The Untamed Wilds: Caravan Campaign

[MacConnell]

​

Lyndha stand from her stool and walks around the counter. The other patrons have departed, along with Galen and Siofra, leaving only the remaining party members to whom her interest seems to have piqued to direct negotiations. As she rounds the counter, her abrupt shortness is momentarily distracting but easily overshadowed by her big personality.

"You young people present yourselves as a bit more discriminatory than most who pass through. I sense great potential here. By the way I personally like the sound of Southroad Seekers. It flows from the tongue more fluidly than searchers. Shankers sounds like some back alley cut-throat, but of course you jest and knew that."

"I understand you are having some armor made from lizard hide you brought with you, hence your pre-developing moniker. I tell you truthfully, lizard hide is far superior to any leather I can offer you here."

"The soft hides we have in abundance are cured from pig and deer. While of a fine quality and decent durability it would offer you no more protection than the corded fabric armoring some of you currently wear. You are not fancy guard dandies. Don't waste you coin or credit on looks. Use it on functionality as you may yet prove to be ones to undertake a particularly dangerous quest for which I have a special interest, but more on that later."

"As far as bows are concerned we are flush with them, and one of the carpenters is a fine craftsman of the fare. The differences in cost and construction factor into their effective range; although with that, some of the bows require quite a strength to draw."

OOC: Types of Shortbows Simple Pine (100 clams) Simple Chestnut (150 clams) Stranded Chestnut (200 clams) (requires Strength => 2) Stranded Hickory (250 clams) (requires Strength => 2) Recurve Pine (200 clams) (requires Strength =>2) Recurve Chestnut (300 clams) (requires Strength => 3) Recurve Hickory (500 clams) (requires Strength => 5)

OOC: Types of Longbows Simple Pine (150 clams) Simple Chestnut (200 clams) (requires Strength => 2) Stranded Chestnut (300 clams) (requires Strength => 3) Stranded Hickory (400 clams) (requires Strength => 4) Recurve Pine (250 clams) (requires Strength => 2) Recurve Chestnut (400 clams) (requires Strength =>4) Recurve Hickory (600 clams) (requires Strength => 6)

OOC: Types of Crossbows (requires Strength => 2) Single-Hand (200 clams) Small Levered (300 clams) Large Levered (400 clams) Large Cranked (500 clams)

 

[Kwargrow]

Sannit nods at what Lyndha is saying as he counts out the clams. "We will still take the leather. It stands up to the weather better and it will be easier to repair."

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Merin will purchase two bows; a Pinewood Recurve Shortbow, which he is capable of using, and a Hickory Recurve Shortbow, which he cannot yet nock. Tor teases him, but Merin is resolute:

"I need something I can use now. But I also need something I can train with, to improve not only my strength, but the power and range of my shots. Thus, I need both bows. In the meantime, you can carry this one; that way, we'll both have ranged weapons, should the need arise."

Tor smiles at Merin; all teasing aside, Merin had a knack for planning that Tor often admired. And he was usually spot on with his precautions.

"Very well," Tor says.

OOC: If the party's pooled funds would be too greatly drained by the purchase, then Tor and Merin will pool their personal funds for it. [Total = 700 clams.] "Tor has a total of 640 clams at the time of his departure. A clam is the term for the lowest valued coin of Asylim and all prices are quoted in its terms. Think of it as having the buying power of $640. Merin has 520 clams." I think that was before Merin spent 100 clams on wine, and Merin and Tor tipped 20 clams each to the guards. THUS: Merin's Current Clams: 400 Tor's Current Clams: 620 If I have to spend it from their funds, I will take 350 from each, leaving Merin with 50, and Tor with 270.

GM: You only spent 2 clams each on the tip for the guards.

OOC: Awesome. Thanks for the correction. So... After having read further responses, I will use 45 clams each (our share) of the party funds, and do the rest with personal. After adding the 45 each, and then subtracting half the cost... Merin's Current Clams: 418 (+45 = 463) - 350 = 113 Tor's Current Clams: 638 (+45 = 683) - 350 = 333 ​

 

[Kwargrow]

For my purchase I divided the store credit of 360 by 8 giving us 45 each or 90 together

 

[MacConnell]

Purchases

OOC: San-Bolo (1000 clams) Soft Leather Hauberk (400 clams) Soft Leather Vest (200 clams) Soft Leather Greaves x2 (100 clams) Single-Hand Crossbow (200 clams) 50 Arrows (100 clams)

OOC: Merin-Torvald (700 clams) Recurve Pine Shortbow (200 clams) Recurve Hickory Shortbow (500 clams)

OOC: Sheldon-Indigo (850 clams) Soft Leather Vest (200 clams) Soft Leather Bracers (50 clams) Soft Leather Greaves x2 (100 clams) Soft Leather Boots x2 (400 clams)

As the group gathers the item in which each member is interested, Lyndha walks to the door, put a placard on the outside and then bolts the door from within. When she turns back to the group, she finds everyone staring placidly waiting on her to specify her desires.

"You see there. I knew you were the right group, not even a twitch. Despite my diminutive size, most people would have reacted rather poorly to my having bolted the door, but you all are just simply waiting."

"If there is any trade to be conducted feel free as we get these item adjusted and fitted."

"Now to more important interests. You are not the normal traveling fare. Most all of you, like so few, can sense the auras and energetics that exist around everything and are constituent parts of every function. Not only can you feel them you can bend them to specific outcomes like the young lady there did when negotiations first began."

"I am sure you have heard the three main rumors floating around town, and I'm not talking about gossip, either. These represent some real danger. The hostile peoples attacking the hunting parties are of a particular interests to Giodavi, my heartmate. If he has not specifically sought to engage your services in the matter, speak to him again. He will. This is and can cause significant loss of income not to mention life for our developing community. This is a problem I feel in my bones that the eight of you could readily eliminate, and I should let Giodavi negotiate specifics on that score."

"If you have not spoken with Raven, the tanner, concerning the head hunters making sacrifices in a particular hollow to the southeast, he can provide you with the most accurate information. He will not tell you this, but he suspects it is a clan of Rheini, which gives his ancestry a bad name. He will not hire you to look into it, but I have a feeling he would reward you for its resolution."

"This brings me to my particular interest; though I recommend you look into the other two first, as this 'Haunted Tree' may prove to be a rather difficult situation. Yes, the haunted tree. It is not folk lore or superstition. It is a conclave, and I can sense the growing blight. I do not know the number involved, but there is definitely more than one Bender. A bender is a slang term for a person who can manipulate way lines. They may be called witches or warlocks or wind talkers or diviners, but never mind all that. What I sense is necromancy, the forbidden art. I am not of an age or ability to look directly into this matter but it indicates a more dire situation than the Hollow of Bones, for these cannibals are trying to manipulate the dead. They are likely Amiradtha, no offense to your heritage young man, or Evipau. Either way, I would like to see them gone before they grow any more powerful and bold. This type of bending attracts all the wrong kind of attention."

"I do not know what it is I might offer you for such services, but if you return from the other to quests, we will discuss specifics."

 

[Kwargrow]

Sannit strokes his beard as he considers the old woman's words. He nods and says, "Ok, I suggest we split up again. Same groups. Sheldon, Indigo with Tor and Merin go talk with Giodavi, and we'll go with Aust and Revan to speak with Raven. We'll meet back at the Boar's Head to make a plan."

Sannit hands Lyndha the money for their goods.

GM: All pertinent information has been acquired from the tanner.

[sblock=Raven's Information]"Ha! That rumor still floats about. The truth of the matter is a bit mundane. The standing dead are not trees but the remaining stalks of the bloom of a cactus. The cactus is similar to agave, but is mostly subterranean and puts up a bloom stalk only once during the rainy season. The cactus prevents the growth of other plants near it."

"These hollows are more common further south in the drier sands. There is a real danger, though. The bloom comes out at night and smells like rotting meat. It attracts carnivorous animals to it, mostly jackals. The seed pods are like large darts that are fired from the stalk into the attracted animals. They are toxic. Most animals die where they stand to fertilize the ground around the cactus. The ones that run off spread the cactus to new areas. when the cactus is not in bloom, it can be rooted out and destroyed."

"The second danger is that these hollows are used as sacrificial areas by the more superstitious indigenous clans. The most superstitious are, of course, the cannibals and head hunters. So be wary if you go to investigate as this particular hollow sounds to be an active site."

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?488633-The-Untamed-Wilds-Caravan-Capaign#ixzz4Ll6rRq00
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[Tellerian Hawke]

"What I sense is necromancy, the forbidden art. I am not of an age or ability to look directly into this matter..."

Merin nods, and asks:

"You say that you sense this tainted presence, as if you have great skill with the manipulation of way. I would imagine that if you have been honing that talent for the entirety of your life, that you would be someone who is in a position to pass on such knowledge, to the appropriate student. I would like to ask, humbly and respectfully, if you would consider accepting me, as one such student. I would consider such training as more than adequate compensation for any physically demanding task you might seek to assign to me."

OOC: Merin and Tor give Lyndha the 700 clams as mentioned above; 90 clams from party funds, 610 clams from personal funds.

 

[MacConnell]

Lyndha Responds to Merin

Merin nods, and asks:

"You say that you sense this tainted presence, as if you have great skill with the manipulation of way. I would imagine that if you have been honing that talent for the entirety of your life, that you would be someone who is in a position to pass on such knowledge, to the appropriate student. I would like to ask, humbly and respectfully, if you would consider accepting me, as one such student. I would consider such training as more than adequate compensation for any physically demanding task you might seek to assign to me."

Lyndha presses her lips flat and look up and to the left momentarily before responding:

"I will consider such, but despite what skill I may have, I am what is called a Diviner. My talent is very specific and directed toward the acquisition of information. We can talk more when you return from the west."

 

[MacConnell]

Back at the Boar's Head

​

The group returns to the Boar's Head later that afternoon to find Galen on the stage performing with his lyre. The group moves to the same table they had occupied earlier in the day. When he has finished the tune, he stands and waves, jokingly yelling over the crowd, "Hey Dragon Hunters!"

Sannit pulls forth the skull he has been carrying, since it could not be made into suitable armor decoration, and holds it aloft. The crowd goes quiet for a moment then begins whispering among themselves.

Sheldon states that he has an idea, takes the skull from Sannit, and walks up on stage.

"Give me some music Galen, something appropriate to the tale."

Galen begins to play and Sheldon times the rhythm then begins to speak in a sing-song manner:

"Good folks lend ear, I'll tell you this night.
The Tale of a Battle that might give you a fright.

We stopped for a meal at a pool cool and clear.
San-Bolo went aloft to see far and near.

A flicker of blue did soon catch the eye,
And they clambered back down afore the Beast did draw nigh.

Over boulder and gravel, it ran just the same,
Leaping and bounding, thought to make us its game.

It thought to bite me, but Sannit was faster.
Fortune left it that day, for we were its master.

The axe didn't break scale, but it did break the bone.
As I ducked it's wide gape, Bolo's arrow found home.

It screamed in the air. It's landing did slip.
Merin grabbed its tail, while Tor broke its hip.

A sword and a spear did both find an eye,
And there in the dust, this lizard did die!"

Sheldon holds the skull over his head as he finishes the poem. The crowd begins stomping and cheering.

"It may not be a dragon, but it was a mighty big lizard. You can call us the Southroad Seekers."

When Sheldon seats himself, Giodavi comes to the table.

"That performance, my young friends, will make me extra coin this night. Your meals and drink are on me. Bring me the end to these hostiles to our west and I will offer free room and board any time you are in town, at least for 2 moons."

 

[Kwargrow]

San-Bolo clap at the end of Sheldon's song.

After Giodavi is gone Sannit says, "Food and a drink sound good. As for the work, how do we want to approach it? Raven made it sound like this hostile tribe were beyond reasoning with, but I'm willing to look for a peaceful solution. At the very least everyone should be able to either hide behind a shield or shoot back with something. Not only that but when do we go? Do we wait for the tanner to finish the armor or set out now?"

"Those extra days would cost us. We should set out as soon as we can, tomorrow morning," Bolo says.

Not surprisingly, Sannit nods. "I agree." He rises to find someone to take his order for food and ale.