The Band of Four (The Village of Oester)

[Hairy Minotaur]

Sorry, HM! I haven't had time to give your wound rules more than a cursory glance. As I said earlier, I just got Bastion Press' "Torn Asunder" and I've been really focusing on those rules. What I didn't mention was that I also picked up Badaxe Games' "Heroes of High Favor: Halflings" and that my players just bought me the 3.5 core rule books! I've got a pretty full plate just now.

Anywho, FWIW, the halfling book has rules for alternate uses for rogue's Sneak Attack damage. One of those choices, called Nauseating Strike, replicates Alriand's abuse of Tharhack's junk. Here's a snippet:

"With a boot to the jewels, a fist to the gut, or a pommel to the temple, the rogue attempts to leave his opponent weak and nauseated. The opponent must succeed at a Fort save (DC equal to the result of your sneak attack check result) or be nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 1d4 rounds afterwards."

And in Torn Asunder, a called shot to the groin is something like -11 on the attack roll! Not an easy thing to accomplish. And they've also got rules for armored codpieces. Maybe Tharhack should invest in one of those!

Hey thanks for the response. I've only picked up HoHFwarves, looks like I'll be expanding on that line. -11 seems like a ranged attack to me, the positioning of the players at that time made the groin shot the perfect response, that or an eye rake. We agreed this move is something you would learn as a basic defensive move. For us it was making sure she did enough subdual damage to make him let go.

a codpiece is on Tharhack's wish list, as is a helmet with a visor (for those eye rakes)

 

[pogre]

HM - Hope the game went well tonight.

I think I know someone who can get you a peek at the Halflings book. It's well worth it, and has an awesome introductory rogue scenario at the back! That I wrote

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

HM - Hope the game went well tonight.

I think I know someone who can get you a peek at the Halflings book. It's well worth it, and has an awesome introductory rogue scenario at the back! That I wrote

Well and long. We played 10 hours last night, one of our better sessions. Now if my son would start going to bed before midnight, I catch up on my updates.

I'll em you off boards, I'm having trouble translating an in game effect into something the players can understand mechanics wise (Tharhack's getting into a nasty habit of making his spellcheck rolls. )

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

The blade flies through the air towards Raziel, Alriand watches as the dagger hits Raziel with a thud. The blade then drops to the ground at Raziel's feet. Turning to face Alriand, Raziel gives a two-teeth smile and begins to giggle to herself.

"Come here my little tree swinger. I have been awaiting your arrival" Raziel calls out to Alriand.

Staying low and quiet, Alriand begins to circle around to get another shot at the witch's back.

"I'm waiting for you. I'm not going away, face me coward! Don't make me come looking for you." Raziel shouts

Alriand waits in the brush counting away the seconds, theorizing that the witch has some kind of protective magic on. Alriand bides her time waiting for it to wear off.

"OK, we'll do this your way." Raziel states. She then pulls out a bottle from within her robes and drinks it down.

Alriand decides she doesn't have time to play a waiting game, down to only one dagger and the witch apparently is more prepared. Alriand hoped to end this quickly with the sneak attack, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Backing up on her knees Alriand begins to plot her retreat through the trees. Alriand hears Raziel talking but has stopped paying any attention to her.

Raziel ends her spell with a wiry smile, watching Alriand retreat through the brush.

Alriand stands up and turns her back to the clearing and faces the opposite direction. She gives one last look back at Raziel before turning her head around and walking into the fangs of the waiting spider. Sinking it's fangs deep into Alriand's shoulder, the spider which was bigger than Alriand's head, releases it's back legs and drops onto Alriand's back. Crying out in pain Alriand tries to stab at the thing with her dagger, however the weight on the spider on her shoulder and the pain of the bite limit that arms movement enough to make the spider unreachable. Alriand feels the her shoulder go numb and cold, panicking, Alriand tries to run. Thinking if she can get enough distance between her and the witch maybe she'll be hidden long enough for the poison to wear off before the witch finds her. She gets two steps, then collapses as her legs just won't move anymore, her arms become ridged at her side, and the world becomes a swirling blur of colors retreating down a drain and into darkness.



Tharhack approaches the grieving halflings, he stands next to them, staring at the smoking ruins of their house. The three of them stand there in silence. After a short while, Tharhack says a prayer for the young children, asking that Kord give them strength during judgment. Tharhack then offers the family the fifty-five gold pieces he has left.

"I know it's not much, nor will it replace anything, but I hope that it can at least be a start to help you rebuild." Tharhack states.

Gabbo looks up at Tharhack who puts the gold into a pouch and hangs it on Gabbo's wrist. Tharhack nods his head and pushes Gabbo's arm back to his wife's shoulder.

"You will need to be strong for the rest of your children, they will need you guidance now more than ever." Tharhack says matter of fact

"What? We have no home, Two of our children have died." Meribee gets out before breaking down into a sob again.

"Do you not expect us to mourn?" Gabbo asks Tharhack "Would you have us forget this happened and just move on?"

"Mourn for the loss of life, do not mourn for your lot in life." Tharhack answers

"I mourn for my children! Why are you here?! Feeling guilty for your powerlessness?" Meribee accuses

"Guilty? I ended the threat. I am sorry that I could not be here to help you save you children. Guilt however is for those that are too weak to admit their own failings. I have no guilt." Tharhack says

"You think me weak because I saved sixteen children but not eighteen? How dare you judge me!" Meribee answers

"I neither judge you nor wish to. I merely state what you will need to keep your children from descending into the abyss of hopelessness." Tharhack responds.

"Oh so now it's pity is it?" Meribee answers "Begone with you and your pity, and take your charity with you." Meribee tries to take the pouch off of Gabbo's arm.

"Honey we could really use the money." Gabbo says

"Typical, always thinking you need to better us, we have all we need. We don't need his charity." Meribee cries

"Keep the gold, or give it away. It matters not to me. I no longer need it." Tharhack answers

Meribee manages to get the pouch off of Gabbo's wrist, but Gabbo manages to keep her from throwing it back at Tharhack. Tharhack decides to exit this domestic dispute, and leaves to go check on Xanoniel.



Rebrey and Rillkep reach Durac's house where Balrin was staying. Searching through the belongings that were left, The two men discover four sacks full of stolen items from halfling residents. Rillkep pulls out each item and names which house it came from. Rebrey finds a dagger, a club, and a list of halfling houses, some with checks by them, which match the names of halfling homes Rillkep has sounded off on. Rillkep gets through the sacks with Rebrey's help and looks disgusted.

"What's the problem?" Rebrey asks

"Balrin's been coming here for the last three years now, the children loved him, er them. Now I'm going to have to explain that he, I mean they, were nothing but common thieves. The children will take this hard." Rillkep explains

"The innocence of children is very precious, they don't need to know the whole truth. While you'll probably need to tell them that Balrin has died, tell them that the ogre got lucky and Balrin slipped in the mud. A constant reminder that you never know what perils today will bring." Rebrey answers

"Lie to the children?" Rillkep asks

"No, just stop short of the letdown. You can tell the adults about the thieving, and then the children as they grow up." Rebrey answers

"Won't they find out the truth?" Rillkep asks

"Maybe, but the problem is solved from your perspective." Rebrey answers

"Well, I'll have to think about that." Rillkep answers as the two of them repack the sacks and head out to the mayor's house to report their findings.


Tharhack arrives at Frorry's house to check on Xanoniel, only to find she's not there. Thinking maybe she left with Rebrey, Tharhack exits the house and sees Rillkep and Rebrey heading into Opee's house with bags full of stuff. Tharhack makes his way down to Opee's and knocks on the door. Opee answers and invites him in, telling him Rillkep has determined that Balrin was a fake and a robber. Tharhack asks Rebrey if he's seen Xanoniel, to which Rebrey replies no. Tharhack leaves Rebrey and Rillkep to their findings with Opee, and heads back up through the Hamlet looking for Xanoniel.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Alriand awakens in a dark room, strapped to a rickety chair, her shoulder still very tender and aching. She looks around and sees the walls lined with jars and bottles, a faint smell of wet dirt and decay waft past her nose. Struggling against her bonds she finds that both of her arms have been strapped to the arms of the chair, all the way up to her elbow. Her Legs are also tied to the chair up to her knees, her neck has also been strapped to the back to the chair making it almost impossible to get a look at her immediate sides, let alone the chair. Her yanking and pulling is only causing the chair to creak in protest louder, she shouts out for help, then pauses and only hears a dripping sound coming from the ceiling. She struggles again but the bonds are far too tight to allow any wiggle room. Her latest efforts while not freeing her have apparently brought her captor to her, as Alriand hears footsteps coming down some stairs to the left of her. She hears the fidgeting of the doorknob and the moaning of the hinges as the door swings open, letting in the light of a small candle held by whomever has arrived.

"Let me go. Why have you tied me up? Who are you? What am I doing here?" Alriand fires off in rapid succession

The individual makes no sound as the candle gets placed on a table behind Alriand. Alriand can see from the shadow cast across the dark floor, the silhouette of a stooping individual pulling jars off of a shelf above the candle. Alriand hears the setting of numerous jars onto the wood table, then the opening of lids, and finally the stench of their odors cascading down her from behind her captive chair. Most of the smells cause Alriand to hold her breath to avoid becoming nauseated. Then Alriand hears the unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn from a scabbard. Panic swells up in Alriand as she tries in vain to break her bonds before that blade crosses her throat or some other vital part of her anatomy.

Sweat beading on her forehead and her heart racing Alriand calls out again to her captor.

"I don't know who you are but, you are in very deep manure. My friend are going to come rescue me and they'll be hell to pay." Alriand states trying to sound more confident than she was feeling.

Still nothing from behind her. Then Alriand's head is shoved against the back of the chair, as her hair is pulled through some opening in the back of the chair.

"Hey now, that hurt." Alriand yells as she feels the hand and fingers of her captor wrap around a swath of her hair. "What are you doing? Hey!" Alriand tries to force her head forward and her hair out of the hands of whomever, but the strap across her throat doesn't allow for much room, save to breathe.

Alriand feels her hair being cut away, until the handful her captor has, is finally freed from Alriand's head. Alriand sighs in relief that the blade wasn't used to kill her, she tries to listen to the person behind her, and hears the stirring of a liquid and then the setting of the stirrer onto the side of the glass jar. Alriand tries to focus more on the shadow against the floor, looking for any bit of information that would tell her who this might be, although she suspected the witch she hope it would be someone else and that they could be bargained with.

Then cold bony fingers find their purchase across Alriand's forehead forcing her head still. Then the cold chill edge of a blade is run across her scalp. Alriand screams in protest as she feels the warm blood begin to well up from her scalp. The cold hand forces Alriand's head to the right side at an angle, this causes the blood to drip off only to be caught by a waiting cup held by the other hand of her captor. After what seemed like ages, the hand releases it's grasp, and Alriand straightens her head again. She then hears the unfurling of parchment and the reading of arcane words. Alriand recognizes the voice as that of the witch, in a deep panic now Alriand tries again to break the rope and leather she's being restrained with. The chair groans it's disapproval of her actions, Alriand is just about to give up as the witch completes her spell, and Alriand feels something crawling up her leg. Whatever it is , is deftly making it's way up her knees, as it crawls over that horizon, Alriand sees the biggest spider she's ever laid eyes on. The thing sets two legs to the right of her head, and two legs to the left of her head. It's glistening fangs protrude from it's head. It's eyes glitter from what little light the candle gives off. The beast rears up, and as it's coming down on Alriand, she can make out the smiling visage of Raziel just as the spider's two fangs sink deep into the cheek of Alriand.

Alriand only screams for a little bit as another bite hits her in the throat, this one paralyzing her and sending her reality into darkness once again.

 

[Jon Potter]

Alriand finally gets hers?

I was hoping that there would be some consequences for her amoral behavior, but this seems a bit much.

Love the description, HM! I really got a clear idea of Alriand's situation and surroundings from your write-up.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Alriand finally gets hers?

I was hoping that there would be some consequences for her amoral behavior, but this seems a bit much.

Love the description, HM! I really got a clear idea of Alriand's situation and surroundings from your write-up.

Alriand's fate will be much worse than death. What's the worse thing you can do to someone that likes to play by their own rules?

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Alriand awoke to the sound of glass and metal, she found herself in the same room, strapped to the same chair as before. It was still pitch black in the room, and she had no clue as to how much time had passed after the spider bit her. The though of that brought shivers down her back, and pain to her neck and jaw where the spider had bit her earlier. She tried to wiggle against her bonds again, but found them as unforgiving as before.

"Ah good, you're awake. I was wondering when your weak constitution would kick in." Said Raziel

"Go to hell witch, your little scare tactics are working." Alriand said trying to sound in control

"Oh, but they have. I'm afraid you don't put up as quite a good fight when you're passed out." Raziel replies

"What do you intend to do with me?" Alriand asks

"Nothing more, in fact you'll be free to go very soon. Just a couple more minutes." Raziel answers

"Then why bring me here at all? If your pet spider was hungry you could've found better food for him." Alriand spits

"Because it's you I want, and it's you I have." Raziel says while pouring a liquid from a jar out onto the table.

"Whatever that means psycho, how's about letting me go now. I promise not to come back and all that stuff, in fact I'll be right on my way." Alriand says sarcastically

"Oh, alright." Raziel responds then cuts Alriand's left arm free, then drops the blade into her lap.

Alriand can't believe the stupidity of the witch and quickly snaps up the blade. She cuts her right arm free, while Raziel fiddles with something on the table behind Alriand. Alriand then frees her neck, then her right leg. Raziel still seems preoccupied with something on the table behind Alriand. Alriand then frees her left leg, and leaps from the chair. Spinning around once her heels touch the earth, Alriand sees the witch with her back still to Alriand.

"Cocky old woman." Alriand says under her breath as she takes two long steps and ends up right behind the witch.

"Goodbye stupid old hag." Alriand spits

Alriand brings the blade to bear on Raziel but her arm only goes as far as Alriand's side. Panic and confusion race through Alriand's mind as she tries in vain to get her arm to straighten. Raziel slowly turns to face Alriand, smiling her wicked smile the whole time. Alriand uses her left hand to take the blade out of her right hand, and tries again to stab the witch. Again the blade stops about a foot from the witch. Alriand's right hand become free of whatever force was holding it, she grasps the blade's pommel two-handed, but is still unable to strike the witch.

"What? What did you do to me?" Alriand demands

Raziel reaches behind her and produces a little puppet of Alriand, complete with her own hair, and dripping in Alriand's blood. Holding the puppet in front of Alriand, Raziel cackles at Alriand. Alriand feels her knees give out and she drops to the floor, onto her knees, her hands release the blade and it too falls to the dirt. Wordlessly Raziel looks into Alriand's eyes, and Alriand feels her right hand seek out the blade. Finding it, Alriand brings the blade up to her face, the blade turned down to the ground. Raziel takes a half step back yet continues to peer into Alriand's eyes.

Alriand can only cry as she has no control of her appendages, she watches her hand hold the blade for a moment and then drive it down with all of her strength into her thigh, burying the blade to the hilt and hitting bone at the bottom of the strike. Alriand's hand flies up again to within inches of her face. She can smell the blood as it drips off of the edge and back into the pool of blood spilling from the wound it had just inflicted. Tears began to stream down Alriand's face as the blade struck again in the same wound it just left, this time the sound of the blade hitting the bone resonated throughout her whole body, and the wave of pain quickly followed suite.

"Psycho? You're the one who can't stop stabbing themselves." Raziel laughs and laughs.

The strikes start to speed up, as Alriand stabs herself again and again.

"I'd like to see you stumble out of her now tree swinger." Raziel cackles, then ceases the show.

Alriand felt herself wanting to pass out from all the pain, or hoping she could get control of her hands long enough to slit her own throat.

"I own you now elf, you're mine to play with for the rest of your days. May they be short, but not that short, I'm not done playing yet." Raziel says

Alriand wished there was a spider around now, to end this suffering. Alriand's hand then turned the blade so it faced Alriand, the heavy odor of iron filled her nostrils as her left hand rose up, and pulled her tunic away from her clavicle. The blade then descended down through the fabric, to her navel. The blade then rose again and pierced her chest, just enough to draw blood, at the top on her rib cage. Alriand looked down and watched as the blade began to move across her ribs and over her chest, drawing a single rune which covered most of her chest.

"You're free to go now." Raziel stated as she walked past Alriand, and opened the door she enter through, and began to climb the stairs.

Alriand just sat there in her own blood, the pain in her leg and the pain in her heart prevented her from rising.

"Come along now little one I have much to tell you." Raziel's voice trailed off as she reached the top of the stairs

"Don't make me FORCE you." Raziel's was getting agitated now, "If you don't get up here soon, there won't be enough time to tell you who your target is."

Target? The word brought Alriand out of her daze, does she mean for me to kill someone? Maybe that's what the rune is for? Alriand had little time to ponder those thoughts, as a loud knock echoed off of a door upstairs.

"I wonder who that is?" Raziel asked out loud.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Raziel walks over to the door, opening it, she finds no one outside the door. The cold of the night blows into the room, and falls down the stairs to brush against Alriand. A brief shiver later, Alriand begins to pull herself up the steps on her only good leg. The stairs are more like elevated mud stacks, as her hands sink into the soft dirt. Worms and spiders crawl over her hands as Alriand continues to force her way up the stairs. Raziel turns to watch Alriand pull herself up to the final step, and onto her left knee.

"'bout time you clawed you way up here." Raziel says "Come over her to the fire, I need to finish your lovely carving."

"Let me die witch, I'll not conform to your charms, nor your wishes." Alriand says, her will growing weaker with the loss of blood

"Put up a real good fight downstairs." Raziel answers dismissively

Alriand pulls herself up along the wall, then using the wall for support she makes her way over to Raziel. The pot on the fire smells horrible, it bubbles with a golden hue that makes the whole fireplace seem illuminated in an unnatural light. Raziel dips her left hand into the pot, and pulls out a handful of a thick golden liquid that clings to her hand like mud.

"Open." Raziel commands, pointing to Alriand's split shirt. "Now stand still." Raziel smears the substance onto the rune. It burns as the liquid strives to replace the blood still seeping through the wound, and to adhere to Alriand's skin like a bandage.

The pain causes Alriand's good knee to buckle and she begins to fall. Raziel seeing Alriand starting to fall, reaches out and grasps her throat, forcing her erect again.

"Now, now. We don't want this ruined before we even start now do we?" Raziel asks rhetorically

The pain on her throat from the incredibly hot liquid causes Alriand to hold her breath to avoid having to move her neck or throat. Raziel eases Alriand back against the wall, the light from the liquid which had caused a glow from Alriand's chest dies down. The light now extinguished, Raziel releases Alriand, letting her slump to the floor on her good leg. Gasping for air, Alriand looks down at the rune on her chest.

"Twelve days travel north of Thumble there is a small keep, you will go there." Raziel begins, however the pain and blood loss is causing Alriand difficulty in staying conscious.

"Hey, pay attention. I'm not going to repeat myself. If you don't complete this, then your death will be most painful." Raziel says snapping her fingers at Alriand. "Now, there will be a man there, an old wizard of some skill, you will.." Raziel's explanation trails off, as there is another knock at the door.

"Leave me, or I'll turn you into a toad you little buggers." Raziel yells at the door. Another knock at the door, this one louder than the first.

"Who is it?" Raziel asks. Silence. Then another knock. Raziel looks back at Alriand who's almost completely out of it, then back at the door. She sees the knob begin to turn, and steps back ready to cast a sleep spell.

The door flies open, as the wind forces it against the wall. Cold air and snow begin blowing in through the door. Raziel stands perplexed, waiting for an assault that doesn't come. After a few moments Raziel lowers her hands and walks over to the wall opposite the door. Peering out in the gray black of a snowy night, Raziel sees nothing. Shrugging her shoulders, she starts to walk to the door looking up one last time to see the red eyes of gray wolf rushing at her through the night. Raziel tries to slam the door shut before the wolf arrives, but is a little too late as the wolf was able to get it's front half through the door. Unable to force the door closed Raziel backs up, the door flies open, the wolf enters the room, and standing at the doorway is the figure of a beautiful woman. Not wanting to stick around and chat, Raziel retreats down the mud stairs followed by the wolf.

Alriand sees Raziel run down the stairs chased by the wolf and then two barefooted human feet enter the room before the weight of her eyelids cause them to close, and she passes out.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Alriand comes to getting bumped and thumped around, face down on a smelly wet carpet. Before opening her eyes, Alriand runs her hand through a coarse fabric, almost like hair. That realization woke Alriand from her sleep, she sat straight up and saw that she was riding the back of a black bear. Fear ran down her spine as the hairs on her arms stood up. Looking around she sees no one else following or leading the bear. The snow has quit falling making the ground and trees look painted gray without moonlight to make the snow sparkle. Her top has been replaced with some kind of fur, her leg is completely healed. Reaching her hand up the fur top, she's saddened to learn the rune is still there, although it doesn't hurt any longer. Although she is completely lost, she thinks about jumping off the walking rug and getting away from it. She swings her legs over to the right side of the bear and is about to jump off.

"I wouldn't do that, you'd die of hypothermia before you ever made it to anything close to safety." Says a familiar voice behind Alriand

Spinning around on the bear Alriand looks Xanoniel in the eyes. "What's going on?"

"I'm rescuing you, I figured you'd be a little more grateful than that." Xanoniel states

"I do thank you. But how did you find me?" Alriand asks

"I listened to the birds, and heard the squirrels. They know everything that goes on in this forrest." Xanoniel answers

"Did you kill that old bag?" Alriand asks

"She won't be bothering us again, anytime soon." Xanoniel answers

"Anytime soon?!? You mean you didn't kill her?!?!" Alriand says in shock

"Your life was more valuable than her death. Maybe she did die, I doubt it though, the wolf was just meant to give me the time needed to get you out of there quickly." Xanoniel replies

Alriand sits there taking in Xanoniel's words. "How long before we reach the half-n-half's village?"

"Soon after sunrise." Xanoniel answers

"When will that be? and how sure are you the bear is going in the right direction?" Alriand asks

"About two hours, I cut her a deal. She agreed to carry you back to Thumble in return I agreed to feed her fish along the way. A very good deal I think, especially since there was no way I was going to be able to carry you all the way." Xanoniel replies

"Did you heal me up?" Alriand asks

"Yes, I did, do you still have discomfort?" Xanoniel asks

"No ... it's just." Alriand trails off as she grabs her new fur vest.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that it will fade with time." Xanoniel gives a knowing glance to Alriand

"That's not what I was concerned about. She's using me as a puppet, I'm supposed to find a wizard or some sleight-of-hand guy." Alriand says

"Well let's not worry about that right now, lets get you somewhere warm and some food down ya." Xanoniel says putting her hand on Alriand's back, easing her down back onto the bear's back.

Alriand feels the warmth of the bear, and forgets about the smell as she drifts off into a deep slumber.

************************ FLASHBACK ***************************************

The wolf chases Raziel down into her cellar. Running into a corner Raziel turns to face her attacker. The wolf rears up to pounce but lands in Raziel's arms, and licks her face. Raziel lets the wolf down, and waits for Xanoniel to make her way down the stairs.

"You're right on time." Raziel says

"Yes, but you're late. What if she saw me?" Xanoniel demands

"Bah, I'm sure you'll think of something." Raziel says

"Well, After he's dead, it won't matter anymore." Xanoniel answers

"Very true." Raziel states