Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer [IC]

[lostsole31]

"Let him in. If he turns treacherous, breech-fighting at the door favors him, not us," says the lady.

[Denomar]

"Warmth for one room will suffice. I do not have any strong inclinations towards acts of mass deforestation." He steps back and gestures into the room. "Be welcome stranger, the night wind keens and wails, but within these walls at least, it is warm."

He closes the door behind the stranger with the bird in a hat. "Of course, you should be warned that our tempers are somewhat frayed due to circumstances beyond your control and if you wish to harm or rob us my companions will be most unappreciative." He beams widely, the implicit threat overwritten by absurdity.

[Ostoril]

Moorgram enters the cabin and looks at the man and his threat. "I have no DESIRE to hurt others, that is on them to force my hand. I take what I need, in whatever manner is most convenient for me." He bluntly states. "Fortunately for you, trade is typically more convenient than a fight, and revenge can be quite troublesome."

He relaxes his axe by his side. "I have offered my reason for being here, so I would ask the same of you."

[lostsole31]

"I am the Lady Argentea Malassene, who was set upon and abducted by the former unlawful squatter of these premises and his bandits, who it seems are in league with winterfey that somehow are responsible for thus unseasonable weather."

"The half-orc is Ten-Penny Tacey.... along with her young bear, Arthog ...

"You met Tenzei at the door ...

"Our Varisian harrower is Drina ...

"And, you may need to prepare yourself for a shock ... this is Darkhelm, a Heldren local and beekeeper." Of course, this last is to a faceless, "true" black-skinned humanoid that is quite terrifying.

"These heroes are the ones who rescued me from the late Rohkar Cindren's attempts to have me ransomed."

[Rilem]

”And no, Rokhar’s not the one caused the weather,” Ten-Penny chimes in. ”But he had friends who did — or who are closer to it, anyways. They’re deeper into the wood, across the bridge.”

[Ostoril]

Moorgram eyes Darkhelm with some suspicion while still addressing Lady Argentea, "You say heroes, so I take it none of you are involved in this snowy affair and can be trusted?" He then looks to Ten-Penny, not really waiting for a response. "Well if you couldn't be trusted I don't suppose you would say so anyways. If their deeper in the woods, that's where I'll be heading in the morning."

He briefly takes the lodge in with a wide turn of his head. "So where should I sleep?" he says more than asks.

[lostsole31]

Darkhelm, seeing the strange man fully kitted, points enigmatically to the large floor by the fire.

[Rilem]

”And no place with a bed,” Ten-Penny adds. ”Not fooling about the sickness.”

She watches as the odd man in the odd hat moves into the room. ”Did you come from downriver? We lost a companion at the bridge, he was swept away.”

[lostsole31]

Wealday, 23 Erastus 4713 AR (Full Moon)
Almanac Weather Prediction: 90 / 70 F. Dry.

The next morning, everyone wakes up. Darkhelm and Ten-Penny got the rest they needed to fully healed. Tenzei fell asleep before applying healing to himself and was still sorely wounded, but wakes up without any wounds and the signs of magical healing having been applied

Spoiler: OOC

Show

... no patient consent form signed ... and still a bill from his HMO waiting for him, which is voided out by the fact that the person playing him is lucky enough to be Canadian and doesn't have to deal with that shenanigans.

Everyone begins their morning routines. Does anyone change anything about their dailies?

[Rilem]

Ten-Penny rises and orders Arthog outside to do his business, before settling down and preparing her spells.

"Nobody came looking for the bridge sentry, if that's what that mephit was doing," she says, as she gathers her supplies together. "Could be good news."

Before they head out, she casts a spell whose incantation sounds like a flurry of clicking sounds, and hoists a sack over her shoulder. "I should be able to carry a bit extra for a while," she says. "If we want to take anything else, now's the time."

Spoiler: ooc

Show

cast Ant Haul, 6-hour duration 3X carrying capacity.

[lostsole31]

"At this point, we are a mixed stata of society," says Lady Argentea. "But I can recognize the carriage of two nobles amongst you, even if you do not realize it in yourselves, so I accept since each of us are choosing to do this thing, that we are more democratic. Please just realize that I was trained to move people, and I can be impatient if we descend into democracy's curse: analysis-paralysis.

"But our course seems clear, yes? Verify the bridge is still safe and wasn't sabotaged in the night, and then one-by-one ... and me being very careful leading my mount .... we cross the bridge and follow the map I copied from Rohkar's planning board. Is this acceptable?"

Meanwhile, she will go to the stable to remove the excess blankets from her roan stallion and girds it again for riding.

[Ostoril]

Moorgram rises and begins his daily routines on chatting with Gingey and preparing a breakfast from whatever supplies he can scavange before relying on spicing up his rations.

"If you are headed in the same direction as I, your company is welcome for as long as it does not hinder me. There is safety and advantage to a group." He says as Lady Argentea speaks. "Democracy is not my course. I follow my own path unless a better one clearly presents itself. We travel the same road, at the same time, but we don't travel together. My course is my own and it is your choice to follow or not to follow, as your course is yours and my choice to follow yours or not. Let us hope our paths do not conflict." He pauses a moment as if reconsidering his words. "That said, so long as our paths are the same, I will lend you my aid. Now would anyone care for some breakfast before we head out into the cold?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Prepare spells
Attempt to scavenge any supplies to avoid using rations for the mornings meal and cook some food. If not, at least heat up and spice peoples rations to be a bit more flavorful.

[lostsole31]

The man talking to the animated gingerbread bird while wearing a modified bird's nest is disconcerting. But the gingerbread bird looking at him .... curiously? it's hard to tell ... breaks the bounds of sanity when Moorgram reacts as if the bird had actually spoken and you only hear half the conversation.

Spoiler: OOC

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Does it break sanity, though? Because mid-level casters can "speak with familiar" and it isn't "language" in the way we think of it ... so maybe Moorgram is just more powerfual than you thought!

While "rations" are inclusive of what the current occupants were able to scrunge together (so that is already done), but not much because of concerns of disease, Moorgram proves himself a capable cook as he delivers an enjoyable meal.

The meal finished, scrounging accomplished as best as possible, dailies prepared, unless there is something else, it is time to continue.

The party is at the bridge now, and Lady Argentea did recommend checking it for any kind of sabotage. She wouldn't put it past the fey to do that instead of station another guardian.

Darkhelm, strangely perceptive despite no visual sensory organs, is trained to look for traps and finds none. Then, Lady Argentea carefully goes out herself to look for non-trap dangers ... actual engineering stability ... and seeing none returns. "Yes, we will have to go across one at a time, and even I will have to carefully lead my horse, so I will go last."

Who will go first across the bridge? And realizing how ridiculously slippery it was, how slow do you go? For her part, Lady Argentea inched along a few feet at a time, but the heights seem to make her very nervous, despite her trying to seem unflappable.

[Ostoril]

"What are you? A bunch of children?" Moorgram sniffs the air. "Nah, I suppose not." He says with a note of satisfaction. "Ya said you lost a companion at the bridge, I assume this is the one. Well I have no quarrel with this bridge, so I shall go first and show you there is nothing to fear." He approaches the bridge.

"Yes, yes. I know Gingey. Slow and steady. Aye, watch out for the ice." He mutters to his hat as he approaches the bridge.

Spoiler: OOC

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Lets tempt fate a second time. This time going to go very slow. 5ft a round (is there a slower than that?) shifting and steadying himself since Moorgram isn't dumb and he knows something bad happened around here.

[lostsole31]

While there might be the occasional gasp with a minor couple-inch slide of the feet, Moorgram and Gingey cross safely.

Darkhelm will likely go across at such a conservative pace.

Next?

[Rilem]

"Come on, bear," Ten-Penny cajoles Arthog toward the bridge, with a pocket fully of jerky to feed him as they move out over over the span.

Spoiler: Actions

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Handle Animal to move Arthog slowly (5-foot steps) over the bridge; spend 1 guile point for +2 bonus on check.

If Arthog refuses, she'll cast Carry Companion on him, pocket the statue and move across herself.

[lostsole31]

Finally, Ten-Penny will have to cast a spell that shrinks Arthog down into a tiny miniature statuette of itself before she picks it up and collects it, then crosses as carefully as others have done ... at a very slow 5' per round. In time, the rest of the party - Tenzei and Drina - do the same. Finallly, Lady Argentea crosses alone as all others have done, and then verbally guide her horse across the bridge. The horse balks at first, but finally comes across.

As the party prepares itself and leaves the bridge, the gorge, the site of Amanu's effective death, and the backdrop of High Sentinel Lodge behind ... you enter deeper into the frozen section of the Border Wood for whatever trials await you.

Even with new snow, there's been enough traffic between the lodge and points beyond that a furrow in older snows was made, making the trail ridiculously easy to follow. As the PCs approach the Somir Valley, the temperature drops even more, and only Darkhelm's strange powers keep all living creatures from feeling the false winter's bite.

You're not on this trail very long before you get to an area where the forest stands deathly quiet. Even the wind has grown still as snow softly falls through the stark branches overhead. Tracks, human in size but oddly misshapen, mar an otherwise unblemished trail through the trees. There is a crunching of snow down trail, and the party sees two Qadirans by way of garb, but the garb is for summer - as one should expect, of course. The two Qadirans turns to face the party.

Begin Round One ...

R1T24: Ten-Penny, even from this distance, you can tell that these guys are no longer among the living .. but they are among the moving as they turn to face you with broken, ancient scimitars and shields and rusted chain. What do you do?

[Rilem]

"Undead ones," Ten-Penny calls to the others as she moves abreast of Moorgram. "Looks like they've seen us." She crouches and puts the figurine to the frozen ground, speaking a word that returns it into Arthog's normal form. "Stay close," she tells the reanimated bear.

Spoiler: actions

Show

Move 15' west to stand next to Moorgram, draw short sword

Standard (I'm guessing) action: Dismiss Carry Companion spell

[lostsole31]

R1T24: "Undead ones," Ten-Penny calls to the others as she moves abreast of Moorgram, "looks like they've seen us." She crouches and puts the figurine to the frozen ground, speaking a word that returns it into Arthog's normal form. "Stay close," she tells the reanimated bear.

R1T23: Drina, what do you do?

[Kvard51]

"I'm going to get a little more mobility," Drina says, pulling a pinch of hair from her spell pouch. She intones in the language of magic, making arcane gestures with the hair in hand... and a horse appears wearing full tack. "This should help a bit," she says, putting her foot in the stirrup and climbing up on her conjured steed.

Spoiler: Actions

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SA: Cast Mount

Mount her mount.

[lostsole31]

R1T23: "I'm going to get a little more mobility," Drina says, pulling a pinch of hair from her spell pouch. She intones in the language of magic, making arcane gestures with the hair in hand... and a horse appears wearing full tack. "This should help a bit," she says, putting her foot in the stirrup and climbing up on her conjured steed.

R1T22: From astride her horse, Lady Argentea gets into a certain type of focused combat "stance" (albeit from the saddle of a horse). Lowering her lance as she rolls forward, she moves west across the difficult, snowy terrain.

R1T20: One of the distant Qadirans (Blue) closes to meet the cavalry coming its way.

R1T17: Moorgram, what do you do?

[Ostoril]

Moorgram advances forward, angrily intoning long and sturdy words as he makes his way alongside the Lady Argentea and hefting his axe.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

[Standard] Cast Mage Armor.
[Move] Move 2 squares "west" and then diagonally "North West".
Draw Great Axe as part of move.

[lostsole31]

R1T17: Moorgram advances forward, angrily intoning long and sturdy words as he makes his way alongside the Lady Argentea and hefting his axe.

R1T14: Tenzei, what do you do?

[Denomar]

For the majority of the morning Tenzei has been understandably morose. Now faced with yet more unethical horrors and tribulations he flies well and truly off the handle. "No More Friends Dying!" he roars and hurls himself at the armed and threatening shape, instinct and training taking him over the snow and past his allies with a sense of grace that is only sorta appropriate for his husy form. The charge resembling something between a dragon and a barrel of mead.

Spoiler: attack of the flying bologne monk

Show

Swift Action: Assume Dragon Style.
Full Round Action: Charging Risky Strike at the figure marked with a blue sphere. I believe the shortest straight line here is seven squares directly west, one square diagonally southwest, and then six more squares directly west putting tenzei in contact with the blue marked figure to his southwest. Dragon style allows him to ignore difficult terrain and intervening allies for this charge movement only which takes seventy feet of movement.

Unless there's a pit trap or something in which case its nose dive city.

Attack: Charge [+2], Risky Strike [-1] (1d20+8)[19]
to deal unarmed damage, Risky Strike [+2], Dragon Style [plus 0.5 str on first attack]: (1d6+7)[11]

[lostsole31]

R1T14: For the majority of the morning, Tenzei has been understandably morose. Now faced with yet more unethical horrors and tribulations, he flies well and truly off the handle. "No More Friends Dying!" he roars and hurls himself at the armed and threatening shape, instinct and training taking him over the snow and past his allies with a sense of grace that is only sorta' appropriate for his husky form - the charge resembling something between a dragon and a barrel of mead. He turns his body at the last minute to put all of his weight to drive an elbow into the monster, though it does manage to intervene the center of mass with an arm, that's just not enough as Tenzei completely topples the undead ... which in turn explodes in a wave of cold energy.

Though Tenzei rolled away from the blast, he realizes his elbow took 6 cold from contact with the now-destroyed undead. Looking around, he just sees a large blasted section of ash and snow where it had been standing.

R1T9: Darkhelm begins build up energy within herself, and releases the conflagration as before as the wind now carries ash and embers. Appearing about her feet is interesting, and obviously magically created, footwear. She then hustles forward at full speed, completely unhindered by the snow, though evoking more grace than her humble monk friend.

R1T7: The Qadiran moves forward to attack Darkhelm, now the closest target, but misses.

R1T6: Arthog delays, waiting for Ten-Penny to move to keep up with her.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T24: Ten-Penny, what do you do?

Drina on deck, Lady Argentea in the hole ...

[Rilem]

Ten-Penny startles as the skeleton bursts apart, then hustles forward as quickly as her short, strong legs can push through the snow. ”C’mon Arthog.”

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Double move six squares west (move around the horse if we have to); Handle Animal “heel” to get bear to follow.

[lostsole31]

R2T24-23.5: Ten-Penny startles as the skeleton bursts apart, then hustles forward as quickly as her short, strong legs can push through the snow. ”C’mon Arthog.”

Arthog follows.

R2T23: Drina, what do you do?

Lady Argentea on deck, Moorgam in the hole ...

[Kvard51]

Drina clucks to her horse and rides forward through the party. "Darkhelm, I suggest you move away from that skeleton unless you are prepared for it to explode. I think we can handle it from a distance."

Spoiler: Action

Show

FA: Double Move using horses movement of 50". 10' SW, 25' W, 5' NW, 10' W

[lostsole31]

R2T23: Drina clucks to her horse and rides forward through the party, sending her thoughts to Darkhelm.

R2T22: With as much power as she can must and with an angle to deal with getting around stabbing an empty rib cage, Lady Argentea thrusts her spear with as much power as she can muster. She smashes her spear in seemingly the least-bone-inhabited part of the body ... the lower spine ... but contact is brutal and solid as she does more than enough to break the back and destroy the skeleton. Cold bursts outwards. Lady Argentea protects herself with her shield to only take 1 cold, and Darkhelm uses the horse to minimize (also 1 cold), but Lady Argentea's mount just sucks it up tough-horse style and takes nothing.

Combat Ends!

[Ostoril]

Moorgram exhales heavily. "You are some competent fighters. Guess I got flustered for no reason." He eyes the spot where the creatures exploded. "Nifty trick." he shrugs.