Granophyre says, “I’m afraid my dear Tuff usually handled questions such as this. I sorely miss his wisdom in this moment...” The scholar trails off, his eyes closed in terrible grief. In a moment, he begins again. “Likewise, without Amistan, we lack the knowledge to be able to quickly track La Cass on our own. There is nothing which prevents this orc from leading us into a trap. Yet he is our only hope at this moment.”
Strewn sighs wearily, and then utters a word of healing. The orc’s eyes open, and after a moment of bafflement he remembers his predicament. He regards the four of you warily, plainly casting about for an escape path. Seeing none, with his hands tightly bound, he sets his jaw, squats in place, and grimly waits for your decision.
"Yes. Through the sands then, with our new friend here leading us. And then we will free Benita and perhaps need to come back this way,"Auger says, feigning confidence. This was going to be quite a trip! Auger thinks about his strategy with tree markings for a trail and also remembers that people will stack stones to mark paths. Looking at his available tools he snaps a few branches off of a nearby tree planning to slowly whittle them down as they walk through the quicksands leaving a trail partially marked behind them and perhaps to stack stones here and there as well.
[edit]
(OOC: I see DM posted while I was writing this. The words and activities above are intended to take place prior to Granophyre waking the Orc.)
"I fear every moment we spend here is a moment something terrible can happen to Benita. Let us advance." She pulls the Orc up to standing. "And if you think you can betray us to save your friends - remember we've already died once. It is not personal revenge anymore, but divine punishment bestowed on you all by the gods. By opposing us you'll be opposing the gods. I can't even imagine what will happen to you then." Was it true? Varielky believes so. Why else is she standing here now, and not lying dead by the lizards' nest? "Move it." However, it also causes her to be rush. Not that she expected to be resurrected again, but it meant she couldn't waste this second chance. She must reach Benita before anything happens.
As sunbeams glint over the eastern horizon and a chill breeze whisks in from the south, your trek west begins, following the steps of your captive. He moves slowly, and must be prodded to quicken his pace from time to time.
Within two hours, the terrain has changed from slowly rolling hills broken by creeks and copses of juniper & jujube trees, to flat scrub-covered plains, to badlands. At first, green can be seen in the slight valley-like indentations, and this view spreads before you, Py informs Auger.
But as the morning wears on, and the sun rises, bringing only moderate warmth on this late-winter day, the terrain shifts, to look like this.
Until, by late afternoon, you are walking over dried sands, and some shifting sands, between wind-carved low hills which have been softened by eons of slow erosion. Here, you round a bend along a ridge line, and see below you an enormous head, a statue’s head, of a human woman, its neck seeming to extend downwards into the sand, and Varielky and Ednyss recognize the image as that of one of the Orracan Queens of old, from the age of the Dominion. It, like the rest of the surrounding landscape, has not borne the centuries well, and is pock-marked and sundried, jutting at an angle from the ground.
Py informs Auger that two giant hyenas have been following you at a distance, their noses to the breeze. Big black flies buzz around you, and sometimes land on your exposed skin and bite. There are scorpions which skitter away, and a rattlesnake startles you as you make a turn over a rise, but you step back and around, and it goes about its business. Buzzards circle lazily overhead.
Upon seeing the enormous disembodied relic of old, the orc nods, and says, mostly to himself. “This is the way. Arrive, back door, by sundown.”
Sweating, Auger looks at the bleak landscape and studies the head of the statue for a moment. Curious. A human head. Celebrated in one era and all but forgotten in another.
Auger approaches the orc and, its hands still tied, helps it to drink from his waterskin. "These next hours are important for you friend. We proceed. We arrive. Back door. At sundown." Auger pauses a moment reflecting on his words and then continues. "Maybe later. After dark. You will be quiet. Then we will do what must be done. Maybe you can live. If you run away. If you call out. If you try something stupid. You will die. Maybe quick like your friends. Maybe in these quicksands, which I think would be slow." Auger shrugs at him and gestures towards Ednyss and Varielky, "You probably want to keep them happy most of all."
Walking back a few steps on their route Auger looks back and tries to catch a glimpse of the Hyenas Py had mentioned. Still facing back, Auger reaches into his things and frees one of the branches he had found earlier. He hesitates a moment both at the idea of creating a trail that might lead someone to them and also skeptical that this might not help at all. But, after a moment he resolves to do what he had planned. It would at least keep his hands busy while they walked. Using one of his woodcarving knifes Auger shaves a few bits of bark from the branch on to the ground and looks at the little pile, hoping it will stand out from the cracked earth and sand.
Looking back to the others, and then the Orc, Auger calls out to it, "Perhaps it is time for you to start telling us about this castle we go to."
Py is tracking the two hyenas, which maintain a distance of one quarter mile or so behind you. Auger does not see them, even once, when he looks back. In a few moments, Py sends to Auger that a caravan of lizard-people is headed your way from the south. The orc’s eyes bug out. “BACK! BACK!,” he whispers harshly.
You step back and press into a crevice in a rock outcropping. Ten minutes later, a caravan of over twenty gargantuan lizards, of the same sort which lifted Tuff in its maw and threw him down like a sack of grain, each ridden by two or three lizard-people, these with different colorings than before -- black and rust -- slip slowly past. One of the huge lizards stops, its head swiveling in your direction and for a long moment its long tongue whips out, tasting the air. Then its rider nudges it along and the caravan continues past.
You continue onward when you are satisfied the reptilians are at a safe distance, and the orc answers Auger in fragments as you walk.
“Castle guards orc lands. Old magic helps protect from entry. Invisible bridge. No orcs inside, must…pass through.
“Orc town is strong. Women are in harem. Fifty. Sixty maybe. Men in other harem and slaves. Biggest tent under rocks shaped like two daggers of Ellosh belongs to chief and Hands. If your friend pleases chief, she there.
“My cave near there. My wife is orc, have three husbands. She strong, next Hand.
“**** not possible after curse. Long time. Enemy of Ellosh — angel — curse orc men who ****. Become tiny scorpion forever. Must be patient. Your friend will be wife eventually.”
You hear woeful howling coming from far behind you, adrift on the chill, arid breeze. Py messages to Auger, ‘Ugh. One of the hyenas. I saw it suddenly sink in quicksand. It struggled, tried to leap out, but its motions only hastened its end.’
Now as you walk, you see dried bone carcasses: a lion, a hyena, a giant lizard on the ridge. Every scrap of muscle and tissue long gone, or almost gone as buzzards peck away furtively at the most recent remains. A cloud of flies surrounds bones and scavengers both in putrid effervescence.
The skies are now overcast, and there is a brief rain shower, no more than fifteen minutes long.
It is almost sunset when Py messages again, ‘I see something. It’s more…uniform. Rectangular.’
You scrabble up a slanted rock face, slipping on loose sand and pebbles, and arrive at a protected shelf over a trench some thirty feet across. Edging along, you peer around a corner and see, on the other side of the trench, a flat, oblong wall of hewn brick-red stone hanging over the canyon’s edge, thick crenellations along its top and buttressed below by carved stone pillars reaching into the shifting deep black-green depths. There are no windows in the wall, no signs of life. Directly across from you, through thirty feet of thin air, eighty feet above the canyon floor, are a pair of carved iron doors, old and heavy, twelve feet tall.
“Back door,” whispers the orc. “I show you.” With your permission, he throws a small stone lightly into the air toward the door. Defying gravity, it slides along, with a completely straight trajectory, and then rests motionless between you and the doors for several seconds before slipping slowly downward then dropping with a thin, dull clack to the canyon floor.
“Can walk on invisible bridge. Keep moving. Must have key to get in. I do not have.” Looking at Granophyre, he adds, “Maybe float up wall.”
Now he moves back. “I not help anymore. I stay quiet but you let me go. Cover my mouth. I wait two days, pretend I lost, my tribe not kill me. Live with shame and Ellosh judge.”
It's clear Varielky wants to kill the Orc when she gestures towards him and whispers: "What do you think?" Though, there's no way, even if the others agree, that she'll just slash his head off. Not without handing him a weapon first. Otherwise, it is against all that she believes in.
Whether or not the others agree, at the very least, Varielky is at some ease. Whatever is happening to Benita at this moment, she's surely still alive, and if the Orc's words are true, not defiled either. However, knowing there are other men and women inside, her goals change. "We're not only freeing Benita tonight. Once all those who oppose us are dead, we're freeing everyone. Any ideas to get past these gates though?"
Also looking at Granophyre Auger says, "I would like to float up if possible, but with Py's help I might be able to move beyond the door and then open it from the other side. We should have Py scout it out first to ensure there is a way to open it from the other side without a key."
If the others agree Auger sends Py to the castle where it can attempt to invisibly check the other side of the door. When I cannot see I can still move where you can see, if we are close enough. Find me a place to move to, and tell me if there is a way to open the door.
Keeping the orc in view but quieting his voice so it cannot hear, Auger pulls Varielky and Ednyss aside and states, "This orc did as we bid and has gotten us here and shown us how this entrance works. I would like to let him live for that. Perhaps so he can tell stories that speak to goodwill from our kind among his people. Still," Auger sighs, "I do not trust that he will keep his word. These are his people and he must know some will die at our hands, perhaps including his mate. Perhaps if we kill the right orcs we help his mate rise in their hierarchy and we can gain some help in our task? I leave it to you both to decide its fate as you are trained warriors and I know little of these things.
"Either way, if we free all the slaves then many will die I am sure, but it will create enough of a distraction that we can use for our escape. I do not think we can kill all of their captors and ensure we get away safely with Benita."
"Use the slaves as a distraction so we can slip out? No chance." Varielky objects. "Either we save them or we don't, but we don't worsen their state. Unless we have enough weapons to give each of them, the best they can do is take one swing of the Orcs' weapons before their bodies never move again. As for this Orc, I cannot trust that he won't come back later to stab us in the back. I know that had I been in his state, I'd seek revenge."
“I am…of two minds,” says Granophyre, bereavement and grief written plainly on his face, his expression dark and morose, his voice breathless. “Part of me remembers that it was the lizard-people, not the orcs who defeated us, who…who would have fed La Cass…and you, Varielky and Auger…to their snake god, if not for the timely appearance of the orcs. Indeed, unless La Cass is blessed with the same supernatural kiss as you, she would now be dead. If not for the orcs. But part of me…” and now, Strewn’s brow creases in pain and fury while one of the tiny daggers which you’ve seen shoot forward and transform into a bolt of deadly acid floats out of a pocket in his vest, stopping just above the old dwarf’s head, pointed directly toward the orc, and, as Granophyre’s shoulders vibrate with emotion, and as the orc’s eyes widen into huge pale circles in his pink, sweating face, his jaw clenched and dirty teeth showing, the scholar’s voice shudders in an anguished, growling tone and he continues, “…part of me just wants to BREAK SOMETHING!”
Looking at Granophyre with some concern Auger says, "There will be many things to break I am sure, but perhaps we should think in terms of how to quietly get in and out."
To Varielky he adds, "I think the path with the slaves is simple. If we cannot arm them or ensure their survival then we do not free them. We are only the 4 of us and we want to continue living. Castles usually have a garrison. We could be overwhelmed easily. There are... things we must all do and loved ones to see to. I would see us focus on getting Benita out and surviving."
Louder Auger says to their captive, "Orc friend. You have not said how many of your kind live here. Tell us. Be swift!"
Ednyss seems to consider the notion of freeing the slaves for a moment, but after Varielky's objection, the dwarf keeps quiet about his own opinions on the matter. However, when Auger mentions getting Benita and getting out, Ednyss chimes in to convince Varielky, "While you may disagree, the warlock is correct. Attempting to free all the slaves now by killing every Orc and Jenghen in our path is suicide. By freeing only Benita and escaping with our lives, we can find a place to rest and recover, perhaps gain some more allies so that we may be able to take the camp when we might actually succeed." Ednyss is genuinely shocked as the scholar summons the bolt of acid in front of the Orc, he has never seen the scholar lose his temper in such a manner, and it only adds to the gravity of the situation for Ednyss. "Master, even if we do not storm the entire garrison, there will be plenty of Orc's to break in there during our mission. Besides, while I agree with Auger that the Orc is unlikely to keep his word, I suggest we give this one a chance for an honorable death for his help." With that, he looks to Varielky and asks, "A fair duel, the shield-maiden versus the Orc? To the death. Both of you will be armed if that is alright with you." To the Orc, he says, "If by some miracle you manage to manage to knock the shield-maiden out, then we will let you go free as you wish."
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“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
The orc backs away slowly from Granophyre’s wrath and anyone handing him a dueling weapon.
“There are two thousand in my tribe,” he responds to Auger’s question, and Ednyss notes something in his demeanor which had been absent until now: an edge of confidence, even, triumph.
At this moment, as Granophyre is on the point of destroying your guide, and Auger has dismissed the scholar’s threat while Ednyss tries to calm him, and as Auger, Ednyss and Varielky argue strategy, Py, following Auger’s instruction, flits to the castle wall to seek a spot for his master to Step to, and is only halfway across when it halts in place, hovering over the chasm, and messages to Auger ‘You should look over here.’ For the doors are now open.
Or rather, they have not swung open, but it is as if they never existed. There is an opening in the wall, and a chamber beyond it, impossible to see into, even with darkvision.
The last rays of sunset beam from behind the parapets, throwing a line of red light onto the top edge of the rock face above you, and in the dim light reflected from it, you now see thin, swirling funnels of dark sand extending from the doorway toward you, and there is a smell of decay, and the sound of shrieking, disembodied souls, which Varielky and Ednyss have encountered before, on the night of the opera in Ishi Ammah. Too, there is a raucous buzzing noise, and four-winged black-carapaced insects, each one two feet long, fly toward you, from over the opening in the opposite wall.
Granophyre pulls out of his dark rage and you all turn to face this new threat. Only the orc is not surprised by this development, and in a heartbeat, backs quickly around the corner of the rock shelf and out of view as six Azhvuv, desert witches of legend, in earthen-colored desert garb, brandishing sharp blades in each hand, materialize from the spiraling tentacles of sand to form a line at the edge of the canyon between your party and the bridge.
“What brings the living to bridge the chasm to the dead?,” one of them asks, as the others stand in silence, their garments flapping slowly, too slowly, in the dimming light.
(OOC: as a reminder to Varielky & Ednyss, although Auger has never heard of them:
The Azhvuv. Ghost tales, meant to keep unruly Shian children in check. “If you are not good,” say Shian parents, “the Azhvuv will come for you in the night. They will turn you into one of them. They will sneak past your loving mother and father, and we’ll never know what happened. We will awaken in the morning and you will be gone.” Legends say they drift through windows like sand on a breeze, kill with a look, steal souls It is hard to know what is fact and what, fiction. One tale says they fly on the backs of huge dragonflies called Alyasub, another, that they can magically transform their faces, pretend to be someone they’re not. Another, that they charm and beguile unknowing men who are never again seen.
Auger can scarcely understand what is going on though a growing sense of dread builds as he looks into the opening. Six creatures appear from nowhere and ask a very unexpected question, while four more insects fly over to join them. Their guide has made himself disappear and... did it say 'the chasm to the dead'? Auger remembers how the nature of the land changed quite severely as they walked through the day, becoming more and more a source of death as they came closer. Looking for a moment to Granophyre to see if he recognizes anything about this, Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).
To the Azhvuv Auger says, "Treachery and lies have brought us here. A foolish Orc guided us here, hoping to raise your attention I presume. We do not mean to cross over your -- chasm. Though this Orc will soon one way or another. We seek something else entirely. We would turn and go and leave this land."
Py, come back over here and find that treacherous Orc.
‘I am surrounded,’ sends back Py, whose buzzing flight was immediately noticed by the six four-winged alyasub. Py is boxed in on all sides.
”How many brave adventurers have sought out our accursed lair to raid its riches,” says the Azhvuv who spoke a moment ago. “Full of lies, full of themselves, full of veiled threats. Their bodies feed the scorpions beneath me.”
You realize the churning dark mass at the bottom of the chasm is in fact an uncountable number of black scorpions, atop some kind of green lichen.
”Sisters…,” she says, and the Azhvuv adopt offensive stances and begin to close upon you.
(OOC: on the map, the tunnel east of you is a crevice perhaps 30' high between two rock pinnacles, which overhang the shelf on which the Azhvuv are standing by over 100'.)
(OOC, Re: “Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).” Auger has never heard of Azhvuv. There are however giant-sized creatures of all types, including huge scarabs, beetles, flies, dragonflies—at least legends of them—throughout the world.)
Varielky steps forward. At least, this time, her shield and weapon were already in her hands, since she was ready to fight the Orc at any moment. She stands in front of Auger. "Step back, Sharp-Eyed. Those are powerful women." She then looks over the alleged enemies. The last time they fought, she discovered they could have been allies. Maybe this time... "Hold it, Azhvuv. We fought your kind by chance before and bested you, but perhaps this is not needed this time. I know you are powerful, and neither side will win a match without losses. While I usually accept any fight I'm challenged to, maybe this time can be different. We didn't come here to take your riches; these do not interest us. We were misled here by an enemy we should not have trusted, but perhaps this could prove a mistake for him. Rather than fight us, would you care to help us? A dear friend of mine was taken captive by a band of Orcs. They plan to use her to make Jenghen babies." The last sentence was said with obvious hatred disdain. "And there are many more being held by them. We alone will not be enough to fight all the Orcs and free all the captives, but maybe with your help, we will succeed. Let us avoid this meaningless fighting now, and instead go punish those despicable Orcs for their deeds. After that, if you wish, I'll gladly accept any duel you challenge me to."
Persuasion: 4.
(And, if combat still goes on after that, Varielky's move is to M-14, and her action is Ready for an attack action if any of the Azhvuv attacks any of her allies or herself while within her reach. Though she hopes her words will reach through, she's not a fool, and she maintains an offensive stance, in case they attack.)
(OOC, Re: “Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).” Auger has never heard of Azhvuv. There are however giant-sized creatures of all types, including huge scarabs, beetles, flies, dragonflies—at least legends of them—throughout the world.)
(OOC: The Religion check was intended against the reference to the Chasm and the "castle" being some land of death. Is this a familiar place to someone who has studied religion?)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Get out of there Py!
Surprised at Varielky's words Auger readies himself for an attack in case the Azhvuv choose not to listen to her. Auger wastes no more time on words and attacks while retreating away from the chasm. Seeing the chasm, Auger's readied action would to pushed one of the desert witches over the edge, Auger looks to the closest one and prepares to send his twisting energies into it.
Auger
Status: As noted earlier, Mage Armor is already active.
Action: Readies the following. Casts eldritch blast, targeting A2 and pushing it 10' (back into the chasm?) on a hit. Attack: 23 Damage: 5. Contingency is that the creature makes an aggressive move towards anyone in the party.
Move: to R17 stays put for now
Py
Status: Invisible (OOC: I did double-check and my command did stipulate invisibility above)
Move and Dash: Up 10' to 30' and then 70' over to R16. If this action would somehow still create an opportunity attack Py will instead Disengage and then move 40' without climbing, to N14.
(OOC, Re: “Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).” Auger has never heard of Azhvuv. There are however giant-sized creatures of all types, including huge scarabs, beetles, flies, dragonflies—at least legends of them—throughout the world.)
(OOC: The Religion check was intended against the reference to the Chasm and the "castle" being some land of death. Is this a familiar place to someone who has studied religion?)
(OOC: still No. It is not a “land of the dead” according to anything Auger or the others have ever learned.)
Granophyre says, “I’m afraid my dear Tuff usually handled questions such as this. I sorely miss his wisdom in this moment...” The scholar trails off, his eyes closed in terrible grief. In a moment, he begins again. “Likewise, without Amistan, we lack the knowledge to be able to quickly track La Cass on our own. There is nothing which prevents this orc from leading us into a trap. Yet he is our only hope at this moment.”
Strewn sighs wearily, and then utters a word of healing. The orc’s eyes open, and after a moment of bafflement he remembers his predicament. He regards the four of you warily, plainly casting about for an escape path. Seeing none, with his hands tightly bound, he sets his jaw, squats in place, and grimly waits for your decision.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"Yes. Through the sands then, with our new friend here leading us. And then we will free Benita and perhaps need to come back this way," Auger says, feigning confidence. This was going to be quite a trip! Auger thinks about his strategy with tree markings for a trail and also remembers that people will stack stones to mark paths. Looking at his available tools he snaps a few branches off of a nearby tree planning to slowly whittle them down as they walk through the quicksands leaving a trail partially marked behind them and perhaps to stack stones here and there as well.
[edit]
(OOC: I see DM posted while I was writing this. The words and activities above are intended to take place prior to Granophyre waking the Orc.)
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
"I fear every moment we spend here is a moment something terrible can happen to Benita. Let us advance." She pulls the Orc up to standing. "And if you think you can betray us to save your friends - remember we've already died once. It is not personal revenge anymore, but divine punishment bestowed on you all by the gods. By opposing us you'll be opposing the gods. I can't even imagine what will happen to you then." Was it true? Varielky believes so. Why else is she standing here now, and not lying dead by the lizards' nest? "Move it." However, it also causes her to be rush. Not that she expected to be resurrected again, but it meant she couldn't waste this second chance. She must reach Benita before anything happens.
Varielky
Chapter 8: The Orracan Badlands
POST #1
The Journey to Kalahata, Day 15 (17th of Beauty)
As sunbeams glint over the eastern horizon and a chill breeze whisks in from the south, your trek west begins, following the steps of your captive. He moves slowly, and must be prodded to quicken his pace from time to time.
Within two hours, the terrain has changed from slowly rolling hills broken by creeks and copses of juniper & jujube trees, to flat scrub-covered plains, to badlands. At first, green can be seen in the slight valley-like indentations, and this view spreads before you, Py informs Auger.
But as the morning wears on, and the sun rises, bringing only moderate warmth on this late-winter day, the terrain shifts, to look like this.
Then, like this.
Until, by late afternoon, you are walking over dried sands, and some shifting sands, between wind-carved low hills which have been softened by eons of slow erosion. Here, you round a bend along a ridge line, and see below you an enormous head, a statue’s head, of a human woman, its neck seeming to extend downwards into the sand, and Varielky and Ednyss recognize the image as that of one of the Orracan Queens of old, from the age of the Dominion. It, like the rest of the surrounding landscape, has not borne the centuries well, and is pock-marked and sundried, jutting at an angle from the ground.
Py informs Auger that two giant hyenas have been following you at a distance, their noses to the breeze. Big black flies buzz around you, and sometimes land on your exposed skin and bite. There are scorpions which skitter away, and a rattlesnake startles you as you make a turn over a rise, but you step back and around, and it goes about its business. Buzzards circle lazily overhead.
Upon seeing the enormous disembodied relic of old, the orc nods, and says, mostly to himself. “This is the way. Arrive, back door, by sundown.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Sweating, Auger looks at the bleak landscape and studies the head of the statue for a moment. Curious. A human head. Celebrated in one era and all but forgotten in another.
Auger approaches the orc and, its hands still tied, helps it to drink from his waterskin. "These next hours are important for you friend. We proceed. We arrive. Back door. At sundown." Auger pauses a moment reflecting on his words and then continues. "Maybe later. After dark. You will be quiet. Then we will do what must be done. Maybe you can live. If you run away. If you call out. If you try something stupid. You will die. Maybe quick like your friends. Maybe in these quicksands, which I think would be slow." Auger shrugs at him and gestures towards Ednyss and Varielky, "You probably want to keep them happy most of all."
Walking back a few steps on their route Auger looks back and tries to catch a glimpse of the Hyenas Py had mentioned. Still facing back, Auger reaches into his things and frees one of the branches he had found earlier. He hesitates a moment both at the idea of creating a trail that might lead someone to them and also skeptical that this might not help at all. But, after a moment he resolves to do what he had planned. It would at least keep his hands busy while they walked. Using one of his woodcarving knifes Auger shaves a few bits of bark from the branch on to the ground and looks at the little pile, hoping it will stand out from the cracked earth and sand.
Looking back to the others, and then the Orc, Auger calls out to it, "Perhaps it is time for you to start telling us about this castle we go to."
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
POST #2
Py is tracking the two hyenas, which maintain a distance of one quarter mile or so behind you. Auger does not see them, even once, when he looks back. In a few moments, Py sends to Auger that a caravan of lizard-people is headed your way from the south. The orc’s eyes bug out. “BACK! BACK!,” he whispers harshly.
You step back and press into a crevice in a rock outcropping. Ten minutes later, a caravan of over twenty gargantuan lizards, of the same sort which lifted Tuff in its maw and threw him down like a sack of grain, each ridden by two or three lizard-people, these with different colorings than before -- black and rust -- slip slowly past. One of the huge lizards stops, its head swiveling in your direction and for a long moment its long tongue whips out, tasting the air. Then its rider nudges it along and the caravan continues past.
You continue onward when you are satisfied the reptilians are at a safe distance, and the orc answers Auger in fragments as you walk.
“Castle guards orc lands. Old magic helps protect from entry. Invisible bridge. No orcs inside, must…pass through.
“Orc town is strong. Women are in harem. Fifty. Sixty maybe. Men in other harem and slaves. Biggest tent under rocks shaped like two daggers of Ellosh belongs to chief and Hands. If your friend pleases chief, she there.
“My cave near there. My wife is orc, have three husbands. She strong, next Hand.
“**** not possible after curse. Long time. Enemy of Ellosh — angel — curse orc men who ****. Become tiny scorpion forever. Must be patient. Your friend will be wife eventually.”
You hear woeful howling coming from far behind you, adrift on the chill, arid breeze. Py messages to Auger, ‘Ugh. One of the hyenas. I saw it suddenly sink in quicksand. It struggled, tried to leap out, but its motions only hastened its end.’
Now as you walk, you see dried bone carcasses: a lion, a hyena, a giant lizard on the ridge. Every scrap of muscle and tissue long gone, or almost gone as buzzards peck away furtively at the most recent remains. A cloud of flies surrounds bones and scavengers both in putrid effervescence.
The skies are now overcast, and there is a brief rain shower, no more than fifteen minutes long.
It is almost sunset when Py messages again, ‘I see something. It’s more…uniform. Rectangular.’
You scrabble up a slanted rock face, slipping on loose sand and pebbles, and arrive at a protected shelf over a trench some thirty feet across. Edging along, you peer around a corner and see, on the other side of the trench, a flat, oblong wall of hewn brick-red stone hanging over the canyon’s edge, thick crenellations along its top and buttressed below by carved stone pillars reaching into the shifting deep black-green depths. There are no windows in the wall, no signs of life. Directly across from you, through thirty feet of thin air, eighty feet above the canyon floor, are a pair of carved iron doors, old and heavy, twelve feet tall.
“Back door,” whispers the orc. “I show you.” With your permission, he throws a small stone lightly into the air toward the door. Defying gravity, it slides along, with a completely straight trajectory, and then rests motionless between you and the doors for several seconds before slipping slowly downward then dropping with a thin, dull clack to the canyon floor.
“Can walk on invisible bridge. Keep moving. Must have key to get in. I do not have.” Looking at Granophyre, he adds, “Maybe float up wall.”
Now he moves back. “I not help anymore. I stay quiet but you let me go. Cover my mouth. I wait two days, pretend I lost, my tribe not kill me. Live with shame and Ellosh judge.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
It's clear Varielky wants to kill the Orc when she gestures towards him and whispers: "What do you think?" Though, there's no way, even if the others agree, that she'll just slash his head off. Not without handing him a weapon first. Otherwise, it is against all that she believes in.
Whether or not the others agree, at the very least, Varielky is at some ease. Whatever is happening to Benita at this moment, she's surely still alive, and if the Orc's words are true, not defiled either. However, knowing there are other men and women inside, her goals change. "We're not only freeing Benita tonight. Once all those who oppose us are dead, we're freeing everyone. Any ideas to get past these gates though?"
Varielky
Also looking at Granophyre Auger says, "I would like to float up if possible, but with Py's help I might be able to move beyond the door and then open it from the other side. We should have Py scout it out first to ensure there is a way to open it from the other side without a key."
If the others agree Auger sends Py to the castle where it can attempt to invisibly check the other side of the door. When I cannot see I can still move where you can see, if we are close enough. Find me a place to move to, and tell me if there is a way to open the door.
Keeping the orc in view but quieting his voice so it cannot hear, Auger pulls Varielky and Ednyss aside and states, "This orc did as we bid and has gotten us here and shown us how this entrance works. I would like to let him live for that. Perhaps so he can tell stories that speak to goodwill from our kind among his people. Still," Auger sighs, "I do not trust that he will keep his word. These are his people and he must know some will die at our hands, perhaps including his mate. Perhaps if we kill the right orcs we help his mate rise in their hierarchy and we can gain some help in our task? I leave it to you both to decide its fate as you are trained warriors and I know little of these things.
"Either way, if we free all the slaves then many will die I am sure, but it will create enough of a distraction that we can use for our escape. I do not think we can kill all of their captors and ensure we get away safely with Benita."
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
"Use the slaves as a distraction so we can slip out? No chance." Varielky objects. "Either we save them or we don't, but we don't worsen their state. Unless we have enough weapons to give each of them, the best they can do is take one swing of the Orcs' weapons before their bodies never move again. As for this Orc, I cannot trust that he won't come back later to stab us in the back. I know that had I been in his state, I'd seek revenge."
Varielky
“I am…of two minds,” says Granophyre, bereavement and grief written plainly on his face, his expression dark and morose, his voice breathless. “Part of me remembers that it was the lizard-people, not the orcs who defeated us, who…who would have fed La Cass…and you, Varielky and Auger…to their snake god, if not for the timely appearance of the orcs. Indeed, unless La Cass is blessed with the same supernatural kiss as you, she would now be dead. If not for the orcs. But part of me…” and now, Strewn’s brow creases in pain and fury while one of the tiny daggers which you’ve seen shoot forward and transform into a bolt of deadly acid floats out of a pocket in his vest, stopping just above the old dwarf’s head, pointed directly toward the orc, and, as Granophyre’s shoulders vibrate with emotion, and as the orc’s eyes widen into huge pale circles in his pink, sweating face, his jaw clenched and dirty teeth showing, the scholar’s voice shudders in an anguished, growling tone and he continues, “…part of me just wants to BREAK SOMETHING!”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Looking at Granophyre with some concern Auger says, "There will be many things to break I am sure, but perhaps we should think in terms of how to quietly get in and out."
To Varielky he adds, "I think the path with the slaves is simple. If we cannot arm them or ensure their survival then we do not free them. We are only the 4 of us and we want to continue living. Castles usually have a garrison. We could be overwhelmed easily. There are... things we must all do and loved ones to see to. I would see us focus on getting Benita out and surviving."
Louder Auger says to their captive, "Orc friend. You have not said how many of your kind live here. Tell us. Be swift!"
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Ednyss seems to consider the notion of freeing the slaves for a moment, but after Varielky's objection, the dwarf keeps quiet about his own opinions on the matter. However, when Auger mentions getting Benita and getting out, Ednyss chimes in to convince Varielky, "While you may disagree, the warlock is correct. Attempting to free all the slaves now by killing every Orc and Jenghen in our path is suicide. By freeing only Benita and escaping with our lives, we can find a place to rest and recover, perhaps gain some more allies so that we may be able to take the camp when we might actually succeed." Ednyss is genuinely shocked as the scholar summons the bolt of acid in front of the Orc, he has never seen the scholar lose his temper in such a manner, and it only adds to the gravity of the situation for Ednyss. "Master, even if we do not storm the entire garrison, there will be plenty of Orc's to break in there during our mission. Besides, while I agree with Auger that the Orc is unlikely to keep his word, I suggest we give this one a chance for an honorable death for his help." With that, he looks to Varielky and asks, "A fair duel, the shield-maiden versus the Orc? To the death. Both of you will be armed if that is alright with you." To the Orc, he says, "If by some miracle you manage to manage to knock the shield-maiden out, then we will let you go free as you wish."
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
POST #3
The orc backs away slowly from Granophyre’s wrath and anyone handing him a dueling weapon.
“There are two thousand in my tribe,” he responds to Auger’s question, and Ednyss notes something in his demeanor which had been absent until now: an edge of confidence, even, triumph.
At this moment, as Granophyre is on the point of destroying your guide, and Auger has dismissed the scholar’s threat while Ednyss tries to calm him, and as Auger, Ednyss and Varielky argue strategy, Py, following Auger’s instruction, flits to the castle wall to seek a spot for his master to Step to, and is only halfway across when it halts in place, hovering over the chasm, and messages to Auger ‘You should look over here.’ For the doors are now open.
Or rather, they have not swung open, but it is as if they never existed. There is an opening in the wall, and a chamber beyond it, impossible to see into, even with darkvision.
The last rays of sunset beam from behind the parapets, throwing a line of red light onto the top edge of the rock face above you, and in the dim light reflected from it, you now see thin, swirling funnels of dark sand extending from the doorway toward you, and there is a smell of decay, and the sound of shrieking, disembodied souls, which Varielky and Ednyss have encountered before, on the night of the opera in Ishi Ammah. Too, there is a raucous buzzing noise, and four-winged black-carapaced insects, each one two feet long, fly toward you, from over the opening in the opposite wall.
Granophyre pulls out of his dark rage and you all turn to face this new threat. Only the orc is not surprised by this development, and in a heartbeat, backs quickly around the corner of the rock shelf and out of view as six Azhvuv, desert witches of legend, in earthen-colored desert garb, brandishing sharp blades in each hand, materialize from the spiraling tentacles of sand to form a line at the edge of the canyon between your party and the bridge.
“What brings the living to bridge the chasm to the dead?,” one of them asks, as the others stand in silence, their garments flapping slowly, too slowly, in the dimming light.
(OOC: as a reminder to Varielky & Ednyss, although Auger has never heard of them:
The Azhvuv. Ghost tales, meant to keep unruly Shian children in check. “If you are not good,” say Shian parents, “the Azhvuv will come for you in the night. They will turn you into one of them. They will sneak past your loving mother and father, and we’ll never know what happened. We will awaken in the morning and you will be gone.” Legends say they drift through windows like sand on a breeze, kill with a look, steal souls It is hard to know what is fact and what, fiction. One tale says they fly on the backs of huge dragonflies called Alyasub, another, that they can magically transform their faces, pretend to be someone they’re not. Another, that they charm and beguile unknowing men who are never again seen.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Auger can scarcely understand what is going on though a growing sense of dread builds as he looks into the opening. Six creatures appear from nowhere and ask a very unexpected question, while four more insects fly over to join them. Their guide has made himself disappear and... did it say 'the chasm to the dead'? Auger remembers how the nature of the land changed quite severely as they walked through the day, becoming more and more a source of death as they came closer. Looking for a moment to Granophyre to see if he recognizes anything about this, Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).
To the Azhvuv Auger says, "Treachery and lies have brought us here. A foolish Orc guided us here, hoping to raise your attention I presume. We do not mean to cross over your -- chasm. Though this Orc will soon one way or another. We seek something else entirely. We would turn and go and leave this land."
Py, come back over here and find that treacherous Orc.
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
‘I am surrounded,’ sends back Py, whose buzzing flight was immediately noticed by the six four-winged alyasub. Py is boxed in on all sides.
”How many brave adventurers have sought out our accursed lair to raid its riches,” says the Azhvuv who spoke a moment ago. “Full of lies, full of themselves, full of veiled threats. Their bodies feed the scorpions beneath me.”
You realize the churning dark mass at the bottom of the chasm is in fact an uncountable number of black scorpions, atop some kind of green lichen.
”Sisters…,” she says, and the Azhvuv adopt offensive stances and begin to close upon you.
You are now situated like so.
(OOC: on the map, the tunnel east of you is a crevice perhaps 30' high between two rock pinnacles, which overhang the shelf on which the Azhvuv are standing by over 100'.)
Please post Round 1 actions in any order.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(OOC, Re: “Auger thinks hard to attempt to recall if anything has come up in reference to such in his worship of Piya and knowledge of other gods (if needed, Religion check: 17).” Auger has never heard of Azhvuv. There are however giant-sized creatures of all types, including huge scarabs, beetles, flies, dragonflies—at least legends of them—throughout the world.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Varielky steps forward. At least, this time, her shield and weapon were already in her hands, since she was ready to fight the Orc at any moment. She stands in front of Auger. "Step back, Sharp-Eyed. Those are powerful women." She then looks over the alleged enemies. The last time they fought, she discovered they could have been allies. Maybe this time... "Hold it, Azhvuv. We fought your kind by chance before and bested you, but perhaps this is not needed this time. I know you are powerful, and neither side will win a match without losses. While I usually accept any fight I'm challenged to, maybe this time can be different. We didn't come here to take your riches; these do not interest us. We were misled here by an enemy we should not have trusted, but perhaps this could prove a mistake for him. Rather than fight us, would you care to help us? A dear friend of mine was taken captive by a band of Orcs. They plan to use her to make Jenghen babies." The last sentence was said with obvious hatred disdain. "And there are many more being held by them. We alone will not be enough to fight all the Orcs and free all the captives, but maybe with your help, we will succeed. Let us avoid this meaningless fighting now, and instead go punish those despicable Orcs for their deeds. After that, if you wish, I'll gladly accept any duel you challenge me to."
Persuasion: 4.
(And, if combat still goes on after that, Varielky's move is to M-14, and her action is Ready for an attack action if any of the Azhvuv attacks any of her allies or herself while within her reach. Though she hopes her words will reach through, she's not a fool, and she maintains an offensive stance, in case they attack.)
Varielky
(OOC: The Religion check was intended against the reference to the Chasm and the "castle" being some land of death. Is this a familiar place to someone who has studied religion?)
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Get out of there Py!
Surprised at Varielky's words Auger readies himself for an attack in case the Azhvuv choose not to listen to her.
Auger wastes no more time on words and attacks while retreating away from the chasm.Seeing the chasm, Auger's readied action would to pushed one of the desert witches over the edge, Auger looks to the closest one and prepares to send his twisting energies into it.Auger
Status: As noted earlier, Mage Armor is already active.
Action: Readies the following. Casts eldritch blast, targeting A2 and pushing it 10' (back into the chasm?) on a hit. Attack: 23 Damage: 5. Contingency is that the creature makes an aggressive move towards anyone in the party.
Move:
to R17stays put for nowPy
Status: Invisible (OOC: I did double-check and my command did stipulate invisibility above)
Move and Dash: Up 10' to 30' and then 70' over to R16. If this action would somehow still create an opportunity attack Py will instead Disengage and then move 40' without climbing, to N14.
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
(OOC: still No. It is not a “land of the dead” according to anything Auger or the others have ever learned.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer