Finally awake, though horribly unclean and without a mirror to assist with her coiffure, Eilieen fights with the unfamiliar sensation of having her hair stand on end.  "Goddess, what..."  Pausing, the priestess reaches up into her sadly dishevelled 'do' and, with some effort, manages to extract a large, hairy wolf spider that had taken refuge the night before.  With the arachnid imprisoned in two cupped palms, she hurries to the side and drops it safely into a bush before examining the small bite on her hand.  "Poor little thing," she murmurs.  "Must have been terrified."

Her eyes narrow.  "That...will swell," the priestess notes with some disgust.  A swelling imprint upon an otherwise pristine (if dirty) hand.  Just the thing to ruin her day.

Now...where was she?

Snatching up her spear, she glances around the campsite.  "Aramil!" Eilieen cries.  "Where is Aramil?"

Ozzy laughs at the sight of the madwoman clutching her spear like some disheveled and distraught Amazonian. His laughter calms to a giggle as he looks away and tries his best to forget the image and he points off in the direction he had last seen Aramil dash off to.

"I's trying to tell ya! We were watching on our watch as watchful as a watcher could be when we both heard it! A little kid crying in the underbrush, probably lost and looking for his mama, maybe even one of Fergus' unmentioned bastards, and Aramil says,

"I cannot leave this be, I'll go and have a closer look." (in his best Aramil Impression)

...then he up and runs off into tha' woods! We haven't seen anything mind you, but we both heard it, yes we did! And he goes and runs off looking for it alone!" The last word is spoken with special dramatic emphasis, intoned low and ominously. Even though his babbling mouth has finally gone quiet, the little halfling cannot sit still. He bobs up and down, leaning left and right as he cranes his head forward in hopes of actually seeing the elf or the lost child(?).

Everybody in the camp is awake now and peering into the darkness beyond the firelight, hoping to see some sign of what is happening.  Their only guide to events is the terrible bestial roar from the night shrouded woods, and the sudden thump of metal against... something!

Corian starts chanting and gesturing...

A terrible shriek comes out of the blackness, and in that instant Corian holds his hand aloft, grasping a coin, which suddenly starts to glow, flooding the area with light.  Then he throws it out among the trees...

And there, as the coin lands, at the very limit of the illumination, perhaps thirty feet away, Aramil can be seen in combat with a hideous beast, like some awful mixture of deer, badger and lion, with burning red eyes.  The creature looks to be about four feet tall at the shoulder, and has its jaws fastened on the elf's leg.

As Corian's spell lights up the area, the thing lets go of Aramil, and turns to flee...

Scrambling out from her own bedroll, Erista is looking at Oswald with a very strange mixture of anger and amusement.  "And the roar...?" she's asking, as Corian finishes his spell and hurls the coin.

She breaks off, almost certainly because she, too, is interested in Aramil's fate and the danger at hand, and not at all just being distracted by a shiny thing.  As the thing cringes back and starts to turn, she scurries forward, into the near edge of Corian's light.  "彩色 浪花!"  A brilliant rainbow arcs out from her hand, splaying out through the trees towards the creature...

A little surprised at being quicker than the creature makes Aramil's attack a little clumsy, but it was enough. Then when the creature clamps onto his leg another more familiar roar echos through the trees as Aramil screams in pain as the jaws tighten around his leg.

While the creature continues to hold on Aramil prepares for another swing of his sword. Suddenly the area lights up and the creature lets go and turns to run. Aramil swings, yet with the creatures retreat and the glare from the sudden light he misses.

"Aramil!"

The wound calls her, and Eilieen can do nothing but respond.  Spear in one hand, she breaks into a stumbling run, hurrying toward the beleagured half-elf, her free hand clutching the silvery pendant at her neck.  "Zadastha, look upon your servant with favour," she chants, skidding to a halt behind her nimble friend, one hand reaching for his shoulder as her gaze flicks left and right, hunting for more enemies.

"Love heals all hurts, stitches all wounds, and comforts those in need - so may it be!"

Aarnr grunts as Eileen daintily relocates the spider.  For a moment he is greatly tempted to plant a large boot upon it, yet is distracted by the wailing and blabbering.  "Cease thy froggin' jabber," he tell Oswald, "I can't hear what's goin' on out there ..."

"Nor see anythin' either ..." he begins, breaking off as Corian casts his spell and hurls the glowing coin into the darkness.

"Never mind ..."

"Spawn of Tsathogga !  What in the festerin' fens be thee !"  Aarnr seems almost pleased to see the beast.

Hefting his big sword, the priest starts forward, picking up speed and bellowing loudly as he gives chase ...

Having been silently waiting and watching the monk shrugs as Aarnr takes off after the creature and starts forward in turn, in pursuit of either of the beasts, although it is uncertain which one, for the moment.

The creature starts to turn away, and Aramil, momentarily dazzled by the sudden brilliance of Corian's light misses as he cuts at the bizarre horror.  Help is close at hand though, as Aarnr charges into the fray, his heavy sword swinging down in a slash which bites deep into the thing's haunch, even as its hind feet slam into Aramil's gut.

Aramil goes down, sprawled on the ground, his eyes closed and his face deathly pale in the magical light.  The beast shrieks, and staggers sideways, blood running down its leg.

An instant later Eilieen is kneeling beside the downed elf, touching his shoulder.  She utters a quick prayer to Zadastha, and a faint pearly luminance flows from her hand into Aramil's body.  As it fades, his eyes open, and he gives a sudden, shuddering gasp for air. 

The monk, who so far has not seen fit to reveal her name, if she even has one, arrives next to Aarnr at a run, ready to help battle the creature which, close up, is less than impressive.

Hanging back, Erista sends a fan of coloured light spraying out into the forest, engulfing the monstrous beast, and everybody close to it...

In an instant, only the monk and the severely wounded beast are still standing, and the latter is staggering away from the camp...

Back in the camp Colwyn, Corian, Oswald and Fergus watch for attacks from the woods behind the group, just in case the attacker was meant as a decoy.

And then, out of the darkness, from the direction in which the horrible creature is fleeing, comes a voice.  The voice of a child.

"Momma?  Where are you Momma?"  A dark form pushes itself up from the undergrowth.  Another creature, somewhat larger than the first, but similar in general shape.  "Momma?"  The voice issues from the beasts horrible mouth.  It makes no move towards the monk, or any of her unconscious companions, but waits for the smaller version of itself to limp across to it...

---

OOC: Nobody quite dead yet.

Combatant            Init
Aramil                22
Aarnr Foultongue      21
Small Creature        20   AC=13
Eilieen               14
Nameless Monk         12
Erista                 7
Colwyn Akbar           -
Corian                 -
Fergus Andarson        -
Oswald Osbourne        -
Adult Creature         -

Characters' Apparent Health
Aarnr Foultongue:   Good
Aramil:             Hurt
Eilieen:            Good
Erista:             Good
Fergus Andarson:    Good
Nameless Monk:      Good
Oswald Osbourne:    Good

Corian Barade:      Good

The monk glances back after the light shoots past her, giving a small but crooked smile before kneeling down at Aarnr, putting a hand on him.  She does not look at him, however, but in the direction where the beast was last seen.

"Go on, go to mommy, little one."

Then her attentions turns to the man on the ground, fingers at his neck, although she is not ignoring the dark that hides the creatures.  "Not sure if this one is alive, but then, I'm not sure if I can feel much through the beard and... things...  What spell did you use?"  She still does not turn away from the dark where the beasts are.

"Did yer see that?" Colwyn sounds shocked, his voice little more than an awed whisper, "Did yer see it?  That thing, whatever the Hells it is, it jus' killed 'em all with some kinda bloody magic!"

He dives towards his bedroll, and the gear piled next to it.  When he straightens up, still on his knees, he's holding a bow as he tries to nock an arrow with violently trembling hands.

For the first time since leaving Reme, but probably not the last, he starts to wish that he'd thought better of joining this expedition.

Satisfaction is brief but deep; Eileen collapses to dream of small spiced cheeses.

"Hey!" Erista turns to look at Colwyn, since Nameless seems to have the creature in hand.  "That was me!" she protests.  "Er, and they're not dead.  Actually, they'll all be just fine, in a moment," she admits, turning back to explain it to the Monk.  Her tone is somewhat reluctant, as, to her ears, it sounds rather less impressive all of the sudden in the face of what Colwyn thought had happened.  "A little woozy for a bit, but fine.  It's a good spell for breaking things up a bit without really hurting anybody.  Or, you know, slowing things down for a bit while you hurt them.  Whichever."

Aarnr shrieks back at the beast, spittle flecking his beard.  As it staggers away, he strides purposefully after it, one step, two step ... then collapses, dropping to the ground as if poleaxed.

"Come here, thou ranc ... ugh !"

Ozzy finds himself completely fascinated by the drama and action of the battle unfolding before him. Inspired by the chaos and encouraged by the fact that it was not yet over, the little halfling scoops up his lyre and begins playing a slow melody which builds into a fast stacatto to match the inevitable confrontation between Aarnr and the little creatures 'momma'. Ozzy had a feeling this could be a bloody fight and he would do what he could to inspire...

"The days grow shorter and the nights are getting long
Feels like we're running out of time
Every day it seems much harder tellin' right from wrong
You got to read between the lines

Don't get discouraged, don't be afraid, we can
Make it through another day
Make it worth the price we pay

The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive
I do my best to do my part
Nothin' in my pockets I got nothin' up my sleeve
I keep my magic in my heart

Keep up your spirit, keep up your faith, baby
I am counting on you
You know what you've got to do..."

He keeps his distance from both creatures and the dwarf, singing the age old Triumphant chorus loud enough for all to hear...

"Fight the good fight every moment
Every minute every day
Fight the good fight every moment
It's your only way!"

INITIATIVE: 20
INSPIRE COURAGE: +1 to all your saves vs. fear AND your attack/damage rolls :)

As Oswald starts to sing, the larger creature lowers its head, keeping a wary eye open in case any of the adventurers choose to attack it.  It sniffs at the smaller one, then stands straight again, its eyes burning like two coals.

It speaks again, but this time its voice is far different from the childlike cries it had produced earlier.  This time it sounds more bestial, more in keeping with its savage appearance, "You has to hurts my baby.  You will all to dies."

The youngster moves past the adult, beyond the light, and vanishes into the woods.  "I will to hunts you."

The thing starts to back away, following its offspring...

Watching as the creatures retreat the monk moves over to Aramil  and checks him too, then shrugs and shifts over to the fallen Eilieen, where the monk finally smiles a little.

"Luckily the wild beasts are retreating, so you will have the pleasure of dealing with our companions reaction once they awake.  And I can at least say that Eilieen is happily snoozing."  She calls back to the camp and then looks after the vanishing beast and the promise that they will all die.  "This should make future nights quite interesting."</Red>

Fergus looks confused.  There were bright lights, lots of loud noises and people rushing around.  The creature revealed by Corian's spell didn't help.  Each part was normal enough, familiar even, but the whole was horrifying.  Better to destroy such an unnatural creature, but it spoke with a human voice - what did that mean?  And it had a Momma?

Fergus moves forwards to stand next to the monk, keeping a watchful eye on his unconscious companions.   He clutches his axe tightly, ready to defend himself if the creature or its mother come closer.

"Should we go after it?  I don't want to be hunted?"

The hideous creatures move away into the woods, and are soon lost to sight in the blustery, rain-filled darkness.  The last sign of them is a voice which carries back on the wind, calling out its threat once more, "I will to hunts you!", followed by laughter as horrible as the beast itself...

Shortly afterwards, some of the unconscious heroes start to stir.  Their awakening is accompanied by brief moments of incoherent panic as each realises that they are blind and incapable of doing anything.  But the effects fade, and eventually each of them can see, and has full control over their physical and mental processes.

Corian feeds a little more wood to the fire, and demonstrates his lack of survival skills by choosing damp twigs and branches.  Not that he has much choice under the current conditions.

Finally he asks, "Do any of you have the faintest idea what those frightful beasts were?"

In all, the pleasant dreams are poorly balanced by waking up cold, damp, and blind.  After a few heartbeats of scrabbling helplessly about on the forest's floor, Eilieen finally begins to see the sparkling of firelight.  Calming, she waits a touch longer and yes, her sight begins to return.

Frustrated, she collects her spear and moves to check on Aramil.  "Still injured, Aramil?  Not to worry, I'll have that fixed in a moment!"  With a frown, she once again reaches out with her spirit for the power of her goddess.  "'Those who stand in love's grace need not fear injury'," the woman intones, light flickering around her fingers for an instant as she touches the half-elf.

Glancing past him, she shrugs at Corian.  "Sadly, such knowledge isn't precisely what was studied back at Temple."  A moue of irritation touches her lips for a moment as she begins brushing twigs and damp leaves from her gown.  ...those bloody wood-cuts we had to study, night after night.

Cursed good thing she left that place.

OOC - Cure light wounds.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Wed 17 Aug 2011.

Aarnr unsteadily pulls himself to his feet and then staggers around in the darkness for a little bit, feeling his way with his Greatsword, until the world grows brighter once more, even if only by the flickering fire light.

"Wha' the frog did tha' thing do to me ?" the priest enquires belligerently, though his voice is still slurred. "I was on the froggin' heels of that hedge-born horn-beast, and the next thing I know I'm face down in the gleeking muck !"

"Did thee see how it did it ?" his eyes narrow as he looks from one companion to the next. "Or where the froggin' thing has got to ?"

Aramil stirs in restless slumber waking slowly to the aching in his chest and leg. Still assuming he is dreaming Aramil lays still till the light penetrates his eyes and he becomes accustomed to the firelight and gloom. There were voices in his dreams, and a lot of swearing, but he is not sure what was the dream and what was reality. While laying quietly the swearing resumes and Aramil recognises Aarnr's voice.

Aramil looks around for the hideous monster. It has gone, but not before taking some of Aramil's leg with it. Without realising that the question had been asked already Aramil asks again "What was that creature? What a trick to call out in a child's voice, yet not be a child. And why are there so many people on the ground or groggy. What happened?"

"It was creepy, is what it was," Erista asserts.  "I'm afraid you were all in the way, so I didn't see what it might've done to you," she adds, entirely truthfully, in response to Aarnr's question.

She nods a little, moving closer to Fergus.  "I don't want to be hunted, either.  All we did," she adds, her voice lifting a bit, "Was try to get its kid off of Aramil's leg before either of them got really hurt.  We sure could have done a lot worse!"  By the end, she's outright calling out into the forest, hoping the...parent-creature might still be listening.

Then she claps a hand on Fergus's...leg, companionably.  "Well, the important thing is, everybody's OK, important lessons learned, and we can all get some rest tonight, right?"

Questions are asked and explanations provided, though not always in matching sets.  Eilieen tends to Aramil, who is, so far as anybody is able to ascertain, the only member of the party who was actually injured during the encounter. 

Gradually things settle down again and the watch is changed...

In spite of the dire warnings of the strange creature, the rest of the night passes quietly.  The only incident of note is that in the cold, dark hours shortly before dawn the rain actually stops.  Sunrise reveals that the clouds are breaking up, and the morning mist, while caressing flesh like grave-chilled fingers, does hint that the coming day might be a bright one.

As Corian eats a light breakfast, he seems in high spirits, "If the weather holds today, then we should make good time." he announces.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:51, Fri 19 Aug 2011.

<backpost>
Fergus wasn't in any position to offer explanations to those gradually regaining consciousness, so he simply stood, watching and feeling rather awkward.  He would prefer to pursue the creature, but even Fergus' limited understanding was sufficient to know that now might not be the best time, so he accepts Erista's suggestion with good grace.

Fergus settles down to sleep again but his dreams are troubled by the bizarre monster and its threats of vengeance.  He sleeps poorly and the morning watch is a trial.  As the others wake and breakfast, Fergus nods at Corian's remark and answers "It'll hold.  Should be fine today."