Cale looks up as Grim stumbles in.
"Don't tell me you're falling sick too." he jokes even as he helps Grim to rest and brings out a canteen of water.
Sick ? no not really. The Crystal partially sapped my energy. Nothing to do with any disease. It radiate a rather strong wave of necromantic / negative energy and that usually doesn't go along with life energy. They oppose each others. I'll be fine in a few minutes and my body should recover naturally the energies in a day or two
Cae nods having gotten lost in the explanation but he understand the Grim isn't sick.
"Good, carrying two people might be a little taxing even for someone like me." He grins.
Once Goragg had been lain down to rest and camp was set up, Kalasin entered full healer mode. With whispered prayers, she allowed healing magic to flow from her and fill everyone around her. While Goragg was her main focus, she made sure everyone else was tended to as well, sniffing for any signs or smells of disease as she goes. No one else needs to be sick too.
Temporary ability damage returns at the rate of 1 point per night of rest (8 hours) for each affected ability score. Complete bed rest restores 2 points per day (24 hours) for each affected ability score.
Does this mean 1 point per ability score is restored with 8 hours rest, and double that with long term care? Like I said, always took it to be just 1 point per 8 hours, not 1 point per day per ability score damaged.
"What have we learned about touching glowing crystals, Grimm?" she asks with a hint of sarcasm, though it's more of a sing-song voice than anything. She thanks Kalasin with a wave of her hand, prepared to sit and wait around for a while.
you? i don't know, but myself a great deal of fascinating things well worth the minor temporary inconvenience. he replied with a smile
"I've always found experiments to be more trouble than they're worth, along with the person running them... Nature isn't something you want to mess around with." she spits.
so we agree to dissagree. Fine with me. he says smiling
d20 Terrain Element
1—3 Difficult
4—6 Feature
7—10 Hunting Ground
11—12 Resource
13—14 Secret
15—20 Standard
The group gets going the next morning. The next few days of travel are uneventful. Goragg begins to feel better after a couple of days, the filth fever finally fully leaving his body. Grim too feels better after a day, his body finally shaking off the extended exposure to the necromantic crystal.
The heavily wooded swamp finally gives way to the more brackish swamp you are used to finding. The going is wet, hot and slow. The group finds a section of the swamp teaming with life, from herons to gulls to gators to frogs and snakes and everything inbetween. Fortunately, they manage to avoid any entanglements.
Beyond that, the swamp becomes less hectic, and more brackish, with less flow of water to keep it teaming. As the group slogs on, they are all surprised when a buzzing comes from a dead tree they are walking around. Something with multiple buzzing wings zooms out of it angrily and attacks...
...Goragg.
The poor hobgoblin is as lucky as usual as the whirring buzzing angry creature lands on his arm and drives it's sharp pointy proboscis into the hobgoblin's neck.
The creature's multiple legs wrap around Goragg's torso as it takes a full on hold on him, grappling him as it feeds.
Round 1
Grim Will charge and attack the creature that has attacked Gorrag (Arcane strike: swift)
Current AC 17
Aldrah, seeing the large stirge attach itself to the poor, poor hobgoblin, will move about fifteen feet back, drawing her bow as she does so (Yay, positive BAB). She lines up a shot, attempting to pierce the insect's chitinous skin without injuring Goragg.
"Let's hope that armor holds up like it did against your fist, Thumper! she yells, firing an arrow at the stirge.
Kalasin rushes forwarded, slipping her scarf from her neck as she does so.
Cale laughs as he approaches. His Nodachi aimed carefully as he slices at the Goragg's new accesory.
"You are truly attractive, my fellow companion. Everything here seems to go for you firt."
Goragg falls back yelling and rolling in the muck with the thing on his back. As he rolls over, Aldrah pierces the growing blood sac with an arrow, while Cale and Grim slash their weapons through the creature. It doesn't make a sound, but it does basically explode, coating their weapons, and Goragg, with Goragg's blood.
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Goragg stands up, reels shakily as if he did not expect to be so very, very tired, waves off any offers of help, and kicks the corpse of the stirge in cold revenge. The fact that his boot is now covered in stirge guts and his very own blood does not seem to bother him.
Yeah, I feel real lucky for all this attention.
He wipes the sweat off his brow with a dirty rag produced from somewhere you don't want to think about.
Now if you're done calling me funny names while I'm being eaten alive, I guess we can continue, eh?
The stirge attack seems to have wearied Goragg both physically and emotionally. He trudges off without waiting for a response.
Ready ? almost give me a minute or so says grim searching for a possible Nodule after whipping clean his weapon
Grim finds a small black nodule in the corpse (about 1/2 the size of the nodules from the flies).
"Oh, gross! I didn't want blood all over my bow, ugh...This thing's a pain in the behind to clean, and I can't imagine that bug being very hygienic, either." she complains as she carries the bow carefully.
grim will hand it over to Kalasin. This should be able to power an orison not much more i am afraid. Alright lets move forward
Cale shrugs off Goragg's comments understanding from his time in the pits that some warriors will be fatigued beyond physical means.
He waits for Grim while keeping an eye on Goragg and moves on once it's clear everyone is able to.
d20 Terrain Element
1—3 Difficult
4—6 Feature
7—10 Hunting Ground
11—12 Resource
13—14 Secret
15—20 Standard
The group continues on, and after almost two weeks of slogging through the dangerous and vermin infested swamp, the group finally makes it to the center of the hectate, able to look straight up at the full moon each night...
...it's rather anti-climactic. The swamp looks pretty much the same, purple water lilly's, insects, centipedes, spiders, snakes, gators, cawfish, cypress trees, stinking mud. But nothing like the fort they found in the previous hectate.
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Well, here we are at Castle Invisible. Goragg gestures expansively.
Lucky for you, I've already reduced it to invisible dust.
Goragg is back to his jovial, if somewhat rude, self.
He gestures to Aldrah with a leering grin. Care to join me for a "thump" on the invisible feather bed?
Goragg has been waiting two weeks to make this joke. He's rather pleased with himself.
So lead on to the next Hecate then, after you had your warrior's rest says grim cheerfully
i am letting the ranger decide where we go to next :)
Aldrah immediately strikes the hobgoblin, not even offering one of her trademark retorts before doing so. The look she wears is not a playful one, but one of anger.
She spits at the hobgoblin: "If you ever do that again, I'll make sure you lose a limb before I add you to the list that got me stuck working on that hectate to begin with!"
Her fists still shaking, she turns around, making sure Goragg is about 30 feet away before following the group again.
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Goragg touches his stinging cheek, looking after Aldrah in admiration. He mutters to himself, Aah, kitty's got claws. I like it. We're going to have fun, she and me.
I wonder if she has any hobgoblin blood in her. Reminds me a bit of my first brood-mother...
To the group, he says, Let's continue straight. We've got nothing but unexplored territory ahead of us.
Cale stays silent, remaining his stotic self. He does roll his eyes at Goragg's words and the resulting smack.
d20 Terrain Element
1—3 Difficult
4—6 Feature
7—10 Hunting Ground
11—12 Resource
13—14 Secret
15—20 Standard
The group continues on south, Goragg's cheek still stinging. The next two days are spent slogging through the nasty horrible swamp. Food is beginning to run low (you'll need to start making Survival checks ever 3 days to replenish food going forward, DC 18).
Continuing south, the group comes across something they haven't seen before. A rising setting of stones, all made of crystal (quartz). For the first time in weeks, they find clean water bubbling up out of the crystal, so no need to boil the water and strain it to clean it. It's even somewhat cool to the touch. The quartz crystals form a large pool of the clear water.
As the group refills waterskins, they are slightly distracted. Or at least, every one but Cale and Goragg are. Therefore only they see the motion in the still muddy waters around the crystal grotto. Thus they are able to act as the large snake rises up out of the waters and attacks.
Even with their warning though, the snake is preternaturally quick.
The snake rears up and races up to Aldrah and snaps out at her.
Grim is totaly taken by surprise by the sudden apearence of a rather large snake.
Stunned by the sudden appearance of the snake, Cale attempts a strike with his weapon!
Aldrah, distracted by the discovery of cool, fresh water, fails to notice the viper slithering around, though her attention is immediately drawn to the thing as it rises out of the muddy water and snaps at her easily, drawing blood. The question of whether or not the thing was venomous is immediately answered, as she feels particularly sluggish, wincing from the injury.
Round 2
As Goragg runs past the snake to flank it, he leaves himself open to attack.
The viper moves with lightning efficiency. It's head flickers like in a blur as it bites both Aldrah and Goragg again.
It misses Goragg, but does hit Aldrah.
Then the snake writhes and moves away from the duo.
Round 2
Grim will double move and be close to the creature if the creature is still up
Aldrah, unable to act again before Goragg charges the thing, finds herself bitten once again, her reflexes slowed once more as she cries out from another injection of venom, wildly swinging her fist as the thing tries to escape.
"Damnit! Die, you stupid...nngh...snake!" she yells, getting more upset by the second.