As Ilsa began gathering wood, Shirok quickly moved to put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head slightly. "No fire, not unless there is no other choice. I do not want to make these woods think we are a threat." He knew it sounded ridiculous, but he could feel the strength of the spirits in this place; better to be cautious.

Ilsa dropped the firewood on the ground. "Fine. But I'm sharpening my axe," she said, her annoyance showing on her face. But first, she wanted to get out of her armor. "Help me out of these straps," she told the druid.

Garret watched silently as the others went about their own routines.  He enjoyed Chubb’s song; but felt that given the display of the halfling’s musical mastery, a small campfire wouldn’t advertise their presence any more.  Listening to Shirok’s reasoning however, he found himself chuckle lightly to himself.  Apparently his hosts weren’t interested in hiding from anything, only making nice with the local, woody residents.  Fair enough the old cleric thought to himself.
He accepted his watch graciously and, when the time came, carried it out diligently.  Just before he took his turn, he could be seen holding a length of knotted twine and muttering quietly to himself.

Assuming everyone agrees to their watch...

After everyone has calmed down and finished their nightly ceremonies, Roth and Stan find themselves keeping watch.  It isn’t long before something strange occurs.  Roth hears it first, a low buzz.  It grows louder until Stan no longer has to strain to hear it.
As it comes closer, the buzz gives way to something akin to frenzied trilling.  The underbrush begins to sway as the noise grows even louder, an indication that something is headed directly for your camp!

Stan was settling into the comfortable spot between two tree roots, trying to think of how it went...

Oh yes!

"Hey, Roth, did you hear the one about the woodsman, three angels, and a dwarf?"

Just then Stan began to hear the noise.

Nevermind.

Stan got up as quickly as he could, but did not shout or raise an alarm. He made his way to the sleeping forms of the others and tried to wake them, beginning with Ilsa and Shirok, then Porto and the others.

If he obviously can't make it in time, he will instead raise his voice and call out.

Porto quickly wakes, the hard ground made it hard for him to sleep to heavily anyway, he quickly hurries to draw his sword quietly as he thinks of a nice little tune that he may pull out should the situation escalate. He also removes the rope given to him in his nearby backpack.

Ilsa rolled over and mumbled "Shut up, hu-man...". But then she quickly turned back over and sat up, sword in hand. "Damn it! They should have waited for my watch!" She glanced at her armor, but there was no time to put it on, not even her old chain shirt. She kipped up and whistled loudly for Neya and Shirok to be ready.

Shirok muttered something unintelligible, but didn't wake until Ilsa whistled. Both his and Neya's eyes snapped open immediately, the pair of them up on their feet almost instantly; Neya with fangs bared, Shirok with the Demon's spear in hand. His eyes narrowed at the increasingly loud trill, his eyes scanning the darkness.

As Stan wakes the others, Roth already has the knight's sword in hand and seems to be using it to shed some light in the direction of the noise.  Seeing Shirok awake, the elf calls to him, "Trees don't buzz ... I thought we were alone?  Can't we ever catch a break?"

Garret rises with the rest of the group as the alarm is sounded by Roth and Stan.  The undergrowth continues to tremble as whatever strange monster makes its approach.
Suddenly the brush seems to part, revealing to you all the source of the trilling, in all of its bizzare glory: a pack of tiny ebony skinned creatures.  The little devils appear foriegn to each of you, and are quite alien in design.  They stand on two feet, but have no toes or claws to speak of.  Aside from their heavily muscled legs and bloated bellies, the only other characteristic they possess is a wide mouth.  Their mouths are lined with rows of sharp, jagged teeth!

Initiative
There are six (6) of them

Despite being unarmored and thus more vulnerable, Ilsa relied on her natural toughness. Yelling a trilling battle cry, she charged forward and used her momentum to add force to the swing of her great sword.

15:45, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 16 using 1d20+2. Initiative.
Charge, Power Attack -4/+8
15:53, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 17 using 1d20+8. Charge +2, Power Attack -4.
15:54, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 23 using 2d6+15. Damage.

The others were awake. Now Stan had time to fear for his own safety. The wizard hastily began the weaving motions of a spell. In all the excitement of finding the magical forest, he had forgotten to cast even the most basic of protections for his time at watch!

As he felt the protective magics solidify around him, Stan moved to take advantage of an even greater protective force - his half-orc companions.

19:20, Today: Stan Fetchin rolled 25 using 1d20+5. init.
Standard: Cast mage armor
Move: Try to get the fighters in between me and the monsters.

Chubbs is a bit stunned by the grotesque creatures but soon recomposes himself and sings a lovely tune. A tune of hero's a tune to inspire the sole and encourage bravery, as Porto cowered next to Stan....

Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods ?
Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds ?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed ?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I need a hero, I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life, larger than life

Move Action: Next to Stan
Standard Action:Sing

Neya charged forward after Ilsa, a deadly snarl her own battle cry. Her jaws lashed out against one of the tiny things, ignoring their own massive sets of teeth.

OOC: Neya acts on Init 13.

Neya moves up next to Ilsa and attacks a thing. Atk 14, dmg 13, trip 16.

00:14, Today: Neya rolled 14,13,16 using 1d20+10,1d8+9,1d20+10. Atk/Dmg/Trip.

Shirok remained behind for a few moments as Neya charged forward, chanting quietly. In a final motion he leveled the spear at the onrushing things, a grey wolf seeming to erupt from its tips in a flurry of leaves and wind. The wolf dashed forward to stand alongside his larger sister, his own jaws snapping out to catch the creatures of the forest.

OOC: Shirok has Init 1.
Shirok casts Summon Nature's Ally I (Wolf)

Summoned Wolf moves up next to Ilsa and Neya, attacks a thing. Atk 16, dmg 9, trip 8.

00:07, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 1,13 using 1d20,1d20+2. Init Shirok/Neya.
00:12, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 16,9,8 using 1d20+5,1d6+3,1d20+3. Summon atk/dmg/trip.

Stan falls into a familiar chant and calls forth the arcane power to protect himself from simple physical attacks.  His slim form is sheathed in a soft bluish light which seems to absorb into his skin and clothing.

The first two creatures to clear the brush make their way toward Neya!  They bite at her legs—but both fail to connect.

Ilsa charges to meet the next unfortunate monster that came from the brush.  She meets the creature head-on and easily cuts it down!  The sheer might of her swing also catches another of the strange creatures, and likewise slices it into two separate halves.

Roth springs forward to catch a nearby monster unawares.  The nimble elf delivers his own chop at the unwary little creature—killing it.

Finding herself flanked by the odd little things, she decides not to follow Ilsa’s charge.  Instead she snaps at one of her antagonists.  Her bite easily catches her target and she quickly spits its lifeless body out.

Chubbs begins another song in hopes of bolstering your spirits.  Although the song does just that, it appears it wasn’t really needed…

Another of the creatures rushes toward Natchbrise—but its tiny teeth, as razor sharp as they appear, fail to pierce his armor.

Shirok summons another wolf companion.  The summoned wolf wastes no time in destroying the creature just behind Neya.

Garett Natchbrise, facing off with the last remaining monster, delivers a skillful chop with his bastard sword from above his head.  The blow more than kills the little beast.

+50 XP!

Ilsa swung around and searched frantically for another creature. She quickly realized the fight had ended before it had started. "Is that all you got?!" she shouted into the surrounding woods. Disgusted, the barbarian spit on the ground and stomped over to her bedroll, whipped out a cloth, and wiped down her mighty blade.

Stan picked up one of the little creatures by its leg and dangled it in front of his face.

"What in the world are you?"

He examined the creature for any clues as to its origin or nature.

I woke up for that! Chubbs complains as he puts his sword away. He goes over to his bedroll and climbs back in. He hopes that he wouldn't have to get up for his watch to soon.

Stan examines the little creature’s body for a time, and even offers the carcus to the others for similar inspection.  But you all must concede that no one among you has ever seen anything like this.  The closest any can come to it is Garett; but he explains that the creature he is thinking of is many times larger than this, and has three heads—or so the tales go.
Despite many strange noises, the remainder of the night goes along uneventfully.  The next morning Shirok retrieves his map from its case to find it has changed again (see the Game Map link above).  This time, the boarders of the map are shaded black.
After a short walk, you find yourselves in a clearing.  You follow the edge of the wood and come to the base of a large tree with a house build in the uppermost boughs.  Wooden planks are nailed haphazardly into the trunk leading up to the house.  A nearby signpost reads: "Wol"

Shirok frowned as he examined the map. In its previous states it had hand-written notes and some features that looked penciled in, but it had always had the look of a well-made map with plenty of attention and care put into every detail. This was more like a child's drawing, complete with misspellings, meaningless landmarks, and not even the hint of a scale.

At least it appeared to identify this place, the "100 Aker Wood." But normal definitions of place appeared to have been repealed; assuming that this map was an accurate representation of this place, then north, south, east and west had been replaced by B, R, A and E. Perhaps the "Bear's" landmark would be useful, considering.


When the group emerged into the clearing, he checked the map once again. There was no "Wol," but there was an "Owl's" upon the map. He pointed this out, still looking worried. "If this map represents the world as it is now, then it has far too many mistakes and imprecision to be a natural world. We do not know what else may be different in this place."

Ilsa shrugged. "It attacks. I kill it. I need not make sense." So far, she had been unimpressed by the dangers that had been laid out before them. "Or they make peace and I don't," she added as an afterthought.

So were trapped in a world of a half-brained lunatic? The portly halfing asks. He didn't much like the idea of his own theory. he doubted it was accurate but he had no other answers. Perhaps if the climbed the tree answers could be found. Porto starts to climb, against his better judgment.

09:29, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Porto 'Chubbs' Brandybuck, rolled 8 using 1d20+1. Spot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:30, Mon 03 May 2010.

Stan was just as puzzled by the map as everyone else, though he found the child-like drawings rather amusing.

"As long as we stay away from the bees, I'm happy to go exploring."

Stan waited for Porto's report on what he could see from his vantage point.

"I ... have nothing." Roth comments, completely stumped by these woods.  He tilts his head as Shirok shows the map and asks, "Is 'B' supposed to be North?  What can you make of that body of water?  Is it as new as the forest, or could it have been there before?"  Sliding off of his horse, Roth approaches the planked tree and says to the others, "I'll go see if ... Wol is home.  Or at least get a better view from up top."

09:29, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Roth Daos, rolled 25 using 1d20+7. Spot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:30, Mon 03 May 2010.