Bora Bloodfist’s Proclaimation!

Telosh – Sneakthief! The scavenger Grokxex, she knows you, from your drunken desperate stench. You came upon her hunt and stole it.   Grokxex was starving, and you made off with her last meal. She resorted to chewing on berries and leaves that were poison and she perished.  Do you deny this?  Do you take responsibility for this?  …This is good. She-Who-Is-Fierce wishes for such weakness and stupidity to be culled.  When  Grokxex returns to us she will be blessed now, with better eyes and ears for detecting and rooting out those who would try to steal and sneak.  She-Who-Is-Fierce is grateful.

Gustav – The spirits of those first free’d by the peacemakers…you fought a memory of them in a fragment of this world…they know you and only wish they had been cut down by your blade originally, and reborn, instead of trapped by the spirit catcher of these hills. You called them goblins as an insult, and goblins were the minions of the spirit catcher, and so they have sworn a blood oath to She-Who-Is-Fierce that they will not be so easy to defeat once they are full-grown again. Your taunting has made them more savage and even if they were to fall on a spear they will have the power for one last killing blow.

Ethelred –  Seedling of the one who wielded the Fangblade, a warrior of  Kuststad who fought with the ageless wanderer. The beginning of a war that until recently raged ceaselessly in these lands.  Those who were cut down by the Fangblade grew more fierce in their return and thus our tribes have become more powerful, with warriors who know no bounds.  Those who were cut down by the Fangblade are among the greatest of us today!  She-Who-Is-Fierce was most pleased.  You must be a peerless warrior and leader to your people!

Alexis – You are the one who She-Who-Is-Fierce has sent us visions of, and the Lady has led us to you. The dead god wanders the hunting range of She-Who-Is-Fierce and she tires of his presence. He mourns and weeps and is quite unseemly.   She-Who-Is-Fierce worries the dead god will make sheep of our people.  She would allow him to walk back into the world and become reborn as is our way, but he cannot as he is barred by his own making.  She-Who-Is-Fierce wishes a boon of you, now that you have walked the steps of the peacemakers who free’d our people.  With them gone,  She-Who-Is-Fierce has guided me to you in hopes that you will attain the object which holds the last of the dead god’s powers, and break the spell that stops She-Who-Is-Fierce from casting him out.  The Peacemakers were our allies by blood oath, but now they are gone, defeated by the slavers.  The call of war will soon begin again.  Find the Peacemakers weapon, a broken sword mended twice, guarded by many spears, in the place the humans have named for the metal they dig from the earth, and break it for the third time to give She-Who-Is-Fierce free range again before her children must fight.  The battle to come may be the toughest any of our tribe has ever faced, and we would not do it hobbled.

Thanks to Avv and the White Wolf

The giant white wolf has left the group and morning is fresh upon them. Alexis asks for a memento from each as appreciation for the help through the night. Ethelred pulls out one of the spearheads from the stink lizards and starts working it to be more like a fang. While Ethelred works, Alexis takes the pickax and starts digging a relatively shallow hole out of the way, Telosh takes out the goblin potions and decides which to part with, and Gustav finds a stone and starts carving a wolf-head on the stone. After Alexis finishes the hole he brings out one of Nock-Moss’ river rocks and draws a tear on the rock.

When everyone has their offering, Alexis takes each one in turn starting with the stones from Ethelred and Gustav.

“As small tokens of appreciation for you and your wolf, our protector last night, we dedicate this fang and this fierce visage.” Alexis sets Gustav’s stone first and places Ethelred’s on top of it.

“In the name of the wise woman, we offer this tainted potion. May you use the taint as a poison or the potion for it’s power.”

“With the ink of humanity in this remote place, we remember how you have saved humanity once again, and mark it with a tear.”

When the last item is placed in the hole, Alexis looks at his companions. “Now a moment for each of us to silently give thanks.”

The period of silence extends, and extends. The period is too long. It feels awkward.

Finally Alexis breaks the silence with a whispered “thank you.” Then he turns to the group “those awkward silences always make me uneasy. Let’s cover this hole and get over that saddle. May we be blessed across the river and not be stopped by the smooth cheeks.”

Playing to Strengths Against The Brutes

During the downtime, while healing and hunting for food on north side of the western twin. While everyone is rested, Alexis addresses the group.

“If we’re going after the hammer and crown, we need to find a way to neutralize the Dark Hand. Mostly the ‘Made’, but also Mavon and whoever the third person was. Considering how dangerous it was to have a bow fight with that ‘Made’ in the tree, it seems like we need a better plan. I’ve got two ideas, but I’m interested in any others you might have.”

“My first idea is making traps. Big traps. Small traps. Luring traps. Pit traps. Enough traps to deal with the lot of them. They showed they’re willing to chase us around the mountains. And it seems like we can get them to chase us again if we really try. Hells, we could tell them we have Deepforge’s axe.”

“My second idea, is preying on part of what makes them stronger than us: supplies. Every week, or so, we have to spend 2 – 3 days getting resupplied. They don’t have this problem. They get supplies from elsewhere, like those Harnack rations, and/or they range for food and water. Either of these options gives us an opportunity to strike them where it hurts, possibly cripples.”

“Any other thoughts on this?” Alexis looks expectantly at the group.

Tymora, anyone?

While the group is resting, waiting for Telosh to fully recover. The glow of the dwarven crypt surrounds the group. Alexis is sorting through his equipment and organizing it. As he pulls out his old holy symbol to Tymora he looks at it a bit wistfully. The glow of the room seems to help bring out the shine of the simple silver disk. After turning the disk over several times, Alexis addresses the rest of the group.

“Is Tymora of any interest to any of you? This was given to me by my father when I was eight. He wanted me to have something to help with my luck. Promised to beat me if I lost it.” Alexis smiles at the memory.

Alexis turns the disk over for the rest to see “when I studied with Publius I hired a silversmith to modify the coin with the name ‘Tyche’. There is some evidence that Tymora and Tyche are the same, or Tyche was the older name. Or possibly Tyche was a lost daughter of Tymora. Or…? At the time I was sure I would someday find the answer to this riddle.”

Alexis looks expectantly at the group.

Got a Message For a Bird

Shortly after the group has escaped the ambush with Skelor and ‘the Made’ Alexis addresses Inkham and Gustov. “That robin saved our skins back there. Can one, or both, of you give it a ‘thank you’ from us?”

Alexis looks at Gustov “I don’t mean just looking at the bird and saying ‘thank you’… or anything likewise asinine… in case my meaning was somehow vague.”

Alexis goes back to addressing them both “Question? Anything I can do to help?”

Note left with the bones at the door with the Deepforge rune

(Drostan Deepforge rune in the upper-left corner)
In the name of the 2nd age alliance between the humans and dwarves, we have chased the stink-lizards from your under-caves. In addition we have recovered the lost axe of Drostan Deepforge. Dura-Intun is your homeland and the various invaders have been greatly weakened. The Dark Hand is our enemy and we wish to work to throw them from this land.

These bones were discovered in the nest of a cavern predator in the cave, and we hope you will know how to lay them to rest.

— Alexis Laelius and companions.