Skeleton Aftermath

Continued from Door H

The DM: On account of Vafrandir’s last note:

Consider Lexent on the surface. You have enough time to search the skeleton barracks and get what you’ve already found to the surface, so presume you’re guarding Lexent and Marcule, who is suffering, in shifts.

Apart from your own sword, Vafrandir, there are four others. And three shields. There are two chests that can be open; they contain clay cups, clothes, three wooden pipes and bottles that contained ale but have been drained, probably drunk. These things are of minimal value. There are two tightly-stoppeded flasks, four hematite gems, two cairngorn and six agates; all of these are cherry-sized, except two of the agates that are plum-sized. There’s a dagger with a silver hilt. And there are fifteen pieces of metal, looking not like placer nuggets but like puddled metal from a forge. These are silver-blue in colour, much too heavy to be iron and certainly not shiny enough to be silver. They have the same gloss as the polished hematite, yet they seem as dense as lead. That’s what you find in the chests.

The DM: Out.

Lexent: In.

The DM: In.

Pandred: In. We'll take the swords and shields, as well as the flasks and gems. The dagger and unusual metal as well. The incidentals we can leave behind for now. I'll load them and Lexent into the cart.

The DM: Anything else?

Pandred: I don't think so, but if Lex has ideas I'm open.

Vafrandir: In. I'll not be available today but you may assume I'm hanging around and assisting with loading, that type of thing. Out.

The DM: If you’re not examining anything on site, I’m prepared to have you all returned to the cart with your plunder.

Pandred: I'd like to, but we haven't got two hp to rub together at this point. I'll load up and start back for Treborg.

Lexent: Logistically I don't see any reason not to take everything that will fit on the cart. The time difference in getting all of it out instead of just some seems negligible.

Lexent: Either way, I agree with this course of action and were I conscious, I would act on it.

Withdrawing & Night

The DM: It’s been a long June 25th and if it were not summer in Norway, it would be nearly dark by now. You have a couple of hours of progress you can make, with Pandred perfectly able to manage the cart regardless of having only 1 h.p. Her and Vafrandir will have to risk being exposed out here and setting up camp in the highlands, but you are about 2 miles from the skeleton lair by the time you rest. Move onto the next morning? Set up guards?

Lexent(OOC): How much input should I or should I not be providing?

The DM: You can comment on the game and ask rule-based questions, but please don’t make suggestions to awake persons or help solve problems.

Pandred: How near is our forward camp at the boat?

The DM: Three miles north of here. Remember, you were following the goblin’s trail, not your usual route out of Treborg.

Pandred: Gross. Alright, we'll set up camp. The demi-humans will have to take watch, I'm useless in the dark.

The DM: Marcule will need to rest. Lexent is out. Pandred can still hear, and this being very far north, it is never fully dark (nautical twilight most of the night). I’m rolling a d6.

The DM: No encounters. It’s morning again.

Pandred: Then let's hoof it back to Treborg so we can get real rest. I'll apply 2 hp from my salve to Lexent to get him on his feet.

The DM: Lexent, I’ve added a sage ability to your Medicine amateur study. Not a full description, but something that has occurred to me as logical. Make a wisdom check as well.

Lexent: I unfortunately roll a 16 again.

Treborg, 26th of June

The DM: It will take seven hours to get back to Treborg; it is about 3 in the afternoon there. Your appearance and condition will be noticed as you enter town, with a half-dozen residents coming forward to ask what has happened.

Pandred: "Scrap in the hills with some goblins. Looks like their hole in the ground is full to bursting with the undead. They didn't look too kindly on us, do any of you know them? Or, uh...Grond?" I'll look around for my trusty squire. "Odds! Odds, where are you?"

Oddsdrakken: Here sir!

Pandred "Could have used you Odds, it was a nail-biter." I'll procure one of the salves I gave him and try again on poor Lex for 3 this time.

Lexent: And finally a 3.

The DM: the villagers are awfully distressed at your reveal that you’ve discovered undead, and begin rapidly speaking to one another in terror.

Villager #1: “Have you led them here?”

Villager #2: “We’ll be murdered in our beds!”

Villager #3: “Someone has to warn Stavanger!”

Lexent: "Thank you Pandred, Did it seem as though we were followed? It seems I was unconscious for most of a day and I don't see any sign of them attacking."

Pandred: In an effort to calm the rabble: "I don't think we were followed, and the hole would be devilishly tough to crawl out of in numbers. And besides that, we're headed back as soon as we've rested."

P: I'll add "But someone should know. Who's in charge around here?"

The DM: you have no reason to think you’ve been followed.

Lexent: Have those assurances seemed to calm the villagers at all?

The DM: Not really. They rush off to take some kind of action.

Pandred: Rush off as in scatter, or could we tag along and maybe put a damper on some kind of local panic?

The DM: Scatter.

Lexent: "I recommend we go see Father Arvin. He may be able to calm them down, and if I can spend a few moments in prayer, I can help you and Marcule with a bit of healing"

Lexent: I start toward the church.

Pandred: Fine. "Odds, if you could take over the unloading here. Get things indoors." I'll go to Father Arvin with Lexent.

The DM: Father Arvin will be there and will cheerfully sit down with you. Hearing your story, he’ll say, “I’m afraid you’ve made an error here, my friends. These are simple people; they know what undead are, but they’ve never seen one. In future, I suggest you tell them a story more in line with what they can bear.”

Lexent: "What do you think the best course of action is on this occasion then, Father?"

Father Arvin: "I’ll try to smooth this out with the people; I’d like to reassure them that you’ve successfully killed all the undead there are, and ease their minds. Have you killed them all?"

Pandred: "No. We're looking to rest for that very purpose. We know at least that a ghoul remains, but other than that we slew all we saw."

Lexent: "On that note, if you'll excuse me for a moment." I find a quiet corner and begin praying to regain Cure light wounds.

Father Arvin: “I’m a little old myself to head out and help you, but if you wish, I can put you in touch with an undead hunter. He’s a Scotsman named Fraser; he masters a small settlement south of Bergen called Glesvaer. I can try to reach him if you wish.”

Father Arvin: “What did you see? And for that matter, what did you find? I don’t know who this Grond is but from your description I suspect it is someone or something very old.”

Father Arvin: “If you are distressed, my friend Lexent, for a small token or tithe, I can grant my own aid.”

Pandred: "A Scot, you say? I'd be very interested to meet them, certainly. How did you come to know a Scotsman?"

The DM: he doesn’t complain, but after all, Lexent, you are in the process of praying to another religion while in the Father’s church.

Lexent(OOC): What is the relationship between Christianity and the worship of the Gnomish pantheon? It doesn't seem combative, nor particularly persecutorial (at least in this individual), are they then generally cooperative? would they be competing for converts?

Lexent(OOC): If it would be more respectful, I would happily withdraw to another location before beginning my prayer, I am just anxious to provide my healing for the party.

Father Arvin: [to Pandred] “I knew him years ago, in my younger days, when I was ministering to Lutheran brethren in Dumfriesshire during the war that deposed Charles I. Scotland was in the midst of being occupied by the English; a Norwegian seemed to some of the resistors as a willing friend, despite my not being Presbyterian. At least, I was not an enemy. I helped Fraser escape his country and settle here.”

The DM: Lutherans tend to be very tolerant of other religions, even non-Christian groups. There are many, many gnomes in Norway: and as I’ve explained, there are two kingdoms, Lenglin and Nanbrun, that occupy a fair bit of modern Norway land, including parts of the coast to the east and north of here. Humans and Gnomes get along for the most part, as they do with Halflings, who also have their own lands to the north (Moreland). Human Norway is a scattered collection of lands held along the coast; the Kingdom of Denmark & Norway do not remotely control all of what we think of as “Norway.”

as such, the humans have to be tolerant. They’re not vikings any more; and the vikings were challenged considerably by the need to make friends with the gnomes, who in turn defended the halflings. The groups don’t compete for converts; they keep to their own races for the most part and there’s little if any persecution. But yes, it would be polite not to pray to your gods in his church.

Lexent: That being the case, if you will allow it, I will wait for another time.

The DM: would you like to offer something as a tithe in exchange for the Father's healing? Even a barter might do.

Lexent: I will let the rest of the party help determine if we are pressed enough for total healing to request it, I do not feel the need to do so for myself at this time.

Pandred: "Lucky for us you should meet. Still, is there someone we should be speaking to of our misadventure here? I should hate to get a knock on our door for failing our duty to our neighbors."

Father Arvin: “I am the best person in this. I will speak to the elders, who have surely heard some story by now. You’re new here, but once I step forward on your behalf, you should have nothing to be concerned over.”

The DM: Pandred, do you want to answer his question about what you’ve seen or found?

Pandred: I must have missed it in the shuffle. Certainly. I'd be glad to tell him anything and everything. The staff is a must, and I'd fetch Marcule to show him if he wanted to see it.

The DM: We’ll say Marcule is here. Father Arvin will know just what it is, though not all the particulars. It is apparently a staff of healing; in the hands of a cleric, they are usually able to heal 3-12 hit points per day without needing to expend a charge. This one also seems to be a +1 weapon. He can explain to Lexent how the staff works, but he’s unable to detect how many charges it has or what else the staff might be able to do; they tend to have slightly different characteristics.

The DM: He’s very surprised at the small metal pieces. They’re pure adamantium. An observation of Vafrandir’s sword will indicate that it’s been made with adamantium ... which some think degrades in sunlight, but doesn’t. Also, unlike mithril, adamantium is merely very hard; it has no magical properties, which is why Lexent’s spell didn’t detect it as magic.

Lexent: "Thank you for the insight Father. Has this area experienced a history of goblin raids, perhaps in generations past?"

Father Arvin: “Goblins have been known in the mountains of Scandinavia for as long as humans can remember. The gnomes once fought many wars against them. Legends tell the goblins came from the far east, but they exist in all human lands like a pestilence.”

Pandred: Is there any reason to expect it's magic would be keyed to the Goblin faith? I assume no, but it's a question for Cleric items in general. Also, nice, called it on the metal.

Father Arvin: [to Pandred] “I don’t think so. Judging from the pieces, I’d say it was puddled by the goblins themselves. Perhaps the lair developed around a mine?”

Pandred "We have reason to think so, certainly. Ah, but that my flesh were as willing as my spirit I'd be down in the tunnels already!" If Lexent is confident in his ability to work the staff, that could really speed up our recovery.

The DM: The staff is of no benefit to Marcule, but if it is given to Lexent, it is worth 440 x.p. to the cleric (counting 10%). If you wish to distribute the adamantium pieces, it’s 50 x.p. per piece (before 10%).

Lexent: "If you'd like I will give it a try." I hold out my hand to accept the staff.

Pandred: I can't think of any reason not to give it to Lex.

The DM: Lexent successfully heals himself with it. Roll 3d4 please.

The adamantium swords are worth 29 x.p. each, before 10%.

Lexent: I roll 1+1+3=5. Must that all be applied to me, and if so, is that only on this occasion, or do I know?

The DM: all to one person. 3d4 one time per day.

Lexent: May I instead apply that to Marcule?

The DM: The hematite and cairngorm gems are worth 1 x.p. apiece; as are the smaller agates. The plum-sized agates are worth 5 x.p. each. This all before 10%. Anything else?

Pandred: Flasks which Lex can sniff, shields, and the silver dagger.

The DM: Oh, the harness. The piece is worth 800 x.p. Might want to give that to Marcule in compensation for the staff, but your decision.

Pandred: Can't believe I almost forgot about the harness.

Lexent: "Marcule took quite a few lumps for me. I feel this would go well towards rewarding him for those efforts."

The DM: Lexent can correctly sniff healing/extra-healing and sweet water; it isn’t any of those. You’ll have to trust to luck or get the potions identified in a larger place. That’s the same with the staff; you’ll need to have it identified by a mage or staff-maker (very high level druid).

Pandred Damn Mages! Marcule, why do you need so much to level?! I was hoping I could dump the treasure on him and get him going up a level, but it looks like we'll have to split things evenly like total dorks.

The DM: The shields are just shields; in poor repair, worth 2 x.p. each. The dagger is a simple silvered weapon; worth 13 x.p.

Marcule needs so much experience to go up because he decided to be a multi-classed assassin and illusionist. Total x.p. for both of them to reach second is 4,001 x.p. He knew what he was getting into.

Lexent Makes my 1500 total seem miniscule. So which would be sturdier, the iron reinforced shield in poor repair or a well maintained wooden shield?

Lexent: I suggest that if we have concluded our business with the good Father, that we go situate ourselves at the house and spend some time recuperating and possibly check on Anders.

Pandred: I'll thank him and let him know we're at his service if ever he has need. I'm just about done tallying treasure distribution if we'd like to open a new page for it. This one's getting long.

The DM: He wishes you well and you return to your own property. Move the campaign to At Home, Dividing Treasure.