Seeking Help From Ernalda
Kaylin, Jorator, Herger, and Nisk set out through the mud and slush
to the Temple of Ernalda at Nidham, to seek help for the defeat of
Aroka. They approached the halls of the goddesses and the chief
priestess, under the great standing stone, through the Clearwinesized
village that had sprung up around the ancient holy site.
Coached by Jorator, Kaylin spoke to the priestesses, giving her a generous gift (from Korlmhy) and reminding her of the vision Ernalda sent of a great Chaos attack to come. Kera supported Kaylin, while the impressively-mustached Nisk and the sturdy Herger reminded the temple of the protection the two of them had given to the earlier ritual that the scorpion monster had attacked.
The priestesses nevertheless refused to help: They considered the idea the product of a reckless fool. "It has been generations since someone has successfully completed the Aroka quest on the Other Side. You have not prepared for this. We need you there to defend the village, not to follow some insane heropath.
Kaylin wasn't taking this lying down. "We have seen Chaos coming, we have stood against it, and our family is not afraid." In the end, they did give her some cult bread and temple beer, but not the blood beer or sacred bread.
In Nidham, Jorator sought "an axe named Babeester", but ended up getting a fairly ordinary one.
The Arming
Korlmhy sought prayers from the hero band that would follow us on
Orlanth's path to Aroka. They roared their acclamation, drinking
much ritual mead and sacred beer, chanting the many names of Orlanth
and his companions, and pounding weapons on shields." Their
enthusiasm was infectious: The village of Bullpen poured out into
the snow, listened raptly to Korlmhy's stirring speech as it echoed
through the village, and ended up howling their approval of his
plan, banging drums, slaughtering their remaining animals, and
swearing to follow him straight into Aroka's mouth. [Total support
from the combined community.]
Herger was pleased that Korlmhy had gained the necessary backing, while Jorator sighed to Dorasa, "There will be no living with him now." "Mmph?" she asked through a mouthful of freshly grilled chicken. Meanwhile, Kaylin took in the whole scene, wondering where all this would end. Brenna, for her part, grumbled a bit through the celebration and perhaps tried to let a little air out of Korlmhy's newly-discovered authority -- unsuccessfully.
We swung into the Arming of Orlanth, despite the somewhat meager
offerings of Ernalda. [+10 bonus]. Korlmhy spoke to the assembly,
asking them to call Orlanth to him when the time came to break
Aroka. He called forward his four winds: The Swordthane (Herger),
the Spearthane (Nisk), the Shieldthane (Leika), and the Backboy
(Kaylin). Jorator, Dorasa, and their closest companions would join
them, while Brenna remained behind to guard Bullpen.
The sacrifices began, spraying the heroes with blood before they ate of the sacred meat. From the drums and celebration we were carried on our sanctified breath to Orlanth's Hall in the Storm Age. In the unwalled pavilion, we sacrificed to Great Orlanth, spoke of our plan to slay Aroka who had devoured the rain, and sought his permission to leave his hall. Orlanth pointed us out of the Storm Village in the direction of Aroka.
In the Wasteland
Beyond the familiar fields, we found ourselves in the trackless
wastes of the Gods World. Suddenly, we heard a crash and were caught
in billowing darkness. "Orlanth, show yourself! I, Krakos the
Avenger will avenge the wrongs you have done my father." ("Hm, name
not ringing a bell -- maybe his father was so easy to defeat, we
couldn't remember him," someone whispered) The Avenger proved to be
a three-eyed creature carrying a huge maul, backed by a howling army
of lost souls from the underworld. As the howls of the dead began to
keen in his ears, Orlanth took up his sword: Herger flanked by Nisk,
Leika, and Korlmhy. They cut through the Avenger like lightning
through a night sky (probably leaving some hapless Kitori village
totally screwed in the process). Orlanth left the scene with the
Dark Wind's muffled howls echoing in his bag.
We continued our march through the badlands to the desert of Daga, a bleak, inhospitable land. Thirst and suffocating heat weakened several members, although Korlmhy and Herger pushed us ahead by their example. Then the wind began to rise, stinging us with sand under a darkening sky. A wild twisting wind descended bearing the Wild Hunter, Gagarth. Korlmhy drew out his bag, hoping to collect the Wind From Above, aided by Kaylin's prayers against the stinging sands and Herger's herding Shield of Winds (and even a "store goods" song from Jorator). He swiftly bagged the wind from the dusty bandit.
Not long after, our path through the wastes was cut by a leaping, crawling, hopping army of demons, a misshapen host. It included a snake leaving acid trails, a scorpionman, a rabid dog, a lionshead demon with bird's feet, a bullman, and a fish monster -- surely an army of Wakboth. Our only hope was to cut our way through.
Herger swiftly hacked through the venomous snake, while Dorasa dodged and hid behind rocks, trying to confuse the rabid dog. Jorator confronted the scorpionman and swiftly crunched it, shaking off its venom, but then the fish-headed demon (wearing a suit of fish) charged in, slapping him silly. While Korlmhy and his winds quickly dispatched the lionshead demon after Korlmhy charred it with a lightning bolt. Nisk swiped at the bullman from the sky and left it yelping and running away.
In the end, Herger came to the aid of Dorasa and hacked the rabid dog to pieces (muttering "grey dog") before it even took its eyes off her, while Nisk neatly filleted the fish demon with a thrown sword.
Into the Woods
At last, we left the desert and entered a dark wood. Soon we felt
darkness crowding around us. We reached a clearing that we quickly
recognized as a place where we could make an offering to the
darkness. Jorator called out the greeting to the darkness, pouring
on his shadowy charm, until a Shadow Lord introduced as Trollmouth
emerged, darkness in the shape of a man. ("A Kitori," Cholanth
whispered, "They can take the form of troll or man at need.") Dorasa
was pleased that Trollmouth had chosen manly form, and invited him
for a walk in the dark woods, even stumbling over a few Uz words
whispered by Cholanth, and swinging seductively to the harp music of
Leika.
She returned not bearing Crushing Noise, but with the darkness welldisposed to us, and with guidance to our path forward through the woods toward the lair of Aroka.
The path took us south, and the woods became even darker, gloomier, and more inhospitable. Soon we were threading through poison thorns, and both Dorasa and Jorator were stuck badly. Nisk, scouting above, saw that the woodfolk were blocking our path through the wood. Jorator considered trying to negotiate a path through, but in the end we asked, "What would Orlanth do?" The answer was simple: Korlmhy hurled the Lightning Spear to burn a path through the woods his storms blew the foliage off the elves and runners. We left a highway through the forest that might have made Sartar proud.
The Lair of Aroka
We found the lair of Aroka, a dark hole that looked like it led
straight down into hell. Korlmhy hurled down an ear-splitting howl
of the storm, with the discordant tones of Leika's harp chasing on
its heels.
Aroka roared up the throat of its lair and lurched skyward, immense with the weight of the waters of the whole earth. Its four eyes beamed down pure fear on us. We cowered in fear, but Orlanth's winds launched a storm of arrows and blinding magic into the eyes of the monster. The creature roared and drew back, and Korlmhy stood against its horrifying glare and encouraged us to another flight of missiles, leaving the creature with bloody sockets.
Out came the enormous tongue, which descended to choke the life out of Herger. But, Herger held off the horrible squeeze of the slimy tongue, and then set loose the dry winds of the wasteland while he and the rest of the group began to hack at the thing and pierce it with missles. Aroka shortly pulled back little more than a shredded stump.
Then down came the fatal breath of the dragon. Korlmhy was ready with his bag, and after a short struggle, he seized the breath. As the dragon came down to crush Korlmhy in his jaws, he leaped into its mouth, seized its jaws his two hands, and tore the dragon asunder with a shout of victory. A flood of blood, water, and mead burst over the land.
Korlmhy then took the sinews from the right side of the spine and the left side of the spine, the tooth and the jewels from its head. Reaching Storm and the villagers would use these things to call on Orlanth's mastery over the waters when the time was right.
Results
3 HP for everyone involved. Directed improvements and new abilities:
Dorasa: +1 to either Sensuality affinity or to Hunting affinity. +1 to Greet Trolls.
Herger: +1 to Resist Darkness
Jorator: +1 to Store Goods.
Kaylin: +1 to Proud.
Korlmhy: Devotee of Orlanth +1, Call Flooding Rain 16M2.
Nisk: +1 to Throw Weapon While Flying.
Reaching Storm Heroband: Call Rain 5M2
Village of Bullpen: Call Rain 5M2
All who participated in the Heroquest get a new powerful enemy
(because you burnt the elf wood): Feared By Aldyrami 5M2.
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