Session 18 – The Prequel Concludes (Part 8)

The Full Moon Arises!

While Eldaria let their curiosity get the better of them, Elzy cast Beast Speech and talked to his new scorpion friend. He told the scorpion that they could take one of the dead scorpions for food, and leave in peace. Elzy did not want to hurt the scorpion, but if it didn’t leave, he and his friends would have no choice. His rapport with the scorpion was amazing to watch. It did a little display of clicking their claws and swishing their stinger. Then it grabbed its dinner, to bring back to their nest. Perhaps to share and perhaps not.

Rules Break Out:

It was a good time to really introduce Reaction Rolls, since Beast Speech gives a bonus to it, and the fate of the encounter was more fun when hinged on a die roll. The player ended up getting a Very Good result and if the player had Animal Control (Vermin), would have likely become another pet.

At the end of the tunnel that Eldaria found was a large cavern opening with the body of a preserved woman with an unopened potion still in her hand and a bronze nose ring. The cold temperatures kept the body from rotting, but they were definitely dead. The opening to get there was too narrow for the scorpions to fit. She had on a nice double velvet tunic that was sadly torn from her fight with the ice scorpions, but inside, Eldaria found a secret pocket with four sharpened coins that were $5 florin pieces not minted in Tempore. Where these coins were minted, Eldaria does not know. They quickly realized that these coins were weapons that could be used both in their fists, or be thrown. Eldaria threw one into a snow bank, and it was clear, more practice was needed. This woman had an insignia on their cloak that Sylas was able to identify as a merchant house, but he is unsure of which one. But could easily in a large settlement find out. Among the other things Eldaria found were a well crafted shortsword and a bag containing some florins, a good set of lock picks, a burglar bar, a set of playing cards, another potion, and a couple of gems.

Rules Break Out:

The Sharpened Coins ($6/coin) are from DF Treasures 1 and are 5 florin pieces that were sharpen to be used between your fingers to add +1 with a punch or thrown at thr-2 cut. The shortsword is a Fine weapon ($1,600 and +1 to cutting and thrusting damage). The lock picks were of Good quality. The Burglar Bar ($20) is a thin strip of metal that can be used to trigger a trap or even pick a lock (-2) and is from DF 8 – Treasure Tables. Playing cards ($50). Both gems were 1.25 carats. Topaz ($230) and Chalcedony ($65). $350 in florins. Two potions – one is a healing potion. The other is a swirling mist, currently unknown by the players.

Grainne, meanwhile, complained about her upset stomach, blaming the croissant she ate for breakfast. The others think it is more about her nerves about potentially seeing a mermaid. Elzy removes enough chitin from the remaining scorpion to be able to make a pair of greaves or bracers, but really got to zealous while doing so and broke the main armor in half accidentally, ruining any chance to make a breast plate or a full suit of armor. He got covered in guts and goo, which Sylas tried to get him to wash off, but he just didn’t care enough to get clean. Elzy could do that later. More important now was getting some lunch. So with the help of Lino, their guide, got some herbs gathered. He melted some snow in a make shift pot and started a scorpion boil. The body they found reminded Lino of a group of three adventurers that went up this mountain, three or four months ago, but he didn’t remember them coming back down.

While Elzy cooked, the remainder of the Heroes finished getting enough Mermaid Agates or pieces of rock with agate imbedded inside to take back down the mountain. By the time they were done, lunch was done. It was quite delicious for those brave enough to eat it. Sylas only ate it due to an empty stomach. Tasted a lot like crab they discovered.

It took them rest of the afternoon to get back down the mountain. It was far easier and faster going down, than it was going up, and they weren’t even at the top of the mountain. When they got down, Cedric Goodwort, Thistletop’s father, asked them what their plans were. The halflings had essentially concluded their business, and wanted to know when they needed to cast off. The Heroes wanted to stay at least another night, because tomorrow night was a full moon. And there was hope to see a mermaid. Or at least Grainne hoped she would see a mermaid. They settled on staying at Fatima’s Seaside Inn that was getting cleaned up for the tourist season. Fatima then sent out Dimas to get some food for dinner, and he came back with a small netted bag of crabs of a couple different types. 

While Fatima began working on dinner for her guests, Sylas talked to Luisin and set up a session of painting and drinking win the following day. Elzy would come back for dinner, but tended to his boars and worked on making a better camp along the beach, suspecting they will end up being here for a couple of more days. Not that Sylas was going to mind, it’s one more day not on a boat. Eldaria told Grainne that they had an errand, and went to go see Lilian. Knocking on her door, Lilian came out with a box of cookies in the shape of mermaids that Eldaria and ordered before they had traveled up the mountain. Grainne started to gush about mermaids, because unbeknownst to her, everyone else suspected that Lilian was, in fact, a merfolk. Eventually, Grainne’s charm won her over. They took the cookies back to the inn, but not before convincing Lilian to join their Paint and Sip the next day. By the time they arrived, dinner was ready. It was a lovely meal of a creamy crab chowder made with goat’s milk, fried soft-shell crab sandwiches with a nice spicy sauce, and roasted root vegetables that turned the last of the winter larder into something quite tasty. All washed down with a nice ale. It was brought to their table by a young woman named Aurora. She had blue eyes, and was marked off the list of potential merfolk.

The next morning, Grainne and Eldaria went to the main hairdresser of Paradise Cove ran by Antelom, located up on the northwestern portion of the village where the summer homes of nobles and rich merchants use during the summer, and occasionally in the winter. As they walked in, the two old ladies and Antelom were clearly talking about the most current gossip, which happened to be the arrival of the Heroes. They deftly began talking more about the weather and other village gossip. Grainne got her mess of red, curly hair, braided. While doing so, she got out of Antelom more information about the group that went up the mountain and never came back. It was led by a well dressed and confident woman who clearly knew how to use the shortsword at her side. But he remembered her being decent, as she paid well for meals, but clearly never had time for her hair to be done. She was accompanied by a dwarf who was clearly a mercenary and a man who the most distinctive thing was that he carried a morningstar, which Antelom thought was an odd choice for an adventurer. They arrived after the lake froze, by taking a sled across the lake. A few of the noble families do that as well. But if they came back, it was under the guise of night or they left another way. No one ever saw them again. Eldaria got the haircut of Antelom’s choice, though he gave her a mirror to look midway through, but it was clear the only answer was, thank you. They asked some questions of the old ladies also getting their hair done about family connections of the town. Mostly inquiring about Lilian and Lino to see if they were related. They were, but distantly. Eldaria also found out that Lilian’s mom was born on the island. One summer Lilian’s mom had a summer fling with one of the noble boys, but he never returned, but Lilian was the result of that summer. When Lilian was about 16, her mother took her off the island, but a few years later, Lilian returned, but her mother didn’t.

That afternoon, all of them, including Lilian, went to Luisin’s Painting and Pottery shop. He had a nice painting of a winter cabin full of snow banks and happy little trees ready for them to copy. Along with a few bottles of wine already open. Both Grainne and Eldaria made paintings that were passable. You could see the cabin and the trees at least. Elzy though, didn’t really care about the picture, and ended up paining a perfect recreation of his ice scorpion friend. And Sylas painted the picture perfectly. If there was a difference, no one could notice, not even Luisin, who congratulated him on his work. Everyone but Grainne, noticed that Lilian changed the man in the cabin next to the fireplace to have a fish tail …….

That evening, they took a stroll along the beach. Along the horizon they could see the full moon, and in the light of the moon, they say Dimas and Lilian carrying what at first looked like a large fish down to the water. Then they swear they saw the terrified face of Lino.

Rules Break Out:

Sylas and Elzy both got 1 XP for succeeding so well at painting. For finding a hidden talent. No one was trained, so it was a straight IQ-6 roll.

Session 17 – The Prequel Concludes (Part 7)

The Ice Scorpions Attack!

As the chittering became louder, four large scorpions came at our Heroes. They were as long as any human or elf, but mottled white and gray with thick chitlin. They had giant claws and their stinger looked incredibly dangerous. Though they were called Ice Scorpions, they were in fact not elemental in nature or magical. They just preferred colder temperatures and generally hibernate in the hottest months on Paradise Island. Ice Scorpions exist in mountains all through Elandorr, but are very common in the Iron Fang Mountains to the north.

With Grainne suddenly not feeling well, Elzy looked around and summoned up a brilliant plan. As a Beastmaster, he cast magic that resided in him to summon the nearest creature that would be instantly not be threatening to him. Surprising everyone, one of the Ice Scorpions came close to Elzy and just sat down, not unlike a puppy waiting for some treats. And almost immediately there were three. Harvee comes flying in, but it quickly became clear that falcon claws were not enough to get through the hard chitinous armor of these giant scorpions.

Sylas, with his trusty broadsword and shield, advanced toward one of the Ice Scorpions. After a couple of good hits, including some well placed arrows, it became severely injured and frenzied. It succeeded in using both of its claws to attach itself to Sylas, and then brought in its deadly stinger. The stinger pierced through his heavy armor and he could see the scorpion drag him to the ground, but could not move, realizing too late that he was paralyzed. As his life flashed before his life, the first time in a couple of years, the giant scorpion could no longer stay conscious and died on top of him.

Grainne wanted to help, but really could just drag herself around the cave with light so the others could see. Eldaria realized after Sylas went down that they could not stand in the back and just shoot arrows, and as such drew their sword and engaged one of the scorpions. It was clear looking back to these times, that although the short sword might have been a mighty weapon, in Eldaria’s hand it might as well have been a wooden play sword. The legend of Eldaria’s fight with the Stygnor Quartermaster aboard the ship Melan’s Revenge was clearly not formed from these early stories. It took Sylas getting back up to down this scorpion.

Meanwhile, Elzy’s swordsmanship was in good form, able to find weak spots in the armor to severely hurt the final scorpion. His master would definitely be proud, until the day they met again, not as friends, but as enemies. Elzy also got grappled by the scorpion, after he kept jumping back out of its clutch. After two of the hostile scorpions were killed, and with one just sitting on a rock, the fourth ran back injured into its cave, regretting its attempt for a meal. The Heroes then looked around, and Eldaria noticed a small cave opening. Being curious, they went into the hole to find the remains of a former explorer (they hope).

Rules Break Out:

Ice Scorpions: ST 10; DX 11; IQ 1; HT 10; SM 0; BM 5; Dodge 8; Parry 9; Bite-12 (1d+1 cr); Claw-12 (1d+1 cut); Stinger-12 (1d+2 impaling + Poison); DR 4; Striking ST+4. Ice Scorpion Poison – HT vs. paralysis for the number of rounds equal to the margin of error. The full, and nastier, version of this creature is from DF Settings – Cold Shard Mountains.

Session 16 – The Prequel Concludes (Part 6)

Paradise Cove

Our Heroes woke up the next morning to see an old fisherman with a bushy mustache and a large hat shading his eyes from the early morning sun. In a deep raspy voice, he asked them why the slept on the beach when the main inn was just up the road. In the sunlight, they could see it was the first building in the village above. He in returned is asked about mermaids and why the mermaid agates were called that. He said it was simple, they are blue-green just like the color of merfolk eyes and can be found in caves up on the mountain. Though this is not the only place in Lycretia where they can be found, just the only known place in Tempore. They became mesmerized when he began telling a story about Lycretia’s twins, Thulth and Tybeeda, who once had an argument so strong that this mountain rose from the lake, and as such Mirrurn was born. He laughed, because who knows if this story is true, but it was one of his favorites that his dad told him when he was a young lad.

The Heroes walked up from the beach, past Fatima’s Seashell Inn with a new painted sign out front. There were staff up on ladders cleaning windows and removing moss from the shingles. Clearly in an attempt to get the inn ready for visitors they hope will start showing up soon. Next they took a left and went further into the village, stopping at a bakery for breakfast as was recommended by Dinas, the old fisherman they met this morning. With a sign that said, Croissants and Things, they were greeted by a young woman, not much older than them, maybe in her early 20s. Lilian had racks of wheat breads, rye breads, croissants made with goat butter, and fruit tarts made with currants and dried peaches. During the winter months, she just makes enough for the village to eat, but starting in spring, she begins experimenting on the new pastry for the season. Eldaria asked her about mermaids and the legends surrounding the place. Lilian told there were stories about people seeing them, especially in the summer. Eldaria could tell that she was holding something back, something personal. Still, she put in a bakery order for Grainne, as a surprise.

Across the street from the bakery was a shop called the Clay Easel, a shop where tourists could paint or make pottery, drink wine, and enjoy a nice evening with a sunset. It was ran by Luisin, an accomplished painter, who used sell his work in Temparat, but for reasons the village does not actually know, left the capital about a decade ago, to open up this shop. Even in the off season, he is rarely sober. Grainne was particularly enamored when she saw the large studio full of easels and pottery wheels, thinking of the goddess Mylari and having the compelling urge to paint her.

Further up down the road, the go the souvenir shop, which was also recommended by Dinas, when they were asking about how to get mermaid agates. Sylas was the first to walk in, causing the bell above the door to ring. A boy, not any older than 13, by the name of Lino, was sweeping the floor as he walked in. In the back of the shop, there was a middle aged man sitting at a desk carving small wooden figurines. Along the walls were shelves that were only half full of trinkets and souvenirs like sea shells with mermaid agates glued on as if they were pearls, figurines like what proprietor was carving, purses made with blue and green thread, and other items he hoped to sell during the summer months. Helder introduces himself to the potential customers, and Sylas is taken back at the name for a moment, only to realize that it was probably a popular name of the region. Grainne started acting like a kid, and picking up everything, including putting two seashells with agates over her eyes, pretending she was a mermaid. Everyone but Grainne realized that Lilian’s eyes were blue green, and so was the boy Lino, currently in the shop. Elzy became very curious when he noticed this connection, and started badgering the boy with questions about mermaids. Beyond the legends of the town, Lino seemed rather innocent on the matter. But Elzy decided to pay him a few coins to make sure Grainne heard them even more outlandishly. Sylas, actually doing the business of why they were there, talked with Helder, and realized that they do know spots up in the mountain where they could find agates. Lino would gladly guide them up there, though Helder gave him a knowing look to not take them to their main cave.

They really wanted to head out as soon as they found out this information. So Lino led the up the mountain. It was tough, but it only took them about three hours to get to some caves. Eldaria notices that the boy stops too long at a crossroads, and eyes one direction, but takes them in another. They suspect that route would have led them to Helder’s cave, but they had no interest in ruining his livelihood. They just needed enough for the task at hand. At this point on the mountain, there was still snow, though in a few more weeks, would probably start to recede even more. But in the snow, Eldaria noticed strange tracks of a large creature that appeared to have six legs. They headed into the cave that Lino directed them towards. It had a large opening and was likely caused by lava thousands of years ago. Grainne had to cast some fire for them to see, but minus the cold and the snow and the ice, it seemed like a lovely cave. They found a spot relatively easy where they could start collecting some agates, only to hear after about 15 minutes, some chittering …

Session 15 – The Prequel Concludes (Part 5)

Out on the Lake the Heroes Go!

So Grainne began gesturing to Eldaria for them to sneak out and go to the herbalist shop, so that Sylas would know what was going on. Grainne was trying to communicate that she was going to go upstairs to their room, sneak out the window, and meet across the street. Turns out that all of the gestures were meaningless, so everyone, including Eldaria, was very confused when Grainne just got up and disappeared from dinner. Eventually Sylas and Eldaria decided to go to their rooms, while Elzy would head to the stables for the night. Eldaria got up to the room and was very confused why the window was open.

As it turned out, Elzy decided to go for a short stroll before tucking in up in a hayloft, and say Grainne sneaking down from the side of the inn to the street below. Not known for his subtlety, Elzy said, a little too loud, “who are you sneaking out with?” At which point Eldaria hears the shouting, sees Grainne below, and decides to follow, only to misjudge getting down and landing on their back with a painful thud. Somehow, Sylas heard nothing, and was blissfully ignorant of the shenanigans about to occur. Grainne administered a bit of first aid, but thankfully, Eldaria’s leather armor took most of the blow.

Though offered, Elzy was not interested in joining the midnight shenanigans, and fed the boars and drifted off to sleep to the smell of the lake town air. Eldaria and Grainne headed to the market circle where the herbalist shop was. The moon, about 4 days until a full moon, was bright enough to get around town at night. The front door was too visible, even this late at night, but the back door was locked. Eldaria deftly climbed up the side of the two story building, and got in through an unlocked window. They then found a set of stairs, and was able to get down and let Grainne in. Grainne had to summon some light from a small candle size fire on her palm, so they could see to even get around the shop and the house above. She ended up finding a note, partially burnt, that had only the words “I know what you did” left. They found a cellar with potatoes, apples, and some wine and beer in casks. From the cellar, they took two casks of ale for Elzy, and apples for the boars. In the shop, they found some paprika, which they new was a fancy spice, for Sylas, some tea for Grainne’s mom, and Hawk Leaf, which Eldaria knew had mystical properties.

Rules Break Out:

The ale, apples, paprika, and tea were mostly narrative loot and have no real cost associated with them. The Hawk Leaf though creates a magical property where someone who chews it gains the effect of Telescopic Vision 1 (B92) or Hawk Vision (M111) for a minute. There were six doses taken.

The following morning, Sylas went to Riverfolk Island and found the Goodworts to talk about traveling north. Riverfolk Island is a very small island just off the shore from Patra proper. Linking the town and the island are set of boat houses and planks. About 35 families of halflings, often called Riverfolk, live between houses on the island and the boathouses. There are a couple of barges owned by the richer families, but most families have at least one small boat. Cedric told Sylas that he would need another day to get the barge ready, line up some goods to take north, and gather a small crew.

So the Heroes relaxed for a day in Patra and arrived the next morning to meet up for their ride north upon Mermaid Lake, Cedric Goodwort introduced his crew to them. Rothad Whitbottom, the youngest of the crew. He very much loved being on the boat more than anything else. He was strong and is really mostly hired for moving cargo. Emma Brownlock, was the master of the sails. She knew the winds upon the lake like no-one better in Patra. Finally there was Brice Wanderfoot. He loved to smoke his pipe and assisted Emma with whatever she needed. His knot-tying skills were one of the Riverfolk’s best. Already loaded on the barge, were barrels of salted fish and wine, along with crates of other goods to sell at Paradise Cove or Lynhare. Grainne helps Emma with getting the sails ready, freeing up Brice to help get the boat away from shore by oars. Though this barge is not the fastest, it was clear it was well made and sturdy, but they would not reach Paradise Island until close to nightfall.

Elzy discovered that in this lake are creatures known as mortugas. They are long and cylinder with large fins midway down their body with a tail like a rudder that helps direct their path. Mortugas have a pudgy face that allows them the ability to easily eat naiad kelp and other aquatic plant life. They will eat slow moving or dead fish as well. They looked like they could be rode, so he talked to one, and they said sure. So he hoped on and rode the mortuga for a couple of hours until it wanted to go eat. Eldaria also hopped on one, having never rode a single creature before, or really knew how to swim if she fell off, but perhaps she was blessed by Farlun or Tybeeda that day, because she rode a mortuga for a couple of hours as well. Elzy spent the rest of the time fishing, though fishing on a moving vessel, even a slow one, was difficult. Regardless he did catch a few dusk trout.

They reached the island and the dock at Paradise Cove right on time, as the sun was just setting over the hills. Cedric knew it was likely too late to check into an inn, especially before tourist season had began, and offered that the Heroes could sleep on the boat if they wanted (along with his crew), by Sylas would not hear it. He would rather sleep on the sandy beach than on a boat. So that’s what they did, set up a makeshift camp on the beach, curl up in blankets, and fell asleep.