In Hextor's Name (Completed 22 Oct 2004)

[arwink]

Zalich's log, entry four

Hmm. I look here and I see a laxness that's inexcusable. Has it been so long since I last made an entry? A poor showing, I'm sure. With my recent promotion, it's important to keep on top of such things.

So much has changed since my last post, yet duty demands that I keep things consistant. Much as I may wish to forget the events of the frozen monestary, they did lead me to my ship.

So, where was I?

Ah yes. I've heard travellers talk about the undead, but I've never truly appreciated the truth lingering in their tales. There's few walking dead on the ocean, so I've been spared a great deal of experience with them. I have a simple cantrip in my spellbook that's specifically tailored to harming them, but I have seen little use for it. Meldach had always insisted I memorise it, telling me the time would come when some pirate mage would raise a fallen comrade from the dead and I'd be glad of knowing it. Before I was trapped in that frosty monestary, I'd never had cause to cast it before. Strange, considering how often I've commited the runes and gestures to memory since then.

So. The Ice Ghoul.

It came striding toward our camp while most of us were sleeping. The creature was huge, standing over six feet tall and its flesh pale and blue tinged from the cold. Even now I shudder to remember it. I forget who was on guard, but they managed to wake the rest of us before it strode through the door to the kitchen. The horror paid as little mind even as we struck at it, as though our weary blows were as incosequential as mosquito bites to us. It waded through our defenses and down the stairs to the cellar.

It was obvious that the creature was infuriated by the heat, but my true concern was what happened once that boiler was destroyed. Would it be content to leave us in peace after that? It seemed doubtful, to say the least. Whether we wanted it or not, it seemed we had a fight on our hands.

It could not have happend at a worse time. I was one of the few survivors who wasn't wounded, and all of the competent warriors were on their last legs. Kull was virtuall staggering from place to place, clinging to consciousness with sheer willpower.

With some tripedation, I realised that I was one of the logical choices to chase after the undead beast. With a sigh I readed my crossbow and made sure my rolling pin was within easy reach. I got some confused looks when others saw me tucking the bulky wooden rolling pin under my cloak, but Meldach had often told me tales of repelling borders with whatever weapon came to hand and I comforted myself with memories of his tales. I've had little training with hand to hand weapons, and when I feared the ship was attacked unexpected the rolling pin was the first thing that came to hand. In retrospect, I've become quite comfortable with it. I'm even considering having a new rolling pin made, specially balanced for combat.

But, yes, the ice ghoul. I shouldn't let myself be distracted. We gave chase, but it didn't go well for us. Kull screamed at me to cast some kind of fire spell on the creature, but there was no chance to do so. I know but one spell that produces flames, burning hands, and that required me to get far closer to the beast than I truly wished too. I hung back and cast Meldach's spell, the long memorized and never used incantation that disrupted the essence of the undead. It's a weak spell, and it did little beyond enraging the beast. It roared at me, the most attention it'd given to anyone thus far, and I felt a frosty fear creep into my soul. Triolan dashed down the stairs to assult the creature with her rapier, and it lashed out with its claws to cut her down. Brodnak and the druid were quick to follow, and with them I continued to trail the ice ghoul as it stalked towards the furnace. I fired crossbow bolts at the creature when the opportunity presented itself, but rarely seemed to connect. Brodnak and the druid both landed blows, but were quickly cut down in retalliation.

I had a quarrel loaded, ready to fire, when I noticed we'd reached the furnace room. I'm not sure how I'd managed to miss our passage, although I blame it on my focus on the creature we were trying to stop. Now there was no-one there but the creature and me, it standing in front of the furnace doors and me with a loaded crossbow and two bleeding comrades at my feet.

It turned a tap on the side of the furnace, flooding the flames inside with water. Steam and darkness filled the room in seconds. I did the only sensible thing I could do in the situation.

I screamed for help.

I could feel the ice ghoul moving past me, and I even swung out once with the rolling pin as it moved away but the lack of light left me flailing in the darkness. Within seconds I could hear Kull moving through the room, staggered but still standing and ready to heal the fallen. He could do little beyond binding wounds, but he did what he could. I spent several long minutes standing in the darkness, amazed that I was not only still alive but relatively unhurt.

"We light the furnace again," someone called. I gathered from the voice that it was Kull. Both the half-orcs sound much the same, but I'd seen the druids wounds and I was sure he'd still be unconcious. "We light it again, and we keep it low in hopes it doesn't come back. We'll move everyone down here for the night. It's easier to defend, and this room should stay warmer than the rest of the monestary."

It was logic, of a sort, but the orders were welcome at that point. All I could do was stare numbly into the darkness. There was movement around me, and soon a small fire was started in the furnace. Kull offered to take watch in our new camp, and I gladly let him do it. Somehow, I knew that beast was coming back to find us, and I knew there were spells in my book that I'd need. Rest called out to me, and I soon slept soundly near the faint warmth of the furnace.

Note: Yep, I'm still behind, but I'll be doing my best to catch up in the next week or two. I was going to do it in one longer post, but we gamed today and Zalich had a good run. I figured I owed him an update

 

[Lela]

And don't think we don't appreciate it Arwink. The, uh, cowerdice of Zalich not withstanding, I still like his side of the story.

 

[arwink]

And don't think we don't appreciate it Arwink. The, uh, cowerdice of Zalich not withstanding, I still like his side of the story.

Zalich prefers the term cautious rather than cowardice He's not an adventurer by nature. Most of his training has been in cooking, sailing and fighting pirates, so anything stranger than a human or half-orc with a cutlass is slightly more than he's used too.

When we get to the write up of the last session, it'll show how much more at home he is when he's in that kind of element

 

[Lela]

When we get to the write up of the last session, it'll show how much more at home he is when he's in that kind of element

Well, get to writting man. We can't wait forever!

 

[Capellan]

Kull's First Report - Part 7

Tactics and discipline had overcome the Ice Haunt. Now they would be needed to overcome the greater challenge: escaping the island.

In the morning, after we had rested for the remainder of the night, I tended to those wounds that had been suffered. In the end, the battle had been won well, but there were still a few who carried small wounds. The druid wanted us to remain another day in the cellar, until we were 'fully healed', but I overruled this piece of cowardice-disguised-as-prudence. The few slight injuries that remained would not inhibit our search. In any case, our food could not last forever.

I led the group back to the upper storey of the monastery, to continue the search of the building. It was important to make sure there were no more threats waiting for us. I also wished to see if there might also be some information or tools to assist us.

There were only a few chambers left on the level, but they provided the information I was seeking, if not the tools. The first room was a bedchamber for one of the senior monks, and the monastery diary was there among his possessions.

Reading over the last few entries, it was obvious that this monk had felt himself responsible for the fate that had befallen the item. He wrote often of the Ice Haunt, and how he had brought it down upon them, though he did not say how. He also spoke of the creature's vulnerability to fire, and of a trap he had laid that he believed would destroy it: using himself as the bait. Given the creature's continued existence until our arrival, it seemed obvious his trap had failed.

As the search continued, I soon learned the monk's fate: he had made the library his stronghold, and doused the whole room in oil. A frozen, slippery coating of the fluid still covered the floor. Frozen, just like the man who had prepared it. His corpse was huddled in the corner, face locked in a grimace, flint and tinder in his icy hands. Evidently the creature had rushed upon him too quickly for him to act. But at least he had made plans to defeat it: it was a warrior's death.

There was little more of interest in these rooms: not even a chart of the island's location, which was the least I had hoped to find. There were, however, still the stairs that led up, and I now threw open the doors, to see where they would lead.

The stairs emerged onto a balcony, high on the roof of the monastery. A howling wind drove sleet and snow across the area, but I braced myself against it, standing as strong and as tall as the two statues that occupied either end of the balcony.

These statues depicted monks, rather than deities. Each faced a door, set into the stone wall on either side of the stairs. The doors were made of sturdy hardwood, iron-bound, and proved to be locked when I tried them.

At this point, Troilan stepped forward, boasting that she could open any door she wished, given a few minutes to work. If the claim was true, it would mean that she finally offered some use to me, and I stepped back, waving for her to proceed.

The woman swaggered to the door, and spent several minutes examining it, then crouched and produced a set of slender lock-picks.

She had barely set to work, however, when there was a grind of stone on stone, and the two statues began to move.

 

[Talix]

Heh, I love the bias. Hopefully someone is just coming out of the secret doors hidden behind the statues, yeah, that's it...

 

[Lela]

Re: Kull's First Report - Part 7

It was a warrior's death.

Hmmmm. He fell in battle. Good for him!


Capellan, do you think you could provide any direct insight into Hextor for me? Recently he's become a point of interest for me and I've been including him in my campaign as a rather major figure. Theories about on his dogma and, especially, his worshipers have captured a particular interest.

Thanks,

 

[Capellan]

Re: Re: Kull's First Report - Part 7

Capellan, do you think you could provide any direct insight into Hextor for me? Recently he's become a point of interest for me and I've been including him in my campaign as a rather major figure. Theories about on his dogma and, especially, his worshipers have captured a particular interest.

Well to be honest, I am making it up as I go along ... and even then, Kull's personal faith in Hextor is a little different from the norm (Kull is, after all, LN rather than LE).

That said, some of the things that Kull believes are:

- with proper discipline, you can overcome any challenge
- discipline requires strong leadership (ie you must be a strong leader to instill discipline in others)
- strong leadership requires discipline (ie you cannot be a strong leader if you yourself are not disciplined)
- physical needs (food; security) are the only true requirements of contentment: other freedoms/wants should be tolerated only so far as they do not impinge upon these needs
- success requires sacrifice
- victory is the only honour (it is better to be shamed, but survived, than to die for your 'honour')
- tangibles matter; intangibles do not (this is pretty much the above two points, boiled down to the core concept)
- you cannot - and should not - help those who will not help themselves (if a town is best by bandits, Kull would help them raise and train a militia to fight the attacker; but he would not help if they citizens did not agree to fight)

I think that the central Hextorite church would be more oppressive and autocratic (yes, even moreso than Kull). People would simply be made to do as the Church commanded, whereas Kull does actually try to use argument (and not a little bluster) to get his way.

That said, Kull's idea of a 'model' society would still be a bit grim by our standards. He would focus on material needs (shelter, food, security) and run things in a pretty strictly martial manner (all adults would be expected to serve in the militia and train with weapons; all children would be trained on where to go in an emergency - that sort of thing). Everyone would be expected to contribute. Free time would be quite limited.

Actually, here's a really quick example of the difference between Kull's approach and the official Church approach (in practice):

Kull
My orders should be followed. Discipline makes our society stronger, and I make my decisions for the good of all.

The Church
My orders should be followed, because they are my orders.

Of course, that's just my view of Hextor's Church in this campaign. In CotRE, Hextor is one of the twin gods of the empire (together with Heironeous) so his function is a little different, and his church is closer to Kull's approach (though still LE, and more brutal than Kull tends to be).

 

[Lela]

Thanks Capellan. It gives me a few thoughts and does help quite a bit.

Just out of curiosity, what would Kull say to a villiage who needed help with a local (Red) dragon?

 

[Capellan]

Just out of curiosity, what would Kull say to a villiage who needed help with a local (Red) dragon?

How big is the dragon? What level is Kull?

The specific situation would have a lot of impact here. There's a big difference between a smallish dragon that massed peasant archery might genuinely hurt, and a monster that would barely even feel the handful of natural 20s that actually wounded it.

If faced with an overwhelming threat, Kull's policy would be:

"Find out what the threat requires in order to make it leave you alone. If you can afford to pay, do so. If you can't, leave."

Of course, Kull's definition of 'overwhelming' might be different to that of others. He firmly believes that a good plan and proper discipline makes the 'impossible', possible.

And I think that, if we're going to discuss this further, we should do so in another thread ... best not to clutter up the story hour