Crowns of Old [Dungeon World]

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Late Summer, 743 annos non grata, Gow borderlands

Promise.

Like a great lodestone dragging the chaff of civilizations off the beaten path toward the forgotten parts of the world, Oeno promises great things to those that wish to take hold of them. Forested lands stretch out to the horizon under scudding clouds. Ruins that no book, no savant, no local soul, no religion can account for lie deep in the treeline. Ruins rich in artefacts and stranger things, few whisper. Fewer still rave and rant about those things in Gow's infamous Cherished Asylum, perched upon the cliffs.

Promise, too, is the name of the camp you find yourselves standing in. War wages far to the north and west, but here, in Gow's forgotten borderlands, a spark has lit a new fire.

You stand together, quickly being ushered to one of the few actual structures in the camp--the Keel, with its large granite foundation and vacant eyelets where windows shall someday sit. Inside, rich black-gold banners of First Principles, the trade consortium running Promise, hang from the rafters and trim the strange, near-priestly uniforms of Pariah's Sloane and Jelial.

The suns lend a beneficent side to the scene as great shafts of light spill in from the half-completed roof.

A runner informed them of your coming and they await with baited breath and guarded optimism. No petty introductions or decorum this time. Their voices are almost lost against the cathedral-like heights of the building.

"Friends," Sloane says, visibly trembling, "you are our first party to return from your Foray. How find you the forest? What of the ruin reported near here? The-the tabernacle, I think they called it? What did you find?" She looks to Jelial.

His look is more opaque behind grey, piercing eyes. "There were ten of you when you left, yet I see only half before me... What happened out there?"

What do you do?



Teh Frixz S Skrakes WlfSamurai ThaDruid Enemy Standoo

Related links: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/crowns-of-old-ooc.343852/

 

[Skrakes]

Anneira rushes upon Jelial, pinning him to the tree by the neck with the haft of her axe. Blood still runs from a cut on her brow. "You lot," she snarls, "sent us into a death trap. Half those knaves you found were lambs to the slaughter! Did you know? About the abominations?" They had nested deep in the guts of the tabernacle, dark and silent until the light of a torch roused them from their slumber. Dirk, a rattish man carrying a pair of daggers, had tried to trip her to distract the aberrations. She cut his ankle from beneath him and left him behind to distract the creatures in their skittering chase. The Vilings lurked deep below, in dark places. One of the many unclean things, sanctioned by her Gods.

Retreat? No. She pulled back, in the tradition of her people, to deliver a harsher backhand blow.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

S Skrakes

A profound scent of truth emanates from Jelial, pinned there to the tree, thick with earthy yellows and maybe a bit of brown. "We-we-we weren't sure what inhabited the r-ruins... Hence...Forays..." Moon-sized eyes plead past sudden sweat and not a few tears. "The worst..."

A panicking Sloane, "We didn't know! The worst we'd heard were bears and other wildlife! The western span of the woods have been relatively clear of anything! Please let him down or," she swallows, "or the Ctomandatti will make you put him down." Whole camp on this side the Keel seems to have vanished, gone quiet.

So like the steppe. What was something you left behind for this?

What do you do?

 

[Teh Frixz]

Calliope

Separated by skill and fortune, a sound of thundering hooves upon the newly worn road breaks the tension built by the man gasping for breath. What could have been mistaken at a distance for a horse and rider was simply, and oft disturbingly, a combination of two. A centaur, a rarity of old mostly forgotten times.

Traveling at full gallop towards their designated rendezvous, it became apparent as she slowed she wasn't alone. The rotting frame of one of the otherworldly abominations solidly impaled on a spear. Each step further from the tabernacle seemed to increase the rate of decomposition of the body so that by the time Calliope reached the group, stopping suddenly so momentum would fling the body free of her spear, the thing appeared a months old kill instead of the fresh thing it was.

"Bawllox! Bears en other wildlife don't make such o' mess when they kill. Nae do they screech so. Either yeh think we be idiots or yew are. Where the rest of yew lot hiding? We should attack at dawn."

Stamping her hooves, Calliope walls up to peer into the eyes of the pinned man. "How many returned and how many yew send total?"

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Teh Frixz

He stares at you for a moment before remembering his tongue. "From this camp? Ten parties of ten, minus yours. S-so nine still out there...somewhere." Frothy spittle gathers in the corners of his mouth. And to what end? Strangely, the people nearby are slowly getting back to their routines, ignoring the scene playing out here.

Sloane is transfixed by the emaciated creature. She runs a slim finger along a spindly limb. "Different than the ones we'd seen before..."

What does Calliope think of that?

 

[ThaDruid]

Obelis leans on his staff, clearly unwilling to help Jelial out of this situation. He pulls back his hood, revealing the third eye at the centre of his forehead. It seems to be glaring angrily at Sloane, menacingly staring at her. The man, however, keeps a relaxed expression as he nurses a rather bloody gash on the side of his left arm.
The white robe he is usually seen wearing has been stained by the black, ichorous blood of the abominations who lurk deep within the cursed ruins. Unnatural beasts who tainted the tabernacle with their corruption. Or perhaps it was the tabernacle itself that attracted them...

"Sending one hundred of men to explore ruins that you think only animals have nested in. It seems... Strange."

The druid spoke out, clearly not having a good grasp on the local language. Nonetheless, he hoped that his thoughts on the matter would be understood.

"I choose to not believe your words. You knew of the beasts."

Obelis punctuated his words with a sharp hit of his staff to the ground. The sandalwood smacked loudly against stone, leaving only an eerie silence after it. His eyes narrowed, closely following Jelial and Sloane's movements.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Calliope

"Enough of what the human knew or didn't know. I care not."

Her voice barks, breaking the silence after the resonating smack. While surprisingly jovial for a creature of Olde, her attitude was evidently irritated. Stamping her hooves while she turned to look back into the woods, clawmarks raked into her haunches are illuminated by the fires of camp.

"We shall return to the forest and recover the teams. None of you are built for the night and this should have been done under cover of the sun."

Grimacing, she lowers her spear at Sloane and then at Jelial. Pointing at them both and then at the forest.

"Let us take them with into the field while we mount a rescue. They may see the situation first hand. If they refuse, I'll carry them bound."

 

[Skrakes]

Anneira

"Tch. A fitting punishment." Anneira steps away from Jelial, strapping her axe to her back once more. "What we need for the abominations is pitch and tar. Pour it down the hole and strike a flame. When the abominations scuttle forth we pepper them with arrows. You lot..." She looks between their two unfortunate questgivers. "...are coming with us. 'Tis only fitting compensation for such treacherous treatment!"

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

ThaDruid

"One would deduce something was wrong out here with that many." Jelial coughs. A hand works the pain from his reedy neck. His gaze lingers on your third eye. "What does it see?"

His question aside, what of this tabernacle draws in such creatures?

Teh Frixz and S Skrakes

Sloane actually chokes out a laugh. "Fine. But you'll not get a damn thing out of your contract if you want to play moral high ground. The threats alone are worth disbarment." She shrugs. "Lead on, but you'll get little out of us without preparation. Take Jelial. We'll just be as corpses that you left behind in the ruins."

There's a ring of truth to her words, Jelial is the lesser of the two. And there are a great many of the strangely armored camp guard taking interest in the commotion.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Calliope

"You think your wealth and promises mean anything now? I have lived my years without such a thing as coin and your bars of dis."

Resting the foot of her spear on the ground, Calliope gives a dreadful sneer. It was one thing after another with humans. Their kind luckily graced with such variety, great evil and incredible good both common within them. It was found by Calliope that being forthright and upfront with humans was the best option. Her gut was keen, evil to be treated evil and good to be treated with equal measures of good.

She'd known from her first day that this Sloane and Jelial were evil minded. The world was black and white and good would always triumph over evil.

"I would have you stand before me and not beside Sloane of the Humans. Lead onward or I shall carry you."

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Teh Frixz

"Fine. On your head does this rest." She'll clap her hands and some attendants and lesser functionaries scurry out from nearby pavilions. Orders, demands for gear. She goes to bathe herself in oils before departing.

Jelial coughs. "I don't know that it's the creature you returned with that bothers her."

What unsettles her so about this area?

 

[Teh Frixz]

Calliope

Most likely it is the Thickwoods that surrounds us. The bastion of Promise sticking out like a sore thumb from the mess of glens, hollows, and rolling forest that make up the terrain. I've been told that Promise was built upon some sort of ground that the forest abhors, or maybe it was some sort of ritual that humans kept up that keep the woods at bay? Either way, the effect is palpable when leaving Promise. A slap in the face, you are leaving civilization and entering the wilds. One mistake and your life is forfeit out here.

I truly love it. It's like a wild version of home. As a foal, all the foals actually, we mastered our home. There was nothing new. Here though, each outing is an adventure through home for me. I wish my people knew of this place, it would make a truly great expansion to my Clan.

I ponder this while awaiting the oily Sloane, stamping and stretching as I wait.

 

[Skrakes]

Anneira

"What we need is pitch and tar. You can repay your debt of honor by carrying it." She stares Jelial down, imperious. They can burn out the horrors... if they're lucky.

So like the steppe. What was something you left behind for this?

She left behind two strong children, twins, a boy and a girl. Of course, like all mothers of her tribe, she knows not their father's name. She conceived them by firelight, and her brother raised them. A far superior arrangement, she believes, than the barbaric inlander tradition of "marriage." She left them without a tear. Anneira raised them without sentiment... mostly. Life can and went quickly on the steppe. When she left, it was because the God called her. Though they bawled at her leaving, she would return a conqueror.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Teh Frixz S Skrakes

She's short in the rejoining. Hastily clad in travel leathers, Sloane is slinging a clinking, glass-filled pack over her shoulder as you regroup. Jelial simply has a light pack of goods, tools, and a walking stick to carry him along. Both wield the curious long knives given to First Principles apparatchik and higher.

Hail and farewell, Promise! Provisions and a pair of ox-drawn carts are given for the return to the Thickwood. Sloane is sullen, while Jelial seems to become lively in his new, unsoiled clothing. He draws a map out from a bag in the last cart.

"Where and exactly what set upon you inside that old tabernacle?"

 

[ThaDruid]

"One would deduce something was wrong out here with that many." Jelial coughs. A hand works the pain from his reedy neck. His gaze lingers on your third eye. "What does it see?"

His question aside, what of this tabernacle draws in such creatures?

"Your hunger for knowledge is commendable, if only it was not born in a man that hungers only shining gold."

Obelis narrowed all three of his eyes at the small man before him, resting his gaze on Jelial for only a moment before moving it somewhere else.

"Truthfully, not even I am certain. When my two eyes are closed, it sees the world of the Spirits, where the true names of all beings are written, and where their essences twist and contort. Sometimes, I feel as if it was not mine anymore. I believe that the Spirits use it to see in our world."

He was left wondering, on the nature of the Eye. Then, a sudden thought occurred to him. The tabernacle... What could bring such unholy beasts to that place? He suspected that it was somewhere the monsters could nest and reproduce. During their escape, he had also catched a glimpse of some sort of red, curling veins across the structure. If those were Bloodvines, then the Abominations were there to feed on them. And if they found the Heartseed... Then only Spirits knew what could happen. The group had to move quickly.

"I agree with the Steppeborn. Burning them alive would be a most useful tactic. I'd wager they would fear the light of the Morningstar. Let us travel as it still lights our path."

Obelis squinted as the pariah Sloane returned from her bath of oils. So slippery, so uncomfortable. He stood behind the others, to have a word with her.
"You are not one for travels, yes?"
His nose twitched. That scent would attract any jackal looking for fresh meat. Why was she in charge of this expedition?

Cthulhu_Wakes