Q: Is my rest and recover interrupted? YES Q: Immediately? YES
-I dig up https://jamesturneronline.net/game-masters-apprentice/ and the oracle pops open with “Introduce a new NPC” and “a half seen figure beckons” (an insecure person who feels left out and excluded, virtue of humility, vice of lust. I roll my NPC generator, a female (Human) slave. Age 22. Heritage-Closest group-Vaylan, her name will be Myrissa)
Q: Is the barkeep a little friendlier now? NO
-Immersion-sense of calm-
Scene #15:
I enter the Wool and Thorn, meeting the barkeep’s angry glare as I calmly approach and request lodging for the next few days. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice his serving girl nodding that I should head upstairs.
“I need the room again, and a bath, if you can have a servant bring up some warm water and soap.” I suggest.
“Out back,” he scowls, “Or in the stream” as he takes my coins. “You brought something wicked here when you came.”
I shake my head, “No. The wickedness was already here. And it is growing. I’ll be down to bathe after the water is heated.”
I head up to my room, and lay out my gear, examining the burn marks on my gambeson, and the section that was torn by the midnight howler’s claws. I’ll need some things mended before I continue my journey.
Suddenly, there is a knock on my door, and I bid the person enter. It is the serving girl with a tray containing a bowl of porridge, some bread, and a tankard. I gesture for her to set it on the bed.
Her eyes flit between me and the floor, but she has the courage to ask, “What is out there? Everyone is afraid. Everyone but you. Is something coming for us all?”
I pause and look at her, then reply, “I don’t know. But the creatures I fought don’t seem to be of this world. And there is strange sorcery at work. Thank you for bringing up some food. Can you mend these garments for me?” I gesture towards my torn gambeson. The girl nods and I let her take it from me. “And you are warming water for the bath?” She says yes as she nods, meeting my gaze only briefly before looking back down. “Thank you, then.” I smile at her. She offers a meager smile in return.
I eat the stew she’s offered, a bit of mutton adding depth to the blending of carrots, onions, potato and barley seed that make up the bulk of the stew. The bread is fresh, unburnt this time. I smile and enjoy the repast.
Afterwards, I go down to bathe and the girl sits nearby, mending my gambeson but ready should I need another pour as a second pot of water warms over the fire. As I step into the bath, she observes “Your back! What happened?”
I am confused for a moment, “Burnt by fire. It still hurts, but I didn’t know it would show.”
She shakes her head, “No, I see the redness from the heat. I can get a poultice for it. But, the scars?”
I shake my head, “An unjust punishment for a crime that is no crime.” I then begin washing away the grime and sweat from the last two weeks on the road, and freshen the bandage on my cut. Afterwards, I let the girl apply a poultice to my back, and immediately feel much better.
-Myrrisa First Aid, pass by 4, heal 3 hit points-
I thank her with a smile, and she blushes, looking away. Donning my tunic, I head back up to my room to rest.
Q: Does the rest of the week pass largely uneventfully? YES
26th Greenthaw, -Comfortable, clear skies, no rain
Q: Is my cloak returned to me? YES (Recover 2 hit points for resting-House rule is that it takes 7 days to recover a full allotment of hit points, so for Kaelen, that is 2 hit points per day, more or less)
I sleep restlessly, plagued by visions of the screaming fiend. But the next morning, a villager returns my bloodied and scorched cloak back to me, which I let the servant girl, Myrissa, mend after thanking her for her work on my armor. When there are no others in the tavern, and she is not needed for other tasks, she sits beside me while mending garments, and I tell her about the orcs at East Watch, the riot in Vortessa, and about the hidden shrine in the nearby forest. She listens eagerly, both frightened and intrigued by the tale.
27th Greenthaw, Waysday-Comfortable, rains lightly, but all night
I rest during the day, trying to catch up on sleep that eludes me at night, but as evening draws near, I hear a commotion as a group of travelers enter the tavern. Three peasant women and an older tradesman are among the first to arrive, followed by other travelers grateful to have found a welcoming place to rest the night.
Q: Are Ashgate and Hiroad closed? NO Q: Is the tavern soon crowded? EXCEPTIONAL NO
As these road weary wanderers sit at table, and eagerly sate their hunger, I can see the fear in their eyes, and a sense of relief. I ask the well dressed tradesman where they are from. “Dhezmaran,” he replies in a hollow voice. I ask why he’s so far from home, for he doesn’t have the look of a caravanner.
Q: Attacked on the road? EXCEPTIONAL NO
“Did you not see the sun turn black? The sun turned black and shook the entire city. Buildings collapsed, screams, horror. So many dead,” he mutters, his eyes hollow. “We have travelled for ten days. Turned away in so many places, haunted by strange dream. Visions of black, shadowy creatures following us or watching from the roads. I feared…we were cursed.”
“Will the gods not protect you?” I ask, reminding him of his faith, though I share little of it.
He shakes his head, “The gods fell silent…I am told. Except for the prophet. Viren the Quiet. Said a star would fall from the wound, and now he doesn’t seem quite so mad as the rest of the world.”
“A star will fall from a wound? What does that mean?” I ask, puzzled. The tradesman doesn’t know.
28th Greenthaw,comfortable, cloudy, no rain, muddy ground (rained all night the evening before)
-Immersion, see something beautiful, nearby within reach-Recover last two hit points-
Scene #16:
Three days after facing the midnight screamer, I wake having dreamt of a kingdom of death and shadow bathed in that eerie green light. glowing green light that spills forth from a blackened sun. Rattled, I wash my face then get dressed. I resolve to return to the ancient shrine and discover the cause of these dreams, maybe find a way to silence them.
E: Progress on ‘Kaelen is looking for wealth’: the Beginning of Suffering
Q: is Myrissa being beaten? NO
As I eat breakfast, my eyes are drawn to the smiling slave girl who has been one of the few friendly faces in this village. I notice the intricate patterns woven into hear head scarf. They seem to be of eagles in flight. A good omen, for they depict strength and freedom. A Kovori slave would never be permitted to wear such a thing, but this far from the frontier, and worn by a Vaylan, it lacks such meaning and must not be taken as a sign of defiance.
“Where did you get that scarf?” I ask Myrissa.
Q: Was it a gift from a Kovori? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Did she weave it? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Is she overheard? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does she return the smile? EXCEPTIONAL NO
“I made it for myself. I’ve always admired birds. How free they seem. To travel where they wish.” She quickly glances around, suddenly nervous, but then relieved that her master is not to be seen and that other travelers are engrossed in their own discussions. I see sadness in her eyes. I nod. I smile at her. She tightens her lips and swallows hard, and then turns and hurries away back to the kitchen, leaving me to my thoughts.
I gather my things, and then head north, back into the woods and towards the ancient shrine.
-Encounter-Wild Goats, but deer make more sense here-
I make my way past the fields and into the woods and spot some red deer. This comes as a relief, as three days ago, there was an unnatural presence here keeping beasts and birds at bay. More confidently, I head towards the shrine.
Q: Have the goblin corpses been moved? NO Q: Are scavengers avoiding them? NO
I soon come to where I found the girl and the goblins laid out in a sacrificial rite. Whatever spell had hung over this place is broken. Crows scatter as I approach, and the air is thick with bloatflies, the corpses crawl with maggots, and it is clear that wolves have gnawed on the remains as well. The forest is reclaiming the dead.
Q: Anything strange about the outside of the shrine? NO Q: Is the fiend’s corpse there? EXCEPTIONAL NO
Reaching the entrance to the ancient shrine, I notice nothing amiss. No new tracks. The fiend’s corpse gone. There is no sign it was ever there to begin with. No trace of blood and little evidence of our fight. This is unsurprising given that it rained last night.
With axe in my right hand and spear in my left, I follow the steps down into the mysterious shrine.
-Immersion-Smell Excrement
Scene #17:
I follow the steps down into the ancient shrine, being bathed in that green crystal’s eerie light. It smells like a dung heap.
I crinkle my nose as I proceed, looking for the source of the smell.
Q: Has an animal moved into the shrine? NO Q: Has anything moved in? NO Q: Are there signs goblins have been here? EXCEPTIONAL NO
I see no signs that anything has been here since I found the place. Nor can I identify the source of the smell.
I go back to the altar where I killed the two zombies and saw the floating sphere.
Q: Any guards in past areas? YES Q: Zed? NO (Roll Random Veil Crosser encounter-Random Descent doesn’t fit, but the effect can)
I walk towards that hallway, then wince in pain as I draw near it. Shaking it off, I press forward, and find myself facing the crystal stone in the etched tree instead. I look to my right, towards the path towards the altar, and go that way again. Once more, I feel my head hurt, and a wave of nausea, then find myself standing in front of the crystal tree.
-Will power-fail by 5-
Realizing there must be strange sorcery at work, I try one more time to take the right hand hallway, but find myself again in front of the tree in the antechamber.
Defeated, I take the passage to the left.
-Generate Room Contents and dressing from Paul Bimler’s “The Dead Don’t Sleep”-
-Immersion-Touch-Grainy-
Scene #18:
I take the passage to the left, and am overwhelmed by the stench of rotting flesh, and the strong odor of spilt bowels. The room is filled with corpses, dozens of them!
Q: Animals? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Goblins YES Q: Humans? YES Q: Is the green glow here too? NO
-Health check-pass 4-
I feel the bile rising in my gut as I take in the scene. Goblins and men, male and female, young and old. Dozens of dead, maybe more, mutilated nearly beyond recognition. With the green glow behind me, it is hard to see clearly, so tuck my hatched into my belt, prop the spear against he wall, and then draw out and light up a torch from my pack.
Holding the torch aloft, I proceed into to the room, poking the corpses with the tip of my spear, pushing them to the side, hoping none start moving.
Q: Does anything “wake up” among the dead? NO Q: Right height for the screamer? YES -Survival pass 0-
I notice there are scratch marks on the stone wall. Looking at them, I realize they must have been made by the fiend I defeated outside. Then I realize that the way several corpses are piled together, they might have been used as a sort of “nest” by the bird footed creature. I shudder at the thought of these dead being used as a resting place, mere bedding, for some beast from beyond the realms of the living.
Q: Is the door open? NO Q: Any markings? YES Q: Forest theme? NO
There is a door on the south wall. It seems to be made of the same sort of stone that the exterior door had been constructed from. There are markings on the door that remind me of Vaylan letters, but I don’t recognize any of them. They are more curved, elegant, which is a hard thing to mark into stone. Almost as though they had been drawn in ink and then sank into the great slab of granite.
Curious I try to push the door open.
-Strength-Fail by 1-Q: Can I get the door open? NO-
It does not budge.
I stare at the door for a bit, then start looking around for some sort of lever or button that might open it.
-Perception Pass 4-Q: Do I find a button or lever to open the door? YES-
I noticed a bit of raised stone in the midst of the fiend’s nest, and I press down on it with the butt of my spear. This causes the door on the south wall to slowly open.
Q: Does anything come leaping out from it? NO
I turn towards the door and walk through it.
-Immersion-Sound-Sighing- (Generate Room contents and likely boss monster based on the Clue, and undead warlord, but let’s not get carried away)-
Scene #19:
I move towards the open door, and see a great stone sarcophagus in the center of a great room. The edge of the room seems to be lined with armored men, standing in eternal vigil over their fallen lord. The armor is of a strange design though.
E: Action by Hordlings: Carelessness and Allies
There is a sound, like a gasp, as I cross the threshold into the ancient vault. Then there is movement in the shadows, and the stone slab over the sarcophagus slides open, and a great green light erupts from it as I skeletal figure draped in ancient armor pulls itself free from its coffin.
Seeing the skeletal creature rising in front of me, I drop my spear and draw out my hatchet. Then two larger inky black creatures with long claws, a scorpion like tail and short horns on their heads lunge at me. I hit one hard, but with the two of them on me, I am fighting a losing battle. As they drive me back, one manages to cut me, and I realize the skeleton is closing fast. I am struck by an unnatural sense of dread, and realizing it is now or never, I break and run for it, leaving my spear behind.
I race out of the tomb, slowly outpacing them, but they are relentless! Even as I race through the brush, I hear them coming. Eventually I get to a decent place to make my stand, unsling my bow, nock aim, and the fiend ducks to the side as the arrow whizzes past!
Then they are on me, as I quickly draw my knife and slash the first one to reach me. Unfortunately, it is not the one that was already bleeding! I fight desperately against them, but they are quick on their feet, and I am cut once more before I land a solid blow. Then a second time, and I feel my strength fading fast! Desperately, I keep slashing, and cut one across the neck, finishing it. Then the other claws me good, and I can barely stand! But as it cries out in glee, I disembowel it, and it curls up and dies, as I collapse.
I wake up about an hour later, bloodied and sore. The corpses of the fiends are shriveled up, like raisins now, no longer smooth skinned like before. As I stand, I look down and see the Luck Knot my mother wove for me, torn in half, and lying on the ground. “This will hold the Spirit in Place” she told me when she gifted it. It may have done just that!
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