Phaust attempts to hold Horec until all are ready.
"Hold on there, Swordlord!"
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While Phaust and Horec hugged it out, or not, Akurna was busily putting her armor on. A few minutes pass, and she was ready, the buckles and straps all properly tightened and in place. The church's outside were very quiet and the torches were still smoldering and snuffed out. Those that could see in the dark saw vague shapes; the darkness like a thick fog that shifted if you tilted your head or moved. Those that couldn't see could only see the lights in the church's inside. The light cut off instead of leaking into the darkness.
The first one out the door steps in something wet and the smell of iron and sulphur wafts up from the pile of reflective metal at their feet. There were also lumps that off-set their other boot.
Sniffs. "Smellish hellish. "
Haltak raises his shield looking cautiously into the shifting darkness, trying to control his breathing.
Akurna returns from the back wearing a fine looking breastplate and shield. The shield is gold-colored with a black jackal sitting upright emblazoned on it. She is not wielding any weapons but has what looks like several flails attached to her belt. She pulls a bone from her pack (which looks like a leg bone from a dog) and passes her hand over it, murmuring a few words. The bone takes to the air and hovers nearby, always staying within a couple feet of her.
"Let's go then." She opens the door and stares out into the darkness.
With a swift motion, Phaust dons his wooden shield, and steps out on the church's landing, gandasa at the ready, his ioun stone dimly lighting the way ahead.
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The light around Phaust strains itself, but allows space of illumination to fill in around him. The light was only 10ft wide, but the vague shapes in the distant faded with its softness. At his feet lay the pool of blood and the start of its trail. The feathers reflected the light, quietly, and some were scattered around blood pool.
Phaust mutters to the darkness. "Nice try. I'm not gonna run blindly into darkness and hope for the best."
Phaust points out the trail to the others.
"Stay close and alert", requests Phaust, "this either might be a trap or it might DEFINITELY be a trap!"
"I think it twas the dog that were bleeding there lad...but I like your optimism."
"I think it twas the dog that were bleeding there lad...but I like your optimism."
"Well, that's Pharasmin for you", Phaust remarked, "we're all little balls of sunshine and rainbows".
Despite the gloom, Phaust continued his lookout until everyone was ready.
Zaeos notches his bow and follows the tracks, when the others are ready.
Akurna heads out, but keeps well back from Zaeos, not wanting the noise of her armor to disrupt his stealth.
"Don't look up."
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Phaust was walking along when the Hunter moved in front of him and stared at the trail of feathers and blood. Others behind Phaust lingered on the edge of his light, the darkness hungrily biding its time. Another man, Horec, walked beside him, but his attention was elsewhere...
A dull sound vibrated the air around his ears, it was somewhere behind him. It attempted to scratch itself into his mind with a tainted needle. Words and letters were carved and the heat of the tip created sharp pains under his hair. It was all this darkness! The small light that he walked beside was weak and couldn't ease his pain...
The small statuette begins to heat whatever container he happened to carry it in, remaining toasty as he left the village.
Leaving the village, there's this sixth sense that floats up from the bone that hovered and drifted around her body. Its protective wardings glimmered off the light that floated around Phaust's head. The feeling of something off crept through, but the solutions were popping up as stray thoughts. If the dwarf was pushed to the left with a straight arm...or Akurna's bone ward was very close to Phaust's back, something beneficial would happen. But time was drawing thin as they walked and a decision had to be made, very quickly.
The even ground soon became untouched by man, the grass that was briefly illuminated was becoming longer and bushes that caught and snagged at pants or the insides of others' boots could be felt. The Hunter noticed that the blood trail was growing thicker, the vague outlines of something tall, standing upright in spaced rows, met his vision and steadily, everyone else's.
"oi, the way this darkness be actin' maybe some light would do us good anyway eh? Not like we're sneakin aboot the underdark trying not to draw the eye o' somethin' nasty.
Haltak casts light on his shield. He presumably doesn't see anything different, though it's in color now.
Horec waited impatiently for the others to be ready then eagerly followed Zaeos out of the confines of the church.
He did his best to not give away the hunter's position.
Akurna frowns, and then looks around.
"Haltak," she says quietly. "I sense something strange. Move to my left... like this." She gently pushes him with an outstretched arm until he is a full arm's length away.
She looks around again, expecting something to happen.
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A sudden flash of silver and black lunged downward from the darkness, it's gleaming talon set for Akurna, but the sudden movement of the dwarf brought the talon to him instead. The flurry of movements were brought about by a chorus of screeching, the light above Phaust's head illumating the underside of the massive, black feathered beast. In the same moment that it attacked, one of it's claws hooked Haltak around the chest and easily lifted him up, into the sky.
The dwarf could likely be heard from up above, somewhere in the night, his voice fighting the cacophony of ear-rending screeches.
It all happened so fast, but suddenly, his chest was clutched in the talon of a beast. He felt the wind buffet his ears, hearing the beast's wings carry it and him away from the others. He smelled sulphur, the beast's stench trying to shove itself into his nose. His legs brushed against the tops of trees and the beast flew on. His body was faced towards the flying beast, the talon leaving deep gouges in his armor.
"F*%! YOU, YOU TRAIiitttorous ...." Haltak yells, voice fasing away, obviously blaming Akurna for his misfortune. Deciding falling into the trees is probably better than whatever this creature has in store, and certainly not being strong or wriggly enough to just escape it's talons, Haltak begins bashing at its legs wildly.
Akurna gasps in shock as the feathered thing flies past, grabbing Haltak.
she shouts.
Unable to effectively pose a counter-attack, Phaust runs out of the church, trying to get a heading for this 'dark bird of prey', weapons at the ready.
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There was a crashing sound, somewhere north of the travelers' location. It sounded as if something heavy dropped through branches and trees. Phaust was already outside, but now that he's verily outside, his light had illuminated the trunk of the first tree, the trail of blood and feathers continuing onward. The trees of the Fangwood were thick and the underbrush that surrounded the trees were just as thick, with sharp, glistening barbs that caught the light of Phaust's glowing rock.
Those behind him could feel the light's absence and were wanting to catch up, should the darkness decide to swallow them whole.
A crack sparked from the hammer's head as the dwarf struck the flying monstrosity. There was a brief flame that caught hold of the talon, burnt flesh and rotting sulphur plugged up his nose. But there was a sensation of losing contact with the beast, Haltak's free arm flailing and his body spinning into the air. Down he plummeted, through thick branches, bushels of leaves smacked into his face, and finally, the sight of something quite large and quite grey. With a crack, his back hit the boulder and he rolled off of the edge and into the smell of decay. Flies immediately greeted him, bouncing to and from his cheeks and some almost getting stuck in his nose.
The fall and the collision was softened by his armor. A lesser man would have died instantly, but the dwarf suffered only a light cut on the cheek from one of the branches. It stung. When his attention drifted towards his surroundings, he saw open faces, rotting skin, blood-soaked cloths, and bits of brain and a trail of blood all along the boulder's side. Some of these people were bent in ways they shouldn't be, while others had maggots in there mouths and empty eye-sockets.
1 point of falling damage to the dwarf.
Running back to the others, Phaust questions, "Did you hear that? Sounds like something big came down a little ways north. Let's go!"
"What in Torag's ... PFt"
Haltak shakes his head and sputters, trying to blow the flies from his nose, rolling to his feet, trying to find his footing amongst the carrion and rubble.
"Torag bless me hammer an deliver me from evil."
With a prayer for protection from evil Haltak nervously looks about. Death and darkness he's faced before, but not under a hostile sky...
Running back to the others, Phaust questions, "Did you hear that? Sounds like something big came down a little ways north. Let's go!"
"Lead on then and let's hurry. The dwarf maybe in serious condition from the fall if that was him."
"Something's got Haltak! I tried to..." Akurna runs forwards, trying to catch up with Zaeos and Horec. "It was something big... with feathers."
Hearing the crashing up ahead, she calls to the others. "That could be it!" still full of guilt over what happened to Haltak, she abandons the plan and charges in, abandoning the plan.
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Akurna runs forward, her vision suddenly dropping once she leaves Phaust's light. The trees and brushes that pulled and resisted her advance would appear as grey figures that flashed into sight from the darkness. The ground became uneven and in the thickets, her movements slowed. There was a flash of metal underfoot, just as Akurna set foot in its mouth. A sudden pain pierced both sides of her leg and she fell forward. Off to her right, another trap sprung itself with her arm's movements, biting and tearing into her armor and flesh underneath. It seems the floating bone intervened, however, catching the metal spikes. It was pinned against her arm as well, but the chains connecting both traps looked sturdy and didn't give when she tugged on the traps.
The others moved with Phaust's light, but every now and then, the floating rock would get caught in the branches of the overgrown forest. Akurna was nowhere in sight, the darkness having swallowed her up.
The sound of the crashing dwarf, from where everyone but Akurna is, was in a North Easterly direction. Now if anyone had a compass...
The wooden icon, somewhere in your pack, begins to draw heat away from the Dwarf's body to itself. It was very warm against his back and he heard a faint growling that steadily grew louder. It became a hidden chorus of guttural sounds, several pairs of angry, yellow-green eyes piercing the darkness. Each one cut off the dwarf's exit, their owners advancing forward. Each pair of eyes had another pair that stared off to the side. The beasts' mouths dripped a visible, fluorescent yellow ichor.
"Akurna! AKURNA!" Phaust shouts into the night. "Godsdammit! Where's she go?"
Phaust then realizes he's lost his headings.
Akurna! Haltak!"
"Aahhh, alright ye fanged beasties, if'n we're doin' this the hard way, I'll knock your teeth in! Both sets! Torag guide me hammer!"
Hearing nothing of the other group, Haltak prepares to do battle to the end, by the light of his hammer alone, as he both feared anticipated.
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The hounds stepped forward and moved apart, setting themselves to be on both sides of the dwarf in slow, measured paces. Once near the dwarf, two attacked his sides, while one occupied the front, their dual-heads snapping at the air and then at the dwarf's stubby legs. Once they neared the light of Haltak's glowing hammer, he saw that their fur was raggedy black tuffs of fur and darkness alike. One cautiously moves around the dwarf, taking a wide turn and approaching his back right.
The front one snaps his jowls of one head at the dwarf, and the one to his left does the same, but its the one on the right that snags his leg and pulls the dwarf onto the ground. It's putrid, dripping saliva could be felt stinging the dwarf's skin, where the teeth attempted to penetrate his sabaton. His magic prevented the teeth from biting, but the stinging sensation dripping in between the layers of steel...
"Ach! Gerroff!"
Haltak lashes out as he rolls to his feat, hoping to avoid the worst of the extra bites.
Akurna runs forward, her vision suddenly dropping once she leaves Phaust's light.
Akurna hears the voice of Faust through the darkness. she shouts.
"Beartraps? Pharasma!"
Phaust is conflicted on where to go first, but since he heard Akurna, he figures it must be.
Looking back to those that followed, Phaust asked, "Do any of you have any light source to find what came down in the trees? I hope it's the dwarf."
Horec pulls out a sunrod and ignites it. He then begins running to the sound of combat. When he nears Akurna's position he watches for the traps.
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I know, oh I know about darkvision and lights my friend. But I said what I said. I will definitely inform you if you take damage, with pleasure even. It will have bells and whistles attached to it and those things they wave about in soccer games.
It seems the floating bone intervened, however, catching the metal spikes.
The others rushed north, Akurna's yelling guiding them to her. Phaust notes two other beartraps. There was then Akurna's, where her foot was trapped, and the one above it where her arm was stuck. Her floating bone had split in half and was wedged between her arm and ankle, preventing the spikes from puncturing her, but she didn't look very mobile. With Horec's broad-reaching light, the other traps could be seen near the ones that Phaust first spotted. They curved to the left and up and to the right and up, almost as if they were the sides of a...A large, oaken tree, with its roots exposed and slowly tearing through the earth in time, was the exact center of the beartraps. The chains of the beartraps all led to the tree as well. The dwarf is nowhere to be seen here.
Lighting the sunrod brings an instant relief to his senses, like a warm bath after the battlefield's tension. But once that sensation evaporated, his thoughts began to drift away. Up and up, the whole world, dark! And with him holding the only light, it shone like a beacon, a beacon that the moon turned its stifling stare at. Such hateful eyes fell upon him from the darkness, his ears first noticing how quiet the forest was. From the corner of his eyes, he saw dark claws reaching out slowly, trying to grab at him. However, when he turned to face them, they weren't there. They moved and reached out elsewhere!
Upon moving to his feet, he felt the head of his hammer collide into one of the beasties. The sickening crack of bones and the sputtering of blood met him and he felt the vibration in his gauntlet. The beasty's head hung loose, but the other bit at his legs. The others followed suit, their teeth scraping and attempting to puncture the armor he wore. Two of the beasts' attacks connected and their saliva stung what it touched under his metal, but he remained standing. One of the beasties that he hit retreated into the darkness, while the other two stayed to attack him. The two that did stay pulled in time with both of their heads' snapping jaws, to where one of them toppled the dwarf and dragged him down by the arm. His armor had many puncture holes and parts of his skin burned when the saliva burned through his magical protection.
Looking to the others, Phaust comments on the new light source.
"Excellent. I'll work on these beartraps. We will follow you as soon as Akurna is free."
Turning to his work, Phaust wills the ioun stone in front of him, and removing his thieve's tools from his armor, Phaust begins his work on safely removing the beartraps.
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Phaust's tools loosen the bear traps around Akurna's ankle and arm, the jaws easily pulled apart as their screws were no more. The bone that protected her floated and formed together as one, continuing its floating around Akurna. The light that Horec held was the brightest thing she's seen since the darkness fell, the rod spurting out light in blatant defiance.
Not bothering to stand up only to be knocked down again, Haltak continues thrashing wildly from prone at one of the remaining beasties.
"Thanks!" Akurna says, favoring her arm.
"We have to find Haltak! Something carried him off!"
Akurna looks around trying to spot or hear Haltak.
Assisting in carefully walking out of the beartraps, Phaust helps Akuna find the way through the darkness.
"HALTAK!" she calls out.
Akurna keeps searching for some sign of Haltak, while edging away from the tree.