Fenris
Adventurer
OOC: I have no idea what you are talking about. But come on up to Fort Rannick and we can talk about it. You know, if you survive the ogres and the blizzards.
CLOSED Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords, Burnt Offerings
- Thread starter hewligan
- Start date
OOC: I have no idea what you are talking about. But come on up to Fort Rannick and we can talk about it. You know, if you survive the ogres and the blizzards.
Rhun
First Post
Danth would obviously be opposed to anyone taking the "Star-Key" (since it should be destroyed to prevent the evil from escaping) but since Jovik snuck away with it, he can't really say much.
406.5 gold, from which Danth will donate 25% to the orphanage/church, leaves him with 304.5 gold for himself to buy supplies and such. I'll update this to his character sheet, along with any gold gained from selling mundane items he no longer needs...
406.5 gold, from which Danth will donate 25% to the orphanage/church, leaves him with 304.5 gold for himself to buy supplies and such. I'll update this to his character sheet, along with any gold gained from selling mundane items he no longer needs...
hewligan
First Post
Kael's Imprisonment
Sandpoint was a prison, albeit one that he liked. It would be a good stopping off point, a good place to winter, but come the spring he knew the wanderlust would kick in.
He checked on his gifted horse. A fine creature, lacking a little in humour, and not yet altogether relaxed with Mal, but a fine example of a diligent work-beast. Now, the warhorse on the other hand was an incredible specimen. Even weakened he stood with the stature of a proud giant. Kael paid the coin for their upkeep, but still found himself visiting them each day, often talking with them absentmindedly as he worked through in his mind the latest failures or successes.
He was brewing potions. Dull but methodical work. He had found 'Bottled Solutions' right slap-bang in the middle of town. A cluttered shop filled with shelves upon shelves of bottles, bags, and other alchemical containers, some covered with dust and others so new that the pungent stink of their brewing still filled the air.
He enquired of the owner, one Nisk Tander, an old half-elven man, all stooped and thin like a water-aged twig. He fancied himself as some master alchemist. Kael humoured him. In truth, his potions seemed to be as much colourful water as actual magical remedy. But still, Kael managed to persuade the old man to let him rent his alchemical workrooms at the back of the shop for 1gp a week.
Nisk did not take particularly well to having a guest, even though the old man was as miserly with money as it came, and Kael's coin was pretty much the only coin that appeared to cross his palms in the time that he was there. No, hang on, there was once that someone bought something, a 2sp love potion sold to some middle aged man with greased back hair.
So Nisk put up with him rather than welcomed him in, always shooing Kael away from some counter or piece of equipment. But it was a well stocked alchemical workroom, and it was cheap, and Mal seemed to enjoy curling up before the never-lit fire, as if imagining what the flames may feel like if only the old man ever decided to pay for a log or two.
In addition to his time working on potion brewing, Kael also took to exploring the local area. Sometimes he would walk with Mal, other times take the horses to stretch their legs. It was beautiful, wild countryside, dotted with farmsteads.
But the real core of Kael's time was spent with the cantankerous old sage Brodert Quink. Brodert lived and studied in an ancient building right next to the Old Light ruins. He was a balding expert on Varisian history and engineering. Kael met him quite unexpectedly one night in the Hagfish. The old man was looking agitated and disappointed in equal measures, nursing a cold beer over a large an ancient looking tome.
Kael had approached, and although it took some effort (and a few rounds), finally broke old Brodert's icy exterior. The man was a treasure trove of information on ancient Varisian history. He claimed to have spent two decades of his youth studying with dwarven engineers at Janderhoff, and three decades as a cataloger at the Great Library in Magnimar. A bit of a night-bug, Kael took to meeting him in the Hagfish over dinner each night, and then returning with the old sage to his leaning, decrepit home (although quite clean and comfortably furnished inside) to talk and study together.
Kael had mentioned his interest in the seven pointed rune to Brodert, and that had been enough to spark a mad few months of research and discussions (and more than a few hangovers).
Brodert appeared continually baffled and enraged that his learning and obvious intelligence hadn't afforded him more prestige, and he appeared to welcome Kael's interest in his knowledge. He had been studying ancient Thassilonian ruins for the past several years and had recently become obsessed by the Old Light. No one believes his theories that the tower was once a war machine capable of spewing fire to a range of more than a mile, but Kael got to saw the sage's architectural reconstructions, drawings, and writings, and was less quite to dismiss the old man.
When Kael got him interested in the seven pointed rune, it was like the old man was suddenly young again. Together they would read into the night, falling into hours of silence, unaware of the time, before one of them would notice some tangential reference or related factoid and spark off an hour long discussion and another mad search for some almost-forgotten reference that it rekindled in Brodert's memory.
He even persuaded Kael to take him down to the catacombs. Infact, the moment he had heard that tale from Kael, late one night after most sane people had already gone to sleep, he was all but ready to set off there and then, break through whatever cordons existed, and delve into the catacombs. Kael had managed to convince him that midnight was not the best time to break into such an evil place.
But the next day, he would not be dissuaded.
OOC: Apologies - I have to continue this post tomorrow. Got some packing to do to get ready for a house move. Also, this post is the second last, with the following one explaining your return to Sandpoint. Part Two follows very shortly!!!
Sandpoint was a prison, albeit one that he liked. It would be a good stopping off point, a good place to winter, but come the spring he knew the wanderlust would kick in.
He checked on his gifted horse. A fine creature, lacking a little in humour, and not yet altogether relaxed with Mal, but a fine example of a diligent work-beast. Now, the warhorse on the other hand was an incredible specimen. Even weakened he stood with the stature of a proud giant. Kael paid the coin for their upkeep, but still found himself visiting them each day, often talking with them absentmindedly as he worked through in his mind the latest failures or successes.
He was brewing potions. Dull but methodical work. He had found 'Bottled Solutions' right slap-bang in the middle of town. A cluttered shop filled with shelves upon shelves of bottles, bags, and other alchemical containers, some covered with dust and others so new that the pungent stink of their brewing still filled the air.
He enquired of the owner, one Nisk Tander, an old half-elven man, all stooped and thin like a water-aged twig. He fancied himself as some master alchemist. Kael humoured him. In truth, his potions seemed to be as much colourful water as actual magical remedy. But still, Kael managed to persuade the old man to let him rent his alchemical workrooms at the back of the shop for 1gp a week.
Nisk did not take particularly well to having a guest, even though the old man was as miserly with money as it came, and Kael's coin was pretty much the only coin that appeared to cross his palms in the time that he was there. No, hang on, there was once that someone bought something, a 2sp love potion sold to some middle aged man with greased back hair.
So Nisk put up with him rather than welcomed him in, always shooing Kael away from some counter or piece of equipment. But it was a well stocked alchemical workroom, and it was cheap, and Mal seemed to enjoy curling up before the never-lit fire, as if imagining what the flames may feel like if only the old man ever decided to pay for a log or two.
In addition to his time working on potion brewing, Kael also took to exploring the local area. Sometimes he would walk with Mal, other times take the horses to stretch their legs. It was beautiful, wild countryside, dotted with farmsteads.
But the real core of Kael's time was spent with the cantankerous old sage Brodert Quink. Brodert lived and studied in an ancient building right next to the Old Light ruins. He was a balding expert on Varisian history and engineering. Kael met him quite unexpectedly one night in the Hagfish. The old man was looking agitated and disappointed in equal measures, nursing a cold beer over a large an ancient looking tome.
Kael had approached, and although it took some effort (and a few rounds), finally broke old Brodert's icy exterior. The man was a treasure trove of information on ancient Varisian history. He claimed to have spent two decades of his youth studying with dwarven engineers at Janderhoff, and three decades as a cataloger at the Great Library in Magnimar. A bit of a night-bug, Kael took to meeting him in the Hagfish over dinner each night, and then returning with the old sage to his leaning, decrepit home (although quite clean and comfortably furnished inside) to talk and study together.
Kael had mentioned his interest in the seven pointed rune to Brodert, and that had been enough to spark a mad few months of research and discussions (and more than a few hangovers).
Brodert appeared continually baffled and enraged that his learning and obvious intelligence hadn't afforded him more prestige, and he appeared to welcome Kael's interest in his knowledge. He had been studying ancient Thassilonian ruins for the past several years and had recently become obsessed by the Old Light. No one believes his theories that the tower was once a war machine capable of spewing fire to a range of more than a mile, but Kael got to saw the sage's architectural reconstructions, drawings, and writings, and was less quite to dismiss the old man.
When Kael got him interested in the seven pointed rune, it was like the old man was suddenly young again. Together they would read into the night, falling into hours of silence, unaware of the time, before one of them would notice some tangential reference or related factoid and spark off an hour long discussion and another mad search for some almost-forgotten reference that it rekindled in Brodert's memory.
He even persuaded Kael to take him down to the catacombs. Infact, the moment he had heard that tale from Kael, late one night after most sane people had already gone to sleep, he was all but ready to set off there and then, break through whatever cordons existed, and delve into the catacombs. Kael had managed to convince him that midnight was not the best time to break into such an evil place.
But the next day, he would not be dissuaded.
OOC: Apologies - I have to continue this post tomorrow. Got some packing to do to get ready for a house move. Also, this post is the second last, with the following one explaining your return to Sandpoint. Part Two follows very shortly!!!
hewligan
First Post
The guards were gone, reassigned to other tasks. The glassworks had been returned to Ameiko. She was, after all, the last remaining thread of her family. She didn't take much persuading. "You want to go down there? Archeo-what? Yeah, whatever. Here!" And she had thrown the key to the glassworks to you from the other side of the bar, one hand still pulling a pint.
And so you had descended that place again. It stank. They had removed the corpses of the men, and cleaned the glasswork room of its macabre mess, but the corridors beneath seemed to hold the stench of decay close. Blood stains reminded you of where you had felled some sinspawn or other adversary.
Your torches flickered in the thin air, casting fluttering shadows across familiar rooms. The zombie pits, the levitating circular room, the room where you felled the quasit. In this room the pool still shivers gently, as if stirred by some invisible breeze.
Brodert is amazed and horrified by all of it.
"I was right. I was right" he mumbled to himself, touching engraved walls, whispering ancient passages to himself as if reciting from some text.
"These are ancient ruins, from Old Korvosa, from another empire that dates long before our memory. These catacombs, they must once have connected with the Old Light. There is so much to research. These etchings, these over here, this rune .." He moves off, pointing at element after element like a child in a bun shop.
What you manage to get out of him is that the seven pointed star appears again and again in the ancient texts. It was one of seven runes that were used to symbolise the seven rulers of competing domains. The RuneLords. He does not know which lord, for the language is cryptic, and the source material spartan, but he appears very excited that this discovery will lead him to more information.
---
Your research continued. Brodert worked like a man reborn. His age still crippled his step, and made him stoop, but in all other mannerisms he was like a young man again.
Nisk Tander, however, was still the same grumpy old half elf, and you found your time spent in his alchemical laboratory increasingly frustrating. He watched your success at brewing potions with a power and ability beyond his own, and it seemed to make him grumpier. He took to counting pennies, asking for a copper here and there to compensate for some minute regeant used, or for oil consumed beyond what he had expected and thus not covered in the original agreement. It drove Kael crazy, but his work was almost done.
And then, as the first thaws came, Nisk was murdered.
The man was found in his laboratory, his chest cavity opened, his heart placed in his own snap-boned hand. Across his flesh runes were carved, including the unmistakable seven pointed star. His face had been carved off.
The guards met Kael as he exited the Catacombs that day. They were known to him. Kordan, a young man of mild manners and polite words, and Ansor, an experienced guard who had spent several years in the Magnimar army before retiring for an easier post up in Sandpoint.
They took him away. He was confused. Convinced at first that this was some minor issue over trespassing that could be easily dealt with. Brodert offered an amazing array of colourful swearwords, the worst of which came when it was made clear to him that he wasn't being implicated and was free to return home.
They were discrete, fortunately, and they let him walk free between them as they took him to the garrison. But still, he was surprised when they placed him in a cell. Mal, who had followed him all the way, stood outside his cell looking forlorn.
Sheriff Hemlock came to him.
He was set free. Sort of. He would be a 'guest' of the garrison, not free to leave the complex, while investigations were underway.
He protested, of course, but had no alibi. Nisk had been killed while Kael slept at the inn. The runes carved on his body had been those very runes that it was known that Kael was investigating.
Hemlock told him that Nisk had not been the first. He was the second. The first had been kept secret. Hemlock had seen the shock in Kael's face when this revelation had been offered up. The sheriff believed the young sorcerer was blameless, but he wanted Kael to remain until Danth came from Magnimar.
There was a connection here, with another case close to Danth's heart, and Hemlock clearly felt out of his depth.
The great unpleasantness, with the serial killer that preyed on Sandpoint only a few short years before, had caused much stress for the sheriff. He was short on patience, short on ideas. He started to confide his fears in Kael. He put out a call to Fort Rannick for Jokad and Jovik to return.
Kael knew that he was no longer a serious suspect, but awaited the return of his comrades. Five days of captivity, and then the third murder occurred. Identical to the others. Kael was immediately freed. Hemlock looked truly defeated.
OOC: Thanks for your kind words. Sorry about this scrappy post - took me 4 attempts to make it due to the kids (and the website downtime). Anyway, I will ponder how best to do the next adventure (meaning continue with this thread, hive a new thread, or move to a new board. Decision on Monday, with details).
And so you had descended that place again. It stank. They had removed the corpses of the men, and cleaned the glasswork room of its macabre mess, but the corridors beneath seemed to hold the stench of decay close. Blood stains reminded you of where you had felled some sinspawn or other adversary.
Your torches flickered in the thin air, casting fluttering shadows across familiar rooms. The zombie pits, the levitating circular room, the room where you felled the quasit. In this room the pool still shivers gently, as if stirred by some invisible breeze.
Brodert is amazed and horrified by all of it.
"I was right. I was right" he mumbled to himself, touching engraved walls, whispering ancient passages to himself as if reciting from some text.
"These are ancient ruins, from Old Korvosa, from another empire that dates long before our memory. These catacombs, they must once have connected with the Old Light. There is so much to research. These etchings, these over here, this rune .." He moves off, pointing at element after element like a child in a bun shop.
What you manage to get out of him is that the seven pointed star appears again and again in the ancient texts. It was one of seven runes that were used to symbolise the seven rulers of competing domains. The RuneLords. He does not know which lord, for the language is cryptic, and the source material spartan, but he appears very excited that this discovery will lead him to more information.
---
Your research continued. Brodert worked like a man reborn. His age still crippled his step, and made him stoop, but in all other mannerisms he was like a young man again.
Nisk Tander, however, was still the same grumpy old half elf, and you found your time spent in his alchemical laboratory increasingly frustrating. He watched your success at brewing potions with a power and ability beyond his own, and it seemed to make him grumpier. He took to counting pennies, asking for a copper here and there to compensate for some minute regeant used, or for oil consumed beyond what he had expected and thus not covered in the original agreement. It drove Kael crazy, but his work was almost done.
And then, as the first thaws came, Nisk was murdered.
The man was found in his laboratory, his chest cavity opened, his heart placed in his own snap-boned hand. Across his flesh runes were carved, including the unmistakable seven pointed star. His face had been carved off.
The guards met Kael as he exited the Catacombs that day. They were known to him. Kordan, a young man of mild manners and polite words, and Ansor, an experienced guard who had spent several years in the Magnimar army before retiring for an easier post up in Sandpoint.
They took him away. He was confused. Convinced at first that this was some minor issue over trespassing that could be easily dealt with. Brodert offered an amazing array of colourful swearwords, the worst of which came when it was made clear to him that he wasn't being implicated and was free to return home.
They were discrete, fortunately, and they let him walk free between them as they took him to the garrison. But still, he was surprised when they placed him in a cell. Mal, who had followed him all the way, stood outside his cell looking forlorn.
Sheriff Hemlock came to him.
He was set free. Sort of. He would be a 'guest' of the garrison, not free to leave the complex, while investigations were underway.
He protested, of course, but had no alibi. Nisk had been killed while Kael slept at the inn. The runes carved on his body had been those very runes that it was known that Kael was investigating.
Hemlock told him that Nisk had not been the first. He was the second. The first had been kept secret. Hemlock had seen the shock in Kael's face when this revelation had been offered up. The sheriff believed the young sorcerer was blameless, but he wanted Kael to remain until Danth came from Magnimar.
There was a connection here, with another case close to Danth's heart, and Hemlock clearly felt out of his depth.
The great unpleasantness, with the serial killer that preyed on Sandpoint only a few short years before, had caused much stress for the sheriff. He was short on patience, short on ideas. He started to confide his fears in Kael. He put out a call to Fort Rannick for Jokad and Jovik to return.
Kael knew that he was no longer a serious suspect, but awaited the return of his comrades. Five days of captivity, and then the third murder occurred. Identical to the others. Kael was immediately freed. Hemlock looked truly defeated.
OOC: Thanks for your kind words. Sorry about this scrappy post - took me 4 attempts to make it due to the kids (and the website downtime). Anyway, I will ponder how best to do the next adventure (meaning continue with this thread, hive a new thread, or move to a new board. Decision on Monday, with details).
Last edited:
Fenris
Adventurer
OOC
I'll second that motion, whole heartedly. The informative posts, graphics, the game play, has all been awesome and looks to continue to be so.
Thanks!
OOC:And thirded. What's more Heligan seems to have as deep an insight into our characters as we do.
hewligan
First Post
The End
And so ends Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords, Burnt Offerings.
Part two, The Skinsaw Murders, continues here: Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders.
Congratulations to the players for sticking with it, and congratulations to the characters for surviving the start of the adventure path. Be warned thought ... that was nothing, the real test comes next!
And so ends Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords, Burnt Offerings.
Part two, The Skinsaw Murders, continues here: Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders.
Congratulations to the players for sticking with it, and congratulations to the characters for surviving the start of the adventure path. Be warned thought ... that was nothing, the real test comes next!
rangerjohn
Explorer
Subscribing
What the title says.
What the title says.
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