The sound from the mainsail rig is unmistakably Taz, and welcome after the long hours trekking through the underbrush back from the cave to old Jorvan. “Vuyen, the Rotting One take you for a fool! I said to tie off that backstay…” As you break the treeline into one of Alfons’ fields, you can see the Olic Haversham, being put to rights. Her port side is heavily patched with fresh wood that stands out against the aged timber; repairs from the orcish catapult shot that almost lost her to the Void. For all of Taz’s yelling, the captain takes it as a good sign; the fact that the rig is this far along means the repairs are almost done. Fairfield and Vuyen can be seen scurrying along the deck, lashing cords and following the mate’s orders as quickly as they can muster. A new door has been affixed to the gun deck, and the other one repaired.
The Orange Man turns to study you in earnest. He’s been quiet, not bothering to ask what happened in the goblin’s warren. Perhaps his lack of questions as to what you found in the cave were a courtesy - the privacy afforded guests. However, perhaps it was a way to avoid having to explain his part of the tale: when you exited the cave, you found him standing in a scorched circle of burnt grass – three goblins, or at least remains of what was likely about three goblins, lay in wet tatters around him.
He speaks in a low voice. “Say what you will to the Reeve. I will be in my tower if I am needed, but I would ask you keep my secrets. The people here trust me little enough, if they saw what you did, it would be all the less. They’ve not travelled the Void as we have.” He produces a small bit of glass, emblazoned with the same spike-and-eye symbol that adorns his robe and door, and presses it into Xisco’s palm. “Here, wizard. If you meet one of my order, give them this, and they will grant you what aid they can.” He begins striding toward the treeline.
You’ve been spotted by the citizenry, as well as the crew. Taz waves, but continues shouting orders. The Reeve, still bandaged from his wounds, and one of the Mother’s Providers from the Basin come to join you in the field, followed by a gaggle of farmfolk, curious about your return.
ooc: Refreshing bennies. Assigning points: granting 2 to everyone for the unorthodox ‘solve.’ Xisco and Harmony have advances. Please email or include your improvements in your next post.
The ship is still loaded with medicinals and salves. The locals would probably be willing to trade if there is something your interested in. They can also replenish your water stores and basic foodstuffs.
I suspect you’re going to want to talk with the locals a bit, but when you mean to take to the skies, what’s the destination?
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Xisco would like to talk to Orange Man a bit about what they saw and about the Khoba. This can be on the walk back, or at his tower, but he won't feel like talking about anything to Reeve or anyone else before then. The madnesses appear to be similar, so maybe Orange Man can help ferret out where there is truth in Sil'cint's story, or point Xisco in the direction of someone/something (legend of a book left behind in a ruin on a forgotten island!) that could help.
ReplyDeleteIf any of the Khoba are located at known population centers, then it would make sense to have another legitimate reason to be there (i.e. trade). Of course, we also need to take care of Tooly's remains. Might be good to not go directly to Dragonspine; while there is probably someone who could help there, we're just as likely to be captured and executed (if someone knows what is happening in the world and knows that we're involved in it). And Xisco would like to go, as soon as possible, to wherever they can find information on what they're dealing with (includes Dragonspine, excludes Shadowhaven).
ReplyDeleteSince Harmony's not a shareholder and therefore not involved in the ship's trade, she'll mingle with the villagers and explain that the crew was unable to stop the goblins, but they did find out how to divert them away from the village, and how. She'll check in on the wounded from the battle and help in any way she can.
ReplyDeleteIf there's time, she'll be interested in trading for anything unique like the hats that the village might have. She's also interested in acquiring her own club or hammer so she can stop appropriating the ship's mallet.
Since wood is common, something simple and sturdy like a tetsubo (http://www.nihonzashi.com/japanese_weapons_tetsubo.aspx) without the studs, or a mallet like her current one would be good (d6 or d8). She also wants to get a light cudgel, like a belaying pin (d4 club), and some kind of shield or buckler, if possible. She'll be prepared to trade metal parts, labor, or to make or fix something for these.
As for the ship: we might still want to load up on lumber if possible if we're still headed to Mt. Ore to talk to Tooly's kin. The villagers could use the medicine, too, unless we got it from them in the first place (I forget if that was what we traded the cloth for on Shadowhaven, or what). With all the minor wounds they surely sustained, I suspect we could get a shipload of wood pretty easily and still have medicine left over.
We should probably deal with Tooly's things first, and get the reinforced hull and upgraded cannons and whatever on Mt. Ore as planned before heading after the kotba. A load of metal will be tradable anywhere, too, for when we do go kotba-hunting.
Advance: Increase power points.
I also think we should trade here for lumber if possible and then head to Mt. Ore and wrap up that thread before continuing. Gardner will meet with the Reeve and explain that there is something very dangerous in the goblin's lair, too powerful to defeat but that we struck a bargain with it by trading it something valuable we have and in return it told us how to keep the goblins away.
ReplyDeleteIn private Gardner will explain his views to the crew and fill in Taz. He thinks that the creature desires the Kotba for some reason, and probably not to destroy them. It seems covetous of them. Gardner wants to find out more about the creature and the Kotba and then find them but take them somewhere else, possibly to the Lady on Bridgeways to be destroyed. Then get the Lady's help and possibly elves after they have suffered enough attacks to go in and fight the creature.
ooc: working on my post. feel free to continue posting.
ReplyDeleteto answer questions, you received the medicines from Magnus for the cloth.
ooc:
ReplyDeleteI will get into it in the post but all the place names xisco recorded are unknown to you, ancient places. there is some likelihood that some of these coincide with current population centers.
The reeve invites harmony Blendin and the captain to join him for a 'private' meeting at alphons' home for a meal. xisco is.accompanying the Orange man to his tower.
Harmony will go to the meeting/meal, of course. She feels the same about the being's motivations for getting six of the kotba, despite its answer to her thinly-veiled accusation to that effect, and was planning to say so once aboard ship, though when the captain says it she'll agree.
ReplyDeleteooc: just reread my train-board post. my assumption here is that Gardner has decided to exclude the locals in the portion of the discussion re: sil'cint and the kotba. He's going to start out with vagueries for the Reeve et al. The way I said 'private' meeting, I didn't want you to think I was confused on that and you were going to spill all the internal olic chatter for the hill-people. This is a crew-only discussion, at least thus far.
ReplyDeleteXisco follows the Orange Man to his ‘tower,’ leaving his shipmates to speak to the Reeve and priests while he investigates. The man grunts to indicate he is aware of Xisco’s presence, and at least to a first approximation fine with the idea of having company.
ReplyDeleteThe door is coarsely mounted, with the emblazoned orange symbol of spike-and-eye both carved and painted into the surface; the work shows dedication if not skill. The wizard mutters some words beneath his breath, and Xisco hears a latching mechanism clack within, and the door pops slightly open.
“Come in, Valencia. Tea? I have some smoked sparling and crackerbreads. Probably not stale yet…” Without waiting for a response, the man starts up a narrow stair curving. Charcoal is kept in a small wicker bag near the post; he stoops for a few pieces as he mounts the steps. Xisco follows up after him. “So you have something on your mind, talk while I mess about.” Xisco begins explaining the happenings of the cave, focusing on details related to the kotba, their possible whereabouts, and the similarities between Voidmadness, the goblin madness, and other madness he has heard of in his travels.
As he speaks the orange man is shedding his sodden robes, revealing his dark leathered skin, wearing only a pair of small shorts. He whistles tunelessly to punctuate Xisco’s tale, revealing that he is in fact paying attention, even though he shows no other outward signs. He lights the coals in a small tenderbox of hollowed stone that was, in some ancient time, the base of a pillar. He shakes out the old tealeaves from a kettle copper, covered in dings in dents, and then takes a pinch of fresh ones from a small bone box. He pulls a wooden peg from a thin pipe in the wall, and water from a raincatch in the roof splashes into the kettle.
As his eyes adjust, Xisco inspects the dark room. There is a small rope ladder leading up to a higher level, he can hear and feel the wind whistling above, suggesting a door. The level on which he stands has the small stove, and an overturned crate spilling a pile of eating utensils carved from bone. There is a table the size a pair of hoghead barrels covered with parchments and scrolls. A easel with a smooth wooden tube leans in the corner by a wall covered in charcoal scratchings: numbers, names of islands, circles and lines intersecting.
“Sit, sit. Just move those charts; the order doesn’t matter.” He ushers Xisco to a wooden stool that previously appeared to be a pile of parchments, The food and drink is delivered a few moments later; tea warm and pungent, the smoked skyler gamey but edible. Xisco shows him his carefully drawn symbols from his book, recording the ‘placenames’ in some ancient tongue.
As Xisco finishes his tale, or at least winds down to take a few breaths, the Orange man interrupts. “This creature in the cave cannot be trusted, that seems certain.. But its interest in these ‘kotba’ makes them of interest to you, no doubt. And the corruption they cause must be stopped. You say it gave you the names of places, and they are unknown to you. The language of the text is unknown to me, though… I wouldn’t know where to begin translating it. Even if I did, I fear these names do not match any that I know. I would like to record the symbols from your book, though; many of charts are older than my grandfather, and though I doubt it, it is possible they contain some clues.
ReplyDelete“The Madness of the goblins and of the Provider on Timber sounds similar, but is not the same as that present in the Void. The Glow offers a gift to those who can hold it, like flames in the upper climes. It must be carefully tended, or you will be burned. No such good can be found in this psychosis of the goblins, only death.
“I take from the preparations that your vessel means to leave shortly, and the elves will likely come here for their visit before long. You’re ship should be gone by then if you mean to keep your lizardling friend safe. One of my Order, a wizard more like yourself named Narvus, has access to a library of charts far older than my own. He was, last I heard, in Gateway, monitoring the Shattered City. It is like a holy place to us. He may know some of these places you speak of. Show him the talisman I gave you and tell him that ‘Jorvan’s waxing ellipses is 2 degrees,12 minutes lower than predicted’. Write that down.
“Of course, the other choice for oddities of the skies is Meeting Place. The traders and sailors there have seen more of this world than most; trade in rumor and legend is commonplace.”
ooc: working on the rest of the post still. It’ll be up tonight.
As they finish the meal, the captain having explained the situation in the cave, and how to ward off the goblins (if the creature within is to be trusted). The Provider suggests these orders be relayed to the watchmen immediately, and the Reeve agrees. She departs, leaving Drawlight, Harmony, Alphons and the Reeve at the main table.
ReplyDelete“I wish you had better news than this. These attacks have taken their toll. On Alphons and all of us” The Reeve nods towards the empty chair between the brothers sitting at the low table in the side room, which would have been occupied by the farmer’s son. Blendin’s earholes can hear the conversation in the main room from his spot at the children’s table with the remaining boys. He had been invited to sit in the seat of honor, where Alphons himself would usually sit, but instead he chose to sit in the side room with the boys and talk of hunting and games and slings. The boys had appeared quite out of sorts when they arrived, but now seem pleasantly distracted by the wildling’s presence. The Reeve grimaces as Harmony palpates at his wounded arm, before continuing. “If they face the elves, surely that will keep them both busy, for a time. We can sustain ourselves off the fields and fowl here, and the rains have been good this season. We thank you for your help. Without your venturing forth to find and appease this evil, we would be caught unawares in the next attack.”
Alphons speaks for the first time since greeting you to his home. “We reinforce the wall, starting on the morrow. The fields will hold for a few days. The rockwall at the treeline can be extended, and it’s a good start. Place torches every 20 paces. Men with slings can hold it for awhile if need be. We can take down some of the unused buildings for stone…” Alphons lays out his suggestion and the Reeve nods approvingly.
The Reeve continues. “Good, on to other matters then. Captain, your woman here seems to want bark from our bitterbranches. This is a precious cargo to us, especially now that we learn it will help us avoid another attack, but I can grant a small quantity of it, say a cubic meter. The timber we have already felled should fill the rest of your hold, and provisions can be loaded as well.
“We have no need of your coin, you paid enough for us in this bargain. All I ask for are two things. Grant us what you can spare of the medicines that your healer and the priests have been using. They have saved at least two lives, and if these attacks continue, we will need more. Second, you say you’ve appeased it with a bargain, and I don’t doubt that you did your best. But I will not trust something that drives an army of madness across this island. If you find a way to do away with this evil, you must make haste to bring it to us. You are all men… and women, of this town now. I ask you don’t forget that.”
ooc: Alphons has a long-handled work mallet he used when driving in posts for the field fences. It is old, but appears ‘trusty.’ He will give it to Harmony for help doing the dishes.
Harmony will gladly help with dishes, but will insist on giving Alphons something from her bag, one of the less-useful scraps. Over dishes, she'll suggest to him an idea she heard from the dwarven tale of The Campbell, a legendary hero. Most of his story is no use to the villagers, but one detail involved digging a moat lined with spikes outside the walls of his ruined fortress to hold off legions of undead. She thinks that might help.
ReplyDeleteShe'll also, if necessary, badger Gardner to give up as much medicine as possible. She can estimate how much the current wounded might need, but she'll push for more in case the goblins attack again. Also if necessary, she'll pass word through Alphons or whomever that the captain just needs something to fill the space the medicine was in, and perhaps if they could spare anything (food, etc.), he might relinquish more, though she suspects her pushing won't be necessary.
"Of course, we can leave much of the medicine. We merely need to keep the hold full so that we can keep the ship sailing. I fully intend to return, hopefully with reinforcements, when can learn more about what it is exactly that is in the goblin's cave. I know the current solution is not perfect, but I hope that this deal has bought at least enough time to find a better one. I thank you for all your hospitality here."
ReplyDeleteAlphons seems dubious when harmony describes the steam-powered saw for a hand, but the boys are thrilled with her tale.
ReplyDeleteThe Reeve thanks you again, and gives you leave to see to the ship.
ooc: benny for harmony. I'm such a sucker for BC.
Sorry guys. I completely spaced and forgot to check the new post. I'll try to read and respond this afternoon/tonight.
ReplyDeleteno worries, I think we cam allow you a 48 hour grave period between posts.
ReplyDeleteAh, autocorrect and touch-screen keyboards, the twin banes of cellphone typing. I'm pretty sure that's "grace period," up there. No dying.
ReplyDeleteooc: I leave them in when their good like that. part of my 'fuck it' theory of SMS.
ReplyDelete^^ Like.
ReplyDeleteSomething else occurred to me: We were planning to upgrade our cannon on Mt. Ore to metal ones, right? The metal-strapped wooden ones we have will become superfluous, then. Since we only currently have one real gunner, we COULD give one gun from each side to the village without really reducing our effective firepower.
ReplyDeleteThis comes with a few issues, of course. The cannon could be resold (preferably somewhere other than Mt. Ore), so this would be an expensive gift. The villagers would need to be trained how to load and fire the guns, though since they'd mainly be using grape, aiming would be relatively easy. They could make their own stone shot, especially grape, but would need some gunpowder and ready ammo. And of course the elves might not want them to have cannon, so the guns might have to be hidden, but able to be ready in a useful spot.
This might all require too much time before the elves arrive (though the goblin attack might have delayed them) or be too expensive, but it seemed worth mentioning if Gardner wanted to bring it up.
If she has time, Harmony would like to go to the forge to try to make a mini-catapult that the villagers could use to launch hot coals at the tree-monsters if need be. Depends on when we leave.
Blendin shifts colors to blend into his surroundings as entertainment for the children as he attempts to listen to the conversation at the table.
ReplyDeleteBut he finds himself unable to concentrate on the conversation as he considers the possibility of seeing Saran again.
Without thinking, Blendin blurts, "Does anyone know where I can find the ruins of the city of Gral'ha'lach? That is where we should go after taking care of Tooly."
Blendin's natural color snaps back as he interrupts the converstion.
ooc: I received the capt.s orders via email. No cannon sales. Make ready to leave asap for Mt. Ore. If there is anything else substantive you'd like to prior to departure, post it/email it to me, and I'll incorporate it into the next of my posts later tonight. Based on the schedule, I don't think there will be time for Harmony to make and train artillery squads. You can describe for them a basic design if you wish.
ReplyDeleteBlendin does some asking around, and no one has heard of this city in Jorvan. Most suggestions point to Meeting Place or Gateway as the best places to find scavengers or cartographers that might have some idea.
Harmony describes a simple catapult design to whatever villagers seem most likely to be able to build them. They're small and simple, merely a bow set horizontally with the string driving a lever on a hinge which serves as the catapult arm. Such a weapon could launch a stone the size of a grapefruit with lethal force, or a bucket of coals, and could be made entirely of wood except for the bowstring.
ReplyDeleteOnce aboard, when not fixing or maintaining the ship, she'll go through her bag for some metal plates or cups she can use to cap the ends of trusty mallet she got from Alphons, making it harder and heavier.
If she doesn't find what she needs in her bag, Harmony will wait 'til Mt. Ore to upgrade her mallet. If metal caps aren't enough to make it a d8 hammer, she'll hollow the center of the head under the caps and pour some lead in.
delayed by matlab. will update tonight after some rolls.
ReplyDeletethread closed. new one up.
ReplyDelete