SAERIE
It is basically the C3PO and ewoks scene from Return.
The three women slowly rise, jaws agape, from their stooped position, dropping their linens into the hot springs. They listen to your words and when you're finished, they immediately drop to their knees and begin chanting deferentially. They think you're a primal spirit.
The little ones have no such deference nor compunctions about approaching you. They all quietly come near you, wide-eyed, touching your skin where it might be bared and feeling your hair. One by one they take the dreamcatchers you made for them and back away, marveling at them. One of the little girls wondrously asks "...is it magic?..."
The women don't scold them or anything. They're far too awe-stricken and don't appear to have any fears that you'll harm the children.
The floor is yours.
I do nothing directly to dissuade their presumption that I'm a primal spirit. For all intents and purposes, that is exactly what I am. At the very least, I am working on their direct behalf as I am here to deliver them from the unnatural.
"It does have magic to it." I bend down, pat the small girl on her head, and smile at her. "Hang it overhead where you sleep. I promise you that if you do, goodly spirits will keep you safe and ward your dreams from wicked ones."
To the mothers, I ask if any of them speak the tongue of wild beasts, for what I have to talk to them about is neither for the ears of children nor for the unnatural ears that haunt these Coldlands.
Per Manbearcat
Hmmmmm…That is an interesting angle. Let’s find out shall we? Are you willing to up the stakes for your “unsurveilable communications”? If so, go ahead and roll 2d6 and let’s find out what happens. 10+ one of them can speak the beast-tongue like you and you’re good. On a 7-9, one of them can communicate with them using the beast-tongue, but pick one:
You avoid paying nature’s price
Everything here is as it seems
[sblock]3, 3 + 0 = 6.
Mark 1 xp.[/sblock]
Ack!
Per Manbearcat
From their prostrate positions, they each look at the other with bewilderment.
Then the third of the women staggers momentarily like she just got punched in the gut. Her eyes bulge wide and she reaches for her mid-section. The two other women look at her with consternation and begin to go to her when suddenly something from within the woman bursts forth. It is violent, however it is not gory. Nonetheless it is disturbing. It as if the woman has been turned from a three dimensional object to a two dimensional object. Emaciated black arms with long, spindly, claw-tipped fingers reach out into this world from within and begin to pull her…”inward”…revealing a black empty space inside. She tries to scream but she makes no sound. The arms continue to do this at amazing speed until nothing of the woman remains but an empty, swirling darkness lays claim to the space that she once inhabited.
Suddenly, the dark vortex begins to tug at this world…and that tug quickly turns into a powerful force accompanied by the deafening roar of wind as everything nearby, including the linens, small rocks, the nearby water, is being drawn into it. Obviously much worse than that, the women, the children, and yourself struggle to not be sucked in as well!
What…in…the…hell? Or Far Realm I guess…
There is nothing to hang onto here. Maybe some ingenuity and the might of Rawr can get us out of this?
I quickly grab my remaining rope, should be at the top of my pack, and throw it to the children who are nearby me and the two kneeling women, who are hopefully crawling away from the…errr…black hole (?). “HANG ON!” I loop the rope around Rawr’s muzzle and in his mouth. I don’t need to tell him to “pull”. He gets it I’m sure. I’ll help anchor the line and pull everyone.
So acting fast and thinking fast, then? And I’m spending my last Adventuring Gear here.
Per Manbearcat
Just the thinking fast so DD Int. You can take + 1 for your AG.
[sblock]Defy Danger (Int)
5, 2 + 1 (take + 1) = 9
Success but a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Rawr’s might pulls one pace…two paces…three paces. But the vortex is too intense and too sudden. Some of you can escape but not everyone. Either the two remaining mothers or half the children are going in. Alternatively, you can let go of the rope and try to rescue them, putting yourself at imminent risk of death. And I mean imminent risk of death. If you go in that thing, it isn’t HP loss…it’s straight dirtnap.
But it is getting smaller as every moment passes…
There must be good sized rocks nearby? Rocks big enough that they aren’t getting sucked into this? I’m going to make a run to scoop up the few stray children who are prone on the ground, crawling at the rocks as they try to not be drawn into this thing. I’ll fight with all my strength and might to get to that rock with the at-risk children and put it between us and this tear in the fabric of our reality.
Rawr should be able to get the rest to safety.
[sblock]Defy Danger (Str)
2, 6 + 0 = 8
Success but a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
You grab the two children, get them to safety and buffer them as all hell breaks loose around you. In a few horrendously violent moments, the entropic hole winks out of existence, but not before you are battered a bit by debris (roll 1d4 environmental - armor will apply).
Rawr has gotten the women and the children to a small ditch at the base of the ridge you crested. Everyone is huddled together and holding each other, sobbing audibly.
[sblock]1d4 damage. 2 – 1 armor = 1 damage to me.[/sblock]
I bring the two children over to the ditch and say. “We must leave and we must do it now. The unnatural forces of the Far Realm know we’re here. Come with me if you want to live.”
Per Manbearcat
The two women, shell-shocked by what just happened, are consoling the sobbing children. They agree to come with you without compunction or hesitation. A line is formed to follow your lead out of here.
Along the way I sympathize with the loss of their friend and ask the women who she was. I don’t think she was an actual agent of the Far Realm, but she either possessed something that allowed for that or she had some kind of enchantment placed upon her. Afterwards, I’ll help console the children. When we get back, everyone can rest and I can interview the two women to see what I can find out about defenses, entrance and egress, where Ranyon Argoth resides. We’ll handle that later.
Per Manbearcat
The two remaining women reveal to you that the one that perished was one of Ranyon Argoth’s many wives…and no, none of the children here are his.
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