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Guy Fawkes
Aug 1, 2014

Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense
Great job. Personally I 'd have preferred for the Lone Wolf saga to end here and to begin with a new character, maybe a recruit of the new order (exactly what happened later with the New Order series); after all, I've really enjoyed the parallel books about Grey Star.

Guy Fawkes fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Apr 22, 2018

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Comrade Blyatlov
Aug 4, 2007


should have picked four fingers





I just want to wish you god speed on your journey as I remember this being hard as gently caress

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

Tiggum posted:

So we need votes for:
  1. Four new Disciplines
  2. A rule for Psi-surge/Kai-surge and Grand Weaponmastery preferences if we choose it
  3. New equipment
  4. Equipment to go into storage
  5. Equipment to come out of storage

Plus any thoughts or opinions you have about the CS/EP issue.

Disciplines: let's nab both the magic ones, the Nexus upgrade, since we're definitely headed for a hostile environment, and the spirit walking upgrade:

Grand Nexus
Telegnosis
Magi-magic
Kai-alchemy

Items: store the Dagger and take the Spear for poking-into-swamps purposes, also pick up the Quiver and Laumspur

CS/EP: I'm up for rerolling, and handwaving that it's a side-effect of long-term Lorestone exposure. It's presumably done that way to compensate for CS/EP-boosting gear picked up in the previous books, but I think it's still a bit much

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
I’ll just second RuncibleCat’s motion, except swap Telegnosis for Kai-Screen and adding that we use Psi-Surge if we get into a fight where the Combat Ratio is -3 or worse without it. I remember this book is tough and will leave it at that- we’ll soon learn how much so.

achtungnight fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Apr 21, 2018

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

achtungnight posted:

I’ll just second RuncibleCat’s motion, adding that we use Psi-Surge if we get into a fight where the Combat Ratio is -3 or worse without it. I remember this book is tough and will leave it at that- we’ll soon learn how much so.

I'm going to agree with Psi-Surge use; you'll lose far less health by using it than you will fighting without it. No spoilers, just maths.

However, no input from me on disciplines unless specifically requested because that will be spoilers.

The_White_Crane
May 10, 2008

Runcible Cat posted:

Disciplines: let's nab both the magic ones, the Nexus upgrade, since we're definitely headed for a hostile environment, and the spirit walking upgrade:

Grand Nexus
Telegnosis
Magi-magic
Kai-alchemy

Items: store the Dagger and take the Spear for poking-into-swamps purposes, also pick up the Quiver and Laumspur

CS/EP: I'm up for rerolling, and handwaving that it's a side-effect of long-term Lorestone exposure. It's presumably done that way to compensate for CS/EP-boosting gear picked up in the previous books, but I think it's still a bit much

All of this.
I think rerolling in particular is definitely the way to go. Having a CS that's actually lower than it would be possible to roll if we were starting the book fresh is bullshit, especially since we've spent the past twenty-five years training!

spacejung
Feb 8, 2004
Reroll and subtract a burn penalty for when we were mean to those swamp denizens.

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice
  1. Four new Disciplines
    Animal Mastery, Grand Huntmastery, Magi-magic, Kai-alchemy

  2. A rule for Psi-surge/Kai-surge
    If we're less than +7 CR, surge 'em

  3. Grand Weaponmastery preferences if we choose it
    Sword, Mace

  4. New equipment
    Quiver/arrows, Potion of Laumpsur, 4 Meals

  5. Equipment to go into storage
    Bottle of Wine, Iron Key, Dagger, 130 Kika, any Gold Crowns over 50

  6. Equipment to come out of storage
    Jeweled Mace, for our new backup weapon.
Plus any thoughts or opinions you have about the CS/EP issue.

As long as there are no BS negatives for using our Sommersword, I say let's roll with the old stats and equipment.

nelson fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Apr 21, 2018

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.

Runcible Cat posted:

Disciplines: let's nab both the magic ones, the Nexus upgrade, since we're definitely headed for a hostile environment, and the spirit walking upgrade:

Grand Nexus
Telegnosis
Magi-magic
Kai-alchemy

Items: store the Dagger and take the Spear for poking-into-swamps purposes, also pick up the Quiver and Laumspur

CS/EP: I'm up for rerolling, and handwaving that it's a side-effect of long-term Lorestone exposure. It's presumably done that way to compensate for CS/EP-boosting gear picked up in the previous books, but I think it's still a bit much

This. WE'RE GONNA BE WIZARDS

Guy Fawkes
Aug 1, 2014

Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

  1. Four new Disciplines
    Animal Mastery, Grand Huntmastery, Magi-magic, Kai-alchemy

  2. A rule for Psi-surge/Kai-surge
    If we're less than +7 CR, surge 'em

  3. Grand Weaponmastery preferences if we choose it
    Sword, Mace

  4. New equipment
    Quiver/arrows, Potion of Laumpsur, 4 Meals

  5. Equipment to go into storage
    Bottle of Wine, Iron Key, Dagger, 130 Kika, any Gold Crowns over 50

This, except one thing:

6. Equipment to come out of storage
Dagger of Vashna.

Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


OK, looks like the general consensus is a reroll, so our new base stats will be:

CS: 0 + 25 = 25
EP: 2 + 30 = 32


So our Combat Skill increases by 6 and our Endurance drops by 5. Incidentally, if we'd rolled the maximum possible starting CS and not gotten blown up in the swamp then our base CS by the end of the Magnakai series would be 24, plus we could theoretically have found the Kagonite Chainmail and Silver Helm for an additional +5 bonus, so we're still not even as powerful as we could have been by this point.

And we have two suggestions for Psi-surge/Kai-surge threshold, -3 and +7. Each received two votes, so unless a tie-breaker is cast I'll split the difference and call it 2.


Guy Fawkes posted:

Animal Mastery

Leraika posted:

Kai-alchemy

The_White_Crane posted:

take the Spear for poking-into-swamps purposes, also pick up the Quiver and Laumspur

nelson posted:

  • Equipment to go into storage
    Bottle of Wine, Iron Key, Dagger, 130 Kika, any Gold Crowns over 50
  • Equipment to come out of storage
    Jeweled Mace, for our new backup weapon.


Action Chart
    Rank: Kai Grand Defender
    Combat Skill: 43 (25)
    Endurance Points: 33/33 (32)

    Kai/Magnakai/Grand Master Disciplines
  1. Grand Nexus
  2. Animal Mastery
  3. Telegnosis
  4. Kai-alchemy
  5. Weaponmastery (+4 CS w/ any weapon; no unarmed penalty; +5 to bows; +2 to other missile attacks)
  6. Huntmastery
  7. Invisibility
  8. Pathsmanship
  9. Psi-screen
  10. Curing (Regain 1 EP per section; if EP<7 then regain 20 EP - 100 day cooldown)
  11. Psi-surge (+6 CS & -1 EP/round - can't use if below 5 EP)
  12. Mindblast (+4 CS)
    Weapons:
  1. The Sommerswerd (+8 CS; x2 damage vs. undead)
  2. Spear
    Belt Pouch (money):
  • 50 Gold Crowns
    Backpack:
  1. Rope
  2. Lantern
  3. Meal


  4. Potion of Alether (+2 CS)
  5. Potion of Alether (+2 CS)

  6. Potion of Laumspur (+4 EP)

    Special Items:
  1. Quiver (6/6 arrows)
  2. Jewelled Mace

  3. Silver Bracers (+2 CS; +1 EP)



  4. Silver Bow of Duadon (+3 to RN)




  5. Korlinium Scabbard
    Storage:
    Weapons:
  • Dagger
    Special Items:
  • The Dagger of Vashna
    Backpack Items:
  • Potion of Alether (+2 CS)
  • Potion of Alether (+2 CS)
  • Map of Tekaro
  • Lantern
  • Meal
  • Meal
  • Meal
  • Bottle of Wine
  • Iron Key
    Money:
  • 38 Gold Crowns
  • 130 Kika

Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


The Plague Lords of Ruel posted:

‘Grand Master … the quest must begin without delay for time is not our ally,’ says Lord Rimoah, as he paces nervously back and forth across the flagstoned floor of your monastery chamber. You voice your agreement and call upon your wise friend to counsel you as best he can about the mission you have undertaken. Not entirely to your surprise, you learn that he has already made preparation, confident in the knowledge that you would agree to this dangerous quest. He has arranged for you to travel to the Freeland of Palmyrion where a guide is waiting to escort you to Ruel. The guide can guarantee safe passage to the borders of the dark realm, but no further.

Rimoah tells you that little is known of Ruel, save that the unnatural forest which surrounds and protects the Cenerese stronghold of Mogaruith harbours creatures that are the stuff of nightmares. Some almost defy description. The poor wretches who survived the last ill-conceived, ill-fated invasion of Ruel, spoke of their encounters with gigantic, acid-spitting worms that rose up out of the ground without warning and devoured whole regiments of their comrades at a single stroke. They told also of the battles that were waged against ferocious packs of disease-ridden rat-creatures they called ‘Vazhag’. The Cenerese breed these sentient vermin in warrens deep below Mogaruith, and then release them into the forest to patrol and gather food for even viler abominations that rarely venture beyond the walls of their stronghold.

‘Truly I wish that I were able to tell you more, Lone Wolf, but so little is known of Ruel. It is a dark and sinister place. Yet, there is something else, something that I can give you which will aid your quest,’ says Rimoah, and he holds out his hand. In his palm is the phial of green liquid, the vaccine that will, at least, protect you from the plague which threatens to destroy so much of your beloved world. You take it, uncork it, and then quickly swallow the bitter contents. Unexpectedly your stomach rebels and a wave of nausea rises up which makes you slap a hand over your mouth. A few moments later the nausea fades and you are able to remove your hand and speak.

‘How long will it protect me?’ you ask, queasily.

Rimoah smiles. ‘Oh, I’m sure you will be safe for some considerable time, Lone Wolf. I’m afraid I forgot to mention that the phial contained a concentrated vaccine, more than sufficient to protect a hundred men!’

Within the space of a few short hours you are ready to begin your long journey south to Palmyrion. Having entrusted the monastery to the care of your Kai Masters, you and Lord Rimoah leave by means of a secret tunnel, one of several that you have had constructed to enable you to enter and leave the monastery unobserved. You emerge in a clearing at the heart of the Fryelund Forest, at a place where Guildmaster Banedon is waiting patiently to welcome you aboard Skyrider, his flying ship. Here you take time to bid farewell to Lord Rimoah, who will await your return at the monastery, before climbing aboard and placing yourself in the charge of your old friend Banedon.

Banedon issues the order to his dwarven crew to set a course for Palmyrion. Then, as the hum of the craft’s powerful engine rises in pitch, he ushers you into his cabin where a welcoming meal awaits. Effortlessly the Skyrider ascends into the moonless sky and speeds southwards across Sommerlund’s forested heartland, while you endeavour to enjoy your friend’s good food and company and try not to dwell too much on the daunting task that lies ahead. Together you reminisce about past times spent aboard the Skyrider, and recall the adventures you shared in the far-away lands of Anari and Vassagonia.

A few hours later, as your airborne voyage is nearing completion, the conversation turns to the quest in hand. Banedon tells you that you are bound for the Palmyrion city of Holona where your guide, Captain Cearmaine, is patiently awaiting your arrival. At once you recognize the name; you recall having heard tell of the captain’s feats of bravery during the Darklands War where his actions won more than a single battle and earned him commendations from more than a dozen Freeland nations. Lord Rimoah has served you well, for in all of central Magnamund you could not have wished for a better guide than Cearmaine.

It is an hour after midnight when the Skyrider passes over the glimmering waters of the River Reloni and descends towards the flat-roofed Canatarium, the largest of Holona’s eight municipal halls. There you are greeted by the Captain, a man whose proud face bears the scars of his many battles. He offers his hand in friendship and you are mildly shocked when your fingers close around a palm crafted of cold steel.

‘A keepsake from the Battle of Vellino,’ he says, raising his metal hand so that you may inspect it in the light of the Skyrider’s bow lanterns. ‘Alas, the first was stole away by a Drakkar’s axe.’

Captain Cearmaine is eager to leave Holona before sunrise. His carriage awaits to take you south to his command at Stonewatch, a military fortification which stands within sight of the Forest of Ruel. Before you leave, Banedon wishes you success and godspeed. He and his crew will be awaiting you here in Holona in readiness to return you to Sommerlund once the quest has been accomplished. You bid your old friend a fond farewell then settle yourself down into the plush comfort of the captain’s carriage.

For four hours you are lost in dreamless slumber as the carriage wends its way across a hundred miles of open grassland trail. When next you open your eyes it is to the sight of a grey dawn breaking over the Palmyrion Plain, and the sound of a sentry’s war-horn announcing your arrival at Stonewatch. A company of horsemen, each clad like the captain in ring-mail armour and a flowing chequered tunic of crimson and blue, emerge from the outpost and ride forward to meet the carriage. The captain acknowledges their salute and watches with pride as faultlessly they change formation to escort the carriage through the outpost’s stout wooden gate. Beyond lies a drill square that, even at this early hour, resounds to the shouts of command and the measured stamp of soldiers’ feet. You disembark near a watchtower and swiftly the captain ushers you inside and leads you to his quarters on the uppermost level.

You spend the day in his company and together you discuss your approach to Mogaruith while you wait for night to fall. After careful study of his maps, the captain proposes two possible routes by which you can reach the Cenerese stronghold. The most direct way is to enter the Forest of Ruel and journey due east. This is by far the shortest way, but it could also prove to be the most perilous. You recall Rimoah’s account of what lurks in this dread forest and the memory alone is enough to send a shiver coursing down your spine. The alternative is to journey southwards into the Skardos Mountains and enter one of the many subterranean passages that pass through that range. If you can find your way to the Skardos trail, the secret route by which the Cenerese enter and leave their realm, you should be able to follow it all the way to Mogaruith. Consult the map before making your decision.
Do we prefer the forest or the mountains?

Lone Wolf downing 100 doses of the vaccine has got to be the most hilariously dumb thing in this entire series. :roflolmao:

Comrade Blyatlov
Aug 4, 2007


should have picked four fingers





FOREST FOREST FOREST

Helios Grime
Jan 27, 2012

Where we are going we won't need shirts
Pillbug
Perilous shmerilous. We are now Grandmaster!

Forest it is

Materant
Jul 22, 2010

see, what you don't understand is he now has

THE MANLIEST MUSTACHE

it defies physics


Tiggum posted:

Lone Wolf downing 100 doses of the vaccine has got to be the most hilariously dumb thing in this entire series. :roflolmao:

Add "medicine" to the list of things Dever knew nothing about. Of course, if anyone could shrug off a superpowered plague in this series it'd be Grand Master Lone Wolf. Grand Disciplines are a remarkable brand of bullshit.

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

Mountains!

Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


well, at least he sure isn't an anti-vaxxer!

Comstar
Apr 20, 2007

Are you happy now?
Go via Skardos trail. We'll do it in less than 12 paragraphs.

We always have fun fun fun times in swamps!

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Looks like we're DMW then.

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
It’d be kinda funny if all that vaccine made Lone Wolf into some kind of Typhoid Marty... never mind.

Head for the Mountains.

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice

Helios Grime posted:

Perilous shmerilous. We are now Grandmaster!

Forest it is

The_White_Crane
May 10, 2008

quote:

"That vaccine could have protected a hundred men!"
"Yes, but then they wouldn't be able to serve as sacrifices to my Death Aura."

Go to the mountains.

Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


This is one of those major divergence points some of these books have where, if you pick the other option, you got a totally different start to the book.

The Plague Lords of Ruel posted:

Shortly before midnight, you and the captain ride out of Stonewatch on two fine Slovarian steeds. It is another moonless night and the plain is shrouded by darkness, yet you have no difficulty in seeing the terrain that lies ahead. Using your natural Magnakai skill of Huntmastery, every flowing contour of the grassy plain is revealed to you. The captain is not so gifted, but the special spectacles he wears fully compensate for his lack of night vision. They were a token of gratitude from the Arch-Chief of Chaman for his services in defence of the city of Gleesh during the war against the Darklords, and often they have been of use to the captain when scouting his country’s border with Ruel.

In less than an hour you arrive at a grassy knoll which overlooks the dense, forbidding wall of trees that is the Forest of Ruel. You are dismounting when something causes you to halt mid-way. You perceive a scent being carried on the night air: it is the heavy, cloying stench of decay.

‘There is great evil here,’ says the Captain, observing your reaction. ‘You would not be thought faint-hearted were you to return with me to Stonewatch.’

‘I will return to your fortress, Captain,’ you reply, your voice quietly resolute, ‘but not until my task at Mogaruith has been completed.’

The captain smiles and raises his steely hand in a salute to your brave determination. ‘Very well, my lord. So be it. Until that glad day dawns I shall pray for your safety and success.’

Then he brings his horse about, takes yours by the reins, and bids you a final farewell before heading back to Stonewatch. ‘May the gods watch over you and deliver us swiftly from the darkness of Mogaruith.’

You return his salute and watch as he gallops away with your steed in tow. Then, when finally he disappears, you turn to observe the gloomy forest perimeter. At first, the tangle of underbrush and trees appear to be so interwoven that they form an impregnable wall. Yet, at length, you see that there are two points where entry is possible. The first is where a sickly stream emerges from the forest to feed a stagnant, scum-encrusted pond; the second is where a tree has fallen and torn a hole in the thorny briars.
Shall we investigate the stream or the fallen tree?

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
The stream. I like our chances against a water monster vs whatever knocked that tree over.

Guy Fawkes
Aug 1, 2014

Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense
I'd go for the Tree.

Runcible Cat
May 28, 2007

Ignoring this post

Stream should give us a path to follow; no guarantee of that with tree.

moosecow333
Mar 15, 2007

Super-Duper Supermen!
I feel like this is the first time we’ve not had our traveling companion killed.

Let’s also check the Stream

nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice
Head for the tree. It’s too soon to get our new boots muddy.

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
Lone Wolf isn't gonna step in some plague-filled water, vaccine or no

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

achtungnight posted:

It’d be kinda funny if all that vaccine made Lone Wolf into some kind of Typhoid Marty... never mind.

Head for the Mountains.

Good job the plague doesn't make men impotent, I guess. "If erection lasts longer than four books, consult ye physicker."

Mikl
Nov 8, 2009

Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!
Never trust trees. They are treacherous. Let's check it to make sure it's really dead.

anakha
Sep 16, 2009


moosecow333 posted:

I feel like this is the first time we’ve not had our traveling companion killed.

The guy's genre-savvy and peaced out at the first opportunity.

Stream.

Helios Grime
Jan 27, 2012

Where we are going we won't need shirts
Pillbug
Having soggy boots sucks this early in our adventure, go to the Trees.

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face
The tree seems inviting.

Comstar
Apr 20, 2007

Are you happy now?
Try the Tree.

Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


Mikl posted:

Never trust trees. They are treacherous. Let's check it to make sure it's really dead.
What have trees ever done to us? Actually, I think they've been quite helpful on a number of occasions. We've used them as shelter, we've slept in them, we've climbed them to get a better look. It's not like they're boats.

The Plauge Lords of Ruel posted:

Using your innate Magnakai skill of Invisibility, you take care to mask your body heat and scent lest they should stir the curiosity of any keen-nosed denizens of Ruel. Then, with caution guiding your every step, you advance through the knee-high grasses towards the fallen tree. As you approach, you focus your powers of Divination and scan the surrounding darkness for invisible or hidden enemies. Sensing no immediate threat, you continue to the forest’s edge where you are greeted by an unwholesome warmth. It rises out of a mulch of insects and fungi that are feasting upon the corpse of the tree. Silently you offer up a prayer to Ishir before venturing a step further into this inhospitable domain.

Beyond the dead tree you find a muddy track which is bordered on both sides by the tall trunks and thorny briars of the forest. So dense is this tangle of trees and brush that it is impossible to leave the track. You feel as if you are walking along an endless passage, one so unnatural that its construction could only be the result of evil herbcraft.

At length the track widens and the trees begin to thin out. Ahead you see a clearing and at once your senses tingle: it is a warning that you are not alone. Instinctively you reach for your weapon and, as your hand closes upon it, you see that the floor of the clearing is alive with a carpet of loathsome scuttling creatures. At once you attempt to use your Magnakai powers of Animal Control to determine if these creatures are hostile, but your efforts go unrewarded.

You focus your power of Animal Mastery upon the scuttling horde and try to bring them under your control. They do not respond to your commands and, at once, you sense that they are under a spell that has robbed them of all free will. You draw on your inner strength and attempt to break this spell, and the creatures cease their frenzied movement with an abruptness you find unnerving; it is as if they have suddenly turned to stone. Now that you can see them clearly they remind you of beetles, save that they are far larger and have long, rat-like tails. You observe them for a few moments longer, and then take a tentative step forwards. Instantly they burst into life, only this time they do not confine themselves to the forest floor.

With a sound like a thousand squeaky door hinges, they sprout wings and soar into the air in a formation which resembles a small black cloud. Soon they have left the clearing, and as you watch the last of them disappear over the tops of the trees, you can only hope that they are not some form of lookout employed by the Cenerese.

On the far side of the clearing you discover that the trail continues deeper into the forest. You follow it for nearly an hour until your keen senses warn of danger ahead and immediately you halt in your tracks. You hear a movement: it is above and behind you. With incredible speed you spin on your heel and raise your weapon to parry a possible attack. Your reactions are fast, but they may not be quick enough to protect you from what lurks in the canopy of branches high above.

From out of the darkness there falls a wriggling mass of thorny creepers that come snaking towards your head as if driven by a single mind.

Nimbly you dive and roll across the spongy ground to avoid the falling creepers. Your swift action saves you from the first attack, but another mass descend, moving faster than the first, and ensnare you in their thorny grasp before you can get back on your feet.

Instantly your sense of Animal Mastery tells you that what you are fighting is a living creature and not a plant! The creeper-like tendrils are part of its natural camouflage, and as it coils them around your limbs and neck in an attempt to squeeze the life from your body, you can feel its animal strength.

Forewarned, you resist this attack just long enough to raise your weapon and strike a mighty blow which tears away a great swath of the creature’s wriggling limbs. A fountain of ichor erupts from every severed end and, from somewhere above the canopy of branches, you hear an unearthly roar of pain. Once more the remaining tendrils seek you out, but this time they are no longer soft and fibrous, but stiff and studded with barbed thorns.

The swirling mass strikes out for your throat. Desperately you hack at them with devastating effect, yet one of the limbs avoids your blows and wraps itself tightly about your neck. Pain fills your head and chest as its razor-sharp thorns bite deeply into your flesh and inject a powerful acid.

Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 39

This creature is immune to all psychic attacks.
Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 39 ENDURANCE 33
Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 39
Combat Ratio: 3

We roll: 4
Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 39 ENDURANCE 31
Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 31

We roll: 10
Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 39 ENDURANCE 31
Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 15

We roll: 8
Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 39 ENDURANCE 31
Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 3

We roll: 4
Lone Wolf: COMBAT SKILL 39 ENDURANCE 29
Stragnah: COMBAT SKILL 36 ENDURANCE 0

The Plague Lords of Ruel posted:

As you sever the last of the flailing tendrils, the roaring above is replaced by a deathly silence. For a moment you remain where you stand, gasping for breath, the blood pounding in your ears. Your Kai tunic is soaked with the ichor of your unseen attacker and its rising stench is making it difficult to draw breath. Then you hear the sound of snapping branches and quickly you move aside as the body of the beast comes crashing down to earth.

With weapon poised you approach the huge shape. It resembles a bear, but covered in leaves rather than fur, and it possesses a bulbous head with four hooded orange eyes. Its bloated black and yellow striped body is a mass of severed stumps, and from the back of its neck there protrudes a clump of spines, like those of a porcupine, but these ooze a sticky black venom.

The sight and smell of this unnatural creature makes you linger no longer than necessary once your curiosity has been satisfied. Quickly you sheathe your weapon and press on towards the east.

Curing: +1 EP (30/33).

For an hour you follow the muddy track as it twists a tortuous route through the trees of this accursed realm. Baleful eyes observe your passing yet you choose to ignore them for you sense that these watchers pose no real threat to your safety. They are lowly animals that possess little intelligence and even less courage (though you fancy the latter would not be so if you were weak or wounded). The path ascends a ridge, and then drops steeply towards the floor of a mist-enshrouded valley where you happen upon something that brings you to a halt.

A moss-grown skull lies on the path ahead, its jawbone agape as if uttering a silent scream. Beyond it lie two skeletons in rotting mail, half-buried in a nest of saw-toothed briar. Then, through the mist, you see weapons, rusted and mouldering, and the grisly remains of a warhorse, its armoured rider slumped astride its ruined back. You are advancing towards the horse when you hear a sound that draws your eyes away to the east. It is a busy, squeaking noise, muffled by the dense undergrowth.



You leave the path and melt into the tangled trees. With careful steps you edge towards the noise, your senses straining to extract information from your surroundings until you become almost a part of the forest itself. Then you detect movement ahead and, from the cover of a thorny bough, you draw your weapon and wait in readiness.

A line of rat-like creatures, each as tall as a youth, is wending its way along the forest path. They are armed with crude and rusty weapons and clothed in rags that once were worn by human soldiers. Your keen sense of smell detects the vile aroma of disease which hangs heavy about these loathsome rat-men, and at once you realize that these must be the Vazhag that Rimoah spoke about. Shielded by your Magnakai skills, you watch in silence as they file past your hiding place and slowly disappear. When you are sure they have gone, you sheathe your weapon and continue your trek towards Mogaruith.

Curing: +1 EP (31/33).

Dawn breaks and the sun appears through a rent in the ominous mass of grey cloud that is swirling overhead. You stop and tilt back your head to enjoy the warmth of its life-giving rays upon your face. It is a brief respite, for within minutes the clouds close ranks and you find yourself immersed once more in the forest’s gloom.

During the night the track has led you out of the valley and up a steady rise towards a plateau where a jutting spur of slate-grey rock stands surmounted by a score of lightning-blasted trees. There, in the shadow of the rock, your eagle-eyes detect three dark pits which have been dug side by side. You cannot see what lies at the bottom of these excavations, but you can sense that they radiate a powerful aura of evil.

Curing: +1 EP (32/33).
We have the option now to use Divination to try to detect any psychic residues that may be lingering here, or we could not do that and just leave.


I find the concept of "evil herbcraft" endlessly amusing. Beware the basil of doom! Cower before the rosemary of terror!

Helios Grime
Jan 27, 2012

Where we are going we won't need shirts
Pillbug
Let's prod these holes with our divination


Tiggum posted:

I find the concept of "evil herbcraft" endlessly amusing. Beware the basil of doom! Cower before the rosemary of terror!

Dispair when I unleash my cilantro of malevolence!

Mikl
Nov 8, 2009

Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!
Let's give Divination a chance to be useful.

achtungnight
Oct 5, 2014
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
Dont use Divination. I don’t think we need to confirm that the Evil Druid Forest is Evil using our Detect Evil Power. Just a hunch it won’t matter much.

Also, boats are made from trees!

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nelson
Apr 12, 2009
College Slice

Helios Grime posted:

Let's prod these holes with our divination

Dispair when I unleash my cilantro of malevolence!

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