Kingmaker [Stolen Land] (IC)

[lostsole31]

R1T14: Beltin actually covers his face for a moment, incredibly embarrassed at his complete botch of an attempt to help. However, his sudden outburst might have caused bigger problems, so he scans the horizon to see what, if anything, would decide to pay the source of the noise a visit. Other than Lini and the critter .... and the others back at camp 35' from you ... Beltin doesn't see anything else. Yet.

R1T13-12: Sajan grabs his temple sword and moves forward to investigate, the burning firebrand still in his other hand. Harrim comes with him. They both end their movement 15' behind Beltin.

R1T8: The critter, already spooks, launches at the small, defenseless meal 10' in front of it (Lini). It gnoshes on Lini's head for 9, with Lini screaming in pain.

R1T4: Lini shouts, "Droogami, <small-cat yowl>!" She takes out her sickle and tries to attack, but ends up nipping her own belly with the point, and she staggers back five feet.

R1T3: Droogami rushes up past Lini and interposes itself between the critter and her master.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T15: Lini moves forward 30', ending right behind Beltin. "A brush thylacine!" she gasps. "Bigger marsupial than normal, smaller ones. Hey, guys, did you hear about Ulrich the Alone, who once fought one of these!"

And in she begins to tell a story about a hero fighting one of these. At first it is clear you could never have heard of such an ersatz hero, because she is obviously improvising than telling a real story. No, the real power is that she tells jokes about a ridiculous failure that accidentally killed one, and his terrible decisions make the allies feel better.

R2T14: Beltin, you are 10' from the "thylacine." What do you do?

Sajan on deck, Harrim in the hole ...

[digiman619]

Beltin draws his blade and motions with his hand. If he had this thing figured out right, he should hit this thing with more lightning.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

MA: Draw sword
SA: Planar Detonation on the baddy. (1d20+7)[26] (3d8)[10]
Prepare to use Warning Roar if it attacks Lini again.

[lostsole31]

R2T14: Beltin draws his blade and motions with his hand. If he had this thing figured out right, he should hit this thing with more lightning. This time, however, he doesn't put so much focus (i.e., indignant rage) into it as the other day and lets loose. He is more careful with the application this time as well, the lightning arcing over Droogami's head and flank to hit the brush thylacine mid-flank for 11 NL.

R2T13: Sajan knows a battle is on and moves up on the other side of Droogami while in the same dance-like movements as when he fought bandits the other day. He stands back 10' from the thylacine, torch in hand to now make it easier for himself, Lini, and Linzi to fight. Even from that distance, he attacks with the temple sword and somehow reaches over the distance, striking the critter on the other flank for 11.

R2T12: Harrim sees Lini's distress and goes up to her. "Tell me how I may help."

R2T8: The thylacine attacks Droogami, but the snow leopard is smaller and much faster.

R2T4-3.5: Lini steps back another five feet after taking 2 STR BLEED, her pericardial sack having been ruptured. She tells Harrim what he needs to do to help her. Her abdomen is still bleeding even after their first attempt.

R2T3: Droogami counterattacks. She bites for 5, but her claws find no purchase.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T15: Linzi continues her tale, stepping to the outside of Beltin and shooting her crossbow, and missing. She reloads.

R3T14: Beltin, what do you do?

Sajan on deck, thylacine in the hole ...

[digiman619]

Sword now fully drawn, he rushes forward and slices at the beast with his sword, hoping to knock it off guard.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Is it too late to quantify the form the sword took? Because as I am 5th level, it gets an effective +3 to enhancement. If it's not too late, I'd want it to be a +1 shocking burst weapon. If it is, it's just a +3. Regardless, I won't include the bonus there and leave it to you to adjudicate.
MA: Approach the thing, standing next to Sajan
SA: Initiate Hunting Party; use Power Attack+ Furious Focus (1d20+12)[15] (1d8+10)[12]. If it hits, the beast triggers an AoO for Sajan.
Use Warning Roar to stop the beast's next attack.

If you do include shocking burst, here's the damage rolls they'd use . (1d6)[2] (1d10)[7]

[lostsole31]

R3T14-3.5: Sword now fully drawn, Beltin rushes forward and slices at the beast with his sword, hoping to knock it off guard. He does better than that, though, knocking the beast down after doing 19. Sajan immediately steps back to look at Lini's terrible puncture wound. He drops sword and brand to the side, but enough to give light, and assists in the rescue effort. It still isn't enough, and Lini takes another 2 STR BLEED!!!

R3T3: Droogami savages the unconscious thylacine (now dead).

End Round 3, Begin Round 4 ...

R4T15:Linzi stops her performance. She moves over to Lini and takes out her healing potion, but Lini tells her that it won't be enough for this type of wound.

R4T14: Beltin, the thylacine is down, and you are seeing the monk and priest tend to the druid's badly bleeding torso. It is a hideous wound, and you don't understand why Lini wouldn't take the healing potion to stop the bleeding. What do you do, if anything?

[digiman619]

Beltin knelt next to the injured druid. He wanted to do something, anything to help. He put his hand on her shoulder; hoping he could magic something up.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Don't know if it'll help, but I will shape Martyr's Toga with 2 essence and take whatever damage I can from her.

[lostsole31]

R4T14: Beltin knelt next to the injured druid. He wanted to do something, anything to help. He put his hand on her shoulder; hoping he could magic something up. That is when he realized .... he never added any of his companions to his collective!

Spoiler: Collective

Show

And you better be clear in mentioning what you're going to do when you do, because people don't have psi-directional sense or an "caller ID" to know what is happening, and so would naturally resist mental intrusion.

It is okay, though, because this time - even though Lini still ends up taking another 2 STR BLEED, with the help of Sajan and Harrim she is finally able to stop the hemorrhaging.

Initiative Tracker Ends ...

Lini is carried by Sajan, and Harrim collects the monk's sword and the makeshift torch. And the group makes their way back to camp. And so, there is more reason than for the group to head back to Oleg's in the morning.

[digiman619]

In the morning, Beltin addresses his team. "Okay, things got bad out there, but we're all still here." He pauses, looking down as he speaks "I have an ability that I never really used much in training, but it should be able to let me mitigate wounds you guys take. It's just that since we never took any serious damage in training, so I forgot about that quality. I also was reticent to use it as it involves a mental link, and I don't try to intrude on your guys' privacy."

He looks up at their faces as he continues "But both Sajan and Lini got seriously hurt, and if I had had the foresight to use all the powers at my disposal, that could have been, if not avoided, at least made much less severe. I'm sorry. I can't undo that damage. However, with your permission, I'd like to make that link with you all, and make a habit of re-linking us as part of our morning preparations. I can't guarantee that you won't get hurt out here in the wilds, but I will do everything in my power to minimize that if I can."

[lostsole31]

Before everyone falls asleep, it seems that Lini hadn't fallen fully asleep quite yet when the thylacine encountered occurred. She was enjoy laying against Droogami and the feel of the warm cat's fur and warmth.

Wealday, 3 Pharast ...

When Beltin awakes later that morning, Droogami isn't to be found. Lini is still quite weak, but she says that the more ephemeral nature of her companion means that unlike a "real" animal, her droogami disappears whenever she falls asleep.

<Beltin discusses the above>

Everyone is fine with that, but morning routines need to be finished first. Last night before turn-in, Harrim had to cast two healing spells, which fully healed the wound from the bite of the thylacine, but had no impact on her abdominal wound (though it seems to have healed a little with sleep).

There is fresh snow on the ground, more than yesterday's dusting, but only barely. Because she is weakened significantly, Lini does not perform the ritual that brings forth Droogami, though she will meditate.

During his own downtime, Beltin will attempt - and succeed - at calling forth the black gauntlets that protected him from cold yesterday. In meditating on them, he realizes they can be potent weapons in their own right, as he senses the magical power coursing through them as they become visible, spiked, and wickedly sharp. He then meditates on the finely crafted longsword that seemed to come from nowhere last night. He didn't notice it, but he felt enervated shortly after creating the sword, and went to bed shortly thereafter. Instead of expecting or forcing, he allows the creative powers to flow through him, shaping as they are meant to. Because he is not in battle, he senses the fact that there was indeed some effort in bringing it forth .... not too much ... but enough to notice.

In his hand, he bears a shillelagh. Not the finely crafted metal longsword of yesternight, but a long, beautiful, knobbed walking stick (masterwork greatclub).

[digiman619]

Beltin is mildly confused with the club he summoned. Was he able to summon or sorts of weapons? Or was it supposed to be a club that he managed to make a sword? He puts that thought aside as he adds everyone to his collective. Once that's done and all the other morning set-up is done, he starts to break camp so they can head out. He will take note to see if Lini is still capable to ride with her injury; if she's not, he'll consult with Harrim as how best to move her.

[lostsole31]

Everyone is now in the collective.

It is colder today (low of 10 F) than yesterday, but Lini recommends hustling, not just moving, directly for Oleg's. She does cast that spell though, and it will get to be no higher than 18 F today, but not a cloud in the sky and no wind, so at least no wind chill. Tomorrow, should be more of the same, but the humidity will go from low to dry, so hydration is important so as not to develop nosebleeds. Bright sun, dry weather - regardless of temperature means needing plenty of water.

Lini is in pain, make no mistake, but she handles herself well .... no worse than any small folk normally could on any given day, which speaks well of Lini's strength.

During the hard ride, Beltin hears Linzi asking Sajan about his fighting style. "Is that Mithral Current you did last night? It looked like the Reaching Blade Stance."

Sajan, surprised, admits that it is the very stance and martial discipline. "How did you know? Are you a practitioner?"

"No, I just studied at the Grand Academy of the Arts in Pitax," she demurs, "a very well-rounded education."

There might be a little bit of frostbite and hypothermia by the time you reach Oleg's a few hours later among the equines and NPCs, but only a little, and nothing that the firepit couldn't handle.

Does Beltin try to use his martyr ability on Lini?

[digiman619]

As they sit near the fire pit, Beltin comes over to Lini. "How you feeling?" After she responds, he looks down again. "I know I said it before, but I am really sorry that I wasn't prepared and got you hurt worse than you needed to. I wish I could have taken that instead of you." He says sighing. He took a breath and looked back up at her. "Especially since it was my horrible timing that startled it in the first place." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I hope you feel better soon"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Yes, he will try to use the Martyr ability

[lostsole31]

Nothing happens. Nothing is transferred. You sense Lini in the still-active collective, but nothing her injury does not transfer.

"What are you talking about? I never used to have someone go with me to calm a wild animal, but I needed the light. And though your race - whatever it is - seems to do far better in the cold than the rest of us, it still got to you, yesterday. So, it makes perfect sense that even though time and magic healed your exposure, that it was enough in this winter air for you to have caught a case of the sniffles."

She thinks for a few moments. "So, I don't just have eyes front. I like to be aware of all around me, if possible, so I was looking around when you made that sword. Then, I noticed again when you made the shillelagh today. The sword you made was a wooden club, then a wooden sword, than a metal sword, all in the span of two seconds. The planar detonation two days ago. The gauntlets of the void yesterday and today. You're an akashic, aren't you? You seem to be both a nexus, and an astrologist. That power of the club you made is based on an ancient version of the Zodiac known as the Druid. As a member of the Green Faith, of course I'd know that one. But you looked at it with curiosity this morning, not mastery."

She doesn't have a question but allows Beltin to add what he will. And you are all together at the firepit right now, by the way, with all eyes upon you. Except Linzi. Linzi is cheerily lost in thought as she writes in her journal, which your keen eye recognizes as a ruse to not have to give away the fact that she already knew.

[digiman619]

Beltin shakes his head bemusedly. "Somehow, it seems that everyone else knows what's going on with me better than I do. Anything else anyone wants to tell me while we're here?"

[lostsole31]

Sajan and Harrim look at each other, confused, and Sajan pipes up. "I have no idea what Lini just said. What's acacia?"

[digiman619]

Beltin shook his head bemusedly. "Never mind. It's not important." He gave a contented sigh. He had food, he had his crew, things were all right. He looked over everyone. "Okay, I think it'll be best to hole up here for a bit. I don't want to head back out with Lini still on the mend."

[lostsole31]

"Before Harrim plays doctor with me," and here Lini gives a wink to Harrim, who groans, "I think that cold weather exploration is tough. But it is unnecessarily tough - and expensive - with the mounts. Sure, we can cover more ground, but those are more lives in our care that we are unnecessarily exposing to cold weather. Think on that." And with that, Harrim helps her to her room.

You are not the only ones at Oleg's by the way, as a hunter has stopped here, and he joins you at the fire pit. "From Restov, by the looks of you. I don't know where ya' goin', but I hear tell there used to be a bridge crossing the Shrike River to the southeast, but bandits ruined it. They say the old bridge keeper Davik Nettles haunts the place now. Just neighborly advice if you and your'n' are headin' that way."

[digiman619]

"You're not wrong" he'd say. "Us coming in from Restov, I mean. Thanks for the heads-up; we'll do our best to give it a wide berth, at least for the time being. So, what are you doing out here? It's not exactly the most pleasant time of the year."

[lostsole31]

"Name's Antagoras. Hunter. Live just north o' the road ...me' an' my wife, Peg. Wanted to check on Ollie and Laney since I knew bandit tribute was a few days ago. Make sure they's still in one piece. Heard tell 'bout what you and your'n' did. Much obliged. Hopefully, it'll be enough. Then agin', you might just've kicked a hornet's nest. Guess we'll see. Less'n' you do something about it, first."

If there's nothing else, Antagoras will go to bed in his room in the guesthouse.

[digiman619]

Beltin shrugged. "I'd love to do something about those bandit, but I haven't the foggiest on where their base is, and exploring in this weather is full of its own problems." He stretches, hearing one of his joints pop in the process. "But that's a worry for another day. I'm gonna head to bed and worry about what to do in the morning."

[lostsole31]

There is still some time before bed. And though the hard, but short, ride in the cold didn't bring out the creativity in Beltin, but he is a bit raw-minded and needs to relax. So, he meditates. But instead of his tried-and-true, cerebral psionic meditation, he hearkens back to the morning ..... to where his mind, even his soul was, in the creation of the club (which he forgot about at the fire pit and has since dissipated) and his akashic gauntlets. He meditates on the energy that is in him and its connection to those gauntlets .... the flow of energy, but also the solidification at the end.

The gauntlets were a fluke, based on a desperate need to deal with extreme weather. Beltin's advanced arcane study has brought him to intellectually understand energy in a variety of forms, but the instinctive part of him can't help but think of "more or less" energy as a function of heat. And that is what he feels after several minutes, a definitive heat about his brow. Looking into a mirror, and focusing on that heat, Beltin sees a brass circlet forming bout his head. He doesn't sense any particular benefit, but does have an instinct that it has something to do with fire, and not enough warmth to counteract cold weather, unfortunately.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Beltin plays more with putting E into and out of veils, and has opened the circlet of brass veil. Not particularly useful for his PC, but makes sense on the RP of formation of veils on off-time.

Tiring enough as that all was to do, Beltin goes to sleep.

[lostsole31]

Oathday, 4 Pharast ...

One of the things Beltin will soon realize is that while the creation of akashis structure requires as much intellect as any psionic focus, yet it includes intution and emotion as well. Coming out of a night where his guilt saddles him with dark thoughts about the previous couple of days, and his own feeling of impotence when his crew was hurt, leads Beltin down dark thoughts that threaten to hold him in an emotionally unhealthy place if he is not careful. Almost as if in reponse to that, Beltin feels - not a weight - and yet a burden that physically manifests on his shoulder. As he concentrates on that feeling (i.e., investing E), black tendrils grow out from his shoulders. Beltin realizes that in shaping this veil, he can share those dark urges with his enemy .... physically.

Spoiler: Unlock

Show

Grasping Darkness veil (shoulders) unlocked).

After his morning routine, Beltin will have breakfast and likely check in on Lini, who is out cold. Harrim admits that while she is doing better than previously, the injury stymied his own meager mundane healing skill. But, if she doesn't die during the day (wait, what? ... oh, just Harrim being Harrim), he will continue to tend to her, but she needs complete rest.

And with the party's only focused survivalist and meteorologist out of action, only a fool would try to go roaming about today (and it is damn cold today, exactly as Lini predicted).

Beltin will realize that there is a little more traffic than before - people passing through. He will hear another rumor, though from a Pitaxian merchant. "Bandits aren't the only things in the Kamelands that cause trouble -- there's a tribe of kobolds and a tribe of mites living somewhere in the hills, too. They aren't as much trouble as the bandits, but their presence certainly makes the idea of settling the land less attractive."

[digiman619]

Beltin tilts his head "A tribe of mites? Like the tiny bugs?"

[lostsole31]

"Yeah, but they stand upright like a man and wield a weapon in each of their buggish hands."

"No, no, no," says Oleg laughing. "A mite is smaller'n' a man, like a housecat. They swarm over opponents in huge waves, but are known for building huge mounds, and have a taste for wood."

"Honey, please," corrects Svetlana, while the merchant and Svetlana laugh at him. "They are only a little bit smaller than a tall man. A 'mite' bit smaller. They have a fox's head, a roly-poly's body, and the arms of one of those hairy, tree-climbing people from far-off forests. Monkeys, I think they're called. They have the strength to crush a rock in their bare hands. They are cursed with the feet of a duck, though. They look ridiculous, but folk underestimate 'em. That's how they get ya. Lost my cousin Marka to one, from what I hear."

Oleg, the merchant, Sajan and a couple other hunters marvel at Svetlana's insight, no longer laughing, but more "ooh"-ing in marvel (and fear) at such a terrifying creature.

"Ummmm," umms Linzi, "I am pretty sure that a mite is a fey creature about my size with blue skin. They make friends with bugs."

There is silence as everyone looks at her. Then they all break out into laughter, even Sajan. Linzi finds herself unwittingly caught up in the laughter.

Oleg says, tears streaming out of his eyes. "Leave it to civilized folk to not know nothing about wilderness creatures. Then again, you do tell some pretty entertaining stories."

[digiman619]

"The point" Beltin interjected "is that they're dangerous and need to be taken care of. We'll be sure to keep an eye out for it, thank you." Beltin hoped with that it would defuse any possible embarrassment that Linzi might be facing.

[lostsole31]

The rest of the day goes by uneventfully.

[lostsole31]

Fireday, 5 Pharast ...

Beltin will spend the morning in meditation, slowly sensing this strange wellspring of power that underlies his psionic strength. He concentrates on that energy in his arms, chest, and down through his hips and even his feet, sensing how it connects with his own prodigious strength. Much more easily than before, he is able to bring forth the gauntlets of the void; unlike before, he finds he is actually able to bring the power out through his wrists in lieu of his hands. In doing so, he senses the strength of the gauntlets as before, but realizes that the strange .... synergy? .... of the gauntlets to his hands is not sensed in his wrists.

Spoiler

Show

He realizes now he can shape the veil to his wrists, not just his hands, but also realizes that the synergy to that point of his body (the binding) is not as strong (i.e., not bound).

It didn't take long, but people are already getting bored, as there is not much to do here at the trading post. Sajan gathers everyone up and will teach everyone a type of meditation to help strengthen the mind. It isn't exciting, but does open up interesting conversations.

Spoiler

Show

Given Beltin's psionic training - which admittedly, is actually meager - Beltin probably has been thinking he was as strong of mind as he was in body, but he will discover that the real source of mental resistance on the team is Sajan. True, he doesn't have any external power with which to use it - psionics, not even your new akasha, psychic powers, not even spellcasting like Harrim - but he seems to have masterful focus. So, if you ever needed someone to count on for overcoming mental whammies, he is your guy.

Lini will convalesce fully today as well, under Harrim's ministrations. Later in the evening when folks are together, Harrim will say that Lini had been having delirious dreams, involving a creature Harrim had never heard of, but is truly a fantastic beast of the sea ... eight tentacled arms, no bones, the ability to squeeze to incredibly small diameter in relation to its body size, squirting clouds of ink, and able to blend into its surroundings. Harrim seems spooked by the description. Actually, Harrim's description is dire and grim enough to disturb everyone, but it is Linzi who will give the thing a name: octopus. She says they are not actually terribly scary, and usually small and cute. She had seen a couple in an aquarium in Pitax.

Leger van Tonder, a local farmer purchasing supplies, shares a rumor with Beltin and the others at evening meal. "Ya, some of them bandits wear silver amulets that resemble a stag's skull. I hear them bandits belong to a debased cult dedicated to a hideous animal demon."

[digiman619]

Beltin nods, pulling out the amulet he found on the bandit leader's body. "Yeah, found this on of them. Our local knowledge expert seems to think that it might be honoring one of the older aspects of Erastil, but I admit that I'm not much of a scholar."

[lostsole31]

The non-Eternals there gasp in shock and a little bit of fear given van Tonder's statement. Linzi shrugs, "I mean, I think it might be Erastilian, because the horned hunter is a common trope in his religion, but I guess it could be a debased cultic form of something else. I do doubt that a bandit would be a good candidate for Erastilian worship."

[digiman619]

Beltin nods. "It's like how gods who are neutral on the whole good and evil thing can have drastically different tenets despite worshiping the same god. Though Erastil isn't neutral like that, so I'm not really sure why they'd be worshiping him like that."