"My colleague was of the belief the temple lies directly between the Thorn and Skunk Rivers."
Kavken traces a circle on the map with his finger. "This is where I would start."
The Green Man slaps a hand on the table.
"Good! We can follow you there and then continue exploring the western reaches of the forest.
Meanwhile the "royal scouts" can begin to explore the area to the east.
We will save quite a bit of time that way."
Sonechka nods. "An excellent plan, my lord."
The Green Man laughs uproariously and favours Sonechka with his toothiest grin.
"Hah! It seems I'm just FULL of them lately no? Must be the intelligence of my advisors rubbing off on me."
Composing himself once more, he then steeples his fingers together and leans back in his large chair, waiting to see if anyone else has something to say.
Dolgrym's smile spearhead over his face. Drinking in civilization was fun, but he had tombs and gold to discover. He was ready to explore yet again.
"Yes, let's get ready to leave."
Norton is happy to head out into the wilderness, away from the prospect of the trial and the execution, even though the problem is only going to be postponed and not resolved.
"Does anyone else have anything to say? If not, let us adjourn the meeting and start packing for our trip.
I will give Kressle her marching orders and we can leave at noon if it suits everyone?"
Sonechka nods. "I will be ready at noon."
You set out midday with High Priest Jhod Kavken accompanying you. He is quiet for a time.. seems tense even, but eases up after you've traveled for a while. He sees how well you handle the road.. "we'll get there, Jhod....", and serenity soon whisks away his tension.
As you pass the Fangberry Thicket, "You know, Master Dolgrym.. dwarves were my heroes as a child in Galt. One of my father's common jobs was digging wells. I recall being fixated on what lies below... and often would daydream about about my father digging down to a hidden dwarven city. I'd imagine them fighting goblins, ghosts, and dragons.. there were far more dwarven leaping attacks in my daydreams than I expect occur in reality."
"With all the wandering I've done, I've yet to see an underground dwarven settlement... I would very much like to someday."
He asks if any of you had heroes as a child they can recall.
The Green Man strokes his beard for a moment, before gripping the ever present bag around his neck.
"Growing up, my parents were my heroes, it didn't take too long for me to realize how lucky I was growing up in a loving home, being a half orc as I am.
A human father, an orc mother, living together, and being strong enough to earn respect from the Ulfen people around them."
Clenching one hand into a fist, he growls softly.
"They supported me when my leg began to numb, making me see that even if I could not run like the other children, I had other gifts, and when my divine magic began to manifest, they were there, comforting me."
"And then, that fateful night, Baba Yaga's lapdogs...the screams, the fire, the looks on the faces of those people frozen solid where they stood..."
"My father is an advisor to my clan's Chief, Kaztor Strongforge. The Chief is a good and just ruler and has done many good things for our clan. Father has given him much good advice over the years. They make quite a formidable team. If I could be as successful as the two of them, I'd be honored. Father, you are a man after my own heart...part of the reason I traveled here is that I've long heard rumors of a dwarven ruin somewhere in this unexplored land. If it's here, I want to explore it and find any dwarven relics that might have been lost for some time!"
Sonechka smiles her chill smile. "The hathrans are our heroes, the othran our queens. Their wisdom saved us from the great plague and their magic shields us from the predations of the greedy tribes of the east. As a girl I dreamed of joining their ranks." Her chilly smile briefly turns wistful. "Once my dajemma is complete and they grant that I may carve my mask, I will join their ranks."
While The Green Man isn't truly aware of the ranks of the winter witches, he is smart enough to understand the connection, however, at the moment he is not really paying attention to his surroundings, lost in his recollection of that fateful night.
Coloured even further by the memories of a child.
His hands grip the reins of the horse tightly enough to almost turn white, and he is scowling fiercely, slowly grinding his massive tusks together in barely suppressed anger and sorrow.
"So, what else can you tell us about your dreams and visions master Kavken?"
I wonder, if we find this place, will he decide to stay there? We may have to find someone to take his role in time...
"Very little that I can put into words.... In the dream, I see weeds and vines covering everything... a cave, a.. I think there is a statue. I am not myself when I see these things, and not in control in any way. I feel rage.. primal rage.. and pain. I feel a weight to my own form, and.... " He shakes his head. "I'm sorry. Nothing more I can make sense of."
You make camp at the edge of the woods. Jhod rises a couple hours before dawn... though he does not seem in the frame of mind to keep watch. He just stares into the woods. It takes a raised voice or physical rousing to shake him from a trance-like state... which he returns to soon after.
Jhod is no longer interested in engaging in conversation as you all rise and prepare to enter the woods.
You travel for several hours with Jhod leading the way, and you find you can neither slow nor rest or you will lose him.
Not long after noon you hear an echoing roar in the distance... birds take flight from the flora all around .. away from your heading. Jhod starts to slip from his saddle as if fainting, and stumbles to his knees as he dismounts. Your horses seem more than reluctant to advance.
"Hmmm...the source of the rage I would wager...
Let us leave our horses here with someone to tend them, meanwhile the rest of us will approach carefully to find the source of what made that sound."
The pallid witch isn't the most sympathetic of people, but when Jhod starts to slip from his saddle she rides over to prop him up. "Father, are you alright?"
When Green starts to dismount, she waves a hand at her raven. "Glaza, go see what startled those birds."
Jhod nods as he recovers.. though still appears "affected" somehow.
"We are near.. I can feel it. I will remain with the horses."
Glaza returns "Clearing with statue and pool.. covered in weeds and algae. Big dire bear just outside a cave. Bones all around."
To which Jhod responds with intense eyes... fear and excitement...
"Yes, yes... that's it. That is what I've seen... it must be the lost temple which has haunted my dreams."
"Sounds like its time to go take us a pelt!Lets get that bear..:"
Furiel begins to summon creatures of earth.
"Help with the bear by Stony Friends!!"
Sonechka looked closely at Jhod. "If you think that is best, Father."
"Hmmm...a formidable example of natures might, still, we can overcome it."
The Green Man hefts his earth breaker, ready for combat as he begins to stalk towards the enemy.
Jhod lowers his gaze as Sonechka looks upon him.
He then shakes his head. "No. I will not remain behind." He retrieves his longbow from the saddle. He makes a "stay" gesture to his horse, and ties off the untrained of your horses.
"My bow and I will join when I hear the first sound of battle."
Sonechka nods and turns to Green. "Lead on, my lord."
Furiel summons a pair of earth elementals to help out.
The Green Man chuckles and winks at Sonechka.
"Hoping the bear is a glutton who goes for the biggest piece of meat first eh?"
Dolgrym uses his wand of Mage armor upon himself. He also casts Bull's Strength on himself as they approach the scene.
Sonechka graces Green with her sardonic smile as she gestures for him to precede her. "I simply wish my King to earn the greatest share of the glory."
The Green Man grins as he hefts the Earth breaker up onto his shoulder.
"Oh, is THAT what it is? Well, I'll try to leave some glory for the rest of you, but no promises."
Then the smile slides of his face, replaced by a grim look of determination as he begins to move towards the roar, ready to answer it in kind.
You reach the clearing, and see standing stones encircle the forgotten temple. A fifty foot long pool overgrown with vines and splotches of algae is near the center.
On the far end here is a wide set of crumbling steps which lead into a wide cave mouth.. on the face of huge upthrust of rock.. easily a hundred feet tall and hundreds of feet wide. Above the cave mouth the rock has been chiseled and carved into the bowing head of a massive elk ... the antlers droop down to frame the opening.
You see the dire bear.. it is pacing across the first landing on the near-ruined stairs... no sign yet of noticing you.
It jerks its head about every few seconds as it lumbers back and forth.. with a snort barely audible at this distance ... as if enraged just existing.
"Shhh. Let me try to put it to sleep first."
The grim hulking bear looks up at the dark bird flying nearer, and then slumps down fast asleep.
"Well now, so much for glory in combat."
The Green Man begins to approach, going carefully lest the beast will suddenly jump up at him.
"Well, that was quick."
After the bear slumps to the ground the magpie alights on a tree branch, singing a song that sounds very pleased with itself.
Dolgrym signals Jhod to come see the bear and decide whether it needed to be exterminated or not.
The ground is littered with gnawed and shattered bone, tangled sprouts of weeds, and debris from the stone entrance and pillars. With moments wasted on negotiating the rugged terrain, the bear already stirs. As you reach the crumbling stair, you see the hulking creature begin to toss and turn in its sleep.
Two elementals appear flanking the sleeping bear, popping up from the ground.
Furiel's elementals are undeterred by terrain.
"Hmm, better end this fast, this is a fight that can be avoided, but only if we act now."
Without Ta's help, The Green Man did not think it would be possible to stop this bear without violence.
Dolgrym, slower than the rest, keeps double moving to get close as possible to the bear.
Norton sides Green and helps with a quick killing.
The magpie continues singing its happy little song as the others close in on the sleeping bear.
You surround and strike the bear with a flurry of hard blows. The creature begins to rise with a deafening roar...
Its hide splits, and it bursts from within.. a bloodied old man is left behind lying still in the pile of viscera. Blood hangs in the air... a miasma of red.. it coalesces into the shape of the bear - blood red and translucent form standing over the unmoving old man. You hear the growl.. it does not face its attackers.
"No! What is it?!" Jhod cries out.. the ghostly bear appears to be gazing at him.
Know. Religion
"That's an incorporeal spirit. We need magic spells or magical items to affect it!"
"Is that a fact? Lucky for me this hammer of mine just happen to be magical!"
The Green Man swings at the spirit with a vengeance.
"Not to mention, I am a spirit walker!"
Hnnnh, awful!
Mustn't get excited, unless it brings me to the red place, or my swings becomes awfully wide.