Roland, you sense the being is actually somewhat indifferent on the matter of its release. Its thoughts are always first: to burn, destroy, cleanse, and renew with the element of flame. Freedom seems a secondary, less pressing goal. You sense that it doesn't dislike being used to power weapons because it is using the power of flame to impact the world around it.
It did request its freedom, but it wasn't a desperate plea. Overall you would conclude that its feelings are neutral on its status as a thrall.
The barbarian still has some doubts, but with the being indifferent to its freedom, he realizes that Miro is probably right about it, but he wants to make its time worthy of the temporary prison. "Hey Tess, how many arrows did you shoot on the last fight? I think you should try the crystal in your bow, since you could use it more often than me."
"Well, if it doesn't mind I suppose it would be acceptable. It would be a welcome addition for my bow."
"As for our valuables, let us get them in the cart and get out of here. I've had enough fighting for one night."
"Remember ta bring light."
"Magical light."
Miro smiles. The flaming gem would be a welcome increase in their firepower. Imagine the terror of their enemies as a flame-sheathed arrow came streaking towards them!
"I will just tidy things up in the wagon while you do that...I've had a taste of what that plant has to offer, and I would not like a second go."
With Tess' guidance and knowledge the party approaches the dangerous plants with magical light. The plants stir at your approach but settles down to a placid state when the bright warm light washes over.
After about an hour of chopping, squeezing, draining, wringing, and bottling, you have 6 pods filled with an aloe-like magical fluid that can be used to:
-add +5 to a heal check, which also immediately stops bleeding
-can be used as a component to decrease the GP cost of potions by 100 gp
You also have enough pulp and sap to:
-decrease the cost of created magic item(s) by 750 gp
or
-decrease the cost of created magic item(s) by 1,250 gp if the item is related to poison or defense.
You have also harvested one dose of Spellvine Poison:
-Injury, Fort DC 17, 1/round for 6 rounds, 2 consecutive saves. Failed saves cause confusion.
"Impressive what that plant can do." Roland is a little bothered by the cart, although they could really use the resources. Actually, aside from some food for the trip they do not need it, right?
"Hey guys, I'm afraid that going with that cart through the road would lead us close to the army. Shouldn't we just take the stuff and leave it there?"
"Too much to carry and all of it we could find a use for. We get it to Sweetwater or Ashvale and we can make some good money and good friends. Lot of it would also help if that army is headed there. Weapons to fight. Food to survive a siege. Building materials. Wonder what them cultists were doin with it all and what they were talkin to that ogre about? Either way I say we head through the night to get a good lead on em. We can take turns restin in the wagon."
Then as an afterthought, "Also, if we need to pretend to be farmers again we got the stuff."
"A wise idea, Gromff. I will lead the team first, since you all were much more engaged in the fight than I was. Get some rest, and I will wake you when I am weary."
For reference and to help you make a decision: the surrounding woodland in your immediate vicinity is inhospitable for wagon use. It is too rocky and too steep to get far, with the obvious exception of this trail. Someone obviously took the time to smooth out a path, which must lead somewhere, but you don't have enough info to conclude where exactly.
You can ride the cart out of the path and make decisions along the way, or you can grab what you can carry and go cross-country.
It is certainly possible that you'll find more level ground over which you could take the wagon, but that remains to be seen.
Let me know what you decide, and I'll get up some further details.
Bandages = unknown
leather hat = Hat of Disguise
gauntlets = unknown
potion = Cure Moderate Wounds
Fine dagger = unknown. stronger aura than the rest so far.
braided gold ring = ring of climbing
So, the party takes the wagon and moves down the trail for some time, keeping an eye at it to avoid being surprised by enemy forces. If they see or hear someone coming everyone is going to leave the caravan there, take what they can carry and put fire on what's left, moving north through the forest. This is also the plan if they do not find a path leading north for the first two hours.
Miro will stay awake for a while, letting any who wish to rest do so. He muses upon his good fortune of finding this group, and silently thanks whatever gods are listening for the opportunity to do good in the world.
Thinking ahead, he wonders what is becoming of the children taken, and whether the stories of the dragon were true, myth, or a mixture of both. He decides to take it one step at a time, Sweetwater was a good destination. He rides in the wagon for as long as he can, then helps to burn it when it is time to cross overland once again. Speeding his stride up to keep pace with his longer-limbed companions, he grins against the night.
The party decides to brave the path, leading off into the unknown. The ox is well trained and easily accepts your commands. The wagon wood creaks and the wheels carry you off into the night.
The path becomes less apparent not far from the camp, and more than once the wagon is stalled and turned back on course to what appears to be the path. You pass several points where "fallen logs" (with drag marks near by), mobile brush hedges (which remind you of the camouflage hedges Meldara showed you at your first camp site in the Everwood), and "luckily" placed hanging leaves and branches which hide the path well, especially from a west-bound facing. Most of these required some labor to clear the way for the wide wagon, but nothing that stopped your progress for more than a few minutes at a time.
Your path spills you out onto a mountainside bereft of any cover, a sort of landing where the trail makes a sharp turn, where a steep cliff skirts the pathway. From this spot you would guess that in the daylight it would be a vantage point to look out for quite some distance. Confirming this supposition, Tess points of several piles of dry feces thick with animal fur, indicative of predators perching here, using the wide view to look for prey.
The sharp turn changes your course to a southerly route, which then snakes back and forth several times, lowering your elevation, until finally you find yourselves on flat ground, still deep in woodland cover. From your position here Tessandriel points out faded wagon ruts but they appear to be at least several weeks old. There are more recent humanoid footprints that can be seen, as well as the ogre's and his pet's larger tracks.
The forest path is mostly non-existent at this point but the ranger can determine where these ruts lead to-- east, and in all likelihood, the road. After pausing to look around for enemies and to weigh decisions, you all are forced to conclude that this is a good place to rest. You feel exhausted from the battle and travel. In the morning decisions could be made, but for now you all just want to rest your heads.
The night passes uneventfully, and the party sleeps well and deep. When the morning comes the forest canopy overhead blocks much of the morning sunlight.
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After resting, and clearing her head, Catcher proceeds, first thing in the morning to study her spells.
Then, the mage go into trying to identify the others items they found.
fine dagger
javelins
masterwork gauntlets
bandages
warhorn
red gem
After that, the searchs for Gromff, the Grumpy, for some advice.
"Good Morning Gromff." she says waving "Can you help me to awaken hour prisoner? Let's see what she knows, before we can make any decision for the day."
"Morning, everyone!" The barbarian seems to be on a good mood! "Hey guys, can we risk returning to the road? The army was marching this way, and soon enough they will send for Grolmgor."
Dagger = Dagger of Deception +2, in addition to being a +2 weapon the wielder adds +2 enhancement bonus to bluff, sense motive, and +10 to sleight of hand checks used to conceal the dagger.
Gauntlets = Gauntlets of Ogre Power,, wielder gains +2 enhancement bonus to Strength
Bandages = Bandages of Rapid Recovery.
Warhorn = Horn of Fervor, it has 4 charges left. Standard action, use 1 charge to give allies who can hear the horn +10 base movement for 10 rounds
Roland's new Earthbreaker = +1 weapon
To Catcher: "Aye. What do ye need? Doubt I'll be much help cept to heal wounds if ye inflict them."
To Roland:"Should probably go over land as much as possible. Then again it'll be easier ta track us if they find the body of that ogre. Elf, ye can't cover wagon tracks can ye?"
Probably not so "Now that we're rested best stay well ahead of us to lead the way and watch for danger. Roland should probably have the rear."
Gromff gets a sour look on his face. "Rather not waste magic on a child-kidnapper but we could use the information and we ain't got the time."
The cultist is stable, so there will be no danger of death, but she still is wounded enough to be unconscious. Dousing her with gallons upon gallons of divinely conjured water would be hilarious but ineffective.
There was no healer's kit among the spoils, though I seem to remember that someone here has a kit. (Tess maybe?) Might wanna wait for her to chime in (or whoever else has the kit) before deciding whether to attempt the heal.
You would estimate her HD as 1 or 2, so the healing check wouldn't heal a great deal, and probably will not awaken her immediately. You have one night of rest behind you so she has healed a little.
of course I roll max for an enemy.
"Wakey Wakey."
"The road would be quickest, for sure. We are traveling to Sweetwater, correct? Let us be on our way more quickly, pending what this cultist has to say." Miro relaxes, watching as the dwarf heals the woman then starts prodding her awake.
"Don't forget that, as far as we know, Sweetwater is in enemy's control." Roland seems even better now that he found out that his Earthbreaker is magical. "If they see us passing the city heading west there will certainly be questions in our way."
Your prisoner awakes after the grace of Moradin heals the wounds that nearly took her life. She seems to grasp the gravity of her situation immediately and makes no jumpy attempt at escape or attack.
"My name is Jillian. I am from the village of Murss; a village of no consequence. It is an outlying community of fishermen and farmers who live upriver from Sweetwaters. Rumors sprouted up in the village about a dragon-- the sleeping dragon from the old tales-- a dragon that burst from the ground at a neighboring town called Granite Quarry, a few miles upriver from Murss. Most of us dismissed the rumor outright...that is, until the dragon landed outside our village and ate nearly an entire flock of sheep, though the shepherd boy made it back alive.
A few weeks later there were robed men and women missionaries going from village to village, town to town, recruiting for a new...organization. We were told those that would give fealty to this dragon would receive food, power, and freedom from devilkind. I and several others joined right away and made our pilgrimage to a large waterfall where the great green had made its home, directed by the men who had recruited us.
Recently I've been with a contingent sent south to spread the word and recruit more to our side. In a village not far from here...I don't recall the name... we met some very willing new followers. One of which was reformed highwayman who told us of a group of thieves who made camp in these woods. We still had time before the hellskin was to deliver the children to us, so we decided on a side excursion to capture the bandits, as they are worth good gold to the magistrate's local lords.
After a brief struggle and the timely arrival of our ogre friend, we cowed the entire camp and had them in chains. That was when your lot came out of the shadows and cut us down."
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”Jillian, dear” says the mage ”describe the dragon for me, everything you can remember, also, tell us where is this waterfall located and how can we get there. More than that, tell me how many of you were taken there, and how many left, how where they armed, and how is the place defended. Is there any kind of failsafe? Trap? Please, don’t hold anything back; I would hate to use other methods to get this information from you, and if you cooperate, I’m sure no one here will be against any kind of agreement, to spare you.”
"Bah. Don't believe a word o it. They we're probably recruitin here like they did at other villages. Ain't no such thing as good green dragon. Wouldn't trust a gold or silver neither."
for deceit.
"No one said anything about the dragon being good, Gromff, aren't you paying attention? It is just another evil power, and she knows it for sure. What about the drake? The small dragon-like that were with you?"
"Just pickin up what she was tryin to imply. Cult comes to save the people from the devils and takes out a camp o bandits. But apparently on the side they steal children and work with the devils anyway. Stories full o more holes than dwarven cheese."
"Either way we need to investigate further. I propose we get this cultist to lead us to this lair."
”Jillian, dear” says the mage ”describe the dragon for me, everything you can remember, also, tell us where is this waterfall located and how can we get there. More than that, tell me how many of you were taken there, and how many left, how where they armed, and how is the place defended. Is there any kind of failsafe? Trap? Please, don’t hold anything back; I would hate to use other methods to get this information from you, and if you cooperate, I’m sure no one here will be against any kind of agreement, to spare you.”
"Magnificent, she is. Stands taller than an inn, has wings that blot out the sun, and her scales are shining emeralds. I cowered and ran the first time I was in her presence. Only after I mastered my fear was I able to don the robes and be given the blessing.
The waterfall is not far from my village, you can't miss it. King's Crown falls on the Great River is easy to find. Follow the river west from Sweetwaters and you can't miss it.Our numbers are not great, not yet, but we're growing. Men, scaled lizardfolk, a few tribes of kobolds, and a handful of drakes congregate in the area near King's Crown Falls. No traps, the only defense we need is fear itself. Not even the devils bother us there, 'cept for the occasional envoy."
"A good dragon? Good to those who follow her, bad to those who make themselves enemies." She looks to everyone around her, "You all would be powerful allies, and you would be given places of authority and power!"
"Think I've heard enough," Gromff says before whacking her back into unconsciousness. "Well ye heard the lass. If what she says is even half right, and was arrogant nuff to tell the truth, we ain't goin near that place. Big as an inn means old and the older a dragon gets the powerful they become, let alone the hoard o minions its got. The one we saw earlier was probably the same and I don't care to see it ever again. If'n we had an angel," he says stressing the word and looking at Roland and Catcher, "we might have a shot at doin somethin. Best just steer clear and make for Sweetwater or skip it and got to Archdale."
The size of the mentioned dragon drags the pragmatism out of even the halfling, who nods at Gromff's words. "Aye...that seems a bit beyond us. Let us continue onward for now. Perhaps a solution will present itself in due course. Sweetwater it is, then?"
Roland does not bother returning Gromff's scowl. "Well, I wanted to know where the drake was, but it seems someone is in a hurry..." Now he returns Gromff's annoyed look. "Why do we need to risk going to Sweetwater, if we're not facing the dragon? Of course it is beyond our firepower, but I mean, why don't we keep ourselves away from that city, just to be sure?"
In answer to Roland's query Jillian says "The drakes are fickle soldiers in our army at the best of times. Few of us can speak with them, and fewer have any kind of rapport. I don't know where that drake might be now, but if I had to wager I would say it flew somewhere safe from you. Somewhere deep in the woods, or maybe even to the King's Crown."
"I ain't sayin we go straight to the city but if we can get in like we did the last we can get more information and maybe sell some of these supplies. Sides, I saw the drakes wing. It was barely flyin after your hit. Doubt it wants anymore and I don't either."