SESSION 276: A Walk in the Snow
With another act of brilliance the goobers decide to do a Winter hike to Helix.
Day 230 Cloudy (Blind Basiliskà15.21à16.21/0307/0407/0507/0607/0707): With the portable hole loaded with provisions and the horses prepared for the winter wilds Bunny lead forth the team. It was cold and slow moving but with the vast majority of the vegetation slumbering Bunny felt confident she could find her way back to Helix within a week. They hoped that even evil likes to hunker down during the winter.
They passed through Kirkikit’s hex with ease moving into the general region where they had previously encountered unicorns. This time the forest was quiet. They did however intersect with fresh lizardman tracks heading NE into the unknown. The observation was noted for future consideration.
As they approached the edge of the hex the forest became notably denser. Twisted trees fought against the season great interlacing bows creating layers of canopy with the upper extents holding great sheets of snow while the lower branches held onto their leaves. This created a malignant gloom along the forest floor that only increased the irrational sense of malevolence scratching away at the backs of our traveler’s necks. Lester and the clerics in particular found themselves feeling a great unease. They pushed on until fatigue came early from the tension of unseen entities just at the edge of sight and concern not to push the horses too hard.
That night Saffron and Charles had restless haunted sleeps. The toll of just being in these darkwoods already excising a price.
Day 231 Cloudy (16.21/0707à17.21/0304/0405/0504/0605/0705/0806à18.22/0303/0404/0504/0604): Midday our not so silent caravan mustered a wing of giant vampire bats. The gloom of the forest acting as a fine proxy for night. The bats got some blood but none made it back to roost. The rest of the day simply continued to be eerie. That night once again robbed hobos of tranquility. Dolec, Charles and Bimbles this night. The cleric was thankful he had not expended any spells as he could not replenish without a full night’s sleep.
Day 232 Clear (18.22/0604/0704à19.21/0306/0407/0506/0606/0706à20.22/0303/0404/0504/0605/0705): If things were indeed watching, which all were certain of, the things were not revealed. The day was nevertheless exhausting as the weight of constant tension took a larger and larger toll. This night Nara and Lester found no rest.
Day 233 Cloudy (20.22/0705/0806à21.22/0303/0404/0503/0604/0704/à22.22/0304//0405/0504/0605): They marched on. Bunny had continued confidence that she was leading the team in the right direction. That night she and Charles would find no solace.
Day 234 Cloudy (22.22/0605/0705/0806à23.22 Dutchy of Aerik): Bunny was exhausted this morning and her direction suffered from it. They moved off course. This was not noted until they found themselves at the edge of the great fetid marsh known as the Barrowmoor. This earned some groans but the great feeling of dread had finally broke. A few hours, hopefully, in the partially frozen bog was almost considered succour. The horses did not like it and made complaint they would need to lead the animals across the moor.
Barrowmoor recognized our hobos and their presence sent forth a disturbance to the things that slumbered in the muck. Arise and kill reverberated through the waters. A group of wicked dead answered the call. A host of dark amber skinned zombies with bows and blades. The hobos recognized the Juju zombies. These things would put up a fight and the gang was almost outnumbered two to one. The clerics called down divine cleansing fire but the creatures only laughed as they sent volley after volley of missiles into the group. Even turning showed limited effect almost as if an unseen hand fortified the ghastly dead. Dolec saw that attrition was not in their favour so he brought forth his horn, summoning a band of berserkers to join the fray. Five materialized and charged into melee with the zombies. Dolec, Lester, Charles and even Bunny followed, holding the zombies at bay with glinting steel. The battle began to turn. Hobo and berserker steel began to hew through more and more rotten flesh until there was none more. They cleaned up as quickly as possible and pushed hard for Helix. 
It took a couple more hours but the land did begin to incline ever so slightly and the ice crusted waters became more shallow and the bracken gave way.
Early evening had them once more knocking at Guildmaster Osen’s door for accommodation. After some complaining about having his winter hibernation being disturbed opened the door. He was shocked to see the A-ish Team but quickly got around to setting them up with a barrack. Once the horses were stabled the mob collapsed onto welcoming cots before a roaring fire. All slept soundly.
Day 235 Clear (Helix): Today the gang said their hellos and tried to get stuff from folks whom really thought they should be giving rather than asking, being the heroes of Barrowmaze after all. The most important action was getting some sagely advice from Muzzah. He could not provide the hoped for exact instructions for dummies. The sage did however, point the gang at the concept of a ‘ritual of unbinding’ and provided some understanding of the Dreamlands where the B-Team appeared to be stranded. The ritual was a divine endeavour and beyond just his base understanding. Carla and Bunny thanked him for the assistance and offered him dinner at the Strumpet that evening. They also tried a few of their old tricks to get stuff but he softly rebuffed them much as Brother Othar had done earlier in the day. For some reason, Muzzah agreed to answer one more question while they were in town. Maybe the chill of winter caused his usual irritability to hibernate?
Next Carla and Bunny went to the smithy, they had decided they would attempt to steal away the town’s blacksmith, Karg Barrelgut. He being of the Dwarven persuasion had no problem telling them they were jackasses and needed to get the swamp water out from between their ears. After giving the two their well-earned rebuke he called forth his young cousin and apprentice Gern forth. “These two idjits would like to make you a proposition boy. You two better be filling my tankard tonight”, and with that Karg waddled off to hit something with a hammer. A deal was presented and Gern was lukewarm to it. They did get to the finish line but it took a handful of gold nuggets to affirm. The girls were happy that Ding-We was not around to see them letting their loot pass to other hands, even allied ones.
That evening the usually quiet winter night at the Brazen Strumpet was awakened with story and song.
The A-ish Team: Bunny, Dolec, Nara, Bimbles, Saffron, Charles, Lester & Carla
ROLECALL
Carla the Green High Priestess of TMB (C10) 354214 xp +10% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
Scars: permanent loss left index finger and scarring on arm
Bimbles the High Priest of GSS (C10) 318449 xp +5% <400001> CRT 1d12/III
+2 save to poison and internal body things; Double eat (gotta feed my baybay)
Bunny the Thief! (T10) 310059 xp <400001> +10% CRT 1d24/II
Light wound: permanent loss of pinky finger, off hand
The Henchmen
Saffron the Mad Fairy Queen of Ribbits (FY7) 197051 xp <200001> CRT 1d10/III
Moderate wound: Scar on abdomen
Lasting injury: -1 STR, mashed guts
Nara the Nearly Naked Purple Swami Girl (PS7) 111580 xp +5% <125000> CRT 1d16/II
Wraith Drained: -1 CON
Charles in Charge the Myrmidon (F6) 85178 <120000> +10% CRT 1d20/IV
Franz the Grave Return (Lawful; XXXX) Sword
Critical Wound: Punctured lung (-2 CON)
Mostly DEAD. (-1 CON)
Dolec Da the Hero (F7) 70167 xp +10% <120000> CRT 1d20/IV
Missing five teeth
Lester Flanders the Guardian of Oceana (P6) 47427 xp <95000> +5% CRT 1d16/IV
RESERVES
Biff recovering post death (2 weeks): Elapsed 11
Elapsed Campaign Time
(674 b) days at beginning of session
669a (from Session 264) (also applies to recuperation)
Join us for session Two-Hundred-and-Seventy-Seven when we ask the questions:
What is a ritual of unbinding?
What will they ask Muzzah?
Where are the brigands?
Tale of the Tape
Chung Li needs 12 weeks (74 days) and a stack of coin to rewrite his lost spell book.
Elapsed: 53 days (from A-Team calendar) -INTERRUPTED-
Potion Brewing 42 days (started Day 194): Elapsed 33
KILLS
Giant Vampire Bats (6)
JuJu Zombies (14)
LOOT
..Sorry Charlie.
No comments:
Post a Comment