No worries, I totally understand. Thanks for the time and effort you put in - this was fun while it lasted!
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During a lull in the conversation, Vanadin pulls out the ring and tries it on; he tries a few things... Visualizing a breeze moving through the clearing, mentioning some elemental words Varis described around the fire one night, having Flicker land on the ring.
Vanadin offers the newcomer a wave, as he also walks over towards the altar. "Vanadin. We're migrants from a village several days from here. Some mages offered us a fair amount of coin to clear this site, so here we are." He nods at the cougar. "A fine beast. May I greet him? " As they talk, he studies the ring upon the altar.
Vanadin waves off the thanks. "Pretty sure we're even on that front. As far as Gorn...I think he can see the arrow, I just don't think he cares."
Vanadin focuses on using his staff to keep the Elvers at bay until the rest of the group arrives.
Vanadin presses his attack, while trying to keep his back to the rest of the party and the elvers in front of him.
Vanadin dives in the opposite direction from Kezra, as Flicker tries to shield him from some of the spines.
Vanadin successfully dodges most of them, and Flicker blocks the last one, but manticore venom apparently interacts with...whatever Flicker is. The light can't seem to shift out of its protective form. Vanadin comes out of his roll and charges the nearest elver; he barely has time to realize what's happening and draw his staff before he's reached the serpent-plant, and he lays into it.
Vanadin watches the elvers, waiting for a moment when they are clustered together. "OK, go!" he hisses, before emitting a deep howl. Flicker flashes, and the light in the clearing dims, as a flare erupts in front of the elvers.
Bend Light: When you convince natural lights to bend to your will, choose one and roll +CHA. On a 10+, the chosen effect works perfectly. On a 7-9, it works, but the light is fickle and the effect will not last long - you'll need to hurry to take advantage of it. On a 6-, the light is sick of being bossed around - the GM chooses one from the list and uses it against you! You command the light to attack - temporarily blind or stun a group within Near range.
Vanadin spends a few moments studying the elvers, thinking over their behavior and tactics.
Enough 6- rolls, anything can become a boss fight!
"If we get it below the tree line, I can try to keep it stunned, or block its ascent with that trick that worked on the flesh-beast. That probably can't keep it down for too long, but hopefully that'll give Gorn time to break a wing."
While I'm here, Vanadin (or DM or anyone) have an interesting idea for fleshing out my bond with Vanadin? My first thought: Does his light remind me of something? (ideas welcome!) Sorry for the delayed response, but... The light could remind you of basically any divine force, either one you like or one you don't; one of our established facts is that basically all divine manifestations look similar, and interpretation is mostly up to us mortals. The group of "paladins" that burned down the estate/our village all wielded similar magic, for example. It's also certainly possible we've run into each other - Vanadin never roamed all that far from his village, but hunted game a fair amount in the surrounding woods.
As Tera draws on Flicker's bridge, the little light flits over to the birdman, nudging his wing as he casts a spell.
Vanadin looks around at this clearing, checking for anything valuable. Before disturbing the charms in the skeleton's grasp, he studies them...
More importantly, Gorn would be utterly convinced that this other so-called 'bard' was nothing of the sort :p
With a little breathing room, Vanadin turns and focuses on the melee behind him. He mimes a bow, and Flicker fills his hands, as bolts of light fly at the remaining spriggan.
No complaints here.
As the vines grab at him, Vanadin attempts to tear his arms and legs free, looking for an escape route.
He frees himself, but the vines his staff from his hands and the pack off his back. Seeing an opening, he runs, away from the spriggan and towards the clearing, hoping that he can beat the vines there, and that whatever blocks the growth will also block the spriggans' magic.
Vanadin steadies himself, and gives Flicker a look. He draws his staff, and attempts to fend off the oncoming vines as Flicker assumes a solid, glowing form around Vanadin's torso .
Vanadin cries out, and staggers under the blows and the weight of the spriggans. He tries to regain his balance, and stumbles as best he can towards a nearby tree...
If we're narrating our own 7-9's: It mostly works...but Spriggans can move through plants as if they weren't there. Vanadin's body hits the tree hard enough to throw them off, but also hard enough to leave him dazed. The two spriggans ready themselves for another attack.
I'm still down 2 after resting.
Vanadin shifts his grip slightly, and Flicker shifts from the brilliant white bow to a grey-bright blade. He moves to intercept whichever of the spriggans is furthest from Gorn, and leaves the battle cries to the ogre.
I'd failed to notice that mystical was mechanical and not just descriptive. Given that, do you mind if I swap my str and int?
The moment Tera's voice reaches them, Flicker abandons its vegetation-cleaving blade and reforms into a bow. If you were bored, you could've just said so! Vanadin thinks at the little light, while his eyes track upward. He follows Tera's aim, and tries to draw a bead on a target.
Vanadin follows along behind the aerial guides, eyes watching the trees for any sign of the ambushes Tera warned about.
So, gold. We found 236, and spent 10 on an antitoxin, 10 on leather armor, and 25 on bandages. Do we want to track individually (which would be 42/head after bandages, less 10 each for Varis and myself), or just have one person track a group pool?
As they prepare for the day, Vanadin notes Tera's sudden fascination with Flicker, but doesn't comment on it. "So, what's the plan? "
Vanadin spends an hour or two regaling the crowd with a drawn-out, dramatically-reenacted rendition of the group's encounter, complete with (slightly gimpy) leaps up onto the furnishings, an upturned table or two, and playing up Gorn's contributions greatly.
Vanadin smiles at the crowd. Not going to be paying for my drinks tonight! He puts on a big smile, and begins answering a few questions - starting with those asking about the attack on the estate. "Oh, yes, hundred, hundred-fifty paladins, each bearing a ball of fire. Two days and nights it went on, we could see the glow, bright white and purple-green, from miles away." Not all the crowd's embellishments make it into the retelling, but a fair number do. After a minute or three, he asks "Friends, my throat is dry. Before I tell you of Gorn's STEEL and the nine-limbed flesh-beast, I need a drink! Who can point me at your finest tavern?"
As they walk, Vanadin nods at Gorn's discussion of finances. "Sure, save what we can. If we're to keep fighting, though, I should replace the armor those thrice-cursed paladins insisted on burning. " Vanadin nods at Jimmy. "Lead the way. With any luck, someone there can point us at a healer. Silvia, you coming?"
Also, because I never posted this, apparently: Questions - +3, per everyone else's answers.
4 XP total brings me to level 2 with one to spare, and taking +1 Str and Twilight Blade.
Honestly, I hadn't settled on the details :p I'd rolled a 6- on the Spout Lore, so I was aiming for "potentially useful, but with a drawback that'd require work to overcome." Even if the wielder is blinded too, I could see it being worth being blinded if one were, say, fighting an order of paladins all wielding light based magic! But, really, however you think would be most interesting is fine. (A thin shell of darkness, separating wielder and opponent from interference? Invented by a race with blindsight? Part of a pair, with the other piece providing an offsetting ability?)
Once the group is well clear of the cave, Vanadin sets the gnome down gently and moves to Gorn. "I don't have a weapon to do this cleanly. Can you..." He stops, as Flicker moves into his field of view. The ball of light moves over to the gnome, flashes a beam at the rune on the gnome's chest, and then forms itself into a grey-bright column over the gnome's form. Vanadin takes the blade in hand, and carves the rune out of the gnome; when it is over, the gnome is dead, but the pain on his face is gone.
Two relevant questions: are we doing the level-at-session-end thing, and what time of day is it?
"We've killed that beast already. If it's under the command of someone, they're already going to be looking for us. Let's get these people out of here." Vanadin agrees. " But we should at least get the gnome out of here. If you had a choice, would you want to end in this cave, Gorn?" Vanadin asks, as he helps the ogre break the chains. Aid for Bend Bars, Lift Gates if required:
Vanadin moves into the room along with Tera. He tries to reassure the conscious prisoners (are they coherent? Are they human?) as he inspects the chains holding them to the walls. (Are there locks on the bindings?) "Varis, come look at these runes," Vanadin calls. "Is it safe to release their bonds?"
At Tera's call, Vanadin picks up his pace; when he arrives, he'll look through the prison door (if there's a window) or open it and peek in (if there isn't).
The spear's point is a Duskblade. When it draws blood, it surrounds both the wielder and the victim with a magical darkness, strong enough to dim (or extinguish) even divine light. Based on the runes on the spear's haft, similar magic may have been involved in the binding that was on Sola when Vanadin found it. At Gorn's question, Vanadin glances around. "I'm not sure... Though if you didn't see him leave, there's really only one place he could be." He gestures down the hallway before moving cautiously down it, Flicker providing illumination.
After handing the fang off to Silvia, Vanadin moves to inspect the spear. What sort of prey is it best suited for?
Vanadin takes the sword and brings it to Gorn. "I believe this is what you were looking for. Seems fit for you can return it to its owner." Then he moves and inspects the other item hanging on the wall, trying to determine what creature the tooth/dagger came from, or was forged to resemble.
That exclusion (I think) just means you can't pick a different multiclass move (e.g. Captain's Discerning dabbler) to get around the "one level lower" clause.
For what it's worth, my first two moves will probably be sword-form for Flicker, and an out of combat heal. And cleric casting is explicitly cited as one of the "group of moves" examples in the book, so no idea why you wouldn't be able to take it.
Vanadin gestures resignedly at Flicker, and the little light flies to the top of the monster's head, and does an odd little shimmy around it. Meanwhile, Vanadin advances, limping, and helps to pull Tera free of the carcass. "I. Don't. Sing." Vanadin replies to Gorn, but the denial is half-hearted at best. But, I should be able to manage a decent story about this, at least. He'll like that. Vanadin sets about checking Tera's wounds as best he can; Flicker eventually (after it finishes its victory dance) retrieves his staff.
Vanadin gestures, and Flicker retrieves his staff as he limps along after the beast.
With his wounded leg, the creature is faster than Vanadin. He closes his eyes, and tries to draw on Flicker's power again; an eerie drone emerges from his throat, and the firelight flies past, setting up a barrier between two trees in the creature's path.
Gritting his teeth, Vanadin tries to swing his legs to get the giant's blow to strike the chain around his legs. It works; the blow shatters the manacle around his leg, but several shards are driven deep into his calf. As quickly as he can manage, Vanadin tries to scramble away from the beast.
Vanadin calls Flicker back as he struggles to avoid the oncoming blades, hoping the light will distract the monster...or at least slow the blades.
"Flicker, get the staff" Vanadin grunts out through clenched teeth. He reaches down and tries to quickly unwrap the heavy chain from around his leg.
Vanadin gives Flicker an annoyed look as the little light tries to knock the staff from his hand, but the beast's shriek changes his mind quickly. He stumbles backwards, and the light leaps into a now-empty hand; he draws back on the string, and lets a glowing arrow fly.
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