Rise of Korbal Part 3

Kal-Arath Actual Play. Do not insult Tolan.

Two weeks later, Korbal is making his way Northwest to the city of Zubran.

“Only one more week of travel I hope. Hmf! Sons of Malakai indeed! Nothing but zealot cultists. Riff-raff! We must pull the weeds before they choke the garden, right Tolan?”

The firelight danced in the hollow eyes of the macerated skull of Tolan. Rune covered, the skull silently listened; and Korbal was thankful for the politeness.

“Lady Gorm will grant us more dark secrets Tolan. Yes, indeed.”

Korbal spends some days traveling. On day 5 Korbal is still on the road. Thunderstorm. Stick to the road = not lost. No POI. Encounter: Hostile roaming story tellers. 

Late that evening, not too far off the side of the road, Korbal is called over to join a group of three men by their fire. They are three storytellers that demand he join them and judge their stories. They are drunk and belligerent and do not take no for an answer. Korbal reluctantly agrees and decides it is at least worth the free meal. .

The storytellers take turns weaving tales: The first story is about about a pit fighter who won the hand of a princess. Another about a warlord’s battlebarge that was somehow driven off a cliff during a drunken party and the last was a sullen tale about two mystics that got into a test of wills destroying everything around them including each other. The evening had drawn late and the storytellers looked to Korbal expectantly.

“Well, which story did you like the most?”

Korbal looked to Tolan’s skull that he had propped on the ground beside him, then looked back to the three faces eagerly awaiting his choice. “Tolan here is speechless. I, on the other hand did not like any of them. The pit fighter was boring, we’ve all heard stories countless times. The battlebardge running off a cliff was just too unrealistic and the mystics fighting, apart from being slightly amusing, was just boring as well.” He looked back at Tolan and nodded.

The storytellers stared blankly for a few heartbeats before erupting in angered disbelief, red faced and shouting. Korbal harrumphed. Ignoring the shouts, he started packing up until heard “... and talking to this skull like a madman!” Just as Korbal was bending down to pick up Tolan’s skull, a foot kicked it. Korbal saw it bounce into the shadows beyond the bonfire’s light. Clouds Descend to the Earth was whispered before he turned to face the three men.

1 damage (use fate point to re-roll to get 2 damage) for 6 rounds.
Storytellers d6 HP. 5, 1, 6 and 2 HP. Knives and cudgels d6 damage. 

Thick misty greenish tendrils fall and swirl around them all. The angry shouts of the storytellers turned to hacking coughs as spidery black veins start to show under their skin. Korbal turns and meets them, spear in hand. He dodges and keeps them at bay with his spear as they try to strike him. One man falls dead clutching his throat, as Korbal trades blows with the last two. The last two men fall dead, one managing to get a strike with his staff on Korbal.

Korbal catches his breath. He looks at the bodies. “Hmm… you.” He casts Decay is the Way of All Things and one of the storytellers rises to go and find Tolan’s skull, at Korbal’s bidding.

Korbal finds 15 sp, 4 rations and 4 doses of Mor Blossom.
1 XP. Level 3. Gained +1 to INT checks when casting spells.

Notes:

The cultists Korbal is journeying towards are the very same that Kharn spent time with. They have started up their temple to Malakai. I am enjoying this idea of Korbal dismantling what was being built in the previous storyline.

Kal-Arath is by Castle Grief.