"There is always a balance to be struck, an equilibrium to be found. Between summer and winter, between birth and death, between the heat of battle and the languor of peace.

"Does that mean there is some balance between life itself and death?

"It is this puzzle that has vexed so many over through the ages. A puzzle that the doers of things would do well to pay some mind. Perhaps even going so far as to listen to the humble tellers of tales."

 - Blace The Bard, known opening line at adventurer taverns.


And we have a new thread! With new enemies, and if you look to the adventure tracker you'll see newish allies to help. But for now, time to go loot some loot then check up on some old enemies and potential allies...

Meri stood in place for a moment, lowering her staff and watching the remnants of the Phystal's unexpected explosion dissipate into the air.

"Not bad" she murmured quietly, glancing in Nym's general direction before propping her staff on her shoulder and following the dryad towards the boat to see if it contained anything else useful...


OOC: And looks like Nym actually managed to seriously impress Meri with that one :)
Anyways, going over to check out the shiny loot! :D

Nym doesn't answer, and simply stands there for several moments, breathing hard but with a huge grin on her face, like a child who's just won a race and hasn't quite recovered from being out of breath just yet.

"Wheeeee..." she mutters at last, and slowly sinks down to the ground, plonking her staff next to her as she sits down, then lies back with her arms spread each side of her. As she leans back, the little owl (whose colours have stopped swirling quite so fast) steps forward from her shoulder and instead sits on her chest, looking toward the boat.

"Lots of fun...wheee...all the fun...phew! Busy day...and we only just woke up..." Nym is saying, apparently to herself.

Hehe battle over, adrenaline starts to wear off, Nym's on a rather worrying 6hp but she's still "coming down" from using her magic to the extent that she did so she's nto about to pass out or anything. She'll check out the shinies when she's had a few minutes to get her breath back :).

Battle over, so you guys can take a short rest and go recharge those encounter powers and also spend those healing surges.

While Nym spaced out after the battle, Celindara looked equally dazed after the battle. Thanks to Meri, her colour looked better, and she did not seem unsteady on her feet despite the constant assault she had been under. She just seemed lost, which was understandable given the target of her ire had turned to ash and residue.

She looked to Meri, and her certainty came back. "My thanks for your strength." She flexed her wounded arm, even as she subconsciously dug her wounded foot in the earth as if to draw strength and healing form the forest. "Some of my sisters could heal as you could, I remember." She seemed sad for a moment, but then it seemed to pass. "Please, I know how it works. You gave strength to my arm. Let me repay that strength back. The power of the forest flows through me now, and that power can replenish yours."

Celindara seemed to get roughly how your infusions work, maybe. So she's offering two of her healing surges to restore your infusions. You have good enough Heal skill to see she probably isn't in any danger of giving too much - she seems quite solid after such a strenuous battle!

Inside the boat itself, it could be seen how haphazardly the pickings The Phystal had clearly taken from people had been dumped, and how much more they had spilled out during the battle.

There were lots of odds and ends - some chillingly mundane items from villagers most likely - and others the weapons and equipment of inexperienced adventurers. It seemed that Allyn's concern was perhaps the tiniest part justified, as none of the items seemed to be of fey make.

Most of the items were of substandard construction, but some did bring Meri's attention. There was a dagger with a green gem for the hilt. She had not encountered either of the flying daggers up close, but she was certain this was a third. Luckily it had fallen under a knapsack, and The Phystal had not found it in time. It was inert for the moment, but Meri had previously worked out that the thing was probably activated by a word. It was definitely not a fey item, but looked oddly wicked in its construction, less like a tool than a implement of pain. Something in the thinness of the blade or wicked edge.

Up to you if you want to take it or not, you can always break it down for magical parts if that's not against Meri's religion, or figure out its trigger and use it against enemies later. Though it might not stick to attacking who you tell it to attack, as Nym found out. Hence the warning of it seeming evil. Use at your own peril!

There was also something unusual. It was an almost mundane magic item used by forgers and artificers, a pair of forgemaster's gloves. However, its abilities to ignite the forge in the morning and protect the wearer from the heat and sparks of the place had uses to the adventurer too.

Heh, I wonder what this level 6 magic item is...

There was also some caltrops in a bag, probably enough for three good uses. They could be useful for Meri in building her own traps, but they were also serviceable in and of themselves to hinder a foe at the right time.

You can either use them as 90gp worth of trap components at some point, but these caltrops are also a consumeable item - I've given you three - that create a zone that will slow enemies. I'll post the power in the magic item thread and you can figure it out :)

The Phystal did seem to have a personal possesion in the boat, a very fey looking belt pouch that was tucked in to the corner of the boat. It contained two potions that, for the moment, were unknown. Neither looked poisonous though. One was deep blue like the river water itself, and the other had a healthy greeny-yellow tinge to it, like wine.

Obviously some time or some rolls will let you know what they are. More for narrative fun, at worst Celindara might know what they both are :)

Looking with a more mercenary eye at what was left, Meri spotted that there was about 50 gold pieces worth of coin and trinkets. And that was probably also about the worth of the boat itself - providing she could repair it.

That's right, the rowboat if you want to ask the dryad nicely for raw materials could be repaired with make whole, and is worth 50gp. Loot everything! Sell everything!

Even the camp seemed a very professional affair. While all fey in origin augmented by plunder, The Phystal and his warband were clearly adept at surviving in the wild. Their equipment was of a superior quality, their supplies well assembled, and they even seemed to have detailed notes of the surroundings. It was written in fey, but Meri was sure she could translate the diagrams and words simply enough to get some benefit.

You can gather up the remains of the camp itself in to what is effectively a hunter's kit. You can either keep it for yourself, or get rid of it at some point to an appreciative collector/shop. It is also worth 50gp, which is funny that figure keeps coming up given I had all these items assembled independently!

And meanwhile, as Nym luxuriated in the grass of this place, two gemstones twinkled back where she had battled earlier....

Don't forget the sapphire and fire opal from the two flying daggers. Combined the two gems are worth 250gp!


Anyway, the adventure tracker has a summary of the stuff you got, and I'll add more descriptions in the items post today or tomorrow. Yay! That's like @650gp of stuff all told :D And a 1800gp magic item, of course. Not too bad for a morning's work...

After a minute or two, Nym sits up. The owl on her shoulder makes a little twittering noise and flutters off, going to sit in a nearby tree and stare around unblinkingly, apaprently now generally curious about the surroundings.

"Hmm, what to do now?" murmurs Nym, looking idly around. "Ooh, it looks like someone dropped these..."

She scrambles over to where the gemstones from the daggers have dropped onto the forest floor, and picks each of them up, holding them before her eyes to admire the way they sparkle in the light.

Don't worry, I hadn't forgotten about them ;). Was it the fire opal that was 100gp and the sapphire 150, or the other way around?

Also gonna burn my last two Healing Surges to get myself back up to 24/37hp. I hope we don't get into any more fights today, or if we do I hope I don't get hit ;).

Other way around I believe, and yay! Let the looting begin :D

Check my OOC post regarding what you current hp should be - I believe that you get what is effectively 7hp more 'healing' than you think, so will actually be at 31/41hp

My hp is now 42, not 41 ;). I'm pretty much done with my level-up, after some deliberating. I'll update my sheet in a bit...

You mean 37+5 isn't 41? Well if you want to go with your 'normal' mathematics and not hper non-euclidean maths, fine. *runs*

"If you'd like to" replied Meri hesitantly.  "I can replenish my own power, though if we run into something else, a little extra goes a long way."

Heading towards the boat, she looked over the equipment in it.

What immediately caught her attention was the gloves.  Propping her staff against the side of the boat, she reached for them and pulled one on, flexing her fingers experimentally.
"Been meaning to make a pair of these for myself" she remarked with a grin.  "Bit of a customising job on these and I can save myself the expense."
Tugging the other glove on, she examined them for a moment, concentrating intently.  A flicker of flame coursed over the fingers briefly before going out again.
Nodding in satisfaction, Meri turned her attention back to the items in the boat.

Picking up the dagger, she examined it thoughtfully.
"Might be useful, though unpredictable in its current configuration" she murmured to herself, placing it aside for now.

Taking up a small bag, she opened it cautiously, finding a set of caltrops.
Nodding to herself, she placed these down beside the dagger.

Next item that caught her eye was the pouch containing the two bottles.
"Any idea what these are?" she asked, holding them out to Celindara...


OOC: Not sure if the dagger is Nym's style, but Meri won't mind parting with it if she wants it anyway :)
Also are we divvying up the gold?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:15, Tue 26 Jan 2016.

While Nym played were her new shiny toys, Celindara looked to the two bottles. She opened each up, the wine like one first, then the water like one.

"Mmm, smells like honey of the bees on the warmest summer's day," she said. She swirled the liquid around once or twice, then her face fell. "Oh, I remember this. This used to be such a happy draft. It is something that allows someone to speak to a fey."

For some reason finding it on the fey seemed to make the dryad sad and angry in equal measure.

Potion of Feyspeak, description in the items thread :)

Of the second potion, she rolled it around. The resemblance to water ended when the thick goop barely moved inside the bottle. She sniffed it and almost gagged. "Oh, I never could stomach this. I always wanted to try, but always cheated in the end." She looked to Meri. "This....mix.... allows a person to walk on water, or I suppose any liquid, as if it were solid ground. Although it tastes exactly like eating well trodden mud, and you can't just nibble part of it. It has its uses, especially if the rains are heavy. The Phystal might have escaped us even if we had sank the boat. Or at least, he might have tried..."

The was something ominous about how she said that second part. And who knew, it might be related to how she 'cheated' in regards to walking on water.

And this is a Potion of Water Walking, description also on the thread. The foul gloop part is actually the real flavour (haha) text of the potion, I might have extrapolated its exact taste :D


At the southern mouth of the area, now that the battle had died down, the doe walked in to the area with the fox waving a more leisurely route back and forth.

Many was bouncing around in the air ahead of them both, and seemed relieved when everyone was alright in the glade. At least, everyone he could see, because luckily the two downed fey were hidden by the grass for now Indeed, perhaps he had been the one to persuade the others to come formwards. Though it was noticeable he always kept his 'making friends' eyestalk behind his back whenever he got near any of them, as if to prove he was being respectful and good.

"Meh-reh! Nih-meh Yay!" he said happily, rushing forwards, then rushing back to the fox and doe and waving his eyestalks in beckoning, then rushing forwards to his two friends again. "Yoh ah oh-keh?" he said, trying to pronounce the words properly and only slightly failing. He moved towards Nym and Wuffles first, as much to see what she was playing with apparently, the light sparkling on the gems.

See, everyone else was fine and no evil enemies were doing anything nasty behind you lot :D

Useful though a dagger might be, it's definitely not Nym's style to try and stab anyone, or at least wield something capable of doing so even if it would never be used for that. Plus I like the damage bonus on my staff ;).

"Many!" calls Nym cheerfully as the beholder reappears. She waves at him from her position sitting on the grass. "Everything's alright. See? I just found these on the floor. There were these nasty flying daggers but they've stopped now and they left these behind..."

Meanwhile, in the nearby tree, the owl swoops down to land on the grass nearby, looking over at Many and making happy-sounding little twittery sort of noises.

"Well, might be useful.  You don't want any of them?" asked Meri, gesturing to the potions.

OOC: Not that the NPCs usually get a share in looting, just thought I'd ask anyway :)

She glanced back as Many reappeared, a hint of a smile appearing on her face before she reached down to pick up the caltrop bag, tucking it into a side pocket on her backpack.

Taking up the dagger as well, she examined it cautiously, tapping the gemstone in its pommel and then balancing it carefully on one finger before shrugging and tucking it into her belt.
"Can maybe use that too.  Doesn't seem to be Fey design, wonder if he took it from someone like these other items."

She reached down, picking up the scimitar the Phystal had carried, drawing a few inches of the blade out of the scabbard and examining it closely before giving a nod of approval and propping it next to her staff.

"Well, if he was the one causing all the trouble around here, attacking anyone who entered the forest, I think the townspeople might relax a little once they realise what happened.  If we find Blace alive again then she can tell them.  I don't plan on returning there."
Crouching down, she ran a hand over the hull of the boat, examining the parts that had been damaged by the explosion from Nym's magic.


OOC: Free boat might be handy if we plan on heading downriver :)  Which directions does the river run here?

Celindara looked to the potions confused, or perhaps still dazed from the battle, before answering at large. "I can speak the language of the fey, just as they once could speak the language of the dryad," she sad with a small sigh. "Though always when the elders met, it was the customer for each to drink a draft of the others' language, so prove that every word said could be said without misunderstanding. Back when the fey lived here, and deigned to speak with the forest's guardians rather than lie and desecrate." She had a 'harumph noise. "The potion could only be used by the fey to make another talk to them - after all, you would bring your own if you wanted to talk to them. They must have captured some of your friends and taken their things. Made them talk, most likely about me. To make the villagers hate me."

She squished her foot angrily in the mud, then pulled it free, turning the foot left and right to ensure it was healed well enough. She then without much care to the dirt on her foot squelched her feet in to the dryad boots.

"Oh, the second potion, yes!" She gave a wicked little smile, as if a child confessing something naughty to an impartial adult while her parents were away. The matter of the fey and the insignificant matter of a whole villager hating her seemed to be dropped. "I did say I cheated and never used it." She turned to the river, and gave a small and complex little song, lilting and beckoning. A small section of the river started churning as if the needlefish had found prey, but the churning was too circular and rhythmic. A moment later, the whirlpool that formed then lifted itself from the water as a water spout, and danced for a moment on the surface of the water.

"There are many spirits of water and air, earth and bark in the forest," she said with a giggle. "Who needs to walk on water when one of the forest's children will take it upon themselves to help you fly over it!"

She gave a small theatrical bow to the water spout, and it slowly sank in to the river.

And that water dervish was to be your final opponent. Why would it attack you (or you want to attack it) if its under the dryad's control? Who knows? Oh yes, as always me. And I'm not telling until much later in this game :D But it seems happy and friendly now, so never mind!

Meanwhile, the doe walked across to Celindara and Meri as if to see what all the fuss was. Celindara raised her right hand as if to stroke the doe's head, but it shied away and detoured around her. Celindara looked hurt and confused, as the doe instead looked to the boat with an air of curiosity and disgust in equal measure. It backed away from the boat and walked in between Meri and Celindara.

It bobbed its head to Meri and them looked to Celindara's injured left arm. Awkwardly but at least with some range of motion Celindara lifted her hand again, this time the injured one, to the doe. The doe this time came forwards to sniff them lick the hand, then the injuries. Celindara gave a relived giggle and allowed the doe to tend her wounds in its own way. "I may be the guardian of the forest and its warden, but even I do not fully understand its ways at times," she said. She looked to the water, and her face faded to a neutral, dazed expression again, as if deep in thought, or within deep thoughts.


Meanwhile, over with Nym both Many and the fox wandered near the sorceress. Many bounced happy up to the trees, calling out "Heh-ello wuh-ffles!" as he danced around her tree. Whether his broken speech was caused by him still trying to sound the words or not, or whether it was broken by his happy bouncing was hard to tell. He had perhaps been practising non stop excitedly on the others during the battle.

The fox meanwhile walked over to Nym directly, looking to each gem in idle curiosity. It curled up on the grass near Nym, but its lazy gaze shifted between the opal and sapphire in turn as much as regarding the changeling.

Many finally floated down to Nym, buzzing even more excitedly around her head. He dutifully looked to her gems, nodding in excitement at how bright and shiny they were, and said so proudly to the fox. However, it was something almost invisible he was balancing on his own telekenesis eye that seemed to have him excited to show Nym.

"Loo-keh loo-keh loo-keh!" he said, holding out his eyestalk, bent slightly upwards so it was clear he was balancing something invisible on it. It took keen eyes to see it, but it seemed Many was managing to carry Celindara's third, almost invisible companion, a tiny ant. The ant seemed - as much as such things could be reckoned - happy enough to be carried like that.

Give you guys a chance to react to the wall of words. Oh, my memory is Meri had Goodwin on her back, is that correct? I can go check if no one remembers for sure.

OOC: Yep, carrying Goodwin around.  I'd actually forgotten he was there in the heat of battle, as perhaps Meri did too, hehe :)


Meri frowned slightly, as if something the dryad had said or had reminded her of had troubled her for a moment.
Then she picked up the last of the items she had set aside, looking around for Nym and then glancing over the rest of the area they had fought in.

"I think that one I attacked early on might still be alive" she remarked, pointing in the direction of the bowman she had traded shots with at the start of the battle.
"Wonder if he knows what happened to Blace?"
Picking up her staff again she went over to see if her fallen foe was still there...


OOC: Assuming the bowman is still there and hasn't recovered and fled by now...

"Hey, Mr Foxy!" says Nym cheerfully as the fox comes over. She notices him looking at the gems and holds them out. "You want a closer look?"

She puts them down on the ground between herself and the fox, then is distracted by Many. She giggles at the tiny ant he's levitating.

"I've never seen a flying ant before!" she says. "Well, no, actually, one time I did see a nest of ants and they were all bigger than usual and they had wings and they were all flying away. It was a very hot day - maybe they wanted to cool down. But not tiny ants like this - I've never seen one of those with wings before. Hey, Many, maybe one day you'll be able to make me fly! That would be fun! Maybe I can make myself fly. I'm too heavy for myself right now - I can only make little things float and only if they're really close...kind of like you can."

She claps her hands excitedly and giggles again.

"But I'm sure you'll be really good at floating stuff when you're bigger!" she says happily. "And you'll be able to do all sorts of different things as well. And we can have lots more fun!"

The bowman that Meri had downed did seem to be both alive yet still unconscious. Close to he definitely did not show any of the signs of crystals embedded in his skin that The Phystal possessed. However, his angular features were even more alien with the face at supposed rest. Far more angular and elven than Eladrin or elves. Meri had heard of wild elves, but they were usually just the less civilised elves, a sub race. This was truly what a human child might imagine a wild elf to be, terrifying and strange. Whatever common blood fey possessed and still flowed in a far diluted form in Meri's veins was manifest in this one.

There was an odd stirring at Meri's shoulder. For a moment it could have been Celindara coming over and putting her hand on Meri, but it seemed the dryad was still lost in thought. No, it was The Stick - Goodwin - who was moving awkwardly on Meri's back, as if keen to see the fey bowman too.


Anyway, you have a prisoner - want to search / bind them first, or just poke them awake and having a Pleasant Meri Chat (tm) with them?


The fox shifted reluctantly - or perhaps with feinted reluctance - from its curled up rest and padded over to the two stones. The fire opal's colouring matched the fox's remarkably well, but it only gave a cursory set of head bobs to that one. It was the sapphire it seemed to be interested in. It sniffed it, pawed at it, then even turned its head sideways and started gnawing at it.

With a quick head tilt backwards suddenly the gem flipped into its mouth, and with an odd 'gulp' it swallowed the stone hole!

The was a pause, as it looked as if nothing had happened, and then suddenly it started coughing noisily. A moment later, the stone shot back out of its mouth, a little less dry than before. The fox blinked at both it and the others, then walked back over to its previous position and curled up again. It closed its eyes as if to sleep, but the eyes were hooded, and it was clearly looking to the sapphire as if it didn't trust the thing not to leap in to its mouth and choke it again.

Odd foxes are odd, what can one say :p

Many nodded as well as he was able balancing the ant, laughing at the talk of flying and flying ants. He then looked very serious, and hovered towards Nym. With a gentle outstretch of his eye stalk, he floated the ant towards Nym, and landed it perfectly on her nose. He then rocked around laughing with little 'ee ee ee ee' noises.

However, the talk of magic drew him back to the conversation, even as the little ant roamed ticklishly on Nym's nose as if getting comfortable. [Private to Nym: Not that Nym will realise this, but while the ant chooses to stay on her - and if Nym let's it play on her - she will gain a +2 bonus to strength checks and strength related skills. I think that's just Athletics?]

He looked to his two working eyes. He waved the one on the end he'd carefully been putting behind his back around the doe. "Mah-keh frien-dez," he said, then hurriedly said, "buh no mah-keh frien-dez, mah-keh bah-deh noh frien-dez frien-dez." He said. "Frien-dehz. Feh-reh-neh-deh. Seh. Friend-seh. Friends! Friends!" He seemed happy that he finally managed to get his mouth and tongue around the complicated word, but Nym used it so much it seemed he had finally got it.

Still, clearly magic was more fun than words for the moment. He waved the previously ant balancing eye around. "Ah this foh fly-ying!" he said, giggling. He gave a try at lifting Nym, but to no avail. He then pointed the eye at himself and launched up in to the air as if the eye had done it, giggling when he fell back down again.

He then looked at his other two eye stalks, and they looked to each other warily. One at a time he put them to his mouth, and stretched the tip of his tongue to try and taste them. He shrugged in a way only a beholder could. "Whah el-seh? Moh mah *hic*, moh mah *hic*!"


Lol, Many wants to learn, and he hasn't spontaneously manifested anything else yet :D
This message was last edited by the player at 10:27, Fri 29 Jan 2016.