The Realms of Horror (Ch. 1)

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Spoonweaver
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The Realms of Horror (Ch. 1)

Post by Spoonweaver »

It was dark and raining when the caravan stopped to let off those heading for the tomb. Twelve exited wagons, climbed off of carts, and dismounted horses. They were half way between Tika-Town and West Town, a long way from any town at all. They had been on the road now for a little over a week. The road had been rough, but the caravan took care to allow each of them plenty of rest and food. They stood back from the road as the caravan left them. The road they had faced thus far had been easy compared with what they would face soon they knew. They were few and the wild terrain seemed harsh.

"It will be two days journey to the north here according to my maps," said the odd traveler. This was the first many of the group had heard from him since the beginning of their journey. He had promised much, but had little to show for it out here in the empty road. Doubt of rooms full of gold and jewels the size of a dwarven fist hang in everyone's head. They had all already come this far and the caravan was gone now. There was nothing more to do but to venture on.

The few trees that were scattered about the foothills they would be traveling through would provide little shelter from this storm. The group hoped the rain would let up soon.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

A stout figure stands tall, set reclusive among the collected individuals promised fortune for their journey. His poise challenges the rain's disturbance as it beats against the cloak shrouding him, but any that would gaze directly at him may see a fanged face with skin as if painted with grassy color.

He awaits further instruction, or simply for the walk to begin.
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Post by BMR »

Kamaron gathers his gear together and readies his gear. He makes sure that Compassion (his crossbow) is loaded and ready to go, while Justice (his morningstar) hangs freely at his side. His black cloak embroidered with a silvery spiderweb design is wrapped tightly about him, warding off what rain it can. Most of the raindrops bounce off his heavy armor, but his overall shabby and broken appearance does little to encourage the idea that he's capable of this task.

He mounts his warhorse, Pugsy, and gets ready to go. His heavy shield hangs from the saddle's pommel, ready to bring to bear at a moment's notice. The rest of his gear is either in his pack or in Pugsy's saddlebags, giving him the appearance of a miniature caravan all to himself. Before moving forward, he takes a look around.

"I look around me and the world is the rainy gray of an ashen corpse too long without care. There are a few people around, desolate souls like myself it would seem, but none that I am too personally familiar with. A few of them give me odd looks, doubting with just the tiniest taste of alarm. I ponder the reason for a moment, then realize I am once more talking to myself. I stop narrating to myself so that I will not alarm the poor blokes. I push thoughts of them from my mind and move towards the stranger. He gives me a strange look, but not one that I haven't seen before. I ask him:

"What dangers can we expect on the road? And would you be willing to allow the rest of us poor blighters a look at that map?"

While waiting for an answer, Kamaron looks around, trying to see over the treeline. He focuses on a part of the sky a few feet above the trees in the direction the stranger indicated and touches his holy symbol to a point between his eyes. He mutters a few divine words and sends his consciousness out to survey the area.



Spell Used: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
Caster Level: 10 (7 base + 1 knowledge domain + 2 oracle domain)
Range: 400 + (40 × 10) = 800 feet
Duration: 10 minutes

Casting the spell 50 feet above the ground and 800 feet away. Slowly rotating the sensor around to observe the area below for anything of note. Will spend as much of the 10 minutes as possible searching for potential threats on the ground.
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Post by Master K »

The fantastical visions of gold and jewels the odd traveler had filled their heads with clouded the fact that it was going to be a miserable haul towards the tomb. Worse yet, the traveler holds the map, leaving everyone in the dark. Mounted on his horse, Tyche, he looks at the path that lies ahead of them. Dark, dark, and darker still, with no guiding sunlight in sight. However, with such a surely group, there can't possibly be anything that will impede their progress. Still, the uncertainty is going to be their biggest setback.

Sigmund doesn't quite fancy being in the dark. Being a paladin of Pelor, it's a befitting sentiment. He looks towards the blighted gentleman and the traveler, expectantly waiting to see whether or not they're privy to a map.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Catt holds up her left hand with the Ring of Shield of Faith, hoping its magic will deflect some of the raindrops.

It doesn't seem to be working, so she sidles up between the two big horse-mounted blokes. At least they block some of the wind.

"Hey Andy! We're getting wet! What's next Aaaaandy?"
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Post by Gizmog »

The little goblin isn't bothered much by the rain, or this talk of maps. He scrambles up one of the few trees to get a better lay of the land. This place used to be more lush... what's happened to it?
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Post by Spoonweaver »

A round shabby looking man, dressed in plain brown clothes, silently mocks Karamon as he speaks. Two other similarly dressed men chuckled as he did. These three seemed unaccustomed to adventuring. Two of them carried burlap sacks and daggers. The third man, currently mocking Karamon, carried no bag but had a fair looking crossbow and a quiver.

At the mention of the map, Andrew gestured towards a man in leaf shaped leather armor. The man had a sword and a dagger on his hips, both noticeably pulsed with electrical power.
"This way," the man said and marched off to the north, into the unknown wild.

The two other members of the group wore large black cloaks. They kept to themselves.
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Post by Gizmog »

..and then Slickens hops back out of the tree, and charges back to the group on all fours. He doesn't mind the obvious insult of being left in the dark, and instead puts his nose to the ground, looking for the tracks of any beasts that might be lurking about.

Whenever he runs across a pebble or stone, he picks it up and throws it as far away from the party as he can. "Not this time." he snarls, at every last one of them.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

It becomes evident that the hosts of the quests are disrespectful and air a sense of foolishness about them.

The stout figure approaches a man on one of the horses, then addresses with a bolded voice for his attention, "Even in the roaring rain I can feel Pelor's warmth emanating from nearby. Am I in company of a knight under the sun?"
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

After noticing Tubby silently mocking Kamaron, Catt positions herself behind Tubby, and mimics his rolling gait as the party moves along.

She makes sure that Tubby can't see her, but his two buddies can.
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Post by BMR »

"I turn to the rest, eyeing them in the rain. I am accustomed to this, but it grows no less wearisome over the years. I speak to them:

"Friends, we are about to set out on a journey together. We will face dangers and death in each other's company, and if we are to profit, we must work together. I know not yet what the future will bring, but we will face it together. However, if we are to survive together, we must first know one another. We all have our own reasons for being here, and I will not pry into those. But we should all know who our comrades are, that we will be better able to work together.

"So that you will know who you are working with, let meet introduce myself. I am Kamaron ul Tende, Baklunish cleric of Istus. I am an Oracle, granted visions by the divine Istus. I have years of experience with caravans, both on peaceful journeys and dangerous ones. I may be getting old, but I assure you I still have the wits for this task. I have no problem telling you why I am here. Back in West Town, I own a small farm. There, I have a family of sorts, but with the children growing up and myself growing older, I find the need for the young ones to have a place of their own to call home. I hope to use whatever money I gather here to finance a new place for them to live.

"Granted, my reasons for being here may be selfish and not quite as grandiose as the rest of yours, but now you know why I am here. And now that you know that, you also know that I am quite determined to see this through.

"What of the rest of you, my new comrades? Who will I be working together with?"


OOC: Diplomacy +21
Trying to change npc opinion
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Post by Gizmog »

Slickens pulls his face away from the dirt. His voice is gravel and it comes slowly, as if he's not used to speaking. "Slickens is my name. I'm looking for my home, I've already lost my family. Keep your eyes open or you'll be lost too." Having said enough, he goes back to throwing rocks, but keeps an ear open to the others. Kamaron seems like a good man, but words won't save him if the worst comes, and Slickens knows that the worst is going to come.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

The rain kept coming down while the group marched on. The loud rain stained conversation, but there was still much that was learned about each other between the members of the group. The members all revealed much of themselves to each other, while keeping that which they wanted to keep secret to themselves.
The three men mocking men, two of which had chuckled to themselves at Catt's antics, were found to be tavern regulars. They seemed to make money in illegal ways, many of which guess to involve robbery of some kind. Their gear seemed mundane and their skills seemed lacking. Their names were Jack Tuggler, Jake Tuggler, and John Thurgins. The ranger looking man that was leading the way was named Renold. It was noted that his swords, cloak, and armor were all magical. His swords seemed impressively so. No one had learned the names of the two cloaked group members, though they seemed mostly harmless by their appearance. Not totally evil or anything at least. No inquiries about their gear or skills revealed much of anything.
Andrew himself didn't talk much. When asked about the tomb he revealed what little he knew, which came in a riddle like poem.

Look not into the eyes of the Tomb.
The wise use wits.
All others die
In lich's Tomb
Beneath the sky.
The lich still wanders the passages of his
tomb, setting traps to kill the unwary.
The Keys you need,
They you must use.
Unlock the door,
Surprise you lose.
A vorpal blade or sharpness carry,
If against the lich you venture.
Forget or shatter by the wary,
Holy spells for this adventure.
Her call your ship to rock walls break.
Your call her help your fortune make.


About half a days time past in this way. The rain did much to hide the landscape around them. Still, Renold seemed to know where he was going. The ground had begun to get more and more rocky as the went on. Small boulders could be found around the area with much larger rock formations acting as landmarks for their journey.
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Post by Newbie Newtype »

Whether or not the half-orc that wished to strike introduction with the Paladin responds, his attention will be followed up towards the more outgoing clairvoyant. He listens carefully to his story so that he may better understand the Cleric's history.

Once having a window to return the greeting, he says, "Eyes of Istus named Kamaron ul Tende, you and everyone else may simply call me Horace. I offer myself to the good gods of this world, but my first was Heironeous; he was a valiant warrior, but I've since feared corruption that makes kingdoms lost even under his banner. Since then I pay respect to the different gods deemed worthy and act as a mercenary to help protect adventurers such as this group. I look forward to working together."

He glances to Slickens, "You seek a home in a difficult place. Perhaps that will make finding it all the greater reward."
Last edited by Newbie Newtype on Sun Oct 02, 2016 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Cat grew tired quicky of John Tubby and the Tuggler brothers, and went to walk with the holy guys.

"Me? I'm Catt! Old Andy there is my uncle." Catt lies. "I'm his favorite niece. He used to tell me that Lich poem as a spooky bedtime story when I was just a little girl. He brought me along so he would have at least one person he could trust to watch his back."

She looks around at the holy symbols.

"But you guys seem alright... I huh? You worship a bunch of different gods? I do that a bit too!."
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