[5e] Shadoweagle's Fields of Flesh - IC

[daze413]

Lavish glade and lush green field,
Wizen'd oaks; to the blight all yield.
Weeping trees of crimson blood,
the Fields of Flesh turn life to mud.
Will you tread and smile and sleep
where devils dance and angels weep?

"There is a blight in our lands. An area in excess of forty miles across has been warped and twisted; it has been around for countless centuries. Very few people travel through the area, it is said to be cursed and fearsome things lurk in its wake.

Arcanists who study the outskirts confirm: the fields of flesh is, in fact, growing... and they cannot stop it. It expands at a rate of several feet per month. It seems we cannot afford to ignore the cursed fields forever. It falls on you, then, to brave these corrupted plains and solve this mystery.

We must stop the Fields of Flesh from overrunning this country."

This evening, you find yourselves in the "Half-cooked Haunch" a modest reststop conveniently sitting on a crossroads 100 miles west from the blight. The place isn't very lively at all, there are a couple of other patrons beside yourselves silently trying to get through the night and leave this place in the morning; for most, even this reststop is too close to the Fields of Flesh.

And so it is that the "Half-cooked Haunch" lost most of its business over the years but the owner, a rather aged human with short gray hair, still seems accomodating and cheerful. He whistles in the bar while wiping a rag over it.

You can decide here where your characters stand with each other. Place them all in a table, if you like, have them enter, what have you.

Perhaps a day or two for general tavern banter is sufficient?

[Andrezitos]

Legchopper lifts his head off the table and asks in a coarse voice: "had any of you see a dwarf besides me today"? He sees some tall people ahead. Two, three, a dozen... A bunch. He can not tell the difference between them too.
The ale has finished. Perhaps one more turn, the last one for sure... Or not, even a dwarf should know when he or she had enough. His mentor would not like to see him in this state...

how the place handles violence and related topics? Not permitted but tolerated? Just in the battlefield against infidels?

[Sirithhyando]

Balan entered the Half-Cooked Haunch and scanned the room trying to see if any of his companions were already sitting at a table. Between the taller folk, he ended up seeing the dwarf. He sneaked slowly behind him, hearing him asking a question, Balan froze a moment. Thinking to whom was this question asked. He put a gentle hand on the dwarf shoulder before speaking "I Believe you are the only one my non-grumpy little friend."
Laughing while sitting, Balan checked the table "How many beer have you had already, it would be nice to go early tomorrow morning."

[Estralita]

The doors to the tavern opened with a bang. A blond elf strode in. His hair was tied back in a pony tail, and his brightly colored clothes seemed designed to catch the eye. He grinned as he looked around the tavern and headed headed over to the others. "So, would you be my sidekicks on the trip to the Fields?" He asked in a (mostly) joking manner.

[daze413]

The bartender, upon hearing the blonde elf bash in the door starts, "Hey, hey, easy on the doors!" breaking his- not long ago, cheerful tune. He shakes his head disapprovingly, then grabs an iron to stoke the hearth on which a stew is slowly boiling. "Damned bards..." he grumbles, then starts whistling again.

One of the patrons, a human with long black hair, picks up on the statement and turns his head to the elf, "You don't mean the Fields of Flesh, do you?" he says to Neil. "Nasty business, that. I'd steer clear of it, if I were you." he pauses to gulp half of his drink. "My cousin used to live near there, had a farmhouse in the outskirts before the blight overtook 'em. 'Said nothing grew no more, not even weeds. He thinks it's probably the mist, 'kills vegetation', he said." The man looks almost as drunk as Lad but manages to maintain some composure.

[Andrezitos]

[/COLOR]Three strong ale tankards, half of that of flavored wine and an handful of nuts to fill the guts... answers Lad to Balan as best as his loose tongue permits. He greets his partners with a wide smile, cheeks livid red from the alchoolic breakfast.

A misty, you say? Lad remembers for a moment of the morning fog that constantly clouded his birthplace in his memory.

[Sirithhyando]

Looking at his elvish friend coming in, he couldn't help but smile at the bartender outburst.
Letting the conversation go on as the drunk person giving a tale of his cousin, he wasn't smiling anymore at the mention of the mist and the field of flesh. His only excursion to the place have left his mind scarred though now the only possible action was to return. Trying to appear more confident, as much for him as for his friends, he added Bah, i've survived it once, we'll survive again. Mumbling the rest Though i'm not sure how...
His strong build fell lower in his chair, trying to remember something of that time he passed in the fields. His amnesia wasn't natural, at least, that's what he thought.

[daze413]

"Yeah, a mist coats the area. You can't see it here but my cousin swears by it." he says as he idly scratches the side of his tankard.

The man looks to Balan after his statement, "... Survived? Buncha *hic* bull-. No one survives the fields of flesh. If you did, what did you see, eh? Hah! Answer that?" his eyes droop now and his head starts to nod.

[Andrezitos]

And how your cousin lived to tell how this scary mist is?

Whatever, I think we should look for ourselves what the smell of rooting flesh mist looks like.

Lad asks to the bartender if there is any group departing, or that departed recentely, to the fields.

[Gastronomie]

Rowan Blane, who was sitting at the table and reading a book the size of a dictionary, looked up from its yellowing pages and listened to the conversation being thrown about above his head. He is unwavering and unruffled as he listens, and eventually returns to reading the book, flipping its pages, adjusting his left monocle and scowling.

No one survives the fields of flesh? Rowan thinks to himself as he rummages through his raven hair and orders his second glass of water. Well think again, you foul commoner. You don't even know who's in this room.
When the glass arrives in front of him, Rowan snaps his fingers, and casts the Prestidigitation spell upon the drink. Golden sparks flutter above the water's surface, then proceed to slowly sink into the liquid, disappearing upon contact. When Rowan takes a small sip, the water now tastes as sweet and mellow as honey. Success. And even better than yesterday! His talent was geniune. He was born to be the best, he was growing rapidly, and he knew it.

I'll show them, Rowan mutters to himself as he stirs the glass of water (in a fashion that he means to resemble a noble drinking wine), taking another sip. I'll show them what I am. I'll show them what I'm gonna be! I'll show them what I'm up to, what I aim to accomplish and...

Rowan sprays the water from his mouth.

Wh...What!? Rowan coughs out desparately and wipes his mouth with his robes. Tears are forming on the edges of his eyes - the water had suddenly tasted spicy. Spicy and hot. There was no way Rowan could stand it. Rowan blinks and wipes his eyes, realizes he had sprayed the water all over his book - with a miserable yelp, he takes a handkerchief out of his robes and frantically wipes the book. Only after cleaning up the mess did he realize another casting of Prestidigitation could have done the job better, but it's too late - the stains are left on the ancient book. Rowan sighs and sits back in his chair. His face is bright red, he's trembling, and he's about to cry.

Rowan re-opens the book; gives a cough that came out louder than he meant to. He keeps on reading the sallow pages, pretending he's absorbed in it - doing his best to look as though he's oblivious to the various glances and whispers that come from all directions. Trembling, he bites his lips and gulps back his tears, feeling as miserable as ever.

...I'll show them.

[daze413]

The man gasps as if he is about to retch on the table. He grips the edge firmly with both hands and keeps the sickness in. "My cousin ain't a liar, if that's what you mean. He up and fled the fields when the blight starts showin' its head around, like any sane man would." he places his head on the table, appearing to have gone to sleep.

The barkeep heads to your table and shakes his head as he sees the passed-out drunk, he places another mug in front of Rowan whom he had witnessed spill his drink. "Another group?" he says, addressing Lad's question as he casually fishes a few coins from the sleeping drunkard. "I better start having people pay up front, like you did." he mumbles. He seemed to have forgotten the question but then returns his mind to it. "No, there wasn't any that came here that I know of. There were in the past, never seen any of them since, they probably wizened up and abandoned it." he eyes you intently. "But you, you lot look determined," he says, as he pockets the coins from earlier "and capable." he adds. "Anyway, it's gettin' late, of course you can stay up as long as you want, and as bargained earlier, your rooms are upstairs but I'll be heading to bed so if you want any more drinks, say so now."

any more questions? Next big DM post will now have you departing, barring any questions.

[Sirithhyando]

Waiting for the barkeep to part ways with them, Balan added to Lad Well, the mist at the very least is true, we need to be prepared to go in there. He lowered his tone to be sure only those on his table heard Only salted meat doesn't seem to be affected by it. I do not remember about water though.
Balan looked, smiling at Rowan earlier prowess then looked at Lad mumbling to his ears I think some fun is in order, might be the last for a while
Balan slowly took a little bit of fleece from his pouch and from under the table made the necesary movement with his hand. Making a finger appearing in the "honeyed" water his other companion cherished.

[Andrezitos]

Lad nods to the barkeeper and departs for his bed. Before leaving he aknowledges the group lack of clues about the flesh spreadjng mist and reason to go there in the first place.

Well folks, time to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day... I dont know bout you but this boring village feels much more danger than some ill manered field.

[Estralita]

Neil scoffed at the barkeep's reaction. "Bard? I don't go singing into a fight. People sing about me going into battle!" He pulled up a chair, and sat down with a thump. "And if nobody's survived the Fields of Flesh, that sounds like a good reason to go to me. I'll-I mean, we'll all be famous."

[Sirithhyando]

Balan listened to Neil as he came sitting with the group Well said, well said.
Balan yawned Yup, time for the night, i'll see you in the morning.

[daze413]

The tavernkeeper gives a vague nod of acknowledgement as you set out in the morning, will he even remember your faces? "If you ever come back, I'll probably still be here." So many pass by, so few actually come back. You see him arranging chairs as you step out the door, humming a lewd human classic.

You spend a day on the road, marching at a reasonable pace. You take a break once in a while, resting your weary feet and enjoying the rich landscape yet untouched by the blight. The night is cold but otherwise uneventful, you can hear your surroundings so alive this far from civilization.

Dawn breaks again, and another day of march is upon you. This time, as you get nearer to the blight, there is a distinct lack of wildlife, and the silence is only disturbed by your harsh footsteps. The landscape is- was, pleasant fields and valleys where you can see crops grew once upon a time. The grass to the side of this well-trodden path is withered, blackened and dying. There are no trees here, just the mournful grass for miles and miles.

Then, in the afternoon of the second day of travel, you see it: a sickly light pinkish mist blanketing the dead ochre landscape. It reminds you of airated blood escaping from a man's throat as he futilely tries to breathe. As you walk, you are suddenly aware of its presence and it is all around you now. For an hour you continue to walk when something foul hits your noses. Looking for the source, you find the food you normally bring, black bread, dried fruits, nuts, cheese, all have gone rotten and bad though the salted meats seem to be untouched.

Of the 10 days of normal rations, you lose 7 days worth. If you successfully hunted for any meat earlier, those aren't touched as well

You can't see very far, there is around 300 feet of visibility, as the haze obscures your vision. Despite this, you see two large objects looming in the distance:

One appears to be an old abandoned farmhouse, its fencing- as well as its front door, is missing. Broken planks form gaping holes on its facade but the interior is shadowy.

The second is a barn of similar disrepair, barely standing on its frame. Its front doors hanging ajar ever so slightly and you could have sworn it moved, despite the fact that you felt no wind blowing.

[Sirithhyando]

When they got close to the abandoned farmhouse, Balan gesture made his owl companion appear. Ngwawa, fly and keep us posted on what you see.

perception
[roll0]
stealth
[roll1]


Balan looked to his companions Let's wait a moment to see what Ngwawa see. We probably shouldn't stay too long in the field this first time. Let's see how our other provisions will fare in this place.

[daze413]

The owl tilts its head at the request. Nevertheless, it soars overhead, the mist obscures his vision the higher he goes but he tries. There is no place to hide in the air, he keeps circling but there are no trees in the barren landscape.

All seems clear in the immediate vicinity, the farm house and barn being the only structures in this lonely land. In the distance, however, as Ngwawa circles and makes a careful approach, he sees a twisted figure jutting from the ground, unmoving. With his keen eyes, he makes out the shape and it could only have been one thing: A Tree, without leaves, stands at the middle of the plain, near the path that continues to the east.

Beside the shape and silhoutte, he can make out no further details, and he dared not go any closer for he fears being revealed.

[Gastronomie]

Rowan bites his lips. He looks around at the desolate landscape, pulling his clothing over his mouth and nose. He feels like he's going to throw up at any moment.

And he was scared.

Rowan was scared. He was frightened to his bones. He was shivering like a mouse, his knees were jelly, he wanted to run back and never return. But there was no such option. He had to move on. He had to prove himself worthy, he had to prove his talents to everyone...

"-I-aiiii...." Rowan manages to mumble, crouching down on the spot. "I'll try to... detect if... this mist has any... magic, or... um... uhhh.... welll, um... magic."

Rowan casts the "Detect Magic" spell as a ritual.
Are we already stepping in the fields, or are we still watching it from just outside?

[daze413]

Closing his eyes and clearing his mind, Rowan detects a very faint necromantic magic around him. It is weak and faint, for such a spell to cover such a large area. You gather that the mist, mostly targets foreign food items, if left exposed for too long, the item will rot prematurely.

Yes, you are still at the outskirts but not in the blight proper- yet.

[Andrezitos]

Hmmm... this place seems not to be disturbed. Well, this ragged building will not be explored by itself. Let's go guys. I go first. Keep your eyes on me. Saying that, Lad strides ahead towards the old farm, axe and shield in hand.

[Sirithhyando]

As Nwgaga came back to him, Balan thanked him Good job my friend, i'll dismissed you for now. Dont want to expose you too long to this place.
Balan started walking behind Lad. There seem to be nothing close beside a dead tree close to the road going east. Though i would still take care, anything can be dangerous in this place.

Dismiss temporarily my Owl

[Estralita]

As the mist started to envelop them, Neil laughed. "A little fog? Is that what people are afraid of?" Seeing what the fog had done to their food and realizing that they hadn't even reached the fields proper made him a little nervous, but he covered it up and played with his cards as Rowan checked for magic.

In response to Lad Neil grinned, and pulled out his rapier. "Onwards it is."

[daze413]

Stepping inside the abandoned farmhouse, the molded rotted floor creaks and groans as if to complain of the weight it had, for so long now, forgotten how to bear. What you immediately notice is that most of the wood has been stripped away: floor boards, walls, even the ceiling and furniture are missing entire planks, leaving gaping holes where the elements could sneak in. What pieces of wood are left is too molded to be of any use.

The interior is messy and rundown, bits and pieces of furniture are scattered throughout the living room, chairs missing their legs, tables without boards all lying around, unwanted.

A rat scurries off to your side, too fast as it runs toward what you make out to be the kitchen, dusty cookware hangs from the wall.

To your left, a room is missing its door, its hinges are still intact but the wooden door is nowhere to be seen. Bathed in sunlight cascading down from the missing ceiling, it appears to be a bedroom.

What would you like to do?

[Gastronomie]

"...The mist is necromantic," Rowan said out bodly - well, more like, he tried to say it out boldly, but came out as more of a sobbing squeal. "...I...I'm not being 'afraid'... I'm being... cautious. Something is wrong with here..."

Only after saying out loud that "something is wrong with here" did he realize that it was a fairly obvious statement, and that it could have made him look rather stupid. Rowan's face turned bright red.

Since Rowan is very frightened and timid at the moment, he may want to re-use Detect Magic, this time upon the abandoned farmhouse, abusing the fact that it's a ritual.

Apart from that, a Perception check to tell if anything is wrong, apart from what was already mentioned. Any signs of people recently in the house. Or obvious signs of otherworldly creatures and such...
Well, Rowan has a Wisdom of 8 (I picture Rowan as one of those guys who can study hard but can't always put their knowledge to good use). And he doesn't have the Perception skill, because I supposed it didn't fit his character. Now for the roll:
[roll0]

...Okay then, he must be REALLY scared.

[Estralita]

Neil supressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine. You can stay here, I'll go see what's up.
With a mix of excitement and worry, Neil moved into the bedroom to look around.

Neil actually doesn't have a very good Wisdom either but that manifests here as not recognizing potential danger. Also he does have Proficiency in Perception, because Elf.

[roll0]

[Sirithhyando]

Balan stayed in the doorway as to be able to see his companions who were inside and Rowan outside. Rowan, the mist doesn't let us see very well, stay close to us and fear not. You are not alone, we'll get through everything this land send at us, do not despair.


Not sure what roll(s) to do here, Balan is trying to find a correlation between the striped wood and necromancy. What could want the wood that remained intact from the mist.
arcana
[roll0]
perception
[roll1]
edit : if they were the good rolls to do, pretty sure there's nothing to be found with those rolls :smalltongue:

[daze413]

Balan lingers in the doorway, keeping an eye on both the inside goings on and the outside perimeter. The mist obscures most of the land beyond 300 feet, and squinting doesn't help. But, there seems to be nothing afoot nearby, just the decrepit barn.

As Neil steps into the bedroom, it is clear that this, too, had been stripped of wood. Dressers, drawers, even the bed is overturned and hacked to pieces. Neil's thorough search rewards him with a plain brass amulet, hidden behind the drawer, perhaps once a family heirloom forgotten in the rush to leave the blight and its horrors. Neil also turns out some usable wood, 4 planks on the floor are loose and free of mold yet.

There seems to be nothing else of note in the room, the kitchen is yet untouched and outside, is the barn.




Not sure what roll(s) to do here, Balan is trying to find a correlation between the striped wood and necromancy. What could want the wood that remained intact from the mist.
arcana
[roll0]
perception
[roll1]
edit : if they were the good rolls to do, pretty sure there's nothing to be found with those rolls :smalltongue:


Even with natural 20s, there's no way your characters know the correlation, the players must figure it out themselves :smallwink:

[Gastronomie]

Rowan opens his eyes. He couldn't detect any signs of magic in the farmhouse, save for the original necromantic mist. Rowan tells this to everyone, then adds-

"...I think we should go to the barn now."

He just wants to get out of here. Fast.

[Estralita]

"Huh." Neil said, seeing the wood stripped room. The mist didn't seem to like trees any more than it like their food. Neil was about to leave when he saw the amulet. He scooped it up and headed towards Rowan. "Hey, you think you could check this for magic? I'd like to know if it'll melt my face off before I put it on."

[Andrezitos]

Lad takes bis backpack and ponders about the sanitary situation of the rations. Only three days worth of ratings remaining and no sign of game or vegetables in the vicinity. That is no good. Lad speacks his mind to the others and vote for strategic retreat. Perhaps some divine magic or mojo, he does not know the difference if any, could keep the food fresh for a little longer.

If the group decides to move forward, he says he is ready to go to the barn.

[daze413]

Before stepping out of the farmhouse, you double check to take a last look around. The kitchen has a few cupboards full of large dusty jars of preserved fruits: plums, nuts, dried oranges. Not all are tightly sealed, though, some of them have already turned black from exposure. There are around 5 jars in total, a piece of cloth wrapped around the mouth, it's metallic cover sealed with a tight string. You figure it would give the whole party a day's worth of food.

The party collects themselves and make their way to the barn. Its exterior is in a similarly sorry state. It's wooden walls missing entire planks of wood, forming holes and weakening the integrity of the structure, nevertheless, it remains standing. As you get nearer, you hear a munching, slurping sound from the inside.

The doors are slightly ajar and swing freely, what do you do?

[Sirithhyando]

Balan stayed close to the others, not really searching for anything in the abandonned house.
The missing wood, it's missing, not rotten away right?
Answering Lad worries I agree, though let's explore what we can before retreating. And we need to be sure how this mist affect the water. At worse, i'll take a sip later when we're out of this place. And, well, as Rowan said, the mist is necrotic. I'd be more worry at night.
Balan sighted audibly before going out the house Anyhow, it's going to take a while to before we make any good progress in this place.

Going out and looking at the barn, Balan looked around, trying to see the road Ngwawa told him about earlier and the leefless tree. Earing some noise coming from inside the barn, Balan took his rapier out. Mmm, will the structure hold if i blast the door open? A little distance might be the best. If you dont mind, i'll blast the door and whatever is in there, well, let's say i'm curious to see what it is.

[Andrezitos]

Whatever is in there could be as frightened or curious as us. Let's proceed with caution. Let me do the face check. Saying that Lad proceeds to open the door, axe and shield at ready.

[daze413]

The door opens with a wince-inducing creak; the dusk sun, even made dimmer by the mist, flows into the interior. The barn is a large structure, held up by half a dozen beams- nearly all of them bent, twisted, or molded. To the sides, you can see the pens for cattle and horses, now empty and all about the floor is long-rotten hay.

In the middle of the barn is the source of the munching sound, a human-looking figure wearing common clothes, though ragged and torn in places, and dirty long hair is crouching and facing away from the party. It is bent over something and seems too engrossed in its feast that he doesn't notice you at all.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan approach Lad, looking over his shoulder, trying to figure what the human was eating.


Perception
[roll0]

Balan whispered to Lad Let's make noise to have him look at us. Dont want to be taken in surprise if it's... if it isn't friendly or especially if there's more we haven't seen yet. Let's draw him out... if he's hostile.

[Andrezitos]

Balan approach Lad, looking over his shoulder, trying to figure what the human was eating.


Perception
[roll0]

Balan whispered to Lad Let's make noise to have him look at us. Dont want to be taken in surprise if it's... if it isn't friendly or especially if there's more we haven't seen yet. Let's draw him out... if he's hostile.
Lad whispers back: You are right... let me do it. Using his shield and axe as drum and drumstick, Lad lets the thing know that there is someone beyond it in this place.

[daze413]

The 'human' is munching away at what looks like a haunch of meat. The item is skinhairless and pale, eerily resembling a human leg though it is far too long to be one; the human it would have had to come from would have been a giant. The thicker end is gnawed and bloodied, the other thinner end is bony and ends with a claw-like tip.

At the noise of Lad's shield and axe, he quickly turns his head in surprise and gets up to stare at each one of you, dangling the too-long-human-leg in one hand. Blood drips from his mouth, and stains his clothes. His features resemble a human but his eyes are all a glossy, beady black, like a shark's. His arms are elongated down nearly to knee length and spindly fingers end into thickened, clawlike fingernails. And then he grins, revealing a mouth overflowing with jagged, sharply pointed teeth - far too many teeth.

After studying the newcomers for a couple seconds, the creature sniffs at the air and with a hiccuping laugh springs at the group, flailing his meaty haunch like a club.

yey! combat!
The 'human' moves up to and attacks Neil with his meat:
[roll0]
hit:[roll1]
crit:[roll2]

The 'human' attacks Neil with his bite:
[roll3]
[roll4] contingent advantage roll
hit:[roll5]
crit:[roll6]

Initiative: [roll7] +2 light, -2 heavy meat flailing action


maybe forgot to say this, the wood looks stripped as in perhaps someone pried it out.

[Gastronomie]

"Wh-" Rowan stammers, his face pale, knees staggering, seeming as though he's about to faint. He then somehow manages to recollect himself, frantically opening his spellbook, muttering something in Draconic, casting a trembling hand over the humanoid beast. "O Sultan of Cinder, O Wyrms of Red Flame, bestow upon me the blaze of the volcano, the twisting plumes of oblivion, the... um...and...um, whatever... it... was... WHATEVER!!! AHHHHHHH!!"

Flames spurt and issue forth from Rowan's hand in a needle-thin line of crimson, cutting through the air, aiming for the humanoid.

EDIT: Somehow the coding went wrong, sorry. Posting in next post.

[Gastronomie]

[roll0]
hit: [roll1]
crit: [roll2]

Initiative: [roll3]

[Andrezitos]

Show what you got, monster!

Assuming that Neil is at 5ft distance, and assuming I am able to use my reaction (speed factor in case it is needed:[roll0]), Lad tries to protect him by inter posing his shield between he and ghoul, granting desavantage to the attacker.

After that, he unleashes an axe cut in the undead like figure.
[roll1] speed factor
[roll2] attack
[roll3] dmg

[daze413]

Been 24 hours, taking the liberty to get things moving with other characters.

Neil will sidestep and pierce with his Rapier.
[roll0]
[roll1] Advantage from flanking still hits though
hit: [roll2]
crit: [roll3]
sneak attack: [roll4]
initiative: [roll5]

Balan will hangback and use firebolt.
[roll6]
hit: [roll7]
initiative: [roll8]
will edit in results.


Lad sees the 'human's' intent and brings his battleaxe down on the creature, hitting it in the shoulder as it tries to evade.

The creature reels from the attack but before it could even recover, Neil emerges from behind it like a shadow and stabs it with his rapier, hitting the unarmored creature cleanly in the back. Blood now drips from his mouth, its own.


It turns to Neil as it's quarry but is hit with Rowan's bolt of fire at the back of its head, singeing the clothes he is wearing. The creature hesitates as it feels the sting of fire and it drops its head slightly but recovers it savage look, this creature is of sturdier stock than most humans.
bloodied

It flails its haunch of meat at Neil, it would have hit but Lad brought his shield up to parry the devastating blow. Undeterred, the creature opens its mouth and bites Neil's arm, it would have carved out a chunk of high elf meat but it sees another bolt of fire from Balan and it lets go of the arm to evade.

Balan's firebolt misses the creature spectacularly and hits the wall of the barn. The structure creaks and groans but the molded wood doesn't catch fire at all.

[Estralita]

"Yeeow!" Neil cried,yanking his hand out of the thing's mouth. It just managed to draw blood. "Now it's your turn to feel pain!" Neil called out to the thing, before tumbling around it to the back, and stabbing with his rapier.

Turns out I was wrong about being able to dual wield a rapier and a dagger. So just a rapier attack. But with Advantage!

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
Sneak Attack: [roll3]

[daze413]

Steeling itself for another round, the creature turns its attention to Lad and raises its bloody haunch against the dwarf.
Oh, there's Neil's attack. If it's all the same to you, I'll be using the damage on that one since both rolls hit anyway. Oh no, can we just use that for round 2?

Round 2:
creature is blooded.
[roll0] against Lad
[roll1] hit
[roll2] crit

Bite against Lad: [roll3]
[roll4] contingent advantage
[roll5]
[roll6]

Initiative: [roll7]

[Gastronomie]

So we roll a new initiative every round?

It seems Rowan's fire hasn't done much damage to the humanoid beast, but Rowan has no other method of attack - save for Burning Hands, which will without doubt get his companions into trouble as well. He again recites the cantrip, hoping it's about time the beast runs out of power.

Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Critical Extra Damage: [roll2]

Initiative: [roll3]

[Andrezitos]

Lad continues hacking the undead, barely noticing his injury. I will reap off your shin, cursed creature.
[roll0] Initiative
[roll1] attack dice roll
[roll2] damage

[daze413]

taking the liberty for @Sirithhyando again :/ I hope this doesn't keep up.

Firebolt!
[roll0]
[roll1] on hit
[roll2] on crit
initiative: [roll3]
will edit in results later


Taking the distraction as an oppotunity, Neil slides up behind the creature and digs his rapier into its backside, the pointed end protruding at the other side. The humanoid screams in pain, "AARRRGGHH!-"

The scream is cut short as Lad brings his axe down on the creature's chest, carving a large gash, blood sprays on Lad's face as the axe punctures its lung. For a moment, it is held standing by Neil's rapier, but the weight is too much to bear and drops limp on the ground.

The creature lies, quite dead, in the middle of the barn, blood pooling around its crumpled body. The hairless haunch of meat lies next to the lifeless figure, hit directly by the setting sun through a crack on the facade.

What do you do?

[Estralita]

"Ha! Easy!"Neil said, pushing the creature off his rapier. Once it was off, Neil began cleaning his weapon off. While he did so, Neil glanced around the room. "Wonder what that was." he said conversationally.

Starting off with a perception check:

[roll0]

Gonna wait for the others to post, then once Neil's rapier is cleaned he will Investigate more closely.

[Andrezitos]

Strange... don't remember undead creatures bleed so much. Teacher Klauss used to say that at least.

Lad pokes the thing in the ground with his axe. He has no knowledge or training in this matter tough. Reaching for the limb-club in the ground Lad observes.

What you guys think about this bloody club? What creature could have been its owner? Lad will take a quick trip inside the barn to look for more clues, specially the bloody remains the creature was eating. ([roll0] perception if needed)

[Sirithhyando]

(i suppose i'm trained in arcana... dont have access to myth-weaver right now :smallfrown:)
[roll0]
and history (+4 if trained) to try to see if Balan knows about the creature that was eating and the one that was being eaten.
[roll1]
and perception (+3 if trained) for details that could help determining the other two?
[roll2]


Balan got close to the "thing" as Lad poked it. It is as you say Lad, this thing doesn't seem undead... let me think

[daze413]

Lad and Neil take a quick search of the barn, the rickety old structure has definitely seen better days, at least it doesn't smell like animal waste, only death.

Neil notices farming tools on the ground to the side: shovels, hoes, pitchforks, and other similar instruments. All devoid of their long wooden handles, only the rusted metal remains.

Balan thinks hard but is stumped. There is no creature you can recall that has this elongated human-leg-like appendage. The thicker end, the bloody gnawed part looks like a dismembered thigh but the thinner end is pointed by a bony claw-like tip. And all along the 3-foot center is an eerily human-like flesh: hairless and pale.

The dusk sun slowly sets, the shadow of the barn shifts the interior's lighting.

What is Rowan doing?

[Sirithhyando]

I really have no idea what this thing is or what it was if it wasn't like that from the start. Could be the effect of the mist.
Turning toward Rowan and Neil What do you think?
Thinking a moment, Balan added Oh, dont touch the west side pillars, it's fragile and pretty much all that keeps the barn from crumbling.

[Estralita]

"Well it looks whoever this is wasn't eating the wood, at least. Maybe they were burning it somewhere else?" Neil said flippantly, before turning to the corpse. You think it's undead?

Now it's time for the investigation check on the monster:

[roll0]

[daze413]

Neil moves in closer to the corpse and turns it over side to side, trying to discern anything from it. Then, Balan notices something as he was observing the corpse, the creature has a ring on his left hand. It looks cheap and badly made, as if it were forged crooked and bent but the silver is unmistakably genuine.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan train of thoughts almost made his stomach turn... What if those two thing were human... and the one we killed was eating his old mate... Look at the ring, could it have been a wedding ring for commoner owning a farm? This mist is necrotic, what are the effects it has on the living? That we do not know... we'll have to find other "survivor" and hope to find more clues as to what's happening and if we're lucky... how to stop it.

[Andrezitos]

Balan train of thoughts almost made his stomach turn... What if those two thing were human... and the one we killed was eating his old mate... Look at the ring, could it have been a wedding ring for commoner owning a farm? This mist is necrotic, what are the effects it has on the living? That we do not know... we'll have to find other "survivor" and hope to find more clues as to what's happening and if we're lucky... how to stop it.

And hope these new survivors are more friendly than this cursed one...

[daze413]

There's still sunlight outside, the day is winding down but it is not as dark yet, perhaps there is still time to investigate the mysterious lone tree that Balan's owl had spotted earlier.

Gastronomie has been offline for 2 days, I tried PMing him no reply yet. I'm sure he'll come back, he doesn't seem to be the type to just up and leave. Something must have come up.

Anyway, if there's nothing else you want to do in the barn?

[Sirithhyando]

Let's go see the tree my friend saw earlier, then maybe spend the night close to the barn.

Balan looked again at the thing... It could help understand... yeah i'll wait for later

[Gastronomie]

"I... I honestly think we should retur..." Rowan stammers, then realizes the others are looking at him. "Uh...I..."

"...Ahem. AHEM!! Um, yes, I obviously meant, we should go check out that tree... yes, that tree over there. Oh, and...hmmm...well..." Rowan glances at the ground, trying to calm down and get his mind cleared up. "Maybe we could find some clues in the dirt? Just a question I have here... when they say the Fields of Flesh are growing, what is it really like? Is there a thin coating layer of flesh that gradually expands on its own across normal dirt, or does the dirt near the Fields gradually turn into... whatever it becomes?"

Sorry guys, college started in Japan and stuff got really busy for me for the last several days.
I wanna roll Arcana or whatever for the nature of the humanoid and whatever it was eating. I also want to inspect the dirt nearby and check if anything is wrong with it specifically (using Detect Magic on it as well). If it seems it can't be done at this moment, I may keep the dirt in a bag and retrieve it, to inspect it more carefully later.
Arcana (humanoid/whatever it was eating): [roll0]
Arcana (dirt): [roll1]
If it's not Arcana, please ignore the +5 and change it into whatever works.

[Andrezitos]

Before leaving the thing alone to rott in piece, Lad uses his dagger to split open its gut to see what is inside. The wind whispered in my ear this thing could have eaten other things besides dismembered limbs.. The dwarf has some knowledge of how to deal with game but humans, and close related, are a bit different. Anyway, a survive check [roll0].

This game has players from every corner of the word. South America, myself, Asia, North America, Europe. This something that can only be achieved forums. Quite cool.

[daze413]

Lad opens the inside of the humanoid, taking off its leather vest beforehand. it no longer bleeds as so much time has passed by since its death but Lad notices the faint heat of life as he brutally operates on the corpse. One thing he knows for sure, now, is that whatever this creature is, it definitely isn't undead.

After some time searching, Lad manages to find the stomach, or what he thinks is the stomach. The acidity burns Lad's eyes a little, similar to the sensation of throwing up in his mouth. The contents are unremarkable, mostly partially digested meat and bile, crimson red chunks spilt here and there. The deed stains Lad's clothes into a bloody mess, he now reeks like one, too.

Rowan thinks hard, he recalls much of the information he had read during his time at the Academy and tries to figure out what manner of creature the meat-club belongs to. He recalls Giants, lumbering and huge, it could have been the leg of one of the hill kind but the haunch is too slender, and it doesn't explain the bony clawed tip. It could have been a Drider, a fearsome amalgamation of Drow and Giant Spider, but the hairlessness and the color did not match its description. All these things are recalled, matched and discarded by Rowan's thoughts until a sudden thought hit him- What if... this is the first recording of anything like this.

This party could, in fact, be the discoverers of this new creature.

[Andrezitos]

Ah, what a mess! Where was my head when I decided to play Dc. Dwarkenstein with this wretched thing... Lad leaves the bar and walks towards the fallen tree. Perhaps there he will find something to clean his olfactory system of the stench of rotting meat.

[Estralita]

"Gross." Neil said, backing away from the corpse. He swiftly headed out of the barn towards the tree. It wouldn't do do vomit in front of his new allies

[Sirithhyando]

Well Lad, i'm glad you decided to do it. Let's get going. Balan follow the others. Ngwawa, please do another swipe close to the earlier tree.


Perception (advantage + disadvantage)
[roll0]
stealth
[roll1]

[daze413]

Ngwawa soars overhead and signals Balan that the coast is clear. The rest of you follow the owl's path toward the seemingly dead yet still standing tree it saw earlier. Neil trots several steps ahead, trying to hide his sickened expression from his allies.

A few minutes walk away from the Barn and Farmhouse, the party sees the silhouette of a single tree, obscured by the mist. From a distance, the thing is leafless and seemingly dead. As you approach, however, you notice that instead of bark, its exterior is covered in a casing of pink, supple skin, veins visible beneath the surface. The trunks veer a few feet up from the ground into several branches, all of which eventually finish with a boney, claw-like tip.

One of its branches is broken and missing, blood forming a drying pool directly below it. It's end has already scabbed but a bone protrudes from the center of the broken branch.

Observing a few seconds, the tree seems to move ever so slightly, as if to stretch its normally-unmoving bones.

At this time, it is getting considerably darker and the weather seems reasonably warm for the night ahead, a blessing since there is no wood to burn for a campfire. The road to the east is obscured by mist but looks well-trodden belying the years of desolation in this place. Backtracking will get you back to the farmhouse and barn.

What do you do?

[Andrezitos]

I think we have found who or what that limb was part of...Haela be blessed. Lad is not a religious guy but the appearance of a flesh tree in the middle of nowhere hit him rather hard. Taking a deep breath, Lad tries his best to give a good intended dwarf advice. You know, perhaps this thing could serve as well as it served that humanoid back in the farm. What you guys think?

[Sirithhyando]

Looking at Lad axe and at the tree, Balan thought a moment Well, a tree is alive, this one more in our sense of alive as it could ever be... i suppose it's related to the field growing. Question is, was it a tree before or did it come from all this? One thing for sure, it looks like a tree and only one of us got an axe... or we can try something else if you dont mind waiting a little. I may need saving if it goes wrong...
Balan approach the "tree" and take out his book, turning the page to a specific ritual. I hope you're all ready and mumbling to himself I hope i'm ready...
Balan put his hand on the "tree".

Balan is making an identify ritual in so trying to find out what spell created it (if it was a spell) and what spell(s) his affecting him as of this moment.

Balan began chanting his song, hoping to empower his own ritual

Lle mern sina
Ikotane nwalma neke
lisse quella
kanuva eligre

ar'lle mern'ta Ilya

helka anar
corlle eller
ve'dae nurt
lle tumba hiraeth

[Estralita]

Neil cocked his head upon seeing the tree. "So, it's not the fields that are made of flesh it's the trees?" he asked disbelievingly

After pondering a moment, Neil pulled his rapier, and poked the tree, to see what would happen.

[daze413]

Balan places his hand on the tree, being an elf and attuned to both nature and magic, he may instinctively discern something from the tree. As his palm makes contact with the warm flesh, however, he feels a weeping sadness emanating from it. Grief, Pain, Sorrow, the emotions lightly grazes Balan's mind almost as light as his touch on the tree.

Balan starts singing his elven song, his voice breaking after a few stanzas:

... helka anar
corlle eller
ve'dae nu-

From out of nowhere, Neil pierces the Flesh Tree with his rapier, he jabs a shallow wound into the flesh, deep enough to draw blood. A faint and shrill whimpering yelp of pain could be heard from the tree but its exact source is indiscernible. Blood freely flows from the wound but the tree does not move at all.

[Sirithhyando]

The sudden pain soared through his mind as his companion hurt the tree. Balan felt to one knee raising his other arm as to try to keep the others from approaching for now.
It is strange... the "tree" is sad and was in pain even before being poked by your rapier. I do not believe we are in danger right now so if you could sheet the rapier it would be nice.
Balan looked again at the tree, pained from the emotions waving over him. Balan kept his hand still on the tree. It isn't natural, that much all of us can see. It is suffering, it's only an hypothesis but it almost seem as if it's holding down many souls, denying them the opportunity of going in peace to their afterlife.
He looked at the tree as he took his hand away.
If i'm right, we should destroy it... though i do not know how without being sure we dont harm the souls...
Balan looked at the others Let's keep going, it's not endangering us anyway. Let's keep on searching for the source of... all this.

[Gastronomie]

Rowan's head was spinning. He was, within his mind, delving through the various spellbooks and ancient archives he had gone through in his studies. He was unable to identify what in the world this was.

The "leg" had not been that of a new creature after all. In fact it wasn't even a body part of a creature. It was a branch. Was the tree mutated through some vile necromancy, or was it something created by necromancy? Either way, there was no doubt that this was something he had never even heard of.

"...I don't believe it contains souls," Rowan mutters. Not really replying to Balan - more like simply muttering to himself, trying to keep himself calm, to try and understand the situation without having it be an absurd one. "Imprisoning souls is one of the most strongest spells a mortal can hope to ever wield. And if that was the case, it'd also mean that the Fields contain tens of, hundreds of thousands of... millions of souls... and... that's...that's absurd. It can't hope to happen, it's impossible! Where would all those souls be coming from in the first place? Souls don't simply pop up right there... they need to first belong to someone who's alive..."

- An extraplanetar portal. Sunken deep somewhere within the Fields, and from it, every day, hundreds of souls issue forth... souls belonging to unknown people of a different universe...
- The souls are reproducing. Creating flesh to suit themselves, growing, expanding.
- No, that's not how it works. Think the flesh is alive. And that it's a mass of tiny abberations... each with their own soul, somehow confined into that state against their own will... perhaps former humans...?

None of the ideas made sense. None of the ideas were things Rowan had actually experienced. He couldn't believe them himself, even if he was presented any of the above ideas.

-But it has to be absurd, Rowan. Think again for yourself.
-Think why nobody was ever able to solve this problem.

Rowan froze.

Regardless of what's there, it's something I have no clue about.

Was I ever able to solve the problems given in the arcane schools? And they had clues. They had answers. This thing has absolutely nothing.

I CAN'T HANDLE THIS.

And obviously it was so. It was obvious from the start.

After all, nobody had been ever able to solve this problem. Wizards of fame and glory, those far more talented than this scrawny brat, had miserably failed. All of them. And how was this brat supposed to achieve his goal?

"...I..." Rowan was trembling. He was about to cry. Suddenly it had come to him, why no one ever thought of venturing into the Fields. Why no one was able to solve it. If they couldn't, why could he ever? A worthless drop-out kid. Why was he even here? "...I..."

"Let's keep going, it's not endangering us anyway."

Rowan looks at Balan. He glares. What was he saying? This elf doesn't even understand what's going on! He thinks he can solve this. He thinks there's a meaning for us to go on! He being a Wizard as well, and yet being simply so indifferent to the truth! The truth that we can never hope to understand...

...Never hope...?

Balan goes on -
Let's keep on searching for the source of... all this.

Rowan's words stuck in his mouth.

What was it to be a Wizard? A scholar of the arcane arts? What had he been studying for all this time? What had he been taught?

Was it not to never give up? Was it not to forever continue your quest, the sacred quest of the Wizards to grasp the truth of the multiverse and beyond? Why was he trying to surrender to his stupidity, to his utter lack of knowledge? Was that what he wanted to be? ...Surely not.

Rowan looked around at the others. Shocked, sure. Wondering, sure. But none of them were overwhelmed with the fear of the unfathomable. They were strong. And Rowan couldn't hope to lose. That, he couldn't allow.

"...Yeah," Rowan manages to faintly smile. He slaps his own face, and nods. "...Let's go on."Sorry for not being able to post yesterday.
Also, above was pretty damn long because it delved into Rowan's mind (and he's a pretty bothersome brat).

[Andrezitos]

So, you point hat fellas are as clueless as I am?! Great... well, at least we can camp inside that building, the one that is not about to fall. Or, we can keep going through the night... Lad takes a strip of his clothes, one long enough to circle the tree, and uses as bandage in the tree. No point leaving this thing bleeding, alive or not.

[daze413]

Night finally comes as the sun sets beyond the bleeding sky. The mist has all but been obscured, obscured by an even more sinister natural force than it- darkness. The party huddles around the tree, wondering where to go next.

The silence is complete and unnerving.

What do you do?

So where do you wanna make camp? The farmhouse? Do you keep going on through the night, suffering exhaustion? what?

[daze413]

The party double backs to the abandoned farmhouse, intent on utilizing the decrepit structure for the night. Perhaps the house still has some warm nights remaining. They clear the debris as best they could, and sleep in the living room, taking turns to stand guard.

The party's slumber is less than restful, even Balan and Neil's elvish trance are disturbed by awful visions of flesh trees reaching their grotesque branches at you and choking your life out as a dozen of the disfigured humanoids smile at you predatorily, stalking around you, ready to pounce-

Everyone wakes with a cold sweat and find themselves unable to go back to sleep despite it still being dark, dawn may yet need one or two more hours before arriving. Despite the nightmares and visions, the party is well-rested. Deciding to make eastward, following the road, the party passes the flesh tree, the bandage Lad left behind is still around it.

As you continue to move on the eastward path, you find more and more vegetation appearing as you approach what seems to be a forest that the path leads through:

Spindly bushes which look like many-knuckled fingers with fingernails for thorns. The trunk of which is as as thick as a wrist and sparse, moist crimson flowers shoots off of them.

Creeping vines which look disturbingly like pulsating arteries are latched onto the trunk of some trees; the trees which have these vines on them are rotting away, boils and ulcers pockmarking their skin.

A distinct flesh-tree, more straight but shorter, has small shiny pink oblong-shaped 'fruit' sticking out of its bark. The ground around it is bloody and full of fallen 'fruits'.

Ferns which resemble fleshy ligaments jut up from the ground, interspersed between the grotesque flora of this place.

The party hears a rustling from their right, four rabbits stick their heads out of the fleshy bushes. Their eyes are the same glossy black of the humanoid, it does not look natural at all. It bares its fangs at you predatorily, revealing the same many jagged teeth. Another sound echoes to your left, a fox with the same grotesque features reveals itself, they jump to attack-

Free style battle!
Simply describe how you take out these fanged aggressive critters, don't bother rolling initiative, attack rolls or even damage. Just have fun with it. Assume one jumps out to attack each one of you.

After that, you may interact with the environment if you are curious. Then, we should get a move on.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan walked with the others. As the scenery changed, it seemed more and more curious to Balan who only shrugged it off as another mystery he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to elucidate for now.
His surprise was complete as the rabbits appeared. At first, curiosity was Balan first thought though as they bared their fang and jump to attack, Balan incanted rapidly. Three glowing darts appeared and went fast for the rabbit coming at him.
Nelde Qualum'Templa
He then took out his rapier.


All 3 on the same so 3d4+3 force damage
[roll0]

edit : so 11 with the +3, sorry still experimenting with the codes

[Andrezitos]

What a sight..., Lad thinks to himself. His fellows companions in the Deep Wardens Academy would certainly not believe him...

His moment of contemplation of memories is broken when the furry devils make their attack. Not being one easily ambushed, specially by ridiculously enraged rabbits, Lad, with help of his trustworthy axe, slashes right and left, sending chunks of fur and blood all around him.

Have anyone played the minimalist system Risus before? Found yesterday while googling alternatives for traditional systems. Seems to be pretty useful and funny. I would like to try. Perhaps start an adventure myself...

[daze413]

After the encounter with the tiny critters, the group picks up the pace again and just as dawn bleeds through the pink mist, barely an hour into the forest, the trees thin and you arrive at a plain where you start to see multiple structures. This must be the town that you've heard rumors about, sitting in the middle of the Fields of Flesh.

Many of the structures are made of stone but some are made of bones you can only conclude were harvested from the trees.

In front of you, a few feet along the path and in the middle of a crossroad is a curious stone statue of a winged humanoid figure elevated on a dais.

Suddenly, breaking the dead silence, you hear a creeeaak of a door being opened from behind you; and from out of one of the buildings to your side, a man walks out into the street. The figure looks exactly like the 'human' you encountered in the barn but his leather vest is well-kept and presentable. His black beady eyes blink as it meets yours, he looks stunned for a moment but then he smiles widely, revealing the same sharp many-toothed grin. "What'♪ thi♪," he says calmly, the lisp in his voice making his 'S' sound like a comical whistle "welcome to Poxxin, ♪tranger♪."

Welcome to Poxxin!
No, haven't heard of that system (though I don't know many systems at all). What do you mean by minimalist?

[Sirithhyando]

The rabbits were done rapidly and Balan and continued with the others towards the middle of the field of flesh.
Arriving at the town, though it didn't seem blatantly inhabited to Balan, it wasn't long before proof of someone living in the place showed himself.
The statue intrigued grandly Balan but the arrival of the same creature as earlier unnerved him a little. The calm demeanor of the creature helped Balan to not panic and even though his hand got close to his rapier at first, to his relief, he never touched it.
As the stranger welcomed them, Balan took the lead though not without staying relatively close to Lad.
Thank you for the kind word. We heard of this place and wanted to come see it by ourselves. May we ask for the opportunity to learn about Poxxin and his inhabitant kind sir?

[daze413]

The humanoid furrows its brow, "Oh, I am no Lord or knight or nobleman. Just call me Jhalk, that'♪ a... broad que♪tion, long-eared human." he steps toward you, elongated arms swaying as he does "Where do I ♪tart? My name i♪ Jhalk, thi♪ town is called Poxxin, it'♪ been around for many many year♪. We are a ♪imple folk, not much el♪e to ♪ay, really. If you want to know more about the town, there'♪ a library over there." he points to a structure farther north.

"Let'♪♪ee... What el♪♪♪♪e... We have a black♪mith, a general trade shop, a chapel, an inn, I ♪uppo♪e you'll want one of those to ♪tay in? Oh, and a ♪awmill to the east in the forest, near the river." as he enumerates the town's features, a handful more similar humanoids step out of their apparent homes, giving the party curious stares as they walk by.

"If you don't mind me a♪king, ♪tranger♪, what bu♪ine♪♪ do you have here? We don't get many vi♪itor♪, if at all, and everyone i♪, a♪ I'm ♪ure you under♪tand, curiou♪." Jhalk says, candidly.

[Gastronomie]

"...What is this…?" Rowan whispers to the others. "Either way this isn't good. We've already killed one of them... And the first one didn't seem very civilized either way, did he? Shouldn't we get out of here...?"

Rowan certainly understands that they must search for clues to move on and solve this problem. But jumping into the lair of a possible group of enemies isn't a very appealing idea.

[daze413]

"I can hear you, y'know." Jhalk says to Rowan, smiling. He taps his ears and the smile widens a little, "We may not look a♪ good a♪ you, but there are ♪ome benefit♪, at lea♪t."

"You ♪ay you've killed one of us, a he? You mu♪t mean a Lo♪t One, where'd you find him?... It'♪ unfortunate that you had to kill him-" he looks down as he says this. As he brings his head up again, his eyes are glazed over and he looks at no one in particular as he says: "her blood pooled in my hands..." a hint of regret can be heard in his voice.

His eyes begin focusing again, and he looks at Rowan, "but i♪ under♪tandable, they are beyond redemption." he continues.

[Estralita]

Neil was much less nervous than his companions. What he saw was a new opportunity to get some new fans- make some new friends, he mentally corrected himself. For soem reason people got mad when he put it that way. Really, it was all the same right? He hadn't had much luck making friends at home...

"Hello there! My name is Neil Oak, and my companions and I happen to be here to explore this fine region!"

[Sirithhyando]

Balan listened as Jhalk and his companions talked. The surprise to see some sort of civilized society in the field of flesh was still there though seeing the statue, hearing about the temple and trying to connect this to the pink mist still made Balan on his guard.
Jhalk, if i may, what could you tell us about the mist that surrond Poxxin? And i think i'll go see that library you pointed out, of course, only if it's alright with you and the community. As you said, us being here is as curious to the community as your people are to us.
Balan waited a moment before continuing As my friend said, we are here to explore the region. Our people don't know anything about this place except some rumors here and there. It is strange to think that only bad rumors could come out of any place in this world and now i think we may say that the rumors about this place being all bad aren't true.
Balan inclined his head a little Please forgive us for being on the edge, most people are afraid of what they don't know or can't explain and on that note, we are closer to most people. There's no harm meant by our actions i assure you of that. The "lost one" as you called him was found eating a tree near the edge of the mist to the west where an old farm lies abandoned.


To see if he's trying to hide something from us
1d20+1
(+3 if trained, can't open myth-weaver right now)

[Sirithhyando]

NO rolls on edit! I'll remember :smallannoyed:
To see if he's trying to hide something from us
[roll0]
(+3 if trained, can't open myth-weaver right now)

[daze413]

At the mention of the mist, Jhalk glances around "Oh yeah, we barely even noti♪e it anymore." he looks back at Balan "mu♪t have gotten u♪ed to it. I don't know much of the mi♪t itself, perhap♪ Brother Hukkel can help you. He re♪ide♪ in the church of Azalea, to the north ea♪t part of town." he nods in the general direction of a structure above a hill.

"There'♪ no need to apologize, pointy-eared human, ♪ometime♪ people go a little crazy here - a bit primal, you ♪ee. It doe♪n't happen more than on♪e or twi♪e a year, and when they do, they are cha♪ed out of the town and not allowed to return. We call them Lo♪t One♪, becau♪e we feel it is though the poor folk lo♪e their ♪oul♪ and become animal♪." Jhalk says. He seems a bit unnerved by the presence of armed strangers in their village, but nothing more than a normal person would show under the circumstances. "Do u♪ a favor, though, if you do find any more Lo♪t One♪, give them a quick death. They didn't de♪erve to get that way." he says remorsefully. "The one you killed, i♪ there ♪omething that could be u♪ed to identify him? A ♪car, perhap♪? or any prominent feature♪? Anything?"

Addressing Balan's question about the library, "Hey, be our gue♪t. It'♪ not like anyone in particular own♪ the pla♪e." he stops for a moment and then says "It'♪ over there, though you might want to wait a few more hour♪ when the ♪un is higher."

About the rumors, Jhalk laughs "Hahaha! No, thi♪ pla♪e is pretty bad." he says sullenly. "Wildlife are alway♪ trying to kill you, though I ♪uppo♪e that can happen anywhere." he gives another cold half-hearted laugh. "People going mad of- well, I don't really know what cau♪e♪ it. We can't even leave thi♪ place if we wanted to." Jhalk lowers his head a bit and smirks. "But it'♪ home."

[Andrezitos]

Lad puts his axe in his belt and his shield on his back. Then he walks towards the village interlecutor, strechs his arm and offers his hand for handshake. A dwarf knows another person worth by the grip of his hand. This little saying goes beyond what it says, Lad believes.

What Lad could know about the stone mansonay and art objects? He is a dwarf after all.

[Sirithhyando]

The jovial manner where the conversation was going made Balan more at ease.
Mmm you say you can't leave and that one or two person of the community becomes lost ones every year. For the lost ones it is definitly a shame that it ends like this for people you care about and that i'm sorry to hear. Unfortunatly, i cannot recall something that could identify him though i assure you that his death was quick and i hope he haven't suffered much.
Balan let linger his silence a moment without following up on the fact they can't leave and the glancing around at the mention of the mist.
If my companion's agree, i think we're going to go see Brother Hukkel. The time you gave us is appreciated.

Balan moved as if to go toward the church and stopped a moment I think i remember something... he had long hair and was wearing ragged clothes... yes, i remember something probably important. He had a silver ring on his hand.


Does Balan knows something about Azalea?
sheet still blocked so juste a d20 plus intel mod
[roll0]

[daze413]

Jhalk reaches out to grab Lad's hand, the long clawed fingers digging a little into the back of the dwarf's palm. The humanoid's grip is firm, this is no mere human, after all, but Lad's grip is stronger and Jhalk withdraws his hand but not without giving Lad a raised brow and a wry smile.

The stonework around Poxxin is of a low quality and looks rather ancient. Some of these stones must have survived as long as this town was around. Based on the texture and hew of the stone, the grain with which it was worked, no Dwarf would ever admit to have made this. No, this is human work, and old at that.

"A ♪ilver ring?" Jhalk exclaims. "That ♪ertainly narrow♪ it down to ♪omeone who i♪- well, wa♪, married. I'd take that to Murtez the ♪mith, he might know who it belonged to. Though he'♪ grouchy mo♪t of the time and i♪n't a♪ plea♪ant a♪ I am when he i♪, a little wood alway♪ ♪eem♪ to cheer him up." he nods his head in agreement to his own statement.

"Oh, one more thing, while we're talking about wood" he looks at Lad this time "you look like ♪trong and capable people, how would you like to accompany me and my brother to the out♪kirt♪? Every month, my brother and I ♪et out to find ♪ome wood for the town." he explains. "The road there i♪ laden with Lo♪t One♪ and other na♪ty creature♪ but nothing my brother and I couldn't handle on our own. I think, however, if you could come with u♪, we could increa♪e our haul ♪in♪e we don't dare bring back too much in fear of being overburdened." he goes on. "What do you ♪ay? The gold i♪n't bad, people will pay a lot for a plank of wood. We were planning to leave today but we could delay until tomorrow if you decide to come along."

[Andrezitos]

Lad exchanges looks with the rest of team and ponders. This strange human seems to be trustworthy and more important resourceful. However, this trip to the outskirt may be an ambush. Lad chooses the first option.
I will go with you if my companions agree to go too. They do not know how to keep the moral without my dwarfy jokes.

[Sirithhyando]

Haha, yes, the dwarf certainly knows how to lift the spirit. That said, i would gladly join you too. And we could postpone going to the church if you think it's better to go right away instead of tomorrow.
Balan reflected a moment I probably haven't understood well enough earlier but i thought you said you couldn't get out of the village. You probably meant the mist and i was then just mistaken.

[Estralita]

"Neil raised his eyebrow, slightly annoyed at (he thought) being ignored. "What makes wood so valuable around here? Are all the trees made of flesh here like the one we saw back there?"

[daze413]

Jhalk lets out a laugh as the party agrees to go with him, "Very well. I like the enthu♪ia♪m. Give my brother and I ♪ome time to prepare, you can vi♪it Brother Hukkel and the library if you want in the meantime. I ex♪pect to hear ♪ome of those Dwarfy joke♪ during our journey." he smiles widely at Lad.

He addresses Neil's question in a matter-of-fact manner "The tree♪ here are made of flesh♪, all wood i♪ acquired from either ♪cavenging or chopping down wood-tree♪ out in the edge. We eventually burn through all the wood acquired and the demand for it i♪ alway♪ high. People here have no other thing to ♪pend their gold on, the fore♪t provide♪ u♪ with ♪o much food that we don't have to worry about ♪tarving."

His tone becomes serious despite the whistle lisp, "But there i♪ a drawback. We have grown a need to eat of the tree♪, we come down with the ♪♪ickness if we don't eat of them. We can leave the village alright, but if we want to leave the blight it♪elf, well... we better have ♪ome jerky on-hand."

"I'm ♪ure it'♪ harmle♪♪ to you folk. Though we've grown a need for it, having a few day♪ worth won't turn you into horrible mon♪ter♪ like u♪!" he laughs cold and hard at this.

[Andrezitos]

Ok, I will like to hear some histories about how you guys lived before the mist. But not now. Now this dwarf want some cold ale to easy the pain your lost one gave me by biting my arm.

[Estralita]

Okay, don't eat the trees. Got it. That whole business sounded off to Neil, like the were trying to make the best of the situation. but damned if he was going to get himself stuck in some middle of nowhere village again."Library sounds good to me."

[daze413]

"Before the mi♪t? I think you might want to ♪ee Brother Hukkel about that. It ha♪ been about, oh, a thou♪and year♪, after all? Give or take a few decade♪." Jhalk tries to explain.

"Ah, ye♪, ale. The tavern should ♪till be open, Krondell doe♪ her be♪t to keep it intact, she and Rou♪e u♪ed to be a formidable team." he chuckles fondly.

"Now, if you'll excu♪e me, I need to ♪ee my brother. Let'♪ meet at the ♪tatue by noon when you're ready." Jhalk gives the party a nod and walks away.

What do you want to do?
There are several interesting places you can go to.

The Smith
The Inn
The Church
The Library (yey! reading!)
The Shop is also there if you want to resupply on things
Here's a map. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j-7ZWhxYVgadGIqqeWDP7BOkyfEZq-39B2t7YtADW7M/edit?usp=sharing) Thanks, Andrezitos for amping up my game on this front!

OK, so I forgot to say something about the Azalea, the religion check. You don't recall a diety named Azalea. Though you know there are several dieties that are not as "mainstream" (pardon my breaking immersion) as the ones you are familiar with. This must be one of those dieties.

XP for the party, for the milestone achievements:
50 XP explored the Farmhouse
50 XP explored the Barn
50 XP Defeated the Lost One
50 XP Arrived in Poxxin

200 XP Total! 700 to go, lol

[Sirithhyando]

I'll be there.
Turning towards his companions I'll go to the church first, if someone is better verse in religion than I, it would probably be a good idea to come there too.

[Gastronomie]

Sorry, I didn't have internet connection for 2 days due to not being at home.
Rowan is totally freaked out at the humanoid monsters. Though they don't seem to be hostile, the fact they aren't is actually more unnerving and just seems wrong. Are they former humans? Or are they outsiders, beings from a different world? Either way, Rowan has no idea. For a Wizard, not knowing meant fear.

But, Rowan thinks, there's no need to fear what you know well. Once I get a good understanding of what these beings are...

"I've learnt in academy about most religions and gods," Rowan turns to Balan. "I am interested in the fact that the people here, living in such a desolate world, have some sort of faith... but... well, it might actually be because it's so desolate. Because the people need help, some sort of way out of normal life... and that's how most people get to learn the gods.

"But preferrably before the church, I want to first go to the library. Oh, and, when I go there... I'd prefer it if I don't become alone. Or any of us, for that matter. Either split into two groups, or have everyone go to the same place... just in case something bad happens.

"I have no idea what this place is, or how it came into being. But a library... that's pretty interesting. It means that the people here can read. It also means the people here must have at least some basic education - meaning there's the basic understanding of something we can call a 'civilized society'. If we're lucky, there could be even some books the people here wrote, which will hopefully signify what's important and valued in here... or possibly, if we're really lucky, some form of archive of the history of this city... what's happened before, how this place was born... I think it's a good place to start.

"Not to mention, if it's a collection of all the books of the cities which used to be around here... who knows? The blight's been growing for over a millenium. There could be even some forgotten spellbooks, ancient rituals... knowledge lost through the ages, waiting for someone to re-discover them. I'm a Wizard. I can't miss that."

[Sirithhyando]

Well, for that matter, i do also want to see what knowledge lies in this library. And i also hope to read about the history of this place. I'll follow you there but...
Balan got closer to his companion while lowering his voice and switching to elvish I'm only trying to be careful right now, something is amiss that much we know. I think there's a chance that Jahlk had something he can't say here and it's probably related to that religion of them. Please wait before voicing those concern... they might be known to them. Let's play innocent while learning about them.

Having his voice back for his companion he continued in common The library it is. Let's do as Rowan bade us, let's stay together, just in case.

Just as he started toward the library, Balan turned back to face his companions And well, let's try not to upset the habitant of this place, they're as much unaware of who/what we are as they are to us. So let's keep that in mind.

[Estralita]

Neil shrugged in response to Rowan's worries. "He seemed nice at least. And pretty forthcoming. Don't know that we have reason to worry." Neil stopped and thought for a moment. "Actually I'd like to meet more of them. Think I'll head out to the inn."

[daze413]

The Library

Balan and Rowan departed for the library, it was a small structure of bone and stone. So small, in fact, that the pair might have guessed that it was merely a home converted into a make-shift library. A knock on the door, this early in the morning, yielded a male Azalean who stepped back and almost shut the door upon seeing both the Elf and the human.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and revelation of intention, the man yelled out "Dear? Some... people are here to see the library." Peeking through the door, beside her apparent father, a little girl, still warped by whatever forces cursed these people, pops her head out and looks curiously at the pair. From inside, a woman's voice can be heard "Well, let them in, of course!" At this, the little girl runs back inside and you are ushered in by the man who introduces himself as Welton.

The library is indeed simply a home, with a room dedicated to a handful of shelves, sparsely laden with thick hide vellum volumes of books. The woman steps into the "library" and stares incredulously at you for a moment. "Eh? No wonder my husband and daughter were acting weird. My name is Zaria, have you had any breakfast yet?" she asks. "I suppose you are here for the library, please, help yourselves." she lingers for a moment, anticipating some questions but she is unsettled by the well-armed elf and the fiery human.


The Inn

Neil and Lad split from the group, eager to quench their thirst and meet more people. They need not walk very far to reach the inn, neither were they too far from Balan and Rowan at the moment, but inebriation can lengthen the distance.

As they step through the threshold, they find themselves in a decent inn, though there are no other patrons about this early in the morning. The place is furnished with bone chairs and tables, a wooden hearth and a busy innkeeper who is slowly wiping off the bar with what looks like a pinkish-stained cloth. She doesn't look up, and speaks in a sullen manner "A bit early isn't it?... Well, what can I ge-" she looks up and stops mid-sentence, tilts her head to the side for a bit and continues, "Welcome to the Well-done Haunch", she sighs.

fail, they censored co cks, it is a valid word. What the flip, GITP >_>

[Sirithhyando]

Balan enter first and bow his head a little to the man. Thank you Welton and sorry for the intrusion this early in the morning.

Following the daughter towards Zaria he answered her first question Oh, no we haven't yet though i wouldn't want to impose. It's already quite nice of you to allow you in your house this early in the morning.

After a moment, Balan consider the fact that he haven't seen any weapon anywhere in the village. Is it the weapons that seems to be unsettling? I could let it close to the door or anywhere you deem better. We are obviously unaccostumed to Proxxin. In other village where we come from, it would be a custom to have them close on hand. I assure you though, our presence is merely academic. We wish and hope that, through the books, we'll be able to learn of the history of this place, his habitants, religion and costums.

Through his excitation of having the chance to read about this place, he continued talking without letting enough time for an answer. Oh, are you the one who wrote those books we are about to have a look at?

[daze413]

The Library

"It is no trouble at all," she turns and beckons her daughter to come. "Zyna, dear, can you fetch these gentlemen some breakfast. Go tell your father." The daughter nods but stays silent, then she looks at the strangers in the library a final time and runs off. The girl looked to be about 8 years of age, while her mother and father looked to be around 30. They had the same warped features of claws and fangs and beady eyes, if it weren't for the hair and clothing, however, you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in their facial features.

"About the weapons, I'd rather you keep them where they are than leave them around somewhere, Zyna might find it and play with it." she explains.

Oh, are you the one who wrote those books we are about to have a look at?

"Yes and No. I am not the original author, of course, some of the knowledge I transcribed into these books were a millenia old." At this time, the daughter came back with two bowls of thick brown gruel (https://cuzinacorazon.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/45890_104026586443807_1009685776_n.jpg) with bits and chunks of gods-know-what in the soup. She puts it on a small bone table set in the side then she runs back to her mother. "Thank you, dear, I'll join you and daddy in a moment, ok?" The little Azalean nods and walks out of the room.

"I am familiar with some of the history, yes, but if you want more detailed accounts, it's in those books. I can maybe point you to the right volumes, what were you looking for, specifically?"

[Sirithhyando]

Oh, i was afraid that our ways for food would differ too much but it does seems to my taste, thank you.

Of course, then i'll keep it with me.

Balan took a moment trying to decide where he should start about learning Well, we don't know anything about this place so there's no specific. Though i think learning about the faith would be a good start. Oh, and if we somehow offend anyone, please tell us, for now we haven't learned of your ways yet and wouldn't want to offend those who are so welcoming to us.

Thinking one last moment and smiling as he added And any questions you might have of us, our culture, anything, you probably are as curious of learning about us as we are of you. We would gladly answer anything.

[Andrezitos]

Lad observes the lady with curios eyes: Aaa, I see why the name... chuckles. He is getting used with the appearance of these humanoids, after all, the caves of his home mountain contained many other human-like figures that would make an even greater frisson than these poor souls. Please, young lady (although, he is not sure about her age, being dwarf, he expect these things to be younger than he), can you serve anything resembling beer? This mist drys my mouth to the gut.

[daze413]

I apologize in advance for possibly ruining your belief of the deities in this world. I don't have a firm grip on dieties in any setting in-general, so if any of this doesn't make sense, please feel free to open up and tell me. Maybe we can work together to see how Azalea fits into the pantheon.

The Library

Zaria raises a crooked brow, "If you want to know about the Life Shaper, you'd be better off seeing Brother Hukkel, he knows more than most. I do have histories of Poxxin, though. It isn't all found in one book so you may have to do some digging." she steps toward one of the shelves and pulls our 3 thick volumes and puts them on the table beside the gruel. She handles the heavy tomes with little effort, it's obvious that these people are stronger than your normal humans. "There, these should give you a start. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to continue our meal."

As she steps out and leaves you to the books, a few minutes pass of reading through the thick when the daughter, whose name you remember was Zyna steps in the middle of the threshold just watching you in a blank stare, arms limp at her sides.

At this point, I'd like for you to roll Investigation checks for reading the books. The higher your roll, the quicker you find the information.

After a few hours, engrossed in the books you barely notice that Zyna is beside you, looking up as her glossy black eyes become jaded and unfocused. "They killed her, you know." she says, the plain declarative way she says this is unsettling, especially coming from this small grotesque humanoid. Then, she shakes her head a bit and regains focus. She blinks a few times, then smiles a disarming smile.



The Well-done Haunch

Lad approaches the young innkeeper, she suddenly drops her rag and seemingly stares off into the distance. A few seconds pass and she turns her head sharply at Lad. "And now they'll kill you." she says threateningly, her brow furrowing in aggression. Before you could even manage to put your hand on your axe hilt, her eyes begin regaining the familiar beady jet black, though hers are sullen and bagged. "Huh? The name? What do you mean?" she looks puzzled but the sad gaze does not leave her eyes as she returns to absently wiping the bar.

"Beer?" she asks, "You're in luck, Jhalk had returned one day to give us some casks of the stuff. No one here likes them, except... Rouse." at the mention of the name, her demeanor changes from sullen to almost on the verge of tears. "... Help yourself." her voice breaks as she pours the both of you two hollowed bone mugs.

[Andrezitos]

What hell was that? Subconscious speaking loudly while the conscious is distract by something or someone? Dropping his previous colorful behavior for a more investigative one Lad asks for a jug of the thing she offered. So, see me some of this thing, would you? He will wait a little bit before asking the wench about that name. It seems to be a sore subject.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan took the first tome, starting to read.
After a while, he became conscious that Zyna was watching them though Balan was pretty sure she didn't meant any harm, simple curiosity.
Finding small things here and there, Balan often looked at Rowan, hoping he was doing better than he in his search.
I'm not finding much in this tome for now Rowan, i...
Before finishing his sentence, he found that Zyna got closer. Her eyes startled him and as he didn't think he could become more unsettled, what she said just after was close to terrifying. Then she switched back and smiled before going back. Balan smiled back, not really a forced smile but still... Balan couldn't make anything right away about what had just happened. The first question he had in mind though was... is she aware of what she just said... Balan could only think that it still had something to do with the religion though he would have to find out later.
He then looked at Rowan to see how he was reacting to this.

[Estralita]

Neil had been all ready to order and charm the innkeeper when... that happened. He tried to size her up a bit more, and asked, "So what's your name, then?"

[daze413]

The Well-done Haunch

Neil had slid up to the innkeeper at the time, "My name is Krondell," she says in her always-tired voice. "Is that what you meant by the name?" she turns to Lad before handing him a mug of beer.

"... I don't know how much I should charge you for that thing. Only Rouse seemed to like it, and she drank it... for... free..." her voice cracks and breaks even as she fondly recalls much about this Rouse person. "Excuse me, I..." she stammers. "That'll be... I don't know... 5 silver pieces?" she guessed, you get the feeling that she genuinely doesn't know how much she's asking for the beer. Her price is more than ten times what should normally be the price for a mug.

[Gastronomie]

[roll0]
BTW daze, are there any spellbooks here? Or does that require another check? In case:
[roll1] (Add any possible modifiers later)Rowan is flipping rapidly through the books, his eyes darting and scanning across the pages in search of crucial information. Once in a while he stops in his tracks, jots down some cursive notes upon a parchment, and continues on with his research. He is so absorbed in the books that he doesn't even notice the girl besides him, just until she suddenly whispered the words beside his ear. Rowan jumps up, covering his hands over his mouth to gulp down a scream - sweating, panting, he takes a peek at the girl, who now seems back to normal.
"...Uh...uum...what...?" Rowan rubs his eyes, upon which tears are starting to form. He returns to the book, but seems rather nervous and unsettled.

[Andrezitos]

Lad takes a sip of the liquid, strong ale, little old but still appreciatable. He then spreads some silver coins over the table and asks in an more relaxed way: You mentioned someone, a customer, that used to enjoy this bevarage, would you mind share this tale?

Lad wonders about that threatning voice. Could be his imagination?

[daze413]

Ah, that's the big question, isn't it? I'd say that because magic is rare in this setting (which admittedly, I could have made clear from the start) you would only ever find spellbooks in large Arcanum-type libraries in big magic cities (like where Rowan hails from). And even then, only in the 'restricted' section. It wouldn't do to have anyone with decent Int to run around casting Firebolt.

The Library

Flipping through the thick hide vellum, you notice the writing on the books are of the same hand, hurriedly, yet with purpose and determination, written on the leathery pages. The leaves of the books eerily resemble dried human skin, it is remarkable in absorbing what ink was used in the scribbles.

As the pair pass around tomes and various loose leaves in the span of an hour, they find the information they are looking for:

Poxxin was, most assuredly, a human settlement, pre-dating even the blight that began to be observed over 900 years ago. Though there is nothing here that says where the blight originated, it details the former-humans struggles in life as they stubbornly eke out a living in what would later be come to be known as the Fields of Flesh. The first humans suffered no abnormalities, though they ate solely of the trees. It wasn't after a few dozen generations that mutations began to show. Longer arms for easier reach of the trees, clawed hands for gripping and tearing, sharp canine teeth for biting off flesh. All these mutations took form as the humans remain within the blight.

In the books, too, confirms what Jhalk had said: Azaleans, as they have taken to call themselves, after their god Azalea, must live solely off the meat from the trees. Documented in the vile books, it says that three days of food that do not come from the trees, they begin retching whatever they partake in, and eventually die of starvation.



"Hi!" Zyna flashes a horrid yet peculiarly adorable fanged smile. "Whatcha readin'?" she asks innocently. She seems oblivious to what she had said before, and looks confused at your question.

At this time, Zaria comes in, scolds her daughter and takes her away, apologizing for the disturbance. She lingers in the library, though, and asks you a few details about who and what you are, where you came from, and what your culture is.

It has been 2 hours since the party split, as you spend the time in the library. Zaria is still with you as you exchange questions and answers. Neil and Lad must still be at the inn.

[Sirithhyando]

As Zaria arrived scolding Zyna, Balan waited until Zyna was gone. Do not worry, she wasn't a bother at all. I had my nose in the books non-stop, i didn't mind the change of pace.

As they continued talking and before the two hours passed, Balan took a curious stare. There is something we found in the books. It seems your ancestor were humans. But if i recall well, humans tend to have a large diversity in features. The few Azaleans i've seen up until now all had black eyes. Are there any of you with different eye color? The question may sound odd though where i come from there's a saying about how the eyes are a mirror of the inner self. And i've usually taken the time to contemplate the eyes of those i meet.

[daze413]

The Well-done Haunch

"Thanks," she scoops the silver up from the table and sits down on a high stool on the opposite side of the bar. Her beady black eyes showing appreciation at your question.

"She was- is? no, I don't know. She's- was... my friend." she manages to stammer out between sighs. "We grew up together, planned to get out of this town together." she says. "Her father would never agree to that, of course! hah!" she gives out a single depressed laugh. "Hukkel wants his daughter to be a shining example, tough jerky, Hukkel, Rouse was always very rebellious. She even showed me that old ruined keep to the south, that's a whole other tale by itself!" for a moment it seemed she could be joyous in remembering her friend, a wisp of a smile crept through the corner of her lips.

"Then she... changed. Became Lost." she buries her head in her clawed hands. "We tossed her out like the rest. Like a rabid dog... I couldn't do anything about it. When I tried to, well, she..." she folds her leather tunic by the shoulder, revealing a bite mark, now recovered from the physical scarring. The emotional, however...

"I know your sort," she looks up at Neil. "you're going back out there, aren't you?" she pauses for a moment then says "if you find her... A Lost One with curly black hair, and a jade necklace, please... Don't kill her. If you must, just... Don't even bother telling me you found her."



The Library

"Well, she's a good girl and it's not often we have actual readers here. Usually it's just me." Zaria explains.

"A'yes, we were once like this one," she nods to Rowan. "Years in the blight have morphed us, though. Or eyes especially, everyone has the same beady black, I think. But everyone is different." she starts explaining. "Perhaps it's the lines on our faces, I can't quite explain it." perplexed, she continues, "It is akin to this human, if I look at another human, I probably couldn't tell them apart, either." she taps Rowan on the shoulder, a little stronger than he was anticipating. "We'd all just see them as food." she pauses for a moment and laughs.

any more questions?

[Sirithhyando]

Thank you for your hospitality, i think it's close to the time we are suppose to meet Jhalk.
Balan closed carefully the tome he had on hand when they started discussing and waited for Rowan to come outside to the rendez-vous.

[Andrezitos]

Lad wonders if the lost one he and his comrades have faced is the same person that the innkeeper mentioned. I will keep my eyes open, dont worry. In the end, these people are no less rational than the average human, Lad ponders. If Neil agrees, he is ready to go meet the others.

[Gastronomie]

Rowan is honestly scated out of his skin. He manages a twitching smile, and after mumbling something resembling "Thank you for the help", he rather hurriedly walks out of the library together with Balan.

[daze413]

Oak and Leg-chopper

As the pair finishes off their drinks and bid farewell to the sullen innkeeper, who now has recovered enough to continue cleaning her already clean table, they emerge out on the streets of Poxxin, the statue of Azalea looking down on them from the town center, bathed with gentle sunlight.

If one can look past the hideous features, the town seems perfectly normal, a few Azaleans are walking to and fro, more than one spare a curious glance at the pointy-eared and boisterous rogue and the short but stout and well-armed dwarf. Nothing more than a curiosity, the looks are dispelled after a few seconds.

As Lad and Neil make their way back to the Western part of town, where they are supposed to meet Jhalk, they spy two Azaleans conversing, one is carrying a large bunch of tanned leathers, no doubt from the trees, and the other is ,apparently, buying from the former. Coins are exchanged when the buyer spots the pair, and when the pair is within earshot and back turned, you hear a whispered words in your ear.

"Why was she taken?"

Startled, you look back and see the seller, glazey-eyed and standing right behind you, staring at the air in front of his face. The buyer looks to be of the same expression. After a quick dip of the head, they regain their 'normal' beady black shine.

"Hm?" the Azalean says to Neil. "Sorry, can I help you? Would you like some leathers? They make great blankets." he offers.

After waving him off and meeting Jhalk, they are introduced to Baido, his brother. At this point, Jhalk asks for help repairing the make-shift cart you are about to use. It is merely an iron cage fashioned, rather cleverly, with wooden wheels and handles, while one side of the cage is removed to allow for wood to be stored.

"Thi♪ came from the old Keep to the ♪outh," Jhalk explains. "it'♪ quite ♪turdy but mind the ru♪t." he tosses in a pair of dull wood axes and rusty crowbars in the cart when Balan and Rowan finally arrive.

"Great, we're all here! Shall we?" Jhalk says to everyone.

"The road ahead i♪ frought with many danger♪, keep your head♪ up."

believe me, it feels awkward to be writing so much forward like this. I'd like to confirm our marching orders since we've had an addition of two people and a cart.

Here's an illustration. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j-7ZWhxYVgadGIqqeWDP7BOkyfEZq-39B2t7YtADW7M/edit?usp=sharing) Needless to say, there's going to battles up ahead. Surprised? This is a spoiler.

EDIT: I also apologize for controlling some of the characters, please tell me if I stepped too far and we can retcon later.

@Gastronomie put on your big boy pants, roll those Portent dice!

Double EDIT: I also apologize for giving you nothing to do in this post. You can post your reactions, especially to the random Azaleans or ask Jhalk or his brother questions or generally interact with the NPCs before taking off. I can't post a really long post for setting up a battle right now, I think this post is too long even now that I haven't put it in yet. I'll have to get back home before I can maybe set up another post, I'm still at work.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan looked at Rowan a moment when they were out side. Talking lower he asked
have you read anything about those jaded eyes? It seemed as if she was possessed though i'm unsure by what.
Looking at the statue, his fears that something was terribly wrong with this place and not with the people was precising.
I dont think they would harm us... when we get out of the place with Jhalk, maybe he'll be more at ease to tell us more if he knows more. There's also something with the lost one's...
Balan brought himself closer to Rowan and whispered I'm unsure, i haven't really studied much this kind of lore but what's more likely to take place here is probably link with what that statue personify.

Arriving with the others Hi Jhalk, i'm ready when you are

Balan wants to confirm if it's possession or something else that happened when the girl eyes changed
intel arcana? (suppose i'm trained lol)
[roll0]

[daze413]

Noon creeps toward the center of the sky as the party makes their way through the blood mist. Exchanging a couple of words with Jhalk, though at the annoyance of Baido, who seemed more cautious of the two:

"Ye♪, we've traveled thi♪ road, countle♪♪ of time♪ now, haven't we Baido?" Baido merely gives a glance of disapproval at Jhalk. "Don't worry about him, I enjoy the company of ♪uch intere♪ting folk. When we go out on the road, it's usually ju♪t the two of u♪." Jhalk explains. "And he'♪ such boring company."

"Of cour♪e, there're many thing♪ that's a danger in the♪e field♪. Dome♪ticated animal♪ become wild, wild animal♪ become aggre♪♪ive, you name them: boar♪, deer, cow♪, horse♪-"

"Lost Ones." Baido says, dispelling Jhalk's casual rambling for a moment.

"And, ye♪, Lost One♪..." Jhalk admits dourly.

"No, Jhalk. Lost Ones." The party begins noticing them too, two male Lost Ones emerge from the thinning tree line.

"Heh heh heh. Jhalk? You've finally brought some friends along, I see. I knew I smelled something tasty. Now, now, don't be greedy, hand them over and we'll let you pass." the Lost Ones seem to be wearing Leather Armor and are armed with shortswords.

Taking a look at Jhalk to see what he thinks, he seems hesitant but thinking about it.

Updated map (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j-7ZWhxYVgadGIqqeWDP7BOkyfEZq-39B2t7YtADW7M/edit?usp=sharing). Please choose where you are at the start of this encounter.

[Sirithhyando]

I'm good with where you've put me.
As the lost one's appeared, and one talked... Balan looked at Jhalk
It was my impression that lost one's were more in tune with nature... mmm more bestial i could say or unthinking... not sure how to say it but this one doesn't behave as the other one we've seen.
Balan got closer to Jhalk and lowered his voice There's another one to our left. You could go toward him, if he can be reason with you'd have a chance. We'll do as if you accept the deal and we'll ambush them if they're really hostile.

[Estralita]

Neil

Neil nodded at the girls request, even though he wasn't certain what he was agreeing to . HE was oddly silent for the rest of the way through the village, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing the Lost One's approach brought him back, and he pulled his weapon and moved towards the best place to ambush them if necessary.

I'm having a bit of trouble reading the map. What do the "y"s mean? And can I place Neil anywhere, or is there a limited area.

Assuming Neil can hide, here's a Stealth Check:

[roll0]

[Andrezitos]

First Lad gives a hard glare at Jahlk. If he is involved in this ambush, death will come to him riding a dwarfs axe, Lad thinks. Then he leaps off the wagon and makes his best menacing pose. He will let the rest do the talking.

[daze413]

Whoops, sorry, those are the Trees. In retrospect, they would have been better as Ts... That's what I get for trying to be clever.

Updated the map. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j-7ZWhxYVgadGIqqeWDP7BOkyfEZq-39B2t7YtADW7M/edit?usp=sharing)

Jhalk turns to Balan, "I-"

Before he could talk, Lad jumps down from the wagon and Neil moves out of the group to try to hide, the Lost One who had been talking scowls "Looks like we got strugglers, boys." he says as he moves toward the group, raising his shortsword up and letting out a cold laugh of a hunter who thinks he's got his prey cornered. A jagged scar can be seen running down his lower lip to his chin, his beady black eyes fixed on Balan.

The other one, seemingly limping a little, rushes up to Lad, shortsword and claws dragging behind him. Mouth agape and drooling.

OK, so the hidden lost one is still at K16. I think your warning earlier was rather weak, and the party seemingly hasn't gotten it. If the round goes by without a proper warning, I'll consider the hidden lost one to be unseen to the one he attacks, except you of course.

A1 rushes Balan, uses Dash Action. End turn.
A2 rushes Lad, uses Dash Action. End turn.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Initiative rolled OOC: 4

[Sirithhyando]

Seeing as they decided to take the offensive, Balan got less discreet and voiced rather loudly the presence of another in hiding.
Lad! There's a path to your left, there's another one of them hiding there!
Balan raised his hand incanting rapidly. Costa Aegnor! A mote of fire jumped from Balan hand and went straight for one who was coming. Balan then took out his rapier.


initiative
[roll0]

Fire Bolt against A1
[roll1]
if he hit
[roll2]

[Andrezitos]

As the scarred marauder rushes forward, Lad prepares to bash him into submission with his shield...

He also hears Bailan speaking but the heat of the encounter diminishes Lads senses. Wha... what did you say?


Perception Check [roll0]
Initiative Roll [roll1]

Ready Action (shove) [roll2] (if he goes first) +2(forgot the prophicience bonus)
Regular Action (attack) [roll3][roll4] (if he goes last)

[Gastronomie]

"Ah-um!? What am I supposed to do again!? Um..." Rowan frantically flips through the pages of his spellbook. "Rise and shine within my flask, to hereby heed your master's task... WAIT THAT'S FOR FIND FAMILIAR - O Sultan of Cinder, O Wyrms of Red Flame, bestow upon me the blaze of the volcano, the twisting plumes of... plumes of... JUST!! PLEASE!!"

It's a miracle the spell even works, but fire springs from Rowan's hand and heads straight towards one of the 'Lost Ones'.

Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Critical Extra Damage: [roll2]

[Gastronomie]

Rowan is quite surprised himself that the attack actually worked. He is even more surprised that it seems to have hit its mark.

[roll0]

[Estralita]

Hmm. Neil wasn't normally the one to avoid attention, but against these guys, Neil felt like coming at them from a different angle. So while the others were busy distracting them, Neil dashed behind the weird fleshy trees, hoping to ambush them when the got closer.

It doesn't look like Neil can get completely around in one turn, so move to J5, and hide instead.

[daze413]

... "We've got strugglers, boys." the Lost One with the scarred lower lip bellows. He opens his mouth wide and charges Lad full-on. The other one follows suit but his drooling visage is locked on Balan.

Before they could reach their targets, however, Rowan throws a bolt of flame that hits the scarred creature, it stops him in his tracks and the being screams in agony as his face smokes and singes. It recovers itself and rushes forward again.

Lad was waiting for him however, and as the Lost One got close, he slammed! his shield on the creature. The Lost One not only staggers back, but as it loses its footing underneath him, he is thrown 10 feet back and lands prone.

Balan, who had been shouting warnings all the time, finally let loose a spell- the mote of fire misses as the creature sidesteps during its mad drooling dash, closing the gap between them and their would-be quarry.

Forgetting about the limber elf, the creatures did not seem to notice Neil as he slips into the trees and out of sight, more pre-occupied with standing fighters.

Baido springs into action, he grabs two Wood axes in the wagon and thrusts one at Jhalk, "Grab this and fight, man!". Seemingly in a daze, the two look around for ways to help amidst the chaos.

Suddenly, true to Balan's word, a third Lost Soul, springs into action from the trees, it is a good thing Lad had seen him coming, the creature swings his shortsword at the Dwarf but Lad's shield, still up from the previous move, deflects the blow and chunks of it fly off as it meets iron, in brutal fashion. Undeterred in its savagery, the Lost Soul bats away the shield and lunges at Lad. As the dwarven fighter reels from the strength of the first blow, the Lost One's teeth sink into the dwarf's flesh, drawing blood.



Round 1 is done, summary:
A1 is prone and took 7 damage.
Lad sustains 5 damage.

Round 2 starts

Then, seemingly like an animal that has spotted easy prey, all the Lost Ones look up at Lad and the fresh blood that drips on the floor with intense longing. A cold shiver runs up the dwarf's spine, even as he manages to push the Lost One who had bit him off of him.

They all converge, focusing all their attention at Lad, ignoring all others, even the one whom the dwarf had knocked down scrambles to get up. This close, Lad is surrounded from all sides as swords and teeth assault him....


A1 gets up (15ft move), moves toward (10 ft) and attacks Lad with Shortsword:
[roll0]
[roll1] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll2] hit
[roll3] crit

A1 attacks Lad with Bite:
[roll4]
[roll5] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll6] hit
[roll7] crit

A2 moves to O9 and attacks Lad with Shortsword:
[roll8]
[roll9] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll10] hit
[roll11] crit

A2 attacks Lad with Bite:
[roll12]
[roll13] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll14] hit
[roll15] crit

A3 attacks Lad:
[roll16]
[roll17] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll18] hit
[roll19] crit

A3 attacks Lad with Bite:
[roll20]
[roll21] Advantage due to Blood Frenzy
[roll22] hit
[roll23] crit

Initiative: [roll24] (forgot, +1 dex, +2 light weapon)


Baido and Jhalk rush forward, Baido swings at the prone one before attempting to keep him on the ground, helping as best he can.

Jhalk takes his axe and half-heartedly swings at the hidden Lost One who had bit Lad, then he brings his clawed hands and grapples him.


Baido attacks A1 with Axe:
[roll25]
[roll26] Advantage due to Prone
[roll27] hit
[roll28] crit

Baido grapples A1:
[roll29] Baido's Athletics
[roll30] enemy's contest roll

Jhalk attacks A3 with Axe:
[roll31]
[roll32] Advantage due to Flanking
[roll33] hit
[roll34] crit

Jhalk then grapples A3:
[roll35] Jhalk's Athletics
[roll36] enemy's contest roll

Initiative: [roll37]

[Sirithhyando]

They have a reach of 10ft with a short sword? If not, A2 couldn't have attacked Lad if the map is up to date.

As the lost one got to Balan's reach, he took out his rapier and tried to pierce the heart.


VS AC
[roll0]
damage
[roll1]
if crit
[roll2]

[Gastronomie]

The three Lost Ones are closing up - closing up quick. Rowan, head spinning, again flips through the pages - and finds the spell he wanted.

"Let your dreams bloom, stream and flow, blessed by the silver light of the midnight moon... Good night... sleep tight... don't let the bugbears bite."

Rowan casts "Sleep" - target grid 10-N. A1, A2, and A3 are all within the area.
[roll0]

[Sirithhyando]

forgot initiative
[roll0]

just for fun, as a follow up from my OOC post about rolls
the first roll of this post is only roll, this second one will be with rollv
[roll1]

[Andrezitos]

Seeing how the enemy team was committed to put him down, Lad raises his shield in an attempt to block as many blows as he can, leaving as few gaps as possible. This maneuver obligates him to forfeit his opportunity to attack tough. Beyond that he will hold position and leaves the others do the killing.


Lad uses dodge action.
Initiative (dodge is not in the list, perhaps a plus 1 or 2 to initiative bonus would be balancing)
[roll0]


Just found this list (http://fizzygoo.com/Dnd/Variant/Speed.html). May be useful.

[Estralita]

Once Neil had gotten into position, he sprung into action, charging out of the woods and attempting to stab the nearest Lost One in the back.

Let's Flank!

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[Gastronomie]

Rowan had thought of casting the Sleep spell - but realized it will affect his companions too in this situation. It was too dangerous... and Rowan didn't have many spells he could use.

Rowan repeats the same spell, having no other choice.

Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1]
Critical Extra: [roll2]Completely forgot the Portent rolls for today!
[roll3]
[roll4]

[daze413]

At the smell of blood, the Lost Ones look up at Lad hungrily. Seeing their murderous beady black eyes, Lad brings his shield up and prepares for the worst when a bolt of fire whizes past the Lost One engaging Balan, originating from Rowan's fingers.

Balan manages to sidestep his friend's errant firebolt and thrusts his rapier to the creature's center-mass. It doesn't connect when the creature steps back away from Balan's sharp blade.

Neil leaps from the trees, revealing his position, the heat of battle making his footsteps heavy and noisy. He sees the Lost One on the ground as the nearest one, and lunges for it. The blade meets flesh and blood spills on the ground as the creature howls in pain.

The Lost Ones now converge on the injured Dwarf, driven by the allure of blood and the promise of food. The Lost One by Neil scrambles up and forward, Neil takes the opportunity to stab it in the back. Howling from the impact again but undeterred, the Lost One slashes and bite at the dwarf and the assault is unforgiving. The scarred one manages to connect with his shortsword, drawing even more blood from the Dwarf, then he bites down, fully intent in rending flash with its sharp teeth. Lad renews his efforts to block, the other two's attacks find no purchase in Lad's masterful blocks.

Baido rushes forward and attacks, as he leaves the Lost One's reach however, a shortsword comes up to meet him and it connects on his chest, piercing the Leather Armor. Baido continues with the maddened rush, he brings down his Axe on the Scarred one, connecting squarely on its shoulder, forcing him to let go of his bite on Lad. As he does, Baido pivots and grabs the Lost One by the leather armor...

Jhalk follows suit, his axe striking true as it hits the lurking Lost One who had crept up on Lad from behind. The impact sends it lurching and Jhalk takes the opportunity to grab its leather armor in a grapple...


A1 took 13 damage and is grappled. Total 20 damage taken, (bloodied, i.e. half HP)
A2 is unscathed
A3 has taken 12 damage and is grappled. Total 12 damage taken
Lad takes 11 damage.
Baido takes 12 damage from an Opportunity Attack as he leaves the A1's and A3's reach. I rolled offline, it was getting frustrating to keep rolling in the OOC.
Jhalk also takes an OA as it leaves A2's reach. taking 6 damage.

Will post round 3 separately

[Sirithhyando]

Balan position himself better as to hit the lost one he missed with his rapier.


Movement : Move to O8 as to flank A2
Action : Attack A2 with rapier (with advantage, and without the "v" in "rollv" :smalltongue:)
[roll0]
[roll1]
damage
[roll2]
if crit
[roll3]
Initiative : [roll4]

[daze413]

The Lost Ones struggle against their grapplers, even as they fix their gaze on the injured dwarf, ready to pounce again if they break free...

The Drooling One, however, swings his shortsword at Lad and attempts to bite him again. Seemingly lost in his animalistic rage.

Jhalk raises his axe with one hand and swings it down on his quarry, even while biting the Lost One down hard with his own set of sharp teeth.

Baido uses a different tactic. He attempts to push the Lost One back then moves right in front of him to try and prevent him from attacking the dwarf anymore.


A3 athletics to break grapple: [roll0]
Jhalk contest: [roll1]

A1 athletics to break grapple: [roll2]
Baido contest: [roll3]

A2 attacks Lad with shortsword:
[roll4]
[roll5] contingent second roll
[roll6]
[roll7]

A2 attacks Lad with Bite:
[roll8]
[roll9] contingent second roll
[roll10]
[roll11]

Initiative: [roll12]


Jhalk swings his Axe at A3:
[roll13]
[roll14] Flanking Advantage
[roll15]
[roll16]

Jhalk bites A3:
[roll17]
[roll18] Flanking Advantage
[roll19]
[roll20]

Baido moves A1 to M10 and shoves diagonally 10 ft back, coinciddentally pressing him up the tree in L12 (I swear I didn't plan this!)
[roll21] Baido Athletics
[roll22] A1 contest

Initiative: [roll23]


Phew. Both posts took an hour to complete. :p

[Andrezitos]

The dwarf's blood loss (bloodied) triggers his inner reserves, suddenly (initiative, [roll0], possible more) allowing him overcome the physical punishment (second wind, bonus action, [roll1]). Then, after calmly analysing the situation, despite the danger, he raises his shield one more time and holds his position (dodge action).

Aah came on, 1 on the d10! ****...
What did A2 in his turn?
Also, I think would be better if they acted separately, just like us. I understand that their first round was a coordinated attack, but after that one the others rounds should follow this more chaotic pattern the variant initiative rule aims.
One last thought, I think you should roll their initiative secretly (inside a specifically designed spoiler box, for instance). In showing their rolls you are allowing us to abuse the knowledge and, in the end, rendering the speed factor variant rather limited.

[daze413]

sorry, I realized I mistyped A3 as attack Lad. It should be A2, already edited

"Keep them away from the Dwarf," Baido shouts to the group. Balan sidesteps the Lost One and thrusts with his rapier from his backside. It digs into the drooling Lost One's flesh, and it emits a gurgling scream.

"They've tasted blood!" Baido continues. At that instant, the scarred Lost One spins and breaks Baido's hold. He looks to Baido now with a grin on his face.

"You and your brother were a convenience to us, it's too bad we'll have to kill you. And for what? These... humans?" the Lost One with a scar says. "Maybe you mean to keep them so you could eat them yourself? Clever. But we just want one" he looks to Lad again, shield up and frantically blocking the flurry of blows he is delivering. "Can't we have just one?" he lunges at Lad again, preparing to strike.

The third Lost One, now limping from the earlier blow, or perhaps it is only now that you've noticed that he had been limping, sees his leader's move and pivots himself. As he does, he spins and swats away Jhalk's grip. He smiles the wide toothy smile. "Yeah, that one."

The drooling one, who had been left to attack, swings wildly at Lad. The shortsword hits the shield, and it breaks Lad's guard momentarily, allowing for a vicious bite to connect.

Lad's adreniline surges and he brings back the shield, now aware of how close he is to oblivion. Teetering on the brink, facing the abyss...

Neil lunges a few steps forward, his Rapier in front of him. As he hits the scarred Lost One in the back, he suddenly steps back, batting away the creature's attempts to get him, and runs to the treeline to the south.

Rowan flings another bolt of fire, incanting the unorthodox cantrip once more. The mote of flame hits its target, the drooling lost One who had bit Lad, it forces the creature to let go as it screams in burning agony.

Jhalk, frustrated at letting the Lost One he had grappled go, swings his axe and bites. The creature ducks under the axe but Jhalk connects with the bite.

Baido now merely shoves the scarred Lost One with his axe "No!" he shouts. The Lost One deftly moves away, Baido loses his footing under him but quickly regains it.

A2 takes 11 damage
Lad takes 7 damage
A1 takes 13 damage. One more hit will probably kill it. If you do target him in r4, narrate how you do it.
A3 takes 3 damage
Will post R4 separately.

[daze413]

The Scarred Lost One, seeing how his life is in danger, attempts to flee...

The Drooling Lost One and the Limping Lost One renew their frenzied attacks at Lad.

Jhalk sidesteps the Limping one and attempts to shove him, like his brother had.

Baido sees the Scarred one try to flee and decides to attack him.

A1 Disengages and moves to N16.
A2 attacks Lad with shortsword:
[roll0]
[roll1] Advantage Blood Frenzy
[roll2]
[roll3]

A2 attacks Lad with bite:
[roll4]
[roll5] Advantage Blood Frenzy
[roll6]
[roll7]

A3 attacks Lad with shortsword:
[roll8]
[roll9] Advantage Blood Frenzy
[roll10]
[roll11]

A3 attacks Lad with bite:
[roll12]
[roll13] Advantage Blood Frenzy
[roll14]
[roll15]

Initiative rolled offline.

Jhalk shoves:[roll16]
A3 contest: [roll17]

Baido attacks A1 with shortsword:
[roll18]
[roll19]
[roll20]

Baido attacks A1 with bite:
[roll21]
[roll22]
[roll23]

Initiative rolled offline.

[Andrezitos]

Screaming and swearing, the dwarf tries one more time defend himself against his enemies' onslaught (dodge action, initiative: [roll0]). "Do you weaklings want a piece of me, come and get it".

[Estralita]

Neil was beginning to breath more heavily, but from excitement, not fear. Just a bit more...

"Yahhh!!" He yelled, charging from behind cover. As he swung his weapon at the nearest one,, green flames erupted from his blade, heading straight for the weakened one...

First, Initiative: [roll0]

Now, Neil moves to N12, and uses the Greenflame blade Cantrip. This allows him to make a melee attack (and potential sneak attack) against A3. If it hits, A1 takes 3 damage as well.

[roll1]
[roll2]
SA:[roll3]

[Gastronomie]

Rowan realizes one of the Lost Ones is staggering, barely standing. He bites his lips and swears to himself - WHY had he not prepared the meditation for Magic Missile? - and again casts Firebolt. It's quite pathetic but it's the only thing he can do.

Initiative: [roll0]
Attack Roll: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Critical: [roll3]
Against A1
Also, I really should swap Burning Hands for Magic Missile. I have no idea why I didn't choose it in the first place.

And - one thing. I realized Portent is really hard to manage in PbP, since it needs to be done before the actual roll. But people generally roll the dice in the same post as the one in which they declare their actions...

[Sirithhyando]

The drooling lost one was getting on Balan's nerve, he hoped his next hit would finish him for good and pushed all his strengh toward his thrust.


Movement : None, stays as to flank A2
Action : Attack A2 with rapier (with advantage, and without the "v" in "rollv" :smalltongue:)
[roll0]
[roll1]
damage
[roll2]
if crit
[roll3]
Initiative : [roll4]

[daze413]

The Scarred Lost One manages to bat away Baido's axe, he runs toward the forest path even as he grips his bleeding side...

The Drooling and Limping Lost One's strikes mostly meets Lad's shield as the dwarf frantically blocks each blow. The Limping One manages to find purchase with his teeth however and draws even more blood from the Dwarf. It's a testament to Dwarven Toughness that Lad is still alive...

Balan digs his Rapier into the Drooling Lost One's side, leaving a deep wound on the Lost One. (bloodied)

Baido sidesteps, taking a hit as he clumsily forgets about the Drooling Lost One to his left, the Azalean was so fixated on the scarred. "Arrrgh! Dammit!" he screams before charging the fleeing foe. He misses wide with the shortsword, but as he follows through with his bite, it takes down the Lost One in a bloody fashion.

Jhalk tries to push the limping Lost One, but the creature was too deft and slick with Lad's blood.

Neil surges forward, green flaming rapier in hand, as he thrusts with it, however, the Lost One bends forcing the attack to miss.

Rowan flings another Fire Bolt, it misses as the incanted flame whirls past the moving targets.

Lad takes 8 damage.
Baido takes 7 damage.
A1 is dead.


Will post NPC Actions tomorrow morning.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan kept his concentration on his target and tried to open up more the hole he did to it, making sure to have the target between himself and his companion.


With advantage
[roll0]
[roll1]
damage
[roll2]
if crit
[roll3]

[daze413]

The Drooling Lost One, seeing their leader collapse into a bloody heap, and not wanting to risk dying for a quick snack, turned to run as well...

The Limping One notices the other one fleeing and though this was the perfect chance to take just... "One more bite, for the road."

Jhalk grapples the Lost One in front of him, opening his mouth as he prepares to bite down...

Baido removes his axe from the fallen Lost One, and turns his attention to the Limping one. Axe raised, he swings at him...


A2 Disengages and runs to U12.

A3 attacks Lad with a shortsword:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

A3 attacks Lad with a Bite:
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]



Jhalk grapples A3:[roll8]
A3 contest: [roll9]

Jhalk bites A3:
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]

Baido attacks A3 with a battleaxe:
[roll14]
[roll15]
[roll16] realized I rolled the wrong die a few posts ago
[roll17]

Baido attacks A3 with a Bite:
[roll18]
[roll19]
[roll20]
[roll21]

[Andrezitos]

Lad falls head first to the groud due the bloodloss (he had 3 hp before the 8 dmg).
death saving through: [roll0]

[Gastronomie]

This is rather ironic, but now that Lad has dropped to 0 HP, it actually means more to activate the "Sleep" spell.
Rowan seems terrified by the fact one of his comrades has fallen - muttering something to himself, he opens a page of his spellbook and chants: "Let your dreams bloom, stream and flow, blessed by the silver light of the midnight moon... Good night... sleep tight... don't let the bugbears bite!!"
Using "Portent" to replace initiative roll with a good 17, making his initiative count 17+2-1=18. That should be a score high enough to prevent A2 and A3 from harming Lad...
[roll0]
EDIT: lol, terrible rolls.

[Estralita]

Slightly embarrassed that his firey attack missed, Neil pulled out a dagger and lashed out at the one in front of him even more fiercely.


:smallfrown:

Anyway, attacking! And dual wielding to get a better chance of landing a sneak attack!

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

SA:[roll4]

[daze413]

yeah, terrible rolls. Those are a lot of twos and ones in that roll... Fortunately, though, it's enough for both of them after the two attacks hit. ;)

Lad falls unconscious, shield first on the ground, unable to bear the stress any longer. The Lost Ones issue a hiccupy laugh of victory.

But it is short-lived. As Balan twists his rapier as it stabs the Drooling Lost One attempting to flee, the creature screams in agony and drops to one knee.

Flashing his dagger behind him, even as he thrusts with the rapier, Neil is a blur of blades as he deftly maneuvers around the Limping One's defenses. Left, right, Neil surges and sends ths creature to the ground.

As both elves finish their attacks, and like a perfectly-timed synchronized move, Rowan incants the Sleep spell. It is oddly satisfying how exactly Rowan timed the incantation to finish, as both creatures stagger, a spray of sand engulfs the area. For a moment, everyone in it seemed to drowse off but in the end, only the two injured Lost Ones fall asleep; everyone else, except the elves, shakes their heads to stay awake.

As the Lost Ones fall into their slumber, Jhalk steps back in awe, "Magic..." he then looks at Rowan, who struck him as a little tedious, in a different light. He nods and hefts the axe back into the wagon. Baido does not do the same just yet, he keeps his axe with him just in case.

Lad is unconscious on the ground, bleeding heavily from many wounds. Next to him are the Lost Ones, fast asleep from the spell.

Baido raises his axe at the nearest one, "Let us give them a quick death, friends. They were not their own when they attacked us." he prepares to swing down.

A2 takes 8 damage
A3 takes 9 damage.
They all drop asleep. Combat is over! What do you do?

200 XP each for this encounter.

[Andrezitos]

Lad has failed two death saving throws. One more and he is a gonner. Perhaps someone would grant him a first aid or a potion to save his life. Just saying :smallwink:

[Gastronomie]

Doesn't anyone have healing?

[daze413]

Lad has failed two death saving throws. One more and he is a gonner. Perhaps someone would grant him a first aid or a potion to save his life. Just saying :smallwink:
Please keep ooc in ooc. Also, give the others a chance to post first. Anyone can administer first aid with a dc 15 medicine check to stabilize Lad. if no one declares that action, you can roll the swcond death dave. (I dont remember seeing a second death save. Did i miss something?)

[Gastronomie]

Seeing as how nobody in the group seems to know how to heal wounds with a spell, Rowan takes out some notes about medicine and how to stabilize a wounded person - not using magic, but using his medical knowledge. At least he's trying his best...
Medicine: [roll0]
If it's not enough, Lucky: [roll1]
EDIT: Seems he was lucky enough to get it right without using "Lucky".

[daze413]

Rowan's efforts are rewarded, a few loose leaves of notes in hand, he manages to stabilize Lad. He is no longer bleeding heavily but remains unconscious on the floor.

Meanwhile, Baido's axe swings down on the Lost One, nearly decapitating it in its sleep. Jhalk looks away at the sight. Baido places his foot on the fresh corpse and pulls out the axe he buried in the creature's neck.

The Azalean wipes off the blood on his face and looks to the other one, merely 5 feet away. "Next..." he says in a grim tone.

[Sirithhyando]

Remembering their first encounter with a lost one, Balan didn't thought it would become this messy. He turned toward Rowan Glad you were able to help Lad
Sheating his rapier, Balan turned toward Jhalk So... it's only the second time we encounter a Lost One, from what we've seen and learned, i didn't think they would be organised. Are you able to elaborate?

[daze413]

Jhalk seems distracted by Baido's actions, his brother is hefting the woodaxe, trying to remove it from the cropse. Almost as a passing thought, he says "Organized?" he looks now to the second sleeping Lost One whom Baido is about to decapitate in similar fashion. "No, Lo♪t One♪ are hungry for humanoid meat. They'll do anything to have a bite. It'♪ their hunger that turn♪ them away from u♪ normal Azalean♪." he pauses for a bit, reflecting on his words. "They may trick you into thinking they ♪till have their wit♪ but in the end, they'll ju♪t take a bite out of you." he turns sharply to Rowan who had been attending to Lad. The dwarf is breathing steadily now, and the bleeding seemed to have lessened.

"Here, I'll help him on the cart, then we should continue." he turns his head at Neil, Balan and Rowan. "Unle♪♪ you've changed your mind?" his tone is uncharacteristically bleak contrasted to his earlier jovial demeanor.

[Sirithhyando]

Mmm, it's not that i mind, it's just that Lad need some time to recover. If we could take a rest to at least let him regain conscious. What's the risk of having more attack if we do?

[Estralita]

Seeing they were now no longer fighting, Neil sheathed hi weapons in a slightly more showy way than necessary, and headed over to Lad. Unfortunately, he didn't know anything about medicine, so the best thing to do was stay out of the way. "Resting sounds fine to me."

[daze413]

Baido swings his woodaxe down on the second sleeping Lost One, putting it out of its misery. "There," he says as he finishes the job. "I agree, let us rest for a while, it won't do for our friend here to stay unconscious as we venture."

Jhalk addresses Balan's concerns: "I... hone♪tly can't ♪ay. They are a ♪cattered bunch. It i♪ rare for any number of them to be working together, indeed. I ♪u♪pect the♪e three ♪imply came becau♪e they ♪aw an opportunity to attack u♪. The one who attacked Lad fir♪t- the one that wa♪ hidden in the tree♪ before, I don't think he wa♪ with these other two." Jhalk pauses for a moment.

He suddenly remembers something. "Rare, but not unheard of. I have heard of a trio of particularly viciou♪ Lo♪t One♪ living in the keep further ♪outh of town. Yes, Podd, Mull, and... Rouse."

[Gastronomie]

Sorry if I missed the information, is this the south road from the city?

[daze413]

The group decides to take a rest, Baido and Jhalk resign to the roadside, digging a shallow grave for the Lost Ones. A few of the party helps with the digging, you notice their blood caked faces, though grotesque from the mutation, have left the snarling and primal visage, now finally finding peace from their affliction.

About an hour into the digging process, Lad blinks his eyes open and finally comes to...

Two hours have passed and you can all, including Lad, recover HP with you hit dice if you wish.

[Andrezitos]

Lad opens his eyes and looks above. The pinkish mist covers everything, not even the almighty sun can breach it. The many traumas, that his body received, make him feel like a wooden dummy - stiff and rough. Even the fabric of his clothes seems to bite his flesh and the taste of blood is inside his mouth. Lad rises up from the ground, hand in the forehead. Dried blood covers the left side of his head. It seems some of the blood came from a wound just above his left eye, a inch or so below the his helm. "Damn monsters! Almost cost me an eye.", Lad thinks before asking in a coarse voice how his team mates are faring.

[daze413]

Jhalk sighs in relief as Lad gets up. "I'm ♪orry Lad, we should have been more forthcoming with you. Thi♪ road, in particular, creep♪ on Lo♪t One territory. When my brother and I pa♪♪ through here, we usually ju♪t talk our way out of a fight with that ♪carred Lost One by offering him wood on our return trip."

Baido steps forward, "We thought that if we brought some friends along, he wouldn't attack us. We were wrong."

The group winds down the road again, turning a different path than the one you had originally come from. Jhalk explains that due to the set back of losing time waiting for Lad to recover, that they'll have to take a detour down another potential scavenge site.

After a few more hours of walking, it is getting almost dark when you reach a small abandoned farmstead of perhaps 4 structures, a stable, a farmhouse, smokery, and a tool shed. Every structure is made of wood, but most of it is stripped away and looted or too rotted and worthless, though there are a few planks that look salvageable. Small young flesh trees dot the outer parts here and there, along with dead black wood trees.

"Looks like some Lost Ones beat us here," Baido says as you step into the area. "It looks like there are still some salvaging that can be done." he arms the party with woodaxes and crowbars, "Keep close to each other and keep an eye out, there may be some Lost Ones here. Let's start gathering."

OK, time to start salvaging some wood!
First, I'd like to know who's going with who while trying to find some wood to salvage. Baido and Jhalk will want to split among you, if you decide to split into two groups. Or three. If you want.

Next, roll these in order (roll for each character):
Perception Check to find some wood and/or some threats that might linger here:
DC 20: gain a +5 to the Athletics Check below
DC 15: gain a +3 to the Athletics Check below
DC 10: no gain on the Athletics Check below
DC below 10: suffer -3 penalty to the Athletics Check below

Athletics Check to determine how much wood you actually manage to salvage. (If you have some other clever way to salvage wood from the structures, go for it!)
DC 20: 140 gold worth of wood
DC 15: 100 gold worth of wood
DC 10: 80 gold worth of wood
DC below 10: 40 gold worth of wood

[Gastronomie]

Rowan isn't especially happy about all this physical work, but he supposes it's best to first become sure allies with these humanoids, before he can continue his research. They've been living in this area after all - while it might be tedious, it's probably gonna be necessary to someday get help from them...Rowan has -1 Perception and -2 Atheletics, so he will just take the Help action with both cases.

Perhaps summon a Familiar and have it also take the Help action. Which means he can give advantage to two people in the party.

[Estralita]

Neil walked along the path in a mood of slight discontentment. He went to the fields to have great adventures not salvage wood. Still, he was here, so best make what he could of it. During the trip, Neil amused himself by practicing knife tricks.

Once he was there, Neil got to work.

Check time!
Perception:[roll0]
Athletics: [roll1]

[Sirithhyando]

Mmm i'll go with Jhalk. So, lead the way.
Balan followed Jhalk lead.


Arg, i have to think about putting more info from my sheet, so dont know if i'm proficient or not so i'll just put the stat mod.
Perception
[roll0]
Athletics
[roll1]

[daze413]

Applied Rowan's Help Actions to Balan's rolls since he seemed to have the lowest Athletics.

The cart is almost filled to the brim with wooden planks, boards, legs and other such wooden materials. The party had found no difficulty in finding salvageable wood, they seemed to have a keen eye for these things.

Rowan, who had found the task unpleasant, simply helped Balan with prying the wood he found.

"Thi♪ i♪ a good haul," Jhalk says, whistling his S sounds all the while, as he heaves the last of the wood on the iron cart.

All in all, the iron-cage-turned-makeshift-cart is now spiked with wood of different sizes. "We can probably get clo♪e to 300 gold pie♪e♪ for thi♪. Maybe even more." Jhalk continues. The sun has set beyond the blood mist already.

"We should make camp, perhaps in the stable where we can be hidden. Someone will have to keep watch on the cart." Baido says as he throws his woodaxe into the pile. "I'll take first watch."



The group takes turns watching over the cart, and the night passes without event. A singularly dull night.
Recovers HP, spells, and half of total Hit Dice.

As dawn bleeds through the air, you make your way back to Poxxin, satisfied of the haul you had hoarded. Just inside the forest, however, you spot an oddity: A flesh tree, pale-white and withered, covered all over with wheals and pockmarks. A few steps and you find another one with the same condition, you remember the fleshy vines you observed in your first time here, it had this effect on some of the trees, but they are conspicuously absent now.

[Estralita]

Neil cocked his head. "Odd." he said softly, before realizing what he was, by default, calling normal.

Not that that mattered. The dying tree was still a dying tree, and figuring out what was wrong might impress his fellows. He hadn't had quite the opportunity to shine in the last fight.

Investigation check:

[roll0]

[daze413]

Stepping closer to the withering tree, Neil looks more closely at the red lumps on its pale skin. The elf couldn't help but liken it to a mosquito bite, the way it swells.

Perhaps... yes, as Neil peers even closer, he sees puncture wounds, large enough to be seen when the lump is pressed. Neil could only think of one creature that could do this... Stirges, a large mosquito-bat amalgamation. And by the looks of the number of trees withering and pale, it looked like a lot. A small wonder, especially considering the unique flora here, stirges must love these things.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan was glad the trip back was uneventful until those oddities on the trees. He watched Neil go to them and observe them.
What have you seen Neil?
Not knowing what it is, Balan continued Do you think it could infect the other trees? It's still the food source of the habitant of Poxxin.
He looked at Jhalk to see if he was concerned.

[Estralita]

Neil straightened up. "Oh, this isn't a disease. This is the handiwork of Stirges, mosquito-bats. Probably a lot of them too." He turned to the others with a half-smile. "Time for some pest control?"

[daze413]

At the mention of Stirges, Baido immediately looks up and scans the skies, his mutated vision seeing past the mist. He says nothing, though, and continues to scan it while the others converse.

Jhalk is taken aback by Neil's suggestion, it is most people's first instinct to avoid danger but then again, these are adventurers. He waits for the others to respond before chiming in, he doesn't want to sound like a coward amongst these men of action.

wat. You lookin' for a foight, mate? Seriously, there are no stirges around here yet but you could easily follow the trees to see where they went.

[Gastronomie]

What is this guy thinking!? Rowan gets a shiver up his spine. Why go hunt monsters that aren't even threatening people? This guy is nuts!

He isn't quite sure what to say. He doesn't want to sound like a coward, but the last fight was already quite terrifying for him... and besides, fighting the Stirges has nothing to do with researching about the Fields, which is his main goal in the first place.

[Andrezitos]

Trying to be caution, Lad gives an obvious statement. If we don't want to be caught unprepared, lets hunt these creatures before they hunt us. During his early training, exploring caves and dungeons, Lad learned how to hunt down underground critters. Although similar to others creatures he faced before inside his home-mountain, in theory, these bat-mosquitos fly around and who knows how many are out there.

[daze413]

"Those flying rats are common in this place, nothing that poses a real threat, though." Baido says. "Sometimes they can swarm, when they do, they are very dangerous. I haven't thought of the red lumps being caused by the Stirges, Neil. Good find, I'll keep that in mind for the future."

"And, look, I admire the machismo and it looks like you can back it up in a fight judging by the way you people handled those Lost Ones" Baido adds. "but we have to get this back to the village eventually." he lightly kicks the wagon of wood to make a point. "If you really want to hunt down some Stirges, make it quick. My shivering brother and I can guard the wagon."

The withered trees lead deeper into the forest to the east, you reckon the wagon will have to stay somewhere since there is no path that can accommodate its size.

The path to Poxxin lies north-easterly, where you know it would turn sharply to the north and then back east toward the village.

What do you want to do?

[Andrezitos]

Lad will go with the brothers. He still thinks that would be better to go dispatch some critters, but the aelans logic is much more reasonable. I can see your way, Baido, and I agree. After all, these wounds are itching like hell arrr.

[Sirithhyando]

Yes, it is more reasonable to go back. At least for now.
Balan look to Jhalk How long do those marks stay usually? We might want to destroy the colony later if as you say they can sometime band together and become dangerous.

[daze413]

Yes, it is more reasonable to go back. At least for now.
Balan look to Jhalk How long do those marks stay usually? We might want to destroy the colony later if as you say they can sometime band together and become dangerous.

Jhalk shakes his head, "I haven't really thought of it, and I doubt a colony would emerge without Raun rai♪ing an alarm." the Azalean pauses for a while then elaborates: "Raun is our ♪awyer, a big brute of a man but he ♪upplie♪ u♪ with bone for building♪ and flesh for eating. He live♪ out east of Poxxin in the thick of the fore♪t, if you follow the river up♪tream, you won't mi♪♪ his ♪awmill. He'♪ like... our ranger, I believe that i♪ what you would call him." he issues a small weird chuckle.

"He'♪ the one who alway♪ delve♪ into the fore♪t." Jhalk continues.

"Hells, he'd make us look like chumps. You should see him. Fully a foot taller than anyone and burly, you'd like him." Baido says, nodding to Lad.

[Gastronomie]

Rowan nods unconfortably. "We should just go back for now. The stirges have nothing to do with our goals, do they? And besides, fighting stirges wouldn't make us heroes."

Jhalk shakes his head, "I haven't really thought of it, and I doubt a colony would emerge without Raun rai♪ing an alarm." the Azalean pauses for a while then elaborates: "Raun is our ♪awyer, a big brute of a man but he ♪upplie♪ u♪ with bone for building♪ and flesh for eating. He live♪ out east of Poxxin in the thick of the fore♪t, if you follow the river up♪tream, you won't mi♪♪ his ♪awmill. He'♪ like... our ranger, I believe that i♪ what you would call him." he issues a small weird chuckle.

"He'♪ the one who alway♪ delve♪ into the fore♪t." Jhalk continues.

"Hells, he'd make us look like chumps. You should see him. Fully a foot taller than anyone and burly, you'd like him." Baido says, nodding to Lad.
Rowan thinks to himself whether he should listen to Jhalk's proposal - perhaps a Ranger might know about the ecosystem of this area, as well as some hints of how to get rid of the Fields... he isn't quite sure, so he waits for other peoples' opinions. He wouldn't disagree to going either way, though.

[Andrezitos]

Lad gets hit by a challenging mental conundrum. He and his friends came to these lands to vanquish whatever is causing the mist, but the first major thing the group accomplish was making friends with the folks who lived in the flesh fields. The dwarf fells a pain in his heart when he ponders what would happen to these people when the "heroes" fulfill their destiny and destroy completly their way of life. Lad preffers to keep his thoughts to himself, only showing an inquisiting and troubled face.

[daze413]

Walking at a reasonable pace while Baido and Jhalk pull the make shift wagon, you eventually arrive back to the village of Poxxin. The people, upon seeing the arrival of the brothers and the party in the horizon, start spreading the news of their arrival.

Not even within 10 feet of the first house in the village, the group is met with a crowd of Azaleans, these grotesque humanoids with elongated arms, jagged pointy teeth and black beady eyes, whom you've conquered and dispelled any doubt as to their alignment by now, greet you like returning heroes. You are surprised that you've aroused so much attention.

It is fairly noisy, as expected from a gathering of folk such as this. Looking around, there are a few familiar figures: the sullen innkeeper, Krondell, whom Lad and Neil have met and Welton, from the library. As well as the pair who had exchanged leathers before you ran this errand.

Baido shouts to the group over the crowd, "We can handle the selling of the wood, though I admit with this much wood, it would be a difficult with just the two of us. Anyway, if you'd like to see Raun or... Didn't you mention you'd like to meet Brother Hukkel before? It doesn't seem like any of the two are here. Anyway, we'll split the gold with you 6-ways."

Jhalk allows himself a large smile, and pats Rowan on the back hard "Thi♪ i♪ the bigge♪t haul we've ever gotten. And it'♪ all thank♪ to you."

[Sirithhyando]

Glad to have been of help Jhalk, we'll see each other later!
Balan didn't mind too much the attention. It wasn't the first time he was greeted as a hero though now it made his thought more somber.
Brother Hukkel, yes it's true, i need to see him.
Balan looked at his companions. What would you want to do now? I'd like to continue learning about this place and the land within the mist.

[Estralita]

Neil gave a a small harrumph, at everyone's unwillingness to follow his spectacular lead, but didn't protest. They could come back later to defeat the creatures later.

In response to the praise, Neil bowed slightly in acknowledgement. "Your thanks is payment enough." he said gallantly.

[daze413]

"Alright let's get this over with! I have this... plank of wood for sale!" Baido shouts out, it is painfully clear that he has zero sales skills.

"Oh, and thi♪ look♪ like a ♪izeable pie♪e, might ♪till be u♪able a♪ a board or... ♪omething." as Jhalk pitches in among the throng of the crowd, their voices are lost in the frenzied shouting of different bids from the crowd. Many of them are raising sacks of gold pieces, some jewelry, and even precious stones. The brothers, though with many skills, obviously don't know how to handle a crowd such as this.



As the group steps away from the crowd, they are met with cheerful pats on the shoulder by strangers who have accepted them as not-enemies.

One of them stops you as he stares blankly at Balan who took the lead, going to the small church. He stands in front of you, eyes a dull black and unfocused. His mouth opens "They come for you, Azalea." the creature says in a vaguely taunting tone. Just as suddenly as he appears and mutters the words, his eyes focus back again and he looks toward the crowd. "Hey, just give us the damned wood already!" behind you, the crowd is equally as angered.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan look tantatively toward Rowan. Again... as the little girl but black eyes instead of the purple...
Looking at the others I'd really like having you guys with me there.

[Andrezitos]

Lad whispers back to Balan. Aah, I am not crazy after all. We saw that too in the inn. The wench said something like that, I do not remember her exactly words tough. I will go with you.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan lowered his voice to talk to Lad I'm afraid they are being controlled by that cult or whatever. They might know though be too scared to say a thing. I was hoping that outside the village they would talk to us but it doesn't seem like that.


Mmm, stealth to try to not be heard?
(+6 if proficient... i'll really have to put my proficiencies on my first ooc post :P)
[roll0]

[daze413]

As the party leaves earshot of the crowd, making their way to the church, they pass by the statue of Azalea. The statue is finely made but not as fine as any elven or dwarven craft: it resembles an angel, wings and arms outstretched; his head looking down lovingly at the observer. Cracks appear here and there. Lad, being a Dwarf, recognizes ancient worked stone as its material, centuries old, at least.

Sitting atop a barren hill, like a tower of hope, is the church of Azalea, one of the few structures in Poxxin to be made with partly stone and wood. A single belfry adorns the otherwise plain chapel but the bell is missing in its place.

Stepping nside, you can see the altar is raised a few steps and the benches are crafted from bone. Various reliefs are sculpted on the walls, depicting Azalea, the Life Shaper, as a winged deity wrapping his wings around a mass of humans. Another shows him descending from the heavens and the others look to show about the same story.

There are a handful of Azaleans around the chapel, mostly standing to pray. One such person is immediately noticeable as Brother Hukkel, his long dirty robes flows to his shin, the only cloth you have seen so far in Poxxin.

He notices you enter and turns his gaze towards you, the others notice and stare as well. You make your way forward and some of them break their stares to continue in their prayers. Brother Hukkel approaches your party and gestures with his hand to come forward and sit. He sits on the left-most of the bone bench, "You must be the adventurers I keep hearing about. The Life Shaper smiles upon us. How can I be of service?" he says accomodatingly.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan smiled at Brother Hukkel and followed him toward where he invited them to sit. Well, we were exploring the area where the mist his inside the land where we live. To be honest, we entered the mist thinking that whatever must be in it have to be evil considering it's harmful nature to most of the living outside the mist. Though now, having met many Azalean's, our belief coming here is... Balan hold his thought a moment and permit himself a small laugh before continuing well, it's pretty much shattered. Our first thought about Azalean was that they look pretty much the same as other community outside the mist. So we'd like to know more about the community. Allowing himself a smile toward Rowan, Balan continued well, there is still some things some of us are still curious about. Could you tell us more about the nature of the mist, where it comes from and what about Azalea.

[daze413]

Hukkel, in his dirty white robes, says, "Such eager children. I am happy to answer any of your questions." he offers a parental smile, despite him being decades younger than Balan. The Azalean is aged, maybe 50th year of his human lifespan, wrinkles show on his face, and his hair, well kept and short, is gray.

He places his elbow on the back of the bench, and lights up at the mention of Azalea: "Ah, you ask of Azalea the maker? I will give you the quick version!" he pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts and preparing for along-winded talk.

"Basically, Azalea is an angelic being of great power in the direct service of the divine one himself. Known as Azalea the maker, or the Life-shaper, he was one of the angels who decided the way all things took form. He molded all life from the clay of the earth and his ultimate triumph was the human." he gives a wide smile.

"Azalea was so pleased by the human form that it is said he even fell in love with one of his makings - a human woman known as Nazrem. To this day he resides with his seraphimic brothers in the heavens, watching us. We, the Azaleans believe that though we have been warped, it is to Azalea's design. We are still beings shaped by him and thus are loved by him."

On the blight, he replies "This is a test of our fatih, indeed." his smiling accommodating visage takes on a serious tone. "There could be no other reason than some demonic power corrupting these lands." Brother Hukkel stands up and addresses everyone in the church: "In these times of great trial, we must cling to our faith! Azalea has not abandoned us, nay, it is his will, mysterious as it is, that this happen to us." a few Azaleans nod. Hukkel sits back down and looks to the party again, "we have suffered for millenia, but our pain is still here, only dulled through numbness." he closes his eyes, and then says:

"Please, ask more. I am glad to answer."

[Gastronomie]

"But there i♪ a drawback. We have grown a need to eat of the tree♪, we come down with the ♪♪ickness if we don't eat of them. We can leave the village alright, but if we want to leave the blight it♪elf, well... we better have ♪ome jerky on-hand.""I... um, uh, I..." Rowan mutters, a dark look on his face. He needs to ask it at some point. He couldn't bear hiding it either.

"...I heard your people will... suffer from a sickness... if they don't 'eat the trees'. Is this because of the mist, or is it because of your... bodies? Is it related to the Lost Ones? Are you dependant on this current ecosystem around here? In... in other words... um, well, I really have no idea of what's been going on in here, but...

"Are the Fields of Flesh crucial for your survival?"

[daze413]

Brother Hukkel smiles warmly at Rowan. "Do not fear me, child, oh but you are so young. You may ask freely. Better to have said an offense unknowingly than to suffer in silence."

"This too, must be part of the curse. Whatever demonic magic has tainted this land made us... unable to leave it. But one must not dwell on the suffering, indeed, as some do even here." he glances around the church. Then back to the group, "there is a bright side to the curse." he smiles again, revealing sharp teeth. "Let me see if you can think positively. Can any of you tell me what the bright side is?"

[Sirithhyando]

A bright side? Balan wondered, what bright side could there be to a curse that change your body and force you to stay where you are... Well, there is no war here. Occasionnal conflict with lost ones, but it seems that's as much there is to it.
Balan took a little time to put his thoughts in the right order What happened in this place so that a benevolant being would bring a curse upon this place? Oh, i'm assuming this being did this though i dont even know if the being came before or after the blight. Did your ancestor do something to anger this angelic being? If so, the answer on how to break this curse could be simple. And that's if you want the curse to be broken. Did you see any change about the lands in recent years?

[Estralita]

Neil frowned, thinking. He wasn't religious in any sense of the word so was having trouble with this whole "Our God is testing us!" thing. To simply believe in another with nothing to show for it, or evidence that they cared. He just couldn't do it. But they were seeing something he wasn't. So what to say?

A brainwave hit him."Hey, maybe the test is to see if you can vanquish this curse? And the trees are here to keep you healthy in the meantime?"

[Andrezitos]

Sorry, brother, but this rude dwarf does not understand the way of the gods or of their lambs. Lad have no clues about why someone would see any good in a situation like this. Perhaps this is the answer after all: having to fear only for their immediate needs and no wars, no kingdoms and no disputes, may give them a certain kind of peace other mortals like him would never know or even accept.

[daze413]

The white-robed Azalean raises a brow at Neil, "You are getting close, child. Look around us, there is food everywhere. And we have bones for construction. We never have to go hungry, neither do any of us live without shelter."

He looks to Balan now, a serious yet gentle expression on his face, "Listen well, dear child. Azalea formed us humans, he came before the blight, as I had explained." he pauses to let it sink in first then continues, "I... don't know, I don't think Azalea would be angry with us." he seems lost in thought for a moment, then "Demons, child. Some fel power has cursed this land, I am sure of it. What else could it be?" he pauses for a long moment.

"I have heard... rumors. Of animals being burned alive in the forest, uneaten. And strange footprints. Raun himself saw it, you should go and talk to him." realizing you may not know who Raun is, he explains "Raun is our sawyer, woodcutter, and keeper of the land. He supplies us with flesh to eat and bones to construct with. As you can imagine, he's always in the forest so he knows more than most. And do not fear his size, he is a gentle spirit, like I am."

[Andrezitos]

Lad shifts his gaze from the priest to the stonework. These walls should be quite old for the look of them, or simply there is no stoneworkers anymore to repair them. Dwarfs and theirs ruins... He then address the holy man and his companions. It seems to me this Raun is the right person to meet. What you guys think, should we go?

[Sirithhyando]

Balan listened to the man.
As his companion answered, he simply answered back, still in thought.
Seems like it, let's go see him.

[daze413]

As the group gets up to leave, Brother Hukkel suddenly says: "Before you leave... if you happen to travel south to the ruins, keep a watch for a trio of Lost Souls. Their names are Podd, Mull and Rouse. Rouse was my... daughter." Hukkel pauses, his friendly attitude shading momentarily, "They hunger for flesh, but they are a danger to your soul also; they have lost the way and may blaspheme against Azalea. The ruins they reside in are rife with traps unsprung and false floors."

His final warning done, he adds "You may find Raun if you follow the river north of here upstream. His sawmill is a couple of hours away from Poxxin. May Azalea bless your journey."

developments developments. Where to? The time is about an hour or so before midday. You may still explore the town, or go directly to the river and head to the sawmill to the east, or you know there's a keep to the south that's interesting.

[Andrezitos]

Do not sorry, we will stay alert for dangers this time. No ambushs. Lad adventure spirit calls for swift preparations and quick departs.

[daze413]

Leaving the humble church and reaching the village center, you spot a slowly dispersing crowd and a wide smiled Jhalk still trying to sell the wood, about an eight of the hoard still remains. Baido is by the makeshift iron cart, counting silvers, gold and small jewels.

Jhalk whistles at the group, "P♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪t!!" he excuses himself to the Azalean he was facing and runs over to where the party stands. "Hey, ♪o we have mo♪t of the wood ♪old." he says, as he motions for you to walk with him toward his brother. "You can take your share, if you plea♪e."

You reach Baido and just as he finishes counting, he goes, "340 gold pieces, for the four of you. Not bad at all. We should do this more often." he hands Lad the sack of gold with a wide sharp toothed smile. The sack is filled with silver, gold, and some copper, along with a handful of precious stones you can sell or trade.

Jhalk then takes you aside, "I'm ♪orry I endangered you by not telling you about the Lo♪t One♪. Here," he takes out two vials of red liquid. "Take it a♪ my apology; It's our ♪tash in ca♪e ♪omething really na♪ty happen♪. Magical potion♪ of healing, looted from a caravan attacked by Lost One♪ in one of our trip♪ in the pa♪t. I'm gue♪♪ing you may need it more than u♪."

You notice there are still some wood left over from the cart, "There are a few more wood pie♪e♪ left, you'd have preferen♪e if you'd like to buy them for your own u♪e." Jhalk says.

OK, so marching order is as is? Does anyone want to make special preparations before venturing? Next post will take you to the next interesting thing.

For the sake of simplicity, let's just say you have 340 gold pieces worth of stuff in the leather sack.
you also have 2 Potions of Healing

[daze413]

Done with the last minute preparations, gold and potions distributed among themselves, the party makes their way east of Poxxin. The general atmosphere of the village has changed significantly and the people greet you with warm but unnerving toothy smiles.

Making your way through the less-traveled eastward path outside of Poxxin, the road is barely visible as you traverse it. The path breaks off and reforms again and again amidst the flesh trees and the hideous flora around the forest.

After a few minutes walking northward, as suggested by Baido, you come across a river. It is a sickly sight, the water is pinkish like the mist and smells slightly of iron, though it flow freely and as normal. The current flows downstream to the west, and you follow it eastward, upstream, as suggested.

Just over an hour of walking near the river banks, you see a burn mark on the ground, a small black spot roughly 4 inches in diameter of burned sand and stone several feet out of the riverbank and into the forest. There is another burn mark a few feet further and another, and another. It seems like it follows a path, and then it disappears into the mist.

Looking up the river, there is no sign of the sawmill yet, as it follows its curving and winding stream, the water babbling against the rough stone it pushes against.

I do expect you to agree amopng yourselves who gets how much gold and more importantly, who's carrying the potions.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan got his arm up, having Ngwawa appear. Hello my friend, can you go look around?

Mmm, i wonder what could've made those mark...
Looking toward his companions, Balan added It does seem as a trail... going toward the forest or going toward the river. Any ideas?


Intel check to try to know what it could be and a survival "?" for determining the way the trail was going.

intelligence check
[roll0]

survival
[roll1]

[daze413]

Perception: [roll0]
[roll1]

Ngwawa tilts its head and squints its eyes before lifting off from Balan's arm. It soars above the treeline, and out of sight due to the mist.

Seeing through its eyes, Balan can see a handful of withered trees, similar to the ones they encountered earlier this morning. And, next to them, are oddly spiked trees. As Ngwawa moves in closer, he stops abruptly- the spikes are moving! Then, one of the spikes expand and it reveals its true nature- Stirges, one of them is stretching its wings after sticking to the trees for so long, no doubt. Other than the one which seemed to stretch its wings, they pay the owl no mind as it soars by.

Another figure is close by, around one hundred feet to the south is a large moving creature obscured by the mist, Ngwawa couldn't quite see it yet but it looked bipedal and it was walking toward the northeast.

Suddenly, a squaaack! is heard. Ngwawa was so fixed on the large creature that it hadn't noticed an eagle, disfigured by whatever fel magic corrupts this land: it's eyes are a jet black and its beak is jagged, not smooth. The crazed creature rushes toward Ngwawa, aiming its sharp talons at the owl and opening its beak in anticipation of food, soon to come...

This is tricky and I'd like to try to predict what you want to do in this situation, either:
a) you dismiss Ngwawa, so you must roll iniative, beating a DC of 7
b) Ngwawa tries to fly away, in which case Ngwawa must roll iniative
c) or you could totally do something else.

What do you want to do? What are Neil and Lad doing in the meantime?

[Sirithhyando]

As event unfold in front of Ngwawa, Balan dismiss it. And shout to the others
Get ready, there's a lot of them coming and very big one damn it's huge it destroyed a convoy some time ago, trust me, this is going to hurt !

Well, they might not have known they were here, but the shouting, oh well, we'll see.
initiative to dismiss Ngwawa before he get's hit :smallbiggrin:
[roll0]

[Andrezitos]

First the Balan is all nature connection with his owl than he scream like a mad man about something huge. Does not matter. Whatever is comming will find a sturdy dwarf in his way. (initiave if needed: [roll0], perception if needed [roll1])

[Sirithhyando]

Balan calmed down a little I'm sorry for shouting but what i saw... it's... it's what decimated my older group when we tried taking a short cut in the southern area of the blight... haven't remembered much but that thing... i'm sure that's what attacked us. It's kind of a minotaur though twisted and he seemed to be going east. We should hurry, i think he's heading in the general direction where we should find the sawmill. That thing sliced through veteran bodyguard as if it was nothing. I also saw Stirges having a feast and a twisted eagle. Not sure if they'd come for us though, Ngwawa might not have revealed our position. Let's continue east toward the sawmill.
Saying that with a shaky voice, Balan knew he wasn't very convincing. But he took his rapier out and waited for his companions to decide if they wanted to make a stand here or continue where the thing should be heading.

Yup, the thing jagged some memory from his amnesia.

[daze413]

Following the river bank east, the group finally arrives at the sawmill after almost an hour of tense walking, having been warned about this mysterious horned humanoid that's residing in the forest.

The sawmill is a large structure, elevated a few feet off the ground with large worked stones. It is situated just next to the river, allowing a water wheel to turn as the river flows. A roof covers the whole sawmill but the mill is open on its sides. The building is primarily made out of wood, a rare thing to see such a familiar looking building since you've been in these strange lands. Sticking out of its side, like a balcony on the second floor of the sawmill itself, is a modest cabin, presumably Raun's home. Below the raised wooden floor, is a bloody mess of soil where blood drips from the cut flesh trees and is dumped on the river. Strangely, though, the pinkish hue already taints it from further upstream.

A few stairs lead up to the raised sawmill, which is mostly a massive workshop. There, the first thing you notice is blood caked all over the floor, and in the center, a saw with long jagged teeth connected by a contraption above it and to a slit on the floor below. A bone work table stands with a few tools on it, a hammer, nails, a woodaxe and a hand saw.

There is a small shed below the cabin to the left, big red letters saying "DANGER!".

Bloody hooked chains dangle dangerously across a stack of flesh logs, next to the logs is a lever which could only be used to operate the giant saw. Some of these chains are tied around flesh logs.

The mill is noisy with turning gears and rushing water, a rhythmic chopping sound can be heard as well and it belongs to the only person in the Sawmill - a man working near the saw, hefting an enormous axe of bone and iron. This Azalean is massive. Rippling muscles and generous helpings of fat giving him an almost bloated barrel-chested feature. He stands a full two heads taller than any you.

Upon noticing the group, the Azalean stops his chopping away at the log of flesh and turns. The Sawyer wipes his large butcher-style apron down with thick bloodied leather gloves and grins at the group.
"Aye, young Hezzon said there were strange folk in town - he came a'runnin to the mill as soon as you showed up in! Welcome, yeh humans, I am Raun. What can I do for yeh?"

[Sirithhyando]

Balan arrived at the sawmill with his companions. He was slightly out of breath with the pace they took to arrive here.
We'd like to chat but at this moment, what can you tell us about a very tall bipedal creature with a horn on it's head and that leaves a path of burned circles on the ground? There's one coming in this general location and he's carrying... someone i think though not Azaleans.

[Andrezitos]

For a dwarf this fella is even bigger, his hands large enough to easy cover an human head. The felling of smallness makes Lad a little uneasy, but the young dwarf had see monstrosities before. He glances at the bloody workshop and remembers the slaughterhouses he and his old master crossed during their time in the barbarian s lands. Bloody hell, he whispers. Have you ever wondered if these trees feel pain? Lad speacks to himself rather loudly.

[daze413]

Raun wiped beads of rolling sweat off his brow with his arm, putting the bone axe at his back. He seems taken aback by Balan's sense of alarm and emergency. Calmly, he jumps down from the raised workshop and onto the ground, ignoring the steps to your right. Lad was the first to speak, to which he replied: "I'unno, I'been choppin' these trees for so long, I get used to the whimperin' when I cut 'em down with this." he pats his battleaxe that's now on his back.

Now on even ground, the giant of an Azalean looks even more intimidating, big glossy black eyes seemingly not able to blink looking at each of you intently, his teeth are almost as long as a finger due to his large frame and his arms are the same elongated ones that mark each Azalean, but his is ripped with muscle of years of toil and labor.

Balan then assaulted him with a flurry of questions and observations. "Whoa, there, feller'! Calm down, ain't no danger here." he tries to reassure the flustered elf. "Been livin' in these 'ere woods me life but ain't nothin' ever come down here in my sawmill." he continues, looking determined that whoever- or, whatever would dare touch his home would face his wrath.

"But that don't mean I ain't seen nothin'." his mood darkens for a moment, "aye, I've seen them marks. Looked like hooves, at least to this 'ere sawyer." he looks toward the direction of the forest. All around you, flesh trees are cut and scabbed where remnants of their trunk fell, but further away, there are more trees which looked healthy and supple.

"Can't say I've seen anythin' like you've described, though, guy. But I have been observant of them marks whenever I go out'n hunt." he places his fingers to his hairless chin before continuing. "Been makin' a... small map, y'see, not me best work, I ain't no map-maker!" you can hear a hint of embarrassment from him as he says this. "But I been trackin' them hoof-marks like a dog."

[Sirithhyando]

Oh, sorry.
Balan took a deep breath to calm himself Well, the hooves would make sense with the creature i've seen. Do you have any idea where it's lair could be and if it's a menace to those crossing his path? I'm pretty sure that in my not so far past i've been attacked in the field of flesh and that this thing was there. Now that i think about it, i'm not sure if it's him who attacked us or if was only walking by. My memory of the event is hazy.

[daze413]

"Aye, haven't ye been listenin'? Well, I'm not entirely sure, here, but I think it's been lairin' up in a cave down south, in the heart o'the forest." he nods his head toward the southwest. "Here, lemme jus' get the map I have drawn, I'll show you where y'might see it." he turns to leave now, climbing up the steps to the workshop, "Well? Come on, then, come come, you're welcome 'ere." he gestures for you to climb up to his workshop.

As you follow his lead and step up into the sawmill, Raun walks up the stairs to his cabin on the second floor and says, "You just wait'n I'll fetch the map in a bit. Oh, and don't touch that toolshed-" he points at the one nearest the stairs, it's man-sized and closed off, marked DANGER! in red blood. "All th'gears an' such are there, don't want 'em to get damaged an all. Be right back."

The workshop is layered in blood. Some interesting things of note:

Hooked chains dangle from the ceiling, some are wrapped around the flesh logs, clearly this is used to move the huge logs around.

The blade still runs up and down, Raun forgot to turn it off. There's a switch next to the toolshed marked DANGER!

A neat bunch of logs are stacked on the side of the workshop facing the river, and a table containing a few mundane bone tools and implements lay around it.

[Andrezitos]

Lad pays attention to the saw blade and its machinery. Perhaps not the best refinement, but effective for sure. Would that be the work of this Raun or someone else? Not wanting to judge the book for the cover, Lad points to the machine to Balan. Nothing something I would expect to find in a place like this, operated by someone like him. What you think? Lad keeps his voice down as always.

[psychopomp23]

Matthew's head was heavy and still felt disoriented from the blow he had received earlier. He slowly opened his eyes and realized that he was bound and gagged in a small space, probably not bigger than a closet. It was very dark but he could see a dim light between the cracks of the door. Not knowing of how long he's been there, he remembered the last word that creature said to him and started to panic and tried to get himself untied as quickly as possible.

MFRFGFFfrfffrefrmferfg! (PLEASE, Illmater come to my aid!)


He's going to try to get his hands free and get out of there!

Not sure if it's athletic or acrobatic so here's both
ATL
[roll0]
ACO
[roll1]

[Sirithhyando]

Balan looked where Lad showed him. The gruesome sight was starting to be less unerving to him since the start of all this.
He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not but he waved off the thought.
He kept his voice low for Lad Well, it could've been a collective effort though they were one human so it could've been a vestige of the past. And we haven't seen the gears, this could give us insight on the provenance of all this, but i think it's best not to take a peak. We could ask him to show us later, i dont sense any bad intention from any of the Azalean, him included. I'm pretty sure he'll give us the story behind this place. Right now, i'm more worried about the thing and what i think would be a prisonner if we are to believe the quick sight i've had of the creature.
Balan summoned Ngwawa again. Hey buddy, glad you're alright. Can you go up and keep close to us? Just to give us a warning if something approach. Dont take any risk, come back if it's dangerous.

[Andrezitos]

The dwarf agrees with his companion. A new thought goes through his mind though. All this blood, the meat, well, so much to rot and apparently these men are not affected by putrefaction. Something is preserving their bodies, no matter how distorted they may be, or it is the most clean and antiseptic air of the earth.

[daze413]

Ngwawa appears out of thin air again, rustling its feathers and shaking off its prior experience the last time it was summoned. It lifts off and soars overhead even as Balan and Lad are talking.

Then, you hear a banging on the toolshed, and a muffled garbled murmur- weak and faint. Someone's in there!


Matthew Neige

You manage to wrest your hands free from the, now you realize, leather strips holding it together, the knot was hurried and unsecure. You manage to bang the door for help and immediately undo your gag.

[Andrezitos]

Lad fixes his eyes at the tool-shed. That thing should not be moving or making any sound. He approaches slowly and sneak peak at the any slit the furniture may have. Should we open?

[Sirithhyando]

Balan followed Lad to the shed with the strange noise I dont know, we kind of have the favor of the habitants for now. I think we could lose it pretty easily if we're not careful.

trying to detect what it could be without opening it. (the player, me, think it's a lost one)
so perception?
[roll0]

[Estralita]

Neil followed mostly in horrified silence. Growing up in an isolated village, and working in the circus Neil had never really seen gruesome slaughter for food. Sure, he knew that the people here needed to eat the trees to live, but it hadn't occurred to him what a sawmill would be like in a place with trees of flesh. Through the conversation he kept quiet,, trying to look anywhere that wasn't covered in blood or flesh. The pounding in the shed gave him the perfect excuse to leave. "What is that?" he wondered,trying to focus on the sounds for anythign to give it away.

Step aside and let the real professional handle it ( cue the Nat. 1)

[roll0]

[psychopomp23]

After, for what seemed the longest moments of his life Matthew managed to get his hand and mouth free.

Yes, Praise Illmater!

His 'prison' was pretty snug and with his heavy armor on, he wasn't able to move down to remove the bounds around his legs.

He thinks to himself that he'll have to break out before removing them so he murmurs to himself.

I hope he doesn't hear me...

And start shoving his body against the door with as much strength as he can muster.

[daze413]

Balan and Lad keep a healthy distance away from the shed marked "DANGER!", trying to discern what is banging inside the toolshed but the cranking of the gears of the sawblade below them distracts their hearing.

Neil sloshes up to the group, though quiet all throughout the journey, his boots slick and slosh on the bloody floor, he hears a faint voice, weak and tired... "Yes, Praise Illmater!" as the voice unmuffles itself. It's a person! And he's banging against the toolshed door from the inside, desperately but rhythmically trying to escape his cramped prison.

[psychopomp23]

Here the request roll!

[roll0]

[daze413]

Neil cautiously approaches the shed, taking out his thieves tools and ready to pick the lock. As the banging continues, the door suddenly breaks open with a CRACK! A human male, in bloody scale mail, tumbles out of the shed. Neil manages to catch him just before he hits the ground.

His feet are tied around with leather strips, and inside the toolshed also, you can see a shield, a mace, a few woodaxes, extra saws and a handful of wooden planks.

From upstairs, the giant sawyer bursts out of his cabin, "Here it is!" he shouts as he raises a scrolled up leather vellum with his left hand, "Now, don't go judgin' me map-makin' skills," he says as he rushes to climb down the stairs. "Ye should be able to-" his words stick in his mouth when he sees the human has escaped.

His face darkens intensely, and you can see his glossy black eyes change a little to red, he issues a heavy sigh... "... And it would'a been so easy, too." he shakes his head as he steps down from the stairs, stuffing the map into his back pocket and picking up his battleaxe. "I guess I'll have to drag ye to the Master, then."

Each step he takes down the stair, his form writhes with black and red smoke, distorting his body as the massive Azalean grows even larger, now. "He already knows you are meddling in his affairs, humans. He saw you the second you stepped into the Fleshfield." Raun has grown another span in height and from the top of his head, vertically down his spine a row of bony spikes have erupted, two gnarled bony black horns jut out from his head. His skin has taken on a scaly texture and from his tailbone a swinging, pink-fleshed tail has sprouted, bursting through his clothes. His added height and weight cause him to be hunched forward and to help him balance one of the clawed hands of his elongated arms rests on the ground.

With a wilting cry, the demonic Sawyer leaps at Rowan, head low and horns aimed to gore.

Sorry Gastronomie, good bye, my friend. It was great having you...
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2] if hits, extra gore damage
[roll3] crit
[roll4]

initiative: [roll5]

[Sirithhyando]

And here i thought we were here before the creature... now taste this
Balan takes out his rapier and start chanting
Lle mern sina
Ikotane nwalma neke
lisse quella
kanuva eligre

Taste my song, evil creature

Ice form in front of Balan and go straight to the creature.

Ok, so Balan is pissed :smallbiggrin:
Ice knife (from elemental evil)
[roll0]
if hit
damage is : [roll1]
hit or miss, the target and those within 5 feet of it (sorry Rowan) gets hit by [roll2] except if they succeed on a dex saving throw (DC12)

My song i on !
Which mean i now have +2 AC; +10ft of movement; advantage on dex (acrobatic) saving throw and a bonus to concentration to maintain spell but i dont have any spell to maintain yet anyway. So, that's just an elf singing... *sight* typical :smallcool:

[psychopomp23]

Stumbling into the elfs arms, Matthew felt lost and scared. With the sight of his abductor in front him he scrambled hopefully out of the way.

No, no not again!

He quickly notices another elf attack the demon saywer and tries to undo his leather bounds.


He'll crawl to G6
And try to break his bounds with either skill you see fit
ATL
[roll0]
ACR
[roll1]

Initiative
[roll2]

[Andrezitos]

Seeing his companion dying took the breath of Lad, he had never lost a brother in arm this way. The death out shone the sudden change of form of Raun, or whatever that thing would be, completely. Now, the only thought that crosses his mind is retribution, vengeance.
Move closer to Raun and attack: [roll0][roll1]

[Estralita]

Having freed the prisoner, there was nothing else for Neil to do but leap into action!

Only with a Rapier since you can't dual wield with them:smalltongue:

[roll0]
[roll1]
SA(if applicable) [roll2]

[daze413]

Balan's Ice Knife hurtles toward the Demon Sawyer, but the large creature takes it in the horns, as it ducks to avoid it, as it explodes into a burst of ice, the creature shakes its head but shakes most of the damage off.

Matthew sits, prone and frantically trying to escape his shackles. With the help of Neil, he promptly breaks free, now scrambling for his shield and mace.

Lad, axe raised, rushes at the demonic being, digging his battleaxe into the creature's scales. He manages to draw blood but the wound is not as satisfyingly deep as he had hoped.

Undeterred in its charge, the Demon Sawyer impales the wide-eyed Neil in its gnarled horns. The Wizard is lifted off a few feet, even as Rowan grips the horns to try to get himself free. Ultimately, it is futile as his small and skinny arms fail him. The life ebbs from Rowan and he hangs limp from the Demon Sawyer's horns. Raun issues a horrific laugh, seemingly with two voices. "The Master would not mind if I take just one! The rest of you will serve him, soon enough."

Angered by the death of his friend, Neil rushes forward, leaping over Matthew and Rapier thrusting at the Sawyer. The blade deflects off the creature's scales and does not penetrate.

Raun takes 7 damage.
Rowan takes 20 damage, is unconscious.

[daze413]

Raun turns to the rest of the party, now. The twisted visage of the once-grotesque and giant Azalean, even more horrific now, covered in scales. Raun rests his left hand on the ground, trying to balance his weight while in this form, he raises his white bone axe and strikes at Neil...

With the momentum, he turns and sends his thick fleshy tail whipping toward Matthew, it hits some of the dangling hooked chains beside the human and it clink-clanks in place. The rapid rhythmic sound of the Sawblade and cranking gears accompanies Balan's song...


Raun attacks Neil with Battleaxe:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2] crit

Raun attacks Matthew with Tail:
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]crit
Initiative rolled offline

[Sirithhyando]

Still singing, Balan approach the creature and stab's it with his rapier.


Moves at J8
attack with rapier
[roll0]
damage
[roll1]
if crit, add [roll2]

initiative [roll3]

[psychopomp23]

After scrambling for his shield and mace he was met with the whiplash of the creatures tail. Even with the amount of pain felt, he realized that the group of people aren't his ennemy and attack the vile beast with a sacred flame.

Illmater will make you regret what you have done!

Action:

Sacred flame is a dex save for him. DC is 14. If he misses he receives 1d8 radiant damage.

[roll0]

Just to let you know maybe in advance that if he attacks me again and hit. If it's less than 22 i would use 'Shield' as a reaction. So you can write it in your summary without slowing down the pace.

Initiative for next turn:

[roll1]

[Andrezitos]

Lad keeps his pace and attack the grotesque thing relentlessly:
[roll0][roll1]

The dwarf use his sudden surge of anger after seeing Rowan lifeless body to fuel one more attack against Raun:
[roll2][roll3] (action surge) (crit! extra 1d8 (5)of damage; rolled on my desk)

Initiative [roll4]

[Estralita]

Neil couldn't quite believe it. Rowan was...just gone. But he didn't have long to grieve before the demon turned his weapon on Neil. Neil stabbed wildly, before tumbling (hopefully) out of his reach.

Initiative: [roll0]

And attack! (Against one opponent, Greenflame blade's not a good idea

[roll1]
[roll2]
SA: [roll3]

And finish up with a Cunning Action to Disengage and move to E9

[daze413]

Balan whose song seems to accompanies and, in fact, might have kept in beat with the patterned cranking of gears, steps forward and before the Sawyer could bring his axe up to attack, he is met with a piercing pain as the Bladesinger's rapier draws blood.

The creature snarls at the bladesinger, and Matthew takes the chance to bring forth a torrent of radiant flame from thin air above the Sawyer's head. The creature growls in pain as it is hit with the full force of the cascading radiance!

Screaming angrily, Raun whips Matthew with his tail, as the cleric tries to bring his shield up, the tail hits just before he could get his footing ready for impact, and Matthew steps back as he receives a crushing blow. With the same spinning momentum, Raun brings the battle axe to bear against Neil, and it manages to strike the elf in the chest before he could dodge. Thankfully, the Leather Armor takes most of the blow, but a gash can be seen where the axe hit.

Neil flails with his own rapier out, still reeling from the blow, the blade deflects off its flat end on the Sawyer's scales. Neil regains his footing and retreats, batting away the Sawyer's axe.

Lad swings his axe with surprising speed, he undercut's the Sawyer's axe as he manages to hit its arm! (bloodied) Then, as Raun's axe is swept to his side, Lad sees the perfect opening- and he swings his axe right at the creature's torso. Digging in deeply but not as deep as he had hoped- that blow could have felled a small tree.

The creature howls in pain as it shakes Lad's axe free using his left hand.

Raun takes 20 damage.
Neil takes 9 damage.
Matthew takes 10 damage.

Oh, and don't worry about the reactions. I just realized you'd know when to use reactions because I always post the first attack in any round. Usually.

[daze413]

"Taste my fury, little worm!" Raun screams as he steps and pivots, sending his fleshy tail at Matthew, relentlessly assaulting the cleric. "The Master shall have your flesh!"

It turns then to Lad, bringing his axe sideways at the Dwarf, attempting to splinter that pesky shield of his...


Raun moves to G9:H10 and attacks Neil with his tail:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]crit?

Raun attacks Lad with Battleaxe:
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]crit?

Initiative rolled offline.

[Sirithhyando]

Balan's move around his ennemy as to flank it and have him being cornered all around.
He tries to stab Raun wrist.


attack with rapier
[roll0]
with advantage for flanking? not in the houserule but i'm not sure if we decided to use it so i'll roll another one in case. Or with disadvantage since i'm trying to hit a specific spot on Raun? (my usual DM does that though if successful he sometimes add a little effect.) Well, up to you, i'll still roll the 2nd d20 in case.
[roll1]
damage
[roll2]
if crit, add [roll3]

initiative [roll4]

[Andrezitos]

Lad tries to flank the creature too, moving accordingly (plz, navigate the dwarf to the right position; the map is not updated yet).
[roll0]
[roll1] (advantage due flank)
[roll2]

Forgot the initiative (1d20+2) (10); rolled on desk.

[Estralita]

Neil just managed to flip over the demon's tail, and landed next to it. Before it could react, Neil attempted to drive his rapier deep into it's back.

Hurrah for AC14!

Now, the counterattack!
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[psychopomp23]

Battered and bloodied, he spits blood but you can barely tell on the already stained floor. Leaning against the wall he holds his shield up to call upon the divine fire again.

Stay down vile beast!


Sacred Flame again
[roll0] radiant damage 14 DC save

[daze413]

First things first, so, Psychopomp, if you're moving to G4, Raun will take an OA with his Tail attack:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2] if crit

I'm assuming you're using shield now?


Balan, still singing the ancient elvish chorus, digs his rapier deeply into the creature now, it sticks there for a while even as Raun flails his axe and tail at Lad and Neil, both attacks miss wildly as the demonic Azalean scrambles to get the blade out.

Lad strikes while the creature was spinning around wildly now, he sees a a bare portion of its back and just swings. The axe runs into some of the spikes but otherwise digs into the creature's tough scales. Barely.

Neil, having regained footing after narrowly dodging the tail which had hit Matthew instead, lunges at the red scaled being. The rapier manages to sink an inch or so into flesh, and blood.

Raun takes 10 damage.
OA assuming usage of Shield spell, does no damage.

[daze413]

The creature screams in agony now, it flails its limbs and tail, desperate to hit something anything. It's eyes focus on the Elf, Balan, whose song acts like a focus for the creature's pain. He raises his wicked white axe and brings it down on the elf...

The swing causes Raun to stagger, as he feels his own blood now pooling with the rest of the muck on the floor. His fleshy tail spins to strike Lad behind him...


Raun attacks Balan with axe:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Raun attacks Lad with Tail:
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Sirithhyando]

Grimacing in pain, Balan focus on his song, intensifying as his rage goes stronger.
He lift his rapier as if to strike the monster though with a quick incantation during his song, a series of spectral blades dances around Balan attacking those they come in contact with.


Dex save with DC 12 for those targeted by the attack.
On a fail safe, damage is : [roll0] force damage

initiative
[roll1]

[Andrezitos]

Lad uses the anger and the desperation of the creature to attack where it is less defended.
[roll0]
[roll1] (advantage)
[roll2]

Initiative (on desck)
(1d20+2)[17]

[psychopomp23]

Seeing his new allies fighting to defeat the beast that had captured him, he decided to help them with their wounds.

Praying to his god, the symbol from his shield starts to radiate a warm bright light that soothe the wounds of his friends.

I will use my channel divinity: Preserve life. I can heal up to 5x my cleric level (10) from any creatures within 30 feet of me, and divide them. This feature can restore to no more than half of its hit point maximum.

I can heal 3 HP to Balan to make it even to half his HP
And i'll heal if i can 3 HP each to Lad and 4 to Neil

Let me know guys if this makes you go over your half way point in your HP so i can adjust the amounts

Ini: [roll0]