Blood Jester
First Post
Oooohhhh! Nice.
Sad
, but nice.Is it rude to say MORE! MORE!! MORE!!! so soon after the last update?
Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
- Thread starter Rel
- Start date
Oooohhhh! Nice.
Sad, but nice.Is it rude to say MORE! MORE!! MORE!!! so soon after the last update?
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Blood Jester said:Is it rude to say MORE! MORE!! MORE!!! so soon after the last update?
I don't think so. I've done it to others
.We played again last night. It will probably take me a while to get the whole thing written up but I will try to at least post a preview containing the introduction of Krase's player's new character.
Thanks for reading and for posting.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Prologue
He was short and stout, wore very heavy armor, moved incredibly slowly, walked into an area known to be occupied by Gnollish raiders and it was getting dark. To the casual observer, the figure that made his way down the road, roughly three days west of Glynden, was in a less than ideal situation. The traveler himself thought otherwise.
True, his short legs and the immense suit of plate mail that he wore conspired to place him among the slower creatures among all of creation. But he made up for his lack of speed with his untiring stride. It was typical for him to walk long into the night. The darkness posed no annoyance to him whatsoever. The starlit sky was far, far brighter than the underground homes of his folk would ever be. As for the Gnolls reported to be in the area, they were cowards. And if they mustered the courage to attack him, they would feel the might of one of the servants of Moradin. He hefted his well crafted warhammer for a bit of self assurance.
Ahead, jutting above the tree tops he spotted a flicker of light. He paused and saw that it came from the top of a narrow tower. He was unaware that anyone lived this far out from the protection of Glynden. He made his way cautiously forward.
As he approached the base of the tower, he could tell that a battle had taken place there very recently. It was apparent that at least one of the factions involved were the Gnolls since their bodies littered the ground near the tower steps. Most of them were charred black and there were a lot of them. They had obviously attacked the tower en masse. Perhaps his assessment of their cowardice was too hasty.
One thing was certain, he was well inside the Gnoll's territory and there must be a sizable number of them. It was also pretty obvious that whoever lived in that tower was no friend to the Gnolls. Perhaps they'd give an honest dwarf a bed for the night.
He climbed the stairs and called up to whoever occupied the tower, "Hullo?!"
Speaks and Rhys had been sitting in the upper floor of the turret, quietly discussing how they would strike back at the Gnolls who had killed their friend. The planning helped to distract them from the feeling of sadness that threatened to overwhelm them at the loss of their friend. Abruptly, they heard a voice call out from below. The grabbed weapons and ran down to the main tower roof that overlooked the stairs. Below, they spotted a squat figure atop the stairs. Rhys conjured a Light spell and they saw a dwarf standing before them.
The dwarf squinted at the unexpected magical light. Must be some kind of wizard that lives up in the tower. That'd explain the fire that cooked the Gnolls. "I'm headed west and saw there must be Gnolls about. Would ya mind if I slept in your tower tonight?"
Rhys regarded the dwarf with some suspicion. "Where exactly are you headed?"
Fair question, figured the dwarf, "I'm looking to catch up with some of my kin that were heading to the Stone Tooth. I got a late start."
The dwarf's answer checked out with what Rhys knew about the dwarven expedition to liberate the Stone Tooth from the Duergar. He glanced at Speaks who nodded his head. Rhys called down, "You can come in. What's your name?"
The dwarf smiled to himself. The peoples of the west had been very hospitable so far. Certainly more than the insular clans of the Novantae Highlands from where he came. "The name is Irakthanbar Derin Khazundam."
"What was that again?" called Rhys from above.
The dwarf chuckled slightly. He was used to that response from the humans. They had no appreciation for the long names borne by the dwarves that reflected their noble heritage. "My middle name translates as 'Raven'. You can call me that."
Rhys winced slightly. The party's recent experience with ravens had been less than pleasant. He hoped that the dwarf's name was not some sort of harbinger. "Well, friend Raven, welcome." Rhys descended to the windlass to lower the drawbridge.
Rhys and Speaks invited Raven inside and they got acquainted as the dwarf doffed his armor for it's nightly cleaning. They mentioned the recent loss of their comrade in arms. As it turned out, they had more of a connection than they would have thought to the dwarf: Raven's father was the cousin of Wakenzaki, who was close friends with Krase's grandfather and became an "adopted grandfather" to Krase.
Raven was very distraught to hear that Krase had been killed by the Gnolls, especially since he had recently learned that Krase and his friends were the very ones to have delved into the Stone Tooth and discovered that it was where Durgeddin had made his home. Raven immediately put his services at the disposal of the party insofar as they could be employed to avenge Krase against his attackers.
The three adventurers put their heads together and began to plot their next attack on the Gnolls and their dog-lizard allies.
NEXT: Revenge!
He was short and stout, wore very heavy armor, moved incredibly slowly, walked into an area known to be occupied by Gnollish raiders and it was getting dark. To the casual observer, the figure that made his way down the road, roughly three days west of Glynden, was in a less than ideal situation. The traveler himself thought otherwise.
True, his short legs and the immense suit of plate mail that he wore conspired to place him among the slower creatures among all of creation. But he made up for his lack of speed with his untiring stride. It was typical for him to walk long into the night. The darkness posed no annoyance to him whatsoever. The starlit sky was far, far brighter than the underground homes of his folk would ever be. As for the Gnolls reported to be in the area, they were cowards. And if they mustered the courage to attack him, they would feel the might of one of the servants of Moradin. He hefted his well crafted warhammer for a bit of self assurance.
Ahead, jutting above the tree tops he spotted a flicker of light. He paused and saw that it came from the top of a narrow tower. He was unaware that anyone lived this far out from the protection of Glynden. He made his way cautiously forward.
As he approached the base of the tower, he could tell that a battle had taken place there very recently. It was apparent that at least one of the factions involved were the Gnolls since their bodies littered the ground near the tower steps. Most of them were charred black and there were a lot of them. They had obviously attacked the tower en masse. Perhaps his assessment of their cowardice was too hasty.
One thing was certain, he was well inside the Gnoll's territory and there must be a sizable number of them. It was also pretty obvious that whoever lived in that tower was no friend to the Gnolls. Perhaps they'd give an honest dwarf a bed for the night.
He climbed the stairs and called up to whoever occupied the tower, "Hullo?!"
Speaks and Rhys had been sitting in the upper floor of the turret, quietly discussing how they would strike back at the Gnolls who had killed their friend. The planning helped to distract them from the feeling of sadness that threatened to overwhelm them at the loss of their friend. Abruptly, they heard a voice call out from below. The grabbed weapons and ran down to the main tower roof that overlooked the stairs. Below, they spotted a squat figure atop the stairs. Rhys conjured a Light spell and they saw a dwarf standing before them.
The dwarf squinted at the unexpected magical light. Must be some kind of wizard that lives up in the tower. That'd explain the fire that cooked the Gnolls. "I'm headed west and saw there must be Gnolls about. Would ya mind if I slept in your tower tonight?"
Rhys regarded the dwarf with some suspicion. "Where exactly are you headed?"
Fair question, figured the dwarf, "I'm looking to catch up with some of my kin that were heading to the Stone Tooth. I got a late start."
The dwarf's answer checked out with what Rhys knew about the dwarven expedition to liberate the Stone Tooth from the Duergar. He glanced at Speaks who nodded his head. Rhys called down, "You can come in. What's your name?"
The dwarf smiled to himself. The peoples of the west had been very hospitable so far. Certainly more than the insular clans of the Novantae Highlands from where he came. "The name is Irakthanbar Derin Khazundam."
"What was that again?" called Rhys from above.
The dwarf chuckled slightly. He was used to that response from the humans. They had no appreciation for the long names borne by the dwarves that reflected their noble heritage. "My middle name translates as 'Raven'. You can call me that."
Rhys winced slightly. The party's recent experience with ravens had been less than pleasant. He hoped that the dwarf's name was not some sort of harbinger. "Well, friend Raven, welcome." Rhys descended to the windlass to lower the drawbridge.
Rhys and Speaks invited Raven inside and they got acquainted as the dwarf doffed his armor for it's nightly cleaning. They mentioned the recent loss of their comrade in arms. As it turned out, they had more of a connection than they would have thought to the dwarf: Raven's father was the cousin of Wakenzaki, who was close friends with Krase's grandfather and became an "adopted grandfather" to Krase.
Raven was very distraught to hear that Krase had been killed by the Gnolls, especially since he had recently learned that Krase and his friends were the very ones to have delved into the Stone Tooth and discovered that it was where Durgeddin had made his home. Raven immediately put his services at the disposal of the party insofar as they could be employed to avenge Krase against his attackers.
The three adventurers put their heads together and began to plot their next attack on the Gnolls and their dog-lizard allies.
NEXT: Revenge!
Broccli_Head
Explorer
Please encourage your party to go after the kobolds first! They nearly got Speaks and Rhys attacking from the flanks and all.
DOWN WITH KOBOLDS!, Says I
DOWN WITH KOBOLDS!, Says I
Single Malt
First Post
Doh! Real bummer about Krase, but if that's what it took to pave way for a dwarf, then his death was not all in vain(got a bit of a soft spot for dwarves you see). Raven should add some needed melee firepower (fighter? cleric?...?) to the group and with his platemail and dwarven constitution his survival chances looks above average. (Although totally at the mercy of your godlike-RBDM-whims of course )
BTW nice intro of the new character. Was the "hi-my-name-is-so-and-so-and-I-would-like-to-adventure-with-you-part" done in or between sessions?
Now go revenge Krase! Hurry, hurry!!!
)BTW nice intro of the new character. Was the "hi-my-name-is-so-and-so-and-I-would-like-to-adventure-with-you-part" done in or between sessions?
Now go revenge Krase! Hurry, hurry!!!
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Broccli_Head said:
Wait till you see the next session writeup, Broc!
In answer to your questions, Single Malt, Raven is a Lawful Good, Fighter 1/Cleric 4 with the Good and Protection domains. In the previous session, Krase was killed roughly a third of the way through the session. Krase's player spent the rest of the time coming up with his new character so the group had a rough idea of what he would be like. He and I then fleshed out his background a bit more. I sent out a brief expositional e-mail that roughly contained the information in the "Prologue" above. The players proceeded to introduce themselves more fully and exchange other information during the session.
The revenge on Krase's behalf took place promptly and in a way I didn't expect. Stay tuned and, as always, thanks for reading.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Revenge!
The group set out at first light. They guessed that the Gnolls would have retreated to the northwest, back into the Darkwood. Rhys and Raven set out that way on foot, Rhys finding himself moving at a crawl to keep pace with the dwarf. Speaks transformed into an eagle and flew out ahead to scout for the Gnolls. He would notify the others via his Amulet of Communication if he spotted them. (Any time Speaks Wild Shapes, he has a little ritual: He takes off his Amulet and gives it to Rhys. Then he Wild Shapes and then Rhys puts the Amulet back on so that it doesn't get subsumed into the new form and become useless.)
Speaks made lazy circles to the northwest and after a couple of hours determined that the Gnolls were nowhere in the area. So, he turned and headed south. Another few hours passed before he saw a sizable group of Gnolls bivouacked to the southwest of Aquae Sulis. Speaks turned around and flew north, searching out his companions. He finally spotted them in the early afternoon, still walking northwest. He sent to Rhys with the Amulet, "The Gnolls are due south of you. I'll catch up later." Then he turned south again and flew back to where the Gnolls were.
When he arrived, he found them starting to break camp and resume their exodus. Speaks flew a couple of miles southwest along the path they seemed to be taking. Then he landed in a tree and awaited their arrival. A short while later, as dusk dimmed the light of day, he heard them approaching. He flew a short distance to assure that he was in their path and alighted on a low, stout tree-branch and transformed back into human form.
He waited until the Gnolls were some 200 feet away and then called forth a wide field of Spike Growth across their path. He waited for a few moments before conjuring an Entangle just behind the leaders among the column of Gnolls.
Utter pandemonium broke loose among the Gnolls. Many of them fled from the entanglement into the swath of Spike Growth and were pierced by the wooden spines, laming or killing many. Others began to scatter in all directions.
Speaks sealed up one flank with another Entangle and then followed up by Summoning an Ally in the form of the Salamander that had worked so well against the Gnolls before. The Salamander rushed forward to engage the Gnolls.
Seeing this flaming effigy approaching from the southwest, the Gnolls, who had been convinced that the attack was coming from behind them, turned and ran away from the Salamander and the wooden spines and back into the direction of the entanglements. A voice called above the panic to form up around him but many ignored this plea.
By this point, Speaks had climbed down the few feet from his tree limb and was rapidly approaching the "battle" in the wake of the Salamander. Unfortunately, the Salamander had no idea the Spike Growth was present and rushed through it, sustaining some damage and suffering from wounds to its legs that prevented it from moving faster than a crawl.
Those Gnolls who could escape along the flank that held no entanglement did so, leaving the others to their fate. For those who didn't see that option, chaos reigned. Their high pitched barks and whines were heard over the cries of those impaled on the spiny growth jutting out of the forest floor. Along the edges of the Entangles there were masses of Gnolls that remained trapped.
Into one of these clusters, Speaks summoned a Flaming Sphere. The barks and whines became howls of pain as those held helpless by the entanglement were burned to death. In the light provided by the Flaming Sphere, Speaks began to notice that the large majority of those trapped were the females and pups of the Gnoll tribe. Almost none of them were strong enough to escape the vines and roots that held them and as tightly packed as they were, he was rolling over two and three at a time with the ball of fire.
Consumed by rage and remembering the words of Krase who swore that all Gnolls were inherently evil, Speaks called forth another ball of fire in the midst of those caught in the other Entangle. The spheres rolled among the captured and left a charred path of death in their wakes.
This continued for nearly a minute. Occasionally one of the male Gnolls or perhaps one of the females, driven to extraordinary strength by utter terror would escape the edge of the entangled area, only to flee further into the center of it in an effort to escape the druidic harbinger of fiery death.
Finally, mercifully, one and then the other Flaming Spheres winked out. The woods seemed especially dark to Speaks. The after images of the flaming Salamander and the balls of fire still burned in his eyes. But there were also images of the women and children that were burned there. Images that would remain for a long time.
Krase had always contended that the only good Gnoll was a dead Gnoll. They were irredeemably evil and nothing could change that. But in the face of the destruction he had wrought against those who were weak and largely defenseless, those words seemed as faint and far away as Krase's lost soul.
Speaks cried out to those who fled, "Go back to the North! Leave these lands and NEVER RETURN!" Then he shifted form into that of an owl. As he took flight and rose above the forest canopy, the silence of his wing beats did nothing to shield his ears from the piteous cries of the burned and dying who lay in the darkness below.
NEXT: Bad Things Come in Small Packages
The group set out at first light. They guessed that the Gnolls would have retreated to the northwest, back into the Darkwood. Rhys and Raven set out that way on foot, Rhys finding himself moving at a crawl to keep pace with the dwarf. Speaks transformed into an eagle and flew out ahead to scout for the Gnolls. He would notify the others via his Amulet of Communication if he spotted them. (Any time Speaks Wild Shapes, he has a little ritual: He takes off his Amulet and gives it to Rhys. Then he Wild Shapes and then Rhys puts the Amulet back on so that it doesn't get subsumed into the new form and become useless.)
Speaks made lazy circles to the northwest and after a couple of hours determined that the Gnolls were nowhere in the area. So, he turned and headed south. Another few hours passed before he saw a sizable group of Gnolls bivouacked to the southwest of Aquae Sulis. Speaks turned around and flew north, searching out his companions. He finally spotted them in the early afternoon, still walking northwest. He sent to Rhys with the Amulet, "The Gnolls are due south of you. I'll catch up later." Then he turned south again and flew back to where the Gnolls were.
When he arrived, he found them starting to break camp and resume their exodus. Speaks flew a couple of miles southwest along the path they seemed to be taking. Then he landed in a tree and awaited their arrival. A short while later, as dusk dimmed the light of day, he heard them approaching. He flew a short distance to assure that he was in their path and alighted on a low, stout tree-branch and transformed back into human form.
He waited until the Gnolls were some 200 feet away and then called forth a wide field of Spike Growth across their path. He waited for a few moments before conjuring an Entangle just behind the leaders among the column of Gnolls.
Utter pandemonium broke loose among the Gnolls. Many of them fled from the entanglement into the swath of Spike Growth and were pierced by the wooden spines, laming or killing many. Others began to scatter in all directions.
Speaks sealed up one flank with another Entangle and then followed up by Summoning an Ally in the form of the Salamander that had worked so well against the Gnolls before. The Salamander rushed forward to engage the Gnolls.
Seeing this flaming effigy approaching from the southwest, the Gnolls, who had been convinced that the attack was coming from behind them, turned and ran away from the Salamander and the wooden spines and back into the direction of the entanglements. A voice called above the panic to form up around him but many ignored this plea.
By this point, Speaks had climbed down the few feet from his tree limb and was rapidly approaching the "battle" in the wake of the Salamander. Unfortunately, the Salamander had no idea the Spike Growth was present and rushed through it, sustaining some damage and suffering from wounds to its legs that prevented it from moving faster than a crawl.
Those Gnolls who could escape along the flank that held no entanglement did so, leaving the others to their fate. For those who didn't see that option, chaos reigned. Their high pitched barks and whines were heard over the cries of those impaled on the spiny growth jutting out of the forest floor. Along the edges of the Entangles there were masses of Gnolls that remained trapped.
Into one of these clusters, Speaks summoned a Flaming Sphere. The barks and whines became howls of pain as those held helpless by the entanglement were burned to death. In the light provided by the Flaming Sphere, Speaks began to notice that the large majority of those trapped were the females and pups of the Gnoll tribe. Almost none of them were strong enough to escape the vines and roots that held them and as tightly packed as they were, he was rolling over two and three at a time with the ball of fire.
Consumed by rage and remembering the words of Krase who swore that all Gnolls were inherently evil, Speaks called forth another ball of fire in the midst of those caught in the other Entangle. The spheres rolled among the captured and left a charred path of death in their wakes.
This continued for nearly a minute. Occasionally one of the male Gnolls or perhaps one of the females, driven to extraordinary strength by utter terror would escape the edge of the entangled area, only to flee further into the center of it in an effort to escape the druidic harbinger of fiery death.
Finally, mercifully, one and then the other Flaming Spheres winked out. The woods seemed especially dark to Speaks. The after images of the flaming Salamander and the balls of fire still burned in his eyes. But there were also images of the women and children that were burned there. Images that would remain for a long time.
Krase had always contended that the only good Gnoll was a dead Gnoll. They were irredeemably evil and nothing could change that. But in the face of the destruction he had wrought against those who were weak and largely defenseless, those words seemed as faint and far away as Krase's lost soul.
Speaks cried out to those who fled, "Go back to the North! Leave these lands and NEVER RETURN!" Then he shifted form into that of an owl. As he took flight and rose above the forest canopy, the silence of his wing beats did nothing to shield his ears from the piteous cries of the burned and dying who lay in the darkness below.
NEXT: Bad Things Come in Small Packages
Darklone
Registered User
Sniff
Still mourning for Krase. I am sometimes very sick of huge barbarian style fighters with big weapons and many hitpoints and no idea how to defend. Liked Krases style very much.
(used a warrior lately with a few well chosen feats to bash our halforc barbarian a bit...)
Well. That halforc died with a critical too. They spent some hero points to let me roll again and I rolled another confirmed critical. As for the kobolds: Love the little scaletails!
Still mourning for Krase. I am sometimes very sick of huge barbarian style fighters with big weapons and many hitpoints and no idea how to defend. Liked Krases style very much.
(used a warrior lately with a few well chosen feats to bash our halforc barbarian a bit...)
Well. That halforc died with a critical too. They spent some hero points to let me roll again and I rolled another confirmed critical. As for the kobolds: Love the little scaletails!
Broccli_Head
Explorer
Oh the Horror!
Any alignment repercussions for Speaks? What were the others doing in the meantime? Or is that the next post?
Any alignment repercussions for Speaks? What were the others doing in the meantime? Or is that the next post?
Rel
Liquid Awesome
I knew the alignment question was going to pop up when I posted this. In fact, it came up in our session too. I won't bore you with the details of that discussion. Suffice it to say that this incident isn't going to cause Speaks to fall from grace. One act does not an evil character make. Speaks being true Neutral, it is arguable that this isn't an alignment violation at all. He was uncomfortable with his own actions though and made a point to mention that his vendetta against these Gnolls was over.
Besides he's too busy fuming over what the Kobolds did to them.
Rhys and Raven had just made camp north of where the Gnolls were when this incident took place. Speaks had a perfect set of spells ready to go and wanted the Gnolls to keep feeling the pressure. He didn't realize how close they were to total collapse.
All will be revealed soon.
Besides he's too busy fuming over what the Kobolds did to them.
Rhys and Raven had just made camp north of where the Gnolls were when this incident took place. Speaks had a perfect set of spells ready to go and wanted the Gnolls to keep feeling the pressure. He didn't realize how close they were to total collapse.
All will be revealed soon.
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