Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
If it's anything, I hope you've got a cold rather than Covid.
Take care of yourself and get well soon, dude.
Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
-
- Tags
- pathfinder open voting
Take care of yourself and get well soon, dude.
OK, feeling better now, vote closed.
Arc 16 Post 16: With Heavy Claw and Nimble Bolt
With Heavy Claw and Nimble Bolt
Seventeenth of Olweje-hamba (Olweje Descendent), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)
Fury boils in your mind, but on your lips is a call to face the foe, to break them as Yayar arrows tear into the thin wing membrane of the flying beast and over all a ran of hot blood falls. From the fallen werewolves also blood wells up as Swift Pebble reaps her own fel harvest. Her dagger cannot pierce their hide, but mouths and noses eyes, those she strikes for. One wolf-man howling in pain from his face tumbles towards you, tearing at your arm in blind fury.
He scores a long gash across it by claws sharper than steel. but not so sharp nor yet so sure as Durendal that cuts the hand at the wrist in one deadly blow.
Lost 8 HP
Any mortal man suffering such a blow would be reeling, likely even fleeing, but not so the two skins seeking vengeance on those who had wronged them. Already you can see the flesh of the stump starting to knit together, still the foe stands before you, dodging Silver's hooves and seeming to shrug off that which he cannot dodge.
Alas that is not the worst you have to face as one of the wolves to the left, the back one who had been starling at the start of the battle, lunges over the heads of your mean with unnatural grace, spear after spear failing to find purchase in his hide, only to land directly on Zaia as he is trying to down some concoction.
Zaia takes 5 Damage
Thankfully he does not drop the burning sphere as your shout comes across the field of battle between one blow and the next. You cannot get there in time, not with the beasts on you like... like wolves on an elk snapping at your flanks. Tom is just as much mired on the right flank, leaving none to raise a weapon in Zaia's defense. Inge does not have to raise a weapon, a hand is enough, a hand and a shard of jagged ice, sharper and more deadly than the one she had carved on that lonely island a year and more ago. It drives into the back of the wolf-man, piercing deep with howl of pain and fury.
For a moment the battle shifts, a dozen bloody eyes widening in shock, in pain, in the understanding that they might yet be driven off then like a black arrow from the accursed skies the winged beast descends and grabs hold of Zaia in its foul embrace. Fire ex-plodes against its chest bright and deadly.
It is not enough, the thing starts to pull Zaia bodily into the air, not all the shouts and all the clashing of spear and shield able to stop it. You see the wolf man whom Inge and struck die and others start to peel away, but it's too late now you know even as you rush to Zaia's defense.
Then a single bowstring snaps, an arrow bright silver tipped strikes the winged beast right in the midst of the charred flesh. It gives out a howl, not of terror but of pain and drops Zaia, his robes tearing in the fall.. Seeing the thing bleed the your own men shoot, once, twice, thrice and this time thew arrow finds its mark at the joint of the second right wing. The thing falls from the sky just at the remainder of the wolves begin to flee.
Zaia takes 2 Damage
Where a man afoot turning his back to the foe is all but inviting a deadly blow with naught but the backs of his fellows to draw the ire of the foe the wolves, sore wounded as they be are swifter. Two of them fall, two to spears and one snapped in half by Wanderer amidst the last of his rage, but the remainder manage to flee, freed from the flaming tar by Zaia's distraction.
What do you do?
[] Pursue, you have a mounted force, your own and the Yayar, no matter how this started you will end it
-[] Call Megin in the pursuit
-[] Do not call Megin in the pursuit
[] Let them flee
-[] Heal the flying shape-changer
-[] Do not heal the flying shape-changer
[] Split up
-[] Write in
OOC: Welp that was a close one, but you managed not to have your alchemist kidnapped.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Did any of our men or allies take bite wounds, @DragonParadox?
I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to try to chase down the rest of the Werewolves. Not only is it just a bad idea, given our unfamiliarity with the terrain and poor light conditions, but also because I have a feeling the Yayar are in the wrong here. Even so, this is a good opportunity to open up non-hostile relations with at least one Yayar tribe.
I'm also against further pursuit because every fight we have with the Werewolves is another opportunity for one or more of our people to suffer a serious curse that could be extremely difficult if not outright impossible to remove. I wish we hadn't had to fight with them at all. Can't always account for bad luck and outside actors, though, so now we have to roll with it.
[X] Let them flee
-[X] Heal the flying shape-changer, but only after securing it with ropes or nets to insure it cannot escape or attack once it has been restored.
I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to try to chase down the rest of the Werewolves. Not only is it just a bad idea, given our unfamiliarity with the terrain and poor light conditions, but also because I have a feeling the Yayar are in the wrong here. Even so, this is a good opportunity to open up non-hostile relations with at least one Yayar tribe.
I'm also against further pursuit because every fight we have with the Werewolves is another opportunity for one or more of our people to suffer a serious curse that could be extremely difficult if not outright impossible to remove. I wish we hadn't had to fight with them at all. Can't always account for bad luck and outside actors, though, so now we have to roll with it.
[X] Let them flee
-[X] Heal the flying shape-changer, but only after securing it with ropes or nets to insure it cannot escape or attack once it has been restored.
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Zaia did, I'll be rolling his save next update.
Eight in total
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Okay, I won't panic yet. He should be benefiting from the full +4 saving throw bonus from Shake it Off, and his Mutagen gives him another +2 thanks to the CON boost, in addition to his own +5 Fortitude bonus, so a +11 vs a DC 15 Fort save isn't too bad, and the timing might even allow Inge to use her Guidance cantrip on him for another +1 and/or her Fortune Hex to give him a reroll.
Now that I think about it, Zaia should be fine. Worst case, we can get him those same bonuses in a couple days using a dose of Wolfsbane to grant him another saving throw against the curse, along with a Bear's Endurance for another +2 and a +1 Resistance bonus from Esha. That will give him a combined +15 bonus, which would be a guaranteed success barring a Nat 1 roll, and Inge's Fortune Hex could help with that.
Shake it Off really was a good pick for Tom's new feat.
- Location
- Russia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Neither do I.
Additional argument against pursuit – we need to calm down and bring together Hengo's men who suffered from those fear attack.
[X] Goldfish
If it will not expire untill then, it lasts only 5 rounds after all. But I agree that it was a good pick.
@DragonParadox , whose was that arrow? I mean, was it something special, or simply a lucky shot of one of our archers? Also, hope you'll be alright, cold is an unpleasant thing.
The Yayar leader.
[X] Goldfish
- Location
- a place without enough snow
[X] Goldfish
Vote closed. let's see if Zaia makes that save.
Arc 16 Post 17: Physician's Ills
Physician's Ills
Eighteenth of Olweje-hamba (Olweje Descendent), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)
"Let them go, let them go, but heal the winged one, we need to find out where they come from..."
In the long hours of the night to come you would regret those words. While Zaia's salves and potions prove more than enough to heal the two skins whose flesh and sinews knit of their own accord, Zaia himself is not so fortunate. He grows first feverish, hands trembling as he does his work, then pale and shivering under the shin light of the moon.
"First it takes the body," Ainar says amid the snarling of the winged one, struggling against the ropes Hengo's men had brought out for the horses. You had thought them cruel and foolish then, you still think the former of them now. "Then it takes the mind, not all at once, but in great bloody bites, piece by piece, by piece, all that you are. Then it takes the soul, all that you hold precious, all that is not of the beast, it makes madmen of the most meek of men, the old no less than the young."
"Silence!" you snap. There is a part of you that wants to challenge the man here and now about what evil he had brought to your door by his own thievery from what Swift Pebble had heard, but he surely knows more of this scourge than you. "He is not past aid now and will not be so if there is aught in my power to help."
As you look at the drawn face of the old man , his beard no longer carefully combed but bristling and wild you very much fear it may not be in your power. Inge is praying over him as he takes the potion, but the sea is far away, the wind blows from the planes and through the forests where the wolves howl.
"Ah," Zaia coughs, a wet tearing sound that lifts up his chest and sends his right arm flailing. "Seems like I could not even get myself properly poisoned... a curse of madness and rage. Foolishness, all of it foolishness...."
"I'm sor..." you start to apologize for bringing the battle to him, but the old man shakes his head.
"Not yours, mine. I was too close to the fight and far too untroubled standing my ground. Wounds I can heal now that would have been the death of a strong warrior back in Alexandria for certain. I was acting like a young warrior new blooded rather than a man of my years and this reminded that not all can be seen off with a cordial eh?"
"Off we shall see it still," you say with more conviction than you feel. Neither his potions nor Inge's spells had been enough to fight the curse. What am I meant to do try to cut the thing down with my sword?
"If..." another cough, another spasm, as though something were trying to tear itself out of his chest. "If we cannot find a cure and my mind starts to go make an end of me. I would rather die a man than live as a beast."
"Remember the boar men?" you ask rather than make a vow in haste. "They too were of the same kindred, born of two skins, not made, but they were sound in mind and body no different from us. Better to make use our heads before our harm moves us to rashness."
"You are wise, sir knight," A pained smile passes over the old man's face.
"I am humble before the vastness of my own ignorance," you snort. "Now let's see what we can find out of this ailment and how to mend it."
"Wolf's bane might help to ward it off," Zaia explains, motioning weakly towards one of his books. "There's a drawing of it about a third of the way in. It's written in Greek though so...."You listen closely to the description and find the drawing eventually, in the chapter on poisons ominously, but you will have to trust that Zaia knows what he is doing.
He would have a better chance at healing back in the city... The thought is interrupted by Tom coming with news of your prisoner. Apparently it wants to talk, but only to the chieftain, that is you or near enough.
How do you approach the wolf?
[] Try to intimidate it into explaining more about the curse
[] Get their side of the story in the conflict with Yayar
[] Write in
OOC: Fort saves rolled a one... and then re-rolled the same thing. I almost do not believe it myself.
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- Location
- Argentina
That's it, I am going to burn down some dice over this
Technically he still gets one more roll after this one which with wolfsbane would be guaranteed bar another double 1. You do need to find the thing or some other means to buff the roll though.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
God damnit.
We need to get out hands on wolfsbane ASAP. With a bit of time to prepare various bonuses, we can all but guarantee his recovery.
[X] Make ready to ride back to Orinilu with all due haste when dawn breaks.
-[X] Get their side of the story in the conflict with Yayar, and try to learn what we can of the curse. Be polite and diplomatic, if possible, but resort to intimidation if necessary.
-[X] If Megin is able to calm the proto-horses sufficiently for a group of them to be captured without delaying our departure, we will make the attempt. Otherwise, we'll have to come back another time. Zaia's well-being is of far greater importance.
We need to get out hands on wolfsbane ASAP. With a bit of time to prepare various bonuses, we can all but guarantee his recovery.
[X] Make ready to ride back to Orinilu with all due haste when dawn breaks.
-[X] Get their side of the story in the conflict with Yayar, and try to learn what we can of the curse. Be polite and diplomatic, if possible, but resort to intimidation if necessary.
-[X] If Megin is able to calm the proto-horses sufficiently for a group of them to be captured without delaying our departure, we will make the attempt. Otherwise, we'll have to come back another time. Zaia's well-being is of far greater importance.