Rashid nods at Bahram's explanation.
"That is certainly a relief. I have no desire to tangle with that thing again if I can avoid it."
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Time starts to tick by... 'Elder brother' seems to be a no-show. Zaina offers Bahram, and the group in general, an 'it's not my fault' look as she whispers, 'I saw him, Master, I swear I did!'
perception
'Of course Zaina. I believe you. Now please by quiet and remain behind me.' Bahram wispers and looks around the group, shrugging as he makes eye contact.
perception to keep eye out on stairs and behind us incase he has smelt us out and is sneaking up on us.
Perception
Rashid frowns from his position behind the door.
"Perhaps he suspects something is up, and intends to go for another entrance? Maybe we should head back to defend the 'treasure' room?"
Rashid frowns from his position behind the door.
"Perhaps he suspects something is up, and intends to go for another entrance? Maybe we should head back to defend the 'treasure' room?"
might be wise to do. sh. did you hee that? oh man, he's here. i just know it. we're suruonded man game over man game over. we're all going to die!!!!!
"Snap our of it dwarf!" Yousef barks as he comes out of his position. "Help me bar this door. If there is another way in and more than one, we don't want to be caught in the middle."
Bahram tenses as Yousef comes out of cover, half reaching for him as if he wants to stop him. Cursing under his breath he keeps in cover and watches as yousef aproches the door.
Wait, whats going on? I can't hear anything? We're surrounded?
Zaina, what type of powers do you have? any concealment abilities?
Cathcing Zaina's sullen look Bahram sighs and gestures dismissively, 'Go on Zaina. The need for silence has obviously passed. Answer the good princess.'
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'He's heading back to get his friends!' a coarse voice calls unexpectedly from one of the high window slits, adding, 'You may all want to get out of town...'
Turning towards the unfamiliar voice you see a raven perched at the slit, its glittering black eyes taking you all in. It stays silent for a moment, then speaks again,
'I know, I know - a talking bird: it's a miracle! My Mistress wanted me to watch you, but I'm pretty sure she'd be annoyed if you all got smushed to a pulp, so... if you're quick you can follow me and I'll lead you out of town. It's a bit of a bumpy path if you can't fly, but it avoids giant pigs and horn-headed demons...' It pauses for a brief moment, then turns and with a flutter of black feathers is gone through the window slit.
'That,' Zaina observes wisely, 'was not a normal bird...'
Staring dumbfounded at the bird Bahram's eyebrows furrow in thought.
Rashid considers his options, which does not take long, unfortunately...
"We should probably get out of here. I realise we have no reason to trust the raven, but at present, what choice do we have?"
Assuming no-one objects, he then moves to un-bar the door, so that the party can follow the talking bird...
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Yes... it seems likely that the raven is a familiar, although there are always other possibilities.
Un-barring the door and opening it a crack, Rashid sees that the talkative bird is perched on a nearby building. When it sees him, it takes off, flying west - the way the road leads down the hill of the town...
"Yes! Lets go! And let's hope it's master is friendly." Bahram picks himself up and follows Rashid through the door and after the bird. "Come Zaina, let us be away from this place."
lets make a break for it run along with group
Well I'll take my chances with the raven. It's better then being kibbles and bits for the gnolls...
'Come on Saul! Don't get left behind! Follow us!'
Yousef follows.
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The group run after the raven down the town's main dusty street, lined with abandoned buildings in various states of disrepair, which winds up and down the hill. At the westernmost edge of the hill the street doubles back as it descends further down the hill, but the raven keeps flying west, crying out as it goes,
'This way! This way!'
At this point following the bird entails scrambling down the steep, almost sheer, side of the hill to the withered pesh fields below - once a vital source for the town's income.
Looking out across the withered cacti you can see that the mountains surrounding the town start to rise after about a mile of fields. The raven is flying west and slightly north, although from the map (and Rashid's memory) the Sarenrae monastery is in the mountains maybe a mile and a half to two miles to the south. The raven's course looks more like it eventually leads to the fortified watchtower or fort which was marked on the map...
Lavender walks up to the edge of the cliff and looks down, not liking either option of climbing or jumping...She scans the horizon, then the party trying to think of a better option. When her gaze passes over Bahram and Zaina, she feels a jolt!
Hmm...If I remember correctly, Mr. Bahram can use magic to lift things and we have a ring that supposedly, and I quote Mr. Rashid, "will allow anyone who wears it to fall any distance without harm, gliding to safety as if held aloft by wings." Gentlemen, I believe a game of "pass the ring" is in order!
With new chalnges ahead of him Bahram is quick to forgett the gross, but necesary, slaughter he inflicted on the baboons erlier. Feeling calmer and more himself as they run after the bird.
As they reach the drop Bahram stops at the edge and surveys the area, trying to remember wich way Nethis's temple lay. 'The god of Magic and Knowledge. Could be dangerous but Nethis will want us to find what lays there and bring it to use.'
Brought out of his musing by Lavender he nods as she lays out her plan, "I do belive your right, but with Zaina here flying it will go a lot faster if she would be so kind as to pass it between us." Bahram says looking to Zaina.
Lavender walks up to the edge of the cliff and looks down, not liking either option of climbing or jumping...She scans the horizon, then the party trying to think of a better option. When her gaze passes over Bahram and Zaina, she feels a jolt!
Hmm...If I remember correctly, Mr. Bahram can use magic to lift things and we have a ring that supposedly, and I quote Mr. Rashid, "will allow anyone who wears it to fall any distance without harm, gliding to safety as if held aloft by wings." Gentlemen, I believe a game of "pass the ring" is in order!
BOWS TO HER HIGHNESS ALL HAIL HER HIGHNESS, OF THE MOST GENIOUS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAVING MY LIFE.
Rashid keeps fairly quiet as the group makes its escape from the Gnoll-infested town, passing along the ring without comment, so that the party can use it to glide to safety.
Indeed, the Dawnflower must be watching over us!
Once they are well beyond the borders of the town, however, he will raise his voice to just above a whisper (trying to avoid the Raven overhearing):
"I am grateful for the bird helping us to escape, but I am still a little wary; we have no idea what its master's goals are...
It looks like it is leading us towards the ruined fort on the map; I know there was also a ruined temple to Nethys on the other side of the river, and a Monastery to Sarenrae on this side, to the south. Personally, I would like to head for the Monastery; I would feel safer there.
What are your thoughts?"
'Well the birds master obviously has an interrest in our well beeing for the moment. He must have somthing he wants from us, I find it hard to imagine a benovelant well-wisher living in these parts. I agree with the temple beeing on our interrest list but I still think we should see this 'master' and hear him out. At the least we will know what else to avoid in this gods-forsaken place.'
I think we should follow the bird while we can. Just because it is heading in the direction of the fort doesn't necessarily mean that is where it is headed, and if it is not, we may never know whom it was that helped us.
Rashid shrugs.
"Fair enough. We should, however, be careful; remember, we have almost no healing capacity left today, so if things become dicey, we could be in trouble."
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Each member of the group of escapees takes a turn slipping on the ring pilfered from the guildmaster's office (on whichever finger it happens to fit on them), then stepping (or for the more adventurous, leaping) from the edge of the sheer drop. At first you seem to just plummet, but (at what seems like the last moment... at least when you're the one doing the plummeting) you then feel a mild tingle coming from the ring, and the weight of your body seems to be suddenly shed as you drift the last few feet to land gently on the edge of the withered pesh fields below. Zaina follows each 'jumper' down, to ferry the precious ring back to the remaining escapees above.
Just as Zaina brings the ring back up to Rashid (the last of the group to jump) that inhuman scream, heard so often in the town, sounds right behind him on the path! Glancing back he beholds a demonic vision seeming to rocket out of the sky to impact, less than fifty feet up the town's main street, causing a plume of dust and chipped rock to erupt from the ground where it lands! The filthy, disease-ridden, humanoid fiend must be seven feet tall, at least, with the head and twisted horns of a goat and cloven-hooved feet. A wickedly bladed pole-arm is clutched in its ragged-nail hands, dripping acrid spittle from where the fiend licks it. Fixing Rashid with glowing sickly-yellow eyes, it bellows that inhuman scream again, lowers its horned head, and charges - faster than a thoroughbred racing camel!
'Fresh meat! Fresh soul!'
It repeats the manic chant over and over...
Fumbling with the ring, but scarcely daring to take his eyes off the rapidly approaching fiend, Rashid knows he has no choice but to leap: soaring over the edge, he tumbles towards the ground...
... with a desperate prayer to the dawnflower the veteran dwarf finally manages to get the ring on, just in time for his fall to be turned into a gentle landing!
Looking up at the edge of the ridge they've just jumped from, the group see the fiend charge into view like a bolt of lightning... only to scream in impotent rage as invisible forces appear to grip it and drag it back from the edge! Frustrated, the demonic thing stands on the edge of the drop, uttering what can only be the vilest of curses and blasphomies at the group below who have, for the moment, escaped it.
From where she's taken shelter behind Bahram (having screamed and hid at the approach of the fiend), Zaina pokes her head round to peer at the ranting demon,
'Ooh!' she observes, fear giving way to sudden wonder, 'It seems to be bound to the town!'
'Yeah, yeah,' the rasping voice of the raven, perched on the nearby remains of a pesh cactus, calls out, 'big whoop... Now get a move on - even things as stupid as gnolls will come to see what that beast is raving about sooner or later.... Besides, these fields aren't exactly safe either, and like I said before, I'm guessing mistress Nyx will want you intact...'
Bahram lets out his breath with a shudder, 'What next?' he wonders, 'This town is crawling with monsters and now a demon!'
"It's alright Zaina. It can't get to us now." he says, concoling himself as much as Zaina.
"Raven! Tell us about your mistress please. We seem to be running headlong from one danger to the next. It would be nice for a change to know what were geting ourselves into." Bahram says in rather dark tones, more tired then angry at the town that seems to be out for their lives.
Bahram lets out his breath with a shudder, 'What next?' he wonders, 'This town is crawling with monsters and now a demon!'
"It's alright Zaina. It can't get to us now." he says, concoling himself as much as Zaina.
"Raven! Tell us about your mistress please. We seem to be running headlong from one danger to the next. It would be nice for a change to know what were geting ourselves into." Bahram says in rather dark tones, more tired then angry at the town that seems to be out for their lives.
Yes Mr. Birdie, please enflighten us!
i have a bad feelin bout this no did not shout for all to here
Rashid breathes a sigh of relief once he realises that the demonic THING is not following them.
He then addresses the bird:
"I too would like to hear more about this mistress of yours; I am grateful for the rescue, 'tis true, but a little more information would be nice."
"Either way, we should get moving whilst we discuss this."
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"It's alright Zaina. It can't get to us now."
'Yes Master,' Zaina bows, then mutters quietly under her breath as she floats a little away from Bahram, 'isn't that what I just told you?'
"Raven! Tell us about your mistress please. We seem to be running headlong from one danger to the next. It would be nice for a change to know what were geting ourselves into."
Yes Mr. Birdie, please enflighten us!
"I too would like to hear more about this mistress of yours; I am grateful for the rescue, 'tis true, but a little more information would be nice."
The raven takes to the air once more, circling the group as it replies,
'Enflighten you... funny... But like the dwarf says, you best keep moving while we talk... it's not safe here...'
It flies off once more, in the same direction it was going before, circling back now and then as it tries to allow for the rather slow pace of dwarven running...
'While I'd much prefer to lie to you about it, Mistress Nyx believes in honesty to a fault...' the raven calls down to the group, '... it's one of her bigger weaknesses truth be told. She does prefer to work in private though, so if you reveal this stuff to anyone else she'll probably get really annoyed...' the bird pauses to allow the menace of his last comment to properly percolate as the group make haste across the dusty fields strewn with withered cacti in their dash towards the relative shelter of the mountains, 'But here it is: my Mistress lives under the old fortified watchtower which once guarded the town here - there's a series of caves under there, and she moved in a few years back to (as I mentioned) continue her work in private. Several days ago a group of gnolls from the Three Jaws tribe moved into the watchtower. They haven't discovered my Mistress's home yet, but she's none to pleased with them being there. She was hoping that you could clear them out for her... seeing as you've done so well in escaping the Kulldis tribe gnolls in the town. I'm guessing you could do with a rest first, but I'm pretty sure you could camp in the mountains for a night and deal with them when you're rested.'
'I've counted ten of them,' the raven continues as it leads the group onwards, 'but you'd be daft to try to hit them head on... I'd suggest trying to pick off the sentries first... whittle them down... and try to do a better job of it than that last ambush you attempted...'
From somewhere off to the group's right there's a rumbling sound, and tremors can be felt through the ground beneath your feet...
'Oops!' declares the raven, 'You... ah... you may want to pick up the pace a little...'
Covering the mile or so between the town and the surrounding mountains at a sprint, the group leave the ominous rumbling earth behind as they scramble, breathless, up into more rocky terrain. Putting some distance between themselves and the edge of Kelmarane's ruined pesh fields the escapees finally collapse, dusty, sweating, and out of breath in the shade of a jagged outcropping. The raven alights on a nearby rock, preens its feathers for a moment or two, then once more address's them in its rasping voice,
'So... can my Mistress count on your help... or at least your silence about where she lives? I'm sure she'd be quite willing to help you further, if you can clear access to her home that is... but it'd be good if I could take an answer back to her as to your intentions.'
"Raven ole buddy. If that's your real name. Any chance you have a cache of weapons or armor or gear available around here before we go storming off after some gnolls?" He scratches behind his ear has he talks.
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'Yeah,' replies the raven, 'I'm a raven, and we're all called "raven"...' it's hard to tell with the rasping voice, but you think it sounds sarcastic, '... but hold on, I'm sure I've got a falchion stashed under my wing here somewhere...' Yup - definitely sarcastic...
Ruffling its feathers, the raven cocks its head to one side, then adds,
'The gnolls up at the watchtower have a load of gear which you may be able to "aquire" before using it to beat their collective heads in. If you're, you know, not idiots about it... Mistress Nyx is something of an expert at crafting enchanted items, so I'm sure she has stuff you'd be interested in... but you'd need to get through the gnolls first.'
He pauses again, then adds, a little more cautiously,
'Would it help if I mentioned she's beautiful... well, from a human sort of a point of view... I've noticed that sort of thing seems to help sway men to her way of thinking... Me, I go more for glossy feathers, but hey - there's no accounting for taste!'
Out of breath and holding his side Bahram grimances as sweat pours down his face. Looking around he sees a nice little out-of-the-way hollow.
"That looks like a good place to rest." he says as he makes his way there and slumps down, 'I'm not made for all this physical exertion.' he mutters as he slides down to a sitting postition and catches his breath.
When he is able to breath again Bahram mutters a few words and gestures with one hand. Visibly relaxing he stops sweating and his breath comes much smoother. 'Aaaahh! Much better.'
Looking to the Raven he says, "You can tell your mistress that we thank her for her assistance and appreciate her honesty. We need all the allies we can find in this sand-blasted hell hole and we will defenetly be making our way to her shortly, if not directly. But first we must rest and gather our strength. Then we must discuss amongst ourselves. But yes, she can count on our assistance."
survival to not only find what need for today but for future stuff too, if back this way. will need berries for spell someday.
suppose we could rest here but if we follow this ravine up we should find the source of water that created this hollow and maybe some veggies to go with baboon
I'm voting for busting up some gnoll skulls! Those bastards took my mother away from me... She says as she punches her left fist into her right palm.
survival1d20+7= to not only find what need for today but for future stuff too, if back this way. will need berries for spell someday.
suppose we could rest here but if we follow this ravine up we should find the source of water that created this hollow and maybe some veggies to go with baboon
"Veggies? Blech!
Rashid sighs wearily.
"Raven, please take no offense at my companions tactless queries. What is your name? Presumably, your mistress has one for you?"
Listening to Lavendar, he smiles.
"By the Dawnflower, girl, you have some fire in you! I certainly agree that lowering the Gnoll population in the area is a worthy goal in and of itself, even when it does not involve rescuing someone else from their clutches.
However, it sounds like she is safe for the moment; I would prefer to gather more resources before we take on ten or so Gnolls, and I think that going to the Monastery would be a step in the right direction - I am sure that we could find something there."
He then bows in Lavender's direction.
"Nonetheless, I understand that some of you may have issues with delaying too long, so if the rest of you wish to go and rescue Nyx before following-up on any other venture, I will follow."
"Having a known ally in these parts sounds rather apealing to me, as much as I understand your want to visit the temple as I would want to visit the temple of Nethys, I vote for taking care of Nyx's gnoll problem first. It would also give us a safe haven of our own, someplace to retreat to if needed."
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Following Keldar's expert directions the group relocates to a much better concealed, more defensible, small (and shallow) cave near the crest of a ridge, with the beginings of a mountain stream running through it providing fresh, clean, water. Clustered around the cave mouth are several coarse bushes with berries, and some digging (under Keldar's guidance) also produces edible roots.
"Raven, please take no offense at my companions tactless queries. What is your name? Presumably, your mistress has one for you?"
The raven appears to listen quietly to the group's discussion, but speaks once more in answer to Rashid's question,
'Maybe I just told her what my name is?' he counters, then gives a squawk which could well be his version of a laugh, before admitting, 'No, you're right, the Mistress named me. She calls me "Mahjub"... but I'm okay with "raven"... as long as I'm the only one about, otherwise it gets a bit hard to know who you're talking to, right?'
Listening to Lavendar, he smiles."By the Dawnflower, girl, you have some fire in you! I certainly agree that lowering the Gnoll population in the area is a worthy goal in and of itself, even when it does not involve rescuing someone else from their clutches.
However, it sounds like she is safe for the moment; I would prefer to gather more resources before we take on ten or so Gnolls, and I think that going to the Monastery would be a step in the right direction - I am sure that we could find something there."
He then bows in Lavender's direction.
"Nonetheless, I understand that some of you may have issues with delaying too long, so if the rest of you wish to go and rescue Nyx before following-up on any other venture, I will follow."
Hmm...Mr. Rashid has a point...Being more prepared is a good idea. I change my vote...