who ran afoul of the creatures. Giant, shredded suits of barding and saddling suggest they were trying to turn the owlbears into beasts of war. The dead beastmaster was also in possession of a powerful but cursed ring that he may have been using to try to bring the owlbears under his command. Your fey subjects were able to identify that the ring was made from a lock of Nyrissa's hair, suggesting that she was a "patron" of this beastmaster, and that unleashing the giant beasts was another of her schemes.
Bydar delivers a potent slash with his glaive to fend off the troll accosting him. Likewise, Lord Christian's follow-up strike lands true, even if the vicious troll's thick hide resists his first swing. Before either brute can even possibly begin to regenerate these injuries, Cenna's latest fireball utterly incinerates the both of them, leaving naught but ash where the foul trolls once stood.
Hasimir detects no evil from the man. He also doesn't seem to be some sort of outsider in disguise. Naliah suspects that rather than some poison, this man may be afflicted by a disease inflicted by the outsider the party just fought.
Dro'gan begins to read the man's thoughts as he is examined by the party. He picks up that the man's name is Erdmond, and he is quite traumatized by the ordeal these creatures have put him through. What's more, Erdmond's memories suggest there are at least two and perhaps three more of those blue monster women inhabiting this place. The forefront of Erdmond's mind, however, dwells upon his father, who is still being held in thrall by the leader of these monster women.
Bashuk and Kain's combined might is enough to finally put down this last shadow, sparing you any more blight from the undead, at least for the time being. For now, you have a moment to catch your breath, recover your strength, and resume searching the archives and other neighboring buildings.
It would, undoubtedly, be easier to recruit new party members than a new GM. As long as you don't mind a slight delay in getting my posts up, I could try to continue running the game.
Dice Rolls:
Bydar's spell burns the two trolls with holy power and leaves them blinded, and then Elenora's next blast of rocks leaves another serious crack in the biggest troll's thick skull. Christian runs past the blind but feral troll, and a wild swing of its claws manages to rake past his armor. Nevertheless, the noble's charge puts down the troll he targets. However, this victory is soured as the most vicious of the trolls shambles forward and manages to bite down upon Christian's shoulder even without the benefit of sight.
Cenna's next fiery spell reduces the southernmost troll to a charred carcass. The last troll charges blindly at Bydar and actually manages to sink its teeth into the Shelynite.
Disrupted from its original configuration by Dro'gan' magic, the pairaka's trap no longer poses a threat. Similarly, none of you can identify any other traps rigged upon the series of doors upon the rooms occupying the southwestern corner of the slaughterhouse. Based upon the rubber edging, you suspect the second and third doors lead to meat lockers. The odor that some of you detect, wafting out through the cracked rubber edging of the third door, reinforces this suspicion. Opening the first set of doors, you find a long-disused storage room. Thick layers of dust suggest the creatures occupying the slaughterhouse have had little use for this room, although the dust is broken by the tracks left by its current occupant. "Thank Abadar, you could hear me," sighs a human man. Dressed in tattered, dirty clothes that were once worth a fair bit of money, the twenty-something year-old slumps against the wall, sits down, and allows himself a moment of relief. "I lost track of how long those demon women have kept my father and I captive here with their wicked wiles. I thought I would die, hiding in here. Whatever they did to me...I'm very sick. I can feel it," he groans.
Did we ever follow up on this? Since the party set out again from Horace quickly, you weren't present when the team returned from the owlbear lair. However, a set of fey messengers can bring the news to you.
As Faerin and Ahto inter the remains, and Pelipe examines the recovered items - discovering that the staff, although well-shod with steel, is almost disappointingly mundane - you can hear a group of high-pitched voices carried upon the wind. It takes a couple minutes to realize that a small gang of winged fey messengers from Tamlyn are flittering along from the west. They seem simultaneously excited and relieved to have finally found you, so they can deliver whatever tidings they bring.
DM, are the kids hiding in the building or should they be on the map? What they do affects my tactics. They are hiding in the building. I've added tokens to represent their location within the building in relation to everyone else, if that helps.
With some assistance from Ahto, Faerin is able to pick up the recent trail of the manticore, retracing the steps that brought it to the precipice over the mountain pass where it lay in wait for this ill-fated ambush. Along the way, Katrine shares some details about what makes for an ideal lair for this kind of predator. The trail leads you away from the mountain pass, and the going gets rougher. However, Katrine's knowledge provides some tips and tricks that keeps you advancing into the heights of the Tors. She and Storm are also able to pick back up the manticore's trail from places where the beast used its wings to get around. After about an hour and a half, you have reached the jagged cavern that served as the now-slain manticore's lair. It reeks of fur and offal, but within you find the plunder it has claimed from past prey. It looks like it hasn't plundered any merchant wagons, since there is little trade to be expected along this mountain pass with no contact having been established between Tamlyn and Varnhold. Apart from the animal remains, there are the bodies of a handful of mountaineers, vagabonds, and outlaws with little more than smatterings of coins and chipped knives on their person. However, one fresher body appears to be that of an explorer or adventurer. In addition to a finely made staff that doubles as a walking stick, he wears a ring carved from exotic jungle wood and carries partially completed maps detailing landmarks among the mountains and on their far, eastern slopes.
Dice Rolls:
Elenora's shot of aggregate rocks, moss, and hair strikes the vicious troll with such force that it takes out one of its eyes and much of that side of its face. This does nothing to improve its attitude or appearance. Cenna's fireball explodes above the surface of the water, creating a terrific hiss as many gallons of water turn to steam. Two of the trolls duck down beneath the water and evade the worst of the fiery spell. The third, however, has nearly its entire head incinerated away. There is so little of its brutish skull left, you're baffled how it somehow manages to keep scrabbling forward with the rest of its band. The vicious troll swings itself up onto the ferry dock and rushes towards Lord Christian, while two more of its fellows hurry ashore and also close the distance to their prey. The last troll comes ashore south of the cottage where the children hide, circling around to threaten Cenna.
Unfortunately, I think I may have to retire from running this game, as well. As you have undoubtedly noticed, my posting rate has suffered greatly due to real life troubles. Since we have gotten so far in the AP, rather than ending the game entirely, should we search for a new GM to take the reins?
The "fist" of Dro'gan's contraption comes within a few hairs' breadth of connecting with the pairaka, but sadly only clips a few summoned monkeys that get in the way. The blue outsider completes her spell and blinks away from view, but rather than simply being invisible, you do not feel her presence nearby at all anymore.
The slaughterhouse floor is not quiet, though. As the summoned creatures return from whence they came, Amandine and Hasimir can hear something through the nearby wall. It sounds like someone feebly pounding on the wall and calling for help.
"They been using us as bait for days...maybe longer," the girl adds, "Attacking and dragging away anyone who tried to help us." As the older child offers her warning, you can see the trolls' heads breach the surface of the water as they enter the shallows. A total of four come into view, including one that looks especially vicious, even compared to its monstrous peers. Enemy Initiative Rolls:
Valeska hangs back and keeps vigilant for any other shadows emerging from the darkness. The last remaining shadow lunges for Nirdosh and drains a significant amount of vitality from your orcish guide.
With the additional prompting from Bydar outside, Cenna manages to get a reaction from the hitherto silent younger boy. "Go away! Before the trolls eat you, like all the others!" he finally blurts out, loud enough for even those outside the dilapidated cottage to hear. The older girl looks momentarily horrified that he said that. In the moment, Cenna takes stock of a resemblance between the two children, leading her to suspect they may be siblings. "Be quiet, Samil," she hisses at the boy. The warning doesn't work. "I don't care anymore if the trolls eat me. Just let it all stop!" he cries out. Lord Christian is distracted from the scene unfolding in and around the ferry station. He hears new sounds coming from the far, southern side of the river, almost drowned out by the burble of the running water and the raised voices near at hand. Some rustling underbrush gives way to splashes, like large bodies stealthily slipping into the water to cross the river.
With two mighty swings of Burden, Ahto puts down the manticore, wounded as it was by Faerin's spell and Katrine's arrows. The creature neither wore nor carried anything of value, but if you could locate its lair nearby, it may have hoarded away wealth purloined from other preyed upon travelers.
Dice Rolls:
Naliah's shot leaves a small but stinging wound upon the pairaka that distracts her long enough for Dro'gan's creation to deliver a stout blow with its amalgamated mass. This is quickly followed up by two strong swings from Vyranos' summoned archon, and then a volley of magic missiles from the evoker himself. The blue outsider is reeling, her natural defenses failing her. She takes a step back and, maintaining her concentration despite the clawing of the monkeys, begins to cast a spell...
Bydar and Lord Christian can hear Cenna from outside the ferry master's cottage. From the sounds of it, she is trying to assuage their fears and convince them that she is a friend. However, based on the frightened squeaks from the children inside, and the way you can see them move in response, it seems they remain on alert. Fortunately, the aren't immediately trying to bolt like a pair of spooked rabbits.
Now that it has pounced right in front of the party, Pelipe is able to recognize this creature as a manticore. Although manticores were likely a magical creation, they have long since established themselves as a naturally occurring species. Manticores eat any meat, even carrion, though they prefer human flesh and rarely pass up an opportunity for such a delicacy. They are smart and social enough to bargain with or bully evil humanoids into alliances or offering tribute, and more powerful creatures may hire or bribe them to guard or patrol a place or area. They like lairs in high places, such as hilltops and caves in cliffs.
Bashuk's aim is true, and her fiery blast weaves safely between her allies to boil away almost half of the shadow's dark mass.
Miruna's aim is almost as good, but she only manages to clip the shadow with her divine power.
The orange squares are your NPC allies. The brighter one is Vreya, and the more burnt orange one is Nirdosh. You are right, unfortunately, the last shadow would have cover with the intervening allies.
Magically obscured, Cenna discovers that there are a pair of human children hiding within the old ferry master's cottage. The one you glimpsed from the outside is a girl of about 9 or 10 summers. Cowering against the wall, clinging to her leg, is a boy of about 4 or 5. Cenna sees that the girl is trying to quietly reassure the boy, but they are both obviously terrified of the party outside.
The div finds her back literally up against the wall and can slip no further back from the hound archon, even though she evades and deflects its latest swings. Thus, she turns her own claws upon the good outsider.
She gouges at the archon, even as she is distracted by the rising of her own contraption and the continued tugging and pulling of the monkey swarm.
However, the large boulder between you and the monster would provide cover, giving it +4 AC against your ranged attacks. Katrine isn't familiar with this kind of monster, although she suspects it may be some manner of magical beast - albeit one that has worked its way into the local ecosystem as an apex predator.
Faerin's spell leaves the large creature rubbing its eyes with the backs of its paws in a futile attempt to restore its blinded vision.
Bydar almost loses himself in visions of how the ferry station could not only be repaired but also improved beyond its bare, frontier functionality.
However, Bydar focuses his attention upon observations that someone has recently been making very crude, untrained repairs to one of the buildings - blocking breaks in the walls with sticks and rotted planks, stuffing leaves into holes in the roof. Cenna is the first to spot movement within the poorly repaired building, and Lord Christian then catches sight of the source. There appears to be a child trying to watch you without being seen, although she has not evaded your eyes.
I hope all is well and that we did not lose our DM? I'm still here. It's just that between work, family, health issues, and now an unreliable internet connection, I've been finding it even harder to keep up with my games. My apologies.
Dice Rolls:
The winged, spined beast laughs in response to Ahto's attempt to command it. It unfurls its wings and glides down from its high post, attempting to rake Ahto with the claws on one of its broad paws. However, the extra speed granted by Pelipe's magic makes all the difference, and Ahto weaves about to avoid the sharp claws.
Nirdosh forces his way past Miruna and swings his warhammer at the shadow still at the mouth of the alley. Despite whatever magic oil he applied to his weapon, the undead still twitches and avoids the attack. For Kain, the loss of strength drives home the severity of the situation. He draws forth Raven's Head, having brought the legendary weapon with him from Ravengro, and seeks to unleash its might against the undead again after uncounted centuries.
Even with a significant portion of his strength sapped away, Kain delivers a powerful pair of blows that extinguishes the undead shadow from existence in a flash.
Now freed, Hasimir utterly annihilates the flying head betwixt him and Vyranos. Amandine and Naliah eliminate the third and final head, thus freeing Dro'gan to demonstrate his magic ingenuity and conjure a jangling brute from the trapped junk set up by the div - thus having perhaps sown the seeds of her own defeat.
The creature emerges from behind the rocks and trees atop the cliffs from which it was stalking you. This creature has a vaguely humanoid head, the body of a lion, and the wings of a dragon. Its tail ends in long, sharp spikes.
With a quick snap of its tail, it hurls a sharp spike at Ahto, but the projectile deflects harmlessly off the pauldron of his breastplate. Although the creature then unleashes a beastly roar, the arrogant smirk that follows bespeaks a surprising level of intelligence in this threat.
|
