Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

[Tiffanian]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

By the time they got to the inn it was as busy as Wyndyl had ever seen it, albeit the mood there was really quite somber. A bit too much so for her taste, though she could understand why it was so. The group's food and drink was offered to them for free this time, which suited her just fine; she only vaguely understood the value of this money stuff the humans were so fond of. She ordered her meal, something relatively plain, and began to eat alongside the others. It was good food, not as good as back home, but then what ever was?

At some point in the meal the elf would turn to Colette, still intrigued by the stories she had been telling at the church. "Those stories from before" she asked, "are they really true? People allow others to harm them for... fun? How could such a thing come to be considered pleasure? It is such a strange concept that it inspires curiosity. Is this a thing amongst humans?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"You know, looking at that medallion, it does look... Somewhat familiar. It isn't exact, but that symbol... It's not unlike the ones I saw on goods coming from a land near my home," Mireleth said suddenly, pausing in her meal and reaching out to take the medallion. "The ones I am familiar with come from a land where strange women, those with the upper bodies of a normal human but the lower body of a serpent, are revered... I rarely saw these symbols so I can't be sure if it's an exact match, and I can't imagine what they'd be doing here, but... It looks pretty similar."

Mireleth pointedly ignored Wyndyl's question and Colette's answer, her sense of propriety, at least in public when she hadn't had any drink in her, keeping the foreign warrior's tongue tied.

 

[Knephi]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"Sounds a lot like demons to me," Sable commented with a hint of bitterness creeping into her voice. While she was growing more accustomed to unusual sorts of people, the thought of some sort of half-human half-beast creatures unsettled her, even more so the idea that they were not only accepted by society, but apparently revered by the people. They sounded far too similar to the demons she was so familiar with. "But it might bear some consideration. I have never heard of such creatures, but we would do well to be wary of any possibility."

With that in mind, Sable set aside the meal she'd just finished, sorting through her various weapons and tools. Most were specialized for dealing with particular breeds of monsters that terrorized the area, but some were more general-purpose as well. Humans weren't her usual sort of quarry, but that didn't mean she had no experience fighting them. Sometimes they left her little choice, much like the attackers this morning, and some could be just as bad as any demon. She could prepare for them just as she could any other beast.

"So we might be dealing with some kind of cult then. That itself is worrying, if we don't know for certain what it is they follow. It makes them too unpredictable." She gave a brief sigh, letting her head rest against one hand as she paused in her work, "I don't like things I can't predict. Too many things can go wrong if we just walk blindly into this... but we're not likely to find any more information unless we wait for them to attack again. I don't like that idea either though, especially if they do have a sorcerer of some kind among them."

She was a hunter, not a warrior. She did not go into battle with thoughts of honour or glory as the knights did. Her victories were often decided before the battle began. Walking into a beast's den unprepared was the height of foolishness to someone in her trade, but that was essentially what they were thinking of doing. They knew next to nothing about their quarry even if they could find them, and while hunting men was not quite the same as hunting beasts, the advantage of being in one's home ground was not to be ignored. All she could do was prepare for the worst as well as she could.

(Using Monster Hunter during the downtime to prepare against... Snake Cultists or whatever they are. 2d6+1.)

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Colette warmed naturally to the offering of free food, grinning her cheshire cat smile at the innkeeper and his waitresses. She immediately fell into a chatty rapport with the servers - being friendly with the people who gave you your bread and ale was a maxim the thief lived by. By the time a hot plate of fresh stew was placed in front of her, she already knew the names of Wendi, Mycanda, and Tabythine as they set about giving them the best the little town could offer - and she was halfway to knowing about Mycanda's crush on the Tanner's apprentice, and that Tabythine was expecting her second child in a matter of months according to the local midwife.

When Mireleth made mention of the snake medallion beside her on the table, Colette slid it over to the eastern warrior with a warm and easy appraisal, and listened half interested in what she had to say as she drained her first cup.

"So snake ladies? Yeesh... how do they, breed? I mean... do they lie with snakes or men? Or both?"

As soon as she had asked this, Wyndyl had taken the chance to turn to her and inquire more about the nature of some of the special shows from Flesh Lane that Colette had described earlier. The thief regarded the elf cryptically, pausing as though giving her answer deep consideration.

"Well, I don't claim to be INTO everything that I've seen. But from what I understand of that sort of thing - it has to do with some basic truths of human nature. Humans can be sorted out in many ways, but one typical way is to say that there are those who abuse, and those who get abused. Now sometimes, a person can like the feeling of being victimized, and even fantasize about it a little. So for those types, if they can find someone willing to help victimize them in a way that isn't going to be actually life-threatening - then they get to live out that fantasy safely and enjoyably. And some folk will pay for that privilege. Do you get it?"

If the elf prodded further with her questions, Colette was happy to discuss it, but she doubted she could provide a complete and comprehensive explanation. After all? How can one explain the abnormalities of human depravity to someone who didn't even know what it was like to be a normal human?

She would smile at Wendi and ask for a second cup, and then look on with a little concern about the prospect of dealing with a snake-lady cult. Cults were often full of fanatics, and those types were hard to talk your way out of a bad situation with. And usually the only worthwhile loot in a cult's treasury would be some large sacred object like a statue that wouldn't be very saleable at the local fence, provided it wasn't nailed down to the ground to begin with...

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"I don't know... And I'm not sure that I want to," Mireleth would respond to Colette, "I have heard that they mate with human men, but I don't know if that's true or not. Or if that's the whole story."

With their meals eaten, the foreign warrior would see her dishes prepared to be picked up, all in a neat little pile, and then said; "Shall we go and see about talking to the guards? They've had some time to get organized."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Colette nodded at Mireleth's suggestion.

"Aye, let's do that. We'll find the captain and see what's what. Maybe if we say something about snake-ladies, he'll be able to tell us more. Like where to find them."

When the rest of the party was ready to go, she'd leave the inn and walk with them over to the militia barracks to put their questions and offer of work to the chief constable.

 

[Astarte]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

(Monster Hunter: 2d6+1 = 8 [5,2]. Gain 2 Readiness.)

One their meal finished and their immediate plans decided, the party soon found their way to the guard's barracks. Along the way they passed a number of citizens now out in the streets, seeming to have begun to return to their ordinary routine. Once they arrived they would be greeted to the sight of around a dozen men with shields and spears, though without proper armour, suggesting they were part of a militia rather than soldiers having orders barked at them by the same man they'd met earlier, who'd directed them to the church to be treated after the battle.

Captain Barton seemed to notice their approach, pausing for a moment in giving his orders to give a nod in their direction before turning back to his men, giving what the party could now hear to be orders for a patrol around the city walls. The men saluted their captain and rushed past the waiting women shortly after, a few giving them curious glances but no more than that.

"Ah, good to see you again. I was just about to send a man to find you." The man called out to them as he approached, "I thought you'd like to hear what we've found out about the attack this morning. Not much about who they were I'm afraid, but we think we know where they came from."

He glanced around a little warily, apparently having second thoughts about discussing this in the middle of the street. "Why don't you step inside? The barracks are pretty empty for the moment." He motioned to the door behind him.

"So, where to begin..." The captain began as he took a seat at the table in the common room, motioning for the others to do the same if they wished. "After the attack I had a few men try to follow their trail. Didn't get too far in the fog, but they came across a merchant's caravan that had been attacked along the road. The bodies there had the same symbol the others carried, and one of the caravan guards was still alive. They brought him back here, and he told them something interesting along the way."

He leaned forward onto the table, steepling his fingers in front of him. "He saw them come from an old ruin just outside of town. Aliah's Tower, a lot of stories about it being haunted since its owner was driven out decades ago, back when Rachdale was first founded. Man was some kind of sorcerer, and everyone's given his tower a wide berth since the inquisitors purged the place when the city was being built. We'd assumed beasts had probably moved into the place after it started falling apart, but apparently something worse has moved in."

He paused for a few moments after that, looking like there was something he wanted to say but hesitating to say it. "That's where I'd hoped to enlist your help. Would I be mistaken in assuming the lot of you are mercenaries of a sort? Don't see many groups out here who can fight like you do who aren't." Unless they outright denied his assumption, he would continue shortly after "We're going to be stretched thin as it is, between the casualties we took in the fighting and the need to increase the guard, so I can't spare enough men to look into this lead. Few of my men would be willing to approach the place without overwhelming force with the stories about it. I was hoping you were less... superstitious. If you can get me confirmation of whether that place is empty or if they really have taken up residence there, I'm willing to compensate you for your efforts."

"If they are there, and you think you can clear any remnants out yourself... I'd have more for you. I don't know how many more of them there are though, if there are too many of them, all I need to know are where they're hiding. If I can learn that much, I can get a proper response organized, get them to send more men out here. Either way, you interested?"

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Colette was grinning from ear to ear as the captain made plain his offer of gold.

"Aye, we work for coin, same as any man would do. Our outfit might be odd, but each of us is a specialized adventurer. If it's reconnaissance you require, you'll get the details you need. But if you're offering to pay for a more permanent solution to Rachdale's woes, you'll have to put some coin up front for it."

She stepped forward and put her gloved hand on the table, leaning forward to give the captain a good glance at her cleavage from where it was tightly pressed up against her by the leather armor she wore.

"Standard mercenary payment plan. Half now, half on completion. We're professionals, so the price is 100 gold per person. That doesn't change if some of us don't make it back - we've got families who need compensation after all. This gets you a cleared tower.

"If you really only want a recon job. It's 100 gold total. Still half up front. You decide what you want, but I'll tell you now, we'll handle whatever's in that tower and send those snake worshipping bastards back to their serpent hell."

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Nagan bristled inwardly - the snake was just as acceptable a totem as any other! Moreover, but their talkative Imperial was dictating her price! Even if she might've been the weakest warrior of this lot, those who fought were their own, not someone else's. That was why war bands had leaders powerful in both body and presence - the sort of warrior that drew men to follow them. True, this woman had fought well - more than well, really, in the skirmish, but who was she to decide her price?

Nagan bit her tongue, chalking it up to strange Imperial ways. Better to just let herself blend in. 'Nails that stand out get hammered back down', she'd heard said, early on in her time venturing into Imperial towns. "...This is agreeable," she muttered, though she couldn't keep the curtness out of her voice. "How do we get to this 'Tower of Aliah'?"

 

[Astarte]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

(Colette's Parley roll: 2d6+1 = 6 [4,1]. Fail, +1 Exp.)

Barton sighed as Colette laid out her price, pointedly avoiding allowing his gaze to be drawn to the cleavage she was putting on display. "I'm afraid that's a little more than we can afford. I can give you a hundred for the recon work, but we just don't have the funds to pay a hundred each."

He met the thief's eyes for a few moments,before finally giving another sigh. "Best I can do for you is 80 each. Half upfront is acceptable though. If you're still willing, the tower is only about two hours along the road out the east gate. The proximity to the city was why purging it was made a priority back then. It's a little off the road, and overgrown enough to be hard to spot. I can arrange to have a guide show you the way if you'd prefer, but they won't get near the place themselves."

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Colette scowled as her first hiring pitch fell flat. Mentally she blamed it on these country and frontier folk just not being savvy or recognizing quality work when they see it.

The thief was completely ignorant of any misgivings coming from her own party, and her self-confidence in matters of monetary gain prevented her from any worry that some of them might not appreciate the great favor she was presenting them by negotiating on their behalf.

"Well... I suppose we wouldn't want to strain this town's goodwill or budget too much now would we?" She muttered plainly, pursing her lips in mild frustration. "Very well, 80 each. Not too bad for a healthy day's work, right ladies? If it's just a two hour hike, we'll have this tower cleared before nightfall!"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"Assuming whatever happens to reside there is cooperative to being killed of course," Mireleth spoke up for the first time since they had entered the captain's presence. She wasn't much of a haggler, and thus had simply allowed Colette her head in talking through the reward they would receive. She was one to accept any reward offered, and would generally raise little fuss so long as something was given for her services, which may have rankled the more avaricious Colette in the past. She had quite quickly and easily grown comfortable with allowing the rogue to do the bargaining, however, so any stress it might have imparted was probably long gone by now.

"I am ready go now. Does anyone else need to pick up anything before we leave?" she said, turning a sweeping gaze upon the rest of their group.

 

[Astarte]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Barton nodded as the agreed, looking momentarily relieved before his expression returned to a neutral one. "Excellent. I can have a guide ready within the hour if you can ready to depart right away, or do you need more time to prepare first? It's important that this is dealt with as soon as possible." After receiving their answer he would again nod, looking thoughtful for a moment before continuing.

"I'll get your initial pay ready if you'll just wait a few for me to collect it. One of my scouts will be waiting for you at the guard post by the main gate when you're ready to leave, they'll show you how to find the tower. It's not too far off the main road, but it's old and overgrown and the trees around there are tall, so it can be easy to miss if you don't know the area."

Once they had received their pay and were on their way they would briefly hear the captain shouting for someone to carry a message for him before they were out of earshot. That would leave them some time to prepare if they wished to spend their advance pay or any coin they might have had on hand on supplies, or if they simply wanted to pick up their things from the Inn and meet their guide instead.

---​

Once they were suitably prepared and had made their way back to the main gate they would find that it had already been cleaned up from the morning's battle. The bodies of friend and foe alike had all been moved elsewhere, and all that was left were some bloodstains on the stones that had yet to be cleaned away.

"So you're the ones the captain convinced to actually go into that old tower?" A voice called out from the guard post just inside of the main gate, the speaker breaking off from where she seemed to have been conversing with one of the men guarding the gate to meet them. It was a redheaded woman, dressed entirely in tough leather and looking more like a woodsman than most of the soldiers they'd seen in the city with the bow visible over her shoulder and sword at her hip. On the other hand, he'd told them their guide would be a scout, and traditional armour might be impractical for travelling quickly in the wilderness. "Tiana. I'll be showing you to where you need to go, but I'm sure you've been told all about that already. Let's get going, shall we?"

---​

Just as they'd been told, they'd only been on the road for nearly two hours when Tiana held up a hand motioning for them to stop. "We're here. And there's what's left of the last ones past here. It's not far now." She pointed out what appeared to be a pair of wagons, but having been rather thoroughly torn apart and dragged off the road. There were no bodies of men or beasts of burden, but it wasn't surprising that any left here might have been dragged off by scavengers. "So you're serious about heading in there? I'm not as superstitious as a lot of folk around here, but places don't get this kind of reputation without some kind of reason. I don't put much stock in ghosts or anything like that, but something lives in there. Or did before the current owners showed up, I'm not sure which is worse honestly."

She sighed, leading the rest of they way off the road and into the forest. It only took a few minutes to reach the tower from the road, and it was obvious even to an untrained eye that many people had been through here recently. The undergrowth was trampled down in a rough path to the road, branches and bushes hacked away by blades to clear the way.

"And here's where we part ways," her voice was nearly a whisper now as she pointed to the structure now visible through the trees. It was a large building, and while certainly a tower it looked rather short and stout, not being more than four or five stories tall but quite wide. It looked to be entirely round, though at the base an extra structure seemed to expand out of the far side and into the hill behind it. It was impossible to tell whether it ended there or if there was more dug into the hill. "Now, I'm going to be honest with you here. My orders are to wait out here and keep an eye on the place. If I don't see any sign of you by midday tomorrow I'm to report back. We'll still wait for you if you take longer than that for some reason, but the captain wants to know if he should be preparing for another attack and trying to get reinforcements down here to clear the place out. I guess all of you going in there and not coming out would be enough to confirm the danger. Just wanted to give you all fair warning. I really do hope you all can just clear this place out and be done with it, but we need to prepare for the worst too."

Spoiler

If anyone wants to go shopping first, you all just received 40 coins each. You can purchase any basic items from here that make sense to be found in a human city's market for the listed price:

You must be registered to see the links

Just note down what you bought in your next post and keep track of your money/inventory on your sheet (And remember Load). If you want something that isn't listed let me know and we can work out the price and availability.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Having no problem with waiting, Mireleth would opt to leave the others briefly as she went off to acquire some medical supplies. They might be injured here, so she opted to take some of her initial payment to acquire some bandages, and met the rest of the group at the tavern to acquire the rest of their gear.

Once they met with the scout, Mireleth would give a polite nod of her head, and introduced herself following the drop of the redhead's name; "Greetings Tiana, I am Mireleth, a pleasure to meet you." When the scout had turned to the others, however, Mireleth somewhat unslyly slid her eyes up and down the other woman's body, taking in the details revealed by all of that tight leather. She might have taken Colette as something of a regular lover, but she hadn't traveled halfway across the world to let herself get tied down, and the rogue most definitely knew that by now. Even if she didn't get good eye candy off of her, she could at least admire their guide's red hair, a hair color she found particularly attractive given its rarity.

She wouldn't let her occasional oggling distract her from the dangers of the task at hand, however, and seemed satisfied with taking eyefuls of the redhead once they left the town... Mostly anyway. She would take a peek on occasion, when she didn't think anyone was looking... Perhaps save Tiana, depending on the redhead's initial reactions.

"Something like what, I wonder?" Mireleth pondered aloud as their guide came to a stop and offered some further remarks on their destination. "We were only told a little of this place's history... Perhaps you might tell us more? With a less... Superstitious taste to your words? All legends come from somewhere, and sometimes those stories can offer a bit of insight into very real dangers surrounding the place that birthed them."

To her warning that they wouldn't be getting any help from Tiana now or the guard in the near future, Mireleth merely nodded. She had expected as much, and was confident that they would be able to clear the place, or failing that escape it with some knowledge of what lay below. "Very well... Shall we take a look around then? See if we can find some alternative to the front door? I know that's your style Colette, and Wyndyl could probably find us something... If it exists anyway. Still, I don't mind the front door if we all just want to get this over with quickly."

Spoiler

Buy 2 bandages for 10 coins total!

That's about it really.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Colette would be satisfied once initial payment had been given and considered the deal struck. She would dare this old magician's tower and design a messy end for whatever foes dwelt inside it. She knew she was quicker and deadlier than any man such as those who had emerged from the morning's mist. If that was all the danger that this tower presented, then this would be easy money.

Colette took a moment to check her equipment. Her oiled leather armor was dark and flexible, without sacrificing too much in the way of protection. True, it wasn't scale or plate, but it afforded her the movement she needed to perform her nimble tumbles and darting attacks that were her forte. When push came to shove, she would much rather dodge her attackers than suffer the brunt of their blows against her body. Her rapier was long and precise, a thrusting weapon that she had learned to use quite effectively during her training with the Thieves Guild in the imperial capital. She was also a good shot with her short bow, and a full quiver helped her keep her distance when the situation warranted it. Her double strapped backpack held the rest of her gear, which held many useful objects, including three flash bombs.

Feeling that she was prepared enough to take on the journey, Colette would be voting for a quick journey to the tower.

---

Colette made no immediate response to Tiana, as the red-headed scout was just someone being paid to lead the mercenaries to where they needed to go. In the back of her mind, Colette wondered if the scout was even really necessary. Surely, they wouldn't have much trouble finding the tower by themselves?

Certainly, Tiana's allusions to danger and the fact that her body was drawing too much of Mireleth's attention were both drawing Colette's ire.

"Your captain's coin is good, so yes, we're going in there. And unless you have something useful to tell us about the tower, apart from how scared of it you are, I suggest you remain quiet, and let the real women do the dirty work."

Colette sized up the tower. No windows? No balcony? Was it domed over the top or was there a flat edge? Any decorations to which a rope and grapple could be fastened?

The structure was much more immense than Colette had originally conceived, but it was still not nearly the largest structure that she had planned to infiltrate.

"My guess is there'll be a hidden back door built into the other side of that hill there. The foundation of the structure seems to run into the ground, so it makes sense. If I were a wizard building my tower, I would anticipate the inevitable crowd of filthy torch and pitchfork waving peasants surrounding my obviously-compensating-for-something structure, and I'd make sure the escape exit was nowhere near it. But. I'd also make sure it was only opened from the inside. So really, that leaves the front door, or swinging a line up the side of the wall and climbing up to work our way down. How good are you lot at climbing?"

 

[Astarte]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"Honestly, it's hard to say what the real history of the place is, but I suppose I can tell you the facts at least." Tiana shrugged at Mireleth's questions, but continued anyway "Was built by some sorcerer back before Rachdale was even built. If I had to guess, his name was probably Aliah, but I don't know anything about him. When the town was first being settled, apparently they started having trouble with some kind of mutant beasts out of the forest. Some people tried to find the source, and came across the tower. Inquisition was called in to deal with the threat since it was so close to the new mines they were digging, and they cleared the place out, killed the sorcerer and whatever else was inside. Since then it's been abandoned as far as anyone knows, but there have been ghost stories about the place since long before I was even born."

"A few guys got it into their heads to raid the place for 'treasure' a few years back, nobody ever heard from them again. Nobody wanted to be the ones to investigate either. Their own damned fault if they got themselves killed and all that. I don't really buy into the ghost stories, but there's lots of dangerous stuff out here. I've always figured some kind of monsters wandered in and made it their den, ate anyone who tried to explore. And now it's probably full of angry barbarians, not much of an improvement." Tiana didn't even glance at Nagan as she spoke, apparently either not caring or not realizing that her terminology might be offensive to the woman.

She only fixed Colette with a vaguely annoyed look for a brief moment at the thief's comment about her being afraid before shrugging, "Hey, I'm still a soldier, I've got to follow orders. Besides, even though I don't buy into all the stories, the place could still be full of those guys who attacked the city. That's a threat I'm not just gonna pretend doesn't exist."

The tower itself did have a number of windows at regular intervals around it, but they were obviously designed for function over aesthetics. They were simply long vertical slits in the walls, big enough that the smaller members of their party might be able to squeeze through, but not without some effort. There was no light inside visible through them, but nothing more could be made out of the interior from a distance.

It might be possible to climb the tower, but it was a shaky prospect. The forest had reclaimed what had been cut away to build the structure, branches reaching all the way to the walls and in one case even poking in through one of the windows. The tower itself was also in a state of disrepair, overgrown with moss and vines of various varieties, and some parts of the stonework looked like they might be loose. The trees themselves didn't quite reach up to the top to the tower, the structure continuing one or two stories above most of them, and the nature of the roof was difficult to make out from the ground. It didn't seem to be pointed or domed, so some sort of flat roof was likely, but whether there was any sort of entrance from there was impossible to know.

 

[Knephi]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"She's right. There's a lot of things that could have made a place like this their home. With any luck the current residents cleared the place out for us, but we should keep an eye out. I just hope that when they cleared this place out the first time they were thorough. I don't want to run into something the sorcerer left behind." Sable added her own thoughts to what Tiana was telling them. The tower itself was quite large, but there was no sign from the outside that it was even inhabited. That left a number of ways to go about entering, especially with that extension that seemed to be build into the hill behind the tower. Who knew how far or deep that went?


"Decent enough." She replied simply to Colette's question of their climbing ability, though she wasn't entirely sold on the idea. It seemed like an unnecessary detour if nobody was going to stop them from using the front door "We could just try the front door." She offered after a bit of consideration, "No guards, so they probably think their location will be enough to keep them safe. Impossible to say if they have someone on the inside without a closer look, but we can do that if we get close. I'm all ears if someone has a better plan though."

Spoiler

Bought an antitoxin and some herbs and poultices for a total of 20 coins

 

[GargantuaBlarg]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

"I would like a few hours to prepare myself for whatever dangers await," Nagan would say before they set out. She One of her totems had been released, and she thought it best to be ready to receive as much help from the spirits she could before they could go anywhere dangerous. She had also displeased Naandawi, by imposing upon him to aid her further after she had already tasked him with sealing some of Mireleth's wounds; she had to supplicate him with pleasing herbs and praise, lest he not come to her in her time of need.

Finding a private place to perform the ritual shouldn't be too difficult, Nagan thought - following such an attack, she thought the townfolk would be on alert... and thus, probably not ready to to return to work at the silo she, Wyndyl, and Wyndyl's beast had slept in just yet.

When that was handled, Wyndyl found herself a fallen branch, stripping it of its bark and carving it into the shape of a coiling serpent. Nagan was unsure what they would meet within the decaying domocile of a sorcerer. Hopefully, Chu'a would be able to stop anything more worrisome than mere men, and the sight of the snake-totem would give the apparent snake-followers pause. Nagan carved the branch into a rod, bending at the top as a snake peered out. She scored the rod into a likeness of scales, and crushed fresh, moistened grass between two stones to give Chu'a's form its color. When she was at last satisfied, Nagan called to him and beseeched him for aid... and then tucked him away under her cloak, before finding her allies to set out at last.


Nagan walked beside Wyndyl as they travelled. She truthfully did not mind overmuch this Tiana's slur against the tribesmen - even among the tribes, who understood the need to prove themselves in honorable battle and raiding, speaking ill of opponents and rivals was commonplace. ...Though, the reminder of the smug disdain these city-dwellers had for her ilk did vex her some.

When they arrived, Nagan stood apart from her fellows and closed her eyes, attuning herself with the spirits. When she opened her eyes, she whispered to them, watched their movements, and finally let her gaze wander the huge stone building in front of her, hoping to learn something useful.

Spoiler

I'd like to carve a Chu'a python and perform ye ritual to remove Naandawi's -1.

Roll to Discern Realities. In order, my questions are:
What do the spirits whisper here?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is not what it appears to be?

 

[Astarte]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Spoiler

Discern Realities: 2d6+2 = 11 [5, 4]. Success.

Also we can assume you had enough time while others were shopping/preparing to perform the ritual and make the totem.

Also, a note for everyone since I forgot to do this earlier (Had meant to before leaving the city), some party wide experience for the first section. As I said before, I'll be using Dungeon World's "End of session" exp rules whenever it feels appropriate, in addition to just for anything I feel deserves something extra.

• Did we learn something new and
important about the world?
• Did we overcome a notable monster or
enemy?
• Did we loot a memorable treasure?

The first certainly, and I'll give the second as well for the first fight. So 2 exp for everyone.

In addition, if anyone feels they have fulfilled a bond or their Alignment/Drive in this period make a not of that as each are worth an additional point of exp (And replace completed bonds during this time, but I'm pretty sure we have none of those yet)

When Nagan began to commune with the spirits, her senses were momentarily overwhelmed by the activity she saw and heard. The spirits were gathered in unusual numbers here, and they were agitated. Making out anything useful from the constant murmur was difficult, but with some patience Nagan would be able to piece together at least part of the story.

It seemed that something was drawing them here, and in large numbers. It was almost unheard of to attempt such a thing even by those with the same talents Nagan had, as the spirits were fickle and unpredictable without a method to stabilize or bind their power. None seemed willing or able to tell her why, or who was responsible, only that they were being drawn here and it was difficult to leave.

The methods for communing with spirits and drawing on their power were as varied as their practitioners, so it was impossible to know exactly how it was being done. It did confirm that someone or something in this tower was capable of doing so however, and that they were willing to take a great risk in attempting to bind so many at once. It also meant that there must be something within serving as the focal point for the ritual, something akin to her own totems, and it would likely serve them well to find it before this ritual was finished.

When she opened her eyes and once again observed the physical world, her eyes were almost immediately drawn to the tower's main doors, or more specifically to a thick branch overhanging the path leading up to it. Perhaps it was one last unspoken bit of aid from the spirits, or perhaps it she had simply noticed something unusual in the instant she opened her eyes, but on closer inspection something that wasn't part of the foliage seemed to be wrapped around it. A rope, on closer inspection, one which was cleverly camouflaged but not quite invisible. It was difficult to tell its purpose from a distance, but it might very well be part of a trap, which could warrant closer investigation before approaching carelessly.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nightmare Lands (Dungeon World Game)

Mireleth slyly smiled to herself once she noticed how her appreciative gaze had irked Colette. She wasn't one to outright betray a lover for someone else, as she had always made efforts to include the rogue when her alcohol-fueled debauchery might include others, but she rarely held shame about sparing some appreciative glances. She found Colette's jealousy endearing more than anything, but knew that it wouldn't do to cause unnecessary stress among the group. Tiana wasn't bad looking by any means, but in the interests of maintaining some concentration on the task at hand she ended her appreciative looks, at least for now.

Once they arrived at the tower, she would only roll her eyes at Colette's sniping at their guide before directing her full attention to the tower, weighing their options. She hadn't seen the rope hanging off of the branch, and between the suggestions of just going in through the door or trying to climb the wall she found herself favoring the former. "I'm not sure about you lot, but I'm all for not trying to climb a sheer rock wall with only a rope and muscle to keep me from the sudden stop at the bottom," she said jovially. "I'm not sure I'd even be able to fit through one of the windows with my armor on anyway. And I think you're probably right about that side door Colette. Why don't we just try the front door and see where that takes us!"

She started for the door immediately, unless one of her companions should rouse a disagreement to her decision to go for the direct approach.