Day 3
Another day on the march under the relentless sun. Ksandajja resorts to her weather charm to keep her skin from turning bright red.
It seems that nothing lives along this stretch of the route, for they encounter not a single creature as they plod on. They pass another rocky cliff pierced by a multitude of caves; perhaps the dwellers within have frightened off all other life.
That evening they walk on until the sun has almost vanished, for Novoldgan does not wish to camp too close to the black caverns.
That evening round the campfires...
Fhenteskeer has noted the contempt in which the caravaneers hold his friend, Grebdal Themp, and has taken it upon himself to do something about it. He sits before the crackling fire, regaling a group of road-weary traders with the tale of his little band's exploits at the frozen temple in the heart of the sweltering jungle. As he nears the climax, he invites Grebdal Themp over to tell of slaying the many-limbed mutant reptile, pretending not to notice the sudden ill humour of the others. Grebdal Themp's narrative is a first halting, but as he remembers the battle his excitement grows, and soon the traders are hanging on his every word, so much so they they assail him with questions at the tales end, and plead for him to share his side of the story of the evil cult that menaced coffer-filling Ângu.
[Etiquette at -2: 6 MAG +1 spec. skill +3 Silver Tongue -2 = 8- to succeed
2d6=2, critical success = 'we were so wrong about him. he's ace'.
Q: What does the duenna do after keeping an eye on Ilog since they left? make / letter
Q: How well has she been keeping watch? d6=6, extremely closely
I gave the other PCs Awareness at -2 to have suspicions, but atrocious rolls confirm their obliviousness...]
"You! Sellsword! How would you like to earn a bit of gold?"
Ilog wheels round to find the steely-eyed duenna looking at him with only half her usual scowl.
"That is highly dependent on what you propose that I do."
"It is a simple task, really, but worth [2d6x5=] twenty golden coins if it be carried out. When we reach Drammub, I will give you a letter to take to a certain [Majestically / Cold] noble personage residing there. I must stay with my charge and so shan't have the time to attend to this matter myself. But this personage -- that is, their servant -- will pay you the gold for this trifling errand."
"And why me? For I am warrior -- not a messenger."
"I've watched you, and several others hired for protection along this route; you seem the most trustworthy of the lot."
"Very well, I accept."
"Good. I shall provide you with the letter and the details of where to take it once we have arrived in Drammub."
[Onto Ksandajja's jealousy complication...
Q: What is the jealous party like? Innocently / Horrible; d6=m
Q: What is the substance of the problem? Enormously / Simple]
Still elsewhere...
Ksandajja is feeding the camels when the padding of velvet slippers on the hard-packed sand alerts her to company. She looks up to see Balsugan, the caravan master's only son, glaring at her with what he must take for a fearsome expression.
"You -- strumpet! When I tell my father about this, he'll abandon you to the trackless wastes to be murdered by bandits, or devoured by XLAIA, or -- or worse! -- unless you stop this instant! This instant, do you hear?"
"Stop what? What is it I'm supposed to have done?"
"You're trying to steal my girl!"
"I assure you, I'm not."
"Oh, sure! And the last few pretty mercenaries through here weren't after her either!" [knowing - history - knowledge]
"I'm just learning to fight without falling out of the saddle -- nothing more."
"Your lessons are over! Stay away from her or I'll give you a fight!" [hostile - combat - future action]
"Don't be ridiculous. I could reduce you to cinders with a word and a gesture."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I wouldn't want it to be necessary. How can I prove to you that I'm no threat? To your relationship, I mean."
"Stay well away! None of the others did..." [knowing - telling - last scene]
"Oh, by Asrel's blessèd knickers, this is too much! Come with me now and let's we three settle this once and for all."
[Q: Does he resist? Unlikely (5+): O1 C8 - no]
Ksandajja leads Balsugan by the hand like a wayward child over to where Telnah is repairing a broken saddle.
"Your little paramour thinks we've been having it off," says the sorceress. "Tell him."
"My little KRELL, there's nothing going on between us!"
"And he thinks I'm not the first."
"You wound me! I'd never be so faithless."
"So you've not had affairs with any of the pretty mercenaries who pass through the caravan?"
"No."
"No you have, or no you haven't?"
"No. I have not."
"I want to believe you..."
"Then why don't you?"
"You swear you haven't?"
"Not a one."
Ksandajja decides a little bit of magic is the only way to keep this exchange from lasting until dawn. She mumbles the words of a subtle charm.
[She casts Honesty cantrip: 2d6=7, success (only fails on a fumble) : Telnah must Test her LUCK/SKILL or reveal a recent lie: SKILL 8 (as mercenary cavalry: 2d6=9, failure.
Q: Was she lying? unknown 1d6=4: O4 C4 - no, but...]
"Really and truly?" says Balsugan as the charm takes hold of unsuspecting Telnah.
"Alright, just the once: with that MAN-ORC from Khul. Sometimes a girl likes a bit of rough.... why did I just say that?"
"Truth magic," says Ksandajja.
"Well, what about him then?"
"Sure. Tell us, have you ever had an illicit liaison?"
[His reply (1d6): 1-2 yes, 3-4 no, 5-6 equivocation: 1
casting roll succeeds; B's SKILL 5: 2d6=6, fail
Q: Truth? certain (2+): O3 C8 - yes]
"Ummmmm.... also just the once?"
"Oh," says Ksandajja, "is that my friend, Fhenteskeer? It must be time for our prayers. Sorry, must dash!"
Day 4
Ksandajja meekly asks Telnah if they can continue her lessons.
[Bargain (SKILL 6 +2 for Learned), 2d6=8, just
Q: How did she and Balsugan leave things? Enormously / Lonely - broke up]
Telnah says that she has plenty of spare time, now that she's single again. And it just might help take her mind off things.
[travel rolls: no encounter or event.
feature = cottage
Q: Who lives there? Nicely / Horrible - a hag
Q: Does the caravan leader have any knowledge of her? 50/50 (4+): O4 C2 - yes, and...
Q: What's she like? Nicely / Mighty]
Not long after midday, Novoldgan calls the caravan to a halt for a rest in the narrow strip of shade along a stony escarpment. Halfway up the cliff face Ksandajja can make out a rude structure of mud-brick clinging precipitously to the rock.
"What's that?" she asks the caravan master.
"That is the dwelling of a terrible, old HAG. She won't come out into the daylight, but fear of her keeps the bandits away, so I always rest the caravan here."
"I want to meet her," says Ksandajja. "Is it permitted?"
"Be my guest. But we leave when the sands of my hourglass have run down, so don't tarry."
The climb up the rock face is mush easier than anticipated, almost as if the hag intended it for visitors -- or unsuspecting prey. Ksandajja has left her sword with Novoldgan; she hopes coming unarmed will shew her to be absent of ill intentions. But she calls a bold halloo into the dark hut, for she must not display any weakness or fear.
HAG SKILL 7 STAMINA 7
MAGIC 7
[Etiquette roll to avoid a faux pas with the Hag: 2d6=4, success]
An impossibly shrill, grating voice answers in kind, and bids her enter. The only light inside the dusty enclosure is the hag's cooking fire made from old bones, above which something greasy bubbles in a cauldron of beaten bronze. Ksandajja's nose wrinkles at the reek of carrion, but the rheumy-eyed hag is too blind to notice. She toddles over, squinting at the new arrival, then grabs her by the wrist in a grip like iron manacles. She pulls Ksandajja close, sniffing noisily at her skin and hair.
"Come not so lately from the jungle, have ye? And oh! the old magic ye tasted there. Very dark. Very old." [UNE: mysterious - obscurity - previous scene]
"That will lie hidden. I shan't go back to disturb it."
"Wise ye are, then. Now, what brings ye to the cottage of old Hlugkhas?"
"I come seeking your counsel. The road I travel is long and dangerous, and the nearer I come to its end, the less sure I am of how I am to proceed."
"There's none can tell ye that, child, save your own heart."
"But the foe I must face seems indomitable."
"And what foe be that?"
"Ymiasma, the so-called Demon Queen."
"Oh, she's a right horrid one. Wicked and hurtful, and a vicious tyrant. 'twere good her domain be so remote, lest she raise armies with a conqueror's fist. So great she is and awful -- even hiding in her fortress, she poisons the land. The Blue Wastes spread year on year, and the dying land surrounding them becomes lifeless desert. Ye're far from the first hero I've seen going off to meet her. If it be truly my counsel ye seek, then heed: turn back now, and forget this doomed errand. Greater than ye have sought fortune and fame in the wastes, and found only death." [prejudiced - dislike - power]
"I seek not gold, and have no use for glory. Yet must I see her evil vanquished."
[Q: Can the hag offer advice? unknown d6=1, 100%: O5 C6 - yes
(1d6) 1 item, 2 weakness, 3 ally, 4 defence, 5 secret, 6 riddle: 4
Q: What defence? Carelessly / Lonely]
"Then I'll tell ye what I told the others, though none ever seemed to hear it. Old Hlugkhas has heard her mournful sighs carried on the night winds. The Queen sits friendless and alone in her tower. She'll not harm ye if she wants to keep ye round for companionship."
next post: a new undertaking
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