The Strange Fruit

[Kaiser Omnik]

Farvyn's Caravan
Lortan outskirts

The Lortan valley. A country forgotten by time. This land is ancient and its people superstitious. It has been left undisturbed for the better part of this Era, except for a few invasions early on as human colonization had just begun. Since it has fallen under the protection of the Khurian Empire, however, the valley has only known peace. And despite the efforts of past emperors, Khurian cultural and social influence has never really penetrated these hinterlands. Not being of great strategic value, the region remained largely ungoverned, its inhabitants left to their own devices. For the folks who call this place home, the Lortan valley remains a haven of tranquility and stability where a good life is marked by honesty and hard work.

It is a bright, slightly chilly morning and the forest is pleasant as summer gives way to fall. A light fog rolls between the hills. The road you travel on is a wide dirt path, hard-packed, with faint wagon trails visible. The sounds of birds and the occasional small mammal can be heard coming from the fir and spruce trees to your left and right, as you proceed east. A rather minimalist stone statue depicting a winged woman lies a short distance from the road, which Aranya can identify as a representation of the elven goddess Aerdrie Faenya. A few crows at the base of the statue are fighting over a piece of meat. Up ahead, you see some breaks in the trees as the hamlet of Lortan slowly comes into view. To call it a town would be generous, as it seems to be little more than a single dust-covered road, with small houses located in an almost random fashion. The outskirts of town seem nearly devoid of people, but you do notice a few folks tending to crops. Farvyn is visibly excited to finally be arriving. Gil is walking right behind the wagon, bearing his overlarged greataxe.

---

Aruzara
The Apple Blossom, Lortan

The half-orc makes her way downstairs from her room. No one is behind the counter of the general store, but the delightful aroma tells her Voada must be making her famous leek pottage. She turns to the back of the common room and notices the silver-haired woman cooking over the iron stove. Raising her head, Voada smiles at her tenant and gestures towards the nearby table and chairs.

[Zevox]

A small yellow orb floats up from the Half-Elf girl's hand in response to the small prayer she had just muttered, and she smiles. Just what she'd wanted to see.

She smiles wider as her destination of the past week's journey starts to become visible through the trees. "Ah, we're finally here! It's been a few years, but I still remember this little place pretty well. It's such a pleasant, quiet town." Aranya says to Oliver, whom she's been walking next to today. "I wish I could visit when they weren't having problems, though. Last time it was a rabies infection among some of the animals. It's always sad to see animals reduced to that, and people in danger from it." Her smile fades slightly as as she mentions that incident, but returns as she optimistically adds, "Hopefully this time it's a little simpler. If my purification spells work, it'll just be a matter of a week or so hanging out here and casting as many each day as I can to make sure I get everything."

Aranya beams as she spots the statue on the road. "Lia got them to put up the statue! Good for her. I wasn't sure whether a human village would be okay with honoring an Elf goddess like that, but I guess I shouldn't have worried. Everyone here is so kind, of course they'd be okay with it." As they get closer to the statue she mutters another small prayer, and a brief puff of wind whips up near the statue, blowing across its face as it ascends upward from the ground towards the sky. An unconventional way to honor a goddess, but it seemed appropriate to Aranya, given what Lia had told her about the sky goddess last time she was here.

[Lank]

Aruzara sits down at the table. "Morning Voada" she grumbles softly. She got hardly any sleep last night. She just lay there in her bed staring at the ceiling. "Any news this morning?" Her hair is still messy from bed and she keeps rubbing her eyes.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aruzara

"Morning, dear! Have some bread. The pottage should be done soon."

Voada pushes a plate with a loaf of bread towards the half-orc, then returns to stirring the soup.

"What's new? Hmm... Caemhe found his prized goat dead this morning. No traces of violence, she must have been eating those damned apples. He's devastated, the poor lass. I also heard that Carda's kid is not getting better."

Voada makes a quick sign with her hand which Aruzara has come to know to be a ritual blessing, an invocation of some local godling or spirit of healing.

"But that one is a strong little girl, I'm sure she'll fight it. Good thing Farvyn is coming over! He should be here soon, I gather..."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"Hopefully this time it's a little simpler. If my purification spells work, it'll just be a matter of a week or so hanging out here and casting as many each day as I can to make sure I get everything."

"Indeed," replies the tiefling marching next to her, "Though it's often said by travelers that the destination often doesn't compare to the journey itself, I'd certainly like to enjoy the fruits of my labors, and this particular journey hasn't been a particularly interesting one so far, present company excluded of course." He raises a clawed finger and rotates it in a circle as he finishes, looking around at the rest of the travelers to make sure none of them were offended. He then begins absentmindedly plucking at the strings of the lute that he carries, pausing and shaking his head every few seconds when a note doesn't sound quite right to him. It was difficult for Oliver to find traveling companions on the road, especially ones that didn't make warding signs at him whenever his back was turned. On the upside, however, whenever he had found companions willing to travel with him, they seemed to be of the interesting sort. Take his present company, for example. A gnomish tinkerer and his minotaur (minotaur!) bodyguard, a dwarven holy man seeking brewing secrets, the quiet girl who took her privacy quite seriously (someone that secretive must have something worth knowing), and the chatty little half-elf currently walking by his side.


"Lia got them to put up the statue! Good for her. I wasn't sure whether a human village would be okay with honoring an Elf goddess like that, but I guess I shouldn't have worried. Everyone here is so kind, of course they'd be okay with it."

Oliver's introspection is interrupted by by Aranya's observation. He takes a closer look at the statue. The statue's simplicity doesn't leave a lot of room for his speculation. He makes a guess that she must be some sort of good deity, angel-wings and all, and asks for clarification from the half-elf, "Sorry, I don't know much about elf goddesses. Upon whose likeness are we looking here?"

[Lank]

"Farvyn? That name seems familiar. Isn't he that little gnome that hides behind that minotaur all day? . Aruzara begins to eat her bread. "Do you know what today is Voada? Today is the day my contract expires".

[czieg]

[OOC: My weekend has been busy! Holiday(Relatives+Friends)=No productivity]

Shallan had mainly stayed near Gil for the majority of the trip. She had refrained from speaking to him other then quiet greetings, she partook in his company because her mother had advised to stay near something that was more likely to attract arrows then her, so she had chosen the hulking minotaur. It seemed like if she was going to attack the caravan, she would start by bringing him down first.

So it was that Shallan walked beside Gil with her walking stick, not speaking and constantly scanning her surroundings. She didn't know much about the world, so she took every opportunity to take it in and learn about it. The forest had seemed rather peaceful on their journey.
'Oh, Farvyn is in sight! Now we need to find that book.'
Shallan flinched slightly as her mother's voice filled her head. It was difficult when she spoke and Shallan was around people, she couldn't respond without looking strange to other people, and she knew she did enough of that without having to try. She merely nodded her head slightly in response, showing that she had heard her mother.

[Zevox]

"Indeed," replies the tiefling marching next to her, "Though it's often said by travelers that the destination often doesn't compare to the journey itself, I'd certainly like to enjoy the fruits of my labors, and this particular journey hasn't been a particularly interesting one so far, present company excluded of course."
"Well, I've certainly enjoyed this particular journey more than usual. It's not often I have company on the road, much less so many!" Aranya gestures to the wagon rolling along beside them and the numerous other travelers in their little group. "There's not so many people around here, and I don't get to just travel on my own yet, since I'm still in training, so I only go this far from home when the Circle sends me on a mission. And when that happens I'm either alone or with Tera, and she's no fun to talk to. It's kinda hard to get her to say much at all sometimes, actually. Kinda like her," Aranya gestures briefly over her shoulder at Shallan, whom she had failed to get more than two words out of when she tried talking to her a couple days ago, "only when Tera does talk, she's really stuffy and formal about everything." The girl shakes her head, a little exasperated just thinking about her mentor.

"Not like you. I could listen to you tell stories all day. Or to Farvyn talk about those toys he tinkers with - I don't understand most of it, but he seems to love it so much that it's fun just hearing him talk about it."


"Sorry, I don't know much about elf goddesses. Upon whose likeness are we looking here?"
"That's Aerdrie Faenya, Queen of the Skies. Lia - she's a friend I met last time I was here, works as a farmhand, and cares for birds in her free time - told me about her. She teaches people to embrace freedom and change, and her followers are encouraged to wander the world seeking new experiences." To explain her little stunt casting wind over the statue's face, Aranya adds, "Lia told me that the old stories say there's nothing Aerdrie loves more than the feeling of wind rushing past her as she flies, so if she's watching that statue, I figured she'd like that."

[Kaiser Omnik]

"Farvyn? That name seems familiar. Isn't he that little gnome that hides behind that minotaur all day?

"Gil. The minotaur's name is Gil. Without Farvyn some of us would have lost an arm or a leg. And unlike other folks here, I like his inventions. Sometimes I feel like Lortan should open up more to the outside world."


"Do you know what today is Voada? Today is the day my contract expires".

Voada pauses for a moment and then adds, without lifting her eyes up from the soup:

"Oh, is it?"

[Lank]

"Gil. The minotaur's name is Gil. Without Farvyn some of us would have lost an arm or a leg. And unlike other folks here, I like his inventions. Sometimes I feel like Lortan should open up more to the outside world."
Voada pauses for a moment and then adds, without lifting her eyes up from the soup:

"Oh, is it?"

"That's right, I have enjoyed my time in your service and maybe this is just the orcish blood talking but I yearn for battle; I miss the thrill of meeting a charging enemy head on, I long for the sound of old and forgotten battle cries, I want to know what the crimson rain feels like again on my face, I.....I". Aruzara stops herself. She has completely mangled the bread she was holding. It is mostly all over the table in front of her with a remaining chunk in her clenched fist.
"I want to kill that bitch Salenna".
Aruzara takes a bite of her mangled bread slowly whilst looking over the mess she made.
"I should collect my things, I won't bother you further Voada".

[The Hellbug]

Oliver



"That's Aerdrie Faenya, Queen of the Skies. Lia - she's a friend I met last time I was here, works as a farmhand, and cares for birds in her free time - told me about her. She teaches people to embrace freedom and change, and her followers are encouraged to wander the world seeking new experiences."

Oliver nods as he listens to Aranya's explanation or in time with his absentminded picking; it's hard to tell exactly which. "Sounds like my kind of goddess!" he replies, "I've never much been one for religion myself, living on the road means your never in one place long enough to really pick out the gods that suit you. Those of us that were religious back home ended up worshiping a mishmash of gods from different regions; it'd probably look real silly to someone like you." He adds at the end with a grin, however, "For me it might still just be the horns and tail, though. I've never seen a temple I couldn't be chased out of."

[Zevox]

Oliver nods as he listens to Aranya's explanation or in time with his absentminded picking; it's hard to tell exactly which. "Sounds like my kind of goddess!" he replies, "I've never much been one for religion myself, living on the road means your never in one place long enough to really pick out the gods that suit you. Those of us that were religious back home ended up worshiping a mishmash of gods from different regions; it'd probably look real silly to someone like you." He adds at the end with a grin, however, "For me it might still just be the horns and tail, though. I've never seen a temple I couldn't be chased out of."
Aranya was going to say something about the mishmash of worship not sounding silly at all, but that last part catches her attention instead, and her smile falters. "Is it really that bad? I mean, the horns and tail are weird at first, yeah, but anyone who took half a minute to talk to you should be able to tell you're no devil."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"Is it really that bad? I mean, the horns and tail are weird at first, yeah, but anyone who took half a minute to talk to you should be able to tell you're no devil."

Oliver sees the smile leave the young woman's face and immediately regrets what he had said, Good job, Oliver. You've got to remember that some people take this kind of thing more seriously than you do. Now how to change the subject? He shakes his head and answers her, "You're not quite getting it right there. Most of the temple-folk don't think I'm a devil. Rather, they know that I am the product of the unholy congress between mortal and devil. Note the unholy part. It's fine, though. I find them a bit too stuffy for my taste anyway. You should have seen this one priest in..."

TWANG!

One of the strings on Oliver's lute suddenly breaks due to the undue pressure he had been putting on it. "Ouch! Hate it when that happens," he says, shaking out his hand that had been the victim of the high-tension string's snapping. He holds out the lute by the neck to Aranya and says, "Could you hold this for a second? I've got some spare strings in my pack." Once she takes hold of the instrument, he swings his backpack off and begins rummaging through it for the spare strings.

[Zevox]

A look of concern and a little confusion remains on Aranya's face as Oliver rummages through his pack. She doesn't really understand why priests would hold his nature against him - if what he'd told her was true, it wasn't his fault he was what he was, it was some ancestor he'd never so much as known. But she could tell he didn't want to talk about it, and decided not to press him further.

"Well, I haven't met many temple-folk - there's not many actual temples around here, usually just a shrine or two in most villages, and a lot of them aren't even cared for by a priest anymore, they're just kind of there for whoever feels like praying. But stuffy people I definitely know. Half of the others in my Circle like nothing more than 'meditating on nature' in total silence, like it was the most important thing in the world. Not that just sitting by a waterfall or the like for a few minutes can't be great of course, but for hours every day? I don't know how they don't die of boredom. I always felt like I was going to when they tried to get me to do it." The girl absentmindedly plucks at the unbroken strings on Oliver's lute a couple of times as she speaks, unable to contain her curiosity since she'd never learned to play an instrument herself. But for the same reason what she gets doesn't sound anything like actual music, so she quickly stops, slightly embarrassed by her poor efforts, and holds the instrument back out for Oliver.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

I know I've got a spare in here somewhere, Oliver thinks as he looks through the pack. He pulls his head out of it for just long enough to nod in agreement at Aranya's description of 'stuffiness' before diving back in. After a few more moments of searching, he sighs in frustration and slings the bag back over his shoulder. As he takes his instrument back, he shakes his head and syas, "No use. I know I have some spares in there somewhere, but I'm not going to be able to find them until we can take a break. I guess we'll have to make our grand entrance without fanfare. And Aranya, what were you expecting? You're trying to play a broken lute. You might not yet want to dive into a career as a maestro, though."

[Zevox]

"I figured the other strings would still work, at least, so maybe I could get something out it?" Aranya replied with a shrug and an embarrassed look, obviously not entirely sure how the instrument works.

[Erasmas]

"S'actually a temple tha' brings me out this way.", Auraun interjects into the conversation between Aranya and Oliver, increasing his walking pace slightly to catch up to the two longer-legged caravan members, "Truth be told, s'the cider of Lortan that first caught my attention a few months back. Had me a pint o' four year stocked up in a little inn called the 'Mangled Mutt' in some town... can't recall the name o' it, but it smelled vaguely of piss, it did. Whole place; wasn't pleasant. But that cider was. Told meself, 'Auraun... ye ought to get yerself over to that Lortan place. They make cider tha' good, there's probably somethin' worth learnin' from 'em'. I only found out 'bout the temple a few weeks ago when I was already making my way here. Just Gulra's way o' smilin' down on me, I s'pose. Always watchin' out for me, he is."

He walked on, continuing to use his warhammer as a walking stick, the pommel striking the ground with rhythmic report and the head just atop where his knuckles wrapped about the haft. He shifted the weight of his shield upon his back, rolling his shoulder forward enough to facilitate the move of the metal as it rested over his backpack. After a few more steps, the dwarf fetched his wineskin as it swung beneath his right elbow and pulled until he could bring it to his lips. A quick flick of his thumb removed the sealing ring that kept the opening folded closed. The priest of the sun then let the container's golden contents flow over his tongue, whetting his palate before eliciting a small yet satisfied belch.

"Pardon.", Auraun offered off-handedly.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Farvyn's Caravan

"Lortan, folks!", the gnome exclaims with satisfaction.

The houses of Lortan are small and modest, all made of wood, with few personal touches. Most are close to the road, but they are well spaced, almost haphazardly. The windows on the houses are opaque, rather than clear, made even less transparent by the dust which seems to cover everything. Here and there you can see other signs of civilization, clothes hanging on a line, a woman walking a dog, a man with a mule pulling a cart... But the village is relatively quiet.

Halfway through the hamlet, a second road branches off to the north, with a somewhat larger building on the corner of the intersection. This building seems to be the only one of any significant size. The sign above the door (which seems to be almost as an afterthought) is a painted apple blossom. It is slightly askew and has faded almost to illegibility. You can’t help but notice the stares of the inhabitants, some from behind dirty windows, or slightly ajar doors.

---

Aruzara
The Apple Blossom

Voada gives her tenant a tender look and serves her a large bowl of pottage.

"I can't claim to understand what you're going through of course. But trust me when I say that I sometimes miss the thrill of adventure, and I know how irresistible that urge can be. That's why I never married, you know. I came back to Lortan changed, with stories others wouldn't believe, and most of them have been treating me like an outsider ever since."

Shortly after, two men come through the door and walk to another table. One of them glances at the mangled bread in front of Aruzara.

"- Good morning Murly, Colma. Hope you're hungry! You're just in time."

"- Always am for your leek pottage," says the one named Murly. "Hope you have lots, because the gnome is here and he brought friends."

[Lank]

Aruzara dips her mangled bread into the pottage and eats it. "What sort of friends? Last time he brought friends I had to put up with that slimy bard with the big mouth. I was tempted to break his jaw just to get him to shut up but that would have been bad for business. Do these folk look tough? Strong arms? Big weapons? Maybe a few battle scars?" Aruzara asks before taking another spoonful of her meal.

[Erasmas]

Farvyn's Caravan

Auraun sniffed at the air, his nostrils drinking deeply of something savory on the wind. Without too much trouble, he narrowed it down to the large building with the faded sign.

"Ahh... now tha' smells like a decent meal!", the dwarf said, once again quickening his pace. A thought crossed his mind and he turned about to address the minotaur, "Not that I haven't been enjoyin' yer cookin', Gil. Yer pickled herring chowder was particularly... interestin'."

After Aranya gave up attempting the play, the dwarf put his free hand out towards the lute, "May I give it a try?"

The cleric hooked the head of his hammer over the top of his shoulder and took the instrument in both hands. As he poorly strummed the strings with his thick dwarven fingers, he sang out a prayer to Gulra... disguised as a song.


"Great Fire, our Lord, ridin' 'cross the skies,
F'ever watchin' over us, omnipotent and wise.
Keep us all in your warm embrace,
And any dangers we shall face,
Will ne'er be too dire."

[The Hellbug]

"Lortan, folks!"

Oliver takes a quick look around the little town before saying, "I was expecting something a little bigger for a town as famous for something as this one, even if it is just their fruit. When I hear 'the best apples you've ever tasted', I expect a little more than this." The townsfolk's stares don't surprise him. His mentor had once told him, when asked why villagers barred their doors at the arrival of the brave Sir Harkin (but that's a story for another time), 'Farmers are afraid of everything. Too little rain and the crop dries out, too much rain and the crop is flooded. It makes for a fickle sort of person.' I'll have to be on my best behavior here; no need to give them any reason to be uncomfortable, he thinks as he straightens his hat.


"Great Fire, our Lord, ridin' 'cross the skies,
F'ever watchin' over us, omnipotent and wise.
Keep us all in your warm embrace,
And any dangers we shall face,
Will ne'er be too dire."

Oliver listens to the dwarf with a surprised look on his face. Sure, it wasn't anything he'd expect from an expert, but the dwarf's voice honestly wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be. He nods as Auraun finishes and remarks, "I'm going to have to watch my back around these parts if you can do that on a broken lute."

[czieg]

Shallan pulled up the hood of her gray cloak as they approached the town. She didn't want to attract the attention of anyone, just to get in, find the book, and move on. Maybe the Elder Elemental Eye would give her a break for a few months, maybe she could go someplace that she wanted to go, like... What did she want to do with herself? She didn't have any family that wasn't in her head (or at least that she knew how to contact) or any really dreams of her own in life, it had all been her mother pushing her onwards, leaving no time for herself.

She glanced down at the spot on her chest where, under her clothing, lay the mark of her family's patron deity. Her mother called it a blessing, but within her own thoughts, Shallan only considered the mark a curse, a shackle that kept her tied to an unholy evil. She couldn't remove it, her mother was never not watching Shallan and she had ways of making her daughter follow her orders. All Shallan could do is try and keep herself alive as they did the Eye's work.

The warlock sighed to herself, such was her life. She hopped into the wagon that held what belongings she didn't carry with her, and slung them on her back. Scanning the different buildings, she spotted the largest of them. 'A tavern no doubt, we will find information on the book there.' Her mother's advice popped into her head, a tone of command laced with it.
Shallan whispered her response, hoping none would hear her 'talking to herself.'
"Aren't taverns full of drunks though? Wouldn't it be better if I asked some other villagers?"
'Are you questioning your mother's wisdom?'
"No mother, I'll check the tavern."

With no further response coming from her mother, Shallan sped up her pace, walking into the tavern before stopping. People were not her strong suit, her mother always told her what to say. 'Go to the bar and ask the barkeep where we can find that book.'

Pulling down her hood, Shallan shuffled up to the bar, waiting for the bartender's attention. "Um... excuse me? Do you know where I could find a book called 'Fairy Tales From Across the Realms'?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Apple's Blossom

Entering the big building, Shallan realizes the Apple Blossom's neither an inn nor a tavern - it’s really just a general store that’s been added to a house. Inside, patrons can buy supplies; they sell only basic items like rope, food, lamp oil, food ingredients, clothing and so on. No one's behind the store's counter, but the warlock quickly notices there’s also a few tables near an iron stove in case someone wishes to order a home cooked meal. She sees two men sitting down, and one woman noble in bearing, with silver hair and narrow blue eyes, at the stove. She wears sturdy clothing and a red cloak. Most surprisingly, an half-orc is also present, busy devouring a loaf of bread.

---

The other man sitting at the table, Colma, turns his attention to Aruzara, then to the door.

"- Check for youself, here's one of them."

[Erasmas]

"'Broken lute'?!", Auraun said in mock surprise, "I hadn't even noticed! Are ye sure that it's broken?"

When Oliver looks down, the broken string had been replaced. And that minor crack in the neck was also gone! The dwarf let out a hearty laugh at the tiefling's expression at the discovery. He too strode into the Apple Blossom and took a look around, just on the heels of the exceptionally quiet half-elf... though he swore he heard her whispering to herself.

The cleric cast his eyes about, but it was his nose that led him to the sight of the stove in the back.

Sniffing even deeper, he boomed out, "Whatever tha' is... it smells divine! Ambrosia no doubt. Who's the one sellin' it and how much would it be for whatever it is?"

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"I hadn't even noticed! Are ye sure that it's broken?"

"How could you not have? I was just playing it and then looking for a replacement..." Oliver replies, but when he looks down at the lute, he is greeted by the sight of its restored condition. With a shocked look on his face, he shows the lute to Aranya, hoping that she will back him up, and then looks for the small cut on his finger from where the string struck him. Soon, however, the dwarf's laugh clues the tiefling in to the joke. Not a song, but a prayer. Oliver, too, laughs as he realizes the dwarf's trick, "Well played, my dwarven friend, well played indeed."

But he had seen something important, something that he missed...the cut on my finger! He hastily dons the gloves he had previously stuck in his belt, hoping none of the townsfolk had seen his claw-tipped fingers.

[czieg]

It wasn't a tavern, and there were people, and her mother wasn't telling her what to do. What was she supposed to do? Shallan stood stock still in the doorway, her mind racing. It didn't seem like any books were here, and the only person that might know where to find one would most likely be the woman, but Shallan didn't want to go near her. The way she stood reminded her of her mother, and she got enough of that inside her head already. The other option would be the half-orc, who looked too scary for her to go near. What was she supposed to do?

A booming voice startled Shallan from her confusion, she looked towards the source to see that it was the dwarf that had been traveling with the caravan. She remembered that he was loud, and smelled strange. He said something about smelling like Ambrosia? Taking an experimental sniff, she caught the scent of food, but not Ambrosia. The dwarf seemed to have a very confused sense of smell, but she didn't particularly want to find out more about it. 'Mother said to ask the barkeep, but there is no barkeep, so maybe I should ask the owner of this place? Who is that though? The dwarf has already asked who was selling the food, so I'll ask whoever that is.'

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Apple Blossom

One of the men sitting down laughs heartily at the easily impressed dwarf. The other one simply stares at Shallan. Voada, always welcoming, gestures towards the two visitors.

"Oh, I don't know if it's divine, but it's certainly good for you. Come, come! There's plenty of that. Are you here about our apple problem? If so, then the meal is on the house!"

---

Meanwhile, outside the general store, Farvyn is greeted warmly by a few farmers and an exhausted woman bearing a bag full of herbs and vials.

[Lank]

Aruzara eyes off the two that just walked in. She had hoped for hulking barbarians with great axes and veterans in full plate armor. Instead she looked at the half-elf and the dwarf. The half-elf didn't look like she could even pick up a sword and the dwarf seemed to have a warhammer which was a good sign but he didn't quite match the barbarian description. "Well at least they didn't bring a bloody bard with them" she says to Voada. Aruzara then goes back to eating her pottage.

[czieg]

Shallan seemed to try and shrink lightly under the stranger's gaze, not speaking. Finally, her mother spoke into her mind. 'Do not shrink, you are the first servant of the Elder Elemental Eye, some country bumpkin will not intimidate you.' Her mother's words gave Shallan some backbone and she stopped her retreat. She straighten her posture slightly and met the stranger's gaze. Yes, her mother had controlled her life, but she had also supported her when she fell. Her mother had taken the roll of that devil on her shoulder, and the angel. "Do you know where I can find a book called 'Fairy Tales From Across the Realms?'"

Suddenly, her mother's laugh filled Shallan's mind, making her visibly wince slightly. 'The half-orc, said something about bards. I'm thinking he won't like the string boy from the caravan.' Shallan rolled her eyes before realizing that she was still in a room full of people. She immediately shrunk again.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Apple Blossom

The man who gazed at Shallan seems slightly taken aback by the...unusual query.

"- Never heard of it!", replies the one they call Murly.

Voada looks like she would smack Murly behind the head with her wooden spoon if he wasn't sitting on the other side of the table, near the window.

"- Don't mind him. We're all a bit on edge. But please tell us more about this book and why you came all the way here to find it. We can talk it out over lunch."

[Lank]

Aruzara scoffs when Shallan mentions a book. "What good would coming out to a farming town do you if you wanted to find a book? Why wouldn't you go to a city with a library?" Aruzara is visibly perplexed by the request. She had read few books in her life, the ones she had read had been about armor maintenance, exotic fighting styles and an encyclopedia of different types of manacles. "What possible use could someone have with a book of fairy tales?" she thinks to herself "I suppose it could be a gift for a child but why would she travel all this way for a gift?"

[Erasmas]

The dwarf ignored the grumpy half-orc; it likely wasn't her fault and was simply due to her savage heredity. His people had been fighting barbaric orcs for so long that there was little of their recorded history that did not contain some mention of them.

Instead, Auraun approached the older human woman who had spoke up and spoken to him about the apples, "I gotta admit tha' I wasn't comin' 'ere to fix yer problem, at least at first. I was comin' to learn the secrets of makin' cider, I was. Y'see, I be a brewer's appren... well, a brewer at any rate. Looking for secrets the wide world over, to be the best tha's ever been!"

He thought for a moment, another whiff of the pottage wafting between his moustache and nose, and he quickly added, "But... I would love to help get to the bottom of yer problem in exchange for such cider-makin' teachins', o'course! And, uh... a bowl of that there stew, if ye would throw it in to the bargain s'well."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Quite the popular guy, aren't you, Farvyn? Is there anything I can help you out with, now that we're here? Help unloading the wagon, certain people to fetch? Before you turn me down, I'd like to remind you that I won't forget the kindness you showed me in allowing me to travel with you and Gil, and I'm not the type to forget a friend. I'd be happy to help," Oliver says as the villagers begin to gather around Farvyn's cart, "and if you're really set on doing everything on your own, I'll be following Mr. Auraun inside. It seems his nose has found something of interest there, and I'd like to begin to inquire about those apples I heard about."

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Apple Blossom

While the silver-haired womam is serving Shallan and Auraun a bowl of hot soup, Murly addresses the dwarven cleric:

"- Mostly we sell our apples to brewers or merchants, but some of us know how to make cider and could teach it to you. We won't be able to spare any man for that until things get better, though...more and more of us are getting sick. And if we can't stop the growing rumors about our spoiled lot of apples, Lortan will lose its reputation in a month's time, top..."

---

Farvyn's Caravan

Before Farvyn is pulled away by his welcoming party, he shouts to Oliver:

"- Oh that's very generous of you Oliver! But there's time, Gil's got it! Go enjoy the town a bit for yourself!"

Oliver can hear the minotaur mumble something from behind the wagon, mostly in his native tongue. The bard does get one word, one of the few that are uttered in Common: "Typical."

For her part, Aranya soon notices that the townsfolk passing by the caravan are also gazing at her, almost as much as the tiefling.

[Zevox]

Outside the Apple Blossom
Aranya could only blink in surprise at their Dwarf companion's tune on the lute. Dwarves weren't too common in the region, but she'd met a few in her travels nonetheless, and never heard one sing before. The few who'd said anything about music had mostly complained about the local tunes being "too Elven." So hearing this one suddenly play a decent song was quite the surprise. "That was pretty good," she compliments once he's done. "I'll have to get you teach me the spell, too. If that's even possible." She frowns, actually not sure how that would work - were druidic and priestly magic similar enough for one to teach the other? Maybe - she did pray to the gods of nature for hers. But not to just one, like a priest does. And come to think of it, the other druids had never really taught her a specific spell, just how to ask the gods for them. "Hm, maybe it isn't," she mutters as the rest of the group starts towards the town store.

Aranya frowned a bit seeing the stares of the villagers. That hadn't been the way they acted last time she was here. Well, most hadn't, anyway. Was it because of the situation with the apples? The unusual nature of a few members of their group, like Gil and Oliver? Or had something changed in the past few years? She doesn't like it, whatever it is, but for now she thinks it best to follow the others into the store. She'll find out how the villagers are doing soon enough, and she has to start somewhere.

Inside the Apple Blossom
As the group enters the store, Aranya takes a moment to look over the other patrons already present. The two men are pretty nondescript - she thinks she might remember one from last time she was here, but isn't sure. The Half-Orc she definitely hasn't seen before though, and she briefly wonders if she should be concerned about the fact that the woman has several large weapons with her, but she reminds herself that if she's been welcomed here, there's probably no reason to worry. It's not like most travelers around here don't carry some arms to protect themselves, after all. This one just had a couple more than most.

When Voada welcomes Auraun, the girl turns her attention to the silver-haired woman. "Actually, that's exactly why we're here, Voada," she replies, a smile on her face she walks up to the older woman. Her carved walking staff taps a bit loudly on the wooden floor with the first step she takes, at which she blanches and makes a point of moving it more softly afterward - she's too used to the roads. "I don't know if you remember me - Aranya, from the incident a few years ago with the rabid animals? It's been too long, I know, but I don't get to travel as freely as I'd like." She visibly stops herself from going on about that topic, forcing herself to get back to the point. "But anyway, I heard about what's going on with the apples, and thought maybe I could help. My magic can purify plants and food - if the cause is any kind of disease or poison, I can get rid of it pretty quickly. I've done it in a few other places before, in fact. It might take a while to get everything, depending on how big the orchards are, but hopefully it'll fix things right up for you."

Remembering the "we" part of her first statement, the Half-Elf adds, "Oliver and Farvyn are here about the apples too, I mean. Auraun's more interested in cider, and Shallan..." she pauses as it dawns on her that the other Half-Elf of their little group has finally said something, "...is apparently here about that." She finishes with a look of slight confusion in the other girl's direction. A book with that title was what she was after? Really? It sounded like something you'd go somewhere with a proper library for, not a sleepy little village like this.

Sheesh, you guys were busy while I was at work today. Wasn't expecting the thread to almost double in size before I got home.

If Aranya wouldn't know Voada, I'll edit my post appropriately. Might be hard for me to be sure who she would and wouldn't know, since she's been here before but I only made up a couple of NPCs she specifically knew from last time. But my first impression is that Voada is someone that anyone who had been here before would know.

Edit: And several posts got made while I was writing this. My intent was that Aranya went inside with Auraun and Shallan, in case that's not clear. I could rework it so she stayed outside with Oliver and Farvyn for a bit if you'd really prefer.

[czieg]

Shallan got even more quiet as almost all the attention in the room turned to her. It was no doubt the most attention she had gotten since she had began her journey and as such, was rather intimidated. Swallowing, she nodded, speaking the words her mother put in her mouth. "A meal would be nice, thank you." with that, Shallan took a seat as far from the grumpy half-orc as possible. "My master sent me here to find it. He was rather vague as to why, just that I should come here to find it. Would you happen to know where it might be or who might have it?" It wasn't the whole truth, but she wasn't lying either. Yes, she had been sent to find the book here, but she didn't mention who her master was, or his favored plane of existence.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver follows Aranya into the store after bidding farewell to Gil and Farvyn, "I'll see you all around, then."

He arrives inside just in time to hear Aranya explaining why each member of their caravan is interested in Lortan, giving a wave and a nod when she mentions his name. When she finishes, he begins to step up to introduce himself more thoroughly when Shallan agrees to Aranya's statement that she is after a book of fairy tales. That takes the wind out of his sails a little bit, and he asks, "Wait, you were keeping quiet about looking for a book? A book of tales no less? Why didn't you ask me about it? Sure, I don't have the book, but telling stories is part of my trade. I'm sure I would have known something about whatever tale you're looking for: try me."

[Lank]

Aruzara sees Oliver walk in. "Oh great a bard" she says. Aruzara stands up from the table and walks to the stairs. She walks up into her room and begins to don her armor and pack her things. Aruzara rarely develops ties to people or places. She had only ever felt at home with her father but now that he was gone the raiders weren't home for her anymore. Not one to be tied down she doesn't know where she is heading but she wants to find the source of the foul apples, end that problem and then reclaim her soul from Salenna if she is the one responsible. Aruzara picks up her glaive. It has seen little use this past year, that saddened her greatly. The glaive was a part of her. She brushes some spiderwebs that had formed on it. It is made of hardened blackwood. The blade is deadly sharp. It has an inscription on it that reads "To my beloved Aruzara, may every strike be a killing one, Love Dad" in orcish. Swings it around a few times. She is quick and deadly with it. "I still got it" she says to herself. With that out the way she heads back to the common room.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Voada's mouth forms a big smile when Aryana introduces herself. She hugs her without any hesitation.

"- Of course it's you! My eyes aren't as good as they used to, but I recognize you Aryana. Your abilities will sure come in handy."

"- Just know that some folks here in Lortan think your kind of magic might be responsible for this whole mess", Murly adds sharply. "Me? I don't care either way. At this point, try anything, it might be worth it. If you can persuade Carda at the orchard to let you use your spells, then great!

The other farmhand, Colma, looks like he appreciates Auraun's style. He turns his attention to Shallan as she goes on about the book of fairy tales. Scratching his chin, he replies:

"- You'll find no library here young lady. Books? Most people here have no use for them. I hear ol' Buckman has plenty though. He's a smart man. No good with his hands, but smart."

You can roll an Intelligence (History) to recall something about the book mentioned by Shallan. It's obscure lore, but Oliver is trained in History AND can count on the good ol' bardic knowledge!

[Zevox]

Aranya smiles broadly and returns Voada's hug. She'd forgotten how affectionate the woman could be. "Thanks, Voada. It's great to see you. Been too long, like I said."

She was going to say more, ask Voada a couple of questions, but Murly's remark catches her attention, and she gives him a confused look. "People think 'my kind of magic' might be responsible? Why would they think that? I didn't do anything with the orchards last time I was here, and that was five years ago anyway." She tries to recall whether any of the others from her Circle have been to the village since then, but if they had, she hadn't been told about it. "And anyway, nobody from my Circle would ever do anything to hurt the land or people around here. We take oaths to keep both safe and healthy, and help those who struggle with it to live in harmony with nature."

Unless... well, if it was that, Murly's response would probably tell her. But she shouldn't assume - she doesn't want to cast suspicion where none may be warranted. And she isn't sure that the Circle would approve of her telling just anyone about that without being sure it was important anyway.

[czieg]

Oliver

Oliver follows Aranya into the store after bidding farewell to Gil and Farvyn, "I'll see you all around, then."

He arrives inside just in time to hear Aranya explaining why each member of their caravan is interested in Lortan, giving a wave and a nod when she mentions his name. When she finishes, he begins to step up to introduce himself more thoroughly when Shallan agrees to Aranya's statement that she is after a book of fairy tales. That takes the wind out of his sails a little bit, and he asks, "Wait, you were keeping quiet about looking for a book? A book of tales no less? Why didn't you ask me about it? Sure, I don't have the book, but telling stories is part of my trade. I'm sure I would have known something about whatever tale you're looking for: try me."

Shallan shakes her head, the musician obviously didn't understand. "I'm looking for the book, not the stories within, that is all I was told. I don't know what my master wants with it, just that I am supposed to find this book and he will instruct me further when I find it."


The other farmhand, Colma, looks like he appreciates Auraun's style. He turns his attention to Shallan as she goes on about the book of fairy tales. Scratching his chin, he replies:

"- You'll find no library here young lady. Books? Most people here have no use for them. I hear ol' Buckman has plenty though. He's a smart man. No good with his hands, but smart."

You can roll an Intelligence (History) to recall something about the book mentioned by Shallan. It's obscure lore, but Oliver is trained in History AND can count on the good ol' bardic knowledge!

Shallan bows in thanks. "Thank you, could you please tell me where to find this Mr. Buckman? I would like to speak to him as soon as possible."

[Erasmas]

Oblivious to the reactions of Colma for the time being, Auraun fixates on getting his bowl of food. He takes the steaming vessel from Voada with a warm thanks and carefully carries it to a nearby table, where he then pulls up a chair and plods down into it. The spoon is halfway to his mouth before he pauses and straightens himself.

"I uhh... don't suppose ye have any cider tha' ain't spoiled, have ye? Only, it's unheard of for a dwarf to eat without somethin' to wash it down with! And I've 'eard so much 'bout yer famous apple cider tha' an ale just doesn't seem right. I'd gladly pay ye for a stein or two, lass!"

With that, he mutters a prayer over his meal in his native tongue, his lips reciting words practiced a thousand times. He fingers caress the steel emblem hanging about his neck on a chain - a circle with radiant triangular protrusions. It is very obviously made in the image of a sun, while the crisp angles and geometry betray that it could only be dwarven in design.

When the man called Murly speaks up about the cider, he nods along between sloppy spoonfuls, some of his food clinging to his facial hair. Concern grew into lines upon his forehead as he spoke of the village's plight. Ripping an end off of the piece of bread he had just dunked into the pottage with his teeth, he chewed at the back of his mouth as he spoke around it.

"Aye, I understand. All in good time, I s'pose; all accordin' to Gulra's Great Plan. So... what kind of sick are ye people catchin'? Is it poison like? Are ye losing people to this blight?", he asked with frankness that bordered this side of casual.

[Lank]

Aruzara stomps down the stairs. She wears splint mail of orcish design. She has a backpack with two sets of manacles hanging off it. She also has large glaive on her back in some sort of specially made harness (presumably made for ease of access so it can be drawn quickly). Her hair has been fixed up and doesn't look like she just woke up. She arrives just in time to hear Auraun inquire about the cider. "The dwarf wants alcohol for breakfast? I knew of their passion for alcohol, but at breakfast?". She approaches Voada. "I've decided Voada, I will investigate the poisoned food and put a stop to it. And I will find those responsible and bring them back to town in chains" she says proudly. But I can't do it alone". Aruzara looks at Auraun "You there dwarf, you seem capable. Will you join me on this most noble of quests?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

Colma gives simple directions to Buckman's house to Shallan. But when Voada gives yet another stern look at Murly for his comment on Aryana's druidism, the two men know it's time for them to go back to work.

"It's nothing personal, Aryana. Just gossip", says Voada as the men leave. She then turns to Auraun. "Some only get mild symptoms, for others it looks like severe food poisoning. I'm really not an expert. We found one of the goats dead this morning, too. No traces of violence. Might have something to do with it."

The owner of the Apple Blossom walks towards the backroom.

"Let me get you a bottle of our finest cider, master dwarf. Consider it...another incentive for this job."

[Zevox]

A concerned look remains on Aranya's face even after Voada's explanation, but she nods in acceptance of it anyway. Gossip was sometimes just that, she supposed, but she'd never encountered gossip that made people think ill of her before.

Her ears perk up at the mention of Mr. Buckman, whom she remembers from her last visit here and would love to go talk with herself, but Aruzara's return reminds her to keep her focus on her main reason for being here. But the Half-Orc's words also confuse her, so she speaks up, addressing her. "Why do you think there's someone behind it? Plants can just catch diseases perfectly naturally, the same as people. There's probably nothing more to it than that."

[Lank]

"Why do you think there's someone behind it? Plants can just catch diseases perfectly naturally, the same as people. There's probably nothing more to it than that."

"I suspect an old enemy of mine is behind it. She is the only one I can think of that would have the power and insanity to try and poison the entire town. You are probably right druid, this could all be a natural occurrence but if there is even the slimmest chance that my enemy is behind it then I must investigate and hopefully reclaim what's mine".

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver is baffled by Aruzara's response to his entrance. People being uncomfortable with him as a tiefling he can understand, but someone dismissing herself because of his profession? Sure, back in his younger days in the circus, some people had disliked their presence, but he thought that was just a problem with their itinerancy: the troupe could easily be swindlers and thieves. But Oliver hadn't been home in years, and he hadn't expected such scorn for a single traveling entertainer. Maybe her parents died in a particularly badly choreographed finale of the 'South Sea Pirates.' It's true that orcs don't tend towards being the most distinguished of thespians, the tiefling thinks to himself.

And then there's Shallan, who has apparently been on a quest for a book but not the stories therein. Not to mention that Oliver had heard of the book before and could have told her that it was a hopeless endeavor: Tales from Across the Realms isn't a book you could find at even the most well-stocked libraries, let alone a little thorp like Lortan. Looking for that book was an awfully strange request for her master to make, though, and if there were even a chance to find it, it would be worth having a look...

Oliver's thoughts, however, are interrupted by the growl of his stomach, and he asks Voada for a bowl of the pottage before sitting down at one of the tables to think for a moment while trying to listen to the different conversations in the room. On the one hand, the strange occurrence of the blighted apples is certainly interesting, but the quiet girl's search for the book perhaps equally so. He gives a single piece of advice to Shallan before going back to his food, "I just hope you know what you're looking for; that volume is exceedingly rare, and you may not be able to get someone who owns a copy to part with it easily."

As he finishes the bowl, the half-orc reenters the room, now armed for battle, apparently. She only asks Auraun for his help, but Oliver cuts in after they shake hands, "Hold on, there. A couple of our company have some interest in getting to the bottom of the apple problem. Like as not, it's something that Aranya here can take care of--pretty routinely if I'm not mistaken. If it's something more sinister, as you appear to suspect, we'd have better luck all working together. I never got your name by the way, mine's Oliver." He rises and extends his hand towards the massive woman as he finishes.

[Erasmas]

Auraun releases his purse at Voada's insistence on giving away the bottle. He breaks the wax seal away from the cork and works it free from the clay neck, immediately swishing it in small circles beneath his nose as he inhaled strongly and slowly. He took a small sip and moved it about in his mouth before swallowing it. A smile spread beneath his whiskers, and he said, "Aye, aye. That'll do nicely, lass! Good Voada, ye are too kind. Perhaps generosity should be listed among the chief exports of Lortan... second only to brew such as this." He lets out another booming laugh, and then removes a healthy guzzle from the bottle, letting out a most satisfied, "Mmm-ttt, ahh!", as he held the drinking vessel away from his face and looked it as if the very thing would reveal the secrets that it held within.

The priest nodded as the silver-haired woman disclosed what she knew about the illness plaguing the village, still downing spoonfuls of pottage and gulps of cider. When the half-orc addressed him, he half-turned to face her. Holding up another piece of bread, he waggled it in her direction as he answered, "I am called 'Auraun'; and I'd prefer if ye addressed me as such. I am a dwarf, but my race does no' define me any more than yours does for you, lass. I'm sure yer accustomed to folks makin' assumptions about ye for being a partial orc. Our peoples have not been kind nor fair to one another for some time. Let us not be of our people. Instead, let us be the saviors of the cider!"

The dwarf stands and holds out his forearm for the grasping. In his other hand, he raises the clay bottle up to his mouth again and takes another long draw before pulling it away and extending it to Aruzara as well. If the half-orc took either, Auraun lets out yet another loud and merry laugh.

[Lank]

"I agree completely Auraun, my name is Aruzara Sarotir, daughter of Atreburk Sarotir. It is a relief to finaly meet another who seems to be able to handle themself in a fight". She takes Auraun's hand and shakes it.
------
When Oliver approaches Aruzara is confused, the previous bard she met made her want to rip her own ears off but this one seemed completely pleasant.

She hadn't really paid attention before but she noticed that this man had demonic blood. She had once collected a bounty on a tiefling before. She pitied this particular tiefling because he had resorted to a life of crime simply because nobody would give him a chance at proper employment. She was empathetic because she had joined the orc raiders because nobody would give her a chance at lawful work because of her blood. However she still dragged the tiefling to prison because unlike the tiefling she had her chance at lawful work and she couldn't afford to risk losing that by letting the poor tiefling go. She never knew what happened to that tiefling but she had always assumed he suffered the death penalty for his actions.

Aruzara extends her hand slowly and grasps Olivers. "Aruzara Sarotir, daughter of Atreburk Sarotir, Bounty Hunter" she says. "Before you ask, no I don't care about your heritage, I too know what it is like to be hated because of ones blood. Aruzara releases Oliver's hand. She did not grasp it very tightly. She learnt long ago to limit the amount of force she puts in a handshake.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Excellent, pleased to make your acquaintance," replies Oliver, though he doesn't think he would describe most strangers' reactions to be hate. Revulsion and fear and mistrust there had been plenty of, but hate? Not as he'd describe it. Then again, it wasn't particularly often that devils materialize on the mortal plane and slaughter your loved ones. In some areas, orcs did exactly that. Clearly this woman had led a hard life thus far.

With that misunderstanding behind them, Oliver turns around and rubs his hands together while asking all those present, "So, what's the plan then? Do we have a look at the orchard itself? Perhaps a visit to some of the victims? I heard something about a dead goat, perhaps because it ate the blighted fruit? Where are we going?" As he finishes, he turns to Aranya for direction here, since she knows the area and thinks that her purification spells might do the trick.

[Erasmas]

"I won't be able to tell much from a dead goat, but sick people... I fig're I can help.", Auraun said before taking his seat once again and resuming the spooning of deliciousness into his mouth.

"But I won't be much help to anybody, if I don't first finish this here, uh... what was it ye called it again, lass?"

[czieg]

Shallan nodded in thanks when she is given directions. The news of blighted apples did sound interesting to her, but she had an evil god to please, and one town's troubles just didn't really concern her, even if the Elder Eye's mission brought her here when it was happening. She stayed quiet and ate as the others spoke, only showing signs of hearing when Oliver spoke about the book. 'Is it really that rare? A children's book? That would explain why I have never heard about it or seen a copy before. Maybe if the owner isn't as eager to give up the book, they would change their mind if I helped remove the blight on.' "Thank you for the advice, Mr. Oliver."

"Thank you again for the directions, I hope that you find the source of the blight." With that, Shallan hurried off, following the directions to Mr. Buckman's home. 'An intelligent man, but not much good with his hands? Is that how they described him?' "Any advice mother?"
'No, just do as I ask, and you will be fine. If he doesn't want to give us the book, we can just kill him and then leave town. They have no way to track us by magic it seems, so only by physical means, and if they are slow to find the dead man, we will be fine.'
Shallan paled at her mother's callousness, she had grown up around cults and sacrifices to the Elder Elemental Eye, but had never grown used to the casual regard or eagerness to spill blood. She could only hope that this Mr. Buckman was a reasonable man.

[Lank]

I think talking to the farmers is our best bet, perhaps they witnessed something shady going on in their fields".

[Zevox]

"I suspect an old enemy of mine is behind it. She is the only one I can think of that would have the power and insanity to try and poison the entire town. You are probably right druid, this could all be a natural occurrence but if there is even the slimmest chance that my enemy is behind it then I must investigate and hopefully reclaim what's mine".
"You have an old enemy who would do something like that to a place like this?!" Aranya's voice is filled with surprise and alarm - clearly someone that malicious is outside of the girl's experience to date. She's mostly spent her life dealing with troubles involving animals and plants, and the most malicious people she'd encountered were thugs willing to hurt (or possibly kill, she wasn't sure, since she'd escaped) to steal from her. Poisoning a whole town is on a whole other level, though, the sort of thing she'd only heard of in stories. She hadn't given the idea much credence when Aruzara first suggested it, but if the Half-Orc woman actually had a specific culprit in mind and knew that they would do such a thing, then that worried her immensely. "Who is it? Do you really think they could be around here?"

[Whenever the ensuing conversation finishes]

"So, what's the plan then? Do we have a look at the orchard itself? Perhaps a visit to some of the victims? I heard something about a dead goat, perhaps because it ate the blighted fruit? Where are we going?" As he finishes, he turns to Aranya for direction here, since she knows the area and thinks that her purification spells might do the trick.
"I think it's best I start at the orchard. I'll need to get Miss Carda's permission, but I should definitely try my spells on the apples as soon as possible. Assuming they work, things can start improving around here right away, and I can get to work purifying the whole orchard. If not..." Aranya shakes her head, uncomfortable with that thought. "Well, in that case we'll at least be pretty sure that the cause isn't anything natural. Which would be very bad news, but very important to find out."

[Lank]

"Just over a year ago, not too far west of here I was tracking a bounty through the country side. The locals claimed a witch had been sighted defiling sacred places and rotting away nature wherever she walked. I had originally only intended to pass through but I was low on gold so I took the bounty out on the witch. Her name was Salenna Coralon.

So I followed the trail of decay to a cave about an hour and a half ride away from here. Inside she had undead bodyguards but they were no match for me. Now keep in mind before now I had never faced a spellcaster how could do anything more than toss a few sparks at me so perhaps I was overconfident. She hit me with some sort of paralysis trickery and went into a semi-coherent rant about being the rightful ruler of the world, and that she would wipe out those that would oppose her in a festival of blood and decay. The ramblings of a mad woman. She then lent over and ripped my soul out of my very body and sealed it within her bloody amulet. It was the single most painful experience of my life. Perhaps it is a long shot that she is behind it. If she had any intelligence she would have left Lortan and never returned. But even with the smallest chance she is behind I need to investigate so if she is behind it I can reclaim my soul. For if I don't there will be no glorious afterlife by my father's side, only endless wandering in Limbo".

[The Hellbug]

"Thank you for the advice, Mr. Oliver."



"Please, just Oliver. And don't be a stranger. If I can do anything to help get a look at your book, I'd love to. In fact, when you do get ahold of it, if I could just get one tiny look at it before you bring it back to your master, I'd be in your debt," Oliver shouts to the retreating half-elf. She certainly is a strange one.



Oliver nods in agreement with the others' decisions on what to do next and is about to try to spur the group onward when Aruzara tells her story. As she gets further and further into it, each sentence seems to interest Oliver more than the last until she comes to the end, his tail swishing back and forth excitedly when she gets there. He is speechless for a moment but eventually regains his composure and replies, "Certainly a most interesting tale. If you don't mind me asking, how are you still alive? I'm not an expert on this, but the usual opinion seems to be that when one's soul leaves their body, they die." He pauses for a moment to let that sink in before continuing, "That said, there is precedent in stories I have heard about devils and their ilk tricking mortals out of their souls. In these tales, the mortal usually experiences no ill effects until death, when they are the evil entity's servant for the rest of eternity, that being the goal of most devils: to expand their domain by any means necessary. This, of course, leads to my next question: what use would a mortal have for another mortal's soul?" After finishing, the tiefling, who had been standing and attempting to rally the remainder of the group onward having long forgotten any hunger he had, sits down again and ponders the new development.

[Zevox]

That story was quite a bit for Aranya to take in, and it definitely shows on her face as she runs everything through her head. "She was right around here? But you haven't heard of her doing anything since then? That's strange - even if she left, you'd think rumors from other places she passed near as she traveled would've wound up back here at some point, if she really rots nature away just by her presence like that. And if she didn't leave, why would she only resurface now, and why by poisoning the orchards here?" The whole thing clearly has the girl puzzled. She doesn't say anything about it aloud, but she's also wondering if her Circle ever got wind of the witch. Someone like that they would definitely have sent someone after if they had - not her, most likely, but at least one of the more senior Druids. Had they, and Aranya simply hadn't been told about it? Or had news of the witch somehow eluded them, despite it being known as close as Lortan?

After a few moments turning all those thoughts over in her head, the last part of Aruzara's story comes to the forefront of her mind. "Wait... are you sure she took your soul?" That one clearly has her more confused than anything else. "I'm not an expert or anything, but aren't souls supposed to be what make us who we are? Without one, wouldn't you be dead?" A more frightening thought occurs to her, and she only gets it out as a near-whisper. "Or... undead?"

[Lank]

Aruzara starts to look visibly annoyed at the questions being hoisted her way. "Does it look like I know the intricacies of magic!" she barks. "All I know is that she put her hand over my heart and a shining light emerged. Oliver is probably right, perhaps she wanted it so she could make a deal with a devil for greater power without selling her own soul. And I know this seems silly but every now and then I just get a feeling that comes over my entire body, a hollow feeling, like I am just a husk of my former self".

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Following the street north as directed by Colma the farmhand, the half-elf can now notice what Aryana perceived earlier: a few people stared at her from nearby houses. Fortunately, her destination is only a short walk away. Buckman's house appears modest - like everything in Lortan so far - and even tiny compared to the Apple Blossom. Shallan can discern a human male wearing a scholarly robe, sitting on a log right in front of the house, reading something aloud to a bunch of kids. He holds in his hands what looks like a rather small, well worn leather-bound journal. As she approaches the scene, she catches some words from the man's story, but can't make out anything from them. It sounds unlike any language the warlock has ever encountered.

"Here endeth the lesson. Now go play, I'll have another one for you tomorrow."

The kids run off laughing and the man slowly gets to his feet as he completely turns his attention to the incoming visitor. If this is the one they call Buckman, Shallan doesn't imagine he's as old as he was made out to be by Colma. Sure, his hair and chinstrap beard are all white, but his face isn't nearly as wrinkled as those of the elders she's met before. And despite his body being small and frail, something about him conveys confidence and grace.

"Let me guess: you arrived with the caravan?", asks the man, eyebrows raised. "Welcome to Lortan. Can I be of any assistance?"

---
The Apple Blossom

"Voada's World-Famous Leek Pottage!", shouts Voada from behind the counter, as an answer to Auraun's query.

[Zevox]

Aranya still looks visibly unnerved - strangely enough, the woman she's speaking to being a Half-Orc a full foot taller than her and heavily armed hadn't seemed to phase her, but the mere thought that she might be speaking to one of the walking dead had left her wide-eyed and afraid.

At Aruzara's explanation, the Half-Elf takes a moment to force herself to calm down. Okay, so she wasn't completely certain what was going on with her. What did she actually know? Aruzara definitely didn't seem like the zombies she'd helped fight that one time - they'd acted mindless, intent only on killing. Aruzara, on the other hand, acted like a person, and one who definitely was not happy with whatever had happened to her. And she didn't look like those zombies, either, but like a fairly typical Half-Orc. So whatever she was, she didn't seem to be what Aranya feared - probably. Maybe she was wrong, and what the witch had stolen wasn't her soul. Or maybe she was right, and souls just worked differently than Aranya always thought. But either way, she definitely didn't deserve to have Aranya assume the worst about her.

If anything, she deserved her help. In its own way, her situation may be more important than what was happening in Lortan - if hopefully less urgent.

"All right," the young Druid says when she has at last collected herself. "Whatever she did to you, and whatever she wanted with what she took from you, it was obviously bad. I'll help, if you'll have me. Even if this witch doesn't turn out to be behind what's going on here, I mean. She's obviously someone that needs to be stopped, and you need to get that thing back. Especially if you're right about it." Realizing she hadn't actually introduced herself, Aranya somewhat sheepishly extends her hand. "I'm Aranya Liadon, by the way, from Elenetin. And you already noticed I'm a Druid, so no need to explain that I guess."

[Lank]

Aruzara grasps Aranya's hand. Aruzara Sarotir, daughter of Atreburk Sarotir, but you probably figured that out already". She releases Aranya's hand. "I have heard of the druids before, is it true that they can turn into mighty bears in times of war? Can you turn into a bear?"

[czieg]

[OOC: My god, he is magical Sean Connery! I'm done for...]

Shallan didn't stop when Oliver called after her, instead she only sped up her pace. People brought trouble, especially if they found out what she was and just who her master was. From what she had heard on the caravan, the bard was indeed a nice person, but nice people weren't always nice to her. So she often pushed them away to prevent anyone finding out.

Shallan stared for a long moment, what was that language he was speaking? Especially to such children. They were undoubtedly very smart to understand it, or there was something very special about whatever he was saying. Predictably, her mother spoke into Shallan's mind. 'He is more then meets the eye, say only what I tell you to say.' "I was told to come here to see a Mr. Buckman? Are you he?"

[Zevox]

Huh. Aranya hadn't expected Aruzara to accept her offer without so much as blinking.

Nor had she expected the Half-Orc to suddenly hit on a sensitive topic of her own. "I can," she replies a bit hesitantly. "Well, I can shape-shift, anyway, though not into a bear, at this point. But I don't, unless I have to. It's... unpleasant."

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Sir Connery The scholar quickly examines the half-elf from a distance. He scratches his beard. Shallan notices his fingers are stained with ink.

"You've found your man. I am Dorn Buckman. Pleased to meet you. And you are...?
Who sent you this way, if I may ask? It's been a long time since I settled in this quiet hamlet."

[czieg]

"One by the name of Colma sent me your way, saying that you were the one to speak to if I had any chance of finding a certain book. A very old one if the accounts of bards are to be trusted." Shallan's eyes flickered to the one in his hands, one of the gifts often given to warlocks was the ability to perceive magic in some manner, an ability she very much wished to possess at this moment. "If you don't mind me asking, what language was that you were speaking to the children? I don't recognize it and it seems rather complex for ones of their age."

[Erasmas]

He nods when Voada gives the name for the delectable meal. Now getting towards the bottom, the dwarf foregoes the spoon and lifts the bowl to his lips, slurping up the last of its contents. He then belches. Reaching for the clay vessel of cider, he then drains the remainder of it as well... belching once more.

"Pardon.", he uttered after each of the transgressions, though he failed to notice if anyone took them as such. He then pushed himself away from the table and stood, taking the empty eatery back to the silver-haired woman.

"These were both excellent, lass! I will certainly be back for more o' them... both. But, for now it seems, duty calls. G'day to ye!", the priest said as he gathered up his things and met the others that seemed as though they would be tackling this issue. With the topic still on where to start, he says, "Well, sounds like the sick are little worse for wear... but they'll be alright for the time bein'. So, if we don' want to start with 'em, then I agree tha' the farmers and their orchids would be best."

When the half-orc spun her tale about losing her soul, the dwarf let out a low whistle, "This Salenna sounds like a right piece o' work, no matter how ye slice it. Seems we'd be doin' a good deed to rid this valley of her... whether she 'ad somethin' to do with these here apples goin' bad or not. But Aruzara here ain't no undead. Trust me, I know when I see one."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

The half-orc's outburst takes Oliver by surprise. He after Aranya's response, he finds himself also apologizing, "I'm sorry, I must have gotten carried away there. It's not often that you run into someone with a condition as interesting as yours, and I forgot to take your feelings into account."

Oliver is happy to see the half-orc getting over their little speed bump so easily--though the thought of a druid who finds changing shape unpleasant is funny to him. With everyone's opinions on the matter collected, Oliver issues a plan: "I think we should split up, then. Auraun, being a priest and a healer, can take someone to go have a look at the sick, and Aranya can head down to the orchard with someone else to attempt her purification spell and begin an investigation there. Then, we can all meet up back here later to discuss what we've found. Does that sound acceptable to everyone?"

[Lank]

"If I were undead I would put myself to the blade long ago, I refuse to walk this world as an undead abomination". Aruzara thinks a moment. "I would like to head off to the fields now, just talking about it will accomplish nothing".

[The Hellbug]

"I would like to head off to the fields now, just talking about it will accomplish nothing".

"Excellent, then I will accompany Auraun, here," Oliver replies and then turns to Voada, "Where might we find someone in need of treatment?"

Oliver is assuming that people want to go along with his plan. Feel free to shoot him down if you think it's a bad idea--he can be full of 'em.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

"Bardic accounts aren't always to be trusted. I should know, being a storyteller myself. Although I would say I'm an erudite first, and an entertainer second."

Buckman follows Shallan's gaze to the booklet he holds in his hand.

"I have a decent collection, but doubt this is what you're looking for. This is my old journal, for notes keeping."

Hearing the half-elf refer to his pupils, he smiles.

"It's an old dialect. The tongue of their forefathers, in fact. I do what I can to preserve it. So many cultures have fallen into obscurity as empire and kingdoms have been conquered and destroyed throughout history. I only teach kids the basics, see, and I write simple stories in the language."

------

The Apple Blossom

"Everywhere?", sadly exclaims Voada in response to Oliver's question. She gives him directions to a nearby house.

[Zevox]

"I think we should split up, then. Auraun, being a priest and a healer, can take someone to go have a look at the sick, and Aranya can head down to the orchard with someone else to attempt her purification spell and begin an investigation there. Then, we can all meet up back here later to discuss what we've found. Does that sound acceptable to everyone?"
Aranya nods her agreement. "Sounds like a plan. Let's hope everything goes well and we can clear this up quickly."

The look on Aranya's face as Aruzara declares that she'd kill herself if she thought she was undead is a mixture of slight surprise and something not quite readable. After it passes, though, she gives the Half-Orc a somewhat grave nod, and anyone paying attention to her at that moment could guess she has a new, if somewhat uncomfortable respect for the other woman.

As they're leaving the store, Aranya gives Voada a smile and says in parting, "I'll be back later to visit and have some of the pottage, Voada. I'm not so hungry as the others were right now - remember that berry spell I told you about last time? I use it all the time on the road, and had one this morning, so I'm still stuffed. I'm sure I'll get the chance to enjoy it later, though."

[czieg]

Shallan nodded her head in agreement, following her mother's instructions. "The preservation of knowledge is a noble pursuit, it is rare that someone in a town such as this would care enough to do something about it. Stories and fairy tales from across the realm are disappearing from knowledge and the lessons they teach fade from common knowledge." Shallan sighed, "In fact, it is such a book I am here to find. Would you happen to know of it?" Shallan watched for any reaction as to the name of the book. If she was lucky, he would just hand it over.

[Erasmas]

"Aye.", Auraun concurs on the plan to separate. He then looks to Oliver to make sure that he's ready to head out and, once they had the directions from Voada, left the Apple Blossom. He hummed softly to himself as he walked, his deep timbre resonating in the air immediately about him. When they found the house in question, the dwarf moved to the door and lightly pounded upon it with the warhammer still in his hand.

"Hail, good people of Lortan! Voada of the Apple Blossom 'as told me of yer woe. My name is Auraun Talmudfar, of the Anvil Mountains. By the powers of Gulra, mighty and watchful Lord above, I have come to tend to yer ill."

[Lank]

Aruzara leaves with Aranya when she is ready and escorts her to the fields to inspect the crops. It is pretty obvious while they are walking that Aruzara isn't very talkative. "The fields are not far from here, we should ask the owner for permission to enter before we go and inspect the crops. The humans around here don't like trespassers in their fields. While you do some of you druid magic I'll see if I can spot anything out of the ordinary nearby".

[Zevox]

Aranya had tried to get Aruzara to tell her a bit about her time in Lortan as they walked to the orchards, but finding the other woman disinclined towards small talk, wound up just taking in the sights instead. She sees more of the townsfolk staring at her, and wonders again what that could be about. Under other circumstances she might assume it was because of the hulking Half-Orc beside her, but Aruzara had been here for a while now, so that didn't seem likely. Had they always been like this? Aranya does remember a few odd looks of the sort from her first time here, but five years is a long time, and she isn't sure how much of this she actually got last time anymore. She had focused mostly on the animal situation and the friends she made last time, after all.

She almost decides to go talk to one of the people directly and just ask, but she still thinks the apples are more important. There will be time to talk to the villagers later. "Right. Voada said the owner is a woman named Carda. I didn't meet her last time I was here - I wasn't dealing with the orchards at the time - but maybe she heard of what I did with the animals that time. It would make it easy to explain how I can help."

We'll just run with the whole "Aranya assuming Carda is a woman" thing, eh? Could make for a fun exchange or two. :smallbiggrin:

[Lank]

"I know Carda, we have never really spoken to each other but sooner or later everyone in town comes to Voada for supplies or what not. Should probably mention that Carda is a bloke before you unintentionally insult the poor sod".

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Buckman's face immediately darkens. He looks to the right and to the left; there are townsfolk working in the distance, but no one to hear their conversation.

"You didn't say who you are. And before Colma directed you to me, somebody had to send you on the road to Lortan. Our little town is a strange place to be looking for a book of fairy tales, let alone a very rare volume...wouldn't you agree?"

OOC: Depending on what you say next, you'll need to make a Persuasion check, a Deception check, or both.

---

Auraun and Oliver

A woman in her early fourties opens the door. She is rugged in appearance, with auburn hair and light hazel eyes. She wears well-made clothing and several small tools hang from her belt. It takes her a few seconds to grasp what the strange dwarf is saying. Her whole face lights up with joy.

"A holy man! Here! I...I can't believe it! Praise to the Lord...Gual? Gular? Please, come inside!"

The woman presents herself as Estadh. She's so nervous, she doesn't have any idea of the illusion surrounding Oliver. Estadh brings the two men to the back of the house and to a bedroom where a young boy no older than 6 or 7 is resting.

[Zevox]

"Oh!" Aranya exclaims in surprise. "I only got his name, and I assumed..." She shakes her head. "Thanks for telling me. That could've been awkward."

Bah, spoilsport. :smalltongue:

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver follows Auraun to the designated house. As they arrive at the door, he mentions to his dwarven companion, "Now, most folks wouldn't want someone like me taking a look at their loved ones when they're sick. Luckily, I have a trick for that, and I'm just mentioning it so that you aren't alarmed." He then mutters and incantation under his breath and makes an arcane gesture, and, before Auraun's very eyes, his fiendish visage is replaced with that of a normal human, or at least, what Oliver guesses he would look like as a normal human. "There, now I won't frighten the children away," Oliver says, satisfied with the spell. "Don't worry though, it's just an illusion," he continues, indicating it by tapping on one of his horns, "but it does make it hard to keep track of the tail sometimes, though."

When it comes his turn to introduce himself, he does so as Oliver Blackbard, Auraun's companion and fellow investigator into Lortan's troubles.

Casting disguise self, active for up to one hour. 2/3 spell slots remaining.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aruzara and Aryana

As the two women walk towards the orchard and leave Lortan proper, they are approached by a short, pear shaped, balding human male missing a hand. The half-orc recognizes him as Gustano. He lost his hand in an accident a little over a year ago. Gustano reaches the two; there's no trace of mistrust on his face, unlike many other townsfolk. He addresses them in a sad and worried tone:

"Aruzara, will you help me?", the man pleads. "I'm worried sick! Orella (Gustano's wife) is two days overdue from her hunting trip. Please keep an eye out for her! Just imagine if she's badly hurt, all alone in the woods..."

[Zevox]

"That's awful," Aranya replies, looking between her Half-Orc companion and the small man with concern and empathy written plainly on her face. She hadn't met him before, either, but she's too much of a people person not to be concerned about someone going missing, especially when talking to someone they were clearly important to. "We weren't headed towards the woods, though - we were going to the orchard, to try and help cure whatever's wrong with the apples. But we should be able to look for her after stopping by there?" That last comes out half as a statement, half as a question directed at Aruzara. Technically, it was her help the man was asking for, after all, though Aranya would want to help him regardless of the other woman's answer. "And we could get the others to help search, too. More eyes, and we can cover more ground that way."

[Erasmas]

Auraun lets out another hearty laugh when Oliver performs his incantation, patting him on the shoulder, "Try no' to worry too much 'bout what others see o' ye on the outside, friend. Those that are worthy o' yer efforts will see tha' what's on the inside is who makes the man... er, tiefling, was it?"

When the woman answered the door, he bowed his head briefly, then correcting her pronunciation gently, "Gulra, lass. He be the Heavenly Father that rides 'cross the skies in his chariot of fire, protectin' us from all tha' be wicked and vile. But... even in his vigilance, foul things manage to slip through the cracks. And tha', dear Estadh, is why he speaks to those of us he's deemed worthy of his blessings."

The dwarf followed her into the back room of the house and he clucks his tongue when he sees the boy laid up in the bed, "Aww... but a wee lad. Ho there, boy. I am called Auraun... a dwarf o' the Anvil Mountains. Have ye ever seen a dwarf b'fore?"

[czieg]

Shallan

Buckman's face immediately darkens. He looks to the right and to the left; there are townsfolk working in the distance, but no one to hear their conversation.

"You didn't say who you are. And before Colma directed you to me, somebody had to send you on the road to Lortan. Our little town is a strange place to be looking for a book of fairy tales, let alone a very rare volume...wouldn't you agree?"

OOC: Depending on what you say next, you'll need to make a Persuasion check, a Deception check, or both.

Shallan quivered slightly in place as Buckman's face darkened. Her mother on the other hand... 'Found~ it~!' she never could sing that well. 'Now, tell him your name, and just your name. No need for him to know your full title. And the master story that we told the others.' Shallan took a deep breath to steady herself. Whatever was going on just got more serious, this was why she didn't like talking to people, they got scary sometimes.

"I am... Shallan, and my master sent me here to look for a book of fairy tales. I don't know-" 'He doesn't need to know what we don't know.' "-... why you are so defensive about it?" 'Could have been better, but you are learning.'

I think that is a Deception right there, but in case you think it is a Persuasion, I'll throw that in too.
Deception: [roll0]
Persuasion: [roll1]
Not bad RNG, just don't kill me later.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver is about to respond to Auraun's comments about his disguise when the door opens. As he is led inside he mentally argues back against Auraun's point, That's just it! There are people who are worthy of my efforts that would balk at my aid. You try getting some simple folk to let you into their house to aid their sick when you share a passing resemblance with the literal embodiment of evil. The disguise has always been more of a convenience than anything else.

After their introduction, when Auraun goes in to take a look at the child, Oliver remains behind with Estadh, who looks like a worried wreck. "Don't worry," Oliver says, trying to comfort the woman, "Auraun will be able to find out what's wrong with your son, and we'll have him back on his feet in no time. As I said, though, we're not only here about your son; we're investigating the recent outbreak throughout the whole village. Is there anything you can tell us about the circumstances of your son's illness? When did it start, have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary, anything at all?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Buckman tilts his head slightly sideways.

"You would be, too, if you knew anything about it. You don't seem to know much that is true, yet you aren't looking for any old collection of fairy tales, but the extremely valuable Fairy Tales From Across the Realms. I don't know who - or what - your master is, but I know of very few people alive who could trace me back here."

Something is wrong on the man's face. At first it's just a vague impression, nothing visible, but then Shallan sees it: the cornea of both his eyes are turning a deep blue. The air suddenly turns chilly just as Buckman stares back at the half-elf.

---

Auraun and Oliver

The very pale kid forms a smile when he sees Auraun's face.

"No, you're the first. Sir..."

Meanwhile, Estadh is listening to Oliver's words as calmly as possible.

"He's been like that for a few days now. Diarrhea and nausea at first, but now... Sometimes its all blood and no stool, you see? He's very tired and I need to keep giving him water. I don't know what happened. I've heard folks saying it's the apples, but my dear Allen swears he hasn't eaten any in weeks."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Hasn't eaten any in weeks you way? And you? Have you felt any of the symptoms you see in your boy?," Oliver asks, not able to make heads or tails of what could be wrong with Estadh's son. That's what Auraun's here for. Oliver relays the information to Auraun, concern for the child written on his face, and adds quietly, "I don't have any idea what the cause could be. If anyone can figure out what's wrong with him, though, it's you."

After that quick word with Auraun, Oliver allows the dwarf to get down to his business and takes a seat in the corner of the room. He pulls his lyre out of his pack and warns everyone present. "just tell me if the music is bothering you, and I'll stop." He then closes his eyes and begins to play a slow, soft tune, almost like a lullaby. Best of luck, here, Auraun.

Bardic inspiration for Auraun. You get a d6 to spend on any d20 roll you want in the next 10 minutes, though I'm intending on it going towards the medicine check.

[czieg]

Shallan gauges the distance between the two of them, she was no warrior, with a mighty blade to strike down her foes, but as long as she had the Elder Elemental Eye's marking on her, she was no push-over. Stammering, she searched for a way to avoid using her power in such and open area. "S-s-sir, I didn't track you, I was just told the book would be here... There is no need for conflict. P-perhaps we can make an exchange, there is a blight about Lortan's orchards, one that is making anyone who consumes them sick. If I help find the source, you and I can talk about a deal maybe?"

Shallan tightened her grip on her staff, praying to any god that cared enough to hear for Dorn not to force her hand. She glanced around at the villagers, none were in ear-shot, but combat was loud and would draw their attention. Whose side would they take? A stranger who was throwing around infernal energies, or the elder that taught their children? No matter what power the man showed, she would have to reveal her own, and even if she won, she would still ended up surrounded by very hostile villagers.

"Besides, you don't want to do anything out in the open. I'm sure the villagers don't know you as a wielder of magic, just the kind old man that remembers the old tongue. You wouldn't want to ruin that, would you?"

It seems I have pissed off magical Sean Connery. I'm done for unless I get a tommy gun.
Persuasion: [roll0]

[Lank]

"We shall keep and eye out for your wife. But for now we need access to the crops, where is Corta? I wish to speak to him". Aruzara is concerned about this man's wife but at the moment she is more focused on the fruit than his wife.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Buckman's face relaxes and his eyes return to their original state. He seems to reflect on Shallan's words for a moment. Slowly, his lips form into a smirk. And then there's a short burst of laughter.

"You're a fast learner Shallan. Well, well... I knew this day would come. This isn't my life anymore, but I always figured somebody would be sent this way."

He sits back on the log.

"I care about the people of Lortan. If, as you say, you're able to help with the problem that's currently plaguing the town, then I'll seriously consider an offer from you. My...skillset doesn't seem to be of any use in this situation. Let's hope you do better."

---

Aruzara and Aryana

Gustano bows before the two women, his fingers clining to a worn straw hat.

"Thank you, thank you! Carda should be at the orchards right now."

As Aruzara knows, the orchards lie to the northeast along the dirt road, a good one hour walk from Lortan.

[Lank]

Aruzara follows the trail to the northeast to find Carda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8bBziwkrSA

[czieg]

Shallan almost fell to her knees in relief. She sighed and nodded, "Thank you, sir. I wanted to help, but I think you understand my situation, I don't have a full say in what I do." 'Silence, don't tell him more then he needs to know, which is nothing.' "I'm sure that the others from the caravan are already investigating, but you must have done some looking yourself, did you find anything? Physical or otherwise?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

"Nothing. But if I were you, I'd look to the druids of Formir. Just ask Aryana, the other half-elf who traveled here with you, she should know where you can find them. They are a reclusive bunch...but they might open up to one who follows a similar calling."

Buckman gets up again and starts walking towards the house. He stops halfway through the door and adds:

"And please tell Aryana to come see me when she has time. It's been too long."

The old man shuts the door behind him.

---

Aruzara and Aryana
The Orchard

The sun is high in the sky as you finally reach your destination. The narrow forest road widens, and you can see the Elling river to the east with an expansive orchard to the north. An autumn breeze blows towards you, heavy with a sweet scent. The orchard is rich with apple trees, many of them ripe for picking. Several carts can be seen near the road and small paths run into the orchard. Here and there, a ladder can be seen leaning up against a tree. A few workers are carrying out assorted tasks in the distance, pruning trees, picking and carrying apples, loading carts... Aruzara shouts to one of them, asking about Carda's whereabouts. The man can only tell you that the head laborer is somewhere in the fields and that you should walk around and look for him yourself.

[czieg]

Shallan nodded and did a small courtesy before taking her leave. "The druids of Formir... Druids use the power of nature, right mother?" 'Indeed, that other half-elf we saw in the caravan was one. They are generally useless and are too slow to do anything worthwhile. They are powerful though, so be careful.' "Well, she seemed nice, Aryana was her name? She might still be at the Apple Blossom, or they would know where she is." Shallan made her way to the Apple Blossom, entering once more. She looked for the druid, but didn't see her. "Sorry to intrude again, but where did Aryana go to?"

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Voada emerges from the backroom at the same moment and is a bit startled by Shallan's unexpected return.

"Oh, hi again! Aryana? You just missed her. I think she was heading to the orchard with Aruzara. You should be able to catch up to them. The orchard's northeast."

[Lank]

Aruzarra treads through the field looking specifically for the head laborer. She assumes he would be wearing something different from the other laborers so he could stand out from the others. She is making this assumption based from her time in the raiders where the raid leader usually wore red warpaint whilst everyone else wore white warpaint.

Not sure if perception or investigation so I shall roll for both.
[roll0] for investigation
[roll1] for perception
please tell me this counted as investigation.

[Zevox]

Aranya, a bit bored from the hour walk to the orchard with only the conversation-averse Aruzara as a companion, also eagerly searches for Carda, hopeful that she can get his permission to try her spells soon. The sooner they knew whether those would cure this affliction, the better.

My own rolls, in case they're needed:
Perception: [roll0]
Investigation: [roll1]
Wow, low roll on perception from the girl with +5 to it. Good thing these are probably unimportant.

[czieg]

Shallan nodded and headed northeast. She was eager to have a chance at actually helping people, rather then having to leave almost as soon as she arrived. She resisted the urge to run the entire way to the orchard, instead walking at a rather brisk pace. Soon she arrived at the orchard, seeing Aryana, she called out to her. "Ms. Aryana, Mr. Buckman sent me to find you. He said that a good place to inquire about the blight would be the 'druids of Formir' and that he would like it if you visited."

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Orchard

Both Aryana and Aruzara take some time to find the head laborer. The orchard is quite vast and the half-orc keeps getting distracted. She is used to being restless and losing focus since she the encounter with the witch. However, while they search for Carda, Aruzara does notice a few things. For one, they appear seriously short-handed; the plantation must normally require at least three times this number of workers. She deduces that the head laborer must have sent the rest home, worried that the fruit is poisoned and unsellable. The orchard's irrigation system also grabs the half-orc's attention. It appears simple, yet greatly efficient, with small metal troughs a few inches off the ground carrying water throughout the apple trees.

For her part, Aryana is at ease among the rows of trees. Although she hasn't done proper investigation yet, there is nothing about this place that feels especially unnatural. There are no obvious signs of corruption. A great variety of insects crawl and fly around. Finally, she spots a lone man going through a tool box and asks Aruzara about him. The half-orc nods and the two approach him.

Carda is a human male, 40 years of age, and a lifelong farmer. He is over six feet tall, and while not herculean, is certainly in good shape from a lifetime of physical chores. From what Voada has told Aruzara, the man in charge of the orchard is short-tempered, loud and brisk. Just as they get ready to introduce themselves, Shallan catches up to them.

[Erasmas]

"Well then, let me show ye the kindness of my people, shall I? What's yer name, lad?", Auraun said with a smile as he placed his hand upon the young boy's forehead. He looked him over and asked him some questions about when he started feeling bad and what he thought might have caused it. Although young, children often times were far more astute than grown people... their view of the world and its inner-workings less clouded by decades of cynicism and the misconception of fully understanding things. The priest listened carefully to what the boy had to say whilst checking the dilation of his pupils by shielding them with his hand, before revealing them to the light. He then asked him, "When was the last time that you 'ad one o' them famous Lortan apples I been hearin' so much about, hmm?"

When he overheard what Estadh was saying to Oliver in the next room, he thought for a long moment. He asked the boy if he could get him anything and then asked his mother for some water. When it was brought, the dwarf first lifted it to his nose and sniffed deeply of it. Then, he dipped his smallest fingertip into the liquid and placed the resulting droplets onto his tongue. Tomorrow, Auraun already knew a few different prayers that he would have to prepare to further get to the heart of the matter, but today he would try and see how far his own knowledge would take him.


Medicine Check (Using Bardic Inspiration from Oliver):
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Auraun and Oliver

"I'm Allen. Sir."

The boy doesn't have any idea of what may have caused his condition. Fortunately for him, the cleric is an attentive and exeperienced caretaker, as adept in the ways of medicine as he is in the art of brewing. When he samples the water, Auraun notices something unusual: a slight bitter or metallic aftertaste. It's very faint, perhaps undetectable to humans, but the dwarf's palate has been trained to recognize such flavors.

With that in mind, Auraun examines the boy while listening to the mother's explanations. Nausea and stomach cramps, severe dizziness, vomiting, and diarrhea. The symptoms are unlike any alchmical poisons he knows about. And in the majority of cases, simple food poisoning doesn't last longer than 24 to 48 hours. Those symptoms are somewhat reminiscent of sickness induced by foul water, parasites or other types of disease, although he couldn't say which one exactly. From what he'd seen and heard, children and the elderly seem to be particularly susceptible, fitting the current situation in Lortan.

If the water is truly to blame, it will be tricky to treat the sick who are affected by dehydration. At least Auraun knows some herbs that might help in toning down the other symptoms.

[Erasmas]

Auraun refrained from giving the boy the water that was in the glass, instead walking casually over to the window and emptying it outside of the house. The cleric then asked for the largest container that they had that could hold water, likely a rain barrel or cask. He then emptied it, once again, outside and the stood over the empty vessel with his eyes closes and his face towards the sky. He poised his hands, palms open, above the container and, as he spoke his prayer, it began to fill with clear, crisp, and clean water.


"Gulra, Ra Kruzik,
Kannet bag remarn.
Uda Dûmkall et kurs usk dar bak varturr.
Nos bak horlem uda der ved udagga nida,
Bakmurg bag nos horlem uda derkode ved udagga kall.
Ved aun, kaglem torstadnau."

The dwarf then dipped the glass he had been given into the container and brought this to the boy. Then, pulling Estadh aside, he spoke to her in a lowered voice, "Drink only from this vessel for the time bein'. I am not certain, but I fear tha' the water may be to blame. Tell me, where do ye get yer drinkin' water from, lass?"


Casting create water to make up to 10 gallons. 2 remaining 1st level spell slots before a long rest.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver finishes his playing in order to watch Auraun cast his spell and fill the basin up with water. So he thinks that the problem might be something in the water? I wonder if something in the water could cause the fruit to be harming people as well, the tiefling muses as he puts away his lyre. After Auraun asks Estadh about the source of the water, Oliver, too, eagerly awaits her reply so that perhaps he and the dwarf can quickly get to the bottom of this mess.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Auraun and Oliver

When the dwarf returns inside, Estadh is visibly impressed. She makes various ritual gestures in quick succession. Unable to contain her joy, she then exclaims:

"Praise to Gulra! If there's any kind of sacrifice we could offer your god in exchange for more of his gifts, please tell us."

At the mention of the foul water, the woman adds:

"Our water comes from the Elling river. It's always been so crystalline, I believe this is one of the reasons our ancestors chose this spot to settle."

Auraun can roll a Religion check in relation to the ritual gestures. Oliver can make a History check for the same reason.

[Zevox]

Aranya had been relieved to finally have spotted Carda, when suddenly...


"Ms. Aryana, Mr. Buckman sent me to find you. He said that a good place to inquire about the blight would be the 'druids of Formir' and that he would like it if you visited."
"What?!" Aranya exclaimed, her voice failing to be a shout only because it came out almost breathless with shock. She spun to see Shallan approaching, and looked around almost frantically, hoping that she hadn't drawn any attention with that reaction - and that nobody else had overheard Shallan.
The rest assumes that we haven't drawn too much attention. If we're suddenly the center of a lot of attention, Aranya would work up the nerve to drag Shallan off someplace more private first.
"How do you..." Aranya started to ask in a low voice barely above a whisper, before stopping herself. "Nevermind, stupid question: you just said you heard from Dorn." But how had he heard it? Was it common knowledge here in Lortan? That didn't add up - her Circle wouldn't have asked her to keep that secret if everyone where she was going knew about them anyway. And while Dorn was smart, if what she'd been told about the Formir Circle was true, she wouldn't have expected him to know of them, either.

However he knew though, he'd told Shallan, and that put Aranya in an awkward spot. She wanted to deny any knowledge of the group, but quickly realized her initial reaction would give that lie away. Good going, Aranya, she mentally berated herself, wincing at the thought. Sighing, she decides that trying to lie is pointless: it was the Formir Druids' existence that her Circle wanted kept secret, and that cat was already out of the bag, at least as far as Shallan - and now Aruzara - were concerned.

So, the truth it was. Still speaking quietly to both of them, she explains, "Look, I don't know how Dorn knew about them, but trying to ask them about this is a bad idea. My Circle already tried contacting them when they moved in here, just to open friendly relations, and got nothing but a "no" back. As far as we can tell, they have a very old-fashioned, strict lifestyle, which demands extreme quiet and solitude. Even if we tried to ask for their help, they'd probably just refuse to even speak with us, at least from what I've been told of them. And please, don't go throwing their name around so casually. My Circle's Elders want their existence kept a secret; even I wasn't told about them until just before they sent me here, even though the Formir Druids apparently moved in around here three years ago. I'm not sure why - I'd imagine just to protect their privacy and respect their secluded lifestyle, but that's just me guessing." Aranya is visibly uncomfortable saying so much about a topic she's been instructed to keep secret, even though it probably doesn't sound like it amounts to anything too bad to the others. Despite her various complaints about them, she clearly takes her Elders' instructions seriously.

[czieg]

Shallan stumbled backwards at the suddenness of Aryana's reaction. What had she done? All she said was what Dorn had told her to say. Was she not supposed to say it like that? Why was she so angry that Shallan had spoken? Did Aryana know what she was? Was she going to kill her because of her powers? Was 'druids of Formir' some sort of code that whoever spoke it was evil?

The warlock almost quivered in fear as Aryana began talking to herself. Shallan had to admit, she would be a hypocrite if she was suspicious of someone just because of that, to other people's perceptions, she did it all the time when speaking to her mother. Though she had to admit now, she understood why people thought it very strange when she did so. It was very... disconcerting.

Then Aryana started talking, but a lot of it just went in one ear and out the other for Shallan, she was more focused on the tone. It was one that often signaled she was in trouble, so she did what she always did when she was in trouble: she started babbling, looking for a way out of the situation. "I don't know anything about them, just what Dorn told me to tell you! I don't know why he told me to tell you that. We were talking about the book I was looking for, he got angry and his eyes turned blue and he only stopped when I said I would help find the problem with the apples and then he told me to talk to you. Please don't hurt me!"

'You haven't changed at all since you were a child. And you were handling yourself so well.'

[Zevox]

Aranya tilts her head a bit, giving Shallan a confused look. "Wait, why would I hurt you? I wouldn't hurt anyone unless I had to, and it's not like you're attacking me or anything." The young Druid just grows more confused as the rest of Shallan's words process. "And what was that about Dorn's eyes turning blue when you asked him about that book?" What was going on with this young woman? She seemed straightforward, if extremely shy, when she had said she was looking for that book about fairy tales, but then reappeared suddenly suggesting they speak to people Aranya had thought were a druidic secret to help find a cure for the apples, and now she was babbling things that just didn't make any sense.

[czieg]

Shallan stared at Aryana silently, breathing heavily, almost expecting the fellow half-elf to lash out at her. Strangely, she instead started saying nice things and not the much harsher reaction that Shallan was expecting. Slowly, she swallowed and straightened her posture. "Sorry, it's just you seemed really surprised that I knew about them, so I thought you were angry at me. People hurt those they are angry at." When Aryana mentioned that Shallan had let it slip that Dorn's eyes had changed color, she paled. "I don't think it is ok for me to talk about that. You would have to ask him about it. He... Everyone has their secrets, ones that they don't like to talk about." Shallan reached one hand to her neck and grasped the necklace that hung there with a jewel that was shaped into the image of an eye.

[Lank]

"I have heard of the wild folk in the woods before Aranya. It is not that big of a secret. I had initially sought to seek them but Voada convinced me not to. What do the wild folk have to do with anything? They are too focused on their meditations to take any interest in our affairs. Perhaps if they weren't so out of touch they could have fixed this bloody apple problem already".

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Orchard

"I KNEW IT! IT'S THOSE DAMNED DRUIDS!"

The man they call Carda comes crashing Aryana, Aruzara and Shallan's "private" conversation. Visibily furious, but not lashing out at the three women specifically, he says:

"Oh, people here prefer not to talk about the wild folk! Some say they're just pilgrims, a sect. But I know their secret: they wield nature magic, the kind that can destroy our orchard! Since they started getting out into the world again, they want to sell their OWN fruits and get rid of the local competition! It's all Orella's fault, giving them ideas..." He barely catches a breath before continuing his rambling speech. "I've been a farmer all my life you see. There's been a few bad apples, but we've always sold only the GREATEST quality. It's dark magic, I tell you! I bet they cursed the soil, so nothing good can grow back here!"

OOC: Sorry guys, Carda rolled a very good Perception check to overhear what you were saying (for out of combat stuff, I usually roll with my own dice and not on the forum to avoid metagaming).

[czieg]

[OOC: Well then... guess things just got that much more interesting.]

Shallan looked over at Aruzara, maybe the druid's presence was more of an 'open secret' then Aryana knew, because it seemed to her that quite a few people knew about them. What was worse is that she herself had just revealed the big secret. Hopefully Aryana didn't make that connection.

Shallan turned to the new voice, a ranting farmer that seemed t be very angry. She could understand why he was, his livelihood was almost literally falling apart around him and he had no one to blame and no way to fix it. She only hoped that- did he say dark magic? Predictably, as a secret practitioner of actual dark magic, the mention of such things set her on edge, especially when in such a hostile manner. She tightened her grip around her amulet and shuffled away from the angry farmer by a few steps.

[Zevox]

Aranya couldn't help but notice Shallan's hand go to her necklace when she talked about people having secrets they'd rather not talk about. Was that necklace important to the girl? Aranya suddenly had a feeling she wanted to get a better look at it, though it was hard to do right now with Shallan's hand over it.

Recovering a bit from her confusion and with Shallan so upset, Aranya tries to calm her down. "I was surprised by you knowing about them, Shallan, definitely. But not mad. And even if I was mad, I wouldn't hurt you. I wouldn't hurt anyone unless it was to defend myself, someone else, or the land or animals here. Okay?"

She was about to say something about Dorn when Aruzara commented. Wild folk? So they are better known here than I thought. But Shallan and Dorn knew their proper name, and that they're druids...

She was again going to say something when Carda suddenly crashed in, saying some things that shocked the young girl. This must be what Murly had been talking about - but it sounded like a little more than gossip. It was more like the kind of prejudice that Oliver had mentioned Tieflings get from a lot of people, but Aranya had never encountered feelings like that directed at Druids before.

Fortunately, his lengthy ranting gave her the chance to collect herself and think of something to say. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't think we've been introduced," Aranya says, extending her hand towards the man in the hopes that the simple gesture and greeting would calm him a bit. "I'm Aranya Liadon, of Elenetin village - it's about a week west of here, on the side of Thunder Peak?" She steels herself for this to backfire, but she can't let his words about druids pass without saying something - especially since she intends to ask his permission to use her own druidic magic to help here. "I'm also a druid myself. I helped with a rabid animal problem you had here five years back. Maybe you heard of that? Anyway, I can assure you, no druid would curse the land like that. We try to keep people and the land in harmony with each other, not to harm either one, much less both." She is curious about what Carda had said about the Formir Druids "getting out into the world" and selling fruit, but she needs him calm and willing to actually speak with her - rather than just rant - before she can ask about that.
Persuasion roll seems extremely likely to be needed here, so here we go:

Persuasion: [roll0]

[Zevox]

Okay, not sure what I did wrong on that roll, but I did something wrong, so here we go again:

Persuasion: [roll0]

Edit: ...why do I get the sinking feeling I just missed that by 1?

(I would've posted this in the OOC thread, but I wanted to make sure it didn't get missed.)

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Wasn't a problem at all, ma'am," replies Oliver, hoping that it wasn't actually been a problem for Auraun who had done all of the heavy lifting, "we'll be looking into the water lead presently." He then tips his hat to Estadh and departs with Auraun.

Once outside, Oliver turns to his dwarven friend and lays out a plan, "Now, I don't know if rivers and the contamination thereof is your baileywick, but it certainly isn't mine. Aranya'd probably do more good taking a look at the river than either of us. Plus, the others will certainly want to know what we've found out. They said they were heading to the orchard; I say we try to catch up with them there. There's plenty of daylight to burn."

[Lank]

Aruzara slowly tilts her head towards Carda when his voice booms in. "Oh do shut up you loud-mouthed fool! You spew nonsense on matters you know nothing about! We have a professional here" Aruzara gestures to Aranya "so I suggest you take heed of her words".

[Kaiser Omnik]

Please roll an Intimidation check :smallbiggrin:

[Erasmas]

"Praise be to Gulra.", Auraun echoes the sentiment wholeheartedly. When the woman asks about sacrifices, the dwarf stammers for a moment and then smiles and shakes his head.

"Gulra requires no sacrifices o' his blessed, lass. 'Cept maybe the sweat an' blood o' workin' the land in his name, toilin' beneath his ever-watchful eye. I believe that ye people here do plenty o' tha' as it is. But uh... his most faithful servants do tend to like their homage paid in the way o' a good brew.", the dwarf says with heavy meaning plastered upon his face.

As they go to depart, the priest takes the worried woman's hands in his own and pats them gently, "As I said, it may not be the water, lass. We will look into it, ye have my word. But, jus' to be on the safe side o' things... drink of the water Gulra gave to ye through my hands."

With that, he joined Oliver on the road back towards the town proper. When the topic of fixing the water came up, the dwarf nodded, "Nay, it isn' somethin' I typically do... but through me, Gulra has the power to undo some of this kind of harm. Now, whether or no' my faith is strong enough to pull it off is another matter all together. I do believe tha' the druid lass may be better equipped for a task such as this. So let's on with us; to this orchid."

As they made their way and Oliver's illusion finally elapses, the dwarf looks up at the tiefling as they continue onward, "Ye know, seein' yer horns reminds me. I dunno if yer aware of this or no', but in the human tongue, the word 'horny' doesn't jus' mean somethin' with horns. Ye see... they also use it to describe when somebody's in the mood for a ruttin' for some reason.", Auraun laughs merrily, taking another long draught from his wineskin. "Speakin' the tongue of the humans is always a bit strange, if ye ask me. There's always this double-meaning business... it can get a bit confusin', if ye ask me."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver marches cheerfully down the road towards the vineyard at Auraun's side. After all, if the cause of the sickness is, indeed, foul water, Aranya should be perfectly capable of fixing it or, barring that, should know another druid from her circle who can. With that out of the way, I can get down to my actual business in Lortan, a little bit of relaxation and enjoying the local flavor. It won't hurt that solving their fruit problem will give me some credibility to throw around. Then again, there's also the issue of that Shallan girl, and, if I have nothing more pressing to do, I could have a look around for her book myself. His thoughts are interrupted, however, by more small talk from the dwarf.


"Ye know, seein' yer horns reminds me. I dunno if yer aware of this or no', but in the human tongue, the word 'horny' doesn't jus' mean somethin' with horns. Ye see... they also use it to describe when somebody's in the mood for a ruttin' for some reason.", Auraun laughs merrily, taking another long draught from his wineskin. "Speakin' the tongue of the humans is always a bit strange, if ye ask me. There's always this double-meaning business... it can get a bit confusin', if ye ask me."

Oliver chuckles as he responds to the 'horny' comment, "How could I not? I was a boy once, and not as long ago as you were, surrounded by other children who don't share my ancestry. It may have been grabbing a low-hanging fruit, but you know how children are: they have the potential to be terribly cruel. I was lucky, though--still am, really. The circus I grew up in was like a big family; I suppose that's what happens when you're always traveling, and the only thing that stays constant is your fellow travelers. Small cruelties of children aside, my heritage was never held against me, there." He then goes on to explain his experience with the common tongue, "You know, Auraun, you speak the human tongue so well I had almost overlooked that it wasn't your native tongue. I haven't done a lot of traveling among the dwarves, but it would make sense that your language is less--what's the word?--malleable?" Oliver decides not to mention that the other language that he does know, infernal, is similarly formulaic to dwarven, not particularly wanting to draw that comparison.

[Erasmas]

"Aye, dwarven is a lot more structured an' set... a bit like us dwarves ourselves, I s'pose. It's straightforward an' reliable in its meanin's, an' there arn' so many bloomin' rules to how it works!", Auraun says loudly, waving his free hand about in a large arc. He laughs and shakes his head, continuing, "I know yer a man tha' makes his livin' on weavin' words together to make them pretty an' all tha'... so I don' s'pect ye to understand. But... the tongue o' the 'Dwar', as we call ourselves, is b'utiful in its own way... in its simplicity. A bit like stone, come to think o' it."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Though Oliver nods at most of Auraun's explanation of his fascination with the Dwarven tongue, he has one bone to pick after he finishes, "On the contrary, my friend, the greatest storytellers, not that I am one yet, have a profound respect and admiration for simplicity. My master used weaving as an analogy for telling stories, as in 'to weave a tale', and it is an analogy that I find myself quite enamored with." The tiefling pauses for a moment as he retrieves a hunk of dry bread from his pack. After breaking a piece off of it and offering it to Auraun, he continues:

"Take, for example, a beautiful tapestry. Let's say it depicts scenes from a family's history for posterity to remember them by. When someone views the tapestry, they see the full work, a masterpiece in almost living color. But what does the man that made the tapestry see? The weaver, himself, sees each thread individually, as they were before it was made, elegant in their simplicity and ability to be molded into something greater than the sum of its parts. The master storyteller, as you said just now 'a weaver of words', is much the same way. The listeners hear the tale in all its complexity, but the teller of the story knows that it all begins with a single word. Anyway, my master could probably put it more eloquently than I did."

He then begins to munch on his hunk of bread as the morning sun sits high overhead.

[Erasmas]

"Hmm.", Auraun says with amused finality. The dwarf then claps Oliver upon the back of his shoulder and lets out another long and loud laugh.

"Ye know, Oliver... I think we'll be gettin' along jus' fine!", he says as he politely refuses the bread. The cleric then adds hopefully, "But I'll be happy to share if ye have anythin' worth drinkin'!"

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Orchard

Aruzara's insults seem to only add fuel to the fire.

"How DARE you talk to me like that, in my own orchard! I -"

Fortunately, Aryana's words, although not entirely convincing, do end up calming him a bit.

"I've heard about the sick animals from 5 years ago. If Voada vouches for your abilities, you can't be all bad. Although she lets anyone in her home these days..." The head laborer glances at the half-orc for a second, then turns his attention back to Aryana. "Speak your mind then, druid. What can you do about this mess?"

---

Auraun and Oliver

OOC: I believe the others should have some time to investigate the orchard before you two reach them.

[Zevox]

Aranya winced at Aruzara's words. She knew the Half-Orc was trying to help, and was grateful that she was sticking up for her - especially given they'd just met - but she expected the woman's rudeness might just anger the man more. Which it did.

Thankfully, he wasn't too enraged to listen at all, so she had her chance, at least. "Thank you, sir," she said, inclining her head respectfully. Not her usual behavior, but she thought it best to try anything to seem polite, given the circumstances. "I actually came here because I heard about the apples and wanted to help, you see. I have a spell that can purify plants and food of diseases or poisons - I've used it to help other towns when disease struck crops before, and I was hoping to see if it would work here, too. As long as whatever is causing this is natural, it will, definitely," she said with total confidence and the optimistic smile that came so easily to her. "If you're at all worried, I'd be happy to try the spell on some apples you've already picked first. I think I'd prefer it, in fact - it would be best if we set one from the group I try it on aside first, so we can compare it to the ones I purify, to be sure the spell worked. It won't be as obvious as it usually is, after all, since the only thing odd about the apples is the taste. Unless what I've been told is wrong?"

Another persuasion roll?

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver laughs and responds to the dwarf, "Only water, and I don't think that's what your thinking about."

[Lank]

Aruzara clenches her fist when Carda replies. Back in the raiders if anyone spoke to her like that she would have broken their jaw but that was then, she was trying to maintain a lawful path now and pursue honorable work. She unclenches her fist. "Lets just examine the plants and get going, I'd rather not be in the company of superstitious yokels for an extended period of time" she says to Aranya.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Orchard

"Very well", says Carda. "Look for yourself, and do what you need to do."

He points to an unattented basket full of apples next to a ladder.

"But don't take your time! Don't get in the way of my workers. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Carda glances one last time at the half-orc and leaves the three women to themselves.

[Lank]

"I'll take a look around the orchard if there is anything suspicious, perhaps there could be footprints not belonging to any of the workers or perhaps a damaged fence". Aruzara splits off from the others to do a bit of detective work.

[roll0] for investigation.

[czieg]

As Carda leaves, Shallan lets out a sigh of relief. Superstitious folk were arguably her worst enemy since she became a warlock. Despite what others may think of their seemingly nonsensical accusations, when it came to her, their fears were not entirely unfounded. The overly aggressive ones like Carda were the worse, often asking rather pointed questions and not leaving a 'suspicious' person alone.

Once the irate farmer had left, the warlock did move over to the basket of apples. She didn't know much about the finer aspects of nature, but if it were indeed a magical taint that befallen the orchard like Carda believed, then she might have more luck.

Knowledge (Arcana): [roll0]

[Zevox]

Aranya can't help but give Carda a bit of a glare once his back is turned. Rarely had she had to deal with someone that rude, particularly when she was offering her help with a serious problem.

"All right, Aruzara. I'll try my spell on those apples quickly, and have a look around myself, too. Lets meet back here in, say, ten minutes," she replied.

Moving over to the apples, she was a little surprised that Shallan accompanied her. Right, she'd said something about Dorn getting her to agree to help with the apple problem, hadn't she? Aranya takes the opportunity to get a quick look at the girl's necklace, now that the situation has passed and she's no longer clutching it like her life depended on it. It looked like... an eye? Huh. It reminded her a little of a priest's holy symbol, actually, though a bit more ornate, since it looked like it was carved from a jewel. She'd have to ask Shallan about it later.

In the meantime, she picked up one of the apples from the basket and handed it to Shallan. "Could you hold this for a second for me? Like I said to Carda, I want one separate from the bunch, so I can compare it to the others after I cast my spell." When the girl takes the apple, Aranya kneels down next to the basket and extends her left palm over it, her right still holding her walking staff upright, and speaks the words of her spell in the secret language of the Druids. "Chauntea, túra Kémi, carin síra laiwa yávë poca." She can feel the magical energy as it envelopes the area, but there was also this strange sensation...

Shaking it off, she says to Shallan, "All right then, that does it. Nothing left but to check them." Not about to ask someone else to risk getting sick to check and see if her spell worked, she grabs one of the apples from the basket and takes a bite.

Cast Purify Food and Drink, being sure not to get the apple she handed to Shallan. 1 first-level spell cast, 2 remaining. Also, almost regardless of the results of her first taste-test, she'll do the same with the unpurified apple.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The Orchard

Aruzara wanders the orchard grounds looking for clues, anything that might point to foul play. But she finds no mysterious footprints, no torn down fences. The sun is now fully beating down on her face, and the half-orc is getting restless. Her blood boils for some action and the witch continues to elude her...

---

For her part, Shallan tries to make the best use of her arcane knowledge in the situation. She inspects the apple that Aryana just handed her. There's nothing, well...magical about it, as far as she can tell. Some spells would have highly visible effects; then again, she's heard of curses as well as alchemical poisons which would be all but undetectable without the proper "tools". Spells that detect magic or poison would be necessary to verify Carda's suspicions.

---

As Aryana casts her purifying spell, she senses an unusual...resistance? She can't quite tell what's happening and she can't pinpoint exactly where this antagonist force is coming from. The air around her gets heavier, denser; she feels her body temperature heating up; even the ground under her feet feels less stable, and almost like something's pulling her down... Her awareness of the world around her and even her sense of space-time become...distorted. Words become blurry and elusive in her head, but the half-elf holds on to them with all her mental strength. In truth, all this occurs in the few seconds it takes to finalize the incantation of her spell. Once the deed is done, the druid doesn't feel any of it anymore, except for some residual dizziness.

After taking a bite from both apples, Aryana is incapable of tasting the difference. However, taking more time to compare the purified batch to the spoiled fruit, she does notices faint discolorations in the latter.

OOC: Zevox, you can cast Purify Food and Drink as a ritual instead if you prefer; it takes 10 minutes, but it saves you a spell slot. If you choose that, the resistance to Aryana's spell is felt just as the ritual ends.

[Zevox]

Well, that was... unexpected. Aranya frowns, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. The fruit she had purified looked better, but the one she hadn't tasted fine too? And that weird sensation of resistance when she cast the spell...

"I don't think it worked," she announces to the girl beside her. "It's the strangest thing: the apple I didn't purify tastes fine, too, but it looks a little off, which is the opposite of what I'd heard was going on. And there was a weird sense of resistance as I cast the spell, like... I don't even know how to describe it. Not like anything I've ever felt before, that's for sure." Well, maybe a little like one thing, but fortunately not nearly the same.

She looks at Shallan with grave concern etched on her face. "Whatever is causing this, I don't think it's natural after all. Or at least, there's definitely something unnatural trying to block me from healing it. Which might mean that Aruzara is right." She shakes her head, trying to clear it of the dark thoughts that have started to cross her mind. The idea that someone might be doing this deliberately is extremely disturbing, so to have evidence of it before her was making it hard for her concentrate on anything but worrying.

After a minute trying to still her thoughts, she finally says, half to Shallan and half to herself, "Okay, I want to have a look around the Orchard, see if anything looks wrong about the trees or soil, anything that might give me a clue where this is coming from. Then I need to meet Aruzara back here - oh, and find Carda and give him the bad news before we go." She gives Shallan a questioning look, not sure what the other Half-Elf's plans were. "You coming with, or do you have some other ideas of your own?"

[czieg]

Shallan accepted the apple, holding it rather gingerly while watching Aryana cast. She knew druids used magic that was based in nature, but purifying poisoned foods? It seemed that they were much more useful then the few abilities that was able to use. Nonetheless, she was glad to have a chance to help at all. It was strange that Carda suspected black magic, but she could find no trace of it on the apples that she examined. Perhaps it was her inexperience with growing fruit, but unless she had access to a properly stocked lab, she had no other way to test the apples further.

Shallan returns the apple to Aryana and gasps slightly as she takes a bite out of it. Even if she was a druid, rotten apples were enough to make someone ill, but an unnaturally blighted one? It was madness! Could it be that her powers gave her some resistance to the disease since it was plant-transmitted? That seemed awfully strange, but she wasn't a druid, so she took it at face value.

When Aryana describes the lack differences between the two apples and the 'resistance' she felt when casting her spell, Shallan furrows her brow. "I... I..." How could she explain knowing about black magic, without revealing herself? Looking around, an idea struck her.

"My family used to umm... work for a wizard who dabbled in darker magics. I picked up a few things, like how to identify where such magic was used, but I couldn't find any signs of magic in the apples myself, it could be that the curse doesn't effect the apples themselves directly, but on the soil, or maybe the water... no, it would be primarily watered by the rain, and unless they are able to change the weather, that isn't possible..." Shallan begins mumbling to herself under her breath, looking at the soil before snapping out of her trance. "Oh, umm... Well, I can check the soil with... Aruzara, you said her name was? If I had access to a real lab, I would be able to really tell you if it were magic more accurately."

Deception: [roll0]
C'mon dice! You kill my players and my characters!

[Zevox]

Aranya gives Shallan a curious look, still trying to figure the girl out. She wants to ask about the girl's family, now that she finally has her saying something about herself, but decides against it - while they're at the Orchard they should focus on the apples. And she had only given Aruzara ten minutes until they were supposed to meet back up - maybe that was too little, in retrospect - so she wanted to get to her own investigations quickly, rather than get distracted by a conversation. Wow, it wasn't often that she thought that. So she sets the topic aside as another thing to ask the girl about later.

"Well, it's possible that the orchard isn't watered only by rain," she says. "There is a river not far east of here, they might bring water from there. Or there could be underground sources the trees' roots tap. It's another possibility we should look into, I think. I'm not sure I know what you mean about a 'lab' for checking the soil, though," She looks at the girl inquisitively, hoping for clarification.

[Lank]

Aruzara gives up on her search for anything out of the ordinary and returns to Aranya. "Couldn't find anything of interest, what about you?"

[Zevox]

Aranya is a little surprised to see Aruzara back a bit early. Still, she explains the situation, "Bad news. When I was casting my spell, I felt a strange resistance - something, either the disease itself or some outside magic, is trying to block me from curing it." She doesn't bother to add the obvious implications of that, already disturbed enough about them herself and not wanting to dwell on them when they should be trying to find out more. "My spell did make the apples look better, but with that resistance, I'm not sure it actually cured them fully. And anyway, there's no way I could keep casting it to try and cure the whole orchard if that's going to happen every time. Shallan and I were just discussing what to check on to try and find out what's causing this - the water they use or the soil seem like our first things to look at."

The Half-Elf girl looks a little sheepish as she thinks of something else that might help. "There is another spell I could try that would help - well, a couple, actually: one that can tell me if things are poisoned or diseased, and one that detects the effects of magic. But I didn't pray for those today. I thought all I'd have to do is purify the orchard. So I won't be able to try those until tomorrow."

[Kaiser Omnik]

Oliver and Auraun

Following lengthy conversations about language, art and drinking, the two companions finally arrive at the Lortan Orchard. There are ladders and carts laying around, most unattended. They see three workers eating lunch under a tree and overhear parts of what they're saying. Something about how they're really short-handed in the field, yet they're not sure if any of their work is worth it with this blight. And where's that darn Anac? An annoyed farmhand is saying that the so-called "Anac" usually gets here before anyone else.

Oliver and Auraun don't immediately spot the others, but if they ask around about a half-elf and a half-orc, workers will send them in their direction, a bit further to the north.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

After getting directions from the orchard workers, Oliver thanks them and begins to make his way towards where they said the other investigators should be. Nothing jumps out at him as suspicious about the orchard itself as he and the dwarf pass through it besides the conversation between the field hands. That, however, can easily be explained by the sickness spreading through the village, and, since it matches his current suspicions about the cause of the blight, the tiefling doesn't give it any further thought.

The first of his companions that Oliver spots is the towering half-orc, and he greets her, saying, "Ahoy there! Betcha didn't expect to see us so soon, did ya? Have you found any evidence of tampering by that witch of yours?"

As he gets closer, Oliver is surprised by the presence of Shallan and is tempted to ask how her book acquisition went but decides that it would be better to share the information gleaned by he and Auraun first. "Well, Auraun and I met with a boy who seemed to be suffering from the blight and his mother. We, or I guess I should really say Auraun since I wasn't able to help too much, took a look at the boy's conditions and couldn't really tell exactly what to do to cure him. But that's not as important as the next part. When Auraun was looking for what could be causing the disease, he--." The tiefling, who had been fairly carried away by his narrative, suddenly stops and gives a quick look to the dwarf at his side. Then, he finishes, somewhat abashedly, "But it was really Auraun who figured it out so I think he should be the one to tell it."

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan

Shallan momentarily leaves the group to examine the soil on which the apple trees grow. Something then catches her eye, half-buried in dirt. She reaches for what are revealed to be a few acorns and...a small greenish gray scale? The acorns don't appear to come from any tree nearby. Following this trail, Shallan uncovers a few partially erased ritual markings etched into the ground. Finally, next to the markings, she finds a strange object seemingly hidden in the undergrowth; it looks like a miniature, grotesque wicker man.

If Shallan shows the druid these items, Aryana can tell that the wicker man may possibly be a druidic totem, although totems are usually wooden figurines depicting animals or abstract things decorated with fangs or feathers. It's impossible to make anything out of the ritual markings in their current state, but Aryana knows acorns are sometimes used as components for nature spells.

OOC: A Nature check can be rolled (by anyone) to identify the scale.

[czieg]

Shallan shifted among the dirt, her elvish eyes scanning any signs of arcane tampering. After her initial scan, a small trail acorns and a scale were all she had to show for it. 'Shallan, look to your left slowly...' Shallan slowly turned her head to the left, scanning for whatever her mother wanted her to see. 'Stop! There, that is some sort of mark and not by some child, if I had to bet on it.' Shallan looked back at where Aryana was standing. She was probably far enough out of earshot so she couldn't hear a whisper. "What is it?" 'I don't know, but I bet the tree-hugger might.' Nodding, Shallan turned to call out to her half-elven companion when something else caught her eye. A strange wicker man. Reaching out for it, a strange sound reached her ears, like a... whisper? Shallan froze and scanned for any minds within her range, nothing. Who was that? 'The doll, it has some dark mark on it... interesting. Have Aryana bring one of the pure apples in that basket, I want to test something.'

The warlock grabbed the wicker man and dropped it into her pocket out of sight. "Aryana! I found some remnants of a spell I think! There are markings here, they are partly erased, but they might mean something. Also, could you bring one of the apples?" When Aryana comes over, Shallan points out the markings, as well as showing her the acorns and scale that she had found. 'Put the apple to the doll, this may be the source of the blight.' Shallan takes the apple Aryana brought her and places it in the pocket she had dropped the wicker man, pulling it out again after a few seconds and examining it for any difference.

Nature for the scale: [roll0] Well then... I guess Shallan is better spell components then Aryana. And she totally passed it when Aryana didn't because it was a component, not from her vast experience with nature.
Nature for the apple: [roll1] You see? She knows nothing about nature!
My DnD game is insane, things went very, very wrong yesterday. (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/3cyuzo/it_went_so_wrong_we_said_it_never_happened/)

[Kaiser Omnik]

The scale doesn't belong to any beast Shallan or her mother know about. There's a tiny piece of pinkish flesh sticking to it and it's a bit sticky, but...that doesn't match anything she can think of. She's not even sure that's even usable as a spell component. It feels too...alien. Then again, she's no druid.

When the warlock touches a purified apple with the wicker man, nothing seems to happen...to the apple, anyway. But Shallan's mind is soon after filled with quick flashes, barely discernable visions that leave her shaken for an moment. She sees...the silhouettes of an elven male and a human female gathered at dusk around one of the apples trees...then another tree, this one part of a dense forest - an oak? - soaked in blood, bearing many figurines just like this one...and finally, twisted roots extending into a dark cave, the only light inside reflecting off serpentine eyes, dozens of them...

The apple, though, remains free from the blight.

[Zevox]

"Ahoy there! Betcha didn't expect to see us so soon, did ya? Have you found any evidence of tampering by that witch of yours?"
Despite the situation, Aranya smiles a little upon hearing the voice of her new bardic friend. "Well, looks like our little gang's all here now," she comments. She reflects for a second on how fortunate she is to have found so many others who wanted to help the villagers here - even if she's still not entirely sure why Shallan suddenly does. But then she remembers what she has to tell the Tiefling and Dwarf, and turns more serious. "Unfortunately, we might have, yeah." She explains what happened when she cast her purifying spell, then listens as Oliver starts to relate what he and Auraun had been up to.

Auraun is about to pick up where Oliver left off when Shallan suddenly calls out to her. When did she wander off? Aranya wonders. Then Shallan's words process, and she hurries to where the other girl is. "Show me," she says simply.

Examining what the younger girl found, Aranya lets out a gasp. These things together... they might mean that other Druids had been here. That seemed the most obvious conclusion, anyway. But... there was no way a Druid would do this. No, not a chance. If these were from Druids, they must have been trying to help. Yeah, that must be it. The Formir Druids were so reclusive that if they wanted to help, they'd come here in secret to do it, so that the townsfolk didn't disturb them. Right?

Examining the ritual markings on the ground, Aranya recognizes some of them, and grins. Actually, that may be exactly the case. "Well, the wicker doll might be a Druidic totem, and acorns are sometimes used in Druidic magic. And I think I recognize these markings - they're used in rituals that promote prosperity and growth." She stands up and looks at the others, a relieved smile on her face. "Other Druids might have been here after all, but it looks like they were trying to help."

[czieg]

Shallan flipped the scale over. "This scale...it isn't natural. It feels... wrong. Aryana, do you know of any... unnatural beasts in the forest?" Shallan passed the scale to Aryana, but images flash into her head just as the druid was about to take the scale, making he fingers twitch and dropping the scale.

A ritual with an elf and a human woman, somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt a flash of irony at the image. A blood-soaked tree. Eyes, serpentine eyes, so many of them. She gasps as the visions fade. "Especially something like a snake." She takes a deep breath and pulls the wicker man out of her pocket. "I may have found the source of the blight, this... this... figurine is laden with dark magic, sent images into my head." 'So that's what those were. I was forced from your mind for a moment.' She shivers and drops the figurine. "Destroy it, please."

Shallan looked towards the forest, a sense of foreboding heavy in her mind. Who were these druids? Why were they doing this? She did know one thing, she needed to go speak to Dorn again. How did he know about the druids and know to investigate them? There was more to him then meets the eye, far more then what she had thought. "Aryana, can I talk to you?" She glanced at the others, "Alone please."

[Zevox]

Aranya frowned, replies to Shallan's earlier statements dying as she suddenly asked to speak in private. The Druid girl didn't know what to make of that one. On the one hand, this was probably the first time Shallan actually wanted to talk to someone; on the other, she saw no reason to leave the others out of whatever Shallan wanted to say. "I'm always happy to talk. But why alone?" she asked, making no move to follow the other Half-Elf.

She did, however, grab the wicker man totem. She had no idea what Shallan was talking about, claiming it held dark magic, but she'd want to look it over herself to find out the truth now that Shallan had made the claim.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aranya takes the wicker man and examines it. She finds nothing particularly wrong about it, although she does feel somewhat uneasy. A slight shiver passes down her neck; her palms are sweaty. Maybe it's just all this talk of dark magic...

[Lank]

"This is very incriminating evidence against the druids, I don't believe it for a second. Surely the druids aren't dumb enough to leave without taking their spell components with them. I think someone planted those there so we would go on a manhunt and focus on the druids rather than them".

[czieg]

Shallan looked over at Aryana, then back to the forests. "I think your druid circle needs to contact the Formir druids again. They are doing something, and it really needs to stop, before someone is hurt." 'Say exactly what I tell you to say and do not falter.' Otherwise/Otherwise, the/the only/only other/other people/people that/that will/will stop/stop it/it will/will be/be the townspeople/townspeople." 'Now she will have to-' "Think of how many will die if they take matters into their own hands, they won't wait either. Think about how Carda reacted, how about an entire town of these people?" 'Shallan, stop talking, we have them right where we want them.' "I won't tell them, but they will figure it out, or Carda will tell them."

'SILENCE!'

Shallan flinches and stops talking, putting one hand to her temple. 'Now you have been on a bit of a rebellious streak since we came to this town, but you were doing well, so I let you do this your way, but you need to remember who is in charge here. So, now they are going to ask what is wrong, and you are going to respond that the talisman sent you another image, say it is one of the images you haven't already told them about.'

"Sorry, I... just got another, um... vision, from the doll. A... uh... blood-soaked oak tree."

[Kaiser Omnik]

As Shallan recovers from her mother's reprimands, she opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is the wicker man in Aryana's hands. She swears the cursed totem is staring back at her.

[Zevox]

"This is very incriminating evidence against the druids, I don't believe it for a second. Surely the druids aren't dumb enough to leave without taking their spell components with them. I think someone planted those there so we would go on a manhunt and focus on the druids rather than them".
"Like the witch you're after," Aranya says, happy to latch onto the possibility. "Makes sense. Maybe she saw an old ritual circle and left a few things that would point the blame at someone else. Besides, most spells that have components like that burn them up to fuel the magic. And yeah, nobody would leave one from a spell that doesn't, because they can keep using it. So it's very odd to find one at all."

Shallan keeps going on, though, and Aranya increasingly does not know how to deal with the strange girl. The "visions" claim is creeping her out, and the rest she can only bring herself to vehemently deny. "Shallan, you're overreacting," she says bluntly - perhaps the least kind tone of voice she's had in the time that Shallan has known her (though still not exactly an angry tone). "If Carda found something like this, yeah, he'd jump to the wrong conclusions - just like you are - but he wouldn't get anyone hurt in the process. The villagers here are peaceful folk, farmers mostly. They don't fight, and wouldn't hurt anyone, much less kill anyone. They don't even have trained guards like a bigger town does."

"As for the visions, I'm really not sure what you're talking about. I'm holding the totem, and I'm not getting any, see?" She holds out the totem in the hand that isn't holding her ever-present staff as proof. "Look, tomorrow I can use that spell I mentioned that detects magic on this, and prove it's just a totem. For now though, we'll just have to hold onto it."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

While Oliver and Auraun had been traveling to the orchard, the tiefling had formed something of a mental picture about what would happen when the to arrived at the orchard. They would tell the others about the nastiness in the water, which Aranya would easily confirm with her magic. Then, one or two choice incantations later, the water would be purified, the crop recovered, the day saved, and the townspeople eternally gracious of the heroes who had saved their village from a dreaded plague. Then, Oliver would be able to enjoy his leisure in the town and spend some good time entertaining the locals and getting to know the, frankly, very-interesting-looking history of the region.

Apparently, that was not to be.

Before Auraun could even open his mouth, the others were throwing around accusations of druids tainting the grove, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to Oliver, with what he knew about druids. And then there was that creepy little doll they were passing around...

Oliver frowns and throws up his hands, "Hold on, everybody. I'm lost here. You did hear me say that I said that we thought we might know the cause of the disease, right? One step at a time. First of all, druids? Second of all, townspeople taking matters into their own hands?" He then directs one last question at Shallan, "and what's made you suddenly so talkative?"

[czieg]

Shallan shakes her head clear of the echos left by her mother's reprimands. She was right, Shallan had been too carefree in how she had been handling the situation. She needed to control herself, these people were not her friends, and she wasn't theirs. Clearing her throat, she opened her eyes and immediately found herself staring into the fake, stitched-on eyes of the wicker doll. She fell back, in surprise with a yelp. "Please, tha-that... thing is covered in dark magic and it needs to be destroyed. There are more as well. I- I saw them by the tree. They could be all over the orchard." 'Now explain how the dolls could be all over the orchard and we don't want a child finding one, do we?' If a child gets their hands on one, it could hurt them from the exposure, or worse."

[Lank]

"Give it to me, I will smash it into a trillion pieces just to shut her up" Aruzara says to Aranya. "Why use magic to remove the curse when my boot will work just as effectively?"

[Zevox]

Aranya holds onto the totem, keeping it away from her Half-Orc companion. "No, Aruzara, it's not cursed. Like I said, I'll prove that tomorrow, when I've got the right spell to do it. Until then, I'm holding onto this. I definitely want to be able to show, once and for all, that this thing can't be the cause of this, and I can't do that if we just smash it now." She then shrugs her backpack off her shoulder and stashes the wicker man in there.

Putting her backpack back on, she turns to Shallan and says, "If you really think there's more of them around, we can keep an eye out for them. We are still planning to check around the orchard for signs of impurities in the soil or water, right? We'll find them if they're there. But really, there's nothing that thing can do to hurt anyone, I'm sure."

Turning to Oliver with a a somewhat tired look on her face thanks to the argument, she finally says, "Don't worry about it too much, Oliver. Shallan found some stuff here, and now she's jumping to conclusions. Looks to me like an old ritual circle from a spell used to help the crops grow, nothing more." Eager to turn the conversation to something else - especially something that might get them closer to solving this mystery - she asks, "So, you were saying you and Auraun had found something?"

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver normally isn't one to let something as potentially interesting as the creepy wicker doll go so easily, but he does fall on Aranya's side of the argument, favoring the preservation of the artifact until they can take a closer look at it, and so makes no objection when Aranya puts the doll away. He frowns in frustration for a moment as he realizes that not all of his questions are going to be answered without further prodding but forgets that momentarily when Aranya asks about Auraun's findings. "Auraun, here, thinks there's something wrong with the water," the bard replies, "but I'm not the healer he is, and he could explain it better."

[Erasmas]

Auraun had nearly started to speak, in order to further explain about the finding he and Oliver had made, but then the two half-elves began bickering with one another... and fighting over a doll. Being too entertained to interrupt, he was completely satisfied to let them continue, so long as they weren't turning to physical hostilities. Instead, the dwarf leaned on his warhammer and placed his bearded chin atop of his crossed hands. A small smirk teased the corner of his mouth as he observed the banter, his eyes following back and forth.

Finally, when the two seemed at an impasse, the priest watched Aranya stow away the druidic totem. When he was asked about what they had discovered, he waited a moment longer to make certain that the little tiff was indeed over before he began.

"Oliver an' I went to see a woman named Estadh an' her wee lad, Allen. The boy is sick with whatever it is tha's afflictin' this place. Now, I cannae be sure until on the morrow, but the water I tasted was a tad off. Keep in mind tha' I don't drink water often... but it shouldn' o' tasted like this did. So, by the power vested in me by almighty Gulra, I made some fresh water for them to imbibe for now. But the boy's symptoms sounded an awful lot like some diseases I've heard about b'fore - particularly one that affects the wee ones and the elders. It sometimes happens when foul things die and end up in a place's water source... usually rats or goblins or the like.", Auraun spat upon the ground when he said the word 'goblins', and then continued, "I'll not stretch the truth an' pretend to know anyhin' about the doll or the stuff in the dirt ye all found... but I'd put my gold on it bein' something with the water b'fore I wagered on any of tha' bullocks. Lestwise until I can take a closer look at this river of theirs."

[Zevox]

"That would make a lot of sense, actually," Aranya replies after Auraun is finished with his story. "If Lortan gets most of its water from the river east of here, then something happening to that could definitely affect both the people and the apple orchard - assuming they at least sometimes need to water the orchard with river water, when there's not enough rain to do without." The more troubled expression and tone that the recent discovery and argument had left the girl with lightens, and she smiles again. "That could be just the lead we need. It won't be as easy to fix as if it were a typical disease for the crops, though. My purification spell can work on water, but not a whole river at once, and just purifying part of it wouldn't work, since the pure water would just mix with the rest and become tainted again. We'd need to find the source of the taint and remove or purify that. Then it would only be a matter of time before clean water from further up the river flows down to Lortan again."

"In the meantime though, I could go around town purifying whatever water they have here already. If the water is really the source of the problem, that should at least help keep more people from getting sick."

[Lank]

Aruzara listens to what Auraun has to see however her interest peaks at the mention of goblins. Back in the raiders they had sometimes worked with goblins when taking a big score. Usually the goblins would stay hidden on the sides of the road as the merchants came through. The orcs would then step in and begin fighting and the goblins would rush in stealthily and pinch as much of the supplies as quick as possible. Arguments usually erupted between the division of the loot, the orcs always won after a few of the most disagreeable goblins met their fate at the end of an axe. Poisoning definitely fits the tactics of the goblins. Why risk an open fight when you can kill them from afar and sweep in and take everything. Once more goblins are easily subjugated, it wouldn't be hard for someone of power to be leading them. Someone like Salenna.

"Goblins you say, they are a shifty bunch. I think we should check that lead out and follow the river. It is plausible that they are working for Salenna but we won't know for a fact unless we check it out."

It is obvious to see that by the way Aruzara has her fists clenched and a subtle smirk on her face that she is itching for a fight.

[czieg]

'They are all god-touched idiots. The one person that actually knows some dark magic is saying that the doll is evil and what do they do? Ignore you!' 'Well, if they won't destroy that one, there should still be some others around, if my vision was correct, I should be able to find and destroy those.' Shallan stood and looked at the doll in Aryana's hand. She was really starting to not like druids, they only seemed to cause trouble for those near them, even the ones trying to help. She scooped up the scale that she had dropped and brushed off the dirt. She could take it to Dorn, show it to him. If he knew about the druids in the forest, he may know what else lived in there.

Shallan slipped the scale into her pocket, then moves over to the group and joins in the discussion. "Goblins, wouldn't the druids kill any that would tamper with nature and purify the waters that were diseased?" Shallan pointed out. "Even if they don't like contact with other people, goblins befouling their river seems like something any druid wouldn't allow."

What time of day is it?
Aryana wants to purify the water? When she is holding an evil wicker doll that could be the source of the infection? 10 gold says it doesn't work!

[Lank]

"Perhaps the druids can't purify the water because they have been...eliminated by another force?"

[Zevox]

Aranya frowns at that thought. She honestly hadn't considered it. Even if Goblins weren't involved, she would expect the Formir Druids to at least care for the land around here, including the river, even if they didn't want to get involved in the village's troubles. "I... don't know. I'm not sure exactly where the Formir Druids live, only that it's some miles east of the river. It's possible that they get their water from another source, and haven't noticed what happened to the river. Like I said, they seem very reclusive, so they might just never come that far." That doesn't fit with her assumption that the ritual markings they found were the Formir Druids trying to help, though, and Aranya is unconsciously straining to reconcile the thoughts. Maybe the ritual markings were older than they thought? It could be... but it would be hard for older markings to survive that long, with the farmers working the orchard so often.

She becomes increasingly worried at Aruzara's suggestion. "I really hope not. That would be terrible - and anything that could do it would be incredibly dangerous."

I'd be more expecting that she'll run into the same resistance she did with the apples, personally. But she was too focused on the water explanation offering her a way to explain what's going on without worrying about the Druidic stuff to think of that.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"Perhaps the druids can't purify the water because they have been...eliminated by another force?"

"That could be the case, but we shouldn't jump to that kind of conclusion so quickly," replies Oliver. Though if that were the case, the tiefling supposes, you'd think the town would have even more to worry about than a case of food poisoning.

"Though something I would question..." Oliver goes on, turning to Aranya, "...is why the people of Lortan would send for help from a different circle when they have one so close to home?"

[Zevox]

"Though something I would question..." Oliver goes on, turning to Aranya, "...is why the people of Lortan would send for help from a different circle when they have one so close to home?"
"Oh, they didn't send for me," Aranya explains. "My Circle heard about what was going on and sent me themselves. They do that a lot - we try to help out whenever we can, if problems with animals, plants, or the land come up in the area."

With a sigh, she decides she also needs to explain the Formir Druids to Oliver and Auraun, since they were discussing them anyway. "And they can't really ask the Formir Druids for help anyway. They're so reclusive that my Circle thought the people here didn't even know they existed, though apparently they know something about 'wild folk' living east of the river, which is probably them. Anyway, since they wouldn't even talk to my Circle when we tried to contact them back when they moved in, I don't think they'd respond if the people of Lortan tried to ask them for help, either. Their lifestyle just demands that much seclusion."

[Lank]

"All this talk and contemplation accomplishes nothing, we should head up river now and check on the druids and search for any signs of goblin activity". Aruzara seems as impatient as ever. "If we find the druids Aranya can question them, but we best be careful and mind what we say because by the sounds of it they are probably unstable".

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"I, for one, think that these druids are the best lead we have," Oliver states calmly, hoping everyone else will follow suit, "who else would be better qualified to deal with a foul water and tainted fruit? No matter how reclusive they are, there's no way they could ignore something like that. That said, if Aranya and Aruzara don't know exactly where they live, we're probably going to want a guide." He finishes by addressing Aruzara more directly, "I know you want to get out there and find your witch, but I don't think any of us want to go mucking around the forest all night. I say we head back to the town, find lodging, do what good we can with the water, and head out for the druids tomorrow. Aruzara, do you know anybody who would be a suitable guide for the lands east of the river?"

[Zevox]

Aranya frowns, not happy with where this is going. "Oliver, if their only reply to another Circle of Druids trying to contact them was just a curt 'no,' I really don't think they will respond if we or anyone else tried to talk to them. Besides, I'm a Druid, remember? If we can find the source of the water's taint, I should be able to handle it..." she visibly stumbles as she remembers something, "...unless I meet the same resistance with that as I did with the apples."

More confidently, she says, "Okay, before we do anything with the river, I need to try purifying some of the water here, to see if that happens with it as well. And besides, didn't Auraun say something about how he couldn't be sure about the river until tomorrow?" She looks to the Dwarf expectantly, hoping his clarification would help her case.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Regardless of the response your circle got from the Formir druids, I don't think we can just ignore them here," Oliver responds. "Even if it's as simple as warning them of what's going on. Maybe they somehow didn't notice it, and they'll be able to easily solve it themselves--with or without our help--once they know that there's a problem. Not reaching out to them at all would be a huge mistake."

Oliver shakes his head, fairly sure that Aranya's resistance can be traced back to the instruction of her superiors. I'm sure their solitude is good and all, but it definitely couldn't be more important than what we're doing here. I mean, how much longer until someone really gets hurt?

"But at least you're in agreement about what we should be doing today. We can decide specifics later, if need be," Oliver finally concludes.

[Erasmas]

"I never said goblins were the cause of this 'ere problem. My point was tha' sometimes a diseased thing dies an' falls into a water source, which fouls it up. The goblins was just an example o' tha', s'all.", Auraun offers, his hand outstretched as an interrupting gesture.

He then continues, when asked to clarify what he meant about dealing with the water tomorrow, "I don' 'ave the proper prayers prepared for findin' out more today. On the morrow, I can 'ave more specific ones drawn up in hopes tha' it will further my understandin' o' what may... or may not mind ye... be happenin' with the river. But Oliver here is right-minded - we've all of us been on the road a spell. I think we should head back into town and settle in for the night. I'll create more fresh water an' look to the rest o' the sick with my remaining hours. To the morrow, we can head out east - since both the river an' these druids are tha' way."

"Whether or not they are involved in this mess, they need to know about it. Whether they take kindly to us comin' to see them makes no never mind. And if it be best for ye to stay out of it, so as no' to get mixed up in the politics o' yer people... then ye can stay behind for tha' leg of the journey."

[Zevox]

With all of her companions now arrayed against her on the Formir issue - and Auraun even suggesting that they'd go without her - Aranya sighs, and a defeated look shows on her face. "All right. I guess the worst that can - and probably will - happen is that they turn us away. If everyone's set on trying to bring them into this, I'll go. If they'll talk to anyone, it's probably more likely to be another Druid, after all." Plus, she had to admit, if only to herself, that the matter of why they wouldn't have done something about the river if it has really been tainted was bothering her. Maybe she could at least get an answer about that one out of them, in exchange for the warning. If they were lucky.

"They're about ten miles east of Lortan," she says. "That's the only detail I know. But guys, if we find them, you have to keep their location a secret. If word gets out of how to find them, they might get people bothering them for much less important things than this." And her Elders might end up mad at her, if they found out she'd helped people find them.

"Anyway, if we're agreed on doing that, and checking the river with magic, tomorrow - " she gives a questioning look at Aruzara, who seemed to be the only one urging immediate action, and at Shallan, who hadn't spoken on the topic yet, " - then I'll go find Carda. I need to tell him what happened when I tried purifying the apples. And hopefully he'll let me look at some of their water, too."

[Kaiser Omnik]

As Aranya gets ready to report her findings to Carda, a scream is heard throughout the orchard. You easily determine that it's coming from the riverbank and instantly rush towards it. As you approach the scene, you see one of the workers prone on the ground, bloodied, furiously trying to get away from an amorphous greenish-blue mass. As the thing reaches for the helpless man with overgrown tendrils, releasing a noxious smell into the air, you notice a skull and a few other bones sticking from inside what appears to be a body composed of vegetal matter. Then, most likely drawn by the scent of blood, four other monstrous plants emerge from the undergrowth: two small creatures made of twisted branches and two hunched humanoid plants, whose conifer-like needles grow across their bodies in quivering clumps.

What do you do?

OOC: Initiative time!
I'd like to try something similar to the Side Initiative variant in the DMG. What I propose is to have your side roll Init using the highest modifier in the group (anybody can roll it I guess), then to compare it with the result of a similar roll from the Enemies side using their highest Init value. Once it's your "side"'s turn to act in combat, you can go pretty much in whichever order you prefer, adjusting your actions if they would contradict another player's stated actions and/or arranging things in the OOC prior to posting. Once everybody on your side has posted, I'd play the enemies' turn.
How does that sound? If it's not right in practice, we could change it for the next fight. But overall I think it works better than other options in a PbP setting where the character with the highest Init may end up being slow to post, for instance.

Enemies' Initiative: [roll0]

You can see the combat map here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uTgIIdH_qRa55DKb7cGFqWBP1A22BAInho5PhGxAd54/edit?usp=sharing) and edit it to account for your actions in combat. Also, I would ask everyone to fill your character's info in the Combat sheet (the 2nd sheet at the provided link); it will be used for all future combats and for general reference purposes. For your proficient saves, just mark a * next to the relevant stats.
The "undergrowth" area is composed of high grass, brambles and the like; it is difficult terrain. The trees, of course, provide cover and block movement. the "ground" is not just dirt, but also grass and scrubs here and there.

You can roll a Nature check on the creatures. Aranya has already fought Blights before, but we still need to check how much she knows about them, various types, etc. I'll still take into consideration her familiarity with them while interpretating the dice roll.

[Zevox]

"Blighted plants!" Aranya cries as the creatures come into view. "They're dangerous. Shallan, stay behind me," she says to the other girl as she readies her shield. She takes a couple of paces towards the creatures, then speaks a single Druidic word. "Nárë." A flame leaps from her hand at the word, and she hurls it at the nearest blight.

Produce Flame, attack v Twig Blight 1: [roll0]
Damage (Fire): 1d8
Edit: woops! Will roll in OOC thread.
Just to be sure you don't misinterpret the remark, since Shallan hasn't said or done anything to make Aranya think she can fight yet, she's assuming Shallan's a non-combatant who needs to be protected.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aranya's flame seems especially effective as the twig blight's dry limbs easily catch fire. However, the plant creature is still standing.

[czieg]

Shallan brought her crossbow to one hand, her quarterstaff in the other as she ran. When she saw the situation, she dropped the wooden staff and hoisted the ranged weapon, slapping a bolt into place and pulling back the string. 'Good choice, we can't risk being found out. If she dies, she dies, but we won't die with her.' 'Okay, breath, line up the notches, fire between breaths...'

Okay, if Aryana is allowed to take out her shield, is it safe to say Shallan can bring out her crossbow? They are the same kind of action.
- Load crossbow as a move action
- If allowed, Shallan takes a shot at TB1.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit Damage (In case): [roll2]

[Kaiser Omnik]

The twig blight turns into dust from the joint assault of Aranya and Shallan.

OOC: No problem regarding the crossbow, everybody had had time to draw their weapon(s) while running there.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver quickly turns towards the abominations as he hears the worker's scream. He starts to mutter, "What in the nine hells are those?" before seeing Aranya jump into action. The tiefling draws his rapier as he sees her flame strike true and encourages the group as he moves to take cover behind Aruzara, "Good thinking, Aranya! Flames are sure to put down those plants quickly. Watch out for the ones with the needles, if these are what I think they are, they're dangerous from any distance! Now, for a little bit of 'fire' of my own." Oliver then concentrates to remember the the incantation for his spell before closing his eyes and whistling a few specific notes. Suddenly, a film of light appears on the group of blights, making it that much easier to strike them.

Oliver gives Aranya his bardic inspiration (1d6) with bonus action, then moves behind Aruzara and casts faerie fire, targeting the space with the worker so that it hits all of the beasties except the needle blight down south. Save is reflex 13 or all attacks against have advantage.

spells: 1st: 1/3
bardic inspriation: 1/3

[Kaiser Omnik]

Oliver's Faerie Fire highlights both the algae monstrosity and the worker, but misses the Needle Blight to the north.

Effect: Advantage on attacks vs affected enemies for the duration of the spell.

Dex saves:
NB1 [roll0]
VB [roll1]
Worker [roll2]

[Lank]

"Time for killing!" Aruzara yells as she rushes forward, whilst she runs she grabs out one of her javelins from her back and launches it at the Twig Blight.


Aruzara moves from F,15 to I,15 makes her attack then proceeds to move to L,15.
Aruzara throws a javelin at Twig Blight 2
[roll0] to hit
[roll1] piercing damage upon hit
[roll2] extra damage on potential crit.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aruzara's javelin passes right through the twig blight, utterly tearing it apart.

Wow, you guys are rolling well in combat :smalltongue:.

[Erasmas]

Auraun hustles to keep up with the group and their longer legs. However, he is no stranger to physical endurance. Drawing his shield in order to accompany his already-equipped warhammer, the dwarf comes upon the scene and watches as his companions quickly dispatch the two flanking plant creatures.

He then focuses his attention on the one towering over the injured worker, and calls forth his prayer. A beam of brilliant light pours forth from the head of the cleric's hammer as he speaks the dwarven words.


"Gulra, Ra Kruzik,
Bag gund nart bak olid kodedek,
Kurs dornarrem gaddu udagga kurn,
Horlemkan dews horlem brell torstadnau,
Her lortorkan uda kodezarn nik voth."


Hellbug: Not to be a downer, but you actually gave me Bardic Inspiration earlier... when I was treating Allen (the boy). So, this is technically the second time!

I will move up to I16.
Casting guiding bolt on the Vine Blight.
[roll0] (Attack roll 1 (due to Advantage))
[roll1] (Attack roll 2 (due to Advantage))
[roll2]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Auraun's divine bolt burns a hole in the mass of algae and bones; yet, the Blight seems to still be standing. In response, it emits a moaning-like sound and pronounces a few words in a broken voice:

RETURN TO...THE EARTH... MUST... FEED...HER...


Enemies' Turn

Three additional Twig Blights disguised in plain sight as dead shrub throw themselves on Shallan, Oliver and Auraun, but all fail to pierce their armor.

The Needle Blights launch an aerial assault of thorns towards Aranya and Auraun. The former is hit for 6 piercing damage.

Finally, the Vine Blight ignores the worker (who immediately flees north) and lashes out at the nearest aggressor, Aruzara, from 10 feet away. The half-orc is quickly grappled and restrained (escape DC 12) by the Blight's slimy tendrils. She can feel the vegetal limbs progressively constricting her torso, causing 7 bludgeoning damage.

All attacks are against AC
TB3 vs Shallan [roll0] Dmg [roll1] P
TB4 vs Oliver [roll2] Dmg [roll3] P
TB5 vs Auraun [roll4] Dmg [roll5] P
NB1 vs Aranya [roll6] Dmg [roll7] P
NB2 vs Auraun [roll8] Dmg [roll9] P
VB vs Aruzara [roll10] Dmg [roll11] B, and target is grappled (escape DC 12), restrained



Turn 2 begins!

[Lank]

"Nar Udautas" howls Aruzara as she tries to break free from the thing holding her.
After breaking free she lets out a blood curdling roar.

"Not Today" in Orcish.
[roll0] to escape grapple.

[Erasmas]

As the new combatant springs up beside the cleric, he makes a knee-jerk response. Spinning about to gain some momentum, he brings his warhammer to bear at the twig blight that had tried to attack him.

"We are surrounded! Make yer way to Aruzara. With our backs together, we are a stronger force and will be harder to take down!", Auraun called out, his voice booming amongst the trees.


[roll0] (Attack)
[roll1]

Then, move to J16.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The cleric's hammer obliterates the Twig Blight, leaving nothing more than a pile of sawdust behind.

[czieg]

Posting from the strange lands of the Houston, Texas airport!
Shallan pales as her eldritch enchantment were triggered, flickers of shadow jumping up from her shadow to absorb attacks. She only hoped that the others didn't notice, or saw it only as a trick of the light. 'Get away from it! We can't afford outing you to these dullards!' She backs away more towards the center of the fight, then loads another bolt into her crossbow.
Move to F16, then to J15, then load crossbow.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

After Oliver casts his spell, he watches as Auraun smites the vine blight with his divine magic. "Good shot, Auraun," the tiefling cheers, "at this rate we'll have these abominations cleared up in no time!"

As he finishes, he just notices some movement out of the corner of his eye and barely brings up his rapier to parry the strike from the twig blight that had remained concealed near him.


"We are surrounded! Make yer way to Aruzara. With our backs together, we are a stronger force and will be harder to take down!"

Apparently the dwarf had noticed, too, and, who was Oliver to question the tactics of a dwarf in combat? As he is getting ready to make his way towards the others, the bard hears Shallan scampering away from her new assailant. Well, now I can't quite run away, can I? And allow these monsters to get at that frail girl again? Never. Oliver then lunges at the twig blight attacking him with his rapier.

Oliver attacks the nearest twig blight. Then, if he kills it, he'll move to engage the one that just attacked Shallan. Hopefully I'm not being too optimistic here.

Attack with rapier: [roll0]
advantage/disadvantage: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]

Spells: 1st: 1/3 bardic inspiration: 1/3
(Btw these are uses remaining. I know I'm down 2 of each.)

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan evades the grip of the Blight and loads her crossbow while retreating.

Oliver pierces the other Twig Blight's thorny heart, destroying it instantly. He then moves to engage the one who has just attacked Shallan.

[Zevox]

Aranya hisses at the pain of the needles sinking into her shield arm. She'd faced a few Blights before, but only the small ones, not these needle-throwers. And being wounded in combat was not something she was used to.

She glanced over her shoulder at Shallan after the other Half-Elf's crossbow bolt whizzed past her. Where did she get that?, she wonders, but a life-or-death battle leaves little time to think about such things, and she chooses to just accept the help. She does however catch a strange sight out of the corner of her eye a moment later, an unnatural shadow flitting up around the girl for just an instant.

Lacking time to think about that, either, she moves into formation with the others, interposing herself between Shallan and the Needle Blight that struck her. Shallan may be able to help with her crossbow, but she still looked relatively defenseless, and Aranya didn't want to take any risks. She then repeats her fire spell, this time tossing the flame at the larger Blight that had struck Aruzara.

Produce Flame on the Vine Blight. With advantage because of Faerie Fire.
Attack: [roll0]
Attack (Advantage): [roll1]
Damage (Fire, vulnerable): [roll2]
Off-chance of crit damage: [roll3]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Even with Oliver's inspiration giving her strength and focus, Aranya narrowly misses the Blight with her fire cantrip.


Enemies' Turn

The remaining Twig Blight scratches Oliver with its twisted claws for 4 piercing damage, threatening to break the bard's concentration on his Faerie Fire spell.

The two Needle Blights resume their assault, but the thorn sprays are deflected by Aranya's and Auraun's shields.

The last blighted plant turns its attention to the cleric who severely injured it earlier. Fortunately, the thing doesn't manage to grab and restrain the sturdy dwarf. Now, the skull stuck inside the Blight's monstrous body is looking right at Auraun's face, only a few feet away...or it would be, if any eyes were left in their sockets.

TB3 vs Oliver [roll0] [roll1] P
NB1 vs Aranya [roll2] [roll3] P
NB2 vs Auraun [roll4] [roll5] P
Advantage (if Auraun is restrained) [roll6]
VB vs Auraun [roll7] [roll8] B + grappled/restrained on hit


Turn 3 begins!

[Zevox]

Aranya grits her teeth as the needles strike her shield. At least this time she hadn't been struck, but the feeling and sound of the impact with her shield was unnerving nonetheless. We need to finish this fast, before someone gets hurt badly.

Judging the largest Blight to be the biggest threat, she repeats her attempt to cast a flame into it, aiming over friends' shoulders.
Not moving. Produce Flame on the Vine Blight.

Attack: [roll0]
Attack (Advantage): [roll1]
Damage (Fire, vulnerable): [roll2]
If I somehow crit: [roll3]

[Kaiser Omnik]

This last Flame spell strikes its target, however it doesn't do much more than burn a few plants off the thing's arm. This Blight doesn't seem to be as vulnerable to fire as the small ones are.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Caught up in his own success taking down its fellow (and in an opportunity to rush to a fair lady's aid), Oliver's spring towards his new foe leaves him slightly off-balance. The twig blight exploits his mistake and threatens to claw open his open his stomach, armor be damned! He only barely manages to fend it off with his empty left hand, though its claw rakes down his arm, tearing cloth and flesh, as it pulls back. The tiefling groans in pain, but knows it could have been a lot worse.

Happy that he didn't lose his concentration on the threads of magic he had previously weaved, he shouts to Aruzara, "If you can get to the big one, I think we'd all appreciate it. I don't know how much longer I can concentrate on my spell." He then turns his attention to the foe in front of him. I'll make you pay for that, he thinks as he lets loose a flurry of attacks.

Attack that twig blight! Bonus action to offer up my last bit of inspiration to Aruzara.

Attack: [roll0]
advantage/disadvantage: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]
crit: [roll3]
Whoops, disregard the +2 on my crit damage roll. BTW to everyone, you can choose to use bardic inspiration after you roll but before you know the result so that's pretty cool.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Oliver gets his revenge! The last Twig Blight crumbles into dust!

[Lank]

Bringing out her mighty glaive, Aruzara brings it down on to the Vine Blight.
"Soft!" she yells at it before she spits on it.

[roll0] to hit
[roll1] slashing damage on it.
[roll2] reroll for damage if it is a 1 or a 2.
[roll3] extra damage on potential crit.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Right as the algae and bone monstrosity threatens to engulf Auraun, Aruzara's glaive cleaves it in twain. What remains of the stinking body falls apart, starting to decompose rapidly at the dwarf's feet.

[Erasmas]

"Many thanks!", Auraun calls to Aruzara, dragging the haft and head of his hammer down the outside of his shield to break as many of the needles off as he could. The dwarf then rounds on the needle blight that had fired them at him.

Once again, he conjures up another holy prayer, this one calling down a white flame-like bolt from the skies above.


"Udagga hrun et kagel bak olindged,
Uda sharok dar drogo,
Ha Gulra, uda Mornsarevok!"


Casting sacred flame on Needle Blight2. It needs a DEX save @DC=13 or take...
[roll0] radiant damage

[Kaiser Omnik]

Auraun conjures flame from the sky to smite his enemy, but the nimble Blight dodges the spell.

Shallan shoots at the other Needle Blight, severely injuring it, and then reloads her crossbow.


Enemies' Turn

Barrages of needles miss Aranya and Auraun again.

Shallan's [roll0] vs NB1 [roll1] [roll2]

NB2 Dex save (DC 13) [roll3]

NB1 vs Aranya [roll4] [roll5]
NB2 vs Auraun [roll6] [roll7]


Turn 4 begins

[Zevox]

Seeing her flame spell be unexpectedly ineffective on the larger Blight, Aranya decides a change of strategy is in order. She steps forward to face the wounded Needle Blight in close, and brings her walking staff to bear. "Túrë," she intones, cause the staff to emit a barely-perceptible glow, and she can feel the power of the spell course through it as she brings it down on the wicked little creature.

Step in to attack Needle Blight 1. Cast Shillelagh, draw and attack with quarterstaff.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit damage if applicable: [roll2]

Edit: Finally! A roll that doesn't make her look useless! :smallbiggrin:

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

When the larger blight goes down, Oliver's initial thought that they are more than a match for the plant monstrosities is confirmed. That's no reason to let up now though; there are still foes to deal with. Ceasing the concentration on his spell, the bard hustles towards his companions, drawing a dagger from his belt. "Heads up!" he shouts with a grin to Aranya as he arrives and whips the dagger at the wounded blight.

Oliver moves to L14 and throws his dagger at NB1. If it's already dead, you can ignore the DUCK! part and have him throw it at the other needle blight.

Attack: [roll0]
Advantage/Disadvantage: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit: [roll3]

[Erasmas]

Auraun steps the short distance between himself and the Needle Blight, once again clearing his shield of as many of the projectiles as possible beforehand. The priest brings his warhammer from around his back, up and over his shoulder, and down towards the Needle Blight.

"How are ye fairin'?! Does anyone need my attentions as a healer?", he bellows.


Step to L17.

[roll0]
[roll1] (Not sure if Advantage is still in effect or not)
[roll2]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aranya's Shillelagh cantrip appears to be just what she needed; empowered by pure nature magic, the staff strikes true, ending the Blight's corruption.

Seeing the druid finish off the wounded creature, Oliver and Auraun turn their weapons against the last remaining Needle Blight. The tiefling's thrown dagger pierces the creature's bark-like skin, however the Blight dodges Auraun's hammer.

[Lank]

Aruzara muscles in next to Auraun and brings her glaive down to the needle blight.


Move from K, 15 to M, 16
[roll0] to hit
[roll1] slashing damage on hit
[roll2] extra damage on potential crit.

[Kaiser Omnik]

And with one quick swoop, Aruzara cuts open the last Needle Blight!

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver brandishes his rapier for a moment while looking for additional threats. Quickly satisfied that the various blights have been taken care of, he sheathes his blade and moves over to the last one to fall. As he crouches to remove his dagger from its remains he poses a question to the rest of the group, "I don't suppose these terrors are normal around here? Everybody else seemed just as surprised as us, and no one made any mention of such creatures. If their appearance is connected to Lortan's other problems, I can't imagine that we're just looking at contaminated water." After the tiefling stands back up and takes a quick look at the gash on his arm he finishes with a suggestion, "I think finding these druids may be all the more important now."

[Lank]

Aruzara notices Oliver glance at his injury. "Revel in the pride of your wounds" she says before taking a moment to assess her own. It was a nasty hit and she would probably be all bruised up underneath her armor but she was fine. "Did you see that" she says with the most excitement anyone in the party would have heard her speak for the duration of their companionship thus far. "I killed three of them, count them, one, two, three". She walks over and pulls out her javelin from the twig blight. "This little bastard woke up this morning and didn't think he would wind up with a javelin in his gullet".

[Zevox]

Aranya breaths a sigh of relief as Aruzara cuts down the last of the Blights. She scans the area quickly, and sees no sign of more trying to ambush them like the few earlier. Everyone had escaped with only light wounds.

Shouldering her shield, she turns to Oliver, whom she had seen get struck earlier. "Just a sec," she says, and recites another prayer-spell: "Kémi, manyame yo yávëlda." When she finishes, ten blue berries, glowing ever so slightly, appear in the palm of her hand, and she offers them to the Tiefling. "Here: each one has some slight healing power. Take as many as you need - a few together are as good as a priest's healing spell."

While Oliver does that, she adds, to him and to the others of their little group: "And no, those aren't normal, or even natural. Their presence is a very bad sign." The Druid girl is visibly unsettled as she goes on, "I've seen some before, though only the little ones. Tera, my mentor, told me about them that time, though. There's only two ways they come into being: either someone wielding magic creates them intentionally, or an awful act of corruption upon the land causes them to spring up as its effects seep into the plants."

With a sigh, she adds, "They're also drawn to cursed land, if they weren't created by it in the first place. Between them and the resistance I felt earlier, I don't think there's much doubt left that someone is doing this deliberately."

With Oliver having taken the berries he needs, Aranya plops the remaining ones into her mouth, one by one. The vitality that surges through her with each feels great - like waking up from a much-needed night's sleep - and she's always amazed at how quickly these little berries can close wounds. With the last one, the last traces of her wounds are gone. Perfect.

With one more look to the others, she says, "I'm going to check on that farmhand. He might need help, too."
Cast Goodberry. 2 1st-level spell slots used, 1 remaining.

Oliver and Aranya can heal back to full, using 4 and 6 berries respectively.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Aranya finds the wounded farmhand a few hundred feet away. He's got a nasty bruise on his right arm and is breathing heavily, but he should be fine. At that moment, Carda comes to investigate what all the ruckus is about. He gives the half-elf a worried look.

Meanwhile, Auraun notices torn pieces of fabric among the remains of the largest Blight. There's also some skin still attached to the partially digested skull.

[Zevox]

Seeing the man wounded, even lightly, Aranya picks up her pace and rushes to his side. "You'll be okay," she says, and repeats the prayer she'd just used. She holds the berries out to the man and tells him what she told Oliver about their healing properties, and to take however many he needs to heal his wounds. "Don't worry, we've dealt with those things. We're all safe."

When he's done, she puts the remaining berries in her pouch, and turns to Carda. "Carda, good. I was just going to find you when we heard the trouble here," she says. She gives the man a summary of what had happened, both with the Blights and when she tried to purify the apples. She leaves out the part about Shallan finding the old ritual circle and wicker man, having no doubt he'd react worse to that than Shallan did to that, given how he acted earlier. "Oh, and, Auraun," she says with a gesture at the Dwarf, "he thinks he may have found another lead about all this. He tasted some of the town's water earlier, and thinks that it might be tainted somehow - maybe even including the river. We won't be able to test it until tomorrow, but if he's right, it could explain both the apples and the people getting sick. If you have any water reserves around, I'd appreciate it if I could try my purifying spell on them. Maybe whatever's interfering when I try the apples won't with that," she says, trying to project more hope about that than she actually feels.

Casting Goodberry again, giving the man as many as he needs. She'll put the rest in her belt pouch for now - might give them to Aruzara, depending on if Auraun gets her to full, or just save them for later/tomorrow.

No spell slots left until at least a short rest (she can regain one at that point with one of her Circle of the Land features).

[Kaiser Omnik]

Although still visibly shaken, the farmhand takes two berries from Aranya. Carda listens to the half-elf's story and frowns.

"We do get all our water from the river... There must be a bucket of water lying around somewhere. There! Try that one."

Carda directs Aranya to one, but he is quickly needed elsewhere, as workers have been massing near the site of the battle and rumors of a dark curse on the orchard are spreading among them.

[Zevox]

Aranya frowns at the little she overhears from the farmhands gathered near her friends, but there's little she can do about that. The rumors are inevitable - especially since they may well be correct.

Instead, she heads over to the water bucket Carda had indicated. She kneels down next to it, taking a sip to see if she can detect the odd taste Auraun had reported. Trying her spell would mean little if the water was fine anyway, after all.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Perception check please!

[Zevox]

C'mon, lets not go back to the luck I was having before that last roll now.
Perception: [roll0]

Edit: Excellent! :smallbiggrin:

[Kaiser Omnik]

Something about the water is definitely off; it has a slight bitter or metallic aftertaste.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"Revel in the pride of your wounds"

"Don't worry, I've had worse," Oliver responds, "there was this one time I offended a sellsword in a tavern. I was singing some bawdy tale or another, but apparently it was close enough to his personal experiences that I touched a nerve. To make a long story short, the fellow challenged me to a duel. Now, I couldn't believe until we got there that he actually intended to take my life. Luckily, the man had oversold himself as a taker of lives, and I prevailed. I looked more like a sponge than a tiefling afterwards, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm not exactly a stranger to violence being directed at me..."


"Here: each one has some slight healing power. Take as many as you need - a few together are as good as a priest's healing spell."

"...Then again," the tiefling continues, taking a few of the berries in hand, "why wallow in your wounds when you have friends who can make them disappear: just like magic!" He pops the berries into his mouth and marvels as the wound on his arm closes. He then sighs,"It didn't fix the sleeve, though."

Oliver then follows Aranya over to the wounded man, just in case there's anything he can do to help: there isn't. Aranya seems to have the situation under control as she explains the situation to what appears to be the foreman. All he can do is nod along with the story, but he continues to follow Aranya as she goes to check out the water, just check if she figures the same thing about it as Auraun.

As they are walking over towards the buckets, a sudden realization dawns upon the tiefling. He stops and snaps his fingers as he tries to remember. "Aranya! We may need to check on something. I didn't think of it at the time, but some of the workers were talking about someone missing as me and Auraun were trying to catch up with you all. The skeleton in the algae blight! What was the name..."

[Zevox]

Um, Hellbug, the bucket already had water in it.

Well, Auraun was definitely on to something. Now, to see if she could help.

She's interrupted by Oliver talking about a missing person, though, and she turns to him, getting a very frightened look on her face at the mention of the skeleton. "Oh gods, I hope you're wrong about that." She tries to shake it off with a shake of her head. "Someone mentioned a missing person to Aruzara and me on our way in, now that you mention it, a woman named Orella. Is that who you heard about?"

Whatever the case, her own task for the moment was clear. "Oliver, why don't you check on the others and tell them about that. But for now, I have to try my spell on this water, and it'll take a lot longer than last time - about ten minutes - so the sooner I get started, the better. Auraun's right though, by the way, it definitely tastes wrong."

Having used up her own reserves of magic, Aranya settles in for the ritual she must perform to draw the power for the spell from the natural world around her. With her walking staff she draws a simple circle around the bucket, inscribing a few symbols on each side of it, and begins a chant as she moves. "Eldath, Shashelas, lavní mánalda, carin poca nén sina...

The chant continues, off and on, sometimes repeating parts, for the ten minutes the ritual lasts. Anybody familiar with Druidic ritual markings might notice that not all of the marks Aranya makes on the ground with her staff as she slowly circles the bucket are for the ritual - some are just her small way of staving off boredom during the exercise in patience that is a ten-minute chant while drawing a simple set of symbols in the dirt that she could finish in the first two minutes if she wanted - but fortunately for her, there's nobody like that around to chastise her for it. This time, anyway.
Ritual casting Purify Food and Drink, obviously.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver


"Someone mentioned a missing person to Aruzara and me on our way in, now that you mention it, a woman named Orella. Is that who you heard about?"

Oliver takes his hat off and scratches his head as he responds, "No, that wasn't it. It was those farmhands talking. Something about one of the other farmhands being missing. Malack? Rannic? Wait...Anac! That was the name!"

The smile on his face (remembering names can be hard sometimes) fades when he sees Aranya's frightened visage. "But, you know, he could just be sick with whatever's going around, too. That's probably not it," the bard continues, both of his fidgeting hands now holding his tricorne close to his chest.


"Oliver, why don't you check on the others and tell them about that. But for now, I have to try my spell on this water, and it'll take a lot longer than last time - about ten minutes - so the sooner I get started, the better. Auraun's right though, by the way, it definitely tastes wrong."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Oliver responds, but his enthusiasm for remembering a potential clue has clearly been stopped in its tracks. He doesn't even take time to pat himself on the back for the confirmation of he and Auraun's work from earlier. "Hopefully that spell of yours works out," he says in parting.

The tiefling then makes his way back to the rest of his companions and explains that Aranya also thinks that the water is strange and is casting a purification spell on it. Not wanting to get the others down, he doesn't immediately mention the conversation between the farmhands that he and Auraun had overheard.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The first 9 minutes of the purification ritual pass in the most boring manner possible. A few crows fly by as she is chanting. Then, nearing the 10th minute, Aranya finally sits down and starts focusing her energy and concentration, preparing herself mind and body to overcome any resistance to her spell.

But the druid is not prepared for what's coming. At first, she's merely experementing the same strange sensations as before. Her heart is racing, but she utters all the right words, invokes the blessings of the nature spirits as her mentor taught her... when suddenly, all her world comes crashing down. The magic of her own druidic focus is countered by the wicker man's malign influence, and the whole ritual is instantly tainted. Aranya cannot help but to panic as she feels the necrotic energy pulsing from the desecrated totem - the wicker man is now searing hot - and pouring into the water.

The druid's head is soon filled with quick flashes, barely discernable visions that leave her shaken for an moment. She sees...an elven male and a human huntress sitting beside a pond at the base of a small waterfall...the same elf, alone, collapsing after practicing a ritual...twisted roots extending into a dark cave, the only light inside reflecting off serpentine eyes, dozens of them... and, finally, Aranya swears that a dark force is trying to grab hold and pull her into a deep abyss.

But when she opens her eyes again, she's sitting at the very same spot, sweaty and extraordinarily pale yet unharmed.

The water in the bucket is now completely black, oily. And it's boiling.

[Erasmas]

"Well done!", Auraun had called to the half-orc when she felled the last of the creatures. Seeing that the combat was over, he placed the pommel of his warhammer onto the ground and leaned his forehead onto the head of the weapon, breathing deeply and muttering a prayer of thanks to Gulra for allowing him to survive the ordeal... unscathed, no less.

"I don' know about the rest o' ye, but this certainly looks more an' more like the work o' corrupted druids. Seems like these things were set to attack anyone tha' came close to the river... perhaps guardin' against somebody tryin' to undo whatever taint is on this water.", the dwarf said, casting his eyes back towards the flowing river's banks. That's when the skeleton within the vines caught his eye. The priest made his way over to the mass of vegetation and moved it away with the toe of his boot in order to get a better look at the body. At the mention of the missing people, he knelt down and tried to see if he could discern anything about this person's identity - whether it was a human or not, whether it was a man or a woman, or anything else he could learn.

[Kaiser Omnik]

The remains appear to be from a medium humanoid, probably an adult male. The torn clothes resemble those of a laborer.

[Zevox]

The first 9 minutes of the purification ritual pass in the most boring manner possible. A few crows fly by as she is chanting. Then, nearing the 10th minute, Aranya finally sits down and starts focusing her energy and concentration, preparing herself mind and body to overcome any resistance to her spell.

But the druid is not prepared for what's coming. At first, she's merely experementing the same strange sensations as before. Her heart is racing, but she utters all the right words, invokes the blessings of the nature spirits as her mentor taught her... when suddenly, all her world comes crashing down. The magic of her own druidic focus is countered by the wicker man's malign influence, and the whole ritual is instantly tainted. Aranya cannot help but to panic as she feels the necrotic energy pulsing from the desecrated totem - the wicker man is now searing hot - and pouring into the water.

The druid's head is soon filled with quick flashes, barely discernable visions that leave her shaken for an moment. She sees...an elven male and a human huntress sitting beside a pond at the base of a small waterfall...the same elf, alone, collapsing after practicing a ritual...twisted roots extending into a dark cave, the only light inside reflecting off serpentine eyes, dozens of them... and, finally, Aranya swears that a dark force is trying to grab hold and pull her into a deep abyss.

But when she opens her eyes again, she's sitting at the very same spot, sweaty and extraordinarily pale yet unarmed.

The water in the bucket is now completely black, oily. And it's boiling.

Aranya simply sits in place for a moment, the images she'd experienced as her spell completed playing through her mind. Her breathing is ragged, and her heart is beating so fast she'd fear for her health, if only she could concentrate on anything at that moment. "What the hells," she says, her voice quivering and barely managing a whisper.

The moment passes, and her eyes focus on the bucket of water - or what moments ago had been water. Her eyes go wide, and she crawls back a couple of paces in shock and fear. If anyone had been looking at her face at that moment, they would have seen only pure terror.

She finally regains enough of her senses to act - and there's no question what she must do. She removes her backpack in a flash, and grabs the wicker man idol from it. It's warm to the touch, which might further disturb her if she weren't so focused on just one thing. "Nárë!" she speaks, the word coming out more as a growl of anger than anything resembling her normal intonation of the spell, but the flame leaps to her palm all the same - the one holding the wicker man idol.

And I figure I'd best stop there to see if anything unusual happens when she burns (tries to burn?) the wicker man.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Fortunately for her, this wicker man burns just as well as any other. It releases black smoke and a foul odor as it is consumed by the purifying flames.

The rest of the group notice Aranya's erratic behavior from a distance.

[Zevox]

Aranya lets the burning totem fall to the ground, then watches for a moment as it goes up in smoke. She takes several deep breaths as she watches, unconsciously falling back on a meditation technique she'd been taught as she tries to calm and steady herself.

It takes a minute, but she feels steadier for it, her mind no longer so clouded. She glances back at the bucket, and wonders briefly if it's worth trying to purify it again. Was it even still water in there now? She honestly couldn't tell.

Maybe it was worth a try, but not now. Now, she needed to talk to the others. She wasn't sure how to make sense of this by herself - not right now, anyway. And... she owed Shallan an apology.

She got up, and started towards her companions, trying to keep her steps steady and appear more collected than she really was.

Stopping here again, this time to give the others a chance to talk before we get into Aranya discussing this with them. It's supposed to have been ten minutes while she did the ritual, if there's anything they wanted to look at or talk about between the fight and this, they should get the chance.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

When Auraun bends over to inspect the skeleton, Oliver solemnly volunteers what he had remembered, "You remember that missing worker those laborers were talking about when we got here? This could be that worker." Oliver isn't interested in looing over the dead body--it isn't exactly his area of expertise--so he just watches as Auraun examines the body.

After a few minutes of searching, a movement in the corner of his eye catches Oliver's attention. When he looks back towards Aranya, he sees the half-elf scrambling backwards away from the bucket. "What's going on?" the bard asks as he begins to walk towards her again.

When she pulls out the wicker doll and lights it aflame, Oliver picks up his pace to a run and shouts, "What in the world? What's come over you? That was our best clue!" The tiefling slows as he approaches, confusion written on his face. Before she can respond, he frantically begins to try to sweep up the ashes of the doll into his hand.

[czieg]

As the last of the blights died, Shallan took a deep breath and strapped her crossbow to her back and scooped up her quarterstaff. She let the others decide what to do, she only wanted to go back to talk to Dorn again, but when Aryana said she was going to attempt a purification ritual on the water, she elected to stay. 'It isn't going to work, she still has the wicked man in her pocket.'

Shallan watched Aryana's ritual with some interest, she couldn't cast many spells and was eager to see the difference between a Druidic spell and it's ritualistic counterpart. For the most part, it seemed to be much more chanting then before, but then she began to see a reaction in the water.

Black roiling liquid took the place of the clear water. It bubbled and sloshed of it's own accord, as if animated by some foul force. In fact, for all she knew it was, some Druid was using it to watch them. Shallan opened her mind, sending out feelers for any minds, other then Aryana, perhaps something other then the wicker doll.

When Aryana finally realized what she had done and fell back, Shallan caught her fall. "W-was it the doll? Do you believe me now?" She was interrupted by the sudden incineration of the wicker doll, the smoke making her gag. 'I guess it was.' The half-elf merely nodded in grim satisfaction.

[OOC: I started this after Kaiser posted but never got to finish until now, sorry.]

[Kaiser Omnik]

Shallan expends her mind towards the wicker man and the water, this time channeling her psychic abilities with much more focus. She hears unintelligible whispers and is able to touch - no, merely brush a distant and foreign mind. Whatever she found is gone the next second, when Aranya burns the doll.

Shallan now has a better idea of the wicker man's purpose. She didn't feel like somebody was scrying on them, exactly. Rather, the doll seems to act as a conduit of some sort, drawing on an external source of power and corruption.

[Zevox]

Alright, if nobody seems to have anything else to talk about, ahead we go.

Aranya gives Oliver a look - doing her best to seem collected but with the fear still not totally gone from her expression - and shakes her head. "No, Oliver, that thing... it did something when I cast my spell. Reached out to me somehow and twisted it. Into that," she says with a gesture back at the bucket of what was once water. "I couldn't just leave something like that. I couldn't let it do that ever again. It was... an abomination." The girl says this last word like she's never used it before, the loathing the experience had left her with for the totem plain in her voice as she does.

Seeing Shallan strangely closer than she'd expected her to be (had the younger girl been watching her?), she turns and approaches, a soft, remorseful look on her face. "I'm sorry, Shallan. You were right. I don't know how it can make any sense, but you were right about that thing." She frowns as she adds, "And I think I saw the same images - visions, you said? - that you did. An Elf, probably a magic-user since he was doing a ritual. A human woman, who looked like a huntress. Twisted roots in a cave, and snake-like eyes in that same cave." She shakes her head. "It was all too quick, too blurred, to make much sense of, wasn't it?"

[Lank]

"All this talk of magic makes my teeth itch" Aruzara says. I think we should head back to Voada's place and rest up before we head to the druids and try to sort this mess out".

[czieg]

Shallan nodded, Aryana's description of the wicker doll was correct, and her visions matched with what she had seen in her encounter with the doll. "I think we may need to talk to Mr. Dorn." she paused for breath, seeming to consider what she was about to say. (And how to avoid mentioning how she knew it.) "I don't think that doll had enough power to cause the blight itself. It may have been something much simpler, and possibly much worse, a connection to the real source of the blight, and whoever created the doll."

Shallan poked the ground where the ashes of the totem had fallen, her brow furrowed. She had felt a mind through the doll, where before there had been none. This could mean that whoever was causing the blight had been paying more attention and intentionally foiled Aryana's spell, but that was not what really worried her. What did scare her was that her limited telepathic abilities worked two ways. If she had accidentally brushed the mind of the person on the other side, and they were smart enough, they could have sensed it, and then they would know that someone with such powers was searching for them. When they encountered this person, they might out her inadvertently.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

After Aranya addresses him, Oliver realizes how foolish he looks, sweeping up ashes from the ground, and stops and shakes his hads to try to get the soot off of them. With a sigh, he replies, "I really would have liked to at least get a look at the ting personally, but I guess this doesn't change anything about what we need to do. Sorry, didn't realize you felt so strongly about the doll"

The tiefling then turns to the pail filled with strange liquid. This used to be water? And this just happened when Aranya tried to purify it? Oliver then inspects the liquid and smells it for a moment. What could have happened here? Finally, the bard takes one of his gloves off, dips his little finger in the liquid, and brings it up to his lips to taste it.

I don't really know what this liquid is, but I'm hoping a more thorough inspection might give us a little more information. Is it just tainted water, or is it something more sinister? Do I need to roll a check for this?

[Kaiser Omnik]

The black "water" kind of smells like vinegar...maybe ammonia? Oliver waits until it cools down a bit and dips a finger in the bucket. He doesn't think about tasting it for long, as contact with the liquid deals [roll0] acid damage to him!

OOC: I guess Oliver could roll a Nature check, if you want to.

[Zevox]

Aranya was a bit confused when Shallan suggested speaking with Dorn. She'd intended to do that anyway of course, but that was just because she wanted to visit her friends, and was curious how (and what) he knew about the Formir Druids. But why would Shallan think he'd know about the wicker man?

Shallan's next remark catches her attention more, though. "Maybe," she says, a thoughtful look on her face. "It didn't actually do anything on its own, to me or the water - it just reacted to my spell, corrupted it."

An alarmed look suddenly comes upon the Druid as her own words catch up with her, and something clicks into place in her mind. "It corrupted my spell," she repeats slowly, "and you found it next to a ritual circle from a spell that helps crops grow." The implications hang in the air, and Aranya shudders, though not just from that realization. She continues her train of thought out loud: "And no Druid whose spell was twisted by that thing wouldn't notice - it wasn't subtle. And no decent Druid who noticed wouldn't destroy that thing, and try to undo the damage."

All of this adds up to the one conclusion Aranya had tried to deny. Her shoulders sag as she finishes the train of thought: "Whoever did this did it intentionally - and they were a Druid." She shakes her head, still unable to understand. "But... how can that be. It's like a priest desecrating his own temple. It doesn't make any sense. It's wrong."

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"Ouch!" Oliver shouts as he dips his finger into the boiling liquid. He drops his glove and grabs the wrist of effected hand, shaking it to try to get the acid off. Even though the pain ceases mostly after a few seconds, some blisters on his finger stay as reminders of his mistake. He tries to make light of it with a joke, however, and says, "What kind of purification spell were you casting Aranya? I don't know of any that turn water into acid."

Grinning at his own joke, the tiefling bends over to pick up his glove and gingerly puts it back on. "But on a more serious note," he says, "this kind of of liquid is the kind I've heard of when evil dragons move into an area and corrupt the water with their very presence. I'm not saying we're dealing with dragons, however, you'd think someone would've been able to tell us about that, just some sort of magic that can replicate the effect of their presence, perhaps."

[Lank]

"Dragons you say? Imagine if we killed one of them. Everyone would fear us!"

[czieg]

'A dragon? Didn't the tree-hugger say something about a dark cave with many snake eyes? Could it be something like a dragon, or many of them so it wouldn't cause a full reaction?' Shallan processed her mother's idea. Admittedly, she had seen something similar to what Aryana described, but dragon-like? Seemed to be a bit of a jump in her mind, but it was a thought.

"Well Aryana, not everyone shares the same perspective of evil. These Formir druids may see the townspeople as evil for enslaving nature for their own purposes. Shallan took a breath, if Aryana took this the wrong way, things could be very, very bad. "If you look at it like that, the Druids are trying to help nature, while we are the evil ones for trying to help the townspeople."

[Zevox]

Aranya's confusion doesn't abate with Shallan's suggestion. "That doesn't make any sense either, Shallan. People are a part of nature too, even the ones who like to pretend they're not. And Lortan has never had any trouble living in harmony with it - the only times my Circle has had to help here, it's been to protect the townsfolk." Getting more to the point especially driving her confusion, she adds, "Besides, even if someone was crazy enough to think that way, what they've done hurts the land and animals here, too. Like I said, it's a like a priest desecrating his own temple. It's a betrayal of everything a Druid stands for - everything we are."

"And... we don't actually know if it was the Formir Druids," she adds. She doesn't want to repeat her mistake of assuming Shallan couldn't be right, but she also can't see how what they know adds up to the Formir Druids all being involved. "Hopefully it was just one madman who's not even part of their Circle. Even if it was someone from the Formir, hopefully it was just one madman." If it was anything else, then this was only going to get crazier - and more dangerous.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Seeing as your job at the orchard is done - for today, anyway - you all leave the workers to mourn their dead and take the road back to Lortan. The time is late afternoon/early evening. You find the town exactly the same as you left it.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

On the way back to Lortan, Oliver plays a happy little tune on his lute to try to keep everyone's spirits up. The affair at the orchard had been stressful for everyone, and they all had a lot to think about. After about a half hour on the road however, the tiefling decides that he has held off on sating his curiosity for long enough and slows his pace to match that of Shallan's, near the back of the group. The girl was certainly acting very differently in the orchard than she had on the road to Lortan; maybe she had just been stressed out about fetching that book?

Running his clawed fingers across the strings one last time, Oliver finishes his song. As he does so, he turns to the half-elf beside him, "So, I never got to ask back in the orchard--too much going going on and more important stuff and all that--but I was wondering how your errand to pick up Fairy Tales from Across the Realms went and if you gave any consideration to my question concerning it? You seem to be sticking around to help us out so I figure your master knows you'll be late-good man (or woman!) by the way to let you be set back by these poor villagers' problems--so is there any chance you could, uh, loan it to me to take a look at while we're still all here?" He speeds up his speech throughout his little monologue, making no effort to contain his excitement at the chance to glean a bit of knowledge from the half-elf's tome.

[Lank]

Aruzara heads back to town with the others. Despite the fact she killed three of the blights she still wished for a greater challenge. One that would test her strength. The bard playing music didn't bother her as much as it normally would as she day dreamed pleasantly of her in a fight against a dragon. Once they get close to the town she speaks up. "So what are we going to kill tomorrow?"

[czieg]

Shallan walked at the back of the group, thinking about the images that had invaded her mind while staring at her feet. The visions were slowly melting away like a half-forgotten dream. A blood soaked tree, People around one of the apple trees in the middle of the night. Many sets of serpentine eyes in a darkened cave. What did they all mean?

Shallan looked up at Oliver, why was he asking about the book? Yes, it was an old book, but did he know something about why the Chained God wanted her to obtain it? "Umm... well... I don't know. My master guards his secrets very closely and I don't think he would like it if I let someone else look at the book."

[Zevox]

Aranya is uncharacteristically quiet on the way back to town. She tries to enjoy Oliver's music, but mostly she can't stop thinking about the wicker man. The visions bother her, of course, but the implications of what it did and where they found it are far worse, and she still can't wrap her head around how any Druid could do what it looks like someone did here. The fact that she was lugging a bucket full of the most tangible evidence she had of this did nothing to help her mood.

She listens with some interest when Oliver goes to speak with Shallan, but doesn't interrupt for now. She too is curious about the other girl, for a number of reasons now, but decides to see if she'd open up to Oliver before she tried asking her own questions.


Once they get close to the town she speaks up. "So what are we going to kill tomorrow?"
Aranya frowns at that. Was Aruzara really that eager to fight? "Nothing, I hope. With any luck whatever has been done to this place hasn't created - or attracted - more of those Blights than we already dealt with, and we'll have a nice, safe journey to the Formir Druids' home."

[The Hellbug]

"Umm... well... I don't know. My master guards his secrets very closely and I don't think he would like it if I let someone else look at the book."

"Easy then," Oliver responds delightedly, "You can just let me have a teensy little look at it. I mean, think of what we could get from such a rare tome. Most people think it's so rare that they think it might as well not even exist, or, at least, that's what I got out of them. Your master won't even know the difference, especially if you're sticking around here to help us anyway. What are books if not for reading, anyway? It's not like it hasn't already existed for ages; what's one more set of eyes on dusty pages?"

A few seconds after asking his question, the tiefling's tail, which had been swishing enthusiastically, comes to a halt as a realization dawns on him, and he poses a final question: "Were you even planning on peeking at your book before returning it to your master?"

[czieg]

'I'm beginning to understand why the half-Orc was less then eager about this teifling, he is far too inquisitive. We need to find a way to discourage him as soon as possible.' For once, Shallan agreed with her mother, Oliver was asking questions she really wanted to avoid.

"Well... I don't really know what my master wants me to do with the book yet. I just know he told me to find it here. I... I don't think it would be wise to make any assumptions."

[Lank]

"Oh come on, you can't say you didn't enjoy the fight. All that rage and anger pumping you up. Even you must have felt satisfied when you burnt one alive".

[Zevox]

"I didn't burn any alive," Aranya replies in a matter-of-fact way - her fire spell actually had been much less effective than she remembered from her one previous encounter with the creatures. "And I wasn't angry. I was mostly worried - that farmhand could've been seriously hurt, if those Blights had kept their attention on him. Some of us were hurt, and we're lucky it wasn't badly. Those things are dangerous, and their presence is always a bad sign."

Mentioning their wounds reminds Aranya: "Oh, that's right, you were hurt too, weren't you? How bad is it? I still have a bunch of healing berries from the spell I cast to help the farmhand, if you need any." The Druid girl's concern is obvious and genuine - the implications of Aruzara being affected so little by her wounds that she could forget the Half-Orc was wounded at all are apparently not registering past her desire to help.

[Lank]

"My wounds are fine, it has been so long since I tasted my own blood. I'll be good as new after I rest".

[The Hellbug]

Oliver




[COLOR="#0000FF"]"Well... I don't really know what my master wants me to do with the book yet. I just know he told me to find it here. I... I don't think it would be wise to make any assumptions."

Oliver is somewhat confused by Shallan's resistance. She hadn't told him 'no', after all. "What could he want to do with a book other than read it?" the bard responds, starting to become somewhat exasperated by her evasiveness, "And letting me have a little bit of a read won't stop him from doing that in due time, will it? What do you think I am, some kind of thief? Do I look like a thief to you?"

The tiefling then stops for a moment, now remembering to account for many people's bias against his kind. "Well, I'm not," he finally states matter-of-factly, "you can even supervise me while I look at it. Don't tell me you're not at least little curious about what's in it, too."

[czieg]

Shallan shakes her head. "When I get the book, I will get new instructions. If... if I'm allowed, maybe I can show it to you." Of course, her mother would never let her show Oliver the book, if just because he might start asking more questions if he thought he might get answers, and some questions, like who her master was. "Could you please stop asking me about the book?"

She is lying that she will actually show him the book so...
Deception: [roll0]

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

"When I get the book, I will get new instructions. If... if I'm allowed, maybe I can show it to you. Could you please stop asking me about the book?"



"Wait, you don't even have it yet?" the tiefling replies, obviously surprised by this revelation. Questions race through his head: why not just tell me that immediately? What was Shallan doing at the orchard if she hadn't found her book yet?

Oliver quickly realizes, however, that if Shallan doesn't even want to talk about the book any more, she probably won't respond positively to further prodding, so he adds, "Why didn't you say so? I'm sure we'll be able to work something out once you have it." With that, he goes back to his music, more contemplatively this time, for the remainder of the trip back to Lortan, itself.

[Zevox]

"My wounds are fine, it has been so long since I tasted my own blood. I'll be good as new after I rest".
While not sure what to make of the "tasted my own blood" comment, Aranya hesitantly nods in response. "Okay, if you're sure. But don't hesitate to ask me - or Auraun - for help if your wounds still bother you tomorrow, okay?"

She'd kept some of her attention on Oliver and Shallan's conversation during the brief exchange, and wasn't sure what to make of it. Shallan was back to acting more like she had on the caravan, but what little she had told them about herself only kept confusing Aranya more - Oliver was right; why hadn't she just told him she didn't have the book? Still, they were almost back to town, and Aranya had to focus on her own tasks when they go there, so she decided to put off trying to ask Shallan questions of her own. They intended to go visit Dorn later anyway, she could ask her on the way there.

When they got back into town, their first stop was Voada's place, of course. Aranya wanted to stay for food and just to visit, but she couldn't afford to if she wanted to go around town helping to purify as much water as she could this evening. She did show Voada the bucket of corrupted, acidic water, though. She explain the situation with it and her uncertainty over how to dispose of it safely, and asked if she had any ideas how to do that, or where the Druid could store it safely - she'd take it back to her Circle with her when she left if she absolutely had to. Surely one of her Elders would know how to deal with it safely, much as she didn't relish the idea of having to explain to them where it came from.
My assumption is I end up leaving that with Voada for safekeeping for now. Otherwise, I'm set to fast-forward through Aranya purifying some water to get to the visit with Dorn, if everybody has wrapped up their interim conversations.

[Kaiser Omnik]

When Aranya shows Voada the bucket, all she gets is a puzzled look. After the druid broadly explains the situation, the owner of the Apple Blossom scratches her head. She doesn't really understand why they can't simply dump the stuff in a hole outside of town, but if Aranya says it's important to keep it until she finds a safer way to dispose of it, Voada will oblige.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

When the investigators return to the village, Oliver takes a meal at Voada's before dismissing himself with a, "There's something I needed to talk to Farvyn about. I'll see you all in the morning. Is daybreak a good time for everyone?"

Once out of the Apple Blossom, Oliver makes a beeline for Farvyn's wagon, asking a passerby for directions if need be, intent on asking how he and Gil's day had gone and purchasing a new instrument for his collection.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Oliver has no difficulty finding Farvyn's wagon. The gnome doesn't seem to be "home" yet, but he finds his minotaur bodyguard resting on the grass nearby, a straw hat half-covering his face. As Oliver approaches, the minotaur opens one eye and slowly gets up to greet him.

"Boring town. No orc raider in sight. And everything here smells of rotten apples, dust and decomposing leaves. Have you seen the ocean, Oliver? It's so vast. So deadly. So...free.

...

I'm sure your day was better", finally mumbled the hulkling beastman.

If Oliver asks about the instrument, Gil simply tells him to browse the goods and leave the appropriate sum; Farvyn certainly won't mind.

[Zevox]

Aranya tries to explain her concerns to Voada, and then thanks her with a broad smile when she agrees to keep the bucket safe. "Great, thanks a million Voada. Oh, and if you don't mind, I should use my purifying spell on your water - now that that totem is gone it works, at least on normal water. I actually want to do that for as many people in town as I can before we set out tomorrow. It's the least I can do, since I won't be able to solve the whole problem as easily as I'd hoped."

Slight divergence here depending on what Shallan wants to do. If she'll wait until Aranya is ready to visit Dorn, Aranya will happily go around purifying as much water as she can until it gets late enough that they won't have time for a visit unless they go right then. If Shallan intends to just go now/whenever without waiting, Aranya will go with her - she wants the chance to talk to her, and wants to hear what Shallan talks to Dorn about.

[The Hellbug]

Oliver

Oliver begins to rummage through Farvyn's wares for an item that had caught his eye earlier as he responds to the minotaur. "I've seen the ocean before, yes. Even traveled across it when I was a boy, but we weren't able to do that unless the money situation was very good--it's expensive to book passage for a whole circus troupe. The biggest impression I got from it was its size. I've never seen such unfathomable largeness. I've also always loved how people see the duality in it. Sometimes it is the calm sea that provides for people, sometimes it is the storm that crushes ships and sweeps away whole villages. Aha! There you are."

The tiefling pulls his hand out a box he had been searching through, now holding an old and slightly-worn fiddle. After searching a second longer for the bow, he pulls off his gloves and lifts it to his shoulder and runs the bow across its strings. "It's lucky that its appearance is slightly misleading," he says afterwards, satisfied that the sound doesn't match its slightly beaten appearance.

As he pulls out his coin purse and begins counting out the payment for the instrument, Oliver catches Gil up on the day's events, "Well, it looks like the blight problem is going to be a little more difficult than we first imagined. Something's probably fouling up the water, but I think we'll be able to talk to someone who can help us set it straight tomorrow. Got ambushed by some plant beasts at the orchard--nothing we couldn't handle--but they roughed us up a little bit. Not this, mind you," he shows his blistered finger, "that was my own stupidity and a failed purification spell. All in all, I wish we could've solved the disease, but it's been an exciting day nonetheless."

The bard is putting the coin purse away and getting ready to leave when he poses one question to the minotaur, "By the way, going through my day reminded me to ask. How long has Shallan, that quiet little half-elf, been traveling with you and Farvyn? I never did find out where she came from."

Deducting 30 gp for the fiddle. Edit: Or, I would if mythweavers weren't doing maintenance. I'll get it later.