Hickorydale has been around for many generations. No one knows exactly how many but it is widely agreed that it's at least ten. Some argue it's many more. (After a few cups some argue they spang from a hickory nut that fell on the big hill, but no one listens to them) Most of it's history, however mundane, has been passed down through song and story with some classics being “Until the tillings comes”, “The low hill”, and a cautionary tale about leaving The Dale “There's monsters in the water”. Whenever it was first founded all can, at least, agree that is was truly an excellent Halfling to have found such an ideal place to live.
Written history in The Dale has only begun in the last few generations which coincides with other races coming to the region. Mostly humans with their ships and cravings to build towns and cities. They explored the region and found places to build and places to mine. Towns sprung up seemingly overnight and grew to cities. The folk of The Dale didn't pay it much mind and for the most part life went on the way it always did.
It's said that the first human that came to The Dale was an explorer named “Arthur Wright” with his exploration company “Wright Way Exploration”. It's said he was an agreeable sort and found the Halfling folk most interesting, (naturally) wanted to learn all about them, (of course) and wanted to teach them about the world. (preposterous!) But over time he earned their trust and started telling them of the wider world. Told them tales of distant lands and different peoples, of adventures on the high seas and fearsome sea monsters. Some say this is why the folk of The Dale don't like boats, but any reasonable Halfing knows it's not that they don't like boats, they just have no need of them.
Arthur proposed that the Halflings start trading with the wider world. Although the Halflings had been trading a bushel of beets for a blanket among themselves for time out of mind, they didn't think they had need of anything from the outside world. That changed when they saw ink and paper. Even though the Halflings had been making dyes for ever, and had the means to make paper, it just never occurred to them. Until seeing the drawings of foreign plants and animals that Arthur showed them (He considered himself quite the naturalist) Thus a trading relationship was born and soon other folks were visiting The Dale hoping to trade for their fine cloth and delicious food. Over time a handful of very fine folk became somewhat regular visitors and offered to train a group of youngens with specialized skills. This was met with a good amount of resistance. Many thought it would be the end of their way of life. “Soon they'll be wanting to build their holes above ground!” was a sentiment often heard.
After much debate (mostly a lot of drinking and yelling) it was decided that it would be for the best. The world was changing very quickly whether they wanted it to or not. And just like the seasons, no matter now much you wished the first frost would wait just a bit longer, it always came.
We start in the evening and you had all finished a particularly hard day of training and were heading down to the river to get some fishing in before it got full dark. The sun was just dipping below the highest mountain. The perfect time to catch the big ones! The walk is the same you've all made hundreds of times and you're all joking about who's going to catch what, barely looking where your going as your feet know the way.
The evening insect song is beginning to fill the air with chirps and buzzes, every now and again being outdone by the call of an owl. The air smells fresh and moist as you get closer to the river. It seems like the perfect evening for sitting by the river with a line in the water.
Nobody would have guess that there's something afoot.
No really, something is a foot. There on the edge of the river, in the mud and river grass. It looks like, well, a foot!
"Hey, guys, do you see that?" Bree calls out. She is a lanky female halfling with auburn hair and wearing a light-weight tunic under her leathers. She moves ahead, towards the foot she spotted. "Guys, come and look, what do you..." She trails off as she gets closer, trying to see if the foot is connected to anything, like the rest of a body or something.
Bree being the first to notice the foot calls out to the others and makes her way closer. The constant breeze down river had kept the smell away from you but as you close in the smell of rot is strong. The foot is just a foot. There is no shin, leg, or body attached to it. It's not in good shape with much of the muscle and some bone visible. What's left of the skin looks a waxy greenish black.
"It's a foot," says Gallo and chuckles to himself. He's a thin, hairy guy, sporting a similarly thick unibrow, somewhat mean looking. He continues down the path chewing a reed.
"I wouldn't go too near to where someone lost their foot," he calls out over his shoulder.
Faleon, a generally cheery halfling (even by halfling standards) - at least, usually - short (again, even by halfling standards), with an innocent look in his eye unless he's playing the fool, rushes up after Bree, and immediately picks up the foot to have a good look at it. "Cool!-" Or at least, he gets halfway through the word before the stench hits him. He immediately recoils and holds it out to Bree. "Ugh! No, not cool! That's disgusting! Who loses a foot?!"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"I't Ain't gunna bite ya!" Oscar would scoff as he stomps towards the decaying limb. His loud armor clanking and rattling with each step. Once near the foot he would remove his kettle helm and tuck it under his arm before poking it with the end of his heavy mace. a moment later he would turn and look back to the others. "Bad news fellas.... I don't think there is any chance of saving this one.." He would say as he turns the foot over with the tip of his weapon. The dark tan halfling would squint towards the setting sun as he scratched his brown shaggy sideburns with his free hand. "I wonder who it belongs to..." He would wonder aloud.
Medicine! 13 = trying to determine if it is a halfling foot. or goblin or some other creature..
"We can use it as bait!" Faleon sets off towards the river, no longer concerned by the smell of the foot, but excited by its potential use. He glances to Gallo as he realises he's just made the same suggestion and is unintentionally passing it off as his own idea.
"Looks human.. well the bits that weren't burnt off or eaten by fish and other critters that is.." Oscar would say as he looks towards his companions. "I don't see no reason to keep it." The halfling would add as he kicks the foot towards Faleon.
While you're all deciding what to do with the foot the wind coming down the river changes direction slightly and picks up. In the gust that follows there's a very strong smell of rot and decay. It makes the smell that was emanating from the foot seem like potpourri.
"You guys smell that? Well, of course you do, only a rock wouldn't be able to smell that... Wowser that is some rank stuff..." bree says as she grimaces at the stench. "Should we go see what is causing it? Well, we definitely shouldn't, I know that, but who is going to come with me anyway?"
"Definitely shouldn't? I think we have to!" Faleon starts after Gallo excitedly, overtaking him eagerly whilst covering his nose as subtly as possible.
Gallo puts a hand on the shoulder of Faleon. "Hold on, let me go first. This stench might attract something unusual and I'd rather me be the first target than you."
Prologue:
Hickorydale has been around for many generations. No one knows exactly how many but it is widely agreed that it's at least ten. Some argue it's many more. (After a few cups some argue they spang from a hickory nut that fell on the big hill, but no one listens to them) Most of it's history, however mundane, has been passed down through song and story with some classics being “Until the tillings comes”, “The low hill”, and a cautionary tale about leaving The Dale “There's monsters in the water”. Whenever it was first founded all can, at least, agree that is was truly an excellent Halfling to have found such an ideal place to live.
Written history in The Dale has only begun in the last few generations which coincides with other races coming to the region. Mostly humans with their ships and cravings to build towns and cities. They explored the region and found places to build and places to mine. Towns sprung up seemingly overnight and grew to cities. The folk of The Dale didn't pay it much mind and for the most part life went on the way it always did.
It's said that the first human that came to The Dale was an explorer named “Arthur Wright” with his exploration company “Wright Way Exploration”. It's said he was an agreeable sort and found the Halfling folk most interesting, (naturally) wanted to learn all about them, (of course) and wanted to teach them about the world. (preposterous!) But over time he earned their trust and started telling them of the wider world. Told them tales of distant lands and different peoples, of adventures on the high seas and fearsome sea monsters. Some say this is why the folk of The Dale don't like boats, but any reasonable Halfing knows it's not that they don't like boats, they just have no need of them.
Arthur proposed that the Halflings start trading with the wider world. Although the Halflings had been trading a bushel of beets for a blanket among themselves for time out of mind, they didn't think they had need of anything from the outside world. That changed when they saw ink and paper. Even though the Halflings had been making dyes for ever, and had the means to make paper, it just never occurred to them. Until seeing the drawings of foreign plants and animals that Arthur showed them (He considered himself quite the naturalist) Thus a trading relationship was born and soon other folks were visiting The Dale hoping to trade for their fine cloth and delicious food. Over time a handful of very fine folk became somewhat regular visitors and offered to train a group of youngens with specialized skills. This was met with a good amount of resistance. Many thought it would be the end of their way of life. “Soon they'll be wanting to build their holes above ground!” was a sentiment often heard.
After much debate (mostly a lot of drinking and yelling) it was decided that it would be for the best. The world was changing very quickly whether they wanted it to or not. And just like the seasons, no matter now much you wished the first frost would wait just a bit longer, it always came.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
We start in the evening and you had all finished a particularly hard day of training and were heading down to the river to get some fishing in before it got full dark. The sun was just dipping below the highest mountain. The perfect time to catch the big ones! The walk is the same you've all made hundreds of times and you're all joking about who's going to catch what, barely looking where your going as your feet know the way.
The evening insect song is beginning to fill the air with chirps and buzzes, every now and again being outdone by the call of an owl. The air smells fresh and moist as you get closer to the river. It seems like the perfect evening for sitting by the river with a line in the water.
Nobody would have guess that there's something afoot.
No really, something is a foot. There on the edge of the river, in the mud and river grass. It looks like, well, a foot!
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
"Hey, guys, do you see that?" Bree calls out. She is a lanky female halfling with auburn hair and wearing a light-weight tunic under her leathers. She moves ahead, towards the foot she spotted. "Guys, come and look, what do you..." She trails off as she gets closer, trying to see if the foot is connected to anything, like the rest of a body or something.
Bree being the first to notice the foot calls out to the others and makes her way closer. The constant breeze down river had kept the smell away from you but as you close in the smell of rot is strong. The foot is just a foot. There is no shin, leg, or body attached to it. It's not in good shape with much of the muscle and some bone visible. What's left of the skin looks a waxy greenish black.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
"It's a foot," says Gallo and chuckles to himself. He's a thin, hairy guy, sporting a similarly thick unibrow, somewhat mean looking. He continues down the path chewing a reed.
"I wouldn't go too near to where someone lost their foot," he calls out over his shoulder.
Faleon, a generally cheery halfling (even by halfling standards) - at least, usually - short (again, even by halfling standards), with an innocent look in his eye unless he's playing the fool, rushes up after Bree, and immediately picks up the foot to have a good look at it. "Cool!-" Or at least, he gets halfway through the word before the stench hits him. He immediately recoils and holds it out to Bree. "Ugh! No, not cool! That's disgusting! Who loses a foot?!"
Mordekai | Tiefling Warlock/Bard (Lv.12) | Pizazz's Beyond
RavenloftAnnihilation"I't Ain't gunna bite ya!" Oscar would scoff as he stomps towards the decaying limb. His loud armor clanking and rattling with each step. Once near the foot he would remove his kettle helm and tuck it under his arm before poking it with the end of his heavy mace. a moment later he would turn and look back to the others. "Bad news fellas.... I don't think there is any chance of saving this one.." He would say as he turns the foot over with the tip of his weapon. The dark tan halfling would squint towards the setting sun as he scratched his brown shaggy sideburns with his free hand. "I wonder who it belongs to..." He would wonder aloud.
Medicine! 13 = trying to determine if it is a halfling foot. or goblin or some other creature..
There are several things Oscar can tell about the foot...
It's human. There are parts of the flesh left that are charred. It's definitely been being nibbled on by fish but there are signs of animal bite marks
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
Gallo stops as he senses the others aren't following. "Come on now, bring it along, throw it into the river, might bring out something interesting."
"Well I have both of mine..." Bree says with a smirk, showing her feet. "Sure hope the rest of whomever that is is doing better than their foot."
"We can use it as bait!" Faleon sets off towards the river, no longer concerned by the smell of the foot, but excited by its potential use. He glances to Gallo as he realises he's just made the same suggestion and is unintentionally passing it off as his own idea.
Mordekai | Tiefling Warlock/Bard (Lv.12) | Pizazz's Beyond
RavenloftAnnihilation"Looks human.. well the bits that weren't burnt off or eaten by fish and other critters that is.." Oscar would say as he looks towards his companions. "I don't see no reason to keep it." The halfling would add as he kicks the foot towards Faleon.
While you're all deciding what to do with the foot the wind coming down the river changes direction slightly and picks up. In the gust that follows there's a very strong smell of rot and decay. It makes the smell that was emanating from the foot seem like potpourri.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
"You guys smell that? Well, of course you do, only a rock wouldn't be able to smell that... Wowser that is some rank stuff..." bree says as she grimaces at the stench. "Should we go see what is causing it? Well, we definitely shouldn't, I know that, but who is going to come with me anyway?"
"We should indeed," says Gallo and starts heading upwind.
"Definitely shouldn't? I think we have to!" Faleon starts after Gallo excitedly, overtaking him eagerly whilst covering his nose as subtly as possible.
Mordekai | Tiefling Warlock/Bard (Lv.12) | Pizazz's Beyond
RavenloftAnnihilationGallo puts a hand on the shoulder of Faleon. "Hold on, let me go first. This stench might attract something unusual and I'd rather me be the first target than you."
"Oh, right. Yes, very wise." (Faleon has a - 2 WIS modifier, this may happen a lot! lol)
Mordekai | Tiefling Warlock/Bard (Lv.12) | Pizazz's Beyond
RavenloftAnnihilation(Same with Gallo, but he just wants to be the first into every possible physical confrontation :) )
"Seems like we are going." Bree says with a nod. She follows the others as they head towards the smell.