Luiden was badly hurt. The injury to his midriff was bleeding profusely and clearly impairing him. Nobody else felt too confident at fixing him up so he pulled a small package of restorative mud from his pack and slapped it on the wound himself.
HEAL - Weak Hit
He howled in pain as he smeared it over the lacerated flesh. Damn near passed out but somehow held it together.
Williarth and Tekhra quickly discussed the politics of the situation. The bard suggested caution given the difficult public relationship between Rafiki and Barkees, but once Tekhra noted that Barkees would almost certainly already know that they'd just killed a dozen of his men in the street Williarth concurred that fast and aggressive was the way. Tekhra quickly led them to the residence identified by the henchman. She kicked through the door and they piled in to find a stout, bald elf in lavish robes seated in comfort with a lone guard by his side. Bjorn had his bow up and ready, aiming at the guard but Barkees simply tutted and motioned for it to be lowered.
Tekhra stood there glaring at Barkees whilst Luiden employed his usual charm to convince him that answering their questions would be best for everyone involved.
COMPEL - Strong Hit
GATHER INFORMATION - Weak Hit
Barkees confessed to what they already knew. He seemed quite apathetic about the whole thing, dispassionately confirming that he'd been bribed to facilitate the abduction of Mayatanay. When asked about those behind it, he revealed that they were an old and secretive brotherhood in worship of an ancient god, one predating the elves and maybe even the pantheon itself. As for what they were up to, all Barkees knew was that they sought to return their god to power and bring it to the mortal plane to have dominion over all life. He seemed simply amused about the whole thing and it was hard to tell whether or not he believed the cult was any kind of threat at all. Or even if he cared one way or the other.
They left the neighbourhood of ill-repute and returned to the civic hall to brief Rafiki on what they'd discovered. Tekhra and Williarth gave the account between them, confirming that as far as traitors within the settlement were concerned one was in custody and his employer could be charged with treason on his evidence.
FULFILL YOUR VOW (Tekhra, Uncover the traitors in the settlement) [8/10] - Weak Hit [2XP]
Rafiki was pleased at the success of the vow, but troubled by the news of the cult. He knew them as the Cult of Kuolemasykli and until now had thought them nothing more than myth, but with this brazen act and the identification of an ancient temple lost in the forest he believed action was most warranted. He asked them all to swear a new vow - to bring down the cult and return Mayatanay to him. All were agreeable to this and presented their various tokens of iron or wood upon which to swear the vow.
SWEAR AN IRON VOW [THREAT] [EXTREME] (Defeat the cult) (Luiden) - Weak Hit
The vow was sworn, but all present were well-aware that they knew precious little about the foe they faced. It was agreed that they should take the Moonshard Stone with them (without telling Rafiki) for not only were they reluctant to leave it unattended for long there was a chance it could prove important in their quest.
Williarth turned to the elf lord and requested gaunts for their trip.
COMPEL - Weak Hit
Rafiki smiled and said he could only spare them from the war effort if they relinquished the Moonshard Stone to him. The bard point-blank refused.
They left the hall to rest up and prepare for venturing out the next day. Tekhra assisted in the acquisition of hospitality by claiming the lord himself had given them all the freedom of the settlement. She wasn't normally one for deception, but she rationalised it was the quickest and easiest way to get the job done.
AID YOUR ALLY (Tekhra) - Weak Hit
SOJOURN (Luiden) - Strong Hit
Kabeera, Luiden, Williarth, Bjorn - Recuperate and Consort
FOCUS (Luiden) - Strong Hit
Tekhra - Recuperate and Plan
Tekhra took them all to a large mud-pit to the rear of the settlement. There they bathed and relaxed as the healing minerals soothed and rejuvenated their aches and sores. In the late afternoon they went drinking with some locals, enjoying elven cheer and sharing stories. Williarth attempted to tease out more information about the cult - he told a story with very similar themes and antagonists and used it to inspire the locals to tell their own tales and rumours about them.
COMPEL (Storyweaver) - Strong Hit
GATHER INFORMATION - Weak Hit
Material on the cult was scant - most present had never heard of them at all - but the Moonshard Stone was of great cultural significance it seemed. Several tales and theories were recounted, dramatically describing how the artifact had always been a bearer of great change. It had started and ended wars, called up forests from barren earth, culled all elves of a certain age range, that sort of thing. The locals seemed to greatly enjoy either decrying each other's accounts or bettering them with one of even greater impact.
REACH A MILESTONE (Defeat the cult) - [0.5/10] [0]
REACH A MILESTONE (Write an exceptional ballad of Mayatanay's quest) - [4/10]
REACH A MILESTONE (Destroy the Moonshard Stone) - [1/10]
Tekhra left before the evening drew late. She visited a seer of some standing in the settlement, finding the old elf watering plants in a cloud of incense-smoke. She presented the seer with her mask, requesting it be blessed for her missions away from the community. The seer obliged, knowing it must be a serious endeavour to drag Tekhra away from home and the lord. The seer rubbed the mask with pungent oils, intoned numerous short benedictions of untold origin and completed the ritual by etching some finer details into the already elaborate design.
ADVANCE [2XP] (Tekhra) - Masked advantage #2
Tekhra thanked the seer and retired early. She spent the rest of the night reviewing the rudimentary map the traitor had scrawled and by comparing it to her own local knowledge and memories of travel with the mercenary Gamanna drafted up some more detailed maps with clearer indications of direction, distance and scale.
By the morning they all felt fit and raring to go on their next adventure.
ADVANCE A THREAT [1.5/10] [4] (Thornfield's doom) - Mark Menace [1.5/10] [5]
ADVANCE A THREAT [7/10] [3] (War with the elves) - Mark Menace [7/10] [4]
As they made final preparations certain articles of gossip came to light. One of an Ironlander spy being caught and killed not far from the Fortress itself - a significant new development in the threat posed by the invading Ironlanders. Then another about a battle on the edge of the forest far to the east in which the dead were rising almost immediately upon being killed. Both sides fled the field as the undead corpses rose around them and began their dreadful, shambling progression eastwards.
The party bade farewell to the Fortress that Catches Tears and headed off to retrieve the Moonshard Stone from its hiding place. Kabeera tried not to focus on the fact that the last time they'd left the settlement Artiga had been at her side. She volunteered to be the one to carry the absurdly-heavy rock and marveled briefly at its impossible sheen before depositing it in her pack. Bjorn resumed the role of wayfinder, with Tekhra reading the maps and Luiden providing endless compliments and snippets of wisdom to keep his spirits up.
UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY (To the secret temple) [Formidable]
AID YOUR ALLY (Tekhra) - Weak Hit
AID YOUR ALLY (Luiden) - Weak Hit
UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY [0/10] (Bjorn) - Miss [0/10]
ENDURE STRESS - Weak Hit
Not far into the journey their route crossed a large and muddy ditch that required a short jump to avoid the deep and stinking mud at the bottom. Bjorn landed badly on the opposite bank, slipped and dropped a bulging pouch that spewed its contents below him. The others looked down with disdain at the strewn collection of intoxicating herbs. Bjorn was left red-faced and highly anxious about losing his stash, but the rest would not have him descend to retrieve it from the muddy depths.
Tekhra noticed a certain wanting in the pace of her newfound companions and forged ahead at the front to keep them moving at a reasonable rate. Meanwhile, Kabeera told Bjorn a whole bunch of nonsense about the Moonshard Stone being an intoxicating things that could perhaps be used in place of drugs as and when the need arose.
AID YOUR ALLY (Tekhra) - Weak Hit
AID YOUR ALLY (Kabeera) - Weak Hit
UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY [0/10] (Bjorn, Wayfinder) - Strong Hit (Burn) [1/10]
They reached a break in the trees and undergrowth, coming out at the brink of a steep cliff leading down to a fjord. Across the way the opposite cliff rose just a sharply and at the bottom the waterway was wide but calm. They descended carefully and looked around for the best way to cross.
Not far from where they'd landed a pair of huge trees on opposite sides had reached their routes out and into the water, meshing with the roots of the other and forming a tangled, twisted bridge of sorts. It seemed too fortuitous to ignore, but looked potentially treacherous - the gaps were many and the strength of the roots uncertain. If they had rope enough to chain them all together it would safeguard their crossing significantly.
CHECK YOUR GEAR (Bjorn) - Miss (10)
PAY THE PRICE - Lose supply
COMPLICATION - Barkees has been meddling
To their horror, they found that all their food and several other essential items in their packs had been replaced with bags of stones, some with rude messages painted on in elvish. Tekhra didn't bother to translate - it was clearly a prank of Barkees and the day would come he would rue it. But this posed a dilemma - they were barely started on their quest and already at a huge disadvantage. opportunities to sojourn between here and the temple were unlikely to none. With great reluctance, they agreed to return to the Fortress and resupply, even if it meant a great loss of face.
Back at the Fortress that Catches Tears, with Williarth and Kabeera waiting at a distance with the stone, Tekhra led Luiden and Bjorn to the civic hall to beseech the lord Rafiki for his generosity. She told the truth and Luiden backed her up on it.
AID YOUR ALLY (Luiden) - Weak Hit
COMPEL (Tekhra) - Weak Hit
Rafiki sighed and granted their request to resupply from his own stores. He assured them that Barkees would be made to account for this trickery, on top of his other misdeeds, but he had one more favour to ask of Tekhra in return. He had grown to realise he still loved Mayatanay very much and feared greatly for her safety. Upon finding her, Tekhra was to personally assure her that on her return to Rafiki all charges and recriminations would be dropped - she would be free to atone with the community and to spend the rest of her days within its comfort and sanctuary. Tekhra was unsure as to whether or not he knew she had her own feelings for him and that this would sting her something rotten, but she agreed to it regardless, albeit through gritted teeth.
JOURNEY PROGRESS - Set to 0
Tekhra took charge of the journey now and drove forth into the dense wilderness. Bjorn did his best to keep ahead and scout the way as they went.
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn) - Weak hit
UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY [0/10] (Tekhra) - Weak hit (Burn) [1/10]
They reached the fjord again much quicker this time, even with a long break to feast hungrily on their new rations. The day was drawing to a close now and the red sunset was giving the water a beautiful fiery hue. They uncoiled the fifty foot of rope (that Tekhra had been specific about with Rafiki) and tied their waists together in a line. One by one they began to crawl along the mess of roots on all fours.
FACE DANGER (Tekhra) - Weak Hit
FACE DANGER (Bjorn) - Miss
The scout got complacent with the forest-dweller leading and put his full weight on a thin root without testing it. It snapped and sent him tumbling sideways into the water below. His cry alerted Tekhra in front and Luiden behind and they immediately grabbed at the thickest roots they could to brace against the impending pull as the rope snapped taught.
FACE DANGER (Tekhra, Masked) - Strong Hit
FACE DANGER (Luiden) - Weak Hit (Burn)
Luiden strained against the pull of the rope and managed to avoid being pulled in after. Tekhra was a figure of might as she wrapped the rope around her free arm and pulled the scout back up out of the water enough for him to regain a grip and pull himself up.
ENDURE STRESS (Bjorn) - Miss with Complication (8)
Bjorn was soaked through, spluttering, coughing and soon sneezing, but alive and able at least. The chain proceeded onwards, even more warily.
FACE DANGER (Luiden) - Weak Hit
FACE DANGER (Kabeera) - Weak Hit
ENDURE HARM (Kabeera) - Strong Hit
FACE DANGER (Williarth) - Miss
ENDURE HARM (Williarth) - Weak Hit
The rest of the way was slow and strenuous, taxing patience and nerves all round. At one point the bard slipped on a wet patch left by the scout and impaled his leg on a snapped root. Horribly painful, but fortunately not a disastrous wound and eventually they managed to drag themselves to dry land on the opposite bank.
With the daylight fading and two of their number suffering they made camp at the base of the cliff. Bjorn was shivering now, and from more than the cold - he'd caught something from the waters and could do nothing but let his body fight it through the night.
MAKE CAMP (Williarth) - Strong Hit
Williarth ate heartily and tended his wound as Tekhra looked on with silent concern for their supplies. Everyone recuperated, relaxed and focused that evening by the camp fire. Tekhra took herself off for a climb up the cliff to get her bearings and think on the next leg of the journey before returning for sleep.
All but Bjorn benefited greatly from the fitful rest. He was still under the weather with whatever he'd caught, but fit enough to take up his scouting position again with Tekhra leading the journey onwards.
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn) - Strong Hit
UNDERTAKE A JOURNEY [1/10] (Tekhra) - Strong Hit [2/10]
ORACLE - Rich
ORACLE - River
They climbed the cliff and strived forth through the dense forest. There was no path here so the going was tough, but that afternoon they came to a shallow river absolutely teeming with fish.
Williarth set about preparing to catch some fish with a small net and Kabeera and Bjorn came to help - the former by scaring the fish towards the other two and the latter by shooting any easy targets that came near.
AID YOUR ALLY (Kabeera) - Miss
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn) - Strong Hit
RESUPPLY (Wiliarth) - Weak Hit (+1 Supply, -1 Momentum)
Kabeera slipped on the wet rocks and fell face-first into the water, scattering the fish in all directions. Bjorn and Williarth still managed to snag a few, but not quite as much as they'd hoped.
At least this time the water was clean.