Chat log started at 29.4.2021 / 09:06:48

Conan Ruleset v1.78.031621 for Fantasy Grounds Copyright 2021 Modiphius Entertainment, Ltd.
Core RPG ruleset (v2021-04-28) for Fantasy Grounds Copyright 2021 Smiteworks USA, LLC
Meltam appears slightly envious.
Meltam: May you complete the task we once had before us.
Meltam appears slightly shamed, retreating into safety.
Volmalric: You're why we got this far. We can carry the weight from here.
Meltam: At least you see it now.
Meltam grimaces before riding off into the sunset on a carvan pulled by Lox
Tilpi: Well he seemed nice. Why can't we have more practical homesteaders like that around?
Rhotinia: He seemed less nice before he died
Rhotinia: although I admit I didn't know him well
Volmalric: He's had a lot of time to mellow out, I imagine
The path leading up the volcano from Freyda's Homestead (face it, we know who wears the pants in this relationship, and Meltam is an ancestor of Scots, so he is probably sporting a kilt anyway) is worn and not well-maintained, but can be easily followed.
It is hard to judge time here, but you suspect it is around mid-morning.
Volmalric leads the way along the path, holding his bag firmly
Rhotinia keeps her eyes peeled for any signs of danger
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls an Observation test:
Target: 9 Focus: 0 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.1+1d20.17 = 18]
You did succeed!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Observation test:
Target: 11 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 1 Successes: 0 Momentum: 0 [1d20.15+1d20.20 = 35]
You did not succeed.
Tilpi is totally lost, eyes fixed on the flora of this realm.
Tilpi sees some beautiful dandelions in full bloom!
Rhotinia: Well it looks like Freyda was right about the beasts on the volcano
Rhotinia points out four large winged shapes around the peak
Tilpi: I wager you can shoot them all down from this distance.
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls a Counsel test:
Target: 13 Focus: 4 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.15+1d20.2 = 17]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Volmalric: I wouldn't bet on it
The horses carry you along the path, following it as if guided by some hand other than yours.
Rhotinia: It's no use, they're well out of range
Volmalric: They look like bat demons I've encountered before, twisted from the form of a person
Tilpi: I refuse to believe such a gentle soul as Meltam could conjure these beasts.
Rhotinia: That's called projection dear
Volmalric: They're not conjured.
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls a Counsel test:
Target: 13 Focus: 4 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.18+1d20.4 = 22]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Rhotinia: Not everyone is as kind and pure hearted as you Tilpi
Volmalric: Come, we must keep moving. Try to keep out of sight of them, but keep an eye out in case they approach.
Tilpi: Oh fine.
Rhotinia tries to stay under the cover of trees as she rides up the path
The mountain, at least about 2/3 of the way up, is moderately forested. If you stray off the path a little and follow it to one side of where it has been cleared, it is relatively easy to stay out of sight. Based on the size and quantity of trees, you would guess it has been several decades (or much longer) since any eruption happened.
GM: the path is circular and meanders up the mountain, you can follow it or you can try to just head straight up the side, the slope is relatively gentle so either option would be fine.
Volmalric: Let's see what our sorcerer friend has prepared for us
Volmalric is fine with continuing along the path itself
Rhotinia agrees
Rhotinia leads her horse along the path
GM: "circular" as in, "it goes gradually up the mountain as if you were going to pull a cart along the path"
Tilpi: Sure.
Tilpi: But i think if you were more confident in your horsemanship, we could go faster.
Rhotinia: Is that a challenge dear?
Rhotinia: Try to keep up on your.. things...
Rhotinia spurs her horse on as fast as it can go
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 14 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 3 Momentum: 2 [1d20.1+1d20.10 = 11]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [2d20.7 = 14]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Volmalric: Volmalric rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.12+1d20.15 = 27]
You did succeed!
Rhotinia takes off at a gallop, which Tilpi mostly can keep up with, but only thanks to her sure-footed Spider-Moose. Volmalric trots along behind, acknowledging the superior riding skills of the women he is traveling with.
The accelerated pace does get you up the mountain faster, albeit you are a bit more noticeable now.
Volmalric notices this as it appears a pair of bat-demons are now preparing to dive upon the women and rend them limb-from-limb, or whatever nefarious thing they are planning to do.
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls an Observation test:
Target: 9 Focus: 0 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.15+1d20.8 = 23]
You did succeed!
Rhotinia opens fire on the bat demons as they approach
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Insight test:
Target: 12 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 3 Momentum: 2 [1d20.1+1d20.8 = 9]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls a Ranged test:
Target: 13 Focus: 3 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.18+2d20.19+1d20.3 = 59]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
The bat-demons do not spot Tilpi hiding on the back of the empty spider-moose.
Rhotinia: Rhotinia does damage with Longbow (2 loads):
Rolling 7d6 combat dice...
Total: 5 Effects: 3 [2d60.1+1d60.3+1d60.4+3d60.5 = 24]
Tilpi has re-evaluated her opinions on the over-civilized nations of the West.
Tack (Tilpi): Slumbara is just another incarnation of Zeke, bringer of numbers.
Rhotinia evidently uses ARMOR-PIERCING BAT-SEEKING ARROWS OF DEATH on the Bat-Demons and blows through their 4 Armor and their Vigor enough to hit them for 2 Wounds, thereby killing both of them in the first action of the first round of combat.
GM: Sigh.... so... next encounter...
Volmalric: Volmalric rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.4+1d20.5 = 9]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Rhotinia: Odd, they looked much stronger than that
Volmalric dodges the splattering bodies as they crash into the ground
The Bat Demons flop from the sky, filled with arrows, and drop to the ground near the party.
Volmalric: Very strong things can die very easily with arrows to the eyes like that. Good shots
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.5+1d20.9 = 14]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Rhotinia: Well don't get cocky kid, there are still two more out there
Tilpi: I don't like bats.
Tilpi's spider-moose tramples them with bone-crushing stompy enthusiasm.
Volmalric gives a sign of Mitra to the bodies as he passes
Tilpi appears to fall in line behind Savant of the bow, Rhotinia.
Rhotinia: I am shocked that there is any living creature you don't like
Tilpi: Those do not seem truly living.
Rhotinia: Well certainly not anymore!
Rhotinia high fives Tilpi
Tilpi: Zing!
Volmalric: They're a perversion of nature by this point
Kazemi (Volmalric): Don't do drugs, kids
Tilpi attempts to make a fine perfume to mask her scent.
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls a Craft test:
Target: 13 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 1 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.20+1d20.6 = 26]
You did succeed!
The group finds what looks like an abandoned campsite along their line of travel, just off from the side of the path.
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Observation test:
Target: 11 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.18+1d20.6 = 24]
You did succeed!
Volmalric: Volmalric rolls a Survival test:
Target: 10 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 0 Momentum: 0 [1d20.12+1d20.13 = 25]
You did not succeed.
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls an Observation test:
Target: 9 Focus: 0 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 0 Momentum: 0 [1d20.12+1d20.15 = 27]
You did not succeed.
Kazemi (Volmalric): Is that recent?
Tilpi notices the campsite is recent, it was likely used last night and whoever was there has moved on. There is something peculiar about the campsite, the cooking fire is a bit conspicuous but you notice little else to indicate what was going on. Given the small size of the cooking fire, whoever was here there were not many of them.
Tilpi: Well. We aren't quite alone in this dimension.
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls a Survival test:
Target: 9 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.19+1d20.5 = 24]
You did succeed!
Rhotinia looks for tracks
Volmalric: We should've asked Meltam before we came up, but I didn't anticipate that others might be here
Tilpi: Logic may not apply though.
Tilpi: They could be new. Infact,. the better question is if they were coming down the mountain, not up.
Rhotinia: No tracks, whoever was here was very light on their feet
Rhotinia: I suggest we keep moving
Volmalric: Let's
Rhotinia leads on up the path
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.3+1d20.7 = 10]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Tilpi is having a blast on SpiderHorseMoose.
Tilpi: Do these things exist in Hyperborea, Asguard, or Vanaheim?
Tilpi: I want some of them to bring back.
Volmalric: Undoubtedly not
The group continues along the path, leaving the campsite behind and continuing their journey up the mountain. They follow the path for another hour, it is now about noon. You spot what looks like a pair of Bat-Demons pinioned to a pair of trees off to one side of the path. The corpses are very recent.
Rhotinia: I know an Ophiri horse breeder who would sell his own children for a breeding pair of these things
GM: To be fair, most Ophiri consider their children a liability on the balance sheet.
Tack (Tilpi): bad ROI.
Kazemi (Volmalric): What are they attached by?
Volmalric approaches the bat demons
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls a Lore test:
Target: 15 Focus: 3 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.17+1d20.3 = 20]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Volmalric: Well, this is either a good sign or a bad sign
They have been nailed to the trees by what looks like silver spikes.
Rhotinia: I see no reason it can't be both
Rhotinia: On the plus side, I am glad these things are dead
Rhotinia: But I am not optimistic as to the disposition of their killers
Volmalric inspects the lowest silver nail for markings
Tilpi: Strange. It seems waste of silver.
Volmalric: I'm willing to bet silver works better on them. Worst case scenario, they won't die from normal wounds and will get back up eventually without this sort of treatment
Volmalric: Volmalric rolls a Lore test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 0 Momentum: 0 [1d20.16+1d20.17 = 33]
You did not succeed.
Volmalric is 100% convinced the information he just told Tilpi is verified, accurate, scientifically sound and therefore irrefutable.
Tilpi: I think your logic is extremely sound, but this is a realm of emotion.
Tilpi: The vibrant pastoral scenes and bat demons don't quite belong together eh?
Volmalric: Uh, actually
Volmalric: The last time I encountered them, it was the same type of scenary. I'd expect Meltam to have mentioned them if he knew they were up here, though
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Animal Handling test:
Target: 12 Focus: 2 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.10+1d20.9 = 19]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Tilpi is STILL having a blast on the horsey.
Volmalric: So, brainstorm, do we know anyone who might be doing this?
The horsey is nuzzling and swishing at Tilpi with its tail and seems to be having a GREAT TIME with Tilpi also.
Tilpi: I think this is the one you called Rhiveth giving us a secret passage to the equivalent place in Thumocris' realm.
Tilpi: Surely we will get to the top of the mountain and find ourselves back in the graveyard?
GM: Tilpi is wise beyond her years in the way of strange sorcery...
Rhotinia: It has been a very long time since I have been sure of anything my dear
Rhotinia: But I can't fault your logic
Tilpi: Methinks you understand the logic of the marketplace more than the logic of dream
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls a Counsel test:
Target: 13 Focus: 4 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.11+1d20.5 = 16]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Volmalric: Meltam mentioned summoning her here is a bad idea, but it might be some help sent by her
Tilpi: Then onward we go!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Observation test:
Target: 11 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.5+1d20.8 = 13]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Insight test:
Target: 12 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 2 Momentum: 1 [1d20.11+1d20.6 = 17]
You succeeded and generated momentum!
The group continues on ahead for another two hours, it is mid-afternoon by now. You have reached the edge of the tree-line given your accelerated pace, from here out, you will be traveling across open and visible terrain. You spot holes that are likely lava tubes scattered around, many of them look partially or mostly filled by debris.
Tilpi: Well, what's next friends?
Tilpi: Do we have an alchemical way to clear those tubes?
Tilpi: Well, do we have a *precise* alchemical way to do so?
Rhotinia: I don't know if spelunking through lava tubes is a good idea
The path does dip into a bowl-shaped depression ahead of you, looping around the surface of the volcano. You cannot see what is in the depression, but it is not too wide, as you can see the lip on the far side. It is the kind of mark that would be made by a sudden explosion or a tiny meteorite impact.
Volmalric: That looks suspicious
Tilpi: Let's investigate then!
Volmalric: Volmalric rolls an Observation test:
Target: 9 Focus: 0 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.1+1d20.16 = 17]
You did succeed!
Rhotinia: Rhotinia rolls an Observation test:
Target: 9 Focus: 0 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.13+1d20.4 = 17]
You did succeed!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Observation test:
Target: 11 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.18+1d20.5 = 23]
You did succeed!
Tilpi: Tilpi rolls an Observation test:
Target: 11 Focus: 1 Difficulty: 1 Complications: 0 Successes: 1 Momentum: 0 [1d20.14+1d20.2 = 16]
You did succeed!
The group moves forward to the lip of the bowl and looks down. You spot the remains of a dozen bat-demons scattered about the bottom of the bowl. They were clearly fighting something in the bowl... and did a bad job of fighting it. Tilpi looks up and notices eight bat demons circling above you, preparing to sweep down to attack them, for now they are circling out of bow range, waiting for something.