Completed Play-by-Post: In Search of the Sorcerer

[Wayward Son]

"Well, how about I build a small shelter for those of us who need the sleep just outside? I can use it as a makeshift medicine tent too, in order to patch up wounds. All for or against?"

 

[Helly]

"I'll give you a hand, but first, I must take with me a vial of this evil water. We may have defeated the wolf, but this is probably its source and we must find a way to disable it forever. I'm sorry Urash, but I am sure you too know it must be done."
Ker empties a waterskin and fills it with the black water while pinching his nose.

 

[Wayward Son]

"Good idea Ker. Wish I'd thought of it."

 

[L'ennui]

"Take some, if you must. As for its evil, I feel that declaring such a thing without further studies would be premature. All I know is that this well holds great power."

 

[Wayward Son]

"Of course it would be rash, Urash. That's why we should study it. We'll take a vial of it and compare notes with you. As a man of knowledge, you should know better than me, two tests are better than one."

 

[Llywelyn ap Gruffydd]

"I can call upon my god for a few more favors before I must meditate again this evening. Borric and Marcán, I'll make sure these bites and scratches don't get infected."

For Borric: Cure Light Wounds [1d6+1] = 2+1 = 3

For Marcán: Cure Light Wounds [1d6+1] = 1+1 = 2

 

[Siveon]

Spoiler

J-just be happy that this is the one of the only boss fights without a PK.

 

[Llywelyn ap Gruffydd]

NOTE

Oops! Almost forgot experience awards

Everyone who participated in the battle gets a flat 1,000 experience. Some of you will be eligible to level-up when you get back to civilization or some other safe haven.

Who is eligible for level-up:
Ker
Borric
Rhenmyr
Cormac
Mab

Marcán is very close
Urash still has a ways to go.

Spoiler

Just checked my character sheet to confirm. With 1000xp, I will still need 2000xp to level up from what I can tell.

 

[nikolokolus]

Spoiler

Just checked my character sheet to confirm. With 1000xp, I will still need 2000xp to level up from what I can tell.

Spoiler

You're right. I forgot that you just hit level 3 at the cabin in the woods

 

[nikolokolus]

Is anybody else besides Ker taking samples from the pool? Also is anybody bothering to collect the coins that they saw peeking out from the sandy beach?

 

[Llywelyn ap Gruffydd]

Cormac starts to collect coins he sees on the ground, and digs a bit into the sandy beach. "I think I could get a decent meal with some of this when we get back. I wonder how many coins are in here? Let's split what we find."

 

[Wayward Son]

"I need only enough for a new spear"

 

[nikolokolus]

Cormac digs his fingers into the soft sand and plucks a few solid gold coins with faces and inscriptions that you've never seen before. All told you find 16 such coins additionally you start to uncover bits of gold and silver jewelry -- earrings, bangles, rings, torcs, necklaces, etc. All told after 1 turn of digging it appears that there is a literal trove of treasures scattered around the edge of the pool. You start to pile your finds and after sorting through them you have 62 bits of jewelry in various states of repair. At least 5 or 6 lbs of gold and silver. Your best guess is that these were sacrificial offerings.

 

[Grimgravy]

"Mab, you can have my old spear. You may have need of it before you can find a store. As for this trove, Brule, do you know who would have sacrificed here? Does any of this point to Talorc or his crony Syelle Ru?"
Rhenmyr looks over the collected loot and the torc he recovered from the wall.
"For what it's worth, I'll watch over Urash while the rest of you set up camp. It will give me some time to look over and sort all this."

OOC

Is Ker's detect magic still active to check the stuff or is it safe to assume it would have picked up a trace even if the stuff was thinly burried?

EXP

Flat 1000 exp? By my reckoning that leaves me 43 exp shy of level 3. The 10% extra for ability scores would do it though.

 

[L'ennui]

"Friend Rhenmyr, I welcome your company."

The matter seeming to be settled, Urash focusses his entire attention to the black pool. Mostly he gazes into the liquid, but sometimes he scribbles strange notes on a piece of parchment, or whispers to the clay statuettes he has strewn around the pool.

 

[nikolokolus]

"Mab, you can have my old spear. You may have need of it before you can find a store. As for this trove, Brule, do you know who would have sacrificed here? Does any of this point to Talorc or his crony Syelle Ru?"
Rhenmyr looks over the collected loot and the torc he recovered from the wall.
"For what it's worth, I'll watch over Urash while the rest of you set up camp. It will give me some time to look over and sort all this."

OOC

Is Ker's detect magic still active to check the stuff or is it safe to assume it would have picked up a trace even if the stuff was thinly burried?

Detect magic reveals magical auras, so the object gives off a faint glow when detected. So if it's buried that nimbus of light is still obscured. Secondly, the spell wore off about an hour ago.

EXP

Flat 1000 exp? By my reckoning that leaves me 43 exp shy of level 3. The 10% extra for ability scores would do it though.

I was looking at the wrong column. You are indeed just over the threshold. With your XP bonus you have 5,057 XP (I've been tracking it in a spreadsheet since the start of the campaign). Somehow I transposed your character's number with Cormac's -- they're right next to each other on the sheet.

 

[nikolokolus]

Brule looks at the objects carefully and shakes his head, "Rhenmyr, these don't look like anything my tribe has produced . . . it all looks . . . old. As for Syelle or Talorc, I really don't know if they could be involved. If Rashid was telling the truth about his interrogation of Uvan, then Talorc and Syelle were wary of The Wolf. Why were they wary? Was this Rashid trustworthy? I don't know that either."

 

[Grimgravy]

Spoiler

With your XP bonus you have 5,057 XP

That jives with my records.

"He scuppered off without a word and stole from us. I would't call Rashid trustworthy. But that doesn't necessarily mean he lied about the interrogation. Perhaps Ker can scan this stuff before we leave in the morning and we can decide what we want to haul out of here."
Rhenmyr sorts the trove and searches the streambed while waiting on Urash to finish his study.

 

[Helly]

Ker comes back from the pool visibly shaken, avoiding Urash on his way thwn talks softly to the others.
"I-I don't know what evil lurks in that pool, but I felt like... like it tried to feed on my faith. Somehow. Urash may already be possessed, but will you help me bring him out before it's too late?

 

[nikolokolus]

An hour passes with Urash locked in a deep trance. His face is sweating profusely, his teeth bared in a rictus and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Suddenly three of his little clay statuettes he had laid out around himself in a semi-circle shatter and he takes a deep ragged breath and slumps forward awake.

Strangely, a black orb about a handswidth in diameter emerges silently from the pool and glides over the surface of the waters and into Urash's hands.

 

[L'ennui]

Having regained his awareness, Urash recovers his belongings, picking up the broken statuettes and stashing them away in his backpack.

For a moment, he remains at the edge of the pool. He is weighing and observing the strange orb that floated to him.

Eventually he rises and rejoins the group.

"It appears we will not need to spend the night here, if you still absolutely want to leave. My purpose has been served, now there is much need for rest and meditation, and I need to consign this discovery to writing for the Academy."

Seeing the concern in Ker's eyes in particular, he adds in a tired voice:

"Worry not, friend Ker. I will admit... it tested me... but I remain Urash of Kor, changed but also the same, and ever your faithful servant."

 

[ERYFKRAD]

"Let us then to the shack, we must hold talk on how we wish to deal with Talorc and his lackeys."

 

[nikolokolus]

It is currently about an hour or two after sundown. The moon Selene is about 3/4 full but is obscured by the heavy mists of the swamp. Visibility is about 30 feet with a torch or lantern.

 

[Llywelyn ap Gruffydd]

"We can divide up the coins and jewelry at the shack. We can also rest, regain our strength, and ensure I have the ability to mend wounds again tomorrow. I am rather pleased I didn't have to prepare anyone for the afterlife after a fight such as this."

 

[Helly]

"I'll be watching you, Urash, count on it. What foolery... Let's go to the shack already."