[April 30 - May 2 and 3 – Cyclopses and bears and...what is that!?]
[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. This session happened October 30, 2023.]
[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea. The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]
Player Characters
Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)
Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally
Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom
Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon
Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)
Via Roll20
Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer
Spring
May 2, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)
Just After 3:00
Trying to discuss the cyclops sentry on the other side of a bend in the ravine without being heard, Sorvia and Tharduk were “arguing” in hand signs. Tharduk had no idea what Sorvia was trying to convey and was miserable at conveying that he did not understand.
With no resolution in sight, Islo decided the group needed to retreat back to a place they could actually speak. He quietly walked back around a previous bend in the ravine. The rest of the adventurers went to follow when the cyclops sentry finally noticed they were there, spotting Anomin (in crow form) and the two dwarves out in the open. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” he called out.
Tharduk answered, stating that they were trying to not be threatening, which confused the cyclops. Then Sorvia spoke up from a concealed position, agreeing with Tharduk. The cyclops saw her and asked what she was doing hidden down there. She replied, “Mapping.” The cyclops stated he did not want to appear on the map. Kadruth explained that since he is not a natural landmark, he and his sheep would not be drawn into the map. This satisfied the cyclops.
The cyclops warned the adventurers that there was a big lion in the forest that was responsible for the death of his favorite sheep, Irwin. Tharduk asked about whether or not the cyclops traded or sold wool. The cyclops said they did but his brother was better at that stuff. He also introduced himself as Nunya and said he would be right back with his brother to trade.
While the cyclops was away, Sorvia and Anomin went back to where Islo was to bring him up to date on the conversation. Kadruth also used his Force Wall spell to create a ramp so he and Tharduk could negotiate with the cyclopses at eye level. [That was not an intentional pun.]
When the two cyclopses returned, the second one introduced himself as Inna and that their third brother, Auda, was watching their camp. Inna and Tharduk then start negotiating the price of the wool. They eventually agreed on a cost of 2 gold coins to purchase 6 cloves (42 pounds) of wool. [This was a good deal for Tharduk as a clove of wool usually went for half a gold coin each.]
During the negotiations, Kadruth spoke with Nunya about the lion, trying to get the cyclopses to agree to a bounty for killing the lion. Nunya wasn’t interested as the cyclops just gave it a hit and it left them alone. Kadruth did learn that cyclopses had been in this area about a year and the lion first showed up during the recent winter.
Once the trade was done, the adventurers backtracked a bit and then worked their way around the cyclops camp. Islo and Sorvia discussed what kind of lion the cyclopses were reporting but came to no definite conclusions. [Neither really had an appropriate Knowledge Skill for this.] They reached the western edge of the hills late in the afternoon and made camp.
Night
The night passed quietly.
May 3, 56 I.C.
Rain clouds moved in from the east and it rained lightly most of the day. Kadruth used his Force Wall spell to provide protection from the rain for Sorvia so she could continue mapping the forest as the group explored. Anomin kept a look out specifically for lion tracks but saw none.
During the day, Anomin and Kadruth noticed that the group had passed the same set of trees three times and called out Islo on it. A quick tree-climb later, they worked out where they actually were, corrected Sorvia’s notes, and resumed exploring, having only lost an hour or two of time.
Mid afternoon the rain started letting up and gradually stopped. At the end of the day Sorvia found an excellent site for a camp and the adventurers made camp there.
That Night, First Watch
Early in the watch, before it got too dark, Islo heard something moving through the underbrush. He fired an arrow at it, hoping to scare the creature away. Instead, the creature bellowed in response, allowing Islo to identify it as a bear! The bear's bellow awoke Sorvia and Anomin, but barely stirred the dwarves.
Islo waited for the bear to appear. When the angry, shaggy, brown bear marched into the camp, Islo tripped it with a trick shot. Sorvia notched an arrow and shot the bear, hitting it with a glancing blow to the head [she very rolled low damage]. Anomin shifted into her cougar form and charged the bear, nastily raking its forelimbs [lot of Body, but light on Stun]. At this point Tharduk woke up, but Kadruth continued sleeping.
Islo shot at the bear, piercing both of its forelimbs [again, lots of Body, little Stun].
Tharduk readied his axe and shield. The bear got up off the ground and stood on its rear legs and roared [Presence attack], impressing Sorvia. It then clawed at Anomin, injuring her significantly. The noise finally woke Kadruth up, but he was still groggy and complained about all the noise Anomin was making. Sorvia sank an arrow into the bear's torso, killing it.
When Kadruth stumbled out of his tent, he found a very hurt cougar whining at him. He immediately set to healing her with his magic. Islo and Sorvia set to skinning and butchering the bear carcass. Once his watch is done, Islo cooked some bear meat steaks.
That Night, Second Watch
Midway through the watch, Kadruth was at the edge of camp collecting some wood for the fire when he saw two large gleaming golden feline eyes staring right at him from a distance of 10 meters!
End of session
Commentary
[I had not planned on having the lion show up here, but I rolled two random encounters for the night and after Islo cooked bear steaks, it seemed likely the lion might get a whiff of it and come investigate.]
Sudden Sea Adventures
Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign
Last session: Session 10
Next session: Session 12 [Not yet typed up]
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