Dwaer Depths II [IC]

[King Tius]

Dwaer Depths IC Thread
Chapter Two: The Singing Stones
OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?305376-Dwaer-Depths-II-OOC&p=16095690)

Wiki (http://dwaerdepths.wikispaces.com/)

[King Tius]

Six days have passed since the group returned to Echo Bend. Dremel sent a half dozen soldiers and the same number of carpenters to the monastery to aid the monks with their repairs. He commends you for your assistance but is unable to offer any gold as a reward. In the early evening of this sixth day the rings on your fingers spring to life. The curious magical shrimp scampers up to your shoulder and whistles a tune, signaling that Dirk is requesting an audience with you. As always, the call comes in just in time for you to join him for dinner. When you arrive, the doors open automatically at your approach.

Inside the large warehouse you find the table is once again set with an amazing feast. Dylana is nowhere to be seen but Dirk is already seated at the head of the table, leaning his chair back as he drinks from a wine goblet. He waves you over one by one as you arrive and engages in polite small talk. Dongle eventually makes an appearance and joins the dinner conversation. When pressed for information about why you have been summoned, Dirk is polite but dismissive. He detests discussing work over dinner, not wanting to mix business with pleasure. As usual the whole dinner affair takes far too long for the short-tempered members of the group and Dirk is more than a little drunk by the time he claps his hands together and proposes getting down to business.

“Echo Bend received a curious visitor two days ago. Did any of you see him come in? A dwarf from alllllllll the way down in Durnhelme. A fancy dwarf, too, by the look of his armor. He came riding in on a BEAR. Can you believe it? Never seen it before in my life. I though the circus might have come around, but it’s too close to winter for that. Anyways, he’s about as stern of a man I’ve ever seen, and never takes his helmet off. He’s come looking for some dwarf woman, claims she’s a traitor to the state and must be apprehended at all costs. Said her name was Velma…isn’t that the woman you met at library? Dremel tipped me off to it when the brute started questioning folks about town. Apparently he’s beat the piss out of several drunks who got mouthy with him and half the guard is too scared to touch him, what with the bear he’s got. I talked to him and agreed to send out my expert trackers to find the woman, for a price, of course. He seemed about ready to run me through, but he’s given us a week to find her.”

The Nation of Durnhelme
The dwarven nation of Durnhelme is located far to the south of Echo Bend (I will be going into the greater geography of the area very soon!). Like any good dwarven nation, Durnhelme is in a very mountainous region at the southern tip of this continent. The mountains here actually form a massive crescent with a sizable portion of water inside, creating a safe gulf for ships and foothills that are well protected from harsh weather. All of this is fairly obvious when viewing Durnhelme on a map and is common knowledge to most people in Echo Bend. The dwarven political system is exceedingly complex and is not discussed openly with outsiders. You do know, however, that the dwarves elect their leader by some archaic process and that there is also some form of succession involved. In addition to the usual dwarven trade goods of metals and gems, Durnhelme is also the main producer of guns and gunpowder. Echo Bend is far enough to the north that it is a rare thing indeed for such goods to make their way to the Arrows.

Dongle has been fairly quiet through dinner, but now it seems as if he is ready to burst with excitement. He is actually standing on his chair, hopping back and forth from foot to foot, rubbing his hands together. When he is finally unable to restrain himself any longer. He shoots both hands into the air and looks at Michiko. “We must show them! We must we must!” The young sorceress nods her agreement and gets up from the table, following the gnome as he scampers towards an open space in the warehouse. He puts his fingers in his mouth and lets out a sharp, shrill whistle. Several seconds later the two large earth elementals emerge from the ground around him. “Go ahead my dear!” he shouts. Michiko reaches into her blouse and extracts the strange glowing stone found in Mrs. Stormscale’s basement. When the two earth elementals catch sight of it, they both arch backwards, pointing their head-regions towards the sky. A deep and steady sound begins to come from both of them, a vibration so full and all-encompassing that it seems to shake your very bones. The pitch begins to vary as the two elementals sway back and forth. After a minute, you realize that they are singing. The glowing stone begins to shine with an even brighter light as Michiko holds it in her hands, casting a swirling green radiance all about the warehouse. Dongle begins to hop up and down like an excited toddler while shouting “They’re singing! They’re singing!” Dirk lets the whole display go on for a minute before putting his hand on Michiko’s shoulder. She returns the stone to inside her blouse and the singing stops. Dirk looks at the lot of you as he holds his hands out to his sides. “You mentioned that this woman seemed interested in the stone. Now we know it does that.”

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera arrives to dinner with all her normal pleasantries and friendliness - even toward Toland - but some may find it unnerving that she's brought along a large white wolf. She absentmindedly introduces the animal as South Paw and feeds him scraps from the table, but he seems perfectly content and non-threatening.

Jalaera speaks and eats politely, but seems distracted. She's thoughtful through Dirk's rambling description. "Dirk, just what sort of authority does this dwarf possess? I understand this might be viewed as an internal matter between Durnhelme and one of its citizens, but why is Dremel allowing him to go about beating people here in Echo Bend?"

She now looks at her fellows. "And yes, I also wonder if it isn't a conflict of interest for us to seek an alleged fugitive whose life we saved and who gave us lodging only days ago. Crimes or no, I hesitate to give her into the hands of so obvious a cruel thug as this supposed justicar from her homeland."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos greets everyone warmly, and he takes a special effort to show off his new weapon; a pistol with six barrels, built to rotate after each shot. It's a magnitude of complexity above his previous works, and he mentions some kind of special ammunition as well.

He seems to hit it off with the wolf better than most people, and after a polite introduction he scratches South Paw's ears as much as desired, and Demos joins Jalaera in feeding the noble animal bits of the feast.

Once Dirk has explained the situation and Jalaera has said her piece, Demos adds his voice to the matter. "Alright, the way I see it, we saved Velma, but she ran off almost immediately afterwards. We don't know her at all, and I don't feel terribly beholden to her. She also acted very odd when we mentioned the Stone, but she wouldn't elaborate as to why; and I'm not fond of secrets. I wouldn't mind finding her just to question her a little more about that rock."

[Zoobity]

Byron arrives to dinner exactly on time. He blesses the food and drink and eats graciously, though indecorously. The food is better than his grasp on formal manners.

Byron is unafraid of, but surprised by the wolf, and Demos's new pistol, for that matter. "I see you all have been busy this week." He laughs and pats his stomach. "I'm afraid I have nothing to show for my down time. Nothing yet, anyway." After the golem chorus, he claps loudly. "Bravo! Bravo! I have never heard anything like that before. Marvelous. Mesmerizing. What the hell was it?"

Byron leans back in his chair and tugs at his beard when talk turns to Velma and the new dwarf. "It's not in my nature to trust 'fancy' out of towners who try to stir up trouble with their fists and apprehend someone who's shown me a kindness. I don't trust a man, dwarf, whatever, just because he wears a good helmet and uses the word 'traitor.' The problem, as far as I can tell, is both dwarves have us at a disadvantage." He looks to the party, "I say we talk to them both. The soldiery types can approach this bear-riding brute, appeal to his strength or honor or whatever, and see what business brings him out to the hinterlands. If he's here for good reasons and Velma is the heinous traitor that rumor makes her out to be, then we already have a foot in the door. If he's here on a dark errand, then as a group I'm sure we can show him some of Cayden Cailean's justice and the far side of the town gates. The rest of us can track down Velma and let her explain herself." He takes a large swig of wine and gestures broadly, encompassing the whole of the hall, "And these stones."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Nodding along with the cleric, the elf woman looks at Demos apologetically. "I agree with Byron. Acting on suspicions alone can easily lead to unnecessary misunderstandings." She quickly raises a hand in a placating gesture, though, adding, "But we may not even have to part separately. This dwarf is lodged within the town and we can easily enough speak with him and depart quickly, yes? Lets some," she indicates Demos and Toland, "palaver as we ready to depart."

[mshady]

Toland

"Some the power of the stone is that we can start an earth elemental choir? Well, alright" Toland says and looks around the table. "Where's the wine again?" he asks, looking around.

"Still though, we should go talk to this fellow. It's going to be trouble if we don't I reckon. Lets figure something out. I get the feeling that something big is in the offing, and this is the first odd thing that has came up since I heard that. So... palaver it is. That means we talk first, right?" he says and smirks at his own supposed cleverness.

[King Tius]

Dirk shrugs at Jalaera's question. "Jurisdiction between nations is sketchy at best when the territories abut and doubly-so when they don't. The man speaks with authority and has a gods-damned bear with him. I think that gives him enough clout to do as he pleases, within reason. Dremel's doubled the guard in the area around the Gilded Griffin where he's staying. Nobody's quite sure what to do about him and he hasn't really done anything to disturb the peace that the drunks don't do every night outside the taverns. Still, best to handle that one with a delicate hand. Do you have any idea where the dwarf woman might be?"

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera sips thoughtfully at some wine but remains uncharacteristically silent. She appears content to wait for a resolution rather than forcing one.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos hits himself in the head lightly. "Right, damn, I've been so caught up in smithing I nearly forgot about the information I gathered. I've got a group of kids and teens with tons of energy and free time running around town for me, gathering information. Most of it is useless, but they feel like they're doing something important, and their parents sure don't mind the distraction.

Anyway, my meddling kids spotted Velma leaving the Eastern gate a few days ago. I meant to say something about it, but we've all been so caught up in things, and I was so close to finally building a repeating pistol... It slipped my mind. Apologies, guys; I'm not usually that sloppy."

[Zoobity]

Byron dusts crumbs from his shirt and begins fumbling through the pockets of his coat for his pipe. "I think we should get Velma to the guild hall as soon as we can, then. It's the safest place for her if she's in danger." He brings a match to the bowl of the pipe and puffs the flames started. He takes a deep breath of the tobacco and lets the smoke out in a slow sigh. He says, flatly, "It's also the best place for her to be if the mad dwarf with the bear is right and she's a real threat."

[mshady]

Toland

"It occurs to me that the dwarf may also be looking for me. When we first discovered that dwarf stone... I did send letters to the dwarf kingdoms about what we discovered. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When I told Velma I sent those letters, she panicked and fled. I'd like to know what is going on.

I'd be willing to be bet he is following up on those letters, asked around about the best place to find Ser Toland Albright and was told a tavern. Besides, I find the idea of dwarf actually riding a bear something too interesting NOT to see. I'd be willing to go see him.

If Velma has already fled the gates, we will have about as much luck finding her now as we did before. She has a head start and an idea where she is going. We have neither."

[King Tius]

With business completed at the warehouse and a clear goal in sight, you bid goodbye to Dirk and Dongle as you depart for the Gilded Griffon. The inn is located in the nicest part of Echo Bend, only a few blocks away from Mrs. Stormscale’s house and the hidden dwarven tomb that started this whole mess. There are several facts about the Griffon that are common knowledge to all residents and long-term guests of Echo Bend. First, this inn is hands down the most expensive place to stay in Echo Bend. One night in a simple room at the Griffon will buy you a whole month’s stay in the nicest room at many of the modest, lice-free places in town that folks of your social status tend to rent. Second, every child on the street knows the rumor that the giant golden statue of (you guessed it) a griffon that stands leaping out of the ornate fountain in the inn’s courtyard is magically enchanted. Most children and old men agree that with the right command word, the griffon can come to life to run tasks or defend the inn. Apparently only the owner of the inn knows the command word and won’t even tell the innkeeper who is in charge of day-to-day operations. Finally, despite being an absolute cash cow for whoever owns the place, nobody in Echo Bend seems to know who the owner of the inn actually is! The man who runs the place certainly ACTS like he owns it, but it is well known that he is merely the manager/steward.

As you pass the gilded statue, a quick Detect Magic reveals that the statue gives off a very strong Transmutation aura, adding a bit of credibility to the claim that the statue may spring to life with the correct command word. Michiko absent-mindedly mutters a few choice command words to see if she gets lucky and guesses it, but the griffon remains poised as if in mid flight and does not move. Pulling open the massive mahogany doors with their equally extravagant gold handles, you enter upon what seems to be more of a palace entrance than that of an inn. The men at arms (two, standing inside the door) both snap to attention and put their hands on their weapons at the sight of you. The man behind the gold-trimmed desk, dressed immaculately in fashionable coat and tails, scurries over to you, a look of abject disgust barely hidden on his face. "You must be confused, this isn't the local brothel. Please leave before you get any guests dirty."

Those of you from about town know that this isn't the manager. You also notice that the inn lobby and corresponding lounge are empty other than two servants standing at the ready.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos puts a hand on either hip, not quite on his pistols, but close enough to make a point. "We're not here for whores or trouble. And really, saying something like that with ladies present? Do you realize that you are in the presence of an honored and noble Paladin of Iomedae? You should be ashamed of yourself."

He takes a couple steps inside the room, totally unconcerned about the guards. "We're here to have a polite conversation with the bear-riding dwarf staying here. If you could send for him, we'll be out of your hair sooner. If you won't, we'll just start looking around until we find him. Your choice."

[Zoobity]

If there's one thing a priest of Cayden Cailean despises, it's bad service.

Byron lets loose a deep belly laugh at the "manager's" address. "Get them dirty? And which guests would those be?" As Demos shoulders his way into the room, Byron approaches the man behind the desk. "And I am a priest of Cayden Cailean. The god of wine and hospitality? You would do well to remember him." He gestures to the empty hall. "In the mean time, you would best be served listening to the man with the large, definitely-not-overcompensating-for-anything pistols." Byron punctuates the "you" by tapping the man on the nose.

[mshady]

Toland

For his appearance tonight, Toland was dressed in his finest clothing. He has on his white cloak, draped over his polished armor. The boots he wears are black riding boots, with spurs that jingle softly as he walks. He currently sports a certain amount of stubble, giving him a bit of character and age to his young face. On his side is a scabbard for his broadsword, with its brass cross piece, ivory hilt and a polished steel pommel that was tapered to a point.

He also looks a bit drawn and edgy tonight.

No, I'm not here for the whores or trouble. That would be on a Saturday night... and they prefer the term courtesans. Show some respect, Byron! Wait, did Demos just call me a lady?

"For a respectable establishment, I'd expect more respectable language. Yes, I am the Paladin. Ser Toland Albright, Servant of Iomedae. Tell the emissary from Durhelme that we are here to see him about Velma, and be quick about it, sir" Toland says and smiles at the man. He reaches into his coin purse and grabs a gold piece out of it, grabs the man's hand and presses the coin into his palm. He has a beaming smile, and shakes the man's hand vigorously.

"Now be a good lad and announce our arrival. We'll be at the table in the corner. A round of ale for all my friends, as well as one for our stout friend"

Smiling at the doorman, he moves to enter the establishment with the air and confidence of someone who belongs there.

[Zoobity]

Byron raises a great big busy eyebrow and looks at Toland. "Feeling generous tonight, Sir Albright, or have I just never seen you in your element before?"

[mshady]

Toland

"If you want to belong, you have to act the part" he said, as a quiet aside to Byron.

OOC: Argh, darn edit function! Rolled a 14 on diplomacy... frak.

[King Tius]

The pompous man seems more than ready to throw Demos's words back in his face when Byron gets up close and bops the man on the nose. This seems to catch the man completely off guard, causing him to stand there with his mouth open in surprise. As Toland strides past towards the seating area like he owns the place, all the innkeeper can do is shut his mouth and stare. The clack of the man's teeth echoes through the room. Finally regaining some of his composure, he gestures to the two footman with an irritated expression. They waste no time turning around and heading upstairs, practically scampering to get away as quickly as possible.

The youngish looking man working the bar does his level-best to keep a smile off his face as he quickly brings a round of ale out to the table. Everyone takes their seats and waits for the Durnhelme dwarf to arrive. You sit for nearly fifteen minutes, all the while the innkeeper makes himself very busy ordering the staff around. The door to the kitchen opens and closes several times as various waitstaff move about.

Demos

While you wait for the dwarf to arrive the door to the kitchen opens and shuts several times with people moving in and out. One of these times, however, you swear that it swung open for a good three or four seconds and closed again, though nobody actually came or went. This happens just before the dwarf comes stomping down the stairs, drawing your attention away.


Just when you'd begun to suspect that you were purposefully being made to wait, you hear heavy armored footfalls on the inn's stairs. A dwarf-sized suit of brilliant mithral armor makes its way down the stairs and heads right towards you, presumably with a gruff man inside of it. The full helmet is crafted to resemble an impassive dwarven face with exaggerated features. None of you recognize who this might be, but you imagine that the face is recognizable to Dwarves with a bit of history under their belts (kinda like this (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130407034238/bioshock/images/6/61/87o78o578.jpg)). Emblazoned on the front of his otherwise-spotless mithral full plate is the symbol of an upside-down warhammer with a mountain behind it. Cresting over the peak of the mountain is a rising sun whose rays are stylized as swords. Byron and Toland recognize the warhammer as a symbol of Torag, the main god of the dwarves, but do not know the meaning of the greater symbol. The handles of two axes sprout from the man's back like wings. He walks towards the party's table and stands there silently, his hands straight down at his sides.

[mshady]

Toland

Smiling at the bartender as he delivers the drinks, he motions for him to set them on the table. As he does so, Toland takes a gold coin from his purse and shows it to the boy. He holds up a finger for a moment and demonstrates a bit of a trick by rolling the coin between his fingers, back and forth. After the quick show, he flips the gold coin to the young man. It was a large amount of money for the young man, no doubt.

"Keep them coming, fella. No one thirsty at this table. Pour one for yourself, while you're at it. Drinks are on Toland Albright tonight. Bring us whatever your stout guest is enjoying and set a place for him, if you will" he smiles widely, enjoying the moment a bit.

As he does so, he spares a moment to look at the inn keeper and spares him a smiling salute before taking a long drink from his mug.

He was not sure what he savored more, the taste of a good ale after a dry week or the innkeeper.

While he missed any other strange goings-on, Toland did not miss the sound of the dwarf coming down the stairs and showing up in the room. When he first arrived, Toland is a bit taken by the impressive armor. Quite taken really, its magnificence actually made him gulp in appreciation. Whomever this fellow was, he meant business and riding a bear was the least intimidating thing about him.

Still, he knew when someone was putting on a show. He had experience with that.

Toland stands up, not quickly but with an unhurried, deliberate movement.

"Sir Toland Albright, at your service" he says, and bows towards the approaching dwarf, flourishing his hand as he did so.

"Thank you for coming down to see us. It is a rare honor to have a dwarf visit our city. I take it your kingdom got my letter about recent observations, and we hear you are looking for someone. How may we be of service? Have a drink with us, so we may palaver" Toland says, smiling at the approaching dwarf.

Knowledge Nobility - to hopefully address him correctly. Any ideas on dwarf nobility?

[roll0]

Diplomacy

[roll1]

Toland keeps his hands at his side, making sure he can quickly reach for his sword.

Either he is going to have a drink with us or punch me in the face. Are all dwarves this serious?

[King Tius]

The dwarf makes no move to sit and shows no signs of acknowledgement at Toland's bow and introduction. After a long, uncomfortable silence, a gruff voice comes out of the impassive helmet.

"So it be ye who sent the letter. Where's the girl?"

His tone is accusatory and dismissive all at the same time, though whether that's just dwarven custom or not is beyond you. When Toland flips the gold coin to the barkeep, he frowns and holds his hand out to the paladin.

"I'm sorry sir, but it's five gold for the first round."

[Zoobity]

"Oh, I've got the rest then. The paladin is paying you for your extraordinary service. The drunk god is paying for the drinks."

And that is how Toland and Byron invented tipping.

When the dwarf speaks, Byron sighs and rubs his eyebrows. He says, quietly, "I guess he fits right in then." He looks up at the dwarf. "Yes, it be we who sent the letter, but my colleague here has the right of it: we're here to palaver. We understand you're here on business but we would like to know what business this is before we get more involved. Nothing personal, of course, but I'm sure an accomplished man such as yourself understands the necessity of reputation and the need to be cautious."

Diplomacy 1d20+6

[Zoobity]

I forgot how to roll dice so badly that I did it wrong twice

Diplomacy
[roll0]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos seems to be distracted by thought for much of the interaction, but if anything his silence adds to his menace instead of detracting from it. His hands never touch his pistols, but he does casually inspect his bracers a few times to silently check the hidden weapons within.

When the dwarf (or enchanted, mobile suit of armor) appears Demos spares the man little more than a glance before returning his gaze to the rest of the room. Byron and Toland were enough voices for one conversation; what the group really needed was a pair of attentive eyes not turned to the gleaming distraction in front of them.

[King Tius]

The Dwarf does not turn his head or otherwise move to indicate that he is speaking to Byron but he does answer his question, sort of.

"She be a thief, a heretic, and a traitor to the throne. All ye damn humans want to do is talk. Ye 'ave a week to find her or I'll do it me-self."

He turns around and starts to walk back towards the stairs, apparently quite done with your "palavering." From his tone, you wouldn't be surprised if "doing it me-self" involved setting fire to Echo Bend and seeing who came running out.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera walks happily through the streets of Echo Bend, feeling less burdened than she has in many, many, many years. The streets are familiar, and many buildings, but she wonders what has changed and what is simply hazy in her memory.

Walking along behind her are Eustace and South Paw, eyeing each other with a peculiar chagrin. The elf pays them equal attention, providing soothing noises and strokes to keep them calm. She watches with a mellow contentedness as South Paw snaps at some mangy stray dogs, sending them yelping down an alley, and Eustace nonchalantly snatches an apple from a passing vendor and gobbles it down.

She buys up cheap provisions, tools, tarps, lengths of rope, climbing gear, fowler's gear, snares, a small tent, a cask of wine and many other sundries they may need and stashes it all on the mule, then turns toward the gate she and her companions always use.


I'll guestimate my spending after work this evening. It's all little stuff and I'll overspend to keep from having to do detailed math. It's only fake money. :smallsmile:

[mshady]

The Dwarf does not turn his head or otherwise move to indicate that he is speaking to Byron but he does answer his question, sort of.

"She be a thief, a heretic, and a traitor to the throne. All ye damn humans want to do is talk. Ye 'ave a week to find her or I'll do it me-self."

He turns around and starts to walk back towards the stairs, apparently quite done with your "palavering." From his tone, you wouldn't be surprised if "doing it me-self" involved setting fire to Echo Bend and seeing who came running out.

Toland

Toland listens to the brief statement from the dwarf and rolls his eyes.

It's going to be like this, huh?

He spares a glance at Byron and shrugs. Toland steps away from the table and takes a couple steps in the direction of the dwarf, careful to keep about as much space as the dwarf had allowed before speaking.

"Pardon me sir, but as the one that wrote the letter that prompted your visit, I demand some respect" Toland says to the dwarf, his voice now much firmer.

"That's me being polite, but let me put this in your language. If you want help, give us a reason besides a threat, because honestly, we're not threatened. You're far from home, alone and you're certainly not going to find her yourself. Unless you give us a reason, no one here cares. If you do, maybe we can help you.

Seeing as we're the only people who have met her recently. She seemed quite friendly, right up till the point I told her something. Have an ale with us, and I'll tell you. Otherwise, enjoy your stay and go home in peace" Toland says and gestures to the table.

"We came to talk to you. Maybe help. Maybe there's more going on we can share. Why do you think we wrote you in the first place?" Toland asks him.

Reaching into a bag, he pulls out the warhammer he had taken from the tomb.

"Now, have you ever saw one of these before?" he says, and lets the war hammer thump on the table.

[King Tius]

The surly dwarf continues his walk away as Toland speaks. Despite seeming uninterested in what the paladin has to say, he does turn around to view the golden warhammer. When it lands on the table, the dwarf turns fully around and begins walking back towards the table.

"Ye don't get it, do ye, boy? I be the one doing this $#!^stain of a town the favor. Ye've a week to deliver the girl to me or I start taking heads. Ye'd be surprised how quick a city with no army will $#!^ out what I want when its walls are falling down. And if ye think I'm alone, yer as dumb as ye look. A week from now, if that traitorous bitch isn't in my custody, I'm comin' for yer head first."

He picks up the warhammer and turns to walk away again. The speech has little effect on Toland, being young AND immune to fear effects. Both Demos and Byron are Shaken (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions#TOC-Shaken)for one round.

[mshady]

Toland watches the dwarf walk and scowls at him.

"If you want my head, it will be on my shoulders" Toland growls back at the dwarf.

"Take the hammer, it's a gift we found from your people. I can show you where when you're of better temper. We get what yet saying. We were just asking for your help to help you. Enjoy your night sir, we will look into the matter as blindly as before we came for your help."

Toland shakes his head and sits down.

As he hoists an ale, he wonders if they should just burn the tavern down around the dwarfs ears and save everyone the trouble.

Still though, he was not afraid. One dwarf or ten, they may have no army but the militia and the streets were tough. So were his employers. This was going to be ugly but not for them, he figured.

[King Tius]

The dwarf doesn't respond as he walks back up the stairs. As the tension drains out of the room, the barkeep comes up to the table and asks if you'd like another round of drinks.

1 Hero Point to Toland!

[mshady]

As the dwarf turns away, Toland attempts a detect evil on him right after he snatched the hammer away.

Toland motions for the innkeeper to come sit with him, beckoning him with an easy smile.

"I'm assuming you would prefer him to leave?" Toland chuckles. "Can you tell me of his arrival, of everything he has said, and have you saw if he is with anyone? Also have you ever saw him with his helmet off? Does he even take food or drink?"

"Also, I'd like a room here if you don't mind. To keep an eye on our special guest."

[King Tius]

The innkeeper is still humbled by your entrance and answers Toland's questions without an overabundance of sass.

"Leave? Not at all. He paid for his rooms with a diamond the size of my eyeball. He's in one of our more luxurious guest apartments. He does not call down for any food or drink and has made it especially clear that he isn't to be disturbed unless it's concerning the woman he is looking for. I've only ever seen him come and go by himself and no, I've never seen him without his helmet. I can put you in one of our more modest accommodations for 100g a night."

Toland does not detect evil on the dwarf as he walks away.

[mshady]

"Has he said anything about the woman? For that matter, have you heard anything about her yourself?" He asks politely.

"As for my inquiry about a room, it is for your protection and for the good of the town. You did catch the part about him killing people and burning the place down, yes? It's up to you" Toland shrugs.

"Truthfully he has me curious. Clearly this woman is not worth the trouble. In the interests of the town, we will do our best to find her"

Toland smiles and reaches for a paper and quill. "Would you take him a letter for me?"

[King Tius]

The innkeeper shakes his head. "He asked after a dwarf woman when he first arrived but I'd never seen her. Yes yes, defend the city and all that. From what I overheard he's more interested in YOUR head than mine, but one hundred gold is really the lowest I can go. We have standards to uphold here at the Griffon and the owner would be....displeased if we began renting rooms to anyone with two coppers to rub together. I'll have the letter left outside his door but I can't make him read it."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos turns back to the man, shaking his head softly. "We live in town, so we don't really have any need of accommodations. As much as I would love to pay too much for what I am sure are excellent rooms, I would also like to sleep somewhere with fewer murderous dwarves."

The gunslinger looks to his holy companions, raising his brow. "Is it alright with you two if we get out of here? I have something I'd like to discuss, and this isn't the right place. Walls have ears, et cetera et cetera."

[mshady]

Toland

He shrugs at the innkeeper and turns to Demos with an easy smile.

"Aye, I guess you're right. Let's get going everyone" Toland says, twirling his finger in the air. He stops for a moment and remembers he was going to do something.

He scribbles out a quick note to the dwarf.

Dear Sir:

We respect that you are here on private matters of the dwarves. We also recognize that you are far from home and have, as yet, failed to find this notorious Velma. Threatening this town, full of innocents who have nothing to do with your plight, is something I doubt any God or Code would condone. That approach does not seem to be bearing results.

Demands meet with opposition. Requests can meet with cooperation. You come to our home and demand our help or you threaten us. If I came into your home and did the same, how would you react? Not well, I suspect.

I hope you read this letter with a cooler mind. Help us to help you by giving us some information.

Do you know why Velma came to this town? That would help us know where to start looking.

If you feel the need to punish this town because this "Velma" visited here, come find me in a week's time at the steps of the Temple of Iomedae. Myself, my head, my friends and my Order will be there.

Sincerely,
Ser Toland Albright

He folds the letter and hands it to the inn keeper and smiles at Demos and Byron.

"There we go. I told that dwarf if he wants to kill everyone in a week, to start with us and where to meet. So, where to now?" Toland smiles widely at them, a somewhat mad look in his eye.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos nods, surprisingly pleased with Toland's course of actions. "I think you handled that extremely well, Toland. And I agree; if that idiot is going to take out misplaced anger, I'd like to see him try to start with your order standing there. A few of your elders look like they've killed demons or worse; and I don't care how shiny his armor is, my bullets will ignore it all the same. He is far less of a threat than he seems to think he is, and I'm going to be honest with you; the more time I spent with him the more I've begun to think that Velma may be avoiding him for a good reason."

Once the group is well out of earshot from the inn, Demos comes to a stop. "Right, well, we probably weren't followed, but if we were, I'm going to kill you." He sweeps his gaze around the area. "There was someone invisible in that inn; I noticed a closed door open for a few seconds before closing with no one near it. Why they were there I can't say, but it wasn't anyone we know, or they would have told us."

[mshady]

Toland

Toland looks at Demos and nods in agreement.

"I could see Velma avoiding him simply for his personality. Still though, why aren't we considering the idea that maybe Velma is what he says she is?

Velma may be avoiding him for a good reason, but it may not be a right reason. I think we need to find Velma and see what is going on, after we consult with some wiser heads about this. He might be surly, but he may very well be a lawful representative of his kingdom and she may well be a criminal, by their standards. This is hardly the first time a marshall from one of our neighboring cities has tracked a criminal here.

If you ask me though, there is something shady about both of them. If its just a dwarf matter, why not just help him on his way if she broke a law of theirs? Still, we should find Velma regardless. Not that we have any idea where she is. Why did she even come here?" Toland shrugs.

[Zoobity]

Byron scratches his beard and looks around. "This whole thing is damned strange if you ask me. And I say that for the benefit of our invisible friend, as well. I agree with Toland though: no matter what's really going on our next step is to track down Velma. Let's rally the troops."

[King Tius]

After your meeting with the surly dwarf you reconvene at the guild hall. Dirk is pleased to see that you've returned and calls Dongle over. The little gnome whistles a short blast of notes and the ring on his finger comes alive. It stands up on its back legs and looks at him inquisitively as he looks at it and says "Audrey" before whistling out another tune. The creature wraps back around his finger and he disappears down the stairs into the new basement. Ten minutes later, the doors of the warehouse open again, revealing a human woman in her mid twenties. Dirk smiles broadly and motions towards her.

"Ah, yes, Audrey has arrived. She is my latest recruit for our little endeavor here. Since I don't have any other prospects at the moment and that birdy fellow seems to have flown the coup, I thought she'd make a good addition to your little operation. From what Dylana has seen her skill set should come in handy."

As usual, the strange and sultry woman seems to appear out of nowhere as she strides up behind Dirk and gives Audrey a coy smile.

[Saskia]

Audrey smiles broadly walking in, perhaps not realize her eyes locked on the woman smiling at her. She offers her a wink and a nod before looking around, taking quick inventory of her surroundings.


Sexy, smiley lady. Probably paid to act that way to disarm and read guests. Mission accomplished.
Tall, lanky. Pistols. Always with the pistols. The loud, smelly, unreliable, destroying-ancient-relics-of-bygone-civilizations-with-that-gods-awful-smoke pistols. Looks bored. Suicidal thrill seeker, maybe? No, they never live long enough to be useful.
Portly. Too big to be a fighter. Or maybe regional adaptation to cold? No, probably a regional adaptation to beer. Great Gorum they sure do make them tall here, though.
Holy hot! Tall, strong, sexy as hell. Still, to cover that kind of beauty in that kind of garish... Looks too comfortable though, like he damn near owns the place. Overprivileged knight type. Been there. Hopefully this one doesn't piss me off and make me accidentally drown him, too.
Elf. With a wolf. I like dogs, wolves are close enough, I think. Never had a wolf pack give me trouble, or they gave up after lancing one in the eye. I like smart animals. Tribal tattoos, by the look. Hopefully it's not rude to ask about them.


Now to see what I've gotten myself into. Still smiling a confident and intoxicated smile from the unspoken greeting, Audrey nods to those around her. "Audrey Knight, pleasure to meet you," she says confidently, despite half of those present standing head and shoulders above her. "So what's the job?"

[Zoobity]

Byron lets loose a great belly laugh. His belly follows. "'What's the job,' she says. You," he points, "Are right down to business, aren't you? The job is tracking down a young dwarf lady with poor eyesight who may or may not be an enemy of the state. Not our state, of course, but some state that isn't willing to identify itself." He stands and extends a hand. "I'm Byron Cailean, priest of Cayden Cailean."

[Saskia]

Audrey takes the man's offered hand. How are matters of state important to a drunken god? Did she burn down a king's brewery? She opens her mouth to speak, but pauses to adjust her word choice, not wanting to sound condescending. Obviously this Byron fellow understands that whoever's looking for her may well be lying. "I'm only down to business when I'm led to believe business is important, and it still sounds like it is. Is there any evidence at all that it's a foreign state that wants her? I mean, who are their supposed agents? In my experience if you're dealing with a vaguely foreign agent who doesn't give any details or proof, he's either a conman, a hit man, or desperate to impress women, and always a bad liar, anyway."

[Zoobity]

Byron's jaw goes slack. "I, uh...," he looks back to the rest of the group. "Toland? Demos? You guys know stuff..."

[mshady]

Toland

Looking at the newcomer, Toland smiles at her in a friendly manner but takes a moment to let his eyes linger on her. No harm in paying her a non-verbal compliment. After all, if she took pains to look nice, it would be rude not to notice. Right?

He stands and faces her, bows and sweeps his hat wide with an exaggerated bow. Holding the bow for a moment, he looks up at her, smiles again and returns to a standing position. The paladin is still wearing a fine cloak with silver chains held together with an elaborate broach, and a white hat with a colorful feather, not dissimilar from the one Demos wears. Toland wears a shadow of carefully trimmed stubble. His armor is a finely polished brown metal of some sort she is probably not familiar with, along with elaborate black boots with gold buckles. Only the steel toes and the spurs betray any practical value to them. A broadsword rests in a sheath on one side, along with a long dagger on the other.

"A pleasure to meet you, Audrey. I am Ser Toland Albright of Iomedae, at your service" he pauses and smiles at her.

"As my esteemed colleague and friend implied, Demos and I know a little something. I would submit that this dwarf, who for lack of a better name I shalt refer to as Bob, may indeed be a legitimate representative of his country. He rides a bear, and wears both finely made mithril armor and an arrogance that he could have only been born into.

He says that this Velma is a traitor to his state, and has threatened to start killing people until this town gives up Velma's location. He also informed me that my own head would be first, so I left him a letter telling him when and where to meet me so he can take it" Toland smiles widely at that part.

"As for why he is here, I think it has to do with a letter I wrote his kingdom upon discovery of an old dwarven crypt that held the armor I wear now, a hammer and other golden-mithril weapons, animated statues playing out some mock fights between each other, a box and golden sphere that makes earth elementals sing. It's an interesting sight. I wrote them of this sight seeking clarification, for any dwarf presence here was heretofore unknown yet this seemed of some significance.

When we met Velma on the road at a library near here, seeking the same understanding, I told her much of that after we shared some drinks. When I ended with telling her I wrote a letter to the two nearby dwarf kingdoms, she panicked, said she was not feeling well and retired to her chamber... and promptly left in the morning. From that, I surmise she knows they were looking for her, she had purpose her and desired to get here and get gone before someone responded to the letter.

I presume her purpose was this newly unearthed tomb and what we found in it. Thus I presume this dwarf considers her a traitor for pursuing it, and if its discovery and exploration is considered treason, it just makes it much more interesting.

Now, Velma could be a criminal or not, but I think the best course of action is to find her. Failing that, as she may have already left, perhaps we can talk to whomever this dwarf has been beating on for information. If Velma was here, people saw her and have an idea where she went. We need to learn about that as well" Toland says and pauses.

"Do you think you could survey the inn the dwarf is staying at and watch his comings and goings with discretion? We think he is alone, but he claimed to have company and Demos thinks there may be someone invisible who observed our palaver. Either with him, a veiled Velma or a third party of mystery" Toland says, smiling at the mystery.

"Yes, I talk a lot. My apologies" he says and bows slightly to Audrey.

[King Tius]

Dirk chimes in at Toland's suggestion. "We can monitor the inn while you look for this woman. If there are invisible people skulking about, Dylana will find them. Isn't that right, my love?" The salt and peppered gentleman smiles coyly at the strangely dressed priestess and none of you are quite sure if his pet name is sarcasm or not. The priestess gives him a look as she heads to her new assignment. Her footfalls make no noise as she saunters away.

[Saskia]

Had she not already steeled herself against him, she might well have been quite flustered when the knight stared at her. Fortunately she had, because the way she giggles when flustered is decidedly undignified. Maybe he's not so bad though, even if he'd be less immediately repellant if he just dressed down a bit. Flaunting wealth that way is just so unbearable.

She takes a moment to consider Toland's words, and sighs heavily. [A]n old dwarven crypt that held the armor I wear now ... The brute has no idea what he pilfered, does he? It's enough to make a girl cry.

Still, it can't be helped. She nods at Dirk's words. "If we're going to have any leverage against 'Bob' we've got to have this Velma lass safely in our custody, and in a bear-proof facility he's not aware of. Just by what you've told me, she's probably at that crypt trying to finish robbing or reading or whatever she's doing before 'Bob' gets to her. I would suggest we start there and start quickly, unless somebody's got a better informed idea."

Also, appraise [roll0] on his armor, at least what she can see of it, to determine what it is, what it's worth, how old, or whatever else she might know based on the roll which I'm totally expecting to be a 2 and make all this moot anyway :smallamused:

[RaggedAngel]

Demos remains silent through Toland's spiel, listening to the overall narrative, but paying far more attention to the new woman's reaction to his words. She seemed intelligent, at the very least, and while he wasn't going to miss Blackbeak's personality he was going to miss the tengu's competence. His current companions were certainly bright people, but they all lacked a certain... underhanded perspective. Audrey was an unknown factor, but he had high hopes for her.

After Toland finishes, he listens to Audrey's reply, and then after a moment he responds, watching her eyes as he does. "Well, Toland just about covered it. And I agree with your assessment; we need to see if there has been any tampering to the tomb. However, some associates of mine observed Velma leaving town a few days back. She is a mage, but not one of any particular skill; she required a large effort from all of us to take down a pair of trolls, despite being holed up in a relatively safe library with a number of scrolls."

He pauses for a moment, searching for words. "As for right now, however, I'd like to her a little more about you. I'm perfectly confident that you're as able as you seem, but if push comes to shove and things get violent, I'd like to know if I should stand in front of you, or behind you."

He smiles for the first time, and the grin makes him look more his age. "Truth be told, I'm more of a 'stand in the back' kind of guy; why else would we keep Toland around?" He thumps the big paladin lightly on the shoulder. "What about yourself, Audrey?"

[Saskia]

Violent? Well, as he said there wouldn't be much reason to have a guy like Toland around if it weren't a real possibility. The gunman asks a difficult question, though; Iomedae's clergy and laity rarely condoned the sorts of methods for dealing with violence that she happened to prefer, and here she is right within reach of such a man who could probably kill her without a second thought. Is this some sort of twisted test, or is he legitimately asking for reference?

I'm a historian by training. I don't like fighting, it's not in my blood like it is with other people, and it's a good way to get killed besides. But I'm a pretty good shot with my bow, if it comes down to it. She smiles a slightly embarrassed smile, hoping to compensate for her relatively nonviolent nature, and adds And I'm not a wizard or anything, but I can work my way around a simple scroll or a wand with a little effort.

[RaggedAngel]

Sense Motive (not to detect a bluff, but to get a sense of how she's feeling): [roll0]

I'm going to go with "he gets the sense that she's a little uncomfortable with the question". If that feels like it's overstepping bounds, just let me know.

Demos holds up a hand in apology. "Sorry if the question seemed a little blunt; unfortunately, I ask because we've run into a few situations that required a less-than-delicate touch. Trolls in the woods, giant insects under the road, undead monsters bursting forth from an ancient and forgotten tomb, that sort of thing. I'd rather be blunt now than have you get eaten by something huge and slobbering."

[Saskia]

Nope, that's pretty much it, and with a whopping +0 bluff even if she wanted to hide it she couldn't with a 22 sense motive :smallwink:

Oh. Okay. Tactical things. Right.

"Oh. Well, yes, I prefer to be away from the things that can stab me or rip me apart, but generally as long as whatever that something is doesn't get the drop on me I can defend myself. It's just not my specialty. I'm much better with traps and sabotage than fighting."

[mshady]

Chuckling, Toland thumps Demos right back and smirks at him.

"I thought I was the one keeping you around there, Demos? Who knew!" Toland exclaims with mock shock.

"If Velma left town, we have a problem. If she has a lead of several days, we could barely get to where she is now in a week's time and not get back before Bob starts tearing the town apart. Why don't we just tell him that, he leaves and life goes back to normal. I don't think we owe Velma anything, she bailed on us when we asked her for help, probably came here and ransacked the tomb for herself. Which reminds me, I'm still trying to buy that house. That tomb is just too great a feature" he smiles widely.

"Velma's real value to us, the only reason to not help Bob or at least ignore him, is that Velma is far more talkative about dwarf business than Bob is. I think we need some explanations and she's the only one who is going to talk to us" Toland says and sighs, not happy about that prospect.

"I try to decide things based on right and wrong, but we have no idea what is right or wrong here so we have to find her, I suppose. If Bob becomes too big a problem, we give him what he wants. He'd be on that like a dog on a steak, or me on a good ale, and a few other things right about now.." Toland chuckles, it sounds a bit brittle. "Yeah, anyways, we tell him Velma is in the tomb. He goes down there and we just lock the door behind him. Leave some food and water for a few days. We just borrow a ballista or something and point it at the door if we need to talk to him. Or something?" Toland says and scratches his head.

He turns to look for Jalaera, (who I presume is here).

"So anyone have a clue how to track down Velma? If not... maybe a helpful wizard who would like to know why the funny stone makes elementals sing could use a Sending spell to contact her"

Turning to Audrey, Toland looks her over. This time, it is in a more professional manner, evaluating her with particular attention to her equipment and her level of fitness.

"So you're good with a bow? Well, we have guns but I still prefer the traditional means. Do ye do anything useful besides peck away with a bow? Curious what kind of tricks ye have, how ye would fit in. We've been running rough here, lately. What exactly do ye do for a living, anyways? You don't seem new to this" he tells her, his voice much flatter and formal now. He looks her over again quickly, paying particular attention to what kind of boots they were and if they were practical or fashionable.

Like a knight. A professional warrior trained since childhood for warfare, not the happy go-lucky fellow that greeted her initially. He seems to be able to flip between one demeanor to the other quite quickly. This version of Toland was all business, and his business was a bloody one.

[Saskia]

Audrey shrugs, much more comfortable without the suspicion that Toland is about to snap her neck for a wrong answer. Too much relief to smile at the two men trading feigned insults. "Locks, traps, sabotage... Making or disabling, or modifying. I'm good with mechanical problems, and that's how I prefer to deal with ambulatory problems. And also," she pauses and clears her throat uncomfortably. There's just no gentle way to say that you're good at taking stuff that isn't yours. "I'm fairly adept at resource requisition. Or, maybe acquisition is a bit more accurate." Well, maybe not many ways.

[mshady]

Toland does not react to anything Audrey says until the last part, at which point he gives her a wary look.

"I'm not going to ask much about that part. Keep a handle on that around me" he warns her, not sternly but certainly less friendly.

"Otherwise, if they're bad people though, that can be a handy skill to have around. No harm in that. We've encountered a few traps so far. We've had bad luck with our trappers so far. One got killed by a trap, and we had a tengu just up and disappear. So, welcome aboard!" he says and smiles at her. There is only slight distrust in his eyes as he pats her on the back with one nearly bear sized hand.

Lets see how long this one lasts...

[Saskia]

"Thanks, you know just how to make a girl feel at home." She sighs lightly. There are plenty of perfectly justifiable reasons to have light fingers, and it always irks her when people who obviously have no idea what they're on about condescend to her over it. Naturally, of course, it's not his fault if the protective bubble of his entirely ignorant about how so many people have to live, so as much as she'd like to be rude about it, that's neither productive nor justified. Still, she knows herself well enough to know she can't just ignore it; as Toland himself acknowledged, her skill set puts her in quite a dangerous line of work, and she can't afford to having something so ultimately inconsequential as the judgment of the privileged gnawing at her while she works. That's a sure way to get killed. "And I'm going to say this once, because you're obviously smart enough to understand it the first time, and any more than that is condescension. I'm not a professional thief and I'm not a kleptomaniac. I just know how to survive in a society where the well-heeled and the nobility care more about their flashy clothing and patting themselves on the back for their moral courage than about making sure poor kids don't starve to death. Just keep that in mind before you go off and make the kinds of assumptions that'll make you sound foolish, and we'll be perfectly fine."

[Gorgon_Heap]

The pale elf woman had been sitting at the table all along, sipping at a cup of tea and nibbling on some long ticks of toast. The wolf was snoozing at her feet. If she was listening, it was with a detached interest, as if she was distracted.

As Toland subtly brings her into the conversation, she dusts off her fingertips and stands, gliding with elven grace toward the group. She's quite tall, and her unusual coloration indicates she's of the race of elves who live far in the snowy north. The tribal tattoos, Audrey notes as the elf nears, are actually common of some human nomad tribes who wander the northlands.

She gives Audrey a polite smile and nod. "Jalaera Winterwind. A pleasure." She then addresses the group, "A dwarf wizard in the wild? I'm confident I can find her." Pursing her lips, she hesitantly turns toward the hulking paladin. "Ser Toland," she says with equal parts respect and wariness, "I think your plan for this 'Bob' character has merit, most especially as he's already shown a tendency toward violence and disrespect for local laws and customs. However, I caution against such action before we know for certain if he is, in fact, some deputized figure. This could quickly spiral into a political issue, and I think we all would prefer to keep the affairs of Echo Bend to ourselves.

For as long as feasible,” she mutters.

She waves at Audrey. “The young woman says she’s an academic, no doubt skilled in research. As you said, Velma is not secretive, so let us find her and let Audrey learn what she can of this dwarven realm in the south. Discern if ‘Bob’ is a danger we can simply dispatch.

I’ve gathered supplies for a journey of several days. I am ready to leave when you are.”


Aaaand we all agree about everything and I think we're just repeating ourselves. Or I'm repeating what others have said almost two weeks ago. This conversation is taking too long. Can we please go now?

[Saskia]

Audrey nods. "It's what I do."

What he said :smalltongue:

[King Tius]

With introductions largely out of the way (where's Michiko?) the group bids farewell to Dirk and heads to the Stormscale house for some initial investigation. Dirk promises that he'll keep an eye on the dwarven diplomat for the time being. If Bob does start tearing up the town, Dirk will have Dongle send a distress signal from the whistling shrimps to bring you back.

As before, the Stormscale residence is locked but is no longer being guarded by the city watch. Audrey picks the door so quickly that you'd swear she already had a key to the place. Descending into the ancient tomb hidden below the house, Byron lets out a hearty laugh and a non sequitur as he casts light on his rapier. Once again inside the old tomb, a tense moment passes as you step onto the strangely-tiled floor and anticipate another skeleton attack. Everyone in the know breathes a sigh of relief when nothing comes out of the gloom to assault you. Off to one side, a brownish-red bloodstain on the floor serves as a painful reminder of what happened to the party's first rogue.

Getting down to business, you search the strange tomb for signs of any recent dwarf activity. There appears to be little evidence in this room though Jalaera does sort out a set of tracks in the dust that go straight down into the acid room that seem newer than the others. Inside the large chamber with the spiraling ramp, South Paw makes a b-line for the uppermost platform. He sniffs at the base of the sarcophagus and begins lapping at something with his tongue before Jalaera has a chance to pull him away. There appear to be breadcrumbs scattered about the area. Demos takes a knee near the sarcophagus when he notices a weird smudge on the sarcophagus's side. It appears to be a smudge of charcoal. Byron and Audrey both perk up at this, knowing that charcoal can be used with a sheet of parchment to make rubbings of things carved in stone. Other than that you do not find anything else of note in the tomb.

Unless you have something else you want to do or check up on, I'll forward us along to being on the road. Those of you who consider yourself to be locals know that there is a small town due east of Echo Bend called Honeydale. As you might expect from the rather simplistic naming convention of my burgeoning campaign world, Honeydale is a small dot on the map whose only notable feature is that they keep bees.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos keeps quiet on the way to and through the tomb, with the exception of a brief moment on the way there where he takes the opportunity to draw Aubrey aside for a moment. "Don't worry about Toland, Aubrey. He's got a lot of bluster, but he's one of the most salacious paladins that I've ever heard of, let alone met. A good man, though, and I trust him with my life, though not with my coinpurse."

He thinks for a moment, and then continues. "And as for coinpurses... We really have managed to do quite well for ourselves. Look forward to profit, if nothing else. And don't be concerned about having a few skills above and beyond what a paladin views as noble; I palmed my first purse at the age of eight, and I have no qualms with using slight of hand instead of violence to solve problems." He touches his hat, vaguely gallantly, and quietly slips back to join the main group.

After inspecting the tomb, Demos reasons that while it is obvious that someone had been through them, the place itself held no further leads. They may as well head east and see if anyone had seen Velma; she was sure to stand out, given the rarity of her people in the area. Though he did give one of his spy-kids a few coppers and a note for his new business partner, informing the man that he was helping deal with the short and dangerous visitor to the town. Demos put a slight implication that the dwarf was likely to turn violent and dangerous if not appeased or dealt with, to help ease the fact that he would have to delay the big order.

[King Tius]

Returning to the light of day, the party splits up to prepare for the journey. Jalaera has already gathered the necessary gear and begins packing Eustice for the trip. Michiko runs home to update her parents on the situation while Toland stops in to gather his things at the temple of Iomedae. Much to his chagrin, he bumps into Aurora Dawnstar before he makes it to his chambers. In her harsh yet cheerful manner, she has Toland stand at attention and deliver a report on what he has learned and where he is going. When he informs his new mentor that the party is departing in pursuit of a suspected criminal, she gives him a nod of approval. Her face grows stern when she moves closer to him and smells ale on his breath. After a firm reprimand she dismisses him. When Toland gathers his belongings and heads to the eastern gate to rejoin the party, he sees Aurora waiting nearby astride her steed. She approaches the group with him, clearly making the paladin uncomfortable.

"Ser Albright, introduce me to your companions and explain to them why I am here. I will be accompanying you on this endeavor but will only serve as an adviser to my wayward lamb." She pats the ornate repeating crossbow slung at her hip. "However, I will not be a hindrance."

(Feel free to make introductions and talk to Aurora for as much as you like. These talks can be handled retroactively as we move things along, just so things don't drag too much)

Once again the party leaves Echo Bend with a task at hand. The eastern road is smaller and not as well maintained as the great trade road that runs north and south of the city and the deep wagon ruts identify it as a road used mostly by the local farmers to bring in their wares. The first day of travel passes without incident and you make your camp beside a recently-harvested wheat field. As travel continues the road becomes more of a wide deer run as you leave the farmlands and enter the forest. The forest is thinner here than down by the great goblin stump and the sun has no problem breaking through the canopy to shine upon little glades of flowers.

During these travels Jalaera and South Paw keep a close eye on the trail for signs of Velma. Fortunately the donkey she is traveling with seems to be the only one that's come this way recently and our expert ranger has no problem confirming that she took this same road. Aurora keeps quiet for most of the trip unless someone talks directly to her. She does on occasion drill Toland on various pieces of doctrine and church procedure. Though the rest of you perceive it to be a simple grilling, Byron detects a subtlety and purpose to the way she is instructing Toland. Without being too overt, she is touching upon scripture, doctrine, and practice that paint a bigger picture about how a Paladin of the Inheritor should comport himself. These teaching sessions are a stark contrast to a loud and stern tirade she gave him in the morning for not making himself properly clean and presentable before breakfast.

Two hours after hitting the woods you find the path cresting a hill and descending into a small valley. Almost immediately you notice that there are more bees in the air than usual. It is certainly nothing oppressive or dangerous but you can't go more than a few seconds without catching the faint sound of buzzing as one goes whizzing by. Through the trees you can make out a cleared area near the bottom of the small valley (only about three hundred yards away) where a small cluster of houses are built. This is Honeydale. Audrey, Byron, and Jalaera immediately notice something odd: there is no smoke rising from the town's chimneys.

[Gorgon_Heap]

When Toland arrives with Aurora Dawnstar, Jalaera can't completely hide her surprise. She looks to Demos, and though her eyes at first gleam with bemusement, she also wonders if he's accepting of the woman's presence.

Either way Jalaera introduces herself to the ranking paladin formally and politely, and then more or less ignores her unless Demos suggests otherwise.

Much later, at Honeydale, the elf's concern and suspicion is palpable as we observe the tiny village. "Hold. This is not right."

[Goldfly]

Michiko raises a single eyebrow, upon seeing Aurora, but remains silent until she and Toland explain why she is with them.

"Oh! Thank you! I'm sure your help will be very useful, even if it's solely in an advising role."

[Zoobity]

Byron performs a deep, sweeping bow for Lady Dawnstar. "Lady Dawnstar," he says and attempts to kiss the back of her hand, if she'll allow it. "It is a pleasure to have a woman of cloth and steel among us. Please let me know if a servant of the Lucky God can be of any service to you." He turns from the paladin and looks back to Toland and Demos gives them a wink and a huge, ****eating grin.

On the trip to Honeydale, after he realizes what's going on between the two paladins, he rides up beside Toland. "Didn't pay enough attention to the catechism, did we?" He snorts playfully. "In all seriousness, I would take full advantage of whatever knowledge she can give you. Us. Whoever. I've been around the circuit enough times to know when I'm in the presence of someone who knows her art." He stares ahead absent-mindedly for a few minutes before looking back to Toland, his broad grin flashing beneath his beard. "So, what sort of vows do Iomedaeans take?"

Byron brings his mount to a stop at the top of the hill. His jaw is set. "Jalaera... tell me you have some sixth sense about the quiet below." He looks around to see if he can find anything else amiss about the town.

[mshady]

Toland

Toland rides with Aurora Dawnstar on his horse, and goes along with Aurora's grilling. He knows what she is doing, and intellectually he understands it, but he can't help but feel some level of indignation. Who was she to judge him like this? Well, she was Aurora friggin Dawnstar, that was who! So he goes along with it, slightly begrudging it, as she goes over things with him he had not much thought about seminary. At the time, he had largely accepted them as things he needed to do for a job he had not even particularly chosen. The lessons were more academic at the time. Now with some experience in life now and hearing them from someone with a greater depth of understanding of what they were teaching, they meant a bit more to him.

The hardest part was explaining to the rest why she was here, and for that, he did resolve to go with the "less is better" strategy.

"Aurora is here as an advisor to us and a mentor from my Order to observe me. She is also here due to a feeling of something amiss in the area" ... and that was about all he was going to say about that.

When they arrive at Honeydale, Toland doesn't notice anything amiss until Jalaera points it out. Even after that, it took him a moment.

"Oh yeah. It looks like nobody is home" he says after a moment, trying not to appear too dense.

Toland stops his horse and considers the situation, now that it has been pointed out to him. He is not a terribly observant man.

He thinks things through for a moment though, and comes up with a few things.

"If we can see the town, they can see us. If there is anyone else there. Jalaera and Audrey, ye can go ahead and sneak in maybe, but if you run into trouble, we will be so far away we won't even know if you're in trouble.

I say we just walk in. We may have lost the element of surprise, but in fact we haven't. As we know it could be an ambush, we are prepared to react to it. THAT is our element of surprise. Lets go in boldly and see what happens. I'll take the lead here. Ser Dawnstar, please accompany me. We make the most obvious and threatening targets on horseback" Toland says, devising a simple enough plan.

With a lance in hand, Toland moves to the front of the group.

[mshady]

On the trip to Honeydale, after he realizes what's going on between the two paladins, he rides up beside Toland. "Didn't pay enough attention to the catechism, did we?" He snorts playfully. "In all seriousness, I would take full advantage of whatever knowledge she can give you. Us. Whoever. I've been around the circuit enough times to know when I'm in the presence of someone who knows her art." He stares ahead absent-mindedly for a few minutes before looking back to Toland, his broad grin flashing beneath his beard. "So, what sort of vows do Iomedaeans take?"

Byron brings his mount to a stop at the top of the hill. His jaw is set. "Jalaera... tell me you have some sixth sense about the quiet below." He looks around to see if he can find anything else amiss about the town.

Toland ignores most of what Byron has to say, simply smiling at him. The last part though, he chooses to respond.

"That's between us and Iomedae, Byron. I will say this though, we do not swear a vow of celibacy or chastity" he smiles at him and glances purposefully in Audrey direction.

[Saskia]

Well, she at least seems like a perfectly respectable woman. It brings up disquieting questions, though. Does Toland have a drinking problem? Understandable for people trying to adjust to constant violence, but relying too heavily on him in that case may be unwise.

Alternately, maybe she's misunderstood. Maybe Iomedae's knights are expected to eschew intoxicants altogether. There are and have been other religions with similar prohibitions, and among them alcohol is a common target.

Still, she says nothing about her suspicions. The last thing she needs is to come off as offensive, particularly when she knows she's ignorant on the subject. She bows politely to Aurora. "Audrey Knight. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dame Dawnstar."

She'll spend most of the trip asking where Aurora is from, what the main goals and tenets of Iomedae's church are, about the cultural significance of Jalaera's tattoos, where Demos got his guns and learned to shoot and if he could teach her, why somebody would worship a god of drunkenness, and just generally being maybe a bit too loquacious. Trying to help find a woman you've never met with motivations you don't know to try to keep a crazy guy with a bear from killing your friends and neighbors is nasty business and she'd rather keep her mind on other things to let it percolate before really thinking too hard about it.

The bees are pleasant. Where there are bees, the flowers bloom more; and besides, they don't bother you if you don't bother them. They may flit close by and watch for a moment, but they're just curious. At least, that's what her father told her many years ago as a little girl, and that advice hasn't led her astray yet. Between making honey and making the world a bit more colorful, it's hard to mistrust bees; or at least, it's hard for Audrey to mistrust them.

What's easy to mistrust is a village with no gentle plumes wafting from the chimneys in the cooling autumn. Maybe it's just coincidence, maybe there's a perfectly non-horrible explanation, but it makes her uneasy. She nods in affirmation of Jalaera's statement.

"You don't need a sixth sense to know something bad's happened. Whatever happened, it happened all at once if nobody got away to send for help. It must have been recent, too; I'd imagine somebody would have noticed if no honey was coming in. Either way, I'm with Toland. I don't like the idea of being caught alone in an ambush." She shifts her pack uncomfortably; not because the pack was uncomfortable; with its magic, it never was. The possibility of slavers, however, makes everything worse. With Echo Bend having no standing military to protect outlying areas, it seems quite unpleasantly possible that maybe some drow caught the need for more labor and figured they could take some village with impunity. She didn't dare state the possibility, though. At least, not until they got a bit closer. She knows fully well that slavers are not nearly as prevalent as she fears, but to Audrey they've always seemed like quite a reasonable fear for a young girl growing up on a ranch far enough from civilization that it could be days or even a couple weeks before anyone noticed they were gone. Perhaps the idea that she was just rationalizing her phobias never occurred to her. "Or, hey maybe they're just trying to be polite to some nice bee-monster neighbors up the valley who don't like the smoke."

She jests, but all the same she withdraws her bow and strings it, with an arrow nocked and ready to draw in the event that something catches her attention.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Shrugging agreement with Audrey's observation to Byron, the elf readies herself and motions vaguely off to the town's periphery. She strokes South Paw's mane and says, "I worry about attackers sneaking off while we're in the center of town. If there's no objection, I would parallel your course from the outskirts to observe anyone attempting to flee, and search for signs of danger."

[King Tius]

Lady Dawnstar seems satisfied with Toland's introduction, but truth be told her weathered face and serene expression is difficult to judge. She is polite and friendly with all of you, acting every bit as if she were a baker or cobbler and not an inquisitor of the Inheritor. Her tone of voice and demeanor only changes when she is addressing, or more often than not, reprimanding Toland. When Byron introduces himself, she seems particularly pleased to meet him. "Well met! Always nice to see another follower of the Starstone. From what I heard your services are already keeping this group together." She gives Byron a genuinely warm smile and allows him to kiss her hand, bowing politely in return.

When Toland responds to Byron, Aurora draws her riding crop and smacks him on the back of the head with it. Hard. She looks at Byron, though her words are aimed at the paladin. "Followers of the Lady of Valor espouse the ideas of honor and righteousness in the defense of good and the battle against evil. We hold personal cleanliness and an honorable demeanor as our personal heraldry. The Inheritor did NOT serve in the Knights of Ozem and claim the Starstone by making lewd remarks at her companions." She smacks Toland again to emphasize the point.

As she talks with Audrey, Lady Dawnstar reveals that she prefers to be called Aurora by those outside the church's hierarchy. Also, Dawnstar is a title and not her actual last name. She took the name upon being raised as an Inquisitor within the church and has cast off her old life. "Who I was is immaterial. Just as Iomedae ascended into godhood I have chosen to rise above my past and pursue a life worthy of the gift I have been given. That gift is life, dear, before you start looking at me funny. We have only a minute to make something out of our tiny spark. Some manage to turn theirs into a shining beacon in the darkness."

Though she has given Toland a hard time along the road, his suggestion to enter the town on horseback seems to please her. She nods in agreement and draws her crossbow, checking the repeating cartridge and fixing the straps on her military harness.

OOC: Just to be sure, we're all heading into town behind the two Iomedaeans on horseback while Jalaera parallels you in the woods, correct?

[Gorgon_Heap]

OOC: If people agree to that plan, then if possible I'd like to issue a "seek" order to South Paw and direct him to the right of town as I go off to the left. I assume he'll howl upon finding something - or danger. Though honestly this is the first time I've even had PC with an animal companion.

[Saskia]

A bit stern and preachy, maybe, but Audrey likes this Aurora woman all the same. And her words resonate with her in a way that Audrey wouldn't have been able to articulate; she wouldn't have considered giving up a comfortable and safe life like she finally had if she hadn't felt the need to do something more. It was only two short years ago she merely wanted the thrill from doing dangerous things, and an intellectual high challenging her mind. Working with traps and generally getting into places and taking things that weren't meant for her fed both her curiosity and her adrenaline addiction. Now, though, those weaknesses are tempered by an impending sense of mortality. Perhaps constantly putting herself in the position of "first to get impaled on hidden rusted spikes" has something to do with the early onset of that awareness. She wants to relax and enjoy the fruits of her experience; security, safety, and not risking impalement on rusted spikes just to keep a roof over her head, but even so, it's awfully difficult to justify.

Maybe it's only the last bit that really matters, though. A quiet life as an honest locksmith certainly hasn't suited her any better than suicidal thrill seeker. She doesn't need to lift purses to eat, at least not anymore, but that doesn't mean there's no practical use for "a girl with a discerning eye and delicate fingers," as Dirk so nicely put it. It's just up to her to find it.

In any case, Aurora's right, and somewhere inside Audrey has known it for a while. There's more to life than comforting stability and meaningless risk. Of course, giving up on what she knows seems like a cop-out, but putting her life on the line for nothing more than the smug thrill of outwitting some (usually long-dead) engineer doesn't cut it anymore. Maybe on some level that's why she accepted Dirk's offer in the first place; it seemed like something worth doing, or something that would lead to something worth doing. And hey, she's even got an important skill set that most people who just want to make the world a better place have eschewed from the start. The thought makes her smile in amusement. There's no rule saying that heroes can't be conniving, thieving, duplicitous scoundrels, after all. All the best heroes are all of those things; societies and storytellers just use nicer words for the ones they like.

That seems to be the plan, Chief.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos seems quiet on the trip, especially to those that do not already know him; his head is caught up in numbers and metallurgy, and he spends much of his time inspecting his new pistol, which looks like a truly unusual contraption even to his older companions. But he still finds the time to speak with Aubrey, and he clearly enjoys her company. He certainly seems pleased that she's interested in firearms, and he clears up a few misconceptions she may have about their relative noisiness or cleanliness. He doesn't try to pry into her past, but he listens to anything she's willing to tell him.

Upon arriving at the bee town the pistoleer puts his keen eyes to work, gazing out over the area below. "I really don't see anyone. This time of day, a town that size should be bustling. I don't like this at all. What could cause something like this? I'm still fairly new to the area, but this place has been here a while. Anything that could make them all up and leave is sure to be dangerous." He agrees with Toland's tactical decision, and he decides to stay behind the Iomedaeans by two hundred feet or so. Let them draw out the trouble, and he'll put a bullet in the back of its head.

I not going to say that he like like's Aubrey, but he's certainly more fond of her than Blackbeak.

[mshady]

Toland

Toland agrees with Jalaera's idea. He did not want anyone slipping out without at least being observed. If they were on foot, Toland could ride them down if they tried to get out. Still, something need to be said before Jalaera went off.

"Not to bring this up to turn the knife, Jalaera, but if you see something, try to avoid getting into a fight yourself. Whatever is in there, lets take it or them down as a team. We can put more sharp objects into them faster that way" he says and smiles at her.

Yeah, that crap with troll and the bear. I understood it, but a few extra moments could have got us better organized.

He motions for Aurora to join him at the front, opening up a distance of about 200 feet between the two of them and the group. Seeing enough distance between them and the rest of the group to have a moment of privacy, he looks over at Aurora with a smile.

"I respect what you're saying and trying to do for me, Aurora. I've learned a good bit from our talks on this ride and I can't say it was not needed" he says and pauses before his smile drops away.

"While I recognize your rank and that you're my mentor here, do not strike me again like that. Reprimand me all you want, but you don't have the right to strike me like a child. I am a Knight of Iomedae, and if you don't quite have the respect for me, at least respect that position. I respect that position enough as well to not accept that as well.

I may make the occasional lewd comment and your reprimand was deserved as I should do a better job comporting myself. I understand the path Iomedae walked, and while she holds us all to a certain standard I do not always attain, but I am not her and I'm not going to be her. I am Toland Albright and I'll do a better job following that code, but I am my own man and walk my own path. That path is the path of my Order, I am part of it, but I am an individual too. That's a strength, in my eyes.

Now as we're about to get into the stuff here in a moment, I'd appreciate it if we focused on that. We can talk later on this"

[Gorgon_Heap]

The elf kneels and speaks softly as she ruffles the wolf's ear, then gestures into the distance and sets him off at a trot. She turns to Toland and gives one slow nod. "Yes, I know." It was ... almost apologetic?

With a whirl of her pale cloak, her hood goes up and she vanishes into the brush, dashing from tree to shrub, appearing like just another mote of sunlight beneath the boughs.

[Zoobity]

Byron flinches when Lady Dawnstar strikes Toland. He furrows his bushy eyebrows and sizes up the woman again. He lets out a loud harrumph. "I know of at least one man who claimed the Starstone by making lewd comments to his companions," he says, his face straight. "Worthy looks like many things." He looks over his shoulder and, with a smile, says, "Let me know if you'd like to talk theology sometime." Byron tugs his beard and leaves them to their talk.

Byron agrees to the plan. He straps on his buckler and draws his rapier. "I hope I don't need to use this." He gives it a few test swings. "But there aren't many good stories about watching your comrades charge into danger. Say a prayer, friends." His left hand briefly clutches the silver goblet tied to his belt.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos raises his brow at Byron's words, bemused. "A prayer? Let us shoot straight, dodge what comes at us, block what we can't dodge, and endure what we can't block. Let's help people who can't help themselves, and accept the help that comes to us. But most importantly, let's get going." He smiles faintly, wondering if his exposure to so many religious types has infected him with something.

[Zoobity]

Byron laughs. "That's as good a prayer as any for the likes of me, Demos. You only forgot the part about good luck. Do you know what the liturgy of Cayden Cailean looks like? I'll preside some time but that means you have to buy the first round."

[King Tius]

Aurora and Toland spur their horses forward as Jalaera disappears into the woods. South Paw takes his queue and evaporates into the brush, headed to the opposite side of town. Falling into step two hundred feet behind the horses, Demos, Byron, and Michiko stand ready to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. The path leading down to the town switches back and forth several times as it winds down the hill, clearly carved out to make a wagon’s trek up the hill easier. Jalaera has no trouble keeping pace with the group as she darts through the woods. As the two Iomedaeans lead the vanguard, Aurora listens to Toland with a neutral expression on her face, her eyes scanning the woods around her. In response to his wordy request, she simply nods and says “Good. You've passed your first test, Ser Albright. We are judged not just by the evils we overcome, but how we do so. I am pleased to see you didn't try to pummel me into submission, not that you could.” A faint smile plays on her lips at that remark, though the fierceness never leaves her eyes as they continue their vigil.

Riding into the center of town, you pass by half a dozen small cottages and one-story buildings, all devoid of any immediate signs of life. Judging by the state of things about the buildings, the stacked firewood, open windows, and wandering livestock, it feels like everyone in the village stepped away only a moment ago. Glancing through an open windows and doorways, everything seems to be in perfect order, adding to the eerie feeling that something is terribly out of place. One house, however, does seem slightly out of place. Bursting through the thatched roof of a small cottage is a large oak tree. At first glance it looks like the house was simply built around the great hardwood tree. On closer inspection, however, things seem stranger still. The inside of the cottage is quite disheveled. The table has been knocked over and flung against the wall, scattering its contents onto the floor. The roots of the tree have split the packed earth floor open so suddenly that large chunks of dirt and rock litter the floor. In fact, some of the roots seem to have punched through the thatching of the sides of the house as well.

Now that you notice it, there are several large oak trees in town that seem out of place. When entering the town, you had to move around one that stood directly in the center of the path. The wear marks through the grass did not wrap around the tree but you barely noticed when you were scanning for potential enemies. Looking about, you see several other large trees that seem to have appeared quite suddenly in town. In the very center of town there is an even stranger sight: a solid ring of oak trees that are impossibly close together. For trees this big, their trunks are in many places less than a foot apart and their roots are all gnarled and wrapped together, almost like the trees were trying to hold hands. Through a slightly larger gap between two you can make out a life-sized statue on a raised pedestal. The figure is that of a man with the head of a great stag. He stands in a stalker’s pose with a great bow drawn and ready to fire. The statue appears to be carved of wood and painted to look like stone. It doesn't take a Knowledge (Religion) check to identify this as a shrine to Erastil, god of hunting and farming.

Jalaera doesn't see anything from her searching in the woods and rejoins the group. A startled yelping from the other side of town erupts, followed shortly by South Paw running full tilt back towards the group. His white fur is not covered in any blood but when he draws nearer Jalaera can see that his nose is already beginning to swell up. A small cloud of bees lags behind him as a sprints past you and darts under a wagon. The bees seem to give up their chase and disperse into the air. After all this commotion, Demos spies out of the corner of his dashing eye a figure moving towards the group. The humanoid that approaches is dressed in beekeeping attire, covered head to toe in heavy leather garments and wearing a large hat with finely woven draping hanging over it and obscuring its face. It is moving with a strange gait, dragging its left foot in a jerking and hobbling motion as it moves towards the group, its arms stretched out in front of it. It is approximately 300 feet away from you at present. When Demos draws attention to the approaching creature, Aurora raises her crossbow off the pommel of her saddle and cradles it, ready to fire.

[Gorgon_Heap]

With a concerned eye toward South Paw to make certain he isn't really harmed, Jalaera casts a more critical eye around the town and toward the shambling figure, her skin crawling with a creepy uncertainty of wrongness.



Perception [roll0] +2 if mountians
Nature [roll1]
Survival [roll2] +2 if mountians

[King Tius]

Jalaera doesn't think that South Paw is in any serious danger but those bee stings sure do hurt! The shambling figure is still too far away to really make out anything discerning and she doesn't see any additional threats in the surrounding area. Glancing at the ground in a desperate attempt to gather any information possible, Jalaera notices that there are a set of tracks in the muddy ground leading right towards the nearest oak tree. Looking at some of the other trees in the circle, she sees that there are tracks that lead to them as well.

[Saskia]

Audrey frowns at the statue. She wants to get a closer look, and while she could easily slip her small (at least, for a human) body between the trees, she's heard of statues coming to life before. Not a phenomenon she's seen herself, but then, she hasn't seen a perfectly normal village that apparently exploded with trees before, either. Even if she had an infection of parasitic brain wasps and thought it sounded like something other than a phenomenally bad idea, her only light sources are torches. Exposing strange and potentially delicate artifacts, even not-so-ancient artifacts, to smoke and ash is unacceptable risk.

When Demos draws the group's attention to the shambling beekeeper, she doesn't seem quite sure what to do or say. "Is," she begins to ask a question, but cuts herself short as if running the situation over again to make sure she isn't misreading something. "Is he walking on a broken ankle? Is that even possible?" Surely not, the pain should be absolutely unbearable. But why else would he be walking like that? She takes a few tentative steps forward, greatly unnerved by the thought of somebody enduring that degree of pain, before looking back at her compatriots. And why isn't he saying anything? "We've got to help him, don't we?"

[Zoobity]

Byron nods to Audrey, "Yes, if we can help him then we have to." Byron sheaths his sword and cups his hands to his mouth. "Hello there, fellow. No need to keep moving, now. Stay where you are. I'm a healer. I'll come and help you. Don't make it worse. Just call out to let us know you understand." He looks back to the group and shrugs his shoulders in an unspoken question.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos keeps his six-shooter in his right hand and his dragon pistol in his left, his face grim. "No, Byron. Do not approach that, especially with your blade sheathed. I have a bad feeling that there isn't a human in there; or at least, that it isn't human anymore."

He takes a few steps towards the shambling figure, raising his pistol and calling out to it. "Take off your hood or respond in some way or I will shoot you. I am not joking." He scans the area around them, and he focuses on the oaks. "I've seen these little feather charms that can turn into trees in an instant; my father used one on an enemy ship once, and it scuttled it. Can you see anything in the branches?"

[Goldfly]

A rare frown spread across Michiko's face, at the sight of the strangely grown trees- and, perhaps more importantly, the creature approaching with such a strange gait. She mutters under her breath, in Sylvan, before holding a lightly glowing hand out in preparation to cast a spell should the creature seem as if it intends to attack.

"I think you're right, Demos- it really doesn't look like a person should be able to walk like that."


Knowledge Religion for the shrine:
[roll0]
And maybe the same to figure out what the... thing is, if she can?:
[roll1]

[mshady]

Toland looks at the stumbling man and winces inside. That was not a pleasant gait that he had, not at all. It seemed damned strange, and considering the other kinds of strange here, it seemed one strange too many to him.

He takes a moment to think this over and decides if this was someone in pain out of their mind, or some kind of monster or something else, bad things could happen before they knew which.

"Aurora, cover me. We ride out, circle and see. If he attacks me, I break off and you put it down" he says and spurs his horse. The black charger with the white splash is spurred forward and he heads out towards the runner. He lowers his lance and heads towards the man, or whatever it was. Anything in its right mind would run for cover and away from a mounted knight with a lance. Which was exactly what Toland was betting on.

Better this way than letting it too close and have Demos shoot them, just to be on the safe side. He could tell when the gunslinger had that killing look in his eyes.

While he kept the bee keeper or whatever in his sight, he made sure not to become locked on to him. Either it was charging them, or it was running from something else.

Either way, he was about to answer the question about who was coming to visit.

[King Tius]

The thing walking towards you stops abruptly after Byron and Demos address/threaten it. It quickly puts its hands in the air and pulls off its hood, revealing a clean-shaven man in his mid 30s. He waves his one hand and points to his throat with the other. Toland spurs Horse with No Name forward and advances on the man. Seeing a knight in strange stone armor riding towards him with a lance, the beekeeper drops to his knees and holds his arms over his head as he curls forward in fright. When Toland gets close enough to the man to get a better look at him, the paladin hears that the man is gasping for breath in short, quick half-breaths. Up close Toland can see that the man's left foot is covered in blood. Looking up at the mounted knight, the beekeeper smiles and waves, despite being in such obvious pain and short of breath.

"Can't.......... can't.......... breath........ Doggie......... doggie........ tripped...... me........ Knocked ......... my ......... wind ........ out."

[King Tius]

OOC: Moving things a tiny bit so other people can chime in

Toland realizes that the man isn't an immediate threat and waves the group over to the beekeeper. Seeing everyone approaching, the man awkwardly shuffles around so he is sitting with his legs stretched straight out in front of him. His face briefly wrinkles in pain as he rearranges himself but the smile returns almost instantly. Though the man is still struggling for air, he seems to be gradually regaining control of himself as he tries to talk.

"He....He.....Hello!....I.....It's.....it's......ni ce to......have......guests.....Do you.....want some honey?......I'm the......beekeeper.....I.......keep the bees." He takes a deep breath, holds it for a second, and exhales. "Hello! Your horse is.....very pretty. Would it like some honey?"

The more he talks, the more it becomes apparent that the man is "simple." His smile never falters as he beams up at you.

[Saskia]

Oh, good. He's not some inhuman monster, he's just not very bright. Well, maybe not good exactly, but certainly preferable. Audrey kneels beside him and cups his face in one hand and stroking his hair with her other, in part to offer some motherly tenderness as anyone needs when they're badly hurt, and in part to keep a close eye on his movement and expressions to see if he's faking it. She isn't sure what to make of the situation, but she's not in the habit of blindly trusting suspicious people in suspicious places. "I'm sure the horse would love some honey as much as the rest of us would, sweetie, but we can wait a little bit. You're hurt and need to rest. Can you tell us what happened?"

Sense motive [roll0] and also looking to see if he's got any visible injuries or signs of impacts or whatever else on him or his BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEproofing gear.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Approaching with the others, Jalaera listens to the man with dimming caution but continued suspicion. Why would he alone remain? As Audrey clucks over him, she frowns at his wounded ankle guiltily. She waves South Paw back with Muriel.
"Byron, would you please see to his leg?"

She takes a deep breath and prepares a number of questions and theories as they await a hopefully helpful tale from the simpleton.

[Zoobity]

"See, I knew it, he's fine." Byron nods to Jalaera and walks over to the man. If the man will allow it Byron places his hands on the man's leg and casts Cure Light Wounds

[roll0]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos sighs, and lowers his pistol. He keeps his eyes open and trained on his surroundings, however. "The only person left in town is a simpleton? There's no way that's a coincidence. I'm glad he's alive, of course, but the fact that no one else appears to be here means that either he wasn't bright enough to run, or whatever did this didn't deem him a threat. I don't know which is worse, but..."

He points to the trees, the shrine, and the bees. "These people kept bees. They controlled a part of nature. This place was partially destroyed by suddenly sprouting oaks, there's a new shrine to a nature god in the middle of town, and the only human left alive was a simpleton, who most would not consider responsible for his actions. Jalaera, is there any chance that druids did this?"

[mshady]

Toland

When it becomes clear the bee keeper was a simple man, Toland furrows his brow incredulously. It seemed a painful profession for someone with only half of a load of wits in his wagon, so he presumed his family was in this trade. What else would he do if he was from here?

I hope I'm not allergic to bees. Never been stung before. Always wondered...

Looking around at the trees and what Demos said about the shrine, Toland tracked where he was going with that. All the same though, that was not their mission here.

"Could have been druids. I can't imagine why. I mean, they're bee keepers. They're about as "in touch" with nature as a village is going to get. Are there any extreme druids though? I think it a misconception that all druids are nice. Being from civilization, I never felt to be on the same page as them. I could see some druids wanting civilization to go away and this being an easy target" Toland frowns at that though. That would be a problem.

Turning to the Bee Man, he takes a knee next to him so his height does not intimidate the man.

"Sorry for coming at you. We were scared too. What happened here? We came here looking for a dwarf. A short woman who may have been scared too. Have you seen her?" Toland asks, and reaches into his satchel to pull out a piece of candy. "Thank you for offering me honey. Would you like some candy?" he asks the man.

Everyone likes candy. A sweet can be a great ice breaker.

Still though, candy was dandy but liquor was quicker.

[King Tius]

The simple man closes his eyes in childish joy as Audrey mothers him. Byron takes a knee next to the injured man's foot and administers his healing magic. The beekeepers eyes open with a look of pure wonder as the healing magic courses through his foot. "Golly! Magic! Real magic! My foot feels all better! Thank you, Mister!"

In response to Audrey: "Well, see, I was tendin' to my beesies. One of their combs was full up and needed cleanin' so I put on my bee armor (Moma calls me the Bee Knight!) and opened up the hive, the one we built two summers ago with the extra big door on the side so I can reach in and not bump my elbows like I do on the older ones that are by the ground and hurt me knees, too. All the bees start buzzin' like crazy, even with the smoke bath I was givin' them and I turn around and see this pretty white doggie standing behind me! He was so big and fluffy and pretty I never seened one like that before and all the dogs I ever seen was brown and he looked real curious. The bees got all ornery and went for him and I tried to shoo him off with my boot like I do with the other doggies when they comes lookin' for some honey that falls out of my bucket but this big white fluffy doggie up and bit me on the foot and pulled my leg so fast I fell on the ground and knocked my wind out! Then I sawed you folks and came over and this big nice man used REAL MAGIC on my foot and now I'm all better!" He clambers to his feet and holds his arms out triumphantly, his smile only growing wider. Audrey gives him a look over and doesn't find any signs of injury or damage, other than some scuff marks on his back and bite holes in his boot.

Toland's offer of candy elates the man-boy even further. "Oh chocolate! We never gets chocolate around here in Honeydale it's just all honey. Honeycakes, honeycracklin', honeymead, honeyjelly, honeypie, honeybread...." He continues for nearly a minute before remembering what else Toland said. "Oh yessir, the short lady! Hahaha, she was a funny lookin' one! She came by a few days ago and bought some stuff from Mama. Her donkey was real friendly and I got to pet it and she even let me ride it around the square a bit but I fell off and hurt my bum but it was ok because I'm a big strong Knight like Mama says and it didn't hurt me nothing. The little lady stayed one night and went off into the forest again with her friendly donkey. Let's go get you some honeycakes. Mama made some yesterday."

The Bee Knight leads you to one of the small houses in town. A large oak tree has sprung up about three feet in front of the doorway to the home, nearly blocking the entrance. The simple man plants a firm kiss on the tree before slipping inside the house. He returns a minute later with a plate of small pastries and offers them to everyone. "My Mama makes the very best honecakes in Honeydale." He pats the tree in front of the doorway as he says this.

[Gorgon_Heap]

M-o-o-n; that spells Bee Knight!

The ranger does not ignore Demos' question, but waits patiently to hear what the poor young man has to say, hoping against hope her inference regarding the foot tracks would prove false.

But at the man's home she is forced to accept the truth. She sighs deeply and says quietly, "Oh, I am terribly sorry. I cannot say for certain if this is the work of druids, but if it is, they are a vengful sort.

"This is, if I had to guess, more along the lines of a curse. I cannot imagine what these poor people would have done to have deserved such a fate, but we must consider that they are victims whom we can try to save."

She looks to the circle of trees and statue at its center. "I would begin the investigation there."She looks decidedly uncomfortable, as if suffering a bad rash while preoccupied with many troubles.

[Saskia]

Audrey takes one of the cakes and sniffs it before taking a bite. This man isn't stupid though, or, well, at least Audrey can't see how he could be slow enough to fail to be surprised by the presence of a tree in front of his door if it weren't there before, and the way he's talking it sounds like he's been out only a few minutes before the wolf got him. Not noticing that nobody's around seems like a stretch, too, and someone like him would probably panic if he didn't know why everyone had up and left. Thank you. You're very hospitable, your momma must be proud of you, I'd like to meet her. But this seems like an odd place to plant a tree. Do you know who put these trees in such careless places, or why?

[RaggedAngel]

Demos locks eyes with the statue in the center of the 'shrine' as the others speak to the simple man. He bounces a dragonfire round in his hand as he does, quietly considering. "What would you do," he murmurs, "If I set you alight?"

[King Tius]

The beekeeper beams with pride at the compliment and pats the tree in front of the house. "You just met her! This here is Mama and she's a tree now, just like everybody else and it's MY job to take care of them because the nice lady in the tree said so. Oh! oh oh oh! I forgot to water Papa today!" He turns and dashes into the house, exiting a few seconds later and taking off at a hurried jog towards a different part of town.

OOC: realized I spelled Mama super wrong.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos goes pale, and he raises his pistol to point directly at the statue in the center of the 'grove' of interlocked trees. "This is mass murder. I don't care that they're technically still alive; everything that they were has been erased. I understand that we have a mission, but my heart isn't so cold and black that I can just walk away from something like this.

We need to force a conflict and see if the person responsible is willing to answer for their actions. I think a good way to start is burning down that statue in the center of the shrine."

[Saskia]

Audrey takes a bit to process the beekeeper's words. Sure, it would make sense that somebody somewhere with true mastery of magic should be able to do something like this, but that somebody would do something like this? Why? What possible purpose could be served by turning a bunch of people into trees? Demos' words are much easier to swallow, though unfortunately they mean that she didn't hear incorrectly.

"No, Demos. Those trees around the statue look intentionally placed, like they wanted to be there. Besides, there's no way to get the statue out from under there without cutting it up, and the smoke and ash will dry out the foliage above it and might catch the people on fire. Then it would actually be mass murder. Let's keep our heads cool before we go guns a-blazing into something we don't understand." She returns her attention to the beekeeper and follows, and asks "Who's the lady in the tree, sweetie? Can we talk to her?"

[mshady]

Toland

Staggered by the revelation for a moment, he looks around for a second. He can't decide if he wants to vomit or kill the bee knight for a second. Pausing, he swallows and thinks.

"Why don't you take this one, Audrey?" he says to the woman.

Turning to look at Demos, he shakes his head.

"Calm, brother. I know what we see, but no understanding. Whatever did this, if we draw it to a fight, could do the same to us. Let's see what the bee knight knows, search and than hunt. I hate to walk away, but if we stay too long here, Velma gets further ahead. People could die in town, let's see what we can even do here. I think we could too late here. What could we possibly do, even?"

Still dumbstruck by this revelation, he turns to Aurora.

"Does Iomedae have any wisdom on this? I'm... Stricken by this sight"

[King Tius]

Audrey follows the Bee Knight out behind his house to a small barn near the back. Another large oak tree has shot up right underneath the entrance to the barn, splitting the front face of the structure open as it grew to be half in, half out of the enclosure. A pair of horses mill about outside the barn, chewing on hay from a bail feeder and looking unperturbed by the sudden increase in vegetation. As he stands there with his watering pail and sprinkles the roots of this hundred year old oak, he begins to whistle to himself until Audrey catches up.

"The lady in the tree is the tree but isn't, I think. She said it's her home but that it's part of her too so I think she is like a turtle because turtles have shells and their shells are their homes but their shells are also their backs so they are the shell and they live in the shell! She is pretty shy but you might be able to talk to her because you're nice and I'm nice and she talks to me. I'll go see if it's okay for you to talk to her." He hands Audrey the pail, still with some water in it, and motions towards his papa-tree for her to continue before walking off towards another part of town.

Aurora sits comfortably in her saddle and stares up into the leafy foliage of the mama-tree. "I have seen a great many things in my life, Toland. Horrible, wicked things. Things that I couldn't put down with a quarrel or a sword. Torture, suffering...unspeakable things that haunt my dreams to this day. This is not one of those things. I have happened upon towns where every flagstone was slick with blood and the babies were hung in the trees like ornaments. I pray every night for the Lady of Valor to take these images from my mind, to let me rest in peace. She leaves me with these visions as a reminder of what true evil looks like. To turn someone into a tree instead of rending them to pieces? I will not call it a kindness, but is it a curse?"

[RaggedAngel]

Demos shakes his head, his face stern. "I would rather you kill me than render me unto this." He gestures to the oak. "To kill is to remove choice. I do not claim to have the valor or heart of a paladin, milady, but I think we both agree that the root of evil is taking the choices from others. Rape is wrong because it takes away a very important choice, and because it can remove many options from a young woman's life. Theft is wrong because it removes the options and choices that the stolen items granted their rightful owner. And murder is the greatest evil of all, because to kill someone is to remove all choices.

But at least with murder the soul can move on. There are gods, even I can admit, and when we die our souls move on to be with the god most aligned to ourselves. I doubt I will find much pleasure after I die, but neither should I suffer. You two will likely find great oneness, and we all envy the realms Byron will visit once his time is up.

But these people? They have not dies, just as they do not live. They are not dead bodies, but neither do they have options, actions, choices. They are in limbo, neither here nor there, and I declare this as bad as murder. If this transformation is reversible, then there is one ray of light. But if it is not, I would rather that we had come upon a scene of great death, because at least then I would know that the victims were now at peace."

[Zoobity]

As the group expresses their collective and individual outrage, Byron leans against "Mama's" house and pulls out his pipe. He looks over his shoulder to the tree. "I hope you don't mind." Once he gets it going he looks at the circle around Erastil and sighs. He talks to no one in particular. "I don't know what this is. Haven't a damned clue. It's not really Old Deadeye's style, and if it is he did it because it was for the best and I don't really want to get in his way. Look at how close they are." He gestures to the trees. "They were praying, don't you think? Either for protection from being trees, and Erastil fell silent, or from protection by being trees, in which case it worked. The man in the suit doesn't seem terribly put off by all of it. Caiden Caylean, let me trip over the answer."

He calls out, "Jalaera, can you talk to trees? I know some of your folk can do it. Now seems as good a time as any to reveal that hidden talent. What about you, Michiko?"

He knocks his pipe clean on his boot and tucks it back into a pouch. "I feel like we're forgetting something very important."

[Gorgon_Heap]

The elf at first smiles encouragingly at Demos as he describes his beliefs, but at Byron's question turns away, an intense look on her face. Annoyance? Frustration? Regret?

She peers off at trees in the distance and says, "No. I lack any such ability. But surely you god-touched must have some ability to call upon otherworldly wisdom? I've heard of many such things in my homeland and amongst the barbarian tribes - though those were admittedly of a more ritualized nature." She thinks a moment longer. "Perhaps a spell to detect enchantments?"

[King Tius]

Aurura smiles at Demos. It is a look that is a mixture of sadness and knowing, much like the smile a mother gives her child the first time his heart is broken. A tad condescending, but mostly sympathetic.

"I was once as you are now, Demos...full of vim and vigor, heedless of death and danger, fearing only a cage. These are the concerns of a young man. Now? I'm not sure spending the rest of my life as a tree would be a fate worse than death. Do you think trees are happy, Demos? Do they enjoy the warmth of the sun and the feel of the breeze through their leaves?"

[Saskia]

Audrey can't help but smile. Surely not a woman in the world could take offense at being compared with the great and noble turtle, nature's own knight-errant. If she's some kind of nature spirit the way it sounds, maybe she would have a solution, if she weren't responsible for this.

Alternately, if her hunch is correct and turning into trees was something they wanted, maybe the lady in the tree could tell her why they wanted it that way.

In any case, this none-too-clever apiarist trusted her to water the tree that is supposed to be his father. "Well, hopefully we'll be able to get whatever the problem is here fixed, if you really are a person."

[Gorgon_Heap]

The long-lived elf says wearily to the elder paladin, "Contentedness with one's experiences comes with age, yes, and I begrudge no one peace with their accomplishments.

But Demos's contention is one regarding free will and fulfillment of the spirit, not just physical existence. Given your example, I would expect a dead man to be happy with providing fresh sustanance for the birds and insects.

Should we learn this transformation was these people's own decision, I will happily leave them to their slumber. But if this was forced on them, it is wrong. If possible, I would prefer to know which is the case."

[Goldfly]

Michiko nods, at Jalaera's words, crossing her arms as she does.

"This... This is something we should only change if the people here knew what was going to happen, and wanted it to. If they were aware and wanted it to happen, or if it were part of their religion... We should leave them be, right?"

[mshady]

Toland

"If we assume this was intentional, as messed up and odd as it is, maybe we should look around for what prompted this?"
Toland looks around at the area.

"Where do you even start with this?" Toland asks, more to the air than anything else.

"Come on, Aurora. Lets take our horses and ride around on the other side of the trees. See what that looks like, some perimeter security while the others look into this"

[King Tius]

OOC: Sorry for the delay. I always overestimate my free time on business trips.

Toland and Aurora ride around the ring of trees that surround the statue and do not see anything out of the ordinary (besides the tree-people, of course). After nearly ten minutes the Bee Knight returns with a worried and sad look on his face.

"The Tree Lady says you have to go. She says it isn't safe here anymore. I...I...I have to go take care of the bees." Like a sad puppy, he begins to walk back towards the apiary side of town.

Just to help speed things up a bit, I am going to make a couple investigative assumptions:


The statue does not radiate any type of magical aura. Judging by the marks and weathering of the paint, the statue has been here for some time.
The trees all have the faintest of magical auras about them. Transmutation.
You can easily follow the Bee Keeper's tracks to figure out where he met the Tree Lady if you want to

[mshady]

Toland is up for finding the tree lady

[Gorgon_Heap]

OOC: I am deeply terrified but Jalaera is concerned/curious, so yes.

[Saskia]

Audrey nods. "I understand. It was very nice to meet you, and thanks so much for the honey cake, it was delicious. What's your name? I'm Audrey, in case we see each other again."

Of course, she does understand, but she's got her own ideas about how things are going to play out. Once she can be reasonably certain she can follow his path to this mysterious tree lady, she has every intention of doing so. Alone would probably be preferable if the tree lady is shy, but Audrey also wouldn't be averse to having some support just in case she was a little more vehement about leaving than the bee-man let on.

[King Tius]

The Bee Knight smiles at Audrey as he walks away. "My name's Willem. Nice to meet you, Audrey!" She waits until he's moved off to start following his tracks. With little effort, she makes her way towards one of the larger houses in the village. A truly massive oak tree stands next to the building, its branches reaching out to cover the buildings on either side of it. One of the smaller buildings underneath its canopy has a roof that's been damaged by a large falling branch. Unlike the other oak trees that seem to have magically sprung up from nowhere, the plantings and gardening around this tree imply that it has been here for some time. Audrey sees two people standing next to the tree, a man in commoner's clothing and a large straw hat with a younger girl who looks to be about fifteen standing beside him. Even from a distance Audrey can spot that the girl is clearly his daughter. Both of them are idly holding wood axes as they mill about aimlessly before the tree. Neither are wearing armor.

If you want to approach by yourself or go as a group, just say so!

[Saskia]

More people, good. Maybe these two know what happened. She jogs up to them with a wave.

"Hey there, am I glad to see you two! I was starting to worry that Willem guy was the only soul in town. His type don't tend to survive alone very easily. He got me worried, though, he said all the people in town weren't gone, but they'd turned into these trees. I was just passing through, and I don't know if there's any way I can help, but I can't just walk past something like this."

Stop it Audrey, you're rambling.

"Do either of you know what happened here? Is there something, I don't know, something I can do to help?"

[Zoobity]

Byron follows Audrey and sees the two people. "We'd be glad to lend a hand if it's wanted." He smiles and nods to Audrey.

[King Tius]

The two people turn towards Audrey's voice with worried looks on their faces. They grab hold of their axes and raise them menacingly, though it looks a little comical when the young girl tries to strike an intimidating pose. Very slowly, they begin to back away from you two until they are standing almost directly up against the great oak tree. The man calls out to Audrey (and Byron).

"Now you stay back, ya hear? She told you it ain't safe here and she meant it! Get a move on before she turns you into trees, too! Willem and his bees are just fine."

[Saskia]

With the subtlest roll of her eyes, Audrey wonders what exactly is running through this fool's mind. Whatever it was, it must have been fermenting a lot longer than he thought. Using an axe to threaten a woman with a bow at this range is about as asymmetrical a conflict as you can get. And to have his kid there with him? How incredibly irresponsible and stupid can somebody be? She runs a finger along the string of her bow with an arrow still in hand, uncomfortable with knowing that a lesser woman would have already killed them both for that display. "This is all you, Byron. If I talk to him right now all I'm going to do is call him a damned fool."

[Zoobity]

Byron looks surprised at Audrey putting him on the spot. He says, "Buh...uh... wait, you mean...uh..." and he shakes his head like a wet dog before regaining his composure. He clears his throat and opens his hands to show he's unarmed. "No harm meant. Not to you, for sure, and not to us, hopefully. If we promise not to come closer, will you tell us what's going on here? I'm a priest of Cayden Cailean, see, and I do a preaching circuit just like my brothers and sisters. We're passing through and I want to make sure all is well here. I like to share a cup and a blessing with those who would have me but there doesn't seem to be anyone here. Now, if you tell me to go again I'll take you at your word and me and my companions will be out, but just know we don't mean to hurt you or 'her,' whoever she may be."

[King Tius]

The two people with axes turn their heads to look at the great oak tree behind them. After a moment they nod in agreement and turn back towards the two of you, lowering their axes but not putting them down entirely.

"The priest can come, but just him. She wants a word with you."

Turning and giving Audrey a reassuring smile, the jovial priest strides forward, keeping his hands out to his sides and quite visible. The man and his daughter seem wary of Byron and give him a wide berth as they point for him to go behind the great tree. Never missing a beat and without looking back, Byron keeps his wonderful smile plastered on his face as he disappears from Audrey's view...

Making his way around to the back of the tree, Byron doesn't find anyone waiting for him other than the pleasant sounds of the wind through the trees and the ever-present buzzing of busy bees. The environment is so soothing that the priest nearly forgets why he is standing behind a heavily guarded tree, at least until he hears a voice behind him.

"Priest...you must help me. I have done terrible things to these people."

Turning towards the tree itself, Byron watches as a woman emerges from it to stand directly in front of him. Her skin seems to be made of the same oak tree she just emerged from and her hair is a beautiful bouquet of leaves and blossoms. Byron also can't help but notice her shapely and alluring naked body, even if she does appear to be made of wood. One troubling detail that does not escape his wandering eyes are her hands. They appear charred and blackened as if this wooden beauty had thrust her hands into a roaring fire. When the woman before him begins to weep softly, she covers her face with her charred hands and shakes her head from side to side, causing the occasional petal to fall from her arboreal head.

[Zoobity]

"By Cayden Cailean's sacred backwash," Byron swears under his breath. He keeps his eyes on her face. "Yes, I think I do want to help. I think my friends do, as well. I'm Byron Cailean." He extends a hand to her. "Now how 'bout you tell me your name and what this horrible thing you've done is and we'll get started fixing it, huh?"

[King Tius]

The woman recoils at Byron's offered hand, stepping halfway back into her tree. "NO! You mustn't touch me. I am cursed! They...they were going to chop down my tree! There were too many of them to charm and I didn't know what to do so I prayed. I was so desperate I prayed to all the gods I know and one of them answered. The Green Mother heard my pleas and gave me the power to stop them, but look what I have done! I...I...I didn't want to hurt them, I just didn't want to die! Look what she did to my beautiful hands... She has turned me into a spout for her wickedness. I am so scared, I can't turn them back! I deserve to be chopped down for what I've done to them." She begins to weep again, this time with much more gusto.

[Zoobity]

"Hmm, I can't say I would have done anything different if I was in your situation." He would have. "But I want to get this straight because I'm not a wizard and I'm not a theologian and I'm not a botanist. The townspeople were going to chop down your tree, so the Green Mother came to your aid and you, not knowing the full extent of your newfound strength, turned an entire village into trees." He sits down on the ground. "I'm a grown man and all I ever do is run around with teenagers with swords, though I don't think I'd have it any other way. I hope you don't mind if I rest. Sit with me. So, if you don't mind me asking, why were they going to cut you down? You seem like a perfectly fine... nymph? Naiad? Djinn? And this thing you've done... why can't you just undo it?"

[Saskia]

How typical.

Well, whatever. The mystics can stick to their mysticism. At least Byron bought her time to cool down; enough that her incredulity, tinged with a hint of parental condescension, was than her anger. If he wanted to throw away his own life, well that's stupid, but it's at least his call to make. Endangering somebody at her age though is insane. "Exactly how drunk are you to raise an axe with your kid against a woman with a bow? Do you expect your girl there to charge a musket line with that thing, too?"

Still, curiosity may have killed the cat, but Audrey isn't a cat. She replaces her arrow in its quiver and the bow to its rightful place, and steps slowly closer, all the while gauging the man and girl carefully in hopes to get as close to whatever secret conversation is being had without provoking the twitchy pair to attack.

I'm guessing trying to split her attention counts as "distracted" (and then some) so she can't take ten, so rolls!

Sense motive [roll0] on the man and girl, and
Perception [roll1]!

[RaggedAngel]

By the time Byron went around the tree Demos had caught up with the pair, though he kept a respectful distance from Aubrey. He knew little and less about her life, and she may have reason to react violently to a sudden presence behind her. He approaches without any attempt at silence, which he finds oddly difficult. After so many years taken to moving softly, he resorts to whistling to make himself known. That'll convince her you're competent and bright, Demos. Good thinking.

He pauses once he comes in line with her, still silently observing. When she moves for the pair, he holds out a hand, concerned. "Wait, we haven't asked these two the obvious yet. Why the hell aren't they trees?"

[mshady]

Toland stands a bit further back at first, but approaches Demos and places a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Demos, whatever happened here is awful, but it has already happened. We need to determine if this is something we can resolve quickly, or if it could hold for a week. Velma is getting away, and we only have so much time in town before Bob starts killing people. I'm all for combating an injustice, but it is rare such things are neatly ordered.

Whatever happened here, most of us are powerless to effect it. If this cannot hold, Aurora and I have horses and there are two more in town. The two of us, along with you and Aubrey, can ride out to find Velma while Byron, Jalaera and Michiko could stay here to assist" he says, his voice calm and quiet. "Perhaps we take Michiko too" he allows.

"We can't do everything, and if this can be undone, I doubt it can be undone quickly. If Velma is the academic she appears, she could even help us with this. We can only do so much at once. This burns me too though. Very much so"

[Gorgon_Heap]

The elf stands ten feet away from the men, and gives Byron space to speak with the girl without intruding. Her keen hearing easily registers Toland's words, and she acknowledges Demos' difficult decision with only a considered tilt of her head. He's not wrong.

[King Tius]

Byron has a seat behind the great oak tree and it has an added effect on his already disarming nature. The tree woman lowers herself into a cross-legged seating position in front of him. Byron tries VERY HARD to keep his eyes on her face.

"I am a Dryad. Nymphs and Naiads live in water. I have tried to undo the curse but the Green Mother's powers have all but left me. I can turn you into a tree, but only for a moment and with great effort." She turns and looks up at her oak tree. "I have lived here for nearly a thousand years. This town is less than one hundred years old. When the first few settlers arrived, I had grown tired of charming away creatures and decided to let them build their small community here, provided they did not cut down any trees without my permission. Over time, the town grew and my influence waned until I became too frightened to reveal myself to anyone in town except the woman who lived in this house." She points to the house whose garden the tree is technically sitting in. "She passed away a month ago. Now the town wants to cut me down because my falling branches have damaged the other houses and they want to use my lumber to build a new house where I stand. I should never have let them build here and now I have paid the price for my youthful indiscretion."

The man with the ax does not respond to Audrey. Judging by the way the girl is moving (or not moving, rather) and her ability to stand almost perfectly still and contented in one place for such a long time, Audrey suspects that the girl may be under some kind of magical charm. She thinks back to when she was around that age and could barely sit still for a full minute. To stand on guard for so many hours on end...nothing short of magic could have made Audrey do that.

Aurora remains silent but nods in response to Toland's statement.

[Saskia]

Whistling? Really? She can't quite place her finger on why, but something about that irritates her. Somehow it just seems like such an incredibly bad time. She looks at him blankly, just enough to register his position in case she needed it before returning to her own thoughts.

If the girl's under some enchantment, the father must be, too. That would explain why he'd be such an idiot as to endanger his own offspring. "They're not a threat," she says lowly, thinking aloud. Again her gaze is directed back at Demos, as well as the others. "The reason they aren't trees, it's because they're not a threat. Willem—ah, the apiarist—he wasn't a tree, either, and he also isn't dangerous. But look at that girl. She's like a statue. I couldn't have stood still like that at her age to marry a fairy tale prince. They're ignoring our questions, too; just not acting like normal people. They've got to be under some kind of magical compulsion, and that's why they aren't trees." In her mind she runs over what Willem said. "He said the 'Tree Lady' was like a tree turtle, in that she is the tree but isn't only the tree. That sounds like some kind of nature spirit, and he seemed to thinks she's the epicenter of all this. It's not uncommon for a rural community to start clearing land for crops and orchards to bring in some extra money, and if the people here were intent on doing that she might have felt like she had no other option."

[Zoobity]

"Hmm, well, this is a tough one." Byron scratches his chin through his red beard. "We probably can't expect the Green Mother to come skipping through the town forgiving people, can we? Seems we have two problems. Your tree needs to move." He gestures to the tree. "And these people need to stop being trees. We probably can't expect them to be too forgiving now. I don't know how to do any of that. You could say I'm stumped." He pauses and looks at her. He raises his eyebrows. He is still looking expectantly. "...stumped? Listen, I'm sorry to do this, but do you mind if I talk to my friends? They know a lot of things and a lot of people and they may have some advice." He stands up and dusts off his trousers. "Don't worry, I won't let them back here if you don't want it, but can we agree that I can walk back without your 'guards' threatening me?" He begins to walk back to the gathering group but remembers one last thing, "Hey, Lady Tree, why are all those folks standing around the statue of Erastil?"

[Zoobity]

Byron heads back to the group and reports on what he's learned.

[King Tius]

OOC: I completely forgot to put it in earlier, but the Dryad would have introduced herself as Querca to Byron.

Querca stands as Byron gets to his feet and disappears mostly into the tree the same way someone might step through a doorway with some beads hanging in it. She turns back to the priest and gives a sad smile. "Your companions may approach my tree if you will vouch for them. If they can help me lift this curse, I should not drive them away." When Byron asks about the people praying, Querca turns her face away from him. "They were praying to Erastil for a mild winter that wouldn't kill the bees. The Green Lady is a cruel being and no friend to Old Deadeye. That she would wait to curse me when they prayed to her foe only shows how wicked she can be." With that, she slips back into the tree, ending the conversation. Byron makes it back to the rest of the group without being accosted by the charmed man and his daughter.

[RaggedAngel]

When he hears the news, Demos finally holsters his pistols. "Well, then, at least we finally understand what's going on. And this also leaves us in a sticky place. Byron, I know you're a good priest, but unless you're a lot more powerful than you've let on I don't think you can undo this with divine magic; the same goes for Michiko. I'm obviously useless here, and unless I recall incorrectly holy knights don't have access to serious spellcasting."

He looks to Audrey and Jalaera, his brow raised. "Audrey, I don't know you well enough to know exactly what you're capable of, but I wasn't lead to believe that your skills ran in the mystical direction. Which leaves our resident ranger. This was, assuming Querca told us true, the direct application of divine power from a nature deity. Have you been feeling close to any nature deities lately? We have representatives of two Ascendant Gods, of course, but I don't see why they'd be inclined to help us."

[Saskia]

Audrey shakes her head to confirm that she is, in fact, no expert on magical powers. For that matter, she's not sure she knows who the Green Mother is, not that she would be willing to admit it. Definitely above her pay grade. But that's just so much more reason to pay attention.

Well, that and because it would seem disrespectful to go and pester the tree lady with dozens of questions about what she is, what she can do, what she could teach her about trees and nature, and so on, given the circumstances. If nothing else she'd have to make time for that later, sometime after this bizarre problem is rectified.

[Gorgon_Heap]

For a long, long moment Jalaera stands as completely still as the girl, and its enough to maybe make you wonder ... no. She blinks and takes a deep breath, and you realize she's just being an elf lost in thought.

"I have no more personal connection with the gods than any other mortal. Certainly not compared with a man of the cloth such as Byron," she says, her tone almost guarded. "I may be able to make an inquiry through ... an intermediary. However, the deities of the wilds tend toward capriciousness, and even if I recieve an answer to shed some light on the situation, there is no guarantee it will prove helpful.

"And Toland's point was well made. Time works against us. I would help these people, but Velma must be found to prevent further violence in Echo Bend."

With a pause that definately leaves the decision to Demos, she says, "I shall do as you wish."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos looks to each of his companions for a long moment, and then to the tree. He holds up a hand, silently asking the others to stay for a moment, and he move four strides closer to the tree, all but ignoring the enspelled father and daughter. "My name is Demos," he addresses the dryad politely but firmly. "And I would see these people returned to their humanity. Frankly, your life is worth more than that of most humans, but all lives are important, and there is compromise that can be found.

I have but one question for you, Querca. Is this a matter that requires a timely response? Or will things be much the same if we return in a week? We will help you, and we will help these people, but we left our homes on another task and if we do not complete that take with brevity more lives may be lost, and needlessly."

[King Tius]

A face appears in the bark of the tree to regard Demos. Its crystal green eyes are filled with sadness as it regards the dashing young gunslinger. "I...I do not know, Demos. I have tried to turn them back but my power has waned. As trees the people here will be well taken care of. I will see to that. There are those in the forest who may know of a way to help us, but I cannot venture far from my tree. If...If ending my life will save these people...I am ready."

Aurora sits on her horse with a pensive look on her face. She looks back and forth between Demos and Toland before finally deciding to speak "Taking her life may free these people, but it may doom them as well. If she was the cause, she may also be the key." She pats the side of her horse's neck as she becomes lost in thought again.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos shakes his head slowly, a faint frown on his face. "You are not going to die. I promise you that. And we will fix this. You may not be able to travel far from your tree, but we can, and I know that there are druids out there with enough power to help you. The trick is just going to be finding them. And when we do, we'll see if we can have your tree moved to a wilder place. I promise, Querca, we will do our best to see that this ends well."

He looks to the others, contemplative. "I think we may need to leave them here, for a time. No one seems to be in immediate danger, unless those two thralls don't know how to feed themselves. I'm concerned about Querca growing weaker, but I don't think we have a way to do anything about that right now. We'll continue down the road and find Velma; we know that she went through here, at least. Once we bring her back we can look into finding some nature mages strong enough to rectify this situation."

[Goldfly]

Michiko shifts slightly, looking from Querca, the transformed villagers, and finally up to Demos, before sighing.
"We should keep going. Like you said, these people should still be here when we come back... We can find someone to help. Maybe my mom and dad will know something that can help... This is their kind of business."

She crossed her arms tightly over her stomach, one hand rubbing at the opposite arm for a moment before she continued.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this. It seems unfair to let them just continue as they are, but... I don't think we can really help them right now. We will, though. I promise."

[King Tius]

With more pressing matters at hand, the group makes ready to depart Honeydale. Willem returns from his beekeeping duties and insists on giving each of you a large jar of honey to take with you. The honey has no magical properties but it will make your trail rations taste a hell of a lot better in the days to come. It takes some gentle coaxing from Audrey but you’re eventually able to get Willem to focus long enough to lead you to the other side of town where Velma departed. Jalaera is able to pick up the trail again but South Paw seems somewhat useless at the moment. His nose is still quite swollen from the bee sting and he makes a quiet whimpering noise on occasion as he rubs it up against a nearby tree. Without a proper road to travel by, Velma actually becomes easier to follow. Her donkey has made no attempt at covering its tracks and has tried to nibble on virtually anything that came within reach of it. Clearly the woman was unaccustomed to trailblazing and made very slow progress through the wooded area. Judging by the freshness of the tracks and the donkey scat found along the way, Jalaera thinks that the group is less than two days behind Velma and gaining ground quickly. The forest proves too dense for the Iomedaeans to remain on horseback, so they walk towards the rear of the group, leading their beasts behind them. Aurora has remained rather quiet after leaving Honeydale, appearing to be lost in pleasant thought. You continue through the woods for three hours before it grows too dark to continue safely on. As you drift to sleep around a warm fire, the day’s events weigh heavily upon you. Perhaps some of you even dream of what it would be like to be a mighty oak for the rest of your lives.


Aurora rises with the dawn and is fully dressed, packed up, and cooking breakfast before she wakes the rest of you. As it turns out, she brought along some cured meats that make for a heartening meal after such a frustrating previous day. She smiles warmly as she prepares the meal, commenting that “I swore an oath to vanquish evil, not to avoid eating well!” It is impressive how quickly she can switch between being a stern teacher and a caring mother. There is an undercurrent of loneliness in what she does and you get the impression that she is quite grateful to be on this particular mission, though she would never say so. Continuing along Velma’s trail, your spirits are high as the area around you shifts slightly in its geological makeup. Where before there were large rolling hills covered in trees, the occasional cliff face juts out sharply here and there, almost as if some great creature came by eons ago and smashed some of the hills here to pieces. Rounding one such half-hill, you come upon one of Velma’s previous campsites. Even if you lacked an experienced tracker, the large patch of dried blood on the ground is enough to alert you that something has gone horribly wrong here. A hurried search of the area reveals the following:



The reins of Velma’s donkey remain tied to a nearby tree. The large pool of blood is located under them and judging by the trail of blood leading into the woods, the body of the poor creature was dragged off.


A small stack of collected wood sits next to the ashes of the fire along with a flattened pile of gathered nettles and pine boughs. Jalaera surmises that Velma put her bedroll on this pile for some extra cushioning. No gear, blanket and bedroll included, are at the site. Drag marks along the ground indicate that she was likely dragged off while still inside her sleeping gear (in the same direction as the donkey).


The campsite is littered with clawed footprints. The creatures who made them were roughly human-sized and weighted about the same as well. They stood upright but have tails that drag along the ground. Caught on the tree where the donkey was slain, Byron finds a single dull gray scale.


Nestled inside a large bush nearby, Demos somehow manages to spot a javelin that was thrown and widely missed its mark. The head is made of sharpened stone and the shaft has been carved from several pieces of bone lashed together with crude leather.


The tracks from these creatures approach the campsite from the east (opposite of how you came upon it) and lead out along with the drag marks to the north. Aurora joins Jalaera in consulting the tracks and points out something the ranger had missed: Most of the tracks stayed a good distance away from the campsite, likely to keep as far away from the fire as possible.


Taking the javelin from Demos, the inquisitor inspects it for a moment before nodding grimly. “These were troglodytes. Cave dwelling lizards-creatures. They’re very good at staying hidden. Typical barbarian tribe structure, usually led by a religious figure or martial champion.” None of you know anything more about Troglodytes or their religious tendencies to add to her description.

[Saskia]

"So," Audrey begins awkwardly with her arms wrapped tightly under her chest, as though she doesn't really want to pose the question she intends to pose. "What are they doing? I mean, are they going to eat her, or what? I guess if they didn't just kill her right off we've probably got a little time, but..." Her voice trails off, but she looks expectantly at the others. Creatures that eat people are one thing. But these troglodytes were people, or at least close to it, by Aurora's description. People eating people is a far different animal from some mindless slavering beast eating people, and all the things described as "lizard-creatures" she's heard of in the past are supposed to eat people.

[mshady]

Toland

Looking over the scene, he says nothing for a long moment. It was a grizzly scene, most certainly. It caught him a bit by surprise, but it shouldn't have caught him by surprise either. After all, what did this dwarf know about the woods? This was bound to happen.

"Well, at least we've caught up to her" he says with a heavy sigh. "What a mess"

He listens to Aurora's limited tactical information and nods.

"Well, at least we've done this before. We pulled Byron out of a cave, where he was captured by some goblins. I venture these Trogs are a bit bigger. They sound like ambushers. I'd guess this was a hunting party, picked up her trail like we did. Probably close. Probably took a direct path back to their camp" he stops and pauses, looks at the scene.

"What do you think, Jalaera? Just killing the donkey shouldn't leave that much blood. Figure they killed it for meat, the blood pool means they gutted it to save weight, probably bagged the organs or consumed them on the spot. Savages. Velma they took back. If they wanted to eat her, they would have done her like the donkey.

No use interrogating her. She's not just meat. Figure they take her back for religious reasons. Sacrifice to their dark God. Only thing that makes sense. Reckon it takes out at least a day to send out invitations to that kind of thing, so we probably have till today or tomorrow. Lizards like to sun themselves, so figure they do it in the morning? Also, means they're like us and tired at night" he stops and looks about, looks at the sun and down to Jalaera.

"How long ago did this happen, Jalaera? I doubt we have much time. Maybe there is some other clue in all this mess though" he says, sitting atop his horse and looking around at the scene.

[King Tius]

Aurora shakes her head at Toland. "These creatures look like lizards, yes, but they are creatures of darkness and shun the light. If they haven't killed her already, they are likely to perform their religious sacrifices at night when they are most active."

Jalaera recalls that skewering the boar produced a similar amount of blood when she hit an artery.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Pointing at the ground but looking off into the woods, Jalaera says, "The donkey bled out quickly, Toland - they struck an artery, I think. They would want the meat?" she asks Aurora quizzically.

She goes about seeking more specific clues as to when this all took place, and then suggests they follow the trail.

Survival [roll0]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos frowns, completely out of his element. He rolls the javelin in his hand again after asking for it back, contemplative. "I don't know a thing about the woods, or tracking, or troglodytes, though I can say for a fact that they must smell horrible. But this?" He holds up the javelin for all to see.

"This I do know. Stone head, lashed with leather to a crudely carved wooden stave? This isn't particularly well weighted, either. I know 'prentice smiths that could make a javelin ten times better. They may be fairly numerous, but they are not armed well, and if they aren't armed well they won't be armored well either. I strongly suspect this is going to come down to a fight, but I think it's a fight we can win."

[mshady]

Toland

"Can't say I disagree, Demos. Problem with types like that, they make up for it in brute strength. When we do engage them, lets keep them at range as long as possible. A club may be crude, but it breaks bones as easily as a mace" he says and pauses, looking at Aurora.

"Do you think our mounts will be of use in all this mess?" he asks her. He was young and reluctant to give up Horse, but cavalry was best suited to open terrain.

[Zoobity]

Byron mills about the campsite trying to stay out of everyone's way. Woods, tracking, troglodytes: hardly the priest's forte. When all the evidence has been gathered Byron knocks out his pipe and looks over the things. "No time to waste, I take it. Best be moving? That girl is either neck deep in a monster's soup pot or waved her fingers the wrong way and accidentally became their tribal god. I'm not sure which scares me more. So, where do we go?"

[King Tius]

Aurora is fairly sure that if the troglodytes weren't going to eat her, they'd sacrifice her to some pagan god. She also has no idea if mounts will be useful fighting them, pointing out that they live in caves so likely the horses will need to be left behind. Now thoroughly on edge the group follows the trail of blood, led be Jalaera and her wolf. The trail continues for approximately a mile. The blood trail quickly thins out to a mere trickle but the trampling footprints are easy enough to follow. After half a mile Jalaera announces that the footprints have merged with another, older trail headed towards a denser section of hills and cliffs. She quickly surmises that this is a commonly used path that you are now on.

Almost at once the path opens to a large clearing flanked on all sides by cliff faces. The ground here is covered in small shrubs and grass but otherwise doesn't show anything particularly interesting. Nervously you scan the cliffs around you looking for signs of an ambush. With a small shout of surprise Jalaera calls the group to halt. The trail leads to a massive hole in the ground, nearly thirty feet across, in the middle of this clearing. The hole is perfectly circular and is rimmed with well-carved stonework that is flush with the ground. From more than twenty feet away you can't even tell the hole is there due to the slightly humped nature of the clearing's ground and the small shrubbery around it. The blood trail leads straight up and into this hole. Unfortunately, the angle of the sun is such that you can't really see what's down there, though you do get an overwhelming sense of space coming from the hole. The trail of the troglodytes disperses out in several directions from the hole, though the whole area is covered in such footprints and it is difficult to sort out one particular path in all the chaos. Aurora looks into the hole for a moment before staggering back and holding her chest, blessing herself under her breath and sighing with relief (like someone who just looked over the edge of a tall building, nothing weird and magical).

[RaggedAngel]

Demos has had his guns in hand for a while now, naturally expecting an ambush. When the come to the hole, he isn't content to let Aurora's reaction speak for the view; he walks up to the edge and peers down to see what can be seen.

If it's relevant, Perception [roll0].

[Saskia]

Audrey nods, thinking first that this is a little more to her speed, and second that she must have some very interesting psychological problems to feel that way. "This doesn't look like the sort of handiwork of a society that can barely make a javelin. They must have friends."

She gestures with a torch and striker produced from her pack. Oh, how she loves that pack's convenience. She's had cohorts take issue before with doing this sort of thing, and understandably so. It could prove quite inconvenient if the troglodytes and whatever allies they had were alerted to their presence. It could still provide valuable insight as to where a more serviceable entrance might be located.

Mostly though, she wants to see how deep it is and what's at the bottom.

"If anyone objects, speak up now."

[Goldfly]

Mizuki nods in Audrey's direction, as the rogue speaks her part. "Maybe you're right... Unless it was here before, and they started using it? ...Dwarves, maybe?"

Her head tilts slightly to one side, auburn hair swinging with the motion, before she looks back towards the hole.

"I think that would be a good idea... Unless you just want me to cast a light spell down there or something?"

[mshady]

Toland

""What did you see, Aurora?" Toland asks, ignoring everyone else for a moment. He trusted her observations and experience more than the others.

""No, this is no primitive work. Lets not assume they have friends. Plenty of ruins they could have stumbled on. I'd rather not meet friends like that, if they have them."

[Zoobity]

Byron straps on his buckler and draws his rapier. "Friends..." he harrumphs. "Previous tenants, more likely." With Audrey and Michiko checking out the hole, Byron continues to scan the cliffs.

[King Tius]

Aurora takes another calming breath before answering Toland. "I got an incredible sense of space, like I was standing on a tall cliff. Wasn't good with heights even when I was younger."

Audrey lights a torch and drops it into the mysterious hole. It falls for nearly two and half seconds before promptly going out. A *kerplunk* sound echoes up from the chamber along with the shimmering reflection that preceded the torches demise. There is clearly a large body of water at the bottom of the hole and it certainly extends out underneath the ground you're standing on. How big the dome-like structure is, however, is too hard to determine.

Those around the hole strain to hear if the torch's descent caused any commotion but there does not seem to be any noise coming from the chamber.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos thinks for a moment, staring down into the darkness. "A well, perhaps? This clearly opens up to an underground body of natural water. Of course, the water at the bottom may just be a way to get down safely... but then again, a fall into the water from this height would still hurt like hell, and might even kill you. But I don't see any other way down, and I don't see any way to easily attack a rope up top."

Is that last bit correct, Tius?

[Saskia]

Audrey shrugs. "Maybe. Or maybe it's someone's reflecting pool. Definitely not a pleasant dive though, even if it's deep enough." Glory and honor to whatever ingenious wizard made the first haversack aside, she's still only got 50 feet of rope. How she had gotten by for so long without more she isn't quite sure. "Anyway it's about a hundred-foot drop. I've got half that in rope, so if anyone has any to splice we could use Toland or Byron as an anchor and have him just lay down and hold on; either one of you is probably more than twice my weight soaking wet." With as close to a smile as could be had with the circumstances, she adds "And that's good, since I'll probably be soaking wet if I have to come back up."

I'm assuming with engineering and dungeoneering trained, it's not too much for her to estimate falling distance.

Also, since use rope isn't a skill and I can't find anything about ropework on the online SRD, is it covered under something else or is it just kind of assumed that adventuring types would know how to do that sort of thing? Also, I feel like I've asked this question already, but I don't remember when or what the answer was :smallredface:

[King Tius]

There is a scrubby bush about twenty feet from the hole that Demos could try and tie a rope to. You are fairly certain it could hold the weight of a single person. Your assumption is also correct: If you pass your Reflex save (from falling in) or Acrobatics check (from jumping in) a fall into the water won't kill you and you can avoid taking (lethal) damage.

If you can wield a sword or cast a spell, it is assumed you are able to tie basic knots and the like. For anything particularly elaborate an appropriate Craft or Survival check may be called for. Nothing you've suggested would require such things. Also, yes, you can assume that Audrey can reasonably approximate the distance.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos thinks for a moment, contemplative. He nudges the brush with his foot, then goes back to the lip of the hole to look down into the water. "Do we really just have fifty feet of rope? We really need to start carrying more gear, it seems. Especially when we have horses able to carry loads. I could probably make that fall, but the issue is getting back up. There is no point in going down there if we're only going to strand ourselves. But the troglodytes must have a way up. They can't fly, right?"

[mshady]

Toland

"I'm not seeing how they get down there, so I wouldn't suggest we go down there either. For all we know, all these tracks just mean this is their latrine. Not to be crass, but they're savages."

Toland looks around and turns to Jalaera.

"Any way you and the wolf can scout the area a bit more? I don't have a good feeling about going down there, especially since they could just cut the rope and strand us there. There should be a more navigable entrance nearby. In the meantime we should find cover so we don't get spotted"

[King Tius]

The Iomedaeans offer up their lengths of rope to Audrey for her descent. Fastening the extended rope to the scrubby bush, the party's newest member prepares to descend into the depths of this strange hole. At her request, Byron and Toland take hold of the rope as added security in case the bush proves too weak and in case she needs to be hauled up in a hurry. The rest of the group gathers around the lip of the hole to watch her descend carefully. Byron casts light on an arrow which Audrey puts in her mouth to use in her climb down. While all this commotion is going on the two Iomedaean horses wander over to a nearby bush and begin to graze on it. The bush is tough and makes quite a bit of noise as the two whinny softly and yank on it. South Paw sits directly behind Jalaera and watches the scene intently.

Wrapping the rope one turn around her leg to use as a brake, Audrey puts both hands on the rope and begins to walk backwards over the edge of the rim. This move is often the most disconcerting part of any descent due to the change in body position but she handles it easily. Two feet down she reaches the top of the dome and must take a minute to work up the courage to shift into a dangling position. To those watching above she makes the transition with practiced grace and begins to shimmy her way lower and into the darkness. Slowly her eyes begin to adjust as the darkness swallows her and the light from her arrow begins to illuminate the ceiling of the chamber. After making it about ten feet below the top of the ceiling, Audrey pauses to get her bearings and to survey the space she is in. The curvature of the dome is truly massive and on a scale she has no direct experience with before. Since the light does not illuminate out past 60 feet, she can only guess as to the size of the chamber but the dome barely seems to begin its curve at the edge of her vision. As she twists around to get a look at the space behind her, she freezes at the sight before her. A section of the dome's lining seems to have eroded and collapsed here, exposing raw stone. Clinging to this stone from every piece of available space are bats. While these don't pose any particular threat to the suspended rogue, the horse-sized dire bat sleeping amid the regular bats does. Fortunately, her light does not seem to have awakened it. As Audrey gazes up to try and relay this information to her companions above her, she notices that non of them are looking at her anymore......

While the lot of you were gazing intently at Audrey's excursion, South Paw was not. Suddenly he lets out a loud snarl followed by several aggressive barks. Everyone whirls around to see that a dozen troglodytes have snuck up on you using the surrounding rocks and bushes to conceal their approach. They walk in pairs, the "even" trogs are carrying nets in their hands while the "odd" trogs have spears. With their presence known, they begin to shout at you in Draconic (a language none of you speak). Aurora quickly casts Shield of Faith on herself and calls out to Iomedae as she levels a finger at the incoming troglodytes.

"They're trying to surround us! Get behind me, girl!"

Initiative Order

19 Michiko
18 Audrey
10 Demos
09 Byron
08 Jalaera
03 Toland
01 Troglodytes
29 Aurora


The Map

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3746/3hxq.png


OOC: Let's see if we remember how to fight! Post in any order you like as you are all in the same initiative bunch.

[Saskia]

The big, foppish knight is afraid of caves? How genuinely adorable. Audrey can't help but smile while she ties the magicked arrow to her bracer with a length of twine. "Oh, please, Toland. You wouldn't know savagery if it marred your eyeliner. I'm the one going down to check things out in case we can take them by surprise from an entrance that they're not expecting invaders to use, the rest of you are going to stay up here and make sure they don't cut my line."

Of course, anyone who knew her better would know that an opportunity to drop down into the middle of some old ruin was beyond irresistible to her, even in the midst of an important job. It just meant she and this Velma woman could spend some girl time getting excited over the intellectual stuff. At least, provided the others didn't insist on leaving immediately. If that damnable bear-dwarf they were talking about costs her an opportunity to explore this place she's going to have a hard time not killing him outright, between threatening to murder people and getting in the way of her intellectual pursuits.

Still, what was the purpose of this place? Who had built it? What possible purpose could a giant underground dome with a hole in the top serve? She expects it to have some religious significance, but—

Oh, hell. I really don't want to wade through bat ****. Hopefully they're new tenants. She looks around, half expecting to see something she can use to give her an edge in taking out this damnable thing quickly and efficiently, but not wanting to say anything and risk waking it. If Audrey could place her shot well enough that bat would be dead in one shot; she'd done it before with one of these things, but only once. Ideally Demos would finish it off once it came after her, but apparently he and the rest had more important things to attend. If she dropped down to the bottom, even if it was shallow enough to stand and shoot properly the splashing would surely wake it and she'd lose her element. Well, whatever. I've got this. She wraps the rope another turn around her leg and carefully draws her bow and two arrows, holding one in her teeth, in the likely event that the first isn't a killing shot.

[roll0] to hit, minus whatever penalties there might be. If it matters, she's got the improvisational equipment trait, so if you consider the rope an improvisational platform from which to shoot, maybe the penalty is 2 less? :smalltongue:

And in the event that she hits, [roll1] bow and [roll2] sneak attack.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos has had his guns in hand since the moment Audrey started climbing, expecting some sort of trouble. When the troglodytes arrive he almost smiles, lifting his new six-barrel pistol in one hand and his ancient double-barreled pistol in his other. "I've wanted to try this for ages. I've heard you're not fond of light, boys. I think I'll shine some light on the truth of that statement."

He flicks the six cylinders with the palm of his left hand, spinning it into position with a cylinder marked with a numeral for 'two' on the top. His left hand he points at the "center" of the enemy formation, and his right hand he points to a closer troglodyte with a spear in hand. He takes a moment to find his balance before firing; and once he fires, the real fight has begun. A blazing ball of light blasts out from his left hand, streaking through the air to collide with a central troglodyte, at which point it explodes into a giant ball of light.

The flare lasts only a second, but Demos takes that time to loose his second shot; this one is dark while it travels through the air, but when it hits its mark it explodes into a concussive fireball, ripping a terrible wound in the lizard-man's side. "Two guns," he says, grinning at the success of his shots. "Why have I never used two guns at once before?"

Demos is going to two-weapon fight this round. He does not have the feat, so he takes -4 to his primary hand (for this round, his left hand) and -6 to his secondary hand (for this round, his right hand). He isn't going to do this too often, but his next feat is going to be TWF so I figured I should at least have him practice a little.

First, he shifts to K8.

He's shooting a flare and a thunderball round. The flare does half damage and blinds whatever it hits for a round, Fort DC 15 to reduce that to dazzled. It also dazzles everything in twenty feet for a round, Fort DC 15 to negate. He's using one grit on both of these shots to make them Up Close and Deadly. They do half damage on a miss, and are still considered to 'hit' on anything but a missfire.

Flare shot at 06, Ranged Touch: [roll0]
Damage: Half of [roll1] + all of [roll2], half of all that on a miss

Thunderball at 03, Ranged Touch: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] + [roll5] Fire + [roll6], half on a miss.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Hating having her back against a pit but not wishing to break ranks, Jalaera thrusts the point of the variblade toward the lizards farthest to the right and spits, "Guard!" to South Paw. Hoping to shake and demoralize her opponents early - combined with the thunder from Demos' weapons - she wills the magical weapon to extend, thrusting across the distance toward the first troglodyte and then back to its regular eight-foot length.

I may well have made myself the clearest target, she thinks, hoping if she's rushed Demos will have clear shots at her attackers.

No movement. Ranged attack - dunno the increment.
Attack T1: [roll0]

[Zoobity]

Byron sighs. "Alright, I suppose it's down to this." He dips the fingers of his right hand into his silver chalice and flings forth light which materializes into an eagle in front of one of the knots of creatures. He then draws his sword again.

Byron casts Summon Monster I at N10.

[Goldfly]

Michiko turns, as she hears South Paw barking, and lets out somewhat of a yelp upon seeing the Troglodytes. She raises a hand, quickly, blue magics running along and between her fingers, as she makes a few complex motions and speaks a few words quickly in Sylvan.
"Sorera o kyatchi!"

Michiko will cast Entangle, at the intersection between L14, L15, M14, and M15.

[mshady]

Toland

Looking around at their sudden visitors, Toland can't believe they were all caught so unprepared. That he was not on his horse was inexcusable!

His initial instinct was to charge, and the merits of that seemed obvious but Aurora had not called for that. She wanted to hold her ground for the moment, and her deadly crossbow might take a toll.

"Get the ones with the nets!" Toland yells out to anyone who can hear him. Not a full throated battle yell, but enough to be heard.

Resolving to hold his ground, he takes his own advice and spins the sling and sends an iron bullet whipping at T10. He doubted it would kill it, but that was what his sword was going to be for in a moment.

Toland v. T10

[roll0]
[roll1]

Next, he draws his sword. The naked steel rasps in the hilt as he pulls it free. It was a good sword and had killed it's share of things already. He planned to add a few more notches to it.

[King Tius]

Round 1

OOC: Please read up on the Entangled (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions#TOC-Entangled)condition and the spell Entangle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/entangle)as they are going to play a big role in this fight!

(19) Michiko
The young sorceress panics and quickly fires off an entangle spell. While it catches almost all the troglodytes, it hits most of the party as well. Toland and Byron are unable to resist the roots and grass that shoot up and wrap around their appendages and are entangled.

(18) Audrey
Dangling like a chandelier in the middle of an ancient domed structure, Audrey decides to mess with the local fauna and takes aim at the massive dire bat sleeping peacefully nearby. Her arrow strikes the creature square in the chest, causing it to open its eyes and scream. Though the calls of smaller bats are inaudible to most humans, the screech of this mighty bat echoes throughout the giant chamber as it releases its grip and plummets into the darkness, wings still tucked around it. As it disappears from view Audrey barely has a second to register what happened before the smaller bats explode off the ceiling in a great swarm, headed right for her. The bats surround Audrey as she dangles precariously in the air, nipping at her as they swirl around her.

Swarm damage: [roll0] + 1 Bleed
Fort save (DC 11) or be nauseated for 1 round: [roll1] Pass!
Climb Check to maintain your grip (DC 15) (+4 for rope around leg): [roll2] Pass!

(10) Demos
OOC: Demos can’t shift into K8 because it is now considered difficult terrain. This leaves both your targets outside of your 20ft range increment, so the attacks resolve against AC, not Touch AC, and have -2 penalties due to range (also, even at K8 they were still outside of 20 ft). All that being said, using Up Close and Deadly accounts for the miss with the Flare shot, but keep an eye on your ranges!

Having avoided the entangling roots, Demos levels both pistols at the approaching Troglodytes. The flare round grazes its intended target, doing almost no damage but making contact enough to detonate. The ensuing flash of bright light seems to catch 07 off guard but the other trogs are able to shield their eyes and avoid being dazzled. 06 brings its hands up to its face and begins to shout franticly in Draconic, dropping its net. His Thunderball round hits 03 dead in the chest, bursting into flames as the troglodyte falls to the ground unconscious and bleeding out.

Reflex save (DC 15) to resist being entangled: [roll3] Pass!

OOC: You can retroactively 5 foot step out of the current square to an unentangled square since it won’t change your ranges and would avoid the previous reflex save.

(09) Byron
OOC: I rolled a concentration check for you and you passed!

Byron feels the roots and grass at his feet latch on to his limbs. Ignoring this impediment, he lets go of the rope and begins to summon his celestial eagle. It takes a full round to cast a Summon Monster spell (unlike the Summoner who can do it as a Standard Action). The eagle will appear in N10 at the start of your next turn, so you can roll its attacks and have it act along with your next set of moves. Since you are casting, you can’t draw your weapon this round.

(08) Jalaera
OOC: I am fairly sure the Variblade has a range of 10 ft so that’s a -6 to the attack.

Calling upon the magic of the mighty Variblade, Jalaera makes a normal thrusting lunge towards 01 and wills the weapon to extend outwards. Like a mighty serpent the tip of the Variblade lances out and stabs 01. It cries out in equal parts surprise and pain from the blow. At Jal’s order South Paw takes on a defensive stance in front of her and bares his teeth.

(03) Toland
Toland also releases Audrey’s rope to engage with the Troglodytes. The rope snaps taught to the ground, causing it to bounce wildly for Audrey (and triggers another Climb check to hold on! [roll4] ). The roots and grass that hold on to Toland make it somewhat more difficult to draw and load his sling but he still manages to get a shot off, hitting 10 solidly in the shoulder. Unfortunately he is out of moves for the round and can’t draw his sword.

(01) Troglodytes
The trogoldytes attempt to break free from the entangling roots and either attack directly or try to move out of the effected area.

01: Moves to J4 and stabs at Jalaera with its longspear. [roll5] vs AC 18 for [roll6] damage Miss!

02: Moves to M5 and throws net at South Paw. [roll7] vs Touch AC 12 to be entangled Miss!

03: Bleeding Out!

04: Exits the entangle spell and loops around the large rock to 03.

05: Tries twice to break free of the entangle spell but is unsuccessful.

06: The blinded trog stumbles backwards right into a bush, falls prone, and is entangled.

07: Attempts to move out of the entanglement spell but does not make it all the way. Becomes entangled.

08: Breaks free of the entangle spell and moves to K18 before becoming entangled again.

09: Breaks free on its second attempt and stays unentangled.

10: Breaks free, moves to I12, stays unentangled.

11: Breaks free, moves to E18.

12: Drops net and full attacks Aurora’s horse. Both claws and the bite hit (bite crits). Aurora’s horse drops.


Round 2

(29) Aurora
Aurora moves to E10 to avoid the entangle spell before firing at 10. Apparently she can’t hit the broad side of a barn with me rolling for her and the bolt goes wide. She quickly pulls the lever on her crossbow and prepares to fire again.

The Map

I added the swirly green mark to visually show who was entangled.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/726/ep8s.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 19/20 Bleed 1
Aurora: ??/??
Byron: 34/34 Entangled
Demos: 24/24
Jalaera: 27/27
Michiko: 18/18
Toland: 32/32 Entangled
South Paw: 17/17

[Saskia]

As usual with her not-so-hot ideas, it dawns on Audrey only once she's dealing with the consequences just how bad an idea this was, and as proud as she may be of that shot, trying to take out all of these bats, or even enough that they'd scatter, would probably leave her dead well before they even realized their numbers were diminished. She decides, then, that her best course of action is her default course of action when accosted by a horde of nocturnal beasts during the daytime: Get back into the sun.

She lets out a violent shriek when the rope slacks, immediately sure of her own imminent death, and the deaths of her friends, until it catches. If Toland let go of the rope they must be dealing with something serious. For him to imply so shamelessly that he wants to plow her and then pull something like that without a good reason would be just... So stupid. Something must have gone wrong up there.

She ignores the pests to the best of her ability and lashes the stringed bow over her shoulder, as it's just that much easier than trying to replace it in its sling, and begins her ascent to get rid of these bats and see what's going on with her compatriots.

[roll0] for climb, because I don't imagine the "oh god don't fall" bonus would apply to ascent.

[Goldfly]

Michiko winces, slightly, as she notices her teammates getting caught up in her magic. She brings her hands together, for a fraction of a second, in a gesture of apology, before turning on one foot and stepping out of the vines. She gives the Troglodyte that felled the horse a rather pointed look, then, before making clawing motions towards the one closest to it.

Michiko will shift to E11, before using her Charm Person Spell-like ability on Troglodyte 12 (Will 16, I think? ...Bonuses to the DC for a whole school affect spell-likes, don't they?)
She's trying to convince him to attack his friend, but... We'll see if that works, I guess.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Her fine hearing catching muttered curses as well as sissing shouts in ancient draconic, the elf woman sets herself into a combat stance and deflects an incoming blow from the first troglodyt's simple spear.

Growling, South Paw hops sideways to avoid a bristly net thrown by a second trog, and before he can retrieve it or draw another weapon Jalaera orders the wolf to attack.

She then concentrates again on her first target, batting aside several undisciplined swings before leveling her blade parallel with the ground and sweeping it in an arc toward the lizard's midsection ...


Nice job with the map. Way to keep things clear and concise with spell effects.


South Paw attacks T2
Jal attacks T1:
Power attack [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos is pretty quick on his feet, but he still takes the time to shift out of the area of Michiko's spell before doing anything else. He fires the second round in his double-barrel pistol, and then holsters it on his left him. The bullet is another exploding round, and it strikes the target troglodyte with remarkable force. He feeds an alchemical round into his six-shooter in the moments after he holsters, his speed markedly improved from previous fights.

Shift to I6.

Fire a Thunderball round at 01 (EDIT- or 02 if 01 is dead, and if they're both dead he'll make a full move instead of a shift and hit whoever's left outside the entangled area), Up Close and Deadly (he regained a Grit because he dropped 03, after this shot he has 1, or 2 if 01 falls).
Ranged Touch: [roll0], half damage on a Miss
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] Fire + [roll3]

Move action to holster his double-barrel pistol.

Swift action to reload one chamber of his six-cylinder pistol.

[Zoobity]

Byron finishes summoning his eagle and draws his weapons and attempts to move to L7. The eagle swoops down on the nearest troglodyte.

Eagle attacks 05. Talon [roll0] Talon [roll1] Beak [roll2]

[King Tius]

The Stench
I totally forgot that Troglodytes stink! Any time you come within 30 feet of one you must make a fort save or become sickened for a minute. Since I forgot and you weren’t that close to them previously, we’ll go ahead and roll the checks now. All sickened conditions will be noted in the Player Statistics section and will be effective from here on out, so please apply the -2 to attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws. Since I only just remembered I won’t retroactively apply it to any of the rolls you have already made but any I have to make for you below will have them applied. Also, the stenches do not stack, so once you are sickened we can stop rolling for you.

Previous Round’s Stench
01’s stench

DC 13
Jalaera: [roll0]
South Paw: [roll1]
Demos: [roll2]
Byron: [roll3]
Toland: [roll4]

02’s stench

DC 13
Jalaera: [roll5]
South Paw: [roll6]
Demos: [roll7]
Byron: [roll8]

04’s stench

DC 13
Jalaera: [roll9]
South Paw: [roll10]

10’s stench

DC 13
Jalaera: [roll11]
Demos: [roll12]
Byron: [roll13]
Toland: [roll14]
Michiko: [roll15]

09’s stench

DC 13
Byron: [roll16]
Toland: [roll17]
Michiko: [roll18]





Round 2

(19) Michiko
Tapping into her innate magical abilities, Michiko charms the troglodyte near Aurora’s fallen horse into becoming her friend. With a smile and nodding of her head she makes a two-handed tossing motion at 11. Though it wouldn’t normally do such a thing, Michiko’s force of personality proves stronger than the troglodytes (aka you won the opposed charisma check!). 12 turns the throws its net at 11, catching it completely off guard and snaring it. You notice that 12 holds a trailing rope after throwing the net and now has some control over where 11 can move.

(18) Audrey
As the bats continue to swarm around her, Audrey quickly slings her bow over her shoulder as she shakes the rope free from her leg. Fortunately, the lithe tomb raider is quite the climber and she manages to hustle up the rope, making it to the lip of the hole. The bats follow her into the light, bringing the swarm boiling out of the hole and surprising all the combatants above

OOC: It will take a DC 10 Climb check next round to haul yourself up to solid ground.
Swarm damage: [roll19] + 1 Bleed
Fort save (DC 11) or be nauseated for 1 round: [roll20] Fail! Nauseated (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/conditions#TOC-Nauseated)for 1 round

(10) Demos
Nimbly stepping out of the writing grass and roots, Demos finishes the work Jalaera started on 01 and drops the troglodyte with a single bullet (+1 grit!). With a twirl he holsters his double-barreled pistol and pulls an alchemical cartridge to keep his six-shooter tapped off.

(09) Byron
Finishing his summoning spell, Byron calls a celestial eagle into being at O10. As a fold opens in the fabric of the universe the bird appears mid-dive with talons out and wings spread. Being a celestial eagle, it smites the first thing it sees…namely, 05. With a mighty screech at sinks both talons into 05’s face and follows up with a nasty peck. The troglodyte remains on its feet during the onslaught but now looks as if a stiff breeze could blow it over.

Byron’s hand begins to glow with a silvery magic as he dips into his chalice and touches himself on the forehead. The magical roots and grass unwind themselves from his body as he draws his weapon and steps out of the undergrowth before it can grab him again. (Used 1 Liberty’s Blessing).

(08) Jalaera
At Jalaera’s command the wolf darts forward and grabs hold of 02’s leg. With a quick tug the troglodyte is suddenly on its back. It has only a moment to shout out a curse in Draconic before Jalaera steps up behind South Paw and buries her partisan into 02’s stomach, taking it out of the fight.

(03) Toland
With a grumble of frustration the paladin rips himself free of the roots (move action) and strides towards 10 (move action), drawing his sword as he does so (free as part of move action). Horse-With-No-Name takes this opportunity to escape the roots and run away!

(01) Troglodytes
01: Bleeding Out!
02: Bleeding Out!
04: Moves to M3 and throws its net at Jalaera. [roll21] vs Touch AC 13 to be entangled. Hit! You are now Entangled
05: Takes a lazy swing at the celestial eagle but misses.
06: No longer blinded. Breaks free of the roots and stands up. Gets entangled again.
07: Breaks free, leaves entangle area (S6).
08: Fails to break free twice.
09: Moves to H9 and stabs at Toland. [roll22] vs AC 21 for [roll23]. Stays unentangled Hit!
10: Throws net at Toland [roll24] vs Touch AC 12 to be entangled. Stays unentangled Hit! you are now Entangled
11: Struggles against 12’s net, hissing and snapping at 12 the whole time.
12: Yanks on the rope, tripping 11 and knocking it prone.

New Arrivals
The din of combat (and the fact that everyone has their backs to the pit) allows the new combatants to arrive unnoticed. There are four more troglodytes and two big lizards on the other side of the hole. Two of the trogs appear to be younger and are clearly female. They are covered in odd tattoos and wear strange headdresses (15 and 16). The other trogs (13 and 14) rush around the pit accompanied by the monitor lizards.
13: Throws a javelin at Demos: [roll25] vs AC 21 for [roll26]
14: Throws a javelin at Aurora and misses.
15: Points at Demos and Byron and waggles her fingers while chanting a spell. Demos feels a wash of sleepiness come over him: Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll27] Fail! You are asleep!
16: Points at Demos and Byron and casts sleep as well. If Demos is already asleep, Byron is affected instead.
Demos second roll (if needed): Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll28]
Byron’s roll: Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll29] Pass! You are not asleep.

New Stench Rolls

04’s stench

DC 13
Demos: [roll30]
Byron: [roll31]

13’s stench

DC 15
Jalaera: [roll32]
Demos: [roll33]
Byron: [roll34]

14’s stench

DC 15
Michiko: [roll35]






Round 3
(29) Aurora
Aurora turns in response to the javelin and fires two bolts at 14. One of her bolts finally hits, though the trog barely seems to care.

OOC: For those of you now entangled in the nets, it is a DC 22 Escape Artist or DC 25 Strength Check (Full Round Action) to get free. Someone can also cut you out of the net.

The Map

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/1712/kycs.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 17/20 Nauseated 1 round
Aurora: ??/?? 4/5 in clip
Byron: 34/34 Sickened 10 Rounds
Demos: 24/24 Sickened 10 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 27/27 Entangled
Michiko: 18/18 Sickened 10 Rounds
Toland: 25/32 Entangled
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 10 rounds

[Saskia]

Bats. Foul, disgusting, bats. Audrey must have sworn against bats in every language she knew an obscenity, and to every deity, just to be sure she'd gotten the one who thought them up.

It just makes pinning that verminous monster's wings to its chest that much more satisfying. Well, provided that's what happened. She can see what happened when she gets down there.

After these bats leave her alone.

Feeling weak and queasy isn't good condition for a climber, and she knows it, so before pulling herself up she wraps the rope around her arm, just in case. Better a dislocated shoulder than a snapped spine. But damned if all these lizards didn't come out of nowhere. So much for taking them by surprise. At least this way they're not all together; the ones they can take out here will only make things easier from here.

[roll0] climb! Hot dang.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Hearing a thump behind her, Jalaera turns and sees the gunslinger slumpt on the ground. "Demos!" she shouts, only then seeing the creatures on the far side of the pit. She gasps, and in her distraction is further surprised when a poorly-made but heavy net falls over her head.

She turns back toward the sole surviving troglodyte nearby and scowls, unleashing a withering barrage of elvish invective almost certainly lost on their target. But she ends her tirade with an attack command, and as South Paw dashes toward the lizard, growling menacingly, the elf stabs at him, shouting, "Byron, cut this loose!"


Though it seeems it's impossible to remove these nets on our own without rolling nat 20s, the Entangled condition hardly keeps us from fighting.

Attack T4 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[RaggedAngel]

The gunslinger avoids the javelin almost contemptuously, turning to face the new threats. He manages to do nothing about them, though, thanks to the enchantment spell that goes washing over him a moment later. As Demos falls asleep, his fading thoughts involve brutally murdering troglodytes. Before it all goes dark he catches a glimpse of Audrey as she rises over the lip of the hole, however, and his last waking thoughts move away from murder. Maybe I'm dying. There's an angel, right there...

[mshady]

Toland

Having broken free of the vines that suddenly appeared, he can't help but wonder who's side Michiko was on. What should have been a good fight was going to turn into desperation. Plus, his horse was gone! He liked that horse.

Stabbed by a lizard with an ugly spear just insulted Toland. He shrugged off the painful wound, but he was covered with a net now instead!

While he could sort of fight in the net, the thing held a trailing rope and could pull him down with it. At which point, he might end up like Aurora's horse.

Toland uses a power attack on the rope to cut his way out. If the rope is pretty easy to hit, he'll use a better defensive stance. Not sure of the details, I trust in King.

[King Tius]

Round 3

(19) Michiko
Turning to face the new assailants, Michiko lets loose with a pair of Magic Missiles. They fly unerringly towards 14 and connect with him in a quick 1-2 punch. Despite the missiles and Aurora’s crossbow bolt, the creature still presses forward with a wicked smile on its face. Our young sorceress looks around and realizes she has nowhere to fall back to. At least she’s standing next to a Holy Inquisitor of Iomedae….

(18) Audrey
Fighting the urge to vomit (and more importantly, let go of the rope), Audrey hauls herself up and over the lip of the hole, right into the waiting embrace of the magically enchanted roots and grass. She avoids their cloying grasp as the bats give up their chase and dive back into the gloom of the hole. Though she is no longer surrounded by the swarming vermin, their saliva causes her wounds to continue to bleed.

(10) Demos
Demos sleeps soundly. Dreaming of guns……lots of guns.

(09) Byron
OOC: Zoob’s mobo died yesterday, so I’ll be taking over Byron (mechanically) until he’s up and running again.
With another divine screech the celestial eagle rakes at 05’s face, finally bringing it down. It quickly turns to engage the ensnared 06. Meanwhile, Byron gives Demos a hard nudge with his boot, rousing the gunslinger from his temporary slumber. The jovial priest steps towards Jalaera and prepares to try and cut her free next round when he has the standard action to do so.

OOC: Demos is prone and lying next to his six-shooter. RAW states it is still a move action to retrieve the weapon, even though you are prone (I checked because I was curious).

(08) Jalaera
The fierce warrior elf was not about to let something as simple as a net impede her path of destruction through these troglodytes. Once again she orders her newfound companion to attack the nearest troglodyte. Again South Paw grabs hold of a leg and yanks the trog to the ground. Like a practiced team Jalaera immediately follows up with planting her partisan into its chest cavity.

(03) Toland
Despite having two troglodytes trying to eviscerate him, Toland refuses to be bound in a net. Fortunately, he has a slashing weapon in his hand and a fair amount of strength in his sword arm. With a grunt and a well-placed slash he splits a number of the net’s webbings and breaks free. The two troglodytes look displeased that their quarry escaped so easily. Somehow he also managed to avoid the entangle spell’s grasp for another round, though he still can’t move anywhere without drawing attacks from the trogs.

(01) Troglodytes
04: Bleeding out!
05: Bleeding out!
06: Full attacks the celestial eagle. Crits on the claw attack, killing the eagle.
07: Moves around the rock and readies its spear against a charge.
08: Fails to break free twice…..again
09: Stabs at Toland. [roll0] vs AC 21 for [roll1] Miss!. Becomes entangled
10: Full attacks Toland. Claw1: [roll2] Miss! [roll3] Claw2: [roll4] Miss! [roll5] Bite: Claw1: [roll6] Hit! [roll7] Becomes entangled
11: Tries to break free of the net but is unable to.
12: Yanks on the rope again, causing 11 to shout in pain.
13: Advances to I5 to attack Demos
AoO from Jalaera: [roll8] Miss! [roll9]
Claw attack at Demos: [roll10] Miss! [roll11] vs AC 17 (-4 for being prone)
14: Moves to E9 and claws at Aurora (miss!).
15: Casts Sleep on Demos/Byron again (so it hits Demos). Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll12] (Sickened applied) Fail! Demos is asleep again
16: Casts Sleep on Aurora/Michiko. Michiko targeted over Aurora (fewer HD): Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll13] (Sickened applied) Passed!
L1: The lizard scampers towards Jalaera and snaps at her leg. [roll14] vs AC 16 (-4 Dex from entangle) for [roll15] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll16] plus grab CMB [roll17] vs CMD 17 (-4 Dex from entangle)
L2:
If Michiko passes her Will save vs Sleep

The lizard scampers towards Michiko and snaps at her leg. [roll18] vs AC 13 for [roll19] Hit! plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll20] (Sickened applied) Passed! plus grab CMB [roll21] vs CMD 13 Hit! Michiko is now Grappled

If Michiko fails her Will save vs Sleep

The lizard scampers towards Michiko and snaps at her leg. [roll22] vs AC 13 for [roll23] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll24] (Sickened applied) plus grab CMB [roll25] vs CMD 13


Round 4

(29) Aurora
Aurora steps to F9 and puts one of two bolts in 14, bringing the larger troglodyte down. She turns to Michiko with a worried look on her face as she reloads her crossbow again.

The Map

Forgot to put the "Zzz"s back on Demos but he is still quite prone and quite asleep
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/750/24lg.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 16/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 10 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 3/5 in clip
Byron: 34/34 Sickened 9 Rounds
Demos: 24/24 Sickened 9 Rounds
Jalaera: 27/27 Entangled Sickened 10 Rounds
Michiko: 9/18 Grappled, Sickened 9 Rounds
Toland: 23/32 Sickened 10 Rounds
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 9 Rounds

[Saskia]

Oh, no. No, no, no, where the hell did all these things come from? She takes her bow again and immediately takes looses the arrow from her teeth at the lizard-man looming over Demos.

To hit [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

[Gorgon_Heap]

As more and more troglodytes crowd around, Jalaera is finally overwhelmed by their awful stench. Her stomach roils and she is forced to take a deep breath or fall over wretching. "South ... get!" she manages to order the wolf at whichever nearby enemy if he's not himself too busy vomiting.

The lizard creature snaps powerfully at her leg as she's trying to maintain her balance and she turns, hopping and shuffling sideways out of its reach and she gulps for another breath, swinging her weapon in a wide arc toward the monster and the troglodyte nearing Demos...

Step to K6 and attempt a Cleave
Entangled and sickened, unless, since his action is before mine, Byron frees me from the rope, in which case all my attacks will be at +6

Attack L1 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

if successful ...

Attack T13 [roll3]
Crit check [roll4]
Damage [roll5]

[Goldfly]

Michiko shrieks, as the lizard clamps down on her leg, eyes growing wide with fear and pain at the feeling of it's teeth slicing through skin and flesh. She pulls, frantically, in an attempt to get the creature off of her as soon as she possibly can...

Escape artist check to escape the grapple, her being sickened factored in: [roll0]

[King Tius]

Round 4

It is worth noting that the Trogs are shouting and communicating with one another while the fight is going on but none of you understand them so I'm not really bothering to put it in my descriptions.

(19) Michiko
Despite the iron grip of the large lizard, Michiko is able to wriggle her way out of its jaws and break free! You are no longer Grappled.

(18) Audrey
Another wave of nausea passes over Audrey, this time from the horrible stench coming off of the troglodytes. She quickly pops the arrow out of her mouth as she gags and knocks it against her bowstring. Turning to try and rescue Demos, she fires an arrow at the larger troglodyte but misses her mark.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
OOC: Actions determined via text message

Unaware that Demos has fallen back to sleep immediate after he roused him, Byron finishes what he started and slices at the net with a quick flick of his wrist. The net opens up on its side enough that Jalaera is able to slide out of it and continue fighting.

(08) Jalaera
Now free of her bindings, Jalaera attempts to cleave between the monitor lizard and large troglodyte in front of her. The lizard proves nimbler than she anticipated and avoids the sweeping arc of her partisan.

South Paw moves to engage with the monitor lizard but is also unable to land his bite attack.

(03) Toland
Briefly placing his shield hand upon his chest, Toland calls upon Iomedae’s blessings to heal himself and relieve his sickened condition. As the nausea subsides he brings his sword slicing down in an overhead cut (crit!) that nearly splits 10 from shoulder to navel. He also manages to remain unentangled.
Lay on Hands: [roll0]

(01) Troglodytes
06: Breaks free, moves towards the edge of the spell, gets entangled again.
07: Moves to M5 and spears Jalaera: [roll1] vs AC 18 for [roll2] Miss!
08: Breaks free on its second attempt and remains unentangled
09: Stabs at Toland. [roll3] vs AC 21 for [roll4]. Miss!
10: Bleeding Out!
11: Claws its way out of the net and stands up.
12: With its compulsed action completed, it double-moves to get in Aurora’s face.
13: 5 foot step and Attacks Byron:
Claw1: [roll5] [roll6] vs AC 17 Hit! Claw2: [roll7] [roll8] vs AC 17 Miss! Bite: [roll9] [roll10] vs AC 17 Miss!
14: Bleeding out!

15: Moves to F2 and points towards Demos. The six shooter by Demos’s side lifts up into the air and floats 15 feet out over the pit.

16: Casts Sleep on Byron/Jalaera. Byron is closer so he is targeted. Will save DC 14 or fall asleep [roll11] (Sickened applied) Fail! Byron is asleep

L1: The lizard turns to attack South Paw. [roll12] vs AC 14 for [roll13] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll14] (Sickened Applied) plus grab CMB [roll15] vs CMD CMD 18 (vs Trip) Miss!
L2: The other lizard attempts to grab hold of Michiko again. [roll16] vs AC 13 for [roll17] Hit! plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll18] (Sickened applied) Passed! plus grab CMB [roll19] vs CMD 13 Hit! Michiko is unconscious and still grabbed by the monitor lizard.

Round 5

(29) Aurora
With a trog right in her face, Aurora double fires her crossbow and provokes an Attack of Opportunity. Thanks to her Judgement buff the attack misses. Both bolts hammer into 12’s chest and it drops.

The Map

http://imageshack.us/a/img36/5986/a6dv.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 15/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 9 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 1/5 in clip
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 8 Rounds
Demos: 24/24 Sickened 8 Rounds
Jalaera: 27/27 Entangled Sickened 9 Rounds
Michiko: -1/18 Grappled, Sickened 8 Rounds, Unconscious
Toland: 23/32 Sickened 9 Rounds
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 8 Rounds

[Saskia]

Gods alive, these troglodytes actually smell worse than bat dung. Even without the distraction of the sickening odor or the bat bites laced with anticoagulant saliva she places more stock in the combat abilities of Demos and Byron than herself, and as long as Jalaera is keeping the creatures busy she might as well take the opportunity. She kneels beside Demos and lifts him by his collar to shake him awake. "Shake it off, Demos! You've got work to do!"

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera notes Audrey has climbed out of the pit and is scrambling to wake Demos, but also sees the spellcasting troglodyte and wishes she could break free to cause it all sorts of severe harm.

Stomach lurching, she swings the variblade in a wide arc and then back over her head, knocking aside a spear as she spins on the balls of her feet, hopfully too fast for the lizard man to react with the weapon. She then plants her right foot again and shifts, raising her left leg and stretching like a dancer - but using the momentum to thrust at her previous target...

Step to L6

Attack T13 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos's eyes fly open, and the first thing he sees is the troglodyte right next to him. He draws his dragon pistol, angling it quietly and carefully, doing his best to avoid the attention of the trog adjacent to him. Then he fires, sending a blast of flame washing over the troglodyte and its lizard, narrowly avoiding South Paw and Byron.

Move action to draw, standard to fire. He deals [roll0] fire damage, Reflex DC 15 for half.

[mshady]

Toland

With one down, Toland attacks the other Trog. This time, he attacks with a flurry of blows with his sword and shield.

OOC: posting by cell, hope numbers are right!

Sword

[roll0]
[roll1]

Shield

[roll2]
[roll3]

Falls back 5 feet towards Michiko.

[King Tius]

Round 5

(19) Michiko
Stabilization Check: [roll0] (Sickened Applied) vs DC 11 Fail! -1 HP

(18) Audrey
OOC: Due to the weird nature of circles and grids, the square Audrey is in does not actually count as an Entangle spell. The next time I drop an area of effect, I might make a formal grid-like circle instead of this nice pretty one to avoid any confusion.

Audrey crouches down next to Demos, narrowly avoiding falling into the hole and the writhing roots of Michiko's spell. With a rough shake and some kind words she rouses the gunslings back into action.

(10) Demos
OOC: According to this page on spell areas (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/area-effect-diagrams), you can only hit the monitor lizard if you want to avoid dousing your friends in fire. If you'd like to retroactively burn Jalaera and South Paw, let me know.


As soon as his eyes snap open the gunslinger is drawing his dragon pistol and firing. The gout of flame barely misses the troglodyte but envelops the monitor lizard in its fiery attack. The lizard seems to take the full effect of the spray.

(09) Byron
*Zzz*

(08) Jalaera
Jalaera moves to close the distance between her and 07 as she strikes at the larger trog. The muscular and vicious looking cave dweller bats her partisan away and says something derisive in Draconic, though she doesn't understand it. Meanwhile South Paw squares off against the monitor lizard and once again fails to land a bite.

(03) Toland
Since the area is still difficult terrain, Toland can't Five Foot Step and full attack the trog. While this is bad news, the good news is that it makes his attack bonus for the sword roll go up since he isn't shield bashing. Also, since the trog is currently entangled, its AC is lower than normal. Toland moves into range and easily bats aside the AoO that he provokes as he slashes with his longsword and deals a nasty blow to 09. Toland remains unentangled.

(01) Troglodytes
06: Breaks free, exits entangled area (R6).

07: Five foot step to M4 and spears Jalaera: [roll1] vs AC 18 for [roll2] Miss!

08: Double moves out of entangle spell (F20).

09: Drops spear and full attacks Toland: Claw1: [roll3] vs AC 21 for [roll4] Miss! Claw2: [roll5] vs AC 21 for [roll6] Miss! Bite: [roll7] vs AC 21 for [roll8] Miss! (Since these need to be crits to hit, here's one crit confirm roll [roll9]).

11: Double moves to E10

13: Looks down and full attacks Demos (AC 17 for being prone):
Claw1: [roll10] [roll11] vs AC 17 Hit! Claw2: [roll12] [roll13] vs AC 17 Hit! Bite: [roll14] [roll15] vs AC 17 Miss!

15: Let's the six-shooter drop. Points at Demos/Audrey/Byron and fires off another sleep spell. This will target Demos unless he is unconcious from the previous attack. I am just going to roll a straight d20 here and apply the relevant modifiers as I resolve the rolls: [roll16] (+4 from Will, -2 Sickend) vs DC 14. Fail! Demos is asleep yet again

16: Same as above unless both Demos and Audrey are down, in which case she will target Toland. [roll17] (+3 Will, -2 Sickened) vs DC 14. Pass!

L1: The lizard continues to attack South Paw. [roll18] vs AC 14 for [roll19] Miss! plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll20] (Sickened Applied) plus grab CMB [roll21] vs CMD CMD 18 (vs Trip)

L2: With Michiko now unconcious one of the spellcasters barks an order at the lizard holding her. The creature drags her body towards the hole and drops her in it! Her limp frame goes plummeting into the darkness....

OOC: Michiko is not necessarily dead but we'll have to wait until the fight is over to deal with that.

Round 6

(29) Aurora
The older woman shouts out in dismay as she sees Michiko's body fall into the pit. She puts a single bolt into 11 before wading into the entangling mess towards the group of you. The roots and grass do not grab hold of her.

The Map

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/2990/6vly.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 14/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 8 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 0/5 in clip
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 7 Rounds, Asleep
Demos: 11/24 Sickened 7 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 27/27 Sickened 8 Rounds
Michiko: -2/18 Sickened 7 Rounds, Unconscious
Toland: 29/32 Sickened 8 Rounds
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 7 Rounds

[Saskia]

Audrey reaches over to slap Byron, as much out of anger as desperation. She can feel her vivacity seeping out with the blood and her efforts are less vigorous. "Damn you both, wake up!"

But there's no more time for this. She's already far closer to her enemies than she's comfortable with, and if Michiko's alive then Audrey, being the lightest and most experienced with that sort of thing, would be the one to retrieve her. But then these god-forsaken bats, she can't bleed like this forever. She takes her axe in hand and prepares for her next opening. She might not be a fighter, but she does know how to sever a spine.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera deflects another attack as she watches Demos get torn up from the lizard she just missed, and she attacks it again.

Attack T13 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[King Tius]

Round 6

(19) Michiko
A splash is heard from the pit as Michiko's lifeless body connects with the water below. Is this the end of our young sorceress? We'll have to wait and see.

(18) Audrey
Audrey gives the slumbering priest a hard smack across the face. He wakes up with a snort as she draws her axe and gets ready to get dirty.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Taking in the situation around him, Byron sees a rather nasty looking troglodyte looming over him. With a quick word as he grabs his holy symbol, Byron casts Grace, warding him from Attacks of Opportunity for the round. As the trog looks on confused by the glow around Byron, the priest grabs his rapier and clambers to his feet, ready to rejoin the battle.

(08) Jalaera
Looking to turn the tide of this fight, Jalaera lashes out with the Variblade at T13. Her attack strikes true, piercing right through the trog's tough hide. While she was sure the blow to the stomach would have killed it, the trog fights on.

(03) Toland
With a quick chop Toland easily fells the entangled and wounded troglodyte in front of him. He surveys the scene and moves towards Aurora. Unfortunately he is unable to avoid getting entangled this time around.

(01) Troglodytes
06: Double moves to L3 to flank South Paw

07: Stabs at Jalaera again: [roll0]vs AC 18 for[roll1] Miss!

08: Double moves to D11.

09: Bleeding Out!

11: Steps to F9 and stabs at Toland: [roll2]vs AC 19 (-4 Dex from Entangle) for[roll3] Miss!

13: Full attacks South Paw (+2 for flanking)
Claw1: [roll4] [roll5] vs AC 14 Miss! Claw2: [roll6] [roll7] vs AC 14 Hit! Bite: [roll8] [roll9] vs AC 14 Miss!

15: Casts Mage Hand again and picks up Demos's Dragon Pistol. She moves it 15 feet out over the pit again.

16: The other spellcaster turns and runs away from the pit.

L1: Attacks South Paw again: [roll10] vs AC 14 for [roll11] Miss! plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll12] (Sickened Applied) plus grab CMB [roll13] vs CMD CMD 18 (vs Trip)

L2: Scampers around the outside of the pit to H2.

Round 7

(29) Aurora
Aurora takes a full round to pop the empty clip out of her repeating crossbow and reload it.

The Map

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/937/v4h5.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 13/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 7 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 0/5 in clip
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 6 Rounds
Demos: 11/24 Sickened 6 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 27/27 Sickened 7 Rounds
Michiko: ?????????
Toland: 29/32 Sickened 7 Rounds, Entangled
South Paw: 11/17 Sickened 6 Rounds

[Gorgon_Heap]

Her stomach still churning, the elf woman yanks the variblade from the troglodyt's belly and spares a glance around. More creatures are closing in, her companions aren't improving, South Paw yelps in pain and Audrey is forced to enter the fight - which she looks uncomfortable with.

Taking a deep breath to try to settle herself, she exhales and slices her weapon through the air, mentally preparing herself for a long fight ...



Cleave w/Hero Point for first attack - though I'll be surprised if it's worthwhile.

Attack T13 [roll0] + [roll1]
Crit check [roll2]
Damage [roll3]

Attack L1 [roll4]
Crit check [roll5]
Damage [roll6]

[Saskia]

Audrey steels herself and steps forward over Demos to swing at the troglodyte. She may not be adept in hand-to-hand fighting, but she at least knows enough about the mechanics of moving bodies to make her hits count. If by some miracle she can take this thing out of the fight she might be able to get to Michiko in time to make sure she doesn't drown, if she's still alive, but everyone might die if she abandons them to save the girl that might already be dead.

Attack [roll0] to hit, +2 attack bonus, +2 flanking with South Paw, -2 sickened.

Weapon damage [roll1] and sneak attack [roll2]

Hah.

[King Tius]

Round 7

(18) Audrey
Audrey steps over the unconscious Demos and takes a swing with her axe. Though she has the troglodyte at a disadvantage, her swing is off balance and misses the creature entirely.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Now on his feet with weapon in hand, Byron stabs at T13 but also fails to land a hit.

(08) Jalaera
Finishing what she started, Jalaera plants her feet and slashes sideways at T13, delivering a nasty slash across the chest that brings the creature down. She tries to use the momentum of her swing to strike at the adjacent monitor lizard but does not connect.

(03) Toland
Knowing that T11 can attack him but that he can’t return the favor, Toland tries to break free of the entangle spell. Unfortunately he tries twice but does not get loose.

(01) Troglodytes
06: Five foot step to L4. Full attack on South Paw:
Claw1: [roll0] [roll1] vs AC 14 Miss! Claw2: [roll2] [roll3] vs AC 14 Hit! Not Confirmed Bite: [roll4] [roll5] vs AC 14 Miss!
07: Stabs at Jalaera again: [roll6] vs AC 18 for [roll7] Miss!
08: Double moves to E2.
11: Stabs at Toland again: [roll8] vs AC 19 (-4 Dex from Entangle) for [roll9] Miss!
13: Bleeding Out!
15: Casts Sleep on Audrey/Demos/Byron, targeting Audrey. Will Save [roll10] (-2 from Sickened) DC 14 Passed! Runs away from the fight.

L1: Attacks South Paw:
[roll11] vs AC 14 for [roll12] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll13] plus grab CMB [roll14] vs CMD 18 Miss!

L2: Attacks Audrey:
[roll15] vs AC 17 for [roll16] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll17] plus grab CMB [roll18] vs CMD 15 Miss!

Round 8

(29) Aurora
With a clean shot at T11 Aurora buries a quarrel in its throat, dropping it (crit confirmed!). Her second bolt catches 08 in the shoulder as it moves to join the fray.

OOC: The dragon pistol has fallen into the pit. Forgot to take it off the map.

The Map

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6487/e4pb.png



Party Statistics

Audrey: 12/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 6 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 3/5 in clip
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 5 Rounds
Demos: 11/24 Sickened 5 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 27/27 Sickened 6 Rounds
Michiko: ?????????
Toland: 29/32 Sickened 6 Rounds, Entangled
South Paw: 7/17 Sickened 5 Rounds

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera observes the spellcaster finally lose his nerve and remove himself from the field, and tries to keep track of him as she goes to get an idea of where the other entrance is ...

Seeing her poor wolf take another scratch from a troglodyte, Jalaera hopes the creatures focus their attention her, and decides to force them to do so. She believes the lizards won't continue to attack if their (nominally) more intelligent masters are no longer about, and so decides to finish the trogs. "Byron! Audrey! Just try to avoid them!"


Perception on watching spellcaster
Perception [roll0]

Cleave
Attack T6 [roll1]
Crit check [roll2]
Damage [roll3]

If successful
Attack T7 [roll4]
Crit check [roll5]
Damage [roll6]

[Saskia]

How kind, she doesn't even need to reposition herself. The bleeding with this monstrous lizard trying to kill her could be a lethal combination. "Byron, I'm bleeding really bad from those bats, can you make me not bleed to death?"

While she doesn't doubt Jalaera's expertise in dealing with animals, Audrey has had to deal with guard animals before and never once have they, in her experience, retreated with their masters. Maybe guard lizards are different from guard dogs and guard cats and that one guard goat that was far more terrifying than if had any right to be, but it seems like too much of a risk to Audrey. Their proximity may have something to do with that, however. "Are you serious? I have never seen an animal trained to kill people back down because I was playing nice!"

Attack [roll0] and damage [roll1] and SA [roll2]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos knows how to stop bleeding with just a few seconds of time. Unfortunately, he is also fast asleep.

[King Tius]

Round 8

(18) Audrey
Taking advantage of South Paw’s positioning, Audrey slashes down at the monitor lizard, aiming for a vital spot behind its front leg. Her axe bites into its hide, smashing bone and ripping muscle. Somehow, the lizard keeps its feet and continues to fight.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Taking a step backwards to cast in peace, Byron burns Cause Fear to heal Audrey for [roll0]

(08) Jalaera
Jal watches as the spellcaster retreats between a narrow gap in between two cliff faces. She turns her attention back on the trogs in front of her but is unable to land her attacks.

(03) Toland
Finally breaks free of the grasping undergrowth and moves to I8. He avoids being re-grabbed this round.

(01) Troglodytes
06: Full attack on South Paw:
Claw1: [roll1] [roll2] vs AC 14 Miss! Claw2: [roll3] [roll4] vs AC 14 Miss! Bite: [roll5] [roll6] vs AC 14 Hit!

07: Stabs at Jalaera again: [roll7] vs AC 18 for [roll8] Hit! Not Confirmed

08: Moves to J4 and attacks South Paw (unless he is down, in which case he’ll double move).
[roll9] [roll10] vs AC 14 (+2 for flanking) Miss!

L1: Five foot step to J6 and attacks Byron:
[roll11] vs AC 17 Miss! for [roll12] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll13] (sickened applied) plus grab CMB [roll14] vs CMD 12

L2: Attacks Audrey
[roll15] vs AC 17 Miss! for [roll16] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll17] (Sickened applied) plus grab CMB [roll18] vs CMD 15

Round 9

(29) Aurora
Moves to L9, fires at 07 and scores a light hit. Reloads crossbow. Becomes entangled.

The Map

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/5121/j7bf.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 17/20 Sickened 5 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 2/5 in clip, Entangled
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 4 Rounds
Demos: 11/24 Sickened 4 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 23/27 Sickened 5 Rounds
Michiko: ????????? Entangle cast in Round 1
Toland: 29/32 Sickened 5 Rounds
South Paw: 8/17 Sickened 4 Rounds

[Saskia]

This is too close. Too close to the lip of the hole too close to the monsters, too close to Demos dying horribly if she doesn't stand her ground.

The only option is to kill these things, and quickly to get Demos back up and shooting at things. He's got to have a third gun somewhere, after all.

Sweet, soothing magical healing. It's always nice feeling like new again. "Thanks, Byron!" she says with more volume than is necessary as she attempts to finish off the lizard before her.

Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1] and sneak attack [roll2]

[RaggedAngel]

Lost in the realms of dreams, Demos wonders who the hell decided that magic gets to be so powerful. A first level spell, seriously.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Running out of flavor text. Jal orders South Paw to bring down T8 (disengaging isn't really an option until he's unable to attack - in which case she'll tell him to get away) since he's so wounded and then she reproduces the same attack from last round.

Cleave
Attack T6 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

Attack T7 [roll3]
Crit check [roll4]
Damage [roll5]

This is going to take a while. Probably still be fighting when the sickened effect wears off.

[King Tius]

OOC: Running out of flavor text is right!

Round 9

(18) Audrey
Audrey swings again, this time at L1 but is unable to land a hit again.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Turning back to the task at hand, Byron jabs at L1 and scores a hit, finally bringing the lizard down. He five foot steps onto its fallen body to threat L2.

(08) Jalaera
Jal goes for another double-slash but misses the mark again! South Paw connects with 08 and yanks it off its feet.

(03) Toland
Toland moves to K5 and takes advantage of the Prone 08. He stabs down with his longsword and quickly finishes the beast off.

(01) Troglodytes
06: Full attack on Toland
Claw1: [roll0] [roll1] vs AC 21 Hit! Not Confirmed Claw2: [roll2] [roll3] vs AC 21 Miss! Bite: [roll4] [roll5] vs AC 21 Miss!

07: Stabs at Jalaera again: [roll6] vs AC 18 for [roll7] Hit!

08: Bleeding Out!

L1: Bleeding Out!

L2: Attacks Audrey
[roll8] vs AC 17 Miss! for [roll9] plus poison DC 14 fort save [roll10] (Sickened applied) plus grab CMB [roll11] vs CMD 15

Round 10

(29) Aurora
Aurora fires a pair of bolts at 07, finishing it off.


The Map

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/9589/8wim.png


Party Statistics

Audrey: 17/20 Sickened 4 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 0/5 in clip, Entangled
Byron: 27/34 Sickened 3 Rounds
Demos: 11/24 Sickened 3 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 16/27 Sickened 4 Rounds
Michiko: ????????? Entangle cast in Round 1
Toland: 24/32 Sickened 4 Rounds
South Paw: 8/17 Sickened 3 Rounds

[Gorgon_Heap]

OOC: Why are 7 and 8 black?

Power attack
Attack T6 [roll0]
Crit check [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

Tremendous. It seems out of frustration, Jal kills herself.

[King Tius]

OOC: Why are 7 and 8 black?


They Dead. (Bleeding Out, technically)

[Saskia]

This position is not to Audrey's liking. Somebody should stand over Demos to keep him from dying, but if she repositions herself she stands a much better shot at killing this lizard outright.

Acrobatics against the lizard's CMD to get to H-4 without provoking attacks so she can flank with Byron [roll0]

Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2] and SA [roll3]

[King Tius]

Round 10

(18) Audrey
Audrey attempts to summersault her way through the monitor lizard’s square and to the other side. Unfortunately as she tries this maneuver the creature crunches down on her leg, dealing 11 damage and halting her movement. She attempts to wriggle free from its jaws but it’s grip proves too strong.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Byron steps to J5 and stabs at the monitor lizard, scoring a light hit.

(08) Jalaera
Jalaera misses with her powerful attack, as does South Paw.

(03) Toland
Toland goes for the one-two attack on 06 but only lands a hit with his longsword. The trog is still standing, though it looks quite beat up.

OOC: To wrap things up I am rolling everything myself

(01) Troglodytes

06: Full attack on Toland
Claw1: Miss! Claw2: Hit! 2 Damage Bite: Miss!

L2: With Audrey firmly in its grasp (passed check to maintain grapple), the lizard twists its head and hauls her over the pit. Audrey gets a free check to break free but comes up short. Once over the pit, the lizard releases its grip on Audrey. Still sickened by the trog aura, she fails her Reflex save to grab the lip of the pit and goes plummeting into the dark…..

The lizard turns and snaps at Byron but is unable to grab the portly priest.

Round 11

(29) Aurora
Full Round Action to reload.

(18) Audrey
Suddenly finding herself sailing through the air, Audrey has but a moment to tuck her arms and reorient her body feet-first. Graceful as a cat she manages to successfully ready herself for the incoming water and takes the plunge without incurring the 2d3 nonlethal and 6d6 lethal damage that comes with a fall of that height. Struggling and gasping, Audrey surfaces and takes a gulp of air. The only point of light in the whole chamber is the diffuse glow from the hole in the ceiling. Her rope dangles 10 feet away from her. Michiko’s body is nowhere to be seen.

(10) Demos
*Zzz*

(09) Byron
Byron sidesteps the lizard’s attack and plunges his rapier into the creature’s chest. From the wheezing noise the lizard makes, he’s fairly sure he pierced a lung. Somehow, the creature stays standing.

(08) Jalaera
Opting out of the power attack this time around, Jalaera goes for a normal attack and lands a glancing blow. Though it only gashes the trog across the arm, this last wound proves too much for the creature and it falls unconscious. South Paw moves to attack the last lizard but misses.

(03) Toland
Toland steps into position and brings his sword down with a satisfying crunch, catching the wounded lizard in the back and removing it from the fight.

END OF COMBAT

After another 20 seconds the sickening feeling from the trogs goes away. It’ll be another two minutes before the Entangle spell dissipates. Byron reaches down and rouses Demos from his slumbers. Aurora quickly reloads her crossbow and turns to scan the surrounding cliffs, clearly worried about more troglodytes. As you look around and survey the damage you've done, you realize that almost all of the trogs stabilized and are not bleeding out.

OOC: You each gain 1486 XP

Party Statistics

Audrey: 6/20
Aurora: ??/??
Byron: 27/34
Demos: 11/24
Jalaera: 23/27
Michiko: ?????????
Toland: 27/32
South Paw: 8/17

[Gorgon_Heap]

Breathing hard, the elf tries to steady herself as her stomach finally starts to settle. She casts about to see how her companions are faring and grasps at her side, where a trog spear did not penetrate her chainmail but bruised some ribs.

She peers into the pit. "Audrey?!" Noticing the lizards don't appear to all be dead, she points and asks generally, "What of them?"

[Saskia]

Between the darkness, the buoyancy, the injury, and the sickness, the badly disoriented Audrey suppresses her panic to allow her body to go limp. If she can't see or feel up, she can certainly feel the sense of slowly falling toward the water's surface, and swims from there.

No sharp pain from the dive, that's good; the bone is still solid. Just a flesh wound. A painful flesh wound, but a flesh wound all the same. Jalaera's voice is welcome, everyone else up there must be okay. But yelling back to her sounds like a phenomenally bad idea when she doesn't know what's occupying the cave. Well, other than the bats that nearly killed her earlier. Instead, she waves her glowing arrow in a wide arc to indicate that she's alright, and attempts to find some dry place to stand.

[Zoobity]

Byron wipes his weapon clean and sheaths it. He exhales loudly and claps Demos on the back. "Thanks be to Cayden Cailean and my good luck. I don't need to do that again for a while." He looks around the clearing. "Is everybody alright? Can I patch anybody up?" After a few seconds, "Where's Michiko?"

[RaggedAngel]

Demos takes a few seconds to get a grip of the situation, at which point he moves to the rope and calls down to Audrey. "Hold on down there Audrey, I'm coming. If, uh. If you happen to see my pistols, please grab them." He begins to move down the rope quickly and smoothly, with the practiced motions that come from a childhood on ships.

Before he drops down, however, he looks around at the sleeping troglodytes, his eyes dark. "Think about what you want to do with them, but know this: I will deal with them permanently if none of you are up to it. They've earned it."

Okay, so admittedly, his Climb is a +0. But his Acrobatics is a +11, and that's got to count for something. Especially since they folded Use Rope into Slight of Hand, and that's a +14.

[mshady]

Toland

When the last of the trogs go down, Toland looks around to make sure nothing else is coming. Satisfied of their momentary safety, he gestures for Aurora to check on her horse before turning to Demos.

"Doubt they talk. Don't want'em to wake up. So are these things like trolls and we need to cut'em up or burn them?" he says. He pokes one with the toe of his boot. Toland walks to the nearest one and finishes it off with his sword, while conversing with Demos.

Looking around, he realizes people are missing and he tenses.

"Where's Aubrey and Michiko? They carry her off or something?"

Looking around, he realizes something else is missing.

"I had a horse too. Where'd that go? They better not have donkeyed my horse"

[King Tius]

OOC: Are you sure you want Demos to climb down? The DC for an unknotted rope with no wall to brace against is 15. If you fail by 5 or more you fall from whatever height you fail the check at. Just want you to confirm before I do all the rolling.

Aurora moves towards her fallen horse and checks its vitals. She quickly ascertains that the creature is dead and returns to the group. "The lizard attacked Michiko. It took her down quickly and threw her into the pit before I could stop it. The poor girl, she was so young..." Glancing around at the troglodytes, she continues. "Unless you have a spell that allows us to communicate them, I recommend extinguishing them before they rise to fight again. No, Toland, we do not need to burn the bodies."

Down in the darkness, Audrey scans around the limit of her light arrow but does not see any walls or structures in the darkness. She does, however, see a large ripple in the water approaching her. The wave is nearly three feet tall and spans the range of her vision as it comes into view. Whatever is causing the wave underneath the dark water, it is very, very big.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos comes back over the lip of the drop-off almost as soon as he lowers himself down in, and as soon as he does he reorients to peer down into the hole. "Don't make a disturbance, but Audrey is currently riding on top of... something. Something very large, like a cross between a giant turtle and a dragon."

[Gorgon_Heap]

Watching the huge shape sloshing beneath the wounded woman below, Jalaera blanches (you can tell by her expression - she doesn't actually become any more pale). "Gods, it's speaking. We can't leave her alone down there ... Toland, grab this!"

She holds the end of her weapon out for him to add his grasp, and strength, as the variblade changes subtly from a partisan to a metal-capped fighting staff lacking a dangerously sharp end. "Let us see ..." she says, willing the downward-facing end of the staff to extend into the dark hole toward Audrey. The elf doesn't know if it will reach that far, but she hopes Audrey has enough strength left to grab and hold it as she and Toland pulll her out of danger.


FYI - Some of y'all are typing "Aubrey" rather than "Audrey." And I really don't know what else to do here - leaving her sounds too dangerous if the thing isn't friendly and we can't get down there to help without splattering ourselves.

[King Tius]

Jalaera and Toland brace the Variblade as she sends it down to rescue Audrey. You can see her grab hold of it and give it a tug. Taking the cue, Jal retracts the Variblade to bring Audrey up. Under the weight of the rogue the blade retracts more slowly than it extended but she is still is up and standing next to the hole again in under thirty seconds.

Yay, the (living) party is now all together again!

The Transcript of Audrey's Encounter with the Dragon Turtle


KT: Audrey ducks her head under the water and holds the arrow head pointed towards the incoming wave. The water is quite cold but is also crystal clear. Coming out of the eerie darkness at the edge of the arrow head's radiance is a giant white dragon head. It is looking right at you as it moves towards you. If you stay underwater and wait for it to get closer, you'll be able to see how big it is, though you may want to make a break for the rope instead....

S:It might be the normal thing to do to go for the rope, but if it looks like a dragon and it's swimming and Audrey's injured already she'd probably figure she's going to die anyway, so she might as well see what it is that's going to kill her since she can't reach the rope to get out even if she got to where it is. Best to go out with dignity

KT: The dragon swims towards you, growing ever bigger as it approaches. As it comes into a better view, you see that it is not actual a dragon but a dragon turtle. Though you've never seen one before, you're pretty sure that they aren't supposed to be all white, though this one is, all the way from its face to its great shell. It gets to within five feet of you and stops, its eyes looking you over with a deep intelligence. What do you do now?

S; Sheathes the axe and hold her hands up hopefully implying amicability, and then surface so she can A) breathe, and B) apologize for invading its territory and she'll totally leave if it wants and even take her friend that fell a minute ago if it's seen her. Audrey doesn't have arcana so I seriously doubt she'd know whether this thing eats people so treading lightly and politely seems like the way to go.

Oh, and also because it's a giant mutant version of a giant dragon monster. That's I guess also a good reason to be polite.

KT: The giant turtle blinks at Audrey as she goes to surface. Audrey watches with her heart in her throat as the great creature moves directly underneath her before surfacing, lifting her out of the water on its strangely white shell. It moves until the rope is easily in Audrey's grasp. Then, it raises its head out of the water and speaks.

"It has been many years since they have fed me someone who yet lives. You should leave this place before they find you."

Its voice is incredibly deep and carries out across the water. Audrey thinks she hears a hiss come from somewhere in the darkness.

S: She takes the rope but hesitates to ask, "What about the girl that fell a minute ago? Is she okay? Did you eat her?"

KT: "The splash woke me from my slumber. She lies at the bottom along with many, many things. I will eat her eventually, though not today. I am still sated from the donkey they fed me yesterday. It is pleasing to speak to you. The lizards only worship and cannot understand my requests. It has been so long since I have had someone to speak with."

S: Oh. Oh no. "Thank you, it's an honor to speak with you, I'd like to talk more when we get the chance, maybe we can get you out of here. But can I have the girl back? She's very important to me, I'd like to bury her properly. We have a horse to give you in return."

KT: The dragon turtle grows quiet. It cranes its head backwards and tilts its body slightly upwards so it can look straight upwards at the hole in the ceiling. It is a long moment before it speaks.

"....................freedom? You would offer me freedom?...........................My whole life I have been trapped in this wretched city, longing for the open water. It has been so long, I had given up all hope of escape. If you can offer me freedom, I will return this girl to you along with riches untold. My waters hold many secrets."

When it finishes speaking, it continues to look upwards at the open hole in the ceiling. There is a deep sadness in its voice, one that wasn't there when it first spoke to you.

S: So she is dead. ****. Maybe she could be resurrected.

In any case, freeing an imprisoned intelligent creature, taking away what the lizards who killed Michiko think is their god, and getting a reward? A reward of treasure from an ancient sunken city? Doing something nice for somebody could probably never be so satisfying again in her lifetime. "Honey I can't think of a worse hell than being stuck in a dark underwater pit with only a bunch of hyperaggressive braindead lizards to talk to; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't get you out of here and into a real home." She looks around the pit, dark as it may be, to try to get a sense of scale from the echo of her voice. "I'm not sure how I'll get you out yet, but I'll find a way, even if it means filling the cavern to the brim so you can swim out. Right now I need to get back up top so I can make sure my injuries don't get infected so I can get you out. Do you have a name? I'm Audrey Knight."

KT: "A name? I was born without a name. The man who taught me to speak gave me a name, but I have forgotten it. The troglodytes who worship me refer to me as Tokmokitdracaris, the Great Shell Dragon." When the dragon turtle speaks his name you hear what sounds like a small crowd of troglodytes shout his name out of the darkness in response. It is quite startling. They sound like they are very far away, but again, with the strange acoustics and no vision on the area, it is impossible to tell how far away they are. "You must climb now, Audreyknight (he smushes your two names together). The troglodytes have learned not to swim in my waters, but they may attack your companions now that they know you are here." Almost on queue, the tip of the Variblade descends down the hole, right next to you. The tip has been molded to a simple metal-capped quarterstaff so you can garb on. Looking up, you see Jalaera and Toland holding the other end.

S: Tokmo-kitdra-caris. That sure is a name. Breaking overlarge words and names into two or three easily memorized segments helps her to remember them properly, but Darcy is definitely going to stick in her head so much better. Besides, that's not a name, it's a title. It would be like calling Audrey "She Who Leaves Contraptions to Vex Her Foes From Afar", and that would just be difficult to use in conversation on top of being incredibly pretentious. Audrey takes the tip of the weapon and gives it a tug, offering parting words to the dragon turtle. "I'll call you Darcy, if that's alright. I promise I'll be back! Hold tight!"

[Gorgon_Heap]

The elf grasps the young woman's vest and helps pull her to solid ground, but looks down over her back into the hole to see if the unknown creature was reacting. And wondering with a heavy dread whatever happened you Michiko.

"You are safe now. How badly are you hurt? Byron?"

[RaggedAngel]

Demos takes Audrey's hand as she crests the top of the pit, helping her on to solid ground. "Are you alright? Please, tell us what was going on down there. Whatever that is, I need to know what it was saying."

He glances to the pit again, clearly anxious. "And, uh. And if it saw my guns. Or if you saw them. And Michiko! Is she still down there? Did she managed to make the dive, like you did, or..." He lowers his head. "She was unconscious when she fell. She didn't dive properly. She..."

He falls to his knees, eyes hollow. He opens his mouth to speak again, but nothing comes out. After a moment, he finds his words. "She was so innocent, and quiet, and bright. And young. Gods, she was young. She made me feel old and wise. And now she'll never be old. She'll never be some powerful archmage, nor a professor, nor a mother. She'll never find out what that damned rock we found in that tomb does.

She's dead, and we couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't protect her. That's the whole point of guns, you know. The whole reason I'm trying to make them, and improve them, and get them out in the world; because there are just so damned many monsters and devils and demons in the world, and so many people like Michiko. But I couldn't save her. I crumpled to the first spell that hit me, just like my father did." He falls silent, broken.

I'm crying.

[Saskia]

The day's intensity starts to dawn on Audrey as she's pulled up. Just a few days ago she was cracking boring safes in boring nobles' boring homes listening to their boring stories about a boring fight with a boring wife or husband or servant because they didn't want to admit to losing the key for boring reasons like they were stupid or drunk, and now she had taken the best, or at least the most impressive shot of her life (although nobody had seen it), fought and survived a band of lizard-people with sorcerers and guard pets, and now this.

She falls into Jalaera and hugs her, careful to avoid pressure on her lizard-gnawed leg, squeezing Demos' hand tightly. It must have been the adrenaline suppressing the pain when that thing dropped her in. "I am in so much pain right now, but I think most of it is from the water irritating where the lizard got me. Michiko was apparently dead on impact though. I'm so sorry, I should have dived in after her, maybe I could have saved her. The poor girl didn't deserve that."

[mshady]

Toland

While they had rescued Audrey, they had no such luck finding Michiko. Toland had thought that she was not really cut out for a life involving conflict, as evidenced by her entangling her own group for some reason. She had a fine mind and a good person, and that loss pained Toland. She was a good person, and Toland felt a measure of guilt. Those trogs had not posed much threat to him, and he had fought his own fight. He had intended to draw the others to him and hope the two wings could hold with Aurora to his side. The sleep spells had not been something Toland had counted on.

Losing Michiko left him bitter, and with a strong pang of guilt, but as he watched Demos and Audrey, he can't quite muster that feeling. They had lost people in this group before, though, and would again. He stands next to Aurora, separate from the group.

"I feel guilty, and regret that I couldn't save her, but not like Demos feels" he says and pauses, not looking directly at Aurora. "Not sure why, really. I'm here for the purpose above all else. They're mourning, and I am thinking of how we move forward. Maybe it was just we were not close. Maybe not. I doubt anyone would mourn me like that" he says and sighs.

He gives Aurora a moment to respond if she chooses and walks back towards the group.

He clears his throat and looks at the group, his expression somber.

"I know this hurts, but we haven't the time right now. Not too much. They seemed intent on putting us all down that hole. Audrey, what did you see down there and what happened? Either we all go down there, or we need to fall back to some cover. I don't know how much time we have till more come, but it will be more than last time"

[Saskia]

Audrey releases her death grip on Jalaera when Toland addresses her, sitting down beside Demos and still holding his hand tightly in both of hers, as much to keep herself from shaking as to comfort him. He was definitely closer to the girl than she was, and he was obviously having a difficult time with it, but Audrey hasn't had much opportunity to deal with death. Everyone she had ever known or loved is still alive, with the exception of her grandparents, who were ancient when they died. The girl just not being anymore isn't fair. For the first time in her recollection, her mind runs through the incredibly risky thing's she's done, in this new context where death is a real possibility. It's like a cruel slap in the face.

She sighs and collects her thoughts into a shaky voice. "Ah, first, the water down there is a lot deeper than I would have thought. I'd have sworn I was going to shatter everything below my hips hitting a hard floor, but I must have gone thirty or forty feet down and I still didn't see any even with the light." She stops again to try to remember the order of what happened. She was so excited by talking to the turtle it had barely even registered that Michiko was dead. At least she had asked, but it wasn't until the way up that it had time to process. She shudders at her own heartlessness. When she starts speaking again she speaks quickly, as if talking faster would make it all go away faster. "I looked around and I saw there was a ripple coming, like the wake of a big without the canoe. It had to be big, since it was underwater, and I figured, hell, if I'm gonna die down here I might as well know what's going to pull my number. It was that big white dragon turtle thing you guys saw. It said, gods alive what did it say? It said I should leave because it hadn't been fed a living person in a long time, and I asked if it had seen Michiko—I said 'the girl that fell before me' or something, I don't recall exactly, but I asked if it saw her—and he said yeah, and he didn't eat her yet because he was still full from a goat or something yesterday. He was happy to have somebody to talk to because the troglodytes were stupid but I asked if I could have her back so we could bury her, and I also said I wanted to help it if I could. He said he'd give us Michiko if I kept my promise to get him out. I think that's what he meant, maybe he meant we could just take her, I'm not sure. I promised it I'd find a way to get it out though, and the place is dark and deep and teeming with those lizard people and I really don't want to go back down right now."

[mshady]

Toland

He listens to what Audrey says carefully, and nods his head. Pausing in consideration for a moment, Toland looks at the dead trogs and lizards.

"It sounds to me like we are presuming the worst with Mickiko. The "goat" it ate yesterday was probably the donkey, and this is what they sacrificed or will sacrifice Velma too. We're going back down. Jalaera, get that variblade back in place and a rope on it. I think those trogs had the right idea.

Audrey, why don't you search that spell caster for anything useful. Demos, see about helping Jalaera set that rope again. Aurora, Byron and I are going to toss the trog and lizard bodies back down the hole. I think they had the right idea. A fat, dumb and happy turtle might just be a helpful turtle. After that, if you can heal us mostly up Byron, that'd be appreciated. After that, we strip down to what we can swim in and head down. Come on, get going!" Toland says, his voice not quite a bark but sharp enough to try to snap the others out of their melancholy.

[King Tius]

Aurora puts her hand on Toland's shoulder when he confesses his sadness to her. He can see a softness in her eyes that isn't usually there when she addresses him.

"They are people; you are a soldier. You fought bravely and took the enemy head-on, just as the Inheritor herself would have done. Do not feel guilty over Michiko's death, but do not lose that regret entirely. Let it serve as a reminder that we must always strive to protect those who can not protect themselves. That is the true meaning of being a paladin. You are the Sword and the Shield." She taps his sword and shield for emphasis.

[Saskia]

"It's not dumb, Toland. Just different."

She rubs Demos' hand and hugs him before hobbling off to search the body as requested. Heartless as Toland may sound, he is right. If the group stays here they're just waiting to be killed off, and if that creature has anything that can help then Audrey's probably the one to figure out what it is and how to use it now that Michiko can't.

[Zoobity]

Byron breathes slowly and deeply as he starts his pipe. After he puffs through the bowl he looks to the group. "That's bad luck, it is." The way he says it is not flippant or dismissive but carries the weight of a theological observation. "And we've got to be the good luck to make up for it." He turns to the group, his face steely for the first time since the goblin jail, and grips Demos by the arm and hauls him to his feet. "Up. You can't do anything down there. There's a time for mourning like there's a time for everything and we'll do it properly then. Up." Byron turns to Toland. "Right. Let's feed that beast and get what we can." Byron will heal whomever needs healed and helps Toland move the bodies to the edge of the hole. "Audrey, are you comfortable talking to it again? Toland's right, this is a time for quick action. Let's do this and rest soon after."

[Saskia]

"But," Audrey sighs a sigh of defeat. There's no room for cowardice here. Michiko already died, and Audrey's a much stronger swimmer than most people. And there's also the part where she's the only one who's talked to the dragon turtle so far. She's the most rational choice to speak with it again. And if nobody does it, more people are going to die. "Yeah, alright. Just give me a minute to search this thing and collect myself and I'll go back down."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos stands, shaking his head. "No, Audrey. I need to speak to this thing for myself, and see the kind of situation it's in. If for nothing else, chalk it up to pure selfishness; my pistols are down there. But I also can't ignore the fact that a sentient creature is trapped in a cave, surrounded by troglodytes. Sounds like hell."

He look to the rope, the variblade, the cave, and thinks for a moment. His eyes are hard and dark; all business. "This is really an engineering problem. All of it; getting down there to speak to it safely, getting Michiko's body back up, and potentially getting the dragon turtle out. The first part is the most simple.

We can extend the blade so that it braces against either side of the opening very firmly; based on how long it can extend, it should be able to press into the sides of the opening with considerable force. We tie the rope about my belt and bandolier, spreading the weight across my torso, and then lower me down. If bats attack or something, I won't have to pull off that same superhuman climbing Audrey did; you can just haul me up. Jal, Byron, Aurora, and Toland are all strong enough to lift me by themselves; I'm not worried with all four of you up here. Audrey has the more important job of checking the bodies of the trogs, and making sure that they are bodies, if you're up for that."

He looks around, the picture of melancholy. "Shall we?"

[King Tius]

Audrey moves around and investigates the fallen troglodytes. All but three of them are still breathing and are merely unconscious from their wounds. Other than the spears and nets they brought with them, they have no interesting possessions or items. They have no items at all, in fact, other than the loincloths they are wearing.

Byron has offered to heal everyone but points out that the healing effect will wake the trogs if they aren't dealt with. Aurora draws her longsword and moves towards the closest one to fix this problem.

Here's the plan as I see it:

1. Kill the remaining trogs.
2. Toss their bodies into the hole.
3. Byron uses Channel Positive Energy 1-3 times to patch everyone up
4. Variblade is going to be stuck in the hole and left there as a climbing device
5. A crude pulley system will be set up and Demos will be lowered to talk to the Dragon Turtle.

If anyone disagrees with this, speak up! Otherwise I'll move things along sometime this evening.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos draws his shortsword and quietly helps Audrey finish off the unconscious troglodytes so that Byron can channel his healing powers. Any remorse or respect he would have normally felt for defeated foes died with Michiko. As soon as that grim work is does he gladly accepts a burst of healing before harnessing himself to the rope as best he can. He takes off his pack before doing so, leaving the heavy gear up to; and keeping his gunpowder far away from all that water.

[Saskia]

"He said it was a city, and I didn't see the tops of any buildings. It's got to be unfathomably deep, and Darcy was adamant that I leave quickly because of the lizard people. Demos, I don't think your guns are worth more than your life."

OOC, Audrey is going to tell everyone what happened. I didn't do a big write-up just for that primarily because Tius said he was going to put it all up.

[Zoobity]

Byron lights another pipe as Demos, Audrey, and Aurora go about their grim business. He calls to Aurora. "So, how are you holding up over there?" he calls to her over the quiet sounds of the butchery. "Come here often?" He grins, somewhat sadly, to himself and cleans his pipe. He reddens slightly under his beard, frustrated at his own attempt at levity given the circumstances. Once all of the trogs are dead he removes the silver chalice from his belt and pours wine into it. "Gather round, all ye drinkers, for the good luck of the Drunk God will be visiting soon." Once those in need of healing are near enough to be caught in the burst he takes three quick swallows and muttered prayers, each accompanied by a pouring out of positive energy from the cup.

Healing Bursts
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

After everyone is healed up Byron cleans the cup and tucks it back in his belt. "So then, time for more lizard talk?" He pats Demos on the back and gives him an overly enthusiastic smile.

[King Tius]

Aurora helps slit the throats of the unconscious troglodytes but she leaves it to the men in the group to drag their bodies into the pit. She can't help but smile at Byron's remarks, though it is a sad smile. "As well as can be expected. Death is never a pleasant business, whether it be friend or foe. I must confess that I am not a strong swimmer, but I will follow you into this pit all the same."

Demos secures the end of the rope to himself and stands ready to descend. The lot of you are going to lower him down, correct? Using the Variblade as a pulley of sorts out in the middle of the pit?

[King Tius]

Everyone grabs hold of the rope and begins to lower Demos down into the pit. By now the bats have returned to their roosts and are once again asleep, though Demos does not see a large dire bat among them. Using the same light arrow that Audrey had, Demos is lowered all the way down until he hangs right above the water. He gives a tug on the rope (really more of a bounce) to indicate that he is low enough. An eerie minute passes before the dragon turtle appears, this time surfacing directly in front of the gunslinger with little warning. It regards him with the same deep and intelligent eyes that scanned Audrey before it speaks.

"Another spider come down to visit? You are not Audreyknight, but I suspect you are her kin."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos nods, the closest he can come to a bow of respect. "Greetings, old one. I am indeed one of Audrey's companions; I am called Demos. I am honored to meet you. I have seen far more of this world than most of my kind, and yet I have met only one other being as grand as you; and he was not nearly so polite."

He adjusts his bandolier, which is already cutting into his chest uncomfortably. Better than clinging to a rope, though. "I have come to see you situation for myself, to understand how best we can help you. I understand that you want to be free of this place, and I cannot blame you for that. Do you know who built this place? Were you born here? Anything you can tell me, old one, is another tool I can use to help get you out of here."

[King Tius]

The great turtle cranes its neck to stare at the hole in the sky. "I do not know how I came to be in this place, but my oldest memories are of it. It was once a place where people lived, though all but the highest levels have been flooded for my whole life. The troglodytes live in the upper chambers and worship me as a god. My demands for freedom go unheard while they prostrate before me, so I have taken to scalding them whenever I can see one. This has only made them worship me more fervently, unfortunately. I believe there is some kind of feud going on between the troglodytes, but I do not know the specifics. They pray to me for aid in defeating their "fallen brother" but I care so little for their politics that I haven't paid attention to them in some time. There are several zombies that wonder the bottom of my lake. I destroy them when I come across them but I do not know where they are coming from."

[RaggedAngel]

Demos thinks on the dragon turtle's words for a moment before responding. "I can't blame you for tuning out the troglodytes; the group I met was immediately and needlessly hostile. Zombies, you say...

Well, that's no matter for now. I suppose I have a few questions to move things along. Do you know is there is a land route down? As much as I love dangling, it would be good to speak to you with ground beneath me. And, pardon my ignorance, but are you water-bound, or can you move along the ground? Actually, pardon my manners; what is your name?"

[King Tius]

"When I was younger I roamed the middle halls of this place but never found a way out. I have dug out all of the chambers below the water's surface but have not found a way to the surface. The troglodytes do not use the hole in the sky, though I do not know where their exit is. I believe I could walk upon the land, though it has been countless years since I held my weight under my own power. Nonetheless, my shell will provide. A name? You little folk are so concerned with names. The troglodytes who worship me refer to me as Tokmokitdracaris, the Great Shell Dragon."

[RaggedAngel]

"Tokmokitdracaris it is, then," Demos replies, careful with the pronunciation. "And it is certainly good to hear that you can take a land route away; I say that because we are far from any above-ground bodies of water. They..."

He trails off, having just realized something. "You called this the hole in the sky? Oh my. The way this hole looks during the day, bright blue? That's the sky. It is everywhere outside of this place. There are so many things you have never seen; mountains and trees, fields and grass and rivers. I swear, we are going to get you out of here, Tokmokitdracaris. I will ascend now, to find a way down there on foot. But first, I must ask; the troglodytes dropped a few things into the hole; two small metal and wood objects, which are very important to me. They may not look it, but they are powerful weapons that I have put much of my life into understanding and making. If you could find those, I would be extremely grateful."

[King Tius]

Tokmokitdracaris goes quiet for several moments before answering Demos. "I have heard of such things, long ago, the things outside my home. Small things are easily lost at the bottom of the water. It is very dark, even for me to see. I will search for your items if you are truly going to help me get free. When I find them, I will call for you."

[mshady]

Toland

Looking down the hole and unable to hear or see the exchange below, he stands with his sling in one hand and shield in the other by Aurora. So far, so good on no more trogs. They had smelled awful, but had not seemed especially competent fighters. The spell caster was quite effective, but most of what the lizards had going for them was their reptile brain aggression and enough bulk to take a hit or two. To only basically trained soldiers, they would have been a handful. As he waited, he thought about his concerns and glances at Aurora.

"So we're here to find Velma, and now we're supposed to rescue a giant turtle?" he asks and looks around for any open water in the vicinity. "So how are we supposed to do exactly? A cart?" he says and sighs.

This isn't going to end well...

[Saskia]

Audrey scans her surroundings for more hostiles. The young girl's death still weighs on her, but fear has always triggered vigilance in Audrey, rather than cowardice. There is some solace in knowing that if she dies horribly in a ultimately futile attempt to rescue a woman she doesn't know based on what she might be able to help with, but she would be far more comfortable with a goal that was a little more concrete, and so she prefers to settle on the promise to help the turtle.

Toland's nay-saying is not helping.

"Don't be like that. We'd have to be horrible people to leave him imprisoned and alone forever just because we couldn't be bothered to think about the problem for a minute. Besides, we don't know what the lizard people might have that we could use to help out. Dumber people have solved bigger problems with fewer tools; we'll figure something out."

[mshady]

Toland

Looking at Audrey, he raises an eyebrow in her direction before addressing her.

"No, you're quite right. A horrible person would not simply leave anything imprisoned like this, just like how only a horrible person would kill or steal from the innocent. I believe that we all have a responsibility to help anyone we have the capacity to. My point goes to our capacity. I've no idea what we are supposed to do about it. If that thing is remotely as smart as it's winged cousin, I'm sure it's considered all the easy solutions. We might not want to over promise here and make it mad when we can't deliver a miracle promptly. We didn't figure out anything with the trees, and we have to be prepared to do the same here

The mission is still Velma, and I can't put an overgrown turtle over however many people that dwarf is going to kill. If there is anything I know about a dwarf, they are known for keeping to their grudges and their oathes. He has both. Do you have any ideas here?"

[Saskia]

From the innocent. What a nice touch. "If he's considered the easy options, why would he be offended if we can't get him out right away?" She takes the opportunity to tighten her hair back again properly before it starts actually getting in the way. "I'm not sure about a way to get him out yet, but like I said we still don't know what we've got to work with. As far as I can figure, a pulley crane probably won't help much because we won't be able to get a rope or chain strong enough to hold the turtle, even if the crane could. We could maybe bore or blast a hole in the ceiling and build a ramp out, but I'm concerned about the dome's integrity. Well, if it really is a dome. The oculus is one thing, but anywhere else and it could cause a total collapse, and burying or destroying the remnants of an unexplored lost city would be unforgivable, to say nothing of killing the turtle through our own carelessness."

Audrey looks away from Toland again to keep an eye out for hostile forces. "Anyway I think the goals dovetail quite nicely. Dwarves are supposed to be born engineers the way I hear it, so a dwarf who's properly educated the way Velma sounds should be a lot of help. Then maybe Darcy can help us out with putting the screws to Bob, and nobody else has to die. Not even Bob, unless he's spectacularly hard-headed."

[Zoobity]

Byron nods thoughtfully, "All philosophizing aside, we should keep looking for Velma, no question. You lot are right. That beast has been down there for some time and I hope a few days won't make it angry with us. I have every intention of helping, but we don't know how Velma is. Or where she is. Toland has the right of it. I'm more worried about one young dwarf woman than a giant turtle who may be too big to even fit through that hole. When Demos gets back we need to catch our breath and plan our next move."

[mshady]

Toland

He sighs and looks between Audrey and Byron. This was getting a bit tedious, he thought.

"Audrey, I'm glad to hear that you live a life of helping everyone in need that you come across. Perhaps there is a place in my Order for you. Aurora could instruct you" he says, not taking his eyes off the tree line of the area. Jalaera was still gone. He sounds a bit exasperated.

"I would not assume that just because she is a dwarf, she is an engineer on top of being a wizard and a scholar. I'd expect an innate understanding of the basics, but that's about it. Or worse, a purely academic understanding" Toland says and feigns a shudder. "Let's just find her and work backwards on all our other problems. I hope Demos is being honest with it about our priorities, because if he's promised it release before finding Velma, we may have a problem. I wish we could do it all, one of the best parts of my job, but it's a hard job. It seems the harder you try to do the right thing all the time, the worse things end up. A bit of a down thing... why I am trying to temper our expectations here" Toland glances down the hole behind him and over at Aurora, not sure of her reaction.

He felt a bit young to be a bit jaded, but there it was.

"Anyways, seems we have a moment. I need to find my horse. Never got the name thing down, but whistles work" he says and, figuring all harm had been with the fight, and uses his fingers to help him form a very shrill whistle. He blows the note a few times and reaches into his satchel to get a plump looking carrot.

"Come here, boy! I got carrots!"

[King Tius]

With Demos up and out of the hole a discussion begins about the expectations of the dragon turtle. Everyone seems to be in agreement that something should be done about him but that he is in no way a higher priority than Velma, the people of Echo Bend, and perhaps even the transformed tree-people. Aurora nods her approval at Toland's suggestion of tempering the turtle's expectations, but as some of you have already pointed out, what will a few more days mean to a creature that has lived down there for hundreds of years? Healed up and ready to press on, Jalaera and South Paw lead the group towards where the troglodyte spellcasters ran away. Remembering his horse, Toland whistles for the creature and is pleasantly surprised when it comes trotting around one of the small hills towards him. It takes the offered carrot as Toland regains its reigns.

Meanwhile at the head of the group Jalaera has almost no trouble following the fresh and hurried tracks of the spellcasters. In fact, the trail becomes even easier to follow as the troglodytes run along a well-worn trail, clearly used by them and their ilk. This deep rut in the ground snakes between two cliff faces and goes about a hundred yards before it comes to the face of yet another little cliff. A fat and squat tree partially obscures a doorway leading into the cliff face. There are no troglodytes in the area but the doorway belches their foul stench as you approach it. The ground here is littered with footprints like what you might see in the streets of a town market, though at a quick glance they all seem to be troglodyte footprints. The doorway itself is perfectly rectangular and sized to fit medium sized creatures, though you can't help but notice that the doorway is a bit shorter than you'd expect of a human building. While the doorway is carved into the cliff itself, it is outlined by runes that are nearly worn away from exposure. Immediately inside the doorway is a set of hewn stone stairs leading down into the darkness. The walls and ceiling around them are expertly carved and match the same kind of craftsmanship you saw in the tomb under Mrs. Stormscale's home. No sounds emanate from the doorway.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Jalaera notes the etchings but is in the hunt, and leaves any meaning or connection for others' consideration. She turns and speaks quietly over her shoulder. "Ready your lights. I will take a short lead."

She waves for South Paw to stay several long paces behind her and she steps near-silently into the foul cavern.

OOC - As the others ready torches or find items to cast light on, she'll take 10 on a Stealth check for a move into the cave. I'm assuming this is Underground and not Mountain terrain for my Ranger benefits. Darkvision.

Stealth 18
Perception [roll0]
Survival [roll1]

[King Tius]

Jalaera has South Paw wait at the top of the stairs as she enters the dark doorway and begins to descend. As her eyes adjust to the darkness and her darkvision takes over, she can see that the stairs head down for sixty feet before the reach a small landing. Moving towards it, she listens closely for sounds of the enemy but hears nothing. When she reaches the landing she sees that to the right the stairs cut back and begin heading down again. A thin wall of stone between the two sets of stairs prevents someone on one stairway from seeing those on another. Also on the small platform is a doorway much like the one she just entered. The same markings appear along the boarder but unlike the door at the surface this doorway is filled with stone, almost as if the dwarves started to outline the doorway but never got around to cutting it out of the rock. Peering down the steps from this landing, Jal can see that there is a similar landing/doorway set up twenty feet below, though the doorway down there is open. The smell of the trogs has grown stronger as she descended but she still sees no immediate signs of them.

OOC: You are correct. Once you venture inside you are no loner in mountain territory.

EDIT OOC2: Forgot the distance of the water in the main chamber. The initial length of the staircase has been increased to 60 feet to make the numbers add up!

[Gorgon_Heap]

The elf deftly pads down the next flight and stops at the open doorway. She oozes silently into a very low crouch and then wills the variblade to shorten and widen. Holding it down at the bottom of the doorframe, she uses it's flawless surface as a mirror to peer around the room.

She then reverses her actions and waits before the first platform as the others come down to meet her.

[King Tius]

Jalaera uses the Variblade as a mirror to peek around the frame of the open doorway. Inside she sees a rubble-strewn room lined with stone shelves built into the walls. These are not the deep corpse-shelves you once saw in the mausoleum under Echo Bend; these appear to be the shelves of a store room, though they are now empty. The doorway at the other side of the room (again, with the sigils) leads into a perpendicular hallway so she can't see what's beyond.

Another flight of stairs leads down from the second landing, though Jal can see that there is water at the bottom of this one that has risen up to about half the height of the (open) door down there.

[Gorgon_Heap]

(Assuming nothing happens in the meantime) Once the others reach her position, Jalaera relates all she's seen, emphasizing the level of water at the third tier down.

"At that point there will be nothing left for me to track. Even given the constant stench South Paw will be unable to find any scents in the water. I must assume that is where the majority of tunnels branch from, otherwise they'd all be under water." She frowns. "Aurora, are these lizards at all aquatic in nature? If they can easily swim to submerged caves this venture is for naught, and if she were alive at the time Velma would likely have drowned." She looks quite displeased with the idea, and hopeful her fears will be quickly dispensed.

[King Tius]

Aurora shakes her head at Jalaera. "Not that I know of."

[Saskia]

Audrey can't help but smile. How long has this place been here? Who ordered its construction? How long did it take to build? She runs her hand idly along the weatherworn carving in a vain attempt to place the language, but is more curious about the method by which it was inscribed rather than the words or concepts expressed. "That's odd," she muses aloud. "I can't read the dwarves' language, but I know dwarven script when I see it. This is something else altogether." There's a sort of smug satisfaction in knowing she's probably the first to really appreciate seeing this place in a long time. But then, any satisfaction in seeing something old just because it's old probably has to be smug.

In spite of her awe she gives Jalaera her attention. "Well, if she's a sacrifice like Aurora suggested, they wouldn't let her drown. You said there's another hallway, let's check that out before we jump to any conclusions, yeah?"