Ryudo arrives at the cliff first. “I'll meet you down there!” he shouts. As he turns, the rock beneath his foot shifts and he slides neatly and suddenly out of view. Cursing from the bottom of the cliff continues for about a minute as he extracts himself from the loose rock that landed atop him. (7 damage)

Aldridge runs back to catch Airdsgainne and puts him over Saphira. He slaps the lizard, who takes off toward the cliff. Aldridge then runs toward the cliff himself, straining to keep up. (Aldridge automatically succeeds on one Endurance check.)

Flutterwing and Alwanzatar arrive with easily a minute to spare before the others arrive. Flutterwing offers to help Alwanzatar climb down. (18 Athletics)

Westra sees the bush and sprints toward it. (Spends two successes to sprint.) With the time she gains, she carefully, but quickly collects the leaves and flowers. (Westra has Mammoth's Blood flowers and leaves.)

The drakes see the edge of the cliff and shy away from it.

Aldridge and Airdsgainne arrive about the time Westra finishes collecting leaves.

The bear is less than a minute behind the party as Aldridge arrives at the cliff. (450')

(Flutterwing and Alwanzatar arrive a minute early and could climb down if they wished.

Aldridge, Airdsgainne, Westra, and the two drakes arrive fairly close together. The drakes are reluctant to walk off the edge of the cliff. A variety of tactics might be used to convince them: Animal Handling, Intimidation, Grapple, Bull Rush, and others.

The flowers can be chewed to provide 2d6 temporary hit points, double carrying capacity, advantage on Strength and Constitution checks, and a feeling of euphoria for ten minutes. The leaves can be distilled into an elixir that does similarly, but for longer.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:37, Tue 02 June 2015.

Westra attempts to cajole the drakes off the cliff (Animal Handling 13).

Westra's cajoling does not appear to be sufficient. (It is partially effective, however: it grants advantage to another check.)

Ryudo attempts to call the animals down to him. (Animal Handling 12)

Ryudo's attempts are not successful, but he manages not to make things worse. (Next check still has advantage.)

"JUMP. OFF. THE. CLIFF. NOW!" Alwan yells. (24 Intimidation)

The beasts have no idea what Alwanzatar is upset about, but whatever it is, they decide that it's probably less dangerous to jump off a cliff as their handlers are indicating. The beasts, as well as the rest of the party jump into the air, where they are caught by Alwanzatar's magic and brought swiftly, but not too swiftly, to the ground.

Aldridge gets a twinkle in his eye and says, “I have another crazy idea…”

The rest of the party becomes immediately apprehensive. “Your last idea was to be chased by a bear,” Flutterwing says. “Am I going to like this next one?”

“Well, maybe not you specifically,” Aldridge says. “We're not really very fast runners. You are. How many of us can you carry?”

Flutterwing looks to the rest of the party, “Uh, I might could get a few of you. What do you think?”

(The party is down the cliff, but has a few seconds for conversation about the strategy going forward. Flutterwing can, without buffs, carry 450 lbs.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:06, Thu 04 June 2015.

Without asking, Aldridge grabs the Mammoth's Blood from Westra, stuffing them into Flutterwing's palm. "Eat these!" Aldridge instructs. "Everyone, help me lift Airdsgainne to her shoulder. Once the flowers take effect, everyone except Ryudo grab an arm. When we're all on, we're rushing as fast as we can on our current trajectory!"

"Hey, those were mine!" Westra lifts Airdsgainne onto Flutterwing's shoulders, then takes a moment to flick Aldridge's ear with a finger. "Just because I require your beast to carry my valuables does not mean that everything of mine is yours."

She then grabs Flutterwing's left arm, huffing indignantly.

"I'll take an angry hunter over an angry giant supernatural bear any day," Aldridge says as he clings to Flutterwing from behind, rubbing his ear. "The cliff should buy us some time. Let us not squander it."

He turns his attention to the drakes. "Ryudo, go on ahead, and take the drakes with you best you can. If you reach a point that's going to require more cajoling to get them to follow, spend a little time to encourage them, but keep moving if they refuse. If it gets real bad, we'll set them on their own way. Hopefully they'll know to keep up, if we somehow pass them."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:52, Fri 05 June 2015.

The party members, except Ryudo and the drakes, all climb quickly on Flutterwing. (Hanging on to Flutterwing takes at least one hand. An Acrobatics check can be made to temporarily use two hands to perform an action.) Flutterwing chews the flower and says, “We shall certainly outpace the bear now! It will never catch us!” She cackles somewhat unnervingly.

Flutterwing casts a spell and her feet quicken. She beats a most expeditious retreat away from the bear. She sprints into the forest with the party, leaving Ryudo to keep up. (Sprinting pace) Deep footprints, a trail broken branches and her scent against nearby shrubs mark her path clearly enough for a blind bear in hibernation to find it. The spell seems to spark wildly from her feet.

(The party may make whatever checks or actions they wish. I will assume you are all actively keeping watch unless you mention otherwise. Ryudo should post his pace and identify whether he wishes to slow his pace to keep up with the mounts.)

"THIS IS THE STRANGEST THING I'VE EVER DONE," Westra yells over the wind flying past them.

“Wooo!” Flutterwing says excitedly, “The Spirits of the Rabbit and the Mammoth, all at once!”

"This... Is not the strangest thing I have ever done," Aldridge considers. "Thanks for reminding me about the rabbits..."

Aldridge squints ahead. While he is glad to be putting such a distance between them and the bear, the stealth part of the plan is quickly approaching, much faster than he had anticipated. This next part, he knows, will require finesse... A little more finesse than a speeding teenage Bear Clanswoman with sparking feet, high on euphoria.

Aldridge scans the paths for something that could redirect the bear's attention... Another set of tracks, perhaps not unlike those of the Terrorclaws who settled very near to where the party is currently headed.

And, of course, for the plan to work without reprisals, they will need to do that without letting the Terrorclaws know that the party led it there.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Fri 05 June 2015.

Ryudo sprints along with Flutterwing.

The party sprints into the woods. The sparks flying off of Flutterwing's feet shoot every which way for a full minute. A spark flies out and hits a nearby squirrel. The squirrel grows three snake heads that hiss at Flutterwing. “THE SNAKES!!! THEY'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!” she shouts as she sprints away. Illusory butterflies and flower petals trail behind Flutterwing, as though fairies were throwing a parade as she passed. A nearby tree explodes, showering the party in splinters, though harmlessly. Flutterwing becomes invisible, making the party appear to be flying through the forest.

Then, after a minute of sheer madness, the strange effects subside. She becomes visible and stops leaving butterflies in her wake. She no longer shouts when she speaks and no odd creatures appear.

Then, about two minutes later, with the entire party keeping a close eye out, Flutterwing runs through a low bush. If the party had been looking forward instead of backward (failed perception checks), they might have realized it was a Barburil Bush. Even the slightest brush of a Barburil Bush can throw noxious dust into the air, and Flutterwing ran right through it!

And if the party had been looking forward, and carefully, they might have also seen the swarm of scorpions that made its home in that bush.

Flutterwing stumbles for a moment she breathes the noxious dust. The scorpions swarm all over her body and the bodies of her allies. Flutterwing shrugs off the effects of the plant and continues running, heedless of the scorpions crawling over her body.

(The party is now in combat with the Scorpions. Is is the party's turn. Ryudo is not nearby, so he will not take part. Aldridge, Airdsgainne, Westra, and Alwanzatar should each take a turn. Those people also need to make Con saves against the effects of the plant.)

Aldridge coughs upon inhaling the toxic dust (Con Save 18). He takes out his rapier with his dominant hand while holding on for dear life with his weaker hand. He attempts to pick off scorpions as he sees them (AC 21, D 3).

"Still not the weirdest thing I've ever done," Aldridge mutters.

Alwan succumbs to the dust (Con not-save 9)

Airdsgainne coughs and sputters (Con Save 12) as he reaches toward the scorpions, and ice crystals form on their carapaces. (Frostbite)

Westra, too, succumbs to the dust (con save 4).

The party hangs on for dear life as Flutterwing barrels unphased through the chaos crawling on her body. Aldridge and Airdsgainne are visibly disturbed by the noxious dust, but are rather more concerned about the scorpions crawling all over their bodies. Aldridge swipes several away with his rapier. (1 damage) Airdsgainne takes a more arcane approach and sends a wave of freezing magic through them. Many of the scorpions on Airdsgainnes face fall off, frozen. (6 damage, disadvantage) The total number of scorpions is significantly reduced, but still unpleasantly numerous.

Alwanzatar doesn't handle the gas nearly as well. He spends several moments choking, visibly unsettled. Westra is violently afflicted by the noxious smell. She vomits suddenly and violently, covering (randomly determined) Alwanzatar with the contents of her stomach.

The scorpions swarm over the obviously ill Westra, stinging her repeatedly around her shoulders, face, eyes and mouth. (maximum HP reduced by 2, poisoned (disadvantage on attacks and checks))

(The noxious gas has passed and the party no longer needs to roll saves against it. Alwanzatar, however, is slicked down and must spend his action on an Acrobatics check to hang on. Party members may either help with an Acrobatics check (and provide advantage) or simply grab him with an Athletics check (highest roll is effective). It is the party's turn.)

Alwan hangs on for dear life. (Acrobatics 23)

Aldridge puts his sword away and waves a hand at Alwanzatar (Prestidigitation), tossing Westra's tossed cookies behind them so the sorcerer doesn't have to contend with the disgusting lubricant.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, Alwan," Westra yells. She tries to shake the scorpions off her body and bat them off her face with her staff.