The gods warred, and Heaven Fell. Only humans and monsters survive in the wastes, but which is which is not always clear...
Paths of Heroes
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 148
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 11
-
Statistics (7 threadmarks, 8k words)
User Total Academia Nut 7 -
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Origins
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"In the Time Before Time, all was well and the gods walked in peace among men. The world was Their Garden and All Was Good. But then the gods took to quarrelling among themselves. The oceans rose, mountains crumbled, and finally the Heavens Fell. Stars and the bones of dead Titans crashed to the earth, remaking and poisoning the lands and seas. If any gods have survived they are silent. Beasts prowl the wastelands and mad spirits squat in rotten ruins of their former glory. But like mice amidst a battlefield, humans avoided the wrath of the gods against each other to survive into this new age. The passing of the generations has erased from living memory the Time Before Time and the turning of the age. Gone is the age of gold and light, and come is an age of iron and fire. An age of darkness. An age of heroes!"
The gods fought, and the world died. That is what the elders say. The truth is unknown, and perhaps irrelevant. What is relevant is that the world is toxic and hostile to human life, and to be merely human is insufficient to survive, let alone thrive. But while every human is born weak, there is nothing that says that they have to stay that way. The energies that poison land and waters can be infused into the flesh and soul. The heartsblood of great beasts can be drunk to take on their power. All manner of strange rituals and magics can transform the merely human into beings capable of fighting back against a world that wants them dead.
To be a hero in this world, in this age, is to be larger than life. It is to drink from the cups of power even if they poison you, change you. It is to have drives and passions that push one against the impossible. It is a lonely path with few peers and many enemies.
But even if they achieve singular greatness, all heroes come from somewhere.
Select a starting territory
[] [Terr] Storm Riders of the Savage Seas
[] [Terr] Oasis Farmers of the Desert Wastes
[] [Terr] Cave Dwellers of the High Mountains
[] [Terr] Scavengers of the Titans' Bones
[] [Terr] Hunters of the Hungry Jungles
Select a starting enhancement tech
[] [Tech] Alchemy
[] [Tech] Artifice
[] [Tech] Beast Binding
[] [Tech] Geomancy
[] [Tech] Patron Spirit
[] [Tech] Xenografting
Select a local challenge
[] [Cha] Ferocious Beasts
[] [Cha] Unclaimed Ruins
[] [Cha] Barbarian Raiders
[] [Cha] Toxic Terrain
[] [Cha] Mad Spirits
Select a local advantage
[] [Adv] Essence Spring (+Essence, +Food)
[] [Adv] Ore Veins (++Resources)
[] [Adv] Rich Soil (++Food)
[] [Adv] Local Militias (+Organization, +Personal Prowess)
[] [Adv] Safe Settlement (++Organization, +Food, -Personal Prowess)
[] [Adv] Intact Archives (Random bonus tech)
[] [Adv] Ancient Infrastructure (++Travel)
[] [Adv] Natural Chokepoint (++Defence, +Organization, -Travel)
[] [Adv] Chaos (2 random advantages, 1 extra local challenge)
The gods fought, and the world died. That is what the elders say. The truth is unknown, and perhaps irrelevant. What is relevant is that the world is toxic and hostile to human life, and to be merely human is insufficient to survive, let alone thrive. But while every human is born weak, there is nothing that says that they have to stay that way. The energies that poison land and waters can be infused into the flesh and soul. The heartsblood of great beasts can be drunk to take on their power. All manner of strange rituals and magics can transform the merely human into beings capable of fighting back against a world that wants them dead.
To be a hero in this world, in this age, is to be larger than life. It is to drink from the cups of power even if they poison you, change you. It is to have drives and passions that push one against the impossible. It is a lonely path with few peers and many enemies.
But even if they achieve singular greatness, all heroes come from somewhere.
Select a starting territory
[] [Terr] Storm Riders of the Savage Seas
[] [Terr] Oasis Farmers of the Desert Wastes
[] [Terr] Cave Dwellers of the High Mountains
[] [Terr] Scavengers of the Titans' Bones
[] [Terr] Hunters of the Hungry Jungles
- Savage Seas
- Desert Wastes
- High Mountains
- Titans' Bones
- Hungry Jungles
Select a starting enhancement tech
[] [Tech] Alchemy
[] [Tech] Artifice
[] [Tech] Beast Binding
[] [Tech] Geomancy
[] [Tech] Patron Spirit
[] [Tech] Xenografting
- Alchemy
- Artifice
- Beast Binding
- Geomancy
- Patron Spirit
- Xenografting
Select a local challenge
[] [Cha] Ferocious Beasts
[] [Cha] Unclaimed Ruins
[] [Cha] Barbarian Raiders
[] [Cha] Toxic Terrain
[] [Cha] Mad Spirits
- Ferocious Beasts
- Unclaimed Ruins
- Barbarian Raiders
- Toxic Terrain
- Mad Spirits
Select a local advantage
[] [Adv] Essence Spring (+Essence, +Food)
[] [Adv] Ore Veins (++Resources)
[] [Adv] Rich Soil (++Food)
[] [Adv] Local Militias (+Organization, +Personal Prowess)
[] [Adv] Safe Settlement (++Organization, +Food, -Personal Prowess)
[] [Adv] Intact Archives (Random bonus tech)
[] [Adv] Ancient Infrastructure (++Travel)
[] [Adv] Natural Chokepoint (++Defence, +Organization, -Travel)
[] [Adv] Chaos (2 random advantages, 1 extra local challenge)
Hero Stats
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Cal Halsy
- Leelbok
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Polity Stats
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Stats
Food Poor
Resources Terrible (Temp Poor)
Essence Very Good
Defence Poor (Temp Good)
Travel Poor
Organization Abysmal
Personal Prowess Good
Discontent Significant
Panic Impeding (-1 action)
Units
1 Hunter Squad (Hunt, Patrol, Explore)
1 Delver Squad (Explore, Scavenge)
Techs
Beast Binding
Patron Spirit
Information
Food
How much food there is available for humans and beasts. Food controls the quantity and quality of life in a region, human or otherwise.
Resources
Access to raw materials useful for constructing things. Low Resources means that a polity has access to limited amounts of poor quality materials, while high Resources means that a polity has access to things like rare metals and gems.
Essence
The ambient magical energy of a region. Low Essence means that there is little free floating magic to work with, precluding the most fantastical of creatures and workings. High Essence makes the region more magical and 'alive', but also a tempting target for the powerful.
Defence
Whether natural barriers or logistical constraints, Defence measures how easy a location is to hold from outside attackers. Low Defence is associated with rolling plains with plenty of pasture, while High Defence is indicative of numerous choke points and few logistical paths.
Travel
How quickly one can move about a region, which is useful for trade, communication, and mustering military strength. Low Travel indicates numerous barriers, while high Travel means that it is easy to move from place to place.
Organization
How able a group is to coordinate and collaborate. At low Organization the people are probably organized into small, nomadic families who may only vaguely tolerate each other. At high Organization a polity has sophisticated bureaucracies and systems of government to manage their affairs and infrastructure.
Personal Prowess
A combination of training and necessary skills for local survival, Personal Prowess indicates just how potent the average person is. Low Personal Prowess indicates that much of the population probably hasn't seen combat and hasn't prepared for it. High Personal Prowess indicates that either most of your people are trained killers, or those who do train are incredibly elite.
Discontent
How upset the people of a polity are with their current leadership. High Discontent leads to problems performing polity wide actions, and threatens revolt against those in charge.
Panic
How scared the people of a polity are. High Panic slows down the ability to perform actions, causing economic disruptions that can lead to starvation and ruin.
Food Poor
Resources Terrible (Temp Poor)
Essence Very Good
Defence Poor (Temp Good)
Travel Poor
Organization Abysmal
Personal Prowess Good
Discontent Significant
Panic Impeding (-1 action)
- Comparative Ranks
Units
1 Hunter Squad (Hunt, Patrol, Explore)
1 Delver Squad (Explore, Scavenge)
Techs
Beast Binding
Patron Spirit
Information
Food
How much food there is available for humans and beasts. Food controls the quantity and quality of life in a region, human or otherwise.
Resources
Access to raw materials useful for constructing things. Low Resources means that a polity has access to limited amounts of poor quality materials, while high Resources means that a polity has access to things like rare metals and gems.
Essence
The ambient magical energy of a region. Low Essence means that there is little free floating magic to work with, precluding the most fantastical of creatures and workings. High Essence makes the region more magical and 'alive', but also a tempting target for the powerful.
Defence
Whether natural barriers or logistical constraints, Defence measures how easy a location is to hold from outside attackers. Low Defence is associated with rolling plains with plenty of pasture, while High Defence is indicative of numerous choke points and few logistical paths.
Travel
How quickly one can move about a region, which is useful for trade, communication, and mustering military strength. Low Travel indicates numerous barriers, while high Travel means that it is easy to move from place to place.
Organization
How able a group is to coordinate and collaborate. At low Organization the people are probably organized into small, nomadic families who may only vaguely tolerate each other. At high Organization a polity has sophisticated bureaucracies and systems of government to manage their affairs and infrastructure.
Personal Prowess
A combination of training and necessary skills for local survival, Personal Prowess indicates just how potent the average person is. Low Personal Prowess indicates that much of the population probably hasn't seen combat and hasn't prepared for it. High Personal Prowess indicates that either most of your people are trained killers, or those who do train are incredibly elite.
Discontent
How upset the people of a polity are with their current leadership. High Discontent leads to problems performing polity wide actions, and threatens revolt against those in charge.
Panic
How scared the people of a polity are. High Panic slows down the ability to perform actions, causing economic disruptions that can lead to starvation and ruin.
Last edited:
Relations
- Pronouns
- He/Him
None (yet)
Extras
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Reserved, Just In Case
Goldsprings
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] [Terr] Scavengers of the Titans' Bones
[X] [Tech] Beast Binding
[X] [Cha] Ferocious Beasts
[X] [Adv] Essence Spring (+Essence, +Food)
Once this place had been alive. Once it had been place and person in one. Once it had been a god, a world unto itself.
Now it was a corpse of mind boggling size. Ribs made of black iron and grey granite shot up into the sky so high that clouds snagged upon their tips. Yet if one climbed the interior lattice where there had once been marrow and blood vessels and gazed out upon the landscape, one could not see the edge of the body.
What one could see from such a lofty vantage point was the rotted, exploded meat of a dead Titan. Much of it was a spongy, grey-green, sort of stone folded like a tiny mountain range that wept acrid black oil as it putrefied, the rotten effluent gathering in places into rivers and lakes of corrosive slime. In other places the remnants of divine organs poked through ruined meat, but their forms were always strange and their functions unnameable. What purpose had an array of shattered crystal octahedrons once served? Had the slick, meaty material that ran throughout the corpse in mad patterns and lines once been like veins and arteries, or was that reading into it?
The Boneyard was a thousand such mysteries, and ten thousand dangers.
Of the dangers, some were passive. They were sudden floods of rotten tar. They were cave-ins. They were uncovering some cache of toxic energy that had once fuelled a god. Others however were active, hunting things. What was a scavenger, what was a living piece of the god that had not yet realized it was dead, and what was a haunted memory was never clear, and this place had a habit of blending them together.
Among the scavengers were the people of Goldsprings. Located within one of the great ribs high enough to avoid tar floods and all but the worst of the miasma storms, but not so high as to make scavenging impossible. They clustered about some quirk of the remains that caused pure and clean water to bubble forth, providing enough water to support dozens of families and their gardens. The other half of the name came from what sat atop the springs.
Rising from the almost completely still pool was a tremendous pile of gold tokens, and lying upon that pile was a great dragon, a creature from the Time Before Time. Her skin and scales had burned away, leaving charred black bone to fuse with wet, chitinous muscle. Her wings were useless spars of bone and sinew, and her legs were twisted and shattered. A hundred different fluids leaked from her wounds, only to purify upon contact with the water of the spring. She had spent centuries sleeping, only occasionally flickering to consciousness as she healed from her wounds. The humans that clustered about her called her the Springmother.
Around her sat dozens of fist sized rubies that gleamed with inner fire, their value more incalculable than any gem. These were the eggs of the Springmother, the future of her kind, and they were either the salvation or doom of all in Goldsprings.
Once the Springmother had forbidden humans from touching her eggs, and they had complied. Only when the first egg hatched, the creature within had been devoid of the spark of intelligence. The Springmother's lineage had ended with her, her children doomed to either become stillbirths or mindless beasts. At great cost the people of Goldsprings had returned one of her children to her, and she had rejected them as being unworthy of her concern. Unfortunately by the time this task had been achieved there were already descendents of that ill-fortuned birth, and a population of predatory drakes had established themselves in the region. Twisted by the scars of their mother and mutated by their environment, they were even more bestial than their progenitors, and threatened Goldsprings with their attacks.
With the Springmother's direction, the humans learned to bind her lost descendents to their wills. She also taught them to attune to the nascent spirits of her still developing eggs, allowing her young to gain human intelligence while the humans gained some of their strength. A scavenger with an egg could dive deeper into the ruins below and find more exotic goods and scraps of information.
This had come at a cost though. Thus far only one egg had hatched and produced an intelligent creature, while three had been permanently lost to the ruins, adding new horrors to the already myriad forms of monsters the Boneyard vomited forth. And that one true dragon, young as he was, was sent away once judged strong enough so that something might continue if everything went wrong.
So it was in Goldsprings. Most days were spent tending to the gardens, shaping metal, and guarding against dangerous creatures that tested their defences. When ready they would strike out, pushing and the monsters at their doorsteps back. They would then send delvers into the depths to pick bones of green copper and harvest flowers of tin and lead. They would haul up tar to distill into oil to feed their fires. They would raid the nests of monsters to bind a new generation to service. They would send runners out to other villages not too distant to share information and trade rare goods. And finally, with the turning of the seasons they would fall back to their defences before the monsters got too used to their tactics and their losses became too great.
And one day, a young man was summoned before the Springmother with a special task.
He was a…
[] [Hero] Hunter
[] [Hero] Delver
[] [Hero] Runner
[] [Hero] Ritualist
...bound to a…
[] [Bind] Drake
[] [Bind] Husker
[] [Bind] Lost Soul
[] [Bind] Doomteller
[X] [Tech] Beast Binding
[X] [Cha] Ferocious Beasts
[X] [Adv] Essence Spring (+Essence, +Food)
Once this place had been alive. Once it had been place and person in one. Once it had been a god, a world unto itself.
Now it was a corpse of mind boggling size. Ribs made of black iron and grey granite shot up into the sky so high that clouds snagged upon their tips. Yet if one climbed the interior lattice where there had once been marrow and blood vessels and gazed out upon the landscape, one could not see the edge of the body.
What one could see from such a lofty vantage point was the rotted, exploded meat of a dead Titan. Much of it was a spongy, grey-green, sort of stone folded like a tiny mountain range that wept acrid black oil as it putrefied, the rotten effluent gathering in places into rivers and lakes of corrosive slime. In other places the remnants of divine organs poked through ruined meat, but their forms were always strange and their functions unnameable. What purpose had an array of shattered crystal octahedrons once served? Had the slick, meaty material that ran throughout the corpse in mad patterns and lines once been like veins and arteries, or was that reading into it?
The Boneyard was a thousand such mysteries, and ten thousand dangers.
Of the dangers, some were passive. They were sudden floods of rotten tar. They were cave-ins. They were uncovering some cache of toxic energy that had once fuelled a god. Others however were active, hunting things. What was a scavenger, what was a living piece of the god that had not yet realized it was dead, and what was a haunted memory was never clear, and this place had a habit of blending them together.
Among the scavengers were the people of Goldsprings. Located within one of the great ribs high enough to avoid tar floods and all but the worst of the miasma storms, but not so high as to make scavenging impossible. They clustered about some quirk of the remains that caused pure and clean water to bubble forth, providing enough water to support dozens of families and their gardens. The other half of the name came from what sat atop the springs.
Rising from the almost completely still pool was a tremendous pile of gold tokens, and lying upon that pile was a great dragon, a creature from the Time Before Time. Her skin and scales had burned away, leaving charred black bone to fuse with wet, chitinous muscle. Her wings were useless spars of bone and sinew, and her legs were twisted and shattered. A hundred different fluids leaked from her wounds, only to purify upon contact with the water of the spring. She had spent centuries sleeping, only occasionally flickering to consciousness as she healed from her wounds. The humans that clustered about her called her the Springmother.
Around her sat dozens of fist sized rubies that gleamed with inner fire, their value more incalculable than any gem. These were the eggs of the Springmother, the future of her kind, and they were either the salvation or doom of all in Goldsprings.
Once the Springmother had forbidden humans from touching her eggs, and they had complied. Only when the first egg hatched, the creature within had been devoid of the spark of intelligence. The Springmother's lineage had ended with her, her children doomed to either become stillbirths or mindless beasts. At great cost the people of Goldsprings had returned one of her children to her, and she had rejected them as being unworthy of her concern. Unfortunately by the time this task had been achieved there were already descendents of that ill-fortuned birth, and a population of predatory drakes had established themselves in the region. Twisted by the scars of their mother and mutated by their environment, they were even more bestial than their progenitors, and threatened Goldsprings with their attacks.
With the Springmother's direction, the humans learned to bind her lost descendents to their wills. She also taught them to attune to the nascent spirits of her still developing eggs, allowing her young to gain human intelligence while the humans gained some of their strength. A scavenger with an egg could dive deeper into the ruins below and find more exotic goods and scraps of information.
This had come at a cost though. Thus far only one egg had hatched and produced an intelligent creature, while three had been permanently lost to the ruins, adding new horrors to the already myriad forms of monsters the Boneyard vomited forth. And that one true dragon, young as he was, was sent away once judged strong enough so that something might continue if everything went wrong.
So it was in Goldsprings. Most days were spent tending to the gardens, shaping metal, and guarding against dangerous creatures that tested their defences. When ready they would strike out, pushing and the monsters at their doorsteps back. They would then send delvers into the depths to pick bones of green copper and harvest flowers of tin and lead. They would haul up tar to distill into oil to feed their fires. They would raid the nests of monsters to bind a new generation to service. They would send runners out to other villages not too distant to share information and trade rare goods. And finally, with the turning of the seasons they would fall back to their defences before the monsters got too used to their tactics and their losses became too great.
And one day, a young man was summoned before the Springmother with a special task.
He was a…
[] [Hero] Hunter
[] [Hero] Delver
[] [Hero] Runner
[] [Hero] Ritualist
- Hunter
- Delver
- Runner
- Ritualist
...bound to a…
[] [Bind] Drake
[] [Bind] Husker
[] [Bind] Lost Soul
[] [Bind] Doomteller
- Drake
- Husker
- Lost Soul
- Doomteller
Last edited:
Week 1 - Beginning of a Quest
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[Hero] Delver
[Bind] Doomteller
Cal was a Delver. His job wasn't nearly as glamorous as the Hunters, but he and the other Delvers were a key component to keeping the village safe and sound. They got key materials for the ritualists to turn into tools and weapons that kept everyone safe. Where most of his peers were very much work hard, rest hard types, he had made his own life harder for himself when a strange creature had scuttled into his dreams one day, and he had decided to befriend it rather than drive it away or kill it. Now he spent his off time going into the dreams of others with his partner Leelbok to help them sleep better, and the off seasons he practiced casting prophecies so that everyone might have a better idea when to strike and where to look for the best items.
Despite the fact that he knew that he was talked about by the village elders, he was still nervous to find out he had been summoned for a discussion in the Spring. He had of course been there before for ceremonies and festivals, but being in the presence of the Springmother was always both nerve wracking and humbling. The great dragon was larger than any building in the village and had an aura of respect commanding terror about her, but her wounds were both gruesome and also gave her an air of pitiable fragility. One look at the Springmother was to know awe and horror that she could be brought so low.
Following the stream out of the spring that gave Goldsprings its name, Cal ascended up the winding and spiralling collection of stepped gardens, the stream growing thicker closer to the source as there were fewer and fewer plots drinking from it. Finally he arrived at the great brass gates that protected the source, the two Grey Hunters at guard stepping aside as he arrived, gesturing for him to continue onward.
The air within the spring was, as always, fresh and invigorating. Everyone always felt more alive in this place, and small aches and minor illnesses were banished with just a short exposure. The creche was located within, held in a side chamber so that the young and old alike could benefit from extended exposure without disturbing or being disturbed by the Springmother.
Rounding the last corner, Cal came to see the tremendous bulk of the Springmother lying upon the pile of gold tokens stacked up in the center of the spring. A pair of Ritualists attended to her, circling her and waving censers filled with smoking incense that had antiseptic properties. Tales told that in the early days that despite the water remaining pure from her weeping wounds, the Springmother had been nearly unapproachable due to the stench of her rotten wounds. These days the worst of the rot had been torn away by human hands and healed over, but even after many generations she still had more charred muscle exposed than skin.
Cal bowed deeply towards the Springmother and announced, "Cal Halsy, reporting as requested by the elders."
A tremendous rumble caused the water to vibrate and Cal's organs to slosh about, and he lifted his head to see the Springmother had opened a single reptilian red eye to look at him. One of the Ritualists set down their censer and immediately grabbed a bucket, splashing spring water upon the Springmother's eye, washing away an iridescent film of some putrid fluid that had accumulated under the lid.
You are the dreamer, the fortune thief. The tremendous bass rumble was not so much speech as it was a seismic event, but her meaning was revealed all the same.
Bowing, Cal replied, "I am partnered with Leelbok the Doomteller, and I aid him in his works."
Good. I require a fortune.
That request caught Cal up short, and he began, "I can do my best, but…"
Not now, neither of the scavengers before me has the materials, tools, or skills to do what I need. A memory has come to me, a memory of what could be. The talents of humans in caring for my eggs are insufficient, but I know that you could be more. Dive deep, reclaim the arts of the past from dead dreams, and we will all benefit.
Cal considered these instructions carefully, and he said, "To be clear, you wish me to go as deep as possible into the Boneyard to retrieve a dead dream?"
Correct. Practice first. Show me progress and I will grant you leave to practice on my own dreams. Show me progress and I will perhaps permit you to carry one of my eggs to aid you in a Delving.
Thinking about it a bit, Cal then asked, "So to be clear here, what you want is for both your eggs and those that carry them to be stronger, so that your children will also be strengthened?"
Correct. You do not have the resources to develop what I half remember, and you cannot obtain them without first being strong. Dead dreams will guide you.
Nodding, Cal replied, "Of course Springmother. I shall take your message to the village council."
As the Springmother's eye closed once again, an older woman's voice spoke up from behind Cal and said, "We are already aware, young Halsy."
Hero Goal: One of Cal or Leelbok has Craft(Dream) and Craft(Time) at Poor or better
Quest: Harvest a dream from the nightmares of a Dead Titan
Settlement Goal: Have all Enhancement Techs (2/6)
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: Beasts Quiet
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
[] Push Beasts Back - Units with the Hunt action push beasts back, changing from Defensive to Open Stance. High Success can generate temporary Resources.
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[Bind] Doomteller
Cal was a Delver. His job wasn't nearly as glamorous as the Hunters, but he and the other Delvers were a key component to keeping the village safe and sound. They got key materials for the ritualists to turn into tools and weapons that kept everyone safe. Where most of his peers were very much work hard, rest hard types, he had made his own life harder for himself when a strange creature had scuttled into his dreams one day, and he had decided to befriend it rather than drive it away or kill it. Now he spent his off time going into the dreams of others with his partner Leelbok to help them sleep better, and the off seasons he practiced casting prophecies so that everyone might have a better idea when to strike and where to look for the best items.
Despite the fact that he knew that he was talked about by the village elders, he was still nervous to find out he had been summoned for a discussion in the Spring. He had of course been there before for ceremonies and festivals, but being in the presence of the Springmother was always both nerve wracking and humbling. The great dragon was larger than any building in the village and had an aura of respect commanding terror about her, but her wounds were both gruesome and also gave her an air of pitiable fragility. One look at the Springmother was to know awe and horror that she could be brought so low.
Following the stream out of the spring that gave Goldsprings its name, Cal ascended up the winding and spiralling collection of stepped gardens, the stream growing thicker closer to the source as there were fewer and fewer plots drinking from it. Finally he arrived at the great brass gates that protected the source, the two Grey Hunters at guard stepping aside as he arrived, gesturing for him to continue onward.
The air within the spring was, as always, fresh and invigorating. Everyone always felt more alive in this place, and small aches and minor illnesses were banished with just a short exposure. The creche was located within, held in a side chamber so that the young and old alike could benefit from extended exposure without disturbing or being disturbed by the Springmother.
Rounding the last corner, Cal came to see the tremendous bulk of the Springmother lying upon the pile of gold tokens stacked up in the center of the spring. A pair of Ritualists attended to her, circling her and waving censers filled with smoking incense that had antiseptic properties. Tales told that in the early days that despite the water remaining pure from her weeping wounds, the Springmother had been nearly unapproachable due to the stench of her rotten wounds. These days the worst of the rot had been torn away by human hands and healed over, but even after many generations she still had more charred muscle exposed than skin.
Cal bowed deeply towards the Springmother and announced, "Cal Halsy, reporting as requested by the elders."
A tremendous rumble caused the water to vibrate and Cal's organs to slosh about, and he lifted his head to see the Springmother had opened a single reptilian red eye to look at him. One of the Ritualists set down their censer and immediately grabbed a bucket, splashing spring water upon the Springmother's eye, washing away an iridescent film of some putrid fluid that had accumulated under the lid.
You are the dreamer, the fortune thief. The tremendous bass rumble was not so much speech as it was a seismic event, but her meaning was revealed all the same.
Bowing, Cal replied, "I am partnered with Leelbok the Doomteller, and I aid him in his works."
Good. I require a fortune.
That request caught Cal up short, and he began, "I can do my best, but…"
Not now, neither of the scavengers before me has the materials, tools, or skills to do what I need. A memory has come to me, a memory of what could be. The talents of humans in caring for my eggs are insufficient, but I know that you could be more. Dive deep, reclaim the arts of the past from dead dreams, and we will all benefit.
Cal considered these instructions carefully, and he said, "To be clear, you wish me to go as deep as possible into the Boneyard to retrieve a dead dream?"
Correct. Practice first. Show me progress and I will grant you leave to practice on my own dreams. Show me progress and I will perhaps permit you to carry one of my eggs to aid you in a Delving.
Thinking about it a bit, Cal then asked, "So to be clear here, what you want is for both your eggs and those that carry them to be stronger, so that your children will also be strengthened?"
Correct. You do not have the resources to develop what I half remember, and you cannot obtain them without first being strong. Dead dreams will guide you.
Nodding, Cal replied, "Of course Springmother. I shall take your message to the village council."
As the Springmother's eye closed once again, an older woman's voice spoke up from behind Cal and said, "We are already aware, young Halsy."
Hero Goal: One of Cal or Leelbok has Craft(Dream) and Craft(Time) at Poor or better
Quest: Harvest a dream from the nightmares of a Dead Titan
Settlement Goal: Have all Enhancement Techs (2/6)
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: Beasts Quiet
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
Week 2 - Another Day In The Pit
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Explore
[X] Scavenge
Hero - Aid Delvers
After some discussion with the council, it was decided that while the beasts outside were quiet, the Hunters would range out further to seek anything interesting that might advance the goals of the Springmother. While the Hunters were out, the Delvers would collect resources from the Pit, the hole closest to the village that provided the easiest access to the tunnels and warrens where resources could be gathered.
With his fellow Delvers heading out, Cal would of course be joining them. His preparations began with calling Leelbok forth to join him, a process that began with greeting the creature in his dreams and then guiding him back to the waking world. Through both the bond they shared and his body language, Cal could tell that the little the Doomteller was excited to be heading out. At some point while he had been scuttling through Cal's dreams Leelbok had collected ephemeral black streamers and attached them to the tips of the verdigris spikes he had glued to his shell. From the emotions Cal felt while seeing them, they were associated with the Springmother, which was rather sweet.
Leelbok had however adjusted the pewter mask he wore again. The little guy understood that most humans found the approximation of a face he had glued to himself disconcerting, but he had yet to actually figure out how to make it not look uncanny or to stop fiddling with it so people could adjust. The eyestalks sticking out of the eye holes like a victim of slavery fungus did not help, but Cal did have to appreciate Leelbok for his attempt. At least the Doomteller had finally figured out that people preferred he wave at them with his large primary claws instead of his creepy baby hands that he kept tucked under his shell most of the time.
With Leelbok out and about to aid with the work, Cal spent the remainder of his time before venturing out checking over his gear. His Delver equipment was huge and bulky, made from bronze, brass, chitin, and specially treated leather. While it slowed him and the other Delvers down, and was stupid hot to work in, it could be completely sealed. While the Boneyard was not innately toxic, there were enough toxic surprises to be had down there that working in or near full seal was just good sense. They had ways to carry their own air or pipe it in if they went into a particularly suffocating environment, but that was extra weight and encumbrance.
The Hunters had their burst strength and grace, but it was a proverb that "Only a fool wrestles a Delver" for a reason.
Eventually all the preparation was done and it was actually time to gear up and head out. That was a regular enough thing that Cal thought nothing of it, but as always he had to pause once he and the others emerged from the protective enclosure of their home dug into the titan's rib, to stare out upon the Boneyard. Goldsprings sat hundreds of paces up from where it emerged from the rippling, rotten stone below, but the rib stretched off into infinity above, its top lost in the clouds. Various creatures flew in the distance but kept their distance from the fortified position the humans maintained.
Letting senior apprentices run one last check over the seals on his gear, Cal stepped onto the platform that raised and lowered everything in and out of Goldsprings. It was a trip he had taken many times before, but it was always the most nerve wracking part of an expedition given how much of his safety was out of his control.
Fortunately the trip down was uneventful, and he quickly joined up with the other Delvers and the Hunters who had ridden their Drakes down. The Pit was well patrolled and secured from generations of work, but the shifting of rotting divine flesh and the machinations of beasts was eternally opening up new fissures that let new dangers into the location.
The first night was relatively uneventful, a few strangler beasts becoming meals for those who had bound Drakes and Huskers, but something felt distinctly off to Cal. They had done a sweep a few weeks ago, but the activity felt lower than it should be. While most of the others agreed with him, there was little that could be done against something that wasn't there.
The Hunters were ranging out during the day, seeking uncharted fissures from the air by those on Drakes while their ground-bound kin poked at likely targets. Meanwhile the Delvers gathered up basic resources and did maintenance on the Pit. One of Cal's jobs was to descend into the muck of a tar flooded tunnel and unblock it by feel alone so that the glass flowers that bloomed there could be harvested.
The worst thing about the work was the moment between emerging from the stagnant oil and wiping off the faceplate. There were things that lived in the tar, but the only ones that were dangerous were too big to fit into the tunnels Cal worked in, so the biggest dangers were environmental and things that he could anticipate. Emerging from the tar there was a moment where you were exposed but still blind, and thus more vulnerable than ever.
It was to the Husker's great misfortune that it had been menacing the people manning the tether cable and air hose and was thus turned away from Cal. With no time for surprise or fear, Cal simply drew his mostly utilitarian blade and slammed it into the back of the creature's overly elongated skull.
Huskers were loathsome creatures, especially for the way their features blended insect and reptile features and their black carapaces were reminiscent of the burned and exposed musculature of the Springmother. Cal had never heard anyone openly talk of it, but it was suspected that the primordial Husker had been somehow related to the Drakes or even one of the Lost Eggs. Still, for all that they were seemingly sculpted out of raw nightmares, they died all the same, and could even be made to feel fear.
From all around Huskers boiled forth from crevasses and tunnels, whatever had held them back before shattered by the sudden death of one of their own. They were met with crossbow bolts tipped with the teeth of their brethren, the claws and fangs of bound beasts, and the blades and picks of the Delvers. Stuffed as he was into his gear, the whole fight was a claustrophobic and muted affair, Cal's own breathing the loudest thing for him as he moved forward relentlessly. Claws and teeth tore and rent at his armor, but failed to find purchase in his flesh, and the attacks just let him turn his slow attacks into inevitable presses.
By the time it was all over he had tossed his helmet aside, the bolts holding it in place having been severed by a particularly large Husker getting its whole mouth around his head, which had allowed him to quite thoroughly disembowel it for its trouble. Fortunately by that point the attacking Huskers were sufficiently discouraged that the only impairment was Cal having to deal with the smell.
Completely covered in tar and Husker blood, Cal collapsed down next to the pump he had been tethered to, his team assessing the damage and casualties, and he said, "Thought it was too quiet."
That got a nervous chuckle out of the group. That had been bad, but it could have been worse. Just another day down in the Pit.
Only it wasn't.
Before the day was out, all of the Delvers had been evacuated back to Goldsprings. Husker pack attacks on their own weren't something to get too worked up about, but it had rapidly become apparent that every team had been hit almost all at once. No one had died, but bound beasts and spirits had fallen, and there were enough heavy injuries and damaged equipment that a full rotation of crews would be needed. So many attacks spoke of not just packs but a full on nest.
The fact that they had not noticed a nest, combined with the coordination of the attack, suggested only one thing: human-borne Husker. Worse yet, considering that there wasn't anyone who could have been lost in such a manner from Goldsprings in years, that meant that the beast had to be old. Old, clever, and able to boss it's less intelligent kin around enough that they could suppress the activity of other beasts while hiding their presence near the Pit.
A human-borne Husker Patriarch or Matriarch. The stuff of nightmares, the sort of thing that could wipe out whole villages. The only thing to do was to pull back and wait for the Hunters to return from their scouting mission.
Much to the dismay of the Hunters out scouting, their fantastic news was drowned out by the much more pressing problem. They had discovered a rent that plunged down deep and somehow produced a powerful upward draft of cool, moist air. Investigation had revealed a massive downward shaft filled with windmoss, a kind of plant that grew in strange regions, consumed various toxins, and gave off little gusts of cool wind. It had all sorts of uses, from food to medicine to providing Delvers with air, and the massive amount of growth suggested that there was something even more interesting deeper down.
Exploration was probably going to have to wait though, as it was quite clear that they needed to do something about the Huskers. Popular opinion was to bottle the village back up and wait for the Huskers to get hungry enough to stop waiting and reveal their position, but there was also some sentiment towards sending the Hunters out to find and kill the nest as quickly as possible. Of course, the Boneyard just had to be a frustrating place, and waiting a few weeks for the Husker situation to clear up could very well mean that the windfall the Hunters had just discovered would vanish into the ever shifting terrain away from the ribs.
Hunters: Major Success -> Windmoss Rift Exploration/Scavenge Site Discovered
Delvers: Failure, take 1 damage (3/4 HP remaining, no penalties, one week inactivity to heal)
Cal ensures Delvers suffer minimal failure results
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: ??? (Intelligent Husker counters passive scouting)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic + Windmoss Rift
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
Panic Rises!
Discontent and Panic will rise every turn Stance is Open and Intelligent Husker is not dealt with
[] Push Beasts Back - Units with the Hunt action push beasts back, changing from Defensive to Open Stance. High Success can generate temporary Resources.
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Explore Windmoss Rift
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Scavenge Windmoss Rift. Must be explored first.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance. Not compatible with actions that Require Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[X] Scavenge
Hero - Aid Delvers
After some discussion with the council, it was decided that while the beasts outside were quiet, the Hunters would range out further to seek anything interesting that might advance the goals of the Springmother. While the Hunters were out, the Delvers would collect resources from the Pit, the hole closest to the village that provided the easiest access to the tunnels and warrens where resources could be gathered.
With his fellow Delvers heading out, Cal would of course be joining them. His preparations began with calling Leelbok forth to join him, a process that began with greeting the creature in his dreams and then guiding him back to the waking world. Through both the bond they shared and his body language, Cal could tell that the little the Doomteller was excited to be heading out. At some point while he had been scuttling through Cal's dreams Leelbok had collected ephemeral black streamers and attached them to the tips of the verdigris spikes he had glued to his shell. From the emotions Cal felt while seeing them, they were associated with the Springmother, which was rather sweet.
Leelbok had however adjusted the pewter mask he wore again. The little guy understood that most humans found the approximation of a face he had glued to himself disconcerting, but he had yet to actually figure out how to make it not look uncanny or to stop fiddling with it so people could adjust. The eyestalks sticking out of the eye holes like a victim of slavery fungus did not help, but Cal did have to appreciate Leelbok for his attempt. At least the Doomteller had finally figured out that people preferred he wave at them with his large primary claws instead of his creepy baby hands that he kept tucked under his shell most of the time.
With Leelbok out and about to aid with the work, Cal spent the remainder of his time before venturing out checking over his gear. His Delver equipment was huge and bulky, made from bronze, brass, chitin, and specially treated leather. While it slowed him and the other Delvers down, and was stupid hot to work in, it could be completely sealed. While the Boneyard was not innately toxic, there were enough toxic surprises to be had down there that working in or near full seal was just good sense. They had ways to carry their own air or pipe it in if they went into a particularly suffocating environment, but that was extra weight and encumbrance.
The Hunters had their burst strength and grace, but it was a proverb that "Only a fool wrestles a Delver" for a reason.
Eventually all the preparation was done and it was actually time to gear up and head out. That was a regular enough thing that Cal thought nothing of it, but as always he had to pause once he and the others emerged from the protective enclosure of their home dug into the titan's rib, to stare out upon the Boneyard. Goldsprings sat hundreds of paces up from where it emerged from the rippling, rotten stone below, but the rib stretched off into infinity above, its top lost in the clouds. Various creatures flew in the distance but kept their distance from the fortified position the humans maintained.
Letting senior apprentices run one last check over the seals on his gear, Cal stepped onto the platform that raised and lowered everything in and out of Goldsprings. It was a trip he had taken many times before, but it was always the most nerve wracking part of an expedition given how much of his safety was out of his control.
Fortunately the trip down was uneventful, and he quickly joined up with the other Delvers and the Hunters who had ridden their Drakes down. The Pit was well patrolled and secured from generations of work, but the shifting of rotting divine flesh and the machinations of beasts was eternally opening up new fissures that let new dangers into the location.
The first night was relatively uneventful, a few strangler beasts becoming meals for those who had bound Drakes and Huskers, but something felt distinctly off to Cal. They had done a sweep a few weeks ago, but the activity felt lower than it should be. While most of the others agreed with him, there was little that could be done against something that wasn't there.
The Hunters were ranging out during the day, seeking uncharted fissures from the air by those on Drakes while their ground-bound kin poked at likely targets. Meanwhile the Delvers gathered up basic resources and did maintenance on the Pit. One of Cal's jobs was to descend into the muck of a tar flooded tunnel and unblock it by feel alone so that the glass flowers that bloomed there could be harvested.
The worst thing about the work was the moment between emerging from the stagnant oil and wiping off the faceplate. There were things that lived in the tar, but the only ones that were dangerous were too big to fit into the tunnels Cal worked in, so the biggest dangers were environmental and things that he could anticipate. Emerging from the tar there was a moment where you were exposed but still blind, and thus more vulnerable than ever.
It was to the Husker's great misfortune that it had been menacing the people manning the tether cable and air hose and was thus turned away from Cal. With no time for surprise or fear, Cal simply drew his mostly utilitarian blade and slammed it into the back of the creature's overly elongated skull.
Huskers were loathsome creatures, especially for the way their features blended insect and reptile features and their black carapaces were reminiscent of the burned and exposed musculature of the Springmother. Cal had never heard anyone openly talk of it, but it was suspected that the primordial Husker had been somehow related to the Drakes or even one of the Lost Eggs. Still, for all that they were seemingly sculpted out of raw nightmares, they died all the same, and could even be made to feel fear.
From all around Huskers boiled forth from crevasses and tunnels, whatever had held them back before shattered by the sudden death of one of their own. They were met with crossbow bolts tipped with the teeth of their brethren, the claws and fangs of bound beasts, and the blades and picks of the Delvers. Stuffed as he was into his gear, the whole fight was a claustrophobic and muted affair, Cal's own breathing the loudest thing for him as he moved forward relentlessly. Claws and teeth tore and rent at his armor, but failed to find purchase in his flesh, and the attacks just let him turn his slow attacks into inevitable presses.
By the time it was all over he had tossed his helmet aside, the bolts holding it in place having been severed by a particularly large Husker getting its whole mouth around his head, which had allowed him to quite thoroughly disembowel it for its trouble. Fortunately by that point the attacking Huskers were sufficiently discouraged that the only impairment was Cal having to deal with the smell.
Completely covered in tar and Husker blood, Cal collapsed down next to the pump he had been tethered to, his team assessing the damage and casualties, and he said, "Thought it was too quiet."
That got a nervous chuckle out of the group. That had been bad, but it could have been worse. Just another day down in the Pit.
Only it wasn't.
Before the day was out, all of the Delvers had been evacuated back to Goldsprings. Husker pack attacks on their own weren't something to get too worked up about, but it had rapidly become apparent that every team had been hit almost all at once. No one had died, but bound beasts and spirits had fallen, and there were enough heavy injuries and damaged equipment that a full rotation of crews would be needed. So many attacks spoke of not just packs but a full on nest.
The fact that they had not noticed a nest, combined with the coordination of the attack, suggested only one thing: human-borne Husker. Worse yet, considering that there wasn't anyone who could have been lost in such a manner from Goldsprings in years, that meant that the beast had to be old. Old, clever, and able to boss it's less intelligent kin around enough that they could suppress the activity of other beasts while hiding their presence near the Pit.
A human-borne Husker Patriarch or Matriarch. The stuff of nightmares, the sort of thing that could wipe out whole villages. The only thing to do was to pull back and wait for the Hunters to return from their scouting mission.
Much to the dismay of the Hunters out scouting, their fantastic news was drowned out by the much more pressing problem. They had discovered a rent that plunged down deep and somehow produced a powerful upward draft of cool, moist air. Investigation had revealed a massive downward shaft filled with windmoss, a kind of plant that grew in strange regions, consumed various toxins, and gave off little gusts of cool wind. It had all sorts of uses, from food to medicine to providing Delvers with air, and the massive amount of growth suggested that there was something even more interesting deeper down.
Exploration was probably going to have to wait though, as it was quite clear that they needed to do something about the Huskers. Popular opinion was to bottle the village back up and wait for the Huskers to get hungry enough to stop waiting and reveal their position, but there was also some sentiment towards sending the Hunters out to find and kill the nest as quickly as possible. Of course, the Boneyard just had to be a frustrating place, and waiting a few weeks for the Husker situation to clear up could very well mean that the windfall the Hunters had just discovered would vanish into the ever shifting terrain away from the ribs.
Hunters: Major Success -> Windmoss Rift Exploration/Scavenge Site Discovered
Delvers: Failure, take 1 damage (3/4 HP remaining, no penalties, one week inactivity to heal)
Cal ensures Delvers suffer minimal failure results
Current Stance: Open
Passive Scout Results: ??? (Intelligent Husker counters passive scouting)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic + Windmoss Rift
Current Community Actions Available: 2
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
Panic Rises!
Discontent and Panic will rise every turn Stance is Open and Intelligent Husker is not dealt with
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Explore Windmoss Rift
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance. Not compatible with actions that Require Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
Last edited:
Week 3 - Tripping the Rift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
Hero Aids Delvers
While the elders decided on the best course of action, Cal chose to meditate with Leelbok. The little guy was more than a little depressed over not being able to give some sort of warning for his friends, and thus was throwing himself ever harder into working on his prophetic abilities. Cal was of course helping by dreaming with him and helping the Doomteller to find and piece together pieces of time.
Cal only had a sort of vague understanding of how it worked, but as best he could tell dreams contained memories, and the Doomtellers had ways to access memories that had yet to be formed. Unfortunately dreams were also imaginings, and neither Leelbok nor Cal were very good at piecing together what was future memory and what was just random whimsy.
Still, Cal was more than willing to help his partner, and thus when Leelbok proudly presented him a flimsy thing of shimmering light in his dreams, he accepted it. What he found was not what he expected.
Cal was walking through one of the side tunnels near Goldsprings, a part of the rib that had been sealed off but was frequently patrolled. Only instead of rocky bone held in darkness, the walls were lined with windmoss and hung with lanterns that gave off brilliant golden light. The whole place smelled of pure, chilled air and had a pleasant breeze blowing through, the warmth of the lanterns balancing the wind to be perfectly relaxing.
When he awoke, Cal suspected that the expedition being planned would produce some most interesting finds. While he wasn't exactly sure of the overall planning - the Delver were fairly explicitly being used as bait to try to draw out the Huskers - he supposed that it was a fairly good plan all around. The Hunters were already harrying the Huskers and anything else that was getting too close, and in a day's time the Delvers would venture out to the recently discovered Windmoss Rift. It was hoped that the Husker leader would be smart enough to see the detached Delvers as an easy target while the Hunters on Drakes provided overwatch.
When the time came the Delvers were forced to do the one thing they hated most: head out into the Boneyard not wearing their heavy gear. They had packed everything they would need into carts hauled by beasts too dull to bind and would be wearing basic survival gear, but the distance was simply too great to be wearing their work gear until they arrived at the site. They all felt terribly exposed, but at least the Rift was not so far that they had to camp out in open wilderness before arriving. Those trips were always extra uncomfortable.
Fortunately they made it across the relatively short distance of the surface to make it to the rift, which the Hunters had generally cleared out enough that the Delvers could easily set up as a fortified temporary camp before nightfall. This meant that the Delvers could also gear up for when they were standing guard, which improved morale significantly. The talk of the camp revolved primarily around the wisdom of sending them out here rather than fortifying up, or at least staying home while the Hunters dealt with the Huskers.
After a mostly uneventful night with only a few wildlife attacks, it was time to begin exploring the rift. Cal of course volunteered to be at the front, letting himself be lowered into the rift to examine it. Almost immediately it became apparent that even just hacking out clumps of windmoss would be incredibly profitable, as the stuff was truly covering every surface in what had possibly once been a Titan's bone, now hollowed out of its marrow and shattered in deep crevasses. The only big issue was working out what other tunnels this place might connect into, and figuring out what the moss was feeding on. The stuff took in toxins and corruption - with the unfortunate exception of most of the tar which was just too corrosive for it - so for it to be growing so prolifically meant that there had to be something it was feeding on.
Since harvesting valuable material only for the process to reveal some hidden danger was one of the primary ways for Delvers to die while out scavenging, finding the truth of this place was the primary purpose of the exploration. At the very least they could rule out tar and concentrated acid, but despite the incredibly clean air there was probably a vent of some toxic and/or flammable gas in the place feeding everything. Or maybe deeper down there was a noxious mold or fungus releasing spores that were getting eaten by the moss and cutting it away would release them.
So Cal and the Delvers worked with survey tools to measure the depths of the moss, search for unstable terrain, and chart out airflow patterns and liquid drainage. By the third day of the expedition they had not found anything conclusive in their careful probing, but there was definitely something affecting the whole region and providing enough windmoss that they could feed it to animals as fodder instead of husbanding it for medicine and filters. Cal also realized that if they could work out what the source was and bring it back, they could possibly use it to set up windmoss farms in the tunnels adjacent to the village, significantly improving the safety and ease of gathering.
Leelbok was so proud of bringing that idea forth.
Finally on the fourth day Cal pressing a survey pole into the cool and slightly damp moss produced a metallic clang a finger's length into the plant matter. Carefully pulling out his utility sword, he began to carefully cut away the moss alongside the other Delvers on his team. Beneath the moss they found a smooth golden-copper metal instead of the usual stone. Cutting further, they found an entire trilobed valve large enough for a mature Drake and rider to march through. Pulling out diving tools, they noticed no ill tidings from the burning of incense or swinging of crystal pendulums.
Pausing to triple check all of their seals and making sure that the team that would be approaching the valve was secured to emergency ropes, Cal and five others all went to work seeing if they could gently open the valve. With some wiggling and shifting, they managed to push it in just a crack at the center, opening a tiny circle just big enough to peer through. Pausing to retry their auguries to make sure that they had not opened up any dangers, Cal then took a look inside once it was deemed safe enough.
Pushing through a glowstone to provide illumination, Cal put his face right up to the opening, and saw… well, he wasn't sure what he saw. There was an enormous chamber on the other side of the valve, free of windmoss but filled with a tangle of what might be intestines or veins or something, only they had a metallic shine from the light of the bauble dropped in. Moving his head back and forth to try to get a better view, Cal tried to figure out what it was that he was seeing.
For a split second Cal thought that he saw something with a light that wasn't from the glowstone, and then his whole vision went white, he tasted metal in his mouth and nose, and it felt like he had been punched in the face. Stumbling backward in shock, he slammed into the moss covered wall behind him.
"Cal!" Someone called out. Blinking his eyes to try to get the spots out of them, Cal held up a hand to forestall being hauled off his feet by the concerns of the rest of his team. He just needed to…
Something was moving at his back. At that he leapt away from the wall, his balance not set and once he hit the ground he allowed his team to haul him along while the other members of the push team ran away from the valve, aiding as they could. Cal's face and hands were starting to tingle, and he was fairly certain that he could taste blood in his mouth.
"Mother preserve us…" Someone uttered in horror as Cal was hauled drunkenly to his feet. Turning around to see what was being pointed at, Cal witnessed the windmoss growing before their eyes, all in a huge circle opposite the open valve, with the most growth occurring exactly opposite the hole. In mere moments the moss grew to be at least an arm's length thick at the center, and then the center started to slump and peel away.
The moss was growing, but the material exactly opposite the opening was also dying, whatever invisible toxicity beyond the valve was too intense for the windmoss to keep up. Moss blackened and died, the ruined material consumed by the neighbouring plant mass, but it was obvious that the toxins were winning out. As dead moss began to accumulate in front of the central hole, it started to smoulder.
By the time his team had picked him up to carry him, the moss was in a spirited competition between trying to consume the dead and dying kin and burning, and it looked like the equilibrium point was going to be profoundly unhealthy for humans.
As for Cal…
Windmoss Rift -> Burning Rift
Discontent Rises!
Panic Rises!
Choose an organ for the toxins to concentrate in
[] Heart
[] Nerves
[] Marrow
[] Skin
[] Lungs
[] Stomach
[] Kidneys
-[X] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
[X] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
-[X] Explore Windmoss Rift
Hero Aids Delvers
While the elders decided on the best course of action, Cal chose to meditate with Leelbok. The little guy was more than a little depressed over not being able to give some sort of warning for his friends, and thus was throwing himself ever harder into working on his prophetic abilities. Cal was of course helping by dreaming with him and helping the Doomteller to find and piece together pieces of time.
Cal only had a sort of vague understanding of how it worked, but as best he could tell dreams contained memories, and the Doomtellers had ways to access memories that had yet to be formed. Unfortunately dreams were also imaginings, and neither Leelbok nor Cal were very good at piecing together what was future memory and what was just random whimsy.
Still, Cal was more than willing to help his partner, and thus when Leelbok proudly presented him a flimsy thing of shimmering light in his dreams, he accepted it. What he found was not what he expected.
Cal was walking through one of the side tunnels near Goldsprings, a part of the rib that had been sealed off but was frequently patrolled. Only instead of rocky bone held in darkness, the walls were lined with windmoss and hung with lanterns that gave off brilliant golden light. The whole place smelled of pure, chilled air and had a pleasant breeze blowing through, the warmth of the lanterns balancing the wind to be perfectly relaxing.
When he awoke, Cal suspected that the expedition being planned would produce some most interesting finds. While he wasn't exactly sure of the overall planning - the Delver were fairly explicitly being used as bait to try to draw out the Huskers - he supposed that it was a fairly good plan all around. The Hunters were already harrying the Huskers and anything else that was getting too close, and in a day's time the Delvers would venture out to the recently discovered Windmoss Rift. It was hoped that the Husker leader would be smart enough to see the detached Delvers as an easy target while the Hunters on Drakes provided overwatch.
When the time came the Delvers were forced to do the one thing they hated most: head out into the Boneyard not wearing their heavy gear. They had packed everything they would need into carts hauled by beasts too dull to bind and would be wearing basic survival gear, but the distance was simply too great to be wearing their work gear until they arrived at the site. They all felt terribly exposed, but at least the Rift was not so far that they had to camp out in open wilderness before arriving. Those trips were always extra uncomfortable.
Fortunately they made it across the relatively short distance of the surface to make it to the rift, which the Hunters had generally cleared out enough that the Delvers could easily set up as a fortified temporary camp before nightfall. This meant that the Delvers could also gear up for when they were standing guard, which improved morale significantly. The talk of the camp revolved primarily around the wisdom of sending them out here rather than fortifying up, or at least staying home while the Hunters dealt with the Huskers.
After a mostly uneventful night with only a few wildlife attacks, it was time to begin exploring the rift. Cal of course volunteered to be at the front, letting himself be lowered into the rift to examine it. Almost immediately it became apparent that even just hacking out clumps of windmoss would be incredibly profitable, as the stuff was truly covering every surface in what had possibly once been a Titan's bone, now hollowed out of its marrow and shattered in deep crevasses. The only big issue was working out what other tunnels this place might connect into, and figuring out what the moss was feeding on. The stuff took in toxins and corruption - with the unfortunate exception of most of the tar which was just too corrosive for it - so for it to be growing so prolifically meant that there had to be something it was feeding on.
Since harvesting valuable material only for the process to reveal some hidden danger was one of the primary ways for Delvers to die while out scavenging, finding the truth of this place was the primary purpose of the exploration. At the very least they could rule out tar and concentrated acid, but despite the incredibly clean air there was probably a vent of some toxic and/or flammable gas in the place feeding everything. Or maybe deeper down there was a noxious mold or fungus releasing spores that were getting eaten by the moss and cutting it away would release them.
So Cal and the Delvers worked with survey tools to measure the depths of the moss, search for unstable terrain, and chart out airflow patterns and liquid drainage. By the third day of the expedition they had not found anything conclusive in their careful probing, but there was definitely something affecting the whole region and providing enough windmoss that they could feed it to animals as fodder instead of husbanding it for medicine and filters. Cal also realized that if they could work out what the source was and bring it back, they could possibly use it to set up windmoss farms in the tunnels adjacent to the village, significantly improving the safety and ease of gathering.
Leelbok was so proud of bringing that idea forth.
Finally on the fourth day Cal pressing a survey pole into the cool and slightly damp moss produced a metallic clang a finger's length into the plant matter. Carefully pulling out his utility sword, he began to carefully cut away the moss alongside the other Delvers on his team. Beneath the moss they found a smooth golden-copper metal instead of the usual stone. Cutting further, they found an entire trilobed valve large enough for a mature Drake and rider to march through. Pulling out diving tools, they noticed no ill tidings from the burning of incense or swinging of crystal pendulums.
Pausing to triple check all of their seals and making sure that the team that would be approaching the valve was secured to emergency ropes, Cal and five others all went to work seeing if they could gently open the valve. With some wiggling and shifting, they managed to push it in just a crack at the center, opening a tiny circle just big enough to peer through. Pausing to retry their auguries to make sure that they had not opened up any dangers, Cal then took a look inside once it was deemed safe enough.
Pushing through a glowstone to provide illumination, Cal put his face right up to the opening, and saw… well, he wasn't sure what he saw. There was an enormous chamber on the other side of the valve, free of windmoss but filled with a tangle of what might be intestines or veins or something, only they had a metallic shine from the light of the bauble dropped in. Moving his head back and forth to try to get a better view, Cal tried to figure out what it was that he was seeing.
For a split second Cal thought that he saw something with a light that wasn't from the glowstone, and then his whole vision went white, he tasted metal in his mouth and nose, and it felt like he had been punched in the face. Stumbling backward in shock, he slammed into the moss covered wall behind him.
"Cal!" Someone called out. Blinking his eyes to try to get the spots out of them, Cal held up a hand to forestall being hauled off his feet by the concerns of the rest of his team. He just needed to…
Something was moving at his back. At that he leapt away from the wall, his balance not set and once he hit the ground he allowed his team to haul him along while the other members of the push team ran away from the valve, aiding as they could. Cal's face and hands were starting to tingle, and he was fairly certain that he could taste blood in his mouth.
"Mother preserve us…" Someone uttered in horror as Cal was hauled drunkenly to his feet. Turning around to see what was being pointed at, Cal witnessed the windmoss growing before their eyes, all in a huge circle opposite the open valve, with the most growth occurring exactly opposite the hole. In mere moments the moss grew to be at least an arm's length thick at the center, and then the center started to slump and peel away.
The moss was growing, but the material exactly opposite the opening was also dying, whatever invisible toxicity beyond the valve was too intense for the windmoss to keep up. Moss blackened and died, the ruined material consumed by the neighbouring plant mass, but it was obvious that the toxins were winning out. As dead moss began to accumulate in front of the central hole, it started to smoulder.
By the time his team had picked him up to carry him, the moss was in a spirited competition between trying to consume the dead and dying kin and burning, and it looked like the equilibrium point was going to be profoundly unhealthy for humans.
As for Cal…
Windmoss Rift -> Burning Rift
Discontent Rises!
Panic Rises!
Choose an organ for the toxins to concentrate in
[] Heart
[] Nerves
[] Marrow
[] Skin
[] Lungs
[] Stomach
[] Kidneys
Week 5 - Waking Up
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Kidneys
Unconsciousness quickly took Cal, and while he expected pain, it quickly subsided as he drifted off into a weird liminal state. Neither fully asleep nor fully awake, and not fully dreaming, he instead experienced a fever haze of ill-formed thoughts that never truly crystallized into anything. He just sort of… was.
Eventually though the pain he had expected began to seep back in as a dull, full body ache. Direction and orientation took over and soon enough his eyes were fluttering open as consciousness was regained. He found himself propped up in the waters of the Goldspring, wrapped in bandages. The Springmother slept as peacefully as she ever did nearby, and while her attendants did not stop their rounds another Ritualist was quickly brought forth by Cal's stirrings.
"Hello Delver Halsy, how are you?" The Ritualist asked kindly. She was an older woman who looked used to telling wounded Hunters what to do, and Cal immediately decided that he was not interested in testing her patience.
"Sore. Confused. Not in as much pain as I thought I would be," Cal admitted while he tried flexing fingers and toes and found them stiff and awkward but still there and responsive.
"Unsurprising. We don't exactly know what happened to you, but the damage was - is - extensive. When your comrades brought you back we weren't certain you were going to make it. You basically lost all of your skin and had to regrow it in the Spring," the medical Ritualist explained as she went to check him over.
Cal just blinked and asked, "All my skin?"
"Apparently your delving gear was what was holding you together by the time you arrived. Also, we used essentially all of the windmoss your comrades gathered in treating you," the woman explained.
Cal frowned and asked, "While grateful, was I truly worth that amount of effort? There are always points at which-"
The medical Ritualist held up a hand and said, "Springmother's orders, and not just for your helpful little crab, but because apparently something about what happened to you stirred memories. Apparently you sort of stumbled upon something useful and she wants you to work at it, even if it maims or even kills you."
"Ah," Cal noted. The Springmother could be a bit single minded and callous towards humans at times, but it was one thing to hear in stories and another to experience personally.
"Yes. Apparently exposure to extreme amounts of energy can have it get stuck, for lack of a better term. With you the majority of it seems to have become stuck in your kidneys when your body was trying to flush it out. The bad news is that your kidneys are only sort of working at the moment and without frequent dips in the Springs you will die within a week. The good news is that your blood is now hostile to infection, which is one of the reasons you are alive. You had a nasty case of blood poisoning while your organs were still regrowing, but you were more toxic than the poison!" The elder explained with a bit too much cheer.
Cal gains Kidney Damage (moderate)! Cal must remain within a day's travel from Goldsprings or suffer stacking penalties to abilities as his body shuts down.
Cal gains Irradiated Blood! Cal is immune to most mundane and minor supernatural diseases, and has resistance to a variety of mundane toxins.
Cal absorbed this, and then asked, "Is there any good news?"
The Ritualist tending to him waggled her hand and said, "Define good. There was a minor riot over what happened to you and the Hunters only catching a few Husker workers and not the leader, leading to the council bowing to pressure and withdrawing for the time being. This turned out to be the correct move as the massive thermal updraft drew in an Alpha Dake and his pride, which in turn disrupted the Husker Hive and drove a number of them into our prepared defences."
Cal absorbed this and then said, "So net win?"
The older woman shrugged and said, "Well, we weren't going to be using the Burning Rift anytime soon, so that's something. We're going to need to gather extra Hunters if we want to dislodge the pride there now, which will be tricky."
"Anything else?" Cal asked.
The woman considered and then a smile came to her face when she said, "Oh! Right, your Doomteller was incredibly valuable for us. He kept tearing the pain from your dreams, but instead of discarding it, he wove it for us so that we could know where you were in pain while asleep. Incredibly useful that, and we might ask for your help the next time we have an unconscious patient."
Cal took this information in and vowed to find something extra nice for Leelbok's shell, once he had figured out what to do next.
Current Stance: Defensive
Passive Scout Results: Active Drake Pride + Hidden Husker Hive (In Conflict, likely to damage each other in subsequent turns)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic
Current Community Actions Available: 2 -1 from Panic = 1
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
Unconsciousness quickly took Cal, and while he expected pain, it quickly subsided as he drifted off into a weird liminal state. Neither fully asleep nor fully awake, and not fully dreaming, he instead experienced a fever haze of ill-formed thoughts that never truly crystallized into anything. He just sort of… was.
Eventually though the pain he had expected began to seep back in as a dull, full body ache. Direction and orientation took over and soon enough his eyes were fluttering open as consciousness was regained. He found himself propped up in the waters of the Goldspring, wrapped in bandages. The Springmother slept as peacefully as she ever did nearby, and while her attendants did not stop their rounds another Ritualist was quickly brought forth by Cal's stirrings.
"Hello Delver Halsy, how are you?" The Ritualist asked kindly. She was an older woman who looked used to telling wounded Hunters what to do, and Cal immediately decided that he was not interested in testing her patience.
"Sore. Confused. Not in as much pain as I thought I would be," Cal admitted while he tried flexing fingers and toes and found them stiff and awkward but still there and responsive.
"Unsurprising. We don't exactly know what happened to you, but the damage was - is - extensive. When your comrades brought you back we weren't certain you were going to make it. You basically lost all of your skin and had to regrow it in the Spring," the medical Ritualist explained as she went to check him over.
Cal just blinked and asked, "All my skin?"
"Apparently your delving gear was what was holding you together by the time you arrived. Also, we used essentially all of the windmoss your comrades gathered in treating you," the woman explained.
Cal frowned and asked, "While grateful, was I truly worth that amount of effort? There are always points at which-"
The medical Ritualist held up a hand and said, "Springmother's orders, and not just for your helpful little crab, but because apparently something about what happened to you stirred memories. Apparently you sort of stumbled upon something useful and she wants you to work at it, even if it maims or even kills you."
"Ah," Cal noted. The Springmother could be a bit single minded and callous towards humans at times, but it was one thing to hear in stories and another to experience personally.
"Yes. Apparently exposure to extreme amounts of energy can have it get stuck, for lack of a better term. With you the majority of it seems to have become stuck in your kidneys when your body was trying to flush it out. The bad news is that your kidneys are only sort of working at the moment and without frequent dips in the Springs you will die within a week. The good news is that your blood is now hostile to infection, which is one of the reasons you are alive. You had a nasty case of blood poisoning while your organs were still regrowing, but you were more toxic than the poison!" The elder explained with a bit too much cheer.
Cal gains Kidney Damage (moderate)! Cal must remain within a day's travel from Goldsprings or suffer stacking penalties to abilities as his body shuts down.
Cal gains Irradiated Blood! Cal is immune to most mundane and minor supernatural diseases, and has resistance to a variety of mundane toxins.
Cal absorbed this, and then asked, "Is there any good news?"
The Ritualist tending to him waggled her hand and said, "Define good. There was a minor riot over what happened to you and the Hunters only catching a few Husker workers and not the leader, leading to the council bowing to pressure and withdrawing for the time being. This turned out to be the correct move as the massive thermal updraft drew in an Alpha Dake and his pride, which in turn disrupted the Husker Hive and drove a number of them into our prepared defences."
Cal absorbed this and then said, "So net win?"
The older woman shrugged and said, "Well, we weren't going to be using the Burning Rift anytime soon, so that's something. We're going to need to gather extra Hunters if we want to dislodge the pride there now, which will be tricky."
"Anything else?" Cal asked.
The woman considered and then a smile came to her face when she said, "Oh! Right, your Doomteller was incredibly valuable for us. He kept tearing the pain from your dreams, but instead of discarding it, he wove it for us so that we could know where you were in pain while asleep. Incredibly useful that, and we might ask for your help the next time we have an unconscious patient."
Cal took this information in and vowed to find something extra nice for Leelbok's shell, once he had figured out what to do next.
Current Stance: Defensive
Passive Scout Results: Active Drake Pride + Hidden Husker Hive (In Conflict, likely to damage each other in subsequent turns)
Scavenge Locations: 1 Generic
Current Community Actions Available: 2 -1 from Panic = 1
Current Hero Actions Demandable: 0
[] Push Beasts Back - Units with the Hunt action push beasts back, changing from Defensive to Open Stance. High Success can generate temporary Resources.
[] Patrol - Units with Patrol action scout enemy numbers and movement. Critical Success can generate temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
-[] Hunt Drake Pride (requires min. 2 Hunter units, more recommended): Attempt to drive out or slay the Drakes nesting at Burning Rift
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Scavenge Burning Rift. Drake Pride must be dislodged
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Seek Aid: Rally other villages to obtain assistance against hostile beasts
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Hunt - Units with the Hunt action actively seek out dangerous prey, generating temporary Resources. High Success can lower beast numbers. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Hunt Intelligent Husker: Attempt to find and eliminate hostile nest.
-[] Hunt Drake Pride (requires min. 2 Hunter units, more recommended): Attempt to drive out or slay the Drakes nesting at Burning Rift
[] Explore - Units with the Explore action can seek out new locations and new challenges. Requires Open Stance.
[] Scavenge - Units with the Scavenge action can exploit locations for temporary Resources. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Scavenge Burning Rift. Drake Pride must be dislodged
[] Send Runners - Communicate with other communities, potentially trading resources and knowledge. Requires Open Stance.
-[] Seek Aid: Rally other villages to obtain assistance against hostile beasts
[] Fortify - Changes to Defensive Stance, gives temporary Defence boost. Requires Open Stance.
[] Experiment - Try out new things. Critical success can generate insights. Temporarily lowers Resources.
[] Assemble Delvers Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
[] Assemble Hunters Unit - Permanently lowers Resources and Food.
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