AAR [ECR 2] A New Home: Room to Fly.

[ChrisDDickey]

AAR:: A New Home. Room to Fly.
Rumor: http://www.fasagames.com/forum/viewtopi ... t=1691Time: 2020-04-18 @22:00GMT
GM: Chris D
Rating: 2 - Medium.
Eligible Characters: ECR 1 to 4
Mission organized by: Zivilyn (Sharkforce)  

Player Rewards:
Zivilyn: 3 TIPs, 800 Legend, 200 Silver
Daldorer: 3 TIPs, 800 Legend, 200 Silver
Rama: 3 TIPs, 800 Legend, 200 Silver
Moe-uhane: 3 TIPs, 800 Legend, 200 Silver
Kain: 3 TIPs, 800 Legend, 200 Silver
Additional Journal rewards:to those who write them and are approved 40 lp, 50 sp.

GM Reward: Mazor: 3 TIPs, 200 Legend, 150 Silver

Alternate rewards, physician kits and refills.  

Downtime Actions Available:Moe-uhane Research(9) 
Researchers may spend 20 Silver for +3 Steps (the Haggle discount may lower this cost)

Further Information:
A new Windling community has been surveyed and settlers are on route some islands upon the Coil, hex 4313. 

[Sharkforce]

From the Journal of Zivilyn, Windling Magician: A New Home, Room to Fly

One of the tribes of Windlings in Throal (specifically, my tribe, the Skyreaders) had requested the assistance of a Windling Cavalryman named Shirree to escort a team to survey potential locations for a Windling settlement. Now that the scourge is done, we need fresh air and sunlight! How can you be the Skyreaders if you can't even see the sky???

In any event, Shirree is capable, but if she's bodyguarding the surveying team how is she going to also clear any threats on the site? Naturally, she isn't, and that's where we came along. I mean, naturally I volunteered; I want my friends to all be able to enjoy the world outside the walls of Throal, I'd need to be busy doing something extremely important to not be there. Joining us in this endeavour were Rama, an Obsidiman Warrior who I've worked with before, as well as three faces that are new to me; Kain, an Obsidiman Archer (I think the first I've ever seen, and one of the few I've ever even heard of), Daldoren, an Obsidiman Nethermancer, and Moe'Uhane, a T'Skrang Illusionist whose name I cannot pronounce (I had to ask him how to spell it just for this occasion) and who in the future I will simply call "Mo".

We met in a tavern in Throal (I can't recall which one, to be honest they're all big, crowded, noisy, and darker than I'd like) to discuss the journey and prepared to go towards the Coil River and find a nice place with all the things they would need; water, food, trees (shelter), clay, reeds (building materials), good herding lands, and so on. The area we were aiming for was right where the River sort of bends around on itself, almost at the end; we heard that there was a Niall a ways upriver from there but it seemed like there wasn't much right in that area, at least, nothing that we'd heard.

So we set out along the road south from Throal the next morning (after buying some food, apparently not everyone trusted my ability to feed us from the land) and after a few days of relaxing travel we encountered an old abandoned trading post where we heard there once was a shrine to Chorrolis. There wasn't much at the shrine there, but the trading post itself was remarkably intact - I guess they must have built well to last this long while keeping out the elements, and lucky enough they didn't attract the attention of any horrors to destroy it since there were no people living there during the scourage, I suppose. The building was pretty nice, and at the time made the short list for possible settlement locations. It wasn't in the exact spot we had set out to explore, but it had much of what would be needed and it was at a crossroads which had added benefits (and risks) of its own. My people aren't especially devotees of Chorollis, but we don't hate trade either. Still, after exploring, it was good but we wanted to see if we could find better, so the next day around noon we continued on. Oh wait, I just realized - I didn't mention the krilworms, did I? Well, there were some there. They weren't much of a threat, and the building wasn't their roost, so we didn't worry about it too much, but if you camp there, keep an eye on the chimney (or maybe build a fire in it). Kain says that's where they came in while he was on watch for the night.

Anyways, we kept on going, and as Shirree was flying ahead she discovered something I have never seen or heard of. The strangest thing: what appeared to be a migrating forest. Yes, you read that right. A forest. Migrating. Or, well, moving, at least. The forest did not seem to want to talk to us, or acknowledge our existence at all, really. It didn't look super tainted, at least, not above ground (I wasn't about to march into the middle of a moving forest and start digging at the roots to see what was underneath; I'm curious to find out what in the Passions Names was going on, but I'm not dumb enough to go and annoy what must have been thousands of moving trees. No sir, I just flew above it like any sensible person would, and examined them from the air). In any event, I definitely recommend that at some point an Elementalist should go investigate it, because that is about the oddest thing I have ever seen. Or maybe a Scout should go? A questor of Jaspree? Or I don't know, who do you even SEND to figure out why the trees are sliding along half-submerged, wrinkling up the ground behind them as they go? They should be easy to track, provided someone can get there in reasonable time. The ground was all rippled and weird where they had been, so both the start and end of their journey shouldn't be too hard to find unless a massive herd of some large animals decided to have a stampede that day. It was somewhere around the northwest of that big bend in the river, and seemed to stretch for quite a few miles as far as we could tell.

Anyways, as far as we could tell, they weren't threatening (most anyone should be able to get out of the way, they moved about as fast as Obsidimen in a swamp, a comparison which it will be clear in a moment that I am quite qualified to make, and they're very obvious), just very, very weird. We went around them, perhaps 10 acres worth I'm told (I don't make maps, but Rama does and he said he would have estimated it to be about that size) and kept on going south, through what turned out to be a marsh infested with angry mud men. We weren't quite able to figure out what they were, but they looked like mud, were very sticky, and threw spears at us. Daldorer and Rama took most of the brunt of their attacks; I distracted some of them for a bit, and they wasted a few spears thrown in my direction, but they gave up rather sooner than I would have hoped and glomphed themselves onto those two. In spite of that, we were still able to overcome them. The ability to Invoke Leopard Pounce was quite useful, as the Leopard spirit seems to be much more destructive than the Crows, and honestly, I'm not sure the mudpeople even had eyes to peck at. I didn't really stare at them too closely, we mainly just wanted to get out of the swamp which our poor Obsidimen hard a terrible time with sinking into it. Jolly Jumper handled it much better, but then, I imagine most things handle thick sucking mud better than Obsidimen (see, I *told* you I was qualified to compare things to the speed of Obsidimen in a swamp!)

Thankfully, a swamp was not where we'd like to live, so our group moved on, reached the river and spotted a lovely trio of islands. We decided to camp in the area (after slogging through all that mud, I think just about the highest recommendation anyone could give to those who weren't riding on a nimble goat at that point was "it's not a swamp", so I'm really not surprised. It sure did look exhausting moving those big heavy bodies around in that sludge. Glad it wasn't me). We set up camp, I prepared a Hero's Feast for our wounded, and discussed how to get to the islands to explore them, since they looked nice even to my Windling friends who hadn't just spent the last few hours up to their knees in smelly water and sticky mud. The survey team did a quick flyby and found that it looked even better on closer inspection, except for the giant termite mound in the middle of the second and second-largest of the islands. Of course, it was just a *little* bit harder for the escorting party of Adepts to come along. Not myself or Mo, of course; I could fly over no problem (although I wouldn't want to leave Jolly Jumper on her own, who knows what might be lurking under the water just waiting for a tasty goat to get a drink?) and Mo seemed more than happy to go for a swim, but it turns out that being made out of something not particularly unlike stone does not make you terribly good at swimming. We discussed our options, decided that going on a 40 mile hike to ask the T'skrang to just give us a boat was probably not the best plan, and went upstream to try our luck at building a raft instead. Fortunately, the raft was sturdy enough to get across, and we made a landing on the second island to have at the termites.

Now, as it turns out, termites are annoying critters that will steal just about anything that isn't nailed down. And the more dangerous ones I'm pretty sure come with built-in crowbars for the things that *are* nailed down. They weren't the most deadly of foes, but they stole my fancy hat, and crumpled it up, and put holes in it. This I could not allow to stand. I am happy to say that I avenged my poor hat, and have had the holes patched with termite chitin. Let that be a warning; I'm not saying that if you steal my hat, I will kill you and make a hat out of you, but I'm also not saying that I won't. The spirits will apparently not stand for a hat thief either, because I don't think the Leopard spirit was interested in eating them (it would be nice if just once we got attacked by something that was likely to taste good) but certainly seemed to enjoy pouncing on them. They seemed to have some basic tactics, being smart enough to try and ambush us after we got in our own surprise attacks, but as we started by letting them come to us and get picked off one by one, they really got off to a poor start. I mean, eventually I just *had* to go after them; they TOOK MY HAT. But by that time, it became obvious that with myself and Rama at the front (he's surprisingly agile for one so large, and I of course am a Windling) letting our armour take the few blows they got on us (it was definitely worthwhile to have my armour forged) and our three distance-loving companions behind us hurling arrows and spells that we had things well under control. In due time, all was well; my hat was rescued (among with an assortment of other things, but none were as important as my hat), the termites were dealt with, and the mound proved that there was a source of clay to be had (and the termites had quite thoughtfully gotten all the little bits of other stuff out of the clay they used to build their mound, which makes for an easier start).

I will say that I wish an event a few days later could have gone better; a pair of T'Skrang showed up in a canoe trying to claim that the island was theirs simply due to being on the river. We pointed out that *we* had dealt with the threat on the island, and that *we* had secured it, not them, but they seemed quite insistent that they would not have any Windlings on "their" island. Now, of course we weren't about to have any of this nonsense, the islands were uninhabited and there was no sign that these claim-jumpers had any right to them, but as the discussion got heated one of the T'Skrang made a motion with his tail that Kain interpreted as preparing to attack (Mo said otherwise after the fact, though he wouldn't say *exactly* what the gesture meant, but I suppose hindsight has the eyes of eagles; perhaps next time Kain will not be so hasty). He fired a warning shot at the fellow, which went right into the loudmouth's foot and off he went. So much for having a friendly relationship with the neighbours. None of us pursued them; we had no interest in killing them, for they had not shown any sign that they were any sort of bandit or pirate so much as obnoxious, overbearing buffoons. I hope that this does not cause too many problems in the future, but I worry; the tribe will need to use ferries to move heavy things across the river to our island, and having an enemy in the waters is not a good thing.

[Xzandrate]

From the writings of Moe'uhane, T'skrang Illusionist, 1st Circle.

I was most enthused, a group of windlings were looking to venture forth and settle new lands. This would naturally lead us to a river, all Name-givers are drawn to the rivers regardless of swimming prowess.

I made my way into Jotuum hall I believe it was, I was rather distracted by trying to spot the windling homes. They like little presents built into our everyday life, small family dwellings converted into multiplexes, or hidden within the corners and crevices of the caves. I finally arrived at my destination to a small group of windlings, we were to accompany Shiri Oath-hill and her charges of Tarnwen and Menlain to assess the surroundings for suitability of settlement.

I was joined by the Windling Shaman Zivilyn, and a trio of Obsidimen, Kain the archer owner of a rather polyonymous bow, Daldorer the nethermancer, and the multi-monstrous Ramadorielitimmipal the Warrior. Two days hence, heading directly south for three days where we arrived at an abandon trading outpost of Clearcreek Crossing. While there was a small stream, I doubt it was hardly large enough to house a canoe. There was one large building that appeared to have survived the scourge untouched until the creep of Name-givers returned and pried it open. Among the ruined outbuildings was a run down shrine to Chorrolis notably. It made for a suitable resting place, and we were not the only beings thinking so; we were visted down the chimney by what Kain and Daldorer called Krilworms. It was like some mix of a festive story and nightmare. I do not know the natural predator to a Krilworm, but I felt that having Rama appear as a voracious bear would benefit us all. We chased them off in short order and kept a more watchful eye the rest of the night. The next day we spent some time better assessing the suitability of this trading outpost, but it was far too dwarven for the free spirits of a windling, so we continued on towards the river.

As we moved further towards the river we came across a sight that garnered me many a sidelong glance, the trees were moving. As we stood upon a ridge we witnessed a small forest of trees moving through the plain below. Upon some closer inspection, we found that the trees were channeling their inner tail and seemed to be swimming through the earth. After repeatedly confirming I was not doing this, it was suggested our party was ill equipped to deal with this phenomenon. But with a path so obvious an inebriated troll could follow it, we felt someone could be sent later.

The land started to give way to the power of the Coil and became more swampy. While I marvelled at the potential of a spa and if the mud had any healing properties, our Obsidiman compatriots were less enthused it seemed. Even more so when the mud animated and began to appreciate them up close. It was difficult to tell where obsidman ended and mud began, but we overcame our foes with Rama bearing the visage of a crocodile and bearing the brunt of their attack. We moved towards the river to recover from our adventure, and the river provided once again. We came across a small archipelago that looked to be very promising.

While we camped on the shore, the windlings scouted the island, and assented to it's suitabilty. With the caveat of the removal of the greater termites on the middle island, that was some hundred yards into the river. While Zivilyn and I shared a quick knowing glance on the capabilities of Obsidiman swimming, we quickly decided to put my captainship to the test and built a serviceable raft and launched from upriver. It was exhilarating to battle the will of the river against my own oar and tail and come out triumphantly on the middle island.

During the assault on the termite mound Rama bore the visage of a great ape, giving them pause. The termites felt that collecting items to better themseves and their home were more important than the battle. Once made off with Zivilyn's hat, touting his sense of fashion; while another attempted to demonstrate his class by making of with my wine. We finally dispersed the mound and ensured the safety of the windlings, or so we thought.

Shortly after resting, a pair of rather obnoxious examples of my race approached in a canoe. One of them began to badger and question like a grizzled old dwarf, the were T'skrang islands he exclaimed. While I saw no indications of this he continued to insist that they were obviously where a T'skrang would live. While I could see the argument for such a frail tail as himself, I had already been thinking most T'skrang would love to be in the river here and setup a city on the riverbed to work in conjunction with the Windlings as our ancestors did before the Scourge. As I was lost in this dream, the fellow then proved his poor upbringing by engaging in a rude gesture that must have been difficult for one with his tail strength. Kain had heard of the power of the T'skrang tail no doubt as he let loose an arrow in concern. After pinning the fellows foot he realized we were no tadpoles and was in over his head and ran off. I'll be sure to advise the windlings to initiate a trade agreement with the nialls up river and that should all but guarantee their safety from these sort of unsavories.

[OldKingCole]

From the Journal of Rama

The Skyreader tribe of Windlings have been looking for Adepts to help them find a new home. Shiree Oath-hill, a Windling Cavalryman, lead them but needed additional help. I was more than willing to lend my talents to their cause; I cannot imagine how the rhythmawin must feel being confined for so long. I have a strong affinity for the Wind Children - I find their bravery and their intensity to be endearing and fascinating.

Also traveling with the caravan were Zivlyn, a Windling shaman who is known to me, Mo’uhane a T’Skrang Illusionist and two other Obsidimen; Kain an Archer and Daldorer, a Nethermancer. I did not know either of the Brothers, but their presence brought me comfort. We did not have time for the Melding during our Journey which I greatly regret. Of the two, Kain is young, barely past his birth from the Liferock. His journey to Throal must have been harrowing indeed.

Our first days out of Throal were uneventful. We reached the abandoned inn at the crossroads, Clear Creek Crossing. The structure still stands and needs to be claimed, as it is it can merely provide shelter currently.

During our stay, a swarm of krillworms chose to attack at night, during the early watch just after sunset. They invaded through the fireplace - as the evening was warm we had no need for a large fire.

I am not sure of their numbers - their wings and bodies created a cacophony of sound and chaos inside the inn. We were able to drive them off with minimal issues. Mo’uhane has the ability to bestow a visage of a beast or a monster and it aided my abilities considerably. I admit I took some satisfaction into playing into the nature of a beast. This would not be the only time this would come in handy - he continually found ways to make me appear more fearsome than I am, to the detriment of our foes.

The party decided to search along the banks of the Coil for possible locations for the Windlings to build their homes. By midday, Shiree reported something on the horizon she could not explain. When we came within visual range, I understood her bewilderment.

A larger forest several hundred yards in front of us and about ten acres, roughly guessing, was moving across the ground. They seemed to be swimming through the earth with their roots - they left the ground lightly disturbed in their wake but unbroken - it appeared like the actions of burrowing creatures, rather than tilled soil.

My curiosity drew me near. Despite the lack of any intelligence, I tried to speak with the trees using every tongue I know including the ancient tongue of the Elves. I received no response and as I could not fathom what I was seeing, I chose not to enter the moving wood. I regret this choice but my duty was to my charges, not to my own desires. I have included a map of the location of this grove in the documents I am submitting to the Great Library in hopes someone will follow up on this unknown mystery in our new and wild world.

As the midday grew warmer we found ourselves moving through a mire. The river waters flooded the land and seeped deep into the soil turning the rich loam into a boggy morass of deep, sucking mud and clay. I found Zivlyn’s expressions to be a source of mirth as he easily flitted above us, watching the three Obsidimen slog slowly through the waist-high grasses and sodden ground. His concern and discomfort were palatable, but we were tireless though I purchased new clothing upon our return to Throal; the mud was tenacious.

As we struggled, we were set upon by bog gobs. This is the second time I encountered these creatures and while i was able to negotiate safe passage with the first group, these gobs immediately attacked with spears.

Bog gobs are seemingly animated mud and were just as viscid as the mud we were snarled in. I quickly found myself a target with several of the creatures clinging to me, jabbing at me with their short spears. My skills and armor kept me safe but to my dismay I found the gobs mai tunes their grip even if rendered unconscious.

By the time we had defeated our assailants I found myself quite exhausted and covered in mud and clay and filth. I was more than pleased to stop for the night along the banks of the Coil, near two small islands we discovered. I did my best to clean my armor and clothing and myself while tending to my injuries.

It was not a pleasant evening.

Upon daybreak, the Windlings flew across the river to explore the islands. They quickly reported that the islands were suitable, but there was a mound of giant termites near the middle of the larger island.

Our options to cross were limited considering that our party consisted of three Obsidimen. There was a T’Skrang Niall, Kampung Gajah, about 45 miles to the North - several days travel. We could possibly attempt to borrow or barter for a boat, but considering the Niall has been recently reopened the chances were slim. Instead our party chose to attempt to build a small raft. I was impressed with the knowledge of my fellow Adepts and followed their lead, helping to harvest timber and with the heavier portions of assembly.

Before the day was done we had a raft suitable for our party and was able to journey to the island. Our T’Skrang illustionist Mo’uhane proved and able captain and I was very glad to have one of the water-dwelling folk leading us across the rapids. Deep waters are one of the few things I fear - I dread sinking beneath the waves, knowing I will never free myself from the prison of the waters. Once we arrived, knowing what we faced, we were able to prepare for the coming battle.

We are able to easily locate the nest, a towering edifice of mud and wood in an area the insects had cleared of vegetation. Termites swarm when the neat is disturbed and when the guardians picked up our scent their fellows came pouring from the hive.

Termites have a painful bite and can spit an acid or an irritant that burns the skin. One of them by luck or skill was able to reach my face and eyes. The pain was intense and impeded my abilities. I was glad for the help of my allies in this fight. The feeling of magic in the air and the steady thrum of Kain’s bowstring helped guide my blows.

While several of the insects attacked us, others seemed only intent in taking things from us, darting in to pull things from our packs and in Zivlyn’s case even snatching the hat from his head. I lost my quill and my map case, much to my dismay.

Through superior tactics, we were able to press our advantages and slowly but surely fight our ways into the hive. We were able to unearth and destroy the queen, ending the threat and recovering our stolen possessions, most none the worse for wear.

We had no time to celebrate our victory before a small party of T’Skrang accosted us, demanding to know why we were on “their” island. I attempted to reason with them, but Kain detected an aggressive gesture made by the T’Skrang with his tail and chose to fire an arrow, striking him in the foot.

I did not see or understand the gesture, but Mo’uhane stated the tail movement was aggressive but declined to elaborate further. Regardless, the T’Skrang and his partners retreated, leaving the island as a home for the Windlings.

I expect there will be further issues with the T’Skrang, but I do not know if he was from the nearby Niall or was a river bandit. Regardless, it brings me sorrow that this home was birthed with violence. Perhaps this is simply a fact of the new world we inhabit as it was of the old. The Quick often struggle and fight over land and always have, as if one can own the Earth itself by drawing lines in blood on maps and documents.

[etherial]

So many are seeking to leave Throal. I wonder sometimes why they are so eager to risk death. Then again, why am I? A tribe of Windlings known as Skyreaders sought the perfect nesting site out of doors. Naturally, their wants were contradictory - near water but not flooded. With trees but no jungles. Free of danger but full of adventure. On the surface, but free of Horrors.

Their leader hired us to face the dangers of the surface and clear any unexpected problems for them. We made camp first in a pre-Scourge trading post that had weathered quite well. I was surprised no one had resettled it, although the colony of Krilworms that lived there might be an indication why. They tried to scare us off, but we proved scarier.

Further on we traveled. We saw an entire forest perambulating westward. To the best of our ability, it was perfectly natural, though highly bizarre. Though I am no Elementalist, I lament that we did not have time to give it a closer investigation and see what possible phenomenon could have caused it.

We began to explore another location, but just as I pointed out how it was unsuitable for windling habitation - being a boggy marsh full of shallow water, some monstrous figures of living mud rose out and attacked us. They began to glom onto us, desiring to weigh us down and no doubt transmogriphy us into mud. Luckily I had my touch spell activated and I tore their Spirits asunder. My rock-cousin was likewise outnumbered but likewise shrugged off their attacks.

At last we arrived at a pleasant beach overlooking some equally pleasant-looking islands. The windlings scouted the island and confirmed it an ideal location for them, including having the added security of a moat. There was, however, a termite mound of massive proportions, with termites of equally massive proportions living within, that we needed to clear out before they could settle it. We fashioned a crude raft to ferry us across. The termites were no threat to us and we squashed them like bugs. A pity the Windlings could not find a way to share the island with them, it seemed like a waste of life to me. And so the despoiling of the land by my fellow Namegivers has begun in earnest.

Speaking of despoiling, a belligerent T'Skrang soon landed on the island and demanded we leave. Having no flag, and with an arrow in his tail, he agreed to retreat. Has war come to Barsaive so soon?