Completed Play-by-Post: In Search of the Sorcerer

[nikolokolus]

Before Marcán leaves Oon grabs his arm and wordlessly presses something small into the palm of his hand. She then turns her back and readies a small satchel of grain and takes up her father's spear and shield, while Fidach busies himself with preparations.

In a matter of minutes everyone is prepared and you assemble outside the small stone hut. Fidach waves and wishes you all well before he and Oona turn and start walking westward along a well-trod animal trail parallel to the stream.

Brule watches them go for a few minutes and turns to the troupe. "If you lads think it's urgent enough and are up for a hard hike, we might be able to cut through the forest and scale a bluff just north of here. We'd get to the fens just after noon if all goes well. If we backtrack upstream and through the glen below Ulfheonar's tomb it might be almost sundown before we reach the fens. I leave it up to you."

 

[Grimgravy]

"If you think the bluff won't pose much of a problem, I'd vote for the quicker path. It would be nice to have time to plan our attack."

 

[Siveon]

Marcán looks into his hand, before closing it once again. "I agree. In this situation we have to turn away from some cautionary measures. Though I won't object if most of us don't feel up to the task."

 

[L'ennui]

"We're headed off to slay a legendary wolf-demon... It seems we will be facing terrible danger no matter how we get there, and so I vote for the faster route."

 

[nikolokolus]

Brule sensing perhaps that no one would dare unman themselves and chose the easier route flashes a grim smile. "You southerners aren't as soft-bellied as I'd been lead to believe. Come, there's no time to waste." With that Brule claps his hand over his sacbbard and slings his shield over his back and takes off, loping across the trackless, moss-covered forest floor.

After about two hours of steady trekking through heavy woods and very rough ground the group pulls up at the top of a narrow ridge, sweating and panting in the cool spring air. From your vanage, Brule points across the narrow valley to a long cliff face that stretches for miles in either direction and completely bars your path. "See that there?" He says, indicating a coulior or notch-like a declivity cutting the granite. The way up looks very daunting for those of you unaccustomed to climbing.

"Any volunteers?" Chirps Brule.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"I'll go."

Spoiler

what roll

 

[Wayward Son]

"Here, I've got some rope. Take it and maybe make the climb easier for those of us who won't be able to scale something like that so easily, eh?"

 

[nikolokolus]

"I'll go."

Spoiler

what roll

Spoiler

Saving throw +4 (+2 for Barbarian class, +2 for Strength Damage Bonus). You need to roll a 9+. If you fail the roll it means you fall at the crux of the climb (which I will now determine randomly)
Crux of the climb [10d10] = 68 feet
Falls inflict 1d6 damage per 10 yards (cumulative). 22 yards fall would inflict 3d6 damage.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

[1d20+4] = 10+4 = 14

 

[nikolokolus]

Borric ever undaunted by danger, seizes an opportunity for glory. The rock is slick with dew, but hand-holds are ample. Perhaps seventy feet up in the air you are forced to leap from one side of the notch to the other and you just barely hang on to the ledge that you grasp. A weaker man would probably have slipped and fallen to his death (some bonus XP coming your way for taking on this big of a risk).

Borric hauls himself up and drops the bighted loop of rope slung over his shoulder and ties it off around a small, stunted tree growing out of the rock.

One way or anohter folk are hauled up or climb up under their own power and about 30 minutes later the party gains the top of the bluff and a wide-open, tract of moorland, save for a dark blot in a shallow valley off in the distance about three or four miles away. Brule looks around at horizon and makes quick note of a couple of peaks in the distance, "We're on the backside of the fens and it's not even midday. This is a good omen." He says in a confident tone of voice.

 

[Grimgravy]

Taking in the view Rhenmyr asks pointing, "What is that dark spot over there in that valley?"

 

[Wayward Son]

Spoiler

That's Fantasy Scotland. You must never go there, Rhenmyr.

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

That's Fantasy Scotland. You must never go there, Rhenmyr.

Spoiler

Not quite. More like fantasy Dacia if the ice-age never ended and the Halstatt Celts were forced to migrate east to avoid an advancing wall of ice two miles high . . . or something like that.

Brule nods, "We're on the south side of the morass we tracked Blaidd Mawr to the other night."

Only the edge of the fen is visble. Over the rest a blanket of heavy gray mist obscures the center of the two or three mile wide bog. A hundred yards away a faint game trail follows a small spring-fed creek that slugishly meanders down the gully, leading to the heart of the ominous looking depression.

Brule wastes no time and follows the trail to the edge of the fen which takes about thirty minutes. Eventually the trail disappears and you find yourself stomping across hummocky ground broken up by small pools of stagnant water. The mist suddenly thickens and you can almost feel yourself cross some invisible threshold; A preternatural silence falls over the land and a nagging sense that you are being watched overwhelms the lot of you.

 

[Siveon]

Marcán shivers, "Anyone else feel that? Beast has to be close by."

 

[L'ennui]

Urash grips his staff tightly with both hands.

He whispers:

"I feel it as well.... An ill omen, to be sure... This place is ghastly."

 

[Wayward Son]

Mab grips his spear , ready to thrust at a moment's notice, "Aye. We need to watch and listen for any signs of the Wolf. Anybody hear anything? It may be near..." He subconsciously rubs the wolf pelt on his shoulder, and makes a tribal ward sign against evil. "Hopefully, it doesn't get the jump on us. That would be truly... terrible. Oh well. Nothing we can do except hope and trust in our skills and each other. And our possessed friend and spear, of course."

 

[Grimgravy]

"It reminds me of the tower balcony, this uncanny place. Be wary for the unnatural."

 

[nikolokolus]

Brule grimaces and looks at both Rhenmyr and Borric, "Any thoughts? I really have no idea where to even begin looking."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

What does Dubh Sleagh's memory bank have to say on Blaidd Mawr tracking?

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

What does Dubh Sleagh's memory bank have to say on Blaidd Mawr tracking?

Spoiler

The spear doesn't appear to possess any innate tracking ability. All you sense is an "eagerness"

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

And all the memories not my own? What data have they on Blaidd Mawrr?

 

[Grimgravy]

"I cant speak for spirits, but a wolf would have a den. I suggest we look for something like that. If we get to a normal area, we've gone the wrong way."

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

And all the memories not my own? What data have they on Blaidd Mawrr?

Spoiler

These memories are like fragments; disjointed images of a different time and place -- strange faces, strange lands. With respect to Blaidd Mawr, you can recall the triumph Ulfheonar felt when he pinned the beast, but also the anguish when the wolf inflicted a mortal wound against him.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

And what of the actual fight versus the Bleed more, nothing? Otherwise, can I roll Int vs. the disjointed images I got, try to correlate the feelings, with Borric's own hunting experience?
Am I overdoing this btw?

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

And what of the actual fight versus the Bleed more, nothing? Otherwise, can I roll Int vs. the disjointed images I got, try to correlate the feelings, with Borric's own hunting experience?
Am I overdoing this btw?

Spoiler

I wouldn't say you're "overdoing it" it's just that there's no cut and dried answer. The feelings and memories that are in your head are like half remembered dreams not explicit guides telling you where to go and what to do.

In game mechanics terms, the benefit you received is that experience point award for bonding with the spear. If the spear is sentient it's more like an idiot demiurge. If that makes sense?