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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: ah
Don't jump into conclusions too fast, Ayrn. I'm usually not one for giving hints, but perhaps you guys have some skills that can be of use in exploring the remains of the wizard's tower?
As for your questions:
1) work in the village: fishing, sheep-herding, some farming, net-and-boat-repair. There is a smithies, but that hasn't been really active in some time. People don't own a lot of horses, and the iron that is being worked is usually the smaller stuff that exists on the boats.
2) The inn is more of a local pub. There are rooms, and you can guess they do get travelers from time to time, but the coastal path is not a very busy one, as you've noticed in your going back and forth. So far, you haven't met anybody else traveling along the coast in this part of the dunes.
3) Who's in charge is a good question. So far, nobody has been identified as a leading figure. But that's something to find out IC.
Posted on 2009-04-27 at 08:54:43.
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: the tower, or what's left of it
After a good night’s sleep, the adventurers decided to go back to the fisthermen’s village to aid them in their troubles, whether they wanted to or not. Armed with more knowledge and a copy of the map of the old village they returned. The ride there was a familiar one by now, though the site of the ocean endlessly rolling towards them never reduced its impact.
When they got to the village, it was midday, and many of the townsfolk were up and about. They regarded the heroes, surprised that they came from the same direction as before, but none of them questioned their presence. After all, they hadn’t interfered with the ritual, and their town would be in peace for another month.
Finding room to stay at the Meaty Herring was no difficult task. Jim, the owner, was glad to see them return, and he expressed his gratitude for them taking their hands off the monster-hunt. When they told him they were interested in the wizard’s tower, he was glad to help them find some tools to dig with. He had forgotten the tales of Iyaldar the mage, and was curious to see if they would find anything.
With shovels and an appetite for treasure, whether it were materialistic or new information, they headed into the dunes. Thick layers of sand had been heaped upon the tower’s ruins over the ages, and they had to dig their way through a small dune, trimming its bushes away before starting.
By nightfall they had dug a deep hole in the dune, but it was the next morning, when they returned with fresh spirits that they got to the good part.
Buried under the dune was the foundation of a round building. What remained of the building itself was a wall of only 2 feet high, a wooden floor that had been wondrously preserved, a broken set of drawers which had been crushed, and some scattered debris that had never been cleared. All in all the place seemed void of any treasure or leads.
Posted on 2009-04-25 at 14:57:51.
Edited on 2009-04-25 at 14:59:50 by Almerin
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Topic: The Return of Yana
Subject: woah!
I see you!! It's really you! No way!
btw: Rakaa reminds me of the work of Tony DiTerlizzi. Nice job on all of them!
Posted on 2009-04-21 at 19:09:10.
Edited on 2009-04-21 at 19:10:27 by Almerin
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: songs
Tamuril thought really hard, going over the songs she had picked up, the poems she had witnessed and memorized, but none of them seemed to tell her anything more than she had already learned from her visit to the monastery's library. As much as Bards learned from others, there were times when they had to find out certain information on their own, and go where nobody had sung about.
Posted on 2009-04-18 at 17:19:45.
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Topic: When Bad Things Happen
Subject: this is my personal opinion.
I think you should let his games be his creation, and his alone. Continuing them would certainly give him the honour he deserved, but it would no longer be his game.
Knowing that he was a great man, a wonderful player and a bright DM is enough, I think. The honour lies in appreciating the opportunity to have met him, and remembering the good times and posts that he gave us.
I do think the gesture is a great one though.
Posted on 2009-04-17 at 17:23:24.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: yes
This is all the information you can find on the topics you've searched, with the searchcheck I rolled for you all. A lower check would've given you less, a higher check might've given you more. But there's no second chance for this, since that's how the game works.
In short: yes, this is all our heroes find. 
Posted on 2009-04-16 at 19:11:02.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: ok
It takes you guys another hour of searching together to find the list of Gods.
Cliffhanger... I'll have to post it later, since I HAVE to go right now.
edit:
Gods that might be of interest are:
Major Dieties:
Cardista - Goddess of the Sea
Thadril Anskar - God of Storms & Pride
Kith-Jora - God of Nature
Minor Dieties (most of them forgotten nowadays):
Salimontao - Goddess of Fish
Gubulondil - God of the Current
Freskid - God of the Tides
Neveeral - Goddess of the Beach
Posted on 2009-04-16 at 16:18:31.
Edited on 2009-04-16 at 18:26:06 by Almerin
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Topic: When Bad Things Happen
Subject: This
This is some sad news indeed. Give your uncle my/our condolences, please. Let him know we're thinking of him.
Posted on 2009-04-16 at 16:11:14.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: answers
1) The Abbot says there is a very old scroll that lists the dieties worshipped in the world. You could see if you could find it (search check).
2) You find a really old sea map, used by sailors, who marked some sandbanks (I think is the word) and dangerous rocks off the coast, but no islands big enough for living purposes.
3) The next settlement is at least a week's worth of traveling away from the village. The same in the other direction, with the abbey being an exception.
Posted on 2009-04-15 at 14:55:35.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: it's
I believe it's 450 ER right now.
Posted on 2009-04-14 at 20:09:47.
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Topic: the cat is out of the bag!
Subject: lol... hot lead?
Hot lead comments in my mind lead to images of a rejoining liquid terminator, which lead to one of the oldest dirty terminator jokes... right?
If you don't know what I mean send me a PM, I'll explain...
But.... Congratulations dude!!
Posted on 2009-04-14 at 19:47:15.
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Topic: The Lost Temple of Sunryad - A Freeform D&D Adventure
Subject: oh, ok ... here we go then.
Jonathan had been silent as the dragon approached them and had a little chat with Petraak. This was the kind of stuff that made good poems or songs, and the young bard hated the fact that the creature didn’t speak the common tongue, or he not the draconic one. Still, if the dragonborn didn’t translate at some point in the future, he would make up his own version of the conversation.
Luckily, Petraak did share with them what the dragon was all about. It was quite unfortunate that the translation came to late for any of them to react to the scaled creature. Jonathan would’ve loved to propose a coalition of some sorts. If the dragon hated the Dryads, and the dryads were going to give them hell upon entering the temple, they would both benefit from an alliance.
As it was, the story itself struck him as dubious, or to be more precise: their quest now seemed dubious. Thinking back, this thought had sat with him ever since the old man told them about their quest. He had heard too many tales of people being used or betrayed, backstabbed after doing the hard work. Looking around, he saw others thinking back. Were they realizing the same thing?
“I don’t know about you guys, but doesn’t it seem kinda strange that…”
At that moment he was engulfed by a strange sensation. It was as if a cloud covered his mind to mist his thoughts and rain on his mood. He had forgotten that he had dreamt the night before, but now it came back to him like a real memory. He was standing on a stage, with beautiful women around him, listening to his music breathlessly. As he bent over to kiss one of them she started to change into a… hey! He didn’t want to remember the bad part!
Shaking violently, he managed to shrug off the dream and noted that the gorgeous woman with fey heritage (he still was unsure of what she was), being confronted by a skeletal creature, its hands around her neck.
Help me! he heard clearly, and didn’t think for another minute.
Yanking on the shoulder-strap that held it in place, he moved his lute from its secure place on his back to the right position to play. An instant later he strummed a powerful chord that sent the strings humming with power. This was no ordinary bardic piece of crap, this was the instrument given to him by the son of Gib. Gib was a Saint, a martyr died defending his faith by song and string. His son had tried to take over the family business but had put more belief in Jonathan than in himself. The only thing that marked the guitar’s previous owner was a handwritten signature on the instrument’s head: Gibson.
The chord reverberated strongly on the skeleton’s bones, hammering like a dozen maces. Again Jonathan’s fingers jumped over the strings, this time forming a lower combination of tones that struck even more deafening. White energy started to form around the strings as he continued with a third chord, quickly followed by a feverish succession of fingerpicked tones that grew out to a piercing shriek. When he strummed a low E-chord, heavy on the base, a bolt of white energy sprang from his instrument and hit the skeleton square in the chest. It took a few steps backwards from the impact. If it would leave, he did not know, but at least it had let go of the pretty girl. That was all Jonathan needed for now.
(OOC: I altered everything just a bit, because Nimu seemed to neglect the entire sequence with the dragon. I place the attack in the dreamworld after that, for good measure.)
Posted on 2009-04-14 at 17:19:53.
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: wow
The abbot took Perrin's papers with revering delicacy. Looking at the young monk's writings and the description of the lizardfolk made him cock an eyebrow.
"First of all, let me tell you that your skills are already improving, young Perrin. It makes me very happy. As for your question, I have never witnessed anything like this myself, but in my traveling days I have heard of similar creatures living in the Swamps of Kedesh. What they would be doing here is beyond me, but it is a story worth collecting, I would say."
He handed Perrin back his work, and smiled.
"Join your friends in the library. I wish I could help you more myself, but I am a keeper of knowledge, not a tome myself. I hope you can help these poor people, though I should warn you. Some stories change with different points of view."
He walked Perrin back to the library, where his friends were burried in research. They could use a hand, or a different set of thoughts.
Posted on 2009-04-11 at 08:32:51.
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Topic: This was hell
Subject: now there's a group of 3
He was looking around for the man named Cathedral, while trying to keep track of the weird creature formed of legs. It was slowly restoring a wicked form of order to the streets, piling up carcasses. Soon after Herman had hidden behind the wooden stairway, a second creature just like it had emerged from some hidden place and was now crawling its way up a building to retrieve a corpse that was spiked on a pointy ornament from one of the balconies. It climbed the walls like a spider, as if changing to a vertical surface was not the same as defying gravity.
When he looked into the opposite direction, still trying to find Cat, somebody came running around the corner and almost bumped into him. He staggered backwards and grabbed on to the wall behind him. His heart was pumping so hard that he could feel the pulsation in his stomach. For a moment he had thought that one of the legged creatures had surprised him and was jumping for an attack.
However, it was not one of the wicked workers, but a girl with bright red hair. He didn’t think, but grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the stairway, out of view.
“Who are you?” She asked. He didn’t answer yet, but inspected the street instead. The buildings were still fogging away in time, breaking down into dust that swerved in long wisps to unseen places. The bodies stared at him with eyes as empty shells; broken prisons for their souls which had been released. Or at least he assumed so. The blood still flowed as if it were pouring from the skies. Yet rain seemed to come only in the form of death.
He turned to the girl now, realizing he had instinctively sheltered her with his body, putting himself in the line of danger that wasn’t there. He put his unshaven face close to hers and whispered.
“My name is Herman. Where did you come from? Did you find anybody? A man named Cathedral? I was looking for him.”
At that moment he heard his name being called. He shifted his attention back to the street, recognizing the voice. It was Cathedral, calling for him; telling him they needed to get out of this place fast. He couldn’t agree more.
“We have to go. Don’t you dare slow us down.” He stated to the girl, not knowing why he added that last part. She was probably more agile than he would ever be, faster and possibly even stronger. After all, he still felt like dropping on his knees and giving in to pain.
Not much later they were walking down the streets, moving fast. Around them, the cleaning leg creatures hauled body after body, seemingly multiplying every time they blinked. But as wicked as they looked, they appeared to prefer the stink of the dead over the warmth of the living.
The streets spread out before them as they went uphill. Blood flowed faster now, and Herman’s feet slipped over the greasy cobbles underneath. It was as if he was being dragged back to the place where he had woken up. It was like the little pit in the shower, where all the water and dirt got drawn to. He was trying hard to get away from it, taking every step more conscious then he ever had. It was tiring, to say the least, but he was not alone anymore. There were others up and about in this city of damnation.
“Where did you go? He asked Cat, while they moved. “And more importantly: where will WE go?”
(OOC: I didn't include Fletch yet. I don't know what your agenda is right now. You can join us, or you can try to find your own way through this game. It's all good. )
Posted on 2009-04-10 at 21:50:43.
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: the abbot
After seeing the adventurers into the library, the abbot was visited by brother Perrin, inquiring a more private conversation.
Father Jusarin invited him into his own room and sat down in one of the two wooden chairs, offering Perrin the other.
"What is it you wish to talk to me about, my son?"
Posted on 2009-04-10 at 08:18:06.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: thanks Ayrn
Good thoughts, but we need posts to keep the game going. It's been quite a while since my update... I hope nobody is stuck on what to do. I figured I gave you guys lots to post about.
Posted on 2009-04-09 at 22:02:54.
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Topic: Vote for the Inn
Subject: strike a vote
vote now! We're number 5, but will drop fast. We always do if people don't keep voting.
Posted on 2009-04-07 at 16:23:16.
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Topic: The Lost Temple of Sunryad - A Freeform D&D Adventure - Q&A
Subject: pfff
seems I missed the battle. Well, worked around it anyway.
Posted on 2009-04-07 at 16:21:00.
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Topic: The Lost Temple of Sunryad - A Freeform D&D Adventure
Subject: eh, so I missed the battle?
Jonathan was gasping for air, his chest heaving. Though he had not killed any goblins, he had supported his fellow adventurers with a striking warsong, strengthened by strumming the bass strings on his special harp in a rapid succession. The powerful song had been more a series of hums and reverberating vowels rising to powerful blasts, than words pushing his comrades onwards, since in combat, words inaudibly lost their meaning.
He just hoped his newfound companions realized that he had not cowardly stayed in the back of the group. He had done that which he did best.
Now the dragonborn stated his worries about the forest, Jonathan changed his harp for his guitar and strummed a few joyful cords.
"What we need is a few good songs to lighten up this forest. I happen to know a few..."
He played the intro to the well known 'Whisper sweet nothings, under your Dragon's Breath', and wanted to start singing the story that belonged with the notes. Then he remembered the goblin shaman's staff; the lightning rod with the human skull.
"What happened to that staff, Petraak? It seemed to inspire something in the goblins, whether it was fear or courage. And if I'm not mistaken it was very magical. I think we should hold on to it, for our own benefit, you know. Show it to some goblins that want to attack us. They'll think twice if they see that we killed some of their brethern."
Posted on 2009-04-07 at 16:19:59.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: there
I updated the game, and put up the old map you guys found on the first page, under the map that was already there. I didn't put all the houses on there, since that would've just made things less clear. At least now you can see what's what.
Posted on 2009-04-05 at 11:58:22.
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: update
They rode a good part of the night, than had to stop and camp. Exhausting themselves would not do anybody any good. These lizardmen wouldn’t come back for another month. With the village safe for now, rushing would be foolish.
The next morning they continued. The path was familiar now, and travelling had a purpose other than seeing what’s around the next corner. Another day of travelling went by, and when morning broke again, they had reached the monastery dedicated to Jusarin. The monks there greeted them with surprise. The abbot came out as soon as he heard they had arrived, and inquired why they had returned so swiftly.
A quick explanation later he granted them access to the library, which was quite vast. They were welcome to stay for as long as they needed, while searching the tomes and scrolls, both ancient and new. He knew they would be careful with the bound writings but ordered one of his monks to attend their search at all time; to ‘aid’ them, of course.
And so they went about their search. Finding information proved more difficult than they had imagined. The tomes were written in different languages, not all of them known to the adventurers. But with help of the servants of the God of Knowledge they found out some interesting facts about these creatures, and the village by the coast.
As it appeared, Driscoll had been right when he said the monsters plaguing the town were very similar to the Slaa’kar inhabiting the swamps of Kedesh. The descriptions made in the tomes concerning the swamps did not match up exactly, portraying the Slaa’kar more reptilian and less human than the creatures on the beach. Though the contrast was very subtle, Slaa’kar seemed to be humanoid reptilians, while the creatures on the beach seemed more reptilian humanoid.
But there was more. It took a few days to find this information, filtering it from stories and tales penned down many decades ago. The first telling of these lizardmen pestering the coastal village seemed to be a good 300 years ago, and was recorded from the mouth of one of the villagers at that time, an unnamed woman seeking help in their problem. The village had been quite large then, housing over 150 people. There had been a real town hall, a courthouse, and even a wizard’s tower. After some digging they found an old map of the town, showing it already diminishing in size. (I’ll add it to the first page of the Q/A).
Finally, they found a few horrific tales about the coastal village.
3 ER: Sumbak Kettlepot arrives in the fishermen’s town and falls in love with the blacksmith’s daughter. His love is forbidden by the girl’s father and Sumbak plots the man’s death. He mixed the carcass of a poison dart frog in the man’s stew but ends up feeding it to his beloved. After finding out he caused her death he takes his own life and that of the blacksmith by starting a huge fire.
150 ER: A simple fisherman named Yondark who lived a lonely life in the coastal town finds the catch of his life. One day, he returned with a beautiful woman in his boat, who he said he caught in his nets. The woman is unable to speak, but she appears to be very grateful for Yondark to have rescued her. Every night though, she follows some strange ritual, praying to an unknown God, and the other villagers become frightened, and eventually burn her as a witch.
248 ER: During the festivities of Midsummer’s Eve, two rivalling families get into the biggest fight in the history of the coastal village. When the fistfight turns into the clashing of steel, the town turns to chaos. Old man Iyaldar, the town’s wizard, comes in between bearing a magical sword. With this weapon he slays the heads of both houses, ending the long time feud with a promise that if ever such a thing would happen again, he would kill both families entirely. Shortly after that, his tower collapses, and he is never seen again.
Posted on 2009-04-05 at 11:44:44.
Edited on 2009-04-05 at 11:45:05 by Almerin
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Topic: The Lost Temple of Sunryad - A Freeform D&D Adventure - Q&A
Subject: <>
Brianna, I edited your previous post so that everybody could read the commands and replies to your smokewolf creature. You shouldn't put words between these: <, because it tends to mess up the code of your post and make everything in between unreadable. Instead, you could look up Scarab's tutorial on html in the common room (should be one of the first items there), and make the text italic, or something. That would work a lot better.
Posted on 2009-03-31 at 20:19:03.
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Topic: This was hell
Subject: now what
There wasn’t much Herman could do but hope. He was mentally grasping for control over his body, but whenever he thought he remembered how to order his legs to move, the notion bled through his fingers like jelly. Only his eyes seemed to respond, and they were frantically searching the skies above to see if none of the corpses would fall on him. For minutes he stood there like a scared rabbit, as bodies were strewn over the streets. He witnessed it all in horror: limbs breaking from the impact, skulls shattering and blood splattering in fountains where a body would crash on the flooded pavement. But though the sights were sickening and gruesome, he could keep them away by closing his eyes. It were the sounds that terrified him most. With every crack or low thud he flinched, an involuntary shiver of short muscle contractions rippled from his shoulders to his legs, spreading as the cacophony of death rose like a demonic persiflage of a spring rain.
And just like a seasonal shower it stopped suddenly. A last few tricklets echoed in the distance, and then the sound was gone.
Herman dared open one eye, and heaved in a full tug of air, holding it in his lungs in an effort to somehow calm his body and take control over what he was witnessing. When he had first woken up in this street he had taken no real notice of the blood on the streets and the piles of bodies. He had assumed it was a normal state of being, and only when his conscious slowly returned to him he had realized that none of his surroundings were as they should be. But still, it had been a vague, superficial realization that now surfaced.
The horror of it all; the broken, grey bodies; the constant flow of blood, the deteriorating buildings and the disappearing vortex in the sky above; it was all diminished by a single thought. Had he fallen from the sky as well? Was that how he had come to be in this place? But if that were true, then where did he fall from? What had happened to him before he was dropped to meet his death? Why hadn’t he died from the fall… or was he dead and this only a last effort of his mind to remain a hold on life? He had to find a way out.
He looked for the man named Cathedral, but was interrupted in his search by a sound coming from behind. He looked around to find movement in one of the gutters on the side of the street. The washing blood bubbled and split open as a thin leg came floating to the surface. It had hairs, sticking up like those of an insect, and its skin was black like coal, with patches of mould on it. Another one just like it erupted from the gutter, and soon four more followed. They appeared to be attached to each other, with no body or head to make it a complete creature, and came as high as Herman’s waist. He didn’t take any more time to wallow in shock, but darted behind the first obstacle he could find; a wooden stairway leading up to one of the buildings.
From there, he regarded the creature formed of legs as it made its way to one of the broken bodies and squatted on it. Two jaws opened on its underside and bit into the head of a bald man. It maintained its hold, and started dragging the limb corpse to one of the stacks.
Herman looked around again to see if he could find Cathedral anywhere.
Posted on 2009-03-29 at 16:07:35.
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Topic: A Local Legend - Q/A
Subject: this
Another thing that I have to tell you is that you guys should drop the fact that somebody was attacked in the village the first night you arrived. It was done by Ocyari, who was a half-vampire and needed the man's blood. Since Ocyari is no longer a part of this game, and we magically removed her from the group, we'll pretend it never happened. It has no other influence on what happened or what will happen.
Posted on 2009-03-28 at 19:08:02.
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Topic: A Local Legend - An Audalis Short Adventure
Subject: and now?
The creature’s appearance had left a stain of dread on the adventurer’s mind. Though they had stood up to many threats before, this was no ordinary monster rampaging farmer’s crops or woodlands. These creatures looked intelligent and perhaps even civilized, in their own tribal way. There was little doubt that this would take a delicate approach.
To Driscoll, these monsters resembled something that he had heard about in his travelings. The swamps of Kedesh, south of the Cindari Plains, bore creatures of similar description; reptilian humanoids living in groups. Did these monsters change the muddy habitat of the swamps to the salty environment of the ocean floor? Answers brought more questions it seemed.
(OOC: You can go down to the beach and inspect the area. None of the townfolk is going to be coming out this evening. Still, you will find nothing of significance there. Another note you will find in the Q/A.)
Posted on 2009-03-28 at 19:04:46.
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