Eleven Dukes: Lost Lantern

[Leush]

Eleven Dukes: The Lost Lantern

Characters:-

Cath: The frantic Fighter Fights for a Fee....
Sadie Formant: Who found a place to bide her time...
Chandor Evanseki: Who is in enough trouble to be free...
Valline Corys: Searched for Templars and Found Muoris.



A fresh gust of even fresher wind brought with it more swirling snowflakes which quickly settled, taking another small bite out of the fading trail of footsteps that wound through the trees. The trail appeared from somewhere beyond the misty shroud and disappeared deep within it, leading away, far away from the great tree and the village huddled beneath it. Of course, by now the beginning of the trail had ceased to exist and only the gods above and perhaps the forest all around and maybe the beasts of Timespan knew where the trail would lead the five weary but well equipped travellers that had broken it. They had departed Muoris not two days ago, heading South, the words of the strange elven maid still ringing in their ears, and the unnaturally pale face still before their eyes. Did she even belong to the race of elves or was she another of the strange conjurations of the forest?

"Bring me the diadem- you'll know immediately that it is the one I seek- and your reward shall be twice its worth." She had said- and they had gathered themselves and their possessions and headed south, into the misty, though otherwise clear evening. At first the weather had favoured the hasty travellers- the misty eve turning into a clear and starry night- the snow cast aglow with the brilliance of the million watchers in the abyss above and the shadows of giant evergreens lay about the camp. All the whilst something glinted eerily red at the edge of perception of those set on watch, something that would make the already gratingly cold air catch in the throat. Then tendrils of cloud wrapped about the heavenly eyes and shut out their light, turning the night to pitch if not for that dreadful glint somewhere in the wooded depths. It wasn't long until the mist, the same thin mist of the evening, rolled in and the night reigned true.

At dawn the sky way gone and only at hands' reach from the snow-laden branches and the age-cracked bark of the great trunks could they see the trees, shielded by the innumerable feathery snowflakes that had began to fall and by mid-morning, buffeted by the gale and blinded by the frenzied snow, the party had lost itself -and the forest- in the midst of the white-out. Progress had become all but impossible and they stumbled, striving vainly to bare south when all directions became meaningless when it was impossible to tell north from south man from tree. And if one of them happened to stumble and fall, then the notions of up and down also disappeared. Sometimes a light would drift through the storm, only to drift away the next moment out of their world.

Then the storm was over and the travellers looked about them- the snowflakes fell gently once again, the strangely tall pines surrounding the travellers. They stood solemnly, their branches swaying slightly, as if form all directions the wind blew towards the party. Somewhere behind them, in the dream-like mist, the snowflakes ate away at their fading footprints, possibly your one connection back to whence you came...

Ahead of you the mist, and the forest thins and the daylight is surprisingly brighter, drawing quite clearly every bump in the snow and sharply etching the needles of the great pines around you. You stand at the edge of a snow covered clearing that must go on for a few hundred yard in every direction. At the centre of the clearing stands what looks like a smooth marble column, roughly twenty feet in height. Three more white columns, roughly half the height, stand around it, roughly at 100 feet between themselves and the larger central stone.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

”I'm starting to realise just how much I hate the snow.”

That blizzard they had just marched through was not on the list of things Sadie would like to go through again in the future, especially if it happened to be with three complete strangers who she'd met not days ago. Sure, they seemed nice enough, but how could she know she wouldn't be pick pocketed the moment she lost sight of them?

There was a tall one, with a very large burn across his face. It was somewhat reminiscent of One-Eyed Lenny, but she knew where he'd gotten all of his burns; who knows what happened to this 'Chandor' fellow? Though he didn't seem to be unsocial, she had been slightly keeping off away from him during their journey.

Then there was the little halfling who called himself Cath 'Crazy' Callaghan; he seemed joyous enough, and she'd had plenty of halfling friends back in Dimal, but none of then had the stench that followed this one around.

Finally, there was another girl: Valline, who definitely gave off a holy vibe with that symbol dangling off her neck; Sadie wasn't strictly atheist, being a follower of Olidammara, so she had no problem with the apparent clerical nature. That, and she had to admit that she was quite pretty to boot.

The clearing ahead looked fairly relevant to the goal that strange elven woman had given her. At the time, she just thought it'd be a good way to bide her time whilst she waited for her bounty to recede, but how she'd ended up with these three was something she wasn't quite sure herself. Of course, they'd probably prove helpful in the long run, so she shouldn't complain.

“This looks like the spot; I think I'll go look around.” she said at the others, mumbling slightly. Without really stopping to listen to what they had to say, she moved up to the middle of the clearing, unconsciously drawing up the hood around her head as she had done so many times when surveying crime spots.

[Aecus]

"Now this is why I am can be grateful for my circumstances! Who knew that being the cause of one of the worst accidents in academic history would lead to such a find? This might not even be what we were looking for! The way we have wandered through the forest we may even be the first people to see these ruins for hundreds of years! What an opportunity!" Chandor exclaimed in joy as the group of adventurers stumbled upon the stone columns. In fact he does a small skip reminiscent of a youth as he steps forward into the clearing. He seems not to be bothered at all by the falling snow or cold weather

Chandor is a man of average height and a thin build. He has brown eyes and hair. He wears simple clothing of mostly earth browns and light red, that includes a slightly shimmering maroon cloak that is billowing slightly in the wind. Across his back is a worn but sturdy looking backpack, and on his vest a series of different vials and tools are held. A quarter of his face is scarred from what looks to have been a horrendous burn.

Under the hood of his cloak a small furred face just barely sticks out. It appears to be a small brown rat, with smooth and healthy fur. Its whiskers are caked in frost, but it does not seem to be affected. The small creature wiggles its nose in dismay as its master almost joggles it from its riding spot with his skipping. It squeaks in dismay as it balances itself, and then raises itself onto its hind legs and bites down on Chandor's ear.

"Ouch! I get it, I get it Volstin, you could have told me another way." Chandor grumbles as he continues walking into the clearing, but this time without a skip or a jump.

Hearing his companions remark, Chandor says back to her. "Take your time! I'm going to look over these columns, see if I can discern from where they are." Turning to the rest of his companions he remarks. "Isn't this all just amazing? I can't wait to see what we find next."

He then proceeds to walk into the clearing with a fast pace, seemingly very intent on the stone columns.


I forgot to name my familiar and include him in the statistics block, I shall put him up right now.


Chandor has cast and shared on his familiar Endure Elements. He also has two scrolls of it but probably forgot to mention that fact, as he wouldn't think of it unless it got dangerously bad weather wise.


Chandor is going to make several knowledge checks as he looks over the columns to see what he can find out.

Knowledge: Architecture
[roll0]

Knowledge: History
[roll1]

Knowledge: Local
[roll2]

Knowledge: Religion (If Relevant)
[roll3]

Knowledge: Arcana (If there are letters/symbols on the columns)
[roll4]

Decipher Script (If there are letters/symbols on the columns)
[roll5]

[Leush]

Lantern:

Sadie: As you step into the clearing and away from the strangers with whom you travel, you notice the snow is somewhat deeper than amongst the trees- which makes perfect sense, but is still somewhat irritating. It crunches under your feet and you feel as if the trees can hear every step you make. The snow is mostly unbroken here- it is clear that small animals have been here, but there is no trace of humanoid activity. Yet you can feel that there is something not quite right here- it is as when you enter a bar and there are three disguised guads somewhere in the room- you know it, but you don't know who they are or when they'll strike. As you move into the centre of the clearing, passing between the stones, the feeling deepens, as does the snow.

Edging around the central stone at an inexplicably greater distance than you wished, you almost trip over a tent- A primitive constructionof plain canvas, half covered in snow and held up by a single pole. You freeze. Then a moment later you quietly let your breath out. You can hear no signs of life, and if there were, they'd probably hear you.

Chandor: You walk around the outside of the columns, not venturing towards the central column. You wander near and far, stopping now and then to bring to bare the weight of knowledge, hoping that dropping from a height would be enough to crack this mystery....

The outside three columns appear to be carved from two blocks of marble each, in the shape of triangular prisms. The central column however, is round and appears carved from a single block. The architeture is like nothing you've seen before and you are unsure of the era in which they were constructed and of the people who made them. Upon closer inspection, you notice that the outer columns seem weathered, with countless barely visible cracks running down them.

Nor have you in your brief time in Muoris heard of anything like this- although one of the locals, a rather distinctive man- cloaked in green and wearing a well trimmed black beard and rather dark eyebrows, who you had learned was a mage of some description did after rather lengthy convesation mention that there were ruins scattered all over the forest, probes into the mists of time that just needed a daring taveller to find them... Other than that you knew that the tree seldom made concessions to civilisation. If these stones were left alone by the trees, it must be for a good reason.

You do know that the triange, both in the physical and metaphysical realm is a shape of great power, but has long been superceded by the pentagon and the circle- it is likely that whatever this was, it was involved in some old world rituals... Then it comes to you. The triangle, whilst a weaker shape than the pentagon, was wildly useful when uniting unrelated forces and schools of magic- it is very likely that these columns, aligned as they were, acted to focus a spell onto the fourth column in some way. A focus of some sort... Or an alter. It may even be a way of focusing energies from three different deities onto a single item or individual,

There are symbols on the columns, a short message, followed by a complex string of draconic glyphs- clearly spells of great complexity, on the traingular ones at least... And as you look at them, reading into the short message above each of the columns,

On the first column, in Sylvan: To the end of time, I hide you, master, from the sight of men and ghosts alike. Thus I am pledged, and thus I stand.

On the Second Column in Draconic: To the end of time, I ward you, master, from the touch of good and evil hands. Thus I am pledged and thus I stand.

On the Third column stands writing of an unknown tongue. The symbols are somehow ugly, menacing. You cannot glean their meaning, even though it hangs just beyond your grasp, but you are sure that their meaning is most unpleasant.

-----------------------------------
NB: Anything IC in a spoiler is in it to highlight the metagaming potential of their content. I do think, however, that anyone can read it if they want, it is just in case some people prefer to stay in the dark.

[Gecks]

Cath

Hmmm… improbable architecture of mysterious origin- seems like a standard deathtrap waiting for some curious fool to stride into and get crushed/burned/eviscerated by things best left alone. Fortunately we are a band of four curious fools, so perhaps we will find foolish strength in our foolish numbers. Still... I am beginning to get a notion of why that elfish lass decided to throw coin at us instead of searching for the diadem herself. This whole mission has a feel of a test to it, though whether a test of us, or of the lethality of the diadem’s defenses, I haven’t the faintest. At least my companions seem wiser than I am, so I can safely trust them to suss out any traps or puzzles of ancient yore, though I best stay close incase any thrilling heroics are called for.

“Ho, this here looks like a situation best left for the clever folk, I’ll keep watch while the rest of ye search and plot our way forward. Give a shout if ya need me, or if ye decide any excavations are in order, I have me an axe made of adam-mint-tine- or is it adam-man-twine? Adam-max-tor? Anywho, I got a magic axe that can hew away rock’n such easy as pie, just ask if ya be needing it."

Cath idly wanders about the clearing, blowing warm air on his fingers and rubbing his hands as he does so- making sure not to stray more than a quick dash from his companions- while keeping an eye towards the woods, just incase.

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline wandered a short distance behind the others, eventually finding her way into the clearing and staring at the columns before them. Once she was satisfied with the detail she had gleaned, her eyes slowly found their way around the rest of the clearing. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but rather taking in the scenery. After all, she had never been one for travel, but now here she stood, as far from home as she had ever been before. And as the cherry on top, lost in the woods.

Lost isn't the best word to use, she thought to herself. I just don't know exactly where I am. I'm sure I'll be able to find some kind of guidance sooner or later, Divine or not.

"Adamantine," she corrected as she paced past one of the other travelers. "My father used to tell me stories about all kinds of great heroes using enchanted weapons in their travels, especially adamantine. You have quite a special weapon there." Although she was obviously speaking to the other, she was still looking away, staring off into the distance.

[Aecus]

"Sadie! Hey Sadie! Get away from the central column! It has powerful primal protective magic on it! I have no idea what it could do but it it won't be fun. Come back beyond the first three columns!" Chandor jumps up and yells seeming very excited. "Just give me a few more minutes everyone, I need to figure something out!"



If Sadie comes back, and nothing horribly bad happens. Chandor will first take 10 in searching all around the outer edges of the clearing to see if he finds any more markings or signs of what the columns might do. This will give him a search check of 15, and 17 if it is a secret door or compartment.

If nothing springs up Chandor will then cast detect magic and do the same, circling around the clearing. He will attempt to identify and verify the exact locations of all the auras in the clearing with detect magic, so they can figure something more out about what is going on here.

Spellcraft rolls are in the rolls thread.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Picking herself up and dusting the snow off her front, Sadie rolled around onto her back. Who left a sheet lying out in the snow here? Moving over, Sadie picked gingerly at the edge, discovering upon closer examination it to be the remains of a tent.

"A tent? Does that mean there's someone here...?"

Suddenly, she heard Chandor calling out to her. Something about magic? Maybe he'd found out something about the place. Clearing the snow out of her ears, Sadie called back to him.

"Magic, did you say? Hang on, I found something out here! I'll just give it the once over and then you can tell me about it!"

Looking back down, Sadie began rooting around the tent remains and surrounding area for anything of note, unaware of the potential danger that might be approaching her.

Assuming no-one comes in to intervene, or Sadie doesn't get blasted by a huge bolt of doom, Sadie'll do a search through the tent stuff and surrounding snow. Check's in the dice thread.

[Leush]

Cath: You take a long walk around the outside of the clearing, and see only the forest around you, a dark, quiet presense that breathed upon you with its cold, piney breath and stretched ts arms earily towards you- although you were pretty used to that by now. Ahead of you, unbroken snow, behind, a trail of prints, each six inches deep. On your journey you find snow, more snow and yet more, white, powdery snow. You also come across a fair few twigs and needles, at almost random orientations, probably dropped by the storm, but nothing more. Having returned to your original spot start out in the opposite direction.....

Valline: You take a deep breath- how good to breathe the clean air, how much better that it is not full of snowflakes! The clearing stands before you- still and silent but for your companions. The situation is completely alien to you- even the columns appear to have no significance in the traditions of the church of Moradin. You do notice that the place is not just quiet, but quieter than a tomb- in a tomb you might be lucky to encounter vermin- whilst here the forest held its breath.....

Chandor: You stand, unsure as to whether Sadie has heard you or not and you torn between doing something and doing nothing... but nothing immenantly bad happens to the young woman- she does seem to trip over something, but appears to suffers no ill effects...

Sadie: Unaware of her impeding doom and slightly wet and with that uncomfortable little pellet of snow somewhere down her back, the rogue quickly roots through the tent's content; it is incredibly cramped and the presense of a three foot long bedroll confirms your suspicions that whoever owned this tent was small. You find, at the head of the bedroll, which seems to have been left uncovered, a small, scuffed white saddle-bag, with items of all sorts strewn around it- a couple of books that looked like they were ready to give up their ghosts, a couple of scrolls, a couple of bottles of oil, a little jerky... So essentially all the basics and non of the frills.....


-------------------------------------
Aecus- say if you wish to go ahead with the search and scan...

[Aecus]

Chandor watches Sadie root through the tent and sighs, determined to go back to his search. Well if nothing has happened yet, nothing should happen now, but I don't want to take chances...

"Don't touch anything, just remember where it is! I have no idea what will trigger the magic here, and I don't want to risk anything!" He yells towards her as he goes about looking for more information.


Chandor will go about his search. He doesn't know about the feeling of impending doom :P He is very interested in this find.

[Gecks]

Cath

’Primal Protective magic...I have no idea what...’ sounds like a good recipe for flambéed halfling (and company!) if ever I heard one. This job is looking more and more interesting all the time. And what is that the Lass is so interested in? Looks like a bit of fabric sticking out of the snow- a tent? So maybe us four aren’t the best and the brightest after all, just the next in line. Makes one wonder how many folks that Elfish lady has sent into the woods looking for that diadem…

“Hey, is that a tent? Like as not some poor unfortunate soul was stupid enough to come poking around here, no doubt on some fools errand to extract an item of amazing value from these here deadly ruins, probably on the payroll of someone too smart to try it on their own. Tell me lass, is the poor sod cold and stiff, or missing entirely? This seems to be a ‘mysteriously disappeared’ sort of place, so my money is on that tent being totally empty. Still, if yon tent pitcher had succeeded, he likely would have taken his tent with ‘em when he left, so his unknown yet undoubtedly grisly fate means the item in question is probably still here; good news all around if I do say so myself, ha ha!”

While he has been speaking Cath has amiably ambled back towards his companions, flashing them a gap-toothed grin as he nears. He still keeps glancing over his shoulder- who knows what might come wandering out of those strange woods- but his attention is now firmly on the puzzle at hand, and he wishes to be close to the other incase trouble starts. Say what you like about “Crazy” Callaghan, he has never been one to let his companions suffer grisly fates alone!

[Leush]

Cath: You close in on your companions, just in case... However, you are vaguely aware that most of the fates here are polar, the grizzly fates dwell further north.

Chandor: Seeing that nothing has happened, you make a round of the clearing and having found absolutely nothing by mundane means- it is a suspicuously innocuous clearing, containing apparantly no trap doors and no secret tunnels- although you can't be sure- it is covered by at least a foot of snow, and you don't feel the need to be particularly thorough just yet. It would be far more productive to probe the arcane shadow of this mundane reality....

There is a brief twinkle in the depth of your eyes as they are attuned to see the things that are normally unseen and immediately the forest around you becomes a kaleidoscope. You have been warned of this effect- faint flashes of all schools and shades and streams of inpalpable force (if that makes any sense at all) ripple amongst the trees- an effect that you have been warned of. Curious and mysterious though it is, it is hard to glean any meaning from this cacophony- only that it patters out in the clearing, leaving only faint and moderate tendrils of divination sweeping lazily towards the centre.

You focus on the outer columns but they are not magical. Not anymore, not now. Now you can feel only echoes of a lingering aura emanating from them- intertwining amongst the columns and seeking the central pillar. The echo from the Sylvan column is complicated and you quickly lose yourself in the many twists it offers. Hopelessly you turn to the Draconic column. The echo is just as complex but you brace yourself and keep probing and are rewarded with the answer- the magic that was contained within this stone was an abjuration of some sort. The third stone's echo whispers softly and you think it is enchantment at first- which doesn't fit with the symbols, so you listen more carefully to the whispers to be sure and find the clear sound of necromancy- complex necromancy which you are sure was somehow as malevolent as the symbols upon the pillar.

Lastly you turn to the central column and for a moment your mind draws a blank. You are overwhelmed by a single aura. It bares no explanation, but unlike the others it is still there...

On another note, Sadie seems to be wrapped in a faint aura of illusion, Valline guarded by a similarly faint aura of abjuration. Cath's axe suffers from a clear case of faint Evocationitis, but that's not very interestng.

-------------
It's the commoners that sense the doom! The commoners I say!

[Aecus]

"Alright everyone! Can you gather round? I have some information to share... and I want opinions on what you all want to do with it! Chandor shouts finally as he returns to the entrance to the clearing.



If everyone comes to listen, Chandor relates his experiences. "I've found out several things, enough to make even me hesitate a little. First thing, is that this is all magic, like I said. But not only is it magic, its the most powerful magic I have ever seen. I would never expect to see anything like this even at the academy. We must be careful, because while I have an idea what they could be for, I by no means know for certain."

Taking a breath Chandor continues. "Each column has inscriptions on it. I was only able to read two of them, but they follow a similar form and I get the gist of what the third one says. The first column was built to hide the central, the second column was built to protect it, and the third column has a menacing touch to the writing. There is no magic left in the three columns, all that had imbued them has gone to the central column. The second column is shrouded in abjuration, protective magic, and the third column is shrouded in necromancy, life draining and undeath creating magic."

"With this information I guess that had I been able to divine the weaves on the first column I probably would have seen illusion, as that is normally the magic used to hide something, but it possibly could have transmutation if the hiding was physical. The third column probably was built to attack anybody coming to the column, through some means." Smiling grimly Chandor sighs and rubs his eyes.

"All of this together basically means that the central column is incredibly dangerous. The true nature of it is probably hidden from us right now, access to whatever it is meant to protect or contain is probably barred from us completely, and even attempting to find out about the column will probably either result in our lives being drained from us, or the dead walking and attacking us. So what are your opinions on what we should do? This is the opportunity of a lifetime but I am aware of the dangers, so currently I am neutral on this. This might not even be what we are looking for, though it certainly is something of great importance." Chandor finishes as he looks expectantly towards the group.

[Zarah]

Valline

He certainly knows his magic, Valline thought to herself as she carefully listened to his every word. He seemed to go on for some time, but when he was finally finished, she took a small step closer and extended a hand in explanation.

"Well, we can hardly just turn around and go home. Not after we've come this far," she noted before giving a cautious glance around the clearing and adding, "Besides, I'm convinced that we wouldn't be let back home even if we wanted to."

A moment later, and she was back to her proud self, putting a hand on her hip and throwing a finger into the air as she continued, "It's obvious that we were brought here for a reason. All we have to do is figure out what that reason is."

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath flashes another gap-toothed grin as he lightly bounces from foot to foot to keep limber and fight the cold.
"Well now, I have no doubt a wise man would say that we should leave this place be and run for home. Naturally, I am of the opposite opinion entirely- I want to delve into the nature of this here mystery, and come home with the prize. Whether this be the place the elf meant to send us or not, I have little doubt there is something of value being protected here- it is just a question if we are clever- or at least lucky- enough to find it, and then live to profit from it. I say why not try- if our lives were really all that dear to us, would we be out here in the first place, risking life and limb based on a vague promise from a complete stranger?”

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Listening to Chandor, Sadie looked back at the giant stone columns. There had been a tent nearby, but no occupant; the stones reeked of magic; and the outer pillars had all been drained.

"I think they might act as some sort of teleportation device..." she mumbled lightly to herself, before looking at the others.

"I found a tent there, but I couldn't see any signs that there was anyone near it; plus, all the basic supplies were relatively unused. Its possible that this is the entrance to wherever the diadem, or however it's pronounced, is."

Looking back at the column, Sadie scrunched up a snowball in her hands, debating tossing it at the central column.

"Although they could've just been killed by whatever magic there is, although I guess there'd be a body if that was true..."

Drifting off into a quiet tone on the last remark, Sadie looked at the giant pillar with puzzlement in her eyes.

"Well, we're probably safe as long as we're not right in the middle of them."

Winding her arm back, Sadie threw the snowball at the central column, slightly bracing herself for any oncoming magic.

Snowball thrown, attack roll in dice thread if you insist on it.

[Leush]

The party gather round not far from the white columns that rise from the snows and draw themselves against the trees. Whilst it is clear that they have stumbled upon quite a find, that most mages of the academy (and probably most other mages of the civilised world) would drool over for years to come if they were to find out about it, it is not quite as clear what you should do about it and how to go about exploring it without suffering the most hideous and heinous of consequences. Then Sadie unexpectedly comes up with a solution....

Sadie: Scooping up a handful of snow, you consilidate it and with a practiced motion lob it at the central column. It is quite a distance, but the column is quite large and not very fast, and the snowball, having arced through the air, impacts solidly, fragmenting into many small chunks and a cloud of white dust. The snow falls to the ground, and your hand feels cold and damp. Nothing else noteworthy happens....

Valline: As you fight down the feeling of foreboding and utter your words of wisdom, your companion does something incredibly unwise. As the snowball flies, you are sure that the silence around you deepens further, and every living creature holds its breath- an illusion born of anxiety perhaps- perhaps you even see your life flash before your eyes... You are also sure that somewhere far far away you are sure that you heard the spirit of good sense rolls in its grave... It has a gruff male voice and it speaks in common.... You snap to, but all is quiet again. You think back for a second to what happened.

As Sadie threw the snowball at the column, you heard a gruff, muffled exclamation come from the edge of the forest somewhere behind you....

[Zarah]

Valline

As soon as Valline had heard the voice, she had spun around the other way to find its source, but all she could see was the line of trees marking the end of the clearing. Her eyes narrowed as she strained for any kind of clue, then she began to take a few cautious steps closer. With every crunch through the snow, her hand found its way to her mace and lifted it from her belt, moving slowly to avoid too much attention.

"Anyone else hear that?" she asked, half-turning her head back toward them, but not stopping her advance of the treeline. Once she was a little closer, she peered in again to hopefully make sense of the strange voice.

Making a spot check, rolling in dice thread...

[Aecus]

Chandor

"Hear what?" Chandor asks with a slightly strained voice as he reaches to his vest and takes hold of one of the vials.

Turning towards the woods where Sadie is looking Chandor says toher nearly in a whisper "It could be teleportation, but from what we've seen I guess that the reason there are no remains is that whatever necromancy is in the column destroyed them, either through reprocessing or through decay. Depending on what this is, we'll investigate further. At least we know inanimate objects don't get destroyed in contact with the column."

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath's grin widens as he takes several rapid- yet exaggeratedly casual- steps to come beside Valline, resting his hands on his hips and trying- not very convincingly- to take on the aspect of a man casually drinking in a pleasant winter scene.

Yes, yes, I heard that too... probably harmless enough, or we'd already know otherwise, but in any case a problem more suited to a man of my limited talents than whatever magic dwells in those columns. Friend or foe, this fine fellow might be our best chance to learn more about whatever is going on here- if we play our cards right. For now, lets take a long look along that treeline and see if our new best friend decides to show himself...

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Hearing Valline, Sadie turned around and followed the other's suit, looking amongst the trees for the sign of whatever had caused the noise as well of pulling out a dart from her waist into her hand, then uttering a brief nod of acceptance at Chandor and his theory.

Apparently my intent to make a spot check was spotted and taken care of.
Also wielding dart now so no draw actions for me in case. :smalltongue:

[Leush]

Valline: You approach the trees, lifting your mace, ready to bring it down on anything that may rush out from behind a tree, or drop from the branches, or rise from under the snows. You move closer to the line of trees but all is both still and silent.

Cath: Your years of wondering around, fighting monsters, protecting caravans, and generally making a meat-shield out of yourself have taught you many things- of them one sticks out now- don't let them wonder off on their own. So you accompany Valline, but despite your best efforts neither hear, nor see anything noteworthy. A raven flies quite high over the edge of the clearings and disappears behind the trees.

Sadie: You too ready yourself and turn your eyes to the forest, your gaze drifting over the snows, over the impenetrable mass of green-but it hides its secrets well and you see only the trunks and the leaves that go on as far as the eye can see.

Chandor: Your reasoning is lost amongst the suspicion, as you reach for something. Presumably something flammable. However, the only flammable objects around here are the trees...

------------------
EDIT: You are can retry sport checks :smallwink:.... Also, is Sadie looking from the clearing into the trees or going into the trees to look...

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Loosening her tense stance, Sadie took another glance around the trees.

"Maybe you were just hearing things." she mumbled quietly, although she still did a double take to be sure.

Go go gadget respot!

Also, keeping her distance from the trees but only as much as being just in range for dart throwing (ie. 20ft)

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline turned her head toward Sadie with a strange look on her face before replying with, "Maybe you're right. I am a little on edge..."

"...But I was sure I heard something," she added, once more straining her eyes as she continued to peer beyond the trees.

[Aecus]

Chandor

"It is one thing to 'just hear things' when one is doing mundane tasks. It is altogether another to 'just hear things' after one has pelted one of the most powerful magical artifacts in the world with a snowball." Chandor says as he retreats slightly further back into the clearing, a few yards behind everyone else.

[Leush]

Valline: You continue looking nervously into the woods, but anything that may be there is still not visible... Perhaps it is a trick of the mind, or maybe, as Chandor suggested, a trick of the white column. In the corner of your eyes, Sadie is still creeping towards the ege of the forest.

....

What happens next happens very very quickly. There is a rustle in the woods, maybe not fifty feet from where Sadie stopped, and a gruff voice utters a soothing word, clear as the crisp winter air. As your eyes snap towards where the voice was uttered, you see a man, tall and hooded, his white robe flying open as he extends his hand in the direction of the Rogue who instantly crumples upon the snow.

Sadie: You hear the man speak the word and whirl to face him. His face is instantly impressed upon your eyes- a harsh face, neither particularly young, nor old, cold green eyes stare into yours. His finger lifts to point directly at you. For a moment you catch a glimpse of the sash he wears upon the furs beneath his cloak. It is too late, however, for you to save yourself and you feel the world growing light and distant- you try to return, but it seems that your heart is not in it and all goes black. The last thing you remember is the chill, yet somehow comforting touch of the snows.
What Sadie Learns: There is a buckle upon the sash wrought in bronze. Upon it there is a silver triangle, upon that a golden tower, upon that a platinum dagger, point down. The symbol of the Hunters of Mio Hall- the upper echelon of Avin's Homeguard. You know of them, because there were two major criminal networks in Dimal before they came. They were dangerous, but survivable, since your folk had somehow evaded capture, but they were not to be triffled with. If they had come here, then whatever they were chasing (could it be yourself?) was considered a very dangerous criminal indeed. They usually hunt in threes, with several ordinary guards to mop up and act as diversions or fodder.

.......

Before anyone has time to act again, the man turns to Valline and speaks the word again.... But nothing happens.

--------------------------------------------
Your initiatives are rolled.

Surprise [Round]!
-21 Mage- Sleep on Sadie- (Rolled 6 vs DC 16)

Round 1:
-21 Mage- Sleep on Valline (Edit: Rolled 23 vs DC 16)
-20 Chandor-
-9 Valline-
-8 Sadie- (Currently asleep)
-5 Cath-

[Zarah]

Valline

It had all happened so quickly, but Valline was still quick with her hands. She quickly managed to shake off the magic the man had thrown at her, then reached a hand to the side and lightly touched Cath. After closing her eyes and whispering a short chant, she imbued him with divine energy, then pulled her hand back and reached to her back. In a single movement, she had swung her heavy shield around into a ready position, then waited for the next move.

Valline is casting Resistance on Cath and equipping her shield as a move action.

I know it isn't my turn yet, but I'll be working tomorrow morning, and I don't want to hold up the game any more than I have to, so any of Chandor's actions will occur before Valline's. If somehow, the situation changes enough to make my actions contradictory, then I'll catch up as soon as I get off work, and you can feel free to ignore this post. :smalltongue:

[Aecus]

Reacting with a speed born of dodging self-made explosives Chandor burst into reaction. Running forward, the man started to chant his own invocations. Speaking deeply into the language of magic, Chandor reaches into one of his pouches and pulls out a small spider web as he runs. Holding his hand outstretched he holds the web up into the air, and then drops it. However instead of obeying gravity the web starts to rotate, and shine.

Suddenly the web bursts into flame, and as it does a tremendous explosion of strands of webbing burst into appearance around the caster. Each strand is many times thicker than a spider's silk, and yet there are a vast amount more of them than in any normal spider's web. The web envelops the man, though whether he is caught or merely surprised by the sticky strands is yet to be seen.

"I will catch him and give us time to retaliate! Everyone prepare for it! We should capture him alive if we can!" Chandor yells as the web bursts into apperance.


Move Action: Get in line of site.

Standard Action: Cast Web, DC 17 Reflex Save, with the caster at its center so that he has the most possible distance to move between any point, and so that we have complete concealment from him (and him from us.)

The web is anchored to the trees.

[Gecks]

Cath

Seeing Sadie collapse in a heap after the mage cast his spell, not knowing if she was stunned, hurt, or killed, Cath is at first so overwhelmed by rage that he does not feel Valline’s touch on his shoulder or the warm energy of the spell she cast. However, when Chandor calls out a request to capture the mage alive- and, perhaps more importantly, obscures the mage with webbing so that Cath can no longer see the object of his anger- he gives his head a quick shake and decides to spend his energy on something more productive.

Okay, Callaghan, calm down and check on the lass. If she’s alive, then I guess that means the bloody sneaky snake can live to. If she’s dead- well, in that case I hope Valline has one of them spells that lets clerics speak with the dead, because the villian won't breath longer than the time it takes me to get him within arm's reach!

With that, Cath tucks his head down and begins sprinting as quickly as he can in through the snow, towards the spot where Sadie fell.

Double move action towards Sadie. Move is 2x15’=30’, so I should reach her by the end of my move unless the snow counts as difficult terrain, in which case I am probably a little short.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Sadie continues to lie peacefully in the snow; the only movement she makes is the occasional shift in her sleep.

Sadie is too busy being predisposed with being useless this turn to use any actions.

[Leush]

Chandor: You speak your incantation, casting a great web amongst the trees. As its strands erupt about the caster, he gives a yelp of surprise and is hidden immediately from your sight.

Valline: Unfazed by the attempt to bewitch you, you cast your own spell and prepare for the worst. Holding your shield high, you brace yourself for the next attack...

Cath: Thoughts of murder run through your head and you are about to prepare the daring mage for a visit to the purgatory, when Chandor casts his own spell and your foe appears temporarily incapacitated. As such you quickly re-evaluate your position and rush to the aide of your fallen comrade.

Upon reaching her side, you find that Sadie is lying on her side in the snow, her dart lying beside her. Whilst she has fallen in an unwieldy heap, it is a relief to see that she moves with the steady breathing of one who is sound asleep.
.......

Everyone: It is then that there is a ping, once again from the woods, and an arrow flies out of the trees, but passes wide and high, so much so that it is not entirely clear who it was aimed at. You search the shadows of the trees with your eyes, but see not where this attack could have come from. It is at that point at which the spellcaster's voice sounds with a harsh string of words and a flash of light erupts in the great cobweb. However, you cannot see what exactly is going on and no further event of any urgency seems to come to pass.

-----------------------

OOC:
Round 1:
-21 Mage- Sleep on Valline (Edit: Rolled 23 vs DC 16)
-20 Chandor- Casts Web
-9 Valline- Cats Resistance on Cath.
-8 Sadie- (Currently asleep)
-5 Cath- Runs to check on Sadie and may wake her.
-5 AttackerII- Shoots Chandor, misses by a mile, and disappears.

Round 2:
-21 Mage- Casts spell
-20 Chandor-
-9 Valline-
-8 Sadie- (Currently asleep)
-5 Cath-
-5 AttackerII-

[Aecus]

More of them? Not good. Chandor thinks to himself as he starts to chant again, waving his hands back and forth. Pulling another object out of his pouch, the new material disintegrated as the energies of the spell drew upon it to reach its effect. Once that was over, Chandor places his hand on another vial, but this time draws it and steps a few feet backwards.


Chandor casts mage armor, draws an Alchemist's Fire vial and takes a 5 foot step away from the woods.

He now has 16 AC, and sheet is updated to reflect that.

[Zarah]

Valline

Upon seeing the arrow soar out of the trees, Valline knew she had to act, but the snow and trees would make getting there a difficult process. Instead, she decided to rethink her tactics, replacing the mace and shield to their resting positions and slowly trudging through the snow as much as she could.

Valline used two move actions to put away her weapon and shield and move forward 10 feet (due to difficult terrain) at the same time.

Hopefully I can do that. You know, legally. :smalltongue:

[Gecks]

Cath

“Ha ha, not dead after all!”

Cath kneels beside Sadie, his trademark gap-toothed grin wider than ever. He quickly lifts her up by her cloak collar and shakes her vigorously awake. Seeing her start to blink into consciousness, he lets out another happy laugh.

“Wake up, ye silly fool! I know I may have the face of an angel, but trust me when I say ye are alive and well- though none of us are going to stay that way by taking cat-naps on a battlefield. Chandor has that first fella wrapped up pretty good, but there’s at least one more taking pot shots at us from the woods- up an at’er, girl!”

With that, Cath drops Sadie- probably less gently than she’d like- and takes off at a quick lope in the general direction the arrow came from, cackling softly to himself as he runs.

Cath uses the aid another action to wake Sadie, then uses his move action to move in the general direction of the arrow shot- with difficult terrain accounted for, I believe he moves a dizzying 5'! :smallcool:

[Slamexo]

Sadie

As she found reality swimming back to her conciousness, Sadie's eyes fluttered open to behold the halfling, grinning happily at her; apparently she had fallen asleep, and there was a fight going on.

She was about to say something when the halfling was kind enough to drop her on the ground, leaving her to fall flat on the snow with a graceless thump.

"Focus Sadie; it's time to dust off your combat skills!"

Quickly getting to her feet, Sadie looked around. She couldn't see any of her attackers, but Cath seemed to have already started slowly heading into the woods, the snow weighing down his footsteps.

"Wait and see Sadie; let them reveal themselves to you."

Bracing herself, Sadie kept her eyes sharp for any and every attack that would be aimed at her.

Move action to stand up from prone; standard action to execute total defense which gives me a +6 dodge bonus instead of +4 thanks to those tumble ranks! :smallcool:

Sadie's current AC is 22.

[Leush]

Chandor: Wrapping yourselves in the layers of a protective enchantment, you withdraw somewhat, deeper into the clearing.

Valline: You conceive a plan of sorts and putting aay your weapons, head into the forest, in the direction of the web. What little undergrowth exists in this part of the forest is buried in snow, but you can see how one can easily conceal a large party amongst the great trees.

Cath: Having made sure that Sadie is unharmed, you are determined to keep it that way, and sprint off in the direction where the assailant was last seen before Chandor covered him. Behind you Sadie flumps to the snow as you drop her, but rises quickly to her feet. Ahead of you, the forest appears still.

Sadie: With consciousness having returned, you dust yourself off and brace yourself for any further attacks that may come in your direction.
........

Everyone: The forest is still and silent and any wildlife present seems to hold its breath. The trees stand patiently looking down at you, waiting, as they have for a hundred years for you to make a mistake. Behind one of these, (but which ones?) there hid a foe- within the web, which obscured much of the forest behind it another was cocooned.

Chandor & Sadie: From the time spent in Muoris, you had learned that whilst they competed within the forest, the people of that land were very superstitious about fighting amongst the trees- but then a good proportion of them were elves...

Chandor: It is said in Muoris that for every wound upon the trees made by steel, the wielder of the blade feels the forest's pain, it is said that the trees only protect those who belong amongst them. How true that is, you aren't sure, but then, with what you've seen so far...

Valline: As you move into the forest and your eyes adjust to the shadows, you begin to notice how they shift with the gentle motions of the branches above your head. You notice then that one of the shadows, put to the side from the tree which anchors the web does not shift with the sway of the branches and soon find its source; the white cloaked man has chosen this as the time to creep from one of pine to another, some way to the left, roughly 60 feet away.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Round 2:
-21 Mage- Casts spell
-20 Chandor- Casts Mage Armor
-9 Valline- Puts away her weapons and heads into the woods.
-5 Cath- Wakes Sadie
-5 AttackerII- ????
-5 Sadie- Total Defense


Round 3:
-21 Mage- Has escaped somehow from the web and tried to hide again but failed.
-20 Chandor-
-9 Valline-
-8 Sadie-
-5 Cath-
-5 AttackerII-

------------------
I should have made the knowledge checks way ahead of time.

[Aecus]

"Everyone be careful of the trees! Under no circumstances harm one! They have their own power!" Chandor yells to his allies as he moves into the forest, attempting to close with the hidden enemies.


Chandor will take a double move to get into the forest.

[Zarah]

Valline

After noticing the cloaked man slink away, she turned toward him and continued her march through the snow, drawing her crossbow as she heavily tromped through the snow. Once she was a little closer, she yanked a bolt from her quiver and quickly loaded it into the bow, then raised it to her eyes.

"Don't hit the trees," she whispered to herself as she began lining up a shot. "Got it."

Valline will move toward the cloaked man another 10 feet and draw her crossbow. She'll use another move action to load it.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Seeing no attacks coming her way, Sadie lowered her defenses and started moving towards the forest. Drawing her shortsword during her motion, she moves as fast as she can: intending to get out of the difficult snow and into the much more steady footing under the trees.

"Alright! I'll hold off the darts for now!"

How a tree could be dangerous she had no clue, but then there was no sense finding out the hard way.

Double move action for Sadie which makes up to 30 feet, and also drawing the shortsword as part of it; hopefully ending up under the trees if possible. (That'd stop counting as difficult terrain right?)

[Gecks]

Cath

If I can get the fool with the bow to take another pot-shot at me, I might be able to spot him…

Cath continues to hump along towards the forest, scanning the forest for any additional enemies as he runs, bellowing out to the forest around him with as much breath as he can spare while he does so.

"Hey there, you with the bow? Are ye drunk or just daft?!? That there was the worst shot I’ve ever seen. How are ye going to earn a living as a petty forest bandit with that kind of skill? I thought for a moment I was fighting my old granny, except I’m pretty sure if ye handed her a bow she’d be a better shot! You know what, I bet ye 5 gold pieces that ye can’t hit me! I’ll give you two to one odds! Come on man, I dare ye to take your best shot at me! “

Cath double-moves towards the forest, abusing the "speaking is a free action" rule to hurl insults at the unseen archer as he does so.

[Leush]

Chandor: Vial in hand, unsure of how he trees would react to the substance within, you brush past the branches of the trees that line the clearing, still moderately blind as to the location of your foes...

Valline: Though your progress through the maze of trunks and snow is slower than desirable, you continue moving forwards, towards your now visible target, readying his death in the form of wood and metal...

Cath: You call your challange as you race more or less blindly into the forest. Beneath the green roof the snow cover is somewhat lighter, but not so much so as to make absolutely any difference...

Sadie: As you enter the forest, hoping that the ground beneath your feet would once again be solid, you are bitterly disappointed to find that though the snowcover is not as deep, it is still deep enough...
......
Then there is another twang and an arrow passes close enough to Cath as to be marked for him, but only because no one else is within hand's reach- because neither is the missile that buries itself in the snow. This time however, the attacker isn't quite so succesful in hiding and both Cath and Valline can see a longbow- and subsequently a relatively short figure in white, though still tall enough to be human, crouching behind a thick patch of brambles some thirty feet away from the halfling.
....
At this point the spellcaster in white straightens up and speaks his word in his gruff voice, pointing his finger roughly in the halfling's direction. When the last sound has stilled, Cath tumbles over as he runs, sprawling comfortably (and as Sadie had before, quite motionless) in the snow.

Cath: One moment you are running, the exhiliration of combat all around you- an arrow flying past you. Your plan has worked beautifully and the attacker who was meant to stay hidden has revealed himself to you and would now be at your mercy. Then the mage makes himself known again by his voice. He speaks his word, the word he has spoken twice before and you whip your head madly in his direction, your eyes locking onto his. As you look into that cold, mocking gaze, you feel the world growing distant and try to run harder to catch up. It sees to work, but as the ground approaches at high speed everything goes black.

----------------------
Round 3:
-21 Mage- Has escaped somehow from the web and tried to hide again but failed.
-20 Chandor- Move
-9 Valline- Move & Prepare crossbow
-8 Sadie- Move- prepare sword
-5 Cath- Move and abuse free speech
-5 Attacker II- Muck up horribly again. (This guy is meant to give you nightmares, alas!)

EDIT: Note- at this point Sadie and Valline are within 30 feet of the Mage.

Round 3:
-21 Mage- Is up to his old tricks! Sleep on Cath (Yes, I know I wrote Chandor on the dice roller, forgive your scatterbrained DM...) Will Save 6 vs 16- Cath is asleep.
-20 Chandor-
-9 Valline-
-8 Sadie-
-5 Cath-
-5 Attacker II-

[Aecus]

Chandor

Watching as his companion falls down into the snow, Chandor gains a flash of insight. Smiling grimly to himself, Chandor runs in an arc about where Cath had fallen down. As much as he knew about magic, he did not forgot one of the simplest principles: You have to see what you want to cast at. So it was his hope, that in running in such a manner that he maintained a line of sight to Cath at all times, that he would be able to find the mage responsible for putting his allies to sleep.


Chandor takes a move action in order to see if he can find the mage, if he can't find him in one move action than he will take a second one, and at the end of the second one he will push himself against a tree and facing towards the clearing so that he is minimally visible and could see as much as possible of what would attack him.


If he does see the mage in his first move action, he will use the remainder of it to close in to the mage, and then ready an action to throw the alchemists fire should the mage move, or attempt to cast another spell.


He will also shout "Stay still or be burned!" towards the mage.


If he sees someone else in his arc travel, if he is close enough he will hit him with a color spray, DC 16, and if he is not he will do the same ready action and shout with the alchemist's fire.

[Zarah]

Valline

Although she heard Chandor's warning, she didn't think it would be enough to stop the mage in his tracks. They needed a more... Obvious warning.

Once she was satisfied with her line of sight, she pulled the trigger, sending a bolt soaring straight toward the mage. Without even waiting to see if it hit, she reached back, snatched another bolt and reloaded the crossbow for another shot.

Valline is attacking the mage with her crossbow and reloading it. Attack roll will be posted shortly. So close to a crit. :smallfrown: Course, it still could be, I don't really know, but I doubt it.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

As she sized up her chances of avoiding the difficult ground by using the trees, Sadie suddenly saw the halfling fall to the ground near her.

"Is that what happened to me? What a pain!"

Deciding that the branches would be rather difficult to get around with, Sadie instead opted to move closer to the halfling, intending to awaken him with a few well placed slaps across the face.

Move action to move to Cath if he's in reach, standard action to wake him up.

If not in range, then double move to get as close to Cath as possible until Sadie's next to him.

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath stirs uneasily in his sleep, dreaming strange dreams of being slowly smothered by twisting tree roots and cold, cold earth, while above the wind sighs through ageless branches...

If Sadie wakes Cath this round, he will- after giving her an appropriately dirty look for the slaps- stand as a move action, and then use his second move action to get closer to the gent with the bow.

[Leush]

Chandor: From your experiences at the academy, you know well that it requires a very special talent to stay hidden when casting spells, and this particular mage obviously does not possess it- you see him almost before you start moving. Weaving amongst the trees as you close in on him, with the flask raised above your head, you shout your warning and the mage turns his eyes in your direction and you can see that those eyes are cold and calculating.

Valline: At the moment the mage's head turns, you loose your bolt in his direction and it buries itself in his side, pinning his cloak to his hip and he staggers under the impact...

Sadie: For a split second you deliberate over whether to take the high road or the low road, but seeing the helplessness of the halfling, you plough through the snow in his direction. As you had before, he lies sprawled in the snow, his expression not entirely peaceful. Lifting him by the collar you return his discurteous favour and give him three sharpish slaps to bring him around.... You lift your head just in time to hear a twang not far ahead of you and see the archer lift another arrow to his bow. You have no time to react, but somehow you react anyway (or maybe it's just luck?), twisting sideways, allowing the arrow to fly past your head and not into it.

Cath: You spring to your feet, your cheeks burning perhaps from indignation, perhaps from being cold and slapped, perhaps from gratitude, and maybe, just maybe, from all three. You find your place quickly and head straight for the white cloaked archer.
.....
The mage staggers in Valline's direction, then suddenly snaps upright and hisses an incantation, clearly applying some effort to keep his face under control. At the same time, Chandor throws his missile, but it falls short, igniting upon the snow, which quickly melts and smothers the flames. The mage doesn't even look up at Chandor, but lifts an arm and points three fingers at the crossbow-wielding cleric and immediately there is a flash of light as a string of fire arcs from his hand and into her shoulder, searing cloth, steel and flesh.

__________________________________________
Round 3:
-21 Mage- Is up to his old tricks! Sleep on Cath (Yes, I know I wrote Chandor on the dice roller, forgive your scatterbrained DM...) Will Save 6 vs 16- Cath is asleep.
-20 Chandor- ready action (you do not need a spot check since the mage casts a spell and is no longer hidden).
-9 Valline- It is sad that your attacker has such a low AC, but yeah, you crit for 6 damage.
-5 AttackerII- Shoots Sadie. Misses as per usual, but not by as much (yay!).
-5 Sadie- Awakens Cath.
-5 Cath- Moves to attack the Archer.


Round 4:
-21 Mage- Walks towards Valline and casts Scorching Ray. (7 damage)
-20 Chandor-
-9 Valline-
-5 AttackerII-
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Aecus]

Running forward, Chandor draws another vial out of his vest as he closes in on the mage. I wasn't sure this was supposed to be a lethal attack before, but now I am sure. Let us see if this mage can handle being on fire. If I don't miss, again. Rolling the vial in his hands, Chandor winds his arm backwards in preparation to throw.



Move action to close in and draw the vial of alchemist's fire, Standard action to throw it.

[Zarah]

Valline

Despite the impact to her shoulder, Valline still bore a thin smile, proud of her perfect shot through the trees. She took a quick moment to survey the damage on her shoulder, watching as a small column of smoke rose up from a blackened spot on her armor. Without a seconds hesitation, she raised the crossbow back to her eye and lined up her shot once again. In an instant, another bolt shot from the bow and soared into the trees.

However, Valline could see the mage was close enough now. Immediately after her shot, she dropped the crossbow softly into the snow, then yanked the mace from her belt and charged into the snow to finish the job.

Valline takes another shot at the mage, then drops the crossbow and draws her mace while closing the distance.

If her second shot somehow manages to kill the mage, then she'll keep her crossbow in hand and move further into the forest to find the second attacker.

[Leush]

Chandor: You throw the second flask, determined to put an end to the threat posed by the mage who inexplicably attacked you. Your flask begins by flying true, but brushes a curtain of lichen hanging from a low branch and for a moment your heart jumps as you expect the forest to catch fire. The vial, however, holds together and the flask, frustratingly enough, tumbles into the snow.
.....
At this point, far off in the forest someone yells a phrase that sounds something like sylvan and the forest around Cath and Sadie comes alive. The low branches of the trees begin to turn, ever so slowly towards them and the leafless shrubs, like skeletal hands, erupt from beneath the snow, seeking to embrace and hold the two.

At the same time a third figure becomes apparent, sprinting over the snow in Chandor's general direction. This figure, like the other two, wears a white cloak which billows behind it along with its red hair as it runs, revealing the chain shirt that protects it. A shield studded with dangerous looking spikes is strapped to its left arm and it draws a longsword as it runs at Chandor.

Valline: Despite the doubtless unpleasantness of resting a crossbow on a burned shoulder, your second shot flies true and the second bolt buries itself in one the mage's two legs. He stumbles but somehow doesn't fall. At the same time you drop the crossbow that has so far served you so well and charge the magic user, lifting your mace to put an end to him...

Cath & Saide: as the brambles and saplings reach towards you, you are non the less quick enough to avoid them....

Sadie: They always work in threes... hopefully there's only one team down here...

_________________________________________________
OOC: The third attacker casts entangle so as to hit Sadie and Cath and the area towards Chandor and Valline, but not Chandor, Valline or the Mage.

Round 4:
-21 Mage (HP=X-9)- Walks towards Valline and casts Scorching Ray. (7 damage)
-20 Chandor- Attacks the Mage and Misses.
-10- Attacker 3- Casts entangle (Cath & Sadie) an runs at Chandor. (Distance ~ 50 ft).
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Hits the mage.
-5 AttackerII-
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Narrowly skipping around the branches trying to catch at her feet, Sadie spotted the next opponent to reveal themselves.

"So I was right about who they are."

Moving towards the figure within her vicinity, Sadie moved herself around the dense briary whilst reaching for a dart at her waist, whipping it up at her foe with fierce velocity.

Moving 15ft towards the closest one to Sadie who should now be 10ft away from her according to our OOC thread, using a standard action to throw a dart at him (SRD listed shurikens as an ammunition and therefore able to be drawn as a free action despite it technically being a thrown weapon, so I'm assuming darts are in the same boat. Feel free to ignore the dart throwing and just use a double move if not.

Also under the impression that evasion won't help Sadie in avoiding the briary movement penalty, but if so then just have her move as close as possible without engaging in melee (so still 10ft away really) and chuck a dart at him.

Oh yes, and feel free to impose any penalty you see fit on Sadie for throwing the dart with her off hand (since her main one's still holding the shortsword) or just plain disallow it all together.

[Gecks]

Cath

Ach, all of these spellcasters flinging spells about, mucking up a perfectly good wild melee to the death! Ah well, if ye can’t beat them…

Cath twists clear of a patch of groping underbrush and locks eyes with the archer, a mere ten feet away from him. He stands on one foot, waiving his hands around in a vague, mocking approximation of magical gestures- “Ye think ye are the only one with the powers of magic on his side, boy-oh? Watch this... ABRACADABRA!”- before suddenly- in one swift movement so quick it is hard for the human eye to follow- grabbing a bag filled with oozing green slop from his belt at tossing it directly at the archer. The merry halfing then proceeds to bound towards the archer- at least as quick as the entangling underbrush allows- cackling happily away to himself as he does so.

Cath quickdraw-throws one of his tanglefoot bags at the archer, before moving towards him. If he can get within weapons-reach of the archer (pretty sure he can't, but just in case...), he will quickdraw arm himself with two axes- one magical, one mundane- in order to threaten the archer and prevent him from shooting. If the tanglefoot bag hits with a ranged touch attack, the archer is automatically considered entangled (-2a, -4 dex), and has to make a reflex 15 save or be "stuck to the floor," if such is possible in a snowcovered forest setting...

[Leush]

Sadie: As you dance away from a groping sapling, you fling a dart at the archer who stands just beyond reach. Luckily for him, however, the plants appear to be the perfect distraction and the missile flies with great force away from him as you throw it backwards.

Cath: The archer's eyebrow rises as he tries to work his mind around your taunt. It is his undoing. He ducks, only to receive a facefull of tanglefoot bag. For a moment he seems lost and then realisation dawns upon, but as he peels away from the snow, it becomes apparent that he shouldn't have been so close to that tree, to which he is now so firmly attached....
........

"Careful with that spell Rankins! I want them alive!" The approaching figure shouts on the run. The voice has a dangerous edge to it, but is clearly feminine.
.......
As Valline closes on the mage, he staggers back with something like fear in his eyes and he raises his hands. As he chants his incantation hurridly and holds out his arm, pointing three fingers at the cleric's chest, the spell's energy quickly begins to build...

Valline: As you approach the mage, you lift your mace to strike him down, but he begins another incantation, and as he lifts his hand, you see that you must hurry and bring the mace down upon his unguarded head. It connects with a solid thwak with his apparently thick skull and he slumps unconsious into the web....

-----------------------------------
Round 4:
-21 Mage (HP=X-9)- Walks towards Valline and casts Scorching Ray. (7 damage)
-20 Chandor- Attacks the Mage and Misses.
-10- Attacker 3- Casts entangle (Cath & Sadie) an runs at Chandor. (Distance ~ 50 ft).
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Hits the mage.
-5 AttackerII- Misses Sadie
-5 Sadie- Misses Attacker 2
-5 Cath- Entangles Attacker 2 with the bag.

Round 5:
-21 Mage (HP=X-9)- Starts to Cast scorching ray...
-AOO Valline- Knocks the Mage's block off (Yay Toast!).
-21 Mage (Unconcious)- (X_X)
-20 Chandor-
-10- Attacker 3-
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)
-5 AttackerII-
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Aecus]

"I am very appreciative that you want us alive, but I don't don't arrows or fire works for that very well! You might want to rethink your capture strategy!" Chandor yells as he draws another item from his pouch. Yet again he goes into a chant, and draws upon arcane power. Even as he does so he moves backwards, away from the charging attacker.


Chandor will cast Grease under the third attacker, and move backwards. The grease should probably bridge the gap between two trees based on your descriptions, and a second square of it will be between Chandor and the attacker. It is a DC 17 reflex save or fall, and then a balance check to move at all if that reflex save succeeds.

[Leush]

Chandor: You draw the energies out of yourself, using them as a lens and projecting the slipperiness onto the snow. Since your attacker, you notice, doesn't sink into the snow, it is a solid surface as far as your spell is concerned. It appears to pay off as your attacker comes skidding to a halt- she attempts to make progress, but slips and barely rights herself. She gifts you with an icy glare and with a lightning speed retrieves a vial from her belt and empties its contents upon the snow.
....
As she does, a shadow radiates from the spot and engulfs her and the trunks of the nearby trees, casting an eerie pattern of of rays of light and shadow about the wood.

---------------------
OOC
Round 5:
-21 Mage (HP=X-9)- Starts to Cast scorching ray...
-AOO Valline- Knocks the Mage's block off (Yay Toast!).
-21 Mage (Unconcious)- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Grease
-10- Attacker 3- Tries to move, fails. Uses an oil.
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)
-5 AttackerII-
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Zarah]

Valline

After her successful strike against the mage, her smile grew a little wider, but it quickly faded once she remembered the other two assailants still hiding within the trees. She scanned her surroundings to pinpoint the nearest of the two, then closed her eyes and muttered a short chant,

"I stand my ground before the darkness and the gods shall guide my hand." She let the divine energy flow over her body, then shot her eyes back open and set off toward the closest attacker.

Valline is casting Divine Favor on herself, then moving toward the nearest of the two attackers. If they're both the same distance away, then she'll move toward Attacker 3.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Pouting as her dart missed horribly, Sadie's ears pricked up at the comment of non-hostility.

"Tsk; I can't kill them if they're not trying to kill me."

Dropping her shortsword to the ground, Sadie moved forwards whilst grabbing her sap from her waist; non-lethal, but still effective.

Sadie will drop her shortsword and move towards attacker 2 as much as possible, intending to end up on a square adjacent to him that isn't opposite a tree, whilst drawing up her sap.

If she can make it there in one move action, then she'll take a good thwack at him with what I'm led to believe constitutes sneak attack, but if not then a good thwack none the less.

If not, then just another move action to get as close as possible.

[Gecks]

Cath

‘I want them alive’- assuming they live through the magic fire and the arrows to the back, that is! Well, nuts to that- these white-cloaked sons of %&^#&es decided to take the gloves off, and if they want to put them back on again they are going to have to stop fighting us and start talking to us.

“Alive? If ye ‘want to take us alive,’ I suggest ye quit attacking us and start talking to us, because as things stand, ye are outnumbered two to one- and yer cross-eyed friend with the bow is about to start wearing his insides on his outsides, less ye see reason and end this.”

With that, Cath continues to plow towards the bowman, twisting and weaving to try to avoid the entangling underbrush as he moves.

Assuming Cath moves at least 1 5' square per move, he should be 5’ away from the bowman. Cath will move towards the archer, and then quick-draw his magic Axe. If the single movement takes him out of the entangling area, he will take a swing at the archer with his axe. If he is still in the entangling area, he will take another move past the archer, trying to set up on the opposite side of Sadie (if there isn’t a tree in the way) to set up a flank. Unless the archer is in the entangling area as well, this should put him outside the spells area of affect, and hopefully the archer hasn’t switched to a melee weapon or otherwise has the means to land an AoO on the way by.

This all assumes that Cath isn’t entangled before he can move, if he does get caught he will the try the DC 20 strength check to break free, and try to keep trucking towards the archer

[Leush]

Valline: You point a hand to the earth, imploring Moradin to grant you his aid, as he had once done with the people of his likeness, and he grants it. You feel a tiny fraction of that divine power flow into you and along with it a certain certainty, and lifting your eyes, you head over to the darkness that enveloped the woman who apparently wanted to capture you alive...

The man stuck o the tree makes no attempt to break free, but lifts from his quiver a blue-feathered arrow and raises his bow, strings of goo stretching between himself and his weapon. There is the usual twang, and whilst you expect the arrow to end up somewhere far away, it strikes Sadie in the leg...

Sadie: Despite the sudden and sharp pain in your thigh, you do not slow down and successfully evade the writhing vegetatio as you close in on the archer. Even as you swing the sap, you feel somehow smaller and less steady, ever so slightly... Yet that does not stop you, if anything, it brings urgency, and your sap has no trouble finding its target. The archer doesn't dodge quickly enough and his head snaps backwards as the weight impacts him. His eyes momentarily lose focus but in a moment they are looking back at you, mocking.

ChandorCath: You keep fighting your way through the living thicket and combined with the deep snow, it makes you feel like a kitten drowning in an impossibly thick rug. But you keep fighting, and as such, at last stumble out of the maze- a quickly glance back reveals to you the truth- you have barely moved fifteen feet, but you are practically on top of the archer now, and then you'd get to rearrange his anatomy....

--------------------------------------------------

Round 5:
-21 Mage (HP=X-9)- Starts to Cast scorching ray...
-AOO Valline- Knocks the Mage's block of Yay.
-21 Mage (HP=-1)- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Casts Grease
-10- Attacker 3- uses Oil of Darkness
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Uses some crazy clerical buff on self and heads towards attacker 3.
-5 AttackerII- Hits Sadie, 6 damage, 1 constitution damage.
-5 Sadie- Hits attacker, 5 damage, no sneak attack till Cath is flanking.
-5 Cath- Fights his way out (yay!)

Round 6:
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor-
-10- Attacker 3-
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)
-5 AttackerII (non lethal damage=5)-
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Aecus]

Sighting the archer as he moves through the undergrowth and the snow Chandor reaches into his hood and pulls out the rat that lies there. "Go and help against the archer." he whispers into the rats ear, mirrored with a mental command, as he gives the rat a small easy boost in the direction of the archer. Even as he does so he reaches another hand into his pack, and strangely seems to bring out a ladder as he does so, a seeming impossibility for such a small pack, yet he does it.

Placing the ladder against a tree Chandor quickly scampers up it, and places himself securely in the tree.

As he does so the rat advances...


Chandor will use a move action to pull out the ladder, and to move up the ladder and balance in the tree. If allowed he will lift the ladder up so it is off the ground and he's holding it up in the tree. If not he will leave it there to make sure he has a good perch.

At the same time, the rat will advance into a flanking position against the Archer and then attack. If necessary the rat will climb against the tree to do so with his climb movement speed, taking 10 for a 22 DC to climb alongside the bottom of the trunk if possible and if not amongst the high roots, if not necessary he will simply move into the flanking position. If he can't reach the archer in one move action he will use a second to get into flanking position, or to get closer.

The attack is in the rolls thread, but the major point was to provide a flanking benefit.

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline suddenly stopped herself and peered into the darkness. Where once there was a clear shape of a woman, there was now nothing but shadows. With a furrowed brow, she thought for a moment of what to do. After all, she couldn't hit what she couldn't see.

Deciding she needed a different course of action, she reached down and scooped up a fair-sized stone (or a stick, or any other small object that could be found on the ground). Again, she closed her eyes and let her divine energy flow into the object, causing it to light up with a bright, white glow a moment later.

Valline picks up an object from the ground (I'm assuming it's a small rock, but pretty much anything works as long as it has the mass to be thrown). She then casts Light on the object and waits for her next turn. :smalltongue:

[Leush]

Chandor: Like the professor who carried his lab in his pocket, you launch you hand into your rucksack and retreive, foot by foot, ten feet of ladder, which you proceed to put up against the tree. You climb swiftly, not taking heed of the needles which brush against your face. You find it hard to shake the impression that it is the rough skinned hands of a giant that you brush past and not the bristling branches of a pine. Straddling one of the thick lower branches, with your back to the stem, you give the ladder a tug, but realise that it would be incredibly awkward to bring it up....
....In the meanwhile your rat skirts around the zone of writhing undergrowth and heads for the archer, bouncing over the snow like a little brown ball.

Valline: Confound these people who use tricks as opposed to standing and fighting! Luckily you have just what is required to thwart their schemes! You head towards the place where you last saw the woman and where now a small sphere of night radiates out between the trees. You pick up a pinecone as you walk and closing your eyes, quietly utter a prayer. As you do it begins to radiate a light of its own.
.....
Not so far away, the archer drops his bow and drawing a sword, makes a move to run the rogue through, but half way through shifts his weight rapidly and swings it to slice the halfling's throat. In something of a short joke, however, the blade comes close to giving the halfling a hair-cut, but nothing more.

-------------------------------------

Round 6:
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Climbs a tree...
-10- Attacker 3- Does something, but you can't see...
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Casts light.
-5 AttackerII (non lethal damage=5)- Feints and tries to do bad things to Cath. Fails miserably as per usual.
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath-

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Preparing herself to dodge, Sadie holds her footing when she sees the foe change his angle and head for her halfling compatriot instead.

"I'm really sick of you guys by now!"

She yelled at him, before bringing her sap up to smack down heavily on his head.

Attack at the ranger who I'm pretty sure is still in range, but just move as needed if not (if she can get that far, that is). Rolls in the thread; add sneak attack if applicable.

[Leush]

Sadie: Infuriated by the archer's infuriating behaviour, you swing your sap furiously at his head, but as his weight shifts and he turns to the halfling, his head is no longer where it used to be and your attack is thus foiled, fueling further frustration.

Cath: You give the archer a slightly lop-sided smile as the sword swings above your head, devoting a brief thought to all the halfling jokes out there and sliding guardedly through the snow you drive your shiney, shiney axe into his hip and there is a crunch as the impossibly hard metal shatters bone. You also earn yourself a moddest splatter pattern. In the meanwhile, the archer, who is stuck soundly in your tanglefoot bag, gives a yell which can only signify well deserved agony.

----------------------------------------

Round 6:
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Climbs a tree...
-10- Attacker 3- Does something, but you can't see...
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Casts light.
-5 AttackerII (non lethal damage=5, HP=Y-9)- Feints and tries to do bad things to Cath. Fails miserably as per usual.
-5 Sadie- Miss
-5 Cath- Hit for 9 Damage.

Round 7:
??????

[Aecus]

Sitting high up in the tree, Chandor pulls out another vial from his vest and remarks aloud, but quietly. "If you are alive... I mean you no harm at all. I hope to take safety in your branches, but I will not intentionally damage your majestic being."

As he says this Chandor pulls out a vial from his bag, and looks to the battlefield.


This time it is a vial of acid. Chandor will ready an action to attack the third attacker if it attempts an attack or spell and an ally is not in the splash effect of the acid.

[Leush]

Everyone: It is about time that the woman do something, but nothing wonders out of the darkness. There is no sound of hostility from the woods appart from the rather large area where the groping and writhing vegetation rustles in a slightly menacing manner.

Aecus: As you speak to the tree, there is a rustling in the canopy, and the syllables of the language of the fey come together in a raspy creek. "Hrr-hrr--ha-ha-harm not meant, ha-harm rh-remains. Hei-Hei-Eigh-h-h-t f-f-ools f-f-f-ound a ch-h-ield lo-o-ssst. Ch-chield of gr-re-reif..." For a moment it looks like a branch points to a patch of snow just beyond the darkness, but as you peer at it, there is nothing there. You look up at the battlefield, and your view is surprisingly clear despite all the branches. You see Valline approaching the darkness. You see the mage, his white cloak pinned to him and stained with his own blood, lie bleeding in the web from two crossbow wounds . You see the a writhing mass of plants with three figures, dancing the dance of life and death at its edge, from the looks of it, the dance will soon be danced, for the man beset by two of your companions looks to be reaching his limit... All in all, if not for the nagging feeling that you should do something about that third attacker, the battle appears to have gone pretty well.
.....
At this point the man who just took the axe to the hip sags, as if ready to collapse, groaning as the wound at his hip bleeds freely- but Cath isn't falling for that one, and raises his guard. Immediately (and predictably) the archer lunges for the halfling's throat, only to change his direction a split second before landing the hit and driving his short sword below the halfling's confidently raised guard and into his chest...

------------------------------------------
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Readies an explosive vial...
-10- Attacker 3- Does something, but you can't see...
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)-
-5 AttackerII (non lethal damage=5)- Feints and tries to do bad things to Cath. Succeeds miserably. Cath takes 14 damage.
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath (HP=28).-

[Zarah]

Valline

Not really sure if it'll do anything or not, Valline winds up and throws the pinecone as straight as she can toward the darkness. Without stopping to see if it had any effect, she continued marching toward the shrouded woman.

Valline throws the lighted pinecone toward the darkness (probably accomplishing nothing). I'll make an attack roll for it, just in case.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Still annoyed at her previous failure, Sadie raises her sap to repeat her previous action.

Another sap at Attacker II

[Gecks]

Cath


Wincing against the all-to-familiar pain of the stab wound, Cath lets out a brief chuckle- Well, I guess that will be one more scar to impress the ladies- how many do I have now? I stopped counting years ago- and then turns his attention back to the task at hand, spinning as second axe into his free had with a flourish, and then whirling them both against his opponent, a manic smile frozen on his tiny, dirty face.

Cath quick-draws a second (mundane) axe, and attacks attacker II with both axes as a full round action. If Sadie’s sap has already dispatched the attacker, Cath will instead double move to skirt around the entangle area and make his way towards the darkness which may or may not still contain attacker III.

[Leush]

Valline: You throw your litte 'lantern' into the veil and as it enters the unnatural darkness its light is swallowed up and appears to be lost. Unfazed, you approach the area of gloom, hoping to find the woman. It is so much like a small patch of night, yet somehow not at all as night should be. It is darker, not like the absense of light, but the presense of the opposite. You see a figure amongst the shadows, but as you shuffle closer, it appears that too is another shadow...

Sadie: As the man goes to thrust the sword into the halfling, you see the perfect opportunity to sap him, and swiftly procede to swing for the back of his head. Your swing connects in a well placed- and timed- manner and he sags with all his weight onto the resin, breaking it and falling to the ground as you loom above him.

Cath: You feel the pain, but don't let it keep it from the task in hand. It does seem however, that the task has been completed for you by your companion, and you head in the direction of the darkness, making it roughly half way and noticing nothing unusual, unless you count a battlefield that is dominated by a humungous web, a mass of writhing shrubbery and a blob of shadow and a wizard up a tree unusual....

Everyone: You can see no trace of the third attacker.


---------------------------------------------------------
OOC:

Round 7:
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor- Readies an explosive vial...
-10- Attacker 3- Does something, but you can't see...
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)- Throws light spell (to no avail) and heads towards the darkness.
-5 AttackerII (non lethal damage=5)- Feints and tries to do bad things to Cath. Succeeds miserably. Cath takes 14 damage.
-5 Sadie- Hits and Knocks out attacker 2.
-5 Cath (HP=28).- Heads towards the darkness.

Round 8: Combat Over?
-21 Mage- (X_X)
-20 Chandor-
-10- Attacker 3-
-9 Valline (HP=23-7=16)-
-5 AttackerII- (X_X)
-5 Sadie-
-5 Cath (HP=28).-

[Aecus]

Somewhat startled, Chandor seems to stop for a second as he looks up into the tree and shakes his head slightly. After this moment of hesitation, he replies back to whatever was speaking to him in Sylvan "Then I shall look into this harm, and rectify it if I am able. I am not sure if I understand exactly what has happened here, but I will do my best to find out and solve whatever is causing you grief. Though I do have one question if it is of no offense, do I speak to the voice of the forest itself, or to an inhabitant of the forest?"

There are ancient powers here, and it is best not to antagonize them. I think I may learn more about the world by becoming a friend of the forest than I could through years of study. In addition... it simply would be stupid not to help something that surrounds you for days of travel in any direction, and through which one might want to journey.



Chandor remains in the tree and speaks to it. He still has his readied action for if the third attacker, attacks or casts a spell, but beyond that he makes no threatening gestures, and tries to lower the vial and seem calm and composed.

[Leush]

Chandor: As your tongue finishes jumping through hoops in order to properly pronounce the words (you're sure that every time you speak Sylvan, you learn something new about fey anatomy), the rustle of the canopy answers, forming coherant words once again. Though it seems somewhat less clear than before, slower, less able to keep together. "Ha-a-r-rm is-s always-s ha-har-rm. Ha-ha-ha-r-r-rhm not do-o-ne. F-f-fi-igmen-n-t-ss, we a-are. P-p-pa-ar-arts-s-s o-of-f-f the wh-h-hole. S-seee thi-i-is-ss a-and tha-a-at. G-gr-reif-f-f is the s-s-spl-i-i-t. I-its ch-ch-h-i-ild is-s-ss f-f-f-o-o-u-und..."

[Zarah]

Valline

Straining to make out anything she can, Valline continued to wander back and forth through the darkness, hoping to at least bump into something that could function as a clue. As she did so, she eventually piped up and shouted out to the others, "There's nothing here! I don't know where she went, but she's not here anymore!"

Valline is performing a search check for as much of the shadowed area as she can, looking for any kind of clues.

[Leush]

Valline: You enter the darkness and are immediately surrounded by a night so dark (did I mention that it is really really unnaturally dark?) that even after waiting for your eyes to adjust, you cannot see. You grope around carefully, sinking into the snow as you do. Eventually you feel a different texture and hear a different crunch, and stepping back, scoop up the snow that you had stepped on- it appears to be broken glass and a piece of wood. You retreat from the shadowed area and look at your findings. It appears to be the remains of two vials. Looking around, you find nothing unusual. Although that is not quite true- you find only two sets of footsteps leading east. You do not find any footprints from the third attacker. Then you see Sadie keel over.

Sadie: With the two attackers dispatched and the third nowhere to be seen, you are not entirely sure what to do. You decide to start by tying up the sneaky bugger and manage the task quickly- he is a surprisingly lightweight customer and it is easy to prop him and bind him. You stand to admire your handiwork- you cannot help but ponder how much trouble you would be in back home if this man ever found who you are... Or maybe they already knew? You do not have time to ponder this however, as the light headedness picks up again,your legs buckle under you, and feel yourself falling and your consciousness falling away.
........
OOC: Sadie falls unconscious and Valline finds two broken vials.

[Gecks]

Cath

Dang- looks like the third one might have flown the coop. At least the rest of the night should be pretty interesting now, knowing more hostiles could show up at any moment. Best keep my head up and make sure that mage stays put…

Not sure if combat is officially over yet, but either way Cath is going to double-move towards where the mage fell, leaving Sadie’s tending in the care of more able folks than himself.

[Leush]

Cath: You rush around the area of aggressive vegetation, making as much haste as the snow and your stature allow. As you arrive at where Valline knocked out the mage, you see him collapsed into the web, face up, two crossbow bolts protruding from his prostrate form. His breathing is weak and ragged and he probably won't last long (at all) in his current state, the two puncture wounds allowing his cloak, the web and the ground to be coloured by his blood.

[Aecus]

"Sadie!" Chandor says in a start as he sees his comrade falling. Quickly he climbs down the ladder that he had used to get into the tree, and puts it back into his sack. He leaves the tree behind with an anxious look, though he believes that whatever entity that had been in the tree was gone.

Concerned for his comrade, Chandor tries to make his way over to where Sadie fell and see what happened.

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath kneels down to the injured mage, brow furrowed with indecision.

"I know Sadie is one of ours and that she gets help first, but I think this gent is on the way out! I can try to bandage him up or such, but it might be better if someone who knew what they are doing see to him- I'm as liable to kill 'em as help 'em!"

[Leush]

Chandor: You decend the ladder and rush to aid the fallen rogue. She loos very much like she may be asleep, breathing deeply and slowly, but when you shake her by the shoulder she does not stir, continuing to breath slowly and steadily. You glance over her and notice a black tipped arrow sticking out from her thigh. The arrow has some symbols engraved near the feathers, possibly to destinguish it from others by touch. You feel a slight chill. Once when in Acitia, visiting the city for some festivity or another, you saw a merchant selling this sort of black tipped arrow. When you had walked quite far past him, you had heard a commotion to find that he was being apprehended by the guards and dragged away. Surprised at first, you had learned that he was dealing in poisons. Now, you are quite sure that Sadie is under effects of a poison...

Cath: As you stand undecided, trying to decide whether your actions would result in the mage's survival or his death, the mage draws a ragged breath. His end is close...

Sadie: Unconscious. From the blackness you are suddenly aware that you are no longer conscious. You become aware also, that there is another presence here...

[Leush]

Cath: As you stand undecided, the mage's breath does not get weaker. It stops abruptly and definitively and the insignificant rise and fall of his chest is no more.

Sadie: You feel the world once again. Your instinct is to bolt upright, but you end up flailing for a moment in the soft snow before you manage it.

Chandor: Well, you don't know the nature of the poison, but you know for certain that there is only one poison that acts for such a short amount of time- one that acts immediately, unlike this one. this is certainly not something to be expected.

[Gecks]

Cath
Seeing the mage breath his last, just as he had finally resolved to risk moving him to try to bandage the wounds, Cath lets out a heavy sigh.

Curse me and my addled ol’ brainpan, I tarried too long. Ah well, truly, I would have more likely only speed his death the sooner anyway. This death could fall heavy on us, though, when the druid comes back with reinforcements. When they come they’ll come for blood, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my companions safe when that happens.

At least it should be a fight to remember, when it comes! Now to see how Sadie is making out...

"Are ye awake Lass? I was worried for ye the second time in as many minutes! It would be a sore thing, to lose a good thief to a lucky shot by a poor bowman, and I’d hate to have the blood of two fools on my hands before supper- but make no mistake, if ye had not recovered, neither would our captive friend there."

[Aecus]

"She's been poisoned! I don't know how bad it is or what it does, but she doesn't seem injured, just unconscious! Stay on your guard! The third attacker might still be out there!" Chandor calls out, as he pulls out a warm blanket from his pack and wraps it around Sadie, to keep her warm in the cold while she sleeps.

Looking to the attacker responsible for all the arrows, Chandor smiles darkly and pulls out a set of manacles from his pack and adds on to the attacker's troubles by snapping them in place, holding his arms behind his back.



These are masterwork manacles.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

GASP!

After finally bolting upright, Sadie breathed in deeply. What the hell had just happened?

Looking around, Sadie saw her allies above her and a blanket over her body, which would explain why the warmth she felt around her body. She could hear her allies speaking, but her mind was still addled by the events that'd just occured and so she was not really comprehending them.

"What... where am I?"

Sadie asked at no-one in particular, glancing down at her wrist out of mystery and confusion.

[Leush]

As the rush of the battle dies away as if it had never been, the web becomes brittle and begins to crumble onto the snow, releasing the mage's cooling corpse.

The darkness fades into light, becoming an unremarkable patch of snow, criss-crossed by Valline's deep footprints.

The branches cease to grope for passing animals and the shoots that had sprung from the earth begin to droop and wilt before your eyes, exhausted by their premature awakening. The harm that is not meant...

Valline stands, apparently deep in thought. Her face is turned towards the depth of the forest...

Cath: Shaking your head with a twinge of guilt- for though you are a mercenary, you are neither heartless nor unnecessarily bloodthirsty- you head towards where Sadie is... In a most unexpected, but perhaps fortuitous turn of events, Sadie seems to have awoken. As you approach her, you notice that something is slightly off about her, perhaps because your senses are heightened by the awareness of mortality that is currently upon you. It is not the disorientation...
The irises of rogues hazel eyes have three barely noticeable streaks of yellow. She also appears to be wearing a delicate looking ribbon around one wrist which you were sure was absent before. It is white with patterns of swirling black woven into it. It is also relatively inconspicuous.

Chandor: You tend briefly to Sadie, but not knowing the nature of the poison, and seeing that it appears non-lethal, limit your action to wrapping her in a blanket to keep for from freezing at least. Gritting your teeth and bearing an ever so slightly malevolent twinkle in your eyes, you dig up your manacles and twisting the unconscious archer's arms behind his back secure the binding that even a master would find hard to break.

Sadie: You feel distinctly better. Though still painfully aware of the wound sustained from the arrow, you no longer feel the unwholesome weakness that you felt after the shot. Looking down at your wrist, you are unsure whether to be surprised, but it is still wrapped around it, though sense tells you that it should not be.... Otherwise you feel quite normal.

[Aecus]

"Sadie, I'm glad your awake. Don't try to strain yourself too much, you've been poisoned. I don't know by what though." Chandor says down to Sadie. Turning towards Cath, Chandor asks "Can you keep Sadie and our captive company here for a second? I need to check something out. Something... happened while I was up in the tree and I want to inspect it."

Without waiting for an answer, Chandor whistles sharply, and then looks down as a small brown ball of fur pats his leg. Picking up his familiar and placing it on his shoulder, Chandor walks off towards where the trees had pointed, intent on searching the area for whatever the trees might have meant.


Chandor is going to take 10 on a search check for a 15 to see if he can find anything strange about the area where the trees were pointing.

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline shook her head as she snapped out of her slight daze, then quickly made her way toward the others.

"My apologies," she said, "but my mind was focused on the mystery of our third assailant. I couldn't figure out where she had gone, but I did find the remains of a couple vials she must have used." She paused, but quickly jumped in before anyone else could add something, "Not that it helps with a poisoned comrade very much.

"I do have antitoxins, should they be needed. Assuming the nature of the poison is one that could be cured in such a mundane way," she noted, putting a hand to her chin. "Which somehow, I doubt."

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Wiping her brow, Sadie began to regain her composure as the situation became clearer to her.

"That was one weird dream..."

Looking at the small black wristband still mysteriously wrapped around her wrist, Sadie's mind tried to solve the puzzle; that definitely wasn't there when she fell asleep.

Listening to her cleric ally, Sadie felt slightly nervous.

"Couldn't we try it at least anyway? This poison could do much worse than put me to sleep!"

[Leush]

Chandor: You head over to where the tree had indicated and make a quick search. You see nothing unusual. You see no footprints in the area and no broken branches (beyond that higher up that is probably damage due to the blizzard). You see no bits of material snagged, no fur, no feathers and no man-made objects. You see no dead animals or wilted plants. A sense of disappointment wells up inside you, and you know it to be your familiar's feelings. He too has found nothing. Then you feel its exitement and sense of victory. You see blurry flashes in your mind, a grossly magnified image of a cloaked figure. It darts back and forth and and points into the forest. You know that the rat has found a human scent is only minutes fresh and it belongs to a human. You take a step in the directionpointed by the familiar and notice a tiny patch of inconspicuous white fabric upon the snow. Reaching down to pick it up, you notice that it is skewered on an inexplicably sharp woody protrusion that barely pokes from above the snow.

----------------------------------------
OOC:
I missed the note on taking ten when rolling search, but did take it into account when I reread your post and wrote mine.

[Aecus]

"Keep watch Volstin" Chandor says to his familiar as he bends down to inspect the buried object. This might take too long to uncover... I have to improvise. Reaching again into his pack, Chandor takes out another vial, but this time one containing a clear colored liquid. Along with the vial Chandor takes out a set of firemaking tools. Unscrewing the top of the vial, Chandor pours a small amount of it on the snow around where the object is. Lightly fastening the top back on the vial, Chandor takes his fire making tools and sets the liquid alight.

As focusd on his task as he is, Chandor neglects to inform his teamates about his find.


Chandor is taking out a vial of oil, and is going to light small amounts of it at a time to melt the snow away. If it becomes necessary, he'll use more than one vial if this method works.

[Gecks]

Cath

"Aye, Chandor, as ye wish"

Cath is a little reluctant to to leave the mage's side, both because he wishes to give the mage a decent burial, and because he wishes to give the mages body a decent looting beforehand. That said, chander was a smart man with things to figure out, and Cath was content enough to play guard-dog while the man went to work. Sliding his axes back into their holders, he moves next to Sadie, Valline, and the captive, crouching down and gazing into the forest, eyes peeled just incase the druid was poking around- though in his heart he felt the druid would be back, much later, at a much less opportune time, with reinforcements.

[Leush]

Cath: Having fought off the instinct to loot and bury, you crouch next to the other party members and scan the forest. You see nothing unusual, although you do catch sight of a crow or raven (you can never tell which one's which) landing on a branch not too far off, its gaze shifting between you and the corpse.

Chandor: As you light the oil, it gives a "whoosh" and the area is engulfed in flames. The snow begins to melt, and as the oil burns deep gullies for itself, the snow around it collapses onto it and extinguishes the flames. That's okay however, since a fair layer has molten and there is very little left here. What is revealed is quite unusual: The snow here is roughly a foot and a half deep, underneath is a thick root, which splits into four. It appears to belong to nearby cedar. There is a thin and sharp shoot that itself looks very root-like has grown from this root. It is this shoot that barely reached above the snow, and it is this shoot that has skewered the small patch of fabric...

Party: Chandor's burning something again.....

[Zarah]

Valline

After listening to Sadie's suggestion, Valline gave a slight shrug as she reached into a pouch and pulled out another small vial. She spent a few seconds looking it over, then nodded turned back to the others.

"I suppose it's as good as any idea we have right now," she said, carefully handing it to Sadie.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Taking the small vial from Valline, Sadie offered a quick nod of thanks as she opened it up and consumed the contents.

After downing the anti-toxin, Sadie let out a sigh.

"I think I might've recognised those guys..."

[Gecks]

Cath

“Did ye know them lass? I had them pegged as your average forest bandits at first, but the amount of magic they had- and the white cloak dress code- had me reconsidering things.”

Cath brushes blood-colored slush off of his feet absently as he speaks, his gaze still passing warily around the forest as he does so.

[Aecus]

Stroking his chin in thought, Chandor returns to his companions to ask. "I may have found something, but I wanted to check back with you first before I continued my investigation. How is Sadie doing?"

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Looking at the approaching Chandor, Sadie sighed a breath of relief.

"I'm still alive, to say the least.

"Anyway, I think I recognised those guys. Back in Avin, they're one of the big guard groups; tough people when it comes to law enforcement. I mean, they got rid of half of the criminals in Dimal! ...although I was just a peasant so it's not exactly like I had an intimate knowledge of the criminal underworld."

Shifting her eyes slightly, Sadie attempted to maintain her façade of innocence.

"Anyway, it's weird that they came all the way out here; this is way outside their operating network."

Bluff check for those of you suspicious enough to raise eyebrows at Sadie's inadequete-for-a-rogue lying skills and not trusting of your teammates. Shame on you.

[roll0]

[Gecks]

Cath

“Law enforcement types? Elite? Attacking visitors to a strange magical place, without warning, without identifying themselves, and refusing to even parley when the tide turned against them? Well, lad and lasses, I have to say, we may have stumbled into an interesting situation indeed! I wonder if they were guarding the clearing, or if we interrupted an investigation…”

Cath grins amiably with everyone around him, apparently delighted with this turn of events.

[Zarah]

Valline

Seeming to completely ignore Sadie's suspicion, Valline's eyes went wide as she listened intently. The second she was given a chance to jump in, she took it.

"Law enforcement?" she echoed in a concerned tone before taking a moment to contemplate her actions. Once she realized the weight of the situation, a hand raised up to comfort her brow and she closed her eyes. While turning away and slowly taking a few steps away from the group, she muttered, "Moradin help me, I think I just became a criminal..."

[Slamexo]

Sadie

The antitoxin having taken its effect by now, Sadie lifted herself out from under the warm blanket. Couldn't lie around all day doing nothing, after all!

"So, how many are there left? We didn't kill them all, did we?"

[Gecks]

Cath

"Naw, of the three who jumped us, we have one escaped, one captured, and one in need of burial- which, if ye wants ta be realistic, is prob’ly the worst possible outcome in terms of our future safety.

That said, I think we should probably get back to cleaning up this mess and figuring out what’s going on. Sadie, if ye be up for it, I could use yer keen eyes- lets drag that mage’s body over hear, and search him and our captive for valuables or useful items- the mage has no more need for them, and we’d best make sure our captive doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve ‘fore he wakes. Valentine, could you help us identify if any of their items is magic-like? I know Chandor is investigat’n something over yonder, but afterwards we should all get together and figure out how we are going to question the captive- maybe one of ye spellcasters has something that could grease the wheels a bit, as far as getting him to co-operate, or at least make it harder for him to lie? I ain't sure if any of us would make a great inquisitor without some magical help.

Also, Valentine, it would ease my conscious some if we could do something proper with the mages body- maybe you could say a few words, and then maybe we could put up a stone carne over him or something? This frozen ground be too hard for digging, and I think we’ve riled up these woods enough already without building a pyre, but I would like to do something for him. "

With that Cath stands up and walks over the mages body, and begins the somewhat distressing process of dragging his body towards the rest of the group- face down, by one arm. Cath’s exceptional strength, but low body weight, make it a jerking, start and stop affair, with the mages head bouncing off several tree trunks, stumps, and rocks, despite the halfling’s best efforts to be careful.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Nodding a reply to Cath's suggestion, Sadie moved over and started looking through the dead body for anything of potential use or value. Not wanting to linger too long with searching through a corpse, Sadie moved quickly over to the unconcious fellow's body, checking for any other loot and hoping to keep anything written down out of sight of the others until she had a chance to check it over herself.

Search check on the dead folk, not taking 20 here: [roll0]

And a search of the unconcious fellow sine I doubt he's hiding anything that well, plus a sleight of hand if deemed necessary to hide stuff from the others during search.

Search: [roll1]
Sleight of Hand: [roll2]

[Leush]

Cath: You successfully complete your slightly grizzly task, and the corpse does not seem much worse for wear, although after Valline was finished, it would not be an easy task to make it more of a mess. There is however a bloody trail in the snow and on the trees that tells of the dead man's journey.

Sadie: Whilst you are a near-notorious theif and general criminal, you are not one for the really dirty jobs and aim to finish quickly with the corpse. You look quickly at the face and it is the same in death as it was in life- harsh and neither young nor old. You'd give it between thirty and fourty. There is blood caked upon his brow and two arrows sticking out of the wounds which seem to have drained his lifeblood. You give the corpse a quick pat down and discover nothing, howeve he did carry a light pack, containing provisions for two days, and nothing else. At his belt he has several objects, including dagger, two pouches, wand and sling. You also remove his badge. On the back it reads; 'Cpt. Arthur Rankins.' By all appearances, they did not feel it was necessary to hide their identity here.
On the other man has a much more interesting arsenal. He appears younger than the first and his mouth, even as he as he wonders in the land of nod, is twisted in a sneer. You find that his arms consist of a shortsword, particularly well made shortbow, three daggers, one of which was hidden in his left boot and the other in a chink in his armor. Across his chest he carries two thunderstones, two smokesticks, two bags of caltrops, two sets of manacles, three vials and a quiver with three different compartments. One is mostly full, one contains three black feathered arrows, the other contains two green feathered arrows, two blue feathered arrows, eight red feathered arrows and two yellow feathered arrows. He also carries a small pack with jerky enough for two days, a large flask, and five vials full of liquid. On the back it reads 'Cpt. Ethman Davies'.
The surnames are common enough, but you have heard of no individuals going by these names.

[Zarah]

Valline

After hearing Cath's proposal, she raised an eyebrow and simply replied with, "My name is Valline." She paused for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the body before them. "But... Good idea."

Once Cath was finished dragging the mage over to the rest of the group, Valline knelt down beside it and placed her hand on its shoulder. She closed her eyes and drifted into silence for a moment before eventually raising her head and standing back up. With her hands clasped before her, she then raised her head to the heavens and spoke, "While your life may have been cut short on this mortal plane, the gods shall guide your spirit onward to eternal life in the heavens. May you find peace and happiness beyond the veil of physical life and may the gods protect you now and forever more."

After she was finished, Valline turned to Cath and added, "Now we can lay his body to rest."

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Returning to the rest of the group, Sadie flashed two black notebooks.

"Well, it looks like that we weren't their prime target, unless by chance one of us happens to be someone called Aeloth the Deciever. Also, we apparently need to watch out for pixies, and some guy called SF."

Willingly passing the notebooks around to anyone who requests them, Sadie asks them all:

"So, what now?"

Contents of the notebook, a la Leush.

The Mage's Book:

"If you have the snake, sword and mountain etched into your arm, if you cannot remember writing this, it is likely that the pixies have erased your memory. You are Captain Arthur Rankins. Your mission is to seek out and apprehend Aeloth the Deceiver at all costs and before all else. You are to guard against her wicked magicks. Do not let your lack of memory stop you. All shall be revealed. Tell no one of your mark.

SF

The Archer's Book:

"If you have the Hawk, sword and mountain etched into your arm, if you have forgotten your crimes and can sleep at night, then the pixies have bestowed the gift of oblivion. You are Captain Ethman Davies- it would be wise for you keep your name and mark to yourself. Your mission is to seek out and apprehend Aeloth the Deceiver at all costs and before all else. You are to track her down put her down. Redeem yourself an all shall be revealed.

SF

[Gecks]

Cath
After requesting and reading- slowly, with lips moving- the notebooks, Cath hands them back to Sadie (or to whoever else wishes to read them), a sad look on his face.

“Poor devils- if their memories were already gone, then attacking us like that makes a lot more sense”

Cath starts clearing an area to erect a cairn, beginning to scrap snow away from an 8’ (or so) area with the flat of his axe, for want of a better tool.

“You know, the notebook mentions that ‘Aeloth the Deceiver’ is a she- what do ye think the odds are that our elvish patron and Aeloth are one and the same? Maybe we are the bad guys, and they were right to attack us. Looking at this bloody ruin we’ve made of at least one Champions for Justice, if we are working on the side of the wicked, at least we know we’re doing a bloody bang-up job of it!”

Cath works a little longer, brow furrowed, the characteristic smile far away from his face. Suddenly he looks up with a startled expression on his face

“Ye know, lads and lasses, I just had a startling thought- bear with me though- it’s hard for me to explain what goes on in me noggin to others. But the thought does occur to me, that if I was going on a mission where I might lose my memory, well, then I would think I would write myself my own note to remind me who I was and what I needed to do if the worst happened. Well- ta be honest, I would probably not think to write anything at all, and just bumble along into trouble in my usual way, but I digest…

Anyway, I was thinking, since someone else wrote their notebooks for them, maybe it was actually written by someone who used magic or something to wipe their memories, planted those books on them, and then let them loose here as guards.

Maybe all of us are working for the bad guys, ye know?”

Cath looks around for a second, then smiles, shrugs, and goes back to work.

Cath works as quickly and efficiently as a brain-damaged halfling can, first clearing an area for a stone cairn, then looking for stones to use to build it, assuming of course there are any suitable stones to be found…

[Aecus]

Chandor

"I have something to say everyone. While I was in the tree, I may have conversed with some sort of spirit of the forest. Or, in light of the new information, it might even have been a pixie; though as the branches of the tree actually moved I think the former is more probably the case. Apparently, an event of great agony to the forest happened at the place where I was investigating." Chandor says suddenly as he ends his silence, having been deep in thought while everyone was preparing to bury the dead man.

"In that place there was a ripped off piece of cloth held by a root. If I am correct, then that cloth might very well be a part of the mystery we have encountered here. The cloth could be related to this Aeloth. I promised the forest spirit that I would try to do something about the violation of the forest, and in light of the attack on us and the evidence of the forest's power, I think it might be prudent for us to look into this affair." As Chandor speaks, he starts to walk over to the cloth and the shoot, showing his companions of what he speaks about.

[Leush]

Cath: Your damaged brain considers many possibilities- some that a healthy brain would not consider, but then who says that you're dealing with a sane opponent? In any case you clear a place for the body, shovelling the snow aside slowly but surely. You clear a patch more than big enough for the corpse, but you see no stones with which to build the cairn, no matter how you squint and where you probe, there is not a single stone. Upon the ground you see only the mixture of needles and the remaining snow...

The party: Where Chandor leads you is a patch of forest some fifty to a hundred feet away from where you are. There the snow has been thoroughly trodden, molten and wiped away- the result of Chandor's thorough investigation. What is left is a patch of ground roughly two by two feet across. A slender, yet woody shoot with neither leaf nor branch grows vertically upwards from a thick root passes through this patch of ground. The tip of the root has impaled upon it a small rag of white fabric. If there was still snow cover here, it would probably poke some three or so centimetres above it.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Nodding in thought at Cath's suggestion, Sadie agreed with him.

"Yes, I had considered those possibilities Cath, minus the one about us being the bad guys. If that's true, it's probably a good thing we kept one of them alive. We can find out if he really did have his memory wiped."

Taking a brief glance at the area Chandor had pointed out, Sadie turned her attention back to the unconcious member of the trio. Taking some rope out from her bag and slicing off a length, she headed over to tie him up and try to get some info out of him.

"I'm just going to go see if this guy can shed some light."

Sadie shall cut off however much rope you think is appropriate and then go tie up the unconcious bloke.

Use Rope: [roll0] (Myth-weavers is down so I'll write in the bonus for the check here when it's back up.)

And then give the other one a good poke or heal check, whichever one it is to stop him from being unconcious.

Heal: [roll1]

[Leush]

Sadie: You prepare to make certain that the attacker who survived and did not escape does not do so as soon as he comes about. However, you notice that he's already handcuffed and tied up- something that the others must have done whilst you were out, and with a pair of handcuffs like that he isn't going to be going to be attacking anyone any time soon- elite agent or not.

In any case you try to hasten his wakening (you know that after a good whack to the noggin it's usually out of your hands without a proper healer, but it doesn't hurt to try), using what methods you know, which usually involve particularly pungent aromas or cold water or pain- but here you're limited to snow, so it requires a little creativity. In any case, a good poke elicits no emotions, collar full of snow elicits a low moan and sharp slap causes him to mumble disjointedly.

"Shh... General Feyfire... Knows... The pie..." Are the words he says. Before going silent again. In your experience, they usually regain lucidity fairly soon afterwards, though not being an expert you cannot tell.

You sharpen at the sound of the name- your hairs pretty much stand on ends. When you were still a wee child Avin- you remember the news, for there was quite a celebration throughout the nation to follow- after an especially fierce series of battles captured Tarrge. The victory was attributed partly to an officer by the name of Sappho Feyfire. General Feyfire. The only general in Avin's military who is also an elf. It would be just your luck....

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Her eyes widening at the mention of General Feyfire, Sadie started to get a little excited as she shook the handcuffed man vigorously, with accompanying slaps.

"Oi! Wake up! What were you just on about?!"

Another heal in there just in case.

[roll0]

[Leush]

Sadie: It appears that the best way to heal a wound to the head is to shake up the content till it starts shaking on its own, for that is what you do right before his eyes snapped open.

"Huh? He groans.

He blinks and takes a moment to focus before trying to get up with a jerk, and finding himself well and truly ensnared in the bindings upon him. Then he realises that you are right in front of him and his eyes widen and then quickly narrow.

"You! What are you doing awake? Doesn't matter really, you've come too late to help your mistress. She's coming with us. As her associates you're under arrest for theft, treason and assault upon officers of the law." He states coldly and gives another tug against the ropes- again to no avail. "Oh, I know how it must seem now, but non of the Deceiver's little minions are going to walk free once we're done. Make it easy on yourselves and hand yourselves in."
-------
OOC: He was going to wake up in the next half hour anyway, and I thought it would be a pity to keep the game waiting just for the sake of rules lawyerness. Besides, its probably been long enough, since you know, there isn't an actual clock in game outside of battle and overland movement. Also, apologies for the poor grammar in the last post.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Letting out a small sigh, Sadie gave him one last look.

"You're one of those types, aren't you?"

Only casually listening to his response as she turned around, she headed back to the others.

"Well, the good news is that our friend over there was quite the chatty character. The bad news is that we seem to be being played for saps."

Relaying any questions the others might've had about what she just heard from their captive, she looked at them again.

"So, what do we do?"

[Aecus]

"I believe we should follow the trail that the forest has sent us on." Chandor says as he makes a motion over to the impaled cloth. "It seems obvious that the pixies their book mentioned, maybe in the employ of this woman, have enchanted these men. It is very likely that these two events are connected. Though that does bring up a question."

Turning towards the man Chandor asks him "I'm simply curious. What even makes you think that we are minions of this 'deceiver', or even know who this is? For all we could tell, you were the ones that attacked us first with deadly force and without warning. It is more likely that you are the minions, and not we, from an outsider's point of view."

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath walks up beside Chandor, nodding in agreement.

"He has a point, lad. If the best help this ‘Absinthe the Deluder’ character can find is the likes of me, I would say she isn't worth your time anyway. You and yours, seem to be the heavier hitters here."

[Leush]

The tied up man studies the halfling and wizard in turn, then smirks and rolls his eyes. "You mean to tell me that you, a group of heavily armed individuals just happened to be taking a walk through a deadly and remote wilderness in the middle of winter, when you wondered upon a locala so well hidden that it can't be found without prior knowledge? And that you just happen to do it at the exact moment that your mistress needed your aid? And you expect me to believe that?" He pauses.

"And don't tell me what is worth our time and what isn't." He adds with more than a little self righteousness.

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath shakes his head disbelievingly, eyes flashing with anger.

“Ye blooming bloody fool, do ye think anyone would actually, knowingly agree to work for someone named “The Deceiver?” Do ye think someone named “The Deceiver” would walk up to a fellow on the street and say ‘Hello, my name is The Deceiver, would you like to join me in an equitable and fair business relationship, in order to further my nefarious agenda?’ I happen to be the dumbest person I’ve ever met, and even I wouldn’t take that deal.

We were sent here, but if it was this ‘Deceiver’ lady that sent us, she bloody didn’t well identify herself, and she sure as bloody-hellfire didn’t tell us we were coming here to get ambushed by a pack of vicious blooming morons in white cloaks. If ye had just stopped to talk to us before attacking- hell, if ye had just identified yerself and demanded we surrender- ye would not be here in chains, and ye mission would not be in shambles. Ye failed, son- an what’s worse, ye failed fighting folks who prob’ly would have willingly done whatever they could to help ye, if they only knew who ye were and what ye were about.”

With that Cath spits at the prisoner’s feet, turns, and walks away in disgust, leaving him to any further questioning Chandor might have. Rejoining his other allies, face still red with anger, he continues, loud enough for both Chandor and the prisoner to hear.

“I don’t like work without pay, but I am thinking whatever these bloody fanatics were trying to guard against is prob'ly something that should be stopped. Now, I don’t claim to be no noble soul or nothing, but then again it looks like the noble souls up and got themselves soundly defeated before this thing- whatever it be- really even got started, and now I don’t think I could live with meself if I just walked away from this. I think we should finish the white-cloak’s mission- assuming we can even figure out what their mission was."

Cath lowers his voice, his anger visibly draining from him as quickly as it had formed.

"Of course, I don’t even speak for meself half the time, much less the rest of ye. Do ye think we should be concerning ourselves with this Deceiver business, or de ye think we should be thinking about trying to get away clean from this mess?”

[Aecus]

Reaching a hand up to his companions shoulder Chandor says "Calm Cath, I do not think getting angry at him will help. And I doubt he will believe us, he is one who believes he knows all the facts, when in truth he probably knows very little. It is hard for those such as him to acknowledge they are wrong."

"Okay then, I have some questions of my own. Anything we say you won't believe, and you probably won't answer any questions pertinent to yourself, so would you mind answering some questions about what we are supposedly doing? Who exactly is this deceiver? Is it a human, an elf? Where has she committed her crimes? What are her goals? Why do you refer to her as "the Deceiver? And most pertinent, what exactly is this place and why do you think that no one can find it without already knowing where it is?" Chandor asks the man as he sighs slightly.

Continuing on he says "Because certainly, that is the most circular logic I have ever heard. Such a place would fall out of the minds and reach of men so easily over the years, that it would require a dedicated organization in order to keep track of it; or it would mean that the magic is weak enough that simply knowing the general area and having the idea of the place in mind would be enough."


"If we are who you think we are, then we should already know this. If we aren't who you think we are, then telling us could only help.

[Leush]

The man looks visibly angered by Cath's words but draws his lips into a thin line and says nothing till the halfling has finished.

"Tsk. I think you either underestimate human idiocy." He notes sadly and adds under his breath. "Even after accusing us of being stupid."
.........
The man nods and answers Chandor with a strange smile. "This game, I can play. Let's start with this marvelous memento of times gone by... We don't have a clue, per se, what it does. We do know that it was activated roughly four hours ago... I'll get back to you about that shortly. Next, to you, servants, minions... Helpers... It doesn't matter to Aeloth the Deceiver- one or the other- were called upon to act as protectors should she require it. As for the Deceiver, she has many guises and I don't know the one in which she appeared to you, to us, she looks a little like a halfling, but looks count only for so much when you are dealing with a demon." He stops, clearly enjoying himself a little too much for someone in his position.

""She is the last demon of Sibbin..." He continues. "Which if you know anything about Sibbin is a plenty good reason (theft, murder, piracy on the high seas and treason aside) to want her destroyed. Now let's combine those factors. A demon would know the location of places lost to men, a demon who wants to see Avin destroyed would be most glad to activate a weapon that would give it the power to carry out its goal. As to where the crimes were commited- I can assure you that if they weren't commited either on our soil or against our citizens, we probably wouldn't be investigating them in the first place to find the culprit." He stops again.

"Speaking of culprits, you understand despite my unfortunately inconvenient position, I'm going to have to take you in.

Valline & Chandor:It's common knowledge that Avin and Tuqre conquered a nation called Sibbin roughly three centuries ago. It is also written that Sibbin was inhabited by Demons. You know however that this is a myth endogenous to the north. There is another story, whose moral is teamwork, that speaks of Sibbin as the only nation that survived the end of the world, however as a people they were divided between ruling over the lesser nations and helping them stand upon their own feet. Disagreement turned into infighting into full out civil war. Eventually the war was over and they had resolved their difference, deciding to withdraw from the world. They didn't notice that Avin and Tuqre had become strong and they had become weak and were over-run and crushed before they could rally a defense. Then this is another legend of Sibbin....

Chandor:There is nothing in real history books regarding the destruction of Sibbin. Only the fact and a date range of between 80 and 123 AEW. You do however know far more about the matter of General Feyfire: General Sappho Feyfire is an example of both gaping oversights and sheer genius. Born in Frin when Mydia was still part of Avin, her family (a minor noble house in their own right) fled the rebellion and settled in Mio Hall. Feyfire persued a military career upon coming of age and has been a major nuisance to both Manta and Alamagra, scoring a number of minor victories and becoming an expert in guerilla warfare. She was later transferred to the northern front where she had a major role in capturing Tarrge and Aviria. It is rumoured that a number of villages were burned to the ground for allegedly harbouring resistance members. Whether this was the case is widely debated but hasn't been proven due to the difficulties in communication across the border. In any case you know also that Feyfire is often known to strike from unexpected angles, use unshielded mages and sacrifice seemingly important units...

[Aecus]

"You do realize your logic falls apart? It is rather simple actually my good man. You found this place, thus is it is not nearly as hard as you make it out to be. Besides, if you really were watching us you would have seen what we were doing around the pillars. And if you had, you would have seen us scared to even approach them, even resorting to throwing snowballs to see if approaching them was bad. If we had the ability and the knowledge to activate them, let alone understand what they were, I very much so doubt we would be throwing snowballs at them. Regardless, thank you for telling me as much." Chandor says as he gestures back to the pillars.

Taking a few steps forward, Chandor walks towards the twig and cloth, and carefully takes the cloth from the twig, and places it in his haversack. Turning towards his allies he says "I believe we should leave my good fellows. Based on what I know of their commander, if such folks really are after us we can easily expect another attack forthright. In fact this initial attack might even be a diversion. Though, a second thought does come to mind. Given the convoluted nature of their commander's usual plans, we might even be pawns in her scheme to strike at the deceiver. I would not put it past her to have hired us in the first place in order to achieve her aims."

Looking around, Chandor picks up a fallen tree branch with leaves on the end. Holding it up Chandor says "I do not know how much it will help, but we should cover our tracks as we move out. Even something as simple as using the leaves to sweep away the tracks might delay them, especially if we can find a game trail or such. Either way, I think we should move while we think of what to do." Turning towards the captive Chandor remarks offhandedly "By the way, if you don't struggle we shall treat you fine, but if you do we may have to knock you out again. Despite what you may think we are not bad people, but we don't particularly like getting pin cushioned by arrows or poisoned."

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Only paying half attention to the conversation at hand, Sadie had had her hand on her chin whilst thinking the whole time, trying to unravel the puzzle.

Let's review: these guys work for general Feyfire, which matches the initials in the notebook. It's possible that their memories were erased, given the instructions.

She paused at this moment, heading over to the prisoner and looking over his arms, rolling up his sleeves as needed, for the symbol mentioned in the notebooks.

They're a little more intent on capturing us than normal, but unless I'm remembering incorrectly they've got the guards' insigina, so it's unlikely that they're minions of the Deciever here to capture us.

However, if they were minions trying to get us away so that the Deciever could slip in without interference, by leaving the area we'd be doing exactly as we wanted them to. Therefore, the logical approach would be for us to stay for a little bit longer.

Nodding to herself, Sadie spoke aloud to the others.

"I don't think we should go yet."

[Leush]

Sadie: You go to roll the prisoner's sleeves up and find that whilst your prisoner follows you with his eyes, he takes no actions to help or harm- though he is in no position to do either. You roll up his sleeves and find no mark on his forearms. You do not despair and start by rolling up the left sleeve- and there, on his shoulder is the mark. Indeed, etched into his shoulder is a triange facing up- the line is thin, but looks painfully deep. Down the middle of the line is a shape that can only be a sword or dagger. Above it a bird spreads its jagged wings. This man has the mark of Captain Ethman Davies.

At this point the prisoner looks to Chandor and speaks up. "You're welcome to knock me out- saves me walking... On the other hand I do have instructions to watch this place and make sure that no one- and nothing leaves." He throws a meaningful glance at the columns. "It would really interfere with my orders if I was unconscious. Also increase my chances of being eaten by wolves- or worse."

[Gecks]

Cath

After pausing long enough to make sure everyone who had an opinion had a chance to state it, Cath looks up at his two companions and speaks:

“Well, I’m sorry Chandor but looks like if we’re going to be a democracy, then the vote is 2-1 to stay here, at least for a little while. I say we go back to the columns, and do a little bit more aggressive investigation. Maybe we can have our captive friend over there take a lead role in finding out how dangerous the area is.”

Cath’s face suddenly falls, and he looks back to the area he cleared of snow, and the mage’s corpse he had set cross-armed on the cold ground within it. When he speaks again, his voice is quiet and sad; the voice of lonely child.

“I’m afraid I’ve travelled that short road to my wit’s end. I can’t find any rocks to build a cairn for him, and even if the ground wasn’t frozen too hard to bury him, I didn't think to bring a shovel. Does anyone have any ideas what to do with him? He was a conniving, vicious little sneak, but I’d still rather not leave him here for the wolves. After all, if he was as delusional as our friend here, he died thinking he was fighting for something worthwhile; I guess that be as good an end as any, and one deserving a little respect.”

[Leush]

Cath: You feel somewhere between killing a man and writing an ode. You sigh and look back at where the mage lies. His corpse lies perfectly still, the greenish threads in his white cloak particularly visible at this moment in time... Wait a second... His cloak has no green threads. You make a double take and notice young shoots growing over the body at a rate quick enough to be visible by the unaded eye, intertwining and covering the dead mage. As the greenery slowly weaves its way over the corpse, it begins to sit lower and lower in the ground.

The prisoner follows the halfling's gaze and jerks against the bindings as he sees what's happening to his comrade, trying to move forwards.

"What are you doing to him? You kill us, one by one, and now you want our flesh? We broke non of your rules, did no harm to Muoris, and still you plague us?" He whispers- a stark contrast to his arrogant, almost jovial tone of a moment ago. It is clear from the way his eyes focus into space that he isn't talking to any of you.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Having been paying attention to the captive's movements, Sadie looked at him confused as she noticed him talking to no-one in particular. As she saw the corpse melding into the earth out of the corner of her eye, her mind began to comprehend the situation.

"Why're you talking to the forest? You're not native to this area."

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath pulls back in momentary surprise, and then sinks down on his haunches to consider the spectacle before him, face tilted slightly, expression concerned yet philosophical.

"Ye gods of old, I'm not sure 'devoured by greenery' was the type of respect I was hope'n fer. These woods be a strange, cursed place! If we fall here, will we all be pulled under the ground and disappear, like a forgotten dream? I ain't got any illusions of being remembered after I pass, but still- this ain't a proper way for a body to be treated."

Eyes shifting to the captive, Cath continues:

"Ye best explain yer self, like the Lass suggested, friend. I don't hurt folk who can't fight back, so in all honesty ye have nothing ta fear from me- but considering what is happening before us, staying bound on the ground for a prolonged conversation may not be a safe thing to do here. Best speak plain and quickly, so we can be on our way."

[Leush]

What the prisoner says: Your prisoner snaps out of whatever grim reverie he had fallen into.

"Speak to the forest?" He made a motion as if to spit at the ground, but caught himself at the moment, possibly out of superstitious fear. He seems to ignore the question of his origin. "I can speak at the forest, but it never listens. It's a forest for Kord's sake! And if it does listen, it does a damn good job of pretending not to hear."

He looks viciously at Cath. "I've told you no lie thus far. We found that Aeloth's efforts were focused on this area, so we despatched all available units to form a snare. It all went perfectly until we started being attacked by stone men- and the blizzards- always blizzards. We lost too many good men to them and then, when we thought our net was too thin, we find her stumbling through the forest, weakened by the blizzard and whatever magic she unleashed, right into our hands. We thought it would end there- that with the Deceiver in our grasp, the remains of her followers would be easy to round up... Looks like I was wrong."

He gazes back at the corpse, which continues to sink into the earth, the shoots thickening and spreading, covering skin and cloth alike.
"Rankins was rash and quick to judge, and maybe, at some level deserved his violent death, but not this..." He cuts off.

Sadie: You get the distinct impression that at last the man is beginning to become a little afraid... You are also quite convinced that the man's anger is genuine (though can you be sure?).

Chandor: How unsettling- You didn't even begin to suspect that this could happen- you thought it but a theory, and a flawed one at that...
Demiocus had only taught a handful of lessons, but the ones he taught you remember as if they were yesterday. When talking of how a soul's energy can be channelled after death, he waved away the idea of one's faith being strong enough to alone determine what would occur. The location was important. The forest for example, though forbidden from interfering in the affairs of men, may lay claim to those who are recognised as gone from the mortal plane, feeding directly off the energy. It is this that you may be witnessing right now. An entity whose consciousness is sustained by the consumption of the souls of the living...

[Gecks]

Cath

"Wait, did ye just say ye had already captured this Abtuse The Deceiver, and ye were just cleaning up the remains of her followers when ye jumped us? When did ye capture her? As far as ye know, do yer men still have her? My position on staying here and guarding the pilars might be change'n if this Ale-goth character is already in chains..."

[Leush]

Cath: Aeloth!" The captive corrects sharply. "Like I told you a few minutes ago, that is exactly what we're doing. We found her when the blizzard died down this morning- and I doubt that even she can get past our measures. That we made sure." He seems to begin to regain a touch of his past smugness.

[Gecks]

Cath

“Well, I think whatever is going on, we’ve sat here talking about it long enough. I want to know what is going on with those pillars, and I think it’s worth doing a little unfocused messing about to get a better idea what is going on with them. Come on, friend, I won’t put you unnecessarily into harms way, but I want you near, just incase there is something about this area ye aren’t saying.”

With that, Cath grabs a loose end of the rope used to tie up the prisoner, pulls him roughly to his feet. Wincing with the strain of lifting the prisoner, Cath looks down at his wounded side, and curses under his breath.

“Valline, would ye be able to do something with my wounds? I am afraid our friend here got in a lucky shot- but a good one- and I would rather be closer to full health if I am going to provoke whatever magic surrounds those columns.”

[Aecus]

"I agree Cath, as we have seen so far the forest has far more power than any of us had thought. Whatever purpose the forest has for us here, and to be certain it has a purpose in allowing any of us to get this far into it, it probably isn't being served by staying in one place. We both know we stumbled up to these pillars through an accident, but I am nearly certain now that it is not an accident, and rather it is the will of the forest. It has proven that it has a conscious mind, and even a strong power about it." Chandor says as he grabs onto the rope along with Cath and helps him support the prisoner.

"Besides, if this Aeloth really did do something to the pillars perhaps we can figure out what it was, and stop it. Maybe that would prove to this blood crazed lawmen that we really are what we say we are" Chandor finishes as he starts walking along with Cath back to the pillars.

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline watched in silence for most of the interrogation, but upon being called on by Cath, she stepped forward and raised a hand.

"Of course," she replied without a moment of hesitation, placing the hand over the nearest of his wounds. She closed her eyes and muttered a small prayer, letting her divine energy flow through her body and into Cath's. A few seconds later, the wounds began to stitch themselves shut, finishing at the same time Valline finished her prayer. She took a moment to pull her hand back and survey her work before nodding toward the Halfling.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

Valline is replacing Lesser Restoration with Cure Moderate Wounds in order to cast it on Cath and heal his wounds. (Dice roll in other thread)

[Leush]

Valline: You approach Cath, and following a brief examination are a little taken aback by the halfling's luck; the wound in his chest is of the variety that would be typically very severe (if not fatal) had it not, by the looks of it, angled funny and missed his lungs. In any case, you call upon divine energies, placeing a hand on the wound, and as it slides away, the cut begins seal- though there is an abrupt flicker in the flow of the spell, and the wound remains, though in a much diminished slice of strands of pink scar tissue...

Cath: As Valline says her prayer, your wound begins to grow pleasantly hot and as the heat subsitdes, it is nowhere near as painful...

... You yank the rope, jerking the prisoner to his feet (who by the way, narrows his eyes for the barest of moments as you claim his hit to be one of luck). The prisoner, does not resist as he stumbles and falls into step, looking uncannily like a goose as he follows you through the deep snow in his cloak and with his hands bound behind his back.

......................
Party: It is only a matter of a couple of minutes before you are no longer under the canopy, but once again stand in your hour old footprints near the white 'hiding' column. Like the other three columns it looks down upon you silently beneath a sky which is almost completely clear now... It gives no clue and makes no move (and should it? It is a carved rock after all.) to harm or aid you. Still, Chandor's words ring in your ears (and his own):

The true nature of it is probably hidden from us right now, access to whatever it is meant to protect or contain is probably barred from us completely, and even attempting to find out about the column will probably either result in our lives being drained from us, or the dead walking and attacking us.

-----------
OOC: Investigation Round 2?

[Gecks]

Cath

After smiling his thanks up to Valline and helping to walk the prisoner back to the columns, Cath stands for a moment and considers the object before him. Glancing back at his prisoner, he speaks:

“If bad things happen, we’ll drop the rope and give ye a chance to run. But if ye know anything about this place you haven’t told us, it would be best to say it now, since I aim to provoke whatever magic or spirits control this place into showing themselves. I be tired of making guesses.”

With that, Cath strides grimly up to the central marble pillar and lays a bare hand on it, pausing to see what- if anything- happens to him as a result.

[Leush]

To the pillar: With the prisoner shaking his head, Cath steps forwards towards the central pillar. With the prisoner's rope in one hand, he places his free hand upon the pillar and after a couple of seconds his eyes go blank.

Cath: You step up to the pillar, and tired of guessing, place your hand upon the white stone. It is smooth and cold to the touch. For a split second nothing happens, then there is a near blinding flash before your eyes, followed immediately by a great thunderclap that you felt more than actually hearing. At that moment the world splits into two, flashing between two forms by a mind that could not fully comprehend what it was percieving. You stand almost waist deep in white snow- but you stand almost knee deep in a grey, fine ash. You feel a freezing breeze upon you burning cheeks, but you feel the bitter touch of an air so cold it burns. It is day, with the sun as high as it will rise on a winter's day, but it is also night- a sky of pitch, lit up as if by a thousand torches by more stars than you could spot in the farthest wilderness. You look upon a forest of evergreens where the foliage suggests life, but this flickers over the vision of charred and lifeless trunks. Only the pillar, like the eye of the storm, appears the same. It feels almost like an extension of yourself.

Party: As Cath placed his hand upon the column his face takes on a blank expression, but nothing else really seemed to happen.

Valline As Cath placed his hand upon the column and his face took on a blank look, you see two round openings appear roughly at your chest height in the pillar. They take a little spotting, since they are of the same colour and texture as the rest of the pillar, but they are unmistakenly there...

---------------------
OOC: Cath takes 3 points of wisdom damage. Also, he cannot let go of the pillar.

[Gecks]

Cath

“Wha… wha’s happening… I can’t be in two places at once, can I..?”

Cath stands stock still for a moment, then suddenly releases the prisoner’s rope and grabs the arm attached to the pillar with his free hand, pulling and jerking violently in a futile effort to break contact with the cold stone.

“You… I see you, bloody murderers… their blood on your face, their skin in your teeth… eat them? Sneak into their homes and devour? I’ll kill you, I’ll take yer hearts ye big blooming devils, ye hear me? I’ll eat yer hearts ye dog faced bast… arrrghhh…”

Cath suddenly stops struggling, and turns to the others, tears streaming down his checks, eyes wide and staring. When he speaks again, it is with the voice of a scared child.

“The door is open… they will come… come in… and take our parents away from us. We’ll be alone. Alone in the woods. Momma! Momma nooooo!!!!!”

Cath suddenly shakes his head violently, then looks up again with clearer, though still wild, eyes.

“This be a door. A door to a bad place. Help me. Get me away from this thing. It’s a door. I’m a door… ash and fire and cold and death, waiting for us on the other side… please, please help me…”

Cath stops speaking, and starts pulling on his arm again, violently enough to risk pulling his arm from his socket.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Her eyes widening with fear at the shock of her little halfling companion's torment, Sadie rushed up to wrap her arms around him and yank him away from the pillar.

Strength check if necessary: [roll0]

[Leush]

Cath: Gripping your arm with all your might you jerk and you pull, trying to break free, but your effort appears to be in vain for you feel that your arm and the pillar are of the same flesh, and you would have more luck gnawing one off. In the meanwhile, the world continues to flicker between the the forest and the bleak nightmare.

Sadie: Seeing your comrade in trouble, you rush forwards to pull him free the halfling from the column. As soon as you touch him, however, there is a flash in your consciousness and you feel a momentary flash of another place- a place diametrically opposed to the one in which you stand. There is ash below you- stars above you and beyond the clearing trunks and stumps- all charred and lifeless... Cath flickers in and out of existance before you. Then there is a painful flash in your wirst, as if dipped into the fires of a forge and you feel, once again, as if there is someone else there. Then it is gone and you are tumbling back into the snow along with a frantically flailing halfling. How odd. That was rather effortless... As you tumble back into the snow, you notice that a circular tunnel has appeared in the pillar, roughly at chest height, just wide enough to reach into with one's arm.

Cath:Sadie rushes up from behind you and pulls. For a moment it feels like someone has severed an appendage, but the horrific feeling lasts only for a split second and the next moment you are falling through the air... The world still flickers before your eyes and you are not quite sure whether the sky is blue or black and whether you're going to hit snow or ash.
......
The prisoner takes no action to harm or aid you, looking at the scene with the appearance of dawning realisation.

Party: "No wonder it was so easy... But why would a demon fear the sight of hell? You hear the prisoner whisper, possibly to himself.

---------------------
Cath is free- but the wisdom damage does not go away.
Sadie takes five points of fire damage- but doesn't lose wisdom and does pull Cath free.

[Aecus]

"Cath, Sadie are you alright!" Chandor says rushing forward to his companions, seeing the dazed looks on their faces. Stepping over them, Chandor kneels down and attempts to help them up. "What happened? Can you speak, how many fingers am I holding up?" Chandor says as he attempts to discern his ally's conditions.



Does everyone see the hole in the pillar or does only Sadie?

And for reference's sake, was this the central pillar or one of the side pillars?

[Leush]

OOC Reference Post:
So far, of the party, only Valline and Sadie saw the holes appear in the pillar. It was the central pillar. I clarified with Cath in a PM, but forgot to say that I did.

[Gecks]

Cath

Sitting up suddenly, Cath grabs at the simple necklace of what appears to be dog teeth hanging around his neck, and seems relieved to find it there, visibly calming. He blinks and shakes his head, trying to clear away the cobwebs and think clearly- with mixed results.

“Well, that were- interesting. I was in two places at once- hey, did any of ye hear that?” Cath spins and stares off into the distance, then swings his head back. “Ah, it were nothing. I was still here, but I could see a horrible place, kind of overtop-like, with ash instead of snow and dead trees, where it were freezing and the sky was lit up like a bonfire. It… I think seeing that place did a bit of a number on the old nogg’n, it's hard to think clearly…but it were the kind of place I would imagine a demon might come from. Maybe Chander or Valline would know better- but I think this clearing might really be meant as a beachhead. I…I think we better find a way to turn this place back off, shut tha door or whatever… if Sadie hadn’t pulled me off the pillar when she did- thank ye lass, thank ye- I don’t know what would have…”

With that Cath trails off, and sits rocking, hugging his knees, occasionally looking over his shoulder suddenly in alarm as if he heard something, though there is no noise other than the wind through the trees.

[Leush]

Chandor: You are not entirely sure what is wrong with Cath- it does not appear that he is physically injured in any way. He is however in clear distress. It is possible that whatever he experienced (and whilst you have a few theories as to what happened, you are not entirely sure). He appears a little frightened, distracted and not particularly coherant, that's for sure.
There are spells and rituals that require a sacrifice. Usually the sacrifice must be voluntary- it is quite likely that by wishing to disturb the column, Cath had inadvertantly offered himself (or part of himself) as a sacrifice. However, these rituals will almost always give something in return so somewhere, something must have happened. It could just as easily be one step in a complex ritual that only bears fruit after it is wholly completed (in which case Sadie's interference may have made things worse as it may have made them better). It is also possible that this is a gateway to another plane, or another place on this plane, or even another time (with a magic as complex as what you have observed here, there is no way of knowing which) and part of the halfling's mind became trapped therein when he made contact with the stone. You also know from certain texts that there are artefacts imbued with sentience and this could be an attempt on behalf of the pillar to communicate. In any case, from the vague description, what Cath saw doesn't sound like one of the hells or elemental planes, but could be a layer of the abbyss (which would make perfect sense), or a parallel dimension... Or even somewhere in this dimension... Waitaminute... It is rumoured that the Lich's Peninsula and the dutchy of Komos are both 'dead' zones, but it would be day there.

Valline: Whilst physically unharmed, it appears that the halfling has experienced an unbearable sensory overload, causing part of his mind to shut down. As with most injuries will probably recover on his own given time.
The place Cath describeshas elements of several of the infernal and a couple of the abbyssal realms (layer like Darkness, Shaddonon, Dreaming Gulf), but to your knowledge is not completely like any of them. Having said that, it sounds more like what the scriptures of more than one temple state that this world will look like after it dies...

-----------------
OOC: Chandor can tell that the halfling's mind has been affected.
Valline can tell what happened to Cath.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Getting up onto her rear, Sadie held a hand to her head as she tried to regain her composure.

"That was..."

Just what WAS that? Whatever it was, it was a pretty horrible experience; definitly not something she would like to go through again.

Looking to make sure that Cath was okay too, Sadie was relieved to find he didn't seem to be screaming in pain or lying down in his own blood. She got on to her own feet, staggering a little from the experience, before casting a gaze back on to the pillar.

"That's some bad magic on that thing..."

Then she spotted something on the pillar: it looked like a hole of sorts, not much bigger than her arm. Was that there before?

"Hey, was that hole always there?" she asked her companions, before pointing gingerly at the stone pillar.

[Aecus]

"Hole? There is no hole Sadie. How is your vision, did you see what Cath described as well?" Chandor says with a concerned look on his face as he looks over from attempting to administer to Cath. After asking his question, he turns to the entire party and says. "I'm sorry that happened, but I think I might know what just happened. The ritual in the pillar most likely requires a sacrifice of some sort, and Cath was interpreted as part of that sacrifice. I don't mean sacrifice in the traditional sense, but rather in the 'give something up, in exchange for' sense. Or, we simply could have interrupted the ritual and thus damaged Cath by tearing his mind away from the pillar while it was connected to it."

What Cath described seeing sounded either like a layer of the Abyss, a case in which I hope we can simply pray is not the case, or the much more amicable cases of the Lich's Peninsula or the duchy of Komos. I wanted to ask though before I formed further opinions, did you see anything as well Sadie?" Chandor finishes and asks.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

"I saw lots of dead stuff... ash on the ground, dead trees beyond the clearing, and it was at night. I don't really know what it was, what was Cath seeing?"

Sadie's head was still a little fuzzy as she looked at the pillar again: she could swear she was seeing a hole in it.

[Leush]

Sadie & Chandor: You both turn back to look at the pillar in one of those sppoky moments. Indeed, now that Sadie has pointed it out, it is not too hard to see the opening roughly four feet off the ground (three feet above the snow). It is somewhere between five and ten inches in diameter, but due to the colour and texture, blends in quite well with the rest of the column...

[Gecks]

Cath

Although it takes several seconds of staring to make it out, Cath is finally able to see the hole in the pillar Sadie was pointing to.

"Does someone need to reach in that hole and see what's there? Since I started this thing, does it need to be me?"

[Zarah]

Valline

After hearing Chandor's musing of how Cath could have had his mind damaged, Valline shook her head and took a step forward to interrupt.

"No," she simply stated. "It wasn't caused by us. Seems like he's been bombarded with... Well, with whatever it is he experienced. Must have overwhelmed his senses to the point that he lost his coherence."

She then caught herself, and turned toward Cath. One hand extended in explanation as she offered a bit of good news to perhaps lift his spirits. "Although it sounds serious, I'm sure you'll be fine with a bit of time to rest."

As the others continued to prod further into the matter at hand, Valline listened intently. Sadie's own description was chilling enough, but what was worse was that Cath was likely right: They weren't done yet.

"While that does seem logical, I'm not particularly willing to put you in another risk like that. We can't be sure of what will happen, but if we must proceed, I am willing to bear such a weight," she suggested, putting a hand to her chest and furrowing her brow as she continued thinking afterward.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

"I dunno Valline, touching that pillar wasn't good for me or Cath; putting your hand in it probably would be dangerous."

Sadie continued to eye the pillar gingerly, still unsettled from her experience.

[Leush]

Party: You stand under the pillar, debating what the best way of moving towards solving this mystery is without getting yourselves killed, killed, killed or sent to an alternative reality of death. In the meanwhile the column appears to do nothing, as if waiting for you to pronounce your judgement. At this point your prisoner rolls his eyes and speaks up.

"I'd volunteer to stick my own hand in that thing, if only to get it over and done with, but then it occurs to me that that'll involve someone getting these things off me. That and if this excuse for a shelter belonged to Aeloth, then it might well be more useful than a doomsday gate which we can just as easily open as seal..."

Valline: You furrow your brow, thinking carefully of the options available to you and wondering what a templar would have done in your place. They wouldn't baulk at self-sacrifice, but then a warrior always tries to stack the odds in his favour with thorough preparation...

Sadie: You remember that amongst the assorted junk in the shelter you collapsed when you first got here, there were definitely a couple of books.

[Gecks]

Cath

Cath raises himself slowly to his feet, a look of dull confusion still on his face. At the words of the prisoner he looks up in irritation.

"Son, so far today all ye have done for that noble cause of yers is bushwacking a bunch of tourists under the theory they were deadly agents of evil- and then getting beaten and tied up by those same tourists. If ye have something useful to say, say it plain- if not, kindly shut it before I shut it 'fore you- I got one hell of a headache right now, and no patience to spare for the likes of ye."

Cath then walks- with only a few slight stumbles- over to his smarter friends, managing a wane smile.

"Folks, me mind is half broke (and I think I only had half a working mind to begin with!), and I was way in over my head well before it got that way. However ye decide to proceed, I will do my best to help."

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Having a moment of clarity and remembering what she had stumbled across before the various fighting and injuries, Sadie wordlessly headed back to the books she had discovered before, picking them up where she stood and skimming through their contents for anything useful.

[Leush]

Sadie: You burrow your way into the collapsed tent and after a brief rummage retrieve a small saddlebag. Opening it and taking out the old books, you let it drop into the snow. The books themselves are leather bound tomes, with threadbare bindings- one in worse condition than the other. They are however very different- one is quite a beast of a book, having taken up most of the bag, displays a pair of antlers on a bleached red cover. The other is a modest brown tome which bares many a scar of mistreatment.
The first pages of the large tome are written in a text in a language beyond your comprehension. The latter pages are mostly annotated pictures. All of the pages are somewhat bleached but the shapes on the pictures and symbols, though unfamiliar, suggest that they are probably maps, though non look particularly familiar.

The Second Tome contains mainly text and once again in a language that you can't understand. The pages are not faded, but some are crumpled, torn or contain spots that look suspiciously like bloodstains. The first page, however, has two sentences of common below a similar length of the script of the other language. "Morven Morvenson, Aviria Avenue, Heese."

You are familiar with the name, Morven Morvenson.... Now where did you hear it?.... Ah! The Morven Heist! It was a reference to something that the older thieves would throw out of the blue now and then when referring to an convoluted, well engineered affair with no certain goal. You are not sure who this Morven Morvenson was or what was stolen.

Cath: The prisoner's face is crossed by a vicious smile at your words and he bows slightly, perhaps slightly mockingly, but says nothing.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Annoyed at her inability to comprehend the foreign language, Sadie decided to confide in her allies for their knowledge and hopefully literacy.

She brought the books over to the others, before explaining where she had just popped off to and what she had retrieved:

"I saw these books earlier, but I only remembered just now they were here. I can't read them though."

Sadie passed the books around for anyone who cared to to have a look.

As quoted from Leush, individual languages and knowledge checks could easily apply of course.
The first pages of the large tome are written in a text in a language beyond your comprehension. The latter pages are mostly annotated pictures. All of the pages are somewhat bleached but the shapes on the pictures and symbols, though unfamiliar, suggest that they are probably maps, though non look particularly familiar.

The Second Tome contains mainly text and once again in a language that you can't understand. The pages are not faded, but some are crumpled, torn or contain spots that look suspiciously like bloodstains. The first page, however, has two sentences of common below a similar length of the script of the other language. "Morven Morvenson, Aviria Avenue, Heese."

[Leush]

Chandor: You look at the books...
If you open the large tome:
You are unfamiliar with the language of this book, but the notations on the pictures, although archaic, is still used quite commonly. The book is an atlas, although you do not recognise any of the maps as landmasses that you are familiar with... Although there is one that looks vaguely like what the four kingdoms would look like if the sea level was a good hundred meters higher... Here and there there are notes and marks in an elegant Sylvan scrawl.

If you open the small tome:
This particularly tattered and violently abused little book is non other than the Morven Codex. The writing upon it is in draconic. On the inside cover there are two lines, one in common, one in draconic: The common line reads: Morven Morvenson, Aviria Avenue, Heese. The line in draconic reads. Following Apithone's Path. Flicking through it you'd be able to identify pages upon pages of draconic script. The format appears to be that of a journal. At the top of the page it has a date and a place name followed by a second date and a second place name, followed by observations. The first entry reads
Half Past the Autumn Solstice 138AEW, Mio Hall
(Half Past the Autmn Solstice 3257 AE*, Azith's Peer, Xurakol)

It is the greatest coincidence that I have found this place. Who would have guessed that this grassy knoll was once the bustling harbour where Apithone had once stood, looking into the sky before he set sail in search of the Temple of Everything? Did he know that the maiden who stood by his side was the one testament to Ja'mes genius or did he have no idea of the pivotal role that Azith would play in the later days of his wonderings?

Though the earth must have shifted a plenty since that day, I can hear it whisper of a deep harbour and a violent sea as I reach into the rock- as described, the vessel that sailed it must have been sturdy indeed. The taint of Xurakol can no longer be felt, though its walls still stand not a hundred meters behind me. The wind whispers the words they spoke- just as Nirin had written in Apithone's path. Though he proceeded across the sea to the Woods of Winter, my path lies to the east- if I am correct then that is whence he came and as much as Nirin's manuscript is a thorough work, its temporal scope is somewhat narrow.

*Age of Aerna: Ended at 3893 AE. Followed by 2327 years of the Lastrian Age. Therefore roughly 3000 years ago- yet the earth stil remembers!

What Chandor Knows of the Morven Codex and its contents:
You know nothing of Morven Morvenson, save that he wrote the Morven Codex, a book that has changed hands more times than villages on the Manta/Avin front. Written over roughly a hundred years, roughly three hundred years ago, the book itself is discource and commentary on a much older volume, known as 'Apithone's Path' (which you haven't read but have sat through a couple of debates about). That book covered the journey of a devout follower of the winter as he attempted to bring about an ice age by making pacts with the 'Dread Goddess'. It is widely debated whether the current state of the world is his doing- though, as he allegedly perished some thousand years ago, that seems unlikely. However, what is chilling, considering where you stand now, is that he primarily attempted to contact his goddess through sites of great power.

The Temple of Everything was Apithone's primary goal and where the remains of spirits ws thought to go if ever they were destroyed. The problem is, no one knows where it was.

Azith: Once gain, it was mentioned in Apithone's path and a few other other manuscripts that Azith was the first (and only) humanoid ever created (body and soul) by mortal magics.

Valline: You cannot understand the text of the small book, though the other...
The text in the large tome appears to be written in celestial. It is a great find indeed, for on the first page, the tidy press-printed letters appear read 'The definitive Atlas of the World, 291st Edition'. Below the date is given as 2912 LA. Flicking through it, you see many faded, yet detailed maps of what various parts of the world must have looked like then. Here and there an elegant scrawl has placed symbols and notes in a language you are not familiar with.

[Zarah]

Valline

Valline finished with her scanning of the larger book, and slapped the cover shut. However, she didn't pass it on, instead keeping it in her grasp and pointing toward it as she spoke,

"There's some notes inside this one that I can't make out, but the rest is written in celestial, that much I'm sure of." She started quickly flipping through the pages again. "It's an atlas from the year 2912 LA. Seems like a pretty good find, if I say so myself. Looks like someone else found an interest in it too," she added, stopping on a random page and pointing toward some of the unfamiliar notes.

Suddenly, she closed the tome once again and looked back up toward the others. "Although, like I said, I can't read anything he might have had to say."

[Gecks]

Cath

"At-last? Isn't that one of them books what has maps and talks about world locations and such? I wonder if this here spot is in it..."

[Leush]

OOC: See the OOC thread.

[Leush]

By the Column:

For a while the party stands, analysing and examining the books recovered from the tent. Chandor in particular is thorough in his study of the two tomes. He flicks the pages of the Atlas, reading the notes and then looks through the diary. Eventually he holds up a finger triumphantly.

"If I'm not mistaken, I know where we are and what Aeloth the Deceiver was up to." He says equally triumphantly- he should have added a pause, but carried speaking right through. "...And I know why the Hunters of Mio Hall seek to stop her... Demons are in a way spirits and this book..." He holds up the Diary. "...This book details one man's search for the resting place of the spirits in an attempt to bring back the spirit of a rather long and cold Winter. If the notes in the atlas correspond to the Codex, then we are at the Alter of Ardaneth. Morven Morvenson never did find his way here... You have no idea of the magnitude of our discovery!" He throws up his hands in exasperation. "We might be first to stand here since its creation. We might be the first to gaze upon this marvel since Apithone cut off half his soul, clapped his hands (he claps his hands) and said... But I'd be fool to say it- he said those words and was never seen again." The apprentice wizard takes a deep breath, preparing to continue, when the prisoner takes the opportunity to interrupt.

"The words are not important." He notices with a smirk as he begins to change into something else.
.....
It is only a second before the prisoner bound before you is no longer human and no longer male. Her features are both elven and at the same time more ethereal, with brilliant red hair and a harsh and focused face that betrays neither age nor youth. She speaks neutrally, although her voice does have an edge of bitter regret.

"What's important is the wish. Aeloth wished to destroy all of the northern kingdoms in revenge for what we did to Sibbin, but she was too weak of will to do it alone. You too are too weak to obtain what you desire. But I am not as feeble. I sincerely wish that you disappear like your beloved Apithone- that know one ever finds you in the hell that receives you, that your pathetic Dukes fall before me, that House Feyfire regain its rightful place.

Sadie: This is the face of the General, you didn't need her statement to be sure...
........

Sadie, Chandor, Valline: There is a flash- a series of flickers really and everything is gone. More precisely the pillars are still there, and the sky is still there- Only the sky is black, dotted by more stars than you could see from the highest mountain on the darkest night. There is still a thick layer of soft powder under foot- only in starlight it is grey- ash instead of snow. There is still a forest around only the trunks are broken, charred, leafless and lifeless. There is no movement in the air. The touch of the frosty air against exposed skin almost burns and your airways protest as you inhale it. Even as your airways protest at the cold, your lungs labour to gain what they can...

Cath & Sadie: You recognise the bleak landscape as what you saw upon contact (direct or indirect) with the column. Only this time it is no longer flickering, rather, you feel like you are entirely submerged within it.

---------------------------------------------
OOC: So, Sadie, Cath and Valine must make DC 15 fortitude saves (or be fatigued)+ everyone without endure elements must make another DC 15 fortitude save vs cold weather or take [roll0] non lethal damage and be fatigued.

Chandor if you are still in, PM me.

[Slamexo]

Sadie

Looking around in fear, Sadie finds herself becoming more and more tired in the harsh atmosphere. Fortunately, her metabolism is able to wear off the worst of the icy chill.

"Oh lord, it's just like what I saw..."