Dogs on the Isle, Session #2 Report: Man-to-Man, Dog-to-Dog
It is the 28th of High Winter. It has been 7 days since the shipwreck.
Playing in this session: Jay as Etter the Maimed. Katts as Sigusthir. Mistuh as Vasilii. Feir as Ruadhán. Wave Chill as Corrine. Cellar as Flynn. Vorvadoss as Valdamarr.
Our day began in Stamullen, the village that had hosted the Dogs after their slaying of the ogre. The warriors of the band had spent their week of healing seeing to various works. Ruadhán taught Ruis to Sigusthir and Vasilii, as Flynn told the villagers the tale of his slaying of the monster. Once their strength had returned and their goodwill spent, they set out to Dorbagh to meet with the lord of the northern Isle.
The road there was unremarkable, with only a single camping site set up along the coast overseeing the cliffs. It was here that Sigusthir, the tall and tattooed berserker, made his Boast:
"Whatever this Donnagh asks of me, I will do it! My axe will be his!"
To this, Vasilii contested. "But would you slay a great monster for him? You were not to be found against the ogre." Sigusthir laughed, and accepted this challenge, agreeing to slay whatever beast Donnagh sent his way.
Here spoke a newly-named face, Etter "the Maimed." He without a nose dared Sigusthir further. "You could slay his monster, yes. But could you do it dressed as you were born?"
And so Sigusthir agreed, vowing to slay Donnagh's monster of choice while naked. For agreeing to slay a monster, he was given an additional Hit Die, and another for agreeing to do it naked.
Looking back, I'm not totally satisfied with this. I think I should have made the initial boast get more specific than "I will do a job for the lord," and let the monster-slaying be the initial Boast with nudity as the sole complication. This didn't feel like a 3x Boast to me.
Early next morning they finally came to Dorbagh, a sprawling cliffside city, stopping on the outskirts at Ruadhán's request. A dilapidated cabin caught his eye with the writing across the door. Literacy was uncommon here, literacy in Latin even moreso. He read the painted missive and spoke it aloud for the party:
LOOKING FOR A BEAST- GREAT REWARD!
A HOUND WITH THE FACE OF A MAN FLED NORTH. IT IS MY FACE.
FOR ITS RETURN, 1000 HACKSILVER!
The Dogs agreed to come back to seek this reward soon. First, they sought to meet with the Lord.
In the tall, Roman-made hillfort around which the wooden city bloomed, they met with the Lord of Dorbagh. Younger than expected, perhaps twenty-one, Donnagh hailed these warriors courteously as his wise-woman bared teeth. He bade to know who had come to his hall with steel and silver.
Ruadhán and Etter were the most fluent in Ruis, and so they led the introductions. They spoke of their plight at sea, of their friendship with the druid Macullen, of their exploits against the great monster. Etter made attempts at charming the wise-woman at Donnagh's side; her reaction was more tepid than he had hoped.
Donnagh was intrigued by their stories and applauded their victory against the ogre. When proof was presented in the treasures claimed from its carcass, he greeted them as warriors and repeated his question: why had they come before him?
And so Ruadhán repeated Sigusthir's boast, that they had come to slay whatever monsters plagued Dorbagh. They asked about the hound with the face of a man.
Donnagh knew of what they spoke. The man in that hut, once a merchant or so he had heard, had been hiring any men who would listen to retrieve this monster on his behalf. Many had tried, and thus far none had returned. If these freedmen could bring down such a monster, Donnagh decreed, then he would surely find worthy work for them serving Dorbagh.
As the Norsemen left to prepare for their hunt and Ruadhán and Vasilii went to speak to this merchant, Etter remained to speak to the straw-cloaked advisor. Donnagh introduced her as Mish, a senior Druid of the Order.
The priestess said she had no need of unproven steel as of yet, but told him to return when they had slain this hound. Should they prove their mettle, she might have orders. With that, the Dogs left to sell the spoils of their conflict with the ogre and meet with this merchant.
At his house, they saw light from within. In Latin, Ruadhán requested entry, citing the missive upon his door. After some deliberation, the door was opened, and a hand ushered them inside.
It quickly became clear why the merchant was reclusive: a massive, gaping hole sat where his face ought to be, as if it had crumbled away and left a void. Flynn, who had braved the bone-stealer in single combat, turned away from this horror as the Dogs inquired about his condition.
The man wrote that he had forgotten his name, but that he was from Albann. He had learned Latin as a boy. The hound, he told them, was his own once. He had named it Argentum before it became wicked and claimed his face for itself. It had fled north, towards the caves along the seaside. He warned them that Argentum was vicious, but clever. This would not be like hunting an ordinary hound.
The Dogs vowed to reclaim his face from the monster. As they prepared for the journey and stocked up on nets and javelins, they made a new round of Boasts.
Etter the Maimed was the first to speak. "I will lure Argentum from his lair, the foul dog!" And so his vigor grew with a second Hit Die.
It was Sigusthir who challenged this. "Bait for the beast while real hunters strike. Were it my own duty, I would be sure to strike the beast before any other could!" Etter was unphased, and he took this as a challenge. He would do as Sigusthir asked, and be the first to land a blow upon the hound. His vigor deepened again with this contest.
We noticed in the moment that, had Etter rejected this complication, Sigusthir would have been unable to take it on himself as is custom in Wolves, since he already had his own Boast to complete. As Etter did accept, it was not an issue in this instance. However, going forward, a character with a pending Boast may not contest the Boasts of others. Glass houses and throwing stones, Sigusthir!
Now it was Valdamarr's turn to speak. "This beast lairs below the cliffs of the west, yes?" He flexed his great arms and proclaimed, "I will climb down these cliffs with only my bare hands!" And so his vigor deepened.
Now it was time to set out. The Dogs found their way to the cliffs and scaled down. The plan was made as such: Etter would go first, goading the beast from its lair. When the dog showed its stolen face, Ruadhán and Sigusthir would spring their ambush. Sigusthir would strike at the monster with axe and shield as Ruadhán cast his net upon it, and Valdamarr, who had scaled the cliffs so easily, would help to pin it into submission. Flynn and Vasilii would stand by the cliffs to protect their allies, should the situation worsen. It was a strong plan, one with few flaws.
Alas, it would not come to fruition.
Etter laid his bait well, with meat upon his javelin as he called the dog's given name. "Come out, Argentum!" He coaxed, arms spread. "Here, boy!"
Sigusthir removed his armor, leaving it upon the beach as he readied himself for battle. The Maimed Ruisman and the Tattooed Reaver had formed a rivalry of sorts, neither relenting where the other pushed on.
After some waiting, the bait was taken. Gleaming, spiteful eyes caught the noon sun in the shadows of the cave. A voice, growly and gutteral, chuckled. "You have come to take me?" It snarled, still un-used to the tongue with which it spoke.
"I have come to kill you, dog! You wish to be a man? Come out here and face me as one!" Sigusthir bellowed, stepping closer.
"You wish to kill me?" The dog snarled. "Then by all means. Come inside and try." The glaring eyes turned away, and the clicking of overgrown nailed echoed as the dog backed into its lair.
The Dogs are many things. Resourceful. Lucky. Mighty. But before all of that, they are proud. Etter saw the dog retreat, heard its challenge, and refused to back down. He began to enter the cave. Ruadhán and Corrine, seeing their comrade enter such peril, lit a torch and entered behind him. Sigusthir would not be left waiting for his glory to be stolen, and so he entered alongside Etter, into the sea-cave. Flynn and Vasilii remained in wait, and Valdamarr held back with them to see what happened next.
Within the cave, Ruadhán's light shone over a gore-stained cove, reeking of salt and rot. As they delved into the cave, the priest spoke. "Argentum," he called out. "why did you turn to cruelty? What made you leave your master?"
His answer was given in blood, as a slender shape akin to an arrow launched out from the darkness. "Stop calling me that!" The Hound shrieked, his spike piercing Ruadhán's armor, drawing a small trickle of blood. The thing resembled a sharp tumor, grown from iron. The wound was glancing, and so Ruadhán pressed onwards.
Before long, the four had come into the cave's main chamber. A slick, jagged slope was before them, and upon its summit stood their quarry.
This was no dog.
Large as a black bear, with matted and molding fur, the dog's build was hunched and overgrown, its shoulders and torso too large for its paws. From behind grew a tail too-long, with arrow-like barbs growing from it in bleeding pores. But the face was what they saw before all else. Flat where the hound's face ought to be, with a human's face stretched over the gaping hole. Canid eyes glowed with malice, sharp and carnivorous teeth jutting from the ill-fitting lips. To stretch across its overgrown head, the face was warped into a perpetual, sardonic smile. The monster grit its teeth, whipped its tail, and met them in combat. Man-to-man, dog-to-dog.
The first blows were mighty ones; Corrine, unproven and unyielding, threw forth a javelin at the monster with such force that even Argentum was surprised. The spearhead broke into sinew and bone, and the beast howled in anger. This was to be a real fight.
Just as it reeled from Corrine's blow, the hound was met with another from Sigusthir. Battle-axe met brittle bone as he cut into the monster's neck, spraying spiteful blood across the cave's walls. The monster screamed and cursed the two, as Etter and Ruadhán fought to find their own openings.
The sound of violence echoed out of the cave, and Flynn dashed forth with arrows ready. Vasilii was not far behind, calling his hawk to circle the scene as he readied his own javelin. They would join the combat, but not before the Hound could lash out.
The Dog Argentum's claws lunged forth against Sigusthir, raking down his chest. Blood sprayed across the cave from tense and full muscle, and the hound licked its chops with a grin. Sigusthir, the largest of the crew, was wounded, and wounded badly.
Flynn let arrow fly as Corrine joined him with another javelin, and both hit their mark. But it was here that the beast's supernatural nature became evident. Sigusthir and Corrine had wounded the beast before, but only by striking the strongest of blows. Flynn's arrow and Corrine's throw, while strong enough to wound any ordinary foe, simply bit into Argentum's hide. The monster paid them no mind as he continued his assault on the warriors circling him.
Blood pooled around mighty Sigusthir, and the hound sensed weakness. It pounced at the warrior, and would have taken his throat had not Sigusthir's shield broken the bite. But the monster was not rebuffed; as its jaws splintered wood, its claws gashed deep into the Norseman's exposed stomach. His injuries were grave now, his strength failing.
Ruadhán made his next bold claim here. "I will ride upon this beast," he declared, "and I will stab it between its shoulders!" His vigor deepened, and he charged the monster. To grapple the hound was a test of strength, but he succeeded, climbing atop the bucking and snarling beast before bringing his dagger down. The blow was absorbed, but the Boast was made so.
Despite their courage, this battle was going poorly. The wounds sustained by Sigusthir alone would already take some time to recover from. Flynn Sturlasson, ever prudent, called for his allies to fall back and regroup.
"You may leave," Etter called out, axe hacking futilely into the beast's spite-guarded flesh. "But I will not. This beast dies, or I do."
The monster was not yet ready to bring down Etter. Nay, this hound sought to finish what it started. The monster's claws swung out as Ruadhán tried his best to restrain the beast, and caught Sigusthir once more. It was one more blow than the mighty berserker could take. His strength gave, and the Norseman collapsed, crumbling to the cave floor.
Flynn needed to see no more; the archer turned to run, calling for his allies to join him. Vasilii scooped up Sigusthir's heavy frame and began dragging him towards the cave mouth. Corrine, steadfast, hurried forward to guard their exit, her spear filling the void left by Sigusthir's fall. But it would not be enough. The Man-Faced Hound had been stalling them.
The tide had come in.
Waves crashed into the cavern with white ferocity, striking Flynn from his feet. Vasilii may have endured had he not been carrying mighty Sigusthir, but the waters washed them both. Sigusthir's lungs began to fill with water, blood mixing with foam.
Ruadhán, ever the Christian, offered an accord to the monster as he grappled it. "Stop this now," he shouted. "return to your master, and you need not die!"
The hound howled at the cave ceiling, and his tail raised high. "NEVER!"
Iron grown from spite drove itself through Ruadhán's maille. He felt it puncture within him, blood and strength leaving him rapidly. The Ruisman priest, voice of the Dogs, slumped off of the monster, bleeding badly.
As Ruadhán fell and Sigusthir drowned, the ogre-slayer Flynn sloshed through the crashing waves and made his escape. Corrine followed, her spear wet with dogsblood now. Vasilii may have joined them, had not Sigusthir's body ceased to thrash. Anger bit deeply into the He-Witch's heart, and he made one last Boast.
"I will avenge Sigusthir! I will slay this monster where it stands!" And so the Easterner waded back into the battle, sword in hand.
Etter hacked at the monster, but found no purchase. Argentum's body seemed to pay no mind to any of their blows. His jaws crushed Etter's shield, and his tail cut the maimed man's throat. Etter fell to the stoneworks, slain by the same beast that had killed his rival.
Ruadhán gasped upon the stone, blood leaving his lips with each hacking wheeze. Before he had departed, the faceless man had given him a bronze cross. It would be the last thing Ruadhán ever beheld, as life left his body.
Brave Vasilii, never the warrior but ever the fighter, struck against the hound as best he could, and found no purchase. The Hound gave him one last cruel grin before it drove a spike through his stomach. He fell limp, with none left to save him.
And so Flynn, Valdamarr, and Corrine dragged themselves from the cave's mouth. Survivors, battered and beaten, but alive. They returned to Dorbagh to lick their wounds and gather the Thralls.
There was a lesson in this battle. Their initial plan of binding the beast and dragging it away was a great one. They had the man-power and the tools to make it work. But with their Boasts on the line, a desire to push through, and a fundamental lack of knowledge about their foe (such as Supernatural HD, or how the tide might rush in), even a well-armed group with excellent stats was unable to succeed against this single opponent.
Next week, we return to the isle to take stock, take measure, and possibly take revenge.
Until then!