Ravenwood IC

[EdroGrimshell]

Dougal McCormick
Dougal had been travelling the road to Ravenwood, the ravens that gave the town its name were calling out, almost cackling. Dougal had been told before, as every villager had, to be aware of the ravens, and of their tone, and today they sounded calm, if a little like they were laughing at the world.

That's when Dougal came across a man stumbling out of the woods.


Brin Calvish
Brin was lost when he stumbled out of the treeline, the ravens were loud here, he couldn't tell if any other animal was around, but someone was on a road just beyond the treeline. That meant a town, at the very least. He was still lost, but at least he had a start.


Alexis Wren
Alexis found herself without one of the herbs she'd need for a medicine, one of the commonly used ones. It lessened stomach cramps, calmed the stomach, and soothed the throat, was also one of the few medicines that wasn't bitter. She'd ordered some a few days ago, but it had yet to arrive, she'd need to take a trip to the herbalist if it didn't arrive soon. Until then, willowbark tea was the only alternative.


Taegan Fireshroom
The ravens were silent, that was the first thing to give Taegan pause as she checked his traps. Even out here, the ravens would call out. But now, they were silent. Even the dogs seemed to notice as they paced nervously. But then, the ravens started to call out, coming towards Taegan, whatever it was, it had been leaving the town, and had passed Taegan without presenting a threat.


Father Cain
One family didn't show at the rites today, and it was one of the ones that always showed, always. That was concerning, and that's what brought Cain to the small house for the Tailor family.

Perception Rolls from everyone!

[Business Scrub]

Alexis sighs, measuring out her remaining powdered drakelily in the workroom of her house.

"A fiftieth-ounce..? Can I make that work? Maybe for one of the children..? *Sigh* No, not even a baby. This isn't exactly cheap." She pauses and taps top of the scale, a bit irritated. She realizes she was talking out loud and shakes her head. I need a cat...

Growing impatient, she decides to head to the Herbalist anyway. Well, I haven't seen the herbalist in a while. Might as well pay her a visit.

Alexis packs an apple, a bit of cheese and a cold leg of chicken from last night in a bag, wraps a warm fur coat around her, and prepares to head out. After a bit of hesitation, she takes her crossbow with her as well, just in case.

[MightBeABook]

Father Cain strides purposefully towards the door of the Tailor home and knocks firmly on it.

[THEChanger]

Dougal blinks a couple of times as a man pops out of the trees in front of him. Ravenwood does not often get visitors from the outside. In fact, Dougal isn't sure he remembers ever meeting someone who didn't live in Ravenwood. He approaches, slowly. "Hello there. My name is Dougal. Dougal McCormick. Who are you?"

[Jacior]

Brin looks up at the trees with some amount of disdain. "Bloody birds..." Sighing he shakes his leg free of a clinging branch. "Bloody forest..." And then, all of a sudden, someone was yelling at him. He shakes a stray leaf out of his hair and sighs. "What's it matter to you?" The tall man calls back and stays quiet for a moment. "It's Brin."

[WeaselGuy]

Taegan pauses while checking her trap line to calm her dogs down, then resets the current trap before hopping on her sled and heading off to the next trap on her route. Hopefully she would get a good haul of furs this trip. With the weather turning cold, she was certain some of the outlanders would be wanting some warm clothes, which meant the clothiers would be coming to her for good fur lining.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
While a little nippy outside, the jacket was probably overkill. The herbalist's workshop wasn't too far, Ravenwood was small after all. The herbalist herself was a tiny stick of a woman, and that was for a halfling, she was, however, quite knowledgeable about various plants and where to get them. It was her apprentice, a young boy by the name of Dale, that sat at the counter today.


Brin Calvish & Dougal McCormick
(You guys can RP for a bit).


Father Cain
The door falls inward, the hinges rusted to dust. There's a metallic smell on the air, not coppery like blood would smell, but still noticeable.


Taegan Fireshroom
The next trap actually has a still living fox held by the leg, it looks like it hasn't eaten in some time, it's coat wouldn't bring in any good money in its current state. It barely even stirred when one of the dogs came over to sniff at it, except to make a soft, almost inaudible, noise.

[Business Scrub]

Alexis scans the small shop for the Herbalist. Not finding her, she smiles at the apprentice.

"Hullo Dale! She has you working the counter now too?"

She looks distractedly at the variety of plants and fungi on the walls and shelves while chatting.

"D'you know where the miss went off to? I'm all out of drakelily."

[THEChanger]

"Well, not often we get strangers around Ravenwood, and I know I've not seen you before. You get lost in the woods? It can get a bit-" Dougal stops in his slow walk towards the stranger as he notices two glowing eyes in the woods behind Brin. Dougal goes stiff, and his voice becomes much quieter. "Brin. It appears one of the forest's residents has followed you. Don't move too suddenly, just make your way to the middle of the road." Dougal slowly draws his knife, just in case. A full grown wolf could easily kill a man, to say nothing of a bear, or a wolverine. Even the feral cats that you could sometimes find in the forest around Ravenwood could be dangerous if you weren't careful. Dougal wasn't much of a fighter, so hopefully whatever was in the woods wasn't hungry. Or if it was, hopefully this Brin fellow was a fighter.

[MightBeABook]

With a brief moment of concentration, Cain projects a tiny piece of his soul outward. As his soulspark familiar takes shape, he draws forth his crossbow from beneath his cloak and loads a bolt into it. Cain calls out, "Master Tailor?"

Cautiously, Cain and his familiar advance into the house.

Soulspark Familiar (Least Soulspark, Magic of Incarnum 197) is 5 feet in front of Cain, with a readied action to use Soul Blast if anything other than one of the Tailors or another resident of Ravenwood attacks. Cain has a readied action to fire his crossbow at anything other than one of the Tailors, a raven, or another resident of Ravenwood that attacks.

Whenever necessary - Spot: [roll0] Listen: [roll1]

[Jacior]

Brin doesn't even tense up. "It's probably nothing. Would have attacked me while I was still alone, right?" That being said, he still walks more methodically than he would have normally. Once he gets standing next to Dougal, he then turns around to look at the woods, trying to find whatever it was that the shorter man was seeing.

[roll0]

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
"Evenin' Miss Wren," Dale replied with a drawl, "Miss Nerra went in search of the delivery, it didn't arrive yesterday. She brought Roofus with her so she should be fine though," Roofus was Dale's pet... something. No one knew what to call the thing, but it was friendly and rather well trained, and absolutely vicious when attacked.


Brin Calvish & Dougal McCormick
A low growl echoes behind the two, then Dougal sees the creature run off. He'd heard about this sort of thing, but it was always at night when something like that showed up, but it was daytime now.


Father Cain
Inside, a few chairs are overturned, and there's bits of silverware on the ground, half rusted. A skittering noise alerts Cain to a hallway, where he sees a long tail vanish around a corner, it looked like a rat, not big enough to be a dire rat, but still bigger than normal. A knock occurs above Cain, followed by two additional knocks.


Taegan Fireshroom
(Need a post here)

Sorry for the delay, stuff's been a little hectic, my cat ran off and I ended up searching for him for two days, another game of mine finally kicked off, and I'm working on a couple new classes, including one that may very well be used here at some point, as an NPC, not as a player accessible class.

[Business Scrub]

Alexis sighs, finding herself with a lot of free time. "That's never good news. Any idea when she will be back? Roofus is... well I dunno, the thought of her going alone with him makes me nervous."

[WeaselGuy]

Taegan decides to release and nurture the emaciated fox instead of harvesting it. Taking pity on the poor creature, she tries to give it a little bit of food and keep it as a pet. She resets the snare, and continues on to the next trap in her line.

Craft (Trapmaking) - [roll0]

[THEChanger]

Dougal let out the breath he had been holding, visibly relaxing. "Good. Good good. Strange, though. The beasties that live out there aren't usually active in the day. Night's more to their liking." He turns to Brin, extending a hand. "Well, it's good to meet you Brin. What brings you out here to Ravenwood?"

[Jacior]

Brin just shrugs slightly. He hadn't seen or even heard anything. "Maybe you were just imagining it." He looks at the hand with some disdain before taking it and giving it a half shake. "I got lost in the woods."

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
"I told her to take someone from the militia with her, but you know how stubborn she can be," Dale replies, "it took almost an hour for me to get her to take Roofus with her as it was. She did take that ring a mage left here a year ago, she said she had one good use from it left, whatever that means."


Brin Calvish & Dougal McCormick
(Nothing to input, you two are on self contained RP mode right now).


Taegan Fireshroom
The fox gets a bit down, after a drink of water, and promptly goes to sleep, a feeling of relief spreading to Taegan.

The next trap had a bit more to work with, a rabbit, its pelt completely undamaged, and best yet, it was a white rabbit, out of season, they wouldn't change coats for another month.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Business Scrub]

"That old ring?" Alexis grimaced a bit. "Magic will bring you nothing but trouble... Well, there's no helping it now. She's right smart, I'm sure the miss'll be fine. Looks like I'm stuck here till she gets back.
What's the news today Dale, anything good?"

How long does Alexis figure she'll be gone? Hours or days?

[WeaselGuy]

Keeping an eye on her new wee little fox friend, all snuggled up on the sled, Taegan hops off to harvest the white rabbit, taking the time to skin it and gut it a little off the path. Finished with that, she tosses each of the dogs and the fox a small morsel of rabbit flesh, adds the skin to the stack on the sled, and puts the remaining rabbit flesh in a small cask. She then resets the trap, and heads off.

Craft (Trap) [roll0]

[THEChanger]

Dougal raises his eyebrow at Brin's reaction, but quickly decides to let it go. "Perhaps, perhaps. But, in any case, town's just up the road. Someone can probably get you pointed where you're going. Maybe Taegan will be in, she knows the woods pretty well." Sheathing his knife, Dougal starts heading down the road again. "Where were you heading, anyway? Not much in this part of the world."

I don't know if Dougal got a good enough look at whatever the beastie was, but I'll roll Know: Nature to see if he can gather any further insight.

[roll0]

[Jacior]

"Nowhere. I was just walking. Got lost. Maybe looking to earn some coin I guess." Brin says, following Dougal down the road. He doesn't add anything, staying quiet as they walk and scowling generally at the noisy ravens. "Do the blasted birds around here ever quiet down?"

[THEChanger]

"Going nowhere? Peculiar destination. I don't think I've heard of that town before. What's it like?" Dougal chuckles a little at his bad joke. "But, I'm sure there's a few odd jobs around town. Always something needs doing. If it turns out you're sticking around for awhile, you're welcome to stay with me. We don't have much, but I can offer a few warm meals, something to sleep on that isn't ground, and a roof over your head." Dougal looks to the tree line, and smiles. "And no, for the most part they don't. We've learned to be glad of them. When they do stop their racket, that's when you know trouble's coming."

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
"A lull in the raven's calls earlier, but nothing more," Dale replies, "Taegan was out checking traps though, she might have seen something, you can ask when she gets back," he offers.


Taegan Fireshroom
Moving on to the final trap, this one with a badger, but that's not the worrying part, a pack of wolves is here, a small pack at least. They've yet to touch the badger though.

Roll Initiative

[WeaselGuy]

Initiative roll - [roll0]
Does my Animal Cohort go on the same initiative as me?

[WeaselGuy]

--Copy+Pasted from OOC Thread, cause I can't read--

Taegan eyes the wolves surrounding her trapped badger, and raises her loaded light crossbow, targeting an firing on the one closest to her, while orderering Rufus to attack the one closest to her trap.

Taegan Attack Roll - (1d20+5)[16]
Damage, in case she hits - (1d6)[5]

Rufus Attack Roll - (1d20+3)[11]
Damage, in case he hits - (1d6+3)[7]

[Jacior]

Brin ignores the joke entirely and keeps walking behind Dougal. "I prefer to earn my own keep. Don't like to owe anyone anything." He takes a long look at the trees where the birds were squawking and seems to make up his mind, shrugging and the scowl vanishes, mostly, from his face. With that, he just keeps walking, a bell somewhere on his person ringing quietly with each step.

[Business Scrub]

Alexis shifts from side to side, a bit restless today.

"Well, it's like I always say. 'Better to walk while the raves squawk.' Or, you know, if I said that more often.
I'm going to go find her, is what I mean. Thanks Dale!"

With a smile and wave, she heads back out, towards Taegan's traps.

[THEChanger]

Dougal scrunches up his face. "Wasn't suggesting you would. But. I understand. Do as you feel you need to. The offer stands if you reconsider." The young alchemist tilts his head when he hears the bells that most certainly were not sounding just a moment before, but decides not to press the issue. This was a young man who clearly wanted to keep to himself.

Not long after, the two arrived in Ravenwood. Dougal turned and smiled to Brin. "Well Brin, this is Ravenwood. It's not much, but it's home. Reckon if you're looking for work, you might check in with Father Cain. He's the fellow who leads services at the church over that way. Folks hold the ravens around here in reverence. It's not quite worship, but they're the closest thing we've got to a divine figure. Father Cain knows just about everything that happens in town though, so he should be able to set you up for however long you'll be staying. Best of luck to you, and remember to keep an ear out for the ravens!" With that, Dougal sets off for the butcher's. Even with the scare earlier, he still needs to get food after all.

[Jacior]

Brin doesn't respond to his guide's sudden and frankly, rather expected departure... He tended to have that affect on people. It was really just perfect though, first road or town he'd come across in nearly a week and they were some kind of freaky bird cult. It was really to be expected. He sighed. As long as they didn't try to indoctrinate him he guessed it'd be ok.

Looking around he sees the church and decides to go see this Father Cain. Maybe he could get a nice spot on the night watch.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
Alexis arrives at the edge of the forest, she didn't know where Taegan would be right now, though. Overhead, a raven had its eye on Alexis, before it hopped down and stood in front of her, then onto her shoulder. Even for Ravenwood, this one was friendly. Even so, it seemed to not want to cause any harm.

Roll Perception Skills and an Int Check.


Avrid Rasul
Avrid had been travelling for some time now, and when she finally emerged from the woods, she was in a large field, plains. In the distance, Avrid could see buildings, and a church. Not the kind she was used to, but the lasting ones she'd heard stories of in the desert she resided until recently. Where there was a church, there would certainly be a town nearby.

A raven cawed nearby, then they all went dead silent, cascading down until it was unnaturally quiet, leaving a feeling of unease to settle over Avrid, more than actually hearing the constant chatter of the birds that usually represented death. When she looked to them, hundreds of yellow eyes stared at her, curious. It took a moment, but they started to chatter again, and soon returned to full volume, no longer staring at the, now likely paranoid, woman...


Brin Calvish
The church is easily visible even from this distance. It's obviously old, but is rather sturdy. However, when he gets there, the church is almost empty, only a few adepts shifting nervously, as if something was wrong.


Dougal McCormick
The butcher was always a rather strange fellow. He claimed himself an elf, but he was muscled like a dwarf or orc, and his skin was greyed. Not to mention the elongated canine teeth. However, he was a dedicated member of the militia, and had fended off goblins, orcs, and hobgoblins with his trusty cleaver in hand, though he never used that cleaver for food, it hung, stuck into a block of wood, on a table at the front of the store, far from the food.

As a butcher, he was fair with his prices, meticulously clean, and steady handed. However, he seemed to take some glee in carving the meats he worked with, as if relieving some barely restrained fury. His name was Stelleir, though he preferred Stell.

"Ah, Master McCormick, what can I do for you today?"


Taegan Fireshroom
The wolf Taegan aims at takes a hit from the bolt, yelping loudly and drawing growls from the others, one managing to duck under her dog's attack.

Almost immediately, two charge at Taegan, while the third lingers back to bite at Rufus.

The lead wolf misses Taegan, but the other manages to snare her leg, pulling in an attempt to trip her.

The lingering wolf clamps its jaw around the back of Rufus's neck and tries to pull him to the ground.

First Wolf misses, second hits for 5 damage and trips Taegan (unless you succeed on a DC 12 Str or Dex check to oppose. You take a -4 penalty for being of a smaller size)

Final Wolf hits Rufus for 4 damage and trips him (unless he succeeds on a DC 8 Str or Dex check to oppose)

[WeaselGuy]

Taegan - Dex [roll0]
Rufus - Dex [roll1]

Forcing the offending wolf off of her, Taegan drops her crossbow stabs at the beast with her spear, hoping to hurt it enough to give her a chance to help her faithful companions.
Rufus, meanwhile, is not so lucky, having been dragged down to the ground by the other wolf.

Taegan - Spear [roll2] Damage - [roll3]
Rufus - Bite [roll4] Damage - [roll5] Rufus failed his save vs the trip.

[5a Violista]

Avrid Rasul

After the ravens resume their loud chatter, Avrid shivers. It's hard to tell whether it's because of the chill in the air she's unaccustomed to, or if it's from feeling nervous; she's feeling both of them. She takes a look behind her. No matter how unlikely it is someone is following her who will recognize her, the fear she'll be found always lurks in the back of her mind.

Even the ravens themselves don't help. To her mind, they're omens: omens of destruction, impurity, and malevolence; meaning up ahead lies some form of darkness she'd rather not face. Still, it's better than behind: the approaching cold, the death when discovered, and the shame with being executed to eternal damnation. At least whatever this omen warns about ahead can only kill her.

Standing around won't keep out the cold any more than moving. So, Avrid tightens the scarf around her neck and readjusts her pack. She offers a prayer of safety to the sand's goddess, and she presses forward towards the church. Hopefully there, she'll be able to find some sort of safety.

[Jacior]

Brin sighs a looks at the adepts. This could only be more trouble. He picks out the one who looks like he's the most together and walks up to him. "Hail. I'm looking for Father Cain. Do you know where he is?" The constant ravens cause him to speak louder than he should have to and realizing this puts a frown on his face as he looks at the acolyte. It was another thing to be annoyed by. Everyone in this town was going to be loud.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
A noise catches Alexis's ears, that of growls and barks, dogs? Well, Taegan had quite a few dogs...


Avrid Rasul
Avrid comes onto the back of the church, and, customary of all churches, the graveyard. Ravens stand on some of the headstones, some surprisingly bare of the black birds, and chatter incessantly.


Brin Calvish
"He went to one of the nearby houses, someone didn't show up for the church gathering and he hasn't come back yet, not only that but the network's died, we can't get in touch with him at all," the adept says, still nervous, "we sent a runner to look for him but he hasn't come back either."


Taegan Fireshroom
All three wolves snap, managing to stop short each time.

Three Bites, Three Misses. Same with your attacks, they all missed. So this round did jack.

[THEChanger]

"And a fine day to you, Mister Stell. Come into town to stock up on food. You have any fresh lamb in stock? Mother does love her lamb." Dougal glanced over to the cleaver momentarily before turning back to Stell. He had great respect for the man, but Dougal always felt a little nervous coming by the shop. Nothing against the...elf, but those teeth reminded Dougal of sketches in his grandfather's books, of beasties that went bump in the night. "And any news? It's been a little while since I've been in town."

[Business Scrub]

Alexis smiles when she hears the dogs barking, not phased in the least.
Taegan's dogs! I must be close! I wonder what has them all up in arms like that?

She hurries off in the direction of the barking.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren
Only a few dozen yards in, Alexis comes across Taegan, Rufus, and three wolves, Rufus on the ground next to one of the wolves and two crowding Taegan, snapping at the smaller woman.


Dougal McCormick
"Indeed I do, we also have wild rabbit, a couple turkeys, and a rather large wild goat if you're interested, along with our standard fare for the season," that was a good way of saying that poultry was scarce but a decent supply of venison had recently come in.

"Had a couple kobold in the woods the other day, with spears, didn't attack but it's worrying to see the little scalies this close to winter, there's talk of tracking them down and offering them a place in town," he says, using a common term for kobold, not exactly derogatory, just something that seemed to annoy them in a fight.

[Business Scrub]

Alexis lets out something in between a gasp and a cry of surprise when she sees Taegan on the ground, getting mauled by wolves.

"Taegan!! Look out!!"

What do I do what do I do what do I do??

Alexis fumbles around with her crossbow, but eventually loads a bolt into it and shakily aims it at the wolf nearest. She winces, pulls the trigger and fires.

Attack!!

Attack roll: [roll0]

Not sure where I fall in initiative, but just place me when/wherever relevant.

[WeaselGuy]

((Posting from phone, no colors for chat, will edit later!))

Greatly heartened by the sudden appearance of a friend, Taegan stabs at one of the wolves while dodging their ferocious snapping. Between thrusts, she calls out,
"Quick, unleash the hounds, they can help!"

Melee Spear Attack: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]
Melee Bite Attack: [roll2] Damage: [roll3]

[5a Violista]

[Avrid Rasul]

Avrid walks among the graves and the birds, looking at the headstones. She spends all of two seconds trying to make out what the words on the graves say before giving up. "Still more of those birds," she says to herself.

Rather than bothering to figure out why the ravens prefer some gravestones to others, she just walks around the graveyard; it's pretty clear that there are dead here, and if the birds of destruction don't respect some of the dead, then Avrid should. She runs her hand along some of the bare-from-birds graves, and says prayers of rest under her breath.

As she does this, she starts making her way through the graveyard, towards the church.

[Jacior]

Network??? Puzzled the thought in Brin's head as he listened to the explanation that adept gave him... He was gonna have to go look for the father, wasn't he? Cruel fate why hast thou placed me in such a position again. "Look, I don't know what a "network" is, but if you like... I'll go take a look for the good Father. And the runner." He lets it hang in the air for a second before adding. "For a small reward, of course."

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Neither Alexis's bolt nor Rufus's bites find their mark, but Taegan's spear leaves a gash in one wolf's ear, getting a yelp and a growl... she just made it mad. However, in response, all of the wolves back off, trying to snap at their target's in a retreat, but closing just short. As soon as they move off, two of the wolves howl, before the third joins in a moment later.

Two more howls echo in response. Another howl, far more feral, echoes behind Taegan, however, and it's much closer.

Alexis had a Surprise Round, she can go again after the Wolves

All the wolves missed, they're rolling badly, highest roll this round was a 8, for an 11 total.

By the sound of it, you have three rounds before the other wolves join these ones, and two rounds before the one behind you arrives.


Avrid Rasul
Avrid finds herself at the back of the church, there is a double door, likely used for funeral processions, it would be inappropriate to go through that way. A sound catches her attention before she can head towards the front however, and as she turns her head, there's a raven, inches from her face, head tilted. It flies off, and a single feather, with a white tip, seems to float down to her feet, onto a stone that simply reads; A Gift from the Ravens, the Protectors of Ravenwood


Brin Calvish
"The network lets the entire town communicate with each other, it's a spell cast every morning to allow us the chance to warn each other of danger. Father Cain was the only one that knew how to perform the ritual," the adept responded, first and foremost, "it's a key aspect of our lives here, without it we have no way to warn others of approaching danger outside of the runners, and they're not nearly as quick as the spell."

"If you can find Father Cain, we will be in your debt, he'll be able to negotiate a deal with you. If... if he's no longer alive all we can really offer are a few healing potions," the adept looks like he's already accepted that Father Cain was deceased, but held hope regardless. It was an odd contrast, "He went to check on the Tailor family when they didn't show up for the spell this morning," he points to out the door, "they're the ones with the red roof, over there," following the adept's gesture, there is indeed a house with a dark red roof.

[Business Scrub]

A 13 missed on a surprise round? Daaang.

Alexis blinks several times in shock, clearly not comprehending the situation at hand.

Let out the dogs..? What is he-- oh!

She nearly drops her crossbow in her haste to run to the yelping hounds, and let's them loose.

Not sure what the map looks like, but I'm guessing it's a move action to get to the hounds, move or standard to let them out. Preferably, move to avoid an AoO if possible.

[THEChanger]

Dougal laughs. "Kobolds, here in Ravenwood? Next you'll be telling me we're inviting vampires to stay in the church." He shakes his head, and then shrugs. "Of course, if they can behave themselves, that might not be a bad idea. They're small, but the more people we have in town the better I say. Keeps us strong." Dougal picks out a couple cuts of lamb, as well as a much larger portion of venison, and a small turkey, spending no more than ten gold in total. "Oh, and Stell, we have a new face around town. Calls himself Brin. Funny sort of fellow, not very talkative. Just popped out of the woods onto the path right in front of me. Could've sworn I saw something behind him, watching us. Maybe a wolf, or a bear. Awful close to town for a wild animal. Let folks know to be careful, will you? Especially Taegan if you see her."

[5a Violista]

Avrid Rasul

Well, darn. No zombies rising. Avrid actually is pretty glad that nothing dead tried to climb out of the graves; by the way the birds rested on some gravestones and avoided others, she wouldn't have been all that surprised if there was something about to climb out of them. A little surprised, yes, but not too surprised. But, of course, with the much more moist weather around, it makes sense that they'd bury the dead deep in the heavy dirt.

The raven, that close to her almost made her jump. If there was something suddenly right behind you in a graveyard, you'd probably do the same.

She obviously can't read what the stone says, other than maybe picking out a word here or there. To the half-orc, however, the fact that the feather landed on the clean stone instead of the dirt is symbolic enough. Even though the bird already flew away, she still asks a question aloud. "This is for me?" She's absolutely sure it's some form of message from the gods, so she crouches down to grab the feather.

It is a beautiful feather. The white tip probably means something; she'll have to pray about it later. "Thank you," she says as she stands up again, the feather in her hand.

The exiled half-orc then turns back around, and continues her journey to the front of the church.

[WeaselGuy]

Taegan, immensely grateful for her new help, rushes to assist in unhooking the other dogs from her sled. In what little time remaining to her before the wolves recover and attack anew, she grabs her crossbow and reloads a bolt, then situates herself behind her sled, in an attempt to use it as some sort of barricade.

[Jacior]

Brin sighs. Of course they couldn't actually make a deal with him cause none of them had a spine. It was to be expected. He rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the building. "Ok. I'm I'm not back in an hour, I'm probably dead." He almost laughed at that. It was as close as he could get to a joke. Something would have to be trying very, very hard to kill him. With that, he starts walking towards the building with the red roof, bell ringing with every step.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
With the dogs released, the fight is much more in Taegan and Alexis's favor, but the incoming creatures may just make this worse once more.

Roll the Dogs' Initiative. And this turn is over, meaning two more until the ones in front arrive and one more until the one behind arrives.


Avrid Rasul
Avrid comes around to the front of the church, and finally sees the town, active, and seemingly at ease with the carrion birds all around them. The church itself is in use, she can see an acolyte at the front, looking worried. A raven pendant as his holy symbol.


Brin Calvish
The house's door is ajar, and a few people are standing around looking confused. The house is quiet.


Dougal McCormick
Dougal gets a laugh out of Stell with that, "Will do, Master McCormick, any further business in town or are you heading back immediately?" he asks as the door opens behind Dougal, he can see a twitch in Stell's hand at whoever entered, but they were behind Dougal.

[Jacior]

More people who were standing around... Did people not have anything to do around here? It annoyed him. It would be hard to keep things private around here if no one had anything to occupy their own time. "Uh, hello? What's going on? Has anyone seen Father Cain? Or the runner that was sent after him?"

[THEChanger]

"Have to buy a few more provisions, and I thought I'd pay Father Cain a visit, apologize for-" When he sees Stell twitch, Dougal turns around, slowly finishing his thought. "-missing the Rites lately."

[EdroGrimshell]

Brin Calvish
No one had seen them, just noticed the door open and heard something like a crash earlier, which did explain the onlookers, none were looking to go inside though, only one even had any kind of weapon on them and that was a halfling with a sling and a bag of rocks.

2 Spot Checks and a Listen Check.


Dougal McCormick
Behind Dougal is a woman with pure white skin, black hair, blue eyes with black sclera, slit pupils, black hair, a short tail (falling to about her knees), and incredibly long ears. She was leaning against the doorframe with an inquisitive look on her face as she looked at Dougal.

"Might want to reconsider that sentiment, might just come true," she said with a smile.

"Lara," Stell remarked stiffly, it's the same mood he had when the mayor tried to make a deal with the hobgoblins a few years ago, and when he caught a goblin trying to pick his lock almost two months ago, "do you have a reason to be here," he asks.

"Other than visiting my favorite elf?" she asks with a coy smile, emphasizing the word elf and getting Stell to stiffen further, before she pulls an envelope from a belt pouch and hands it to him, "just this, though this cutie might bring me back around once I deliver the next message," she says, turning her attention to Dougal for a moment before she walks out and jumps out of sight.

"Damned goblin," Dougal hears Stell mutter under his breath, obviously irritated as he starts furiously leaning his knife set, which wasn't even dirty.

Knowledge (Local) Check Please.

[Jacior]

Brin looks at the house with some amount of irritation. Of course no one knows anything, that'd be too convenient. This was too much trouble for a chance at some coin. "You, halfling, why does your stone glow?" He calls out to the smaller humanoid just standing around. That noise was interesting... in a creepy, monster in the house sort of way.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
Aeron stumbles out of the woods, surrounded on all sides by ravens, the clearing was a good place to rest for a bit, after walking for so long. By now, Aeron could see the smoke from the nearby town he'd been traversing the woods to get to for some time now. He'd be there in an hour at most.


Brin Calvish
The halfling looks at Brin, looking like a deer in headlights, "oh, um, I found these ones, they work better than normal sling bullets, so I collect them," he says, straight-faced.

Roll Sense Motive and either Arcana, Nature, or Geography.


Osrik Stonehammer
Osrik found himself wandering the Market District, small as it was, this close to winter it was always busy, preserves, pickles, nuts, dried fruits, and hardy cheeses were sold here, the Butcher Shop was only a short way down the road. Best place to pick up something quick for lunch.

[r2d2go]

Osrik makes his way to the butcher first, as his dwarven background makes him favor meats too tough for human tastes, and so he knows he can get inexpensive meals there. Greeting the butcher as he enters with a slightly-friendlier-than-usual grunt, he takes a look at what's available.

[5a Violista]

[/finally posts]
Avrid Rasul

Well, darn. No zombies rising. Avrid actually is pretty glad that nothing dead tried to climb out of the graves; by the way the birds rested on some gravestones and avoided others, she wouldn't have been all that surprised if there was something about to climb out of them. A little surprised, yes, but not too surprised. But, of course, with the much more moist weather around, it makes sense that they'd bury the dead deep in the heavy dirt.

The raven, that close to her almost made her jump. If there was something suddenly right behind you in a graveyard, you'd probably do the same.

She obviously can't read what the stone says, other than maybe picking out a word here or there. To the half-orc, however, the fact that the feather landed on the clean stone instead of the dirt is symbolic enough. Even though the bird already flew away, she still asks a question aloud. "This is for me?" She's absolutely sure it's some form of message from the gods, so she crouches down to grab the feather.

It is a beautiful feather. The white tip probably means something; she'll have to pray about it later. "Thank you," she says as she stands up again, the feather in her hand.

The exiled half-orc then turns back around, and continues her journey to the front of the church.




Avrid Rasul
Avrid comes around to the front of the church, and finally sees the town, active, and seemingly at ease with the carrion birds all around them. The church itself is in use, she can see an acolyte at the front, looking worried. A raven pendant as his holy symbol.

Avrid Rasul

There is someone! The activity of the town, Avrid finds a little unnerving. She's recently found all densely-populated areas frightening, out of fear someone she can't see because of too many people will pop up behind her and...she much rather would be in areas with fewer people.

Avrid, seeing people again, is reminded that her disguise is to be a human man rather than a half-orc female; much lower chance of being outed that way. She doesn't have to change much; she only has to be conscious that people might be looking at her.

She walks towards the acolyte at the front of the church. "Well met," she says. "Is something the matter?"

[Jacior]

Brin just stares at the halfling for a moment before shrugging and rolling his eyes. "Whatever, lie about your magic sling stones. I don't care. I'm going inside." He says, giving the halfling, perhaps, too icy a stare to not have been irritated by the lie. With that, he pulls his spear around and starts towards the house.

[WeaselGuy]

Taegan readies an action to shoot the first wolf to enter the clearing, and tells Rufus to attack after her shot. She directs the other dogs to fan out in front of the sled, and to stand ready.

Turning to Alexis, Taegan says,

"Guard my back from tha' big growly one behind us. I'll keep these guys occupied."

With that, Taegan sights one of the wolves lingering at the woodline, and lets a bolt fly. She then reloads her crossbow and waits for the main assault.

Attack: 1d20+5
Damage: 1d6
durp, posting rolls in new post.

[EdroGrimshell]

Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Before long, the wolves come back into view, looking ready to get back in the fight, however, only two surge forward, the third darting for the trap and the badger lying in it.

As they do so however, a crashing comes from behind Taegan and Alexis as a massive black and white beast leaps over the two and into the clearing, standing in front of Taegan's dogs before it roars. Alexis recognizes the beast as Dale's pet, only he looks like he's not exactly in the friendliest mood right now.

One of the wolves is hit by the bolt, but it only barely grazes it, but almost instantly, the two charging wolves make to bite at the newcomer, but the bigger beast simply puts one paw onto one's head, sending it to the ground before biting the other one as it tries to bit him, wrestling it to the ground, where it stopped moving, though it still breathed. The one under its paw slips out and backs off, shaken, but largely unharmed.

Dogs and Alexis are up.


Avrid Rasul
The acolyte jumps and turns to Avrid, obviously startled and not expecting anyone. Probably not the best first meeting with the local clergy, "ah, something the matter? No, just... worry is all."

Ignore Obvious Spot Check Roll

[roll0]


Brin Calvish
The halfling stiffens slightly, but beyond that Brin doesn't get to see as he walks towards the house. It's much clearer now that something's inside when he makes it there, something scurrying the moment the door opens a little more.

Perception Checks again.


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
Walking into the butcher shop, Osrik comes face to face with Dougal McCormick, the lad that lives outside of the town. Behind him, Stell, the butcher, is busily working to clean an already clean set of knives, very much agitated.

For Dougal though, it looks like only moments after the woman leaves, the local Blacksmith, Osrik Stonehammer, walks in, not even aware of the woman that had just left.

[WeaselGuy]

Attack & Damage rolls from before, made in an edit as you made your post.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[r2d2go]

Osrik furrows his eyebrows. He's not one to notice people's emotion, usually, so the fact that he can tell Stell is agitated makes him a bit concerned. "Wha's worryin' ye, Stell? This lad o'er 'ere botherin' ye?"

[Business Scrub]

Alexis lets out a shriek of surprise as Roofus shows up, but then immediate relief when the creature sides with them. With shaky hands, she reloads the crossbow

Behind us? What is... oh no.

Alexis closes her eyes and squeezes the trigger at the huge creature approaching from behind them.

Oh gods oh gods. Please just run little beasties. We're not food!

That is, provided The Big One is within line of sight and line of effect to Alexis. If not she'll shoot at the closest one that she can hit.

Move to reload, and standard to FIRE!

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He smiled and took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. He looked around, trying to see if anything is following him before laying down on the grass, resting for a bit. His destination was in sight, he could afford a small moment to rest. Such open spaces, he liked them.

At the same time as he was resting, he concentrated deep within himself, seeking to recreate that moment of clarity and focus based on the psionic energy within him. It was so easy nowadays, to accomplish such.

[THEChanger]

"What? Me, bothering folks? You know me better than that Osrik. In fact, I was just heading out." Dougal turns back towards Stell, extending a hand. "A pleasure as always Stell. In fact, might I drop by later tonight to continue our discussion about...new faces in town?"

[r2d2go]

Osrik grunts. "New faces? What're ye' talkin' aboot? Anythin' I need ta' hear?" Shaking his head, he walks over to Stell, pulling out a few coppers.

[5a Violista]

Avrid Rasul
The acolyte jumps and turns to Avrid, obviously startled and not expecting anyone. Probably not the best first meeting with the local clergy, "ah, something the matter? No, just... worry is all."

Ignore Obvious Spot Check Roll

</ignored>

Avrid Rasul

"Ah." Avrid nods. Nothing the matter. He's obviously lost in thoughts thinking about things.

As she looks downwards at him (assuming he's not abysmally tall also...), she continues speaking. "There's always things to worry about," she says, relatively slowly. Like getting discovered. Is she keeping her voice low enough to pass as a human male? Gah. She knows her voice sounds different in her own head, but hopefully her nervousness is just because she knows herself better than any stranger. "Is it from anything specific this time?"


[roll0] Link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19564167&postcount=105) Sense Motive check to figure out what he's worried about, 'cause that's what you do when someone's worried about something, even when you ask them.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"Something on your mind lad?" a sudden voice asks just as Aeron opens his eyes, allowing him to spot a man with short brown hair, golden brown eyes, and tanned skin in simple clothing. But there was an air around him that set Aeron on edge.


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
The bolt goes wide as two more wolves enter the clearing.

Round over, new arrivals are here. Taegan and Rufus's turn.


Avrid Rasul
"One of our own is missing, Father Cain... he's the only one of us that can perform the Rites of the Raven," the Acolyte says, "I fear the worst. We all do."


Brin Calvish
Brin is able to take a step forward before something falls behind him, a tiny creature that starts dissolving into ash the moment the light from outside touches it before it surges out of the light, making a loud cry of pain before being hit by one of those glowing stones, breaking into nothing but ash.

That's not the most worrying thing, however, Brin soon hears the scurrying of a dozen or so claws, and three of the creatures emerge from darkened parts of the house. It's as this is happening that Brin notices the low lighting, the windows are covered with some kind of waxy substance, blocking the light.


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
"It's not Master McCormick that's the problem, it's that goblin wench they let into town," Stell replies to the dwarf stiffly, it was well known his prejudice against goblinoids, then again, that was true of many people, including most dwarves, "been coming here almost daily for some reason."

"Preferably when she's not here, Master McCormick," Stell replies.

[WeaselGuy]

Move action to reload my crossbow, then firing at one of the new wolves.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
After my shot, Rufus will attack that same wolf.
Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

[r2d2go]

Osrik scowls, and his hand instinctively moves to his hammer, his thumb moving in circles around the grip. "A goblin? No good c'n come o' tha'. Ye know ye' c'n tell me if ye' need a hand dealin' wit' 'em. I dinnae keep up wit' my combat trainin' so much nowadays, but ev'ry dwarf on tha' cont'nent knows how ta' deal wit' gobs. Lost too many good dwarves ta' forget."

[Jacior]

Brin looks at the one that turned to ash with some... something. He really wasn't sure what to feel here. Irritated? Enthused? Something about a fight brought him out of his usual stupor of indifference, but it always left him wondering exactly what he should be feeling. Facing the other three, it seemed pretty obvious what had happened to the priest... which of course meant no reward. Which was just great. The whole thing was pointless. He pulls the little leather covering off the brightly shining bead he kept around his neck, illuminating the room.

Brin sighed before walking towards the... ash things. He hoped someone actually knew what they were called so he could not think of them that way. He rolled his eyes at that realizing he wouldn't really care either way. With no flourish, he pulls his spear back and jabs at the closest of the ash things, hoping his ordinary spear would be enough.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

Aeron just kept his calm, trying to maintain as smile on his face.

"Oh, nothing at the moment. Could I help you in anything?" he asked. What did this man want from him? Curious...

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"...Most would have asked for a name on meeting me, then I'd say it's good manners to give their name first, and we can't do that now, oh well," he says, seeming a little disappointed, "well, since I'll be the one asking this time, I'm Alric, though most call me The Merchant, and I'm here to extend an offer."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
The bolt goes wide and the wolf's dodge causes Rufus to fly over the wolf, which snaps at the airborne dog and narrowly misses his tail, one snaps at the larger beast, managing to land a solid bite on his leg, but not managing to knock him over. The last wolf, shaken from Roofus's mauling of the other wolves, bolts as Roofus grabs the one that bit him by the tail and drags it in a half circle before throwing it into a tree, where it falls still and gives a triumphant roar, until he stumbles, out of breath.

And only one wolf left. Dogs + Alexis's turn.

Roofus's rage has ended and he is now Fatigued.


Brin Calvish
The spear finds its mark on the little beasties, spearing one through the shoulder. The thing's surprisingly resilient, though, and it wrenches the spear from its arm before all three surge forward, raking claws into Brin's side and leg, one is stopped by Brin's armor, however. They were fast.

8 Damage total, 4 damage from each of them.


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
Stell nods his approval, "agreed Master Stonehammer, I don't think that's why you're here today though, the usual?" he asks, seemingly trying to put aside his annoyance aside for the moment.

[Business Scrub]

With her heart pounding, Alexis took a look at the scene. Clearly, she couldn't hit a wolf worth s**t. But Roofus had just taken out nearly the whole pack. What did she know about wolves? They're pack animals, they hunt by ambush. Maybe the last one would just want to leave.

Alexis took a couple of aggressive steps towards the last remaining wolf and waved her arms, trying to make herself look big.

"Go! Get outta here!"

Because my skill bonus is higher than my attack bonus, Intimidate: [roll0]

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He stood up, brushing off dirt and grass off his pants.

"And my name is Aeron, and I am interested to hear in what you are offering, then. I see neither shop nor any sign of what your wares could be, though I am assuming that your answer would surprise me no matter what I were to expect."

[r2d2go]

Osrik nods, then looks at Dougal. "If ye'd be willin', could ye' tell me more 'bout these "new faces" later?"

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"That simple, eh?" The Merchant asks with a raised brow, "A'right," he taps the ground behind him with his toes, and a door appears on the tree behind him, which he opens to a cozy looking shop, "Welcome to the Bizarre Bazaar."

Knowledge (The Planes) to know about this. DC 25.


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
The final wolf, seeing its comrades fall, flees, its tail between its legs as it dashes away as quickly as it can manage.

Alexis and Taegan get 600exp each.

I'm not counting the sled dogs in this (I would if they had actually fought), nor am I counting Rufus since he's a feat granted animal. I AM counting Roofus though, as he actually fought, this will let him get some advancement in game (yes, animals gain experience and "levels" if they fight enough).

[Business Scrub]

Woo! Yeah, see ya! Alexis shouts after the wolf, as it runs tail between its legs. "Oh wow Taegan that was-- Woah, you're bleeding! Let me take a look at that."

Unless Taegan stops her, Alexis tries to sit the halfling down, and takes some cleaning alcohol and bandages out of her bag.

"Boy what was with those wolves? It's a good thing Roofus was here. Do they always hunt people on sight like that?"

[WeaselGuy]

"Huh? Whuh? Oh, uh, yeah, sure... knock yourself out. I dunno either, I mean, sometimes they'll chase me as I'm riding, but I've never had them attack like that before. Of course, I did shoot first... Oh, the badger!"

In the middle of Alexis's ministrations, Taegan remembers about the badger in the trap. As soon as Alexis is done, Taegan reattaches her sled dogs to the sled, and then goes over to the trap to investigate the original source of the altercation.

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

Calmly, yet warily, he enters the shop, looking around once he is inside.


Time to count for a n20.

Knowledge the Planes [roll0]

[Jacior]

Brin shakes off the wounds to no effect, their claws sliding off his skin but still cutting rents into clothes. Frowning, he thrusts his spear at the one he'd attacked before hoping to take it out of the fight quick.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit: [roll2]

Spend 2 PP to negate all damage

[THEChanger]

Dougal smiles, and nods. "I should be happy to, Master Osrik. Perhaps the three of us should chat, together. Shall we set a meeting here tonight, around sundown perhaps?"


________

Whether an agreement is reached or not, Dougal proceeds out of the shop, and sets about buying the dairy, baked goods, and produce on his list, all the while keeping a look out and an ear out for the strange white goblin.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
The entire building is huge, there are even stairs to an upper and lower level, there's everything within, but some things are stranger than others, next to simple and ornate daggers are colored orbs that read things like Orc Strength, Elven Agility, Dancer's Legs, and Devil's Hands. Other things, include some obviously magical items and even golems and homunculi.

"Welcome to my humble store," he says with a soft smile, "You can buy and sell anything here, and I do mean anything," he says holding up the orb labelled Orc Strength, "this is the actual strength of an Orc traded to me by a chieftain that was looking for another kind of edge against a hobgoblin rival. After besting his opponent, this was the agreed upon price, just as an example," he says, returning the orb to its position.

"Anything interesting to you?"


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
The badger is in place, and in good condition, though it looks like one of the wolves tried to nip it, pulling a chunk of fur from its side, that'd reduce it's overall price if he left it or cut it out, but the meat was good and the hide could be put to use.

Roofus goes over to Alexis, looking tired, and whimpers at her, that's when she remembered he was supposed to be with Nerra, the herbalist, as a means to protect her. And yet, here he was near town, and alone.

Reminder simply because it wasn't that long ago.


Brin Calvish
The injured one, seems to have grown careless in its attacks, but still manages to avoid the strike. The three attempt to attack again, one's attack falls short, the second's claws are deflected by Brin's staff, but the last one, the one Brin had struck, lands a nasty attack with its claws.

2 misses and 5 damage from the last one.

Spot check please.


Dougal McCormick
It isn't until Dougal tries to leave the last building that he gets an idea of where the goblinoid is, and it's in the form of the woman herself hanging upside down in front of him as he's walking out, "hello," she says with a friendly wave before she turns herself over to stand on the ground. It's at this point that Dougal sees she's barefoot except for some simple bandages, "so your the mystery man everyone talks about in town? I can see why," she says, it sounded a little flirty but Dougal gets another vibe from it.

Sense Motive Please

[Business Scrub]

Alexis frowns, petting Roofus on the head and looking around for his master. As she pets him, she checks for wounds.

"Where's Nerra boy? How come you're all alone?

Hey Taegan, have you seen the Herbalist today? She was supposed to be out here with Roofus."

[WeaselGuy]

After harvesting the badger, Taegan resets her trap.
[roll0]


Taegan looks up from her work, midway through resetting her trap.

"Nerra? Ah, no, I don't think I have... But I did set out today straight from me house, so I havena' seen much o' anybody today, before you, o' course."

[r2d2go]

Osrik nods his agreement, completing his purchase. However, once he gets back to his shop, he decides to keep it closed awhile longer and wander town while eating - it bothers him he didn't know a goblin was around. Maybe he should get out more. He doesn't have anything specific in mind, but he goes to various shops and waves or nods hello to people, something he rarely does.

[THEChanger]

"Mystery man, me? Why, I never. Folks around here know me well enough. Just a simple alchemist." Dougal gingerly extends his hand, still not sure what to make of the small creature. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced, though. Dougal McCormick, owner and proprietor of McCormick and Son. Well, I was Son, so now I suppose it's just McCormick's. Still getting used to that. And you're...Lara, was it?"


Sense Motive: [roll0]

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascogine

In response to this, Aeron didn't do much, at first. He stood there, shocked a bit, his gaze moving across each item in his field of vision. There was some fear, wariness... yet there was also excitement and careful consideration.

"I might be interested... depending on the price. I will trust that, of course, there is no further payments beyond that agreed upon, or any twists of words to ensure one side has to pay more than expected?"

[Jacior]

Brin, as oblivious as he always seems to be, jabs again at the little monstrosity. They were tougher than they looked. The claw stung as it cut past his not insubstantial defenses, digging into his leg.

Just gonna take the attack. It's only 5 damage he says.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit: [roll2]

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"Do not worry, there's no devil's deal here, I pride myself in being fair with my prices and the intent behind the deals themselves, there is some haggling involved, but once a price is agreed upon, that's it, as simple as can be," The Merchant replies, standing behind the counter that was standard for most shops, "so, anything of interest? There is a reason everything has a physical form here. Even psionic power is condensed into coins here."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Roofus whimpers again and turns to the way he'd come from, starting to walk in that direction.


Brin Calvish
The three shift, one moving behind Brin while the other two remain in front of him to make their attacks, however, this time, one of them makes to bite and barely misses, carving a small groove into the leather of Brin's armor.

3 Misses this time. With a flanking bonus no less!


Dougal McCormick
"Lara Ford, my job description is... I'd guess you'd call me a messenger, though I prefer the term runner myself," Lara replies, "something natural for a yasha."


Osrik Stonehammer
Osrik spots Dougal walking alongside a rather pretty, but pale, woman with elven features, though the tail makes it obvious she's not an elf, she's an inch or two shorter than Dougal with black hair and blue eyes.

[r2d2go]

Seeing the rather unusual creature. Osrik walks up. "Dougal, d'ye know this lass?"

[Jacior]

Brin makes note of how they were trying to surround him and frowns. "Not as dumb as I'd hoped you were..." He pulls his spear close and backs out of the group and back into the stream of sunlight... They got hurt by the light, right?

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He perked up at that, and thought a bit on what he could desire. Perhaps... this.

"Truly? Then I might need your help in choosing... My abilities require me to concentrate the psionic power within me, using it up afterwards to achieve the effect I want. It changes my body, but only temporarily. So something to hold more of said concentrated power might be good, or perhaps a way to change my body for longer periods, perhaps a small permament change of sorts... Or maybe something related to dream walking, if you have anything like that."

He pointed at his eyepatch.

"Or perhaps a relic or eye of one of more powerful creatures, to replace the one I lost. Tell me, Alric, what could you offer me with that in mind?"

[Business Scrub]

Alexis casts a worried look in Teagan's direction. "You don't think..."

She doesn't finish the thought, and hurries off after the beast.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"Very few part with their ability to Dreamwalk, I can help with the psionic power or eye though," he takes Aeron over to an isle with a LOT of green coins, ranging from light to dark, "These all are measures of psionic power, you can compress your own power into these if you want, even after you leave here. Other side of the isle," he points to crystals of all sorts, "grant some psionic abilities."

"As for eyes, those are a little more limited, most are just common humanoid eyes, but those can let you see better in the dark or the like, those that have more powerful eye based abilities tend to keep them."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
(Assuming Taegan Comes With)

Roofus leads parallel to the road, to what at first looks like a pile of leaves, until he pulls off a branch of leaves to reveal Nerra. She's pale, sweating profusely, and, most importantly, breathing, even if it's a bit shallow. She's not conscious, and Roofus circles her without touching her if he can help it, whimpering before he gives a pleading look to the only ones that can help her.


Brin Calvish
The creatures don't seem to heed the light, much anyway, but, it's enough that all three glance off of Brin's armor, or at least seem to until one actually tears into Brin's armor to get at his leg.

Another pair of misses, but a nasty hit that deals 6 damage.

Also: Make a Fort Save!

Note: Both Resilience and Resistance use an Immediate Action, so you can only use one a turn.

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He tapped his chin in thought.

"What of incarnum and such related things? My power to change my body mostly uses that, it is just powered by my psionic power in... emergencies."

He slowly started walking down the aisle with psionic powers.

"You have Strength of an Orc to sell. Then how about breath of dragons? Any other such abilities dependant on body or race? Such things are also what I find interesting... And forgive me for being so indecisive at the moment. It is slightly overwhelming."

[Business Scrub]

Alexis gasps upon seeing the unconscious herbalist. She was breathing, and that was a good sign, but what on earth had happened here? She breaks out a satchel of a dozen tools, wraps and salves and crouches down next to the woman, trying to figure out what happened.

"Taegan! Quickly, see if you can find any tracks. If some animal bit her I need to know what it was. Especially if it was poisonous."

Heal check to find out what happened: [roll0]

[WeaselGuy]

"I'm on it, right away!"


Survival check to look for and identify tracks.
[roll0]

[THEChanger]

"Miss Lara Ford. A pleasure, I'm sure. I didn't know any Yasha had emigrated to our little town. I had some questions for you if you don't-" Dougal stops speaking as Osrik approaches. "No, Osrik, not as such. We were just getting acquainted. Osrik, Lara Ford. Lara, Osrik Stonehammer, our smith." In his mind, Dougal cursed. Osrik surely wouldn't approve of open discussion with the goblin. Dwarves were not known for their kindness and openness towards the goblinoid races, after all.

[r2d2go]

Osrik nods to Lara, not quite associating her strange appearance with "goblin" in his mind. "I dinnae think I've seen ye' aboot. Where d'ye hail from, lass?"

[Business Scrub]

Alexis waves to get Taegan's attention as she checks the herbalist's pupils.

"Never mind Taegan. It's some kind of disease: we need to get her back to Ravenwood, now!"

Relatively sure she wasn't actually injured, Alexis picks up the woman after some considerable strain, and starts trying to walk back to Ravenwood.

Heal check to ID the disease and find out incubation period. [roll0]

[Jacior]

Brin spends a moment considering the implications of the light not seeming to bother them and lets his guard down for a half a second. Summoning his rapidly dwindling power, he shrugs off the worst the beasts had to dish out jabs at the one he'd struck first, holding himself back to try and protect himself better.

Spend 1 PP to block 4 damage

Fighting Defensively: -4 to hit, +2 dodge bonus

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit: [roll2]

[WeaselGuy]

Looking up from the tracks off to the side of the road at Alexis's voice, Taegan nods.

"Right. Well, no since carrying her, here, place her on the sled. You ride the sled, I'll ride Rufus."

With that, Taegan tucks her wee fox friend into her jacket, saddles Rufus, and helps settle Nerra on the sled.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"Incarnum? Odd, that sounds like a psionic power more than a soulmeld, and filling it with psychic energy, that's something I've only seen a few people do to reinforce their life force," The Merchant replies, but leads Aeron to another aisle with a far more limited number of blue gems, "incarnum's harder to come by than psionics, but I've had a few come by over the years," as he said that, the door opened and a bell rang.

"Oi, Alric, you in here?" a male voice calls out.

"With a new customer, incarnum aisle," The Merchant calls back, before looking a little sheepishly at Aeron, "wasn't expecting him to be here for another hour..." he says then shakes his head, "But, this does mean you'll have a decent chance of getting 'the breath of a dragon' as you put it."

As he finishes saying that, a scaled individual, looking like a half-dragon, walks into view. He nods to Aeron, then looks to The Merchant, "you get my commission?" The Merchant nods and pulls a short sword from his jacket, made from some kind of green metal. The dragonborn takes it, handing over what looks like a fireball, and simply walks out, no further conversation, until, "until next time, Alric."

"At least he was polite enough to do that quick," The Merchant says with a shake of his head. He turns back to Aeron with the fireball in hand, "So, how about describing that ability of yours in a little more detail? I've actually never heard of it before, which is rare for me. It sounds interesting, for sure."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Taegan notes that the fox is vibrating slightly, like a cat that's purring. And it remains very still once in her jacket.

Roofus helps to get Nerra onto the sled, and then the entire group takes off, quickly reaching the town.

Three places that you can go to, Alexis's Clinic, Nerra's Apothecary, or the Church of the Raven.


Brin Calvish
Another one seems to have taken to tearing into Brin where the others fail, set off from dodging Brin's spear, however, this one instead clamps its jaws into Brin's arm, rather than its claws, this one takes a bite.

The two that miss fall forward, keeling over, one falling into the light of the doorway as its head burns off into ash. The one latched onto Brin's arm seems to get bigger as it jumps off, out of the light of the doorway, before it eats the last one, getting it down in one gulp, and doubles in size. Now standing roughly at Brin's waist and standing bipedally rather than on all fours.

7 Damage

Normally would Require a Fort Save, but this one only affects Humanoids and Animals.

Do need a Will Save though, DC 11


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
As Osrik comes closer, Lara mouths to Dougal, "we can talk later."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Lara replies to Osrik, "my hometown is some distance from here, actually, on the Caven Plateau. Do you have any relation to the Stonehammer Clan that live beneath the Plateau?"


Father Cain
Father Cain jolts awake, his arms and legs unable to move, looking at them, they're encased in a strange, waxy material. The ceiling above him has claw marks on it, forming a great dent in it, something was trying to claw into the attic. Then he remembers, the little beasts, one had bitten him and he'd fallen unconscious, waking briefly as he saw them spit the substance binding him onto his arms and legs. There was a bigger one, and it had bitten Cain's neck the last time he'd woken up. How long had he been out now?

Then he hears the creature, farther away, almost like it was fighting something.

A second later, the wax simply... melts away, as does what's in the windows of the room, letting him touch down on the ground. Something's different, he feels... invigorated. Like he hasn't felt in years.

Your Token Ability is active and you're free to move about.

[Jacior]

Brin stares at the now bigger and presumably more dangerous creature. "Well... Hell." He says, before ripping the brightly glowing bead from his neck and pitches it towards the monster.

Touch attack: [roll0]

[r2d2go]

Osrik shakes his head bluntly. "If they're na' dead or movin' they're probly na' my family. Everyone who's na' a travelin' merchant died fightin' goblins an' orcs." He seems more mournful of the "moving" part than the "dead", but remembering his initial goal, he attempts to continue in its pursuit. "Anythin' int'restin' happenin' outside this town?"

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He nods and thinks for a moment as how to best describe it. He was not an expert on these topics, that's for sure, but it's not like he did not spend time trying to understand his abilities.

"The way I understand it... I am capable of changing my body, enhancing senses or creating temporary phantom limbs or body parts out of incarnum. These changes last a day if I use my essentia with it. However, due to my psionic power, I can concentrate to partition off a piece of my mind, allowing me to collapse it at any point later on for various effects. Somehow, if the essentia within my body is unused, that ability of mine to enhance or improve my body remaining inert... Collapsing that focus gives me a temporary boost of power, as if all the essentia my body held were invested in it. But as I said, it's only temporary, lasting six seconds or so, unless I repeatedly partition my mind and collapse it. These changes are unlike any soulmelds I know about, they are more like what would be a natural progression of these abilities. If I desire greater natural protection, my body might be covered in scales or chitin. If I need a way to shoot distant targets, I can form spikes to shoot out. If I need to swim better, I gain fins. I once mimicked a dragon's breath, as weak as that of hatchlings but similar. This is why I am interested in such permament racial abilities, in order to compare, learn about them, possibly use my own better after gaining insight into their nature. And some abilities are still beyond my reach, for now."

He shifted his weight onto the other leg.

"That also makes me wonder, is it possible for me to... rent the abilities, pay less than if I were to buy them? Or perhaps returning them within a certain time nets me a refund? I know that it's not that probable, but it doesn't hurt to ask, eh?"

[THEChanger]

Dougal coughs as Osrik mentions his family being killed by goblins. The poor fellow had no idea who he was talking to. The situation really wasn't that funny, and yet it was all Dougal could do to turn his laughter into a coughing fit. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, Osrik. I had no idea. You should come by the house on occasion. I'm of the firm opinion that dining alone is a very large shame, and I'd be happy to have your company."

[r2d2go]

Osrik manages a half-smile, though it's mostly concealed by his beard. "Ah, don' be too sorry, thar all buried in tha' Stonehammer ancestral tomb. Mighty decent o' ye' ta' invite me, tho - I might take ye' up on tha' sometime. Me livin' quarters dinnae really lend ta havin' guests, but ye'd be welcome to drop by, if ye'd like."

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"That... sounds interesting, reminds me of a group of monks I've come across in the past, they utilized a brief moment of focus to enhance their senses to navigate in the caves they called home. May follow a similar principle but I've not heard of it used for physical mutation..." he slows in saying the last word, then hums before having an aha moment, "you're a mutator! That's it. I've not seen a proper mutator in some number of years. But the fact you use both incarnum and psionics to fuel it is quite interesting."

"Renting abilities?" he asks with a quirked eyebrow, "I do offer the service, but no one's asked in years, most prefer to simply buy the abilities. Those that do use it do so to accomplish something that gets them a great boon that offsets the loss afterwards."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Alexis and Taegan arrive at Alexis's house in short order, unmolested with the road so near to where they'd started.


Brin Calvish
The pellet splatters over the thing's face, causing it to screech as it reeled back in pain, as if burned. The creature moves its hands to show large tracks on its face are discolored and cracked, as if partially turned to ash. It shrieks, causing pieces of the discolored wounds to fall off and reveal raw muscle underneath, including one of its eyes crumbling to ash in its socket, but Brin barely notices through the sheer noise the creature's making.

Outside, which Brin can see, he can see someone coming towards the house, at speed. He can just make out a sword across his back.

6 Sonic Damage. Ref DC 14 Halves.


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
Lara nods, "Then they are with your ancestors in Moradin's hall," she replies, "You do them proud by going onward in their absence," she continues, saying a traditional rite for Dwarves with lost families, translated to common of course. She's surprisingly knowledgeable of Dwarven customs.


Father Cain
(Last Call Before Cain's Gone For Good)

[Business Scrub]

Alexis jumps out of the sled before it even stops.
"I'll be right back!"
She dashes into her house, into the small storage barn on the side and comes back out with a rickety stretcher on wheels.
"Help me bring her in."
While pushing her in, Alexis checks her vitals and wracks her brain for what disease this might be.

Heal check to diagnose/see when she will need to make another fortitude save. [roll0]

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He raised an eyebrow.

"Mutator, you say? Hmm... Yes, the term sounds like it would fit me. I think I finally know what I would like. When you said great boon, this gave me this idea... Though I am not sure if you would agree to it."

He took a deep breath and looked the Merchant in the eyes.

"Are there any errands one can do for you, in order to gain store credit or such? As it is, I am right now satisfied with what I have, so any purchase or renting of anything you have would possibly bite me later on, when I need what I sold or when it turns out what I chose will not be useful..."

He looked to the side, tapping his chin, as if thinking about something.

"Though if that is not possible, I would appreciate any ways of furthering my skills as, as you said, mutator. So I can reach new abilities or maintain it for longer..."

[r2d2go]

Osrik smiles fully at that, showing through his beard. "Thank ye', lass, yer not half bad. If ye' need any sort o' metal weapons or armor, or tha' sort o' thing needs fixin', stop by tha' shop some time." He goes through a brief overview of directions to his shop.

[Jacior]

Brin lunges with his spear, hoping to take advantage of the fact it was in extreme pain to... cause it more pain, he supposed. He had assumed that it wasn't a solid creature though, so seeing raw muscle under there was a little disturbing. He shrugs off the roaring with little more than some lightly ringing ears. "By the gods, you're loud."

Spend my last point to absorb 4 damage from the sonic attack (taking it to 0)

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit Chance: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]

[Business Scrub]

Taegan nods and helps Alexis push the unfortunate herbalist into the house. The halfling shifts nervously foot to foot while Alexis does her work in silence.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
"It's rare I have need for such, but how about this, I have an interest in the town of Ravenwood, get me a foothold there, preferably getting an actual building I can set up in, and you'll get a good bit of credit here, sound like a deal?" the Merchant asks, "Just need a physical shop to sell my more mundane wares."


Alexis Wren & Taegan Fireshroom
Roofus walks alongside you, obviously worrying, as the woman is brought inside. Her fever isn't any worse, but she's sweating profusely, she'd need to get more liquids in her system if she was going to survive this.

One short of IDing!


Brin Calvish
The spear misses, and the beast retaliates, going right for Brin's neck, and it clamps down onto Brin's shoulder when he tries to move out the way.

12 damage to Brin... yea, dice aren't liking you right now <.<


Dougal McCormick & Osrik Stonehammer
"I likely will, I'm the new runner for the town after all," Lara replies simply, "You'll see me around for sure."


Father Cain
(And Gone Again, No More Retries)

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He nodded at this.

"That sounds fair. I will do so, then... Is there any easy way to contact you or...?" He left the question unfinished.

After receiving his answer, he just smiled. "I must say, this is an amazing place of wonders... I am happy to have seen it."

After all pleasantries and goodbyes are exchanged, he proceeds to exit the shop, looking around if he is in the same place as before he entered... And proceeds to walk towards the village?

[Business Scrub]

Bah! Years of academy training wasted!

Alexis taps nervously as she frets over the herbalist.

"This is bad... This isn't something I've seen before. Get a bowl of water and a rag."

As Taegan runs off to do Alexis mutters under her breath and sits the woman upright.

"Was she sick before? No, it had to be some kind of rapid onset..."

The halfling returns quickly, sloshing water on the wood floors. Alexis dampens the cloth and puts it on the woman's head, hoping to alleviate some of the sweating. Moving quickly, she grinds some Pallium Leaf in a mortar and pestle and scrapes it into the remaining water. Pallium tended to be a minor cure-all: it wasn't exactly ideal for the situation, but guaranteed not to make things worse. Ideally it would slow digestion. Things were about to get bad, and they couldn't have her losing water unnecessarily.
She tilts the herbalists head back and pours a small amount of the mixture down her throat. If she was sweating, she was conscious. And if she's conscious, then she should be able to swallow at least a bit.

[Jacior]

Brin drops his spear as the beast nearly rips his shoulder from his torso. Feeling slightly light headed, he takes a deep breath and wraps his arms and hands around the creature and drags it out into the sunny morning light.

[r2d2go]

Osrik nods. "Hm. Well, if ye' ever hear from tha' Stonehammers, tell 'em ye' know Osrik, son o' Torin. Might net ye' a discount o' sorts, if jus' ta' take off tha' gougin' they do ta' anyone who's na' a dwarf. So what were ye' runnin' here for?"

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
It's only a few minutes down the road once Aeron leaves the shop that he finds himself entering the town. It was quaint, but well constructed. However, it's not long after that he hears a loud screech from a house to the side of the road, a small bunch of people gathered, shaking from the sound.

Knowledge (Local) Check Please.


Alexis Wren
Taegan returns, sweating slightly, but Alexis can tell it's not from exertion, and she's proven right when the halfling collapses just after Nerra is given the medicine.

Int and/or Spot Check Please

Heal Check Please


Brin Calvish
The beasty disintegrates on exposure to the light, screeching loudly as it crumbles.

1200 exp


Osrik Stonehammer
"A runner is a term city goers use for messengers that deliver within a community, usually cities," Lara explains, "the Mayor had me deliver a message to a group of kobold in the area recently, their leader will be coming here tomorrow to discuss something with the Mayor."

After that statement, Osrik and Lara both notice that Dougal seems to have wandered off.

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He walked towards the gathered people, he was curious, very curious.

First the Merchant, and now this? That seemed like a decent start.


[roll0]

[r2d2go]

Osrik raises an eyebrow at the mention of kobolds, but shrugs. "Well, 'least some kobolds make a livin' wit' 'onest minin'. Had ta' learn ta' respect 'em in tha' mines - they'd make some parts o' tha' caverns death traps, but leave us well 'nuff alone." Looking around, he tries to figure out where Dougal went. "So, where d'ye think Dougal went? Left wit' na' a sound..." Walking a few steps and craning his neck to look around, he tries to discern the path he might have taken.

Basically, feel free to send me wherever :smalltongue:

[Jacior]

Brin breathes heavily. It was a good thing that'd worked or else his long life might have ended so very quickly. Putting a hand up to his shoulder, he feels and tries to figure out if there was going to be any lasting weakness, it was hard to tell with such savage injuries sometimes. It was at that moment, grunting in pain as he felt up his seemingly unmangled shoulder that there were people still around. He turned and looked at them, trying to gauge their reactions... Some people thought him surviving such things were... suspicious.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
Aeron, on approaching, spots a person dragging a strange creature out of the house and into the light, the beast dissolving into ash as it screeched even more loudly. The man is breathing heavily and checking his shoulder when people swarm him, followed by someone calling out, "what happened to the Tailors?"


Alexis Wren
(Need a Post Soon! One more Drop and this game goes under!)


Brin Calvish
A few of the people, including the kid with the glowing stones, run up to Brin and start asking if he's alright and what was that and where he learned to fight to survive against something like that and a multitude of other questions. The rest seemed unnerved, but one voices something that causes everyone to quiet, "what happened to the Tailors?"


Osrik Stonehammer
Lara giggles slightly, "I may have unnerved him, I had a little fun flirting with him," she says, with a glance around as well, "speaking of, I've spent a little too much time talking, I need to deliver my last package. I'll stop by the smithy later to talk more, but you know what they say, business before pleasure, until then," and with that, she waves and takes off at a light jog before literally jumping onto the roof of one of the houses and roof hopping away.

[r2d2go]

Osrik looks a bit confused, then shrugs, and continues his stroll, keeping an eye out for anything interesting. If nothing comes of it, he goes back to his shop.

[Jacior]

Brin stiffens as people rush him, but otherwise stays quiet. If people really push for an answer he says. "I've been a part of a lot of city guards..." But he doesn't answer unless he has to. When someone asks about the tailors, he shrugs. "I didn't make it past the front room."

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

He shrugged and proceeded to search for an inn. He needed to get a room and plan out what to do.

[Business Scrub]

Sorry about that! I had to be pulled away from the playground for a while to deal with real life.

Alexis watches Taegan pass out and lets out a little sigh of desperation.

"Great. It's airborne..."

Before anything else, Alexis tries to reduce her chance of contracting whatever came down upon the other two. She washes her hands and pulls a scarf up around her mouth and nose, hoping the extra layer will be the difference between life and death. She rests Taegan on a couch in her sitting room and ferries between the two sick people, hoping to keep the disease at bay. Shed notices the fox is gone, and pays it little heed for now. Strange, but certainly the least of her concerns.

[EdroGrimshell]

Aeron Gascoigne
The inn was easy to find, it was called the Snake Fang Inn, and had an image of a snake coiled around a mug for the sign. It's easy to see why when Aeron enters, the apparent owner of the Inn had several snake tattoos on his arms and had a snake wrapped around one of said arms, which looked up as Aeron walked in, he could even see a spark of intellect in the serpent's eyes.

Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), or Sense Motive


Alexis Wren
Whatever it was, it seemed to have calmed some on Nerra, but her breathing was still shallow. Taegan had another issue, her breathing was rapid and shallow, she was sweating heavily, burning up from the inside out.


Brin Calvish
On saying that, it becomes apparent the people are a little more apprehensive about going in, "you didn't see them at all in there?" one asked, before shaking his head and going into the house calling names Brin can only guess belonged to the Tailors.


Osrik Stonehammer
The day was rather boring today, but Osrik saw some signs he'd need to go back to work soon, a woodsman was complaining about his axe having been worn down and not holding an edge while a farrier was worried his horses' shoes were being worn down too much lately, he needed the coin but needed the shoes more. Last was the local brewer, Marcus Hading, who needed knew barrels, meaning he'd need the metal rings that held them together soon.

[Business Scrub]

Alexis bites her lip, not really sure what to do. If she knew what it was she could treat it, but... suddenly she felt quite like she had failed. There has to be a clue somewhere! She can't just let these people sit around and die, right?

Alexis runs deeper into her house, up to the attic and pulling out an old book of disease symptoms. It was mostly heuristic medicine, but just maybe whatever they were suffering from was in there.

I'm not really sure what to do until I can make a heal check for them, so I'll desperately try to find a cure so I'm not the world's worst healer.

[Jacior]

"I didn't look." Brin says, glad the attention was off him. It was bad enough with them being there at all, now they had something to focus on. With a sigh, he sits down against the building, to the right of the door and waits.

[Yasahiro]

Aeron Gascoigne

Nods his head towards the owner, unfazed by the snake. Everyone has their oddities.

"I'd like a room for one night, how much would that be?"


Sense motive [roll0]