SoloDark: Pelor's Quest ep70

-/-- Welcome to SoloBickering! It's a solo rpg, which means I roll dice generate a story and decide outcomes, and lose arguments with myself as I portray the exploits of my adventurers. 

--/-- Join me on a journey into the game world I play face to face in, and it may sound vaguely familiar to you. Like many another DM I stitch my world together from any bits and pieces I fancy, adding them into a standard setting, Faerun's Sword Coast.  

--/-- AI and NSFW: For this possibly brief adventure the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using CoPilot AI to buff my romance bar, because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that need social interactions. Some of the situations the young protagonists find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. I won't be deliberately aiming for that, but oracles are what they are. So if on either account you take an ethical stand against those, skip this episode and listen in to Rollohi, my other SoloBickering output. 

--/-- And having said that, let's get the game started. 

 --/--Music from Pixabay with thanks to: daynightmorning, Good_B-Music, JefWakeUp, LudoSoundX, makesoundmusic, Playsound, teodholina, and White_Records

--/--Selected tracks from "Ancient Realms" by Joel Steudler Music.

https://larrymannplayssolobickering.blogspot.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, I'm John from Tale of the Manticore. Robin from Stories from the First Watch.

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PJ from A Wasteland Story in the Solo RolePlayers Podcast.

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Simon from Legend of the Bones.

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Brian Rideout from Swords Against Madness.

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Carl from The Lone Adventurer. And I'm Trevor from Your Story Will Be Different. And with our solo role-playing audio, narrative, actual play, drama powers combined, we are the Solo Roleplayers Podcast Network.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Usually accustomed to delving the depths, scouring the desert, surviving the wasteland. Or facing the dragon alone.

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This time, we have teamed up to bring you a curated collection of the best, highest quality, most dramatic, and diceyest solo roleplay podcasts in the world.

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There are dozens of us. So if you're looking for your next solo roleplaying adventure, roll over to solo roleplayersnetwork.com.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Sample and subscribe to something that takes your fancy. And discover your new favorite solo roleplaying podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

See you there. Now, the Somber Hills. You crossed wild country before. You fought things most folk wouldn't believe. But the Sumbers and Winter? That's a different kind of trial. Trails vanish, landmarks shift. A clear sky can turn to a white wall in the time it takes to draw breath. You've all done well, more than well. Red Larch is safe because of yours. But this ride, this is the hardest thing you're faced yet. The world itself, cold and uncaring. Stay close. Listen when I speak. And trust that I'll get you to Beliard in one piece. After that, well Aberon will tell us what comes next. Mound up. The sombers ain't waiting.

SPEAKER_04 2:10

Before we go on with the main body of the show, I have an acknowledgement for a comment. In episode 61, Boyd Robertson says, showing off her numeric skills had me chuckling. Thanks, Boyd. I'm glad you appreciated my note of humor for Nat. Welcome back to season 2 of Paylor's Quest, a solo dark adventure. For this venture, the stars are young and moderately hot, and I'll be using Copilot AI here and there to buff my romance bar because I'm useless at romance, and for side situations that don't really need tools. Some of the situations the young protagons find themselves in may turn out to be NSFW. And if you're uncomfortable on either of those two scores, skip this and head over to the world of Rollohy. Otherwise, having said that, let's get on with this show. Welcome back to Solo Dark. A solo actual play using the Shadow Dark Rolls and set in Farun. Last episode, our four heroes joined with Garek Thornwald the Ranger in his mission to Beliad across the Sumba Hills in winter. He has promised them the toughest journey they have ever faced. Thus far, they have survived a brief flurry attack from Tiny Fay, and now they are in the process of being surrounded by winter wolves. Just as they are reaching what they hoped would be a safe night camp at an old quarry. To their amazement, the young adventurers hear Garrick chuckle. I've left it too late, he growls, with still a chuckling note in his voice.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

See, the turn off to the quarry.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

What is most visible in the growing dusk is a bowl-shaped hollow, its frozen lake smooth as glass, except where snowdrift has gathered. Far to the left, weird humps lie against a mostly vertical stone face. The cliff face rises like a wall, streaked with ice and old scars of rockfall, but for those that know mining, it's clear that this is a worked surface. The deeper scars must hide addits, perhaps even a full portal to a major gallery. I'll lead the way, Garrett growls as the others glance nervously off into the gloom.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Saki Young priest, I read you that you can sit a horse well, as well as an expert, maybe. Yes, I trained as a squire, Saki volunteers. Aye. Keep the mounts well in hand. The wolves will try to spook them. Keep them well to the left. The lake may have frozen, but you can be sure that only a couple of inches is frozen solid. Below that it's still cold water that'll kill you.

SPEAKER_04 6:14

Garrick proceeds to lead the way, keeping his hand on the bridles of two mounts, while Sakeb does the lion's share of keeping most of the mounts in check. The other reasonably expert rider is Drum, who's had plenty of time to accustom himself to the ponies and has rapidly learned how to use his animal handling skills that he first learned on his father's farm dray. Here are some advantage checks. Garrick Sakeb Drum Hmm Tight for drum. Garrick rolls an eighteen, so there's no need to look any further. Sakeb rolls a fourteen at best with a plus two, that's DC sixteen. Drum with plus one and advantage rolls a total of twelve. It's good enough. He keeps his mount under control, but only just. One of the ponies he's guiding snorts and sidesteps, slowing the line for a moment, but not enough to break formation or cause either of the women folk to have to try their hand. To me, this spells out definite progress at far range. These are winter wolves, not just big grey timber wolves. They're only just blurry shapes at this stage, but they get visibly closer as the party moves along the quarry wall, if you like, against the lake. Towards where Garrick recalls tailings and a stope or maybe a full addit. We're going to make one further round of the same checks. We'll start with Saki. 19 plus 2, 21. That's a critical success. Garrick rolls a 16 and 12, we'll take the 16. With his wisdom bonus, that's an easy 18. Finally, better. This time drum rolls a 13, plus one is 14, so a solid success. The party reaches cover. They remain at far range from the wolves, and it can now be seen by the various shapes showing themselves from time to time that there are no more than four great shapes. When Drum says as much, Garrick demurs.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Not your ordinary timber grey. They project an ice from their mouths. An attack that can freeze a man in his boots. Or at least stick them to the ground so that they can pounce on you. Look alert.

SPEAKER_04 9:39

The mounts make it into what must be old workings under the lee of a wall. Garrick's horses take the outer edge. They are more able to defend themselves than the ponies. There's a frozen spoil pit between that and the lake. And it's guarding the party's flank to a good degree. The wolves must either charge across the ice, circle wide, or split. That's exactly what Garrick wanted.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

Oh dear. Let them take their time. We've got our ground.

SPEAKER_04 10:32

Next, I'm going to roll a D6 to see if what the party's come to is minimal, not enough for nine beasts and five defenders, through to maximal, the full old tunnel to further diggings. One being minimal, six being maximal. Here we go. I get a four. A decent size addit and perhaps a stoke just nearby with tailings that help the defenders. As the mounts are stable, the wolves closed to near range. I've got to give Sakheeb advantage from her superior success just now, as he helps Lucinda and Nat stable all nine mounts. The rest of the party peels weapons away and readies them. If Sakheeb makes at least DC 15, he will also have time to organize his shield and sword. Here we go. He rolls a 17 plus two is 19. Superior success. All nine mounts are successfully stable, the ponies clustering right into the addit, such as it is, and the mountain horses forming the outer ring. Lisinda and Nat get their leads tied off cleanly, slipping short bows out of wrappings. No mount panics, bolts, or slips. Moreover, Sakeb has time to fully arm himself. He slams his shield down tight into his arm and draws goblin grief, the blade catching the last of the dusk light. He steps forward to anchor the defensive line so that the archers have got some kind of shoulder to shoot from behind. Behind me! Hold the line, he says. Even now he's picking through a variety of spell choices. We can imagine Sakheeb front and center, shield up, Garrick and Drum taking useful positions, perhaps elevated positions, up on the tailings, and Lucinda and Natalie close behind Sakheeb, ready with bows. The Winter Wolves get close. They can move double near at will, but something has gone wrong with their plan. The Alpha slows first. Testing the footing, he knows that's a lake sometimes. The winter wolves are smart. They may even recognise Garrick. Their plan, target the weaklings, has failed. Let's make an in check at minus two for the pack bitch. I roll the 13, minus two is eleven. It's not brilliant, but it's enough. She recognises the situation has changed. She utters a low, clipped bark to signal the alpha. It's tactical. The wolves slow, fanning slightly, testing the footing. They're looking for a weak flank. Somewhere where they could run around. They know they're not going to charge across the lake. The alpha adjusts to probe and break formation. Two wolves angle toward the frozen spoil pit edge, one from the left, one from the right. The alpha holds the center, watching the shape with the longbow. He remembers pain. He knows not to get too close. I'm going to call, and it is a ruling based on the limited light. We're going to go with the inits at d6, but with a plus two for the party as they are ready, and plus zero for the winter wolves. If the wolves win, and there is a mathematical chance of that, the two probe attackers rush close enough to use their breath weapon. If the party wins, the longbowmen can each try a wolf, and they'll be supported by the shortbow women behind them. Here's my initiative role for the party. It's a D6 plus two. A roll of four for a total of six. Here's the role for the winter wolves. They can, at best, draw. It's a two. The wolves don't get to breathe before the longbowmen and shortbow users get clean shots. Sakeb can cast a spell. Bless is the obvious choice, but he also has his talent, Sacred Weapon. Drum will loose at plus five. Garak, I imagine, without checking his stats, will be much the same. Sakeb elects to use Sacred Weapon on Natalie's bow, since she would have only a plus one dagger for extreme close melee without that. We're gonna start with Sakeb's spell check. Nat 20 gains an extra luck token on top of the token he began with. Excellent. Sacred Weapon doesn't improve Nat's chance of hitting, but it does give her plus d4 to damage. She will lose her bow at plus two and Lucinda hers at plus three. Nat automatically supports her love drum, and Lucinda mentally tosses a coin and chooses the same as Drum and Nat. Let's kick off with Drum Shot. 19, it's a hit. He's rolling a D8 plus 1 damage. For a total of 7. Very nice. Here's Garrick. He rolls a 17 hit. We'll assume that his longbow is at least as good as Drum's. We'll give it a d8 plus one. He rolls only a 4 for a total of 5. That's not going to harm that particular wolf very much. Winter wolves typically have hit points ranging from 18 to 22 in Shadow Dark terms. And we'd give a mathematical chance of Nat and Lucinda if they both hit, being able to bring down the wolf that Drum targeted. Let's see how Nat does. AC13? That's fine. It's a hit from Natalie. Her sacred weapon bonus of a d4 comes in for a total of 8 damage. Very significant. Here's Lucinda. Ah. Luck couldn't last. She rolls a 9. Total of 12, that's a miss. The wolf jukes sideways as one of the other two arrows hits it. That wolf has taken 15 damage and it's extremely badly wounded. However, flanker number two has only taken five. Full combat capability. It now falls to morale. As to how this goes. If the wolves pass a morale check, they'll finish their breath weapon rush. Ah, 2d6, I get a nine. It's a failure for intelligent predators. These aren't mindless beasts, they're cunning, and even though they may be very, very hungry, they realize they've been outplayed. Already bleeding from drum and gnat's arrows, the flanking wolf leaps backwards, paws skidding on frost, and vanishes. Its retreat is full of pain. Its opposite number snarls, ears flat, but turns tail, it's clear it's choosing not to brave the ready defenders. The pack bitch is the first to understand the shift. She gives a sharp clipped bark, and the alpha sees her disappear from sight, melting into the dusk like a pale shadow. The alpha holds the heartbeat longer, staring at Garrick, marking him. Perhaps there's some recognition there. A low rumbling growl rolls across the frozen lake. It's a promise. He snaps his jaws once and signals a retreat. For now, the pack is gone. But it's not defeated. The night is yet young.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Garrett growls. But I think there's a better entrance further along. I recall being told about old mine workings. And this is barely a scratch. Let's keep going. Well done, by the way. You all did hold the ground, as I told you to.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

The party has come to the old mine. At some point in its history, ore was found, and an adit driven right into what used to be a quarry face, more or less directly away from the lake, leaving extensive tailings which in fact have contributed to the build-up of the lake. The adit became enlarged to become a full gallery with a number of chambers, one near the entrance where miners could organize themselves, and one to the back where they could begin driving side adits. The side adits only eventually numbered two, one from the top or furthest end of the gallery, and one from about two-thirds along, so that in plan view the mine forms an F shape. And the mine is not disused. Moving quickly but confidently, the party reorganizes the mounts and leads them back out into the chill night along to where they've found the mine and into their first chamber. Here, broken pieces of mining equipment, the odd splintered timber and long disused pieces of leather, mark where miners have been and gone. The gallery stretches away dark in front of them. Who's going to carry the torch? Lucinda jokes. Then she stops, and her hands drop from the reins to the weapons at her belt, and she draws them, both of them, and drops into a stance that all of them, save Garak, recognize as a combat stance. I smell flat. Thank you so much for listening. Ratings and reviews are much appreciated. For those keen to find out like-minded creators, check out Solo RolePlayersNetwork.com. It's a treasure trove of solo roleplay stuff. For those keen to get in touch with me, you can contact me through SoloRoleplayersNetwork.com or at Larryman Plays on Mastodon or you can email me direct at LarrymanPlays at gmail dot com. That's Larry with two Rs and Man with two N's. Larryman Plays all one word at gmail dot com. Thanks again and catch you later.