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Finally, the Chronicles are finished:
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"Well then, you deserve the reward. Here it is." Elder Seshu says and hands you a sack. This sack includes the promised rewards: carvings and silver jewelry worth 16 gp. The townspeople are happy and you are invited to a feast. There is grilled fish, grilled fish and grilled fish. And also potatoes and vegetables.
"No, the wyrm never asked for fish. We were not even aware that there is not enough fish for all of us. It came, took the fish from the nets, destroyed the nets and baskets and left if it wasn't hunting seals at this side of the bay. I have to admit that it never attacked or injured a man, woman or child." Elder Seshu answers to Nhorri's question.
While Xandian separates the head from the body, Nhorri and Vicksli collect scales and teeth from the corpse. Once finished, you carry the stuff back to the sleigh where the dogs are sleeping in the cold. The encounter in the cave did not take too long and you know where the village of Aaminiut lies on the other side of the bay so the journey back takes you less than four hours. You are sure you are able to reach the village before sunset.
The journey back to the other side of the bay is uneventful. You get off the ice at the same place you entered it. A child spots you and the Tatzelwyrm's head and sprints off to spread the news in the village. A few minutes later you spot some people, including Elder Seshu and Bjorn, approaching you. Some of the younger ones are scared, because the head and it's dead eyes just does not look very nice, but some adults congratulate you on the success. "Glad to see you are still alive!" Bjorn says and smiles. "Tell us, what happened. Oh yes, good, also all dogs are alive and the sleigh is in good condition. That's great!"
Nhorri makes a quick check of the remaining parts of the cave to make sure you do not leave anybody behind. Some tunnels are covered with thick layers of ice which needed to be broken or at least have their surfaces roughened before you can move past the thick ice. The cave is empty everywhere else. Vicksli checks the body. The scales are hard, they might be of use for sturdy armor or shields. The wyrm's teeth, when mounted on a necklace put onto the armor, would be a proof of strength of the bearer to face and fight a draconic creature, and winning of course. Although the tooth is not as big as the tooth of a real dragon.
Nhorri's answer to the Tatzelwyrm's blow against Mirzos is a hit with an elemental blast while Mirzos continues to argue with the creature. "I see your nets in the water when I get closer to your village. The nets are full of fish! You never learnt to share!" the beast answers in draconic before he begins to take a deep breath. Mirzos lands another blow, creating a big wound in the Tatzelwyrm's side. It roars in pain, you can see that it's already fighting for it's life. Round 2
Xandian drops to the ground, unconscious. The dragon seems to laugh at Mirzos comment regarding being a fake. "Vi beli? Si kaxa ir di wux mrith filki ir blow! Edrokilt zhaan!" Mirzos and Nhorri both attempt to hit the draconic creature with their weapon and magic. But none of the attacks hurt the Tatzelwyrm as they hit only hard scales and skin. "Wux two-legged rekisixi steal sia xiiva kagh jaka wux lowd ve persvek sia zaneunisal. Zhen ekik!" Round 1
Xandian follows Vicksli closer to the Tatzelwyrm and hurls a seedpod against the creature. It its the target directly at a spot where it has less and softer scales. Ssalarn, the Tatzelwyrm gets really angry and moves closer to Xandian, who just hit hard. The creature opens its mouth and exhales a stream of cold air at Xandian followed by a claw strike, also hurting the leshy.
Round 1
GM Screen:
While Mirzos and Xandian discuss what to do next, Nhorri tries to sneak away from the Tatzelwyrm's eye. She moves fast and finally hides in the shadows of an ice column. "Wolius houpeir de ve, rotinivokar. svabol ui coi wux re vorqir for? si mi wer daar di nomeno goawy, zyak anyui ve!" you hear the dragon shout agressively. Draconic: "Stop hiding from me, intruder. What is it you are looking for? I am the king of this place, so answer me!"
GM Screen:
Mirzos knows something about the Tatzelwyrm. Although it is not a true dragon, it still has a breath weapon: it's able to blow some frigid air into a foe's face next to the Tatzelwyrm. Nhorri tries to sneak around the Tatzelwyrm, but the noise of the piece of ice sliding across the floor too obvious to be overheard. The Tatzelwyrm drops the fish and spots Nhorri. "Svaust levaric ve persvek sia duil?" the creature says while looking at Nhorri. Draconic: "Who disturbs me in my lair!"
GM Screen:
The group leans around the corner to inspect the creature sitting in front of them. Nhorri attempts to sneak closer, hugging the northern wall of the room. She accidently kicks a piece of ice on the floor which slides further into the room. The creature raises it's head to check what caused the noise.
Mirzos is able to identify the creature as a Tatzelwyrm. The blue and white scales make a natural camouflage in this region of the world. The medium sized creature is already in it's adult size.
For Xandian it's obvious, that the wyrm went in and out of this cavern several times. He sees the same tracks that you followed across the bay. While Vicksli readies his armor and trident Nhorri looks for a light source. For now, you can see well in the cave, thanks to the ice which reflects the sun light coming from outside. Xandian follows the tracks farther inside. Around the corner he sees a bigger room which ends in a tunnel further to the west, two tunnels in the south wall and two tunnels leading north and north-west. In the room, Xandian spots a draconic creature sitting on the floor, consuming some fish and something which could have been a seal.
Xandian manages to distinguish between the fals tracks and the correct one while Vicksli almost took the wrong direction. Nhorri watches for any ambushes that might be set, but apart from a big dark fish beneath the clear blue ice she does not see any trouble. You continue on towards the other side of the bay where you expect the wyrm's lair. Shortly after leaving the place with the false tracks you suddenly hear something cracking. When turning towards the direction the cracking noise came from you see that the ice seems to be very thin in that direction and would probably have collapsed under your weight if you had taken the wrong track. About two hours later, you get closer to the other side of the bay. You already spot the entrance to an icy cavern in the side of a large upthrust. After another hour you finally reach the entrance. The northern sun is still high in the sky.
Before leaving, Xandian studies the tracks and makes the wyrm his hunted prey. One after the other gets onto the sled, Xandian sits in front as he looks out to follow the tracks of his hunted prey. Mirzos makes sure, that Xandian does not foll off the sled while he continuously tells Xandian and the rest of the party what he knows about dragons. Vicksli takes third place while holding the dog's leashes mounted on their harness. Nhorri takes the rear position and watches out that the other party members are safe in their seats. The dog team races across the frozen ice of Whitefang Bay. You constantly hear a woosh sound while the sled's skid rush over the ice and snow and the dogs do not seem to get tired. GM - Blind Rolls:
About one hour into your journey, all but Nhorri (obviously, the landscape is more interesting than the tracks) clearly see, that the wyrm tried to create a false trail to avoid being tracked back to it's lair.
Also the rest of your group gets a quick training in handling the dogs and sled and once you are ready to leave, Bjorn asks the tracker to show you where she found the tracks. Before you leave, Bjorn and Seshu wish you good luck, all the best and hope you return safely. "Don't forget to collect the creature's head, when the job's done!" Bjorn says.
Eydna, the tracker, takes you to the frozen ice of Whitefang Bay. She shows you a place where it's safe to get onto the ice with the sleds. She guides you to the place where the tracks are still visible. "I lost the wyrm's track about two hours in this direction." she says and points to the north-west.
"Puh, we never tried to bring dogs close to a wyrm, so I cannot answer this question, I'm sorry. Bjorn answers to Nhorri's question. Vicksli can confirm what Bjorn said before. The sleds are in good condition, also the dogs are healthy and well nourished. There's room for three individuals per sled. Bjorn takes the money and asks one of the dog trainers around to teach Vicksli how to handle the dogs.
"On of our trackers was able to find evidence that the wyrm came across the frozen ice of Whitefang Bay. But she lost the wyrm's track on the ice. Usually, travelling by sled, it's a few hours to the other side of the bay. Depending on wether you are able to follow it's tracks or not, it might take longer. The trackers usually go on foot so they don't miss tracks when passing by on sleds. It's totally up to you how you want to travel. Also, be aware, that the ice is a bit tricky at this time of the year. It's thin at some spots and might become unstable when somebody crosses, regardless the travelling method." Bjorn answers to Xandian's question. One of the dogs opens it's eyes and watches the party.
"Sure, you can have a look at the sleds and also at the dogs. The dogs are well fed and quite strong. We selected only the most promising cubs to work with the sleds. They were all trained by Orvur. One of the most experienced dog trainers in this region. He already won some prices with his dogs. The dogs are used to be commanded by strangers. Also the sleds are in good condition. I won't earn much money if my customers don't return, right? But at least the dogs would return, haha." Bjorn says and laughs. He guides you to his shop where you see several dogs sleeping in front of the building. Some sleds are leant against the wall.
Sure! Crafting/Engineering for the sleds, Nature for the dogs.
I'm sorry, if I caused any confusion. I mentioned that Aaminiut is at the Crown of the World and I was ignorant enough to think that this is enough information for the players to know that it is a cold region. Some of you mentioned that it's in the far north and also ice floes. So I thought you know that it's cold in Aaminiut. To clear things up, let me give a proper description of the village:
Everything else is maybe a subject for interaction with Bjorn (an Ulfen trader) or Seshu (member of the Erutaki tribe). I wanted to give you some opportunity to find things out :) Once again, sorry for the bad start. I will try to make things more clear in the future. Thank you for pointing that out!! You can find a small map of the area on the first slide.
The Ulfen who nailed the hide onto the board smiles when he hears that some adventurers seem to be brave enough to take the job. "Welcome, I hope you had a nice stay so far in Aaminiut. I'm Bjorn and this is Seshu, elder of the Erutaki." The Ulfen says while pointing at the other person who helped him mounting the hide to the board. "The wyrm got it's name from it's white and blue scales. And from his bright white fangs which fill it's mouth. At least this was the description of the creature we heard." Bjorn says smiles. You see that he has a missing tooth. "A witness described the wyrm as having a fin running down its spine. Regarding the size, it's hard to tell. Some say it was larger than a horse while others say it's the size of a harbor seal. But it's not as large as a house, for sure." Seshu, the older of the two answers. Arcana or Dragon Lore (Recall Knowledge) DC15:
The descriptions lead you to the conclusion that it’s likely not a true dragon, but rather a drake or tatzlwyrm - these smaller cousins to dragons lack some of their more powerful cousins’ most terrifying abilities. Arcana or Dragon Lore (Recall Knowledge) DC25: You correctly identify the creature as a tatzlwyrm, a smaller and less intelligent cousin to true dragons that favors stealth and ambush tactics. In addition, you know that tatzlwyrms can speak Draconic, if somewhat crudely, and are occasionally open to negotiation if they believe it’s in their best interest, particularly if the other party is not obviously weaker than the tatzlwyrm and treats the tatzlwyrm with respect.
When you get closer to the board, you see that below the dragon's head there is some text, written in Common, Ulfen and Erutaki. Hunters needed!
You hear the locals talking about the beast. "Yes, this creature killed my cousin's sheep. It ate three of them, but killed the rest just for fun." an elder ulfen woman says. Another one says "This thing scared my wife almost to death when she was collecting herbs on the plains. I have never seen her running that fast! Now she wants to move to Kalsgard.". "Not for all treasures in this world, would I dare to fight a dragonkind beast." a middle-aged tall Ulfen says while shaking his head.
You are currently in the village of Aaminiut in a reagion called Crown of the World, where you recently arrived. While you take a walk at the city's central square, you see two men standing in front of a wooden board. As far as you can tell, this board seems to be the village's public notice board. One of the nails a rolled piece of hide onto the board, next to several older postings. When the rolled hide unfolds, you see a picture of a dragon head with some text on the hide. Several townspeople gather in front of the wooden board to read the new posting.
Redelia mentioned a title we have to put in the play-by-post thread we are going to create for the most recent assignment. I cannot find a template or anything we are supposed to follow. Am I blind, or has it be mentioned somewhere else? I would call my campaign "GM Baerlie's The Whitefang Wyrm", similar to GM Hawthwile campaign. Or do all GM School campaigns have to have [GM school] or something similar in the title? Thanks for the help.
What have other folks done in similar situations? In the games I played or games I ran people were quite respectful. They mentioned that the rules might state different things and most of the time people also posted the link to the PRD or Archives of Nethys (back in PFS1 times) to make it easier for the GM or other players to follow their thoughts. But it's the same situation in RL games. GM decisions were usually accepted, I cannot remember any arguing or even withdrawal from games because of different interpretation of rules.
Yes, that's true.
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