Colostle: Session 3- Closing in on Answers
Exploration Phase 3
Exploration Score: 3
The Draw: A ♣ Evidence of attempted raids; 5 ♦ Something's off... ; 4 ♠
Somewhat intact ruins
Jaiyana wakes from a deep slumber. The sun is high in the sky already, she's spent much of the day resting from her midnight escape from the slavers. She shakes her head, thinking back to the other prisoners that fled before she could organize their escape. "They only would've slowed me down... I can't dwell on them now. I need to get my bearings and press forward..." She takes a few moments recalling the events of the last day. How quickly she was caught off guard and taken, only for the providence of the massive rook attack in the evening. Suddenly the thought strikes her. She didn't get a good look at the rook, it was still a far way off from the camp when the call rang out of its approach. "It wasn't a Rook of the Purple Flame, was it?" She thinks hard, trying to recall any details of the rook that she saw as she fled.
Oracle: Was the Rook marked with the Purple Flame?
The Draw: 6 ♦; No
She shakes her head to herself. "No, it couldn't have been. The Purple Flame Rooks are far away at this point. I doubt the army would be heading back this way now... Though until I know more of what they are after, I suppose I can't say that for sure. But I didn't see that eerie purple glow coming from that rook. It was only a stray behemoth wandering through the wilds. Still, it could mean there are more rooks around. Best keep my head on a swivel today." With that she shoulders her pack. In her exhaustion of the previous evening, she did not even break out her bedroll before she collapsed into sleep. A quicker preparation for her this morning. With all of her things accounted for in her pack, she quickly gauges the general direction she was headed the previous day before being captured, and begins her trek.
The day is mostly uneventful. Late in the day, she comes across an abandoned camp. There are signs in the ground of another heavy wooden cage being erected here. "Must be more of the raiders. Looks like they left here in a hurry. I wonder if they were connected with the previous group, or this is a different problem entirely." She spends some time looking through what was left behind. It appears as if they also left in quite a hurry, as there is a large travel chest that sits abandoned behind one of the tents. She cautiously opens it and looks for valuables amongst what she finds.
GM Note: The draw indicates that Jaiyana discovers an item! Lets see if she finds anything useful
Item Draw: 4; Herbs/ingredients for a healing potion to heal one wound
At first glance, it appears as if the valuable items had not been forgotten when whoever made camp here left this chest behind. But then Jaiyana finds a small satchel stuffed to the bottom of the chest. She opens it to discover potent healing herbs. "This could be useful. I'm not healer, but I know that making a salve out of these herbs will take the edge off a wound." For a brief moment she thinks back to her time in the Armed Wall, remembering many a wound being treated with such salves. She quickly pushes the memory of her time in the village out of her mind. She quickly stows the herbs in her pack before continuing to look around the camp. She is about to leave and continue on her trek for the day when she spots a body laying mostly covered by the remnants of a collapsed tent. She cautiously moves to examine it.
Event Draw: Something's off... Jack ♥; You are surrounded!
As she draws near the body, the hairs on the back of her neck bristle. She feels a sudden uneasiness about the camp. She swings her shield from her back as her Rook arm brings her greatsword overhead in an offensive position. As she does so, several poorly armed people spring out from beneath the mostly collapsed tent. Looking around she realizes she's surrounded...
Oracle: Are these raiders?
The Draw: 6 ♣; Yes
Jaiyana quickly recognizes these men wear similar clothing to the raiders that captured her. Though she does not recognize them as the people that captured her, she wastes no thought on speaking to them. She charges forward, shield in front of her and greatsword above. The raiders are taken aback by her quick reflexes as she charges.
Combat
The Enemy: A Group of Raiders
Intention: Hide something from you
Weapon: Melee
Combat Score: D6 roll for number of raiders- 3
The raiders are armed with shoddy rusted swords if at all. Though they flank her on all sides, she is able to take them by surprise. The nervous glances that the men make to each other as she charges forward makes Jaiyana feel as if they are hiding something here... She'll leave one alive to at least answer her questions...
My Combat Score is 4; I draw 4 cards
The Raiders: 7 ♥
My Response: Jack ♣
One of the raiders tries to swing a fist at Jaiyana, but she quickly bashes the man aside with her sturdy shield. Reeling back around, she has escaped the circle of enemies. She faces down the two raiders who still are on their feet. The man she just bashed writhes in pain from the shield bash.
The Raiders: 7 ♠
My Response: K ♠
Jaiayan wins with a matching suit. Thats a critical hit! The raiders
remaining attacks are reduced by 1, from 1 to zero! The fight is over.
The two remaining men charge forward with their dull rusty blades. Jaiyana's training kicks in. In a wide sweep of her shield, she bashes aside the blades. As the shield knocks away her enemies attacks, her rook arm follows behind, catching the pair of raiders in a sweeping cut. They both fall to the ground in heaps of bloody rags. Jaiyana turns her attention to the lone surviving raider. She quickly springs forward, pinning the man to the ground with her shield, her rook arm raising her greatsword above the man's head in a threatening posture. "Who are you?! Why are you here!?" The man shies away from the menacing greatsword, barely able to catch his breath under the pressure of the shield pushing him into the ground.
Oracle: Does the man answer Jaiyana's questions?
The Draw: 3 ♥; No and its worse than expected...
The man sneers at Jaiyana defiantly, speaking no words. Suddenly she sees the man has something in his mouth! He must have grabbed something while she dealt with the other two raiders! The man chews on the pungent herb in his mouth, suddenly a foaming spittle spews from his mouth as his eyes roll back in his head. He begins convulsing before just as suddenly, the man lays still. Dead. Jaiyana curses under her breath as she checks that the man is dead before standing up. She stows her shield before thoroughly searching the bodies for any clues.
For defeating the Raiders, Jaiyana gains 1 treasure
Oracle: Does Jaiyana find anything else to indicate what the raiders were
hiding?
The Draw: 10 ♠; Yes with a Bonus
The men were armed with poor weapons and they had barely intact hide armor. Nothing valuable enough for Jaiyana to consider taking. On one of the raiders she discovers a golden bracelet. She quickly pulls it off the man and inspects it. The band of the bracelet is inscribed with strange runes that Jaiyana doesn't recognize. Fearing some sort of magical enchantment, she stows the bracelet in her bag, not risking putting it on herself. In one of the men's pockets, Jaiyana pulls out a small envelope with a letter inside. On the outside of the envelope in bold lettering are instructions the men obviously did not follow, Burn After Reading!! Jaiyana chuckles to herself at the men's folly. "I suppose I'll get to know your secrets after all. Looks like even your sacrifice won't keep them from me" she says with a sneer at the man's body who had killed himself before answering her questions. Opening the note, Jaiyana reads a chilling message.
The Raider's Letter
Pereli, a woman escaped from one of the villages to the north. She looked a capable warrior. We do not know where she went, but if she seeks vengeance on us, she may be headed towards the ruins. If she does, she'll need to pass through your territory. Capture her. Kill her. We do not want any loose ends causing us problems. You know the wrath that will be unleashed upon you if you fail me...
After that, a brief description matching Jaiyana is given. A chill runs down her spine. "Well I suppose they know I lived through their attack... Someone must've seen me leaving. I thought the Black Army had long left by the time I came too. They must have left scouts. And these damned raiders were working with them! Though from the sounds of it, they did so under threat of their homes. Still this is a good sign. I'm on the right path. And better news, they are worried. Those ruins might yet hold the key to taking them down." Jaiyana crumples the letter and pulls out her flint and steel. She quickly burns the letter, not wanting someone else to find her description.
After quickly cleaning her greatsword, Jaiyana leaves the abandoned camp behind. As the sun is beginning to set, she spots a few stone structures off in the distance. She warily approaches, not wanting to be surprised for the third time in not even as many days. She approaches slowly, keeping an eye out for any motion of guards or any kind of watch...
Event Draw: Mostly intact ruins- 6; A strange feeling
There is no sign of anyone inhabiting the ruin, so Jaiyana enters, still cautiously holding her shield and greatsword at the ready. As she looks around, she sees that the structure is of ancient construction. The architecture of the buildings appears ancient, though the construction was quite sturdy. Jaiyana judges that whoever lived here had built these buildings in ancient times. Though there are not many buildings. It appears to have been a small lookout station. A crumbling wall on the outskirts protects a tower, obviously used to see anyone approaching from far off. A main building appears to have been some sort of barracks where guards would have been stationed. One building off to the side sits apart from the other structures. A heavy ornately decorated door sits steadfast in the buildings only entrance. She inspects the doors closely, seeing strange runes carved along the top of the door, almost appearing to demark what the building was used for. A sense of deja vu crosses Jaiyana as she looks closely at the runes... Quickly she drops her shield and pulls her pack from her back, pulling out the oddly engraved golden bracelet she had taken from the raider. Examining the runes on the bracelet and the doorway, she saw that they shared many of the same strange ancient characters. "This bracelet... It must have been given to the raiders by the Black Army! This must be important to the secret of the Rooks of Purple Flame!"
Excitedly she tries to push open the doorway, hoping that there might be more information on the location of the Ruins she seeks inside. The door doesn't budge. Looking at the doorway closer, she recognizes that there is no handle to the door. No locking mechanism. It seems to be impossible to open. She pauses for a moment before looking down at the bracelet in her hand. She hesitantly puts the bracelet on, waiting for some sort of magical shock or curse... But there is nothing. She breathes a sigh of relief. She then turns her attention to the doorway. She extends her hand, now adorned with the golden bracelet. A gentle push to the doorway, she feels a pulse of energy emanating from the bracelet into the doorway. After a moment the door begins to creak and groan as it swings inward, opening the doorway into the strange building. She looks in shock for a moment, hardly believing that her farfetched idea worked. She stares at the open doorway, then to the bracelet, then back to the doorway. "YES!" She exclaims in a victorious cheer! She quickly gathers her pack and shield and cautiously steps into the building...
Inside there is nothing particularly interesting of note. A simple desk and chair sit to one side and a bed, rotten with age, sits in another. Well, there is one thing Jaiyana spots. In the center of the small chamber is a staircase descending down into the depths of the earth. "Well then. I suppose I'll have a busy day tomorrow. Too late to see where that leads now." With the feeling of being on the cusp of a breakthrough, Jaiyana leaves the chamber for the time being. She pulls the door closed behind her, and sets off to make camp within the barracks building. After a hastily prepared meal of boar meat, she settles in for the night, thoughts of what she might find beneath the ruins racing through her head. She was getting closer, inch by inch, to discovering the secrets of the Rooks of Purple Flame and how she might stop the Black Army.
Another lucky break for Jaiyana as she continues to hunt down the secrets behind the Rooks of the Purple Flame! And with the discovery of the dungeon underneath the ruins, this will be a perfect time to jump into some supplemental rules! I'm hoping to bring in the Colostle expansion for dungeons for Jaiyana's journey through the depths as she continues her search for answers next time.
Colostle: Jaiyana and the Rooks of the Purple Flame Session List
Comments
Post a Comment