Regrouping, our heroes track down the one neanderthal to escape
their grasp and find him despondent, gazing upon the river. He looks over as
Poma and Melvi approach.
"Hoka hey, friend" says Melvi. "It's a good thing
you got out of there. It was a grizzly fight."
"I'm glad to be out, but I'm afraid that now my people will
not be able to escape the death that is hunting them." says the heavy
browed near-man, Without the chief, no one will be able to stand against the
dead."
""How long have you been chased by the undead?"
asks Melvi.
"We have been running for several months. Our camp is
protected by the big chief, he was wise enough to send out war parties to find
places for us to live and protect ourselves against the dead. We thought our
party would be best chance we had. Chief had found ways to keep the dead away.
He was smart but he was frightening; several of us wanted to stop the
sacrifices, but we weren't strong enough to challenge him and the sacrifices
really seemed to work."
"We were strong enough to challenge him" says Poma,
"Does that mean we're the chief now?"
"If you were one of the nation, yes. But you're not. You
couldn't be chief."
"But you could." says Melvi, hatching a plan. "My
name is Melvi and this is Poma. What's your name, chief?"
"Ogg. But I'm no chief."
"If you challenge me for the sword I will give it to you, you
will be the strongest of any warriors in your nation with it," says Poma.
"You will be the strongest, and we will go with you. You will
save your people from the undead Ogg." says Melvi.
"Do you really think I could do it?" says Ogg.
"Ha!" barks Poma, "With us by your side, you could
challenge the big chief! You'll lead your people back to your homeland and fend
off the dead with ease! Challenge me!"
Ogg grunts and shoves Poma back. Poma politely drops the sword and
steps back.
As Ogg stoops to pick up the sword, but Poma swiftly sets a foot
on the blade, making it difficult to pick up. "Remember how easy this
challenge was - work with us and you'll be a hero. Challenge us again, and we
won't back down."
"Your chief was a good fighter", says Poma changing the
topic, "Where did he get this weapon?"
"He found it in a cave along the river. He and several
warriors went to explore it after following the undead there. He came out
alone, but he had great power - his horn, his armor, his sword... and the
sacrificial stone." says Ogg.
"We'll have to go there and investigate later" says
Melvi.
The group returns to camp and start searching the camp for
materials.
In addition to the numerous hides, tools, and precious (for this
part of the world, anyway) timber, the group comes across 100 wampum and 300
wampum worth of gems. Broken Clay investigates the horn carried by the dead
warchief and finds that once per day, when blown, the horn will strike fear
into the hearts of all who can hear it (120ft DC 15). Painting matching runes
on a person will protect them from the effects. A set of bone armor pulled from
the corpse of the warchief is equitable to Breastplate, and his sword is an
impervious scimitar made from the tusk of a mammoth.
 |
| We've uparmored our barbarian. |
 |
| Artist's Rendition |
With Ogg having joined the party and the camp cleared of
valuables, the group is faced with two immediate problems. The first is where
to go next – back to the human village to contact Thunderbird and see if the
diety’s wishes have been fulfilled or north to solve the root of the problem –
Ogg’s tribe and the undead that are harrying them across the steppe. The
second, and more immediate problem, is the existence of a large stone pillar
that looks frightfully like an Anasazi touchstone.
Broken Clay examines the runes carved into the sides and finds
they look similar to Anazasi. With some effort he makes out the word
“Wilderness” and the number 1720.
The group decides to go back to the village to determine their
next course of action.
Seeing as the Neanderthal warcamp had dragged the monolith with
them over quite an expanse of territory, the group decides to similarly move
the stone and use the detritus of the war camp to secure it and move it. Jenga
orders the freed slaves to begin pulling, and is met with refusal. One slave
bolts from the camp rather than touch the rope securing the stone. Jenga chases
him into the grass and returns a few minutes later with his head.
“Run again, and this will happen to all of you.” She says matter
of factly; throwing the severed head at the crowd of slaves. Stunned at the
display of wanton violence, the group keeps quiet and assures the slaves that
such a future will not occur.
While preparing the stone for transport, Melvi and Broken Clay
accidentally touch the monolith and are immediately transported into a cold,
dark place. Their memory is shaky, but they distinctly recall a chandelier of
antlers absorbing their magic and the stone floor covered in a carpet of bone.
Something there was chasing them, but after a few tries, the safely make it
back to the warmth of the steppe before any violence could occur.
 |
| Don't go into the light |
Eventually, the band of divine travelers hitch the stone to their
amiable mammoth and head back to meet with the human cleric with the blackened
face. Several uneventful days pass as they slowly haul the supernatural
monolith across the steppe.
As they approach the village, they meet a group of Mississipian
traders sailing down river to the city of Cahokia with several canoes of
precious goods.
After some trading, the group convinces the traders to give up the
hide of a wendigo in exchange for a few hundred wampum and a chance to see a
thunderbird up close. The Wendigo are known for their resistance to magic – the
hide pulled from the head and shoulders can grant magic resistance to those
that wear it. There are rumors that those who wear the hide are stricken with
nightmares, but that’s probably just an old wives tale.
The group meets with the cleric of the village and he says that
Thunderbird will appear in four days.
The group rests over this time and prepares for the long journey North.
No comments:
Post a Comment