Tecklenburg
Explorer
Otthor helps Saerie provide comfortable bedding and accommodations in the small home for her bear. Once done, he watches her lips and concentrates to slightly hear her words through the wax in his ears. They can both feel the wind buffet the small structure as the front of the storm reaches them. He opens the door and when they look outside, the wind blows the pairs long elven locks. The darkness outside foretells the oncoming of the ruinous storm they hoped to avoid.
Otthor looks at the mostly collapsed common building and the remains of the aberrant creature. Well, if it was indeed a creature...and not some kind of "alive colony" playing the role of a golem...protecting the harvested bodies while they gestated in their cocoons. He wasn't sure but he meant to find out more and make sure that those poor people didn't "come to life" if they were still in some kind of stasis or molting phase. He turns to Saerie so she can see his lips. "We have little time before that comes in. Find the dog and bring him back to us. Even if your theory is correct and he is deaf, perhaps its just age. Maybe you can still speak to and understand him as you do with other wild beasts." He points toward the common building. "I'm going there. With that storm, surely we're going to lose the tracks out of this place and to wherever the refugees went. Maybe I can find information on their path there. Besides, we're running low on supplies <he points to her waning quiver> and perhaps I can salvage something there." He pulls the remaining bundle of arrows from his quiver and places them Saerie's own quiver (2 Ammo to you @Binks ). "We can investigate that cellar in the morning."
He grabs his gear from a nearby table and turns to her again before he sets out. "Don't be alarmed when you see a fire. After I'm done there, I'm going to put the bodies of the poor settlers to rest...and my own mind."
I'm sure there is some kindling in here for a wood burning stove and/or the chimney. I assume there is some kind of dried goatskin, linens, or clothing that I can wrap around it? And perhaps some oil for a lantern? I just want to quickly make a short-lived torch to investigate the common building in this darkness.
He leaves Saerie to her tracking and double times it toward the far end of the settlement and the ruined building.
I'll get to that carnage soon enough. First things first. I step over shattered timbers, framing, gore and bodies so that I can better see what this building once housed. I'm looking for the following:
* A desk or any cabinetry that might house goatskin paper records that may serve to inform us of what happened here or where the refugees may have went.
* Supplies that may see us through the coming journey.
* Fuel, tender and any other means of turning this building into a fast-burning conflagration.
For supplies:
[sblock]Salvage (Int)
3, 5 + 3 = 11. 3 hold to spend 1 for 1. I'll grab 2 Ammo and 1 Adventuring Gear. I think we'll be ok with food for now...though I may regret that later![/sblock]
Jackpot. I'll roll them up, bind them carefully and place them in my pack. I'll study them this evening when we're tucked into our shelter and Saerie is caring for her bear. Trade partners in these highlands interest me. That is where the refugees would have gone.
I'll look for the means to burn this place down and ensure these people a final rest.
[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
4, 3 + 0 = 7. 1 question and + 1 forward when acting on it.
* What here is useful or valuable to me?[/sblock]
Alright. I know very little of these humans' Gods. I invoke them generically the best that I can with some elven scripture that I'm familiar with. I then douse the place from stem to stern with the booze and oil, strategically placing the dry tender.
[sblock]The Roof is On Fire (Con)
1, 6 + 1 + 1 (forward from DR) = 9
I'll take the first one and deal with the consequences. The place burns to the ground.[/sblock]
I stand at the threshold and throw my torch to the trail of booze that I left. As the conflagration begins, I bring my nose to the bottle of human spirits out of sheer curiosity. A quick sniff burns my nose and my mouth and eyes open widely. Wow. In the Feywild, we use something that smells like this to seal and protect our woodwork against the elements.
I hustle back to the front of the settlement, where our small building lies. Hopefully Saerie returns soon with the dog. Hopefully she'll be glad to have more arrows in her quiver. Hopefully I learn something from these books. Hopefully...nothing terribly comes in the night to investigate the massive fire...
I think to myself "likely one hope too many..."
[sblock]Otthor
16/21 HP
6 xp
3 Adventuring Gear after the 1 I salvaged.
4 Rations after tonight.
1 Ammo. I gave Saerie the 2 Ammo I had remaining. I'll give her 1 of the two Ammo that I salvaged.[/sblock]
Otthor looks at the mostly collapsed common building and the remains of the aberrant creature. Well, if it was indeed a creature...and not some kind of "alive colony" playing the role of a golem...protecting the harvested bodies while they gestated in their cocoons. He wasn't sure but he meant to find out more and make sure that those poor people didn't "come to life" if they were still in some kind of stasis or molting phase. He turns to Saerie so she can see his lips. "We have little time before that comes in. Find the dog and bring him back to us. Even if your theory is correct and he is deaf, perhaps its just age. Maybe you can still speak to and understand him as you do with other wild beasts." He points toward the common building. "I'm going there. With that storm, surely we're going to lose the tracks out of this place and to wherever the refugees went. Maybe I can find information on their path there. Besides, we're running low on supplies <he points to her waning quiver> and perhaps I can salvage something there." He pulls the remaining bundle of arrows from his quiver and places them Saerie's own quiver (2 Ammo to you @Binks ). "We can investigate that cellar in the morning."
He grabs his gear from a nearby table and turns to her again before he sets out. "Don't be alarmed when you see a fire. After I'm done there, I'm going to put the bodies of the poor settlers to rest...and my own mind."
I'm sure there is some kindling in here for a wood burning stove and/or the chimney. I assume there is some kind of dried goatskin, linens, or clothing that I can wrap around it? And perhaps some oil for a lantern? I just want to quickly make a short-lived torch to investigate the common building in this darkness.
Per Manbearcat
You find all of those materials in this structure. You can make a torch easily enough.
He leaves Saerie to her tracking and double times it toward the far end of the settlement and the ruined building.
Per Manbearcat
The foyer and the great room are completely open to the elements. The rafters and vaulted ceiling of the building have suffered about a 33 % collapse. Of the remaining 2/3, half again is threatening a collapse. The cold of the outside settles over everything. The gore of the slain "thing" is everywhere. There is no real smell associated with it and it seems to be liquifying in its decomposition fairly swiftly. The bodies are strewn here and there, their cocoons fully ruptured and "melting" like the rest of the mass. A simple glance reveals that these people are quite dead...or at least they certainly aren't alive in the normal sense of the word for humans or elfs.
By torchlight you can see the grizzly fate of the people all over the walls. Frozen, bloody swathes of skin, hair and other soft tissue mars the walls and floors. Entrails are spilled here and there. A hand, torn off at the wrist, is clutching an eyeball. It looks like the people literally tore each other apart. And then...through some unknown, macabre process, the dead assimilated into the disgusting collective mass that you slew before.
I'll get to that carnage soon enough. First things first. I step over shattered timbers, framing, gore and bodies so that I can better see what this building once housed. I'm looking for the following:
* A desk or any cabinetry that might house goatskin paper records that may serve to inform us of what happened here or where the refugees may have went.
* Supplies that may see us through the coming journey.
* Fuel, tender and any other means of turning this building into a fast-burning conflagration.
For supplies:
[sblock]Salvage (Int)
3, 5 + 3 = 11. 3 hold to spend 1 for 1. I'll grab 2 Ammo and 1 Adventuring Gear. I think we'll be ok with food for now...though I may regret that later![/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Although the building is mostly ruined, there is a closet with enough supplies left that you can salvage a bit of functional gear.
You don't need to roll anything for your first * above. Its easily found. In a, still somewhat intact, office in the back, you find a fine-crafted pedestal desk with all of the paperwork from the settlement's governance and house-keeping. Its mostly a financial ledgers (including imported/exported goods and with whom), a logbook of grievances/petty offenses/restitution (this is extremely small), a government manifesto, a long calendar/account of the years, and a history of the seven families.
Treat it like 1 Use of a Bag of Books. You take + 1 when you Spout Lore about this settlement.
Jackpot. I'll roll them up, bind them carefully and place them in my pack. I'll study them this evening when we're tucked into our shelter and Saerie is caring for her bear. Trade partners in these highlands interest me. That is where the refugees would have gone.
I'll look for the means to burn this place down and ensure these people a final rest.
[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
4, 3 + 0 = 7. 1 question and + 1 forward when acting on it.
* What here is useful or valuable to me?[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
They host the entire settlement from time to time, so there is plenty of oil, liquor and dry tender to start an enormous, fast burning fire. Alright, how about a world move here for this:
[sblock]The Roof is On Fire
When you've got the means on hand and you want to burn a building filled with all manner of terribleness to the ground, roll + Con. On a 10 +, you're good. On a 7-9, choose only 1.
* The place burns to the ground along with everything in it.
* You don't attract unwanted attention.[/sblock]
Alright. I know very little of these humans' Gods. I invoke them generically the best that I can with some elven scripture that I'm familiar with. I then douse the place from stem to stern with the booze and oil, strategically placing the dry tender.
[sblock]The Roof is On Fire (Con)
1, 6 + 1 + 1 (forward from DR) = 9
I'll take the first one and deal with the consequences. The place burns to the ground.[/sblock]
I stand at the threshold and throw my torch to the trail of booze that I left. As the conflagration begins, I bring my nose to the bottle of human spirits out of sheer curiosity. A quick sniff burns my nose and my mouth and eyes open widely. Wow. In the Feywild, we use something that smells like this to seal and protect our woodwork against the elements.
I hustle back to the front of the settlement, where our small building lies. Hopefully Saerie returns soon with the dog. Hopefully she'll be glad to have more arrows in her quiver. Hopefully I learn something from these books. Hopefully...nothing terribly comes in the night to investigate the massive fire...
I think to myself "likely one hope too many..."
[sblock]Otthor
16/21 HP
6 xp
3 Adventuring Gear after the 1 I salvaged.
4 Rations after tonight.
1 Ammo. I gave Saerie the 2 Ammo I had remaining. I'll give her 1 of the two Ammo that I salvaged.[/sblock]