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Story Hour
The Ballad of Hal Whitewyrm
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<blockquote data-quote="Paka" data-source="post: 5712830" data-attributes="member: 100"><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p><p></u>“Dynasty? More like a fallen lineage. My slaves will bring it in to the tower’s ground level parlor. I’ll meet you there once I have cleared up some business and we can discuss price.</p><p></p><p>“A tapestry would be a fine prize indeed. Let’s see what you have when I get back. We have free craftsman among our masons and they will rob you blind if I’m not there to have a glance over there once in a while.</p><p></p><p>“I am Xerev. Perhaps you have heard of me. I’m the wizard who orchestrated the fall of the Citadel of the Raven. My star in Zhentil Keep is rising, so if this is a profitable exchange, we can look forward to more deals in the future.”</p><p></p><p>He offers his hand for shaking.</p><p></p><p>Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, from the Moonshae Isles pick up the tapestry and take it into the tower.</p><p></p><p>Reltav is in a conversation with a young man and from the family resemblance, you can safely assume that it is her brother.</p><p></p><p>When (and if) you shake his hand and introduce yourself, he takes his leave and you are left to your own devices. Reltav is busy arguing with her brother and Zhentil Keep is laid out before you, not having noticed your return.</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p><p></u>I shake his hand, strong and firm, a tad too strong and firm, and nod when he mentions our later meeting to discuss price, still not saying any words. My eyes fall on the foreigner children taking the tapestry and I hold myself back when they seem to struggle lest I appear too concerned or make them appear too weak and make their life more miserable than I already know it is.</p><p></p><p>I glance around the area, filling in the gaps of the quick mental map I made upon our descent, taking note of how many guards are where, wielding what. I let my gaze fall upon the figure of Xerez as he walks away and quickly look elsewhere when I feel my rage boiling too high.</p><p></p><p>I spy a tavern two blocks down from the tower, The Hanging Halfling (typical Zhentish sense of humor), and my stomach reminds me that food must be had even when standing in the middle of a rotten den of evil.</p><p></p><p>“Reltav,” I say at the first break in her conversation with whom appears to be her brother. “I shall be at the tavern yonder, if you need to find me for discussing coin or having a meal.” I walk away without waiting for her answer, switching back to a personality I thought I’d left behind in the streets of Raven’s Bluff.</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p><p></u>The Hanging Halfling serves stew with mysterious meat. The tavern is filled with Thayan sailors, Bane Pilgrims, and Blackguard. True to its name, the servers are all halflings with thick iron slave collars. There is a gallows out front, no doubt they hang a slave when they attempt an escape or spill stew on the wrong patron.</p><p></p><p>When you are done with your first warm meal since Highmoon, one of Xerez’s guards approachs, a half-orc with silver over one of his tusk/teeth.</p><p></p><p>“Xerez summons you, bounty hunter.”</p><p></p><p>Toad snuffles at you from his pen, familiar with you from the days of travel.</p><p></p><p>The guard leads you past the two guards at he front door, to the ground floor of the tower, where there is a table, a beam of wood for locking the front door, some maps and the stairs going up. There are two doors, the guarded front entrance from which you came and the doorway to the kitchen. Braziers keep the autumn chill off. Reltav is by the door and her brother is in the room, prodding the coal with the end of his staff.</p><p></p><p>The guard leaves you.</p><p></p><p>Reltav’s brother says, “Are we really doing this? Really?”</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p><p></u>I glance at Reltav to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing. Seeing her slight nod and the look of fear in her brother’s face I realize we are.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, indeed we are. And it is now or never. If you’re in, you’re bound by your sister’s blood vow.”</p><p></p><p>Checking my weapons, loosening the ties on the scabbard, and uttering a silent prayer to Tymora for luck, to Tempus for mettle and to Corellon for immortal guidance, I stride towards Xerez’s private chambers, and toward destiny. Come what may…</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p><p></u>As you begin to walk up the stairs, Xerez walks in the front door with the two slaves, whom he orders to put tapestry on the table, over everything else and begins to conduct business right there in the main room, never intending to invite the likes of you to his private sanctum. He looks over the tapestry and does not hide how impressed he is.</p><p></p><p>“This is a splendid find, bounty hunter. What did you say your name was again? Anyway, I’m impressed. It is indeed a tapestry about the beginnings of the Whitewyrm clan.</p><p></p><p>I can give you six hundred gold pieces, minted in Sembia, or I can give you double that in slave vouchers and you can head to the market tomorrow and choose your lot. For tonight, you may spend the night in the barrcks, as you don’t want to be in the streets of Zhentil Keep alone unless you have arcane skills and a hard reputation or else you will find yourself at the mercy of the press gangs. I wouldn’t want a relic finder with a fine eye like yours to be at the oar of a Thayan galley or moving bricks in the Citadel of the Raven."</p><p></p><p>Reltav has closed the front door but has not yet put the bar over it to lock it, but she is clearly in position to do so. Her brother is in the same position to do so by the kitchen door. There are no guards.</p><p></p><p>The moment is pregnant with murder and conclusion. Then there is a hard knock on the door and the harsh voice of a messenger states, “Xerez, Lord Manshoon and his retinue approaches; they wish to have words with you concerning construction at the Raven.”</p><p></p><p>“Of course! Reltav, why is the door closed? Are you catching a chill after your week in the skies?</p><p></p><p>Well, bounty hunter? I have no time for haggling. My Lord approaches. Take it or leave it."</p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p><p></u>Bane’s putrefact balls…</p><p></p><p>A slight nod, a flick of the wrist, the drawing of breath in anticipation of the lounge. Out comes the sword, out comes the quiet rage that fuels my righteous bladed thrust.</p><p></p><p>Guide my sword, Tempus!</p><p></p><p><em>Fight!</em></p><p></p><p><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p><p></u>Xerez eyes grow wide when he sees you approach sword in hand but he marshals his shock and attempts to get into a position enough away from your sword’s reach so that he can cast a spell.</p><p></p><p><em>Xerez made his Steel test with tons of successes. Now we roll for engagement (BWG, 429-431). He is trying to cast a spell that has Polearm range, so he get’s a +1D for the roll. After that, we script the first volleys.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Make sense?</em></p><p></p><p>Player<u><p style="text-align: center"></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Engage Test (B3 Speed): 5,5,5 – 3 successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Engage Test (B4 Speed + 1D for weapon length advantage, his spell counts as a polearm): 4, 4, 3, 5, 5 – 4 Successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Advantage: Xerez, +1 ob to all of your attack actions. Aaand, I’m scripting.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><strong>Interlude: The Hunt</strong></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Battle-father Crommlar Muriel was taking stock of his comrades. He knew that the ranks, the plans and the discipline of war disintegrated in the chaotic face of Tempus. Pitting the Red-Wizards of Thay with their gnollish shock troops against the trolls and the human mercenaries had been difficult but worth the effort. Vorass the Maul had suggested turning their enemies against one another and picking off what remained.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Still, Tempus sent his trials as a group of Bane-guards came upon them and it wasn’t long before foulwing air cavalry were swooping down on their heads. Using illusions and the cover of the forest, Shasslan had gotten them through it with a minimum of casualties.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“Captain, where’s Vorass? Her plan was impeccable,” Crommlar asked.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Shasslan’s face grew grim. “She didn’t make it, Battle-Father. She was cut down. I must gather the rest. I saw a few head beyond the glade towards the Myth and don’t want them to wander to close to…”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Crommlar cut off her sentence, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “Shasslan, what did you do? You and Vor were together…what happened?”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Shasslan the Huntress bit back tears and put the visor of her helmet up, partly so that her hunts-brother could hear her clearly and partly so that he could see the pain in her face. "What happened, brother? What always happens. There was a terrible deed that needed doing in order for us to keep our oaths, a deed that might be a stain upon my very soul but I did it anyway. Had I done it when I had intended, perhaps Hal and Laelin would be safe and with us rather than Powers-knows-where doing only Bane-knows-what if they are even alive at all. They’ve been gone too long, far too long. Odds are the Zhentarim have them even now and then what, Cromm?</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“What happened, Cromm? The Hunt demanded a sacrifice and I made it. What happened? We have a traitor amongst us, someone who told the Black Network that we were here and I thought I knew who it was, so I acted.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Crommlar’s face grew grim. “When we winter, we will need to call the officers and discuss this, captain.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Shasslan nodded. “I would expect no less.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Vorass the Maul was buried in full armor just south of the Dead God’s Glade, as per The Hunt’s charter.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u> </p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Volley 1: Cast Spell / Cast Spell</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 2: Avoid (Scream: GUARDS! GUARDS!)</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 3: Cast Spell</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Volley 1: CHARGE (Scream: LOCK DOWN!)</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 2: CHARGE</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 3: Strike</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Charge Test (B4 Power + 1D): 4,4,5,5,4 – 5 successes!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Shevarash smiles on our hunt.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>Hal runs full tilt at Xerez and the mad wizard begins casting the spell he always leads with, The Fear.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Reltav and her brother are busy barring the doors, unable to help or hinder.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sorcery 6 = 6, 6, 4, 2, 6, 1 = the sixes explode = 1, 6, 5 = six explodes = 2. 6 successes. The extra successes do him no good with this spell. Make a Steel check, as do his apprentices. The Charge occurs at the exact same moment, so roll that and then roll the Steel check, ob is your hesitation.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>He rolls for his tax (to see how physically demanding the spell was) and makes it with 3 successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>I’m honestly not sure if the spell goes off at the exact same moment or if you interrupted it. Hmf. Either way, with your successful Charge, I believe you took the Advantage.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Xerez hits the ground in a lump even as his spell is released into the air, causing cold fear to grip everyone gazing on the wizard. Reltav and her brother check their resolve at the same moment as Hal.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Steel Test (B3): 4,6,6 + 1 Fate artha → 4,4 = 4 successes. Hesitation is 6, so 2 actions lost while I Stand and Drool.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Darkness overtakes me. Oppressing rock at both sides, rank smell of stagnant air filling my lungs. The sounds of whips scarring living flesh assault my ears. I feel manacles on my wrists, shackles around my ankles. I cannot move, I cannot think. I am alone in the dungeons once more, a child of 10, of 8, of 6, alone in these caves, alone in the world. Where is my mother?</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>What does Hal see or what is going through his mind as the Fear takes him? Could you describe that for me? Does he Stand and Drool? Beg for Mercy or Run?</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The apprentices begin screaming and crying, clawing at the doors but unable to compose themselves enough to open them. They are in the throes of the Mad Wizard’s magic.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Xerez casts his second spell from the ground. He exerts his willpower on the door and it explodes, leaving grooves in the wood. The shards fly towards the half-elf.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sorcery 6 = 4, 2, 6, 4, 2, 1. Sixes explode = 5. +1 ob for being on the ground. 3 Successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em><strike>He makes his tax roll.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Die of Fate for damage = 3. The spell as a VA of 3, so I’m assuming this goes right through your armor. You’d need 3 successes on an armor test to have a prayer. You take a B5 wound. This is a light wound, provoking another Steel test.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>All tests from here on out are at -1D.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The wood rips through Hal’s armor, embedding into his flesh.</strike></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>Xerez scurries away on the floor, still anticipating an attack that does not come. He screams, “GUARDS! GUARDS!” and then casts another spell. <strike>Seeing how Shards ripped into Hal, Xerez casts it again.</strike></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Desperate to cut Hal down before his apprentices regain their composure, Xerez casts again.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sorcerery 6 = 4, 5, 6, 5, 6, 5. Sixes explode = 1, 1. +1 ob for being on the ground. 5 Successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Tax test = only 3 successes, so that is 2 dice off his Health. He felt that effort.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em><strike>Die of Fate = 4…he uses his 3 extra successes to add 1 to the Die of Fate roll, putting it up to 5. That is a B7 wound, a midi wound. This takes your Speed down to 0, making Hal unconscious.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The spell takes its toll from Xerez, sapping away his body’s constitution but it is all worth it, as Hal falls unconscious. The Wizard gets up off of the floor and looks down at the half-elf he knew as a boy.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“Welcome back to Zhentil Keep, Hal Whitewyrm.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>He turns to his apprentices, hoping to get this violent chore finished before Lord Manshoon arrives.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The shards of wood fail to penetrate Hal’s armor.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>And we’re on to the second exchange, let’s script our next volleys. You still have the advantage from the successful Charge.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The fear falls away from the eyes of Reltav and her brother. The tide has turned.</strike></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Armor Test from exploding wood splints (B3): 6,4,5 – 3 successes. Booyah!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Armor Test from second Shards spell (B3) + 1 Persona artha: 4,2,6,6 + 1 Fate artha → 5,4 – 5 successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Steel Test (B3): 4,6,4 → 6 → 4 = 5 successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Exchange Two:</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 1: Strike.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 2: Strike!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 3: STRIKE!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Volley 1: Cast Spell / Cast Spell</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 2: Avoid</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Volley 3: Cast Spell</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>3 Successes for advantage – 2 for being on the floor still. 1 success only..</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Positioning Test (B3 Speed + 1D advantage last exchange + 2D Apprentices): 4,5,6,6,2,5 = 5 successes. Since Xerez’s spell is Weapon Length: Polearm, there is no effect to our actions, so we can move on to the scripting we already did.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sword Test (B4 + 2D App): 1,2,2,3,1,2. Ack!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>I swing my sword at the mad wizard. His magical attack may have failed to damage me directly, but in tensing to withstand the damage that never came, I must’ve pinched a nerve. As my arm draws the sword downward, I feel it wobble slightly. I silently call on Tymora to have her fortune smile on me that this still be a good strike upon the poisonous snake of a man.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>I call on Tymora to help me! Re-rolling Sword Test (B4 + 2D App): 4,6,4,5,1,6 + 1 Fate artha → 4,4 = 7 successes! Thank you, Lady of Fortune.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>Xerez begins casting another spell, using only the fastest spells in his arsenal in order to compete with the blades all around him. He casts Shards once again, causing the wood from the front door weaken as the guards begin to smash it with their armored shoulders.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sorcery 6 = 1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 4. Sixes explode = 4, 1, 4. +1 ob for being on the floor. 5 Successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Tax = 3 successes, so a further -1 die, -4 total to his Forte of 5.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Die of Fate = 6, Ouch…B7 damage unless you make an ob 4 armor check.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Xerez looks exhausted. The toll of casting this many spells in rapid succession is coming due.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Your sword strike hits at the exact same moment. Xerez has NO armor. Bring it!</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>“FOR MY MOTHER!”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Decency, poise, goodness—all drain away from me. At this moment all that exists is the rage that has built up for fifteen years—fifteen motherless years. There is no tower, no apprentices, no guards, no blackened Zhentish sky, no cursed ground beneath: there is only the mad wizard Xerez and me, Hal Stephaln Whitewyrm. And my sword…</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The slashing motion turns into a piercing thrust at the very last second, just like the one-eyed duelist taught me back in the Bluff. It always catches the enemy by surprise. And Xerez is no exception. He tries to kick away my blade but it’s too late; the sword is not where he expected it and instead all he feels is the three feet of cold steel plung into his inner thigh, straight into his abdomen, sharp tip skewering his dark heart. Wizardbane, that shall this sword be called henceforth.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Xerez’s eyes open wide and with his last breath of life I know he can see my orange eyes. He knows who I am. He knows why he dies.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>His spell still goes off, sending another explosive volley of wooden missiles from the door onto me.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Armor Test (B3 + 1 Persona artha): 1,1,2,1.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>I feel the shards begin to pierce my leather armor in a hundred places. Ilmater, I call in my mind, grant me your immortal endurance!</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Call-On re-roll: 6,5,6,5 – 4 successes!</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>By divine grace of the Enduring One I feel the leather harden momentarily and what could’ve been my final moment is now instead a new opportunity at life. Praised be Ilmater!</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Ariadne Stephaln of Highmoon, rest peacefully. You have been avenged.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>Hal and Reltav can feel something tangible leave the air as Xerez dies, the eyes of Powers leaving them, moving on to look on other events of Faerun. But for a time, Powers above and Powers below were watching, moved by their mighty oaths and those they petitioned for aid.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Xerez dies on his back, betrayed by his apprentices, casting petty spells that threw shards of wood at young boy who grew up to be a reckless swordsman. It is a fitting end for a mad wizard.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The soldiers are still attempting to knock down the door that is already diminished by Xerez’s repeated casting of Shards, having used the very wood of the door as his weapon to no avail against Hal’s Power-touched armor.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“We have two choices, Hal. We can run out the kitchen door and pray to whatever deities are left in the sky who we haven’t spent our faith’s coin with already that the guards have not circled to the back of the tower, or we stay right here. If we make it to Toad, we have a chance of getting out of this place alive.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“I could put an arcane mask on you and an arcane mask on Xerez, making it seem like you killed him. Run with hollow prayer or stay and face Lord Manshoon on the back of my meager spellcraft and your silver tongue. If we stay, the rewards could be grand as we pick through this tower at our leisure while you wear Xerez’s face…free his slaves, perhaps. What say you, wizard-slayer?”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Reltav’s brother, whose name you still don’t know asks, “Do I have a say in this?”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>She ignores him and looks at you, shaking with excitement. There is the sound of wood splintering under the force of mercenaries’ shoulders.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><em>Artha:</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Persona – for completing your belief.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Fate – for a trait turning the game on its ear.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Fate – for the Freedom, love and family, I think.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em></em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Sound good?</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u><strong>Interlude: Powers Above and Powers Below</strong></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>They aren’t sitting around a table as we know it but thinking of them sitting around a table is the easiest way to fit it all into our heads. Death, Murder, Tyranny, Luck, War some prominent Elvish deities and still others are there, drawn together by two mortals’ bloody oath. Oaths like that are sworn every day but somehow this one caught their attention. For a variety of reasons as varied as the aspects at the table, they each chose not to delegate the responsibilities of being petitioned and chose to view the oath’s events personally.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Lady Luck has flipped a coin and for a moment, an ancient elvish flavor of Revenge has stopped bickering with Murder about moral issues and there is silence. No breathing, just silence, watching Lady Luck’s coin twirl in the air. On one side of the coin is a Devil, scouling, forked tongue flicking the air. On the other side of the coin is an angel, solemn, following its deities’ commandments.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The Devil’s eyes reflect shards of wood ripping into the half-elf oath-taker’s flesh. You can see him fall to the ground, lose consciousness while thinking about his late mother. The other oath-taker is tortured for information while he regains his strength in a wizard’s stinking dungeon until she is sold to Thay and he is sold into the Underdark. Does he turn to Spite? Does she find freedom among the Red Wizards?</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>In the Angel’s eyes is simply a dead wizard, his blood staining the parlor’s stone floor, covering it in red. The angel makes no promises beyond that moment, the wizard slain, the oath fulfilled.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The coin lands in her hand and she covers it with her other hand, that isn’t really a hand but you get the idea. She smirks because what you hear is true, Lady Luck has a sense of humor.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“Angel it is,” she says, uncovering the coin for the Powers at hand to see.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The table (let’s call the table, Faerun, shall we?) erupts into talk, heads shake and heads nod as they discuss the matter and begin to take their leave. Chairs would scrape the floor if there were chairs.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Lady Luck whispers to the coin. “Good luck, little bard. Stop refering to me as a bitch. I don’t like it.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Someone sitting at Faerun laughs. “Is this one personal, Tymora?”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>She smiles again. “Its never personal, Bane. You should be careful of your own luck, dear. Prophecies say a Time of Troubles is coming.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Bane is the last one to leave, cursing at the void his peers have left. “What does that mean, Lady Luck? The Black Hand has no need of your luck!”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>I push aside the sudden emptiness inside, ignore the gaping void where my rage towards Xerez had nested for over half my life, terribly aware that killing the wizard was arguably the easy part.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>I take quick stock of the situation—the mercenaries barking at the door, the dead wizard at my feet, the approaching Lord Manshoon of Zhentil Keep—and regardless of how noble and reckless my core being is, there is nothing else for me to do here right now. Another time perhaps.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“Reltav, quick, cast your magic to make me look like Xerez and him like me. We shall leave by the back door while your brother tells the guards that we have gone after the other intruders, Knights of the Raven. Hopefully we can reach Toad in time.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“You,” I point at Reltav’s brother. “Send the guards to seek reinforcements and send them to the ruined tower half-a-day’s ride west of the city, that that is where more are hiding. Command them as if your life depended on it for doubt not it does!”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Once Reltav’s magic is done, we run together out of the parlor, scurrying off like some illicit lovers to a dark randevouz. As we run through the tower I turn to Reltav and tell her matter-of-factly with the face of her deceased master, “Your brother will betray us both.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">GM</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>She starts to object but there is no time for duels of wits or even harsh words. She casts the spells deftly and quickly, leaving Xerez’s with your face and putting his likeness upon you, hading you one of his traveling cloaks in a nearby closet. There are guards outside the back door and they take your orders easily. You walk right by them with a casual demeanor that has no reflection on what is happening in your hearts.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>And there is Toad, chortling as he does at familiar faces, glad the nearby children are no longer throwing dried dung at him.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>That is when the first wrinkle becomes apparent.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Reltav get’s on the back of the saddle, where you had ridden from Highmoon to Zhentil Keep, high above the Cormanthor. Her jaw is tense as she subtly tilts her head for you to get into the sky-rider’s seat.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>“Lord Xerez, shall we fly to our rendez-vous? We should take care to keep Toad low, lest we attract unwanted attention and make ourselves targets of our enemies.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Ride, Flying, unskilled so use your Will stat, so ob 1, a simple take-off becomes ob 2 when it is doubled.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Reltav wraps her arms around your waste and whispers into your ear. “Easy now. Cluck as you’ve heard me do and gently prod him towards the barrack’s roof. He’ll do the rest, dammit all to hell.”</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>1 Helping Die from Reltav.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><u><p style="text-align: center">Player</p></p> <p style="text-align: center"></u>At least having spent a whole week on the back of this beast will pay off in some way, I think as I climb onto the riding harness. Taking hold of the reins the way I saw Reltav do. Clearing my throat, I attempt to make the particular clucking sound Toad responds to.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u><em>Riding Beginner’s Luck (Will B4 + 1D helping die): 4,5,3,5,6 – 4 successes.</em></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>The noises image must be right as Toad responds and begins to move, heading in the direction laid out by Reltav.</p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u></p></u></p><p style="text-align: center"><u>Maybe, just maybe, we can pull this off…</p><p></u></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Paka, post: 5712830, member: 100"] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] “Dynasty? More like a fallen lineage. My slaves will bring it in to the tower’s ground level parlor. I’ll meet you there once I have cleared up some business and we can discuss price. “A tapestry would be a fine prize indeed. Let’s see what you have when I get back. We have free craftsman among our masons and they will rob you blind if I’m not there to have a glance over there once in a while. “I am Xerev. Perhaps you have heard of me. I’m the wizard who orchestrated the fall of the Citadel of the Raven. My star in Zhentil Keep is rising, so if this is a profitable exchange, we can look forward to more deals in the future.” He offers his hand for shaking. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, from the Moonshae Isles pick up the tapestry and take it into the tower. Reltav is in a conversation with a young man and from the family resemblance, you can safely assume that it is her brother. When (and if) you shake his hand and introduce yourself, he takes his leave and you are left to your own devices. Reltav is busy arguing with her brother and Zhentil Keep is laid out before you, not having noticed your return. [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] I shake his hand, strong and firm, a tad too strong and firm, and nod when he mentions our later meeting to discuss price, still not saying any words. My eyes fall on the foreigner children taking the tapestry and I hold myself back when they seem to struggle lest I appear too concerned or make them appear too weak and make their life more miserable than I already know it is. I glance around the area, filling in the gaps of the quick mental map I made upon our descent, taking note of how many guards are where, wielding what. I let my gaze fall upon the figure of Xerez as he walks away and quickly look elsewhere when I feel my rage boiling too high. I spy a tavern two blocks down from the tower, The Hanging Halfling (typical Zhentish sense of humor), and my stomach reminds me that food must be had even when standing in the middle of a rotten den of evil. “Reltav,” I say at the first break in her conversation with whom appears to be her brother. “I shall be at the tavern yonder, if you need to find me for discussing coin or having a meal.” I walk away without waiting for her answer, switching back to a personality I thought I’d left behind in the streets of Raven’s Bluff. [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] The Hanging Halfling serves stew with mysterious meat. The tavern is filled with Thayan sailors, Bane Pilgrims, and Blackguard. True to its name, the servers are all halflings with thick iron slave collars. There is a gallows out front, no doubt they hang a slave when they attempt an escape or spill stew on the wrong patron. When you are done with your first warm meal since Highmoon, one of Xerez’s guards approachs, a half-orc with silver over one of his tusk/teeth. “Xerez summons you, bounty hunter.” Toad snuffles at you from his pen, familiar with you from the days of travel. The guard leads you past the two guards at he front door, to the ground floor of the tower, where there is a table, a beam of wood for locking the front door, some maps and the stairs going up. There are two doors, the guarded front entrance from which you came and the doorway to the kitchen. Braziers keep the autumn chill off. Reltav is by the door and her brother is in the room, prodding the coal with the end of his staff. The guard leaves you. Reltav’s brother says, “Are we really doing this? Really?” [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] I glance at Reltav to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing. Seeing her slight nod and the look of fear in her brother’s face I realize we are. “Yes, indeed we are. And it is now or never. If you’re in, you’re bound by your sister’s blood vow.” Checking my weapons, loosening the ties on the scabbard, and uttering a silent prayer to Tymora for luck, to Tempus for mettle and to Corellon for immortal guidance, I stride towards Xerez’s private chambers, and toward destiny. Come what may… [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] As you begin to walk up the stairs, Xerez walks in the front door with the two slaves, whom he orders to put tapestry on the table, over everything else and begins to conduct business right there in the main room, never intending to invite the likes of you to his private sanctum. He looks over the tapestry and does not hide how impressed he is. “This is a splendid find, bounty hunter. What did you say your name was again? Anyway, I’m impressed. It is indeed a tapestry about the beginnings of the Whitewyrm clan. I can give you six hundred gold pieces, minted in Sembia, or I can give you double that in slave vouchers and you can head to the market tomorrow and choose your lot. For tonight, you may spend the night in the barrcks, as you don’t want to be in the streets of Zhentil Keep alone unless you have arcane skills and a hard reputation or else you will find yourself at the mercy of the press gangs. I wouldn’t want a relic finder with a fine eye like yours to be at the oar of a Thayan galley or moving bricks in the Citadel of the Raven." Reltav has closed the front door but has not yet put the bar over it to lock it, but she is clearly in position to do so. Her brother is in the same position to do so by the kitchen door. There are no guards. The moment is pregnant with murder and conclusion. Then there is a hard knock on the door and the harsh voice of a messenger states, “Xerez, Lord Manshoon and his retinue approaches; they wish to have words with you concerning construction at the Raven.” “Of course! Reltav, why is the door closed? Are you catching a chill after your week in the skies? Well, bounty hunter? I have no time for haggling. My Lord approaches. Take it or leave it." [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] Bane’s putrefact balls… A slight nod, a flick of the wrist, the drawing of breath in anticipation of the lounge. Out comes the sword, out comes the quiet rage that fuels my righteous bladed thrust. Guide my sword, Tempus! [I]Fight![/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Xerez eyes grow wide when he sees you approach sword in hand but he marshals his shock and attempts to get into a position enough away from your sword’s reach so that he can cast a spell. [I]Xerez made his Steel test with tons of successes. Now we roll for engagement (BWG, 429-431). He is trying to cast a spell that has Polearm range, so he get’s a +1D for the roll. After that, we script the first volleys. Make sense?[/I] Player[U][CENTER] [I]Engage Test (B3 Speed): 5,5,5 – 3 successes.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]Engage Test (B4 Speed + 1D for weapon length advantage, his spell counts as a polearm): 4, 4, 3, 5, 5 – 4 Successes. Advantage: Xerez, +1 ob to all of your attack actions. Aaand, I’m scripting.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [B]Interlude: The Hunt[/B] Battle-father Crommlar Muriel was taking stock of his comrades. He knew that the ranks, the plans and the discipline of war disintegrated in the chaotic face of Tempus. Pitting the Red-Wizards of Thay with their gnollish shock troops against the trolls and the human mercenaries had been difficult but worth the effort. Vorass the Maul had suggested turning their enemies against one another and picking off what remained. Still, Tempus sent his trials as a group of Bane-guards came upon them and it wasn’t long before foulwing air cavalry were swooping down on their heads. Using illusions and the cover of the forest, Shasslan had gotten them through it with a minimum of casualties. “Captain, where’s Vorass? Her plan was impeccable,” Crommlar asked. Shasslan’s face grew grim. “She didn’t make it, Battle-Father. She was cut down. I must gather the rest. I saw a few head beyond the glade towards the Myth and don’t want them to wander to close to…” Crommlar cut off her sentence, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “Shasslan, what did you do? You and Vor were together…what happened?” Shasslan the Huntress bit back tears and put the visor of her helmet up, partly so that her hunts-brother could hear her clearly and partly so that he could see the pain in her face. "What happened, brother? What always happens. There was a terrible deed that needed doing in order for us to keep our oaths, a deed that might be a stain upon my very soul but I did it anyway. Had I done it when I had intended, perhaps Hal and Laelin would be safe and with us rather than Powers-knows-where doing only Bane-knows-what if they are even alive at all. They’ve been gone too long, far too long. Odds are the Zhentarim have them even now and then what, Cromm? “What happened, Cromm? The Hunt demanded a sacrifice and I made it. What happened? We have a traitor amongst us, someone who told the Black Network that we were here and I thought I knew who it was, so I acted.” Crommlar’s face grew grim. “When we winter, we will need to call the officers and discuss this, captain.” Shasslan nodded. “I would expect no less.” Vorass the Maul was buried in full armor just south of the Dead God’s Glade, as per The Hunt’s charter. [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]Volley 1: Cast Spell / Cast Spell Volley 2: Avoid (Scream: GUARDS! GUARDS!) Volley 3: Cast Spell[/I] [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] [I]Volley 1: CHARGE (Scream: LOCK DOWN!) Volley 2: CHARGE Volley 3: Strike Charge Test (B4 Power + 1D): 4,4,5,5,4 – 5 successes! Shevarash smiles on our hunt.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Hal runs full tilt at Xerez and the mad wizard begins casting the spell he always leads with, The Fear. Reltav and her brother are busy barring the doors, unable to help or hinder. [I]Sorcery 6 = 6, 6, 4, 2, 6, 1 = the sixes explode = 1, 6, 5 = six explodes = 2. 6 successes. The extra successes do him no good with this spell. Make a Steel check, as do his apprentices. The Charge occurs at the exact same moment, so roll that and then roll the Steel check, ob is your hesitation. He rolls for his tax (to see how physically demanding the spell was) and makes it with 3 successes. I’m honestly not sure if the spell goes off at the exact same moment or if you interrupted it. Hmf. Either way, with your successful Charge, I believe you took the Advantage.[/I] Xerez hits the ground in a lump even as his spell is released into the air, causing cold fear to grip everyone gazing on the wizard. Reltav and her brother check their resolve at the same moment as Hal. [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] [I]Steel Test (B3): 4,6,6 + 1 Fate artha → 4,4 = 4 successes. Hesitation is 6, so 2 actions lost while I Stand and Drool.[/I] Darkness overtakes me. Oppressing rock at both sides, rank smell of stagnant air filling my lungs. The sounds of whips scarring living flesh assault my ears. I feel manacles on my wrists, shackles around my ankles. I cannot move, I cannot think. I am alone in the dungeons once more, a child of 10, of 8, of 6, alone in these caves, alone in the world. Where is my mother? [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]What does Hal see or what is going through his mind as the Fear takes him? Could you describe that for me? Does he Stand and Drool? Beg for Mercy or Run?[/I] The apprentices begin screaming and crying, clawing at the doors but unable to compose themselves enough to open them. They are in the throes of the Mad Wizard’s magic. [I]Xerez casts his second spell from the ground. He exerts his willpower on the door and it explodes, leaving grooves in the wood. The shards fly towards the half-elf. Sorcery 6 = 4, 2, 6, 4, 2, 1. Sixes explode = 5. +1 ob for being on the ground. 3 Successes. <strike>He makes his tax roll. Die of Fate for damage = 3. The spell as a VA of 3, so I’m assuming this goes right through your armor. You’d need 3 successes on an armor test to have a prayer. You take a B5 wound. This is a light wound, provoking another Steel test. All tests from here on out are at -1D.[/I] The wood rips through Hal’s armor, embedding into his flesh.</strike> [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Xerez scurries away on the floor, still anticipating an attack that does not come. He screams, “GUARDS! GUARDS!” and then casts another spell. <strike>Seeing how Shards ripped into Hal, Xerez casts it again.</strike> Desperate to cut Hal down before his apprentices regain their composure, Xerez casts again. [I]Sorcerery 6 = 4, 5, 6, 5, 6, 5. Sixes explode = 1, 1. +1 ob for being on the ground. 5 Successes. Tax test = only 3 successes, so that is 2 dice off his Health. He felt that effort. <strike>Die of Fate = 4…he uses his 3 extra successes to add 1 to the Die of Fate roll, putting it up to 5. That is a B7 wound, a midi wound. This takes your Speed down to 0, making Hal unconscious.[/I] The spell takes its toll from Xerez, sapping away his body’s constitution but it is all worth it, as Hal falls unconscious. The Wizard gets up off of the floor and looks down at the half-elf he knew as a boy. “Welcome back to Zhentil Keep, Hal Whitewyrm.” He turns to his apprentices, hoping to get this violent chore finished before Lord Manshoon arrives. The shards of wood fail to penetrate Hal’s armor. [I]And we’re on to the second exchange, let’s script our next volleys. You still have the advantage from the successful Charge.[/I] The fear falls away from the eyes of Reltav and her brother. The tide has turned.</strike> [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] [I]Armor Test from exploding wood splints (B3): 6,4,5 – 3 successes. Booyah! Armor Test from second Shards spell (B3) + 1 Persona artha: 4,2,6,6 + 1 Fate artha → 5,4 – 5 successes. Steel Test (B3): 4,6,4 → 6 → 4 = 5 successes.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] [I]Exchange Two: Volley 1: Strike. Volley 2: Strike! Volley 3: STRIKE![/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]Volley 1: Cast Spell / Cast Spell Volley 2: Avoid Volley 3: Cast Spell[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]3 Successes for advantage – 2 for being on the floor still. 1 success only..[/I] [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] [I]Positioning Test (B3 Speed + 1D advantage last exchange + 2D Apprentices): 4,5,6,6,2,5 = 5 successes. Since Xerez’s spell is Weapon Length: Polearm, there is no effect to our actions, so we can move on to the scripting we already did.[/I] [I]Sword Test (B4 + 2D App): 1,2,2,3,1,2. Ack![/I] I swing my sword at the mad wizard. His magical attack may have failed to damage me directly, but in tensing to withstand the damage that never came, I must’ve pinched a nerve. As my arm draws the sword downward, I feel it wobble slightly. I silently call on Tymora to have her fortune smile on me that this still be a good strike upon the poisonous snake of a man. [I]I call on Tymora to help me! Re-rolling Sword Test (B4 + 2D App): 4,6,4,5,1,6 + 1 Fate artha → 4,4 = 7 successes! Thank you, Lady of Fortune.[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Xerez begins casting another spell, using only the fastest spells in his arsenal in order to compete with the blades all around him. He casts Shards once again, causing the wood from the front door weaken as the guards begin to smash it with their armored shoulders. [I]Sorcery 6 = 1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 4. Sixes explode = 4, 1, 4. +1 ob for being on the floor. 5 Successes.[/I] [I]Tax = 3 successes, so a further -1 die, -4 total to his Forte of 5. Die of Fate = 6, Ouch…B7 damage unless you make an ob 4 armor check.[/I] Xerez looks exhausted. The toll of casting this many spells in rapid succession is coming due. Your sword strike hits at the exact same moment. Xerez has NO armor. Bring it! [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] “FOR MY MOTHER!” Decency, poise, goodness—all drain away from me. At this moment all that exists is the rage that has built up for fifteen years—fifteen motherless years. There is no tower, no apprentices, no guards, no blackened Zhentish sky, no cursed ground beneath: there is only the mad wizard Xerez and me, Hal Stephaln Whitewyrm. And my sword… The slashing motion turns into a piercing thrust at the very last second, just like the one-eyed duelist taught me back in the Bluff. It always catches the enemy by surprise. And Xerez is no exception. He tries to kick away my blade but it’s too late; the sword is not where he expected it and instead all he feels is the three feet of cold steel plung into his inner thigh, straight into his abdomen, sharp tip skewering his dark heart. Wizardbane, that shall this sword be called henceforth. Xerez’s eyes open wide and with his last breath of life I know he can see my orange eyes. He knows who I am. He knows why he dies. His spell still goes off, sending another explosive volley of wooden missiles from the door onto me. [I]Armor Test (B3 + 1 Persona artha): 1,1,2,1.[/I] I feel the shards begin to pierce my leather armor in a hundred places. Ilmater, I call in my mind, grant me your immortal endurance! [I]Call-On re-roll: 6,5,6,5 – 4 successes![/I] By divine grace of the Enduring One I feel the leather harden momentarily and what could’ve been my final moment is now instead a new opportunity at life. Praised be Ilmater! Ariadne Stephaln of Highmoon, rest peacefully. You have been avenged. [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] Hal and Reltav can feel something tangible leave the air as Xerez dies, the eyes of Powers leaving them, moving on to look on other events of Faerun. But for a time, Powers above and Powers below were watching, moved by their mighty oaths and those they petitioned for aid. Xerez dies on his back, betrayed by his apprentices, casting petty spells that threw shards of wood at young boy who grew up to be a reckless swordsman. It is a fitting end for a mad wizard. The soldiers are still attempting to knock down the door that is already diminished by Xerez’s repeated casting of Shards, having used the very wood of the door as his weapon to no avail against Hal’s Power-touched armor. “We have two choices, Hal. We can run out the kitchen door and pray to whatever deities are left in the sky who we haven’t spent our faith’s coin with already that the guards have not circled to the back of the tower, or we stay right here. If we make it to Toad, we have a chance of getting out of this place alive. “I could put an arcane mask on you and an arcane mask on Xerez, making it seem like you killed him. Run with hollow prayer or stay and face Lord Manshoon on the back of my meager spellcraft and your silver tongue. If we stay, the rewards could be grand as we pick through this tower at our leisure while you wear Xerez’s face…free his slaves, perhaps. What say you, wizard-slayer?” Reltav’s brother, whose name you still don’t know asks, “Do I have a say in this?” She ignores him and looks at you, shaking with excitement. There is the sound of wood splintering under the force of mercenaries’ shoulders. [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [I]Artha: Persona – for completing your belief. Fate – for a trait turning the game on its ear. Fate – for the Freedom, love and family, I think. Sound good?[/I] [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] [b]Interlude: Powers Above and Powers Below[/b] They aren’t sitting around a table as we know it but thinking of them sitting around a table is the easiest way to fit it all into our heads. Death, Murder, Tyranny, Luck, War some prominent Elvish deities and still others are there, drawn together by two mortals’ bloody oath. Oaths like that are sworn every day but somehow this one caught their attention. For a variety of reasons as varied as the aspects at the table, they each chose not to delegate the responsibilities of being petitioned and chose to view the oath’s events personally. Lady Luck has flipped a coin and for a moment, an ancient elvish flavor of Revenge has stopped bickering with Murder about moral issues and there is silence. No breathing, just silence, watching Lady Luck’s coin twirl in the air. On one side of the coin is a Devil, scouling, forked tongue flicking the air. On the other side of the coin is an angel, solemn, following its deities’ commandments. The Devil’s eyes reflect shards of wood ripping into the half-elf oath-taker’s flesh. You can see him fall to the ground, lose consciousness while thinking about his late mother. The other oath-taker is tortured for information while he regains his strength in a wizard’s stinking dungeon until she is sold to Thay and he is sold into the Underdark. Does he turn to Spite? Does she find freedom among the Red Wizards? In the Angel’s eyes is simply a dead wizard, his blood staining the parlor’s stone floor, covering it in red. The angel makes no promises beyond that moment, the wizard slain, the oath fulfilled. The coin lands in her hand and she covers it with her other hand, that isn’t really a hand but you get the idea. She smirks because what you hear is true, Lady Luck has a sense of humor. “Angel it is,” she says, uncovering the coin for the Powers at hand to see. The table (let’s call the table, Faerun, shall we?) erupts into talk, heads shake and heads nod as they discuss the matter and begin to take their leave. Chairs would scrape the floor if there were chairs. Lady Luck whispers to the coin. “Good luck, little bard. Stop refering to me as a bitch. I don’t like it.” Someone sitting at Faerun laughs. “Is this one personal, Tymora?” She smiles again. “Its never personal, Bane. You should be careful of your own luck, dear. Prophecies say a Time of Troubles is coming.” Bane is the last one to leave, cursing at the void his peers have left. “What does that mean, Lady Luck? The Black Hand has no need of your luck!” [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] I push aside the sudden emptiness inside, ignore the gaping void where my rage towards Xerez had nested for over half my life, terribly aware that killing the wizard was arguably the easy part. I take quick stock of the situation—the mercenaries barking at the door, the dead wizard at my feet, the approaching Lord Manshoon of Zhentil Keep—and regardless of how noble and reckless my core being is, there is nothing else for me to do here right now. Another time perhaps. “Reltav, quick, cast your magic to make me look like Xerez and him like me. We shall leave by the back door while your brother tells the guards that we have gone after the other intruders, Knights of the Raven. Hopefully we can reach Toad in time. “You,” I point at Reltav’s brother. “Send the guards to seek reinforcements and send them to the ruined tower half-a-day’s ride west of the city, that that is where more are hiding. Command them as if your life depended on it for doubt not it does!” Once Reltav’s magic is done, we run together out of the parlor, scurrying off like some illicit lovers to a dark randevouz. As we run through the tower I turn to Reltav and tell her matter-of-factly with the face of her deceased master, “Your brother will betray us both.” [U][CENTER]GM[/CENTER][/U] She starts to object but there is no time for duels of wits or even harsh words. She casts the spells deftly and quickly, leaving Xerez’s with your face and putting his likeness upon you, hading you one of his traveling cloaks in a nearby closet. There are guards outside the back door and they take your orders easily. You walk right by them with a casual demeanor that has no reflection on what is happening in your hearts. And there is Toad, chortling as he does at familiar faces, glad the nearby children are no longer throwing dried dung at him. That is when the first wrinkle becomes apparent. Reltav get’s on the back of the saddle, where you had ridden from Highmoon to Zhentil Keep, high above the Cormanthor. Her jaw is tense as she subtly tilts her head for you to get into the sky-rider’s seat. “Lord Xerez, shall we fly to our rendez-vous? We should take care to keep Toad low, lest we attract unwanted attention and make ourselves targets of our enemies.” Ride, Flying, unskilled so use your Will stat, so ob 1, a simple take-off becomes ob 2 when it is doubled. Reltav wraps her arms around your waste and whispers into your ear. “Easy now. Cluck as you’ve heard me do and gently prod him towards the barrack’s roof. He’ll do the rest, dammit all to hell.” [I]1 Helping Die from Reltav.[/I] [U][CENTER]Player[/CENTER][/U] At least having spent a whole week on the back of this beast will pay off in some way, I think as I climb onto the riding harness. Taking hold of the reins the way I saw Reltav do. Clearing my throat, I attempt to make the particular clucking sound Toad responds to. [I]Riding Beginner’s Luck (Will B4 + 1D helping die): 4,5,3,5,6 – 4 successes.[/I] The noises image must be right as Toad responds and begins to move, heading in the direction laid out by Reltav. Maybe, just maybe, we can pull this off…[/CENTER][/U] [/QUOTE]
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The Ballad of Hal Whitewyrm
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