Rebuilding the South
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Helene and Narielle would have been present through much of this. While mostly just acting as an extra pair of hands (Helene having worked the farms south of the city for years and years now), Helene can lend her polymorphing and water elemental summons to the cause. Narielle isn't really useful at all. She just pokes people and demands gems and sweeties constantly regardless of how many she gets.
((Would have posted sooner but I've been quite busy ^^; ))
Meanwhile, a young priest of Gond living in Peltarch by the name of Kevmorn would display an avid interest in the irrigation work going on, and offer some of his (novice) blessings.
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The priestess, overworked and weary smiles looking up to Thom and nods in response, her fingertips glancing the back of his upper arm in a warm gesture before getting back to work. Having worked harder than she ever had before these last couple of years, slight dark circles and light crowsfeet line her eyes, as well as a few silver strands of hair despite her age, she carries them gracefully, other than the lightest of make up so accent her lovely features, she makes no attempt to hide them, wearing them with honor in the line of duty.
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_The soil is rich once more, and while the plant levels have not reached the former supernatural blessed levels, they are at least average.
Baron Tiller grins at Anna: "Ye've done one hell of a job Anna. Mind if I come fer a visit some eve?"_
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Content faces, though her presence is still seen often on the fields, the long hours of toil subside as she now keeps on site to offer blessings of growth to the fields, heal workplace injuries, tend to animals, and offer evening mass a few tenday a week to keep the people's spirits lifted.
The work isn't over yet, as plans for the irrigation system are under way, and copper donations pledged will soon be coming in. Word comes that the Union has been contracted to help with installation, while Anna herself looks to be studying diagrams of pipes and valves that would be made available from the city to help along with other efforts.
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Even though the rebuild progress is still ongoing, the productivity is slowly becoming normal on the fields. The farmers are extremely happy.
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The snow storm never moved much south beyond the city itself, the farm fields being untouched by the drastic change for the most part. After a few days, the bitter cold seems to warm up a bit inside the city and the snow stops falling for now, though snow drifts linger on throughout the city streets.
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With the unseasonable weather happening in the city, Anna uses blessings of control weather to counteract what may be transpiring, from what rumors said, a druid that has been attempting to cause trouble for the city, at least over the fields.
Having some pretty good knowledge of the weather, and how the cold air will come down from the mountains, she'd pray for the most part for warm weather with winds that can gently mitigate the cold air drift coming from the mountains, but the efforts can prove taxing.
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Anna would give thanks to the Damaran farmer, offering the individual blessings as needed, as well as informing them that should there be anything he needed.
A few days after, it seems to be a day of mourning and sadness for the priestess, a treasured childhood friend having passed away due to an incurable illness, she offers remembrance and prayer. Some time passing, with the ceremony done, with a somber smile, the priestess gets back to work. As a wise individual had once told her; "Thoughts and prayers can be helpful, but thoughtfulness through action will always be the better route. Let those who have passed help you grow and be a better person, for them, and for yourself."
As druids continue to bring earthworms to help churn and enrich the soil with nutrients, Anna in turn would work with others to begin the planting phase. An abundance of seeds with Damara combined with the early harvest in the west thanks to plant growth magics provides a great boon. Wheat, corn, and other seasonal grains planted now. Though a lack of variety at this time may be apparent, the sheer potential abundance of common foods should hopefully be enough to help endure the winter to come once the time of harvest is upon the farmlands.
Lastly, Anna made contact with Z the other day, in discussion of contracting the union in order to have them help lay pipeline, and they offered to do the work at greatly reduced cost, provided the ingots were provided. At this point, Anna would contact city engineers and get an estimate from standard city contractors at the cost of doing an irrigation system of this magnitude for labor, which she would then approach the union who could may hopefully be able to offer something more affordable.
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_Fodel smiles when Anna tells the story. The people around seem to be excited to hear these stories.
One morning a traveling merchant comes to Anna, and delivers two bags of seeds from Damara to her._
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While working on the fields, she would even invite one of her commanding officers as well, wanting to give them an oral report of what transpired, when it came time for the great feast at the end of the tenday evening, Anna would recollect the story of how the brave and mighty hero of the fields Fodel, the amazing witch Chea, and herself managed to save a young girl that had been kidnapped from Peltarch!
"We were heading down to Norwick with the riverboat to offer a blessing to the land on my day off, and help them deal with some of the nasty undead riffraff. As we were getting nearer and nearer, there was a large pirate ship that had ambushed us at the crevas where I had once traveled to fight the undead Eastlanders!"
"Well, they managed to catch up to the riverboat quickly, and had offered us the ultimatum to surrender! "
Anna would grin!
"Us, surrender? You think we'd surrender to pirates? No way! With Chauntea's gift, I summoned a very big fire elemental on their shi, and told them to sail away and back off or there will be trouble, threatening to burn it down! Well… suffice to say, they didn't like that! So, before I could get a chance to burn the sucker down, many nasty pirates emerged, all servants of the evil sea queen!" They might notice that she refrains from cussing at this point with possible children present! The amazing ally and witch Chea offered us some protections in turn, and then turned invisible, to watch us fromt he shadows with her mystic magic powers!"
One by one, they were cut down! I held them off, while Fodel with his mighty scythe fell them, one by one, meanwhile Chea did a valiant job healing us in turn, as these brutes were very nasty!. Their archers in turn then came out and began shooting us! But, from a previous adventure, I got this neat magic wand and ZAP, they started shooting each other instead! Then, with a mighty leap, Fodel jumped over and kicked their butts! Hearing voices from their door leading down below, including a girl crying, Fodel heard a little girl crying."
Anna would drum her fingers over the table, as if creeping down the stairs then.
"From there, we went down and we knew then and there we had someone to save. We saw some trip wires, but Chea managed to disable them with her magic! The pirates weren't too happy though, and again, we offered them a chance for mercy, but they refused to comply! Fodel had enough of their rubbish and charged in bravely, like shepherd protecting his flock from wolves, knowing that if he failed the little girl could not be saved, he brought them down one by one! We had checked the chest to see if the girl might have had been trapped inside, but instead we pirated the pirates, taking their coin! The next room following, Chea managed to stop the traps again!"
A look of concern visible on her face though.
"These men were different though, powerful priests of Umberlee, they summoned powerful elementals that almost took us down, and lightning from the sky! We barely managed to beat 'em, but defeat them we did! Healing up with potions, very few blessings left on my part as we were going to Norwick to pray, we drank many-a-potion to gather our bearings. This door though was quite durable so I turned into a celestial beast of burden Chauntea herself had granted me the form to, and MOOOOO! Headbutted the heck out of that door, smashing it down!"
She puts fingers to her head, making horns and does a charging gesture!
"Bonk! Door smashed open, we went down, and we finally caught up to their boss... and the girl in a cage behind her. With a flaming crossbow in one hand and sword in the other, he was terrified! I could tell he didn't want to die with how scared he was, but he also had it set up so the ship would blow if he had no choice. Well... no blessings from Chauntea left, we had to rely on our wits! He aimed the crossbow at the girl, but with a greatsword in his other hand, even if point blank, we knew that we had to do something to disrupt his concentration! I told him I would let him go, and write him a document saying he would be free to leave as I pulled out parchment... well..."
She would grin and take the nearest person under her arm, then cover his eyes.
"It was a scroll of darkness, lights went out!" She'd grin and give the person she grabbed a small hug, then let them go. Fodel shouted for the girl to duck, but at that point he dropped his crossbow, so startled that we charged in. Once the lights came back on though, he reached for it again as it fell on the floor, but I stomped the flame out! This fellow was really, REALLY tough, and it took us both a potion of Heal and what little of Chauntea's might left I could muster to bring him down. But down he fell! We took his key then, let little 'Anna' out! "
Anna giggles, and grins! A look of pride and accomplishment glowing about her!
"Yup, she had the same name as me! Well, anyway, covering her eyes so she wouldn't see the mess of dead pirate baddies, Chea carried her out, fodel and I exhausted and worn, we made our way back on deck. Then, at this point, we decided to out-pirate the pirates, and took their whole ship! Its now docked up north, crown property! We're having the pirates cremated so they don't come back as undead water zombies! And best of all, we brought little Anna back to her father! Though its bittersweet that the guard had fallen, he will be remembered as a hero who did his best to protect little Anna! All said and done, overall, it was a pretty fun journey!"
Anna would inform her superior she would document this in writing, perhaps with a little less enthusiasm if he wished, but does reaffirm that all that had transpired was truth, and that order had been restored once more to the river valley.
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Peltarch's Harvesmistress calls out to the people of Peltarch, miners, farmers, and crafters alike to donate smelted copper ingots and sacks of grain to Peltarch. Any and all grain that can help be sewn would be appreciated! If anyone is willing to go to Damara or Rashemen and return with a few sacks of grain, Anna would be willing to pay for transport costs.
Furthermore, 12,000 ingots worth of copper will be needed to make the pipes, as well as security detail. As incentive, the priestess offers to do a personal powerful (8 point) enchantment on behalf of the Chauntean church to the individual who can provide the most Ingots, but only if the ingot requirements are met! Furthermore, a master blacksmith will be required to build the valve she needs to her specifications.
As much as the priestess would like to go gather the seeds herself with others, she is required on the fields, and alas cannot go herself out of region, and entrusts this to those who might have opportunity to travel.
Lastly, a wizard that can cast permanency must be tracked down!
(If any DM wants to run an event to gather grain, and could maybe seed some copper around in places where its around, it would be a big help thanks!)
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With the assessment returned, having done her own research, Anna would look for crafters willing to donate copper or make copper pipes with ingots collected. Even she herself can be seen heading out, maybe to learn a thing or two about mining to help out with efforts.
One moderate snag at this point though. With the chance of copper poisoning as well as possible pollution from the lake, an enchanted valve would be required with an enchanted mithral lining, the precious metal along with a permanent blessing of purify drink would keep particulate from causing mineral poisoning in the fields.
(The enchantment cost would be up to DMs discretion if allowed, as well as the amount of mithral required to line it. As someone who has worked with valves in the past in real life, I can tell ya that it shouldn't use too much metal. Since electrolysis isn't a thing, pretty much RP wise you'd have to pound flat a layer of mithral sheet metal a millimeter or two thin and line the inside but we can let this be at the DM's decision the quantity. A good example of what the valve would look like, with a 4 inch diameter flow, which I would imagine would be more than enough volume for proper irrigation.)
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City planners return with the assessment.
((You're looking at roughly 8000 ingots for the pipeline itself plus extra 4000 to get full-area coverage))
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Rumors fly that the priestess Anna had taken a tenday leave of absence from active duty and farm fields due to unforeseen circumstances. Rumors spread that she had fallen into doubt after being slain in the Harbinger mines, not too far from where Telli had fallen many decades ago. Though eventually returning from the shrine in Peltarch, she would return to work, enthusiastic to help and using Chauntea's blessings along with the druids to assist once more.
Anna would also contact city planners and ask for an assessment to which how much copper piping would be needed to run a proper irrigation line to the farms from the lake. Once the estimate is made, she'll be looking for people she can contract to make the pipes.
(Asking a DM to give me an approximate 'copper ingot' count required to make all the piping, and at that point, if any players want to craft it IC, they might be able to proxy crafting something else like a pick axe to RP forging proper piping, valves, etc. I was hoping installation can be done through DM or with permission, player run RP in the sewers, PCs/npcs can install while others defend them against cultists)
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The druids, too, finally begins to work on the soil using the same tactics as Anna does. The progress is extremely rapid compared to what it has been so far, the ground visibly in better shape even after the first couple of castings.
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Using an altered blessing creeping doom, but modifying the blessing with prayers to Chauntea, in a way so instead of summoning centipedes that would normally strip flesh apart from bone with ease, she would have prayed for dirt-craving earthworms instead, to process the soil and revitalize it. As the worms are called forth from surrounding wood and not just summoned, Anna would hope they would become a permanent fixture. Though there was much land to cover and the druids help would still be great, Anna hopes this is a step in the right direction.
The prayer she would use in this instance for the blessing, each time prior to casting it:
"May swarms of worm in centipedes stead, consume the earth rather than flesh of living in dead. Chauntea we revere you, as we wish this land be restored, help renew this land, with a great earthworm horde."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/creepingDoom.htm
(The parameters she would have asked to change for the blessing would be earthworms instead of centipedes, and consuming the earth instead of attacking living beings, so in essence I do hope this is acceptable, pending DM approval! It is normally a Druid Only spell, but its on her spell list, so I hope its acceptable to use. If not, we'll disregard this post!)
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_Fodel's bringing in berries, pine cones and apple cores. He seems to enjoy helping out the priestess.
The druids prepare their spells, but await the result of the discussions._
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Crater now elevated, some of the hills restored to their natural form, homes with proper foundations being constructed, as well as some plants seeming to be able to grow in solid stone like magic, Anna works diligently with the people of the land to make sure things get back in order.
She would ask the druids, if on site, if they could lend a hand, hearing that talks are going favorably, and gestures to all that has been accomplished so far. Though their role may be critical, at the same time, with people collecting earth worms, the bait shop even being sourced to offer what they can, and while plant life is sparse, there shows no signs of stopping the machine that is the people of the City and the volunteers who offer to help as well.
Meanwhile, Anna would make Fodel in charge of gathering seeds, many trees harvested in the area, she would ask him to gather as many acrons, pine nuts, and seeds as possible, even giving him the big duty to act as her emissary, having him deliver messages to Yllalynn and to have him collect as many seeds as the southern farmers can spare. Once every few tenday in turn, Anna would take a day off to help regrow the crops in the southern town as an act of kindness for all they've helped with so far as well.
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_The druids say the negotiations are ongoing, but outlook is good. Working morale seems to be high. A local farmer turned adventurer, Fodel, tells Anna he's been hunting swamprats in case the workers need protein-rich snacks.
The seeds Anna is planting curiously begin to grow in the very stone itself._
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Anna would politely reply that she had considered this, but also understands that the fish required to feed the city is critical, and she would not want to deny the fishers bait, lest the shop itself has some live bait to spare, to which she would ask Abigail to get as much as they can spare!
Meanwhile, Anna would inquire with the druids about how relations are going, and how she did the best she could to bring discussion between then. She would urge them to start helping if they could if any responses they got were positive, even offering incentive that she would offer aid when necessary.
While working on the fields, the Harvestmistress would use her blessings from Chauntea to ask her for fair weather, not wanting to bring too much burden to the farmers while not interrupting the natural cycle too aggressively, heavy rains would become light, hot days would be kissed with a cool breeze, little steps she could take to make lives of workers easier so repairs can be done to optimum capacity.
Taking seeds from various fruit she managed to collect inside a cavern not too long ago, she would have planted some of the fenberry seeds into the dryer parts of the unsoftened stone, embedding the seeds into the stone with small pockets of dirt to try and plant the fruit familiar to the hinnish people, offering some vegetation in the area if they would begin to grow in an attempt to perhaps inspire hope! She would even go as far and apologize to the Grain Goddess for claiming the life of those that managed to grow it, thanking the spirits of the ogre druids who fell on their adventure defending themselves for the bounty that was offered.
