Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
WarEagleMage's Adventures in Darkmoon Vale (gaming with my kids)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="WarEagleMage" data-source="post: 5649080" data-attributes="member: 47882"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Hollow’s Last Hope Part I.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">The four young travelers were tired and hungry. They made their way through the small town of Falcon’s Hollow looking for some place they could find food and a comfortable chair. It didn’t take them long to find the leaning, ramshackle inn the locals called the Jak’a’Napes. The group had no sooner found them a table, than the owner of the establishment waddled over and introduced himself.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Jak Crimmy, proprietor, at your service,” said the pleasant, balding man. “You look like you could use a bite.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Indeed,” responded a sandy-haired young man wearing only light clothing and a cloak. “What’s your specialty”?</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Well, that’d be my cinnamon crusted flapjacks, but it’s a bit late in the day for that. If you’re planning to spend the night then you can have some for breakfast. There is roasted duck, meatloaf, and my spicy barley soup – oh, never mind that - no soup, sorry.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“It must be pretty good if you already ran out today,” quipped a freckled girl in a blackened chain shirt.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Well, it is good – if I do say so myself, but it’s more on account of bad water at the spring. It’ll make you sick, they say. One old fella actually coughed himself to death. Some others are sick, too. Now they’ve closed off the spring until they can find a cure.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">An older man sitting at the bar turned to Jak, and said “I might be of service to you folks.” He walked over and introduced himself. “Father Fortis, friar of Milani. I’m a fair healer. What seems to be the problem”?</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“I just know what they tell me,” said Jak, “but the local witch – I mean herbalist – seems to know what it is. Whether or not she can cure it is another matter.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Witch?” asked Father Fortis, his brow furrowed, and his tone was suspicious.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Jak frowned and said, “Laurel is not evil or anything, that’s not what I meant. It’s just, well, it’s just that she seems more interested in selling her snake oils and in hoodoo quackery than in genuine healing. And her grandmother was a witch – I’ve heard that on good authority. Laurel uses her grandmother’s recipes, so who knows…”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Well, maybe she needs some help,” said Fortis. “How about you kids help me help them, it’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">The four exchanged looks around the table. While mildly insulting, it was more or less true. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">The sandy-haired young man introduced his friends: “This is Jorge,” the big half-orc waved and grinned through two massive tusks. He had a longsword strapped to his hip, and a well-used shield leaned against the table. “Kendall,” a pretty girl with her hair cropped short in studded leather armor. Her longbow and greatsword contrasted with her slight build. “Megan”, the freckled girl smiled up at him. She wore a rapier on one hip, a shortsword on the other, and she looked like she knew how to use them. “And I’m Gorb – sorcerer extraordinaire.” </span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Well, at least you’re a confident bunch,” the cleric smiled through his white moustaches. “Eat up, and then let’s find this herbalist.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">After a quick meal, the group of five headed out to find Laurel’s shop. It was easy to spot because a line of townsfolk snaked down the street. Many had small children crying in their laps. An old couple huddled together on the ground, the man held a bloodstained cloth to his mouth. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">The group looked at the line, and Megan said, “We can’t wait. If we’re going to help these people, we need to get inside.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“But we can’t just barge in there,” said Jorge.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Let me handle this,” spoke Gorb. He flashed a winning smile and headed for the shop. “Excuse me. Pardon me. Delivery coming through.” There were a few grumbles along the line, but the crowd parted enough for them to get in the door.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">The smell of burnt earth and spicy incense choked the air of the cramped, mud-tracked shop. Bunches of dried herbs hung from the ceiling along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical apparatus, and glassware. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored glass, and all manner of dried, preserved, and jellied animal parts filled high shelves and tables. In the shop’s rear, a rail-thin woman with severe-looking spectacles and hair pulled back tightly busied herself between an overpacked rack of herbs, a table covered in stray powders and measuring equipment, and a pot bubbling over with thick gray froth. Over the din of her work and without looking up, the woman snapped angrily, “And what’s your problem?”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“What’s yours, lady,” Kendall growled.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Gorb stepped forward, putting a restraining hand on the ranger. “Wait a minute. Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here.” Laurel’s eyes flashed, but she said nothing. The sorcerer continued, “We know that this plague has everyone frightened, and you look dreadfully busy. Maybe we can help. What can you tell us about the disease?”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Laurel eyed him skeptically, but replied, “Well, I pretty sure it’s blackscour taint. Comes from a fungus that’s not good for anything. Hard, bitter and sharp, it likes the water and gets you sick if you drink it down. Never heard of it growing in these parts, though, until now.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“I know something of healing and illness myself,” said Father Fortis. How does the sickness progress?”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“You get the mold growing in you,” answered Laurel. “It starts eating away in your chest and belly and is determined to stay. Your body near turns itself inside out trying to hack the stuff up, but all that does it cuts your guts up – bad.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“So, do you have a cure?” Asked Fortis.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“No, I’ve tried nearly everything I know.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Nearly?” said Megan.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Well, my grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says it’s good for this kind of thing. A weird concoction that sounds more like magic than real medicine. It’s got a bunch of rare stuff in it. Some of which I have here, but there are three ingredients I don’t have. Elderwood moss, which supposedly only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled root called “Rat’s Tail”. And seven ironbloom mushrooms, stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal – a favorite among Dwarves, or so I hear.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Kendall, the ranger, spoke up, “We are in Darkmoon Vale, and there has to be an oldest tree in this old forest. We just have to find it. What about the other items?”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">Laurel thought for a minute. “Way north, towards the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of Dwarves. They aren’t there anymore, but I’d bet that if you can find ironbloom mushrooms anywhere around here, that’d be your best bet. As for the “Rat’s Tail”, who knows? Well, actually, Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness. She might have some. She taught my granny all she knew, so she’s got to be ancient by now.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“That gives us something to go on,” said Father Fortis. “We’ll see if we can get these items for you.”</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Just hurry. The sickness is getting worse. The incubation period is less than a week, so you’d better hurry if you want to save these people. Tell you what, if you get the stuff, and if this potion works, I’ll even cut you in on the profit – say thirty gold each."</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">“Fair enough,” said Gorb. The others nodded their agreement.</span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="color: white">As they exited the shop, the line was still there. Megan looked at the wretched sick, and her face set in a determined scowl. “We have to help these people – no matter what stands in our way.”</span></span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="WarEagleMage, post: 5649080, member: 47882"] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Hollow’s Last Hope Part I.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]The four young travelers were tired and hungry. They made their way through the small town of Falcon’s Hollow looking for some place they could find food and a comfortable chair. It didn’t take them long to find the leaning, ramshackle inn the locals called the Jak’a’Napes. The group had no sooner found them a table, than the owner of the establishment waddled over and introduced himself.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Jak Crimmy, proprietor, at your service,” said the pleasant, balding man. “You look like you could use a bite.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Indeed,” responded a sandy-haired young man wearing only light clothing and a cloak. “What’s your specialty”?[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Well, that’d be my cinnamon crusted flapjacks, but it’s a bit late in the day for that. If you’re planning to spend the night then you can have some for breakfast. There is roasted duck, meatloaf, and my spicy barley soup – oh, never mind that - no soup, sorry.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“It must be pretty good if you already ran out today,” quipped a freckled girl in a blackened chain shirt.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Well, it is good – if I do say so myself, but it’s more on account of bad water at the spring. It’ll make you sick, they say. One old fella actually coughed himself to death. Some others are sick, too. Now they’ve closed off the spring until they can find a cure.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]An older man sitting at the bar turned to Jak, and said “I might be of service to you folks.” He walked over and introduced himself. “Father Fortis, friar of Milani. I’m a fair healer. What seems to be the problem”?[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“I just know what they tell me,” said Jak, “but the local witch – I mean herbalist – seems to know what it is. Whether or not she can cure it is another matter.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Witch?” asked Father Fortis, his brow furrowed, and his tone was suspicious.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Jak frowned and said, “Laurel is not evil or anything, that’s not what I meant. It’s just, well, it’s just that she seems more interested in selling her snake oils and in hoodoo quackery than in genuine healing. And her grandmother was a witch – I’ve heard that on good authority. Laurel uses her grandmother’s recipes, so who knows…”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Well, maybe she needs some help,” said Fortis. “How about you kids help me help them, it’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]The four exchanged looks around the table. While mildly insulting, it was more or less true. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]The sandy-haired young man introduced his friends: “This is Jorge,” the big half-orc waved and grinned through two massive tusks. He had a longsword strapped to his hip, and a well-used shield leaned against the table. “Kendall,” a pretty girl with her hair cropped short in studded leather armor. Her longbow and greatsword contrasted with her slight build. “Megan”, the freckled girl smiled up at him. She wore a rapier on one hip, a shortsword on the other, and she looked like she knew how to use them. “And I’m Gorb – sorcerer extraordinaire.” [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Well, at least you’re a confident bunch,” the cleric smiled through his white moustaches. “Eat up, and then let’s find this herbalist.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]After a quick meal, the group of five headed out to find Laurel’s shop. It was easy to spot because a line of townsfolk snaked down the street. Many had small children crying in their laps. An old couple huddled together on the ground, the man held a bloodstained cloth to his mouth. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]The group looked at the line, and Megan said, “We can’t wait. If we’re going to help these people, we need to get inside.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“But we can’t just barge in there,” said Jorge.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Let me handle this,” spoke Gorb. He flashed a winning smile and headed for the shop. “Excuse me. Pardon me. Delivery coming through.” There were a few grumbles along the line, but the crowd parted enough for them to get in the door.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]The smell of burnt earth and spicy incense choked the air of the cramped, mud-tracked shop. Bunches of dried herbs hung from the ceiling along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical apparatus, and glassware. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored glass, and all manner of dried, preserved, and jellied animal parts filled high shelves and tables. In the shop’s rear, a rail-thin woman with severe-looking spectacles and hair pulled back tightly busied herself between an overpacked rack of herbs, a table covered in stray powders and measuring equipment, and a pot bubbling over with thick gray froth. Over the din of her work and without looking up, the woman snapped angrily, “And what’s your problem?”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“What’s yours, lady,” Kendall growled.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Gorb stepped forward, putting a restraining hand on the ranger. “Wait a minute. Let’s not get off on the wrong foot here.” Laurel’s eyes flashed, but she said nothing. The sorcerer continued, “We know that this plague has everyone frightened, and you look dreadfully busy. Maybe we can help. What can you tell us about the disease?”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Laurel eyed him skeptically, but replied, “Well, I pretty sure it’s blackscour taint. Comes from a fungus that’s not good for anything. Hard, bitter and sharp, it likes the water and gets you sick if you drink it down. Never heard of it growing in these parts, though, until now.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“I know something of healing and illness myself,” said Father Fortis. How does the sickness progress?”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“You get the mold growing in you,” answered Laurel. “It starts eating away in your chest and belly and is determined to stay. Your body near turns itself inside out trying to hack the stuff up, but all that does it cuts your guts up – bad.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“So, do you have a cure?” Asked Fortis.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“No, I’ve tried nearly everything I know.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Nearly?” said Megan.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Well, my grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says it’s good for this kind of thing. A weird concoction that sounds more like magic than real medicine. It’s got a bunch of rare stuff in it. Some of which I have here, but there are three ingredients I don’t have. Elderwood moss, which supposedly only grows on the oldest tree in a forest. A specially pickled root called “Rat’s Tail”. And seven ironbloom mushrooms, stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal – a favorite among Dwarves, or so I hear.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Kendall, the ranger, spoke up, “We are in Darkmoon Vale, and there has to be an oldest tree in this old forest. We just have to find it. What about the other items?”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]Laurel thought for a minute. “Way north, towards the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of Dwarves. They aren’t there anymore, but I’d bet that if you can find ironbloom mushrooms anywhere around here, that’d be your best bet. As for the “Rat’s Tail”, who knows? Well, actually, Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness. She might have some. She taught my granny all she knew, so she’s got to be ancient by now.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“That gives us something to go on,” said Father Fortis. “We’ll see if we can get these items for you.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Just hurry. The sickness is getting worse. The incubation period is less than a week, so you’d better hurry if you want to save these people. Tell you what, if you get the stuff, and if this potion works, I’ll even cut you in on the profit – say thirty gold each."[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]“Fair enough,” said Gorb. The others nodded their agreement.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [COLOR=white] [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri][COLOR=white]As they exited the shop, the line was still there. Megan looked at the wretched sick, and her face set in a determined scowl. “We have to help these people – no matter what stands in our way.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
WarEagleMage's Adventures in Darkmoon Vale (gaming with my kids)
Top