In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 108):

Stupid Brennan

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 109):

You continue on your journey to the North East:

With each passing mile, the road becomes thinner and the terrain rockier and steeper.  The thick bushes and grass are replaced by thinner scrubbier grasses and lichens that cling to every rock.

The first day passes largely in silence, including the fauna which are few and far between.  While you walk, you do sight an elk here and there in the distance and a few birds, but little else.  By night, when you make camp, you hear distant wolves and far stranger sounds, but none of them bother you further.

Late morning on the second day, the path vanishes at the foot of a large bolder.  Glancing up, you can see hints of a switchback trail that rises up and up, vanishing between two peaks a few hundred feet up.

"And it is here we must decide," Bryce notes with a nod.  "The horses'll not make it further.  Given good strong men, we can be up to the Witches and back in a day, though it would mean relying on their hospitality for the night."

Bryce smiles cruelly.  "Any as you haven't been acquainted yet, you'd best bring something to trade if that's how you want to start off your visit."

CROSSROADS

You will need to decide a few things:
1. What to do with the horses, or who to leave with them,
2. Start climbing immediately and plan to either spend the night with the witches or climb back down after dark OR wait until the next morning to climb and camp where you are.

In reply to GM (msg # 110):

I vote we camp where we are, make it up and down in a day.  The idea of spending a night with a witch... is not appealing. Unless Bryce wants to ploy me with tales of their bacchanals and hospitality...

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 111):

"We should only send as many as we have sufficient gifts to support," Brennan says after a moment. "But I agree, we should camp for night and make the journey there and back in one go."

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 112):

What kind of gifts are they looking for Bryce?  Are we talking about a pile of gold?  The head of a dead bunny?  The laughter of a child, or a fish with a harp for a heart?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:27, Mon 07 Mar 2016.

"If they want blood, someone else should give this time, Enrei suggests firmly.  Though certain he could make the climb, Enrei is more than happy to mind the horses, especially his "collateral" per his agreement with Brennan.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 114):

Bryce laughs.

"Right you have it Titus, what would tempt a witch?"

He looks around at the rocks.

"Gold?  I doubt very much they'll be running across any merchants here to spend it.  Dead animals I'm sure they have aplenty, and likely you wouldn't enjoy what it's said they do to children."

He thinks.

"Information is always valuable, though the trivialities of mortal affairs likely don't interest them much.  Tools or herbs that are difficult to find perhaps, or anything touched by the other dreams so to speak.  And the going rate on servitude is always strong..."

In reply to GM (msg # 115):

"Let's make camp," Brennan says, dismounting his steed. "We'll use the evening to discuss what to offer the witch when we visit. At first light tomorrow we'll head to the hut and hopefully return by nightfall. Deev, if you'd rather be spared a visit with witches,  I'd appreciate it if you stayed behind to watch the horses and guard our supplies. Enrei, you may do the same if you prefer, or you may tag along -- it's entirely up to you. Bryce, you and Titus I'll definitely need to make the journey with me."

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 116):

Bryce nods.

"Aye, and at that time we'll need to discuss my fee.  I feel I've done a proper job so far."

It being midday, you have plenty of time to make camp.  There isn't much in the way of firewood but there is plenty of kindling (dried moss and lichen) and you have enough time to scrounge together some flammable odds and ends.

In reply to GM (msg # 117):

Deev nods violently.

"Not that... I WOULD certainly go with you to help if you asked me but... I don't delight at meeting a witch.  I'll guard the horses if that suits."

He is clearly relieved.

In reply to Deev (msg # 118):

Titus smiles consolingly at Deev.

We know you would.

He says for Brennan's ears only .

As far as payment for the witches... I do have one item touched by the dream if they would be willing to accept it.  Though it is a dear price to ask.

I'm not much of a mind to leave behind my blood or a promise of service unless its purely mundane in nature...

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 119):

The night passes with little incident as you tend to the sparse fire.

The mountains block the chilly winds that have plagued your sleep lately, and the wolves seem more distant.

IT IS THE 12TH DAY OF THE QUEEN'S MONTH

Though the sun rises, you are in the shadow of the mountains and so the light is dim until late morning.

There is no need to break camp, but you will need to decide what to leave and what to take with you.

In reply to GM (msg # 120):

Rope.  Torches.  Food.  Water.



......Payment.

Titus adds the last word like a judge passing a sentence.

Anything else you can think of?  Do you think they would want any of that janky shit from the inquisitor?

in an aside to Brennan

What will we owe our guide at the end of this?
This message was last edited by the player at 12:13, Wed 16 Mar 2016.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 121):

"Coin, same as any mercenary," Brennan shrugs. "Seeing as we had him at our mercy before hiring him, he had a strong incentive to cut a reasonable deal."

He clears his throat.

"In terms of payment, I'm thinking labor wouldn't be such a bad thing. Better than blood, at any rate. If the witch wants other trinkets we can discuss it."

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 122):

OK.  Then pack your trinkets... and lets bring some torches in case it gets to be late and we can't see well on our way back.

Lets do this.

/ooc: OK Brennan, that's Titus' wish list, he's ready to go.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:35, Wed 16 Mar 2016.

As Brennan and Titus make ready to scale the mountain, Enrei is rather tranquil as hei es about tending the horses.  He even pulls out a brush he scrounged from the abandoned town and while it might've been originally meant for pots, the horses don't seem to mind his application of it.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 124):

After some quick repacking, Brennan and Titus begin their ascent with Bryce while Deev and Enrei remain behind with the horses.

The Mountain Pass

At first, the going is not overly strenuous: tight switchbacks weaving between a few trees and large boulders broken up by the occasional scrabble up a rock.

Around the two hour mark, it is more climb than walk with little or no hint of a trail.  The wind picks up as you lose the protection of trees and here and there you are given the opportunity to peer down at the trees and valley below from stunningly dangerous vertical drops.

OOC:  Body + Endurance or Athletics to resist exhaustion.

Bryce moves cautiously, and is extremely careful not to look down.  He has clearly done this before, but that isn't to say he takes to it fondly, cursing the wind and the rocks along with Titus and Brennan.

At last you come to a level region between two higher peaks, which shield you from the wind somewhat.  Here there is rough dirt thick with clay, patches of scrubby grass and a single tree.

Bryce raises his hand and moves forward toward the tree alone.  When he gets within twenty paces of it, there is a loud hissing that nearly causes Titus and Brennan to jump out of their skins.

Bryce says something in a strange tongue and the hissing repeats.  With a loud thump, a long dark shadow drops from the tree and slithers toward Bryce.  The grasses part to reveal an enormous serpent, black as coal apart from glowing red eyes.


It flicks its tongue at Bryce a few times, then slithers slowly away.

Bryce turns to face you.

"That, naturally, is one of their servants.  It won't hurt us."

He marches after it.

"Perk o' being a witch I suppose," he chuckles, "all sorts of creepy company."

Base Camp

For many hours, nothing in particular happens.

Deev spends his time looking up the mountain and fretting out loud about what might be happening to your companions.  He breaks this up with bouts of flicking small rocks at larger rocks.

Enrei takes his time tending the horses.  As Deev frets, he deflects each worry matter-of-factly.  They were just going to talk, maybe the climb took them a while, they're probably just talking, everything is fine.  Once finished with the horses Enrei joins Deev in flicking stones for a little while before sighing heavily.  The fact of having nothing to do for really the first time in weeks suddenly sinking in, "Do you know any stories?" Enrei ventures.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 126):

Titus arrives panting and winded but no worse for the journey

That was bullshit!

16:53, Today: Titus Blackwell rolled 13 using 5d10 ((4,3,1,2,3)).

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 127):

Base Camp

Deev thinks for a moment, looking Enrei over carefully.

"Well, I do know one story you might not have heard... wherever you're from."

He proceeds to tell his story, though not with any particular skill:

"Once, there was a great general, known to all as a fierce warrior.  Time and again he would lead his soldiers into battle against impossible odds:  hordes of western savages, battalions of demons, Ogres from the frozen north, you name it he fought it.  His attending officers thought him almost as great as the First Men, and attended to his every word so they could learn from his example.

One captain, after a particularly bloody battle, asked the General:

'Sir, I have oft noticed that you are very attentive to your routine before combat.  I know that a warrior is always well prepared, as has spoke Magalan, but your routine has one quirk the significance of which eludes me.  Why is it, sir General, that before each battle you don only a red shirt?'

The General stared down his captain, then nodded approvingly. 'You see,' he explained, 'The General is the heart of the army, and the soul of the men.  To see me at the front lines, felling foes without being wounded, it inspires them more than any banner or war cry.  And so, I wear a red shirt, such that no man can see me bleed.  This makes me seem more than mortal, and inspires the men.'

The Captain nodded in approval, seeing the wisdom there.

And so it came to pass that weeks later, the General's army was faced with it's most terrible foe: an army of corrupted men led by the demon Baal.  The enemy horde was so deep that their footfalls shook the earth, their combined breaths caused a tornado, and their arrows blotted out the sun itself.  Behind them all stood Baal himself: as big as a mountain and as terrible as the end of the world.

The General stood and took this all in, while his officers rushed to prepare him for battle.  The faithful Captain rushed to his master's side:  'Sire,' he asked, 'shall I bring you your red shirt?'

The General gazed upon the enemy and shook his head.  'No, good Captain, bring me my brown pantaloons.'"

After this, Deev falls into a fit of laughter.

Enrei listens intently to Deev's story, nodding along slightly.  When Deev falls over laughing, however, Enrei simply cocks his head curiously.  After a moment he speaks up, "Brown pantloons...look funny?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:24, Fri 18 Mar 2016.

In reply to GM (msg # 125):

Brennan catches his breath without too much trouble, and remains alert as their meeting with the witches becomes imminent.

[Body + Athletics: 2x4]

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 130):

"No, I..."

Deev stares at Enrei for some time, then finally nods.

"Yes, brown pantaloons are funny.  VERY funny."

In reply to Deev (msg # 131):

The Summit

Bryce follows the great black serpent past the tree and along a wide grassy path that winds between the two peaks.  Titus and Brennan keep close behind.

"Not far now," the demonspeaker comments.

A couple hundred feet later, you have passed through the gap and are on the other side.  Here it slopes more gently (though still dangerous to climb) down into a deep valley and the wind picks up again.

Rather than descend, the snake hooks right around the southern peak.  Here there is a wide ledge  to walk upon.  To one side the stone wall of the peak becomes more and more sheer.  On the other side, the dropoff becomes equally stark.  Though the view is vertigo-inducing, the ledge is wide enough for several men to walk abreast and so you can stick close to the rock if desired.

The grass fades into dusty stones and a well-worn path is visible.

After skirting the cliffs for most of an hour, the ledge widens out and once again there are living things.  Tough gnarled vines sprout up and climb the rock wall to the cliffs above.  Some have flowers, but the flowers are dark and wilted.

In a particularly overgrown patch of wall, you make out the entrance to a cave.

Flanking the entrance are two figures.  They might be mistaken for ashen corpses, but when the serpent approaches they lurch to life.  One drags his left foot horrible on the ground and both reach toward you with dried and rotted fingers.  They open and close their lipless mouths as if speaking, but they make no noise.


They twist dessecated heads atop rotted necks as the snake slithers by.  They reach toward Bryce's neck and for a moment he hesitates.  Slowly he takes a single step forward and the figures back off, allowing him to pass.

He steps to the mouth of the cave, ducking slightly and turns back.

"Here it is lads, no turning back after this."

In reply to GM (msg # 132):

Titus throws a gleeful look at Brennan.

We are so going to die here!

He follows on Bryce's heels.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Mon 21 Mar 2016.