Pathfinder 1E [IC] - TIDERULER OF MARAN

[Archon Basileus]

MARIUS

"I accept. You wil be remembered."

As the monk accepts the gift and memory of the spirits, they become one with him. Their storied lives pass before his eyes as Marius discovers that the cartagulans, far from being a single race, were in fact a sum of absolutely unique individuals, refined to the point that none looked like the other. His gaze lands on one particular entity, the one that voices all others within his consciousness. The vaguely female entity opens a pair of draconian wings and vanishes in the fires of his own soul. Suddenly, his skin shines, covered in golden dragon scales that shuffle over him, as if appearing in waves! Only when his entire body becomes encircled do the scales vanish in a golden burst of flames. Marius still stands before his companions, just as he was before, but inexplicably different....

[And we have a Guardian!]



MORGRYM

After the events that led the heroes to escape the ooze's trap, Morgrym finds a suitable place for the heroes to rest. The old house, dug within the walls, only holds abandoned furniture and an unlit hearth - something the heroes remedy quite quickly. Above it, an old, round shield still covers a pair of axes, left behind by whoever lived here once. The sweet smell of burning pine knots amidst the warmth are enough to remind Morgrym of the mountain havens his brethren built up north, centuries ago. Everyone manages to find a spot to rest. Soon enough, a stew boils upon the fire, bringing in the smell of carrots and onions, potatoes and eggplants.

SHAYURI

As everyone settles, Shayuri holds on to a strange, distant feeling. Her sister awareness, the soul in the idol, insinuates thoughts to her mind. Her thoughts surround Dram and the dagger for the most part. The idol seems to express sadness and fear at the same time, as if Dram's cause had a fair claim to it, but might cause even more disgrace on its trail...

[Shayuri can commune with the awareness to uncover his reasons, but the risks of doing so are still present...]



HAGADARK

The shaman isolates himself in a corner of the shelter, raising his prayers and allowing the book to receive its own sacrifices. Another favor, another price. As his own blood drips over the pages, his link with the thing deepens. He can feel the knowledge being revealed through the pages as they present reddened writings, sinuously drown by his own blood. This time, the very chant of divination appears in one page, and as Hagadark considers the questions, his thoughts begin to appear inscribed in the book...

"WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE ORCS IF WE TAKE THE OOZE?"

The orcs are divided. Possessed by spirits, possessed by the mass. The orcs fight.

"WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD IF WE LET THE OOZE LIVE?"

The world will fulfill its destinies. The mass reigns. The mass is enslaved. The mass is gone. The mass becomes all it can become, and nothing. The world continues towards its many fates.

"HOW BEST TO DESTROY THE OOZE?"

The Mouth of Fire, gateway to the Plane of Fire.

The book ends the inscriptions, and as soon as it does, they begin to fade away, as if water drying out over parchment.


[Note: the Mouth of Fire is the volcano that exploded, leading the mountaineers down south. It spills elementals because it is a gateway, apparently.]
[MENTION=24380]Neurotic[/MENTION] [MENTION=6801311]KahlessNestor[/MENTION] [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] [MENTION=87106]MetaVoid[/MENTION]

 

[KahlessNestor]

Nerath Wall/Long Return
Night
Round 0

The others went about their meditations, and Morgrym just stirred the stew, muttering into his beard. “Tha’ thing’ll jus’ get more dangerous. We need t’ get it oot o’ the town, at least. Kill it, ‘opefully. ‘Tis a parasite. A predator. Ain’t no satiatin’ it.”

Morgrym dished out the bowls and handed them to his companions.

[sblock=Actions and Rolls]
Move:
Action:
[/sblock]

[sblock=Ministats]
HP: 55/59 NL: 0
AC: 17 FF: 11 T: 16 (+4 vs Giants)
CMD: 16 (+2 vs bull rush, trip)
Fort: 8 Ref: 2 Will: 8 (+2 vs poisons, spells, SLA; +4 v fey and plant effects)
Armed: MW Cold Iron Battleaxe
Ammunition: 9/10 bullets
Storm Burst 7/7/day
Wild Shape 1/1/day

Conditions: Barkskin 497r (AC 19/13/16)

Spells Prepared
0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize
1: Obscuring Mist (Domain), Cure Light Wounds, Produce Flame, Faerie Fire, [Summon Nature’s Ally 1 (Spontaneous)]
2: Fog Cloud (Domain)*, Barkskin*, Flaming Sphere*, [Summon Nature’s Ally II (Spontaneous)]
3: Call Lightning (Domain), Cure Moderate Wounds, Protection from Energy*, [Summon Nature’s Ally III (Spontaneous)][/sblock]

 

[Neurotic]

Marius is still considering everything that happened. Both outside with the ooze and inside with the spirits.

"Let's see what you will accomplish with the spell in the morning. If that works, I think we could charge them with keeping of The Gardens. Druids can host them and feed them without The Mass spreading far and wide. Maybe taking parts of it will weaken the main mass enough for it to be target of the attack."

OOC: [MENTION=6855545]Archon Basileus[/MENTION], question: you mentioned earlier in one of the posts that spirits protection disappeared. So, do I lose AC bonus (+1) they granted? Instead I'm mythic now...

 

[MetaVoid]

"Fire is the way to destroy it. If we let it rule, it will rule the world eventually. And then be overthrown like any other ruler in fullness of time."
Hagadark comes from his meditations.
"I'll take the first watch, I need to prepare some potions for tomorrow."

 

[Shayuri]

Shayuri looks up at Hagadark and nods.

"I can do fire. What I won't do is let that thing 'rule the world.' Apart from any ethical concerns, it would make everything we're trying to do here completely obsolete."

 

[MetaVoid]

"Sorry, I should have been clearer. Mouth of Fire fire can do it. Not just any old fire. Although, your dragon fire might do the trick. At least for the little ones. And of course, there is the question, how do we transport whole of The Mass there. We don't know how much of it there is."

 

[KahlessNestor]

Nerath Wall/Long Return
Night
Round 0

“I c’n dae fire tae,” Morgrym said. “But wot’s Mouth o’ Fire? Some new orcish hot pepper?” The dwarf shook his head and stroked his beard. “I agree we cannae let it rule the world or wot not.” And, as pointed out, they didn’t have a way to transport it.

[sblock=Actions and Rolls]
Move:
Action:
[/sblock]

[sblock=Ministats]
HP: 55/59 NL: 0
AC: 17 FF: 11 T: 16 (+4 vs Giants)
CMD: 16 (+2 vs bull rush, trip)
Fort: 8 Ref: 2 Will: 8 (+2 vs poisons, spells, SLA; +4 v fey and plant effects)
Armed: MW Cold Iron Battleaxe
Ammunition: 9/10 bullets
Storm Burst 7/7/day
Wild Shape 1/1/day

Conditions: Barkskin 497r (AC 19/13/16)

Spells Prepared
0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize
1: Obscuring Mist (Domain), Cure Light Wounds, Produce Flame, Faerie Fire, [Summon Nature’s Ally 1 (Spontaneous)]
2: Fog Cloud (Domain)*, Barkskin*, Flaming Sphere*, [Summon Nature’s Ally II (Spontaneous)]
3: Call Lightning (Domain), Cure Moderate Wounds, Protection from Energy*, [Summon Nature’s Ally III (Spontaneous)][/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

"Well, there's something to keep in mind as we continue our quest. How to cart giant...blobs around. That, or mouths of fire that are portable. Regardless, either one is beyond our reach for now, so..."

She shrugs.

"Morning watch for me."

 

[MetaVoid]

"Mouth of Fire is that big volcano that your people are running from. Now please let me brew my potion in peace." The orc as polite as ever, but there is an edge to his answer, maybe because of all the wounds?

 

[Archon Basileus]

EVERYONE

The house is isolated enough to allow a long rest, as well as a solid working shift. While Hagadark brews his concoctions, the others manage to take a good rest. Arvana scouts out now and then, ensuring that no guards or enemies arrive.

[Everyone is now fully rested. You can heal as appropriate and take your time to brew potions and the like.]

It is only after several hours that Arvana, returning from one of her scouting trips, enter the room in a haste.

"We have problems. I've gone as far as the cave's entrance. Dram's men have closed the area and they're scouting around. They're looking for us, and I think he has a general idea of our position. It shouldn't be long till they reach us. We gotta move. Now." - she emphasizes, clearly concerned. Her distrust seem to have grown exponentially.

[Ok, I'm back! I've mentioned this before - here and in other threads - but once more, sorry for the delay. Problems overwhelmed me this time. I'm resuming normal pacing, hoping I didn't lose you guys! Please, give me a shout!]

@Neurotic @KahlessNestor @Shayuri @MetaVoid

 

[KahlessNestor]

Nerath Wall/Long Return
Morning
Round 0

Morgrym stirred from his morning meditation as Arvana rushed in to rouse them.

“Damn that man!” the dwarf muttered. “Noo wot does ‘e want?” He felt the cursed blade hanging inside his shirt against his chest as he donned his armor and picked up his axe and shield. “Sae wot’s the plan? We leavin’ town wi’ the oozes?” He shuddered a bit. But he’d prepared a spell that should alleviate their hunger for the day.

[sblock=Actions and Rolls]
Move:
Action:
[/sblock]

[sblock=Ministats]
HP: 59/59 NL: 0
AC: 17 FF: 11 T: 16 (+4 vs Giants)
CMD: 16 (+2 vs bull rush, trip)
Fort: 8 Ref: 2 Will: 8 (+2 vs poisons, spells, SLA; +4 v fey and plant effects)
Armed: MW Cold Iron Battleaxe
Ammunition: 9/10 bullets
Storm Burst 7/7/day
Wild Shape 1/1/day

Conditions:

Spells Prepared
0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize
1: Obscuring Mist (Domain), Cure Light Wounds, Goodberry, Produce Flame [Summon Nature’s Ally 1 (Spontaneous)]
2: Fog Cloud (Domain), Communal Endure Elements, Ironskin, [Summon Nature’s Ally II (Spontaneous)]
3: Call Lightning (Domain), Cure Moderate Wounds, Protection from Energy, [Summon Nature’s Ally III (Spontaneous)][/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

Shayuri shook her head disgustedly.

"How many men? I've half a mind to say we should just leave right through them. I'm getting sick and tired of things and people getting in our way. We have a purpose here. We've been chasing our tails, letting little men with small minds push us this way and that."

"Our destinies are bigger than that. Perhaps a show of force will remind them exactly who they're dealing with."

 

[MetaVoid]

"We can take them however many there are. Especially if we can group them. While I'm not averse to such show, we cannot take Dram I think. Thus, provoking him shouldn't be our first thought. But if Marius can get to oozes unnoticed, we can have Dram tske notice of main mass and we can travel with smaller ones in bodies of the guards. And test if druid spell can feed them. We can start sneaking out and Marius can catch up once the ooze comes out." Hagadarks quick mind quickly overrules orc tendency to fight first and finds what he hopes is the solution to their troubles.

Ooc: did we manage to rest? Recover our daily resources?

 

[KahlessNestor]

Nerath Wall/Long Return
Morning
Round 0

Morgrym looked to Shayuri after her outburst. “Aye, an’ put tha’ destiny t’ a quick end, if we dae tha’,” he told the sorceress. “We’ll fight if needed,” with that, he clutched his battleaxe, “but let’s try an’ avoid it if we can, lest Dram end up with the dagger ‘cause we were foolish in our pride. Our ultimate destiny is still death. Le’s no’ invite it any sooner’n necessary.”

[sblock=Actions and Rolls]
Move:
Action:
[/sblock]

[sblock=Ministats]
HP: 59/59 NL: 0
AC: 17 FF: 11 T: 16 (+4 vs Giants)
CMD: 16 (+2 vs bull rush, trip)
Fort: 8 Ref: 2 Will: 8 (+2 vs poisons, spells, SLA; +4 v fey and plant effects)
Armed: MW Cold Iron Battleaxe
Ammunition: 9/10 bullets
Storm Burst 7/7/day
Wild Shape 1/1/day

Conditions:

Spells Prepared
0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize
1: Obscuring Mist (Domain), Cure Light Wounds, Goodberry, Produce Flame [Summon Nature’s Ally 1 (Spontaneous)]
2: Fog Cloud (Domain), Communal Endure Elements, Ironskin, [Summon Nature’s Ally II (Spontaneous)]
3: Call Lightning (Domain), Cure Moderate Wounds, Protection from Energy, [Summon Nature’s Ally III (Spontaneous)][/sblock]

 

[Neurotic]

"But if Marius can get to oozes unnoticed, we can have Dram tske notice of main mass and we can travel with smaller ones in bodies of the guards. And test if druid spell can feed them. We can start sneaking out and Marius can catch up once the ooze comes out." Hagadarks quick mind quickly overrules orc tendency to fight first and finds what he hopes is the solution to their troubles.

"If I can? With dawn lights still hugging the horizont, you wouldn't see me. No human will, don't worry. But I cannot say anything for those I am fetching. If we don't have to, we should avoid the fight. We already agreed not to give Dram the dagger to use, we can find other sources of information. Somehow. Go to the valley border and wait for me, I'll catch up. Hopefully before you get to there. If any of you have means to communicate from afar, I would appreciate it."

Marius goes out toward the ooze house.

Once there, he calls softly to the humanoid oozes.
"We need to go. As fast and as silently as you can manage. There are guards here from the resident lord. If you can contain your hunger for short while yet, we need to reach my group."

[sblock=Actions]
Double move: [roll0] - add two if darkness affects the opponents (i.e. they are humans without special senses)
[/sblock]

 

[Archon Basileus]

EVERYONE

How many men?

"A dozen or so... Well-armed. And, Hagadark, you should be ready to face some of your own." - Arvana says in an apologetic tone.
"They should be here soon, but time might suffice so we make preparations. I could scout for another way out of the caves as well..." - she suggests. "I find it hard to believe that dwarves would build such a place without any secret paths outside"

[

Ooc: did we manage to rest? Recover our daily resources?

Yes, you've taken time for a full rest, recovering all resources and healing accordingly!]


MARIUS

Following the group's decision, the monk goes after the oozes. He finds the three remaining ooze zombies still there, resting in strange positions, scattered through the floor. They rise as he approaches, they movement less uncertain. They listen to the monk's request. "Where to?", is the only question Marius hears, their hunger clearly taking the best of them and compelling them to cooperate.

@Neurotic @Shayuri @MetaVoid @KahlessNestor

[So, I return slowly, but surely... I am typing this after several days wiith minimal access to a computer. Sorry again, guys, but things got messy. From now on I'll post normally. Next, I'll do Amberstar and Laholt - maps first, and then the posts. So if I take another day, please consider that I'm messing around with the maps! Thanks for the patience, and let's play!]

 

[Neurotic]

"We need to avoid other humans. So be quick and silent as you can. Our druid friend prepared something to hopefully ease your hunger. Follow and don't attack unless you're attacked. Those are humans from powerful mage patron and he can and would find The Mass and exterminate all of you." with that ominous threat Marius slips into the shadows again being careful that ooze creatures can keep up. He goes out wide to better avoid the guards with clumsy humanoids.

 

[Shayuri]

"Fine," Shayuri said to the dwarf. "None of this is my interest anyway. It's interesting in its own way, but doesn't seem connected to the Tideruler."

 

[Archon Basileus]

[As mentioned in Laholt's thread, I've been out on a long month of work, but I'm back now! Sorry for the absence! Let's get this game on our proper schedule! Missed playing with you, guys!]

EVERYONE

Through a delicate combination of attentive tracking, careful planning and light steps, Marius manages to avoid attention as he returns to his companions. Four ooze zombies shamble behind him, almost denouncing their position more than once, but the monk manages to cover them as they cross the alleys. Around them, Marius manages to identify Dram's goons already in action - a couple of humans and a handful of orcs, no doubt interested in Hagadark's demise. The heroes' names are uttered as the searching party inquires the locals on their whereabouts, but their presence hadn't been noticed, thus leading to a lot of confusion.

Nevertheless, they seem to be getting closer to the abandoned house, despite the lack of information. Odds are that Dram gave them means to search for the heroes - or, at least, for the dagger.

As the monk arrives, the others are ready to receive him, along with the ooze zombies. The door opens and, for a second, a strange chill fills the room, defeating even the coziness of the hearth fire. The door shuts, and Arvana, pacing rapidly across the room, addresses her friends.

"Did you just feel that? It was like... I don't know..." - the heroes feel as if they were being observed. Indeed, for a solid minute now, Hagadark, Morgrym and Shay could swear they were being surrounded, but picking out the windows showed them no visible menace...

Their musings are suddenly interrupted by the faintest of noises. It is as if something just leapt over the small ruin, stepping upon the stone roof. The heroes can't hear proper steps, but the distant sound of something dragging delicately can be clearly discerned by their sharpened senses...


[Ok, guys, your actions!]

@Neurotic @KahlessNestor @Shayuri @MetaVoid

 

[Neurotic]

[roll0]

Marius remains alert even after he rejoined his companions. He knows they have to move, but in a second all that changes. 'They are here! Prepare. Do we need to fight them? Dram may try to take what he wants, there will be no witnesses here. But I don't want to start the fight without provocation. I can show myself and try talking to them."