Call of the Wild 2
| Call of the Wild 2 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8/29/23 |
| Storyteller | Slayzo |
| Tier | Expert/Master |
| Player Characters | Aleth, Serene, Cyrus, Grist, Damian, Clam |
| Rewards | 2200 gold, 300 xp |
| Result | Failure |
| Author | Aleth |
| Downtime | 3 |
Log
The shapeshifter cult invited us to meet in the woods not long before the full moon. I took up a position atop a tree on a hill with good view of the area. Our designated diplomat was Grist, though it seemed every other thing he said came across as a gaffe to the cult leader. Grist offered a handshake, had his hand crushed for the trouble, and we were promptly under attack from all quarters.
I shot an incoming giant bird. Damian destroyed a weremole that erupted from the ground and rushed to aid Cyrus with another. Grist somehow survived attacks from all sides and joined those two with the mole. A weretiger leapt from a tree into Serene and was punished for it while another fought with Clam, aided by a werebat and mole that sought to even the odds. All the while, the lycanthropes' leader nonchalantly walked away.
Just before he left, he demonstrated a small bit of 'fatherly love' by healing the wounded werebat, and some sort of 'green knight' piled onto Clam as well. Damian cut down the giant bird as soon as it engaged him, which freed Grist and the others to support Serene. Clam was still left surrounded by enemies. The silver lining in this is that the mess being made of him, and to an extent Serene being still on the defensive, was all the cult leader could see of the battle; he missed Damian and Grist turning the tables with two trees blocking his vision.
I wasn't able to see this part clearly either, as another giant bird appeared all of a sudden bearing down on me. Clam went down and was dragged away by the healed werebat. I wounded the bird, but it seized me and lifted me from my perch. I was able to secure myself to it with a grappling hook, with a slight sort of magical aid from Cyrus.
Grist rescued Clam somehow, Serene retreated to a chokepoint with the others to reinforce her. The bird lifted me high in the air and released me. I spooled out to the end of my rope, which snapped taut and dug my hook into the bird. It thrashed and shredded the line, allowing me to land lightly and dive into the foliage. The bird remained in pursuit, and I narrowly escaped with my life. I took a shot as I passed the tree, and was nearly struck by the top half of a weremole Damian had bisected in passing.
I took another shot as the bird rounded the tree and came into the open. It dropped unconscious. Serene and Cyrus were fighting back to back with a weretiger and the green knight on them. Clam tried to flank the knight but was forced to fend off the bite and claws of the werebear on scene instead. Damian doubled back into the fight and unloaded his pistol into the weretiger, though his shots simply glanced off of its hide. Across the field, the other weretiger caught her head solidly on Grist's shield, just as the closer one slipped and fell from some spell, and Serene slapshot it into oblivion.
Serene struck the knight as I shot him from his flank, and he downed Clam once more. The werebear attempted to haul Clam away from the battle, unable to see the fight between Grist and the remaining weretiger behind the same cover that obstructed the cult leader's vision. Damian slew the weremole harassing him, while Cyrus's opponent, after clawing wildly at him, dove into the ground and failed to return to the battle.
The knight began laughing madly, slashing at Serene with little regard for his own defense, but she defied him with equal clamor. After I shot it in the arm, Serene delivered a coup de grace. Cyrus fired a pair of celebratory energy beams into the sky.
Clam rose to his feet for a second time and resumed brawling with the werebear; an opponent I soon had pinned to a tree by a bolt through his wrist. Finally, Grist struck down the bear. We returned with one captive, the giant bird I defeated. It seems probable the one other enemy who survived the battle had the opportunity to report to 'The Father', but apparently with little urgency, as no follow-up attack came that night.
We retreated to a 'safe' campsite, where Grist treated those of us who'd been cursed. This ensured we'd be fit to travel as soon as we'd rested, so we made haste to return before we could be pursued.
If another attempt at diplomacy is required in the future, a few notes: 'The Father' and his followers are extremely sensitive to the idea of the rise and fall of civilizations being directly linked to the cycle of cataclysms. As such, they can only be comfortable with Onadbyr if our growth appears stagnant and our decline inevitable; if not, their beliefs compel them to bring about our destruction to preserve their own interests. Onadbyr's outposts may be at risk, especially if 'The Father' fears they may successfully gain a foothold and tame the surrounding natural areas.
The one thing 'The Father' wants from us is a source of willing humanoid recruits. He is concerned the quality of anyone we would offer him would be low and expressed suspicion we were planning to dispose of criminals and troublemakers using his organization as a cover. It's possible goblinoids or other forces active in the area have attempted to do this very thing before, though it's difficult to discern the origins of the were-creatures when we have only seen them in their hybrid and animal forms.
We were paid lavishly for this report.