1/13/20
Characters: Ozrak, Fiona, Eindride
Chaos Factor: 7
Threads: Seek medicine, Convey old religion, Investigate Eigans, Help Eindride?
Scene Setup: Near a thundering waterfall amidst a shadowy jungle. The air is filled with wisps of smoke. An airship has crashed.
Scene Altered: Chaos roll 9, no
The storm raged on. Ozrak’s armor padding was beginning to soak through giving him a slight chill even in the humid jungle. Three bodies of sentient boarmen, evidence of an old and evil god returning to world, littered the jungle floor around him. Despite the lateness of the hour, it was nearly as bright as daylight between the burning airship and the rapid-fire lightning from the storm. And then there was the blade pressed against his throat.
“By Rozin’s beard, my lady! I just saved yer’ life, and this is yer’ idea of being thankful?” asked Ozrak. “I don’t think you understood my request. It was simple enough. I need…my…chest,” replied Eindride punctuating each of the last words with a push of her knife. Ozrak took a moment to really look at the halfling. Discern realities: (10, success) What is about to happen? Ruin Home. What here is useful or valuable to me? Adversity Enemies. What here is not what it appears to be? Overthrow Stalemate.
It was probably good that the blade was actually touching Ozrak’s neck or else he may not have noticed the trembling. Eindride was scared. True she had just been the only survivor of a horrific airship crash and then was attacked by never before seen monsters, but she was more scared of not getting that chest. “Quickly. Let’s see if we can find it before it burns up,” said Ozrak, and he stood up, casually pushing aside Eindride’s blade as he headed back to the crash site.
Can they find the chest? Likely: 95, no. The two dug through the wreckage that they could while the fire raged on. After a few minutes and many burns on their hands, they gave up. The chest had either burned was too deep in the burning rubble to be found with the fire still going. Ozrak eventually pulled Eindride away from the crashed ship and sat her down on a fallen log where she began to cry deeply.
“It’s gone!” she wailed. “They’re gone, and I’ve failed!” Between bouts of tears and sobbing, Eindride told Ozrak this story.
“I am from the small town of Doowallee. You may have heard of it because it was recently wiped off the map by a great beast of a creature some called a demon. I wasn’t there at the time, but I saw the aftermath firsthand. It made this little airship crash look like a picnic by comparison. I am a papermaker by trade, and as such, I had plenty of papers for me and my family to have legal documents drawn up. It was a symbol of our affluence to even have legal documents. Just the pretentious sound of ‘legal documents’ impressed others. Regardless, one of those legal documents was showing that my parents had claim on some land farther south, near Sunsu. That chest had kept the deeds to the land safe during the demon attack, and it was my only chance at getting back on my feet, starting a new life after the tragedy of losing my parents. I guess it doesn’t matter at this point because my parents are gone, and I’m alone.”
Ozrak held her again as she cried further before saying quietly, “My lady, I am not unsympathetic to your plight, but I am on an urgent mission of my own right. I seek a medicinal root that only grows behind the Rutwater Falls but a few hours journey from here. Perhaps if you would be so kind as to escort me to the falls tomorrow, I might be able to assist you after returning the herb to my sick friend back in Hemor.” Ozrak stood up and stretched. “However, for now, we must seek shelter and sleep. I have a tarp somewhere back there in the jungle. Mayhap we’ll find it and get some rest after tending to these wounds.”
Eindride slowly stood up and agreed to follow, but Ozrak’s gaze lingered on the body of the nearest Eigan, the boar-like humanoid who seemed to be a sign that the old gods had returned. “Let me check something first, please,” asked Ozrak. He then searched the body. Is there anything of importance on the body? Very unlikely (20, Yes) Spy Dispute. Ozrak first checked the spear and crossbows. It seemed that whatever magic had inhabited them had fled, but there was a map on the leader’s body. It showed a crude sketch of the jungle with a red line moving across it and an X scrawled on the line near the Rutwater Falls. Near the top of the map next to the line was the symbol of a closed eye with a scar across.
“This is the symbol of the Blind Scar guild!” exclaimed Ozrak. “They’re a group of shadowy type folk that always seem to be one step ahead of the law. Thieves, assassins, spies, and the like. Who exactly was on your airship?” he asked Eindride.
“I don’t know the crew manifest, but I’ll tell you what I do know after first light. Let’s get some sleep,” she replied.
Ozrak grabbed one of the crossbows thinking it would be useful for Eindride and tucked the map in his pocket. A rampaging demon and a secretive organization targeted by god-spawn that shouldn’t exist. Many new things were coming to light for Ozrak. If only he tie all the threads together!
Do the two sleep through the night without interruption? Take Watch (5, fail, 5 XP) If they are attacked, they won’t notice. Are they? No way (due to the airship crash) (72, 20) They sleep through the night and regain their HP.
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