KidCthulhu's Scarred Land story hour

[Morgaine]

Kel fires his crossbow bolt but in the splashing and confusion misses wide to the right. Marja sends two magic missiles streaming at the creature, more tentacles now visible. The green orbs sear into the soft flesh, leaving large wounds. Kalina reaches the boy and draws up the seaweed around her to heal the large gaping wound in his chest. They seal the wound to prevent further blood loss, melting into his ragged muscles and instantly repairing the tears cause by Borin’s axe.

Xenia also jumps into the water, sword glinting in the bright sunlight. Alas, she is not prepared for the extra weight of the water and she misses, slashing through the water with a splash. Gemma quickly moves to aid Kalina and stretches out her holy symbol of Tanil to the unconscious man in the water. Light radiates out from the arrowhead and blazes into the partially healed wound. The skin sews itself together with threads of the golden glow and Cotter regains consciousness. Deke dives below the water to free the young man and wrestles with the tentacle as Cotter wriggles free.

Almost too late, Morgaine hears the now familiar buzzing sound of sturges closing in on them. She calls out a warning to her companions and vainly tries to get off a Melf’s acid arrowbefore they attack. However the flying creatures are too quick and dive in before she has the spell components in hand. One attacks Gemma, landing squarely in the middle of the elder woman’s back. One attacks a weak Cotter, finding its mark on his thigh.

 

[Aravis]

Borin goes berserk with rage and charges into the water, swinging his axe wildly as he does so. Delirious as he is, however, he misses the black creature and hits Cotter instead. The poor noble falls unconscious as the water around him turns red with his spilled blood.

Can I just say...Ooops!

-- Aravis

 

[Piratecat]

I don't think he noticed.

 

[Morgaine]

Marja sends more magic missiles at the one on Cotter; the creature hisses into oblivion before doing much damage.

Kalina deftly reaches over her shoulder and, in one swift movement, pulls out her scimitar and slashes through a sturge in midair. It, too, disappears in a sputter. Xenia raises her sword and slices through the one attacking Gemma and continues her swing to include another just above her head. Borin gives a mighty battle cry, swings his axe and levels a blow at the remaining two that sends them into oblivion.

Meanwhile, another tentacle attacks Kel, who stabs it fiercely with his sword. Borin, also nearby, finishes his swing into the creature, bury his axe deep in the dark, slimy flesh. Deke moves to load his crossbow as the giant squid creature rises five feet above the water and snaps its beak-like mouth at the nearest foe - Kel. Blood spurts from his arm as the razor-sharp teeth sink into his now useless left arm.

Morgaine readies a sleep spell to perhaps eliminate the next onslaught of sturges she is sure will appear. She scans the horizon hoping to catch sight of the insectine creatures before they get too close. Her vigilance pays off when, in the distance, she can just make out six shapes silhouetted against the sky. As they come within range, she pulls the last strings of magic together and sends the spell out toward the pestilence rapidly approaching. Four of the six creatures fall out of flight toward the water, fast asleep.

Kalina is ready with her scimitar and finishes off one of the sleeping constructs before it hits the water. Borin, likewise cleaves one and then destroys the second without blinking then turns his attention back to the squid eating Kel. Kel heaves his sword and delivers one last blow to the sea creature, wincing in pain as he does so. He is rewarded when the giant, black squid falls slack, life gone from its eyes. With great effort, the young fighter stabs his sword, now coated in the creature’s thick blood, killing one of the sturges attempting to attack him. Breathing in ragged gasps from pain and effort, Kel makes his way toward his companions to help dispose of the remaining two sturges. Xenia gets there first and her long sword quickly destroys the last threats with ease.

Gemma once again calls on the help of Tanil and heals poor Kel’s arm. Between she and Kalina (with the help of Kel, once his arm is once again useful) they heal the party members quickly. Deke hastily convinces Cotter that his now healed wounds were from the creature not Borin. As shaken as he is, the young man readily believes this.

In the mele, the party has forgotten about the strange dwarf they spied earlier. As the group scans the beach for the friendly looking bearded fellow, Deke, Gemma and Kel spot him a couple hundred yards down. He catches Deke’s eye for a briefest moment and then begins casting a spell. Morgaine studies his movements closely, listening intently for the familiar words and immediately recognizes the spell as a conjuration, probably for more sturges.

 

[Iron Chef BBQ]

Marja's Profile

Here is Marja's character background in a (not so small) nutshell.

Marja Silvanrod – Half-Elf, Sorcerer,

Marja is the daughter of Mirium Spooner, a human chef for an Amalthean Lord, and Rodrick Silvanrod, an Elven bard. She had an idyllic childhood (fairly unheard of for an adventurer) growing up as a very pretty and lively creature on a beautiful estate where the Lord and Lady have done their best to smooth over the scars left by the Titan Wars. Her parents are real free spirits (think 1960’s flower children).

When Marja entered adolescence she began to have nightmares. She would wake up to find things being tossed about the room, or destroyed in bursts of light. Having never met a sorcerer, she was unable to detect the first stages of her inner magical power. Frightened by what was happening to her when she slept Marja began to stay up late. She began to run with a wilder crowd and to drink heavily. By drinking herself into a stupor she could assure herself of a dreamless sleep.

When her father finally realized what was going on, he recognized the signs of sorcery. His mother is a sorcerer so he sent Marja to the elves deep in the Amalthean woods to live with her grandmother. While there Marja embraced her powers, but longed to follow in her father’s footsteps as a bard, and longed to travel.

She set out under the apprenticeship of a bard and friend of her fathers, but bandits attacked the party and her mentor was killed. In this fight she met Borin, and they have become very close friends. Marja has set aside her dreams of becoming a bard to travel with the group.

Marja really likes people and enjoys personal interactions on all levels. She’s drawn to defend the weak and challenge the cruel (more for the social aspects than from a deep-seeded sense of right and wrong), and just loves to be social. Despite embracing her sorcererness, she still fights inner demons. Although she no longer fears the manifestations of her magic while she sleeps, she is still plagued by nightmares. She often dreams of huge winged creatures attacking her and pushing her off an enormously high cliff. To drown out these nightmares, Marja still drinks herself into a stupor most nights (the party doesn’t quite know this yet, although some suspect).

 

[(contact)]

Borin goes berserk with rage and charges into the water, swinging his axe wildly as he does so. Delirious as he is, however, he misses the black creature and hits Cotter instead. The poor noble falls unconscious as the water around him turns red with his spilled blood.

COTTER HAD IT COMIN'!

 

[Morgaine]

COTTER HAD IT COMIN'!

We all agreed wholeheartedly.

)

 

[Morgaine]

Gemma knocks an arrow and imbues it with gust of wind, she takes care to aim and hold the arrow until the exact moment she can foil his spell. She waits for Morgaine’s cue. Morgaine also readies dispel magic, should Gemma’s arrow not find it’s mark. Deke loads his crossbow bolt and waits. At Morgaine’s signal, Gemma lets the arrow fly, hitting him neatly in the chest. The spell fizzles out and the dwarf is knocked back into a rock from the force of the wind behind the arrow. Kel commands him to freeze but the dwarf manages to shake off the enchantment. He is not able to avoid Kalina’s Salomar’s quiet contemplation, however and pauses briefly to reflect on the nature of the dwarves. Marja, unwilling to hear his theoretical views, slams his chest with two magic missiles while Deke fires his crossbow bolt and hits his thigh. Realizing he is sorely outmatched, the dwarf takes off at a run in the opposite direction.

Borin charges after him and, because he is a barbarian, quickly overtakes the retreating figure. Borin swings his axe, hits and watches as the now unconscious dwarf transforms from a jolly fellow with a braided beard to a nasty, smarmy dwarf with dark features. Marja, Kel, Morgaine and Xenia make their way over to Borin to offer assistance. Blood pools out from the prone figure beneath Borin’s feet, staining the white sand a dark crimson. Morgaine convinces Kel to heal the dwarf back to consciousness, so they may question him without wasting a healing potion.

Upon waking the dwarf is recalcitrant and unwilling to divulge any information. In fact, he insults Marja crudely and Borin once again knocks him unconscious. Kel argues they should turn him over to the authorities and prevents Borin from finishing off the nasty dwarf. They bind his hands and feet, relieve him of his spell components and then send him off with the guards.

Meanwhile, Kalina runs up, stating that Fang bit the other dwarf, presumably a partner in crime, but he turned into a gaseous form before the wolf had a chance to detain him. Deke is talking with Cotter while Gemma scans the beach for the other dwarf. She can just make out a lone figure on the other side of the lake and takes off at a dead run in that direction, shouting over her shoulder as she does so.

 

[Ruined]

Yayyyy! I'm caught up on this excellent story hour. Now I can... oh wait, PC has released the compiled story of Eversink. It's almost a hundred pages. Noooooooo!! =)

Seriously, a good game, and the writing is well-done Morgaine. I'm prepping to run a Scarred Lands campaign, and your crew has me enthusiastic. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Morgaine]

Thank you for the endoresment, theRuinedOne. It is always nice to know that other people appreciate my writing.

For the rest of you, I apologize for the dearth of updates but I do not have the notes for game immediately following the last update. <hint hint, PCat> So I've been trying to write them from memory. And since the game happened a few months ago, this has been a tricky endeavor. I've got some of it but I will check with the rest of the group when we game tomorrow. For now, this is a short post to keep us on the first page. )

Happy reading!

--M

*********************************

Despite her advanced age, Gemma is quickly making her way to the other side of the lake, several of the party trailing behind her. Yet in the distance, she can see the dwarf beginning to cast and she knows she cannot reach him in time. Nor is she close enough to be any threat with her bow. As she runs along the water’s edge, the ranger silently wishes she could somehow walk on water. Almost as if the water heard her thoughts, the lake beside her begins to cease movement and separate slightly. Puzzled but unwilling to stop and contemplate, Gemma tentatively places one foot onto the now solid mass at her feet. The lake is solid and holds her weight. Realizing this is probably another bonus from the magical water they drank in the cave almost two weeks ago, she nimbly runs across the crystallized lake, reaching her opponent in seconds.

Borin charges after Gemma, making significant progress toward the other side of the lake. Marja rushes forward but realizes she will not get to the dwarf in time to prevent him casting. She also understands that she is too far away for most of her enchantment spells to be of any effect. Instead, she chooses to send two magic missiles speeding toward the other side of the lake, where they find their mark on the dwarf’s torso. She then takes off at a run after Borin and Gemma. Morgaine also begins to make her way toward the far shore, but much slower than her companions. Once again, she is studying her foe, watching for the telltale signs of casting. She hopes to perhaps disrupt his spell in some way.

Once the first dwarf is handed to the guard, Kalina and Kel also dash after their friends. Deke finishes asking Cotter for information about Gobrey and Cosette. Then he, too, hastens to assist the ranger who is now standing toe to toe with another rosy-cheeked dwarf who looks to be about to cast.