PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience:
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
6th Shift (5/3/18)
Octavius 11, 340 EE.
As it turns out, the PCs in the lift cage had been saved by one of the Nine Idols' Rest scholars, one Brother Vindex. He cautions them when exiting the cage, and Lucretia nearly falls to her death before the others grab hold of her. Below, Klytus and Kai secure the llama onto the cage, blindfolding and calming it for the ascent, not wanting to leave it behind in the Flats. Then, at last they also make the ride up the cliffside. Vindex escorts them past the Nine Idols themselves, massive and grotesque statues of fell Huguelid deities, into the partially ruined structure where he and the other scholars work. He tells them that he was expecting an Imperial war balloon bearing priests and surgeons from one of the cities, not some miners from Iosyne. He then warns them that there is a strange illness which has taken hold of the reliquary, from which three residents have perished and another is potentially very sick. The PCs hesitantly bring the camel and leave it tied off in the courthouse, and then are brought to meet with two other scholars, Brothers Bibulos and Phestus.
They are brought food by a Brother Scaro, and then introduced to the eldest scholar in residence, a brother Antigenes, who fetches one of his histories and then tells them what he knows of the witch Laothoe, whose undead head the PCs exhumed earlier from a mountain prison. Laothoe was a jealous sorceress and concubine who could persuade both the living and death, and ultimately seemed to have transcended death, after murdering the five wives and a dozen children of an ancient Huguelid king Varho. She was inevitably captured and beheaded, her head and body separated and stored away from one another where nobody would presumably find them. He knows that the city this all took place in was Vulci, located somewhere in the flats. He also tells them that there has been a traveling archaeologist in Ykklesias asking some similar questions. In return for the lore, he requests that the PCs, spending the night here from a saltstorm raging outside, investigate into the strange illness, since most of the scholars are occupied or not able to physically protect themselves well. They agree reluctantly only after Kai's father No-Neck disciplines them.
They rummage through the bedchambers of the scholars, finding some interesting notes and letters that have never been sent outside the reliquary. They briefly make the acquaintance of the gruff half-breed Brother Troga. They get the impression that some of these monks and scholars are condemned, inmates here rather than functioning Imperial employees. They discover that the three corpses of the fallen scholars are missing their left eyes, and that several arcane scrolls have bone missing from Brother Phestus' record room. The PCs then interview Brother Capiton, a paladin of Sanctos, who is keeping himself in isolation from the others in case he's the patient zero. They examine the bodies and find some interesting notes and small stone carvings, one of which is the fell deity Auvla, one of the Nine Idols. With this knowledge they scope out one of the ruined areas of the reliquary, in which some natural caverns lead to a broken off series of rooms underground. They are ambushed by a pair of darkmantles in the caverns, but quickly dispatch them, despite Lucretia being knocked out. They return her to the scholars for care and take No-Neck back with them.
They head back in and find the shrine to Auvla that they have seen on the fallen Brother Gallean's map of the reliquary, and locate a small, hidden cache of Imperial currency and a vial. They decide to deface the malachite-laced obsidian statue of Auvla that they also find there, but whilst trying to topple it, hear a male screaming off in the distance of the reliquary...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 2200
Classes Unlocked: Arcanist, Cleric, Magus, Paladin, Wizard
NPCs
Bibulo (human male): Bibulo is a 50 year old human with long, auburn hair streaked with grays. He has a round, repugnant face with a short goat patch, and a constant twitch to his left eye. He wears a dulled crimson robe with silver trim, on which he is constantly and nervously rubbing his hands, and has a rusted longsword on a belt-strap. A silver disk bearing a hooded man with a lantern and sword is displayed prominently over his bristling chest hairs where his own robe is parted below the neck.
Brother Troga (half-orc male): Troga’s skin is a yellowish-brown, and his flattened nose, elongated ear-tips and oversized molars seem to speak of a non human background. His black, receding hairline is tied into braids on his back, each of which is spiked with a piece of fashioned brass or bone. He carries a sling over his shoulder containing several sheafs and books, and leans on a knotted oaken staff with his other hand, to help him walk with a steady limp.
As it turns out, the PCs in the lift cage had been saved by one of the Nine Idols' Rest scholars, one Brother Vindex. He cautions them when exiting the cage, and Lucretia nearly falls to her death before the others grab hold of her. Below, Klytus and Kai secure the llama onto the cage, blindfolding and calming it for the ascent, not wanting to leave it behind in the Flats. Then, at last they also make the ride up the cliffside. Vindex escorts them past the Nine Idols themselves, massive and grotesque statues of fell Huguelid deities, into the partially ruined structure where he and the other scholars work. He tells them that he was expecting an Imperial war balloon bearing priests and surgeons from one of the cities, not some miners from Iosyne. He then warns them that there is a strange illness which has taken hold of the reliquary, from which three residents have perished and another is potentially very sick. The PCs hesitantly bring the camel and leave it tied off in the courthouse, and then are brought to meet with two other scholars, Brothers Bibulos and Phestus.
They are brought food by a Brother Scaro, and then introduced to the eldest scholar in residence, a brother Antigenes, who fetches one of his histories and then tells them what he knows of the witch Laothoe, whose undead head the PCs exhumed earlier from a mountain prison. Laothoe was a jealous sorceress and concubine who could persuade both the living and death, and ultimately seemed to have transcended death, after murdering the five wives and a dozen children of an ancient Huguelid king Varho. She was inevitably captured and beheaded, her head and body separated and stored away from one another where nobody would presumably find them. He knows that the city this all took place in was Vulci, located somewhere in the flats. He also tells them that there has been a traveling archaeologist in Ykklesias asking some similar questions. In return for the lore, he requests that the PCs, spending the night here from a saltstorm raging outside, investigate into the strange illness, since most of the scholars are occupied or not able to physically protect themselves well. They agree reluctantly only after Kai's father No-Neck disciplines them.
They rummage through the bedchambers of the scholars, finding some interesting notes and letters that have never been sent outside the reliquary. They briefly make the acquaintance of the gruff half-breed Brother Troga. They get the impression that some of these monks and scholars are condemned, inmates here rather than functioning Imperial employees. They discover that the three corpses of the fallen scholars are missing their left eyes, and that several arcane scrolls have bone missing from Brother Phestus' record room. The PCs then interview Brother Capiton, a paladin of Sanctos, who is keeping himself in isolation from the others in case he's the patient zero. They examine the bodies and find some interesting notes and small stone carvings, one of which is the fell deity Auvla, one of the Nine Idols. With this knowledge they scope out one of the ruined areas of the reliquary, in which some natural caverns lead to a broken off series of rooms underground. They are ambushed by a pair of darkmantles in the caverns, but quickly dispatch them, despite Lucretia being knocked out. They return her to the scholars for care and take No-Neck back with them.
They head back in and find the shrine to Auvla that they have seen on the fallen Brother Gallean's map of the reliquary, and locate a small, hidden cache of Imperial currency and a vial. They decide to deface the malachite-laced obsidian statue of Auvla that they also find there, but whilst trying to topple it, hear a male screaming off in the distance of the reliquary...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 2200
Classes Unlocked: Arcanist, Cleric, Magus, Paladin, Wizard
NPCs
Antigenes (human male): Elderly Antigenes wears the
colors and outfit of an Imperial Tribune, with several badges of rank, but
otherwise does not bear the standard armor or armament of an Ekrysian soldier.
Instead, his arms end in cestus wrappings of ornate cloth designs, and a fancy,
bone-hilted flail is hung at his hip, which seems to catch the light from all
angles and glow near the shadows. Antigenes himself has all the folds of old
age on his face, and thinning white hair with large sideburns; but first
impressions are dominated by his bright green eyes, that burn with a strange
youth.
Bibulo (human male): Bibulo is a 50 year old human with long, auburn hair streaked with grays. He has a round, repugnant face with a short goat patch, and a constant twitch to his left eye. He wears a dulled crimson robe with silver trim, on which he is constantly and nervously rubbing his hands, and has a rusted longsword on a belt-strap. A silver disk bearing a hooded man with a lantern and sword is displayed prominently over his bristling chest hairs where his own robe is parted below the neck.
Capiton
(human male): Capiton is in his mid-30s, with tightly
cropped black hair, a browning bronze skin that betrays a mixed heritage, and a
square, stubbly face. He is well over six feet and has an athletic build, apart
from a sagging gut. His face and knuckles are both pockmarked by blisters, a
few of which weep, making it look like he has tears, and his eye-whites are
reddish as if ill. He is missing three fingers off his left hand, but the other
leans upon a scabbarded longsword. He bears a silvery white robe over what
looks like a shirt of mail, and it’s embroidered with silver fireflies.
Brother Phestus (human
male): Phestus has a
balding, sun-carred head and large, brown eyes beneath a thick and bushy brow,
singed on the left of his face. He has a blocky, misshapen body and walks with
a slight bend, and his tongue lolls about his mouth when he moves. He wears
practical, dun-colored robes, and his fingers and cuffs are heavily stained
with dyes or inks. He has a number of pouches overflowing with quills, parchments
and other scribing materials.
Brother Scaro (human
male): Scaro is a gaunt
young man with a nose that looks as if it’s been broken on a number of
occasions. His skin is sallow and he has pockmarks on his cheeks and running
down the left side of his neck. His hair is feathered but wispy, and he wears a
necklace bearing a wooden owl. His robes are violet but unkempt and even
shredded in a few spots, and he’s missing both of his small toes, evident in
the sleek leather sandals he sports.
Brother Troga (half-orc male): Troga’s skin is a yellowish-brown, and his flattened nose, elongated ear-tips and oversized molars seem to speak of a non human background. His black, receding hairline is tied into braids on his back, each of which is spiked with a piece of fashioned brass or bone. He carries a sling over his shoulder containing several sheafs and books, and leans on a knotted oaken staff with his other hand, to help him walk with a steady limp.
Brother Vindex (human male, wizard 2): Vindex is
usually wearing an elaborate brass mask with built in glass goggles and a
breathing apparatus that helps him outdoors in the salt-storms on the Flats. It
also seems to conceal a heavily burned or scarred face, and he’s reluctant to
take it off even when inside. A thick burgundy cloak is drawn up over the mask,
and is tied tight down his body. He wields a fancy brass club with a single
spike on its head, and a light crossbow is slung over his shoulder with a slender
case for bolts. A sack hanging on his side seems to contain a thick tome and
other implements.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
5th Shift (1/11/18):
Octavius 10, 340 EE.
The PCs gather up supplies from the Iosyne Commissary before embarking on their temporary exile and investigation into the ancient creature that violated their minds and got several villagers killed. Happy gets a voucher for a suit of leather armor, while the rest either keep or leave behind the chain shirts, pilums and gladius they are issued by the Tribune. Timon does some shady dealing to the side, with some valuables exclusive just to him. They head to the village gate, where Sthenelaus informs them the Tribune expects them to stay away for a fortnite while he cools down the villagers, already grieving over the loss of Elfchin. They meet up with Happy's father, 'No-Neck', their chaperone, and they've been given a llama, cart and rations for a few weeks. They exit and trek off across the Flats, towards the Alpha Dig site where they plan to spend the evening en route to the Nine Idols' Rest.
Once arriving at the Dig, as evening falls, they notice a fire is lit and another torch or two are lit inside one of the supply tents. The place has been occupied by a giant hyena and a gnoll drifter. After Timon and Lucretia sneak down the ramp to the Dig to check it out, they are noticed by the animal, and attract the ire of the gnoll, who is armed with pistols, and fires off a shot at them. Thanks to Lucretia's master of the gnoll tongue, and Klytus's handsome bravery in the face of danger, a truce is met, and several of the PCs are invited to share the fire. The gnoll introduces itself as a bounty hunter, seeking out the 'Son of Vozz', and the PCs tell him of their own plight over the sharing of rum and pipeweed. The gunslinging gnoll tells them he ran across their ancient quarry at a safe distance, but his pet and companion didn't like the scent of them. The PCs offer a friendly parting, and the gnoll sleeps in the campsite, where they sleep up on the ridge.
Octavius 11, 340 EE.
During Timon's watch in the early morning, he sees the gnoll and his hyena depart the campsite. After waking the group, they look over to make sure nothing important was disturbed or stolen, and nothing was apart from a little animal spoor and fur on some of the blankets. After taking some breakfast rations, they set out northward from the Dig, with the winds picking up and whipping salt and dust around in increasing anger. After several more hours, they arrive at a cliffside face where they believe the transport lift to the Nine Idols' Rest is located. They find a wooden cage suspended 150' up the sheer face of the Saltspines, but no way to get it down until Timon discovers a mirror. After fiddling with it, Happy eventually signals up the mountainside, and another mirror wielder up top responds with a few flashes. The cage is lowered, and they decide how to divvy up weight to ride it back up.
Timon, Lucretia and No-Neck will take the first ride, while Happy and Klytus calm their llama and prepare some ties and a blind so it won't be afraid if they send it up alone. After the cage ascends about 75', half way, the group is attacked by a trio of what look like giant whip scorpions, two of which vault from the cliff-face onto the rising cage, and the other races down to face the PCs on the ground! Happy quickly smashes that one, but the others hassle the three in the cage, dropping Lucretia before Happy and Timon can dispatch them all. At the last minute, the final surviving insect is blasted by a flash of energy once the cage has hit the top of the cliff, and it plummets to the Flats below. With the PCs divided, they hope whoever made that attack is a friendly...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1200
Class Unlocked: Gunslinger
NPC
Empress (dire hyena female): This large hyena has a thick head, rheumy red eyes, and a mouth filled with sharp, powerful teeth. A long mane of black, bristly hair rides down its shoulders and all the way to where its tail begins. It has a patch of fur singed off its left flank that appears to have been branded and tattooed with a series of pawprints.
Gnazz Blytebrow (gnoll male): A tall figure wearing a ragged duster and a
broad-brimmed leather hat wrapped in a band of what looks like leopard fur. Its
own face bristles with whiskers and you can see the gleam off sharp teeth, and
even sharper eyes of a greenish-brown hue that study you with a predatory
instinct while it takes drags off a long pipe with some sweet-smelling odor.
Its arms hang slack by its sides, and it has several bandoliers visible through
the front of its jacket.
The PCs gather up supplies from the Iosyne Commissary before embarking on their temporary exile and investigation into the ancient creature that violated their minds and got several villagers killed. Happy gets a voucher for a suit of leather armor, while the rest either keep or leave behind the chain shirts, pilums and gladius they are issued by the Tribune. Timon does some shady dealing to the side, with some valuables exclusive just to him. They head to the village gate, where Sthenelaus informs them the Tribune expects them to stay away for a fortnite while he cools down the villagers, already grieving over the loss of Elfchin. They meet up with Happy's father, 'No-Neck', their chaperone, and they've been given a llama, cart and rations for a few weeks. They exit and trek off across the Flats, towards the Alpha Dig site where they plan to spend the evening en route to the Nine Idols' Rest.
Once arriving at the Dig, as evening falls, they notice a fire is lit and another torch or two are lit inside one of the supply tents. The place has been occupied by a giant hyena and a gnoll drifter. After Timon and Lucretia sneak down the ramp to the Dig to check it out, they are noticed by the animal, and attract the ire of the gnoll, who is armed with pistols, and fires off a shot at them. Thanks to Lucretia's master of the gnoll tongue, and Klytus's handsome bravery in the face of danger, a truce is met, and several of the PCs are invited to share the fire. The gnoll introduces itself as a bounty hunter, seeking out the 'Son of Vozz', and the PCs tell him of their own plight over the sharing of rum and pipeweed. The gunslinging gnoll tells them he ran across their ancient quarry at a safe distance, but his pet and companion didn't like the scent of them. The PCs offer a friendly parting, and the gnoll sleeps in the campsite, where they sleep up on the ridge.
Octavius 11, 340 EE.
During Timon's watch in the early morning, he sees the gnoll and his hyena depart the campsite. After waking the group, they look over to make sure nothing important was disturbed or stolen, and nothing was apart from a little animal spoor and fur on some of the blankets. After taking some breakfast rations, they set out northward from the Dig, with the winds picking up and whipping salt and dust around in increasing anger. After several more hours, they arrive at a cliffside face where they believe the transport lift to the Nine Idols' Rest is located. They find a wooden cage suspended 150' up the sheer face of the Saltspines, but no way to get it down until Timon discovers a mirror. After fiddling with it, Happy eventually signals up the mountainside, and another mirror wielder up top responds with a few flashes. The cage is lowered, and they decide how to divvy up weight to ride it back up.
Timon, Lucretia and No-Neck will take the first ride, while Happy and Klytus calm their llama and prepare some ties and a blind so it won't be afraid if they send it up alone. After the cage ascends about 75', half way, the group is attacked by a trio of what look like giant whip scorpions, two of which vault from the cliff-face onto the rising cage, and the other races down to face the PCs on the ground! Happy quickly smashes that one, but the others hassle the three in the cage, dropping Lucretia before Happy and Timon can dispatch them all. At the last minute, the final surviving insect is blasted by a flash of energy once the cage has hit the top of the cliff, and it plummets to the Flats below. With the PCs divided, they hope whoever made that attack is a friendly...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1200
Class Unlocked: Gunslinger
NPC
Empress (dire hyena female): This large hyena has a thick head, rheumy red eyes, and a mouth filled with sharp, powerful teeth. A long mane of black, bristly hair rides down its shoulders and all the way to where its tail begins. It has a patch of fur singed off its left flank that appears to have been branded and tattooed with a series of pawprints.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
4th Shift (11/1/17): A New World
Octavius 9, 340 EE.
While awaiting the Tribune's justice in two of the barracks that have been set up as brigs, Decius and Timon decide to break their way free of the tent, while Lucretia visits Kai to find out what in the world has happened. Klytus arrives and speaks with Polyphetes in yet another tent, and the cursed head informs them that it desires a body, living or dead. Its thralls set about deciding on what would be an appropriate body, and Sennia, sister to Klytus and Timon is brought up. Polyphetes then recommends Nausicaa, another of the local Imperial soldiers who has spurned him in the past, she would be most physically fit to host the head. They decide Klytus will try to smooth talk her, but as he tries to enter her tent, he triggers an alarm and enrages her. In a fit of rampant man-hate, she grabs her weapon and follows Klytus out into the street.
Decius and Timon finally break free, and along with Klytus and Polyphetes they begin to transport the head, but even more possessed by Laothoe than normal, Timon decides to betray and kill Decius to use his body as the host. They shatter the jar on the poor boy and finish him off. In the confusion, Lucretia springs Kai and they notice that the boys in the neighboring tent have broken free, and start looking for them. Nausicaa catches up with the trio of Laothoe's thralls, and a melee begins behind one of the local businesses. A brief, brutal battle in which Klytus is laid low, but Polyphetes manages to outfight and kill his fellow soldier, lopping her fierce head clean off! Timon decides to take the head from its shattered casing and plant it on the she-brute, and Laothoe comes to life, animated and eyes aglow an even deeper red!
Lucretia catches them up, as does the soldier/engineer Alektryon, but then she is quickly possessed by the head, and brought aboard their nefarious plans to escape Iosyne. Kai, feeling helpless, rushes off to warn his family of Flintcoats and have them abandon the place, fearing an outbreak of possessions that could turn all the other locals! His uncle and father reluctantly agree. As dawn breaks, the possess try to creep out of the village by way of the water duct leading up into the Saltspine north of the village. Laothoe orders Lucretia to stand at the base of the duct and ward off whoever follows them, but she's soon overcome by Alektryon, Thaumatus and Tribune Crathis. The two soldiers pursue the suspects up the covered structure, and eventually Timon is left behind to hold them off...and he poses quite a distraction until he's captured by Alektryon. The Tribune manages to convince the restless Flintcoats to remain in the village, as the immediate threat has been stymied.
Octavius 10, 340 EE.
Eventually, after being detained once more, Timon, Klytus and Lucretia come to their senses, as the effect has either worn off or Laothoe is too far away to influence their thoughts and actions. After the Tribune is able to interview Kai, Praetex, and several others involved, he decides that Timon and his own man Poly were not themselves when they murdered Decius and Nausicaa. But the village, still grieving over the loss of Elfchin, is furious, in particular the chirurgeon Ventor Sylo, whom Decius was apprenticed to. Crathis decides that the PCs should leave Iosyne for a time until all can be explained and the populace cooled down, and orders them to redeem themselves by trying to get more information on or locate the ancient creature which took advantage of them. He equips them all with better weaponry and standard Imperial armor, and assigns Kai's father Ned Flintcoat as a chaperone should they find themselves in such dire straits again. The PCs prepare to depart, with plans to visit the scholars at Nine Idols' Rest, who dwell in an old Huguelid reliquary in the north of the Saltspines, and may have information on their quarry.
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1000 each
Class Unlocked: Aristocrat
NPCs
Alektryon (human male): Slighter in build than his fellow Imperial soldiers, Alektryon is in his early 30s, with greased black hair that he colors with sand from the Flats, green eyes and some notable scarring from bu rns on his left cheek and ear. He wears a gray, tattered duster above his breastplate, covered with pockets and a few bandoliers upon which he carries a number of implements. He wears a gladius at his hip, but otherwise avoids the regular complement of Imperial weaponry.
Crathis Kallimachos (human male): The Tribune is a dour and hawk- faced man who always seems to have a bit of spittle hanging from his stiff lower lip, an aqualine nose and a squared off chin bearing a prominent scar. He’s balding on the crown of his head, but keeps the rest of his hair feathered back in some estimation of the fashionable styles of urban Ekrysia. He bears his pins of rank upon an ornate, daily-polished breastplate, and whenever leaving his tent he is fully armed with hasta, gladius, and several pilum strapped across his back; all of his weapons seem to be of exceptional quality, and kept in the same condition as his armor.
Nausicaa (human female): The only female Imperial attached to Iosyne, Nausicaa is every bit a brute as some of her male counterparts, accenting her uniform with steel bands at her shoulders and forearms, and fond of wearing a pair of silvered brass knuckles which she can brawl with to great effect. A lasso is slung by her hip and a specially inscribed gladius which reads ‘Manhood’s End’ in the Imperial script. Her hair is worn in a thick, knotted braid that hangs past her rear, her head otherwise shaved. She has a sharp chin, piercing brown eyes and angular cheekbones which have been smashed a number of times, but none of these seems to have impacted her raw, natural good looks, which have stirred the longings of not only her fellow soldiery, but many of the local miners.
Ned ‘No-Neck’ Flintcoat (dwarf male): A stocky, blocky-skulled dwarf who lives up to his nickname, Ned’s neck literally seems to sprout out from his shoulders. It’s often difficult to tell, since he always insists on wearing his battered family breastplate and helm on digs, which don’t seem to slow him down in the extreme summer months as they would other miners in the community. Despite his lack of throat, Ned possesses one of the richer singing voices in Iosyne, and if he’s feeling cheerful, he’ll serenade fellow workers with a deep, smooth mix of dwarven and Imperial staples throughout most of a shift, well past the tolerance of many. No-Neck also carries a hybrid pick/battleaxe, and is usually the first to run at trouble if a predator is attacking a dig.
While awaiting the Tribune's justice in two of the barracks that have been set up as brigs, Decius and Timon decide to break their way free of the tent, while Lucretia visits Kai to find out what in the world has happened. Klytus arrives and speaks with Polyphetes in yet another tent, and the cursed head informs them that it desires a body, living or dead. Its thralls set about deciding on what would be an appropriate body, and Sennia, sister to Klytus and Timon is brought up. Polyphetes then recommends Nausicaa, another of the local Imperial soldiers who has spurned him in the past, she would be most physically fit to host the head. They decide Klytus will try to smooth talk her, but as he tries to enter her tent, he triggers an alarm and enrages her. In a fit of rampant man-hate, she grabs her weapon and follows Klytus out into the street.
Decius and Timon finally break free, and along with Klytus and Polyphetes they begin to transport the head, but even more possessed by Laothoe than normal, Timon decides to betray and kill Decius to use his body as the host. They shatter the jar on the poor boy and finish him off. In the confusion, Lucretia springs Kai and they notice that the boys in the neighboring tent have broken free, and start looking for them. Nausicaa catches up with the trio of Laothoe's thralls, and a melee begins behind one of the local businesses. A brief, brutal battle in which Klytus is laid low, but Polyphetes manages to outfight and kill his fellow soldier, lopping her fierce head clean off! Timon decides to take the head from its shattered casing and plant it on the she-brute, and Laothoe comes to life, animated and eyes aglow an even deeper red!
Lucretia catches them up, as does the soldier/engineer Alektryon, but then she is quickly possessed by the head, and brought aboard their nefarious plans to escape Iosyne. Kai, feeling helpless, rushes off to warn his family of Flintcoats and have them abandon the place, fearing an outbreak of possessions that could turn all the other locals! His uncle and father reluctantly agree. As dawn breaks, the possess try to creep out of the village by way of the water duct leading up into the Saltspine north of the village. Laothoe orders Lucretia to stand at the base of the duct and ward off whoever follows them, but she's soon overcome by Alektryon, Thaumatus and Tribune Crathis. The two soldiers pursue the suspects up the covered structure, and eventually Timon is left behind to hold them off...and he poses quite a distraction until he's captured by Alektryon. The Tribune manages to convince the restless Flintcoats to remain in the village, as the immediate threat has been stymied.
Octavius 10, 340 EE.
Eventually, after being detained once more, Timon, Klytus and Lucretia come to their senses, as the effect has either worn off or Laothoe is too far away to influence their thoughts and actions. After the Tribune is able to interview Kai, Praetex, and several others involved, he decides that Timon and his own man Poly were not themselves when they murdered Decius and Nausicaa. But the village, still grieving over the loss of Elfchin, is furious, in particular the chirurgeon Ventor Sylo, whom Decius was apprenticed to. Crathis decides that the PCs should leave Iosyne for a time until all can be explained and the populace cooled down, and orders them to redeem themselves by trying to get more information on or locate the ancient creature which took advantage of them. He equips them all with better weaponry and standard Imperial armor, and assigns Kai's father Ned Flintcoat as a chaperone should they find themselves in such dire straits again. The PCs prepare to depart, with plans to visit the scholars at Nine Idols' Rest, who dwell in an old Huguelid reliquary in the north of the Saltspines, and may have information on their quarry.
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 1000 each
Class Unlocked: Aristocrat
NPCs
Alektryon (human male): Slighter in build than his fellow Imperial soldiers, Alektryon is in his early 30s, with greased black hair that he colors with sand from the Flats, green eyes and some notable scarring from bu rns on his left cheek and ear. He wears a gray, tattered duster above his breastplate, covered with pockets and a few bandoliers upon which he carries a number of implements. He wears a gladius at his hip, but otherwise avoids the regular complement of Imperial weaponry.
Crathis Kallimachos (human male): The Tribune is a dour and hawk- faced man who always seems to have a bit of spittle hanging from his stiff lower lip, an aqualine nose and a squared off chin bearing a prominent scar. He’s balding on the crown of his head, but keeps the rest of his hair feathered back in some estimation of the fashionable styles of urban Ekrysia. He bears his pins of rank upon an ornate, daily-polished breastplate, and whenever leaving his tent he is fully armed with hasta, gladius, and several pilum strapped across his back; all of his weapons seem to be of exceptional quality, and kept in the same condition as his armor.
Nausicaa (human female): The only female Imperial attached to Iosyne, Nausicaa is every bit a brute as some of her male counterparts, accenting her uniform with steel bands at her shoulders and forearms, and fond of wearing a pair of silvered brass knuckles which she can brawl with to great effect. A lasso is slung by her hip and a specially inscribed gladius which reads ‘Manhood’s End’ in the Imperial script. Her hair is worn in a thick, knotted braid that hangs past her rear, her head otherwise shaved. She has a sharp chin, piercing brown eyes and angular cheekbones which have been smashed a number of times, but none of these seems to have impacted her raw, natural good looks, which have stirred the longings of not only her fellow soldiery, but many of the local miners.
Ned ‘No-Neck’ Flintcoat (dwarf male): A stocky, blocky-skulled dwarf who lives up to his nickname, Ned’s neck literally seems to sprout out from his shoulders. It’s often difficult to tell, since he always insists on wearing his battered family breastplate and helm on digs, which don’t seem to slow him down in the extreme summer months as they would other miners in the community. Despite his lack of throat, Ned possesses one of the richer singing voices in Iosyne, and if he’s feeling cheerful, he’ll serenade fellow workers with a deep, smooth mix of dwarven and Imperial staples throughout most of a shift, well past the tolerance of many. No-Neck also carries a hybrid pick/battleaxe, and is usually the first to run at trouble if a predator is attacking a dig.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
3rd Shift (9/14/17): The Night's Not Over
Octavius 8, 340 EE.
Kai's attempt to shatter the jar containing the ancient head fails, but his companions Timon and Klytus have a strange reaction, suddenly very hesitant to damage the artifact, and in fact quite adamant on protecting it. The dwarf believes them compromised or cursed, and ties to knock them out and get them away from the source, but the tables are turned when they manage to knock HIM out and save the head. They tie him up, and after an hour or so see if he's come to his senses...believing he was trying to steal it from them. He seems to be agreeable, so the trio marches back across the Marrow Flats towards Iosyne. Kai fakes being disoriented, and eventually he is untied, since he is slowing down the group too much. He takes that opportunity to snag the everburning torch and flee from the group, then tries to slow them down with his sling. They instead light another torch and run off towards the village, outpacing the dwarf. When they arrive, Timon and Klytus conceal the jar and warn the guard on duty, Polyphetes, that Kai is on a murderous streak and to lock up Iosyne.
Meanwhile, Lucretia had been returned to the village, where she was healed up by Ventor Sylo, and released to her mother Gavia. She dines with her mother and brother Aulus, the latter of whom is suspicious of the events that brought her low, the former judgmental. She does tell her mother they uncovered a suspicious artifact in the mines at Foothold. At the same time, Timon and Klytus bring the head to Ventor Sylo, where they are sent to have injuries looked over, and while Ventor seems unimpressed, his aide Decius falls under the same compulsion that seems to have taken over our heroes! He tells them he's going to go off and let their family know they are okay. Kai arrives at the gate of the village, and has words with Polyphetes, warning him of the artifact his companions were carrying. The guard decides to go check for himself...
Octavius 9, 340 EE.
But when he arrives, Klytus has hidden the object under his cloak. Poly does a brief inspection but returns to the gate, telling Kai he'd better just sleep outside for the night. Desperate, the dwarf begins striking the gate with his hammer, causing a ruckus, at which point Poly calls out another solider, Sthlenelaus, and they open the gate, disarming the dwarf and marching him off to the brig. After a scuffle with Aulus, in which she learns her companions have returned to Iosyne, Lucretia sneaks out her window. Ventor returns to the hospice with Aristan and Themis Bassa, who promptly march Klytus and Timon back to the inn where their mother awaits. Decius swears he will keep the head hidden and protected. En route, they run across Kai and the soldiers, and an argument breaks out. The dwarf is then herded into an unused, locked barracks building. Lucretia speaks to him briefly through the bars, after which she learns about the head being in Iosyne, and she sneaks off to confront the Bassa brothers about it, heading to the inn once they are asleep.
She breaks into their room and wakes up Timon, roughing him up a bit until he coughs up the info, and then she blocks off the door so he and Klytus can't follow, heading back to the hospice which she threatens to burn down. The brothers howl out the window, and Polyphetes hears them from the gate, rushing off to intercept the girl. Timon climbs out the inn window to tail them. Lucretia turns back home once she hears the shouts, but Poly and Timon proceed to the hospice, where the soldier witnesses Decius talking to the head, and is he himself compelled! With Timon, they decide to move the head to another of the unused barracks, and then remove Kai from the area, since he's still unaffected and might wish harm upon the artifact. Decius recommends just killing the dwarf, but Timon refuses. They sneak into the brig house and march Kai out, but en route they are caught by another of the city guard, the veteran Thaumastas, who marches all three back to two different brigs, and then heads off to notify Tribune Crathis!
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 800 each.
Classes Unlocked: Adept, Expert, Fighter
NPCs
Sthenelaus (human male): The youngest of the Imperial soldiers at Iosyne, Sthenelaus is a lithe young man of seventeen summers whose hair is tied into a topknot, shaved on the sides behind where it runs into thin sideburns. His skin is among the bronzest-tinged in the village, and he’s extremely toned and athletic, an expert at the javelin throw and perhaps the locals’ best fighter at range. He cuts a few corners on his uniform to remain light on his feet, but makes up for this with agility.
Thaumastus (human male): The oldest of the Imperial soldiers stationed in Iosyne, Thaumastus has a dozen visible scars that tell a dozen stories of the border skirmishes he claims to have partaken in. Most notably, the bridge of his nose has been sliced nearly in half horizontally, the result of a duel against a Lennish captain on the Western border. He wears his uniform proudly, perhaps even moreso than the tribune, and the square cut of his graying hair and goatee is as rigid and professional as his work ethics. He favors a tower shield and a long twin-bladed thrusting hasta named ‘Double Eagle’.
Themis Bassa (human female): A bulky, short middle-aged woman with large forearms and square shoulders, she is adorned in a broad cook’s apron of wool, stained with all manner of spices, seasonings, drinks and blood from chickens and other small animals she has slaughtered. She has two large knives tucked into protective sheathes and slung over her shoulder in a sash, and a string of garlic and mushrooms around her neck for ease of use. Her hair is gray and thinning, and her cheeks red and pock marked with scars from a childhood illness.
Kai's attempt to shatter the jar containing the ancient head fails, but his companions Timon and Klytus have a strange reaction, suddenly very hesitant to damage the artifact, and in fact quite adamant on protecting it. The dwarf believes them compromised or cursed, and ties to knock them out and get them away from the source, but the tables are turned when they manage to knock HIM out and save the head. They tie him up, and after an hour or so see if he's come to his senses...believing he was trying to steal it from them. He seems to be agreeable, so the trio marches back across the Marrow Flats towards Iosyne. Kai fakes being disoriented, and eventually he is untied, since he is slowing down the group too much. He takes that opportunity to snag the everburning torch and flee from the group, then tries to slow them down with his sling. They instead light another torch and run off towards the village, outpacing the dwarf. When they arrive, Timon and Klytus conceal the jar and warn the guard on duty, Polyphetes, that Kai is on a murderous streak and to lock up Iosyne.
Meanwhile, Lucretia had been returned to the village, where she was healed up by Ventor Sylo, and released to her mother Gavia. She dines with her mother and brother Aulus, the latter of whom is suspicious of the events that brought her low, the former judgmental. She does tell her mother they uncovered a suspicious artifact in the mines at Foothold. At the same time, Timon and Klytus bring the head to Ventor Sylo, where they are sent to have injuries looked over, and while Ventor seems unimpressed, his aide Decius falls under the same compulsion that seems to have taken over our heroes! He tells them he's going to go off and let their family know they are okay. Kai arrives at the gate of the village, and has words with Polyphetes, warning him of the artifact his companions were carrying. The guard decides to go check for himself...
Octavius 9, 340 EE.
But when he arrives, Klytus has hidden the object under his cloak. Poly does a brief inspection but returns to the gate, telling Kai he'd better just sleep outside for the night. Desperate, the dwarf begins striking the gate with his hammer, causing a ruckus, at which point Poly calls out another solider, Sthlenelaus, and they open the gate, disarming the dwarf and marching him off to the brig. After a scuffle with Aulus, in which she learns her companions have returned to Iosyne, Lucretia sneaks out her window. Ventor returns to the hospice with Aristan and Themis Bassa, who promptly march Klytus and Timon back to the inn where their mother awaits. Decius swears he will keep the head hidden and protected. En route, they run across Kai and the soldiers, and an argument breaks out. The dwarf is then herded into an unused, locked barracks building. Lucretia speaks to him briefly through the bars, after which she learns about the head being in Iosyne, and she sneaks off to confront the Bassa brothers about it, heading to the inn once they are asleep.
She breaks into their room and wakes up Timon, roughing him up a bit until he coughs up the info, and then she blocks off the door so he and Klytus can't follow, heading back to the hospice which she threatens to burn down. The brothers howl out the window, and Polyphetes hears them from the gate, rushing off to intercept the girl. Timon climbs out the inn window to tail them. Lucretia turns back home once she hears the shouts, but Poly and Timon proceed to the hospice, where the soldier witnesses Decius talking to the head, and is he himself compelled! With Timon, they decide to move the head to another of the unused barracks, and then remove Kai from the area, since he's still unaffected and might wish harm upon the artifact. Decius recommends just killing the dwarf, but Timon refuses. They sneak into the brig house and march Kai out, but en route they are caught by another of the city guard, the veteran Thaumastas, who marches all three back to two different brigs, and then heads off to notify Tribune Crathis!
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 800 each.
Classes Unlocked: Adept, Expert, Fighter
NPCs
Aristan Bassa (human male): A big,
bald bronze man with a big beard, Aristan wears a cross-stitched wool apron over
his tunic and leather breeches while tending bar at the Iosyne Bath and Tap,
the one notable business in the village. A gladius, given to him by the
Tribune, is displayed at his belt prominently, and his considerable arms are
inked up with legionary tattoos, giving the impression that he was of some
standing in the Ekrysian military himself.
Aulus ‘All Morning Long’ Tertula (human male): Deriving his name from his tendency to burn himself early during his dig shifts, Aulus is a bookish waif of around 4’ height who seems every bit his mother’s son. He has a messy mop of strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and heavily freckled cheeks which also bear acne scars, and some of the softest hands in the village, due to an obsession with personal cleanliness. He rarely goes on a dig without extra cloths and water, and even in the hottest months he’ll wear hats and gloves to protect his skin from the sun and salt.
Decius Iustinas (human male): A slight young man with a bowl of flat hair matted around his eyes and ears, Decius bears the sash and station of a soothsaying like his master Ventor. He has a short nose and a slight hair-lip which he twitches often, to give off a rather humorous impression of a sneer. He carries a sharpened pair of scissors which he uses to cut out cloth gauze for the hospice's patients, and a medical pamphlet sticks forth from his breeches.
Gavia Tertula (human female): Gavia is a woman in her mid 40s with a slender frame, and brown hair put up in a bun with a few strands lazily whisking above her brow. She has shimmering azure eyes, and oversized spectacles, one of which is fixed with a magnifying glass she can impose over the lens. Her sensible duster is slung tight around her figure, and strapped in by the bevy of bandoliers she wears that contain drafting tools, scroll cases, and other implements of her engineering train. She also commonly has a quill tucked in one ear and ink stains on her fingers or cheeks.
Aulus ‘All Morning Long’ Tertula (human male): Deriving his name from his tendency to burn himself early during his dig shifts, Aulus is a bookish waif of around 4’ height who seems every bit his mother’s son. He has a messy mop of strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and heavily freckled cheeks which also bear acne scars, and some of the softest hands in the village, due to an obsession with personal cleanliness. He rarely goes on a dig without extra cloths and water, and even in the hottest months he’ll wear hats and gloves to protect his skin from the sun and salt.
Decius Iustinas (human male): A slight young man with a bowl of flat hair matted around his eyes and ears, Decius bears the sash and station of a soothsaying like his master Ventor. He has a short nose and a slight hair-lip which he twitches often, to give off a rather humorous impression of a sneer. He carries a sharpened pair of scissors which he uses to cut out cloth gauze for the hospice's patients, and a medical pamphlet sticks forth from his breeches.
Gavia Tertula (human female): Gavia is a woman in her mid 40s with a slender frame, and brown hair put up in a bun with a few strands lazily whisking above her brow. She has shimmering azure eyes, and oversized spectacles, one of which is fixed with a magnifying glass she can impose over the lens. Her sensible duster is slung tight around her figure, and strapped in by the bevy of bandoliers she wears that contain drafting tools, scroll cases, and other implements of her engineering train. She also commonly has a quill tucked in one ear and ink stains on her fingers or cheeks.
Polyphetes (human male): With arms as broad as most of the Iosyne
villagers’ bodies, it’s no secret that this soldier is the singular strongest
person around. His dark brown hair is cropped short in the front, shaved on the
sides, and left longer in the back, and he seems overly fond of showing it off,
along with his chisel-shaped face, and not wearing his regulation helmet.
Polyphetes carries the standard hasta and pilum typical of an Ekrysian soldier,
but has replaced his gladius with a broad two-handed sword engraved with floral
patterns that he calls ‘Crocus’.
Sennia Bassa (human female): A wiry lass of 13 summers, Sennia has a wild
and dark beauty about her that catches the eye of a lot of Ekrysian men, who
eagerly await her coming of age. This is not lost on her parents and siblings,
who expect one day to marry her off into quite a merger or dowry that can
improve their lot in life. With dark auburn curls and naturally long eyelashes,
she has a natural predisposition to flirtation which often rubs other local
girls and mothers the wrong way. She wears very simple cloth dresses with
golden trim that only seem to accent her attractiveness.
Sthenelaus (human male): The youngest of the Imperial soldiers at Iosyne, Sthenelaus is a lithe young man of seventeen summers whose hair is tied into a topknot, shaved on the sides behind where it runs into thin sideburns. His skin is among the bronzest-tinged in the village, and he’s extremely toned and athletic, an expert at the javelin throw and perhaps the locals’ best fighter at range. He cuts a few corners on his uniform to remain light on his feet, but makes up for this with agility.
Thaumastus (human male): The oldest of the Imperial soldiers stationed in Iosyne, Thaumastus has a dozen visible scars that tell a dozen stories of the border skirmishes he claims to have partaken in. Most notably, the bridge of his nose has been sliced nearly in half horizontally, the result of a duel against a Lennish captain on the Western border. He wears his uniform proudly, perhaps even moreso than the tribune, and the square cut of his graying hair and goatee is as rigid and professional as his work ethics. He favors a tower shield and a long twin-bladed thrusting hasta named ‘Double Eagle’.
Themis Bassa (human female): A bulky, short middle-aged woman with large forearms and square shoulders, she is adorned in a broad cook’s apron of wool, stained with all manner of spices, seasonings, drinks and blood from chickens and other small animals she has slaughtered. She has two large knives tucked into protective sheathes and slung over her shoulder in a sash, and a string of garlic and mushrooms around her neck for ease of use. Her hair is gray and thinning, and her cheeks red and pock marked with scars from a childhood illness.
Ventor Sylo (human male): A
broad, middle aged man with a hook nose and fierce blue-black eyes, the gentle
and sedate smile upon Ventor’s face seems a strange contrast. His hair is quite
long, but recedes on the top to form a skullet, and he seems to try to draw
attention away from this with two tattoos on his forehead that resemble crows,
as well as a few ivory hoops in his ears. He wears a dun-colored cloak over an
orange tunic, and carries a cudgel he claims was from a lightning-struck tree.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
2nd Shift (8/23/18): Getting a Head
Octavius 7, 340 EE.
Timon carefully checks over the pack before grabbing it, and it turns out to contain a pair of small-sized reading spectacles and a roughed-up book that seems to be a manual on how to speak the Draconic language. The PCs double back to the larger, salt crystal strewn cavern corridor and discover a smudged chalk mark near the southern exit, and a broken ribcage from some create to the east. They end up heading southward, where they pass a large stone seal which seems unusual for these caves. Kai identifies it as human masonry, but not anything recent. Further along, they find another seal, broken, in a chamber with a small pool of water gathered. An alcove off this chamber leads to a triggered pit of stone spikes, in which they find the body of Eleon 'Elfchin' Strachys, along with a pile of treasure beneath him which must have been what was hidden in the trap.
Kai decides to get a glimpse through the second broken wall-seal, and so he smashes it repeatedly with his warhammer until it falls down. Several of the PCs seem jumpy to leave the caves, now that they've found what happened to the foreman's son, but they reluctantly follow the dwarf. In this sealed area, they find a pair of shambling, upright corpses which are carrying a head in a jar on some palanquin...in a chamber with a carved alter and lit by an unusual torch. They decide to destroy the two corpses, and a dangerous melee ensues in which most of the characters are either laid low or severely beaten...the PCs persevere only through chance and the use of fire and oil they can muster on the undead things.
After the fight, Timon goes out to find Praetex Protho, and it turns out the salt storm has arrived, the veteran digger and his llama Raf are pinned down in Piss Pot Alley. Timon brings him back into the caves, showing him the battle site and the female head in the jar, and they decide to take a day to care for the wounded while checking occasionally for threats or the storm to clear.
Octavius 8, 340 EE.
Once the sands clear, the group moves out to the tents at the Foothold dig site, and they begin to clean up the damage from the salt storm for whoever has the next shift there. They decide for the moment to leave the corpse of Eleon and the jar in the caves, and embark on another 8-hour rest to continue healing Klytus and Lucrezia. At the end of this rest, three of the other miners from Iosyne show up, and aren't happy about the news of Eleon's passing, though they insist the PCs be the ones to tell foreman Straps. Gross accompanies Kai, Timon and Klytus back in the cave to retrieve Eleon's body. He seems curious about one of the items they found in the pit trap, the buckler with the cat symbol, and tells them it's the symbol of Favhik, god of thieves, and that he can get them more info if needed. They find Elfchin's body, but it's strangely been moved to a different location than where Klytus left it.
Mute rides off with the still-unconscious Lucrezia on the back of his llama, while Gross and Man Handler take another. Praetex takes the remains of Eleon on Raf, and orders the three conscious PCs to 'stay behind and finish cleaning up the site' before marching back to Iosyne, knowing full well they probably want to examine the head in the jar even further. Kai decides to start smashing the glass when suddenly the woman's eyes flutter open, glowing red and flashing white...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600
Classes Unlocked: Rogue, Warrior
NPCs
Manius ‘Mute’ Mutilus (human male): Noted for his distinct greased moustaches, Manius strikes a unique figure, lithe and fit and very much aware of this. His long hair has a silken texture to it that he carefully maintains, and his facial hair is arranged into the most ornate of displays, with a carefully trimmed goatee and a moustache that tapers off into six points, giving the impression that he has whiskers. He is the best dressed among the salt pickers by an order of magnitude, with a fancy tunic and breeches beneath a forest green duster that some claim is enchanted. He also carries a silvered rapier in his belt.
Meleagros ‘Gross’ Krispos (human male): Born with a deformity, Gross has a nose that looks like a pig’s, only split in half, and the misshapenness doesn’t end there…his left eye is fatter and lower on his face than the other, and his right ear is also unusually small compared to its partner. Due to these mutations, the man is the most mocked in Iosyne, to the point which he seems to be used to it, shutting up and doing his digs and bottling up as much of his petulant personality as he can. The sharp daggers he brings along on his jobs seem like they’re intended for his tormentors, but so far have only been used to skin some wild animals and fend off a couple giant blood-starved fleas out in the field.
Ravilla ‘Man
Handler’ Mutilus (human female): Ravilla could not
cut a more opposite picture to her husband Manius, with thick arms and muscular
legs and one of the most advanced physiques in Iosyne. She is obviously a foreign-born
woman, with dark chestnut skin and curls in her raven-black hair, and has
almond colored eyes. Unlike her husband, she prefers to oil her skin and avoid
wearing a duster, constantly showing off her muscles as a threat to others who
tangle with her family. She is sparse with her words, and wields not just one
pickaxe, but two, ‘One for digging, the other for death-dealing’.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
1st Shift (7/18/17): The Secret of Pisspot Alley
Octavius 7, 340 EE.
On their way back from the Alpha Dig, while a storm seems to be brewing on the Marrow Flats, the PCs and several other salt miners run across Praetex Protho, one of their seniors, urgently riding his llama Raf to the Foothold dig site. Eleon 'Elf-chin' Strachys, one of foreman Straps' sons, has gone missing, and did not return to Iosyne with his crew. Praetex picks the PCs to go along with him, some more begrudgingly than others, and they trek three hours to the East and the Foothold.
While rummaging through the empty camp, the PCs are assaulted by three raggedy humanoid rodents, who use daggers and light crossbows, but not very effectively. They manage to nick a few of the PCs, but are slaughtered within a few rounds. After being picked over, the PCs decide to go into the dig tunnels themselves, and more thoroughly search through the tents at the site. The South Tap and Dankel's Ditch appear empty, apart from a few oddities discovered by Kai, like a bloody boot, an abandoned mining pick, and a chunk of silver ore.
Praetex instructs the PCs to explore Piss Pot Alley, the third of the dig tunnels that has long been abandoned for use a a latrine, and Klytus becomes nauseous. Despite that, Lucretia discovers a natural illusion in the rock face that leads to a hidden network of caves, and soon they find tracks leading off to one of the exit tunnels. With Timon sneaking in the lead, the PCs press on and find several low-ceiling caves and corridors, plus a large untapped salt lode that could be very helpful to Iosyne's yield. Timon crawls into a very low cavern and finds a suspicious pack hanging from a stalactite...and decides to reach for it.
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600
NPCs
Praetex Protho (human male): Praetex is a tall man with an unusual beard, braided off a half dozen times on his chin, and each braid ending in a stone arrow-head that he carved himself from rocks in the Flats. He shaves his head apart from some stubble, and has a solid physique for one early in his 30s. He possesses naturally sharp teeth, or files them in secret, to create a frightening effect when he smiles, but is otherwise in a jovial mood most of the time, and really fond of bad jokes.
On their way back from the Alpha Dig, while a storm seems to be brewing on the Marrow Flats, the PCs and several other salt miners run across Praetex Protho, one of their seniors, urgently riding his llama Raf to the Foothold dig site. Eleon 'Elf-chin' Strachys, one of foreman Straps' sons, has gone missing, and did not return to Iosyne with his crew. Praetex picks the PCs to go along with him, some more begrudgingly than others, and they trek three hours to the East and the Foothold.
While rummaging through the empty camp, the PCs are assaulted by three raggedy humanoid rodents, who use daggers and light crossbows, but not very effectively. They manage to nick a few of the PCs, but are slaughtered within a few rounds. After being picked over, the PCs decide to go into the dig tunnels themselves, and more thoroughly search through the tents at the site. The South Tap and Dankel's Ditch appear empty, apart from a few oddities discovered by Kai, like a bloody boot, an abandoned mining pick, and a chunk of silver ore.
Praetex instructs the PCs to explore Piss Pot Alley, the third of the dig tunnels that has long been abandoned for use a a latrine, and Klytus becomes nauseous. Despite that, Lucretia discovers a natural illusion in the rock face that leads to a hidden network of caves, and soon they find tracks leading off to one of the exit tunnels. With Timon sneaking in the lead, the PCs press on and find several low-ceiling caves and corridors, plus a large untapped salt lode that could be very helpful to Iosyne's yield. Timon crawls into a very low cavern and finds a suspicious pack hanging from a stalactite...and decides to reach for it.
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600
NPCs
Praetex Protho (human male): Praetex is a tall man with an unusual beard, braided off a half dozen times on his chin, and each braid ending in a stone arrow-head that he carved himself from rocks in the Flats. He shaves his head apart from some stubble, and has a solid physique for one early in his 30s. He possesses naturally sharp teeth, or files them in secret, to create a frightening effect when he smiles, but is otherwise in a jovial mood most of the time, and really fond of bad jokes.
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PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa Experience :
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Octavius 7, 340 EE. Timon carefully checks over the pack before grabbing it, and it turns out to contain a pair of small-sized reading spe... -
Cycle of Months The Ekrysian Empire uses a calendar similar to that of modern times, save that the months are aligned more centrally to s...