Re: The Twilight Tomb: The Rains Fell On Furthinghome
The late night attack and desperate battle had woken everyone up, and getting back to sleep so early in the morning was now difficult. Still, they rolled away the bodies until the smell was downwind, and settled in to rest for what remained of the night. Those who took watch stayed much more alert and awake.
Thankfully, there were no more attacks, the weather was calm and the night peaceful. The sun rose when morning, weak and grey, but the day promised to be fine one.
Edge Of The Yuirwood
Aglarond
17 Marpenoth 1375
With a fresh sleep and mind, the adventurers prepared and prayed their spells, and carefully studied the loot from the gnolls. They had enough magic and knowledge between them to learn quite a lot. Jorn cast a spell that allowed Allessandra to read the Gnollish tongue, and she translated one scroll, while the elves helped translate the others.
Updated Loot!
* Fine green cloak with stitched leaf pattern, elven design: faint abjuration. Estimate: cloak of resistance +1
* Divine Scroll: Shield Of Faith, dedicated to Yeenoghu
* Divine Scroll: Cure Light Wounds, x2 (there's two CLW spells on the scroll), dedicated to Solonor Thelandira
* Potion: Cat's Grace
* Potion: Bull's Strength
The bow was disappointingly not magical. [Sorry!]
Once again, the presence of the elven gear bothered the elves of the party. Two elven spells, an elven chain shirt, an enchanted elven cloak, two elf-design swords and a magnificent elven bow - such was the standard equipment of an elven ranger or scout. And it was all too new for loot from mere grave-robbery. They would have to tell the local Master of the Yuirwood when they found him, or he found them.
Readied and prepared, the adventurers set off towards the Yuirwood that brooded darkly on the horizon like a sleeping green giant.
***
It wasn't long before they reached the forest's edge, after maybe an hour's travel. Trees had appeared scattered around the land, growing ever more densely. Their branches crowded over head, blotting out the sky and leaving them following a sun-dappled forest trail.
They traveled for several minutes more, yet the expected Master of the Yuirwood did not show. They even called out, in Elven and Common, and announced their position and intent, yet the Master did not show. The adventurers grew tense, uncomfortably recalling the claimed dangers of wandering these woods without permission or guidance.
Barely an hour passed before they found out why.
A figure lay on the road ahead, still and inert.
They approached closely, carefully, lest it be a trap. But it was nothing, just an elven man lying dead on the road. The body had been stripped off everything of value, leaving just his plain clothes and boots, some emptied pouches and a few worthless trinkets.
The conclusions were obvious: this poor elf had been the owner of the equipment taken from the gnolls. And so this green-cloaked ranger had been a Master Of The Yuirwood patrolling this section of the forest.
But strangest of all, he'd died two days before or more, yet no sign of rot had set in, bar the beetles and worms that had set to work devouring him slowly underneath. And there were no marks of axe or blade, fang or claw, so the gnolls clearly had not slain him.
It was with some dread that the adventurers pondered just what had killed him, and realised that no Master would be greeting them now.