Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
This was my favourite line:
Entirely fair comment, I think.
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
In Hextor's Name (Completed 22 Oct 2004)
- Thread starter Capellan
- Start date
Lela
First Post
Oh, c'mon, he got better.Joshua Randall said:
I'm loving the new perspective Mantreus, keep it up.
And Cap, I'd watch out for the cleric of Pelor on that council. I hadn't noticed him before but he could be a problem. Though I think it's really cool to see both a Pelorite and a Hextorian on oppisite ends of a council. Especially with the simple peasent in between them. Priceless.
Capellan
Explorer
Pfah. The Pelorite is a threat only inasmuch as he might get scared and run crying to his mummy ... or at least, some bunch of nosey Paladins (which is the DM's favourite threat to use on us if we get out of hand 
).
The text below is not a real update (though there will hopefully be one of those, later), but just a teaser of things to come:
Hroltar Turkadsson
Commander, Black Iron Chapter
Commander,
The half-orc actually appears to be achieving results. Send someone to keep an eye on him. The last thing we want is for him to squander the opportunity, now that he's found it.
Visehart.
).The text below is not a real update (though there will hopefully be one of those, later), but just a teaser of things to come:
Hroltar Turkadsson
Commander, Black Iron Chapter
Commander,
The half-orc actually appears to be achieving results. Send someone to keep an eye on him. The last thing we want is for him to squander the opportunity, now that he's found it.
Visehart.
Capellan
Explorer
Kull's 7th Report - Part 1
Saltmarsh
Sixth Moon
To: Bishop-General Kartrak Visehart
Report from Kull Redfist
Sir,
It seems there are no end to the threats which loom over Saltmarsh. As soon as one is dispatched, another appears.
You will have heard, of course, of the fighting which has arisen in the lands to the north. There has been a steady flow of troops through the town in the past few days, and while none of them had much of import to tell, it is plain that a major conflict is brewing there. Some of the units that have passed through have been from foreign powers. Will Shepherdson, my deputy, bridled at this. The very people he spent years fighting now ride without hindrance through his home. I have pointed out to him the fact that they come now as allies, not enemies, but he is a simple villager, and takes little to the dictates of logic.
This conflict, however, is not the matter of which I speak. It is still distant, though I do not trust that it will long remain that way, if the defences of the rest of the nation are as poorly maintained as those of this town were, before my arrival.
No, the threat of which I speak arose much closer to the village. It has now been dispatched, but the information which took was uncovered in the course of its defeat is, I believe, of considerable import. I have attached an analysis of this information, including copies of two maps, to this missive. I urge you to direct your attention to these items immediately, as they outline what I discovered, and the steps I plan to take in response to this knowledge.
In the report below, I will deal with the events of the past two weeks in chronological order, so that you may understand how I came by the information in question.
Events began about a week after the arrival of the wizard, Gnorric, to whom I referred in my last message. The man - who looks much like a skeleton himself, in truth - has some bizarre idea that the dead are a wasted resource. His plan, as he describes it, is to try and persuade the world of the value of the undead as labourers. A foolish notion, to my mind, and one that quite evidently alarmed the other members of the council.
Whatever my personal feelings about the subject, however, there was no doubting that the man understood the principles of magic, and - most importantly - the process by which weapons and armour can be enchanted. This alone made his toleration in the town imperative to my needs, and - having given him stern instructions not to conduct his experiments within the town - I secured exactly that: toleration.
As I stated, about a week after this Gnorric arrived, a new threat endangered the town. During the middle of the night, the alarm bell began to sound, indicating that hostile creatures had been seen near the town. I immediately took up my shield and flail to investigate, but by the time I arrived, the attack had been driven off. It emerged that the attackers had been giant, newt-like humanoids (the entire area seems to be infested with these different strains of beast-men: lizardfolk, sahuagin, and now these creatures). Although they had been driven off, only one had been killed, and two more captured, while the rest had escaped with no fewer than ten female captives of their own.
My deputy reported that it had been Gnorric and the elven druid who had slain the single newt casualty, and a spell of the wizard's which had disabled the other two. I thanked them on behalf of the village for their actions, and bade them remain nearby, as I might have further use for them.
I then turned my attention to the prisoners, and interrogated them as to their reason for attacking the town. Gnorric proved useful in this endeavour, as he understood their tongue. After some time, it became clear that the purpose of their attack had been to gather food, and that females had been abducted as they found them 'more tender'. I immediately began questioning them as to where the women would be taken, and how many others of their kind there were. They lacked sufficient understanding of maps to point out the location of their base when one was shown to them, but from the distance and direction it became clear that they made their homes in a ruin that was located approximately half-a-day's travel from the lizardfolk.
I did not know anything of this ruin, myself, but I knew that it would not have gone unnoticed by the lizardfolk. Thus, I immediately made plans to travel and see them, with the intent of learning the ruin's exact location, and retrieving whichever of the women still survived.
Dispatching my deputy to gather food and supplies for the journey, and to arrange for a boat to carry us to the lizardfolk's home, I called upon the wizard and the druid to join the expedition. I reminded them that the druid's knowledge of the swamp, and the wizard's spells, would both help ensure the safe return of any survivors, as well as earning the town's gratitude, and an equal share of any treasure.
No doubt it was this last incentive which secured their cooperation.
Saltmarsh
Sixth Moon
To: Bishop-General Kartrak Visehart
Report from Kull Redfist
Sir,
It seems there are no end to the threats which loom over Saltmarsh. As soon as one is dispatched, another appears.
You will have heard, of course, of the fighting which has arisen in the lands to the north. There has been a steady flow of troops through the town in the past few days, and while none of them had much of import to tell, it is plain that a major conflict is brewing there. Some of the units that have passed through have been from foreign powers. Will Shepherdson, my deputy, bridled at this. The very people he spent years fighting now ride without hindrance through his home. I have pointed out to him the fact that they come now as allies, not enemies, but he is a simple villager, and takes little to the dictates of logic.
This conflict, however, is not the matter of which I speak. It is still distant, though I do not trust that it will long remain that way, if the defences of the rest of the nation are as poorly maintained as those of this town were, before my arrival.
No, the threat of which I speak arose much closer to the village. It has now been dispatched, but the information which took was uncovered in the course of its defeat is, I believe, of considerable import. I have attached an analysis of this information, including copies of two maps, to this missive. I urge you to direct your attention to these items immediately, as they outline what I discovered, and the steps I plan to take in response to this knowledge.
In the report below, I will deal with the events of the past two weeks in chronological order, so that you may understand how I came by the information in question.
Events began about a week after the arrival of the wizard, Gnorric, to whom I referred in my last message. The man - who looks much like a skeleton himself, in truth - has some bizarre idea that the dead are a wasted resource. His plan, as he describes it, is to try and persuade the world of the value of the undead as labourers. A foolish notion, to my mind, and one that quite evidently alarmed the other members of the council.
Whatever my personal feelings about the subject, however, there was no doubting that the man understood the principles of magic, and - most importantly - the process by which weapons and armour can be enchanted. This alone made his toleration in the town imperative to my needs, and - having given him stern instructions not to conduct his experiments within the town - I secured exactly that: toleration.
As I stated, about a week after this Gnorric arrived, a new threat endangered the town. During the middle of the night, the alarm bell began to sound, indicating that hostile creatures had been seen near the town. I immediately took up my shield and flail to investigate, but by the time I arrived, the attack had been driven off. It emerged that the attackers had been giant, newt-like humanoids (the entire area seems to be infested with these different strains of beast-men: lizardfolk, sahuagin, and now these creatures). Although they had been driven off, only one had been killed, and two more captured, while the rest had escaped with no fewer than ten female captives of their own.
My deputy reported that it had been Gnorric and the elven druid who had slain the single newt casualty, and a spell of the wizard's which had disabled the other two. I thanked them on behalf of the village for their actions, and bade them remain nearby, as I might have further use for them.
I then turned my attention to the prisoners, and interrogated them as to their reason for attacking the town. Gnorric proved useful in this endeavour, as he understood their tongue. After some time, it became clear that the purpose of their attack had been to gather food, and that females had been abducted as they found them 'more tender'. I immediately began questioning them as to where the women would be taken, and how many others of their kind there were. They lacked sufficient understanding of maps to point out the location of their base when one was shown to them, but from the distance and direction it became clear that they made their homes in a ruin that was located approximately half-a-day's travel from the lizardfolk.
I did not know anything of this ruin, myself, but I knew that it would not have gone unnoticed by the lizardfolk. Thus, I immediately made plans to travel and see them, with the intent of learning the ruin's exact location, and retrieving whichever of the women still survived.
Dispatching my deputy to gather food and supplies for the journey, and to arrange for a boat to carry us to the lizardfolk's home, I called upon the wizard and the druid to join the expedition. I reminded them that the druid's knowledge of the swamp, and the wizard's spells, would both help ensure the safe return of any survivors, as well as earning the town's gratitude, and an equal share of any treasure.
No doubt it was this last incentive which secured their cooperation.
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arwink
Clockwork Golem
More entries in the Kull/Common translation dictionary.
My Deputy: The first person to point out that taking charge of militia, then living in a church a half-hour out of town, isn't going to help. Saltmarshes are still incapable of doing anything for themselves when it comes to fighting, they apparently have to be told who to attack and when.
Simple Villager: exactly as he says. Will is not the brightest of sparks
My Deputy: The first person to point out that taking charge of militia, then living in a church a half-hour out of town, isn't going to help. Saltmarshes are still incapable of doing anything for themselves when it comes to fighting, they apparently have to be told who to attack and when.
Simple Villager: exactly as he says. Will is not the brightest of sparks
From the Journal of Gnorric
We arrived in town to find a large group of people menacing a pair of the newt men that were holding a local woman hostage. No one was willing to make a move as they feared what the newt-men may do to the woman.
From the corner of my eye, I spied a leather-clad man with a bow climbing the side of the building that the newt-men were backed against. I pointed him out to Aramil and we realised that the situation was about to get violent.
As expected, the leather-clad man fired an arrow into the shoulder of one of the newt-men and everything happened at once. I fired a beam of energy into the arrowed newt-man, but it appeared to have little effect. The druid started moving forward. It was then that I noticed that the other newt was about to cut the throat of the woman! I hastily cast a sleeping spell on the pair in the hope they wouldn’t be able to resist its effects.
Luckily, both newts fell asleep instantly, dropping to the ground. The villagers gave a collective sigh of relief as Kull arrived. He instantly took charge and instructed the villagers to “secure the perimeter” and other equally military sounding instructions. Not surprisingly, most of the armed villagers rushed off to do his bidding.
Kull picked up both the newt-men and gestured at me to follow, grumbling something about acting as an interpreter. The leather-clad man from the roof lithely climbed down and joined us, introducing himself as Will, a local to Saltmarsh who had recently returned from a war to the south of the Duchy. Kull seemed to know him as well and instructed him to join us. Others from the village followed out of curiosity.
We proceeded to what appeared to be the town sheriffs office where Kull awoke them and started to berate them in a number of different languages, none of which they seemed to understand. I attempted to speak to them and found they spoke a dialect of Draconic, so I acted as interpreter for Kull. Initially, the newts were tight lipped, refusing to say anything useful apart from calling us “disgusting warm things”. Kull quickly tired of this and promptly broke a newts ankles with his bare hands! Some of the townsfolk were horrified and left looking a bit green about the gills. From that point on, the newts were more helpful.
We ascertained that the newts had recently moved into an abandoned watchtower in the middle of the swamp to the south and that they wanted the women for food. No one seemed to have heard of this watchtower however, so it was decided that a delegation would head out to see the Lizardmen the following day to see if they were aware of where this watchtower may be.
Once this information was gleaned, Kull rather abruptly killed them both. Unfortunately, he used his flail, thereby reducing their heads to mush making it difficult for me to examine their brains for my research. Either way, who would want a zombie with a squished in face? It’s not very pleasant really.
______
I have been reading some of the teachings from the order of Wee Jas. I like the way these people think. According to them death isn’t an end but a beginning, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell people. The next time I’m in Mellin, I believe I will go and talk to the local priestess, I’m sure we would have lots to talk about. I can introduce my familiar, Wee Bat. I’m sure they’d appreciate the gesture.
Speaking of Wee Bat, I believe we have come to a new level of understanding with each other. My studies have warned me that this might happen, but it was still a surprise when I my little fellow started muttering about “sweet berries” as he was having some dinner. I’ve found that I can understand and talk to him fully now. I think he’s starting to tire of my constant talking about my research though.
Oh yes, for some reason, I have been elected to go on the delegation to the Lizardmen, apparently my performance during the town attack impressed some people. That and I speak the language. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be doing a lot of talking however.
Kull mentioned the possibility of treasure, which will come in very handy in raising funds for my shop, so I’m actually quite looking forward to this little adventure.
We leave early in the morning, so I had better finish reading and get some sleep…
We arrived in town to find a large group of people menacing a pair of the newt men that were holding a local woman hostage. No one was willing to make a move as they feared what the newt-men may do to the woman.
From the corner of my eye, I spied a leather-clad man with a bow climbing the side of the building that the newt-men were backed against. I pointed him out to Aramil and we realised that the situation was about to get violent.
As expected, the leather-clad man fired an arrow into the shoulder of one of the newt-men and everything happened at once. I fired a beam of energy into the arrowed newt-man, but it appeared to have little effect. The druid started moving forward. It was then that I noticed that the other newt was about to cut the throat of the woman! I hastily cast a sleeping spell on the pair in the hope they wouldn’t be able to resist its effects.
Luckily, both newts fell asleep instantly, dropping to the ground. The villagers gave a collective sigh of relief as Kull arrived. He instantly took charge and instructed the villagers to “secure the perimeter” and other equally military sounding instructions. Not surprisingly, most of the armed villagers rushed off to do his bidding.
Kull picked up both the newt-men and gestured at me to follow, grumbling something about acting as an interpreter. The leather-clad man from the roof lithely climbed down and joined us, introducing himself as Will, a local to Saltmarsh who had recently returned from a war to the south of the Duchy. Kull seemed to know him as well and instructed him to join us. Others from the village followed out of curiosity.
We proceeded to what appeared to be the town sheriffs office where Kull awoke them and started to berate them in a number of different languages, none of which they seemed to understand. I attempted to speak to them and found they spoke a dialect of Draconic, so I acted as interpreter for Kull. Initially, the newts were tight lipped, refusing to say anything useful apart from calling us “disgusting warm things”. Kull quickly tired of this and promptly broke a newts ankles with his bare hands! Some of the townsfolk were horrified and left looking a bit green about the gills. From that point on, the newts were more helpful.
We ascertained that the newts had recently moved into an abandoned watchtower in the middle of the swamp to the south and that they wanted the women for food. No one seemed to have heard of this watchtower however, so it was decided that a delegation would head out to see the Lizardmen the following day to see if they were aware of where this watchtower may be.
Once this information was gleaned, Kull rather abruptly killed them both. Unfortunately, he used his flail, thereby reducing their heads to mush making it difficult for me to examine their brains for my research. Either way, who would want a zombie with a squished in face? It’s not very pleasant really.
______
I have been reading some of the teachings from the order of Wee Jas. I like the way these people think. According to them death isn’t an end but a beginning, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell people. The next time I’m in Mellin, I believe I will go and talk to the local priestess, I’m sure we would have lots to talk about. I can introduce my familiar, Wee Bat. I’m sure they’d appreciate the gesture.
Speaking of Wee Bat, I believe we have come to a new level of understanding with each other. My studies have warned me that this might happen, but it was still a surprise when I my little fellow started muttering about “sweet berries” as he was having some dinner. I’ve found that I can understand and talk to him fully now. I think he’s starting to tire of my constant talking about my research though.
Oh yes, for some reason, I have been elected to go on the delegation to the Lizardmen, apparently my performance during the town attack impressed some people. That and I speak the language. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be doing a lot of talking however.
Kull mentioned the possibility of treasure, which will come in very handy in raising funds for my shop, so I’m actually quite looking forward to this little adventure.
We leave early in the morning, so I had better finish reading and get some sleep…
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I'm glad you like it. I'm really enjoying playing Gnorric, he's a constant source of amusement to the rest of the partyDungannon said:Ahh, I think I'm going to really enjoy Gnorric's take on this SH.
He's always poking at the stuff we kill..Also, because Kull is relatively "factual" and succinct in his reports, it allows me to highlight how single minded, violent and deluded he can be
Thomas Hobbes
First Post
Which is to say, that Kull's a focused man [edit: half-orc?] of action who won't let inconsequential facts get in his way.
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Lela
First Post
Oh, we completely agree with you on Kull. It's just that you're the new guy and we're trying to help you catch up with Cap in terms of praise.Mantreus said:I'm glad you like it. I'm really enjoying playing Gnorric, he's a constant source of amusement to the rest of the party
Also, because Kull is relatively "factual" and succinct in his reports, it allows me to highlight how single minded, violent and deluded he can be
Cap's hat size may get a bit smaller but that's okay. It's four times what it was when this started already.
