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19:12, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Chapter 1: Incarnation.

Posted by DM NebFor group 0
DM Neb
GM, 101 posts
Mon 13 Feb 2023
at 16:27
  • msg #130

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

[Does everyone follow?  If so, give me Perception checks upon entering the house.]
Ludovic
player, 44 posts
Alchemy (mad science)
Construct(false life)
Mon 13 Feb 2023
at 19:03
  • msg #131

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

19 on perception

Ludovic lifted straight as a board on the balls of his heels before he marched right along. He kept quiet and was just happy to be there like a golden retriever. "Nice home. Amazing dogs."
Ziklag
player, 24 posts
Love and Luck
Mon 13 Feb 2023
at 19:57
  • msg #132

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

"Glad you still know what?"  Ziklag confusedly asked in response to the strange words.  He called for the others from the brush before following the small man into the home.

14:34, Today: Ziklag rolled 16 using 1d20.  Perception.
Shadowdale Greenleaf
player, 36 posts
Healing & Liberation
Mon 13 Feb 2023
at 22:58
  • msg #133

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Shadowdale waits.
He instructed his owl to stay outside and keep an eye out for anybody sneaking up to the house.
He then heads into the house.  He goes over to the dogs and makes a few friendly noises at them.

OOC:
23:52, Today: Shadowdale Greenleaf rolled 15 using 1d20+8.  Perception:.
Skeeve
player, 40 posts
Memory and Night
Mon 13 Feb 2023
at 23:09
  • msg #134

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

At the others beckoning, Skeeve emerged slowly from his hiding spot and following the others inside. His whiskers twitched at the scents within, beady eyes swiftly appraising the interior

18:07, Today: Skeeve rolled 26 using 1d20+7.  Perception
DM Neb
GM, 102 posts
Tue 14 Feb 2023
at 18:03
  • msg #135

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Handwoven rugs cover the floors and walls of this residence, which is clearly sized for shorter folk (the ceilings are about 5 and a half feet tall; anyone taller needs to crouch to move around).

You are immediately squeezed into a main room where a table is being set by a younger adult woman and a girl.  Two smaller children can be heard playing in what look to be bedrooms adjoining the main room.  A ladder to a second floor is visible in one corner.

"Sit," the adult woman immediately bellows.  The table is low to the ground, with cushions provided in lieu of chairs.  Eying Skeeve she merrily adds, "at least one of you folk are properly sized."

Ziklag:
"Glad you still know what?"  Ziklag confusedly asked in response to the strange words.
"Scripture," the old man answers. He pulls out decorative medallions and symbols that were hidden behind rugs and below floorboards.  They each show a Cornucopia, the sign of Yondalla and halfling hospitality.  "The Mother commands that we provide aid to all, and Her commands are food to us richta."  ('Richta' is the goblin words for property, something owned.)

Ludovic:
"Nice home. Amazing dogs."

The boy who was with the dogs earlier smiles.  "They're Sugar and Chicken.  Chicken's the braver one."  He giggles as the dogs leap towards Shadowdale, but his attention stays on Ludovic.  "What's your name?  I'm called Rill."

The dogs approach Shadowdale, yipping excitedly, tales wagging.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:07, Tue 14 Feb 2023.
Elera Nehnisa
player, 66 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Tue 14 Feb 2023
at 21:04
  • msg #136

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera enters a slight crouch as she enters the residence. Less out of a need to shorten herself and more from a discomfort with having the ceiling so close to her head. She approaches the table and makes her best attempt to seat herself in the space provided before she settles into sitting a bit further from the table to leave her legs space.
Shadowdale Greenleaf
player, 37 posts
Healing & Liberation
Tue 14 Feb 2023
at 22:00
  • msg #137

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Shadowdale sits down on the floor.
Yondalla loves they that respect hearth and home.  I am a wondering healer.  My services are offered just for a meal and a bed.  If you need them.

He then turns his attention to the dogs.  Extending a hand to each to ruffle their fur.  Again he make dog noises.
DM Neb
GM, 103 posts
Tue 14 Feb 2023
at 23:43
  • msg #138

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

"How did wandering humans... and others... end up here?" The woman asks.  "You're as likely to end up eaten as anything else, 'specially if you go into the wrong house."

The girl comes to the table with a bowl of field greens and a loaf of bread, which she starts breaking by hand to set chunks at each of the wooden plates.
Ludovic
player, 45 posts
Alchemy (mad science)
Construct(false life)
Wed 15 Feb 2023
at 01:44
  • msg #139

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Ludovic smiled, "Good people call me Ludo, bad call me Vic. But people who dont know any better call me Ludovic." It endlessly amused Ludovic as children represent the real core of his domain. It wasnt just about the monsters, it was about monsters being the forge for the steeling of the mortal soul. The heroes journey was his bread and butter. "Being brave is grand, being careful is smart. Both puppers have the right idea."


He held up a wooden coin that held no icon before he made it vanish. A twist of the wrist he reproduced it like magic offering the kid the simple wooden disk.

"In my case mam, I am a traveling alchemist. Though I do confess I am fairly ignorant as to the ongoings of the world. I just kind of follow my feet and offer alchemy or fixing things for people as it is needed. Got a head full of books and clouds it seems." He was kind of relying on any stories of alchemists. A host of strange abilities so filling in he blanks could be a thing here! "I can mend a damaged tool as well I can mend a broken limb. So if you need either I am happy to provide in return for your kindness."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:46, Wed 15 Feb 2023.
DM Neb
GM, 104 posts
Fri 17 Feb 2023
at 18:14
  • msg #140

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

"Seems to me," the woman says, bringing around a jug of some frothing liquid to pour into plain wooden cups, "that y'all're avoiding answering the question."

She looks pointedly at Shadowdale, glancing at the corner where he sits with the dogs, and then at the empty cushion near the table.

"Come, sit.  We'll talk and then we'll eat."

It's a tight squeeze.  Four hobbits - the old man, the woman, the boy and the girl - share the long table with their six guests.  The one woman nods pointedly to the man.

"Greeg Flaxfeather is my name," he begins.  "This is my daughter, Neelan, and her kids.  We keep to the old ways.  Hospitality and the Scriptures.  From your breakneck pace coming here, I suspect you were intending to find a bed a few miles back at the Brightsoil farm but they're Hosting."

With a nod, Greeg continues.  "You're clearly out of your depth here, giving answers that make no sense.  There are no traveling healers in Varnield, or alchemists neither.  There are no towns where they would be welcome, and as soon as word got out, they'd be eaten.  That's all there are here - the hunted and the owned."

Neelan picks up the thread from her father.  "Please, tell us straight where you're from and why you're here.  We want to help.  It's clear you're out of your depth, but we can't fill you in if we don't know what you don't know."
Elera Nehnisa
player, 67 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Fri 17 Feb 2023
at 18:59
  • msg #141

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera takes a moment to gather herself before answering, "We had gone to delve an underground tomb a few miles from here. We hadn't thought anything of resting inside it to avoid the rain, but when we exited the catacombs, nothing was how we remembered it from the day before. It was as if the very land had changed above our heads. I suspect that we were caught in some sort of curse or spell while we were in there, but none of us are experienced enough to determine what it was." She tries her best to project confidence, but she doesn't have a good explanation for how such a relatively strange group of people appeared deep inside of an occupied territory without already learning the information that they need to know.

OOC: I'm guessing this is either an unlikely or farfetched bluff lie? Does the party's anachronistic composition and lack of knowledge provide any amount of convincing proof to the lie? If any of the others would like to try to aid Elera's lie, then I would be grateful since she'll likely need all the bonuses that she can get. If it's a subtle effect, then she'll also use her domain ability: silver-tongued haggler to try and improve her odds.
DM Neb
GM, 105 posts
Fri 17 Feb 2023
at 19:44
  • msg #142

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

[A Bluff is certainly reasonable here.  Anyone want to chime in and Aid the check?  From earlier Sense Motive, you know that both the adults here are Friendly and open to whatever you have to say, so they're inclined to believe you.]
Shadowdale Greenleaf
player, 38 posts
Healing & Liberation
Fri 17 Feb 2023
at 23:48
  • msg #143

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Shadowdale picks himself up and move over to sit on the empty cushion.
Thank you he tells Neelan.
Then shrugs his shoulder at the dogs.  Making a small noise at them.

Then to answer Flaxfeather.
What the others remember I cannot speak for.  However I did speak with the the mistress of the catacombs.  For my efforts I was trapped in a curse gem.  To watch time go by and to see horrors.  It is true it have been hundreds if not thousands of years sense I have walked these lands.  Back then a healer had value.

He nods.
Please tell me what has happened.  Things are not as they where I understand?

OOC:
Shadowdale is telling the true.  He just wording it a little oddly.

Elera Nehnisa
player, 69 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Tue 21 Feb 2023
at 03:24
  • msg #144

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

OOC: I don't think anybody is going to try and aid at this point.
21:23, Today: Elera Nehnisa rolled 10 using 1d20+8.  Bluff Check +5 Wants to Believe -5 Unlikely Lie +8 Skill Bonus.

DM Neb
GM, 106 posts
Tue 21 Feb 2023
at 05:36
  • msg #145

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Greeg and Neelan exchange a glance.

"O... okay," Neelan speaks after a momentary pause.  "We'll go with that.  You don't know what's going on because you were bound by a curse below ground.  Not really more believable than the other, but it's your hides."

"We'll start with the basics, then," Greeg adds.  "The Sealing happened when... ah, lad!"  He turns to Rill.  "D'you know it?"

Rill nods, his face wrinkled in concentration.  He recites a poem:

"Locked out of heaven and barred from hell,
What eats flesh now eats souls as well.
The fountain's thirst we cannot slake,
So river's curse we cannot break.
There is no one to hear a prayer,
And we can't touch what isn't there.
All clad in ice as hard as steel,
Our suffering is Warlord's weal.
The Horde takes all, and all revive,
Should even one alone survive.
"

Greeg nods in satisfaction.  "That pretty much covers it.  We're under the Ogre King - that's the first one.  If they eat your flesh, the soul goes with it... so they say."  He shrugs.  "So don't get eaten, that's the point.  Find a safe place to stay after dark, keep you're head down, do as you're bid."
Ludovic
player, 47 posts
Alchemy (mad science)
Construct(false life)
Wed 22 Feb 2023
at 22:30
  • msg #146

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Ludo turned around and started writing the poem down. "Sounds like a consumptive gluttony curse. Gibberings, devourers, and other such monsters do the same. It's going to be interesting to see what is causing it in the wretch critters." He tapped his writing device on the book "Could also be the gourmand blessing. Though I don't think it wise to chemically extract whatever it is that is letting them pull this off. Still, knowing is half the battle."

"That being said in all but the very few monsters the souls are chained. Countering the ability or its source could very likely lead to freeing them."

"Just pondering."

Elera Nehnisa
player, 70 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Thu 23 Feb 2023
at 00:53
  • msg #147

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera looks a little disturbed from the news about creatures consuming souls as she asks, "Are cremations common, or do they demand the souls in tribute? Are there hunters in the night that we must avoid?"
DM Neb
GM, 107 posts
Thu 23 Feb 2023
at 14:11
  • msg #148

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Greeg's expression is solemn.  "The soul leaves the body, and it goes to the Ogre King.  Buried, burned, chopped, digested... it doesn't matter what happens to the body."

The old hobbit looks from one face to the other.  "Every soul in Varnield is food for the King.  He may have eaten a million by now, five hundred years of enemy and slave alike.  He cannot be fought; he cannot be resisted.  Simply avoid him."
Shadowdale Greenleaf
player, 39 posts
Healing & Liberation
Thu 23 Feb 2023
at 15:25
  • msg #149

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Shdowdale looks hard at the table but he really looking hard into himself.
Does he still have a soul to be consumed.  As they where gods and cannot die.  As he spend an eternity in a gem prison.  Was not anything that make a soul his and his alone to keep now?

OOC:
16:19, Today: Shadowdale Greenleaf rolled 21 using 1d20+7.  Nature or Arcane.

Elera Nehnisa
player, 71 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Sat 25 Feb 2023
at 06:08
  • msg #150

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera answers, "That's really not good. Why did the other family tell us to find shelter before nightfall?"
Skeeve
player, 41 posts
Memory and Night
Sun 12 Mar 2023
at 16:42
  • msg #151

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Behind the others, quiet and nervous, Skeeve muttered to himself after the recital had ended, "Should even one survive... That does not bode well"
DM Neb
GM, 108 posts
Sun 19 Mar 2023
at 21:55
  • msg #152

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera Nehnisa:
Elera answers, "That's really not good. Why did the other family tell us to find shelter before nightfall?"


"If any of the Masters are travelling, it'll be during the night.  Goblins will leave you alone... mostly..." he casts a concerned look at his daughter.  "But if a bugbear -"

"Or worse, Ogre Lord," Neelan interjects.

Greeg nods, "Right.  If either encounters someone on the road at night, they seldom bother to ask questions.  They just..."  He grabs a piece of the bread and tears into it with his teeth.  "Yeah, about like that."

The boy adds, "We chain the dogs up securely after dark."

They turn to their food for a bit and focus on eating.

After a while, Greeg begins again.  "What more can we tell you, or how can we help?  The way you're headed, you'll come across more Masters within a day or two.  Do you have a destination in mind?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:02, Sun 19 Mar 2023.
Ludovic
player, 48 posts
Alchemy (mad science)
Construct(false life)
Mon 20 Mar 2023
at 02:52
  • msg #153

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

"Sounds like some kind of frenzy. May be wise to have a calm emotion spell on hand in the event that we run into them. It's a long shot but quelling any kind of rage may yield interesting results." Ludo started taking notes on cause and effects that he would need to keep track of in the event the group ran into an oger or some such.

"The fewer waves we make the better."
Elera Nehnisa
player, 73 posts
Trade and Defense
AC:18 FRW:4/7/4 HP:20/20
Tue 21 Mar 2023
at 04:22
  • msg #154

Re: Chapter 1: Incarnation

Elera listens quietly as the halfling man explains that their overlords are primarily nocturnal before she asks, "Are there any groups that are still actively opposing your masters, or have they been thoroughly quashed by now? Giving us the literal lay of the land would also be helpful. If you can't tell, we're rather thoroughly lost."
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