AAR: Black Drakkar Down
GM: Dvarim
ECR: 8
Difficulty: Medium
Player Rewards:
Reyis: 19000LP, 720SP, 3 TIPs, Raise Dex (6)
Thorkell: 19000 lp, 900 sp, 3 TIPs
Zivilyn: 19,000 LP, 655 sp, 3 TIPs, half price perception training
Vralino: 19000 LP, 655 SP, 3 TIPs
Norg: 19000LP 720SP 3TIP - step 6 dex training (180sp)
Alternate Rewards:
50% off: Attribute training
GM Reward: Juniper (4,000 LP, 475 SP, 3 TIPs)
Downtime:
Reyis: Animal Training 6/15, Research 5/21, Item History 5/21
Zivilyn: Animal Training 8/18, Research 5/24, Item History 4/15
Summary:
The last drakkar has been returned to Scorched Tusk. Adepts have discovered an ... eccentric, yeah let's go with eccentric genius Troll Outcast in the Scythan mountains. One of the leaders of the Scourge has been dispatched.
AAR: [8M] Black Drakkar Down (2020-09-22 @23:00GMT)
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Re: LFG: [8M] Black Drakkar Down (2020-09-22 @23:00GMT)
From the Journal of Zivilyn, Windling Magician: Black Drakkar Down
If I never face these cultists again, it will be too soon.
Norg needed some help recovering a drakkar that had been stolen from the Scorched Tusk Moot. I'm no expert with airships, but he's helped me plenty of times, so I figured I'd come along and help him. Seems the ship was taken from under their noses by a group of cultists that raided the Moot and performed some strange ritual to take control of it, although two other airships had been successfully protected from these raiders. I've heard of these scourge cultists before, mostly from various friends and traveling companions, and apparently they're trying to restart the scourge. Passions protect us from such fools.
Anyways, Norg wasn't about to let a mere group of fanatical lunatics stop him from protecting the airship, part of a trio of legendary airships associated with a Troll hero who fended off several wyverns at a time for several days. He gathered together a small group to chase down the surviving cultists from the raid; myself with Haze and Howler, Reyis, Thorkell, and Vralino. The five of us headed off to the Caucavics to reach the Moot and were greeted warmly (I imagine they would have been less courteous if we had not shown up in Norg's company, though).
Brosme, their leader, indicated that there was a person who he couldn't talk about who could possibly help us track down the airship, though he wouldn't discuss names or anything like that. This person lived on top of a mountain, and commanded an excellent view of the area, but Norg indicated that this person was probably an Outcast based on the unwillingness of Brosme to mention his name, and the fact that even though he might be able to help recover the airship they still wouldn't talk to him.
We never did catch his name, and I think he might prefer it that way. He didn't want to talk to us at all, and I think he mostly told us where to find the airship might be to get rid of us. It had landed about a week prior in a nearby lake, though he mostly grumbled at us when we tried asking him for any further details. I did manage to get a good look at one of the books he had left lying around though, which is how I know he was a Nethermancer. The entire thing was a very intriguing and in-depth discussion of some principles of Nethermancy that I am assured will be groundbreaking. They also gave me a rather unpleasant headache from memorizing it, so I'm glad it wasn't worthless. Perhaps I'll keep a copy for my own study, as I do intend some day to learn the Nethermancer Discipline as well. I imagine Nib will be interested to take a look as well. I should probably keep it secured somewhere a bit safe, though. Perhaps I can entrust it to Granite?
Right, so anyways, we headed off towards the lake. As we got closer, Reyis felt like we were being watched, which was odd because there were fewer and fewer animals the further we went. Not exactly a good sign, but when you're looking for crazy cultists that want to bring back the Horrors, I guess it can also mean you're close. The Astral wasn't looking so great either, for that matter. We set up camp in a reasonably safe-looking sheltered area, but were woken up almost before the night had even properly gotten started by the sound of something approaching. We quickly got up and got ready for a fight, and were attacked by a group of Namegiver cultists and some sort of horror construct with six arms. Contrary to the usual things you'd expect of horrors, they were almost painfully beautiful to look at, which reminded me of what the Nethermancer early had been ranting about with some sort of beautiful flying Horror. I should have probably paid more attention to his ranting, but I was busy digging through his library at the time, and was somewhat preoccupied as a result.
The fight was most unpleasant. I mean, normally fights are, but I think there was something corrupting our karma, and they were definitely dispelling our magic, and they worked together to Distract us while another snuck up and delivered a devastating blow to our exposed flanks. We did manage to overcome them, but Norg and Vralino in particular were heavily wounded. I don't think Vralino was quite recovered, even with all of our healing magic, by the next morning.
Still, we pushed on. These cultists were dangerous, and were already accompanied by some Horror constructs; who knew what they might be planning if we did not arrive soon enough to stop them? We reached the lake a few hours later, and sure enough there was the airship, and a group of cultists surrounding it. No Horror Constructs this time, but one of the cultists had managed to escape the night before and reported on our abilities, as would soon be evident from their tactics the next fight. They were accompanied this time by an Elf woman, also supernaturally beautiful, who absolutely would not shut up about how everything was going to be cleansed, and die, and blah blah blah, on and on. So yeah, the lights weren't all on upstairs, but she was still able to try and kill us... by the look of things, she was a Nethermancer too. Seems like one of those adventurers. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to go digging through *her* Grimoire later on, but she tore off her face, which is just a dead giveaway.
They were even more unpleasant the second time. They surrounded Vralino and cut her down where she stood after removing her magical protections. They almost ignored Norg, which sort of worked for them in the sense that he's quite hard to damage, but worked less well in the sense that he pretty much ripped the Nethermancer in half, and *that* shut her up finally. Still, he had been hurt pretty bad by her spells so Reyis gave him the Mark of the Boar and he *really* got angry then. Thorkell went down shortly afterward though, and poor Haze got singled out the instant he didn't vanish from sight after attacking. It was a close one, but I was able to stay a little more calm when he went down. But the Leopard Spirits must have felt my anger just fine, because they fell upon his murderers and ripped and tore until the job was done. Doom was upon someone that day, but it was on the cultists who had insisted we would be destroyed.
The moment the fight was won, I implored Norg to do his best to treat Haze's wounds so that the Last Chance Salve would have the strongest chance to restore his life. He muttered about how he hadn't waded through those caves full of guano to find this bat just to lose it, and did his best. As soon as he announced it was done, I quickly applied the salve, and moments later my dear friend was restored to life. Vralino and Thorkell had fortunately been knocked unconscious, but were not dead, although their wounds were also quite grievous.
While we stayed in the area to recover, we took stock of the situation. The cult had been performing some sort of ritual to transform the ship into a host for some powerful Horror (the crazy Troll up on the mountain was probably talking about it when we were there, but I would like to see how well *you* pay attention when you're busy trying to cram an entire book into your head in a few short minutes. And everyone else agreed he was mostly spouting gibberish anyways). There were some sort of tendrils creeping all over the hull, as well as in the Astral, which we did our best to Dispel and peel away from it. As we did so, the Astral began to clear up, and I hope that the wildlife will return to the area. Once the ship was cleansed, naturally Norg wasn't about to *walk* back to the Trolls and leave the precious airship unguarded, so he captained it home himself, with a little assistance from Thorkell (he also let the rest of us pretend like we were helping, which was very considerate of him... though honestly, I mostly helped by keeping Haze and Howler occupied)
We landed and the Trolls held a grand celebration, even bigger than the previous one. This time I think they were actually legitimately welcoming of the rest of us who had not previously gained their friendship. I accepted their offer to spend some time training my wits with their local Magicians (mostly Elementalists), and enjoyed the trip home on the Airship which they graciously provided, which went much more smoothly with more people who knew what they were doing. The people of Throal were also quite interested in seeing these legendary airships, and I imagine I'll have some Scholar or other pestering me for details about it. Between that and the Nethermancy tome, I imagine I'll be *quite* busy.
I also learned that I must protect my companion more carefully in the future. Haze is a powerful ally, but he cannot last long when being attacked like Howler can. He must vanish constantly so as to provide no target for the enemy's blades. I was lucky this time that he was not too far gone to be brought back, but it was far too great a risk to be taken. I also think I spent too much time trying to use defensive magic when the situation called for attack. I shall reflect on these lessons, lest my companions pay the price for them.
If I never face these cultists again, it will be too soon.
Norg needed some help recovering a drakkar that had been stolen from the Scorched Tusk Moot. I'm no expert with airships, but he's helped me plenty of times, so I figured I'd come along and help him. Seems the ship was taken from under their noses by a group of cultists that raided the Moot and performed some strange ritual to take control of it, although two other airships had been successfully protected from these raiders. I've heard of these scourge cultists before, mostly from various friends and traveling companions, and apparently they're trying to restart the scourge. Passions protect us from such fools.
Anyways, Norg wasn't about to let a mere group of fanatical lunatics stop him from protecting the airship, part of a trio of legendary airships associated with a Troll hero who fended off several wyverns at a time for several days. He gathered together a small group to chase down the surviving cultists from the raid; myself with Haze and Howler, Reyis, Thorkell, and Vralino. The five of us headed off to the Caucavics to reach the Moot and were greeted warmly (I imagine they would have been less courteous if we had not shown up in Norg's company, though).
Brosme, their leader, indicated that there was a person who he couldn't talk about who could possibly help us track down the airship, though he wouldn't discuss names or anything like that. This person lived on top of a mountain, and commanded an excellent view of the area, but Norg indicated that this person was probably an Outcast based on the unwillingness of Brosme to mention his name, and the fact that even though he might be able to help recover the airship they still wouldn't talk to him.
We never did catch his name, and I think he might prefer it that way. He didn't want to talk to us at all, and I think he mostly told us where to find the airship might be to get rid of us. It had landed about a week prior in a nearby lake, though he mostly grumbled at us when we tried asking him for any further details. I did manage to get a good look at one of the books he had left lying around though, which is how I know he was a Nethermancer. The entire thing was a very intriguing and in-depth discussion of some principles of Nethermancy that I am assured will be groundbreaking. They also gave me a rather unpleasant headache from memorizing it, so I'm glad it wasn't worthless. Perhaps I'll keep a copy for my own study, as I do intend some day to learn the Nethermancer Discipline as well. I imagine Nib will be interested to take a look as well. I should probably keep it secured somewhere a bit safe, though. Perhaps I can entrust it to Granite?
Right, so anyways, we headed off towards the lake. As we got closer, Reyis felt like we were being watched, which was odd because there were fewer and fewer animals the further we went. Not exactly a good sign, but when you're looking for crazy cultists that want to bring back the Horrors, I guess it can also mean you're close. The Astral wasn't looking so great either, for that matter. We set up camp in a reasonably safe-looking sheltered area, but were woken up almost before the night had even properly gotten started by the sound of something approaching. We quickly got up and got ready for a fight, and were attacked by a group of Namegiver cultists and some sort of horror construct with six arms. Contrary to the usual things you'd expect of horrors, they were almost painfully beautiful to look at, which reminded me of what the Nethermancer early had been ranting about with some sort of beautiful flying Horror. I should have probably paid more attention to his ranting, but I was busy digging through his library at the time, and was somewhat preoccupied as a result.
The fight was most unpleasant. I mean, normally fights are, but I think there was something corrupting our karma, and they were definitely dispelling our magic, and they worked together to Distract us while another snuck up and delivered a devastating blow to our exposed flanks. We did manage to overcome them, but Norg and Vralino in particular were heavily wounded. I don't think Vralino was quite recovered, even with all of our healing magic, by the next morning.
Still, we pushed on. These cultists were dangerous, and were already accompanied by some Horror constructs; who knew what they might be planning if we did not arrive soon enough to stop them? We reached the lake a few hours later, and sure enough there was the airship, and a group of cultists surrounding it. No Horror Constructs this time, but one of the cultists had managed to escape the night before and reported on our abilities, as would soon be evident from their tactics the next fight. They were accompanied this time by an Elf woman, also supernaturally beautiful, who absolutely would not shut up about how everything was going to be cleansed, and die, and blah blah blah, on and on. So yeah, the lights weren't all on upstairs, but she was still able to try and kill us... by the look of things, she was a Nethermancer too. Seems like one of those adventurers. Of course, I wasn't stupid enough to go digging through *her* Grimoire later on, but she tore off her face, which is just a dead giveaway.
They were even more unpleasant the second time. They surrounded Vralino and cut her down where she stood after removing her magical protections. They almost ignored Norg, which sort of worked for them in the sense that he's quite hard to damage, but worked less well in the sense that he pretty much ripped the Nethermancer in half, and *that* shut her up finally. Still, he had been hurt pretty bad by her spells so Reyis gave him the Mark of the Boar and he *really* got angry then. Thorkell went down shortly afterward though, and poor Haze got singled out the instant he didn't vanish from sight after attacking. It was a close one, but I was able to stay a little more calm when he went down. But the Leopard Spirits must have felt my anger just fine, because they fell upon his murderers and ripped and tore until the job was done. Doom was upon someone that day, but it was on the cultists who had insisted we would be destroyed.
The moment the fight was won, I implored Norg to do his best to treat Haze's wounds so that the Last Chance Salve would have the strongest chance to restore his life. He muttered about how he hadn't waded through those caves full of guano to find this bat just to lose it, and did his best. As soon as he announced it was done, I quickly applied the salve, and moments later my dear friend was restored to life. Vralino and Thorkell had fortunately been knocked unconscious, but were not dead, although their wounds were also quite grievous.
While we stayed in the area to recover, we took stock of the situation. The cult had been performing some sort of ritual to transform the ship into a host for some powerful Horror (the crazy Troll up on the mountain was probably talking about it when we were there, but I would like to see how well *you* pay attention when you're busy trying to cram an entire book into your head in a few short minutes. And everyone else agreed he was mostly spouting gibberish anyways). There were some sort of tendrils creeping all over the hull, as well as in the Astral, which we did our best to Dispel and peel away from it. As we did so, the Astral began to clear up, and I hope that the wildlife will return to the area. Once the ship was cleansed, naturally Norg wasn't about to *walk* back to the Trolls and leave the precious airship unguarded, so he captained it home himself, with a little assistance from Thorkell (he also let the rest of us pretend like we were helping, which was very considerate of him... though honestly, I mostly helped by keeping Haze and Howler occupied)
We landed and the Trolls held a grand celebration, even bigger than the previous one. This time I think they were actually legitimately welcoming of the rest of us who had not previously gained their friendship. I accepted their offer to spend some time training my wits with their local Magicians (mostly Elementalists), and enjoyed the trip home on the Airship which they graciously provided, which went much more smoothly with more people who knew what they were doing. The people of Throal were also quite interested in seeing these legendary airships, and I imagine I'll have some Scholar or other pestering me for details about it. Between that and the Nethermancy tome, I imagine I'll be *quite* busy.
I also learned that I must protect my companion more carefully in the future. Haze is a powerful ally, but he cannot last long when being attacked like Howler can. He must vanish constantly so as to provide no target for the enemy's blades. I was lucky this time that he was not too far gone to be brought back, but it was far too great a risk to be taken. I also think I spent too much time trying to use defensive magic when the situation called for attack. I shall reflect on these lessons, lest my companions pay the price for them.
Re: LFG: [8M] Black Drakkar Down (2020-09-22 @23:00GMT)
The following is a recollection from Vralino Hammer-Shield, a 15 year old Ork girl who grew up avoiding society. She and her companion Orfin have recently moved to Trayckid to run the infirmary and the orphanage. The text remains unaltered to maintain its authenticity (Certain terms and names written wrong to keep in character). It is written in Or'zet.
Whew, it took a bit of time, but I finally got settled in at Trayckid. This place is great! It's like a brand new city every day! But the ever changing scenery doesn't quite satisfy the eyes the way Throal does. I still go back every now and then, and today, I ran across Thorkell! He's still doing his thing at the forge. One day, he's going to want to leave Throal, too. Today, in fact. We're heading out with Norg, Reyis, and Zivilyn to go track down a lost drag cart, whatever that is. It went down somewhere on the other side of the Valley of Merica. It's been ages since I last was in that Valley. Well, technically it was right before my Elementalist training. Lots of horrors out that way. Should be fun!
We went to a city of Trolls. The Troll towns are called Mutes. So in this Troll Mute, Norg started asking around about a drag cart that fell out of the sky. The guy hired him, and that means me and Thorkell, too! I've never worked for Trolls before. I've seen Thorkell and Norg in action, so we should be in pretty good hands.
On the way out of the Troll Mute, me and Norg were navigating. It was weird. This was the first time I've ever navigated and the other guys actually agreed with me. We found our way to a home of some sort, surrounded by flowers. Inside was this crazy old Troll. He called me a half Troll. I can't believe he'd accept a hornless as anything related to a Troll. Still I felt really honored, but he was rude. Norg asked about the drag cart, and he started talking about a fallen passion or some other beautiful thing that fell from the sky or some such. Then he went upstairs and pretended to sleep, so I poked at him until he agreed to answer a few questions. He did at some point tell one of our guys where the crashed drag cart was. I can't wait to see what it looks like! I've never seen a drag cart before!
We were able to find our way down the mountain pretty safely. There were a few animals here and there, but eventually, as our windling friends pointed out to us, the animals started becoming sparse. Like non-existent sparse. We made camp and were attacked by some name givers and these things with six arms. Reyis is ballsy. He went charging forward on his own. I was pretty much useless. I got to sling some spells and kicked a few of them, but nothing really worth writing home about. (That's why it's here in my journal.) We were able to recover, and I used my first useful elementalist spell! I heated up our food! Maybe I should go be a cook or something!
The next day, we found what I guess is a drag cart? There were more of those namegivers, and one of them, an elf, was really pretty. She reminds me of mom, but prettier. That was about all I remember before waking up from getting knocked out. Yeah, there was a fight, and me and Thorkell both lasted all of maybe 5 seconds? I dunno, but the legends we were traveling with tore the skin off that drag cart. Apparently it was being used as a horror cocoon? Whatever.
Anyway, Norg and Reyis flew us back to the Troll Mute on the drag cart. It was even more amazing than when we went on the fire engine boat! I never thought I'd ever get to see the world from way up high! I'm going to fly airships one day! The Trolls celebrated our return and we drank and I got to train a little bit! I'm just a wee bit tougher than your average Ork-Elf hybrid! Not that there are many of us around. I do need to get better at not dying though. That fight that I pretty much slept through was just embarrassing. Oh, and apparently a drag cart is a large air ship. I wonder why they named it after a small horse drawn wagon with no wheels? Oh, and YAY! More battle scars!
Whew, it took a bit of time, but I finally got settled in at Trayckid. This place is great! It's like a brand new city every day! But the ever changing scenery doesn't quite satisfy the eyes the way Throal does. I still go back every now and then, and today, I ran across Thorkell! He's still doing his thing at the forge. One day, he's going to want to leave Throal, too. Today, in fact. We're heading out with Norg, Reyis, and Zivilyn to go track down a lost drag cart, whatever that is. It went down somewhere on the other side of the Valley of Merica. It's been ages since I last was in that Valley. Well, technically it was right before my Elementalist training. Lots of horrors out that way. Should be fun!
We went to a city of Trolls. The Troll towns are called Mutes. So in this Troll Mute, Norg started asking around about a drag cart that fell out of the sky. The guy hired him, and that means me and Thorkell, too! I've never worked for Trolls before. I've seen Thorkell and Norg in action, so we should be in pretty good hands.
On the way out of the Troll Mute, me and Norg were navigating. It was weird. This was the first time I've ever navigated and the other guys actually agreed with me. We found our way to a home of some sort, surrounded by flowers. Inside was this crazy old Troll. He called me a half Troll. I can't believe he'd accept a hornless as anything related to a Troll. Still I felt really honored, but he was rude. Norg asked about the drag cart, and he started talking about a fallen passion or some other beautiful thing that fell from the sky or some such. Then he went upstairs and pretended to sleep, so I poked at him until he agreed to answer a few questions. He did at some point tell one of our guys where the crashed drag cart was. I can't wait to see what it looks like! I've never seen a drag cart before!
We were able to find our way down the mountain pretty safely. There were a few animals here and there, but eventually, as our windling friends pointed out to us, the animals started becoming sparse. Like non-existent sparse. We made camp and were attacked by some name givers and these things with six arms. Reyis is ballsy. He went charging forward on his own. I was pretty much useless. I got to sling some spells and kicked a few of them, but nothing really worth writing home about. (That's why it's here in my journal.) We were able to recover, and I used my first useful elementalist spell! I heated up our food! Maybe I should go be a cook or something!
The next day, we found what I guess is a drag cart? There were more of those namegivers, and one of them, an elf, was really pretty. She reminds me of mom, but prettier. That was about all I remember before waking up from getting knocked out. Yeah, there was a fight, and me and Thorkell both lasted all of maybe 5 seconds? I dunno, but the legends we were traveling with tore the skin off that drag cart. Apparently it was being used as a horror cocoon? Whatever.
Anyway, Norg and Reyis flew us back to the Troll Mute on the drag cart. It was even more amazing than when we went on the fire engine boat! I never thought I'd ever get to see the world from way up high! I'm going to fly airships one day! The Trolls celebrated our return and we drank and I got to train a little bit! I'm just a wee bit tougher than your average Ork-Elf hybrid! Not that there are many of us around. I do need to get better at not dying though. That fight that I pretty much slept through was just embarrassing. Oh, and apparently a drag cart is a large air ship. I wonder why they named it after a small horse drawn wagon with no wheels? Oh, and YAY! More battle scars!
Re: LFG: [8M] Black Drakkar Down (2020-09-22 @23:00GMT)
Thorkell's Journal
The bickering continues in Dviel. Fortunately there has been no outright violence since I became mediator. On a trip to Throal to report to the Daicar brothers I ran into Vralino. She was with a group of adepts who were planning an excursion. They seemed short on people so I decided to go along. The leader of this group was a Troll Gauntlet by the name of Norg. My first impression of him is that he is strong. He has previously worked with the Scorched Tusk moot and has been asked to help track down a missing drakkar.
The trip to the moot was uneventful. We arrived at the moot and spoke with Brosme, their leader. He informed us that the drakkar was taken by a group called the Scourge. He didn't have much more information, but directed us to meet with someone he could not name. This led me to believe this person must be an outcast.
We found the building high up in the mountains. The voice on the other side of the door seemed reluctant to meet with anyone. After much prodding he finally answered. He was missing his horns so he was definitely cast out for some reason. We would later surmise it was due to something to do with Nethermancy. While speaking with him it became quickly apparent he was a mad genius and very unhelpful for the most part, but we did get enough information from him to set a course for the drakkar.
We set out into the mountains. The day's travel was mostly boring. We found a defensible location and started setting up camp. And wouldn't you know we were ambushed by these rather nimble namegivers in hoods and their odd six armed constructs. It has been some time since I have engaged in combat with namegivers and my rustiness showed. I was able to hold my own, but just. We were able to dispatch the group except for one who fled. We rested hoping for no more interruptions.
The next day we arrived at the missing black drakkar. It was covered in some strange corruption that reminded me in some ways of the Tower of B'Shon. More of the cultists were around the boat performing some weird ritual. We could not let this continue. The fight was quite harrowing. Norg ran straight for the apparent leader and turned her into paste while the rest of the cultists swarmed and incapacitated Vralino. Their tactics were impeccable. They then set to killing Zivilyn's bat Haze whose shriek was a bane to them, then turned their blades to me. I fended off as many attacks as I could, but was surrounded. I remembered a sharp pain in my back, then blackness. It seems between Zivilyn, Reyis, and Norg they were able to beat the other cultists. I awoke to Norg applying ministrations to the bat. It seems Haze received the worst of it, but a Last Chance Salve brought him back from the brink. I have honed my weapons to their current peak. I don't understand. Is it perhaps that I am not worthy enough to wield my weapons? I must think on this
It seems the cultists were trying to use the drakkar as a sort of cocoon to manifest a horror. These crazy *troll equivalent of bastards* actually intend to bring the scourge back down upon us. We flew the drakkar back to the Scorched Tusk, I say we but it was mostly Norg. I studied the design of the drakkar very carefully. It is quite a fascinating vessel. *drawings of the layout of the drakkar as well as notes* The village was extremely appreciative to have their drakkar back. They offered to let us train with them which was a rather enticing offer, but I had been away from Dviel for far too long. The passions only know what kind of trouble that Vestrial devotee could be getting up to. On the trip back to Dviel I started designing a new set of armor, hopefully it will be enough to avoid these incidents from happening in the future.
The bickering continues in Dviel. Fortunately there has been no outright violence since I became mediator. On a trip to Throal to report to the Daicar brothers I ran into Vralino. She was with a group of adepts who were planning an excursion. They seemed short on people so I decided to go along. The leader of this group was a Troll Gauntlet by the name of Norg. My first impression of him is that he is strong. He has previously worked with the Scorched Tusk moot and has been asked to help track down a missing drakkar.
The trip to the moot was uneventful. We arrived at the moot and spoke with Brosme, their leader. He informed us that the drakkar was taken by a group called the Scourge. He didn't have much more information, but directed us to meet with someone he could not name. This led me to believe this person must be an outcast.
We found the building high up in the mountains. The voice on the other side of the door seemed reluctant to meet with anyone. After much prodding he finally answered. He was missing his horns so he was definitely cast out for some reason. We would later surmise it was due to something to do with Nethermancy. While speaking with him it became quickly apparent he was a mad genius and very unhelpful for the most part, but we did get enough information from him to set a course for the drakkar.
We set out into the mountains. The day's travel was mostly boring. We found a defensible location and started setting up camp. And wouldn't you know we were ambushed by these rather nimble namegivers in hoods and their odd six armed constructs. It has been some time since I have engaged in combat with namegivers and my rustiness showed. I was able to hold my own, but just. We were able to dispatch the group except for one who fled. We rested hoping for no more interruptions.
The next day we arrived at the missing black drakkar. It was covered in some strange corruption that reminded me in some ways of the Tower of B'Shon. More of the cultists were around the boat performing some weird ritual. We could not let this continue. The fight was quite harrowing. Norg ran straight for the apparent leader and turned her into paste while the rest of the cultists swarmed and incapacitated Vralino. Their tactics were impeccable. They then set to killing Zivilyn's bat Haze whose shriek was a bane to them, then turned their blades to me. I fended off as many attacks as I could, but was surrounded. I remembered a sharp pain in my back, then blackness. It seems between Zivilyn, Reyis, and Norg they were able to beat the other cultists. I awoke to Norg applying ministrations to the bat. It seems Haze received the worst of it, but a Last Chance Salve brought him back from the brink. I have honed my weapons to their current peak. I don't understand. Is it perhaps that I am not worthy enough to wield my weapons? I must think on this
It seems the cultists were trying to use the drakkar as a sort of cocoon to manifest a horror. These crazy *troll equivalent of bastards* actually intend to bring the scourge back down upon us. We flew the drakkar back to the Scorched Tusk, I say we but it was mostly Norg. I studied the design of the drakkar very carefully. It is quite a fascinating vessel. *drawings of the layout of the drakkar as well as notes* The village was extremely appreciative to have their drakkar back. They offered to let us train with them which was a rather enticing offer, but I had been away from Dviel for far too long. The passions only know what kind of trouble that Vestrial devotee could be getting up to. On the trip back to Dviel I started designing a new set of armor, hopefully it will be enough to avoid these incidents from happening in the future.
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sigfriedmcwild
- Posts:335
- Joined:Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:59 am
Re: AAR: [8M] Black Drakkar Down (2020-09-22 @23:00GMT)
From "The Skies of Barsaive", as penned by Norg, Brother of Earth and Sky, Corsair of Throal
A few weeks after helping Xeviouz earn the respect of the Scorched Tusk moot, I was still quite bothered by the missing drakkar. The thought of that poor defenceless ship in the hands of Scourge cultists filled me with equal measures of dread and rage, so I went around asking friends and acquaintances if they would help me in a rescue mission. Eventually I managed to rope Reys, Zivilyn, Vralino, and Thorkell Gulbrandsen, a troll friend of Vralino and Weaponsmith.
Travel to the moot went by without trouble and Brosme was overjoyed at the idea that we would recover the missing ship. He could not gives us any information on where she may be, but mentioned that there's a madman living in a tower on top of the mountains that may have seen her. His careful avoidance of the man's name makes me think he may be an outcast.
The evening was spent celebrating with a feast and we set out in the morning, up the mountains with the lingering winter rain making the already barren mountains even more inhospitable. Soon we reached the tower, which, really, was more of a two story building. I approached the door and asked Thorkell to knock, since my knocking technique is rather hard on doors.
The man inside tried to avoid talking to us, using such brilliant plans as shouting that no one was inside. I took far too much pleasure into being annoying enough that he would talk to us just to make us go away. I believe the breaking point was reached when he asked why I was talking to someone that would not answer and I replied "that I was just talking to the mountains".
At this point the troll opened the door, spouted a rather well crafted pronouncement of doom on one of the windlings, we never really ascertained which, and started answering questions. He was definitely an outcast and seemed to know of the Scourge cultists and their goals. He explained that there are horrors to great to come into this world, which he called "Ruinations", and the Scourge worships one of them, the "Beauty that Plummets from on High". He also claimed to have beholden one of these "Ruinations" himself: the "Terrible Burden of Wonder".
Eventually he got tired of our questions and retired to his bedroom, I followed and pressed him into answering questions about the drakkar. Questions he felt were boring. With enough prodding he finally mentioned that he may have seen her go towards a lake to the northwest about a week ago. Meanwhile Zivilyn was looking through his journals and found what looked like some extremely advanced nethermantic research and memorized one of them.
From the vantage point of the mountain top I identified where the lake could be and we started making our way there. Reys and Zivilyn took care of foraging, Vralino keep lookout, and I provided directions. The first day of travel was quiet but Vralino felt we were being observed, the second day, as we camped for the night, Zvilyn and Reys noticed that wildlife was very scarce and all the magicians agreed the astral was tainted.
That night I heard a twig snap during my watch, which let me spot the cultists before they could get the drop on us. The cultists attacked moving with impossible speed and grace, supported by two impossibly beautiful four armed constructs wielding blades. Cultists being cultists, they had to be extra unsettling with the first guy I put down kissing my knuckle and saying "we'll all be scourged in the end".
The fight was harder than I expected because at least one of the cultists could disrupt magic, which was intensely aggravating but we still prevailed even if with some serious wounds and one managed to flee.
The next day we continued towards the lake, following the tracks left by the constructs and arrived to a scene from my worst nightmares: the drakkar was cocooned in some kind of material that Zivilyn later described as "astral tendrils" and an elven woman dressed for a high society party was directing the cultists. The woman started to rant about expecting us, how we were all corrupt and despoiling the earth, the cleansing that would happen soon... Honestly I did not pay attention and just charged.
The cultists were obviously aware of who we were now and decided to mostly ignore me to instead focus on my friends. By the time I had turned the crazy lady into paste, not before she wracked me with terrible pain, Vralino, Thorkell, and Haze (Zivilyn's pet bat) had been taken down by the cultists.
As I made my way back Reys mentioned something about a spirit that had disappeared when I killed the elf just before binding a boar spirit in me. Buoyed by the boar's fury I charged back only to be mobbed by the cultists who managed to shank me good a couple of times forcing me to my knees. You cannot keep a angry boar possessed troll down and I got back to my feet with an uppercut that sent a cultist flying away. Zivilyn also took out his fury on the cultists mopping up the remaining ones.
After the fight a quick check revealed that only Haze was in serious danger and I have waded through way too much guano to let the critter die, so grabbing Vralino's physician's kit, and with flashbacks to scrubbing bat shit out of every nook and cranny, I set to the task of tending to its wounds before Zivilyn applied the last chance salve. Luckily for us all, the bat pulled through.
Our attention shifted to what was going on with the drakkar and the magicians thought the cocoon was linked to something somewhere in astral space on even a netherplane, whatever those are. The ritual was to turn the drakkar in a physical "body" for the astral entity, but was not ready yet so we dug in and started ripping the cocoon to shreds. In the end it took almost a week to ensure the ship was thoroughly cleansed, which also removed the majority of the astral corruption in the area.
Examining the bodies found some more Scourge correspondence which we did not investigate at the time. Once the drakkar was cleansed we, well me with some minimal help from Reys and Thorkell, flew the drakkar back to the moot. As I expected she was a joy to sail and even to this day I have rarely seen her equal. Once at the moot we participated in the mandatory feasting and celebrating before being flown back to Throal on the same ship, which, of course, attracted everyone's attention.
A few weeks after helping Xeviouz earn the respect of the Scorched Tusk moot, I was still quite bothered by the missing drakkar. The thought of that poor defenceless ship in the hands of Scourge cultists filled me with equal measures of dread and rage, so I went around asking friends and acquaintances if they would help me in a rescue mission. Eventually I managed to rope Reys, Zivilyn, Vralino, and Thorkell Gulbrandsen, a troll friend of Vralino and Weaponsmith.
Travel to the moot went by without trouble and Brosme was overjoyed at the idea that we would recover the missing ship. He could not gives us any information on where she may be, but mentioned that there's a madman living in a tower on top of the mountains that may have seen her. His careful avoidance of the man's name makes me think he may be an outcast.
The evening was spent celebrating with a feast and we set out in the morning, up the mountains with the lingering winter rain making the already barren mountains even more inhospitable. Soon we reached the tower, which, really, was more of a two story building. I approached the door and asked Thorkell to knock, since my knocking technique is rather hard on doors.
The man inside tried to avoid talking to us, using such brilliant plans as shouting that no one was inside. I took far too much pleasure into being annoying enough that he would talk to us just to make us go away. I believe the breaking point was reached when he asked why I was talking to someone that would not answer and I replied "that I was just talking to the mountains".
At this point the troll opened the door, spouted a rather well crafted pronouncement of doom on one of the windlings, we never really ascertained which, and started answering questions. He was definitely an outcast and seemed to know of the Scourge cultists and their goals. He explained that there are horrors to great to come into this world, which he called "Ruinations", and the Scourge worships one of them, the "Beauty that Plummets from on High". He also claimed to have beholden one of these "Ruinations" himself: the "Terrible Burden of Wonder".
Eventually he got tired of our questions and retired to his bedroom, I followed and pressed him into answering questions about the drakkar. Questions he felt were boring. With enough prodding he finally mentioned that he may have seen her go towards a lake to the northwest about a week ago. Meanwhile Zivilyn was looking through his journals and found what looked like some extremely advanced nethermantic research and memorized one of them.
From the vantage point of the mountain top I identified where the lake could be and we started making our way there. Reys and Zivilyn took care of foraging, Vralino keep lookout, and I provided directions. The first day of travel was quiet but Vralino felt we were being observed, the second day, as we camped for the night, Zvilyn and Reys noticed that wildlife was very scarce and all the magicians agreed the astral was tainted.
That night I heard a twig snap during my watch, which let me spot the cultists before they could get the drop on us. The cultists attacked moving with impossible speed and grace, supported by two impossibly beautiful four armed constructs wielding blades. Cultists being cultists, they had to be extra unsettling with the first guy I put down kissing my knuckle and saying "we'll all be scourged in the end".
The fight was harder than I expected because at least one of the cultists could disrupt magic, which was intensely aggravating but we still prevailed even if with some serious wounds and one managed to flee.
The next day we continued towards the lake, following the tracks left by the constructs and arrived to a scene from my worst nightmares: the drakkar was cocooned in some kind of material that Zivilyn later described as "astral tendrils" and an elven woman dressed for a high society party was directing the cultists. The woman started to rant about expecting us, how we were all corrupt and despoiling the earth, the cleansing that would happen soon... Honestly I did not pay attention and just charged.
The cultists were obviously aware of who we were now and decided to mostly ignore me to instead focus on my friends. By the time I had turned the crazy lady into paste, not before she wracked me with terrible pain, Vralino, Thorkell, and Haze (Zivilyn's pet bat) had been taken down by the cultists.
As I made my way back Reys mentioned something about a spirit that had disappeared when I killed the elf just before binding a boar spirit in me. Buoyed by the boar's fury I charged back only to be mobbed by the cultists who managed to shank me good a couple of times forcing me to my knees. You cannot keep a angry boar possessed troll down and I got back to my feet with an uppercut that sent a cultist flying away. Zivilyn also took out his fury on the cultists mopping up the remaining ones.
After the fight a quick check revealed that only Haze was in serious danger and I have waded through way too much guano to let the critter die, so grabbing Vralino's physician's kit, and with flashbacks to scrubbing bat shit out of every nook and cranny, I set to the task of tending to its wounds before Zivilyn applied the last chance salve. Luckily for us all, the bat pulled through.
Our attention shifted to what was going on with the drakkar and the magicians thought the cocoon was linked to something somewhere in astral space on even a netherplane, whatever those are. The ritual was to turn the drakkar in a physical "body" for the astral entity, but was not ready yet so we dug in and started ripping the cocoon to shreds. In the end it took almost a week to ensure the ship was thoroughly cleansed, which also removed the majority of the astral corruption in the area.
Examining the bodies found some more Scourge correspondence which we did not investigate at the time. Once the drakkar was cleansed we, well me with some minimal help from Reys and Thorkell, flew the drakkar back to the moot. As I expected she was a joy to sail and even to this day I have rarely seen her equal. Once at the moot we participated in the mandatory feasting and celebrating before being flown back to Throal on the same ship, which, of course, attracted everyone's attention.