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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8862710" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 40: HOG WILD</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 4/paladin 4</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 2</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 8</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 4 December 2022</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>"Well," said Thurloe, looking down at the eight-year-old boy rolling around naked at his feet, "this is already a bit disturbing."</p><p></p><p>"It's still better than a first-person point-of-view dream of your conception," pointed out Xandro.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, I'll grant you that," Thurloe admitted.</p><p></p><p>This time, finding their way to the next dream victim had been incredibly easy: upon entering the town of Centraldale, they found printed notices plastered all over the place, announcing a 1,000 gold piece award to anyone who could awaken the son of <strong>Lord and Lady Tandervale</strong>. The notices listed the address of the Tandervale estate and the heroes had had no trouble finding the place. Upon knocking on the door and offering their services, the five dreamwalkers had been escorted into <strong>Charland Tandervale</strong>'s room, where he had been sleeping for the last five weeks. The Tandervales not only allowed the dreamwalkers to move his bed into the middle of the room and place a dreamstone upon his brow, held in place by a leather headband, but also provided two of their security staff to watch over them as they performed their ritual while sleeping in a ring around the bed. Ever suspicious and slow to trust, Thurloe had insisted Zander activate his <em>jade cooshee</em> and put the elven dog onto security detail as well, with orders to wake them up if anything suspicious occurred.</p><p></p><p>Now immersed into Charland's dream, Alewyth furrowed her brow in puzzlement and asked, "What's the matter, child?" Charland had his arms clenched around his stomach and was rocking back and forth as if in great pain, whining, "Don't leave me, don't leave me...."</p><p></p><p>"We'll not leave you, I promise," Alewyth began, thinking the young aristocrat child had been talking to her and the four men with her visiting Charland's dream. She quickly learned her mistake when, all of a sudden, Charland's left arm deflated as if an arm had been taken out of a sleeve. His right arm deflated as well, and quick as a flash two sets of bony fingers appeared in the young boy's mouth. The skeletal digits pulled the sides of the boy's mouth apart, far wider than would normally be possible - but this was merely a dream, subject only to dream logic. Once the mouth was open wide enough to allow it, the boy's skull popped out from between his rubbery lips, then the lad's entire skeleton crawled out of his body, leaving behind a flopping pile of boneless skin that wailed, "No! Come back! I need you!"</p><p></p><p>But the skeleton had other ideas. Dancing a happy little jig, it scampered about, singing, "Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta! Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta!"</p><p></p><p>Thurloe looked down in disapproval of the pile of discarded flesh that had once been Charland Tandervale. "Howzabout I cut this skin-blob to ribbons and see what happens?" he asked, pulling out the bastard sword from its sheath on his broad back.</p><p></p><p>"Nae!" scolded Alewyth, lapsing back into her dwarven brogue in irritation at the spellsword's suggestion.</p><p></p><p>"It seems likely we need to capture the boy's skeleton and return it to his body," Xandro proposed. "Hey! C'mere, you!" The bard made a grab at the skeleton as it danced back but it was unusually spry for a pile of bones without a scrap of muscle to go with them.</p><p></p><p>"Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta!" the skeleton sang as it did a fancy dance step, avoiding the dreamwalkers in its way.</p><p></p><p>Zander just stood still, looking at the dancing skeleton. He focused his will on the dreamscape itself, causing the floor of the room they were in to retract, shortening the distance between them and thus causing the fleeing skeleton to return to the boy's side. "Please!" Charland the flesh-blob pleaded from his position on the floor.</p><p></p><p>"Nah-nah-nah-nah-NAH-nah!" scolded the capering skeleton, continuing its jaunty little dance. "I'm a dancing bone thing - I'm an undead totem! You are just a flesh-blob! Just a living scrotum!" Charland just continued his blubbering, the tears from his eyes mingling with the bubbles of snot leaking from his nose.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren was tempted to try turning the skeleton by presenting his holy symbol of Cal and seeing if it truly was undead, but then, as it scampered on by, the half-orc lashed out with his hand and grabbed the skeleton by the arm. The entire right arm detached from the rest of the skeleton, who gave its missing appendage no notice at all as it continued dancing about. Wakuren shrugged and returned to Charland. Bending down, he grabbed the boy by his flopping lip, pulled open his mouth as wide as it would go, and dropped the skeletal arm into the boy's gullet. There was a flurry of movement inside the flesh-bag that made up the boy's current form, and then his right arm filled in, just as it had been before the skeleton's sudden secession from the boy's body. "Well, it works!" he told the others.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth followed suit, grabbing the dancing skeleton's left arm and having it snap off at the shoulder. She stuffed it into Charland's mouth and it too found its normal position; the flesh-blob now had two normal-looking arms growing out of it, and it propped itself upright as best it could, even though that did little but raise the shoulders on upright arms while the rest of the body flopped onto the floor.</p><p></p><p>"I got a leg!" Xandro announced, stuffing the skeleton's left leg into Charland's open mouth. The skeleton was now reduced to hopping about on one leg, but it was still making a pretty good speed and getting away until Zander "shrunk" the distance between them once again, bringing it closer. Alewyth grabbed the other leg, leaving the skeleton limbless and doing its best to roll away. As the dwarf stuffed the leg into Charland's rubbery mouth, Thurloe picked what remained of the skeleton up by the skull and dropped it into place. As the bones repositioned themselves in their normal configuration, the walls of the dreamscape began melting - a sure sign the dream was ending and Charland Tandervale was waking up.</p><p></p><p>"Back to the Waking World!" Thurloe commanded, before turning to Wakuren and asking, "Did you check the Tandervales for signs of evil?" Wakuren had already started the process of waking himself up from the induced sleep, so he answered once back in the Waking World. "No, I don't intend to live in a constant state of suspicion like you seem to like to do!"</p><p></p><p>"You'd probably live longer if you did," scoffed the spellsword. But now Charland was awake as well as the five dreamwalkers, and he looked around himself in confusion. He was probably unaware that he was doing it, but he patted each of his limbs as if confirming they were all in place. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"</p><p></p><p>Lord and Lady Tandervale were beside themselves with joy at the successful awakening of their only son. Lord Tandervale gratefully rewarded the five heroes with the promised thousand pieces of gold, and then insisted they stay for dinner, and overnight, and join him in a boar hunt the following morning with a pair of noblemen from the town. "I insist!" he proclaimed. "Never mind if you haven't been boar hunting before - we'll be more than happy to show you the ropes!" Xandro replied that Lord Tandervale was presenting them with a great honor, knowing full well boar hunting was a sport enjoyed only by aristocrats, not those of common birth like the five heroes. Lord Tandervale took that as acceptance of his offer and would hear no further talk of turning down the opportunity.</p><p></p><p>On the plus side, each of the heroes was given their own guest bedroom for the night, the dinner was quite delicious, and they were even allowed to avail themselves of the luxury of a hot bath. "I could get used to this," admitted Zander.</p><p></p><p>The next morning, over an early breakfast, Lord Tandervale explained the rules of the hunt. They would wear no armor and carry with them only the traditional weapons used for boar hunting: one longspear and one rapier per person. They would also be riding light horses from the Tandervale stables, although the master of the estate allowed the heroes could ride their own mounts, should that be their preference. (Thurloe, of course, opted to ride his own horse, Horse, and Xandro likewise decided to ride his own black mount, scampishly named White; Wakuren, having only a mule to ride - although Perseverance was usually hitched up to the wagon with Alewyth's mule, Mica - had no choice but to accept Lord Tandervale's offer of a borrowed mount. Alewyth considered riding her dire goat Pyrite but decided she'd blend in better with the others if she rode one of the proffered horses from the Tandervale stables, and Zander chose to ride a borrowed mount just for the selfish reason he didn't want his own horse Eddy to come to any harm if the boars got nasty, as he'd heard they could do.)</p><p></p><p>Despite the "no armor" rule, Wakuren chose to wear his <em>shield of Cal</em> upon his back; it was his only true "weapon" and he felt naked without it. He likewise wore his <em>gauntlet of Cal</em> on his right hand, thinking (quite rightly) that Lord Tandervale would consider them to be religious talismans and not make a fuss about his bringing them along. Thurloe had no such religious excuse for bringing along <em>Spellslicer</em>, but he did anyway, vowing he'd leave the bastard sword sheathed on his back unless they ran into trouble. Lord Tandervale chose not to comment upon this social faux pas.</p><p></p><p>As they were choosing their horses, the heroes opted to perform some surreptitious spellcasting as well. Wakuren cast the spells <em>magic vestment</em> and <em>shield of faith</em> upon himself, if he wasn't going to be allowed to wear his full plate armor he'd make sure he was similarly protected by spells! Alewyth also cast a <em>magic vestment</em> spell upon herself, and Xandro wore his <em>Dardolian lute</em> on his back, claiming he could perform for the noblemen on their way back from a no-doubt successful hunt. But if the heroes didn't have the rest of their gear, it wasn't too far away, for it was all stashed inside the extradimensional interior of Hesperna's magic lamp, which Wakuren carried with him.</p><p></p><p>Two more noblemen rode up to the Tandervale estate on their own fine horses; <strong>Lord Brokerville</strong> upon a white stallion and <strong>Lord Mantriculos</strong> upon a gray horse with a coal-black mane. Introductions were made all around, and if the other two noblemen were disappointed to share their hunt with a quintet of commoners they at least had the good grace not to show it. (They were, however, quite impressed that the dreamwalkers had managed to awaken Charland Tandervale from his five-week sleep, stating the most powerful clerics from the local area had been unable to do so.) Along with the two noblemen came a pair of commoners, holding the leashes of three hunting dogs between them.</p><p></p><p>"I believe we're all ready, then." announced Lord Tandervale, mounting his own horse, a chestnut brown in color. "Let's be off!" The dogs and their handlers led the way, followed by the three experienced hunters, followed by the five heroes. Thurloe and Zander each cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell upon themselves from the safety of the back row; the elf followed up his first spell with a <em>stoneskin</em> spell. He was, he knew, the frailest of the five and he had no compunctions about ensuring his safety when engaging in a dangerous sport he would normally stay well away from.</p><p></p><p>For the first entire hour, there was no action whatsoever. Alewyth took it to be a pleasant outing and enjoyed being out on the fresh air. The three lords did their best to seem interested in the heroes' tales of their exploits, but Xandro - who had been doing most of the talking - got the distinct impression the noblemen found "adventuring" to be somewhat beneath them. Then, however, the dogs' ears pricked up and they began straining at the leash. Up ahead, in a gap between trees along a forest path, the group could see the hindquarters of a good-sized boar, one of a group of eight. "Now you'll see how it's done!" promised Lord Brokerville, spurring his horse forward as he lowered his longspear.</p><p></p><p>By unspoken agreement, the heroes allowed the three noblemen to lead the charge; this was, after all, their own sport and it would be somewhat in poor taste for the untrained heroes to show up their hosts, even if wild boars were a bit on the tame side compared to some of the monsters they'd already fought and killed in their adventuring careers. But now that combat was imminent, Thurloe used a charge from his <em>wand of shield</em> on himself and then passed it over to Zander so the elf could do likewise. The noblemen, in the meantime, caught up to the hindmost boars but the pounding of the horses' hooves, and the baying of the hounds behind them, let the boars know there was danger afoot and they scattered, breaking off of the forest paths and scampering between the trees, especially where the gaps between the trees were too narrow to allow a horse to follow. As a result, none of the noblemen's held longspears found their marks.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth urged her borrowed horse to follow behind the noblemen, careful to keep her spear pointed up so she didn't accidentally skewer any of them. Wakuren also sent his horse speeding forward, but he took a path that led off to the west, where he hoped to flank the boars as they fled the noblemen coming in from the northeast. Zander followed close behind the half-orc, while keeping pace beside his borrowed horse ran his elven dog. The handlers released the hunting dogs from their leashes and they were all three off like bolts of lightning, barking furiously as they gave chase.</p><p></p><p>Xandro sent White racing off to the west, then leaped from the saddle and made his way on foot between the close-grown trees, getting in front of a fleeing boar. Before the boar even realized the bard was there he was stabbing out with his own rapier, unknowingly getting "first blood" in this sport of noblemen. The boar squealed in pain and surprise, as Thurloe rode Horse up behind White, who was pacing nervously now that his master had left the saddle. The boar lowered his head and charged Xandro, catching the bard with a set of wicked tusks jutting up from its slavering jaws. This, too, was "first blood" - the first wound the boars had inflicted upon their hunters.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately for the noblemen, two of the wild boars had stuck to the forest paths, as they preferred to remain mounted as long as possible and strike from the relative safety of the saddle. But the paths were twisty and narrow, which worked to the boars' advantage over the larger horses in pursuit. Alewyth still wisely followed, content to let them strike first (while she'd be nearby if any of them needed healing).</p><p></p><p>Wakuren sped past White and continued down the path, missing the three lead boars who sped past in front of him but catching the fourth by surprise as he dashed out at it from a side path. His lowered longspear stabbed into the wild boar, but the creature's thick pelt prevented the tip from doing much more than scratching a long, shallow gash along its right side. It bleated aloud, but the half-orc detected more anger than pain in its outcry. Zander came up behind Wakuren but there wasn't room for his horse to get past the half-orc's; the cooshee, however, simply bounded between the trees and cut off the three lead boars, who had made it into a wider clearing. Barking furiously, the elven dog managed to turn the three around, sending them back towards Wakuren and the approaching noblemen.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren had to hold on tight as his horse suddenly reared onto its hind legs, the boar before it having gashed it in the side with its wicked tusks. The horse kicked out feebly with its front hooves before landing again on all fours; Wakuren stabbed the point of his spear into the boar, catching it just above the shoulder. Then another spear struck the boar; Thurloe had approached beside Wakuren and was helping to bring down the beast Wakuren had been fighting.</p><p></p><p>Many of the other boars scattered wildly, with a few of them getting struck by the points of one or more of the noblemen's spears as they sought safety by running between the close-growing trees. The noblemen did their best to keep up the attacks, but they were hampered by the necessity to steer their mounts around the clumps of trees, sticking to the forest paths. Xandro retreated back to the relative safety of White's saddle, while Alewyth, having dismounted from her own borrowed horse, had followed behind the boar and now found herself in a position to stab it from behind with the point of her longspear. It squealed in pain, and the beast's cries were echoed by the barks of the dogs as they raced down the path behind the dwarven priestess. The wounded boar spun about and faced Alewyth, then charged forward at her, but she managed to step to the side and get in a quick stab with her rapier.</p><p></p><p>Back over on one of the paths, Wakuren and Thurloe stabbed their spears into the boar they were fighting, while it tried to fight back, catching the side of Wakuren's horse. But now Zander arrived on the scene, stabbing his own longspear at the wounded beast. His cooshee snapped at one of the three boars he'd deflected back towards Wakuren and Thurloe, and this turned out to be a troublesome event for Wakuren's mount because all three spread out and made a concentrated attack upon the wounded horse, attacking it from three different directions. By this time the other wild boars had scattered; only the four surrounding Wakuren and the one facing Alewyth were still in the fight. But seeing his friend in desperate combat with the cornered boar, Xandro leaped back off of his horse and ran back through the trees they way he'd come, stabbing his spear into the boar now attacking Alewyth. Blood flowed freely down both sides of its flank; surely it couldn't hold out for too much longer! And at that the bard was absolutely correct, for Alewyth slew the beast with a rapier-strike to the creature's throat, it having come too close to her for her to be able to wield her longspear effectively.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe finally killed Wakuren's original porcine foe and spun about to take on one of the three who had returned to the fight. The noblemen, having given up on chasing the ones that had successfully fled through the trees, focused their attention - and the points of their longspears - upon the closest one attacking Wakuren's horse in an effort to get to the half-orc riding it. The dogs ran past, apparently having been trained not to get in the way of the spears and blades once a boar had been cornered, and instead went running through the close-packed trees to follow the trails of those which had escaped.</p><p></p><p>Zander and Wakuren focused their attacks upon a single boar, while the cooshee went after the same one from behind. But then, in an unvoiced but smoothly-accomplished maneuver, all three boars swapped targets as one, focusing their tusks on the elven dog. The cooshee was unable to avoid three separate sets of tusks coming at him from three different directions, and blood spilled from his sides as he almost staggered to the ground. But rather than pressing on with their attack, the boars all turned about as one and sped off through the trees, where the horses couldn't follow - and neither, in his present state, could the elven hound.</p><p></p><p>Xandro and Alewyth came riding up to the rest of the group. "We got one!" Xandro called out.</p><p></p><p>"That makes two, then!" replied Wakuren, looking down at the slain beast on the ground before him as he leaned over and cast a healing spell upon his wounded mount. Alewyth did likewise to the cooshee, and then, at the noblemen's urging, they pointed their mounts in the direction of the barking dogs as they pursued their elusive prey. "This way!" called Lord Mantriculos, seemingly somewhat put out that these first-timers had bagged two boars on their first hunt while neither of the noblemen - boar-hunting veterans each - had yet to bring down a single beast.</p><p></p><p>"Are we still on your own lands?" Thurloe asked Lord Brokerville.</p><p></p><p>"No," admitted the aristocrat, "but we started this hunt on our lands, and we're going to get ourselves a boar!" Thurloe shrugged, assuming if the noblemen were okay with the legality of the hunt, he wasn't going to worry overly much about it.</p><p></p><p>The remaining boars led the hunters on a merry chase, during which time the heroes purposefully fell back, allowing the three noblemen to take the lead so they'd get the first shots at the fleeing hogs. The boars led them into a clearing by a short cliff, leaping between two large trees and veering off to the left of a log cabin built near to the cliffside. There was a rather large cave opening off to the right of the cabin, possibly where the boars were heading.</p><p></p><p>Lord Tandervale was the first to race his horse between the trees - and thus was the one who triggered the trap. His horse tripped over a taut vine near to the ground, sending itself falling to the ground and its rider taking a face-plant some distance ahead. But the vine released a log that had been held up by the branches of the rightmost tree, and as it fell - each end supported by strong ropes tied to a thick, high branch - the log slammed into Lord Brokerville, his horse, and Lord Mantriculos and his own mount, spilling all four to the forest clearing in a tangle of limbs and a series of startled cries. The log had been spiked, as well, with sharpened branches sticking out of it at all angles; the thing nearly hit Lord Mantriculos a second time as gravity sent it swinging back the way it had come.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth and Wakuren leaped down from their horses, applying healing spells to Lords Brokerville and Mantriculos. Zander, not liking the apparent booby trap that the wily boars had somehow known to lead their pursuers into, called for his cooshee. When the elven dog leaped up at his master, Zander deactivated him and put the jade statuette back into his pocket. Then he sent Eddy forward, skirting the remains of a campfire in front of the cabin as he eyed the area warily. There was a pen of some sort off to the right, with a fence and gate made of felled tree trunks. No doubt about it - somebody lived here, and possibly cared for these wild boars if they felt safe enough to come this close to someone's dwelling.</p><p></p><p>The boars - there were six of them in all - had by this time made it behind the cabin and were out of sight. Xandro, sensing combat of a very different nature than that of hunting down boars, pulled the <em>Dardolian lute</em> from his back and started the words to his song of inspirational courage. After all, if there was somebody inside the cabin allied with the boars, there was a good chance there might be combat any moment now - and with the ruckus that had already been raised by the triggering of the log trap and the squealing of the boars, whoever was inside the cabin had to already be aware of their presence.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe opted not to wait to find out. Riding Horse up to the cabin, he leaped off and landed immediately before the front door. However, there was another trap in place there: a shallow pit had been dug, merely a foot or so deep and covered with a framework of intertwined sticks just sturdy enough to hold the covering of leaves sprinkled onto it to give it the appearance of solid ground. Thurloe's weight broke right through the flimsy barrier and his foot hit the trigger of an open bear trap that had been placed beneath the false floor. Its metal teeth slammed shut around Thurloe's right foot, imprisoning him where he stood - and in considerable pain.</p><p></p><p>The noblemen, furious at this turn of events, regained their footing and climbed back into their saddles as their horses stood back up. Alewyth, having heard Thurloe's cry of pain, ran past the noblemen to see to her friend. She stepped down into the shallow pit and tried prying the metal jaws open, but giving it all her strength yielded no positive results. "It's okay--I got this," Thurloe hissed in pain, trying his hardest not to cry in front of the dwarf.</p><p></p><p>Wakuren, also on foot, ran around to the left of the cabin in pursuit of the fleeing boars. He cast wide his senses, seeking out the telltale stench of evil, but found no such emanations in the auras ahead. Zander flanked around the other way, by the east of the cabin, and saw three of the wild boars flee into the cave opening along the cliff side. He didn't see the other three, but he'd been pretty sure six boars had run behind the cabin, leaving three unaccounted for.</p><p></p><p>Those three made a good accounting for themselves, all right: one doubled back, altering its shape as he moved back around the side of the cabin to face Wakuren. By the time he met back up with the surprised half-orc, he stood upon his hooved back feet, while from the waist up he wore the broad chest and sagging belly of a rather fat man. Powerful arms ended in human hands, but his head was still that of a wild boar. One hand held a rock he'd picked up from behind the cabin, and he clocked Wakuren good in the side of the head with it, sending the cleric-paladin reeling off to the side. "What in the Hells--?" exclaimed one of the noblemen, getting his first look at a wereboar in hybrid form. The other two wereboars, opting to remain in their animal forms for now, sped around the east side of the cabin, charging at Zander upon his horse.</p><p></p><p>And then the cabin door opened, to reveal yet another wereboar in its hybrid form, this one wielding a battleaxe in its hands. With a grunt of effort, it swung its weapon down at Thurloe, trapped in place by the bear trap. But the spellsword mentally activated his <em>anklet of translocation</em> and disappeared from the wereboar ranger's view, reappearing inside the cabin just behind him, such that their backs were facing each other. Thurloe spun around first, hobbling on his wounded foot, pulling his bastard sword from the sheath on his back.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth, still standing in the shallow pit, took a step away from the axe-wielding wereboar ranger and cast a <em>bless</em> spell on the group. Wakuren also took a step back, but that was just so he could put his longspear to good use against the wereboar before him, stabbing its point into the upright beast's chest. He could feel the adrenaline in his system, feel some primal urge to forget about casting spells and deal with his foes in a more savage fashion.</p><p></p><p>Zander cast a <em>scorching ray</em> at the wereboar standing in the cabin doorway, hoping to take its focus away from Alewyth, who was the closest potential target. Unfortunately, the other two wereboars attacked his horse by then and the rays went astray, hitting the wooden side of the log cabin and setting it ablaze. But then one wereboar was upon him, goring his horse with its tusks while the other attacked Alewyth in a similar fashion, opening a gash along her leg. She hobbled back, grabbing a vial of <em>silversheen</em> from her belt, recognizing these foes now as lycanthropes - men who could turn into an animal form or that of an upright-walking hybrid. And the wereboar fighting Wakuren swung at the half-orc again with his blood-streaked rock. Wakuren dodged the awkward blow and pushed deeper with his longspear, then finished his foe off with a swipe of his rapier. He fell to the floor of the forest clearing, quite obviously dead, and Wakuren let the borrowed longspear go, pulling the <em>shield of Cal</em> off his back and back to its accustomed place on his left arm. After all, this was apparently no longer a mere wild boar hunt and the noblemen's rules no longer applied.</p><p></p><p>The ranger, picking up on some last-second sense of danger, ducked and spun as Thurloe's sword came crashing down at where he'd been standing. He grinned at facing this human interloper again, and swung his axe at Thurloe, catching him in the side. Xandro kept playing his lute, doing what he could to aid all four of his friends (and the three noblemen, not that they seemed particularly interested in fighting off boars that could turn into beast-men) while remaining in relative safety himself.</p><p></p><p>Ignoring the pain in his foot and now also in his side, Thurloe mentally activated his <em>torc of the titans</em> and empowered the next swing of his bastard sword, catching the wereboar in the side of his torso, covered in a thick pelt of wiry fur and bristles. Zander cast a <em>haste</em> spell on the group, and the spellsword felt vitality course through his body, speeding up his reflexes. He also noted the flames had spread along the cabin wall; very soon they'd be reaching the front door, which looked to be the only way out of the cabin (unless he felt like crawling up the stone chimney).</p><p></p><p>The animal-form werebeasts continued their attacks upon Alewyth and Zander, but Zander kept his leg out of the way and the boar's ragged tusks sank into the flesh and muscle of the horse beneath the elven sorcerer (Zander once again was grateful he'd left Eddy back at the Tandervale estate), and Alewyth had applied a dose of <em>silversheen</em> upon <em>Sjondra</em> and immediately saw the results of the concoction, for she clocked the werebeast a good one with her trusty warhammer that sent him falling upon his side and struggling to get back up.</p><p></p><p>The wereboar ranger swung his battleaxe at Thurloe again, but Zander's <em>haste</em> spell helped the spellsword avoid the blow, even with a sore leg that hurt when he put his full weight upon it. Another charge from his torc sent <em>Spellslicer</em> slicing a deep gash across the ranger's chest. And speaking of chests, Thurloe couldn't help but notice there was a wooden chest at the foot of a cot to his right, in an area that doubtlessly served as the ranger's bedroom, partially hidden by a curtain. Thurloe vowed to give that chest a good look after he'd dealt with the werebeast doing his best to kill him.</p><p></p><p>But now Xandro entered the fray, feeling guilty just playing his lute when everyone around him was engaged in combat. He pulled his <em>frost short sword</em> from its scabbard and flanked behind the boar attacking Zander, the blade sliding deep into the boar's flesh. And Wakuren, having slain his initial foe, ran into the burning cabin to help Thurloe fight off the wereboar ranger. The <em>shield of Cal</em> came slicing in horizontally to smash into the werebeast's spine, causing the brute to snort in pain and surprise.</p><p></p><p>Zander cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at the wereboar attacking him, and then Xandro finished it off with another deep stab of his blade. Alewyth fought off her own beast, taking another gash from its wicked tusks before finally crushing its skull with her dwarven warhammer, currently coated in <em>silversheen</em>. The ranger, with blood now flowing freely out of its mouth and nostrils, gave a final swing at Thurloe before the spellsword nearly severed his head with a lateral strike from <em>Spellslicer</em>. Wakuren, seeing the ranger fall dead to the cabin floor before him, raced back outside the open doorway; Thurloe followed, but not before grabbing up the wooden chest he'd seen. He had to leap through a sheet of flames as the fire engulfing the cabin reached the doorway, but you never knew what you might find inside a treasure chest, and if the ranger had anything of value inside the otherwise practically bare cabin, Thurloe was willing to bet it was stored in the chest. He made it outside to find Wakuren rubbing <em>silversheen</em> upon the <em>shield of Cal</em>, then looking around to see the other wereboars had already been slain.</p><p></p><p>However, the half-orc's assumption proved to be somewhat premature. Zander turned his head towards the cave opening in the cliff side, his sharp elven hearing having picked up the sounds of something big clomping up the natural stone steps that led down into the caverns below. The others soon heard the sounds for themselves and turned to see what would exit the cave. Xandro resumed playing his song of inspirational courage on the <em>Dardolian lute</em>, getting the feeling they'd soon have need of the magical assistance it provided, for it seemed like combat might not yet be over after all.</p><p></p><p>Poking her massive head out of the shadows of the cave entrance, an enormous figure stepped forth into the sunlight. It was a hill giantess, with rolls of fat hanging over the brief garment she wore around her hips, a pair of pendulous breasts hanging halfway down her torso. But her head, although it sported the scraggly, matted hair common among her people, was that of an enormous warthog or boar, with tusks as long as Xandro's short sword growing up from her snout. She carried a greatclub in one meaty fist as she stepped forward, her beady eyes squinting at the burning cabin, then at the slain wereboars lying on the ground, and then at the assembled heroes. Finally taking in the entire scene, she bellowed forth a cry of anger and rage and started making her way toward the heroes.</p><p></p><p>Alewyth wasted no time in running back to her borrowed horse and climbing back up into the saddle; she wanted to have the mount's speed at her service should fleeing become necessary. Wakuren cast a <em>divine favor</em> spell upon himself, boosting his combat capabilities to face this new threat. Zander cast a <em>detect magic</em> spell, determining the hill giant dire wereboar had no magic about her (but also that there was magic emanating from the chest Thurloe had rescued from the burning cabin).</p><p></p><p>Thurloe was the first one to initiate combat against the giantess. Casting a <em>ray of enfeeblement</em> at the hybrid wereboar giantess, the beam struck true and he saw her flinch as some of her impressive strength was drained from her muscles. It even seemed as if the spell's effects caused her to shift the weight of the greatclub in her hands, as if it seemed suddenly heavier to her - that could only be a good sign!</p><p></p><p>The giantess brought her greatclub up over her head and sent it crashing down at Wakuren, but the half-orc managed to dodge out of the way in time and it just slammed a divot out of the ground at his feet. Alewyth cast a spell from her horse's saddle, and suddenly a celestial bison appeared behind the dire wereboar. It lowered its head and charged, goring a horn into the massive woman's back, causing her to grunt in pain and spin about to face this sudden attacker. But then Wakuren managed to tamp down the fires of rage and bloodlust threatening to overcome his senses and take a more practical approach. Despite having having coated his shield with <em>silversheen</em>, despite having cast a <em>divine favor</em> spell upon himself to aid him in physical combat, he cast a <em>calm emotions</em> spell at the dire wereboar. Then, seeing the spell seem to take an effect upon her, he called out, "Let's all stop attacking each other! We're going to leave you alone, okay? Do you understand what I'm saying?"</p><p></p><p>"...Some," agreed the giantess in a guttural voice.</p><p></p><p>"We didn't mean to attack the other wereboars - we thought they were just wild hogs," Wakuren explained. "And then we fought back when the wereboars attacked us. But now that we know you're peaceful, we're going to leave you in peace. We're going, see?" And Wakuren demonstrated his intentions by backing over to his horse and climbing back up onto the saddle. Thurloe did likewise, although his "peaceful" intentions were somewhat muddied by the fact that he took with him the wereboar ranger's chest, which he had stolen from the ranger as soon as he'd been slain, and that the boar-man's home was now completely engulfed by flames. In a couple of hours, there's be nothing left of the cabin but the stone chimney.</p><p></p><p>"We're going," Thurloe reiterated, backing Horse away from the confused giantess.</p><p></p><p>"Yes. You go," the dire wereboar replied. Then she watched the entire group turn their horses and leave between the trees, riding on either side of the dangling log with the embedded spikes the ranger had set as a trap.</p><p></p><p>"Are we okay with this?" Alewyth worried. "She's most likely the one who turned the others into wereboars. If we leave her alone, she might do the same again to others."</p><p></p><p>"Not our problem," argued Thurloe. "And Wakuren: is she evil?"</p><p></p><p>"No."</p><p></p><p>"There, see: not evil. I say we let her live in peace. And if the noblemen want to do something about her, they're more than welcome to hire local heroes to go deal with her at a later date." He didn't want to admit that he was worried about their ability to handle her on their own under the present set of circumstances, with many of their spells already cast, Wakuren without his normal plate mail armor, and most of the heroes already wounded from the fights with the <em>regular</em> wereboars. If the noblemen had anything to say on the subject they kept it to themselves; they practically sulked the whole way back to the Tandervale estate at their poor showing in front of these commoner heroes.</p><p></p><p>But their hearts were buoyed at the heroes' insistence they didn't want either of the two normal boars they'd slain; after all, that meant once the heroes had gone their way there'd be nobody to gainsay their own claims that it had been the three of them who had brought down the boars. They gave instructions to the dog handlers to grab a wagon and fetch the slain boars, as the heroes returned the borrowed weapons and mounts and gathered Scarlie and their own mounts and wagon for the trek to the next dream victim.</p><p></p><p>Thurloe, for his part, was momentarily buoyed by the fact the wereboar ranger's chest contained magic. But when said magic turned out to be nothing more than a half dozen <em>human bane arrows</em> in among a bunch of clothes, he turned them over to Alewyth so she could destroy them with <em>Sjondra</em>.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The PCs all advanced to 9th level at the end of this session. And <em>Sjondra</em> - "The Sunderer" - made it to a <em>+3 dwarven warhammer</em> after having absorbed the magical power of the six arrows. In addition, I advanced up their "signature items" as well, as the Queen of Dreams has been steadily sending additional power to them via the dreamstones attached to each item, so they each gained a new power or ability. Hopefully we'll get to see some of these new abilities in play soon.</p><p></p><p>I used a couple of Paizo's Flip-Mats for the forest paths where the PCs first fought the boars and then the clearing with the ranger's cabin and the cave to the hill giant's lair. For the wild boars, I used five pigs from a farmland set of minis I had purchased some years ago, and then printed off three "boar" tokens to fill out their ranks. (And I didn't tell the players this at first, but it allowed me to determine at a glance which of hte boars were just boars and which were wereboars in animal form.) For the hill giant, I also made a little "box" to plop over the head of a hill giant miniature, with the front, side, and top views of a boar's head visible. It made a fairly effective hill giant dire wereboar that way. I also made a three-dimensional model of the cabin out of carboard, built such that I could assemble it for play and then disassemble it to lay flat for storage once I was done.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>T-shirt worn: Since I don't have anything that relates to wild boars, I wore my white "Walking Dead" T-shirt to represent Charland Tandervale's dancing skeleton. ("Ya ta ta ta TAA ta!")</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 8862710, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 40: HOG WILD[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3/wizard 3/spellsword 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 4/paladin 4[/INDENT] [INDENT] Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 6/rogue 2[/INDENT] [INDENT] Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 8[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 4 December 2022 - - - "Well," said Thurloe, looking down at the eight-year-old boy rolling around naked at his feet, "this is already a bit disturbing." "It's still better than a first-person point-of-view dream of your conception," pointed out Xandro. "Yeah, I'll grant you that," Thurloe admitted. This time, finding their way to the next dream victim had been incredibly easy: upon entering the town of Centraldale, they found printed notices plastered all over the place, announcing a 1,000 gold piece award to anyone who could awaken the son of [B]Lord and Lady Tandervale[/B]. The notices listed the address of the Tandervale estate and the heroes had had no trouble finding the place. Upon knocking on the door and offering their services, the five dreamwalkers had been escorted into [B]Charland Tandervale[/B]'s room, where he had been sleeping for the last five weeks. The Tandervales not only allowed the dreamwalkers to move his bed into the middle of the room and place a dreamstone upon his brow, held in place by a leather headband, but also provided two of their security staff to watch over them as they performed their ritual while sleeping in a ring around the bed. Ever suspicious and slow to trust, Thurloe had insisted Zander activate his [I]jade cooshee[/I] and put the elven dog onto security detail as well, with orders to wake them up if anything suspicious occurred. Now immersed into Charland's dream, Alewyth furrowed her brow in puzzlement and asked, "What's the matter, child?" Charland had his arms clenched around his stomach and was rocking back and forth as if in great pain, whining, "Don't leave me, don't leave me...." "We'll not leave you, I promise," Alewyth began, thinking the young aristocrat child had been talking to her and the four men with her visiting Charland's dream. She quickly learned her mistake when, all of a sudden, Charland's left arm deflated as if an arm had been taken out of a sleeve. His right arm deflated as well, and quick as a flash two sets of bony fingers appeared in the young boy's mouth. The skeletal digits pulled the sides of the boy's mouth apart, far wider than would normally be possible - but this was merely a dream, subject only to dream logic. Once the mouth was open wide enough to allow it, the boy's skull popped out from between his rubbery lips, then the lad's entire skeleton crawled out of his body, leaving behind a flopping pile of boneless skin that wailed, "No! Come back! I need you!" But the skeleton had other ideas. Dancing a happy little jig, it scampered about, singing, "Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta! Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta!" Thurloe looked down in disapproval of the pile of discarded flesh that had once been Charland Tandervale. "Howzabout I cut this skin-blob to ribbons and see what happens?" he asked, pulling out the bastard sword from its sheath on his broad back. "Nae!" scolded Alewyth, lapsing back into her dwarven brogue in irritation at the spellsword's suggestion. "It seems likely we need to capture the boy's skeleton and return it to his body," Xandro proposed. "Hey! C'mere, you!" The bard made a grab at the skeleton as it danced back but it was unusually spry for a pile of bones without a scrap of muscle to go with them. "Ya-ta-ta-ta-TAA-ta!" the skeleton sang as it did a fancy dance step, avoiding the dreamwalkers in its way. Zander just stood still, looking at the dancing skeleton. He focused his will on the dreamscape itself, causing the floor of the room they were in to retract, shortening the distance between them and thus causing the fleeing skeleton to return to the boy's side. "Please!" Charland the flesh-blob pleaded from his position on the floor. "Nah-nah-nah-nah-NAH-nah!" scolded the capering skeleton, continuing its jaunty little dance. "I'm a dancing bone thing - I'm an undead totem! You are just a flesh-blob! Just a living scrotum!" Charland just continued his blubbering, the tears from his eyes mingling with the bubbles of snot leaking from his nose. Wakuren was tempted to try turning the skeleton by presenting his holy symbol of Cal and seeing if it truly was undead, but then, as it scampered on by, the half-orc lashed out with his hand and grabbed the skeleton by the arm. The entire right arm detached from the rest of the skeleton, who gave its missing appendage no notice at all as it continued dancing about. Wakuren shrugged and returned to Charland. Bending down, he grabbed the boy by his flopping lip, pulled open his mouth as wide as it would go, and dropped the skeletal arm into the boy's gullet. There was a flurry of movement inside the flesh-bag that made up the boy's current form, and then his right arm filled in, just as it had been before the skeleton's sudden secession from the boy's body. "Well, it works!" he told the others. Alewyth followed suit, grabbing the dancing skeleton's left arm and having it snap off at the shoulder. She stuffed it into Charland's mouth and it too found its normal position; the flesh-blob now had two normal-looking arms growing out of it, and it propped itself upright as best it could, even though that did little but raise the shoulders on upright arms while the rest of the body flopped onto the floor. "I got a leg!" Xandro announced, stuffing the skeleton's left leg into Charland's open mouth. The skeleton was now reduced to hopping about on one leg, but it was still making a pretty good speed and getting away until Zander "shrunk" the distance between them once again, bringing it closer. Alewyth grabbed the other leg, leaving the skeleton limbless and doing its best to roll away. As the dwarf stuffed the leg into Charland's rubbery mouth, Thurloe picked what remained of the skeleton up by the skull and dropped it into place. As the bones repositioned themselves in their normal configuration, the walls of the dreamscape began melting - a sure sign the dream was ending and Charland Tandervale was waking up. "Back to the Waking World!" Thurloe commanded, before turning to Wakuren and asking, "Did you check the Tandervales for signs of evil?" Wakuren had already started the process of waking himself up from the induced sleep, so he answered once back in the Waking World. "No, I don't intend to live in a constant state of suspicion like you seem to like to do!" "You'd probably live longer if you did," scoffed the spellsword. But now Charland was awake as well as the five dreamwalkers, and he looked around himself in confusion. He was probably unaware that he was doing it, but he patted each of his limbs as if confirming they were all in place. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing in my bedroom?" Lord and Lady Tandervale were beside themselves with joy at the successful awakening of their only son. Lord Tandervale gratefully rewarded the five heroes with the promised thousand pieces of gold, and then insisted they stay for dinner, and overnight, and join him in a boar hunt the following morning with a pair of noblemen from the town. "I insist!" he proclaimed. "Never mind if you haven't been boar hunting before - we'll be more than happy to show you the ropes!" Xandro replied that Lord Tandervale was presenting them with a great honor, knowing full well boar hunting was a sport enjoyed only by aristocrats, not those of common birth like the five heroes. Lord Tandervale took that as acceptance of his offer and would hear no further talk of turning down the opportunity. On the plus side, each of the heroes was given their own guest bedroom for the night, the dinner was quite delicious, and they were even allowed to avail themselves of the luxury of a hot bath. "I could get used to this," admitted Zander. The next morning, over an early breakfast, Lord Tandervale explained the rules of the hunt. They would wear no armor and carry with them only the traditional weapons used for boar hunting: one longspear and one rapier per person. They would also be riding light horses from the Tandervale stables, although the master of the estate allowed the heroes could ride their own mounts, should that be their preference. (Thurloe, of course, opted to ride his own horse, Horse, and Xandro likewise decided to ride his own black mount, scampishly named White; Wakuren, having only a mule to ride - although Perseverance was usually hitched up to the wagon with Alewyth's mule, Mica - had no choice but to accept Lord Tandervale's offer of a borrowed mount. Alewyth considered riding her dire goat Pyrite but decided she'd blend in better with the others if she rode one of the proffered horses from the Tandervale stables, and Zander chose to ride a borrowed mount just for the selfish reason he didn't want his own horse Eddy to come to any harm if the boars got nasty, as he'd heard they could do.) Despite the "no armor" rule, Wakuren chose to wear his [I]shield of Cal[/I] upon his back; it was his only true "weapon" and he felt naked without it. He likewise wore his [I]gauntlet of Cal[/I] on his right hand, thinking (quite rightly) that Lord Tandervale would consider them to be religious talismans and not make a fuss about his bringing them along. Thurloe had no such religious excuse for bringing along [I]Spellslicer[/I], but he did anyway, vowing he'd leave the bastard sword sheathed on his back unless they ran into trouble. Lord Tandervale chose not to comment upon this social faux pas. As they were choosing their horses, the heroes opted to perform some surreptitious spellcasting as well. Wakuren cast the spells [I]magic vestment[/I] and [I]shield of faith[/I] upon himself, if he wasn't going to be allowed to wear his full plate armor he'd make sure he was similarly protected by spells! Alewyth also cast a [I]magic vestment[/I] spell upon herself, and Xandro wore his [I]Dardolian lute[/I] on his back, claiming he could perform for the noblemen on their way back from a no-doubt successful hunt. But if the heroes didn't have the rest of their gear, it wasn't too far away, for it was all stashed inside the extradimensional interior of Hesperna's magic lamp, which Wakuren carried with him. Two more noblemen rode up to the Tandervale estate on their own fine horses; [B]Lord Brokerville[/B] upon a white stallion and [B]Lord Mantriculos[/B] upon a gray horse with a coal-black mane. Introductions were made all around, and if the other two noblemen were disappointed to share their hunt with a quintet of commoners they at least had the good grace not to show it. (They were, however, quite impressed that the dreamwalkers had managed to awaken Charland Tandervale from his five-week sleep, stating the most powerful clerics from the local area had been unable to do so.) Along with the two noblemen came a pair of commoners, holding the leashes of three hunting dogs between them. "I believe we're all ready, then." announced Lord Tandervale, mounting his own horse, a chestnut brown in color. "Let's be off!" The dogs and their handlers led the way, followed by the three experienced hunters, followed by the five heroes. Thurloe and Zander each cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell upon themselves from the safety of the back row; the elf followed up his first spell with a [I]stoneskin[/I] spell. He was, he knew, the frailest of the five and he had no compunctions about ensuring his safety when engaging in a dangerous sport he would normally stay well away from. For the first entire hour, there was no action whatsoever. Alewyth took it to be a pleasant outing and enjoyed being out on the fresh air. The three lords did their best to seem interested in the heroes' tales of their exploits, but Xandro - who had been doing most of the talking - got the distinct impression the noblemen found "adventuring" to be somewhat beneath them. Then, however, the dogs' ears pricked up and they began straining at the leash. Up ahead, in a gap between trees along a forest path, the group could see the hindquarters of a good-sized boar, one of a group of eight. "Now you'll see how it's done!" promised Lord Brokerville, spurring his horse forward as he lowered his longspear. By unspoken agreement, the heroes allowed the three noblemen to lead the charge; this was, after all, their own sport and it would be somewhat in poor taste for the untrained heroes to show up their hosts, even if wild boars were a bit on the tame side compared to some of the monsters they'd already fought and killed in their adventuring careers. But now that combat was imminent, Thurloe used a charge from his [I]wand of shield[/I] on himself and then passed it over to Zander so the elf could do likewise. The noblemen, in the meantime, caught up to the hindmost boars but the pounding of the horses' hooves, and the baying of the hounds behind them, let the boars know there was danger afoot and they scattered, breaking off of the forest paths and scampering between the trees, especially where the gaps between the trees were too narrow to allow a horse to follow. As a result, none of the noblemen's held longspears found their marks. Alewyth urged her borrowed horse to follow behind the noblemen, careful to keep her spear pointed up so she didn't accidentally skewer any of them. Wakuren also sent his horse speeding forward, but he took a path that led off to the west, where he hoped to flank the boars as they fled the noblemen coming in from the northeast. Zander followed close behind the half-orc, while keeping pace beside his borrowed horse ran his elven dog. The handlers released the hunting dogs from their leashes and they were all three off like bolts of lightning, barking furiously as they gave chase. Xandro sent White racing off to the west, then leaped from the saddle and made his way on foot between the close-grown trees, getting in front of a fleeing boar. Before the boar even realized the bard was there he was stabbing out with his own rapier, unknowingly getting "first blood" in this sport of noblemen. The boar squealed in pain and surprise, as Thurloe rode Horse up behind White, who was pacing nervously now that his master had left the saddle. The boar lowered his head and charged Xandro, catching the bard with a set of wicked tusks jutting up from its slavering jaws. This, too, was "first blood" - the first wound the boars had inflicted upon their hunters. Fortunately for the noblemen, two of the wild boars had stuck to the forest paths, as they preferred to remain mounted as long as possible and strike from the relative safety of the saddle. But the paths were twisty and narrow, which worked to the boars' advantage over the larger horses in pursuit. Alewyth still wisely followed, content to let them strike first (while she'd be nearby if any of them needed healing). Wakuren sped past White and continued down the path, missing the three lead boars who sped past in front of him but catching the fourth by surprise as he dashed out at it from a side path. His lowered longspear stabbed into the wild boar, but the creature's thick pelt prevented the tip from doing much more than scratching a long, shallow gash along its right side. It bleated aloud, but the half-orc detected more anger than pain in its outcry. Zander came up behind Wakuren but there wasn't room for his horse to get past the half-orc's; the cooshee, however, simply bounded between the trees and cut off the three lead boars, who had made it into a wider clearing. Barking furiously, the elven dog managed to turn the three around, sending them back towards Wakuren and the approaching noblemen. Wakuren had to hold on tight as his horse suddenly reared onto its hind legs, the boar before it having gashed it in the side with its wicked tusks. The horse kicked out feebly with its front hooves before landing again on all fours; Wakuren stabbed the point of his spear into the boar, catching it just above the shoulder. Then another spear struck the boar; Thurloe had approached beside Wakuren and was helping to bring down the beast Wakuren had been fighting. Many of the other boars scattered wildly, with a few of them getting struck by the points of one or more of the noblemen's spears as they sought safety by running between the close-growing trees. The noblemen did their best to keep up the attacks, but they were hampered by the necessity to steer their mounts around the clumps of trees, sticking to the forest paths. Xandro retreated back to the relative safety of White's saddle, while Alewyth, having dismounted from her own borrowed horse, had followed behind the boar and now found herself in a position to stab it from behind with the point of her longspear. It squealed in pain, and the beast's cries were echoed by the barks of the dogs as they raced down the path behind the dwarven priestess. The wounded boar spun about and faced Alewyth, then charged forward at her, but she managed to step to the side and get in a quick stab with her rapier. Back over on one of the paths, Wakuren and Thurloe stabbed their spears into the boar they were fighting, while it tried to fight back, catching the side of Wakuren's horse. But now Zander arrived on the scene, stabbing his own longspear at the wounded beast. His cooshee snapped at one of the three boars he'd deflected back towards Wakuren and Thurloe, and this turned out to be a troublesome event for Wakuren's mount because all three spread out and made a concentrated attack upon the wounded horse, attacking it from three different directions. By this time the other wild boars had scattered; only the four surrounding Wakuren and the one facing Alewyth were still in the fight. But seeing his friend in desperate combat with the cornered boar, Xandro leaped back off of his horse and ran back through the trees they way he'd come, stabbing his spear into the boar now attacking Alewyth. Blood flowed freely down both sides of its flank; surely it couldn't hold out for too much longer! And at that the bard was absolutely correct, for Alewyth slew the beast with a rapier-strike to the creature's throat, it having come too close to her for her to be able to wield her longspear effectively. Thurloe finally killed Wakuren's original porcine foe and spun about to take on one of the three who had returned to the fight. The noblemen, having given up on chasing the ones that had successfully fled through the trees, focused their attention - and the points of their longspears - upon the closest one attacking Wakuren's horse in an effort to get to the half-orc riding it. The dogs ran past, apparently having been trained not to get in the way of the spears and blades once a boar had been cornered, and instead went running through the close-packed trees to follow the trails of those which had escaped. Zander and Wakuren focused their attacks upon a single boar, while the cooshee went after the same one from behind. But then, in an unvoiced but smoothly-accomplished maneuver, all three boars swapped targets as one, focusing their tusks on the elven dog. The cooshee was unable to avoid three separate sets of tusks coming at him from three different directions, and blood spilled from his sides as he almost staggered to the ground. But rather than pressing on with their attack, the boars all turned about as one and sped off through the trees, where the horses couldn't follow - and neither, in his present state, could the elven hound. Xandro and Alewyth came riding up to the rest of the group. "We got one!" Xandro called out. "That makes two, then!" replied Wakuren, looking down at the slain beast on the ground before him as he leaned over and cast a healing spell upon his wounded mount. Alewyth did likewise to the cooshee, and then, at the noblemen's urging, they pointed their mounts in the direction of the barking dogs as they pursued their elusive prey. "This way!" called Lord Mantriculos, seemingly somewhat put out that these first-timers had bagged two boars on their first hunt while neither of the noblemen - boar-hunting veterans each - had yet to bring down a single beast. "Are we still on your own lands?" Thurloe asked Lord Brokerville. "No," admitted the aristocrat, "but we started this hunt on our lands, and we're going to get ourselves a boar!" Thurloe shrugged, assuming if the noblemen were okay with the legality of the hunt, he wasn't going to worry overly much about it. The remaining boars led the hunters on a merry chase, during which time the heroes purposefully fell back, allowing the three noblemen to take the lead so they'd get the first shots at the fleeing hogs. The boars led them into a clearing by a short cliff, leaping between two large trees and veering off to the left of a log cabin built near to the cliffside. There was a rather large cave opening off to the right of the cabin, possibly where the boars were heading. Lord Tandervale was the first to race his horse between the trees - and thus was the one who triggered the trap. His horse tripped over a taut vine near to the ground, sending itself falling to the ground and its rider taking a face-plant some distance ahead. But the vine released a log that had been held up by the branches of the rightmost tree, and as it fell - each end supported by strong ropes tied to a thick, high branch - the log slammed into Lord Brokerville, his horse, and Lord Mantriculos and his own mount, spilling all four to the forest clearing in a tangle of limbs and a series of startled cries. The log had been spiked, as well, with sharpened branches sticking out of it at all angles; the thing nearly hit Lord Mantriculos a second time as gravity sent it swinging back the way it had come. Alewyth and Wakuren leaped down from their horses, applying healing spells to Lords Brokerville and Mantriculos. Zander, not liking the apparent booby trap that the wily boars had somehow known to lead their pursuers into, called for his cooshee. When the elven dog leaped up at his master, Zander deactivated him and put the jade statuette back into his pocket. Then he sent Eddy forward, skirting the remains of a campfire in front of the cabin as he eyed the area warily. There was a pen of some sort off to the right, with a fence and gate made of felled tree trunks. No doubt about it - somebody lived here, and possibly cared for these wild boars if they felt safe enough to come this close to someone's dwelling. The boars - there were six of them in all - had by this time made it behind the cabin and were out of sight. Xandro, sensing combat of a very different nature than that of hunting down boars, pulled the [I]Dardolian lute[/I] from his back and started the words to his song of inspirational courage. After all, if there was somebody inside the cabin allied with the boars, there was a good chance there might be combat any moment now - and with the ruckus that had already been raised by the triggering of the log trap and the squealing of the boars, whoever was inside the cabin had to already be aware of their presence. Thurloe opted not to wait to find out. Riding Horse up to the cabin, he leaped off and landed immediately before the front door. However, there was another trap in place there: a shallow pit had been dug, merely a foot or so deep and covered with a framework of intertwined sticks just sturdy enough to hold the covering of leaves sprinkled onto it to give it the appearance of solid ground. Thurloe's weight broke right through the flimsy barrier and his foot hit the trigger of an open bear trap that had been placed beneath the false floor. Its metal teeth slammed shut around Thurloe's right foot, imprisoning him where he stood - and in considerable pain. The noblemen, furious at this turn of events, regained their footing and climbed back into their saddles as their horses stood back up. Alewyth, having heard Thurloe's cry of pain, ran past the noblemen to see to her friend. She stepped down into the shallow pit and tried prying the metal jaws open, but giving it all her strength yielded no positive results. "It's okay--I got this," Thurloe hissed in pain, trying his hardest not to cry in front of the dwarf. Wakuren, also on foot, ran around to the left of the cabin in pursuit of the fleeing boars. He cast wide his senses, seeking out the telltale stench of evil, but found no such emanations in the auras ahead. Zander flanked around the other way, by the east of the cabin, and saw three of the wild boars flee into the cave opening along the cliff side. He didn't see the other three, but he'd been pretty sure six boars had run behind the cabin, leaving three unaccounted for. Those three made a good accounting for themselves, all right: one doubled back, altering its shape as he moved back around the side of the cabin to face Wakuren. By the time he met back up with the surprised half-orc, he stood upon his hooved back feet, while from the waist up he wore the broad chest and sagging belly of a rather fat man. Powerful arms ended in human hands, but his head was still that of a wild boar. One hand held a rock he'd picked up from behind the cabin, and he clocked Wakuren good in the side of the head with it, sending the cleric-paladin reeling off to the side. "What in the Hells--?" exclaimed one of the noblemen, getting his first look at a wereboar in hybrid form. The other two wereboars, opting to remain in their animal forms for now, sped around the east side of the cabin, charging at Zander upon his horse. And then the cabin door opened, to reveal yet another wereboar in its hybrid form, this one wielding a battleaxe in its hands. With a grunt of effort, it swung its weapon down at Thurloe, trapped in place by the bear trap. But the spellsword mentally activated his [I]anklet of translocation[/I] and disappeared from the wereboar ranger's view, reappearing inside the cabin just behind him, such that their backs were facing each other. Thurloe spun around first, hobbling on his wounded foot, pulling his bastard sword from the sheath on his back. Alewyth, still standing in the shallow pit, took a step away from the axe-wielding wereboar ranger and cast a [I]bless[/I] spell on the group. Wakuren also took a step back, but that was just so he could put his longspear to good use against the wereboar before him, stabbing its point into the upright beast's chest. He could feel the adrenaline in his system, feel some primal urge to forget about casting spells and deal with his foes in a more savage fashion. Zander cast a [I]scorching ray[/I] at the wereboar standing in the cabin doorway, hoping to take its focus away from Alewyth, who was the closest potential target. Unfortunately, the other two wereboars attacked his horse by then and the rays went astray, hitting the wooden side of the log cabin and setting it ablaze. But then one wereboar was upon him, goring his horse with its tusks while the other attacked Alewyth in a similar fashion, opening a gash along her leg. She hobbled back, grabbing a vial of [I]silversheen[/I] from her belt, recognizing these foes now as lycanthropes - men who could turn into an animal form or that of an upright-walking hybrid. And the wereboar fighting Wakuren swung at the half-orc again with his blood-streaked rock. Wakuren dodged the awkward blow and pushed deeper with his longspear, then finished his foe off with a swipe of his rapier. He fell to the floor of the forest clearing, quite obviously dead, and Wakuren let the borrowed longspear go, pulling the [I]shield of Cal[/I] off his back and back to its accustomed place on his left arm. After all, this was apparently no longer a mere wild boar hunt and the noblemen's rules no longer applied. The ranger, picking up on some last-second sense of danger, ducked and spun as Thurloe's sword came crashing down at where he'd been standing. He grinned at facing this human interloper again, and swung his axe at Thurloe, catching him in the side. Xandro kept playing his lute, doing what he could to aid all four of his friends (and the three noblemen, not that they seemed particularly interested in fighting off boars that could turn into beast-men) while remaining in relative safety himself. Ignoring the pain in his foot and now also in his side, Thurloe mentally activated his [I]torc of the titans[/I] and empowered the next swing of his bastard sword, catching the wereboar in the side of his torso, covered in a thick pelt of wiry fur and bristles. Zander cast a [I]haste[/I] spell on the group, and the spellsword felt vitality course through his body, speeding up his reflexes. He also noted the flames had spread along the cabin wall; very soon they'd be reaching the front door, which looked to be the only way out of the cabin (unless he felt like crawling up the stone chimney). The animal-form werebeasts continued their attacks upon Alewyth and Zander, but Zander kept his leg out of the way and the boar's ragged tusks sank into the flesh and muscle of the horse beneath the elven sorcerer (Zander once again was grateful he'd left Eddy back at the Tandervale estate), and Alewyth had applied a dose of [I]silversheen[/I] upon [I]Sjondra[/I] and immediately saw the results of the concoction, for she clocked the werebeast a good one with her trusty warhammer that sent him falling upon his side and struggling to get back up. The wereboar ranger swung his battleaxe at Thurloe again, but Zander's [I]haste[/I] spell helped the spellsword avoid the blow, even with a sore leg that hurt when he put his full weight upon it. Another charge from his torc sent [I]Spellslicer[/I] slicing a deep gash across the ranger's chest. And speaking of chests, Thurloe couldn't help but notice there was a wooden chest at the foot of a cot to his right, in an area that doubtlessly served as the ranger's bedroom, partially hidden by a curtain. Thurloe vowed to give that chest a good look after he'd dealt with the werebeast doing his best to kill him. But now Xandro entered the fray, feeling guilty just playing his lute when everyone around him was engaged in combat. He pulled his [I]frost short sword[/I] from its scabbard and flanked behind the boar attacking Zander, the blade sliding deep into the boar's flesh. And Wakuren, having slain his initial foe, ran into the burning cabin to help Thurloe fight off the wereboar ranger. The [I]shield of Cal[/I] came slicing in horizontally to smash into the werebeast's spine, causing the brute to snort in pain and surprise. Zander cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at the wereboar attacking him, and then Xandro finished it off with another deep stab of his blade. Alewyth fought off her own beast, taking another gash from its wicked tusks before finally crushing its skull with her dwarven warhammer, currently coated in [I]silversheen[/I]. The ranger, with blood now flowing freely out of its mouth and nostrils, gave a final swing at Thurloe before the spellsword nearly severed his head with a lateral strike from [I]Spellslicer[/I]. Wakuren, seeing the ranger fall dead to the cabin floor before him, raced back outside the open doorway; Thurloe followed, but not before grabbing up the wooden chest he'd seen. He had to leap through a sheet of flames as the fire engulfing the cabin reached the doorway, but you never knew what you might find inside a treasure chest, and if the ranger had anything of value inside the otherwise practically bare cabin, Thurloe was willing to bet it was stored in the chest. He made it outside to find Wakuren rubbing [I]silversheen[/I] upon the [I]shield of Cal[/I], then looking around to see the other wereboars had already been slain. However, the half-orc's assumption proved to be somewhat premature. Zander turned his head towards the cave opening in the cliff side, his sharp elven hearing having picked up the sounds of something big clomping up the natural stone steps that led down into the caverns below. The others soon heard the sounds for themselves and turned to see what would exit the cave. Xandro resumed playing his song of inspirational courage on the [I]Dardolian lute[/I], getting the feeling they'd soon have need of the magical assistance it provided, for it seemed like combat might not yet be over after all. Poking her massive head out of the shadows of the cave entrance, an enormous figure stepped forth into the sunlight. It was a hill giantess, with rolls of fat hanging over the brief garment she wore around her hips, a pair of pendulous breasts hanging halfway down her torso. But her head, although it sported the scraggly, matted hair common among her people, was that of an enormous warthog or boar, with tusks as long as Xandro's short sword growing up from her snout. She carried a greatclub in one meaty fist as she stepped forward, her beady eyes squinting at the burning cabin, then at the slain wereboars lying on the ground, and then at the assembled heroes. Finally taking in the entire scene, she bellowed forth a cry of anger and rage and started making her way toward the heroes. Alewyth wasted no time in running back to her borrowed horse and climbing back up into the saddle; she wanted to have the mount's speed at her service should fleeing become necessary. Wakuren cast a [I]divine favor[/I] spell upon himself, boosting his combat capabilities to face this new threat. Zander cast a [I]detect magic[/I] spell, determining the hill giant dire wereboar had no magic about her (but also that there was magic emanating from the chest Thurloe had rescued from the burning cabin). Thurloe was the first one to initiate combat against the giantess. Casting a [I]ray of enfeeblement[/I] at the hybrid wereboar giantess, the beam struck true and he saw her flinch as some of her impressive strength was drained from her muscles. It even seemed as if the spell's effects caused her to shift the weight of the greatclub in her hands, as if it seemed suddenly heavier to her - that could only be a good sign! The giantess brought her greatclub up over her head and sent it crashing down at Wakuren, but the half-orc managed to dodge out of the way in time and it just slammed a divot out of the ground at his feet. Alewyth cast a spell from her horse's saddle, and suddenly a celestial bison appeared behind the dire wereboar. It lowered its head and charged, goring a horn into the massive woman's back, causing her to grunt in pain and spin about to face this sudden attacker. But then Wakuren managed to tamp down the fires of rage and bloodlust threatening to overcome his senses and take a more practical approach. Despite having having coated his shield with [I]silversheen[/I], despite having cast a [I]divine favor[/I] spell upon himself to aid him in physical combat, he cast a [I]calm emotions[/I] spell at the dire wereboar. Then, seeing the spell seem to take an effect upon her, he called out, "Let's all stop attacking each other! We're going to leave you alone, okay? Do you understand what I'm saying?" "...Some," agreed the giantess in a guttural voice. "We didn't mean to attack the other wereboars - we thought they were just wild hogs," Wakuren explained. "And then we fought back when the wereboars attacked us. But now that we know you're peaceful, we're going to leave you in peace. We're going, see?" And Wakuren demonstrated his intentions by backing over to his horse and climbing back up onto the saddle. Thurloe did likewise, although his "peaceful" intentions were somewhat muddied by the fact that he took with him the wereboar ranger's chest, which he had stolen from the ranger as soon as he'd been slain, and that the boar-man's home was now completely engulfed by flames. In a couple of hours, there's be nothing left of the cabin but the stone chimney. "We're going," Thurloe reiterated, backing Horse away from the confused giantess. "Yes. You go," the dire wereboar replied. Then she watched the entire group turn their horses and leave between the trees, riding on either side of the dangling log with the embedded spikes the ranger had set as a trap. "Are we okay with this?" Alewyth worried. "She's most likely the one who turned the others into wereboars. If we leave her alone, she might do the same again to others." "Not our problem," argued Thurloe. "And Wakuren: is she evil?" "No." "There, see: not evil. I say we let her live in peace. And if the noblemen want to do something about her, they're more than welcome to hire local heroes to go deal with her at a later date." He didn't want to admit that he was worried about their ability to handle her on their own under the present set of circumstances, with many of their spells already cast, Wakuren without his normal plate mail armor, and most of the heroes already wounded from the fights with the [I]regular[/I] wereboars. If the noblemen had anything to say on the subject they kept it to themselves; they practically sulked the whole way back to the Tandervale estate at their poor showing in front of these commoner heroes. But their hearts were buoyed at the heroes' insistence they didn't want either of the two normal boars they'd slain; after all, that meant once the heroes had gone their way there'd be nobody to gainsay their own claims that it had been the three of them who had brought down the boars. They gave instructions to the dog handlers to grab a wagon and fetch the slain boars, as the heroes returned the borrowed weapons and mounts and gathered Scarlie and their own mounts and wagon for the trek to the next dream victim. Thurloe, for his part, was momentarily buoyed by the fact the wereboar ranger's chest contained magic. But when said magic turned out to be nothing more than a half dozen [I]human bane arrows[/I] in among a bunch of clothes, he turned them over to Alewyth so she could destroy them with [I]Sjondra[/I]. - - - The PCs all advanced to 9th level at the end of this session. And [I]Sjondra[/I] - "The Sunderer" - made it to a [I]+3 dwarven warhammer[/I] after having absorbed the magical power of the six arrows. In addition, I advanced up their "signature items" as well, as the Queen of Dreams has been steadily sending additional power to them via the dreamstones attached to each item, so they each gained a new power or ability. Hopefully we'll get to see some of these new abilities in play soon. I used a couple of Paizo's Flip-Mats for the forest paths where the PCs first fought the boars and then the clearing with the ranger's cabin and the cave to the hill giant's lair. For the wild boars, I used five pigs from a farmland set of minis I had purchased some years ago, and then printed off three "boar" tokens to fill out their ranks. (And I didn't tell the players this at first, but it allowed me to determine at a glance which of hte boars were just boars and which were wereboars in animal form.) For the hill giant, I also made a little "box" to plop over the head of a hill giant miniature, with the front, side, and top views of a boar's head visible. It made a fairly effective hill giant dire wereboar that way. I also made a three-dimensional model of the cabin out of carboard, built such that I could assemble it for play and then disassemble it to lay flat for storage once I was done. - - - T-shirt worn: Since I don't have anything that relates to wild boars, I wore my white "Walking Dead" T-shirt to represent Charland Tandervale's dancing skeleton. ("Ya ta ta ta TAA ta!") [/QUOTE]
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