A Sleepy Little Village [IC Team 2]

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

The day had dawned bright with a slight hint of mist as the little village slept on nestled in the safety of its river and cliffs as it always did. The only people up this early were farmers, bakers and the other tradesmen who needed to ensure their wares were ready for the rest of the village waking up.

No-one else that is apart from a slightly eclectic mix of a group of five people striking out from town. Not a single eyelid was batted in their direction after all it was rare if ever anyone left town there was no need to. Everything was provided and everyone lived happily, that is apart from these five who were affected by the oldest of curses, wanderlust.

Who knew where this day would take them, who knew where they were headed?

No-one, except themselves, ready to make a name for themselves and their own personal mark on this world.

[tonberryking]

"C'mon, c'mon! Let's get before anyone starts caring about us!"

As her enormous sled dog lopes circles around the other four, as if she is intentionally trying to herd a very odd group of sheep away from town, Smoke displays more emotion and energy into this effort than was thought possible for her. The rather buxom, dark skinned halfling is behaving more like her twin than not, but finally leaving this place is no time to be somber, apparently. Her dog, Pearl, apparently finds this fun exercise and humors her rider, kicking up dirt in her wake.

"We need to find the best path away from this hellhole as soon as we can before deciding which way to journey; I'm not gonna be lost in the dark tonight without having SOME idea of where we're gonna head!"

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn skips merrily behind Smoke, though he wrinkles his nose at her incessant chirping on about needing to know where they're going. "Why do we have to have a destination, Smoky? Everywhere is going to be exciting! Although..." he smirks,, if we're going to pick a direction, I still vote we blindfold Nephtalineus, spin him around a bunch, and go whichever way he stumbles!"

Aderyn clearly loves everything about this long-awaited adventure, and is doing anything but conserving his energy for a long day of hiking as he plays with his staff, flipping over rocks and whacking imaginary tree-monsters.

[Spyder_Cel]

Caellis shakes his head at the childish antics of the halfling, but cant help himself as a slight smirk crosses his face. "I doubt very much that we will travel out of the area to which I am familiar within a day little one, we will not get lost that quickly."

Looking quite shocked and confused at Aderyn's comment, "Surely that is no way to find a proper heading, not to mention cruel! I swear you humans are a daft breed. I'm sure this direction is as good as any." Unlike some of the others, Caellis conserved every bit of energy he could. The only thing that distracted him was to check out random animal tracks making sure there wasn't anything dangerous nearby.


Do we have a clue on where we're going? Or what might be close by?
Survival: [roll0]
Knowledge geography: [roll1]
I do believe Caellis is lost already!

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Wandering for about an hour away from the village your small group starts to pass the outlying farms that attend to the villages needs and even the logging and quarry trails.

Birds are rampant in the air - flocks of smaller birds flying with an occasional hunter floating by on a thermal further over. Possible routes from here on out could be;

The trail into the mountains to go exploring and possibly even see the sea.
The trail that leads into the forested surrounds and who knows what lies deeper in there?
Or even south-eastely towards lands unchartered and unknown altogether.

Caellis


You can't even find the village anymore!

On a serious note - nothing extra info wise unfortunatley

[inexorabletruth]

"eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHH!" From the dark I come sprinting full tilt toward the group to pounce Aderyn. Leaping spread eagle into the air to get level with his back, I smack into him with enough force to blast the air form my lungs, with a "HUHH!" sound, and roll off to a stand in a crouch in front of the group, with a mix of indignation and playfulness on my face.

"I hope you don't think you were planning on leaving without me," I laugh. I stand up straight and look around inquisitively. "Where are we going, anyway?"

While I wait for answer, I extend a hand to Pearl to pet her on the neck. "Who's a good girl?" I cajole.

[lorddrake]

"Hey!" Nephtalineus, who must have dozed off in the middle of someone's sentence, said "I always will land in the direction of the nearest stone halls! The best place to enjoy the finest dwarven ale and some adventures!"

He doesn't seem to care about being blindfolded, though...

[tonberryking]

Pearl looks evenly at the hand as her rider growls. Careful. We bite." her normal, bitter air seems to be sifting back into place. Smoke leads her mount away from the others, with a huff, and points in the general direction of south east.

"I wanna go that way. We've seen beaches and while the forest always calls, none of us have a clue what's down this path."

[lorddrake]

"Mountains is more my thing, actually. If I could find some 'ol dwarven lost city with lots o' gold, mithril, adamantium and... Ale, lots of alcohol to lubrificate the old gears! I'd be the happiest bookworm alive, aye!

He wonders for a moment...

"I even believe that I memorize my spells better with some good old beer or nice elven wine on me!

[unfairtosome]

"Hah!" Aderyn pokes Nephtalineus gently in the belly with his staff and exclaims "Like you've ever tasted Dwarven wine or Elvish ale or Goblin grog in OUR tiny village! More like my dad sold you some fermented goat piss and called it what you wanted to hear!"

Laughing happily at the interplay, he focuses his attention on the ranger- the only person who seems to fall for his teasing even more than his youngest sister. "Caellis!" he exclaims, groaning loudly with a dramatic hand held backward against his forehead- covering his wink to the gnome. "I thought you said that if we left early enough, we'd be able to sneak away before Gerbo woke up!"

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo recoils his hand and purses his lips in confusion when Smoke steers Pearl away. But the moment of contemplation is lost a moment later when his eyes pop open even wider than before at the teasing. "Hey! You weren't really going to leave me, were ya?" Gerbo pulls out his Hooked Hammer and gives it a showy twirl. "You'll need someone like ol' Two-Fist around to protect you! I'm the best fighter in the village! Who else can do stuff like this!" He takes a swing at an imaginary foe, "and this and this-" Lost in his mock duel, Gerbo swings his hooked hammer around, hopping away from imagined sword swipes and shoulder-rolling into dramatic swiping strokes, punctuating each new move with "and this!"

[Spyder_Cel]

"Aderyn, I said no such thing! There is no way I could guarantee something like that. With your insatiable jabbering we could have sapped him upside the head and he STILL would have heard us leaving. Not that we would do such a thing" He makes sure he keeps his distance from the seemingly psychotic gnome through all of that.

"So how about we take a vote, sounds like Smoke's curiosity has her yearning for the unknown, Nephtalineus wants to bathe in the stench of dwarves, and I'm finding my curiosity is outweighing both the forest in which I spent my entire life living in and I really don't want to bring up the dwarves again. But seriously, I'm not saying elves don't get stinky from time to time, but at least we do it in a widely open area... Not in an enclosed space with little draft and hundreds of equally smelly friends and family." He gags a little bit as though he could actually taste the smell he was describing.

[lorddrake]

"For the record, my vote is on smelly dwarves"

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn grins at Caellis and shrugs, adopting a more serious tone. "I don't know why you guys would think one direction would be more or less mysterious than another. I think we should continue following through the forest... it's an environment we're more suited to, and it's easy to find food and shelter as we get used to longer days and nights. Unless I can remember any particularly relevant stories from the last few traveler's we've had through Corle, that'll be my vote." He squinches up his face and thinks.

[roll0] bardic knowledge on forest
[roll1] bardic knowledge on mountains
[roll2] bardic knowledge on southeast
[roll3] knowledge: nature as well

[tonberryking]

Smoke just looks down at Gerbo without much shared enthusiasm. "Yes, I'm sure nobody else can accomplish what you do." she says subtly. "But look, guys, aside from the fact I don't want to go to the mountains; none of us really have any climbing equipment and while my own safety is likely assured, do we really want to risk injury or death that puts us on the fast path right back to that smelly village? But it looks like I'm going to get out-voted on my wiser south-east idea, so let's compromise: we go up in the mountains high enough to just get a good look around and if the south looks like it may have, like, goals and roads we go back. If we're just climbing rocks and crags, we go back south. If by some miracle we find whatever the hell you want the dwarves for, well, I'll want to go back but at least we won't be acting so foolhardy, now will we?"

[lorddrake]

"Whooe" Nephtalineus sounds like a baby "Does little grumpy Smoke needs a hug? Does he?"

And he keeps making strange expressions and sounding lunatic as he tries to approach Smoke for an amicable grapple check

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

With a direction decided the group peels off from the south road and loops towards the west, soon finding the old cart track used to drag stone to the town from the quarry nestled in the foothills.

After about three hours you enter the foothills and leave the quarry nestled deep at the base of a large stone cliff. The going is not yet tough but there are several smaller boulders and larger rocks nestled about with gorse growing over and around them.

Several adventurous sheep have ventured this far up the foothills, but mostly you see rabbit tracks and several small goats jumping around with relative ease.

Cresting a larger hill than others at about noon you see the first proper vista of the mountains before you. Ranging ahead of you pretty much as far as the eye can see both left and right are large imposing mountains - a few of the mountains seem to have their peaks fairly close together and these could possibly have a passable path through them.

On the crown of the hill you have just crested has several small boulders which would serve well as a make-shift table and chairs.

For everyone who has an active look towards the mountains give me a spot check.

Aderyn;


The only rumour that springs to mind is one regarding the mountains. In fact - you remember two - firstly there is the rumour of something dark, something shadowy that lives deep in the mountains and has been striking at people in the dark and depths of night. No one has been killed yet, but goats and fell-sheep have been found with deep lacerations, killed from blood loss - but with no meat missing and no bite marks on them.

Secondly - you faintly remember a rumour of an ancient grave, or town, or forge nestled deep in the mountains, you can't remember a direction or anything more specific at all than that.

[lorddrake]

"Hey, Bard! Have we got some music to cheer us on this weary and thrilling journey of adventure and peril?" Nephtlineus breathes profoundly "I'd sing myself if it weren't for my singing being capable of angering the most tame beasts!"

He ponders for a second...

"What the...? I'll sing." And he was not exaggerating. His voice is the worst known to men. He could potentially turn his singing into a weapon. It hurts!

[inexorabletruth]

"Don't worry, Smoke!" Gerbo says with a reassuring grin as he pats Erfanna on the neck. "Erfanna here is as sure-footed as any goat. We can use her help if the climbing gets tough." Gerbo admires the scenery about him and takes a deep breath. "We did it, guys. Now let's see what adventure we can dig up in these rocks..."

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn pales slightly at a recalled traveler's tale, and looks down at his feet. "I can't remember anything good about the mountains, so I still say the forest is our best bet."

[roll0] bluff check

[inexorabletruth]

"Nothing good, eh?" Gerbo's broad smile tightens into a sinister smirk as he draws his hooked hammer. "What do you know, Aderyn? Any monsters we should be bashing now? An evil sorcerer holding a princess hostage? Highwaymen harassing merchants?" A thousand fairy-tale adventures roll through Gerbo's mind as he contemplates the possibilities.

"C'mon Aderyn! What's up there?" he pleads excitedly.

[Spyder_Cel]

Caellis kicks a rock once the decision had been made. I suppose 'the mountains' doesn't necessarily mean IN the mountains... Concentrating at the current situation he surveys the surroundings.


Spot: [roll0]


Squinting his eyes at the mountain he notices something, "Looks like an opening, maybe a cave or perhaps a mine. The terrain may be problematic though. And maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but it looks like that plateau has some giant rabbits, not much smaller than Pearl. Should make for some good eating, if they're actually rabbits that is. Regardless, it's as good of place as any to start our search." He begins walking in that direction assuming the others will follow.

[tonberryking]

Smoke sighs from her canine perch and carefully leads Pearl over a larger rock, looking around patiently. Her responses? Not so patient: "Are you talking about those ferocious sheep, or did that old coot of a mentor actually neglect to tell me about an animal?" she huffs, going quite and Party-ignoring for a long moment as she gets the lay of the place.

[roll0] Spot check for looking at the mountains and everything else, Kn: Nature to discern the lay of the land and if there's a chance that PC food can be acquired--ASIDE from eating mutton, I mean-- [roll1]

[inexorabletruth]

Ignoring Smoke's grumpiness, Gerbo moves aside Caellis and peers toward the opening he's looking at, straining to see what has Caellis's attention.

Spot:
[roll0]

"Okay..." he mumbles as he shrugs. "Why not? One place is as good as any. I'm not really hungry yet, though." Gerbo's smile splits his face again and he slings his hooked hammer over his shoulder as he walks boldly toward the cave.

[unfairtosome]

Gerbo:
EDIT: in response to Gerbo's prodding about what he may or may not know about the mountains: "I don't know, Gerbo. Shut up!"

"Alright guys, no dwarves with platters of ale anywhere in sight, huh? Have we seen enough of the mountains now? Can we turn back?" Aderyn seems to be avoiding looking at the mountains completely- particularly anything that might be a cave or mine entrance. Oa, what would we do if we ran across some unnatural creature that can drain the blood from creatures without even touching them? We're not even half as strong together as one of the visitors passing through Corle on his own... this adventure isn't going to be all singing and treasure-finding at all. We could DIE.

Aderyn may not be looking up from his feet, but he IS jumpy. Listen check! [roll0]

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo looks back at Aderyn, a bit stung at first, but with concern a quick moment later.

"Cheer up Aderyn. Being grumpy is Smoke's thing. We'll be fine if we stick together and watch each other's back, right?"

Diplomacy Check to see if my optimism can rub off on Aderyn:
[roll0]

[lorddrake]

"Worry not, weaker companions!" says Nephtalineus with a broad smile "My arcane might and powerful creations will protect you.".

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Now that it has been pointed out - the whole group manages to spot the 'thing' up the mountainsides. There are a pair of pillars, that must be huge - compared to a nearby boulder they tower almost three times as high and there is a dark crease or smudge in the mountainside - possibly a cave opening or even a dark passage to somewhere else.

Aderyn;


You don't hear anything out of the ordinary - nothing extra at all.


Smoke;


The rabbits look edible indeed, they stand at almost 2 foot tall - weighing in at approximatley three times a normal rabbit.

[lorddrake]

"I'm calling cave" says Nephtalineus waving madly his arms "It is probably dangerous and mysterious full of adventures and peril and... fun!"

[tonberryking]

Smoke stares at the giant bunnies and when Pearl notices them she starts. Only violent tugs on the collar reigns keeps her from chasing. Smoke tells her something in halfling with a very harsh voice to get the sled dog calm.

"Brass balls, what the hell made the rabbits get that big??" she demands of the sky, before finally cluing into the rest. Mostly the part where all the boys want to go spelunking.

"Hey. This isn't natural-- wait a moment!" Pearl is allowed to sprint, only far enough to hop in front of the other short person in the party.

"Hang on, little man. And all of you. Rabbits, I don't care what you feed them, CANNOT get that big. Something's odd about this place, and while even my curiosity is piqued, we're not rushing into that hole up there screaming and flailing. Let's scout around first."

[unfairtosome]

"This is such a bad idea. Look, guys. We're not prepared for caving. We're not suited for it! A touch of humor briefly brightens Aderyn's face. "Gerbo's out of place anywhere but the inside of a cage, sure, but Nephtal probably can't support his own climbing weight, let alone another's, and how would we lower Pearl down a shaft should it come to that? Caellis and Smoky know the forest, but what do they know of the inside of a mountain? Did anyone even think to bring a rope??

"And besides," he gulps and continues more quietly, "I remember some men coming through Corle speaking of something dark, something shadowy that lives deep in the mountains and has been striking at people in the dark and depths of night. They spoke of finding animals with their blood drained- but with no meat missing and no bite marks on them. An ancient grave, or tomb, or town, or something. They was frightened. Adventurers, frightened!

"Guys, I really don't like this idea. I'm much better with people than with scary blood-drinking shadow monsters...."

[Spyder_Cel]

Looking back at the skeptics he nods at Smoke, "Yes, caution would be best. Who would be willing to scout ahead with me? Wait..." He looks around at at his companions. "Who is able to scout with me. Gerbo, Smoke, you're ah... small. Would one or both of you care to join?"

Looking at Aderyn, at first with concern, but then a smile crosses his face. "Aderyn, am I sensing a hint of claustrophobia? Or maybe it's the darkness. He laughs teasingly. "I have little but still some knowledge of caves, spelunking, and the such. And yes, I have rope and some torches. Be prepared, that's my motto. But getting out of our comfort zone is what adventuring is all about. There are pretty powerful creatures in all types of terrain, we need to leave it fate whether or not we get in over our heads because it can happen anywhere. We will use caution and get out if things look like they might get out of hand. But if something is killing people, it is our duty to at least check it out and help if we can."

He looks back up at the bunnies, "Given that none of us have ever seen those things before, and Aderyn's story of the blood drinkers. I think it wise to consider that those cute fuzzy bunnies are suspects until we can prove otherwise."

Putting his hand on his chin with the look of deep concentration, he tries to remember anything about Aderyn's description of the blood drinker or those curiously large rabbits.

Knowledge Nature: [roll0]
Knowledge Dungeoneering: [roll1]

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn begins to perk up a little- it seems Caellis' calm confidence assuages his fears a bit more than Gerbo's haphazard display of rash decision making. Knowing that Caellis and Smoke were initially against the mountains, but have settled into acceptance is both worrying and comforting.

Aderyn looks up from his feet and, singing a little song to himself, begins to take a more active role in the proceedings.

[roll0] Bardic Knowledge about these strange giant rabbits
[roll1] Knowledge: Nature about giant rabbits
[roll2] Bardic Knowledge on this location (now that we've seen landmarks)
[roll3] Knowledge: Geography about what we might expect in this terrain

[lorddrake]

"How more awesome can this be?" says Nephtalineus thrilled "Oh, boy! GIANT FREAKING BUNNIES!!! A CAVE!!! AND BLOOD DRAINING EVIL thing..."

He looks a little dizzy...

"Oh... I think I'm going to pass out of so much awesomeness..."

[inexorabletruth]

"Let me have a look We Gnomes have a way with burrowing animals," Gerbo says with a wink. "I'll go with Caellis and have a chat with the rabbits. They may have a thing or two to say about the region."

Gerbo moves into position next to Caellis and shoots back a thumbs-up to the rest of the group. "A little more information couldn't hurt, right? Let's go, buddy!"

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

The rabbits, apart from their extreme size do not seem in any way hostile. In fact they seem very much like normal rabbits, if you approach one then it will go hopping off at high speed in the other direction. They are timid and hide - and in the distance you can see a few playing with each other where you are out of smell / sight range for the rabbits.

The cave entrance seems to be about a solid three or four days travel away with boulders that there is no size comparison for with you being so far away - it is clear that they are boulders though, even from this distance. There also doesn't appear to be any clear cut path to reach it in any respect.

At least not from your current vantage point.

Caellis


You can't remember anything special about this region in any mentions of anything. Dungeon-wise you have never heard mention of anything matching even a vague description in this area.


Aderyn


With terrain like this you can expect heavy climbing and unexpected drops in both height and temperature.

Unfortunatley you can't remember anything about a region such as this with regards to the landmark or the giant bunnies.

[lorddrake]

"You know... If they are so tame... I guess we could hunt and cook one... Just saying..."

[unfairtosome]

"We'll have to, so we don't dip into our rations."

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo snaps a pleading look back at Nephtalineus. "What? No. They're going to help us. Watch, you'll see." Channeling his innate abilities, Gerbo squeaks out a "kyu, kyu" to the rabbits.

"Hey there, little fellas! Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. We just wanted to know of any dangers in the area. As rabbits, I'm sure you have a keen eye for bad guys and hidden hazards in and near this cave." Gerbo sweetens the deal by rummaging through his own rations and pulls out some dried berries. He tosses them on the ground far enough in front of him so the rabbits don't have to hop too close to get to them. "I hope you like berries; I don't have much else."

[Spyder_Cel]

Following Gerbo's lead he approaches the bunnies slowly and attempts to gain their trust in his own way.


Wild Empathy: [roll0]
edit: ...

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Gerbos efforts to attract the rabbits seem to work - they hop over closer and closer to the group, seemingly ignorant of them as they start to eat the berries. Each rabbit appears to guard a single berry, curling its body around the berry and taking it into its mouth before moving on to the next one. The only odd thing about how they eat the berries beyond the way they eat which is abnormal would be the fact that they have pre-hensile tounges and seem to grasp each berry individually with it....

Caellis' efforts to attract more rabbits doesn't meet with any success but his slightly bumbled efforts don't scare any more of the rabbits away either.

[tonberryking]

Smoke gapes, suddenly glad she resisted the urge to go wabbit hunting, but moreso upset and bewildered by the rabbits' strange behavior and stranger tongues.

"Okay, I know that's not how it works..." she grumbles to Pearl, before finally dismounting, telling Pearl to heel (in halfling) and approaching cautiously.

[roll0] Kn. Nature check on the rabbits coupled with a [roll1] spellcraft check to see if it's obvious that some dopey wizard's been screwing with the fauna.

[inexorabletruth]

OOC: Italics in quotes is me speaking in rabbit talk... whatever you'd call that.

Gerbo raises an eyebrow, just as confused by the rabbits' odd anatomy as Smoke. "You're an odd little fella," Gerbo squeaks. "Can you speak? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn, baffled by the giant rabbits and horribly amused by both the looks on the faces of the druid and ranger and the unexpected success of Gerbo, sits down abruptly and begins laughing.

All the tension of worrying about the rumors of evil deeds in the mountains seems to vanish from his face. Reaching for some berries of his own, he tosses them in the air near the strange creatures, hoping to see them taken out of the air like a frog with a fly.

[lorddrake]

"Nice" says Nephtalineus with sarcasm on his voice "Everybody is friends with stupid giant berry-eating tongue-twisting rabbits! When we find some CAVE rabbits call me. Specially if they are made of mythril..."

"And we are not even going to eat them..."

[inexorabletruth]

"They aren't rabbits," Gerbo says to Nephtalineus in common. "They don't seem to understand what I'm saying, and... well... rabbits can't do that with their tongue. They're cute, though. I'll give you that, and I don't think they're dangerous."

Gerbo turns to Smoke who seems to share his confusion. "What do you make of it, Smoke? You know more about animals than all of us put together."

Gerbo tries again to speak softly to the... creatures. "C'mon little fella. What's your name? Can you understand what I'm saying at all?" He tosses another berry at them, hoping to establish a friendship and get a better understanding about the situation. He looks at the "rabbits" intently... a bit more curious than before, but no longer eager to get close to them.

[Spyder_Cel]

Not getting anything from the rabbits, Caellis starts leaving. Can't rightfully eat them now. Gerbo has made some new friends.

Looking back on the others, "Come on guys, the rabbits aren't talking. Big surprise there... I'm sure Smoke and I will be able to get some food for everybody. Lets leave these creatures be and move on."

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

As Gerbo continues to feed the rabbits extra berries that he has found deep within his pockets two slightly odd things happen simultaneously.

Firstly he notices that these rabbits have sharp teeth, now not sharp as in a normal rabbit, but double rowed razor sharp points of enamel that fill their mouths entirely. He notices this as the rabbit closest to the group finishes its berry on the floor and watches Gerbo - as he brings one out of his pocket to offer it to the rabbit it launches itself from the floor and rips the berry from his hands almost scoring a deep line down the side of the gnomes arm - only his relativley diminuative stature saves him from such a cut.

The rabbit doesn't appear to be pertubed at all and is sat at his feet eating the berry and protecting it from the rest of the rabbit pack.

Smoke;


From a distance they look like completley normal rabbits, except for their obvious size difference. Up close you notice a few things that are slightly off with them;

Their tounges, their teeth, their ears are slightly pointier and less furry than would be normal and their paws have 4 wickedly sharp claws extending from there rather than just soft pads.

[inexorabletruth]

"WHOA!" Gerbo shouts as he leaps back in surprise, definitely not thinking they are cute anymore. "Not bunnies!" He shouts as he swings his hooked hammer defensively in front of him.

He looks to Smoke, this time with a freaked out expression. "NOT bunnies!"

Move: Shift, weapon was already drawn.
Standard: Full defensive action.

[Spyder_Cel]

Hearing Gerbo's shouting, Caellis whips around pulling out his bow and knocks an arrow. We waits to fire assessing the situation. Seeing Gerbo was only startled he doesn't fire quite yet. "Well, that's off-putting. I'm starting to get concerned about their numbers, and the fact we're sitting right in the middle of them. We should move on, now... Probably slowly." He keeps his bow up and ready.

[inexorabletruth]

"I'm with you," Gerbo says to Caellis as he backs away slowly. "Eeeeasy... stay right there demon bunnies. Staaaay."

Action:
Maintaining full-defense
Shift back

[tonberryking]

Eyes wide and suddenly scrambling back up on the protective saddle her dog wears, Smoke yells out a command while yanking her shield free.

"Oh, REALLY??" she snaps at Gerbo as Pearl bristles and bears her fangs. "Everyone back up and bunch together; if they act like normal predators a tightly knit team can scare them off. If they're freakish guards to something, we WILL have to fight... or give them the sheep."

Much to her horror, Smoke wonders if the sheep are rigged as well and with Pearl on guard, she stares back at them.

[roll0] Kn. Nature on the ferocious sheep.

[lorddrake]

"It just got me interested." says Nephtalineus. He moves his arms in a mystical pattern looking serious for once. He says some words that cannot be understood by the uninitiated.

Detect Magic. He takes a good look at the rabbits - if he finds auras he concentrate 3 turns, if he doesn't he look at the cave - if he finds something, concentrate for 3 turns. If he doesn't find anything he take a good look 360 degrees and up (just in case :smalltongue:).

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo looks from Smoke to Nephtalineus, torn between who to stand beside. But, finally deciding that Smoke and Pearl can handle their own, he stands beside Nephtalineus to protect him while he casts his spell.

"Hurry up," he pleads. "I don't like this."

Readied action to attack any bunnies that move to attack Nephtalineus while he's casting and/or concentrating.

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn continues sitting right where he is, but slowly takes out his melodica and begins playing, directing his tune at the closest rabbits.

[roll0] Bardic Knowledge on prehensile-tongued demon rabbits
No roll for the melodica, just fluff

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

With no more berries being self evident in coming and the supply of food dwindling the bunnies start to become more and more skittish. From a distance you can't even tell they are anything but slightly larger than normal rabbits. Over the course of the next few minutes [barring anyone attacking them] they go to ground more and more, and once again the party is left alone on the boldour strewn plateau that you currently occupy.

Smoke;


The sheep look almost exactly like a breed in town, but possibly have much finer wool, and much much more of it. You would have to take one back for this to be confirmed though. Otherwise they look exactly the same in all respects, including size.


Aderyn;


Your not sure, but you do seem to remember something about evil infesting livestock. Not sure whether it was bunnies, or sheep or even cave dwelling bats.


Nephtalineus


Your eyes almost explode.
Nothing from the sheep.
The rabbits light up almost like flare's each and every single one of them. Super strong necromancy and conjuration as well as something else woven in there, something that you have never seen before.
The cave and the pillars are giving off a glow, but not a massivley strong one, infact its only slightly more than general background levels.

[unfairtosome]

"Shoot one before they're all gone, Caellis! I vaguely remember hearing something creepy and I think we should try to kill and preserve one to show somebody."

Aderyn stands up.

"Besides, it's lunchtime."

[lorddrake]

"Duuuuuuude!" says Nephtalineus "What a trip!"

He recovers a little as he turns off his arcan-o-vision.

"There is all sorts of weird magic on those things... Necromancy, conjuration and something just plain unknown... Something not on any books I've read. Something curious... I... I wish we had eaten one of them... Just to see what happened..."

He looks a little disappointed.

"And there is some magic on those pillars there..."

[Spyder_Cel]

Without hesitation, Caellis fires at one of the bunnies upon Aderyn's request. He did want to check out one of these things himself, especially after the scare it gave Gerbo.


Attacking nearest bunny. Favored enemy (animal) +2 damage, I'm sure it's within 30ft. So point blank shot +1 atk/dmg

Attack: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]

[inexorabletruth]

"Why is everyone's first answer to eat the scary demon mutant bunny? That thing is not right. What if it's meat is poison?" Gerbo asks with obvious consternation in his voice.

[Spyder_Cel]

Caellis chuckles at Gerbo, "Not gonna eat the thing, just gonna figure out what makes it tick" :smallwink:

[lorddrake]

My bet is that any cleric or druid can see if it is poison and get rid of the poison before we eat. It is like gourmet couisine. I hear some elves eat a specific poisonous fish just for the kicks..."

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo's face screws up in disgust. "Blech, poisonous fish... no thanks," he mumbles quietly. He shakes his head, dismissively, content to not understand the ways of elves and holds his ground defensively next to the Wizard.

He takes a glance back toward the cave, just in case something should pop out from there as well. The thought of mutant monster rabbits swarming all over him has got him a bit skittish.

Spot: [roll0]

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Caellis' arrow flies straight and true smashing into the base of the rabbits neck and emerging out the other side barely slowing down. From the gaping hole comes a flood of sticky red blood. The creature drops straight to the ground with its fur matted with its blood, with one more final twitch of its legs it has a brief spasm and lies still on the floor.

In the space of the creature hitting the floor and it dieing every other creatuer in the vicinity appears to have disappeared. All of the other rabbits appear to have either vanished down into their dens or into clumps of tall grass, not a single one can be seen.

A deathly silence descends on the plateau, having a look around even the sheep appear to have backed off away from the group. The birds have stopped chirping and even the buzz of insects can no longer be heard.

The wind on the other hand starts to pick up, whipping around the group and the rabbit more and more, the blood pooled under the rabbit starts to swirl within the blood and appears to start picking it up from the ground and forming it into a very rough small humanoid shape.

Gerbo;


Nothing extra, nothing appears to have changed either.

[unfairtosome]

"So that rumor I just remembered, guys. Um, yeah, it was about evil forces infesting livestock and other creature... and I'm pretty sure it was referring to this. Coupled with what Neph said he saw, well..." Aderyn gulps and looks at his quarterstaff with little confidence. "Be ready. I have my doubts that this creature is going to be bought off with berries."

[roll0] Bardic Knowledge about homunculi

[tonberryking]

Giving Aderyn a withering look before motioning Gerbo over, Smoke jabs a finger over towards the sheep. "Nice of you to warn us beforehand, buddy. Hey, try to get one of those sheep over here; I'm gonna inspect it right quick. The rest of you be ready to kill it if it starts acting dangerous."

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn looks guiltily at his feet. "Well, I wasn't sure exactly. I just knew it was livestock or something. Didn't remember giant bunnies. Sorry Smoky.

"Let's deal with this blood homunculus creature before you go chasing sheep, though. Gotta another arrow ready, Caellis?" He grins. "Looks like we're really going to have to work for our dinner tonight."

[Spyder_Cel]

Before Aderyn even gets halfway through his sentence, Caellis has another arrow knocked and ready to fly. He seems to be a bit startled at the new development. "I think I may have broken the bunny." He carefully watches as the new being forms and waits impatiently for it to make a move.

Readied action: Attack

[inexorabletruth]

A bit startled and confused by the whole thing, Gerbo is quite prepared to take orders from anyone, even a surly Druid.

"Uh... ok. I'll do what I can." He puts away his hooked hammer, so he doesn't scare away the sheep, marches steadily up to them calling the whole way, "Heeeeere sheep. Come here sheepy-sheep." He makes some kissy noises and claps his hands on his thighs... as if calling a dog.

Handle Animal:
DC 10 if it knows "Come" (I do not have enough ranks in order to Push Animal, so auto-fail if it doesn't know "Come")
[roll0]

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Gerbo walks towards the sheep and starts to usher them towards himself. They look at him in a slightly dopey manner but suddenly all of them within ear shot do indeed start trotting towards them. Casting a glance behind him they see the blood creature slowly starting to grow in height and stay with Gerbo between themselves and the creature.

Gerbo;


Spot check now your up close please


For the rest of the party the creature grows in height as the wind whips around it more and more. It stops growing at about 7 foot tall and a heavily muscled creature, in fact it looks just like a well muscled naked man, just made out of blood. It takes a faltering step towards the group but pulls up short and looks confused. The creature just stands there shaking out its arms and legs and flexing its shoulders.

In common; "Why, what? Where, how is this? Who did this?"

It then looks up to the sky and opens its mouth in an ear piercing scream. It then stares back at the group, ***** its head to one side and leaves a grin plastered over it.

It opens its mouth again, and sounds of the grave escape from its mouth and wail towards the group.

In abyssal;


Why have you brought me here? Do you desire death, or will one of you play host to me now?


Adreyn;


You may be surprised, but your bardic knowledge turns nothing up in this instance.

[unfairtosome]

"It... it's not attacking us? I mean," Aderyn deepens his voice in an attempt to project that he totally saw that coming, "It's not attacking us."

Sense motive [roll0] to determine its demeanor/true intentions

Intuitive Communication (http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-ii--80/wanderers-diplomacy--3087/) [roll1] to determine if I can get the gist of what it said in the language I didn't recognize

"I've got nothin'," he whispers out of the corner of his mouth. "Do we run now or do you want me to try talking to it?"

[lorddrake]

"It's a long shot, but... How worse can it get?"
Says Nephtalineus to himself

"Hello, buddy, we're friends... friiiiiends..."

Charm Person.

[tonberryking]

Smoke is less than pleased by the turn of events.

"If it's not attacking us, what in all the hells does that thing want??" she yelps, before noticing the sheep. Dismounting but keeping her shield up, the druid makes a quick inspection of the dull looking sheep.

"I need to see the sheep; see if all the fauna and plants are contaminated like that rabbit, unless the blood blister has something to say about what he is..."

[roll0] Handle animal and [roll1] kn. nature to see if she can tell from looking if that more than just an unlucky rabbit is holding bloody surprises.

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo hoists his hooked hammer, unconfident that his weapon will do much damage to something made entirely of blood.

"Oh... wow," Gerbo says shakily, trying to look tough, "He looks... happy. Do you think he's happy that we set him free?" Gerbo offers hopefully, but not convinced of his own words.

Spot Check: [roll0]
Sense Motive: [roll1]
Readied Action: Withdraw if the blood thing attacks

[Spyder_Cel]

Looking at the thing he doesn't even consider lowering his bow. But he still waits for the monster to make a move. When it starts talking he gets concerned, I don't like this level of intelligence coming from something like that. Not one bit.

Letting the others do the talking, he remains still. The bow pointed right at the creature. He attempts to get a read on it.


Tries to read it's intentions, and whether or not he knows what the new form is (if it may be an aberration).
Sense Motive: [roll0]
Knowledge Dungeoneering: [roll1]
edit: I really hope this doesn't keep happening on skill checks! So Caellis what? believes this creature (or quite possibly a tomato) wants to give him candy and the biggest hug it can manage? Like that character from Veggy Tails! Are we about to fight Bob?

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

The strange standoff continues. The creature doesn't advance towards the group but it also elicts no more infomation for the group to understand or hear.

Nephtalineus casts his arms out towards the creature and utters some arcane words, gesticulates and waves at the creature, but there is absolutley no effect other than having the wizard look ever so slightly more tired than he did before he cast the spell.

Gerbo spots an eagle floating on a thermal high above the group and the wierd creature of blood, that suddenly dives towards the group. It strikes the dead rabbit on the floor and as it starts to take off into the air again with the creature's body flopping uselessly in its talons.

Then almost quicker than the eye can follow the creature launches itself, not at the group but at the eagle, and seemingly the eagle absorbs the creature, has a twitch or two then carries on lifting back into the air with the prey in its hands.

As the creature reaches for the skies it turns back to the group and issues again in a harsh screech something unintelligble.

Abyssal;


I'll be back for you guys later! Don't worry, we've not yet seen the end of each other.


The sheep shrink back from the eagle/creature as it takes wing but still appear to be nothing other than very fine wooled sheep.

[lorddrake]

"See?" says Nephtalineus "I made some magic and the thing went away. I'm an arcane force of so much power!"

[tonberryking]

Smoke just gapes at the wizard until her mount shifts under her. "I... you... that... *urgh* We've stumbled on something pretty dire here. Anyone catch what the abomination said?"

[lorddrake]

"I'm almost sure that he said I'm an awesome wizard and he was fleeing with terror from my arcane might..."

[Spyder_Cel]

Caellis laughs as he re-quivers his arrow. "I doubt very much your arcane might had anything to do with it. It didn't appear to affect him at all. It appears to be a parasitic creature of some sort that requires a host. My only question is whether it called to the eagle or if it was just bad luck."

Starting to walk towards the pillars once more he calls out to the others. "No point standing around here. We're all alive and unharmed, might as well continue on right?"

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo is quite okay with the idea of leaving the scene. Natural enemies are one thing. Blood monsters are a little out of his league.

"To the cave then?" Gerbo trots off after Caellis.

[unfairtosome]

"I wasn't a fan at first, but now getting under cover seems like a good idea to me."

Aderyn dashes for the cave's entrance.

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

Headed for the cave the party starts to climb. There is no more isgns of the eagle, the sheep following the party or even of the 'rabbits'.

As the tree's start to become more sparse, the ground opens out into a slightly rocky area and the first real climb comes into view. Its not so much a steep rockface or even a cliff, more just an extremley steep slope littered iwth shale and other loose rock.

By the time the party arrives at the bottom of this slope, they have lost sight of the cave and the pillars due to its location and the angle from their current location to said cave. Not only that but the sun is starting to sink low into the sky and it can't be more than an hour or so till nightfall now.

It doesn't appear that the cave could be reached by today, and dependant upon pace or accidents tomorrow it might even be another day after that.

[unfairtosome]

Without the eagle/blood creature in view, Aderyn's stomach is making its presence known again. "Uh, guys. I'm hungry. Are we there yet? Can we go back for a sheep? I have to pee."

[inexorabletruth]

Back to his normal bouncy state, memories of the blood thing obviously washed away from his mind. "I could eat," Gerbo agrees, rubbing at his stomach. "And Erfanna could use a rest... but I didn't bring a lot of rations. Perhaps we should do some hunting while there is still some light."

[Spyder_Cel]

Shaking his head at Aderyn, he systematically responds to him, "Noted, no, doubt it, and find a bush... Hunting is a good idea. How about a few of us go hunting and the rest stay here and make camp? Sound good?" He pulls out his bow and waits patiently for feedback.

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn nods eagerly at Caellis and reaches out to take the bow from him. "Sure, you start setting out some pots and pans and Nephy 'n I'll go find us dinner with your bow!"

He manages to hold a straight face for mere seconds, before bursting out into laughter at the look on the elf's face.

"Fine, have it your way!" he pretends to grumble, and begins stomping around, looking around for a sheltered and comfortable place to make camp.

[roll0] Spot
[roll1] Search
[roll2] Survival
[roll3] Knowledge: Geography
[roll4] Knowledge: Nature

[Spyder_Cel]

Pulling his bow away from Aderyn's reach he glares at him with confusion and a hint of anger in his eyes. Then when Aderyn starts laughing, Caellis settles himself to the point of irritation as he walks off to get some food. Humans...

For hunting, +2 from Favored Enemy (animal)
Survival: [roll0]

[inexorabletruth]

"I can help make camp!" Gerbo pipes in and scurries off to find some firewood. "I'll get some firewood."

Survival Check: [roll0]

[tonberryking]

"It may seem destructive, but try to bring back a surplus of game; we'll need it if we have to come back down in a hurry," Smoke advises the mighty hunters without much of her usual snark. Left to her own devices, she sets up camp by having her now-saddle-less dog help dig a fire pit and bring a general sense of order to their surroundings.


[roll0] survival to organize the camp grounds as well as see if she can scrounge up anything that could be gathered,

[roll1] Kn. Nature check on the weather,

[roll2] And as a total shot in the dark, a spellcraft check to try to wrack her brains for any idea of what the hell Bloody was back there.

[Flash in't Pan]

DM

As the light starts to fade the whole group bands together and starts to make a camp within the lee of two massive boulders pushed up against a cliff face. It looks almost weather tight above with a small natural chimney for a fire.

Gerbo is slightly over enthusiastic as he helps collect firewood for the fire and forgets to bring any kindling, thankfully Neph, Smoke and Adreyn had presence of mind enough to collect enough kindling to make a good fire. Coupled with a large amount of natural heather and even some bracken found to sleep on the camp slowly becomes a quite cozy.

Caellis appears to have had some serious luck as well as he walks back to camp with a brace of hares, not rabbits or demon-rabbits and even what appears to be a small doe.

Light has faded from the day and the group is sat around the camp fire sharing their meal and some small talk with only the fire giving light off.

Smoke;


Not a flipping clue in any way what was happening back there.


Whole team;

OOC or IC - i'll need a watch order if your goign to have one and then a spot&listen check and any actions your going to make whilst on watch.

[tonberryking]

Wrapping slices of doe-jerky into Pearl's saddlebags, Smoke has been reclining against said Pearl for some time feeling quite relaxed.

Physically.

No matter how comfy her giant dog is, this has been one weird day and not at all what she expected upon her escape from Boring Ass Village. No, it wasn't even close.

"You know, I'm going to be pretty pissed if whatever Bloody was trying to tell us was essential to our getting off this mountain alive..." she eventually explains. "But seeing as how it's oh so important we climb up to the top of the rockpile, I want to know what any of you plan on doing if we actually get in over our heads with vile, unnatural wizardry."

Smoke *Will* refuse to take anything but either first or last watch, although she will also offer Pearl up in her place as guard. So I'm using the dog's stats for these spot/listen checks:

[roll0] Spot [roll1] Listen

[lorddrake]

"Well, I can't be part of the night watch, since my arcane might will fail me if I don't rest eight uneventful hours."

Nephtalineus sighs as if he was sad to not be part of it, but was glad that he didn't have to be kept awake to watch and get bored.

[inexorabletruth]

"I don't know, Smoke... that was the scariest thing I've ever seen. Gnomes aren't strangers to magic, and a lot of my friends used spooky illusions as pranks when I was growing up, but that didn't seem like an illusion to me..." Gerbo pokes the fire with a stick, contemplating her question. "But we're no safer here than we are at the top of the mountain. I suppose if we encounter the monster again, we just leave it be? It didn't attack us this time; maybe it won't attack us the next time either." He offers with a simple shrug.

Then, assuming that solves the problem he changes subjects. "I could take the midnight watch," Gerbo offers. "I don't have any spells to prepare, and I can't help but feel that in some small way, it's my fault we encountered the blood monster." Gerbo smiles apologetically heads over to untie Erfanna so she can graze, then pauses and looks over to his friends pleadingly. "You'll keep an eye on Erfanna while I'm asleep right? She's had a pretty spooky day, so I'd hate to keep her tied up."

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[Spyder_Cel]

Happy with the amount of food he was able to provide for everybody, Caellis gets back with a big smile on his face and a good mood to go with it. "Well Gerbo, I only need to trance for about two hours. Wake me up then and I'll take over for the rest of the night. And no worries, I'll keep on eye on her for you."

When/If it gets to his turn for watch duty he sits quietly with his bow in hand, glancing over at Erfanna periodically.

Listen: [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]

[unfairtosome]

Aderyn assumes first watch and, taking out his melodica, begins playing a lullaby (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/lullaby.htm) to help ease the others to sleep.

Anyone who fails a will save takes a -5 to spot and listen while he plays + 1 round... he plays during his entire shift and he includes himself in the burst... SUCKAS!

Will save: [roll0]
[roll1] spot
[roll2] listen

[lorddrake]

:smallconfused:
Will: [roll0]

[inexorabletruth]

Gerbo smiles at the pleasant tune while he unpacks his bedroll. It doesn't take him long to curl up next to the fire and go to sleep.

Not resisting the lullaby.