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doesn't Anetta have a plain +1 magic dagger? that's no loss if we transfer the enchantment to it. I have to admit I feel reluctant to lose the value of Taldrel's current spear. Clanpot, can you hold off on using it until we get back to town? We can tuck the speak into someone's bag of holding and transfer it onto a nonmagical spear when we get back to town, thus keeping 1800gp of residuum
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Nov 23, 2009 00:24
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 14:20 |
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Yeah, I got a plain +1. It'd be nice to keep the residuum, but the +2 damage and Cunning goodness are too nice to pass up on for a handful of residuum.
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Nov 23, 2009 05:36
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I'm fine waiting, no biggie.
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Nov 23, 2009 14:42
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Wisely tasking her little twig-friends to set up a campsite just as they did the evening before, Badger begins to carefully to disentangle the enchantment laid on the late angel's dagger, channelling it through herself and into Annetta's knife. It is a delicate task certainly, but one unlikely to go wrong: for all its wondrous and sometimes perilous properties, the magic involved is fairly non-volatile, having after all been made to reside safely in the object chosen by whoever wrought the enchantment, and as such is quite safe to handle by anyone who knows what she is doing. This the druid does, of course; sitting cross-legged, one hand on the oversized weapon of the angel, the other on the sorceress' dagger, she can feel the residuum dust tingle beneath her palms as it slowly disintegrates, having painted it on the hilts of the knives to facilitate, indeed to enable the flow of magic from one object to the other. It is a peculiar feeling to act as a conduit for magic in such a fashion, and has little to do with the 'tingling' one generally feels when handling enchanted objects: it is strange, even alien in nature, for unlike the magic harnessed by wizards, sorcerers and other arcanists – and, in their own way, by druids, shamans and many protectors of the wilds –, this particular type is utterly impersonal, intended to imbue lifeless objects with power rather than be handled directly by the living; it feels a little like...not being, in a strange way, an experience oddly outside the concepts of life and death that usually shape the druid's perspective so. After one hour has passed it is done: formerly bearing only the most minor of enchantments, Annetta's dagger now subtly pulsates with an underhanded, sly sort of magic, whereas the angelic weapon is nothing more than an unwieldy, if beautifully crafted cross between oversized dagger and undersized sword, neither fish nor fowl as it were – but it certainly would look rather fetching on someone's chimney-piece, at least. In the meantime, Annetta has reduced the suit of scale armour to a much more practical size, an even less involving effort that is carried out, by the standards of the arcane at any rate, on an almost physical level, and requires little more than some basic knowledge of the workings of enchanted items. The sorceress need not even deplete her store of residuum any to accomplish this particular task; as one can stimulate certain pressure points on the body of living beings to achieve various ends, so does she only have to inject minute amounts of magic into a number of particular areas on the armour to resize it, thus carefully coaxing the arcane energies suffusing its wondrous metal into reshaping the physical matter the way she wants it – a simple task, but rather time-consuming, for the change so effected is slow in the coming. Annetta and Badger have one thing in common, though, when they've finished: they are both ravenously hungry. Luckily, their campsite has long since been set up, and another scrumptious, still-hot meal, courtesy of the elf's tiny servants, is waiting for them – assuming, of course, that their companions haven't made short work of it all by now! Badger expends a total of 40 gp worth of residuum, and gets a 31 on her Create Campsite roll. The suit of Agile +3 scale armour now is medium-sized, and the enchantment on Annetta's magic +1 dagger has been replaced by Cunning +3. The one hour figure is based on the assumption that Annetta handles the armour resizing via Enchant Magic Item, which has no component cost for this particular use anyway.
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Nov 24, 2009 03:17
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Annetta Famished over the arcane work, Annetta thanks Badger with a mumbled thanks for both the food and turning the magic from the unwieldy blade to something a little more manageable before promptly stuffing her face with food. It was surprisingly good eats, and her travels have given the sorceress a strong appreciation for taking advantage of the simple pleasures: Good food, a warm bed. Once she'd sated her hunger, she stands and dusts herself off, looking around as she weighs the dagger for balance a moment before drawing up the strange, raw energies she had come to so favor, the blade glowing a faintly, but distinctly, purple before she lets go of her hold on the arcane, the magic discharging with a faint crackle into the earth. "So then, to the keep? Or, original plan?" Sheet updated with loots.
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Nov 24, 2009 05:32
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Alagand At the wild mage's words, Alagand stands up and dusts off his leggings. "Yep," he agrees, "let's get movin.'" to the keep!
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Nov 24, 2009 19:22
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Taldrel Darlhunt Taldrel spends the hour with his eye on the road. After the magic is completed, Taldrel echos their plan to continue toward the keep.
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Nov 24, 2009 19:56
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Badger Smiling to Annetta, Badger also digs into the food. After eating three of the vegetable wraps, the pale elf emits a deep rumbling belch that surprises even her. "Ah, heh. Yes, let us move on." As she stands, she asks her tiny friends to disassemble the campsite early and return to their home in her belt pouch. Down to 1519 in ritual components
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Nov 26, 2009 09:53
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After only a minute or two, no trace whatsoever is left of your campsite. The twig-men, servants the likes of which no noble estate can boast of, bow to the druid and climb readily back into her belt pouch; and having settled your affairs, you mount your horses and prepare to leave, embarking on the last stage of your journey to the keep. It is a trip that shows the season at its worst: not one of the last, beautiful days before the onset of winter, with golden light on brilliantly coloured leaves and the waning warmth of a distant sun on upturned faces, but rather a forlorn journey through a bleak countryside, across which blows a cold, bitter wind, like an outstretched finger of the hand of frost reaching for the world, a harbinger of things soon to come; and even the knowledge that eventually spring will dawn again seems little comfort right now. As you ride, you spy tracks, here and there, that were by all accounts made by someone who was travelling in the same direction as you are now. They are rare and hard to read in these barren lands, being one day old at least, but they seem to belong to a mounted group similar in size to yours; and as the hours pass and morning gives way to noon, still you spot them from time to time as though they were accompanying you on your route, a route that will end at a harsh, jagged silhouette against the southern sky, sitting solemnly on a tall hill: Stonegaard Keep. Could Nimlach and Soonmot please finalise the details of their leather armour proficiency/Primal Power retrain(s) soon (if there are any, in the latter case)? I would like to have these sorted out before things get back into full swing again.
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Nov 28, 2009 01:52
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Alagand Alagand slows his mount to take a long drink from his waterskin and wipe the dust from his face. Trotting to catch back up to the party, he breaks the long silence. "So. Ardranoth - that's who we're thinkin' is gonna be in there?" He shakes his head in amazement, "with things the way they're goin', it's probably the genuine article, too. This ain't gonna be no kinda picnic. Anybody got a plan?" settled on Sneaky Accuracy, a rogue feat from Ready to fight some undead!
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Nov 30, 2009 18:29
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Landra "I don't think we know enough to make a plan," replies the eladrin, seeming to grouse even with her new armour making her steps lighter. "I never served here, I don't remember the castle's layout, or where Ardranoth could be hiding. We might hope to find that poor fellow in Farling's friends, if any survive - they might have an idea what we are dealing with here. Besides more wraiths, which are", and here she grimaces, "a given." Switching to the Agile armor, editing sheets and statblocks to say as much.
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Nov 30, 2009 22:10
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Badger "All I know," the elf says, gathering her ritual supplies, "is that I feel a great, overpowering evil from that fort. Whatever we do, caution should be the watchword."
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Nov 30, 2009 22:12
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Alagand "Ok," Alagand answers, his lips twisting in an ironic smile, "no plan then." He is silent for a moment before he continues. "When I gotta enter a... area... that I ain't cased properly, I figure like I'm scoutin' the whole time I'm in there. If I run into trouble, I take 'em out quiet as I can, an' then back off, so's they think I been... discouraged. If they wanna send someone out t'find me, that's great - then they ain't on their own turf when I fight 'em. Will somethin' like that work with a bigger group like we got here?"
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Dec 1, 2009 00:02
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Taldrel Darlhunt Taldrel keeps his eyes on the road as they march, both ahead and behind them. He didn't want to be taken by surprise yet again, and though the road they were on was not the busiest of roads, they were clearly following somebody who had passed not long before them. Constant vigilance. "As much as I like the idea of kicking in the front door and from there winging it," Taldrel says dryly, "I'm thinking it didn't work out so well for the Farling adventurers. The keep has been in disuse for a good number of years. Nature could have opened new doors in that time, and I think it would be a good idea to survey the keep before making our approach." Then, nodding to Badger, "And I think it would be a good idea to remain unnoticed while we did so."
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Dec 1, 2009 03:41
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Annetta "If it is him, then we may very well be well over our heads in this. However, if it's just some idiot playing at being a big shot by taking up old ghost stories, it's probably doable. That said, I lean towards the second, though obviously caution is advisable. Heroics are all fine and good for tales, but frankly, when you are living them, it's just a recipe for a short, pain filled existence."
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Dec 1, 2009 05:52
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how close are we now? Is the idea to camp for the night and check the place out in the morning? Or are we close enough now to start scouting?
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Dec 1, 2009 08:01
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You're about three quarters of the way there, and you will probably reach the keep by evening if you keep going.
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Dec 1, 2009 22:25
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Alagand "Sounds good," Alagand nods to Taldrel, somewhat relieved by the prospect of a plan that postponed their entrance to the forbidding keep. "Though 'unnoticed' don't seem to likely," he adds ruefully. "Still, they gotta come out to stop us pokin' around, and we got daylight on our side." He eyes the jagged spires nervously. "How close're we gonna camp?"
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Dec 2, 2009 05:48
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Taldrel Darlhunt "Normally I would suggest approaching during the night or early morning, but I'm accustomed to dealing with drunkards and louts. If what we're facing is someone using the name 'Ardranoth' for the power that comes with it, that may be the best plan. If what we're facing is the man himself... well, I can't really comment on the habits of the undead or immortal."
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Dec 3, 2009 04:58
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Annetta "They tend to not sleep, being undead and all. I think however perhaps a daytime sojourn might be the best idea. If it's but a man taking a name of ill-omen, then he needs to sleep sometime, and the sort who'd take up that name would, in my guess anyways, be more nocturnal. Necromancy is not exactly a daytime activity. If nothing else, it's harder to steal bodies in broad daylight."
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Dec 3, 2009 06:10
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Badger The druid grunts knowingly at that last bit. "From what I feel emanating from that fortress, I do not think we face haunt stories. I think we will come face to face with the reality of those stories."
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Dec 3, 2009 14:51
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Your horses snort uneasily as the discussion continues. Perhaps, as beasts are wont to, they harbour their own misgivings about what awaits at the keep, so to speak, sensing the dread somehow emanating from it almost as clearly as Badger does, but they've no say in the matter of course – wherever you go, so do they; but said wherever remains yet to be decided, it appears, and uncertainty lingers. So what's the plan? Are you continuing onward and resting at some point before reaching the keep so you can approach it during daytime, or will you be doing something different?
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Dec 4, 2009 23:15
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Landra "For my part," she says with a shrug and a pensive tone, "I doubt things will be any easier by day. Abandoned castles, ruined by war, haunted by tragedy...they have a darkness to them that owes nothing to the sun, but has its ghosts all the same. But if we'll all feel better walking past those doors at sunrise, then let's walk past them at sunrise. We can use what's left of the light to scout the outside for other entrances or the like, then make camp and launch our raid in earnest in the morning."
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Dec 5, 2009 00:20
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Taldrel Darlhunt "Sounds like a plan."
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Dec 5, 2009 00:58
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Alagand "No...no," Alagand shakes his head, "I don't wanna be within spittin' distance at night. Won't hurt us none to be careful - let's just make camp an hour out. Maybe it don't matter inside whether the sun's out, but we're talkin' undead here - most'v 'em don't like the sun. Let's not throw that protection away."
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Dec 5, 2009 21:59
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Landra She frowned briefly at Alagand's demurral, and turns towards him all ready to argue her case - surely they were already in danger as close as they were? - and then, unexpectedly, she says nothing, and looks at him again. He was the one that Ardranoth's servants had drained before - it was a wonder and a surprise that he was not one of their number now. Perhaps he had a point. Forcing back the nagging voice suggesting that she's merely rationalising an unnecessary and unwise charity, she nods at the avenger. "Very well, we can make our camp an hour out, and do our scouting tomorrow too. I don't know if it'll make any difference, but you may have a point."
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Dec 5, 2009 22:40
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Opting for prudence, you do not venture too close to the keep this day, instead choosing to make camp when it is still an hour's ride away. By that time, daylight is gone and the sloping, barren lands around you lie dark and silent, with Stonegaard Keep only dimly to be guessed in the distance, a still blacker shape in the moonless night. Badger is very much not the only one to feel a sense of gnawing unease at the keep's proximity any more, and the knowledge that even a dark-sighted thing, standing on the battlements of the castle, could scarce hope to spy you at this distance is little relief; indeed it is by any means a place one ought to hasten away from, not draw closer to – or so your more or less repressed common sense, the one that deems adventuring and the attempting of grand heroic deeds to be naught but fatal folly, would have you believe. The hours of night, at least, pass without incident, though it would be a stretch to claim that anyone sleeps particularly soundly or is terribly well-rested when at last some semblance of dawn begins to brighten the sky. Come morning, you find the world swathed in fog, thick banks gathered low above the ground like silver pools while wretched, leafless trees stand half-obscured, skeletal branches clawing at walls of fog; but several miles away, Stonegaard Keep towers over the mist-shrouded lands, a jagged island rising from a sea of pale clouds. The sky, though thoroughly overcast, is oddly light, and the air is cold but clear, a faint breeze depositing tiny drops of moisture on clothing and armour alike; and not a single sound is to be heard in all the wide lands around you. It feels almost like being lost in the mists of time, with your companions – and the Keep – the only tangible things remaining in an empty, withered world.
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Dec 7, 2009 18:51
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Annetta Rising early, Annetta turns to face the direction of the keep and it's ominous presence. Eventually after a while when her companions wake, she turns to face them, a rather amused smile crossing her lips. "So, hey, a big old haunted ruin. And here we are, like crazy people, about to go back in."
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Dec 7, 2009 19:47
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Taldrel Darlhunt Taldrel rose and began packing his belongings. The fog provided for some interesting scenery which he didn't appreciate. The fog, to Taldrel, was a hindrance - limiting sight and sound and making the group a much easier target to ambush. He very much disliked the idea of approaching an enemy's stronghold half blind. Still, they had a job to do, and the earlier they got started the earlier they would finish. "Come on, let's go. I want to scout the keep's entrances and exits, as well as signs of traffic, before mid-day. We should keep quiet as well, no telling what's out there in the thick mist, and I don't want to be surprised again."
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Dec 7, 2009 21:12
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Alagand "Ha!" Alagand shakes his head ruefully as he collects his gear. "So much fer daylight. Well, we better get on with this. We still gonna try to search the grounds?"
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Dec 8, 2009 03:57
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Annetta Shrugging, the Sorceress gathered up her belongings, stowing everything but her knives in the magical sack before tucking that away. "Might as well give it a half hearted look at least. Never know, maybe we'll find a note explaining everything so very conveniently, missing widget from creation, pop it back into place and come back the mighty, triumphant heroes!" Cackling with delight, Annetta shook her head grinning. Despite the foreboding atmosphere, she felt absolutely great for some reason. Whats my pick of Wild Soul?
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Dec 8, 2009 05:29
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Sorry, I honestly forgot to roll! You get to pick between acid and necrotic.
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Dec 8, 2009 05:34
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Welp, place full of ominous Evil of Evil... I think I'll take Ac- Necrotic.
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Dec 8, 2009 10:58
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Badger "It is almost as if the world holds its breath, waiting for the battle to come," Badger says, staring at the outline of the keep. "When we get closer, I could try and speak with the trees or any animals we find in the hopes of finding out what we face."
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Dec 8, 2009 15:42
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Taldrel Darlhunt "I have faith the trees are still there, but do you hear anything that sounds like an animal?" He mounts his horse, then turns to watch the others pack their things.
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Dec 10, 2009 05:17
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Badger "No, nor do I expect to find any, but trees tend to have a limited perspective on both their surroundings and the concept of time."
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Dec 10, 2009 11:19
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Alagand Alagand nods to Badger. Then, unsure if she can see the gesture through the fog, he adds, "We'll take what we can get - how's your residuum stash holdin' up?"
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Dec 10, 2009 20:07
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Badger "So long as I do not have to bring more than three of you back from across the veil of death, I will be fine."
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Dec 10, 2009 20:37
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Landra "Well played, you utter bastard. But we can do this, daylight or none." Her comment seems addressed to nobody in particular, but she couldn't help but glance up into the sky as the party awoke on another dreary day, and made for their breakfast and their mounts. "If you even need to bring back three, we're far from fine. But with luck and skill it won't even get that far."
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Dec 10, 2009 21:02
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 14:20 |
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Setting off into the mists, it indeed takes you about one hour to reach the hill-enthroned fortress. As you ride, the fog clears up somewhat, and up close you get your first good look at Stonegaard Keep, or at least at the tall walls squarely encircling it. While it does not look all that different from most other castles found around Noremien, its heritage still shows: even in its current, derelict state, some worn remainders of ornamentation and elegance remain visible on its outwalls, a subtle but effective difference compared to the rather utilitarian design and construction of man-built castles; this is, after all, eladrin architecture, and as such exhibits no particular bias towards either form or function, uniting both in a fashion rarely seen among other races' craftsmanship, save perhaps for that of the dwarves. It is only a pale reflection of past grandeur and glory now, however, having been reduced to mere ruins by means both magical and mundane as the Great War and a century of disrepair alike took their toll. Many a rent and gaping hole can be spied in its walls, and the towers that once guarded them are no more, only ruined foundations now rising jaggedly from the ramparts. Most of the castle's southern wall seems in fact to have collapsed entirely, laying its mighty gates to waste; what state the keep itself and its inner yard are in, though, remains unclear without venturing inside for a closer look. What can be seen through the cracks and gaps in the outworks suggests that it might be in similarly poor condition, but from your vantage point near the foot of the great hill it is difficult to tell for sure. Another hour passes carefully circumnavigating the hill on which Stonegaard Keep sits as you search for any alternate means of entry into the castle. There are none as such to be found, or maybe they are too cunningly hidden even for the party's sharp eyes; the sole way into the castle, it seems, is through its gates, as it were – with almost the entire southern wall destroyed, the only real obstacles are the piles of rubble you'd have to climb. At this point you cannot say whether Stonegaard Keep is protected in other ways; certainly no guards or anything of the like can be seen, nor indeed anything that would suggest the castle is anything but a long abandoned ruin, for all that is worth. Your only potentially interesting find is a solitary cave in the northeastern side of the stony hill, which might not be in itself remarkable were it not for the fact that the ground just outside its entrance has been badly trampled and is stained fairly abundantly with what looks like dried blood. How deep the cave leads into the hillside is impossible to say without further exploration; within, beyond a stretch of rocky floor illuminated by what little daylight there is, lies only darkness. In terms of tracks and other signs of traffic, it appears that the small group of riders whose hoofprints you encountered earlier also arrived at the cave at some point, having likewise circled the hill once; and leading away from the broad patch of trampled ground – from which, a cursory glance suggests, something or someone might have been dragged into the cave – are footprints, belonging to perhaps five or six individuals. They seem to have again circled most of the hill to finally ascend the zig-zagging path that leads, past ruined, stony works of defence, up to the gates of the castle, or what is left of them now. No other tracks leading towards or away from the fortress are found.
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Dec 12, 2009 04:44
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