nelson posted:

Noble. And follow the nice man.

Runcible Cat posted:

Follow the nice man.

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

You follow the man as he requests, but when his path begins to veer away from the quayside you start to feel a little uneasy. You suspect that he is either lost, drunk, or not quite the helpful old beggar he makes himself out to be.

You ask where he is taking you and he says that he knows a short-cut through the town. He leads you into an alley and moments later your fears are confirmed when you find yourself surrounded by six knife-wielding thugs. Your weasel-faced guide disappears into the shadows and the thugs fall upon you from all sides.

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

As the last of the thugs exhales his final breath and crashes to the ground, you make a cursory search of their bodies and discover the following items:

• 6 Daggers
  
• 2 Swords
  
• 3 Gold Crowns
  
• 6 Nobles

You hurry along the alley and emerge into an open courtyard. Here the women of Masama are selling their wares, spread out upon gaily-decorated market stalls. Unlike at the warehouses and emporia of the quayside, the people who attend this market all appear to be natives of the city. As you pass by one stall you overhear two women talking about a place called Kitaezi. One of them insists that the whole city has been placed under a curse. You are about to turn back and ask them more about this city when suddenly you are approached by a tall woman who is swathed from head to foot in a fine blue robe. Anxiously she asks if you are a healer, and her piercing grey eyes continually dart to the satchel slung over your shoulder. It is as if she knows that you are carrying the Moonstone.



Your Kai Sixth Sense tells you that she means you no harm. You sense that she is greatly troubled and, when you ask what is wrong, she says that her daughter, Harni, is gravely ill. She pleads with you to come and help her and, although you deny that you are a healer, you feel compelled to answer her desperate plea for help.



Automatically took 3 Gold Crowns and 5 Nobles.

The woman leads you through the shabby streets of Masama to her house on the boundary of the town’s wealthy quarter. It is a two-storey dwelling, modest in comparison to others nearby yet richly appointed, with servants, a stable, and a fragrant orchard of guyan trees. You are ushered upstairs to where a young girl lies in a darkened room. She has a fever and a sickly grey pallor that makes her look more than twice her age. You recognize at once that she is suffering from Mysua. It is a disease that is spread by swamp flies and is not uncommon among the jungle-dwellers of Shadaki.

Using your Magnakai Curing skills, and aided by the presence of the Moonstone, you are able to neutralise the infection that has ravaged this young girl’s body. Within a few hours her fever has disappeared and a healthy colour returns to her face. She shows every sign they she will make a complete recovery. Her mother is overjoyed and she thanks you repeatedly. She insists that you stay here as her guest and she provides you with your own room overlooking the river.

Over a delicious evening meal prepared by her servants, you learn that her name is Tiosanna. She is the widow of a wealthy trader who was killed at sea when his ship was attacked and plundered by buccaneers. When her only daughter recently fell ill with fever, she feared she was going to lose her as well. She rarely goes to the market, yet a strange compulsion made her go today. She cannot explain, but the moment she saw you she knew that it was within your power to save her daughter’s life.

You retire early to bed and sleep soundly (you may restore 6 ENDURANCE points). When you rise at dawn, you are feeling fresh and eager to continue your journey to the Isle of Lorn. In appreciation for saving her daughter’s life, Tiosanna gives you a horse. Gladly you accept her generous gift and you bid them both a fond farewell before you set off along ‘The Dragon’s Tail’—the name given by the natives of this region to the overland route from Masama to the city of Kitaezi.

After consulting your map you estimate that it should take you no more than two days to reach Kitaezi. The weather has settled and the overland trail proves far smoother than its given name implies. By mid-afternoon you have covered more than 50 miles and you are pleased with your progress.



You are passing through a range of forested hills and gullies when you come to an unexpected fork in the trail. A signpost says that both branches of this fork lead to Kitaezi, yet it does not give any indication which is the shorter or the safer route to take.

Endurance: 21/35.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

What would have happened if we'd alchemized the obvious trap?

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

achtungnight posted:

Right

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

A little way past the fork, the trail passes around a rocky escarpment and ascends through dense jungle to a forested ridge. Beyond the ridge lies a deep gorge, spanned by a sturdy rope bridge. The floor of the bridge is laid with shorn timbers that are wide enough to allow a wagon to pass. You ride onto the bridge and you are halfway across when its timber floor begins to sway violently. Quickly you dismount and use your Kai Discipline of Animal Control to calm your startled horse. There seems to be no reason for the bridge to be pitching back and forth, but when you look over the side you catch sight of a rope that is attached to its underside. This line descends to a crevice in the wall of the gorge and it is being repeatedly pulled taut and then released. From out of the crevice there issues a commanding voice: ‘Throw your money and possessions into the gorge!’ When you hesitate to obey, the voice says: ‘Do it now, or you’ll never get off the bridge alive!’

Mikl posted:

Elementalism!

nelson posted:

I want to see this do something useful.

achtungnight posted:

We Have a Bow & We Wish to Use It.

Mikl posted:

Elementalism!

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

You focus your powers at some loose rocks that overhang the crevice, and you see them shudder under the force of your will. Suddenly they collapse and come crashing down, severing the rope as they tumble past the crevice to disappear into the gorge below. As the floor of the bridge ceases to sway, you quickly remount your horse and coax him across to the far side. You can hear angry voices echoing from the gorge as you spur him to the gallop and escape along the jungle trail that continues beyond the bridge.

You ride the trail for more than an hour before you come to a shallow ford across a fast-flowing stream. After resting here to let your horse drink his fill, you press on and enter a region of jungle highlands. Night draws in and you halt to make camp among a cluster of wind-worn boulders, close to the trail. The area is carpeted with thick grasses that make ideal fodder for your horse. After making sure that his reins are securely fixed to a rock, you settle yourself down to rest.

Unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, before you go to sleep you must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

You are awoken in the middle of the night by a hideous cry. Your horse is startled and terrified by this gruesome sound and he tugs frantically against his reins. Seconds later you are up on your feet, your keen eyes scouring your surroundings for some sign of the threat. Your Kai skills are alerting you to an imminent and deadly danger, a hidden enemy who possesses a strong magical aura.

You ready Alema and crouch behind a boulder. Suddenly the air before you shimmers and takes form, causing you to gasp in disbelief. Something is growing out of the very darkness itself! You glimpse its misshapen head and hunched body; then its outline seems to waver. It flickers and sparkles, as if it is caught between two planes of existence. Suddenly there is a brilliant flash and a sparkling arc of energy leaps from the shimmering mirage to come speeding towards your face.

The bolt hits you and a brilliant flash of white light obliterates your senses: lose 8 ENDURANCE points. For a few moments you lose consciousness; then your senses return and you struggle to your feet. Stunned and disoriented, you shake your head in an effort to clear your blurred vision. Images swirl before your eyes, weaving and coalescing to create a fearful sight. The flickering night-creature has fixed itself to the neck of your horse like some nightmarish vampire. Tethered by his reins, your mount is unable to escape from the leech-like maw of this supernatural creature.

Endurance: 13/35.

achtungnight posted:

Kai-alchemy. Kai-surge costs endurance and we’re running low.

achtungnight posted:

Kai-alchemy is for wimps. Kai-surge costs endurance and we’re hardcore as gently caress.

achtungnight posted:

Kai-alchemy. Kai-surge costs endurance and we’re running low.

Leraika posted:

our axe is good against the undead, right? EAT AXE, VAMPIRE

TF CURES GENERATOR posted:

Kai-alchemy is for wimps. Kai-surge costs endurance and we’re hardcore as gently caress.

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

You focus on the creature and launch a Mindblast in an attempt to force it to release your horse from its terrible clutches. You sense that your attack has had no effect upon this supernatural beast, and that it possesses an innate resistance to psychic energy.

Desperate now to save your stricken mount, you rush forward and attack the creature with your Kai Weapon.

Tzoog: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE 32

This creature is immune to Mindblast (but not Kai-surge). If you possess the Kai Weapon ‘Valiance’, add +8 to your COMBAT SKILL (instead of +5).

The Buccaneers of Shadaki posted:

As you deal the creature the killing blow, its body crackles and disintegrates into a million motes of light that dissolve into the darkness like a swarm of fleeing fireflies. You rush to aid your horse who is lying motionless among the boulders, but sadly you discover that it is already too late to save him.

Fear and uncertainty haunt you as patiently you await the dawn. The being that attacked and slew your mount was not of this world; it was a creature born wholly of evil magic. With a gnawing sense of dread, you leave at first light and follow the jungle trail to the west. The forest and vegetation are teeming with life, yet as you go deeper into the jungle so the sounds become fewer and more distant. By midday you have covered 20 miles and arrived at a place where there are no sounds at all. The eerie silence surrounds you for several miles further until your Kai hunting skills detect a faint noise. It drifts towards you from among the towering trees to the right of the jungle path. Cautiously you leave the trail and make your way towards the source of this solitary sound.

Using your camouflage skills and the natural cover afforded by the jungle ferns, you stalk ever closer to the source of the strange sound. You sense that the source is evil, yet still you feel compelled to discover what it is that lurks at the heart of this eerie forest.

Suddenly your Kai Sixth Sense alerts you to danger located somewhere above. You look to the canopy of branches and see the outline of a man lying in the boughs of a nearby tree. His limbs and torso are daubed with forest colours that keep him hidden. You hear a faint noise, and then you freeze with fear when you recognize it to be the sound of a blowpipe.



We roll: 6 + 3 (G. Huntmastery) = 9.

Instinct and years of Kai training make you throw yourself to the ground. The blowpipe dart passes within inches of your scalp and then embeds itself in the stem of a broad-leaved plant. Black fluid oozes from the puncture hole made by its tip and you watch aghast as the plant rapidly shrivels and dies.

Darkest Auer posted:

Let's not intentionally kill ourselves by using magic, a bow should be enough to drop this chump.