Kingmaker in the Forgotten Realms [IC Thread II]

[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."

Spoiler: OOC

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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."

Spoiler: OOC

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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.

Spoiler: OOC

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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 ...

Spoiler: OOC

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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.

Spoiler: OOC

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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.

Spoiler: OOC

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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.

Spoiler

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spot check: (1d20-1)[4]
and as always, Flit is better at this than I (1d20+10)[24]

[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!

Spoiler: Tactical Map

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Spoiler: Tactical Notes

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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.

Spoiler

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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.

Spoiler: OOC

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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: (1d20+8)[10] -2 for power attack included.
Damage: (2d4+11)[17] Bludgeoning damage with the +4 from power attack included.