The world has never been a safe place. Bastions of civilization populate a dark, menacing world—islands of order and reason exist in a land otherwise overrun by dark cults, vile monsters, creatures from the dark edges of the imagination, and worse. As deadly as the world is on a normal day, something has begun to stir on the fringes of the civilized Elsir Vale. Formerly the site of an attack by an army known as the Red Hand, the Vale has known several years of peace since brave adventurers stormed into the teeth of the approaching Hand and sent them scurrying back into the darkness.

Brindol is nestled close to the center of the Elsir Vale. A decent-sized town, Brindol is actually quite bustling for a farm town.

Whatever your reason for being here, Brindol is where you have wound up. The guards at the gateway to Brindol see you and say, "Halt! Who goes there?"

(OOC: Igatho is not part of the team yet. If you guys want to have met each other already, cool. If not, please make sure you all will meet inside Brindol at some point. I chose to exclude Igatho so as to have some controlled conditions in which Igatho can safely meet the team.)

https://docs.google.com/spread...520/edit?usp=sharing
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Wed 15 July 2015.

A grizzled looking human adventurer replies, "Toothix.  Here on business.  Where's th' pup?"

His travel-worn equipment speaks of many scrapes, and his Popeye squint betrays his no-nosense attitude.

  "I haven't been away that long, have I?" Kyle grew up in this town, but these days he has spent more of his time away guarding one trade caravan or another.

  Kyle is much less grizzled, if only because his face came that way.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 1):
With a cold sigh and much irritation at being held up for a long journey a deep violet skinned drow lower the the scarf around her face to reply " Simply passing through."

The guard nods to Kyle. "Good to see you, Kyle." then looks at the other two. "The pub? Well there's Ilya’s Cardhouse, The Marooned Schooner, Cleftie’s, Brindol Gentleman’s Club, the Blue Parrot and the Antler & Thistle."

He gives a quick low-down on which ones are more ritzy than the others and once Toothix and/or Nina pick one, he gives directions.

Toothix snirks at the Drow's non-reply, keeping any further commentary to himself.

"Thanks.  Freelance merc by trade.  Heard Brindol's been havin' goblin troubles.  Happ'n t' specialize in goblin 'diplomacy,' heh.  I'll be at Cleftie’s if any pay'n opportunities happen along y' need extra muscle fer."

He follows the directions given.

  Clefties at least keeps the glasses clean while not charging extra for it, so Kyle starts wandering in that direction himself.

  "It does seem to be a popular profession, though too many mistaking it as a fancy word for brigand."

In reply to Kyle (msg # 7):

The drow nods silently while replacing the scarf tho hide all but her eyes, after the things she had seen over the past few weeks she would follow the nearly intoxicating smell of liquor to Clefties to drink away the lingering horrors.

Nina doesn't notice or care that the guards have a knowing smile on their faces. Nor did it even seem to matter that the guards made no big deal out of a drow coming into town.

Toothix didn't really notice anything either.

Kyle, however, definitely noticed the all-too-familiar "boy are THEY in for a surprise" look on the guards who have no better pass time than to cause some form of mischief even if they can't be around to watch it happen.

When the bunch make it to Clefties, they see the familiar overweight, hairy, balding bartender. To the far corner of the bar is a couple humans flirting with some big-breasted lady.

But on the other side of the bar is a seven-and-a-half-foot tall blue-skinned, blue-haired baby. A bar maid is cooing at the baby and making the baby giggle.

"Heh," Toothix agreed with Kyle.

On the way to the bar, a cockatoo had landed on Toothix's shoulder, and he introduced it as Dre.  Inside the bar, when he catches sight of the baby, (extended werewolf transformation cutscene complete with bone-snapping sound-effects) Toothix suddenly transforms into an antropomorphic black cat.

"Aaaw!?  Shes so cuuuute!"

He approaches with a loving smile and opens his arms with a big smile!  "Hugs!"

The cockatoo hops off his shoulder and perches on a chair back.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:12, Sat 04 July 2015.

  "Well, that's new."  No, not the sudden display of catface (which is also new), but the giant baby, in case you couldn't figure it out.

  Still, they haven't kicked it out of the place yet so... The baby can handle booze more than a dwarf?  Looks like that second unlisted insight check botched.

In reply to Kyle (msg # 11):

Ignoring the blue giant in the corner the drow heads for the bar and drops a large pouch which jingles with the sound of coin, "The strongest ale you have."

As she raises her mug the smooth black cloak shifts to reveal the razor sharp daggers strung at her side.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Sat 04 July 2015.

The baby looks surprised to see a kitty charging, but accepts the hug. The bar maid squeaks at the sight, covering her mouth. But she calms down seeing the stranger means no harm.

The bartender looks at the drow. "Strongest? Sorry to say, but all we got for that is this here Witch's Barf." he shoves a drink to Nina. It's decent tasting. Not the best, but not the worst. But it does have some kick to it. Nina is well aware of her limits and knows she could handle this mug... and MAYBE one more before going full-on drunk.

The bar maid Melody spots Kyle and hurries over to him. "Oh Kyle, you're back. Heh... the guards fail to tell you about the baby?"

The baby then hefts the kitty into the air, if he lets her, and goes to follow Melody.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:29, Sat 04 July 2015.

Lucky cuddle-purrs and rubs his fluffy cheek against the baby's, purring and tail-wagging.

"Hello!  My name is Lucky.  What's your name, cutie pie?"

  "Hello, Melody.  Yeah, they neglected to mention that particular detail."  He looks up at the baby, and comments "At least she seems to be popular."

In reply to Kyle (msg # 15):

The drow looks around the room amused at the sight of the baby petting the man sized cat person, but just as quickly as the calm sets in the storm returns as the blood filled memories and screams return.

She quickly grabs another mug and chases the scenes in her head away.

The bartender knows it is none of his business what is troubling the drow. Normally, he'd ask a gal what ails her, but this is a drow. Drow are not to be messed with and he doesn't want to risk upsetting her.

Melody nods. "Yeah. She's a frost giant. Some adventurers killed her parents, but weren't interested in killing a child, so they dropped her off here. Turns out, she is happy, s'long as you give her something to smash once in a while. So who are your... friends?" she glances at Lucky and then to the drow. "Lucky, I got. But who's the girl and what's the story on these two?"

Igatho's voice proves to be exactly like that of a toddler, just louder. "Story!" She then looks at Lucky. "My name is Igatho! I like pie!"

Nina's second drink is either less strong, or the memories haunting her are making a stronger effort than she anticipated.

"I like pie too," Lucky mews happily petting the baby's hair, "But I looove Igatho!"

The cockatoo is gone.  In it's place is a cherub kitten.  She flutters over to the Drow and gives her a concerned look.

"Whatsa matter, pretty lady?"

  Clearly the Drow's bloodspattered memories were from her former career as an underdark public school teacher.

  "So, like most children that age but able to smash bigger things then."  He shrugs in regard to Melody's question "Didn't ask, more recent arrivals who want a drink."

  And now, the most important question.  "What kind of pie?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 06:01, Sat 04 July 2015.

In reply to Kyle (msg # 19):

The nods at the small cherub to her side and pats her on the head, "Simply drinking away the past my friend."

'Something we must all do once in a while." the memories of the friends she had lost in her escape from the underdark still haunt her but the small child like being brings a smile to her face.

Igatho squeals happily from the loooove comment. Then looks at Kyle and answers, "CUTIE pie!" and giggles. "Just kidding! ALL pie is good!"

Igatho watches the cherub fly over to Nina and carries her new favorite pet cat over to Nina. "What's your naaaame?" she asks Nina.

Melody says, "Well... most children her age don't absolutely *need* to destroy things. To her, it seems to be more like with food and hunger. If she is deprived of things to destroy, well... her mood sours worse and worse on a daily basis until she becomes supernaturally angry. Complete with glowing eyes. But give her something to destroy and she is cheerful most days."

"Then let me pour you a glass of present," the cherub answers Nina with a loving smile.

She flutters over to hug the drow's arm.

"My name is Cherub!" the kitten answers Igatho.

Lucky is still purring and cuddling the baby. "Let's have some pie, then."

He orders whatever the barkeep recommends.

  "That is a good selection of pie flavors."  He opts to not add to the crowd around the Drow, because there are only so many map tiles to work with even if he wanted to.

  In response to Melody's comments, he adds "So, again.  Like most children."

Now up close to the child the drow realizes just how large she relay is.

"Nina, my name is Nina..." the words fall curiously from her mouth for she had spoken only shortly to any surface dwellers so far for most were to wary to approach her. For better or worse she had not decided yet.

Melody eye-rolls with a "don't be silly" smile on her face, knowing Kyle is joking at this point. "Pff. Well feel free to babysit her then, Kyle. You're more capable than most in this town anyway." if not ALL in this town.

Igatho says, "My name is Igatho!" Then looks at Lucky. "...yay!" Then adds, "Wanna see a neat trick?"

And soon, pie is ordered. Not ready yet, but the ingredients are filling the air with a nice scent.

Cherub nod-nods with a big smile for the baby.  "Sure do!"

Back to the drow she says, "Nice to meet you, Nina!  You're so pretty!"

Seeing as Nina didn't turn down the arm-hug, the little kitten rubs her cheek on the girl's shoulder.

Lucky sniffs at the air.  "Mmmm.  Smells so yummy!  I'd like to see your trick too, Igatho."

  "I guess if you needed the help with it, may be able to try.  Though as often as I call caravan work babysitting, it's not quite the same."

  He hopes that Igatho's trick doesn't involve property damage... Or at least, not property damage in the bar.

Nina lifts the cherub into her lap petting it behind the ears, for some reason she has become taken with the little ball of adorable.

"Interesting, I watch for a bit."

Igatho looks at the bartender. "Water please!"

The bartender shrugs, pours some water and passes it to Igatho.

Igatho puts her finger into the glass. The water around her finger begins crystalizing into ice. "Weeee!"

Melody nods to Kyle. "She's more than a handful. But I'm sure you could have figured that out just looking at her."

The pie is put into the oven. It is a quick-bake pie, so it should only take 5 minutes or so.

Cherub giggles and smiles up at Nina, wiggling her wings.

"You're so cuuute!"

She claps for Igatho's trick.  "Neat!"

Lucky looks a bit surprised.  "Wow!  That's a very nice talent, Igatho."

  At the sight of instant ice for a drink, Kyle smiles slightly (we gotta justify that 8 charisma somewhere) and says "No wonder she's so popular here."

  Short Rest pies are a favorite among adventurers tired of rations, obviously.

Nina smiled while contemplating the uses for the trick she had just witnessed. Felling a tug at her scarf Nina looks down to see the small cherub enjoying the petting.

"Now chala that is an important item to me, please leave it be" in response to the small frown Nina gives the child the silver necklace hidden by the scarf, of little value, but maybe the gift would make her happy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:51, Tue 07 July 2015.

The pie is soon ready and served. Igatho says, "I wanna let it cool... I can't eat hot things."

The so-far nice evening at Cleftie’s is shattered by the crack of the front door flying off its hinges to land amid the nearest tables. Four hobgoblins rush into the bar, swords outstretched to skewer the nearest bar patrons. "For Sinruth! For the Hand!" they cry.

One tries charging past Kyle and gets a spiked gauntleted FIST to the face, knocking it out! Another charges Kyle and stabs him!

Still another charges around the table and stabs Melody through the belly! She collapses to the floor and groans, looking to be dying.

Yet another charges the counter and finds it to be the most impossible counter to climb in the universe, but he knocks the pie off the counter.

Igatho screams, "MY PIIIE!!!!" causing the room to quake slightly as her eyes flicker with cold light.

Cherub was surprised by Nina and answered, "Oh I'm sorry, Nina.  I didn't mean to..."

But she's interrupted by the sudden attack!

"Melody!" Lucky screams, tears welling up in his eyes.  He kneels down to being administer first aid!

A blonde gnome girl hops out of his backpack and skewers a baddie with a javelin!

Nina dashes in a blinding speed slashing the throat of the grunt approaching Kyles back.

"Like ill let you."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Tue 07 July 2015.

Igatho screams and runs to one of the invading bugbears, grabs him by the head (her hand completely enveloping his head), lifting him up, and then slamming him onto the ground, splattering his head into such a splattered mess it resembles the pie now. "GIVE PIE BACK!!!"

  Kyle uses his limited access healing to revive Melody (if not do much about the bloodstains on her apron). "Sorry for not helping you up, Melody.  A bit busy."  He says, as he fires his crossbow and staples one of the next batch of enemies to the door.

  As the hobgiblins rush in (minus one), with an irate goblin beside them.  "Die in the name of!... I forget, who cares buuurn!"  The goblin pitches a burning flash behind the bar.

  One of the remaining hogoblins makes a wild swing that comes nowhwere near Nina, while the other stabs Igatho in the side.

  Melody wisely decides to flee with the patrons, shame her bar napkin didn't crit, since it nails one of the hobgoblins in the face.  Meanwhile, Bartender forgot his name rolls his eyes and puts out the fire.

"Oh, thank you, Kyle!" the tearful Lucky says, as he helped Melody to her feet.

Cherub tries her best to help put out the fire while the gnome tosses tosses a pair of javelins, downing two more baddies!

Nina rushes forward a dark mist gathering around her a cold laugh echoing from within along with a whispers that seems to ride the winds to all others in the room.

"I will Devour you."

Igatho picks up the corpse of the one who stabbed her and rushes into the dark cloud. That's all anyone sees. Except the surprised enemies, one of whom gets a dead bugbear to the face. Igatho slams the body into the other body a couple times before turning her furious gaze at the other bugbear.

  Kyle attempts to indirectly finish off the goblin in the shadows, but the spell while toughening up Nina for the moment goes all stupid and fires a blast of thunder at head height... for medium beings, flying over the goblin's head.

  Meanwhile outside, the remaining enemies are so freaked out by the sudden baby bursting from the magical spooky darkness and splattering one of them, that they all land their attacks in desperation.

  Too bad for them they just had to throw fire at this baby.

"You should get to safety," Cherub advises the bartender as she heads toward the door.

Kitau heads for a window and javelins a baddie through it.

Piercing the goblins heart Nina rushes through the door and out of the dissipating darkness to
Igatho and quickly brushes out the fire.

"Careful young one."

  Kyle steps up for a good view through the door, and fires an acid dripping crossbow bolt into the remaining goblin's eye socket.  The goblin screams for a bit before the liquified remains of it's brain slop out of it's mouth.

  "Igatho, do not eat that.  It tastes like burning."  Not the sort of thing he usually has to caution teammates about.

  The remaining hobgoblin backs off, then freaks out and runs away!... In a poorly chosen direction.

Fun Fact: The "Run" action makes you grant combat advantage to everything.

Igatho's eyes are full on glowing white and spilling cold mist from them. She has a growl comparable to a lionbear. "Fiiiiire...."

Nina putting out the fire, while it will matter later, doesn't seem to calm the baby at this point.

Igatho swings at the bugbear in front of her and begins charging. The bugbear swings and thought he hit her, but... the blade just bounces off the baby's skin.

Mid-charge, Igatho raises her hands and the bugbear body. The dead body starts getting frozen and covered in ice. When Igatho makes it to the goblin, she raises her newly formed ice axe corpse and hacks the goblin's left arm off!

Nina quickly looses the dagger from her right hand at blinding speeds (rotating 3 times) digging itself into the base of the grunts neck separating its head from its body, sending it flying out across the field flipping (3) rotations, leaving a fountain of blood shooting into the sky.

Kitau scans for more enemies.  Cherub flutters over to Igatho to try and calm her down.

"No more bad monsters, hon," she coos.

"I have pie," Lucky says.

He recovers a pocket pie from his backpack and takes a bite before offering the rest to Igatho.

"Mmm!  Yum yum!"

  Not enough carnage has occurred for Kyle to start asking for surge donations just yet, so instead he checks over his crossbow before commenting "If they made it that far into town, either the guards are worse than I joke about, or there are more of them."

With teeth gritted, Igatho looks over at Lucky, a terrible growl coming from her. But her growl ends and she gets a curious look as her eyes stop glowing. Then she squeals with delight and stuffs the whole pie into her mouth. OM!

Some guards hurry over to the tavern. "You all OK?" one of the guards asks, glancing around at the carnage.

Igatho yells, "I'm OK!" She... is OK. Where did all those wounds she was suffering from go?

Nina walks to the corpse of the foe whose head she had just removed and retrieves her dagger.

"Yes, it seems we are all unharmed." she slowly looks the child of ice intrigued at her fast healing, she would remember this for the future.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:07, Wed 15 July 2015.

Kitau nods to Kyle.

"A quick rest first."

Lucky cuddles the baby.  "So glad everyone is OK."

Cherub asks the guards, "How did these monsters get into the town?  Are the gate guards dead?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Wed 15 July 2015.

  "Hopefully not, but we can hardly tell from here."  Technically they were people, but this is not really the sort of specific Kyle felt worth bringing up.

  Yes we know Goblins and Hobgoblins listed in the Monster Manual, so are humans and house cats.

  "Everyone got out of the bar alive, at least."  Well, that wasn't an attacker anyway.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:15, Wed 15 July 2015.

Igatho hugs Lucky with her left arm. Her right arm is still holding a hobgoblin corpse by the ankle.

The guard says, "Looks like you made some capable friends, Kyle." then looks at Cherub. "....the gate guards on the west gate were overrun, yes. We're headed there now to back them up. You guys rest up and when you're ready, you are more than welcome to come join the fight to defend Brindol!"

With that, the guards head off north in order to take the road west.

I have no interest in risking myself for those I do not know." Nina looks from one face to another in the group, and then to the small cherub. It had been a long time since she had met anyone who would approach let alone talk to her. "But in light of recent events, I am willing to lend my blades".
This message was last edited by the player at 04:31, Wed 15 July 2015.

"Oh no!" Cherub gasps, "Of course we'll help!"

Lucky looks up at Igatho.  "Uh oh.  More monsters need spanked."

Kitau snirks and starts walking toward the west gate.

  Reasons Kyle is a terrible mercenary.  Will try prevent to hometown from being lit on fire without getting paid first.
  Reasons Kyle is a good mercenary.  See above.

  He comments to Nina, "I suppose it would be difficult for you to find another bar so accepting on short notice." Trading towns! We only care what color your money is.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:45, Wed 15 July 2015.

  Bad news: A wagon pulled by an Ogre comes into view and they throw a burning barrel at the group.
  Good news:  The barrel missed by a good twenty feet, though now a patch of ground nearby is on fire.
  Bad news:  Kyle got shot by an arrow.
  Good news: If you are not Kyle, see above.

  The hobgoblins highfive eachother over shooting Kyle.  "Bet you can't shoot that guy."  "You're on!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:03, Wed 15 July 2015.

While the group is distracted by the thrown barrel Nina rushes to cover behind a close by building and draws her short bow loosing an arrow that digs itself deep into the ogres left eye.

   I'll cut out your teeth and wear them for decoration.

Igatho screams, "FIRE!" and charges the ogre who dared throw explosives around the frost giant who hates fire.

Her charge attempt winds up with the ogre catching the dead hobgoblin and ripping it from Igatho's hand, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it!

Igatho cries. "WAAAAAAH!!!! MEAN MAN BROKE MY TOY!!!!"

A freckly red-head elf steps out of the nearby store. She looks startled by the sight of an ogre dragging a wagon. The elf raises her hand quickly and stone spikes shoot up from the ground, but don't quite hit the enemies. "What is going on here?!" she demands of the enemies.

---

Skewering Spikes v Archers 1, 2, Ogre. Miss, Miss, Miss
 Holy cow... rolled 1, 2, 3, and the reroll of 3 was 5. >.<
 Will: "What? I don't see those rolls on my screen, you'll have to reroll them!"
 7, 10, 9. Much more reasonable, but still miss.

  Kyle moves up to break line of sight from the enemy archers, and summons a clockwork eye foating in the air in front of the Ogre. It furrows it's spring unibrow in disdain.    The artificer follows up with toughening up the tough baby.

  A desperate punch from one of the Archers harmlessly bounce off Igatho's face.  Well, harmless for Igatho.  "Argh, I thought baby's were supposed to have soft heads!?"

  The other archer sighs, and says "We're burning this lame town to the ground for the glory of the Red Hand, duh."  "I thought it was Sinruth's hand?"  "I prefer the classic name."

  The ogre applies their own sick burns to the situation.  "Fire Hot! You not! hahahahaha."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:34, Wed 15 July 2015.

Lucky and Cherub both head forward.  Kitau circles around and javelins at one of the archers.  The javelin slices through it's cheek then buries itself into it's pal's shoulder!  She reaches for more javelins but they slip out of her fingers.

"Hrmf!"

"Evil things destroying town!" Lucky explains to Alexis, "RUN!"

"Or help by putting out that fire," Cherub offers.

  The ogre winds up for the home run swing, and smashes it's tree trunk of a club right in Igatho's face.  "Haha, tiny baby!... Why you not stain on pavement>"  Fortunately, while Kyle is no great healer, preventative measures he much better at.

  Meanwhile, the archer that shot Kyle bounces an arrow off Kitau's forehead point first, leaving a bloody gash "Aaaw man.  Headshots got nerfed again."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Wed 15 July 2015.

"Lean back child of Ice, quickly."
Nina fires a well placed arrow past Igathos head piercing one of the goblins through its chest.

Igatho complied, but only by coincidence as she tilted her head back to cry more. Her crying becomes multi-voiced and her eyes glow again. Igatho mad.

Her skin immediately encases in ice and an axe made purely of ice forms in her hands! She hacks a decent chunk of the ogre's belly out, causing some of his intestine to hang out. "YOU DIIIIIIEEE!!!!"

The eyeball shakes itself as if in disappointment. One could almost hear it clicking its tongue. The ogre is beginning to feel the danger here.

---

Villain's Menace v Ogre. Hit(24)!
 dmg: 21
 Effect: +2 attacks and +4 dmg until end of encounter.
Eye dmg: 4

Ogre HP: 95 - 21 - 4 = 70
This message was last edited by the player at 05:59, Wed 15 July 2015.

Alexis frowns and says, "I'm not leaving."

She twirls her arms around before bringing her hands together as if holding an invisible ball.

Fire starts to swirl from the surrounding area and coalesce into a ball of fire above the ogre! Then it shoots fire at the ogre and the archer! The fire hits some of the explosives, causing a big kaboom that throws flaming hobgoblin body parts into the air!

The eye rolls itself at how pathetic the enemies are being. Even with the first round stacked in their favor.

---

Flaming Sphere v Archer1, Ogre. Hit(17)! Hit(19)!
 dmg: 14
EXPLOSIONS! Dmg: 12

Archer 1 HP: 22 - 14 - 12 - 4 = CHARRED
Ogre HP: 70 - 14 - 4 = 52

Kitau hucks a pair of javelins into the ogre's eyes!  It drops dead.

"We need to put this fire out!" Lucky informs the group.

He and the others get started doing that.

  Kyle reaches for his-oh right, level 1.  Magical fire extinguishers are two more levels away.

  At the very least he can help put out the fire spreading it's way towards Nina.  She's already dark enough as it is without being well done on top.

Looking around Nina remembers the Ice child's trick from the bar. "Igatho are you able to cast your ice like a blanket of snow across the fires to help put them out?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:22, Wed 15 July 2015.

We're sorry. The number you have dialed can not be reached at this time. If you would like to reach Igatho, please try back at a later time.

The baby frost giant is furiously chopping up the ogre's corpse, screaming obscenities in giantish. She is blindly raging and is probably too dangerous to approach even with a cuddly kitten hug from Lucky.

Alexis closes her hand and the ball of fire freezes into a ball of ice and floats over to the fires before dispersing into a cloud of cold! The fires extinguish.

Lucky is a tad more concerned about putting out the fires anywa...  Oh.

"Wow!  Thanks for helping out with the fire, miss!"

He rushes over to help with the next fire.  Kitau kicks dirt on it.

Cherub isn't afraid of raging baby.  "New toy, Igatho," she soothes, "Fire gone."

  Kyle stops to reload his crossbow (Level ooooooone).  "I know this is not very appropriate in light of the situation, but not it for cleaning the gore and ashes off Igatho."

" It seems Sehanine smiles upon us this day, we have few injuries and none have lost there lives."

Alexis adds, "Well... the ogre and his cronies lost their lives. But I agree with your insinuation that they don't count."

A guard shows up on the scene and says, "Alright, everyone... you can calm down. The attack has been stopped."

Igatho begins calming down since Cherub is pointing out new toys and no fire.

"Well that's a relief." Alexis says as she approaches Igatho. "Clean up duty... right." with the wave of a hand, the blood, ash, and dirt gets cleaned off Igahto.

Alexis then turns to see the others and stares. "First the frost giant... now kitties and a drow? What are the chances?"

She offers a very elven curtsey. "My name is Alexis."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:26, Wed 15 July 2015.

Cherub gives the baby a kiss on the cheek.

"You did good defending the town, Igatho!" she cheers.

"You all did!" Lucky adds, "Sehanine be praised that the town had such powerful defenders at just the right time!"

Kitau recovers her javelins.  "Thanks for the clean-up, Alexis.  Mind doin' the same for my weapons?"

Lucky gives the elf a polite bow. "My name is Lucky.  This here is Cherub, Kitau, Kyle, Igatho, and...  I don't believe I caught your name, miss?"

  Maybe Alexis was expecting a Kobold?  No, that would be crazy.

  "Probably lower odds than getting attacked by people mentioning the name of an army crushed in this region generations ago." He looks to the remains of their attackers "Statistics can feel like a mere suggestion, some days."

  "Still, nice to meet you, even if the circumstances were not."

The Drow gives a slight nod, "I am Nina child of the Deity  Sehanine. Though my Brethren and yours may not see eye to eye, I hope we may keep on kinder terms for I do not follow there Ideals."
Truth be told Nina had long since abandoned the ideals of her kind. It was the main reason she had ventured to climb out of the Under Dark, for there is nowhere to hide from darkness there.

Alexis nods to each one before saying, "Kyle I had heard about because he lives here. I found out about Igatho shortly after arriving in town yesterday. For a town whose only claim to fame is its history with the Red Hand, this town is suddenly hitting some really interesting times."

She then looks at Nina with a look of doubt on her face, but definitely not the hatred Nina would be used to by now. So for an elf, Alexis is already different. She says, "We all have different ideals from those around us to some degree.. If you don't mind my asking; which of the drow ideals do you not follow?"

Igatho is being given a fresh pie by the bartender, who was determined to not let a customer go unsatisfied, even if he had "was attacked by marauding hobgoblins and fire" as an excuse; to this man, it was the principal of the matter.

Igatho is not old enough to understand how amazing that is, but she does know she likes pie and is very happy about that.

"Oh how kind of you!" Cherub cheers for the bartender's generosity.

"So glad we're all getting along," Lucky says of the two lovely pointy-eared ladies.

Kitau simply waves.

  Well, there was another reason Kyle liked this bar.

  "I'll make a wild assumption that what she does not follow is the majority of the unpleasant ones."  Stabbing can be pleasant, as long you are stabbing assholes.

Nina sheaths her daggers after wiping them clean on a nearby corpses clothes and looks at the surface elf. "The excessive need to be superior and kill those who they believe beneath them is a good start."

Nina nods at Kyle "The Ego of my kind is on a grand scale of its own."

Alexis glances at Kyle and says, "I prefer not to make assumptions... but it often can't be helped." she then looks back to Nina. "Drow... High Elves... Dwarves... Humans... each of them are races who could be said to have egos larger than the other. But it is good to hear you specifically are at least trying to break away from that. For what it's worth, I too am trying to break away from such attitudes."

Alexis does get around to magically cleaning the weapons of those who let her do so, including even Nina if she wants it. "Whether we will be friends or not is anyone's guess. But we fought together against a common foe. So for now, at least, we can be called allies. I doubt this revived Red Hand is going to stop their attacks just because they were thwarted once. We should check up on where these hobgoblins came from and strike back before they can catch their breath. Who all is up for it?"

A small crowd gathers and sees what the team has done; a large number of hobgoblin corpses and even a mutilated ogre corpse litter the ground.

Igatho turns to look at Alexis. "Smash bad men? .......Me! Me! I wanna smash bad men!"

Some of the crowd start to clap and soon, cheering follows.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:21, Thu 16 July 2015.

  Kyle expects there would be less cheering if they hadn't dealt with the fires as well.

  "It can be a hard mindset to avoid in certain circumstances.  Such as when our enemies get killed by their own weapons."  He adds  "It would make little sense to leave the place I grew up to it's own devices, yes."  Well, maybe if you grew up in Luskan.

Lucky is smiling and adds to the clapping.  "So good to see folks setting aside the differences of their culture in favor of helping others.  How inspiring!  I'll join too!"

Kitau gives Alexis a nod.

Cherub smiles and cuddles the baby's arm. "You're so brave!"

"Shouldn't be hard to track where they came from," Lucky points out, "Considering, you know, ogre with wagon."

Kitau transforms into Toothix and hrmfs!  "I ain't goin' nowhere till payment for services rendered and future services are negotiated."

"I have limited knowledge of this surface world you inhabit, it will be in my best interest to remain with this group and learn from it."\

Nina extends her hand to Alexis "May we put our differences aside and work together for now?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Thu 16 July 2015.

Alexis is distracted by the suddenly shape-shifting Kitau. She takes the hand almost in a daze and then looks at Nina. "...if you mean what you say, Nina, you are an amazing woman."

She then looks back at Toothix. "You just agreed to come along and now you're saying you're not? And why did you change your shape from a gnome girl to a human man? I'm... confused."

Igatho says, "Kitty!" and hugs the little cherub.

  Kyle has some assumptions, but also really doesn't care unless Treacherous McTreasonheimer is one of their favored shapes.

  "Well, if you stick with this group more likely you will learn more of the same.  Save citizens, stab invaders."

"They're a shape-changer," Cherub explains, "I can change shape too, but I'm liking the baby cuddles, so why change?"

Lucky rubs behind his head bashfully.  "Yeah.  Same.  It's generally frowned upon, but...  Well for us, certain feelings bring about certain changes.  Me for example.  I love children and beautiful women.  But if instead I was surrounded by magical traps, I might become a human boy named Jake."

Toothix turns into an eager-looking blonde human man.  "Trap?!  Where?!"

Lucky face-palms.  "And then there's him."

"If we intend to investigate this matter further it may be a good idea to procure supplies, as well as rest up."

Alexis nods, "Then along the lines of what the gruff human earlier said, chances are the town will give us some form of payment and incentive. At the very least, we'll need supplies to even do this. I'll show you all to the place I was staying at. Decent prices for decent rooms."

With that, Alexis takes the group to the inn she was staying at. Which is actually right there. Convenient!

  While his own sleeping arrangements are dealt with, Kyle can't fault Alexis's idea or offer.  "I am set myself, but it would be easier to continue discussing this if I went inside with you."

"Thanks!" Cherub answers.

"So... we're to share a room, then?" Lucky asks, "I kinda expected we'd be heading out for the wilds before lunch time."

"Lead the way, brave heroes!" Jack says with a fancy bow.

"I am not one for crowded places. I remember a large tree near the back of the bar, I will sleep at its top under the stars." Nina had been infatuated with the sky ever since she had reached the surface world, in the Underdark there were the cave roofs to hide its splender. Out here it seemed as if you would fall up and float away into its vastness if you didn't hold on tight with your toes.

Nina looks to the sky "It will  be nice to bathe in the light of the moon and watch the night sky."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:06, Thu 16 July 2015.

Alexis chuckles. "Crowded... though far be it from me to ever argue with admiring the beauty of the sky, night time or otherwise."

She looks at Lucky, "I was only going to show the place to you all. I have no idea if we are heading out soon or not. We can probably track them easily as was pointed out."

Igatho says, "I'm a star!" she spreads her arms and legs to look as much like a standard 5-pointed star.

  "The wagon trail will definitely make things easier, at least."  Did they have any survivors from the attackers again?  It was a bit hard to tell with all the blood.

  "Nina's suggestion of at least ensuring we have enough supplies for a long trip is good, though it may be until tomorrow they reopen after nearly getting torched."  If they were LAME stores that is.

Lucky shrugs.  "I'm pretty well stocked for a long trip, but I'm all in favor of taking our time."

He smiles and nods to Igatho.  "Yes you are!"

Cherub squees and glomp-cuddles the adorable child.

"Spending the night will mean we're fresh for the journey," Jack agrees, "Will give me time to write up a ballad of your amazing victory over The Brindol Invaders."

"The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand."

Alexis shrugs. "Preparedness is always good. But there is also the saying 'strike while the iron's hot'. It all depends on the preference."

The stores are, in fact, closed due to "well the store owner has to BE HERE to run the store, but they are busy putting out fires throughout the town".

Igatho hugs the cherub and Lucky, happy that her display at least pleased two people.

"Well if we get ready, it will have to be tomorrow since nobody is open now." Alexis concludes.

  "Plans and preparations only go so far if you can't use them."  You know what would be great right now?  Flamebane-*two levels too low to craft/use* DAMNIT.

"I shall follow majority vote , simply expressing my opinion. As long as I have my blades at my side the world is at my fingertips."

"There's still fires that need put out?!" Cherub gasps, "I've gotta help!"

She flies up to look for where the smoke is the worst then points.  "That way!"

Lucky nods.  "Yeah.  Helping to keep the town we're in from burning down sounds like a good idea."

Jack salutes.  "I shall not rest until every last ember is extinguished!"

They all head in the direction Cherub pointed.```````````````

Igatho says, "NO FIRE!" and goes to run and hide in the Inn.

Alexis says, "I'll help out." and goes with the others to help put out fires.

  Hmm, deal with fires?  Or supervise giant baby?

  "I should probably come along myself, at the very least." Clearly the safer option!

"I'll help as well." Nina retrieves a grappling hawk from her bag and uses it to ascend to the roof and scout for the cherub. When she spots it she runs along the roof to catch up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:34, Thu 16 July 2015.

"Oh thank you all for helping!" Cherub says.

She and the others work toward helping the town not burn down.

With "Team No Burn" on the job, Brindol is saved! _{OK, so the people would have extinguished the fires without the heroes}, but the heroes made a difference! Honest!

By the time the fires are out, it is evening. Alexis was apparently able to cast that chilling cloud all day long every 6 seconds. But that doesn't stop the fact the invaders had set a LOT of fires.

Eventually, Alexis is heading back to the inn with the others.

  Your party prevented *rolls* 9 tiles of fire spread damage.  You get *rolls* a copper you found on the pavement.  Alas, it is a Canadian copper so no good in Brindol.

  "Hopefully that is the worst of it, I'm surprised the attack was over so quickly."  You know, even accounting for all the enemies they killed in the face.

"It is becomeing late and I am weiry shall we meet back at the bar at sunrise?" Nina turns to the groop waiting for answers earger to rest soon.

"Sounds like a plan!" Cherub chimes with a smile and thumbs-up, "Thanks again for all the help!"

Lucky smiles and nods.  "Looking forward to heroing with you all."

Jack scribes in a scroll, reading as he does, "And so our weary heroes, undaunted by the arduous day behind them, were already looking to the hard journey ahead with stoic determination."

Alexis looks toward Nina. "Sunrise sounds good. I'll see you there."

She looks over at Kyle. "From what I heard, it sounded like some kind of guerrilla attack, not meant to be a full-scale invasion. But I'm mostly speculating based off what I heard."

  "True. It would be a pretty poor invasion with less than a dozen people, even considering the ogre."  Wait, how many minions were there in the first encounter?.... Too many parts to tell now.

  He looks to multiple choice and says "I wouldn't exactly say looking forward to."

Nina says her final farewells and heads to her chosen resting place. " Goodnight All."
This message was last updated by the player at 04:35, Fri 17 July 2015.

The next morning comes uneventfully, though as the group is gathered to eat breakfast, a town guard comes in and says, "Hail, heroes. Brindol acknowledges your services and would like to offer you a job."

Igatho plays with her food, making her eggs into a monster face. "Raaawr!" she says for the eggs before eating it. "I'm a bigger monster! I will eat you!"

Alexis looks over to the guard. "Thank you. Where do we report to?"

The guard gives directions to the mayor's office.

Alexis looks at the others. "How about it? After breakfast we go to the mayor's?"

"A job?" Toothix echoes, "Now we're talkin!"

"I don't want your blood money," the cockatoo on his shoulder sings.

"Nobody asked you."

Cherub giggles at the silly baby antics.

  "Well, it's a given I will look into this.  Getting paid for what you were already going to do is a good thing."

   He looks over to Tootix's tiny pal "It's okay, average bird.  The blood will be from jerks."

"You all have treated me well." Nina looks around the group and takes a long breath and draws a small dagger (hardly of a size to be used in battle, no bigger than the palm of the hand) and offers the hilt to Alexis. 'This dagger is a representation of my soul, and its condition reflects my own. Should my health decline the dagger will rust and decay in reflection. It was an heirloom given by my mother before she passed if you will accept it then by Sehanine's name so long as you hold this dagger my blades shall serve as your blades."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Fri 17 July 2015.

Igatho answers the bird with "Blood! Yes please!" and holds out her empty cup.

Alexis gets a surprised look. She carefully accepts the dagger and says, "I really don't know what I did to deserve this kind of respect from you, but... thank you."

She isn't sure what to do. Does she look for a gift to give Nina? Does she find a way to repay her? Alexis puts on a sincere expression and says, "I do not have any such item myself, so all I can offer you is my loyalty. It seems you desire a friend. So you shall have it."

  Kyle hopes the dagger also improves when Nina is in good health, or that thing will be looking terrible fairly fast the way adventuring can go.

  "If you have no idea what to use for a gift, It is my civic duty to suggest browsing a local gift shop." Trader toooown.

Cherub gets a teary-eyed "aaaaw?" look and flies over to glomp the heartfelt Drow!  "Wow!  What a meaningful gift!  You deserve kisses!"

She'll give cheek kisses if the Drow doesn't turn them down.

Toothix looks impressed.  "Now there's something you don't see every day."

The bird nods to Igatho and sings, "Let the bodies hit the... flooooor!"

Nina accepts the kisses from the small cherub blushing bright purple.

Nina looks back to Alexis and nods, "Nothing in return is required, but you friendship is welcome."

Nina reaches for the small cherub in an effort to pat and rub her head if she will allow it.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Fri 17 July 2015.

Alexis also blushes at watching Cherub kiss Nina. She wishes she could be so bold, but being adult has its own rules and expectations. Her face is red, though. Less from the kisses she just saw and more from the gift sinking in. "So... to the mayor's." Alexis turns away and heads out, hiding the fact her eyes were getting watery.

Igatho follows along as soon as Lucky or Cherub head out.

Once the group gets the the mayor's office, Alexis inquires. The mayor explains. (More to come next time)

  Kyle is not going to comment on turning so red you can't see her freckles, as gifting knives is much preferable to them trying to stab eachother with knives.

  "You can consider the meaning of friendship on the way back then, if needed."

"Sounds dangerous," Toothix says to the mayor, "No wonder we're the only ones willing to even try.  So exactly how much money is our risking our lives for your sakes worth, then?"

Cherub rolls her eyes but is still smiling.  "You can't put a price on life."

"We are the heroes of our time!" the bird sings.

"Tales of Heroes and Legends are all well and good, but heroics and goodwill will not put coin in our pocket and ale in our belly.

Nina's face softens and a small smile crosses her face as the cherub lets her pat its head.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Tue 21 July 2015.

Alexis glances at Nina. "For the most part, perhaps..."

Igatho says in response to Kyle, "Friendship means you like someone!"

Once the mayor is addressed, he explains. "200 gold. That is the reward for returning the people who have been captured so far. But if you want 200 more, the Hand has also stolen some of the town's treasures. These treasures are of very high sentimental value to this town and it would be worth a lot to our people to have them back."

Alexis is not about to argue that people are worth more than town treasures. That probably has little to do with the reward being set at its current amount.

  Kyle looks over to Mister Person (catch all term for Toothix McLucky Kitauheimers), and says "That's more than I expected for the gallery pieces.  They may be of historical value, but hardly anyone comes to see them these days."

  He looks back to the Mayor, and asks "How many are known to be missing, and has it been determined who those are?"

Jack would suffice if Kyle bothers to ask.  Cherub giggles and reaches to pet the drow.  "And friendship means pets!"

"Money, money, money, money, money...  Money!" the bird sings.

"Need someone better at bargaining," Toothix mutters to himself.

He transforms into a dwarf with a green beard.

"Tell ya what.  200 if we recover any or all of the people alive.  200 for all the stolen items, busted or otherwise.  And if we shatter the tribe that attacked you while we're at it, killing their leader and all, we get a bonus."

Nina looks to Toothix and back to Alexis, "I will follow your lead in this, I have no experience negotiating with humans."

She accepts the pats from the cherub increasingly intrigued by the adorable creature.

Nina steps to were only Alexis and few others of the group can hear her away from the Mayor."The negotiations from my home are harsh and rarely end without bloodshed."

The mayor gives Green Beard a "seriously?" expression and says, "I... nobody expected you to be able to completely root out and eliminate the Hand. If that happens, you can be sure there will be a bonus of some kind. However..."

He rests his forehead on his hand. "I fear the worst for the captives... that 200 gp reward is for the return of or information on any or all of the missing people. There is no reward if no one comes back alive. I hate to make that the terms, but without it, more bloodthirsty adventurers would just go there, slay everything and everyone... and lazy ones would leave and come back with a concocted story on the fate of the villagers without ever even setting foot in the enemy stronghold. Hope you understand... That said, the 200 gold reward for the treasure is for ALL of it. Bring only a portion back and you will only get a portion of that 200."

Alexis didn't flinch from either Green Beard's or the Mayor's negotiations. She glances at Nina when she comments about bloody negotiations and nods. She responds in a hushed tone, "Your kind has a reputation of such, yes. Which reminds me... despite the gift you gave me, I would like to ask that you stay as close to me as possible, Nina. I don't want you to get ambushed by well-meaning people and then hurt or killed before I can explain you are not like the others..."

Igatho giggles, leaning in close. "Why are we whispering?"

---

Literally did a search through the whole adventure PDF and found no mention of gold reward for dealing with the Hand. Only for rescuing the prisoners and retrieving the artifacts.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Tue 21 July 2015.

  "While I won't speak for others, you know I won't turn in this case unless it is more likely to get us killed than rescue more of them.   Who we do find can hardly be rescued if we die in the process."

"I never imagined you all naive enough to fall for a tall tale told by a group of outsiders," Greenbeard answers flatly, looking not the least bit offended, "I expected you to question the recovered rescuees about how we conducted ourselves.  And to refuse payment if all we brought back was fakes and corpses.  But if nothing else, your man Kyle here can keep us all honest.  I only wanted you to know that we're not naive enough to risk life and limb for a 'you get nothing if even so much as one person or artifact was destroyed by the goblins by the time you recovered them.' agreement.  Your terms are good.  Partial payment for partial success is agreeable."

Cherub smiles at Igatho and whispers, "Because it's fun to have secret talks!"

"Swords in their hands they kill each and every man who dared to invade their sacred lands!" the parrot sings.

Nina nods to Alexis "Then I shall gratefully except your guidance."

She steps back and looks to the group "I may know little of this surface world that you all speak of so fondly, but if its bloodshed you wish of me then a mountain of corpses at your feet I shall lay, and the heads of your enemies shall be put on display."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Tue 21 July 2015.

Igatho giggles and snatches the cherub for a hug.

The mayor is simultaneously disturbed and pleased by Nina's statement. He decides to lean towards pleased since Nina is on Brindol's side for all intents and purposes. He looks at Kyle. "I said what I said just as much for your protection, Kyle... you know full well there are adventuring parties who turn on their own team mates if it gets them ahead in life. Last thing the people of Brindol needs is for the one adventurer to come out of this town in a couple generations to die at the hands of some less scrupulous characters." he glances at the others. "No offense. I just don't know you bunch. But since you find the terms agreeable, then I shall keep you no longer."

Alexis says, "No offense taken."

She then looks at Nina and smiles. "You are one loyal girl, aren't you? I can only hope that your time on the surface will help you heal... and feel welcome."

Igatho says, "Mountain of corpses? What's a corpse?"

Alexis answers, "A dead body."

Igatho cheers, "Yaaaay!!"

  "While I'd find it a bit unnecessary, I'm sure there are townsfolk who would love to see that, Nina"  He looks over to Igatho "Well, if there was even anything left."

  "Thanks for the concern, but I have a good feeling about the violent maniacs in this case." Kyle, your -1 CHA is showing.

Cherub claps and cheers along with the baby because happy baby is cute!  "Yaaay!"

She then smiles at the drow and adds, "I'm sure the people of Brindol would prefer to pass on the body mountain.  This is a rescue mission, hon."

"Countless corpses!" the bird sings.

"Days a wastin', and those folks ain't gunna rescue 'mselves," Greenbeard comments, heading out, still showing no signs of taking offense.

Nina tilts her head slightly and looks asks Alexis Did I say something wrong."

Igatho follows Greenbeard and merrily sings, "A smashing we will go! A smashing we will go! Hiii hooo a-der-ee-o, a smashing we will go!"

Alexis looks at Nina. "Hmm? Not really. Why do you ask?"

The journey begins. The terrain ahead is ok at first, but becomes rough once the team starts getting closer to where Rivenroar is supposed to be located.

  Kyle thinks a body mountain is inevitable, though probably not enough to actually qualify as a mountain (yet).  More like a body hill.

  Once they are past civilian earshot, Kyle says to Nina "Most people prefer gentler terms, it helps them accept they are using hired killers despite any intentions good or ill."

Jack joins the baby's singing and adds some strings to accompany it.

Cherub nods in agreement with Kyle.  "Probably very different from the world you grew up in."

Nina nods "Forgive me I shall put it to memory"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:55, Fri 24 July 2015.

Alexis smiles at Nina and says, "The more I hang out with you, the more I like you." then looks at the others. "You're all quite the interesting bunch. Though what is up with the constant shape-shifting, if I may ask?"

At about the halfway point, the group is forced to walk into a canyon area. This canyon winds between two ridges. Suddenly, eight chittering, armored buglike creatures emerge from the ground just north of you and quickly move in your direction.

(Yes, these are D&D Zerglings)

Igatho smiles. "Bugs!"

Alexis hunkers down placing her staff to the ground. "Careful, my friends..."

  "I suppose they are more bug than lizard, yes."  He draws his crossbow, commenting.  "Nature is probably going to be more dangerous than the ogre."

"Adventure!" Mittens cheers!

She fires two arrows at the nearest enemy!  THUNK THUNK!

Cherub flutters forward.  "I don't suppose you're the reasonable, talking variety of bugs, are you?"

Nina's face draws up and her eyes sharpen giving away the smile hidden behind her scarf, she quickly draws her daggers and dashes for the nearest bug, Your soul will be mine!". Her daggers lash out biting at the the underside of the bug nothing on her mind but the thrill of the hunt.

The bugs attack ruthlessly! The ones Mittens and Nina attacked actually remain alive! The one Nina is facing is just about to scratch her when Igatho hacks downward on the bug with a greataxe! ...where did she get that? "Bugs! Squish!" she giggles.

Alexis then thrusts her staff forward and 3 of the 4 hatchlings get encased in ice! "I don't think they want to talk." Alexis asides to Cherub.

Another bug charges Nina! Yet another charges Mittens! Still another flanks Igatho and scratches at her, finding only a thin ice covering on the baby's skin.

  Kyle figures Nina would likely have better luck with more vague vital energy.

  That aside, Kyle steps up beside Igatho and takes a shot at one of the larger bugs, burying a crosssbow bolt into it and empowering the giant baby to smash harder and get smashed harder... or would that be get smashed less hard? Phrasing!

"Yes, hon.  Squish bugs," Cherub encourages.

More arrows!

Nina jumps back away from the bug to ready herself but instead of stopping to realign with her the bug charges forward at Alexis. sheathing her daggers she grabs her grappling hawk from her waist and throws it with deadly accuracy catching the bug by (what she thinks is the face)."Get over here!" With a fierce pull Nina pulls its head from its body knocking it off course out of the air.

Shao Khaun says, "FATALITY!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:53, Fri 24 July 2015.

Alexis twirls her staff and uppercuts another bug that tries to run past her, taking the last hatchling out of the picture before turning and stomping her foot into the ground, causing stone spikes to shoot up and pierce 2 of the remaining 4 bugs!

Igatho in the meantime says, "Tingly magic!" and hacks at the bugs! With her amazing size, she manages to reach OVER kyle to hit a bug that was just about to flank him! CRUNCH! Three of the bugs are all focused on Igatho now, while one remains focused on Nina!

  Kyle alas, is lacking in multitarget attacks.  Wait, the curve means, YES.

  Kyle hurls a vial of acid that splashes against several of the kruthiks.  Level one means the hit curve has not reached futile degrees yet.

"Ooh acid!"

Mits knocks a really big arrow and aims for the acid.  THUNK!  BONK!  The arrow goes through the weakened carapace, shoving the bug into another, and pinning the two together like a shish-kabob!

Just finishing up retrieving her grappling hawk Nina notices the bug flying her way, she draws her bow and knocks an arrow THUNK the bug falls like a stone through water. Looking up she has just enough time to yell "Behind you Igatho." the last bug had circled around the baby and was charging at her back.

Nina can not make it in time she only hopes her warning was fast enough.

Igatho swings around full tilt with her axe and... dead bug.

The bugs are all dead now. Igatho cheers, "Weee!"

Alexis says, "Thank you all. You did great." And injury was minimal...

Igatho says, "Bug guts!"

Normal baby girls: Yucky! This baby girl? Seems delighted by the bug guts... And reaches for them.

Alexis says, "You don't want to touch that or eat that, Igatho. It will make you sick."

  "These are poison bugs, Itagho.  Also half of them are covered in Acid, that too."  Hopefully they wouldn't eat the spikes but, well, baby.

Jack takes out a trumpet and plays a triumphant jingle!

Mits cheers!

"I'm sure we can find a toy for you, Igatho," Cherub offers.

She points at the frozen little bugs.

While walking to the others she notices some red ball shaped items in the distance and walks to them. When she reaches them she cant help but laugh a little......

"Igatho why not try some of these instead." she holds out a handful of the large shiny red apples from she had found offering them to Igatho and the rest of the group.

Igatho grabs the apples and enjoys them! Though to her, they are more like berries, so she doesn't bit into them so much as chew them. "Thank you." she says to Nina.

Alexis continues onward with the group. "Kruthik... out here... probably a consequence of the Red Hand making a comeback. Either because they ruin the lands they enter, or because they train up kruthik to guard their perimeters. But I was sure we still had a ways to go..."

  "I suppose that is likely.  So many murderbeasts in the wild I can't keep straight what is supposed to be there or not."

"To answer your earlier question, I change a lot because it's fun," Jack answers Alexis.

Cherub giggles.  "And because he's a little loopy."

Mits shrugs.  "It's very useful as well.  Too bad the ability isn't really used properly for it to be very useful to adventuring.  'Hi, Sinruth!  I'm totally that goblin guy you know and not a disguised changeling.  So... remind me again what the evil plan was?  Oh.  And your weakness too.'"

Cherub nods.  "Yup.  Can't seem to stay in one form for long."

Happy the little one is satisfied Nina turns to the group "If you wish I will scout ahead while the rest gather yourselves and check any wounds, if there are any more waiting ahead I will return and report my findings."


Nina looks at Alexis "If nothing else I can scout ahead and look for anything resembling an entrance to a hideout."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:12, Fri 24 July 2015.

Alexis nods. "Scouting sounds good, but like I mentioned... don't go too far. I'd like to be able to back you up at a moment's notice."

Alexis looks to Jack and says, "....I can't argue with that. If I could change shape, I'd probably do it too..."

The group travels a ways before coming upon an old castle... none other than Castle Rivenroar. The place has seen better days, but it isn't in complete ruin (and could potentially be repaired to be good as new). There is an eerie silence in this area.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:33, Fri 24 July 2015.

  "Yes, I would assume shapeshifting alone can only to so much.  Even without the time limit" Attention span limit, we know it well.

  He nods to Nina.  "There tends to be more of them than there are of you, so resist the urge to cut someone's head off until we can deal with the rest alongside you."

The parrot sings, "Don't You Know? You never split the party
Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty
The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light
And you never let that damn thief out of sight... "

"Yeah let's stick together," Cherub agrees, "Wouldn't want you to be lonely or get hurt."

She moves over to pet her white-haired friend.  :3

Nina glares at the bird "And the one herd first  is the first to die, so silence."

Alexis asks, "Does the bird understand what is being said? He seems to be saying conversationally appropriate things..."

Igatho puts a finger on her mouth in response to Nina's declaration of silence.

The nearest entrance has a stairway that leads down...

  "I suppose that is a good question, it varies wildly from one arcane entity to the next."  Like if a falcon is actually a parrot, or-

"Oooh, she's calling you ooout!" Cherub chimes playfully.

The parrot ruffles it's wings and sings,
"No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within
My true vocation and now my unfortunate friend
You will discover a war you're unable to win

I'll have you know
That I've become

Indestructible"


Jack shrugs.  "I'm pretty sure Dre understands, but good luck holding an actual conversation."

Nina sighs and swings her hand throwing a rock that wizzes past the birds head ruffling the feathers. She walks pas and glances at it as she passes "Oops it slipped.."