Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd
Previous Chapter 30 To The Tsolenka Pass — Next Chapter 32 To The Temple
Being an actual play of Curse of Strahd, using Precis Intermedia Games’ Iron & Gold, with Mythic as the GM.
31 - On The Roof[1]
A squeal woke Uthrilir, followed by a loud noise of wind and a blast of cold air.
“Dwarven Uthrilir, awake!” It was a woman speaking but not Hrelgi or Ezmerelda. Uthrilir reached over to wake Hrelgi but she did not respond to his touch. He checked: she was just sleeping, but he could not rouse her.
“Come to us, come to us!” It was another female voice. The voices were coming from the roof.
He had an inkling that it was not good — perhaps knowledge from the Maiden — and so he took time to put on his armor and boots. He checked his other companions.
All were asleep. None of them would wake.
“Hurry, dwarf,” came a third voice. “For your friends. You do not want us to make it cold enough for us to come to you.”
The trapdoor at the top of the ladder was open.[2] There was no rope to pull it closed, so Uthrilir was forced to go up the ladder to reach it.
“Come out, dwarf,” said a third voice.
Uthrilir looked out the open trapdoor. There were two forms there, white and indistinct in the gusts of snow, but both women. He had heard three voices, however.
“Do no harm to my friends and I will come out and talk to you.”
“Yes, yes,” said one of the forms, the one with the midnight hair. “We will not harm you while we talk.”
“You promise for all of you?” Uthrilir said. Ninefingers’ agreement with Strahd was in his mind.
“All of us. While we talk.”
Uthrilir looked down at the others, and then climbed out. He could feel the weight of the cursed ring on the chain around his neck; in his pouch were both his symbol of the Maiden and the holy symbol they had retrieved from Baba Lysaga’s hut. It worked against vampires but would it work against these things, whatever they were?
He checked the back of the trapdoor: a handle was riveted there. So he let it slowly and loudly down, and then he spotted the third maiden, as far from him as possible on the roof. Uthrilir moved so that he could see all three of them.
“What do you want?” Uthrilir asked.
“The gift you bear. The ring.”
“I cannot give that to you.”
“You cannot tap its powers.”
Uthrilir said, “That is why I carry it. If that is all, I will return to my friends.”
“Give us the ring!”
“I cannot.”
“Cannot or will not?”
“The ring is mine until it is destroyed.”
“Or you. To get the ring we must destroy you.”
“Better things than you have tried.”
“You are defenseless against us, and a hundred paces in the air.”
“You cannot even approach me; the power of the Maiden protects me. Good night.”[3] He reached for the handle on the trapdoor, and the one who had been speaking surged toward him.[4] He stepped out of the way and hit it with his mace.[5]
Hitting the thing had no discernible effect. Uthrilir prayed that the Maiden would make his mace more effective.[6]
He spun and hit the maiden again[7]; the woman splashed apart, as if made of snow.
Uthrilir grinned. One down, and he felt the blood lust of the ring coming on him. A second maiden rushed him[8] and hit him, with a touch so cold it froze his skin where it touched.[9] It touched him on his defensive arm; Uthrilir managed to swing with his other arm, and smashed apart this one.
The other could not move, and Uthrilir recklessly said, “I beseech the Maiden to let you approach.”[10]
A look of relief came over the woman’s face, and that was quickly replaced by hunger. She glided forward, eagerly grabbing for Uthrilir.[11] He sidestepped and swung his mace,[12] hitting her. She flew apart.
Exultant, Uthrilir hooted in victory, and as he stood there, the cold beginning to seep into his bones, he suddenly realized how close he had come to being killed, up here and alone.
He fell to his knees on the trapdoor and prayed for the forgiveness of the Maiden.
Some time later, he could ignore the cold no longer, and he pulled the trapdoor up. It squealed again and this time it woke Ninefingers, who jerked awake, on his bedroll.
“What is it?” Ninefingers asked.
“Minions of Strahd,” Uthrilir assured him. “All handled.”
“You sure?” The goblin watched him as he descended the ladder.
“Yes.”
“Let me look at you, make sure you’re not charmed.”
“Of course. In the meantime, I am hurt and must rest.”
“Can the Maiden not help you?” Ninefingers asked while looking into Uthrilir’s eyes for signs of mental control.
“I have not asked her. I am ashamed to do so.” In a lower voice, he said, “I lost control.”
“The relic?” Uthrilir nodded. “Show me your neck.”
“They didn’t bite me.”
“Which is what a charmed person would say. Come on.” Uthrilir took off his byrnie and showed Ninefingers his neck. Ninefingers said, “Hard to see with the beard but this side seems fine. Now let me see your hurt.” Uthrilir pulled up his sleeve and showed the patch of frostbite on his arm. He showed Ninefingers how he could not move his hand properly.
“I don’t know that kind of wound but maybe Hrelgi can help.” The goblin shivered. “Opening that trapdoor made it cold. She could heat up the hearth again.”
“Cold is not our friend,” agreed Uthrilir. “I will not ask her; I deserve the wound for lacking the self-control and dishonouring the Maiden by rejecting the gift of her protection.”
The goblin looked at him, and then said, “If we were in a town, a tavern or an inn, I’d agree with you and let you suffer until you felt like it was enough. But it will take a week or more for you to heal from that, if you ever do without magic, and you’re not alone. We depend on you. We’re not resting; we’re going into a dangerous place. Strahd is trying to kill us. Why give him a head start? Do penance afterward.”
“Then it won’t be penance. If we accept punishment only when it is convenient…”
“Sure, but we depend on you, too.”
“I will think about it.”
“Do that.” The goblin moved his bedroll so it was right next to Felewin, and laid against the big man, and then heaped his fur over himself. He stopped talking, whether he went to sleep or not, and left Uthrilir with his thoughts.
Previous Chapter 30 To The Tsolenka Pass — Next Chapter 32 To The Temple
Monsters
Snow Maiden
| Abilities | Fitness 2 Awareness 3 Creativity 0 Reasoning 1 Influence 0 |
|---|---|
| Skills | Brawling 7 (≤9), Composure 2 |
| Gimmicks | Create cold, Life Drain, Night Vision, Shadowy Form, Undead, Vulnerability [Heat, Divine magic], Resistance[non-magic attacks], Supernatural Healing, Tranquilizing[magic, complex], Vulnerability [Divine magic and weapons] That is, if Uthrilir casts a blessing on his mace, it will do double damage. |
[1] Mythic suggested theme: Struggle Misfortune (Move Toward A Thread)
[2] I give Uthrilir a couple of free uses of clerical powers every “session.” This is one of them: he gets a free use of Purity so monsters like the Snow Maidens cannot come close to him without making an Awareness+Composure roll of 4. Snow Maidens have an Awareness of 3 and a Composure of 2. There are 3 (1d6) of them); none of them roll 5 or less (7, 8, 12).
[3] The two who didn’t roll a calamity try again, rolling a 4 and a 7 to approach him. The 4 succeeds, so one rushes him.
[4] It rolls a 10 to hit him, margin -1, and he defends, rolling a 4, margin 5.
[5] Uthrilir rolls a 5 to hit, margin 4, and the snow maiden rolls a 5 also, margin 4. Uthrilir hits. It has no armor, so he does (3 inj)/2, or one level of damage. Iron & Gold has nothing for good divine entities causing damage, so I’m going to use Blessing/Intervention.
[6] Uthrilir rolls 7, margin 2, which meets difficulty 2. The 1d6 roll is 4, so his mace is a magic mace for the next 4 hits.
[7] Uthrilir rolls 5, margin 5; the maiden rolls 5, margin 4. Now it’s a divine mace, so the thing takes 6 levels of damage, and is immediately dispatched.
[8] The snow maiden rolls a 4, margin 5; Uthrilir rolls a 6, margin 4. He is hit, and the life drain takes one level of health.
[9] Reactions: Uthrilir has 11, snow maiden has 7. Uthrilir rolls a 6 to hit (margin 4), and the snow maiden rolls a 9 (margin 0). Uthrilir hits, and again, 6 is more than enough.
[10] Oh, this is probably a bad idea.
[11] Snow maiden rolls a 5 to hit, which is a margin of 4; Uthrilir rolls a 5 to block,which is a margin of 5.
[12] Uthrilir rolls a 5, margin of 5; snow maiden rolls a 7, margin of 2…and blah.
No comments:
Post a Comment