DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3K - Evermoor Way

Davroar

Hearing the ogre's growling stomach and not wanting to become a snack he says, "Hey Glork", he hands over four strips of jerked meat strips. "Not much for a big guy like yourself, but I'm sure our hunters will be back soon enough."

Zindra
"We can let the barbarians finish what they were doing. Why don't do that thing with your winged friend to see what's going on with the reindeer?" she says to Jaliera once they were out of earshot and eyesight of the barbarians.

Jaliera

Happy to oblige, Jaliera sends Whisper to take a look.

DM

By the time Whisper returns to investigate the barbarian hunters, the pair has managed to separate three of the reindeer from the other six, using a long fabric linked between their spears to guide them in a northeasterly direction. Seems they have agreed with each other to pretend that their nap on the job never happened.

"Golden Horns" is among the three running away from the clearing, while the remainder of the herd stays in the clearing, trotting in a small circle and clearly agitated, but no longer the concern of the hunters.

Jaliera's hunch that there are others turns out to be true, as more hunters with more cloths continue to separate animals until "Golden Horns" is alone, driven into a dead-end gulch.

Whisper has seen at least 8 barbarians participating in the event so far, without even including those who are likely near the gulch.

Jaliera

"They are still hunting, eight of them now. Let's continue away from their area. Might just have to be rabbits. We'll need to catch a lot."

Still scouting with Whisper, Jaliera looks for the best target rich environment.

DM

Zindra would know that gold-horned elk or deer figure into quite a few different legends across the realm, and that they typically had some sort of magical powers, but wouldn't know any specifics related to the barbarians.

She would also know it was typical of barbarians in this region to track, hunt, and engage in one-on-one combat against a powerful beast as a way of proving strength, something typical of either a tribe chief or someone who wanted to compete for the job.

If you choose to hunt rabbits, you may catch them at the rate of one every 12 minutes, up to a total of 15 if you want to take 3 hours.

Zindra

"Lets go hunting for rabbits. They're easier to carry than reindeer anyway.

Jaliera

They can't stay out here all day and the ogre will be getting hungry, so Jaliera thinks a few hours but decides to try to maximise their haul by involving Whisper. She might not need to eat but surely she can still catch prey, probably quicker than they can!

Zindra
After zig-zagging a bit they caught a couple of rabbits and returned to camp, Zindra walks over to the Ogre and says "Hi Glork! We caught only a few but here!"

She holds out one of the rabbits and handed to him.

Glork

Glork looks very appreciative of the food offering. A whole rabbit is even more than the rations that tided him over earlier.

It's not pretty, but the animal is quickly consumed, and the ogre looks content. And awaits the party's plans to go fight someone!

Zhu

"So, anything we need to do or are we back on our way?"

<Bern>

"Do we want to take some time and 'clean up' here to make it harder on anyone that wants to track us? There are pluses and minuses to both choices", he finished with a shrug.

Zindra

"I think we know what to look out for thanks to Glork. It's the giants, right Glork? I say, if they want to come get us, let them. We have mighty Glork on our side!"

She was wondering what would happen when they reached Calling Horns.

"Glork, we should take you towards your home. Where is it?"

Glork

"That way," Glork gestures in an easterly direction. "But nothing left for me there but magic burning tree."

He shrugs. "And hill giants between us and it, too. You not need go with me. I go with you."

Davroar

"Should keep moving while we got daylight."

Jaliera

"Makes sense. I'll send Whisper aloft, get an idea of what lies ahead."

And she does just that.

<Bern>

He gathered his gear, ready to get back on the road.

Zindra
When she gets back to camp Zindra relays what she saw and tells everyone about the golden horned reindeer that the barbarians were hunting.

"Can you describe this magic burning tree?" she asks Glork.

OOC: Can't resist a burning bush - totally biblical!

Glork

The ogre nods to Zindra. "Giants put stone in tree," he says, leaning forward to draw a diamond shape in the dirt. "Like that with a carving in it." He draws something that looks vaguely like the number 2 inside the diamond.

"Big fire around tree, burned all my stuff around it in a big circle." He stands up and moves several feet away from the diamond mark, then bends down and starts to trace a large circle, or a least a few feet of the arc of it, just to make the point. "But tree didn't burn. That's how I know it was magic."

Smart, this ogre is.

"Was still burning last I saw, could see smoke from long way off."

Arcana check on what Glork is describing:

Arcana (Int)
Zhuirentel Elendaril
14

DM

Zhu would recognize the diamond shaped rock that Glork described as a Runestone.

There were two types of runestones. They were common among dwarves.

Larger stones were usually markers to honor locations of events, mark path waypoints, name bridges, etc., and were not magical. They were stone slabs with messages carved into them. These messages could be warnings, instructions, stories, or accounts of events. They varied in shape and size, depending on the creator and time they were made.

There were smaller stones that had magic enchantments placed on them. These were usually about the size of a fist with a single rune or glyph. Glork's description was larger than this, and it would be reasonable to deduce that the larger size of the stone Glork described might be the size of a giant's fist rather than a dwarven one. As for what the carving on it means, there's a nonzero chance it has something to do with fire.

Zhu might also know a famous quote about runestones:

Zindra
"How interesting Glork! No. Not that your home was burned, but how! That is so strange! You are smart Glork! I think we should see about this tree that would not burn. I would take you there first. Then we could decide what to do."

Zhu

The Golden Horn Reindeer seems unusual enough that she pauses to consider if she has ever heard of such a thing.

Arcana (Int)
Zhuirentel Elendaril
10

DM

Zhu may have heard of a legend in elven lore about a cursed elven lordling that took the form of a stag, although in that legend the horns of the creature were platinum.

Point being, it was not a stag.