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Old 08-25-2021, 09:55 AM   #271
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 71 (2021-08-22)

Thoughts on December 7th

We had a new acquaintance on the door this morning. It was a guy named Petrus, a messenger from Wilhelm who had information for me. Not wanting to leave the room, I asked Petrus to have Wilhelm write it down, but he came back and said that Wilhelm would only tell me in person.

I brought Olivia to the meeting so I could keep an eye on her. I’d be devastated if something happened to her while I was away. Wilhelm’s information regarded a dwarf staying at the Golden Swan. His name was Graff, and he knew a Sulla priest. He might be leaving town as soon as tomorrow.

Olivia and I discussed Graff in our room. She thought it was risky for me to go to Urdon to see him, and I concluded I needed to bring Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold along for added protection for her. I went into the hallway and knocked on Va’lyndra’s room, since that was the nearest, keeping an eye on our door all the while. There was no reply, and Leopold and Ilzo were out, too.

I went back and asked Olivia if she had pen and paper so I could write a message to our friends, but she didn’t. I believed both Va’lyndra and Leopold did have writing implements, so I picked Va’lyndra’s door. To my surprise, Va’lyndra was there, seemingly asleep. Now that she finally had found rest, I didn’t want to wake her, so I tiptoed across her room towards her packs. Suddenly, the floor contorted and seized my feet, and Va’lyndra sat up asking what I was doing. I told her I just wanted to borrow pen and paper and that I didn’t intend to wake her.

Va’lyndra took her blanket and left. I drew Scorchmark and cut myself loose, taking care not to set fire to the floor, although I left quite a few burn marks on the wood. I found Va’lyndra’s things in her saddlebag and sat down to write. “I’m sorry for waking you and for schor chor burning your floor. Can you find Ilzo and Leopold and bring them to my room? (And Olivia’s.) We need to talk. Signed, Maystatea Viashniskaya.” I left the note on the middle of the floor where Va’lyndra couldn’t fail to spot it when she returned.

I guess Va’lyndra found sleep again, for our friends didn’t come before we had finished dinner. Both Olivia’s and Va’lyndra’s body language had since the ritual told me that I’d done something bad, so I apologized to everyone for my recent behavior and hoped they didn’t ask what I was apologizing for, specifically.

I also informed the others about what Wilhelm had said about the dwarf who knew the Sulla priest. I asked them to come along to help me protect Olivia, but after a brief discussion, we decided that Va’lyndra and I should go while Leopold and Ilzo protected Olivia here. There were fewer risks involved if she stayed in her room, and she wouldn’t have to exert herself.

Va’lyndra and I retrieved horses at the stables, and I transformed into Fabian when we had left the compound. The guard tower for the Surd soldiers stood empty, despite the camp still being occupied.

I found an alley across the plaza from the Golden Swan inn, and Va’lyndra asked how wise it was to transform back into Mattea. I told her it would be fine and pulled up my hood. Va’lyndra made it snow, to obscure vision. We hurried inside.

I approached a serving woman and asked for Graff. Without looking up, she asked who was asking. “Mattea Vishi,” I said, not too loudly, but I could still imagine Va’lyndra cringing behind me. The servant told me which room was Graff’s. I went upstairs, but Va’lyndra sat down for a drink in the common room.

I knocked on the door and identified myself. A typically bearded dwarf opened the door and wished me welcome. He knew I wanted to learn more about Sulla and asked if I had the time and energy to spare, and if I was willing to settle down. I countered by asking how long this would take, and he asked if I could keep a secret. I said yes. I don’t have Va’lyndra’s or Olivia’s talent for clamming up, but I’m not a blabbermouth like Leopold either.

Graff told me there was a village nearby where they worshipped Sulla. I would need to go there to learn. Graff asked what my contribution would be, and I said I could perform. He didn’t think that was enough, but he said that if I paid thirty thousand, I’d be allowed to come and go as I pleased, and learn from whoever I wished. “Three hundred gold sounds like a fair deal,” I said, and Graff’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t expected that reply. Should I have bargained?

Graff wrote a letter of introduction, which I should give to Karina in that village, since she led the Sulla worshippers. He also gave me directions to the village. It was in the forest, only one day’s ride away, but I didn’t quite follow, so I asked him to write down the instructions. He agreed on the condition that I burned the note as soon as I reached the village.

I said thank you and good bye to Graff and returned to the common room. I didn’t see any Surd soldiers in the room, so I removed my winter cloak and began to perform. I only did a short routine of about ten minutes in case someone had peeked through the windows and ran to tell the soldiers where I was.

I transformed back into Fabian before leaving town. On the ride back to the knowledge guild, I showed Va’lyndra the note from Graff and asked if she could follow those directions. She said it would be no problem.

Ilzo was sitting dutifully outside Olivia’s door, armed and armored, and I thanked him for his help. Leopold had to be nearby, or perhaps he had gone to relieve himself. I could thank him later.

I told Olivia about the Sulla village, but she said it was more urgent that we investigated the missing village. She even decided to come along. That made me so happy! When I had shown it with a good, long hug, I poked my head out the door and asked Ilzo if he was ready to go on quest tomorrow. He was eager. We asked Va’lyndra and Leopold too, and they were ready as well, although Va’lyndra asked if I had procured provisions. I thought Olivia would prefer to sleep in real beds in villages along the way, and said we could provision there. Va’lyndra said we needed to tell Wilhelm that we were going. Leopold thought it was a little late to visit him, but Va’lyndra went anyway. Ilzo tagged along.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 08-25-2021, 10:09 AM   #272
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 71 (2021-08-22)

Thoughts on December 8th

We all went to see Wilhelm to get some last details about the quest. He and Va’lyndra signed a contract, after Leopold had scrutinized and accepted it. The village that hadn’t been heard from in a long time had many worshippers of Mana, which – after I had made a fool of myself – turned out to be the name of the god of magic. Wilhelm said that one explanation why the village hadn’t been heard from might be that the locals had gone amok. Recent events made this very plausible in my mind. If this explanation was right, we had to find the Mana statuette and take it away. And kill the high priest. Or kidnap him. Wilhelm told us to be very careful, and not trust anyone when we reached the village.

Wilhelm informed us that the guild had sent an operative to check in on the village a couple of weeks ago, but she hadn’t come back. This was why they were so worried; a village not sending people to Urdon in a month or two wasn’t really that suspicious. The guild’s operative was a human woman in her forties. Her name was Sara, and Wilhelm described her with black hair and some scars.

We loaded up the horses and got going. We took many breaks because of Olivia, but that gave me the opportunity to entertain.

When we reached a small cluster of houses in the evening, what’s called a village around these parts, but what I’d call a hamlet, using Old World terms, we paid for a room for Olivia and me, but the others stayed in a barn. I performed for the villagers, keeping an eye on them and the other on Olivia, until we retired for the night.


Thoughts on December 9th

As we had planned, we bought enough food for the day before we hit the road again. I noticed at lunchtime that Va’lyndra had brought her own fancy vegetarian rations. Good for her.

In the evening, we checked in at another village. We learned that a man from a neighboring farmstead disappeared three days ago. He was going to check on his snares, but never returned. The villagers warned us about monsters in the woods.


Thoughts on December 10th

If we kept the same speed today as we had before, we would reach the quest village in the afternoon or evening. I wasn’t the only one to be concerned for Olivia, and we decided that she and I would remain at the village before while the others went on to scout.

When we stopped and rented rooms, the villagers told us there had been no dangerous beasts nearby for some time, so they hadn’t had reason to band together with the village up ahead. Consequently, they hadn’t been in touch lately.

Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold left their horses and baggage and continued on foot. I performed for the two families that lived in the house where Olivia and I would stay. The families in the other houses couldn’t come and see, because they’d have to go home after dark. Even the short distance between the houses was deemed too dangerous at night.


Thoughts on December 11th

Our friends had returned in the night, and they took Olivia and me aside after breakfast to tell us what they had learned. They had reached the Mana village without incident, but Va’lyndra detected a magic field around the village, so she cast a spell to determine the effects of the field. Apparently, it detected magic and mages, and some villagers came out to see what had triggered it, carrying torches. They didn’t find our friends, who had withdrawn a short distance away, for the villagers didn’t dare enter the woods.

Ilzo removed his clothes, armor and equipment, and snuck inside the village to spy. Leopold and Va’lyndra were mages, so the field would detect if they approached. Ilzo had discovered an unlocked door and gone inside, picking up a sleeping girl and running away while holding his hand over her mouth.

Ilzo and Va’lyndra brought the girl into the forest while Leopold watched the searchers, who still didn’t leave the relative safety of the cleared land around the village. Va’lyndra discovered the girl had some weak divine magic in her. She and Ilzo tried to interrogate her, but she revealed little. Ilzo tried to bribe her to bring the village headman and the high priest.

Leopold arrived to take over the interrogation, and he got the girl to open up. Anna was fifteen years old and had lived in this village her whole life. She admitted that Sara had visited the village a few weeks ago, but she hadn’t had anything to do with her while she was there.

After the interview, Leopold promised Anna that they would escort her back to the village, but she just disappeared into thin air. Va’lyndra found out that someone had used a teleporting spell on the girl. Leopold believed that the timing of the teleportation indicated that someone had listened to their conversation. They searched the vicinity for tracks but found nothing.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-02-2021, 08:57 AM   #273
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 72 (2021-08-29)

Thoughts on December 11th (continued)

Va’lyndra and Leopold blamed Ilzo for destroying the possibility of good first impressions for today’s planned trip to the “vanished” village. I can’t say I found their reasoning faulty, and Olivia glared at Ilzo when he couldn’t see.

I asked if bringing Olivia today would be safe. I was inclined to refuse her to come along, although if everyone else – including Olivia – thought it was a good idea to bring her, I might relent. As it turned out, nobody believed today’s expedition was without risk, and I determined to ask the matron of the house where Olivia and I had stayed if she could look after her while the rest of us were gone.

The matron was initially skeptical to the suggestion and accused me of believing that there was nothing else to occupy a village woman’s time during early winter. I asked what the woman thought was a fair price to see to Olivia’s well-being while I was away for a few hours. She replied that two silver pieces was a fair wage for one day’s work, but hoped I wouldn’t be gone so long. I rummaged in Olivia’s pouch and found four silvers which I handed over. The matron protested that this was too much, but I said it was absolutely worth it if Olivia was happy and safe.

We left most of our equipment behind and traveled light. On horseback, the trip to the next village only took half an hour or so; it had taken the others well over an hour on foot. Va’lyndra reminded us about the magical field that protected the village, and we slowed down before our final approach.

A sentry stood just on the boundary of the field, armed with bow and arrow, and he called the alarm when we came into view. The sentry asked us to stop at fifty meters, and we did as he wanted. I strung my bow, feeling threatened despite the elf not pointing his arrow at us. Leopold told me not to, but I ignored him. I wasn’t going to be taken by surprise if this elf archer wanted a shoot-out. Va’lyndra did a strange gesture towards the sentry, but it wasn’t a magic spell, for she didn’t dance. The sentry didn’t react to her gesture; he only kept an eye on us while a group of villagers, about half of them armed, gathered and came out to meet us.

I got up on my saddle so I could see better, but the others dismounted. The villagers stopped about ten meters away from us so we could talk without shouting. Their spokesman asked us to identify ourselves. Leopold gave him our names. He also apologized for our actions last night and explained we just wanted to find Sara.

A woman in the back accused us loudly and hysterically of murdering her daughter. The spokesman had some strong lads take her away so we could continue our talk. Leopold explained about taking Anna, and how just as they told her they were bringing her back, she had disappeared. We assumed it was the villagers who teleported her home.

The spokesman claimed we were lying and wanted us to surrender our weapons so the villagers could investigate the incident. I told Va’lyndra under my voice that I wasn’t giving up my weapons, but Ilzo put Surkalpi on the ground and backed away a couple of steps.

I was about to suggest that the four of us headed out to search for the missing girl, but the spokesman said they had found her corpse. He asked us to go away, for they were unable to punish a band of armed adventurers for what they think we did.

Leopold asked if they didn’t have anyone in the village who could cast a truth spell on us, but the spokesman only grew more agitated, calling us murderers and telling us to leave. Va’lyndra said loudly that she didn’t know how things were done in remote villages, but in the cities, you needed evidence before you could call anyone a murderer. In a lower voice, she said that it seemed like the villagers wanted to get rid of us. Leopold spoke up and said if the villagers were wise, they’d tell us what we wanted to know about Sara, so we could be on our way. He addressed the spokesman and accused him of trying to hide something. Va’lyndra speculated loudly that Mana might demand human sacrifice.

Leopold continued arguing with the village spokesman for a few minutes before Va’lyndra suggested that we retreated and allowed tempers to calm down. She pointed at two of the men in the crowd. “When we get back, we want to speak to those there!”

My friends mounted. I sat down in the saddle facing backwards while we rode away, to keep an eye on the villagers. They didn’t try anything, and we got out of sight. We stopped as soon as it was reasonable to suppose that the villagers couldn’t hear the clopping hooves anymore.

Leopold explained that during the villagers’ search for Anna last night, a group of them didn’t seem like they were looking. Their lights were muted and they looked to be sneaking away from the rest of the villagers. Leopold wanted to search in the direction they had gone, and Va’lyndra said it would be easy to find their tracks with the weather we’ve been having. I think she just wanted to appear humble and not brag about how skilled she was at tracking. Weather happens in the air, not on the ground where the tracks are.

Va’lyndra suggested that Ilzo put away his gold-plated armor, as he was a shining beacon walking around in that. I said it wouldn’t fit in a saddlebag, so we should go back to the last village and store it safely there. Va’lyndra replied that we could find space for the individual pieces in our saddlebags. I insisted that Ilzo should wear armor in case of trouble and reminded the others that he had plate armor back where we had slept.

Va’lyndra proposed that Ilzo and I went back to change his armor while she and Leopold scouted, but I didn’t think Olivia would appreciate that, so I said it would be better if I went alone. Ilzo should remain to guard the less sturdy party members. Va’lyndra accepted that, as long as I promised to be quick.

Olivia was learning knitting techniques from the matron when I got back. I asked her to help me find Ilzo’s plate armor. She rolled her eyes at me, which screamed that she knew what I was actually asking for. Her playful wink when she had labored upright told me she didn’t mind.

As soon as we were alone in our room, I pushed her against the wall and began to fumble with her clothes, but Olivia reminded me we needed to use the bed. After some kissing, I turned around to open her treasure chest, taking care not to put any weight on her belly. I put my own loot box within easy reach, so Olivia wouldn’t have to strain herself.

When we had both found what we were looking for and Marvin had had time to cool down after the race back to Olivia, I swapped Ilzo’s sets of armor and headed out again. The others hadn’t returned to the meeting place, but their horses were there, so I rubbed down all the horses and began practicing acrobatics.

My friends came before long and told me they had found an illusionary area in the woods hiding a shed and a stone platform with a magical cube on a metal pole. We ate lunch before going back there. We brought the horses this time but left them a good distance back from the magical region. Va’lyndra and Leopold thought it would be wise to keep some distance between us, so we proceeded in a diamond formation with Ilzo in front, Leopold on the left, Va’lyndra on the right, and me in the back.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-02-2021, 09:10 AM   #274
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 72 (2021-08-29)

Suddenly, as I crossed the magical boundary, a wooden shed revealed itself. We were approaching from its left side and slightly to the rear, so I couldn’t see the door. On the other side of the shed and to the left stood the stone platform with steps up from near the shed. On the platform, as my friends had said, stood a metal pole with a cube on top of it. The cube didn’t look as I had expected; it was only metal rods fastened together at corners which made it look like a cube.

I told Va’lyndra I wanted to check out the shed. The platform and cube didn’t look very exciting. Va’lyndra instructed me to open the door so she could see inside. I suppose we have walked into too many magical traps for her not to be cautious.

Ilzo was still some twenty or thirty meters from the shed when the trap sprung on us. The cube started to glow and the ground around us suddenly became slick with oil. Va’lyndra yelled “Beware the shed!” and promptly fell on her face. I took a few steps forward, ready to dodge whatever came at us. Ilzo started to run and nearly reached the edge of the slick zone before slipping. He slid the rest of the way. Leopold was more careful, but he slipped and fell anyway.

The cube began glowing again, and magical symbols appeared on the ground around Ilzo. He tried to get up, but the symbols exploded and lifted him into the air. I dodged the projectiles coming my way and made it out of the oil slick unharmed in both body and pride. Slipping and falling would have been an embarrassment.

I drew an arrow and nocked it, asking if I should shoot the cube. Ilzo found his feet and shouted that we should steal the cube. I got no reply from Leopold or Va’lyndra, but I heard someone rummaging around in the shed. Maybe they controlled the spells that seemingly came from the cube? I fired at the cube, but my arrow glanced off one of the sturdy metal rods that made up the artifact. Ilzo ran for the platform, not the stairs, but the platform was only about four meters above the ground, and Ilzo is very tall, so I figured he should be able to jump up and grab the ledge to pull himself up. I’d certainly go up faster that way than if I had to go around to use the stairs.

I drew another arrow as I ran for the shed; there was a window on each side except where the door was. A person looked out at me as I approached, and suddenly, more people appeared around the shed. Some just came around the corners, but others popped in from nowhere. The teleported people fell to the ground, disoriented.

I recognized one of the people who had been there already, the spokesman from the village. He was wearing priestly robes and looked nothing like before, when he wore farmer’s garb. A powerful whirlwind blew up dust around the priest, making him a faint shadow inside it.

The man in the window held an ice dagger missile and the nearest one on the outside was making a magic missile of earth. I shot at the one in the window, knowing how lethal Va’lyndra can be with her ice daggers. The mage threw himself to the floor to avoid my arrow. Ilzo changed directions and slammed into a villager appearing from behind the shed.

Va’lyndra called “Into the shed!” from somewhere behind me. The earth missile mage had begun to aim at me, and I had an opponent in the shed, so I had no reason not to follow my friend’s command. I dove through the small hatch, flattening the bow against my body. As I passed over the mage, I drew Scorchmark and tried to slash at him, but I missed. I slid over the table in the middle of the shed and twisted around to land on my feet near the door, facing the ice mage. He whirled around and launched his missile at the wall behind me. The scream of pain on the other side of that wall came just before the missile struck, so I believed Ilzo was continuing his charge through the villagers.

I crossed to the other side of the table and cut down the ice mage. These villagers looked dangerous with their spells, but they wore no armor, and few carried any weapons worth mentioning.

Two spells went off in quick succession. First, it started raining icicles, and second, the floor got oiled like the ground further back. Va’lyndra caused the ice rain, but the cube countered with the greasy spell. I couldn’t see any ice rain out the door, only out the windows, for the priest stood nearby with his whirlwind which obscured sight. If it was raining near him, the whirlwind would fling away the icicles.

A crackling globe entered through the door and floated over to me. I leaned out of its path, drew an arrow, and put it into the back of the man who foolishly showed it to me outside the window; I thought it was the earth missile mage. I retreated from the crackling globe, but it followed me and exploded on the ground. I jumped onto the table and let it take the brunt of the blast.

I dove out the window opposite the door, but grabbed the upper part of the window frame to rotate my body so I could stand on the window sill. I quickly moved my hand to the roof and discovered that it wasn’t oily. The ground outside was, though.

Back where we came from, I could see Leopold shooting lightning from his wand at one of the four cultists who had escaped Va’lyndra’s ice rain and were coming for him. Va’lyndra tried shooting at one of the others with an ice dagger of her own, but the cultist conjured a force shield to block it. The ice rain wasn’t very dense, so I had no trouble dodging the falling icicles. As I did, I noticed that the third cultist was aiming a fireball at Leopold.

The whirlwind was moving away from them, towards the stairs. I leapt onto the roof as Ilzo came to Leopold’s rescue, running down one of the cultists near him. Leopold made a wall of earth between himself and the fireballs. Clever him! A new group of villagers appeared behind Leopold and they all fell to the ground in confusion from the teleportation.

Dodging icicles, I danced across the roof of the shed and hurled myself at the whirlwind, grabbing Scorchmark. I aimed to the left of the center of the storm, hoping the counter-clockwise wind would carry me to the priest. I grossly underestimated the strength of the wind and fell to the ground at the priest’s feet. He had another crackling globe ready and dropped it on me. I rolled away from the explosion, using the wind to my advantage. The blast didn’t hurt very much, and I ignored the tingling that spread over my skin. I felt an icicle hit my leather armor, but it didn’t penetrate.

I drew an arrow and shot at the priest. He was only a couple of meters away, but the whirlwind blurred his contours and swept away my arrow. Ilzo bellowed something, but on the edge of the wind, I could only hear its roar. I drew another arrow as fast as I could, shooting to the left of the priest to compensate for the wind. His vague shape fell to the ground, but the wind did not abate.

Drawing yet another arrow, I bounded to my feet and ran out of the ice rain, towards Ilzo and Leopold. There were four enemies surrounding my gnome friend, but Ilzo ran down one of them and Leopold stabbed another with his knife. Va’lyndra called for me to deactivate the cube, swinging her staff at one of the cultists around her.

An archer shot Leopold in the back, but I deemed it more prudent to help Va’lyndra, since Ilzo was helping Leopold and there were more cultists near Va’lyndra. I shot one of her opponents and asked how I was supposed to deactivate the cube. There had been some books in the shed, but if Va’lyndra thought I could glean magical information from a book, she was overestimating my abilities. “Knock it down or get Leopold into the shed!” she replied.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-02-2021, 09:26 AM   #275
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 72 (2021-08-29)

Magical symbols appeared on the ground behind Ilzo and Leopold. The archer on near them drew another arrow, so I shot him and shouted, “Run, Leo!” Ilzo grabbed their last opponent and wrenched him down onto the magical symbols. The man had already grabbed hold of Ilzo and dragged him down on top of him.

Leopold hid behind his earth wall before the symbols exploded. The explosion nearly disintegrated the man under Ilzo and spread projectiles in every direction. One of them punched through my leather armor and into my stomach. That really hurt, but it wasn’t quite enough to slow me down.

A new batch of enemies had teleported in a few seconds ago, and four of them were now charging at Va’lyndra. The fifth was making an ice dagger, so I shot at him, but he threw himself down to avoid the arrow. Leopold ran in front of me, heading for the cube.

Va’lyndra withdrew from her opponents, and I saw she was on the verge of collapsing. Her spellcasting had drained her empty. Luckily, the villagers weren’t very good fighters. With both Leopold and Va’lyndra in my line of fire, I shouted, “Move, Lyn!” Leopold kept running, as I predicted, but Va’lyndra didn’t heed me. She made a whirlwind attack instead, depending on her flying shield to protect her. “Shoot the mage!” she called back. Since Va’lyndra had moved in front of the mage, I took a step to the side before making the shot. The mage’s ice dagger missile exploded on his arm when my arrow struck him. Va’lyndra bashed in the skull of her last opponent, a girl in her early teens.

The cube made a rain of ice daggers in the area before the platform and both Leopold and Va’lyndra were hit; Va’lyndra went down, just inside the boundary. Ilzo and I were outside the rain. I ran over to Va’lyndra and threw myself down. Ilzo ran inside the rain and bent over Va’lyndra to protect his lover. Leopold took cover inside the shed where he slipped on the oily floor.

I grabbed Va’lyndra’s collar and started rolling away, pulling Va’lyndra with me. She got over the shock of her injury and pulled her legs out of the ice rain. Ilzo charged directly for the cube, shouting for Leopold to take cover under him.

Another rain of ice daggers appeared over Va’lyndra and me, and Va’lyndra was struck again. The two zones overlapped only a little, so we weren’t far from a wedge of safety. Va’lyndra couldn’t move very fast, though. I leapt to my feet while still holding her collar and as she began to rise, I pulled her up. Va’lyndra ordered her shield to cover her from above. When Va’lyndra began to stagger out of the rain, I let go of her collar, but I stayed close enough to grab her, should she fall again. Va’lyndra pulled out a healing elixir while she walked.

There was a hole in the ground before the platform, and Ilzo jumped into it just in time to dodge another explosion. On the other side of the stone steps, a woman took a determined step forward, towards Leopold, who was making his way around to the other side of the platform. I could just see her head, but that was enough. I put an arrow through it so Leopold wouldn’t be impeded.

Ilzo’s head looked up from the hole and he lifted a body over him as cover from the ice rain. He asked who could turn off the rain. Then he stuffed the body back down to shield himself from yet another explosion.

As Va’lyndra and I took the last steps out of the rain, the platform started to topple. Luckily, it didn’t fall on top of Ilzo and cover him in a ton of stone and earth; it fell the other way, away from us. Leopold looked at us from the other side of the rubble triumphantly. He shaped the earth he had pulled out from under the platform and made an arch which moved with him and protected him from the icicles. He brought the arch to Ilzo and helped the orc out of the hole, which turned out to be a mass grave.

Leopold brought Ilzo out of the rain and went to study the whirlwind while Va’lyndra gave first aid to Ilzo and me. I pulled out two healing potions from my backpack and drank them. The spells that had covered the battlefield dissipated; first the whirlwind, then the ice rain. The oil slick vanished, too, but that wasn’t as glaringly obvious, so it took me a minute to realize.

Leopold took the books from the shed, of course, and discovered a cube statuette and a wavy-bladed knife in the rubble of the fallen platform. He discussed the artifacts with Walter, but I don’t think he learned very much. Leopold also found a piece of emerald jewelry on the priest.

I gathered all the corpses in a row so I could count them. It was around twenty, about the same number as the villagers who had chased us away this morning, but while those had all been adults in their prime, some of the corpses here were children, and some were elderly. I realized that not all of them were dead, and summoned Va’lyndra to give first aid, but she just cracked them over the heads with her staff. I stomped away in disgust, and went to fetch the horses.

While I was away, Va’lyndra had sprayed down Ilzo and herself, and Ilzo looked really cold and wet. Va’lyndra had only had the energy to dry herself off. Ilzo, miserable as he was, had started to decapitate all the corpses so he could put them on spikes.

The horses didn’t like the smell of blood, so I stopped at a distance and called for my friends. Ilzo came running over and put on dry clothes. He also opened his stockpile of healing potions, and I asked if I could have one. Since he usually drinks them by the triple, he couldn’t understand that I only wanted one, and insisted I take two. I drank one and put the other into my backpack, as I was fully healed.

Ilzo removed his clothes again and went to help Leopold sort through the corpses from the grave. Despite the explosion, they managed to identify one of them as Sara, the missing agent from the knowledge guild. Their grisly work took some time, so Va’lyndra had enough energy to douse Ilzo again and to dry him off afterwards.

I thought we should warn the remaining villagers that their friends and family were dead. With so many casualties, I couldn’t imagine it was safe for them to remain so far out from Urdon. While I have no fear of the denizens of the Bewitched Forest myself, farmers and villagers were right to be concerned. They aren’t nearly as awesome as me.

Va’lyndra, Leopold and Ilzo thought we should just avoid the village. They wouldn’t appreciate us telling them we had killed more than twenty of their near and dear. I hoped they’d get the picture when their friends and family didn’t return before nightfall.

Returning to Olivia, we skirted the decimated village out of sight. When we were back, I quickly asked for a bathtub and hot water before anyone else could, and Ilzo threw gold at our hosts to get them to hustle. When everyone had had their baths, we ate dinner, and then I retreated with Olivia to our rented room. She wasn’t best pleased that I had acquired a hole in my clothes, but she was relieved to find no matching hole in me.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:37 AM   #276
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 73 (2021-09-05)

Thoughts on December 12th

Today’s ride was slow and uneventful. I kept Olivia’s spirits up as best I could, for she was worrying about her quickly approaching delivery. She was due on the fifth of January, she said, but that date was highly uncertain even if everything went smoothly.

The most interesting debate of the day was whether Gromsh would be insulted if Ilzo drank a potion of strength. He concluded that it depended on the opponents. If they were small and fragile, Gromsh might think less of him for juicing up, but against something like a troll or two the potion might be justified. We stopped talking about trolls when we reached the village where we had stayed a couple of nights ago.


Thoughts on December 13th

Leopold woke up in the middle of the night. Someone or something was scratching at the door of the barn where he, Va’lyndra and Ilzo slept in the hayloft. He climbed down and saw moving shadows through the gaps between the wall planks. The primitive creatures outside growled and grunted at each other.

Leopold resisted the temptation to go outside and speak with these curious creatures, and instead climbed up to the hayloft again to alert Va’lyndra and Ilzo. Ilzo began to put on his leather armor while the other two returned down the ladder to observe the creatures.

The primitives were going away from the barn and approached the other buildings, where Olivia and I slept. Va’lyndra banged her staff against the wall to call attention to herself. Leopold opened a window hatch and looked outside. Ten creatures about his size stood completely still. They looked like fur-coated bipedal animals with sharp teeth. Their hands had big claws. When Va’lyndra and Leopold remained silent, the creatures continued towards the other houses.

From Leopold’s description, Va’lyndra named the creatures ratmen, primitive cowards that had yet to learn how to wield tools. When Ilzo came down with Surkalpi, Va’lyndra suggested that they chased the ratmen away. Leopold wanted to ask them politely to go elsewhere.

Va’lyndra cast an ice spell on her staff. She whistled the signal for danger that we had agreed upon in case Olivia or I heard. We were fast asleep and didn’t notice her signal at all. The ratmen heard, and turned towards the barn, showing their teeth threateningly. Va’lyndra informed Leopold that the ratmen didn’t seem afraid of them.

Ilzo and Va’lyndra growled loudly at the ratmen, which caused them to flee, and Olivia to wake. She shook my shoulder. “Something’s out there!” she whispered. I grabbed Scorchmark from under the pillow and rolled out of bed. “String my bow,” I ordered on my way out the door.

I saw three figures when I got out to the yard. I couldn’t discern their features in the dark, but they were vaguely elf-shaped, gnome-shaped and orc-shaped. “Va’lyndra?” I asked. She explained what had happened. With the danger gone, I went back inside and got a sniff of disapproval for going out naked again. I took my bow and unstrung it before crawling back into bed with Olivia.

The villagers had heard noises in the night and seen the ratmens’ tracks and asked if we had heard anything. Leopold and Va’lyndra informed them that they had scared off ten ratmen. Va’lyndra explained that ratmen can dig through walls with their claws, which frightened the villagers. I said we could try to track them down and chase them out of the region. The villagers were thankful and said that while they didn’t have much, at least they wouldn’t charge us for our stay here, and they would give us some rations for the road when we left. I added that they had to take good care of Olivia. For some reason, leaving her behind wasn’t heart-wrenchingly difficult today.

We left our horses and most of our gear behind, and Va’lyndra and Ilzo began following the tracks into the Bewitched Forest. We soon came upon another village. A cautious farmer asked who we were, so I removed my helmet and showed my face. “Traveling entertainers?” the farmer exclaimed unbelievingly. We explained that we were adventurers tracking ratmen, and the farmer showed us that the ratmen had emptied their food stores.

We continued to follow the tracks. After a couple of hours, in a dense patch of the woods, Va’lyndra noticed a ratman head popping up momentarily from behind a tree stump. She and Ilzo sneaked forward. Suddenly, Ilzo jumped over the stump and swung Surkalpi, but the ratman had moved. Ilzo chased after it and swung again, but the wily creature avoided the deadly cut. The ratman hissed, fleeing. I drew an arrow and shot, but I missed the mark. Fortunately, the arrow striking the ground next to the rat distracted it from Ilzo’s next attack, and he skewered the beast.

Leopold fumbled out his lightning wand as I drew another arrow and jumped up on the stump. Ilzo ran for another ratman, but it dodged his stab. Something struck my back, hard enough to sprain a rib, if not breaking it. I would surely get a nasty bruise. Va’lyndra whirled around to see my attacker. I launched an arrow at the ratman before turning. Only Leopold stood behind me. “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” I couldn’t think why he would begin throwing rocks when he had his lightning wand, but after the fight, he explained that the wand had malfunctioned and created an earth missile instead of a lightning bolt.

Va’lyndra turned around again, saying “Watch the holes!” I had noticed the second rat standing near a hole in the ground, but Va’lyndra moved over to another a few meters away from the one Ilzo was standing over.

Ratmen swarmed out of the holes. I shot at the nearest one, but he dropped down on all fours, making me miss. Ilzo waved Surkalpi around, greatly wounding the shrubbery, but missing all the rats. Leopold fired a lightning bolt into the bushes, but Va’lyndra landed a blow from her staff on one of the ratmen. The swarm around Ilzo went for his feet, and one sunk its teeth into his heel.

More ratmen came out. I killed the one I missed earlier. Ilzo kicked at his swarm and sent one ratman flying a couple of meters. It was about Leopold’s size, so I hoped Ilzo never got angry at our gnome friend. Va’lyndra stepped back and made it rain ice daggers over and around her hole. This spell was much smaller in area than the one she had cast against the Mana cultists, but no less deadly. One ratman succumbed immediately, but the others scattered to get out of the rain.

After the adult ratmen came the children, smaller but just as fierce as their parents. I guess they weren’t as cowardly as Va’lyndra had made them out to be, at least now that we threatened their nest. I shot one of the rats near Ilzo and jumped off the tree stump. Scorchmark would probably be more effective against these opponents.

Ilzo and the ratmen attached each other ineffectually. Leopold had drawn his long knife and ran up to Va’lyndra to help her. Va’lyndra struck down one rat with her staff and another with the ice dagger rain. Ilzo got bitten in the foot again. I moved forward while shooting the nearest ratman, which was a child. Ilzo kept kicking, but the ratmen avoided his big feet. Leopold cut one of the kids almost in half and Va’lyndra smashed her staff into another.

One ratman decided to climb up on Ilzo’s head. Its friends still went for Ilzo’s feet, but he began using Surkalpi to parry, and cut deeply into the unarmed attackers. I tried to shoot the one on Ilzo’s head, but my friend didn’t stand still and I hit him in the arm instead. I apologized at once, and fortunately, the conjured projectile hadn’t penetrated too deeply past Ilzo’s armor. It was definitely time to bring out Scorchmark.

Leopold proved how effective a long knife was against the ratmen by cutting one of the children. Most of the rats decided to flee, but a couple were still chewing up Ilzo’s feet. I drew Scorchmark and took them out with two rapid stabs. Almost too rapid, for Scorchmark screeched against Ilzo’s leg plate, leaving a tell-tale black stripe of soot on the metal.

Ilzo had grabbed hold of the ratman on his head, and hurled it after a fleeing one, sending them both tumbling into the bushes. Leopold skewered a fleeing ratling, and I charged after the two in the bush, finishing them off.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:49 AM   #277
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 73 (2021-09-05)

The remaining ratmen were scattering, and I let go of Scorchmark and fired arrows after the fleeing creatures as long as I could see any of them, which wasn’t long in the dense forest. I only killed one.

I asked if we should try to track down the ratmen, but immediately changed my mind. I wanted to go down the holes to see if I could find the stolen food. I quickly removed everything that could get me stuck apart from my leather armor, took Scorchmark in hand and began to crawl down. Va’lyndra called me back. Leopold should do this. He could see in the dark to actually locate the food.

Leopold used his earth magic to scan the warren before he went down. He pulled out both food and ratmen spawn too small to flee on their own. He tried to talk to the younglings, but they didn’t understand him. A couple of them tried to crawl away, and Ilzo chopped them up with Surkalpi. Leopold asked why. “So they won’t come back and bother the village,” was the orc’s reply.

Leopold, Ilzo and Va’lyndra bickered about the fates of the little ones, and Ilzo withdrew from the argument to chop off the heads of his fallen foes and hang them up in the trees. I suggested using the little ones as bait when we tried to find the rest. Va’lyndra said it wouldn’t work and pointed out that they had been left behind when their elders fled. When Ilzo was done with his rituals, he jumped on the ground over the den. After a while, he actually managed to get it to collapse.

I picked up one of the little ones, but it tried to bite me and I crushed it. Va’lyndra asked what I was doing, and I explained that I wanted to ask if it wanted to come with us, but since it tried to bite me, I interpreted that as a “no”. I drew Scorchmark, and since nobody objected, I killed the rest of the litter.

We hauled the food with us and began to track down the escaped ratmen. We thought one adult had gone in one direction and four or five children had gone another way, and we decided to follow the children. One adult couldn’t do much harm and would die out on its own. Sulla would be disappointed in me if I didn’t know that it takes two to procreate by now.

After an hour, the tracks split and Ilzo suggested we split up. I said I wanted to go with Va’lyndra, so Leopold went with Ilzo. This way, we had one tracker in each group, one smart person in each group and at least one decent melee fighter. Va’lyndra is really good with her staff and can hold her own with it, but she isn’t very fast and tires easily, so I don’t judge her on the same level as Ilzo or me.

Va’lyndra pointed out two ratmen ahead of us after a while. They hadn’t noticed us yet, so we crept a little closer and then Va’lyndra signaled that she’d take the one on the left and I’d take the one on the right. She summoned an ice dagger while I drew an arrow, we both aimed and when Va’lyndra whispered “Now!” we took down our targets. We verified that they were dead and returned to the place we had split up. I said to Va’lyndra that I hoped that the others also would return, but she said that we easily could follow their tracks if we had to. Ilzo and Leopold returned not long after us, and we set course for the last village.

The villagers were extremely grateful that we brought back their food. Now they wouldn’t have to starve during the winter months. I removed my helmet and said they didn’t have to give us anything, cynically allowing them to see my face. This wasn’t what I wanted to become famous for, but as they say, all publicity is good publicity. The villagers told us that there had been disappearances from some of the nearby villages, but Leopold said that they had been taken by the human-sacrificing cultists that we had defeated two days ago, which calmed the villagers.

The villagers where we had spent the night were also grateful that we had tracked down the ratmen. After checking that Olivia was fine, I suggested we spent another night here, for it was getting late in the day. We would surely have reached another village before nightfall if we left immediately, but I was hungry and a little sweaty and would rather not stress Olivia unduly. I put on a show in the evening, but Leopold asked Va’lyndra to analyze the magic items he found on the battlefield outside the lost village, so she missed it.


Thoughts on December 14th

We continued the ride towards Urdon and checked in at another village in the evening.


Thoughts on December 15th

Ilzo spent much of the day telling us about the new shoes he was going to buy when we got back to Urdon. The ratmen had done a number on his old ones and they were hardly worth wearing anymore. In the evening, we took off from the main road and headed for the knowledge guild compound. I sent Olivia up to our room and took care of the horses and the luggage.


Thoughts on December 16th

The adventurers in our party went to report to Wilhelm Surre in his office after breakfast; Olivia returned to our room. Ilzo said the cultists had attacked us and got to regret it, and Va’lyndra filled in some details. Wilhelm asked if we recovered the Mana statuette, and told us to take it to Varyan for identification. He also asked if we found Sara. Leopold reported that she was dead. Wilhelm had feared that was her fate, but he admitted there had been a faint glimmer of hope that she was still alive, injured, sick or imprisoned.

It was the adventurer’s guild that would pay for this quest, and Wilhelm said he’d write a letter for us to bring into town. He paused and told us he’d send someone else with the letter since we were still wanted by the authorities. In fact, a constable had come from the Sidel family to question me about the incident in the military camp. I had been recognized there, and for once, I thought this wasn’t entirely good. Leopold warned me to stay away from Urdon until further notice, and he told Ilzo not to visit his arena.

We went outside and discussed amongst ourselves how to execute the ritual for messing with the Serals. Leopold reminded us that Zalek, the undead orc priest we unburied last year, was an expert on rituals. We should consult with him before trying another ritual. While the last one got us the results we had wanted, it had some side effects that Olivia in particular hadn’t appreciated. I said I wanted to speak to the Sidel constable to get that issue sorted, but my friends thought this was a bad idea, so I put it aside for the moment. We should visit Zalek first. But who knew where Zalek was now? Maybe Wilhelm.

To wrap up the last quest, we went to see Varyan. He was prodding at an obviously dangerous wand, so I remained in the hallway when the others entered the laboratory, watching through the door, ready to duck behind the wall. Varyan put away the wand and told Leopold to put down the Mana statuette on a workbench, then he asked if Va’lyndra would touch it, but urged Ilzo and Leopold to come outside with him first. I told my friends they didn’t need me for this; experimenting with magic wasn’t my strength. I went to find Olivia, and spent the day with her.

We all met up at dinner. Va’lyndra informed us that she had received the payment for the quest, and dealt out the money according to our agreement. Olivia got a smaller portion than the rest of us, and while I thought it was unfair, Olivia was fine with it since she didn’t risk her life the same way we others did.

I brought up the constable again, but Va’lyndra and Leopold explained that it would be wise to let angers cool. Instead, we could go and ask Wilhelm where Zalek was. Olivia scooped up her share and mine and returned to our room.

Wilhelm explained that Zalek wasn’t very far away. It would take us five days on horseback to reach the place where Zalek had set up, south-east into the Bewitched Forest. I asked if there was a midwife there, but immediately changed my mind. The journey would take twice as long if Olivia came with us, and from what she had said, the baby could come early. I said I had to talk this over with Olivia and hurried back to her.

I told Olivia about our plans to visit Zalek, and she began to cry. I hugged her and stroked her hair and told her I understood. Of course, I wouldn’t force her to go on another trip this close to her due date. Of course, I would stay with her and take care of everything. When Olivia calmed down, I asked if it was all right if I went to tell the others that we wouldn’t go with them. She dried her face and nodded. I gave her a kiss and dashed off.

I informed Wilhelm and my companions about our decision. I promised not to jaunt off to Urdon to perform while they were away, for I could entertain the knowledge guild members. Wilhelm asked me not to do that; I could bring down trouble on the guild if I flaunted my presence. I said I would survive. I might not get the exposure I craved, but Olivia was an appreciative spectator. There were worse fates than being locked up for a week and a half with the love of my life.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-21-2021, 08:59 AM   #278
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 73 (2021-09-05)

Thoughts on December 17th

Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold rode off in the morning. Olivia and I said goodbye to them at breakfast and made arrangements for food to be brought up to our room for the time being. Olivia was worried about our isolation. I said it would be fine. When we got tired of talking, we could have sex, and when I exhausted her, I could practice, and she could watch. She also had her books, and if I started climbing the walls, she needn’t worry; it would only be more practice.

I asked Olivia if we should summon a midwife. She thought it was a good idea, so I went to discuss it with Wilhelm. Nobody at the guild had the requisite knowledge, so we would have to get a midwife to come over from Urdon. Wilhelm didn’t want outsiders to come and go all the time, but said we could pay for her to stay until after the birth.

I informed Olivia what Wilhelm had said and asked her if she knew someone we could ask to go and hire a midwife. While I had been busy with acrobatics and missionary work, Olivia had become friends with a group of women in the guild, so we went to see them. Only one of them was at the compound at the moment, a human in her thirties named Vynna, and we found her in the library. I let Olivia lead the talk since it was her friend and she knew what message to bring to the midwife. Olivia thought it would be wise to summon the midwife immediately, so we gave Vynna money to pay her and returned to our room.

Vynna reported in the evening. She had gone in to Urdon and found a midwife, an elf named Joyce, but she couldn’t come before the day after tomorrow. Olivia sighed and said it would have to do. It was still weeks until the delivery date, so I wasn’t worried. We said thank you to Vynna and went to bed.


Thoughts on December 18th

Olivia found the room stuffy and suggested we went for a walk. I asked if she just wanted to wander among the buildings in the compound or if she wanted to stretch her legs in the woods. Both, she replied, so I put on my armor and readied my weapons. One doesn’t simply stroll into the Bewitched Forest.

Olivia could barely keep her eyes off of me while we walked, and I looked lovingly back at her. When one of my disciples threw me a kiss and I stopped to talk, Olivia informed me that she had a sudden onset of headache. She assured me that the baby was fine, but we needed to go back to our room, immediately.

I gave Olivia a foot massage, and she felt much better. We stayed inside the rest of the day, and when a servant brought food, Olivia got him to visit the library for her and renew her bookshelf. She had read everything at least twice, she told me.


Thoughts on December 19th

Olivia shook me awake in the middle of the night, and it was obvious something was wrong. She was having cramps. Was it the baby arriving early? Olivia didn’t know, and her worry made me uneasy, which reflected back on her in a vicious circle. “Should I ask Vynna to fetch the midwife?” Olivia replied that the city gate would be closed at this time of night. I said in that case, I’d rather have Vynna tell me where the midwife lived; Urdon’s walls were no hindrance to me, although thinking about it, it could be difficult getting the midwife over the wall.

I ran to Vynna’s room and hammered on the door. She promised to be there when the gates opened in the morning, and that she’d bring the midwife. I hurried back to Olivia, who said it wasn’t certain that the baby would come quite yet. I blew a sigh of relief, but panic got me again when Olivia specified that she thought she wouldn’t deliver in at least a couple of hours.

I was blessed to have someone as cool-headed as Olivia there. I was trembling, but she told me to light up the hearth and boil water, and get clean towels ready. I picked the door to the kitchen – who locks their kitchen, for Sulla’s sake! – and borrowed a kettle that I filled with water from the well. When I had the water boiling, Olivia asked exasperatedly if it wasn’t time for me to put some clothes on. While I dressed, I told her how grateful I was that she could remain a calming influence on me despite what she must be experiencing herself.

Olivia began to tell me what I needed to do if the baby came before the midwife, and she wrote down some herbs that she might need. She didn’t know if we would be able to get them, but made the list nevertheless. I asked her why the baby wasn’t coming when it was supposed to; couldn’t it have waited? Olivia countered that it would be a blessing to have some time alone with the baby before our friends returned. Olivia said she would try to get some sleep. If the birth proved difficult, she would need all the rest she could get. I sat beside her, held her hand and stroked her hair until breakfast knocked on the door.

While we ate, Olivia’s water broke, and I began to hyperventilate on her behalf. Olivia told me to relax, and her firm voice was just what I needed. Vynna was surely in Urdon by now, and possibly even on her way back here with the midwife. Olivia had me clean up her mess and went back to bed. Her contractions came more and more frequently.

Vynna and Joyce arrived not long after. Joyce took one look at our preparations and complimented us. She could tell that the birth was imminent, and said for me to hold Olivia’s hand and talk to her while she took care of everything. Vynna left, but promised to be near in case we needed her.

It took another few hours of waiting for the baby, but then Joyce told Olivia to push, and the most beautiful little girl popped out. Joyce said this was a remarkably smooth birth. Olivia was drenched in sweat and I wasn’t sure I was much drier myself, and I knew this had been painful for Olivia, so I dreaded what would have happened had this been a difficult birth.

Olivia got to hold our little baby girl while Joyce cut the umbilical cord, and I noticed there were no unnatural features in the child. She knew how to use her voice, though. Joyce said everything was fine with both mother and child, but we asked her to stay a little longer despite Joyce pointing out that Olivia had the knowledge to identify any troubles appearing.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Vynna came for a visit to greet the baby and check up on Olivia. Joyce visited once or twice, also to check up on my family. Most of the day, we were alone, though. I got to hold the little girl for a while after promising not to attempt any acrobatics. I didn’t think about sex at all.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 09-21-2021, 09:06 AM   #279
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 73 (2021-09-05)

Thoughts on December 20th

Neither Olivia nor I had yet begun to consider a name for our daughter, but we couldn’t call her “Little One” or “The Baby” forever. In between feedings, naps and diaper changes, we threw many names into the air, hoping something would stick. By nightfall, we had agreed on Marinivova, after my maternal grandmother. I didn’t have many memories of my grandmother, only the image of a kind, smiling face and a strong hand steadying me during my first steps on the tightrope. She had been part of the same traveling troupe as my parents and me, until one day she wasn’t. My parents had said that she had gone to a better place, but I couldn’t recall any details about it. No leavetaking, no funeral, nothing. But I had only been four years old at the time.


Thoughts on December 21st

Mara wouldn’t stop crying today and she was hot to the touch. Olivia said she was sick, that she had a fever. Joyce checked on Mara, too, and agreed that she was sick, but that was as far as agreements went. I didn’t follow the medical jargon that the two professionals used, but I could tell they were fighting with their words. In the end, Olivia declared that we had no further need of Joyce’s services, and told me to pay her off and send her on her way. Olivia said that now that the child had been born, she needed the attention of a physician, not a midwife. She had me send Vynna to buy medicine and explained that Mara had an infection, but she would be well again after the treatment.


Thoughts on December 22nd

I felt woefully inadequate. Yes, I was able to change diapers and rock Mara to sleep – barely – but I didn’t know how to make her better. It was Olivia who possessed all the knowledge, and she gave Mara her medicine and said we just had to let it do its job. I couldn’t even feed the baby, despite having the necessary body parts. Olivia explained that it was the pregnancy that had prepared her to give milk.


Thoughts on December 23rd

Olivia called me a bad conversationalist today. Was it just the anxiety for Mara talking, or had Olivia finally gotten bored of me? I hoped it was only the stress of being cooped up with a crying baby, and that this didn’t spell doom for our relationship.


Thoughts on December 24th

I was really scared for a moment when I woke up and didn’t hear the feeble screaming that had woken me these last couple of days. Olivia stood over Mara’s improvised crib and I hurried out of bed to see what she was looking at. Mara was looking back up at her mother, and she smiled! Olivia said the fever had broken and our girl was on the mend.

We took that stroll that Olivia’s headache had aborted last week. I got to carry Mara while we were inside the palisade, but when we ventured outside, Olivia took her so I’d have my hands free. I carried my bow in one hand and my trinity of combat potions in the other. Nothing happened, of course, but then again, we didn’t go so far into the trees that we didn’t see the palisade. Based on her glances, I could tell Olivia thought I was overdoing it with the potions, but she didn’t say anything, for she was concerned for Mara’s safety too. It wasn’t as if I juiced up before we went out.


Thoughts on December 25th

Olivia’s friends had returned to the guild compound yesterday, and today she trusted me to take care of our little Marinivova while she visited them. She fed her before leaving and promised to be back before Mara was hungry again. I knew how to comfort our daughter if she cried and how to change her diapers if they started to smell. I also knew not to start Mara’s acrobatics training or – Sulla forbid! – use her as a prop when I practiced.

Mara and I played peekaboo, and we could have kept it going until Olivia returned, but Mara caught hold of my finger and found it infinitely fascinating. I didn’t have the heart to bereave her of her new toy. Mara still held on to it when Olivia came back, but it was clear she was starting to feel hungry, for I recognized the look that said she was going to cry soon.

Olivia was buoyant, stimulated by intellectual conversation, the one thing that I couldn’t provide. When she had returned Mara to her crib for a nap, she turned to me. Words were unnecessary, for I saw the hunger in her eyes, but she impressed a message on me before my own hunger took over completely: “If you wake the baby, I’m going to rip your head off!”
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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Old 10-10-2021, 03:28 AM   #280
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Session 74 (2021-10-02)

Thoughts on December 26th

Mara woke early and wanted milk. Olivia retrieved her from her makeshift crib and sat down on the side of the bed to feed her. “Do you think our friends will return today?” I asked her. Olivia found it unlikely. “It’s only been, what? Nine days? Ten? Even if they have an easy ride through the Bewitched Forest, which you know is far from guaranteed, they’ll surely spend a day or two with Zalek discussing how to use the rituals to counter the Serals. And Mara wasn’t supposed to arrive in another two weeks; I don’t see why they’d hasten to return when they’d think we won’t be ready to go anywhere yet.” Olivia was right, of course. Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold remained absent all day.


Thoughts on December 27th

Some of Olivia’s learned friends came to visit today. I tried to follow the discussion, but it involved books and things and I lost track before long. Still, I did my best to pay attention. Maybe I would learn a thing or two and ultimately be able to keep up. Not being able to participate in a talk about Olivia’s hobbies pained me.


Thoughts on December 28th

I woke to find Olivia tying me to the bed. She was about to have her way with me, and I grinned uncontrollably. Olivia had put on her leather underwear and Mara was still asleep. What could be better?


Thoughts on December 29th

Our sex during the later stages of Olivia’s pregnancy hadn’t been very exciting. Adequate, certainly, but not much more. Olivia seemed determined to make up for the lost opportunities with innovative moves and language that singed my ears and got me really hot and bothered. She kept her voice down, though, so we wouldn’t wake Mara.


Thoughts on December 30th

Mara kept us awake most of the night with constant demands for attention, sleeping only intermittently. Olivia fed her and I carried her trying to rock her to sleep. We shared diaper duty. When the sun came up and we’d had breakfast, Olivia suggested we get some fresh air. We took a stroll around the compound, among the nearest trees. I was armed and armored and ready to protect my family should any danger emerge. Olivia said our little walk was good for Mara, and I noticed she was much calmer the rest of the day.


Thoughts on December 31st

Of course, after a calm day followed a restless night. Who knew that parenting was so much stress? Olivia was bleary-eyed and far from as well-groomed as she used to be. I imagined I didn’t look much better myself.


Thoughts on January 1st

With Mara being so demanding, I didn’t have much time to worry about our friends. Olivia was certain they would be all right. They were capable adventurers, she said.


Thoughts on January 2nd

Today was peekaboo day for Mara and me, and Olivia seized the opportunity to see Vynna for a couple of hours after lunch. In the evening, a knock came on our door, and I opened to find Va’lyndra standing in the hallway. “You’re back!” I exclaimed, but Va’lyndra said they weren’t. She had only come to check up on some things and would leave again in the morning. It wouldn’t be long before Ilzo and Leopold arrived, though. I invited Va’lyndra inside, but she said she was too tired. Olivia brought Mara to the door to present our new family member to Va’lyndra. “I see there is reason to congratulate you,” Va’lyndra said before wishing us a good night. I beamed proudly at Va’lyndra, then at Olivia and Mara when she left. “She never actually congratulated us, did she?” Olivia commented.


Thoughts on January 3rd

Va’lyndra vanished without a word. I thought we might be able to play happy family until she returned with Ilzo and Leopold, but Mara was decidedly unhappy today.


Thoughts on January 4th

We didn’t hear from Va’lyndra, Leopold or Ilzo today either, and I began to worry again. Olivia assured me that Va’lyndra would have said something if they were in trouble and needed help.


Thoughts on January 5th

Our friends returned today. Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold settled themselves in their rooms and had nice, warm baths before surprising us with a visit. Olivia and I were rather disheveled. Leopold filled us in on their activities.

The ride into the Bewitched Forest went well. If there were any threats, Va’lyndra led the way around them. Zalek lived – if that’s the right word to use for an undead – in a fortified cave which our friends reached after five days. He had both undead and living companions with him, an entire village.

Va’lyndra, Ilzo and Leopold discussed the Serals with Zalek and how they misused the undead down south. Zalek, as a priest of Carnus, god of the undead, found this to be an abomination, and he agreed to take care of them for us, if our friends empowered him with a ritual. Leopold drew the ritual circle in the Carnus temple. They used up the divine blob we had received from Elendus and sacrificed a bunch of animals to power the ritual. When Va’lyndra realized that animals were going to be hurt, she tried to interfere, but Ilzo popped her on the nose and knocked her unconscious.

Since Zalek couldn’t take his living villagers with him to the south, he entrusted them to Va’lyndra, Ilzo and Leopold, and asked them to help his people settle near Urdon. Using the magic from the spirit house, our friends kept a safe camp at night, even with a hundred people making passage through the Bewitched Forest decidedly unsilent.

When they approached Urdon, they realized they didn’t know how one hundred settlers would be received, and Va’lyndra went on alone to clarify matters. She made some preparations with the authorities before fetching Ilzo, Leopold and the villagers. She and Ilzo donated a substantial amount of money to pay for the new collectives that were going to be constructed.

I told my friends that I had three ideas about things to do: Checking if the auction was completed, going to the Sulla village to learn from them, and tracking down and killing all the Serals. Leopold thought we should do it in that order.

With everyone’s permission, I transformed into Fabian and ran to Urdon. I transformed back outside the bank and went inside, where I discovered that I had forgotten the receipt for the auction. I said I’d have to return in the morning.

I decided not to turn back into Fabian immediately, and instead headed for the Golden Swan inn, where I put on a brief performance of ten or fifteen minutes. The spectators were unhappy that I left so soon, but I didn’t want to remain long enough for the guards to come. I was still a wanted woman in Urdon, in a way I didn’t appreciate. I was pleased with myself for keeping the performance so short, but Olivia was disappointed that I had showed myself there at all.


Thoughts on January 6th

Olivia said if I hurried, I wouldn’t have to tell our friends about forgetting the receipt yesterday. Therefore, Fabian crossed into Urdon so I could retrieve our winnings. The banker checked his papers and gave me a sack with money and another with the things we had successfully purchased. The magic still was also there, for nobody had bid on it. I guess creating alcoholic beverages wasn’t a high priority on adventure.

I brought everything back to Olivia who calculated how much each of us was due. I summoned Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold so they could get their money and the things they had bought. I hadn’t seen anything interesting on the auction list, and consequently didn’t make any bids either, but Olivia was intrigued by the still despite possibly being unable to operate it, and she was allowed to keep it, at least for now. It was a magic item, after all, and might require an actual mage to use.

We began to plan for the trip to the Sulla village. Ilzo wanted to check up on his arena construction at Alvheim, so he wouldn’t stay with us. Va’lyndra and Leopold decided to go with him. They weren’t keen on staying in a village where everyone worshipped the god of love. Now that Olivia was fit to travel at speed again, we thought we should be able to reach the village in one day. We could take it easy today and prepare for tomorrow’s ride.

The topic of potions came up, and Leopold, Ilzo and Va’lyndra wanted me to buy what they needed. Leopold would finally get a flight potion, and he thought a few healing potions would come in handy too. Va’lyndra preferred potions of major healing, but Ilzo wanted a load of ordinary ones: twenty-five healing salves and twenty-two healing potions. That would bring him up to thirty of each, he said. He can easily drink ten or fifteen after a fight. I prefer not to be injured.

Mara was awake, so I gave her too a goodbye kiss before transforming into Fabian. I made sure she could see me, reasoning that it would be good for her to know both my forms. It wouldn’t do to scare her with an unfamiliar face all of the sudden. I took a sack with me, and money, and went to town.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
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