KidCthulhu's Scarred Land story hour

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Domestic Troubles (run of 03-23-04)

Our intrepid band of adventurers takes a mere two days to arrive back in Vesh resisting the temptation to stop in again to see Kira’s aunt and her fine artwork.

Marja is thrilled to be back in the city, bustling with morning activity. Kalina always finds the tall buildings and unnatural smells disturbing. She and Fang plan to head for the park down by the river as soon as they’ve reported in.

The band strolls leisurely through the market until they hear screaming. They turn a corner into a small alley beside the delivery door to a dry goods shop. A smallish man, wearing a leather apron with his sleeves rolled up to reveal thin, but muscular arms, has his wife backed against the wall. She is trembling as he shouts every obscenity at her. Her lip is bleeding.

He raises his hand to strike her, but Borin steps in and grabs it. Lucre wraps his arms around the man’s legs, holding him fast. “Let me go, you morons. I can discipline my woman. She’s driving me crazy.” Borin hits him across the mouth and knocks him out. Borin and Lucre stare at Borin’s clenched fist. “How do you do that?” Lucre asks. The two drag the man off to the stocks. Terri pops the lock, and they take it upon themselves to insert the man there. Marja has a quiet conversation with the wife who follows after her husband crying for his release. After a few minutes, Marja reports that in her opinion this woman has never been abused before. She seems shocked by her husband’s behavior. He suddenly went crazy.

Lucre concentrates and reports that the man has a faint glow, perhaps the glow of psionic enchantment. Kalina dispels the magic and Caerwyn places healing hands upon him. He wakes up and looks at his wife with her swollen lip. “What have I done?” he cries. “Oh, I’m a terrible person,” and he begins to babble on about how dreadful his behavior has been. “Wait,” Lucre pleads. “I need to know what happened to you this morning.”

“Oh, I’m lower than low. I deserve to spend the rest of my wretched life in these stocks. Oh, what have I done?” He babbles on again. Lucre and Borin step in to try to calm him down. “Who are you?” he asks. “I’m the guy who hit you,” Borin responds honestly. “And I’m the guy who helped,” Lucre adds. “Now tell us what happened this morning.”

“A wife-beater!” the man opines. “That’s the lowest of the low. I don’t deserve to live!”
“I’ll hit you again,” offers Borin. To this the man startles and stops. “We were unloading our new shipment. The regular guy delivered. I’ve know him for years. There was a crowd of people, but there always is in the morning. I didn’t see anything weird.”

Marja scans the crowd. “I see something!” she shouts and takes off. Kalina sees what she spotted, a young man with a psionic glow. She casts fairy fire and summons an air elemental to give chase. Kira starts to sing at the top of her lungs. Caerwyn mounts his horse and takes off after the glowing pink man as Marja casts fly on herself, Borin and Lucre. All this activity and the presence of an air elemental cause a panic in the crowd.

Kel shrugs his shoulders as his friends take off. His armor won’t let him join in the chase. He strolls over to a farm stand and buys a mellon which he slices open and begins to eat.

Kira runs into a china shop and meets two wide-eyed teenagers. “Are you here about the pink guy because he went that way?” They point out the back. Kira touches her cohort tattoo and concentrates. The party all feel a twinge and get a sense of direction. They perform a house to house search, but he’s gone.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Why does it have to be snakes? (run of 04-06-04)

Marja dreams that night of fighting. She turns to her right and fights off winged demons with a ferocious claw and bite. She turns to her left and is attacked, but the demons’ thrusts bounce off of her skin. She turns from right to left again and again, and as she does her appearance changes. To the right her hair streaks with copper, her incisors elongate and her nails sharpen and harden. To the left she returns to normal…in her dream.

*****************************
Our adventurers get some much needed sleep although Marja complains of restlessness and doesn’t want to talk much over breakfast. As they share a rather large repast prepared lovingly by Thomas, their hafling cook, who is just so gosh darn excited to have them back, and in one piece, they all feel a burning sensation in their tattoos. Beltray is calling. They hurry over.

“Sorry for the abrupt notice,” Beltray apologizes. “I’m a little short staffed.”
“Is that a dward joke?” Lucre wants to know.

Beltray pays no attention. He’s serious this morning. “A hoard of Titan spawn on the edge of town,” he answers. “A squadron of guards will be assigned to you.”

Kira looks excited. “You mean we’ll be in charge of them?” she asks.

Lucre points to Caerwyn. “Who says he’s in charge of them, raise your hand.”

All hands, but Kira’s rise. Caerwyn turns around from perusing the bookshelf. “What?”

No time is wasted. They head out toward the Hornswythe River.

They approach base camp and are taken to a young Arian man with a tabard across his chest. He salutes which makes several of the group chuckle.

“Lt. Marcus Trenton, 3rd army, 47th unit – The Stompers, at your service.” He’s bright and energetic and clearly competent. He shakes each hand as he is introduced and doesn’t seem perturbed by the groups eclectic mix or odd appearance. He blushes each time he looks at one of the women. More chuckles, but then the group get quickly down to business at he gives them the details.

The Hornswythe River area is being raided by snakes. He’s unclear of the numbers which makes them nervous, too many to count. It’s clear that something intelligent is directing them. Trenton takes them out to see the squad. They are standing in formation under a billowing flag with the symbol of a boot stomping on a snake. “How appropriate,” Marja whispers to Kalina. She detects a minor magic on the flag. It allows all creatures under it to march at a 30 foot pace. The troop is about 70% men and 30% women, and each member carries a long bow.

Lucre strides up and inspects the line. He barks, “Question – fighting one or two intells and a hoard of fodder. What do you aim for? You!” He points to someone in the front row.

“The officers, sir!”

“And you!” He points to someone else.

“The command structure and then the troops, sir!”

“Well trained, Trenton,” Lucre comments. “There all yours Caerwyn.” The others all hide snickers behind him.

The meet the two second officers, Ens. Kickbarrell Varus, a very young dwarf with only a three inch beard, Ens. Rona Greenleaf, a tall half-elf. Borin shakes each one’s hand. “Nice to meet a fellow dwarf. Nice to meet a fellow elf.”

They meet the two sergeants, Lawrence Potter, a human in his late 50’s whose armor and nails are spankingly clean and a tall man with a red beard carrying a long spear. Trenton introduces him as Seamus Longspear.

“Do you get your name from your weapon, or your weapon from your name?” Marja asks.

“All men call me Longspear. Seamus is the only name I came with,” he answers.

Kira perks up. “Do the ladies call you longspear, too?”

“I couldn’t say, madam. I wouldn’t want to brag.”

As they assemble to march forward, Kalina turns into a hawk. All heads in the front turn to look. Lucre belts out, “Eyes front. Haven’t you ever seen a woman turn into a bird before?” “Sir, no sir!”

The scouts move to the front, and the group heads east. After a day and a half of marching Caerwyn and Lucre see black dust on the horizon. They’re close. Kel blesses the group, Kira starts singing, and Marja makes Lucre fly.

At 300 ft they see a flock of black birds swooping toward them. Kalina is in front flying as fast as she can. They dive at Kalina, and Lucre flies in to intercept them. Marja touches Borin and sends him flying into the air. He quickly reaches Lucre. The birds are the size of ravens, but they have snakes sprouting out of their shoulders and legs. Three dive at Kalina, and she falls. Lucre sends one spiraling to the ground. He looks rather pleased with himself until he sees two dead birds falling from his cousin’s axe.

Kalina lands at Caerwyn's feet bleeding badly. Kel rushes over to heal her.

Marja sends lightening bolts into the air killing twelve while Borin swings twice more bringing down two. Kira and Terri pick them off one by one from the ground. They rapidly pick off the remaining seven, but not before Marja and three troopers are injured slightly.

Lucre and Borin fly forward to scare up more. As they crest the hill they find that they are on the top of a 100 ft cliff face. Below is an open field with creatures wandering in and out of the woods beyond. They see a pack of wolves, two bears and a pack weasels, all with snakes on them.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

The Dogs of War (run of 04-20-04)

Our adventurers stand in stunned silence on a hilltop over looking the battlefield. Bears and wolves are roaming about snapping and snarling at each other, the vicious snakes that protrude from their deformed bodies send up a hissing sound that rings through the air like a low level hum. Although they can’t see the weasels, they see the grasses undulating as small creatures scurry through.

Quickly and quietly they prepare for battle. Terri prays to Enkhili, mumbling unobtrusively, and Caerwyn and Borin feel the strength of a bull swell within their chests. Marja takes two beautiful, perfect diamonds out of her pocket. Her hands grow cold and hard as she chants. She rubs the stones between her palms and her magic grinds them into a fine, opalescent powder. Chanting all the while, she paints the faces of Kel and Borin crafting beautiful runes upon their cheeks. The magic spreads from the runes as their skin hardens. Marja continues to chant, but this time she pulls feathers from her pocket. Kel, Kira and she rise slightly into the air. Their feet hover just inches off the ground. Kel, himself, has been praying asking Corean to give him the strength of a bull and to bless Caerwyn with added endurance. Kalina chants in a language that sounds like a flock of birds, and now everyone can understand her soft whispers and answer them in tweets and coos themselves. Kalina continues her birdsong, changing the pitch, and everyone, but Kel, Kira and Marja, are transformed into small, fast, black hawks. Just before Terri and Kira begin to transform, they join their rings and disappear.

Marja and Kel remain with the archers on the cliff face while the others fly quickly to a tree across the field. Up close they identify 1 bear and 7 wolves. Fang is upset by being in bird form and is only more agitated by the smells that he can only describe as wrong.

The woods are riddled with holes. They’ve been digging for something. Now the creatures are just sitting, standing or walking about in the clearing like they are waiting for something.

Lucre tries to get an accurate count of how many weasels there might be, but keeps losing track. “Math is hard. Let’s go kill creatures,” whispers Terri. (aside: channeling Invisible Rogue Barbie).

They drop to the ground as silently as possible and turn back into humans. Kalina starts the attack. She chants in a strange tongue that sounds like rustling leaves, and briars begin to grow up along the edge of the field blocking retreat into part of the woods. Marja sees the growth from across the field, swoops down and sends a lightening bolt into the wolf pack, killing 5 of them.

Kira and Terri creep through the grass and flank a weasel and obliterate it as they both come into view. Five more wolves and two huge moose, all of them covered with snakes, come out of the woods.

Two wolves flank Lucre, their snakes grabbing at his ankles, trying to trip him. He is glowing with psionic power. He looks large and bear-like. He keeps his feet, but it hurts. Just as he regains his footing, a moose lunges at him trying to gore him with his antlers. As the creature comes closer, Lucre can see that its fur is not hair, but thousands of tiny snakes. He steps back and uses his psionic weapon focus and power attacks. He kills the moose, but it brushes up against him as it falls, and he feels dozens of tiny fangs bite him. He feels a spike of fever, but shakes it off.

Borin moves in and kills a wolf, retreating back into the woods as the first volley of arrows spring from the archers on the cliff. Kel swoops down from the cliff following the arrows. He swings with ferocity, lopping off the head of one wolf and continuing into the chest of another. Both fall dead.

Marja lifts her head to the wind. “I hear casting,” she cries. Lucre feels like some other will is controlling his body, but only for a minute. With a roar, he shakes off the feeling. “Something in there can control minds,” he screams over the battle. “If it gets that paladin, we’re all doomed!”

Marja moves toward the woods and casts a spell on herself. She scans the woods for things invisible while the others all turn toward the ridge to the sounds of screams. The bear, a moose and black birds are on the ridge attacking the archers. Another wolf lunges at Terri, burying its fangs into her kneecap and pulling her on her back.

Suddenly the web of briars disappears. Behind it stands the most beautiful and horrible creature anyone has ever seen. A proud and noble horse stomps the ground, its body entangled in snakes, its eyes red with madness.

The battle rages on. Lucre swings the citadel slicing off a moose horn. Arrows continue to rain down with deadly accuracy. Borin runs into the woods. A viper appears, summoned by Kalina, and begins attacking. Fang brings down a wolf. Weeds and brambles spring up slowing down a bear, two wolves and the unicorn. A bear and a moose charge through the archers sending bodies flying through the air, killing three. The unicorn tosses its shimmering head, and a curtain of darkness descends over it. Lucre kills the moose and refocuses. Borin comes running out of the woods and strikes at the viper, killing it and pulling back.

Kel casts protection from evil on Marja as she continues to scan the woods for the caster. A cloud of green and yellow gas fills the air engulfing Fang, Caerwyn, Kira, Terri and Lucre. Fang drops to the ground. Inside the cloud they see a vision of swirling fangs and eyes as if the world is full of biting snakes. Then it’s gone. Marja spots two hands rubbing together. She indicates the direction, and Kira, Terri and Lucre dash after her into the woods.

The birds continue to peck at the archers who pick them off, unable to penetrate the hides of the bigger beasts. Kel and Caerwyn slash with all their remaining might at the remaining creatures.

Lucre moves into the woods and spots an enormous female creature with gray skin, covered with warts and pustules, with wiry hair and yellow eyes. He hustles over to her and slaps her lightly on the arm, but she reels like she’s been thrashed. He empathically transfers many of his wounds to her (30 pts) as he heals. Her skin blisters where his hand struck. She meets his eyes, smiles and licks her lips with a snake tongue.

Borin rushes Lucre, and the two struggle, rolling around on the ground. “You’re going to be really embarrassed by this later,” Lucre says to his cousin. The hag looks at Lucre. “Stop fighting,” she commands. She spread her hands, and her fingers spilt to the elbow and become writhing snakes, but before she can descend upon the cousins, she’s temporarily pushed back as Marja blasts her with a lightening bolt.

Kira draws her magical dagger and activates her ring. She and Kira disappear. They move in to flank the hag.

Meanwhile, out in the field, the archers continue to drop the birds. Kel is a fighting machine. He kills a moose and lunges at a bear. Caerwyn grabs Fang and rushes out of the poison cloud. Kalina is waiting to neutralize the poison. The bear claws Kel who feels a burning sensation through his limbs. His body feels heavy. His bear’s strength is gone. He presses on, however, flying at the next bear. Lt. Trenton rallies his troops, and they succeed in bringing down a bear.

Lucre keeps up a tirade of shouts. “Can’t we all be friends?” He lectures the hag, “I’ll have you know, you are morally and ethically bankrupt. Let’s sit down and talk this out.” He refuses to raise his weapon.

“I discuss nothing,” she hisses in reply. “I serve the beautiful snake queen.” A blue-black ray shoots out of her snake hands flying toward Marja who manages to fall to the ground avoiding the blast. Marja thinks that it’s a spell known as enervation. “Witch!” Marja calls out. She looks out on the battle field and catches Kalina’s eyes. Her wand is out as she attempts to heal Fang. From out of the sky, gigantic snowballs fall and sleet and hail pummel down on Kalina, Caerwyn, and the weak Fang. She reads Kalina’s face.

Marja hurls another lightening bolt at the hag. “NO!” she screams, feeling Kalina’s pain, and even Garnet shudders around her wrist.

From out of the silence comes a double attack, and Kira and Terri appear next to the hag with magic dagger in hand and the word “DOOOM” echoing through the air. Suddenly, Borin has dwarven rage across his beautiful elven face. His friends are suffering at this creature’s hands. His fist flies up and smashes into her stomach.

The unicorn gallops across the field toward Caerwyn. The ivory horn misses his chest, but the pass knocks him unconscious. Lucre sees Caerwyn drop, and points his sword at him. Suddenly Caerwyn is in the woods next to Borin, and Lucre is in the field facing the one-horned beast. “What?” asks Kel. He was about to reach over and heal Caerwyn, but finds his hands almost touching Lucre. Instead he grabs his sword, turns and kills a bear, turns and kills a wolf. Kalina, loath to leave Fangs side, musters up all her energy and rushes over to Caerwyn and heals him.

The hag takes a step away from Borin’s fist and Kira’s dagger and sends the energy of a spell out from her hands. Borin and Terri drop to their knees. They feel the hopelessness and want to give up, but they see Kira howling with rage. They jump to their feet and howl with her just as the chain lightening strikes all three.

Marja sends her last lightening bolt into the hag’s chest. Clearly, she is resisting some of the damage from each blow. Marja is tiring. Terri is hurt. Caerwyn is barely standing.

Kira jumps forward and thrusts her dagger deep into the hag’s chest. “Suck on it!” she shrieks. Borin swings down with his great axe and splits the hag in two from her neck down. Half of her falls on Kira, and half of her falls on Terri. Snakes slither out of her body.

As she dies, Lucre wakes from his pacifist’s dream and hits the unicorn with his full force. Kel steps in and kills it. Suddenly, the field, red with blood and wet, is quiet. A lone bird cries in the sky as one last arrow sends it hurtling to the earth.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Farewell, My Firend (04-21-04)

Kalina kneels beside her fallen friend. She brushes the snow and ice off of his still body, the melting fragments mixing with her tears. Slowly and carefully as if not to inflict further injury, she lifts the mighty form. She walks into the woods ignoring the complaints of her muscles as they struggle with their burden.

The woods are still as she passes. The wind does not stir; birds look down quietly from branches above; deer watch from the brush. Kalina doesn't notice them. Nature's voice is silent.

A small clearing opens in front of her. Sun glints through the branches above softly illuminating an area of soft green grass. Wildflowers happily dot the clearing not understanding the solemn occasion. This is the place. Kalina softly places Fang in the clearing and begins her work. She asks the trees, shrubs and flowers for assistance in building an altar. For hours she works; weaving branches, vines, and blossoms into living tribute to the goddess Denev and to her lost companion. Without Kalina's notice, plants come to her aid as vines of ivy stretch to knit branches together into a stable and protective canopy.

Kalina loses track of time. Exhausted, she reclines alongside the still shape of her friend. She imagines his voice in her mind, and then shudders at the silence of its absence. She ponders the decisions of her past, remembering when she fled the city and her family to escape the pain that can accompany love. She gave herself to Nature, to Denev. She followed the path of the druids in near isolation. And then came Fang.

At first he was simply a ghost in the forest; his presence noted only by a crushed leaf here, a snapped branch there. He watched and followed at a distance, curious about the melancholy emanating from the half-elf. Kalina was cautious at first. Eventually, she became accustomed to the mysterious presence and her caution turned to curiosity.

Sitting beside the body of her friend, Kalina cannot recall when she realized that she and Fang had become inseparable. It just happened. Through her tears she laughs, for she once again feels the pain that true love can bring. Her "escape" from the city could not free her from that which she now understands to be a basic emotion and need.

Kalina prays to Denev for answers. Finally, exhausted, she collapses and sleeps once more alongside her best friend.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

What comes of taunting (run of 05-04-04)

Our band of adventurers stands around the body of the dead hag. Caerwyn glowers at Lucre and Borin, angry at their lack of will, allowing themselves to be possessed. Marja thinks he’s being hard on the two fighters who are always putting themselves out front.

They search the hag’s body and find all kinds of useful things, but as usual, they can’t tell what any of them do so they set out to experiment. Kira finds a small gray metal cube. She picks it up, and an image comes up from it. The face is twisted and hideous. “Is that you?” it asks. “Do you have it?” Kira drops the cube to the ground, looking at the group in horror. Using all the common sense the gods gave a cockroach that can’t remember to crawl under things when the light comes on, Lucre picks up the cube and threatens to use the face to wipe his backside. Caerwyn, already angry at the dwarf, smacks him in the head causing him to drop the cube.

Lucre puts on the hag’s cape and feels more confident. He gives the cloak to Kira who gives her cloak of resistance to Kel. Lucre then puts on the hag’s ring. He feels nothing. “Hit Borin,” someone suggests. “Whenever I hit Borin, he knocks me unconscious,” Lucre quips. “Hit Caerwyn then,” Marja offers, but they decide against it. (Once identified, it proves to be a ring of counterspell.) The hag had a small bag tied to her waist. Kira reaches in and feels something furry. She pulls out a weasel by the scruff of its neck. Kalina says it wants to know what they want it to do. “Gnaw on a dead bear,” she offers. “Thanks, can I have the eyes?” Kalina nods yes, and the happy creature sets about its meal until it disappears 10 minutes later.

Borin puts on a pair of gilded and embossed bracers. “Hit Lucre,” someone laughs. He smacks the gilded patterns together, and Kel and Marja, who are watching intently, are blinded by a flash of light. “Cool,” says Kel as he gropes around. Secretly Kel isn’t feeling well. He was bitten in the last battle, the wound burns white hot. He feels very weak, but holds himself together with all his might.

Kira and Lucre are experimenting with the potions. Kira sips one that is silver and shiny. Briefly there are two more of her, but they disappear. Lucre sips a purple one. His armor shimmers. Marja is pretty sure it was momentarily enhanced. Terri joins in and sips a blue one. She feels a fire run through her veins. She is startled for a moment, but the fire feels cleansing. She thinks is might cure poison.

Kalina asks animals in the forest if there is a part of the forest where they will not go. She assumes that if there is a piece of Mormo buried here in the forest, it will have created a dead space. As a squirrel chatters away, Kalina gets a blank look on her face. “I can’t understand him anymore,” she says. “What do you mean?” asks Caerwyn. “Isn’t that a druid thing?”

“It is with the correct spell, but I have never had to cast it,” Kalina explains. “I received that gift from the cave water.” “That’s right,” Marja remembers. They quickly explain to Caerwyn, Terri and Kira that they were in a Cave months ago where the water was blessed by Mesos. Several of the group drank from the water, and each one received a special gift. Kalina could speak with animals. One of their group could walk upon water. Now Kalina’s gift seemed to be gone. She felt an emptiness inside.

There’s nothing more to be done today.

The next day Kalina again speaks with the animals of the forest, this time by casting a spell. Neither birds nor ground animals avoid any place nearby. She changes into a bird and takes Lucre’s heartstone of awareness and searches the forest, but finds nothing. She tracks where the dire animals came from. The moose tracks lead to a near by area. She finds a two-day-old patch where the moose used to bed down at night. There is a round scar in the ground where all the grass has burned away and it smells of rot. There are faint echoes of transformation magic and large humanoid footprints.

She casts another spell and speaks to the tree near the spot. “Small one, what do you want?” a whisper blows through the air. She asks about the moose. “He is gone,” answers the tree. She asks what replaced him. “Something wrong. Bad water. No sun. Dry. Felt it at my roots,” came the cryptic answer. She asks about a bad part of the forest. “There are no bad parts. We are happy.”

They sit down to eat breakfast perplexed about what to do next. Kalina knows of a spell that would let her commune with the ground to try to find anything buried there, but she doesn’t know the spell. Marja feels a tingling. “Something’s happening,” she says cautiously. Everyone stares at her, and she looks like she is listening intently. Borin begins to speak to ask her what is wrong, but she raises her hand to silence him. She nods her head. In her mind she hears Beltray speaking to her.

Marja. Beltray. Know anything about a Cliffside cave near Ontenazu? Why would your name be written there? Why cave destroyed? Reply 25 words or less.

The group watches as she carefully counts on her fingers. Then she says out loud, “Been there with Kalina, Borin, Naxos. Kalina got Mesos magic there. Magic gone yesterday. Don’t know why name there, why destroyed. Mesos body gone maybe?

She grows silent again, listening. Wall says I ♥ Marja. Mesos never had a body. What more do you know?

They watch as Marja thinks. Her brow furrows, and then she gets a sick look on her face. She replies, “Mesos water was in cave. I charmed spider guy. I’m sick now. Piece of Mormo here in forest. Can’t find. Need commune with nature scroll.” She feels the connection break suddenly.

“What was that all about?” Kel asks. She explains the conversation they only heard part of. “So that cave was destroyed,” Kalina says. “That must explain why that magic left me yesterday. The water must have been destroyed.” “Or worse,” Marja muses. “They took Mesos’s essence out of the water to use it in their Titan puzzle.” “What was written on the wall?” Kel asks again. “I ‘heart’ Marja,” Marja gags as she says it and draws a little heart in the air to demonstrate. “Remember when I cast charm on the guy with the spider tattoo? The charm worked although he didn’t want to do much to please me. He must have written it.” “Why,” asks Caerwyn, “He can’t think you’ll be impressed.” “Maybe, or maybe he’s baiting us.” They all get quiet.

Lucre feels a prickling on the back of his head, like he’s being watched. At first he thinks maybe Beltray’s trying to talk to him this time, but as he looks around he sees a weird hazy shimmer and three figures in robes appear out of nowhere. They are human sized women all wearing porcelain masks. The first is tall and slender with flowing blond hair. Her mask has the image of a beautiful face, and she wears a fine silver girdle. The second seems older. She’s pudgy and has short red hair with a jolly mothering mask. She wears a bronze girdle. The third is shrunken and stooped. Her gray hair flies out behind a crone’s mask, and beneath her robes is a girdle of iron.

The Maiden steps forward. “You should not taunt Fell-Vralla.”

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Three Witches (run of 05-25-04)

“You should not taunt Fell-Vralla. In fact, you should not harm her or her friends again.” The woman with the lovely porcelain face looks directly at Lucre as she gives her command. All eyes turn to Lucre to see if he will obey her command, but they can see by his seething face that he has resisted her.

Marja steps up behind Borin and touches his shoulder lightly. He feels his skin harden. He whispers, “Close your eyes.” He smacks his new bracers together sending out a blinding light. The maiden stagers back, blinded. Caerwyn drops his shield and swings with both hands on his sword, swinging with all his might at the mother’s chest. She laughs as the swing misses her, but a dagger flies from Terri’s hand through the air to burry itself in her shoulder.

Lucre reaches into his mind to become more vigorous and wise (psionic activation of boosts to constitution and wisdom and activation of offensive precognition). The crone sees the crackles in the air and smells the ozone. “You feel their touch,” she says amazed. “Why are you so insolent?” Before he can answer, her other shoulder is pierced by a crossbow bolt from Kira.

Kalina casts dispel on the maiden and a shimmering aura of blackness disappears from her robes. The haze clears from her eyes. Caerwyn, who is standing right in fromt of her, winks.

The crone chants and weeds begin to grow and entangle around them. The mother cackles, “Come out, my pretties,” and three little children slide out from under her girdle, three snake children. Marja, Kel and the archers are entangled. Lt. Trenton leads his men slowly to the left in an attempt to get out of the weeds. Marja doesn’t move. Her hands are free. Her voice is clear, and she has no problem keeping her concentration. She reaches over her shoulder and casts haste on Kel then turns back and casts it on Borin.

The maiden smiles at Borin, and he feels every muscle in his body seize up. Caerwyn is so close to her, he can hear her breath. He swings with the outrage of a paladin, smiting evil. Lucre nimbly hustles through the weeds. “I was so rude before. I apologize,” he taunts. “May I have permission to strike you?” But he’s too cocky, and doesn’t take enough aim. He swings wide.

Kalina dispels the hold on Borin, and he bounds forward swinging at the closest of the hags, the crone. She is surrounded by a black aura (protection from good), but his axe slices through.

The mother, still until now, reaches over and rips the head off of one of her children. As the blood of her child drips down her arm, she grows stronger. Marja, Kel and Kalina are engulfed in flames that shoot from her hand. Kalina jumps out of the way. When the flames clear, Kel is standing, but Marja lies near death on the ground.

The crone pulls her hands from under her roves. One hand is fiery red. The other is black. She grabs Borin with both hands. The red hand touches the buckles on his bear-skin armor. They begin to rust away. The black hand touches his skin. He feels older and less vigorous.

Kel manages to take a step through the weeds to reach Marja. The light of Corean rushes through his hands into her near lifeless body. She inhales sharply and clutches at his arms as she sits up. Kel supports her back, and finds his other hand resting lightly on the violet tattoo circling her bear midriff. He blushes crimson and pulls his hand away. Marja pulls a scroll from her side and tries twice to dispel the entangling weeds, but she can’t. Will she ever make that spell work?

Lt. Trenton’s archers have arrows ready, but he holds back on the command to fire. The maiden begins to chant. “Fire,” shouts the lieutenant. A flurry of arrows flies toward her. Two pierce her skin, but she’s able to concentrate through the barrage. Flames shoot up around her, engulfing her in flames. As the arrows hit her, the mother winces in pain. Terri hurls a rock from her sling and hits the maiden hard in the chest. Caerwyn swings and slices across her body, once on the upswing and again as he brings his blade down. The flames surrounding her burn at his arms and legs. “Does etiquette say right or left arm strikes first?” asks Lucre. “I must be polite.” He hits the maiden twice, and he too is burned by the flames. The mother is looking harried and worn.

“Kill the snake babies,” Kel yells. Borin swings at the mother hitting her three times. She steps back, grabs another of her children and splits it in half, the blood spilling over her, healing her.

Kira sings, “Whenever I’m feeling down and need a little pick-me-up, I bathe in the blood of my own reptilian infants.” The others giggle at her tune. The voice seems to lilt across the field from nowhere. She and Terri have disappeared.

A black flash flies through the air hitting Borin in the chest. “Why are you attacking her?” asks Lucre. “I’m the one who was rude.” “She hurt us and must be punished,” one replies. “Cosette told us to kill you,” says another. “Cosette is dead,” Lucre informs them. “Killed by a troupe of adventurers.” Lucre feels his muscles sieze up, but he shakes it off staring into the eyes of the maiden.

“Silly boy, you’re paying attention to the wrong one,” says the mother. Lucre’s body freezes. Every joint is full of fire and ice at the same time.

Marja casts fly on Kel just as he breaks free of the weeds. Each times she casts, she can barely hold her head upright. She tries to aim a lightening bolt at the crone, but her hands shake so, she hits a nearby tree. She send magic missiles instead. At least they strike true.

The maiden steps back to cast, but is assailed with a barrage of arrows. Lt. Trenton’s arrow lodges deep into her collar bone, and she falls to her knees. Lucre moves in and touches the mother. “I wish to return the favor. Thank you again for your pains.” His touch transferred half of his wounds to her.

Kalina tries desperately to move closer to Marja, but her own wounds prevent her from moving through the weeds. “We’re losing her,” she gasps, hoping that Kel will hear and return to help.

Borin rages upon hearing the words. He swings his axe in large circles around his head. He slices the mother in two, pivots and slices the head off of the maiden. The crone turns toward him, and suddenly Kira appears in front of her swinging with her blade. Fire springs from the crone’s hands and wraps itself around Caerwyn’s and Lucre’s armor, Borin’s axe and Kira’s sword. They feel the metal grow warm. Finding herself so outnumbered, she touches her face and disappears.

The only sound that remains is the sobbing of a small snake child clutching the body of its mother. Kel shows no pity for the abomination which was born to died for its creator’s health. He kills it quickly, and then there is silence. He flies over to the weeds and carefully carries Marja and Kalina to safety.

As they gather around Terri voices her anger at Lucre. “You idiot! They came because of you and your stupid taunts into that box. Can’t you keep your mouth shut!” Lucre apologies, but no one pays any attention. Terri heals Kalina, and then Kalina and Kel lay hands on Marja. Only after Marja is back on her feet do they turn to the rest of the party. They avoid Lucre until he is reduced to sheepish mumbles, his head hanging low. Kel and Kalina go over and attend to his wounds, but Terri is resolute. Lucre tries every trick to get back in her good graces. Finally he pulls a weasel out of the bag, and even Terri is forced to laugh.

They sit with Lt. Trenton and the guards around a campfire and chat about what they’ve seen and done these few days. Kalina turns into an owl and flies away to be alone in the woods. After a short time, she comes back on foot, dragging the large body of a slate black wolf with bright green eyes through the bushes. The animal is badly wounded. Kel lays his warm hands upon the creature which sits up and starts to talk. “My name is Black Wind,” it says. Kalina immediately begins to translate, but stops in mid sentence. She can’t speak with animals without a spell now, and wait – the others understood him too. “I confuse you all, I see,” he speaks in a low, soothing voice that rumbles from his belly. “I am an incarnate in service to the Mother.” “He must mean Denev,” Kalina whispers. “I could run much faster when I was a stag,” he notes.

That evening they notice a falcon circling the campsite. Lucre holds out an arm, and it lands, causing a little pain as its talons latch on. On his leg is a small scroll with a note. “You were looking for this. Good luck. Beltray.” It’s a commune with natures scroll.

They waste no time and hike immediately 10 miles into the center of the forest. Kalina opens the scroll and reads the incantation. Everyone holds his breath. They only have one shot at this, and it’s a spell beyond Kalina’s powers. The words disappear from the page as she chants, and blue flames encircle her. Success! Everyone sighs in relief. For an instant, Kalina feels like she is one with every living thing around her, then she passes out. Caerwyn catches her as she falls forward and lightly taps her face to revive her. “It all feels right,” she says, obvious relief on her face. “There’s no titan taint here, and never was. There’s no body to be found.”

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Nightdreams or Nightmares (05-26-04)

Marja’s Dream

The night after the visit from the three ladies, Marja has a hard time dropping off to sleep. Perhaps it was her near brush with death, or perhaps she senses that something waits for her in sleep, but she tosses and turns for hours, hearing voices on the edge of her consciousness.

Finally, she falls into a fitful daze...

And wakes to find she’s in the same cave of her dreams. She stands in the center of a great stone cavern, spotlighted in a shaft of light. She are suspended in mid-air, unable to move, slowly rotating counterclockwise.

All around her are eyes, scrutinizing, prying, curious and staring. They weigh her. They seem to find her wanting.

"We nearly lost it" hisses a voice.
"It is foolish. Too valuable to be lost" creaks another.
"Does it know yet what the One who Lays the Threads intends?" scrapes another, in a voice like rust.
"It has been shown. We brought the vision."

There is a long silence. The voices continue to whisper, but she cannot make out the words. They seem to be arguing.

"They were flawed. They did not learn what we had to teach. They deserved to be sundered." One voice breaks out of the pack.
"They could not work together in life. What makes you think It will have any more luck joining them after death?" drones a third, like a hive of angry bees.
"Still," hisses the first voice, "There is a danger. And we cannot act directly, lest the Children of the Sky discover us. This one is our instrument. See if it can learn better than the Children of Earth."

"Very well." says the rusty voice. From out of the darkness comes a man, or maybe a woman. The face is strangely androgynous and featureless. As if the person wearing it wasn't quite sure what a face should be and played it safe. But his shadow is that of a great winged beast. And his eyes are solid black.

"You will remember this Marja, Child of the Void, or you will never claim your heritage, and your world will die."

Remember that It seeks to join them together.

Burner, Bleeder, Mother of Snakes
Shaper, Eater, Father of Quakes
Disrupted One, and Untamed,
all feared and all unnamed,

Make eight legs for the Spider.
Its will is bent to find,
the Tear of the Lady, and
the Titans to bind.

She wakes up. Lucre is snoring. Some of the archers are standing watch. The air smells like ozone, and through her fingers crackles the faint blue ghost fire of electricity.

Marja sits up and starts to cry. She tries to remember the carefree, happy little girl she used to be a mere 30 odd years ago. A troubled adolescence filled with nightmares, drugs and poor choices should have been washed away with the quiet serenity of young adulthood. Instead death and destruction both helplessly witnessed by her own eyes and ruthlessly caused by her own hands have left her feeling old and weary.

Now, every night the dreams flood her sleep. Most nights in vague shadows, but some nights, like tonight, clearly. She was so tired, she was sure that she had really traveled to that cave and back again. They seemed so disappointed in her. Didn’t they realize that she no longer fought her visions, her destiny? Whatever her heritage she would embrace it.

Every day she could feel its power coursing through her veins. When she bled, she felt she could see it in her bright red blood. She meditated every morning talking with the tiny statue Borin had bought her. Whatever came, she would not say no.

But they seemed impatient. What did they want her to do, grow wings right out of her back? Every day she found more coppery strands replacing her shiny black tresses. Her skin, still soft and supple to the touch, was thicker, and tiny veins ran through it creating a faint scaling pattern. Soon she would be a marked woman. Like Lucre, she would be shunned as Titan spawn and feared by good people. People with Caerwyn’s religious fervor would hunt her for sport. She knew that was the fate of many of her kin. Still she was not afraid. Yet still they seemed impatient.

Marja gains control of her sobbing and nudges Borin. His beautiful elven face, soft in repose, takes on an oddly dwarfish scowl as he wakes. “I need to talk to you,” she whispers, and draws him away from the group. At the edge of the camp they find Kalina, sleeping near enough to the others to maintain safety, but far enough away to feel engulfed in the forest around her. She has a sad, pained look on her face that Marja knows is her soul mourning Fang. Marja and Borin slip past her into the woods. “I’ve had another dream,” she begins, “and I want to tell you before it disappears…”

“Marja, I too have had visions, and that is what I think these are. Not dreams, but visions. The night before I left on my vision quest, I had a dream…

Borin’s Dream

Morgaine is there, in my dream. She's sitting across a table in a bar. She's drinking a blood read drink, with a spider shaped swizzle stick. The spider keeps trying to crawl off the swizzle and bite her hand, but she's successfully keeping it at bay.

"Borin, I thought I could reach your mind. You've got very low defenses against this kind of thing." She looks concerned. She takes a sip of her drink and makes a face.

"I need to warn you about your mind. Form controls function. Always has. What you're shaped like shapes who you are."

I look at her in confusion, and find that it's Gemma sitting across from me. "I can't spend too much time in my mind, or I'll find myself. I'm a bit crazy, you know." She shrugs "I'll borrow some familiar minds, just so we can keep talking."

"You can't stay an elf," Kalina says urgently, her hawk beak dipping down to peck at the spider. She eats it whole, and a new spider grows from the top of the swizzle stick. Kel stirs the drink, and takes a gulp.

"If you stay an elf, your mind will become that of an elf." says Lucre.

Borin takes a long pause before continuing his dream

"You must seek the tear, Madriel's Tear, The tear of anger. She shed it for Goran, and only it can save the dwarves, and you." Morgaine is back again, but now she is wearing a stained white shift. Her hair is wild, and her face is covered with scratches. Her eyes are sunken and she looks utterly drained.

"...is looking for it." she whispers, but I do not hear the name.

The next day I left on my vision quest. While I was meditating in that cave, I had another dream.

In my dream, I’m in an endless set of tunnels, and they smell of death. As I walk, I begin to see the bodies of dead dwarves. They are piled everywhere. And fallen with them are the bodies of dark skinned elves. Their faces are all pulled into masks of hate and fear. Some have died with their hands around each others necks, like a lovers embrace gone terribly wrong.

I walk in the tunnels for hours, days maybe, I’m not sure. And everywhere there's death. Nothing moves but rats, maggots, and flies.

And then I come around a corner, and there is an enormous cavern. And in the center of the cavern is a large, pulsing red gem. The gem is cradled in the hairy forelegs of a giant spider. The spider croons to me in a scratchy, sibilant voice.

"Thank you. They are all dead, and you've helped"

Borin finishes: “Your dream seems to fit in with my vision. We must find the Lady's Tear that the dragon spoke of in your dream. My vision said it was needed to save the dwarves and myself. However, I think it goes beyond that. I think it may be needed to save our world.

“We should talk to Lucre about this. In fact, if we are to go after the Tear, we will need to share these visions with everyone. We will need their help. Caerwyn showed us trust in revealing a secret of the Church of Corean, we should show him trust and share our dreams.

“And Marja, remember that these outsiders in your dreams are just that: outsiders. They try to use you as a pawn. Don't let them. You are the master of your own life. Go along for the ride as it suits you. Where your purposes and theirs meet, only then should you allow their purposes to be fulfilled. Go at your own pace. Ignore their impatience.

“As for the others, the ones who would hunt you down, they will find that hunt much more deadly than they expect.”

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

The above posts should bring us up to date with what was lost. Look for new posts within a week.

Chef.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Note Found

On the body of the witch our adventurers killed in the forest, they find the note below:

To the Most Vile and Depraved Lady Axhet, servant of the true Earth Mother and Slayer of Her Enemies:

Greetings. Although we have not met, we serve in the same cause: the return of our great Mother, and the punishment of the usurpers and traitors who slew her. It is in the name of this great cause that I venture to make a suggestion to one so exalted in Her service as yourself.

Mormo rests uneasy in her undeserved graves, and her agony calls to those sensitive enough to hear her. Through my web of informants, sages and spies of all varieties, it ahs come to my attention that you may be well served to search for a substantial piece of the Mother in the country of the hated Veshians.

My sources tell me that you should search near a clearing of the crescent moon, north of the Hornswyth River. I’m afraid I cannot give you a more exact location than that, as my diviners are sensitive threads, but not always precise. I know that with your power and resourcefulness you should have no trouble locating this prize and extracting it, even from under the noses of the Vigils.

I hope that I can continue to be of service to you and to our great cause, an wish you very best success in this venture.

Lady Cosette Slaint

PS – You may trust the bearer of this note to return messages to me truly. He bears my mark on his face and his loyalty is ensured by it.

This proves that Cosette is not dead, and that the man-with-the-spider-tattoo is working for her. Bad news all around.

 

[Graywolf-ELM]

Yay, I found the link again. Bummer for deleted subscriptions.

Cool way for the DM to let you confirm suspicions.

GW