Somewhere else...

[Manbearcat]

1) Your Passive Insight yields that the general mood was cold when you entered their campsite.

2) Your Insight check yields that you're certain that he isn't warning you of some real-world, imminent encounter with a corporeal snake. Sleep and the dreamworld is the gateway to the spirit realm. He means that the encounter will take place after you have crossed over tonight. We will actually resolve it later.

3) Terilion subtly smiles and nods slowly at your words. He turns to face Esmer in unison with you. Yamel's face is a blank expression but you're confident that he agrees with you when he stoicly looks to Esmer after you're finished.

4) Esmer says:

"I would never speak on behalf of the World Serpent for to do so would be foolish and may incur his wrath. Neither would 'He Who Sees Without Sight'. We are just a humble servant and conduit. All we know of his will is that he holds the world together with his great coils and the demonic, primordial, and deific usurpers are his enemies. If your enemies align, he may sponser you. All I can do is present you to him. His mysteries are his own. He will do as he will. We will find out in the morning." *

He sips from his bowl and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. "I personally see this is as folly. Let this creature have his own domain. You don't need the recesses of his caverns. You are men of the wild. The boughs of the trees are your blankets from the cold and the stars and trails guide your path. I won't sanction it with any of my warriors. And I forbid you (looking at Terilion) from risking yourself on it."

He gets the sense that any or all of you may interject and protest and abruptly starts in "...however, if the World Serpent condones your quest, I will too..." Looking at Saerie he says; "Yes, I am a man of reason. I hope that is reasonable enough for you..."

5) Beyond that, he says that he will be taking the children back in the morning after the ritual of presenting you to the World Serpent. He will gladly recieve Yamel's diplomatic envoy in the sanctity of their island fortress. There they can talk about a formal treaty and trade agreement. **

* You can go ahead and roll a Group Nature Check (Hard DC) for tomorrow morning's communion with the World Serpent. You and Yamel (+13) and you have a + 2 to your Nature check.

** If you want to follow-up with an appeal that disagrees with anything Esmer has laid out, go ahead and do so. Roll your check and a d20 + 4 for Terilion and + 6 for Yamel.

 

[Binks]

4) Esmer says:

He gets the sense that any or all of you may interject and protest and abruptly starts in "...however, if the World Serpent condones your quest, I will too..." Looking at Saerie he says; "Yes, I am a man of reason. I hope that is reasonable enough for you..."

** If you want to follow-up with an appeal that disagrees with anything Esmer has laid out, go ahead and do so. Roll your check and a d20 + 4 for Terilion and + 6 for Yamel.

I don't have any follow-ups or appeals. I think I'm pleased with that. I'll reply to Esmer:

"That is certainly reasonable. Once again, you show the wisdom of your people in following your leadership."

I get a bowl and ladel or scoop some stew out of it. I'll put it to my mouth and drink all of it fully in one effort. "I look forward to the World Serpent's judgement, tonight and tomorrow morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see the children and say my farewell."

I turn to go and look back after a few paces. "Yamel. If you would meet me at the ridge's clearing in an hour, I would like to speak to you briefly about the enemy we face tomorrow."

Hopefully he responds in the affirmative. If he does, I'd like to ask him the following questions:

* What manner of being is this Rotting Man? Does he know a true story or legend?

* I've heard of him slaughtering challengers in his chamber. Has he seen the lair personally? Has he seen any of these challenges? If so, can he tell me anything about the nature of this creature's home or his power?

* His men are all archers, yes? Do they have any shaman or infantry amongst their ranks? We shouldn't bring too many warriors as a larger force will hinder our ability to access the lair with the Rotting Man unawares. I let him know that I'm going to cast the Traveler's Camouflage ritual on all of us tomorrow.

* Is there any other entrance into the lair besides "the front door"?

After that, I will urge him to take up Esmer's offer to formally receive an envoy of the clans in their island home. It would be good for all involved. I will speak to the strengths and trustworthiness of Esmer and Terilion's people.

In the hour before that, and after the short meal, again, I'm going to go see the children. I'd like to convince Terilion to leave Yamel and Esmer to speak and to join me so each of the children can meet him. I want them to know that they can trust him. He is a good man with strong paternal instincts. He will protect them. And I look him in the eye when I say that to the children. When we part with the children (after hugs, etc), I will quietly say to Terilion;

"They have seen hell in their short lives. I am entrusting you with improving their happiness and with their immediate fate."

I give him the two charms that I made for he and his daughter and tell him that they are blessed by the Maiden of the Moon of my homeland. She protects all of her chosen against the Moon Madness and its spawn.

I will place one charm around the neck, coil the other into his open palm, embrace him. I will pull back and say:

"Thank you for seeing me through these dangers the last few days. I would not have survived without you. Thank you for the beautiful example of love, sacrifice, and enduring commitment that you and your daughter showed me on those perilous waters. I will cherish the memory of it always. May the primal spirits always be with you."

I will smile warmly and sincerely, turn and walk away without looking back.

* You can go ahead and roll a Group Nature Check (Hard DC) for tomorrow morning's communion with the World Serpent. You and Yamel (+13) and you have a + 2 to your Nature check.

[sblock]I rolled a 10 and 11. Both of us pass the high DC.[/sblock]

 

[Manbearcat]

The fare thee well with the children and Terilion is intensely emotional and short. The children force back tears during your last moments together.

Terilion is a strong and proud man but your gesture with the charms openly moves him. He looks you squarely in the eyes and takes a solemn oath to ensure the well-being of these children as if they were his own. Your embrace is brief but powerful. You can feel his heavy heart as you walk away from one another.

Hopefully he responds in the affirmative. If he does, I'd like to ask him the following questions:

* What manner of being is this Rotting Man? Does he know a true story or legend?

* I've heard of him slaughtering challengers in his chamber. Has he seen the lair personally? Has he seen any of these challenges? If so, can he tell me anything about the nature of this creature's home or his power?

* His men are all archers, yes? Do they have any shaman or infantry amongst their ranks? We shouldn't bring too many warriors as a larger force will hinder our ability to access the lair with the Rotting Man unawares. I let him know that I'm going to cast the Traveler's Camouflage ritual on all of us tomorrow.

* Is there any other entrance into the lair besides "the front door"?

Yamel straight-forwardly conveys what he knows of the Rotting Man. In order:

1) He knows the creature from its actions and what it has claimed to be: "I have always been here. I preceded you and I will be here when all else is gone. I am the mindless mire beneath your feet and the muck at the bottom of the ocean. I am the rotted remnants of your bodies when your spirits have flown."

It seems like the very walls, floors, ceilings of the cavern are alive with his sentience. His weapons are madness and decay. He feeds on the stealing of your mind and the wasting of your flesh. His lair is a living thing...or perhaps unliving..."things" in the dark recesses pit themselves against you.

2) They are all archers yes but they are all venerate the Hunter Twins. Through that veneration, the forest opens its secrets to them.

From a metagame perspective, Yamel himself will be a Leader. An Archer Warlord type. You'll have Yamel and 5 Artillery Minions (each with a primal utility power).

3) No, Yamel knows of no other way into the inner sanctum of the Rotting Man.

[sblock]I rolled a 10 and 11. Both of us pass the high DC.[/sblock]

Good deal. We'll handle it in the morning after the conflict in the spirit realm. I'm going to cut directly to that conflict with my next post. I want you to understand fully what you're undertaking here. This is going to be dangerous. Saerie would understand the nature of the spirit realm and the prospects for failure and its fallout.

You will have the benefit of your Extended Rest (thus full recharge of everything). However, every failure will cost your corporeal self; 2 healing surges. Further, failure at the challenge will mean becoming lost in the spirit realm, from which you will have to find your way back. Continual failure will kill you if you run out of surges. Your spirit will be forever lost in that realm, unable to return to the corporeal world nor transition to any other. Success means becoming a World Serpent disciple in protecting the natural order from his foes, those who disrupt or usurp it, and thus earning his boon.

Those are the stakes. You good with that?

 

[Binks]

Saerie understands the implications of a cross-over to the spirit realm.

I understand the risk.

When she lays her head to rest this evening, she will do so without fear and with mental preparation for what is to come.

However, before that takes place...

He stands and walks the few feet over to his bedroll on the floor. There is a small chest there. He opens it and pulls forth an ancient, loose collection of parchment bound by leather. "Careful, this dates back to the earliest years of my people. I assume you can read." When you nod or verbally confirm, he continues; "I have marked three pages with a dried leaf. I would suggest you start at the earliest and work your way back. The oldest writing will disintegrate without extreme care. Three women of similar mold and countenance to you have visited my people through the centuries. All following a spectral stag from a place they called Brokenstone Vale. The last one said she knew what or who it was and why she was here. My great grandfather didn't write of it in the book but when she failed her purpose he buried her deep in those mountains, along with her diary and belongings.

I hope you find what you're looking for."

Saerie is going to pull out the tome that Esmer gave her before they parted ways for this place. The tome that holds the secrets to why she is here, and likely the visions of the silver haired Eladrin that have been haunting her. She won't spend long on this as she is very weary. I don't want to start at the beginning. I want to go to the end. She'll open the book to where the last dried leaf parts the parchment and read.

What did this last woman know, or think she knew?

Where did he bury her, her diary, and belongings?

Let me know and then we can go straight to the spirit realm conflict as she is going care for her bear, treating him as is needed to lift his ailment, and the two of them are going to conk afterwards.

 

[Manbearcat]

Saerie is going to pull out the tome that Esmer gave her before they parted ways for this place. The tome that holds the secrets to why she is here, and likely the visions of the silver haired Eladrin that have been haunting her. She won't spend long on this as she is very weary. I don't want to start at the beginning. I want to go to the end. She'll open the book to where the last dried leaf parts the parchment and read.

What did this last woman know, or think she knew?

Where did he bury her, her diary, and belongings?

Let me know and then we can go straight to the spirit realm conflict as she is going care for her bear, treating him as is needed to lift his ailment, and the two of them are going to conk afterwards.

She didn't convey much to the man. But what she did convey was that she was certain that the spectral stag that she chased under the Feywild moonlight of Brokenstone Vale was her patron, The Maiden of the Moon. She felt certain that, like the other women before her who perished here, she was brought to this place by the archfey to fulfill some purpose for her. And she felt certain that the Court of Stars were unaware of this. Like you, she first encountered the lycanthropes when she came to this "lost world" as she called it. She sensed her purpose lied there. She, like you, didn't know how to get back home.

She died in a large conflict where she slew 20 wolfmen but ultimately succumbed to her injuries. She did not fall prey to the Moon Madness. He buried her in a subalpine clearing north of here. Her grave is alongside a lake, amidst a beautiful stand of the rarest of trees, the foxtail pine. He felt it was fitting.

Why do you think all those women were brought here and why do you think you're here?

I need to know that answer, and then we'll cut to your crossing over to the spirit realm.

 

[Binks]

Why do you think all those women were brought here and why do you think you're here?

I need to know that answer, and then we'll cut to your crossing over to the spirit realm.

Well, lets puzzle this out, shall we?

- The Court of Stars collectively conceded Brokenstone Vale to the lycanthropes, the MotM's sworn enemies, after millennia years' of brutal warfare with the elves/eladrin.

- The archfey The Maiden of the Moon has led these elven/eladrin women, who appear to all be from Brokenstone Vale, to this place. This has brought them in direct conflict with the lycanthropes of this place. With the gods abandoning this world (at the Dawn War for this place I guess?), and thus no divine rituals of cleansing, it appears that the Moon Madness that spawns them appears to be some kind apocalyptic disease. Like a zombie apocalypse but werewolfs instead.

- The MotM has led the women here into this conflict in secret so that The Court of Stars has no knowledge of its happening.

- All the women before me have perished in conflict with the lycanthropes, so whatever the MotM wants done is unfinished.


It makes no sense for these lycanthropes to be a random target for the MotM. They must have something to do with the ones that took Brokenstone Vale from my people. The MotM can't directly act against them so somehow she is sending me, someone who is vested and therefore willing, to do her dirty work. I think she wants me to destroy them or cure them. Somehow that will harm the Brokenstone Vale lycanthropes.

That is the best I got.

Now its time for Saerie to sleep and visit the Elder Primal Spirits.

 

[Manbearcat]

Your eyes flit open. You feel a weightlessness about you and soon enough, you confirm your're floating in thin air in a place with no walls, no floor, no ceiling. There is a shimmering, ephemeral quality to all of the nothing you survey. In front of you is the form of an iridescent, serpentine "thing". It shimmers and its transluscent, colorful body waves in a breeze that you're not sure you can feel. Your feet feel ground finally and your eyes confirm that you now stand on a solid surface.

As you approach, a soft voice in your mind says "...enter." Gates that you could not see before appear from the expanse of nothingness and open before you. Upon your entry, they close and disappear.

The amorphous serpent spirit regards you with no discernible anatomy (eyes, mouth, etc). "You seek the greatest of the primal elders. He seeks you as well. Though I am a mere gate-keeper so where he lies in this realm is beyond me, ascend the cliffs before you..." He moves out of the way and you see a staggeringly tall, sheer cliff-face manifest out of the wavey nothing. Its pinnacle is beyond your sight.

"There you will find Stoneroot, the spirit of the mountain. His wisdom is vast...born of earthen reach. He may guide your path."

He offers one final piece of advice as you part ways. "Your Twilight Maiden has sanctioned your journey but her reach ends at my gates. One of the great spirits here opposes her. Be ever watchful for him. He hunts you..."

The Soul Serpent disappears. It is just you and the dreamstuff of the cliffs.

Again, this is an extremely dangerous and difficult spiritual journey you are undertaking (see above). It will only be a Complexity 1 (4:3), but all of your Primary Check DCs will be Hard. Your one Secondary Check allowed to augment will remain Easy.

You're up [MENTION=6775039]Binks[/MENTION]

 

[Binks]

He moves out of the way and you see a staggeringly tall, sheer cliff-face manifest out of the wavey nothing. Its pinnacle is beyond your sight.

"There you will find Stoneroot, the spirit of the mountain. His wisdom is vast...born of earthen reach. He may guide your path."

He offers one final piece of advice as you part ways. "Your Twilight Maiden has sanctioned your journey but her reach ends at my gates. One of the great spirits here opposes her. Be ever watchful for him. He hunts you..."

The Soul Serpent disappears. It is just you and the dreamstuff of the cliffs.

Saerie has no words for the Gatekeeper, but she heeds them well. She will keep a close watch for the spirit that is hunting her. She is sure it is the Primal Beast. He must oppose her because the Maiden of the Moon has sent Saerie here on a mission against his avatars of the hunt; the werewolves.

She looks at the shimmering mountain. She reaches into a pouch that contains powdered chalk. The powders her hands, claps once and attempts to fall deeply into her mind before she scales it. She is looking for any memory she may have (or that may lie dormant within her that she is unaware of, such as the others she has been saddled with). If not a memory, then perhaps a song or a lesson by her grandmother. Something that may provide some insight into Stoneroot's Mountain in the Spirit Realm and how those spirits who have ventured here have climbed it.

[sblock]Primary Check History + 11. Using Guidance of the Past Encounter Power (free with first use of History) for 2 rolls. Rolled 16 and 5. 27 exceeds the High DC.[/sblock]

Her grandmother was never short on tales. One such tale spoke of Stoneroot's veneration of the virtue of patience in elves...and his detestation of the human tendency toward rush. The allegories her grandmother would tell were that Stoneroot would open up a path for you if you were heady enough to let the climb come to you and not impose your will upon it.

This was very difficult for Saerie...but she would try.

She grasped the first handholds of the seemingly endless ascent before her...and began.

[sblock]I don't think Mighty Sprint would have any impact on a climb such as this. However, I'm going to use my normal usage of Guidance of the Past on this one.

Primary Check Athletics + 10. Rolled 5...and 3. Not so much[/sblock]

Well, clearly no memories or haunting visions guide my way through this pickle. Urk! Let me know what happen.

 

[Manbearcat]

Well, clearly no memories or haunting visions guide my way through this pickle. Urk! Let me know what happen.

The climb, although difficult in the extreme for a mundane person, isn't terribly arduous for Saerie. However, the duration is extreme. Long before the apex is in sight, distraction sets in. Distraction of ominous dread. It compounds the dizzying effort to find a traversible path to the top.

Day/night has no meaning in this realm. Nonetheless, an odd twilight sets in abruptly and a weariness sets in as Saerie finds herself on a barren, gravelly trail which switches back repeatedly. As she passes underneath a natural archway, she senses something shadowing her on the stoney slopes above her...something that means to harm her...

You lose 2 Healing Surges. How are you going to deal with this immediate danger and how are you going to get back on track on your way to the top of the mountain?

1/4 successes

1/3 failures

1/4 hard DCs

 

[Binks]

You lose 2 Healing Surges. How are you going to deal with this immediate danger and how are you going to get back on track on your way to the top of the mountain?

As I move under the natural stone archway and further up the mountain trail, I I will use my Brokenstone-Vale-earned understanding of the geography of such places to seek out a defensible, stealthy position with a panoramic view of the mountainscape. Once there, If I can locate a sign of what is hunting me, I will carefully pick an obscured path to evade it and continue my exhaustive trek to summit.

[sblock]Primary Skill Nature + 14. Rolled 16. 30 passes the high DC.

Primary Skill Perception + 15. Rolled 16 again. 31 passes the high DC.

Secondary Skill Stealth + 12. 13 automatically passes the low DC.

Primary Skill Endurance + 11 (+ 2 for SS above). Rolled 20. 33 passes the high DC.[/sblock]

A run of luck. Let me know what happens.