I have written this journal as a reference to myself, to organize my thoughts which seem to be ever more conflicted as of late...  For completeness I should start from the beginning...  Millennia ago, before the Great Bane defaced the lands with peoples, animals, plants, and unknown diseases the lands of Yrth were ruled over by but three races, Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes, and Orcs.  I doubt there is even a single tome dedicated to the actions and accomplishments of the Orc race before the Bane and if there were I doubt even more strongly that it would be read.  The dwarves and gnomes, likewise kept much to themselves, mining the secrets deep within the earth, forging before unknown metals and strengthening their wares with their own, materially aspected magics.  It is the elves however, who cared for the lands, who fought back the orcs, who ruled the earth with their ever expanding magics.  Indeed, it was the elves who caused the Great Bane and their own downfall, in the first place.

In the years before the Great Bane, it was the elves who policed the earth.  Their forests splotched across the entire globe, even to these lands I am told.  They created great magics, they civilized the earth and put asunder beasts no longer known, and they decided among themselves which magics should be banned, indeed, which spirits and gods should be removed from society.  Those evils which chanced the corruption or the very existence of Yrth were not destroyed outright but instead they were swept away, incarcerated within a temple of ancient magics, put in suspension so that they might not ever trouble the world again...  This is Perdition. The ancient tomb of magics seen as too dangerous for the world of ancients.  I seek to subvert those evils - and send them north against the infidels.

Here is where we find ourselves accelerating to the near present, for had matters not played out as they did, perhaps I would never have found the temple at Perdition.  As it has happened it was one discovery after another that has fueled my drive, my obsession with the wonder.  Some several months back, Khaldun encountered a whole patrol of dog-sized ants, monstrous things never encountered before on the plain.  Lucky as he was to have been with Imran and Jalal, the three slaughtered the things before they could send the alarm to their colony and reported to me immediately with the news.  At first I had thought little of it.  So what if untold beasts were wrecking the mountain groves to the south?  But my curiosity got the best of me, great and untold things often have great and untold causes.  I broke from my researches, finding a whole colony of the beasts, and the cause of their mutation.  Far back in the mountains, several passes back we found the remains of the ruined temple, its whole foundation still humming with the ancient powers still entombed.

Giles lifts his gaze away from the page, rubbing his eyes wearily.  It had been a long day, waking up in the dead of night, assaulting the tower, two of their number sustaining crippling injuries and nearly all of them being at some point or another beaten to unconsciousness.  Somehow they had prevailed, succeeded against the necromancer that had been their menace and cut away his head as proof of their mission.  They had looted his tower to the best of their ability and to the capacity of their meager cart, prizing above the rest the books that no doubt both held boundless knowledge and would fetch a high price.  Judoc and Finn had both already been bothering Giles to teach them to read the language, hoping that they too might glean some knowledge from the tomes.

Still, Giles had been unnerved by the last words of the wizard - his threats of the "Hells" of Perdition.  At first Giles had considered it an empty threat, the bluff of a man who knew his time was come.  It was the women who first made him doubt his assumption.  They had come some hours after the death of the Necromancer, two of them, creeping up the western side of the hill up the path towards the kitchen door, skulking from tree to tree.  The others had not trusted them, Judoc was particularly vehement about keeping them away, but Giles had known from the first that they meant no threat.  When they heard that the Necromancer was dead, they cheered and cried... cried far longer than Giles had expected.  It was then when they had told him about their families, their husbands and sons who had been sent away with Mika'il and Khaldun on an expedition months ago.  And not just their families, but every man of age in the entire village.  They begged for Giles to find them, to bring them back.  It had been hard to know what to make of the whole situation, and when Giles first cracked open this journal, Giles's opinions were solidified.  There was no doubt that at least the Necromancer thought that this place, Perdition, was real, that his apprentice (why did dark wizards always have so many damn apprentices!) was still all of the able-bodied men of the village, having mined the secrets of ancient magic for months.  Though Giles did not know the real truth of the matter, the threat of Old World evil washing over the border in hordes was not comforting.  It was why he had cracked the journal back open again during the wee hours of his watch, attempting to glean some gem of knowledge that would invalidate the whole thing, to prove that the threat was a hoax, that it had been a waste of the Necromancer's and his apprentice's time.  He had not found it.

Giles sighs heavily.  He would have to petition Captain Brashear for another raid.

At least this time, Giles promised himself that he would be prepared.  He pressed his eyes back towards the pages, attempting to learn as much as was possible.

Of the elves themselves, the keepers we found nothing, though their ancient magics had lasted even to this day.  We found the remains of an adult dragon in the valley and I had my men carry back all they found.  We found the tiles too in the first few days, the bull and the tiger, and I have split my time here between raising the dragon to lead my undead armies and casting upon the tiles to divine their purpose.

The following pages hold all I know of Perdition.  What I have uncovered through my own magics and what I have discovered through research.  I have been lucky to find an original tome and have spent many hours translating what I can with my own limited understanding of the language.  I can only hope that when we at last break open the cells and when my dragon has been reborn to serve me that it will be enough to wipe the scourge of Megalos from existence.

This message was last updated by the GM at 20:37, Mon 08 Oct 2018.

After the Great Bane, the mountain forests around Perdition thinned by disease and tree-cutting by the droves of men that now came in waves to Yrth.  The Keepers were eventually cut entirely from their brothers to the West and East and their fall from grace was slow but unstoppable.  Though they had protected their charge for generations, the Keepers became decadent in their ways, selling off empty cells to the highest bidder and purging the filled cells of their contents to those sorcerers or Church Priests nefarious enough to desire their contents.

Judoc looked up from the text at the sound of raised voices from the room adjacent.  He had now reread the same two sentences several times and he still felt that there was something significant he was missing in translation.  Giles had pointed out the text in the Necromancer's journal several days previous, pointing out that if these Keepers had been selling the contents of the cells than perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all.  Judoc was unconvinced on this point for other entries in the journal mentioned that the apprentice had been there for months, attempting to exploit and open the cells at Perdition.  Instead, it was the two words, Church Priests that gave him pause.  The reference was decidedly Christian... and the capitalization made Judoc think there was a reference he was missing.  If only he could read the original text... but the slanted, foreign writing, copied painstakingly by the necromancer remained resolutely indecipherable on the opposite page.  Judoc sighed, he doubted that the answer even mattered but never the less he couldn't get the question to clear from his mind.

"Are you even listening!?  Giles's voice reverberates through the walls though the silence that follows is even more telling.  Giles had been trying to convince Captain Brashear for weeks of the importance of sending out another party to squash the new threat.  Though Brashear had been over the moon when the party returned, Necromancer's head in hand, Giles's near incessant badgering with requests and suggestions had begun to wear through his patience and eat into his good will.  Giles had insisted first on increased relations across the border, trade with Tabuk and the Wizard's own village, the building of a bridge to span the Makarem to facilitate commerce and diplomacy, a christian mission, an engineering corps to assist with road construction and water retention, not to mention the full military assault of any hostiles left at Perdition.

Though Brashear's answers had started first with the obvious fact that he didn't have any authority to deliver on any of those requests it seemed to do little to curb Giles's incessant requests.  More recently Brashear had taken to shutting down the conversation as soon as it started with sharp reminders that Giles's place was to watch over his Platoon and not to fuss over border relations.

As Judoc expected, the audible fuzzy tones of Giles's agitated voice pick up again for a short moment, before the conversation goes entirely quiet, yielding to the sounds of footsteps approaching the door to the group's small room.

"Insane!"  Giles spits the moment the door is shut behind him.  "I grow ever fatigued of this accursed institution and its refusal to see what is clearly in front of its face!"  He walks a few feet into the room, sinking onto a wood stool that is one of the meager furnishings present.

"Oh it's not all that bad."  Terri chirps in a placating voice as she thumbs the string of her new compound bow, testing the weight of the pull.  "Really we've known for weeks that the Captain wouldn't send a unit with us right?  I mean, look at all the trouble that they went through on the last mission and even then they weren't allowed to send troops.  We'll just have to go and do it ourselves again."

Giles glares back at Terri with resentment, his jaw set forward and his words slightly dulled by clenched teeth.  "Captain has said the final word has come back from Raphael that there will be no military expedition on Wazifi lands again... that there isn't
any room for interpretation and that no military assets shall be used in any such undertaking!"

Terri glances back, her brows arched in concern, though her tone stays level and conciliating.  "But we'll just have to go do it ourselves then right?  You can lead us and we'll find Perdition, just long enough to make sure that the apprentice has been apprehended and that whatever evils it is keeping remain safely locked up."

Giles closes his eyes and squares his jaw, letting the quiet sit for several moments before before he answers.  "That's just what I'm saying."  He opens his eyes, glaring slightly at Terri as if the whole mess is her fault.  "No Army assets are to used in the expedition...  No tools, no weapons, no horses, no soldiers.  I have been told in no uncertain terms that if I leave my post here than I will be tried for desertion."  Giles flinches his head toward Finn, who seemed of late to be making most of the decisions overall for the group.  "Captain rightly admits that he doesn't have any power over any of you, says he'd be right happy if you investigate further and that you are welcome here whenever you pass by but I can't so much as step out the gate with you to wave goodbye."

OOC:  I'm keeping the thread closed for now, these cut scenes are an effort to fill in some of the back story between the actual first post in the thread and the months that have passed since assaulting the necromancer's tower.  No need to respond to these posts when the real first post of the thread is actually filled in.  If you have questions though about anything that happened, feel free to ask in OOC or private.

Finn puts his hand to his head, massaging his temples with his stretched thumb and middle finger as his head churned through all the details the group had missed in their last trip by al-Hassan, the small village at the base of the Necromancer's tower.  It was all Giles's fault, of course.  The Lieutenant had so specifically directed their actions during the assault of the tower, entering and exiting under the cover of darkness, tactics that were specifically designed to minimize the chance of their interaction with the locals, that there had been almost no chance that the small company would talk to the population and learn the important facts that might have guided their mission on an entirely different and a more well informed path.  Of course, now that Finn had taken the reigns of leadership (Giles, having quibbled about his military duties had refused to come) it was inevitable that they had been set upon the right path.  Some would call it luck, stumbling upon the woman they had encountered some two months ago, the one who had talked to Giles at the doorways to the kitchens in the Necromancer's tower.  Finn knew better.  Was it luck also that she had recognized Finn?  Was it luck that he now spoke enough of Arabic to actually understand most of what she was saying?  Was it luck that their previous mission had been so etched upon the permanent history of the village that the woman had invited, nay, demanded that the company come to the village with her to reap the thanks and rewards of their hard work?  No - it was serendipity, Finn had simply been chosen for greatness.  Who was he to deprive the village of the opportunity to show their thanks?

After three full days of travel, the company was a little more worn than Finn remembered from their last trip just a few months ago despite the fact that this time was taking much longer.  Certainly, the cart had been a help on the last trip and each person had been less personally weighed down (Gustav's mule in particular kept a plodding pace at the rear of the company) and the trip across the Makarem had been just slightly more harrowing (with Magnus pulled underwater for a moment by his flailing mule before righting himself and coaxing the beast to shore) but on top of that, the refreshing afternoon cool of March had now been replaced by hot and dry afternoon sun that forced frequent breaks for water and rest.  In truth, the company had ended up much closer to the town than Finn had intended.

Therefore, the walk to the small meeting house had been a mere twenty minute stroll passing between wheat and corn fields tended by scores of black-robed women off in the distance before the dirt became hard-packed and the clay roofs started to climb out from behind the tops of the wheat on the back of the small hill below the tower.  Upon reaching their destination, Finn directed the horses be watered and set out to graze while the party went in to talk with one of the elders.  She sat on a high clay stool with two attendants at either side, both women.  All three were wearing the traditional black flowing robes of Muslim women.  All the while Finn could only help thinking where are all the men?.

"You save our people."  The conversation had begun simply enough and Finn was happy to smile and say 'you're welcome' though the elder simply shook her head and repeated forcefully, "You save our people."  It was a command, not an expression of gratitude.

What followed was a conversation of some hour and a half that flitted between Anglish and Arabic, Judoc and Finn at times translating for the others the details that the woman could not convey in the tongue of Megalos.  The group learned at first of the Necromancer, Haj Umr, the stern and militant lord who had expected much but had always protected his village first and foremost.  Then some years ago, the change had come.  The magician who had once been calm with his own people became compulsive and agitated.  Sadda, the blackbird showed up from nowhere, a hideous beast, and those workers who still cooked and cleaned the spaces of the towers began to tell stories of Haj Umr in a slow decent to madness.  The first mention of Perdition coincided with a months long stretch where Haj Umr would disappear for weeks or longer, then reappear in a fit of complete frustration.  Yet, over the winter, the Necromancer had appeared in the village after one of his extended disappearances, telling the elders to gather all the able men, all were needed, any that could so much as swing a sword.  And so the whole male population of al-Hassan was cast off towards the mountains, including the wizard's own apprentice.  The Necromancer initially went with the group, though he reappeared in his tower some days later.

"You save our people."  The elder finishes with a firm nod and it becomes clear to Finn now what is being asked.  To send back the men of al-Hassan... though it is hard to imagine those fighters for the Necromancer will greet them at the first as liberators...

OOC:  It is 1100 on the 11th of May.  Rondald and Gustav have both healed completely from their crippling wounds thanks in part to the ministrations of Judoc's advanced healing magic.  Giles has been unable to come with the group due to his duties at the fort.  Odelia also is absent, having ducked away and disappeared on the resupply trip to Raphael.  In her place, Bjorn, a Nomad from north of the Whitehood Mountains joined the group after hearing talk of treasure and glorious battle.  Karina is neither explicitly here nor not here, as I haven't heard from the player in a few weeks and the character details are still to be ironed out.  Everyone else is present.  Finn is opposing the elder as the spokesman of the group, though the woman understands enough Anglish for anyone to ask questions.  I've tried to speed through things enough to get the pertinent details without writing a novella on all the trivial background details.  Now is your chance to ask in character questions, though keep in mind none of the women have actually been to Perdition.  OOC questions are fine too if they don't fit the IC setting, though I may not have answers for all of them.  Finn, roll vs. Reaction or any appropriate social skill, overall Neutral (+4 for killing the Necromancer, -2 for Magnus, -2 for being being foreign) though Fast Talk etc. is at -1 for your accented Arabic.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:36, Sat 10 Nov 2018.

Rondald listens to the conversation with interest. He was not particularly religious, though as a seafarer he was always careful not to anger the gods, whoever they may be. His dark complexion could have him mistaken for a local, until he opened his mouth, so he avoided doing that.

The last month had seen him training with weapons in the keep, both with his wife and with the soldier there. Their purchase of two mules to replace the cart was sure to present Terri with some challenges, though she was usually quite good with animals, and this would no doubt improve with these two. They opted for mules due to the smaller stature and less temperamental nature of the animals


[OOC: I notice a few folk have stirrups and Bit and Bridle on small mules; do you intend on riding them? Else a halter is a better option. Gustav, I don't think you can have a bit and bridle with a halter, either.]

It was only the magical arts of his companions that had saved Magnus from an agonizing recovery, or what very likely would have been an injury that would have haunted him for the rest of his days. The smallisj off-white scar on his chest looked almost benign...but the wound had been deep and very nearly fatal.

It was also a terrible irony that after being paid an almost unthinkable sum...Magnus found himself almost unable to spend it. His dream of buying a wagon to live in was somewhat stymied by the logistics involved and the realities of the road. He could not exactly put it into anything like property or a business, and so after weeks of soul searching he spent the vast majority of it on a commission from a reputable armor-smith. Fearing the laws of Megalos he would not even entertain keeping the armor he had hauled home from the east, and he purchased an axe that had supposedly belonged to some northern jarl or chieftan, one of the few weapons he was (more or less) allowed to possess.

He had changed so much in the short time they had known each other, the shared experience giving him a more mature demeanor, and at the same time giving him an edge he had not possessed when they had all first met. But despite their harrowing adventure, at the end of the day he was still the big furry lug they had fought alongside.

When the rumor had started that Finn has looking at setting up another "job", Magnus had lingered even as the days turned into weeks. Steady fare and the rigors of the road had caused him to put on weight and muscle, something he seemed quietly proud of.

Now he had mostly spent his days training, waiting and discreetly keeping an ear out for rumors of work in the case that Finn's plan fell through. It was only when they were standing in the small meeting house trying to glean meaning from the discussion that he realized that they were likely on the verge of another expedition.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:17, Sun 11 Nov 2018.

The ludicrousness of the situation galls Judoc. First, the Templars are contacted to assist the Megalan army in destroying a necromancer, and Finn and Judoc are sent to guarantee the mission's success. Then the army decides they don't want any military action and instead sends in a team the military can disavow should everything go sidewise. And now that an even greater menace exists in the form of vast ruins filled with all manner of unspeakable evil and an apprentice who no doubt wishes to tear down Megalos with whatever weapons he can uncover, the army decides that absolutely none of their assets can be deployed to combat this new, more dangerous threat against Megalos. The whole misadventure is a farce. Too, Judoc misses his old schoolmate. His current companions are more than a match for whatever ragtag group remains of the dead necromancer's minions, but Giles is a dependable, versatile kind of guy, and Judoc feels Giles' absence deeply.

Standing beside Finn, arms crossed, the student mage listens to the village woman's plea to save their menfolk. Unbelievable, to leave the entire town under the leadership of women! Judoc tries his best not to let his disdain spill out, but the arrangement is ridiculous. How in God's name could a group of women protect a village and make any kind of reasonable decisions to protect it? It's a wonder they haven't all starved already.

And just how on Yrth are they supposed to bring back a group of the dead necromancer's henchmen? Typical women. They clearly have not thought through the impracticality of their request. But he has to admit that saving the village's citizens will indebt them to Megalos. It's always good to make friends, especially in places where few allies are to be found.

"They will try kill us," he says in accented Arabic. He shifts uncomfortably. He needs some kind of cream or ointment, but where is he going to get something like that out here? "We kill the wizard with them easy. Then they follow us? You give us something show your men, tell them we save them?"

OOC: Judoc is asking for some kind of sign or symbol that they can show the village men that they've come to free them from their servitude, something they can display that shows the women from the village trust them and have asked them to help.

   It was difficult not to notice the broad-shouldered Northman when the group had met the man in their travels. He was tall - taller than most Megalosians and rose to the height of the Minotaur when he stood at his full height. He was also thick in the chest covered in a mottled chain shirt. Dark stains showed on his left shoulder and his ride side of the armour and the links had been repaired in those places, showing a lighter and newer set of rings. The rest of the man's armour was covered in a darkly tanned leather from head to toe. As might be expected of a Northman, his hair was a dark blonde in colour and stringy, either covered in a leather cap or tied back with a leather strap. His beard was the same colour as his hair and ranged down to cover both his neck and throat. The only concession to fashion with it had been to gather it up and tie it off with a smaller piece of leather. The other notable thing about the man outside of his size was his eyes. They were not just blue but an icy blue that would stare through a man.

   He was Bjorn Bjarnason Hundahaf - one of the few men of the North that had made the journey south from the Clans and into Megalos. How he had managed to make it as far south was anyone's guess, but if the stories told about his people were true, then Hundahaf was likely here for two things - fortune and glory.

   The man's weapons were simple - two axes adorned his belt, one of them slightly thinner than the other, possibly balanced enough to be thrown. He carried a shield readied on his right arm, as opposed to his left, the wooden surface painted black and a stylized red wolf painted against the dark background. On his back was a pack as wide as his shoulders, a burden that caused him to grunt periodically as he walked. He carried the burden by himself as best he could, without complaint and whistling a tune here and there to pass the time. He kept the pack close to himself, using it as a rest for his head when the time came to sleep.

   Hundahaf had been cordial when he'd met the group, sharing his name and met every smile with one of his own when greeted. He only spoke in stilted sentences when he spoke the Imperial Tongue and remained silent when others spoke in other languages. He occasionally frowned at the covered forms of the women, and occasionally shrugged to himself. It was not his own culture ...

   He watched as the others spoke to the townsfolk, and amongst themselves. He said nothing, but for the moment simply watched the dynamic as the other men spoke.

The addition of Bjorn to their company before leaving "Fort Three Corners" had been an unexpected and complex affair for Magnus.

For him the northern lands had always existed in stories, the language one of hearth and home...not necessarily someplace else, and he found himself suddenly, perhaps inexplicably self conscious around the new addition.

The first was obvious, he was untried and untested. He had shed blood and stood shoulder to shoulder with the others, shared campfires and meals, laughed and bled. They had smelled each other day in and day out, had tended to each others wounds. For all their quirks and flaws, Magnus could not help but care for them at this point...they had simply been through so much together.

But Bjorn...Bjorn also represented both a part of what made Magnus who he was, and a part of why his family had fled to the south. While the two were armed and armored almost identically, and likely shared a common tongue, the Minotaur seemed content to keep his distance for the interim, falling back on old habits.

He stood, for the moment, on the other side of the gathering with his arms crossed.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:41, Sun 11 Nov 2018.

Time has been kind to the young mercenary from the mean streets of Azer.  Weeks ago he has completed his third of three successful missions for the Murderers Row, surely his star within that secret organization is on the rise, but far more important is the treasure he and his comrades have justly earned.  Since Razzel came to understand his gift for magic he has greedily sought out teachers and recipe books.  Given the rarity of the latter looting the necromancers library was akin to killing a two headed giant and inheriting its gold.  Like a man in love Finn has been upbeat, silly and giddy as he threw himself into learning new incantations and the formerly unknown tongue of the Arab lands, mostly so he could help in translating other of the looted works.   But the world moves on and so it did for Finn and his companions.  He had initially been reluctant to lead but after putting it on like a new pair of clothes Finn found that it fit him nicely.

As it became clearer that they would embark on the next quest to thwart evil  with the loss of Giles and Odelia Razzel felt that new blood would be essential to success so he began recruiting.  For over a week Finn interviewed several candidates.  Sergeant Barnes, retired from an illustrious military career now turned mercenary seemed like a perfect fit but after the discussions drifted long into the night the young leader learned of Barnes's love for drink.  The love drunk Sergeant was on his 'honeymoon' as it were and couldn't be trusted to stay sober on the job.  Next.  A goblin with a wicked talent swinging a battleaxe going by the moniker of Master Torg looked promising until he declared his skills so good that he deserved three shares.  Can you believe the audacity to be so full of one's own skill and willing to tear the very fabric of the group by demanding a higher share?  Next.  A pleasant fellow Bjorn, a brawny brutish wild man from the north seemed rough around the edges but with nicknames such as Bjorn the Swift and Bjorn Eagle Eye he was happily added to the roster.   Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, time expired before Finn had the chance to speak at length with the likes of Swanson the Greasy, Roakus the Gambler, Gorok the Loud and Canara the Dandy.

At the village Finn is tickled to meet with the women and discover their wishes.  This sits fine with Razzel who understands the salvation of imprisoned loved ones expectedly results in fat rewards.  The young leader is smiling, a devilish grin for he is happy.  Joyous that Judoc thought to avoid trouble by identifying them as allies, gleeful to be working again but there is something else.  For those perceptive enough to notice Finn is staring and smiling a little too much at one of the leaders attendants.   Finn turns his attention back to the village elder.  ”What can you tell us of Perdition?  Have you heard any rumors of the evils jailed there?”


OOC:
I took a little liberty with the story boss, I hope I didn't over step.

Finn has spent a lot of time to himself since the last mission due to all kinds of training  but he would let everyone know he's not being anti social.

Finn agrees with Judoc that some kind of sign would be most helpful in convincing the men that we have come on the behalf of their women, to save them.  To that end the most info they can provide us would be appreciated.  Numbers, names and descriptions of the missing men as well as what Judoc asked for.   Is there anyone who escaped from Perdition?

This message was last edited by the player at 01:58, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Gustav was very concerned that he hadn’t held up his end of the deal, having spent much of the fight out of it, physically and mentally as well for part of it. He needed to prove himself a useful member of the group in his mind. He wanted better armor so that some single blow didn’t fell him again He wanted to not be a burden on others, so he tried to pack his mule heavily, perhaps too heavily, perhaps not, but the load would lighten quickly and he’d be able to carry full water jugs then.
He respected Magnus for his immense strength and rock like stance through thick and thin. Rondald too was a strong fighter. Judoc obviously was a powerful mage who had healed and Finn was a sort of jack of all trades it seemed … perhaps a good thing for being the leader, as he didn’t just use one path to solve problems.
This situation with the army confused him, he thought they were now soldiers of Megalos, but no soldiers were to be sent south, but they were being encouraged to go back. That sounded pretty disingenuous to Gustav. He wondered what their status was in reality.
The new fellow who had joined was from an unfamiliar land, apparently close to where Magnus came from, although they didn’t seem particularly warm toward each other.  Certainly a big strapping fellow, but he’d want to see more before making any final judgement.
Gustav hoped he had thought of everything, although he doubted he had, as one could never be sure exactly what was needed. He’d just have to do the best he could with what he had brought and what he could find.

The elder, Azraa, glances at Judoc as he makes his first dire comment, holding his gaze for a moment before shaking her head and responding to him in the same tongue.  "[Language unknown:  Hi was ing enss pa tr a.  Conreshat sheer pr e en for ce somstaing weill eranotstr n Whe Lesri, t ng ch acnc ort res.  Und wh ouroreday thame ndenteeen o rutbe latprothe.  O onshistioall iewa winoel iosalehifi tr wi, whli wer u eve e ar riwite earromany but tic.  Entpremen m redomewhe ce caof, p are teive al wit preectare.]"

Looking back at Finn, the woman continues in Anglish.  "Here."  She reaches within the neck of her hijab, pulling out a necklace of woven copper with a leather strap.  "This was a gift from my husband.  Now dead.  It means unity, community.  Some will know it was mine, though all should understand its meaning."

Finn goes on to ask about Perdition, though Azraa simply shakes her head no.  "The men who returned home from the place said little and left again soon.  The stories they did tell were of the trip there, of a harsh climb and of animals mutated beyond recognition."  Azraa shakes her head.  "I could not believe half of what they spoke of, of man-eating plants.  Of warrior ants the size of cats that could swarm and kill a man within seconds.  I do not know if they made it within the temple, though they spoke of an enormous structure, crumbling with age.  I do not know if what Haj Umr believed was true, of the evils imprisoned from the old world.  If it is I can only pray for the men that will be used to open those vaults who will be first exposed to its horrors."

OOC:  No worries about overstepping Finn, I have the same worries sometimes about taking liberties with your character actions.  Judoc and Finn should be able to read the above Arabic while no one else should.  Let me know if either of you two aren't seeing the text.

Neclace Symbol
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:13, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Finn listens to the woman speak in her native tongue.  The young mans reaction is interested, calm and calculating.  When she wraps up he takes his turn.  Razzel has not mastered this foreign tongue but he has enough of the basic vocabulary and pronunciation that his Megalosian accent is what is most notable now.   [Language unknown: &#elLesainman ter ol pa.  Eeiona ivllul loica whta she.  Niivet lo evli tente a inome hi haerof Nila Tioearhis reecus ntiiousanbut venprerat Sonstiers.  E condayent out tic, stwe rout ithfo to no osmasa.&#ect]  Finn nods politely.

The elder Azraa hands over a necklace and the young leader takes it eagerly while flashing a bright smile.  ”Primo Chief.  This'll go a long way to showing the men we're on their side.”, Finn says with a wink as he pockets the pendant.

Next the village elder segues to speaking candidly about what horrors infest the ruins called Perdition.  Finn becomes mesmerised, entranced as he drinks in all that she has to say.  When she concludes Finn wastes no time in asking about the rumors she's heard.


OOC:
I don't think you've ever over stepped boundaries with my character boss.  Slight deviation is fine in the name of story telling.  As long as you don't run me into any permanent action, such as loosing money, gaining an enemy, loosing appendages, etc, feel free to adlib a bit. (I know you wouldnt do any of the above)

Put the unity necklace in a belt pouch.

Finn will ask the trio, the leader and her two attendants about every story they heard about the odd kind of life encountered at Perdition.  Giant insects, living man-eating plants, he wants to hear about anything and everything.  Finn wants to be prepared as much as possible.  Both mentally and physically.  We don't need to play it out for my sake.  One thought Finn has is that a swarm of even 20 giant ants could be disastrous for us.  Splashing a swarm with oil and lighting them on fire could do a lot to weaken them.  Does the village have any oil they'd be willing to spare?

"Good idea. Can we get something to show other patrols along the way we have a right to be here as well, and armed?"

The thought occurred to him that his pirate hunters license might not be recognized here...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:26, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Rondald's question is met with a look of mild confusion and annoyance from Azraa as she leans forward, still addressing Finn.  "What right?  You kill Haj Umr, and for that we thank you.  The right is that which you take.  Use it to free our men, send them home, then you have right to be here at all."  Azraa settles back in her chair, the small spurt of anger played out for the moment.  "It matter little anyway, the temple lies in the mountains, there are no villages, no patrols.  Only nests of gryphon and slorn.  Show them what you wish it matters nothing."

At Finn's word of thanks, Azraa nods simply.  He addresses his questions to the three of them in Arabic, though again it is Azraa who answers.  [Language unknown: "Ei ic whou roman, leprul noeve fi heutro, ounmenave ol ul ol!"]  Each word is punctuated like a knife thrust and it taker her a moment before she reverts back to Anglish for the whole group.  "None of them thought we, or any others, were to follow.  Many details were kept from us, thinking to keep us from fear.  The stories we hear were general.  Ants as high as a man's knee, plants that devoured a man whole...  It was not their words, but their fear that we listened to.  They say everything was big - animals, insects... then they leave, they do not return."

Chewing on the meaning and the delivery of those words, Finn glances around the room, noticing a slight frown on the attendant to the left as her eyes are diverted to the side of the room.

OOC:  Finn, roll vs. IQ-4.  Everyone else has the option to roll vs. IQ-4 as well, please PM me if any of the rolls succeed (or critically fail)

In reply to Raddek (msg # 15):

Rondald found some comfort in the news that they were not expected to encounter any humans. Last thing he wanted was to be responsible for a war against those he was trying to help, even if such help was for selfish reasons. Not noticing anything else, he waits for the others to move before preparing to leave.


When the meeting is over, he will suggest Terri buy a local covering to fit in with the local women, at least eternally.

Finn, speak to their leader, you insult her when you seek to speak with her subordinates. She is becoming very agitated. And only you should be speaking with her.

Gustav doesn't like having to butt in, but it is clear Finn is about to cause more harm than good. Judoc too must be careful, we would certainly have enough enemies without more behind us.

Cocking an eyebrow, Judoc glances over at Gustav. He grunts at the censure. Crossing his arms, Judoc turns back and looks at Finn, and then at the village elder. It figures. This is what happens when women are left in charge -- they take slights at every little thing that goes against their rigid, labyrinthine systems of rules.

For now, Judoc holds his peace, attempting to fight down the annoyance beginning to build inside him. Sure, sure, they'll kill the apprentice, get their menfolk back, and prevent whatever evil lies within Perdition from spilling out into the civilized world. Dog-sized ants and man-eating plants? They'll burn like anything else.

Finn nods in acknowledgment to the swordsman.  ”Its ok Gustav.”

For a brief moment Razzel scours the insides of his mind for relevant questions but finds he has scraped the bottom of the proverbial barrel.  ”Well then ladies.  'Less you got any questions or requests for us, I think we've bent your ears plenty.”


OOC:
I'm done with this scene unless the NPCs have anything special they want.

   Bjorn watched the others speaking, part of it in the Imperial tongue, while other parts were strange and almost alien to his ears. It hadn't been all that long ago that Megalosian itself was little more than jibberish to him, and he simply kept walking about slowly after resting his back against one of the walls and growling at anyone who came close enough to be curious. The smells of the place were also unfamiliar, spices he'd never encountered, and food that was as different to his taste buds as their speech was to his ears.

   He waited, seeming more patient than he felt, as he sat and tossed one of his axes at the ground. This was the smaller one and showed that it was indeed balanced for throwing. He tossed it into the dirt where it was amenable - he wasn't foolish enough to break the weapon casting it against stone - for a while as he watched the others.

   He'd noted the Horned One first - there had been tales from the Skalds that spoke about such Beast-Men, most of them being more beast than anything else. Bjorn kept his distance from him and kept a watch on him, in case the former took control and made things deadlier. The Fisherman - at least that was the hint of what he smelled on the man when he'd come close once - appeared straightforward enough when he spoke. It was a quality that he shared with the man and he'd nodded in agreement with him on this or that occasion when their intentions seemed to align. He also noted that the woman who travelled with them kept close to the Seafarer's side. She had chosen him, and that was fine with Bjorn.

   The other men were still a bit of a mystery to the thickly muscled Northman. The blond, named Gustaf, seemed down to earth and spoke as plainly as any man. He sounded at times much like an Elder or spoke in tones that might have shown him a bit wiser than his years, and his correction of the other man, the dark-bearded Hunter, only more firmly held the belief to him that the man was either an Elder or something close to a leader.

   The last one gave cause for Bjorn to grunt and shake his head. He was confident, overly so to the point of arrogance, and appeared to have a personality of a young wolf who was more about proving himself than anything else. He also noted the manner in which he regarded the womenfolk of the small village. He'd grunted and chuckled when he considered how the members of his Clan might note the man's looking down his nose at a woman. He was at least smart enough to only look and say nothing - if he ever voiced his opinion, Bjorn had never heard it - Praise the Allfather. He would be one to watch ... there was something about him that seemed off. He couldn't put a finger on it as yet, but he'd keep an eye out like a raven.

   He rose when the Hunter was finished and began to shoulder the heavy pack with a grunt. "Where," he asked in his deep but lilted Viking tones, "Where are we headed?"

---

OOC: Just waiting on a direction.

OOC: Good to move forward

Gustav Nodded at the Village leaders, not his place to speak and gathered his gear...

They'd only used a few days food, weight was still a serious factor, so he was careful not to fill the casks all the way, but to a bit over 3/4s full (Figure 16 Gallons out of 20)

I am ready

With a rather odd outburst from Gustav, Finn finds himself quickly agreeing that the conversation is not progressing and the risk is not worth the potential reward of information already denied.  Rather than tempt things to declining farther, Finn bids his goodbyes - finding that Azraa's demeanor softens quickly on the words as she nods her farewells, the crease of an appreciative smile touching her lips.  Though Finn pauses overlong at the doorway as he rounds up his horse, there is no opportunity to converse with the others discreetly and soon he has no more excuses to linger.

Finn and the others round up their animals and press forward, making their way farther south towards the mountain in the direction that Azraa had said the other party had gone, generally following the small stream that trickles down from higher ground.  Judoc sends off Aiah to scout the way ahead, knowing that with the dire warnings from the townspeople it is impossible to be too careful.

After only a few more hours of brisk walk the terrain has shifted from rolling, rocky hills to an upward slog, the small stream making its way down in rivulets through rock faces and over small waterfalls.  Though the horses and mules seem to make their way well enough, the going is slow and the path must be carefully chosen.  The path of the hundred men of al-Hassan seems to have long disappeared, though at times Terri will point to a shrub or stone to point out evidence of their march.  The day is warm, and though the sun is mostly blocked by a curtain of clouds above the high mountains above, it is just hot enough so that the exertion of a hike brings an uncomfortable perspiration which only desists after packs have been shed for a break of several minutes.

And so midday approaches and passes, the sun crests and begins it slow fall towards the horizon.  It is as the terrain finally levels out slightly in a plateau, revealing ahead a thin forest ahead of sharp angled brown and green that Aiah finally returns, alighting upon Judoc's shoulder.


Ahead, the river climbs on, weaving to the right of the copse of trees, to the left the growth runs on into the edge of the mountains...


OOC:  It is 1400 on the 11th of May.  Above is a look (though it's a closer view than you have) of the trees ahead.  Both the bark and 'leaves' are disfigured into sharp, jagged thorns.  There are essentially four 'paths' you can take.  You can either go left of the forest along the mountain ridge, straight through the forest, right of the forest along the stream, or cross the stream and go along the other side (which ahead looks to rise into mountains as well as if you were climbing up a draw).  Let me know which path you want to take onward, or if you would rather do more scouting.

"Trying to slip in that attendant's bed sheets, Finn?" Judoc says, a smile playing at his lips. "Work before pleasure, my friend." The meeting with the women had gone about as well as Judoc thought it would. Of course the females had had little in the way of real information to offer them, but what they had given them almost assured their chances of success -- a warning of the dangers to come, and an assurance that the men of the village were captives, not willing combatants. The menfolk would be overjoyed upon their rescue, and the necklace Azraa had given them would ensure that the small band of adventurers were their saviors.

Now, the group pauses on the edge of a small forest. Judoc watches as Aiah gracefully glides down to land on his shoulder. He listens through the telepathic link the two share. "Aiah says she doesn't see any people," Judoc relays to the group. "And she's located the temple, a few days' journey up the river. She says the cliffs are too high on either side to go that way, though. The way ahead lies past the forest."

He shades his eyes and looks ahead at the greenery. "What do you think man-eating plants look like?" the young wizard muses. "Something like the trees in that forest? Thorniest foliage I've ever seen -- even the thorns have thorns. Let's go around the trees along the stream's edge."

In reply to Judoc the Merciful (msg # 24):

"Yes indeed, though coming back I can't help but think we will want a raft. Not such a good option going up though. But fresh water is always important, and Terri can catch fish in the river. Maybe Big Fish..."

His friend and fellow wizard quips, "Trying to slip in that attendant's bed sheets, Finn?"  Razzel smiles longingly as he casts a wistful glance back in the direction of the beautiful attendant.  His voice tells in a sing song kind of way his regret of missed opportunities.  ”Ya.   You see her eyes?  They're...they're...magical.  And that shiny black hair.   Ooooo-weeee, lookin' at her is like fallin' off the apple cart.  Makes my head spin and my belly feel funny.  I might have ta pay her a visit on the return trip.  Finn winks.

The group begins their trek as planned and thanks to the scouting of Judoc's bird Aiah has recommended a favorable trail, the one that Finn would have chosen anyway based on his superior survival instincts.  ”I like it.  Follow the stream.”


OOC:
Follow along the stream at a normal pace.  If Judoc is willing, continue to have Aiah scout ahead via the air with the intent to avoid ambush by giant creepy crawlys.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 19:41, Wed 14 Nov 2018.

Given the stream they are following, Gustav drains both casks down to about 3 gallons apiece to ease the load on the Mule.

Thinking to avoid extra work for his mule, Gustav near empties his water barrel, spilling the contents back into the stream before replacing the near empty barrels back in their place.  His mule seems highly appreciative of the lighter burden as the party sets off again this time following the lazy curvature of the stream as it winds its way up towards the mountains.

As the afternoon wears on, the stream runs on into a thin lake which flattens out with the terrain, spreading on several dozen yards across in a muddy, silty murk.  The treeline grows ever closer as the group plods on and though Finn glances with increasing concern at the vegetation encroaching upon his left, he discerns no movement, he has no cause to think the trees would swallow them alive apart from the dire warning from Azraa...  Luckily for him, the edges of the lake seemed to have ebbed with the beginning of summer, and the shallow slope of the dry banks provides several extra feet of avoidance from the potential menace.

It is perhaps only two hours on though that the plan of following the banks of the lake begin to fail.  The waterline begins arcing rapidly to the right, while the mountains climb high ahead.  To the left, the line of the forest seems to melt right into the mountain face, affording not even the smallest of paths that would avoid both entering the thicket and scaling the cliffs.  To the right, the lake edge meets with the steep slope.  Some hundred or so yards up and on near the rockiest parts of the cliff, a thin waterfall splashes playfully down in white spray, rejoining the face of the mountain to splash onto the rocks of the lake below.  It seems Aiah was not exaggerating, there seems to be no realistic way to follow the river onward...

At the thought of the bird, Aiah lands again on Judoc's shoulder, an abnormally large rat clamped between her jaws.  She turns her head towards the mage, the rodent still twitching in death throws just inches from his face, as if displaying her kill for her master. 

OOC:  It is 1600 on the 11th of May.  There is perhaps another hour or hour and a half of daylight left.  I had intended to do this on the last post, but forgot, so please roll now for fatigue for the climb.  HT-4, or Hiking-3.  Fit adds +2 to the modifier, or Very Fit adds +4.  If you fail, you take one fatigue from your exertions.  The water from the lake is filled with sediment, making it seem less than desirable for drinking, though undoubtedly the water from the falls is clean if you wish to traverse the rocky southwest bank to get there.  Let me know your plans.

In reply to Raddek (msg # 28):

Rondald is tired from the climb, though not excessively. This particular part of the river seemed quite good for the mules to gather some food, so he suggested that they set up camp here, and if anyone wanted water, they could use the rest of Gustav's, before filling Gustav's from the lake and allowing it to settle through the night while they used Rondald's and Terri's. That would give Terri a chance to catch some fish. If people really wanted to, they could transverse the rocky back for some clear water at the waterfall, but by leaving the rest of their gear at the camp, such a trip would be less perilous.

Regardless, this seemed like a good place to camp for the night unless someone had other ideas. His axe is ready to increase the size of the campsite.

Magnus trudged along, leading his mule with his typical plodding stride. The injury to the wall of his left hoof has seemed to take forever to heal, and if one watched carefully he still favored the right one even if just barely. The keratin was clearly marred by the wound, a sort of cloudy colored vertical depression that joined the growing collection of injuries from the groups exploits.

With his shield slung over his back and his axe at his belt, he led his mule by the halter seemingly oblivious to the irony of one furry hoofed creature leading another. As they went, he tried to dissuade Finn, in a friendly sort of way from pursuing the foreign women. From the sound of things he had been threatened before for merely looking at the wrong girl, so he seemed wary about the whole thing.

With his new armor getting worn in, and his body still recovering from their idleness and injury, the road seems to take its toll on Magnus and he is left looking a little weary by the time they reach the waterfall.

He smiled up at the little waterfall when they arrived, delighting in the sound and shimmering droplets, and looked to Finn. "Hey Finn, What do you think about setting up camp.?"

   Bjorn's travels, burdened by the heavy pack he carried over both shoulders, weighed him down considerably. The sound of its contents faintly could be heard to move inside, and the rustle of his shield as it clattered against the back of the pack was one of the few sounds that could be heard. He'd also removed his leather helm after he'd begun to swelter - the warmth of the air on the trip was proving to be far more than he was used to in the Northern Mountains.

   He kept his facial features calm despite the pains that began to be felt in both his feet and legs - this had been the longest journey that he had undertaken since his arrival in Megalos. Several times, he found himself wiping sweat from his brow and shifting the weight of the pack as he moved, trying to make himself as comfortable as he could. But even this step proved of little adequacy to the hulking Vestenmannavnjar.

   When they reached the proposed camp, Bjorn looked to the dark waters and grunted while he used his arm to wipe away another gathering of sweat from his brow. His blue eyes looked up from the water to where the waterfall was and he quickly gauged the distance and began the trek, following the Horned One. The water looked sweet - drinkable and suitable for refreshment - which was just fine for the Northman. He began to start walking toward the waterfall ...

With the village disappearing behind them with each step Finn passes the time with casual conversation.  After all, they've got days to kill before they reach the ancient prison of evil and chatting about almost anything makes the passage of time feel faster.  Finn sidles up to the two men who he feels most associated with, Judoc and Magnus.  The big shaggy beast talks of the reasons to be cautious in spending too much time with the women of the village but he just doesn't see what Finn sees.  Their dark skin and eyes, the intoxicating way they move and speak.  There is just something magnetic about them, and Razzel does his best to communicate the virtues of these beauties.

Next Finn turns his attention to Judoc, who he's spent quite a bit of time with sharing the books on spell casting and language.  Both magical men cooperated to teach each other the new tongue and translate the multitude of pages before them.  Now Finn asks a very important question.  ”So, Jude.  I'm tinkerin' with the notion of a pet.  What'd'ya reckon?  Snakes make great spies.  Wolves make great trackers.  And birds, well, ya know.  But ya can't whip out a snake in a tavern and ask 'ol Tapper for a mug and a mouse.”  Finn chuckles at the thought.

Later the small party and their team travels about as far as they can while sticking to the stream.  The sun begins to dip low in the sky, coming close to the mountains and threatens to block off their light soon.  It seems the company is of one mind to camp and Razzel does not object.  The young leader turns in a circle slowly taking in the scenery all around as he wonders which is the way to the den of danger.  ”Right.  I'm gonna fly around a bit and see what I can see.   I don't want to wander around blind tomorrow.  Be back in a jif.”


OOC:
When you say abnormally large rat, how abnormal?  25% bigger?  200% bigger?  Finn is assuming the larger the growth, the closer we are getting to Perdition's evil.

Finn is a little confused on the best path to Perdition.  To that end I will transform into a falcon to do some recon of my own.  We'll camp here and when I get back I'll do my protective spell.

Can we ret-con to say that Judoc and I did some rocks with Continual Light, so that we don't need to rely on lanterns or a bonfire?  I was thinking about it before the launch but with all the other admin I forgot to mention it.  If its ok I was thinking by this time everyone would have 1 rock the brightness of a torch as a safety measure.   Its mostly if we get attacked at night and once inside the ruins.  The rocks can be bound on a cord necklace for hands free light.  Plus 1 rock for 'bright as day' to put in the middle of camp.  This rock wouldn't move and provide light for the camp and horses regardless of who moves around.  If saying we thought ahead to make continual light stones is not ok then I will ask Judoc to work on them while I am gone and I will help when I get back.

When Finn speaks of animals he is talking about familiars, which I imagine that subject has come up since their defeat of the necromancer.  Its something that Finn desires and is a bit jealous of, seeing the cool relationship between Judoc and Aiah.  Finn is still in the research phase and can't make up his mind what animal to go after.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Thu 15 Nov 2018.

Gustav manages to keep up fairly well, and by lightening up he mule's load, she seems much more able to keep up as well. He  keeps to himself mostly as it's hard to talk when in column and the path doesn't lend itself to walking side by side very often. The load doesn't seem to get any lighter and he is glad to call it a day when the others suggest camping.

”You want my advice, Judoc? Choose a familiar with a good grasp of Anglish.”  Snakes, rats, wolves, birds - all have their advantages. ”I figured I’d be on the battlefield the majority of the time once I finish at the College, and Aiah was a godsend. Always good to have some eyes in the sky watching out for you. You’re more in the urban line of work, right, Finn? So something like a wolf would stick out, but a more domestic animal like a dog or a cat would blend right in.” He grins at the thought of ordering a cup of milk for a snake familiar. ”Something like a cobra or a rattlesnake would be amazing, though. You could get yourself a turban and a flute and play the part of a snake charmer.”

Though this isn’t Judoc’s first hike, the heat from the sun and wear on his muscles have taken their toll on his otherwise hale constitution. He grimaces at the thought from Aiah. ”Just like a female,” he grunts. ”Aiah says the forest is safe and won’t take a long time to traverse. She says black-eggs, whatever those are, are few.”

He shrugs his shoulders. ”We could do worse for a camp. There’s not much shelter here, but at least there’s that waterfall, so we have fresh water. Or we can push on through the forest and make camp on the other side.”

OOC: According to Aiah, the forest is safe, and there’s a path through it. There are some “black eggs” inside, but she doesn’t see many.

It seems as good a place as any to camp and the group is readily in agreement as the travelers begin to unburden their beasts and set them out to graze what meager foliage they can while there is still daylight.  Bjorn, with only his own pack to care for is quick to sling it to the ground, taking up his waterskin and walking towards the edge of the lake.

Aiah, still sitting atop Judoc's shoulder, hooks her beak near the neck of the rat, while clutching its bottom half with a single talon and balancing on the other.  Riip!   With a quickly stifled shriek, the rat's head is torn from his body, spraying blood all across Aiah's beak and feathers, not to mention sending a healthy portion over Judoc's shoulder and cheek.  The mage spasms with disgust, sending the bird flapping forward to the ground where she casts back an annoyed glance before digging her beak greedily into the exposed flesh, pulling away fat strips of crimson. 

As he reaches the southern shore, Bjorn finds that the lake quite suddenly hits the slope of the mountain, such that while there was a wide swath of dry lake bed on the eastern side, there is no such easy border on the southern one, making him walk near the edge of the water on slick rock, leaning against the higher ground with his left hand as he carefully chooses his way forward.  The ripples of his foot splashing in the water seem to cause eddies further on, stirring up clouds of silt to a darker brown.

His horse cleared of its saddle and bags, Finn turns to the group, hoping to make use of the rest of the daylight to scout.  "”Right.  I'm gonna fly around a bit and see what I can see.   I don't want to wander around blind tomorrow.  Be back in a jif.”  He closes his eyes, putting a hand to his head in concentration...

OOC:  Really we are talking a normal sized rat, though on the largest end of the scale.  Something like 20% larger than a normal sized adult.

The continual light "necklaces" are fine and can be essentially done for free seeing as you had 3 or 4 on the last adventure (I can't remember).  Finn roll 1d2+2 for the number or them left over, and roll again 1d3 for how many days ago you/Judoc cast the spell so that we know when the spells expire.

Holding up here for a few other rolls, Finn, I'll do your scouting mission in PM.

In reply to Raddek (msg # 35):

While Terri tries to catch fish, Rondald sets up the tent, clearing a section with his axe, shield over his shoulder, in order to do so. Probably heavy work, but the downed trees can also form a makeshift fence around the site.

”God! Aiah, watch where you’re eating!” Judoc recoils in disgust from the rat’s blood spray.  ”Feh! Pigs have better manners than you!”

He throws his hands up in the air in disgust. ”Yeah, so black walking eggs. Turtles, maybe? Some kind of giant roach? I don’t speak hawk-metaphor.”

He turns to his mount and begins digging out gear for making camp. ”You’re sleeping outside tonight, lady, and don’t go begging for warmth later from me.” His face softens after a bit, the creases in his forehead fading.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:21, Sat 17 Nov 2018.

Magnus tied off his mule then set to helping Rondald with the tent. The big legionary style campaign tent was an unwieldy thing even with two people, so every extra hand helped. The benefits of being able to share heat, change shifts easily and know that the others were close and safe could not be underestimated however, so all the trouble was more than worth it to him.

Some smooth shore rocks for the fire pit, a cat hole dug with his shovel about twenty paces from camp and a high line for the stock all helped to make the site that much more comfortable. In many ways it reminded him of his youth and there was a familiar comfort to the whole affair that helped with the days weariness.

Gustav Unloads his Mule and ties it up with access to food and water, then lends a hand in setting up camp. He takes one water keg at a time over to the falls, filling them at least ¾ full, in case they need to move away from the stream.

As Gustav unloads, Magnus turns to him as he lifts the pack frame off his own mule.

"Hey Gustav..." he began before setting the frame aside with a grunt, then peeling away the sweat soaked blanket beneath it. "What's Arraterre really like?" he asked as if he was uncertain about what he had been told in the past. "Is it true that they're...you know..." he trailed off and then shrugged. "Is it true that they are pretty far ahead? of Megalos?" he clarified.

Gustav Frowned ... in some ways perhaps, and in others not so much. Our Metallurgy seems a bit better in general, maps, sailing ships and some tools. Farming is little different. Armor is fading slowly as many have been experimenting with the forbidden powder which allows devices to shoot lead balls, stone and cast iron balls half the size of a mans head. Such is forbidden in Megalos, although Pirates steer well clear of an Aralaise vessel with ports for such devices along her side. Gentlemen carry weapons more like mine than such heavy swords as we use here.

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.
-Mark Knopfler

And so the group devolves into banter, Finn with his casting, Rondald heaving an axe over his shoulder to clear brush, Judoc in his conversations with a bird.  It is in this state that Terri's scream pierces the stillness like a dirk exploding through chainmail.

"Bjorn!"

Conversation halts as everyone rapidly shifts their eyes from the source of the racket to the Northman, who now stands on two feet and a hand on the rocky southern shoreline, and it only takes a moment to realize what his going on, from the lake, a thin trail of eddies breaks into a red and black shell that bursts from the water only inches from Bjorn - luckily the man has scrambled high enough that the bug's initial swipe of the beetle's front leg only splashes across the rocks at the water's edge.

The thing is massive, even with only half of its body out of the water it is easy to see the thing is over the size of a man, and may be more like a bear.  Its head and antennae reach upward, grinning expectantly at a future meal.  It's legs click furiously and the beetle begins to draw itself forward out of the water towards the fleeing man.

Bow in hand, Terri has already started running as fast as she is able towards the scene, her boots leaving thin indents on the dry earth beneath...



OOC:  For those who have posted long actions in the last two posts, they have not taken place yet.  I need everyone to make a few rolls for me.  The first is perception.  The second is a mental stun roll vs. IQ.  Those with combat reflexes are exempt from this second roll.  If you make the second roll you may post a normal action, otherwise you are suffering from a mental stun and must make a roll vs. IQ each turn to recover.  Everyone is loaded out the equipment on their sheet with empty hands, the exceptions being Magnus who has his armor, shield and weapon loaded on his mule and Rondald who has an ax in his right hand.  Finn is still concentrating on his shapeshift spell - if you make a roll against IQ-1, you may shift this concentration to some other spell, or you may abandon it altogether if you wish.  Sorry for the woefully inadequate map, but I figured something is better than nothing.  The blue is obviously the lake, the tan is the dry parts of the lakebed which have no obstacles.  The grey is the base of the cliff, which can be traversed, although any action (including attack, defense, or movement at more than 1 hex/turn) requires a DX-2 roll to avoid slipping.  Please post 4 rounds of action.


This message was last edited by the GM at 01:33, Mon 19 Nov 2018.

Gustav looks up and sees the bug.... can you call something the size of a cart a Bug? He draws his saber and Main Gauche as he moves toward Bjorn at a run.

There are those who might chide the beast man for doffing his armor in camp, but Magnus would wager that most of those sorts have never worn armor for any length of time. Even without the pack the ache in your back and shoulders can become downright distracting by the end of the day, sweat soaks the aketon (fur in his case) and clothes beneath. One becomes subject to all manner of skin conditions only known to a select miserable few.

Suffice to say that when he had the chance to take it off, he did.

But in this particular case it likely meant that he would be the last one into the fray. When Magnus looked up with wide eyes, his experiences and instincts seemed to serve him well. he fought down the initial wave of adrenaline and rushed over to his mule where he began to slip into his hauberk. He was not exactly going to be of much use with his bare fists, and he was in no hurry to see if his horns would be enough to crack the massive things carapace.

At the scream from Terri, Judoc’s head swivels around, the young mage trying to locate their Northern companion. What he sees puts a clearer image to Aisha’s report of the hazards around them as he spots Bjorn being menaced by a giant beetle. Ah. Yes, walking black egg. An apt description, he thinks.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he snatches up his staff and begins to cast a spell. I wonder if that thing’s wings are strong enough to lift it off the ground, he wonders. Well, they’ll know soon enough.

OOC: Concentrate.

Finn Razzel cut his teeth on the rough streets of Azer.  Its busy markets, back alleys and crowded main thoroughfares were all his classroom.  From knife fighting and fisticuffs to learning how to distract someone using his left hand while his right was picking their pocket.  Finn taught himself how to persuade people into listening to his own particular point of view.  He was molded by the proverbial school of hard knocks.

In one such lesson Finn intercepted a courier who was delivering a package.  Razzel happened to know, thanks to a tip, that the package contained a small pouch of gems on its way to its owner.  Finn chatted the young courier up directing the conversation to what the courier was doing criss crossing the city near dusk.  As planned Finn got the courier to admit that he was delivering valuables, so Finn warned that local gangs were on the lookout to mug couriers carrying baubles, so Razzel suggested that the runner hide the goods in his pants.  Quickly Finn asked the courier to hand over the bag for a demonstration.  A young Razzel took the pouch and tucked it in his own trousers, then adjusted it to look like his genitalia.  But, when he took the bag out and handed it back it was the fake he had prepared in advance.  When the courier arrived at his destination an hour later imagine his shock when in front of his rather unforgiving employer the bag was emptied to reveal plain garden stones.  Sadly, the boss was well connected and it didn't take him long to find the naughty Finn, who was busy spending his ill gotten gain.  The young street urchin received quite the beat down.  Though it was his first it surely was far from his last.

The world is a messy place.  Sure, cities and towns are filled with brewers and bartenders, cobblers and carpenters, soldiers and sailors.  The world of organized men runs like clockwork according to commerce and the business of living.  But, outside of that nest of safety, the world is a scary place.  There are monsters, and treasure, and a man can make himself rich if he's willing to take on the former.  The appearance of the giant bettle, especially after their cryptic warning from the village's leader, is of no surprise.  Finn simply reacts as any mercenary would by grabbing his weapons and lending a hand.


OOC:
Grab my bow, quiver and ax, then run at fastest speed to Bjorn.

Rondald spins n his heels when he hears Terri call out. Her voice riveted him to action, as it does when there is urgency in it. There could be no doubting the urgency in it now, and following her eyes, he saw why. The Northman was in danger. Instinctively, he slid his shield from his back and headed over to help at full speed.

It was only coming from a life of strife that Bjorn kept his composure, dropped his waterskin and readied his ax and shield. Fighting at the edge of a cliff next to the water was not tactically sound against an enemy popping out of a lake. He clanged his ax on his shield,  "Come on then! You're gonna work for this meal like the rest of us have to!" He was really just measuring up his fore before coming down with a measured chop.

OoC:

19:50, Yesterday: Bjorn Hundahaf rolled 9 using 3d6.  Perception (10).
11:12, Today: Bjorn Hundahaf rolled 13 using 3d6.  Attack (14).

Drop water skin, draw and ready weapon/shield
Evaluate
Attack
 

Such a hardy stock of adventurers seem hardly perturbed by the attack of a giant beetle, each of them rummaging through belongings or charging headlong into battle.

First out of the gate, Terri sprints with all speed, the scales of her chest armor jangling from the movement.  She reaches the shore some stone's throw away from the monster and Bjorn where she stops short, pulling out an arrow and knocks it in her bow, ready to pull back and fire in a moment.  Gustav too starts out quickly, though the heavy weight of his armor and the slipping debris of the lakebed seem to slow his travel significantly.

Judoc takes the time only to grab his staff before starting himself into his spellwork, closing his eyes as he concentrates with intent, stretching out a hand in front of him with the command, "Volent!" before he rises into the skies with the speed of a hurled spear, streaking ahead and overtaking all others in a moment.  Aiah too, departs from her dinner in a flap of her wings, soaring upward into the skies. 

Magnus, perhaps takes the longest to prepare, though to watch him is truly a spectacle.  He whips his mail links out of his bag in a single moment, and thrusts his arms through the sleeves in the next without so much as catching a horn on a mail link.  Before even another breath he is pulling his shield off his mule and thrusting it onto his arm, though all the frenzy still leaves him well behind behind the others and yet without his weapon...

The real fight, however, is occurring on the far shore, where Bjorn is making his every effort to avoid becoming the dinner for an over-sized cockroach.  Pulling his axe from his belt and dropping his waterskin, Bjorn is ready for the first assault the bug offers, twisting his body fully out of the way as the bug leaps towards him with two mandibles extended, its mouth clicking and yawning wide in anticipation.  However, the quick action causes Bjorn to stumble lower, his right leg plunging calf-deep into the lake as he reaches down to catch hiself with his left hand.  Bug and man both reposition themselves, Bjorn sizing up his foe as the bug lashes out with his forward most extremity.  The blow hits Bjorn just across his high leg with a dull slap, though the Northman is confident that his study leathers took the brunt of the blow.

Now, Bjorn makes for his own attack and swings his axe down towards any bit of the monster he can hit, but again the footing foils his action, and rocks crumble from underfoot as Bjorn's axe goes wide.  Now both feet splash into the water up to his knees, the rocky slope ending at that point into the silty bed of the lake.  To make things worse, the roach lunges again, and this time Bjorn is not ready!  Twin limbs of exoskeleton clutch at Bjorn around the midsection and Bjorn can feel the insect hairs around the things's head vibrating expectantly just inches from his face!



Any action/defense/or movement over a rate of 1 requires a DX-2 roll on grey tiles

OOC:  Thanks for the patience guys.  A decent bit happened in those turns so lets just do two seconds action this time.  Most importantly, Bjorn is 'grappled' by the bug.  You have a ready axe in your right hand.  You may attempt to stand up and break free on the next turn with a contest of strength.  Terri has a ready bow and a knocked arrow, Gustav has a ready knife and saber, Rondald has his shield ready in his left hand and axe in his right, Finn has his bow in his left hand, quiver slung over his shoulder, and axe in his right hand.  Though it seems to fly in the face of reality, I decided to take pity on Magnus and not penalize him (too much) for his decision to leave his armor in his baggage which essentially amounts to good roleplay since I didn't penalize the people with extra encumbrance with more fatigue.  With speed much envied by soldiers doing uniform races in boot camp, Magnus digs out his mail from his bag, slings it over his shoulders unhooks his shield from his mule and is halfway through readying it; it will take one more second to ready his shield and one more to ready his axe after that.  Judoc is now hovering six or so feet above the ground, traveling at a near inhuman clip, he has an unready staff in his right hand.  Bjorn - taking a shield off your back is one second and readying it takes another two.  That in addition to the fact that once you had it readied, it is a penalty to all your skills in close combat, I had you abandon the action once you realized the bugs were getting in close...  Not that it helped you any, I rolled a few DX-2 rolls for you keeping your footing on the slippery rock and failed all of them...  Everyone, please remember to declare an active defense - if you declare nothing I'll assume a normal dodge with no feverish or retreating bonuses.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:30, Sat 18 May 2019.

Gustav notices more bubble streams and ripples   There are more Joining the Frenzy!

He looks to see how he can best help with out being attacked by another beetle, he slows and Moves across the Rocks Aiming to get close enough for his Saber to cut off feelers or stab eyes out. Maybe he can find an unarmored spot that will let him cut leg tendons ...  his mind races as this is all new, he'd never seen a bug this gigantic, and they seem to be pack beasts that all worked to bring down prey.

In reply to Gustav Du Meseries (msg # 50):

Rondald, noticing the others coming, moved to Terri to protect her.

"Terri, get back from the waters edge! There are more coming...Bjorn, get your ass back here if you can."

He stands ready to strike the first beetle that comes into range.

Finn's legs beat fast upon the hard ground.  He knows fighting a giant beetle should be no different than fighting a tiny beetle...using a tiny weapon.  And though Razzel has never tackled such a challenge this will be a cinch.

Then several of his comrades announce that more of the over grown insects are coming.  So, they have a gang.  Well, we have a Minotaur.  And a powerful wizard.  And it goes with saying, Finn.


OOC:
Run at fastest speed to Bjorn for 1 round.  Then stop to Concentrate.

Bjorn struggles against his captor, through strained grunts, "Working on it!"

1st round
15:27, Today: Bjorn Hundahaf rolled 15 using 3d6.  Strength. Nope.

2nd
15:27, Today: Bjorn Hundahaf rolled 7 using 3d6.  Strength.

Active Defense - Retreating

Magnus's heart hammered in his chest as he hustled to gather his things. He had seen enough in life to know what he was expected to do and to set about it without panicky haste, but it was still difficult to focus on getting dressed rather than looking at what was going on.

The hauberk was a beautiful thing, a custom commission utilizing supple leather and three different sized links placed according to ease of motion, protection and weight. Even the neck was left open, cinched with buckles if time allowed, but large enough when loose to more easily accommodate Magnus's horns with some practiced movements.

He shrugged it on and it fell to his knees, then snatched up his shield and axe, the latter brand new as well, the bearded steel blade thin and sharp without so much as a smudge to mar it. It was obvious where the money from their last job had gone.

He turned and saw the gesturing, heard the shouting and confirmed the movement in the water. How were they even going to hurt these things? He wondered to himself. Even the tiny ones were tough as nails.

He moved towards the beach, trying to pick and angle that would prevent any of those approaching from getting behind him, or at the stock animals.

The air rushes past as Judoc rockets forward, and as always, the mage revels in the feeling of leaving earth’s gravity behind. He can fly far faster than this, but for now, this particular spell will suffice for reaching Bjorn and roasting these chitinous beasts.

As Judoc notes the ripples in the water, his eyes narrow. One, two, three. . . How many of the things were there, and how far onto land would they venture? ”Get away from the water!” he calls out as he continues to fly toward Bjorn’s position.

As he closes in on the first beetle, he mimes the shaping a ball of fire. Judoc draws the mana from the surrounding environment and begins to convert it into pyrokinetic energy. Hard chitinous shells or not, all beasts fear fire.

OOC: Concentrate.

Feet fly as the whole of the group rushes to the fray, spitting up a cloud of fine fine earth in the churn.  Glances farther into the lake prove the warnings of several of the crew as wide, red and black shells become to be visible just piercing the water in several places trailing eddies as they speed through the water.

Gustav, the closest to the fray grinds his feet through the silt, approaching his compatriot within a sword-slash as he slows his pace to a stop.  Judoc too is close, though his spell magics him directly overhead the battle in a moment, where his eyes unfocus, concentrating on some further arcane manipulation.

Below, the battle rages, Bjorn stands to his feet, attempting to throw off the monster, but the thing's limbs are impressively strong for their thin construction.  Instead of shirking the thing off, Bjorn finds himself taken off balance by a rapid flurry of clicking legs, his body crashing to the earth below where he falls waist deep in the lake, his head striking a rough stone of the cliff as he falls, sparking a flurry of stars across his vision.

Boom!

A second one of the things crashes into the fray, though obviously had not expected the Northman to fall, it crashes headfirst into his mate knocking his grip loose from Bjorn who sputters away, kicking his feet into the lakebed to gain as much distance as he can.

Twang!

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"  The scream of the giant bug is ear piercingly loud, enough to drown out Terri's own shout, "Eat shit bug!" Even with the incredible noise, it's hard to imagine the pain the thing must feel for Terri's arrow has buried itself through to the fletching in a narrow seam between the shell on its back and underbelly.  The thing seems to pause for the moment, though its new mate shows no such hesitation.  Taking the place of the last, it grapples at the now supine Bjorn who's attempts to scurry away do carry him free of the danger.  He finds himself gripped again by two strong arms his head precariously close to the now rippling waters of the lake...

Rondald, sensing the danger to his wife, runs to her side, where even now another of the things encroaches.  Finn too runs up to the eastern edge, where he drops his bow and begins to concentrate on his own spell.



OOC:  Let's post another two rounds this time.  I'm immensely distracted at the moment by the cacophony of my household, but I think I got all the details here.  Rondald has ready axe and shield, Terri how has an empty bow.  Finn has dropped his bow and is currently concentrating, his spell will be cast at the beginning of the next turn.  Bjorn still has an axe in his hand, although he is supine and all attacks are at -4 and defenses at -3.  He is also grappled, which has it's own penalties.  Judoc will have his spell cast at the beginning of the next turn.  Gustav still has a ready Saber and knife, one in each hand.  Magnus has a ready sheild and axe and is making his way over to the fight.  Bug 1 is the one injured by Terri.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Fri 23 Nov 2018.

Never in his relatively short life has the young street rat turned leader seen such a sight.  A huge lake beetle emerging from the water and attacking grown men.  This is the stuff of fireside tavern tales meant to cause wonder and frighten the gullible.  But here he is, facing down not one but five of these unbelievable monstrosities.  Finn has heard stories in real terms, teachers of magic have rarely spoken of such things.  Experiments from mad warlocks gone wrong, accidentally flubbed spells leading to misfires that have erroneously conjured fairy tale beasts, that sort of hoo hah.  So to see it first hand isn't a complete shock still, but, it is fantastical.  Thanks to his keenly honed street skills and years of facing incredible danger from an untold number of urban sources Razzel is not fazed by the appearance of a family of chitinous bugs.  He merely lumbers into battle almost shouting, ”Me first.”


OOC:
Move to attack #3.  Evaluate and Step until it gets in range.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:26, Fri 23 Nov 2018.

"Finn?" Magnus drew the name out, half shout, half call as the Minotaur hustled towards the shore. His hooves began to sink deeper into the moist sandy soil as he drew nearer the waters edge.

He did not want to get needlessly close to the water given his heavy panopoly of war that he had brought along on the expedition.

Gustav aims a thrust at the joint between the bugs head and it's thorax while swing his Main gauche at one of the critters feelers. His efforts seem marginal at best ...
This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Fri 23 Nov 2018.

"Terri, GET BACK! I do not want to have a tug of war with one of these damn things with you as the rope! That bow has enough range that you can get back to safety!" Rondald urges, more sharply than before given that she did not respond last time. Seeing the big Northman struggle in the beetles grip, he was nervous. He waited where he was, ready to whack the thing as it came.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Hovering in the air above the overgrown cockroach currently menacing Bjorn, Judoc almost laughs at the absurdity of the situation. He who has defeated demons, master thieves, and dread necromancers, tasked with squashing a few bugs. But the creature’s mandibles look powerful, and if Bjorn should be dragged underwater, he could very well drown, so Judoc forms a ball of flame in his hand and takes aim, preparing to incinerate the giant insect’s carapace.

OOC: Cast the spell, aim, and throw at the nearest giant bug.

All around the vicious black water beetles swarm, more and more streaming towards Bjorn who struggles at the water's edge only feet from a sure watery demise.  Man and Beetle wrestle in a life and death struggle, and though Bjorn digs the souls of his feet in with as much as he can, the silty bed of the lake disintegrates with the least pressure and Bjorn finds himself moving again ever farther into the water, the surface now lapping at his chin.  Gustav, his one savior brave enough to fare the horde with him stands with saber in hand and thrusts it towards the gap where the thing's head emerges, hitting the shell soundly and burying the wide tip of his saber several inches into the chitinous outer layers.

"EEEEEEEEEEE!"  The thing shrieks, twisting its body away from the blow.  The movement his just enough for Bjorn to throw the thing off and scuttle backwards on hands while attempting to right himself.  The separation proves to be worth the effort, for just at that moment, the wizard, Judoc hurls a fireball towards the fray, though it merely sizzles the shell of the beast as it bursts into flame.

But for each foe that is injured, it seems there is another handful that swarm to renew the assault!  Just as Gustav is celebrating his hit, another of the things lifts from the water, its massive legs shuttling it forward with amazing speed as it rams Gustav straight in the gut!  Not expecting the attack, Gustav falls to his rump, slashing forward with his sword in a blow that just pricks into the thick flesh of the thing's underbelly but it does nothing to slow the beast as it wraps two broomstick arms around Gustav at the knees, preparing to drag the swordsman into the deep...

Just a few leaps away, Finn and Rondald converge as another of the things makes his way to the shoreline, attempting to ram Terri like his brother had done to Gustav.  Rondald however, is ready.  First his axe cleaves downward as the monster approaches the shoreline, taking the insect entirely by surprise.  The blow tears a massive gash through the shell and thorax, spitting gurgles of black ichor across the water; then Rondald steps forth with his massive shield braced upon his fist and shoulder, swatting aside the thing's momentum and aim.

Terri seems nonplussed as she hisses back at her husband.  "How chivalrous to chide me on my safety...  If you haven't noticed they are killing Bjorn!"  She already has another arrow in place, knocked and pulled back by her ear as she chooses her target from the menagerie that now gathers around the Northman, climbing atop each other for the opportunity to feed.

Not ignoring their own foe, both Finn and Rondald slash another attack each, opening wider and wider wounds that bleed with sticky black... wounds that would surely kill any man.

Magnus meanwhile, presses one foot after another, continuing his charge towards the front...



OOC:  Let's do another two rounds.  Bug #3 has sustained massive injuries from several sources and is currently stunned.  #1 took Teri's arrow and seems sluggish, but still fighting.  #2 has taken both Gustav's saber thrust and a fireball, though he seems little the worse for wear.  #4 has taken a mostly ineffectual thrust to the torso.  All others are unharmed.  Bjorn is now has made it to one knee and is ungrappled, though there are now several of the things that are crawling all around you.  Gustav is in a sitting position and grappled around the legs by one of the monsters.

Gustav struggles to get free, quite unsuccessfully ...

"Finn!" Magnus punctuated a few seconds later. "Should we pull back?!" This one was half question, half suggestion. Magnus did not feel it was his place to "call the shots" so to speak, he felt fortunate just to be counted among them and had been touched time and time again by their acceptance of his inhuman quirks and the trouble they had taken on by travelling with him.

From from his very slightly elevated position off to the side of the melee the numbers were starting to look fairly grim, and add to that they gained little if anything by seeing the fight through in his own mind.

He did not stop to belabor the point however, but rather charged on to Gustav's aid and once close enough only slowed a half step to get his balance before he brought the keen edge of his new axe down towards the side of the huge beetles carapace in a blur of oiled steel.

Rondald answer he calmly, but firmly.

"So you want to join him in dying? You know that first rule of combat is to NOT DIE YOURSELF. Sacrificing yourself will only make his situation worse. Stay back and use your bows range to help him. Feeding yourself to a frickin bug will do nothing for him."

Turning to Magnus he adds

"I don't think he can, but perhaps if you can get Bjorn back a little we can pull back."

He brings his axe down on the creature, attempting to cut it in half.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:03, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Finally able to get his feet, Bjorn tries to bring down his ax on Gustav's aggressor, "Damn insects!" He wasn't about to let the damn things take his companion.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:15, Sun 25 Nov 2018.

"Should we pull back?!", the big mans words ring in his ears over and over like the echoes of a churchbell.  "Should we pull back?!"  Why???!!!, Finn thinks incredulously.

When Razzel was a young man and he had just left home to forge his own life as an entrepreneur working on the raw streets of Azer he partnered with two other boys around his age.  The three of them did what young boys without training and experience are forced to do from a lack of options, they beg and they steal from merchants and passerby.  It wasn't long before some other early teens moved in on their territory.  Merchants will tolerate a little shop lifting, but push it too far and they'll have the watch setting traps and throwing the offenders in a hole.  Finn knew instinctively it was his band, or theirs.  One of them would win that turf and the other would have to go.   So Razzel convinced his allies to fight.

The young leader can hear the unmistakable movements of his friend Magnus coming up from behind.  Even before the cultured beast opens his mouth Finn knows he is there, the stride, the sound of the clopping of his hooves, the jangle of his armor and weapons.  Those sounds are unique.  With his back turned Razzel points with his left hand stretched straight out.  ”Terri.  Magnus.  Help them.”


OOC:
I'm sort of a realist when it comes to GURPS combat, since the rounds are 1 second each.  If Finn doesn't talk a lot its because I am trying to stay to a somewhat realistic model.  I'm not intentionally blowing anyone off.

Though Terri does not so much as look at her husband her words are punctuated with ice.  "I. am. not. dying!"

"Twang!"

Her arrow sails through the air towards the maelstrom of insects, burying itself deep in the left wing of the bug now gripping at Gustav's knees.  The bug's screams and twitches of pain give the swordsman just enough wiggle room to remove himself from the insect and scramble backwards on the sands.

"But perhaps you could open your eyes and find someone who is!"

Her next arrow is already in hand as she makes to fit it in the string, already sizing down her next target as she takes another step forward into the melee.

OOC:  While I agree with Finn on the point for conversation in combat for purposes of combat action, I'm fine with putting larger amounts of text for the purposes of role play.  So for example, Finn saying giving tactical direction for the group in excess of about a few words would be a faux pas, while Rondald bickering back and forth with his wife about her safety would not.  Also, please don't feel that the GM's voice is coming out through any of the NPC's.  I'm not trying to give you messages... but I am married... and I have a feeling that I might enjoy this Rondald/Terri relationship more and more in the current adventure :D

Hacking away each with axes on their twitching foe, Finn and Rondald cut away great swaths of shell and wing, Rondald cutting away a head-sized chunk of the thing's backside that splatters and oozes the thick black slime the things seem to have for blood.  Though the two expect the thing to get back up and fight, it lays still, it's legs given out underneath it as its body leaks out whatever life it has remaining.

Though the two expect another of the beasts to charge them, each of the black shelled monstrosities passes their position by, turning to the two adventurers who seem to be in the worst extremis.

Magnus huffs giant puffs of steam from his snoutish nose, pushing himself on towards the fray and lofting his axe in a position to swing it on the first of the mutations that he comes within an arm's width of.  With a hefty swing, Magnus cleaves down on the bug attacking Gustav leaving a massive rent in the thing's carapace that spurts bits of black flesh.

It is not even a moment of respite for the swordsman however, before the next insect launches itself from atop the last, landing his full thorax atop Gustav's chest as the two look face to face, the monster pinpointing the moment with a brutal scream!

Bjorn too, having just made it to his feet, now finds himself swarmed by the beasts, with a multitude of thin black arms clawing their way over him, though he tries his best to escape, he finds himself pulled under, put again to his back where a set of the things begin to wrap him and pull him back to the water!

And so, when all seemed its worst, the simple act of repetition, of patience in the face of odds that makes the difference.  Magnus cleaves one whole side of one of the things in a single stroke, the chest wound sucking and massive, Terri launches one more of her devastating darts which buries itself in all the way to the fletching.  One last scream from the bugs, gut wrenching and awful before the whole lot of them turns and flees, skittering across the water, leaving three of their number, dead or dying, with one last of the things caught in the middle, attempting to flee though its legs flounder helplessly in the attempt - it is easily picked off by a fatal stroke of Magnus's axe.

The combat, over as quickly as it started, never the less leaves a bitter taste for our adventurers.  It seems the journal of the necromancer was not in the least exaggerating in the description of perverted animals made monsters - It was only to be seen what future horrors would cross their path.

OOC:  Nice work all.  I rolled an extra round which ended up in half the number slain or unconscious (or close) and the change in the situation made your foes rethink their strategy.  It is now just after 1600 and all seems quiet...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:09, Mon 26 Nov 2018.

This message was deleted by the player at 12:17, Mon 26 Nov 2018.

Finally able to take a breather, Bjorn waved at his compatriots, "I'm fine. They weren't trying to attack, they were trying to drown me." That's when he realized he still didn't get his water and cursed loudly.

Seeing the bugs retreating, Rondald moves quickly to help Bjorn and Gustav from the water.

"You are not dying because of my and Finn's actions. If you had stayed safely back from the water though, I could have gone straight to the Northman..." Rondald mutters to his wife.

[OOC: Also married. When Rondald married Mrs Right, she did not know her first name was Always...]

"Looks like we should work in pairs, I would suggest. And stay clear of the shore..." Rondald suggest to the group.

"How are your injuries?" He asks Bjorn specifically.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:03, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Having tried to work his Main Gauche blade in between the chitinous plates on the last beetle, he was glad to be free of them... he struggled from the water... Damnable beasts...  he cursed. Obviously getting water is going to be a multi-person trip.

Magnus felt a wave of relief wash over and through him as he recognized that the insects had given up on their ambush. For whatever mind they might possess in addition to their impressive size, they seemed to recognize when a meal was more trouble than it was worth.

As the treat passed Magnus felt that now familiar touch of nausea, excitement, weariness and ineffable satisfaction that followed such things. Everybody looked fairly intact and Magnus himself had barely broken a sweat, although he had felt his heart leap when the new keen blade of his axe had gone through the carapace like a dry gourd and then rebounded harmlessly off his mail clad thigh at the terminus of the swing.

He took a few cautious steps back, not turning away from the water and looked around. "Everybody alright?" He asked, his voice full of cautious optimism.

"Bah, I'm fine but my thirst on the other hand...," he licked his parched lips. After all that walking, then having to struggle for his life, leaves a man mighty thirsty.

Finns area of expertise is fighting, and magic...and his silver tongue...and the Arabic language...and climbing in the dark...and fine wines, but not giant insects.  Razzel would have bet money that the huge crab like grabby things would have fought to the death, meaning until one group or the other was entirely dead.   Happily though the family of hard shelled beetles retreats wisely back into the safety of the dark tiny lake and Finn is happy to see them go.

He nods in agreement with the others that going forward fetching things like water and firewood in pairs or small groups is a good idea.

The newly appointed leader looks up skyward as he holds a hand over his brow.   ”Hmmm.  Don't look like I'm gonna see anything.  No point in going tonight.”


OOC:
Finn had planned on turning into a falcon and doing recon tonight however there is little to no point now since he cant see in the dark and he'd need to rest awhile before going.  It'll be dark by the time he can cast.

So new plan.  Finn will set up his tent, bedroll, prep his horse for the night, etc.  When he has completed the basics he will rest for 60 minutes.  At the end of that time Finn will cast his camp protection spell.   Everyone must be within the area of protection before the spell is cast in order for them to benefit from the protection, this includes animals.  He will then be exhausted.  He is going directly to sleep.

Finn is going to assign watches in the following order.  Normally Finn wouldn't care since the protection is pretty good but given how dangerous this place is, better safe than sorry.  Each watch is 75 minutes long.  This works out to a total of almost 9 hours of sleep.
Magnus
Bjorn
Judoc
Gustav
Finn
Rondald
Terri

PS – the order & time may vary depending on what time we go to sleep.  For instance since its getting dark at about 5pm, +8 hours would be 2 am if we got to sleep at 6 pm.  No need for such silliness.  In addition, I want to be on watch about 9-10 hours after I originally cast my spell so that I can renew it.  In other words I don't want my spell to expire at 2-4 am and leave us unprotected in the dark in this area.

This message was last edited by the player at 04:09, Mon 26 Nov 2018.

Terri's eyes spit venom as her husband's words wash over her.  "Oh..." she intones, the words barely making it to Rondald's ear.  "I had thought you were concerned for my safety, silly me.  When really you are saying it is my fault you didn't save Bjorn yourself.  I'll do my best not to inconvenience you next time.  I wouldn't want you to have to take a half share because you weren't useful enough."

And with that she turns, walking straight towards the mules, beginning to loosen the straps of their burdens to make camp for the evening.

OOC:  Need a couple of specific things from you guys before we can fast forward.  1. Finn had mentioned a scouting trip, let me know if that is still your first priority.  2. Are you still planning on camping here by the lake?  3.  If No, then let me know what actions you are taking before breaking for the next stop.  It's probably also a good time to let me know what the marching order is, at least the higher passes you guys are going to have to be single file.

"We have some to spare. we might be better to get some of the water closer, or to select a different route to the waterfall."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:04, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

After setting a few ground rules over the procurement of water, wandering in the site, and what to do with the animals, the group sets up their camp for the night  on the dusty ground just off the banks of the lake, though far enough from the forest to hopefully deter some of the unknown dangers therein.  Spending time to rewater and fill their barrels before the beetles return, the party finds that they have nearly all they would need to settle in for the night.

rations are broken out, animals are fed with extra shares of grain to make up for the meager grasses and the complete refusal to let them wander even a step beyond the borders of the site.  Finn sets the watchlist for the evening and as the sun retreats below the mountains he begins an elaborate ritual which he does every evening to keep the whole group from harm in the night.  For five minutes he wanders the site, murmuring and gesturing at all the far corners, until making his way back full circle to his starting point.

Only this time, Finn has only a frown on his face when he completes the ritual.  Twice, and a third time Finn makes the same movements, each time getting angrier at the results before he sits in a huff by his own equipment, spreading out by his pack to rest before trying again in another half of an hour.

As a result, it is near on 1900 and completely black outside before Finn's spell is cast.  The watches are set perhaps an hour later when everyone retreats to their own tents, the animals secured to the ground with stakes.

The sounds of the night begin perhaps an hour later with various chirrups and clicks of insects, though it is several hours in before the real noise begins.  From off in the forest comes a loud grinding that persists for hours before the splintering of wood and crash of limbs before the whole process repeats itself with a grinding that goes on and on.

And still, the watches go on uneventfully and none of the horrors of the forest make their way into the camp.  The day dawns early, though the light is meager, blocked by the thick clouds that now gather just above as a skirt to the mountains above.

Again, the animals are fed, along with our adventurers, gear is re-secured and all is made ready to depart, though the encounter of the beetles of the previous day weighs heavily on each of their minds.

Coming down from the skies above, Aiah lands with a flutter upon Judoc's shoulder, thankfully this time with no meal clutched in her beak... 

OOC:  It is 0700 on the 12th of May.  It's been about an hour of eating and breaking camp.  Finn, let me know what your plan is for scouting, or if you guys just want to set out.

Magnus slept fitfully after his watch in the warm muggy lakeside air, the beach seeming to hold on to the heat of the sun longer than he would have liked. Stripped down to just his pants he lay on his back on the mules saddle blanket and tried to ignore the mosquitoes and gnats buzzing fruitlessly around his eyes and ears, unable to find much purchase in his dense fur.

He awoke somewhat early feeling filthy and took about a half hour to comb out his fur, wash up with a pot of water and to pick the packed sand from his hooves. It would not amount to much here in a few hours of travel, especially with the weather coming in, but he at least felt better.

He took the news that he would be foremost in the formation with a curious sort of honor, one tempered by the obvious risk of such a position. It did make it a little more difficult to converse however, so he kind of had to talk over his shoulder as they moved as he tried to pick up on where they had left the day before.

"So if I ended up goin to Arraterre some day...how do you think they would react? to...well, how do you think that might go?" he asked Gustav, clearly curious as to how the more "cosmopolitan" culture might treat a Minotaur.

In reply to Raddek (msg # 79):

Rondald begins to pack up the tent. The discussion the previous night after the beetle encounter did much to calm them both, and they are quite warm with each other in the morning, with both working together to prepare breakfast. Using water from the lake, and with one keeping watch the whole time, they manage to wash much of the dirt and sweat from the previous day. By the time they are packed up, Rondald has his crossbow ready and his axe and shield on his back in place of the usual pack that is now being carried by the rear mule. With the two mules between him and Terri, he is somewhat further rearward than those in front of him, so he keeps a watchful eye over his shoulder.

Judoc listens to Aiah’s report and turns to the others. ”She says there are some black egg things in the forest. They’re not the beetles — something else, I guess. The nest — I think that’s the temple, but she also said it was a few days away — is near here. The only way there is through the forest, and she says the path through is clear.” He looks at Aiah quizzically.

Shrugging, he says, ”Let’s just get through the forest. There aren’t too many black eggs, and if they give us trouble, we can just make omelets out of them, I reckon.”

It is late in the morning when Finn is tapped on the shoulder and woken.  He wipes the sleep from his eyes and smiles weakly.  All around glimmers the shine of the translucent fog.  His protection magic is still working and nearing its conclusion.  ”Thanks Gustav.  Sleep well.”, Razzel quips jovially.

During his watch Finn immediately goes on guard when the ominous noises from deep in the forest reach his ears.  Weird grinding sounds that last much of his watch conjure images in his mind of beavers as big as a house, and woodpeckers the size of a dragon.  What could be causing such a ruckus he wonders, and are these just nocturnal creatures?  Surely they will find out soon.

In the morning Finn breaks camp with the rest, packing up his gear and seeing to feeding himself and his horse Boots.  He busies himself trying to kill time until Judoc's faithful bird has returned for Razzel is hungry to learn about their surroundings.  When it comes the information is useful but slightly vague.  Finn's faces wrinkles and he hisses out a 'harrumph'.  ”No.  Don't like it.  Anyone hear that shit last night?  That heavy grindin' and crashin'?   Gold to gravy somethin' was loppin' off lumber.  I'd feel better knowin' a sight more about the forest.  I'm gonna go for a look-see.  Be back in a jif.”


OOC:
Finn will cast his spell to turn into a falcon and then fly out to scout a route to the temple ruins and see whatever he can glean about that path.  I wrote that Finn worked alot to take care of his own shit, but to save some time Finn will ask the group if they will pack up his gear and take care of his horse so that he can eat breakfast and then leave.  Its not so desirable that Finn spends 60 minutes packing up his gear, then while he scouts and rests after everyone is sitting around with their thumbs up their butts waiting on him.

In reply to Magnus (msg # 80):

Truly  it is hard to say, with a group, probably safe, alone ... people are still superstitious, it might well go badly.


Gustav gets his gear ready and then helps get Finn's ready, but he does not put anything on the animals just yet. He does exchange his saber and Main gauche for the sword and shield .. light weapons do not seem useful against oversized creatures.

"Well...I appreciate the honesty" Magnus replied with a resigned smirk and a glance over his shoulder. He continued speaking without looking back, the steady pace designed to cover miles while not taxing the slower members of the group any more than was needed "I think I finally understand what my parents were talkin about after that last job. It wasn't really that we didn't have coin, we had enough to get by on, but we only had so many ways to spend it." he explained with a hint of frustration. "Judoc can get rank in the Templar Order, Finn can probably work his way up in the Row" he gestured to each in turn. "Maybe Rondald and Terri can settle down and buy a nice house someplace when they get tired of the road..." he signed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do...I have a membership in the Armsmans Guild that my dad vouched for, so that's something...but I don't think they're ever gonna see fit to put me in charge of anything, ya know?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:23, Tue 27 Nov 2018.

I would hope that your ability would out weigh such parochialism, but it may not.

Magnus huffed, a sort of sad little laugh as they pressed ever onward. "I don't know what that means, but yeah...probably not"

"Wait, black eggs? Like the back end of ants? Wasn't something said about giant ants? An army of those buggers is trouble, simply due to the numbers if nothing else. Does the forest burn? Otherwise, we need to be able to form a tight group around the mules and archers...with the archers in the middle as bacup for if someone gets into trouble."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Judoc listens as Finn lays out his plan to transform into his falcon form and take flight to spy out the land. He shrugs. ”Sure, bud, if you want to. Aiah says there’s not much to worry about in the forest, but knock yourself out.” Briefly he considers accompanying Finn or sending Aiah along to watch the other mage’s back, but Judoc figures Finn can take care of himself.

He stiffens when Magnus casually mentions the Row and frowns in worry. Finn has been entirely too loose-lipped with his boasting. Graves can never find out about Finn, and one use of the Baron’s mind-reading spell will be enough to find out the whole story. His glance flickers to Gustav, and then over to Rondald and Terri.

”Let me tell you a story, Magnus,” he says. ”You know why they call me The Merciful? Well, as part of our training in battle magic, a group of us were taken to the arena in Azer, where the gladiatorial fights are often to the death. We were told we were going to be fighting common criminals, murderers and thieves. And we did. My battle wasn’t really a fight at all. I easily dominated this guy I was fighting - I mean, I can fly and throw fire around, and this guy only had a knife.  These weren’t fair fights at all - they were executions. The commander, Baron Graves, wanted this guy I was fighting dead, somebody named Thresher, but Thresher yielded, and I let him live. The Baron was furious because a lot of these guys we were supposed to kill were members of the Row.” He lets the fact sink in that the Azer Templar commander wanted members of the Row dead.

”So I don’t know about Finn. He’s a stand-up guy, and I can’t imagine he’s too deep in with the Row. But if Graves finds out — and believe me, he has his ways — Finn’s life won’t be worth a hot copper. The Mages Guild didn’t do Finn any favors by hiring him as a mercenary for this mission.”

Judoc unconsciously twists the ring on his finger, the ring Graves gave him for supposedly burning Thresher to death in a tenement fire. Graves thinks Thresher is dead, but he’s not. Judoc knows Thresher hates him; he saw it in the man’s eyes when he was told he had to leave Azer. ”Did you ever meet the guy, Finn?” he asks cautiously. ”Thresher, I mean?”

When Rondald asks if the forest burns, Judoc raises an eyebrow. ”In my experience, pretty much anything can burn if you get it hot enough, but the bigger the fire, the harder it is to control. I’d rather not set fire to acres and acres of forest until we know what’s in it. Aiah says there aren’t too many, and that some bigger ones are in the trees. They’re probably some kind of giant but, but she said they’re not the beetles.”
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Tue 27 Nov 2018.

"Perhaps, Judoc. Honestly, I don't want to know too much about those intrigues. They cloud the line between criminal and justice. I Like to have things more black and white, based on folks actions. Magnus here seems a better person than Graves, from what you say, but such blurring of what is right and wrong mean he does not have such a good prospect of retiring. How is that Justice? I like the simple life for a reason...

and sometimes that includes dealing with big problems simply. If the forest if full of dangerous and hostile critters, burning it might just be the simplest way through it. Just stay upwind..."

He checks the weather and the wind...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Even with his back to the group it was obvious that Magnus was soaking up the story with interest. "I had always wondered why they called you that." he exclaimed with a tone of revelation. "Never felt right to ask about it.". Even a generation removed names retained an aura of power for Magnus, and he wondered to himself if he would ever do anything notable enough to warrant one of his own.

"But what you're saying is that I probably shouldn't bring that up again, even out here." Magnus guessed. He had not had personal dealing with either organization, and he could only guess at the politics. He decided to change topics into safer waters after Rondalds comment. "But isn't that part of what Templars do? Execute condemned criminals?" he asked Judoc.

The rest of the packing is near complete, though Finn is still working off the fatigue of his spellwork, his own gear still somewhat thrown together and disheveled.  Still, something still seems awry to Finn, so the trickster casts his spell of shapeshifting, and flutters off, leaving the rest of the group to finish the last traces of collecting their camp.

OOC:  Finn, more to come in PM.

Aiah rustles her feathers at the appearance of the upstart bird, crouching down with a spread of her wings as Finn takes to flight, though she seems to relax as the falcon swings clear of the valley and up the waterfall.

Rondald has no problems packing up the remainder of the camp, making sure his own things are in order or under Terri's care first. Packing the animals evenly, he checks that the water containers are full and not leaking before moving off.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:01, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

"I'm no bloody executioner," Judoc says, snorting and folding his arms across his chest. "The Templars are a military order, the Church's primary military arm. They train battle mages for both the Legions and the Order. I'll be able to choose at one point whether I want to officially become a Templar, join the army as Giles did, or do something else. Another of my mates became a Jesuit instead."

He shakes his head. "The Templars are supposed to be a holy order, and it's true that they have some good men. Graves, though -- he's a powerful, ruthless man. The Row were driven underground, but they're still operating under the surface. It's kind of like Robin Hood and Prince John, if John had been able to read minds and freeze people in place where they stand, and Robin's men had gone around robbing from the rich to stuff their own pockets and assassinate the odd political target or two. The Row -- clearly criminals. But Graves may be worse, and he's my boss."

He listens carefully to Aiah, and then tells the others, "The black egg crawling things have a nest nearby. We can probably avoid it and keep moving, or just kill the things one at a time as they come at us. Aiah says the temple is still a few day's travel away?"

While he waits for Finn to return, Judoc packs up his tent and gear, checking to see that everything is securely fastened in case they have to move in a hurry.

The man turned small predatory bird flies off high towards the mountains and in no time is gone.  He is unaware of what his team is doing, and vice versa.  Then perhaps half an hour later he returns, first announcing his arrival with a high pitched squawk, then swooping in with the speed of an arrow shot from a bow before he lands gracefully atop his own saddle.  The small familiar bird preens himself for several minutes while the group banters about good and evil, and how to navigate the path ahead.

Minutes after his reappearance the hedge wizard takes human form again.  He offers a simple thanks to those who aided in packing up his gear.  He fishes in his pack for a hunk of hard cheese and snatches up his waterskin.  He leans against his full pack while munching and drinking, and resting and conversing.  Finn clears his throat and launches into a monologue.  ”Aiah weren't talkin' outta school.  The route to the ruins's more or less open.  The animals shouldn't have much trouble.  More or less.  The black eggs, as she put it, is ants.  Big ones.  'Bout this big.” Razzel motions with his hands to mimic the size of a medium sized dog.  ”And the mound, Magnus...”  Finn goes on to say if Terri were to sit on Magnus' shoulders that is the approximate height of their home.   ”Getting around it's gonna be tricky.  We don't move so fast.  One on one I aint worried.  But ants is like mother-in-laws.  Fuck with their family and they get mean and come outta the woodwork.”


OOC:
I have spoken with the boss behind the scenes about the timelines.  He has said that its ok for Finn to be a part of the current political conversation.  I'm eager to jump in, I see it as perhaps the most interesting role play we've done as a group.  I see it happening after Finn returns from his mission and is resting.  I have comments to make regarding the Row and Templars but alas, I've run out of time before work.  Next time.

Finn would say the mound is about 12x12x12 feet.  He says he didn't see a ton of ants crawling around but he's had experience as a kid stepping on ant hills.  When you do a shit ton more show up, and that is what worries him.  The mound is about a quarter mile into the forest.  Its going to be difficult to side step the ants so Finn advocates fighting, but on our terms.  Fighting smart would be better than an all out slug fest.  Pouring water or fire into the mound could be could but given their size, do we have anything big enough to put a dent in their mound with fire or water?  Finn also thinks if he and Terri were to have Fly cast upon us and for 1 or 2 minutes hover above the mound and shoot them with arrows, that could thin their numbers.  And, it could anger them and lure them away, the rest of the party could sneak around them.  What do you guys think?

This message was last edited by the player at 19:59, Tue 27 Nov 2018.

Is there a secure location we can fight them from where they could not utilize their numbers, due to natural barriers or things that can slow them, like water? Rondald is also good with a crossbow...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

I'd Think a Grass fire would work better...  but only for a short while, and the wind and it's direction are a significant factor.

"I think...and this is just my gut talkin, that we should give the whole hive a wide berth." Magnus chimed in. "I'll gladly take a few more days goin around rather than piss off a whole swarm of dog sized ants." He shook his head slightly at the thought.

Good thought so long as we don't stumble into something worse.

"Yeah, better the devil we know...that we can take one ant at a time."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Finn listens intently as he chews on a hard wedge of cheese, the thing being so dry as to require frequent sips of water.   ”Trees.”  He goes on to explain the advantages afforded by the natural landscape.

When the subject turns to burning the giant ant colony by way of a forest fire Razzel nods.  ”I'm in.”


OOC:
The ant hill is inside the forest, about 1/4 mile in.  So getting up high on a tree branch is about the only natural defense.  Then again, we heard sawing and trees crashing last night.

Judoc shakes his head. ”I cannot honestly believe you lot want to burn this forest down. I guess it would kill whatever man-eating plants are inside, but do you know how long a forest can burn? Weeks, maybe months. Even a week is going to slow us down.“ Judoc thinks of the fire set that burned down the tenement where the Row faked Thresher’s death. He remembers the heat, the momentary fear that even he felt as the fire consumed everything, threatening to trap him inside.

The young wizard spreads his hands. ”Look, I’m a fire mage. Setting shit on fire is what I do. And this sounds like a bad idea to me. Yeah, it’ll drive the ants away, no doubt. But it’ll take forever to put the fire out once it starts. We could always start a backdraft fire to put out the first one, but that will depend on getting in front of the fire, and that might be where we’ve driven the ants to.” As big as dogs? At least they don’t look like dogs, he thinks with relief.

OOC: Raddek, based on what Judoc knows of fire, approximately how long will this forest burn once they set it on fire?

In reply to Judoc the Merciful (msg # 103):

"These are wild lands. They are meant to catch fire occasionally due to lightning strikes and other stuff that occurs naturally. We are just adjusting the timing to suit ourselves...it will go out naturally after clearing the dead wood."

Eager to settle on a plan for moving forward Finn soaks in the various opinions on the debate then casually shrugs his shoulders.  ”Ya Judoc.  It don't sound so bad to me.  Burn it.  The whole damned thing.  Dants and all.”  When the curious stare at his odd word Finn chuckles.  ”Dog-ants.  Man eating trees and whatever the fuck else is out there.”

The group debates the pros and cons of burning down the wood and though the potential gains make the prospect alluring, Finn eventually decides to go against the plan, with Judoc voicing an especially strong opinion of the risks involved with an uncontrolled burn.  Not the least of their considerations is the heavy cloud layer that hovers just above them on the mountain, threatening rain and heavy winds which as of yet remain calm in the isolated draw.

Instead, Finn opts to avoid the mound as much as possible, with a diversion planned if the hive of ants were to go on high alert.  After spending the better portion of an hour to regain his strength lost from spell casting, Finn leads the group as far west as it can go before it reaches the cliff before turning back south towards the wood.  It is only minutes before Finn stops, unloading his weapons back into his bags and handing the lead rope of his horse, Boots, to Bjorn, the only member of the small party not already handling some variant of equine.

The plan was simple, Finn would head directly to the mound, assessing the threat of the giant insects and if they attacked, he would lead them elsewhere.  The distraction would hopefully be enough to let the larger party skirt the edge of the forest unimpeded...  Hopefully...

Now the de facto leader, Judoc keeps his position near the vanguard.  Though Judoc was more than capable of defending himself without the use of his spells, letting the stronger, more martial men of the group toward the lead built him time to cast his magics and lend his best aid.

The first thing that becomes evident to the group is that they will indeed not be able to steer entirely clear of the trees.  Though the perspective from above may have appeared to Finn to seem navigable, it is evident from walking that the cactus-like flora climb up onto the rocky slopes, above whatever paths would be navigable for a normal hike, let alone that with horses and mules.  Resigned to their fate, Judoc presses the group forward after ensuring the trees will not arbitrarily attack intruders.

It is perhaps only another quarter of an hour of walking before the group comes upon the same grinding sound they had heard the previous evening, a perpetual low hum like the rubbings of a saw against wood.  Magnus stops in his place, his right hand still holding the lead-rope of his mule as he searches for the source, eventually pointing ahead and to the left some dozen paces, where a giant ant, perhaps a foot or more in length and half as high stands at the base of one of the cactus-trees, its mandibles chewing at the base of the wood in a patient and perpetual graze.

OOC:  It is 0835 on the 12th of May.  The skies are now entirely overcast with a cloud layer that seems to cut the mountain in half.  The ant you see is about the size of a house cat and about a dozen yards away.  Judoc, make two rolls for me.  The first label Stealth, the Second label reaction.  Everyone, please post what you are currently holding.  Everyone must have at least one free hand to guide their mount/mule or you may decide to have both hands on your lead rope for additional control.  If you post nothing I will assume you have both hands on the lead rope.

Either way, the crossbow will in one hand.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Sat 01 Dec 2018.

Magnus had also entertained thoughts of putting all the mules together in one string, but his life on the road had also taught him the counterpoints to that argument. Putting all their eggs in one basket, especially one lashed together strung out basket at their rear where they could potentially be vulnerable to all sorts of things was among them.

As it was he led his own smaller mule "Gus" by the halter lead with alternating hands depending on fatigue and the terrain. His shield was held on his back via a leather strap across his chest and shoulder while his axe was carried in its loop on his belt, a stiff fold of leather protecting him from accidentally brushing his arm against the edge.

Suddenly his ears shaggy ears literally twitched and he took in a sudden rush of air into his big nostrils before he located the sound and held up his hand. When he was confident he had the attention of the others, he gestured in the direction of the large ant to the others.

Gustav has his shield in his left hand and the lead rope in his right, on seeing the ant, he muttered a curse, put the lead rope in his shield hand  (with his shield) and drew his sword.

At the sight of the ant, Judoc pauses for a moment. ”Wait,” he says quietly, pitching his voice low. This specimen is apparently smaller than others in the area, and the mage watches, fascinated, as the cat-sized insect gnaws away at its work.

”Some ants are warriors, and some are workers. I’m guessing this one is one of the latter. It’s merely cutting down food to take back to the nest.”

He scans for other ants in the area. He concentrates for a moment.   ”Let’s try not to alarm this one. If we can quietly move around it, it may not be alarmed. Draw weapons, but keep your distance.”

OOC: Judoc has his staff in his right hand and is holding the reins of his horse in his left.

He will want the group to try to move quietly past the ant if possible.

Rondald, at the rear, will follow his advice, Crossbow trained on the ants head.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:41, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

Gustav also finds Judoc's suggestion logical and moves to comply. He holds the Mules lead in his left hand with his shield (perhaps wrapped around the handle once for a sure grip) and keeps the broadsword in his right hand ready.

Judoc talks down the group from starting an immediate fight, instead, leading his horse farther right against the stones of the slope attempting to give the insect as wide of a berth as he is able.  It is clear however, that Judoc's horse is not nearly as comfortable with the prospect of going on as he is.  The beast nickers and whinneys, shaking its head back and forth, as Judoc attempts to keep his eyes upon their single foe.

But it is not the noise of his horse that really sets Judoc on edge.

Off in the forest to the left, a slow building, mechanical clicking begins to rise over the sounds of the animals.

Chitter CheEeE!  Chitter CheEeE!

Off to the left, and much closer, the sound repeats.  Shuffling out from behind a downed tree, another of the insects stands high, its mandibles clicking with flutters of sawdust.  Ahead too, the sound echoes and the first of the insects is joined by another mate another ten feet or so to his right.  Judoc pauses in his steps, his resolve to move forward tested by the additional foes...  Judoc finds Aiah's answer to his query almost completely unnecessary. 

OOC:  There are now three of the giant ants, the first you saw is at your 10 o'clock for about 9 yards, and the other two have popped up at your 9 o'clock and straight ahead for over a dozen yards.  Unfortunately, you have edged your way as far as you can over to the right, so there is no more room to edge around them without risking your horses stumbling.  None of them are moving yet, though they are all standing alert and still.  Rondald, you have your crossbow ready and loaded in your left hand, though since the rest of the group is all ahead of you, there isn't an opportunity to aim at either of the two ahead of you without training your arrow through your wife or mules without abandoning your position.  You may now aim at the one to the side.  We are not in combat yet, feel free to continue posting general actions.

Magnus might have been comical under almost any other circumstance. Despite the mad chittering of the nearby insects he moved with an amusing balance of haste and caution, as if he could gingerly tip toe (or tip-hoof in his case?) past the ant workers without giving them incentive to attack wholesale.

He kept moving, guiding Gus behind him and casting wary glances in the direction of the ants.

Rondald noted the actions of the original ant, which he continues to aim at, as the group continues. He holds his fire though until it is clear that soldiers are going to attack.

"Terri, might be good to keep an eye out for something that can take the halters, to free yourself to use the bow if you need to. But for now, I guess we keep going to try to get past them. Can the guys at the front go faster?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:42, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

 Judoc notes the appearance of the two other ants and feels himself tensing up. Though these ants are most likely gatherers, not guards, he notes how strong their mandibles are. However, he relaxes almost immediately. No doubt the overgrown insects can easily be driven off, and after all, they’re little more than 6-legged, segmented cats. How much harm could they really do?

”Stay calm,” Judoc says quietly to the others. ”They’re watching what we’re doing. Don’t make any sudden moves, but get ready to defend yourselves if they rush us. Aiah says these are the only three in the area, and that the ants at the nest aren’t happy about Finn. If these get aggressive, I’ll frighten them away with fire.”

OOC: Continue on.

Thinking their foes mere workers, Judoc pulls along his steed, hoping that the insect's posturing is mere bluff and self importance...  It occurs that he is quite wrong.

Chitter CheEeEeE!

The insects charge, mandibles clicking wildly!  Judoc throws himself instantly into his spell casting but it is clear that he has played the moment too fine, there is no way his spell will come off in time!

Twang!

Rondald unloads his crossbow, the bolt sailing straight for their assailant, striking the thing square in the head and penetrating through, pinning the insect to the ground!  It struggles up with its four hind legs, twitching and spasming in place though it cannot dislodge itself.

Still two more charge on, and Judoc is only barely able to get his spell off in time, creating a massive column of flame ahead of him, centered on the attacker still impaled upon a crossbow bolt.

Though the spell has immediate consequences that Judoc is not counting on...  Flickering tiny flames catch in all directions, with smoke pouring up from the ground in great black tufts...  Beside him, Judoc's steed rears back violently with a frightened whinney, the rope going taught in Judoc's hand as he staggers to regain control.

Choas!

OOC:  Ok, no map this time as I don't really think its required this time and it takes a lot of effort to get everything set up.  Two ants are left, the first one is about six yards straight ahead, the second is about 11 yards to the left side of the column.  Judoc's spell is active two hexes away (up and left) from Magnus at an area of 2.  Note that the ground isn't actually on fire yet, though there is some serious smoke pouring from the ground where the spell was cast.  Slight change to the Group order, as Judoc has taken Finn's place at the lead and Terri is by herself leading the two mules on either side of her.  Everyone leading an animal, horse or mule, must make an animal handling roll, which defaults to either IQ-5 or ST-5 (if you don't have Animal Handling please note which default you are using).  Please also use the following modifiers:  Magnus, Judoc, Gustav, neutral.  Bjorn +1, Terri +1/+2.  If you fail the roll, your animal is spooked, if you fail by 5 or more, your animal is so afraid that it bolts.

Edit:  Sorry, forgot to say what we were doing here.  Let's just do one round of action until we figure out what is going on with the horses.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:18, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

Rondald drops his crossbow, the sling over his shoulder taking the weight as he readies his axe and shield, stepping forward towards the attackers as he does so.

[OOC: That may take a little longer than one round, but so be it. I don't know Terri's skills, so I just roll once for her to control both? ]

Magnus sensed the skittishness in his small mule and instantly acted to correct the matter. It might be insensitive to say that he understood the animal on a basic level, other that he instinctively knew how to assert himself in kind.

In the wild two horses might have bit or kicked at each other, but here he hoped that an arm around the neck and a sharp glare would get his point across.

Gustav felt the animal dance sideways and immediately set the sword between his knees while talking softly to the animal, and trying to calm it with his right hand...

Apparently these bugs have more on their minds than harvesting the prickly cactus-like trees. They evidently see the interlopers as a threat, and the ants’ charge is brave but foolhardy in the face of such overwhelming odds.

”Nice shot, Rondald!” Judoc calls out as he concentrates on the column of fire he has created. Curious. What would make the ground smoke in such a manner? Was he merely igniting the soil vegetation, or are there some natural deposits of gas below the soil? Behind Judoc, his horse remains calm, so Judoc concentrates on the flames he has created. ”Figura ignis,” he murmurs, willing the fire to obey.

OOC: Concentrate.

The column of flame ahead of Judoc rages!  Six feet high and almost twice as wide, it burns with a ferocious intensity and deafening growl though it seems to have no fuel to keep it doing so.  Though its top burns clear and pure, large quantities of grey and black still puff up from the bottom sending smoke pouring across in front of Magnus and Judoc, burning at their eyes as they move to reign in their mounts.  Already spellcasting again, Judoc places a hand on his steed, attempting to calm the beast as its ears flatten and it shakes its head furiously.

Magnus too manages to keep his under control, he puts a firm grip on the rope by the horse's chin to keep it from moving too much.  But behind the two leaders all is bedlam!  Gustav's mule rears back on hind legs, shaking its head with a snort, forcing the swordsman to drop his weapon and grab on to the lead rope with both hands to maintain control!

Bjorn and Terri both seem to be even worse for wear - Bjorn, who had little even ridden a horse before being thrust one to walk to safety moments ago seems overwhelmed by Finn's gelding, Boots, who rears back on two legs, pawing the air as he snaps his head back and forth, though Bjorn manages to keep the rope barely in his grasp!  Boots rears back again, the saddlebags on his side shifting downward with the movement, causing the horse to shake even more wildly.

But Terri is beside herself!  Two mules, each easily twice as strong as she yank wildly at the leadropes she holds in each hand.  She pulls with all her might to keep the beasts calm but she can do little with either.  The beast to her left pulls free from her grip as it rears back.

"Agh!"  Terri screams, letting free of the bucking mule for now to keep two hands on the one she still has a hold of.  The mule turns, its massive water barrels sloshing loudly as it points its head to the back of the column.

To make matters worse, there is still the matter of the attacking ants!  Judoc manipulates the flames ahead, spreading them out into a wall that surrounds the party to the front and side, but the closest ant charges all the same, singed on only the edge of the flames as they move as it makes it all the way under Judoc's mount, the beast stamping out with a shod hoof, thought the kick misses the insect underfoot.

Rondald steps forward too, letting his crossbow fall as he grips his axe, though his view of the last charging foe is blocked by the wall of flame that now obscures his vision!

OOC: Those of you with spooked mounts, Gustav, Bjorn, and Terri, must take three turns calming their mounts before they can take any other action (unless they would rather just let go of the lead rope).  Magnus, Judoc, and Rondald may all act normally.  The last mule, the one on Terri's left has entirely broken free and is raring to bolt.  Rondald has a readied axe, although readying his shield will take three full turns.  The first ant is directly under Judoc's mount and was slightly singed by the wall of flame, the other ant was about 6 yards to the left of the caravan, although is no longer visible due to the wall of flame.  I know things aren't exactly clear as to where people are, but it would make the most sense for Magnus and Judoc to attempt to hit the ant under Judoc's horse, and for Rondald to try and figure out the one flanking the group.  Let's do three rounds of action this time.

Rondald, his vision of the ants obscured, grabs at the reigns of the mule that pulled free in order to hand them back to Terri, before moving towards where the ants were last seen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:53, Sun 09 Dec 2018.

Gustav works to calm his mule,

Magnus stifled a cough from the acrid smoke as he pulled his mule along behind him, the wary beast seemingly mollified for the moment.

In turning he saw the cat sized ant under Judocs horse, and then mostly by instinct, he attempted to stomp the ever living shit out of the repulsive thing while he held control over the halter in his arms.

Between the roaring fire, the wild neighing and bucking, the mad chittering and shouting...one could barely even here the exepletives that accompanied the raise and fall of his hoof.

The muscles in Judoc’s jaw twitch, and the young mage frowns in frustration. The fire was supposed to screen the travellers from the advancing ants, but all it seems to be doing is frighten the horses and create thick black smoke. Reluctantly, Judoc forces both spells to end prematurely  and turns his attention to the closest ant.

The horses nicker and whine, with many of them shaking their handlers as they rear and shake their heads.  Rondald makes a grab for his mule, now free from Terri's grip, although the rope slips just shy of his grasp, and the mule bolts, planting a shoulder in Rondald's torso as it passes on, spinning Rondald three quarters of a turn before he catches his balance, the mule already yards away with no signs of slowing.

The giant column of fire, which until a moment ago had been blazing up to six feet high, extinguishes in a moment, the whole thing exploding in a puff...  though where the flame had blazed only seconds ago now there is still a thin grey smoke and small, licking flames catching the dirt below.  A small gust of wind catches the side of the fight, bursting the earth into a moment of flames and bringing with it the smell of sawdust...

At the lead of the column, Judoc and Magnus find themselves battling the closest of the menaces, and though each jostles their lead to be able to set on the beast it takes a moment for each to be able to attack.  The ant scurries on, scrambling up the leg of Judocs horse which stamps a leg towards the insect though it misses badly.  Judoc however, makes good of his staff, smacking the thing with the butt of the weapon, dropping the ant to the ground below.  Magnus stamps his foot to try and finish the thing off, but the foe is small, far smaller than he is used to, and the blow would have gone wide even if the thing hadn't been moving.  The ant squares himself off now with Judoc, lunging towards his feet thought the mage pulls back quickly enough to keep himself clear.

Rondald too finds himself squared off with a foe and strikes out with his axe - though the ant moves too quickly, scrawling past the weapon with ease as it climbs up Rondald's foot and onto the calf of his boot...

OOC:  Rondald, you made an attempt to grab the bolting mule, though thankfully you failed as you certainly would have pulled off your feet or potentially trampled if you were much more in front of it.  Instead you simply were off balance for a turn.  The fire around the group is done, though small flames still lick around the ground, threatening still a larger fire.  Gustav, Bjorn, and Terri now have their animals under control (with the exception of Terri's mule that bolted back towards the lake) and can act normally.  Gustav would sensibly attack the ant molesting Rondald while Bjorn probably makes the most sense to attack the one set on by Judoc and Magnus.  Sorry again for the lack of the map.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:08, Wed 05 Dec 2018.

"Terri, try to grab that mule before it brings the whole damn nest on us! I will squash this little pest..."

He swings down with his axe, trying to cut it in half...
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:53, Sun 09 Dec 2018.

Magnus's hoof gouged roughly semi-circle shaped marks in the soil as he brought it down again and again. The Minotaur seeming confident that the plate sized appendage was an adequate tool for the job.

Thanks to the shape of his head he was also able to note that the fire was smoldering and that Rondald was now in a tough spot with his foe solidly attached to his leg.

As Judoc lept back Magnus stepped behind the thing and attempted once more to crush it underfoot.

The ant is quick, but Judoc is quicker, jumping back as the over-large insect scurries forward. Beads of sweat run down the wizard’s face, the strain from spellcasting and combat beginning to take its toll on his body. He raises his staff once more to rain another blow down on the creature.

OOC: Wait, and then attack the ant closest to Judoc when Judoc has an opening.

Having Calmed his mule, Gustav keeps the lead in his left hand with his shield and bends to pick up his sword be fore advancing to assist Rondald. He swings carefully, parallel to Rondald's leg, hoping to remove the ant's legs.

Terri looks at Rondald with incredulity as he barks his command, the lead rope of her second mule still taught from the beasts struggle.  Luckily, Rondald is entirely encompassed in his own battle and misses the glare.  "Fine!  Here.  Hold this."  She thrusts the lead rope at Bjorn, who has just now himself controlled his own horse before grabbing her bow from her shoulder and sprinting off back to the north behind the spooked Mule.

As for Rondald, he swings wildly with his axe attempting to cut the ant right off his own leg, though even before his arm is moving the ant glides around and up his leg, now hanging between his legs at his inner thigh.  Rondald's swing goes wide, cutting just inches from his own flesh.  Gustav too swings his sword in a blow that misses, cutting dangerously close to Rondald's skin before it lodges into the fine earth below.  The ant lunges it's head towards Rondald's flesh, it's pincers flaring wide, though it only manages to rip open a shred of Rondald's pants near his groin.  Rondald stamps furiously, attempting to get the thing off, though it holds on stubbornly with all six of its legs, shredding its mandibles through Rondald's pant legs again and this time drawing blood from the flesh just above his knee!

At the front of the column, Judoc eyes the ant warily, taking a stab with the blunt end of his staff, though the weapon hits wide, his mark too small and too quickly moving to mark effectively.  Magnus stamps down again hard, although his attack too strays wade, just missing the skittering legs of the thing.  The ant lashes forward, his jaws slashing through the leather thong of Judoc's sandal and drawing a spray of blood from Judoc's foot.  But this time the thing has overextended itself and Magnus squares his foot before he slams it down again, this time right atop the insect's thorax.

Crunch!

The outer layer of the beasts skin crumple with the blow, creating deep cracks that ooze with thick insect bile.  The ant shudders and quiets, either dead or dying.

Frustrated beyond compare, Rondald swats the insect with his open hand, this time knocking the insect free and back to the dirt!  Gustav follows up with an overhand slash, the tip of his blade slicing a neat cut in the insect's outer shell.  Though now that the insect realizes it is alone, it falters scurrying off and away from the group as fast as it's legs will carry it!

The group looks to take account of the injuries, though luckily they are small.  The ants created only two small cuts to Rondald and Judoc, the former one barely worth treating.  The animals too seem no worse for wear, although Terri still sprints, now nearing several dozen yards away and still falling farther behind the fleeing mule.  Judoc is about to speak, though he quiets his voice when he sees the form of a falcon dive into their midst and transform in a moment back into the Finn.

“They heard you.  They're coming.  About twenty.”  Finn breathes as he grabs for his bow and knives.  "No more than a couple minutes out."

OOC:  I took some liberties.  To me it seemed downright suicidal to attempt to swing an axe at a cat-sized thing gripping on to your own leg.  Both Rondald and Gustav's swings missed (SM-3 and close combat modifiers were both a factor for Rondald) and I closed my eyes as I rolled to see if the miss resulted in a hit to anything else.  Luckily it didn't (though I suppose a hero point would have been used if you had cut off your own leg :p).  After the first round, I opted instead to have you attempt to break free before attacking again.  I guess the lesson for me is, if something sounds like it would be a bad idea in real life, I promise to find the rules to make it a bad idea in game play.  Take that as you will.

The combat is over for now and you guys can post normally, although it sounds like there are more reinforcements on the way.  Terri is now probably three or four dozen yards away and definitely did not hear what Finn said.  The mule that fled was the one with the large water barrels.  Let me know how you guys want to carry on from here or if there are any questions.

Gustav looks at the shield on his left arm and decides it was rather useless, he puts it back on his mules and recovers his Main Gauche, which will at least allow him a controlled strike.

Wincing as the ant tears into his foot, Judoc stumbles back to avoid another bite. As Magnus crunches the life out of the insect, the mage smiles. ”Thanks for the assist, big guy,” he says gratefully. Judoc’s foot throbs painfully, and blood pools in his sandal, but he tries to ignore the pain for the present.

With the other ant fleeing, Judoc prepares to continue on through the forest, but then Finn reappears and tersely relays the news. ”I’ll go hold them off,” he says. ”You guys keep going, and I’ll rejoin you after I’ve scared them away.”

He turns to Gustav. ”Here, take my horse. I’ll be back soon.” Judoc thrusts his lead reins into Gustav’s hand and begins making a waving gesture with his left hand as he casts a new spell.

OOC: Begin casting.

As soon as it lands the little bird transforms into a man. Wings become arms complete with fingers. The hard sharp beak becomes a soft nose. Feathers of light and brown melt as they turn into pinkish skin.

Finn's face is flushed. Little beads of sweat appear on his forehead. His breathing is taxed and his movements are slower than normal, clearly the man is tired from the magic he has wrestled with.

Razzel is in a midway process of grabbing his weapons when the superior wizard announces his plan. Relief washes over the weary leader and his shoulders instantly slump. Summing up what strength he has left he announces authoritatively.  "You heard 'im. Let's get those animals and move.  We ain't got long."

As Finn pats Boots reassuringly and rubs his strong neck the young mercenary notices blood coming from their mage.  "Hey Jude, lemme have a look."


OOC:
If Judoc is agreeable Finn will attempt to diagnose the severity of Judocs wound so that he may heal it. Finns thinking is that Judoc should reserve his magic for offense and not healing.

Whether or not I'll heal Judoc return my gear to as it was listed before and then oversee our exodus towards the mountain pass.

Shaking his head, Judoc completes his spell weaving and feels the mana flowing into the spell. "Nah, Finn, let it be," he says. "You can take a look later, once we're out of here." With a salute, the mage shoots straight up into the air and heads in the direction of the ants.

Rondald curses like only a sailor can when the thing continues up his leg. His axe still in hand, he takes off after his wife in an attempt to catch the mule and the supplies it carries.

"Take those other animals with you. We will try to catch up as best we can."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:53, Sun 09 Dec 2018.

Gustav is startled by Judoc's action and instruction ... but does take the animals lead, rearranging them and again putting the Main Gauche away, as there is a limit to what he can do with his left hand now. he then heads off with the rest.
We need to help Finn along, he is obviously very drained.

Magnus grinned in response and slapped Judoc lightly on the shoulder as he passed. Not pausing to wpie the bits of fluid and carapace from his hoof, he took the halter in hand and began to move with a purpose away from the direction he believed the ants to be coming from.

Now and then he cast a glsnxe over his shoulder, but for the moment he seemed intent on moving as fast as the mule.could manage.

And so, in a flurry of action, Finn grabs the reigns of his horse back from Bjorn and leads forth Bjorn and Gustav, taking along Judoc's mount and Rondald's spare mule as Judoc flies to the west and Rondald runs southward after his wife and supplies.  Despite his near exhaustion, Finn sets a grueling pace, pushing both the heavier laden people and animals to their limits.  However, after only a few minutes, it becomes apparent that the panicked haste is not needed.

Judoc floats back into view, his own brow laden with sweat.  "They seem to have forgotten about us."  Judoc says simply, taking his own reigns back from Gustav.  "I saw a bunch of them swarming over the nest, though none were heading this way.  I figured we should just leave it.."

And indeed, there are no more encounters from ants, for either the main group or for Terri and Rondald, who rejoin the others with their mule in tow some fifteen minutes later once the group stops at the edge of the wood to rest and recover.

As Aiah has relayed, and Finn has seen for himself, the way onward is a narrow, winding path going high into the mountains.  Some thousand or so feet upward, the whole of the mountain disappears into the low clouds that cut the slope neatly in two.

For an hour or more the group rests and prepares themselves for the continued slog but eventually Finn stands again, unable to justify losing continued daylight when they have so much longer to travel.  The group sets off up the steep draw, following the small path through sharp cutbacks which make it seem like they are making no progress at all.  Hour after hour though, they slowly eat away at the elevation.

Just after midday, they pierce the cloud-line and enter into a dense mist, making it impossible to see much more than a few dozen yards.  The pathway begins to straighten, though steep slopes continue to rise on each side and Terri states happily that they must be in the saddle, near or at the top of the pass and close to working their way back down.

It is another two hours however before the winding downward slope brings them back below the cloud-line and they see a grassy green valley spreading out before them.

"Odd, don't you think?"  Terri explains as they approach the place where the path erodes into the valley floor below.  "Only moments ago you couldn't see anything with that mist all over the place, and now that we're out, you can't hear anything, I mean this place is almost completely sile..."

"Agh!"  Magnus screams, cutting Terri off mid-sentence as his hoof slides forward uncontrollably, his balance thrown completely off as he pulls on his lead rope to keep his balance.  Gus, Magnus's mule, pulls back at the pressure and thankfully the two manage to keep their feet, for just ahead of them a massive maw opens up in the earth, with teeth-like fronds jutting up on the edges as it gapes wide, anticipating the meal that should be sliding in at any moment.  When the promised meal does not come, the maw closes together with a neat snap! leaving in its place only an exact simulacrum of the earth and grass around.

"Wow"  Terri breaths, rushing forward to inspect the earth that had nearly swallowed Magnus whole.  "It's a plant!

Indeed, scholars in some far off land would call it quickgrass, for it neatly copied the quicksand which is found in some swamps around the world... well, apart from the death from digestion as opposed to suffocation.  For in the belly of quickgrass is brewed the strongest of acids, which could kill a man in seconds and reduce him to bones in a matter of days.  This acid is kept there by a thick coat of slime which protects the flower around, as well make almost any attempt at escape futile.  This particular quickgrass, with its particular placement at the edge of the valley, enjoyed many other things in its stomach-like flower, including a pair of still-digesting femurs from a Wazifi adventurer, the first of the Necromancer's party to make the discovery.

Near disaster avoided, Finn decides to manage a path around.  Of course, they come to find several more of the plants, and after another near miss, Terri takes the lead with Magnus, for she proves to be the best among them (in truth the only among them) able to discern the thin slime on the grass-like leaves in the dim light.

Though the path is easy, it is still close to nightfall before the group reaches the edge of the valley and Finn decides to camp rather than test the next mountain pass above.  As he has the previous nights, he casts his spell of protection and the group settles in, letting the animals graze but keeping them far from the closest of the deadly plants.

The next morning dawns cold and windy, with the clouds thickening threateningly above.  The group makes ready to travel again, and again they find their path a narrow one through the mountain pass ahead.  It is perhaps only ten in the morning when the clouds erupt, setting forth a thick sheet of rain that keeps Aiah earthbound and sulky on Judoc's shoulder.  Luckily, this time the saddle of the mountain is much lower and the path less winding and it is only a four hour walk before they find themselves breaking into the next valley below.  Ensuring first that there is no carnivorous plants to block their way, Finn sets their two wide marching order as they make their way down the narrow of the valley.

Finn's leadrope goes taught in his hands as Boots nickers nervously...

OOC:  It is 1200 on the 13th of May.  The skies are overcast just below the rim of the valley and the rain is thick, making visibility extremely poor.  Aiah absolutely refuses to take flight to scout ahead due to the weather.  Finn guesses that Perdition is about another fifteen miles and one more mountain pass away.  Everyone roll against Perception-5.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:39, Tue 11 Dec 2018.

Gustav senses nothing but he is wise enough to know the mules senses are better than his for many things.

Something is wrong, Listen to the Mule and be on Guard

He follows his own guidance.

The trip has been a long one, and Rondald misses the travel by sea, but Terri's skills have proved vital for the group, and he makes sure she knows he appreciates it.

Rondald is beside Terri at this point, crossbow ready, just in case anything spooks the mules again. When the mule stops, he also does, but he is not the most perceptive.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:54, Sun 09 Dec 2018.

Judoc is sick of hiking. The journey seems neverending, and his initial good spirits at the outset of the adventure have soured considerably. The weather doesn’t help his mood any, with the wind, rain, and cold leaving the mage and his hawk familiar both soaked to the bone. The sooner this day’s march is over, the sooner Judoc can warm and dry himself. If this is what a soldier’s life is like, then perhaps Judoc should reconsider his career path.

Halting with the others, he searches for whatever has made Finn’s horse pause. ”Now what?” Judoc asks, irritation in his voice. Lead reins in his left hand and his staff in his right, he peers ahead, looking and listening for danger.

Magnus seemed to have lost near thirty pounds with his normally shaggy fur soaked, bedraggled and plastered against his body. He trudged on with his eyes narrowed against the storm, his hooves sinking deep into the mud, his horns lowered slightly as he focuses on just putting miles behind them without falling victim to any of the strange predators this places calls home.

His sense of pride at being first in the column was significantly diminished after the first encounter with the plant, but although he had considered it, he refrained from asking the group to swap out for whoever was first into the unknown.

Although normally attentive, with the constant roar of the falling rain and the thick gray clouds he might be forgiven for no being at his best.

Just as he had planned all along the ants would, if provoked, swarm their own home in defense and not care about much else.  In fact it took less effort than he thought to drive them insane.  Finn had surmised kicking the mound, sheering off the top or setting it on fire would be a requirement to see the soldiers mass into a fighting regiment but in reality so little effort was needed.  Finn looks intently at Judocs foot as the potent sorcerer flies off.  The gash was certainly not as menacing as the wounds opened up by the axe wielding clay golems animated by the late wicked necromancer, but then again the ant soldier was one sixth the size of those guardians.  A shiver runs down Razzel's spine at the thought of needing to fight even ten of such monsters simultaneously.

The next twenty four hours sees their team making decent time and bypassing, with some skill, another expected foe, a man eating plant.  Naturally its form was unexpected but fascinating nonetheless.  If Finn weren't pressed for fame and fortune he would delay there for a day or more to study the thing and take samples.  Who knows how much its acid, ooze or other 'mouth bits' might be worth to the magical community at large.  In camp that night his mind races with points on a topic which came to light earlier in the day, namely the Templars versus the Row and the vastly more interesting line between good and evil.  The plucky leader had forgotten about the brewing dialogue in the wake of certain life threatening insect related crisis and had become busy in camp making notes in his journal.

The next day as they walked those points again bubble to the surface and Razzel tries to lure his comrades back into tantalizing debate.  He turns his attention to his fellow spell caster.  ”Judoc, you asked me yesterday.  No.  Never met no man called Thresh'r.  I didn't meet a lot of folks in the Row before I come out here though.”

Now his gaze wanders over the party pausing to linger on the soldier and his wife.  ”Eh Rondald.  So you think there is a big fat line that divides good men and bad?  We're all angels or daemons under this finery, eh?”  Finn pinches his fingers and pulls at his coat to refer to his clothing.  ”You can judge a man on a few simple actions.  He's gonna 'splain through a few quick deeds if he's the kind of man who kisses babies, or kills 'em?”

Finn tilts his head back and chortles then continues without waiting for an answer.  ”The world...”  Suddenly Finn halts his walking as his new companion whinnies nervously.  The leader looks all around in curiosity.


OOC:
I the player got distracted by the issue of burning or not burning the forest and then the ant colony, but I had found the banter about the Row and Templars, and good and evil to be fascinating.  This is my in-character attempt to reboot it.  Do with it what you will.

This message was lightly edited by the player at 07:58, Mon 10 Dec 2018.

The party slows as Boots nickers nervously, each head scanning around while fingers clinch nervously about weapon hilts and hand guards.  Whatever it is that Boots smelled or heard however seems to elude the party for now, though each of them are determined to stay on their guard as they pull their animals forward - the moment of anxiety now passed.

If ever there were conditions to allow for their vigilance, these are decidedly not them.  The rain still slides down in sheets, causing hoods to be drawn low over faces, or in Magnus's case, causing his fur to droop dangerously close to his eyes.  The visibility too is atrocious, though they are now below the clouds, the thick, dark masses churn and bubble above them, blocking out all but the most ardent of daylight from seeing the ground.  The rain just makes matters worse, and it is hard to get a clear vision of anything right in front of them let alone across the valley.  It is therefore the smell which clues Judoc in at first that something is amiss...

Gustav shit his pants!  Judoc screams in his mind as he presses his soaking sleeve against his face, drowning the scent as he gags involuntarily.

The odor is gone in a moment, washed clean away by the rain or wind, though the memory seems to cling to the inside of his nostrils like a fetid monkey.  Infuriated by the lack of warning, Judoc averts his gaze some yards off to the side where a small boulder protrudes from the knee-high grasses, the worn stone weathered into an odd, sagging shape... and was that a bone protruding from the side?  And... flies? 

Though he is loath to call a halt to the movement to investigate the biggest shit ever, Judoc feels that a few moments should be given to figure out what sort of creature made this mess.  Taking a moment to look about, it is Finn who finds a massive track pressed against the earth, though it is nearly worn away by the rains and weather.

The thing is massive, perhaps two feet or longer from the heel to the end of the longest toe.  For once, it seems that Terri's outdoor knowledge is entirely flabbergasted.  "I don't know what could have made it, but I can tell you I don't want to stay here to find out.  Maybe we'll be lucky and finds it hates this weather just as much as we do."

Finn agrees with the assessment and pushes forward, hoping to avoid any encounter.

Though it's hard to tell the movement of the sun without even the hint of a shadow around, it is well into the afternoon when the ground's slope begins to turn back upward and the wide valley floor narrows towards another high mountain pass.  Without encountering so much as an over-sized ground squirrel, Finn finds himself nearing the edge of the valley.  Of course, that is just good leadership!  And though he longs to put as much space between himself and whatever monster shit on their trail, he wonders if there is enough daylight to make it beyond the pass.

OOC:  It is now 1430 on the 13th of May.  The weather is still awful, with heavy ran and stiff winds cutting across the valley floor.  Thanks for letting me abuse your characters for a little bit of humor.  If you would like to try and identify the track, please roll vs. Mountain Survival -2 or Tracking -5.  No default rolls here please.  You may also try and determine the "age of the shit" by making a physician roll - no, first aid doesn't count.  Aiah still defiantly refuses to get airborne.


The track in the dirt
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:04, Tue 11 Dec 2018.

Fortunately Gustav couldn't read/hear Judoc's thoughts...   He looks at the heap in the rain ... Looks like a Bird track... A BIG Bird track.

"Yes, Terri, would you recognize a much smaller version of it? I unfortunately would not know where to start...but I agree the weather is not the only reason for wanting to find some cover. We might be in shit weather for now, but we definitely do not want to be in the shit!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

Finn trudges along, yard by yard and while they mean to attack a community of pure evil and the men dedicated to weaponizing it his spirit remains bright and buoyant.  They have faced killer ants as large as cats and dogs, man eating plants lying in and disguised as the ground itself, and now it seems birds as big as a house.  Or, they would, perhaps if not for the continuous unrelenting rain.

As the group happens upon the indent in the ground Razzel leans over the thing and stares for a moment.    Then his attention is drawn to Gustav as the man speaks.  Finn nods.  ”Could be.  If it is Judoc and me need to be fit as a fiddle.  Somethin' tells me magic is gonna be worth three men 'gainst somethin' like that.”

Though the weather is wet and miserable, Finn decides that lingering further is only going to increase the likelihood of meeting the valley's other inhabitant and urges the group forward.  Again they climb, adopting their single file order to accommodate for the narrow path and the steep incline.  The going is rough.  The path is slicked with rain, the visibility poor.  It is even worse so when again they climb above the cloud deck, piercing into a fog that obscures even those at the lead of the line from those at the end.  The rain continues to fall in fat droplets, splattering frigid wet everywhere as the temperatures begin to plunge with the waning day.  The sun seems to descend faster than normal, what little light there is in the fog dwindles and dissipates at an alarming rate.  Each of the party break out their magicked necklaces given to them by Judoc to see by, creating seven halos of light dotting the pathway going through the draw.

Though the going is painfully slow, the draw eventually descends, they break below the layer of cloud and into yet another valley, their last if Finn is to be believed.  To their left, a wide forest hugs the edge of the mountains, boasting enormous trees towards the center though the edges seem to be drowned in a leafy scrub that builds upon itself, engulfing the trees some ten feet high.  To the right and ahead, the valley descends into thick grasses.

As the small group gains their bearings, the rain breaks, though the thick clouds overhead remain stagnant, blocking out any moon and starlight from overhead.

OOC:  It is 1800 on the 13th of May.  According to Finn's previous scouting, the temple is perhaps two miles away.  It is now completely dark, though everyone has an "enchanted" necklace giving something akin to torchlight for everyone who has it exposed.


Picture for effect only, the trees are much higher and it looks much harder to work your way into the woods than pictured above.

Bjorn lets his pack fall from his shoulders as soon as Finn calls for a moment of pause.  "Gods that was awful."  Bjorn murmurs to no one in particular, leaning over to open his pack already in anticipation of spending the night.  "Are we camping here then Finn?"  He asks, pulling his blankets free before frowning at their splotchy wetness.  "Doesn't seem to be much sense in taking on the fortress of evil by night right?  I'm sure there's all sorts that would rather take us on in the darkness."

Magnus regarded the gigantic print with fear tinged awe. He had become so used to being considered "big" by others that the thought of something that size, it's skin, organs and teeth...or beak or whatever it had was sobering. He laid his axe down next to it for future reference when telling the story and listened silently to the theories being bandied about.

He had never felt father from home.

-

When the rain finally let up he wiped the soaked hair from is eyes and stared up into the dark cloudy sky as if expecting it to resume any moment. The sudden silence in the absence of the downpour was odd and he looked to Finn to see if they were indeed stopping to make camp. "Could do with a fire myself..."

"Yeah, big friend. I reckon we could all do with a fire."

The big seafarer made no secret that he though water belonged in the seas, not the heavens. Glad for the reprieve from the rain, he started setting up the tent. Should it start raining again, it would be welcome. He began to think he should have gotten barrels for the tents as well, since they were more waterproof than the saddlebags. Next time. But for now, he set up the tent to drain into a small water container, being glad that at least the food supplies were in a waterproof barrel, and would not spoil.
At least the items in the leather pouch inside the saddlebags had a good chance to be dry, but he checked the sleeping mats and furs tentatively.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:32, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

It is all Judoc can do to keep himself from heaving at the overwhelming stench of excrement, and the sight of the heaping pile of dung is somehow even worse. What on Yrth could have left that massive deposit? And was that a bone sticking out of it?

”Could be another dragon,” he muses. ”The necromancer did have the skeleton of one. Though Gustav is right; those do look like giant bird tracks. Maybe a wyvern?” Judoc rubs his chin consideringly. ”I’m sure we can handle it, whatever it is, but let’s be on our guard.”

*     *     *

Later, when the group stops, Judoc looks to Finn. ”Shall I conjure up a fire to dry us out?” he asks. ”This close to the temple, though, we might pull in some unwelcome guests. Might be better to go without tonight.”

Finn walks along with Boots in tow as the group whiles away the hours.  The going is rough, more mentally than anything else but then again Finn knew it would be.   There is a reason the women of the village have not seen their men return or engineered their own rescue party.  This place is dangerous, perhaps one of the most dangerous places on Yrth.  Finn passes time by drumming up chit chat with any who will engage him from the mundane to the ridiculous.   Aside from talking about his preference of shoe maker and spice to excite his beef stew, Razzel entices conservation on the more exciting such as which Azerian leader is rumored to actually be a doppelgänger agent working for the Northern Nomads, or do Angels really exist and do they intervene in human affairs?

It isn't long before the group plods to a halt some two hours from the site of the dreaded temple itself.  Some of the band ask if this is to be the camp site and while asking some are already unpacking.  Finn creases his eyebrows while rubbing his chin, attempting to seem wise and courtly as he considers the pros and cons.  ”This is as good as any.  I think just being close might bring the curious or hostile to us no matter if it's wakey time or sleepy time.   Only a damned fool would end his hiking day at the gates, forced to go in tired or sleep on the doorstep.  No sir.  We're going in rested and that means camping close.  'Sides, if somethin' comes to us it means less inside.”


OOC:
Cast my normal protective spell then work on the normal camp stuff.  I'm good with fire.  My gut says things living in and around an ancient evil prison are gonna find us whether we have a fire or not.

This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Wed 12 Dec 2018.

Debating that benefit in comfort is more important than the risk of exposure, Finn agrees to a fire knowing at least that the forest will block the light from most of the valley.  Finn first churns the earth, spreading wide the grasses and creating his own dirt fire pit some three feet into the earth.  Then without gathering so much as a twig, Judoc casts his magical fire, causing a merry flame that dances high and quickly warms and dries our adventurers.  A few of the others seek out a few bits of fallen wood from the edges of the forest to keep something for the watch when Judoc retires to sleep.

Finn again casts his nightly ritual, circling the campground and creating a hazy mist that surrounds them and their animals, protecting them for the night.

The morning dawns, though there is little more than a slight halo around the mist to mark its passing.  Never the less, Terri wakes each of them with a quick shake of a tent and soon the air is filled with the noise of repacking bags and folding cloth - of horses and mules munching on a grain sack and canteens being drained and refilled at the last of Gustav's water barrel.  Rondald's barrel of water too seems to be getting low.

"It's no matter."  Finn swipes away the concern without a thought.  The river comes back this way and isn't too far up ahead, we can refill there when we need."

"Then we are off?"  Bjorn suggests, waving an open palm above his head, gesturing haphazardly all about him at the still heavy fog all about.  "Do you need to do something then?  Or do we just move on and walk out of your spell?"

Finn shakes his head, one corner of his mouth creased in a frown.  "My spell ended.  The mist should have cleared an hour ago."

"It's probably natural."  Terri suggests, gripping one lead rope for each of the mules in each hand.  "It rained near all yesterday after all, and with the cold weather I bet all the moisture is just hanging in the valley with no wind to blow it out."

"Fuck!"  Bjorn grunts loudly, his jawline squaring in frustration.  "Fucking weather!  It's not even decent enough to snow but stays just warm enough to soak us then make everything fucking invisible!  [Language unknown: Tin!  Ectlarder Ac Ar!]"  Bjorn slips into his native language, though by the agitated and repetitive nature of the words, it is almost certainly more cursing.  Bjorn jams his hand down on the hilt of his axe, drawing it in his hand though there seems to be nothing to use it on.  "We'll I guess let's fucking go then."  He finishes lamely.

And go they do.  Magnus and Finn lead the way with Gus and Boots in tow making a line of adventurers and animals led on by their shortsighted vision and Finn's memory from his scouting several days ago.  After a short time, the rushing water of the river can be heard ahead on the right.

..."Should be easy to find,"  Finn continues his explanation of the temple, trying to catch everyone up now that they were bound to see it soon.  "There's a Plaza, maybe two dozen feet wide, that runs from the front doors near all the way to the river.  There's an old mill too just by the bank, though it's mostly worn down to the foundation and all that's left of the water wheel is the nub of a broken metal shaft.  And the..."

Magnus stops in his tracks, putting out an arm that silences Finn.  He points silently towards the form of a man laying in the grass a dozen steps ahead.  When it does not move, a few steps closer reveal that the man is laying in a pool of blood, the grass beside him soaked and sodden - his body already beset by various forms of beetles and bugs.  A Wazifi by the looks of him - probably one of the necromancer's allies.

"Oh shit."  Magnus breathes, looking up and ahead again as he talks to Finn.  "Did you see that in your scouting?"

It is a moment before the rest of the party can make it out, but when they do, it is hard to stifle cries of horror.  For there, lying on the very stone plaza Finn had been talking about is a monstrous lizard with massively sized back legs.  It is some thirty feet from head to tail and probably stood near half as tall.  The front legs seem much much smaller, almost useless as they are far to small to aid the beast in movement.  It takes but a moment for everyone to be sure the thing is dead, though the extent of the damage is not apparent until they move much closer.

All over the body, wide swaths of the beasts's flesh have been torn away with the skin and meat entirely missing and bones lay openly exposed in the carcass.  One eye has been entirely ripped away, leaving an empty, bloody cavity - the other eye still sits in place, although it is obscured by a four inch centipede curled up on the disk, feeding away at the exposed treat.  The smell of death sits in the stale air, although it is not so pungent yet as to be unmanageable.

All around the massive carcass are more dead Wazifis, at least a dozen more though it is hard to tell without walking the whole perimeter due to the fog.  Their injuries are terrible, some have been torn into pieces, their limbs lying in entirely different spaces of grass than their torso.

It seems almost a foregone conclusion that this was the scene of a massive battle, or at least the end of it.

"Gods."  Terri whispers.  "Do you think this one is like the ants and the beetles and just over-sized or do you think they managed to open the prisons and unleash this thing?"


OOC:  It is 0740 on the 14th of May.  While your character would not know what it is, undoubtedly our players will be able to recognize the T-Rex, even as a days old corpse.  In case there is confusion, no Finn this corpse was not here when you did your scouting run, so it is no more than about two days old, unless someone moved and staged this battle, which seems unlikely.  Everyone is at full HP and FP including full powerstones.  Let's assume that Judoc recast the continual light spells on the necklaces last night in preparation for the adventure.  Food is for the most part fine, with some noted exceptions:  Judoc, this is partly my fault for changing timelines on you, but you are now entirely out of both food for you and grain for your horse.  Terri is happy to share rations with you if no one else ponies up.  Rondald and Magnus:  Both of you guys did not bring in feed for your mules and I've been siphoning it off of your compatriots in order to keep the pace up.  The water barrels are mostly empty, though the river is very close if you want to refill them here.

Gustav moves around the dead creature, looking at it... this may be what left the tracks we saw...  it must have been horrible to fight. But this is not a whole village worth of men, there must be more.

Magnus stood at a distance while he took it all in, the splayed bodies, the butchers shed smell of the recently dead, and the gigantic creature that dominated the scene.

He was not so squeamish as to avoid the bodies, he had killed, he had handled the dead, and while it was not something he looked forward to, it was a hard fact of his life and the path he was on. Although the men were strange, dark skinned and foreign, he could not help but to feel a pang of empathy. Here they were, herded away from their homes only to wind up here facing off against a lizard the size of a wagon (counting the horses needed to pull it!)

After a few moments reflection he moved closer and began to inspect the lizard closer, walking around it slowly and shaking his head. "That's...a big ass lizard" he declared and nodded a few times. "What would it even eat to get that big? No way it came from inside..." he replied somewhat to Terri.

Judoc had set out on the trip confident of their quick success. The journey to this temple wouldn't take very long at all, and so he had packed accordingly. Now, he digs around in his bags for more food and finds himself coming up empty. "What the hell?" he says out loud, frowning, checking his saddlebags first and then his pack. Was he truly out of food? How much had he brought, anyway? A thorough search turns up nothing more. Judoc finds himself completely out of rations, and he curses his lack of preparation. How is supposed to feed himself and his horse if they have no food? Maybe he can forage for food, lay some traps to catch rabbits or something. How hard could it be?

"I'm completely out of food," he says, throwing his hands in the air in disgust. "I thought I bought enough for the trip, but apparently not."  His stomach rumbling, his mood foul, Judoc packs up his gear and sets out again in the expedition. The Wazifis should have something, anyway, he hopes.

Every step brings them closer to the temple, and Judoc peers through the fog to see what he can see. He pauses wth surprise at the dead Wazifi. Who else is in this valley besides Judoc's crew and the necromancer's men? And then what he sees next leaves him completely flabbergasted. At first, he thinks it is the dragon he had theorized before, but a closer look reveals this is not the case. Some new species, then, possibly brought here by a banestorm?

Judoc steps forward to inspect the massive beast more carefully. "It looks reptilian," he says thoughtfully. "My god - can you imagine this thing in battle?" Fleetingly, Judoc imagines himself riding a mount like this, charging into combat, laying waste to his enemies on the right and left. What power! What fear he would inspire!

"Perhaps there are more of these," he says, considering. Perhaps a nest - Judoc would dearly love to get his hands on an egg from this creature.

OOC: I've been playing Monster Hunter Stories lately. =) A T-Rex would make such an awesome mount in combat!

Inspect the scene for more clues as to what happened. If Terri is willing to share, Judoc is more than happy to accept food from her.

At the first sign anyone is out of food, Rondald offers some of what they carry. This is, after all, a team effort. The days are miserable enough without hunger being an issue.

However, when the dead Wafazi is seen, he starts to get a bit nervous. By the time the reach the giant creature, his adrenaline is flowing.

"Such power, yes, but why would it ever let such a puny creature like a human harness it? The problem with power is that it often has a mind of it's own. Lets get indoors, where hopefully creatures of this size will not fit. As you suggest, perhaps there ARE more of these..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

Finn merrily walks along and as they get close begins to regale them in what he saw from the air when he transformed into a small hunting bird, one of his many, many talents.  And then he stops in his tracks out of awe and amazement when the giant lizard comes into view.

As they approach Finn releases the reins of his faithful mount Boots, knowing the animal will only spook if it is forced to get too near.  Finn circles the scaly giant toothed beast slowly while he utters a long low pitched whistle.  ”Fuck me.  That's a monster.  In all my days I never seen nothin' like this.”  For a brief moment Razzel's head swoons at the coin to be had harvesting the thing and selling it to wizards and alchemists.  What uses might sorcerers find for the things heart, tongue or fangs?  Who knows but Finn's eyes light up as big as stars for a moment as he imagines the piles and piles of gold to be had.

Then the group begins to speculate about its origins.  Gustav utters rather plainly, “...it must have been horrible to fight. But this is not a whole village worth of men, there must be more.”  Without thinking Finn snorts in response, ”Ya.  We saw one goner in a pile 'a shit yesterday.”

Then Razzel nods at Rondalds assertion.  ”I agree.  My uncle tried training war dogs for a piece.  There was real money in it.  Problem is, Uncle Dumbass was a moron and didn't know how to train animals.  After he got bit his fourth time and almost lost his leg he shot the dog and quit.  Turning an army of monsters loose on your enemy sounds like a cherry idea, but first, you gotta corral 'em.  If they get off the leash...”  Finn pauses to wave an arm about the scene, ”...this is what you get.”

Razzel is about to move towards the ruins when he stops.  ”Each 'a ya pick a body and give it what for.  Maybe they took notes on what's inside.”


OOC:
Finn is happy to share food and grain with whomever needs it.  I'm pretty sure I brought extra of both, and if Finn is wrong he'll figure something out on the fly.

For the water we'll send Terri down to the river all by herself out of sight and assume everything went ok.  Kidding.  We will refill as much water is as needed at the nearby river, but keeping the beetle attack in mind, we will only do so as a group.  Half will do the filling, the other half will be on guard with weapons out.

How far are we from the structures I saw as a falcon?

The 'goner' Finn is referring to is the bone stuck in the giant doo-doo pile we saw.

Finn would like to spend whatever is consider a 'normal, average' amount of time searching the area for clues.  Perhaps the bodies have valuable information, such as a journal, giving us some clues as to what we'll find inside the prison.  Also, we might find some phat loot.

Gustav picks a nearby body and searches it thoroughly, then ties the mule up and takes his sword over to try and remove a few of the monsters fangs. If nothing more, it will prove they are not exaggerating.

Rondald stays alert with the crossbow, watching for danger as others search, and staying near the pack animals. He looks for a spot to tie them if needed...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:32, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

The party stops for the moment, each of the members taking a further moment to glance over the bodies as Rondald stands guard with his crossbow, searching as far as he can with his eyes through the mist.  Though it is difficult to see everyone through the dense fog and the spread out field of corpses, the eerie silence allows for everyone to be heard rather easily.  It doesn't take long to know however that there isn't a whole lot more to this scene than was available at first glance.

"Not a fuckin thing."  Bjorn spits as he walks his way back to where the horses stand.  "I count eighteen, though there could easily be a couple I missed.  Not a one of them had so much as a knife or a coin purse on 'em.  It's like this place has already been picked clean."

The others can't help but agree, for even with an in depth search of a few of the bodies, the total of the findings only amounts to the clothes on the corpses' backs.

Gustav has other ideas as he finishes searching his own charge.  He walks up to the maw of the great lizard, thrusting his knife straight into the gums between two of the teeth.  It takes a good bit of sawing and effort, but after a few minutes he manages to cut clean the gum and begins to pry out a four or five inch fang from the mouth.  Though the flesh still bleeds, it is a lazy, oozing flow.

OOC:  It is 0750 on the 14th of May.  After 10 minutes of searching, you come up with bupkus.  It appears all of the corpses have nothing on them apart from the clothes on their backs, mostly robes although there are some with shirts and pants.  The only ones with armor are those severed limbs here and there that have been entirely separated from their host, or those bodies from their limbs.  In case I didn't make it clear already - all the bodies here are dead, all the wazifis as well as the T-Rex.

Finn, you aren't sure exactly how close you are to the temple, although the plaza is probably only a quarter mile long at most, so you are within a few minutes walk even at a worst case scenario.

Also, I didn't mean to imply that you guys needed to get water now.  There is still probably four gallons or so in Rondald's barrel and all of your personal bottles are full.  You can certainly refill them now, although it's unlikely it will make any difference for the dungeon crawl unless the animals come in with you (which you are welcome to do).  If you don't want to do that however, I would suggest ditching them soon - The only shelter Finn can think of is the collapsed shell of the mill at the river.  Feel free to ask questions if things aren't clear.

Finn scratches his slick shiny black tousle of hair.  ”Huh.  They been picked cleaner than a virgins honeypot.”  The mystery of how weaponless men killed a lizard the size of a house stumps him for a long moment, and then the obvious hits him.  He smiles and winks at the swordsman.  ”I'm bettin' you're on the money Gus.  There's more.  The livin' took all the cutlery.  But...”  Again confusion frames Razzel's visage.  ”...if the student is in there...”, Finn nods in the direction of the ruins, ”...why don't he want the bodies?  Don't he need an army 'a bones and rotting flesh?”


OOC:
Finn wants to restock water and we might as well do it while we're here.  You never know what's going to happen tomorrow.  Doesn't have to be this second but before we leave the river.

I can only think of one other thing I want to do here.  Finn never passes on a chance to find a gold nugget that others have overlooked.  Sometimes fat nuggets or gems are in plain sight just waiting to be found, if you know where to look.  Finn is going to take the time to cut open the belly of the giant lizard in case it ate something valuable.  Assuming I find squat then clean myself up.  Not totally, I'll still be blood stained but so that me and my clothes aren't slick or sticky.

Ready to move on to the next scene.  Unless we find something of interest move to the river and then the ruins.

Gustav cleans any remaining flesh from the fang, then wraps it  and stows it away. He is prepared to move ...

Rondald, on Guard, is always ready to move...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:32, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

Magnus gathered loosely with the others. "Poor bastards..." he said softly with another shake of his head. He ran a hand comfortingly over his mules head and scratched his ears. "Maybe he doesn't know how to do any of that yet?" Magnus guessed at Finn's words. "That's how a lot of craftsman work in any case, cuts down on competition till they're ready to retire." he commented off hand as he took up the halter.

Unsatisfied with their casual search, Finn pulls his knife free from the sheath, sticking it into the giant lizard's gut just below the sternum.  Oddly enough, this small area of the stomach is completely untouched, the thick skin unblemished... though it doesn't take too long to realize why.  As the long knife slides home a thick, green bile leaks from the body mingled with a purplish-red blood.  The mingled goo emits such a foul odor that Finn can't help but gag for a moment, pressing his face into his inner elbow for a moment to keep his composure.  But Finn continues on, hacking at the leather of the stomach it appears that his wild guess has paid off.  For as he tears through the stomach wall, he hears the clink of metal, his dagger against some other item lodged within the organ.

Several more minutes pass before Finn has opened up a hole large enough to extract the item... It is a large capsule made of soft metal, perhaps three feet long and a foot in diameter, and even sitting in the beast's stomach it hasn't seemed to corrode even a small amount, though it is difficult to know how long it has been there.  Just at the middle of the thing is a small seam where the two sides of the metal meet and overlap.

OOC:  It is 0810 on the 14th of May.  Gustav, roll 1d6, on a 1 your dagger breaks when you try and pry out the tooth.  Either way, you have extracted the tooth and I've added to your inventory.


This is to give you the general idea, it looks more like a giant pill type capsule made out of metal.

Judoc rubs his chin in interest. ”Yes, a necromancer could raise the bodies as zombies, but that would have a demoralizing effect on his men’s morale. Some scholars believe that one’s soul is condemned to hell if one is transformed into a zombie. Others says the soul is totally annihilated. I’m not sure what these particular Wazifis believe, but seeing their neighbors reanimated as shambling corpses would hardly be inspirational.”

He considers the scene. ”No, the survivors had time to strip anything useful from the deceased, but did not take the time to bury them. Perhaps they did not have time to do so, or perhaps they have some other way of honoring the dead. It looks A though they butchered what meat they could from the corpse as well.”

When Finn announces his intention to cut open the dead gargantuan, Judoc raises an eyebrow in surprise but steps back to give the man room to work. He gags at the putridity emitted from the corpse but peers with interest at what Finn has been able to excavate from the hulk. ”Curious…” he murmurs. ”Whatever could that object be? Finn, does that tube open?”
This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:43, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

Gustav steps back from Finn's gruesome task as well... and takes his mule a few steps further when the smell hits ... both he and the mule try to get a breath of fresh air. The capsule produced is most interesting ... but not enough to get any closer to the thing.

The young mercenary turned brilliant leader once again proves his salt.  His gut whispers to him 'Look in the beasts belly'.  Clearly his mind is so developed that it can see beyond the realm of normal mundane realism.  But it is not what he was expecting.  Razzel stares at the capsule for a long moment and then shrugs his shoulders.  ”Huh...I was 'specting a hand with a ring onnit.  Maybe a magic dirk that bursts inta flames when you say 'Fire!' or shoots fireballs.”  For another moment Finn looks unsurely at the small metal tube.  ”Buh what the hell is this?”


OOC:
Finn wants to try to open the thing.  First wash all the blood off me and the capsule.  Then try to open it without damaging it.

Finn wants to restock water and we might as well do it while we're here.  You never know what's going to happen tomorrow.  Doesn't have to be this second but before we leave the river.

This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Sun 16 Dec 2018.

Fully surprised by the massive curio found in the stomach of the giant lizard, Finn cleans the thing off as well as the blood off his person.  The exposed metal is somewhat dull and soft, and Finn finds easily the gouge his knife made as he was sawing through the skin of the giant lizard.  Wondering if indeed the thing opens, Finn wraps both arms around each side, though a thin film of the dinosaur's fluids still make the capsule slick.  Eventually, Finn puts the base between his leg and two hands on the top, rotating one side of it in his hands as he meticulously separates the two sides just a fraction of an inch at a time.

It is ironic perhaps, that in all of Finn's concern about not damaging the capsule, he had never considered if the capsule could damage him.

It happens just as Finn hears the clink of the metal tube separating.  KABOOM!  The thing explodes at the gap, the force hitting Finn full in the chest and knocking him back several feet onto his ass.

"Finn!"  Terri screams, already running full out, ignoring the mules who are jumping in surprise at the explosion.

I've blown my dick off!  The thought sears the inside of Finn's mind as sure as the bomb had seared the outside.  Finn can already feel the furious burn scars bubbling about his neck and the creases of his elbows.  He can smell the acrid tang of burned hair, surely coming from the longest parts of his beard which had been hanging well below his face mask.  As the seconds pass, Finn finally allays the worst of his fears, wiggling his member through an act of intense concentration.

In fact, it is a miracle the damage is not much, much worse.  Though the pain is excruciating in the creases of his armor at the arms and his neck - the worst of the explosion was allayed by his leathers, which are still mostly serviceable though the glossy sheen has been replaced with a thick black scar especially at his sternum and elbows.  Because the capsule was below him and he had been looking up, Finn was saved any damage to his eyes, and likewise the concussive blast to his chest had knocked the wind clean from him when even a small breath may have damaged his lungs.

It takes only a quick perusal of the damage to know that Finn is in no immediate danger, though the pain is excruciating and his ears ring and throb.

Somehow, the small tube was saved any damage from the blast, which again is a small miracle as it would only have served as shrapnel for the bomb.  It lays in two pieces, just below the spot where Finn had opened it, displaying the treasures that had been hidden within.  There is a mace, a thin wood baton, no more than a foot in length, a few scrolls of parchment written in a foreign tongue, and a thin flask of bubbling blue fluid...  It takes but a moment to determine that all of them are magical.  Digging a little in the tubes reveals several coins, stones, and pieces of jewelry including a set of earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet.

OOC:  Ok, first things first.  Finn you lucked out on the damage roll for the firetrap, taking only a moderate diffuse wound which essentially amounts to second degree burns pretty much everywhere your armor wasn't protecting you.  Luckily again, you managed to avoid damage to the eyes or lungs, though the explosion was close enough that you may have taken some damage to your hearing.  Roll vs. HT (modified normally by fit).  If you pass, you have a ringing in your ears for 10 seconds -1 for each point you succeed by.  If you fail, your hearing is at -1 per point you fail by and your DX is at -1 for the remainder of the adventure.  If you fail by 5 or more you have likely suffered permanent ear damage in addition to the effects above.

You guys may make rolls against the following skills to determine more information about the items:
Mace:  Armory/TL3 - Melee Weapons, Merchant-5
Coins:  Merchant
Stones:  Jeweler, Merchant-5
Earrings:  Jeweler, Merchant-5
Necklace:  Jeweler, Merchant-5
Bracelet:  Jeweler, Merchant-5
Potion:  Alchemy
Metal Tube:  Metallurgy, Chemistry-5

Please label each of the rolls you make with what you are trying to identify or get more information on.
 I'm assuming the healers are going to fuss over Finn, but I figured we'd have to get to the items eventually anyway.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:04, Sun 16 Dec 2018.

Rondald initially rushes over, but then seeing the mules about to take off, reverses and grabs their halters and calms them, or at least restrains them.

When things finally settle down, he comes over to try to help, but neither his armoury skills nor his first aid are of any help. But he does like the look of the mace...
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:32, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

KABOOM!

Magnus, who had joined the others in watching Finn open the strange thing, had been standing casually with one hand on the axe at his belt when the concussion sent him flinching away, his other hand coming up reflexively to shield his face.

"Shit" Magnus groaned as he hustled over with Terri to check on their injured leader. "Finn? You alright man?" Magnus asked as he knelt down, the other hand still trailing the halter to his unhappy mule.

The Minotaur seemed surprised that Finn seemed to more or less be in one piece, but he hovered over the prostrate man until he got some kind of confirmation.

Finn does not know what lies inside the shiny metallic capsule but it could be anything.  It could be nothing.  But then again, it could be diamonds...or a bottle of thousand year old Elvish whiskey...or one of the famed Gahebry Stones which are rumored that when swallowed permanently grant the possessor the power of the enchanted stone.  As he fiddles and fidgets with the hard casing his mouth literally drools.  The sheer intensity of the wealth he imagines that could be inside causes his mouth to water and fluid to leak out.

Then his tenacity pays off and Finn turns the container, presumably opening it.  One more second and he'll see what treasures he has earned.  And then...

KABOOM!

Instantly Finn drops the capsule.  His eyes close instinctively and his hands cover his ears.  The man staggers about for several seconds as he takes inventory of the damage.  He doesn't know what it was, man made or magical in nature but Razzel knows the thing had been booby trapped.  In a matter of seconds Finn knows that is relatively alright.  He hasn't lost any appendages and he isnt bleeding heavily.

How long has he been prancing around doing the 'pain dance' he does not know.  His eyes flutter open.  Most the group are standing near with expressions of concern and awe dotting their faces.  It is not surprising.  A lesser man would have been blown in half.  But Finn is much more than the average man.

Magnus's mouth moves from the huge bull headed man does not speak.  Finn uncups his ears and speaks.  ”WHAT??!!  WHY ARE YOU WHISPERING??!!”

OOC:
My speech in all caps means that I am shouting.  You don't get the sense that I realize I am.  To Finn it seems he thinks he is speaking normally.

Finn wants to restock water and we might as well do it while we're here.  You never know what's going to happen tomorrow.  Doesn't have to be this second but before we leave the river.

Gustav is well back holding the lead for his mules when the canister explodes, he jumps about a foot and the Mule jerks away, but Gustav manages to hold the frightened critter. Then he sees the interesting array of things inside the canister... he glances at Finn, who already has several folks looking to him, so Gustav goes to the canister and starts looking at things... it's all firiegn and he isn't sure about any of it.

Too late does Judoc realize the danger of opening the capsule. Right as Finn separates the two ends of the capsule, Judoc begins, ”Wait, before —“ But whatever the young mage is about to say is interrupted by the explosion from the metal object. Judoc staggers back and calls out, ”Finn!” As Finn falls to the ground, Judoc runs forward and squats down beside the other mage to assess Finn’s injuries.

Once Finn has been seen to, Judoc examines the contents of the tube. He gives a low whistle. ”Nice work, Finn,” he says and examines one. ”This scroll can create a temporary copy of an item, and it lasts as long as someone touches it. So a sword, say, but if you drop the sword, the item vanishes.” Looking at the other two scrolls, he says, ”This scroll is similar, but it copies any present item perfectly. Non-living, of course. Just like the other spell, if you drop the item, it vanishes. And this last scroll can be used to copy written pages. It can’t be used to make other scrolls, unfortunately.”

”The mace is probably worth taking along, if any of you are familiar with how to use one.”

When Finn yells, asking why Magnus is whispering, Judoc turns back to the other mage curiously. ”He’s not shouting, Finn,” he says, concerned for the other man’s hearing.

OOC: Check Finn’s injuries to see if he needs healing. I take it the jewelry is not magical? Judoc will want at least one of the scrolls, but since Finn has the idea to split open the T-Rex and took the full brunt of the spell, Judoc will defer to Finn.

If Finn’s hearing loss is permanent, Judoc can heal him, but it won’t be instant, and I think Finn will be completely deaf for a month while his hearing is restored.

After we fill the water barrels, let’s hide the animals and explore the temple. It would be good to leave Terri to guard the animals again unless Rondald objects.

Terri takes a few moments, scouring the first aid kit for salve before rubbing the substance generously on the burns and tying off a few loose bandages.  Though Finn seems rather off at first, after taking off his mask and stretching out his jaw, rubbing his ears, and doing a few other tricks he seems to be able to manage to the ringing into a soft hum.  He is up in minutes, though his movements continue to be slow and fairly pained.

The next several minutes are spent collecting and pouring through the equipment found in the capsule.  Judoc quickly identifies the spell scrolls, all written in Latin, a language in which it turns out he is the only one literate.  Judoc also identifies the wand, a rather quaint device which seems to have mostly gone out of vogue - indeed it as well is magical, though he does not know how to identify all the spells cast upon it.

Finn seems to be the one most knowledgeable about the mundane goods, he separates the stones and accessories, attempting to identify what he can, and though he is no jeweler he knows well enough that the loose stones are large enough that even if they are semi-precious they are probably worth a fair amount.  The necklace, bracelet, and earrings all seem to be made of the same materials - perhaps part of a set - and Finn is fairly certain that the settings are gold and the stones are black pearls, making the set quite pricey indeed.  As for the coins, Finn and Gustav have a bit of a disagreement, for Gustav is certain that the thick, heavy currency is made of pewter and likely a forgery, Finn isn't quite so certain.  In any case it is not of either Megalan or Wazifi make.

Before long though, Finn insist the group start moving and he turns them northward along the plaza towards the river.  It is a mere few minutes before the flow comes into sight, just alongside the ruin of what appears to be an old water mill.

As Rondald and Gustav make to refill their barrels with the help of Magnus and Terri, everyone begins to strategize their entrance into the temple...

OOC:  It is 0830 on the 14th of May.  Ok, Water barrels are refilled.  Mostly this post is just to make sure we have everything square before we get to the real entrance.  If Judoc suggests that Terri guard the horses, she will instantly refuse, saying that it is someone else's turn - or suggesting that they just leave them tied here in the ruin.  Also, Finn could use healing - the first aid roll for him was successful but he is still down some HP.  That being said, he's mostly fine.  I'll leave the decision up to you guys, just let me know in OOC how we are doing the healing so I can modify your gear or fatigue appropriately.

Razzel appreciates the fuss made over him.  The salve feels good and eases the dry, scaly feeling and pain of his burned skin though on the long term it does little to solve the stiff and slow moving joints.  So as he has done so many times before the plucky mage weaves his fingers in a delightful little hand dance.  He stretches as he mutters a long exhale.  ”Ahhhhhhh.  That's more like it.”

Now the group turns their attention to the pile of treasure.  Finn stands over it, eyes fixed so intently one might think he were guarding a dangerous prisoner.  In the end Finns scratches at his poor half-beard as he relays his thoughts on how to divide their first plunder.  When the vial of blue liquid comes to the fore Finn is stumped but he is certain it is a potion, so he grabs a thick carefully wraped book from his pack.  It is one of the tomes recovered from the Necromancers lair.  Page by page he thumbs until he finds a decription.  "I thought so, this will come in handy.", he mutters as he stuffs it into a pocket.


OOC:
Anyone who knows me knows I as a player hate wandering around a dungeon (or just about any dangerous scene) while wounded.  Maybe its all the years I gamed with Ceredyn.  At any rate Finn will cast a healing spell on himself.

Finn declares that all of the simple loot, the gems, jewelry and coins be packed up and stored on a pack animal.  We'll consider it group loot and divide it all up later as we did on the Necromancer mission.  Finn is keeping the potion which is Heroism.  Judoc can have the wand (until we get ID'ed and the scrolls).  Does anyone want the mace?  If no, I think we should bring it along just in case.

I'm fine going along with Terri's suggestion of tying off the horses and everyone coming.  I wasn't thrilled last time about leaving 2 people behind.

Rondald handles the mace with considerable skill. His axe is good, but not magical. He has never held a magical weapon before, and seems a little reluctant to give it up now, but will do so if asked. He suggests that perhaps themules can come with them...to leave them tied up for another massive creature to eat would just be wrong on so many levels, and he is absolutely against leaving his wife behind again.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:29, Tue 18 Dec 2018.

”So let me get this straight.” Judoc stands, frowning. For the moment, his helmet is off, his hair sticking up in tufts as he allows what little breeze there is to cool him down. ”Our options are to either tie up the animals and hope giant predators and the Wazifis (if any of them are still alive) leave them alone, or bring them with us into the temple?”

He snorts in derision and puts his helmet back on. ”Wish I hadn’t even bothered to bring along a mount,” he grumbles. ”Okay, fine, whatever. Let’s get after our rogue necromancer.”  He looks through his saddlebags to see if there’s anything he should bring along with him, and finding nothing, he shrugs and looks around for the best place to tie up his horse.

OOC: Judoc will hang onto the wand and scrolls in the meantime. If Rondald can use the mace, let him use it.

Look for a sheltered area to leave the horse, and tie it up. Judoc is ready to approach the temple.

Magnus was obviously relieved that Finn was not more badly hurt by the strange container, whatever it was. He gradually relaxed as the minutes passed, but something seemed to be bothering him and it was about the time that they were discussing what to do with the stock that he spoke up.

"So...this might be a dumb question" he prefaced the topic with a self effacing grin. "But the books we found back at the tower were all written in Arabic, right?" he glanced mostly between Judoc and Finn, but included the others in a cursory sweep. "And these ruins are supposed to have been built by the old elves...so" he gestured with an open palm towards Judoc. "Why's all that written in Latin? And how'd it get into the belly of that thing?" he asked the group.

The topic of the mace seemed a sensitive one to bring up, especially given Finn's recent injuries. Magnus had just commissioned his new axe from a smith for a small fortune, so the thought of finding something so obviously valuable out here rankled him a bit. There was no way he could have known of course, but for somebody who had been poor to middling for most of his life, it stung.

Then again he was not sure it would even work for him, given what his father had said about his blood, or if something so fine would get him hung from a tree or disarmed by the nobility in the next town they passed so he tried to put it out of his mind for now. Still, the solid feel of the mace he had used back at the tower had some fond memories for him and he glanced at it now and again in Rondald's belt.

Magnus plans to find a way to secure Gus inside.

Gustav isn't about to have a mule lead in his hand while going through such a dangerous place. He ties his mule up close to Judoc's. Takes shield and broadsword, leaves the saber, much as he loathe's to ... but he just can't carry everything ... he looks around to see who else is ready to go...

Terri quirks an eyebrow as Rondald suggests they take the mules into Perdition with them.  "Wait, were you planning on holding on to them then?"  She gestures her hands held upwards displaying the lead ropes of both of their mules.  "I don't know about you Ron, but I don't much like the chance of getting snuck up on with a pair of mules to care for.  Not to mention the fact that if we come onto rough ground or stairs, we'll have to waste time to come right back out and leave them wherever it is we agree on.  We already agreed splitting up is a bad idea."

OOC:  I would remind you Rondald that Terri is an NPC and the fastest way to piss her off is to volunteer her for things without asking...  Though in the case of holding all the jewelry, she forgives you ;).

"Dear, the whole point of getting mules is so they can traverse stairs or rough ground. But you think leaving them here will be better? It is still splitting up our resources..."

OOC: In many cultures, actually, most other than the US or some European ones, the men usually speak for their wives about such details. It is probably worth discussing what culture they are both from in this regard...I was thinking Mediterranean, as is most of the other details about them. See 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' for the relationship I had in mind! But Rondald was not intending to volunteer her for anything other than what she was already doing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:30, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

Finn creeps slowly towards the shambling leftovers of the old mill structure all the while one hand near his belted knife.  His imagination conjures all sorts of daemonic monsters that they may yet do battle with, and using what they've seen so far as a template his mind is full of horrifying creatures.

And then some light bickering pulls him out of his day dreaming.  Rondald is fussing over any danger to the animals, going so far as to say that leaving them tied up and vulnerable is wrong in more than one way.  Soon after Judoc complains in a similar tone.

Clearly Finn has had enough.  His face is beet red and he stops walking abruptly.  He turns to face the the consciencious objectors.  His eyes narrow and his face forms a scowl.  ”Bring 'em with us?  When we bought these animals...”, Razzel waves a hand at the team, ”...what'd you think was gonna happen?  You all thought we was gonna bring 'em along room by room?  They was gonna sleep with you in the ruins, sharing your blanket?”  Finn's voice begins to crack, from his excited mannerisms he is frustrated almost to the point of being angry.   ”How many fights you been in Rondald?  I been in plenty.  This is the way I see it.  Got my special hunting knife.  I'm about to finish off a particularly mean tempered Spriggan who's tryin' to eat my face.  I line up the killin' shot, all I got to do is swing...and then...BAM!  I'm face down on my belly and the evil thing is ripping my favorite throat in half.  Know why?  'Cause your mule got spooked by the five Spriggans we're battlin' and kicked my backside.  Nope.  Too risky.”

OOC:
Finn is obviously upset which doesn't happen a lot.   Please understand its role play, I the player am not.  Finn sees bringing the animals into the temple and hauling them room by room to be a disaster waiting to happen because them spooking is inevitable, plus as its been said they may not be able to traverse everywhere we can.  Spooking animals weighing 4-5 times our weight isn't going to end well ever in Finn's eyes.  As an alternate plan, which was Finn's plan all along, is find a suitable safe place and Finn will cast his protective fog over them.  Finn has two ideas.  Set them up in something outside that we think could be safe, like the mill.  Or second, once we enter the temple and clear the foyer, we tie the animals up there and hope no wandering monsters find them.  If anyone is further upset at feeling like their animal is in danger Finn would ask why you brought it.  This whole mountain is dangerous, to us included.  Danger is  an inherent part of treasure seeking.  Finally, part of Finn's plan is that we visit the animals once daily to clean the area and feed/water them.

If everyone is agreeable boss my plan is to do this.  We bring our horses with us but safely in the rear as we enter the temple.  We explore the entrance and kill whatever needs to be killed.  We search it thoroughly.  If it seems safer than the ruined mill we tie up our horses there and I cast my fog.  If the mill seems safer same plan there.  If people object please propose a new plan that does not include bringing your animal into the temple room by room.  Unless, you paid for a war trained animal who can keep quiet and wont run during an entire skirmish.

According to lore a Spriggan is the ghost of a giant who takes on the form of a man (a grotesquely ugly, wizened old man with large child-like heads, cause, ya know, taking on the form of Brad Pitt  isn't scary).  They usually guard bury treasure in places like ruins and barrows.  They are known to have bad tempers and like mischief.

Magnus looked over and waited for a good time to reply. "I was just thinkin that we bring them into the entryway, out of the weather with a door behind them to keep out the wolves or whatever they've got here...we can keep them high-lined in the first room with some feed and maybe some water, then move on from there." he shrugged and looked about. "If you think that'd work."

"I like the idea of bringing them into the entrance, and camping with them at night to water and feed them. That way, any loot we gather can be left with them, and we can water and feed them, and their senses can be added to those of whoever is on guard duty at night. Tying up will avoid them running amok, but mules, unlike horses, generally do not run as far when they spook. That was why we got mules instead of horses. But the supplies they carry is why they were needed, and camping back with them every night will allow us to carry less each day with us."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:30, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

"Dear, the whole point of getting mules is so they can traverse stairs or rough ground."

Terri's face contorts into a fireball of rage even before Rondald's statement can continue on with his conciliatory next question.

"Dear?  Dear!  Less than a month ago you'd barely seen a mule and now you're some expert because you bought two?  I suppose they'll be just fine carrying water barrels filled to the brim down a flight of stairs?  You'll be lucky if either one of them makes it down without breaking a leg!"

Terri turns her head away, her jaw grating as she swallows whatever other words she is about to say.

"All I'm saying..."  Terri begins again in a much calmer voice, addressing her husband directly.  "Is that we can't take these things in.  I guess we can leave them up close at the front - so long as they are all together but Finn is right, hazarding a fight with them around is foolish."

Magnus looked vaguely uncomfortable as Rondald and Terri had a little couples spat. He moved away, and having found what he believed would be good place to hitch his mule he did so, unloading the saddle bags and giving the beast a quick run over with a curry comb.

"Well..." he said when he was done, having worked himself up mentally for the task ahead. "Here we are again huh?" He grinned with a hint of nervousness to the others as he tied the lanyard at the base of his axe around his right wrist, the weapon laying on a flat stone while he did so.

The last time they had tried something like this it had all fallen apart in short order, from trying to breach the glass pyramid to the showdown with a gigantic bird, to the seemingly endless files of mindless servants. It had been the defining moment of the Minotaur's life thus far, and they were about to attempt something that seemed very similar.

Axe affixed, he adjusted the collar on his mail, cinched his pack straps tight and finally took up his unpainted round shield. "If we come away from here with another pile of coin, I'm gonna buy a god damn helmet." He exclaimed as he rolled his neck, issuing a satisfying muffled pop. "I don't care if they don't make'em for my kind, I'll find a Smith and we'll just have to figure it out" he added with grin, those that knew him best perhaps recognizing that he tended to talk more when he was nervous.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:53, Wed 19 Dec 2018.

And so after a lively discourse on their next course of action, the group finally decides to move on with their animals, planning to find a place for them near the entrance to the temple as soon as the opportunity presents itself.  They pass the choas of the giant lizard and the score of dead Wazifis, and continue farther southward, walking just wide of the stone plaza to avoid all the noise of hooves on stone.

Before long however, Finn calls a halt, for the high stone walls of the temple rise up menacingly out of the fog.  They stand at least twenty feet high, and stretch as far as anyone can see in both direction broken only by high Gothic windows every twenty feet or so.  In the center, the wide stone plaza continues unrestricted through a gaping maw of an archway, twenty feet wide and tall, the roof climbing above the walls on either side.  If there were ever doors to the external walls, it seems that have long since broken off or corroded into nothingness.

Finn again bids the group forward, pressing as close as he feels he can with impunity.  The weather obscures many of the farther off details, though the massive corridor seems to continue for at least several dozen feet without diminishing.  Along the left hand side there is a break in the wall of the corridor where it seems that the stone has collapsed, a large pile of rubble and stone collecting about the plaza below.

OOC:  It is 0845 on the 14th of May.  For some reason I'm having a really hard time describing the scene you guys are looking at and I'm not really finding anything helpful on the internet for pictures.  Basically, imagine high stone walls with a break in the middle which is 20x20.  The plaza runs straight through this break, which is walled on both sides for as far as you can see.  The collapsed section of the wall is about 30 feet down the corridor or so and seems fairly large.

Ok, it's time to post what you have in what hand - I'm assuming that everyone has their armor donned.  Remember that if you have an animal, you need to have a hold of the lead rope, which will limit what else you can do with that hand (though you can tie it off on a weapon like Magnus).  Since Finn wanted the horses at the back, I'm assuming that Rondald and Bjorn are at the front (as they are the only two without animals), Finn let me know if that is not correct.

Everyone make a roll vs. Stealth and Perception (hearing) please.

Magnus is clad in his chain mail hauberk
Axe w/ lanyard tied to wrist in his right hand
Shield in his left
Pack w/ listed items and 1 days food in sack from saddlebags.

21:09, Today: Magnus rolled 8 using 3d6.  Perception (Hearing). Passed by 6

21:09, Today: Magnus rolled 9 using 3d6.  Stealth -5 (6) Failed by 5 (-1 due to light encumbrance)

This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Thu 20 Dec 2018.

Rondald has on his Light mail tunic, with his crossbow ready, with the sling around his neck. He has his axe and shield ready to use, with the shield with the buckler grip able to be grabbed as a single ready action.

Rest of items as per character sheet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:31, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

Judoc smirks as the couple quarrels. This is exactly why he is none too keen on tying himself down to any one particular woman. A fleeting tryst now and again is one thing, but it is beyond Judoc why any man would willingly trap himself in a perpetual state of matrimonial suffering. It pains him that he agrees with Terri, but the woman is right - the animals will only get in the way of whatever fighting the group will have to do once they enter the temple.

Pausing at the archway, Judoc peers into the interior’s gloom. Somewhere in the temple depths are the rest of the Wazifis and the necromancer’s apprentice.

OOC: Staff in right hand, lead rope in left.

Finn is glad to see that in short order the objectors come around.  When the plucky street mage first agreed to take on leadership with Giles departing the merry band Razzel thought life as a field sergeant would be easy going but he's found it to be more laborious than he first assumed.  And when Terri lightly chastises her husband for being an animal expert Finn cracks a smile and stifles a chuckle, though it quickly fades as he takes relief in the knowledge that most of their party understands the dangers.

As they walk along Magnus announces his intentions to arm his thinking cap with some steel.  Finn pats the huge man-beast on the shoulder.  ”Promise me I can be there when you tell 'em.  I wanna see the look on the smithies face.”, he says grinning respectfully.

Thankfully not too long after the group of heroes and righteous doers stop before what looks to be a courtyard.


OOC:
Finn's left hand holds his horses rope and his right hand is empty.

I didn't really have a plan for the horses other than I didn't want them by our sides when we stumbled upon obvious potential danger.  So what you said works.

Gustav is wearing all his armor, assuming combat is likely. He has the lead rope wrapped once around his left hand and his shield in it as well, his right hand holds his broadsword.

Rondald and Bjorn lead the group on with the rest and the animals following in trail, only stepping onto the stone plaza at the last moment as they are crossing the threshold between the walls on either side.  Immediately however, it is apparent that their approach will not be stealthy.

CLOP, CLOP, CLOP!

Though the horses and mules are well to the back, the dull clang of their iron shoes crashing against the stone of the plaza rings out and echoes within the entryway, making it impossible to hear anything else.  Finn grates his teeth, though he knows there is little choice but to press on until they find a place for the animals.

But only a handful of steps into the corridor both Rondald and Bjorn stop abruptly, their eyes cast towards the crumbling section of stone just ahead.  For peering out of the gap is a hideous thing, like a man whose face was cut off and hacked into pieces, then rearranged without any care for the original order.  The thing holds an axe which is pitted along the blade... clearly it has been eagerly used.



OOC:  Ok, Rondald, you have your crossbow ready with both hands.  There simply isn't any place where you can keep your shield where you can ready it in one turn.  It's the size of an adult disc sled.  It is therefore on your back and will take 3 turns to fully ready.  Your axe and mace are also both unready, and it will take a full turn to ready either.  Rondald and Bjorn automatically see the thing pictured above and are about 4 hexes away from it.  They both need to succeed a roll against IQ or be mentally stunned, combat reflexes apply normally.  For everyone else, please make a perception (vision) roll to see whether someone else is blocking your way with the following modifiers, Finn/Magnus -0, Gustav -1, Judoc-2.  If you fail the roll you don't notice him until until the second turn.  Post 2 seconds worth of action.  It is also worth noting that you can now see a small hallway on the right side of the corridor, directly across from the broken section of the wall.

Gustav notes the movement.  Someone On the Left He stops and tries to figure out how he should handle the Mule... thinking This is stupid, we should have left them in the mill. Hopefully there is only one here.

Judoc curses quietly when he sees the monstrosity peering out from the shadows. Anger begins to well up inside him at the foolish decision to bring their mounts with them. Why hadn’t they listened to reason? Well; perhaps they will see the truth now.

”Next time, listen to me,” he growls.   Simultaneously fascinated and revulsed, Judoc peers at the creature, some sort of reanimated corpse by the looks of things. The necromancer. ”Rondald. I’ll cast a spell on you. Be ready.” Judoc begins murmuring words of power.

OOC: Concentrate.

Rondald unloads his crossbow at the thing, then drops it, it's weight being taken up by the sling as it slides towards his back as he prepared to draw his own weapons.

The men and animals plod forward in some ungainly attempt to clear a foyer-shaped area where the animals can mull around in safety.  Inwardly Razzel is fighting a battle of consceience.  A story teller likened a man's internal conflict to an angel whispering into a man's right ear and a daemon whispering an opposing view into his left ear.  The symbolism is not lost on the young mercenary since right hands, turning right, right sides and such are metaphors of Godly righteousness.  Finn is troubled over the argument concerning the fate of their pack animals.  While it is settled and technically behind them Razzel is being gnawed upon by the fact that he isn't comfortable with how it was resolved.   Some of their team makes little noise and some make more, but none makes as much as the heavily burdened animals and noise is the bane of a mission relying on stealth.  Finn reminds himself silently that it was his call, and then further thinks...

But his monologuing debate is abruptly interrupted by Gus and Judoc's mumblings about something up head on the left.  Finn sees it too.

But before he can react he hears the familiar snap of a crossbow string.  Damn. he thinks.  Then he speaks authoritatively.  ”No one move.  There could be more.”


OOC:
Do nothing.  Just talk.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:45, Fri 21 Dec 2018.

Magnus, along with some of the others it seemed, was not quite sure what to make of the individual that strided (or was it shambled?) into view. He narrowed his eyes as he made out the unusual details, and by the time he had taken them all in he was somewhat behind the curve, which was just as well it seemed given the nature of Finn's instruction and the sudden loud clack of Gustav's Crossbow hurling its deadly bolt.

”No one move.  There could be more.”

Magnus had similar fears, and despite the command he did take a tentative step to the side of the column to spread themselves out a little. Instinctively he crouched down to provide himself a little more cover behind his shield, for although they had not seen any others, this was completely unknown territory.

"Is it human?" he asked softly as his shield thunked dully against his knee.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:36, Fri 21 Dec 2018.

Twang!

Rondald's crossbow fires off towards their foe, but quick as a flash, the thing has disappeared back within the opening, the arrow piercing only the thin film of fog still clinging to the air.

[Language unknown:  "Khaldun!  Lasi venur outfornce!"]  A deep, rich baritone shouts from just beyond the wall.

"NOOO!"  Bjorn shrieks, rushing forward even as Finn orders everyone to stand their ground.  Axe in hand, he charges all the way to the break in the wall, turning the corner and lobbing his axe, almost without looking.  There is a cry! and the sound of steel crashing against something with hard force!

[Language unknown:  "Wa!"]  Another voice barks, this one sharp and angry.  [Language unknown:  "Hasvirlar st all terproore!"]

Bjorn sneers as he stands just short o the portal, his fingers already gripping down at his waist towards his next weapon...


OOC:  No one apart from Bjorn has moved yet.  Rondald has dropped his crossbow and can ready his mace or axe next turn.  He also has a Blur spell cast upon him, which makes the hard lines of his body fade, mashing the border of the air around him with that of his body and armor.  Though we are still in some weird place between combat and something else, please post only three seconds of action just in case something significant comes up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:42, Sun 23 Dec 2018.

Rondald Readies his shield as he walks toward Bjorn, before readying his axe, warily watching for dangers all around...
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:23, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

Where is the necromancer? Judoc thinks, wondering just how many people are on the other side of that wall. At least two, plus whatever that creature is. He is sure the odd mishmash of a man is one of the necromancer's thralls, but there is a chance that the apprentice is further in the temple, and if so, the other men can be reasoned with.

He calls out a few words in Arabic. [Language unknown: "Rat ro unhaek pre artatiart! Ard antsomati llnc st ard wh tris!"] Now that the Wazifis' emancipators are here, the Wazifis should fall in line easily enough.

OOC: Wait. Judoc still holds his staff in his right hand and the lead rope in his left.

Magnus peered from over his shield rim as Bjorn ran forward and cast only a half glance over his shoulder to get a feel for where the others were.

He saw Rondald go forward next and then exhaled sharply through his nostrils.

With Judocs accented Arabic cutting through the damp steaming air, Magnus adjusted his posture slightly where he knelt, and remained ready for orders.

Gustav looks around, trying to find someplace to tie up the mule so it doesn't run off...

The hands are so cracked.  So dry.  They are rough like a brick.  And his skin is weathered, wrinkled, like a turtles.  And yet his father is not old, but because of too many years of hard labor to support his family at cheap wages the man looks more like Finn's grandfather than the man who gave him life.  Every now and then Razzel can see his father in his minds eye just before he went to work for the Row.  Is being an enforcer for a secret group of political criminals dangerous?  Undoubtedly.  But so is working twelve hour stints six and seven days a week in unsafe conditions.

And as his mind wanders in his moment, aside from seeing his fathers face in his imagination, so to Finn sees a boy that he knew only as 'Scout' because the boy had a penchant for always being five or ten steps ahead of the others.  Scout was full of pride in being the first diving into practically all of the shenanigans they got into but Finn knew better.  And Razzel was proved right one day when the enterprising orphans were running from a gang of larger boys whose turf they had trodded upon.  A clear five yards ahead of the rest Scout was turning a corner when a big meaty hand reached out and grabbed a handful of Scout's hair.  Another hand appeared, the body still hidden by the obstructing building, this one holding a hand ax which separated Scout's head from his shoulders.  It's funny.  As his feet begin to carry him forward, strangely, Razzel can see Scout's happy smiling face superimposed upon Bjorn's body.

Breaking from his day dreaming Finn calls out while he points a finger towards the rough northman, ”Magnus, stop him.  I think those are the villagers.”


OOC:
Move forward.  Try to grapple Bjorn.  If I can reach him and I am given cover by the wall, then AoA for +4 to hit.

Magnus seemed to expect this on some level and could not help but find it ironic as he came to his feet. He had always feared losing himself and putting his friends at risk, now here he was trying to reign in somebody else!

Shrugging his axe free from its hold, Bjorn makes a step towards whatever adversary lurks ahead, though his progress is halted as Finn wraps his left arm about the man's waist and hooks his right around Bjorn's weapon arm!

"What!?"  Bjorn flinches in surprise, completely taken aback by the attack.  He half turns to see his assailant, causing Finn to jostle to the right, giving him a decent look at what lays beyond the war.

The hideous thing he had seen only moments is rising to his knees, his head glancing over his shoulder towards Finn and Bjorn, apparently unharmed.  There is another man too, this one armed for war, with a large round shield blocking much of the view of his steel corselet covering his chest, and plate mail vambraces running the length of his arms.  He glares through the wide openings of his pot helm, a broadsword pointed towards Bjorn.

"Put down your weapons!"  The man barks in heavily accented Anglish.  His eyes glare directly at Bjorn, who is still struggling wildly against Finn.

Meanwhile, Rondald has taken a step forward, attempting to work his shield into position.

OOC:  Finn has dropped his lead to go and grapple Bjorn with both hands.  Rondald has his shield 2/3 ready, and Magnus has risen into a standing position and stepped forward to within a hex of Bjorn.  It seems like Finn wants to avoid a combat, if that is the case, I need a few rolls from you.  First, you need to roll to calm Bjorn down.  Fast-talk, Leadership or some other relevant skill can apply here.  Second, I need you to roll to talk down the armored man.  A normal reaction roll (with an unknown modifier), Fast talk (with -1 for either your Arabic or his Anglish), Diplomacy, or other social skill can apply.  While you are not in combat, lets keep the discussion limited, lets say 10 seconds of talking - after all, if things with Bjorn go poorly, I doubt you'll have much opportunity to have a reasoned discussion with the other guy.

Rondald understand from Finns actions that this might be an Ally of the guys they are trying to rescue. He finished drawing his shield and held his ground, but let others who could understand do the talking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:24, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

About a year ago Finn had walked in to The Smiling Prince, a large and well known tavern.  In a corner Razzel saw a curious sight.  A nicely dressed and perfumed older man with round cheeks and graying hair was recounting stories.  One such story was how he was hired by a local nobleman to rescue his daughter who had been kidnapped by highwaymen and were willing to part with her for a ransom.  That isn't so strange, you see men telling tall tales all the time when under the influence of drink.  No, what was curious was that a young man about Finns age was sitting adjacent and frantically scribbling notes on some parchment.  After inquiring Razzel learned that the younger man was being paid to write a book on the older gentleman's exploits as he supposedly had a reputation for daring do.  Well, it's just a matter of time before Finn has his own biographer, only Finns book won't be financed by himself.  Surely, this story is going to be one of the highlights, or it might even deserve its own book.  How I rescued an entire village and the women adored me thereafter, or perhaps The Warden has Arrived or since the book would be about vanquishing an ancient prison of evil, The Man Who Saved the World.  Then again there's plenty of time to work on the title.

With an arm on Bjorn and having him distracted Razzel holds up a hand to the armed inhabitants.  ”Bjorn, these could be our friends.  From the village.  We don't kill OOPH!"




OOC:
I tried to limit my speech to about 10 seconds.  Both hands are empty.

Continue to try to restrain Bjorn with hurting anyone, including myself.


Edited by GM due to NPC actions.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:51, Mon 24 Dec 2018.

Finn grips onto Bjorn with both hands, but the Northman struggles wildly, twisting and turning in the grip until he eventually pulls Finn slightly off balance and his face far too forward.  Bjorn snaps back with his elbow, smashing it into Finn's face mask just in the middle of his speech, immediately filling his nostrils with warm blood and watering his eyes.  Bjorn turns on the spot, his axe in his hand and his eyes filled with rage!

"No!"  Magnus swats his shield forward before any further action can occur, knocking Bjorn off balance and back a step before he recovers, just barely keeping his feet.

"Stop!"  Terri screams from behind, her voice pleading.  "This is madness!"

Bjorn stares at both Finn and Magnus, his jaw jutted forward in a snarl before he glances back at the armored man.  "Yeah."  Bjorn agrees after a moment.  "I don't know what came over me."

A low and short, caustic laugh emits from the other room as the armored man's sword droops just slightly.  "Munt tells me you are the ones who killed Haj Umr, yet you cannot stop fighting between yourselves?   Why have you come here?  This place has nothing for you but death."

OOC:  I made a few assumptions to move things forward rather than force you guys to play out the squabble with Bjorn.  Generally, no harm is done, though Finn managed a bloody nose (due to a critical fail on your contest against Bjorn's break free).  It seems combat is averted for now, so you can revert to normal non-combat posts.  The thing has now made it to his feet, and behind the armored man, where there is another massive hole broken through in the back wall, several more Wazifis begin to arrive, each one with weapons in hand.

Rondald ignored the squabble with Bjorn, watching carefully the new arrivals. Seeing they are all armed, he readies his axe and stands ready to protect those otherwise preoccupied, but does nothing else aggressive whilst others do the talking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:24, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

Gustav puts a water keg down and ties his mule to it, then joins Rondald with shield and sword, but not threatening...

Magnus had no illusions about Bjorn's state of mind. Although the beast man had only "lost it" once, the stories and accounts were legendary, and from what little he could remember...he had not been in his right mind, or of any mind at all.

The goal had been to knock the man down so that the others could dog pile him, but the northerner turned out to be fairly dense himself. By the time Magnus regained his footing to try again, their combined efforts seemed to have brought him around, which was a damn good thing considered all they already had to deal with.

Magnus lingered near Bjorn to make sure the man was not going to relapse, and cast a big black eye up at the speaker.

It all happened so fast.  The appearance of sentient beings which could be friendly.  Whether they were or not this is not how Finn wanted to make first contact, in barely holding back Bjorn's hand from sinking an ax into one of their foreheads.

Suddenly he sees stars, there is a sharp stinging pain about his head and nose and a warmness tickles his upper and lower lips.  He hears a voice speak rationally as he blinks away the dancing lights.  Despite the tussle Razzel is relieved that this group has used words instead of steel.  There is hope.

The young leader begins as calmly and gently as he can muster.  ”I'm Finn.  Yup.  I guess you could say we liberated the town from the grip of a madman by liberating the breath from his body.  Are you...the men from the village?”, he asks hesitantly.




OOC:
Do not draw any weapons.  If the men say that they are the men from the village taken to be laborers then produce the token given to us to prove that we were sent by the women, and explain briefly the story of being sent here by the women to save their men and cure the prison of its evil.

The armored man laughs.  It is a course sound, grating and with no mirth, though he does not look upset when he glances back towards Finn.

"Liberated?  You have a way with words man."  The man turns his attention in a glance back to the hideous man, who now stands, his axe still in hand, facing Finn with uncertainty.

[Language unknown: Munt, ni ioma hattrashe llos comfo ent buticaweroerereder?]

The hideous man returns the glance, nodding his head and responding in a rich and soothing baritone which stands entirely at odds with his features.  [Language unknown: Os io ingri esutit oulichard ev t derthence ons.  T ekweni ei ce pl adanel, erurelei wa seunre ingsomill undiv ng i.]

The armored man nods, turning around to the men behind him.  [Language unknown: Amir strai lece usulst i wial icawilter achase.  Ce te tissma ni ceinul, o hoet ha Mika'il.]

One of the men leaves, back through the opening in the back wall, though the other four men hold their grounds, their weapons lowered, though their faces set in stony and tenuous expressions.

The interruption gives Finn a moment to take a timid step towards the room, glancing around the dimly lit enclave.  It seems the area was once some sort of garden, for there is a wide opening on his left side, not to mention a wide opening in the ceiling that lets in whatever meager light has pierced the fog outside.  Straight ahead and to his left there are several garden boxes which are raised from the floor which at one time may have provided a small supplement of food though whatever plants were once intended, they have long since given way to snares of weed and ivy that circle their way up the walls, reaching towards the ceiling up above.  Much of the floor too, is earthen or just filthy, and sitting at the middle of the room on the floor, what once was a thick copper grid is now hacked to pieces, in two foot long cylinders and crosses, three quarters of an inch thick.

Getting back on his knees, the hideous man begins stuffing the copper shards into a nearby burlap sack.

"I am Khaldun."  The armored man introduces himself as he turns back towards Finn.  "I was once Haj-Umr's administrator, you would call it.  Now that he is dead, I lead these men to take what they can before we flee here, barely one third the strength with which we came.  For now that these men are liberated they have none but themselves to care for them."

OOC:  Not all of you can see what Finn does, though you all get the general idea.  The copper reinforcement on the floor look like gridded rebar (like you would use for concrete) although it is entirely made of copper.  A successful IQ roll will make the connection that the horrific man has been using his axe to cut the copper grid into manageable pieces to be removed.


For illustration purposes only, the real room is about 50' long by about 30' wide and it looks as if there is a small hallway that shoots off to the right.

This is familiar ground for Finn Razzel.  In the early moments of a job, in that tense time when one isn't quite sure if people will use words or weapons.  When one must keep a high degree of focus upon drawn blades to make certain they stay a fair distance from ones neck.  But in no time it seems that the men are as eager as Finn to avoid loss of blood.

The well armored man states "Liberated?  You have a way with words man."   Razzel shrugs and smiles as if his face were saying 'Tell me something I don't know.'

The young leader watches the goings on and listens with a measured amount of curiosity.  He is open minded and it takes some time before their intent seems clear.  Now Finn holds up an empty palm.  ”Wait?  You're leavin'?  Haj-Mur's a goner and so what?  ...You're just packin' up?  What about the man he was trainin?  His apprentice?”


OOC:
Finn is just looking to understand at this point.  He wants solid clarification that these men are from the village, and what happened to the necromancers apprentice.  I have more questions but it seems appropriate to play them out.

Khaldun's face slides into an expression bordering between a grimace and a sneer, his loathing plain though it is difficult to determine whether its source is Finn or himself.

"No.  Haj-Umr's death, surprise as it was, did little to assuage our intentions here.  We learned months ago.  Sadda came to us probably the very night it happened, that foul thing, and Munt two days later.  Some of us were heartened, others enraged but everyone stayed, thinking either to unleash the foul beasts of this place against the Megalan scourge or otherwise to pilfer it of it's doubtless treasures.  Mika'il, the apprentice you speak of, was especially adamant, his slick tongue turned many who wished to leave, myself included, speaking of the treasures that were sure to lay within the vaults of Perdition."

Khaldun spits upon the ground, and behind him, one of the Wazifis returns, speaking something in low tones.  Khaldun nods, but immediately returns his attention to Finn.

"Well, it was all for shit and lies.  One month went by, two.  The hauntings of this place kept us to smaller and smaller spaces as we attempted to open the vaults, though there seemed to be no reason to believe it would ever come to be.  Every trick, every strength we tried against the doors all amounted to less than nothing, not so much as a dent...  But yesterday evening, as the majority of us were just about to finally give up and leave this place, we were set upon by one of the horrors that Haj-Umr sought to unleash upon the world, some giant lizard which walked upon two legs... perhaps you were observant enough to see the scene of the carnage on your way in.  At the end of the battle, of the hundred of us which made the journey, twenty or more were dead."

"It turns out that the horrors were quite as willing to kill us as they were anything else, and that Mika'il cared not one whit for the outcome, for no one had seen him in the battle, nor afterward, along with another twenty or so of our men, those which had been most sympathetic to Haj-Umr's aims.  We did not think it him at first, though when we found the citadel at Perdition opened, one door hanging akimbo and splaying open its reinforced innards and one of the cells standing open which hand been closed all these months, it was clear whose hand had cast our friends' deaths."

Khaldun leans back, his eyes searching towards the window, though it seems that the weather outside is far from lifting.

"So no Finn, liberator.  We do not flee for Haj-Umr's death.  We flee with the small tokens of value we have taken from here because I think there is little time left to us.  Mika'il has opened the first of the vaults, and I doubt it will be much longer until he has thrown open the whole."

OOC:  I'm going to go ahead and keep updating without waiting for everybody until this interaction is through.  It seems like many are indisposed for the holidays, which is totally fine, not to mention the fact that there isn't a whole lot of action for anyone other than Finn or other cerebral types looking to dig out information.  Let me know if I am going to fast for you guys though and I'll check the pace."

Magnus stood fast, and while he helped Bjorn to steady himself and dusted the man off somewhat, he listened to the tale of the man who called himself Kahldun.

It was a strange tale, one that seemed to have its beginnings in the coming of Haj-Umr, a single terrible man who had caused so much chaos and suffering. Whatever clever wonders he had wrought in his tower, whatever genius he might have possessed, these people had suffered under his yoke. Even now while their wives and daughters worried in empty beds and untilled fields they seemed to have found themselves still trying to escape his machinations, one way or another. All just trying to go home.

It could have happened anywhere, but their strange language and curious plight made Magnus eye the lot of them warily all the same. Another few years in either direction and they could all be at each other's throats in the next war, for land or God or whatever else.

He wanted to help, but he wanted to make it home first and foremost. He reminded himself that they could walk away at any time, that there was nothing here worth dying over. This was a job.

Oddly enough as the men spoke Magnus studied the patchwork creature and could not help but to see him as a sort of morbid counterpart. While the upstanding leaders bandied, here they were kept in reserve, ugly but useful, on the road and in the wilderness because there was likely no other place that would have them.

He felt his attention wavering and forced himself to focus on how the meeting was proceeding.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:59, Thu 27 Dec 2018.

Finn is a likable man, partially because of his immense gifts and talents but too owing to his charming and friendly nature.  Animals and babies especially love him.  And while he never doubted that he would win over these men, he is grateful that it is so and their two parties have not come to blows.

Razzel stands emptied handed and somewhat stoic as he listens to the tale, the morbid thing.  He has learned some of what he wanted and more.  Then the young leader clears his throat as a deep concern frames his face.  ”Thank you Khaldun for sharin' all that.”  In a show of good faith Finn introduces the rest.  ”This is Rondald.  Magnus.  He looks scary but trust me, he's more a man than most men.”, and the would be Row associate continues to make introductions.  ”I'm sorry for your friends.  But hold on there chief.  Somethin' aint sittin' right with me.  You say Mika'il is tryin' to finish his boss's work.  And after months he finally gets it right.  He opened one 'a the jails.  And instead of the monster running off to Azer and eatin' all 'a my kind, it et your friends.”  Finn half smiles as he lets it sink in while looking around the crowd, staring at the unhappy faces.  ”Do I got it wrong?  'Cause I don't think so.  If Mika'il found the key and he's gonna open all the jails, dozens 'a horrible creatures are gonna pour out and eat and maim whatever they find.  And guess what they're gonna run into before they make it to Azer.  Your village.  Those deamons are gonna eat your women and kids long before they get to my family.  So, why are you runnin'?  I know you don't wanna die, but don't you wanna protect you and yours?”


OOC:
Fast Talk.

This message was last edited by the player at 19:28, Thu 27 Dec 2018.

Gustav had moved up and listened ... he sensed  disgust with those who had brought them here, but no feeling of camaraderie between them and his group.
Je ne leur fais pas confiance he said softly in Aralaise

Khaldun nods at the introductions, though his face remains stoic even as Finn runs on into his monologue.  When Finn finishes, he smiles slightly and laughs honestly, though he shakes his head.

"And what, Finn, liberator?  You would have us help you?  Perhaps to slay our own kin, or to pilfer this God forsaken tomb as you pilfered the home of our master?  You have slick words, though they hold no weight.  Whatever terrors remain imprisoned were not released last night or this morning, and perhaps they will never be so.  But I think not.  And I will tell you this, liberator, when they do escape, than I intend to be as far from here as I can be.  It is as like as not that Mika'il, the only living thing left, will find himself impaled on his own sword."

"Perhaps you think me a coward?"  Khaldun places his sword tip back towards his waist, sheathing the weapon in a swift stroke.  "I will tell you it is not so.  Perhaps you are right, that these things will find us in al-Hassan 'ere long.  If they do I will fight them gladly.  But I refuse to wander blindly through this forsaken temple and wait for them to destroy us, what meager forces we have left."

On the ground, Munt still labors, forcing the thick cuts of copper into one bag after another.  The whole of it must be worth a small fortune, though undoubtedly all of it together weighs something on the order of a ton...

OOC:  Nice thought Finn, but no dice on the Fast talk roll.

They should go take care of their women folk,there will be much pain on their return. Show them the sign.  Gustav thinks it best they were gone. Their knowledge would be valuable, but they cannot be trusted.

"Were we not to escort them back, at least past the giant ants, before returning to deal with whatever is left here? We do want them to at least return safely. Their village is counting on them."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:25, Fri 28 Dec 2018.

Magnus carefully slipped his axe back into the loop on his belt and then adjusted the strap on his shield to let it hang over his shoulder once more.

He thought about chiming in, but Finn seemed to be trying to work some sort of angle and he did not want to throw him off. Besides, Magnus was still trying to process their own options and was having a time of it.

This whole enterprise was supposed to have been about rescuing slaves, but they had evidently rescued themselves, with perhaps only a handful being forced along with this Mika'il guy.

But now the apprentice was trying to crack open these vaults, and if even one contained anything like that lizard back there...well, could they really take the chance on him being able to control something like that? Would they be the ones to look back and know that they could have done something to stop it all?

Or would they lose friends, limbs or their own lives chasing after a damn fool who believed he could master ancient secrets?

He knew the others would not back down, hell, Finn and Judoc both were cocky as they came. They were going in...Magnus felt it in his gut, so in his own way he began to steel himself mentally for what was to come.

They were just getting started.

Still holding the lead rope of his horse, Judoc listens to Finn's conversation with Khaldun. Intriguing. It sounds like the sorcerer's apprentice has little love for his men if he had so callously left them to die once the great lizard had been loosed. With such blatant disregard for the villagers' well-being, it should be child's play to convince the rest of the Wazifis to leave Mikai's side.

The mage walks forward, leading his horse behind him. From the sound of the conversation, Finn is trying to get the Wazifis to accompany them on their journey. Good idea, but Judoc doubts they'll need all that manpower. "Let's let these men get on with their work. We seven are more than enough to prevent the rest of those nightmares from being unleashed."

Khaldun begins by offering, “Perhaps to slay our own kin, or to pilfer this God forsaken tomb as you pilfered the home of our master?  You have slick words, though they hold no weight.”  Finn smiles and nods respectively.  It was worth a shot, but truth be told this wasn't the prize he was aiming for.

Then the armored man continues on.  "Perhaps you think me a coward?"  Razzel shakes his head back and forth softly as he waits for the man to conclude.   ”No.  I've known you fer 'bout a minute and I can say with all my grit that yer the kind 'a man to walk through hell itsef to protect the ones you love.”

Now the captain speaks up and suggests that their party escorts the Wazifs safely beyond the deadly mountain home of giant and strange creatures.  Finn stops speaking and turns to Rondald though the leader says nothing.  His face is displaying a look of shock and displeasure.

Razzel now turns to address Judoc.  He holds up a hand with a lone finger pointing straight up towards the heavens.  ”Not so fast Judoc.”  As if he cannot let it go the plucky mercenary turns his attention back to Rondald as he relays his feelings with a calm authority.  ”Nope.  These good men just said they wanna go home.  They don't care what happens here anymore.  And that's fine with me.  What Khaldun generously did tell us is that the student finally found the key, and now he's opening the jail cells one by one.  If we see these men outta here safely its gonna be six days before we tackle them jails.  Six whole days Mika'il would have to open doors and set shit free.  That's why we're not going.”

Finn now turns back to the leader of the arabs.  ”I'll be honest with ya.  My bosses sent us here because they got wind that your boss was trying to send something deadly to my home, and kill all my friends and family.  And for a spell I wondered if we was getting' a bum steer.  But now I see we wasn't.  We don't stop Mika'il, he's gonna open it all.  You already seen what damage one of those monsters can do, how many more is inside?  You know as well as me there's a lot of villages and towns between here and my home full 'a your countrymen.  Might not be your town that gets bushwacked, but might be towns with your cousins, nieces, nephews.  You wanna save them?  Tell me how to stop Mika'il .”


OOC:
In a show of good faith I will honestly tell Khaldun everything I know about the terrain, weather and creatures between here and his village as a warning to help them navigate.  If we can spare some food and they need it we will offer some.

I am asking for any information that will help us.  I am suggesting to Khaldun that we try to speak rationally to the people inside to avoid a fight.  And I am more looking for information about how to stop Mika'il from opening the cells.  I don't expect him to give me info that puts his friends lives in danger.

Khaldun nods as Finn more fully explains himself, then goes on to explain the traps and pitfalls of the several valleys between Perdition and al-Hassan.  Finn has barely gotten into the giant footprints the first valley over however, before Khaldun holds up a hand, stopping the story there.

"I thank you for the thought.  As well you."  Khaldun nods to Rondald.  "But I doubt very much any of us would take well to infidels acting our protectors, and we've all made the same journey you speak of.  While we had Haj-Umr with us the last time we made the trek, and it was months ago, I can't say I've much forgotten the Slorn or Adin being swallowed by the earth whole.  We'll take care and our time as we go back."

Another of the Wazifis pass again through the hole in the back of the garden, whispering something to Khaldun who speaks back in the same language.  [Language unknown:  "Fi, netr napoie fi.  Ntiio outus ulusliit sanwitvenndered at, ntitharutati ul nce n bleos a thsato.  Pr anyatenot esno pasast lo she san som ospo an hi."]

The man nods, and returns back through the opening.

"As for Mika'il."  Khaldun faces back to Finn, "If you had talked to me when we had left on this journey, I would have told you he is a mere boy, one making desperate lunges at his own fortune.  Now I am not sure.  When Sadda brought news of Haj-Umr's death, he changed...  A fire lit in him that I had never seen.  A fire that seemed to scorch all of what he used to be...  If you seek to kill him I cannot claim to know where he hides.  This place is small enough that it will not be hard to scout him out, though you will have to deal with whatever haunts this place..."

At Finn's look, Khaldun cocks a half-smile, knowing full well the thoughts that are likely crossing the footpad's mind.

"I thought it nonsense as well, people seeing things, people hearing things.  It had been going on for a month when I thought to put a stop to it.  I went with Sadin to the storage building to bring a jar of grain, when the man was cut in the leg by a ghost!  We heard nothing, saw nothing, but he spouted blood from his leg as if struck with a knife!"

Khaldun shakes his head.  "He's dead now, or I'd bring him here to tell you."  Khaldun looks up, his face set in a half smile as he takes a moment to recollect himself.

"What I can tell you is this place is set out fairly simple.  The outer ring seems to be mostly residences, each set up with a few rooms.  The center is a large courtyard with a few buildings, storage, a shrine, a place where they ate.  A couple of the places have passages that go underground, though we've never been able to go far, those damn..."  He pauses for a moment, searching for the word.  "those damn [Language unknown:  larlatouldin] guard the way on.  The prison is all the way in the back.  Just follow the plaza.  I would love to tell you how to stop him, but I have no idea what Mika'il has done.  There are no keyholes to the cells, you couldn't breathe a wisp of air from the inside to out they are so well sealed.  Yet, clear as day one of them stands open..."

At the opening in the back of the garden now several more of the Wazifis walk in, each of them carrying a weapon with a backpack or bag strapped across their back.

"We are preparing to depart."  Khaldun offers as the group begins to build in the garden.  "Once this copper is loaded we will make our way out.  If there is anything else I can offer you as far as information, I am happy to do what I can.

Finn thinks long and hard in the response and then nods and offers another round of thanks.  ”Khaldun, you gave me more than I 'spected and 'em grateful.  But 'fore you leave I want us to understand one 'nother.  The only reason we're here is 'cause our bosses heard that your boss was fixin' to aim a weapon at my people.  Think for a minute if he fired that weapon.  It would'a started a war.  Thousands on both sides would be dead.  None of us, not mine, not yours, wants that.  That is the only reason we're here.  Your actions here today have helped prevent that war.  But, I do have some more questions...”


OOC:
Pressed for time so the post is short.

I would like to know more about the colossus and the ghostly apparitions.  Have they fought the colossus?  Does it move?   Did Mika'il say anything about a way to thwart the colossus?  And the ghost, how many times did they see evidence of ghostly manifestations?

Finally, make it known that it is Finn's desire to avoid fighting the arabs.  I only wish to fight any people here who mean to open the gates and unleash death upon those of Megalos.  To that end, is there something Khaldun can give me or tell me to say to avoid fighting those left inside?  Some token or kind of reasoning logic to avoid killing his countrymen?

Khaldun shakes his head as Finn gets into his line of questions.  "Don't know too much about the things to be honest.  Haakim and Abbas were the first ones to scout out the downstairs.  Five or six hours later we went looking for them and they were both dead laying next to the thing.  It's huge, you'll see.  I don't suspect Mika'il'd know much more about them.  We never talked much over the things, didn't seem much reason."

Khaldun's troupe pours into the small garden, each of the men taking a sizable stack of the copper rebar and adding it to their own bags.

"As for the ghosts, it's been happening since the day we got here.  Noises, visions, some disappear into nothingness, some don't.  That's why we've been mostly just going between these rooms and Perdition the last month or more, wasn't worth tempting fate."

At Finn's last request, Khaldun shakes his head.  "Things have been a little divisive as of late...  I don't suspect the others would be much impressed if you offered them some token of mine, probably they'd just take it as proof I was never on their side in the first place.  But they're all followers... cut off the head of the snake you know?"

[Language unknown:  "Art, ingectwil strredlat."]  Munt says, putting the last of the copper in another of the bags and throwing his own about his shoulders.

[Language unknown:  "Pre."]  Khaldun responds back, pulling his own bag from one of the men who has stepped through the doorway.  "We take our leave from you then.  Good luck, Finn, Liberator."

OOC:  I think many of you still remember, but you do still have the trinket from the elder.  Khaldun doesn't have anything else to offer you.

Razzel stands rooted to the spot where he first encountered Munt and Khaldun.  He lingers, slowly relating his plans to his loyal group while the Wazif's gather their gear and make their exit.  Finn is full of genuine smiles.  Truth be told while having their numbers might have proved useful, if they had stayed and changed their mind to orient themselves with their original master, Finn and company would be facing an adversarial party of perhaps three scores.  No thanks.

The young leader waves goodbye to the last of them and when they're out of sight he breathes a sigh of relief.  Next he clasps both hands together and smiles while rubbing them vigorously.  ”Well then.  Let's get this wagon train movin'.   Mika'il is tryin' ta open the doors.  Its our job ta see that he don't.  I don't wanna kill no Arabs, but if we gotta then we gotta.   You heard Khaldun.  We kill Mika'il and the rest will loose their spit.  But 'fore we do that we're gonna set up camp the way we should'a first time 'round.”


OOC:
Finn's plan is wait until all of Khalduns men leave.  We take our horses back to the Mill.  I cast my protective spell to keep the animals as safe as they can be.  With ghosts and militant Wazifs running around the mill is the best place for them.  I rest.  While I am resting the remainder of the group may scout the local area.  When I am done resting I will rejoin the group and we proceed to kick ass.  In my absence Judoc is in charge.

"You mean find a nice safe place in here to tie up the animals? Good, now we have some idea of which places are safe. Out there certainly is not."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Thu 03 Jan 2019.

Judoc nods his head. "Godspeed," he says to Khaldun, and begins leading his horse back to the mill. The Wazifi seems honest enough, and if he did reveal himself as an enemy later, Judoc feels certain the group can handle Khaldun and his men. The odd pastiche of a man seems different, however. Where had the man Munt, if he were a man, come from? What was his story? Judoc is sure the man is a product of the necromancer's art somehow, but if this is true, Munt seems to bear no desire to revenge himself on the gropu.

Ghosts, now - these will be a new type of adversary for Judoc to overcome. He wonders if spirits can be harmed by fire.

"The sooner we square the animals away, the sooner we can get on with our mission. By the way, Finn, I can help restore some of your lost energy from casting the spell. It doesn't take me long to recharge when I rest."


OOC: Rather than splitting up, Judoc will cast Lend Energy on Finn and then rest to regain lost fatigue.

Finn is wrapping up making plans and eager to move forward.  During most of their adventure to this point he's been content to proceed slowly as to avoid falling into any unseen pitfalls, both literal and figurative.  But now armed with the information that Mika'il has found what he needs to launch an ancient evil Razzel feels that time is an enemy that they cannot afford to indulge.

Rondald makes an assertion that he knows which areas are safe and dangerous.  Razzel stops in mid movement and turns to stare at the soldier for a long moment.  Finn's face is dressed in skepticism and bewilderment, then he smiles and chuckles.  ”So that's it, eh?  You been here five minutes and you know?  Weren't you listenin' to Khaldun?”  Next Finn shrugs his shoulders as he turns towards the mill.  ”Suit yourself.  My fog will be at the mill.  Your animal ain't in it I doubt you'll get him in later.”


OOC:
Proceed with my plan.  Judoc should recognize that Finn rests at the standard rate, and he would gladly take assistance at recovering at a faster speed.

Magnus watched the exchange gradually come to a close, the Arabs getting restless, the copper scrap being bundled up.

He was struck with the impression that they were going to be here for some time, that this would be no tower that they could plunder in the span of a day, but rather the beginning of a series of smaller expeditions into the heart of the ruin.

He suddenly felt a little tired at the prospect, and heaved s great breath as he tried to banish his worries over ghosts, gisnt lizards and whatever else might call this cursed place home.

When Finn mentioned the mill Magnus  nodded slightly, then went to retrieve his mule in order to follow the others over.

It seemed they would have a Basecamp of sorts to live and work out of it seemed, unless there was yet another surprise waiting for them within...

"That's not what he meant Finn..." Magnus chimed in, trying to set the pair at ease with a calming, slightly amused tone. "And you know it"
he added with a knowing grin.

At Magnus's words Finn stops again, this time staring a bit confusedly at the big minotaur.  ”I dont actually.” he says in a calm response.

Now Razzel turns to Rondald.  ”Sorry Rondald.  What I heard was in your mind the ruins is safe, the mill is not.  If you meant something else you'll have to explain.  Anyways, my fog'll be at the mill if you want it.  If not, good luck with your animal elsewheres.”

Gustav is just fine with the wazifi's leaving, the Infidel comment seals his view that they would see the group dead as not, since Infidels didn't matter ... even though they were here to help them get back. Sorry excuse for human beings...

He goes back to his mule, unties it from the water barrel and lifts the barrel back onto the mules back, while he holds the lead, just in case the Mule starts thinking.

"Hem hem!"  Terri clears her throat loudly as Finn's voice rises up an octave in defense of his own plan.  "I just thought I should say...  I was looking back in this hallway,"

Terri gestures behind the group to the short length of hall directly across from the gaping hole in the stone wall.

"You know, thought it would be bad form to let something sneak up on us unawares and all.  And I noticed that the two doors lead to old stable stalls.  Not that they are in peak condition or anything..."  Terri pauses, "But it's got to be a good sign right?  Right here at the entrance, just like we was looking for?"

Terri smiles up expectantly at Finn and Rondald, waiting for the moment to break.

And so, the powderkeg of Finn's frustration cools for the moment... after all the finding of the stalls was fairly fortuitous, and his spell would ward off any physical harm.  After inspection, Finn had to admit that the stall offered several advantages.  Firstly, the walls allowed for the animals to be held closer together without fear of them kicking or biting one another - which greatly reduced the cost to Finn.  Secondly, it did allow for the animals to be right near the doorway out in case of a hasty retreat.  Agreeing finally to the arrangement, Finn casts his spell of warding and sits down to rest and regain his strength.

As the group waits, the slow procession of Wazifis start making their way northbound out of the structure, the wide open doorway and the thick gray fog of the outdoors swallowing them one at a time.  A few of the men throw venomous looks towards our adventurers as they leave, though Khaldun stays posted near the corner to ensure none of them get any ideas.  At last, Khaldun throws a wave towards Finn's direction and a 'good luck' with a smirk, as if he knows the group will need it.

OOC:  While I'm sure that there are great arguments to be made as to whether the animals are safer inside or out, I'll divulge that neither the inside, nor outside are safe and the chances of either one making a significant difference are fairly minimal.  So I flipped a coin, and Terri ended up on Rondald's side, then subsequently crit succeeded her fast talk roll to talk everyone into leaving the horses/mules here.

It is 0920 on the 14th of May.  Finn cast his spell and Judoc cast Lend Energy and between the two of them it took about another 30 minutes to rest up to full strength again.  You guys are in the center of the graphic below, with the small stables on the right side, the garden-like room on the left, and 'up' is towards the center of Perdition.  Note that the north-south corridor is the 20' wide stone plaza that extends out to the mill.  'down' is North.



GM Edit:  I forgot to mention that if anyone wants to take anything from their animals, now is the time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:05, Sun 30 Dec 2018.

"Actually, Finn, it was because I was listening that I say this. Apparently you were not when they said 'The hauntings of this place kept us to smaller and smaller spaces', indicating that there are indeed small safe places where they were. It is there I am proposing to put the animals. Your willingness to sacrifice others, be they animals or Wafazi, says you are not as different from the row as you would have us believe. I assume you would sacrifice us just as easily? On boats, we rely on the whole crew acting as a team..."

[OOC: Had typed it before the last post, but it adds to Terris argument, and so I left it. But it probably should be after Terri's post chronologically.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:47, Mon 31 Dec 2018.

"Hey Guys" he looked between Finn and Rondald. "Let's take it down a notch, yeah?" He suggested as he unslung his pack and let it sag heavily into the corner.

"We're all still tired, we're all wet and hungry..." He pointed out as he set his hands on his belt. "How about I fry up some of those little sausages I brought and we can come up with a plan over a real breakfast?" he looked around.

”Brilliant, Terri,” Judoc had said, not without enthusiasm, when the woman found stables where they could leave their animals. Though Judoc in general takes a dim view of women’s intelligence, he begrudgingly admits that he finds himself agreeing with Terri more often than not. In that respect she reminds him of Mariana, perhaps the only other level-headed woman he had ever known.

Now, however, he bristles at Rondald’s breach in etiquette. The man still thinks he’s the bloody captain of his ship instead of a member of a crew under Finn’s leadership. Judoc knows he himself would make an excellent leader, but what little he knows of army etiquette dictates that the unit leader has the final say unless he is clearly unfit for command. Judoc is about to respond angrily to what he perceives as Rondald’s insubordination when Magnus speaks up, and at the minotaur’s words, Judoc’s sharp words die in his throat. Surely squabbling about whether horses are safer outside or inside is dying on the wrong battlefield.

He manages a forced grin and says, ”Right on, Magnus. You’re right, infighting won’t do us any favors. The apparitions may have given the Wazifis trouble, but it sounds like Mika’il didn’t care of his men lived or died. If ghosts are anything like demons, they’ll be banished easily enough by fire. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.”
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Mon 31 Dec 2018.

Finn eyeballs the solider as Rondald delivers his speech.   When it is done Razzel is silent for a long moment.  He wanders a small space as his face changes expressions a few times, clearly he is deep in thought.  He kneels and picks up a small rock from the rubble of the crumbled wall.  Finally he tosses it a short distance and responds.  ”That's it then Rondald.  I'm from the Row so I must be a cold blood'd killer.”  Finn looks to Terri, Magnus and then Judoc.  ”You 'er wrong 'bout me Rondald.  But like the sayin' goes, time will tell.”  The young mercenary again looks into the faces of those who spoke up concerning the groups well being, then he turns his attention back to Rondald.  ”They're right., as he points a flicking finger at the mage, the minotaur and the wife.  ”We aint getting' no closer to stoppin' Mika'il by goin' at each other.  What say we put our squabblin' in the wood shed?”


OOC:
Just so I'm clear boss, each square on the map you posted is 5 x 5 feet.  'Down' is north.  South leads into the heart of Perdition, north leads out to the mill and other outer areas.  On the map east is the garden where we saw the Wazifi's come from, and west is the stables.  Are both rooms on the west part of 'the stables'?  Do I have it right?

Finn the character may act irritated but I assure you, its only role play.  I the player am not.  Wrote my response as if Rondald's last post did happen after Terri and before the boss summed up.  Finn is agreeing with Judoc and Magnus, that he and Rondald should set our differences aside for the good of the mission.

Rest back to full fatigue before heading out to explore.  Finn has what is on his person and taking his backpack with him.  Left hand is empty.  Right hand has my long knife.

Head south at a slow pace.  2 x 2 formation.

This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Wed 02 Jan 2019.

"My observations about you are based soley on your actions and words. As long as we can work as a team, I am happy to leave our differences behind us. "

He moves over to the stables indicated by his wife to check them out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Thu 03 Jan 2019.

(Sometime before they set off)

"So with our last job, it seemed pretty cut and dry..." Magnus began as he drained the last of the grease from his the pot, the smell of the sausages still lingering in the air. "We go to this village, we find the tower, we go in there and kill the guy"

"Now, I may be overthinking this, but this seems a little more complicated, we've got kind of a time limit, he's got volunteer's with him, and we have as much chance of fighting this place as we do him and his men." he tapped his spoon twice on the pot and continued to clean up. "Now we could just march in there, and that may be the best thing given the chance of him opening up another one of these vaults sooner than later, but we do have other options." He looked up from where he was bent over his pack. We could maybe send out scouts to get the lay of the land, or even fix this place up a little, make it more defenseable if we think we are gonna be here awhile."

"I'm not sayin I have the answer, but I just thought I'd throw it out there before we get goin" he shrugged and cinched his pack shut.

(If they are sticking with the plan as described, Magnus will continue with his one day of rations, pack, shield and tethered axe)

Terri beams at the complement from Judoc, and though Finn doesn't comment on her directly, she none the less smiles just as wide as the group seems to move on from the argument on the horses.  In fact, it is only Bjorn who still looks surly after the group moves on, his thumb running absent-mindedly along the edge of his axe as he looks down the wide corridor as if anticipating something to come their way.

---

The group walks down the wide corridor two abreast, now bereft of their animals and walking in their normal order.  It does not take long to walk the length of the corridor, and before they know it, the group is bathed in the muddy sunlight of the morning.  The fog seems to be finally lifting, or perhaps it is just some otherworldly effect of the temple that the bottom of the clouds now hovers somewhere near the tops of the outer walls.

It is a courtyard of some sort, though it seems to be packed with other, smaller buildings.  To both the left and right, narrow, rectangular buildings spread directly away, with narrower paths giving space on both sides.  Up ahead, the wide plaza continues on hundreds of feet, only broken at the end by shadows and a massive wooden door which hangs open, covering the right hand side of the plaza.

Between here and there, there is what looks to be a larger building on both the east and west sides of the plaza.

Aiah leaps from her perch atop Judoc's shoulder and sails to the roof of a nearby building. 

"I say we find 'em and kill 'em one by one."  Bjorn remarks simply his nervous eyes glancing between the paths departing on all sides.  "Last thing we want is to let the whole of them get together to face us down."

OOC:  Yup, 100% correct Finn, though it took me about 5 times to read what you said to make sure that was accurate ;).  Anyway, as much it makes things easier, I'm not planning on updating maps - for while word descriptions probably don't convey all of what you see, the bird's eye view probably provides a good deal more than you would.  Feel free to ask questions if there are any.  There are two buildings on each the left and the right.  The closer ones are narrow, perhaps twenty or thirty feet wide, and long in the directions going away from you (east/west).  Up ahead, there look to be larger buildings, much wider than the ones that are closer.  Around each of the buildings, there is a path, much narrower than the plaza, though still wide enough to go in your two wide formation.

As Finn walks onward eager to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding these cells his mind wanders over recent events.  Magnus, Terri and Judoc's words ring in his head, as well as those of Rondald, though Razzel is careful to avoid eye contact with the latter in an attempt to let their differences lie.  While they near the lifting fog Finn pats the big minotaur on a beefy shoulder.  ”Thanks fer the sausages.  I'll be tastin' those till lunch.”, Finn chuckles lightly while belching softly, then he continues.  ”I thought 'bout scoutin'.  But there's so much we don't know 'bout this place.  The ghosts.  Mika'il's men.  The colossus.  Hang me from a sour apple tree if the scout din't come back and we find 'em dead later on.  Nah, too risky.”

A few paces later the party enters the wide open courtyard dotted with buildings.  A slow growing grin forms across the mercenary's face.  He points out at the structures.  ”So Khaldun said there's storage here, a shrine and a dining hall.  And homes.  He said some have passages that lead down low but they're guarded by...colossus.  If there was somethin' 'a value up here I think it run'd off, 'less it's hid real good like that metal bubble.”.

At Bjorn's words Razzel places a hand on his forearm.  ”Easy there big guy.  You aint wrong, but we need ta be smart how we do it.  Think 'a these arabs like the ants.  You chop one in half pretty soon you got the whole ant hill on ya.  We almost had that with Munt, but he likes words better than an ax upside his head.”


OOC:
Finn has what is on his person and taking his backpack with him.  Sheath my long knife.  Take my bow off my back but do not load an arrow.  Left hand holds my empty bow.  Right hand is empty.

Finn is suggesting that the large structure at the far end of the plaza is the entrance to the prison and that is where we need to begin looking for Mika'il.  He also suggests that all of the above ground buildings are likely well looted and we probably wont find much here.  Finn is suggesting we do a quick search of the above ground buildings in order of north → south as we move across the plaza.  His idea is that as one group we approach a buildings main entrance, then 2 people with the best Per enter it and do a quick search for valuables.  Meanwhile 1 guard enters the building to watch the searchers and the rest of the party stays in the doorway or just outside to watch everyone.  We methodically move building to building and bring whatever loot we find, if any.  Or, Razzel can easily be convinced that this is a waste of time and Khaldun and his crew took everything of value topside, and that we should proceed underground toot sweet.  I'm asking the players for input.  If no one has an opinion or its a tie, Finn will elect for the quick search plan.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:24, Wed 02 Jan 2019.

Rondald readies his crossbow again, drawing it and placing a bolt in it after attempting to recover the one previously fired. Whilst he keeps an eye on Finn, he says nothing more on the matter and focusses on staying alert and guarding, offering to stay on guard if buildings are searched.

"While loot is good, that is not the mission." he comments rather matter of factly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:42, Thu 03 Jan 2019.

"Yeah, but I'd rather know that we looked everywhere behind us before we head in there. Not so much for the plunder, but to...you know, not have to watch our backs so much" Magnus chimed in, seeming to approve of searching the out buildings before they moved on to the main structure.

One he had somebody else that was interested in going with him, he peeked into the first building available from the north end.

Gustav will go with him...

”Correct, we’re not here for loot, but room and board isn’t free. And besides, I still owe the rest of you for these beauties.” Judoc takes out the amulet and mask and considers them. ”We might as well use them. If we need to scout, Finn, I can use the spells on this amulet to spy from afar.” With this, Judoc slips on the necromancer’s mask and places the amulet about his neck.

Looking around the ruins, Judoc considers the lay of the land. If he were the necromancer’s apprentice, he would leave plenty of traps behind to harass unwelcome intruders and give warning. Checking through the buildings before they descend into the depths sounds like good sense to him.

OOC: Finn’s plan sounds good. Walk toward the north-most building with Magnus to see what’s inside.

"Ok then. I am not much good at finding traps, but I will help where I can. Isn't that the necromancer' mask? Is it even safe to use?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:51, Sun 06 Jan 2019.

Endeavoring to clear the area of traps and ambushes, Magnus and Finn turn the group to the right down the first path they can take, keeping the outside ring of the building along their right side.

It is apparent very quickly the extreme age of this temple.  The stones in the path below them are broken and worn, and likewise the building to their left and right both boast severe structural cracks that weave like spiderwebs through the masonry.

Up above, Aiah flits to the next rooftop, her head twitching to and fro in anticipation.

Though the group passes a battered and rotted doorway to the right, they pass it up, thinking to clear the buildings in the courtyard first, leaving the rooms in the outer ring until later, if at all.

Instead the continue on, all the way until the building ends, and the wall turns back to the south.  Up ahead, the courtyard opens up, the stone pathway giving out to earth where a copse of elder trees grow in even ranks, though ragged tendrils of ivy choke them up to the tops.  At the north side of the copse stands another building, this looks to be more of a small stone shed, perhaps only twenty feet in length and width...

Magnus follows the edge of the building, heading southward until he sees the second corridor, cutting back to the left, which they follow, and opening the first door they come to.

Inside is a small room, perhaps thirty feet wide and deep, with most of its contents destroyed or splayed upon the floor.  Fragments of rotten wood are littered everywhere, a thick wood table leans akilter on two legs in a corner behind them.  Bits of iron and steel lay about the floor, the most recognizable is a smashed kettle against the eastern wall.  Against the western wall sits a heavy iron stove, its cookplate corroded through at the back, where perhaps there was once ducting to remove the smoke to outside.  The only other piece of furniture remaining is a thick oaken cabinet in the back of the room, one of it's doors completely fallen away, the other hanging akimbo at a single point, the other side dragging down to the ground.

A single small, open air window lets in the slightest bit of light from high on the southern wall, and a small doorway sits at the center of the wall to their right.

Even as the group steps within the doorway, a soft groan ushers from within the depths of the stove...

OOC:  I've already given up on not posting maps.  The description is too hard, and may actually matter.  This is the 'right' side of the courtyard.  The doors on the bottom of the map open up into the outer ring of the temple.  You probably wouldn't be able to see any of the doors on the right (apart from the one at the bottom right corner).  You guys are in the long building at the bottom of the map, in the smaller part on the right side.  The 'hole' in the wall is the doorway leading into the other, longer part of the building.  If you wish to search this room, please say what you intend on searching, and for how long.  Also go ahead and make a roll against perception.

The tight confines of corridors and hallways were more or less unfamiliar to Magnus, who had historically found his work guarding employers and their goods in the wild spaces in between the relative safety of walls and civilization. He had kicked down a few doors in his life, mostly with his father at hand in order to collect debts they had been owed, but searching ruins for still a newer experience for him.

He peeked into the doorway and looked around before he entered, bits of rotting wood and a rusted hinge squished and skittered as he picked his way through, mostly looking for any signs of habitation by man or animal. he flipped over the remained of a chair with his axe and continued looking about as he slowly made his way towards the hole in the wall.

Gustav noted the groan and moved to investigate, sword point first, to see what was groaning ... first he'll stand a bit away and look carefully before he'll open a door or lid to look inside if need be.

Rondald was used to confined spaces, but not ruins. The age of this place unnerved him a little, but he focussed on looking for trouble. Hearing the moan, he moved with Gustav to investigate, crossbow ready.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:51, Sun 06 Jan 2019.

As the group traverses the courtyard, Judoc looks to and fro, watching for any sudden movement. This temple compound must have been quite impressive when it was constructed, and Judoc imagines the place bustling with people. He finds irony in the temple being used to seal away evil, but rather than nullifying the threat, the elves only postponed it for a few thousand years. They had had good intentions, no doubt, but if Judoc had been in charge, rather than simply imprisoning evil, he would have destroyed it outright.

Now his attention is drawn to the stove in this room and the sounds coming from within. "Ten to one, that's some undead creature left behind by Mika'ii," he says softly, his hand gripping his quarterstaff. "Let's put it out of its misery, shall we?"

As Finn navigates the corridors and alleys of the courtyard his imagination works overtime trying to see what this place looked like in its heyday.  In his minds eye he can see scores of elves calmly and smugly walking around the grounds.  Some are administrators, some are engineers and architects, yet others are powerful wizards who are instrumental in holding the keys that keep this place safe.  For Finn yet some lesser beings perform the menial task of wrangling the terrifying monsters towards the underground cells.  Razzel can see creatures of nightmarish proportion being led by ropes, in cages, or even being carried by clouds of magical energy through the bustling and bright plaza towards the large doors at the rear.

As the group approaches the first of their buildings Finn sidles up to Terri.  ”We worked together 'fore and I aint said much to ya.  Just occurred to me.  I want you ya know I aint snubbin' ya.  So, what kind 'a work you done before?”


OOC:
The way I am playing this is that Magnus, Judoc, Gustav and Rondald have all gone inside the building to investigate the noise.  I will stay outside with Terri and Bjorn to guard the groups flank.

It is of three minds that our adventurers enter the small room.  Magnus steps forward, flipping over the litter of decades with a single hoof, displacing a chair leg and the remnants of some wooden panel, though he reveals only the rusty blade of a dismembered knife and a half the lid of a ceramic cook top.  He leans towards the door on the wall ahead, peering into the next room where he sees various large earthen jars in various states of disrepair though there is no hint of life...

Gustav on the other hand progresses rapidly towards the stove, the source of the groaning noise.  His sword point forward, his small shield held strapped across his left wrist he quickly covers the distance across the various debris on the floor.  With his shield-laden hand, he turns the small handle on the oven with effort, eliciting a groan of rusted iron rubbing on iron.  His lighted pendant shines into the small space, though it seems to make little difference for the whole of it is blackened with soot and shadows and there is nothing that seems that seems either living or undead to speak of.

Behind Gustav, Judoc and Rondald hold their weapons ready, expecting at any moment some spirit or thing to burst forth...

Outside however, Finn seems to be taking an entirely more casual attitude to the clearing.  He places a hand on Bjorn's shoulder, keeping him from entering the room and gesturing to the Northman to stay out and clear the outside with them.  Bjorn returns an annoyed glance, though Finn's attention is already distracted to Terri, who holds her bow and a knocked arrow with her left hand, her right hand resting gently on the bow string, ready to pull back at a moment's notice.

It is something of a oddity how much the woman has changed over the past few months.  On the road to the necromancer's lair, she had been not unconfident, though she was quiet - speaking mostly to Rondald if at all.  She had worn no armor and she had avoided the tower, even volunteering to stay alone with the cart to prevent her from entering the place.  While Finn was sure that she was still far from a hardened brigand like himself, there was a cold defiance about her eyes and a will that seemed altogether new...

Terri seems somewhat surprised when Finn addresses her directly, though she quickly regains herself, averting her eyes back towards the grove of elder as she responds in a quiet voice.  "Last real work I had was as cook on Rondald's ship.  It was how we met, but before that I spent a lot of time out with my dad trapping and fishing.  He was..."

But whatever he was, the words were cut across by a shout from Bjorn.  "LOOK OUT!"  The Northman bounds into the room in a single step, his axe raised in anger.  Those already in the room turn wildly just in time to see a large form just steps behind them, sword in hand and poised for a strike!

OOC:  No combat map this time.  No one is sure where the fighter came from, though he seems to be stepping from out of the corner of the room, behind everyone else.  He is one step away from Magnus, Bjorn, and Judoc, and seems to be focusing his attention on Judoc.  Rondald and Gustav are three steps away and are turned the other direction (towards the stove).  Gustav is in a kneeling position.  Please give just one second of action.  Judoc, please state a defense.

Rondald turns to see the fighter, crossbow in hand, and aims carefully for the fighters head...whilst it was likely hostile, that may be due to ignorance...if it was real.

[OOC: Turn and aim, head, -7]
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:22, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

Magnus had seemed mostly concerned about not accidentally putting his hoof through a crumbling section of floor, or disturbing some exotic venomous spider as he moved carefully on. He did not seem to expect that anything could be so stealthy that they would not be able to spot it among the shadows of the ruined interior in the middle of the day.

He heard the cry, glanced up and then...saw Rondald training his crossbow on the figure.

He raised his shield and tried to step out of the firing arc, not wanting to accidentally catch the bolt.

Gustav rose and stepped away from the Stove, turning toward the warning without putting his back to the open stove.

At Bjorn's shout of alarm, Judoc turns to face the opponent who has seemingly materialized from thin air. An elf? Judoc isn't sure, but plainly, this stranger has made a grevious mistake. "Who are you?" he calls in challenge as he whips around his staff, prepared to meet the figure head on.

OOC: All-out Defense.

Finn had been content to play his part in watching the group flank from outside of the small building.  But then Bjorn's harsh voice breaks the relative calm.  Finns attention is abruptly torn.


OOC:
Wiggle out of my backpack.  Continue to look outside for ambush.

This message was last edited by the player at 17:32, Mon 07 Jan 2019.

The attacker, what seems to be some sort of elf steps forward, the sword flashing low and ahead right for Judoc's gut.  Judoc swipes his staff across his body as he stumbles backward, attempting to bat the sword to the side but at the last second the blow redirects upward to his chest, evading his well-timed defense!

The weapon cuts deeply into his flesh between the ribs and Judoc screams in horror as one leg buckles beneath him.  The elf grins wickedly, his blood-slicked blade flashing up again for a killing blow.

But Bjorn steps forward, his axe slashing downward and cutting a savage blow across the thing's back... though instead of injury, the form dissolves into two eddies of color and air, evaporating into nothingness in less than a moment...

Several seconds of silence pass as Bjorn's head sways from side to side, his axe aloft and ready for another swing, Judoc clutching his chest... though his hand comes away clean and his armor seems undamaged.

"You are not welcome..."  A quiet voice reverberates from the walls all around...  "Leave."

OOC:  Judoc appears uninjured after a moment's inspection.  The place where the apparition stood, now nothing is disturbed and there is no trace of it.

Rondald, who had been watching intently, begins to look around, always looking down the sights of the crossbow.

"That is one hell of a distraction. Who the hell are you to tell us to leave? Show yourself?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:22, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

As his unknown assailment lunges forward, Judoc raises his quarterstaff to meet his enemy’s assault. Could this be a minion of Agares, come to kill Judoc after the young wizard had humiliated the demon? Or is this strange elf part of the temple’s arcane defenses, left behind by the elves who had created this place to protect it from being breached by malevolent forces?

Although Judoc has spent the vast majority of his time poring over grimoires and practicing incantations, he possesses some skill with his staff, one of a wizard’s most useful tools. He prepares to fend off the blow when the mysterious elf abruptly shifts his weapon’s trajectory, catching Judoc off guard, and the mage gasps as he feels the blade plunge into his heart.

And then Bjorn is there, slicing at the elf, and as Judoc had rightly surmised, the figure is nothing more than an apparition, dispelled as soon as it is attacked. But the elf’s blade had felt so real as it had pierced through Judoc’s armor and stabbed his heart. The voice that echoes through the room - Mika’il’s? Or someone else?

”We will stop you from opening the cells,” Judoc calls out. ”We will not let you loose the evil held here!”

It was over as quickly as it began.  The sudden magic like appearance of an elf.  A hostile warrior elf.  It hacked and slashed with the intent to kill.  And then like that, it vanished along with all of its consequences.

Finn blinks a few times and crumples up his lips as he waits for Judoc to let on if the wounds are real or another illusion.  When all seems to be alright Finn breathes a sigh of relief and shrugs.  ”Huh.  Guess that was Khaldun's ghost.  Thought it'd be longer 'fore we saw 'em.  But, consider us warned.”


OOC:
Backpack stays on the ground when I am in guard mode.  Finn would say that this was going to happen sooner or later.  It's a trial we have to face to cure this place.  The sooner we find Mika'il and seal the prison the better.

Resume the plan to quick search the buildings.

Finn will elect to stay with what the group picked early.  Magnus, Judoc, Gustav and Rondald will enter the buildings.  Finn, Terri and Bjorn will watch the outside from the doorway to the building.  Bjorn will watch the inside of the building.  Finn and Terri will watch the outside of the building.

To the next room, or to the next building?

"You mean there is not a mage hidden somewhere that created that?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:21, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

Magnus seemed more than a little bothered by the "illusion" of the elf, and was stunned into a contemplative silence while the others spoke.

After a time when he had begun to recover a little he looked to those in their group with arcane talent. "How long do you think  that ghost has been here? It would have to be what...hundreds of years? Over a thousand?"

In time he returned to the duties expected of him.

His staff still raised defensively, Judoc looks at Rondald curiously. The former mariner raises an interesting theory - perhaps these ghosts are not ghosts at all, but illusions cast by some other mage. "The necromancer was skilled in Creation and Illusion magic, so it makes sense his apprentice would be, too. But I doubt he would be so foolish to face us alone, not without his men around him."

With a flick of his staff, Judoc returns it to a one-handed, upright position. These ghosts were apparently capable of physical damage, at least according to the Wazifis, so why had this one not drawn blood? "I'll keep an eye out for more of these apparitions," he says as his eyes flick around the room.

Finn follows along as the members of their band inquire to the source of the attacker or assert its origin.  Razzel thinks hard for long several moments before answering.  ”Could be 'a couple 'a things.  I heard there's incantations where the sorcerer can have his spell go off later.  Or it could be like Judoc said.  Aint likely but it could be Mika'il is runnin' 'round here teasin' us with fakes.  Or it could be real ghosts of real dead elves.”  Finn shrugs stoically.  ”I guess point is, we don't know.  And no point in guessin' and gettin' us all worked up.  We got a job to do.  Sooner we get to it sooner we get to go home.”

The group debates lightly over the cause of the apparition, whether it be magical or supernatural... though the only thing certain is that no trace of it remains, making any further study difficult.  The seven continue their cursory search of the small room for only a few moments before concluding that if anything of real value ever existed here, it has long since been either destroyed or taken out.

There is some discussion on where to go next, as Finn wants to keep lookouts in the alleyways, though he does not want the group to split up.  Eventually they agree to check on the next room, although not to go any farther.  Magnus pushes his way through the small doorway to the east and finds himself in some old storage room or granary smelling of mold or mildew.

large slabs of clay pots cover the ground with a few of the earthen jars still standing in the corners of the room, some standing as tall as three feet and another foot or two around, though even these are broken at the tops or split down a side, spilling out some blackened grain, long spoilt or rotten.  In the southwest corner, one of the jars still boasts a lid at its top, though this one too has been rent and broken along the side, with its contents leaking out along the floor.

Along the northern wall, a pair of cellar doors stand open, displaying a steep staircase going further down.  Along the southern wall, a single door stands, likely going back to the courtyard where Finn and Terri stand.

OOC:  At first glance this room seems to be entirely pillaged.  Finn and Terri are still out in the courtyard, Bjorn has taken a post at the doorway and the others are all in the granary.  Again, if you want to investigate something farther, let me know what and roll against perception.

With the vanishing of the elven specter, Judoc turns now to the investigation of the next room. He glances at the jars and pots littering the floor, at first interested in case there may be some salvageable food for his rumbling stomach, but the detritus left behind seems to hold little of value.

"There doesn't seem to be much here," he says, and then walks over to the cellar doors and looks downward. "Let's check down here next," he says, and takes a few steps down the stairs as he holds up his illuminated stone.

OOC: Take one minute to look around in this room. Then go to the stairs and see what's below.

Rondald continues to cover them, watching the searcher's backs for danger, crossbow ready and reloaded. The apparition unnerved him, but he used the adrenaline to make him more observant.

"I have heard of a tradition of hiding valuables in grain. Is it worth a check?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:42, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

Gustav follows Judoc carefully  It is unwise to go down alone, regardless of your magics

Magnus glanced up at Rondald and thought about it for a moment before he shrugged. "Hell, we found all that other stuff in a lizards gut. Might as well check the grain" With that he used his axe to shift through the bulk of the rotted stuff, making a face as the smell wafted up from the disturbed spoilage.

Judoc gives a cursory glance around the room, straying from edge to edge as he brushes a few of the shards of clay with his foot.  It does not take him long however, before he begins to descent the wide set of stairs, pulling out his lighted necklace to ensure he can see the way.

He starts slowly at first, shining his light generously below him to ensure that there are threats below, before he continues down until even his head is below ground level.  The stairs empty out directly into a wall below, although to the right, a wide room open up, perhaps thirty feet wide and just as deep.  Shelves line the stone walls, with a dozen or more barrels the size of a large dog sitting here and there in a haphazard fashion.  There are also a handful of burlap sacks, most of which seem empty draping over some of the wood.  The place smells stale and wet, though there is little evidence of anything being tampered with for some time.  Judoc steps down onto the earthen floor below, glancing at the last corner of the room, where a dark corridor continues on into depths below...

Up above, Magnus seems to take heed of Rondald's suggestion, sifting through the remains of a few fetid jars of rotten grain before he notices something of interest.  There in the corner of the room, behind two of the more in tact pieces of pottery, there is a rather large hole in the flooring tiles, its walls smoothed out from the earth around.  In fact, as Magnus shines a light down, even reaching his arm down into the depths, he still can't see much farther on than perhaps a dozen feet, where the light seems to fade back into a bleak darkness.

OOC:  Judoc has gone down the staircase and is sitting at the bottom, where it drops him off in the corner of the room.  The corridor is in the back corner (behind the staircase) and continues ahead while it seems to slope downward.  The hole that Magnus found is definitely a tunnel of some sort, though it's hard to imagine a tunneling creature large enough to make it.  It's almost two feet wide, and is big enough for a young child to fit through, though no one in your party is likely small enough to get through.

"Damn" he seemed surprised and a little wary. "What do ya think made that? like a big worm? or a centipede?" he was not sure about the existence of such things, but after seeing a lizard the size of a small house, his mind had been opened somewhat.

"Keep an eye out I guess" he shrugged. There was not much to be done with it really, but he started to imagine how he might try to tackle a creature if faced with one.

He followed Judoc down shortly, still taking his time.

Rondald also checked out the hole, but even his night vision seemed incapable of penetrating the darkness.

"There seems something unnatural about that darkness there..."

He then leaves it to follow, and cover, Magnus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:52, Tue 15 Jan 2019.

Finding himself in what seems to be a storage cellar, Judoc examines the shelves for a few minutes as he looks for anything of interest. The place is abandoned like the rooms above, and he doubts anything of value is left, but it's worth looking around.

Looking up as Magnus descends the stairs, Judoc points toward the corridor leading from one corner of the room. "I want to take a look down that way. Can you call Finn and the others down here so we can check out what's down there?"

OOC: Take five minutes to explore this room.

Thought we were going to clear the surface first?

Gustav stays alert, looking around carefully.

Outside, Finn and Terri watch both directions along the narrow walkway, keeping as silent as possible, Terri with her bow loaded and ready, the arrow notched on the limp string, read to be drawn back.  Though but a moment ago there was a fervor of noise, it seems to have died down for the moment, the sounds of the searchers two rooms in less of a disturbance now that they are a little farther in.

"Eh,"  Bjorn grunts from the doorway just inside the smaller room.  "Sounds like they want to go on, you coming Finn, or holding the line out here?"

But before Finn can answer, Terri jerks her body around, her bow now drawn back, the arrow nestled against her ear.  "What was that!"  She hisses in a whisper, her eyes darting ahead towards the grove of trees.

OOC:  Finn, roll vs. Per-5.  You and Terri are the only ones outside right now, and Bjorn is standing in the first room, looking in on the second.  Everyone else is well inside, and you aren't entirely sure where.

Finn spends part of his time watching down the corridors of the courtyard and the rest of his time split between talking to Terri and peeking in the open doorway to the building.  So then it is no surprise when Bjorn comes to them to announce that the group has decided to fan out, to places Finn knows not where.  He is about to relay his intentions when Terri's hackles stand on end.

Immediately Finn barks to the big northlander.  ”We might have trouble.  Rally everyone.”


OOC:
Backpack should be on the ground as stated earlier.  I don't think I said but I would want an unloaded bow in my left hand as standard practice.  But of course however you rule boss is what it is.

If bow wasnt ready, ready it.  Draw an arrow and knock it.

This message was last edited by the player at 16:55, Tue 15 Jan 2019.