The Long Way Home

[Telcontar]

  BOOYAH Option 3 all the way. Artifact me!

[GandalfOfBorg]

  23 XP remaining...

 

Treasure 6d - 6d6 : 5, 3, 2, 5, 5, 2, total 22

[GandalfOfBorg]

  No worries, Grimbeorn is in the same luck as the Dunadan lady.

[Eclecticon]

Right then, let's roll some dice!  Arbogast has 15 (!) unspent XP, but I think he already has enough cool toys so I'm only going to roll for four of them:

4d6 : 5, 3, 5, 3, total 16

[Eclecticon]

Three pretty trinkets, coming up:

Arbogast

1d6 : 1, total 1

1d6 : 6, total 6

1d6 : 6, total 6

1d6 : 5, total 5

Esgalwen

1d6 : 1, total 1

1d6 : 6, total 6

1d6 : 2, total 2

1d6 : 4, total 4

Grimbeorn

1d6 : 1, total 1

1d6 : 4, total 4

1d6 : 2, total 2

1d6 : 3, total 3

[Eclecticon]

His weariness notwithstanding, Grimbeorn tears energetically at the web-sacs until out tumble the treasures with which the Weaver's allegiance to the Dark Lord was bought: rings of silver and gold, and a circlet of copper, each set with great pearls that gleam red-gold in the torchlight.  The last sac reveals, not a pretty trifle that might adorn a rich lord at court, but a helm wrought in the mode of an older and grander race of Men, for strange as the craftsmanship is to the Son of Beorn, he reckons it to be a treasure of some long-passed captain of Westernesse.  Its ridged peak high and its cheek-guards fashioned into feathered wings, its steel and bronze shine through the filth and grime of many centuries, and the gem of adamant upon its brow is as clear and bright as the day it was first cut. 

The strength of his limbs having turned already to a burning weariness, he lifts the helm - so light it seems doubtful that it could protect aught from anything - and places it near Hathcyn's recumbent form.  "You, who have suffered the most to win this day, are most deserving.  Wear it well, my friend." 


Arbogast and Esgalwen both come away with pearl rings worth, respectively, 100 and 80 Treasure.  Grimbeorn's copper-and-pearl circlet is worth 60 Treasure.  Hathcyn has to spend seven XP () and receives a Numenorean Helm with the Ancient Cunning Make quality - it adds +4 to his Protection rolls and its normal encumberance (6) is reduced by three points, or his Valour score, whichever is higher.

[Eclecticon]

Questions? Comments?  Suggestions?

As usual, there's more to the helm than immediately meets the eye but the rest will have to be opened up in gameplay.

[Telcontar]

Hathcyn is out of it for six days so there is very little that I can contribute at the moment.

Does the Gem shine like a falshlight in unnatural darkness?

Does it play Fortunate Son by Credence Clearwater Revival when you ride a horse into battle?

Will it allow the bearer to roll die results like they were the LM instead of a player?

Stoked to have a precious.

[GandalfOfBorg]

  Please say its the third even if the others are cool.

[GandalfOfBorg]

Grimbeorn is ready to leave once they acquired the items and the short rest has been had.  "No point in waiting to see what happens next; we must get Hathcyn out of here and put distance between us and the feud."

[tomcat]

Esgalwen closely watches Radagast as Grimbeorn calls for their retreat from this place, "We must first finish what we came for, Grimbeorn. The spirit of Duskwater is here and we must see if she can be freed. Once done, we must prepare a makeshift bier to carry Hathcyn from this place."

To her first point she looked to Arbogast, "Fire-watcher, is it possible to release her from her prison?"

[Eclecticon]

Arbogast can only offer a helpless shrug in response, for it is not given to him to know the undoings of sorceries.  Radagast, on the other hand, lets out a bone-rattling cough that ends in a wheezed "My word, yes."  Rising with care, the pain hidden on his face but plain in his careful and halting movements, he picks his way across the uneven ground to take up the prison of Duskwater from its plinth.  "Hello again, my old friend," he says to the moisture-dappled ball, and it seems that it glows a pale blue in response. 

Then, the Wizard sets to work, his eyes closed and his fingertips examining the surface of the webbed ball in minute detail, all the while his lips moving slightly with the mutterings of a spell.  At last, his fingers halt their movements and his eyes snap open again.  "Yes!  Here it is!" he exclaims, bringing the ball close to where Esgalwen holds the torch.  "Do you see?" he asks her. 

At first, the Ranger is puzzled for nothing does she see in his extended hand.  "Move the light, if you would," Radagast asks her, as Grimbeorn and the Fire-watcher gather close.  "Slowly now," the Wizard cautions as Esgalwen shifts the torch this way and that.  At last they see, stretched taught across his fingertips, a thread so fine as to be nearly invisible, delicate as the balance of a breath between inhalation and exhalation, stretching out past them all. 

"This thread bound the heart of Duskwater to the will of the Weaver," he says, "and if we follow it to her, she may easily unbind it herself."   


I didn't get time to do this before my holiday, but Tylquin's treasures are Tainted - everyone who took one (which is all of us) gains a point of Shadow automatically and three further points if they fail a TN 16 Corruption roll which, of course, is affected by Weariness:

Arbogast

1d12 : 10, total 10
Rolled 4d6 : 6, 4, 2, 3, total 15

Esbalwen

1d12 : 11, total 11
Rolled 5d6 : 3, 1, 1, 3, 6, total 14

Grimbeorn

1d12 : 1, total 1
Rolled 5d6 : 3, 4, 1, 3, 5, total 16

Hathcyn

1d12 : 4, total 4
Rolled 4d6 : 1, 6, 4, 1, total 12

[Eclecticon]

I've marked off a single Shadow point for everybody ().  Esgalwen (or 'Esbalwen' as I've for some reason called her) has a failed roll per the above but can get herself over the line with a spend. 

[tomcat]

Yep, spend the

[Eclecticon]

I mean, it's a much better deal in the long run... right?