Ravens Slumber
L.o.S-Se0003
Well hello hello hello
Thank God it's Game Day!
Welcome to another installment of Ink n Bones: Lament of Severance. As always happy to have you here along for the ride in this solo Campaign. If you aren't a member of the Inkyard smash that sub button for your next Exceptional Yes. Already a fan and loving what we are doing here please by all means share this with a friend. You may have notice this is the second week with no audio. My audio quality is not what I want it to be currently and for the time being will be limited. Thank you for your patience and support.
Previously…
We left off Kal gathered a bit of guidance from Rongar and made his way to Hooves Rest. Where he bumped into a strangely intense Halfling. We are going to start this session actually building out this NPC a bit further as she will show up again. I also wanted to take to time to reinforce something about the difference between what we are doing here and a traditional story.a These characters can die Kal is not sacred, these games are an endeavor to explore the world and these characters. Wherever their lives may lead. If that be death then so be it. As such building out a number of possible playable characters will happen from time to time.
Character Creation
I was writing what came to mind as I interpreted the results and this halfling is strangely intense and wields a spear of some kind. That as our base for the character, we are going to do the same things we did with Kal and make some rolls to determine a few things. I really like the name Jilna Cloudwater,for some reason so I’ll run with that for now.
Class
We are going to roll a d12 as normal for class d12 -> [11] -> Tinker!
Oh 😂 boy this should be interesting 🤔. A tinker or artificer is someone who is normally highly mechanically inclined, atleast how I envision them. May try to twist this trope some. But as per usual we are starting at lvl-0.
Skills
So lets roll a d4 to determine our starting skills.
d4 -> [3] -> Three! Nice, pretty robust! Let's see which ones she has starting out. 3d8 -> [1, 7, 5] -> Acrobatics, Fast Talk, and Scrutinize. All at d4 starting out.
Equip
Her equipment is already filled with a slot. But let's see if there are more.
d4 -> [1] -> one other slot. So on par with Kal and we will grab a Trackers kit.
Alrighty so Now that we have Jilna all setup and taken care of. We can jump into today's game. This is supposed to be anthology like and allows us to have another character available to us if things go wrong.
Setup
I already have an idea as to where things are going to go but we will roll an event focus and meaning for Jilna given the context of the prior scene.
3d100 -> [89, 100, 48] -> Focus NPC neg- change success.
This should be interesting 🤔 contextualizing this a bit more Jilna is looking to change the success of a particular NPC? There are currently Three named NPCs so I'll roll a d4 on a 4 we create a new NPC.
-Rongar
-Master
-Howler
d4 -> [2] -> Master of the Hunt.
The success of The master of the Hunt? Maybe? 🤔 I feel like this is plenty to go with for the time being. Let's jump into the narrative
The Lodge
Jilna clicked her tongue in frustration when she saw the Scalehound she tried taking off of that orc's hands earlier. She still hadn't gotten her hands on a proper trophy to bring to the lodge. She'd been in the wilds for some time and had yet to pin down anything worth her skills. She was surprised to see such a savage beast so docile under that Orc's care. She clicked her tongue again, she was going to need an extension. She watched the Orc step into the Lodge, this was the last thing she needed. New blood causing a ruckus about her, Cleaver wouldn't let her here the last of it.
"Well, that's pit'ma1” she said under her breath and stood in the road thinking for a time. "Flayers luck2 I've got." She said and made her way towards the Lodge.
While the outside of Ravens Slumber was macabre and intimidating. The inside was starkly comfortable, spacious unlike the packed streets of Hooves rest. Kalzussis understood why they called it the Ravens Slumber as he stepped inside his eyes fell upon the large black feathers that slowly spun above. He could feel a light breeze cooling the space. It was busy but not crowded and Kal could feel Atliss relax some. He did the same as he watched a few people look up and give him a slight nod in greeting.
He flagged down a bar maid, "I'm in search of the Master of the Hunt? Am I in the right place?"
Her grin was genuine and tired. She carried six plates on one arm and another five tankards in the other. Her pierced nose flared with a purr, "Welcome to the Ravens Slumber. You may take a seat and there will be some one with you shortly." She was off before he could reply.
"Suppose, I could take you to see the ole cleaver." A voice said from behind him. He turned and immediately regretted his excitement.
"You." He said flatly.
"A name I have tiny tusk! Jilna Cloudwater, thank you very much. You need to meet with Master Ravyn Strongcleaver, the Master of The Hunt. I'm his second in command.3" She said in that matter of fact tone he knew he'd grow to hate.
But it stopped him. It would make sense why she was so rude earlier. She has position and power here, he thought.4
"Fine. Jilna, was it." He extended his hand taking her in, thoroughly this time. She had an air of arrogance and he noticed that people were giving them a wider breadth as they entered.
She gave him a firm handshake.
"I'll follow your lead then, hope you don't mind my questions either." He said with a smile
" First welcome to the Lodge. This is where we handle all things beastly. Natural, supernatural, or weird. You aren't meeting the Founder of the Lodge with that mutt on your heels, stables."
Atliss snarled
"No, offense big guy. "
"Where I go he-" a group of six hunters muscled pass them with a rattling cage. A snarling canine of stone and fur texture. Sparks came off the bars as if struck by flint.
"Make way!"
"Like I said mounts in the stables. Trophies come through the front door." Jilna said just as the once almost quiet lodge erupted into cheers and whistles. Members leaned over the balcony welcoming the group back.
Jilna motioned for them to follow. They cut through a side door and down a hall adjacent to the main hall. The commotion and shadows of the crowd played across the thin walls.
The hall opened to a wide pavilion with spacious stables. A few of which held horses and some creatures Kal did not recognize.
"You sounded like you had a check list back there."
"Well, after we set your companion up. We are going to have to get our story straight. No matter your reason for needing to see him you will need to hunt." Jilna said
Kal stopped shifting the hay, "Hunt?"
"I'm really starting to think you are deaf orc. I don't remember stuttering, yes hunt. Ravyn, will ask you to complete a request. It's what he does."
"I was sent here by someone of high regard."
"It won't matter. So before we go further I have to ask is whatever you need that important?"
"Why, give me a heads up?"
Jilna leaned on her spear, "Ravens Slumber, the Lodge, it's a way of life. Not something to be done on a whim. " Her posture was casual but her eyes were harder than ever.
Kal nodded. He'd tried going to the restricted floor before he left the Sanctuary. He couldn't step foot on the floor instead he found nothing but a wall. He gritted his teeth. That damn tree,was this a punishment?
Jilna leaned on her spear staring at the Orc. He was buying her shit hook line and sinker. It was like making a puppet dance. He needed to get to the Ravyn and she needed to have shown something for her efforts this past few months or she'd have a boot in her ass. If not a trophy a recruit would have to suffice.
She just needed him to buy it. Ever new recruit meets with Ravyn, it's part of protocol. So she wasn't fully lying and Ravyn was notoriously known for trading favors for jobs. So she was only telling like an eighth of a lie right? She studied him as he idly rearranged the hay for his mount. The mutt had already laid down. The trick to a good lie was to let it sit.
So she let it sit with him. They sat in silence for a while
"Fine.”
"Fine?"
"Did I stutter halfling?" Kal jabbed.
Jilna tried to stifle her joy but her smile was a genuine one. "Well then orc off to meet Ravyn then.”
Before we continue I think it is important that we take some time to discuss what is happening. Jilna is not the second in command, and she is bluffing Kal to kingdom come right now. However, due to Kal's abysmal roll he is unaware of how much she is lying. He is taking her at face value. However, Jilna knows better. I think this could blow up in her face immediately or it could go off without a hitch. I'm going to roll a d4 this will determine the number of screw ups she has before things blow up. Why a d4? Simply put, this is pretty difficult to pull off, and she may not have a ton of chances to make things right. We can think of this as her building a bond with Kal. No relationship should be built on a lie however it does make for interesting story fodder. Before we jump in and starting rolling things for her screw ups. Lets determine some things with the Oracle.
Is it policy for new recruits to be mentored by whoever signs them up? 2d10->[8,10]-> Yes, Random event.
We can clarify her motive with this roll. Kal will be under her charge for a time which will look good for her. The interpretation of her event at the start of this was a change in success. Based on Jil not being the second in command or a Vet in the full sense of the word, but rather someone trying to make her mark here in the Lodge. I think it is fitting. I also have ideas as to why this is all happening. But we will have to explore that a bit later.
Let's roll that d4→4 🤯🤯💥🤯🤯 Nice so I'm thinking Kal has a bit more faith in her than we thought and she is probably a better liar than expected, but something to explore later.
Back to the Narrative.
The Lodge was still in a commotion over the latest returned hunting party. A number of drinks were passed around and the lot of them could be heard sharing stories. Jilna led Kalzussis from the stables and up to the third story. They stopped on the opposite end in front of large table sutured with gold. Sitting across from them a Hobgoblin woman.
"New blood?"
The question wasn't spoken Kal never saw her mouth move. He looked at Jilna expectantly.
"Ah, I forgot to warn you about Rhova here. She ain't much of the talking type. Says all with this-" Jilna said tapping her head.
"You are in good hands. I promise, now if you would sit." Rhova said
Kal could think of nothing more than how warm and inviting her mental touch was. Nothing as oppressive as the all encompassing feeling the Iiappa gave him. He found himself sitting before he could respond. Rhova said something briefly about an induction ceremony5, he thought as his eyes slowly drifted shut. He felt and heard his head hit the table in front of him but as if a distant memory or a dream.
What the hell 😱😱😱 happened to Kal? Those rolls were some pretty gnarly ones. I’m going to stop it here and give my brain a bit of time to concoct some ideas(don't worry I have one in particular). I hope this installment was fun to read. What do you all think of Jilna and her underhanded tactics? Thanks again for being part of the Inkyard. As always if you can’t wait for the next Installment and need to scratch that itch sooner check out my buds. PTFO and Croaker.
This is the equivalent of saying bullshit
A saying akin to the devil's luck. A reference to the Flayings in Bosom Alley.
Is she the second in command? 2d10-4 (9,5)-4 → no
Is she important? 2d10 (2,6)+2 → no
Is she trying to prove her self? 2d10+2 (8,3)+2→ yes
Opposed rolls, Jilna is flat out lying. However, let's see do a d6(2) v.d4 (1) welp Kal failed.
Is the induction violent? CF5 2d10-2(9,7)-2→Yes, exceptional.