Saddling up in the darkness, waterskins and rations loaded, the Leafblade Company is joined by their Guard tracker, Bellis Tral, a human woman just entering middle age.  Sturdy and tanned from a life out of doors, with hair bleached pale by the sun, her keen hazel eyes are often roving, missing little.  She rides a little bay mare with a neat pack attached to her saddle.  Along with her are Fothbar, Garvin, and Wedd, three young members of the Guard who will act as messengers, relaying back to the Fort at regular intervals.

The Troll Hunters, plus Grollock's band and a few more members of the Guard, are finishing up their own preparations.  Commander Brighthearth goes and hands a scrollcase to the Lieutenant in charge of the troll party, then goes to hand another to Bellis before addressing the Leafblade Company.

"All right, Grollock and the Troll Hunters will go back along the priests' road, and you'll be heading along the tribute road, looking to meet at Smoke Peak.  If all goes well, it's a three-day journey to Smoke Peak from here, and then another week and a half to Firegold Citadel.  Fharlangn watch over your journey, Heironious grant you victory," he says.

With that, the gates will open once more, and you can begin your journey.

Though most of the Leafblade Company can either see in the dark or have little difficulty navigating only by moonlight, those few who aren't so visually blessed can rely on the senses of their mounts.  Demon seems to relish the dark, not surprisingly.  Bellis leads you along the paths, selecting various turns through the rock walls of the peaks until the moon climbs high in the sky and it's clear it's growing close to midnight.

You can rest for the rest of the night without incident, the night warm enough to do without a fire - useful, as there is little to burn here.  The next day and night also passes quietly, and though you keep yourselves alert looking for any sign of the tribute caravan or anything else odd, you spy nothing out of place.  By noon that day you are beyond the reach of Fort Cross' scouts and now into the less-tamed part of the mountains.  In the morning of your second full day, you begin your search anew.  By mid-morning, the vultures give you your direction.  Around the next bend lay the shattered remains of a what was once a sturdy treasure-wagon pulled by battle boars.  The wagon's off-side wheel is broken and part of one side is staved in.  The battle boars, big as oxen, with their studded leather armor and iron-shot tusks, lie dead in their traces.  The bodies of three dwarves with shattered weapons lie scattered around the site.

The drone of flies and the cawing of vultures fills the canyon, as the stench of death is thick on the wind...

"Is it usually just the one wagon?" Lantamori asked Bellis quietly.  She was dismayed by the carnage and loss.  Had they even had the chance to fight back?

Dellas had been cheerful as they traveled though he seemed somewhat forlorn at the thought of not having a fire at night but the others were able to convince him that it was for the best so as to not give away their position. So instead he had to dream of the fire and as he did so the fire changed shape once again to a bird of Fire at the base of a mountain. Smiling as he laid there resting over the nights as he watched this magnificent beast of fire soar into the sky.

His smile quickly diminished as they came upon the scene of the wagon cart. He slid off his mount and moved around the outer edge looking things over more as a reason to look busy but not get close to the carnage.

Farian dismounts and approaches the corpses of the dwarves as they lay dead along the road. Kneeling down, he carefully looks the bodies over, trying to figure out what killed them.

OOC: Not sure if this is the right skill to use, but it was the best I could find...

16:22, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  Search bodies for cause of death.

Haazheel asks, "Who is good at finding tracks and such?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 02:53, Wed 31 Oct 2018.

Dante takes a close look around the area, first for any sign someone still lingers, and second, for some over-looking point from which someone might have kept watch for the approaching caravan.   While the wreck seems abandoned at first glance, he keeps an arrow laid across his bow in readiness.

"Given that the boars are still harnessed, it doesn't appear their attackers waited for them to set up camp, but attacked them while they travelled." Travelling with the caravan has taught him that much -- at the end of the day, the animals are unharnessed. They're not left hitched to the wagons all night, or on any lengthy stop. It seems reasonable that even with boars, that rule would hold true.

15:58, Today: Averdante rolled 13 using 1d20+10 ((3)).

Narthian does not approach the wagon, staying on the mountain-side of the battle field. He and Thunder search the terrain for signs of creatures passing, or blood, or ichor. Thunder is using his nose, Narthian primarily his eyes.

Gave Averdante my 3 magic arrows before leaving.

Thunder Track (by scent): 22:12, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 13 using 1d20+5 ((8)).

Narthian Search: 22:13, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 19 using 1d20+5 ((14)).

Bellis shakes her head.  "Supposed to be three.  Not seeing where they would have hauled the others...  Those things are heavy."  She slowly begins to pace around the site, respectful of the Leafblade Company, inspecting the ground and walls carefully.  She signals for the three messengers to hang back.



Going near Bellis, you can see the damage to the wagon is substantial.  It looks like it was hit with something monstrously strong and big.  If it had been hit by a landslide, there would be rocks.  If it had been a monster, one would think there would be some trace left behind, as the sides of the wagon were reinforced with metal plates.  It's possible, however, that someone might have used magic.  You know of spells that use pure force or mental power to move, fling, or shield.  The classic magic missile spell is one of those, but this damage looks much more advanced.



The three dead dwarves are in contorted poses, their axes and hammers shattered, their armor riddled with cracks.  There are no wounds visible on the front, but when you shift them over, you can see claw rents in their backs, through their brittle armor.  It looks like they were very, very cold, then attacked by a clawed creature from behind, which broke their backs.



  The boars look curiously unmarked, or at least there are no obvious wounds on them other than from scavengers.



Bellis nods at Haazheel as Narthian and Thunder also step forward.




There are wheel marks and boar prints from a hasty turn-around away from the ambush site, back along the direction they had come from.  From the looks of the tracks, the boars and wagons were going as fast as they possibly could.  There is no ichor, blood, or tracks of any humanoids or other animals.

Mystique, Haazheel's owl familiar, flies up in the air. It goes hither and yon as if searching the ground for prey, but it's course eventually takes it right by a crevice just up the canyon. She perches.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:07, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Lantamori urged Cloud to follow the tracks a ways down the road at a walk.  She was careful to keep the others in sight, but wanted to know how far they might have made it.  She hoped they'd make it safely back to the Citadel.

Guiding with her knees as Cloud ambled along, the elf strung her longbow and knocked an arrow.  This was much better than staying at the fort.

"It appears that these men were nearly frozen before being clawed by something very strong, as their spines are broken and their armor is brittle in the rear," Farian explained as he got up. "What killed the boars?" he asked, walking up to them as well.

OOC: If there's a point to looking them over, here's another roll. Not that it was that much better. Lol

21:12, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 16 using 1d20+9.  Heal check to investigate boars.

"The other wagons retreated the way they came," Narthian says, indicating the tracks. "If the men we frozen, then I suspect that the boars were too. Cold enough perhaps to kill them outright. There are few creatures that can do that," he says, looking to the sky. "And leave no sign upon the ground. A species of dragon, for one." He goes close to the wrecked wagon and inspects any nearby vegetation for signs of frost damage.

Know Nature - cold dragon?: 20:28, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 20 using 1d20+10 ((10)).

Know Nature - frost salad: 20:31, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 27 using 1d20+10 ((17)).

"Based on Prreet's experiences with them, the shadows either use cold, or are themselves cold-based." Dante frowned thoughtfully.

"Could the shadows be some kind of undead?" Dante asks, looking to Farian. Then he looks over toward Haazheel, adding, "Or something not naturally of this world?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:17, Sat 03 Nov 2018.

Haazheel spreads his hands. "I know no more than I recalled. Sorry."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 04:16, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Dellas approaches slowly as he looks at the corpses his eyes wide, a slight tremble in his step and his words as he speaks

"What ever did this was powerful, the damage done the wagon took magics beyond my control or something immesly strong. You said the armour was brittle, and something froze them before rending the armour open. Any other signs on how big of an area was affected by the cold? It may help"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Sun 04 Nov 2018.

While the boars also show some of the effects of cold, there's a distinct withering effect around the exposed skin around the eyes and snout, like the boars had been abruptly aged.  You've seen this effect before while being taught - it's the effect of their energy being drained by necromancy; a negative energy attack that is antithetical to all life.



The cold damage seems to be confined to the dwarves themselves, their equipment, and even their wagon.  A frost or cold attack by most monsters has a more widespread effect, so something different tickles your mind.  This has a distinct look of the chill metal spell, a spell distinctive to druids for dealing with metal-armored foes.



Prreet sticks his nose in Averdante's ear as the elf speaks. 



Taking a look around, you don't see any cold damage to the landscape.  The vegetation here is not extravagant, but it is still thriving. 

Haazheel, Mystique hoots very softly above. 


Bruenor and Volsh are carefully watching the perimeter for any danger.

Bellis carefully comes closer as the party investigates.  She gingerly peers inside the staved side of the wagon, and looks surprised.  "Most of the tribute is still here, intact!  Coffers are sealed...  Looks like one or two are missing completely, but no more than that.  Those coffers usually take two strong people to shift, so it would take some hefting to get them away from here.  I'm not seeing any tracks but dwarves, boars, and wagons, though."

Haazheel beckons to the members of the group. When they're gathered, he gestures toward the treasure and back toward the fort, but his words partly bespeak something different. "Several bats in a crevasse nearby are watching us. For all I know, they could be shapechangers of some sort...vampires or familiars come to mind too. If you're not prepared for a desperate fight, perhaps we should take what we can salvage and go."

Mystique flies off and lights on a branch nearby the group.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 07:30, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

"Perhaps I should go talk to them," Narthian says, looking towards the crevasse. "I'll just stay in the sun's rays, just in case they are vampires. I should be safe enough." He makes a sign for Thunder to stay with the group and takes a few steps in the bats direction, his silvered spear resting casually on a shoulder.

Farian relayed his findings to the others. "Intact, hm? Do we know what, exactly, was included in this tribute? Was it just coins, or perhaps our thieves knew exactly what they were looking for and only took something specific?" he wondered out loud as he looked towards the crevice. "We could only be so lucky that a group of vampires were that close to us that I could scorch them all with Pelor's holy light," the priest laughed, almost wishing he were wrong so that he could eradicate some more scum from this plane of existence. "I would like to try a spell, but it will take quite a while to cast, several minutes at the least. Do we have enough time, or should we be heading off soon?" he asked nobody in particular.

 Lantamori kept riding, following the wagon tracks just a little further.

"Stay in strong light, Narthian," Dante advises. He casts a quick glance toward Farian as he tells the druid, "The shadows do not like bright light. They will hide from it in crevices or cracks in the ground, although I do not sense that it does them any significant harm. They do seem to be completely insubstantial, so they can seep into stone as easily as smoke through a crack -- which means there may be more than simply bats in there."

Stroking Prreet affectionately, appreciative of the help the stone cat's provided. He moves warily closer to the wagon for a better look at it. "If most of the tribute is still there... maybe they're not done hauling it away?"

The lack of tracks doesn't particularly bother him; there are far too many ways of magically transporting something. He turns to take another look around the area. "Of course, if we're dealing with something large enough, perhaps we haven't looked far enough from this point to find tracks."

Dellas looks back towards the crevice and then down the landscape around

"Well I believe I can rule out a dragon doing any of this. The cold damage is limited to just the dwarven armour and weapons. It was not as if a dragon's breath fell upon them. This is most intriguing."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:10, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

Narthian gives Farian a thumbs up. As he nears the crevice, he casts Longstrider on himself. Once he's as close as he can get without leaving the sun's warm embrace, he casts Speak With Animals and calls out to the bats. "[Language unknown: Anadei ar hariwa thuvirrom! Eve bead miha ta latri us tervervir ecal-pabe any paivit hi?]"

Volsh walked around scratching his head, much of this was beyond his expertise of hitting things. "So the dwarves were attacked with some sort of cold spell then clawed, the boar was hit by a mix of cold and negative energy, and the wagon was hit by something that didn't leave a trace. Could the wagon have been hit by a giant piece of ice or something similar then?" The savage asks Dellas.

In reply to Volsh son of Vor (msg # 24):

Dellas walks over to examine the cart in further detail, examining the metals and wood to see if there were any traces of cold magic involved

The bats watch Mystique warily, but do not budge from their crevasse.  Either they are unconcerned about the threat the owl represents, or confident that their location represents too great an obstacle for them to become prey.  Or they're vampires.  One of the three.



Bellis, their scout, answers the question about the tribute.  "The tribute was gold trade-bars and weapons.  The gold pays for Crown expenses: Guards' pay, forts' upkeep, repair on the trade roads, that kind of thing.  Weapons mostly go to the Guard as well, but some pieces are made special for the Royals for rewards and whatnot.  No special ones in this lot that the Commander mentioned, but then again sometimes they don't advertise the fact, eh?  Those coffers are big enough for a longsword or a battleaxe, easy, so 'tis possible the missing ones were the special orders."





Bellis nods at Averdante's musing that perhaps the caravan raiders aren't done here.  "'Tis possible that it's taken them this long to move what they have, if they already got the other two wagons.  These folk don't look dead more than a couple of days.  I can check up the trail a piece to see if there's anything else to this tale."



As Lantamori travels ahead, she discovers something interesting.  About a furlong down the road, more tracks abruptly join those of boars, dwarves, and wagons.  There's tracks something large and clawed, very heavy, on top of the tribute caravan tracks and heading in the same direction...



The bats pause, seem to look at each other, and one gives several high-pitched squeaks and screeches. 



Volsh doesn't notice any sign of a dried puddle from ice, but there have been a few of your companions trampling about the place.



It's possible that the metal of the wagon was hit by a chill metal spell before being struck; that would weaken the metal and make it brittle.  You don't see any residue on the outside of the wagon, but with the amulet that gives Dellas' eyes the power to see in the dark, he can spy something inside the darkness of the wagon, easily missed in the gloom of the enclosed space.  On the inner side of the staved-in panel he sees the broken-off tip of a claw.  It's larger than Thunder's, that's for certain, more like the size of that ogre werewolf you all fought on the Baroness' lands, and black as night.  There's also some dried brown stuff that you're pretty sure is dried blood crusting the claw.

Seeing the new larger clawed tracks, Lantamori turned Cloud about and headed back toward the others at the same pace she'd left them.  It looked as though the two wagons had company.

"[Language unknown: Allmeners, wi e? Reas neof fo iou erang e o ic san onsta wilcomhas! Loitta u nawil na waplul e pear t vensa e reaad sanouswil omosil naadee ie assawa la m.]" Narthian continues speaking with the bats for some time (up to 5 minutes, but probably less) before returning to the group.

Speak with Animals lasts for 5 minutes. He uses his Wild Empathy to try to make the bats more friendly, but is unsuccessful. Surely they are in the thrall of the monster that attacked the wagon! He'll speak with them for only as long as it takes to get useful information, or to realize his attempt is fruitless, or the bats start to show signs of hostility. He studies the bats carefully, as many as he can see, trying to determine if there is anything unnatural about any of them.

Wild Empathy: 08:15, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 9 using 1d20+6 ((3)).

Know Nature, Natural Bats? 08:16, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 18 using 1d20+10 ((8)).

Dellas search of the wagon caused an slight squeal from Dellas as he clambers inside the container and wrenches at the claw to break it. Making his way out he shows the claws to the other as he examines it more closely in the light to see if he can make any headway on what it could be.

Curious about what Dellas has found, Dante leans down to take a closer look at it. "Maybe Narthian can determine what kind of creature shed that type of claw, when he's done talking to the bats." Knowing if it had come from something more animal-like, or more humanoid-like, would certainly be useful. Could it have come from whatever cast the cold spell -- or was it only a physically powerful minion of the caster, employed to use its brute strength in smashing into the weakened wagon?

Which raised another question, so he turned to their guide. "Bellis, wouldn't one of the dwarves who was with the tribute have had a key for the wagons? Is it possible someone -- the one with the key -- escaped? There's no reason to smash the wagon open if there's a key handy."

Volsh stared at the seen trying to make things add up in his mind. "Well just looking at this seen I am already confident this was no troll assault. But still have no clue what these 'shadows' could be." He shrugged. "Doesn't seem like they were raiders after wagon loot either."

Haazheel is observing, waiting for what the group wants to do next.

"I think the shadows are undead," Dante told Volsh. "They kill the living, but wouldn't have done the damage to the wagon. That required a physical form they don't seem to have. So, we may be dealing with someone who can control them -- unless they're using living beings as lackeys?" He looks questioningly at Preet as he speculates on that.

The bats chitter angrily at Narthian for quite some time. 



Taking a careful examination of the claw, it doesn't seem to be a wolf claw (you're fairly familiar with those), as it's too big.  However, a bear claw, that seems likely.



Bellis nods at Averdante's words.  "Aye, the sub-chief in charge would have the key, and I hope to their gods they escaped.  None of the dead here have the beards of a sub-chief, nor the armor of one."



"Or only after specific things.  The Commander didn't say there were special order weapons in this lot, but it may be that there were some included in secret, with instructions carried by the caravan chief.  That's happened a few times before.  Once the wagon was broken open, if the attackers could see magical things, they could see what they wanted to steal" Bellis says diffidently.



"That's a thought to chill the blood," Sir Aberlayne says with a shudder.  "'Twould be a powerfully evil creature to draw the living to work with them...  Such a person would have to be bitter against life, for such things are often endlessly hungry and treacherous, so Yondalla's texts say."

Prreet nuzzles Averdante's ear, cocking his head as if in confusion.

Narthian takes his leave of the bats and returns to the party, his face looks troubled and more pale then usual. "The bats are normal bats from what I can tell," he reports. "And they had much to say, if not entirely clearly. My guess is that the attacker is... a druid." The last said with obvious discomfort. "Probably one with a grudge against the dwarves, but I cannot be sure. Bats are not the most clever of animals, and these have been brought into the attacker's thrall. They had many threats for the likes of us, and I was powerless to sway them."

When he learns of the claw, he asks to examine it.

Know Nature - Bear claw? 15:22, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 16 using 1d20+10 ((6)).

"The other two wagons," Lantamori said as she returned on Cloud and came to a stop, "they turned back but something big followed them.

"I think it's time to send back a messenger."

Upon examination, Narthian is certain the claw is not only from a bear, but a bear of exceptional size.  One of the massive varieties, perhaps a cave bear or a dire bear, or even a bear under the effects of an animal growth spell. 



Bellis nods and calls up young Wedd as she pulls out a piece of pampliset and scrawls down what they've found so far.  She waits, silverstick raised, for any other information the group wants to add.  Once everyone has had their say, she'll pop the pampliset in a scroll case and hand it to Wedd, who will begin trotting back to Fort Cross.

As Wedd trots away, Narthian sprints up along side. "Do not tarry by night, but fly! Fly like the wind! We are watched and you will not be safe!" He returns to the party. "These clues convince me of my guess," he says to the others. "We must assume that everything we do and say from now on is made known. This druid can command powers of nature that I cannot. As nature provides, it can also be cruel, and some are bent to this aspect. Nothing that I have learned can rule out the possibility of a command of the undead as well. This is the most danger we have been in since we faced the small god of the marsh."

Dellas smiled at the idea of it being a large bear, his imagination began to run wild as he imagined a bear as large as a house swatting these carts about.... After a moment he turns back to the others "But we have seen no tracks here... how would such a large bear get here...." he stopped midsentence as Lantamori mentioned large tracks following the carts "We should rush after those other carts and see if they are harmed as well? While the messenger rides on. The messenger should bring back horses to take this wagon back."

"I think that the attacker got what it came for. You have seen me as a wolf. But I could as easily be a bird. ... Or a bat. Or a bear. As I grow in my understanding of Nature's Secrets, the oftener I can change. And the wider the range of sizes. If you doubt the power of the druids, go there," he points to the path he took towards the bats. "And find where my feet fell. Even now, in my nightly commune, I seek to unravel the secrets of Natural Magic so I can use spells in my wolf form. We cannot underestimate the abilities of our quarry. We will find him or her when he or she wants to be found." Narthian looks as anxious as any of you have ever seen him.

As Wedd goes, and Narthian urges him to speed and caution, Wedd turns back to Bellis and makes a few gestures.  She nods, and waves up Fothbar, one of the other messengers.  "Guard his back, move fast, no detours, sleep light!" she admonishes, and both quickly gallop down the road back towards Fort Cross.  She turns to Dellas.  "Commander Brighthearth will send back beasts and drivers with them, or not, depending on who can be spared.  The dwarves use battleboars for a reason, though.  We're going to need some big draft horses to move that wagon.  I'll board it back up best I can, just in case anyone else comes along, and we can get seeking the other wagons."

She and Garvin, the other messenger, use the broken boards and rocks to pack in the staved side, making it at least a lot more difficult for anyone to casually loot.

At Narthian's pronouncement that they face an evil druid, Sir Aberlayne curses quietly.  "A vampire seeking minions is one thing; their powers of charm lend them their aid.  For a servant of nature to take up with some life-draining thing must mean a very bitter and rotten soul indeed."

If all are in agreement, you can follow Lantamori to find the tracks she saw.  Narthian can see (once you get further down the road) that there are indeed the tracks of a large bear, one that would stand ten feet or more, that abruptly appear.  They seem to be chasing the boar, wagon, and dwarf tracks.  There is no blood, nor sign of unnatural cold, at least not at first.  The bats do not follow you (Mystique cannot see them budge from their crevice), but Averdante, Narthian, Mystique, Prreet, and Volsh all occasionally spy bats clinging to crevices as you move along the road.  Some of the bats are surely just bats.  Surely...

As midday stretches to afternoon, then getting on towards sunset, the tracks take an abrupt turn into what seems to be solid tumble of boulders on the side of the steep canyon walls!

Normally Narthian would be the first to scramble over the pile stones, curious to find what lies beyond, but he hesitates now.

Mystique flies back to Haazheel. He looks around and says, "With so many bats, there will be a lot of night insects or, if not, the bats are most unusual..which means we should prepare to be attacked by them."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 00:31, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

"No, I don't think they will," Narthian says to Haazheel quietly, not taking his eyes from the pile of stones and looking uneasy. "They are the Watchers. The bats that I spoke with said that their master would destroy us ... And it would make them happy."

Once again at the rear of the column, Lantamori kept her eye out for bears lurking in the forest behind them.

Dellas mounted up back up and followed along as they followed the tracks, his attention on the claw he held in front of him as he rubbed his thumb along it repeatedly.

A druid that likes to shape change into a giant of a bear, and commands undead things without substance... Dante's uneasy as he runs his fingers over Prreet's smooth stone form and eyes the tumble of rocks blocking the road. Five arrows weren't going to last throughout a serious battle, let alone all night long.

"We havn't reached the wagon Lantamori saw," he says, studying the rockfall and the area around them. "Has it been moved, or was this put between it and us after she returned? Because if it's been put here afterwards... I think we need to fall back to a place of our own choosing for the coming battle, and not stay where this rogue druid wants us."



16:37, Today: Averdante rolled 27 using 1d20+10 ((17)).

Bruenor follows the party with alert senses and growing unease.  His immense distrust, even fear, of magic returns in a big way.  He'd grown somewhat comfortable with those magic users in their own company, but this powerful druid-bear (and who knows what else) reminded him of why he had no love for the mystical arts.

He places a hand on the hilt of his sword, taking comfort in the feel of real, solid steel...and pats Demon's neck with his free hand.  He was glad to have the dark horse beneath him.  Demon had some connection to other planes, or hell, he had no doubt...but mixed in with that was a noble heart, and not something evil.

"Clearly someone doesn't want us following," he voices aloud.  "Someone with the strength...or magic," he spits out the last word with more distaste than intended, "to cause such a rockslide."

Bruenor dismounts and puts his foot on one of the boulders before them, checking that it's not some sort of illusion.  He'll then bend down to see if the wagon tracks seem to fully continue under the boulders, or stop shortly before as if they'd vanished.

Curiously the wagon tracks seem to go right under the rocks.  As Bruenor touches them with his sword, there is a faint resistance, and suddenly his sword plunges through them as if they aren't there!

"We are facing an Initiate of the 6th Circle," Narthian says. "At the least. I have known some of that level that could make such deceptions. By comparison, I am of the 3rd Circle. This is the least of the obstacles we might face." He studies the surrounding terrain intently.  "If there is some other way then through the valley, and if we can avoid the bats, we would stand a better chance."

Dellas sat there looking at the roadblock and then over his shoulder as he looked around for any bats "Well we could roast the bats...." His eyes widen at the illusion and then a smile crosses his face, he quickly jumps down and walks over to the rocks "Do that again." he remarks to Bruenor as he seeks to study the illusion. He will then press his hands against the rocks himself...

Haazheel lets Mystique fly up to look around.

Volsh follows the group mostly watching the bats with a unsettled gaze. "At this rate w can expect this 'druid' to be fully aware of our presence." He growls in a down cast voice. "But I don't see much of an alternative, shall I climb the boulders and see what is on the other side?"

"No, Volsh. Wait to see what Mystique can tell Haazheel. If I had bothered to put up an illusion like this, I would leave something nasty just beyond." He looks to the walls of the valley. "However, if you wanted to climb around them..."

Bruenor's eyes widen as the tip of his sword pushes through the nearest boulder, and he quickly pulls it back, as if recoiling from the heat of a flame.

"Bah! More magic!  What trickery is this now??"

He quietly listens to the others discuss their apparent foe.

Despite his concern at this unseen druid, he lets out a good-natured laugh at Volsh's comment.  "Yes, friend...let's see you try to climb these boulders!"

Impressed with the extent of the illusion Bruenor's revealed, Dante checks that his arrow is securely nocked before he takes a harder look at the rocks. "Have care, Bruenor, Dellas -- that illusion may be concealing something more than just an open road."

The canyon road is fairly narrow, but the floor of it is smooth; likely this was carved out as a road some centuries before by dwarven craftfolk.  Every few miles is a slightly wider place that can be used as a temporary campsite or a place to turn the wagons more easily.  The vegetation here is sparse, and there is more of it at the top of the canyon and on the cliffs above than down here on the road.  The slump of rocks at the side of the canyon do not block the road, but they do narrow it.  Likely there was some kind of cave entrance there that was blocked by the rocks after the wagons went into it.  But whether this was done by the dwarves in desperation to protect themselves, or by the druid (or one of his allies) to either trap them in there with them, or trap them forever inside there, or something else, is uncertain.  There are no bear tracks immediately near the rockfall zone that Narthian can see.



Mystique flies up and down the canyon, and then soars higher to get the lay of the land. 



Dellas examines the rocks carefully, then touches them.  After seeing Bruenor's sword go through them, he concentrates, and after a moment, his hands go through the rocks too, as if they were not there! 

When Volsh tries to climb the rocks and Averdante examines them more carefully, both realized that the rocks, while very real in appearance, have no more substance than air.  Volsh finds he can gain no purchase, and ends up seemingly ankle-deep in rocks, while he feels like he is just standing on firm, flat ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:08, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

"Bellis, is it common for the dwarf guards to include a wizard? After studying the signs, it is possible that i jumped to quickly at the conclusion of who made this rockfall illusion."

Bellis strokes her chin in thought.  "The clans don't have much in the way of a wizardly tradition, to be fair...  But they are known for their stonesingers.  Bards, rather, and some of them can do magic, right?"

Mystique arrived back to settle on Haazheel's shoulder. The fledgling mage reports, "Mystique has seen nothing out of the ordinary. The bats are gone or out of sight. A canyon is ahead with some mountain goats clustered at one location."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 07:14, Sat 15 Dec 2018.

Narthian nods towards Bellis, then turns towards Bruenor and Volsh, inclining his head in invitation to proceed through the illusion.

Watching their back, Lantamori spotted a loose horse walk past her back the way they'd come from.

"Did anyone lose their horse?" she called out, moving Cloud to cut off her wayward companion.  The elf looked back to see if anyone were lying on the ground without their horse.

"Somebody, yes. But who?"

Mystique flies up and away enough to take a look.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:51, Sun 16 Dec 2018.

At word of the loose horse, Dante's first thought is to look and see if it was one of the horses belonging to the messengers Bellis had just sent away. If they were being spied upon, stopping those riders would have been a priority.


[Not sure what I should roll for this!]

The only loose horses are those who have dismounted to inspect, poke at, attempt to climb, or try to go through the rock-illusion, as no one had yet to secure them!  Mask, Demon, Honeybee, and Volsh's borrowed mount are milling about on the road.  Bellis and the remaining messenger, Garvin, are using their mounts to pace back and forth to keep them from wandering far.

"If you're going in there, we can tend the horses while we wait for Fothbar and Wedd to return.  And if anything happens to us out there, I hope a small herd of squealing horseflesh would be a warning to you that we've got trouble!" Bellis says.

Those wanting to go into the illusion can give their mounts to Bellis and Garvin.  Sir Aberlayne spends some time speaking to Valiant before sending him with the others, and the pony snorts and trots off to join the others with his head high, as if on a mission.

Inside the illusion it's as dark as the inside of a hat.  Not even those with low-light vision can see so much as a single thing, which leaves Dellas (with his magical amulet) seeing a broad cave mouth with an earthen floor extending back into the cliffside.  You can smell damp earth and water, hear faint dripping, and taste a faint metallic scent in the air.

Bruenor doesn't want to step into the illusion, but knows he should accompany the others.  He walks Demon over to the Bellis and gives a word of caution about the warhorse, before whispering quietly to Demon and giving him a slap on the neck.  He makes sure to tie the horse up nearby, knowing Demon might not take kindly to being restrained by strangers.

He waits for the others to join him, and with his sword out, leads with the point, stepping through the boulders.

Once inside, he can't help feeling like he needs to use his sword like a walking cane that the blind beggars use.  He hisses under his breath..."Can anyone see in this damned blackness?"

"We're walking into the rock slide?" Lantamori asked, herding the loose horse back to Bellis.  She dismounted and tied up Cloud with the others, reassuring the mare she'd be right back.

Bow in hand, the elf lined up with the others to step through the illusory rocks.

The others hear Narthian's voice. "[Language unknown: Tiote outonshou ev hisnotenc!]" and a light like a torch appears on the butt of his spear. He holds the weapon tip down in his right hand, extending the light high above. In his left hand is his bow. Thunder has his nose in the air, testing it.

Mystique finding nothing unusual [I guess], Haazheel dismounts and leaves his horse in care of Bellis and Garvin. He leaves Mystique to watch outside and enters the illusion (which he knows is just that) with his staff and crossbow (armed).

So, it looked like they were going to find out what the illusion concealed. Given that there were no screams immediately forthcoming, it obviously wasn't occupied by something, or hiding a pit.

 Riding over to where Bellis was gathering the mounts, Dante swung his leg over and slid lightly to the ground. He handed the guard Mask's reins, telling her, "Thank you. Hopefully we won't be gone long."

Leaving his good cloak secured to Mask's saddle, he threw his night-loving cloak over his shoulders and secured it. This seemed like a good time to really put it through its paces. Having watched several of the others enter, he followed Haazheel through the illusory rocks.

Dellas' grin grows as he examines the illusion protecting the path "Most fascinating. I am curious if it would show as burning if I tried to light it on fire?" as he begins to rummage through his pack and the decides better of it as the others begin to dismount and approach "Can you take care of my steed, I am sure it's tried wandering off already." With a wink and a glimmer of mischief in his eyes he steps into the wall of illusionary rocks to see what is on the other side calling back what he sees to the others.

Volsh gives the mount over to Bellis before drawing his Guisarme. He tentatively touches the illusory boulders for a moment with his hand before taking a deep breath and walking through. "We need torches!" He grumbles as he stands there squinting into the dark.

The light from Narthian's spell pushes back the darkness.  The cave is broad, and the floor of it relatively smooth.  Blown-in dirt makes up the floor for the first fifty or so feet, and then eventually gives way to stone.  In the dirt there are tracks of boars, wagons, and dwarven boots, just like outside.  No bear tracks, though.  There is one pair of boot tracks that are fresher than the others.  The cave extends into the mountain, stalagmites and stalactites lining the walls like stone teeth in the mouth of a fantastically huge beast.



"Dellas, please don't try to set the magic air rocks on fire," Sir Aberlayne says, pulling out her axe as she pushes through the illusion.

The cave makes some twists and turns, and there is the occasional narrow side passage, but the tracks from the dwarves' wagons continue on the main passageway.  The narrow side passages, when lit, mostly seem to be small slits in the rock with normal cave debris.  When rounding another corner, you spy something peculiar on the ground.  The two crumpled forms look like nothing so much as a pair of collapsed black leather tents.  There is some scuffling in the tracks, and some splashes of what looks like dry or drying blood.

Haazheel looks at, and touches the stalactites and stalagmites just in case there's something unusual.

Narthian brings the light closer to the forms on the ground, seeking to confirm what he suspects - that they are dwarves and they are dead.

Narthian's light barely reached her at the rear of the line.  She didn't want to light her torch, though.  Something to think about the next time she had a chance to shop.

Hopefully, any attack would come from the front.

Dellas smirks at his sister and then proceeds to grin largely "Oh it was just a fun little thought question. I would never..." He approached slowly the two forms on the ground looking them over, his suspicions similar to Narthain. This was not going well, not well at all he thought to himself.

Hanging back out to stay in the shadows raised by the light, Dante waits to find out what Narthian's discovered. Would the dwarves have abandoned their dead? Perhaps that depended on what pursued them into here. Or had the mad druid behind the attacks been the one to bring the wagons in here?

The rocky protrusions he can reach feel like cool, damp cave rocks, not hot, slimy monster teeth, so at least that is a good sign so far.



The fallen forms are not, as Narthian had suspected, dwarves.  They are beasts who have an outer mantle like a bat's wings, with leathery skin and thin bones as support between them, a domed head with many eyes atop it, and a body that terminates in several tentacles and a central, toothy maw.  They do not look terribly strong, and while these are unfamiliar to you, they likely are ambush predators.  Quite possibly they went after the dwarves (likely any straggling rearguards) and were defeated.  From the freshness of the tracks, no more than two days' prior.

As Narthian examines and the others in the group wait, watch, or banter, Averdante and Volsh notice something above in the stalactites; a few shadows darker than they should be.

Right then, the lights go out.

Narthian hears something faintly above him and dodges, and feel something thud heavily to the ground near this feet.  Bruenor and Haazheel aren't so lucky, each being struck with something hard, heavy, and sharp from above.   

There is a flapping sound, and abruptly the two halflings find themselves under attack!  Sir Aberlayne manages to twist herself away from its embrace, while Dellas finds himself lashed by something like whips and then enveloped in a leathery shroud!

"Whaaat's happening?" Lantamori called out, gripping her bow tightly and dropping to one knee.  "Is this on purpose?"

Haazheel drops and rolls. Rising to one knee he yells while holding up his staff

Staff of mine, shine light of day
So we may win this affray!

The staff, if not suppressed, sheds a bright light all around.

Lucky to have dodged the attack, and slightly startled by the cries of his companions, Narthian is a little slow to react. He drops his bow and stabs ineffectively at the noise with his spear, not waiting for Haazheel to complete his spell.

Initiative: 10:24, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 9 using 1d20+3 ((6)).

Attack: 10:29, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 12,0 using 1d20+4,1d8-1 ((8,1)).

Stepping back against the wall as soon as it goes dark, Dante looks around, and listens hard, trying to find a target. He heard something moving up above, heard things thud to the ground nearer at hand -- probably whatever he saw up above With an arrow nocked, he watches and waits for the first opportunity to target something.

Bruenor, startled by the sudden darkness, cries out as it feels like the cave ceiling is falling down on him.  He recovers and shouts to the others, "I've been hit by falling debris!  Light!," he adds, keeping his words terse.

He draws his longsword, and holds it before him defensively, not striking out as he'd rather not decapitate any of his companions.

OOC: Barring any light coming on before the next round, Bruenor will assume Total Defense to try to ward off any attacks.

"HELP, it's got me" Dellas screams out as he fumbles to try and crawl away from the things, not good, not good he thinks to himself as he panics trying to figure out something that would get him out of this mess, but he his hands were too bound up to try and complete any of the spells he has and getting to one of his scrolls may take to long....




OOC: Dellas attempt of crawling/wiggling his way out of trouble here...

12:05, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 17 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 14.  Escape Artist Check .

The party is not left in darkness for long, as Haazheel's daylight spell pushes back the darkness easily.  Narthian, Bruenor, and Volsh all see what seem to be broken-off stalactites that seem to have fallen on them (or just missed them).  But as they watch, they can see a glittering eye amongst the glistening stony surface, and several sucker-like legs that are attempting to lurch the creatures upright.

Near Sir Aberlayne is a more lively version of the dead creatures Narthian had been examining, and Dellas himself is enveloped inside one!

Narthian's spear just misses the stony thing as its feet, and its crystalline eye glitters balefully at him.  Dellas gives a mighty squirm, and manages to free himself from the tentacled beast!  Bruenor can now see the stony foe that had tried to fell him, and can give it a swipe with his sword, cleaving it in twain!  Dark ichor-like blood seeps from the bisected... creature.  The stony things are alive!

Sir Aberlayne gives a yell and swipes hard twice with her axe at the foe next to her, and Averdante fires his bow at it.  Her first strike and Averdante's find their mark, and the tentacled beast shrieks as its blood is drawn.  Volsh charges forward with Widowmaker to spear the one Dellas just wriggled out of, skewering it easily.  Farian holds his silver mace ready, eyes fixed on the ceiling in case any more foes show themselves.

Narthian urges Thunder to the attack as he stabs again with his spear. He's been a bit dazzled by the sudden bright light, however, and misses. Thunder hits home, however, biting and trying to drag the thing to the ground.

Narthian attack: 21:17, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 7,2 using 1d20+4,1d8-1 ((3,3)).

Thunder attack: Bite and Trip STR roll: 21:21, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 22,5,22 using 1d20+6,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((16,3,20)).

Dellas scurries across the ground, trying to create room between him and the mass of tentacles before he rolls over and begins his incantation, placing his hands together, a burst of flames spreads out from them towards the creature, the gaping maw of a bracer spews forth additional fire increasing the power of his own spell....

OOC:

Cast Burning Hands, 15' cone, 5d4 damage +1d6 for the bracer, ref 15 for half

15 Damage:
14:57, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 11,4 using 5d4,d6 with rolls of 4,1,2,3,1,4.

Lantamori kept an eye out for more of them approaching and knocked an arrow for their trouble.

Farian steps forward, and attempts to crush the tentacled creature with his silver mace. But he is too cautious in his move, and only hits the ground, as the mass of tendrils slides away from his strike.

Standing still, proud and protector, he shouts "Beware of other evils around, companions! Fight back on back, don't let them drag you away in the darkness !"


OOC :
03:27, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 8 using 1d20+5.  Attack Roll with mace. Miss

Dante fires another arrow at the one he hit before, as it seems he and Sir Aberlayne hadn't quite finished it off.



16:22, Today: Averdante rolled 17 using 1d20+8.  firing at tentacled thing.
16:22, Today: Averdante rolled 3 using 1d8.  possible damage.

Thunder clamps his teeth around the stalactite-monster and crunches down, pulling it off its little feet.  It's awkward on the ground and easy for him to pull-off balance, but as he closes his jaws, he gives a yelp of pain! 



Dellas scoots backwards, out of the reach of the shadow-beast, and a fan of flames washes over the creature, and Volsh.  Volsh evades the worse of the flame, the but shadow-beast cannot squirm away fast enough.  It collapses like a wet tent, greasy and burning, giving off an awful black smoke.



Lantamori's sense are keen as she keeps watch.  While she doesn't spy any more lurking shadows or stalactites about to drop, she does catch the faint, faraway sound of something further down the passageway, bounced to her by the caverns; a deep snort of a large pig!



Farian's swing goes awry, and Sir Aberlayne steps in to strike as the beast reacts.  She only hits it with a glancing blow, leaving it open for Averdante.



Averdante's arrow finishes the second shadow-beast off, leaving it in an untidy sprawl across the cavern floor.

Volsh, freshly scorched, reverses course to take out the other stalactite-creature that had fallen on him.  His spear skewers it easily, and he shakes off the carcass with a heavy thump.

Bruenor can finish what Thunder started, and bring an end to the last little stony horror.

The caves fall silent once more, save for the breathing of the group, and the faint seeping of blood.

Looking around in his armor, Farian panted a bit, as the battle was fierce and violent. He raised a hand that started to glow with divine golden energy, offering his help for the most wounded.

"Any who needs mending their wounds, approach me. What were those things ? If anyone knows."
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:32, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

"I think I may have heard one of the boars up ahead somewhere," Lantamori said, rising from her defensive crouch.

Dellas clambers to his feet as the panic begins to wear off. He begins to wipe the dirt off his pants and tunic looking over at Volsh a bit sheepishly "Sorry bout that. It got the better of me and I panicked." He looked to the creature but his attention was quickly drawn up with Farian's response "The dwarves must be ahead." He turns and rushes down the cavern ahead of the others...

Haazheel yells, "WAIT!" He points up toward the ceiling. "Mystique has let me know there's something glinting up there on or in the ceiling."

When he walks to Farian, it's obvious that he is badly hurt. After receiving help, he says, "My thanks to you and Pelor."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 04:30, Thu 10 Jan 2019.

Farian nodded, pouring the divine power onto Haazheel's wounds, and curating him. He looks up at the ceiling, and tries at the same time to keep an eye on the running halfling with a sigh.

"Don't go too far, master Nump. Stay with the group."

Seeing Dellas bolt off on his own, and hearing some other threat lurking overhead, sounds like an accident in waiting. "Hurry up," he tells the others, shrugging his bow over his shoulder.

 Taking hold of the cloak with his hands, he calls up its transformative abilities. While he could fly as himself, a bat made a much smaller target, and hopefully a less conspicuous one. Darting off after the halfling wizard, he hoped he could follow unnoticed, but be close enough to help should Dellas trigger some trap -- or garner the attention of some other monster -- until the others caught up.

Narthian sees to Thunder's wound, using a bit of his cloak to clear away any remaining harmful substances. "[Language unknown: He lin m chman. Wiadic ti notr himo a a ven werhisles ivin eenhatlin thi pe encatecon tinundtin]," he says to the wolf caringly. He picks up his bow and looks up where Haazheel is pointing.

"Haazheel, does Mystique feel that it is dangerous? Or something curious - to be investigated? I have prepared the Spider Walking spell for today."

Lantamori stayed within Haazheel's light.  She wasn't going to chase anyone into the pitch black darkness of the cave.  Instead she peered up to see what the glint in the ceiling might be.

Haazheel replies, "I don't think it's dangerous, something embedded." He walks over to a  tentacle-shadow-beast and attempts to thrust one end of his quarterstaff into a soft part of it. It misses or glances off.

21:20, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 8 using 1d20.  To Hit.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 13:00, Fri 11 Jan 2019.

Narthian nods at Haazheel, but waits for consensus from the party before climbing to the roof to investigate. It was dangerous enough with some members heading off into the darkness after a pig.

Before dashing off into the cave to investigate the boars Lantamori heard, Narthian invokes a spell of spider climb on himself and Averdante uses his cloak of the bat to get to the ceiling.  Averdante can hang upside down easily, and Narthian can join him in a few minutes.  There is a small hole, perhaps a foot and a half wide, hidden in the shadows of the stalactites.  Inside the hole is a larger chamber, likely the lair of the tentacle-shadow-beasts.  They seem to have decorated the place with things collected from various victims over a period of time.  There is an elaborate tangle of fine golden rope, a leather belt decorated with symbols of the sun, a fine red silk scarf, four colorful potions in a blue leather belt, a silver plate decorated with blue stones in a moon motif, a pair of silvery bracers with symbol of a shield and fists upon them, a small heap of coins and gems atop a blue-black buckler, a pair of green snakeskin gloves, and what seems to be a leather collar spiked with wooden spikes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:45, Sat 12 Jan 2019.

"What a strange collection of items. It seems to be trophies of sort. But... what is this ? This belt is ornated with the Sun, symbol of Pelor?! If none of you objects, I claim it for examination." Farian inquired, his interest triggered by the symbols.

"I've no idea what these creatures are...never even heard of such a thing in tales," Bruenor muses, as he examines his sword.  He looks closely at the icor on his blade, examining whether it looks like blood of some sort.  The things had clearly been alive...in a sense.

He tries wiping his blade on the corpse of one of the creatures, not sure how effective it'll be at cleaning it.

As Dellas bolts off, he casts a look of consternation, and starts to runs after, thinking, 'The bloody mage'll get himself killed!'

He hisses after the wizard, "Dellas!  Not without the group!", but pulls up short as he reaches the fringe of the light from behind and watches the halfling run off into relative darkness.

He calls out over his shoulder, "Aberlayne!  Your brother!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:33, Mon 14 Jan 2019.

Narthian won't try to squeeze himself through the hole, but offers to help Averdante if he's small enough to enter is his current form. Working together, surely they can extract the treasure and carefully drop them to a waiting Farian. Except for the coins and gems, which temporarily go into Narthian's pouch. Once clear, he climbs down to the others.

Dante's quite willing to help Narthian quickly strip the little pocket of valuables. He's looking forward to looking at them more closely when there's time, as much of it looks quit interesting, but that has to wait. Dellas is off in the dark, and given all the things they'd just found, this passage clearly saw somewhat regular use.

Sir Aberlayne dashes off after Dellas; while she can't see in the dark like he can, she can see more easily in less light, like the elves in the party.  She calls after him in a loud hiss, "Dellas!  Don't, we don't know what is over there!"

Dellas, some dozen feet ahead of his sister, can see a few openings into side caverns or passages up ahead. 

Averdante and Narthian can collect the treasure with minor trouble, though the fine golden rope seems rather tangled and will take a little while to get coiled properly.  They can get it on the ground easily enough so the others can see it.



Farian can see the back of the belt buckle has symbols of strength and balance inscribed upon it, and seems exceptionally well-made.  The sun symbols looks like they were made with exquisite care and craftsmanship.

After clearing the treasure hold, Narthian walks along the ceiling towards the two halflings. He watches for any additional suspicious stalactites along the way.

"Haazheel, keep moving," Lantamori prompted the human with their sole light source.  "Catch up to the halflings."

"How come such an object was here ? Was a servant of Pelor stolen or killed, so they had such a mastercrafted item ? This needs investigation" Farian said, as he smiled because retrieving such an object for his cult was a good thing.

Following an inner desire to parade with it, he quickly unbucled his own belt, and replaced it with the found gold ornated found one.

Haazheel keeps moving with caution since he's wounded.

Narthian and Haazheel move up with the Numps to see what lies ahead.  There are several turnings and passageways up ahead, and with the addition of the daylight from Haazheel, they can spy some fresh scratches on the third passageway up, perhaps two or three feet from the ground.

Back with the rest of the group, Volsh grumbles and lights a torch so they have more illumination.

As Farian places the belt around his waist, there is a whump of magic and a brief flash of light, causing a burst of wind that tangles the light golden rope around the cleric.  Also it looks as if Farian is thinner than before, his armor hanging off him a little oddly...

"Let's wait here for the others," Narthian's voice calls down to the Numps and Haazheel from above. "We do not want to be cut off and alone in this darkness." He gives a short whistle calling to Thunder to join him (but on the ground, of course).

Since other help has followed the halfling, Dante drops back to the ground and releases the cloak's magic. Taking his bow back in hand, he starts to follow them as he slips an arrow out and nocks it. The sudden flash of light behind him has him spinning around to face the new threat...?

"We can examine what we found later, Farian. Just stow the rope as it is -- are you alright?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:02, Wed 23 Jan 2019.

Dellas stood at there examining the markings but not wanting to get to close, listening once again for the noise of what he thought were the dwarven beasts of burden as the others approached him. He jumped slightly as the got close enough to examine the markings themselves

"You shouldn't do that. Give a small man like myself such a rush. I heard the dwarven beasts but now other than those markings I am not sure..."

"Keep going!" comes an annoyed female voice from the rear.  "Stop stopping all the time!"

Bruenor follows those with light, not fancying a tromp through the darkened tunnels with gods know what waiting up ahead.

Farian had stopped moving, blinking behind the helmet, and lifting arms and hands, in shocked expression. the armor hanging oddly onto his body, and feeling something was odd. Even his voice sounded odd as he answered to averdante.

"I don't know.. something is not right. I feel.. strange.."

In the caverns ahead...

Those heading down the corridor after Dellas can see clear scratches on one of the walls ahead.  With the glare of the daylight spell as Haazheel joins the group, the light pours into the side passages.  There's a sudden gruff shout from ahead, the speaker unseen!

""

--

Where the monsters were killed...

As Farian slowly moves, it becomes clear there has been some strange change to the Peloran priest!

Volsh squats down next to Farian, the torch burning brightly.  "Are you sick?  Are you cursed?  What ails you?"

Dellas smiles as the others join him and he points down the corridor, whispering softly "I heard something from that way" and with that he moves forward though somewhat slower as he his steps are careful as to not give his position away. Most exciting he thought he longed to bring light into this cavern with more fire but it would not do to give himself away. That one thing already landed on him and that was no good, no good at all.




11:08, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 21 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 16.  Move Silently....

"Figure it out and catch up to us!" Lantamori hissed as the elf pushed past the torch wielding barbarian and bewildered cleric.  She moved quickly to catch up with the light of the others and the productive portion of their party.

The mage replies ""

Judging it promising that Haazheel can understand the voice, Narthian continues to hang bat like from the ceiling above the wizard. He shifts his glance from opening to opening, wanting to ensure that there are no more ambushes.

Oogling at Volsh, Farian stumbles a bit clumsily, as most of his garment, armor, and even boots seems awkwardly "floating" on his figure. His voice taking a funny high pitched tone, with the stress of the situation.

"I don't know.. I'm not hurt.. but.. I don't feel normal.. It's like.. I shrunk into my garments. Even my helmet wiggles onto my head.." he replies, his deep blue eyes locked on the crouched companion.

Shaking his head at the sight, which while startling doesn't appear to be life threatenting, Dante says, "Come as soon as you can sort yourself out. Lagging back here doesn't improve the survival odds for any of us if those shadows are in here."

And with that, he jogs quietly after the others.

In the corridor ahead...



"," the voice calls back.  There is the sound of footsteps, and then from around the corner of the scratched passageway emerge three dwarves, one in a fine chain shirt with a short sword at his side, two others in heavier scale mail with axes and shields in hand.  The dwarf in the chain shirt squints in the light from Haazheel's spell, and then his eyes widen.

""

--

Back in the chamber...

Volsh looks at Farian in confusion.  "Did the belt make you shrink?"  He takes a step forward and pulls off Farian's helmet carefully, and a bit too easily.  As he stares at Farian, the face is far more delicate and... feminine than Farian's usually is.  "What sorcery is this?!"

Haazheel replies in Common. "Not Moradin's beard, no; my mother's womb. I was born in Andeluvay, apprenticed to an alchemist and learned Dwarven as part of my studies. I practice the Art, diligent but not advanced. We come from Fort Cross to investigate...." He tells them of the conversation with Commander Brighthearth.




This message was last edited by the GM at 03:46, Tue 05 Feb 2019.

Narthian listens and watches as Haazheel summarizes Commander Brighthearth's mission for the Leafblade Company. When he has the opportunity at the appropriate time, he chips in with what he's learned and guessed about the attackers. He's still hanging from the ceiling, looking 'up' at the dwarves. "Has your clan had issues with a druid?"

The dwarf in chainmail looks up, initially startled, then puzzled by Narthian's bat-like position, but when he speaks of druids and shadows, the dwarf begins to scowl and nod in understanding.

"Aye, that sounds like something we've seen.  Big bear, bigger than our boars, two of them!  Except smarter than any bears I've ever seen.  And they came with shadow-things that just froze the air in our lungs and the metal all around.  So when the bears came, we were slow, brittle."

One of the other dwarves makes a grunting sound deep in his chest, both of them scowling deep into their beards.

"The shadows sucked the life out of Stonelad's crew and boars, then the bears smashed them and the wagon to pieces.  The only thing we could do to keep some of us alive to avenge our clan brothers was to retreat and hope to lose them.  I hid us best I could, and we've been trying to heal up and survive until we could get to Fort Cross or send a message."  He pauses, then add, "Berrard Stonesinger here.  These two are Coran Hewnaxe and Luward Steelshield."

Lantamori was surprised Haazheel was compelled to act out the entire exchange back at Fort Cross.  She especially liked the voices he used for the trolls.  She now wished she'd asked a question at the time, just to see how she'd be portrayed.

She also wondered how he'd portray the halflings if the bardic spirit overtook him in the future.

"A pleasure to meet you! And to get at least one answer to the mystery of the Smashed Wagon," Narthian says. "I am Narthian Goldleaf, druid of The Farlight Conclave. My guess is that one of the bears is a druid and the other his or her companion. My own companion is Thunder there. No worries, he will not bother your boars." The elf makes his way to a wall and walks down to the floor again, to stand beside his companions.

"I'm sorry to hear of your loss. We're here to do something about the malefactors. Perhaps we should team up."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 06:29, Wed 06 Feb 2019.

Berrard Stonesinger watches Narthian with some interest, narrows his eyes a bit when he comes into clearer view, then gives the tiniest of shrugs.  "Good, then.  Our beasts are bred for battle, but they have been sorely tested as of late."



"If Commander Brighthearth sent you, then we should.  We have been worrying that the shadows are waiting for us in the caverns, but dared not stay in the open where they could get at us again.  Do any of you know the magic to discern evil?  Divination was never a good school for me.  I can abjure, transmute, even do a little illusion and conjuring, but our best scouts were slain in the attack, and I have no magic to make up for the lack," Berrard says.

In the chamber

"I have no idea ! what the.. my hair.. they grew and changed also... it's like.. I'm not in my body anymore.." Farian said, realizing the voice they both heard was also high pitched compared to before.

Grabbing a dagger, and lifting it to look at the reflection into the cold metal, there was a floating moment when they both realized... "I..I'm a girl ?!"

Volsh stares at Farian solemnly.  "You are.  Does the belt carry a curse?  Can it be undone?  My curse of the wolf can be undone by priests of high magic in the port city we are going to, so old priest at the Baroness' said. They could do the same for you, if you will suffer this form for a while."

While ordinarily Dante would have held to the shadows a while longer, just in case there were enemies preparing an ambush, today that particular caution seemed ill-advised. Being in the bright light of Haazheel's spell was a much better defense if there were, as the dwarf worried, any of those shadows-creatures about. Still, he moved into the light only a short ways; no point clustering them all together when there was a rogue druid hunting these dwarves.

"They left the other wagon full of gold," Lantamori piped in from the back.  These caverns really did have some spooky acoustics.  "Perhaps they've already taken what they were looking for?"

She left it open ended for the dwarf to draw his own conclusions.  He may, after all, know what else it might have contained other than gold.

Dellas stepped out of the passage behind the dwarves and walked up behind them and then splitting them he moved past them as he joined the others speaking with them

"Greetings, Dellas Nump. So do you have any idea what they were after? Were you carrying something new this time?" he cheerfully talked among them

Narthian casts an eye back towards the strange voice speaking with Volsh, seeing only the shape of Farian in his armor. He puts it out of his mind for now, whatever it is, Volsh can handle it for the time being.

He turns back to the dwarves. "Master Stonesinger, you'll find that the Leafblade Company has many talents. Enough to make up for the grievous loss of your companions. The question now is, do we get you back to your settlement, or do we hunt for your attacker?"

"Or continue on to Fort Cross under our escort," Lantamori added to Narthian's list of options.  Hadn't the druid watched the show Haazheel had just performed?

"I'm going to head back and let Bellis know we found the rest of the caravan," the elf added, turning back the way they'd come.  "I'll take Volsh and Farian back out with me."

Trying to get a grip on the reality, that new reality, Farian sighed, and glared back at Volsh.

"I see no other option. It's extremely difficult to focus.. I feel like I'm inhabiting someone else body. The balance and perceptions are different somehow. My clothes are loose under my armor. It's uncomfortable to an annoying point. Let's stick with the group, and focus on the task. They need my faith and Pelor's help. My fate is to be solved later."

This was pronounced with solemnity, but it was obvious Farian"s attention was distracted big time.

Haazheel says, "I don't like the idea of splitting the party but, if the good dwarves agree, the rest of us can abide here to help as we can if attacked."
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:41, Fri 08 Feb 2019.

Averdante keeps his senses alert as the conversation flows on. 



"It's possible.  Stonelad's group was carrying some special-""



Berrard jumps as the halfling strolls past him, and then looks very annoyed at himself.  When the others in the group don't jump or reach for their weapons, and Sir Aberlayne just looks tolerantly exasperated, Berrard sighs and picks up his narrative.

"His wagon was carrying some special weapons.  Giantbane swords and arrows, protective rings, amulets, and bracers, and some fireball orbs and beads.  Good things to have for the foes around these parts," Stonesinger says.



Stonesinger firms his grip on his weapons.  "We are closer to the Fort than our Citadel.  Once the tribute it back where it belongs, we can join you in fighting these shadows and the mad bears who joined with them."



Stonesinger nods.  "Better to get the tribute back where it needs to be first.  We could try to hide it so we could fight alongside you, but there is always the chance something else will find it first.  It could be our enemies, it could be an opportunist.  It could be a beast who enjoys the taste of precious metal.  I would hate to lose the tribute to a hungry xorn."



"No, no splitting our group if we can avoid it.  The shadows caused enough damage, but we survived because they had to split their attacks between Stonelad's wagon and the others.  If they had only a single wagon to deal with, there would have been no survivors.  Our trouble was that the shadows were only affected by weapons that had been enchanted, and only then some of the time," Stonesinger says, looking grim.

--

Back at the darkmantle's cavern...



Volsh nods with solemnity.  Then he looks thoughtful as he helps pick up any loose equipment.  "Maybe your sun god is testing you.  Amongst my people, men and women called different spirits for their magic.  You could find something like that with your god's rites," he says.

When Lantamori stops calling down the corridor, Volsh stands ready to head out and get Bellis.  If Lantamori pops her head out, she finds the scout leader waiting for her.

"Haven't heard anything hostile yet, but I saw those bats again.  You find the wagons?" she asks.

"Yes," the elf replied to their guide as she waded the rest of the way through the illusory rockslide.  "We found the remaining wagons and dwarves.  It sound like whatever attacked them found what they wanted in the first wagon.

"They should be coming out soon and we'll escort them the rest of the way to the fort."

"Oh Fireball orbs and beads? That is such a wonderful spell. One of my favorite ones" Dellas voice rises with excitement as he hears about what they were carrying and his mind races at the opportunity to have a beads that he can use to throw fireballs or orbs. He moves to stand next to his friends completely unconcerned with the Dwarves being startled at his appearance  "Do you make them yourself?"

Bruenor, largely silent until now, says, "The fort, then.  We can get you back there Master Stonesinger.  I reckon it's not wise to linger too long in these caves, hmm?  How long til we're all ready to travel?"  He looks around for effect, not seeing much beyond the small circle of light, however.

Joining the rest of the group, and not willing to show up his.. awkwardness, Farian hid him/herself under the helmet again. But it was clear something was amiss with his clothes and armor. Body looking thiner, and with an odd way to walk and sway hips he hadn't before.

"Sorry for the delay. Where are we at now ?" s/he inquired voice muffled under the helmet, but higher pitched.

Dante nods and reaches up to stroke his hand over Prreet's smooth form.

Thinking about the shadows, the bats, and the interest in hurrying immediately back to the fort, Dante raises a question. "Would we safer in here until morning? We know the druid was using the bats Narthian saw. If he's still using them, he'll be able to easily track us on the road. It was getting late when we found this place --" he breaks off abruptly with a new thought.

"You were the ones who put up the illusion of the rockfall across the road, right?" he asks the dwarves.

"You have read my mind, Averdante," Narthian says, giving Farian a curious glance. "For given a night to prepare, I might do somewhat to offset our opponent's capabilities. However, I find myself thinking also that our place of hiding is already known. Our passage through the illusion was not it secret. Unless there is some other, unknown exit from these caves, a dash now may catch the enemy off guard. ... Like Farian's voice to my ear ..."

Haazheel sits down remarking "My light-creating spell will expire."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 10:19, Tue 12 Feb 2019.

Stonesinger makes a short, choppy wave of his hand.  "No, I don't, that is not my skill.  But we must be ready for them to be used against us.  I can only think they were stolen for a dire purpose."



"Not long at all.  We've been living off of cave fungus the last few days, so I don't expect us to be moving quickly, but we will give everything we have," he says.  He gestures to one of the two dwarf guards with him, Luward Steelsheild, who heads back to the passage, presumably to tell the others to get underway.  Soon after Steelshield heads down the passage, there's some raised voices, boar snorts, the jingle of harness and creak of wagon wheels.



"Leaving and going back to the fort," Sir Aberlayne said.  "And at as much speed as we can manage.  If that druid is watching us, I doubt he'll be pleased to have all of Fort Cross marshaled against him, so no doubt we're in for some kind of attack as soon as we're out of here."  She turns and looks at Farian more closely, her eyes going wide.  "What in Yondalla's name happened to you?!"



Prreet purrs under Averdante's touch. 

"Safer?" Stonesinger asks, and then shakes his head.  "It's afternoon now, and we're two days out from the fort, maybe three at our pace.  I had concealed us with my magic somewhat before, but if the druid had creatures watching you, then he has found where we are hiding.  We feared the shadows had found their way in here, and certainly soon enough, they will.  No, waiting will only mean more danger.  With your group with us, we may provide too strong a front to easily overcome.  Our enemy might hesitate to spend his strength on us, or try and fail, thusly getting our vengeance for our fallen kin and eliminating this threat once and for all."  Stonesinger looks positively fierce, his beard practically bristling with anger.



"If they enemy knows where we are, then a moving target is better than a still one.  Let us go and show this evil thing our mettle; he will find us ready and waiting, and then die on our blades," Volsh says fiercely.



From the passageway behind Stonesinger, four hefty boars in harness, bearing strategic armor plates, come hauling a heavy wagon with metal-reinforced sides.  Two dwarves are on the drivers' box, four more on top, and four more flanking it, bearing heavy crossbows (those on the wagon) or axes and shields (those walking).  Behind that wagons comes a second, similarly outfitted.

"Then that is our sign.  We leave as the light does, and may death come to any foe who troubles us!" Stonesinger says, putting his hand to his sword hilt in what seems to be a ritual manner.

OOC: Let me know your marching order, and any preparations for the trip back.
-----

Outside the caverns



Bellis nods shortly and nudges Garvin, the last remaining messenger.  They back off slightly from the illusory rockfall, giving enough room for the dwarves, battleboars, and wagons to emerge, and continue their vigilance.

"I hope Yondalla has nothing to do do with it. It rather seems either I have been cursed or Pelor is testing me." responded Farian, with the same awkward different voice, and different physical posture, battling with clothes floating uncomfilly.

"For now, you need my help and assistance, so I'll provide. I just hope... this.. is not going to alter my physical prowess or spellcasting abilities too much." s/he explained, trying to hide better under the helmet.

Haazheel emerges to behold Farian. He gapes. "What happened?" he exclaims.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 00:53, Wed 13 Feb 2019.

"So be it." Narthian kneels beside Thunder, speaking in some unknown tongue. "[Language unknown: Omesanate ut moieal, ri lltrmo o n o fipre asur ast leeeos, osha ckpr a i rom redconect we i st, e t lladul, t miplmomi earresall. O ame tr ut ithwasnot set il il ec fo ei.]"

He turns to Sir Aberlayne and the others. "If Thunder and I can find this enemy and warn you, we will. Be wary of any wolf that approaches. If it is me or Thunder, we will lay in your path to identify ourselves." With that he shifts into the shape of a wolf, and together the two wolves bolt from the cave at top speed.


Thunder and Narthian will scout ahead and alongside the road, (maybe even behind if the wind carries a strange scent), using their pace and endurance to roam hither and yon within half a mile of the caravan.

Once emerged, Lantamori takes up her customary position at the rear of the caravan.  The elf held her bow across the saddle and looked up to see if the clouds looked like anything interesting.

"Prreet and I will keep watch as well," Dante says. "He may scent them on the air before we can see them." Turning around, he heads back toward the entrance ahead of the wagons. If they do get attacked, he isn't overly optimistic. He has only five arrows that may cause the shadows harm. After that, he will be limited to more natural targets, and defenseless against the shadows.

"Oh can I ride up there with the dwarves" he looks back towards his sister "I can see so much from there and if that bear comes again I'll burn him." As he moves towards the wagon with four dwarves atop it, the thoughts of the bear charging their position making him smile as he unleashes imaginary bolts of fire at it.

At Haazheel's comment, Bruenor says, "Let's be off, then.  My eyes will see nothing once the light goes.  Demon and I will travel up front."

When he reaches the entrance, he can't help but flinch as he walks through the illusory rockslide once again.  It's almost as if he can feel the magic brush against his skin...not a pleasant sensation (to his mind, anyway).

Glad to be out, he retrieves Demon and gives his mount a pat on the neck before climbing into the saddle.

"My gender... has been altered.." Farian muttered back to Haazheel, trying to not seem too affected by this, but it was clear in his.. or instead her voice, it was some big deal to the priest.. now priestess.

The party moves out as quickly as the depleted dwarves and battleboars can manage, and it's clear that the dwarves are running on pure cussedness.  However, cussedness is a racial trait dwarves have in great abundance.  The others remain alert as Narthian and Thunder range ahead into the growing dusk.  There is enough of a moon to keep on the road and avoid major obstacles, so you press on until nearly midnight.    Thunder draws to a halt, whining at something to the left of the road. 

The temperature begins to drop and chill wind begins to blow...

OOC: Everyone has one round of actions before stuff starts happening.  You've been traveling for 8 hours.

As wind began to pick up, Lantamori turned up the collar of her jacket and pulled her cloak close about her.  At least it wasn't raining.

Haazheel touches his staff and chants

"I wish I may, I wish I might, now's the time for some light."

The quarterstaff shines like a torch, and Haazheel is able to take a look at whatever's at the left.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 03:13, Mon 18 Feb 2019.

Narthian trots over to the thing Thunder has found, remaining in his wolf form. He paces back and forth, nose up sniffing and looking at the trees along the canyon wall. He's nervous, perhaps more so than Thunder, heart thumping and his hackles are up. Its both a strange and natural sensation for him, but he has no time to dwell on it as he tries to find what Thunder found.

Search (+5) or Survival (+15 including +4 wolf scent bonus) roll: 06:44, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 5 using 1d20 ((5)).

I figure this roll indicates Narthian's inexperience as a wolf combined with his concern of facing fellow druid. If this roll isn't good enough to see what Thunder found, he'll take more time to Take 10, if he can.

Dellas wraps his cloak about him, day-dreaming of a sitting around the warmth of a fire when Thunder's whining snaps him back to the present, his attention shifts off looking into the darkness, his free hand reaching for a wand he had and whispering to Vosh "You smell anything?"

Battling a bit now with his..no her clothes that were too large for her new form, Farian looked up at the sky, and frowned under the helmet. This was definaltely going to be uncomfortable...

"I don't like this storm approaching. Something non natural is in the air."

With a silent thanks to Preet for the warning, Dante calls out a warning to his companions. "They're here! There on the left by Thunder, and above to the left in those trees at the top of the canyon!"

He draws out out one of the sacred arrows and quickly nocks it on Ehlonna's bow. Trusting that those on the ground can deal with whatever Thunder's also noticed, Dante watches overhead for the first shadow to show itself before loosing.

Bruenor casts an uneasy glance at their fidgeting cleric, and whatever unholy curse...he...was dealing with; then draws his sword and turns his attention to the side of the road.  He looks up at the trees at Dante's warning.  "On guard, Demon..." he whispers to the horse.

Demon snorts and strikes out at the ground with a hoof, as Bruenor He guides him closer to Haazheel and the wizard's light.

As Haazheel's light pushes back the darkness, the shadows between the trees at the top of the sloped canyon wall seem even darker.  Bushes are evident between some trees, but other just have slots of pure blackness between them.



Narthian goes alongside Thunder and can see no tracks, but he does spy a couple of bat in the trees, the same sorts of bats he spoke to earlier.  There is also a suspicious stillness in the air which reminds him of the hush before a storm breaks.



Prreet mrrows enthusiastically and jumps on Averdante's head, tightening sharp little claws near his eyes.  His arrow shrieks towards the darkness, and there is a sudden thin wail that seems to come from all around you!

Everyone else is wary and ready as they have been throughout the trip, when the scream from Averdante's arrow kicks everything into action.  Two huge bears thunder down the steep canyon wall, and three shadows fly over the top of them, angling for the center of the group.  Stonesinger begins to chant and strike the wagon, making a driving beat.  One of the other dwarves pulls a short oak wand from his bracer and mutters a short word, his face a mask of concentration, and a ringing sound like a hammer on an anvil sounds through the canyon, bringing a feeling of protection with it.  The shadows shriek at that, but do not stop their charge as they are nearly upon you!

OOC: Stonesinger is inspiring courage, and one of his compatriots used a wand of bless, giving everyone a net +2 to attack, +1 to damage, +2 to saves vs. fear and +1 to saves vs. charm.  Critters are in melee range with a move action from anyone at the head or tail of the party, immediate melee range of anyone in the middle with the wagon.

Dellas jumps at the shadows approaching them and the bears thundering down the cavern wall, he figured he'd be better off targeting them then the shadows nearly on top of all of them and begins his chant, he traces an arcane rune in the air, a glowing red ball begins to form there and with a single word it zips towards the bears exploding into a ball of fire. A smile and gleam in his eye as the spell goes off


OOC:

Init Roll:

10:58, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 16 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 13.  Initiative.

Combat Cast Roll if needed:

11:03, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 16 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 4.  Combat Casting.

Fireball Damage:

11:04, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 19 using 5d6 with rolls of 4,5,6,2,2.  Fireball damage.

OOC: Have we had a chance to rest? I don't recall if we have. I'm down some spells from our combat with the Trolls. Namely a Fireball and Flaming Sphere.

From the rear of the party, Lantamori let loose an arrow into the nearest bear charging forward.  In the flickering darkness, it looked to be a solid strike, but a bear's hide was thick and perhaps magically protected.

"Easy Cloud," she soothed, using her knees to coax the horse back from the wagons as she pulled another arrow.  The elf preferred not to be caught in whatever cold magic had beset the dwarves before.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 17 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 8.  Composite Longbow Attack+2 effects, bear.
Lantamori rolled 9 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 7.  Composite Longbow Damage+1 effect, bear.
She can't fail a DC 5 Ride Check to back Cloud 20' from the wagons rear.

Haazheel points up at the shadows and cries

You inimical beings of the dark,
Be covered with spark and spark and spark!

Casting Glitterdust on the shadows.

A cloud of glittering golden particles covers everyone and everything in the area, blinding creatures and visibly outlining invisible things. Blindness lasts for the duration of the spell. All within the area are covered by the dust, which cannot be removed and continues to sparkle until it fades.

In addition to the obvious effects, a blinded creature suffers a 50% miss chance in combat (all opponents have full concealment), loses any Dexterity bonus to AC, grants a +2 bonus to opponents’ attack rolls (they are effectively invisible), moves at half speed, and suffers a –4 penalty on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skills.

Will save negates blindness.

Thunder and Narthian begin to howl almost simultaneously with Averdante's arrow and the bursting forth of the bears. They take off running, chasing after the bears and gang up on the larger of the two. The two wolves bite at the flanks and legs, looking to get a strong grip and pull the bear down.

Thunder Bite and Trip (STR): 21:09, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 18,6,21 using 1d20+6,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((12,4,19)).

Narthian Bite and Trip (STR): 21:11, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 17,6,16 using 1d20+4,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((13,4,14)).

Initiative: Thunder, Nathian: 07:32, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 10,11 using d20+2,d20+2 ((8,9)).
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Fri 01 Mar 2019.

Though startled by Prreet's actions, Dante feels the effect is more than worth a little pain. He's almost as surprised by the way his arrow screams as it flies away; the one he fired at the crow-god made no sound.

Enchanted against evil, perhaps, he thinks as he wheels Mask around and sends the pale horse charging toward the rear of the wagons. Or given they are Ehlonna's and designed to work with his bow... perhaps it is because the shadows are not natural to this world. Either way, with Prreet aiding him in seeing his true target, he can clearly hurt the shadow entities with them. Hopefully, he can kill them, too -- but the arrows will not do him nor the others any good in melee!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:14, Thu 28 Feb 2019.

Dellas' spell goes off with an impressive roar of flames on the rocky slope, bringing a chorus of shrieks to the shadowy forms.  The larger of the bears gets the brunt of the flames, but the slightly smaller one seems to dodge the worst of them.



Lantamori's bow finds purchase in the fur of the slightly large of the two bears, making him bellow with rage!  Cloud dances in place at the sound, but holds her ground.



All three of the shadow creatures are outlined in glittering golden dust, making them far easier to see.  Two of them slow down, as if uncertain about where they are going, the third continues to speed forward towards the wagons!



The larger of the two bears gains red slashes along its flanks as Narthian and Thunder bite at it, but its sturdy stance resists being pulled down!



Averdante withdraws briefly from the battle, repositioning himself to fire his precious arrows at a safer distance.


Bruenor and Demon leap to meet the shadows, his sword from the prince's tomb flaring with ghostly flames.  Demon's hooves strike through the shadows without effect, but Bruenor connects with his sword against one of them, drawing a thin otherworldly shriek of agony!

The shadows bear down on Bruenor, Volsh, and Farian, deadly cold beginning the wreath around them.  Volsh and Farian manage to shake off the worst of the effects, but Bruenor takes a nasty chill as the shadows try to draw life from him.   

The bears turn on Thunder and Narthian, slashing with heavy claws and teeth.  The smaller of the two bears rakes into Narthian with one swipe of his claws, while Thunder dodges the claws but gets a bite for his trouble. 

Farian brings out the holy symbol of Pelor with its filigree overlay of the skull of Saint Bane, and raises it high.  "By the power of the sun and the might of Pelor, begone!" she shouts.  Holy power sears from the symbol and two of the shadows flee from the holy light!

Volsh roars fit to rival one of the bears and dives in with his spear Widowmaker, stabbing the larger of the two bears with gusto, eyes mad with fury!
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:07, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

Reluctantly, Lantamori aimed once more at the larger bear.  She didn't quite have a clear shot with the others in close combat, but given the fate of the dwarves on their first encounter, she took the risk and let loose.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 25 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 20.  Composite Longbow Attack, +2 effect -4 into combat, larger bear.
Lantamori rolled 11 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 6.  Confirm Crit into larger bear. FAIL
Lantamori rolled 9 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 7.  Composite Longbow Damage +1 effect, larger bear.

[This assumes that the shadow is at or near ground level.]

Haazheel points and chants

Let a sphere of flame appear to annoy
This shadow...sear, combust and destroy!

He aims it so the shadow is within the sphere's diameter and, he hopes, his friends are not...though close enough so they feel the heat.

Narthian knows the danger that he and Thunder are in, but presses the attack to buy some precious time for the others. Narhtinn, though, is feeling the effects of his wounds too much to get anything more then an annoying nip at the great bear.

Thunder bite and trip: 06:13, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 14,4,18 using 1d20+6,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((8,2,16)).

Narthian bite and trip: 06:16, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 8,7,8 using 1d20+4,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((4,5,6)).

Dellas looks towards the shadows on the dwarves and the bears on his companions and decides he needs to even the odds a bit and begins a long incantation, he traces an arcane symbol upon the ground before him as he works through this chant, each detail of the symbol needs to be exact.

In a blinding light an divine eagle swoops out of the sky as he finishes his incantation and streaks towards the shadows.



OOC: Casting Time 1 Round, Summon Monster II: Celestial Eagle.

HP: 5, Init +2, Fly 80' Avg, Move 10', AC 14 (1 Size, 2 dex, 1 Natural), 13 Touch, Flat 12, Attack: +3 Melee d4, Full attack: 2 talons +3 melee d4, bite -2 melee d4, saves: +3 fort, +4 ref, +2 will. DR 5 to Acid, Cold, Electricity, SR 6, Smite Evil Once Day +1 Damage, Magical Beast.

12:04, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 14,4 using d20+3,d4.  Eagle Attack.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:05, Tue 12 Mar 2019.

Dante saw no reason to risk a shot at the shadow that had remained, with three of his companions capably engaging it. The nicely glowing ones flying away, though...

Unfortunately, he had no idea which one he'd already hit, which would have been his preferred target. Maybe Prreet knew, if it wasn't the one that had stayed? Either way, he drew back on his bow, and looking for that darker center Prreet had shown him, he fired Ehlonna's arrow at it.


13:31, Today: Averdante rolled 25 using 1d20+8.  shooting at fleeing shadow.
13:31, Today: Averdante rolled 5 using 1d8.  possible damage.

Bruenor places a hand on Demon's neck, grimacing against the cold seeping through him.  The horse's spirited attack doesn't seem to affect the shadows, but perhaps it distracts them?  One can hope.  Demon seems unperturbed, and continues lashing out with his hooves.

Bruenor is peripherally aware of the bears attacking their group, but focused on the threat before him...His spirits lift as two of the shadows suddenly turn and flee.  He wheels Demon's reins around, trying to create a bit of space; and slashes the prince's longsword down on the shadow.

00:52, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  longsword attack vs shadow.
00:53, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 10 using 1d8+4.  dmg vs shadow.
00:53, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 4 using 1d6.  flaming dmg vs shadow.

Dellas begins his complicated chant and symbols, to soon summon a celestial aid against evil!



Lantamori strikes a hit on the larger bear, drawing a pained bellow from the beast.



Carefully positioning the flaming sphere as to burn the shadow but not his friends, the shadow flinches away from the worst of it but still feels the magical heat!



Narthian and Thunder worry and strike at the larger bear, but alas their attacks don't pierce his flesh.



Averdante's aim is much better this time, and his arrow strikes true at the darkest heart of one of the fleeing foes.  The shadow screams as Averdante's arrow becomes lodged it its glittering folds of midnight.



Going after one of the fleeing dark foes, Bruenor's flaming sword strikes true, carving through the one that Averdante had wounded.  It evaporates into motes with a final wail of despair!

The un-turned shadow strikes at Bruenor, and Bruenor can feel the lethal chill the dwarves had spoken of; his metallic armor burns with frost.    As the shadow lashes out an insubstantial arm at him, Bruenor just manages to avoid its loathsome touch!

Those on the front lines wearing metal armor also feel the cold begin to burn as the remaining shadow carries some freezing effect with it.

OOC:  Anyone wearing armor other than leather or padded or hide (or otherwise non-metallic) will take 3 cold damage.

The bears slash at Volsh, Narthian, and Thunder, the smaller bear pinning the druid between himself and the larger bear, delivering two nasty slashes with his claws. 

The large bear turns on Volsh, slashing him once, though the barbarian ducks from the return swipe and the bite!

Farian continues to hold up her holy symbol, keeping the remaining shadow fleeing instead of joining the fight with the bears.

Volsh grins at the large bear and thrusts again with his spear Widowmaker, howling to call upon his ancestors to witness his might!

Sir Aberlayne and two of the dwarves come barreling in from the side.  The dwarves concentrate on the smaller bear, while Sir Aberlayne and Valiant go after the shadow Bruenor is facing.  One dwarf misses, but the other strikes a solid blow with his axe.  Sir Aberlayne's own axe flashes with white light, and slices off another shred of shadow-substance from the single brave shadow.

OOC:  There is one un-turned shadow near Bruenor and Sir Aberlayne, one turned shadow nearing the top of the canyon wall, and two bears, the larger of which is well-wounded, the smaller of which is only lightly wounded.  The third shadow is dead.

In a blinding light an divine eagle swoops out of the sky as he finishes his incantation and streaks towards the shadow on Bruenor.

OOC:Summon Monster II: Celestial Eagle.

HP: 5, Init +2, Fly 80' Avg, Move 10', AC 14 (1 Size, 2 dex, 1 Natural), 13 Touch, Flat 12, Attack: +3 Melee d4, Full attack: 2 talons +3 melee d4, bite -2 melee d4, saves: +3 fort, +4 ref, +2 will. DR 5 to Acid, Cold, Electricity, SR 6, Smite Evil Once Day +1 Damage, Magical Beast.

12:04, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 14,4 using d20+3,d4.  Eagle Attack.

Dellas begins a chant anew as he focus's on the bears fighting his friends. With a twinkle in his eyes the chant and strange arcane symbols that he begins to trace through the air begin to  take shape, first a blob of energy that grows in size until it combusts like a miniature sun and then it streaks towards the smaller bear landing upon him.

OOC: Flaming Sphere, DC 16 Ref to negate:

10:17, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,3.  Flaming Sphere.

Hirrion keeps trying to have the flaming Sphere engulf the shadow. In the meantime, it radiates heat.

Avoiding her compatriots in the line of fire, Lantamori fired once more into the larger bear.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.  Composite Longbow Attack, +2 effect -4 into combat, larger bear.
Lantamori rolled 8 using 1d8+2 with rolls of 6.  Composite Longbow Damage +1 effect, larger bear.

Narthian has overstayed his welcome, and tries to get away.

Preference is for the Withdraw action if it can be safely done, retreating towards Farian. If not, a 5' step and Full Defense action will have to do.

Thunder continues to attack the great bear, but mostly tugging ineffectively at it's thick fur.

20:46, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 13,7,19 using 1d20+6,1d6+2,1d20+2 ((7,5,17)).

Bruenor shrugs off the chill, but it seems to seep through his red-hued armor.  He takes some comfort from Aberlayne's arrival, and presses the attack on the shadow.  "Well-timed Aberlayne!"

He edges demon to the side, trying to flank the shadow with Sir Aberlayne; then turns with his flaming sword gripped in both hands slashes it down at the dark shape.

22:02, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 16 using 1d20+9+2+1-3.  longsword attack vs shadow.
22:03, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 12 using 1d8+4+6.  dmg vs shadow.
22:03, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 3 using 1d6.  flaming dmg vs shadow.

Dellas' gleaming holy eagle flashes into existence and stoops down upon the shadow near Bruenor and Sir Aberlayne.  Its claws just miss the foul creature, but certainly the shadow has one more thing to think about!

Then the flaming sphere plops onto the smaller bear.  It writhes lithely, avoiding a direct blow, but its fur smolders with heat!



Lantamori's arrow flies with pinpoint accuracy, making the larger bear bellow and bleed, its movements becoming more frantic as its precious strength is spilling onto the stones.



This time the shadow writhes, but cannot evade the worst of the flames.  Between the flames, flaming sword, and holy smite, the shadow evaporates into shreds of twilight!



Narthian withdraws carefully, as the field is becoming crowded with spells, dwarves, and paladins.  Thunder keeps on menacing the bear, but cannot get through its hide.

Averdante fires at the shadow near the top of the canyon wall, his arrow shining as it strikes the glittering darkness! 



With the nearer shadow dispatched and the other one he had wounded fleeing, Bruenor can nudge Demon after the fleeing one Averdante had just wounded.  As he runs it down, his sword carves into it, finishing the umbral foe!

The cold, curiously, does not diminish with the destruction of all the shadows, and those wearing any kind of metallic armor feel a deeper chill grip them.

OOC:  Anyone wearing metallic armor of any kind take 6 cold damage.

The bears now have several foes to choose from, with Thunder, Volsh, and two boar-riding dwarves.  The larger bear seems to ignore the seemingly greater threat of the mad-eyed barbarian to try to rip Thunder apart!  His claws catch twice, badly wounding Thunder, though the wily wolf is able to duck his head to avoid a death-grip on his throat. 

The smaller bear pulls back slightly from the battle and growls roughly.  One of the battle boars suddenly squeals and turns against his fellow, savaging the other boar with his tusks!

Farian, seeing that all the shadows are dispatched and her friends are wounded, prepares to dart in and heal someone as soon as she can get them free from the general melee...

Volsh howls as loud as Thunder, "You will not kill the wolf-brother!" he shouts, and rams his spear Widowmaker into the larger bear's side with lethal intent.  The spear-head disappears deep into the bear, and it collapses nearly on top of Thunder, scrabbling at the rock in its death throes.

Sir Aberlayne wheels Valiant around to see that there is only one foe left standing, and one maddened battle boar attacking another.  She charges the smaller bear and slices a small wound into its hide, Valiant delivering a kick as well!

The rider of the wounded boar flees back down the canyon, the crazed battle boar in pursuit, the rider of the crazed boar shouting protests and curses in Dwarven and Common as he tries to get his mount under control.

OOC:  There is one foe left, the smaller bear, and apparently one of the battle boars has gone a little crazy.

Haazheel turns the Flaming sphere toward, or onto the bears...a tricky business since the want to damage them but not those fighting the bears. He may also get at the "turncoat" boar.

Shifting her attention from the larger to smaller bear, Lantamori fired at the more elusive of the two.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 11 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 6.  Composite Longbow Attack, +2 effect -4 into combat, smaller bear.

Dellas eyes twinkled a bit at the fire being flung about, but a frown formed on his face when he realized what it meant. He did not relish hurting others even though he did enjoy the crackle of the fire, the glimmer in the night. He attention refocused though at the situation on hand, a simple thought to move the sphere closer to the smaller bear trying to keep it from avoiding it's flames this time. And then he began a quick incantation, tracing a rune of power in the air as he smeared butter across his hand.


OOC:
Action:
Cast Grease in front of/around the charging boar to try and slow it down a bit.

35' Range of me (not sure I'm in range). DC 14 or Fall

Move Action:
Move/Not really neccessary the flaming sphere to stay with the small bear.

OOC: Flaming Sphere, DC 16 Ref to negate:

10:31, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,1. Flaming Sphere.

Narthian returns to his elven form, looking extremely hurt. He whistles for Thunder to join him, grimly happy that together they blunted the blow of the great bear. He's also happy to let the others finish the fight. He turns towards the mad squeals of the boar, only to see Dellas taking it in hand. He encourages Farian to aid the others first, as he waits to see the effect of Dellas's spell.

Hold Action: If Dellas's spell does not disable the crazed boar, Narthian will cast Entangle.

Bruenor yells as his sword slices through the shadow, watching with satisfaction as it seems to vaporize.

He turns his attention to the nearest foe...getting a funny feeling watching the smaller bear.  'Bloody hell, this cold is seeping through my bones!' he thinks silently; feeling the cold leech into him.  What in blazes was afflicting him??

Pushing the thought from his mind, he turns Demon towards the bear.  The horse needs no coaxing, and bolts towards the enemy; after the shadows, seeming to relish a flesh-and-blood foe he can actually sink his teeth into.

Demon strikes out with his sharp hooves, as Bruenor follows with his blade.

22:27, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 14 using 1d20+6.  Demon hooves attack.
22:28, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 7 using 1d6+4.  Demon hooves dmg.

22:28, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 27 using 1d20+9.  Bruenor longsword attack.
22:28, Today: Bruenor Sedricson rolled 7 using 1d8+4.  Bruenor longsword dmg.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:33, Wed 27 Mar 2019.

The shadows seem to be destroyed and the huge bear is down. His companions seem likely to bring down the other bear soon, so Dante holds an arrow nocked and ready for another target. Starting with the canyon walls from which their attackers descended, and moving down to the road before and behind them, he searches for any others who might be readying to attack.


Holding his attack pending discovery of a target not engaged in melee with his allies.

19:23, Today: Averdante rolled 20 using 1d20+10.  Spot check.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Thu 28 Mar 2019.

With a single foe to concentrate on, the attacks pour on swiftly.  Lantamori's arrow misses, but Dellas and Haazheel's flaming spheres close in quickly, and Demon and Bruenor come down hard with hoof and sword (mostly sword).  There is a screech, and then when they pull back, they find there is nothing left of the smaller bear.  Nothing at all.

The crazed boar is still acting crazed, so Narthian empowers the small plants of the canyon to grow and lock around him (and not incidentally his rider).

Averdante looks around very carefully, but does not spy any other shadows, deep or otherwise.

The deep chill is starting to fade, though still rather painful for those wearing metal.

OOC: 3 damage for those wearing metal armor this round.

After a few moments, the crazed boar stops trying to thrash through the plants to kill his litter-mate, and just starts trying to get out, period.  The rider indicates (through small gestures and some relieved-sounding cursing) that his mount is back in its right mind.

Volsh glares at the ground where the smaller bear had apparently vanished, and pokes the stone uncertainly before grounding his spear.  Sir Aberlayne looks around and sighs, shaking her head.  The deep cold has finally faded into the regular night air, leaving behind several thoroughly chilled combatants, and the carcass of a very large bear.

"That was deeply unpleasant.  I must say I don't care to be on the other end of a fight with people of your talents, Narthian," she says.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:15, Tue 02 Apr 2019.

Haazheel says, "The Sphere will last  just a little bit more if somebody wants its warmth. Who's injured, and how badly?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 03:00, Sun 31 Mar 2019.

"We're all right," Lantamori replied to Haazheel, including Cloud in her assessment as she rode back toward the group.

"Why did the one bear just disappear?" she asked, surveying the remaining large bear as she dismounted to retrieve the two arrows in it's side.

Dellas with a flick of the wrist pushes the flaming sphere a bit away from the others but giving it enough room as it would last a few moments longer. He strode forward his attention shifting to the where the bear disappeared "Most perplexing and interesting at the same time. Strange magic involved? Was it conjured much like my friend there" He points towards the eagle in the sky the slowly swoops about before it disappears in a flash of golden light.

Bruenor nods at Volsh, "I knew that smaller one was up to some magic trickery."  He spits out the last two words with some distaste, sheathing his longsword, and dismounting from Demon.  He thumps the warhorse's neck affectionately, but keeps an eye on Demon's flaring nostrils and twitching ears...It always took the horse a while to settle down from a battle.

Bruenor can't hold back a shiver..."Bloody hells, it's freezing here!" he says, and gives his armor a smack with his gauntlet, rolling his shoulders to try to warm up.  He glances at the floating, flaming spheres...leaning away at first, but then stepping a bit closer to see if one might warm him up.  "Anyone else feeling this damned cold??"

"It may not be over, Sir Aberlayne," Narthian says grimly through his grievous wounds. He approaches the spot where the small bear disappeared and intones a spell. "The more powerful of my order have many ways of fighting or fleeing. Let's see if there is any trace of the magic remaining."

Casting Detect Magic, Spellcraft check: 06:59, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 14 using 1d20+7 ((7)). So school of magic not likely to be identified.

Haazheel ponders, "Could the bears have been illusions?
"
Quite soon, the sphere winks out.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 02:59, Sun 31 Mar 2019.

"Perhaps, but I do not think so. Phantasms are not common in natural magic."

"I'm somewhat hurt, mostly from that cold!  It made my armor burn," Sir Aberlayne said.  "But I can heal my own wounds if I must, and heal some others as well."

Stonesinger, the leader of the dwarves, says, "We're much in the same boat.  I've a smidge of healing magic myself, but little left, and all of us are a bit frostbitten from that chill.  But cold or not, you've killed those wretched shadows and both those foul, evil bears!  Moradin's blessings upon your weapons!"



Lantamori goes to retrieve her arrows, finding one snapped, but the other intact.  The big bear is thoroughly massive up close, with thick fur streaked with blood and stinking of smoke from the various wounds inflicted upon it.



Dellas' sphere winks out a few moments later.  He doesn't see any particular residue of the smaller bear, which is definitely on the odd side.  It's possible it was conjured and then disappeared as the spell's duration ran out, though one would have to be a fairly powerful druid to summon a brown bear such as the one you saw.



Sir Aberlayne raises her hand in agreement with the cold, using the edges of her cloak to rub off the frost.  Demon snorts and prances as he settles, clearly still ready to sink his teeth in to something.



Narthian examines the area carefully with his own magic. 



While a thoroughly lifelike illusion is possible, the bears were physically harming members of your group, and the dead larger bear seems solid enough when prodded.  You saw Lantamori remove arrows from it, so that would a highly impressive feat of illusory magic, if indeed it was that.

"You should heal the boar," Lantamori suggested to Haazheel, waving at the wounded animal.  "We need them healthy to pull the wagons.

"Then we should get some more distance from here before making camp for the night."

"I have little, almost no, experience with healing," Haazheel replies.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 03:46, Tue 02 Apr 2019.

"Wizards, healers...same, same," Bruenor says with a grin; unable to help himself from having a dig at Lantamori's expense.

"I'm all for getting out of here, and closer to the fort."

He takes a moment to inspect Demon, checking for any injuries.

The elf shrugged.  Haazheel had asked if anyone needed healing.  She'd been hoping he'd be better at it than Farian.  You could never tell with humans.

Dellas walks around the bear, holding his nose from the stench as he examines it closer and then the area the smaller bear disappeared from, shrugging his shoulders he turns to the others "Would there be more information from the direction they came?" As he looks up the hill.

"Probably...what is our purpose, or purposes, here and now?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 21:39, Tue 02 Apr 2019.

"I cannot get much useful information from the residual aura," Narthian says. "It is magic of a moderate strength, most of which is still beyond my knowledge. It could have been a summoned creature, or it could have been the druid using some magic beyond my knowledge to travel into the ground. Either way, I think we need to continue to escort these dwarves, and keep an eye out for another ambush." Narthian spends a little more time binding his and Thunders massive claw wounds. "... But maybe... after a rest."

Stonesinger grunts in agreement.  "There might or might not be some clues at the top of the hill, but sad to say my men are in sorrier shape after that fight.  We've got about two days back to Fort Cross, with our boars in the shape they're in and the wagon and all.  I would dearly like to know that the root and branch of all this has been chopped down, but I'll not go meeting my ancestors saying that I failed in my duty to complete my charge."

Farian holds out her hands and beckons people close.  "I have a fair amount of Pelor's healing light left; come and let me take care of the worst of your wounds."

OOC: For simplicity's sake Farian can do 4 cure light wounds spells at 11 points of healing apiece, 4 cure moderate wounds at 18 points apiece, and 3 cure serious wounds at 24 points apiece.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:26, Wed 03 Apr 2019.

Narthian and Thunder accepts Farian's healing with gratitude. "Let's move a little further from here. If my memory serves, there is a more defensible location an hour or so away. I do want to follow Master Stonesinger's advice and check for clues at the top of the hill. I won't be long and can catch up in due course."

Detect Magic lasts for 5 minutes. I'll keep it up for the duration, though I don't expect it to last until the top of the hill.

Survival roll - recall defensible terrain on the path: 15:06, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 27 using 1d20+11 ((16)).

@DM: feel free to edit the time I offered to find a defensible locale. I used an hour since it should allow us to move 2-3 miles at a slow pace, giving us a fairly large area to find a decent camp. The "or so" also gives wiggle room for up to an additional hour, IMHO. ;)

"Continuing on a bit further would be good. We know this is a preferred ambush site, so it is not a good idea to stay here. Even another half mile on would be better," Dante agreed. "Hopefully a bit of distance will put us at a less advantageous place for an ambush -- and the druid will need more time to summon more of those shadows, so we can get some rest."

Looking over at Narthian, he offers, "I can fly up there and see if anyone's still in sight, and if Prreet and I can detect anything. He is able to see the shadows better than we do." He lightly touches the claw-marks just below his temple, which seem to have already scabbed over, then reaches further back to stroke the stone cat affectionately. "He was able to help me see them better, too."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:42, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

The rest of the group can take what healing if offered and move a few miles down the road to a more defensible location that does not offer easy bear-charging access.  There is also a notable lack of bats.  The dwarves, who have been forced to be alert for far longer, are nearly dropping in their tracks.  Bellis and Garvin, your guide and other messenger from Fort Cross, can start the watch rotation as the dwarves and boars finally get a chance to sleep.

While the rest of the night passes quietly, when dawn breaks (all too early), there is a curious number of birds who are huddled in the shade of the dwarves' wagon, feathers slicked down and eyeing the sky nervously.

--

Going back to the attack site, Narthian and Averdante can head up to the top of the steep canyon wall and examine the area for tracks.  Prreet takes an interest as well, hopping down off of Averdante and sniffing around the area.  There's little in the way of tracks, but there is some evidence of wilted vegetation, as if something large had laid here for a while.  Druids can choose not to leave tracks, and if your foe had done such a thing, there wouldn't be footprints, but there would be some evidence of lying in ambush for a while, which seems to be the case here.  There is also an impression as if from a backpack or sack of some sort, and two dried gourds with broken wax seals that have been cast aside.  It seems as if the gourds had contained something liquid that had since been poured out or drunk.  There's also a broken charm that Prreet finds, woven grasses with a bit of polished obsidian caught within its strands.  The charm would have fit around a very large wrist or a normal elf's leg.

Casting a wider net, you don't see any further tracks; it seems the druid was careful to hide his tracks.

Haazheel stands his watch, gets his sleep and studies his spells. He eats and keeps and eye on the birds...and the sky.

Narthian collects the debris - the gourds and the broken charm - to take with him. "I guess that the gourds had healing potions," he says to Averdante. He holds up the charm. "This is more of a mystery that I'll need time to unravel, although my guess is that this is how our opponent escaped the fight."

---

Narthian warns the party that the druid is very likely to still be alive when he and Averdante catch them up. As the sun rises, prepares his spells for the day.

The behavior of the birds pulls his attention. He climbs atop one of the wagons, bow in hand, and nocks an arrow. "If we're attacked from the sky, focus on the largest beast or the supernatural! I have prepared methods to deal with the normal animals. Master Songsinger, do you know the name of the druid that is angry with your clan?"

"Are they hiding from something?" Lantamori asked, bending down to peer at the birds beneath the wagon.

"Did something scare you?" she asked the birds directly.  "Why are you under here?"

Stonesinger shakes his head.  "Nay.  If we had known we'd angered someone like that, for understandable reasons or not, the clan elders would have sent out one of our own druids to counter their power.  From what you've told me, what with the attack on the priestesses of Wee Jas being by the same shadow-things that attacked us, and the trolls being blamed for it, this evil one looks to try to stir up trouble and cause some kind of feud," he muses.

As for the sky, there is no immediate threat visible... but there is a faint thread of music, sweet and seductive, twining through the air.



The birds tremble, shaking in every feather, and look eastward down the road, in the direction you're going.  As the music grows louder, they peep and throw their heads under their wings, flattening themselves to the ground.

OOC:  Everyone gets one round of actions and I'd like a Will save from everyone, please.  If you meet or beat a 16, you're good, if you fail, you're captivated by the song and want to walk eastward towards its source.

Haazheel rises and start to walk east.

Dellas had rested comfortably that night, his dreams wondering the mountains region he saw the phoenix rise from. As he awoke the next morning he made sure to eat a hearty breakfast before he began to prepare his spells for the day. His attention was called towards the music in the air, feeling the tug on himself he pulled out a scroll and began to recite the arcane words upon it as it crumbled a luminous form surrounded him and encased him in magical protection. As the music grows louder a smile crosses Dellas's face as he begins to skip towards the music, each skip in rhythm with the music heard.



OOC: Scroll: Mage Armour + 4 Armor Bonus to AC

Will Save:

16:30, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 7 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 2.  Will Save (+2 more if fear based).

Narthian and Thunder join to procession.

20:42, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 12 using 1d20+7 ((5)).

Thunder Will: 20:43, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 14 using 1d20+2 ((12)).

"Does anyone else hear singing?" Lantamori asked as she straightened up to see a few of the others already investigating the melody.

"Shouldn't we just see what it is after we're on the move?" she asked as some of the others seemed to be making their investigation a priority over getting on the move.

The elf lingered uncertainly around the wagon to see if anyone was going to reiterate their priorities.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 22 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 18.  Will Save +2 vs enchantment.

As Haazheel starts to walk, he cups his ears, bringing them perpendicular to his head... doubtless to hear better.

Dante watched Lantamori talking to the birds under the wagon as he started saddling Mask. The birds looked too frightened to attack, but their behavior was far from normal. If the birds were the druid's day shift, they were clearly unhappy about it.

Pausing when the birds suddenly tried to flatten themselves to the ground, he heard music playing. His first thought was it was one of the dwarves, but then the wizards, and then Narthian and Thunder, simply started walking away in the direction of the sound.

"Oh, no." Hearing Lantamori's question, he was glad she didn't seem affected, either.

"The music is some kind of enchantment!" he calls out a warning to the others. Taking up his bow, he looks down the road where his friends are heading. Is there a bend close ahead, behind which the musician -- spellcaster -- could hide? Would it be better to ride ahead and look for a target to shoot? Or is it closer, so he could simply run ahead of the others, find cover, and then try to sneak forward to get a shot at the ambushers luring in his friends? "Lantamori, we need to find and shoot that caster before the others are lured into an ambush."


16:35, Today: Averdante rolled 20 using 1d20.  Will save. Woot!
Do I need to roll for Prreet? Don't know if it affects magical creations/constructs/whatever Prreet is.

In addition to Haazheel, Dellas, Narthian, and Thunder, Farian, Volsh, and Bruenor also begin walking east.  Of the sixteen dwarves (plus Stonesinger) only Stonesinger and five of his compatriots manage to resist the urge.  Sir Aberlayne hisses at the potential danger and looks back at the others not affected with trepidation.


"I can try to get ahead of them on Valiant, while you sneakier sorts with bows get ready to sting the singers.  Or we can try to ring the bells of everyone we can before they get to where they're going, and stuff some cloth in their ears," she says, mounting up and looking ready to spring away at a moment's notice, whatever the decision is.

"This is a distraction!" Lantamori hissed, now realizing the others weren't investigating the melody in as careless a fashion as she'd originally thought.

"Someone watch the wagons.  I'll take the woods," she declared, grabbing her bow and disappearing into the foliage.  She was trying to get ahead of her zombie friends and spot the music maker.

Lantamori can scale the sides of the rocky walls and gain entry into the thin trees above, working her way down the top of the canyon to see what could be seen.

The elfin woman was lost to the sight of those below.

Bruenor has breakfasted, and looked after Demon (still tethered to the caravan); when he stops and cocks his head to the side...'What a lovely tune!' he thinks to himself, nodding along for a moment.

'I must see who's playing such wonderful music.'  It's not even a question, as he takes no notice of Demon's slightly flattened ears, and turns to walk down the road without another thought.

'Oh, some of the others are coming, too...how nice.'

"Sir Aberlayne, if you can get your brother stopped and rouse him from the spell, I'll try and stop some of the others," Dante tells the paladin. "We'll need his magic soon. Master Stonesinger," he turns to the dwarf, "I'll have Prreet try and stop some of your fellows, but Lantamori may be right that they'll try for the wagons instead of attacking those distracted, so be ready."

Turning back to Mask to hastily finish tightening the saddle's girth, he says aloud for the benefit of the others, "Prreet, shift to your larger form. Try and... pounce... on some of the dwarves. It doesn't seem as if they'll notice you, so if you can just knock them down and move on, they won't likely be able to attack you, and perhaps the surprise, or falling, will shake them loose of this spell. Stay close though. I'm going to try to knock a few of the taller folk down on the way, but our goal will be Narthian." Satisfied the saddle was secure, Dante gathered up the reins and swung up into the saddle. "I think we'll need him," he continued as he reined Mask toward the road, Prreet in his much larger form moving with them, "but if Thunder takes exception, I might need you to distract him. Try not to hurt him too much, but don't let him hurt you, either."

Clear of the wagons and remaining people, he nods to Sir Aberlayne and nudges Mask into a gallop. Once he closes on the first person, he reins the horse back to a brisk canter for better finesse, and a less forceful impact -- and prays to Ehlonna that this will both rouse his companions from the spell, and not hurt anyone too greatly.


[OOC: Okay, going to try the bull rush option. He'll try to clip a few of the humans, enough to knock them aside/knock them down, with Narthian as his end target. If successful he'll rein around there, and see if it's shaken any sense into Narthian. Prreet will be trying to pounce on a dwarf or three, kind of leap-frogging his way from one to the next without stopping. So, let me know what I need to roll for them -- or roll it for me if it keeps things moving, as I probably won't be online again before tomorrow.]

Lantamori creeps into position for a clever ploy...



Sir Aberlayne nods and Prreet shifts from the size of a housecat to the size of a leopard.  With a woop! from the paladin and a yowl from Prreet, they barrel into the crowd as Averdante uses Mask like an equine battering ram.  Over the din, Stonesinger begins a rhythmic chant that seems to cut through the song, advancing as rapidly as he can jog to get within earshot of as many people as possible.

Between Mask, Valiant, and Prreet, most of the group is temporarily halted from walking towards the alluring music, and Stonesinger's chant allows people to wake from the musical daze, once again in control of their action.  But now they've all gone forward enough to see the authors of those beautiful voices: You can see three scrawny creatures, half spindly bird, half scraggly human woman, clinging to the top of the cliff and singing sweetly.  Their faces are sharp, scarred, and spattered with bits of blood and feathers.  One of them has a half-eaten bird in her hand, another has two dead birds dangling from a thin belt at her waist.  Their hands are clawed and scaled like a hawk's, two have swords, the third has sharp metal talons augmenting her own.  The two sword-bearers are also clutching partially unfurled nets as they watch the roadway below with the eagerness of a lynx at a rabbit's burrow.

With the loss of their prey, the two with nets screech their rage and hurl them down upon the frontrunners of the pack.  Thunder adroitly slips free, though Narthian is entangled, along with four more of the dwarves and Volsh.  The one with metal talons makes a slashing motion in the air, and sharp darts of steel fly from her fingers to wound Bruenor (the largest target still standing) and Averdante (with his bow).   

As Stonesinger sees the bird-women, he shouts out, "Harpies!"

Lining up on one of the sword wielding bird people, Lantamori lets fly on the unsuspecting trio.

OOC: Lantamori rolled 23 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 16.  Composite Longbow Attack (Surprise! No Dex Bonus)
Lantamori rolled 9 using 1d8+1 with rolls of 8.  Composite Longbow Damage, sword harpy
Lantamori rolled 9 using 3d6 with rolls of 6,2,1.  Sneak Attack Damage, sword harpy

18 total damage to a sword wielding harpy

Haazheel plops himself down (making himslef a smaller target) and points two finger at the flying Harpy. He intones

These two missiles flying go,
Helping lay the harpy low!

15:01, Today: Haazheel Thorn rolled 7 using 2d4 with rolls of 4,3.  MM. 9 Damage

Mystique flies out of the way.

Bruised by Mask and dazed by the song / counter song, Narthian takes a moment to figure out what's going on when the net lands on him and several dwarves. He reflexively tugs at it before coming to his senses. "Don't struggle! Hold it tight! Use your daggers to cut free!" He draws his own dagger and starts cutting. "Thunder! Defend Dellas!"

With a sharp curse at the pain, Dante reins Mask in and draws an arrow, firing at one of the harpies still singing.


07:27, Today: Averdante rolled 19 using 1d20+8.  shooting at harpy.
07:28, Today: Averdante rolled 6 using 1d8.  possible damage.

Dellas looks surprised from the bump and the music whose call a moment before seemed to dim in comparison to the chant of the dwarf. As he took stock of the situation about him he noticed the harpies above sitting on the cliffs edge. With a smile he began an incantation, tracing an arcane rune with his free hand a small smolder ball began to appear in the air before him. As he finished the incantation the ball streaked towards the harpies and with an explosion burst into a ball fire expanding outwards engulfing all of them in flames, a wicked smile crosses Dellas's face.


OOC: Cast Fireball,

10:50, Today: Dellas Nump rolled 21 using 5d6 with rolls of 6,5,3,2,5.  DC 17 Ref for Half.

Lantamori's arrow slides in between the harpy's ribs, making her shriek and gurgle with her devastatingly accurate and deadly strike!



Focusing his fire, Haazheel's magical bolts blast the harpy that Lantamori had hit, making her scrape along the canyon wall as she loses her balance!



Narthian, Volsh, and the dwarves draw their knives and begin to cut the entangling strands of the net, made easier by the fact that the harpies cannot control the trailing ropes, as they are under attack!  In a few moments, they will be free.



Averdante targets the same harpy as the others, and succeeds in bringing one of them down!



The fireball explodes with vigor, badly singing the other sword-bearing harpy, while the one with metal claws evades the effects with a grace that Lantamori recognizes from her own training in dexterity.

Stonesinger switches his song to one of courage, inspiring the others to greater feats of skill and might.

OOC:  Inspire Courage - +1 on saves vs charm and fear, +1 to attack and damage rolls.

The remaining dwarves dart forward and interlock their shields over those in the nets, protecting them from attack.

Bruenor can bend his longbow against the lofted foes, and manages to strike the sword-bearing harpy hard - she will not be long for this world!

Farian moves over to Averdante and raises her hand to heal him, Pelor's bright light easing his aches.  ]

Sir Aberlayne grabs her throwing axe and charges forward, hurling it from below when she is as close as she can.  The axe finishes what Dellas and Bruenor started, and the second harpy falls.

The last harpy, unwounded but clearly outnumbered and her best weapon negated, flees into the thick cover of the trees and bushes atop the steep canyon wall, cursing you all in Common, Orc, and Dwarven that your tongues should wither and your hearts turn to dust.



Below, things are now blessedly quiet and free of enchanting song...

"Thank you!" Narthian says to all to participated in protected them from the harpy threat. "Of the two forms of entrapment, I think that I prefer the net!"

Lantamori watched the creature fly off to ensure it's departure before carefully making her way back to the wagons.

Bruenor slings his bow back over his shoulder, and shakes his head...ensuring whatever enchantment had hold of him was well and truly gone.

"Bloody hell, these woods are full of evil and magic!"  He says the two together almost as if they are synonymous.

"Everyone ok?" he asks, glancing back at the party.

Haazheel picks himself up, dusts himself off, and is ready to proceed. He thanks those who roused him.

"I am ready... but I wonder if the harpies are allied with the druid or if this was a chance encounter?"

"Thank you, Farian," Dante tells the priest with a nod. And then pauses, because this is the first time he's really had a good look at the new, altered Farian. The armor definitely doesn't fit as it should, given the diminished breadth of her shoulders. Having just had the benefit of a healing prayer though, it seems polite to not say anything about the matter, just then. "I'll get back to the wagons and keep watch."

Turning Mask around, he calls silently to Prreet.

Aloud, he tells Narthian, "I hope they weren't allied, but if he did set them to delay us, moving out quickly is to our benefit."

Moving Mask clear of the others, he nudges the pale horse into a trot back to where he can keep watch while the others walk back and get animals saddled and harnessed to move out.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:23, Wed 24 Apr 2019.

"Can we eat that bear for breakfast?" Lantamori asked, emerging from the undergrowth to the wagons.  They were still a ways from the fort and needed to eat something before the dwarves starved to death.  Probably would have been a better idea the night before, but she'd been too tired to think of it.

Narthian nods agreement to Averdante before responding to Lantamori. "It is the law of nature to consume the dead. But the buzzards also must eat. Let's share our rations and hurry on!"

Haazheel makes use of his book learning [general knowledge confirmed by Google]. Bear meat is edible, perhaps even quite good depending on diet. It must be cooked until well done; otherwise, you may get infected with parasites.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:43, Wed 24 Apr 2019.

"If we have the time. We can likely carve up some of it and cook it. But Do we want to delay returning to the Fort. Everything seems to be against us. And if that Druid is still out there he could prove a problem. And of the other group that the Trolls went with? Perhaps we should see if they have returned as well?"

Dellas remarked, his lack of wanting to cook and hurry back may be concerning to others, but perhaps he is seeing the practicality of the situation at hand. He returned to the camp where he gathered up his remaining belongings as he stared at the corpse of the bear, it had already started to stink but perhaps it would still be good if they cut deep enough. And a fire would be easy enough to build he thought to himself. He turned to look at the others to see what they thought.

"That bear is either the druid or its companion, Dellas.  Eating the first would be wrong, and eating the second... how would you like it if someone ate Visk?  Either way...  Stonesinger and his people need to discharge their duty, and as we do ours.  If there is time, we can come back later, though I think likely there won't be," Sir Aberlayne says in response to her brother's question.

Those examining the bodies of the fallen harpies can find two shortswords of fine make, one with a grip of silver carved to look like an octopus, the other with a hilt carved to look like roses, with tiny garnets tucked amongst the “petals.”  They have three dead wood pigeons amongst them, two leather belts and scabbards that are in good shape underneath the dirt and blood, two belt pouches that have about twenty platinum coins between them.  Both also have armbands with shards of obsidian tucked amongst the woven threads.  Anyone examining the items with magic finds that only the armbands have a faint dusting of magic about them.

Stonesinger considers Narthian’s words.  “I’m hoping this had nothing to do with the druid, but I fear it did.  If we’d been a little less wary, it would have been easy to lure us into a rockfall or a bigger ambush.  I’m not as familiar with nature magic, but I wouldn’t count the druid dead unless we can see his corpse.”  He shakes his head.  “Maybe the druid is in cahoots with something under Smoke Peak, but that’s none of our concern for the next few days.  Let’s get ourselves back to the fort before something else decides to happen.”

Dellas shrugs at Aberlayne "Suppose your right Sis. I wouldn't want anyone eating Vish either. Besides I'm not sure all the sweets I feed him would do anyone well." he says with a grin.

The thought that the dead bear might be the evil druid was enough to make Dante shudder. "We shouldn't do anything to the bear -- unless there's something that can be done quickly to prevent him from resurrecting it. Otherwise, let's get moving. Delaying here could give him time to summon more shadows."

Moving Mask to the front, Dante maintained watch on the mountainsides and skies, impatient for the others to mount up and get moving.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:06, Sat 27 Apr 2019.

"Is not the rumor that a dragon sleeps beneath that mountain?" Narthian says to the Stonesinger. "That would be a foul pairing indeed. Averdante, I think that the Great Bear was our enemy's companion. Even if we burned it to ash, our enemy could call another. Regardless, if the Great Bear returns, leave it to me. I am more ready today for such a meeting than I was yesterday." He breaks out his rations, sharing what he has with the dwarves (up to 4 of them). As the others prepare the wagons, he forages nearby for fresh berries. He leaves it to the others to collect the harpy treasure.

Lantamori was disappointed they couldn't eat the bear.  She'd run out of her two days of rations on the way out.  She wasn't looking forward to fasting another two days back.

Reluctantly, she saddled Cloud and took up her position at the back of the train.

Haazheel suddenly remembers I have no rations, and we are short. We'd better make time to make use of the bear.

With some of the party short on rations, and the dwarves being right out, with a full day or more's travel between you and safety, the group can take an hour to butcher meat from the bear, gaining a hide, teeth, and claws as trophies or trade goods as well as food for several days.

You can travel another eight hours before you're forced to stop for the night, camping in twilight with a keen watch out.  The night is quiet, and you rise with a morning serenade no more sinister than normal birdsong

You can travel the rest of the day, wary but seemingly unfollowed and unmolested, and arrive back at the gates of Fort Cross a couple hours before sunset.  You are greeted professionally, but with obvious relief and cheer.  The dwarves at lead off to get food, drink, and sleep, while the boars are seen by the stablemaster and given a generous ration of food.  Master Deyna looks overjoyed at your return, perhaps mostly because her caravan can get back on the road again, but she also seems happy to see her guards alive.  Though the tribute is missing a few coffers, the majority of it is there, and “most” delivered a little late is better than “all” delivered extremely late.

You can rest and eat yourselves, and are joined towards the end of the meal by Commander Brighthearth.

“You’ve gone above and beyond, according to Stonesinger,” he says without preamble.  “We’re getting a second crew ready to go out and track the druid, if he still lives, and any allies he might have; they’ll try to find missing coffers too.  The Troll Hunters have had some luck as well, so we should have this back to a dull roar by your return trip.  Well done, and may the gods bless you on your journey.”

Bruenor felt his shoulders relax as they make the fort entrance.  He was grateful for a gate and strong walls between him and the druids, shadows, and whatnot out there.

After seeing that Demon was taken care of...the horse would need to hunt soon...he adjourns with any of the others who were heading in for a hot meal and some drink.

He nods at the Commander, and says, "Glad we could be of service.  Please warn your crew to be ready for that bloody druid's tricks and spells.  He or she's a bad sort."

Narthian is relieved to not have a second battle with the druid. Once back in a safe place, he examines the broken charm and empty gourds first. He suspects that they belonged to the druid and could provide clues to the tricks that the hunters are likely to face. Once he provides what information he can, he helps examine the remaining items.

He can use Detect Magic for up to 6 minutes to find and identify auras.

Also, if no one objects, Narthian splits the three wood pigeons between Thunder and wizards' familiars. A small treat for the wolf, a great meal for the weasel and bird of prey.

Haazheel has no objections to feeding Mystique.

He can, given time, Identify.

He remarks, "I think we just got volunteered for another trip."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:16, Wed 01 May 2019.

Lantamori was once again unhappy to dwell within the walls of Fort Cross.  She'd be glad to get back on the road in the morning with the caravan.  Out from behind these bleak stone walls.

Master Deyna is happy to have her items and ready to get back on the road.  Commander Brighthearth leaves word that the Leafblade Company may stock up on arrows, bolts, up to two weeks' rations each, and have any of their gear fixed or cleaned before they leave in the morning.

That morning, while the caravan is loading Haazheel can cast identify on any single object to determine all of its magical properties.  But a quick perusal with detect magic will tell you the following about different items (and assuming anyone chooses to examine their worth, can get estimates on the following):


From the caverns where you rescued the dwarves:

*50' of fine golden rope - mundane, fine silk rope, worth 10gp
*a leather belt decorated with symbols of the sun - at the very least you know this is a belt of opposite gender - magical, minor transmutation
*a fine red silk scarf - mundane, worth 50gp
*four colorful potions in a blue leather belt - magical, and upon examination there is a potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of magic fang, elixir of fire breath and a potion of water breathing
*a silver plate decorated with blue stones in a moon motif -  mundane, worth 250gp
*a pair of silvery bracers with symbol of a shield and fists upon them - magical, minor abjuration
*a small heap of coins and gems - 300gp worth of coins, the lesser gems total some 200gp, but one outstanding ruby is worth 1000gp on its own
*a blue-black buckler - Upon examination, it is a quiescent beetle the size of a buckler!
*a pair of green snakeskin gloves - magical, minor transmutation
*a leather collar spiked with wooden spikes - magical, minor transmutation

From the attack by the shadows and bears:

*two dried gourds with broken wax seals that have been cast aside.  It seems as if the gourds had contained something liquid that had since been poured out or drunk - faint residue of magic, minor conjuration and transmutation

*There's also a broken charm that Prreet finds, woven grasses with a bit of polished obsidian caught within its strands.  The charm would have fit around a very large wrist or a normal elf's leg. - Minor divination

From the fight with the harpies:

*two shortswords of fine make, one with a grip of silver carved to look like an octopus, the other with a hilt carved to look like roses, with tiny garnets tucked amongst the “petals.” - Mundane, both masterwork shortsword worth 500gp each due to their fine carvings

*three dead wood pigeons (good eating!) -  made great snacks for the Company's carnivores - unmagical

*two leather belts and scabbards that are in good shape underneath the dirt and blood - mundane, worth 30gp each, one is dark blue, one is rose red

*two belt pouches that have about twenty platinum coins between them - mundane

*Two armbands with shards of obsidian tucked amongst the woven threads.  Anyone examining the items with magic finds that only the armbands have a faint dusting of magic about them.
- magical, minor divination
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:35, Wed 01 May 2019.

Farian awakes the morning of the last leg with an new sense of serenity. "Welcome the Dawn Light with new Awareness! This belt is not a curse, but a revelation!" Even for the preachy priest, this is new to her companions. "As I have admired Saint Bane, so have I admired the woman and her gift to bring Life into the world! The Ultimate Light! It is this form that Pelor has chosen for me, so that I might burn brighter, and banish the darkness like the Dawn Light!" She adjusts her armor and surcoat. "Perhaps a visit to Fort Cross's armorer first, though. The Light shines better from a proper lantern!" she adds with a laugh. It is obvious that she is making her claim on the belt permanent.

She visits the armorer first thing in the morning. Upon learning the properties of the harpy swords, Farian says, "Pelor has granted me the Armorer's Secrets, that I might add enchantments to such blades such as these. Should any of you be so interested, Pelor's Light will shine for you!"

Dellas appreciates the wood pigeon for Vish, who himself seems delighted at the food option and tears into it almost immediately. "Thank you. I am sure... Yes he enjoys it." Dellas says with a slight giggle. Dellas then turns to look at Vish "Perhaps your friend would like some too?" As Dellas pulls out the stone gargoyle and with a word brings it to life "Do you eat?"

"Averdante, the magic arrows that I loaned before are gifted to you now. Use them to good effect!" He approaches the new Farian, who he's starting to get used to in this new form. "I would have the sun god's blessing on my spear, if you will. The abominable werewolves would feel the bite of the sun!"

Farian nods to Narthian. "I will. However, the process is not without cost. The ritual will require expensive materials - to focus and magic of the blessing. I think as much as 1000 gold."