Posts From a Long Winded Gamer

Immersion-Sight Something Horrifying in the Distance Q: Have others explored the sea cave? YES
As the boat captain, Istvar, rows the three of us towards the sea cave, he mentions that another group had asked to be ferried over there two days earlier, but had not been at the cave mouth when he returned to retrieve them. Njora and I regard each other with concern, but then she mentions, “That means they haven’t taken any slates away at the least” I nod.

Halgrimm grins, “A bit of competition may liven things up a bit.” I raise an eyebrow and remind him we are not here to fight our countrymen, but to explore. He shrugs, unconcerned.

As we disembark and Njora lights up her lamp, Halgrimm and I ready our shields and head towards the ancient ruins.

Up ahead, on the ramp, we see the corpses of several men, and broken skeletons, partially shrouded in ancient rags, scattered about them. “So much for our competition,” I mutter as we approach.

“Anyone you know?” I ask Njora as we look over the corpses.

Q: Does she recognize anyone? EXCEPTIONAL YES
Njora gasps, “Oh, my! Thorric Lieferson!” She kneels down beside one of the dead men, and checks his wounds. “He was often at the temple. I told him of the treasures here, and I guess he thought to see for himself.” She shakes her head. “So bold.”

“Halgrimm, help me get them to the water’s edge for transport,” I command. The young warrior scoffs, but obeys, muttering that he came for glory and plunder, not to police the dead.

Njora prays over them as we gather the bodies, then stands watch as we ferry them back to the landing area.

-Encounter-Vault Attendants (3)-

While Halgrimm and I move the dead, Njora warns us, “Something is coming!” We ready our weapons while Njora gets behind us.

At the top of the ramp are three man sized automatons, warriors crafted from bronze and steel, moving slowly towards us.

---

The three constructs march steadily towards us down the ramp, crushing bone beneath their feet as they approach. Halgrimm is at my right, and we stand ready with axes and shields while Njora waits behind us. As they draw close, I tell Halgrimm to shift right, and we reposition so as to double team the first to arrive. We quickly cut it down, though as I attack the second, my axe is knocked from my hand and I have to switch to my sword. During that moment of vulnerability, one of the automatons lands a hard blow against me, bruising my arm, but Halgrim proves his worth, cutting the foes down with his axe. Soon they are nothing but scrap metal and sundered armor plates on the ground.

-First Aid check fails-
As Halgrimm looks over the shattered automatons, Njora tends my bruised arm. Though she tries her best, it still feels a little numb after the fight.

We sit and rest after the fight, wondering if any other guardians will come along. Njora searches the dead to see if they happened to have recovered one of the slates.

Q: Did the corpses have a slate? YES-40 minutes to recover fatigue-No Encounter-

Njora exclaims, “Found one!” Halgrimm immediately joins her, asking if there is anything else of value. She chastises them that if there is, it is for their kin not for us.

He snaps at her, “I’m here for plunder and glory. If we can claim a piece of rock from them, why not gold?”

I tell him to stand down
-Leadership vs Will-each pass by 0-.

Halgrimm grumbles, but resorts to pacing back and forth impatiently instead of resting like I told him.

After resting for several minutes, we move deeper into the ruins.

Q: Was the barracks looted? YES
We inspect the guard post that was on the left, and the barracks behind them. We find clear signs that Thoricc’s party had been here, and plundered the area of any valuables. There are also signs of fighting as we find freshly shattered bones among the bunks and the old armory.

-Immersion-Smell-Rust-Generate next section-Guard room, trap, guards, loot-
After searching the barracks, we continue down the main passage, Halgrimm and I nearly side by side with Njora behind us. As we pass by the tall faceless statues like the one that attacked on in our first visit, we are wary of whatever may lay ahead. There is a pungent smell in the air, most and ferrous, like rusted armor. I check my gear, but everything seems fine.

-Wailing servants all pass their stealth checks, we all fail our perception checks. Random allocation, Ivarn walks into the deadfall, takes 8-4=4 points of damage as he is caught by surprise and unable to dodge-

Walking foward, I feel something against my leg and a huge mallet swings down from a concealed slot in the ceiling above. I am knocked on my back as we hear a set of unearthly screams ahead. There is movement on my left.

I quickly rise to my feet as a skeletal figure shambles towards me moaning some sort of gibberish that makes my skin crawl. Halgrimm moves towards me when I notice two others coming from the right. I shout a warning and he positions himself to face them.

Njora comes to aid us, trying to stab my foe as it gets close, but she cries out in pain, when her target moves suddenly and she over extends her arm trying to reach it. Then the first creature howls! I feel my blood run cold as visions of death flood my mind, but I steel myself and cut the fiend down with a mighty blow of my axe.

A second fiend howls and I see Halgrimm faltering as he takes one blow after another. I am quickly by his side, cutting down a second fiend, and then the third.

After the battle, we take several deep breaths to steady our nerves while Njora looks over Halgrimm. He laughs, “Their feeble claws couldn’t get through my mail. If they would just shut up, they wouldn’t be a threat at all.”

Q: Is anything drawn to the noise? YES (Black moon hordling, one)
-Stealth fails-
Njora yells, “Look out!” and I see one of those demons from before rushing out behind Halgrimm. We turn to face it!

(-2 Dex penalties still apply)
Halgrimm and I stand shoulder to shoulder as the fiend races out of the gloom, lunging at Halgrimm, his shield taking the blow from its claws. Then his axe splits the thing’s skull, and as it spasms, it’s tail lashes out, slashing open Halgrimm’s leg, causing him to drop down in agony.

(Death lash…hits, not dodged. Since DR 5 on the torso is so high, I occasionally use hit locations on the heroes, unfortunately, 9 points of cutting damage cripples the leg). -First Aid, Success-3 points-

Njora is quickly by his side, binding the wound and splinting his leg so he can put a little weight on it while he lets out a steady stream of curses. “Come on Halgrimm, you can handle this,” she encourages while I keep my eyes sharp for further threats.

-Leadership passes, will power fails-
“Be quiet,” I hiss, and he shuts up. I collect his weapons and Njora and I help him back to the landing.

“What now?” Njora asks, knowing that my arm is sore and Halgrimm will need time to heal.

“Wait for the boat. This place is far more heavily guarded than we thought,” I observe.

She nods, frustrated that we could scarcely make our way further in. “I should learn to fight,” she says. I grunt in agreement.

Q: Are we attacked while we wait? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Coin operated? NO

While we wait, I see two large figures walking down the ramp. Two more of those faceless stone statues. I move towards them to get their attention, and then off to the side so they must come at me single file. They are slow, lumbering creatures that I might be able to outrun if there was someplace to flee. Instead, I meet them in battle. Having fought one before, I know to quickly hack at their legs, and though one of them hits me pretty hard, rattling my shield arm badly, I soon turn both of my foes into piles of limestone rubble.

It then check behind their necks, and though I see the imprint where a coin should be placed, there is nothing there. A very strange magic powers them indeed!

-28th day of Tharnwinter-
-Immersion-Sound-Bells-
Scene #18 (Negative Alteration):
After dispatching the stone guardians, we wait at the landing with the corpses of our fallen kin, tired and wary. “Perhaps we should have hidden in the vault,” I note, but I am reluctant to move Halgrimm who complains bitterly about his leg. Then we hear bells echoing through the cavern from somewhere beyond what we have seen. An eerie, melancholy sound that unnerves us all.

“There is a great evil stirring in the deep,” I worry. Njora shares my concerns. Halgrimm chafes at his incapacity, and swears he’ll return to put an end to it as soon as he can walk again.

Q: Boat arrives on time? YES
When Istvar arrives, we load the dead men onto the boat with their equipment, then Hjalgrimm, Njora and I join as well, pushing off and returning to the docks.

We quickly borrow a cart to haul the dead up to the temple for last rites and the notification of kin, while Hjalgrimm hobbles alongside Njora and I.

-Encounter-Aristocrat-spectacle-
As we are on our way to the temple, we are stopped by the King’s guards, for he is worshipping at the shrine, praying for guidance while all lesser men are kept away. We hear Kaedra’s voice praying for guidance in this time of war and darkness, calling upon Halleon, king of the gods, to guide her brother in wisdom and battle.

We observe the rite, Njora her head bowed in deep prayer, Hjalgrimm scowling and muttering that the gods give man nothing more than they already have, and me, simply watching. When it is done, and the king’s entourage departs, we bring the dead to the temple, and show Kaedra the additional slate we recovered.

Q: Is any bounty paid? YES Q: Two weeks? NO
“You continue to serve us, and honor your kin by recovering our dead,” Kaedra bows her head towards me, “Such sacrifice is noble and should be honored.” She signals for one of her men to pay Halgrimm and myself for our efforts, so that we have a week’s wages to rest and recover in time for our next expedition.

Greenthaw 28th, to Sunreach 5th-Ivarn, Njora and Hjalgrim rest
-No events of note, not looking for work, no gambling, just rest-
I spend the next week resting my arm, and studying runes alongside Njora. I visit Hjallgrim at his inn room occasionallyh, but he chafes at being couped up and is eager to return to the vault for another chance at glory and gold.