Session Start: Sat Aug 11 18:03:11 2007
Session Ident: #castlevania
* Logging for #castlevania started
<GM> [The intrepid party rides off into the afternoon sun.]
<Brute> Why would bandits attack loggers?
<Brute> It seems they'd rather attack brothels.
<Brute> But then, I'm no bandit and no logger and no brothel, so what
do I know?
<Roland> You rob the loggers to get the coin to pay the brothels.
<Brute> ah.
<Roland> You could rob the brothel, but you'd have to force the
women, and then you wouldn't have a brothel to go to next time.
Unless you have a thing for lumberjacks.
* Nyyx smirks.
<GM> [After traveling for several hours, night falls while the party
is traveling through a chilly glade.]
* Roland looks to Nyyx. "Lady Natalia? Shall we stop for the night,
or go until we exit the woods?"
* Skip watches the chill air blow across the glade. "It's times like
these that I'm glad we picked up those orbs."
* Nyyx shrugs. "Is it much more dangerous to stop here, rather than
past the woods, you think?"
<Brute> Did the town leader warn any of you about dangers in the
woods we might not expect?
* Roland withdraws a deck of cards from a case on his belt and begins
shuffling.
* Nyyx raises her eyebrows questioningly.
* Roland turns his eyeless mask on Nyyx. "I -am- a Seer, Lady
Natalia."
<Nyyx> Ah, that's right.
* Roland grins and watches the cards, flipping one over, shuffling
again, and repeating the process every few seconds.
* Skip watches the cards and Roland in awe.
* Roland flips over one card, and for once -doesn't- shuffle it back
in. In fact, his entire body goes completely still for about five
seconds.
* Roland flips the card back over, shuffles the deck one last time,
carefully, and slips it back into the case at his belt.
<Roland> This area is safe enough for an hour or so, and probably the
night.
* Nyyx nods. "Thank you. Let's hope you're right."
* Roland looks around for a space large enough to unroll his tent.
* Nyyx dismounts and begins setting up camp.
* Skip examines the surrounding countryside. "I'll take first watch
and scout out our perimeter."
* Nyyx nods. "Thank you, Skip. You can wake me for the next watch."
* Brute removes his traveling pack and sets up his bedroll for a
short nap.  "Wake me for the second watch, and I'll be fine through
to morning."
<Brute> "If Nyyx doesn't mind the company."
* Roland unrolls his blanket to reveal his tent, a handy fire, and
some food, all ready and waiting for the night.
* Nyyx sets up everything the old-fashioned way, which takes a bit
longer.
* Skip takes Swiftsilver's reigns and leads the faithful dog to the
edge of the firelight. "If I find anything, I'll give a whistle."
<Nyyx> Right.
<GM> [Skip makes his rounds and the party settles in for the night.]
* Roland says his nightly prayers as he keeps watch on the group,
while Skip is out and about.
<GM> [The night passes without incident.]
<GM> [Dawn breaks through the trees and pushes some of the night's
chill away if weakly.]
* Brute packs up and readies for the rest of the trip.
* Nyyx gets up, eats quickly, and breaks camp.
* Roland fell asleep sitting beside the fire, which hasn't burned
down at all.
<Nyyx> Roland, it's dawn.
* Roland wakes up slowly and without startling, and says softly, "Has
Skip come out of the tent yet?"
* Nyyx turns and looks toward Roland's tent.
* Skip snores softly.
<Nyyx> Skip, wake up.
* Roland lets his head tilt back into sleep.
<Nyyx> Skip?
* Brute runs to the end of camp and bellows, "Look, bandits!"
* Skip pops his head out of the tent and rubs his eyes. "Morning."
* Nyyx jumps. "Bandits? They're early."
* Nyyx draws her sword.
* Brute laughs loudly. "No bandits, Nyyx. Just a wake up call. We
should get going."
* Skip springs out of the tent, trying to get his armor on.
* Skip looks up at Brute, half dressed. "Huh?!"
* Nyyx relaxes and shakes her head as she puts her weapon away,
laughing.
<Brute> No worrying, Skip. But it is good to see you awake.
* Skip lets his unfastened armor fall to the ground and shakes head.
He turns to Nyyx and points at Brute, "That one's going to be a
troublemaker."
* Skip gives Brute a chuckle before whistling, "Swiftsilver, up." The
huskie emerges from Roland's tent and stretches.
* Nyyx finishes packing and mounts up.
* Roland rolls up his tent, fire, and the empty bowl and jug, and
packs the bundle away.
<GM> [The party breaks camp and prepares to march.]
<GM> [The party heads through the glade and into the woods.
Evergreens and old oaks close off the sun with sweeping canopies.]
* Skip looks around and sighs, "This place reminds me of my jungle."
<Roland> You must have been away for quite some time.
* Skip nods.
<GM> [The party travels through woods and clearings until midday.]
<GM> [Near noon, the party reaches a clearing with a partially frozen
stream nearby.  The forest has been clear-cut in a ring about a
quarter-mile in radius around a fixed point in the stream.]
<Nyyx> What's that?
* Skip examines the area in more detail.
<Skip> Are they building a village here?
* Nyyx dismounts to take a closer look around the cleared area.
* Brute unsheathes his axe. "Is this normal for a forest?"
<Nyyx> I don't think so...
<Roland> It's an excellent place to build a logging camp.
<Brute> But aren't we heading toward a logging camp? Why build a
second?
<Roland> To put the camp in a better position.
* Brute relaxes. "Ah well. And here I was hoping for the exercise."
<Nyyx> Looks like there was a fight here.
<Roland> That would be why this looks like a good place to build a
logging camp.
<Roland> It was attacked and subsequently abandoned.
<Nyyx> Hm.
* Skip rides around the area and examines the abandoned weapons and
clothing, looking for anything unusual.
<Roland> How recently was it abandoned?
<GM> [Unusual in a crime scene is a vague term, but nothing truly out
of place presents itself except that some of the combat appears
highly focused to the point of overkill if the oppenents were
humans.]
* Nyyx studies the signs of struggle and frowns mildly.
<Nyyx> Is this the logging camp we were headed for?
<Roland> A previous site, doubtless.
* Skip rides back to the group. "Is anyone here a trained tracker? If
so, we might be able to find a trail."
* Nyyx shakes her head. "It's not my specialty, no."
<Brute> Nor mine.
<Roland> Look around, see if you can find any humanoid remains.
* Nyyx nods and starts looking.
* Skip looks at Roland, "Oh! I found some over here. Follow me!"
* Skip leads the group to an area of particularly intense fighting,
where many skeletons lay scattered.
* Nyyx looks on grimly. "Do you think anyone survived?"
<Roland> Someone survived to move the logging camp.
* Roland considers the scene, trying to pick out which ones are the
bandit corpses.
<Nyyx> You don't think the bandits could have cleared it out?
<Roland> It's possible, but they're not likely to have destroyed it
so thoroughly.
* Nyyx nods. "Hard for me to tell with what I can determine of the
excessive force of the attack and with the unnatural abilities of the
particular bandit we're looking for."
<Roland> We only need one bandit corpse.
* Roland picks up one severed skull and tosses it lightly in his
hand.
* Skip looks around, trying to distinguish differences in the
clothing and weaponry left behind.
<Roland> Alas, poor, um... whatever your name is.
<Roland> I knew him, Sir Mudskipper.
* Skip looks and Roland blinks several times, before continuing his
examination.
<Roland> Actually, I didn't know him at all, but that's entirely
beside the point.
* Roland holds the skull at arm's length and touches the forehead
briefly, drawing the Eye of Boccob on it, and he commands it,
"Awaken, and reveal to the living your knowledge!"
<GM> [A cold wind blows around the skull briefly and the skull begins
to shine.]
* Nyyx looks on silently.
<Roland> Tell me, skull, where was your bandit camp?
<GM> "Further into the woods.  At the base of a mountain with a
broken top."
<Roland> Does the camp move from that location?
<GM> "Not in my experience.  There was no need."
<Roland> What is the secret behind the immortal bandit?
<GM> "There are many secrets behind seemingly immortal bandits.  I
trick is not to die."
<GM> "I think it has to do with his blood."
<Roland> What pattern was there behind your raids of the logging
camp?
<GM> "We were looking for someone.  I don't know who.  We looted
too."
<GM> [The glow fades.]
<Roland> Well.
<Roland> We know, most likely, where the camp is, now.
<Brute> Do we head to the bandit or logging camp??
* Nyyx nods. "Nicely done, Roland."
* Nyyx looks toward the horizon for a mountain with a broken top.
<Roland> We're headed in the right direction already, Lady Natalia.
<Roland> The mountain is about fifty miles ahead.
<Skip> We might want to come at them from the direction of the
logging camp, in case they attempt another raid.
* Nyyx nods. "Good."
* Skip looks around the battlefield again. "We should mark down where
we are so we can notify the Reeve of this place. They might want to
retrieve the bodies of the fallen."
<Roland> It shouldn't be hard for them to find this place, Sir
Mudskipper.
<Nyyx> Did he say the immortality had something to do with his
blood...? Any ideas what that could be?
<Roland> There are a number of possibilities, starting with vampirism
and being half troll, and as a more remote possibility, a filial or
familial curse of some sort.
<Roland> There's also the possibility of a divine blessing or curse.
<Nyyx> Hm. Any idea how we can cure those sorts of things?
<Roland> Killing vampires and trolls is generally relatively easy.
Anything else would require more research.
* Nyyx nods.
<GM> [The party saddles up and continues toward the logging camp.]
<GM> [By the mid-afternoon, the party sees a closely-set collection
of log cabins and a barn along the stream.  The trees in a half-mile
radius have been leveled.]
<Nyyx> Well, that must be the relocated camp.
<GM> [Smoke rises from the barn and cabins and someone is working
with hides by the stream.]
* Skip takes in the sight of his first logging camp. "Neat."
<Brute> Looks like we got here before the next raid.  Good.
* Nyyx nods and continues to ride toward the camp.
<GM> [The person by the stream yells out an alarm and loggers start
to cluster from out of the cabins, axes and poles drawn.]
<Theodore> "It looks like they think we are the raiders."
* Nyyx holds up both hands empty as a sign of peace. "Please, we're
not here to attack you."
<GM> "Who are you?"
<Skip> We're adventurers. We were sent here by the Reeve of the
nearby village to look into the bandit raids on your camp. We're here
to help.
<GM> "About time."
<GM> "Well, you want to help.  Get out there and kill the buggers."
<Nyyx> Can you tell us anything that might help us be better prepared
to deal with them?
<GM> "They fight hard.  They fight in groups.  And they are tough.
I've seen mortally wounded ones come right back for more.  Don't stop
until you are sure they are dead."
* Skip talks quietly to the group. "Should we inquire about the
person the bandits were after? They might know who or what they
want."
<Theodore> "Are they Human?'
<GM> "Yes, they're human.  Men and women, dirty and rotten, criminals
and convicts everyone."
<Nyyx> You say they keep fighting after mortally wounded. Are they
just berserkers, or is there more than one deathless bandit?
<GM> "They're berserkers sure, but they likely have a cleric with
them or worse."
<Theodore> "Worse?"
<Nyyx> Can you kill them with ordinary weapons?
<GM> "Yeah, everything dies when it's head comes off.  They're just
tough and heal fast.  As to 'worse,' could be a druid with 'em."
* Brute shivers. "Not everything... but I know your meaning."
<GM> "Probably just want us out of here cause of the trees and such.
Like there aren't more than enough of them..."
<Nyyx> We found your former camp. Do you know if the bandits were
looking for anyone in particular when they raided it?
<GM> "Former camp?  No, we tried to expand downriver.  Faster to
market, closer to town."
<GM> "After someone?  I don't know?"
<Roland> The bandits were definitely after someone.  They think
someone important is in your camp.
<Roland> How many people do you have here?
<GM> "About thirty, all ready to fight."
<Roland> And nobody particularly special?
<GM> [The crowd, bored with the conversation, starts to scatter.]
"The work boss, Mrs. Cleff.  Tha's about it."
<Roland> Who is she?
<Brute> The work boss, Roland. You must not be a very good listener.
<Roland> I didn't ask what her position is.
<Roland> I want to know -who- she is.  What makes her so special?
* Skip shouts out to the workers, "Where can we find this Mrs.
Cleff?"
<GM> "Um, she runs the camp?"
<GM> [Somebody points to the barn.]
<Roland> We need to see her before we leave.
* Skip dismounts and leads Swiftsilver by the reigns toward the barn.
"Come on, let's go talk to her."
* Nyyx nods. "Thank you for your help."
* Roland doesn't dismount just yet, but follows Skip anyway.
* Nyyx follows too.
<GM> "No problem." [The woman returns to her work.]
<GM> [The barn doors hang open, displaying a lumber cutting operation
in full swing.  Timber is brought into the barn at the far end,
stripped and cut into logs and boards and prepared for weater
preping.]
<GM> [Men and women scurry about from station to station, fighting
with the bulky and dangerous work.]
* Nyyx scans the area for someone who stands out as the work boss.
<GM> [A woman in a red tunic and black pants stands on a nearby
landing barking orders to the people below and checking work orders.]
<Nyyx> And that must be Mrs. Cleff.
* Brute leans in to Skip, "Why do we need to talk to her? She looks
busy."
* Roland dismounts and walks in.
<Nyyx> It might be useful to know why the bandits are after her.
<Skip> We need information on the bandits. Plus, she should know
we're here to help.
* Nyyx dismounts and follows Roland into the barn.
* Skip follows behind Nyyx.
<Roland> Mrs. Cleff?
<GM> [She turns quickly.] "What is it?  Uh?  Who might you be?"
<Roland> We have been sent to deal with this immortal bandit of
yours.  We have a few questions.
<GM> "Immortal bandit?  Tough, sure, but no one's immortal.  What do
you need?"
<Roland> We need to know why these bandits would be coming after you,
specifically.
<GM> "Who says that they are after me?  The just want to wreck our
camps as far as I know."
<GM> "What's a Boccobite want with all of this anyway?"
<Roland> We obtained some information at a previous logging site.
The bandits were after someone.
<GM> "Really.  That's odd.  I figured they were after everyone.  Any
ideas?"
<Roland> Was anyone missing after that attack?
<Roland> Missing and -not- accounted for, that is.
<GM> "No, a few people made it back here or to town and everyone else
at the build site was confirmed dead."
<Roland> So there's no reason in particular, other than you being the
site boss, that they'd be here for you?
<GM> "I don't know.  I've got a lot of family in the area.  They
might've pissed someone off."
<Roland> Is there anyone else in the camp who they might want?
<Brute> "Maybe it's time to ask the bandits directly."
* Nyyx nods. "It might be."
<Brute> "I'll be outside whenever you're ready.  Better we make a
mess of them at their doorstep than here."
<GM> "Ha.  Good plan.  Someone else?  Just the usual stuff.  Picking
fights in taverns, owing gold, and so on.  Nothing to bring this down
on us."
<Nyyx> Anything else you want to ask before we head out?
* Brute turns and heads for the exit.
<Roland> No.
* Roland bows slightly. "Good day, madame."
* Nyyx nods. "Thank you, Mrs. Cleff."
* Roland turns and leaves.
* Nyyx walks on out.
* Roland mounts up and makes ready to leave.
* Nyyx does, as well.
* Skip follows the group. "We should get prepared for a fight before
we leave."
<Nyyx> Is there something you need before we go?
<Skip> Well, if these bandits are as tough as they sound, we may need
some extra supplies. And it might be good to question a few of the
workers about the bandits' tactics and weaponry. 
* Brute flips through the book tied to his belt and finds a page,
"Better to fight on your terms than on the terms of your foes." He
thinks a moment. "I think that means we should get going pretty
soon."
* Nyyx nods. "Before it gets dark."
* Skip mounts up, and brings the dog about, "That's very true. I'll
just be a second." He rides up to the nearest group of workers and
gets their attention.
<Skip> "Hello, we're on our way to the bandit camp and would like
some quick information. Have any of you fought them in their raids?"
<GM> [A man working a large saw motions you over and shows you where
to stand to be safe.]
<GM> "I have.  What do you need?"
<Skip> Is there anything we should know about the ways they fight? Do
they use poisons, pack animals, or anything else out of the ordinary?
Or are they more the simple brigand type?
<GM> "They don't use poisons.  Tend to strike with the sun at their
backs.  Some use animals and a bit of magic."
<GM> "They are well-organized, fight to the death, don't take
prisoners."
* Skip nods. "Thank you for the help." He regroups with his comrades.
"I'm ready."
* Nyyx nods. "Let's go. Did you learn anything new?"
* Brute has quit IRC (Ping timeout)
* Skip nods. "They aren't your ordinary bandits. They're
well-organized, using pack animals and magic. And don't expect mercy;
they fight to the death and take no prisoners."
<Nyyx> Good to know. Thanks.
<Roland> If there's nothing else, let's go.  We're wasting sunlight.
<Nyyx> I'm ready. Let's go.
* Roland rides off into the sunset with Nyyx.
<Roland> ( WEll, except for the fact that it's not sunset, and that's
the wrong way. )
* Skip brings his wolf around. "I've never met a man who couldn't die
before. And I hope that's still true when this is done." Skip rides
off into the sunset with Theodore.
<Nyyx> ( Haha. XD )
<GM> SESSION END
Session Close: Sat Aug 11 22:34:36 2007