Nekromanti Spelrapport: Kidnappningen av Leon Vestoris

Kraetyz

Warrior
Joined
13 Feb 2014
Messages
352
Det här blir den första spelrapporten jag faktiskt skriver. Första mötet spelades idag och det var roligt! Tänkte att jag kan dumpa berättelsen allt eftersom den kommer. Jag postar den på engelska, för jag vill att frugan ska läsa den. :) Tänkte även posta den på ett engelskt forum jag slösar tid på. Anyway. Hoppas det är nästan intressant att läsa. Jag var nervös som fan det här första spelmötet, eftersom jag inte spellett särskilt mycket senaste åren. btw, det här är skrivet att vara spoilerfritt också. Hade tänkt låta mina spelare läsa det också.

THE PLAYERS:
Ragar – Formerly a criminal and freedom fighter, Ragar has become an almost respected member of society. Earning his citizenship through army duty, he now works in Absalon as a sword for hire. Or rather, morningstar for hire.
Edarion Argostrum – A short pyar elf with a mysterious past who prefers to live right across from the tavern where he works as a cook and spends most of his time. Unseemly and poor, he has managed to get by quite well in Absalon.
Ilia Notafilae – A young but well traveled missionary. While she grew up spreading the word of Daak and to this day enjoys doing just that, she has focused more on doing good as a healer. May be spiritully connected to the Earthen Soldier, first prophet of Daak.

Selenio, Hexaria 19 – Beginning
Ragar is sitting at his favorite tavern. He is a tower of a man, and known in parts of Absalon as a frightening sword for hire. It is not yet lunch, but never too early to enjoy warm, low-quality Okranan ale served by his good friend, the Pyar elf Edarion Argostrum. It is a hot day in the Jargian border city of Absalon, and in the streets people are already beginning to prepare for the celebration of Saint Benecent, the patron saint of smiths who forged the weapons to defeat Mûhad's armies during the last invasion of the Jargian Empire.
A courier, presenting herself as Histalia, enters the tavern and hands a letter to Ragar. From the Vestoris family. The wax seal on it seems legitimate, though Ragar would not know so himself. He pays the courier a meagerly one silver denar, and she storms out much faster than she entered. Ragar does not particularly care.
He reads the letter, composed in an awkward mixture of Imperial Jargian and Common Jargian and written is a script so cursive that the letters themselves become a pain to decipher. Clearly written by someone who enjoys impressing others, but who still would like Ragar to receive an actual message. The letter is an invitation, though a very imperative one, to the home of Jordanes Boethius Argenta Vestoris. It tells Ragar that the Vestoris family is in great need of a man as powerful as him, and would like him to come first thing the next morning also bringing with any allies Ragar might consider worthy of an urgent mission outside of Absalon's walls.
Ragar, though the figurehead of his group, rarely goes alone to finish the tasks given him. Along with him, Edarion usually follows. Though not the strongest fighter, he is steady with a crossbow and his cooking is the perfect ending to any day. He also enjoys the company of a young missionary woman turned medic: Ilia Notafilae. Edarion is immediately invited to accompany him. Seeing the possibility of a gratuitous payment from the Vestoris family, he immediately accepts. Ragar then heads out on the streets to find Ilia, and she too is convinced to visit Boethius' home the coming day.

Nekrio, Hexaria 20 – Day of Saint Benecent
After meeting up at the tavern early in the morning, the group of three heads through the streets of Absalon as they begin to fill up with people wanting to celebrate the warm summer day. Large bonfires are lit in the city squares, theater stages are constructed and there is a merry mood all around. While Saint Benecent is not acknowledged with much cheer in most of Jargia, he is an important symbol of power to Absalon that over 800 years ago fell to Mûhad. The man who helped bring down the invaders would forever become the most important saint of the city.
Boethius Argenta Vestoris lives on Saint Tavenius street, the 24[SUP]th[/SUP] house. The house, or rather the mansion, is almost sickeningly beautiful both inside and out. Surrounding the mansion is a beautiful garden of flowers and bushes, and surrounding that are thick walls with Daak's cross engraved with deep red stone.
They are welcomed into the home of Boethius, only to be told to wait. A good two hours pass before he admits them into the meeting room. The fat, red-nosed man with enough expensive jewelry to cover most of his skin welcomes them and offers wine and fruit from the table. Beside him, a Jahann woman presented as Amila Bet Wahan, sits with a stern look on her old, windburned face. Pleasantries are exchanged, and Boethius gets down to business.
Laudates Leon Vestoris, Boethius beloved cousin and dearest friend, has been kidnapped by zhan people from the Tarkas desert to the west. He and his travel caravan was attacked on the way to Absalon after visiting the central regions of the Jargian Empire. Many were killed, a few escaped, but Leon is gone. Amila, who Boethius tells them has been leading the investigation so far by interviewing survivors and examining what little remains of the caravan equipment, has come to understand that the kidnappers more than likely are after political or military secrets of Absalon. They are likely not desert nomads of Tarkas, but rather from Mûhad. Whether army or simply angry men with weapons, they have large plans.
The mission presented to the group is then to head out into the inhospitable Tarkas desert and rescue Leon. Amila would follow with as a guide and tracker. She knows Tarkas in all ways possible and would be an invaluable help for Ragar, Ilia and Edarion who have had very little experience with the brutal desert.
Amila is told by Boethius to go and prepare the wagon they will be riding west for the first bit of their journey. Once she has left, Boethius has one last request for the mission: To not fight the kidnappers. Violence begets violence, and when a sword is drawn he is certain they will simply kill his cousin. This must not happen. Luckily, Boethius has a better way of solving the problem: A trade.
The kidnappers clearly want information, and Amila has worked as a spy and agent within and outside of Absalon for nearing 20 years. Prior to that, she's lived in Tarkas and even worked in the Mûhadinian army. She is like an endless tome of priceless knowledge just waiting to be pryed open. Give her to the kidnappers, getting Leon in return. Leon, while carrying a prestigious title, is a man more concerned with his personal wealth and business contacts than he is with military secrets. They should not get much out of him.
This request is given them together with a small pouch of 20 solida – an impressive amount of money. Boethius tells them that once Leon is back, two more pouches like that one will be theirs. They accept, and Boethius politely asks them to leave. He does not seem interested in discussion, even though many questions brew in the heads of his visitors.
The group quickly purchases some additional travel clothes suited for the desert, then meet back up with Amila. A bumpy ride out of the festive Absalon and out west, along a broken road to nowhere. Amila spends the ride explaining some of the many dangers of Tarkas – spider nests, rattle snakes, running out of water, storms, the list goes on.
The withered stones that mark the road have fallen over and become more and more buried in sand as they travel west. After an hour and a half, there is no more road, and they must get off and walk.
Amila takes the lead. Guiding them by the distant mountain tops of the Abanda Mountains, they head out into the billowing sand dunes of eastern Tarkas. They have not yet reached the true Ash Desert that stretches endlessly past the mountains.
The day is slow, trudging through sand under the burning hot sun. In the distance they see a group of vultures feasting on a prey, and while going in hiding from the sun in a deep ravine they stumble across the skeletal remains of three unfortunate souls that must have fallen from above. They set up camp by the water hole Amila had been guiding them to, but are kept awake at night by the distant howling of Ash Spawn, larva demons of the desert.

Astrio, Hexaria 21 – The Ascension of Milargok
Normally a day for people to be introspective, philosophical and positive towards the wisdom of Prophet Milargok, the already weary travelers continue despite the storm that awoke overnight. They stumble across the remains of a nomad camp, slimy tracks of Ash Spawn still visible in the whirling sand. Though the larger ones had already left, a single demonic larva crawls out of a tent in search of prey and is quickly disposed of by Edarion's crossbow. After a few more hours of slow travel, the storm begins to subside and Amila's aim proves true even through a barrier of sand: they are just about to climb the northmost peaks and cliffs of the Abanda mountains. She knows a small settlement on the western side of these cliffs, Ozzakh, where they should be able to find a good starting point to track down the kidnappers.
After climbing and navigating the labyrinth of peaks and ravines until near sundown, the group settles down for a moment on a large, flat plateau. Beyond the cliffs to the west, they can begin to see the black and burnt scar tissue that is the true Tarkas desert. Amila and Edarion head out to hunt along the mountainside, leaving Ilia and Ragar to wait on the outlook.
The two are disturbed within the hour, however, as five men show up. They must have been keeping their eyes on the travellers for some time. Three carry shoddily constructed heavy crossbows, while the other two wield swords. A man who calls himself Vezenius, obviously a Jargian and not a native Tarkas zhan, demands both Ragar and Ilia come with him. He does not seem to want them well.
Even disarmed and facing crossbows, Ragar manages to instill such fear with his threats in Vezenius men that they nearly turn on their leader immediately. With Vezenius losing his cool, they decide it is time to leave. It's not worth it to try and fight a man who stands tall in the face of certain death and tells them that they're one mistake away from all being dead. Only Vezenius and the last crossbowman, another Jargian who's stayed quiet the entire time, are left. In his rage, Vezenius lunges out with his sword at Ragar, who easily puts the unstable man completely out of balance. Ragar picks his morning star up from the ground and brings it down on Vezenius' back, a sickening crack immediately ending the bandit's life. Having missed his first crossbow bolt and with no time to reload, the remaining bandit falls to his knees, crying in panic both at the loss of Vezenius and at his own impending death. Ragar decides to spare him, only knocking the poor bastard out. Perhaps they can get some information out of him once Amila comes back. Vezenius is tossed down a ravine to be feasted on by animals overnight.
Amila, while disturbed that Ragar singlehandedly 'defeated' five men intent on evil, seems thankful that they are not hurt. Hearing the name Vezenius more annoys than frightens her – apparently he was one of Ozzakh's more prominent figures. While neither she nor many others are likely to miss him, there may be some people still loyal to him. As long as they stand strong and do not cause further violence, however, she hopes the visit to the small mountain settlement should be a safe one. Before they head there, however, some interrogation needs to take place.
 

Kraetyz

Warrior
Joined
13 Feb 2014
Messages
352
Edarion, who's managed to hunt down a fattied-up mountain goat, cooks some of it for a quick meal before they head out. At that point, their prisoner still has not woken up. Ragar doesn't like that one bit. Using Amila's ropes, he ties the poor bastard up and starts dragging him along down the steep, rocky path they would travel on towards Ozzakh. That'll wake him. He begs for his life over and over, and though Amila does have to put in a few stern words first, Ragar does spare him. Poor guy sadly didn't know anything about Leon's whereabouts.
On their way to Ozzakh, after sunset, Edarion decides that it is time to tell Amila of Boethius' order. That she was to be offered to the kidnappers in exchange for Leon. Everything stops for a moment.
She is rightly furious. The fact that she is even there with them, she feels, is because they agreed to this vile scheme. She calls out Ilia as a hypocrit who in spite of her faith agrees to such an act. Edarion and Ragar try to explain to her that they were never going to do it, but she will not have it. Not immediately. Fuming, she walks ahead of them in silence.
They continue on for nearly an hour, the cliffy land around them dark. A bright light shines ahead. Ozzakh? Not quite. Amila turns around, sneaking unheard back to the group and motions for them to climb up a cliff wall. They have to move, and do so quickly. She is swift to climb up herself, and offers her rope for the rest of them. All would have gone well, if not for Ragar's armor making loud noises in the dark as he climbed.
The fire moves. Not as a fire, but as a beast. All up on the cliff, the group starts a hasty retreat from the horror. An enormous monster, like a lizard or dragon, clad entirely in flame, stampeding through the mountainous landscape towards their position. Along a rocky path, jumping from cliff to cliff and slipping on the black, ashy sand that has blown in over the mountain from Tarkas below, the group flees. Amila has no interest in fighting that being of flame that could not quite heave its way up on the path they were on. The others are quick to agree.
A salamander, apparently. An elemental demon of fire, spawned in one of Tarkas' violent magic storms and left behind to roam the desert. Fighting them with conventional weapons would be... unwise.
Once the group arrived at Ozzakh, night had fallen. The small town of 150 inhabitants, built mostly out of mud huts. Ozzakh sat right at the foot of the mountain, with only a wall of stone to separate civilization from the ash desert beyond. Amila, still not speaking much, leads them to a large building almost shaped like a globe with an open hole for a doorway. Inside, pitch dark. They simply put out their sleeping rolls and try to get a night's rest.

Jargio, Hexaria 22
The next morning, the group wakes up to the scream of a camel being kicked to stand up. Apparently, they'd not been alone in the large building. A few nomads were on their way out. They could now see it was simply a large hall, rife with marks from humans and creatures and with adornments of every religion and then some covering the circular walls.
Ozzakh is alive! As a small town in an inhospitable environment, most of the population either hunt or keep to the small amount of sturdy crops the weak ground can support. Amila searches the hunting parties that are preparing for the day for someone with knowledge. Eventually, she finds someone. Speaking in the zhanian language, she makes an... unfortunate deal with the old man. Even more unfortunate, Ilia is involved. The old man wants Amila to introduce Ilia to his son, Azerh. She agrees, because the information is still worth it. Ilia will have to take one for the team. Once the hunting party returns, they will share drinks and knowledge.
While going to the Ozzakh waterhole, an underwater stream deep inside the mountain, Ragar is bit by a spider. He refuses to let it bother him, but the infection seems quite severe and the swelling on his leg is anything but pretty to look at. Ilia orders him to a day of rest.
Amila explains to the group that she does intend to carry on with the mission. They will return to Absalon, she will get the payment from her guild, and then... it is left unsaid what will happen to Boethius. Imagination is the limit.
Night comes, and a great feast it ordered! Hunting went extraordinarily well, much thanks to the strapping young man Ilia was to be 'introduced' to, Azerh. A long, painful, mostly one way conversation occurrs throughout the night, Ilia being talked to without saying much herself. She is saved at the end of the night by Amila, who distracts Azerh for just long enough for her to get away and go sleep. She reasons she'll deal with that when they return to Ozzakh. Which is never. She is never ever returning.

Bio, Hexaria 23
Good news in the morning! The old hunter Amila talked to really did have the information they needed! A fairly well known spot to set camp at, a few days northwest of Ozzakh, had apparently been inhabited by a group of travellers from the west for at least 10 days now. Amila explains that she's been there before and that travel should be easy. Well, as easy as it is traveling in searing heat. The dark sand around them seems to constantly shift, creating some confusion as to how the scarred landscape is actually shaped. Normal behavior for Tarkas.
They settle down in the night, and Amila decides to explain what she knows. She believes that the kidnappers are from Mûhad, likely even from the military. The kidnapping is, as she suspected from the start, a way to get information. More specifically, she reasons, they are looking for military secrets. They are dealing with scouts or spies from the Mûhad army. Reconnaissance to aid with a war. Good thing they got Leon. The guy's an idiot who knows nothing that isn't his own wealth.
A battle plan is forged. As the kidnappers are assumed to be organized and well armed, Ragar and Amila eventually agree on an ambush plan. Ragar will act as bait, hopefully luring out or at least distracting night guards for long enough that Amila, Edarion and Ilia can take them out at a distance. They are at a numbers advantage, and need to work around it.

Sabtio, Hexaria 24
Through willpower and manliness, Ragar powers through the immense pain in his leg to continue marching on. A spider will not bring down The Greatest Warrior.
The day turns out hot, dry, and absolutely dreadfully painfully horrifyingly boring. As the group settles for the night, Edarion and Amila are happy to go out hunting. Much better than the tiresome march of daytime. Ragar spends some time with Ilia, helping her practice her throwing knives against his shield. Turns out Ilia is actually quite proficient with the knives, despite not having used them in many months.
As Edarion and Amila are on their way back, they again hear the horrible howling of Ash Spawn. Plenty of them. As a matter of fact, five. The large larvae demons are seen by Ilia and Ragar at the top of a sand dune, their feint white glow still overpowering the night sky and the small fire set by the travellers. Ragar calls for Ilia to get him a torch from Amila's packing, as he does not want to risk his prized morningstar against the acidic beings. She runs into the tent, finds a torch, and lights it on the fire before handing it off to Ragar.
Two Ash Spawn approach first, and while Ragar brings one down by breaking the torch over its back, Ilia takes the other out of the fight with one of her knives. Before the three ones left – much larger than the first two – come upon them, she runs up and snatches the throwing knife from the corpse of the fallen Ash Spawn. Hiding behind Ragar, she throws them one after one, getting good hits on one of the Ash Spawn to keep it slowed down.
Ragar, having lost his torch, reluctantly pulls the sword he carries for emergencies. Still he would rather not risk the morningstar. He slashes at the monsters, but finds himself overwhelmed by their oxlike form. They bite with toothless maws, acid oozing over his arm and chest. They simply try to overpower him, push him to the ground and dissolve him entirely. He fights back, just barely. One is sliced in the side and the other is pushed away. Ilia, overcome with worry that Ragar might die to these monsters, throws herself into the melee with a dagger and repeatedly stabs the wounded Ash Spawn until it no longer moves.
Ragar, severely wounded, steels himself once more to finally take out the Ash Spawn in front of him, and in unison him and Ilia run up and overwhelm the remaining fifth one. After that, the acid burning Ragars skin takes its toll and he collapses to the ground right as Amila and Edarion come running back. They had from a distance heard the sound of fighting.
The rest of the night is spent with Ilia trying to mend Ragar's wounds. The inside of his chestplate had become entirely infused with his skin, dissolved by the acid drool of the Ash Spawns. Edarion cooks a stew of vulture that ends up... otherworldly. To put it in meta terms: He rolled 58 with 4D6+3. Exploding dice are stupid.
 
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