[dnd 5e] Skaldlands (IC)

[gabado]

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"How do we escape?" shouts Muun. His voice hasn't changed, but he speaks differently. He seems to be more commanding, less jovial.

Spoiler: ooc

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I am excited about this change, it has given me some new ideas for his character. Don't tell the others about the change though, I want them to discover it for themselves.

Spoiler: Muun

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the Trout’s parting words still ring in Muun’s ears. His shout causes a flurry of motion at the corner of his vision. Whipping his head quickly to follow the motion, all he sees are a collection of small bolders, oldly all in the rough shape of a goose egg.

Odd, they hadn’t been there when he’d gone into the water. Odder still, on of the bolders appears to be squinting at Muun.

His head still foggy from the dive, Muun shakes himself and stares back at the eye.

The boulder jumps, noticing it’s been spotted and lets out a bark of alarm and distress. Unfolding itself, the creature waves a pair of long arms high above its head, jumping anxiously on two stumpy legs, yelling incoherently.

The bolders around it quiver and begin to shout as well, some running hither and thither, two collide and fall over. Their eyes are bright green and very large. They have long hooked noses. He realizes that what he once thought was stone is actually thick, grey, leathery flesh. The creatures are panicking running back and forth in fright. Only one remains silent, it’s eyes transfixed on Muun.

After a few moments of delirious shouting, the little trolls scamper from the clearing, leaving only the inquisitive one behind. It’s jaw is slightly agape and it’s eyes are glassy.

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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the Trout’s parting words still ring in Muun’s ears. His shout causes a flurry of motion at the corner of his vision. Whipping his head quickly to follow the motion, all he sees are a collection of small bolders, oldly all in the rough shape of a goose egg.

Odd, they hadn’t been there when he’d gone into the water. Odder still, on of the bolders appears to be squinting at Muun.

His head still foggy from the dive, Muun shakes himself and stares back at the eye.

The boulder jumps, noticing it’s been spotted and lets out a bark of alarm and distress. Unfolding itself, the creature waves a pair of long arms high above its head, jumping anxiously on two stumpy legs, yelling incoherently.

The bolders around it quiver and begin to shout as well, some running hither and thither, two collide and fall over. Their eyes are bright green and very large. They have long hooked noses. He realizes that what he once thought was stone is actually thick, grey, leathery flesh. The creatures are panicking running back and forth in fright. Only one remains silent, it’s eyes transfixed on Muun.

After a few moments of delirious shouting, the little trolls scamper from the clearing, leaving only the inquisitive one behind. It’s jaw is slightly agape and it’s eyes are glassy.

Spoiler

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"Hello," says Muun cautiously. "Do you know how we can get back?"

[gabado]

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"Hello," says Muun cautiously. "Do you know how we can get back?"

Spoiler: Muun

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To his surprise, the words leaving Muun's mouth are not common, they are ancient and guttural a forgotten tongue from when the world was new.

The little troll shakes its head slowly, looking slightly apologetic. "You lived..." it speaks in the same guttural language, but Muun finds that he can perfectly understand the meaning of its words.

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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To his surprise, the words leaving Muun's mouth are not common, they are ancient and guttural a forgotten tongue from when the world was new.

The little troll shakes its head slowly, looking slightly apologetic. "You lived..." it speaks in the same guttural language, but Muun finds that he can perfectly understand the meaning of its words.

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"Yes, I lived," says Muun."Does that mean something?"

[gabado]

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"Yes, I lived," says Muun."Does that mean something?"

Spoiler: Muun

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"No one who has dived for the ring has yet lived... the wizard must have thought your soul very valuable indeed." its voice echoes through its throat like the sound of rocks dropped into a deep canyon.

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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"No one who has dived for the ring has yet lived... the wizard must have thought your soul very valuable indeed." its voice echoes through its throat like the sound of rocks dropped into a deep canyon.

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"Of course it is." grunts Muun. "Who are you?"

Spoiler: ooc

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Muun thinks he is the same as always and got his own soul back even though he didn't.

[gabado]

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"Of course it is." grunts Muun. "Who are you?"

Spoiler: ooc

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Muun thinks he is the same as always and got his own soul back even though he didn't.

Spoiler: Muun

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"I am Berg," the creature bows stiffly. "A grey troll, one of the last of our kind. My brothers and I watch the lake."

Spoiler: ooc

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Sounds good to me, it'll be cool to see how it begins to warp him over time

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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"I am Berg," the creature bows stiffly. "A grey troll, one of the last of our kind. My brothers and I watch the lake."

Spoiler: ooc

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Sounds good to me, it'll be cool to see how it begins to warp him over time

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"My friends and I were teleported here by a strange mist," says Muun. "Do you know how we can escape?" he says showing him the ring.

[mtatosky]

Pierce, this man died for his rage, it looks like he has had Lor torn away from him. We should care for his remains properly and respectfully. Akkila bows her head with respect, and rises from her kneeling position.

She then turns to Tethys You said something about the tree? That it wants us healed?

[bc56]

"What if the old man was on to something? What if the tree is a demon?" Pierce doesn't fully believe that, but it would make sense.

[atlastrembles]

Tethys responds to Akkila's question with a mixture of sadness and frustration, sparing not a glance nor a tear for the fallen maniac.

The tree is in great pain and weeps its sorrow around yon axe wound. I know not if it summoned us or merely lashes out in rage, but its anguish permeates this entire wood. Gesturing to the fallen would-have-been attacker, Tethys grimaces. It isn't him who needs healing, Lorbringer, but the mighty oak before us. I believe the elk brought us here for a reason.

[gabado]

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"My friends and I were teleported here by a strange mist," says Muun. "Do you know how we can escape?" he says showing him the ring.

Spoiler: Muun

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"I know little of the world beyond this lake," says Berg. "I have heard whisperings of a set of secrets, questions and answers one must know, they hold great power in this forest."

[mtatosky]

Akkila bows her head in a brief prayer over the dead body. She looks over to Tethys.

I'm going to quickly inter this man of the faith, if you find a solution that I can help with, please do not hesitate to interrupt. I just don't know how to help a tree heal properly.
If Pierce thinks that removing the ax will help, then let's start there.

With that, Akkila gently picks up the man, and his belongings and moves him over to one of the larger piles of shale. She then starts making the best crude cairn she can, all the while saying prayers to Lor.

[gabado]

Akkila bows her head in a brief prayer over the dead body. She looks over to Tethys.

I'm going to quickly inter this man of the faith, if you find a solution that I can help with, please do not hesitate to interrupt. I just don't know how to help a tree heal properly.
If Pierce thinks that removing the ax will help, then let's start there.

With that, Akkila gently picks up the man, and his belongings and moves him over to one of the larger piles of shale. She then starts making the best crude cairn she can, all the while saying prayers to Lor.

While searching through the clearing for useful rocks, Akkila stumbles upon the man's belongings stuffed beneath a smooth boulder. Close to the boulder is a small campfire and a pile of leaves and moss, evidently used as a bed. As she picks it up, the man's backpack tears open, and an odd assortment of funny-growing roots, assorted pieces of junk and a small book tumble out.

The book lands open, and Akkila recognizes it as the man's hymnal. Bending to pick it up, she notices that in the margins between prayers, he has scrawled hasty diary notes.

Spoiler: the paladin's diary

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The second day – I have sought and indeed found. For not even my heart could hope to deceive me this time. I hath now found what I seek.

The fifth day – I have, with great care, studied and observed the daemon. The face is not what I expected it to be. Not even an evil such as this can hide in the shadows of fear.

The twelfth day – I lunch my axe into the great bark. Uncertain, but I thought to have heard a slight moaning.

The thirtieth day – No sign of weariness. A horrid stench from the sap slowly finds its way down into the flowery earth.

The third year, the sixty-sixth day – Seven secrets are required to escape this place.

The tenth year, the third day – They have told me that Godric the Dragon Master did not die.

The eleventh year, the two hundred and seventh day – The axe has taken hold and I can no longer hope to remove it. The daemon seems weaker.

The twentieth year, the final day – Doubt has taken hold in my heart. Is it a daemon?

The twenty-third year, the fifteenth day – I shall never leave this place hither, I now see that clearly. The daemon seems stronger than ever. He will defeat me. By Lor, let me be spared from his wrath. I have lost the will to pray...

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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"I know little of the world beyond this lake," says Berg. "I have heard whisperings of a set of secrets, questions and answers one must know, they hold great power in this forest."

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"Well I thank you anyway." says Muun, almost ready to leave. "Do you know anything about this ring?" he asks.

[gabado]

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"Well I thank you anyway." says Muun, almost ready to leave. "Do you know anything about this ring?" he asks.

Spoiler: Muun

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Noticing the ring, the troll hiccups. "That ring holds great power." Closing his eyes and extending a long, three-fingered hand, Berg begins to tremble and shake with concentration. The ring becomes cold on Muun's finger, almost as though it was made of stone. Berg exhales a deep sigh, and the spell is done. "That ring belonged to Godric, slayer of the fowl wyrm, Elmtongue. It will allow you to speak with all of the denizens of the forest, their language will become yours."

[bc56]

Pierce turns back to the axe. He attempts to wrench it free again. If applicable, he'll use his crowbar to pry it free.

Spoiler: Athletics roll

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(1d20+2)[14]
If crowbar applicable: (1d20+2)[5]

[gabado]

Pierce turns back to the axe. He attempts to wrench it free again. If applicable, he'll use his crowbar to pry it free.

Spoiler: Athletics roll

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[roll0]
If crowbar applicable: [roll1]

Straining as best he can, Pierce is unable to pull the axe free, he can't seem to find a good angle to use the crowbar but it seems very close. He is certain with a little help from Tethys or Akkila he could get it loose.

Spoiler: ooc

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if a companion helps out it will give Pierce advantage and you can roll again

[mtatosky]

Akkila holds up the hymnal to the others

The man thought the tree was a daemon and that the ax itself might be keeping the tree from harming others. Appears he was guarding the ax from being removed so that the tree could not heal itself. According to the dairy that axe has been lodged there 23 years and then some. Looks like he planted it in his early days and then as he went crazy he tried to remove it, but no longer had the strength. He lost faith in Lor in his last days.

She bows her head.

It is not easy to hold the faith brother, you did what you could.

Trying to flip through the hymnal for one of the most used pages, to find out what the Paladin's favorite passage is. Akkila will then read that hymnal and others while preparing the body for its final rest.

There are some roots here, and other assorted things. Maybe the roots are edible?

[gabado]

It is not easy to hold the faith brother, you did what you could.

Trying to flip through the hymnal for one of the most used pages, to find out what the Paladin's favorite passage is. Akkila will then read that hymnal and others while preparing the body for its final rest.

There are some roots here, and other assorted things. Maybe the roots are edible?

Spoiler: A well-worn page

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The hymn on this page is well known to Akkila. It is a ballad sung to commemorate the passage of a fallen comrade. It seems rather appropriate for this moment.

Thy journey begins
With sword in the wind
Stay thy hand rest thy command
For Lor's call was heard above them all
Thy name shall never die!

Blood and death lived on his sword
The saint of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell

And so it was by the hand of Lor
Did the immortal warrior pass through
The gates of Dimhall and into legend.

Rise brother rise pass Dimhall's gates
Here great warriors await

Reborn from thy steel
All thy wounds be healed

From the earth to the sky
Now the son of Lor rise!

Take thy place among the kings
For thy soul shall never die!

It is commonly song as a dirge at funerals and to commemorate fallen saints. It is a common passage for paladins of Lor to repeat on the eve of battle, Akkila herself has uttered it many times before.

The roots look inedible and old, likely gathered for their bizarre shape. It is customary to place the sword upon the breast of the fallen knight, with his helm above his head and a shield at his feet. Akkila cannot find the man's helm, but there is a rusted shield close to where his camp had been.

[mtatosky]

Akkila places the hymnal back into the pouch on the paladins breast. She starts to pile stones on top of him, and softly sings the song of the departed.

Spoiler: Perform?

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[Roll]1d20+3[/Roll]

She would attempt to bury her fallen brother in the ceremonial way, but she knows that time is urgent. Being unable to bury the Paladin properly, she can only make a cairn over him, to keep off the animals. When she finishes piling the rocks on top of the dead body, she thrusts the sword at the foot end of the cairn and loops the rusted shield around the hilt. While the Paladin did not have a helm, Akkila does, and she removes her helm to place on the hilt. She only wishes she could know the mans name to bring back and be logged in the annuls of Lor.

Spoiler: ooc

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I don't know what the lack of helm would do to a set of plate, but I'm guessing -1 AC?

[gabado]

Akkila’s song is beautiful and haunting, punctuated occasionally by the calls of morning doves in the canopy above and the yawning of the ancient tree in the soft breeze.

Spoiler: ooc

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yeah -1 seems appropriate

[Leostales]

Spoiler: Muun

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Noticing the ring, the troll hiccups. "That ring holds great power." Closing his eyes and extending a long, three-fingered hand, Berg begins to tremble and shake with concentration. The ring becomes cold on Muun's finger, almost as though it was made of stone. Berg exhales a deep sigh, and the spell is done. "That ring belonged to Godric, slayer of the fowl wyrm, Elmtongue. It will allow you to speak with all of the denizens of the forest, their language will become yours."

Spoiler

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"Thank you." says Muun. He doesn't think the troll can tell him any more, so he turns to leave.

[gabado]

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"Thank you." says Muun. He doesn't think the troll can tell him any more, so he turns to leave.

Spoiler: Muun

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the troll nods and turns back to the water.

The forest feels claustrophobic after the open air of the lake. Muun is still badly injured, and his wounds send shots of pain up his spine as he walks.

At around midday, Muun hears the unmistakable sound of Akkila’s voice echoing trough the woods. Delirious with hunger and fever, he pushes through the trees into a large, rocky clearing.

The silence after Akkila’a dirge is broken by the tussling of bushes and the snap of branches as gasping and filthy, Muun stumbles into the clearing and collapses in the sunlight.

[mtatosky]

With her head bowed, Akkila reverently stands over the cairn. At the sound of the rustling and stumbling through the bushes, she readies herself for a fight. Shield up and sword out. This forest has tried her many times so far and she will not be caught unaware.

At the appearance of Muun though, she rushes over, carefully putting her weapons away.

Muun! You made it back! You're injured! What happened?


Akkila lays her hands on Muun whispering a brief prayer to Lor.

Spoiler: Lay on Hands

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5 Points of Lay on Hands

[Leostales]

With her head bowed, Akkila reverently stands over the cairn. At the sound of the rustling and stumbling through the bushes, she readies herself for a fight. Shield up and sword out. This forest has tried her many times so far and she will not be caught unaware.

At the appearance of Muun though, she rushes over, carefully putting her weapons away.

Muun! You made it back! You're injured! What happened?


Akkila lays her hands on Muun whispering a brief prayer to Lor.

Spoiler: Lay on Hands

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5 Points of Lay on Hands

Muun gets a little energy from this. He gets up wearily and starts to explain. "I was hunting for meat, but got lost in the woods. I found a clearing I could settle in, but got attacked by a horrendous creature. That's where I got these injuries. The next morning I woke up and found this ring in the water. Since the water seemed shallow, I tried to grab it but then I met some strange creature. It said it would take away my soul for inspection if I was worthy to have the ring. It turns out I was. Also, some rock troll said it would help me understand the language of the forest. But what have you been doing, where are the others?"

Akkila notices that although Muun's voice is the same, he seems to less jovial, more deliberate.

Spoiler: ooc

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assuming that the lay on hands is enough to help me regain conciousness.

[atlastrembles]

Tethys watches Pierce struggle against the axe and lends her aid, thinking that freeing the weapon would allow the tree to heal.

Come, strong man, let a woman help and heal this tree.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Aid him in pulling out the axe.

[atlastrembles]

Seeing Muun stumble in, Tethys casts a glance over her shoulder.

Dear hunter! We are glad of your return. Give us a moment and we will clean your wounds.

Medicine - (1d20+2)[8]

[gabado]

Tethys watches Pierce struggle against the axe and lends her aid, thinking that freeing the weapon would allow the tree to heal.

Come, strong man, let a woman help and heal this tree.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Aid him in pulling out the axe.

With Tethys’ aid, Pierce shifts the axe from the tree. A resonate groan and sigh echoes as the tree flexes and gives, releasing the axe. Red sap bubbles from the deep gash in the bark. The tree is weeping it’s foul resin.

It is heavy in Pierce’s hand. The blade is of fine worksmanship and has retained its edge. No sign of rust or deterioration is visible. The head and handle are beautifully detailed and ornamented.

Spoiler: ooc

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treat it as a masterwork battle axe. Just from holding it, Pierce can feel it him with power and energy

[Leostales]

Seeing Muun stumble in, Tethys casts a glance over her shoulder.

Dear hunter! We are glad of your return. Give us a moment and we will clean your wounds.

[roll0]

"Thanks," grunts Muun as he recants his earlier tale.