It was like vertigo. The world seemed to tip. Thorgar and Raven went to a knee and seemed to become lost in their own minds, staring blankly.
Haakan and Thordan managed to focus through the odd sensation. They saw the glittering mass reform between them. It began to dance slowly and beautifully in front of them but they both remembered the last time they had watched the entity's hypnotic dance and tore their eyes away.
The distant bells rang a chaotic, frustrated din in Thordan's ears
Perception Check
"I'll not abandon you, little one", Haaken reassures Thordan. Then keeping his eyes averted, he let's his senses expand trying to glean what he can from the rest of the scene
Thorgar feels his stomach wrench as the world goes mad, his feet suddenly seeming a thousand miles away and his legs tremulous stilts beneath him.
"What is it you want?" Raven calls out to nothing in particular.
Dazed and confused Thorgar hears Raven's words as an accusation, and answers in a ragged hollow voice,
"I want to forget! I want to be done! I want to go back, never have done it, never have been. I want to be the man she saw, the man she loved. But I cannot, without her there is only me, and the blood calls... It sings a song of rage and ruin."
Confused and tense, Thordan and Haakar brace for any kind of violence but it does not come.
Raven and Thorgar shake their heads and realize where they are, but for the life of them, they can't remember how they got there. Were they sleepwalking? What was this strange glittering cluster of lights?
As they watched, it zipped from one side to the other, seemingly trying to get in front of Thordan or Haakar, but they turned their eyes away at every moment.
Thorgar's eyes gleam with fury, and his lips draw back into a snarl as a primal rumbling, like that of a cornered beast, eminates from his throat.
He turns around slowly looking at each being present in turn with hard eyes, mouse - friend, friend, friend, twinkling ball of unnatural spirit light - enemy.
"Arghghgharghaharghgahhhrrrrrrrrr!" He bellows, the thunderous cry echoeing through the eerily still forest as he raises his glowing sword above his head and bursts forward in a frenzied charge!
"What the...where did that....huh?" Raven wonders aloud.
Snapping to her senses
"What is that thing doing to us?" she exclaims.
Thorgar's mighty swing passes right through the cloud of glittering lights, scattering it slightingly. It vibrates for a moment and reforms.
It seems quite agitated, but undeterred.
"It's trying to lure us somewhere. I doubt it's intentions are honorable.", Haaken replies.
The Glittering cluster of light pulses and drives itself through Thorgar, coming out his back in a swirl of agitation.
The mouse man's blade wicks right through the cluster of lights, hitting nothing but air.
Thorgar frost crackling upon his scraggily beard and hacks at the wisp once more, the power of his swing is formidable, but again merely passes through the spirit.
Raven tries to attack the wisp.
Raven stands, draws her scimitar and immediately moves into the shadows just beyond the campfire for a cloak of secrecy while she begins a search.
"It's a wisp! They don't like cold iron or fire. Thorgar, grab your torch and hit it!"
Acrobatics:
Haaken, hearing Rave's warning, spins and tumbles over the fallen torch, in a sudden burst of movement. Haaken settles gracefully on his feet, the guttering brand held in his left fist.
Torch Attack:
Haaken lunges at the swarming lights, the torch traveling in a wide arc.
Thorgar hears Raven's words as if from a great distance, and his eyes focus on the flame as Haaken snatches it up.
The cluster of lights juked unexpectedly, dodging the burning brand. It definitely seemed as though it wanted to avoid the flames
Seeing the wisp evade the torch with such obvious fear Haaken presses the attack, swiping the torch in a warding arc.
"Raven is correct, Thorgar, it flees the fire! More torches and we can defeat it."
It was difficult to fight the thing without inadvertently looking at it. So caught up in the surge of hope that came with the discovery that it feared the torch, the group forgot the danger.
The glittering cluster of light pulsed again.
Will save:
The wisp's swirled before Haaken, and he felt it's will surge against his, but he stared defiantly at it and swept it's influence aside.
Raven goes to swing at the wisp. As she looks at the light she suddenly stops and just stares at it.
Thorgar rushes forward dropping his sword to the icy earth as he pulls a torch from his scabbard and thrusts it into the flame held aloft by Haaken. Taking care to keep his back to the wisp until he is ready to strike.
Haaken meets Thorgar's eyes and gives a quick nod. "Ready?"he asks.
Flourishing his torch he lunges at the glittering lights.
Attack:
The fast cluster of sparkles dodges, and drives itself through Haakan's arm.
"Ready," rumbles Thorgar moving around to flank the sparks with Haaken and thrusting the blazing torch into the mass of swirling lights.
Glancing at his arm, Haaken moves with the barbarian to harry the sparkling entity. Swiping at it with the brand to drive towards Thorgar.
Torch Attack:
The cluster of lights has a surprising amount of resistance when Thorgar smacks it with his burning brand. It reminds him a bit of hitting a class bottle, and has much the same effect.
The lights shatter and dissipate leaving the faintest bell-like echo of terror and loss ringing in Thordan's confused ears.
The four stood with cloudy breath, looking at each other and scanning the dark for further danger. The quiet of the forest made their breathing seem heavy and loud.
Thorgar blinks in surprise, and with gritted teeth manages to force back his fury, leaving himself panting with fatigue.
"I do not like fighting things that don't feel the bite of steel," he declares vehemently, "what happened one moment I was going to sleep, next I was here fighting this spirit."
Raven suddenly looks around like she lost something.
"Um, does anyone remember where we camped? I just realized that I don't remember how we got here."
She begins looking around to find the tracks that everyone made.
"I'm at fault. The creature drew me away, and everyone here followed to aid me.", Haaken frowned. I apologize to you all., Haaken looks pointedly to Thorgar.
Thorgar grunts, frowning at Thordan in puzzlement before addressign Haaken, "Not a man, or whatever's, fault when he is ensorcelled. Spirits like to grasp at the minds of men jealous of our solid lives. Now lets follow our tracks back to camp and get some sleep, can't afford to be loosing day light."
Cold and tired the group trudges back with nothing to show for their late night adventure but shivering bodies and confused and frustrated minds.
As they near the camp the fire has burned low, little more than embers now.
In the light of the dying fire the group is able to make out that the camp does not seem right. Thorgar's pack is overturned and clothing, blankets and food strewn about.
Grunting ambivilently Thorgar gathers his possessions, and says,
"My watch now, get some sleep."
He takes adds some more of the felled tree pieces to the fire and munches on some of the scattered wandermeal. The animals are welcome to this rubbish, tomorrow I'll hunt - the mouse moves slowly enough that I should be able to keep pace.