Pull out my ghost charm and look for any spirits in the area.
Well Oxford, let's see if there's anyone with a job around here, shall we?
You look at the ghost charm, the little black needle held within a bronze gimbal system. It tips and rolls randomly, needle not being held toward anything in particular. Hmm, nothing in this bar...maybe someplace less frequented? You leave and wander around a bit, searching out from the bar, through the little town. You circle round and round until finally, on the outskirts to town, on the south side, you get a faint hint of a spirit. You walk a bit and the charm seems to be following the flow of the river, but trending towards the forest near the bank. You follow it until, somewhere deep in the woods in the places normally untraveled by men, you find a small clearing overgrown with yellow flowers. At the center of it is a tree stump; the clear results of a purposeful chopping down of the tree rather than a natural fall. The stump is saturated in sprouting flowers and at its center is a tiny spirit. It looks like a blob, that hovers a foot or so from the wood, but repeatedly extends sharp protrusions of itself down to push itself along in a slow circle around the edge of the stump's top. It gives the impression of a thing found in stagnant ponds; an odd life that blooms in murk. Its a vibrant green color, mostly transparent like watered down lime gelatin, and smells of rain. When you get close, you notice that it is making a gentle chiming sound.
Wait until I have the proceeds from the rat king. If I can, take a small job in Alkahest just to pay for my food and lodgings, but don't give out much information about myself. Could I buy or catch a live snake in Alkahest? If so, do it. Use remaining money (though not the proceeds from the rat king) to buy something to enhance a fire, like oil.
Name: Moghorn the Journeyman
Appearance: Fiftyish and very weathered. Moghorn spent his youth, adolescense, and adulthood travelling according to the voices in his head and the strange compulsions he felt. Then he stumbled across a magical spirit and gained magical powers.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 6
Strength: d6
Speed: d12
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d6
Will: d6
Senses: d8
Ongoing effects: Has a spirit in him
Inventory: Soil from a mountaintop, three vertebrae probably from third sons, red candle Needs: living bronze, live snake
10 silver
Mundane: Backpack, 100 feet of rope, Lantern
Great: Marsh Hog Leather Armour (d6 protection), Marsh Hog Bone crossbow (d6 ranged damage)
Grand: Spirit (Wants stone guide from the towers around Kaolin)
Materials: "Grand Lode Stone" or rare earth magnet in our terms
You hang out in town, doing your best to stay incognito. You find a job in the tradesman quarter as manual labor in a tannery at the edge of town. Its disgusting, hard, dangerous work but it pays well and no one asks you anything. Not to mention the smell of the place on you stops anyone from socializing. You find housing in a group home, a little room with a cabinet, a bed and an oil lamp. You horde your money, living on bread and water for over two weeks and keeping the accumulating silver pieces in a small wooden box stashed between the bed frame and the matress. During the third week the taxidermist tells you he thinks he's lined up a buyer and you immediately get to work. You use the money you saved to buy up a live snake from an animal seller, and 10 jars of oil the size of your head. You have 5 silver remaining afterwards. You keep the snake in your room and feed him on caught rats until the taxidermist returns with your cut of the sale: 25 gold coins.
How about we do the same thing we did last time: one at a time, Ecalir first with the lantern, tie a rope (if there's a cave wall or stable large boulder nearby) and use it to make going down easier and to have something to hold on to once rocks go a-sliding.
((Pan, if you'd prefer another method of going down just say so and I can change my action.))
I'm a-okay with following this plan. Slow and steads seems like a good game plan here.
Name: Écalir Speedwagon
Appearance: barbarian, think Arnie from Conan the Barbarian
Magic path: Hunting flesh-scroll
Mana: 0
Strength: d10
Speed: d10
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d4
Will: d6
Senses: d6
Ongoing effects:None
Inventory:
Backpack
100 feet of rope
Bandages
Tattoo Kit
Medium armour: d6
Quality weapon (Spear): d8
Tattoos:
Arm: "wood"
You stop at the edge of the rocks and pick up a good fist sized stone. You toss it off into the dark and listen as it bounces down, creating several small rockslides as it does.
"Stuff ain't too stable. Probably fine for climbing one at a time, but if we go in a line someone is gonna bring down a big pile of rocks on the people below them. Either we go down one at a time or we go down parallel."
How about we do the same thing we did last time: one at a time, Ecalir first with the lantern, tie a rope (if there's a cave wall or stable large boulder nearby) and use it to make going down easier and to have something to hold on to once rocks go a-sliding.
((Pan, if you'd prefer another method of going down just say so and I can change my action.))
Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.
Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d10
Mana:0
Ongoing effects: None
Inventory:
Small or rudimentary weapon (dissection knife): d4
Lantern
small amount of thaum
Alchemist’s Gear
Medium armor: d6
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
Magical materials: Vacuum!
Eclair finds a large boulder near the top of the breakdown and, for a minute or two, does his best to dislodge it via shoving, punching, flying kicks and bearhugs. Once he's satisfied that the rock won't just tumble down at any moment, he ties the rope around it and starts his climb downward. He goes forward, rather than hopping down backwards, carefully lowering himself down and making short controlled slides down the rubble. His lamp illuminates only a small area around him, though he has the lights from the rest of the party to act as a visual anchor to his initial location. After a good half hour of careful descent he reaches level ground and looks around a bit. The ground here is stony, moss covered, and very flat. He walks about 40 feet from the end of the pile towards the sound of the river. Its louder here and the smell of water is back. He finds that this stone is actually a stone shelf; it ends abruptly with a sheer cliff. He walks along the cliff for a bit and finds that the cliff is about as wide as the breakdown pile. He can hear the river flowing in the dark down below, though he can't see it. The air is humid here, almost misty.
He gives the all clear and one by one the party ventures down and joins him. As they do, he gives the area a closer inspection and finds signs of other travelers. There are iron stakes still driven into the edge of the cliff at one point, and at another he finds strange cave paintings; or perhaps paintings is the wrong word. It looks like someone has blown powder on a cave wall to outline their hand, but the hand isn't human and the powder is gray. But the area around the hand is like sandpaper while the hand itself is smooth as glass.
Agree to pay my way, and say that I'd like to head to the next town, which is presumably Ens Veneris. Say goodbye to everyone I've met in Bromcresol before leaving. Hugs?
Also, ask around to see if there's anything I should buy here before leaving, either as an investment or because it'll be useful on the road.
Saeko Hirahara
Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red dress with long gloves and stockings.
Invoking Empath
Str d4
Speed d8
Endurance d10
Knowledge d4
Will d10
Senses d8
Items:
Extra Material
//
7 Mana
119 coins (gold)
//
Backpack
100ft Rope
Light Armor: The outfit, naturally.
Words: Sound d10, Ape d12
Location: Bromcresol
You say goodbye to everyone in the town. Most have heard of what you did and are at the very least somewhat friendly. You get a few hugs but none that give you mana. Still, nice to make a difference. You ask a few people if you should buy anything and the recommend a water skin, a compass, a hat with cloth to cover your face and neck, and a pair of good goggles. You buy it all for 1 gold.
You pay your way, a whooping 5 gold, and sit in the wagon as it travels south. The way is dusty, dry and abandoned save for the road itself which is little more than a well worn wagon track. You weave through the hills untill you come to the wastes proper. The wastes is a general name given to any area between major settlements and features. It is the kind of peril that is, at the end of the day, the most dangerous. The kind of peril that people ignore because it is uninteresting. It is not a deadly creature or a hateful locale. It is simply a brown and dead expanse of desert, all dried soil and dead trees. Once this entire place had been rolling fields and meadows but the loss of magic had spoiled it. It takes about a week to reach Ens Veneris, a little town tucked into a horseshoe bend in the River Worm. Ens Veneris is a small town but not a poor one; it occupies a cross roads of sorts, where the goods from several towns along the road or the river intersect and are bought.
The town itself has few permanent resident; the majority of people there are part of some caravan or boat company or something similar. The town is about 80% inns, bars, brothels and shops to 20% homes and the main street- which is set along the river's edge- is filled with the smell of tobacco smoke, alcohol, vomit, iron-blood and riverwater. The caravan owner tells you flat out that this is not the kind of place a young lady should wander unescorted.
"Well, someone told me that I really should make sure I visit the 'Feet', whatever that means. He also warned me about some kind of sickness? Do you happen to know what he was talking about?"
Does Adam have any input on this conversation? I'm kinda expecting him to be triggered by something that this guy says to me, so I'm already keeping myself focused on the person I'm talking to and not letting him make me seem crazy. But Adam is kinda who sent me on this in the first place, he might have some prompts for what I should (or shouldn't) be asking the guy...
Name: Nina Morellis
Appearance: A young, red-haired woman, green eyes, somewhat unkempt. She's had Adam for as long as she could remember, and has a bit of a reputation as a harmless nut. The town guard are okay with Nina though, occasionally getting her help keeping a mage secured by having her drain their mana so they can't cast. Since they don't have a proper magehunter available, having a local civilian channeler they can bring in as needed is a big help. And Nina tries to be on her best behavior with them to keep their relations good. Nina herself works as a healer, living out in the poor part of town, and has an erratic schedule based on the needs of those who want her help. so she has a lot of free time, but also gets woken up in the middle of the night a lot. add in Adam's occasional antics and she doesn't get to have a stable sleep schedule.
Magic Path: Channeler, Invoker.
Materials: Sound
Mana: 5
Strength: D4
Speed: D6
Endurance: D10
Knowledge: D8
Will: D10
Senses: D6
Inventory: Backpack, padded cloak (D4 protection, Light armor), Lantern, doctor's bag, 4 silver.
Inhabited by a spirit which takes the form of a floating disembodied limb that constantly melts and reforms into other body parts. She calls it "Adam."
Location: Phaganeda, a town on top of lake Limus
Cabal: None at this time.
Adam seems to be hiding. Ever since you've gotten to this town he's been oddly quiet and seems to spend most of his time in your bag as something small and unassuming, like a wandering kidney. As you speak, you reach into your bag and poke him. You can hear him whisper something right into your head.
"O Fish, O Fish, Are you constant to the old covenant? This pact is not benevolence, it is born of a curse. The Ensorceled Royal lies below. THE FEET! THE FEEEEET!"
When you mention the Feet and the sickness, the men's faces go from benevolent and welcoming to stoney and angry. But only for an instant. They regain their composure immediately and smile.
"Whoever it is that told you that is simply repeating unfounded rumors. You see, many believe our arrangement with the peoples of the lake is...well, blasphemous. The god who rests in this lake is not well accepted by those outside the town. Whats more our location on this swamp means disease is not uncommon to us. More than once, when some fever was ravaging the town, men would point their fingers and claim it was proof our god was untrue."
The men adopt a look of quiet and patient suffering; like a mother with a truly terrible child.
"But you have seen our town. Is it afflicted with plague or overrun with monsters?"
They all stare at you with expectant, goading eyes until you say no.
"NO!" They exclaim, cutting you off as you are half finished, "Nothing of the sort. But if you are still unconvinced, you should gather with the next delegation we are sending. The true proof of our god and his benevolence is to experience it for yourself. "
I should probably have remembered to put boldtext outside of the spoiler, whoops. Here's my turn.
Take the coin, and two other small knick-knacks that look interesting, over to the vendor. Ask for prices, and try to haggle them down. If they aren't less than three gold total, wince and ask for individual prices--I only actually care about the coin, of course. Buy it if it's three gold or less, but if it isn't, argue that for all I know, the coin could just be defaced and worth less than one gold--there's no way anyone would pay more than three gold coins for a possibly-lucky defaced gold coin.
...If that works to get a magic item for three gold, ask her about where she gets her wares, and what she knows about local mysticism. I want to play the part of a naive Alkahest tourist who's enamored with this foreign place and their shamanistic magic.
Name:Zruril Zaszurs
Appearance: Zruril is a tall, middle-age man, with thinning gray hair and a calm, warm, smile that never seems to leave his face. He wears heavy robes that look much like what a priest might wear, and a perceptive individual might notice the glint of a small handgun carefully hidden in their folds. He has the appearance of one from Litharge, which to most rural people makes him difficult to distinguish from a native of Alkahest.
Magic path: Empath Invoker
Mana: 0
Strength: 1d4
Speed: 1d8
Endurance: 1d4
Knowledge: 1d12
Will: 1d12
Senses: 1d4
Ongoing effects: None!
Inventory:
Heavy robes (d4 light armor)
Pocket springpistol (d6 ranged)
324 gold coins
4 silver coins
You grab the coin and two other random knicknacks and walk over to the merchant. The haggling process is quite a tough one and when you ask for individual prices you're rather surprised to find that she rates the coin as far less important than the other pieces. You argue a while, finally settling on a price of 2 gold and 5 silver for the coin and one of the knick nacks. You slip the coin quickly into your bag but keep the other thing out and ask her about it and the other stuff on the table.
You get a response that...well, is about 20% informative of local rituals and about 80% assurances, invitations and suggestions to buy more, and stuff that you're pretty sure she's making up as she goes along. The only thing that really interests you is that she mentions a shrine to an old jungle god "Somewheres up der wherein the Kermes forms from tha two utha rivahs." She doesn't know much about it but judging by what she says, there could be legit magical items or words around there.
Author
Topic: Cabal: Wizard Open World Game (Read 364317 times)