RPG: The End War
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It's not too far to Stonehaven; about half an hour's walk to the point where they leave the road and travel along a side trail for a ways. The ground gets a bit rough at times, to the point where it becomes apparent that the monastery values seclusion more highly than it values company, but all in all they arrive in a bit less than an hour after they left the battlefield.
The monastery itself is a sprawling complex of a dozen or so buildings, laid out more or less in a line running east to west, up against the side of a mountain. In a surprising contrast to the sparse, largely desolate environs of the mountain range, Stonehaven is filled and surrounded by lush gardens and orchards painstakingly cultivated by devotees of the Soilfather, a tiny bit of paradise hidden away in the unforgiving mountains.
As Ruven approaches, injured party in tow, one of the older clerics comes out to meet them. A human woman, looking to be in her sixties, with shoulder-length hair gray and fading to white but a body that remains healthy and strong, Sister Constance is dressed in the plain, bark-brown robes of the order.
"You have had the dreams as well, Ruven?" she asks the impetuous paladin. "Who are these guests you bring to our home?"
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Panapos wonders, "What dreams?" but remains silent and allows Ruven to make introductions.
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This is all sounding a bit mystical for Aeron. He's starting to wonder what he's got himself into
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"About an hour ago we had an encounter with what what Ruven claimed were Demons of Chaos," Jillian replies. "If he had not come to our aid, I don't know what we would have done."
Actually, she was pretty sure they would have been able to manage the demons anyway. Still, it was technically true. They wouldn't have known what they were dealing with, and would certainly have had strong disagreements over where to go after.
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Ruven drops the litter he'd been using to bring the demon corpse along. "Constance, these are [lotsa names]. I found them fighting Demons of Chaos, of all things. They were just up the main road an hour's travel away, as Oton revealed to me in a dream. So yes, I've had dreams, and that's what sent me out to the road, armed, this morning. I think times are about to get a lot less peaceful."
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Sister Constance gives a slow, grave nod as she looks over the body. "Many of us received a warning as we slept last night. Only you, of all of us, were called to aid those who fought the ancient Godfoe. Curious."
She turns to look upon the party, seeing their uniforms. "A squad of soldiers, waylaid by the resurgent Demons of Chaos?" she muses. "Where is the rest of your platoon? Did any but you survive?" While she speaks, she raises her hands, interlacing the first three fingers of either hand in a gesture of piety, the Roots of Life.
@DMBot roll 3d8+3
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@Mason_Wheeler
result: 16
(3d8[13 (4, 3, 6)] + 3)[16]
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[Mass Cure Wounds. Everyone regains up to 16 HP.]
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"Oh, we're just prisoners," Bob chimes in. "We were being transported to Barreton for a trial."
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"A lieutenant eager to get rid of some less-then-ideal recruits," Jilllian quickly interjects. "I believe Ruven still has the cover letter. I fear as the demons attacked our escort fell of the driving box and broke his neck."
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@PleegWat @Mason_Wheeler OOC: Do I need to roll persuasion for that one?
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@PleegWat Not yet, though it may happen as the conversation progresses.
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Fal looked up furtively as Sister Constance went to meet the travelers. The acolytes had been buzzing all morning, and the tales of the dreams practically echoed throughout the monastery. Normally, Fal didn't mind his assigned duties in the gardens, as they gave him a measure of solitude... but it seemed like every junior acolyte in the monastery had volunteered to help outside today. Though at least that would probably make it less likely that the head gardener would notice that Fal was lingering on the same bush and not tending to his chores...
Why would the paladin bring a group of prisoners back? Fal scowled. His chores were onerous enough... hopefully the junior acolytes would be assigned responsibilities for the prisoners and not him.
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Aeron isn't sure he trusts the motives of these acolytes. He's never paid much attention to religion, and looks for signs that Constance has picked up on the conflicting stories or is otherwise a potential threat
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Jillian continues to attempt to convince the Sister. "Look, he was sending us straight to the Earl of Barreton, but there's no reasonable grounds that he'd even have jurisdiction over the King's army. And the charges are hugely inflated anyway."
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Ruven pipes in with "The pompous ass that wrote that letter isn't much of a commander, and we have bigger problems now." I'll pass over the letter if Constance looks even slightly interested in it, but I'm not doing it proactively. (This probably counts as assistance, so a Persuasion check should get advantage. I don't think we have conflicting stories going on here as much as incomplete stories, but Constance has definitely made some assumptions.)
To change the subject, Ruven unstraps the demon corpse and starts pointing out its anatomy. Claws, corrosive blood, magic, complete lack of tools, etc.
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@PleegWat Ruven is going to bat for you. Roll Persuasion with advantage.
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Panapos chimes in, "Jurisdiction or not, the wording of the letter suggests that the lieutenant intended that we be punished without being given the opportunity to defend ourselves against the charges. The lieutenant didn't send any evidence with us, just accusations. And we are, in fact, innocent of the charges levied against us. At least some of are. I have no personal knowledge of the facts regarding Nigrim and Jillian, but I can say with certainty that Aeron and I are innocent.
"I'm charged with the crime of magically pinching the butt of the General's wife. It was simply assumed that I did it, because I'm a gnome and a wizard, but I'm a prankster, not a pervert, and I'm not fool enough to assault the General's wife. And I don't even know any spells that could be used to do that — fireballs and thunder and magic darts, yeah, but not pinching. I know of such spells, but I haven't learned any of them myself.
"Aeron is accused of poisoning the camp's food, but the only thing wrong with it was that it was too spicy for some of the more delicate stomachs; I ate it myself and wasn't poisoned. He just put too much pepper in the paprikash."
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@DMBot roll 1d20r1 + 5 with advantage
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Through the whole conversation, Nigrim is standing at the back, listening. He has a slightly amused smile on his face as he sees how most of the party are stumbling over their words trying to convince this Sister Constance that they're not that bad.
I mean, a paladin from this very monastery just saved us purely on a dream, brought us back here, and is now vouching for us. What do they expect will happen?
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@DMBot roll 1d20r1 + 5 with advantage
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@Mason_Wheeler
result: 21
(1d20r1[16 ((7, 16))] + 5)[21]
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Sister Constance looks around with a certain degree of amusement at the protestations of this unruly mob. Ruven's words seem to make an impression on her, and she asks for the letter. Looking it over, her face sours at what she reads.
"The name of Tayden Barrus is not an unknown one here," she says, "nor would you be the first to seek refuge from his... 'justice.' In all honesty, I am surprised he has not yet drawn the ire of the Broken Crown sect. You are welcome at Stonehaven, for what little sanctuary we can offer you; it would seem that we abruptly find ourselves in troubled times, and our ability to stand as a respite from the outside world may well be limited."
Glancing around, she sees Falicht watching intently while trying to act as if he isn't. "Brother Fal, can you please bring Brother Stillwater to look over this... thing?" she requests, gesturing to the demonic corpse. Turning back to Ruven, "Please, show our guests around; this troubling news gives me much that I must attend to." Inclining her head in a polite nod to the party, she turns and walks away towards one of the buildings.
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Fal jerked his head up at Sister Constance's instruction. "Uh, yes Sister!" It didn't even matter that his complexion hid the flush to his face, as his surprise was quite evident while he hurried off to find Brother Stillwater. Gods, caught eavesdropping by Sister Constance again. I'm going to be stuck cleaning the prisoners' rooms for sure!
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Ruven gets everyone settled in the guest barracks, rustles up some food, and tries to remember whether the monastery's library has any serious tomes about demons.
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@PotatoEngineer Roll a Religion check for that...
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@DMBot roll 1d20+1 for Religion
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@PotatoEngineer
Religion: 8
(1d20[7] + 1)[8]
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@izzion Brother Stillwater isn't too hard to find; the middle-aged gnome is at his usual place in the compound's alchemical laboratory, working on one of his experiments again, seeming unbothered by the frenzy of activity going on at the monastery today. When Fal comes to fetch him, explaining that there's a corpse of a demon to be examined, he looks up from his alembic, blinking slowly. "Oh, are they here already?" he asks a bit distractedly. "I hope we're not in danger?"
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@PotatoEngineer Ruven can't recall seeing any books like that in the library...
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"It looked pretty dead from what I saw," Fal shrugged. "But Sister Constance needs you to look over it as soon as possible." No harm in a little exaggeration to get Brother Stillwater out of his current experiment.
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The guest house is a fairly spartan place, but that's no great inconvenience to people used to military life. The party is given quarters with beds and a shared washroom, and access to the grounds. Bountiful fruit trees abound, and behind the buildings is a pond full of fish and waterfowl, fed by a small mountain stream. It's an idyllic place, where one could easily relax for days, months, or longer... if it weren't for the looming calamity of course.
As Brother Stillwater, the local alchemist, looks over the dead body, first simply visually, then carefully cutting it open to examine its anatomy, his expression grows more and more grave by what he finds. "It's not just the blood," he explains to those around. "Look at these claws. They have barbs near the tips, and weak points near the base; they look like they're meant to embed themselves in a victim and break away. The front teeth are hollow, though I don't see evidence of a venom gland; these are most likely for drinking blood. The tailtip contains a serrated ridge of some carapace-like material not found elsewhere on the demon's body, useful for tearing victims apart.
"No, it's not just the blood. Everything about this creature appears to be inimical to life in some way, built to wreck and destroy it. The sacred texts refer to them as beings of chaos... looking upon one now, I begin to see why!"
Sister Constance gives a grave look at this explanation. "If that much was literally true... what of the other tales? This thing is the size of a large human; we are told that the most fearsome among them towered even over the trees!" She makes a sign of warding. "I must retire to my chambers, to commune with the Conclave."
Everyone seems troubled by this news, with no one seeming to know yet what to do. Hopefully the Conclave will have some answers...
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Jillian had gone with Ruven on the tour. While the monastery was definitely a beautiful place however, Ruven had been an uninspiring guide and she wanted to do some exploring of her own. She spent some time walking around the gardens, glad to relax and stretch her legs after her stay in the cage-wagon.
After about half an hour, she happened upon Brother Stillwater's laboratory, and decided to have a chat with the alchemist.
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Fal is visibly shaken by the alchemist's inspection of the demon corpse. "So, the Demons of Chaos... are real? But if a single paladin could bring this big of a demon down... maybe they're not as much of a threat as the texts say?" Fal sounds like he's trying to convince himself of the question, like a child freaked out by the monster in the storage bin.
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After eating, Panapos spends some time studying his spellbook before retiring for the evening. Finding a shady spot in the garden, he sits down and ponders which spells will be most useful in the combat that seems almost certain. He decides that Catapult will probably be more useful than Fog Cloud, and begins preparing it.
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Aeron makes full use of the hospitality. He knows that hot meals and soft beds can be hard to come by at times. He also figures that a big monastery like this won't miss a bit of extra food, so pockets a few non-perishables just in case
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Seeing everyone go there separate ways after the talk with Sister Constance, Nigrim decides to also spend some time relaxing in solitude. The gardens seem a perfect place for this. He isn't sure how long they would stay here, but this place is a major improvement over their recent lodgings, if only because of the lack of chores. And he was going to take full advantage of that.
While strolling through the gardens, his thoughts wander to his immediate future. What will he do now, now that he is effectively out of the military? Maybe a wandering magician, doing party tricks at the small towns? His thoughts also turn to the demons for a bit, but he dismisses them fairly quickly. The monastery seems to have the situation under control.
