Author Topic: Chapter 1: A New Beginning  (Read 128691 times)

Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #900 on: September 22, 2019, 01:54:02 AM »
The books are the old Sheriff's notes on what he learned from his mentor...who is of course your prisoner.  Some are treatises of other authors on the nature of reality.

That night you have a dream of flying as a hawk over the freshly fallen snow.  You spy a dark blot in the distance, and as you get closer it is a woman covered in black whose face you cannot see.  As she look skyward hundreds of spiders pour forth from underneath her skirts ans spell the words "I know."

And then you wake up.

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #901 on: September 22, 2019, 08:37:49 AM »
Elizabeth will pour through the notes looking for any mention of such a woman, or anything similar with spiders.

Once it's light out, if the weather is good, she'll go out as a hawk to check on the troglodytes, and see if that woman was more than a dream. If she sees her (or any unidentified form), she will not approach closely.
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #902 on: September 23, 2019, 03:08:23 PM »
ooc you'll recall the spider like being whose parasitic offspring you killed that the prisoner refers to as 'her'.

I'll get you the other stuff as soon as I get back from doctors apppointments.

Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #903 on: September 30, 2019, 10:36:18 PM »
You find an old latin text referring to the Aranea (latin for spiders).

"We called the beings in the old hills Spiders, for that is what they most closely resembled to us.  Physically they are like the little spiders who make webs in our gardens, but with some important differences.  Unlike true spiders they have 10 limbs, 8 being traditional legs, and 2 ending in hands with long, skeletal fingers.  They have high-domed, manlike skulls with two large, black eyes ringed with three smaller eyes underneath each one.  Their mouth parts more closely resemble those of a beetle.  Generally, their body is not segmented like a spiders, though their legs are, and their head rests on a short neck.  They seem to be covered in a coarse, leathery hide as opposed to a hard armor.  This appearance often goes unnoticed due to their abilities, which shall be discussed shortly.  Infants are not much bigger than large house spiders, but adults can be almost the size of men.  Queens are bigger, some being as large as cattle."

"They feed in much the same way as spiders, having a powerfully toxic bite, and wrapping their prey in webbing produced from their abdomen.  We have discovered only well-fed Spiders possess these abilities, so it is likely a byproduct of their digestion, or requires raw material to create.  We have not determined how much of each material a feeding produces within them.  Unlike true spiders they are not solo hunters or feeders of opportunity.  They travel in packs, and with the exception of the newly born are very intelligent.  While the young are little more than clever beasts, the fully grown Spiders are fiendishly clever, easily capable of outwitting the average man."

"The Spiders live in great hives, much like ants.  They generally build their nests in hills or mountains near the cities of men, as they consider us a resource.  It also makes assault upon their homes much more difficult.  We know little of their society, but have discovered that only one of them is capable of producing eggs at a time.  We refer to them as Queens, and if one dies, one of her children seems to replace her.  You will know the Queen, for she is bloated and ugly, and the others will give their lives to defend her.  We say her, despite the fact that the Spiders have no obvious genitalia, and do not appear to need them.  The Queen rules the hive, and appears to gain immense physical and mental power at the cost of 'her' races ability to camouflage.  They were parasites who fed of our efforts, as we were forced to make sacrifices to them to survive.  The Spiders must lay their eggs within living beings for them to gestate, and for this purpose we were forced to give them men and women, as well as cattle to feed upon.  They would only communicate with those of us who could learn the old ways, for they are not capable of physical speech, though their arts allow them to mimic such."

"Beware the Spiders, for they are very adept at the Old Arts once they attain the right age.  They can wear other beings larger than themselves in much the way we wear clothing, in order to manipulate them from inside like a puppet.  They use this to walk among us as adults.  This is fairly common, and it does not appear solely to find prey, bodies for their young, or to enforce their rule.  Their young use it to inhabit men and animals in order to get close to us to feed, but they are hardly masters of their craft.  They cannot speak and move stiff and awkwardly.  It often seems as though something is moving under the skin of those they infest.  They can only inhabit dead hosts, and are only capable of keeping the body viable for a short time before it's degeneration renders it useless.  The adults are much better, showing little sign of their handiwork, and capable of using the body to speak."

"They are masters of the mind, often communicating with us in dreams or waking nightmares.  Illusion and glamers are their foremost art, and they travel through Doors with ease.  These abilities laid waste to our defenses, and in truth we only rid ourselves from them when the stars turned, and the Arts were rendered useless.  When the stars are right again, they will visit our world again.  These records must be kept for this future day, lest the Spiders be forgotten."

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #904 on: October 01, 2019, 08:22:20 AM »
Elizabeth approaches the prisoner:

"Have you ever directly dealt with the aranea? If you were forced to deal with them on your own, what approach would you take?"

Sense Motive = 1d20+10
Rolled 1d20+10 : 14 + 10, total 24
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #905 on: October 03, 2019, 02:43:41 AM »

"Force is the only means by which you deal with the Aranea.  They consider other species resources or competition for resources.  If one approaches you with a deal it is because they consider you a potential threat.  Every negotiation will be a deceit to get you to lead your fellow men into slavery.  Once they set up a nest in the mountains pushing them out will be difficult at best.  You deal with them using the Arts, for nothing else will stop them."

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #906 on: October 03, 2019, 08:44:19 AM »
"Can they be Banished? If so, what sort of object ties them to this world?

I've read they are adept with illusions. I know some as well, but most of my other skills are at burning.  What's the most effective way to deal with them, singularly?"

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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #907 on: October 08, 2019, 02:58:04 AM »
"They can be Banished, but nothing links them here fut for the Door they used to arrive (ooc: you need an object for the spell that links you to the creature, such as a bit of it's blood or hide, or it's dead child or clothes, etc.).  They are still quite mortal, so sufficient firepower will do if your men can avoid succumbing to it's tricks."

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #908 on: October 08, 2019, 08:47:31 AM »
"I'd ask the best way to lure out the queen, but if I kill her, a new queen will emerge, won't she? She appeared to me in a dream last night."
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #909 on: October 08, 2019, 10:30:04 PM »
"A new Queen will emerge if there are more of them.  The Queens egg laying capacity is not endless, and is affected by how much food they are getting.  You killed her brood recently, so she may not have lain another one, especially given the Aranea's single mindedness when it comes to vengeance.  What happened in this dream?"

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #910 on: October 09, 2019, 08:34:16 AM »
"I was flying as a hawk and spotted her in the distance. She was wearing black and I could not see her face. When I got near, she looked up and spiders poured from her skirt, spelling the words 'I know'. That's when I woke up."
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #911 on: October 09, 2019, 06:22:24 PM »
"I'd say that implies she know you killed her brood.  Since you were using the art to resemble a bird it's likely she knows that as well."

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #912 on: October 10, 2019, 08:53:25 AM »
OOC: do we have access to the remains of the aranea's child? I'm looking for something to banish her. I'm not sure how much time has passed.
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #913 on: October 11, 2019, 02:07:18 AM »
ooc: the bodies were burned, though their remains may still work

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #914 on: October 12, 2019, 11:29:33 AM »
Elizabeth looks for her lieutenants and explains her intentions of wanting to banish the aranae. She’d like them present with guns if they agree, as well as any other men they trust.
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #915 on: October 14, 2019, 01:40:22 PM »
gimme a diplomacy roll

Offline RobbyPants

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #916 on: October 14, 2019, 09:07:28 PM »
gimme a diplomacy roll

1d20+1
Rolled 1d20+1 : 20 + 1, total 21
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #917 on: October 15, 2019, 10:35:29 PM »
Astonishingly, they have fallen enough that your asking them to aid you in witchcraft doesn't even make them blink. They ask for time to say goodbye to their families and ensure they have wills written.

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #918 on: October 16, 2019, 06:19:05 PM »
"If all goes well, I should be able to banish her without issue. If not, she can be killed with sufficient firepower. That's why I need all of you. Just keep your distance, be ready to fire, and maybe have a second gun on you so you don't have to waste time reloading."

Elizabeth prepares to start the ritual outside of town where everyone can comfortably find cover.

OOC: is there anything else to do ahead of time, or make a check?

Also, is it possible to cast Personal Ward for just 4d6 points, to limit the ability damage?
« Last Edit: October 16, 2019, 06:20:44 PM by RobbyPants »
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Offline bhu

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Re: Chapter 1: A New Beginning
« Reply #919 on: October 18, 2019, 12:30:31 AM »
ooc: Ward doesnt work on ability damage, I need to fix that.

Once you have everything ready it just needs to make a Save.  And apparently I forgot to make rules for Save DC's.  How many men are assisting with the spell and how many are standing guard?  You've got a dozem.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2019, 12:41:18 AM by bhu »