Bloodbeat II of Syrtis, T'skrang Nethermancer / Weasponsmith / Elementalist

Moderator:etherial

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm
Corporate Espionage

Post by Anoush » Sun Sep 27, 2020 4:47 am

Corporate Espionage
GM: chrisddickey
Date: 2020/09/26
Difficulty: 5M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
Ever since the recent Pastry Festival on Skyreader Island, the spice trade had been booming. Many of the spices that S’Lyan’s Spices — a t’skrang company dealing in exotic spices —had been trading in for years were now redoubled in demand. Who doesn’t like a dash of sweet F’Riezal in their gooseberry tarts?

But S’Lyan had a problem. The secret sites along the Coil River where he’d been harvesting the raw spices for several seasons were now bare — someone had picked all the buds and then trampled the plants into the ground.

So, S’Lyan was looking for a group of investigators to assist them. He contacted a friend of friend in Throal — namely me, Bloodbeat — to help. I went looking for others to accompany me down to the Coil River to investigate. Lazulin, Mal, Nib and Redsun were all happy to help out.

After a pleasant five days on the road, we reached the shore across from Skyreader Island, where S’Lyan’s business was located. I swam the short distance to the Island, while my friends used the cable car baskets to get there. The cable cars went from the shore to Rabbit Island and from there to SkyReader Island. Very comfortable, but swimming is better.

S’Lyan’s shop was on the village square. It was mostly a workshop, with a counter area at the front for helping customers. Most products were in bins behind the counter, so S’Lyan (or one of his many family members) would take the order and then collect the needed spices from the bins, package it all up, collect payment and hand the package to the customer. In fact, when we arrived S’Lyan himself was helping a young windling boy pick up a package for his family.

Then, S’Lyan turned to us. He welcomed us heartily, very happy to see people who’d help him out of his predicament. We went into the backroom — a kitchen and dining area — to learn more. S’Lyan’s family lived upstairs from the shop conveniently.

S’Lyan told us that about three weeks ago, his community garden plots — two large allotments — had been ruined. All the plants — mostly herbs, some berries — destroyed and ground into the earth. Then over the following week, as he or family members went to various plots to harvest spices, they realized that the spice plants had been ruined, destroyed as well. Not just picked clean, but the plants themselves had been cut and chopped and ground into the soil.

S’Lyan couldn’t think of anyone who’d want to ruin him, either personally or professionally. No one in his family had changed their behavior significantly over the last few months. There were no new close associates who seemed a bit off. Nothing suspicious among family and friends. S’Lyan was now out of stock on some of the products he normally carried. His biggest customers were the local bakeries, the brewery and a couple of cafes. To get more product, he had resorted to buying them wholesale from a spice trader in Lake Ban, and then passing on the higher cost to his customers. Not a good situation.

The first destruction was of the local plots. The most recent — so far as S’Lyan could tell, since they only visited the harvesting grounds periodically — was discovered four days ago and the damage looked very new at the time. Right then, some family members were out harvesting and would be back by supper, so they might have more news. Most of the harvesting areas are on shore, but a couple are in the river itself. No special handling (e.g., for poisonous plants) was needed for the plants he harvested.

Next, we visited the local plots. S’Lyan had given us a diagram of what had been planted where. A good thing, too, as the plots were barren when we saw them. Nearby were some orchard plots. A middle-aged woman was picking pears from a tree there. Nib approached her, and after convincing her he wasn’t going to steal her pears, they had a pleasant chat. The woman assumed the damage had been done by vandals, kids. She reported that one evening she left for home and the plots were fine, but when she arrived early the next morning, they were destroyed. Horrible!

Meanwhile, Redsun was examining S’Lyan’s allotments. He reported that the damage was methodical, not the work of simple vandals or children. In additional to the general destruction, Redsun found evidence of frost damage. We speculated that an adept — perhaps an elementalist — might be among those who destroyed the plants. How very sad that an elementallist, who normally nurtures plants, would destroy them like this. Redsun also found lots of tracks, too many to tell anything more, but they were from a variety of Name-givers, t’skrang, humans and windlings.

S’Lyan’s nearest harvesting plot was about a three hour walk away, so we headed there in the hopes of catching the vandals in action. As we approached the area, among the trees that S’Lyan normally harvested, were about a dozen jub jubs! They were voraciously eating the trees, leaves, buds, and even the bark. A little more effort and the trees would be destroyed, unrecoverable.

As we came nearer, the jub jubs attacked. The terrain was lousy for a fight, with trees blocking sight lines for the arches and spell casters, as well making it harder and slower to get where you needed to be. I followed Lazulin into one thicket of trees, only to discover that he wasn’t fighting a jub jub, oh no, he was fighting a giant crocodile! The croc snapped at me, grabbed me in its jaws and hurt me badly, even giving me a wound. I retreated a bit, but the jub jubs followed. After that, we made short work of them. Then a second crocodile jumped out of the underbrush, this time attacking Mal, grabbing him. Nib and Lazulin raced over to help, and together brought down the croc. We skinned the crocodiles and planned to have sets of crocodile leather boots made for all of us back in Throal.

After the battle, we began recovering with the help of Healing Potions and other aids. In the meantime, we also examined the area more closely. Most of the jub jubs had collars or harnesses on them, common leather ones. We could only conclud that they were owned by someone. The tracks of the jub jubs led back to the river bank. We thought that strange since jub jubs normally preferred marshy areas, not river shores and not solid land. Examining the earth more closely, Redsun noted that there were signs that a boat had moored here, and that the jub jubs had either leaped from the boat to the shore, or used a plank from the boat to the shore. Obviously, the owners of these jub jubs were responsible for the damage to the spice plantings.

We decided to wait there for the vandals. We all found hiding spots and waited. About dawn, a small boat — capable of holding perhaps 10 Name-givers — arrived. But the boat was strangely empty. It pulled up onto shore about where the boat had arrived to drop off the jub jubs.

Astrally, Nib and I could make out about five patterns, so we suspected there were five Name-givers. Redsun’s True Sight let him see exactly where they were, and he reported three t’skrang, an elf and a windling. As the Name-givers approached, one called out for the jub jubs, but of course, there was no reply, They continued looking around and saw the blood and one of the dead jub jubs. We’d waited too long. Now they were alerted! Melee began.

Nib cast Dispel Magic on one and made him visible. I tried the same with Suppress Curse, but it had no effect. Or rather, it helped them, rather than helping us. It made the t’skrang immune to bad effects for a short time. Damn me! Why did I do that!? Redsun killed the windling and one of the t’skrang with a single arrow each. Wow! Such incredible shots. Others in the party took down another of the t’skrang. Then Lazulin raced to the prow of the boat, called out loudly for them to surrender, and stood there, waiting for the enemy to choose. The remaining t’skrang and the elf retreated to the boat, swimming under and around it to stay out of reach, and began towing it further from shore. I foolishly jumped into the water after them and luckily didn’t get myself killed.

In the end, the two remaining vandals escaped on their boat.

We returned to Skyreader Island with the one remaining, but hurt, t’skrang. The two others escaped to Kampung Gajah and joined their imprisoned companion in accusing us of murder.They claimed that the trees were public property, and they could graze their jub jubs wherever they wanted. They claimed that nothing they were accused of remotely justified this level of violence against them. Hard to believe someone would accuse a questor of Mynbruje — Redsun — of murder, but they did.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 60
Lifetime LP: 18,060
SP 477.5
Lifetime SP: 2,702.7
TIPs 10
Lifetime TIPs: 26

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 4,200
SP 593.8
TIPs 3
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 4,260
SP 1,071.3
TIPs 13

Items used:
Healing Potion
 
Spends
LP
Arcane Mutterings 4->5: 800
Summon Ally Spirits 0->3: 1,000
Enhanced Matrix E 0-2: 500
Spirit Talk 2->4: 800
Spirit Hold 2->3: 300

Learn Dust to Dust Spell (Circle 5): 0 LP (circle advancement)

Jinx Knack: 800

Remaining Bank: 60 LP
 
SP
Training for Circle 5 Nethermancer: 800 SP
Training for Jinx Knack (5 days): 250

Remaining Bank: 21.3 SP
 
TIPs
Remaining Bank: 13 TIPs
 
Down-time
5 days Training to Advance to Circle 5 Nethermancer
5 days to learn Jinx Knack

4 days unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Obsidiman Troubles

Post by Anoush » Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:19 am

Obsidiman Troubles
GM: predajay
Date: 2020/10/01
Difficulty: 5H

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
Killian collected a few adepts to help him with a Life Rock issue: myself, Elisen, Juniper, and Nib. He explained that there was something wrong at the Ayodiya Life Rock, down near Lake Ban. His elder, Key Stone, had given him the task of investigating and resolving (if possible) whatever was wrong. Key Stone explained that it had been reported that the obsidimen were afraid to return to their Life Rock, but could not explain why.

So, we headed off on the familiar southern route. About three days in, just north of Clear Creek Crossing, Nib and I both felt a pull to leave the road. We couldn’t see anything special in the astral, but both felt a strong urge to go off-road. Dragging the others along, puzzled why we’d left the road, we veered off.

The area we entered looked oddly familiar to me, but I didn’t think I’d been there before. Still, it made me shiver uncharacteristically. Something bad must’ve happened here. I started looking for spirits, and found one. So I summoned it and began talking to it.

The spirit turned out to be a t’skrang female who looked oddly familiar. I stared at her a while, and realized that she was the spirit of my previous incarnation. She explained that she’d been killed in this canyon, but some nasty crow-like birds. What a shock! To meet a previous incarnation was marvelous. She — I began calling her “Sister” at this point — was staying her to find me and help me; she knew that I would need her help. And I must agree, having my Sister’s help will be an invaluable aid in any tough situation. We bargained a bit, and in exchange for her services, I agreed to collect her remains and put them somewhere safer. That sealed the bargain. We took her remains (just some charred bones and ash) and took them with on.

The next day, we reached Clear Creek Crossing. We stopped there and found a suitable storage place for Sister, and then continued on our way.

The rest of the journey to Lake Ban was uneventful. Asking around in one of the small villages on its shores, we checked and discovered that the astral was tainted here. The villagers knew something was wrong at the Life Rock. They’d sent people to investigate a couple of times, but none had returned. They assured us that the Pilgrim’s Passage connecting the Ayodiya Life Rock to Syrtis was still safe, not tainted.

Further, they said that about three weeks ago, two people came through heading to the Life Rock. These people looked battered, as if they’d been in a fierce battle. The pair consisted of a troll and a dwarf, both carrying axes.

Before heading to the Life Rock, I summoned Sister and asked if she’d help us with whatever we found, either by Aiding me, or by providing True Sight. She agreed. We then continued down the Pilgrim’s Passage to the Life Rock. Where the tunnel ended, at the edge of the Life Rock, astral space was corrupted. Elisen flew up and scouted, reporting that the passage led into a maze that ultimately led to the Life Rock. He agreed to stay aloft and guide us in.

The walls of the maze were made of rock, but with peculiar scales coating them. Could these scales be some kind of dead body? Perhaps, but if they were obsidiman cadavers, they were under-nourished and weak compared to a normal obsidiman. We continued onward, following Elisen’s directions. The scales or bodies continued, until finally, they suddenly stopped and all we saw were bare stone walls.

Up ahead, there was a large open area with an obsidiman talking (interacting?) with a cadaver man. The cadaver man looked strange; he was built like a human, but had stone-like skin, and was about 7’ tall. Looking further into the area, we saw a total of four cadaver men.

See no other choice, we attacked the cadaver men. I called on Sister to Aid me, and she did marvelously well. The fight was odd. Only the cadaver men that we attacked fought back. The rest stood there, watching perhaps, or waiting. In any case, they only attacked when attacked first.

Eventually the battle ended and Killian talked to the obsidiman. He said that one day the walking dead arrived, humans, many of whom they knew. They didn’t attack, but they wouldn’t leave when asked either. Checking the astral, Nib noted that the center of the corruption was on the southeast side of the Life Rock. But there were lots, dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of undead blocking the exit there!

Killian communed with the Life Rock about the situation. That took a while. Meanwhile, Elisen and Nib flew to the center of the corruption to see what was there. Ultimately we spend the night at the Life Rock, setting watches, of course. Although Juniper snuck out during the night, to who knows where.

While Elisen was on watch, two figures entered the area. He recognized them as Ursal and Torgan, two now dead adventurers that he had known. Elisen awakened Killian, who awakened the rest of us. Meanwhile, Elisen talked to the two figures. He asked, “What happened?” The figures replied that they were dead, but they felt that they needed to be here, so somehow, they rose up and came here. Elisen asked “Why do the cadaver men stay here?” They answered that it was for the Life Rock’s own safety. At this point, Elisen noticed that neither of the figures was breathing. Not a surprise, but rather confirmation.

Next question, “What called you here?” The figures pointed to a large pile of trinkets, debris and the like. They dug through the pile and brought out a mask, with feathers and a beak, Naming it Gharmek. Uh oh, birds, … again. Further discussion revealed that the mask had called them, and then insisted that they bring it here.

The mask’s eyes opened. It could only be a Horror. That explained everything. The Horror was here to feed on the essence of the obsidimen and their Life Rock; a place of safety with lots of Name-givers to torture. Then melee began with Elisen trying to stab the mask.

I Summoned and bargained with my Sister for her help. She wanted her remains to be somewhere busier, more interesting than Clear Creek Crossing, so I offered to bring her to Throal with me, and she could stay iwith me. Sister readily agreed, and the fight began.

We fought numerous cadaver men and the Horror, while Ursal and Torgan watched. Finally, the Horror was killed and the cadaver men collapsed into dust. Ursal’s and Torgan’s bodied slumped to the ground at the same moment the Horror died, too. We burned their bodies to ash to ensure they were never brought back again.

Once the battle was over, the Life Rock’s obsidimen all woke up, but this time without the look of dread on their faces. We’d freed them from the Horror. In their gratitude they promised to help us with various training. They also paid us with a large number of rare gem stones, both beautiful and valuable.

On the way back to Throal, I collected Sister’s remains from Clear Creek Crossing and carried them with me, home to Throal.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 60
Lifetime LP: 22,260
SP 21.3
Lifetime SP: 3,296.5
TIPs 13
Lifetime TIPs: 29

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 6,300
SP 891.3 (base)
** Reward Half-price attribute training (Charisma +1); cost 180 (instead of 360)
SP 711.3 (actual)
TIPs 5
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 6,360
SP 732.6
TIPs 18

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Frighten 6: 1,300
Spellcasting 6: 1,300
Thread Weaving/Nethermancy 6: 1,300
Summon Ally Spirits 4: 800

Enhanced Matrix Object F: 0->1: 200

Charisma +1: 800 [cool-down period until 10/15)

Spell Night’s Edge (2): 200

Remaining Bank: 460 LP
 
SP
Training for Night’s Edge Spell: 100
Training for Charisma +1: 0 (reward)

Absorb Blow Charm: 100

Item History for Enhanced Spell Matrix Object F: 38
Research for Enhanced Spell Matrix Object F: 75

Remaining Bank: 419.6 SP
 
TIPs
Enhanced Spell Matrix Object F: 16 TIPs
Remaining Bank: 2 TIPs
 
Down-time
6 days to train Charisma +1 (15)
7 days used for Enhanced Spell Matrix Object Research
Item History & Research done by Nib:
Enhanced Spell Matrix Object Research for Bloodbeat 1 day unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

The Slavers Come Home to Roost on the Soaring Espagra

Post by Anoush » Thu Oct 22, 2020 7:20 pm

The Slavers Come Home to Roost on the Soaring Espagra
GM: predajay
Date: 2020/10/20
Difficulty: 6M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
I was browsing through the Grand Bazaar of Throal one day, when I suddenly caught sight of a familiar female t’skrang, Gerry von Drake, the notorious slaver. My blood went cold. What’s she doing here in Throal, walking around free? Doesn’t Throal know she’s a slaver in league with the K’Tenshin aropagoi and Thera? Sadly, her infamy wasn’t well known enough, yet.

So I watched her, trailed her, listened to her conversations. She was recruiting people for a new expedition, something lucrative she said without mentioning slavery, something she claimed was perfectly legal. Hmmm.

Then I spied Juniper across the way, also watching Gerry. We shared a glance and both nodded, murder in our eyes. I approached Gerry first, expressing interest in the job she offered. I learned that the job entailed recovery of an ancient relic for a wealthy sponsor, who would pay well for its recovery.

When I asked for details on the relic, she began talking nonsense about an artifact that can steer the future, the fate of the Coil River and of all the people in Barsaive, even the world. She continued talking about an enormous, immortal lizard that lived in the Coil River, that was controlled by this relic. I’ve heard stories like this many times, millennia ago. I didn’t believe them in the distant past, and I certainly didn’t believe them that day in Throal.

Nevertheless, I maintained my interest and accepted the job aboard her ship. Gerry then went looking for the rest of the crew, while I tagged along quietly. She found Juniper — along with Lazulin and Elisen, plus someone I hadn’t met before, a human air sailor Named Icarus. The murderous look in Juniper’s eyes convinced her that these four were ruthless pirates willing to do anything for money. So they were hired, too.

We were to meet Gerry in two days time in Kampung Gajah. On the way there, the five of us agreed that Gerry’s slaving had to stop, and we certainly couldn’t let her take a supposedly powerful relic away with her to sell to an unknown party, probably a no-good slaving Theran.

In Kampung Gajah, we saw the familiar Soaring Espagra, um, that is, the reNamed Floating Espagra, at the docks. The reNaming was a matter of crossing out the word “Soaring” and painting on the word “Floating” on the side of the ship. A pretty amateurish job. While Gerry did some minor repairs on the Espagra, Icarus gave us some quick lessons on sailing, basically what his nautical orders meant and that we were Tobe prompt in carrying them out. That fine with the rest of us, not knowing anything about sailing ourselves. So we set sail south on the Coil River.

On the journey south, Gerry continued weaving tales about this relic, how the giant snake at the bottom of the Coil River would ensure that those who had the relic would take charge. She assured that our group — as her employees — would be part of the new ruling class. Sure. She claimed that her “international connections,” which we assumed meant Theran connections, were helping her make a sweet deal for the relic, and we’d be very wealthy afterwards. She was vague about where her sponsor was, but he definitely wasn’t in Throal. At one point, Juniper was able to sneak into the Captain’s Office and found a contract, written in Theran, arranging for Gerry to drop off the relic at their “usual place.” Probably the same place that she’d dropped off slaves in the past.

After sailing for two days, we anchored near the eastern shore of the Coil, not too far from Skyreader Island. She told us to go in the water and find an underwater cavern. While we prepared, I summoned my Sister and she agreed to help when needed.

Elisen and his mount were uneasy, expectedly so, about going underwater, so they skimmed the surface and tracked the rest of us from there. Meanwhile the other four of us dived down and explored. After a few minutes, we saw a group of creatures approachong us quickly, determinedly. They were swimming birds! Birds! Why does it always have to be birds! Gah! In spite of my horror, we fought them, and eventually gutted them all.

Shortly thereafter, we found an underwater passage that led to an underground cavern system. Elisen eventually convinced his mount to go underwater, and he held onto me while I swam as fast I could back to the cavern where he could dry off. Gerry followed me back as well.

The cavern walls were covered in glowing algae, so no other light source was needed. The first cave had three exits. One passage heading south, another passage heading northwest, and a closed, green door. The door had three slots in it of varying sizes. We presumed that we’d need three different keys to open it.

We, including Gerry, explored the passage south first. It continued south a while, when Juniper continued on ahead of us scouting. He returned in a rush and reported that there was a cave on the east side with a small chest and some kind of monster. We arranged ourselves for battle and entered the cave. We found the chest, but not a monster. Icarus opened the chest and found a key-sized tool, a slender shaft attached to a handle.

There was a second exit from this cave, which led a short ways southwest and to another cavern. There was another chest in this room, which Icarus opened. In this one was a key-sized tool, shaped as if to wind-up a mechanical device. The other exit from this cave met up with the main passage that we’d used to travel south, so we returned to the original cave.

Taking the northwest passage, we found another small cave with another chest. Icarus opened this as well, and found a normal-looking key. This room also held a very large shed snakeskin, from a snake that must have been at least four yards long. Huge!

Comparing the slots in the door with the three “keys” we found, we could easily match them up. But we decided to rest for the night and open the door in the morning.

We set up watches and the night was uneventful. However, Gerry behaved very strangely. First, she didn’t sleep at all, not even napping or dozing. Instead, she paced most of the night, wringing her hands, taking to herself, performing sword-play moves, burying her face in her hands. Very disturbing to watch. We studied her as best we could, but the best guess we had to explain her behavior was that she had been at sea too long and gone a bit crazy because of it.

In the morning, I tried summoning my sister — who everyone insists on calling Bonebeat — but wasn’t able to. We speculated that something about the cave, or being beneath the Coil River prevented me from doing so.

We arranged ourselves and opened the door easily. Behind it was a corridor, that led to a large cavern. At the far end of the cavern were four altars set on legs, arranged to form an area about 6 yards square. In the center was a pedestal, about a yard tall. On top of the pedestal was what could only be the relic we were searching for. It was a small green, carved stone snake, at least, that’s what I saw. Later I learned that each of us saw something different when we looked at the relic.

Looking astrally again, I realized that the altars and the relic formed a living thread pattern, which embodied the intent to bring about someone’s downfall. There was a strong sense of illusion magic here, too.

Gerry trotted over to the pedestal and pick up the relic. The ground trembled, then shook, until I felt the very earth was going to break open, when suddenly a huge snake-crocodile creature appeared. Later we identified it as a Basilisk, a very powerful one at that, Legendary, I’d surmise. The Basilisk’s first action was to reach down and swallow Gerry whole, the relic falling out of her hands onto the ground.

The Basilisk was tough. Somehow, every time one of us acted, the Basilisk was able to take an action in return. It attacked our minds and our bodies, doing damage with both attacks. While the Basilisk was hurting us badly, we could barely dent it, its armor and defenses were so great.

Yet, the Basilisk seemed protective of the relic, so Icarus grabbed the relic and tossed it to the back of the cavern, hoping to draw the Basilisk away from the fight. Surprisingly, when the relic was thrown, it took some damage and so did the Basilisk. So, we redirected our attacks to the relic, which had little to no armor, and that turned the tide of battle. As we damaged the relic, the Basilisk weakened. When the box was destroyed and crumbled to dust, the Basilisk died, too.

We were injured, some of us badly, but we survived. Juniper slit open the Basilisk’s belly, and found Gerry’s somewhat digested body. He chopped her into small pieces for good measure. By the time he was done, the Basilisk’s body had crumbled to dust as well.

We sailed back to Kampung Gajah. On the way, we collected all the ship’s and Gerry’s documents, including the ship’s ledgers, her contracts, etc. We found the list of slaves that had been sold and to whom, and the location of her normal drop-off point. The last entry in the ledger was about the relic and where it should be dropped off.

We sold the Floating Espagra to a group of adepts for a tidy sum, plus some half-price training.

So, apparently all those old stories about a giant lizard beneath the Coil River were true. My, my, hmmm, I wonder if the similar stories about the Serpent River are true as well? Time will tell.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 460
Lifetime LP: 28,560
SP 419.6
Lifetime SP: 4.007.8
TIPs 2
Lifetime TIPs: 34

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 7,875
SP 812.5
TIPs 3
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 8,335
SP 1,232.1
TIPs 5

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Arcane Mutterings 6: 1,300
Astral Sight 6: 1,300
Avoid Blow 6: 1,300
Steel Thought 6: 1,300
Summon Ally Spirits 5: 1,300

Roll with the Punches (Avoid Blow 6) Knack: 1,300

Remaining Bank: 535 LP
 
SP
Training for Roll with the Punches: 300

Forge Hide Armor from +4 to +5 (total +10/+1): 250

Remaining Bank: 682.1 SP
 
TIPs
0 Used
Remaining Bank: 5 TIPs
 
Down-time
6 days to learn Roll with the Punches knack
7 days to forge armor

1 day unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Another Murder Night in Sosonopa

Post by Anoush » Sun Oct 25, 2020 9:56 pm

Another Murder Night in Sosonopa
GM: chrisddickey
Date: 2020/10/24
Difficulty: 6M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
Sosonopa was usually a sleepy river town. The only excitement was on the wharf, as ships arrived and departed. But that day broke the rules.

I had met Elisen, the windling cavalryman, there, at the River’s Edge Tavern, for a pleasant dinner. He brought along a couple of his friends, A’horangi, a t’skrang monk, and Vralino, an ork swordmaster, Jarock’s daughter.

We were just ordering dessert when a scream rang out, coming from the back door. We raced over to see what was wrong. In the back courtyard we saw a screaming bar maid and a man, both pointing to the tack room door. Inside the tack room, we found the body of a dead dwarf and blood everywhere. The dwarf’s head had been severed and taken away, and his abdomen and been sliced open, and parts excised. No wonder the bar maid was screaming.

The dwarf was wearing good quality clothing, newish, made of fine fabrics. By the drying of the blood, we estimated that he’d been dead for no more than one hour, perhaps as little as a half hour. There were partial, smudged footprints in the blood. From that we could tell that there had been more than one attacker, probably several, and that some of them were a medium-sized humanoid (e.g., human, ork, elf), but no other details could be determined. The dwarf also sported a heavy signet ring on one finger, which we removed in the hopes of identifying him from that. No spirits were on hand.

The bar maid had calmed down by that time. So, Elisen chatted with her. He learned that the dead dwarf was a regular customer, Borjn Thews, a wool merchant whose shop was down the road. Earlier that day, he’d come to the tavern and left his pony with the stablehands.

We went back to the stable and looked over the pony. In the stall we found a saddle and tack, but no saddle bags. We also looked for a blood trail, but found none beyond the confines of the tack room; there were just too many tracks to follow. We did find some bloody towels in the corner, which we assumed that the murderers had used to wipe off their shoes.

I performed an Experience Death spell on Borjn. I experienced him walking into the stable, up to pony, then hearing a sound behind him, then feeling him turn around, and before he could catch more than a glimpse, he was being hit in the head, and falling unconscious, then dead. It took only two strikes to knock him dead. The glimpse seemed to include one or two human-sized people, but it wasn’t clear.

By this time the local sheriff and his troops had arrived. Along with a large gathering crowd. We handed over Borjn’s ring to the sheriff for safekeeping. Among the crowd’s chattering, we heard comments like, “Another one, another dead body.” Talking to some of the crowd, Elisen learned that an obsidiman traveler on his way to Sosonopa had also been killed, just on the outskirts of town. The traveler’s head, heart, and spleen had been taken. Quickly checking Borjn, we found the same missing organs.

I knew of no specific Nethermantic rituals that would use those parts in particular, but my knowledge of evil rituals was sadly lacking. I expected there were some such rituals.

Next we went to Borjn’s shop, a warehouse for wool fabric and a shop for dyeing fabric. Two people, Borjn’s staff we presumed, lived above and behind the shop. But it was already late in the evening. So it took quite a bit of knocking and pounding on the door before one of them answered. We’d obviously woken him from a sound sleep. We said we wanted to talk to him about Borjn’s business, so he told us to go away until the morning.

We returned to our inns and visited the shop first thing the next day. Elisen took the lead, starting with an apology for our disturbance the previous night. The man — Borjn’s journeyman — was shocked to hear that his master was dead. The other employee, a boy of about 12, an apprentice, was equally appalled. They reported that nothing unusual had happened at the business, no unexpected trends, no fierce rivalries. The only odd thing was that elves from the Blood Wood were now buying some of Borjn’s woolens, demanding that the products be delivered on the other side of the river.

Next we went to the docks to talk to the ferry workers, to try to learn more about the Blood Elves. They had no more details to give us, but one of them mentioned that two dead fishermen had been found about six days ago, on their drifting boat. One was a human male, and the other a t’skrang female.

By this time, a crowd had gathered, again. And someone else added that a local hunter, a troll, had gone missing te previous week, asking if he was going to turn up dead, too. Another added that an ork farmer’s cottage had burnt down not long before, and that the body had been badly burnt, but no head had been found.

Hmmm, that mean that one of five of the common Name-giver races — dwarf, human, t’skrang, troll, ork — had each been killed or was missing (and presumed dead). We began counting how many elves and windlings were resident in town, thinking that they’d be the next targets. Perhaps there was a foul ritual that needed body parts from each Namegiver race? How horrible!

Realizing that there were too many elves and windlings in town to protect them all, we decided to investigate the ork’s farm, only an hour outside of town, to see if we could learn more there. The cottage had been burned and parts of a burned ork body were found. Performing an Experience Death, I learned that the farmer had been mucking out the stable when he saw four figures — humans and orks by appearance — come in to the stable, along with a few flying creatures, about the size of windlings, but with tails, not legs. Between them all, they dragged the ork into the cottage, pressed an axe to his neck, and that was it, he was dead.

The barn was still standing and undamaged. Vralino followed some tracks from the stable to the cottage, and learned that the group came from the North, and after killing the farmer milled about, and then went to the barn. There were no tracks leading away from the barn.

We plotted our attack for a moment outside the barn, when suddenly we all felt something touching our minds, attacking us, and then we heard movement within the barn. Battle had begun. It was a tough fight. Vralino fought fiercely until she went unconscious defending me from melee attacks. Meanwhile Elisen and A’horangi dealt with the flying creatures. We regrouped and our combined efforts whittled the enemy down enough until they were all dead or dying. In the aftermath, we identified the flying creatures as changelings, and the others — humans and orks — as some sort of cultists.

We returned to Sosonopa and reported what we’d found to the sheriff. But somehow we didn’t think this was the end of the story.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 535
Lifetime LP: 36,435
SP 682.1
Lifetime SP: 4,820.3
TIPs 5
Lifetime TIPs: 37

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 7,875
SP 812.5
TIPs 3
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 8,410
SP 1,494.6
TIPs 8

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Suppress Curse 6: 1,300
Summon 6: 2,100
Willforce 0->4: 1,800
Banish 1: 200
Standard Matrix C 3: 300
Patterncraft 3: 300

Learn Friendly Darkness spell: 0 [free with circle training]

Weave Rank 2 Thread to Enhanced Matrix F: 300

Remaining Bank: 10 LP
 
SP
Train for 6th Circle Nethermancer: 1,000
Learn Friendly Darkness spell: 0 [free with circle training]

Remaining Bank: 494.6 SP
 
TIPs
0 Used
Remaining Bank: 8 TIPs
 
Down-time
5 days to train to 6th Circle Nethermancer

9 days unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Unlikely Danger

Post by Anoush » Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:45 pm

Unlikely Danger
GM: Xzandrate
Date: 2020/11/08
Difficulty: 7M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
Thaddeus Korbit, a human alchemist, had recently settled in irondelve. There’s a lot of work in establishing a new business, especially an apothecary shop: preparing the shop with shelves and counters and scales; advertising to the local residents, and of course, constantly creating alchemical items to stock the shelves. Thaddeus was a busy guy, too busy to be able to go out into the countryside and search for particular, unusual or rare, ingredients for his creations.

So, Thaddeus had posted notices in Irondelve, Kampung Gajah and even Throal, looking for people to go out and collect these ingredients for a reasonable fee. Thaddeus could supply information on how to identify the ingredients, directions on how to collect them, and a general idea of where they can be found.

Bloodbeat contacted Thaddeus to arrange to take on this task, along with some of her trusted companions. She easily convinced Elisen the Windling Cavalryman, Juniper the human Shadow and Questor of Lochost and Zivilyn the Windling Shaman to join her. Elisen brought along a Troll Weaponsmith friend, Named Thorkell, as well.

The trip to Irondelve was uneventful. The worst part was the first few days as Elisen and Juniper sobered up from their partying in Throal. But I learned from the others that Irondelve had been established by an opened Kaer whose defenses had been infused with Elemental magic. As a result, the plants in the area were unusual, containing more metallic elements than normal. This explained in part why Thaddeus had settled there; he wanted to see what these unusual plants would do when used in the standard alchemical formulae. Interesting!

Thaddeus was a likeable human, worried about getting his business started. It seemed he had more than the usual things to worry about. A local alchemist, an Elf, had gone missing and then been found dead, perhaps murdered. Thaddeus implied, but didn’t state directly, that there was an organization that was in control of the Alchemy business and preventing new people from getting into business. One of the tasks that Thaddeus had for us involved getting a rare gift for this controlling organization, something to convince them to let Thaddeus stay alive and in business.

There were three parts to the job had Thaddeus for us.

First, we were to travel down to near Lake Ban to talk to a friend of his, Alekema, a t’skrang alchemist. They had been corresponding, and she had identified the perfect gift to impress the other alchemists. Thaddeus would tell us no more, other than to say that Alekema would make the task clear; he provided directions to her home in the village of Ba’tosh.

The next task was to collect some gel worms from a cave in the Servos Jungle. The cave that Thaddeus gave us directions to was accessible from a tributary of the Galanga River. He had plans to use the gel worms to make Targeting Eye blood charms, or perhaps other similar items. He gave us three jars to fill with earth and gel worms.

The final task was to collect some gems by defeating some Demiwraiths. The ‘wraiths normally stayed in a clearing near the edge of the Servos Jungle, not too far South of Irondelve. Thaddeus hoped we’d bring back 3 or 4 of the gems. As I recalled Demiwraiths were the angry spirits of the undead, and they tended to congregate together. Thaddeus planned to use the gems to make Last Chance Salves.

We took a river boat down the Coil River to Ba’tosh. Alekema’s home was on the outskirts, very close to the edge of the Servos Jungle. Well positioned for an alchemist. She greeted us warmly and told us that she’d consulted with the Floating City and had identified the perfect gift for the Irondelve alchemists. It was a flower, a passiflora, very aromatic. It was commonly used in perfumes and bath oils, and was stunningly beautiful to boot. She knew of a grotto near Irondelve where they grew in abundance. She told us to carry them back in sacks, and to be sure not to crush them.

We spent the rest of the day with Alekema, helping her with herbs and other chores. She prepared a marvelous fish stew for dinner, and we regaled her with stories of our adventures. We spent the night in her barn.

The next morning we headed off back north, this time on foot, not on a boat. We followed the edge of the Servos Jungle north until we neared the area where Thaddeus had told us the demiwraiths could be found. Elisen and Juniper scouted ahead, and saw several of them gathering together near the edge of the jungle, amid some low, rolling hills.

We prepared for the battle behind a nearby hill, and then moved to meet them. Thorkell moved first, quickly advancing beyond the rest of us. Zivilyn and I cast spells to aid the group, improving our defenses and creating a circle of darkness to give us an advantage. These demiwraiths were much faster than we expected, and were on us very quickly. They also glowed faintly. Later, after the battle, we speculated that they were also affected by the Elemental magic of Irondelve. We took damage, but won the day and collected about 20 gems from their remains. Thaddeus would be happy.

We then found the nearby branch of the Galanga River that led to the cave of gel worms. Following the river to the cave took a couple of days, which allowed us time to fully recover from the battle with the demiwraiths. The cave’s only entrance was below water, but luckily there were no predators, like crocodiles, nearby. Zivilyn cast a spell that allowed Elisen and himself, the two windlings, to burrow into the earth and reach the cave without entering the water. The rest of us dived into the river and swam to the cave. I collected three full jars of gel worms and their earth while the others guarded and watched. This part was easy.

Next we needed to find the grotto that Alekema had told us about. We suspected that it was close to this point in the jungle. Elisen and Zivilyn flew around, searching for it. Eventually they located a rock entrance to a cave, with a grotto beyond that was open to the sky.

We trekked over to the cave entrance, but stopped just inside. Letting our eyes adjust to the dimness, we noticed movement on ledges that lined the walls. Something large, reptilian was moving. Astrally, the space was open, with lots of life, vines, trees, insects, but I couldn’t see these moving creatures. I cast Friendly Darkness and we gathered within it to advance into the cave, slowly. When we were about halfway down the length of the cave, the creatures — four-legged reptiles that one of my companions identified as Velus — approached the darkness. We attacked it from within the darkness and were making headway in the battle.

Then Juniper had a brilliant idea — to scare them with this ‘darkness that hurts’. He began speaking in an ominous voice, switching between Throalic and several other tongues. Some of the Velus paused in their attacks, while other remained aggressive. I added some spooky sounding phrases in t’skrang, and eventually they all backed off, convinced that this ‘evil darkness’ was not something they wanted to deal with. It worked! We continued through the cave, collected the flowers, and exited the cave the same way.

Another couple days travel put us back in Irondelve where we presented our collected goods to Thaddeus. He was very pleased with our success. He also reported that there had been nothing sinister about the death of the alchemist. Or at least, he’d become convinced of that. He was so pleased he sold us alchemical supplies for half price.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 10
Lifetime LP: 44,310
SP 494.6
Lifetime SP: 5,632.8
TIPs 8
Lifetime TIPs: 40

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 13,650 [13,000 + 5%]
SP 968.8 (base) [775 + 25%]
Bought Alchemy Shop for half-price: 500 SP
SP 468.8 (actual)
TIPs 3
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 13,660
SP 963.4
TIPs 11

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Willforce 4 to 6: 3,400
Thread Weaving/Nethermancy 7: 2,100
Avoid Blow 7: 2,100
Arcane Mutterings 7: 2,100
Steel Thought 7: 2,100
Patterncraft 3 to 4: 500
Enhanced Matrix E 3: 500

Remaining Bank: 860 LP
 
SP
Alchemy Shop: 0 (reward)
Remaining Bank: 963.4 SP
 
TIPs
0 Used
Remaining Bank: 11 TIPs
 
Down-time
None used.
14 days unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:59 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

The Chains We Forge

Post by Anoush » Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:54 pm

The Chains We Forge
GM: Verse86
Date: 2020/11/12
Difficulty: 6H

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
As we approached Throal (returning from Irondelve where we’d aided Thaddeus Korbit), a boy raced to us and gasping, told Thorkell that there was trouble. A dwarven builder of Thorkell’s acquaintance, Poren Dash, was a month overdue in getting to the Tower of Ba’tosh.

The Tower was a pre-Scourge Weaponsmith mecca, built by a Questor of Upandal Named Ba’shon, located east of the Throal Mountains. It had been found in ruins and Thorkell had devoted months, even years, to getting it restored. It was nearly ready to re-open. But now this disaster. They feared that Poren had been captured by slavers.

Thorkell confirmed the details and then asked Juniper and me to find Poren and bring him to the Tower. Solemnly, he told me that if I helped accomplish this task, then he would gladly arrange for me to receive Weaponsmith training. Even without that added incentive, both Juniper and I would’ve helped. So, in any case, we readily agreed.

Thorkell had other pressing business in Throal, so could not accompany us. Instead, Elisen the windling Cavalryman and Lazulin the Raider joined us.

We journeyed first to Clear Creek Crossing and then to Kampung Gajah. In the latter, a dwarf matching Poren’s description had been seen about 3 weeks ago, and in the former about 1 month ago. Kampung Gajah reported that he had a wagon and headed east overland, following the edge of the Throal Mountains.

We followed Poren’s supposed path to the east. We found no evidence of a broken wagon, or a skirmish, or any clue as to Poren’s location. Several weeks after we started, we reached the banks of the Serpent River.

As we were discussing which were the nearest fords across the river, we caught sight of a good-sized ship on the river, perhaps 35’ long. A group of crewmen sailed a longboat over to us, and kindly asked if we wanted a ride north. This raised our collective suspicions immediately. What does it say about Barsaive that when someone offers help we immediately think they’re up to no good? In this case, we were right.

After discussion, we accepted their offer and boarding their ship. Juniper thought quickly, and introduced himself as a young heir to a trading house in Throal, and added that this was his first time on a trading journey. He introduced me as his accountant, and Elisen and Lazulin as his guards; after all, the world is a dangerous place.

The ship seemed a normal merchant vessel at first. The crew was welcoming. We estimated there were four t’skrang adepts in the martial disciplines, K’Tenshin by their accents, while the rest of the crew were mundane. They offered us a private cabin and dinner at the captain’s table. I acted my role of accountant, asking about what goods they were carrying, what their profit margin was and where they sold such things as tools. It was amusing to watch them obviously making up answers to the questions. When we stabled Elisen’s mount in a cage below decks, we noticed several other cages, and in one of them a resigned-looking dwarf; not Poren.

Privately, we discussed our options. We concluded that the best choice was to go along and let them capture us. Juniper’s Questor abilities would allow him to remove all our shackles at the appropriate time. We secreted key equipment on Elisen’s mounts, so that when they searched us no suspicions would be raised, and so the gear would be available to us later.

We set watches that night, but otherwise acted like normal merchants accepting the ship’s hospitality. During the night, they opened our cabin door and after we gave a token protest, shackled each of us and put us in the cages.

After two days sailing on the Serpent River, the ship docked and the slavers transferred us to a cage set atop a wagon, all covered with a tarp. Two more days of bumpy overland travel and the wagon stopped. They took us out of the wagon, still shackled. We were at a mine set in some foothills. There was a single large outbuilding. The slavers met with a couple of humans and we caught stray words that indicated they were haggling over a price for us. Eventually they came to an agreement and the t’skrang slavers left, leaving us with the mine slavers.

Our new owners led us into the building. We saw sleeping quarters, a desk with various papers, and a kitchen area. While the slavers were distracted, Juniper broke our shackles and we made short work of the two slavers. Elisen’s mount, Isadoros, charged into the building at his call, breaking down the wall in a murderous attack. Afterward, Juniper searched the papers on the desk and found that orders for supplies were all signed in a flowing script with the Name Willow.

Next we proceeded into the mine opening. After about 10 yards we reached a decision point; go straight or left. Juniper scouted to the left and found two mine guards. He acted the role of supervisor and berated them for still being at their current post, sending them off, straight into the line of sight for the rest of us. Between all our mental attacks, they were scared witless, and ran off, heading straight down the mine passageway. We followed, and were surprised to find two more guards, a couple of beefy troll enforcers, and their boss, Willow.

The fight was tough. Even though we rattled them so much that they could barely hit us, Willow turned the tables on us, and reduced our effectiveness severely. By her words (“Everyone is a slave to something”) and actions (causing Juniper to feel absolutely desolated), we concluded that she was a Questor of Dis. Eventually, Elisen, Jacint and Juniper ganged up on her, and she ran, opening a door, and then slamming it shut behind her. With Willow gone, the rest were easy to vanquish.

When Juniper smashed open the door, all he found was another mine passageway, but no Willow. Strangely, when she had opened the door for escape, we had caught a glimpse of sunlight and green grass beyond. Hmm, we suspected in addition to being a Questor, she was also an Illusionist. I suspect we haven’t seen the last of Willow.

Afterward, we freed the slaves, and found Poren there. Some of the slaves, including Poren, were mindless, as if undead. The others told us that if slaves resisted, she put some ‘spell’ on them and caused them to comply like this; the effect would be gone by the end of the day. Others were resigned to their slavery, while others seemed happy and content as slaves.

We recovered quickly and then returned back down the road leading to the Serpent River. We found the t’skrang slavers, and killed them all.

After returning to the mine, we gave Poren and the others a couple of days to rest, and then brought Poren and anyone else so inclined to the Tower of Ba’tosh. Thorkell was thrilled that we’d recovered Poren.

Before we left the Tower for our return to Throal, Thorkell gave me a piece of valuable advice. He said that a Weaponsmith is always in the front line. Even if they weren’t physically fighting hand-to-hand themselves, their weapons and armor were, making the difference between life and death. He cautioned that whenever I forge something to make sure that I do the absolute best I can so that my work does not fail in the middle of battle. Wise words.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 860
Lifetime LP: 57,960
SP 963.4
Lifetime SP: 6,101.6
TIPs 11
Lifetime TIPs: 43

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 11,550 [11,000 + 5%]
SP 1218.8 [975 + 25%]
TIPs 5
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 12,410
SP 2,181.2
TIPs 16

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Astral Sight 7: 2,100
Frighten 7: 2,100
Patterncraft 5: 800
Suppress Curse 7: 2,100
Willforce 7: 3,400

Forge Weapon 1: 200
Item History 1: 200
Melee Weapons 1: 200

Remaining Bank: 1,310 LP
 
SP
Learn Forge Weapon 1: 600
Learn Item History 1: 600
Learn Melee Weapons 1: 480 (4 days training, 1 day remaining)

Remaining Bank: 502.2 SP
 
TIPs
0 Used
Remaining Bank: 16 TIPs
 
Down-time
Learn Forge Weapon 1: 5 days
Learn Item History 1: 5 days
Learn Melee Weapons 1: 4 days [1 day remaining]

0 days unused
Last edited by Anoush on Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Pillars of Sin

Post by Anoush » Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:40 pm

Pillars of Sin
GM: Predajay
Date: 2020/12/11
Difficulty: 7M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
One evening in Throal, I was enjoying some spirits (the liquid kind) with a group of friends. A’Horangi, Elisen and Lazulin were there, and they’d brought along a troll companion, Azurea, a troll Shadow. It was a usual night in the Dahnat. Until the unusual happened.

A man, an odd-looking dwarf, at the bar was spending money like water. He was buying drinks for various tables, splurging on everything available. We collectively thought, “How do we get him to buy our drinks, too?”

So Elisen approached him with this in mind. Sure enough, the big spender — who introduced himself as Ralf — paid for our drinks and another round. Elisen talked to him for a while and we learned that he was a very prosperous merchant from down near Skyreader Island. Apparently his business was making so much money he couldn’t spend it all, and thus his generosity at the bar. When Elisen pressed him for details, Ralf refused to say more.

The shop was supposedly on the opposite (or East) bank of the Coil River, between Clear Creek Crossing and Skyreader Island. The location he gave for his shop, as vague as he described it, seemed odd; there wasn’t much of anything near where he said his shop was, so how did he get his business? Strange. Most travelers stay on the West bank of the Coil, through Kampung Gajah and on South.

Elisen’s impression was that Ralf wasn’t an honest merchant. Ralf was dressed in fine fabrics that didn’t really belong here, at a tavern in the Dahnat; and his purse was leather, not silk. We guessed that Ralf’s business had only very recently become a success. Yet, his hands had no calluses, from either a weapon or manual labor, so how had he come into the money?

One of the group also noticed a few guards in the tavern that were staying close to Ralf. Perhaps guarding him, or waiting for him?

As we puzzled over this with another ale, another dwarf approached us. We all agreed that we’d seen him before, in various parts of Throal, and rumor was that he was an agent of the Eye of Throal. The dwarf introduced himself as Andy (which I’m sure wasn’t his Name the last time I saw him). Conspiratorially, Andy steered the conversation to Ralf and his mysterious business. Andy talked about how it was important for Throal’s security that we find out more about Ralf’s business. What was he actually trading in? How was he making his money? Fair questions. Andy offered to pay us, so we agreed to check into Ralf’s business.

After finishing that round, we collected our gear and headed South on the well-trodden road to Sky Reader Island. A couple days out of Throal, we saw some villagers on the road ahead of us, going South as well. They looked remarkably like the guards that accompanied Ralf in the tavern.

Elisen called out a hearty “Greetings!” as we approached them from the rear. They stopped, turned and reversed course to greet us. They insisted on a Greeting Ritual, so we obliged. Nothing conclusive was learned. Several people — both us and them — performed very poorly. Still we chatted with them and learned that they were heading to Skyreader Island, too. We argued that we should all travel together. After all, a group of villagers could always use the protection of others, no? They agreed and we continued together.

Over the next few days, we checked them out astrally, or tried to. The most that we could learn was that one of the human villagers was a magician.

On the last night that we expected to be together, we camped across from Skyreader Island on the West bank of the Coil. A’horangi was on watch shortly after midnight when the “villagers” quietly packed up and left. A’horangi woke us and we followed, none too quietly. The villagers actually swam across the Coil, and entered a lone building, a general goods shop. It was an isolated location. no foot traffic; an odd place for a store of any kind.

We approached the building, trying to be stealthy, and once at the side of the building, I cast Viewpoint to see inside. There we saw a basic General Store layout: racks of goods, stuff hanging on the walls, a counter and a door leading to the back. The five villagers were there, and all of them were armed. Four were deep in discussion, but the last one seemed to be listening intently. Hmm, maybe we hadn’t been as stealthy as we thought?

Behind the store itself was a fenced in back yard. The fence was solid and excessively tall, 20’ at least. I cast Viewpoint again and beyond the fence we saw the back door to the shop and a small (3’ square) building in the center of the yard with a large padlock on its door. Could this be the privy? And if so, why would they lock it? Astrally the whole area was tainted. Azurea examined the area with Earth Bond and really didn’t like what she saw/felt. The shed and the earth around it in particular were nasty. She also reported that the earth around the shed couldn’t grow plant life.

We made a plan. Lazulin and I entered through the shop’s front door, as if looking for the villagers who’d left in the night. Meanwhile, the rest would wait at the back door and burst in when needed.

Once inside, Laz and I asked questions of the villagers — acting like crazy stalkers. Why did they leave in the middle of the night? Why were they here at this shop? Who’s shop was it? (Not theirs, they said.) We didn’t get any useful information from them. But they all seemed surprised and nervous. Then the door opened, and the generous merchant, Ralf, stood in the doorway. Ralf was naturally confused; he didn’t expect to see us there certainly. Ralf blurted out, “Why did you let them follow you here?” And after a moment of recovery, ordered “Get them out of here!” Lazulin grabbed Ralf and put a spear to his throat as a threat, and when Ralf tried to wriggle free, Laz conked him over the head and Ralf was unconscious on the floor.

Melee ensued. I don’t remember much of it. One of the villagers — an archer — shot me with an arrow as soon as combat began. What an arrow! More like a giant spear. I was knocked down and woozy and nearly unconscious. All I could think was to cast Friendly Darkness and hide, but never could weave the thread. Luckily, my companions fared better and took down the villagers. At the end of the combat, most were dead, but two (Ralf and one other) were alive for questioning.

The villager, an elf, was from a village to the Southeast and wouldn’t say much. All the villagers bore the insignia of a Scourge Cult. Why anyone would want to bring the Horrors back to Barsaive is insane, but that’s what they wanted. Ralf was more talkative. He told us that the cash came from the shed in the back. In the shed was a golden crystal pillar of some kind. He claimed that everyday coins would appear in an alcove next to it, sometimes silver, or gold, or platinum, or even more valuable metals. He just took the money and spent it as he pleased. He also told us that he’d relocated his shop from Skyreader Island to this location at the suggestion of a stranger. Ralf found the crystal here, and built everything else around it.

We secured both Ralf and the elf, and rested for the night, recovering. The villager made a couple attempts at suicide during the night, and the final one succeeded. That left us with Ralf.

The next day, we investigated the shed. The crystal was huge, about to burst through the shed’s roof. There was one gold coin on the shelf next to it. The crystal was neither a Horror nor a Horror Construct, but beyond that we couldn’t tell any more. Our best guess was that it was an Astral Construct of some kind. At most we could determine that the crystal was here to help a Horror in some way. There were no spirits in the area, in fact, they were actively avoiding the area. We then attempted to destroy the crystal, with tools and magic. By the end of the day, the pillar was destroyed and the land purified.

In the morning, the pillar had grown back somewhat, but the the taint was less. The crystal was back even though we’d eradicated it all, including the roots, on the previous day. Some outside force must be at work here. But what? The crystal seemed to be growing from the shed’s alcove outward. So, that day we destroyed both the crystal and the alcove. The shelf was just floating above where the structure had been by the end of the day.

Yet, the next day, the pillar was back. We took the coin it offered, and the crystal grew a bit more. Next we put a few coins back onto the shelf, and the pillar shrank back. Aha! We took all the cash we could find in the shop, on Ralf, on the villagers, and put it on the shelf. The crystal pillar finally collapsed and was gone. After it was gone, we found a tiny amber seed on the ground. Studying it carefully, we realized that an even tinier raven’s feather was embedded in the seed. After all that, the astral was pretty clear and improving. The seed itself was tainted, but not enough to spread its taint further.

Exploring the shop, we found notes on other places of interest.

We strongly warned Ralf to return to Skyreader Island and open a legitimate business. We threatened him sufficiently that we thought he’d do as we told him. Then we went to the closest of the two other locations.

The first location was a brothel. It was busy, very busy. Patrons were engaging in all kinds of procreative acts on the tables and floor, and paying for the privilege. Mammals are strange. Various workers tried to seduce Elisen and A’Horangi, but to no avail. What were they thinking?? We talked to the proprietor about a crystal pillar and she readily led us to a back room with a large pink pillar. Even I had to laugh at the suggestive irony of it all! We convinced the madam that nothing good could come of having her business here, that the pillar would eventually crush the life out of them, and that she should close up shop and go somewhere, anywhere else. With some strong encouragement, she agreed, taking all her employees and many of the patrons with her. We boarded up the building and continued onward.

The next location was a tavern. The host pointed us to a table. The place seemed normal enough until we realized that all the patrons were obese, easily three or more times the normal weight for their race. And they were all eating like the food was going to disappear, shoveling more and more into their mouths. An ork waitress was delivering platter after platter of roasted goose and other dishes to the tables. We spoke to the manager who told us that they got their food supplies really cheaply, so they could charge cheap prices and get a lot of clientele. When pushed, he admitted that his suppliers were shady. The manager denied that any pillar crystal was on the premises, but we found that the cellar door was locked. The manager explained that the suppliers brought the foodstuffs directly to the cellar and then the food appeared on the main floor. He was a little fuzzy on how all this happened without him or his employees actually going into the basement. No doubt the pillar had bewitched him. We broke down the surprisingly heavy cellar door and found an orange crystal pillar, about ready to burst through the cellar’s ceiling and into the tavern above. At this, we were able to strongly convince the manager to close the tavern and move his business elsewhere. The thought of eating Horror-tainted food was the final straw that got him moving. Moving the obese patrons was harder; many couldn’t walk more than a couple steps on their own. So we prodded, rolled and carried them out of the place and boarded it up.

We set off down the road to Skyreader Island, which would eventually bring us to Throal. We caught sight of one traveler on the road ahead of us, approaching. He was carrying a heavily laden sack. Greeting him, we learned that he was delivering water fowl to the tavern behind us. We tried to deter him, explaining that the tavern was closed, but he insisted. He also told us that the birds came from near Skyreader Island. Then we noticed the Scourge cultist insignia on his cloak, about the same time that Lazulin noticed that the delivery man had allies in the brush nearby.

A fight ensued, and the cultists were killed. After all that, I began to think that I’d have to revise my thoughts on birds; I vowed never to eat another one, just kill them and burn the carcasses.

We reported all that happened to Andy — now using a different Name — from the Eye. They checked on a pillars a few days later and found that they were all collapsing in on themselves. The Eye expected to continue checking on the pillars and would keep us apprised.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 1,310
Lifetime LP: 69,510
SP 502.2
Lifetime SP: 7,320.4
TIPs 16
Lifetime TIPs: 48

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 14,300 [13,000 + 5%]
SP 968.8 [775 + 25%]
TIPs 3
21 days of Down-time

Available
LP 15,610
SP 1,471
TIPs 19

Items used:
Healing Potion
 
Spends
LP
Patterncraft 5 to 7: 3,400
Spellcasting 8: 3,400
Summon 7: 3,400

Forge Weapon 1 to 3: 800
Item History 1 to 3: 800
Melee Weapons 1 to 3: 800
Thread Weaving/Smithing 1: 200
Awareness: 0 to 3: 1,000
Swap Awareness Skill for Alchemy (1 rank): 0

Conversation 1: 200
FIreblood 0 to 3: 1,000

Weave Rank 4 Thread to Enhanced Matrix Object D

Remaining Bank: 610 LP
 
SP
Learn Melee Weapons 1: 120 (last day of 5)
LearnThread Weaving/Smithing 1: 600
Train for 2nd Circle Weaponsmith: 200

Remaining Bank: 551 SP
 
TIPs
0 Used
Remaining Bank: 19 TIPs
 
Down-time
Learn Melee Weapons 1: 1 day (last day of 5 days)
Learn Thread Weaving/Smithing 1: 5 days
Train for 2nd Circle Weaponsmith: 5 days

10 days unused

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

Stolen Property

Post by Anoush » Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:56 am

Stolen Property
GM: Predajey
Date: 2020/12/18
Difficulty: 8M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
As a Nethermancer, I’d been very impressed with Jasper Tahn of Sosonopa. Very learned, very skilled, and a marvelous teacher. So, when I received a letter from him asking for my help in finding the criminals who’d stolen an artifact for him, I was shocked. Shocked that anyone would dare rob someone of such power and repute. Then I contacted some trustworthy companions — Elisen (a windllng Cavalryman and Troubadour), Juniper (a Shadow and Questor of Lochost), LaShana (a windling security expert) and one of my Weaponsmith trainers, Thorkell (a troll Weaponsmith, Warrior and Questor of Upandal) — and set off for Sosonopa to help.

We reached Sosonopa on a typical spring day, cool and overcast. Sebas, Jasper’s manservant, greeted us cordially. He was happy to see us. As usual, there was no sign that Jasper was in the house. He was a very private man. Sebas remembered dear Nib, and inquired as to why he wasn’t here to help. So I had to explain that Nib had died in an expedition a few months past. Even after the better part of a year, it still pained me to talk about Nib. The only consolation I had was Nib’s occasional visit for morning tea where I talked to a variety of spirits.

Sebas explained that the stolen item was a crystal shard infused with lightning, dating from before the Scourge. The shard had been in Jasper’s family for at least 2 generations, perhaps longer, and it was stored in a display case along with a variety of other special items. In this display room, we could see the outline of the missing shard on the wall. The shard was small enough to fit into a human-sized hand. The area was safe astrally, and the only things of note in the room were the other magical items. The room was dusty as if it was infrequently used. Since none of the other magical items had been taken, we had to assume that the thief had come for the shard specifically.

Sebas could provide no clues as to the culprit who’d taken the shard just over a week ago at that point. But he did tell us that the doors and windows had been locked, both to the house and this particular room. Yet, Jasper had set no magical, protective wards on the room or house. I thought that strange given the value of the items in this one room alone, let alone Jasper’s vast library. Sebas’ only response was that Jasper hadn’t thought wards necessary.

LaShana cast an expert’s eye on the room. She noticed scratches by the lock and concluded that it had been picked. She suggested a better locking mechanism and other security measures to Sebas, but I doubted that Jasper would listen.

Then we asked Sebas who knew about the shard, apart from Jasper and him. Sebas had no idea. Sebas added that Jasper never had guests. The only people to enter the house in the last few months had been Jasper and himself.

We examined the rest of the house, and found dirt on the floor, along with scrape marks as if someone had dragged a piece of cloth to mask their footprints on the dusty floor. The path it left was big enough to conceal a human, perhaps an elf or ork, but no one larger. The path told us that the thief had entered through the front door and headed directly to the display room. So not only did the culprit know that Jasper had the shard, but he knew where it was stored.

Jasper’s house was set on a largish piece of property in a pleasant neighborhood. It was enclosed by a stone wall with a gate. Most of the neighbors weren’t near enough to have a view of Jasper’s front door, so couldn’t easily note Sebas’ comings and goings. Sebas told us that he had a usual route from the house to the market. The neighbors could certainly note him when he traveled that route.

On the grounds themselves, we found several sets of tracks. Apart from Sebas’ expected tracks, we found some that came over one of the walls and headed to some dense shrubbery. There was fresh chipping at the top of the wall, which indicated that the thief had used a grappling hook to scale it. The tracks then retraced their steps to depart the grounds. From the shrubbery, we found one set of tracks that led to the front door and then back again. Our conclusion is that the thief hid in the bushes, waited for Sebas to go to the market, and then took the opportunity to steal the shard. By the size and shape of the shoe prints, we could tell the thief must’ve been either a small ork or a large human.

Beyond the wall, we couldn’t follow the tracks. They mingled with a variety of other, normal foot traffic. The best we could discern was that perhaps, just perhaps, the culprit had continued on the road leading to the ferry across the Serpent River.

Elisen talked to the ferryman and learned that it was mostly blood elves who used the ferry. But he did remember one group of t’skrang who took the ferry and then continued on towards the Blood Wood. One suggestion that cropped up was that we might investigate Smuggler’s Respite, a small town near the fork of the Serpent.

Juniper talked to some of his underworld contacts — fences mainly — but they were unwilling to say much. However, they did admit that they’d heard of no request for this specific item.

Following our one lead, we headed to Smuggler’s Respite. I learned that the town used to be the base for a smuggling operation, but that by then the Name was a misnomer. The people there were no longer smugglers, but people trying to start new lives for themselves. Some of the others spoke of a companion, Zil, who was at the town regularly, treating victims of Ishkarat aggression.

Juniper did most of the talking at Smuggler’s Respite and eventually learned that a stranger — dressed all in black with a silver-etched cloak — had been noted nearby, crossing the Serpent and heading northwest. LaShana found distinctive tracks along the river, but then lost them once they entered the water. Juniper made more inquiries about the cloaked man, and learned that he was likely from Iopos, a place none of us had ever visited. But a supply caravan was heading to Iopos in a few days time, and we were able to join it.

It took us several weeks by caravan to get to Iopos. Security was high in the city. Anyone who entered the city was interrogated by guards — wearing slightly different robes than the ones our black-cloaked stranger was reported to be seen wearing. Since we weren’t in Iopos in any proper, or official, capacity, we decided to sneak past the guards, rather than risk trouble. LaShana and Juniper led our stealthy way into the city.

Once inside, we found a market and Elisen chatted up a number of people to discover that the person we wanted was probably one of the Denairastas clan. We spent some time watching and waiting and eventually identified the man we were looking for. Juniper bluffed our way into the man’s office and did his absolute best to convince him that the shard that he’d stolen was a fake. The stolen shard was openly displayed on a shelf in the office.

We could tell that the bluff wasn’t working, so when the man said he’d go talk to his superiors about it, we didn’t let him leave, forcibly, with Thorkell blocking the door. The thief was dead within a few moments. Searching his desk, we found some notebooks that explained about how the crystal might attract or redirect lightning. He’d obviously been studying the shard and planning this for a very long time.

We took the crystal and the notebooks, Juniper appropriated his cloak, and then we left. Juniper bought us a little time by telling the front desk that the Denairastas didn’t want to be disturbed.

We found a circuitous, but stealthy route out of the city and met up with the caravan again. The caravan was leaving before dawn, and we left with it. The caravan headed east, into the Blood Wood. The Wood was dark and gloomy, and very pleasant. Others called the Wood creepy, but the astral was open. I could understand why the elves lived there.

After a few days in the caravan, the entire group, stopped. The caravan master told us that there were creatures up ahead, blocking the road. The creatures looked dangerous and he wanted us to get rid of them. So we went forward to investigate. The creatures were largish bears, a warm honey color. There were about 5 of them, mostly sleeping and yawning. Elisen approached the first one, and it was friendly to him! So he continued this tactic, and eventually he had all 5 bears following him around like, well, like teddy bears or puppies. Very sweet. Elisen led the bears off the path, allowing the caravan to pass.

Once through the Blood Wood, we left the caravan and took the ferry across the Serpent River to Sosonopa. We returned the shard to Jasper, via Sebas. We explained to Sebas who’d taken it and where we’d recovered it from, and that we expected those same people to make another attempt to steal it. LaShana and the rest of us tried hard to convince Sebas that Jasper needed more security, but I suspected nothing would come it.

The return to Throal was peaceful. Upon our return, we gave the notebooks that we’d found to the Eye. They needed to be warned of possible threats from that quarter as well.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 810
Lifetime LP: 83,810
SP 551
Lifetime SP: 8,289.2
TIPs 19
Lifetime TIPs: 51

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 19,950 [19,000 + 5%]
SP 1,125 [900 + 25%] base
750 Half Price Nethermancer Training
75 Half Price Spells: Fog of Fear
150: Half Price Spells: Recovery
150: Half Price Spells: Step Through Shadows
SP: 0 Actual
TIPs 3
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 20,760
SP 551
TIPs 22

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP
Train for 7th Circle Nethermancer: 0
Train for 3rd Circle Weaponsmith: 0

Orbiting Spy, rank 1 to 3: 1,000
Lifesight, rank 4: 1,800
Dispel Magic: 0 to 6: 3,200
Thread Weaving/Nethermancy 8: 3,400
Frighten 8; 3,400

Suppress Curse, move from Nethermancer Talent Option, to Weaponsmith Discipline Talent

Fog of Fear: 300
Step Through Shadows: 1,300
Recovery: 1,300
Foul Vapors: 0 (free with circle training)
Bone Circle: 100
Fog of Fear: 300

Danger Sense, rank 1: 200
Awareness 4: 800
Fireblood 4: 800
Forge Weapon 4: 800
Item History 4: 800

Knack Bleed: 300 (Spellcasting 3)

Weave Rank 3 Thread to Enhanced Spell Matrix F: 500
Weave Rank 1 and 2 Threads to Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 500

Remaining Bank: 260 LP
 
SP
Train for 7th Circle Nethermancer (reward): 0
Train for 3rd Circle Weaponsmith (Half-price Thorkell): 150

Fog of Fear: 0 (reward)
Step Through Shadows: 0 (reward)
Recovery: 0 (reward)
Foul Vapors: 0 (free with circle training)
Bone Circle: 50

Knack Bleed: 150

Item History on Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 0 (done by Bloodbeat herself)
Research on Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 75 (half price by Elisen)

Remaining Bank: 126 SP
 
TIPs
Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 16
Remaining Bank: 6 TIPs
 
Down-time
Train for 7th Circle Nethermancer: 5 days
Train for 3rd Circle Weaponsmith: 5 days
Learn Knack Bleed: 3 days
Item History on Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 5 days (in parallel, done by Bloodbeat herself)
Research on Enhanced Spell Matrix G: 5 days (in parallel, done by Elisen)

8 days remaining
Last edited by Anoush on Fri Jan 29, 2021 11:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

A Plea for Help

Post by Anoush » Fri Jan 29, 2021 2:04 am

A Plea for Help
GM: Aegharan
Date: 2021/01/28
Difficulty: 6M

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
I received a letter from home recently, from my old chaida, K’star. In the letter he asked for my help on an urgent, desperate matter, but didn’t say exactly what. K’star’s never been one to mince words, so this both disturbed and intrigued me. He wanted to meet in River Falls, a town about one day North of Syrtis, on the eastern bank of the Serpent River.

Given the mysterious nature of K’star’s letter, I took precautions and enlisted the aid of a few friends. At worst, there’d be enough of us to handle whatever the issue was, while at best, we’d have a pleasant trip to Syrtis and back. Juniper (an elf Shadow and Questor of Lochost) was happy to join me. He brought along Amhran (a windling Troubadour), who then included Strata (an obsidiman Gauntlet) in the group. All good traveling companions.

We took the well-traveled path up to Sosonopa and then after some bargaining took passage on a riverboat heading to Syrtis. The price of passage was cheap, after some haggling by Juniper and Amhran, and an agreement to help with on board chores.

So we whiled away the trip with Strata scrubbing the decks, Juniper in the crow’s nest, Amhran entertaining the crew, and me, well, I learned how to swing through the rigging on a ship. I wasn’t any good any at it, but it was fun. The first time I tried it, on a dare as the t’skrang ship’s crew shamed me, a t’skrang, into it. I figured that the worst was I’d fall in the river and have a nice swim, so I swung for all I was worth. A very different perspective than my usual activities!

It only took a few days to get to River Falls. Once there, I realized that K’star’s letter hadn’t included a meeting place. Luckily, River Falls wasn’t that big a town. So we started at the town square, and visited likely meeting places, namely, taverns and inns. Juniper certainly didn’t mind! Amhran was fun to have along, and Strata didn’t say much.

We found K’star at the second tavern, sitting alone at a table in the back. Over a couple of ales, K’star explained the problem. The hatchlings were dying. T’skrang, as a race, are decreasing in numbers, something that we’re all struggling with. But to have healthy hatchlings die for no reason, that was unthinkable, a true disaster. One of the few clues that K’star could provide was that before dying, the hatchlings would show signs of weakening, including vomiting up much or their food. K’star could think of no one outside the small group of chaidas (about 6 in total) that would be able to influence the children.

K’star was also suspicious of people in Syrtis. He didn’t say anything specifically, but hinted that he wasn’t sure who he could trust, or who might be behind the hatchlings’ deaths. That, in part at least, was why he called on me: someone he considered trustworthy who was also outside the Syrtis environment. We asked K’star every question we could think of to get more information about the problem, but there was precious little to go on.

The only lead we could find was to investigate the farm who delivered the food supplies to the crèche. Perhaps something was going on there that was tainting the food. We really didn’t suspect anything wrong, but it was all we had to go on.

So we made plans to travel east to the farm, about one day’s journey. After investigating things there, we’d travel to Syris and meet K’star at the nursery. We expected to arrive in Syrtis in no less than three days time. Perhaps when we reached Syrtis and could investigate the crèche itself, more clues would present themselves.

We set out in early afternoon, and made camp at roughly the mid-point of our journey to the farm. During the night, a group of croajins — large, predatory cats — attacked the camp. I was badly hurt, but thanked Thorkell silently for his training in Fireblood!

We reached the farm in mid-morning, surprising the farmers. They weren’t expecting visitors. In fact, it was very rare for any of their customers to actually want a tour of the farm. But they agreeably showed us the fields, the barns, the processing areas, everything. We could find nothing wrong there. So we collected a large box of produce for the crèche and headed towards Syrtis.

Near the end of the day, we noted more activity than usual off to the side of the road. A large number — perhaps a dozen — humanoids were walking, heading generally toward us. This part of Barsaive was lightly populated, so there weren’t any towns nearby. Where had these people come from?

The “people” turned out to be ghouls, including about three that guided, or led, the rest in their attacks. Strata was swarmed by the creatures, while the rest of us attacked and debuffed. It was a good thing that Strata was virtually impervious to the ghouls’ attacks. Amhran proved to be worth her weight in gold as she provided help with nearly every action.

After the battle, we followed the ghouls’ tracks. We were curious where they’d come from. The tracks led to a densely wooded area, more like a dense swamp than anything else. Then we noticed the smell. Rotten, disgusting, it took effort even for me — a nethermancer used to horrible sights and smells — to not become sick on the spot. Moving forward, we found the source of the stench: a single, bloated creature, a sack of rotting flesh, the rolls of flesh hanging down, one atop another. Gruesome. Someone Named it a “meat-sack”, and the term definitely applied.

Nevertheless, we fought it. At one point, Juniper was so overcome with disgust that he was too sick to continue. A dreadful situation, but we prevailed. Afterward, we burned the body and purified the area. Upon reflection, I concluded that this meat-sack was some kind of viral dread iota horror.

Studying the area, we realized that this swampland was connected to the water supply for Syrtis as well. Then the clues all fit together. The meat-sack/horror was tainting the water supplying the crèche, effectively poisoning it. The ghouls helped spread the taint, or poison, by contact with travelers. The hatchlings were dying from the taint. The adults weren’t as affected because they’re larger and hardier than the very young.

We returned to Sytris and reported what we’d found both to K’star and to the city authorities. The hatchlings recovered and the rest remained healthy. A good ending to a puzzling problem.
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 260
Lifetime LP: 103,760
SP 126
Lifetime SP: 8,289.2
TIPs 6
Lifetime TIPs: 54

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 7,875 [7,500 + 5%]
SP 812.5 [650 + 25%] base
Half Price Healing Aids — Healing Potion: 150
SP: 662.5 Actual
TIPs 3
21 days of Down-time (last played 12/18/2020)

Available
LP 8,135
SP 788.5
TIPs 9

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP

Melee Weapons 4: 500
Avoid Blow 8: 3,400
Orbiting Spy 3 to 5: 2,100
Conversation 1 to 3: 800
Danger Sense 1 to 3: 800

Danger Sense skill rank 1 —> adds +1 rank to Alchemy skill

LIp Reading: 300

Remaining Bank: 235 LP
 
SP
Healing Potion (reward): 0
Forge Hide Armor to +6: 300
Lip Reading Knack: 150

Remaining Bank: 338.5 SP
 
TIPs
0 used
Remaining Bank: 9 TIPs
 
Down-time
Forge Hide Armor to +6: 7 days
Lip Reading Knack: 3 days

10 days remaining
Last edited by Anoush on Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Anoush
Posts:160
Joined:Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:53 pm

River City Ransom

Post by Anoush » Thu Feb 11, 2021 1:18 am

River City Ransom
GM: Xzandrate, Predajay
Date: 2021/01/30
Difficulty: 7H

Bloodbeat’s Journal:
Spoiler:
Throal was in chaos. The city guard and the militia were calling for all adepts — ALL — to join the fight. Kampung Gajah was under attack. A flying, horror-possessed stone citadel had been spotted heading there, plus gargoyle and undead, both in the air and on land, and someone Named the Queen of Ravens was also there with her forces. The citadel had first been spotted about two days ago by the town of Deville, east of the Throal Mountains.

Rumor was the attack originated from a cult known as The Scourge, founded about two, three years ago. Their main goal was to frighten people to retreat back into their kaers so that the world can be purged. All I could think was: this had to do with those Horror-benighted crystal pillars. That was the only thing that stood out in my mind over the previous few months. So, I grabbed my gear and joined the Throalic forces.

Two airships flew us and gear to Kampung Gajah. They grouped us into teams, and gave each team a mission. The overall leader of the Throalic forces was Berat Shaylkrog, a dwarf. The attack was already underway: boulders, then birds were being thrown into the Coil River. The boulders had doors on them! From one boulder, I saw the door open and first one draconic head, then another, and another appeared. Hydras! Hordes of undead were approaching on foot from the west.

On my first team there were some adepts that I knew — Thorkell (troll Weaponsmith), Vralino (ork Swordmaster and Elementalist) and Zivilyn (windling Magician) — plus a few who I met for the first time — Norg (troll Gauntlet), Sandrin (elf Air Sailor) and Vlolkir (troll Sky Raider). Our task was to attack the citadel, destroying or detering it with incendiary bombs. We Named Sandrin our leader.

We boarded an airship and flew directly towards the citadel. When we got close enough to make out details, we saw three groups of attackers approach. Each group consisted of gargoyles and a type of undead known as Storm Hags. In addition, a leader was directing the groups, a swordmaster riding a cadaverous wyvern.

We began with ranged attacks, which worked moderately well. We closed, engaging with the flying attackers, and we did serious damage to them. But then their tactics changed; instead of continuing to fight, then began moving on past us toward Kampung Gajah. All along from somewhere in the citadel, boulders had been catapulting out, whizzing past us. Then one struck our airship. Several of us were knocked down, and the airship was losing altitude. It was going down, into the river.

We maneuvered the airship for a single bombing run over the citadel, released all the incendiaries we had, and leaped off the ship into the Coil River, just as the airship itself crashed into the water.

The Throalic forces regrouped in Kampung Gajah. Reports came in that all the storm hags were dead, and that good progress had been made on all fronts. Then, everyone with any astral sensitivity felt a wave of dread wash over us. And everyone heard the evil caw of a crow. Why must it always be birds?! A large object appeared in the sky, and suddenly four crystal pillars erupted in the town of Kampung Gajah. The town was being attacked on all side, nearly engulfed by evil creatures.

The townsfolk were dumbstruck, and looked to us — the adepts — for leadership. After a moment of shock, many of my charismatic allies began organizing the resistance. Our first priority was to get the townsfolk to safety, some by airship, some by boat, and some into the nearby woods. We knew a huge battle was coming soon.

Then we formed new groups, each to battle one of the pillars. My team was small, but I knew everyone to be strong, trustworthy adepts: Thorkell (troll Weaponsmith), Vlolkir (troll Sky Raider), and Zivilyn (windling Magician). An airship dropped us off on the bank of the Coil, near the docks. Vlolkir was our leader.

The first thing we noticed were lots of groups of crows, flying and cawing everywhere. Then we spied a Death’s Sea Espagra, along with gargoyles, ready to pounce on the roof of a nearby building. Vlolkir scouted ahead and found the pillar, barely a block away: the Pillar of Wrath.

They caught us flat-footed, out of position. Somehow, I was too far forward and took the brunt of an Espagra’s attack. I silently thanked Thorkell for my Weaponsmith training as my blood boiled and I restored myself.

There were waves of ravens everywhere. Several of the espagra and more of the gargoyles were attacking. We finally beat them back, but it was tough. Then we had to deal with the pillar.

The pillar was blood red. We’d already been feeling its effects. Anyone who came near it felt an urge to kill everything in sight, total aggression. Our spells had no effect. But we continued as Vlolkir and Thorkell whacked it hard, again and again, until finally it shattered into small red shards.

We regrouped with our allies and found that the other teams had also been successful. The Queen of Ravens was very weak, but still fighting on. When she finally went down, there was a bright flash of green light that illuminated the entire town. Finally, the undead, espagra and gargoyles were all destroyed, and the pillars broken into tiny pieces. What a day!
Advancement:
Spoiler:
Previous Totals
LP 235
Lifetime LP: 111,635
SP 338.5
Lifetime SP: 9,101.7
TIPs 9
Lifetime TIPs: 57

Awards
(Including Journal)
LP 21,000 [20,000 + 5%]
SP 1,453.8 [1,163 + 25%] base
— Weaponsmith Circle 4 Training from Thorkell: 250
— Learn Spells from Daldorer:
—— Blind: 125
—— Circle of Astral Protection: 125
—— Grave Message: 75
—— Reverse Withering: 125
—— Summon Bone Spirit: 75
—— Wither Limb: 125
— Learn Knacks from Daldorer:
—— Improvised Pattern: 400
SP 153.8 Actual
TIPs 5
14 days of Down-time

Available
LP 21,235
SP 492.3
TIPs 14

Items used:
None
 
Spends
LP

Arcane Mutterings, rank 7 to 8: 3,400
Banish, rank 1 to 4: 1,000
Patterncraft, rank 7 to 8: 3,400
Spirit Hold, rank 3 to 4: 500

Blind: 800
Circle of Astral Protection: 800
Grave Message: 300
Reverse Withering: 800
Summon Bone Spirit: 300
Wither Limb: 800

Advance to Weaponsmith Circle 4: 0
First Impression, rank 1: 200
Thread Smithing, rank 1 to 2: 300
Wound Balance, rank 0 to 4: 1,800

Weave Thread Rank 4 to Enhanced Matrix Object F: 800

Improvised Pattern: 3,400

Strength increase from 9 to 10: 800 [Cooldown until March 6]


Remaining Bank: 1,235 LP
 
SP

Strength increase from 9 to 10: 160 [Cooldown until March 6]

Remaining Bank: 332.3 SP
 
TIPs
0 used
Remaining Bank: 14 TIPs
 
Down-time
5 days Training for Weaponsmith Circle 4
8 days Learn Improvised Spell knack
4 days Increase Strength to 10 [1 day spent; 3 more days needed]

0 days remaining
Last edited by Anoush on Thu Feb 25, 2021 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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