Phoera Hunt IC

[Blue Jay]

The Employer

A peculiar woman who seems to be made of fire walks into the Realm Folded Tavern, clearly a stranger here. After looking around in uncertainty for a moment, her eyes fall on the Board, and she nods to herself. She crosses the Tavern, politely weaving among the tables and rowdy patrons until she reaches the Board, where she pins up a parchment that seems to be edged in a thin line of burnt ash and and even thinner line of glowing embers.

That done, she turns and exits the Tavern as politely as she entered.

The Advertisement

The following message is written in glowing letters on the page:

"Dear Barkeeper and patrons of the Realm Folded Tavern,

I have a problem that I'm unable to solve on my own. It was suggested to me by the fire oracle Ukumalei that I could recruit help here, and so I come to you for aid.

My home forest was once under the protection of a great hero named Halkanost, but he has been slain by a villain named Dshalvur, and his soul transferred to a creature known as a phoera. I aim to revive him, with the aid of Ukumalei. But to do that, I need to capture his phoera and bring it to the oracle, and I have failed to complete this task on my own.

I require brave souls, preferably those with experience hunting or tracking creatures, though I must stress that the phoera must be taken alive. And it wouldn't hurt if you knew a few things about fire elementals, either.

Please respond with haste.

Sincerely,

Talissa of Dzijuth"

OOC: Mission Description

This is an adventure for four characters of 3rd-5th level. You will be encountering creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the mission will likely take you onto that plane. Wilderness skills will be important.

You can expect to earn at least 2000-3000 XP from encounters in this mission, plus an extra bonus for successful completion of your main objective. The exact amount may vary depending on your decisions and your successes/setbacks during the course of the mission.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Blue Jay (see edit history)

[HydroGuy]

I'm a little light on characters in this range. If Chailel becomes available before you start this one, I'd love to apply with him. (No spoilers please.)

 

But, just in case, I pulled a project that was simmering on a back burner into the limelight. Assuming it gets approved, it's not too wild for you, and you want to get rolling, Ill pop it in here.

Edited August 7, 2023 by HydroGuy (see edit history)

[paladinred]

 

Ministatblock

Sheethttps://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1511981
Name: Gothika
Race: Erinyes
Classes: Erinyes 5/ Warmage 5
Ongoing Effects:

 

Gothika spied the notice and says "finally, a mission for me" and she duly signs her name.

[rogueblade0729]

Would a grumbling yet hardy dwarf warrior fit for this mission? The only character I got that suits this level range is Kildrak Grimbeard, though he doesn't have much in the way of wilderness skills.

[Inash]

I'll get my nymph/Owlbear hybrid (https://og.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=458569) set up here in Baldr and she could come along.

[Blue Jay]

@rogueblade0729, Kildrak is welcome to come along.

[rogueblade0729]

Alrighty then!

[Rudolf]

A figure in a deep brown cloak enters the tavern. The cloak is edged with green stitching, and while most of it seemed to do its job well enough, the hood was cut wide enough to cover the creatures’ broad, curling horns. He pushed it back in order to more carefully read the notice board with his yellow eyes.

“Curious. I only know what some of these words mean. Hero is clear enough, and enough reason to help. Tracking I know well, but phoera not at all. Still, perhaps wise to speak with this Talissa.”

 

https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/topic/8637-ez-chazak/

[Blue Jay]

((You'll need to wait until your character is approved before you can apply to a mission. I'll go through some new applications shortly, so hold on.))

[joran1313]

You all look like you have the manpower that is needed. If you need an overconfident, yet quiet priest of magic, please send a message to Gregory McGann at the library as I have been temporarily banned from the mages tower for the time being. Otherwise, may the wisdom of Mystra guide you all on your travails!

[Blue Jay]

OOC: Mission is a Go!

Okay, it looks like we've got a party of four ready. @joran1313, you are welcome to bring Gregory along as a fifth character, but otherwise I'll consider this mission full. I'm going to move this thread to the "Active Missions - IC Threads" tab, and I'll plan to start us on our way with an in-character post in a little bit. I'll also create an OOC thread in the "Active Missions - OOC Threads" tab, which I'll use to track your XP and host mission-specific OOC stuff.

The first part of the mission will be basic meet-and-greet with your employer, and I'll allow you to make last-minute purchases and adjustments to your character sheets until that introductory section of the mission is over (probably 2-3 days from now).

OOC: Accepted Characters

Ez Chazak - @Rudolf

Gothika - @paladinred

Gregory McCann - @joran1313

HooGrawr the Ridiculous - @Inash (please transfer her over to the new site)

Kildrak Grimbeard - @rogueblade0729 (your character thread still links to the OG character sheet: you might want to get that fixed)

[Blue Jay]

IC: Introduction

After a short wait, the woman made of fire returns to the Tavern and walks to the Board to review her advertisement. She smiles a bit excessively when she sees a list of names there, and pulls the advertisement off the wall. As she does, each of the five people who signed their names to the paper see a glowing rune appear on the backs of their hands.

The woman gestures for all of you to gather, and sit with her at a table. Once there, she spends some time brushing back the flames that are pretending to be hair on her head. "Thank you all so much for agreeing to help me!" she says excitedly, "She said I would definitely find help here, and she was definitely right! Ukumalei really is a prophet! Oh, wow! I'm so excited for this!

"Oh, I'm Talissa! I live in the Flame Forests of Dzijuth on the Elemental Plane of Fire. The forest used to be protected by Halkanost. He's a phoelarch warrior. If you don't know what that is... well, he's like a person with the blood of the phoenix in him. So, he's got, like, feathers and stuff. But he's a man. Very tall, athletic with these really dark eyes, and he's so pretty!"

You can already tell that Talissa is going to be a bit of a handful.

"Okay, so... what you need to know about a phoelarch is that, after they die, they kind of get reborn as a phoera. It's like a big eagle from the Plane of Fire. So, anyway, Halkanost slew this efreeti named Dshalvur, right? He was a real bad guy: he was just the worst! But then he came back after he died, like an undead... thing, I don't know. And he murdered Halkanost. So now, Halkanost is gone and he turned into a phoera, and the phoera is flying around the woods.

"Only, now it's not in the woods anymore, it's... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. We need Halkanost back, right? Because, he's the only one who can protect us, because we're usually very peaceful in Dzijuth and none of us really fights that much. So Dshalvur is causing trouble, and I really miss Halkanost, you know? He was to me... us, he was good to us.

"You know, everyone else thought I was crazy, because you can't bring a phoelarch back to life once his phoera hatches. Only, that's not true! Ukumalei can do it, and she says it's a worthy cause. Oh, Ukumalei is a... what do you call her? Um... a weird, I think. That's not a very polite thing to call her, to be honest; but I didn't make up the Common language, so I don't get to choose what she's called. But, no... she like's really powerful! You don't even understand! And she says she can bring Halkanost back, but we have to catch the phoera first.

"So got a cage, and I got some bait... but, it turns out, I'm kind of... not good at catching phoeras by myself. Aaaaand... I kind of accidentally let it escape to the Material Plane, so now it's in a place that's dangerous and unfamiliar to me. So, maybe you guys can go there with me and help me?"

She looks at you all expectantly.

 

[Rudolf]

Ez looks over the woman with obvious curiosity.

“Are you well? I only ask because, um, well you seem to be on fire. Among my people, that would be considered quite dangerous.
 

You do seem used to it, I will say. Is this common among your people? I may need to purchase some equipment if it is.

 

And, well, how do phoera behave? That would help, I suspect.

[paladinred]

 

 

Ministatblock

Sheethttps://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1511981
Name: Gothika
Race: Erinyes
Classes: Erinyes 5/ Warmage 5
Ongoing Effects:

 

Gothika viewed the burning woman then asks "if we are to catch this Phoera will it set fire to anything it touches? You seem to be able to not set aflame the chair you are sitting upon so can we assume that the Phoera will not burndown any houses it comes across" she asks?

[rogueblade0729]

Kildrak Grimbeard

The Gavstorian stood nearby silently, stroking his sturdy fingers through his dark beard. After the initial explanation was complete, he placed his warhammer head-first on the floor and plopped two meaty hands on the haft.

"So yer sayin' we are huntin' a hero, reborn as a fire-eagle, in our world? An' what of Dshalvur? I can't imagine he'd let his nemesis go so easily, meanin' we might be havin' to fight whoever he sends our way," he asked with typical dwarvish grumpiness.

Mechanics & OOC

Statblock

Kildrak Grimbeard
Male LN Dwarf Fighter 4 || Warblade 4, Level 4, Init 2, HP 63/63, Speed 20ft
AC 23, Touch 10, Flat-footed 23, Fort 6, Ref 5, Will 0, Base Attack Bonus +4
Masterwork Warhammer +8 (1d8+3, x3)
Throwing Axe (x2) +6 (1d6, x2)
Masterwork Half-Plate Armor, +1 Tower Shield (+8 Armor, +5 Shield)
Abilities Str 16, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 10
Condition None

-

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by rogueblade0729 (see edit history)