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.
The World of Lycretia 