Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Completed [Play-by-Post] Magic World/BRP: "In Search of the Sorcerer"

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
"Never..." Marcán mumbles, as he picks up the pace and heads for the inside of the town.
 

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
the blood necklace causing worry by glowing. The plaques had animals/creatures on them. Found them in a super secret compartment in the Lady's house.

I'll make similar rolls to Borric when I get home or you can do it for me.
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
"I would hazard not."
Borric looks around for signs and tracks. He does not enter any building but looks for tracks leading in or out.


Track: [1d100] = 88 vs 52 Sense: [1d100] = 5 vs 65 and Search: [1d100] = 85 vs 72

Predicatably the road is heavily trodden, and shows extensive signs of use, but nothing noteworthy jumps out at you about the nature of the tracks; they appear to be coming and going from the village just like you would expect. Likewise a survey of the ground on either side of the road turns up nothing of note. However, when you sniff the some of the tracks, there is a faint cloying oder that is slightly pungent and acrid. This smell gets stronger the closer you get to the village; there's something vaguely familiar about the smell that reminds you of an apothecary's shop you once visited, but you can't put a name to it.

the blood necklace causing worry by glowing. The plaques had animals/creatures on them. Found them in a super secret compartment in the Lady's house.

I'll make similar rolls to Borric when I get home or you can do it for me.
Gotcha. I'll let you make your own rolls.
Rhenmyr handles the pendant necklace. It still glows with an inner fire, and pulses like a beating heart, but the farther you walk to the west the dimmer it has gotten and the slower it palpitates, but there's nothing else about it that seems immediately divinable.

The night before you arrive at Kaer Eanyn you are resting around your campfire and you take out the ivory plaques from a folded piece of linen and lay them in front of you, taking the time to investigate them more thoroughly. Each seems to depict a beast: a bear, a cockerel, a wolf, a wooly rhinoceros, a dog with the head of a hawk, an eagle, a mastodon, a gryphon, a tentacled sea-monster, a mastiff, a panther, a boar, and a squat-bodied reptile with odd bird-like legs. There are 11 other blank ivory plaquettes in the deck. You thumb through the deck and look at each card one-by-one, but their purpose isn't readily apparent. Solon leans over your shoulder and utters a quiet incantation and his eyes glow with a faint amber color, "Definitely magical. Never seen anything like it myself."
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
Rhenmyr Marcán rushes up the road, heedless of whatever dangers might await, and gets to the top of the hill to find the village gates open and the town deserted. Every hut and house is darkened, there are several pigs and goats wandering around untended, and a horse pen inside the gate has a dozen horses that neigh nervously and stamp their feet when they catch your scent. They look badly emaciated and extremely weak, and there are another dozen carcasses laying in the pen next to them (a likely source of their agitation).
 
Last edited:

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
"Any idea what they might do, Solon?"
(back in time to the night before) Solon shakes his head, "No, but those cards are positively rank with spirit-energy; 'pungent' is the first word that springs to mind. Whatever you do with them, I'd recommend caution. I can only presume you pilfered them from the Sidhe manor?"
At the village, Rhenmyr casts about for signs of danger or foul play.
Sense (53): [1d100] = 26
Track (63): [1d100] = 59
Search(47): [1d100] = 20

Amon also attempts to discern what has happened within the town.

Sense: [1d100] = 44 vs 41= Fail
Track: [1d100] = 96 vs 20 = Fail
Search: [1d100] = 46 vs 46 = Success
Rhenmyr and Amon spend several minutes carefully examining the village for any clues about what might have become of its inhabitants. Rhenmyr also notes the cloying, "spicy" smell and when he runs his fingers along a dusty barrel, his finger comes away with a fine powdery film on his glove. He holds it to his nose and it is definitely the source of the smell. When he examines the tracks he's able to discern that most of the newest ones seem to be pointing away from the town and pass through the gate. It's difficult to assay numbers, but several dozens at least pass through the gate and then move in a (more or less) single file line off into the forest to the north, northeast. Marcán can confirm that as many as 450 people live(d) here.

While Rhenmyr is running the tracks to ground, Amon pokes his head into several huts and buildings. It looks as though everyone must have left in a great hurry; there are signs all around of daily tasks abandoned mid-job, meals half-eaten, and strangely no sign of struggle or hasty flight. Maybe even more strange is that weapons are exactly where one would expect to find them stored in sword and spear racks, shields are hung on walls, and valuables are untouched. If the people of the village fled an invader they didn't put up a fight. If they left for some other reason, they didn't appear to take any provisions or things that you would expect to take on a journey.
Marcán sees to the chief's house.
Marcán enters the Hetman's lodge and finds the place similarly abandoned as the rest of the village. The coals in the central firepit are long since burned out and the smell of a rotted feast assaults your nostrils. Around the long tables in the grand hall are platters of moldy food and rotted haunches of lamb. He holds his nose and walks a complete circuit around the tables looking for answers to what happened here. While you have your back turned to the door, there's a loud crash behind him. He spins on his heels and sees a small, filthy boy stumbling out from underneath a table. He yelps out of fright and bolts from the longhouse and out into the village square.
 

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Marcán chases and calls out to the boy in his native language, "Wait, stop! It's me, Marcán! Son of Fionnghal! I lived here!"
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
Marcán runs through the doors and sees the boy sprinting across the square, when you call out in Keltic and state your name he slows down just long enough to cast a glance over his shoulder, and trips and falls for his trouble. An armful of apples go rolling across the ground and a clay pitcher shatters and spills a liquid next to him. He springs back up as quickly as he fell and cranes his neck trying to get a better look at you, "Mac Fionnghal? Din yer Da go missin' o'er a month ago? If ye are who ye say ye are, prove it." The child is probably about 12 or 13 and his voice cracks as he shouts across the yard.
 

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
The night before: "Pungent? I don't like the sound of that. Aye. They were well hidden, but I managed to save them from that fire you set. Any ideas Urash, Amon, Marcán?" Rhenmyr replies with a laugh. He carefully wraps and stows the plaques after the others take a look.

The village: Rhenmyr positions himself to intercept the boy if he bolts.
 

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
"I left with Ker Gwez, I have recently been given the status of Bard by the druids, ah..." Marcán lists off several of his friends in his village, any of the recent holiday celebrations, good hunts, etc.

I wasn't given a diploma or something was I?
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
"I left with Ker Gwez, I have recently been given the status of Bard by the druids, ah..." Marcán lists off several of his friends in his village, any of the recent holiday celebrations, good hunts, etc.

I wasn't given a diploma or something was I?
No diplomas, but as an envoy/historian/tale-teller in the village you are somewhat well known. It's possible that the boy is just a little bit freaked out and never got a great look at you.
The boy seems to hesitate, glancing behind him toward the village wall, but he doesn't flee, "Alright . . . you might be Marcán. How did you get away from the wraith?"
 

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Marcán shook his head. "I just returned boy, I don't know anything about no wraith. Is that what made the town like this?"
 

L'ennui

Magister
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
3,256
Location
Québec, Amérique du Nord
The night before: "Pungent? I don't like the sound of that. Aye. They were well hidden, but I managed to save them from that fire you set. Any ideas Urash, Amon, Marcán?" Rhenmyr replies with a laugh. He carefully wraps and stows the plaques after the others take a look.

The village: Rhenmyr positions himself to intercept the boy if he bolts.

Does Urash's worldly knowledge give him a hint about the plaques?

[1d100] = 97 vs 106 World Lore.
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
The night before: "Pungent? I don't like the sound of that. Aye. They were well hidden, but I managed to save them from that fire you set. Any ideas Urash, Amon, Marcán?" Rhenmyr replies with a laugh. He carefully wraps and stows the plaques after the others take a look.

The village: Rhenmyr positions himself to intercept the boy if he bolts.

Does Urash's worldly knowledge give him a hint about the plaques?

[1d100] = 97 vs 106 World Lore.
Nothing specific, that would have required a "difficult" half-skill roll. But you do know "something."
Urash recalls in his studies a potent magical item called "The Deck of Beasts." You can't quite recall its purpose or function, but the folktale surrounding it was about a boy who found the deck and talked to the animals depicted therein. He called forth a lion from one of the cards and it ate and devoured his evil step-father. You don't remember the rest of the story, but seem to recall that the boy was somehow withered by his contact with whatever bound things lay within it.

This deck certainly reminds you of the story, but that could just be coincidence; figuring out how it works and what its function is, will require some experimentation no doubt.
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
Marcán shook his head. "I just returned boy, I don't know anything about no wraith. Is that what made the town like this?"
The boy calls out, "The fog done it. I was down the hill by the river with my da pullin' in our nets, and we saw it fall on the hilltop like a giant serpent coiled around the village walls; all green and whatnot. That's when we seen the black rider charge up the hill intae the mist. My da told me to lay down in the boat and be still while he went up after the rider to see what what was goin' on. An hour later all the folk of the town came out in single file, lead by the wraith on 'is black horse. His eyes glowed like embers and 'is face was like a black void inside 'is 'elmet, with those red awful eyes lookin' out. I seen my Da' walking past the dock on the road, but it was like he and everyone else was mindless; stumblin' and ootae it. I wanted to call oot tae 'im, but that wraith chilled my blood, and I couldnae make myself talk. That was weeks ago. I doon 'ave anywhere else tae go, so I been sleepin' in the root cellar of me 'ouse, an snatching food during the day when it seems like it's safe to come oot. Some night's there's been men aboot the village, but I cannae e'er see their faces and I keep myself hid; they dinnae look tae friendly."
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
"Aye, I seen what they're on about; thieves for sure. They been loadin'up wagons with valuables -- candlesticks, silverwear, jewelry, swords, ingots, whatever. I cannae tell ya where they gone tae, 'cause I stayed hid."

The boy seems to relax a bit and takes a couple of steps forward. "I'm Bran, by the way. Shit! You lot look like a circus troupe!"
 

L'ennui

Magister
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
3,256
Location
Québec, Amérique du Nord
Urash looks down on his worn cloak and then at the others. "We... uh... it's been a long journey. Do you know if there is any edible food left, and a place to wash ourselves and rest a little?"
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
He points to the well in the center of the village, "If you want hot water you'll have to draw it yourself, but that means a fire . . . but I doon think those men will be coming back tonight; seems to be every third or fourth, an' they were here two days ago. There's a few barrels of mealy apples left over from the winter and some dried fish here an' there, but I've been catching coneys every now an' then and spitting 'em o'er a small fire in my da's cellar. You could probably dig up some of the untouched pit granaries, but I doon know nothin' about cooking up millet and barley. I guess you can come to me da's house . . . it's just doon the lane."
 

Grimgravy

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,469
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Rhenmyr checks the boy in his mirror.

"Let's get cleaned up and eat! We should be able to set up an ambush for these looters pretty easily if we want. Any thoughts on the green fog and mystery rider?"
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom