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Janos uses a stick to trigger the bear trap they pass and then shudders as they approach the corpse. To think, if the others weren't there, he could have ended up the same way. "Well, at least this dead body isn't trying to come back to life. Hey, I wonder if that's it. If he died from the trap, then there may have been no life force for the wraiths to feed on."
He does a quick search of the body, finding quite a treasure in coins and a few items. "Thieves' tools. You want them, Drosil?"
Anton looks grimly at the body.
It feels odd to say this but I hope the trap killed him. Or else he would have starved to death slowly, or worse, those twisted children feasted on his very life-force.
He swears he hears something behind them and sweeps his bow up to eye level in an instant, arrow drawn and steady, waiting for the merest flicker of movement. After several long moments, there is nothing and with a sigh he lowers his weapon.
Must have been the wind. This place is so still and silent - it plays tricks.
Drosil waves off the offer of the thieves' tools. "After what we've seen since the professor's funeral, I'm beginning to think there's some truth to the old adage - 'Don't trust a dead thief's tools.' So, yeah - thanks, but no thanks."
The body is too dried and withered to know if the cause of death was blood loss, or energy drain. However, the leg is shattered enough that the death certainly could have been caused by the trap.
Clever, Drosil. That sounds like a whole story waiting to be told... B'yelka mouths the words, working on forming them into a refrain, *never trust a dead thief's tools*. When Drosil looks at her, she smiles, "It's this place; a still mind seems...wrong here. I'm just thinking, nothing more."
After the group is finished examining the body, Janos leads them onward to the next house.
Well, if he's in a bear trap, he probably died of a bear trap, isn't that an old saying?
"We should hold onto the turquoise, and that silver knife, at least." Tibideau pockets them.
As the Six approach the next house they see another spawn appear, this time a little girl. She does the same thing that the boy did, shouting for help and then disappearing into the ground, only to reappear further off, attempting to lead the party in a certain direction.
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Tibideau stops in his tracks and raises an eyebrow. "Um... so... she wants us to join her for lunch?" He glances at his chest pocket and speaks again, this time in an extraordinary language that no one else in the group can recognize. "Tagad mēs esam vajadzēja būt pēc gars bērnu, maz sagrūt. Noskatīties jūsu apvalks."
Incredibly, a ridiculously cute and tiny voice responds. "Jūs skatīties jūsu apvalks! Speciāli ar visu, kas peld apkārt! Man nepatīk augstumus!"
Janos calls out to the Wraith-spirit, hoping there may be some vestige of her soul left. "Ellsa, come back! What do you know of the Beast? We're here to help!" Looking back to the group, Janos only shakes his head and heads off following the spirit.
Janos sees a bear trap directly in the lane of the wraith spawn's flight.
B'yelka whispers, "Careful, Janos. Let's stay with what we are looking for. These things seem to want to lead a merry chase. And this place," the Diva shudders visibly, "is anything but merry."
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A chill wind sweeps across the half frozen moor, rattling the bare branches of trees and reeds, and chilling the Ravengro Six to the bone. When the wind dies down, all is silent and dark, save for their own breathing and movements. Their breaths mist in the fitful light of B'Yelka's coin, which seems scant protection against the hungry dark.
Stay together. I don't think these children are anything like how they once we're, they keep trying to lead us into traps. Stay strong everyone - we'll get through this.
Let's keep going, but those with keen night vision, watch our backs!
Dantrian freezes in his tracks as Ellsa's wraith fades from view. In the weak light from B'yelka's coin, his face appears wan and pale.
Maintain control. Maintain control. Stay focused, stay sharp. The girl's undead spirit could appear from the ground at any moment. Maintain focus. Do not lose yourself! A thin trickle of sweat runs down the alchemist's temple and cheek. "Do not follow the apparitions any longer, Janos. Let us steer straight for the houses, or rather, for what remains of the houses. These undead seem to want to play a cruel game of cat and mouse and I would rather not oblige them."
"Right. Sorry. Let's check the house." The Ranger triggers the trap so it's not a danger anymore. Then he moves to the house, still keeping his watch for the area around them.
As the group makes their way towards the house, Ellsa's wraith erupts from the ground to attack B'Yelka.
Success
The wraith's touch burns the diva with cold energy, but doesn't drain her vitality.
Anton:
Drosil:
B'Yelka:
Dantrian:
Tibideau:
Janos:
Wraith:
Party 23
Wraith 21
"Ellsa! Stop this! We're here to help you!" Janos looks for some recognition from the wraith of her name or his words.
Cursing, the Ranger slides around B'yelka and slashes at the undead with his sword.
Unsurprised by the wraith spawn's appearance, Dantrian's able to keep his inward struggle in check as he rushes to B'yelka's aid. Darting up next to the undead girl, he rips the stopper from another flask and empties it atop her head in the wake of Janos' swing.
HP: 38/38
AC: 15 (11 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +5/+5/+3
Spontaneous Healing used: 0/10hp
Hero Points used: 1/5
Prepared Mutagen: Strength (darkvision) [ ]
Prepared 1st Level Extracts (3+1): cure light wounds [ ], shield [ ], open [ ] [ ] [ ]
Prepared 2nd Level Extracts (1+1): ablative barrier [ ], false life [ ], open [ ]
-Ongoing Effects-
Drosil stabs with each of his daggers, but only one of them makes contact with the apparition.
Anton quickly steps back and let's loose with two magically enhanced arrows.
"Little r*******!" Tibideau curses at the wraith. "WHAT TYPE OF FOOLISHNESS IS THIS?" he bellows, hoping to sound menacing. He rolls his eyes. "Let's see if SOMETHING I have works on you..."
Tibideau meanders over to the wraith and attempts to grab its ghostly little arm to deliver a holy spell. Ew. His hand sails right past it and his attack fails.
Level 0: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Guidance, Spark
Level 1: Cure Light Wounds x2, Infernal Healing x2
Level 2: Glitterdust, Web
Level 3: Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic
HP 32/32
AC 18
Buffs:
Mage Armor, 5 hours minus three minutes-ish remaining
B'yelka reels back from the wraithling's touch. She gasps, but does not cry out. No matter how much it hurts, just don't go grey this young! Stepping away from the wraith she begins a song, hopping to inspire the boys to finish this thing quickly!
"Ellsa! Stop this! We're here to help you!" Janos looks for some recognition from the wraith of her name or his words. There is none. Cursing, the Ranger slides around B'yelka and slashes at the undead with his sword. The magical blade cuts a chunk of the incorporeal child off, which fades away into nothingness.
Unsurprised by the wraith spawn's appearance, Dantrian's able to keep his inward struggle in check as he rushes to B'yelka's aid. Darting up next to the undead girl, he rips the stopper from another flask and empties it atop her head in the wake of Janos' swing. Ellsa dodges the water. It splashes onto the ground.
Drosil stabs with each of his daggers, but only one of them makes contact with the apparition. It tears through the apparition's shoulder eliminating a tiny piece of her mass.
"Little r*******!" Tibideau curses at the wraith. "WHAT TYPE OF FOOLISHNESS IS THIS?" he bellows, hoping to sound menacing. He rolls his eyes. "Let's see if SOMETHING I have works on you..."
Tibideau meanders over to the wraith and attempts to grab its ghostly little arm to deliver a holy spell. Ew. His hand sails right past it and his attack fails.
B'yelka reels back from the wraithling's touch. She gasps, but does not cry out. No matter how much it hurts, just don't go grey this young! Stepping away from the wraith she begins a song, hopping to inspire the boys to finish this thing quickly!
The wraithling hisses at Janos, and reaches out to grab him. He jumps back from it, but not fast enough. Ellsa's hand passes through the frot of his chest, causing him to gasp in pain and shiver. Janos's heart flutters and skips a few beats, as Ellsa appear to grow a little more solid. She then slips into the ground, smiling and giggling.
______________________________
Janos stumbles back clutching his chest. "Gods, it's like the worst heartburn in the world!" After a few moments, the pain passes but still leaves him feeling empty. He looks around for the ghostly child, but sees nothing.
He adopts a ready stance, holding his longsword in two hands. "Stay ready."
B'yelka gets ready as best she can, anxiously waiting for the thing to reappear. In the meantime she stays close to Janos and Dantrian.
Knowing exactly the effect of these fallen children’s touch, Anton steps back and to the side, hoping to get a clearer shot whilst Janos keeps it occupied.
He tries to push from his mind the fact he is shooting at a child and keeps forcing himself to remember that it’s essence is gone, is innocnce lost. But still, every arrow is drawn with regret and fired with hesitation.
Dantrian frowns as the undead creature slides around the holy water, the liquid falling ineffectually to the cold, hard ground. His anger gets the better of him though, and his inner defenses fall. With a grunt, Dantrian doubles over and wrenches back and forth several times as his body distorts and changes. When he rises to his full height a few moments later, its clear in B'yelka's flickering light that he is slightly taller and considerably bulkier, his shoulders straining against the fabric of his tunic. His face also looks considerably more lupine. A wet, pained snarl escapes his lips, now lengthed to nearly a full maw, as he fishes another flask of holy water from his person.
HP: 38/38
AC: 19 (11 T / 18 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +5/+5/+3
Spontaneous Healing used: 0/10hp
Hero Points used: 1/5
Prepared Mutagen: Strength (darkvision) [X]
Prepared 1st Level Extracts (3+1): cure light wounds [ ], shield [ ], open [ ] [ ] [ ]
Prepared 2nd Level Extracts (1+1): ablative barrier [ ], false life [ ], open [ ]
-Ongoing Effects-
mutagen (Str 20, Int 14): 50 minute duration
Upon the wraith child's reappearance, Tibideau makes another attempt to harm it with his healing magic. His attack fails yet again.
Level 0: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Guidance, Spark
Level 1: Cure Light Wounds x2, Infernal Healing x2
Level 2: Glitterdust, Web
Level 3: Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic
HP 32/32
AC 18
Buffs:
Mage Armor, 5 hours minus three minutes and one round remaining
Drosil tries to keep a keen eye out for the apparition, and readies himself to stab at the creature if it shows its face.
Janos stumbles back clutching his chest. b]"Gods, it's like the worst heartburn in the world!"[/b] After a few moments, the pain passes but still leaves him feeling empty. He looks around for the ghostly child, but sees nothing.
He adopts a ready stance, holding his longsword in two hands. "Stay ready."
B'yelka gets ready as best she can, anxiously waiting for the thing to reappear. In the meantime she stays close to Janos and Dantrian.
Knowing exactly the effect of these fallen children’s touch, Anton steps back and to the side, hoping to get a clearer shot whilst Janos keeps it occupied.
He tries to push from his mind the fact he is shooting at a child and keeps forcing himself to remember that it’s essence is gone, is innocnce lost. But still, every arrow is drawn with regret and fired with hesitation.
Dantrian frowns as the undead creature slides around the holy water, the liquid falling ineffectually to the cold, hard ground. His anger gets the better of him though, and his inner defenses fall. With a grunt, Dantrian doubles over and wrenches back and forth several times as his body distorts and changes. When he rises to his full height a few moments later, its clear in B'yelka's flickering light that he is slightly taller and considerably bulkier, his shoulders straining against the fabric of his tunic. His face also looks considerably more lupine. A wet, pained snarl escapes his lips, now lengthed to nearly a full maw, as he fishes another flask of holy water from his person.
Tibideau readies himself to touch the wraithling with his positive energy charged hand should it appear near him.
Drosil tries to keep a keen eye out for the apparition, and readies himself to stab at the creature if it shows its face.
The wraith reappears next to Dantrian, popping out of the muck swiping at him. The wraith's chill hand passes through the alchemist's furry leg, wounding him.
______________________________
Janos rounds on the spirit, hacking at it. Unfortunately, he slips on the wet patch of grass at the last second, nearly spilling him to the ground.
Anton checks his position and, unable to get a clear shot, moves to his left.
But in similar fashion to Janos, slips on the dewy grass and sends his arrow whistling into the air.
Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character's activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round.
-------
Dantrian's lips curl unbidden into a snarl as the girl's hand passes through his leg. He tries to repay the favor in kind with another vial of holy water, but the ghostly child proves too nimble. A growl rumbles in the depths of his chest and throat as another vial of the precious water splashes worthlessly upon the ground.
HP: 36/38
AC: 19 (11 T / 18 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +5/+5/+3
Spontaneous Healing used: 0/10hp
Hero Points used: 1/5
Prepared Mutagen: Strength (darkvision) [X]
Prepared 1st Level Extracts (3+1): cure light wounds [ ], shield [ ], open [ ] [ ] [ ]
Prepared 2nd Level Extracts (1+1): ablative barrier [ ], false life [ ], open [ ]
-Ongoing Effects-
mutagen (Str 20, Int 14): 50 minute duration
Tibideau tries yet again to discharge the spell stuck on the tip of his fingers, but fails to break through the wraith's defenses. "Keep stabbing him with stuff, gentlemen!" he shouts encouragingly.
HP 32/32
AC 18
Buffs:
Mage Armor, 5 hours minus three minutes and two rounds remaining
Level 0: Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Guidance, Spark
Level 1: Cure Light Wounds x2, Infernal Healing x2
Level 2: Glitterdust, Web
Level 3: Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic