Wildwood RiTaC III Gannu Mines

Voadam · Jan 25, 2008

Wildwood Red in Tooth and Claw

Chapter III Gannu Mines

RG
Info
OOC
Old IC II
Old IC I

The Oath of the Hunt

With vines and saplings we bind thee,
In forests of green shall you be.

A ring of trees to be your cage
Forever your wanton heart shall rage.
Where cruel instinct and blood lust roam
In this realm you’ll make your home.

To chase, to hunt and then to kill
All for glory and the thrill
One the predator; the other prey
Nary the hunter rues the day.

Where life and death forever duel
Only the fittest here shall rule.

Dover poem as recited by Alagor the Scholar King.

Voadam · Jan 25, 2008

In the few hours of darkness when neither of the Forge's two suns bathe the world with illumination, a new celestial object is visible against the starry background. Few notice at first, but those who do note that it shines with an odd green light. They also notice that with each passing night it grows larger and brighter as seen in the brief hours of the night's clear view.

Voadam · Jan 25, 2008

Three newcomers to the lands of Wildwood, seeds as they are called on the world of the Forge, followed a raven through the primeval forest.

Gravan, a short, plain, unassuming young man dressed in a simple monk's garb. Initiated as a druid and sworn to the causes of Emmantiensien the treant sage of the fey Court. He had long been been a druid of the green path learning the lore of (and from) forest plants. When he arrived on Wildwood in the realm of the treant Tuor Felagund he found a mentor in guardianship of the woods.

Rooth, a tanned woman used to living a life in the wilds. She came from a tribe of shifters, the lycanthrope touched. When she attained adulthood and left her tribe to explore the nearby cities and lands she expected to return every three years to share what she learned, but then the ravens descended and brought her from her world to Wildwood. She respected the treant's role as caretaker of the forest and serves to aid him where she can.

Syfer, one of the tiger men chiao with a scar across his feline visaged face. He bore the full orange and black striped fur upon his humanoid frame proudly. A disciple of the military upbringing of his people he is comfortable with jungle warfare. Chafing at the restrictions of his clan he traveled to a city outside the jungle where he gained his scar and fled back to the woods after committing murder in response. He dreamed of ravens and awoke that night in Felagund's realm.

The treant made them welcome so long as they respected his law of the woods harming not the forest with blade or fire. He taught them of the land and its harsh laws of predator and prey, the abundant life of Wildwood enhanced by the power of the Forge. He taught them the language of the dover, the nearest territory populated with a sentient race and the native tongue of one of his fellow druids.

One day Tuor Felagund summoned the three and told them of a great need, a fellow druid had swift need of champions, champions willing to keep the secrets of the druids. The three agreed and followed this druid's message bearer, a raven that led the way through the forest. It had borne a crescent amulet that would be needed to enter the druid's secret realm.

Voadam · Jan 28, 2008

The raven led through the Wildwood forests leading the three deeper and deeper, long past the treant's territory borders. It would fly forward, alight upon a tree branch and wait for the trio to catch up before taking flight again to the edge of sight.

Eventually they reached a stream and the one bearing the amulet could see a second world across the stream that the others could not view. Knowing this to be the barrier of the secret realm the three linked arms and the raven alighted upon the shoulder of the lead druid agent. He walked out upon stepping stones and crossed into the misty realm of a bamboo forest on the other side that had not been there moments before.

The raven took flight again and shot out of sight, and they could here answering caws from other ravens before they spotted it again. It lead them on through dense reed tree jungle growth, slow going as it was, and ignored paths that led off invitingly in other directions.

Voadam · Jan 28, 2008

Some time later there is a rustling among the bamboo trees ahead of the trio as if a great wind were stirring the trees to bend back and forth. The gale seems to be approaching though the sky does not change. The bamboo trees around the trio bend and then actually part to the side revealing a broad easy to traverse path in the direction the trio were heading.

The raven immediately takes off down the path.

Pyrex · Jan 30, 2008

Voadam said:
The druid smiles and lifts his arm with the staff. The raven takes off.

"One of my fellow druids has answered my call and sent champions to help. They will be here shortly."

"I assume you will begin the ritual when they arrive?"

Drowned Hero · Jan 30, 2008

Rooth Shifter Ranger

Voadam said:
The raven immediately takes off down the path.

Rooth snifs the air glances at the others and walks down the newdiscovered path. 'Well seems we are at the end of a path and at the beggining of another' she passes her fingers trough her hair and walks on senses sharpened.

Listen and spot (1d20+4=9, 1d20+7=22)

Voadam · Jan 31, 2008

To Rooth's shapened senses the very air of this reed tree forest is different from that of the Wildwood they came through. The buzz of insects has new tones here, the sound of the breeze rustling through the bamboo, the tone of the sunlight dappling through the leaves. She spies the occasional small six legged lizard among the branches of the trees, creatures previously unfamiliar to her. Only the cawing of the ravens and the breathing of her comrades is exactly the same as they were from the Wildwood.

Eventually the trio comes to an opening in the forest and hears the cries of numerous birds. Four beings stand out in the clearing.

The first is a being that looks like vines woven into the rough semblance of a man bearing a vine woven staff. The second is a man in leather armor while the third a woman with blue glowing runes emanating from just under her skin. The last is a towering muddy and dented metal construct of a humanoid shaped being holding an uprooted tree. It turns its visored visage towards the trio.

The newcomers spy burned out areas in the clearing with savaged animal corpses. A quartet of odd deer with straight backed sharp antler horns lie in a burn radius, their fur scorched and it looks like large predators have been at their meat. Some of the deer seem to sport elongated sabre teeth. Another set of larger six legged lizards lie nearby, similarly burned and savaged. Crows and vultures circle overhead and are making feast on the remains when they settle down from the sky. A few rats are making meals as well.

Behind the four lie the remains of a large structure. It is partially collapsed, and the large wooden living plant doors hang awkwardly open. Near the entrance lie a half dozen bodies of dead beasts, as well as two bodies of goblins dressed in black and red leather armor. The bodies of animals and goblins alike show numerous small cuts and scratches. Outside of the structure five large standing stones can be seen forming a ring pattern. Runes are visible on the surfaces of the two boulders on this side of the structure, though they are obscured by growths of vines that cover them.

The raven the trio had been following, larger than the resident crows, flies over to land on the vine being's shoulder.

He lifts his staff and says "Hail and welcome, I am the Bloodthorne Guardian. I see you are here on behalf of Tuor Felagund. Thank you for answering my call. My grove has been violated by goblin raiders and they have made off with a dangerous prize. I will have need of champions to join in the quest to recover the Eye of Night. I bid you welcome to my grove."

Brazeku · Jan 31, 2008

Gravan seems completely oblivious to the guardian's welcome as he rushes into the clearing."Oh no," He glances downward, then back towards the carnage scattered across the ground, and paces about nervously. "What went on here? Looks like somebody made a lot of mulch. And with fire, no less!" He peers back and forth, gingerly trotting towards the collapsed plant structure, before laying a hand on it.
"And what happened to you? Oh dear. This will simply not do." Gravan squats down, pensive, before his head suddenly darts back as he realizes there are people in the grove.
"AH!"
...
"Uh, hello. I didn't see you. Wait, I did! I did! I don't mean you aren't noticable. I noticed! I was just distracted, you see. But... uh, how long have you been here?" Gravan smiles awkwardly and gives a stiff bow.

Voadam · Feb 1, 2008

The druid answers him "Welcome Gravan apprentice of Tuor, disciple and caretaker of the Green." He turns to the woman "Welcome Rooth Farwanderer, the eyes of Tuor." He turns to the tiger man chiao "Welcome Syfer, the claws of Tuor, strength of the forest shadows."

"You have answered my call for assistance, the need is great. My grove has been invaded, its wards pierced, and the relic from beyond the stars that I have secretly guarded in this eternal garden realm, the Eye of Night, was reaved from its immortal vault. Goblins, wargs, and rats raided, led by a potent master they called Bone Shanks. He wielded potent fire magics, carved his way straight to the relic, and tore down my magics before burning me to a husk to gain the charge I safeguarded. The Eye of Night can tap into the power of dark realms beyond the stars unleashing various fell forces depending upon the current celestial alignments. I underwent the ritual of evergreen transformation ages ago to be bound eternally in this realm as its master so I could safeguard it here. Bone Shanks' fires could not stop my regrowing and so he used the Eye of Night to empower the goblin wererat Bloodwhisker Gannu with fell powers from dark planes to guard over my body. These three," he gestures at the woman, man, and construct "Inamar, Weylan, and Ennar Forzion, arrived to offer aid and overcame Gannu to free me. They have agreed to quest to reclaim the Eye of Night, to learn more of Bone Shanks and his minions on my behalf. The evergreen ritual has given me life unending in this fey realm but I am bound to it and cannot pursue Bone Shanks and his followers into the vastness of Wildwood to reclaim the stolen prize."

He holds up his viny staff "Inamar has agreed to become my champion and bond to my staff to use its powers to recover the Eye of Night. We will perform a ritual to transfer it to her and bond its magic to her own. The ritual will be empowered by participants who likewise swear to the quest and the secrets of the Grove. Those who participate will be bound by Geasa to their oaths but will be more empowered by magics cast through the staff. Even the living will of Ennar will be part of the ritual though his memories of the realm and the Eye here will be made manifest and kept safe here. We will begin the ritual soon. It requires willing participants, will you three join in the ritual? Will you answer the call of the quest?"