The mouth of the cave yawned dark and forboding beside the dried-up remains of an old waterfall. Groves worn in the stone made the rock look like some giant fingers had clawed desperately for help as the bodies they belonged to had been dragged into the darkness. Moss grew in yellowing clumps around the entrance like a warning.

The air was too hot, but worse it was too humid. The grey stone seemed to perspire, droplets running over its 'skin' and forming steaming puddles that dried in the air only to repeat the cycle again.

OOC: Oracle results: Disowning, Ignorance, Hieracy.
Threat: [d4-d4]+1 = [2-3] +1 = 0, so defaults to THREAT 1
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Thu 21 Dec 2023.

No Tae Lung, Yaki-Hunter, paused at the cave entrance and lamented (not for the first time) hunting the Black Toothed Hag of Yalamura in full traditional armour. The sweat rolled down down the back of his neck and his garments stuck to bare skin, soaked through. He was very sure that the stench of him must have forwarned his quarry where he was, and thus why he had not caught the bastard.

His gaze caught hold of the moss around the entrance to the cave. "I'm no expert, but where there is moss, there might be water, no? Perhaps the Spirit Lords will have mercy on me."  The thought of water made him even more thirsty, and he licked his already parched lips.

No Tae Lung stood around the normal height for a man - he was no giant, nor was he thick-set like many of his former clan were. The ronin was agile though, and had made his name with his skill with a killing sword, a katana. The sword and his armour were the only remnants of his former life of glory as a servant of the Shogun. He spat, thinking of the betrayal that had led him to his fate as a ronin.

"Well, I can stand outside all day, or I can enter," he muttered to himself, sweeping his shock of bright, bleached hair from his face where it had stuck in the heat. And then he walked slowly into the darkness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:28, Wed 20 Dec 2023.

The tunnel descended and No Tae Lung noted he had not brought himself a light source. Luckily, a little further on, he saw a glimmer of torchlight. Following it, he noted a large cavern ahead of him. The light came from candles set along alcoves in the walls of the caverns, illuminating a large dome-like cavern. Around the sides of the cavern, between a forest of stalagmites and stalactites, small wooden shakes - unmistakenly human - stood. Pale-faced humans moved silently (No Tae Lung thought they looked fearful) but none noted his arrival.

The ronin stood some 60 or so yards from the middle of the cavern, and some 40 yards away from the nearest of the wooden buildings.

OOC: Inhabitants unwilling minions of another being

Letting his eyes adjust to the light, No Tae looked around. These people had to have a source of water but it didn't seem immediately visible.

OOC: Unskilled perception-like roll 2d8, 7. -1 for being unskilled. The skill check failed.

But looks as he did, he couldn't see it. There was nothing for it, then. He would have to approach the people. Wiping the sweat from his face, and placing one hand on the hilt of his katana, the killing sword touched by the hand of the Shogun himself, the samurai swaggered towards the middle of the cave village, glancing left and right.

Even as a ronin, he was still a class higher than these pesants and so, he expected, they would at least defer to him until someone of equal standing came to meet him. After all, they were, at best, Bonge. Heimin. And he was Samurai.

No Tae Lung was no fool, though. He readied himself to receive violence first and respect second. He knew how some isolated communities had fallen from the celestial order .

Clearly, the creatures of the cave, the pale-skinned humanoids, hadn't noticed No Tae as he entered, but his swagger, his very presence was noticed very quickly as he approached the center of the cave. Figuers glanced his way and then whooped out inhuman warnings to their fellows, fleeing back to their shacks in terror. The bigger, stronger, more muscled of their kind came running out holding rudimentary spears.

And then someone, somewhere, struck a drum loud enough to make No Tae's ears throb painfully. And it was answered by a roar of inhuman hate. A vile creature emerged from a small cavern near the back of the cave.



It lumbered slowly forwards and would arrive to fight No Tae Lung in 3 rounds... Until then, he'd have to fend off the minions of the undead creature...

OOC:
Undead misshaped Hulk - HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.)
8 Pale Cave dwellers - HD 1, AC 6, 1x Attack: +1 spear, d6, Mv 30, ML 7, Skill +1,
Round 1 - Half move to encircle, half engage the enemy.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:18, Thu 21 Dec 2023.

No Tae knew he was being surrounded and knew that diplomacy - his preferred route to peace - was unavoidable. Instead, he had to attack. He ducked under the point of the nearest spear and drew his blade in a perfect iajutsu dueling stroke... that utterly failed to connect with his target. He span and stabbed behind him, blade sliding into the ribs of another spearman and piercing their heart.

OOC: Attack roll 9 + AC 6 + 1 = 16, Miss. Fray die = 4, 1 HD damage

Seeing the body of one of their 'herd', the minions understood the danger they were in. Four of the foes moved to ensure there was no escape for No Tae while the others engaged him, keeping him busy until their ruler (or god?) came close enough to end him.

OOC:
TN 16 to hit No Tae - 2 misses, i hit, dealing 1 damage.
8 7 Pale Cave dwellers - HD 1, AC 6, 1x Attack: +1 spear, d6, Mv 30, ML 7, Skill +1,

Undead misshaped Hulk - HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.) Arrives in 2 more combat rounds.

Hissing in pain from the spear tip that scored a bloody rut into the flesh of his thigh, the ronin battered the spears aside, stamping on someone's knee and then decapitating the owner of the knee with one strike, letting his steel continue its flight through the stomach of another of the pale-faced ones. Entrails spilled, steaming, onto the cave floor to mingle with the pools of blood from two of the other foes.

"I am No Tae Lung, son of Kabita Tae Lung. My ancestors were crafted by the Spirit Lords themselves. Bow in life before me, or remain bowed before all in death." The speech had been said dozens of times to his foes, though not usually in a village in a cave, surrounded by what he was increasingly coming to realise were degenerate species of humanoid.

OOC: Attack missed. Fray die = 6, 2 HD damage

If No Tae Lung expected the pale-faced, twisted humanoids to flee, he was wrong. They had him surrounded and spears lunged at him from every direction. His armour turned two of the blade, and his grace avoided the other two, but nothing could save him from the tip that caught him under the arm, slicing on the underside of his bicep and piecing his armpit. Luckily for the samurai, the thrust was at full extension and lacked the depth of a killing blow.

As the misshapen horror closed in, No Tae Lung was surprised to smell not the corruption of the flesh but a pleasant fragrance like lilies.

OOC:
TN 16 to hit No Tae - The group of encirclers comes to their dead comrade's aid and all try to slay the samurai..
4 misses, 1 hit, dealing 2 damage.
8, 7, 5 Pale Cave dwellers - HD 1, AC 6, 1x Attack: +1 spear, d6, Mv 30, ML 7, Skill +1,

Undead misshaped Hulk - HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.) Arrives in 1 more combat rounds.

Surrounded by foes on all sides, the Samurai was sure he had bitten off more than he might conceivably chew. The pain in his arm and leg was agony - his sword arm, his dominant leg, both wounded. He tired to ignore the pain but it was no good, his blade found no purchase in the flesh of his foes...

Shall I die here? Shall I never be avenged for my dishonour? he wondered to himself as something blotted out the light from the torches. The smell of lilies grew stronger.

"I commend my soul to the guardianship of the Spirit Lords. May they take my Hun Soul and ensure I never rise as one of the Hungry Dead..."

OOC: Attack Missed. Fray die result 1 = 0 damage

As the shambling horror closed in, several of the pale-faced ones had to step back to allow him room to attack. They did so gladly, three of their number remaining to hold the Samurai in place for the monstrosity to slay him. It seemed the presence of the creature made them nervous, their speartips missing him entirely. The monster, standing nearly 8 feet tall and made of hate and smoke, tried to strike with its vicious appendages but each time, No Tae's quick footwork danced away from the blows.


OOC:
TN 16 to hit No Tae - 3 misses.
8,7, 5 Pale Cave dwellers (2 flanking the hulk, 3 engaged with No Tae Lung- HD 1, AC 6, 1x Attack: +1 spear, d6, Mv 30, ML 7, Skill +1,

Undead misshaped Hulk - - 2 misses.
HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.)

No Tae Lung laughed as he danced aside from the blades and necrotic barbs of his foes. His eyes darted from the half-dozen foes that surrounded him and he smirked. He made a half-hearted slice at the vile hulk's head and, as he danced backward, his foot caught the half of the spear of one of the fallen, flipping it up, he grabbed it in his free hand, thrust the point into the face of one of his assailants and then reversed the grip, flinging it into the chest of another, taking him off his feet and sending him sailing back six or seven feet, dead before he hit the floor.

OOC: Attack missed, fray die roll 7 = 2 damage overkill

Mythic oracle question: is the Hulk immune to fray? Likely? d%=79, no!

The pale-faces wavered. The idea of running flickered in their minds, but they were right next to the thing they feared more than death. It was a close thing, but they did not back down, instead pointing their spears at their enemy and renewing their assault! Their blows lacked conviction though, and missed the mark entirely.

The hulk snarled, throwing everything into an attack that caused it to unbalance and stumble, taking it close to the ronin and allowing it to hit him!  The blow struck the samurai's armour and bones creaked in protest as No Tae was sent to his knees by the force.

OOC:
Morale test 6+1 = 7 = PASS!
TN 16 to hit No Tae - 3 misses.
8,7, 5, 3 Pale Cave dwellers (3 engaged with No Tae Lung- HD 1, AC 6, 1x Attack: +1 spear, d6, Mv 30, ML 7, Skill +1,

Undead misshaped Hulk - - 1 miss. 1 hit, 1 damage.
HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.)

The beast had stumbled, it had him on his knees. His katana moved of its own volition. The tip slid through the beast's adam's apple, sinking in deeply, up along the spine to whatever passed for a brain stem in the malevolent creature and out of the skull. In place of blood, the open wound bled a frenzied cloud of thick, black flies that filled the cave. No Tae Lung slid his killing sword out of the wound, stood and watched the body fall.

With a flick of his wrist, he decapitated one of the stunned pale-ones. He turned, ducked low under the guard of another, and slashed diagonally, bisecting the humanoid from one shoulder to the bottom of its ribs on the opposite side. No Tae Lung was a trained hunted of Gaki. He had fought for the Shogun. His sword was blessed by the shogun's own hand.

The two pale-ones' bodies dropped, stone dead. The ronin glared at the last survivor.
"Well?" he glowered, imperiously.

OOC: Attack roll =19, hit. Damage roll 4 = 1 damage; Fray die roll = 8, =2 damage, overkill.

Seeing the ruin wrought on his 'god' and his peers, the last of the pale-ones tossed his spear aside.

Oracle: Will the Pale one flee (yes) or surrender (no)? 50/50 - d% roll = 30 (flee!)

He fled, leaving the Samurai alone among the steaming corpses his sword had butchered.

Oracle: Is there a source of water? Very likely - d% roll = 91 (no).
Are the Pale Ones cannibalistic? likely - d% roll =21(yes)
Do they have any equipment that might be useful in moving on in the hunt? 50/50 - d% roll = 18 (yes)
Will the other Pale Ones try to hinder progress? No Way (their champions are all slaughtered) - d% roll = 70 (no)

As No Tae Lung explored the cave village, he came upon grizzly remains of several people - some human, others pale ones. They had been butchered and hung in a larder near the cavern from where the monstrosity had emerged. Among the piles of rags and items that were once these people's clothes and possessions, the ronin found a clay jug of old cider (ignore the first 1 hp of damage after getting drunk), some stale but serviceable rations that would feed No Tae Lung for a couple of days and several small pouches of silver coins to the total tune of 112 silver.

Wherever the Ronin went, the Pale-One females and children fled, crying out in terror.

OOC: Scene end.
Character List
Pale-One warrior that fled
Pale-One females and children
Undead monstrosity, god of the Pale Ones
Black Toothed Hag of Yalamura
The Shogun
Kabita Tae Lung

Chaos Factor
Up to 6

Thread List
Find the Black toothed Hag of Yalamura
Vengence for betrayal that led to being a Ronin
What where the Pale Ones worshipping?
 

No Tae Lung wants to hunt the Black Toothed Hag, but he is interested professionally by the undead creature the Pale Ones were ruled by or worshipped. He wants to investigate it more carefully by dissecting it and by checking out the small chamber it emerged from.

Modification die roll = 6 (Interupt scene)
Oh no!

No Tae Lung had no sooner finished raking around the mess of detritus in the weird 'larder' when something caught his eye. The corpses of the dead he had slain had laid where he had left them, but as he looked again, he noticed that the body of the hulking beast had... moved. Several pale ones were around it, their backs to him. Whatever they were doing was suspicious.

Then, one of the Pale Ones took out a knife and stabbed another, tossing their corpse atop the remains of the dead hulking beast. Too late the samurai realised they were reconsecrating the unholy creature. Did their fear of the creature run so deep as to fear it even when it was dead - or did they truly revere it?

An anguished cry came from inside one of the huts, the warrior who had fled ran to his mate, the one sacrificed atop the monster, and knelt by her. The light of jealousy flickered in the eye of the murderous knife-weilder. The ronin could see she considered plunging the blade into the warrior's back too, but a glance at the samurai changed her mind.  She raised a hand at No Tae and muttered some words in a guttural tongue before fleeing. The Ronin didn't understand the words themselves, but he understood when he was being both cursed and mocked.

He didn't have time to decide what to do, however, as, with a roar, the monstrous brute stood up. Not 8 feet tall any more, but now some 12 feet tall and eyes the colour of blood.

Oracle: Now that the creature is imbued with life once more, will it change significantly? If not, it'd just gain a +1 to hit and an extra HD (Threat = 2 (Chaos-4)). 50/50 - d% roll = 84 (no).

Undead misshaped Hulk - HD 2, AC 5, 2x Att: +1 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.)

It had risen again... And this time clearly deadlier. Last time, No Tae had only killed it because it had stumbled into a disadvantageous position. He doubted, so gorged on life force as it was now, that it would do the same for him a second time. It looked vile. Inhuman. Horrific.

He was about to drop the small sack of coins, the cider and the stale rations when he realised what he was holding. Alcohol might prove to be a useful flammable liquid. It had smelled quite strong - it had fermented far longer than it was supposed to, he guessed, left in the larder of human meat for years perhaps. A plan formed in No Tae's mind.

Dropping the rations and coins, he sprinted to one of the candles that burned in an alcove on a building. He took aim with the clay jug and... threw it at the creature...

As the cider soaked it, the candle touched the alcohol and a blue-white flame flashed over the monster, bathing it in flame.

Skill roll - Gaki-Hunter 2 - 2d8 roll = 6+8 = total result of 16. Success. TN 10.
Fire burns for d3 roll = 5 (3 rounds) dealing d6 damage

The creature screamed and tried to beat out the flames that were engulfing it. Were there a source of water here, it might have succeeded in putting them out. But there wasn't. And it didn't. For all its power, pain seemed to be anathema to it. The creature ran passed the Ronin, heading to its den!

The flames flickered inside the den for the next 30 or so seconds... and then a mournful cry came from the black... Somehow... Somehow it had survived.

Undead misshaped Hulk - HD 2, HD 1, AC 5, 2x Att: +2 club d6, Mv 30, ML 12 (Will seek to flee if wounded by an enemy, immune to 'death' except by violence.)

No Tae Lung gritted his teeth and then sighed, visably relaxing all his muscles. Relaxed muscle moved faster than tense muscle, and he hoped his speed would aid him in this duty. This creature was clearly a dark sorcery concoured by the Pale Ones to be their guardian from others of their kind. The presence of their own species in the 'larder' made the Gaki-Hunter suspect that the mountain was filled with many such clans, all hunting and eating one another and any hapless individual humans they came across.

The samurai moved to the mouth of the little den where the creature lived and looked, seeing it well enough illuminated still by small pools of cider. Katana in hand, he issued a challenge to it and then dove headlong in a charge, bringing his Katana down on it viciously.

Attack roll 17 (+1 BAB, +1 STR, +5AC = 24), damage roll 8 +1Str = 9 = 2 damage delt)

And with that, he ended the horrific guardian of the Pale Ones, decapitating the wounded creature and letting the fires do their work in devouring the body.