Kingmaker in the Forgotten Realms [IC Thread II]

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Akara's spell was true and the three-foot-high, weathered obelisk exploded into a thousand pieces.

As one, the shadows shrieked.

Except they weren't really shadows anymore. Where they had once been insubstantial forms, difficult to see let alone target, their bodies were now clearly visible: skeletons one and all, bits of clothing and ancient skin dangling from their bodies, the stink of the grave rolling from them. They still hovered above the ground, certainly, and the sockets of their humanoid skulls burned with a dim, cold blue fire, but they were no more insubstantial than the Company was. And Dergosh, in the more calculating part of his mind, could also sense that the dark power that was animating them, strengthening them, had been dissipated.

https://images2.imgbox.com/1d/00/hu9oWZud_o.jpg



For ease of reference, the old IC thread is here (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?558009-Kingmaker-in-the-Forgotten-Realms-IC-thread/page49). The OOC thread has had its references updated in the first post as well.

Just an interruption here because it matters: with the destruction of the obelisk, the shadows have lost their incorporeal subtype, and their turn resistance. Not only does this mean no miss chance, but they have to contend with your full AC now when trying to hit you, and can be turned easier. (Their attacks still drain STR though.)

Initiative Order:
Korlann, Three, Gizonde, Akara
Monsters
Dergosh, Kuros

Though this leaves almonds and Zombulian to post before the monsters get their turn - remembering Shadows 1, 2, and 3 are stunned and it looks like Shadow 4 is going to attack Kuros.

[Zombulian]

Gizonde couldn't help but let loose a gleeful guffaw at Akara's quick thinking.

"Great work, Akara! We may survive this yet!"

With a sudden hiss and a pop, a tiny glowing figure appeared on the field - seeming to bounce giddily in the air.

"Quickly! Kill the one targeting Kuros!"

With the tide of possibly changing, Gizonde had to resist the urge to unsling his bow. His blood was afire with retributive fury, but he was mindful that these creatures were particularly dangerous to him, and he had to make the best use of his sanctuary while he had it. He began yet another summoning spell.

The Coure appears at K18 and casts Magic Missile at Shadow 4. [roll0]
Kuros, Akara, and Gizonde benefit from the Magic Circle Against Evil effect it generates.

Gizonde is casting another SMIII, this time to summon a Celestial Bison at J16, where it should have a decent chance to charge either group of shadows.

[almondsAndRain]

The magic from her infusion bore into Three’s crossbow deeper than the older enchantment by Artenak’s apprentice, entangling itself beneath it like roots grown beneath the foundation of a home. She watched as the real/[i] spellcasters got to work - Dergosh unleashing a bellow to stun their intangible opponents, Gizonde bringing in more bodies to throw at them, and Akara perhaps turning the tide of the battle with [i]Shatter - and leveled her crossbow with the one beast still capable of killing Kuros. But… what to do with the other ones?

Three yelled out to them, knowing they were (technically) intelligent, but unsure if they could understand common: “He can barely move, let alone fight!” The warforged squeezed the trigger on her target, hoping for a clean shot, before beginning the process of reloading her crossbow with one of her few magical ones. “Come eat us, we can still escape!”

Standard Action: Three of Three follows the coure’s lead and attacks Shadow 4 with her crossbow.

Attack Roll: [roll0]. This is an automatic hit if it rolls a 30 or miss if it rolls an 11. Undead cannot be critically hit, so that’s irrelevant right now.

+3 from her dexterity modifier, +2 from her base attack bonus, +1 from the weapon’s base enchantment bonus, +2 from Bane; Undead, and +2 from Gizonde.
Base Damage Roll: [roll1].

+1 from her weapon’s base enchantment bonus, +2 from Bane; Undead’s enchantment boost.
Bane; Undead Damage Roll: [roll2].

Average of 14.5 damage here, barring me missing or botching all three damage rolls, this should kill Shadow 4 after the coure tore into it.

Move Action: Three loads her crossbow with one of her Flaming bolts. If any time was the time to burn through consumables, it’d be now.

She has 25 normal crossbow bolts remaining. Because I forgot to mention it in my last post, she also has 3 first level and 2 second level infusions remaining.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The sudden shift gave the Company enough time for Gizonde to finish one incantation and start the next. The Coure he had summoned blasted away with magic missiles, its hole radiance shrouding most of the party in a shimmering shield of protection. Still, its magic missiles didn’t kill the shadow they were aimed at, and although three of them were stunned, the others came on even harder, the rancid stink of the grave across each of them.
Kuros easily fended off the blow of the one nearest to him, the one that had been hit with the missiles. Dergosh got caught from behind by another as one bony hand reached his body, chilling his blood. Three drew the attention of another. It screamed its victory as it got its hands past her body … only to find no living flesh to draw lifeblood from, despite the warmth of the magic fields mimicking a living form which presumably had drawn it. Perhaps they wouldn’t be dying tonight.

https://images2.imgbox.com/e2/67/ntQoiX4Q_o.jpg


Map has the Coure, and that glow around it is meant to be the Magic Circle Against Evil. 10 foot radius for what it’s worth.

Dergosh took two attacks, and one did get through. 4 STR damage on him.
Three got attacked and hit … but constructs aren’t subject to ability damage, so it did no damage to her.

Initiative Order:
Korlann, Three, Gizonde, Akara
Monsters
Dergosh, Kuros

As always: 48 hours for Mercurion and bcool to check in, and I’ll update and/or indicate people can continue on if the situation doesn’t markedly change as a result.

[bcool999]

Kuros

Being on the brink of death, a random fleeting thought passes through Kuros’ mind, ‘I don’t want to die lying in the dirt.’

So Kuros prepares himself to defend against the surrounding enemies, and pushes himself on arms as weak as a newborns to his feet.

standard action: Total defence to negate the bonus they get to hit me prone.

Move action: Stand from prone. Kuros current AC is 25 with total defence. Add the 2 from magic circle against evil for a total of 27. So even with the prone bonus to hit they need a 23 to hit Kuros with the AoO.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Kuros put all of what remained of his strength into getting off the ground, resorting to instinct as the shadows belatedly reached for him.

But even in his weakness, the training from Geralt was still with him, and he got to his feet, shield ringing from fended-off blows from the stinking creatures, but untouched by their foul hands.

https://images2.imgbox.com/e2/67/ntQoiX4Q_o.jpg


Dergosh is on total defense for this round. Kuros gets to his feet without getting hit but is otherwise on total defense, and as said practically unhittable.

Initiative Count:
Korlann, Three, Gizonde, Akara
Monsters
Dergosh, Kuros

This leaves Blues, almonds, Zombulian, and dizz with 48 hours to check in, or drop until after the monsters act.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh half-stumbled backwards as the intang’s touch sent a weakening chill up his mace arm. With the numbness he was feeling, he chose to call once more upon Gruumsh’s magic that attempt to crack the now tangible skull of one of the foes.

A stream of murderous black hornets streamed from Dergosh’s mouth, encircling one of the intang’s still surrounding Kuros and then exploding in a cacophonous blast.

Cast sonic blast, aiming for whichever shadow is still standing around Kuros when it gets to his turn. A DC 15 Fort save halves the damage and nullifies the deafness effect.
[roll0]

[Zombulian]

Gizonde grinned as the shadow impotently tried to feed on Three's constructed form. Seeing Dergosh attempt another damaging and disabling spell at the shadows, Gizonde called out to the cleric.

"Dergosh, they are undead, their faculties cannot be damaged by the spells that would do the same to us! Try to channel your faith into them once more!"

With another ripping and popping, a shining bison appeared on the field next to Dergosh and charged towards the floating corpses. The coure continued her barrage on the shadows looming over the now erect Kuros.

With a few moments remaining of warding, Gizonde begins to chant yet again.

Celestial Bison summoned at K17, charges and attacks with a smiting gore attack on Shadow 6.
to hit (10 base + 2 Charge + 2 Dark Knowledge)
[ROLL]1d8+9+5

Coure casts magic missile at Shadow 4 again. [roll1]
Moves to K17.

Gizonde begins casting Conjure Ice Beast I to summon an Ice Beast Badger at J18.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann watches, warily, as the creatures are forced into a more physical form. His scowl deepens as he sees the group surrounding Kuros continue to rain down bows on the beleaugered warrior, and he crouches down, readying himself to move - and deftly slipping the pouch of throwing stars off of his belt to clatter to the ground. Finally, he springs forward, a primal kiai bursting from his lips as he rears back to strike at one of the shadows harrying the armsmaster, spines blazing with ki.

First, dropping my pouch of Shuriken as a free action - as that's the only item I'm holding at this time (the backpack being on the wagon, and the Sang Kauw not having been picked up when he woke up), other than the belt pouch which carries negligible weight, Korlann will no longer be encumbered, and as such will get his full AC.

Second, going to move to J17 - charging if possible (I'm uncertain with all the summoning going on if I have a clear charging route or not) - and attacking Shadow 3 with a Fists of Iron enhanced strike.

To Hit: [roll0], +2 if the movement counts as a charge.
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2]

[almondsAndRain]

The shadow’s hand grasped Three’s arm, but… nothing. Where Dergosh and the others had their vitality sapped, the warforged stood as solid as she ever was. It was odd, as what little knowledge she has on these creatures would place them as a threat to all life, even artificial life. Regardless, this was something to investigate later - she might be immune to these monsters’ attacks, but the others are not. Leaving the shadow that attacked her behind, Three darted past Gizonde in hopes of having a clear shot at one of the ones attacking Kuros.


Move Action: Three moves to L21, so as to avoid the Shadow being able to treat Kuros as Light Cover.

Standard Action: Three attacks Shadow 2 with her crossbow. It has a Flaming bolt loaded.

Attack Roll: [roll0]. This automatically hits on a rolled 26 and misses on a rolled 7.

+2 from her Base Attack Bonus, +3 from her Dexterity, +2 from Bane’s enhancement bonus, +1 from her crossbow’s normal enhancement bonus, and +2 from Gizonde. -4 from firing into melee (forgot to account for this last time, but I botched anyway).
Damage Roll: [roll1].

+1 from the weapon’s enhancement bonus, +2 from Bane’s enhancement bonus.
Flaming Bolt Roll: [roll2].
Bane Undead Roll: [roll3].

Three has 6 Flaming Bolts remaining.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The tide began to turn.

With a great, trumpeting roar like a battlehorn, the space between planes split open and a great, muscular, bovine mass charged through. The bison thundered across the ground, lowering its horns, putting space between Korlann and the shadows, and with a flare of light from the Celestial, crashed into the shadow to which Gizonde had directed it. Pale blue light poured from the injury as the shadow was rocked by the great creature’s impact.

The Coure sent packets of arcane energy sizzling towards its target – the shadow standing over Kuros. The magic missiles struck, and with a final flare of blue light, that shadow exploded into a cloud of grey dust.

Korlann thundered his fist into another. Three turned, aimed, and loosed her crossbow at another of the shadows … and the bolt smashed right between the creature’s eyes, and again another final flare of blue light and a thump as a cloud of grey dust replaced it.

Distracted by the sudden arrival of the creatures summoned by Gizonde, most of the shadows focused their efforts on the Coure and bison. One managed to get its bony hand on the Coure, drawing a shriek from the outsider and a shuddering of the faint light that glowed from it. Others struck at the bison, drawing terrible shrieks from it.

Dergosh managed to get his own shriek out, against the shadow closest to him. His scream blasted the undead abomination to dust.

https://images2.imgbox.com/7a/19/G11QQTUk_o.jpg


- Akara drops into the second group having missed deadline.
- Coure takes a hit. Yes, even while incorporeal. STR 3 drained. However, it also finishes off one of the shadows.
- Bison takes a couple of hits. STR 8 drained.
- Three and Dergosh finish off two shadows. This’ll count as Dergosh’s actions for the round.

Initiative Count:
Gizonde, Korlann, Three
Monsters
Dergosh, Akara, Kuros

As said, Dergosh’s actions have been taken this round. This leaves dizz and bcool with 48 hours to supply their actions, and then we can update.

[bcool999]

Kuros draws his weapons. His hammer near too heavy to lift, his longsword barely clearing the scabbard, bat and cat held in shaking hands. Kuros slashes out with his longsword at the shadow flanked between himself and Korlann.


move action: draw weapons until hands are full.

Standard action: Attack with Longsword.

Attack: [roll0] (net +1 bab/str, +1 magic, +2 flank, +2 dark knowledge)
Damage: [roll1]

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Kuros' swing went agonisingly wide, the warrior battling to compensate for the loss of strength in his limbs.

https://images2.imgbox.com/7a/19/G11QQTUk_o.jpg


- Akara and Dergosh go on total defense for the round.

All other situations unchanged.

Initiative Count:
Gizonde, Korlann, Three
Monsters
Dergosh, Akara, Kuros

Zombulian, Blues, and almonds have 48 hours to post actions and we'll see where things then are.

[Zombulian]

Gizonde finished his final incantation with an exhaled breath. The air that exited his mouth flowing towards the battle, taking on a visible quality of frost as it traveled and eventually landed next to Kuros in the form of a crystalline badger. Immediately the construct let loose a frenzy of swipes and bites.
Meanwhile the Coure moved away from its attacker and let loose another blast of force.
The bison continued to attempt to gore the now-solid apparitions.

"Look alive, friends! Else we may not have the chance again."

As the sanctuary dissolved, Gizonde moved to be closer to Three, muttering one more small prayer as he drew his bow.

So I double checked and realized that I don't actually need to specify beforehand where my summoned creature will go. I can decide that on the turn that the spell completes, so that's cool.

Big ol summary:
Sanctuary ends, I think.

Conjure Ice Beast appears on I19. Ice beast template is easy to find with a google. Parts of the template that are of note are +2 AC, +10HP (no con), and Construct type.Badger (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/badger.htm) is too.
Full attack routine:
Claw: [roll0] to hit
[roll1] plus [roll2] frost damage
Claw: [roll3] to hit
[roll4] plus [roll5] frost damage
Bite: [roll6] to hit
[roll7] plus [roll8] frost damage
Slam: [roll9] to hit
[roll10] plus [roll11] frost damage

Bison
Gore: [roll12] to hit
[roll13] damage

COURE
5ft step to L18
Magic Missile
[roll14] force damage to Shadow 1

Gizonde
moves to M21, drawing his bow as he does so. Casts Guidance on himself.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann lashes out with another blow augmented by a fierce shout and a flare of ki, putting all of his waning strength into the single strike.

Attacking Shadow 1, using Fists of Iron to augment the strike.

To Hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2]

[almondsAndRain]

Three watches as the Company ravages the nearest two shadows, and instead targets the one that has thus far gone unaccosted on the opposite end of the field. She brought one of the magical bolts down the rail of her weapon, and took a few steps closer to the bulk of the fighting in hopes of finding a clear shot before squeezing her trigger.

Free Action: Three five-foot steps to K21.

Move Action: Three loads a Flaming Bolt into her crossbow.

Standard Action: Three attacks Shadow 5 with her crossbow. It has a Flaming bolt loaded.
Attack Roll: [roll0]. This automatically hits on a rolled 26 and misses on a rolled 7. It is worth mentioning that the targeted shadow has soft cover from, like, half the battlefield. It is also worth mentioning that I’m happy that sources of soft cover don’t stack with each other XD.
+2 from her Base Attack Bonus, +3 from her Dexterity, +2 from Bane’s enhancement bonus, +1 from her crossbow’s normal enhancement bonus, and +2 from Gizonde. -4 from firing into melee (forgot to account for this last time, but I botched anyway).
Damage Roll: [roll1].
+1 from the weapon’s enhancement bonus, +2 from Bane’s enhancement bonus.
Flaming Bolt Roll: [roll2].
Bane Undead Roll: [roll3].

Three has 5 Flaming Bolts remaining.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 0 of 6

It took a few agonising moments of blood, steel, fist, and shadow, but it was over. Korlann landed one last strike on the final remaining shadow, and with something akin to a shriek it exploded into dust, just like all the others of its ilk. A few moments later, the creatures Gizonde had summoned - bison, Coure, and badger - all blinked out of existence, and Gizonde's own spell of Sanctuary flickered out. The little siding on the trail was silent at last.

Somehow, they had won. But not without cost. Kuros, Korlann, and Dergosh all had drawn, pained looks on their faces even if not a drop of their blood had been shed. It would take some time, and some riding out of subsequent nightmares, before their lifeforces regenerated themselves and they were back at full strength. Indeed Kuros was almost at the point of death and Korlann not far behind him. But they had survived nonetheless. The night stars blazed silently far above in victory and a night breeze caressed their faces.

It was Three who first noticed one other difference in the landscape around them. It related to the obelisk that Akara had shattered. Blowing the obelisk apart had revealed something more where the little monolith had once stood. Not only was there something small lying at the centre of the blast radius, but beneath the circle of the blast, the base on which the obelisk had stood had likewise cracked clean in half. A long-dessicated skeleton's arm protruded from the destruction. It wasn't some sort of undead, rather part of an ancient corpse. The arm - and a skeletal hand, drooping and barely holding to the arm - were raised like some sort of accusation. The obelisk was not just a monument or a warning; it seemed it was a grave marker too.


Let's talk about the bad news first:

Dergosh has taken 4 STR damage.
Korlann has taken 12 STR damage.
Kuros has taken 16 STR damage.

Leaving aside any spells, ability damage comes back at 1 point per 8 hours of rest, or 2 points with 24 hours of complete bed rest. Someone who administers the Heal skill - which does not count as complete bed rest, and you can't give the Heal skill to yourself - can double that rate to bring it back at 2 points per 8 hours rest and 4 points with 24 hours of complete bed rest. You may want to plan your activities accordingly, remembering that complete bed rest means no Foraging and you're going to have to consume rations.

Now let's get to the good news: that fight nets you 1067 XP each. That might raise some of you up a level, which can be applied right now.

[Zombulian]

With the combat ended, Gizonde’s body relaxed and he took a slow, deep breath. He approached Kuros, who had taken the brunt of the assault, and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have the magic to restore you. Though, with Dergosh’s help, maybe I could…”

He drifted off and his eyes came to rest on the now revealed hand. He approached it to examine.

Knowledge (Religion): [roll0]

[bcool999]

Kuros does his best not to collapse under the light hand placed on his shoulder by Gizonde. At a snail’s pace he staggers over to Three’s cart and begins to unload his burdens. His bag, his bow and arrows, and most of his weapons are deposited into the cart until Kuros is left with little more than his shield and three blades hanging from his hips. Only then does he stand a little straighter and with more confidence of not falling over.

“Well, this was a fine beginning to an assault on the Stag Lord.” Kuros says with a note of sarcasm that is unusual for the forthright warrior, “Barely made it a day’s ride away and I am out of the fight until I can recover enough strength so my legs don’t shake like a newborn foal.”

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann can only nod at Kuros's comments, allowing himself to fall into a sitting position after confirming that the last of their foes are fallen. "Agreed, Kuros," he says to the other warrior. "I can barely hold a proper stance after the touch of those things... the masters back at Xin Jubei would have a great deal to say about my performance here, almost none of it good."

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 0 of 6

When Gizonde got closer to the upraised corpse's arm, he found - illuminated only by starlight - that the grave which had contained the body had been exposed, more or less completely, by the destruction of the obelisk.

He immediately found this odd since whilst Akara's spell was potent by design, it shouldn't have been that powerful as to cause a disruption to the surrounding ground of that magnitude. But the oddness was - perhaps - explained by what he found among the remains of the obelisk. It didn't look like the obelisk had been made from solid rock. Rather, it was some sort of hollowed-out stone inside which a complex (and now shattered) crystal had been installed. And at the centre of that crystal, and lying on the ground as though discarded, was a brass rod maybe a foot and a half long and thick though as his wrist. There were some writings on it, but he'd have to wait until daylight to understand them. Gizonde had enough to suspect this was some kind of metamagic rod. The crystal might have been utilised in combination with it to sustain the multiple shadows they'd fought ... but that might be something for study with the Testament in the morning.

More relevantly, the skeleton revealed by the obelisk being shattered was clad in ancient, rusted, and completely useless old plate mail. The style didn't look recent at all. The skeleton's right hand wore a single ring, a heavily tarnished silver band with a chip of emerald mounted in it.

But then there was the sword and shield.

Oh, yes.

These items were completely untarnished by what must have been their decades, centuries, or aeons' internment in the grave. The shield was made of burnished copper, as intact as though it had been newly-forged, and had a symbol on it that wasn't easily discernible without more light. And the sword - a longsword, revealed in the long-decaying sheath that held it but exposed part of its length - wasn't steel, exactly. It was iron. Iron of the same variety as that of the sickle they'd recovered in the kobold caverns. Cold iron, holding the light of distant stars as though corralled. But even then, cold iron alone would have surely decayed in the grave like any other iron. This weapon had not.

[Zombulian]

"Ohh..."
Gizonde can't help but express his excitement. What a strange place they have stumbled upon. He opens his testament and utters a prayer to Oghma before taking the items in his hands one at a time for a closer inspection.

Gizonde casts Lore of the Gods for a +10 insight bonus to his knowledge checks (also an optional retry, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it) and Detect Magic to let him make Spellcraft checks to identify.
Rod: Know Arcana [roll0]
Spellcraft [roll1]
Sword: Know Arcana [roll2]
Spellcraft [roll3]
Shield: Know Arcana [roll4]
Spellcraft [roll5]

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Night
Twenty-sixth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 0 of 6

Gizonde took a closer look at the items he'd recovered. All three of the things were radiating magical aurae.

The rod, he surmised from both the near-overpowering aura and how it was configured, was most likely a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend. It was a little oddly-designed in that the way the magic aura was radiating from it was ... unorthodox, but it would certainly function in that manner. It might have been the rod was somehow used in the dweomer used to both drag and sustain shadows to this location, but that was impossible to tell now.

The style of it is old, but it'll function the same as a Lesser Metamagic Rod, Extend.

The sword was indeed a cold iron longsword. Undorned, no engravings or indications of who had made it -- but the style of the weapon was old, far older than even the gladius-style weapons that Kuros had recovered here and there around this area. The blade almost had no quillons at all, the cutting edge almost three inches wide. And magical; the strength of the field suggested it had a fairly potent enchantment laid upon it, enough to guide its edge to a target's weak spots.

Gizonde's thinking it's a +3 cold iron longsword.

The shield, meanwhile, was easily magical, this one designed to withstand heavy blows. There was an obscure-looking insignia on the shield, but Gizonde couldn't recall seeing anything like it; it might require a consultation of the Testament to learn more about it beyond its arcane capabilities.

Gizonde's view is that it's a +1 large steel shield.

[bcool999]

As Gizonde examines the area and items discovered, Kuros focuses on preparing to rest for the night. Hopefully this weakness will pass with time and rest. Besides, even if he wanted to find a better campsite, Kuros is too tired to venture forth.

[Zombulian]

"Hmm! Three, you may want to take a look at these."

Gizonde totes the items to the warforged and explains what he suspects they are, before excusing himself to prepare supper for the party.

[jdizzlean]

with the battle finished, Akara takes a moment to gather her thoughts on what has transpired. Unfortunately, the War College didn't prepare her to heal, only to destroy, so she had nothing to offer her weakened companions. While they rested and regained some measure of strength, she could scout out their surroundings from the air. Nodding to Flit, they take to the air and fly a circle pattern around the camp to get the lay of the land.


spot's if you want them, myself and flit

[roll0]
flit [roll1]

[almondsAndRain]

“Well, it sounds like you’ve done a fine job with these items already, Gizonde.” Three reached out and collected the Rod first, and ran a finger down its side to inspect both its physical design and metaphysical ambiance. A pretty little thing, and useful - and more importantly, its effect was unique among all of the other objects the Company had picked up in their travels. The sword and shield could wait their turns, the Rod goes first. “But I’ll double check, if you like.”

Just before starting her inspection, her eyes wandered back to the obelisk’s corpse. She shrugged, and pulled off the dead man’s ring. She doubted it was magical, but that little gem may be worth selling. And if it’s not… perhaps one of the wards would appreciate it?

I’m not entirely sure what Three can do with the three items Gizonde passed over since he already identified them as magical and knows their properties. She gives them a once over anyway, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. She’ll look at the ring too, because why not? It has a line dedicated to it, maybe it's magical despite being tarnished. Worst case, the emerald chip in it won’t weigh anyone down and might be worth a tiny bit of gold.

Artificer Knowledge Rolls:
Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend: [roll0].
+3 Cold Iron Longsword: [roll1].
+1 Large Steel Shield: [roll2].
Ring: [roll3].

Artificer Knowledge rolls take one minute each. A 15 or higher determines if an item is magical or not (but we already know this for most of them). +4 from her artificer level, +3 from her intelligence modifier.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh sat down heavily on the wagon next to Korlann, flexing his arms experimentally. “Intags eat my muscles I think.” The half-orc gazed over the site, watching as Gizonde played in the dirt with the newly uncovered skeleton.

“Gruumsh make us strong again tomorrow,” he said confidently, though he was tired and aching. “One-Ear will hear us and BANG! Orcs strong again for fight against Staggy.”

Dergosh will try to Heal both Kuros and Korlann while the party rests.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[bcool999]

Kuros was bedded down for the night near the wagon. He had removed his shield and the remainder of the weapons he can wield without straining himself. They sat close to him close enough to reach quickly should something occur, but Kuros doubted he would be able to act with his usual prowess. He listened to Dergosh promise restorative miracles from Gruumsh in the morning, and he heard the voices of Three and Gizonde conferring over magical treasure newly found.

Before he closed his eyes to sleep Kuros whispered a prayer to Bahamut to watch over the company this night.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Morning
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

Dergosh was red-eyed (even for Dergosh) by the time the sun rose again. He'd administered all his tender arts and given Gruumsh's blessings to Korlann and Kuros, and while they had improved somewhat, they each had a fair amount of healing to go.

It had also given the rest of the Company some time to take stock of their situation. Akara hadn't seen anything last night, and nothing had disturbed their rest. Her flight around the camp the next morning had revealed nothing but the flight of some singing birds in the skies, a thin plume of smoke off to the southeast, and a lazy-looking herd of elk that were slowly making their way down a narrow defile nearby.

Three, meanwhile, had the opportunity to check over the items Gizonde had recovered. She found nothing to disagree with his conclusions about the provenance of the items or their functions, at least from what her databanks indicated. She was, however, able to conclude that the ring was indeed nonmagical, and the intricate engravings on it, some sort of lettering, were not intended to contain arcane or divine might of any kind.

As said in the OOC thread, some healing and one day closer to the destruction of Oleg's Outpost. What now?

[bcool999]

Kuros awakens and accepts the magic casted by Dergosh. The improvement is immediately noticeable, but Kuros is still weakened.

Nevertheless, the company must continue on. Oleg’s Outpost depends on them sallying forth to fight the Stag Lord.

“I feel much better, thank you Dergosh. Still not at full strength, but I feel we can’t hole up and lick our wounds. The Stag Lord could attack Oleg’s Outpost at anytime. We must continue on to the Stag Lord’s fort to face him.” Kuros says in the morning. He turns to Gizonde and Three to ask, “What did you discover in that pit Akara made last night?”

[BluesEclipse]

After receiving the restorative magics from Dergosh, Korlann begins going through some of his katas in order to see precisely how well he can still fight. He remains silent for the most part, aside from a quiet thanks to the cleric for his aid, until Kuros speaks up regarding the situation. Pausing in his practice, he thinks for a moment, before nodding. "Much as I wish it were not the case, I agree with you, Kuros - we simply don't have the luxury of waiting until our strength is fully recovered. That said, I'll definitely be relying on my ki more than my physical prowess for the next few days."

[bcool999]

Kuros makes ready to break camp once everyone has finished their preparations.

Bump. Hopefully this sends out the notices to everyone.

[Mercurion 2]

The half-orc nodded with a grunt. “Gruumsh bring back orc strength but stingy. Not want to give up all his power at once. More tomorrow,” he said, with a weaker than normal slap on the man’s back.

“Think we go slow today,” he opined to the group in general. “Not want to see more intag goblins until Wolftooth stronger.”

[Zombulian]

Gizonde nodded.
"Slow is best I think. In fact, if we take it slow enough, I could possibly try to learn the Lesser Restoration spell for my own uses with Dergosh's help... Alternatively..."
Gizonde turns to Three.
"Time is against us at the moment. Three, I don't believe you sleep. Would you be able to put in some overtime to get me a scroll of the spell? It may save us up to a day of slow travel."

[almondsAndRain]

Watching as the rest of the Company agreed to soldier on, Three resigned herself to the upcoming trip. They were right, of course - there wasn’t the time to recover, not when the Stag Lord could march against their friends and allies at any time. This confrontation was long in the coming, though that did not make traveling with half the group weakened any easier.

Gizonde’s suggestion, however, did. Three nodded at his words. “I can certainly try, though I can’t promise success.” She took a few steps towards her wagon to gather supplies, before turning back to the eneko. “It may be worth mentioning that, if you wished to learn the spell from my scroll, I’m afraid that you likely can’t. While the broad strokes of the spell are the same, the details differ. An artificer’s creations are as far from divine magic as Akara’s spells are.”

Three attempts to create a scroll of Lesser Restoration. Lesser Restoration’s minimum spell level and caster level is 1 through Paladin, so this will hopefully pass without trouble. Artificers are entitled to an additional roll on their last day of item creation if they haven’t yet passed the check.

The DC is 20 + Caster Level, so 21 because there is no reason for her to make this at her full caster level.
First roll: [roll0].
Final roll: [roll1].
2 from her charisma modifier, 7 from her skill rank, 3 from Skill Focus; Use Magic Device, and 2 from the magic item compendium masterwork tool.

This scroll has a base price of 25 gold. Extraordinary Artisan reduces this to 18.75. Magic items take half their base price to create, so this costs 9.375 gold to make, or 9 gold, 3 silver, and 8 copper.
This also costs 1 experience point, paid through her craft reserve.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Late afternoon
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 4 of 6

Battered and still half-drained of strength, the Company gathered itself together for the warm morning that followed and set out once again. Kuros, Korlann, and Dergosh's muscles were still sagging on their arms as they staggered back to the march.

The hills were hard going that day, even allowing for the slow pace they were setting. They'd encountered steep and sharp-canyoned hills before, but as they came further south the hills seemed to be more barriers than anything else. The wagon went down and up dell and defile the whole day. Akara's companion, Flit, enthusiastically checked one canyon after another, though, and flew back chirping happily. There were elk, and even a couple of rothe whose massive, furry heads gave them the look of conferring philosophers, but nothing barred their way as they toiled on down one canyon after another. It seemed, mostly, a day of progress.

But it wasn't until the sun began to dip towards the hills that they discovered the truth of things. The hills gave way suddenly, a wide, shallow rise allowing the wagon to roll right up to a vantage point.

At the top of that rise, the Company discovered two things: first, it had come to a river. The glimmering flow of what, presumably, had to be the Thorn River, lay no more than a mile or two away, off to the southwest of their position. And the emerald mass of the Greenbelt lay, downhill, due west, no more than about six miles away if Kuros's judgment was right.

And that, Kuros realised, was the first time his judgment had likely been right since sometime yesterday. Sometime yesterday, he'd managed to get them turned around. The canyons and defiles had managed to keep him from realising the position of the sun, and that he'd accidentally led them west by northwest. They had been, in point of fact, lost. And had, in point of fact, managed to go in almost the opposite direction to their objective. The Thorn River would guide them back south, and then southeast, and to the ford, but they'd lost a good day's travel.

I'm afraid he failed his Navigation check. This is about the first opportunity for him to realise he's lost. Fast pace does impose significant penalties on a Navigation check. For clarity, here's the latest map of the area:

https://images2.imgbox.com/50/17/1aeqcXmN_o.jpg

So you're a few miles north of where the Rickety Bridge would presumably be, pretty much on the Thorn River. And only a few miles from the Greenbelt, of course.

What do you want to do now?

[bcool999]

Cursing gently under his breath, Kuros explains their position to the rest of the party. “This sets us back a day. Which with our recovery might not be the worst thing, but there it is.” Kuros says as he thinks through where they are, “We have a couple options here. We could take a look at the Rickety Bridge and see if it is a viable crossing or just as hazardous as it’s name implies. We could also backtrack into the Greenbelt to the river crossing at the camp where Kressle was. Third we stick to our original plan and can now follow the river down to the Stag Lord’s waiting defences.”

[Mercurion 2]

Obdurately Dergosh plodded onward throughout the day, automatically putting one heavy-booted foot in front of the other despite nodding off even while on the march. A night without sleep left him groggy, but he willfully forced his body forward with an iron will. Occasionally his head bobbed forward and he came awake with a yell, his rough voice echoing around the defiles before he came fully awake.

Now, with the river laid out before them like a rippling silver thread, he looked dully over the landscape. “Bandit camp?” he rumbled, half question, half suggestion. “Good defenses, rest up in tree house and get back strength before we meet Stag’s goblins.”

[Zombulian]

Gizonde withered a bit at Kuros’ explanation of their situation.

“The camp… you said it was held by bandits? How long ago did you last go? Is there any possibility there are some there now?”

[bcool999]

Kuros grimaces at Gizonde’s question, “Plenty long enough for them to retake the camp if they were interested in it. I am mostly talking about tomorrows plans though. While the sun is still up I doubt we could even come close to reaching that camp. We may be able to reach the Rickety Bridge… or we could get caught on the road after sunset. Hard to tell on paths you haven’t travelled before.”

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann thinks for a moment, before joining the conversation. "I think that heading towards the bridge would be our best option - we'd lose too much time heading back towards that camp, and between the risks of the Greenbelt itself and the possibility that the camp might be occupied again, I'd prefer not to head that way given our current condition. We can see what possibilities there might be for crossing at the bridge, and decide our next course of action from there."

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Nightfall
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 5 of 6

Weariness seeping into their bones with each step, the Company turned their course down to the Thorn River and started down it, back the way they had already come. The river itself ran just as deep, cold, and forbidding as it did back in the Greenbelt; the stream was clearly not passable here, still pushed downhill out of the slopes and driven by the force of the waters running in it.

Still, they followed its embankment, having to detour here and there but matching its course southeast. The sun, seemingly possessed of the same weariness as themselves, sank into the west, behind them, turning the river's ripples red.

Crickets were dree'ing in the near-darkness when they finally came to it. The Thorn wound through a 20-foot-deep gulch here between a pair of hills. Perhaps the good news was that an old wooden bridge still spanned the gulch. The bad news, though, was that even the least experienced traveller could see the bridge would never support a wagon crossing it, and indeed was a potentially dangerous prospect for multiple people even crossing it on foot. Some of its timbers practically swayed in the light breeze - those that still existed, that was. In several locations planks were completely missing.

With night falling, there didn't seem to be much point continuing on. The north bank of the Thorn seemed as good a place to camp as any, and the gulch's walls seemed to provide a useful natural blind to conceal the wagon from curious onlookers.

I'm assuming Gizonde casts Heroes' Feast again tonight, thus supplying everyone with their forage for the day. Doubt you'll get much further today, and the party's travelling at slow pace, so there's no real reason they'd push on into the night hours.

Assuming they get a full 8 hours' sleep tonight, Korlann and Kuros will get 1 STR back each, bringing them to STR mod +0. Dergosh would get 1 STR back if he sleeps too, although he'd still have 3 STR left to heal. Healing checks would affect this, of course, but it'd be another night of no sleep for Dergosh and he'd be exhausted come dawn.

Lastly, the Complication Dice will tick over around midnight or so, and we'll roll it in the open then to see what, if anything, happens. Has anyone got anything else they're going to be doing tonight before we otherwise proceed on the basis that the Company drops where it stands, completely exhausted as they seem to be?

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Towards midnight
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Three was looking up at the stars. The rest of the Company had turned in and left her to watch once more. The campfire was banked against a wall of rock, leaving no trace of illumination visible as best she could make it. Kuros, Korlann, and Dergosh had more or less collapsed to sleep a minute or two after they’d finished their duties for the evening and finished off the last of Gizonde’s meal. The Eneko and the half-Illumian Akara had similarly turned in early as well. Gizonde had been in the habit of asking questions of her in the form of genial conversation these past couple of days, but this time the primordial had simply offered his goodnights and headed to sleep.

Even Ser Pig had turned in. He was about the loudest snorer of the lot but even the boar wasn’t making much noise now.

Strange thing, sleep. Three could appreciate the need for a good closedown now and then, but she gathered it wasn’t close to the sort of oblivion that sleep provided. She did not, as far as she knew, dream while in a closedown, but sentients of all stripes did. Even Eron, elven, sometimes murmured in his trance state. It made one wonder whether it was sleep that determined consciousness rather than sentience; but then, magic made so many fools of rules and rational principle that she doubted they’d ever have an answer to that question – any more than some of the speculation that somewhere up there, in that blazing curtain of stars hung from the sky’s dome, Toril’s sister world of Abeir lay amongst a thousand other worlds, all with their own teeming continents and oceans filled with life. Planar activity was one thing, easily understandable; it was most efficient to have living things occupy much the same space but at different vibrations of existence. The notion that every star up there could be a sun with its own spinning worlds and Selunes and Tears and Realms? On its face, that seemed so preposterous. So … untidy.

“Well, we’re here now. Are you satisfied?”
The night was clear and with no wind. The voice - male, guttural, young - carried, and its source was obvious: it came from across the gulch, and in particular, across the rickety bridge.
"I will be satisfied once we are across the Thorn and on our way." This voice was male and young also, but a more ... refined version. Neither were ones that Three had heard before.
"Savras's Bloody Ball, it's near midnight, what's it matter whether we're across this gods-rotting bridge or not?"
"Because the longer we are here, the more time Nesmera has to clear out. Or for the grey ghost to warn her and her sisters. We already had to miss their little burrow once just for the sake of Aldrow's ... entertainment ... with that blonde girl on the hill. I do not plan to do so this time."
"You're bloody strange, you know that? If you wanted some o' what Aldrow got, why didn't ya take it at th' time? And why with feckin' dwarven women?"
"Dwarven women fill me with no more longing than they do you."
"Then fecking why? Their burrow's maybe fifty feet end t' end. No money there."
"Because you do not know minerals like I do. Nesmera and her sisters are drift mining. In these lands, with this sort of stone, that means they likely found silver. Or a seam of silver ore pure enough to make it worth following. And, women or not, dwarves are dwarves. Bad as dragons or worse for rich metals. They will want to take the silver with them if they realise they are under threat. Kill Nesmera and her three sisters, and a mine all to ourselves, without having to break any dirt at all."

What do you do?

[almondsAndRain]

As the approaching men continued their conversation, Three felt her mood sour. There was comfort in thinking on other stars or planets that may or may not lay in the Sea of Night, and perhaps comfort even in thinking on what truly determines intelligence - they were both faraway concepts, issues that were not issues, nothing more than… theoretical shenanigans meant to occupy a bored mind while her friends rested for the battle to come.

That her fancies were interrupted by talk so… base... was disgusting. The only consolation was that she doubted the two men would survive their introduced to the Company - only one bandit has thus far, after all, and he's now an indentured servant.

Three waited for the men to begin crossing the bridge so that the coming confrontation would be made easier, and then stood tall. Hands on her crossbow, the warforged spoke out loud to her companions: "Wolftooth Warriors - murderers, thieves, and rapists are among us. Ready yourselves." She recalled one of the men mentioning Savras, He of the Third eye, God of Wizards, and so offered a warning to the Company: "... And keep watch for arcane magic."

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Towards midnight
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The reaction of the two men on the bridge was immediate: they straightened, looking at the end of the bridge where Three and the others were still concealed. "Wolftooth?" said one of them. "Savras's Bloody Ball, that's them, Hirstmun! The ones they're talking about!"
"I know, you idiot!" snarled the other - the calm, more assured voice had taken something of a hit. "Get back across the bridge, move! Aldrow! Cephas! Get back! Get the others away! The Wolftooth killers are here!"

The two bandits started scurrying back across the bridge, leaving it to an alarming swaying...

What do you do? Assume everyone's awake due to Three's warning.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann's eyes snap open at the warforged's call, and he quickly rolls to his feet, the sounds of the other men lending urgency to his actions. He considers for one moment before moving towards the bridge, expecting that those on the other side would be less likely to try and bring the bridge down while their own are still on it.

Korlann will stand, and then move towards the bridge (and onto it if it is within 40 feet).

[jdizzlean]

Jumping to her feet at Three of Three's warning, Akara hears the ruffians curses upon the bridge. Grabbing a scimitar from nearby, she mutters a curse of her own, and throws it at the scampering fools upon the bridge.


Whirling blade spell attack
[roll0] crit on rolled 25+
if you think the Vaul symbol, which grants +2 bonus to cha based checks, which this arguably is, then it is +2 to the attack roll, and a further +2 damage to every target hit

for [roll1] to all enemies in a 60ft line

I have lowlight vision, if that helps me to aim at the maximum number of opponents possible.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh was a bit tardy rolling to his feet, still feeling the effects from the intag goblins' strength sapping attacks. A decidedly wolfish grin did, however, spread across his big face at hearing that the Wolftooth Company was instilling the proper amount of fear in their enemies.

Snatching up his mace, the half-orc stalked towards the bridge, intent on getting into the thick of the havoc.

[bcool999]

Kuros also answers the call to arms. He lurches tiredly to his feet, but brings weapons and shield to hand as he moves to stand alongside the other fighters of the Wolftooth Company.

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Towards midnight
Twenty-seventh of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Akara's spell produced the glowing, whirling blade she had intended it did, and she couldn't help but feel a little vindictive satisfaction as the two bandits in line with the bridge screamed with pain as the blade struck them and cut through them, sawing two of them in half, the bodies ... or parts thereof ... falling to the bridge. There were shouts from the other side of the bridge -- "Run! Get outta here! Go!" and much scuffling and scrambling through the brush and dirt, but no other deaths.

Korlann was supremely aware of his body and balance. Therefore he felt the tremor, the 'give' in the planks below him before he heard the hard noise of a span-ending CRACK. His superbly honed reflexes kicked in and he sprang backwards, clean to the northern side of the bridge, with the rest of the Company. The bridge groaned, crackled, hard clicks echoing in the night air before the bridge finally collapsed, the whole span falling into the gulch and the Thorn River below, a great noise of ruin and spray. The rest of the bandits had made their escape, clearly; pursuing them into the night on the far side of the river would be a task for someone who could fly, if they wanted to so pursue.

What do you do?

[Mercurion 2]

Having slid his throwing spear out, Dergosh waited for a few minutes, watching the far bank for any further signs of trouble.

He looked down at the river below.

He looked at the remnants of the bridge.

He looked back at their wagon.

With a sigh (OOC: assuming no further threats are revealed) he turned back away from the fallen bridge, returning to the center of camp where he squatted by the embers of their campfire and slowly fed it a bit of fresh fuel since it appeared their rest was over. He contemplated the flickering fire, scratching at his fire-scarred scalp with a thick finger.

"Three," he finally asked, "you know how to build bridge? Think we need to find other way to cross if not. Goblins know where we are," he added with a scowl.

[Zombulian]

With the bridge breaking, Gizonde looks around at the company.

“I have a spell that we could use to get across, but I’ve only prepared it the once. I was planning to use it tomorrow when we broke camp, but if we wait around we’ll probably lose them. Are we planning to give chase?”

[bcool999]

Kuros hears the screams of the bandits and the crash as the bridge finally gives in to time and falls.

Hearing the scattered plans to pursue, Kuros hesitates a moment before saying his piece, “Honestly, it may be best to turn in for the night and let those snakes go. Dergosh needs to rest, and going after them will most certainly mean leaving the wagon here. They failed to cross the river so they would need to head upriver to the old bandit camp or down river to the defended crossing. Either way, their debauchery will be well delayed for now.”

[jdizzlean]

For once, erring on the side of caution seemed the prudent course of action. no matter what her old sifu would have to say about pressing the attack as the only means of victory. Quickly leaping into the air to make sure that the ruffians are well and truly gone and to get a quick lay of the land around them once again first. Whispering to Flit, Akara turns back to see to the comfort of her companions, much as she is able to do so.


sending flit to scout ahead, and report back on which way the bandits flee, or to report back if they are just lying in ambush waiting for us to give chase

[Saintheart]

Hills, the Stolen Lands
Early morning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 1 of 6

The Company turned back in for the night, at least somewhat comforted by the fact no attack could come from the far bank of the Thorn River unless it flew. The remainder of the bandits had indeed made their escape. It was reasonably apparent that the odds were now decent that the Stag Lord would know where the Company was, or where it had been this night.

However, they were not assailed any further that night, and their sleep as a group was deep and profound. They woke the next morning, feeling a little better, feeling a little more ready for their task.

The interruption to sleep was short enough that the party got 8 hours' rest, though the passing of time raises the Complication Pool back to 1. Still, it's now morning. I'll need spell lists and the like for today. Korlann, Kuros and Dergosh all get 1 STR back, though again more healing spells might have an impact on that if anyone's minded to memorise and cast any, or apply other healing.

I'll give it 24 hours more if people intend to post, and after that assume the party is setting out again at slow pace for the ford. That said, given you're now following a river you're highly unlikely to get lost or miss the ford even when travelling at fast pace, albeit there are other penalties for travelling quickly … chiefly, lower chance of spotting something before it spots you and higher chance of something picking up your trail.

At slow pace, and assuming nothing happens in between, you should reach the ford at nightfall today.
At normal pace, it'd be more like mid-afternoon.
At fast pace, it'll be more like late morning.

I will assume slow pace unless anyone says otherwise.

[Mercurion 2]

Dawn brought little relief to Dergosh; his muscles still felt as flabby as mage’s. After a bit of consultation with his god, he cast a restorative spell on both himself and his most battered comrade. Feeling a bit better, he helped pack up the camp rapidly in order to get on the move as early as possible.

“Stag goblins know where Wolftooth is. Need to slip around flank and bite them from behind.”

Casting lesser restoration on himself and whichever PC is down the most ability damage.
[roll0]
[roll1]
Dergosh is all for moving at a fast pace to vacate our current position as quickly as possible.

Snake eyes!

[Zombulian]

Gizonde rose with the dawn sun, groaning a bit. He'd slept fitfully, anxious about their time restrictions and his drained allies.

"You're right, Dergosh, they know we're here. But also they know that the bridge is broken and they'll likely be expecting us to have to go around. Thankfully, we won't have to."

Gizonde waits for the others to rouse themselves, but when they are ready he will cast Dark Way across the divide.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh cocked his head at Gizonde's statement that they didn't have to find another way around. He looked at the broken bridge dubiously.

"We fly over?" he asked. "Not think Akara big enough to carry us...or mules...or wagon."

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

Gizonde answered Dergosh's question by murmuring for a few moments, then raising his hand. A black roadway that seemed to swallow light appeared where the rope bridge had stood. The Eneko waved a hand at the Company, and they crossed over, the mules hesitating only a little as they walked on what seemed nothing but night to the other side.

The hilly, canyon-cut land here seemed no more stark than the hills on the north side of the Thorn. Grey boulders still frowned down from looming hillsides, and the grass fought a bitter war for survival on the thin soil. But just as certainly as nothing looked different, it felt different on the skin. It might have been something in the air, or some note in the wind that danced over the hills. But it was there: the feeling that they had passed from one domain of influence to another. We don't go south of the Thorn, so Tyg-Titter-Tut and Perlivash had said weeks ago, and the words came back to them now for no reason anyone could put their finger on. It was the cousin of the feeling they'd had as they'd crossed at the Thorn River Camp and deep into the Greenbelt, looking for Jhod Kavken's temple, the last time someone had died. Yes, a cousin of the feeling: but a cousin nonetheless, a feeling that something wasn't entirely right. Some other influence was here, and even those less attuned to the song of magic in the world amongst them could feel in their bones that it was not coming from the Stag Lord.

They pressed a fast pace, even with half of them still suffering the effects of the confrontation with the shadows of the cairn the night before. it was strangely reassuring; like moving faster to the source of an infection. The Thorn guided them southeast, and it only took an hour or two before they could hear the roar of another watercourse somewhere in the distant: that would be the Shrike, surely. Nothing challenged them or assaulted them; quite the contrary, the land seemed to give them good passage. Come into my web, said the spider to the fly...

Where the Shrike and the Thorn met, the land dipped for a good mile or so around it. Trees bloomed where the moisture pooled and sank into the earth, and it seemed the river crossing was amongst a thick copse of trees that sat on both sides of the river. Akara landed and joined the others as they made their way down the dusty half-trail they'd been following along the river to the crossing itself.

There were two dwarves on the southern side of the crossing, which was to say, the same side of the crossing as the Company as it moved in. One of the dwarves leaned against a tree, arms folded. That one's beard was white and his head bald. The other had a red beard speckled with grey, but wore a horned helm. He smoked from a long pipe. Both were deeply tanned and didn't seem to be suffering any effects from the warm morning. Both were dressed in good quality full plate that had been covered in lampblack. No axes or hammers, as expected - each only seemed to be armed with a shortsword each, albeit the blade judging by the sheaths was as wide as a machete. Neither of them had drawn their weapons; they seemed entirely calm. Their shields, resting by their feet, were dented and dull with what likely was long use, but the eye of Helm was still visible on each. The armour somehow seemed of a ... different style, though Kuros couldn't place where it came from exactly. But the shoulderplates also had the eye of Helm on them.
"Salve," said the red-bearded dwarf, taking his pipe from his mouth and raising his open hand. There didn't seem to be anyone else around.

That was odd. Eron's files held a number of greetings, but this one didn't match that of the ones dwarves usually made. Salve was an Amnian greeting or blessing.

There was something tantalisingly familiar about all this. The Eneko hadn't delved into the subject of regional preferences much recently, and maybe something would spark his memory further, but their armour and the look of their shields was straight out of some tales he'd seen in the Testament about the exploration of Maztica, the famed 'New Worlde' far and away over the seas that Amnish explorers had been in for some years now.

What do you do?

[Zombulian]

Gizonde raised a hand in greeting.

“Greetings and Oghma’s blessings, saers. It’s always good to meet fellow explorers out in the wild.”

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

"So, true it is," said the red-bearded dwarf, nodding as he looked over Gizonde. "An Eneko. And with that warforged in the wagon, that makes the full count of six, as was said." The accent was very clearly Amnish to most of the Company's ears; they'd heard enough southern-western people over the years to place the lilting tone. "I would not have believed it unless I had seen it, Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit, de omnibus dubitandum. And yet, true it is." The dwarf shook his head. "Why come here, saer? Why to this ford, when all sense would suggest you would travel to the Tuskwater instead?"

[Zombulian]

Gizonde smiled wryly.
"To tell it true, saer, we'd simply rather come and see you all than trudge through the belt. And as you've mentioned already, you knew we were coming anyway."

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

"Word is going back to the Tuskwater of your presence, you can be assured of that. Certantes. What I do not capiche is why you would come here first. You've crossed the river, certantes, for what reason do you come to us?"

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann steps forward, his expression not betraying his weakened condition. "As you said, sense would suggest we go to the Tuskwater first. Sense would also suggest that doing what you know your foes would expect of you is the mark of a fool." Looking at the two, he sighs. "As it stands, it would seem we have the advantage here... so I would ask you to indulge my curiosity for a moment. Why would two men such as yourselves elect to serve the Stag Lord? For what reason would you turn to banditry?"

Diplomacy Check: [roll0]

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

The dwarf's gaze was even. He tapped at his pipe, sending a few ashes drifting on the breeze. "You have a fine sense of irony accusing us of banditry. Certantes. How many men and women lie as food for worms from your travels in these lands? Emmerock holds no claim here. The Stag Lord was here before you came and keeps order, in his way. This is no bona vacanti, no terra nullius. We serve his order."

It was the phrase bona vacanti that finally triggered the Eneko's memories. That phrase had been used in another context, far away - in the New Worlde, called Maztica by its inhabitants.

Cordell's Golden Legion had voyaged across the Shining Sea to the continent a decade or so earlier. A good portion of Helmite followers had gone with them, understandably, as the Amnian Church of Helm had sponsored Cordell's expedition. Amongst them was the near-legendary force of clerics and warriors known as the Companions of the One True Vision. But the glory of the expedition had quickly soured. The Companions had been involved in a slaughter of the native people, either as part of the original conquest or shortly afterward; the details were still only whispered. What was known, or at least heavily rumoured, was that Helm himself had expressed his displeasure with the sort of certainty that only a god could bring.

Whatever the reason, a large percentage of the Companions, shamed and guilt-ridden by their conduct when confronted with it, sought absolution for their crimes. Many joined the pacifist Vigilant Eyes of the God, forswearing violence and exiling themselves to distant monasteries or hospitals.

The others argued their acts had been in the service of order, and therefore in the service of duty, and refused to forswear their arms or their membership. Helm's silence to this assertion was both chilling and disturbing, but the Helmite churches as a group made their own judgment. At least in Faerun, there was no monastery, no church, no chapterhouse where a Companion could find succour or shelter, even if the god's shrines were not forbidden to him. Companions of the One True Vision were as close as one could be to an exile within the Church of Helm.

These dwarves, the Amnian gear, the soot-blackened eye of Helm on their armour - it could only mark them as Companions, either former or current. It made sense they were outside the borders of Emmerock; the Church of Helm was a power within the realm, but even churches of the Border Kingdoms had their standards.

Helm does allow Lawful Evil followers.

[BluesEclipse]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

The dwarf's gaze was even. He tapped at his pipe, sending a few ashes drifting on the breeze. "You have a fine sense of irony accusing us of banditry. Certantes. How many men and women lie as food for worms from your travels in these lands? Emmerock holds no claim here. The Stag Lord was here before you came and keeps order, in his way. This is no bona vacanti, no terra nullius. We serve his order."

It was the phrase bona vacanti that finally triggered the Eneko's memories. That phrase had been used in another context, far away - in the New Worlde, called Maztica by its inhabitants.

Cordell's Golden Legion had voyaged across the Shining Sea to the continent a decade or so earlier. A good portion of Helmite followers had gone with them, understandably, as the Amnian Church of Helm had sponsored Cordell's expedition. Amongst them was the near-legendary force of clerics and warriors known as the Companions of the One True Vision. But the glory of the expedition had quickly soured. The Companions had been involved in a slaughter of the native people, either as part of the original conquest or shortly afterward; the details were still only whispered. What was known, or at least heavily rumoured, was that Helm himself had expressed his displeasure with the sort of certainty that only a god could bring.

Whatever the reason, a large percentage of the Companions, shamed and guilt-ridden by their conduct when confronted with it, sought absolution for their crimes. Many joined the pacifist Vigilant Eyes of the God, forswearing violence and exiling themselves to distant monasteries or hospitals.

The others argued their acts had been in the service of order, and therefore in the service of duty, and refused to forswear their arms or their membership. Helm's silence to this assertion was both chilling and disturbing, but the Helmite churches as a group made their own judgment. At least in Faerun, there was no monastery, no church, no chapterhouse where a Companion could find succour or shelter, even if the god's shrines were not forbidden to him. Companions of the One True Vision were as close as one could be to an exile within the Church of Helm.

These dwarves, the Amnian gear, the soot-blackened eye of Helm on their armour - it could only mark them as Companions, either former or current. It made sense they were outside the borders of Emmerock; the Church of Helm was a power within the realm, but even churches of the Border Kingdoms had their standards.

Helm does allow Lawful Evil followers.

Korlann's gaze grows stony at the dwarf's words. "I accuse the Stag Lord's followers of banditry because I've seen it with my own eyes. Our first morn in these lands involved defending Oleg, his home and his family from a group there with the intention to loot them - and possibly more, based on their own words." He meets the dwarf's gaze, impassively. "The Stag Lord's 'order' clearly does not involve ensuring that men like that are kept under control. I'll not deny that we have killed - we have killed those who refused to lay down their arms and surrender, and we have executed those who proved to be unrepentant for their banditry, as we were charged to do by the Lance Lords of High Emmerock. Those that are willing to surrender, who show remorse and the willingness to repent for their actions, are allowed the chance to do so. Meanwhile, the man you serve has his men burning and pillaging the homes and farms of those on the lands he claims to rule, creating far more corpses of his people than we have, and of innocents who simply wish to live their lives. This, we know due to the refugees we have taken in, and the actions of the men who helped them flee such carnage."

The Skarn's impassive expression shifts into an angry snarl. "There are only two options that make sense here. The first is that the Stag Lord is as we have said - no more than a bandit, who believes he can take without retribution. The second is that by his own actions, he cares nothing for the land or its people that he purports to rule, desiring only blood and fire as his kingdom. If you would truly support such actions, then say so now and we'll have no need to waste any more time here. Otherwise, I offer you the opportunity to properly explain your reasons for joining the man, and confess to any crimes you may have committed under his orders, before we come to a decision."

[roll0]

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

"As I said, I fail to see your right. This is not Emmeryn land, certantes. Emmerock sent colonists here long ago, and none have been here for tenyears on tenyears. The Lance Lords have no more legitimate authority or right of law here than I over the Great Glacier. And if they have no lawful authority here, then neither do you, all your justifications aside. And you fail to see how much worse order in these lands would have suffered if the Stag Lord had not been present. No, saer Skarn." The dwarf put away his pipe and drew his strange, short, broad-bladed sword, and the second one unhurriedly put on his helm. "I offer you and your companions a chance to leave - over the ford, back the way you came. You will not be offered another."

[jdizzlean]

probably to late in this encounter, but i cast charm person on the 2nd dwarf

[Mercurion 2]

All these words--many of which he didn't fully understand--were beginning to make Dergosh's head hurt. However, he was able to understand that these two dwarves were in the employ of the Stag Lord, which got his green blood simmering.

He frowned a bit at the casualness of the dwarves, being outnumbered, ahhhhhhh, 11 to 2 or so, and took a quick look around to see if they had any company. Otherwise, he looked for a clear path to charge into action, his rage starting to boil up.

A Spot check to see if there are others in the area.
[roll0]
Also, not sure of the terrain here, would Dergosh have a clear path to make a charge?

[bcool999]

Kuros glowers at the two dwarves as his companions converse with them. When the one dwarf traded his pipe for a blade Kuros responds in kind drawing blades in each arm not holding his shield. He steps in front of his allies to guard them should the dwarves attack, but Kuros does give one last chance for the Dwarves to surrender, saying, "The Stag Lord may be the order of the day now, but a new order is coming to these lands. So I will give you one last chance before we put words aside. Is it the Stag Lord or order you wish to serve? You mentioned how much worse these lands would be without him, but have you considered how much better these lands would be with us in charge?"

Final shot diplomacy: [roll0]

Though Kuros will draw his pair of Longswords and Shortswords.

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

Several things happened at once.

The first was that Dergosh did, in fact, notice movement in the trees around them. He also heard Akara begin to raise her voice in the sound of magic --

Whipping noises, hard whipcracks from those same trees, answered her. Rocks came flicking from the trees. Two cracked hard into Akara’s forehead, breaking her concentration, and the spell fell apart on her lips. And the rocks were hurled with enough force to ricochet, and this time connect with the back of Gizonde’s head, drawing blood and making the Eneko’s head spin. He could still make out the hurlers: unkempt, fierce-looking halflings a good twenty feet up in the trees around them, armed with warslings and beautifully camouflaged until this moment.

The next thing that happened was Kuros pulling out his pair of longswords and shortswords. Or at least, that was what the six-armed silverbrow expected to happen. Instead, what happened was that only one weapon came into his hands. It was the cold iron longsword he’d taken from the cairn where they’d almost died only a couple of days ago. Except the longsword, too, looked different: where it had shone with a dull, reflected light, it now appeared to have rusted in its sheath, though his instincts told him there was, still, some strength to the blade. Just as his instincts now told him his hands could not let go of the weapon nor sheathe it, and nor could his other hands draw any other weapon.

And the next thing that happened was the dwarves slapping their helms onto their heads, pulling their weapons from their sheaths, dropping into militaristic stances, and the pipe-smoking one called Certantes! one more time, and from the trees and brush around them a group of armoured men sprang, all armed with greatswords that had been smeared with lampblack to keep their steel from giving them away. The phrases, Korlann thought belatedly; the phrases in Amnian or whatever had been marshalling orders, a way of getting the others into position, for them to wait for the right moment…

https://images2.imgbox.com/08/27/L8GzYzQ6_o.jpg

Akara gets hit for a total of 15 hitpoints, factoring in damage reduction. Fails the Concentration roll to cast the spell.

Gizonde gets hit for a total of 18 hitpoints (need to get that CS up, Zombulian). Skiprocks, which it seems you’re being hit with, can ricochet and hit a second target, as these ones did.

Kuros’s longsword, as you’ve probably realised, is cursed. It’s not a +3 cold iron longsword, it’s a -2 cursed longsword that doesn’t like to play with other weapons.

Onto initiative: as with the last couple of fights, we’re going with group initiative and a short posting timeframe to keep the battle moving.

To recap the rules:

1) Everyone including the opposition has initiative rolled
2) Anyone who got a roll higher than the monsters is put in one group
3) Anyone who got a roll lower than the monsters is put in a second group
4) Those who get initiative results higher than the monsters have 48 hours from the time of my update to post their actions. If someone in this group doesn’t post in that time, they are automatically shunted down to the group who acts after the monsters. Actions will be resolved in order of people’s posts.
5) I then update taking account of people’s posts and provide the monsters’ actions
6) Those who got rolls lower than the monsters (or who have been shunted into this group) have 48 hours from the time of my update to post their actions. If there is no post within 48 hours, the character is deemed to remain where they are and go on total defense for the round – no exceptions. Again, actions otherwise are resolved in order of posting.
7) Actions commencing in one round are resolved at the time of your post in the next round.

Edge cases may well arise (especially if stuff like Incite or Inhibit are used), but these will be resolved on a case-by-case basis.

Having rolled, the initiative order is as follows:
Dergosh, Three
Monsters
Akara, Kuros, Korlann, Gizonde.

There’s no surprise round, and everyone is taken to be standing on the ground.

So Mercurion and almonds have 48 hours from the board time of this post to put up actions. If not, monsters take their turn and you drop into a ‘second group’ that acts after the monsters do. Actions are resolved in order of posting, and best way to deal with branching decisions is to just post ‘em up as contingencies OOC within the IC thread. Immediate actions and whatnot outside your turn, either post them as contingencies or slap a second post in with the immediate action.

Any queries, put ‘em up.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh never liked dwarves. They weren’t as bad aa elves, true, and they weren’t goblins, but this pair did nothing to improve his attitude. Halfings, pah! Might as well be goblins. Properly angry, Dergosh prepared for battle.

There was little he could do against the halfling birds, but the dwarves and the sworders…an angry grin spread across the half-orcs ugly face. Mace in hand, Dergosh waved a calloused palm over the flanged head and screamed, “By Gruumsh’s mighty blare!” and the weapon began a vibrantly, grating hum.

Cast sonic weapon

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

There was blood.

The Companions armed with greatswords charged with frightening speed, screaming at the top of their lungs. Their swords swung with dreadful power, the wide steel carving into their targets with awful strength.

Gizonde went down first. A massive, overhand chop from the Companion in front of him, which dug deep into the Eneko’s chest, blood spurting as it carved into his vital organs, and the wanderer dropped.

Then Korlann. Two of them chopped at him like butchers. One blow he tried to stop on instinct, and it all but tore his right arm off. Then the other slammed into his midsection, going straight through, and he fell into darkness.

Another Companion came at Dergosh, crashing out of the brush he’d been concealed in. Again the massive overhand blow. Again, a deep cut into the half-orc’s shoulder; but the cleric was made of tougher stuff than that and was still standing, though his blood was pouring out onto the ground.

Another hail of stones from the halflings in the trees. Two smashed across Akara’s brow, knocking her out and sending her to the cold ground in the shadows. The other two slung skiprocks at Kuros, who was still fast enough even with his cursed weapon to slip his shoulder under one and deflect the other with the weapon’s flat.

And in the greatswords’ wake came the dwarves, moving up, dropping into stances that clearly marked them as well-trained in the art of war, their short-bladed weapons weaving and swaying before them.

https://images2.imgbox.com/9a/52/w5NPKOrx_o.jpg


Akara wears 12 hitpoints of damage total after DR is applied, and so is at -2/25, i.e. unconscious and bleeding out.
Dergosh wears 22 hitpoints of damage and so is at 16/38 by my count.
Gizonde wears 19 hitpoints of damage with a HP count of 3.
Korlann wears a total of 46 hitpoints of damage off two blows.





Those damage counts put you both well past the -10 mark. So, you two have a choice.

If you want to accept your PCs are dead, you can.

But if you don't believe your character's story is over, you can instead have your characters stabilised at -9 hitpoints, i.e. hovering at death's door. If so, your character takes a -2 to their CON score, permanently, with all the changes that ripple from that (CON score, not CON modifier). They also take a -2 to Diplomacy and Bluff checks (not CHA, just the skill checks) from here on in. This represents them having very briefly looked through death's door, but having been pulled back for ... some reason. Leaving aside the physical scars which the changes to CON and skill checks would represent, there's also something ... odd about your characters from here on in, something a little disturbing about your characters that people interacting with you can't put their finger on. Your characters aren’t undead, but there's this vaguely unsettling sense that You're Not Supposed To Be Here. Or indeed other partymembers might have different interactions with you.

Subsequent deaths ... well. Let's not tempt fate. If that happens, we can talk about it then.

As said, though, if you do want to let your characters die, that is a matter for you. The choice is, quite literally, yours. And I think it's more fun if you don't reply IC or OOC here, but let me know by PM. It's not known whether your character is alive or dead until someone gets the chance to look over your bodies IC.

If your characters die, and you want to start working up a new character, that's fine too. We'll work them in together. Your character will start with the same XP and the same gp and gear levels as Korlann and Gizonde had, you're not going to be shafted back to level 1 or something.

Initiative Order:
Dergosh
Monsters
Three, Akara, Kuros, Korlann, Gizonde.

Three drops into the second group. This leaves almonds, bcool, and possibly dizz 48 hours from the time of this post to put up actions, and we’ll then update and see what Merc does.

Yes, these guys are hitting like trucks. Yes, you are somewhere within the circumference of a sizeable cowpat right now.

[bcool999]

Kuros looks at the cursed blade in his hand, and looks at the two friends dead at his feet. He then looks at who remains and sees Akara unconscious but not cleaved in twain like Gizonde and Korlann. Making a snap decision, Kuros rushes to Akara's side and picks her up, shouting, "Dergosh! Three! Fall back!"

Move action to move to D4
Standard Action: Pick up Akara.

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

Three hesitated a moment more, but there was enough of a gap in the slaughter for Kuros to scramble backward and hoist Akara's unconscious form with two of his arms while still wielding the accursed weapon with another pair of hands. But, as Flit buzzed desperately above them, and Ser Pig screamed his fear, whether Dergosh was going to follow the big silverbrow's demand was yet to be seen ...

https://images2.imgbox.com/60/e1/P6XJ87s1_o.jpg

Okay, so, Kuros gets across to Akara and picks her up. Three's momentarily distracted, and we're over to Dergosh to see what he does next.

Initiative Order:
Dergosh
Monsters
Everyone left standing (Kuros, Three)

[Mercurion 2]

Though it wasn't particularly difficult to do, Kuros' words confused Dergosh. He was working up quite a rage, and falling back wasn't part of his battle plan ordinarily. Nonetheless, the interpreted the words to mean to drop back and form a defensive line.

So, with a snarl of frustration at not being able to immediately take revenge on the swordsman that and laid a blow on him, the cleric disengaged from combat, carefully warding off further blows as he dropped back into line with the others.

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Midmorning
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 2 of 6

The lead dwarf seemed to consider Dergosh's retreat for a moment.

And then raised his sword-bearing hand.

Four more rocks came screaming from the branches of the trees around them. Expertly slung, the skiprocks smashed into Dergosh's brow, blasting the half-orc off his feet and into unconsciousness.

The dwarf lowered his gauntlet again. "Quietus," he said. The greatsword-armed men grounded or shouldered their weapons, still covered in Dergosh, Gizonde, and Korlann's blood. "Ritard omnius," said the dwarf, and the Companions drew back to the Ford, moving down to the water's edge. The halflings remained esconced in their perches in the trees, rocks loaded to slings and eyeing the movements of Three and Kuros carefully.

The dwarf sheathed his weapon and drew out his pipe once more. With fingers that seemed far more dextrous than a dwarf ought to have, he refilled his pipe and then struck it, snapping a hard fingernail across a piece of flint. The smell of smoke drifted up like death.
"You may take your dead now, construct. And silverbrow. Perchance that wagon of yours will serve as a funeral chariot. You are broken, and it is not meet for us to butcher the remnants of a broken ring of companions. Go back into the wild, if you wish, and find some other path back across the river. In your state the creatures of the wilds, or the patrols of the Stag Lord here, or some other power will be enough to see you off. But if by some strange quirk of your gods you should survive the green, then remember what happened to you here and do not return, and warn all you pass of what danger you face here." The dwarf nodded at Korlann's broken form, lying facedown in the dirt. "He was honourable and he spoke your position. I am not implacable to honour. It is for him that I grant you safe passage. Take him and bury him or burn him as you see fit with your traditions or your gods. But do it far from here, and the day you see our faces again, know you surely die."

There did not seem to be much more than could be argued. Kuros and Three brought the three forms out, and what was left of the Company trudged away from the Ford, back the way they had come.

Assuming here that this is what you want to do. Dergosh is at -6 and can be considered stabilised, as can Akara at -2. bcool, over to you about what happens from here.

[bcool999]

Invective tries to fly from Kuros' lips at the dwarf who killed two of the company, but concern for those who remain alive and can be saved makes Kuros bite it back and silently collect the dead and wounded to live and fight another day.

Once safely away from the battlefield, Kuros' emotions flare in a mixture of rage and grief and he takes it out on the cursed blade in his hand still. Kuros knows that the blade wasn't truly at fault for his friends deaths, he had missed the ambush, had reacted too slowly after being caught off guard by the cursed blade, but Kuros needed to vent the rage burning inside him and the blade was directly at hand thanks to the curse.

With bare hands, Kuros grabs the blade and attempts to snap it, knowing it's magic will likely protect it from his weakened strength but rage pushing him on nonetheless.

Strength Check to break cursed sword. With current strength score can only reach a 20 on a nat 20 so this is more for RP than anything. [roll0]

[bcool999]

Calming down after his fit of anger, Kuros begins to think. They had wounded to care for and both he (and presumably Three) were ill equipped to help them recover.

As Kuros cast about for where to go next, he remembered Jhod and the Temple of the Rose. The Wolftooth company was promised succor there should they need it. And with one of the company off to meet his gods, and three others unconscious, now is the time to seek shelter there.

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Sunset
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The dark journey back to the north was uneventful all that day. Three said very little, and the rest of their broken band was hardly in any sort of state to contribute discussion. Flit, Akara's little familiar, sat motionless on the wagon's buckboard by Akara's unconscious form. That in itself was a sad judgement on how badly they'd been beaten. But whether through the gods or luck, they saw no bandit patrols all that day, and no creatures tried to block their path. The hills and canyons rolled on by. Late in the afternoon, the thick emerald line of the Greenbelt revaled itself on the horizon, right around the time the Thorn River took a small bent and came alongside a long canyon that hadn't been lucky enough to get the flow of the river through it. Kuros at least knew this part of the terrain. He took the wagon and its grim load down into the defile that lay ahead; from here, it was a straight couple of miles to the forest and after that, a scratchy but hopefully uneventful passage up the Thorn River to the camp, for sleep at least.

That hope faded close on sunset. The canyon took a little bend north by northeast and as Kuros rounded that little gap, he was confronted with quite the sight, no more than about a hundred feet ahead.

There had been a hell of a fight. At least three or four broken humanoid bodies lay on the canyon floor, and the mounts the humanoids had presumably controlled also lay mostly in pieces, blood and horseheads strewn around like so many horrific toys. The creature responsible, presumably, was still present ... but not feeding. Nor waiting.

It was a huge bird, maybe a good twenty foot wingspan at a guess, and certainly ten feet tall if it was upright. Its beak was huge and yellow, the head white as snow. Giant Eagle, murmured Master Gerald from Kuros's memories. Been a while since we saw one of those. And Kuros couldn't remember seeing any eagle quite like this before: it seemed to be ... slouching, half-lying on the ground. Its massive wings beat up a small windstorm as it seemed to try and get to its feet, but it failed, stumbling back to the ground. Of course it had seen Kuros by that point and gave a single, massive screech that echoed up and down the canyon like the cry of a god. Amongst the flapping, Kuros could see at least a couple of trails of blood in the huge white feathers: and when the creature made another (failed) attempt to get to its feet, he could see a couple of long, black sticks protruding from around the wing area. Crossbow bolts. Big ones, too. A flick of his vision around revealed the likely source: an oversized, broken crossbow's arch lay among the rocks, three feet from the outstretched, bloodied, and still hand that likely had wielded it.

So let's talk about the obvious stuff, muttered Gerald in Kuros's memory. No way you're getting the wagon up the walls of this canyon, and that thing's blocking the canyon. You could turn and go back, find another way to bypass the canyon, but that'll take time and it's sunset already. Way that thing can screech, if a fight goes long here, it'll bring down something interested in the ruckus. Hope you've got some ideas.

What now?

[bcool999]

Seeing the majestic beast battered and wounded until it could barely stand, Kuros was closely reminded of the Company's own circumstances. Knowing that he lacked what Master Gerald called 'nature's mark' Kuros still wanted to try and pass by the wounded beast peacefully if he could. Even if he can't calm the beast he would rather leave it in peace than slay it.

Voicing such thoughts to Three, Kuros has three wait with the wagon as he approaches the Giant Eagle. Though he can't sheath the cursed blade, Kuros will hold it such that it rests against his arm to appear as non-threatening as possible as he slowly approaches the eagle. Kuros will try talking to it in a gentle voice words of comfort, but Master Gerald said that tone and body language were more important than meaning when it came to simple beasts.

Kuros will attempt a Charisma check to peacefully approach the Eagle and try and help it.

[roll0]

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Sunset
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

There was a fierce look of intelligence in the eagle's eye to go along with the obvious pain it was in. It seemed to be ... listening as Kuros murmured words to it, and comparing those words against the weapon still held in the silverbrow's hands.

But after a long moment, it slowly shifted its body, raising its wing to such a position where Kuros could now approach the great bird's soft, white, feathered chest. He could now see that there were, indeed, three crossbow bolts still embedded in the eagle's shoulder ... or rather, where the shoulder met the rest of the body. They all still seemed to be trailing blood into the white feathers. Certainly it appeared the eagle wasn't going to defend itself; it had placed itself in about as vulnerable a position as one could imagine at this moment.

So if you're going to help the bird, how do you intend to do that?

[bcool999]

Kuros, feeling lucky to have gained the beast's trust, slowly takes an item from his belongings. Two rolls of bandages with a single faintly glowing thread running through each roll.

Blessed Bandages, Kuros recalls Master Gerald's introduction to the items he holds, They won't heal you like a potion or a spell would, but they might be just enough to keep you alive long enough to reach one.

Taking the rolls of bandages, Kuros does his best to bind the bleeding on the Eagle, using both the rolls of bandages as needed.

Going to try to help with the Heal skill. Not sure if giant crossbow bolts count as caltrops for flying creatures, but it's the only method Kuros has since he is out of potions.

Hopefully the blessed bandages help!

Heal: [roll0]

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Sunset
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Perhaps understandable, the great bird gave a deafening screech as Kuros pulled the first of the filthy bolts from its form. But that appeared to be the worst of the injuries, because the remaining two bolts came away easily, not having penetrated that far. And the eagle did not object or try to pull away as Kuros's six arms worked frantically to apply the bandages to the wounds where he could find them and secure them. The gleaming thread in the cloth of the bandages flared with golden light for a moment, then faded, but the look of sudden relief in the eagle's fierce eye was apparent even to Kuros.

In a sudden sweep of movement, the bird was on its great, clawed feet, and it spread its wings to their full width, almost touching both walls of the canyon. It experimentally moved its injured wing, as though testing it. Then it looked back ... and down ... at Kuros.

The great white head dipped to Kuros's level. The yellow eye narrowed. "I thank you, silverbrow," it said, in accented but perfectly clear Common. "You have done a service to Hasuthir." Its eye flicked to what was left of the Company, and in particular to the broken bodies in the rear of the wagon. "Your band appears to have suffered great grief. What flock of carrion-eaters did this to you?"

125 XP to all those characters still alive.

[bcool999]

Kuros felt sheepish that he treated this intelligent being as little more than a wounded beast, but quickly brings his mind back to the question he was asked. “A pair of dwarves who follow Helm along with their band of warriors.” Kuros answers with anger coloring his words before he changes subject, “But they are not important for now. Now our wounded company is just trying to reach the Temple of the Rose. There we can tend our wounded, and bury our dead.”

[Saintheart]

The Ford, the Stolen Lands
Sunset
Twenty-eighth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

"My flock knows this place!" said Hasuthir. "Foul voices sang on the air from the desecrated shrine there. My people long avoided it. But the Earthmother's presence now shines there, anew, like a little seedling newly-broken through hard ground. I wager you would only know of the place because either you are beloved of Chauntea, or you helped her minions vanquish the evil living there. These are good tidings! So be it! Hasuthir would repay the service you provided. My flock is not far from here, silverbrow. I swear by the staff of Shaundukul, I shall return with my brothers and sister, and we shall bear you all to the Temple, if you will consent."

[bcool999]

Kuros looks excited at the prospect of reaching the Rose sooner, but looks at Hasuthir's injured wing and says, "I would most certainly appreciate the aid in hastening our journey to sanctuary. I am just unsure about the logistics of it. I wouldn't want to worsen your injury and I am unsure how we would get the donkeys and cart airborne even with the aid of your kin."

If Hasuthir assures Kuros that his concerns are easily solved, he will consent to the assistance.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose, the Stolen Lands
Midday
Twenty-ninth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 3 of 6

There was a certain look in Hasuthir's eye when Kuros raised the issue of logistics. It was somewhere between amusement and surprise. The eagle, however, hadn't replied, the great beast taking to the air in a massive rush of air that blew clouds of dust up the canyon. And then it was gone, leaving Kuros and Three to take a small survey of what the eagle had left behind. There sadly wasn't anything of value among the bodies of the raiders that the eagle had apparently killed; the fight had clearly been a vicious one, and there wasn't a blade or bow or a piece of armour left intact amongst the whole lot.

And then there was only the sad task of settling in to camp for the night in this place, with Korlann's broken body and the near-death forms of Gizonde, Dergosh, and Akara made as comfortable as they could. A long night passed, quiet as death, and just as undisturbed.

The construct and the silverbrow were roused, or at least brought on guard, by a roar of wings at dawn.

The canyon was filled with massive forms. A good ten giant eagles, some of different colours to Hasuthir, circled the canyon or outright landed to peruse the broken Company. Hasuthir landed after the first and simply named each of the birds as they landed: Mnementh, Ramoth, Golathanir, Arbinar, Berekkas, and half a dozen other names Kuros didn't remember. One of them, Golanthir if Kuros remembered right, was big even for a giant eagle; his wingspan was wide enough that he actually couldn't land except at a given angle. He eyed the Company with a look of utter fascination.
"These are my flock," said Hasuthir at last. "We come to honour my promise."

The mules didn't like the flight that followed. They bellowed and brayed the whole way. Golanthir took the wagon in his claws as if it were no more weight than a feather. Three others gently bore the injured party members' forms.

Kuros and Three were given the honour of riding on the eagles' backs, and it was an experience enough to wipe away the grief even for a moment. Clouds danced in the sky around them, the wind roaring in their ears. Below, the hills and the Greenbelt became just so many little pieces of a great quilt laid across the earth. Off to the east and south the Tuskwater was visible, glinting like steel; the Stag Lord's fortress wasn't visible from here, but it was a place they would have to go back to, and soon. But everywhere else around them was the wonder of the world as seen from the eyes of an eagle.

Hasuthir led the flight west, over the Greenbelt. The emerald woods rolled past below them, mile on mile of trackless woods. At some unseen signal, though, he dived: and the whole flight followed him, the great woods suddenly growing. And then Kuros could see it: a promonotory of rock, and a paved, open clearing before it with a great pool of clear blue water that glittered even from the sky. Even from here, Kuros could glimpse the dots of white and red roses forming the boundary around the shrine.

As Hasuthir glided in to this clearing, a single figure emerged from the rock cave, looking up at them, arms folded inside his simple, wheat-beige robe. The eagle landed, and stretching its wings to their massive proportions, gave a respectful bow to this man. The man nodded, and Hasuthir gave a great screech which echoed up to them. One by one, the eagles carrying their loads descended to gently deposit them in the paved area around the pool. The remaining members of the flock circled warily, watching the horizons. Lastly, Golanthir deposited the wagon, and as the great bird took off once more, Hasuthir turned to Kuros. "The debt is paid, silverbrow. I thank you once more. Perhaps we shall meet again one day!"

Another great gust of wind, the roar of feathers spreading to catch the air, and Hasuthir was gone, disappearing over the canopy of the Greenbelt, and all his flight went with him.

Kuros and Three finally had a chance to look at the figure approaching them. As expected, it was Jhod Kavken, the cleric of Chauntea who was now the guardian and keeper of the shrine. He didn't seem to have changed much, but when he extended his hand to shake that of Kuros, the silverbrow noted the man's arm now held an extensive tattoo of roses on the back of his hand, extending up the forearm. Though the weary look they'd known of Jhod wasn't present, there was still a sad look in his eyes. "Knew you were coming," he said. "The goddess came in a dream last night. She said those who had helped me needed my help now." He looked at the body wrapped in simple sheets. "Oh, sorrows. Is that poor Korlann, the young monk?"

[bcool999]

Waving with all his unoccupied arms to Hasuthir and his kin as they quickly leave his sight, Kuros brief moment of exhilaration, of flying through the skies, is grounded by Jhod's reminder of why they are here.

"Yes." Kuros manages to speak around the sudden lump in his throat, "Yesterday, we fought a battle at a river crossing. Well, not so much a battle as an ambush. We were talking to two dwarves. Followers of Helm yet they considered the Stag Lord's hold on this land just. While we were talking, trying to convince them to stand aside and let the Stag Lord's tyranny end, their men moved into position unseen. At a signal they fell upon us. Korlann was cut nearly in twain by a greatsword instantly. Gizonde, the green part giant you see here, fell almost as quickly and I thought him dead as well. Akara was knocked from the sky by halfling slings, and Dergosh went down from the same a moment later after I retreated to fall back."

Kuros realizes his hands had clenched uncomfortably hard in the retelling and an effort of will brought him back to calm. "Korlann's words with the dwarves might have had some effect. They decided to spare the rest of us so we might take him and bury him. Three and I did the only thing we could. We gathered Korlann and those who could be saved and came here. I aided Hasuthir mid-journey who saw us here safely and swiftly along with the aid of his kin."

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose, the Stolen Lands
Midday
Twenty-ninth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 3 of 6

Jhod laid his hand on the big silverbrow's shoulder. "I am so sorry, Kuros. Honour comes with a high cost in this world. The least I can do is repay that honour by interring him here. But for now, we must attend to the living. Come; bring your friends to the pool. Place them in. There may still be time."

One by one, Kuros's great arms raised broken form after broken form and laid them in the shallow pool, their cold and bloodied forms all but immersed. When the last of them had been so placed, the pool waters suddenly glowed yellow, and little sparks like seeds of wheat drifted up from the waters. In moments, the dried and not-so-dried blood on their forms sloughed away. Pale faces rushed with new colour and new blood; wounds knitted; bones realigned. And in a few seconds, what was broken was whole: as Dergosh, Akara, and Gizonde's wounds and drained strength were healed completely, their forms blessed in the sacred pool of Chauntea's temple.

"When they are out the pool will see to your injuries as well," said Jhod. "They'll be aware in a few seconds. Meanwhile ..." and he frowned for a second, "... why are you baring steel with that blade in your hand? This sanctuary is safe. Nothing nearby in these woods can transgress the boundary of the shrine."

All wounds are healed, all ability damage is recovered. Everyone's conscious again (well, bar Korlann of course), so you can all talk IC if you like :)

[bcool999]

Kuros frowns at the rusted article in his hand. Sleeping last night had been unpleasant to say the least. Turning his gaze to Jhod, Kuros replies, "The steel is cursed. In that same battle we lost I went to draw my blades, including this newest addition to my collection, I found the magical blade to be a cursed one. I can draw no other blades with it bared, nor can I relinquish my grip upon it."

Once his allies are cured, Kuros will aid them out of the pool and soak himself, enjoying the sensation of strength returning to his limbs. Like a numbness finally passing.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose, the Stolen Lands
Midday
Twenty-ninth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 3 of 6

"A curse, you say?" Jhod frowned. "We can't have that." His hands reached out and grasped Kuros's fist around the rusting weapon. The cleric of Chauntea whispered words to the goddess. Kuros's hand grew hot, and then went cold.

And then twitched open. The longsword clattered to the flagstones of the shrine. Jhod Kavken casually picked the weapon up and regarded it for a long moment. He walked across to the pillar topped with a statue of a rose, and swung it as hard as he could at the stone. The weapon broke clean in half. There was an unearthly and bodiless howl in the air, and a shadow passed over the shrine for a moment ... and then faded and disappeared. The broken part of the longsword crumbled to dust where it lay, as did the shard remaining in the cleric's hand. Jhod hurled the remaining fragments of the weapon's handle over the boundary of the shrine. He combed his thinning hair over his balding scalp and turned back to Kuros again.

"I think you should be able to draw your weapons again now."

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh leapt up, confused about why he was soaking wet. He reached for his weapon and glared around. "Where goblin dwarves!??"

After things were explained to him, including the death of Korlann, his face became set in permanent snarl as he contemplated the revenge he would take the next time he encountered those dwarves.

[jdizzlean]

Flopping most unceremoniously out of the pool, Akara drops face first onto the grass, and huddles against the stone muttering to herself repeatedly...

"stupid, stupid, idiotic moron... first rule is scout and what do you do, but fixate on a pair of obvious decoys.. failure, idiot, goblin brained ninney! "

[Mercurion 2]

Eyes flicking over to Akara, Dergosh silently nodded in agreement at the mage's self-assessment. If he had not still been too angry to talk, he would have consoled her by pointing out that it OK, not everyone as smart as Dergosh. As it was, however, he'd have to let her wallow in her self-recriminations.

Stalking over to a sunny spot, the cleric stripped off his gear to let it begin to dry out, laying out his drum-shield, mace, and chain shirt in separate piles. The raggedy wolf hood he shook out and wiped off before obstinately setting the still-damp thing back on his and plopping down in the grass to contemplate their next move.

[Saintheart]

The Temple of the Rose, the Stolen Lands
Midday
Twenty-ninth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 3 of 6

Jhod left the party for a space to gather their thoughts. His next approach to them was with an armful of blueberries and breadfruit, the latter of which was entirely out of climate on what they knew. He quietly spread the food before them on a blanket on the grass, and invited them to it. Sitting down quietly next to them, he waited patiently for a break in their conversation and then raised his hand for their attention.
"I had another dream last night," he said. "The goddess, once more. But when I woke this morning I found the literality of what she had shown me in the dream." He looked across at Akara. "I think your presence here might be something you hold in common with another. Please - come with me, all of you, for a moment. There is something I must show you inside the shrine."

He led them up the broad stairs of the shrine to the temple proper, and into the shadows of the cave. It was still a spartan set of alcoves, but it appeared that Jhod had managed to put together a little basic furniture and a simple pallet. The damaged walls were being repaired by him, and he'd removed all the broken statues that had previously been in the room. He had replaced them, at the centre alcove, with a curious-looking statue, surely some sort of artistic inspiration. It had a vaguely draconic visage, but the tall, powerful form of the statue was covered in black bits of rock seemingly meant to evoke black scales.

The statue moved.

Specifically, it opened its eyes, and a red gleam appeared from them. The great visage dipped to regard those who had entered.

"This is Hakainoibuki," said Jhod. "He appeared to me in a dream of the goddess, who said to me that nature required both creation and destruction, and accordingly one would come who was meant for those who had helped me. When I awoke this morning, Hakainoibuki was here. And rather disoriented at least to begin with, since he'd been on a ship on his way to Xin Jubei, the island off the Emmerock coast, the night before. He and I have spoken. He is ... like your friend Three of Three." He turned to the statue. "Thank you for your patience, saer. I believe you may be of interest to one another."

And hello to BluesEclipse's new character, who can be found here: https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2551049

I'll leave you guys to get acquainted, and then we're going to talk about what you plan on doing next.

[BluesEclipse]

Hakainoibuki turns his attention to Jhod for a moment, his head dipping in a nod, but offering no words. He then turns his attention to the others there, his gaze sweeping over the group silently. He says nothing, however, seemingly waiting for them to begin the conversation.

[bcool999]

Kuros observes the stranger that Jhod has presented to them. Kuros is reluctant to trust, especially a character who appears so sinister, but he reluctantly steps forward and offers a hand to shake. “I am Kuros. We are the Wolftooth Company. We have been chartered to explore and make the Stolen Lands safe for settlement. More recently we have been engaging the Stag Lord’s forces, hoping to stop his atrocious attacks on the innocent, claim the bounty on his head, and the title and rights to this land that come with it.”

[BluesEclipse]

Ibuki looks at the offered hand for a moment, considering the silverblood's words. "So you seek to destroy this Stag Lord, in the hope of helping this land to flourish afterwards..." After a pause, he clasps the warrior's offered hand. "The Firelord would approve of this, I think."

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh took a long time looking over the newcomer, trying to make out exactly what he was. "You dragon?" he finally asked after a long pause. "Wolftooth Company had dragon before, hatchling, but he King of Kobolds now. You look bigger than hatchling. Wolftooth could use new dragon."

He considered Ibuki further. "You breathe fire? Where your wings?"

[BluesEclipse]

The draconic visage shifts into a frown as the orc speaks. "Hmph." He snorts angrily, wisps of smoke curling from his nostrils as he turns towards the orc. "Make no mistake, orc. While our goals may align at the moment, I will not be used," Ibuki snarls out. He pointedly ignores the subsequent questions, before turning back towards Kuros. "I would hope that you are the one in charge of this band of yours? I'd much prefer to deal with you than with him," he jerks his head towards Dergosh sharply before continuing, "and they seem to defer to you anyway," the latter is said with a look towards the rest of the Wolftooth Company.

[bcool999]

Kuros considers Ibuki’s words naming him the leader of the Company, shudders a little, and says, “Bahamut help us if I am the leader here. We used to follow Korlann and Three’s wisdom, but Korlann fell and Three hasn’t spoken since.”

“We mostly work together on decisions anyway. We can all suggest what course we wish to take, and we go with the majority.” Kuros explains and continues the introductions, “The tall green one is Gizonde. His divine magics have proven invaluable to the group after we rescued him from some Kobolds. The winged lady is Lady Akara. A battlemage of skill and a member of a noble house. Forgive me for not knowing the details, but titles and noble families go over my head.”

[Zombulian]

Gizonde awoke suddenly, spluttering and gasping, completely disoriented as the image of a verdant grove pieced itself together before his eyes and he became fully conscious.
What... where was I? Where am I?

As the company recouped, Dergosh and Akara clearly more lively, and Korlann... gone, Gizonde stayed silent, absentmindedly touching the place on his chest where a greatsword had so recently cleaved into him.

He nodded graciously at Jhod when brought food, and considered introducing himself formally, but couldn't bring himself to make the words.

---

He followed the cleric and the others into the shrine, still consumed with silence and thoughts. He heard Kuros refer to him and was pulled back to reality, laying his eyes on the... being before them.

[jdizzlean]

the time for pity has passed, truly it was more time then most get that found themselves in her situation. Akara rose into the air and twirled quickly about, sheets of water spraying away from her form. a flick of her wrist sent Flit flying after the group to see what the fuss was about.

what was that old saying.. Death is lighter then a feather, duty heavier then a mountain.

with grim determination, "duty calls! ", she floats off after Flit to see what the day would bring.

[Mercurion 2]

The draconic visage shifts into a frown as the orc speaks. "Hmph." He snorts angrily, wisps of smoke curling from his nostrils as he turns towards the orc. "Make no mistake, orc. While our goals may align at the moment, I will not be used," Ibuki snarls out. He pointedly ignores the subsequent questions, before turning back towards Kuros. "I would hope that you are the one in charge of this band of yours? I'd much prefer to deal with you than with him," he jerks his head towards Dergosh sharply before continuing, "and they seem to defer to you anyway," the latter is said with a look towards the rest of the Wolftooth Company.

Dergosh stared at the creature, nonplussed. He'd heard stronger words at orcish tea parties, after all. Noting the smoke, the cleric finally asked, disappointed, "No fire? Only smoke?.....OK."

[BluesEclipse]

Ibuki nods at Kuros's introductions, before turning back towards the orc. "I am not fool enough to unleash my flames in this sanctuary - the Firelord's gifts are not to be squandered needlessly." Turning back towards the silverbrow, he then says, "So, what do you plan to do now? I doubt this Stag Lord will remain idle while you lick your wounds, after all."

[bcool999]

"I am also concerned about the Stag Lord's plans." Kuros says as he addresses the group, "Though we may have a few things in our favor for now. First off, if the Stag Lord has received word of our defeat at the crossing his vigilance may lower slightly as he expects us to take longer to recover. Thanks to Chauntea and her servant Jhod, along with the swift passage we received from Hasuthir and his flock, we are more or less recovered to full strength."

"Secondly, we know of a secret passage into the Stag Lord's fortress thanks to a vision by Chauntea. If we can approach the Stag Lord's Fort undiscovered and enter the secret passage, we may be able to assault the Stag Lord directly without the protection of his walls and without the majority of his men."

Brows furrowed, Kuros continues planning with a frown, "The only issue we have is speed. If we delay to much, and with the Stag Lord thinking we are out of the picture, Olegs will face an assault they cannot endure. With any luck, the Stag Lord's death will scatter the remaining bandits into something more manageable to clean up in the future."

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Six bells (Sunset)
Thirtieth of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

It had been a peaceful day.

They'd honoured Korlann with a simple funeral within the bounds of the Temple. They laid him to rest alongside Gakan, and Jhod Kavken had raised a beautiful bush of red roses, their flowers nodding in a way completely unlike any rose they'd seen before, to watch over the monk's grave. Gizonde at least was relieved of the need to act as a cleric proxy with Jhod there, and the cleric spoke with as much gratitude as solemnity for what the young Skarn had done for Chauntea and the sanctuary of the Temple. To further honour him, though they had all been fully restored, they stayed the rest of the day at the Temple. It was on this occasion that Three told them, out of the blue, that she was staying with Jhod to help the cleric with his slow restoration of the shrine; she'd had enough of moving around the countryside like this, and the mules were getting too old to be driven through the scrub like this anymore.

Setting out from the Temple the next morning they all felt refreshed. Kuros in particular was feeling like he had a keen eye for the terrain that morning. On top of that, their course from the Temple took them straight through a glade teeming with usnea, knotweed, lovage, cattails and even a full bush of wild raspberries - well and truly enough to eat that night, and enough water from a small spring to refill everyone's canteens (not that this bothered Ibuki, of course). They made good time as well, Kuros confident that he was taking them southeast, through green shafts of light and birds singing in the trees. Around midafternoon, the thick wall of the Greenbelt finally broke up enough to reveal rolling hills to the east, and with a smile he turned their group south to parallel the Greenbelt's edge. Again they made decent time, and the day's heat became merely pleasant as the sun coursed west.

So perhaps he could be forgiven, as could all of them, for having missed the signs.

It was only as the twilight struck, and as they slowed their journey to start evaluating campsites, that they began to pick them up. Ibuki didn't see anything as such, but there were certain mechanisms in him that sang both with consonance and dissonance. A feeling (if that was what it was) of both familiarity and unfamiliarity. Gizonde began to notice nicks on trees that didn't seem consistent with their route thus far. Even Dergosh felt it, a certain reflex to bend the neck that was wholly out of character for rhim.

But in the end it was Kuros who put it together, from the bad feeling he was getting and from the trailcraft Master Gerald had taught him. It was the nicks on trees which became parallel gouges into oaks in particular; a certain oil in the tree was desirable to the creature who had made the marks. And that led him on to consider the wilted Love-Lies-Weeping with its little white pockmarks, and finally the acrid odour still lingering from the leaves. And, finally, a print a good three feet from heel to claw in the earth, three-toed, stinking of the same odour.

They had wandered into the territory - which was to say, the hunting grounds - of a green dragon.

Complication Pool was rolled. Hello Mr 1 again.

So this leaves you with some choices. You could stay and hope said dragon doesn't notice your presence. You could stay and try to hide, perhaps. You could try and go around the territory, if possible ... either deeper into the Greenbelt, or out into the hills. But going around at this hour - sunset, in unknown lands - would be the sort of thing that invokes an actual roll of the Complication Pool even with only 1 dice in it. And a new navigation check (which you've passed so far) as well as the risks of detection.

So. What's it to be?

[bcool999]

Wanting to curse at the Company's current string of luck, Kuros reports what he discovers to the rest of the Company.

"It appears we stumbled into a Green Dragon's hunting ground." Kuros starts with a sigh, "I do not suggest fighting the beast if at all possible. Judging by the tracks alone it is likely bigger than we can handle. The question is, do we camp and try to hide from it until we can move on in the morning, or do we press on in the failing light and move out of it's territory?"

[BluesEclipse]

"Move," Ibuki grunts. "We stay and it finds us, we're dead men. We try to leave and it finds us, we may have a chance to appease it."

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Ibuki's suggestion seemed sound enough, so Kuros cast about to see where the edges of the territory might be. With night falling on the party, and owls hooting in the trees above, the six-armed warrior led them off, deeper into the Greenbelt. He steered them as best he could, ears waiting for the surely-imminent moment when there would be a waft of air displaced by massive wings and then an indrawn breath promising death ...

... but there wasn't. Eventually he led the group to a shallow dell where the trees were so thick it was hard to even see the stars, and told them it was the best available location. They all nervously bedded down, again waiting to die ...

... and didn't. Kuros was clearly getting better at this. Their rest was undisturbed and they rose and got underway again without any incident. It seemed Kuros had led them out of the dragon's hunting grounds, and now, better yet, he led them just as assuredly back to the edge of the Greenbelt once more, and they resumed their journey. That said, it had lost them a good half day; the Greenbelt only gave way to the hills east of them around midday or so, and they continued on towards the ultimate goal.

Again it was a quiet journey, and this time they didn't encounter any particular territory of note as they bedded down for the night. Further south, the Greenbelt was curving into the peninsula of forest that would take them closest to the Stag Lord's fortress, and their progress was good.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only travellers in the Greenbelt that night.

It fell to Ibuki to be on watch around nine bells, when the others were asleep. The night seemed still enough, though the woods were still thick and still churning with night noises. Crickets, owls ... and then, a series of noises, as of branches cracking and breaking, combined with grunting and hoots ... and then, a simian roar of challenge. Echoed by several more. Ibuki couldn't see them yet, but his superb senses knew there were large, powerful shapes crashing towards the Company's campsite ... seventy feet out, and closing fast ...


As a preface - Blues, Ibuki deducts 1 trail ration because he missed his forage roll. Everyone else passes. Complication Pool was rolled.

Something's 70 feet out and coming through the trees. Ibuki can't see them, yet, but it's clear it's headed in this direction, whatever it is. What do you do?

[BluesEclipse]

"UP!" Ibuki calls out sharply, readying his blade and looking towards the trees. "Something comes..." He says nothing more as he stands between the group and the treeline, ready to face whatever appears.

[bcool999]

Kuros awakes at Ibuki’s call. Reaching for his weapons, he stands, searching for enemies.

Standing from sleep and drawing hammer, Longsword, Cat and Bat and readying shield.

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh roused to wakefulness blearily, as the dream he had been having of a green dragon member of the Wolftooth Company rampaging through the Stag Lord's lands quickly faded away. He searched for his weapon, found it at his hip, and moved to see what the ruckus was about.

[Zombulian]

Gizonde woke with a start and frantically made a sign of protection.

Gizonde casts Sanctuary.

[jdizzlean]

Instantly awake as her training had instilled in her, Akara takes to the sky immediately.

"where is the threat Ibuki?!"

casting about, she tries to see what the fuss is about.

spot check: [roll0]
and as always, Flit is better at this than I [roll1]

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Akara didn't need to ask Flit what was happening. The hummingbird came screaming back to her shoulder, chittering in alarm. And as Akara looked, she could see, along with the rest of the Company, what was swinging through the trees toward their campsite: five oversized, monstrous apes, sometimes called dire apes. The apes gave roars and howls of battle as the branches around them crashed and snapped, and battle was joined!


https://images2.imgbox.com/52/ed/yauwnLdz_o.jpg


No surprise round. The main thing, though, is that the dire apes are each 20 feet off the ground, swinging through the trees towards you.

We're doing group initiative. Which means no individual rolls or order. Initiative rolls were made and came up as below.

Initiative Order:
Everyone except for Ibuki
Monsters
Ibuki

Everyone bar Blues, post up your actions in the next 48 hours from the time of this post. Actions are resolved in order of posting. Miss that deadline, you drop into Ibuki's group and I resolve the monsters' actions before turning to you again. Miss that second deadline, your character's on total defense until next round.

[Mercurion 2]

Tree monkeys. First tree halfings, now tree monkeys. It just proved Dergosh right in his dim view of trees in general. The only thing good that every came from trees was after you chopped them down.

Dergosh breathed on his mace and yelled, "Gruumsh's voice!" as his weapon began to gratingly hum.

Cast sonic weapon and move adjacent at Ibuki at H8

[bcool999]

Kuros stepped forward to protect the nearest caster putting himself between Gizonde and the approaching apes. He then readies himself for the apes to charge.

Move action: Move 20ft from K13 to G13.

Standard Action: Ready and attack on an ape should it enter my 10ft reach with my Hammer.

Attack: [roll0] -2 for power attack included.
Damage: [roll1] Bludgeoning damage with the +4 from power attack included.

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The dire apes came swinging out of the trees, hurling themselves through the air like gigantic 800 pound balls of fur and muscle at the small, puny humanoids beneath. But the Company was quick enough that not one of their number was smashed into the dirt by the gigantic forms as they landed, making the ground quake as they did. Still, it wasn't a foregone conclusion just yet; Kuros's swings at the one who'd leaped at him went awry, and the dire apes' wicked claws ripped a deep cut at Akara's shoulder and a laceration drawing blood from Dergosh's face, just above his eye.

https://images2.imgbox.com/21/1d/nbL1Xzq9_o.jpg


Really surprised, the dire apes tried cannonballing the lot of you and not one person failed their Reflex saves - even Dergosh with a +2.

Still, the apes did get a couple of shots in. Akara takes 12 damage and is now at 13/25 hitpoints by my count. Dergosh takes 8 damage and is at 30/38 if I have it right.

Initiative Order:
Everyone except Ibuki
Monsters
Ibuki

So Blues is up. 48 hours to post, then we can update and it'll be everyone else's turn.

[jdizzlean]

so even though i had flown up in the air, they managed to slam into the ground, and then reach me to hit? i suppose i never specified how far up i'd gone, but still, far enough to make a spot check in the trees seems out of reach for melee combat...

i also didn't act because reasons, total defense didn't stave off the attack either?


First moving into range, and then looking down, Akara points a finger at the nearest ape, that may or may not have hit her and a bead of swirling green energy flies between them.


lesser orb of acid, ranged touch [roll0] for [roll1]

[Saintheart]

Even if you went straight up 30 feet, the dire apes had enough of a leap to take a swipe at you as it went. Damage stands, though Akara's still in the air.

Also, it's Blues's turn. Let's wait and see what he does before Akara has to decide her actions.

[BluesEclipse]

Ibuki lets out a low growl at the apes, a faint, white mist seeping from his mouth as he does so. He inhales sharply, rearing back before spewing a spray of pale blue liquid which seems to cling to the beasts, freezing as it congeals on them.

Breath Weapon (Dragonborn) - 20' line of cold, angled to hit Apes 3 and 4. Entangling Exhalation applied - breath deals half damage, but clings for 1d4 rounds, entangling foes and dealing 1d6 cold damage per round.

Base Damage: [roll0] - Halved is 7 Cold, DC 22 Fort Save reduces to 3 Cold.
Entangle/Ongoing Damage Duration: [roll1] rounds
Breath Weapon Recharge: [roll2] rounds

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Ibuki's ability caught the dire apes by surprise almost as much as his companions; not only did the two he'd hit suffer from the blast of cold air, but their movement was dramatically reduced, their bodies shifting in a much slower speed than before...


https://images2.imgbox.com/21/1d/nbL1Xzq9_o.jpg


Dire Apes 3 and 4 are entangled. Over to everyone else: 48 hours to post, then the monsters get their turn.


Initiative Order:
Everyone except Ibuki
Monsters
Ibuki

[bcool999]

With combat joined, Kuros focuses on the foe before him. He delivers a flurry of cuts and stabs with his blades before backstepping and bringing his hammer to bear on the Dire Ape before him.

Full Round Action: Full attack the Dire Ape 1
Taking a 5ft step during the action to use the lucerne hammer.
Off-hand Longsword: [roll0] Crit on a 27-28
Damage: [roll1] Slashing
Off-hand Cat: [roll2] Crit on a 27-28
Damage: [roll3] Piercing
Off-hand Bat: [roll4] Crit on a 27-28
Damage: [roll5] Piercing

5ft step south to H13.

Main-hand Lucerne Hammer: [roll6] Crit on 28
Damage: [roll7] Bludgeoning

[jdizzlean]

....so i did nothing last round? shall my initial post stand as my action this one?

if so, or if not, then the same again

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Zombulian]

As Kuros took the offensive on the ape, Gizonde began an incantation and shifted himself slightly closer to the campfire.

Gizonde 5ft steps to I13 and begins casting Summon Monster III

[Mercurion 2]

Dergosh attempted to whack the ape directly in front of him.



[roll=damage]1d8+1d6+3

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

Kuros's blows buzzsawed into the ape before him, and while the creature managed to dodge a couple of the silvery arcs from long sword, short swords and hammer, the eyes in the Cat's stylised face seemed to gleam for a moment as the weapon bit in, drawing blood; and the hammer's followup strike drew a satisfying crack from one of the monster's arms.

The ape shrieked, turning immediately to run, bounding off back into the trees, clearly wanting no more of the fight. Kuros moved to cover Gizonde, who was in the midst of spellcasting. Above, a bolt of arcane fury from Akara went awry...

The other apes swarmed Ibuki and Dergosh, the southernmost one ignoring Akara and bounding in behind their new companion. They were hellishly quick, but Ibuki's thick hide turned most of the force of the blows that hit him, leaving him only with minor cuts. Not so Dergosh, who took a deep cut that sent a spray of blood across his face, risking staining the wolf helm he wore; it was worth it, for the crunch and resounding thoooom that rang from his ensorcelled weapon on contact with the dire ape's temple ...

https://images2.imgbox.com/ae/01/FsIS9leB_o.jpg


Ibuki wears a total of 4 hitpoints of damage after a rain of blows; his DR 8 does good work.
Dergosh takes 12 hitpoints of damage, but did 10 :)
Kuros did enough damage to make his ape turn and flee.

Initiative Order:
Everyone except Ibuki
Monsters
Ibuki

48 hours to post up and we'll see where we are.

[BluesEclipse]

Ibuki snarls at the apes before him, hefting his own blade and swinging it furiously towards one of them.

Ongoing Cold Damage on Apes 3 and 4 from Entangling Exhalation: [roll0] Cold. (If you've already rolled this on your end, Saint, feel free to ignore my roll here.)

Attack on Ape 3:
To Hit: [roll1], Crit on 24+
Damage: [roll2]

[Zombulian]

With a warbling hum and a crack, a tiny humanoid weasel appeared next to Gizonde. It placed a tiny paw on his foot, and the eneko vanished, before the weasel subsequently vanished itself as it dove straight down into the dirt.
Gizonde positioned himself so that the fire was between him and the apes, and began another incantation.

Gizonde summons a Musteval Guardinal to I12, which used its Invisibility SLA on him before burrowing 5ft down into the earth.
Gizonde 5ft steps to J13 and begins casting Conjure Ice Beast I.

[bcool999]

Kuros allows the beast to flee into the night before turning and observing the battlefield. Seeing Dergosh and Ibuki being flanked by the apes, he charges forth to break the encirclement with a full body swing of his hammer.

FRA: Charging Dire Ape 2, will Power attack for Full BAB. Will end up at I11 on the Tac Map. Just in range for my Hammer.

Attack: [roll0] (+4 bab, +5 str, +1 mwk, -4 for power attack, +2 for charge) Crit on a 28
Damage: [roll1] (+7 str, +8 Power attack)

[jdizzlean]

Cursing at her foul luck once again, Akara reaches behind her and pulls out her crossbow as she abandons the course of action she was about to take as her companion winks out of sight, perhaps a little fire will scatter these foes.


shooting at J8

[roll0] (crit on 25/26) for [roll1] plus [roll2] Fire

and then takes a 5ft "step" up :)

[Mercurion 2]

His own blood now mixed liberally with his adversaries, Dergosh got even angrier than usual, bellowing, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”

as he swung again with his humming mace.

Using rage and attacking:


[roll]1d8+5+1d6

Apparently roller hates compound rolls

[Saintheart]

The Eastern Fringe of the Greenbelt, the Stolen Lands
Nine bells (After dark)
Thirty-first of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR

Complication Dice: 6 of 6

The ape Dergosh shouted at immediately took to its heels and leapt away in full retreat, though that might well have been from the half-cracked skull Dergosh’s murmuring mace had imposed on it with a bell-like BWONG.

Kuros and Akara’s strikes went awry, and Gizonde was transparent to the eye as he cast one spell and prepared another.

Which left Ibuki in the midst of the hurricane. Blood had flown from the face of the ape he’d struck with his massive blade, but the creature screamed its rage, pounded its chest, and struck at Ibuki again and again. The blows struck against the dragonman’s thick hide, but the same thick hide turned their force entirely.

But a great pain shot up Ibuki’s side as one of the ape’s crucial blows struck, and caught the edge of an armor plate, tearing a muscle and sending blood flying. Still they hammered at him…

https://images2.imgbox.com/09/dd/xF7WyznU_o.jpg


In short – Akara and Kuros’s strikes miss, Ibuki does some major damage but it drives Ape 2 into a screaming frenzy, Ape 5 flees in the face of Charlton Heston Dergosh, and Ibuki takes a critical hit.

Ibuki takes 15 damage total after DR’s factored in.

Initiative Order:
Apes
Everyone Else

Over to you guys. And apologies for the delay again.

[BluesEclipse]

Ibuki lets out a roar at the injury, before stepping back slightly and unleashing a torrent of what appears to be a thick, flaming goop towards the apes.

Ongoing cold damage to Apes 3 and 4: [roll0] Cold.

5' Step to G7, then Breath Weapon: Dragonfire Adept - 15' Cone of Fire, aimed southward (to hit Apes 2 and 3). Entangling Exhalation applied.

[roll1] Fire Damage, Halved to 3 due to Entangling Exhalation, DC 22 Reflex for Half again (reduces to 1 on successful save). (I forgot about my Dragon Spirit Cincture's extra breath weapon damage on the first one, need to remember that.)
Entangle/Ongoing Fire Damage Duration: [roll2]

Cold Entangle (Apes 3, 4) - 1 Round Remaining
Fire Entangle (Apes 2, 3) - 2 Rounds Remaining

[bcool999]

Kuros takes advantage of the ape before him being covered in sticky flame to sweep with his hammer and step in for a series of slashes with his blades.

Full Attack Action on Ape 2 Taking a 5ft step to J10 after the first attack.

Hammer: [roll0] Crit on 28
Damage: [roll1] Bludgeoning

Magic Longsword: [roll2] Crit on 27-28
Damage [roll3] Slashing

Cat: [roll4] Crit on 27-28
Damage: [roll5] Piercing

Bat: [roll6] Crit on 27-28
Damage: [roll7] Piercing

[Zombulian]

Gizonde finishes his second summoning, ice and snow collecting into a small pointy form that began swiping at the ape that Kuros had advanced upon. While the musteval popped out of the dirt and flung motes of force at the ape by Dergosh and Ibuki, Gizonde made his way, unseen, to the raging cleric. He touched him with a whispered prayer.

Conjure Ice Beast I (Ice Beast Badger) to I7.
Gizonde moves to F9 and casts Guidance on Dergosh.
Musteval Guardinal casts Magic Missile at Ape 4 [roll0]+[roll1] force damage.
Ice Badger full attacks Ape 2
Attack:
Claw - To Hit [roll2] crit on 26
Damage [roll3] plus [roll4] cold
Claw - To Hit [roll5] crit on 26
Damage [roll6] plus [roll7] cold
Bite - To Hit [roll8] crit on 21
Damage [roll9] plus [roll10] cold

[jdizzlean]

Reloading her crossbow, Akara once again aims at the back of the closest ape, and fires.


ape 2 (or ape 3 should 2 fall before my action)
[roll0]
for [roll1] plus [roll2] fire

[Mercurion 2]

Howling with glorious rage, Dergosh lunged to his left to smash his mace down on the next ape that had been so foolish as to test them.

5’ step south to flank the ape there.
1d20+11
Damage 1d8 + 1d6 + 5