[Game Thread] III. The Silver Cornucopia

[mountainbound]

Hearing the wind whip against the small kitchen window -- now clear of the black birds slamming themselves into it -- Dan's answer is predictable. "Why go out into the cold? Our enemy is below ground, I say let's follow him." At that point he spies his dad's coveted wine amidst the many tapped casks in a corner. "First I'll be taking this back into custody." He finds a cup and pours himself a tall glass of red liquid, downing it in a gulp. "Feckety hell that's good stuff," he sighs, feeling the alcohol warm his toes. The wizard then lifts the cask down off the counter, as though intending to roll it along with him.

The bell rings again outside in the common room, and a shout of "Ale!" drifts into the kitchen.

Jamie looks to Fahd and Silas, "It's going to be impossible to hide the fact that Randy is gone, and there has been a battle. I can vouch for you if you want to give chase."

Seeing Silas distracted -- the ranger was glancing around the kitchen looking for a useful tool to help open the trapdoor -- Runko gives a sudden kick and throws himself away from the ranger in a mad dash for the back door.

DM's Note Silas: Roll a STR check, DC 11, to prevent Runko from breaking free.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd is concerned about the prospect of pursuing Randy. The shaman can see that Silas is still injured from the last fight, and Fahd is unable to perform any more healing for the time being. Is the room under the trapdoor simply a cellar, or a tunnel through which Randy has already made his escape? Fahd supposes that the question has to be answered, because a tunnel out is also a tunnel in.

"Let's get it open, then. Perhaps we should tie this one up, first," Fahd begins, indicating Runk and intending to mention the rope in his pack, but before he can finish the sentence, Runko makes his escape attempt. His aklys still in hand, Fahd flings it at Runko's legs in an attempt to trip the man.

 

The aklys is a trip weapon, Fahd's CMB bonus is +1

Dice Trip:

d20+1

(2)+1

Total = 3

[Krimchee]

Silas looked around the kitchen for something to use to pry up the door. It was quickly becoming apparent that Randy had prepared well. Bloody hell, he thought. We should probably flaming get the hell out of here. Suddenly pain lanced through his shin, causing him to hop and swear. "Son of a....." Runko's unexpected move to pull away caught Silas by surprise. With a grunt, Silas tried his best to hold on.

roll str check Dice Roll: 1d20 8

Status AC 15 HP 13

[mountainbound]

As the ranger's attention wavers, the man plants his elbow in Silas's ribs, makes a vicious twist and is off for the door. Fahd is quick with his aklys, but the weapon glances off a counter and, just like that, the man flies out the back door and into the white day.

Jamie curses, and then curses again as more shouts of "Ale! Oi Randy, where the hell are you?" come from the dining room. "I'll see if I can smooth things over with the crowd."

In a moment the gleeman returns with a very large man behind him. "This is Sal, the village smith, and a good friend. Sal, these are the kids who killed the stalker by the water yesterday, Silas and Dan." At that Sal growls and gives you an appraising nod. "And you know Fahd, the itinerant healer, already. So here's the door -- think you can open it?"

Sal looks down at the trapdoor and grunts in the affirmative, flexing the huge muscles beneath his jerkin. An axe is fetched for him from the woodpile outside the door and he sets to work at once. After several wicked swings, he stops short, suddenly noticing something. Turning to Jaime he says, "This stone floor... it is perfectly laid. The foundation of this place is old. Older than this town." He casts a dark glance at the bird-like creature still twitching on the floor nearby, and then sets to work again on the trapdoor, as though hacking the stalker apart.

"Keep up the good work!" Dan cheers the big man on, his arm protectively around his father's wine cask, a cup in his hand. "When we open it up, we'll see what's down there. If we don't find Randy, at least we'll find his stash of sausages and cheese. Now that Randy's been shown to be in league with... them," he says, pointing at the dead creature, "I think it's perfectly reasonable for us to be able to stay here, for free, for as long as we want. Right?"

DM's Note Several options are available here. One or more of you can chase down the escaped man in the snow; you can wait for Sal to open the trapdoor and nab Randy below ground; you can stick to the original plan and head south, leaving this mess behind; or... whatever else you come up with. Feel free to discuss OOC.

[Krimchee]

Rubbing his ribs where he was hit, Silas watched as Sal begins to hack at the door. Sal's words about the floor intrigue him. His thoughts drift to the ruins he and Dan visited, to the the seemingly matching arrowhead he and Jamie have. Silas decides to ask Jamie about it. "Jamie, the pendant you're wearing seems...familiar. I mean, I've seen similar ones before. Can I ask what it's significance is?

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd pulls the aklys back into his hand, trying to suppress his frustration at his failure to stop Runko. What's done is done, he reflects, the best thing now is to focus on what to do going forward. He nods at Sal as Jamie introduces the smith to Silas and Dan, then watches in silence as Sal attempts to open the trap door. Fahd's forehead furrows at Sal's observation about the stonework under their feet, and he looks at Dan and Silas questioningly. "Could the inn have been built on Ichvaal ruins?" he speculates aloud. "If so, it should be interesting to see what lies under the trap door." To Silas he adds, "But take care. You are injured yet, and at the moment I can do nothing for it."

Fahd shakes his head gently at Dan's mention of sausages and cheese. Though it has been some time since they ate, it takes only one look at the corpse of the bird creature to dampen his appetite. As for Dan's suggestion that they might stay at the inn indefinitely, well, that depends a great deal on what they find when they get into the cellar.

[mountainbound]

The balding bard is paying more attention to Sal's progress with the floor than to Silas. When the ranger mentions his arrow-head pendant, Jamie mutters, "Similar ones?... I don't think so my friend--" Then he stops short and turns to the ranger, withdrawing the strange token from the chain on his neck. "You've seen this before?" He gives Silas a searching look. "It's not something I can discuss with the world at large. Only members of a certain brotherhood can wear such a token, they are made for each of us who belong. If you have seen one, then perhaps you have run into one of my brothers, though few of us openly display them."

CHUNK THUNK goes the axe, biting deep into the boards of the trapdoor. As Sal hacks away, Fahd poses his question about the architecture, and Jamie nods. "All these towns were built on the ruins of Those Who Were Before. The first settlers of this land would have been doomed if they hadn't found convenient stone houses and deep cellars to keep them out of the elements that first winter. Afterward, they used much of the stone for other things, but the cellars remain."

He glances around the kitchen, taking in the wide hearth and the close-set floor pavers. "I think you are right, this was probably once an old Ichvaal steading. And if this is so, then there is some good news: Randy is not a stalker. Those things," he motions to the disgusting emu-like insect creature on the floor, "cannot enter the cellars of the Ichvaal. Ichvaali wards prevent it. There are many ruins that dot the wilderness, which are still protected as well. I mentioned one of them to you last night. Anyway, the bad news is that Ichvaali cellars run deep. Many of them have tunnels that wind on for miles and miles. There are some in my brotherhood who have delved them, but few know their secrets. Not me at least.

"Worse yet, there are many... precious things that the Ichvaal left behind. The Silver Horn was taken from such a place, and that is only one of an untold number of relics that the Ichvaal abandoned. That someone like Randy has access to them is a troubling thought. I hope he is simply a fool treasure hunter, but judging from his company, I'd say the truth is darker than that." The bard frowns, glancing again at the dead creature, and the other dead men. "Did he give any clue to his intention before he fled? Why anyone would side with these... creatures... against their own race, is an utter mystery to me." Jamie shakes his head, his long pony-tail swaying.

At that moment Sal's axe makes a deep SHWHACK and the trapdoor seems to collapse in slightly. With a grunt, the grim smith grabs the cord and yanks the door in the floor open wide. A steep set of stairs leads down into the blackness.

[Krimchee]

The bard's words puzzled Silas. A brotherhood? Fahd had said the ruddy thing was made for me. How? Why? There were too many questions. Silas did agree with Jamie that they were not questions to be aired now in view of the public. In any case, the open door into the cellar beckoned, and Silas reckoned he had bigger fish to fry. For the moment.

Bloody Ichvaal, Silas thought grumpily. He did not like the news that this was indeed Ichvall ruins. He bloody well remembered the last time he ventured into their flaming ruins. He came out with a flaming beard and a whole fargging season gone. "Blood and bloody ashes," he swore aloud. It looked dark down there besides. "Anyone see something we can take as a torch down there? Last thing we want is to stumble down some flaming hole and break our fool necks." Silas looks around to see what is at hand in the kitchen.

perception check Perception check Dice Roll: 1d20+9 (19)+9 =28

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Unlike Silas, Fahd has no qualms about entering an Ichvaal ruin, other than the fact that Randy might be down there ready to try to kill them again. He knows from the memories gleaned from Jenson's spirit that something had happened to Dan and Silas when they went down into the ruin, but they hadn't actually been harmed, obviously. Jamie's talk of relics stirred Fahd's emotions, too. Perhaps such relics had powerful spirits associated with them, spirits which might advance Fahd's knowledge of the spirit realm.

"Dan," Fahd says to the budding caster as the shaman recalls another borrowed memory from just before Dan and Silas had made their descent into the other ruins, "don't you have a way of lighting the way for us down there?"

[mountainbound]

It takes Silas only a moment to locate a bin of timbers with their wrapped heads soaking in oil. The ranger grabs the three in the bin and turns to see Jamie looking hard at him. He's about to say something, but Silas is not one for talking and strides toward the black opening in the floor. In answer to Fahd's question, Dan slurs, "Yeah, I cn make light. I did it last time we were in the Ichvaali ruins, when we met Isaiah. Tell 'im Sy." He says to his friend.

At the mention of Isaiah's name, Jamie looks shocked, "You met Isaiah... at a ruin? I cannot believe he let himself be discovered by two kids. This sounds like a tale I should hear. It has been months since I've received news of Isaiah, and would sorely like to know more."

A cool breeze wafts up from the steep stairs, and at that moment Sal says, "There, I opened it." Walking past the dead stalker, he spits on the carcass, grabs an entire cask of ale, and stomps back out into the common room without another word.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Though Fahd has some knowledge of the meeting with Isaiah, it is all secondhand and filtered through a spirit which hates Silas, so he leaves Dan or Silas to answer Jamie's question about Isaiah. "Thank you for your help, Sal," he says as the burly smith passes by on his way back out to the common room. The shaman is impressed at the ease with which the smith carries the cask of ale, but then he supposes that kind of strength goes with the job.

Fahd, already somewhat concerned about following Randy into the cellar given Silas's unhealed injuries and his own spent ability to heal, becomes more concerned when Dan's slurred responses indicate clearly that he is well on his way to being drunk. "Silas, we can look to see what lies below, certainly, but if it is more than a cellar, perhaps we should wait before exploring it," he says with a glance at Dan once he is sure Silas will see it. "Randy has had ample time to escape, or even to bring back other friends for an ambush, so we should be as ready as possible before we go down. As Dan says, we can stay here at the inn for the night to recover."

[Krimchee]

Torches in hand, Silas listened to Fahd and nodded. The spirit chaser was probably right. At Fahd's words, Silas was reminded of his wounds and could feel them aching and throbbing in time to his heart as he began to assess them. Bloody hell, the last thing I want is to flaming go crawling around in the dark, torches or no, he thought irritably. But they should at least go down there and see what they could see. All the mysteries that he and Dan kept walking into were adding up, and he bloody well wanted some answers.

"You're probably right Fahd. But I think we should at least go down and have a look around. Randy probably does have a way out and I could give a flaming fig if he has. But if this basement is part of Ichvalli ruins, then I think we should at least have a look, even if we do not pursue RAndy."

Silas started at Jamie's mention of Isaiah, and eyed Jamie sharply. He knows Isaiah? Silas scrubbed a dirty hand through hair made unruly from combat and neglect. More mysteries. "I wouldn't say he let us discover him exactly.....but he did help us out of a.....strangling situation. " Silas paused, again considering the bard. How much should he tell him? "He was well when we last saw him though."Silas still didn't exactly trust Jamie, but damnit, he flaming well needed information. He didn't like not knowing where he was going or why like some fool-brained half-wit.

Against his better judgement, Silas reached into his pocket and cupped the stone arrowhead given to him by Isaiah in his fist. Taking out his left hand, he turned it palm up and opened his fingers, showing the stone arrowhead laying flat against his palm. "Isaiah gave me this." Silas watched the bard intently for a reaction. "What can you tell me about it?"

perception check perception Dice Roll: 1d20+9 (7)+9 Total = 16

[mountainbound]

The balding gleeman’s eyes light up when Silas reveals the polished stone arrowhead. “Ahhh!” he breathes, and something about Jamie Novac seems to relax. “So you have met him – Isaiah, that is. Him and his brother, they were instructed to find their ‘replacements’ this year, and they each assumed that meant that they were going to die. Rubbish I said, but glad to see that Isaiah identified his all the same.”

He eyes Fahd for a moment and says, “Though truth be told, last time Isaiah was here, I thought he might have come to choose you.”

Turning back to Silas he says, “Well, you are the one then. What did the old tracker tell you of our Brotherhood?” Seeing Silas’ blank look, Jamie continues on, “Ah, I see. Isaiah was never one to waste words. It’s enough that you’ve been recognized by the one of the Brotherhood I guess. The details are just details – you’ll pick it up along the way. But that means you have a task ahead of you. One of our sworn oaths is to seek out the Darlock and their allies. Randy there, he’s no good. In league either with the filthy Darlock stalkers, or the Summoner in the South. Both of them are hungry for Ichvaali relics, and both of them are twisted to the core. I’d say you need to be leaving. Now. If you’re to find him.”

He wipes his wide brow, “I realize you haven’t taken the oaths, but you have an arrowhead, so the responsibilities are yours. The world has a way of sending tasks, and I believe Randy is your first one. But now that I’m sure you’re one of us, I can help you.” With that, the bard throws back his cloak, revealing several dozen small vials sewn into the inner diamond-shaped weavings. “Here, you each get one,” he says, handing out a blue-glass vial to Fahd, Silas and Dan. “Drink this and it’ll make you feel like you just had the best sleep of your life, and a woman to boot.” He winks. Then turns to the young ranger. “And here, take this one too. Use it only when all else fails.” Jamie pushes another stoppered glass bottle into Silas’ hand. It seems to radiate a soft hum when revealed to the light.

The bard quickly turns to Fahd. “I have nothing for you, except to share a snippet of a conversation I once had, with a tree priestess – a chaser of forest spirits. She said to me: ‘The foe of Grackle will be revealed to you by the power of his healing, and shall depart when the blackness gapes. Tell him this: Seek comfort by the fountain of Tre’Sene, there you shall find the key to the shattered stair.’” He pauses, “Sorry if I didn’t get it exactly right, but I think that was all of it. She had the bluest eyes… made it hard to concentrate.”

And to Dan the storyteller simply says, “Young wizard… don’t drink too much. It dulls your mind, and in your profession m’boy, a dull mind is the last thing you need.”

A few loud voices can be heard out in the common room. It was now into the lunch hour, and Randy’s usual crowd was getting curious. “Go on, I’ll make something up – might even whip together some lunch if the feeling strikes me. But it’s time for you to go, before that bastard Randy finds some hole to burrow into.”

Dan lifts six scones from a tray and crams them into his pack. Slowly he drags himself over to join Silas and Fahd at the head of the stair leading down into the cellar.

DM's Note Feel free to continue RPing with Jamie if you have other questions. Each of you receives a powerful healing potion. Silas gets a slightly glowing potion of undetermined properties. “When all else fails.”

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 10/12, Spirit Healing 0/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Isaiah must have passed through here recently then, more recently than my own arrival in Archeebald, Fahd thinks following Jamie's initial aside to him. That thought makes Fahd pause, forging a connection in Fahd's mind that doesn't immediately resolve itself into clarity.The shaman accepts the vial from Jamie with raised eyebrow. If it is what the gleeman says it is, this is a precious gift. "Thank you, Jamie," he says, inclining his head slightly as he puts the vial away in an inner pocket of his pelt robe. Jamie is revealing himself to be much more than the simple minstrel he normally pretends to me, and Fahd is still wrapping his mind around the change when Jamie addresses him again personally.

Fahd's eyes widen when Jamie mentions the Grackle. His mind races as he tries to remember whether he has mentioned his spirit enemy in front of the gleeman. It is then that the rest of Jamie's words, tree priestess, and forest spirit chaser, sink in, and the connection he felt earlier crystallizes, taking his breath away. First, there is a new sense of connectedness with Silas and Dan. He can't be sure of the timing, even with Jensen's borrowed memories, but instinctively he believes that Aisha sent him away to begin the next stage of his Journey at the same time that Dan and Silas began theirs from Lehman's Hollow. Only their long slumber in the Ichvaal ruin prevented them from arriving here at the same time as Fahd, but perhaps it was necessary that Fahd arrive first, to forge connections the others would need, or for some other reason that Fahd does not yet see. Beyond that, though, if Jamie is speaking of Aisha, then her connection to the spirit world has given her access to power, in the form of prophecy, greater than Fahd ever realized. Fahd doesn't know when Jamie's conversation with the priestess took place, but even if it took place after sending Fahd away, there are elements in the message requiring foreknowledge.

Blue eyes. An image of Aisha's face, with her piercingly blue eyes that seem to look into and through whoever she turns her gaze upon, appears in Fahd's mind. "This tree priestess, was her name Aisha? When did she tell you this?"

[Krimchee]

Silas was stunned by Jamie's words. He'd wanted more information, but bloody hell. A flaming Brotherhood! Oaths! More flaming mysteries every-farging-where I turn! Silas sputtered, "Responibilities?! Oaths? What oaths?" Silas was beginning to feel a little bit caged. Damnit he flaming well chose what he was bloody well going to do, and if it landed him in the stew pot it was his own damn fault. Damn Isaiah for getting him into this mess! When I get my hands on him....

Remembering that time was of the escence, he said, "I guess we'd best get to it. We'll go after Randy, because he stuck a knife into Dan." Moderating his tone he said, "Thanks for the help Jamie. I would, uh, like to know more about what I've gotten into with the Brotherhood thing when we get back, if you've time. It's hard to live up to your responsibilities if you don't know what they flaming are."

Carefully stowing the bottles Jamie gave him in his pack so they would ride safely, he put the healing on top where he could get to it easily if necessary. Truth be told, he felt like he should take it now. His wounds were starting to stiffen. I may need it more later though, he thought, and closed the pack.

Silas lit one of the torches and positioned himself near the opening. Grinning he said, "What do you say guys? Shall we go hunting?" He was a hunter, after all, and the brotherhood would just have to flaming wait.

status/defense Status AC 15 HP 13