Red Dead Annihilation: Campaign Thread

Mica leans in and listens as Hew shares what he has learned with the group. “Bloody beaches. Heard of them before.” He looks to the others “Those beasts with the large sails on their back we saw at the fights.  Dimeetreedons or something like that. They were from the bloody beaches.  Good hunting, but they tore that one poor sod apart.  Best be on our guard tomorrow.”

 He perks up as Danica begins her song, bobbing with the tune and clapping along. “Well done, Cap’n!  A fine song for the fire.”  He continues to stare in the flames as the fire burns down.  As the others begin to retire for the evening, he stands to join the group. “Might as well see if she will talk now. I’m ready whenever you all are.”

Inete elects to stay behind, casting the light cantrip in her tent and studying her spellbook.

The five of you approach the shack at the back of the walled compound.  It was clearly built of found local materials.  Chopped logs and stones make up the walls and the roof is large palm fronds held together with river clay.  Moving to knock, the door creaks open at the slightest touch.  "Come in, Seekers," you hear from Amphyretta.

Inside, the space seems somehow larger than it could have been based on the footprint.  It is also cooler than you would have thought possible.  It resembles a tavern hall, complete with an empty bar along one wall.  The walls are bare and empty, and the only furniture is a single long table with two benches, where the young woman sits with her back to you, a small flame in front of her illuminating her silhouette.  The cerulean macaw perches on a wooden stick protruding from one of the walls.  It cocks its head at you all and mutters in a way that almost sounds like speech.

"I can promise so little, but I can tell you this much; you be safe here within my walls, so long as you bring no violence in with ye."  She does something with her hands, and the little flame in front of her flares up, causing all of your shadows to darken and dance along the walls behind you.  "You have come a long way, and have further yet to go.  If you've got questions for Amphyretta, best ask them now before your time slips away from ye."  Without turning to look back at you, she waves her arms to call you closer to her.

Ran looks around the spartan room, smiling as the cool temperature offers some respite from the heat and humidity of the damned jungle.

He then steps forward, and takes a seat on the other side of the table. He doesn't sit directly across from Aphyretta but not far off.

"Ta for the invite," Ran begins. "I'm Ran, and if I've got to be quick, I'll get right to it. You talked to a pair of women not long ago. Was one Shepard Deadgleam? My sister? What did you tell her? And hey, if you know where that Tobem brat is headed, I would love to hear about it."

 When Ran sits across from the woman, he can see her eyes are focused on the table in front of her.  A stone disc holds a little metal pot... inside are little coals and a small orange flame.  She smiles when Ran asks about his sister.  The woman is charismatic, but has a dangerous vibe.  She reminds you a little bit of the colorful dinosaurs in the jungle... and at just that moment she laughs, giving the unsettling impression she heard that thought.  But then she puts a hand over the pot and drops something inside, and the flame flares up again.

"Shepard... Tobem..." she says, rolling the names around in her mouth like she is tasting an exotic candy.  "No one used those names here.  But maybe I saw your sister all the same...".  Ran notices there are one too many shadows on the wall now... an extra outline, a feminine form that moves with assured confidence and swagger... a familiar outline.  It seems to take a seat at the table before melting away.

"If that was your sister... then I told her and her partner only what they asked of me... where I told those wizards to go."

Ran watches the shadow for a moment, nodding as it moves.

"Yeah, that's her," Ran says, wondering if talking to all wizard types was like this. Velan didn't talk in riddles or leave obvious bits out. "So where were the wizards going?"

"Looking for someone.  I could not help dem... but told dem where they should begin to search.  M'bala. A village to de south."

"On a great plateau, it overlooks de Swamp of Sorrows.  If dey seek someone der, M'bala may already know about where dey are.  And if not... it is a great vantage point from which to spy on dose below...".

"I told de wizards to go der to start de hunt for der prey.  I told de two girls to go der to seek de wizards.  Did any of dem listen to Amphyretta?"  She shrugs.

"See?  Amphyretta is more den happy to help.  But she wonders... you spoke of de Death Curse.  What would ye be knowin about such t'ings?"

"Same things others know," Meili did not want to interrupt Ran's and Amphyretta's conversation and waited aside, glancing at Danica from time to time - how she was handling the cold. But the question about the curse was hers. She walked around the table and sat in a way to see the young woman's face. "Those who die can not be returned, nor can they reach their final resting place, their souls are lost." She shuddered as if the pleasantly cool air became chill and continued. "The priest of Savras revealed to us where the source of that curse lies - a hidden city, built by minotaurs but crawling with snakes now. Something or someone with a face of a skeleton is causing it. How or to what end - that we do not know. And this is what I wanted to ask. What is it? Does that thing do something with the souls? Or is it a true curse, that destroys the souls? Can the souls be freed or are they truly lost? Do you know that?"

Danica felt off kilter inside the strange hut. Not only because of its strangeness but also because of the woman, Amphyretta. She was familiar and yet strange. Off putting yet comforting. It was something she was having a hard time discerning other than the fact that she reminded her somewhat of her mentor in how enigmatic she could be. The elf stayed quiet as Ran spoke with the tattooed woman, her arms crossed in a hopefully pensive looking posture though she was truly trying to hide the shaking of her hands. She was sure the coolness of inside this hut was welcome to everyone else but away from the fire she felt colder than ever, those standing directly next to her just able to hear the soft chattering of her teeth. Earlier Danica had guessed that Amphyretta might have been a druid but she wasn't so sure now seeing her up close. An odd shaman of sorts. At least she had useful information for Ran. 

When she inquired directly about their knowledge on the curse, Meili took the lead and it struck the sailor again how impassioned the young woman was about the issue. And she was so sure that there were souls being lost... It didn't feel incorrect to her and yet the brunette couldn't offer a reason why. After the monk had asked her questions, Danica paused a moment before throwing in, "We Seek an end to this Death Curse. Do you know anything that would be able to aid us?"

Mica stands back slightly from the table, looking suspiciously at the walls as the shadows flared and moved about.  He has no immediate needs, but listens with interest to both Ran and Meili’s conversations, glad that his companions are getting some of the answers they seek.  M’bala.  The name stands out to him.  He thinks back and remembers it was on the Captain’s map, not far from the swamp of sorrows, but he doesn’t remember if Hew mentioned anything about it.  Who lives that deep within the jungle?  He would have to ask Hew about it.

It sounds like if nothing else, M’bala will be their next destination.  He waits patiently to see what else the strange woman has to offer in her answers and riddles.

"Savras... a god set you on a quest for de Soulmonger, did he?  Funny... you all don't seem de priestly sort."  She puts another item into the little pot, and the flames roar up again.  "I know little... but enough to terrify me.  Dis land has a long history of fell sorcery.  But there are new powers here.  A few years ago, a trio of witches arrived.  Dey call demselves 'Sewn Sisters,' and dey set about bringing all dose who practiced de art under der influence, or driving dem off.  Said dey served one of the 'great powers' and dat de world would be changing forever... a new birth dey said."  As she speaks, three shadows rise against the wall... bent and mishappen, twitching as though wracking themselves with mad laughter.

"My own Auntie, raised me from a wee babe.  She had spent centuries among the people of a little village, living in peace.  De Sewn Sisters told her she needed to assist them... dat dey were building something... a Soulmonger, dey called it.  My sweet Auntie, headstrong lady dat she was, bowed to no foreign queens.  She refused... so de Sewn Sisters, dey turned the villagers against her.  After generations of peace, they came to her with spear and torches... and now I dwell out here, alone."

"I don't know what dis Soulmonger does, truly.  Or who de Sewn Sisters are really working for... but dey are bad news, dem three.  And dey are always watching.  Dey know dark arts that let dem see through de animals... de trees... even through de dead.  If you seek der Soulmonger, you'll run afoul a dem fore long.  Ye best be ready."  

Ran tuned out most of the rest of the conversation. Once he was sure his sister was alive; alive at least a few weeks ago he focused on next steps. M'bala. A destination at least.

The word soulmonger did register but this place was so foreign to him that it could be a wizard, a place, a dinosaur, it was all the same to Ran at this point. 

But he kept quiet while the others talked.

It was not at all what Meili hoped to hear but it was useful nevertheless. Meili sighed internally, so much useful information around that does not answer the slightest the most burning questions. "We are not priests, no. But Savras sent a vision to one of his priests for us. Now we are searching for that city the vision pointed us to." There was also price involved but it did not look like something worth mentioning here. "I am sorry about you aunt. Truly." She forced herself to shift the gaze from the pot and dancing shadows to the woman creating them. "For her sake, I pray the souls could be saved still." She went silent for a second. "You are saying that Sewn Sisters might help or even be the minions of that undead monster we are expecting to find in the forgotten city?" Meili was not sure the monster was indeed an undead - though the skeletal hand and face hinted at it, or if it was indeed the creature at all, not an allegory of death, she just had to call it something. "Thank you for the warning, we shall watch for them."

She learned what she could and looked at Danica and Velan - two among the group who could be called "of art". Hopefully, that additional danger will not notice the small group with to sparkle of arcane with them.

The talk of dark magic and the three sisters remind Mica of Inete’s mission, one that he promised to aid her in as best he could, or at the least see she arrive at the basin.  “The Red Wizards that have flocked to the jungle now, they work with, or for, these Sewn Sisters?  What do they seek in the swamp?”

 He pauses and considers her previous conversation with the white wizards. “And who, or what, were the white wizards seeking that you could not help them with?”

She answers Meili without looking at her.  "I don't know about dis hidden city you speak of, though I'm sure such places exist... its said there were once 10 souls living in de old empires for every 1 dat now dwells in Chult.  Der must be ruins out der greater dan what is known today.  I don't know who or what dey work for, but de Sewn Sisters are without a doubt agents of dis Death Curse, if not directly responsible for it."

"As far as de wizards... white or red, der motives are unknown to me... other dan de whites were seeking a red base in de interior, possibly in de Swamp of Sorrows."

The little flame flares up again.  The macaw mutters quietly and walks back and forth nervously on his little stick, his clawed feet clicking and clacking in the empty room.  "De land is dark and full of danger," Amphyretta intones, almost like a prayer.  "De dead, ever restless, stir in numbers never before seen.  Old powers waken from der slumbers, or are driven forth from der crypts, turned out either to serve de new darkness, or to make way before it.  Throughout de jungles, would be heroes lie rotting, or have joined with de undead hordes, or dey hold on desperately in whatever shelter dey can find."  Along the walls, there are a menagerie of different forms and shadows.  One wall is covered by staggering, dragging shapes... the darkness seeming to stretch out trying to reach you.  Another wall shows figures with blades or bows, fleeing or fighting, all being overwhelmed by more staggering shapes, or the huge dark shadows of hungry beasts.

"De powers give me tiny glimpses of what is... but I cannot predict what will be.  What awaits you out der, only you will find out... or perhaps de god of your little friend out der.  I can suggest you search M'bala, but I cannot guarantee you will find what you seek der."  She still keeps her eyes closed, but she smiles mischievously.

"Two more warnings I will make... heed them or do not, it will harm me little either way.  First... beware de Gauntlet camps.  I do not know what is happening upriver, but de men who attacked us were afraid.  So afraid.  Afraid enough to dishonor themselves, flee and attempt to murder us for our supplies and boats." She is serious again, and grows more serious still.

"Second..." her voices drops a bit, conspiratorially.  "... Keep an eye on your dwarf.  True, he is at home out here in the jungle... but dat should give you pause.  Dis is a wild and deadly land, and his mind is likewise wild... his heart broken.  He is desperate... he is wrathful.  Dat is a man who has come out here to fight... and to die."  She lets the words hang for a few seconds before finishing.  "If you are not careful, he may take all of you with him to de shadowlands beyond dis world...".

Ran follows the warnings the best he can, but the last one surprises him a little.

"Hew's got a death wish?" Ran says. "Hasn't shown it so far."

He thinks for a moment longer.

"Might want revenge at any cost for the loss of that arm."

Ran edges towards the door, feeling full up on magical warnings. He lingers while the others remain, but the moment they look to be done, he's heading back outside to light a couple of the bug repellent candles by the tents and crash out until it's his turn for watch (middle?).

"Every time one of us thanks Hew for taking care of us, he feels ... ashamed? Not sure how to describe it. Yet, I can not believe he wishes for our demise. He could let me die back in the camp, but he fought off that creature." Meili spoke thoughtfully and honestly, but her head was filled with the names of places and creatures now. There was a lot to think about all the while the group would fight for their very life through the jungles, which looked even more menacing now.

"Thank you." She bowed again before leaving the hut. The night outside felt even darker, hotter and noisier after the cool Amphyretta's shed, and yet Meili breathed easier here. At least the shadows were nothing more than the real shadows cast by objects in the light of the dying fire. Everyone needed some rest now but it looked like tomorrow they might be needing to discuss the path right away, considering new dangers. She was ready to take the first watch (or any other).

Silent like a shadow, Velan watched as every one of his companions asked their questions to Amphyretta, conscious that his words could warrant her distaste and so deciding to speak last. He shared none of Meili sympathy about the Auntie for he knew what she truly was. A look at the woman speaking with them was enough for him to be sure. His air changed visibly, becoming more serious, stern. A keen eye would notice in him the deepest concentration.

“Did you live alone with your aunt or there was another woman in your family?” He asked the other hexblood with a deeper, colder voice than the polite tone his companions were used to hear. His face was a mask of flesh and blood, inexpressive. “What happened, exactly, after the villagers came? Have you confirmed that your aunt will not return?” He very much doubted common folk with torches and spears had any chance against a hag. Either Amphyretta was making them assume the death of the Auntie while omitting the truth or she herself had been tricked by the fey. “Is there anything more to tell about the Sisters? Do you know about the Crone?”

As far he was interested, the woman before his eyes could ignore all of the other questions if she answered but the last. Of course, he would like to know about the appearances, names, and anything about strengths and weakness of the coven. To know if the hexblood herself was not being groomed to become part of one. But more than anything he wanted to know if his kin had anything to do with those hags.

Insight Check: 9

Amphyretta remains seated with her eyes closed while Velan asks her questions.  "I wondered what you might have to say, or if ye be just a pretty blue wallflower.  Such concern... has someone hurt ye, hexchilde?" She smiles again, eyes closed as drops more herbs into the little pot.  Flames roil and toss, and the shadows on the wall show a little baby in the arms of an old, crook-backed woman... the baby herself growing tall and strong.  "It wer just me and me Auntie, though I grew up alongside de other children in the village."

"Some of dose same children, were de ones who came in de night... driven mad with bloodlust.  She had protected dose folk... kept threats from de jungle away... used her magicks to midwife and to treat de sick.  But at the manipulations of de Sewn Sisters, dose people repaid all de years of friendship with blood, and in de end dey served my poor Auntie a banquet of fire and tears."  She seems sad now, and you see the old shadows shrinks and shrinks and shrinks until it has faded away, and the shadow of the young woman is alone.  "Now I am left with only dose things she taught me... straddling her world and mine... a stranger in both.  But she taught me enough to get by, she did."  Her smile is back, mischievous as ever.

"I can only assume your... upbringing... differed in some regards to mine own.  I knew only love and respect from me Auntie... and when de whip cracked it was only for me own benefit and instruction.  If dis 'Crone' worries you, fret not.  Dat not be a name I've known any to go by hear, and it isn't one of de unspeakable names de Sewn Sisters use."  The flame in the pot nearly snuffs out now, and the room darkens, as does Amphyretta's voice.  "But if you know Aunties and Grannies and der ilk... you know dey are always looking to make demselves a good deal.  If der's someone out der looking for you, der be plenty of fair ladies in des dark lands who will happily trade you back to her in a horsehide sack if you give dem half de chance...".

As the embers in the pot fade, Amphyretta is illuminated in a faint orange glow... the tattoos on her face, the lighting and the shadows lending her an almost demonic quality.  

"If der be no more questions, den I will ask you to depart in peace.  No charge for de information... consider it part of de fees de boys collected at de gate...".

Velan:

 [Edit - cross posted with P_J... will address that momentarily...]

It took a while for Danica to finally notice the shadows, not of her or her companions but unknown and unfamiliar, moving and twisting at a whim into violent shapes. She didn't know what sort of magic this was but it put her on edge. But she took care to listen properly to Amphyretta go on even as her eyes stayed trained on the moving shadows, though her blue eyes returned to the Chultan woman at the end of her rather tragic tale concerning her and her aunt. She had heard somewhat similar tales from other druids being driven away from woods if they lived too close to villages that didn't understand their bond with nature and magic. "These Sewn Sisters are confusing and curious. The powers that you described them having are extremely similar to druidic magic and yet not... No druid would deal with undead. Death is a natural cycle of life and nature. Undeath is not." Danica shook her head in tired perplexity. And what in the Planes could a Soulmonger be? 

It was unsettling to know that this would likely be their last hope of a safe rest spot if what she was telling them about the Order of the Gauntlet was true. But what she said of Hew made the elf's heart sink. A part of her wanted to rebel and say that that this stranger didn't know their guide well enough to say such things. And yet... Frowning with concern as she glanced over at Meili. "I don't think he wants us to fail. I just don't think his vigor for living is as strong as it used to be. Seems to have been through a lot. Changes a person. Knew a couple myself. We can only try n be there for him n hope he leans on us if he needs. Makes me wonder what the real reason he was so eager to be a guide to anyone going into the jungle is though." The druid sighs before it was cut short with a more intense shiver. 
Insight Check: 16

Velan's rather curt tone and questioning caused her eyebrows to raise but she didn't interrupt, simply rubbed her arms in a pathetic attempt to keep warm and stave off further shivering. Watching the twisting shadows was making her feel dizzy and so she closed her eyes in a long blink before concentrating on Velan, a solid not moving figure. 'The Crone'... How very ominous. Clearly these two were somehow linked but Danica's tired fuzzy mind couldn't begin to piece it together. Hexchild? Why was he blue?? It seemed like their wizard didn't have the best childhood and was possibly running from this 'Crone'. At least they didn't have to worry about Amphyretta (if they believed her)...