"Thanks Bela. I'm okay, I think. A little shaken still, but I'll be fine, I think. Are you okay?" Qina's hands still shook a little as the adrenaline wore off, but she tried hard to put on a brave face. "Thanks for having my back...or my front. Both I suppose. Uh, thanks...for the help."
Gad shoulders his pack with ease.
"I'm ready, so let's move out. I'll take the lead again but stay in shouting distance of course. Remember just shout or send Crow if you need me."
At that point Gad checks the map in Vivian's hands, then starts a slow jog down the her indicated path.
Everyone gathers the gear and heads out in much the same marching order as before with Gad leading the way. The day continues to brighten, but the grip of winter is sure to be on its way. The sky remains clouded and the temperature is a bit colder than is regular for this time of year, but it is nothing your exercise and gear can't handle.
The sounds of nature continue unabated for your walk, and you can occasionally see squirrels, chipmunks, and other small mammals collecting food to be stored for the winter.
It is not more than an hour into your journey that the trees begin to thin, revealing a field of short, green grass that leads to the shores of a wide, calm lake reflecting the overcast sky above. A dense fog hangs over the center of the lake, obscuring the far side. Near the shore of the lake, a dark form lies next to the water.
Keeping an eye out for a trap, Gad will approach the dark form carefully and kneel next to it to see what it is before everyone gets there.
Along the Journey Brezik makes sure to point out every squirrel, chipmunk, rabbit and other rodent that he sees. Each time the Paladin reacts excitedly the Dwarf chuckles. He also keeps the paladin with the party and jokes with him and the rest of his companions constantly even if many of his jokes he is the only one laughing at.
And then POP!!! went the WEASEL... DO YOU get it Allister?... the WEASEL WENT....
Mid-Joke Brezik grows silent sensing the change in the demeanor of his companions and an ominousness in the air. In a more sullen tone...
I hope that whatever that it is... it's no threat... and if it's a "who" that they are okay.
Gad will grab the sword and cash for the group to decide what to do with it.
Once he hears the group approaching, Gad will motion for them to stop.
"Everybody wait just a second. Vivian, you need to see this. Bring Bel."
"What do we do? Do we stay back or move up? Vivian? Will Gad be alright by himself?" Qina looked to the sky while her hand unconsciously went to her shoulder. She hadn't seen Crow in a while and it made her anxious. "Should we be quiet? I want to whistle for Crow but if you think I shouldn't, I won't."
Disgusted and a bit fascinated, Gad'larr looks around the lake area then at Vivian and Bel.
"What kind of creature could have done this? Vivian you've lived here longer than I. Bel you know death.
Anything to add here? What about the others? I am afraid they might be too delicate for this...mess."
Gad will show the found sword to Vivian and if she does not identify it, will take it to Brezik to see if he could identify the maker and maybe the owner.
"Everybody wait just a second. Vivian, you need to see this. Bring Bel."
As Vivian and Beltharion go up to look at the body...
I hope it's not someone Vivian is related too... That must be why she needed to see it...
Qina call crow we need to know if he's seen anything in his scouting... even if your call to him brings something it's best to get that kind of thing settled sooner rather than later.
When Gad brings the sword back to the group Brezik examines it trying to see if he can find a makers mark and perhaps any clues that would tell of its origin.
Qina nods and whistles for Crow. She continues to scan the skies waiting for the raven to return. She grips her spear tight and tries not to pay too much attention to what the others are looking at.
Crow comes floating out of the sky and alights gently on Qina's shoulder. He preens for a few seconds then looks out at everyone. "It was so nice up in the clouds. I even saw some sort of campsite off to the east following the shoreline, but now I'm back and that means you need my help."
Once the blade is brought back to Brezik he examines it with a critical and trained eye. The maker's marks have been nearly filed off, but their impression in the blade is still visible. This blade was made in the city of Tamran, capital of Nirmathas, and quite some distance from here.
Waving in the direction of the capitol of Nirmathas, Gad seems frustrated.
"The capitol? Why would someone like that be way out here? Are not most of them fighting in the war anyway?"
Looking at Vivian, Gad rubs his chin.
"Snakes you say? Great. Then we should avoid the shore-line immediately. Bel! Back off from the corpse for now. No need to tempt them out."
Brezik is a little more serious than normal...
So My question is according to the map... are we supposed to be here? Can we skirt the lake or do we have to cross it? Also Crow was kind enough to inform us of a camp to the east along the shoreline... Do we want to scout them out and see if they are friendly or just avoid them and get on with our mission.
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The sounds of nature continue unabated for your walk, and you can occasionally see squirrels, chipmunks, and other small mammals collecting food to be stored for the winter.
With Brezik's help, Allister is continuously distracted by the various woodland animals. Each time he sees one he points and gives an excited "OOoooOOOhh!" There is some connection between the paladin and his Dwarf friend, a language that one unwittingly speaks and the other finds riotously funny even though he does not understand it. "A weasel goes POP, HAHAHAH. Hey, I wish I had some bubblegum!" Squirrels, weasels, forest dogs; Allister is having a wonderful day until they find the corpse by the lake shore.
Allister has seen and caused death throughout his life, but dead bodies never cease to make him uncomfortable. He has trouble fathoming what happens to a person when they die. Will my body look like that when I die? What will happen to me, will I be stuck or float away? I should ask Bel later, he would know.
"Can we pull him away from the water? This is not a good place for a dead man, nibbled by little fish." The corpse has stirred up confusing thoughts of mortality in his mind and he hates to see any person be forgotten. "We should check the camp site - warn them of the water snakes."
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Gad'larr nods.
"We all agree. The campsite should be checked out. Besides the body has been floating for a while. The people at the campsite could have been out here looking for him."
Belathorian completely ignores Gad's call to move away from the body
"This man, whoever he is, walks in my lady's garden now. It is for her to shepherd his soul. And for us the body..."
He solemnly lifts the body and carries it further from the shoreline
"Without knowing where he is from I can't be sure but... Grab some rocks, we'll build a cairn and I will say a few words"
The confidence he shows when doing 'what he knows' seems strange in one so young, and indeed one so socially awkward.
The Cairn built is sound and with so many strong party members easily done. With everyone helping out it takes no time at all to complete, though the day does become more somber as the grey clouds above darken a little more.
Brezik is somber and quiet through out the whole little memorial service. He works hard to gather the rocks but is fairly unresponsive to the rest of the party and lost in his own thoughts.
Whatever the survival roll is for, Brezik is too distracted with his thoughts of death to be any help.
As the final stones Belathorian mutters a short prayer under his breath to bless the site to Pharasma. Then lifts this gaze to the skies.
"There is rain coming, in the next couple of hours if I'm any judge. Maybe we should check out the campsite down the river.
My companions are not as acostomed to death as I am, maybe there will be cheer to be had at the camp
Gad closes his eyes for a moment in prayer over the man's cairn.
"Your earthly challenges are over my friend. May Irori guide your steps ever onward."
Stepping away from the grave he looks at the sky, smells the oncoming storm.
"Yes. We should move out again if we want to check out that camp before the rain hits. I will lead the way. Crow!...I'll follow you.
Can you keep pace with me and make sure I don't veer off target?"
Qina is rather reserved during the administering of funeral rights. She tries to pay attention, but her attention wanders. Qina was unused to death and dead bodies. It wasn't her first funeral. People had passed away in Kassen over the years since she was born, but the bodies had been cared for and attended to. Not left in the wild to rot. She began to wonder what would happen to herself, and to her friends. As the clouds rolled in overhead, she slowly focused on their surroundings. "Yeah, it's gonna rain soon."
Crow sat on Qina's shoulder watching the spectacle. He didn't understand any of it, but he could tell when Qina was sad. It didn't happen often, so he was perplexed as to why, but saved his questions for later. When Gad addressed him directly, he fluttered a little and appeared to nod his little head.
"Crow, help us get to the camp and you can have two big bread crumbs." The raven hopped around, spread his wings, and took off. "Of course, my dear. Anything for a snack."
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Vivian stood quietly during the service watching the lake. She barely heard any of the words, too busy thinking about serpents and her mace. She popped back from her reverie at the mention of weather.
"Good eye, let's get to it, quick jog to just within view of the camp. We reconvene with the recon. Gad, get in close if you see an opportunity but don't engage alone. We should be more cautious of non-local folk. "
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Allister is much more comfortable now that the body has been cared for. He helps to carry large stones, though he accidentally drops some on the body harder than he should have. His friends' willingness to help increases his favor and trust in them.
"I know we are here for the Everflame, but I would rather fail because we did what is right."
He marches along under Vivian's command on their way to the camp. It is better to follow her orders than have to think of ideas on my own.
The trip to the campsite is over hardly after it begins. There is still a ring of stones around a fire pit and several tents stand, though they look musty and somewhat moth-eaten. There is not a soul around, though it does look like several animals have been here recently. All of these put together tells you that this campsite has not been used in months.
Well you all say there is a storm to worry about... do we want to weather it here...
Brezik laughs ... Allister!!! I was wondering WHETHER to WEATHER the WEATHER... YOU GET IT!!!!! WHETHER to WEATHER the WEATHER!!! I wonder which will get us Wetter...
Brezik seems to have shook off the strange funk from earlier... he's laughing almost uncontrollably now and even begins routing through his snack supply.
As they continue to walk, Qina can't help but give voice to the question floating around in her head. "Does, does anyone know who that was? Or what happened to him? He died, alone, and so far from home. That's so sad. He should have at least had friends..."
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"Did you see a ghost, Brezik? Wait, is that a riddle? I never know riddles." Allister wanders down closer to the edge of the lake looking for signs of the snakes or more bodies.
"We should keep going, it could rain for days." He picks up a stone and skips it across the water, which is wavy now as the storm approaches. "I'm not afraid of getting wet. But I don't like to swim. Especially in my armor. I tried once. I saw mermaids and stars and drank a whole lot of water."
Growling to himself in frustration Gad'larr smacks his right fist into his other palm.
"Dead capitol folk. A mysterious months old campsite. This just does not add up. Irori is challenging my patience this time."
Trying to calm himself with activity, Gad moves and kneels to look around for more clues to the campsite and maybe identify the animal tracks if possible.
While searching around Gad finds 3 gold pieces that must have spilled out of a bag. Though they're tarnished from the elements, these coins have the same minting as the others found on the corpse by the lake.
Gad'larr flashes the coins he finds.
"Capitol Money. Same minting as from the corpse. Looks like this is where the man was taken from.
These animal signs might be from the snakes Vivian mentioned then."
Getting up, Gad brushes off his knees.
"Unless anybody else has another idea, we should get moving. The Everflame is close."
Turning to Qina, Gad'larr ruffles her hair as he moves back toward the path then points at Crow.
"Thank you for loaning me Crow for a short time little mouse...You Sir are a bird worthy of a song.
It is too bad ravens can't sing."
You continue on your way to the crypt, the day getting darker where there is supposed to be light. You are still able to see, but the predicted rain starts coming down, first as a fine mist, then as a steady drumbeat. Soon small puddles are forming in the hollows of the trees and divots of the trails you follow. It is cold and makes your skin feel clammy and unpleasant. All of your armored companions resemble iron pots under leaky roofs with all of the pinging noise they make from the rain.
The trail leads ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it tops a small rise, a broad valley spreads out before it, the opposite side of which looks like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two lies a steep hill sloping down into the valley. The rain has washed all of the dirt in the area to a slick muddy slurry making the ground slick and treacherous.
Your map marks the entrance to the Crypt at the bottom of this gorge (helpfully labeled Serpent Gorge in bright and sunny characters).
As the travelers continue through the rain Brezik finds himself humming a little tune in rhythm to the dings and pings on their armor. He thinks of the hours of work it will take to deal with the rust and ruined bindings on his friends armor. The promise of useful work actually makes him a bit happy.
One things fer sure. It's going to take blasted ferever to get all your armors back to spit shine polish new condition again.
Brezik continues on humming his little tune in time to the rain dreaming of countless hours of repairing and polishing weapons and armor.
Gad'larr smiles broadly.
"Irori blesses me with another challenge!"
He rubs his chin in thought.
"I could make it down fairly easily myself, but the rest of you lack my mobility...We have an axe right?
Let's find a large tree near the edge of the slope and chop it down in that direction. We will do it as
controlled as possible to try and aim the fall with our strongest. Once the tree is angled down the slope we
try to wedge it into the mud as best we can...and then we just climb down the tree. I can even run down the tree
with a rope and attach it to multiple branches for better stability. What do you all think?"
"Whhhhheeeeeeee!!!!!" Qina giggles as she slides down the muddy slope. Almost at the bottom, she braces her spear out in front of her as it slams into the ground and vaults her over it into a large mud puddle. Soaking wet and completely dirty she stands up shouting "that was so fun!"
"Or you could just try and do that..."
Gad shakes his head at Qina's stunt, but is smiling the whole time.
Smiling at the joy of the young gnome, belathorian is about to try the same when he hears the other plan. He looks on, bemused and having watched Viv ineffectually slicing at the tree for some moments he steps forward
"why not just tie ropes to the trees and use them to climb down... That way this tree doesn't suffer death by a thousand cuts, and you don't arrive at the crypt exhausted and with a blunt sword...
A twinkle comes to his eye
"that or we use your shield as a sled..."
He doesn't smile with this comment and you are not quite sure if he is joking.
Brezik decided to take a classic careful approach, looking for a slightly easier spot to climb down then using his brute strength to slowly lower himself down, using trees and rocks as handholds.
Brezik finds a rockier outcrop not too far from where you first saw the gorge and is able to climb down though it takes a bit longer than Qina's method. There are several large trees that could be cut down and guided down the slope in such a way that it would help you climb down.
Using Brezik's rocks will take DC 12 Climb checks instead of Acrobatics.
Using the tree and ropes will grant a +4 circumstance bonus to the Acrobatics checks.
Reflex Save Result
20 or higher The character catches himself before he slides too far and takes no damage.
15–19 The character slides down a short hill before slamming into a tree. The character takes 1d4 points of nonlethal damage.
10–14 The character slides far down the hill, reducing the number of checks that need to be made by one. Unfortunately, the character also slides through a pair of thickets and lands hard on some rocks, taking 1d6 points of damage.
5–9 The character slides down a muddy hill and then falls down a 20-foot cli", taking 2d6 points of damage. This reduces the number of checks that need to be made by one.
4 or less The character slides all the way to the bottom of the ravine, taking 2d6 points of damage and 1d4 points of Dexterity damage from a horribly sprained ankle.
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Vivian gives Belathorian a sarcastic smile, then readies her greatsword at a fresh tree, "Boys are always scared of a woman with a sword bigger than theirs!"
The swing feels good, sooo good. Vivian has no idea if the creaking tree is going to need another swing, but she feels damn excited about how that felt and a shiver of pleasure runs down her spine.
Vivian's first swing is powerful and starts a good notch that everyone is able to take advantage of. 10 minutes of hard work later the tree snaps and crashes into the gorge. Steam is rising from those that are heavily armored and you can feel a sweat despite the rain, which is starting to feel better. Thunder rumbles ominously above, but the tree is down and an easier path down is clear.
Gad'larr looks at Vivian's handiwork and nods in approval with a broad smile.
"Remind me, My Lady Vivian, never to suggest you can not do something...unless we NEED you to do it."
Gad'larr heads down using the tree as an aid, and to make sure it is secure for everyone else.
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Lightbringer Naabi taught me better than to dull my blade for a game. "Show me how it's done, Vivian." Once the tree is felled onto the muddy slope, Allister looks at it, then the muddy hill, then back to the tree. I don't like the looks of this.
He shuffles down the tree with his half-plate hanging from his backpack and his greatsword standing over his shoulder, mumbling under his breath "please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall..."
The first couple lengths are shaky but successful.
However, while transferring for the third time he slips before his rope is secured and plants his face in the mud then begins to slide. "GuuaaaaaAAAaaaaHHHhhhh," he screams as he slides faster and faster down the slope, scrambling to slow his descent.
Instead, his feet catch a stone outcropping and he goes spinning head over heels like a tomahawk across the muddy plane, "GUUAAAAff...HuUUaah...OooOOOhh...nNGeeAAh!!" He crashes across a pile of rocks and finally comes to a stop in a thorn bed at the bottom of the gorge.