The party follows the trail of the dragonslayer due west for about an hour across mostly open grassland, which the magic of a master illusionist as the only safety from the many eyes of distant dragons.   It feels a bit like being a hare out in the open with hawks and owls sitting and watching from a distance, but nothing moves to attack.

About the time you reach a small stream that divided the grassland from a forested bit of the island, all the genie armor and weapons just vanishes into think air.

Inas halts the group a distances from the stream, for lying about it are several dead humanoids.  From the look at this distance, soldiers of some kind, and from the smell, dead now for more than a week.

'The dragonslayer's crew or her victims?' Saliq asks, his voice resonating from the empty air. 'I suppose we'll have to take a closer look.'

"All right, then. Let's get it over with." Rath edged forward toward the fallen.

Having come across the smell of death before, Marissa lifts a small scarf around her nose and follows the others to take a look.

"Ware undead," she mutters, keeping an eye peeled.

Thx R.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:14, Wed 15 May 2019.

peeled.

As they approach, Inas looks for signs of anything that may have left this scene.

An examination of the dead shows them to be human and elvish and grisly dead.  They and all their arms and armor are corroded and burned as if by strong acids.  Only one shield and one axe seems unaffected by the damage, both show signs of magic about them.   You also find various coins spilled about on the ground (where the pouches have dissolved), the gold coins seem to have survived and there is close to 500 of them total on the ground.   Otherwise, there is not much to discover.  Inas finds no prints of an enemy who might have done this to them.

Inas groans, but doesn't say the obvious explanation for what has happened.

"Take 'em both," he offers to Rath, referring to the axe and shield.

(OOC: Unless it's a two handed axe)

"Um, lest you forget, I am a warrior first, and can make use of either item."

She grabs a handful of gold for good measure and to make a point.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Thu 16 May 2019.

The party collects the few useful items and heads across the small stream and makes for the woods.  Having lost all sense of time while in Dream, they realize it starting to getting darker as the reach the edge of the forest.  The cover the woods might provide is offset by the hairs on necks standing up when looking into those dark woods.  Long honed instincts that are seldom wrong are warning that something evil lurks within those woodlands.

Rath handed the axe to Marissa. He strapped the shield onto his own arm, passed his stone dagger to Inas, and kept the cudgel ready at his side.

"Something evil lurks every-godsdamn-where," Rath muttered. "Woods, Eoinsson. That means it's time for you to take point."

"Thank you, Rath," Marissa said, offering the cleric a genuine smile.

Chastised and embarrassed, Inas mumbles,"Sorry."

Inas does take the point as Rath suggests, keeping his senses peeled.  Just before entering, he takes a look to see if he can discern what the party might encounter once they enter the woods.

ooc: no worries. Just roleplaying.

;)

Moving deeper into the woods, it grows very dark, but Inas is skilled and has little trouble following the trail left by the Dragonslayer and her hired men.   After about half an hour, it becomes so dark you are about to figure out a light source when lights appear between the trees in the distance.  Ghostly white forms swaying and moving towards you, at least half a dozen of them.  A wave a cold air proceeds them.

"Apparently, Winter is coming," Marissa said. She readies her ax just in case, but really, she's preparing to greet the walking dead with her faith as her shield.

Looking to Rath, she offers a grin and says, "Fun, no?"

Inas groans.  He does that a lot.

Saliq narrows his eyes, lost in thought as he stares at the approaching lights and waits. Victims of dragon attack or something else?

As the ghostly figures come closer, they take on vaguely human forms.  One, who seems to be dressed for a high ball, complete with a very old fashioned tall tophat, moves forward.

"You are in great danger here, the dark and ancient spirit of these woods will find and kill you if you remain in the open.  You must either flee the woods, or go where we spirits may not follow you". 


As if to emphasize his words, there is a most unnatural howling noise in the distance.

"And where can't you follow?"

The ghost raises an arm pointed Northwest (you have been going pretty much due west).


"There are ancient ruins, none of us spirits may enter there, it is consecrated ground, it was here even before the dragons and their witch came".

"So now a witch to go along with the dragons," Marissa murmured. "Sure wish I had my spear."

"Thanks," Rath said to the ghost. "How far?"

He glanced at Saliq with a raised eyebrow, as if to say, do we trust these spirits?

"No more than a dozen cables length..." the ghost answers.

Marissa recognizes this as an old nautical measurement, it means roughly less than a mile.

"Less than a mile," Marissa said. "We better be about our business. The high seas are full of ghost stories. Most of them end badly. I imagine land-lubbers have similar tales that also end badly."