"...Oh."
Well, I tried my best but there's nothing I can do about this situation. Tell the guy to try to hire a detective for this instead of a common mercenary and leave. Maybe wander around the town trying to find something interesting or another job opportunity. Try to gather rumors too, mainly about the mage breakers.
Name: Randolf Osborn
Appearance: Ugly as hell. Smells like rotten fish. Very brutish.
Magic path: Channeler Ascetic
Mana: 0
Strength: D6
Speed: D6
Endurance: D12
Knowledge: D4
Will: D12
Senses: D4
Ongoing effects:
Inventory:
Sealer Suit D4
White Robes
Shield
Wooden Club D6
Backpack
Lantern
100 feet of rope
29 gold coins
4 silver coins
Air bladder
Aqua Vitae???
Your entire plan hinged around making a man dress in women's clothing and without that, you decide to just leave those women to their fate as opposed to doing anything on your own? Alright I guess.
If you're wandering around town you'd more than likely see Nina get punted through a window or at least be able to come across the aftermath. Her dealings are honestly your best bet for more local adventure.
...
"Ow."
Welp. Now I know the boy is or at least temporarilly was, under the control of a magical force. I think I'm gonna need backup on this one.
((Yes, I saw the part about every bone in my hand breaking, but I'm not sure that was a real thing. If it was, well, I'm going to be busy on self-treatment instead of other actions for a little bit.))
"For what it's worth, I think this means we have a little more time than I thought. Whatever is influencing your son won't be able to use him for much if it kills him after all. Anyway, I'm going to need to go get some backup before I continue, but do you have any idea where the influence could have come from?"
Randolf comes to mind to serve as backup, but are there any experts on possession that I know that could help as well? Also, ANY input Adam might have on what's going on here is probably going to be invaluable. I mean, he's a subject matter expert if anyone is.
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, waterskin (air), hammer, 2 silver, air bladder, white robes.
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: Mesothorium
Cabal: None at this time.
You look at your arm. The good news is that whatever you saw back there wasn't real, the bad news is that it wasn't wholly false either. Your arm, up to the elbow, is badly burnt. First degree around the elbow, second on the arm, third degree on the hand. Your fingertips are black and the entire thing is already bleeding and starting to blister. The pain is starting to catch up with you now too. Thats going to be horrendous here in a few minutes so...better use the time you've got.
You get up, carefully using only your good arm, and walk back into the house. The bed is empty and the parents are gone. No sign of violence beyond the window you broke on the way out. But the bed is smoking slightly. You look at Adam and he swirls and twists into a spinal column in the shape of a Lemniscate. "Blood extinguishes the flame that burns the flesh! His candle burns bright."
Uh, yeah, any way I can stop the bleeding without preventing breathing? Kinda in a hurry here. It doesn't have to be perfect, as I assume there's competent medics where we're going.
Name: Zavirius En-Drani Haver, Painter
Appearance: A girl of unknown but apparently foreign decent. She claims to be the last surviving member of a long-dead ancient race, kept preserved in some kind of magical stasis, but this is likely untrue. Though her skin is a strange shade not normally seen on the continent, and her hair is bleached white with a slight green reflective tint. She is not very tall but stout like a dwarf and startlingly strong. The clothing that she wears is very minimal.
Mana: 5
Method: Flesh-Inscribing Channel
Materials: Lightweight, Explosion
Strength: d10
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d8
Will: d8
Senses: d6
Ongoing effects: Okay?
Inventory:
Wooden Arm-Guards (d4 armor)
Hemp sack
Paints and brushes
Kukri (d6 weapon)
I don't think you understand, so I won't run this action and waste time. She is not breathing already. You already smothered her into not breathing. CPR is the medical act you're looking for here. Otherwise you're bringing her corpse in. Which is fine, you have plenty of evidence otherwise and the Mage Breakers don't care about some evil wizard getting pulped. But thats the nature of whats going on here. She's effectively dead unless you resuscitate her.
"Well.. I thought the night would last longer. That's odd."
Lets make the travel decisions, then, what we're taking and which way we're going, ahead or behind. Write down what happened somewhere on the carts or on paper attached to the carts, as we need to spread the word around. I very much do not want to go after the missing people.. we'll likely just get ambushed again and wiped out. Try to help everyone to get moving quickly, we might get attacked again.
While we're en-route do talk with the survivors about the situation and find out who the missing people are, and helping the survivors deal with any emotional issues caused by surviving. Include a voluntary hug or two.. we'll need the mana to defend ourselves if we're attacked again. Fill in the others as to what words Saeko has, and what she can do, but do state that buffing one's person is risky, as a badly failed spell could end your life instead of helping you.
Saeko Hirahara
Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red dress with long gloves and stockings.
Invoking Empath
Str d4 -> d6
Speed d8
Endurance d10+1
Knowledge d4
Will d10+1
Senses d8
Items:
6 mana
114 coins (gold)
d6 armour: The outfit, naturally. Weighs as if it were d4
Backpack
100ft Rope
Waterskin
Compass
Hat
Sun Goggles
Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand.
Location: Travelling between Crocus
Status: Fine. Burn scars on arms.
Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.
Mental stats are possible, but harder or more complicated.
The wagon's are loaded with goods so they don't want to leave any behind. The head of the caravan managed to survive, even though he attests to losing many laborer and his guards. The survivors are mostly just tag-alongs like you and 2 workers. The caravan leader whips things back into shape quickly and gets the wagons moving, though they're now understaffed and moving slower than before. You talk the the survivors who aren't working and find that they are fairly tough about all this. Only one of them doesn't work a profession where dying is a fairly normal occurrence. And that survivor that isn't unimpressed is too busy scribbling out notes about their experiences and images of the creatures. She is, from what you can force out of her as she flips to a new page to continue, some kind of academic from the capital. You ask her for a hug and she accepts, granting you 4 mana in the process. She doesn't stop writing the entire time.
At this point I'm ready to have you reach town, unless you have more business with these people.
What stat would using this scissor use? Speed or strength?
Anywho, size up my competition, if I can see him anywhere. Also go and check out the gear if I'm allowed to. How does the scissor look quality/usability wise, and do I get any kind of armour or other pieces of gear along with it?
Name: Écalir Speedwagon
Appearance: barbarian, think Arnie from Conan the Barbarian
Magic path: Hunting flesh-scroll
Strength: d10
Speed: d10
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d4
Will: d6+1
Senses: d6
Mana: 35
Ongoing effects:None
Magical materialsleft Arm: wood
Right arm: Insect
Stomach: Strong acid
Chest: White Phosphorous
Left buttcheek: Electricity
Right buttcheek: Lightning
left leg: multiply
InventoryQuality weapon (Spear): d8
Longsword with glowing runes
Springy metal warpick: d8
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
9 smokebombs
Fitted armor: d8
Shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Backpack
100 feet of rope
Bandages
Tattoo Kit
250g worth of gems
doctor's bag
Strength. Not that it matters, you have d10 in both.
You head into the arena and ask around about your opponent. You find out that he's a fairly small, stringy guy who has entered these competitions before. He has never made it higher than the semi-finals in gladiator selection but has fought in other matches on the challenger level. Prefers light weapons, usually uses a thrusting sword. You talk to them about his given gear and they tell you he'll probably abandon the shield to move quicker.
They let you look at and mess with the gear a bit. D6 weapon, nothing special, with some d6 head armor and a d4-1 padded coat sort of thing.
Will I be allowed to accompany Ecalir into the waiting room or whatever before his match as his 'manager'? In case we need to do some subtle magic to increase his odds or something.
Now that we know who he'll be fighting, go look for that guy in the local bars and such, to get an idea of how good he seems.
Could we buy a sealer suit on the markets here? If yes, how much?
Also one of my friends said I should name our donkey Yvonne, so I will. Does she like the name?
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: 32
Ongoing effects: None
Magical materialsVacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Inventorydissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
gun: d8
9 smokebombs
Medium armor: d6
Ecalir's old armor: d8
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Alchemist’s Gear
250 gold worth of precious gems
Sack of jewels worth 233 gold
BETS:
-25 on Ecalir winning his first match
-25 on Ecalir winning the tournament
5 silver
an ingot of platinum (40 mana)
A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
good quality book&pen
You'll be allowed to see him before and after every set of matches but you can't be backstage with him.
You look around but cannot find that guy. You do find out similar things to what Eclair found out in his investigations and also that the guy apparently works on a boat that won't be back in till tomorrow.
You can, though its expensive. 150 Gold.
She likes the oats you give her so she seems pretty happy with the name. Seems pretty happy with just about everything going on around her. Or at worst apathetic.