Lathan moves to help Three Elks and Terminax with their opponent, making two quick jabs at the bugbear with his shortswords.

Attack Bugbear 3. Attack 1 hits AC 17 for 5 piercing damage. Attack 2 hits AC 15 for 3 piercing damage.

10:35, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 1 using 1d8.  Colossus Slayer.
10:35, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 3 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
10:35, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 4 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
10:35, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 15 using 1d20+4.  Attack.
10:35, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Attack.

The battle was clearly turning into a route, and yet still Rissa's spell-craft could not find its mark.  She had least hit the creature, but the inky darkness exploded off the thing's armor with no perceived effect.


12:39, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 13 using 1d20+5.  Attack.

"Strictly speakin'--!" Gazira piped over the din of battle as she brought her warhammer around in a full loop.  From its previous swing upward to batter the chin of a Bugbear, she followed its momentum and swept it up a second time to thrust its broad side flat into the brute's belly hard enough to shudder his guts.  "--they ain't beasts!  They're folk, same as any.  Ain't that right, hon'?" Despite proclaiming the Bugbears as intelligent beings, Gazira didn't seem at all bothered with battling them all the same as she shoved her stricken enemy back with a push against her hammer.

Attack: Attack - Warhammer
Gazira Oakbarrel rolled 20 using 1d20+5

Damage: 5
Gazira Oakbarrel rolled 5 using 1d10+3
This message was last edited by the player at 21:49, Mon 18 Mar 2019.

Gazira strikes down her opponent with another deft swing of her hammer. Terminax and Three Elks continue to fight against the remaining bugbear; Terminax misses but Three Elks connects with his axe, leaving a deep gash in the bugbear's side. Lathan stabs the goblinoid with one of his swords, then Lucien finishes him off with a well-aimed arrow. The bugbear collapses to the ground alongside its three companions.

End combat.

"Is no one..."

Rissa was panting, looking about at her companions with a bewildered expression.

"... is no one even hurt?"

It was a quick bout... rather, too quick for her tastes.  What good was a scrap that didn't last more than a few moments?  The sturdy Half-Orc shouldered her hammer and patiently regarded the rest of the group to see how they fared, though by and large it appeared they were all quite fine.  She still wasn't certain why Hanseath guided her to the lot of them, but it was good to know they were capable of handling themselves.

"... is no one even hurt?" Rissa asked breathlessly.  To that, Gazira looked around briefly, then pointed to the broken and bloodied Bugbears strewn about the forest floor with a wordless shrug.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

Lucien reapproaches the group and begins to gather up his arrows. As he cleans the blood off of them, he nears Rissa and speaks in a low voice so that the others cannot necessarily hear. "Rissa, you are clearly far more practiced at magic than I am so you'll forgive the novice's advice, but that spell you use so often in combat does not seem to be very accurate or effective. Have you considered trying to use your magic in another way?" Lucien is nonchalant as he makes his comment, though he does make eye contact so that the tiefling will know he is sincere.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:06, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

"I..."

She trailed off, staring at the orb from which she summoned both shadow and the light.  It had gone quiet now, both the glow and the void fading.

"I've never done this before."

She said at last, staring at the floor.

"I was a Guild Artisan, an herbalist!"

Her voice cracked, turning the words into a croak.  They stared hard at the ground for a long time, and then finally looked up to catch Lucien's gaze.

"The last few days, the dragon!  I'd never even used a knife in anger and suddenly I'm face to face with a dragon?  I'd certainly never used that power as a weapon.  I didn't ask for this Art, and I know I have no skill at wielding it.  It just comes, if I will it or no.  It's not even about me, I'm just a casualty of a much larger conflict, the battle of which you can see every time I draw on it.  It's a joke, really, that I have it at all.  An unintended side effect of something so much more vast than me.  I'd never even heard the name Pale Night until more than a year after the sundering.  I have to master it though, I have to."

She beat at her chest with a fist.

"It burns at me, I can feel it burning me alive, and the only way to stop it from devouring me whole is to master it.  So I have to keep trying, I have to wield it, and I have to do better"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:20, Tue 19 Mar 2019.

"I'm fine," Lathan says, surveying the fallen bugbears. He cleans his blades while Rissa and Lucien talk, then checks the bodies to see if there is anything unusual or useful on them.

"I guess we must have intruded into their territory," he muses. "From what we've heard, not many people do that, so they probably assumed we'd be driven off or killed easily.

"We'll have to remain vigilant as we continue forward. I bet there will be more of them."

If Lucien is surprised by Rissa's outburst in response to his question, then he does a good job hiding it. His face remains largely impassive, showing only a hint of a twitch when she mentions the Pale Night. He fights down his natural curiosity, recognizing that it isn't called for right now. Instead puts an awkward hand on her shoulder. "You know I came here with a Tiefling companion who I think would have better advice to give than I do, but I will say this: I've learned there generally isn't a real reward in fighting other people's battles. So master whatever it is, but do it your way for your reasons." He takes his hand away, but keeps eye contact.

"This magic shit is hard. Takes practice. Don't worry, you can get used to anything, even killing." Terminax says as he sheathes his unbloodied blade and begins to help Lathan search the bodies for anything of value.

Rissa rose, dusting herself off.

"The killing isn't the hard part, I understand how kill or be killed works.  It's just a matter of skill.  I don't have it, at least not yet.  I can only barely control the power within this."

She gestured to the orb that sat on a chain about her neck.

"And as far as I can tell, this is a just a small part of what's going on inside of me."

She looked about, confirming that no one was injured.

"Shall we move on then?  Perhaps I need to adopt your theory, Terminax, and treat it as all being the same.  Clearly the light that I can summon isn't though, it exists only to heal. Maybe I should just focus on that, not that you all seem to need it."

"Yes, let's get moving," Lathan says, taking a position in the front of the group. "Let me know if your owl sees anything, Lucien. Otherwise, we'll just continue towards the heart of the woods."

Unsure whether his advice was any good, Lucien took a few steps away to give Rissa some distance. "There are a lot of uses for magic out there beyond throwing it directly at enemies. We had better get a move on though. The light is wasting. You take the lead Lathan." He summoned his owl back to him and then sent the creature back up into the air to see what he could see. His eyes glazed over momentarily as he looked through his familiar's eyes.

Three Elks cleaned his blade, and checked his shield.  He continued to watch and listen to his new companions.  It was a good sign that the enemies were dispatched so quickly and no one was harmed.  The group was skilled, though the two-voiced Tiefling doubted her own.  Magic was indeed a fickle thing.  His own spell worked quite well, having filled the bugbears with enough doubt and fear to slow their hands and weaken their blades.  He would have to boast of his clever and might in his next story, but in such a way so as not to steal glory from his new companions.  He grinned to himself as he practiced stanzas in his head.

When the group seemed content to move one Three Elks approached Rissa, "You speak with two voices.  Do you have two tongues?"

Rissa regarded the Half Elf with soft eyes as he drew near.  Either she had fully accepted him as a member of the party after only a single fight, or she was remarkably good at shaping her expressions to convey what she wanted, because her expression was open and trusting.

"You'd have heard a third, had any here required healing."

She said cryptically, staring at the crystal orb that rested on a chain about her neck.

"My magic comes from... it's hard to explain, but there are two sources of power that I draw on.  One burns and purges, the other twists and withers.  The two?"

She held the orb up, though no light or shadow danced in it now.

"They are in constant conflict with each other, a representation of the conflict that occurs within me.  I don't really understand how it works.  I'm not sure if drawing on them makes them stronger, or thinner.  That's... that's kind of why I'm here.  To figure out what is happening within me, to master the magic before something happens that is outside of my control."
This message was last updated by the player at 19:52, Sat 30 Mar 2019.

After the party has traveled through the Thornwood for almost two hours, Lucien's owl familiar spots a clearing to the west of their current location, an old keep standing in the middle of the clearing.

"Do we want to try and approach stealthily, just a few of us, or shall we all stick together?"

They seemed comfortable with others taking the lead.

"Let's stay together for now," Lathan suggests. "Once we get closer and can have a better look we can figure out how to proceed."

Terminax grunts. "Isn't that what the flying creatures are for?" and, with a thought, a squeak can be heard as a diminutive form circles the keep as his eyes go completely black.

OOC: Terminax has his bat circle around, using it's blindsight to see what it can see. He has it steer at awkward angles to open windows, and he has it start high and spiraling out and down as it searches.

Rissa gestured for the others to lead the way, and followed suite.

Letting Terminax's bat with its unique senses provide more detailed information about the keep, Lucien instead moves from his flanking position to join Lathan at the front of the group. "We should advance together until we can see the edge of the clearing and then decide what to do. I think it is likely that the keep will be occupied by something and recent trends would imply that whatever it is won't be welcoming."

Three Elks stays hidden behind the tree line.  He nodded in agreement that the magical familiars should be used to scout ahead.  "My tribe often stalks our prey for days, even weeks at a time, before moving in for the kill.  Often people confuse caution with cowardous when it is in fact wisdom."

The keep is basically square, each side about 150 feet long, with walls 15 feet high. It stands in a clearing, which extends about 100 feet all around it. To the northeast, to the side of the 30-foot-tall watchtower, lay the shattered remains of the stone spire that once topped it. A human armed with a crossbow stands atop the watchtower. The keeps gates are located on the western side and are 10 feet tall and barred from the inside.

Terminax's bat can see that the keep has a flat stone roof, except for over the courtyard in the center. It does not see anyone in this open area.

The vegetation in the area is yellowed and unhealthy-looking.

The party is approaching the clearing from the east but can easily circle around through the densely wooded area around it without being seen by anyone in the keep.

"Guy with a crossbow... could be a guard or could be a bandit. So, we can try to talk to him all friendly like, or sneak past him for a closer look."