Thursday, December 3, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
3rd Watch (11/22/15)
Here is the transcript for the third session of Stealers of Dawn Online, which we played on Roll20.
PC: Nahar
Experience rewarded:350
Inspiration rewarded: --
PC: Nahar
Experience rewarded:350
Inspiration rewarded: --
Friday, November 13, 2015
5th Fire (11/13/15)
Tarok, First-Week, Ninth-day, the Now-Year
After defeating the cult of Yra, the PCs decide to search their 'hideout' for any possible survivors or secrets. First they rummage the bodies of the dead cultists, and Yukkbutt and Un-Krug recognize two of them to be Hofi and Nvar, two working men of Briars' Edge who belonged to an organization there called the Tusk & Teeth. Next they find a ditch in which a filthy pen was being used to keep any remaining victims, and there is one remaining...a small girl, also with tongue removed, whom the older girl seems to immediately identify. The group then examines the second raven goddess statue which was being used as a perch by the undead crow that the cult fanatic was using as a pet. There are no valuable offerings here, and after SlakeThirst grabs a ribcage off the effigy, they burn it to cinders. A final sweep of the lair turns up an oddly smooth, flawless ovoid stone, which Yukkbutt pockets in privacy. After deliberating where to head next, the PCs decide it best to return to the Court-of-Crows, heal, trade off the items they've acquired, and get others identified. They return by nightfall, and Nobro tries to slum in Pilaf's Tavern until he is kicked out.
Tarok, First-Week, Tenth-day, the Now-Year
The next day is a busy one. The PCs first go to Goblo the Butcher, to trade in the ankheg heads and some leopard haunch. The halfling gives them some buckets of meat-slop and several curative potions, which he says he's now keeping in stock. They then proceed to the local marketplace, trading the leather armor and scimitars they took off the cultists, as well as some other goods, for various items that player's still need. They then proceed to visit the local hunter Klovak, who tries to cajole them into hearing his many hunt stories. Still, he's impressed they brought down a pair of ankhegs, however...he's not interested in the eggs they brought back. Those instead will go to the sage Ull, along with a few gallons of fermented mash from the Tavern, in return for his identify spells, which reveal a bone scythe +1, a suit of glamoured studded leather armor, and a luckstone, much of which is assigned to Yukkbutt. Ull says they'll have to return for the next day to get the knives they found identified.
Nobro heads off to conduct private business while the rest of the PCs decide where they wish to head next. They hear from Udiqa the river priestess that the fishing has been scarce, and she suspects the Riverbane orcs might have done something south of the village. They are unable to find the girls a guardian, with the possible exception of Maun the Bastard, whose offer they refuse. Ultimately, the PCs decide to trek back to Briar's Edge, where they believe the two girls originated, and return them to any surviving family. The trek back across the Whipwater Plain is relatively uneventful, and when they arrive they follow the older girl's pointing to a farmhouse, the Bulberry Farm, where their father, a local merchant, awaits them. He seems rather surprised to see the girls, having thought them lost, and while he's quite angry that the pariahs Yukkbutt and Un-krug are among them, he takes a liking to Cynjak's smooth communications. In the end, he tells them to hang around the village, he will reward them in the morning. Cynjak and Nobro stay at the local inn, The Plain's End, while the rest of the party sleeps outside, after speaking with a local gnome fisherman named Muddy Nul, who shares with them a nasty rumor involving Cynjak.
Tarok, Second-Week, First-day, the Now-Year
In the morning, the PCs all gather up at the Plain's End, save for Yukkbutt and Un'krug who have been urged to remain out of trouble. The merchant offers them his further thanks, saying that the girls are now in good hands with their aunts and cousins who are helping them heal from the recent trauma. He asks them where they take residence, and offers to ship them a year's supply of grain and spices which will be sent to Pilaf's Tavern by their request. They deliberate whether or not to send SlakeThirst for membership at the Tusk & Teeth labor guild, in order to scope out if the organization is a front for the Yra cultists, but decide against it, and head Southeast from Briar's Edge to examine the depleted fishing supply at the fork in the Whipwater south of Court-of-Crows. They travel all day, with no real events, and decide to camp before going the last distance to their destination.
Tarok, Second-Week, Second-day, the Now-Year
In the morning they arrive at the river fork and find no nets or any other obvious tampering by the local orc tribes...instead, they find singed grasses and massive, taloned footprints, which they surmise must belong to either a local dinosaur or dragon. They tramp back towards Court-of-Crows, where they report to Udiqa, who confirms that it indeed sounds like the spawn of Saurvax might be ranging closer to the north. They give Ull a couple more ankheg eggs to identify the final two items, which turn out to be a kris +1 and a dagger of venom. Nobro is given both. After further deliberating, the PCs choose to return to Briar's Edge, where they can inquire about the Tusk & Teeth, and also follow up on some other rumors they've heard in the area...like the strange lights being reported from the Old Barrowbriar wood.
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 700
Inpiration rewarded: nil (all PCs still had a point)
Renown: The Ten-Tribes (1 point)
After defeating the cult of Yra, the PCs decide to search their 'hideout' for any possible survivors or secrets. First they rummage the bodies of the dead cultists, and Yukkbutt and Un-Krug recognize two of them to be Hofi and Nvar, two working men of Briars' Edge who belonged to an organization there called the Tusk & Teeth. Next they find a ditch in which a filthy pen was being used to keep any remaining victims, and there is one remaining...a small girl, also with tongue removed, whom the older girl seems to immediately identify. The group then examines the second raven goddess statue which was being used as a perch by the undead crow that the cult fanatic was using as a pet. There are no valuable offerings here, and after SlakeThirst grabs a ribcage off the effigy, they burn it to cinders. A final sweep of the lair turns up an oddly smooth, flawless ovoid stone, which Yukkbutt pockets in privacy. After deliberating where to head next, the PCs decide it best to return to the Court-of-Crows, heal, trade off the items they've acquired, and get others identified. They return by nightfall, and Nobro tries to slum in Pilaf's Tavern until he is kicked out.
Tarok, First-Week, Tenth-day, the Now-Year
The next day is a busy one. The PCs first go to Goblo the Butcher, to trade in the ankheg heads and some leopard haunch. The halfling gives them some buckets of meat-slop and several curative potions, which he says he's now keeping in stock. They then proceed to the local marketplace, trading the leather armor and scimitars they took off the cultists, as well as some other goods, for various items that player's still need. They then proceed to visit the local hunter Klovak, who tries to cajole them into hearing his many hunt stories. Still, he's impressed they brought down a pair of ankhegs, however...he's not interested in the eggs they brought back. Those instead will go to the sage Ull, along with a few gallons of fermented mash from the Tavern, in return for his identify spells, which reveal a bone scythe +1, a suit of glamoured studded leather armor, and a luckstone, much of which is assigned to Yukkbutt. Ull says they'll have to return for the next day to get the knives they found identified.
Nobro heads off to conduct private business while the rest of the PCs decide where they wish to head next. They hear from Udiqa the river priestess that the fishing has been scarce, and she suspects the Riverbane orcs might have done something south of the village. They are unable to find the girls a guardian, with the possible exception of Maun the Bastard, whose offer they refuse. Ultimately, the PCs decide to trek back to Briar's Edge, where they believe the two girls originated, and return them to any surviving family. The trek back across the Whipwater Plain is relatively uneventful, and when they arrive they follow the older girl's pointing to a farmhouse, the Bulberry Farm, where their father, a local merchant, awaits them. He seems rather surprised to see the girls, having thought them lost, and while he's quite angry that the pariahs Yukkbutt and Un-krug are among them, he takes a liking to Cynjak's smooth communications. In the end, he tells them to hang around the village, he will reward them in the morning. Cynjak and Nobro stay at the local inn, The Plain's End, while the rest of the party sleeps outside, after speaking with a local gnome fisherman named Muddy Nul, who shares with them a nasty rumor involving Cynjak.
Tarok, Second-Week, First-day, the Now-Year
In the morning, the PCs all gather up at the Plain's End, save for Yukkbutt and Un'krug who have been urged to remain out of trouble. The merchant offers them his further thanks, saying that the girls are now in good hands with their aunts and cousins who are helping them heal from the recent trauma. He asks them where they take residence, and offers to ship them a year's supply of grain and spices which will be sent to Pilaf's Tavern by their request. They deliberate whether or not to send SlakeThirst for membership at the Tusk & Teeth labor guild, in order to scope out if the organization is a front for the Yra cultists, but decide against it, and head Southeast from Briar's Edge to examine the depleted fishing supply at the fork in the Whipwater south of Court-of-Crows. They travel all day, with no real events, and decide to camp before going the last distance to their destination.
Tarok, Second-Week, Second-day, the Now-Year
In the morning they arrive at the river fork and find no nets or any other obvious tampering by the local orc tribes...instead, they find singed grasses and massive, taloned footprints, which they surmise must belong to either a local dinosaur or dragon. They tramp back towards Court-of-Crows, where they report to Udiqa, who confirms that it indeed sounds like the spawn of Saurvax might be ranging closer to the north. They give Ull a couple more ankheg eggs to identify the final two items, which turn out to be a kris +1 and a dagger of venom. Nobro is given both. After further deliberating, the PCs choose to return to Briar's Edge, where they can inquire about the Tusk & Teeth, and also follow up on some other rumors they've heard in the area...like the strange lights being reported from the Old Barrowbriar wood.
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 700
Inpiration rewarded: nil (all PCs still had a point)
Renown: The Ten-Tribes (1 point)
Friday, October 23, 2015
4th Fire (10/23/15)
Tarok, First-Week, Eighth-day, the Now-Year
The PCs return the prized piglet to Cret Ayshus, and proudly display the heads of the 'Demons' of the Ditch to them, with much rejoicing. They quickly ponder taking control of the crop supply to the Court-of-Crows from this bumbling hillbillies, but reconsider. En route back home, they come across a gaunt, injured girl who is dragging a stone behind her on a thick tethered vine, and once they figure out she's had her tongue cut off, they become concerned. She points to where she has fled from, but is difficult to understand, so the party makes the decision to investigate her oppressors. They trek West across the Whipwater Plain, stopping to rest once the darkness sets in.
Tarok, First-Week, Ninth-day, the Now-Year
In the morning, they travel along the Whipwater to discover a shrine to Yra, where they find among the usual offerings, several slaves who weren't so lucky, with stones tied to their corpses' legs in the same manner. Apart from SlakeThirst getting sucked down the river a few miles, they manage to cross and then cross back again, to a nearby cemetery plot. There they are assaulted by a group of undead flightless birds which attack with horrifying beaks, and are rather tough to kill. Our heroes are eventually victorious, and following the creatures' tracks and the girl's prompting, they travel NW a ways to discover a large, open-air scar in the Plain in which a group of masked cultists have taken up residence. They decide to assault the cult in broad daylight, fighting off several more of the undead birds and robed cultists wearing beak-like plague masks and wielding scimitars. In addition, there is a high priest of some sort and a vicious undead crow which the cultists' exclaim to be the avatar of their goddess.
The battle is a fierce one, with four of our heroes narrowly avoiding their deaths (one of them twice), but at last they bring down the tenacious cultists and their pets. Their next move is to investigate the chasm...
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, K'gug Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 373
Inpiration rewarded: Cynjak, Un'krug
The PCs return the prized piglet to Cret Ayshus, and proudly display the heads of the 'Demons' of the Ditch to them, with much rejoicing. They quickly ponder taking control of the crop supply to the Court-of-Crows from this bumbling hillbillies, but reconsider. En route back home, they come across a gaunt, injured girl who is dragging a stone behind her on a thick tethered vine, and once they figure out she's had her tongue cut off, they become concerned. She points to where she has fled from, but is difficult to understand, so the party makes the decision to investigate her oppressors. They trek West across the Whipwater Plain, stopping to rest once the darkness sets in.
Tarok, First-Week, Ninth-day, the Now-Year
In the morning, they travel along the Whipwater to discover a shrine to Yra, where they find among the usual offerings, several slaves who weren't so lucky, with stones tied to their corpses' legs in the same manner. Apart from SlakeThirst getting sucked down the river a few miles, they manage to cross and then cross back again, to a nearby cemetery plot. There they are assaulted by a group of undead flightless birds which attack with horrifying beaks, and are rather tough to kill. Our heroes are eventually victorious, and following the creatures' tracks and the girl's prompting, they travel NW a ways to discover a large, open-air scar in the Plain in which a group of masked cultists have taken up residence. They decide to assault the cult in broad daylight, fighting off several more of the undead birds and robed cultists wearing beak-like plague masks and wielding scimitars. In addition, there is a high priest of some sort and a vicious undead crow which the cultists' exclaim to be the avatar of their goddess.
The battle is a fierce one, with four of our heroes narrowly avoiding their deaths (one of them twice), but at last they bring down the tenacious cultists and their pets. Their next move is to investigate the chasm...
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, K'gug Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 373
Inpiration rewarded: Cynjak, Un'krug
Friday, September 18, 2015
3rd Fire (9/18/15)
Tarok, First-Week, Eighth-day, the Now-Year
The PCs gather together at Pilaf's Tavern, but Cynjak is off on her own, so Slakethirst and Nobro head out and track her down. To follow up on the rumor of the 'Demon of the Ditch', Pilaf directs them to track down the Ayshus family north of the village, across the Whipwater. Specifically they are looking for a man named Cret. After a hazard-free crossing, they find some of the nervous harvesters out in the fields of the Plain, and are eventually led to Cret himself, who seems a little more zealous about his missing piglet than his own flesh & blood that might have fallen to the scourge of the ditch demon. He leads him to an area the farmers have cordoned off with marked sticks, where three of his family disappeared within the past week. They quickly find the corpses of these men in a sinkhole...and then try to 'bait' whatever might be inside, which is ineffective.
After the failed 'baiting' attempt using a suddenly bold Cret, the PCs decide to get down in the dirt, and discover a network of caverns. They encounter a chamber full of excited, hostile giant crickets, and the ensuing combat is so loud that it eventually draws the attention of a stalking plains leopard. All of these creatures are easily dispatched by the PCs before they press on. They travel through the loose dirt tunnels to find a second exit on a nearby hillock, covered in brush. Heading back inside, they find a chamber stuffed with massive pumpkins and other crops, rotted out, but hidden inside is a suit of leather armor with parts of its previous owner still attached. After this they come across a few slaughtered cattle, and then the 'Demon of the Ditch' itself, occupying a heavily furrowed cavern in which the ground is so stirred up that movement is slowed. They are soon surprised to find that the demon had a mate...
These are the heroes' most deadly foes yet, shooting streams of acid and attacking with brutal mandibles, nearly felling half the party before they are eventually brought under control. After exterminating the large pests, they find a clutch of five eggs belonging to them, and Yukkbutt finds and takes a bone scythe from their nest. The party takes a short rest and then presses on to find a pit trap in a corridor, which Slakethirst falls into. After jerking him out, they uncover a strange, dully glowing altar in which a crystal is fixed, built of an alloy unknown to them which resembles seamless silver. There are some other baubles (bronze coins and a stone knife) that appear to have been left here by someone not related to who ever built the shrine. They trace their steps back and discover a cavern of older human corpses, as well as Cret's prized piglet. After Kaarl gathers her up, they find a pool of what appears to be acidic bile, some product of the ankhegs.
The last area in the cavern network that they uncover is heavily full of roots, brush and what seems to be an inverted field for a ceiling, and the heroes are ambushed by some rather weak twig creatures that they very swiftly destroy. Somewhere in the chamber they dig up another strangely seamless silver object, a crescent which looks like it's held in the hand. Baffled, they collect the item and several creature parts (from crickets and ankhegs) to trade back at the Court, and make their way out of the crumbling burrows.
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 410 per player
Inpiration rewarded:
NPCs
Cret Ayshus (human male): Soaked through with sweat to the extent that he looks like he just took a dive into the Whipwater, this man’s entire face and neck are coated with either beard or mis-shaven patches of stubble, with kernels of corn, grasshoppers and other detritus having taken up residence. He has a distended, uneven gut and walks crooked with a cane made of a wooden stick and a corn cob coated in dried honey or some other glaze that keeps it preserved. A bone sickle is slung at his belt and his fat toes poke out through his sandals, covered in angry red welts and other insect byproducts.
The PCs gather together at Pilaf's Tavern, but Cynjak is off on her own, so Slakethirst and Nobro head out and track her down. To follow up on the rumor of the 'Demon of the Ditch', Pilaf directs them to track down the Ayshus family north of the village, across the Whipwater. Specifically they are looking for a man named Cret. After a hazard-free crossing, they find some of the nervous harvesters out in the fields of the Plain, and are eventually led to Cret himself, who seems a little more zealous about his missing piglet than his own flesh & blood that might have fallen to the scourge of the ditch demon. He leads him to an area the farmers have cordoned off with marked sticks, where three of his family disappeared within the past week. They quickly find the corpses of these men in a sinkhole...and then try to 'bait' whatever might be inside, which is ineffective.
After the failed 'baiting' attempt using a suddenly bold Cret, the PCs decide to get down in the dirt, and discover a network of caverns. They encounter a chamber full of excited, hostile giant crickets, and the ensuing combat is so loud that it eventually draws the attention of a stalking plains leopard. All of these creatures are easily dispatched by the PCs before they press on. They travel through the loose dirt tunnels to find a second exit on a nearby hillock, covered in brush. Heading back inside, they find a chamber stuffed with massive pumpkins and other crops, rotted out, but hidden inside is a suit of leather armor with parts of its previous owner still attached. After this they come across a few slaughtered cattle, and then the 'Demon of the Ditch' itself, occupying a heavily furrowed cavern in which the ground is so stirred up that movement is slowed. They are soon surprised to find that the demon had a mate...
These are the heroes' most deadly foes yet, shooting streams of acid and attacking with brutal mandibles, nearly felling half the party before they are eventually brought under control. After exterminating the large pests, they find a clutch of five eggs belonging to them, and Yukkbutt finds and takes a bone scythe from their nest. The party takes a short rest and then presses on to find a pit trap in a corridor, which Slakethirst falls into. After jerking him out, they uncover a strange, dully glowing altar in which a crystal is fixed, built of an alloy unknown to them which resembles seamless silver. There are some other baubles (bronze coins and a stone knife) that appear to have been left here by someone not related to who ever built the shrine. They trace their steps back and discover a cavern of older human corpses, as well as Cret's prized piglet. After Kaarl gathers her up, they find a pool of what appears to be acidic bile, some product of the ankhegs.
The last area in the cavern network that they uncover is heavily full of roots, brush and what seems to be an inverted field for a ceiling, and the heroes are ambushed by some rather weak twig creatures that they very swiftly destroy. Somewhere in the chamber they dig up another strangely seamless silver object, a crescent which looks like it's held in the hand. Baffled, they collect the item and several creature parts (from crickets and ankhegs) to trade back at the Court, and make their way out of the crumbling burrows.
PCs: Cynjak, Kaarl, Nobro, Slakethirst, Un'Krug, Yukkbutt
XP rewarded: 410 per player
Inpiration rewarded:
NPCs
Cret Ayshus (human male): Soaked through with sweat to the extent that he looks like he just took a dive into the Whipwater, this man’s entire face and neck are coated with either beard or mis-shaven patches of stubble, with kernels of corn, grasshoppers and other detritus having taken up residence. He has a distended, uneven gut and walks crooked with a cane made of a wooden stick and a corn cob coated in dried honey or some other glaze that keeps it preserved. A bone sickle is slung at his belt and his fat toes poke out through his sandals, covered in angry red welts and other insect byproducts.
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