The Haunted Forest [3.5] (IC)

[Erad]

The road from the capital was long and dull. Last few villages were already left behind and for three days adventurers were riding in the middle of nowhere. Soon trees started to appear at the road sides, first one by one, later in bigger numbers and then adventurers entered the great Terrian Forest. The main settlements were still away, about a day travel from here. An old fort, were survivors were gathering, according to the letter was in about same distance.

The most close village was Milk Village, a relatively small settlement which had enough cows to provide milk and beef to local region. It could be seen from far, that something is wrong in the village. No voices of cows and dogs, no laugh of playing children, no curses of tired peasants. No fires lit, no smoke rising.

Adventurers entered the village, but there was no one to greet them. No living beings were seen nearby, only corpses. There were no human corpses among them, but many dead cows and sheep. Some of the animals were half eaten, some were rotting, untouched. Usually in cases like this, you could expect burned and sacked buildings. But it wasn't war that came to this place. Mad animals ignored buildings, they cared only about flesh that could be eaten.

The road before adventurers was dark and dangerous.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen Kalar reigns in his trusted warhorse to a stop, dismounts and takes stock of the devastation before him.

In all my army years, rarely have I seen such savagery. But where are the people?

He looks around, surveying the small wooden buildings. AHOY! Is there anyone alive?

[Sillycomic]

Ulk stops as soon as he sees the carnage. He holds his hand under his nose to stop the smell. He makes a silent prayer to his nature's spirit, before moving forward through the village.

He looks to Brown, his bear who is ambling into the village behind him.

"Do you sense anything?" He asks his bear.

To the rest of the group, "We should search for survivors... and perhaps whoever did this to the poor animals. They could still be here."

[King Tius]

Khayla surveys the town with a wounded look upon her face. "This...this is terrible. Gods be good, we must find who did this." She stays ahorse, her eyes scanning the outskirts of the town for signs of the beasts that did this.

Spot: [roll0]

[Drogos]

Sarevok walked up to the others who had gathered at the deserted village. His red bladed greatsword was in his hands but not in a menacing way. He was holding it out in front of him lightly, as if being guided by it.

It would seem that there is some evil afoot here. If this is what happened to the livestock, I shutter to think what became of their owners. No matter what has captured or killed them, I intend to find it, and when I do my blade shall erase it from this world.

[Worlok]

Outwardly, Wurck seems unfased by the horrific scene, but he has to steady and compose himself as the smell of the blood registers with his senses. A glance to the side alerts him to Mule's nervosity and the man walks over to the animal in order to reassuringly pat it on the back before himself approaching and hunkering down next to one of the corpses. I can imagine what kind of evil is at fault for this. Check for claw marks, 'specially long and straight ones that have gone to the bones. Wurck calls out, biting back his own nausea as he begins to carefully examine the body.

Search Check:

[roll0]

[Sillycomic]

Ulk carefully goes over the body of the animals, looking for claw or bite marks to help him figure out what happened.


survival for tracks, bite or claw marks, anything to determine who was the culprit here...

[roll0]

Plus a knowledge nature if it's applicable

[roll1]

[Vladislav]

If no survivors respond to Aydeen's call, he will walk toward the nearest house or hut and peek inside, while still maintaining line of sight to the others.

Lord of Valor, grant me the wisdom to peer through the mists and root out the evildoers.
Look around using Detect Evil

[Erad]

Ulk quickly found tracks of many people, all going in the same direction. To where, according to the map, the old fort was. Human marks were mixed with horse ones. It seemed that residents, tired of animal attacks all left to seek shelter, abandoning their cattle to their fate of being eaten.

As for the dead animals, most of them were killed and eaten by wolves - the most known predators in the area. A few were killed by a larger creature - maybe by bear.

The battlefield showed no sign of Evil. Paladin could do nothing to learn what caused all this. It was in druid competence to learn what caused animals to go mad.

Most animal tracks were coming from the depth of the forest, but it was impossible to guess why.

There was little to do or learn here. All survivors probably gathered in the fort, and more information was available there as well.

[Sillycomic]

"The tracks match the stories we all heard," Ulk's booming voice comes in loud over the quiet town. He looks around to everyone.

"The people probably want to the fort... tracks point in that direction."

He then looks all around, "Mostly wolves, but probably a bear or two came through here as well. No way to tell where they came from or where they went."

It is a shame, as muh cas he cared about protecting these humans, he would think it interesting to find an animal or two and study it. They might be in pain, or some worse state.


"In any case, there's nothing to learn from here. I suggest we keep our guard up and continue towards the fort..."

[Vladislav]

Not having found anything among the devastation, Aydeen returns to the group.

There's no one here that needs our help. We should move on.

Shaking his head, still reeling from the scene, he checks the saddle and barding, making sure everything is well-secure for the long road ahead.

[Drogos]

Sarevok nods in agreement to Ulk and Aydeen.

Yes we should move on. These dead animals tell us nothing and I sense no remaining sources of evil. Perhaps more shall be revealed at the fort. We should be on our way.

[King Tius]

"Then let us move quickly. All this death makes my skin crawl."

[Erad]

A howl suddenly sounded from behind one of the huts and moment later a pack of five wolves appeared. They growled angrily and looked at the party will yellow glowing eyes. It were moments before they attack.

[Worlok]

Wurck stands up, pretty sure that none of the marks he found betray hag involvement. Upon Ulk's proposition, he nods, walking over to his mule and agreeing: You are probably right, we should go to the fo- Cut off by the howl, he turns towards the direction the wolves come from and draws his blades, hastily, yet orderly retreating towards the rest of the group, mule in tow, all the while eyeing the animals. Where did those come from all of a sudden?

[Vladislav]

Aydeen stared at the wolves in surprise. He recalled those animals favor strength in numbers and seek weak prey. That a pack of five will attack a group of armored men, is most unnatural.

Something must be corrupting the animals of this forest.

Still, regardless of what caused this behavior, the wolves were a danger and had to be dealt with. Quickly, he muttered a benediction to Hieronious, jumped into the saddle and drew his sword.

Cast Bless as swift action thanks to Battle Blessing. Myself and all allies have +1 morale bonus to attacks. Also, will try to mount as a free action. [roll0] vs. DC 20, if fails it takes a move action

EDIT: and draw my sword with my remaining move action.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk growls as he sees the feral wolves come into his vision. He knows something is wrong with them. Perhaps there will be a chance to examine them later, but at the moment they need to be taken care of.

"Toto, come!" Ulk calls, and his brown bear companion comes charging out of the treeline to his side.

Ulk casts Bull's Strength on his bear.

He will then take out his scimitar.

[Erad]

The wolves rushed forward and surrounded the party. Then they started running in circles, examining the party members, deciding whom to attack. Suddenly one of them rushed forward and tried to bite Wurck. Fortunately, he dodged the animal attack. Two wolves engaged Ulk. Dwarf had less luck, wolves bites left wounds on his body. Last two wolves tried to attack Sarevok, but noble warrior's armor was a good protection from them.


Attacks:
Wolf 1: [roll0]
Wolf 2: [roll1]
Wolf 3: [roll2]
Wolf 4: [roll3]
Wolf 5: [roll4]

Damage (if hits):
Wolf 1: [roll5]
Wolf 2: [roll6]
Wolf 3: [roll7]
Wolf 4: [roll8]
Wolf 5: [roll9]

Ulk lost 9 hp, now he has 51.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk and Toto

Ulk grimaces from the bites. A wolves bite is all too familiar to a druid. He has spent many a times in the forest and had to deal with scared, rabid or territorial beasts. These wolves attacked with none of those intentions though, and it made Ulk sad more than angry at the blood dripping from his wounds.

"I will find a way to stop this," He promises the wolves as he attacks the first one that bit him

Toto will growl and full attack the second one.


Ulk
Scimitar [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Toto
Claw [roll2]
damage [roll3]

Claw [roll4]
damage [roll5]

Bite [roll6]
damage[roll7]

Totally forgot bless. Argh! ha ha. add 1 to all my attack rolls

[Vladislav]

The druid and the bear seem to be taking care of themselves, so let's even up the numbers over there....

Aydeen spured his warhorse and charged one of the two wolves surrounding Sarevok, swinging his blade in a deadly arc.

Attack [roll0], includes charge and Bless bonuses, and Power Attack for -2
Damage [roll1]

If kills him, Cleave attack against the other one
Attack [roll2], Damage [roll3]

-2 AC until my next action because of the charge

[Erad]

Ulk, Aydeen and Toto quickly defeated all five wolves. It seemed that there are no more animals in the area. At least close to the abandoned village.

[Worlok]

Sounds good to me. He makes sure Mule remains exactly where he has led the beast of burden, which he considers to burdened with his belongings to be of much use in this fight. Convinced those are in some way werewolf-related, he moves expediently towards, but doesn't charge the wolf Aydeen would otherwise have cleaved and attacks with both the longsword he calls "Hagslayer" and the shortsword he calls "Lycansting". He isn't really good at naming things.

Original attack:

Attack with longsword: [roll0]
Damage if hits: [roll1]

Second attack with longsword: [roll2]
Damage if hits: [roll3]

Attack with short sword: [roll4]
Damage if hits: [roll5]

Second Attack with short sword: [roll6]
Damage if hits [roll7]

If the wolf is knocked below 0 hp, Cleave against the one Aydeen charged before:

Attack with longsword: [roll8] (+11 if first, +6 if second attack offs first wolf)
Damage if hits: [roll9]

or

Attack with short sword, if short sword knocked down the wolf: [roll10] (+11 if first, +6 if second attack offed first wolf)
Damage if hits: [roll11]

Unless Wurck does not currently threaten a third one, he'd then Cleave against the third wolf within reach via his longswords "Mighty Cleaving" property:

Attack with longsword: [roll12] (Bonus equal to the one on the first Cleave)
Damage if hits: [roll13]

or

Attack with short sword (Same here with the conditions and boni): [roll14]
Damage if hits: [roll15]

If they are, in fact, werewolves, or any of them are, Wurck will get a +2 on the damage via Favored Enemy.

[Erad]

All wolves were dead, there was no one left to fight with.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk will bend over the corpses of the wolves and make a small prayer.

" Nature that whispers through the trees, bring these wandering souls back into your bosom," he says as softly as a dwarf can.

Then he will search the bodies to try and find any useful information on why they acted the way they did and what is causing all of this.


search, I will take 20 unless there's a time limit or something that won't let me do this.

Survival [roll0]

K Nature [roll1]

[Worlok]

(OOC: I know now there was nothing left to fight, you just posted while I was still typing that mass of dice rolls.)

Wurck will simply wait for Ulk to finish his investigation before asking whether or not the druid sees any signs for werewolf involvement.

[Erad]

There were no signs of unique wounds or scars on the dead animals, their behavior wasn't caused by pain. The wolves also weren't rabid. The only result of the examination showed that wolves traveled a great distance on a short time. They probably came from the depth of the forest.

[Vladislav]

Not a random attack, so it seems. They had ... purpose? So, a choice is before us - track the wolves to their source, whoever sent them, or continue as planned to the fort.

[Sillycomic]

"Yes I must agree," Ulk says as he wipes his hands. The wolves themselves might not have provided answers, but they have given a trail with which to find them.

That is good enough for him.

"Because they are not local, wherever they came from will have answers to whatever is happening to them. I know our orders are to go to the fort, but I believe following the origin of these wolves will better help us in this quest."

Ulk leans over to Toto and whispers in the bear's ear.


"Either way, we should round up the bodies and burn them. Rotten carcases will draw even more animals from the forest. Best to take care of them now, whatever they have could be carried to something else that eats it."

Ulk and Toto will begin gathering up bodies in a clearing.

[Worlok]

Perhaps only some of us should follow their trail, while one of us goes to the fort and informs the local authorities about this incident and our whereabouts? Wurck suggests, shrugging. Then he lends a hand in gathering up bodies. While doing so, he turns towards Ulk: By the way... These are normal wolves, yes?

[Sillycomic]

Ulk nods as he throws a mutilated sheep onto the pile.

"As far as I can tell. Your average forest wolf. Whatever happened to them doesn't change what they are, only their behavior."

He raises an eyebrow, "Why do you ask? Have you got a theory about all of this?"

[Worlok]

Wurck adds a second sheep to the pile, wipes some sweat off his brow and turns to look at one of the dead wolves. Well, I've met werewolves before. If those wolves were some themselves, they would have changed back into humans or elves or whatever by now, but I've seen those monsters take command of packs. Command as in, the way a general or marshal leads an army. Those may be ordinary wolves, but I'm afraid they might as well be shock troopers. Or a scouting squad. With that, he picks up the wolf he has been staring at and carries it over to the pile.

A check:

Background-wise, Wurck is a hunter of humanoid monsters. Assuming he is slightly experienced with what he does, I think he can take ten on the Knowledge (nature) check to back up his claims and theories - Lycanthropy as a disease or genetic trait should be covered by that, right?

The result would then be 10+8=18 which should allow for some advanced knowledge on the matter.

[Drogos]

Hmmmph, I say we get on with our destination and stop worrying about these wolves. We defeated them and now can be on our way. Once we get to the fort we can ask around for more information. IF any points to something happening out in these woods we can come back.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen lends his back into the unpleasant task of gathering the animal carcasses and throwing them into the pyre.

Upon reflection, we're better off continuing to the fort. Not only might there be people in need of help, but the information they provide may tip the odds in our favor. While rushing blindly into the forest just might be what they expect.

He gazes into the trees.

Whoever they are.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk gives a nod at Wurk. He doesn't know that much about lycanthrops himself, but apparently this man does. It would not be strange that wolves were being controlled by some larger beast. They travel in packs and always use an alpha male as their leader, this would fit a werewolf nicely.

"If werewolves are behind this, we will find out soon enough."

Once the animals are gathered up, Ulk will get some wood as well and then make a fire. He will want to stay long enough to know that the fire will not spread to the surrounding forest, and then he will leave with the others.

"Perhaps the fort does offer some useful information. I can see nothing else useful here. I am ready to go as soon as others are."

[Worlok]

The fort it is, then. If there has been any previous beastfolk activity in this area, they'll be the ones to know, I guess. Wurck will help with lighting the fire and go with the others once it's burned out unless anything spectacular happens in the meantime.

[Erad]

The road to the fort took about a day. Party encountered no animals larger then squirrels. After some time, they saw buildings at the distance and soon arrived to wooden palisade.

The wooden wall surrounded the fort itself and the village nearby. It was tall enough to protect against wolves and bears, however more agile creatures - like tigers could jump over it. The stone walls of inner fort rose behind the wooden palisade.

Two tired men, with spears and leather armors were standing in the opening in palisade walls. Another men was lying dead at some distance from them, near him was a body of a dead bear. It seemed that the dead man mortally wounded the bear, but in his agony he managed to take his killer with him.

Guards spotted the party and one of them came closer to greet adventurers.

- Good that you survived so far. Come inside so we could protect you. Wait... you are armed and much better then me. Did you come to help us?

[Vladislav]

Aydeen nods at the man.

Of course we did. Please, good man, let us in. Is anyone inside in need of healing? And once we dispense all the help we can, we shall also try to find out what is behind this menace, Hieronious be willing.

[Worlok]

Wurck stands a bit aside, his attention visibly occupied by the carnage. Well said. Speaking of a menace, what's that about? he asks noone in particular, seemingly not caring who would answer, as he points at the dead bear. It is certainly not too pleasant a sight for what visitors do survive so far. he adds, rather quietly, concernedly looking from the carcass of the ursine to the corpse of the man, startled, but apparently unsure which one startles him more.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk makes sure to tell Toto to find a good hiding spot while they are still a bit aways from the fort. He didn't want any misunderstandings when it came to his own bear.

"Be on the lookout and let me know if anything is coming," He says, patting the bear on the nose.

Then he arrives with the rest. He doesn't care much for people. They are, in his mind, just another animal trying to make it in the forest. Still, talking with manlings doesn't come as easy for him as it does for animals.

So, he just stays behind and listens.

[Erad]

- I guess you want to talk to captain, - said guard, - He is in inner fort, that large stone building. If you want details, talk to him, or that elf girl Viasha. She tried to examine the forest for the last week. And if you want to help our wounded, they are in a large tent, near the fort.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen's top priority is the wounded' tent. If others agree to join him there, the more healing hands the better, if not, he will look them up afterward at the captain's office or the elf.

Aydeen has the following help to dispense:
Lay hands for 24 hit points, can be split into multiple uses
1x Cure Light Wounds
1x Cure Disease
Should that not be enough, he will try his hand in mundane healing, [roll0]
And if that's not enough, he will expend a few charges of his wand of CLW

Aydeen also makes a point to chat with the injured and find out the latest local news.
Gather information [roll1]

[Sillycomic]

Ulk is curious about the elf girl and how much she's discovered in the forest. He understands that the captain of this fort might have some knowledge, but an elf who understands the forest will be able to tell them much better information.

"I will go seek out this Viasha."

He searches and asks around until he founds out where she is.

"Hello? My name is Ulk. I heard you have been searching through the forest to try to find more information about the animal attacks. I am here to help... anything you have learned in the past week?"

[Worlok]

Wurck will volunteer to follow Aydeen, partially in order to be of use to the wounded, partially - and perhaps more obviously - in order to find out more about the goings-on the wound of those people stem from. He still thinks there are some werebeasts to blame for this.

If given any reason to believe it necessary, Wurck will use his casting of Detect Poison. He will apply Lay on Hands for - I think, see OOC thread - 6 points of damage and then roll Heal checks where applicable, talking to those not too gravely wounded to speak about what they think to be the cause of their plight.

Heal: [roll0]
Gather Information: [roll1]

[Drogos]

Sarevok heads to speak with the captain to make sure he is worthy of his position. It was not an uncommon event that those in positions of power over a community abuse the privilege.

Sarevok intends to Detect Evil on the Captain and all those he finds under his employ. Assuming none are found evil, he will attempt to Gather Information on any mysterious going ons in and around town.

Gather Information: [roll0]

[Erad]

Adventurers who decided to talk to locals came to captain's quarters. The captain was a middle aged human, whose eyes showed deadly tiredness. Together with him in the room was elf girl, Viasha. After exchanging their greetings, they tried to fill the party in.

The attacks started abruptly a few weeks ago. Nothing extremely strange happened before this. One by one, nearby villages were attacked by animals, first rodents, then larger creatures. At the end, survivors had to retreat to the fort. Now, the inner fort was a shelter for soldiers, who were quickly losing morale in such conditions. There was hardly and free space inside the fort, people had to sleep two or three on one bed and even in the corridors. In normal times they would sleep outside, in the tents, but tents now served as houses to civilians, who also suffered in so tight space and horrible conditions.

They had little information on what was happening. Viasha claimed, that she saw werewolves marks in the forest. She suspected that some of the wounded could be bitten by it. Or them - if there were many werewolves. Captain also had reports of another scout - that he saw a DROW nearby. Although it was just a lone one, scout was too scared to fight him and ran away. He wasn't punished for this, since everyone knew drow reputation.

Viasha also suspected that the forest is sick with something, but since she wasn't a druid she couldn't provide details. Druids, if they were alive were supposed to still be in the woods.

Another group of adventurers decided to help the wounded. Healing took some time, until most of the wounds were dealt with. But three wounded were at much worse conditions. They seemed to be in agony, with high body temperature. All three were oblivious to the surroundings.


Medic team, you need to roll 20 (not natural) on spot or heal (roll both) to find out that two of the wounded were bitten by werewolf and soon will turn into it too. The last man was hurt by rabid animal and without special treatment will die soon.

Captain and Viasha are non evil. A few soldiers were found as evil, but not "high level". Guess they are just egoists or sadistic who like to kill just for the sake of it. Such persons exist among soldiers. (Nothing to search here.)

[Vladislav]

Aydeen steps to examine the three men. Having noted Wurck's experience with first aid, he lets him take the lead, and helps him as much as he can.

Heal [roll0] - Assist Other for Wurck.
Spot [roll1]

Having failed to find anything of significance, he decides to help as much as he can. He touches one of the sick men on the forehead.

With Hieroneous' blessing, I heal thee.

Remove Disease - should be able to heal rabies, a non-magical disease. However, only 1 in 3 chance he targets the right one, will roll OOC

[Worlok]

Wurck follows Aydeen over to the three gravely wounded men. After the other paladin has cast his magic, the hag hunter mouths his thanks for the Heironean's (Is 'Heironean' the proper term for a follower of Heironeous? I think it fitting.) assistance: Thank you for your aid in this. And then, silently and only to himself, adds: I don't know how I could blunder like I did back there. Then he turns towards one of the bitten. Now let's have a look at this one...

Heal check: [roll0] - (RAGE! :smallfurious: What is it with my thrice-accursed Heal rolls?)
Spot check: [roll1]
Those other two sure don't look too well. I do think their wounds look familiar, but I can't quite say what it is. They have healed too much of their own already He whispers, looking concernedly at both of the patients and at Aydeen.

(OOC: That way, we do have an explanation for why Wurck wouldn't recognise the object of his obsessions. I hope it's alright.)

[Sillycomic]

Ulk nods his head and thanks them for their time.

"So Wurk was right. We are dealing with werewolves. And a drow, and some sort of sickness going on in the forest."

He thought one had to do with the other. He imagined if they found werewolves or drow it would lead them to the sickness and what else is going on around here.

"Is the scout nearby? Can we get a precise location of where the drow was spotted? I think first thing tomorrow we should head out and search that area."

unless we have a few good hours of daylight left and can head out now...

[Erad]

OOC: I said that you need to roll 20 on either spot or heal just to identify sickness of all three man! Please fix your posts.

[Vladislav]

Fixed above

[Worlok]

Fixed, I hope

[Vladislav]

Aydeen shakes his head. Whatever Wurck can see in those men, evades his understanding. I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with this kind of disease. He curses his reliance on magical healing. Had he studied harder, he might have been able to help more.

He takes a good look around the tent. Seems to be nothing else we can do here. As much as I hate leaving these men for now, we better meet up with the others. I think they went to see the captain.

[Worlok]

Wurck stares at the wounds contemplatively; even though he has quite a lot of experience with the treatment of diseases, his knowledge on the subject has proven far from infallible before. That's no problem, all I have, myself, is a sneaking suspicion. I have seen similar, but I'm not sure. Not yet, anyway...

He snaps out of it as soon as the captain is mentioned. Yes, that would probably be for the best. Pelor willing, there won't be any problems here while we're away. He nods at the team of adventurers that had been tending to the wounded alongside the two paladins and before heading outside, walks over to one of them and leaves the following advice: Thank you for your help. Please keep an eye on those two while we're off to see our colleagues, it could be that they behave somewhat oddly. You might want to restrain them, too, it wouldn't do to endanger the other patients. We had a case of rabies there, after all.

[Erad]

OOC: So what are you doing next? Going to forest? I insist you act as one team.

[Sillycomic]

Ooc: So, did we get a general location on where the scout saw the drow in the forest, or the werewolf marks? I had asked if I could talk to the scout to pinpoint where to start searching... if I did get that info then I'm ok with moving on.

"I'll get the others and tell them what we know so far. If there is daylight left we should start searching the forest as soon as possible."

Ulk walks over to the healing tent, seeing Wurck right away.

"You were right," He says, "They spotted werewolf tracks in the forest. And a drow as well. We're going off to search the forest to see if we can find anything before nightfall."

[Worlok]

So I was right? Werewolves? With a grin on his face that borders on the psychotic, Wurck turns towards the two wounded men and the other adventurers again: Someone should definitely restrain those two. With solid, heavy chains. Is there a well or some sort of dungeon in the area which they can't escape too easily? Get them in there. Then, without waiting for an answer, he immediately whirls around to face Ulk again: Alright. I'll just have to get Mule and return here, then we can go get the beast. And with that and an unhealthy zeal resounding in his voice, he's off to find his ungulate.

[Erad]

After the two wounded were chained and put to the dungeon and the third wounded cured of his malady, Viasha proposed to take adventurers to the forest. She knew some landmarks that could be helpful.

According to her words there were a few places where the chance to find drow was high. First, there was a camp of woodcutters in the middle of the woods, abandoned long ago, but still suitable for living. There also was a village of druids, from whom was no sound since the beginning of the attacks. Maybe they were killed by drow?

There were also a few caves, part of them was connected to a net of underground tunnels. Maybe drow came from there? There also were isolated caves - any of them could be a shelter to werewolves.

Most of the animals dens was deep inside the woods, the road there was hard and dangerous, but still accessible. And even deeper there were ruins of the old civilization.

[Vladislav]

Thank you, Viasha, for your help.

I suggest we start with the druids' village. They might be besieged by drow and in need of help. The empty woodcutters' camp and the caves can wait for later.

[Sillycomic]

"Yes, I agree."

If they druids were still there, they would have great insight into what is happening, and Ulk wanted to find out if they were ok first. They were his people.

"Whenever everyone is ready, we'll head out."

[Erad]

Viasha was a skilled ranger, she led adventurers to their destination avoiding all the hungry and mad animals, evil drow and bloodthirsty werewolves. The way was long and took half of a day. It was also hard, there were hardly any paths suitable for somewhat comfortable walking.

After some time adventurers arived to a small village. Better to say it was a camp of wooden huts will a garden in the middle. The druid camp was calm, no sounds came from there. The air was also clean - too clean for a human settlement, even druids need fire to cook. The village seemed abandoned to the first look.

Closer examination however revealed that some of the building were almost ruined, there were holes in the walls, roofs fallen in and signs of struggle. Struggle not with animals, but with humanoid creatures wielding weapons.

It was hard to judge more from a distance.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen concentrates on the encampment for any signs of evil that may still lurk there. He whispers to his comrades, Anyone not clad in full plate wants to scout ahead?

If no one volunteers, Aydeen will guide his mount to slowly advance.

Warhorse's Move Silently [roll0]
And Detect Evil of course

[Sillycomic]

"I don't wear full plate, but I'm not much use scouting ahead. I can have Toto take a look though, see if he sees anything."

Ulk will tell his bear to go scout ahead and see if he finds anything. Report back if he does.

Brown bear move silently, [roll0]

[Worlok]

I could try and take a look, too. No offense to - Toto, was it? - but four eyes do see more than two. Still obviously (and perhaps unhealthily) keen on getting eye to eye with those werewolves, Wurck heads off to join the bear on duty.

Move Silently check: [roll0] *Sorry, it's just a 13. I forgot the armor check penalty.

[Erad]

A strong evil presence felt nearby, in damaged huts. A few evil creatures were hiding there.

Wurck and the bear slowly advanced, armed and ready. Fortunately, whatever lurked inside, didn't hear them. A few more steps, just a little more...

Yes. Now they could see a little of the inside of one of the huts. A strange creature, strangely white and too thin for a normal human. After a few moments came the realization - it was an undead skeleton.



Hidden enemy:
Listen: [roll1]

[Vladislav]

Aydeen whispers, I sense strong evil presence. Ready yourselves for battle.

[Worlok]

Wurck almost did not want to believe his eyes - Not so much because of any apparent fear of undead, it would seem if one could have read his thoughts, but out of a visible disappointment not to have found a werewolf. Ridiculous obsession? No, why?

Knowledge (religion) check to see if he has any clue about the origins and weaknesses of skeletal undead as may be described in clerical and ecclesiastic accounts and traditions: [roll0]

Spot check to discern whether there is any sign of the skeleton having killed (or been killed violently) recently (such as bruised or broken bones or splatters of blood) and whether anything alive (or at least non-skeletal) remains in there: [roll1]

Listen check to get a picture of whether there is still anyone alive in that hut or whether there is any movement in the vicinity, indicating more trouble: [roll2]

Essentially, Wurck tries to find out whether it is a case of invading undead warriors or someone necromancer-ing the populace. Or both. Or something else entirely.

Then he tries to reach the party undetected by the evil.

Move Silently check: [roll3] - This time, I got the ACP.

Where he will relay his findings as quickly as possible; There's an animated skeleton in that hut. We'll have to be extremely careful.

[Erad]

Wurck managed to return to his comrades unharmed. While going back he analyzed what he saw. The skeleton was naked, if this word can be suitable here - so there were no torn clothes or blood, what could indicate that skeleton died violently. However Wurck never heard a story where a person would willingly become an undead - unless you talk about lich, vampire or mummy. The details of such stories now evaded him, he could remember nothing of fighting undead. How many skeletons were there and if there was living mage or cleric who commanded them, Wurck didn't know. Perhaps if he was a little closer he could hear voices or breath...

[Sillycomic]

Ulk tells Toto to simply stay put. There was no need to make more noise. And if the skeleton did try to attack, the bear would stand as a wall between the skeleton and them.

Toto has ready action to attack if the skeleton gets within range

Ulk looks down at his scimitar and realizes that it will be useless against something made simply of bones.

"Is there just one?" He whispers, "That is odd, just one skeleton could not hurt so many druids here. Something must be going on. Do we investigate further, or take the skeleton down now?"

Seeing as how both werewolves and skeletons were not Ulk's area of expertise, he would leave it up to those who know what they are doing.

[Worlok]

I'm not sure there is just one. The thing did not show any obvious signs of a violent death, so it's likely none of the former inhabitants. That means that whatever undead may currently be in the area have probably been... 'assembled' somewhere else. If I was a necromancer, I don't think I would go to such lengths for just one skeleton. Probably the same thing as with those wolves we fought earlier - It's a scout, or a rear guard. Or meant as a warning for someone. Wurck seems to phase out for a moment, apparently lost in thought over what implications he has found in his own words. Then, however, he just shrugs and puts a hand to the hilt of his longsword: Anyway, I think we should try and... re-kill it, I guess. I can't say for sure if there's anyone left in that hut, but on the off chance that there is, they will likely be our best bet as far as information is concerned.

[Vladislav]

Look at us, a group of strong men scared of one skeleton. What's there to discuss? We surround the hut and destroy the foul undead abomination, and if we find its masters, we put them under arrest. Let's move.

[Worlok]

Wurck agrees. Spoken like a true warrior. Let's do this. And with that, he walks over to Mule, gathers his swords and turns towards the hut. Any ideas on how to draw it out?

[Erad]

Adventures slowly advanced towards the huts. This time they didn't try to move silently, so they were heard. Three undead moved out of the hut, one of them raised a sword. The skeletons made no sounds, but somehow they signaled the others. Out of four other huts, appeared six more creatures. They eyed the party, but didn't rush into battle.

[Worlok]

Still holding up his blades, Wurck speaks to the others: I... I didn't know there would be this many. I am sorry. Then he abruptly turns back towards the undead again.

[Vladislav]

Have courage, my friends! We shall smite these with our mighty blades! Aydeen exclaimed, as he charged the sword-wielding skeleton.

Swift action: activate Law Devotion
Charging Smite Evil, power attack for 3, attack [roll0], damage [roll1]
If this kills him, Cleave attack on another one, [roll2], damage [roll3]

-2 AC until my next action

OOC
going on vacation until Jan 1. Will still be able to post, but not too often.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk lets out a mighty roar and wildshapes into a bear that looks very similar to Toto.

Toto will charge at the nearest skeleton and attack.


Toto is charging, +2 to attack
Attack with his claw [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Ulk wildshapes into a brown bear and will be within charging distance for next round.

[Worlok]

Wurck holds back for the moment, instead keeping his eyes out in case other undead or whoever's behind there presence try to sneak up on them from behind.

After all, I had designated him as rear guard.

Listen check: [roll0]
Spot check: [roll1]

[Erad]

Aydeen and Toto charged on the undead. Two mighty swings of a huge sword, and two of the monsters returned to death that they evaded until now. A hit of a mighty paw, and another creature becomes a mix of white bones.

Other skeletons stood still, eying the party.

- A problem, my boys, - sounded someone from a distant hut and moments later a man dressed in black robes with a hood appeared.

- Tsk, tsk... As if druids weren't enough! Visitors! Well... dear guests, how a humble man can serve such nobles as you are?

[Vladislav]

Your "boys" are unnatural abominations that will be summarily destroyed. I am Aydeen Kalar, Paladin of Hieroneous. Identify yourself.

Speaking this, the Paladin sent a rapid glance toward the cover of the forest. Wurck's sneaky disappearance into the trees annoyed Aydeen when combat started, but now he couldn't help but feel it will come handy. If only he could keep the robed man talking long enough ...

[Erad]

- A paladin! My master will surely reward me well. First druids, then a paladin.

Stranger's hands began moving drawing magic symbols.

- Ankvaran gar nahan lutn abara...


Concentration [roll0]

If things will go really bad, I'll help you. After all we need 5 players.

[Worlok]

A necromancer... Wurck thinks, taking in the scene - the man's appearance had startled him, seeing how he had been sure that there was noone but the skeletons and that any additional threat would come from out of the village. And he's about to work his evil magic, unless I'm mistaken. About to charge the robed man, who, granted, isn't exactly an annis hag, but still an enemy magician for all he knows, Wurck hesitates for a moment to look at Aydeen and Ulk - if the other two would not initiate combat, neither would he.

[Vladislav]

I could use more subtlety next time. Mental note to self - when wishing to engage the evil wizard in a lengthy dialogue, do not mention the fact you're a paladin upfront.

Monster! So you admit to killing the druids! Prepare to be judged!

Once more, Aydeen summoned the strength of Hieronious and struck at the necromancer with all his might, while attempting to shrug off his vile magic.

Smite Evil, second and last time today, Power Attack for 3, [roll0], damage [roll1]
(assuming Law Devotion is still active, if not, spend 3 Turn Undead attempts to reactivate it)

Secondary attack [roll2], damage [roll3]

Fortitude save [roll4]

[Worlok]

Seeing Aydeen attack, Wurck sets out to attack as well. I hope Ulk can keep him from casting spells somehow. Intercept them. Anything. he thinks, on edge, as he tries to maneuver around the skeletons. He can't conceive of a way to get his ammunition out of the chests on his faithful 'steed''s back without wasting time: If they manage to take down the man fast enough, the 'boys' will scatter or crumble to ashes, or whatever skeletons do in such cases, without having been able to harm the three of them too severely, he's sure of it.

Mule stays put for the time being, weighted down by the equipment and other possessions of the haghunter as the animal is.

He'll essentially be constantly ready to initiate combat via fighting defensively. Can I make use of that fact if the skeletons attack Wurck?

Move Silently check to make the distance around the skeletons in the shadow of the huts while getting behind the caster, taking up my movement for this round as much as necessary: [roll0] - Yep, so much for that.

[Sillycomic]

The bear turns towards the man dressed in black, and hears him confess his sins towards this peaceful druid village.

"He is responsible for our fallen brethren," He growls to his bear, who pauses in his fury to lament this passing.

"Kill them all."

The bear companion unleashes a warcry as he charges to the next skeleton

Ulk begins to cast a spell.


Toto
Claw with Charging 1d20=13
Damage [roll0]

Ulk
Trading in Flamestrike for a Summing Nature's Ally 4.
Summoning a Tiger right next to me. He will appear next round.

[Erad]

Aydeen's sword hit hooded figure, but Aydeen felt that something stopped him from attacking with full power. The enemy hissed from pain, but managed to end his spell. Toto ran at the mage and hit him with a claw, but again something bothered him and the hit left only a small scratch.

Next moment yellow clouds began raising from the ground. All creatures who were in the area felt that they can't breathe. The air was burning their lungs. The air also entered their bodies through the skin. Small ulcers appeared all over them.

While adventurers and their companions stood suffocating, mage quickly swallowed a small potion from bottle and vanished into thin air.


You are hit with Cloudkill.
Fortitude rolls:
Aydeen: 23 (Lost 2 con)
Ulk: [roll0] (Lost 2 con)
Toto: [roll1] (Lost 2 con)
Wurck: [roll2] (Lost 4 con)

[Vladislav]

Aydeen moved away from the cloud as fast as possible. When outside, he concentrated with Detect Evil to locate the invisible mage.

Move action: move out of the cloud.
- If this gets me out, concentrate on Detect Evil as standard action.
- If the move doesn't get me out, take another move action.

[Erad]

The cloud was spreading fast and Aydeen was wearing heavy plate, so he took his remaining breath to get away from poisonous cloud.


(I made a mistake, you took maximum damage instead of rolling. New one is:

Aydeen (halved): [roll0] Con -1
Ulk: (halved): [roll1] Con-1
Toto: (halved): [roll2] Con-1
Wurck: (full): [roll3] Con -4 (didn't help you much)

[Sillycomic]

With the spell completed, a ferocious tiger known as Miss Cuddles comes into fruition inside of the poisonous cloud.

Miss Cuddles, Toto and Ulk will all run out of the poisonous cloud, any direction so long there is fresh air. After that we will all look around and try to pinpoint the man in dark robes.

Fortitude save for Miss Cuddles

[roll0]

We all have a movement of 40 feet, so getting out of the cloud shouldn't be a problem.

HP count.

Miss Cuddles
Will post when I find out what happens with the fort save

Toto
Con is reduced to 18, so no loss of HP

Ulk
Con reduced to 17, minus 7 HP.
Total HP is 53

Listen checks for all 3 of us.

Cuddles
[roll1]

Toto
[roll2]

Ulk
[roll3]

[Erad]

As everyone rushed out of the cloud, a wizard appeared in the middle of cloud they just left.

- I'll kill you! - he yelled and started drawing gestures again, - Ambara karara latara parara...

[Vladislav]

Your vile magics don't scare us! Aydeen replied, then noticed the blisters on his arms and, coughing out the rest of the poison out of his lungs, admitted to himself, but they're darn effective.

After a quick prayer, he strung his bow and sent a pair of arrows to seek the wizard's evil heart.

Bless as a swift action, everyone gets +1 morale bonus to all attacks

Then, full attack w/Composite longbow
[roll0], dmg [roll1]
[roll2], dmg [roll3]

[Worlok]

Suffering immensely from the effects of the Cloudkill, Wurck rushes off to get to Mule and thus, his sling bullets, as fast as he can, stealthy approach be damned. He senses that maybe, going melee would not see him through this, but nonetheless keeps his guard up in case of attacking skeletons.

Fighting defensively for -4 to attack rolls and +2 to AC in case of combat, also Run Action to get back to the others as swiftly as possible without walking into the cloud again. Essentially going the distance. I am at 21 remaining hit points, lest I'm utterly mistaken.

[Sillycomic]

"Wait until the cloud is gone," Ulk says loudly, although it's mostly to his animal friends as to his allies on the field.

He holds out his arms and a strong wind begins to blow.

Toto and Miss Cuddles ready actions to charge wizard the moment they have a gas-less way to get to him.

Ulk casts Gust of Wind at the wizard.

[Erad]

A strong wind blew the poison away, at least partly. At the same time, Aydeen released an arrow. If flied high and... stroke the evil mage straight at the heart. To Aydeen's great surprise, the enemy didn't drop dead. Instead, he just vanished like a soap bubble ((sorry if I didn't translate that right)).

As he disappeared, another cloud began to rise, just below the legs of Aydeen, touching all others as well.

Aydeen's horse, that was his friend in many battles died after a single breath of poisoned air. Wurck's mule fell on the ground suffocating, it was clear that he will die in a moments.


Saves:

Aydeen: [roll0]
Ulk: [roll1]
Wurck: [roll2]
Toto: [roll3]
Aydeen's horse: 10 (rolled before)
Mule: No roll needed
Miss Cuddles: [roll4]

Damage:
Aydeen: [roll5] Con damage: 1 HP lost: 7
Ulk: [roll6] Con damage:2 HP lost: 14
Wurck: [roll7] Con damage:1 HP lost: 7
Toto: [roll8] Con damage: 1 HP lost: 7



Roleplay coughing on something! Your chars are suffocating.

And if you need DM rescue, just say.

[Erad]

Miss Cuddles roll: [roll0]
Lost 12 hp.

[Vladislav]

Huffing, puffing and coughing blood, Aydeen moves out of the toxic cloud yet again.

Where are you? Show yourself, coward!

Detect Evil if there's still time left in this round

[Erad]

Aydeen saw a red shadow of a mage standing a few feet away from his first position. He was drinking from a small bottle at this moment.

[Vladislav]

He's right over there! Ulk, blast him with everything you have!

[Sillycomic]

Ulk can’t understand any of this. His knees grow weak in the middle of another poisonous cloud. His animals are hacking up blood and pleghm around him. They can’t fight in this. They can barely stand in this.

No wonder the druids had no chance versus this man. They were caught unaware. If things didn’t change in their favor this necromancer will do to them what he did to the village.

Ulk wouldn’t let that happen to his companions.

“ Toto get out of here*Cough* Cuddles, find him and attack!”

Cuddles, with his decent perception and a general area of where the attacker is will try to perceive him and attack.


Perception [roll0]

If he perceives he will pounce and attack. If not, I suppose he's waiting.

Charging Pounce Attack

Claw Attack
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]
Miss Chance. Misses on a 1
[roll3]

Claw Attack
[roll4]
Damage
[roll5]
Miss Chance. Misses on a 1
[roll6]

Bite Attack
[roll7]
Damage
[roll8]
Miss Chance. Misses on a 1.
[roll9]


Toto will move East her full movement, 80 feet.

Ulk will take a move action, 40 feet out of the cloud. He will move South so he is nowhere near Toto and they can't both be targeted for another cloudkill spell.

He will wildshape out of his bear form (standard action) and look back towards Aydeen.

"I need to see him. Can you make him visible? Unless you want me to entangle him..."




HP for my entourage.
Ulk is sitting at 39 HP
3 points of Con Damage
Toto has 35 HP
2 points of Con Damage
Miss Cuddles has 45 HP
2 points Con Damage

With my augmented summoning feat Miss Cuddles has +4 to STR and CON. Good thing because she will need it.
And she did have a +2 to her fortitude save because of the increased con, if that helps anything at all.

4 more rounds before Cuddles disappears.

[Worlok]

The putrid smell of the gas and the taste of the blood on his tongue were hardly the worst thing to plague Wurck right now, nor were it the hideous fits his own coughs had him suffer: His trusty mule is dying right before him, and from the looks of it, he is as well. Still fumbling about with the keys to the locks at his sling chest, he seems too determined to fight on to even consider attempting escape. You've served me *cough* well, old friend, help Pelor I'll *cough* avenge you. he croaks at the dying animal, loading his sling as he turns around. Aydeen is pointing at what appears to be thin air, claiming their foe was there. Invisibility, huh?

Detecting Evil, will attack the shadow with my sling:

Attack Roll: [roll0]
In case of crit, confirm: [roll1]
For base damage equal to: [roll2]

[Erad]

Both Aydeen and Wurck saw how a a stone hit wizard's head and fell on the ground. The enemy didn't even budge. He certainly was under some kind of protection. But the attack removed the enchantment and the evil enemy became visible. Realizing that he can now be seen, he hissed and began casting another spell.

[Vladislav]

There will be justice, or blood! But a toxic cloud stood in the way of justice... Aydeen hoped his arrows will find their mark this time.

Full attack with a longbow
[roll0] dmg [roll1]
[roll2] dmg [roll3]

[Worlok]

The relative ease with which the enemy has shrugged off the attack puzzles the hagslayer, even though he can't help but think that making the mage visible was a small success in and of itself. At least now I can see his face when this one smashs it in... Wurck growls, all semblance of civility having left for the moment and himself loading the next stone into his weapon...

The usual...
Attack: [roll0]
Crit-Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[Sillycomic]

Air never smelled so sweet. Ulk only took a moment to enjoy the good clean air filling his lungs before he turned back on the spellcaster. It was a wonderful little moment though, one he would not soon forget. He had to promise himself to sit next to a sweet brook for a long while and enjoy the act of breathing once this is all over…

If they get out of this alive.

Ulk stares at the necromancer who just appeared.

“Coward… unwilling to face us? You and your tricks are getting tiresome. You should see some of mine. Entangle!”

Casting Entangle. DC 16 reflex save. I cast it so he’s in the middle, so even if he makes it there’s 40 feet of rough terrain all around him.

Miss Cuddles delights in the fact that she can now see her target. She attacks with tooth and claw ferociously.


If the spellcaster is casting a spell next to Cuddles, she would get an Attack of Opportunity. Unless he’s casting defensively… or this is some other sort of trick up his sleeve.
AoO
Claw
[roll0]
Damage
[roll1]

Reflex for being in the entangle
[roll2]
Not that it matters, he’s not moving, just attacking.

Full Attack
Claw
Attack
[roll3]
Damage
[roll4]
Claw
Attack
[roll5]
Damage
[roll6]
Bite
[roll7]
Damage
[roll8]

Toto begins smashing skeletons.

[Erad]

After the evil mage became visible, his fate was sealed. His magic turned away bullets and arrows, but could do nothing against angry tiger. The wild attack of Miss Cuddles left him no chance. The animal and the man disappeared in a huge cloud of dust, claws and curses and when the dust faded, adventurers saw Miss Cuddles swallowing blood from mage lying on the ground and not moving. Of course it could be another trick, but usually a head lying a yard away from the body is a certain sign of death. As the wizard fell, skeletons turned to dust.

[Vladislav]

Coughing and spitting toxic phlegm, Aydeen slowly approached their enemy's remains. With a sharp downward motion, he stuck a sword in whatever was left of the necromancer, and knelt by it in prayer.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk thanks Miss Cuddles for everything she did. His hand pats her on the head.

"Thank you, spirits of the forest," And as the tiger disappears he sees his beloved Toto running towards him.

"Once more, it seems we have bested the day."

He will look towards his friends, "Is everyone ok? I have some healing if you need it."

Down to their next order of business, "We should search this entire camp for anything the druids left behind, or any clue that this Necromancer had friends who might be still out there."

[Worlok]

Having slumped down right next to Mule's carcass, Wurck still absent-mindedly fumbles about with his sling, seemingly depressed by the loss of the animal. Damn shame it is... I had him for five years... And now this... Have to bury him... Damn shame it is... he mumbles between coughs, a grim satisfaction over their victory wrestling the sense of loss - and the prospect of carrying his immense mass of possessions by himself - for control over his facial expression.

[Erad]

The enemy was dead, and silence descended upon the small village. Not even birds sounded, not even flies or bees were in the air. The vile magic destroyed this place utterly.

In the huts were the corpses of the druids, rotten by still recognizable. Viasha, who joined adventurers after the fight identified them all except the Archdruid, who wasn't around neither alive, nor dead. Dead people had nothing of value. If they had something before, now it was gone.

[Vladislav]

Having finished his prayer, Aydeen looks around. Unfortunately, he never was much of a woodsman, but his companions might be more savvy about this.

Could any of you track those skeletons and see where they came from?

[Sillycomic]

"Toto can," Ulk says.

Toto begins searching for tracks or a scent that will help him find some sort of origin of the skeletons.

Ulk will begin saying prayers for his fallen druids.

Toto has scent and track, unsure what bonuses those will give.
Survival[roll0]
Spot [roll1]

[Erad]

Bare, clean bones don't have any specific feature or smell. The bear tried smelling the remains, but after that just looked on his master. If bears could shrug, he'd do it now. Viasha also failed to identify something in a mix of footprints and animal tracks on the ground. It seemed that too many creatures passed here not long ago.

[Sillycomic]

"If Toto can't track them, they can not be tracked by normal means..." Ulk then asks his friend to start digging graves. He will do the same.

There are a number of druid friends who need a final resting place, as well as some fallen comrades, it seems. Ulk looks over to the mule that got a blast of the poisonous cloud.

"This shouldn't take long. Then we can return to the village and tell them what happened."

Ulk will wildshape into a bear again, and help Toto with digging graves for the druid remains. And help Wurk dig a grave as well

[Vladislav]

Wars have taught Aydeen not to be sentimental. He approaches his dead horse, and removes anything of value in the saddlebags. He considers taking the saddle itself, but it's too heavy and unwieldy to carry. He only gives way to emotion for a moment, when he notices the animal's eyes are still open, the horror of death imprinted on its retinae. Aydeen kneels to close the horse's eyes with whatever the poisonous gas left of its eyelids and shakes his head. You didn't die in vain.

Without a word, Aydeen helps the others to dig graves with whatever instruments he can find.

[Erad]

Digging took some time, and when it finished, adventurers were already deadly tired. Viasha helped them and also wasn't in perfect condition. Maybe because of this tiredness of everyone, the bear was first to sense new danger.

Toto began smelling the air, then turned his head to the forest and growled. When adventurers turned their heads there, they saw a dark skinned, thin figure moving among the trees.

- Rivvin! Xuat bneir'pak! - yelled the unexpected guest.
And after a few moments added: Xal usstan doer veirs? - it was a question.


If I am not mistaken none of you speak drow. So let's play a game of guessing. :smallsmile:

[Vladislav]

Aydeen summons the entirety of his drow vocabulary to answer:

Folt Xundt! Usstan uil Aydeen.

The first part, he suspects, may be some kind of swear word, but he doesn't know any other words.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk simply looks at the drow curiously. He isn't sure about what the person said.

Although, it's an elf and a weird one at that. He doesn't think this will end well.

It is good that Aydeen is talking to it. He has nothing that will help with this situation.

Instead he calls his bear over and readies to fight if need be.

[Erad]

Drow cautiously came a little closer. Now he could be seen. It was a thin, somewhat short dark skinned elf with short white hair, wearing a mundane leather armor, and with a dagger on his belt. The drow was holding his hands away from weapon, with palms open towards adventurers.

- Usstan tlun Zharteyn! Usstan tlun naut biu ogglin!

He raised his hands, then crossed them on his chest.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen heard many stories about the treacherous drow. Still, this one was willing to parlay, and Aydeen kept his hands off the weapon as well. He wondered whether this one might be pure of heart, unlike most of his brethen.

Detect evil

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the visitor. I don't understand.

[Erad]

Drow didn't show even the smallest signs of being evil.

The dark elf hesitated.

- M'elzar, - he said, - Ee-me-yje, Mee-yzh-ee.

- Xunus dos elgg ukta?

He moved his hand over his throat.

Aydeen guessed that the elf tried to say "Mage". He was certainly asking if adventurers killed him. Aydeen also remembered that when drow crosses his hands on his chest he means peace.


If you can't guess, try rolling intelligence, maybe your characters will.
Roll 1d20 + int modifier.

Okay, I'll even do this for you.
Aydeen [roll0]
Ulk [roll1]
Wurck [roll2]

Aydeen guessed, but Ulk will need explanation from him.

Next time you choose if you want those rolls. But if you will guess yourselves, you'll get more xp.

[Vladislav]

He's not evil. And seems like he wants peace, Aydeen whispered.

He pointed at the remains of the mage, then at himself and his friends, then repeated the elf's hand gesture over his throat. Yes, we killed him.

[Erad]

The drow nodded.

- Bel'la dos! - he bowed, - Uk zhah uss d'nindyn vel'uss zhah rathrea jal nindel.

The elf moved the hand around as trying to mean something like "all", "world", "forest" or something similar.

- Shlu'ta dos doer xuil uns'aa? - he asked and moved his hand like if he was calling adventurers to come after him.

[Vladislav]

He seems sincere to me. Should we take a chance and follow him?

[Sillycomic]

"I don't like it," Ulk says, looking at the drow in front of him. Although, he didn't trust any sort of elf no matter what they did. He didn't think this one would be any more trustworthy.

"If you feel it's safe though," He would go along. Someone had to help them if they were going into an obvious trap.

[Worlok]

At first, Wurck had been dumbfounded by the dark elf's arrival. His Drow was none too good, in fact, the one foreign tongue he had mastered sufficiently for everyday purposes was Giant. "Following him might be a good idea. Tired as we are, he could have killed us already if he'd wanted to, I reckon." he mumbled in Common, casting a glance back at the carcass of Mule. Now if only I had a way to move my stuff comfortably... he thinks as he begins strapping his chests and whatnot to his back.

[Erad]

The drow silently waited for adventurers decision.

[Vladislav]

Wurck, I'll help you carry as much as I can.

[[put my level 8 ability point into Str - apparently now I have a 350 lb carrying capacity!]]

[Worlok]

"Thanks, Aydeen, but I can't expect you to lug around my hunting supplies. Would be a waste to leave it lying around." Wurck replies, nodding at the fellow paladin in gratitude as he straps the two supply chests together. "And I think we can trust the elf. For now. Wonder if he speaks any languages we know among the three of us, though..."

[Sillycomic]

"My bear can carry a few things if you put them in a sack or something," Ulk grumbles this reluctantly, not happy with people wanting to trust this dark elf.

Ulk only knows common, drawven and druidic. He is thankful for that. No reason for this drow to know any of those.

He quickly shouts a hello in drawf and druid.

"Well if we're followin we best hurry on then."

[Worlok]

"Thank you, but I'll be alright. I'll probably get rid of some of it throughout... whatever may lie ahead, anyway." Wurck replies, giving an approving nod at Ulk and Toto before lifting his things onto his back and gets ready to follow the Drow. "You wouldn't happen to know Giant, friend?" he asks the elf in Giant.

[Erad]

The drow helplessly looked at Wurck and shrugged.

After a few moments he possibly guessed or just knew the word "giant" and said "goblin".

[Worlok]

"So... Does anyone of you speak Goblin?" Wurck reacts to the drow's statement, facing his companions again.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen shook his head. Other than a few swear words he picked in the army (and who didn't?), he only spoke the Common tongue. Still, he trusted the drow's sincerity and was willing to follow him.

[Erad]

After some time the party decided to follow drow. Viasha joined them too. After some walking through the forest, Viasha started to recognize the area. According to her words, they were approaching a network of caves. After some more walking, drow led the party to one of the holes in the hills.

After approaching the cave entrance he yelled something on the unknown language. A female voice answered him, unknown language too. After about a minute, a thin and high woman, of human origin appeared. She was wearing rags, that once were a dress, with dirt all over her face, hair and clothing. Even from the distance adventurers could smell her - it was a smell of a beast, not man.

After exchanging a few sentences with drow, she turned to adventurers.

- So you killed the mage, - she said, - that's good. He was one of those who was behind all this bedlam.

From behind of Aydeen Viasha whispered:

- Don't trust her, I know all wanderers of this area by face and never seen her before.

[Vladislav]

Not sure of the protocol, Aydeen bowed before the woman, just in case; even if his bow could only be described as shallow.

Yes, we did. Who are you and what's your connection to this?

[Worlok]

And not to be rude or anything, but what exactly happened to you? Looks like you've had some trouble. With... some sort of... animal? Something inside him tells him to be on guard, his every fiber set on alert by the same old obsession with werewolves, but Wurck slowly - and somewhat inelegantly - bows as well. But I forget my manners. Name's Whire. Wurck Whire. he introduces himself, casting a sideways glance at both Ulk and Aydeen as if to ask them whether he should reveil their names as well.

[Erad]

- It doesn't really matter who I am, - said the woman.

- What does matter, that I know about the source of all those problems. Have you ever heard about cult of Zaratingis? It's a bunch of clerics and wizards who follow a being of Lower Planes, a devil or a demon, I am not sure. As far as I know they are now trying to build a foothold in the depth of this forest. The vile magic causes all animals to flee in panic. The first place on their way were fort and nearby villages.

[Sillycomic]

The druid nods. It makes sense. The necromancer must have some friends and their foul magic is trying to disrupt the purity of the forest around them.

"I see. Do you know anything more about them or where they are in the forest?"

He wished he could talk to some of the animals. They would have more information.

[Erad]

- Near the ruins in the deep of the woods, - said woman, - But I doubt that's their main camp. But one of the important ones, I bet. Your elf friend should know the way. If not... Zharteyn will show you.

[Vladislav]

We vanquished one of them, with great difficulties, almost lost our lives, Aydeen's face is still ripe with poison sores, How do you suggest we deal with a whole cult?

[Erad]

- Oh my, you've been listening to so much minstrel stories, didn't you?

The woman laughed.

- I am not some old hermit who will help you to defeat Great Evil by finding Magic Sword in the Caverns of Doom. I am just a... a woman who's tired from unending accusations. Yes, yes, a few days ago a few soldiers from the fort visited me. They thought Zharteyn and his dark brethren are behind all that. Convincing that he is alone and innocent wasn't easy. All I want is to be left alone, that's why I help you.

[Vladislav]

- Oh my, you've been listening to so much minstrel stories, didn't you?

Guilty as charged. Aydeen can't help but smirk. And don't underestimate the power minstrel stories, by the way, without them I wouldn't be here. Besides, I already have a magic sword, quite a good one, in fact. So, Caverns of Doom notwithstanding, how can you help us?

[Sillycomic]

If this old woman had more relevant information, Ulk would willingly listen, but his feet were already itching to walk into the forest. They had a lead now on where to go next.

Ulk waits for Aydeen to finish her questioning before they talk of a plan of action on the old ruins.

[Erad]

Woman smiled.

- Like I said, Zharteyn can show you the way to their camp. But if you want more... if you insist on more, I can help you more. Want a small gift, hero? A gift that will greatly help you in all future battles? But it will come at a price, like everything else. Want it? Then give me your hand, warrior.

[Vladislav]

Why do I have a bad feeling about this ...

Biting his lip, Aydeen gives the woman his hand.

[Erad]

- It won't hurt a bit, - said the woman and... bite Aydeen's hand. SHe plunged her teeth deeply into flesh, to the bone. It was hurting quite a bit.

The drow and Viasha both screamed at this moment, one on drow language, one on surface elven. By their reaction it could be seen that neither one liked what she was doing.

The woman finally released Aydeen and looked in his eyes.

- As I said it comes with a price. The wound WILL infect, but if you want my... magic to work, don't drink potions or spill spirits or hot oil on the wound. Wait for about three days. After this the magic will work and you'll become a much stronger and more agile creature.

[Vladislav]

What in the name of ... Aydeen barely resisted the urge to blaspheme. You bit me! What in heavens did you bite me for? You know what, don't answer that. Fine. I, uhm, appreciate your help, I think we should go now.

[Erad]

((Post what you are doing next. All of those who is still playing.))

[Sillycomic]

Ulk carefully examines the wound, trying to bandage it up for Aydeen the best he can.


Heal check, [roll0]

"Now that you two are done playing, can we talk about a plan of action? We know where they are. Should we go to these ruins, or back to the fort to resupply and rest for the day?"

[Vladislav]

Oh, rest would definitely be welcome.

[Halae]

Waiting inside the fort, reading over a tick leather bound tome is a young man in a blue robe. He pushes up his glasses and lets out a sigh - he was here to help, but those he had come to help were nowhere to be found. Nothing for it, he'd just wait until someone came back.

[Sillycomic]

"Sounds good to me," Ulk says as he adjusts his supplies and gets ready to leave.

He asks Toto to lead the way back to the fort. He follows behind.

[Erad]

Adventurers were returning to the fort in bad mood. They hardly survived the battle with mage, with single enemy, and now they heard that there is a whole cult of them. That was indeed a reason to bad mood. Viasha was silent, all the way back.

Fortunately, no one attacked them and they returned safely. Viasha said a short goodbye and left them, then went to commander's quarters.

At the same time soldiers called the wizard who just arrived, to the gates to meet adventurers he wanted to join.

[Halae]

Coming forward with a smile is a young man wearing a blue robe. His coppery hair hangs in his eyes a bit, and attached to a strap that goes up and on his shoulder is the thickest book you've ever seen. He pushes his glasses back up his nose and says, "Hello! I'm told that you're the adventurers dealing with the problems in the forest. My name is Terrance Vant, and I'm here to offer my skills."

[Vladislav]

A tall armored man addresses the wizard. Despite his strength, he seems to be unwell, with sores covering his skin. Well met, Terrance, I am Aydeen, Paladin of Hieroneous. These are my companions, Wurck and Ulk. We have fought what seems to be merely a vanguard of the dark forces, and let me tell you, we're going to need all the help we can get.

[Halae]

Terrance looks thoughtful for a moment, "What can you tell me about what we're facing here? I'm afraid I haven't had much time to gather information about the situation, and anything that I can learn now will be an amazing boon in regards to my spells."

"And... is there any way I could help with those sores? It's most distressing."

[Vladislav]

First thing we observed is animals in the forest are acting unnaturally agressive, as if evil spirit is spurring them to attack. We have then come to a village of druids, slaughtered in cold blood by some necromancer and his undead pets. We fought the necromancer, having been poisoned by noxious clouds he conjured by magic. Then, a drow led us to a woman, who said the lair of evil, or at least, a lair, is in the ruins in the deep of the woods. That Elf who just walked away, Viasha, she knows the way. Aydeen looks into the wizard's eyes and smiles, you are now up to speed. As for our wounds, I think we just need to sleep it off.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk nods his head, “That’s the long and short of it. Now that we have more allies and we know where the evil group lies it should not be long before the forest is purged of their unnatural evil.”

Toto makes a noise at that, and Ulk pats his head, “This is Toto, my loyal companion. He’ll watch our back when it’s needed. I am a druid of the Northern forests. I have come here to make sure these woods are free from the foul magic. I thank you for coming to aid us. We need all the help we can get.”

[Misaat]

A young man appears from the gate. You may not have seen him but he has been standing there in the shadows for quite some time listening to their conversation.

" Indeed... What the Druid says is right... There must be some weird magic controlling the animals of the forest... And where there is Magic... there is a Magic-user... My name is Matej Nazzgoel and if you decide to let me join you i can assure you that wherever it is that person is hidden between those trees i will find him... "

" Especially if its him... "

[Tyreus]

At the gate there's a small commotion between a couple soldiers and a halfling. "...it was just a harmless transportation spell. It wasn't a real horse or monster it-" A guard cuts him off. "Alright alright, just make sure you don't scare up any of the townsfolk... Everyone's already on edge because of the forest." The soldier looks around nervously. "I know that's why the guild sent me here, to help. I'm assigned to look into your problem and see if I can find a solution." The guard gestures to the gathering of adventurers. "Talk to them, they're here for the same reason."

The diminutive man makes his way to the group. "Hello, my name is Zalander," he says with a slight bow. "I don't mean to intrude but I was hoping you could tell me a little something about what's been happening in the forest... The guards didn't have much to say, they only directed me to you."

[Sillycomic]

"Sure thing small one," Ulk says as he explains everything he knows about the forest so far. From strange animals to the necromancer they just defeated.

"My name is Ulk," And he went around and introduced everyone as well.

"At the moment Aydeen and I came back to rest and gat some new supplies. We were worn out from our last fight. We're hoping to get going to the old ruins first thing in the morning though."

"You are welcome to join us if you have some skill that may aid us in battle."

[Tyreus]

"I appreciate the invitation. I am well versed in the arcane arts.. hopefully my spells will be of assistance."

[Halae]

Terrance smiles, "You as well? Perhaps we can converse sometime." Then he turns back to the party who had just returned "In any case, let's get you rested up. You're no good to anybody when your too tired to stand."

[Tyreus]

"Where is a good place to rest for the night? And if we're leaving tomorrow we should probably get an early start and form a plan."

[Vladislav]

Yes, yes, see you tomorrow, new and old friends. Aydeen lumbers off for a search of a place to crash for the night.

[Erad]

The night passed calmly and adventurers awoke as fresh as it was possible in those conditions. Aydeen found out that the wound caused by strange woman closed like it was never there.

Smaller skin wounds caused by Cloudkills also closed after night sleep. And with some help of potions given by healers.

[Tyreus]

After reviewing his spellbook and getting ready for the day, Zalander finds himself some breakfast and waits for the others.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen joins the others for breakfast. I had a weird dream tonight. Dreamed I was surrounded by wolves. They were ... calling to me. Strange. What do you make of it?

[Halae]

Terrance is also down for Breakfast, "Dreams can sometimes be an indication of things that have happened that your mind doesn't fully understand, or glimpses of the future. I'm not terribly experienced with Oneiromancy, though."

[Tyreus]

"Might have just been a strange dream... although its not unheard of for a dream to hold some meaning.." The small man thinks for a moment and you wonder if he's talking to you or to himself.

(arcane/divine/planes) knowledge check: [roll0]

[Sillycomic]

"It is the spirit of the forest... asking us to rid this taint from her. I have been hearing this same calling ever since my journey started," The dwarf began shoveling breakfast as fast as he could, enjoying the warmth that the meal provided.

Toto was out in the woods nearby, catching his own breakfast.


"Does anyone need anything before we begin? I think we should start by exploring those ruins we were told about yesterday."

[Misaat]

Matej sits there eating quietly while he listens to his other companion's speak.

"Wolf's ah?"

He turns around to see Shara laying in the corner of the room.

"I wonder if its got anything to do with you..."

[Erad]

Zalander failed to remember any valuable information regarding this dream.

[Tyreus]

"So what's our plan? Start by exploring these ruins?"

[Vladislav]

Only lead we've got.

[Tyreus]

"Well I vote we head out as soon as we are able. Being stuck in the forest at night time is not a pleasant prospect..."

[Sillycomic]

"I'm ready, unless we need some supplies I suggest we head out."

[Halae]

"I came with everything I need for now. I'm ready to leave." Terrance says

[Erad]

But before adventurers could do something, horrible screams sounded from the walls.

- Help! - yelled guards, - help, it has come!!!

Adventurers ran outside and saw IT. A huge reptile towered over the walls. It was nothing less then Tarrasque! It made a step forward and palisade logs broke as they were simple sticks. And then the abomination charged in, smashing a few soldiers on their way and attacked adventurers.

The battle will be the hardest that is even possible. But the reward is great as well.


Don't forget what day it is :smallsmile:

[Sillycomic]

Well, while others may flee in terror the grumpy Ulk snorts and walks calmly towards the large terror chompings its way inside.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the nest..."

It was time for a little stragety.

"Heel!" The druid commanded!

Handle Animal Check [roll0]

"Be a good boy and I'll give you a treat... come on, you won't even know it's not bacon!"

[Vladislav]

Don't worry, by the grace of Hieroneous, I will protect you.

Aydeen exits the safety of the fort walls, waves his hands to draw the attention of the dreadful beast, and calls to it, Here kitty kitty.

Handle Animal [roll0]

[Tyreus]

Zalander calls his trusty phantom steed to his side and climbs on. Hoping against all odds, but determined to protect the townsfolk, he pushes his mount into a sprint directly at the creature. "Hey ugly! Over here!"

Hopefully not a suicide mission... Zalander is trying to distract the monster and lure it into chasing him away from the town. Hopefully I can survive an attack of opportunity.. anyways Zalander will have a temporary stone skin spell active from heart of earth, heart of water grants freedom of movement if he tries to grapple, and greater mirror image will come up as an immediate action if the monster attacks. The mount has 160ft movement and isn't impeded by rough terrain.

[Erad]

The monster looked around, then centered his eyes on Aydeen. Came closer, opened his haw and... started licking him.

[Vladislav]

Climb on it, Druid friend! Climb while its attention is ... yuck ... distracted, and ride it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188302)!

[Sillycomic]

"Hooray! Once again the power of nature prevails."

The druid comes closer, but then an idea strikes him.

He quickly takes out a pokeball.

"I want this one for my own!"

Throws the Pokeball at the Tarrasque!

Touch Attack [roll0]

[Halae]

It's a longshot, but I may as well.

Terance readies glitterdust for if it goes hostile, to be cast at its face. just in case.

[Misaat]

"Looks like there isn't much i can do..."

Matej takes out his bow and readies an arrow just in case...

[Tyreus]

"Oh screw it!" Zalander jumps off the back of the speeding phantom steed and throws a roundhouse kick at the terrible lizards left eye.

Kick: [roll0]

[Erad]

Okay, sorry that I didn't invent better joke.

Would you try to find ruins yourself, or you will call Viasha again?

The party quickly found Viasha and convinced her to take them to ruins. The elf quickly got her bow and armor and the party started their way.

Hours passes, and nothing changed around. Just thick woods at all directions and small animals, like rabbits beneath adventurers feet. The day was warm enough and marching through thick woods wearing all the armor was hard. Adventurers soon good tired, and slowed down.

- There is a small pond nearby, - said Viasha, - we can rest there. It's still a long way to ruins, about three hours more.

Having no other way, adventurers accepted. The elf soon brought them to a small clearing, with pond of strangely clean water in the middle.

- We will rest here a little, - said Viasha, - at least I will.

Then she started drinking from the pond.

[Tyreus]

Zalander climbed down from his magical steed and unloaded a very comfortable looking bedroll. After drinking out of his water skin he refilled it at the pond and sat cross legged on his bed.

"How close are we?"

[Vladislav]

The forest was quiet ... Too quiet ... Aydeen had his own waterskin, so he chose not to come too close to the pond, instead slowly pacing around the clearing, alert for any signs of danger.

[Erad]

Aydeen made full circle, but found nothing.

Everything was calm. Too calm, just as Aydeen thought. Someone, or something, was close, all Aydeen's inner senses were yelling about it. But it wasn't showing itself. Who was it? Friend or foe?

Other adventurers were oblivious as well.


Aydeen spot: [roll0]

To all: Post about your rest, after everyone posts, I'll advance. Make rolls for spot if you want, but the check is very hard.

[Vladislav]

Having noticed nothing suspcious in the forest, Aydeen shook his head. Must be my imagination. He sat down by the pond and refilled his waterskin. He was about to unbuckle his armor for a short rest, but his fingers froze when he remembered his dream. No, the armor will have to stay on for now.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk will lay in the cool grass near the shore for a bit, wiggling his toes until people are ready to continue.

Toto goes down to the pond for a drink and then will lie next to Ulk untill people are ready to continue.

[Tyreus]

Zalander bids his time by lounging in his bed and reading, occasionally snacking on some food from his backpack.

[Halae]

Terrance is simply going over his spells again, reviewing his spellbook. it's a wonderful way to kill time, and a god way to exhaust the mind for sleep

[Misaat]

Matej stays next to his wolf just sitting and watching his teammates

[Erad]

Adventurers were resting. Aydeen still tried to look out for dangers, but saw nothing. Adventurers saw the threat, only when it was nearly too late. A horde of skeletons were approaching them, from everywhere. Animated bones surrounded the clearing in full circle, and now adventurers were in the middle of it. Skeletons came closer, until they were at about ten yards from adventurers. Before anyone could react, one of the horrors, who looked for some reason as a kind of leader, approached adventurers, weapons sheathed, and made such a gesture if he was calling one of them forward.

[Vladislav]

Begone, foul abominations! Aydeen held his holy symbol high. By the grace of Hieroneous, I will send you back to the dust from which you came!


Turn Undead check [roll0] turning damage: [roll1] edit: forgot +2 due to 5 ranks in Knowledge (Religion)

Turning level = 4

In summary:
- Maximal HD affected: 3 edit: actually 4
- Total HD affected: 12
- 2 HD or less are destroyed instead of turned.

[Halae]

Knowledge religion check to determine what sort of undead these are.
[roll0]

[Tyreus]

Zalander climbs onto his phantom steed and casts shield on himself.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk calls Toto to his side, who is snarling and snapping at the skeletons as he heels. Ulk pulls out his weapon, ready to attack if the things show any sign of aggression.

"I think... they're waiting for something."

This isn't the first time undead acted all weird in their presence. Was this a sign of another necromancer nearby?

[Erad]

Animated bones showed no signs of aggression. Even after Aydeen's exorcism, three creatures fled in panic, but others simply closed gaps in the circle. No one of skeletons took out weapon. The "leader" if it was him, waved his hand like trying to say "no" and once again made calling gesture.

[Tyreus]

"Should we just go with them?"

[Vladislav]

"Should we just go with them?"

I think they expect us to. These are no regular undead.

The rather disciplined behavior of the horde made Aydeen rethink his actions. Slowly, he set down his holy symbol, letting it dangle aimlessly from a chain around his neck. What do you want? He made a step in the direction of the apparent leader. There was no weapon in the Paladin's hands.

[Halae]

Terrance's hands crackle with blue electricity, like static running between his fingers. he's ready at a moment's notice to begin fighting

On this and following rounds, Terrance readies an action to blast them with his electric bolts, with have a range of 30 ft. and deal 3d6 damage

[Erad]

The chief skeleton nodded slightly to Aydeen, pointed at him, then pointed at the far edge of the clearing or maybe forest beyond it' like in showing where to go. After that he started moving, after a few steps stopped, and waved hand as calling adventurers after him.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen was at a loss for words. Should a Paladin follow an undead abomination? But he never saw an undead behave like this. This was very unusual. He looked at his friends, seeking advice from them.Knowledge (Religion) [roll0]

[Halae]

Terrance looks at Aydeen and motions for him to stand down. He has a worried look in his own eyes, but he doesn't believe this is something they should go charging into willy nilly

[Erad]

Skeletons indeed acted very strangely for undead. Perhaps they were controlled by someone directly? As if the unknown mage moved them like pulling strings of the doll.

[Halae]

What information did Terrance find out from that 36 on Knowledge religion he took before?

[Erad]

Same information

[Vladislav]

Aydeen followed the skeleton. He figured, if they wanted to ambush us, they would have done so already.

[Sillycomic]

Ulk calmly pets the ruffled mane of his companion, who can't help but growl softly at the surrounding undead.

"Soon," He whispers, and that seems to calm the bear for now.

They both follow Aydeen and this skeleton leader to the far end of the field. The good news seems to be they are finally getting to the bottom of things, but Ulk has this swallowing feeling in the pit of his stomache that things are about to take a turn for the worse.

[Erad]

Adventurers followed skeletons through the forest. No one tried to attack them, no deadly traps were hidden under the forest floor. After some time, the surrounding area began to change. At first small stones appeared between the woods, then remnants of old columns appeared. Then adventurers saw a large building, that survived the aging. The building was in strangely good shape and looked as a huge dome of white marble. The dome however was only about a yard at height.

As adventurers came closer, they understood that main part of the building is below ground. Skeletons stopped and their "leader" showed at the entrance.

Adventurers descended deeply to the ruins and after passing a long corridor, found themselves in a huge hall, full of columns, tapestries, paintings and other items of prosperity.

After examining the hall, adventurers saw an approaching figure. It was a thin, pale elf, wearing luxurious tunic, that only nobles could effort. However this specific design was out of use for about a century. Elf had no visible weapon, however something in him was threatening.

The elf approached closer and bowed.

- I greet thee. I am happy that you followed our servants without bloodshed.
Who of you will be a herald?

[Halae]

"I would speak." Terrance says, stepping forward. He's curious about this elf, and whether he's the necromancer or not. He wracks his brain for information.

Knowledge checks for anything and everything that may be relevant here

Knowledge (Arcana), to identify the elf as a spellcaster and anything else that may apply
[roll0]

Knowledge (The Planes), To identify if there is any outsider influence here
[roll1]

Knowledge (Religion), to identify every type of undead here and determine if the elf is a cleric or other divine caster
[roll2]

Knowledge (Nature), to see what he knows about elves in the area, as (Surprisingly) it lets him identify humanoids and other similar beings
[roll3]

[Erad]

Terrance failed to identify if elf was spellcaster, but examination results show that he can be an undead - vampire to be precise.

[Halae]

"If I'm not mistaken, these are your minions, correct? Are you their maker, or simply in command right now?"

[Tyreus]

Zalander shifts uncomfortably, nervous around the skeletons and especially the elf... there was just something wrong about him.

[Erad]

Elf shook his head.

- I am neither. I am just a part of the community that was sent to greet you. And before we go any further I want you to know that we are Zaratingis most dire enemy.

[Halae]

Terrance appears thoughtful for a moment, "Zaratingi?"

[Vladislav]

Aydeen realizes his mistake, not bringing his new allies up to speed properly. It's a cult of clerics and wizards who follow a being of Lower Planes. It's their vile magic what causes all animals in the forest to act unnatural. And, he turns to the elf, why would you be their enemy? Turf wars?

[Erad]

Elf grinned.

- You are a paladin, right? I can sense those like you. So tell me, paladin, what is evil that you have to fight with?

[Vladislav]

Aydeen frowns. Does he have to flaunt his evil ways? He's not making it any easier.... Then he decides to answer, as politely as possible given the circumstances.

So far? Let's see, I started with goblins, worked my way up through orcs, zombies, ogres, then some power hungry warlords had to be kept in check, then there was the necromancer... no Vampires yet.

[Erad]

- Right, - the elf nod, - but tell me, must undead being always be evil? Can't a community of undead live outside of normal society without bothering it?

[Halae]

Terrance interjects, "I recall a story about a group of ghouls living in a city that, with the help of the people from their former lives, were actually completely upstanding citizens. However, Negative energy has a corrupting influence, where positive energy does not have such an influence either way. Many undead are evil by no choice of their own, but are still, in the end, evil."

[Erad]

- Indeed? - asked elf, - But that's why I ask - what is evil? Would you consider siding with us - vampires who live far from civilization to deal with a cult led by a fiend who corrupts the whole forest? Would you, mage? Or you, paladin? I won't force you to make your decision. I'll tell whatever details you'll ask for. And whatever you decide, I swear you'll leave at peace, unless you will attack me first.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen shifts his weight nervously from one foot to another, and thinks, well, something must be done about this cult. And the vampire didn't actually do anything bad to us. He tries to rationalize, maybe he was bitten and vampirised against his will?

He quietly nods.

[Erad]

- The literate poison they spread is harmless against those who don't breathe, - smiled elf, - and mind spells are useless against undead. What mind spells you ask? Didn't TWO of you got lost in the forest, before our minions arrived? Rangers they were. I am sorry, there was nothing I could do to save them.

Only now adventurers realized that Matej and Wurck are nowhere to be seen!

[Vladislav]

Oh &!$% ... Aydeen stifles a curse. Would you have anything to do with their disappearance?

[Sillycomic]

Ulk hst his strange feeling of a trick being played on him. He turns around, but does indeed sees the vampire's word to be true. Their old compantion who first joined them in the forest had gone.

Had he missed something? When did this happen?

Ulk glanced down at Toto, who only gave a slight shrug of the shoulder that said, "I'm just a bear, what do I know?"

Indeed.

With a small cough to clear his throat, Ulk turns back to the vampire. He still seems unsure if this man is friend or foe. No one wanting to hurt them would give them this much information, would they?

No one sane, at least. Ulk didn't feel like fighting an insane vampire today.

[Erad]

- Now you saw yourself, how easily cultists can convert someone to their cause, without others even noticing! - said elf, - I hope that now you understand how dangerous they are. So, I ask again, WILL you side with us in this struggle?

[Sillycomic]

"Show us a token of good faith before we answer your question," Ulk asks, growling as he does so, "Tell us all you know about this cult... and how we can stop them."

Ulk didn't mind trusting them, but he also wanted to know more about what was going on before following this group of evil. The dwarf felt like he would have to make more than one compromise about his beliefs before the day ran out. He just hoped he wasn't following the wrong evil down this dark path.

[Erad]

- The cult worships a being from lower planes. It has many worshipers, but half dozen, oh sorry, you killed one of them, five wizards and four clerics are the main circle. They also have a big number of thralls and willing servants. If things will go messy, Zaratingis himself will come. They mostly rely on all kings of death magic and mind tricks. One of their tactics is to cover the land with killing clouds, but they can use other magic as well.

Their lair? They control an old city, and have headquarters in the old fortress. I've never been there, but older vampires say that they use many old defenses of the fortress and city.

How to deal with them? We, vampires are immune to poisons and mind tricks, but their clerics can destroy us with ease. If you accept to ally with us, you can try to infiltrate the city and kill at least some of priests, so our own mages can join in.

Neither us, nor you can deal with the cult with one hit. Instead we need to use partisan tactics bleeding it to death. And we will need not just to kill Zaratingis, but also to use a spell that will banish him from Prime Material for at least a century.

[Vladislav]

Very well, we'll join forces with you. Aydeen bit his tongue before he almost said "and deal with you later".

I wonder, he thinks, will I breaking my honor if I attack them later? Will I be breaking my vows if I don't attack them? So many questions ... out loud, he only says, Where should we direct our first attack?

[Sillycomic]

Ulk raises one dwarven brushy eyebrow at Aydeen, but says nothing. He has a point, there is no real choice here. They needed this vampire to deal with the larger threat. Ulk just hoped they could hold up their end of the deal.

Now they just needed to start the attack.

[Vladislav]

She has a point,
I'm still a manly man.

[Sillycomic]

He thinks she is a womanly man...

How can he tell? He's a dwarf. Anyone without hair growing all over their body is obviously a female. That's the dwarven way!

[Erad]

- We have little to no information about the old city. You'll have to act yourselves. Maybe you can say that you are new slaves? Maybe they will believe it and let you in. Also, we will give rings that will protect you from mind magic.

[Vladislav]

We're a bit too well-equipped for slaves, are we not? All those arms we Bear ... Aydeen almost groans at his own pun.

[Erad]

- Just as your former friends rangers. The cult has many thralls. But if you want, we can put illusion magic on you, you just say what exactly. It won't protect you from mages and priests, but will cheat thralls.

[Sillycomic]

"Illusion magic could work."

The dwarf nods at Toto, but Toto doesn't seem very happy with this. Ulk doesn't see much of a choice. It's either this or they just run headfirst into this cult of evil.

And since the cult has already taken two of their allies without him even knowing about it, Ulk feels safer going in with some sort of a plan.

"We should move as soon as we can."

[Vladislav]

Aydeen, eager to leave, hastens to agree with the druid. Illusion magic could work. Do as you will. Make us look ... harmless, if it'll help. We'll go to the old city and pose as slaves.

[Erad]

- I recommend you first rest. We have spare rooms and normal food for case someone needs it. You can also talk to other members of our community. For example a mage who can disguise you. I officially allow you to pass.

((Say what services you need, and I'll tell if the vampire town has them. If needed we will roleplay it.))

[Vladislav]

Except for the disguise, I don't really need anything. Aydeen almost adds, especially not from you. What about you, Ulk?

[Sillycomic]

Ulk shakes his head, but then pauses as he thinks about it for a second. He doesn't really need anything from them, but it would be nice to know more about them. The more he knows the better off they will be.

"A chain," He says gruffly, "For Toto here."

The bear clears his nose in distaste. Ulk knows he won't like it, but it's the only choice he has. Hopefully the illusionist will be able to turn his bear into something less threatening, but for now he wanted to get thick chain for him.

"And any healing you may have. Potions or wands. We need all the help we can get."

If they were offering, might as well take it.

[Erad]

After some time, another vampire appeared. It was thin and pale (as all vampires) human. Whispering something to himself, he quickly disguised Toto as large dog, full of scars and without most of it hair. To make the illusion absolute, he gave Ulk a thick chain for the bear (looking like leather belt). Adventurers were turned into two dirty tramps in rags, weapons became wooden clubs. Mage warned adventurers that shall they attack someone or if someone attacks them, the illusion will immediately fade.

He also gave adventurers a wand (disguised as simple stick) and promised that the wand is capable of curing wounds and has twenty charges.

- Anything else, - asked elf who greeted them.

[Vladislav]

Despite the gravity of the situation, Aydeen could barely stifle a laugh looking at his druid friend and his pet. He wondered what Toto thought of his new look.

I'm ready to go, he said.

[Erad]

After some more preparations, Aydeen, Ulk and one of the vampires went towards the cult headquarters. The forest was different here. Unlike any other region, plants here seemed... sick. No living beast was nearby, all sane living creatures avoided this area. Adventurers and their guide weren't speaking to each other and the walk was silent.

- No! - suddenly said Ulk, - I am not dying in this place. Forgive me, Aydeen.

With those words, druid and his pet disappeared in the bushes. Aydeen could only hope that his friend will get back safe.

- This place is sucking the will and very life out of mortals, - said vampire, - I am immune to that, thanks Cyric. But you, mortal, should beware. You know, I'd offer you to become one of us, but I am absolutely sure that as a paladin you'll never accept that. I won't insist. You will never understand how it feels... But I won't hurt you, our leaders gave their word.

More ancient stone structures started to appear. And then a high pyramid appeared in the distance.

- It's the old temple of... no idea who, actually. Now Zaratingis rules there. Your illusion should do the trick, get inside and deal with clerics. Once there would be no one who can turn us, we will destroy their nest for good.

After this speech, vampire left Aydeen. The brave paladin was now alone. A few more steps and he sees a clearing, obviously hand made and there more stone buildings. And the high pyramid in the center. Two tieflings were guarding entrance from this direction. They saw Aydeen (disguised) and started to walk towards him.

[Vladislav]

Aydeen's first instict was to use his trusted sword and fight the hellspawns, but the disguise... he had to keep his disguise for now. Slowly moving toward them, he tried to make himself look tired and miserable, as a slave would, waiting for them to begin conversation.

Knowledge (Religion) [roll0] to recall anything about the temple

[Erad]

Aydeen remembered nothing about the temple.

Tieflings came closer, looking at him with disgust.

Then one of them spoke:

- Have you lost your way, tramp?

[Vladislav]

I'm sorry, Sir, please don't whip me. I was sent to gathering weeds in the forest for spell components and lost my way. Can you please help me get back to the city?