Kingmaker in the Forgotten Realms [IC thread]

[Saintheart]

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Oops on my part.

That aside, Kuros's hit lands, and the shambler misses Korlann on its AoO. Chopping into it, team.

[Zombulian]

Spoiler: OOC

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Also, aren't plants immune to sneak attack because they are immune to crits?

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeah, they are.

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Ugh you guys are like the kids who remind the professor to collect the homework right before they dismiss everyone.
Anyway, anyone else weirded out that Shambling Mounds have eyes or can be blinded at all? But if it can be flanked I'll be darned if I don't flank it.

Instead of hiding, Ruk does his best to answer the threat at hand, though he's still not quite sure what's going on, or why spells keep going off. He gets up and moves behind the wagon to get a better look at the threat.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ruk moves to 36P, planning to get a flank in following rounds.

[Mercurion 2]

A loud growl escaped Dergosh’s throat as he watched as two of the Wolftooth Clan ran away. He’d expect goblins to be afraid of a big heap of leaves, but not orcs of the Wolftooth. He had no time to deal with them now, though, he’d just have to fight all the harder.

He had intended to heave his spear into the thick of the monster, but that plan had quickly changed as it charged forward, so instead he screamed out a primal challenge and leapt forward.

spear attack - (1d20+3)[22]
damage - (1d6+3)[5]

Spoiler

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I can’t see the map where I am at at the moment. Dergosh will charge if he has room. Also can’t see if he is flanking from where he is so I haven’t added in either of those modifiers.

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Evening, Second of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The Company surged in on the shambling mound. It flailed wildly but missed Korlann, who drove an axe kick into what was probably the area of its spine, drawing a screech out of it. Kuros’s weapon penetrated deep into its midsection, doing it a major hit. And then Dergosh came roaring in with a high, overhead blow to its head that sent green ichor flying.

The shambler knew it was in trouble. It struggled to get to its feet. Mace, sword, and fists met it, pummelling it with damage. Somehow it did manage to stand up, and roared its pain and frustration like a boiling kettle’s cry. But the grease under its feet was still too slick, and it dared not try to retreat.
“tangletangletangletangle!” chittered the little fey on the wanderwood branch, and the forest responded– from behind the shambling mound, twigs, branches, and leaves came to life, clawing at the monster. It managed to throw off the grasping foliage, but it wouldn’t be making a hasty retreat.
How about we shine a little more light on the situation, said the calm, cultured voice, and the little dragon shifted slightly where it hovered in the air. A flare of light burst before the shambler’s eyes, but the creature shook its head in rage and frustration, unaffected.

Spoiler

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Korlann: 1d20+3 – 23
Dergosh: 1d20+10 – 22
Kuros: 1d20+4 – 22
Gakan: 1d20+4 -- 20
Shambling Mound: 1d20+0 -- 18
Grig – 18
Little dragon – 18
Three: 1d20+9 – 17
Ruk: 1d20+0 – 13

Spoiler: Map

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Nice AoOs in there as the shambling mound tried to get up. Dergosh and Kuros hit it pretty hard, Korlann missed – I can save you some mathematics by indicating it’s at 10/60 hitpoints right now, so one or two more good passes should do it. It saved against the Entangle spell cast on it, but it’s down to 25% movement because the grease and residual entangle effect, i.e. it can only move five feet at a time. It saved against the dragon’s Flare spell.

[bcool999]

Kuros roars as his shield which was raised against the Shambler's retaliation opened out like a doorway, and through that opened passage the gladius shot out stabbing toward the enemy. With a flourish, Kuros sends his longsword to once again slash at the Shambler before spinning away. Kuros borrows the momentum from the movement to bring his hammer to bear in a crushing blow.

Spoiler: OOC

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Full Attack!
Gladius Attack: (1d20+4)[5] Damage: (1d6+2)[3] Piercing
Longsword Attack: (1d20+4)[5] Damage: (1d8+3)[8] Slashing
5ft. step to N37
Lucerne Hammer: (1d20+4)[13] Damage: (2d4+7)[13] Bludgeoning

[almondsAndRain]

With her allies tearing into the beast with weapons and magic, Three was confident that they were going to survive. To help ensure that, she shuffled her feet back where they were moments before, and aimed her spear between Korlann and Kuros.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Free Action: Five-foot step, back where she was last round.
Standard Action: Attacks the Shambling Mound with her longspear.

Attack Roll: (1d20)[19]
Damage Roll: (1d8)[6]
Spellcraft roll to learn what the first spell was: (1d20+7)[18]
Spellcraft roll to learn what the second spell was: (1d20+7)[23]

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann nods as Kuros and Dergosh join him against the creature, not bothering with words in the situation. Shifting his stance, he gives a sharp cry and lashes out with a palm strike with his right hand. Pulling the hand back, he pivots on his foot, bringing his other arm around to lash with the unfurled spines along it at the shambler.

Spoiler: Actions

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Flurry of Blows
Attack 1: (1d20+2)[18]
Damage: (1d6+4)[7]

Attack 2: (1d20+2)[6]
Damage: (1d6+4)[9]

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Three's spear lanced into the shambler's midsection, ichor pouring out of it - some dreadful internal organ seemed to have been pierced, and the shambler now was twitching as it tried to move. Korlann saw it, capitalised on it. His palm drew back, and he gave the kiai as the blow landed, delivering force to the same part of the creature's body. He turned for another strike with the spines of his arm, but it was already over: the shambler gave a hissing cry of agony, stiffened...

...and toppled to the earth, eight thousand pounds of forcing shaking the ground as it fell for the last time. Bits of its body shook with the force, and in particular, a few small objects shook loose from the camoflague of leaves, trees, and branches it had used upon itself. The objects seemed to have lodged in the shambler's camoflague like bits of food between a human's teeth, but with the monster's fall, they now came loose: two small, glass bottles, a tiny purse, a leather-wrapped scroll, and an empty scabbard stained the colour of rust.

"Yay!" piped the little grig on the tree branch, hopping up and down on cricket legs. "Old rottenhead! Meanie old biggins!"
Good show, old chaps, came the calm, cultured voice in their heads. The little dragon whipped around in a victory loop and zipped up to roost on a low-hanging tree branch, regarding them with glittering rainbow eyes. Terribly sorry we didn't intervene any earlier, but we couldn't be sure whether that old rotter was going to actually be stupid enough to come into your camp.

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That's 450 XP each. When your characters get around to picking up the bits and pieces that came off the shambling mound's body, you'll find:

- The purse contains 30 gold pieces.
- The two bottles are not potions, exactly. One is a thin, black bottle containing an Elixir of Sneakiness, and the other is an Oil of Magic Weapon.
- The leather-wrapped scroll is a scroll of Silent Image and Darkvision. The leather wrapping has allowed the scroll to survive the elements.
- The scabbard, stained the colour of rust, indicates an aura of magic when Detect Magic is used on it, but it's impossible to tell what school or what strength.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann watches as the beast topples, before nodding to himself, his eyes surveying the various items that fell from it. Taking a moment, he turns towards the dragon and says, "We thank you for your assistance here - this creature would have been far more dangerous had you not intervened on our behalf." He offers a respectful bow to the small dragon, then turns towards the other fey and does the same. "My name is Korlann Zehk - these are my companions, Ruk, Three of Three, Dergosh, and Kuros... our other companion Gakan is somewhere as well. What may we call the two of you?" Returning his attention to the assorted items dropped by the plant-beast, he quickly gathers them up, passing the bottles, scroll and scabbard towards Three and commenting, "You seem to have the best knowledge of arcana among us - perhaps you could try to get a better idea of what these are?" As the Warforged takes the items, he then turns towards Ruk and Dergosh and says, "And would the two of you be able to track Gakan down?"

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The little dragon fluttered across to the same tree branch that the grig was standing on. Yes, quite, the dragon's voice echoed in their minds. I am Perlivash. My companion is--
"Tyg-Titter-Tut! Tyg-Titter-Tut!" The little grig was almost jumping in place.
--Tyg-Titter-Tut, yes. And I do believe we should be thanking you, for being such good sports about our little japes earlier today. Perlivash suddenly sprung off the branch, zipped a couple of times around the tree's trunk, and then landed again. It isn't often that we receive visitors willing to gift us with such little lovelies as the treats you provided.
"All the other bigginses around here are meanies," said Tyg-Titter-Tut, with a strangely adorable scowl on her tiny face. "You here to beat up the bigginses?"

[Zombulian]

Ruk was mildly disappointed that he hadn't had a chance to get in on the action against the monster, but only mildly. He moved out from behind the wagon and towards the rest of the group when Korlann introduced the company. While he did have some perception that Korlann had asked him some sort of question, his eyes were fixed on the small dragon.
"I-I'm glad you liked the sweets I made. Thank you for saving our skins, Pervilash and Tyg Titter-tut. I'm Ruk." He paused sheepishly for a moment, "I'm sorry. I mean no offense but... what are you?"

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The little dragon looked over Ruk, rainbow eyes whirling. I?

Perlivash took to the air, cutting loop upon loop, hovering for a moment, silhouetted against the trees and the moon. I am this forest. I am one with beast and root and flower. I am the spirit of the wind, the ray of sunlight in the clearing, the smell of summer, I am--
"He big showoff," grumbled Tyg-Titter-Tut, jerking her thumb at the dragon. "Speak right in people's brains, so don't have to use mouth. He spit too much if he talk your tongue."
Tyg!
"What? You made face wet yesterday when you ask where could find some supple saplings."
Now, that's just--hmph! It didn't seem possible to mentally vocalise a huff of disgust, but the dragon managed to do it, and immediately zipped off into the high boughs of the nearest wanderwood, out of their sight.
"He back soon," said Tyg-Titter-Tut, examining a fingernail that glowed in the moonlight. "He afraid of the dark. Him, Perlivash - he a faerie dragon. Never heard of one? Me, Tyg-Titter-Tut -- me a grig. This our home," she added, gesturing and seeming to take in the whole of the forest with the wave of a tiny arm. "So you not tell me - you here, beat up nasty bigginses?"

[Mercurion 2]

Wiping splatters of green ichor from his face, Dergosh gave a satisfied nod and grunt to his three companions gathered around the deceased shambler. He gave the pile of vegetation a hearty kick; not even trophy worth taking in pile of dead bush.

Perlivash took to the air, cutting loop upon loop, hovering for a moment, silhouetted against the trees and the moon. I am this forest. I am one with beast and root and flower. I am the spirit of the wind, the ray of sunlight in the clearing, the smell of summer

Dergosh nodded knowingly. “See, this is Greenbelt,” he said to his companions, while waving at the two fey. Turning to the grig and the dragon, he continued, “Yes, spirits of the Greenbelt, the Wolftooth Clan thank you for your help with big pile of leaves.” Unlike some he thought, giving a sidelong glare to Ruk and Gakan. Time enough to deal with them later, after spirits of Greenbelt not around.

“We also put elk out of its misery, which was being cooked alive by nasty lantern light. We go back later to deal with lantern, too, if that alright with you.”

[almondsAndRain]

When the monster hit the ground with enough force to shake the earth, Three felt relief pour over her. That fight should have gone a lot worse than it did. Miraculously, it seemed that, again, no one in the Company was harmed during the fighting. She would have to thank the fey for that, later. Maybe she'd make them a Potion.
The warforged inspected her longspear, and decided to clean it off before putting it away. What was that green liquid on it? The creature's blood? Out of curiosity, Three neared the monster for a closer look. What she saw forced a nervous laugh out of her mouth: it was a Shambling Mound. How many new adventurers could say they killed something like this? How many new adventurers were killed by something like this? Three shook her head, and moved her face closer to the corpse. She would have to have a go at it, later. These were resistant to fire and healed by electricity- though she didn't get how a glorified weed could be resistant to either of those things- maybe its materials can be used to craft something with those abilities. If not, then she could at least carve herself a holy symbol of Gond out of it. She needs one to create items of divine spells, and He would probably appreciate a symbol made out of a magical creature.
Three walked away from the corpse and took the magical goodies Korlann offered her. She nodded at him, and held the scabbard up, wanting a better view of it. Why did the Shambling Mound have these things? Did it eat someone that was holding them? No, that would have broken the vials... Three shook her head briefly, to chase off the irrelevant thoughts- she had a job to do. She addressed the rest of her party, before leaving them to handle the business with the fey. “I'll see what I can't do. Good work back there, with the Shambler.”
She got her knees by one of the stumps by the campfire, and placed the new magical items on top of it. The warforged slipped the leather scroll open and inspected it. It was about two feet long, which meant it had two spells imbued in it. Lucky her. One spell she recognized instantly- she had just scribed a Silent Image scroll two days before. The second spell took longer to decipher, but it was a good one: Darkvision. Now one more of them could see in the dark as well as Dergosh or Gakan. She put her backpack down on the ground next to the stump, and pulled her scroll case out of it. With the new scroll safely stored, she turned to the vials.
Holding the thin black vial up the light of the fire, Three wasn't sure what it was at first. She was worried about the black liquid at first- that's normally not a good sign, but with magic you can never tell- but eventually discovered that it was safe. It was a Potion- well, technically an Elixir, but the difference is largely academic- that made the drinker more stealthy, for a time. It was useful, especially since they were going to be ambushing more bandits. Three decided to give it to either Gakan or Ruk later. Probably Ruk, since he was reliable, what with Gakan fleeing the battle and all.
The second vial was easier to inspect. It was an Oil of Magic Weapon, which was also a good find. Just not for Three, for whom it was redundant. She made a mental note to hand these two vials to other members of the party, along with the two Shield of Faith potions they took from Happs.
Three stored the vials in the chest, and decided to hand them out later. The others may need more rest. Waking up to that couldn't have been fun.
She carried the rust-colored scabbard to the far end of the camp, away from the rest of the party. It was a precaution taken in case this thing was dangerous, to avoid harming the others too, but she doubted it was necessary. Most likely, this was enchanted with something very weak. There aren't that many universal spells, and she doubted this thing granted Wishes.
Three drew the dagger out of her boot and slowly inserted it into the scabbard, to see if it had any effect.

[Zombulian]

Ruk looked at the Grig and gave a tired smile, "Yes. I believe that is exactly what we're here to do."

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Across the clearing from where Tyg-Titter-Tut was chirruping away, Three placed her dagger into the rust-coloured scabbard.

Nothing seemed to happen: no flare of magic that she could see, no sudden noise, and (thankfully) no sound of anything chomping away at the blade.

So she pulled it out. To find the blade of the dagger was sheened red. In the moonlight, fresh-looking blood now covered the blade from crossguard to tip.

[almondsAndRain]

“This is-” The warforged caught herself. What was it, exactly? Concerning? Fascinating? Whatever it was, it was now dripping blood onto her gauntlet. She dropped her hand from above her head to about waist-level, then continued to stare in disbelief at her dagger and the scabbard. She wracked her mind for any information related to this, but came up short.
She placed her dagger on the floor, and then grabbed a small stick. Further testing was required. Three knew what this did to daggers, but not to other blades, and definitely not non-weapons. She'll borrow someone's sword, after showing the party what it does. How they'll react to this, she couldn't say. Three jammed her stick into the scabbard, to see what happened.

Regardless of the outcome, Three spends one-minute afterwards inspecting her dagger for any signs of magic.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Using the Artificer Knowledge class feature to determine whether the dagger is magical or not: (1d20+4)[16]
If she rolls a fifteen or higher, she succeeds. It doesn't tell her any of the properties of the item, it's basically just a single-target Detect Magic spell that has a failure-rate, takes a minute to cast, and doesn't tell you what school the magic is from.
+1 from being a first level Artificer, +3 from her Intelligence modifier.

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The stick emerged from the scabbard clean (well, insofar as a stick with bits of dirt, leaf fragments, and possibly some ancient bird droppings smeared on it could be clean.) There wasn't a spot of blood to be seen.

Three spent a long, long moment peering at the blood-soaked dagger, turning it over and over in her hands, scanning over it inch by inch. But it proved as clean of magic as the stick was of blood. Whatever was being done to the dagger in the scabbard, it wasn't giving it any magical properties. Nor was the dagger bleeding, as occurred to her for a moment - the blood dripping from the blade wasn't being replaced at all.

Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle turned toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee! And on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood, which was not so before! There was a zephyr of wind against Three's wooden cheek, and a blur of motion to her right. Perlivash, the faerie dragon, landed and perched on a fallen log across from her, little orange claws holding onto the log. Apologies. There was once a great bard of the fey, Shacklespare, who wrote great speeches about humans overly obsessed with blood-soaked daggers. I must say, I have yet to see anything of your kind before. If it not be impolite for me to ask, what exactly are you?

Across the clearing, Tyg was bouncing excitedly at Ruk's remark. "Goody! Goody! Goody! Yep, those bigginses are no fun, no fun at all. We went all round their camp, they never give us one gift, not one. An' that mean girl biggins, she saw me once. Threw a dagger at me! At me! Ohhhhhh, what a meanie she was." The grig mimed punching an imaginary opponent, which would have looked impressive had it not been coming from someone the size of a cat. Then she seemed to remember herself, and bounced along the wanderwood branch to look directly at Dergosh. "You mean lantern lights? Old Jack o' the lantern, falsefire? No, them not often in the wood. Tyg-Titter-Tut's heard of an island, though, where there's meant to be lots of them. You wanna kill, go right ahead, Tyg-Titter-Tut don't care." She suddenly began examining her fingernails again, working a little dirt out from underneath the right thumb with an intense look of concentration.

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann smiles at the actions of the two fey and says, "If you're referring to the bandits that dwell within this forest, then yes, we are here to stop them."

Looking around the camp, he then says, "Dergosh? Ruk? We do still need to find Gakan..."

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

As Korlann turned to speak to Dergosh, his spines caught the light of the campfire.
Tyg-Titter-Tut gave a sudden, indrawn breath. "Ooooh. Pretty!" She leaped off the branch of the wanderwood, gliding through the air in a moment, landing neatly on the monk's shoulder and balancing there as if she belonged there (given having at least two more legs than was customary helped considerably).

The fey was peering closely at the spines emerging from Korlann's arms, back, and legs. "So pretty!" she said. "Wow! Where you get them? You paint them? Would look even better with lots of pink and glitter! Here, I think I got a pot and brushes--"

The grig started rummaging amongst her (tiny) belt pouches.

[BluesEclipse]

As the fey speaks, Korlann's expression shifts from amused, to horrified at the grig's suggestion. "P-Pink?" Turning his gaze towards his passenger, he says, "I do appreciate the aid you've given us, Tyg-Titter-Tut - both you and Perlivash. I will ask that you not touch my spines, however. To answer your questions, they are a part of me - something unique to my people. And no, they are not painted - this color is natural." He then pauses for a moment, contemplative, before saying, "And I think I'd prefer to avoid glitter on a day-to-day basis - but perhaps if I ever find myself with the honor of stepping onto the ceremonial stage of the Mishtoran, it could work well among my adornments there..."

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

By this point the grig had retrieved a tiny brush and had raised it, poised to strike. "You sure? Could just try the glitter on now, see what it looks like." But she looked over Korlann's horrified features and shrugged, stowing the brush and pot of glitter away with a sigh. "Okay. Wish more people wanted get painted. Nobody want to. Even Perlivash stopped letting Tyg-Titter-Tut paint his balls."

There was an uncomfortable silence.
The grig looked around at the Wolftooth Company. "What? He got little glass balls. Likes to play with them all the time back in our nest."
"Oh, you mean marbles," said Korlann, relieved.
"Yeah. Why, what you think I mean?" Tyg-Titter-Tut bounced off Korlann's shoulder. "Maybe you little-biggins friend over there want to paint, he look like he into it."

She hopped across to Ruk in a bound. "You kobold, right? Got all those scaly bits on you, an' got five colours all over you, but Tyg-Titter-Tut knows a kobold when she sees one. You different from the other ones we seen the other day. You want new paint job?"

[almondsAndRain]

“I am a warforged.” Three tilted her head as she looked at the little dragon. She had never expected to meet a dragon before. If she had been told a year ago that she was going to meet one, she would have assumed that it would have been larger than a house, with scales as strong as adamantine, and breath that could melt her to slag. Something the size of a house cat, carried aloft by butterfly wings, would never have occurred to her. “Your friend said that you are a fairy dragon.”
Three glanced down at the dagger in her hand. She would have to clean it soon. Rather than start on that, she held it and the scabbard higher in the air so the dragon could get a better view of them. She doubted he would know anything, but it does it doesn't hurt to ask. “Do you happen to know anything about things like this scabbard? It's odd. It has a magical signature, but no discernible school. And when you do this-” Three re-inserted her dagger into the sheathe, before pulling it back out, “It covers the dagger in blood.”

[Mercurion 2]

Tyg-Titter-Tut gave a sudden, indrawn breath. "Ooooh. Pretty!" She leaped off the branch of the wanderwood, gliding through the air in a moment, landing neatly on the monk's shoulder and balancing there as if she belonged there (given having at least two more legs than was customary helped considerably).

The fey was peering closely at the spines emerging from Korlann's arms, back, and legs. "So pretty!" she said. "Wow! Where you get them? You paint them? Would look even better with lots of pink and glitter! Here, I think I got a pot and brushes--"

Dergosh once again admired Korlann’s spines, which the fey had also wisely noted. He thought the spines would look good painted, maybe not in pink, but more in the dripping blood color the scabbard had produced on Three’s dagger. This briefly lead to him thinking about how to put each of Korlann’s spines in the scabbard before something else Tyg had said finally penetrated his brain.

“You know where other bandits are camped? The Wolftooth Clan”—he waved his arms around the company—“is here to put fear into their hearts and swords into their bellies. You take us to their camp, join with the Wolftooth, and drive goblin bandits from forest.”

Looking around the camp, he then says, "Dergosh? Ruk? We do still need to find Gakan..."

“Do we?” Dergosh replied, rekindled disgust bubbling up in his voice. “I’ve seen braver Bearclaw warriors,” he growled, also catching Ruk in his glare. “You run away from Wolftooth allies in battle, try to save own green skin and leave friends to die…should just keep running I think. No place in Wolftooth for goblin cowards.”

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

Perlivash's head tilted to one side as the little dragon considered the scabbard. No, his voice echoed through Three's mind after a moment. I have never heard of such a thing. Which is no answer, I fear - that beastly fellow could have been carrying that scabbard for league upon league and not even know it was caught in its branches. Tyg-Titter-Tut and I make these woods our home, and there are many places we have seen in this part of the Greenbelt, but even then these woods are still full of surprises. Full of memories.
"Exactly how long have you been living out here?"
A day? A turn of Selune? A hundred years? We do not count the time the way you do. We were here when men from the north, stinking of sulphur, came looking to make homes here. We were here when they left, and we are still here now.
"Men from the north, stinking of sulphur," echoed Three. Some part of her shivered. These faeries were nowhere near as young as they first appeared, if her suspicion was correct. Perlivash could be referring to the Emmerock settlers who'd come through this area decades before. Emmerock's coast was on the Lake of Steam, and sometimes clouded and smelled of the alchemists' substance. If he had seen them first arrive...
But even their smell is gone now too, came Perlivash's thought. Only memories of them remain. Them, and others. What is a warforged? Did some war forge you?

Across the clearing, Tyg-Titter-Tut had turned with a look of incredulity at Dergosh. "Tyg-Titter-Tut not joining nothing. You want bigginses camp? You on right track. One mile, go straight that way," she said, flicking a hand in the direction Kuros knew the bandits' tracks led. "When you get turned into pincushion by arrows and daggers, you there." The little grig frowned. "Wait ... you think Tyg-Titter-Tut talking to you painted friend about bandits? Nope, you silly! Me talking about kobolds. Like this one!" (She had by this point bounced up next to Ruk, and was tugging on the bottom cuff of his pants.) "Saw bunch other day. No, other week. Month? Don't get 'em often in wood. Tyg-Titter-Tut thought kobolds not like big trees."

[bcool999]

Kuros sheathes his weapons after the Shambler fell. Relief flooding through him that their giant opponent had no chance to strike, or worse yet, to pull one of them into it's brambles to devour. Leaving the others to converse with the fey, Kuros calms the horses and mules who were dancing about in agitation at the noise, and stoked and fed the fire a bit to help it recover after being bespelled.

[kjelfalconer]

He had to admit, he was surprised. He hadn't expected the fae from the night before to intervene, nor had he expected the shambler to actually die so quickly. Apparently grease and shambling didn't mix.

But it left him in something of a predicament. Because now he either had to find his way back to town with no supplies, or deal with the walk of shame back into the group he just abandoned.

He settled for awkwardly hiding in the trees instead.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hide check (someone please spot me): (1d20+8)[12]

[BluesEclipse]

Korlann frowns slightly at Dergosh, before replying, "While I'm not entirely pleased at his choice of actions, I also don't believe that the fight would have been nearly as simple had our friends here not joined in, so his actions are somewhat understandable. Once he returns, we will allow him to explain himself - and as a group, we will discuss what happens from there." Sighing, he then continues, "But if you aren't willing to go after him, then I understand - that is your choice, though I was hoping you'd be willing to as your eyes are more tuned to the darkness than mine are."

[almondsAndRain]

“I was created by an elderly elf, who has scared of death. He wanted to be sure he could create a construct that could house a soul, before attempting to turn his body into one.” Three shook her head. She still wasn't sure if the day Eron died was a good one or not. “His plan didn't pan out.”
Warforged are exactly that: constructs with a soul.” Three rubbed her left hand, where some of her old armor used to be implanted. “The name comes from how we are usually created heavily armored and with a penchant for battle.”
Three looked back at the scabbard, more out of an attempt to pause for time to think than to inspect it any further. These fey are old, and surely had information that could help the Company survey the Greenbelt. Perhaps they would give them the information freely? “Perlivash, would you say there any interesting landmarks or exceptionally dangerous creatures, around here? My party and I will likely be spending a good deal of time in the area. We were entrusted with exploring the Greenbelt, you see.”

[Saintheart]

The Greenbelt, Beyond Emmerock, the Border Kingdoms
Before Dawn, Third of Kythorn, Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR)

The little dragon took to the air, buzzing three quick loops before hovering for a moment. Oh, there are many dangerous things and many landmarks in this part of the Greenbelt. Now, we haven't been south of the Thorn River for years, but I can think of a few different places you might find interesting reasonably close by.

Perlivash buzzed over and landed on Three's head, balancing adroitly and pointing in different directions with his tail.

That campful of mean rotters you already know. You'll find it a mile or so further that way, not far at all. The place has been rather interesting when we have wandered about it.

Back about half a day northeast, you will also find a rather nice little glade in the middle of a circle of wanderwoods. A perfectly round circle, no less. I don't believe it was the work of the woods that the trees grew that way or that the glade stays that way, free of undergrowth and weeds. That glade was here long before the men from the north came. All sorts of different plants used to grow there, but never a single weed or tallgrass from the plains. I think the rotters in the camp have never found it.

It is not the only glade in this part of the woods, of course. Do not confuse it with another one, back about a day northwest. It, and the woods around it, are filled with bear traps, well-concealed. The rotten swine who planted them has left them to catch bear and any other unfortunate thing that crosses his path, including men.
"Does he live in that area?"
Not anymore.

About a day west of here, you will find the source of the Skunk River. Rather an appropriate name, the stream stinks to the heavens, mostly because there are some absolutely lovely hot springs at the source. That was one of our favourite spots, even if we did have to take nosepegs with us every time we wanted to bathe there. But then some giant frogs decided to move in. We have not been back since.

And then there is the Temple of the Earthmother. Half a day west of here. It is hidden now, amongst overgrown brambles, but we know the way there. That place was built by the men of the north, and it was one of the last places to fall as they left. A beast guards it now. One we do not trifle with.
"You called it the Temple of the Earthmother. Is the Earthmother a god?"
One of the first your creators' kind worshipped. I believe they call her the Mother, or the Great Mother.
"Chauntea."
Yes. It was a place sacred to her.

The dragon abruptly raised its head, looking over to a rather ordinary patch of shrub off at the edge of the clearing. All the members of the Wolftooth Clan could hear his next thoughts: I say, is there some reason your furry companion is hiding over there in the bushes? If he is waiting to launch a surprise attack on the big rottenhead, he might be waiting rather a while I would have thought.

Spoiler

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I'll be updating your exploration map soon to include each of these mentioned sites so you know which way to go or where to find them again. Assume that Perlivash accompanies his thoughts with sufficient mental images and sufficient instructions to reach each of these sites once you're in fairly close proximity to them without having to make a Search check, but they don't stop you potentially getting lost on the way to each of them. It's not like you can follow tracks back to them as you have thus far.

EDIT: Exploration map has been updated, it's at the front page of the thread.