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The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:50 pm
by Alexjh
Near the top of the world, edging onto the Icebound-Sea, Civilization has clung on to existence by the smallest of margins for generations. This is the Skybroken Shore

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2016 6:54 pm
by Venice Queen
"Remind me again why the fuck we ever came here, Lucky?"

I get the feeling they just nominated us to get us out of town...or get us killed...they certainly don't like me...and the Grave-digger scares everyone just cuz he can chuck around some rocks...

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2016 7:07 pm
by Cha0sFerret
"Fuck if I know, mate. How'd we get put in charge of saving this place, anyhow? The last time I was put in charge of anything I near lost my head!"

I scratch at the missing bit of my ear.

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 12:02 am
by Venice Queen
"well, wot's the plan from 'ere, huh?"

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 3:02 am
by Alexjh
The rest of the villagers look at the two Mustott with unease - they were hoping that they would have solutions that they lacked.

There are twenty one other people here, representing the entire village; the Old Man Brikkle the curmudgeonly Skine harbourmaster, the tiny and timid Serotine Cana and Varla and their four young daughters, the surly Jargen brothers - the tortasi who hunt for the large rock-crabs, Almera the Mustott Shepheress, the tradepost managing Skine Davon and his son and daughter, plus his assistant; the constantly frustrated Serotine woman Lyna. The rest you don't know so well - three fur-trappers and a prospector who came up here from the city of Yngaroff three years ago to make their fortune, and keep mostly to themselves. Saidie the bee-keeping Skine has always been a private woman and elderly tortasi husband and wife Tancha and Muckle barely get out off their farmstead these days.

Various suggestions are called out - many suggest trying to track down the caravan on the South Road, or if they don't find it by then get help from the next village of Porthcollen. A few others are suggesting taking the East road to get help from the nearer Skurn's Rest - but if the caravan hasn't been here it certainly won't have been there either - the road passes along the coast with no shortcuts after all. The older voices suggest just digging in here and organizing foraging parties - they don't like the idea of leaving.

The lone voice of Saidie suggests finding the answers on Gyenarth-Tun - the cursed isle that sits a few miles shore, but the others back away from her a little - no one even likes to talk of that place.

What is clear to all however is that something must be done and soon...

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 4:54 am
by MadBull
Granite arrives, in a rock body armour making him twice as tall as he really is, he likes to make an impression.

"I say we go to Skurn's Rest! Talk to the people there! We need to find someone who knows more eventually!"

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 1:02 pm
by Venice Queen
good gods he's full of himself

"Iffn time is of the essence, seein' as 'ow we gonna run outta food soon, wouldn't we want ta go ta where the caravan might actually be? Fer all we know, Porthcoll'n might be under attack by bandits or sommat, and then the caravan might not be able ta move, ya know?

'taint like ya'll can organize foraging parties in the meantime, ya know" he directs at the other villagers

Privately, he actually agrees with Saidie - but that island scares the daylights out of him, so he'd just as soon try out other options before that, especially with how much difficulty he'd probably have convincing the other two

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 1:19 am
by Cha0sFerret
"I'm with ya on that, Riain mate. Head straight to the source of the problem. We should be able to fix this up right quick if we can find the caravan! For all we know, it coulda just lost a wheel!" I announce with a chuckle.

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 12:41 pm
by MadBull
Granite goes with the team!

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 2:17 pm
by Alexjh
The trio gather up their things and head on out - as they do so they see the other villagers begin to gather food as instructed, though with the harsh winter it will be lean pickings - those able to do so head out onto the water to fish, while the rest go looking for berries or begin the tiresome task of trying to scrape the foul-tasting anvil-limpets from the stones of the harbour. You hope that their efforts may at least buy Grimcove a few more days with luck. As you leave the palisade behind, your minds turn to the journey ahead.

The road to Porthcollen isn't in as bad shape as you had feared - the extended cold has at least kept the ground solid rather that turning to quagmire as it usually does by this time of the year, however throughout the first few hours of your journey there is little to distract you, and no sign of the traders. You hear the song of the tiny scrub-wrens and the cooing of the taiga doves nestled deep in the fine tree tops, but see little sign of life save animal tracks. The footprints of hare, crag deer and squirrels are common, but very little in the way of larger game. The tracks of a King Lynx follow the path for a while, putting you all on edge but they appear to be several days old, letting you relax a little.

Then a different set of tracks appear - ones that are not immediately familiar to any of you - simply crossing the path at a narrow point. They are most similar to the prints of a mustott but longer and curved in the centre, with less splayed toes - all of these point forward. Whatever those features though, the true thing that turns your blood cold is the size and depth - each footprint is nearly the size of your torso and pressed right down to the earth beneath. What's more, a trail of drips of blood accompanies the footprints and branches close to the canopy have been bent and snapped as whatever this creature was has rent them out of its way as it passed. The tracks appear probably a few hours old.

There is however no sign of the caravan here, but you can't help but remember those strange calls that have echoed from the woods in recent days...

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 9:34 pm
by Venice Queen
"well, either o' you have any idea wot those tracks might be? sure as 'ell don't look like anythin' I'm familiar with."

and he shudders to think about the power of such a beast. still, with two others they could fare a fighting chance, especially if the magician is half-decent at what he does. he wonders if the beast could have done anything to the caravan - though these tracks are new, and the caravan is very late. He looks for signs that the caravan went through here, as well as looking closer for signs of anything else that could be of interest

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 10:01 pm
by Cha0sFerret
"We could follow 'em and find out. Don't think that's a great idea, though, what with the blood and all. Whatever left these'll have us for dinner, most likely. Ya think we could set a trap or something here, maybe catch it if it passes through again?"

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 2:14 am
by Alexjh
The party has a more thorough look around the area to get a more thorough understanding of what happened here.

Something is niggling at the memory of Granite - the shape of these prints is vaguely familiar, and after a while it clicks to him. It is not knowledge of nature but of local myths that sends troubled thoughts to him - this resembles in size and scale the prints of a legendary monster known the Yrthi - a huge ape-beast of enormous strength thought to live in the high mountains of the East. They are said to be covered in brown or grey fur and strong enough to crush one of the peoples beneath their feet. But if this is a Yrthi, what would it be doing in the lowlands this far West?

There is nothing here that would indicate the caravan got this far - it it had there should be wheel marks and footprints from the caravaneers in the snow at some point in the journey - hopefully the caravan still lies ahead of you.

With none of the party specifically adept in mechanics, while you may be able to rig up a trap, it will take the rest of the day to rig up anything satisfactory, but you see a few options you could manage - a row of concealed spikes within a snowdrift that the beast crossed, a pit trap in a patch of softer earth and a snare baited with some rations, but any of these will cost you precious supplies...

As you consider this, your attention is drawn to the raucous cronking noise of arguing gore-crows nearby - it would seem to be coming from over the ridge through the forest to the North of the track. Riain is familiar enough with nature to say that that indicates that at least the beast, whatever it may be, is probably not there right now - gore-crows only begin to get noisy when they think there is no predator about - and only when there is food to argue over.

However, even as that option is considered, something catches the corner of their eyes - a single hair. Long, wiry and like nothing that the group knows to live around here - and a steely-grey in colour...

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:17 am
by MadBull
(thought I might share a question I asked Alex, I find it is of interest)

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>[12:04:58] Martijn: question about the RPG
[12:05:13] Martijn: am I in a situation where I know these myths are based on facts?
[12:05:17] Martijn: or, the opposite?
[12:05:21] Martijn: or something in between?:P
[12:05:48] Alex Holt: this is a good question
[12:07:05] Alex Holt: lets say its roughly the same as if you told a medieval person that there was a certain kind of dragon that lived in China
[12:07:36] Alex Holt: you don't specifically regard it as true
[12:07:37] Alex Holt: but
[12:07:46] Alex Holt: you dont specifically regard it as false either
[12:08:50] Alex Holt: its enough outside your own personal knowledge that you dont have the field of reference to make a call on that[/quote]

(back to RPG'ing)

"An Yrthi... guys if the myths are to be trusted this may spell trouble... some legends say it is covered in grey fur... do you think that hair we found could be of it too?"

The Skybroken Shore

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:10 pm
by Venice Queen
"I don really think any of us're good enough with trap-makin' to make that worth our while, Lucky.... As me mum used t' say, all legends 'ave a grain of truth to 'em. 'Ntil we c'n prove otherwise, we got a Yrthi t' worry about. I'm thinkin' we should investigate yon gore-crows, but then move on iffn nothin' of interest comes out of it - we gotta worry 'bout the caravan first."