Skip to content

RP: WInter's Valley-Chapter 2

2

Comments

  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    7cj5eozyj1hz.gif
    ThacoBellashafetov
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    edited February 2020
    Nareth furrowed his brow. The old rogue Fent held it again, the captain was almost sure that he had thrown rations into Bilmar’s bag. Overweight Crol himself would have thought of such a thing. It is clear that Fent is trying to quarrel them and make a mess in their squad. But he had to admit that it was devilishly elegant in its meanness. There was no way out, at least he did not see it.

    " Bilmar, explain yourself immediately! Given that due to the vigilance of our good Fent, this injustice was eliminated on time, and given your many years of service to the Throne - there will be no punishment ... yet. But you can’t evade the explanation! "

    The last phrase was superfluous, as Nareth simply wanted to fill the silence with something. One thing is clear, now he must stay alert and yet another faithful eyes will not hurt. Even if they belong to an inexperienced upstart Westik.

    " Step aside, Jirt! I tolerate no outrage here. ", Nareth made a halt gesture with his hand. He turns to Crol and replies " My apologies for mistrust, my faithful Сrol. You and our team are fortunate to have such an alert friend like Fent. It seems that he can be trusted to guard the grandmother's treasure chest. "
    Post edited by ashafetov on
    mashedtatersThacoBellSkatanlolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    *Lagrord rolls over to try and block out the bickering. It keenly reminds him of how much he misses Sus'Ann, FG-11, and even Mr. Babble*
    ashafetovSkatanmashedtaterslolien
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Colden sat silently looking and listening at the quarreling children. His life's mission mostly destroyed, he struggled with finding a new purpose, thus hadn't yet come to terms how to handle situations like these. Who was right, who was wrong and did it even matter at all?

    Fent was a trouble maker and trouble makers make trouble. A kingdom needs laws to remain but laws must be flexible enough when needed to support the greater good. But evil.. real and proper evil must always be defeated. Is Fent evil? Perhaps, but probably too soon to tell. Colden decided he would watch and observe and decide later.

    "Agreed, Nareth." Colden simply states in the background, not even caring if they can all hear it, he just want to give some support to the old soldier. He still has his old back-up plan in the back of his head, perhaps now with the king dead and the prince more or less without chance for the throne a shift in the royal bloodline can occur.
    ashafetovThacoBellmashedtaterslolien
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Hello @mashedtaters , @Skatan and @ThacoBell ! How it is going, are you guys doing well? It has been a while.
    SkatanThacoBellmashedtaterslolien
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Alive and kicking, thank you for asking. Waiting on Mashed to return :)
    ThacoBellashafetovmashedtaterslolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Surviving. Also waiting for the return of our esteemed story teller.
    ashafetovSkatanmashedtaterslolien
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Well, I will keep waiting as well ;). Cheers!
    SkatanThacoBellmashedtaterslolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    Bilmar stutters out an unintelligible and confused attempt at an explanation, but the words are sparse and laced with guilt. The more he babbles about how the food and water came to be in his bag, the more unsure you are of whether or not he even knows himself that he didn't hold back the supplies.

    Jirt. fuming mad at both Fent for showing him up and a little stung at Nareth's rebuke, joins in on laying into Bilmar. "You stupid old man!' he shouts, picking up the contents of the bag and sorting it.

    Bilmar just makes strange grunting mumbles that kind of resemble words, as Westik and Fent look on. Westik is relieved that he wasn't the one caught with the goods, and Fent maintains a fatherly, compassionate expression. "Easy, Corporal," says Fent.

    But the most revealing is Crol as he scampers about subtly in his bag, looking for something until he catches eye with Fent who gives him an imperceptible shake of the head.

    Retkathar pointedly keeps out of the entire thing, and Casak doesn't seem to notice or care.
    ThacoBellSkatanashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    After that, you turn in to bed, exhausted, maintaining the watch that Nareth assigns, though Casak and Colden get exempted from the rotation. The night passes uneventfully, though down here in the dark caves you can't quite tell what time it is.

    Once you think it is morning, you gather up your gear and travel back down into the dark tunnel. You eat as you travel and realize that your food and water supply is low, low indeed. You will have to find sutenance soon. Even rationed you only have a few days left.

    Party Status:
    Food Supply: 2 days
    Water Supply: 2 days
    Party Members Injured: None
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    As you walk, Casak keeps aloof and separate from you, as though either trying to maintain the illusion of his lost royalty or otherwise completely uninterested in anything you have to say.

    The tunnel slopes downward gradually, seeming to go on forever. It does occasionally branch off into upwards sloping chimney branches. But, surprising you all, Casak turns to Retkathar at each junction and asks him if he can sense whether or not any of these branches open up to the surface. Retkathar answers in the negative each time. Though the former prince appears irritated, he listens to the dwarf, and leads you on into the depths of the mountain.

    Eventually, you pause for a break from the march. Fent stands up and stretches to approach the prince, who has set himself aside from your party as usual to eat his rations alone. You can all guess easily enough that he wants to ingratiate himself into the prince's favor as he did with Corak. But there's nothing really any of you can do to stop him.

    He leaves the circle and crouches down next to the prince, talking softly so none of you can hear from this distance.

    What do you do?
    ThacoBellSkatanashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    Hello Friends!
    @ThacoBell @ashafetov @Skatan
    Sorry I've been away for a month. A lot going on, we are preparing to move to Alaska to pursue a lifelong dream of mine. I have been painting and preparing to sell our house, and interviewing for jobs up there like crazy. Think I finally have one lined up that I will accept.
    ThacoBellSkatanashafetovlolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Welcome back! Alaska huh? Sounds interesting.
    Skatanashafetovmashedtaterslolien
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Hello @mashedtaters ! These are great news! I hope, everything will work out well and it is so nice to have you back. I wish you the best of luck with your new encounters!
    ThacoBellSkatanmashedtaterslolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I'm a little distracted with irl stuff right now. I'm reading, but I'm having a hard time coming with rp appropriate intiative. I might need to just follow the other players lead for a little bit.
    Skatanashafetovmashedtaters
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    Hey @mashedtaters I think I need some DM insight as I have trouble RPing what Colden actually thinks of Casak. How close they were during the tutelage. Currently I just wanna not care at all about Fent or Casak and just let them do their thing, but I wonder if Colden would think the same. Feel free to post a PM if you have something clever insights? :) Otherwise I might just continue RPing Colden becoming a bit more and more bitter over the whole situation and acting accordingly.
    ashafetovmashedtatersThacoBell
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    @Skatan
    I really appreciate the feedback. You’re right, we haven’t really gone through the details of your character and Casak’s relationship on a more personal level. That’s my bad, and I apologize. I have in my own mind what happened and had intended to fit it into the story but realize that’s unfair to you to expect you to know without telling you. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I will PM you.
    ashafetovSkatanThacoBell
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    I was going to put this as just a DM insight to @Skatan only, but decided there's no reason the rest of you can't know this background, too. It will help you place your relationship with the former prince. Tagging @ThacoBell and @ashafetov as well.

    DM Insight To Colden

    Casak was entrusted to your care when he was a toddler. The King expected you to teach him in the proper ways of literature and history, as well as morality and especially what the king considered to be the "greater good". You now know the history that the King expected you to teach him, of grandly carving out from the wilderness a civilization of the post-apocalyptic Winter's Valley, to be significantly marred by Corak's sordid past in conquering and enslaving the people who lived there before.

    Casak was a very intelligent child, incredibly eager to please you but especially his father. He looked forward to your lessons more than anything else, except for perhaps his combat lessons, which he was a master at even from a young age. He highly excelled at learning everything you taught him, seeming to thirst for knowledge as though he would die without it. He threw himself into your study with a nearly alarming passion and interest, bordering on obsession, even as young as 5 years old.

    The source and reason for this obsession, you know, was the constant criticism and violent abuse of his father. Casak was severely abused by his father, but refused to confide in you about it as he believed it showed weakness. Pressing Casak for information was never successful, as he stubbornly refused to speak against his father, whom he revered.

    You approached Corak on many occasions about the abuse, pleading for him to stop and even threatening with ultimatums to leave. But Corak believed that he was fully in the right, that the child was growing up in a harsh world and needed to be taught from a young age to be tough.

    You decided that you would stay, despite your reservations concerning the morality of Corak's methods. it was a difficult decision, but you realize that without your guidance the child would be much worse off. For the greater good of the child, you stuck around though you never gave up trying to persuade Corak to stop.

    You never actually witnessed what Corak would do to Casak until the moment in the tent with the army in last chapter. But it was a regular enough occurrence that he would often wear long sleeves and other clothes to prevent you from witnessing what you supposed was bruising. After that last violent outburst in front of the King's advisors, you suspect it may be that Casak was bearing more serious wounds than a mere beating on the buttocks or rough handling of the arms. At the time, you couldn't quite figure out exactly what was happening. Casak was smart enough to allay your suspicions to your satisfaction, and Corak blew up in outrage when you questioned his authority as a parent.

    As Casak's mother died when he was young during one particularly rough winter, the boy did not have a mother figure. You tried to expose him to more feminine influences, but he never bonded with any of the women in the castle. As he grew, and his inability to please his father ever diminished, he became sullen and prone to emotional outbursts (as seen on the first page of the first chapter). He started causing trouble in the village and pulling pranks on the soldiers, especially in his teenage years. His father, far from listening to your urging to rein in the boy, subtly encouraged his son into the trouble. "He needs to understand his place in the world, that it is high above the commoner. For the greater good, he must know he is better than them."

    Casak never slacked on his study, but eventually he just figured he learned most of what he thought you could teach him, putting on a typical arrogant air of a teenager. He gradually just stopped going to study with you, instead delving fully into combat. Bringing it up with his father did nothing, as Corak seemed to believe that you did enough.

    Eventually, he met his two cronies, his bodyguards, and that added to the problems within the village. He was never violent or evil, but he was certainly mean-spirited and attempted to lord his royalty over anyone who got in his way. He especially enjoyed emotionally tormenting Lagrord, though never went so far as to physically hurt him.

    Occasionally, you would find him alone in one of the halls, crying to himself, his bodyguards nowhere to be found. Approaching him only made him furious with you, as though somehow you were the reason he was so upset.

    When he came of age, he threw himself into military campaigning with the passion born of vengeance. He was easily the most successful campaigner in Winter's Valley, securing borders and outposts that had long been held by the orcs or the Bloodeye Clan (in what you now suspect was some sort of twisted game of chess to amuse Chieftain Aros and King Corak). He especially loved slaughtering orcs.

    But every death of any soldier weighed heavily on him and his conscience. He was feverishly outrageous whenever he lost a man, even one whom he had just berated and belittled. When he lost a man, he would return in a fit of uncontrollable rage. Sometimes you stumbled upon him crying in grief over the death of his soldiers, alone in the castle halls. One time, after a particularly harsh defeat at the hands of the orcs, he even went so far as to smash and destroy your study in rage, blaming a lesson you had once taught him in military tactics. You believed that he would attack Lagrord physically, an event for which you were prepared to fight with violence, but the angry prince managed to hold himself in check and instead smashed your window.

    The loss of his soldiers, any outpost, or even any villager would cause him the most incredible anger and rage. However, eventually he managed to get his temper under control and stopped responding violently. Instead, he would mull sullenly and snappily around the castle, much as he is doing now. When he could, he focused his anger at the orcs and Bloodeye Clan, leading the charge with his trusted bodyguards on the front lines against the enemy. He prided himself on being the first to enter battle and the last to leave the battle.

    But his leadership was harsh and often extreme. He often exposed his soldiers to extreme conditions and even starvation in an attempt to "properly train for Winter's fury." He often prided himself on being able to outlast any discomfort any of his soldiers could, and indecently gloated his victory and prowess over them.

    Nareth and Jirt are both familiar with the Prince's harshness and competition as a commander. They were both eager to get away from the front lines and into the royal guard of King Corak. Despite the discomfort and difficulty, Jirt and Nareth couldn't help but have a grudging respect for what the prince was able to endure.

    I hope that gives you a solid picture of the history between you and Casak. It's not a full picture, but it should give a general feel of how he should react and might respond to what you would say.

    Summary: An extremely intelligent and passionate abused child, which negatively blossomed into the anger and frustrations of youth. Incredibly skilled in battle and rightly feared and respected by his soldiers. Unwilling to give up for any reason, but disgusted by the commoner and those he sees as beneath him. Delights somewhat in the emotional or physical discomfort, but never in the torture or pain, of his subjects and those around him. Prone to emotional outbursts of anger and crying at the loss of those under his charge, which alternates between spans of sullen silence and self-imposed isolation. It is likely that his anger is due to the incredible sense of personal responsibility he feels, that you instilled in him from a young age, for those in his command. Unable to cope with his failure properly, he instead lashes out in anger and grief.
    SkatanThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    Additional DM insight to Colden:

    You were very close when he was a child. In fact, you considered him at one point as much of a son, if not more so, than you do Lagrord. But as he grew and his need to please his father went forever unfulfilled, he gradually grew distant until now he regularly speaks to you in snarky remarks and some measure of disdain. However, as seen on the first page, every now and then his vulnerability and need for your relationship to be renewed gets revealed for brief moments.

    Much of this would have been revealed before this chapter had you accompanied the king at the draft. That’s ok, we can get to know him now. :)
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    You sit there in silence, deciding not to interfere with Casak and Fent as they interact.

    Fent has an obsequious smile on his face as he speaks softly to the prince. You cannot see the prince's face as his back is to you. But Fent suddenly stiffens in surprise. You can't hear what the prince said, but Fent's eyes widen in consternation. Fent stands abruptly as though burned, trying to maintain a somewhat self-depreciating smile, and nods in reluctant acceptance. Then he comes back to you, clearly troubled. He kneels down next to Crol and ignores the rest of you.

    After a few moments, the prince stands and leads you back into the tunnel, not mentioning to any of you what happened between him and Fent. In fact, he hardly seems to care that any of you are there at all. You suppose it's possible that had you not followed him, the prince would have left you there.
    Post edited by mashedtaters on
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    Retkathar, with the prince up front, suddenly motions for you all to stop. "Air! Can you feel it? Right there! Look, I can feel wind!"

    He eagerly leads you forward, but your hopes are dashed. The presence of air is coming from a giant crack in the mountain which has cut across the tunnel. No light shines down from the top. You can't tell if it is because it is night time or because there is no opening above you. The slight breeze is sweeping down the chasm, which has created a rift across your path.

    Across the chasm is the other side of the tunnel, going further into the mountain. You're not exactly sure how you can get there, but the drop beneath you is sheer and steep. It does not appear that climbing up or down would be an easy feat. The cliffs are weak and crumbly. You're surprised that the mild breeze doesn't cause another avalanche. It speaks to the ingenuity and intelligence of the dwarven engineers who designed and built these tunnels that the tunnel never collapsed with the earthquak that split this mountain. The other side appears untouched by the ancient quake.

    "Blast!" shouts the prince. At the echoes reverberations of his voice, a very small avalanche rains down on your heads from above.

    "Please, my prince, keep your voice down!" whispers Retkathar.

    But Casak did not need to be told twice. He looks around nervously, then sneers at the dust falling down on you all, as though the rocks will be intimidated by force of his personality into allowing them safe passage.

    "May I make a suggestion, noble prince?" says Fent softly. "We have plenty of sturdy rope. I have my trusted bow and, as you all know, I am a dead shot with the weapon, perhaps the greatest shot in the world, if I do say so myself. Humbly, I suggest that I could possibly, with your leave and generous blessing, fire an arrow attached to a rope to the other side of the tunnel. Then one of us, the lightest, perhaps myself, could make our way over there and secure it more firmly for the rest of us to follow."

    "But wait, what if we--" says Westik loudly, stepping forward eagerly. At the sound of his voice, another rumble of gravel falls upon your heads. Westik looks around as you all shush him, turning a deep shade of red,

    After a moment, the young lad bows his head, clearly too embarrassed to continue.

    "Well, out with it," hisses the prince impatiently. "We haven't got all day, speak boy!" You note that the prince is only a few years older than Westik, though his experience places his demeanor as far older.

    "It's just... I thought that we wanted to get out of this mountain," he says meekly. "If there is air here, that means there must be an opening somewhere down there, right? Shouldn't we wait to see if there is daylight and climb out? Or perhaps find where the air is coming from?"

    Prince Casak looks thoughtful, though he sneers while doing so.
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    edited March 2020
    Retkathar clears his throat quietly. "Excuse me, but I don't think these cliffs could hold our weight if we tried to scale them. We are likely to set off another avalanche. It's a good idea, son, but I don't think it's possible."

    "But what if it's night?" says Westik. "We could just wait and see if there's an opening above us. For all we know, it could be right there!" He points above you all.

    "Listen, kid," says Jirt quietly. "We don't have time to just wait. We are low on supplies. We need to keep moving."

    "But we don't even have any idea where that tunnel goes!" says Westik, pointing to the other side. "For all you know, we could be wasting time just wandering around."

    Jirt ignores Westik's protest, though he gives him a gentle pat on the back. "I think we should try to reach the other side," he says. "But you're not the lightest here, Fent. That'd be either Westik or Lagrord."

    "Lagrord?" says Fent, scrunching his brow in confusion. "Oh, you mean the pack animal?"

    Jirt's eyes narrow. "He's very capable in his own right," says Jirt.

    "Yes, yes, of course, but I think such an important mission shouldn't be entrusted to someone such as the boy here or... the slime... creature. Dear me, are you out of your mind? An orc being able to tie a secure knot without step-by-step direction? I'm surprised he has enough sense not to eat his own feet considering all of our hunger, and now you want him to cross this cavern?"

    Surprising you all, Casak speaks up. "The beast is certainly capable of doing this, and many other things that would surprise you," he says. "Do not underestimate it, Fent." Despite his reference to Lagrord as a beast and it, you can't believe that the prince has anything positive to say about the person he spent so long disdaining and harassing.

    Fent looks surprised. "Well, I suppose if he falls to his death, I can just fire another arrow," he shrugs. "We have plenty of rope, and what's the loss of one orc?"

    What do you do?

    Do you agree with Westik? Do you wait to see if there is daylight above, which there may or not be? Do you want to scale the cliffs and risk an avalanche? Do you wish to climb down the chasm and find the direction of the air?

    Or do you agree with Fent's idea, and try to cross to the other side? Do you wish to use Fent's method of firing an arrow and rope across? If so, do you want Fent, Westik, or Lagrord to make the attempt to cross?

    Or do you think of something else entirely?
    ThacoBelllolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    "I almost certainly am the lightest. I will defer to whatever plan the group devises, but if its the rope, I volunteer."
    What did Casak roll to intimidate the rocks?

    mashedtatersashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    @ThacoBell
    Minion, roll 1d20+3 for Casak Intimidate Rocks
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    Apparently the rocks were scared on average.
    ThacoBellashafetovlolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    No wonder they avoided burying us.
    mashedtatersashafetov
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    Nareth fires a small piece of rags to clearly identify where the air breeze comes from.
    " Aye... There's a passage out there. I am afraid, with our climbing experience and danger overall, I have to agree with Fent with this one. If he has that sharp eyes as he says it might work, I vote to continue moving forth. If Master Fent would be so kind to shoot the arrow precisely enough for us to build a rope-bridge. ", he makes a reject gesture with his hand in response to Lagrord's proposal " No, matey. I am going to test this improvised crossing first myself, once it is ready. "
    ThacoBelllolien
  • ashafetovashafetov Member Posts: 231
    edited March 2020
    Hello @mashedtaters ! It is really sad to hear and totally understandable. I hope everything will fall into place and wish you all the best of luck and please stay strong. I can't be grateful more for all you have done for this adventure already.
    Post edited by ashafetov on
    Skatanlolien
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @mashedtaters Me and my family will be praying for you and yours. Whatever happens, thank for running this adventure at least as long as you have. You made my life a little bit brighter through it.
    Skatanashafetovlolien
Sign In or Register to comment.