Hilmir Enters The Wood

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Dec 18, 2023 3:49 pm

Dec 18, 2023 3:49 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Led by the frogman Korban, with Elara's directions, the group is able to get into a deep part of the wood before the sun rises. As there were no survivors, The Order won't find out about the attack on the temple ruins until much later in the day.

You arrive at campsite on the other side of some very large trees with bushes on the other side. It is secluded, and offers fairly good visibility in the directions anyone could approach from. There are logs for sitting on around a firepit, and someone left behind a pot for cooking and some canteens made out of gourds.

Elara puts her pack beside a makeshift rockwall, and says "I think this is the closest site for a while, probably the safest place around for us to crash long enough to figure out where we go from here."

Roachtrout Inactive for 9 months

Dec 19, 2023 5:11 am

Dec 19, 2023 5:11 am

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Finally some rest!

Wenlan explains how she and Tanya have been going all night. They escaped from Valleywiev and their later rest was disturbed by the winged creatures.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 19, 2023 2:51 pm

Dec 19, 2023 2:51 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Hilmir shares his story, recounting how he found himself lost in the forest and was discovered by Korben, the frog person accompanying them. Since then, he has been navigating the woods, encountering the Order only a few times and witnessing a sweeper once. Currently, he is collaborating with Elara to address the Sweeper issue. They believe the Order stole something from an ancient frog people temple to power the Sweepers. Recently, they left the temple with a book, hoping it holds answers to their predicament.

OOC:

Someone should probably look at the book and see what information it has. Most likely Hilmir will not be the person to do that.

Dec 20, 2023 3:28 pm

Dec 20, 2023 3:28 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Seeing a look of confusion on Wenlan's face when Sweepers come up, Tanya explains to Wenlan. "They're these big golems that The Order control, no one is exactly sure how. Those with the power just say it's a matter of faith. They use them to 'sweep' the area and make sure people who show up in these woods have no where to turn but Valleyview."

[ +- ] Sweepers

Korban stands up after a short rest, hands the book from the temple to Hilmir, and then places their hand across their chest and bows. Hilmir would recognize this as the frogman people's gesture of appreciation. Explaining, Korban points to their chest and then another direction indicating that they must go. It would have serious consequences for their whole village if The Order discovered that one of the frogmen was part of this mission. They wave their hand over their eyes and then close them for a moment. Their gestures seem to indicate that they want to head their own way back from here, separating while there are no witnesses.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 21, 2023 4:16 pm

Dec 21, 2023 4:16 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Hilmir nods in understanding, appreciating the gravity of the situation for Korban and their people. He accepts the book with a solemn nod, acknowledging the need for secrecy. Understanding the risks involved, he gestures a hearty farewell.

Hilmir then starts looking through the book.

Dec 22, 2023 4:03 am

Dec 22, 2023 4:03 am

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Hilmir sees some strange symbols and diagrams throughout the book. Some appear to be sketches of the temple, as well as some of the Sweepers. Elara comes closer and glances over his shoulder, as he flips a few more pages over she says "Wait! What's that?" and points to a drawing in the book. It looks like a stone with an arrow on it, similar to the one found in temple and the one Elara previously took off of the Robes shortly after you met her and Dreli.

Looking this page over more carefully, there are a few short paragraphs in an unfamiliar script, and two drawings of the stones. One is normal, the other appears to be placed inside of a bowl of some kind. Elara takes her stone out of her satchel, and compares it to the page. It is definitely a match.

Roachtrout Inactive for 9 months

Dec 22, 2023 4:37 am

Dec 22, 2023 4:37 am

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Just to make things clear I'll ask some questions on some bullet points. I'll maybe refrain from reading your past adventures as Wenlan wouldn't know everything and I think it's cool to play that way.

Wenlan asks for the following clarifications:

Do these frogmen have their own village in the forest that the Order knows about?

This temple is an ancient place of worship of the frog people but not in active use?

And finally: there is very probably something that activates these sweepers in the temple. Possibly these stones?

Last edited December 22, 2023 4:41 am

Dec 22, 2023 8:19 am

Dec 22, 2023 8:19 am

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Dreli finds a place to sit down and rest. She drinks some water and idly glances about the area lost in daydreams of what it would be like to find a place outside these woods and forever away from the terrible fanatics that have shaped and ruined her life so far.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 22, 2023 3:01 pm

Dec 22, 2023 3:01 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Answering OOC to help get you up to speed. I think a combination of people would help answer these questions.

Roachtrout says:

Do these frogmen have their own village in the forest that the Order knows about?

The Frogmen have their own village which rarely gets visited by people. Hilmir through his story built a trusting relationship with them and was able to be granted access. I don't know if the Order knows where the village is because the frog people are extremely good at remaining undetected. However, the frog people and the Order have a working agreement "If you leave us alone, we'll leave you alone."

Roachtrout says:

This temple is an ancient place of worship of the frog people but not in active use?

Elara has "hired" Dreli and Hilmir to investigate the temple because she and her group thought it had something to do with the sweepers. It's an ancient sacred site to the frog people, but it's not actively in use. It doesn't look like anything has used it for a long time.

Roachtrout says:

And finally: there is very probably something that activates these sweepers in the temple. Possibly these stones

Hilmir and Dreli discovered an empty pedestal in the temple and they suspect that the Order took something off of it that they're using to power the stones.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 22, 2023 3:02 pm

Dec 22, 2023 3:02 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

CurtFactor says:

Looking this page over more carefully, there are a few short paragraphs in an unfamiliar script, and two drawings of the stones. One is normal, the other appears to be placed inside of a bowl of some kind. Elara takes her stone out of her satchel, and compares it to the page. It is definitely a match.

Hilmir shows the paragraphs to the group. "Can anyone make sense of this?" he asks.

Dec 22, 2023 7:17 pm

Dec 22, 2023 7:17 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

I think the OOC answers above are all accurate, just a couple points I want to clarify to ensure we're all on the same page:

- While the temple has not been used as a temple for a while, The Order have been guarding it 24 hours a day for at least as long as it was discovered. A few weeks ago Dani (one of Elara's associates) discovered it on a scouting mission through the area.
- Based on what you saw inside, it seems like The Order was doing some kind of research there. This book appears to be notes for that effort.
- Regarding the pedestal, it's not so much that something was taken off of it as the stones powering the pedestal seem to have been removed (and repurposed to power the Sweepers). You're not sure what the pedestal does, but it is lacking it's power source.

If anyone has any questions about anything else thus far, this is a good place to ask.

Dreli recognizes some of the script from her childhood, it isn't exactly the same but appears to use many of the same roots words. The portions that Hilmir is showing everyone describe some kind of Guide Stones, that activate when placed into a vessel of water.

As she's the only one who seems able to read it, I'll assume Dreli is glancing through it for the next little bit while everyone is figuring out where to go from here. Talk out your plan amongst yourselves, as Dreli finds information in the book relevant to the conversation I'll interject with a translation from the book. (Let me know if that didn't make sense)

Roachtrout Inactive for 9 months

Dec 23, 2023 8:21 am

Dec 23, 2023 8:21 am

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Thanks a buch for all the info! I think Wenlan and I as a player are enough up to speed.

Wenlan announces some of her fears:

If the Order has someone guarding the temple, they probably will notice what has happened there soon enough. Are you thinking of going back there? Either way, they might be on to us!

Last edited December 23, 2023 8:22 am

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 23, 2023 3:45 pm

Dec 23, 2023 3:45 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Should we attempt to get enough Guidestones to try and power the pedestal again? Should we try to use this information about the water and the Guidestones to stop powering the sweepers? Or something else entirely.

What does everyone think?

Dec 27, 2023 8:57 pm

Dec 27, 2023 8:57 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Hilmir's question wasn't said aloud, but I'll add the following as a point of clarification to prevent confusion since I was vague before. The Guide Stones are fairly minor magic items and wouldn't have close to enough power to make the pedestal work again.

From here on out, as a convention Book text = Blue

These Guide Stones are specially attuned to the crystals bestowed to us by the spirits. Activate by placing in water, the Guide Stones will point towards the nearest crystal. When removed from water, the magic quickly dissipates.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 28, 2023 3:03 pm

Dec 28, 2023 3:03 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

"Ah so these guide stones will tell us where the sweepers are!" Hilmir exclaims.

OOC:

Provided that what he said is true.

He then adds, "Well, that is something. Unfortunately, I don't believe that this helps us with stopping them. I agree with Wenlen; we should probably make haste out of this area before the Order starts searching for clues." Turning to Elara, he suggests, "Should we discuss this back with your people and begin to make a plan?"

Last edited December 28, 2023 3:04 pm

Dec 29, 2023 8:48 pm

Dec 29, 2023 8:48 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Elara answers Hilmir while starting to make a fire, "It will be several days of travel before we get back there. We staked that place out for a bit and the next guard cycle starts in two days. I think the fastest way for us to get back will be a proper rest now, before the alarm is sounded, and then get as far as we can going straight through the next two days."

Tanya has been listening to the discussion thus far intently, and chimes in with a question. "So if these crystals are needed to power this pedestal... we'd need to destroy a Sweeper to get one? I don't even know if they can be hurt."

OOC:

FYI - Marching through the night like Elara said would result in taking 1 Fatigue, and possibly more if you need to exert yourself at one point and fail a roll. If your inventory is full that would mean dropping an item.

SpiritualSocket Inactive for 10 months

Dec 30, 2023 2:02 pm

Dec 30, 2023 2:02 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

After hearing this information, Hilmir proposes we set up camp here. He volunteers to take the first watch.

OOC:

Let me know if any of you want to take a different course of action. I'm open to anything.

Last edited December 30, 2023 2:03 pm

Dec 30, 2023 7:37 pm

Dec 30, 2023 7:37 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

OOC:

Dreli will follow along with Elara's suggestion.

Dec 30, 2023 9:08 pm

Dec 30, 2023 9:08 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

Hearing Hilmir's offer to take watch, Elara responds "I was actually hoping to stay up a bit with Dreli, as long as she's up for it, and look through this book a little more. Why don't you take the middle watch?"

Then, turning to Wenlan, "You stepped in and saved me back there, I'd have no problems trusting you on the last watch if that works."

Dec 30, 2023 9:40 pm

Dec 30, 2023 9:40 pm

Hilmir Enters The Wood

"Sure." Dreli answers Elara. "Glad my familiarity with their language comes in handy as a positive for us."

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Game Details

Characters
- Roachtrout
  
  Wenlan Mannog