Mission: Retrieve the magic nullifying necklace from the harpies for the wolf father
Gm: Brandenv(Branden)
Date: The date the adventure was run
Difficulty and circle rating: circle 3 hard.
Thread items:
Varis: Living crystal #1
Ceadda: Boots #1
Gronk: Gloves #1
Player Rewards:
Gronk Longtusk: 2000 Legend and 600 Silver, magic gloves
Ceadda: 2000LP , 462 Silver, Thread Boots, Desperate Blow Blood Charm
Jexel: 2000 Legend, 375 Silver, Death Cheat Blood Charm
Varis: 2000 LP, 375 silver, Thread Living Crystal Armor (Journeyman), Death Cheat Charm
Further Information: Found information regarding Marrek.
AAR: Marrek Bonanza
Moderator:etherial
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
Travel Journal of Varis
Gronk got a message from the Wolf Father to head over to Marrek Valley and find a lost necklace. The item has found it's way into the hands of some Harpies. They've laid traps around their nest on top of a tower. Gronk puts together a group, including a Thief, Jexel to take care of the traps for us.
Despite the winter cold on the Throal Mountains, Gronk gets us to the Iceclaw Moot in under 4 days. We catch up with the Moot. Things are going well since the Blood Bee Queen was defeated. They're dealing with their first winter well enough. We explain why we're here and they describe the area we're looking for. They lost some people scouting that area, nasty bear traps around the ruined tower.
Day 5
The next morning, we take advantage of the Moots new lift to get lowered to the river. We make good time through the forest, but overnight we get some insults tossed down from above. Sleeping was a little tricky.
Day 6
Not long after we get moving, we find the tower in a clearing. We make preparations, and plan our approach. It seems the tower sunk over the Scourge. Mostly, it involves following Jexel's lead through the traps and up the wall. Jexel was able to make it across the open field without getting spotted. He even spotted and marked a bear trap on the way. As soon as Ceadda moved to keep Jexel in range, the Harpies started to engage.
No sooner had one started to fly then Gronk shoots it's wings off. Three others fly down to attack Ceadda, but he was on guard and is untouched. I waited until they were committed to Ceadda, and threw Earth Darts at one, in order to weaken it's armor for the others. One of the Harpies Curses Ceadda, making him sluggish. Gronk moves around to shoot one in the back, and sets off a trap, getting snagged and wounded. Jexel came down off the wall to stab one in the back. Ceadda got angry, and speared one through the throat. We all focused on the last one, and it died before it could fly away. We help Gronk get out of the bear trap, but we hear more taunts coming from above.
Jexel and Ceadda head up the wall, and quickly get to the first landing 10 yards up. Varis follows, then covers Gronk during his climb. Jexel narrowly avoids another trap on the landing, and marks another one for us. We quickly decide to all climb together, to avoid leaving one of us alone at the top. As we climb, 2 Harpies fly around us, but don't attack, other than with harsh language. More of us are Cursed in the process.
For better or worse, I was the first one to the top. I was able to see the 3 remaining Harpies, but they had a large winged lion chained to the top of the tower. It was wearing the necklace the Wolf Father wants. I call out the description, and Ceadda identifies it as a Manticore, warning us to stay away from the edges, in case it's powerful wings push us off. I start weaving a Lightning Bolt to clear the nest as quickly as possible. I briefly entertained the idea that the Manticore could be reasoned with, if we set it free. This thought was dashed by it's attempt to eat me upon sight. The Manticore and the lamed harpy took the bolt. The Harpy didn't survive it.
Someone realized that the Harpies were no longer attacking us, just insulting us. We change focus onto them. Jexel and Gronk used stealth to get the drop on the Harpies. Ceadda gets in the Manticores face, trading blows with it. He makes a good showing, despite being outside his weight class. The Curses and Taunts are taking their toll on us, it's hard to get any attack to land properly. Shortly after the last Harpy is killed, we surround the Manticore and it's brought down.
We take the necklace from the Manticore. Searching through the refuse laden nest, we find some gloves and boots, as well as an ancient book that (after some cleaning) tells us more about Marrek.
Once we descend from the tower, a wolf meets us and leads us to the Wolf Father's Library. He takes the necklace and explains that it was preventing the Manticore from using it's spells. It would also block any of us from accessing our Adept magic. Father beckoned me forward and with a touch he causes crystal plates to sprout from my skin. He called it his cloak, as the crystals are colored the same as his wolves fur. Wolf Father offers us any Blood Charms we'd like to take with us.
I'm very glad we had Jexel with us, the traps we did find were particularly nasty. Gronk put the fear into those Harpies right from the start, which allowed our climbing plans to work as well as they did. Ceadda, despite all the curses and insults, stood fast and pulled victory from embarrassing defeat.
Gronk got a message from the Wolf Father to head over to Marrek Valley and find a lost necklace. The item has found it's way into the hands of some Harpies. They've laid traps around their nest on top of a tower. Gronk puts together a group, including a Thief, Jexel to take care of the traps for us.
Despite the winter cold on the Throal Mountains, Gronk gets us to the Iceclaw Moot in under 4 days. We catch up with the Moot. Things are going well since the Blood Bee Queen was defeated. They're dealing with their first winter well enough. We explain why we're here and they describe the area we're looking for. They lost some people scouting that area, nasty bear traps around the ruined tower.
Day 5
The next morning, we take advantage of the Moots new lift to get lowered to the river. We make good time through the forest, but overnight we get some insults tossed down from above. Sleeping was a little tricky.
Day 6
Not long after we get moving, we find the tower in a clearing. We make preparations, and plan our approach. It seems the tower sunk over the Scourge. Mostly, it involves following Jexel's lead through the traps and up the wall. Jexel was able to make it across the open field without getting spotted. He even spotted and marked a bear trap on the way. As soon as Ceadda moved to keep Jexel in range, the Harpies started to engage.
No sooner had one started to fly then Gronk shoots it's wings off. Three others fly down to attack Ceadda, but he was on guard and is untouched. I waited until they were committed to Ceadda, and threw Earth Darts at one, in order to weaken it's armor for the others. One of the Harpies Curses Ceadda, making him sluggish. Gronk moves around to shoot one in the back, and sets off a trap, getting snagged and wounded. Jexel came down off the wall to stab one in the back. Ceadda got angry, and speared one through the throat. We all focused on the last one, and it died before it could fly away. We help Gronk get out of the bear trap, but we hear more taunts coming from above.
Jexel and Ceadda head up the wall, and quickly get to the first landing 10 yards up. Varis follows, then covers Gronk during his climb. Jexel narrowly avoids another trap on the landing, and marks another one for us. We quickly decide to all climb together, to avoid leaving one of us alone at the top. As we climb, 2 Harpies fly around us, but don't attack, other than with harsh language. More of us are Cursed in the process.
For better or worse, I was the first one to the top. I was able to see the 3 remaining Harpies, but they had a large winged lion chained to the top of the tower. It was wearing the necklace the Wolf Father wants. I call out the description, and Ceadda identifies it as a Manticore, warning us to stay away from the edges, in case it's powerful wings push us off. I start weaving a Lightning Bolt to clear the nest as quickly as possible. I briefly entertained the idea that the Manticore could be reasoned with, if we set it free. This thought was dashed by it's attempt to eat me upon sight. The Manticore and the lamed harpy took the bolt. The Harpy didn't survive it.
Someone realized that the Harpies were no longer attacking us, just insulting us. We change focus onto them. Jexel and Gronk used stealth to get the drop on the Harpies. Ceadda gets in the Manticores face, trading blows with it. He makes a good showing, despite being outside his weight class. The Curses and Taunts are taking their toll on us, it's hard to get any attack to land properly. Shortly after the last Harpy is killed, we surround the Manticore and it's brought down.
We take the necklace from the Manticore. Searching through the refuse laden nest, we find some gloves and boots, as well as an ancient book that (after some cleaning) tells us more about Marrek.
Once we descend from the tower, a wolf meets us and leads us to the Wolf Father's Library. He takes the necklace and explains that it was preventing the Manticore from using it's spells. It would also block any of us from accessing our Adept magic. Father beckoned me forward and with a touch he causes crystal plates to sprout from my skin. He called it his cloak, as the crystals are colored the same as his wolves fur. Wolf Father offers us any Blood Charms we'd like to take with us.
I'm very glad we had Jexel with us, the traps we did find were particularly nasty. Gronk put the fear into those Harpies right from the start, which allowed our climbing plans to work as well as they did. Ceadda, despite all the curses and insults, stood fast and pulled victory from embarrassing defeat.
-
BattleChad
- Posts:422
- Joined:Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:43 pm
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
The Great Library of Throal thanks Varis for his contribution.
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver.
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver.
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
Journal of Jexel'thalas Thief
We were tasked with retrieving a message for the mysterious Wolf Father. The necklace was located in the Marrek Valley on a tower surrounded by harpies. I will get to the harpies later.
Adventuring companions:
Varis: Elementalists
Gronk: Archer
Ceadda: Warrior
First lesson: Whatever Ork's count as wine these days is now a curse of Raggok. The night before the mission I had a couple cups of the ale and the entire first week of the mission I was in agony and barely remembered anything except the constant battle in my head.
Second lesson: I hate harpies. I mean I really hate harpies. They are disgusting annoying flying shit bags that just get under your skin and crawl around. They also seemed to really hate Ceadda and his Mother.
After my head cleared we entered the Valley and scouted for the tower. The tower had crumbled at the base and potentially the centuries had partially buried the base in the dirt. This left the only option to scale the tower and take on the harpy nest head on.
There was some discussion on how to best approach the top of the tower. We had two climbing kits this time and decided to have me sneak up and lay some rope and then climb as a group. On the approach I spotted and marked some bear traps. It appears my training had paid off. As I started to climb the wall the group came closer to the tower to provide cover. Once exposed three harpies came down and attacked us, focusing on Ceadda. The group had a good handle on the harpies and by the time I got there I only got one backstab in before they were dispatched.
We continued on as a group up to the first level of the tower. On our climb to the top we were verbally assaulted and harassed by the remaining three harpies. The harpies infuriate you so much, it gets under your skin and you become too mad to react quickly and decisively. Unlike other taunts there is a long lasting power to their curses. By the time we were at the top, I was shaking with rage and too caught up in my anger to focus my strength in attacks.
The harpies had imprisoned some giant creature. It had the body of a lion, bat like wings and a face of a bitter large Ork. It was chained at the top of the tower and had the necklace in question around it's neck. I have since learned this was a Manticore, but was informed they are greatly feared for their spellcasting which our guy didn't use.
I felt the group was in a bad spot, the harpies were flying around talking about Ceadda's mom and we had a giant freak of a lion on top of the tower with us. Not to mention, I was shaking with rage and had used my Karma getting through the traps and trying to remain unseen. Looking around my companions were also suffering from the harpies effects similar to me. After a bit we were able to take the harpies down. I called to retreat and rest up till tomorrow since the Manticore was chained. The group fought on and somehow we were able to take the beast down.
Returning the necklace to the Wolf Father in his eerily peaceful library. I became skeptical as this looked to be one of the places too good to be true. The Wolf Father had rid a member of a horror mark earlier.
Further research:
At the top of the tower there was a hatch leading in. Who knows how large the tower is underground.
Someone should do some research on the history of the Wolf Father.
Jexel
We were tasked with retrieving a message for the mysterious Wolf Father. The necklace was located in the Marrek Valley on a tower surrounded by harpies. I will get to the harpies later.
Adventuring companions:
Varis: Elementalists
Gronk: Archer
Ceadda: Warrior
First lesson: Whatever Ork's count as wine these days is now a curse of Raggok. The night before the mission I had a couple cups of the ale and the entire first week of the mission I was in agony and barely remembered anything except the constant battle in my head.
Second lesson: I hate harpies. I mean I really hate harpies. They are disgusting annoying flying shit bags that just get under your skin and crawl around. They also seemed to really hate Ceadda and his Mother.
After my head cleared we entered the Valley and scouted for the tower. The tower had crumbled at the base and potentially the centuries had partially buried the base in the dirt. This left the only option to scale the tower and take on the harpy nest head on.
There was some discussion on how to best approach the top of the tower. We had two climbing kits this time and decided to have me sneak up and lay some rope and then climb as a group. On the approach I spotted and marked some bear traps. It appears my training had paid off. As I started to climb the wall the group came closer to the tower to provide cover. Once exposed three harpies came down and attacked us, focusing on Ceadda. The group had a good handle on the harpies and by the time I got there I only got one backstab in before they were dispatched.
We continued on as a group up to the first level of the tower. On our climb to the top we were verbally assaulted and harassed by the remaining three harpies. The harpies infuriate you so much, it gets under your skin and you become too mad to react quickly and decisively. Unlike other taunts there is a long lasting power to their curses. By the time we were at the top, I was shaking with rage and too caught up in my anger to focus my strength in attacks.
The harpies had imprisoned some giant creature. It had the body of a lion, bat like wings and a face of a bitter large Ork. It was chained at the top of the tower and had the necklace in question around it's neck. I have since learned this was a Manticore, but was informed they are greatly feared for their spellcasting which our guy didn't use.
I felt the group was in a bad spot, the harpies were flying around talking about Ceadda's mom and we had a giant freak of a lion on top of the tower with us. Not to mention, I was shaking with rage and had used my Karma getting through the traps and trying to remain unseen. Looking around my companions were also suffering from the harpies effects similar to me. After a bit we were able to take the harpies down. I called to retreat and rest up till tomorrow since the Manticore was chained. The group fought on and somehow we were able to take the beast down.
Returning the necklace to the Wolf Father in his eerily peaceful library. I became skeptical as this looked to be one of the places too good to be true. The Wolf Father had rid a member of a horror mark earlier.
Further research:
At the top of the tower there was a hatch leading in. Who knows how large the tower is underground.
Someone should do some research on the history of the Wolf Father.
Jexel
-
BattleChad
- Posts:422
- Joined:Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:43 pm
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
The Great Library of Throal thanks Jexel for his contribution.
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
From the Court-mandated parole log of Gronk Longtusk:
7 Doddul
The Wolf Father reached out to me that he had located a necklace he wanted and that if I got it for him, I could keep any other loot I found on the way. This sounded suspicially like certain mob "requests" I've received in the past, and he doesn't strike me as one to piss off deliberately, so I grabbed some of my friends to go "take care of it". Jexel is late to the party.
10 Doddul
We arrive at the Iceclaw Moot and stay the night. They tell us of the tower they have found, which has been taken over by harpies. The place is surrounded by bear traps. This is where the Wolf Father wants us to do his "favor".
12 Doddul
The Iceclaws have built a cargo elevator that we can take down to the Serpent River's shores below. When we reach the tower, I lay down some covering fire while Jexel tries to explore the tower. He's able to mark the location of some of the traps before we are set upon by Harpies. I manage to wing the first one and keep it trapped on the tower, but a bunch come down and harry us. In my haste to get a clear shot in, I step on a bear trap and nearly lose my leg. I feel dumb.
With most of the harpies dispatched, we begin climbing. I thought it would be prudent for me to remain on the ground and continue to provide cover fire, but we decide that climbing all as a group would be preferable in case my help is needed to dispatch any creatures on the roof.
While we are climbing, the harpies fly down and try to taunt us into falling. They land some doozies (mostly about Ceadda's mother), but we push through. Up on the roof they have chained up some sort of huge winged lion that charges forward and threatens to knock us down to our dooms, but we manage to keep our wits about us (even as the harpies tell us more horrible things about Ceadda's mother), and eventually the winged lion is dispatched. Around its neck lie the jewels the Wolf Father wanted, and buried in the filth and detritus of the harpy nest, we found several magical items worthy of research.
13 Doddul
His "favor" done, we bid leave of the Wolf Father and return home to Throal. Varis will commune with our treasure and see if he can convince it to let us know its secrets.
Other PCs:
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Jexel'thalas, male Elf Thief
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist
NPCs:
The Wolf Father
7 Doddul
The Wolf Father reached out to me that he had located a necklace he wanted and that if I got it for him, I could keep any other loot I found on the way. This sounded suspicially like certain mob "requests" I've received in the past, and he doesn't strike me as one to piss off deliberately, so I grabbed some of my friends to go "take care of it". Jexel is late to the party.
10 Doddul
We arrive at the Iceclaw Moot and stay the night. They tell us of the tower they have found, which has been taken over by harpies. The place is surrounded by bear traps. This is where the Wolf Father wants us to do his "favor".
12 Doddul
The Iceclaws have built a cargo elevator that we can take down to the Serpent River's shores below. When we reach the tower, I lay down some covering fire while Jexel tries to explore the tower. He's able to mark the location of some of the traps before we are set upon by Harpies. I manage to wing the first one and keep it trapped on the tower, but a bunch come down and harry us. In my haste to get a clear shot in, I step on a bear trap and nearly lose my leg. I feel dumb.
With most of the harpies dispatched, we begin climbing. I thought it would be prudent for me to remain on the ground and continue to provide cover fire, but we decide that climbing all as a group would be preferable in case my help is needed to dispatch any creatures on the roof.
While we are climbing, the harpies fly down and try to taunt us into falling. They land some doozies (mostly about Ceadda's mother), but we push through. Up on the roof they have chained up some sort of huge winged lion that charges forward and threatens to knock us down to our dooms, but we manage to keep our wits about us (even as the harpies tell us more horrible things about Ceadda's mother), and eventually the winged lion is dispatched. Around its neck lie the jewels the Wolf Father wanted, and buried in the filth and detritus of the harpy nest, we found several magical items worthy of research.
13 Doddul
His "favor" done, we bid leave of the Wolf Father and return home to Throal. Varis will commune with our treasure and see if he can convince it to let us know its secrets.
Other PCs:
Ceadda, male Human Warrior
Jexel'thalas, male Elf Thief
Varis, male Dwarf Elementalist
NPCs:
The Wolf Father
-
BattleChad
- Posts:422
- Joined:Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:43 pm
Re: AAR: Marrek Bonanza
The Great Library of Throal thanks Gronk for his contribution.
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver
Journal Rewards: 100 Legend Points and 200 Silver