Hardcore Heroes Otherside: Episode 3

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== Synopsis ==
As the survivors of a shipwreck struggle to fix their galleon and prepare for a perilous journey, they face dwindling resources and mounting threats. Van, one of their leaders, writes crucial notes for their allies and investigates the town's remaining supplies. They encounter supernatural phenomena and struggle with hunger and demonic possession. After several failed attempts to leave their cursed plane, they make a dangerous decision to beach the ship and continue their trek northward. Along the way, they face fierce attacks from chompers and endure severe hunger, leading to contentious debates over cannibalism. Despite their grim circumstances and increasing desperation, they press on towards the Great Pyramid of Heatstroke, grappling with both their dwindling numbers and their uncertain faith in the gods.
==Recap==
=== Shirebrook ===
While fixing their galleon for travel the survivors do a headcount among themselves which turns up 120 people still alive. Van takes 3 pages out of the dwarven journal and writes notes on them, explaining their findings and aims, addressed to Malakai in case he comes looking for the party, one goes to Halfpint, one to Malakai's house and last one to Barons room in the keep. Notably in Malakai's house Van couldn't get through the doors last time, but was able to now. 
Kain goes around Shirebrook trying to find any other weapons that might’ve not already be looted. A crossbow and a pair of spears are found in the sheriffs office. Their armory now comes to 22 spears, 6 crossbows and a whole lot of improvised clubs. Despite looking everywhere for more bolts it appears they can find only about 8 bolts for each crossbow, party notes that town ought to have many more in case of something like a siege.
Van checks out Tyrus's house, but finds nothing of note. 
=== Into the Sea ===
Without really any food to take with them weapons are basically their only luggage for the journey. Without further ado the town piles into a large galley, the sailors take a while instructing everyone on rowing techniques and giving them a FAQ. Van notifies whoever's going to be steering to keep close to the shore since they don't know what horrors might await them in the open sea.
Hoping for a calm journey Kain decides to get some sleep, Van chuckles to himself not really believing they'll get such respite. The cleric notes that his hunger has disappeared the same way Kain's did. Before sleep Kain tries to meditate using the constant sound of the water and oars, he imagines a flute melody which guides him to a flat silver surface where on one side is his pure self and other side a void. There he greets the creature inside of him and then asks it to show itself to him, nothing but quiet keeps Kain company until he feels a chill at pit of his stomach. Thoughtful, Kain assumes that despite being there it cannot communicate with him so he tells the thing that he won't allow it to harm the people nor his world, that if those are its plans he will be watching and ready to stop them. Meanwhile, Van, using drums as sort of a white nose, prays to Chis.
Few hours later they are risen and led up to the deck where Mother Ellyse is looking out to the shore. With her urging they look at the shore and notice they're only a few miles out of Shirebrook at which Ellyse tells them they've been rowing for hours now, but the distance from the town hasn't changed as if they were stuck in the water, by her words for every step forward they slip one back. Thinking on this it occurs to Van that there has neither been rain nor any other weather anomaly. She also mentions they tried going deeper and shallower in the sea, but nothing helped. With no apparent reason for the ship not to move Van orders them to come ashore, the head sailor mentions that the ship cannot be beached here without damage. They ponder on it, Van tries to tell if they're moving forward and then sliding back by looking at the shore, but the weird world they're in is just playing with their minds at this point and they decide to simply beach it, rowing out in small boats seemed a tad dangerous in case of creatures inside the water. 
=== Long Road Into the Ashlands ===
They safely get back in Shirebrook and then make their way out the town in northward direction. The road out of town disappears a little while later so it's left to their sense of direction to find Heatstroke. Party decides to keep within eyesight of trees until Anvil.
Luckily they only have their clothes and weapons to carry with them, except for Jeeves whose carrying chester with him. Van promises to give him an exorbitant retirement fund once they get back despite his bleak opinion on their chances of getting back. He also assures him that they will get back, the world cannot lose someone with a golden heart such as his which makes the old man tear up a little. 
Looking to protect the townspeople from a sneaky attack they assemble the best fighters on edges of the group with Lord Cougler at the front, Kel Breda at the back and Ellyse in the middle. Van remembers to get some barrels of water for their group before they get too far from Shirebrook. 
They get to the ashlands without any encounters, wide open chaparral going out as far as the eye can see. Van reminisces about fighting goblins in these plains.
Suddenly some shouting erupts in the crowd and investigation reveals that while they were walking past a brush 2 people were possessed by the misty demonic creatures. Without really anything they can do about this Van orders people to keep a distance from brushes as they continue onward. Van and Kain, remembering the times when Van was almost killed with a single spear hit by an ogre from 2 football fields away or when a tiger almost ate Kain, exchange a little bit of snickering when people appear to be shocked they're in constant danger of an attack.
=== The Swarm ===
With his sharp ranger eyes Kain notices a line of flying creatures approaching the group. He calls for the crowd to stop and assemble the fighters to face the threat as the chomper bats get closer. The long ranged people fire a successful volley killing a few of the chompers, knights and spearmen kill few more, but 21 chompers collide into the line of people. Chaos ensues with party trying to keep casualties to a minimum, Van wrestles a bat away from a person trying to punch it to death. Eventually the peasants finish clubbing what bats are left, Mother Ellyse counts their dead while Van suggests attempting to evade the swarm next time they see one.
Hours of trudging later everyone settles down to rest for a while. Having come come here possibly up to 7 days ago there's a fair few people who are growing gaunt by now not having had a single meal since their arrival. Many people are growing more destitute and irate with their conditions, constant danger and hunger. Van joins Ellyse to begin another mass prayer to help with the mood.
Kain finds some of the other possessed people and gives them the better weapons from those who fell in the battle. One the people asks why them and he explains that without hunger they might do better in battle, the peasant tries to play off that, to pretend that he is hungry, but Kain has none of it pointing out that he also is possessed. The man seems to have been playing along with others trying to fit in. They do take the weapons and armor however.
After sufficient rest they continue their journey, still at about half of their speed because of the old and the young among them. Van attempts to pray to Chis for hours on end during their resting periods.
A few days later they come on the border of firewood, close to which is Anvil. Before they enter the woods nobles gather to discuss their situation. They seem to prefer the idea of cutting through the wood as opposed to going around, but Kain points out that they've had many more encounters in the woods than in the plains, also going between trees might slow them down which could mean essentially same total time taken as going around. The nobles seem surprisingly unwilling to argue over this, but they then bring up the topic of alternative ways to feed the starving masses. Kain is voices his disapproval and Van argues that this would further reduce their morale, from wherever it is currently. The nobles agree that it's a not light decision to make and that they should all be unanimous on it, Van adds tho that people might decide to do it on their own and they should make a decision before that. 
It is noted that the group lost 10 people from the 126 they had. 
6 more possession attacks are had next day, one happening near Van, but he is not able to catch the creatures before they merge. 
During one the nights Van tries connecting to Malkis through prayer, figuring that with the disappearance from the sky it is possible he may reside near this miserable plane now. Unlike the prayers to Chis, a cry into empty sky, with Malkis Van feels more like there's a monster in the closet which he is trying to talk to. There is no response however so in an attempt to kindle some kinship with the god of chaos he reminisces about the time a knight and his retinue tried to stop the party on their way to Cauldron and force them to pay him a tool which resulted in Van and others slaying the knight and some of his men in a general fuck you to the law, (Hardcore Heroes EP 31). Like through a Rapport spell he tries to show the memory to Malkis, he doesn't feel a response from him, but the feeling of the entity in the closet remains, almost like it's listening. Van keeps this up for most of the night, his demeanour unlike the previous nights where he has had a few quiet breakdowns from the separation from his goddess, but here he is more calm and collected, at his core glad that there is SOME presence out there still. 
Kain makes some simple wooden javelins which they distribute among the more capable fighters. 
=== Anvil ===
People spread out through the town and gather what they can find which might be useful such as water for their barrels. In the towns sheriff office they again find only 2 spears and 1 crossbow with same amount of bolts. Van notes that the office looks pretty much the same decor and placement wise, he is pretty sure the shapes of the streets are what Anvil used to look like when he visited the town, small voice in his mind worrying they might have been looped back into Shirebrook.
They come to the keep to which the gates are locked which they put fire to, wary of using their energy to chop the gates up. Fire once more doesn't seem to emit proper light, but smoke billows as it should.
Inside the keep Van reminisces about their little jaunt in here, giving Kain a quick tour of the place. In the armory they find 6 suits of leather armor, 8 spears and 2 crossbows. Van looks around, mulling over how the general decorations in here, besides the trappings having a different symbol on them, are very similar to the ones in Shirebrook. Van gets an idea that it's almost as if there's a set number of props available for populating these towns. 
While they're organizing their inventory Mother Ellyse comes by, she mentions since the mass prayer in the church she hasn't been able to connect to Astair. She then brings up the thought that the connection between the world and the gods is strongest at certain times, but since they cannot tell what day it is it's hard to tell when might such a day come. Van theorizes that they're in the plane of the gods where Malkis once was and this is the aftermath of a god leaving its plane. Ellyse ponders on this, the idea prickling her interest, but the theories of godly planes are very uncertain topic since no one has ever visited them to their knowledge, further on Van theorizes that them not being able to go out into the sea is because they hit the border of another gods domain. Kain doesn't quite subscribe to this, idea that gods live in a copy of the humans world not connecting to him, but Van thinks that it's simply the plane translating the domain into terms they can understand hence the imperfect copy of their home. Getting an idea Van inspects Harvest Moon, other than the full/almost full moon symbols that light up faintly during full moons there doesn't seem to be a built in calendar however. Van notices that the day/before after carving is actually softly glowing and expresses his hope that maybe tomorrow its full moon and they may contact their gods to Mother Ellyse. 
A cry in the streets goes out about more demons and Kain sprints out leaving Van. 4 people have already been possessed and 2 are still struggling. Kain stabs one of the creatures and it begins transforming into the full form version of itself he fought with Van in Shirebrook. He shouts at it to reveal information about what it is but he gets some roaring in return so he chops the thing to death. 5 more armbands are handed out for a total of 21. 
While this is happening Van reveals to Ellyse that he made some form of contact with Malkis. She is taken aback, both concerned and confused since he was the one who took down the clerics of Malkis back in the day. He explains that it wasn't as deep as with Chis, but that there was a presence, she warns him though that its a road that goes both ways. They do not have many options however and she tells him that she isn't judging him, however she fears that contacting him may do more harm than good. Van ponders whether he might have been able to make the connection due to the lunar cycle.
=== Road to Heatstroke ===
Back on the road they go. Van decides it would be best to keep in the eyesight of Roc ridge mountains so they won't get lost on their way to Heatstroke. Their journey is given an unhappy start though when a sobbing woman comes up to Ellyse with her dead emaciated child in her arms. Van decides to try cooking up the slain demon. Kain tries comparing his blood to the demons and notes that it appears to be slightly lighter in color, but when combined there's no reaction. The meat of the demon turns out to taste rotten instead of ashy, not exactly what Van might’ve hoped for.
Noting the difference of energy levels and muscle tone it becomes readily apparent that Van and other demon possessed people are faring a lot better than the rest who have grown rather thin in comparison. Van speaks to Ellyse about it, suggesting it may be better if she took in one the creatures instead of dying from hunger. She asks whether it was Malkis who put this idea in his head, seemingly distrustful of Van now due to what he told her. 
Sometime the next day Van realizes that it's full moon (making it Wednesday, 1509-12-14) and stops everyone for a prayer. On his knees he prays and unlike the void before his words echo, more like talking through a wall, but strongly enough to memorize some spells. Overjoyed he prays and communes with Chis, who tells him that is very far away and she can barely hear him, she doesn't reply when he asks whether Malkis is involved. Memorizing spells seems to take a lot longer here however.
The group ends up bunking down for the night while they wait for the clerics to pray. After an unspecified amount of time Van is done, goes to hug Mother Ellyse in a crack in his character and then goes to find a pool of water with which to scry on Malakai. Malakai looks to be in the woods, sitting in the grass surrounded by books in middle of reading. Van waits for him to notice the scrying and then breaks the spell. Van and Kain agree that at least they're glad Malakai is still alive, though are confused why he is in a forest. The cleric then approaches Ellyse and proposes running back to Anvil to magically know the age of the furniture there to see whether it was created the moment they arrived here or it's been here longer. She leaves the decision to him since she still has some spell to learn. Before they part Kain asks whether Ellyse might try asking Astair to grant father Owen a vision of their situation, she answers, perhaps, but it's not her place to tell gods to do things. Both Van and Ellyse agree asking god's for intervention like that is a tad out of their place. Van memorizes a few more spells. 
During their prayers an elderly man dies to hunger. 
Van decides to attempt using Genius to discern what is this plane and gets the answer that it is plane of shadow. He also informs Mother Ellyse of this finding, but she doesn't know anything more about this plane other than knowing that Georg back in Eridon had knowledge of it. Van theorizes that Malakai might have sought assistance of the Wraith of the Tetherwilds. 
Van tries to give some tips to the spear-men on how to keep a head on their shoulders during a fight.
Kain spots a swarm of more chomper bats and the group organizes into a defensive posture, Van hoping to purify the bats to be edible being the reason they're going to fight them instead of trying to avoid them. A huge volley of javelin's and bolts kill a few of the chompers, the group a little better organized this time. Many being killed before they reach the bulk of the people the casualties from chompers are kept minimal, though friendly fire still takes a few. In total they lose 3 people in the fight which is much better than last time. Van piles up the chomper corpses and Purifies them, it appears that the taste doesn't improve by much, but for feeding the starving it will do. In the process Ester and Thoros Highwind come up to the front of the line to get the food first. 
Possessed not needing food they still don't manage to feed everyone, favoritism taking a toll. Small fights break out between people who hadn't managed to get any with those who did. Morale is not holding up well. Van seeks out Breda for advice how to help the situation and she suggests that between food, entertainment and fear their only option right now is the fear. She suggests executing one the rioters. Van decides that he doesn't want to take the loss in the situation where they already are steadily dropping people and goes to seek mother Ellyes's advice, but soon an outright brawl breaks out. Van tries to shout the people down, but no one is listening so he starts pulling people off others while Kain knocks another out and Lord Cougler does the same. The fight then peters out with people throwing accusations at each other and Van announces that next time this will happen they will start executing the participants, Cougler looks at him and announcing that he won't be so lenient, because they will either live together or die together, stabs the guy he had in his arm. 
=== The Hourglass Desert ===
Some time later the group comes upon the edge of the of hourglass desert. They don't feel any heat radiating from it at which Kain remarks is a silver lining to their predicament. 
While they're resting Van, upon looking at Kain for a little longer, realizes that there's something a little different about the ranger. The rings under his eyes have lightened, his cheeks have filled out a little bit, he simply looks a bit more handsome. 
In the desert they again slow down, the cart and the barrels taking a while to move through the sand. Kel Breda implements technique of using spears to create a traveling track of sorts to help with the barrels. 
After 2 rest periods 2 more people succumb to starvation. Cougler comes up to the party and urges them to consider cannibalism again. Van sighs and tells him that he won't be part of it, but Cougler can decide on it on his own. Cougler then goes to one the recently passed corpses and hacks off her arm which he gives to group of people who seem to be in need of nutrients the most. They don't have any wood though so the person looks at the arm in silence, many stares fall on them and silence grips the whole crowd, but eventually the person starts gnawing on the arm. After a while people grimly begin dissecting the rest of the corpse. 
Van finds Jeeves, the old man shaking a little, and gives him some of the rations they still have left in chester. He is very thankful, but Van quiets him stressing the importance of keeping this under the wraps from others.
Van tries to contact Malkis again, he tries to speak to the entity in the metaphorical closet, then tries to go over his journey in black pine marsh where he killed the cultists, but the god seems to ignore him. Facing a wall Van tries to contact any of the other offspring of Malkis, but again, only gets void them. 
During their next few resting periods few more people die and are cannibalized, but eventually they reach the edge of Heatstroke with The Great Pyramid stretching out hundreds of feet into the air. 
Mother Ellyse pulls the party aside and tells them she feels a strange presence here and they agree to scout the place out first. Kain notices that Van has grown gaunter, his skin has become blotchy and he now has dandruff, the opposite of Kain's transformation.
== Experience and changes ==
* 4312XP to Van/Kain (+ 10% prerequisite XP not included)
Category:Hardcore Heroes Episodes