Warning: Potential spoilers below for the adventure, D0: Hollow’s Last Hope, from Paizo. Although it is not being used “as written,” spoilers may certainly be in the writeup below.
[This entry marks Todd’s triumphant return to the session logs. As always, my GM comments in italics and brackets.]
[When we last left our heroes, their attention was drawn to a fox whose leg was caught in a rather vicious beartrap. The chain of the beartrap led into a small pond and the front two characters, Cuðbert and Wulfwynn, were focusing most of their attention on the fox and the still, dark water in front of them and thus missed what was above…]
As Cuthbert moved forward to help the trapped fox, two large spiders dropped down hanging from their webs. The spiders fore-legs were sharp blades. Shortly after the combat ensued, two men came charging from the trees, and also attacked the heroes. The battle didn’t last long, but long enough for Skuli to be poisoned by one of the men’s weapon. Wulfwynn prayed to Eostre to heal Skuli and the fox.
[One of the men, as he charged forward, threw a small ball of something at Fenric. It exploded into webs when it struck and partially entangled the woodsman. If anyone had asked, they might have noticed that these webs looked strangely familiar…hmm, I wonder where they might have seen something similar in the past…
I’m not exactly sure what it means for two of the PCs to be more concerned about the health of the trapped fox than their companion, Skuli, but it was fun. To be fair, the fox was in more danger of dying than the Iron Guild Mercenary. Wulfwynn was able to heal both of them though. I know in some games that a distinction is made between magic that heals people and magic that heals animals but, especially given that Wulfwynn is a Reaper of Eostre, I didn’t see a problem with it. In fact, I cut them some slack and allowed the fox’s wounds to heal more easily than they should have because of the Eostre association.]
While searching the bodies, Lia heard a horn sound in the distance. As they continued their trek to find the Eldest Tree, Fernric did his best to cover their trail. Within a few hours, the heroes came upon a large clearing with a massive tree in its midst. Remembering that something large was once seen slithering around the base of the tree, the heroes scouted around the Eldest Tree. Not seeing any immediate danger, they proceeded cautiously to the tree’s trunk. The tree’s foliage was too dense to tell if any danger awaited them in it’s boughs.
[The men both had strange robes that looked to be made of spider silk. It had been very effective at stopping Fenric’s arrows and seemed fairly light in weight. Each also had a weapon (one a spiked maul and the other a spiked mace) as well as a silver ring (etched with a spider web pattern) and a neck pouch with a small vial in it. The latter two sets of items were collected and taken.]
They were not able to find any of the moss that matched Hervara’s description around the base of the tree. Dropping their gear, except their weapons, the heroes climbed up the tree. At a height of about sixty feet, Fenric noticed one of the tree’s branches moving. Realizing it wasn’t a branch, Fenric warned the others. Cuthbert called the huge snake-like creature a lindwyrm, and said it was evil.
[Knowledge: Folklore is good for something! Cuðbert also realized what a Lindwyrm was and the potential benefits of its shed skin but that info wasn’t shared until later. Note: The GM did not say that Lindwyrms were evil, only that they had been cursed for some terrible crime.]
Fenric moved out onto a large branch, and shot the lindwyrm with an arrow. As the lindwyrm attacked Fenric, Lia jumped onto it’s back, and Cuthbert attacked it’s body. Wulfwynn cast an entangling spell at it, and Skuli moved in to help fight it. Lia was knocked loose from it’s back, as the lindwyrm wrapped itself around Fenric. Fenric was able to get free, but fell as he attacked it. Cuthbert and Skuli were able to damage the lindwyrm enough that it fell from the tree. Because of it’s size, the lindwyrm’s fall rattled the tree, causing the heroes, except Wulwynn, to fall as well.
[I really need to start to be a more “thorough” GM. I think most of the players assumed that because the tree was so large that standing and fighting on its branches wouldn’t be a problem. I was too lazy to deal with it but that shouldn’t have been the case. Having a nearly 2,000 pound creature moving around in a tree even that large would cause it to sway and move, making it difficult to maintain stable footing. Next time…next time…
Fenric, while he got all up close and personal with the Lindwyrm noticed that its eyes were milky and clouded over. I explained that the only eyes he had ever seen like that were the eyes of some elderly individuals. Important? Just color? Only the GM knew for sure but I’ll share now. The Lindwyrm was very, very, very old and–whether or not this fits Hellfrost canon* or not–had declined significantly in physical prowess. In other words, it was a weakened version of a Lindwyrm. Don’t tell my players though, it’ll be great for them to be all overconfident if they run into another one sometime in the future.
Speaking of Overconfident…Lia has the Overconfident Hindrance. However, Lia has not really acted very Overconfident during the campaign. When the opportunity came up for Lia to jump onto the back of the Lindwyrm to attack it and the player turned it down, I asked for a Benny. I have previously explained to the players that if they did not play out their more “roleplaying-oriented” Hindrances, I would start asking for Bennies from them. Robert elected to keep his Benny and have Lia act more Overconfident in the situation…winding up hanging by a hand from the scales of the wyrm and attacking it.
After the Lindwyrm was struck a mortal blow, it began to fall from the tree. It narrowly missed Fenric, who had already fallen (jumped? I forget) to a lower branch, snapping the branch just a few feet away before continuing its fall. Cuðbert was badly injured in his fall but Wulfwynn tended to his wounds with Eostre’s blessing. Fenric also lost his sword during the fight…it fell but no one could find it.
*Hellfrost canon? Ha! Wiggy is quite emphatic on the TAG forums that Hellfrost is for people to play, modify, and enjoy how they wish. You gotta love that!]
After taking a few minutes to recover, they continued their search for the moss. The moss was found near the top of the tree, along with the shed skin of the lindwyrm. The skin tingled with magic. With moss in hand, the heroes start back for Askvold Stead.
[The moss actually wasn’t near the top of the tree, it was about halfway up. There was more stuff that could have been found farther up the tree but the PCs are on a mission! The shed skin is a Relic. Based on Cuðbert’s folklore, they knew that the skin was a great boon to healers. I was quite happy with the initial reaction to it. The first comments were to give it to Hervara to help her in healing the disease. It was only later that it dawned on them that Wulfwynn could benefit from it as well…which would, of course, be beneficial for all of the party. That first reaction…of putting others first…is perfect for heroic fantasy…at least to me. I’m thinking there might be some bonus Glory awards in it…]
That night, as he stood watch, Skuli was snatched up by a giant spider. His yell woke Wulfwynn, who woke the rest of the group. Skuli’s muffled cries could briefly be heard from the darkness above. Wulfwynn lit a torch, but the light did not extend far enough to see Skuli. Fenric took the torch as the others climbed the trees. Fenric threw the torch into the air, providing light just long enough for Lia to see a giant web and Skuli-sized cocoon. Cuthbert heard something move past him in the darkness, and shouted a warning as the spider dropped down behind Fenric. As Fenric held off the spider with the torch, Cuthbert let forth a feral roar and leapt from the tree. Cuthbert landed on the spider, squishing it dead. After freeing Skuli, the rest of the night was uneventful.
[The party was still in the Myrkr Holt when they camped. Taking a cue from some of the other TAG stuff (e.g., the chase rules in the pulp adventures), I used the deck to determine a “random” encounter for that evening. I went around the table asking each player to pick a suit and then I drew a card. If the card matched their choice, the encounter occurred during their watch. RJ was the “lucky” one and the spider attacked during Skuli’s watch. Only the first match would result in an encounter. If none matched, no encounter.
Actually, Todd is the lucky one. I can’t fault him for being a smartass (especially since his GM is a major smartass) and he picked Joker instead of a suit. I’m sure he didn’t expect me to draw the Joker when he said that but I did. It struck me that something major should happen for this but I didn’t do anything with it. Instead, I decided that I’ll “save” that Joker for some other, highly inopportune for Sebbi but great for the game, moment and pull it out then. I’m sure Todd would expect nothing less.
This encounter may have been one of my favorites yet with Savage Worlds. I had no real idea of what would happen…except that it would involve a giant spider (I have my reasons)…but everything just kind of fell into place. The party wanted to find a good spot to camp, preferably a place with a rock face to camp against and, presumably, to put their backs against in a fight. Oooh…that means at least a bit of a break in the canopy…a perfect place for a nice big spider web. It was dark by the time the group made camp and the web and spider were well behind the light of their torches. The upper canopy was still there so the spider didn’t silhouette against the sky or anything.
On his watch, Skuli climbed up on the rock. Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly! I know, I know, the SW writeups of giant spiders don’t really give them an ability to shoot a web and drag in something (at least that I’ve seen) but it just seemed too damn cool not to do…so I did it. Skuli yelled for help and tried to free himself by cutting the web…he failed (now, if he had said that he cut or wriggled out of his clothing, that might have been a different story). By the time the other characters reached the rock, he was nowhere to be seen but his muffled cries (having been partially cocooned) could be heard…until they abruptly ended, spider venom and all.
The others eventually figured out what was going on and started to climb the tree to reach the web and cocooned Skuli. As they climbed up, it left Fenric alone and so the spider dropped down to attack him. It was too dark for the others to see the spider and have you ever heard a spider descend on a web…no, neither have I. Still, Cuðbert sensed something go by and Fenric’s yelp drew attention to the spider on the ground.
Cuðbert lept from about thirty feet up and landed with full force right atop the spider. Splat!!! Spider ick splattered all over the small clearing! I’ve always wanted to do stuff like that in rpgs. I’ve tried similar stuff in a few but they’ve always been D&D games with Hit Points…bad Hit Points, bad! I love how Savage Worlds is so conducive to something like this and so easy to wing on the fly while at the same time giving me the “luxury” to use a Benny to potentially avoid an outcome like this if it is better for the game. Obviously, this was not a time to use a Benny (even if I hadn’t already been out of all my GM Bennies for the session…in fact, it was time to award Jamie a Benny for the cool action. I loved the whole encounter even though it only lasted for like 10 minutes of real time.]
The next morning, the heroes left for the Stead, traveling through the night, arriving early in the morning.
Meanwhile, back in Dalsetter…
Agdi informs Lord Sebbi that the heroes set out for Askvold Stead to aquire some ingredients to cure the ratcatcher’s fever. When Agdi says he is to send a messenger to Olvir and Ljot to look for the Ironbloom mushrooms, Sebbi says he’ll take it. Knowing that Tyko is traveling north, Sebbi asks her to accompany him.
[Poor Sebbi…totally forgotten about in our last session just because Todd wasn’t there.
Sebbi had been impressed by Tyko in the prior session and was hoping she would stick around. She, however, had decided it was time to return home in the north and shared little, if any, information as to why she and her brothers had been in the area or even where she lived in the north…hmm…I wonder what’s up with all of that…]
Upon reaching the Temple of Eartha, Sebbi tells the dwarf brothers what he is looking for. Tyko continues on her way. Sebbi and the dwarves do not find any Ironbloom mushrooms. Since the dwarves need supplies, they travel with Sebbi to Askvold Stead. At Askvold Stead, they find Hervara. After a slightly heated discussion about the absence of the Ironbloom mushrooms and Sebbi’s ability to look after the welfare of Dalsetter, Hervara, Sebbi, Olvir and Ljot set out for the Jagged Peaks. Ljot, to the chagrin of Olvir, says he knows the way to some dwarven ruins, that might have some Ironbloom mushrooms.
[Playing three NPCs in an argument is not the easiest thing to do but I know that at least some of my players are entertained by it. Hervara continued to be her rather biting, sarcastic, hot-tempered beauty and directed her ire at Sebbi as well as the dwarves at varying times while the brothers had their own arguments.
Sebbi spent some time reading through his Lorekeeper scrolls (which, I’m assuming, includes some of his own notes on the Vale) and realized that there were some Dwarven ruins at the foot of the Jagged Peaks. Ironbloom mushrooms only grow underground and near large amounts of metal…like, probably, dwarven settlements. Ljot blurted something out about also remembering something about a dwarven ruin in that area. Olvir, however, seemed quite upset at the thought of folks traveling to these ruins…I wonder what’s up with that?
That’s where we ended. The first group with Cuðbert, Lia, Skuli, and Wulfwynn (and Fenric) are a few days ahead of the Sebbi group. At the next session (not for a couple of weeks, unfortunately), the Sebbi group will be getting caught up time-wise. Todd, of course, will be playing Sebbi but the other players will be taking on the Brighthammer brothers and Hervara.
Oh, just an fyi, most of the group just got their third Advance. Sebbi and Skuli are lagging behind a bit since Todd/Sebbi only recently started playing and RJ has missed a few of the sessions (my house rule…if you miss a session, no XP for you even if someone else plays your character).]
