Archer Hastings
Archer Hastings
Archer Hastings was born to a leatherworker and seamstress family. He was the third of eight children. He worked as an apprentice under his father but didn't find a love for the leatherworking craft. He spent a lot of time with his best friend, an apprentice blacksmith, and the two of them invented the "Whipcrank", something that decreased the amount of time it took reload and shoot a crossbow.
With his prototype in hand and the ability to recreate it, Archer is keen on making a name for himself. And the "Whipcrank."
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Archer is a slim lad. One of those types that can suck in and you can count every single one of his ribs; though he's obviously healthy and well-nourished. What he lacks in raw muscular power, he makes up for in speed.
Body Features
The lad has long arms and well-defined (albeit not altogether large) muscles. His youth hasn't yet abandoned him and his metabolism is insatiable. He wears no trinkets or baubles, no necklaces rings or bracelets. He's acquired no tattoos. Just a slender young man.
Facial Features
Archer has green eyes and the soft features of youth; his skin is smooth and fair, though he seems he's had his share of sun. He doesn't look like a boy that was coddled indoors. He only "needs" to shave once a week. That "need" is more based on his "wanting to" than "needing to".
He keeps his dark blonde hair swept and comed, short and neat. Despite the awkward untrimmed length, he wears it well.
Identifying Characteristics
Aside from often being in the company of people older than himself, one of Archer's most identifying features are his ears. They sometimes look as if they end in a point. Or darn near close enough. His slender build, quick speed, and almost-pointy ears have led many to believe there's elven ancestry somewhere in his lines.
He's also incredibly confident for one his age, and he wears that confidence well.
Physical quirks
The young man generally appears quite serious or solemn. His smile usually only appears when he starts talking. And he smirks nearly every time he gets to show off by shooting, well... anything.
Apparel & Accessories
Archer wears clothing specific according to the traditional lower-class style of those belonging to the Kingdom of Layn. Mostly linens. For Archer, most often green.
He normally wears that beneath a long-sleeved brown woolen shirt, and that beneath a darker leather vest.
He normally keeps his cloak stuffed into the pack on his back, which contains a case of easy-to-access bolts.
Often buckled to a heavy strap on his shoulder is a rather impressive looking (and large) crossbow, with a strange mechanical contraption on it, which differs from most its kin weaponry.
His tan woolen trousers are tucked into solid leather boots, turned down at the knee.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Early Life
Archer is the third of eight children. He was born to Keller and Jatia Hastings; Keller is a leatherworker and Jatia a seamstress. They've lived in Felder Falls all their lives and, as a result of that, owe their allegiance to the settlement's lord and house: House Valander.
Archer's oldest sibling and brother (Marcom) fell ill and passed away when Archer had twelve years. Jade, his older sister, is a year-and-a-half his senior. Grady is two years younger, Halford four, Lamae five-and-a-half, Beressa six-and-a-half, and Marcom nine.
As the oldest living son, Archer was taken in as an apprentice to his father after Marcom's death; he'd already spent four years under Laramy Flagstone, one of the settlement's blacksmiths. Master Flagstone often made blacksmith's puzzles and Archer would often spend hours working them out. This is what started the curiosity that led the boy to invention.
When Archer switched apprenticeships to his father, he maintained an amicable relationship with Master Flagstone. This is how he came to know Naran and become friends with him.
The Girl
Archer was very proficient and focused in getting his tasks done for his father. Despite the heavy labor, he found himself with plenty of time on his hands. When he was fourteen, he caught the eye of an upper-class girl at one of the year's festivals. Vierah. They quickly became great friends; but they had to keep it a secret, for fear of the wrath of her parents. And the scolding of his. You did not, could not rise above your station.
The boy didn't much care, or have a great idea of how much trouble he could find himself in if he were to get caught (he was eventually, but managed to flee successfully). Archer's slim, muscular frame and uncanny coordination (and his mischevious youth on top of that) made slipping out of his home and into Vierah's rooms unnoticed a breeze. It was often easier for them to meet in her rooms at night because there was little hope for her to escape unseen; and during the day she was to adhere to a strict schedule.
During their nightly hours together, they played games and she spoke of things he'd never heard of. One thing led to another and Archer realized there was a whole world of knowledge and information that he had never been privy to. Ever curious and thirsting for more, Archer eventually persuaded her to show him how to read. He was sharp, and so he picked it up quick. Vierah had a few fun books, but a lot of them were assignments from her instructors. And most of those were history books. Archer didn't care; he soaked them up, anyways.
Though Archer met with Vierah quite regularly, he couldn't do so until night. That left an evening for the boy to fill with activities. This was often spent romping through the woods with bow or crossbow hunting small game; mostly for the sport and to test and hone his skillful shot. Or tinkering and creating things and contraptions in Master Flagstone's smithy with Naran. Naran would accompany him on his little hunts regularly, too.
Leaving Felder Falls
After he and Naran invented the Whipcrank, Archer knew they had something big. This was gamechanging. Any military power with this new contraption on their crossbows would have a terrifying edge on their enemies. So Archer set off in the world to The Kingdom of Layn's capital...
When he arrived and tried to set up meetings with the right folks, he was met with setback after setback. People demonstrated little interest in his invention; if they didn't strike him with a backhand for being a sniveling simpleton, they ignored him.
Someone had listened, though. Archer found this out in a way he hadn't anticipated. After a long day of rejection and a couple instances of mouth-bloodying smites, he worked his way to the hay loft where he slept. His sharp eyes caught movement in the alleyway ahead and to the side of him. Nerves and instincts kicking in, he loaded his crossbow with the whipcrank as he hustled down the road.
The shadows followed. Cursing, Archer sprinted ahead. Things clanged behind him on the city's road stones, thudding into the plastered walls around Archer; he wasn't sure if they were arrows, stones, shurikens... He ran and he ducked, throwing himself behind crates and wagons.
He caught one man clad in black chasing after him. Stopping abruptly, he turned and fired his crossbow, skewering the man's foot. He continued his flight, reaching the city gates...
Not trusting that the guards could ensure his safety, he made a mad dash in the late evening light. He escaped the surprised guards grapples and made it free of the walls.
He continued to run as shouts arose from the gatehouse and the walls. Archers fired arrows upon him, but none had the precision to fell the fleeing boy.
So he fled. For home. His destination changed, however, when the assassins had traced him three villages away. He had another chase in which he acquired one of their now-confirmed shurikens. By Pella's grace, he survived.
During his expedition away from Felder Falls, Archer learned of a conscript service heading for The Maelstrom Isles. It promised wealth, renown, opportunity, and more. The gears worked in Archer's brain. Perhaps this was a way to throw his assassin's off his trail. He knew, as a simple young man, he didn't have the resources or wits to deal with such a foe.
Eventually, he made the hard decision to abandon his family and friends to preserve his life; and by extension, theirs. He'd return to deal with the threat. And to get to the bottom of who wanted him dead. And who wanted to steal his invention...
Hopefully, whomever it was, hadn't gleaned too much information about Archer. About where he was from. About who was important to him, and who was also responsible for creating the crossbow modification...
Gender Identity
Male
Sexuality
Straight
Education
Taught to read by a childhood sweetheart. He absorbed the books she'd been assigned in her own studies (she was of higher blood than he), which, for the most part, were history books.
He also picked up dwarvish slang in the streets of his home.
Employment
Archer worked as an apprentice to his father, a leatherworker. He found the work tedios and disliked working with leather; so after he'd finish his projects and assignments given him by his father, Archer would tinker with Noran, his blacksmithing friend.
They would build puzzles, traps, and various contraptions. Just before Archer's departure, he and Noran had invented a crossbow crank that significantly increased the time it took load a bolt.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Invention of the whipcrank. He's currently using it as a prototype to test its reload times.
Failures & Embarrassments
He got caught slipping into Vierah's room.
Mental Trauma
He knew Vierah was punished for having had a young man in her chambers. He had no idea what the rammifcations for that were; later conversations with her proved that something significant had happened. Significant enough that he had never been able to get that information out of her.
Morality & Philosophy
Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft.
I like to live up to reputation. I enjoy congratulations and recognition.
I need to watch after my own hide. If I don't, who will?
I've gotta return home and take care of what I fled from.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Savvies
Archer knows his way around a forge, loves tinkering and building crude mechanical contraptions, reading, and shooting things.Ineptitudes
Archer isn't particularly strong. He doesn't care much for religion; and by that, he doesn't put in the effort to learn much about it as he does to history and his other activities. He's awkward on horseback. He's a pretty bad liar. He also doesn't look for things very thoroughly.Likes & Dislikes
Likes
- Archer loves showing off and proving people wrong
- Trying to make arrogant people look dumb. Sometimes he'll try and fail
- He likes the sound of the elvish and wants to learn it some day
- He loves tinkering and inventing contraptions
- A good day to him generally involves Vierah. And shooting a crossbow
Dislikes
- Arrogant jerks
- Nuts
- Pork
- Annoying little kids
- Going to church
Virtues & Personality perks
Virtues
Archer is a good-natured young man. He will generally do the right thing except for when he doesn't want to. He'll usually feel bad afterwards. He works hard to be the best. He doesn't rely on natural talent alone. He likes to know what makes people tick, so he'll show genuine care and curiosity about others.Vices & Personality flaws
I’m horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals.
I hate sleep. Exhaustion creeps up to me eventually and I snap. It might be a source of my headaches, too...
Personality Quirks
Archer is pretty anal about the way things are packed. In a back, on a cart, in the horse's saddlebags... Everything has its place.
He also thinks he could build a little contraption that could be a solution for everything. He'll say it, too. Probably more than once.
Hygiene
Archer grew up in an environment where baths weren't really a thing. You washed up with a wet rag or on the occasion where you could make it to a river or a lake. Disinfectants and deoderants weren't really a part of his day-to-day life. Only when Vierah sent him home with soap.
Social
Contacts & Relations
| Relationship | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Father | Keller Hastings son of Vatten son of Marcom | |
| Mother | Jatia Simmons | |
| Brother | Marcom (Deceased) | Oldest |
| Sister | Jade | Oldest Living |
| Brother | Grady | |
| Brother | Halford | |
| Sister | Lamae | |
| Sister | Beressa | |
| Brother | Marcom | Youngest |
| Friend | Noran son of Alder son of Hans | Archer's friend since adolescence. A blacksmith's apprentice. He and Noran invented the Whipcrank for increased crossbow reload speeds. |
| Friend | Vierah Alstrop | Archer's childhood crush; she taught him to read and was his source of intellectual growth |
| Teacher | Master Laramy Flagstone | Blacksmith |
Family Ties
His family worked for House Valander.
House Valander Banner
Religious Views
The Ten Masters. His family focuses mostly on Beladon, Celesta, and Pella. He's not incredibly invested in his spiritual worship.
Social Aptitude
Despite his confidence, his intelligence, and his inventions, Archer hasn't had an easy time talking with people. He's a peasant, more-or-less, which has worked against him for much of his life; now more than ever. He's got this great thing--a thing that could literally win wars--and many folk won't give him a second thought. More often than not, he's ignored. He looks younger than he is (not that 18 isn't already young) which likely lends to his inability to get anywhere socially.
Mannerisms
I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick.
I’m well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I’m always taken aback when people haven’t heard of me.
I’m well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I’m always taken aback when people haven’t heard of me.
Hobbies & Pets
Tinkering. Reading. Building things. Taking things apart. These are all things that Archer loved to do in his upbringing. He'd broken more than a few of his father's leatherworking mechanisms trying to figure out how they worked.
Speech
Nottingham English Accent
14:39 on this video
Wealth & Financial state
Archer's family falls in the upper-lower class or lower-middle class in terms of wealth. Life was simple. They couldn't afford many of the niceties of life.
Archer Hastings son of Keller son of Vatten. Archer is the third of eight. He worked as an apprentice under his father as a leatherworker but found more enjoyment crafting and inventing things with his blacksmithing friend.
View Character Profile
Alignment
Neutral Good
Age
18
Date of Birth
18th Pricium 271
Birthplace
Felder Falls, Kingdom of Layn, Western Rodain
Children
Current Residence
Felder Falls
Gender
Male
Eyes
Green
Hair
Dark Blonde
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Fair
Height
5' 8''
Weight
165lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
Turns to look at you with a smug smile. "Did you see that shot?"
- Common
- Dwarvish
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Session 16: Executing the Plan
Begin writing your story here...
Session 15
Met back at camp with Otis' body. Sir Avos' daughter takes him and keeps his body from decomposing. Enron helps them.
Fourth group came back and reported findings of the fortress. All but one small group stayed back, we're heading there now.
Obsidian Wall. Lake in the horseshoe; runoff feed from the mountain. Along the path are giant spiked mechanisms facing outward. There's a black wall gate.
Art
Sir Avos is studying the sketch of the defenses in the dirt. He's discussing what he thinks would be best.
This place is where they are creating the mutated rats. Based on intelligence we received. We have 25 people in our group presently. They saw 4 rotating scouts on the balcony (with crossbows).
We devise a plan. Sir Avos comes up with some flaws in it.
Sir Avos has us and four others go. We go left, one goes right, group stays and watches the front.
We travel up around the left and go up the mountain as best we can. We try to find the most traversable path. Skywatcher leads the way. By the time we make it to the place where we're going to be descending... the stream... as we're hiking, there's a peak where we can see the peak of the tallest tower and you thought you saw a glimmer on a mountain peak. Rhinan pulls out the telescope and looks at the peak. She sees an intential flash several times; it's made several times toward the tower. The sun is going down. She turns to look at the castle and sees flashes back.
We decide to go.
By the time we get to the river, it is pretty much dark. Following the river. Found a few easy crossings. As we crest over the spot where theres's a waterfall and cliff. We can now see down onto the fortress. The cliff is about 45-feet tall. Light coming from the windows and torches on the balcony. 2 miles from the waterfall to the fortress.
Blizz and half-elf climb down.Blizz sees a fleck of light and then sees the fortress door open and four guards patrol to the wall gate. He waits a half-hour. A fortified carriage pulled by six horses tears down the road to get to the fortress. They stopped after the gate was shut. And those 4 guards get on the carriage and they book it.
The lake starts to bubble and ripple. Out of the lake bursts a loch ness monster with 8 tentacles (kind of like a crab) and it makes its way in a frantic to the carriage. It rears up against the spikes which keep it at bay. They get to the door and get in. (The guys at the balcony also shot the the monstrosity.)
The tower collapsed inwards; you know there is light in there.
Session 13
Dwarves had brass knuckles that had runes on them that glowed. When you punched, they exploded in a thunderclap. Skywatcher tested them on Blizz and it worked.
Head back to the keep. Cirkillian Avos should be back sometime in the near future. We were invited to stay at the Avos estate. It's a large, very nice keep. There aren't a ton of people here. We get the sense that he's taken (he commands a decent force of men against the King of Rats). Stidge the Feral lost his hands and we gave him to the Crows and they sent him to Cirkillian Avos.
They know about you here. One of the reasons Lady Avos was willing to take us in and knew we'd be good for the job that we just did.
Built out training grounds with archery ranges. There are a few guards that have been left behind. Friends and other people come in and out from Eagle's Landing. Most of the company they keep are much more open minded than the normal racist townsfolk (Imperialists -- Holy Aldontian Empire). Eagle's Nest is an Aldontian Providence.
There are people that live in the Empire that also believe in the religion but aren't extremeists. If someone comes in for political reasons, we stay out of the way.
We are welcome to use the facilities, put up in nice rooms, eat and drink well, do some training (why we level up to Level 4).
WE BENEFIT FROM LOTS OF LONG RESTS.
BLIZZ SELLS CHAIN MAIL.
Another day and a messenger comes in while we are eating lunch. "His ship's been sighted!" (He says that to Lady Avos.)
The castle is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We go down a staircase carved into the cliff walls to his private dock. Fancy ship -- gilded golden eagle on the front of it. Full crew "good-sized" ship.
As it comes in to dock, a man jumps off. He's picturesque, tall, hair flowing (a bit older, mid-40's), beard, blonde hair. He's a bit grimey. Well-made armor is scuffed and grimey, too. He scoops up his wife and kisses her.
There's a decent group of people that have gathered for this return. Little bit of somberness as three dead are brought out on top of shields. He greets people, charming, charismatic, shining light.
He eventually makes his way to us. "It's so wonderful that you've made. My wife had told me the amazing help and I'm so appreciative. That coupled with the amazing work you've done with the Crows, the mission I've had that was a great success..."
Otis: "Oh good, I sure hope he was able to give you a 'hand'!"
He laughs at that. "I'd like to have a day to spend at home. But, from this mission that I've just returned from, I have learned of another location and would be honored if you would join me."
"Will you meet with me up in my courtyard?"
Blizz: "Sure! Will we be going to Hogenbrand's?"
"I'm afraid that's the other way."
---
We gather in the courtyard. There's a young very pretty girl that was with him that greeted Lady Avos very fondly and is standing next to her. She's in a battledress-type thing.
"Friends! We have just returned from a great victory against the vile swarm of the King of Rats. While we were there, we discovered some disturbing things. While I would love to stay home and enjoy my wonderful life here at home--" Looks to his wife fondly. "--I feel it's important to take care of this issue before it gets too out of hand. While we were assaulting one of their bases, we came across a vile monster that killed two of our men. We also learned where they are creating these monsters.
"We cannot ignore this issue and with the information we have we cannot stand idly by. In two days, in the morning, we will depart. As you know, this service is always voluntary. Go get some rest."
"I must warn you, what you are about to see is quite horrific. We need to show you the terrors of what these criminals are creating." He signals to the guy next to the barrel. He knocks of the seal and knocks the barrel over. It was a rat's head, but noticeably bigger. Smell of vinegar and brine.
"This is what we are up against. Think on it. If you need anything, please let me know." Then everyone disperses.
---
Discussing with his wife and some other young girl. We talk to butler to set up a meeting.
We go to the meeting.
"Is there any question I can answer for you? I'd love it if you came with me on this next excursion."
Blizz: "You know we've fought one of these before?"
"Yes, the handless man said he had one at his disposal..."
Rhinan: "How did they make them?"
Him: "Take normal rats, mutate them with some device they have. We couldn't find anyone that knew about or was willing to talk about it. Unfortunately, most of the people we had to kill. There weren't a lot of prisoners."
"There are supposedly several variations. Some were mutated to have thicker hide and venom. We didn't encounter any of those; just the giant one. It was plenty for us to deal with. We don't know the extent of what they're creating, but that is why there is so much haste required. I feel it's important that we get there as soon as possible and stop what they're doing before, gods forbid, they create an army."
Blizz: "Itenerary? Where we going?"
Him: "Laboratory we were able to glean from a map we found. It's on an island about a week south of here, depending on the winds. It's not inhabited. It's said to be dangerous by the cartographers. I assume that's why they use this place; no one goes there as of now. The mission will comprise of us sailing down there, the map to the island is all we have. All of their locations we've discovered so far have been well-hidden, but... we found them. So we must arrive, seek out their laboratory, and take out any creatures that we find there."
"Unfortunately, I don't know how many of the men that came with me on this last mission will be willing to come on the next one. They... alot of them have never seen something like this before and it traumatized them."
Blizz: "How many do you think will come this time?"
"A solid fifteen. I had twenty-six this past one. A good ten of them won't be willing to again, especially so soon. Ten have been with for so long that not much phases them anymore; the other five I'm not so confident on. So it would make a significant difference if you joined me."
Skywatcher: "You said this is voluntary. Can we expect compensation?"
"Yes. I can pay."
The party agrees to go. We offer to help getting the mission prepped.
Daron: "How do you plan on using us?"
Him: "Numbers are good but experienced numbers are better. And you have experience specifically with these types of enemies. I need help first finding the place. Once we assault (after we've scouted and planned), I break into teams. Offer suggestions based on your abilities. I know my team well and you know yours. However you feel like you'll be most useful, I'll take into account. We'll make a plan on how to best infiltrate the facility. I trust that you'll get done whatever you need to get done."
Blizz crafts drug and fire arrows.
Skywatcher: How do I sail? Avos: Watch my sailors. (After a week of shadowing sailors, you have 1 point of knowledge on how to sail a ship.)
Their docks are generally hidden. We'll take a ground force and search. That usually is best because we have the element of surprise. Ship is very easy to spot. We come in at night so that we're not as easily seen. We go onto shore on rowboats. Once we're on shore, Avos says "We can use this as a meeting spot to cover more ground or stay together if that makes you more comfortable." Total of 18 men. "We'll recoup here tonight." Party agrees to split from Avos. We find a secure clearing and setup camp. We rest up for the rest of the night so we can search in daylight.
We go explore the coastline to hopefully find their dock. Blizz climbs trees every once-in-a-while to get a overhead peek. Otis asked Blizz to keep an eye out for birds. Blizz finds one on a low branch. Otis: "Hello, little birdie! We are looking for the big scary men?" From its tweets and whistles you kind of get the sense that there are big scary things with two legs a little bit further in and to the east. (We went west). Otis bribes it with berries. Bird circles for a little but then flies away. Rhinan begins to discover some signs of things that have happened. Disturbance in the ground. No footprints. Drag signs. As we're approaching quietly we come across an unnatural pillar that must've been used for a building. We see rock formations that don't look like rock formations. Then it turns into ruins. Overgrown with jungle fauna. There's also some kind of yellowy-mucous that's left on some of the ruins. Rhinan points it out. It's reminiscent of what slug's leave behind. It's probably poisonous. Blizz dips his normal arrow into the nasty mucous. High PP begin to notice the sound of things sliding on something else. Slight suctioning. Scary creepy scaley insect snake-things (says Blizz) we probably want to go around them. We try to go around them. The deeper you get, the more you can hear and you start seeing them. Blizz got to a building. Got to the second floor. Anchored a rope. Otis puts his hand in some poisonous mucous. It burns a little (but it doesn't cause damage), but Otis curses out in pain. We hear a creepy thing approaching. We go down the hallway opposite of that thing.
Blizz crafts drug and fire arrows.
- 7 Fire arrows
Skywatcher: How do I sail? Avos: Watch my sailors. (After a week of shadowing sailors, you have 1 point of knowledge on how to sail a ship.)
Their docks are generally hidden. We'll take a ground force and search. That usually is best because we have the element of surprise. Ship is very easy to spot. We come in at night so that we're not as easily seen. We go onto shore on rowboats. Once we're on shore, Avos says "We can use this as a meeting spot to cover more ground or stay together if that makes you more comfortable." Total of 18 men. "We'll recoup here tonight." Party agrees to split from Avos. We find a secure clearing and setup camp. We rest up for the rest of the night so we can search in daylight.
We go explore the coastline to hopefully find their dock. Blizz climbs trees every once-in-a-while to get a overhead peek. Otis asked Blizz to keep an eye out for birds. Blizz finds one on a low branch. Otis: "Hello, little birdie! We are looking for the big scary men?" From its tweets and whistles you kind of get the sense that there are big scary things with two legs a little bit further in and to the east. (We went west). Otis bribes it with berries. Bird circles for a little but then flies away. Rhinan begins to discover some signs of things that have happened. Disturbance in the ground. No footprints. Drag signs. As we're approaching quietly we come across an unnatural pillar that must've been used for a building. We see rock formations that don't look like rock formations. Then it turns into ruins. Overgrown with jungle fauna. There's also some kind of yellowy-mucous that's left on some of the ruins. Rhinan points it out. It's reminiscent of what slug's leave behind. It's probably poisonous. Blizz dips his normal arrow into the nasty mucous. High PP begin to notice the sound of things sliding on something else. Slight suctioning. Scary creepy scaley insect snake-things (says Blizz) we probably want to go around them. We try to go around them. The deeper you get, the more you can hear and you start seeing them. Blizz got to a building. Got to the second floor. Anchored a rope. Otis puts his hand in some poisonous mucous. It burns a little (but it doesn't cause damage), but Otis curses out in pain. We hear a creepy thing approaching. We go down the hallway opposite of that thing.
Session 12
Emron throws a rock at a dwarf!
There are three dwarves on the ramp in the mine. Daron finishes off the dwarf that Emron threw a rock at.
Otis got in the living pair's faces and smacked the first one; Blizz finished off that one.
A dwarf with brass knuckles engraven with runes screams in anger as Rhinan skewers him with an arrow and attacks Emron but missed. Blizz finished him off after Otis delivered a scratch.
Emron takes the brass knuckles; dwarvish runes. They say: "Bad Words" "Eat the Thunder" "F the Pain". The runes are inlaid with a blue gem that give off a soft glow.
END COMBAT
We proceed further down the ram and stumble into a large group of shield bearing dwarf bandits. They shift, creating a shield wall against us. Blizz threw a stinkbomb at them and they shot at Emron, Blizz, and Daron. Blizz and Daron take hits.
Daron misses his shot, a dwarf gets poisoned by Blizz's bomb, Emron takes a bolt and goes down, Otis revives him with Spark Dust.
Blizz fabulously explodes a shot, killing several of them.
Rhinan abd Blizz get put to sleep. Otis and Skywatcher throw shield guys off and into the pit. Daron, Rhinan, and Blizz get hit with webs.
SKywatcher used a vitality shot.
Rhinan Hellish Rebukes the annoying caster who cast Magic Missile at Rhinan and Daron.
Lots happens.
Dwarf with a cooking sheet and rope and a pan on his head comes out and surrenders.
Rhinan: Why did you decide to rob the mine? What are you doing here?
Dwarf: Place is full of silver. We hate the empire. We wanted the silver. It's not that complicated.
We tie up the dwarves and gnomes.
Blizz goes to make sure everything is up to snuff with the captive miners.
Session 10
Make our way to the Sleepy Deer Inn and pay 3-5 Rune for a room.
Daron shares it with Blizz. Otis and Skywatcher. Rhinan gets her own room.
LONG REST.
Kygor is down eating his meal. We all buy breakfast.
"How do we want to do this?"
Us. "Go in quietly, scout it out."
Blizz. Asks for a leatherworker.
Kygor. I do my own. Know some folks, though.
Kygor went and stayed at the halflings' place. They direct us to a leatherworker location. The price is probably about 1 Rune, 5 Pik to get it resized. Rhinan's resizing will cost 8 Rune.
Blizz tries to resale his leather. They give him 2 rune for it and do the repairs for free.
Rhinan also can get a deal.
The place we're going is like an apartment complex. There are condemned rooms. Rhinan and Blizz go up with Kygor quietly.
Skywatcher, Otis, and Daron take up positions around the complex.
Blizz doesn't see anyone inside, tries the window but it's locked. Door is also locked.Rhinan picked the lock. They search the room. Rhinan catches claw marks on a board on the ceiling. There's an envelope tucked away up there. The envelope is already open. It looks like gibberish. It's Tabaxi Homeland Dialect. Very slangy and hard to read. Blizz knows it.
Silent Shadow Your request has been granted. We have heard of your deeds and the fine for your bounty is impressive. You have been granted probationary membership in our organization and we will be sending a Yaulus and retinue to collect you. The Yaulus will observe you and be your determining factor on full membership. Be warned if you succeed in impressing the Yaulus he will need to bring you to our sacred sanctuary for your joining ceremony, and you may need to submit your consciousness to enter. We are a secret organization and can not give our most sacred locations away, even to our members. If you are willing to place your trust in us the blessings of Hass’ Oror, the Stalking Darkness, will be yours. I look forward to your arrival and your eventual brotherhood. Fare well, Infinite Cosmos Kalaw of Hass’ Oror Sacred Priest of the Dark KindleRhinan to Kygor. Do you recognize any of these names or locations? Kygor. Never heard of any of these things in my life. They return to meet up with the three outside. We return to the Sheriff's Office ("Law Office") in Hogenbran's Landing. The deputy on duty gives us the card with an address to Alabaster. "The Inquisition of Arcane Threats" Address in Alabaster. They say if anyone brings anyone into your office or if there's any wanted, let the bounty hunters who capture these individuals let them know that we are interested in these types of individuals. We go to the imprisoned cat. There's a medical professional watching him. He's strapped to a cot. Looks like he's been seen to. The guard mentions that he's due to be put on trial tomorrow. Otis. Starts ruffling his hair. "Does hilarious intimidation." Blizz shows him the letter. "Want to tell us about this. One of your friends got away and we want to know if he's dangerous to our friends here." "He's very dangerous, actually.... You should all be afraid. When the Yaulus returns, you won't survive." Blizz. "Reducing sentence if you cooperate with us in finding the Yaulus. What's your role in all this?" Cat. "My role's not important." And doesn't really answer anything else. Blizz. Relates it to us. Otis. "Oh, so where is Yaulus?" Blizz. "He didn't tell us. Just said when he comes back. And then said he wouldn't say anything else." Cat. "Infinite Cosmos is our leader." Otis. Has an altercation where he carves splinters and preps to torture and guard throws a fit. We give up. Daron gives it a shot. ============================================================================== Daron and Skywatcher lets the noble folks know we're heading out for a few days or weeks to another island. ============================================================================== Rhinan and Blizz and Otis go visit Giri. Giri. "Your stuff isn't ready, is that why you're here?" Rhinan. "Just to check up on it. There's a few more things I'd like you to look at. A feather, a crown, and a circlet." Giri.Uses an eye thing he looks through. "These are magical. I'm afraid I cannot tell you the exact properties... but uhhh, mmm... If you left me with them, I could have my friend look at them." Rhinan. "We also have these obisidian shards...." Giri. "Not magical, but there are places where they have found a lot of these west of Alabster, I believe. Black mirror glass. Quite strange material, uhh, mmm.... It can be very very sharp when prepared in the right way." Blizz. Shows him the Tabaxi letter that Blizz rewrote. Giri. "I'm afraid I don't, specialize in artifacts and stuff. Never studied anything with these words in it, I'm sorry." Blizz. "We'll be back." Giri. "Did you want to leave these things here?" Rhinan. "Yeah. We'd like his contact info of that guy." ============================================================================== We asked Kygor to go look for tracks for the Yaulus from where we had knocked him on his butt. Kygor."No footprints to a spot. Suddenly footprints. Lost the trail at the river." ============================================================================== KING OF RATS To Eagle's Landing. Armor is ready. Make arrows. Otis, Skywatcher, and Daron go to the docks, find transport. 25-30 total for private runes. 1-4 rune each.for crammed in quarters. We decide to take a private transport. 27 rune total. Diamond Spray, Captain Warrus Malmont. Comfy ship. There's some nice hammocks below decks. Not very big. This is a quick ship, get you to Eagles' Landing in under 2 days. LONG REST. Day 2. Sailing along and Daron and Rhinan notice something as we pass an island. Bursts of fire on the shore of the island. See a ship ground up on some rocks and another ship that's not close to the rocks. Once we get a little closer, we can see bursts of fire hailing from the ship into the smaller rocks. We see a rowboat amongst the smaller rocks. The crashed flag has the symbol of.... All the ships registered with the Aldonian Empire, it has the Aldonian Eagle. Eagle's Landing is owned by the Aldonian Empire. More questions. Squish into the rowboat. We row through the rocks (not choppy water) towards the boat crashed into the rocks. It's about noon. Lady in red dress throwing fire. We join the fray. Daron smacks 4. Rhinan skewers his neck and he dies. Red dress lady gets slashed by a boat. Skywatcher and Otis sprint. Alyzenya throws a firebolt and hits the leader. Blizz wrecks the backlines with an explosion. Archer shoots 3 and trips him. Archer gets shot by 8. Skywatcher roughs up the tripped three. Enough that he dies. 2 nails Blizz. The boss man resists Red Dress Lady's fear. Blizz kills 6 and then fires at 5 and misses. 1 starts climbing the ship beside 5. 2 does the same. Archer misses. Rhinan hits 7. 5 hops up on the boat and kills two sailors. 8 shoots at Rhinan and misses. Otis charges after the guys climbing. So does Skywatcher, who can reach them. Skywatcher reaches up and pulls both of them down by the boots and they crash into the water. 7 shoots at Rhinan and misses. Red Dress Lady misses a firebolt and he and her comps run. She falls and splashes in the water. The men drowning by Skywatcher continue to drown. Archer kills 8, Rhinan kills 7. 5 charges Blizz and lands a hit. Otis hacks at the people drowning underwater. 5 dies. Skywatcher kills 2. Blizz fights 5 and lots of bladework. Archer goaded 5. 5 missed Blizz and Archer (hand crossbow). Otis dashed climbed. Skywatcher gets up and flanks 5. Searing Smite. Red Dress lady runs to Daron. Daron gets on a rock, shoots and misses. Rhinan shoots him and hits. 5 bails (disengage) and hops over the edge of the boat. Otis follows and leaps off the edge. He kills him. COMBAT OVER We found money and thieves tools in the cats' den. (Rhinan found it. 50 septur, 50 rune, 50 pik, three bags). 7 Sets of leather armor. 3 crossbows. 4 scimitars. A set of chain mail. Longsword. (Blizz takes the chain mail). Captain Yaeger. We get the passengers to join our ship. We hail a patrolling ship and tell them about the stranded sailors and captain. We reach Eagle's Landing. Need to find Occilian Ovos.
Session 9
Resume Combat
Enron smashes a stone thing, Archer finishes the stone thing, Enron casts Shield of Faith, Enron receives a crit from the stone thing, Enron falls.
Rhinan force feeds a Shot to Otis.
Skywatcher whiffs.
Otis smashes #2.
Blizz blitzes and gives Enron sparks. Then he shoots 1 and it blows up (marksman).
Skywatcher falls. Enron heals Skywatcher and disengages. Archer blew up 5. Last of arm guys dead. Otis crits with Javelin.
Halos come out (after 1 or 2 die). Enron falls. Rhinan gets pelted.
Archer kills another.
Enron falls again. Skywatcher smashes spark dust. Misses his attack.
Otis range crits 9 throwing his last javelin.
Blizz attacks with marksman and hits 9. It blewed up.
0 throws three at archer and misses.
Enron rolls away.
Archer blasts 0.
Rhinan blasts it.
END COMBAT
We go to the center. Golden plates but they're black/graeyish metal with golden writing. There are only like 3 or 4 sheets held together by rings. The sheets are thin metal. Slate grey. Run your fingers over and it looks like ink but it's metal. It's in Abyssal.
Skywatcher and Otis receive 1 level of exhaustion from the shots.
SARAH'S NOTE TEXT GOES HERE
Short Rest, Emron used a short rest healing item thing that I forget what it's called.
Skywatcher reaches into its throat. He stands there and zones out. The body shivers and then crumbles into piles of obsidian and Skywatcher is holding light. The light is in his hand but he can't feel it. He lets go and it floats. He puts it in a bag and Emron asks if he can take it because of his Guy.
Skywatcher had a vision when he touched it. White sky. The ground was made of this obsidian with black tables everywhere. Well organized. All the bodies of the monsters we just killed were all on the tables. Sitting in the throne was the big guy. "Even though you've killed me now, I'm going to come back. And you won't be able to defeat me when I come back."
Otis: "You don't think we can? Put him back in the body and we'll go for round 2."
If we're going to give this light to your guy, we'll have to meet him.
Emron says he'll have to ask him. He's never summoned him before; he comes when he wants. I'm going to go back into the mountains and do some meditation. He comes to me in dreams and says we'll do training and meet in some secluded spot.
EXIT EMRON
We harvest the obsidian.
Archer gets 2 pounds of Obsidian. (Most others do.)
Return to the circle of wagons. It's a little bit after Noon. We make our way back in.
Meet with the butler and report our success and beg for him to tell the Lord that we almost died. "He should be back within the week."
Otis. "I am not digging holes."
We glamp, Archer ends up with his head in an anthill.
LONG REST +5 THP
We head back to town. We notice a huge crowd in the center square. Gallows. The see the black tabaxi. The noose is already in his hand. Dwarf execution. Lawman is reading off the sentence. The sentence is read. Darkness fills the whole area before he's hung. Chaos. Observant people can hear the sound of metals. The darkness fades immediately; the dwarf and lawman are bleeding. The gallows rope are cut and the tabaxi is gone.
Dwarf is dead. Cut at the neck when we arrive. Rhinan shows up and calmly stops the blood flow of the lawman. Stomach wound has stopped bleeding (using guard first aid kits). Blizz tried to say he was a trained medical professional. The guards didn't believe him. He resorted to "We are adventurers." card. He heard arguing. There were two of them. One said he wanted to kill me while the other said "We don't have time."
The guards want us to leave so they can get him some space to get a litter to get him to a real medical professional. They thank us.
We talked price with the guard, he didn't know.
Otis: "Recommendation, guardsman. They cannot escape if they're already dead."
We head to the law office.
Flustered guy. We say "We're here to apprehend that tabaxi. Who captured him last time?"
"His name is Kybor. Great hunter. Never failed us before. Would be a good person to ask about this. He lives somewhere in the woods. He comes to us. Where's that place he visits? The Odd Seed. He likes plants. It's one of the shops. I can tell you where that is, I guess he visits there quite often."
Otis: "Can we bring proof of his death?"
"Yes, whatever, just bring us proof."
"Hunter found him holed up in a vacant house here in the house. A room."
He tells us the location of the Odd Seed.
We make it to the Odd Seed. It's very filled with plants. Gardening store. Plants are very unfamiliar. Look like plants on the islands than on the mainland. Two halflings are whispering to each other behind the bar and appear worried. Older man and woman. The woman looks up and says "Oh, hi, what can I do for you?" (40s-50s). Very defensive. "We know him, why? We're worried for a friend." "We're trying to help out." "We know where he lives. If you'd go check on him that would be great." "He said something about alarms that go off anytime someone comes in close. Maybe call before you approach." MEDICAL PLANTS -- They are Gil and Bev. Simple path, kind of hidden. Keep an eye off to the side, there's an animal path but it's marked by cairns. SHOPPING RHINAN: Stays back and talks about her strange mud ball SKYWATCHER: Watches for suspicious behavior ARCHER: Buys 20 bolts OTIS & BLIZZ: 2 shots, 1 regeneration, 1 spark dust 37 RUNE 7 RUNE 4 PIK each RECONVENE and hit the path. It's heavy woods. Lots of brushes and trees. Start hearing roars. We hear someone roaring. We see a half-orc (the hunter) fighting a black tabaxi, a wounded dog behind him, another dog fighting another black tabaxi and another black tabaxi just watching. BEGIN COMBAT Blizz super shots one of the tabaxi. They flee. Otis scores an AoO on the last before it flees and takes a shot from Blizz. One stabs Blizz in the back. Then strikes at Will. And flees. Otis gets hit with a weird heart attack. Otis chases after the tabaxi that fled from him. Archer and Blizz skewer the Tabaxi that arrived to shoot Archer. Otis catches up to the two and throws a javelin, hitting the one with summoned blade. Archer fires a blind shot and hits something. Rhinan mega sprints. Half Orc sprints after taking his dog back to the porch. Otis gets double-shot. Then the shadowblade guy attacks Otis, too. Otis gets roughed up. Rhinan flanks and misses. Half Orc catches shadowblade guy. Shadowblade gets tripped by Archer and wailed on but all attacks missed. He gets up on his fours, hisses, and disappears. BAAAAH. Blizz stabs the fleeing archer in the back. END COMBAT Talk to Kyger. He caught the dagger guy yesterday. Otis decapitates that one. He's got two nice knives, really nice studded leather armor. More studded leather from the other one (we gave him spark salts because Blizz cut his spinal cord), Longbow, 14 arrows, coin pouch with 35 Rune. Take a SHORT REST. Otis cradles the screaming, paralyzed Tabaxi. He's very into gardening. It's obvious in his garden outside. He tells us of the place in the city to the safehouse. House area where it's a much poorer part of Hogenbran's Landing. There's some apartment housing. It's one of the ones that had been deemed unsafe to live in due to floor issues. He was able to find him because he's good at finding people. Search in the right areas and I got lucky. He knows a little of magic derived from nature. Volunteers to help us find the third. Make our way back to law office. Different deputy on duty. Drop the head in the office. He's impressed when we brought in the head. Even MORE impressed when we brought in the second. Store paralyzed tabaxi in a cell. 24 Septir. Old man gives us more. ANNNNND 3 Rune after Blizz asks for more. We talk about how this would be a bigger operation. "We'd love if you brought this guy in, but there might be someone who pays more because of his magic (but you need proof). We'd pay you, but it'd be about the same. We don't technically have a wanted out for him." Who are they? They have requested in the past if we caght anyone with arcane talents they would pay handsomely. Where do we find them? HQ in Alabaster. Ways away. Believe they had some kind of outpost here. Got a letter from them, don't remember their name. They got to us through Alabaster's guard station, so assume they're reputable. You might need to give me a day to wait or head to Alabaster. Reconvene tomorrow.
We make it to the Odd Seed. It's very filled with plants. Gardening store. Plants are very unfamiliar. Look like plants on the islands than on the mainland. Two halflings are whispering to each other behind the bar and appear worried. Older man and woman. The woman looks up and says "Oh, hi, what can I do for you?" (40s-50s). Very defensive. "We know him, why? We're worried for a friend." "We're trying to help out." "We know where he lives. If you'd go check on him that would be great." "He said something about alarms that go off anytime someone comes in close. Maybe call before you approach." MEDICAL PLANTS -- They are Gil and Bev. Simple path, kind of hidden. Keep an eye off to the side, there's an animal path but it's marked by cairns. SHOPPING RHINAN: Stays back and talks about her strange mud ball SKYWATCHER: Watches for suspicious behavior ARCHER: Buys 20 bolts OTIS & BLIZZ: 2 shots, 1 regeneration, 1 spark dust 37 RUNE 7 RUNE 4 PIK each RECONVENE and hit the path. It's heavy woods. Lots of brushes and trees. Start hearing roars. We hear someone roaring. We see a half-orc (the hunter) fighting a black tabaxi, a wounded dog behind him, another dog fighting another black tabaxi and another black tabaxi just watching. BEGIN COMBAT Blizz super shots one of the tabaxi. They flee. Otis scores an AoO on the last before it flees and takes a shot from Blizz. One stabs Blizz in the back. Then strikes at Will. And flees. Otis gets hit with a weird heart attack. Otis chases after the tabaxi that fled from him. Archer and Blizz skewer the Tabaxi that arrived to shoot Archer. Otis catches up to the two and throws a javelin, hitting the one with summoned blade. Archer fires a blind shot and hits something. Rhinan mega sprints. Half Orc sprints after taking his dog back to the porch. Otis gets double-shot. Then the shadowblade guy attacks Otis, too. Otis gets roughed up. Rhinan flanks and misses. Half Orc catches shadowblade guy. Shadowblade gets tripped by Archer and wailed on but all attacks missed. He gets up on his fours, hisses, and disappears. BAAAAH. Blizz stabs the fleeing archer in the back. END COMBAT Talk to Kyger. He caught the dagger guy yesterday. Otis decapitates that one. He's got two nice knives, really nice studded leather armor. More studded leather from the other one (we gave him spark salts because Blizz cut his spinal cord), Longbow, 14 arrows, coin pouch with 35 Rune. Take a SHORT REST. Otis cradles the screaming, paralyzed Tabaxi. He's very into gardening. It's obvious in his garden outside. He tells us of the place in the city to the safehouse. House area where it's a much poorer part of Hogenbran's Landing. There's some apartment housing. It's one of the ones that had been deemed unsafe to live in due to floor issues. He was able to find him because he's good at finding people. Search in the right areas and I got lucky. He knows a little of magic derived from nature. Volunteers to help us find the third. Make our way back to law office. Different deputy on duty. Drop the head in the office. He's impressed when we brought in the head. Even MORE impressed when we brought in the second. Store paralyzed tabaxi in a cell. 24 Septir. Old man gives us more. ANNNNND 3 Rune after Blizz asks for more. We talk about how this would be a bigger operation. "We'd love if you brought this guy in, but there might be someone who pays more because of his magic (but you need proof). We'd pay you, but it'd be about the same. We don't technically have a wanted out for him." Who are they? They have requested in the past if we caght anyone with arcane talents they would pay handsomely. Where do we find them? HQ in Alabaster. Ways away. Believe they had some kind of outpost here. Got a letter from them, don't remember their name. They got to us through Alabaster's guard station, so assume they're reputable. You might need to give me a day to wait or head to Alabaster. Reconvene tomorrow.
Session 8
Notes
Just interviewed one of the workers. We ask for directions. Take the carriage path; go all the way up until you start seeing where we dug. The hole is on the right side of where we were digging. How deep had they dug down? T'was on a slope, so it was on the mountain's side. They ditched a bunch of digging equipment and it doesn't look like anything's been touched. This property isn't on the big part of the mountain; it's on a foothill part. Green, lush mountains. Very tropical. Cleared all the trees away from the place where they're going to build the manor but only dug out maybe a third of the manor. We're approaching the backright where we can see the hole in the ground, but can't see much outside of that. Everyone hears some movement in the trees. There are no monkeys that we've seen. Turns out, it's Emron. He found a small hole and is looking for a bigger hole to explore. He makes a stone glow and Archer takes it and drops it in the hole. It falls 7 or 8 feet down before stopping. It's squishy on the entrance. But then it widens up to about 10 feet wide and it's about 7 feet tall. Coming down the passageway. We're trying to gauge how far it was from where Enron found the hole in the ground. Roughly around that point, Enron sees light. He also sees two figures silhouetted by the light. It is naturally made. You get to where you're about forty feet away and you can see these figures better. They are not skeletons; they have a full humanoid shape except for one of their arms (their shiny black like obsidian) is a giant spike. We don't see purple eyes. From their chest, we see purple light and it spreads through cracks in their body and fills their eyes. No mouth or nose. Just head with eyes and purple cracks in their head. Otis killed the first one and it exploded. Enron holy smited the second. We continued and discovered a very fancy circular, tiered room. Many of the obsidian folks were here. 16 of them. 6 of them look like the ones we just fought. 9 more have floating halo obisidian stones swirling around their heads and no spike arm. 1 is eight feet tall and is a lump with legs. We interrogate Enron about what the heck he knows about this hole. He says "He's got this guide, 'Calloc". He alluded to something over here that I needed to see and find. "Did he allude to what that might be?" says Rhinan. Enron "I'm not entirely sure. He helps me to figure out my powers. These are the evil guys' followers that rebelled against them." We are satisfied with our interrogation and Blizz and Rhinan take off to investigate the center all sneaky like. They get to the center find this hemisphere, half-circle that's very clean. You see three objects in the middle. One is a silver circlet with a front piece that is four different diamonds in the shape of a 4-point star. Diamond shape. Next one is a red metal feather with gold trim. The center stalk is gold and it has a few streaks of gold. Base metal is red. Very shiny and nice. Doesn't look like it's rusted at all (neither does the circlet). Last one is a jagged sheet of metal. They probably haven't been here for very long because they look so new. The sunlight glints off a black obsidian dome that's probably 5 inches wide. After Rhinan snatches the goods, Blizz touches the obsidian dome. It starts to shiver and dirt falls into some cavity where it was. It rises out of the ground while the pair flee sneakily away. It's man looking and, from its belly button to its crown is about 5 1/2 to 6 feet tall. There's a giant chunk out of his left side that is obsidian shards (only has 1 arm). His eyes open and they are white (no pupils). He checks out the missing items in the bowl. Then kneels down and waits. There is writing on the jagged sheet of metal, in Abyssal. Not words written in Abyssal traditionally. Words like Hope, Strength, with Friendship. Protection. Blizz and Rhinan tried to use the crown thing and... it didn't do anything. The fiend man moves. He starts shoveling dirt and sifting through it with his hands. He's digging through the dirt and it's just moving for him. g Soooo.... what are we going to do? Short rest. The fiend pulls something out but we can't see it. Raises it to his mouth. Then he stands. He turns and his eyes lock on the cave we are in. He turns around and reaches out an arm and the middle one in the back (spike arm) animates. It leaps down to him. They're on the same team... As it comes down, he puts his giant hand on its head. Then looks up at the cave, looks down and takes his hand off its head. It disappears and scrambles up and starts heading up by itself. Rhinan studies the items and gets the feeling that it is not as new as she thought it was. Which is surprising because it is pristine. We flee outside the cave and hide in the trees. It hops out of the hole and Blizz shoots at it, wrapping it in vines. Everyone charges it as it hops back into the hole. COMBAT Arcane thorns eat at it and kill it after Enron smacked it and shoved with his shield. END COMBAT We retreat back to the trees to see what happens. Rhinan, Daron, and Otis go in. Rhinan goes up to see what happens. Fiend thing sends two more. The obsidian halo ones. Enron takes the feather and feels that there is something about this item. It's a nice feeling. COMBAT Two pop out, they're gunned down. Otis smashed the second. Archer shattered the second. Another appears. Otis smashes it. Another appears. Otis bonks it. Another appears. Rhinan blows up the previous one. Archer blows up the final one. Using single salt on Enron. 9 Remaining. We bail into the trees for a rest and will stay there if they don't explore outside. Rhinan and Otis are the watchmen. Rumbling steps. He[/b[ exits. Puts his hand backwards, and they all (11) come out. We let them all come out. Melees run into the tunnel, archers get in position outside the tunnel. Blizz blasts them with an explosive shot. Archer blasts the fiend. Rhinan blasts the big guy. They retreat into the cave and deliver some more shots. The bad guys dash. Skywatcher and Blizz get blasted by the ranged folks before disappearing around the corner; Skywatcher downs a potion. Archer blasts the fiend and he loses his head (right between the eyes). Rhinan blows another one up; now everyone is behind the corner and the 5 spike arms engage. Skywatcher takes a Health Shot.
Session 7
Urgent Wake
This evening we got back onto the Wake. Archer asks about boat-owning. Captain only captains the boat. Company owns it. :( Blizz gets hold of a poisonous underwater plant (6 applications). Archer sees some strange birds up in the crows' nest. They might be the cacathids. (On our way there, the captain told us about the problematic ship journey birds). We get into port early early morning. We sleep on the boat. Previously, Archer asks about ambitions. Emron and Sebastian are peacing out. They've got stuff to do after they get paid. Skywatcher doesn't really have any goals. Rhinan wants to go see the crusader. Blizz wants to see the things, buy the things, have the things. Archer wants a boat. Otis threatened me to take my mouth and my tongue.At Port (Hogenbran's Landing)
West Seas Trading Company Public Resource Building. Archer notices pickpockets.Background
Most of this port is transportation. Lots of people come from Rodain before going somewhere else. It's a booming town. Another port is around the town in an inlet for commerce. The one we're coming into is strictly transportation. Good sized town. Island is called Bristig. Biggest town on this island. Lots of people stop and stay here. Of the Kingdom of Brydia from Rodain. We were here at the start. Stayed at the Sleeping Deer. Main road (looking at the port) goes up the island. All along the main road is lots of activity. It calms down a little as you get higher up. Street vendors, shops, services of all sorts, taverns, inns, and, at the end, is the Baron's Manor. His name is : Poldrick Guise.Public Resource Building
Show the front desk the notice we got in the first place. Resource Officer meets us. Female Human Resource Officer, we all have met her before. "You've completed the task we asked you to perform. We ask for proof." Archer gives him the note. She is smiling the whole time. Pulls out 8 bags of coins. "We like it when people get the job done. Would you mind putting your names down so we can reach out to you in the future?" Daron Esmerian, Bill Buttelicker, Raging, Rhinan, Talai but not Skywatcher jot down those names. Each bag has 35 silver.Starting Gold!
6 Silver for Archer, 35 Each, 20 from the Crows, 12 silver and 5 pik from the warehouse. Archer: 76 runes 5 piks Decent Sword: 20 Rune Horse: Kolby doesnt know Inn: Sleepy Deer -- 3 Rune (includes night and meal), 6 Rune for a Nice Room 7 - 10 Runes for Nicer Places. Chain Mail: 10, 30 septirsExploring
Archer and Skywatcher go and get their breastplates resized. Otis goes to a tavern to get a drink. The Whale Spout (Most popular), Sailor's Bar, Silver Vine. Otis goes to the Whale Spout. Still early morning. Very lively. Otis goes for a gallon for 7 pik. Soup is 4 pik. Meal is like 9 pik. He buys 2 pik worth of bread. To the Armorer! We find Orlom Burnsteins Armory. He was recommended by those we talked to (he's also the closest). He's a dwarf with brown hair. Medium cut. His beard is braided into two braids and he tucks them into his belt. "Can you resize these breastplates?" Daron: 3 Rune Skywatcher: 4 Rune 5 Pik Daron says he will be coming back. Blizz gets pricing on things and finds out it's really expensive. Weapons guy or arrows and bows? Hunting Shop! Rhinan is looking for archeological artifacts. She gets directions to the house of an enthusiast (appraisal / buyer). Hunting Shop. Basic and nicer bows. Bolts cost 15 Pik for 20 Iron Bolts Steel 25 Pik for 20. Archer and Blizz buy 20 bolts/arrows.Item Appraiser for Rhinan. Normal house. Curtains are closed. ... Metal of the hammer is cursed. "Leave it with me. I'll be able to... I have a connection; it will take them some time, and they only stop in every once in a while, might have to come back in a month or so, they know how to read curses. This man knows, it's a rare skill. I will ensure this curse is read up. You then could take this metal and do some extraordinary things with it. Two fascinating finds today, you have made my day!! Small tip when it's done!" "Beautiful magic gems! Take care of them, they are very rare." "Crystals formed in a place where strange magic was all over the place. I can't identify the magic, but I can tell it is of magic. It does have the magic, yes. Not evil magic like the hammer, but it is strange magic. Can I keep it?" Blizz. "No." Babbles and finally, reluctantly returns the drugs. Because Blizz tells him it is indeed a drug. He tells us to return in about a month. Blizz. "How do we ensure this hammerhead is here when we return?" "I uhh.... I live here."
Meet back up at the Whale's Spout. Naithea says she got a message from a dolphin and said ta-ta. Blizz. 20 Perception. Hears an interesting story. Some people are talking about a nobleman that was building his estate up in the mountains. He purchased a large plot of land and was building up there. While his workers were building a foundation, he unearthed something and there were problems. Some workers died. The noble went to the military and asked for help but they are busy and seem like they don't care. He's frustrated with them, continuing to try and get their help with whatever his problems are. Blizz. "Got any information about this?" Flipping a coin. Drinkers. "Why do you wanna know?" Blizz. "Just like to know things, that's why I'm here." Drinkers. "We can, yeah." They wait, staring at the silver. Blizz. Drops 5 pik. Drinkers. "The nobleman is Lord Sammil. Southwest side of the moutains, couple miles from here. Easy to get to; there's a trail. There are other estates in the area. Nobody knows what happened except the workers. They're keeping them quiet. I heard it from a military buddy of mine. Nobleman going to his superior officer about his problems." Blizz. Flips them the silver. Archer. Asks barkeep about jobs. Says he has notice board, sorry kid. Blizz. Blizz tells Archer. NOTICE BOARD Lots of boring stuff on the notice board. Mining GUild, Moving Boxes, Navy. 2 Jobs with staggering rewards. 1 pays 10 septur. 2 doesn't have a lot of information but says "Good Pay" 1. Septur: WANTED: Dangerous Criminal Silent Shadow, a black haired tabaxi who is wanted for murder, theft, arson, and a forgery of official documents; law officials have tracked him to Bristig and believe him to be hiding in Hogenbran's Landing. Go to nearest law office. 2. Bristig's Royal Huntsman in Hogenbran's Landing. 1 Short Rest Package Each (3 Uses) 3 Restoratives 2 Shots 10 uses of spark dust Blizz takes 2 restoratives, 1 shot Otis takes 1 shot 2 life spark salt per person 1 each Repairing Salve
Decisions
We decided to go puruse the noble rumor. It's mid-afternoon. Passing through trees, exit the town. Wilderness walks. All a path! It's been used; cart tracks. Not a ton. A little over two years old. Follow the path for 45 minutes before we start seeing massive manor estates along the mountain. Go about a mile before we see one that is (they said it was the fourth one down) cleared of trees and nothing is built it. We just go up the path. Before we get to the clearing, we come to a ring of wagons. There are a couple guards patrolling around them. Fire inside the ring of guards. Blizz. "We want to talk to Lord Sammil." He goes into the ring and comes back with a well-dressed and dirty man. Sammil. "What can I do for you?" Archer takes point. Sammil. "Interesting. I am not Lord Sammil. I am his butler. He's still trying to get military help. I do believe you are the type of people. I do believe he would welcome your help!" Blizz. "What if he came back and the problem would be gone?" Butler. "That sounds most excellent. I imagine you would be well-rewarded. I can give you as much information as I have, but little is known. You are welcome to enter the circle of wagons." Blizz. "What's your name, sir?" Butler. "I am Gallin. Would you like to enter our wagon circle?" It's a decent size circle. Construction material and tools. Inside there is a bunch of workers. There's a little group that appears to be house servants. Butler leads us here. "What do you know?" Archer. Explains. Butler. "I can't tell you much more than you already know. Terrible things. Ripped people to shreds. I didn't see it myself, but I heard." We've confirmed that he has a boat. When will he return. As soon as it's cleared. Archer. Can we talk to a worker that saw it? Gallin. Suppose that would be okay. We go and ask around. Decent-sized group, 10 or 12 that saw it. "It came out of nowhere. We were digging. Someone found a hole, we went and started and uncovered, stepped inside, there were terrible noises, screaming ran out, six of us didn't come out. There was this arm that looked like shiny rock. Just saw the arm. Some guys said they saw glowing red eyes..." NEXT SESSION: DELVE INTO THE HOLE
Session 6
SHORT REST!!
Big 250 foot tall room with 4 pillars. Murals with man wearing robes and headdress, wavy flairs (Kolby has picture). He has his arms outstretched; above him is the weird pattern symbol we saw replacing the head of the body on the being in the chamber above. Also has a stone sculpture of this guy, much more detailed, headdress, arms crossed (10-11 feet tall). Purple crystals embedded throughout the room light it up.
Left wall: same man with the headdress stands over a large group of people bowing down and chained together; they're chained together, he has whipo
Right: Grand buildings, pyramids, temples, all kinds of architecturally awesome buildings. He's holding a hammer up in the air.
As we enter, the statue moves and reveals the human-version of this dude. He's not decayed. Holding a whip and hammer in his hand. Purple robes. (Ovid Scizor) Medallion with a purple crystal in it. Purple eyes. Goes down on a knee and crosses his hand on his chest and starts speaking in breathy, sinister voice. Nobody can understand the words coming out of his mouth. Rhinan translates. "I am ready to serve, what is our lord's bidding?" "How long have you been down here?" Rhinan "What is the year?" "389 AA" "Time must have changed... we were passed the year 389 when I was last aware." It must have been before the Apocalypse of Agaralaksjdg;lkajsdg "Come with us, we'll fill you in later." "I... why can you not tell me our lord's will now?" "Cause we gotta hurry! We gotta go now!" "This chamber is locked in time, we have all the time in the world." "You were sent by our lord.... right?" Rhinan... "Yeeeaaaahh..." He cracks his whip. 4 crystals on each side of the pillar. All of the outside cyrstals go out. Outside of the pillars, it's absolute darkness. There are screams from our friends behind us; we can hear commotion, like them fighting. The four of us are left with him. Out of the darkness behind him, two more skeletons come out. ROLL INITIATIVE. We almost die. Skywatcher breaks the medallion chain (that rejuvinated him twice). Rhinan kills him from a stab in the back. Rhinan goes down, dolphin totem restores her, Rhinan and Blizz go down, Skywatcher saves them. Archer is cursed and freezes. The last skeleton is slain by Skywatcher and the darkness dissipates. We see our friends finishing off other skeletons. The man's weapons hurt to pick up; we put them on a shield.
"Your faithful service has deemed you worthy to rise again when our lord returns. He grants you this gift that you may be untouched by time." The medallion carving is here as well. We still the headdress. Rhinan takes a sword. The hole is still closed. Skywatcher goes up, the medallion in his bag flashes and the hole opens! We also took the purple robe. We took all swords. (14ish scimitars). The staleness spot, Skywatcher cannot walk out with the amulet. He drops it down the ladder spot. We realize we cannot destroy the cave, then Blizz realizes that the natural order of things needs to be restored. So we go back in and get the stupid medallion, take it to the top level, Skywatcher shatters it. The whole place shutters. Everything behind us begins to crumble and decay; all the weapons, armor, and clothing begins to decay as time catches up with it. Everything except the head of the hammer. Bluish tinged metal. Seems to still be cursed. The material itself might be useful if uncursed. The whole timeless spot disappears and the cave begins to drop down into this spot. Cave in. We go down the tunnel as fast as we can, Skywatcher gets knocked by a boulder and falls unconscious. Rhinan saves him, Naithea swims him out and stabilizes him. The cave obviously breaks and is destroyed. We head back to Crows. Back to where we met with Vierden. We are stopped by the Crows at the entrance. "Let me go make sure Vierden knows you're here." They let us into the clearing. No fire is lit (morning, it's the same time as when we went in). Nice morning. Vierden comes out. "Ah, welcome. You return very quickly here. Onwen returned moments before you with the slaves and the prisoners. Were you successful in destroying the cave? She said you did a successful job with the warehouse; we see the success. You did an excellent job. But did you destroy the cave? It was very quick! How did you do it!" Blizz. "Long story, you wouldn't believe us if we told you." Vierden. "Fair enough. I will not press you." Blizz. "Have you found other sources of these drugs before and seen weird things when you've found them?" Vierden. "Weird as in how? This is the first time we've encountered this specific drugs. I have a friend, actually. A knight, valiant man. Waging his own personal war on these criminals. Dunno how much you know about them; The King of Rats, organization name is the King's Swarm. This Knight friend of mine has taken upon himself to wage a personal war against them. He's the one who helped us find this location, this is the first we've seen of this. There have been strange things happening; please, tell me what you mean first before I go off?" Blizz. "There was a cave they had dug into. There were existing tunnels in the mountain to the cave. A very strange and old dungeon area that was there below the mountain with some strange magic." Vierden. "And the cimrinals were using this strange magic to do..?" Rhinan. "They didn't appear to be using it." Vierden. "So they weren't using it?" Blizz. "We had to fight some nasty creatures. Take care. Where these crystals appear, there may be something else." Vierden. "The leader of the... ones you chopped his hands off--" Rhinan, "We need to talk to him" "-- please do! He needs to talk to my friend before we send him off to lock him away for life." Blizz. "Rhinan, do you want to share the letter with him?" Vierden. "I am happy to take anything that will help us in our hunt of these criminals." Blizz. "It seems they know something of this. They might know than what we give them credit for." Vierden. "Visit my friend! You are an invaluable resource. I am very grateful for all that you have done." Rhinan. "Yeah!" Vierden. "Will you get the chest for them?" he said to the servents. Servant brings the wooden chest and there's a bunch of silver inside. Vierden writes a letter "Circilian Ovos. Located at Eagles Nest. I will give you this letter from me letting him know who you are. Whenever you get the chance, I'm sure he needs all the help he can get. It seems our work here is done! We will be signalling our ship as soon as possible and leaving here. Do you need anything from the slaves or prisoners? We'll be trying to get them back to whereever they need to go. The prisoners will go to the authorities, except for the leader, we'll return him later." Blizz. "Anymore stink capsules?" Vierden. "Proof to the construction workers that we are gone. And yes, we can spare some." he unstraps his mask and gives it over. He's darker skinned and he has dark-green hair. Dark brown eyes. Wood elf. Blizz takes the mask. Blizz. "How do you make the stink capsules?" Vierden. "It's a bit of a process. We have someone who makes them. I can introduce you to the one makes them to give you a rundown." Archer. "Do you know anyone that kn......" Vierden. "What's wrong with him? That looks miserable. Go to a temple!" Everyone gets one more stink bomb. Blizz gets ingredients. We go back to the workers. The ship we came in on was the "Urgent Wake". It swings in close to shore and looks for the signal whether we are there or not. Foreman of the Workers. "You're back! Great! They're gone?" Shown the mask. "We won't have any problems with 'em again? We can finish the construction of this dock? That's great!!" He starts yelling to his workers to get work. "Wow. This is great! I'm gonna write you up a quick letter for, to turn in so you can get your pay. You did a great job, you weren't even gone that long! A day or so, maybe a bit more? We'll signal the Urgent Wake and it'll be here this evening. Take a load off!" Archer freaks him out asking for a bath; he's rudely told that he has to take an ocean bath. Blizz grabs 12 torches. LONG REST (Curse Fades) Count the silver -- 160 silver. LEVEL UP LEVEL 3 Skywatcher shows us his crystals. The frog island with the shipwreck. He was digging through, found a box with crystals. 4 crystals. Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.
As we enter, the statue moves and reveals the human-version of this dude. He's not decayed. Holding a whip and hammer in his hand. Purple robes. (Ovid Scizor) Medallion with a purple crystal in it. Purple eyes. Goes down on a knee and crosses his hand on his chest and starts speaking in breathy, sinister voice. Nobody can understand the words coming out of his mouth. Rhinan translates. "I am ready to serve, what is our lord's bidding?" "How long have you been down here?" Rhinan "What is the year?" "389 AA" "Time must have changed... we were passed the year 389 when I was last aware." It must have been before the Apocalypse of Agaralaksjdg;lkajsdg "Come with us, we'll fill you in later." "I... why can you not tell me our lord's will now?" "Cause we gotta hurry! We gotta go now!" "This chamber is locked in time, we have all the time in the world." "You were sent by our lord.... right?" Rhinan... "Yeeeaaaahh..." He cracks his whip. 4 crystals on each side of the pillar. All of the outside cyrstals go out. Outside of the pillars, it's absolute darkness. There are screams from our friends behind us; we can hear commotion, like them fighting. The four of us are left with him. Out of the darkness behind him, two more skeletons come out. ROLL INITIATIVE. We almost die. Skywatcher breaks the medallion chain (that rejuvinated him twice). Rhinan kills him from a stab in the back. Rhinan goes down, dolphin totem restores her, Rhinan and Blizz go down, Skywatcher saves them. Archer is cursed and freezes. The last skeleton is slain by Skywatcher and the darkness dissipates. We see our friends finishing off other skeletons. The man's weapons hurt to pick up; we put them on a shield.
"Your faithful service has deemed you worthy to rise again when our lord returns. He grants you this gift that you may be untouched by time." The medallion carving is here as well. We still the headdress. Rhinan takes a sword. The hole is still closed. Skywatcher goes up, the medallion in his bag flashes and the hole opens! We also took the purple robe. We took all swords. (14ish scimitars). The staleness spot, Skywatcher cannot walk out with the amulet. He drops it down the ladder spot. We realize we cannot destroy the cave, then Blizz realizes that the natural order of things needs to be restored. So we go back in and get the stupid medallion, take it to the top level, Skywatcher shatters it. The whole place shutters. Everything behind us begins to crumble and decay; all the weapons, armor, and clothing begins to decay as time catches up with it. Everything except the head of the hammer. Bluish tinged metal. Seems to still be cursed. The material itself might be useful if uncursed. The whole timeless spot disappears and the cave begins to drop down into this spot. Cave in. We go down the tunnel as fast as we can, Skywatcher gets knocked by a boulder and falls unconscious. Rhinan saves him, Naithea swims him out and stabilizes him. The cave obviously breaks and is destroyed. We head back to Crows. Back to where we met with Vierden. We are stopped by the Crows at the entrance. "Let me go make sure Vierden knows you're here." They let us into the clearing. No fire is lit (morning, it's the same time as when we went in). Nice morning. Vierden comes out. "Ah, welcome. You return very quickly here. Onwen returned moments before you with the slaves and the prisoners. Were you successful in destroying the cave? She said you did a successful job with the warehouse; we see the success. You did an excellent job. But did you destroy the cave? It was very quick! How did you do it!" Blizz. "Long story, you wouldn't believe us if we told you." Vierden. "Fair enough. I will not press you." Blizz. "Have you found other sources of these drugs before and seen weird things when you've found them?" Vierden. "Weird as in how? This is the first time we've encountered this specific drugs. I have a friend, actually. A knight, valiant man. Waging his own personal war on these criminals. Dunno how much you know about them; The King of Rats, organization name is the King's Swarm. This Knight friend of mine has taken upon himself to wage a personal war against them. He's the one who helped us find this location, this is the first we've seen of this. There have been strange things happening; please, tell me what you mean first before I go off?" Blizz. "There was a cave they had dug into. There were existing tunnels in the mountain to the cave. A very strange and old dungeon area that was there below the mountain with some strange magic." Vierden. "And the cimrinals were using this strange magic to do..?" Rhinan. "They didn't appear to be using it." Vierden. "So they weren't using it?" Blizz. "We had to fight some nasty creatures. Take care. Where these crystals appear, there may be something else." Vierden. "The leader of the... ones you chopped his hands off--" Rhinan, "We need to talk to him" "-- please do! He needs to talk to my friend before we send him off to lock him away for life." Blizz. "Rhinan, do you want to share the letter with him?" Vierden. "I am happy to take anything that will help us in our hunt of these criminals." Blizz. "It seems they know something of this. They might know than what we give them credit for." Vierden. "Visit my friend! You are an invaluable resource. I am very grateful for all that you have done." Rhinan. "Yeah!" Vierden. "Will you get the chest for them?" he said to the servents. Servant brings the wooden chest and there's a bunch of silver inside. Vierden writes a letter "Circilian Ovos. Located at Eagles Nest. I will give you this letter from me letting him know who you are. Whenever you get the chance, I'm sure he needs all the help he can get. It seems our work here is done! We will be signalling our ship as soon as possible and leaving here. Do you need anything from the slaves or prisoners? We'll be trying to get them back to whereever they need to go. The prisoners will go to the authorities, except for the leader, we'll return him later." Blizz. "Anymore stink capsules?" Vierden. "Proof to the construction workers that we are gone. And yes, we can spare some." he unstraps his mask and gives it over. He's darker skinned and he has dark-green hair. Dark brown eyes. Wood elf. Blizz takes the mask. Blizz. "How do you make the stink capsules?" Vierden. "It's a bit of a process. We have someone who makes them. I can introduce you to the one makes them to give you a rundown." Archer. "Do you know anyone that kn......" Vierden. "What's wrong with him? That looks miserable. Go to a temple!" Everyone gets one more stink bomb. Blizz gets ingredients. We go back to the workers. The ship we came in on was the "Urgent Wake". It swings in close to shore and looks for the signal whether we are there or not. Foreman of the Workers. "You're back! Great! They're gone?" Shown the mask. "We won't have any problems with 'em again? We can finish the construction of this dock? That's great!!" He starts yelling to his workers to get work. "Wow. This is great! I'm gonna write you up a quick letter for, to turn in so you can get your pay. You did a great job, you weren't even gone that long! A day or so, maybe a bit more? We'll signal the Urgent Wake and it'll be here this evening. Take a load off!" Archer freaks him out asking for a bath; he's rudely told that he has to take an ocean bath. Blizz grabs 12 torches. LONG REST (Curse Fades) Count the silver -- 160 silver. LEVEL UP LEVEL 3 Skywatcher shows us his crystals. The frog island with the shipwreck. He was digging through, found a box with crystals. 4 crystals. Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.
Session 5
Loot
2 broken pickaxes 10 pickaxes 5 stone mallets 3 metal hammers 4 crates of nails Blizzard -- bagful of crystal chunks and powder 4 crates of leathers 4 crates of linens Storage full of food (outside) 6 Dice Sets made from Bone 13 Card Sets 2 Metal Flasks (Strong smelling liquid) 2 Bags of Dark Metal, Blank Coins (32 total) (Blizzard Wants, Otis, and Skywatcher) Small Wooden Carving of a Large, Horned Bison 2 Bags of Same Dried Weed 2 Breastplates (Archer, Skywatcher) 1 Kite Shield (Blizzard) 1 Warhammer (Emron) 1 Battleaxe (Emron) 19 Pipes, 19 Bags of Shabac 6 Small Books with excerpts from the Aliarli 12 whips 12 blackjacks 12 light crossbows 12 knives (Blizzard took 1) 4 silvers 4 copper 10 lanterns Chest full of 100 silver (In Skywatcher's Posession) Sebastian had 3 gold Spoke with The Crows guide. Leader we spoke with was Viernan. Awnwin is our guide. Long Rest! NOTE Into the cave Go left, boarded up, found the pit. Went back, went right, mine under development, go back into pit, 8 feet down. Passage left and right. Going right. 80 feet down, there's a doorway. Manmade. Stone brick on the walls, smooth cave floor. Archway opens to a room with a border around it. Stairs go down into the water. Naithea goes down. Says its an entrance to the side of the mountain under tehw ater. This is the original entrance that appears to have sunken down under the water somehow. Go the other way. 120 feet down from the pit, there's an iron door. (Black metal, not iron. There is writing on it). Hackix Orvid Zeor (written in Abyssal) "Here lies ^^, a faithful disciple of our lord. Rest peacefully under the ptortection of your fiathful warriors until he calls upon your services again" Rhinan spoke it out aloud to us. No one knows who this guy is. Intricately designed. Curved point. Blizz opens up the thin double-door! Air changed and felt stale when we walked passed the threshold. Circular room and there are carvings all around the walls. Depicts basic shaped humanoids bowing to a giant being that has the body of a being and the head of siwrling mass of confusing shapes and patterns. abstract and hard to look at. No order, no pattern, Center of the room is a hole in the ground with a purple light coming from it. (man-sized) Emron looks down the hole. Grooves carved into the wall like a ladder. Room appears to be just carvings with central figure. Hole turns into a square. Room = circle with + sign. Pillar with glass bulb and purplse crystal, filling room with purple light. Pretty short dead-ends. Right below the cyrstal is a 10-foot platform that's raised up and around it is a design that looks like a crack around it with lines going out (sunburst) cut into the stone. When Archer steps down off the ladder, there's a voice.... Hissed voices in abyssal "Trespassers" The room starts to shake and the room shifts; the hole in the ceiling disappears. Slabs fall. Skeletons, shiny and black in pristine armor.
The Locals...
Hogenbrand's Landing
Well, I finally made it. First time on a boat—and I'll be honest; it was awful. Much too long to be rocking back and forth. The vessel groaned and creaked without end, so sleeping was a real challenge. Nothing like my little hovel back home. Stepping foot on Hogenbrand's Landing was a thrill and relief all in one. I should be free of my pursuers. I'm finally off that bloody boat. And I'm in a New World! First thing I did when I showed up was find a place to stay. It didn't take too long to find the Sleepy Deer Inn. Spoke to the barkeep—bloody man asked where my parents were—and he didn't give me any good information. I did overhear him speaking to a giant fellow. That man was like... seven feet tall! Apparently someone's paying money to go defend a port settlement. Or... an almost-port settlement. The barkeep handed the big guy a piece of paper with some information on it. So, naturally, I stole away to where he'd gotten the paper from when he wasn't looking. West Seas Trading Company. Paying to wipe out a threat to that port place. For thirty-five pieces of silver! THIRTY-FIVE! And promise of future jobs! Naturally, I showed up to join.
On the Ship
Thankfully, the captain didn't ask where my parents were. Must-a seen the whipcrank and figured I knew how to hold my own! He told me the name of the ship (ugh, ships again...) but... I forgot what it was called. Should just be a six hour voyage and we'll arrive at our destination. Apparently you can just mosey right on up to the port place and the brigands won't bug you. So says the captain, anyways. I asked the captain about the sailors and whether or not they had issues sharing the Crows' Nest. He said some did, but probably not Andril, who had been up there when I'd arrived. I... oh. I guess it might be good to speak to the others that arrived about the time I did. Bunch of strange folk. There was a fair-skinned man in some fancy chain mail and dark hair. He carried a shield and axe. Odd thing to take onto a boat. A bright blue-eyed fellow that toted around a flute seemed to follow him around. He might even be younger than me! Then came the not-so-normal looking people. That big guy from the Sleepy Deer Inn was here. So was this lady with green skin, long mossy-colored braided hair, eyes of a green I've never seen in eyes before... She was barefoot, too. And had like... fish fins sticking out of her arms and legs. Odd lady. She carried a staff. Then there was this hooded person. They kinda freaked me out. I could sometimes catch orange-y yellow eyes glint from underneath that hood... Finally, there was this little fellow with a beard. He wore furs, had a shield, and wore two strange-looking axes on loops on his belt. Oh! I also had to come up with a name so... if my pursuers ever did show up here on my trail, they wouldn't know where Archer Hastings went. I guess for now I'll be known as Daron Esmerian. Anyways. Back to the fun part. Andril and I had a shooting contest blasting some seagulls out of the air. I destroyed Andril. I guess that's what you get when you ask me if I can handle the weapon I'm carrying. Of course I'm good at it. I'm bloody wearing it chained to myself. It was a lot of fun, until the kill-joy quartermaster chewed us out for wasting bolts. Like missing four is going to be an issue.
The Storm
Things went well for about two or three hours. Then some of those folks I mentioned earlier pointed out the clouds. The captain appeared a bit surprise; he thought we should have a clear shot to the port place. Turns out... he was wrong. I stowed away beneath deck and made sure all my gear was sealed and locked up tight. Then I prayed. I prayed harder than I ever had. Feeling the ocean move our boat like that... Makes a man feel small, you know? Here there's this massive boat made by so much wood a team of horses couldn't even move it. And the ocean is making it seem like a toy boat in a raging river... I swear we capsized. Twice. I may or may not have left my lunch in someone's spare boots... The worst of it was when we rammed into rocks. Twice. Each time it sounded the crash of thunder. Then it was followed by the terrible sound of rushing water... And before we knew it, we were sloshing around in knee-high water. Thankfully, that short fellow with the weird axes knew his way around boats and how to fix them when they leaked. He told me to get tar, so I did. Then I used it to seal the patch. The weird fish-lady had somehow managed to fix the other hole almost by herself. She froze the water somehow. So that hole was easy to fix. Then we spent what felt like hours bailing out water. Fish lady, again, managed to move a bunch more water than everyone else. She didn't even need a bucket; she just gathered it into a big floating bubble and then tossed the whole thing out. I ain't never seen such strange things as I have today. After the crew determined we were safe and sound, they broke course and sailed to the island to give the hull a real fix. While they did their things, they asked us to keep an eye out. Apparently these islands are super hostile. Makes you wonder why folks came to live here in the first place...
While the Ship Repairs
So keep watch we did. Apparently it was a good thing we did. For not an hour into waiting in this dreadful rain did things start to fly out of the treeline and explode. Three of the sailors were caught by the odd projectiles. Seemed like whatever it was exploded on impact and turned into a bunch of wicked splinters. Eventually, the creatures that threw... hurled... I dunno what they did with them, but eventually they showed their faces. If I'd seen weird things before this today, this beat them all. They were... frog people? Made out of wood? With weird bamboo shoots sticking out of their backs? I dunno, they were weird. Thankfully, they weren't as resilient as a tree. A few bolts and axe cuts seemed to be enough to fell them. We dealth with the first group okay. Though... I think I remember someone falling unconscious. I can't remember who it was though. The fish lady went to the sailors that had been injured and saw to their wounds. I still can't get over the fact that she's a fish-lady. Anyways. Three guys chased down the frog people. When they didn't show up after a few minutes, the few of us who'd held back at the beach decided it might best if someone could go check on them. I'm a quiet sort and quite the shot, so I figured I could do okay on my own. On my way to see them, though, I ran into the catman. Oh, yeah. There was a catman, too. He's all white and spotted. Anyways, catman ran by and said they'd made the others mad... And his friends were coming, too, just not as fast. So I returned with catman to the beach and climbed a tree, where I laid in wait to snipe whatever stupid woodfrog-person decided to come out into the open...
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