The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
I took the Suspicious trait for a reason. There's a decent chance Ganit will grow into a conspiracy nut :P
DM Aron Marczylo |
** spoiler omitted **
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
Well, there we have it. 2nd Favored Enemy(bottle-nosed aquatic mammals). Can I pick up dolphin with a rank in Linguistics?
Carina Stigard |
She gives a smile and points to her horns and over-all figure.
"Some call my kind the Forlarren. We're a breed of nymph and fiend. We all resent our looks and upbringing, however I'm one of the few who didn't kill my own mother. I manage to keep that side of me under control" she shivers and then speaks again to herself. "No she doesn't. Yes she does. Better control that you. But...human tastes good. Shut up!" she turns back to Carina again after that mini argument "Unfortunately, my emotions are unstable and so I have company where ever I go." she says that in a matter of fact kind of way as if this behaviour wasn't all that strange or even possibly dangerous.
"Take pride you do not act like what people percieve." she gives a soft smile at that and then looks over into the distance "The fey have been speaking about you and your group. Some would like to live with the people, others would like the people to eat but most don't feel one way nor the other and just want to protect their trees and groves as they have done for many years."
Carina listens to the rather strange fey. You can tell your other self that I would probably not taste very good. Apparently I am not a human, but a changeling or a hag or something. I am guessing I would not be very appetizing.
I have met other of you fey, all have been good although I know from stories that there are those among the fey who do favor evil ways. As long as these fey do not harm the human settlers without cause, then I will do all in my power to assure that the settlers do not harm fey. There is no reason why we cannot live together in a peaceful, and beneficial manner.
So tell me, why would you kill your mother? And who, or what is your mother? And how are you part fiend?
The dolphins are trying to help us. It is the Vogons we have to beware of.
Jameson Addercop IV |
I am, need to put in how freaked out Jameson is by a talking horse but I didn't want to spoil it for Zorestar, not sure how many questions he gets and he's already blown one on an answer we knew. ;)
Jameson calms Donal, both of them visibly disturbed by the talking unicorn.
"Easy Donal, easy now."
Donal skitters to the side before calming himself.
Sir Bronwyn Raslov |
Bronwyn looks tired from the discussion, finally sitting down and rubbing his eyes. He looks at the point where Carina went, almost gets up and sits down again. During the unicorn interrogation he actually moves further away from the situation, uncomfortable with the whole highly unnatural situation.
Dead animals talking, what the hell? And to these people it seems so simple.
The knight then calmly unsheates his dented, rusty sword and proceeds to clean the blade and pommel, assuring himself in the slow rhythm of the practice.
So many dents, so much history this blade has seen.
He asks to nobody in particular (though probably only people away from the unicorn will hear):
Is there anything to be done for the blade? Maybe a good smith can hammer it down and take away those dents. It would look as good as new.
Zorestar Lebeda |
"No, and I don't see a reason to. Not yet. Right now I have no way to identify these cultists or see how far they've infected the kingdom. We need keep this discrete; between us. I don't foresee this as an open battle in the streets and, for the most part, that's all we've proved good at. When we need the others we tell them. Until then it's just you and me. No one else can sniff a word of this. Not your maids, your tailors, that Varn girl; no one. For all we know, they're the ones we're looking for."
"I can remain silent, but do you really think we should be worried about Alicia Varn? She seems like such a lovely woman. I cannot imagine she has anything to do with a cult of Orcus. Have you ever listened to her play the harp? Her music is so enchanting! I cannot imagine that she would be involved in anything so sinister!"
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
"Just 'cause you can't imagine it doesn't mean it can't happen. Bottom line is Alicia Varn is the heiress of Varnhold; a country that swears us no allegiance and could easily absorb what petty resources are reserved for this kingdom. I don't know what her or her father's intentions are so if I were you, I'd keep your mouth shut about anything involving your country's goings on."
Zorestar Lebeda |
"Ok, ok! I promise to be careful with what I say to Alicia, but I cannot promise that I cannot mention anything about our country's goings on. You see, I hope to have a national Sjakk tournament at the castle, and I want to make sure that she knows she is invited to play in it. However, I will keep our little secret about the cult of Orcus, but please be sure to ask for help before we get into any sort of trouble and we can't handle the relative extrema of evil that we will draw to ourselves in pursing this matter. Also, please be sure to let me know if you discover anything else related to this evil cult!"
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
With their conversation over, Zorestar rushes to follow Jhod, Jameson and Telias to manipulate the spirit of the unicorn in their favor. Ganit begins moving towards the outskirts of the camp but, after hearing an echo of Carina's words, spitefully decides to stay. Seeing that Bronwyn was the only person available for conversation, Ganit slowly walks in his direction and barely catches his question.
"Unless you know some mage trick to smooth out your sword, it's gonna cost you a few silvers to get her back in shape. In the meantime," he says as he reaches into his pack. "This'll help keep the edge." Ganit tosses Lord Bronwyn a well used whetstone and takes a seat next to him.
"The history of your sword is written in blood. Given the last owner, I'd hate to read that of my bow." He ponders aloud to the bard while rubbing his bony knuckles with scarred, calloused fingers. "Someday I'd like to own one without the weight of history. So freshly carved the wood smells like earth rather than sweat and blood, and bends as silent as a maiden's leg. This one, heh! This one sounds like a wife. She creaks and complains with every pull." He eyes the bard curiously. "I'm sure you got the gold to replace your sword with a fresh one, had enough for that ridiculous crown; why not just have one forged?"
Zorestar Lebeda |
I will repost this, as it seems to have been overlooked. Zorestar is waiting the unicorn's response.
"She...pointed her finger. A line of dark energy came at me and all went black." as he says this it makes apparent to match the spell you figured it was.
Zorestar strokes his beard as he listens to the spirit of the unicorn speak. He then thoughtfully asks another question.
"Was your horn taken by the person who killed you, Unicorn?"
DM Aron Marczylo |
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
"You're lucky for being so beautiful." as she says this she gives a bow to you "Never let someone's speech about your heritage disrupt you or lead you to anger. Afterall, if a creature like me, part fey and part demon can sit down and speak with you then there is hope for any intelligent creature of this world." with that she makes her way to leave, heading deeper south into unmarked territory.
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
I will repost this, as it seems to have been overlooked. Zorestar is waiting the unicorn's response.
Unicorn wrote:"She...pointed her finger. A line of dark energy came at me and all went black." as he says this it makes apparent to match the spell you figured it was.Zorestar strokes his beard as he listens to the spirit of the unicorn speak. He then thoughtfully asks another question.
"Was your horn taken by the person who killed you, Unicorn?"
Jhod looks to you and shakes his head.
"The spell only allows you to speak to the creature's memory of what it knew in life. Anything that happened before it died, it would remember but afterwards it was dead so he retains no memory." he points out the limitations of the spell. "Who would do something so barberic as kill a unicorn? Such beautiful and intelligent creatures."Carina Stigard |
Carina continues to sit on a fallen log in the woods and watches as the strange fey walks away. Demon fey, how strange. But as this one showed, there is good in all of us. It must be tough to fight the pull of the abyss.
She then looks up and realizes that she has no clue how she got here or how to get back to the unicorn pool.
Survival:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 <-- great, just when I want a low roll so that I can get lost, I get this.
She starts to look for her tracks, initially she cannot find them, but eventually she finds a rock with an acid mark on it, and then another. After fifteen minutes or so, she finds her way back to the group. But, when she arrives, she has a rather bitter look on her face that certain people did not follow and rescue her.
Zorestar Lebeda |
"The spell only allows you to speak to the creature's memory of what it knew in life. Anything that happened before it died, it would remember but afterwards it was dead so he retains no memory."
"I see! So creatures who make the passing may not necessarily be able to see into the prime material plane. Very interesting."
Turning back to the unicorn, Zorestar asks, "What was your name in this world, noble beast?"
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
The creature takes it's time, giving an honest reply
"Shakti." it merely states.
Jhod nods to what Zorestar says, though he doesn't appear to understand what he actually said.
"It's the knowledge based on them being alive. Their knowledge is there, but the soul has passed on." he states, trying to explain this to Zorestar "It only works on creatures who can understand our language. A normal horse, for example, wouldn't understand but this poor once magnificent beast is far more intelligent and can speak in our tongue."
Zorestar Lebeda |
"It's the knowledge based on them being alive. Their knowledge is there, but the soul has passed on." he states, trying to explain this to Zorestar.
"Well, we understand that the being who killed the unicorn was female and used a terrible spell known as Finger of Death. However, we do not know much else about her. I wonder what further questions we can ask that will give us a further lead."
Zorestar looks to his companion to see they have any questions they would like to ask. Then, turning to the spirit of the unicorn, Zorestar speaks, "Shakti, Tell me what this hunter looked like. What kind of creature was your slayer?"
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
The creature then goes back to repeating it's earlier clue.
"Purest, corrupted beauty." and with that the spell fades and it remains still once again. Still, no flies touch the creature and it remains in perfect condition.
"I could help you bury the creature or burn it so it decomposes naturally, but even then I don't know if it will. The spell will often make the recipient vague and I'm afraid the one way we could get a answer out of the creature would be if we could bring it back to life, but that kind of power is far beyond me, as was the spell on the scroll." he shrugs as he looks down at the creature "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. At least you have a clue to who might've done this."
Zorestar Lebeda |
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. At least you have a clue to who might've done this."
"Actually, you were a fine help! Divine magic always does make me a little curious. I would never have guessed that talking to the dead was actually possible. However, that was very interesting indeed. Purest corrupted beauty." Zorestar states matter of factly as he strokes his beard."Hmm? What an interesting clue. I wonder if we will recognize it when we see it? Well anyway, thank you very much, Jhod! You were a splendid help. I suppose we should bury the remains of this noble creature. Telias, would you care to help us dig a hole to bury the unicorn in?"
Zorestar Lebeda |
"If it can point at you and kill you we'll probably recognize it Zorestar. Most likely it'll be pointing at us at the time."
"Well, let us ever be on guard against beautiful individuals who appear to have fallen from grace and are pointing their fingers at others."
DM Aron Marczylo |
Jameson wrote:"If it can point at you and kill you we'll probably recognize it Zorestar. Most likely it'll be pointing at us at the time.""Well, let us ever be on guard against beautiful individuals who appear to have fallen from grace and are pointing their fingers at others."
This is starting to sound like how the Salem witch-trails might've started. For argument's sake, let's say the talking to the unicorn happened during the argument and ended before she came back, due to the amount of time she took in the forest alone.
Zorestar Lebeda |
When Carina returns, Zorestar is relieved and comments to her, "Ahh, Carina! I am so pleased to see you back among us. We were trying to determine who killed this poor unicorn and stole his horn. It was a powerful female who casts a spell called Finger of Death. I believe it makes the heart stop by simply pointing a finger at it. Have you ever heard of such magic? I believe it to be from the school of necromancy!"
Carina Stigard |
Carina smiles at Zorestar: I don't need a spell to make a man's heart stop.
She then walks over to Bron and slaps him: That is for not following me.
She then heads over to Jhod to see if he needs any help. Gesturing at Bron, she says: If we need to dig a hole, the useless one over there needs to do some hard labor to repent. Want him to dig a hole for the noble beast?
If Bron starts to dig, Carina will cast Enlarge Person on him to help speed things up.
DM Aron Marczylo |
She then walks over to Bron and slaps him: That is for not following me.
tut, women. the either don't want you to follow them and slap them when you don't or you do follow them, get into a bigger argument, but still get slapped. Poor Bronwyn.
Sir Bronwyn Raslov |
Previously responding to Ganit, since his response slip through the gaps and I hadn't seen it:
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
"Ay, that'd be the dream."
When Bronwyn was finished tending the edge of his blade with Ganit's whetstone, the ranger set to fine his daggers while the others decided how best to deal with the unicorn.
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
"This is not something i'd normally consider, but since the creature doesn't rot, if you ever gain a means to bring it back to life we could learn more about it's attacker." it's clear that even Jhod doesn't like this suggestion, but in this unique case Erastil is sure not to punish, especially after learning what happened to the last man of that temple who betrayed his deity.
Zorestar Lebeda |
"This is not something i'd normally consider, but since the creature doesn't rot, if you ever gain a means to bring it back to life we could learn more about it's attacker."
"So if the unicorn doesn't rot, what do you propose we do with it? Jhod, my friend, do you want to bring it back to your temple, or does the noble creature have a home where we can place its body?"
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
"My father used to have this trick," Ganit chimes in as he streaks a whetstone down the long blade of his stiletto. "Used to ask the trees where the best game was hiding. Don't know if he was just toyin' with me er not but he always seemed to find something or other afterwards."
Ooop. Just realized that was a 3rd lvl spell and I don't feel like not posting this now.
Zorestar Lebeda |
"Used to ask the trees where the best game was hiding. Don't know if he was just toyin' with me er not but he always seemed to find something or other afterwards."
"So did the trees answer back? Is this a trick you've tried yourself with any luck? Maybe you could ask where the attacker went? I've always wondered if trees could talk, what they would reveal to us!"
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
"If they did I didn't hear it. He knew more about the wilds than I could ever hope to. A druid he fancied himself. Blessed by Erastil himself."
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
"If they did I didn't hear it. He knew more about the wilds than I could ever hope to. A druid he fancied himself. Blessed by Erastil himself."
"He must have been blessed by Erastil indeed." Jhod says with a smile of interest "Every person is different and so the gods speak to us in different ways" he explains, attempting not to sound like he's preaching.
He consider's Zorestar's question for a moment.
"We could bury the creature in consecrated ground. I'm sure Erestil would not mind that and if you become powerful enough to raise the dead by some kind of magical means you can dig him back up." he considers what he says very carefully "However, I'm sure the fey would be pleased if it were buried somewhere in the forest. Maybe even here."
Carina Stigard |
As they begin to work, Carina goes over to Jhod.
I actually had a vision of a beautiful lake here with a statue of a unicorn in the middle, it seemed to be a monument of thanks to the fey. I hope that we are able to build such a monument in the near future to thank the fey for their help and to show whoever destroyed this beautiful creature that her crime shall not be forgotten.
Jhod Kavken AKA DM |
"That is a brave thing to say, Carina." Jhod smiles but then bows in embaressment. "I mean, your baroness. I'm sure such a monument would be well loved by the fey."
As time passes, Bronwyn and Jameson manage to dig a deep enough pit to let the creature be laid to rest. Taking it up and then slowly lowering it as everyone who can gets involved.
Jhod takes out a vial of holy water that he uses to bless the area
"In the name of Erastil, may you rest in peace. He may not have been your god, but his respect of nature shall help guide you to the afterlife." he takes a moment before continuing "We do this to prove that we are to start up a nation that shall honour it's people and fight against corruption. We were unable to save this creature of the wood, but we promise to save all others."
Anyone doing anything special like saying a prayer or leaving somekind of marker?
Carina Stigard |
Carina walks over and looks into the pit.
Rest well noble unicorn. Your death will not be in vain. We shall find the horror who committed this crime, and you shall be avenged. I shall work to create a monument in your honor at this place. A place to honor you and the other good fey of this forest.
With that, she takes a shovel and shovels a small amount of the consecrated earth onto the unicorn's body.
Zorestar Lebeda |
Zorestar watches Carina pick up a shovel and toss some dirt upon the noble creature.
Damn, do I really have to get my hands dirty by picking up that shovel? I really prefer clean hands!
Zorestar moves his hands in somatic gestures and utters the following arcane words, "Elimi tarafından dünyaya taşıyın." to cast Mage Hand to pick up a small pile of dirt and toss it upon the unicorn.
"Rest in peace, forevermore, Shakti! May Nethys bless you with magic in your afterlife!"
Sir Bronwyn Raslov |
I swear that if I ever meet this creature that would slay such a beautiful being I will destroy it and right this wrong. I lay this blade in this spot to mark that vow and as a reminder that we shall never forget.
The knight then thrusts the blade of his bastard sword into the ground, marking the unicorn's grave.
The Hermit Ganit D'Artain |
Ganit wasn't helping so I'll go ahead and reflect that enlarge spell to James (who was).
"Wouldn't want to leave your sword if I was you. Might be whoever killed the thing is still close by," Ganit judges as he listens to the vows and promises made by the others. "Its already getting a statue sculpted in its honor just for dying, how much more does it need?"