Stuinvolk is notably less tense, and with his curse removed, sometimes even segues into something that approaches happy. He still has traumas to work through, of course, as he isn’t “cured” of his past, but this expedition helps to put a lot of his ghosts to rest.
”I want to thank you all for everything. For taking me along, for putting up with my attitude and moods, for helping me heal and work through all of this. And of course, for getting that damn fey to lift his curse,” he finishes, running his fingers gently across his neck where the boils and pustules used to be. ”I’m not sure I can see myself doing fieldwork again,” he pauses and shakes his head as if having made a final decision on the matter. ”But if the Captain will allow me to, I think I’d like to start doing support work here in the lodge.”
”Aeliah, can I buy you those ten drinks? But you have to promise not to throw up on my shoes.”
Finding himself in the grasp of his own nightmare stuff, Stuinvolk nonetheless steels himself with the strength of his newfound allies. He begins chanting the The Saga of Orek the Wyrm Slayer, and as it comes forth even stranger things begin to happen. Stuinvolk’s forehead lights up, rapidly reaching a level of brightness to rival the sun on an Ulfen summer’s midday. The mngwa squints against the glare, and its grip on the skald’s arm seems to slip a bit. Stuinvolk drops his bow knowing it’ll be useless now, and draws his sword hoping to get a chance to use it. Strangely, it too is glowing. Not as brightly as his own brow, but with a new magical sheen all its own. He notes the auras of light, looks the mngwa in the eyes, and raises his voice proudly and powerfully as he reaches the chorus lines of the Saga.
Lots of stuff going on here. Raging song is up: +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, +5’ enhancement bonus to speed, and a –1 penalty to AC to those that accept it. Also Stuinvolk’s forehead is emitting a daylight equivalent effect, and his weapons are now Bane (mngwa). There’s also a couple other unobservable effects occurring.
A thought occurs to her regarding the mission’s secondary goals. "Stuinvolk, how far to where artifacts buried? Would any them give advantage in fight with revenant-cat or fight with nuno?"
Stuinvolk looks slightly downcast at Aeliah’s questions. ”I don’t really know if any of them would help, but it doesn’t matter. The damn fey that cursed me found where I had hidden them and claimed them all. He said it and my curse were payment for me having despoiled his anthill. I was staked out on the hill by the Mzali! But who got cursed and their findings stolen? Not them!” He spits on the ground as he curses the Mzali again.
"Aeliah wrote:
“Also, you must strike killing blow, yes? What your preferred combat style? Venture-Captain Bellaugh mentioned archery.”
”I’m a passable archer. I studied that combat style before taking up the mantle of saga teller, or ‘skald’ as we’re sometimes known. When I tell my stories, my friends often get wrapped up in the moment, and they find themselves able to hit harder and ignore their injuries, and even move a little faster. But to answer your question, if I don’t kill it with an arrow, I do have a cold-iron longsword, gifted to me by Captain Bellaugh after I returned last time, since I had nothing but the clothes on my back.”
He’s a multi-class Ranger/skald. Ranger combat style is archery. His skald raging song will provide allies who accept it a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, but they also take a –1 penalty to AC. In addition allies that accept the song gain a 5 foot enhancement bonus to their speed.
I’ll get the next big post up later today (Tokyo time.)
When Aeliah places her hand on his shoulder, Stuinvolk reaches up and gently places his own atop hers. He looks up into her eyes for a moment, a slight smile crossing his face as he lets out an even smaller breath.
”Thank you. Thank you all for your support.”
He nods in understanding at what Faust reveals about the mngwa. ”I don’t think I realized how it came to be or my connection to it. But it makes sense. And as Callah said, it explains much.” His eyes drop. ”So much.”
He gives Aeliah’s hand a squeeze before dropping his own back to his lap. ”I can do this,” he says with a voice of confidence. ”You’ve helped me so much already. And I cannot be responsible for any more deaths.”
”WE can do this,” he states emphatically while looking each of you in the eyes, and you sense that he is indeed ready to end this chapter of his personal nightmare.
Since Faust and Forrest are out gallivanting across the high seas, let me know if you want to a) set up a defensive camp here on this map, or 2) move on to another location/map during part of the day, rest early, and then prepare for battle. My next post (notwithstanding answering questions, etc) will be your rematch fight based on what tactics and preparations you make.
“Didn’t you hear them? The screams… the screams of Al-Kazanda, and Jerrod Lightfoot, and… and… Masaomi… Masaomi Kitaa. I heard them! Why didn’t you? When that thing growls as it circles, when it saw Aeliah’s light, when it growled as it ran away, I HEARD THEIR SCREAMS!”
He pauses, breathing rapidly and raggedly. He recovers his composure a little, and his voice lowers from his yelling as he recalls what he heard.
“Masaomi was crying about his wife, Suki, in Minkai. Their son is likely an adult now. I hope he doesn’t come out here to try to find out what happened to his father.”
”Jerrod… Ha ha, Jerrod. Forrest, you’d’ve liked Jerrod; he was a Halfling, too. He was sooo sneaky; but it didn’t help. He didn’t last as long as the others once they got him. I don’t know why. “
”Al-Kazanda didn’t scream so much as yell. In anger, in frustration at being a prisoner, in being powerless. He raged on and on about how he’d come back from beyond and kill them all. Then he stopped yelling….”
”Jenisera never screamed. What did they do to her that she never once screamed? Maybe they accidentally killed her or knocked her out so hard she never woke up. I have to believe it was something merciful like that, and not something more… horrible.”
A long pause follows. Stuinvolk sits perfectly still looking at his hands folded in his lap. The sounds of the grassland become noticeable as the silence stretches on.
”And I survived. Only me. A nobody. Not a brave warrior, or a wizard with a family waiting for me, or… or…” He breaks into sobs cutting off the last. ”Only me,” he repeats several times. When the sobbing finally abates, he wipes his bright green eyes that are now tinged with red from his weeping.....
The following day dawns bright and hot as always here in the Mwangi. Early in your morning trek, something different appears alongside the trail. Swallowed by the tall grass is an old, weathered rock pile—a cairn somewhat taller and wider than a human adult. In spite of clearly having been here for years, it seems remarkably well built—no predators have broken through the rock cover, though a few stones have been pried loose.
Stuinvolk stops walking and stares intently at the cairn for a few minutes, lost in thought.
”This is Jenisera’s,” he finally says in a choking voice. ”She was the first to be taken. Those savages left her body right in our path several days later. We didn’t even know what had happened to her until then.”
He pauses to regain control of himself. ”We decided to give her a proper burial, but now I wonder…. Was that was a mistake? Did honoring a dead friend cost us time we might have been able to use to escape? Or would it not have mattered one damn bit?”
Empathy Moment – Read carefully!:
>>Each of you may attempt a Discovery check using Sense Motive. You may Aid Another on this using Sense Motive if you wish.
>>One of you may instead attempt to Influence Stuinvolk using one of these:
Knowledge (geography) to chat about traveling
Heal to soothe mental wounds and anguish
Perform (Comedy) using good, dry humor (NOT backflips!) to help transform his experiences into dark humor
Perform (Oratory) to influence him to include this in his saga
**In addition there are some additional Influence skills unique to this particular Moment.**
Knowledge (religion) to have a discussion with him about the importance of honoring the dead, even in times of crisis
Knowledge (engineering) or a relevant Craft or Profession to help him repair the timeworn cairn
No matter how many of you speak to him, only one check to influence may be made, but Aiding Another is allowed.
”What in the flaming hells are you doing?” Stuinvolk growls at Forrest when the Halfling tries to lighten the mood with prank acrobatics.
”Don’t you people get it? They’re gonna kill us, one way or another. Even if they ‘let us go,’ they’ll just hunt us down and slay us in our sleep. They’ve got no honor; they’re savages. Killers, killers, killers…..” He’s clearly losing control, his voice rising as he just keeps repeating his last word over and over, his eyes wide and locked on the leader of the Mzali troop.
Until Callah steps back and whispers to him. His head snaps around to focus on Callah, and he manages to pull his gaze away from the tall woman. As her words sink in, he takes several rapid breaths before finally letting go with a deep exhalation full of sadness.
”Okay, okay. I’ll let you deal with them,” he says putting his hands up in resignation. ”But, just… just… just be wary. Maybe she’s different than the ones that staked me out. Maybe not. Either way, I’ll go… do something… over there….” He retreats from the oasis, out of earshot and just out of sight, but not out of mind.
When Callah offers to protect him from the heat, Stuinvolk politely declines. "Thank you, but I've been down here for so long, I guess I'm acclimated. I do feel very much at home in the Mwangi, just more so in some parts than others...."
He listens intently to her story, and When she’s done, he asks for more. ”Please, if you would, tell me more about Outsea. Is it above the surface? Could I go there?”
He seems a little put-off by the big scary guy whispering things about embracing his fear and grappling with it. To Aeliah’s offer of a funny story at the night’s camp, he replies, ”I might even match your story with one of my own. And yes, Kreiger needs to lighten up.” he whispers to her with a smile.
But when Faust begins talking to him in Skald, it seems a damn has broken. So much so that when Faust seeks to return to the rear of the line, Stuinvolk drops back slightly to continue their conversation about Geb. Albeit in Skald, so the rest of the party has no clue what the topic of this animated discussion is. When it does finally run its course, Stuinvolk returns to the front to lead the way through the seemingly endless savanna. On the slight breeze that passes across the tops of your heads, you even hear him humming an old Skald song.
When you arrive at a good spot for an overnight camp, he notices your preparations and asks, ”If you’re going to sit watch in pairs, would it be okay if I joined Callah’s shift? I mean, her night-vision makes up for my simple old human eyes, and, well, otherwise, there’d be an odd-man out.”
Callah, you do not need to account for charges off your endure elements wand for Stuinvolk. He has a high enough Survival bonus that he taps the DC to avoid the effects of the heat.
Your diplomacy for today was quite successful. In about 12 hours from now, I’ll post what happens during the night’s camping. If you want to take any special preparations, or make changes to the order of watch shifts or team pairings, please do so.
When Aeliah makes a joke about her ears, Stuinvolk looks at her incredulously. And then he laughs. Aloud. The sound of his laughter is as out of character as the stoic half-elf’s two back-to-back jokes. And although he doesn’t laugh long, it is clear that it does indeed make him feel a little better.
Aeliah has Discovered that dry humor can be used to influence him. You may attempt Perform (comedy) in addition to Heal or Knowledge (geography). Yes, you may do so untrained. Yes, you may Aid.
When asked if he knows anything about the beast that awakened you all, Stuinvolk replies gruffly and tensely, his voice cracking. ”Those screams didn’t sound like an animal to you, did they?”
He looks around at each of you before continuing.
”They sounded just like the cries of my friends.... When they were being tortured.... Ten years ago.“
He stares off in the direction the last of the cries came from. ”No, I can’t explain it,” he says quietly to no one in particular.
This is an Empathy Moment. Go ahead and make your checks.
Stuinvolk begins to settle down once you make it clear that you have no need of a campfire for the night. His tense pacing stops and his shoulders relax just a hair while he listens to the lilting susurrus of the Aquan song. When she finishes, he approaches Callah, kneeling down near where she is setting up her bedroll. But not as close as one would normally expect.
”Your singing was quite… nice. Not too loud either. Thanks.”
He pauses, perhaps struggling to decide whether to broach another topic, or how to best do so.
”Being out here, so close to the Mzali is causing me some… stress. As I’m sure you can understand.” He again almost smiles as he makes this confession to the blue skinned woman.
His voice takes on a more confident and stronger tone. ”But I’ve learned that this,” he says waving a hand at his deformity, ”doesn’t make me weak, and I’m not going to be ashamed when… issues… arise.”
Stuinvolk’s eyes suddenly dart towards the Foreigner as the movement of him oiling his armor catches his attention. He stands abruptly and walks away from Callah without another word.
”Good call on not starting the fire,” he says to the Foreigner. ”Do you think your team can move quietly during the day to avoid the Mzali?”
