Túrante's elvish rendition of "Hush little ursine don't say a Rawr" seems to have little effect as the large bear comes roaring down from the stairs of the temple, moving over the broken and overgrown ruins. It advances angrily, nearing Emil, though stopping short of the cavalier.
"No good!" Túrante shouts.
"Yikes. I'm not sure anymore. I think getting help from the priest is definitely out of the question now. We'll have to solve this on our own."
Franka directs Heimdall of to the side a bit, where she has a better view of the melee. She reaches across the Veil as she makes some sloshing sounds with her tongue. Gathering and directing her magic, brings a slick sheet of grease into this world, precisely below the bear.
Audsley's guzzling potions like a drunk at closing hour. Even as he drops his second vial he pulls out a third, popping the cork and chugging its contents while eyeing the bear with fear.
"It's not attacking us for a reason. Perhaps - perhaps we can subdue it? It would be a valiant force for good if we could cleanse it!"
Despite the sudden appearance of Grease under the bear, it manages to keep to its feet and glare threateningly at Emil, who can smell its fetid breath wafting towards him.
[ooc]Active Global Conditions: None.
"That opportunity is past," says Túrante quickly to Audsley. "It would require greater power than we have at our disposal."
She makes sure that she is outside of the bear's reach and reloads her bow to fire once more.
Seeing magic and arrows fly, Emil takes on a resolute expression. "For Abadar and the Horse!" he cries out, reigning Flora back to run a little closer to Audsley's deadly bombs and Turanthe's arrows. "Gold and Glory! Gold and Glory!" he exclaims, thrusting his lance before Flora takes him away.
You sound like a murderous hobo, you know that right? he chastises himself mentally as his attack stylishly misses his opponent.
Janna's arrow pierces the bear's thick pelt, though barely drawing blood. The bear gives an enraged roar, thick saliva and bad breath rolling over Emil.
Its eyes cloud over, and it swings its shaggy head from side to side, growling. "Rawhur. ROAR. Rooooahur."
[ooc]Active Global Conditions: None.
Franka sighs, resigning herself to the fact that there is no 'magical' solution, no burst of insight to redeem the bear-druid and restore the temple in one fell swoop. She shifts her link to the Æther, reaching instead into a place of frost. With some short puffs of breath, she conjures a ball of dense snow and sense it flying towards the bear.
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Puzzled, Emil, knees Flora back around. Why didn't it charge? He sets those thoughts aside as he pushes Flora into a gallop.
Leaning out of his saddle as Flora rushes past the creature, just out of reach of it's deadly claws, Emil jabs at the creature, missing his intended spot but nonetheless dealing a noticeable wound to the grizzly.
Audsley, his arms growing longer and his body sleeker, lopes forward and to the side, moving now with an easy, liquid gait. He pulls free a thick clay jar, hefts it once in his hand, and then hooks it up and over his head so that it sails free and clear to descend upon the bear.
Túrante purses her lips, lets out another breath, and lets fly yet another arrow.
Springing into action, the party works together to bring down the cursed bear. Snowballs, arrows, and bombs flash through the air causing the beast to rear up on its hind legs. Emil spurs on his mount, lance catching the bear in its flank. The bear lashes out in reprisal, clawing at Emil, his massive paw grabbing and dragging the cavalier off his horse!
Janna drives forward on their own mount and slashes on the bear's opposite flank, causing the beast to fall to the ground in a dull, whimpering roar!
The shaggy form lies limply on the ground, an improbably large pool of blood pools from its lifeless body. After a moment of stillness, however, the matted brown fur of the bear melts off from the creature, revealing a dirty, naked, emaciated and dying man whose only adornment is a broken holy symbol of Erastil. With labored breathing he whispers a hoarse, "Thank.... you..." before breathing his last. In exaggerated aging, the body collapses and turns to dust before your eyes, blowing away, the holy symbol the only remains of the macabre scene.
Túrante straightens and cocks her head quizzically. Her expression is difficult to read: brow furrowed, eyebrows slightly askew, ears drooping slightly.
"I feel like there is a story here and we are not privy to it all," she finally says. "Perhaps that erstwhile priest could figure out more."
As she suspects of Túrante, Franka feels a mixture of emotions. Her eyes seems sad, and her mouth twists to the left in thought. "You're right. It'll be really interesting to learn more." She kneels next to where the body of the bear-man was only moments ago, touching a hand to the ground in reverence. "Be in peace. Finally..." She then carefully picks up the broken holy symbol. "We'll get this to Jhod Kavken, and tell him about the location of this temple. He might learn more."
At the thought of exploration, Franka straightens. The sad expression on her face has already faded, mostly. "Of course, we'll have to tell him what we find. Let's see what the rest of this site holds, shall we?"
Túrante nods. "You're right. Perhaps there are other clues here."
The ranger crouches briefly by the deceased bear-thing's ashen remains and touches the ground lightly. Then her fingers trace back along the ground and she adjusts her position by a few feet as she looks for tracks and signs of the bear's movement around the area.
Audsley's heart nearly leaped out through his chest when Emil was dragged from his horse, but Janna's timely attack prevents personal tragedy. Stepping forward, he crouches by Emil and helps him up, making a sympathetic face at the sight of his wounds.
"Very bravely done, very brave. What derring do! I'm afraid the bear never had a chance, but that's obviously for the best. I wonder what caused his curse? I do agree, let's scout the area and see what else we can discover as to this poor ursine guardian's mysterious curse."
So saying, he begins to poke around, looking for anything of interest.
Emil, blinking and shaking his head to clear out the stars floating about, gladly accepts Janna and Audsley's help. Patting his fellow horseman on the back, he offers "Thanks for saving my bacon there Janna. Ah damn it all, that's going to be an ugly bruise tomorrow." Gingerly he steps up to where the man's remains once were, letting Turanthe to do what she feels is needed before stepping forth. "I could have done better Auds." he quips at the alchemist, turning briefly towards him to flash a roguish grin before turning back to the ashes. His voice turns pensive as he continues: "But, all things considered, I'll be OK. OK enough to bury the man's remaining remains." He takes a moment to think things through, cursing his distinct lack of a shovel. "Yeah, it's not all that funny, but that's all I have right now." he finishes with a sad half-smile.
Once the remains are buried, Emil ties Flora next to Preven, before offering his assistance where needed. "Lets make sure there isn't a Mrs Cursed priest nearby before we go into that place."
Moments after the demise of the temple guardian, as the party looks around in wonder at the surrounding area, there is a visible pulse, like a ripple in a mirror. Slowly, but noticeably the grounds of the temple turn green; the pond clears of algae and overall the corruption fades from the place.
Finally, from the temple cave, a radiant, ethereal bear emerges that is at least twice the size of the one you fought. It walks forward with determination towards the party, then nods its head to you all. It then drains into the waters of the pond, which shimmer with magic.
Franka looks in awe at the change that overtakes the temple and clears the corruption. She tries to look all around her, seeing the changes in the real world and feeling them in the Æther in the same time. "It... it's magical!"
The appearance of the bear have hear shocked still in rapture, with a very big smile on her face. When it fades, she sleep-walks to the pond, fist dipping in a finger and then drinking a few deep gulps from her cupped hands. "Could you ever have guessed we'd find sites such as these?" she asks of no one in particular.
"Uhm, Franka? What... Uh... What's going on? And do you think you should be drinking that?" asks Emil, wincing at the possible dysentry the druid just invited into her system.
Franka blinks at Emil's comment, drawn back into the real words. She starts laughing. "Yes, it's perfectly safe. I forgot that you can't see it they way I do. The magic has cleansed the water, for now at least. It'll even heal your wounds."
After taking advantage of the Divinely touched waters, the party ventures south.
Continuing through the depths of the Narlmarches, the party navigates through the dense treeline with relative ease. For the nature-oriented, it is evident that this wood is centuries old growth that seems lightly touched by humanoids.
As you explore, you come across a cave partially obstructed by a fallen pine tree, with bones littering the floor, though no occupant is present. Turante and Franka are able to identify that it is likely the Lair of a large boar!
"Ah! The boar's... lair... I don't quite remember, what do boars eat that's bony? And how much of it?" asks a waters refreshed Emil. I really wish we still had those magical Aether waters available. This bodes no good at all.
"I think they can eat pretty much anything. And from what we were told, this was a rarely large and vicious specimen. If we're going boat-hunting in its own lair, we'll have to be properly prepared." Franka then seems to get an idea. "Audsley, do you have some concoctions that produce a lot of smoke? We might be able to lure it out..."
"Ah. Ok then. Thanks Franka. So Auds, if you would like to go ahead and try and smoke it out, while I reconsider if I really like pork all that much."
"Pigs have an excellent sense of smell," says Túrante. "If we want to ambush him, we should either get downwind of the approach, or find a way to conceal our scent."
After a wait of what seems like days, the keen ears of the group note the snorting and trundling approach of their quarry, Tuskgutter. Wisely adjusting their position to be downwind, the boar still catches the scent of interlopers, and gives a furious squeal as it runs forward to protect its territory.
Choosing probity over valor, Audsley carefully crawls out along the length of the massive fallen tree trunk until he's comfortably ensconced amongst the roots, high up above the grassy ground. There he wriggles in and finds a suitable niche, always on the alert and with his vials in hand, ready for the encounter with the fearsome Tuskgutter.
"What an awful name," he calls down to the others. "Tuskgutter. it's so... illustrative. Why couldn't they have named him Mean Piggie? It would take some of the, ah, dread out of the encounter, don't you think?"
At the sound of the snorting, Audsley climbs to his feet, downing potions as quickly as he can, waiting for the beast to come within range of his bombs.
Túrante emerges from beside the hill with the fallen tree and strafes across the boar's likely line of attack. She pauses by the tree near Janna and lets loose an arrow as she focuses on the boar.
(includes +2 for ranger's focus)
(includes +2 for ranger's focus)
Confronting the boar in the forest brings Franka back to earlier times, when it was just her versus the wild, when she did not have magical abilities to rely on. With a smirk, she pulls a spear from its bindings on the saddle and spurs Heimdall forward as she lowers the spear to the ground, set to receive the boar's inevitable charge. "Hyah!"
Before Tuskgutter can even properly orient on the party, a pair of arrows fly out and drive into its flank, causing it to squeal in pain and rage. It rears up, moving to charge!
Audsley stands, balancing carefully on the roots, and pulls out his bomb. He rests his fingertips delicately on the cap, and waits for the boar to come into reach, ready to hurl it over the heads of his companions and right into Tuskgutter's gullet.
What do you even say here? "Die fiend pig?" Gods. Oh well, here goes...
With an ill-formed battle-cry, Emil and Flora move forward, with considerably less speed than they have otherwise proven to have.
"At least it still bleeds normally!" begins Emil with a smile that quickly fades: "Oh sweet merciful Abadar, friends I think I just pissed it off!" he shouts, wheeling Flora around to receive the charge.
Emil's bomb explodes into the face of the boar, then 'bleeding like a stuck pig' is an appropriate description of what happens after Emil lances Tuskgutter in the side. The enraged boar makes guttural noises as it launches itself towards the only target it can currently see with its blood filled eyes, charging towards Franka! The boar lowers its lethal looking name-sake tusks and closes on the druid!
Franka's spear merely glances off the boar's shoulder, but the sheer momentum of its charge forces the spearhead down, piercing its side! Already half-dead, it mindlessly thrashes as the spear lodges inside of it, catching it and preventing it from closing on Franka. With a devastating final groan, it collapses lifeless.
It may not be as grave a threat to the Stolen Lands as the bandits represented, but slaying the beast represents a crucial step in providing stability to those that would settle the Stolen Lands.
Audsley climbs down carefully from his elevated root-perch and dusts himself off, blinking and smiling blithely at the others.
"Score one for the Adventurer's in Gold! Well done, I say, well done! Either that boar was not nearly all it was cracked up to be, or we're really turning into a crack band of dangerous derring-doers!"
He pauses, suddenly concerned. "Are we the Adventurers in Gold? I've been assuming, but there was hardly a vote taken. Perhaps... perhaps we could be known as the Vanguardians of Civilization?"
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"At this rate, Audsley is going to be calling us the 'Pinnicalititousness of Societyhoodshippeding' in another week," Janna shrugs, unable to add any more suffixes without delving into Elven. "The surrounding area will know us by our deeds- -we don't need a grandiose name." Janna pauses.
"In the meantime, fresh pork. I think that's something we can agree on."
"Not sure how I feel about pork anymore. In the meantime, let's cook it before it goes bad." says Emil who dismounts and makes ready to prepare the beast to be roasted. "Janna, mind getting the head off?"