Silstaren steps in and slashes horizontally at the bear.
Curve blade ... +2 more to hit if he can get to a flanking position with Asok.
Asok, his eyes reddening and spit flying from his mouth, his tusks bared and muscles bulging, snarls and swings his flail in an overhand blow.
Mikka, barely holding his guts in, swings again!
for damage!
And the Bear falls
after a few moments it changes form into that of a man in old priest's robes.
Alkaid cast CLW on Elaine, and Mikka
10 HP each
Elaine gets up and sees the body on the ground of an unfamiliar man and says "So it was a werebear after all. " she stands up and says" I might have taken him down but I barely missed what would have been an artery. Then I got hit by the tough opponent. I think we should investigate who he is and what he was doing here."Eliane then looks at the man in priest robes.
Mikka gratefully accepts the curing and sits down heavily afterwards, staring at the bear/man's corpse. "What was that about?!?"
"I don't think it was a were-bear, as lycanthropes don't revert back to human form with intact clothes.
He might have been punished for doing something."
"Or maybe a druid .... Defending the temple I assume."
Silstaren kneels beside the old man to examine him.
If he's got any life left, Heal to stop bleeding, etc
If the old man is still alive --
"Who are you? Why did you attack us?"
"Punished? Who punishes a man by turning him into a bear?"
"There are a few things that can punish a man like this, and one of them is a God."
"Maybe it was some kind of poetic justice, like he killed somebody's favorite pet bear." Asok growls, still breathing hard. He looks around the area for any signs of tracks and then for a den of any kind.
"Remind me to be nice to any gods we meet then." Mikka groans and pushes himself off the ground, flexing his torso to ensure the guts don't suddenly decide to come rushing out again.
Suddenly he smiles like a moron and does a sweeping bow to Alkaid. "Your healing is most appreciated and most helpful! You do as wonderful a job as you are beautiful, my lady!" Mikka ends by kissing Alkaid's hand as nobly as he can muster. Then, abruptly changing his attitude, moves over to the dead man and turns out his pockets. "Let's see if we can find any indication of who the man/bear was and why he was beared in the first place."
Halloran nods to Alkaid, I concur with Mikka's statement, It's good you were here.
Turning back to the temple, Halloran says, We might want to search this place, who knows what we'll find within?
The place is overrun with plant life, and needs a good cleaning before it can be put into service.
Eliane looks at the plants wondering what they are.
They are regular forest plants
So what does everyone do?
Halloran will go check out the temple.
Eliane will also check out the temple.
Mikka will go with them into the temple, sword drawn and ready for ambush!
Silstaren cleans his sword and nocks an arrow to his bowstring before following the others toward the temple proper.
After looking around, you can tell it's in need of repair, the pool needs cleaning as does the statue of Erastil.
"It'll take a lot of time and some resources to get this place to it's former glory. But it would not be a bad project to do."
"We can camp here tonight and clean up a little, but we're not really prepared to refurbish this place now."
Silstaren knits his brow and scratches his left eartip. Johd Kavken, the Erastilian priest, dreamed of this place. Perhaps we should find him and guide him here?"
Elaine says "
I don't tihnk repairing this place would be good to repair. I am not sure where to find Johd though"
Well, if nothing else we can give this poor fellow a proper burial. Halloran says, gesturing at the fallen man.
"Agreed, and May he rest in peace."
Eliane says "Agreed and ghost haunting this place will not be an improvement"
I didn't think to get one, did anyone else pick up a shovel? as Halloran asks this, he looks around for a good place to dig a grave.
If the temple has a cemetery he'll start there, if not he'll look for a nearby patch of open ground, away from the pool.
Elaine says "I have a drill but no shovel"
"Nah. No shovel here." Asok says as he looks for his spent arrow.
Well then, we will just have to make due. Halloran will use his artisan's tools as improvised digging devices, to loosen up the soil of the grave, then use rocks, sticks or whatever he can find to dig it out.
After they lay the man to rest he'll use his craft: carpentry skill to make a wooden marker to place on the grave.
Elaine says to Halloran "Good idea with the grave marker. "
Alkaid sings a hymn as the old priest is buried, in hopes it'll let him rest in peace.
Silstaren pitches in too. I wonder what he did to be so cursed. I hope he rests easy.
While Halloran crafts the marker, Silstaren clears deadfall from the open patch around the pond.
Mikka, having no usefulness for digging, or really manual labor, instead gathers stones large enough to serve as a cairn over the grave. When the hymn is sung, he stands, fidgeting and nervous at the display of faith.
After the man has been buried, Halloran dusts off his hands and says, Pharasma, guide you to your rest.
Since Halloran didn't know what name to put on the marker, he'll carve "Defender of Erastil's Temple", instead.
Silstaren looks around before addressing the group. "A few hours are left to the day. Shall we push on or rest here tonight?"
Asok emerges from the brush at the edge of the temple's plaza and looks around. "How much more explorin' do we have to do today? If we did what we needed to to do a proper job, then this is a good place to rest, I think." he says, giving Silstaren and Elaine a look. "Some of us took a beating. A little rest will do them good."
Halloran looks around, It would be nice to have a roof over our heads, and our late ursine friend will have probably driven off any other predators. This spot is likely better than most to camp.
Elaine says "I agree"
"Then stay we shall. And in honor of Erastil, I propose a tournament of skill with the bow."
Halloran looks at Silstaren, A tournament? What kind of tournament? I ask this out of curiosity you understand, as I have neither a bow nor the skill to use it, so am unlikely to be competing.