On the roadside to Stowside

Ostheim
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On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Ostheim » Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:53 pm

At the best of times, Impiltur was too quiet for Rannie's liking. It was different from the dull roar of Chessenta, of posturing and theatrics, where even the wild-life seemed keen on adding their natural ambience to the drama. Impiltur was a place, as she knew of it, of wind, silence, and snow, where sound would, if it traveled at all, at least travel long.

And it was getting quieter by the day. Death and disappearance, whether by winter's hand or more sinister threats, had their ways. People were vanishing, chantries were depopulated, roads traveled only by the desperate willing to take in the sight of half-buried bones... and villages were becoming deserted.

Such was the case in a small village close to Thelnam, itself by no means comparable to any town. Stowside had been the site of... something, something had happened there. A massacre, Rannie had heard as the foremost in a litany of unsettling rumors. Though the place had been checked by the Warswords (apparently), no further information was forthcoming.

She found this unsatisfactory; more to the point, she felt owed. If this was something else, something bigger...

Whether it was or not did not matter, in the end. A massacre begged a paladin's attention, and she would give it readily. With aid and girdled with the power of her faith, she would range out that way with a few trusted companions to further look into the matter of Stowside's vanishing.

(OOC: Feel free to tag along, but Rannie reserves the right to choose her buddies.)
Wynna Blackwing - Scholar of history, ruin delver, intrigue dabbler
Rannie Marrinson - Knight-Errant, Paladin of Sune
Teobald Grzywacz - Outentown peasant, ranger and adventurer

Silver Snow
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Silver Snow » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:25 pm

It was not the first time that Elhokar's aid was given to the knight of Sune. They had worked together often, and well, whether it was in battle against the criminal, the corrupted, the dead. The demonic. To the druid of the Lord of Beasts, the paladin was an ally, among the most firm he had found in the frozen land he now roamed and protected. Her cause here was his, then.
It was true that the matter of a village slain was an event he could grieve, but rarely might it be one he invested himself into. This was, after all, not the evil or desperation of beasts, but most likely that of man on man.
On Rannie's path to the rumored village, she was joined by Elhokar of Nobanion. His passage was the first through the snows ahead of the small company, his form and muscle that of a large storm-grey wolf, to drive the snow aside for the others behind.

Astral Fire
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Astral Fire » Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:07 pm

As she promised, Adorned Cassandra joins the Knight of Sune as well as she leaves, eager to learn more of this massacre and see if the help of the Broken God is needed in a place that was hunted by such suffering and pain.
She warns all the proper people of her brief absence in time just before leaving.

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Danuvis
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Danuvis » Thu Nov 03, 2016 7:09 am

Merney Valroc is quick to pledge his aid to the cause, having brought it to the eyes of others in the first place, the paladin included, though one might speculate that the man perhaps has a personal investment in Stowside; the dwarf Hulrid the Brittle uttered to be slain, who once forged a sword for the hedge knight.

Either way, the man and his trusty destrier are seen alongside the paladin and others, readied for battle.

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Nereida
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Nereida » Thu Nov 03, 2016 2:12 pm

The recently arrived northerner warrior, Rahve Siegersson, did not hesitate in offering her aid. She appears to have a strong, genuine interest in knowing what happened in Stowside. The young pawn of the Red Knight eagerly awaited for the Sunite's word to depart northwards, if she was deemed worthy of being included in the expedition.
Playing:

Rahve Siegersson, Nars Tribeswoman and Shieldmaiden.
Alannia Phoenix, Battlepriestess of Torm.

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ljuslek
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby ljuslek » Thu Nov 03, 2016 2:26 pm

Wherever Merney Valroc goes, with him goes often the ranger Aleira Nemesk. Of late however, other matters keep her occupied. Instead of following the trail of the brave souls who set out for Stowside herself, she seeks another skilled tracker recently arrived to Impiltur, Yserien Stagheart. Humbly she asks him to accompany the expedition that goes forth with the intent to unravel the mystery of what had befallen the seaside hamlet.

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Obsidian Sea
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Obsidian Sea » Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:28 pm

The party,
  • Rannie Marrinson
  • Elhokar Ravenmane
  • Cassandra
  • Merney Valroc
  • Rahve Siegersson
The destination, Stowside.

The trip takes place in early Uktar, known colloquially as The Rotting. The snow is a great hindrance upon the party's journey. They must make a compromising cut through the old wilderness roads branching off of The Old Road to Thelnam. The next major settlement upon the way is Arn's Cove. But the party need not go that far in order to reach the town of Stowside. Or ... whatever is left of it.

The journey is expected to take two and a half days in the snow.

The likelihood that the way shall be fraught with danger is high.
Heomar Bloodstone

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Obsidian Sea
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Obsidian Sea » Fri Nov 25, 2016 2:45 pm

Day One

The morning is unperturbed. Where they walk, there is a kind of bitter beauty that the Paladin of Sune might perceive. The frozen, vegetal pathways have lost the lustre of romantic winter, fatigued by the months of performance. Spiders, troubling in size, cannot survive the winter, and even they have dropped from their large, glistening webs in the treetops that loom over the old roads, contracting into ugly, dead shapes.

The afternoon knows only a little trouble. The party come across a starving band of Goblins too close to the road to be ignored. The party could try and find their way by the encampment, but even if that had been their wish, the absence of a Ranger on the untamed and obscure path that they take makes such avoidance an opportunity only for more danger. In battle, Elhokar Ravenmane is responsible for defeating one of the wretched creatures; Merney Valroc slays one more of their number; Rahve Siegersson slays the final two, although she suffers a superficial wound from the encounter, as does Cassandra.

The night sets in early, the sun quickly lost behind the clouds. The party make good progress, but traveling in the evening will only waste energy. They take advantage of the bare bones encampment the Goblins had erected, making their own improvements upon it to settle down and rest for the evening in preparation for day two.

Day Two

The morning begins early to compensate for hours lost in the night. As the campsite is being packed down, the party is beset by wolves, desperately hungry. Rannie Marrinson, Merney Valroc, and Rahve Siegersson each slay one of the mangy pack, although it is Rahve Siegersson again who suffers an injury from the encounter. In the presence of the Divinely-entrusted, however, the warrior finds supplication is quickly granted, and their journey will not be slowed as a consequence.

The afternoon is unperturbed. The party manoeuvre as best they can from the thickets dominating the old, abandoned roads so that they can walk near to the coastline and be certain of their journey's course.

The night comes again, and the party is inevitably forced back into the wilds to seek shelter, for there is none upon the coast, and it is too bitterly cold to contemplate setting up beneath the open sky. This proves to be as hazardous as the party might have anticipated, for they are beset by arrows that are spat in rapid succession from the treeline. Kenku territory has been breached. The battle is heated, with most of the Kenku retaining their protective perches in the trees whilst the party struggle with a few wretched skirmishers. Of the skirmishers, Rannie Marrinson and Merney Valroc each kill two. Five Kenku are thought to remain in the trees, and unable to match their skill in ranged weaponry, the party is forced to flee deeper into the forest. Their territory protected, the Kenku need not pursue the party this way. Everybody has suffered injuries from the ambush, and in a hollow, rocky burrow, the party attempt to regain their bearings.

Day Three

Pushed into the forests all the more by the Kenku - what the party hopes shall be the final encroaching danger before they reach their destination - the final stretch of the party's journey becomes longer still. Elhokar Ravenmane, most familiar with the forest, acts as their guide. He is no Ranger, yet none are more proficient than Druids at befriending and speaking to Nature's creatures. The ecosystem of the forest has been devastated by winter in such a way as must be acutely felt by every Druid - such is their connection to the land - but before hibernation sets in early, some few herbivores lend their time to the Druid's plight, and assist his party in finding their way out from the forest.

As such, the morning is unperturbed.

The afternoon is unperturbed.

The night is setting in when the party reach the forest's edge. Moving on, it is just beyond a river and down the opposite sit of a nearby range of hills that Stowside sits, stretching up upon an opposing hillside, and overlooking the sea. Before the party can reach their destination, however, Cassandra takes to suffering from wounds that existed long-prior to the journey's beginning, and she must stop for rest. And so, as The Lady of Loss paints the sky Her colours, and The Frostmaiden's tears - and surely by now they are tears of laughter - drop relentlessly over their exposed position, the party is forced to a standstill to give their companion time to recover from wounds that are beyond the healing strength of any one of them - herself, a Priestess of Ilmater, included.

But that would not force them, illogically, to conclude their day's journey on the hills. No matter the hour, Stowside is not so distant as to justify another night spent in the grueling cold. Maybe an inn there would provide comfort, if indeed any remained to greet them upon their arrival. Before the witching hour comes that evening, the party would arrive at Stowside, and there they would get only the idea of what must have happened less than one month ago to the day: and of what may still be to come for the Impilturan settlements they otherwise know...
Heomar Bloodstone

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Obsidian Sea
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Obsidian Sea » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:04 am

The party arrives, and the sight that they behold is a haunting one. The town of Stowside, stretching from the seafront up into the nook of a long and meandering hill range, is a skeleton; a shadow; an eerie deviation from the prosperity it undoubtedly knew in former days.

Windows are shattered; curtains ripped, as though by claws; the sparse remains of some livestock that the crows had picked to their satisfaction protrude from a new layer of snow that settles down upon the former settlement. As you approach, the settlement can be felt almost to take on a haunted conscience of its own, as a groaning gate on a picket fence swings slowly back - the lone sound which punctures the vacuous atmosphere that otherwise engirdles the town. For its abandonment, perhaps the town should yield some show of bodies? But there are none. Maybe that had all been buried by now.

Spotting your arrival from the south, three Warswords that had been manning the town's perimeter make a hastened descent from the hills to meet you. Later, two Warsword scouts would accompany, who it appears had been sent further out to inquire at the forest borders for the return of whatever danger laid Stowside low. They expect the unlikely party of Rannie Marrinson to state its business.
Heomar Bloodstone

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Ostheim
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Re: On the roadside to Stowside

Postby Ostheim » Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:59 pm

(OOC: Someone else can take over the talking if they like, please.)
Wynna Blackwing - Scholar of history, ruin delver, intrigue dabbler
Rannie Marrinson - Knight-Errant, Paladin of Sune
Teobald Grzywacz - Outentown peasant, ranger and adventurer


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