"I'll take Deepshadow", Thurmoud said, standing next to the altruan, "and we'll search the houses west of the temple. The rest can search what's east. Agreed?"
Uarach nods and says, ”No sense in wasting time then. Zenebe, Tellian, with me. Let’s get searching.” Uarach steps outside and looks up at the sky before muttering, ” Ceredal above, I am glad your storm has spared us.”
Acquiescing to the plan of three and two, Zenebe kept his ears open as they looked about the town.
Deepshadow nods and then moves to keep up with Thurmoud.
The rufalg and altruan begin their search for supplies under the recently drizzly sky.
What starts as a hopeful search for supplies and usable materials quickly becomes an exercise in futility - whatever destructive force leveled this village did so extremely thoroughly, leaving no glass unbroken and no wood unsplintered.
Uarach scouts a bit ahead of his assigned group, trying to stay somewhat stealthy.
The rest of the search passes without incident, though you can see repeated instances of what might have been usable materials, such as potions and household supplies, smashed to pieces, their contents and usefulness long departed.
At least we won't want for kindling.
"So surviving off the land it is. I suppose things could be worse - the sight of the squirrels before should mean other animals are yet around."
"Let's assume the absolute worst case." says Deepshadow, as he returns to the group with an armful of wood useful for burning. "Whereever here is, there is still connection to the realm of shadow, since I can still summon my power. We can do a search for food, but again I think that we should get a plan together first. What was the mission of each of your units when we set out? I was part of a scouting unit."
"I was here mostly to just prevent spread of the demons to the vale. As an aside, while there may not be much by way of supplies here, there is a recent trail marker over on the other side of the village that might lead us to others who were here recently."
Uarach smiles at the mention of surviving off the land, ”I wouldn’t worry too much about surviving off the land. A coalition of my people sent scouts who could help provide for themselves and their units. I was among them.”
Thurmoud checks his backpack with a disheartened look. "I'm glad we have someone skilled at wilderness lore, because I have money to buy food, but for some reason choose not to buy any for myself. Hopefully should come across civilization, I can rectify that."
Sighing, the mynrughdaer looked to the others. "On your word, we march, Uarach."
Existence is defined not only by the things within it, but also by what surrounds it in the other planes. Of particular note is the plane of Uvast, revealed unexpectedly and with a great deal of fanfare during the Malefic Shift thirteen cycles ago. The Divines all trace their origins to this realm of uncompromising order and unfettered creation, a place where inspiration blooms and becomes the components of the dreams of mortals.
The increasingly-frantic conflict with the Riftspawn had, in recent cycles, pushed many mortals toward belief in powers greater than themselves, if only for the fact that their homeland was under siege by depraved monstrosities that cared only for the satiation of their hunger for chaos and death. This presented a rare opportunity for the Lesser Divines, formerly confined to inglorious minor roles in the grand schemes of Uvast, to finally make their presence known and become the embodiments of small, yet significant aspects of life on the Last Continent. So it was in the case of Atrunor, one of the first Lesser Divines to openly declare his support of the Greater Divines’ war against Tornorus and the Rift…
Atrunor looked upon all he had wrought since the war began, and while he was satisfied, his sorrow remained. Perhaps this band of survivors would fare better than his last assembly of the chosen. The storm had taken some doing, and he would need to repay Farrag later for that favor, but it had been worth the trouble.
“Still squandering precious divinity on your playthings, brother?”
The presence had been there for a while, but Atrunor had hoped he would simply leave him alone – a fool’s hope, he reminded himself. When it spoke, he turned to address the horrific, blood-soaked figure before him. “I act in accordance with necessity, Maruhe. I would not test our maker’s patience with your superfluous meddling.”
Maruhe canted his helmet, causing a fresh flood of ichor to billow forth from its inscrutable depths. “Meddling? Dear brother, war is the sole lot of this wretched land! Does that not make me its avatar and true inheritor? Are you not, by attempting to end this conflict, struggling against our divine imperative yourself?”
Atrunor tensed, keeping his shield angled toward the savage specter of slaughter before him. He could not refute the fact that war seemed to be Ralczan’s predetermined fate, but he was in no mood to entertain his brother’s twisted rationale. “Divine imperatives can be changed. If it should conflict with the path of the righteous, I will bring my wrath to bear upon Uvast itself.”
“What a curious sentiment,” Maruhe retorted, his disembodied voice betraying a hint of amusement. “Small wonder that we are related after all.”
“Enough! Begone from me, empty beast!” Atrunor reached for the hilt of his blade, but Maruhe was already gone. His suspicions were well-founded: the blast was only a taste of what was to come.
Uarach nods, ”If we march on my word, then let us march. Find what else might be in store for us.”
Tel follows behind Uarach, pointing the way to where he saw the trail marker if Uarach is inclined to go that way.
Deepshadow nods, then takes up his position in the middle of the marching order.
Zenebe walked behind Deepshadow, his mind wandering to thoughts of mishap. What strange misfortune could befall us out here? He was not usually a pessimist, but for them to proceed unscathed when a town of people had been disappeared? That would be exceptional indeed...
Thurmoud took his traditional flank guard position in the marching order. The dwarven scion knew he should be watching his surroundings, but the mynrughjaer's mind was still there, in that church, kneeling before his god.
You leave the shattered village, the pristine steeple of its church watching over your solemn departure. The forest is dense and healthy, with many signs of life to behold - small animals flit this way and that as you pass by, the deathly silence of the settlement eclipsed once more by the sounds of nature.
Aided by Tel and his familiar, Uarach follows the trail with little difficulty, the markers cropping up in consistent patterns and often enough that the party only has to exert the bare minimum effort to avoid becoming lost. The scenery is truly enchanting, the proud trees adorned with pale flowers that quiver in the faint breeze that manages to push past the canopy.
Tel's familiar continues to play scout, wary of dangers, but paying attention to little else.
Pausing to observe their surroundings, Zenebe searched his mind for connections to prior knowledge.
You all admire the scenery, most of you remaining blissfully unaware of the properties of the flora and fauna you pass as you make your way along the trail.
The snap of a branch rings out through the undergrowth somewhere to the left of the trail. With your vision somewhat impeded by closely-linked tree trunks and other foliage nearby, you find it difficult to make out exactly what caused the noise, but even the least observant among you can see a large silhouette, easily the size of a prize cattle, with horns situated on top of its head that twist forward like wicked skewers. The shape doesn't seem to be hostile toward you, but with the day you've had, anything could be possible.
"Ummm...Hello?" says Deepshadow.
Stooping to harvest some of the eldwort, Zenebe figured although it was not of present use to them, those possibly injured by whatever bizarre occurrence befell them would be grateful for it. And what better way than to win the support of others?
His thoughts were interrupted by something looking quite unwilling to be swayed by a few plants.
Thurmoud unlatches his dwarven waraxe from his belt and holds it. The determined look crosses the dwarf's face, ready for a rumble.
Uarach stands resolutely, smiling slightly.
The creature stomps on the ground, revealing the source of the snapping sound from a moment ago, but seems more concerned with keeping you at bay than charging you... for the moment.
What do you do?
"Anyone know what it is?"
Relieved at the work animal, Zenebe assuaged Deepshadow.
"Just a grotmag grazing. Give it space; it should mean us no harm."
The bard allowed the quadraped a wide berth as they moved.
Tel nods in agreement, and warily circles the creature after Zenebe.
Thurmoud follows Zenebe and Tellian's example.
Uarach’s smile somewhat fades as he circles around the grotmag.
Deepshadow shrugged and kept moving. Now that it was identified as non-hostile, he didn't have time to spare worrying about it.
The grotmag huffs at you as you circumvent its feeding grounds, but it lets you pass without aggression. Should any of you turn back after you pass, you find that it's already disappeared back into the gloom of the forest - unusual for a beast of its kind, which usually favor open plains and rolling hills, but then again, there's nothing "usual" about how your day has gone so far.
The hike along the trail is simple enough thanks to the clear markings, so you can avoid getting lost fairly easily, but actually accomplishing the hike is another matter entirely. Whatever trail used to adorn the path is nonexistent now, overgrown with tangled plants that choke out any sight of the old footpath below. The sun sinks low in the sky as you move along, and eventually, it becomes clear that you should settle in for the night.
Then you realize that the trail markers have suddenly disappeared, leaving you with no direction for the future or any sign of how you got here.
"Uhh...Guys, any ideas?" asks the Shadow-covered Halfing.
Uarach looks about before saying, ”No point in trying to find a trail in the dark. I’d say we make camp and try to pick the path back up in the morning. I can take the middle watch. Spare you all the trouble.”
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Uarach looks about before saying, ”No point in trying to find a trail in the dark. I’d say we make camp and try to pick the path back up in the morning. I can take the middle watch. Spare you all the trouble.”
"Then first watch it is for me. I was always a creature of the night anyway."
Zenebe felt unease at the lack of familiarity where it should have been in their surroundings. Beats outright hostility though.
"I'll take last watch", decides the dwarf. "I can pray my morning devotionals at the same time."
"I'm fine with whatever watch you'd like me to take, although I will point out that I can't see in the dark."
Drat, the good watches have already been taken. Tellian thinks to himself. "My familiar's senses are better than mine. It can take second watch, and then I can join Thurmond in the morning as a second pair of eyes as he prays. Linder," he says, gesturing to the bird, "Can understand and speak common and will be quite easy for you to work with."
Tel then begins to set up his own sleeping area.
Uarach chuckles, "A talking bird. Can't say I've ever come across something like that in the wild."
"Wizards are weird." offers Deepshadow.