From morning to afternoon the snowbound world is quiet, almost peaceful. As the short dusk bleeds into a shorter night - an odd appearance to your untrained eye - the mournful call of some predator, or predators, echoes from the surrounds. You note a harried expression on Olaf's face, and even the Beldame grows concerned. The Gith monk turns and looks in the Beldame's direction and determines that enemies approach. Suddenly, two more howls are cast upon the tundra. It seems three of the beasties are hunting together this eve.

Roll initiative, then get ready.


Gith: 7
Olaf: 7 AC -1 bastard sword +1 x2 atk dmg -
Kal: 4
Agrax: 1
Pious: 1
Beldame: 1
Elora: 2

This message was last edited by the GM at 15:52, Mon 05 Oct 2020.

08:20, Today: Kalmus the Grey rolled 4 using 1d6.  init - unknown beasties.

"Ware!" Kal said softly, <blue>"They come, be ready, Agrax, you and I will move front to shield the Beldame and Elora while they bring magic down on the beasts."

With the sound of howls fading, Olaf turns to the others and shouts, "Winter Wolves! I'd stake my reputation as a ranger on it! Spread out, they blow an arctic frost from their mouths!"

Olaf and the Gith have initiative and take immediate actions: Olaf wields his bastard sword two handed and strikes at the biggest wolf 2x. He hits 1x a solid hit! The Winter Wolf cries in pain! The Gith, strikes 2x, hit's both: the sound of thunder claps overhead for an additional 4 points damage.

By now the pack has joined melee: Olaf, facing down the biggest and its mate, takes 32 points of frost damage! The smallest beast attacks the Gith for 8 points of dmg. Kal's turn: What are you going to do?

clarity: How many wolves are there? If three to five, Kal will attack the largest, wounded animal with his Flametongue, if more, he'll try to spin off a sleep spell to put a few of them down.

There are three wolves attacking the party.

There are three wolves attacking the party.

This looks good,  Kal will attack the largest, wounded animal with his Flametongue.

00:07, Today: Kalmus the Grey rolled 14 using 1d12+7.

00:06, Today: Kalmus the Grey rolled 18 using 1d20+4.

Starting to love that flametounge!

ooc: it is a nifty sword.
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Agrax teams with Kal and both attack: Kal hits (double damage/Fire- 28 HP - the packmaster is dead).

Seeing the great wolf fall, the female and the young bolt from the field, howls of pain and fear drifting behind them.

Olaf is gravely wounded: Cold damage. He's near to shock, so Pious lends some healing: 8 points and the Beldame casts warmth upon him. The Gith also took a small amount of damage, but waves the priest away. Everyone else is hale.

Nice scrap. Fun. Olaf almost bought it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:46, Mon 21 Dec 2020.

Agrax spends a moment looking over the corpse. "Come, look and see."

Upon the corpse is a small, pearl colored stone, perfectly round and affixed to what appears to be a collar of some sort.

"It's domesticated? I'll bet this is the start of a fine tale." he looked to each person present for reaction, checking on Olaf after healing.

Olaf took a lot of damage, but he is stabilized at this point. A night of sleep will bring him another hit point, plus whatever other healing Pious might bring. To that affect, you search the surrounds for some sort of shelter - an old igloo still stands some distance away, but close enough to be in your line of sight. It appears large enough to fit the entire party.

As you arrive, you find that is the case, though the monk Gith indicates that she will stand sentry during the evening hours. The sun has risen, and now falls sharply - a long dusk awaits.

ooc: rolled for wandering monsters: you guys are good for this 24 hour period. While taking downtime, let me know if you have any questions or items that need clarification...you can also explore a bit.

Kal addressed the Gith, "Surely you need rest? Even the Gith have limits, don't they?" Kal will get his cold ass out of the sack with Elora... (wait! what am I saying???!!!!) and relieve the Gith as needed.

As for exploring, Kal will have a quick look around to see if he can spot any threats or points of interest before retreating to the igloo. He said, "Agrax, see if you can patch the igloo up and make it secure for the night while I'm gone. Keep an eye out, those other two wolves may return."

To clarify: is Olaf mobile or should we hole up an extra day and let Pious heal him fully?

He's mobile, but he's damaged. You don't want him on point in his condition. Pious should have enough healing to get him up to full HP somewhere between 24 - 36 hours. Meanwhile, the Gith shows no inclination that she needs any sort of resting or healing. It seems her hurts are healing at an accelerated pace. Within a couple hours she's almost at full health.

Let's stay put and heal Olaf, no sense getting  him killed if we can help it...

"We'll hole up a while and get Olaf healthy. I'll look around, see if there is anything edible around her besides wolf."

Kal will scout quietly, looking for food or (as above) points of interest but won't risk anything with Olaf hurt, he'll make note of anything risky and head back.

Infravision proves to be helpful. There are snow fox and other small predators out scrounging for a meal, but nothing that would fill a stomach and certainly nothing that would be concerning - these are not apex predators.

Disappointed, he returned to the igloo to warm up and get some rest...

ooc: Shouldn't this be on the main thread? Um, yeah. My bad! I will condense into one big post.
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Kal beds down next to Elora, takes a gander at her leathers and shakes his head at the sudden and almost painful arousal that he feels. Now definitely was not the time to be getting their groove on. Elora grins at him, aware of his discomfiture.

"Did you want to play a bit, lover? Kinda close quarters in here for that right now."

Kal takes out the...gem, maybe? It actually looks more like a pearl, though a bit darker in color, almost a beige. Elora, helpful soul that she is, detects magic. "Ooh!" she said. "There's an enchantment on this bauble."

Her eyes light up in excitement.

Kal casts Identify: There is an enchantment indeed. The school is Transmutation - the item in fact changes something. Given that the dead wolf was wearing it on his collar, it seems likely to you and Elora that the magic affects animals in some way.

Beldame, listening nearby, said, "Have you given thought to a Familiar, Kalmus?"

Kal, caught off guard by the comment, regarded the Beldame, arousal fading quickly. He kept his hand in Elora's, enjoying the closeness and comfort, he replied, "I had given it no thought. Familiars are frequently liabilities, so... perhaps I should ask why you ask and why I would want one, please."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Sat 26 Dec 2020.

"There is risk in all we do, Kalmus. Even the simple act of readying spells can be perilous, if done incorrectly. The last thing you want is a spell not to go off because you incorrectly memorized it.

"In the case of a familiar, there's a synergy between you that expands your abilities as well as the animal's, and a friendship that goes beyond the pale. As one who had a familiar, I can say his life made mine better. But have a care not expose the familiar too often. The ramifications can be devastating."

"As always, Beldame, I bow to your wisdom. Only a fool would not listen to such a wise woman. I don't know the spell as luck would have it. I suppose you may know where I might find a copy and learn it?"

"Certainly, Kalmus. I'll be happy to assist you with that. For now, we have other concerns. Tuck the stone away and let's see what the gith has in store for today."

Making sure Olaf was good to travel, Kal got ready for the day. Since he didn't use any spells, he didn't study but used the time to limber up and try to stop thinking about Elora's fine, lush body. Somewhat focused by the time the others emerged, Kal listened raptly to what the Gith had to offer and prepared for another long, cold march.

With the Beldame providing translation services, the Monk lays out her plan. There's a bit of arrogance to her, as she indicates that she doesn't really need assistance against 'only' four attackers, though she does recognize that the sleep spell was quite effective - there is a host of condescension in the subtext the way portrays the party's role. You can tell the Beldame is growing frustrated, but she says nothing beyond what the Monk states.

ooc: in a nutshell there's a frozen rise some two miles south of true north where the party will hide in ambush. That is actually the center of the polar powers. The Monk will take on the strongest. The rest of us will take on the lesser Giths.

At last, her speech done, She points northward and indicates it is time to go.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:33, Mon 28 Dec 2020.

With one last check to make sure he was ready, Kal followed the Gith's lead. Once they arrived in the area, he studied it carefully so that he would better know how to fight in it, otherwise, he waited on the Gith to unfold her plan.

The Monk doesn't offer any guidance. She climbs the rise with eerie grace. Once atop, she looks around. You get the feeling that she doesn't have a plan beyond combat with her main adversary, the other gith that retreated to fight another day.

The Beldame gathers the rest of you and says, "If she wants to declare herself for all the world to see, that is her business. For my part, I'm going to use all the skills at my disposal to make sure that I stay alive, Olaf stays alive and hopefully all of you stay alive."

She looks at Kal and Elora and says, "There's synergy between you that goes beyond love. You need to trust each other, work with each other. In your own ways, you're both lone wolves. You cannot be that now. If you can't set aside your personal inclinations, you will lose this battle. There's time now to talk and plan. You should do so."

Looking at Olaf she said, "I'm getting to old for this shit."

Kal took Elora's  hand. "We survive this. We come out of hiding, attack the wounded, hit them as hard as we can with surprise, retreat, let the monk do her thing while we pile on.

"Besides, I want some more of that armor! bet we can get a great price down south."