AAR: ECR 8M Something's Happening Here 2020-07-29 1830 GMT

[ottdmk]

AAR: Something's Happening Here (2020-07-29)
GM: ottdmk
ECR: 8
Difficulty: Medium

Player Rewards:
Daldorer: 19,000 Legend, 900 sp, 3 TIPs, Completed Deed for Twilight Embrace Rank 7.
Dvarim: 19,000 Legend, 900 sp, 3 TIPs
Karl: 19,000 Legend, 900 sp, 3 TIPs
William: 19,000 Legend, 900 sp, 3 TIPs
Xevious: 19,000 Legend, 900 sp, 3 TIPs

Journal Reward: +950 Legend, +225 sp
GM Reward: Dubhan, 39,000 Legend, 1000 sp, 3 TIPs

Downtime:
Daldorer: Alchemy Step 8. Recipes: Booster Potion and Small Light Quartz, Research Step 21

Dvarim:

• Forge Weapon 9/22
• Forge Armor 9/22
• Craftsman (anything) 9/26
• Design Enchanting Pattern 9/22
• Enchant True Pattern 9/26
• Item History 4/17

Karl: Animal Training (talent rank 8 step 18), Forge Weapon (rank 6 Step 18, 3 successes if up to 3 prior forgings, 2 after that), Research (Rank 3 Step 15, or Step 18 with Library Access)

William: Forge Weapon (5) Step 12, Step 16 with karma. Research 7 Step (14) (17 with library access) Steps 16 or 21 depending on library access and Karma. Item History 5 (12) Step 16 with Karma. (Karma spent with Applied versatility)

[Aegharan]

Daldorer asked around for help fulfilling a deed to tie the last threads to the Thread Armor they got. A truce with a spirit must be made. His task is to find and eradicate a Nethermancer for the evil he has done. We headed into the Throalic mountains to find a Nethermancer. I brought Reuben and Linus, as usual. We were accompanied by Dvarim, William and Xeviouz.

We travelled to Sosanopa and were greeted like old friends. William talked some of the fishermen to try and get into harvesting True Water, the deal including William finds True Water for them, and they in turn bring us down the river and back up. Both the talking the fishermen into this and actually finding True Water.

Going into the mountains we made good way. It's astonishing how wild William's proposals when looking at maps are, and how straight his actual navigating through the landscape contrasts this. During camping at night, we feel some rumbling in the earth that quickly grew stronger. We only had a short time to prepare before being attacked by a giant, Rockworm, that did quickly fall to my arrows, Reuben's Claws, and William's stones.
This gave us some leeway to take care of the other three. These lived long enough for us to notice their skin being so hot they had melted some gemstones onto their skin, and this heat radiated severely off of them. I will have to spend some time grooming Reuben's fur to get rid of the singed hairs.

After a couple days we got close to the mountain we were searching. Ascending we spotted some ruins with movement. I left Reuben with Daldorer and snuck up there with William. We saw about ten dozen walking Cadavers and were really happy to not have been spotted.
Going back to the group we deliberated our options. Dvarim then spent some hours summoning an Earth Elemental, which he sent into the earth to look for the Nethermancer. When it reported back that the earth is "wrong", and had it carve a map for us to show us the way. The only way into the Nethermancer's lair is through a trapdoor in one of the tower ruins. We tell both Charlie the Huttawa and Reuben to stay in a cave, made pleasent through Shelter and Plant Feast spells.

Using the Metal Wings spell we airdrop onto the trap door, open it, climb through, and barricade it from inside before the Cadavers reached us.
Heading deeper into the Cave System we found the Nethermancer Varintor. Xeviouz maneuvered quickly, I shot but missed, however I was able to distract him to great effect. Boy, would Reuben have had a field day with this shivering lump of haggard skin and bones.
He was however able to frighten us, until Dvarim stopped him dead in his tracks. Xeviouz laid into him really well, when I managed to catch him off balance and pierce his skull with a flaming arrow. Whatever horror had grabbed possession of this poor soul was gone for good, at latest after we dispelled and destroyed the bone circles and looked that nothing else remained that seemed to have a horror taint. Daldorer had a field day going through the studies of this Varintor; it's truly remarkable how close interest and taint are to each other.

[bronzemountain]

Not All Nethermancers
Or, But Definitely Some Nethermancers

Daldorer needed a bit of help making nice with the spirit in his armor, which is a fine endeavor that should well be supported. Karl, William, and Xeviouz joined us, so to be honest we were feeling pretty good about our chances.

Nethermancers do unfairly get a bad reputation. Daldorer is a fine gentlebeing, a Namegiver of great knowledge and unquestionable bravery in the face of whatever nonsense this post-Scourge Barsaive is intent on throwing at us. Bit overeager to tear his face off, if you ask me, but I think one time tearing your face off is probably one time too many. The hell do I know? I just hammer steel.

We routed ourselves up through Sosanopa, and that town is coming along nicely. Someone needs to start thinking about waste management and sewer systems and traffic planning but all in all it's growing fast. Good crafters converging on it, diversity of people, trade with other nations. Very encouraging.

We took a boat and then headed on foot into the mountains. William simultaneously came up with some absurd route that no doubt would have taken us through a desert, three swamps, and some Horror's arsehole. But upon abandoning that led us straight as an arrow to where we needed to go, because that's how William is.

As we camped, there was a shudder in the ground and some unnecessarily gigantic Rockworm made the terrible decision of trying to eat us. It, and its three friends, had eighteen whole seconds to regret everything about its life before it lay dead on the ground. Worth noting - these things generate intense heat. Wear protection before engaging.

We eventually got up to the ruins and Karl and William, who are sneaky and not just because they are Humans, scouted ahead. Good thing, too. Those ruins were filled with wandering Cadaver Men and sure, we can handle a few but there were a lot. We could have barreled in there but we would have been justly punished for that dumb-ass plan.

So I remembered that I was a damn Elementalist, and not just in the 'hammering living fire into the shape of a festive hat' way. Summoned up an Earth Elemental. Picked a nice shaded overhang where it was more earth than sky so the poor thing wouldn't be all flustered by the big open nothing on top of us.

Oh, the job. So the spirit in Daldorer's armor indicated there was some Nethermancer doing bad mojo up here in these ruins. And that's the thing I meant about not all Nethermancers - because it's bad to stereotype. But also some Nethermancers because damn, those Nethermancers do get their faces into some dangerous soup.

Okay. So, I send ol' Rocky, which is definitely not its name, to go find the Nethermancer and after a good long time, it comes back and tells us that the earth is all wrong. Basically, it says 'this ain't right' and I find myself quite fond of this Earth Elemental. It being an Earth Elemental, of course, it has no problems forming a lovely three dimensional map, showing where this inevitably downfallen Nethermancer is.

Turns out we have to get to a trapdoor in the middle of the damn mess, but that's what Metal Wings are for. So, up into the air and down into the tunnel before the dead bodies pile up on top of us.

Inside, there's the Nethermancer, clearly Horror touched. But there's one of him, and there's five of us and also a bear and a huttawa. So there are more life choices to regret, all of them his. Turns out the guy's name is Varintor, and Daldorer is happy as a kid in a gingerbread house and I'm sure he's not going to put his face in some dodgy soup.