Last session of Via Fate had been quite something. We left Via Fate and entered Boar Quest and it was Epic.
It started in a very innocuous fashion. Our rag-tag 3 man party (the minotaur left the group to drink himself to stupour, the rogue was away on Business), decided to check out the defamed alchemist shop.
With grand flourish our resident elf mage entered the shop and declared himself to be an expert on all things magical and a graduate of a very well known university. If the potion seller would be so kind to show him the goods and lay the rumours to rest?...
Unimpressed with all this, the potion seller pulled out her own graduation papers. We were at an impasse. The druid-tree successully blended in with the plants growing all around the shop. The orc decided to save the day.
“Dumb elf. Me clever.”
Whatever Graza lacked in Common language knowledge, she made up with a 20 medicine roll. In an almost eloquent, succinct narration, she described the plants around the shop and their various uses for healing. Pleased to talk to someone who more sense than the dumb elf, the potion seller agreed to show potions.
Unsurprisingly, there was absolutely nothing special about them. So who put up the note on town board that this potion maker absolutely SUCKS and needs to l2p get out of town and stop scamming people.
The potion seller admitted that one customer was recently most unhappy with her potions. It was an ugly, filthy gnome with a few scars and while there are many gnomes fitting that description, Graza was struck with recognition. It was the very gnome who because of whom she lost the opportunity to earn 50 gold. To someone else it may have been a petty grievance, but to Graza’s greedy and petty soul this was a Grave Offense and the gnome has become her Nemesis.
And now, Fate has lead her to him. Justice would be done.
Usually bored and content enough to just follow the group, Graza had now Took Charge. She dragged the elf out of the shop, shook him down till her gave her fuzzy balls from the magical bag. What do fuzzy balls do? Fuzzy balls turn to animals. Lion was a fluke (it was scared of Graza ever since she punched him in the muzzle to establish dominance and did no longer listen to her ), the goat wandered off to join the minotaur in drinking itself silly and then... the Giant Boar appeared. Are boars good at sniffing out stuff? Spoiler alert: boars are the best at sniffing people out, as it turned out.
Now there was only the small detail of finding something with the gnome’s scent. But Graza was on a roll. She confidently strode into the tavern where the very gnome Ruined Her Payday. The innkeeper was less than thrilled to inform Graza of whereabouts of the gnome.
“Are you trying to tell me that this very gnome who tried to cheat you out of your money is now accused of some wrongdoing and needs to be stopped?”
Graza almost wept from joy at hearing this. “Yes,” she beamed at the innkeeper with most blissful smile. What a wonderful coincidence. Even dumb humans could understand what an amazing stroke of luck this was.
Innkeeper grew only more sceptical. But thankfuly There Was A Tree. The tree put its arm on Graza’s shoulder and with all his demeanor showed that the situation was under control. No murder would take place. Maybe a little beatdown. Nothing to worry about. Just tell us about the gnome.
The gnome had a room in the tavern which was not cleaned yet. Only person to be happier about finding a pair of stinky socks than Graza, was Dobby and he is from a different universe.
EQUIPPED WITH A PAIR OF STINKY SOCKS, A BOAR AND A DRUID WHO TURNED INTO A WOLF THEY WERE WELL EQUIPPED TO FIND THE GNOME. What could go wrong? Well. Nothing. If you are reasonable. And not an overly excited orc who can’t wait to finish off her nemesis.
She let the boar and the druid-wolf sniff the socks. The wolf was ready to lead them to the gnome, but the boar was willing to find the gnome AND to barrel down the streets, creating mayhem and chaos. Guess who the orc followed, not only not trying to bring it to heel, but edging it on to go faster?
The elf almost had a stroke. He had no spells to stop either the orc nor the boar. And so both the elf and the druid jogged after the orc and her boar.
Alas, the town was more of a city and as every fantasy city, it had adventurers. And while some adventurers are chaotic bastards (see: Graza), others are more than willing to bring peace and order. Especially if it meant setting someone on fire.
Spoiler: the boar got set on fire. A halfling appeared out of an alley, blasted the boar with flame, and exited the scene. The boar got Angry. Thankfully, the druid appeared in time to calm it down by feeding it Goodberries and persuaded it NOT to go after the innocent passerbies.
The boar continued it journey just as the wheezing elf made it the scene. The elf was truly not having a good day.
Graza on the other hand was overjoyed (even if the boar was not walking at a brisk pace, instead of RUNNING LIKE A RACE HORSE). What’s better than this, pursuing her rightful pray? What she did not consider, was that the halfling was not the only one bringing peace and order to the city.
Just as she merrily crossed the corner, she faced a minimum of ten crossbows looking in her face. She nervously waved and grinned at the guards. The guards were more than a little unnerved by her menacing smile and the weird jerky motions of her arm.
And then the boar joined Graza. Several guardsmen fired immediately, missing in most typical Fantasy Guard fashion. Graza knew, that this was the time to Take Action.
As it is most characteristic of her, she rolled another 20 on a Strength roll. She picked up the boar like a baby, carried it behind the corner, put it down and said “run”.
Neither the bewildered elf, nor the tree followed her command. But the boar? He’s a team player. You can rely on him. He sure as fuck followed her command, the orc swung herself on the boar and then she rode into a side alley, ready to lose themselves in the city and resume their hunt at a bit latter point in time.
But they forgot about one important thing. In Alleys Be Halflings. And what do halflings do in this city? Apparently set people and boars on fire. What do people and boars not like? Being set on fire.
Graza was even willing to abandon her Gnome Quest and start a Halfing Quest. Riding her boar she turned into another side alley, in time saw the tripwire, told the boar to jump, but unfortunately boars turned out to be not the fastest nor most dexterous animals. Both of them fell to the ground.
But wait, what were the elf and the tree druid doing in the meantime? Not much. Pretending to be passerbies. Magicking a rope and swinging themselves on rooftops to search for Graza, telepathically asking her to tell her location and provide updates on her situation. You know, usual Spidermen adventurer stuff.
Anyway, back to Graza. By now her great day turned into not such a great day. She heard guards just around the corner. She had burn wounds. She and her ego got hurt by falling on the ground. It was time for tactical retreat.
However, with halfling somewhere in front of her and guards behind her, there was not much of a chance getting out of here. Graza did the most logical thing. She told the boar: “stay”, and then ran for her life.
At some point, she sat down in some back alley. She could quite clearly hear the sounds of fighting and eventually, the painful cries of a boar dying. Oh, don’t be such a baby, you fuzzy ball boar. Let the day pass and the group would get another chance to pull out a fuzzy ball and the boar would once again walk among the living.
Still, it made Graza quite melancholic. As the mage and the tree found her, they found her uncharacteristically subdued and lead her to a clinic in the docks. As she got healed by the resident quacksalber, she even uttered “thanks” in the general direction of the mage.
It was, by the way, the very first somewhat pleasant thing she said to the mage. Before it was a lot of shoving, demanding the fuzzy balls bag and “dumb elf” comments.
All in all? Character development, epic chases, relationship development, BOARS. Really fun session. I am a very happy orc right now.