Kingmaker [Stolen Land] (IC)

[lostsole31]

Sajan will spend some time meditating and doing some kata before going to bed. Beltin will work on power striking combat form. Lini is in arcane meditation.

Soon, it is time for them to retire and Beltin to take the watch. No fire was made, there is a quarter-waning moon, and not a cloud in the sky. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and Beltin sees an area of stars in the sky that is particularly striking. He doesn't fall asleep, but he does realize he has been in a bit of a trance for awhile, when he feels something. On his face. But also a sag in his energy.

He pulls off whatever is on his face, and it appears to be a wooden spirit-mask of some sort. Beltin instinctively realizes that this mask is metaphysically connected to the shillelagh or longsword he is able to call forth, and that both forms seem to be something related not only to each other, but somehow to the stars. Unfortunately, he doesn't know the stars, so he will have to wait until the next day to ask Lini.

The night passes uneventfully...

[lostsole31]

Toilday, 9 Pharast ...

The next morning after Beltin wakes up the others. The weather has gotten "a lot warmer," which is to say the low went from -20 the previous night to a low of 0 before dawn. There is a faint breeze from the south now .... cold, dry air ... not a cloud in the sky.

The three of you begin your morning routines. For you (because it is your comfort zone) and for Sajan, it is a lot of physical exercise, weapons drills, kata, etc. For Lini, it is believing in her faith over nature. No sooner is that done than she casts endure elements on herself and Sajan again.

The second hour of morning routine is when Beltin makes the discovery that he doesn't have much of a morning routine. As fatigued as he is from staying up all night, he realizes he doesn't have the mental concentration to unshape so as to discover or create any new effects. The good news is that it seems that these veils - far as he can tell - don't actually have a limit on duration. The wooden mask is still on his face, which would explain why Lini and Sajan looked at him curiously.

Sajan's second hour of morning routine, which Beltin really hasn't seen since the Night ... the night that everyone seemed to have different dreams and strange visions (such as your own) .... is likewise more martial kata and meditation, but there are times, not often, but some times .... when Beltin might view the smallest glint of a static discharge from Sajan's fist or in a defensive whirl.

Lini, on the other hand, is the first real time you have ever seen her in any morning routine since the Night. She already did a more commune-like meditation, and honestly? The second hour is almost more of the same. It is how she ends that hour that, well, blows Beltin's mind. From her spell component pouch she draws forth a wadded mixture of flowers and crushed fruit. She bites her lip and spits into the mixture. She then smears that into the cold, hard ground. Beltin soon sees that Lini has made a strange design in the ground. Realizing that she is being watched, perhaps Beltin not realizing he has drawn closer in curiosity, she clears her throat and says, "A little space, please, and don't disturb me or talk to me for the next ten minutes .... because I am not talking to you."

She then proceeds to speak in an unknown language for the next ten minutes. Though Beltin doesn't know the language, he has enough time listening to her speaking to realize that she is not intoning some unknown ritual, nor in a dialogue, but speaking as if delivering a report or narrating a story. Once she has done this, that is when the real weird stuff begins. Flowers grow out of the cold, hard, subarctic winter ground .... doing so in a ring around the abstract drawing ... with the largest flowers growing in the center of the drawing. Finally, the largest bud in the center opens up and a female gnome's face is there! She speaks in the same unknown language to Lini, and Lini responds, and the flower-gnome-face chat for a minute. Then, the flower-face-gnome, the flowers, and even all remaining remnants of the sigil Lini drew seems to be breathed into Lini.

Lini stands, ready to begin the day. And standing behind her is a pony-sized pachyderm, albeit more muscular, that Beltin has never seen before. However, he has at least seen storybook pictures of them, and his is a particularly small "woolly mammoth," though in this case, the mammoth has the same eidoletic sigil at its forehead as Lini now again possesses.

Beltin, you are pretty sure you just saw pact magic being used, but you don't know anything more than that. And the whole thing of a master-eidolon rune-sharing is melting your brain.

[digiman619]

Beltin tilted his head quizzically. "Wait." Beltin says, confusion in his voice. "Judging from what little I know about how magic works and how you told me you weren't talking to me, that was a pact to a spirit you just made, right? So if your companion is from that, why'd it go away last night? Aren't pacts supposed to be for 24 hours?"

[lostsole31]

Lini says, "That you know anything about pact magic is impressive. Yes, that was a pact I made. I don't have the skills of a true pactmaker, though. I am not a true amateur, either. Hmm, how to begin. So, what do you know about druidic magic?"

[digiman619]

Beltin shrugged. "Well, I know it's in the same category of magic that clerics, warpreists and other priestly types use, but druids have a connection to nature directly rather than via a divine agent of some sort."

[lostsole31]

As you chat, you strike camp and begin exploration, rather than standing still.

She nods. "Most druids - though there are exceptions - are able to call on aid from animal servants in extremis, in the same way as most clerics can heal wounds. It's nothing you prepare, it is just the baseline part of the underlying theme and philosophy of what makes a druid, in the same way as the most basic element of most clerics is fortifying allies.

"Well, I wanted to know more about conjurations and summonings, and how I could make them stronger. Let's face it, a puppy or a pony really doesn't inspire terror, and at the time I could only bring about help for less than ten seconds. Hardly helpful. Well, I studied all manner of summoning in the field. On one hand, I found techniques to give my summoned greater physical power, but they would still only last a few seconds. Also, in one what one former mentor felt was a betrayal of faith in the power of my own summons, I realized that simple animals were not always enough. So, I began to study more arcane summonings for greater variety ... the skills and power of the summoner.

"I told you that I had a more schooled course of study than you'd expect from a gnome from the Land of the Linnorm Kings, right? But a secret conclave of gnomes, not a boring human university. And we gnomes have some .... unusual branches of study to be found in our schools. Well, by pure luck I found what's called a gnostic tome to call forth She of the Endless Names. I worked with another teacher to create a course of study that blended pactmaking with summoning ... and in addition to being a druid, I took on the path of what is called a 'spirit caller' - one who works with both arcane summonings and pactmaking combined.

"You with me so far?"

[digiman619]

Beltin has the expression of a man who is struggling to keep up. "Okay, I get that part, I think. I guess the question becomes 'If you learned how to make a pact as this gnome school, why wait until now to use that power?'. And 'Is that connected to you getting your druid powers back'?"

[lostsole31]

"There is a sophomoric means of categorizing casting traditions," Lini replies, "and the worst is that only divine magic is really a 'magic of belief.' That other casting traditions - most notably arcane - is simply a function of either knowledge ('I know a thing'/'I do a thing') or accident (as in the case of sorcerers).

"No," she shakes her head. "You can intone a spell perfectly, provide the most precise and accurate somatic components, and have the highest quality spell ingredients. But not a damn thing is going to happen if you don't have the belief that your actions will bring forth a change in your reality. It doesn't matter if intellect, will, or personality drives your magic, pactmaking, psionics, psychic powers, even your akasha. There may have been accidental eruptions of power in youth, but to be able to express these various forms of cosmic power in any practiced manner? Despite experience or training, at the most fundamental of all spellcasting is the Power of Belief.

"While my spirit calling powers are arcane as far as nomenclature, they were an outgrowth of my belief in the philosophy of the Green Faith, not in spite of that belief. And when I lost my faith two years ago, that affected my ability to invoke druidic magic, to cast summoning spells, or to actually bring forth a connection with She with Endless Names."

[digiman619]

Beltin might not have all the details of the last bit, but he got the gist of it. "Okay, if all that was connected to your deal with the Green Faith (which you no longer follow), what changed that allowed you to use it now? Because I was thinking that the summoning part was tied to the change, not an old power you were also regaining."

[lostsole31]

Lini looks at Beltin oddly. "That's a bit of assumption you have there. I have found my faith again. Anything beyond that is personal. My experience was my own."

[digiman619]

Beltin raises his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. It's just that seeing you apparently summon a deceased pet back to life and you regaining your previously lost druidic abilities returning seemed to be linked is all." He put his hands down. "But you're right; your experience is personal and if you wanted to share it, you would. I won't ask again." He turned to Sajan. "Anything else I should avoid, now that the topic has come up?"

[lostsole31]

Sajan mouths the words "Ex-husbands" in response to Beltin's question before turning away and getting ready to leave.

The party spends the day exploring this section of the plains in some manner of pattern that is beyond Beltin, but makes sense to Lini. Towards the latter part of the day, the team sees a vast swath of death. It is an irregularly-shaped area about 200' in diameter(ish) with the skeletons of boars, deer, bears, and possibly a few humans.

What now?

[digiman619]

Beltin stops at the edge of the disturbance. "What happened here?" He asks Lini in hushed tones. He'd never seen devastation of this magnitude before.

[lostsole31]

Lini looks at the carnage. "The timeframe for decomp varies wildly. This wasn't an event, but is a dumping ground. I think something lairs here .... hidden."

[digiman619]

"That's... disconcerting." Beltin said. "Do you think we should we continue, or is this something you'd recommend we wait until we have the whole party here to deal with?"

[lostsole31]

Sajan says, "There is danger here. With environmental concerns and the cold, we only make it more difficult trying to bring the others here. I am confident we can handle whatever challenge we find!"

Lini, on he other hand, says, "I would prefer to to investigate to know more, but it seems like there is a major predator lairing here. In warmer weather, I would immediately want to solve this, but it is too cold for too many hunters and trappers to be out. On the other hand, it has been cold long enough that if whatever is here has gotten too hungry, it might leave to go hunt a larger area. We should deal with it now."

[digiman619]

Beltin nodded. "Then let's keep an eye out for it. Better deal with it now than let it get out of hand for later."

[lostsole31]

Beltin, give me a marching order, please.

[digiman619]

We are in a V formation, with Beltin taking point

[lostsole31]

Surprise: Something the size of a pony bursts forth from the ground and clacks at Beltin from his right before disappearing to the right again.

Begin Round One ...

R1T18-12: Lini's droogami-mammoth rises up on two legs and trumpets in surprise before slamming down again, but otherwise waits for Lini to give it an order. Which she does, pointing to a slightly raised something on the ground and making a cute gnome-trumpets-like-mammoth sound. The mammoth rears again as if it understands her.

R1T10: Beltin, it must have been the fatigue, because you normally acquit yourself as being very alert, and this was a complete surprise. Looking to the right of you, there is a section of ground recently disturbed that you now barely note .. a section of ground big enough for a medium creature, but bound with webs and covered over with refuse and dirt. What do you do?

[digiman619]

Beltin draws his longsword (the physical one, not the one made of akashic energy), bringing it into a guarded position. He takes a harrowing stance and readies himself to strike.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

MA:Draw sword. (I'd use the fancy akashic one, but it'd take a SA to do so)
SwA: Enter Vigilant Keeper's Stance
SA: Ready Strike of the Infinite Protector.

I also use Warning Roar if either of my teammates are attacked, and if they get hit, I will take the damage for them and spend PP to mitigate it. Remember, no matter how much PP I spend to mitigate it, it deals at least 1 damage to me, so keep that in mind when it comes to PP usage

[lostsole31]

R1T10: Beltin draws his longsword (the physical one, not the one made of akashic energy), bringing it into a guarded position. He takes a harrowing stance and readies himself to strike.

R1T9: Sajan moves over to the area while drawing out his temple swords and slashes at the ground, tearing apart the trap door made of webs and debris. "There's a tunnel here!"

End Round 1, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T12: Lini says something in Mammoth to the creature.

Spoiler: Beltin

Show

I forgot to mention it on your turn, sorry! But Beltin UNDERSTANDS what Lini says when she speaks, er, Mammoth! She just told the Mammoth to guard.

Lini goes over to the trap door and says, "I think I see something in the tunnel there. It is at an angle, and we could go down."

R2T10: Beltin, what do you do? Whatever tried (and failed) to attack you hasn't attacked again in several seconds.

Sajan on deck, Lini in the hole ...

[digiman619]

Beltin seemed to argue with himself for a second before going to the tunnel "Keep your eye out!" he says as he begins to descend. "It probably has other exits"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Begin to go down the tunnel. Keep the stance, Warning Roar (if applicable) and the damage mitigation things active.

[lostsole31]

R2T10: Beltin seemed to argue with himself for a second before going to the tunnel "Keep your eye out!" he says as he begins to descend. "It probably has other exits."

Beltin looks into the hole. It is a 5-foot-diameter, 25-foot-deep shaft (slight decline, so it is still a climb). There is thick webbing along the walls that might make it easier for someone who is a climber to relatively easily clamber up and down the shaft. 10' down the shaft, there is a very large spider looking up at Beltin.

R2T9: Sajan looks down, the sky giving light to the shaft below. He chucks down two curious throwing items. They are shaped like metal stars. One of the things hits for 6.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T12: "Giant trapdoor spider," Lini says, her eyes having adjusted. "The poison is a paralytic."

She walks over to the mammoth and says, "You boys have this, but you might want to ready attacks, since they dart back and forth quickly."

R3T11: The spider clacks and chitters menacingly, but doesn't attack.

R3T10: Beltin, what do you do?

Sajan on deck, Lini in the hole ...

[digiman619]

Rather than risk heading down into the burrow, he summons his might and shoots it with lightning.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

SA:Planar Detonation (1d20+6)[11] vs touch. (3d8)[7] NL electric

[lostsole31]

R3T10: Rather than risk heading down into the burrow, he summons his might and shoots it with lightning, but he spider is quick and dodges.

R3T9: Sajan goes into a stance similar to what you've seen before. Even though he is punching down, somehow his fist makes it all the way down to the big spider to strike it for 9.

End Round 3, Begin Round 4 ...

R4T11: The spider zooms up to bite at Sajan this time, and gets him in the belly for 6. Beltin hears him mutter something quickly in an unknown language.

R4T10: Beltin, what do you do?

Sajan on deck, spider in the hole...

[digiman619]

Beltin chides himself for not being more careful. He grabs his sword with both hands and slashes at it with his sword, hoping to cover Sajan from a second hit.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

SA: Initiate Strike of the Infinite Protector w/Power Attack (1d20+11)[24] (1d8+13)[16]. If successful, give him +2 AC for 1 round.
Ready my defenses (Warning Roar if it attacks an ally, and take the damage and mitigate it with PP via Martyrdom)
Also, remember my area is difficult terrain for it.

[lostsole31]

Beltin cuts deep into it, and it tumbles down the shaft to the bottom, its legs partially caught near the floor so it has a weird, splayed out look.

Combat Ends ...

[digiman619]

Beltin takes a look at Sajan. "I'm sorry. I know that Lini said that they move fast, but I wasn't expecting it to move quite that fast. I should have been more on the ball. Sorry."

[lostsole31]

Sajan holds his stomach but says, "I wish to challenge myself and my techniques against the mightiest. Look at the field of death around us, and this is all I have suffered? Ha! And its speed ... no, this was a worthy enemy."

"That," says Lini, walking up, "Was a giant trapdoor spider. They can dart out, attack, and dart back without a counter from their prey."