Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Ballad of Hal Whitewyrm
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Paka" data-source="post: 5693023" data-attributes="member: 100"><p><strong>Chapter II</strong></p><p><strong>6th of Elient, Year of the Prince, 1357, Dale Reckoning</strong></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p><p></u>Its a cold Autumn rain at dawn as The Hunt leaves Highmoon. Shasslan the Huntress drops a final bag of gold into the inn-keepers hands and brings up the rear of the troop. The company rides in a loose formation around a two-horse drawn cart. Shasslan, Heldorm Umbrav, and the 3 priests of Tempus all have proper war-horses but the rest just ride draft horses in case one of the cart horses comes up lame.</p><p></p><p>Shasslan sidles her horse up to you and Nasharel, flips her helm’s visor up and smiles. She’s clearly cold, miserable and in her element. "Proper adventuring weather, no?</p><p></p><p>“We’re going to head west on the road for a day and then break north. There is a shepherd with a barn he’ll rent to us so we can stow the cart as long as we don’t fill his children with crazy ideas about adventuring as an alternative over sheep husbandry. We could’ve taken the road to Ordulin and then gone north across the Blackfeather Bridge but we like it out here in the wilds and we need to save time if we are going to beat the first snows.</p><p></p><p>" Laelin Blackhand has a good eye for finding places in the river to ford, so we’ll do so up near the Pool of Yeven, through Battledale and then into the Vale of Lost Voices along the Ravensroad. We’ll camp at the Standing Stone and then we’ll strike from the road, heading north into the great Cormanthor still untouched by human hands. There are trails and markers to Myth Drannor but it can be a devil of a time finding them.</p><p></p><p>“Besides entering and exiting the Myth itself, our biggest dangers are bandits along the Ravensroad and night-time in the Vale of Lost Voices. Few know it yet, but we aren’t going to Myth Drannor. Our quarry is sending a shipment of slaves just north of Myth Drannor in the ominously named Dead God’s Glade and when they get to this paradise, we’ll be waiting.</p><p></p><p>“You’ll find your rhythm with the camp. Hal, I wanted to ask you to be the company’s chronicler. Our last chronicler died in Archendale and I have no talent for such things.</p><p></p><p>“Nasharel, you and I should sit down and talk about what kind of officership you’d find rewarding. I’m honestly not sure what you can do, so we’ll talk and find you a place. In the Hunt, you’ll find that rank doesn’t mean much until life and limb are on the line. When that happens, I suggest the two of you stick to Vorass. She’s got a cool head and is used to easing recruits into our battle tactics.</p><p></p><p>“Speaking of which, a certain young lady wielding a maul came to me this morning to let me know that one of our officers was using the Z-word out in front of the Silver Shield. Know anything about that rumor, Hal?”</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u>(Before heading out of Highmoon, I make sure to leave instructions on how to reach us via messenger should Susskia need to send one after. I seal them and leave them at Silverhand House.)</p><p></p><p>I ride out of Highmoon with some trepidation in my heart; after so many years as a wanderer, to have finally found a place to call home is priceless, but I know that what I am doing is right and just. With a final glance through the cold rains that presage the coming snows, I say farewell to Highmoon until our return.</p><p></p><p>After hearing Shasslan’s words, I reply, trying to keep a hold of my horse’s slippery bridle. "You honor me with your request. I would be the Hunt’s new chronicler, yes. Our glorious tale begins today as we all but swim along the road!</p><p></p><p>“If I may, I think you will find Nasharel a very eloquent and persuasive person, as well as the best singer your ears have heard.”</p><p></p><p>I ride close to Shasslan, trying to keep my voice as low as I can and yet be heard in the rain. "As for the “rumor” you heard, ‘tis true. It was late and I was tired and I slipped. I was careless and it won’t happen again, I promise this. I had followed Vor’s whereabouts after our meeting last night to another inn, where she had been apparently having a tryst with a Cormyrean wizard for a few nights. I have to ask, if you suspect her of being a spy, why entrust her with the last watch of the night at Highmoon? Or did you have her watched as well?"</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u>“If she is a spy, she’s playing a long game, not a position where one shift on the barrel is going to matter. That said, none of us sleep well the night before we take leave…except maybe Hel, that man can sleep anywhere, anytime.</p><p></p><p>“Your excuse for the Silver Shield slip-up is not acceptable. If it happens again, I’m docking you pay. But look on the bright side, her coming to tell me about it either means she’s not a spy at all or she’s a very, very good spy.”</p><p></p><p>Before moving to the cart to check on a troublesome axel noise, Shasslan hands you the satchel for the chronicler officership. Inside is a heavy tome with a brass and wood cover, antlers etched into the front cover and the spine. Also there is ink, sand, a few feather quills and a small knife for sharpening the quills and a fold-up lecturn. Inside the front cover is a battered piece of parchment that is the Zhent-code the gnolls were carrying.</p><p></p><p>The parchment is covered in blocks of lines at different angles. The only sigil you know is the mark of clan Whitewyrm in the bottom corner.</p><p></p><p><em>Symbology, ob 5, if you want to try to decipher it.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u>I nod to Shasslan, understanding perfectly the slack she just cut me and vowing never to do it again lest I be thought a green pup.</p><p></p><p>My eyes fall upon the scroll immediately upon opening the satchel and it is a stab through my heart to see the sigil of Clan Whitewyrm in here. Could this actually be a Zhentarim message?</p><p></p><p><em>I’d like to attempt the roll, challenging as it is. Can I FoRK my Slavery-wise into the Symbology roll? My only hope then would be to roll 6s but I’ll worry about that later.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>Thumbs up on the Slavery-wise. Go for it.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u><em>Can’t edit on the mobile interface. Symbology + Slavery-wise helping: 4,5,5,6 + 1 Fate artha 2 (traitor) = 4 successes.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>No worries, I like it this way better, actually.</em></p><p></p><p>Over the next three days, Hal reads over the code, writes down pieces and breaks it down until these blocks of lines start to become patterns and the patterns turn into numbers and the numbers start to become words. Shasslan sees his progress and takes him off of his camp-related duties so that he can concentrate.</p><p></p><p>The Hunt Adventuring Company, in its first days on the road, looks for ways to occupy itself. Most adventures, it is guesswork at the weather when they reach their destination, who will have point upon entering a dungeon or who had the steamiest affair in the last town. With Hal trying to decode the message, the company has something to obsess over. Bets are made. Will he break it? Will he break it before they reach Cormanthor, the Dun Hills, Farmer Girasilde’s barn, the Standing Stones? Will his breaking it get them company into some kind of trouble?</p><p></p><p>When he is done, he knows that it was a message sent out among Bane worshippers, orc packs, gnoll murder-priests and slavers. They are looking for…some thing in particular, maybe some things having to do with the Whitewyrm clan but it isn’t clear why and it isn’t clear where they are supposed to go.</p><p></p><p>By the time you’re done, days have gone by and the group is in the Dun Hills, it is clear you can’t break the code. If you had another message, something else to compare and get more examples of their patterns, you could take another shot at it but for now, the Zhent-code remains a mystery.</p><p></p><p>Heldorm greets you once you’re done, slapping his diminishing gut, “Welcome back to the land of the living, Chronicler! You are on the barrel tonight, from the fourth bell, not that there’s a bell but you get the idea, until dawn. You’ll have Brother Vhelt to keep you company, with tales of the glory of Tempus, no doubt. You took your shot at the code and got farther than we did, that is for certain. Don’t let it vex you; the coming weather should do that all on its own. And look on the bright side, Mistress Zund made a fair amount of coin from your failed effort.”</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u>Nasharel nudges you awake for your time on watch, or as the Huntsfolk call it, time on the barrel. The cool autumn air provides deep, dreamless sleep and it seems like you just closed your eyes. “Looks like the rain has stopped, my chronicler. Word around the company is that you will reach the Farmer Girasilde’s land before noon tomorrow. Good night”</p><p></p><p>She kisses your chin and goes to sleep, getting into your already warm blankets.</p><p></p><p>Camp was made at the base of a broken obelisk in the Dun Hills. No one was quite sure what the broken monument was marking. As if the reclaim it, vines and moss are growing all over it. The horses are sleeping below the hilltop where the cart and the camp is set.</p><p></p><p>Brother Vhelt Marrim is growing his first beard. He still has the rangy, long body of a youth, having not yet grown into his shoulders. His brown hair a short priestly cut and he wears the battered armor of a Priest of Tempus.</p><p></p><p>Vhelt speaks in hushed tones, rubbing his Sembian longsword down with an oilcloth, to ward off rust during the autumn rains. “Hal, I’m glad we get to meet. I’m so curious about our company’s newest officer. If I might, when you feel up to it, I’d like to tell you about the battle I survived in which Tempus blessed me with a vision and sent me on this path. Do you have any questions or thoughts? Is this obelisk of elven make do you think?”</p><p></p><p><em>Vhelt’s an eager kid, hence the questions. But feel free to drop multiple questions, we don’t have to strictly go back and forth, post for post but can kind of create a conversation as we go. Tomorrow, it’ll be after my lunch-break before I’ll be able to post anything after the early morning wake-up/e-mail check.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u>The patterns on the Zhent-code still dancing in my head, I take my post at the barrel, envying the warm spot I just left in the bedroll. I fill my cup with warm tea from the fire and take my place next to Brother Marrim. I am still too sleepy to bear the barrage of enthusiasm from the young acolyte but somehow I manage.</p><p></p><p>“Brother Marrim, a bit slower, please; half of me is still inside my blankets. Now, let’s see…</p><p></p><p>“The obelisk. Well, is it elven? Maybe, it’s hard to tell now by the flickering firelight, and I’m afraid I did not get a good look at it when we set up camp. It could be. When the elves allowed humans to settle the borders of this land, markers were set up in various areas to define the outer edge of the elven demesne. This could be one of those markers. Yet, who knows. Perhaps it was placed here by an older people, older than the elves (I cannot help but briefly hear my cousin Nethanel’s voice in my ears rambling about ancient Mulhorandi in these parts). Maybe by the gods themselves. There is a temple of Tyr in these hills; maybe it was his warrior’s hand that pushed this marker into the ground. Or maybe it was pushed up from below by the dark elves said to crawl underneath the earth.”</p><p></p><p>I smile into my mug of tea as I see the Brother’s wide-eye stare into the darkness where the obelisk stands like a broken sentinel, and I do wonder myself who placed it there…</p><p></p><p>“So tell me, Brother Marrin, for we have still a while before dawn’s light, the story of how you took up Tempus’s armor and sword, and how you joined The Hunt.”</p><p></p><p>I make sure my mug is full of tea before the acolyte launches into his sure-to-be-long story.</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u>Marrim looks disconcerted for a little while at the thought of drow pushing monuments to the surface from the Underdark but he get’s past it and tells you his story. He delves into his life as a noble-born son…7th son of 10 children in a small barony in Sembia…</p><p></p><p>…and then a glorious battle with a nearby rival landed knight who had the nerve to…</p><p></p><p>…called by the Lord of Battles and from there, into the nearest temple…</p><p></p><p>…Tempus wrote in his Battletome…</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, somewhere out in the darkness, something hungers for more than the hill goats it survives on and catches a wiff of elf-flesh.</p><p></p><p><em>Will roll, ob 1, to stay awake.</em></p><p></p><p><em>Perception, ob 4 to notice the troll sneaking towards camp. The troll rolled 2 successes on its stealth test. I think that would count as a test towards Observation but I might be wrong.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u><em>Will Test: 1,4,5,2 = 2 successes</em></p><p></p><p>It takes all of my willpower to stay awake during the entire recitation and keep a semblance of interest so as to not hurt the feelings of the young cleric. More than a few times I find myself wishing that instead of tea I was having some of that strong, dark, aromatic brew said to come from newly-discovered islands far off the shores of the west. It could certainly perk you up with but a sip!</p><p></p><p><em>In order to make this a test towards Observation the ob would have to be doubled to 4. I think I will play it safe here and go with straight up Perception. What I as a player perceive (no pun intended) to be is that Observation would tell me what I see, where Perception tells me there is something out there. That’s more up to you, though, but I’m cool rolling with that idea in mind.</em></p><p><em>Perception Test: 1,3,6,5 = 2 successes</em></p><p></p><p>Somewhere along the trip to the nearest temple of Tempus and the paean of deeds read from the Battletome I realize that the hairs on the back of my neck are standing and I’ve a strange feeling of being watched… and not by a common owl zone out a bit.</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>EDIT: Daniel, maybe I wasn’t clear but these rolls are taking place during your watch with the young priest. Sorry if that was unclear.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>I had already doubled the ob, taking that into account. You’re way off on Observation, check it out, BWG, page 286. You hit the ob and I believe you take a check towards learning Observation, a very useful skill indeed.</em></p><p></p><p>“…and as Tempus stated, ‘If your enemy is of choleric temper, irritate him…’”</p><p></p><p>You notice a pair of eyes, reflecting moonlight among some rocks. When the creature curls up, it looks like just another boulder but when its eyes scan the company – no stone reflects moonlight like that. From there it is just a matter of making sense of the rest of it: the claws, the long green nose, matted hair on its head the color of dark moss.</p><p></p><p>“…it was quite clear that I had a destiny, that the Foe-hammer himself had plans for me…”</p><p></p><p>Its a troll, a young one, from the looks of it. It might be seven feet tall but definitely not the eight foot or more of the full grown bulls. It is looking at Narashel and it is drooling in anticipation of fresh elf-flesh.</p><p></p><p>“…and so, I’m an acolyte of Tempus, under the guidance of the wise Father of Battles…”</p><p></p><p><em>Daniel, I totally messed this up.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Hold on, you missed the Perception test. I thought it was 2 but its 4.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>My bad. Let’s do this again. Hold on.</em></p><p></p><p>“…and as Tempus stated, ‘If your enemy is of choleric temper…’”</p><p></p><p>Brother Vhelt’s throat erputs mid-sentence, and he falls to the ground, quietly gurgling. Beside you is a young troll, seven feet tall, drooling in anticipation of an elf-flesh meal. But that is not what is eery about it. The troll’s eeriness is in how very quiet it approached. It skulked out of the hills, staying close to nearby boulders, at times even pretending to be a boulder until it was close enough to quiet Vhelt and attempt to silence you before taking its meal.</p><p></p><p><em>Steel test, your ob is your Hesitation. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />, we didn’t calculate your Steel, did we? Well, now’s the time. I’ll e-mail you the Steel questions and we’ll suss it out.</em></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Player:</u></p><p><em>I calculated Steel based on the questions in the Character Burner section. Started with B3: no fighter-type LPs, not severely wounded, not killed more than once (though, maybe as a duelist in Raven’s Bluff this could’ve happened, but not sure), yes enslaved but Will is 4 so no change, no sheltered life, not Gifted nor female and ineligible for all the stat bonuses = B3.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>Whether you killed more than once is entirely up to you. If you aren’t sure, sounds like he didn’t. Maybe one duelist died a few days later and the rest of the duels were to the first blood? Its an interesting way to learn something about yer character, I always thought.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u><em>As I created him, it didn’t strike me that he would’ve, no. Maybe some died afterwards, very possible, especially opponents faced during the escape from slavery or some other harrowing moment, but out-and-out killing, no, I think one, yes, but not more than that. I’ll leave the killing for in-game. So, B3 it is.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>Your Hesitation is 6 and you are rolling 3 dice, ob 6. Don’t forget that dice in Steel tests explode. BWG, page 361.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u><em>Ok, here we go:</em></p><p><em>Steel Test: 6,5,3 → 5 = 3 successes</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Ah…</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>You have choices, always choices: Stand and Drool, Fall Prone and Beg for Mercy, Run Screaming. The effects of these things will last for those moments, 3 scripted actions in the Fight! mechanics until you snap out of it.</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player:</p><p></u><em>Stand and Drool it is. How does this interact with my Instinct should the troll threaten Nasharel? Also, yay, Fight!</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM:</p><p></u><em>I’m going to say that after the Stand and Rool is up you will be able to start in an Aggressive stance. Okay, so here’s how this works. Technically, we’ve started a Fight! but because of the failed roll, you are starting at a grave disadvantage. For the first 3 volleys of the Fight!, you are Standing and Drooling and the Troll will be free to script at will for the first exchange (exchange = 3 volleys, as you have a 3 reflects, you could script one action per volley).</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Charge – Assess – Stuff Nasharel into a sack</em></p><p></p><p>The troll charges you, knocking you off of your feet with its bony forearms, knocking your breath from your lungs. It stops, keeping an eye on you but slowly looking around the camp to see if someone is stirring, glancing down at young Vhelt as he gurgles out his last breaths. The monster smiles, stepping over the priest as if he’s a log. It sniffs at the air until it reaches Nasharel, sleeping where you had slept, only a little while ago.</p><p></p><p>Its movement is fast and practiced, swooping her into its massive sack. You can hear her muffled scream as the troll sets itself to run out of the camp and into the dark hills.</p><p></p><p><em>If you don’t get up for your first two actions (BWG, page 455), you will be at a terrible disadvantage. Yelling does not count as an action, its FREE!…one syllable per volley. I will script his next exchange, we’ll compare scripts and we’ll go from there. Might be a good time to look over the Fight! rules. Take yer time; learning at your leisure is a bonus of the play-by-post forum medium, I think.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Alright, so first thing’s first, we have to figure out who has the advantage. Check out vying for position on page 436. The troll is disengaging, wanting to get out of there while the getting’s good. If you are engaging, then we need a versus test, even while you’re down, to note that you’re trying to keep this thing near you. +1 to your ob, vs the troll’s speed roll. Let me know what you roll.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Paka, post: 5693023, member: 100"] [B]Chapter II 6th of Elient, Year of the Prince, 1357, Dale Reckoning[/B] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Its a cold Autumn rain at dawn as The Hunt leaves Highmoon. Shasslan the Huntress drops a final bag of gold into the inn-keepers hands and brings up the rear of the troop. The company rides in a loose formation around a two-horse drawn cart. Shasslan, Heldorm Umbrav, and the 3 priests of Tempus all have proper war-horses but the rest just ride draft horses in case one of the cart horses comes up lame. Shasslan sidles her horse up to you and Nasharel, flips her helm’s visor up and smiles. She’s clearly cold, miserable and in her element. "Proper adventuring weather, no? “We’re going to head west on the road for a day and then break north. There is a shepherd with a barn he’ll rent to us so we can stow the cart as long as we don’t fill his children with crazy ideas about adventuring as an alternative over sheep husbandry. We could’ve taken the road to Ordulin and then gone north across the Blackfeather Bridge but we like it out here in the wilds and we need to save time if we are going to beat the first snows. " Laelin Blackhand has a good eye for finding places in the river to ford, so we’ll do so up near the Pool of Yeven, through Battledale and then into the Vale of Lost Voices along the Ravensroad. We’ll camp at the Standing Stone and then we’ll strike from the road, heading north into the great Cormanthor still untouched by human hands. There are trails and markers to Myth Drannor but it can be a devil of a time finding them. “Besides entering and exiting the Myth itself, our biggest dangers are bandits along the Ravensroad and night-time in the Vale of Lost Voices. Few know it yet, but we aren’t going to Myth Drannor. Our quarry is sending a shipment of slaves just north of Myth Drannor in the ominously named Dead God’s Glade and when they get to this paradise, we’ll be waiting. “You’ll find your rhythm with the camp. Hal, I wanted to ask you to be the company’s chronicler. Our last chronicler died in Archendale and I have no talent for such things. “Nasharel, you and I should sit down and talk about what kind of officership you’d find rewarding. I’m honestly not sure what you can do, so we’ll talk and find you a place. In the Hunt, you’ll find that rank doesn’t mean much until life and limb are on the line. When that happens, I suggest the two of you stick to Vorass. She’s got a cool head and is used to easing recruits into our battle tactics. “Speaking of which, a certain young lady wielding a maul came to me this morning to let me know that one of our officers was using the Z-word out in front of the Silver Shield. Know anything about that rumor, Hal?” [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] (Before heading out of Highmoon, I make sure to leave instructions on how to reach us via messenger should Susskia need to send one after. I seal them and leave them at Silverhand House.) I ride out of Highmoon with some trepidation in my heart; after so many years as a wanderer, to have finally found a place to call home is priceless, but I know that what I am doing is right and just. With a final glance through the cold rains that presage the coming snows, I say farewell to Highmoon until our return. After hearing Shasslan’s words, I reply, trying to keep a hold of my horse’s slippery bridle. "You honor me with your request. I would be the Hunt’s new chronicler, yes. Our glorious tale begins today as we all but swim along the road! “If I may, I think you will find Nasharel a very eloquent and persuasive person, as well as the best singer your ears have heard.” I ride close to Shasslan, trying to keep my voice as low as I can and yet be heard in the rain. "As for the “rumor” you heard, ‘tis true. It was late and I was tired and I slipped. I was careless and it won’t happen again, I promise this. I had followed Vor’s whereabouts after our meeting last night to another inn, where she had been apparently having a tryst with a Cormyrean wizard for a few nights. I have to ask, if you suspect her of being a spy, why entrust her with the last watch of the night at Highmoon? Or did you have her watched as well?" [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] “If she is a spy, she’s playing a long game, not a position where one shift on the barrel is going to matter. That said, none of us sleep well the night before we take leave…except maybe Hel, that man can sleep anywhere, anytime. “Your excuse for the Silver Shield slip-up is not acceptable. If it happens again, I’m docking you pay. But look on the bright side, her coming to tell me about it either means she’s not a spy at all or she’s a very, very good spy.” Before moving to the cart to check on a troublesome axel noise, Shasslan hands you the satchel for the chronicler officership. Inside is a heavy tome with a brass and wood cover, antlers etched into the front cover and the spine. Also there is ink, sand, a few feather quills and a small knife for sharpening the quills and a fold-up lecturn. Inside the front cover is a battered piece of parchment that is the Zhent-code the gnolls were carrying. The parchment is covered in blocks of lines at different angles. The only sigil you know is the mark of clan Whitewyrm in the bottom corner. [I]Symbology, ob 5, if you want to try to decipher it.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] I nod to Shasslan, understanding perfectly the slack she just cut me and vowing never to do it again lest I be thought a green pup. My eyes fall upon the scroll immediately upon opening the satchel and it is a stab through my heart to see the sigil of Clan Whitewyrm in here. Could this actually be a Zhentarim message? [I]I’d like to attempt the roll, challenging as it is. Can I FoRK my Slavery-wise into the Symbology roll? My only hope then would be to roll 6s but I’ll worry about that later.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Thumbs up on the Slavery-wise. Go for it.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Can’t edit on the mobile interface. Symbology + Slavery-wise helping: 4,5,5,6 + 1 Fate artha 2 (traitor) = 4 successes.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]No worries, I like it this way better, actually.[/I] Over the next three days, Hal reads over the code, writes down pieces and breaks it down until these blocks of lines start to become patterns and the patterns turn into numbers and the numbers start to become words. Shasslan sees his progress and takes him off of his camp-related duties so that he can concentrate. The Hunt Adventuring Company, in its first days on the road, looks for ways to occupy itself. Most adventures, it is guesswork at the weather when they reach their destination, who will have point upon entering a dungeon or who had the steamiest affair in the last town. With Hal trying to decode the message, the company has something to obsess over. Bets are made. Will he break it? Will he break it before they reach Cormanthor, the Dun Hills, Farmer Girasilde’s barn, the Standing Stones? Will his breaking it get them company into some kind of trouble? When he is done, he knows that it was a message sent out among Bane worshippers, orc packs, gnoll murder-priests and slavers. They are looking for…some thing in particular, maybe some things having to do with the Whitewyrm clan but it isn’t clear why and it isn’t clear where they are supposed to go. By the time you’re done, days have gone by and the group is in the Dun Hills, it is clear you can’t break the code. If you had another message, something else to compare and get more examples of their patterns, you could take another shot at it but for now, the Zhent-code remains a mystery. Heldorm greets you once you’re done, slapping his diminishing gut, “Welcome back to the land of the living, Chronicler! You are on the barrel tonight, from the fourth bell, not that there’s a bell but you get the idea, until dawn. You’ll have Brother Vhelt to keep you company, with tales of the glory of Tempus, no doubt. You took your shot at the code and got farther than we did, that is for certain. Don’t let it vex you; the coming weather should do that all on its own. And look on the bright side, Mistress Zund made a fair amount of coin from your failed effort.” [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] Nasharel nudges you awake for your time on watch, or as the Huntsfolk call it, time on the barrel. The cool autumn air provides deep, dreamless sleep and it seems like you just closed your eyes. “Looks like the rain has stopped, my chronicler. Word around the company is that you will reach the Farmer Girasilde’s land before noon tomorrow. Good night” She kisses your chin and goes to sleep, getting into your already warm blankets. Camp was made at the base of a broken obelisk in the Dun Hills. No one was quite sure what the broken monument was marking. As if the reclaim it, vines and moss are growing all over it. The horses are sleeping below the hilltop where the cart and the camp is set. Brother Vhelt Marrim is growing his first beard. He still has the rangy, long body of a youth, having not yet grown into his shoulders. His brown hair a short priestly cut and he wears the battered armor of a Priest of Tempus. Vhelt speaks in hushed tones, rubbing his Sembian longsword down with an oilcloth, to ward off rust during the autumn rains. “Hal, I’m glad we get to meet. I’m so curious about our company’s newest officer. If I might, when you feel up to it, I’d like to tell you about the battle I survived in which Tempus blessed me with a vision and sent me on this path. Do you have any questions or thoughts? Is this obelisk of elven make do you think?” [I]Vhelt’s an eager kid, hence the questions. But feel free to drop multiple questions, we don’t have to strictly go back and forth, post for post but can kind of create a conversation as we go. Tomorrow, it’ll be after my lunch-break before I’ll be able to post anything after the early morning wake-up/e-mail check.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] The patterns on the Zhent-code still dancing in my head, I take my post at the barrel, envying the warm spot I just left in the bedroll. I fill my cup with warm tea from the fire and take my place next to Brother Marrim. I am still too sleepy to bear the barrage of enthusiasm from the young acolyte but somehow I manage. “Brother Marrim, a bit slower, please; half of me is still inside my blankets. Now, let’s see… “The obelisk. Well, is it elven? Maybe, it’s hard to tell now by the flickering firelight, and I’m afraid I did not get a good look at it when we set up camp. It could be. When the elves allowed humans to settle the borders of this land, markers were set up in various areas to define the outer edge of the elven demesne. This could be one of those markers. Yet, who knows. Perhaps it was placed here by an older people, older than the elves (I cannot help but briefly hear my cousin Nethanel’s voice in my ears rambling about ancient Mulhorandi in these parts). Maybe by the gods themselves. There is a temple of Tyr in these hills; maybe it was his warrior’s hand that pushed this marker into the ground. Or maybe it was pushed up from below by the dark elves said to crawl underneath the earth.” I smile into my mug of tea as I see the Brother’s wide-eye stare into the darkness where the obelisk stands like a broken sentinel, and I do wonder myself who placed it there… “So tell me, Brother Marrin, for we have still a while before dawn’s light, the story of how you took up Tempus’s armor and sword, and how you joined The Hunt.” I make sure my mug is full of tea before the acolyte launches into his sure-to-be-long story. [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] Marrim looks disconcerted for a little while at the thought of drow pushing monuments to the surface from the Underdark but he get’s past it and tells you his story. He delves into his life as a noble-born son…7th son of 10 children in a small barony in Sembia… …and then a glorious battle with a nearby rival landed knight who had the nerve to… …called by the Lord of Battles and from there, into the nearest temple… …Tempus wrote in his Battletome… Meanwhile, somewhere out in the darkness, something hungers for more than the hill goats it survives on and catches a wiff of elf-flesh. [I]Will roll, ob 1, to stay awake.[/I] [I]Perception, ob 4 to notice the troll sneaking towards camp. The troll rolled 2 successes on its stealth test. I think that would count as a test towards Observation but I might be wrong.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Will Test: 1,4,5,2 = 2 successes[/I] It takes all of my willpower to stay awake during the entire recitation and keep a semblance of interest so as to not hurt the feelings of the young cleric. More than a few times I find myself wishing that instead of tea I was having some of that strong, dark, aromatic brew said to come from newly-discovered islands far off the shores of the west. It could certainly perk you up with but a sip! [I]In order to make this a test towards Observation the ob would have to be doubled to 4. I think I will play it safe here and go with straight up Perception. What I as a player perceive (no pun intended) to be is that Observation would tell me what I see, where Perception tells me there is something out there. That’s more up to you, though, but I’m cool rolling with that idea in mind. Perception Test: 1,3,6,5 = 2 successes[/I] Somewhere along the trip to the nearest temple of Tempus and the paean of deeds read from the Battletome I realize that the hairs on the back of my neck are standing and I’ve a strange feeling of being watched… and not by a common owl zone out a bit. [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]EDIT: Daniel, maybe I wasn’t clear but these rolls are taking place during your watch with the young priest. Sorry if that was unclear. I had already doubled the ob, taking that into account. You’re way off on Observation, check it out, BWG, page 286. You hit the ob and I believe you take a check towards learning Observation, a very useful skill indeed.[/I] “…and as Tempus stated, ‘If your enemy is of choleric temper, irritate him…’” You notice a pair of eyes, reflecting moonlight among some rocks. When the creature curls up, it looks like just another boulder but when its eyes scan the company – no stone reflects moonlight like that. From there it is just a matter of making sense of the rest of it: the claws, the long green nose, matted hair on its head the color of dark moss. “…it was quite clear that I had a destiny, that the Foe-hammer himself had plans for me…” Its a troll, a young one, from the looks of it. It might be seven feet tall but definitely not the eight foot or more of the full grown bulls. It is looking at Narashel and it is drooling in anticipation of fresh elf-flesh. “…and so, I’m an acolyte of Tempus, under the guidance of the wise Father of Battles…” [I]Daniel, I totally messed this up. Hold on, you missed the Perception test. I thought it was 2 but its 4. My bad. Let’s do this again. Hold on.[/I] “…and as Tempus stated, ‘If your enemy is of choleric temper…’” Brother Vhelt’s throat erputs mid-sentence, and he falls to the ground, quietly gurgling. Beside you is a young troll, seven feet tall, drooling in anticipation of an elf-flesh meal. But that is not what is eery about it. The troll’s eeriness is in how very quiet it approached. It skulked out of the hills, staying close to nearby boulders, at times even pretending to be a boulder until it was close enough to quiet Vhelt and attempt to silence you before taking its meal. [I]Steel test, your ob is your Hesitation. :):):):), we didn’t calculate your Steel, did we? Well, now’s the time. I’ll e-mail you the Steel questions and we’ll suss it out.[/I] [CENTER][u]Player:[/u][/CENTER] [I]I calculated Steel based on the questions in the Character Burner section. Started with B3: no fighter-type LPs, not severely wounded, not killed more than once (though, maybe as a duelist in Raven’s Bluff this could’ve happened, but not sure), yes enslaved but Will is 4 so no change, no sheltered life, not Gifted nor female and ineligible for all the stat bonuses = B3.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Whether you killed more than once is entirely up to you. If you aren’t sure, sounds like he didn’t. Maybe one duelist died a few days later and the rest of the duels were to the first blood? Its an interesting way to learn something about yer character, I always thought.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] [I]As I created him, it didn’t strike me that he would’ve, no. Maybe some died afterwards, very possible, especially opponents faced during the escape from slavery or some other harrowing moment, but out-and-out killing, no, I think one, yes, but not more than that. I’ll leave the killing for in-game. So, B3 it is.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Your Hesitation is 6 and you are rolling 3 dice, ob 6. Don’t forget that dice in Steel tests explode. BWG, page 361.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Ok, here we go: Steel Test: 6,5,3 → 5 = 3 successes Ah…[/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]You have choices, always choices: Stand and Drool, Fall Prone and Beg for Mercy, Run Screaming. The effects of these things will last for those moments, 3 scripted actions in the Fight! mechanics until you snap out of it.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player:[/CENTER][/U] [I]Stand and Drool it is. How does this interact with my Instinct should the troll threaten Nasharel? Also, yay, Fight![/I] [U][CENTER]GM:[/CENTER][/U] [I]I’m going to say that after the Stand and Rool is up you will be able to start in an Aggressive stance. Okay, so here’s how this works. Technically, we’ve started a Fight! but because of the failed roll, you are starting at a grave disadvantage. For the first 3 volleys of the Fight!, you are Standing and Drooling and the Troll will be free to script at will for the first exchange (exchange = 3 volleys, as you have a 3 reflects, you could script one action per volley). Charge – Assess – Stuff Nasharel into a sack[/I] The troll charges you, knocking you off of your feet with its bony forearms, knocking your breath from your lungs. It stops, keeping an eye on you but slowly looking around the camp to see if someone is stirring, glancing down at young Vhelt as he gurgles out his last breaths. The monster smiles, stepping over the priest as if he’s a log. It sniffs at the air until it reaches Nasharel, sleeping where you had slept, only a little while ago. Its movement is fast and practiced, swooping her into its massive sack. You can hear her muffled scream as the troll sets itself to run out of the camp and into the dark hills. [I]If you don’t get up for your first two actions (BWG, page 455), you will be at a terrible disadvantage. Yelling does not count as an action, its FREE!…one syllable per volley. I will script his next exchange, we’ll compare scripts and we’ll go from there. Might be a good time to look over the Fight! rules. Take yer time; learning at your leisure is a bonus of the play-by-post forum medium, I think. Alright, so first thing’s first, we have to figure out who has the advantage. Check out vying for position on page 436. The troll is disengaging, wanting to get out of there while the getting’s good. If you are engaging, then we need a versus test, even while you’re down, to note that you’re trying to keep this thing near you. +1 to your ob, vs the troll’s speed roll. Let me know what you roll.[/I] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Ballad of Hal Whitewyrm
Top