Last time on Crown of the Kobold King, our heroes spoke with a large wolfman living in
mysterious ruins.
He was not interested in conversation and the group decided to stop pestering him before
things got ugly.
Upon further inspection, this creature was actually a warg.
As our heroes bumbled through the forest and contemplated on what to do next, they came
across a campsite next to an abandoned creepy hut.
Scarab discovered tracks of other kobolds at the campsite and there was evidence of
a struggle.
Before following the tracks, the group decides to check the hut for leads.
Turns out the hut used to be a witch hut and it was still inhabited by an animated cauldron.
After dispatching the angry cauldron, Jock finds a creepy shrunken head.
Beyond the kobold tracks, our heroes are able to take cover as a wyvern flies overhead.
Our heroes then discover the oldest dark wood tree in the forest.
As Jock samples some bark from the tree, he notices a few bodies hanging from the branches
and is then attacked by a large serpent.
Our story continues now!
Jock, as you investigate the side of the tree looking for a bit of bark that you can harvest,
you find a good handhold.
Placing your hands on those spaces in the tree, you give a tug and breaks away a large
slab.
You admire for a moment the hefty piece you were able to grab setting it down in front
of you.
As you look around and see the hunters far above you, you notice several of their possessions
appear to still be dangling from their corpses.
As you stare up at them into your view from around the trunk's edge, comes a great serpentine
head lined with fins and scales and sharp teeth and hollow yellow eyes that regard you
before its mouth opens and a loud hissing snarl escapes and it lunges.
Roll finish.
Here we go.
That was a natural one outside of the box.
Me too.
Really?
That's a lot better.
A lot better.
I would say ten times better.
If I had to put a number on it.
What'd you get Scarab?
Twenty-one.
Very good.
Wow.
Let's go.
Jacques.
Nineteen.
Excellent.
Cop corn.
Thirteen.
Yeah.
It's alright.
Yeah.
Second edition wisdom is huge, I think.
Wisdom's a really good thing in second edition.
Does wisdom?
It affects your perception, which is your initiative role.
I can be cheap and be like, whoa, I was over there flexing and doing pushups.
Can I do athletics?
That's my role.
But you were supposed to go land.
Yeah.
I totally accepted it.
It sucks when you're surrounded.
It's a huge change because this is the first time I've played a character without wisdom.
You just gotta hope you can take some hits.
Hope we can take some hits too.
Jacques, as that hissing serpentine head comes into view, you notice two small clawed arms
perching around the side of the trunk as well.
You get a better view of the creature, which looks like this.
It's big.
Cool.
It has like little arms.
Yeah, it's like a...
That's a very good mini.
That's a snake with a dragon face and T-Rex arms.
Yeah, it looks like a big sea serpent Shenron looking dude.
Good old fashioned long dragon.
Scarab, start us off.
You keep your eye on Jacques, watching him pull something free from the tree before you
hear that loud hiss and focus in on the creature.
First thing, Scarab will run forward.
Don't forget you're ten feet at start.
Two paces.
Beautiful.
Or ten.
Yee!
Let's roll Knowledge.
Arcana.
Twenty.
What do you want to know?
Let's say first of all you recognize this creature.
Maybe you've read about it or swapped tales, but you know this to be what is called a Tatsalworm.
Okay.
Um.
Yeah, it's so tough low level.
Like, I don't know how much weaknesses will help me.
Let's see, does it have any crazy attacks?
You know that Tatsalworms have a tendency to belch poison.
I'll also tell you that they are immune to paralysis and sleep effects.
No use in trying to knock this thing out or slow it down.
Jacques, careful!
Poison!
Uh, and?
Scarab fires.
Oh boy.
A twenty to hit.
That's a hit.
Yes!
A bullet flies through the air ripping through flesh.
Two damage.
Piercing.
Okay, so that's two actions.
Yeah, let's try this.
Scarab goes to reload his gun.
Catching the attention of this beast after shooting it for two damage.
Uh, he's gonna do the Reckontor's reload for one action.
I'm going to reload my weapon and attempt to intimidate the creature.
In Draconic, saying, a great blue wyvern has come to take your tree!
And we are here with it!
Give me a roll.
Dragon, dragon, dragon, dragon.
It's a failure.
You never know, what you got?
When he said great blue wyvern, he was just like, you have to add your modifier though.
Afraid to, how I did?
He said a great blue wyvern and then started looking up scared?
Yeah.
Matthew, you're supposed to roll a d20, not a d8.
Look, I rolled a one, okay?
Critical fail.
Shaking in fear, firing at this worm, speaking about a blue wyvern, he's not having, it's
not easy.
It's not easy, baby.
That's the end of his turn.
Careful of the poison.
The creature answers back in Draconic.
It regards you after the bullet grazes across its shoulder, hisses, and looks in your direction.
Hearing your words, it replies in Draconic, EWIGGAAA!
Food.
Scarab runs away.
Jacques.
Jacques, very scared, begins stumbling backward and sprints 25 feet back.
He will turn around, pulling out his amulet, and is going to try and exploit vulnerability.
And fail.
Damn.
I need my dice, my other dice out of my dice tray.
Um, that's it.
One of these days it's gonna work.
One of these days.
Oh.
I'm sure your modifier is decent, you just have to roll a decent one.
Yeah, I keep rolling really bad.
I rolled a three.
The tatsaworm's eyes narrow as you flee, and it hisses, spiraling down the trunk of the
tree, before landing on the canopy floor and chasing after you, dragging its long serpentine
body behind its two clawed arms digging into the dirt and roots.
How many feet did it go around the tree?
I'm actually counting that.
So two move actions to get up to you.
Wow.
He didn't want to just let go and flop onto the ground like a dropped sausage.
So this creature just begins thrashing its way around and down the tree before charging
at you as fast as it can.
And as it gets closer, its mouth begins to open.
Colonel.
Colonel will draw his sword.
And then he will call out to the creature.
Hey, big idiot, over here.
I'm gonna need a will save.
Yes, I am drawing ire.
Are there any penalties for not speaking common?
Uh, no.
That me yelling was just flavor.
I'm just doing mental distress to the creature.
Hell yeah.
It's a spell.
Got to check.
And you need a will save?
This is a, the effects are emotion, emotion, enchantment, and mental, if that means anything
to you.
Jibberish.
Okay.
Yeah, will save.
You're taking kindly to your Southern charms.
That's a natural 17.
Oof.
Does not have a negative will save.
So 25.
Yeah, that's a pass.
I need a D10.
It's actually doing damage.
So half of that, you take two mental damage.
And until the end of your turn, until the end of your next turn, you take a minus one
penalty to attack rolls against anybody but Colonel.
Okay.
Minus one, you said?
Minus one to your attack.
Okay.
And that is it.
End of round one, scarab start us off round two.
Oh, it's so scary.
Right there already.
Playing so much Baldur's gate three, like this, every battle is so much more intense
just because of the imagination land.
Yeah.
Sucks.
I don't know what I'm like, okay to do or not do.
Every turn feels like death because I want to do something crazy because I haven't been
able to do it yet.
Scarab attempts to whistle with his fingers, but it doesn't work because he has a big old
dragon head.
So he just blow and spit onto the ground and then he shouts out while waving a finger,
go pig.
The pig is going to run 35 feet.
Right.
Next one.
Boom.
And strike.
So two actions for that.
Bad roll.
Eight to hit.
That is a miss.
Now scarab is going to fire for his final action.
This needs to go to jail.
I've never done a die jail, but this one is not doing me well.
Eight to hit.
Shot goes wide.
All right, that's it.
That's it.
Jacques, this creature is right up in your face.
What do you do?
He will attempt to exploit vulnerability again.
Get him.
Also, because I forgot and I totally would have, don't forget.
We got pee pee.
I already rolled it.
It's a fail.
So he will pull out his sword cane and go to hit it.
No.
Twelve.
No.
Is this the actual like blade drawn or the cane itself?
The actual blade drawn.
Damn.
In a panic as the creature rushes, you lash out and the flat of the blade bounces harmlessly
off the side of the creature.
That's it.
That makes it the worm's turn.
Reaching the apex of its charge, the creature's mouth opens wide and it snaps its jaws, attempting
to bite you.
Minus one to the attack.
That is a 20 to hit.
That's a hit.
Eight points of damage.
Eight points of piercing damage as its large fangs dig into your flesh.
And as it bites you, it pulls you in close and its claws attempt to scratch you.
That's a 22, which is a hit.
For 11 points of slashing damage.
Um, Jacques is unconscious and dying.
The creature drops Jacques's still body and its tail whips out at the pig behind it.
Oh.
Jacques!
14 to hit.
It says your name perfectly, but you're not awake to hear it.
14 AC.
Damn.
Okay.
Jacques.
Uh, seven points of slashing damage.
This is, this is, this is ugly.
Cob corn.
Save your boy.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Uh.
If you're able to get next to Jacques on Jacques's right side, we can flank.
Yep.
It's two actions running up 30 feet, flanking the creature with pig.
And his third action, he's going to reach down and lay on hands on Jacques for six hit
points.
Okay.
Get out of here, Jacques!
Jacques, you are a weak but prone.
What does creating a diversion do exactly?
You can make a target flat footed, I believe.
Yeah, if you succeed, it allows you to become hidden to that creature.
Okay.
Rockin Taurus reload.
One action to reload and one to do so.
Sorry.
Bow!
Shoots himself in the foot.
As he's reloading in Draconic.
I know the chicken's big, but that pig behind you, careful!
I'm going to attempt to create a diversion.
My deception will against you.
It's a fail.
I'm rolling a different die now.
Okay, so I have reloaded.
I will take a shot.
I'm just going to leave.
I'm just going to leave the table.
Oh no.
I'm rolling twos.
I have rolled four twos.
My last four rolls have been twos.
Three, two, six.
It's better than two.
Stealthing up there, I got an 18.
Well, stealthing the first time, just up to the clearing, I got a 19 and then I got an
18 and then I got a 19 on my nature check.
All I've done is crit on cookware.
That's it.
Jacques.
I'm not done.
Wait your turn.
Farvo, your suspension continues.
Love that movie.
Want to see it again?
Super troopers.
Pig is going to attack.
It's going to be a 21 to hit.
That's a hit.
Oh silly.
Oh my god.
What the hell?
Four damage, piercing.
Chipping away.
Yeah, I'd rather.
Rolling ones on damage too.
It's crazy.
Crazy.
Look, I know I haven't touched these die in a while, but this is ridiculous.
Chill out guys.
We're playing again.
I'm using you, all right?
I don't have to be like that.
Pig gets one more action, yeah?
One per.
It's a higher level.
I can get more actions.
That is Jacques.
I'm going to try it again and I'll use my PP.
Yes.
We got a PowerPoint on the field.
Here we go.
Okay, that is a math.
That is an 18 for, yeah, like a recall.
That'll play.
Success.
Okay, so still not great.
So you recall an important fact about the creature learning its highest weakness or
one of its highest weaknesses if it has a multiple of the same value.
Any weaknesses?
You know that these creatures do not have weaknesses.
So you could try to do the second one.
The personal.
Do I know anything about them?
Like do I recall any knowledge about them in general?
Like something that makes this worm uncomfortable, perhaps maybe I can pick up a piece of the
bark and start eating it.
A little upset a worm.
Dry dirt.
Birds.
Why?
W-Y not W-O.
You could try to.
Oh, I have an idea.
He focuses in on it intensely and then quickly looks down and like rummages through his bags
and pulls out a worm scale.
It's pretty crappy one, but he just pulls it out.
And was like, what do you think of that?
Huh?
And then like throws it on the ground and spits on it.
And then he'll try and attack.
I think that's good enough.
The worm regards the scale and for a moment there's a fleeting look of horror as it realizes
you maybe have killed a Drake before.
That's a miss.
It's a 12.
So he's just going to go ahead and run back 25 feet.
OK.
Yeah, but he will shout out no weaknesses, no weaknesses and run away.
Oh boy.
Hot pig.
It's you and me.
Let's go to Clap Town.
The tassel worm begins to writhe in place lashing out with limb and fang alike.
It's going to strike that pig with a claw.
27.
That's really high.
I'm like literally rolling like above 15 right now.
Oh, it's a natural crit.
Leave him alone.
Pushes the worm as it attacks.
Actually, no, not 15 feet.
Never mind.
And negate three damage that you take while liberating step.
So minus that three, pig takes 16 points of damage on that crit.
Slashing.
That's so much.
Oh my god.
Well, it's down.
Do pigs have dying?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's down.
The second claw flails out at Cobcorn.
Natural one.
Oh, thank God.
Is it?
Oh, right.
Uh oh.
You're going to blow it.
Can you pull one off that says that it dies?
OK.
The creature is wild thrashing while effective.
Unintentionally leaves it tangled in itself.
And as the claw goes out to hit Cobcorn, it falls just short before the creature realizes
it's become entangled in itself.
It is encumbered and entangled until it spends two actions to free itself.
Oh.
Oh boy.
I'm sorry.
When it starts its turn, it has to attempt to reflex save.
If it fails, it'll get a penalty to move speed.
If it crit fails, it'll be immobilized.
There isn't anything that stops it from attacking, but it won't be able to move.
So it is going to, with its last action, try to bite at Cobcorn.
All right.
Does it two hit?
It casually steps out of the way.
Easy, easy.
It is Cobcorn's turn.
Stop trying to kill my friends.
His sword starts to glow like red hot and then it erupts in flames.
He swings his sword down.
I'm turning in my PP for this attack.
Just do 40 damage.
You're good.
Come on.
Yeah.
That's not its HP.
If it crits, I'm going to one shot this thing if it crits.
Oh, please.
16 on the die.
That's pretty good.
Let's see if we can get higher.
12, 16, 23 to hit.
Hell yeah.
Oh, six on a five on 2d6s.
That's 11 fire damage and five, no, six slashing.
So 17 altogether.
Yes.
It's got one more action.
Your swing connects so purely and so true that it lops off one of the creature's arms.
But before the blood can go forth, the flames see it closed.
The creature immediately begins to panic in place, thrashing, trying it.
It's all of its might to get away from you, but it's entangled and it can't move.
So instead it's flailing in place.
Fear laden in its eyes.
Oh shit.
Colonel Cobb is going to use intimidating glare.
Leave my friends alone with a nine.
Nine is definitely not enough.
That's it for Colonel's turn.
Scarab.
Pig!
The scarab locks eyes with the worm, reloads his pistol.
Dragon fire!
Come on, get him.
14 to hit.
14 is a hit.
Oh my God.
It's coping with the entanglement if it does anything.
Seven damage.
Piercing.
That's seven damage.
As the creature thrashes in place, its head whips forth to your cry of dragon fire and
the bullet rips through its skull, and its body continues to writhe and flop before eventually
it falls motionless, dead.
Yes!
Yeah.
Scarab runs over to Pig.
Hell yeah, dude.
Runs over to Pig and starts eating Pig.
I've been waiting.
Good Lord.
Oh my God.
Nap.
Time for a nap.
Jacques can go over to Pig and do a medicine.
24 medicine check.
You medicine the hell out of him.
Yeah, that's good.
No, I'm just mad because I was rolling like all single digits in the fight.
Yeah.
And now we're out of the fight.
I know.
I'm just mad that I got a 19 on this medicine check, but it would have been nice to have
a 19 in the combat.
I rolled like three 17s that fight.
Yeah.
Brutal.
God.
17, 16, 17, 14, 17, and then there's a two.
So what happens from that?
Yeah, it just stabilizes him.
I can do it again to see if I can.
Is there no healing from?
There's treat wounds during that 10 minutes.
Colonel will focus.
That is a 15 for treat wounds.
It's exactly.
That's right.
Yeah.
I think it's DC 15.
Oh yeah.
Usually 15.
So then to be a thing of healing.
He gains 11 hit points.
Nice.
Very good.
Thank you.
I'm going to attempt to do a treat wounds on myself and watch me fucking crit fail.
A four.
Colonel will focus for those 10 minutes.
How down are you?
I have six hit points.
Okay.
Yeah, he'll lay hands on you for six points.
Thank you.
No problem.
You're brave as hell.
Anybody got potions?
I don't have any potions.
No.
Oh yes.
Oh good.
I didn't say you could have it, but I do have a potion.
Good.
No, keep it on you.
That's great.
Do you need it?
No.
Saying if I go down, things might get ugly.
Yeah.
I would.
Yeah, I can only do administer first aid, which is just to stabilize or stop bleeding.
Yeah, I have one healing potion.
I'd like to go pick up some of the bark very carefully.
They're scared.
Walk over and take some of that bark.
Snake with three arms comes down.
Yeah, break.
Break off about a cell phone size chunk.
Okay.
I would say that from the region around where you pulled the big slab, there are some smaller
bits that are fairly easy to break away as well.
Two things.
One, the slab is there.
It weighs five bulk.
You can either carry it yourself, have it carried for you, or you can leave it here
to retrieve later.
Two, you realize from where you're standing, the bodies that you were looking at before,
there are a series of lower branches to where you think you might be able to scramble up
there with relative ease with an athletics check if you wanted to check the bodies.
I will rest first, if that's okay.
Hey, Scarab, if you want to check to see how much that wood is worth, I'll climb up this
tree and poke around on those poor souls.
What's your thing?
Scarab, give me that mercantile lore check.
14, 15.
Okay, 15 is enough.
The slab itself being from, or given where it's come from, you estimate you could probably
get close to 20 gold if you found the right buyer.
Oh, this is huge.
You also imagine-
I'll call it a shield.
That you could probably have something made from the slab given the size of it.
Hell, maybe I'll make a shield.
Could I also get a scale?
I'll also pick up the one that you threw on the ground.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Pulling that scale gives the worm just enough room to free itself of its entanglement.
You dislodge a healing potion that it had underneath that scale.
It rises from the grave.
Does it have anything on it?
You can do-
It has a healing potion.
It has scales.
Just do me a nature check together.
As long as you don't get a one, you can easily pull away a scale without damaging it.
13.
Yeah, you get nothing on the worm itself.
And Cobcoin, you're trying to climb the tree?
Yes.
Okay, go ahead and give me an athletics check to climb.
Natural one.
You put one hand on the first branch, begin to pull yourself up, and immediately fall
prone.
You're just grabbing onto the same bark that was gently pulled from the tree.
I can't do this.
I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong.
It's all right.
To be fair, you're in like, pleat right now.
Yeah.
Jacques can try climbing it.
He quietly weeps through his-
Can we do something to help with this?
Like throwing rope up to a branch and using that as something to help us pull up?
Yeah, you could do that.
Because I do have rope.
You could boost up.
You imagine that the branches are close enough together, you think that it would functionally
work as a ladder, almost.
But you just need to be able to get up to it.
Do you think that Copporn just failed really badly?
Oh yeah, he napped one.
He slipped.
He's in heavy armor.
He tried to pull himself up.
He slipped.
It can't be too hard.
I just- terrible roll.
But by all means, you can work out whatever way you want.
Yeah, I mean, I'm not much for giving a boost.
He could.
True, true.
I'll do.
See if I can aid.
No, no aid.
A ten.
Ten's enough.
Nice.
Like, exactly enough.
I rolled a four.
I think we should stop playing tonight.
Very shaky.
That's a pretty bad roll over here.
Hey, we're surviving though.
I know, but does it always have to be like this?
You feel very uncertain as you climb.
Like your legs are wobbling.
You can feel the branches jostling beneath you, but you decide to press on and you quickly
climb up.
Before long, you find yourself next to where the bodies are hanging.
Two of them are entangled in vines, and one of them is kind of just draped over one of
the branches held in place by a broken leg lodged between fort branches.
Oh my god.
I'm gonna drop this.
Oh, you're here.
You saved me.
Hey, just make sure you're...
It's coming down.
He's gonna like take his sword cane and just kind of like poke it, jab it to unwedge it
so the body can fall.
You're able to dislodge the three corpses and they fall about 20 feet or so before plopping
onto the soft earth.
Gross cracks.
Yeah.
A crunch and a squish, your treasure lies before you.
So damn.
And then he'll just jump down because he doesn't take quality.
Oh, alright.
And with a crunch and a splash, you too are before your treasure.
No, he's...
What is it?
What are they?
Skyborn Tengu.
Yeah.
Take no damage from falling regardless of the distance you fall.
So he just kind of like jumps and moves his arms as if he's flapping.
Yeah, a little cuckoo to sound.
But it just sounds like leather rustling.
Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee.
Okay.
I imagine you searched the bodies, yes?
Yes.
You don't, I will.
As the three of you rummage through the corpses, you see very little of their flesh remains,
much of it stripped away.
However, one of them...
Damn.
...has an intact torso that is wearing a suit of hide armor.
On another you find two crossbows, two short swords, a short bow with seven arrows.
I'll take those arrows and just put them in my bag if you're cool with that, V.
Sure.
I did also have eight arrows on here.
Hell, I'll take those too.
Actually, I have 30 arrows on this list.
I have those.
Okay, sweet.
So I'll just take the next eight.
I will delete them.
Yeah.
A signet ring with the image of a flaming hawk.
You can roll an estimate on that if you'd like.
Natural 20.
Oh dang.
You imagine this to be some form of ring meant to honor somebody.
It's likely just a nice collectible piece you estimate it to be worth about five gold
pieces.
Speaking of, among the corpses you find five gold pieces as well as 12 copper pieces.
Very nice.
Cob corn you find eight days worth of rations.
Oh, hell yeah.
In Jacques, you hear a clunk as you turn over one of the corpses and find a rusty iron scroll
tube.
If you open the tube, you will see it contains three scrolls of heel and an old map that
is labeled Droskar's Crucible.
Nice, that's convenient.
Wow.
Oh, is this that guy?
The hunter.
Yeah, I was going to say are all the hunters just being gathered up in this tree?
Oh, thanks.
More food.
Must be Tuesday.
How old do these bodies seem?
You want me to do a medicine check?
Sure.
Eight.
I'm going to get different size.
I'm going to take two of those rations, V.
Okay.
How many rations will it say?
Eight total.
Eight days worth of rations.
Oh, eight days.
So it's one ration.
Yeah, it's like one ration and a seventh of a ration.
Gotcha.
Just eat the...
Yeah, Colonel just takes it.
He's going to eat a day's worth of food while he's putting the rest in the bag.
It's just like five hot dogs.
It's like 27 meals.
It's kind of crazy.
Kicking ass is making me hungry.
Nothing special with the hide armor, just Reggie.
Yeah, it just appears to be a normal suit of hide armor.
The other two seem to have been wearing similar armor, but theirs is torn to ribbons or decayed
from time.
I will say, even though you didn't do so well on your medicine check, some of it is obvious.
Two of them seem similar in age.
Well, well past their stages of decay.
These are basically skeletons with maybe a chunk or two of dried leather still clinging
to it.
And the third one is definitely more recent than that, but you would still estimate it
to have been weeks, if not months ago.
Which had the scroll tube?
The fresher of the three.
At least for now we can kind of assume that was him.
From comparing what you know, the hunter that came by for the Flophouse was there within
like a week or so.
This corpse at least seems older than that.
So these are others looking for the same thing, but the guy we're looking for most likely
got drugged away.
That's my guess.
Colonel's gonna pop a little detect magic, just checking everything.
Just snort a little bit off of that, off of the counter.
The pulse goes out, but picks up no bleeps.
Cool.
So what was that?
A map of the crucible or something?
The map itself is a map to a place labeled Droskar's Crucible.
It shows the same dark moon veil that you're in now.
However the borders of the forest are larger in this map depiction than they are now.
It's older.
Um, lumber dudes chopping all the trees down.
You go ahead and roll me a survival check.
I was gonna say, are we able to uh, based on this tree and based on the map, if the
tree's on the map, which you'd hope, I don't know.
They don't have airplanes yet, but can we surmise where we are on this map?
Twenty.
What was that?
Survival?
Mm-hmm.
Nine.
And Jacques, you got a twenty?
Yes.
Okay, I'm disappointed.
You comparing what you see on the map to what you've experienced, you believe that area
marked Droskar's Crucible is where you first met the warg.
Mm-hmm.
Where the ruins were.
Other things of note on the map include the clearing where you stand now, however it is
incomplete, as if they were making notes, put it away, and then never came back to them.
There is another spot marked for the clearing where you found the camp.
It is marked as Ulys Mila's Shack, which is the name you heard in town.
I knew it.
The witch.
A witch.
I called it.
The witch.
I did.
And on the map you can see the northern border where the forest ends along the mountain's
edge.
The mountain itself is labeled Droskar's Crag.
Did we hear why perhaps maybe the witches seemed to disappear?
Did we get info on that?
I don't believe you did.
Yeah.
Because that, what an interesting little detail.
How do we get in there?
I don't want to find it.
We have to just keep fucking around in the forest and level up.
No, we gotta go home.
We gotta grind.
I gotta take a nap.
And by nap I mean a sleep.
I gotta go to sleep.
Get that fatigue away.
I gotta go to bed you guys.
And we need potions.
We need potions bad.
I don't know.
I mean we can leave.
I think we're okay.
Yeah.
I mean before you encountered the drag tracks, oh, I'm sorry rolling over that survival
check as well, the, at least from where the drags were when they were circumnavigating
the clearing that you're at now, cross-referencing that with your map, it almost seems like they're
being dragged towards Droskar's Crucible as well.
That's an important tidbit.
So assuming that the tracks maintain the direction that they're going, that's the way they're
headed.
But you know where they are in relation to the clearing.
And if you'd want, you could annotate your own map and it would be easier, a lot easier
for you to find your way here the next time you return to the forest.
Instead of it being an all-day adventure, you imagine you could cut that time in half.
Yeah, for damn sure.
Cool.
I think that's fair.
I do think it's still a good idea if we were to go tell the lumber mill people that we
found a warg.
Maybe they'll reward us.
Take it for what you will.
I as a creature low to the earth may take nature more into account here.
But if we speak of this warg, riddled with axes, and we speak of this great dragon we
felled, that I killed, that may lead the lumber mill further into this forest.
Take it or leave it.
That's true.
Could be helpful, could be a hindrance.
Either way, we're empty-handed.
We didn't solve the problem with the warg.
You expect us to be able to solve the warg problem?
Oh, yeah, son.
We could do this.
I'm not a hero.
Yes you are.
No, I'm not.
I definitely am not.
I like making things.
I am a maker, not a hero.
Oh.
And as far as these lumber mill lumberjacks coming out into the forest, they're going
to anyways.
It's their job.
And they're not trying to kill us, now are they?
No, no, they're not.
No, no.
Hmm.
I'm playing a character that doesn't realize he's in a TTRPG.
Well, I mean, I'm okay with going back to town if you guys want to.
I don't really see a point in talking to the lumber mills, getting spit on again, all that
fun stuff.
You know, if we take one of these torsos, perhaps you can slam it down on the counter
and say, hey, if we're going to do this for you, we need a little bit more money up front.
Right?
Hmm.
They could probably recognize one of these.
Yeah, the fresher one.
I can't honestly believe that you still expect us to come out here and solve some crazy mystery
in a forest that none of us belong in.
It's very true.
But I crave excitement.
Good for you.
But you dragged me out here into the middle of nowhere.
I mean, I did get some cool stuff.
I did get some cool stuff.
Oh yeah, look at this tree.
Look at this tree.
You'll never see something like this ever again in your life.
I don't want to.
Take it in.
If it means that I don't have to see a dirty, terrifying worm ever again.
Tried to warn you.
Yeah, but you didn't tell me that there'd be a dragon.
Let's see here.
Yeah, grab some my identifying body parts.
Let's go back to town, figure out things.
Actually this big piece of wood is valuable.
I should probably pick that up.
Oh yes.
See, I did a good thing.
Can we can I tie it?
Can I tie rope to the torso and like attach it to the pig or something?
Yeah, you can drag it.
Yeah, just drag it back.
It's called dark wood, right?
Another dark wood slab.
Five bulk.
Because I've seen no sign of my cart and if I'm not going to get my cart back, I will
need money.
So you could stay with me to find my cart or stay with me to get money for a new one.
I am more than happy to help you find your cart, but I don't think that we're going to
find your cart in a at least 10 year old ruin.
It could be anywhere.
I don't think it's part of some crazy plot.
There's probably just someone down the road in the opposite direction that we came that
just has your cart and is going through your stuff and is like, oh, I can sell that thing.
And here we are in the middle of nowhere trying to find some dead guy probably.
Let's all be honest.
He's been gone for 10 years.
He's dead and we're trying to find him.
Why?
Money.
You know what else gets you money?
Maybe we should ask those lumber mill people if they have positions open.
A job.
Let's get a job.
Good luck, kid.
I have a job.
He'll be fine.
Yeah.
So where are we going?
Home.
Oh, all right.
Do you have a home?
No, not near here at least.
We do have a home.
We have a house with all of my things in it.
Why are you lying?
Do we have a house in Falcon's Hollow?
Yeah.
Falcon's Hollow, there's a big population of tengus there.
Oh, okay.
Forget I said that.
A little loopy from the fresh air.
He hasn't been taking his medication again.
Yeah, I'm down to go back to town.
Me too.
I figured this dark wood slab, he's just holding it in both arms.
If we get into combat, he can just free action drop it because he's encumbered.
He's moving at half speed right now.
Okay, so we'll slow you down a bit, but that's okay.
I believe I said that it was around like two o'clock-ish before you all made it to the
clearing.
So we'll say you head out about 2.30 or so.
And the rest of the day goes by in relative normal discomfort instead of being...
You're not harassed is the point.
It takes you the rest of the day to get back to town, but as the sun is just beginning
to dip and the orange hue lights the sky, you find yourself crossing the threshold into
Falcon's Hollow.
Very nice.
Was it the sheriff that set us on the mission or was it him telling us to go to the lumber
guys?
Who's hiring the hunters?
The hunters are, for all you know, they're not being hired in particular by anybody.
They might just come through.
They're just hunters in general.
They might be traveling from town to town looking for different regions for game or
they may be villagers themselves who rather than taking the logging route, chose to sustain
their family through hunting.
Barliss was the name of the missing hunter.
So Yarrowlbin is the one who told you about Barliss, only in so much as saying he came
by, tried to sleep here.
I told him, fuck off.
Haven't seen him.
And then Yarrowlbin also told you about the strange big wolf.
And so you were following that angle as well.
And the sheriff is the one who told you about Druingar, the dwarf explorer who left town
and hadn't returned 10 years prior.
The bartender at the sitting duck told you a little bit about local goings on before
you all headed out.
Checking out the temple to Ahomade, because they're always looking for help.
And also happened to mention that though not completely uncommon, there has been a rise
in people getting sick recently and said if you wanted to look into that, you could speak
to the apothecary.
Yeah, it puts around with that stuff in town.
Maybe there's an easier lower level quest.
Also I have written down, Sheriff's axe used to be lumber worker.
His axe, Saldran Creed, lackey payday.
Anytime someone needs to pay up, he comes.
Running town, axe tax, he beat up payday.
What does that mean?
Exactly what you said.
Yeah, he beat up payday is not the part you're confused about.
He bought the axe and then he was upset that he had to pay an axe tax when payday came
to try to get the axe tax for him.
And he beat him with the flat end of the axe.
Who's Saldran Creed?
That's Creel.
I said Creel by mistake in episode one and I made fun of it because I was like, he's
Creel bad.
But no, his name is Creed and he's like, but I call him Creel because he's Creel.
Stupid.
Yeah, his Creed, the Creed family is the family that runs Falcons Hollow from what you've
been told.
Big house, they got the big old house.
Payday is one of Creed's lackeys and he is muscle, essentially.
We can go kick his ass.
For fun?
Yeah, just for fun.
I see.
All right, Scab, tired of holding this wood.
Where do you think is the best place to sell this?
Well, if we find our way, Dungeon Master Willing, Scab would like to just like set up shop,
like near the front of a tavern, just drop some goods and see if he can peddle any of
it off so they can get some money for it.
Okay, I will say because it's getting to the latter half of the day, like the more towards
the evening, it might be a little harder to peddle wares, but there's no reason you couldn't.
You also have the option to do it in the morning during other people's daily preparation.
If you want to go and set up for a bit, you can do that as well.
So if you want to go for it, then.
Where do we camp?
Do you have lodging?
We do actually, we do.
I do, I do.
Okay, because we picked up all this junk, need somewhere to stay.
I usually sleep in the cart, the cart is no longer mine.
You can stay at my house.
I can sleep outside, it's fine.
Oh, there's plenty of room.
I just need somewhere for the stuff, drops the torso.
That's right, carrying a body.
You can stay in my room, I'll stay in my mother's room.
Uh, where am I gonna stay?
I guess I'll take the couch.
I mean, there is a tavern nearby, I'm sure you can get a room there, or you could stay
on the couch.
I'll take the couch.
You seem like you need the rest.
I'm very tired.
I understand, I understand.
Anyways, and we get into town, and he says that, and he just crosses his arms and then
just starts walking towards his house.
Come pig.
Let's go.
You're sleeping inside tonight.
Shit's all over the place.
Imagine walking up to the house, it's got like, wrought iron, like a broken wrought iron
fence.
And it's just a small-
Policial mansion.
No.
A very small A-frame house on stilts.
That looks like a chicken coop.
It's got a ramp going up to the front door.
Yeah, it's got a ramp going up to the front door.
With little notches so you don't lose your footing.
All the floor is hay.
Ah, it smells so bad.
Shit all over the floor.
Just walk in and it's just like four shelves on either wall.
And Jacques just climbs into the top one and he's like, well I'm in my room, good night.
Home sweet home.
Yeah, yeah, my home.
It's my home.
Yes, it is.
It's like a house.
But it does look like a chicken coop.
So Colonel Cobb sets down that big old piece of dark wood, almost a dank wood, and finds
his little nook and goes to bed.
Yeah, same.
Find a small spot to curl up in.
I'll have a thing for it later, but Jacques goes to his room and reads through, like,
letters from his mom.
The night passes and as the rays of the morning sun pass through the windows, each of you
awakes feeling refreshed and ready for a brand new day.
Just Colonel, just eyes shoot awake, sits up 90 degree angle.
Can I tell you a cantrip that I have that is perfect for him being a chicken?
Yeah.
Time sense.
One action.
You cast the spell, you gain a perfect sense of time.
You can learn exactly what time it is down to the second.
Wow.
It's nuts.
And if I, if I, it says you can use it for perception or survival or whatever, you get
plus one to whatever your role is.
Hell yeah.
Time sense.
That's awesome.
And perfect.
And great and wonderful.
I don't know why I said so many the first time.
Yeah, that's that makes perfect sense for a giant rooster.
Scarab, you want to get rid of this big old piece of wood?
Yes, I'd be happy to find a place to sell all these things.
Just you know, let me do that out of character somewhere else behind the scenes so we don't
have to do that.
Gotcha.
Whatever goods you want me to sell, just put them in a bag.
I'll take care of it.
Yeah he'll leave it in the living room just there.
Wake up pig.
As for any buying selling you guys want to do, you know of three areas of interest.
If you're looking to buy anything alchemical that would be at the apothecary.
If you were looking to buy anything of intrigue, I would say, then you would know of the Goosing
Gander, which is a well for lack of a better term, a general store of oddities and curios.
It's run by the town's only gnome and famously it is a business that is bigger on the inside.
And the third would be the lower and higher markets.
Although general access for the town is restricted to the lower markets where you will find an
assortment of all of your mundane needs, the higher markets are restricted to the town's
aristocracy and ruling party.
Where do you purchase level two?
It's DLC.
Oh damn.
I'll accept cash or credit.
So we just sold a bunch of stuff off record and bought some potions.
Yep.
Did a lot of math.
Ten potions to be exact.
A lot of money.
This guy used his selling feet to get extra money, which is neat.
Yeah, I'm a bargain hunter, so we got a couple of extra dollars.
Saved a little bit of money on the potions we bought.
Very exciting stuff.
Well as you finish up hawking and buying your wares, what do you want to do for the rest
of the day?
You want to go to the monastery?
Good to see if the people getting sick has something to do with the mushrooms growing
around.
Yeah, let's do that.
Let's go find these sick people.
You make your way towards the central western part of town and find yourself before long
standing in front of a great white stone building emblazoned with the sword and wings of the
inheritor goddess Iomadei.
As you push your way in, opening the large wooden door, you see the typical trappings
of a cathedral.
Pews lying on either side.
A carpeted pathway leads up to an altar where you see a woman bent in prayer.
She'll let her finish.
It's rude to interrupt.
Six hours pass.
She's very devout.
As you approach, she looks over her shoulder before bowing her head one more time, making
a gesture towards the inheritor goddess and then standing.
Welcome, welcome all of you.
My name is Kethon against her.
I am a cleric here.
What can I do for you?
Colonel Cohen cop.
Cop corn.
How do you spell?
Kyrthana C I R T H A N A.
Last name, Genzar.
Looking her over, she is a woman of average height and build.
She has mousy brown hair and bright blue eyes.
She's fair skinned and she greets you with a warm smile.
We hear that some people are getting sick.
I'm afraid I haven't heard a whole lot of the town's goings on.
They don't necessarily take too kindly to our lady.
No one has come to me seeking aid on this matter, but perhaps at the apothecary they
would have more information.
Do any of you require aid or healing?
Oh, I'm okay.
Would you like to join us on our adventure?
No, my adventuring days are long behind me.
I spend my time now in service to the lady.
The doors swinging.
He's left.
He's gone.
Sorry.
He's no help to us.
We were talking.
We were talking to the barkeeper.
She mentioned you to come talk to you.
I don't know what about.
What kind of answers do you need?
Do you have a quest for us?
Do you have?
Do you need help?
I think we need to go to the apothecary.
With anything?
Is anything going on in your life?
Anything weird?
Do you know about any werewolves?
That's a lot of questions at once.
As for if we need help, well, the church is always accepting donations.
Anything you could offer would be of help to the people of Falcons Hall, those who come
to us for aid anyways.
Although on a more personal note, I am worried about one of the town's denizens, a young
hunter by the name of Barlus.
Oh, this is him.
Drops a torso on the ground.
Let me raise him.
Please, what does he say?
She's scared.
Now, we did find the bodies of three hunters in the woods.
Two of them fairly old, one much newer.
Oh, and the one in the hole.
And they were dead.
If each of you offers a description of the bodies that you've seen to the best of your
knowledge, she shakes her head.
They don't seem to ring a bell there.
No, no.
Barlus is tall, rather thin.
He has medium cropped brown hair and green eyes.
Oh, you love him, don't you?
No.
Oh, sorry.
Um, how do you know this young gentleman or not so young?
Is he young?
How do you know this gentleman?
Well, Barlus came to our temple here to seek a blessing for his upcoming hunt.
He was saying that I was the closest to a like-minded soul as far as our faiths.
Though he believes in Erastil, I told him that our gods don't share necessarily the
same ideals as what is being a goddess of hunt, but I thought I would offer what I could.
I may perhaps feel a little guilty as he hasn't come back of late.
I worry that my prayer may not only have not offered him the aid he sought, but perhaps
offended his god in some way.
Hmm, interesting.
Fickle.
Fickle beings, the gods.
If you can find him, if he's still alive, or find out what happened to him, I would
be very grateful.
I don't have much to offer, but I could offer you a symbol of our lady in faith.
And she turns around to the altar behind her and from a pillow raises a silver longsword.
Hmm, whoa.
Ah, don't mind if I do.
That is gorgeous.
Um, Colonel, I think that's the reward.
Oh, reward.
Oh, okay, we can't wait around just taking it.
We'll accept payment up front.
I would be hard pressed to roll a diplomacy.
I don't want to end up like this guy, points at the torso on the floor.
Ooh.
I'll aid Cobcorn.
Eight.
Donate him.
No.
God, that's a good idea though.
I forgot all about silver.
I mean, am I aiding or am I just rolling?
You're just rolling.
It's okay.
15.
You'd like it up front.
I would be hard pressed to release a symbol of my lady with no guarantee.
We would see more of the world this way and maybe save more souls.
Roll another diplomacy, Jacques.
An 18.
18?
Ah, perhaps it's the guilt.
But to find out what would happen, any means I could do in order to aid that, I suppose
I should take.
Yes.
I will gift you the longsword now.
Please respect my good faith.
Tell me what happened to Barliss when you find out.
And if this can help cut down anything in your path, then that be the lady's will.
Succeed or fail, we will return and have the sword with us.
Um.
Jacques.
Keep going, keep going.
Jacques reaches out and with his hands out like that to take the sword and he puts his
hand over hers as if he's going to grab it and say thank you and then he just kind of
hovers and is like, thank you.
She raises the sword above her head and turns around facing a statue to Ayomade.
As did the lady before us.
May your quest ascend you to victory.
And then she bows, turns around and hands you the blade.
If you need aid in your travels, feel free to stop by.
There aren't many clerics here in Falcons Hollow, but I'd be happy to help you any
chance I can.
Thank you, Jacques.
You're a seer of us.
Carthana.
Carthana, you sure you don't want to come with us?
We have a lot of fun in the forest.
And we could use a healer.
You can leave now.
All of you.
You don't have to go anywhere, but I won't be talking to you anymore.
And then it goes into like the default every time you click on them.
Yes.
The chat bubble above her head disappears.
No, you can still talk.
Before we go, your lady Ayomade, does she have dealings with the Darkmoon Veil?
Not in so many words.
She's a symbol to conquer over evil and to rise above one's ability, to become more than
we are, for the better.
And you just don't have a following here?
Afraid not.
The family that runs the town sees fit to mock my beliefs.
The people here aren't exactly a religious type.
They have their own beliefs, carved out the world that they were before they made this
place.
They all have their own various gods.
The Creed family themselves openly mocks us by donating in large sums, talking about
all of the good that we do.
But really, they're just trying to keep our religion from taking hold.
Their grip on the people here keeps them away.
More ought to go and visit the herbologist and seek remedial healing than they are holy
blessings.
Oh, oh, my ticker's going.
I'll talk about it outside.
We keep hearing about this Creed guy.
He doesn't sound like a good person.
I keep saying maybe we can just go over there and kick his ass.
We may.
Sorry, we probably can't talk like that in here, huh?
Oh no, you're fine.
Oh, thank you.
Hey, Fang.
Cleric just gave us a sword.
I mean, I think they're cool with it.
Just not in the House of the Holy and all that.
Scarab starts waving his arms around trying to match any symbol of religion he's seen
before.
Just to get good graces from the strange human.
He's having a seizure.
Stand aside.
One more thing before I go.
Just a curiosity.
Do you know of the witches in the wood?
Why, there haven't been any witches in the wood for years.
Well, allegedly.
People speculate talk think that there might still be, but no, the coven left quite some
time ago.
Hmm.
Yes, we found a we found a hut.
Clearly used by a witch.
No witch inside.
Just a sentient.
You've been to the Hag's Hollow.
That's what they call it here.
Hmm.
It's where old Liz Mila used to take up roost in the forest.
It says that on the map.
Whatever happened to her just disappeared.
I don't know.
Just up and left one day.
She was harsh for sure.
But as far as witches and hags go, she was fair and often acted as a healer or a sage
for the town in absence of whatever the apothecary could provide.
But in return for what?
That is what we'll find out.
Huh?
The ideas running through this little one's head.
We should go to the apothecary.
Do you know anything about a man named Druin Gar?
Doesn't ring a bell.
Okay, we're done.
Thank you.
Sense motive.
Plus, don't ask me.
She opens a locket.
It's just pictures of it.
Behind the shrine is another shrine.
The man made of hot dogs.
No, it doesn't seem like she does anything.
Cool.
Yeah, let's go.
Let's go.
All right.
Right behind you.
Thank you for your time.
Scarab's holding the door and as his closing, he's like, good job getting that store from
that idiot human.
Yeah, you have the sword, right?
Right.
Silver long sword.
Yep.
Just choose long sword and then go to options.
And it is a low grade silver for clarity.
Yeah.
So we'll find the dead boy and we'll let her know.
Dude, getting silver.
That's 40 gold pieces.
Yeah, it's crazy.
It's kind of a deal.
The fact that you passed the check twice.
I was like, yep, okay.
Pretty good.
So we're, you know, is effective against like, like and Zinfaye.
Okay, so here's something that's running through my head.
Of course, I don't know the answers here, but people aren't coming to this house of
healing and they're going to the apothecary who she who seems like a trustworthy, nice
lady says is not as good.
And this apothecary is being funded by the Creeds.
No.
So what she told you is the because it's kind of like a poor village, like a farming, not
farming, you know, a lumber village.
They believe in like folk remedies more than they do prayer and magic.
So they go to the apothecary for almost everything they need.
It doesn't help that she is or at least believes herself to be being disparaged by the creed
family.
Yeah.
Religion has its own tendency to accumulate power when enough people believe and the creeds
seem to donate to the church.
But at the same time, they do so almost mockingly while trying to curb her influence on the
people of Falcons Hollow.
So they're disparaging the religion in order to maintain a grip on the people.
Yeah, it's just led me to wonder if they themselves are poisoning the people.
I don't know.
But you can go talk to this person at the apothecary and, you know, sense some motives.
I was just looking at my notes right now and I put drag tracks towards the crew.
The crew, the crew, the ball, the people.
Yeah, Gary.
Yeah.
Like swinging his sword around.
Yeah.
Careful.
Don't wave your arms around like that.
That's going to lead to a character death.
Okay.
The apothecary is not that far.
You go about two blocks away before you find yourself in front of a charming two story
log building that has creeping ivy on its side walls and flowering window boxes that
cover the facade.
Above it is a wooden sign suspended by chains that reads in a cutesy cursive font, roots
and remedies.
Oh, that's cute, isn't it?
Rains and remedies.
As you make your way inside, the small mud track shops interior smells of burned earth
and spicy incense.
Bunches of dried herbs hang from the ceiling along with dangling pots, presses, alchemical
equipment and arcane glassware.
Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored powders and a collection of dried, preserved and jellied
animal parts fill high shelves and tables that serve as both displays and a workspace.
As the bell on the door jingles, bounding up to you comes who you presume to be the
owner.
A dusky skinned female woman who is real thin, appearing to be of Gurundi descent,
who has glasses and her hair arranged in dreadlocks loosely pulled back from her face.
Welcome to roots and remedies.
What can I help you?
Are you a witch?
Welcome to roots and remedies.
How can I help you?
Sounds like a riddle.
Hag.
I'm just gonna call it now.
Sense motive.
You're gonna make me do this every ten minutes?
No.
She's a killer.
Hello.
Nice shop you have here.
There are sick people.
Do you know anything about sick people?
Calm down there.
Names first.
Laurel Gebrie.
Holds out a hand.
Jacques reaches his hand out and does not grab hers and pulls it back.
She does an over-exaggerated mock shake, throwing her hand up in the air and spins in place.
Now, what's all this then about sick people?
You're a lot.
Colonel?
Yeah.
You see Colonel, he's like kind of poking at stuff on the shelves.
He finds like a dried up lizard.
As he's touching it, the head breaks and he just kind of pushes some stuff in front of
it.
Yeah.
Colonel Corncob.
At your service.
Yeah, we heard that there were sick people.
We don't know anything about it either, really.
We're just told, come here, see what's going on.
Anybody needs help?
Well, now that you mention it, there have been more people as of late.
As you can see, she points at the floor.
It's obviously like tracting caked in mud.
It's not like people wipe their feet before they come in.
A bit busy.
Not too unusual for this time of year for people to be getting sick.
Although they have been getting more sick more recently.
She begins rummaging through stuff while she's talking, just placing various jars and herbs
and stuff on the counter.
I think I had four different people come in last week and then there was the Gabriel's
boy the week prior to that.
He was sick and now that I think about it, I haven't checked in with the Clarks in over
two weeks and she's still pulling things out left, right and center.
And then finally she stands up and she's like, damn it all, I'm out.
I don't, this is awkward.
I have run dry of remedies.
She says with a bunch of crap just around her on the counter.
People have been getting sick now that you mention it.
Glad you came.
Thank you.
Really appreciate that.
The people require a specific tincture that is made from an ingredient, which I apparently
am completely out and she's just like still looking around trying to make sure she has
any more.
Are you mercenaries?
People for hire?
People who want gold?
People who do things for money?
Yes.
Oh yeah.
Yup.
I'm gonna take a wild guess.
You looking for mushrooms?
Scarabs already digging through Jacques' bags.
Her eyebrows go up and she's like, I am looking for mushrooms.
Oh, is it these?
I need.
A mushroom.
Pulls out a blue and a green mushroom.
What I'm looking for is iron bloom.
Oh, this blue one.
No, that's my mushroom.
How did you get that bag?
Hey, shh.
What, what?
I have questions.
Why do they need this specific tincture?
Yeah, I was gonna ask the same thing.
What are they sick with, do you know?
Cholera.
Just like in Skyrim where you accidentally get quest items, you walk up to somebody,
they're like, I need this.
Oh shit, I have it.
Here you go.
Quest done.
You know?
Why do they need this very, very specific tincture?
So lately I have noticed a concerning increase in the number of illnesses among the loggers.
Now you know these rough and tumble frontier types, they're not going to go see a doctor
until the last possible moment.
In fact, people would rather crawl through my door sometimes.
I, however, have a general medicine that is there to take care of the symptoms and hopefully
abate any incoming wave of disease that may spread.
I am attempting to head it off.
Unfortunately, this started cropping up all kind of at the same time it has.
You can imagine, I don't have a lot of time to go out on my own unless I'm foraging and
I haven't been able to do that in a while.
And I am out of this mushroom that I need for that specific medicine.
As for what they have, I don't know.
I just treat symptoms.
People come in, say I have a bum foot, I'm like, hey, here's some burdock.
They come in, they say, my head hurts.
Well, I think I have some bark for that.
And what are the symptoms?
I hate you.
Maybe anger.
Maybe you have it.
I do like to think of her saying, I hate you.
The symptoms vary.
Not quite the same between each of those, but there is some kind of underlying sense
of general fatigue and heaviness that makes people feel like they're about to get ill.
I haven't been able to pinpoint it.
Some people complain of headaches.
I even had one person claim that they were hearing voices, but all of them seem to have
this general impending dread.
Now I normally would go and forge for these things myself, but for whatever reason, this
cropping up at the time of year that it has, it being the middle of the rastle and all,
these mushrooms are a bit more scarce on the forest edge.
And I, I don't know if you know, I'm not a warrior.
I can't forge that far into the forest.
It's fairly dangerous.
I see that you were able to accumulate some, which means you've been to the deeper part
of the forest.
And matter of fact, let me see those.
And she begins to rummage through them.
And she's like, these are beautiful.
These are great.
These are fantastic specimens.
There's only six of them though.
And I need twice that.
If you've been in the forest as far as you have, would you be willing to go a little
further and maybe find me more?
We are kind of heading back in that direction.
She can mark the map.
Oh yeah, the map.
I love maps.
They're great.
It's a very different voice for Scarab.
He's just wondering how she was supposed to ever get this stuff again.
Yeah.
Hmm.
That's like a time of year thing.
Mushrooms tend to grow.
I'm not a fucking mycologist.
I don't know.
They just don't grow right now as commonly as they do at different times of the year.
This disease kind of like popped up.
You need a little bit more rain.
You need...
She just hasn't been able to forge as many of them from the edge of the forest.
And so she needs them from deeper within.
If you're going to look anywhere, the first place that comes to mind would be that old
hags hollow.
She always had things around growing around all over the place.
Yeah, that's where I got those ones that you took from my hands.
I'm sure we'll find more.
It's a mushroom!
Oh yeah.
Hmm.
Yeah, we can go back and look for some.
Well if you do happen to find more of them, I'd be happy to reward you.
I know that work doesn't come cheap and work's not free and you are mercenaries after all.
Hired swords.
I would be willing to give you three alchemical recipes of your choosing from my shop.
Recipes.
I should clarify, not actual recipe.
She will reward you with alchemical items.
Sorry.
Gotcha.
She will offer you, each of you, a common level three non-poison alchemical consumable
of your choice.
Wow.
Yeah.
Could I do some sort of medicine check based off the symptoms she gave me to see what could
possibly be causing this kind of thing?
That's a good idea.
Go for it.
Give me a medicine check.
A twelve?
Yeah.
You have no idea.
I mean, it wouldn't be too hard for somebody who studies as much as you do to figure out
what disease something could be based on the symptoms.
The thing that's confusing is the wide array of symptoms and the lack of continuity between
all of the people that are experiencing symptoms.
Laurel told you that some people have headaches, some people have, well she listed a bunch
of them, but it doesn't seem like anything is pinpointing to a particular thing.
The only commonality between them all was a general sense of fatigue, heaviness, and
lethargy.
But they had somebody who came in complaining of headaches, they had somebody who had lack
of sleep, they had somebody else that was hearing voices, so it seems to be something
altogether just off about the health of the town.
Laurel is it?
Laurel?
That's me, Laurel Gebrie.
Well while we're out, do you need any other herbs or what have you for this tincture of
yours or is it just the mushrooms?
That would be the final ingredient I need for my recipes, however if you're out and
you find anything else of interest or value I'd be happy to take a look.
If you don't mind me asking, what else do you put in these tinctures of yours?
Trade secret I'm afraid.
Share everything.
I'd be out of the job.
You sense motive?
Yeah.
Sure.
Yeah.
What is that?
What's your bonus?
Oh for what is it?
Well perception.
Perception?
Seven.
And for you Skerb?
Seven.
Yeah she seems to be genuine, if she's trying to guard any secrets it's just the secret
to her business.
Okay.
Damn I wanted to do a crafting check to see if I could figure her out.
The secret of her business is the backs of others.
Cools hate doctors.
Are these people ever, oh they're super, what is it, homeopathic?
Superstitious.
They're superstitious.
Superstitious.
Are these people ever fully healed is the question I would like to ask.
She treats the symptoms.
Yeah but never like a full heal.
Yeah exactly.
So among the many things she said, she's had an increase in people in the last two weeks
or so.
It's hard for her to recount.
She's had like an odd case here or there but the number of people complaining about that
lethargy symptoms seems to be increasing as of late.
Just one more question to narrow it in.
Is it just the loggers?
Thank you I was going to ask the same thing.
Oh no.
Now it seems to be loggers, children, merchants.
Damn near anyone.
Although I have had a few more loggers than others but I mean the town's a logging town.
Most of the people who come here are loggers.
Do you know why they don't go to a healer?
Well, Falcon's Hollow.
Oh healing, healing magic's pretty expensive too.
It's Falcon's Hollow.
Only the desperate and the brave.
These rugged mountain types, they don't want to come in unless they absolutely have to.
I once had a man deny that he had a broken foot for six weeks.
Wow, blue collar sounds about right.
More like blue foot.
That's the only thing that got him here.
Have you thought about consulting with the cleric of Iomade?
Why?
To see if maybe she may have an idea of what is causing this illness and maybe the two
of you together could try and fix it?
I mean no offense to the priestess but she's not exactly a doctor.
Now that isn't to say she couldn't magically heal him but I also dare say that there's
probably not enough money between the entire town to heal everyone and even if she did
it on good faith that would involve the town's people going or wanting to even go to a temple
of a god they may or may not believe in.
How does this town feel about workers unions?
Oh they feel great.
They're part of one.
They all work for the Lumber Consortium all together.
Are you a part of this union?
God's no.
I wouldn't dream of it.
They're terrible people.
Hence your lack of stock.
Right.
I only dare go out as far as the loggers can see me.
Any further beyond that I don't want to be out of the range of men with axes who could
save me.
Do you want to buy anything?
Um, hmm.
Where do your people get their food?
What do you mean your people?
You and your people.
Where do you get your food?
Oh at the tavern.
Sitting duck.
Pretty good.
Is that the poppin' place?
That's the one.
Large lady.
Red hair.
Beautiful.
Very gruff.
I love her.
I hate you.
I said it before and I'll say it again.
I've had enough to hear it with you birds.
What is her name?
I really should have written all this down.
Again, came to the part about the town prep being done.
I don't have to do that anymore.
Sorry.
No, no, you're fine.
Just control F tavern.
You might find it that way.
Nah, I should look it up.
Hopefully if you guys remember it then I won't have to.
I'm gonna put it in my notes.
Sitting duck is run by Ergen Tok.
Ergen.
Ugen.
Yeah, who knows.
It could be a curse from the forest.
Think everything we're doing is connected.
You would think there's they're really just in and out.
Random traders like myself coming through.
I don't feel sick.
At least I don't think I feel sick.
You are looking a little yellow.
Oh, that's normal.
That's just my scales.
Looks like his arm really quick.
Starts sweating.
I am feeling pretty tired.
Are you the only herbalist in town?
The only one with a shop.
Three once in a while we will have a merchant who wanders through with some form of new
tonic or potion or herb or what have you.
But I'm the only one who's put down roots.
Is it?
That's the name of the store.
It's pretty cool.
Is there?
Nah, she's good at selling.
It's true.
Take my money, please.
No.
I don't have any money.
Is there a person that travels through more often than others?
Sorry, I'm just trying to clear up my notes because in my notes I had medicine man herbalist.
I think it might have been you.
I'm just making sure that it was you.
I think you might have assumed my gender.
Happens a lot.
Sorry.
I understand.
It's a woman's world and men just keep trying to climb to the top.
Can't be happy in their place.
I don't understand.
Me neither.
That's a terrible joke.
Get that one from the red.
Get it out of here.
I don't even want to hear that again.
Let's see here.
You guys got any ideas for more info we can gather here?
Not really.
No.
It is rather fishy though.
I feel like it's either got to be a curse from cutting into the forest or decreed.
Doing it to their own people.
Somehow.
But I don't know how deep their hands go into stuff.
Because I mean it kind of sounds like the American fast food system.
It's really cheap.
We eat it.
We get sick.
We feel lethargic.
We feel fatigued all the time.
Speaking for myself.
You could spend a little time around town trying to gather some intel if you'd like.
You could pick up on a few other rumors or some history or what have you.
I love rumors.
Even if we could find some people that are sick.
Leave the store.
I like her.
She's really nice.
Very energetic.
She's very well played.
She was a lot.
Gather information is that society?
Probably diplomacy.
Emon you should know how to use your own skills.
Damn it.
Alright.
He's got me.
I'll click on it.
Diplomacy.
Yeah you guys could spend a couple hours.
If each of you wants to roll you could gather info about a different thing or the same thing
depending.
I'd like to get information.
No I do but I don't know that it'd be useful.
I do kind of want to get information on the family.
But I don't know if that would really help us right now.
Maybe not but information is information.
And also you never know what you'll know now that you'll need to know later.
Yeah Scarab would want to speak to, would want to narrow in on the sickness.
Find commonalities.
What about you Emon?
What are you even trying to figure out?
We know the sickness started like two weeks ago.
I want to focus in on just try to find, gather information to find closer to where it started.
So sickness started about two weeks ago?
Yeah.
I mean I only rolled a sixer.
The hunks team.
I don't know if I'm going to get that.
It'd be round about two weeks.
Given the people are stubborn to come late it could have been weeks prior to that.
The person was but you know at least the earliest that she remembers was two weeks ago.
And the hunter left about two weeks ago.
I'm just curious if that's connected.
Did the hunter do something?
Like is this town now cursed?
I see where you're headed.
Did he get somewhere that cursed this whole place?
And you also heard when you first got into town that the like cobalt activity is fairly
recent as well.
And so that's why this time unlike last time when you came to Valkens Hollow people were
a little more wary of you when you walked in.
The loggers didn't like you guys just on site.
So there's another something going on there.
Yeah he's definitely around town because of this.
He's got his hood up.
And people are still going to know he's a cobalt but he doesn't want to just go waving
his head around.
Yeah I want to gather information about the creeds.
Go ahead and make your roll.
You got a 24.
Very nice.
Let's find out about the sick people.
And you're doing one on gathering about the creeds.
The creeds.
And I rolled a 19.
We'll start with Scarab and Colonel.
We'll assume the two of you were asking at least in near proximity of each other trying
to gather.
So as you heard from the apothecary it seems like more people are starting to complain
about this lethargic feeling that are coming up.
You do also hear that this is about the time every year that illness kind of like peaks.
It's like the equivalent of their flu season coming up.
And so there's still that baseline that's going through.
But that normally doesn't involve the same like wide array of symptoms that are happening.
So there are people definitely talking about like in hushed tones about the weird experience
that like X is going through or what they heard about the Y family and what they're
having to endure with theirs.
So there's definitely a lot to talk about it.
Enough to where people are noticing.
And from what you know of like typical seasonal illnesses you typically don't find a bunch
of people murmuring about flu season again.
You want to go get that shot.
It's not that kind of conversation.
There are people talking about whether or not the creeds ought to take more drastic
measures and begin quarantining people.
There are other people that are fearful of the fact that because there's so many different
things you never know who might or might not be sick or if you might be sick from something
else altogether.
You even hear a couple talking about well I always feel like shit and so right now I
can't tell whether or not I have it or if I just feel like shit.
Relatable.
That's about all you can get going on.
Nobody even has a name for this new thing yet.
Okay.
Yeah.
If you want to start a rumor and give it a name.
COVID-19.
I'll get to yours.
Yeah with Colonel's role he wasn't really helping.
He was just walking around with Scarab.
Just bothering Scarab.
Hey!
He's got the fox on his shoulders right now.
Hell yeah.
I got a name.
I got a name for a little bugger.
Yeah what's that?
Command Sergeant Major Twinkles.
Twinkles?
You're gonna call it Twinkles?
Yeah.
Is that good?
I don't know.
My last shot.
The people are like Twinkles.
Is that what this is?
I got the Twinkles.
I think I might be coming down with the Twinkles.
Oh man we should patent that.
Let's go talk to the Apothecary person again.
Tell her that the disease or whatever is called the Twinkles.
You could honestly roll the starter rumor and you could just be like I've heard of that
disease.
Where I come from they call it the Twinkles.
Can we do it on accident?
It's harmless fun.
Who would that be diplomacy as well?
There is an activity I think for starter rumor.
I think it's deception.
There is a feat.
Oh is there a feat for it?
Well yeah.
That's one of the feats that Nathan had.
So right.
I know it's a feat.
It could be make an impression or lie.
Deception.
I think it would be better.
I would like if it happened on accident.
An accidental roll.
Roll for it I'm on.
What are we rolling?
Diplomacy?
Is that what it is?
Yeah because people would hear.
We would be asking people about the sickness and then they overhear us talking about Twinkles.
I got a 19.
Are we adding diplomacy?
Is that what we said?
That's what I did.
Okay yeah.
12.
To make an impression.
We're rolling like shit.
12.
Actually my familiar, you know this little fox is now Colonel Cobb's familiar.
One of the abilities the familiar has is ambassador.
It's an ambassador.
It's fun.
It says your familiar knows how to act cute or focused on cute helping you to make a good
impression despite being a minion your familiar gains one reaction at the start of its turns
which it can use to aid you on diplomacy checks to make an impression.
So 13.
13 to start a rumor.
And what did you get man?
A 19.
You can have Twinkles all you want just don't get it on me.
You don't want to spread the Twinkles?
Spread the love.
Spread the Twinkles.
Here.
Everyone's looking at us.
Look at the little guy on the shoulder it's fun.
I don't want Twinkles.
We'll come back to that later.
Back away six feet.
That's right we're not doing five foot squares we're doing six foot squares.
That way you can't touch me.
Jacques what you gather from your investigation a few bits of like small tidbit information
first and then as you continue to expound on these questions with other people you begin
to learn a bit more about Falcon's Hollow's history.
So first as you begin to ask around there are a mixed set of opinions about the Creed
family.
There are some people those usually in like higher positions of wealth that seem to not
mind the Creeds or think that they do a fine enough job although they do complain that
the more modern generation has like a weaker stomach than the older generations.
And then you find people that just downright hate Creed but they say it in hushed words
as they do they don't want to openly badmouth them.
The poorer people?
Right there are some people when you ask about the Creed family who downright just cover
their side of their face and turn away from you and walk away.
As you continue to ask around you find friendly people who are proud of their town and willing
to share a bit of the history and with that you come to learn that Falcon's Hollow was
founded 150 years ago almost.
It's been around for a long time and originally it was a hasty settlement set up by the Lumber
Consortium from Tal Dwar and it had three founding families.
That was known as the Tassiturn Larco clan, the brave Samkills and the brutal Creeds.
These families weathered the Harpy Hag Massacre of 4603, finally ending that conflict by marrying
a Larco's son off to one of Hag Uzzmila's seemingly innumerable daughters.
They ended the decade long period known as the Misery which took place from 4631 to 4641
which claimed many of the children of Falcon's Hollow until the Attic Whisperer responsible
was defeated by the eldest of the Creed daughters, Valkry.
Eventually the three founding families began to die off.
Halb Goblin Strife of 4679 claimed the last living Scion of the Samkills, although more
than a few old timers insist that the crossbow bolt buried in the young Jabrika Samkills
back bore suspicious resemblance to those used by the Creed's patriarch.
And then in 4701, Falcon's feud culminated in the eradication by mass burning of the
Larco clan by a panicked mob who had come to believe the Larcos had become unnatural
folk, changelings and stranger kin thanks in no small part to a rumor mongering from
Creed lips.
Today Thuldrin Creed and his son Jern are the only surviving descendants of the original
founding families and the sole owners of the whole region's lumber consortium chopping
rights.
Thuldrin, a lady?
Thuldrin isn't it?
Sorry Thuldrin and who?
Jern.
J-U-R-I-N.
Man you said Thuldrin, I heard Philbo.
Philbo and Bong Bong.
She's got the twinkles.
I straight up heard Philbo.
Philbo and Bong Bong.
I have reason to suspect there's a hag in our midst.
Hell yeah.
Jacques, as you finish your investigation you come to a slow horrible realization that
was once, that what was once a town founded by three families has been whittled down perhaps
through nefarious means to one ruling family and the opinion of them is overall not good.
And this family is the one that sated a witch if I heard that right.
Right?
The children were-
The daughter.
They married one of the daughters.
It was one of the Larcos that they married off to Ulysmilla's daughter as a peace offering.
And that family became unnatural.
That was the rumor that was allegedly propagated by the Kringas.
It's almost like you gotta keep filling the car with gas.
The conflict was ended by marrying a Larco son off to one of the hag's seemingly innumerable
daughters.
Ulysmilla is the hag whose daughter he married.
So innocence as a round cap.
That's the end of today.
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As a quick aside, the entangled condition does not reduce AC, but the condition is that
if its health drops to a certain threshold that it tries to flee.
But given the crit failure that it had that left it immobile and the devastating strike
that you laid on it, I gave it Frightened 3.
Oh nice.
Wow.
As it could see, it was afraid for its mortality at that point.
And that drops its AC.
Brutal world.
And you don't have to include that, that's just for...
Because I don't have to tell y'all conditions are shit.
I don't tell you nothing!
Okay, I did.