After going hunting to make up for the food they traded, nightfall approached and the party set up camp. Their slumber was quickly disrupted however as their members on watch encountered a group of 15 cloaked men who declared "Be you Oogi's companions?" For the party, this was a very loaded question.
Oogi had a notoriously bad reputation to the point where there were people actively hunting for his head, and the fact that he turned himself into an abomination and social pariah has only made things worse. With Oogi having recently died however, the party made a quick decision to not only pretend they were not associated with Oogi, but to make sure to point out that Oogi died nearly a week ago. And this plan might have worked too...if not for Zanorak. Zanorak was a Tydu warrior who decided to tag along, and it quickly became apparent that he had a hunger for glory. It was obvious when he declared that he had "dominated nature" after the party finished hunting, despite not owning a bow and contributing nothing to what the group had gained, and this inflated sense of self was in full force when he loudly called the men "Cowards" for attempting to approach him in his sleep. With the men curious of Oogi's fate, Zanorak was quick to try and take advantage of the opportunity by claiming that he killed Oogi with his own two hands.
They did not take kindly to his statement.
The men drew their bows in preparation of slaying the men who killed Oogi, but Halthor and Matthias were somehow able to diffuse the situation, clarifying that Zanorak is just a lying narcissist, and that they were in fact Oogi's companions, but didn't tell the men out of fear of exactly this situation happening. Turns out these men are from the Roxolani village and were sent by Krem to try and find the party and their "leader" Oogi, because the Combative Companions have been so busy finding cursed weapons for future warlords and having mukbangs with witches, that they've taken far too long to do their original job of mapping out the island. Thankfully with these men being from the very village they were heading too, it gave the party a means of quickly making it to their final destination and returning o the ship with a completed map.
Krem was going to pay them 250 silver for it and a share of the money received for selling the tiger while they were gone.
That amount was pitiful considering it took weeks of effort and the death of two people, and there was a strong suspicion that they could have probably made nearly 250 silver from just the tiger alone. The party's inability to actually negotiate a monetary value to what they blindly do had caught up to them, but after some aggressive haggling, the party managed to turn their 250 silver payment to 350 silver. So, Krem received his map, the party reunited with the now chained frog-man that is Hurass, and the party was able to return back to Lestyrhonia where they could sell their golden statue for a wonderful sum of silver.
So, what now?
Halthor and Sain still had a deal to retrieve the ring of Kordis in exchange for a metal destroying weapon that could be crafted out of the salamander skull they had, so the party decided to return to the Burial Temple of the Tridobaktrus in search of said ring. While pursuing this item, the whispers of Hurass began to creep into Zanorak's mind, reminding him of what he was told during their travels back. "Want some meme magic buddy? If the CeeCee's go back to the Burial Temple of the Tridobaktrus, I want you to find a glowing orb and stick your finger reeeal deep inside. Really feel around in there." He accordingly did so, and is now another follower of Zaba.
Everyone thought it was a bad idea, but it proved to have its short term benefits as the party soon found a group of Zaba worshipers within the third floor of the tomb. They took kindly to Zanorak and his "cowardly disciples" and begged him to help them slay a monster found on this floor. Did this monster have the ring they were looking for? Probably not. Were they going to fight it anyways? Well, they wouldn't be the Combative Companions if the answer was no.
The party is led to a room with it's only defining feature being an empty throne before becoming completely locked in by the froggy followers. From the ceiling, a ten foot arm attached to a rotting corpse then dropped down upon them. Jokes about masturbation aside, this corpse had a sword hanging from its belt, making the fact that they're basically trapped in a death chamber potentially worth it. After all, a good sword would be more valuable than nearly any treasure they had uncovered before.
Proving itself to be no pushover however, the monster began a merciless assault on the party, bringing Halthor near the brink of death in a single blow, ripping away Sain's right arm, and outright murdering Klaatu with a clean blow that decapitated him, leaving his skull as a bloodly pulp that splattered against the wall.
Matthias was to meet a similar fate as the monster punched a hole into his chest, but Halthor was quick to intervene declaring, "DON'T WORRY! I GOT THIS!" as he cracked open two bottles of holy water and began manically shaking its contents on his fellow holy man. Matthias accordingly got better from death. In fact he got so much better, that the would be fatal exchange retroactively never happened and he was simply gut punched into unconsciousness. Inspired by Halthor's holy energy, Bodhi gathered all the strength he had left in him and delivered a clean blow that slayed the monster, and with no protest from the party claimed he had claimed the sword.
They had not found the ring they were looking for, and with the party battered and beaten they had chosen to pursue the ring on another day, but a sword is a worthwhile treasure in itself, and Bodhi found something far more important than some ring.
He found the lord.
Session 15 Downtime Events
Bodhi joined Matthias and Halthor on their journey to the Temple of Vodim. Bodhi was instructed in ancient rite as the Priests of Ymir fanned potent incense higher and higher. Bodhi was bathed in the blood of a slaughtered bull and then cleansed by a baptisim in sacred water. The trio chanted the ancient song of the world-tree and each prepared doses of holy water.
Zanorak snuck away to a place dark and hidden away from the sun. He invoked ancient rite and called forth Lord Zaba from the darkness. He enacted terrible rites to prepare sorcery to drown his enemies in blood. He returned to his companions with a frog-skeleton hanging from his belt slowly dripping ichor.
Nanok sought to carouse and to be merry within Lestryhonia. He dropped 2 sacks of silver and the mead and wine ran down the sides of his face. Amid his stupor he learned that there still existed a conspiracy to strike against Matthias and his companions. Hetun was said to have brought assassins from afar to bring him Matthias's head.
The previous day, a man clad in a dark robe with a leather band around his forehead from which a pair of pearls hang. He extended ontu them a scroll of vellum and then dissipated back into the crowd. The scroll was an invitation to attend a feast.
No comments:
Post a Comment