Pursuit - the Fugitive

[Posterboy]

Tate gave Williferd a nod, as he considered the lad's words. "And they haven't troubled you since?" the minstrel ask out loud, but clearly more to himself than anyone in the room. "Hmmm."

The information tumbled in his mind as it tried to find a home. Tate became aware that the others were waiting on him. Nodding again to the lad, the man of the Lake simply said, "Thank you."

Satisfied for now, Tate made motion to Esgalwen he was ready to follow her lead to Brunhild.

[Eclecticon]

The sunlight shines through the clouds, hanging like a halo around the peaks of the Misty Mountains, though the gloom deepens as the shadows they cast extend across the river.  Here, in the quiet of eventide, the widow Brunhild sits by a grave not yet overgrown.  Her hair is still covered in mourning, but her eyes show no trace of tears as Tate and Esgalwen approach her.  Instead, she lights a candle, its thick wax stump already burned low. 

"Welcome, newcomers.  If you have spoken to Ava, then you know of my husband's death, and if you have come here, then you wish for some reason to learn more about it."  She regards the pair evenly, her face as still as a wooden mask.  "Speak, then, and learn what little there is to be learned."


This is another Encounter, with all the rolling fun that entails.  Insight rolls follow. 

Esgalwen

1d12 : 5, total 5
Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1

Tate

1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 2d6 : 1, 4, total 5

[tomcat]

Seeing the woman's forlorn face, Esgalwen was unsure of herself and how to approach Brunhild. Not wanting to cause her further distress, the Dúnadan decided it best to just be courteous.

"Hello, ma'am," she started. "Forgive us this interruption in your grieving."
Introduction
TN 14 courtesy 2d

1d12 : 7, total 7
Rolled 2d6 : 6, 4, total 10

[tomcat]

Nice! Good start.

• Esgalwen scores a great success on her introduction [2 successes toward the Encounter if you are counting Intro's]
Seeing that the woman accepted Tate's and her presence, Esgalwen continued. "We do not wish to keep you long, but yes, we have spoken to Ava. We have come seeking knowledge of a man named Oderic. It seems he is in a great deal of trouble. We have been told, he is your brother...yes?"

A nod of the head was the only reply.

"Forgive me, ma'am, but we need to know if you know where he is. We are messengers sent from the Carrock, per the request of Grimbeorn, scion of Beorn. It is his request that Oderic be found, so as to answer for the crimes he stands accused. It is our goal to bring this man safely before the House of Beorn, so that he might speak and plead his case. I fear if he continues to run, worse things will happen to him."

Esgalwen paused her earnest words to make sure Brunhild understood.

"Can you help us?"

[tomcat]

I will roll a Persuade test to appeal to this woman's good senses...

Interaction
TN 14 persuade 3d

1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 3d6 : 2, 4, 1, total 7

[tomcat]

F#@kin' A! Better odds with that one than any other...

Encounter stats
assuming Wisdom Tolerance 4

• Esgalwen scores a great success on her introduction [2 successes toward the Encounter if you are counting Intro's]
• Esgalwen scores 1 of 4 failures

I will pause here to allow Tate to make an introduction and interaction
Brunhild closed her eyes and turned away, back toward the grave of her dead husband.

"Rathfic was a good man..." she said sullenly, "strong of arm and back. A good Woodman, though he was born with stone under his feet."

Esgalwen bit at her lip as she listened to Brunhild reminisce about the man she had married. The Ranger had lost her attention, or perhaps said something that made the widow close herself off. Perhaps the cheery words of her minstrel friend could bring her from the gloom, and create a trust.

[Posterboy]

  I may need to do my actual posting tomorrow... but here's my introduction roll

[/Courteous Introductionb]

Rolled 1d12 : 7, total 7

Rolled 3d6 : 3, 6, 4, total 13

[Posterboy]

  I'm not super familiar with how Encounters work... but I think I can use Song here, yes? If so, here's my roll...

Song Roll

Rolled 1d12 : 2, total 2

Rolled 4d6 : 1, 1, 5, 6, total 13

[Eclecticon]

That's some nice rolling from Aryn, but I'll wait to hear what Tate says, and particularly what kind of reaction he's after, before I post again.  Thanks to Doug for helping out with the narrative. 

For the record, I won't be counting introduction successes in the encounter total - they're the price you pay to play. 

[tomcat]

For the record, I won't be counting introduction successes in the encounter total - they're the price you pay to play. 

Cool, and I agree 100%.

Going to make this a game house rule.

Okay, the odds have changed a bit. 

[Posterboy]

Tate moved with gentle boldness into the space of the wounded widow. He met her steely eyes, her tear ducts dammed shut or emptied dry he knew not, but met them still, his filled with brave hope. He met her wooden face with one of warmth, one that was not afraid to enter into the pain of a woman twice cursed.

The man from Laketown knelt next to Brunhild and entered into her mourning. "Aye... it is said the strength of the mountain has seeped deep into Woodmen's bones." Here, Tate turned his gaze towards the grave, steadied his voice as he recalled a song of the Woodmen of Mountain Hall. The song told the story of how the hearts of the Woodmen that defended the Hall as much as the stone walls.

When he had finished the tune, Tate returned his gaze once more to Brunhild. "Brave are these men, and sturdy folk too. Good hearts as dependable as solid rock. And Rathfic was a good man, too. Please tell us more of your husband and the sorrow you carry. Let us share the burden with you, if only to lighten it for a moment."

  What's Tate looking to accomplish with the song? To empathize with Brunhild, gain her confidence and share in her sorrow. He's hoping, amidst the sharing, Brunhild will divulge enough details for us to have a good understanding of what happened and of her relationship with her half-brother as well.

Do I need to make a few more rolls? Persuade perhaps?

[Eclecticon]

Cool!  We can do more rolling once Brunhild's had time to react - there's give and take to encounters, same as with combat. 

[Eclecticon]

Despite herself, the young widow smiles at Tate's song.  "I heard the same words sung on many long nights by my husband, though the walls were wooden in his version." 

Lowering her eyes, she continues.  "You ask what manner of man he was?  He was like all men of these lands, strong and loud, whether fishing on the river or boasting of imagined battles.  He could be, by turns, both wrathful and loving.  And now he is gone, and I find the children he promised vanished like morning mist." 


I'm going to make some Insight rolls here.  Failures won't count towards the total, but successes will.  Esgalwen also gets a special circumstance bonus. 

Esgalwen

1d12 : 10, total 10
Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5

Tate

1d12 : 12, total 12
Rolled 2d6 : 3, 4, total 7

[Eclecticon]

Though she does not speak it, Brunhild's sorrow is plain as day for those with the eyes to see.  Both Esgalwen and Tate recognise the yawning, empty loneliness within the woman, she from the yearning she has herself felt for the comforts of male company and motherhood, he from past attentions of others in the same state.   Rathfic, it seems, may have been a dutiful husband in many respects, but in one key way he failed her. 

[tomcat]

Okay - if all tests are set at 14 and the two insight checks above are count towards the encounter's outcome, then by my count

• 4 successes
• 1 failure

Outcome - success

Esgalwen will try to push this to a great success by making another persuade roll to get the woman to open up more about her half-brother.

TN 14 persuade 3d

1d12 : 4, total 4
Rolled 3d6 : 6, 3, 6, total 15