Classic Fantasy Rains of Bone and Ash (first solo rp ever!)
#1
Hey all! My name is Phil, and I only just discovered the concept of solo rp. This is my very first attempt at this and I had a blast! I was sort of developing a system as I went to determine rolls and likelyhood. It is a brief graveyard encounter. Hope you all enjoy it!

The backstory is: months of endless rains have plagued these lands. Frantically, the people search for a solution, as floods and mudslides destroy all civilization. Finally, a strange god of Bone and Ash reveals the cause and the solution to the helpless people of the land. He, the god of Bone and Ash, is a new god in town, and he desires the official position of "God of Death." There's just one problem: There's already a God of Death, and he goes by the name of Ecvret. Ecvret is a very old god with no current priesthood or temple, and the extent of his worship in is the presence of shrines to him that occupy every graveyard. In order to usurp this old god, the god of Bone and Ash has sent an endless rain, one that will only cease once every shrine to Ecvret is destroyed and the old god is rendered powerless. Thus, the God of Bone and Ash has forced the people of these lands to do his dirty work and end Ecvret's reign. 

Adventurer's from all around have heard the call and have systematically been destroying Ecvret's shrines. Our heroes, Galeve, a human professional; Serki, her Dwarven servant; and Buacha, an elven aristocrat,  now approach the final shrine to Ecvret, eager to destroy it and end the cursed rains. But Ecvret will not let that happen without a fight...
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Thunder strikes! Rain pours on the soft, loose soil of the graveyard. Peering up through the rain, our heroes see the shrine, a silhouette in front of the white face of the moon. 

Water flows down the hill before them, like so many rivulets. They begin their ascent. The shrine is their goal.

Are they able to climb the muddy hill without difficulty?

No

Is it all of them that are having trouble?

(50/50 | 2[d10]) No

Galeve rushes forward with ease. She's seen far worse storms and far less solid ground in her time at the coal mines. Behind her, Buacha struggles to keep her boots from getting stuck in the mud. She is moving, but more slowly. Serki, however, with his stout legs and broad, heavy feet, can't make it more than a few feet up the hill.

"Blasted mud!" cries the dwarf, his voice drowned out by the rain, "I can't climb this mud-slide!"

Do his companions notice his struggles?

(Somewhat Likely | 9[d10]) Yes

Buacha halts in frustration, exhausted by the struggle of every step. She sees Serki struggling. The dwarf is now on all fours, covered in mud, but the slender, pale hand of the elf reaches out to him. "Galeve," she calls out, "Galeve!"

Does Galeve hear her?

(Likely | 5[d10]) No, but...

Galeve's foot gets caught on a root. Does she avoid tripping?

(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...

As she falls to the ground, she notices the hill is made up of a network of roots. She looks back at her companions, both still struggling at the base of the hill.

Are there undead nearby?

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

Does Galeve notice the undead approaching?

(Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

Pale figures move slowly toward the base of the hill. Through the storm, a faint groan can be heard. The undead!

"Look out!" Galeve calls to her companions, pointing towards the approaching hoard.

Do they hear Galeve?

(50/50 | 4[d10]) No

With a flash of lightning, deafening thunder obscures Galeve's cries.

Does Galeve stay the course and climb the hill, leaving her companions behind?

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

With one last glance to her companions, Galeve turns back to the task at hand. Grabbing one slick root after the other, she slowly pulls herself up the sodden hill.

At the base of the hill, Buacha struggles to free Serki from the thickening mud. Behind them, the undead approach!

Do our heroes notice them?


(50/50 | 3[d10]) No

Distracted by the cacophony of wind and rain and thunder, their focus on freeeing the sinking dwarf, our heroes don't notice the shambling menace that draws closer. 

One of the undead reaches out for...

Does the undead attack Serki?

(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes

...Serki!

Is Serki quick enough to avoid harm?

(Unlikely | 8[d10]) Yes

STATUS: STUCK IN MUD, AGI -1

(Very Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

The undead sinks its teeth into Serki's shoulder before he even knows it's there!

How bad is the injury?

(1 = 1[d20]) Negligible: Nick/Scratch/Bruise.

Thankfully, the dwarf's leather armor is tougher than the rotted teeth of the walking dead. Still stuck in the mud, he tosses the creature aside. 

How bad is the undead injured?

(23 = 18[d20]+5) Killed.

The loosely held together body of the undead slams against a headstone, its grumbling head flies from its once again lifeless body.

Buacha Moves between the remaining undead and her rooted companion. 

How many undead does she see?



4 = 1[d3]+3[d3]

She makes out 4 rotted corpses shuffling their way towards her. She grabs at the wet handle of her dagger with muddy hands.

Does she avoid fumbling her blade?

(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes

All that practice fencing as a child has finally paid off! With ease she draws her blade and prepares for battle! The undead approach her from all sides. She targets the closest one and lunges a jab towards the foul creature's...

Does Buacha remember the undead's weakness from her childhood fables?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 8[d10]) Yes

...head!

Though not accustomed to the heat of battle, Buacha maintains her focus and remembers that the only way to "kill" the undead is to destroy or remove the head. 

Is Buacha's attack successful?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 5[d10]) No

Her blade is deflected by the creature's clumsy reach. She stumbles one way as the undead stumbles the other.

Does she regain her poise? 

(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...

Buacha turns her stumble into a graceful spin, slashing at the nearest undead menace. 

Does her blow land?

(Somewhat Unlikely | 7[d10]) Yes, but...

BONUS: CRITICAL SUCCESS REGAINING POISE ACC +1

(50/50 | 9[d10]) Yes

With one swift stroke, the creatures head is sent flying into the air, it's body falling limply to the ground.

Serki, still held fast by the mud and facing away from the encounter, calls out, "What the blast is going on back there!?"

Meanwhile, Galeve continues her ascent. She climbs nearer and nearer to the shrine one root at a time.

Her focus is singular: the shrine must be reached and destroyed.

Wind and rain and mud consume her vision. She can hardly make out the moonlit shrine just yards away from her now. But something catches her eye, something that wasn't there before. A great black figure. It moves towards her, a boot clad foot landing in the mud before her face. She looks up at a bearded man in a long black cloak, red eyes glow from beneath the hood. In one hand a massive black ax settles into the water soaked ground.

Serki struggles against the mud, pulling at his sodden boot. A bony hand grabs at his ankle.

Does Buacha reach Serki in time to slay the undead assailant?

(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes

The skeletal fingers grab tightly to the thick leather of Serki's knee-high boot, but in an instant the grip tenses then releases. Serki, somewhat confused, looks over his shoulder just in time to see Buacha lifting up her blade from the crawling undead's severed arm, the hand of which is still loosely gripped around his boot.

Buacha swiftly lifts the blade and brings it down into the helpless creature's skull. Its head slides off the blade and falls into the mud.

"About time! I'm bloody stuck here with these zombies biting and grabbing at me from behind! Get me out of here!" Serki commands.

Buacha scans her drenched surroundings for the remaining walking dead. She spots the two, one on either side of the two heroes, approaching slowly but with purpose. "Stay here!" she tells the dwarf as she heads for the closer of the two undead.

Having warmed up on the previous enemies, Buacha approaches her next target quickly and dispatches it with ease.

Does she reach the other zombie before it reaches Serki?

(Likely | 7[d10]) Yes

It is hardly a race to reach the final undead before it reaches the immobilized dwarf. With a swift slice of her blade the shambling cadaver crumples into a pile of flesh and bones. 

Buacha sheaths her blade and turns her attention to Serki. "You owe me one," she tells the dwarf as she uses a stick to leverage his feet free of the mud, "not least for me freeing you of your muddy trap!"

"You could have freed me FIRST, and we could have slayed the foul creatures together!" He responds, though his voice leans just slightly more towards gratitude than anger.

The two gaze up the hill toward their companion laying prone near the top of the hill, just in time to see a dark hooded figure swinging what seems to be an ax down on her!

Does Galeve dodge the ax blow?

(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...

Galeve tries to dodge the incoming blow but there's not a lot that one can do lying prone, in the mud and rain. She winces in preparation for the blow.

(17 = 20[d20]+-3) Severe Injury: Incapacitating and may become Critical if untreated.

The ax blade blade wedges itself firmly between her ribs, knocking the wind out of her. She can feel the warmth of her blood as it steadily pulses out of her into the rivulets cascading down the hill. Lightning strikes and a crack of thunder makes her ears ring. As the creature removes the ax from her torso she tumbles down the hill.

Buacha stops Galeves tumbling body and Serki rushes to her side. "Mistress!" He calls out.

As the dwarf tends to the lethal wound, Buacha looks for the figure, who is nowhere to be seen. "Where did it go!?" she cries out into the rain, "It's gone! Where did it go!?"

Serki looks up for only a second, glancing around into the pouring rain before returning his attention to his wounded mistress.

Is the hooded man pursuing them?

(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but...

Frantically, Buacha spins around, searching for threats on all sides, and there she sees him: the hooded man. She can make out the beard now, and the glowing red eyes.

"Help me, would you!" Serki calls to her, but notices that she is frozen in fear. He turns to see what she is staring at. Serki stumbles back, slipping onto his back as the hooded figure approaches, "Ecvret..." He recognizes the God of the dead, the one to whom the shrine on the hill is dedicated, the shrine which they have come to destroy.

The God Ecvret halts just yards away from the dwarf, elf, and the wounded human. "You come to destroy my shrine." His voice is low and carries supernaturally through the wind and rain, resounding clearly in the minds of our heroes, "The god of Bone and Ash commands it." The ax wielding go spits, "He wants to rule where I have for millennia."

Our heroes stare in terror at the ghastly visage.

Does one of them find the courage to speak up?

(Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

But none can find the courage to speak.

The God continues, taking one more threatening stride forward, "You will abandon this quest. Turn back and return to where you cam from."

Carelessness

Buacha turns around and scrambles to climb up the slippery hill. "Buacha, no!" Serki calls out, but it is too late. The hooded god goes swiftly after her. The dwarf lunges after the god's legs as he passes.

Does he successfully slow the God?

(Unlikely | 5[d10]) No, but...

His wet hands grab at the unnatural armor of the God but slip right off. Thu god continues after Buacha unhindered. But Serki still has his woodcutting ax! He reaches for it and tosses it at the back of Ecvret's flowing cloak.

Does the ax wound the god?

(Unlikely | 3[d10]) No

The ax hits handle first, bouncing unnoticed off the dark cloak and falling uselessly to the ground.

Serki groans in dismay, glancing first at his mistress lying helpless, then back at the agile elf ascending the hill and the figure pursuing her.

Does Serki try to help Buacha?

(Unlikely | 2[d10]) No

Serki crawls hastily back to his mistress's side. She heaves out a whimper, a spurt of blood gushing from the gash on her side. "Mistress, I've got you! I've got you!" He pulls out a bandage and begins to wrap it around her side. If he could just slow the bleeding...

Buacha makes her way up the muddy hill, crawling, one slick root at a time. Behind her, the hooded god of death calmly strides forward, unaffected by the troublesome weather.

There is no way she will make it to the shrine in time. Glancing over her shoulder she sees the menacing figure approaching. She groans in anticipation of the death that surely awaits her.  

She looks back towards the shrine, still several yards ahead of her, and gathers her resolve. If she gives up, she dies, but if she continues, there's still the slimmest chance of success. With a great yell, she lunges forward, grabbing the next root and pulls herself forward.

The going is slow, but her goal is all she can see. With determination she grabs the next root, but it gives way! It is as if it were never embedded in the ground at all. She slides back, root in hand. A glimmer catches her eye: this is no root, it is Galeve's sword! She must have lost it when she was attacked.

Buacha clenches the handle tight, glances back at her enemy for only a moment before she continues her climb. He is close, but perhaps he does not know she is armed, perhaps she can get a leg up on him with a swift slash of this sword.

She positions herself with her feet firmly hooked in a thick root, stabilizing herself, and flips onto her back, sword hidden in the flowing mud by her side.

The menacing god rises before her, swinging its dark, bloody ax above his head. Now is her chance. She thrusts the sword into the god's chest.

How bad is the god wounded?

(25 = 16[d20]+9) Killed.

A great howl emanates from the God's punctured lungs, louder than thunder, and sending forth a sonic force that sends all the rain flying away. For a moment there is silence and calm before the rain continues its persistent fall. The god groans as it falls to its knees, glowing red eyes flickering. Then only black, empty sockets. Ecvret, God of death, crumples to one side. Moments later the rain stops. Behind her Buacha hears the rattle of falling stone. Turning around she sees the shrine atop the hill crumbling away.

"By the Gods girl!" Serki barks. She turns to see him hunched over Galeve, staring up at her in awe. "You've done it... how did you...?" She looks back down at the black mass that once towered over her. She grabs the sword, still embedded in the corpse, and pulls it free. "Galeve's sword!" Serki claps a hand on his knee with glee before turning back to his wounded master. Galeve whimpers, "Focus...you silly... dwarf. My... wound..." And with a sigh she is unconscious.

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Epilogue: Galeve wakes to bright light, wondering if she has died and gone to the afterlife. Everything is blurry. "You're awake!" It's Buacha's voice. Did she die too? "Serki will be pleased. He just stepped out for a minute to pay the medicine man who healed you." Galeve's vision clears and she sees Buacha standing over her. They are in a small wooden room with one big window, which floods the room with warm sunlight. The wounded human tries to sit up, but pain pierces her side. "Now now, you're healed, but not recovered." Buacha says. 

"Mistress!" Serki enters the room, dropping a back of gold onto the floor. He embraces Galeve, and she embraces him back, for only a moment before pushing him off.

"Now now." Galeve says weakly, "What about our reward? 1000 gold pieces! Is that it on the ground?"

The dwarf looks forelorn and Buacha shrugs, "Well, we received the reward... 1000 gold. As promised..."

Galeve knows something is up. "but..."

"Aren't you just glad to be alive!?" Serki interjects.

The wounded human grabs the dwarf by his beard and pulls him close, "I almost died for that gold. Where is it?"

She frees the dwarf and he stumbles back. Grumbling he leans down to grab the coin purse he dropped. He tosses it onto the bed beside her then turns away from her indignantly. "There's your gold."

Galeve inspects the purse. It's too light. "This can't be it..."

"It's all that's left." Buacha chirps as she leans out the window into the fresh air and daylight.

"All that's left? Serki, what does she mean?"

"Well mistress, you see, you were wounded awfully bad. You nearly died! As you said. And, well, folks don't just come rising up from such mortal wounds, not without proper treatment! You see, the ax went right into your-"

Buacha interrupts the dwarf's rambling, "We spent most of the gold getting you healed, is what your servant dwarf is trying to say." 

Galeve's head falls back onto her pillow, "Damn."

The End
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