Alrighty, I think I'm going to call it here.
Everyone, it was fun gaming with you while it lasted.
Thank you all very much.
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Alright, confession time. I've been trying to get myself into a good enough headspace to get this campaign going again, but I'm afraid I haven't had any success in that regard. I don't think I have it in me to keep this campaign going. Would you like someone else to take over?
Mei brushes off a stray bit of snow from her furs before making herself comfortable in the caravan. "Right... what you're going up against is no laughing matter." The archivist begins. "For months, the Frozen Shadows have had me stationed in the vicinity of Iqaliat, keeping watch over the village and reporting any strange bits of arcane, extraplanar or spiritual activity." "During one of my vigils, I found a strange blue obelisk. It was definitely not of Erutaki make--it looked like it was carved of a mix of glass and ice, and Erutaki prefer to work with sturdier materials like stone--and it had these weird-looking spirals and symbols running up and down it." "When I took a closer look at it, it let out a beam of bright blue arcane energy that shot towards what looked like the interior of the High Ice: that would be close to the North Pole. After I reported back to the Grandmaster, that's when misfortune began to wrack Iqaliat..." Mei sniffs and tugs on a stray bit of her furs. "...the air elementals across the Ice began to gather where that beam travelled. And then the white dragon, Vegsundvaag, began to harass the village. I trekked back to the obelisk and took another look at its symbols, trying to puzzle out what they mean." The archivist's face pales.
Mei looks up at the hole in the grotto's ceiling. "Maybe we could discuss this where spirits can't hear?"
"I'm glad you were able to catch up without encountering and danger from the weather, you're to help us as a guide or is there a message?" "Well..." The woman straightens herself up. "...I've got information you'll need to hear if you want to make it across the ice here." "Are you one of those ninja's? I thought they wore a different get up, though i suppose in this weather something more weather proof is sound." "I'm more of an archivist than a ninja, really." She sheepishly chuckles. "My name's Mei-Ling Zhou, but most people just call me Mei." Kavell's Detect Evil: She is not detecting as evil.
Sorry for the delay in posting again. Wrestling with a sleep schedule that refuses to be normal. Will try to post as soon as I can.
As everyone is getting themselves together and preparing to return, the party hears the sound of heavy, booted footsteps running up behind them. The ragged gasping of a woman's exhausted voice cuts through the silence. "Finally... *pant pant* I... I caught up with you." The voice's owner is a dark-haired, pale-skinned woman dressed in thick white furs. Her hands are on her knees as she struggles to catch her breath. "...I was... *pant pant pant* ...I was supposed to meet up with you. But Tunuak got involved first. I'm with the Frozen... *gasp* ...Frozen Shadows."
Post will come in the morning!
Friday's spear drives right into the heart of the elemental, finally bringing its suffering to an end--and quieting the winds.
The walls of the bore are silent--only a few weak zephyrs flowing across the hole in the ceiling make any noise that doesn't come from the party.
Kasha thrusts her lit hand into the gusting air around her, but unfortunately the air elemental manages to dance away from it. In what's likely a final act of desperation, the elemental lets out a howl of rushing air, sending snowflakes scattering with wild abandon and swirling frost around the party with gale-force winds!
Status: Large Elemental: 3/68 HP
Friday's spear jabs three times--only the second strike is tangled in the winds and blown aside. The remaining elemental lets out an agonized howl of rushing wind as its form is thrashed to the verge of complete discorporation!
Status: Large Elemental: 3/68 HP
Kavell's strikes manage to land, but for the most part they don't do as much damage as they should. Valeria's fireball explodes in a burst of sudden steam and flame, completely incinerating the elemental attacking Friday and badly burning the one battering Kasha and Kavell! Status:
Large Elemental: 30/68 HP
It appears that Friday isn't entirely used to being under the effects of a Haste spell--while his first spear strike is enough to cause the first smaller elemental to disperse, his follow-up strikes are wild and clumsy. The other elemental dodges them with ease. The larger elemental swings at both Kasha and Kavell, hammering them with bursts of air!
And the smaller remaining one keeps trying to batter Friday!
Quick reminder that you are all Hasted, courtesy of Valeria.
Kasha's burst of flame takes to the winds, but the chill of the air causes the burning magic to not do as much harm to a couple of the elementals. One of the smaller ones is unable to escape the full force of it, though. Status:
Large Elemental: 62/68 HP
Medium Elemental 1: 10/30 HP Medium Elemental 2: 18/30 HP
Valeria's Knowledge Roll: These spirits would be more accurately called air elementals. They're inherently resistant to harm and immune to precision strikes and critical hits (after all, they're mostly made out of air). They're known to interfere with airborne opponents by rapidly shifting air currents in such a way that their efforts to attack and defend are hampered. They can summon forth a whirlwind to blow people around.
Okay, so I'm sorry if I've already asked this question, Kavell, but your character is 7th level, yes? Not 5th?
The howling winds blow Kavell's strike aside.
Friday's spear strikes one of the smaller elementals right in its centre mass--and meets a lot of resistance as his blow lands. There's a sharp *HISS* of air as his weapon makes contact! The large elemental bears down on Kasha while the two smaller ones lunge for Friday!
The elemental spirits batter shaman and warrior alike with slams of gale-force winds! Status:
Large Elemental: 68/68 HP
Medium Elemental 1: 16/30 HP Medium Elemental 2: 30/30 HP
"Yes..." The breeze sighs before suddenly going still. Another gale starts to blow through the grotto... but this one feels wrong. The chill it brings feels not of winter, but of something far more sinister. "...no. No. NO! She knows! She KNOWS!" The voice howls in a swirling mass of panic. Looking up, the party sees that a roaring gale is blowing snow everywhere across the hole leading to the sky--or rather, three gales. Three currents of winter air given a vaguely humanoid shape fly down through the grotto's hole, with countless snowflakes trapped within the twisting jet streams making up their bodies. One of them is decidedly larger than the other two. Blazing blue motes blink where a humanoid creature's eyes would be as they advance, their hostile intent readily apparent!
"No." The spirit's reply comes swiftly. "Vegsundvaag is as much a victim as Iqaliat. Were you not LISTENING?!" The voice roars with a howling gale. "She of Many Glaciers has not the power to shackle us. We are bound by One of Five Storms--a demon, Katiyana!"
A warm breeze gently circles Kasha. "Yes..." "...the Thing that Binds saw his heart. He was bitter--his age and his wavering faith doomed him. When She called, he listened--and in listening, lost himself." The spirit's voice sounds... almost mournful. "He is Our Instrument no longer. His hands broke the Children, turned infinite possibilities into one. Vegsundvaag of Many Glaciers mourns them, and in her grief, seeks to punish all of his people for the sins of one."
The voice seems to turn its attention to Kavell. "...instruments... like your friend. One who entreats with us, makes offerings, performs the rites." The wind's breath turns hot for a moment before it's replaced with a harsh gale across the cheek. "Ours went by many names--first Aqakuktuq... then Nootaikok... then Kallik... until Tunuak."
Alrighty--I think I might be getting back into my posting verve for this campaign! Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing that this spot, of all places, was what my writer's block settled on...
"Humility..." The whistling voice speaks. "...yes, this one is different. Untouched." "A great wrong has been done. Children lie murdered, their shells broken and ruined--children of a great being who sought only solitude." The spirit's breath cuts past the party in a stern breeze. "The hand responsible for such wickedness shackles us--enslaves our kin and drives them to such fury that their hunger and rage unmake all who seek passage to the lands beyond." "We have no instrument with which to undo this madness..." The spirit sighs. "Once, but no longer."
Do you mean taking over and running it?
I'll certainly allow it.
Alright, serious question here: who here wants to keep this campaign going? With my sporadic posting rate and the lack of recent posts here, I'm starting to think that it'd perhaps be better if we called it here.
The passageway gradually widens as the party climbs the icy slope, and the winds surrounding the group begin to howl and keen as they soar past the party. Fresh snow starts flying down the tunnel, driving into people's faces and eyes, stinging them with the relentless force of a gale. The source of the howling wind becomes clear when the party reaches the end of the tunnel. Stretching out before them is a large, cylinder-shaped cavern with an open ceiling letting the sun shine through. Several smaller ledges are on the opposite wall of the cavern, separated by a long drop to the ice-coated floor far below. The wind picks up again, this time swirling about the party with such rage that it threatens to knock some of the party off their feet. A voice can be heard within the whistling wind, cutting sharply through all other sounds. "Another has come to our domain. Ones untouched by the frozen north."
With that, the party takes their leave of the village and makes their way down the tunnel in the cliff. Icy winds blow to-and-fro within the narrow, frost-covered passageway. The icicles hanging from the tunnel's ceiling stretch to lengths almost as long as a man's arm, catching on errant bits of clothing and locks of hair as the path begins to gently slope upward. The chill of the air falls to the point that even Valeria's innate resistance to the cold begins to falter--though Friday, as always, seems unperturbed. As the party climbs the slope leading upwards, the sound of something rhythmically beating starts to fill the air... it sounds like wing beats. The wing beats of something large.
Chief Nalvanaq nods at the party and points to a small tunnel in the wall of the ice-covered cliff overshadowing the village. "At the end of that tunnel is where our shamans have communed with the spirits. Be warned--they will recognize you as outsiders, and will not parley with you willingly."
Sorry I didn't post today. Got in after three hours of shovelling snow and I was too exhausted to post. Will try to move things along tomorrow.
Tunuak doesn't seem convinced of Kavell's good intentions--his sneer is evidence enough of that--but his words have more of an effect on the assembled crowd. A ripple of murmurs goes through the assembled citizens, causing the old shaman to turn to them. "Let him speak!" Someone in the crowd calls out. "He cannot make things worse!" Tunuak's expression turns incredulous, but before he can reply someone else interrupts him. "What if the spirits sent them to us?" The interrupter emerges from the crowd--a tall, imposing man with dark, grey-streaked braided hair. His furs are of a fine make and the tribal tattoos on his face are faded with age. "Chief Nalvanaq--" Tunuak starts, but the chief holds his hand up. "We have done everything you have asked of us to appease the spirits, Tunuak. Whether they have been satisfied or not is no longer up to us--" He looks at the assembled party. "--it is up to them."
The old shaman scoffs. "You are truly far from your home to make such outlandish and foolish claims. Any spirit that can be so easily manipulated deserves only to be taken advantage of--and spirits of more temperate lands are far too spineless to be anything else." "At least the spirits of THIS land are not afraid to make their displeasure known to those who cross them." He sneers at Kasha. "And your very presence here is very displeasing to them, indeed."
The party emerges from the relative warmth of the Hearthmistress' home to find a small crowd of people gathered, their expressions a mix of fear and suspicion. At the head of the crowd is a bald old man dressed in a dark blue parka and white-furred cloak with elaborate tribal designs stitched into it. He leans on a staff of gnarled, black wood that's covered in a thin layer of hoarfrost. He glares at the party, the tribal markings on his face and forehead creasing to accentuate his expression. "Outsiders." The old man practically spits the word into the howling winds around the party. "Know that you have crossed into a domain where you are unwelcome." His aged, icy blue eyes narrow. "I have beseeched the spirits of wind and frost for a way to placate them, to repent for the sins we have wrought against them, and instead they send even more problems to Iqaliat."
Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. Will try to update tomorrow.
Kavell's Detect Evil: You turn and look out Sonavut's window, and you can see an old, balding man in a white parka and black snow boots leaning on a staff of blackened wood.
The man's aura is glowing red.
Sonavut is about to reply to Kasha's question when a harsh, aged voice cuts through the icy air. "SONAVUT! YOU HAVE OVERSTEPPED YOUR BOUNDS YET AGAIN!" The hearthmistress' eyes narrow. "...that would be Tunuak. It sounds like he's outside--and just as angry as ever."
Kasha & Kavell: The potential causes of Tunuak's change in demeanour could be anything from a particularly traumatic vision from the spirits he worships to some malevolent force attempting to possess him. Without speaking with the man himself, it's impossible to pinpoint just what exactly is responsible for his behaviour.
Sonavut shakes her head. "No... whenever I ask, the wildness in his eyes takes over, and he rants at me in the tongues the spirits commanded him to speak in."
If the Hearthmistress is troubled by the mention of the Five Storms, she doesn't show it. Sonavut's expression turns pensive and a bit regretful at the mention of Tunuak. "Tunuak... he used to be such a sweet boy. Clear-headed, clear-sighted, devoted to his family and to Iqaliat... he was the perfect successor to Atatsak. Others claimed it was an ill omen for a shaman to ascend before his hair turned white, but when Atatsak passed, there was no one else better suited to take up her mantle." "His connections to the spirits have kept our village safe and healthy--whenever one of the children hurt themselves out on the ice, he'd be the first to tend to them. Others looked to him for guidance on where to hunt and who they should marry. Even in the lean times, he stood strong for us." "A scant few months ago, he ventured into the ice to commune with the spirits..." A pained look flashes across Sonavut's eyes. "...and when he returned, he was a changed man. He raved in tongues about how doom was coming to Iqaliat--how the blizzards and the creeping ice would consume us all unless we appeased the spirits." "'Twas not long after that the dragon struck. And the storms cut off the road eastward. Now, we know not what to do--Tunuak refuses to tell us what must be done to right our wrongs against the spirits."
Kasha's Knowledge (Nature) Roll: While nature spirits can be fickle, when their rage is provoked, they usually take it out on whatever directly caused it. While a nature spirit genuinely being angry enough at Iqaliat to cause harm is not out of the realm of possibility, it's more likely that the misfortunes Iqaliat is suffering have a more directed mind behind them.
Considering your cargo and who you're escorting, you might have a familiar idea as to who is responsible...
Valeria's Knowledge Roll:
White dragons are said to be the least intelligent of dragonkind--but what they lack in cunning, they make up for in sheer ferocity. Their breath can be described as an intensely-localized conical blizzard that's capable of flash-freezing anyone unfortunate enough to be in its area of effect--and for older members of the species, their general body temperature is cold enough to cause acute frostbite in anyone within five feet of one.
In addition, they are immune to cold, and their scales are said to resist magic as readily as they resist weapons--but in exchange, their bodies are hypersensitive to fire and elevated temperatures. "Try telling Tunuak that." Sonavut snorts.
"What hasn't happened?" Sonavut sighs. "It appears that just about everything that could go wrong for us has, as of late..." "If you seek to follow the main road to the east, you will find yourselves blocked. The morozko storms have consumed the road--they are impassable." The hearthmistress shivers. "They have come out of their season--and in greater strength than ever before." "But they aren't the worst problem we face... not long after the morozkos swept onto the eastern roads, a white-scaled dragon began attacking Iqaliat. The beast's might is fierce and terrible--enough to ensure that several hunters who sought its death found only their own." The aged woman stares into the fire. "We know not why it has targeted us so." She then scoffs. "Of course, Tunuak has a different idea for the dragon's wrath... that we haven't appeased the spirits of wind and winter enough. He's even gone so far as to accuse ME of leading us astray!" "And considering how he's Iqaliat's shaman, too many of us are inclined to listen to him..."
I'm planning on moving us forward on Saturday. Recent events have left me rather drained.
Once again, really sorry for not posting. Considering we're in the holiday season now, I think I'd like to put this on hiatus until the new year. I'll have a big post ready to ring in the new year then.
The gate guard nods waves. "Her hearth will chase the cold away, for certain." As the party prepares to enter the village, Ameiko gives them a nod. "We'll be waiting here in case we need to leave."
He raps on the door twice, calling inside in a strange language. Erutaki:
"Hearthmistress Sonavut! These traders wish to speak with you!" After a moment, he nods and opens the door for the party.
The hearthmistress, a small woman with beige skin and wrapped in several layers of white furs, bids you to take a seat next to the fire. "Be welcome, traders. I am Sonavut, Hearthmistress of our little village. You've come at a... difficult time."
Kavell's Detect Evil:
There is no evil in your current vicinity.
The gate guard nods, his expression turning quite relieved. "You've arrived at a very perilous time, trader-folk."
Kasha's Perception:
As you observe the exchange, you notice the sound of goats braying and dogs barking from beyond the gatehouse. They sound quite distressed.
They're also the only sounds you hear from within the village's walls... The gate guard scrutinizes Kavell. "What sort of goods have you to trade? We're in dire need of food, equipment--whatever you can spare." "Got plenty to trade, sir." Sandru adds. "If you could let us into your village, you can see for yourself."
The gate guard listens before nodding once. "Our gates are not wide enough for your wagons, but you can send someone to speak with our Hearthmistress." |