You take a deep breath, fury filling you. By his words, it was this Brandon who created the curse on the barrow, a curse which has affected the Old Gods know how many lives! How many kings might have equaled or surpassed the First King…you wonder if the curse was still active even when House Targaryen ruled. The thoughts and the fury both flow across you mind, letting your focus remain unhindered. Once more you See, sensing the latent power and awareness behind the warded door, where the First King still slumbers, half-aware and diminished in death. As Brandon waits for your response and your companions are rooted in place, aghast, you summon all your will and all your strength. You are the Stark of Winterfell. You are the King in the North. You will not be denied by this corpse-warrior. You came to lift the curse, and since you have not the power to do it yourself you will get another to do it for you.
(Awakening Call: 1d100+19 (Diplomacy) + 15 (Good Speech) + 10 (Half-Awake) – 5 (Grumpy) = 113. 1d100+13 = 47.)
"Hold thyself, mighty Foe-Hammer, and hear who comes before thee! I am STARK! Wolfsblood! Warden of Winterfell! King In The North! I come to treat with your liege, as the kings of old, that that which is sundered may be healed, and that which is our enemy may be smote! Let us speak - as Northmen true!" The sheer force of your words makes the lesser skeletons stagger like you struck them with a great hammer, their blades rising up. The world seems to slow. You can count long seconds between each beat of your heart as they begin to advance on you, each step seeming to take a full minute. You are no swifter to defend yourself, and all but Frost and Lord Dustin are even slower. The light on your crown flares, but it seems almost pitiful against the immense pressure.
The great bronze door trembles, then it begins to glow, the runes running like water, pouring down to puddle on the floor. The doors swing open with the sound of shattering metal. Immense bronze chains, their links snapped, are the first things you see as they come to a halt, dangling from the inside of the doors. The next thing are two corpses, not decayed but withered and dry, frozen on their knees, clawing at the door. You can see nothing else. The blackness within the deepest chamber of the tomb is absolute. Brandon freezes, his warriors fall to their knees. No one moves or speaks for a very long time.
A figure strides out of the darkness. Where Brandon is merely a very large man with horns, this figure is clearly inhuman. He stands at least nine feet tall, with immense horns which scrape the lintel of the doorway, cutting through the metal. His arms dangle down to his knees, his fingers end in vicious claws. Most terrifying of all are his eyes. They glow with blazing bright embers, turning from one color to another. You suspect looking upon him with your Eyes would blind you forever. You suspect calling upon him might have been a mistake…
Then he speaks. "Winter King. The blood of the First Men runs deep in you. And the blood of others too." He rumbles, his voice shaking the chamber. "Speak, and I will hear you." Dust falls from the ceiling, cascading down upon the kneeling skeletons. Brandon Foe-Hammer presses himself against the wall, trying to avoid notice. "Father…" you hear him whisper. You start describing the curse, managing to keep your voice level. More dust rains down. "Father…" Brandon murmurs, as cracks begin forming in the ceiling. The First King sighs and gives his son a disappointed look. "Brandon, what is this? Why did you make the curse... and now the wards are failing." The First King murmurs, kneeling to inscribe a rune like those on your crown which shone so brightly to destroy the skeletons. You feel something lifting off you. The ceiling begins trembling as the First King rises, pressing his hands against it. "Go, now…the barrow will not collapse, but I fear for what being inside will do to you…And I have things to discuss with my son ere we return to our slumber," He grunts, voice strained.
Running probably would be the smart option, but there are so many things you could gain here…knowledge of magic, perhaps powerful artifacts, lore from the Age of Heroes. Maybe you could even try and recruit some of those skeletons, or learn how to make them. The many temptations are strong, and it seems the First King can guess at your intent. Perhaps he read your mind, perhaps you are simply that obvious. "The longer you stay, the more dangerous it will be." He says, pushing upwards on the ceiling, reducing the signs of collapse to a trickle of dust.
How much will you search for? The longer you are in the barrow, the greater the chances of encountering hostile undead, malfunctioning wards, dangerous geography, and other dangers.
[] [NUM] None
[] [NUM] One
[] [NUM] Two
[] [NUM] Three
[] [NUM] Write-in
What will you look for first?
[] [GOAL] Lore of the Age of Dawn
[] [GOAL] Ritual lore
[] [GOAL] Allies
[] [GOAL] Magic items
[] [GOAL] Write-in
For each goal, I will roll a d100 to determine what you find/how good it is.
