Chapter 1d: Dockside

[Marullus]

Hold off on reaching land just yet. You can RP a bit more at sea that day but don't pass a night or land the boat yet.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

Olga’s encounter once again with the king of elfland leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

Not to be trusted, she thinks to herself while lowering the forward sail and preparing the ship for the night. She has resisted the vexing master before and she will try to do so again though she knows he has great power in the world.

Patron Roll [1d20+1] = 8+1 = 9

Olga feels the sea breeze in her hair and looks to the coast. She feels a connection out there in the woods - not sure what it is but she gives herself over to the feeling and reaches out to it in her mind. She feels a sharp pain in her head and a whisper. Leaning hard against the tiller of the ship Olga takes a few deep breaths eager for a bit of rest and words begin tumbling from her throat in breathy whispers. “Saeldach el beljorda serrulia... Saeldach beljurnian djeronda...” This only adds to the feeling of strain of these past hours as the last of her voice slips out with the last syllables of the demonic words...

Find Familiar [1d20+18] = 14+18 = 32, 1 char lvl, 15 spellburn, 2 minor corruption

Hair suffused with dark energy
Minor corruption [1d10] = 9

Hair turns bone white
Minor corruption 9 [1d4] = 1

Lost voice
Lost Voice [1d4] = 1

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven forester

Having seen enough of the ships and city burn, Onnekas organizes the bodies for burial. He arranges the elf corpses side by side and the others side by side in another location on the ship's deck.

He approaches the elder Olga once again. "I...I should tell you something. What we have endured today has made me think. For nearly 500 moons I have roamed the forest. Mainly alone. I know the rest of you talk about me...how I'm the last to understand a text...how I'm clumsy. And most painfully, how the King of Elfland himself has not found me worthy of so much as a whisper."

He pauses, uncomfortable with the confrontational manner of the conversation he's started.

"I hold no ill grudge to you, my elf-kin. All of what you say is true. However, today's events have shown me my destiny. I must do my part, however small, in defense of our kind. And though our ethereal King does not deem me fit, the World Root has. He whispers to me, as the wind through the leaves. He asks me to seek HIM as a patron."

He gauges Olga's reaction. "You may find this blasphemous, as may the King. He may exact revenge upon me. So, I tell you this as a warning. If you choose to associate further with me, I cannot be sure how the King will react."

[Marullus]

Aboard the ship...

Onnekas and Hinrick confront Olga, who explains that her current cultist's robes were a matter of expediency and not loyalty to what now appears to be their foe, the destroyers of Kaerhavn. Both are anxious to get back to land and accept Olga's navigation to that end. Onnekas goes to handle the bodies of the slain elves, at least those that remain on the boat, taking a moment to remember Liss and how she looked as she sunk under the waves. The corpses are arranged in repose upon the sloop's bow deck.

Olga Snorri
After saying this, to the others, Olga appears to pause with a far off look. To Olga, the color of the sky shifts slightly. The unbroken horizon now has the appearance to her as if she is positioned in the center of a hectogon looking outwards at the myriad faces. Olga has seen this before. You bastard!, Olga cries at the sky as each pane of the geometric surface shimmers - as if a stone is dropped into the center of a dark pool of water - and the smiling face of a rider on the back of an albino bird of prey comes into view. You didn't think I would forget about you, did you?, the rider smugly replies...

Olga stands alone for the moment, holding the rudder and choosing a course, and is confronted in a vision by the King of the Elflands. He smugly expresses his claim upon her, legacy of centuries of past dealings. She rebukes him and manages to sever the connection; the vision terminates abruptly. What she owes him already will be difficult to repay but she is not yet ready, not yet. Her aged bones ache, the slowness in her movement acutely reminding her of the consequences of her refusal of his favor before...

Failed Patron Bond: you severed your connection to the Elf King for a month.
Since your Invoke Patron spell affects your permanent Luck score and your Luck score (currently -1) affects your movement, her ill luck and unnatural feeling of slowness and age is linked to her past and current refusals of the Elf King and his patronage.

Onnekas returns as Olga recovers, confessing his own fears about being rejected by the Elf King and choosing the World Root, pensive about her response...

I will hold the Find Familiar results until she has more time for it. Respond to Onnekas here first.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

“I hold no ill will for you. I see how you honor our kind and think well of you for it. How do you name yourself?”

Olga says this as she continues her work preparing the ship, only looking up at key moments. She ponders the younger elf for a moment.

“Take care meddling with the greater forces of this world. It can require a greater sacrifice than you may realize or be prepared for. I made a bond with the King of the Elfland long ago and have been running from it since. My life in Kaerhavn provided a brief moment of relief from that bond but he has come again for me. I will support you in your choices in defiance of the king - I am already a doomed traveler and fear I may never have my rest.”

After saying this she returns to steering looking on the horizon and off into the woods.

[AleBelly]

Onnekas

Onnekas replies after a long silence. "I had never considered the King's antipathy towards me to be a blessing. And I appreciate your wise counsel. But I was blessed with few natural gifts. For better or worse I will need the aid of a patron to match the deeds of my ancestors."

He then remembers Olga's request for his name. "I am Onnekas. This name alone carries no reknown. But the name of my ancestors does - I have Seppa blood flowing in my veins. The phoenix-slayers." He pulls a large, bright red feather from his pocket.

The frail elf has a troubled look on his face. "My future deeds are more likely to sully the Seppa name than elevate it. But my destiny is clear regardless. Thank you again, Olga. I shall take your experience in mind when I approach the World Root."

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

“We all have gifts Onnekas, I trust you will find yours soon.

Your life is yours to decide on your own and you have survived the destruction of Kaerhavn. I envy you in many ways Onnekas Seppa.”

Olga hangs on the last name a moment as she says it and looks as if she is thinking on her past. She is not certain she knows the name but certain she has seen feathers like that before.

“We must take advantage of this new beginning. I hope that together we can help each other make a fresh start in this world. I suspect I will be needing more help before too long and I think you are a worthy traveling companion.

And perhaps this Ydgrrl is a kinder force in the world.”

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven forester

"It is truly an honor for me that you see me as a companion. I have much to learn from you, and would like nothing more than to share my fresh start."

The elf pauses, his black eyes focused on the forest.

"I grow more nervous with each passing moment. It is time for me to embark on this new life."

Given the boon that "detect magic" presents, Onnekas will wait until he can cast this to cast Patron Bond. Since the OOC game discussion suggests we should move forward, I'll put this all here and it can be delayed as necessary...

"I will first clear my mind and allow me to better channel magical energy. Aiwendil's Focus...named after my fifth uncle. It has an interesting side effect of being able to detect magical auras, should that be of use to you."

Modifier: 0 (Int penalty and lvl 1 cancel each other out)

Detect Magic spellcheck [1d20] = 20 wow! but oops, forgot -2 penalty for it being a level 2 cleric spell. Result = 18

Feeling very in tune with the ethereal force around him, Onnekas quickly scans the deck for any magical items then channels his focus to forming a bond with his patron.

Modifiers: 11 spellburn (3 Strength, 4 Agility, 4 Stamina) + 4 spellcheck bonus from Detect Magic's mercurial effect +2 luck = 17

Onnekas patron bond [1d20+17] = 20+17 = 37 holy crap

"Yddgrrl, I answer your call. I give of my life force and pledge to protect the forested lands where I roam. In exchange, I bid you aid me in the arcane arts..."

The patron considers the caster integral to his
long-term goals. The caster learns the spell invoke
patron as it relates to his patron and may cast it
up to four times per day at a +2 bonus to the spell
check. The patron also gives the caster a gift (for
which a counter-gift is to be expected, of course).
The gift is two patron spells, selected from the patron’s
spell list. The caster can cast either of these
spells once per day in place of a casting of invoke
patron. Each time he casts either of these patron
spells or invoke patron, the caster is indebted to his
patron, who will call in the debt at some point.

Onnekas spellburn effect [1d4] = 1

Sap-blooded. The caster feels her blood running thick as sap, represented by Agility damage. While the spellburn damage remains unhealed, any cut reveals thick green sap instead of blood, and a sharp weapon that strikes the caster suffers a -2 penalty to attack rolls and damage due to the sticky coating of sap, until it is thoroughly cleansed with alcohol or some other form of solvent.

The trees along the coast begin to bend and sway towards the elf...but the force and direction are incongruous with the gentle breeze in their faces. It is as if the limbs are reaching out to him...to ensnare or perhaps embrace him.

Onnekas feels time slow down...and his body tighten. Brilliant hues of green blaze in the eyes of Onnekas...the depth and nuance of the color is revealed to him for the first time. The beauty of it all inspires tears, thick and viscous, to well in his eyes and run slowly and deliberately down his cheeks. It is time for him to go ashore, begin his fast, and commune with the World Root...

[Marullus]

Onnekas and Olga discuss the dangerous choices they make in communing with powerful extraplanar patrons. Onnekas resolves himself to pray to the primeval forest, settling himself on the front of the ship's bow and meditating on the trees along the shore, still visible in the moonlight with his elven vision. Opening himself he feels the World Root flood into him, like a dam has burst, overwhelming. He feels his mind moving through the plants he wandered as a forester, the forests which surround Kaerhavn, the secrets of plants unravelling and unfolding in his mind. Onnekas feels the trees of the shore like the nails on his own fingers, like extension of his hands. Then the whole forest around Kaerhavn, then all the forests, joined at the roots. You are lost in the bliss of it for much of the night, but awaken rejuvinated.

Wow indeed!
Onnekas can Invoke Patron 4 times a day, each time with a +2 bonus. He is integral to the World Root's plans. He also learns Mossycoat and Susurrus of the Trees as spells - they can be used in place of any of the Invoke Patron allowances and are separate from his normal spells.

Alone at the helm, Olga reaches out to a different power. It is not the Elf King alone with which she communes. It is passing midnight when her voice changes as it overcomes her, a grating whisper of unearthly sound. "“Saeldach el beljorda serrulia... Saeldach beljurnian djeronda...” Hinrick can hear it, but doesn't know what it means -- he is familiar with elvish and this certainly is not it. He can feel the unholiness of it, though, and the very words creep on his skin. Olga's eyes roll back in a trance and a fog roils out of the sea. It rolls and billows, semi-solid, over the sides of the ship, flowing over the aft deck, surrounding Olga and splashing, feeling, reaching up past her waist, to her bosom, her shoulders. Her words continue to pour from her mouth, dark and forboding, the sound undulating in rhythm with the reaching and grasping of the sea mists, its touch cold and cloying like the chill of the grave. As she stands, her hair begins to change at the root, the color bleeding out of it to its tips, every strand now a pallorous bone white. Her eyes roll back to normal, the mist recedes, remaining ankle deep, spread across the aft deck around her, chilling her feet with its unearthly touch.

Familiar: Dezzoroth, the Demonic Mist Elemental
AC 14
Intelligence 5
HP: 6
Attack: +2 to hit, 1d4 damage

Grants to Caster:

• Telepathic communication between the mist and the caster.
• +1 to saves vs Mist (inc. Air and Water)
• +6 hit points
• +4 bonus to Fortitude saving throws against any kind of infection, poison, disease, or other debilitating effect.
• +4 bonus to Stealth checks and attempts to obscure or hide.
• Half-damage for any attribute loss from Corruption or from poison, disease, etc.
• Claims caster's soul upon her death.

Between the two contemplative elves in mid-ship, Hinrick has no choice but to watch them or the waves of the sea, the ankle-deep fog unnerving.

Hinrick is the first to notice a barge drifting in the darkness upon the waves. "Halloooo!" sounds a sailor on it, signaling for rescue as your sailing sloop tacks on an ajoining course.

Roleplay reactions. When you take on the mired passengers of the barge (the survivors of the Dwarfworks thread), I will move you to Chapter 2 and let you pick next steps.

[ybn1197]

Seeing the barge, Hinrick pauses for a moment before rushing to Onnekas. "Hey, hey... Look, more survivors! See.." he says pointing towards the barge. "Do you think we can rescue them? There's strength in numbers and we are sorely undermanned here."

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven forester

Onnekas slowly - and reluctantly - emerges from his trance. He smiles broadly, at total peace, as he begins to stand. But his very innards feel congealed, and bending every limb requires effort. He grasps his staff and uses it to steady himself as he rises. He stifles a gasp as he looks at his withered body - he can scarcely see any muscle between sagging skin and bone.

Take care meddling with the greater forces of this world. It can require a greater sacrifice than you may realize or be prepared for.

The words spoken mere hours ago by Olga already gain new significance. He has attained inner tranquility and mental powers at the literal cost of his own flesh. A worthy trade he thinks to himself, and any doubt is erased when he lays eyes upon his elven companion. Her hair is now the color of bone, and she has a strangely menacing fog about her. Yes, the costs of wielding magic are great, but apparently worth it to a more experienced elf. Onnekas knows he'll be in good company.

"Hey, hey... Look, more survivors! See.."

The frail elf hears the halfling's cry and ambles over to him, relying heavily on the cane.

"Do you think we can rescue them? There's strength in numbers and we are sorely undermanned here."

"Good eye, Hinnick." Onnekas pats the halfling's rear with the butt of his staff and squints into the darkness. "Yes, we are stronger with more numbers. If they are friends, that is. Olga, can you get us a closer look?"

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

The barge and the single mast ship come together with a creaking of wood. Olga regards the visible ends of her hair blowing around her and sees that the color has drained from it. "indeed I am a doomed traveler", she thinks and a mist coils around her feet

"Throw them some ropes and keep the barge tied fast as they climb aboard!", she tries to say but her voice has parted from her.

Then she sees Hannu, that old blowhard, lounging in the netting of the barge. Olga grabs a short coil of rope and hurls it down in his direction to give him a start.

[Marullus]

Finish any overnight individual RP here.

The ship's have come together: That role-play begins in Chapter 2b.