[IC] Exploration of Yrannia [Pathfinder 1E] [E6]

[hannahbbug3]

If Daedalia had a tail like he knew some long-ago tieflings did, he knew it would be twitching in unease. As it was, he could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Perhaps the bookish one's assumption about that second body in the sky belonging to the primordials wasn't so far-fetched... and that was a disturbing thought. He gets to his feet quickly and starts to pack up his things to give his hands something to do, rather than allow his mind to dwell on that.

[BramsesII]

Aella

Spoiler: During her watch...

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The orc is startled by an owl suddenly slamming into the rocks near her. For the rest of her watch, she's warily watching the sky as well as the ground around her.

The next morning, Aella is early to rise. When the clouds start gathering on the horizon, she looks at the others. "It's time we move. We don't want to get caught in a storm."

[rs2excelsior]

Vaughn

Vaughn looks up at the swirling ball of wind in the sky for a long time that morning, staring at it almost accusingly. It seemed pretty clear this did have something to do with the Primordials... and while he wasn't much for religious matters, he knew it couldn't be good if they were involved.

Eventually he begins packing up his gear as well, mostly quiet. The unshakable feeling that something had been watching him during the night, combined with this, definitely made him uneasy.

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Evelyn rubs her eyes, in too much of a daze from her bad dream to process anything else. She stands up and stretches, and looks out over the horizon. Her eyes trace a path between the clouds in the distance, and the roiling tempest above.

"Maybe those are related," the scholar observed, rather quietly as she tapped her chin. She spoke up a little louder, "Well, I'll hate to see what it'll look like tomorrow. Though, I can't imagine it being much worse than yesterday."

She looks down at her companion, and catches her breath. He was still sitting in the same position that he had when she had fallen asleep, meaning that she had almost certainly forgotten to tell him to lie down. Well, maybe the others didn't notice that he had been sitting up all night. She certainly wasn't going to bring it up, if she could at all help it.

[Felhammer]

The party gathers up their supplies and treks off, further and further away from their home in Dun Danachad. Travel is made difficult by the strong winds that push against every step you make. Over time, you notice that you are heading downhill, which makes walking down these narrow paths even more treacherous. After many hours of difficult travel, you come to the edge of a great forest filled with gigantic Alerce trees. From your vantage point, it looks like the forest is filled, as far as the eye can see, with two hundred foot tall trees. You can hear a great diversity of birds chirping, singing and cawing in the distance.

Spoiler: Know Nature

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Add your own modifier.

Aella (1d20)[2]
Charlie (1d20)[13]
Daedalia (1d20)[20]
Evelyn (1d20)[13]
Vaughn (1d20)[17]

Spoiler: DC 15

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You know that the Alerce trees once dominated the Borderlands in ancient times but they had almost been completely felled by loggers as the wood is known to be excellent for building material. You also know that it can take centuries for these trees to grow to their full height. Far longer than you and your kin had been locked in Dun Danachad...

Spoiler: Know History

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Add your own modifier.

Aella (1d20)[17]
Charlie (1d20)[8]
Daedalia (1d20)[2]
Evelyn (1d20)[9]
Vaughn (1d20)[7]

Spoiler: DC 12

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You know that the Alerce trees once dominated the Borderlands in ancient times but they had been almost completely felled by loggers as the wood is known to be excellent for roofing material. The wood was in vogue for centuries prior to the fall, which lead to large scale de-forestation, with the felled trees being floated along the many wide rivers that snaked their way through the Borderlands.

As the party takes their first hesitant steps into the woodland...

Spoiler: Perception

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Add your own modifier.

Aella (1d20)[18]
Charlie (1d20)[17]
Daedalia (1d20)[1]
Evelyn (1d20)[9]
Vaughn (1d20)[2]

Spoiler: DC 12

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As the party takes its first few, hesitant steps into the forest, you hear rustling in the bushes to your left. Probably about 20 feet away from where you now stand.

Spoiler: Size of the trees

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Alerce trees are similar to sequoias.

[DoctorFaust]

Charlie has her own meagre sack of belongings slung on her back, but just that is enough to drive her almost to exhaustion after a days marching. The cat beside her looks unperturbed by its owner's distress and the rough terrain, even dashing ahead and disappearing behind bends a few times.

As the group approaches the forest, however, it dashes back to Charlie and winds around her legs while meowing pitifully. She scoops it up from the ground, staring at the forest with a distrustful gaze. "Those trees are wrong," she finally says. "Look older than Dun Danachad. Can't be though. We should be on guard in here."

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Evelyn adjusts her glasses as she considers the trees, "Oh aye! Those are alerces! I didn't think there were any more! Even if they took root later after the Fall, they certainly shouldn't be so tall now. Curious..."

The young woman takes out a journal and begins scribbling furiously, when her companion nudges her. Abruptly, she stops writing; her gaze shoots off to the left as she frowns, a mix of worry and concern painting her face. She takes a few paces back, muttering, "S- something's over there."

[BramsesII]

Aella

Aella looks at Charlie and arches a brow. "These trees can't be older than Dun Danachad. As I recall, most of this area was deforested at the time."

When they step into the woodland, her gaze shifts to the same spot Evelyn's companion points out at the same time. She grips her bec de corbin tighter. "There's something in those bushes. Get behind me and ready yourselves!"

[Felhammer]

An eight-foot tall, yellow-and-red-colored, bi-pedal insectoid creature with four arms bolts up into the air, and lunges out of a particularly thick bush. He yells at you in with loud click-y hiss-y noises. He is brandishing a long spear. He jabs it in your direction several times, as if motioning for you to "go away."

Spoiler: Perception

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Aella (1d20)[2]
Charlie (1d20)[2]
Daedalia (1d20)[2]
Evelyn (1d20)[16]
Vaughn (1d20)[13]

Spoiler: DC 13

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Beyond the bushes and tallgrass, you can make out two other ant-like heads bobbing up and down at seemingly random intervals. The two heads do not seem perturbed by your presence. They are perhaps 15 feet behind the more aggressive bug-man with the spear.

Spoiler: Bug-Man

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[BramsesII]

Aella

The orc takes a step back, but she keeps her polearm at the ready to strike should the bug-man attack. "Stay back. We mean no harm! We're just passing through!"

She whispers to her companions through gritted teeth. "Does anybody speak other languages?"

[hannahbbug3]

"I don't know if I speak what they're speaking, but I can try," Daedalia replies, clearing his throat before attempting to communicate in several different languages with the creature. "Hello, yes," he begins in infernal, also gesturing with his hands in the sign language known to tieflings. "Have you any knowledge of this tongue?" he asks. Then, switching to elven, while still signing. "Or this one, perhaps?"

Diplomacy - (1d20+6)[16]

[Felhammer]

The bug-man tilts his head as Daedalia begins to speak infernal. While still pointing his jagged spear at the party, he replies, "Y-yes. This one understands this tongue. Tell this one, how has this shambler learned to speak? What sorcery has bewitched this shambler!?" He looks... Confused? Bewildered? Hard to tell with such alien features.

[hannahbbug3]

"Shambler?" Daedalia questions. But it doesn't take a huge logical leap to think the creature might be talking about zombies. With how they move, certainly... and what these bug-men would be familiar with, that looked like them. "These are not Shamblers. This one is a tiefling, these are this one's... company. We come from underground. We have been hiding, but cannot stay there anymore. There was a dragon - it drove this one and everyone out. Now we fight the Shamblers, like you do. But this one means you peace."

[rs2excelsior]

Vaughn

When the bug-man appears, Vaughn brings his hands up in a defensive posture reflexively. He starts to respond in the negative to Aella, but pauses as Daedalia begins speaking to it in an odd tongue. Gradually he lowers his fists, though he still watches the bug creature warily. While the tiefling negotiates (hopefully that's what he's doing) Vaughn scans the brush for more of the creatures lying in wait.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception because there isn't much else I can do here :P
(1d20+2)[8]

[Felhammer]

The bug looks even more perplexed, "That one is not a member of the Order of the Broken Skull? That one is not a necromancer? That one is not undead? Yet that one looks like a shambler..." He shrugs with his four arms and then says, That one is... A Shambler-that-is-not-a-shambler...?" He shrugs again, "Well shambler-that-is-not-a-shambler, this one saw the dragon in the sky. The dragon scared this one's drones. That is why those ones are cowering in tall grass. Tell this one, where is that one going?"

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia gives a small wince. "These ones... do not exactly know where we are going," he answers honestly. He gestures further down the road. "This one heard of a city on two rivers, this one thought it would be a good place. Does that one know if it is safe?" he asks. There are so many questions to ask. "This one also does not know of The Order of the Broken Skull, or from where came the dragon. Can that one explain more?"

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm just assuming that this manner of speech is how Infernal is spoken, so I guess that's canon now?

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

"There are two more in the brush back there," Evelyn whispers to Vaughn as she peeks out from where she had strategically hidden herself, behind his large frame. Given that the insect people seem to no longer be pressing them, Evelyn's alarm turns to curiosity. She inches forward to get a better look at their challenger as it converses with the boy.

[Felhammer]

Spoiler: OOC

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Infernal is actually a very elegant and sophisticated language but has a large number of pronouns and honorifics. He is speaking like a child, either because he does not know how to speak "properly" or he does not wish to offend you by using an incorrect pronoun or honorific... Or he is a strange bug man who speaks funny. Hard to tell.

"The Order of the Broken skull are the Necromancers that caused the downfall of the old world. The old ones' hubris lead to the old ones' downfall. The old ones did not learn from the mistakes of the deep ones, and so they fell. Now they are shamblers." He almost spits the word shambler out. "Bah. This one does not like thinking of the fall. This one thinks the old ones were fools."

After a moment or two, he continues, "This one saw the dragon in the sky. This one believes it came from beyond the old flame lands. This one is sad that that ones' home was ruined by the dragon. This one steers clear of dragons when the dragons come to the uplands. Dragons like the taste of this ones' drones.

Changing the subject, he says, That one is headed towards the great forest. Beyond the forest are the new flame lands, where the fire-headed-ones live. It is safe... So long as that one does not anger the fire-headed-ones. Many days that one will travel to reach the new flame lands. The great forest always grows outward. If not for the fire-headed-ones, this one thinks the forest would reach the edge of the Brood Mother's territory."

The bug-man tentatively walks closer to the party, sensing that you are not enemies. "This one is called Thurix. This one is a warrior-scout, sent to guard the Brood Mother's drones, as they seek food and resources. Tell this one, did the shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers have a Brood Mother?

[hannahbbug3]

It's a lot to take in. Many terms that Daedalia doesn't recognize - but it's at this point that he realizes he doesn't have to puzzle it out alone. Glancing over his shoulder, he is able to tell easily enough that the others can't understand what's being said. Not even Charlie, his fellow tiefling, seems to be following the conversation. So, before answering Thurix, he quickly fills the others in on all that he knows.

"These ones are-" he clears his throat, switching his pattern of speech before he forgets to. "They're peaceful. His name is Thurix, he's a guard of some description. He thought we were zombies, I think, or followers of some necromantic cult, The Order of the Broken Skull? ... he's telling me what's beyond here, in the way we're going. More forest, then something about flame lands, and fire-headed ones... the dragon." He gives a small shake of his head. Maybe the others will be better at puzzling it out. That said, he turns back to Thurix, offering him a small smile.

"This one is Daedalia. Dalia, if that one prefers. This one's home was Dun Danachad, beneath the mountain." At the question of 'Brood Mother', he frowns in a sad sort of way. "Dun Danachad had what this one supposes is a Brood Father. A King, in this one's tongue. The King... is probably dead."

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

"Necromancer? No, no, nothing so crass as that," Evelyn replies, though absentmindedly in doing so. She seems rather distracted, currently, as (over the course of the ongoing, impossible-to-follow conversation) she had seemingly crept quite a bit closer, so as to better inspect their host's chitinous hide. She pushes up her glasses and looks to the young tiefling (whose name escaped her at that moment), asking, "Oh! Do they know anything about our destination specifically?"

[Felhammer]

Thurix nods, "Kings... Like the foolish old ones had. The Fire-Headed-Ones do not have Kings or Brood Mothers. The Fire-Headed-Ones debate and talk, then make decisions by voting. This one finds their behavior strange. This one is thankful shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers do not vote on things. This one thinks Kings and Brood Mothers make more sense than voting.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia gives the bug-man a small smile at his words, then directs Evelyn's question to him. "Can that one tell us more about what lies beyond the forest? This one would know what we are heading towards."

[Felhammer]

"That one is headed to the New Fire Lands. This one remembers deeply of the land being a wide open grassland, filled with many old one ruins. This one remembers striding through the many rivers that ran across the grasslands. Then the land rose, creating the uplands. This one's hunting routes changed then. This one's prey wandered in new places. Then much later, the Flame-Headed-Ones came. They created a great fire mountain and a castle-city. Hot flame-water-rock surrounds the fire mountain. This one has heard that the bird-cat-men have been seen in the sky, so this one would warn that one to stay away from the bird-cat-men. The bird-cat-men do not like this one's people. This one thinks the bird-cat-men will not like shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers.

[hannahbbug3]

Daedalia, once again, relays the information Thurix gives to the party.

Spoiler: OOC

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From here on out, just assume Daedalia is translating. That way I'm not holding anything up if I'm not around!

[Chromascope3D]

Evelyn

Evelyn takes a pause from her inspection and makes an odd expression, "Wait, did you say 'Fire Head People?' ... That's... strange, I wonder what causes that."

She steps back and flips a few pages in her notebook, writing down her thoughts as she mutters them aloud, though only barely audibly in doing so. Finally, she ponders aloud, "If what he says is true, and... the geography has radically changed... then, I think, or rather, I suppose that any maps we had in the city... um... aren't really going to be much help to us now, hm?"

[Felhammer]

"This one remembers deeply the time before the change. It was a better time. This one thinks, maybe, a map of the low lands would still work? This one does not go down to the low lands. There are more shamblers down there."

Thurix looks around and scratches the back of his head, "This one knows of an old one building in the forest. Perhaps the shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers would use it as shelter?"

Two horse-sized ant-people waddle up to Thurix. They nuzzle against the bug-man's lower left hand. "Ah, this one's drones are hungry." Thurix reaches into a burlap sack on his belt and pulls out a big chunk of rotten meat. Flies buzz around it, while maggots squirm around the rotten flesh. He breaks the chunk in half and feeds it to each of his drones. "Oh! This one is being rude. Would that one like some food as well?"

Spoiler: Drones

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[rs2excelsior]

Vaughn

Vaughn really has no idea what the "flame-headed-people" or the "bird-cat-men" might be, but they don't necessarily sound friendly. Of course, neither do the zombies--the "shamblers." "So, either we go where our maps are probably still accurate, but there are more of those undead things, or we take our chances with these other creatures. Maybe the forest would be our best bet? At least see what this shelter is. Might not be a permanent solution, but somewhere safe to search from perhaps." He eyes the rotting meat with some disgust--he doesn't understand what they're saying, but he doesn't need Daedalia to translate to tell they're trying to offer some of it.

[hannahbbug3]

"That one's offer is kind, but this one prefers other sorts of foods," Daedalia says, feeling like he is speaking for the group when he does so. "These ones would like to know of the shelter. Could that one take us there? This one knows not how to repay that one's kindness and understanding. That one is very helpful."

[BramsesII]

Aella

With Daedalia having defused the situation, Aella relaxes. She looks at the boy nodding approvingly. "The shelter sounds like a good idea. Well done kid."

[Felhammer]

The party follows Thurix and his drones into the forest. The woodland is littered with massive trees, the spacing between which grows ever smaller the deeper you travel into the forest. After about a half hour of walking, it becomes very apparent that the trees are unnaturally close to one another. You cannot help but think that something unnatural pervades this wooded landscape...Thanks to their unique physiology, Thurix and the drones have no difficulty traversing the forest. You marvel at how graceful the three creatures are, while you struggle to clamber over a fallen tree, or sideways walk between two trees that have grown close to one another.

After another half hour of walking, the party comes to a stone building that is covered in moss, vines and other plant-growth.

"This is shelter for shamblers-that-are-not-shamblers. Old ones built it. This one does not know what function it served in the past," states Thurix.

As you walk around the building, you come to realize that this was a church of some kind. Although you have never seen a human-built church before, the building lines up with what you have heard of human architecture from before the fall. The steeple is tall, rising perhaps fifty feet above the earth. Although it is one of the tallest free-standing buildings you have ever seen, the impact of its magnificence is somewhat lessened by being surrounded by a forest of two hundred foot tall trees... Aella and Evelyn stumble upon a broken statue near the entrance to the church. It looks to be a statue of an angel and a devil, each armed with a halberd, jointly holding a soul. This is a common depiction of the recently departed ascending to the heavens to be judged by Colata, the Goddess of Death. The gound near the entrance to the church is littered with jagged shards of colored glass. As you look up, you can see a hole in the side of the building where there was once a twenty-foot -wide stained glass window.