The largebarian doesn't care if the enemy is invisible or even if he is on the ground, fighting for poor conditions, the greatsword attacks again and again, finally putting an end to one of the enemies.
Seren glances up as the arrows start to rain back down, but it all happens too quickly and she is too slow to raise her shield. She grunts as the arrows tear at what little flesh she had left behind.
Again bringing the shield to bear, she wills the dark energy into herself, the edges of her wounds turning black and putrid, though still concealed by the power of their circlets.
Still fooled by the illusion and far to fatigued from the effort of channeling to react quickly, Cecelia grimaces as arrows fly into her arms, legs and chest. Letting out a cry of frustration, she once more tries to steal healing power to aid her new team.
However, pain from the arrows dulls her focus and her head is still pounding from her last attempt. Though she is able to force out some positive energy, it is a noticeably weak effort.
Nahia grimaces when the arrows fall again, and especially as they make their way towards and into Mysty. Flying towards Mysty, she begins her chant "Spirits that float in the wind of life, please, bestow upon us your blessed energy..." A wind starts to whip as green motes of light trail behind her. Leaning forward she brushes a hand across Mysty's cheek, the green motes pouring themselves into the Halfing, filling her with warmth and starting to heal her wounds.
Grumble is far from his better shape, but even then, he moves forward to attack the invisible enemy.
The big earthbreaker shatters the stone but hits no enemy at all.
”Where’s the doggy?”
Round 4-
Ordered Initiative-
Nahia: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Enemies: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Bizan: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Cecelia: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17
Hound: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Mysty: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Grumblejack: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4
Active Effects-
Map-
Notes-
Narrative-
Nahia starts to fly above the battle, casting a healing spell on the wounded Mysty.
The moondog is unable to evade Bizan attack, but the damage itself isn’t enough to take it down, and not that his sister fell, the moondog howls in anger and… move away from the party.
Better live to fight another day and get her revenge than die for no reason at all.
Hound stands(Move) and then moves after the dog(move)
As Hound begins running down the hallway, nearly out of the edge of her vision, Cecelia realizes the creature must be escaping and shouts down the hallway in frustration, "Sniveling coward!" Of course, what should I expect from someone who is only fights using such dishonorable tactics. I thought I was supposed to be joining the side that fought dirty...Well, what to do now? I'm not sure these people trusted me before...
Sighing, she turns her attention to Seren, she looks her up and down with intense grey eyes. "You're injured." she states in a matter of fact way. After a slightly awkward pause, she stiffly remarks, "I can help with that."
Looking down at the blood trail on the floor, she sighs again and asks more to herself than anyone else, "Now where did that halfling get to?"
Seeing the direction Hound charges in, Nahia quickly flies overhead and into the bar, rushing towards the spiral staircase and stopping once she blocks the way up. She gives a quick hiss to Andros "Warn me if you smell it nearby." and tries to watch for any sign of the invisibile creature.
Seren looks almost defensive as Ceclia approaches and almost starts to argue with her until her wounds start begin to mend. The positive energy was not her own usual mixture, the wounds burning and itching as they closed. Still, she lessened her snarl and give a quick nod and a "Thanks..." to the healer.
Turning to Grumblejack, she quickly rips a couple of arrows from his shoulder while tracing the wound with her hand, the bony fingers trailing the wounds and clotting the blood. "C'mon Big'un, we've we can't be done yet!"
Hound goes to protect nahia
With no means of accurately detecting the enemy, the knot misses the opportunity to finish the last hound as it teleports away from them. Nahia begins to track the smell, but it ends on a dead end on the tavern.
The aftermath is more dire than you would expect. Before Nahia the thrill of battle parted exposing a carpet of bodies, broken bones and meat. The air was hot, turgid and cloying. She saw thugs, still bleeding; their heads crushed by what must have been huge, terribly powerful jaws. She saw torn bodies, crumpled cultists, and limbs that had been ripped from bodies. Nahia managed only a few moments of careful examination of the scene around them before she looked at the door where she came from, waiting for the others to arrive.
Hound eventually arrives and looks on the carnage. At this point, I say it is a waste of time hiring any more minions since they keep dying. We'd be better off layering the area with magic alarms and learning to sleep in armor or even get magic that eliminates the need.
To them, we are acceptable targets. We follow Asomdeus and his worship has been hunted for years. We've engaged in slaughter of Mirans in revenge for the imprisonment and deaths of our allies and kin and then they come to kill us.
I any event, if you wish to work with us you must sign an agreement that you are part of our group. We'll have to summon The Baron.
Following the others to the gruesome scene, Cecelia laughs bitterly at Bizan's remark, "Slaughter? No, no. Mitrans don't slaughter. They exact righteous acts of justice, never exceeding what has been deemed necessary by their compassionate and merciful god!" She gestures her hand across the hall of limbless thugs and crushed skulls as she says the last part, the sarcasm and anger in her voice palpable.
She then proceeds to move quietly through the scene, on the off chance someone survived the assault.
The baron is our patron and all newcomers have to sign a contract to work with the group. Hound looks at Mysty and Nahia.Should we summon her now? Hound gestures with the small clay tablet.
Nahia looks around the scene of the henchmen, her hands clenching tightly. Her body shakes with anger, her face turns from pale to red as she clenches her eyes shut and unleashes a guttural scream. Her hair writhes and twitches on its own, blood begins dripping from her fists, her teeth elongate and sharpen, her skin begins to crack and scale, and even Andros is hissing loudly and angrily while coiling tightly around her arm.
In a flash her sickle is in her hands and she is flying back to the center room. She grabs the head of the fallen dog and begins hacking at it until it separates from the body. And just as quickly as she flies down the hall and out the doors, rising high above the horn, her now pitch black eyes open wide, the severed head raised high, as she shouts
Her breathing is heavy, her whole body shaking with each breath as she holds the head up high. As she recovers from her tantrum she floats back down and then walks back into the horn, hurling the head back at its body. Her form begins to return to normal as she goes back into the bar and grabs a jug of whisky. Through gritted teeth she says "I need a bath. And a drink. Have whoever might be left clean up this place. I'll be along after to repair any broken furniture."
Hounds shakes his head. Actually, it is a cardinal who is our patron. Hound starts directing survivors to start removing bodies.
Bath, drinks, dinner continued, cleaning and plotting.
The night passes without further incident. The after of the battle could be considered dire: Many dead minions, an almost destroyed Golem, dead helldogs.
Let us contact the baron and say we need more mercenaries and also acquire magic and items that can combat invisible foes. I don't really know what can counter it unless there are ideas? Perhaps the boggard shaman knows something that might help.
That night Nahia spends quite a while in the bath, trying to scrub off the stench of failure. After scrubbing herself just a little raw, she strokes Andros' muzzle and hisses to him "I blame myself for this. I haven't been properly prepared. I've been distracted by the Sisters, by our companions. Tomorrow I'll start making sure we are ready for a threat like this, to keep our group, and our mission, safe."
She glances over at the glass of whiskey by the bathtub. "Maybe I should cut down on the liquor and wine..." Biting her lip, she glances at the glass longingly. "But then again..."
Taking the glass in hand, she stares at the amber liquid rolling around in the glass. She hesitates for a moment before sniffing the heavy scent of the drink. "My abilities come from my indulgence with my primal nature..."
Swirling the drink around she sighs deeply. "If I were to deny myself this... who knows what would happen to my connection to nature, to the spirits." She glances longingly at the glass before taking a sip, swashing the harsh liquid around in her mouth. She swallows it down, sighing at the harsh warmth that floods her throat.
Sinking deeper into the hot water of the tub, she rubs her neck and her chest, sighing as the warmth flushes over her. "Ok, scrolls to prepare for the next attack. And when we head to town, I'm going to go see Elise, and get in touch with myself. I mean, we did take down that group of musicians and their snake mistress. That got to count for something, right?"
Again, she lets out a deep breath before letting the warmth of the bath water wash over her, letting the stress melt away she lays back and plans for the future.
- - - - -
The next morning Nahia takes her time communing with Andros, talking of strategy and tactics, of which spirits to ask for help and which to placate to keep them away and busy.
Then she heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. There is leftover meat from the minstrels and from the slain moondog. She fires it up with eggs and potatoes, relishing in another chance to use the enemy for her own gain.
She waits for one of the others, any of them, to arrive, and asks them "So, what do you think of last night?"
Hound helps himself to eggs and potatoes. A disaster. Shape changers that can turn invisible and summon acid and arrows? They can walk into here anytime they want. We killed one and if there is just one more we are better off but if there is another we are right back where we started.
I do not know if we can get some guard dogs but even a barking dog can be an effective alert so we can look into getting those along with more men.
Plus we need a better way of getting around the Horn. Better access between floors so we don't have to go out side so much. A door sculpted into the secret stairs on level two can give us better access to the entire Horn. Make sure it is warded so only us can use it.
As the after battle cleanup commences, Cecelia moves around the Horn healing the wounds of her new companions. However, as the others begin to turn in for the night, she finds herself lost and alone in a still fairly unfamiliar dungeon. Thinking back on her tour, she tries to remember places in the Horn where there were beds. Finding one of the barracks, she walks into the chamber and immediately snuffs out all the lights, ignoring the complaints of any minion who may be inside. Laying back onto a bed, she looks around the room enjoying the vivid details that only the darkness could now provide. As she lies there, she contemplates the day's events, until she finally falls asleep.
---
Having gone to sleep fairly early, Cecelia manages to wake up before the crack of dawn. However, once she cleans up and puts on her armor, she realizes she is still somewhat lost and without instruction. What to do now? I guess patrol until I run into someone...friend or foe. Cecelia sighs deeply. I guess I should just be happy I made it through the night without getting knifed...
Wandering the halls, with her weapon drawn, Cecelia focuses on memorizing routes and rooms, hoping to reduce the chance of getting lost when a crisis strikes and she has to find her way blind and in a panic. After a few hours, she catches a distant aroma of potatoes. At least I hope it's potatoes... Feeling her stomach grumble, she decides that the kitchen is as good a place as any to patrol.
Walking into the kitchen, she is relieved to find two other members of the Ninth Knot. Listening to their conversation, she waits until she is prompted for her opinion. Hesitating for a moment, as if deciding how honest she wants to be, Cecelia sighs. "I believe that our performance yesterday was inadequate. I, of course, include myself in this assessment. Hound appeared to be the only one capable of handling such a threat. That is....unacceptable." Thinking for a moment, she continues, "I am not yet familiar enough with the layout of the Horn to offer much help regarding the layout. However I do have some ideas regarding signals and countering invisible enemies. As I mentioned yesterday, I think it would behoove us to acquire as many signal horns or whistles as we can get out hands on. Then we should distribute them liberally, amongst ourselves, the guards, the boggards and any other allies we have. We should then train anyone who possesses them, so that there is a consistent set of signals. I propose one short note for the first floor. Two for the second, three for the third. One long blow for an attack on the ritual. Two for the caverns. Three for outside." Catching her breath, Cecelia gives the others a chance to process the suggestion before continuing. "As for the invisibility problem, I know there are many magical methods to counter the effect. Back when I was....well....I've heard of scrolls being used that can create an anti-invisibility sphere around a caster. I would like to see if I can acquire a few such scrolls." She pauses once more, hoping that no one caught her near slip up, before continuing. "Of course, both plans require some purchasing. Where would be the best place to acquire such items?"
Eggs and potatos? Who cares about that stuff! Meat! Rarer the better!
The ogre thinks to himself happily while eating large amount of almost raw snake-lady-meat, with some bites as well of moondog, so you know, the opportunity doesn’t go to waste.
As the others move towards the kitchen, the ogre gets interested in the newcomers, especially the one that could conjure magic.
As Cecelia enters the Kitchen, the ogre moves towards her, a raw piece of meat in his hand, blood dripping from his mouth, it smiles a fiendish and murderous smile. He seems ready to attack the Cecelia at any time!
As Cecelia enters the Kitchen, the ogre gets up, happily smiling while taking another bite from the delicious meat he is eating. Since he is curious, he tries his best to demonstrate how amiable he is, smiling broadly and welcoming to their new companion.
”Un’, how should Grumblejack call you?”
Cecelia's posture stiffens as Grumblejack enters the room. What is the deal with this creature? Is this some kind of intimidation tactic that the ninth knot uses? Letting me know that they could have me killed if I crossed them?
Cecelia attempts to keep a calm outer appearance and ignore the beast. However, that becomes difficult to maintain when he addresses her directly. Instinctively shuffling away, mostly to try and keep splatters of blood and raw meat away from her white clothing, she looks the creature up and down. "My name is Cecelia Wentworth. If you must call me anything, Miss Wentworth will do. Now please be careful. You are dripping that...everywhere..."
Grumblejack has been our ally since the beginning, if you need something hit so hard it dies twice he can do that. Hound will make sure to get some of the moondog hide.There is the Baron in Farholde who can help with special orders such as the magic you seek, and there is a black market in town at a place called Drowningtown. I will see about getting a few guard dogs who can be trained to bark if they smell moon dog. He points to the hide. There is also a group like ours in town led by a witch named Elise. They keep watch for any one who might be planning expeditions here.
We will have to introduce you to the wraith on the third floor. We are 'allies' in the sense that it wants the ritual completed but do not try to be friends. There are also Hexor and Vexor, two daemons who guard the horn. Their allegiance is to the prince who this horn was built for so don't make contact unless the Horn is threatened.
Nahia, leaning back in her chair and packing her long, silver pipe, shakes her head, a frown on her face. "Honestly? I don't even know that I would trust wards at this point. Those dogs got in and out so easily. We could add a door to the second floor, though as a warning, it is just another way for someone to infiltrate. Though, if we do add a new door, maybe we should close off the stairwell from the caverns. It seems like that is our weakest point..."
Nahia mutters under her breath and waves a hand about as a small sprightly figure made of flame floats around and then sits on the end of her pipe, the leaves charring and then turning into an orange-red ember. Nahia takes a gentle puff and then nods her head at the little fire spirit. It rises up into the air, little fiery wings beats, and with a pop like that of an acorn in a fire place, it is gone.
Taking a deep puff, Nahia opens her mouth and lets the smoke roll out of it, her eyes closed, as she listens to the new girl. Completely exhaling, her eyes still closed, she responds "We were prepared for this, once. When our group was smaller, and with a slightly different cast, I once made some stuff just for this. Flasks full of glowing paint. I think it is time to make those again, once we can get some materials from town."
"Tonight, assuming we don't need it before then, I can create a scroll of a spell that will coat an area in shimmering motes of light that stick to what they touch. I plan to make several of them over the next few days.It won't counteract new invisible creatures that come around, like the spell you suggest, would. But it is also much cheaper. For the cost of one of your scrolls I can make five of mine. Of course, your spell lasts a lot longer than mine does... so there is that... And those are all nice ideas for the troops. The boggards are good hunters, but not terribly bright."
Taking another deep drag from her pipe, she lets out a thick bellow of smoke as part of a laugh when she sees Cecelia back away from Gumblejack. "Big'Un doesn't call anyone 'miss' anything. Though I guess 'Miss'Un' isn't out of the question." Grinning at the girl, she adds "You need to learn to loosen up a little though. Who ever heard of a convert away from the Mitrans that didn't let her hair down afterwords? Especially one who seems likely to have been some kind of high-and-mighty, vow-of-chastity, no-sir-no-wine-for-me, can't-let-my-guard-down nun like yourself."
There is a playful glitter in Nahia's eyes as she chuckles and takes another puff of her pipe.
Cecelia is rendered utterly speechless by Nahia's remarks, her mouth wide open and wearing an expression that is difficult to discern. Offended? Horrified? Mortified? All of the above? Finally managing to force out some kind of words, she stammers, "Excuse me? What?...Did...Thorn...Tell you...I...?" sighing deeply, she asks, "Or I suppose it is just that obvious...?"
Feeling vulnerable after that last statement, Cecelia immediately flips to the defensive. "You know, its one thing to realize that you have been lied to your entire life. It's another thing entirely to forget everything that was beaten into you from the day you were born. Perhaps you were so fortunate to be rescued from such thinking at a young age...And I drink, by the way" Cecelia lets out a bitter laugh. "Believe me, I know how to drink...and I did not have a vow of chastity...I just never..." Stop talking. Now. Cecelia's face now matching the shade of her hair, she awkwardly tries to change the subject. "Someone should really go and find the others right?" Without pausing or giving anyone else enough time to offer, Cecelia announces, "Don't worry...I'll do it!
Standing up, rigid as a board, Cecelia walks straight out of the room, leaving her half eaten plate of food behind her.
"Missy Un'" the ogre looks at her suspiciously "You Un' just never what?" he asks curiously, but don't even wait for an answer as he continues eating and talking.
He has a mind to follow the woman, but then, the food seems more appealing. He wanted to show he could cast magic as well, but then again, he already did it on the battle, so she probably already knew, unsless she was blind, with those strange eyes of her.
Taking one last bite from his raw snake-lady meat, he asks "What now?"
Nahia giggles at the at Cecilia's sudden tenseness, but as the girl leaves she adds "I said you probably HAD BEEN like that." Not quite done yet, Nahia yells to be heard down the hall
Taking another pull from the pipe, she closes her eyes again and lets the smoke lazily drift around her.
Huh, I was just poking a little fun, making some assumptions. But hey, she'll come around. I can always make a 'peace offering' later...
And turns and looks at Grumblejack with a smile. "Well, someone needs to make a trip into town. Honestly, I'd love to be the one to go, but if that beast shows back up I need to be here to try and keep it from running again. After that we need to shore up the defenses... again... and we need to make sure what's left of our guards will do their jobs and won't run off. We also need to prepare. We're getting closer and closer to the next sacrifice, and who knows what will happen then..."
After breakfast, Hound will send word to the Baron and Drownington that they need some minions and mercenaries and inquire about buying and training dogs to bark at the scent of Moondog.
He will also tell the boggards to be wary of any intruders and croak at each other when changing shifts, any non boggard would risk getting affected by the croaks. He also tells the shaman to prepare for invisible foes and if he can brew potions or wite scrolls of magic that can reveal them.
|
Mysty on seeing the results of battle says, Well, waste not, want not. Can we animate this lot. Undead may not be much use against the moon doggy, but may be useful versus other foes.
She cleans her weapons after the fight. She need better weapons, she thought.
I'm willing to go into town. The truth is, I can barely scratch the damn thing. But it is best to go in company.
Maybe get unholy water from the sanctuary and fill vials you get from town. Hound tells Mysty as he starts work.
Still grimacing from the uncomfortable encounter in the kitchen, Cecelia wanders around the horn for a bit, before she notices the halfling heading down the halls towards the others and lets out a sigh. Well, there goes my excuse for leaving...The fire thrower may well be there already too... Begrudgingly, she begins making her way back to the kitchen. Hovering near the door way, she listens to the conversation, all while avoiding eye contact with Nahia.
Eventually, she interjects, "I can accompany you to town, if you are concerned about ambushes. It would be useful for me to know where to get supplies, anyway."
Good, you should know what is there and who we work with.
Nahia nods at each of them but adds "Maybe you should wait until tomorrow? We're all a little worse for wear and you wouldn't want to get ambushed. You should also take some flour from the kitchen when you go. Just in case."
- - - - -
Nahia approaches the door to Cecelia's room and takes a deep breath before knocking with her foot. When the door opens, she smiles and presents the jugs and bottles in her arms. "So, what's your poison then? Wine, whisky, brandy, or hard cider?"
The knot decides it’s best to gather supplies and introduce the newcomers to the other allies in the town. As per Nahia suggestion, the group waited the following day before making the trip to the nearby city.
The older members of the knot notice subtle differences in the briar as they travel towards the city. The northern Caer Bryr is a temperate rainforest richly blessed with rain fall and broadleaf trees. The trees here are tall and broad. The thick-trunked baobab tree, unusual in such a wet clime, is common here and grows to enormous size. It is not uncommon to see trees hundreds of feet tall with trunks twenty feet across. To walk into the deep Briar is to enter the domain of giants.
Every flat surface is covered with brilliant green moss and lichens in every hue. Mushrooms of a million sorts proliferate and crowd every fallen log. Small animal life is dense -- squirrels, voles, mice and white-faced ghost monkeys. Birds dwell here in endless variety and dazzling panoramas of plumage are everywhere on display. It is a bountiful place rich and thriving with nature’s splendor.
Or that is what the forest used to be. Now, closer to the horn, the vegetation has a different feeling, darker and creepier, as if behind every fallen trunk something dangerous is hidden. You rarely hear any sound of wild life, and from time to time, it’s even possible to hear some distant growl of unknown monsters. The ritual is affecting even the region around the horn.
It’s half days’ worth to travel from the horn to Farhold. You arrive little past moon. From here, you can move to several places, go shopping and meet old allies.
The market has some new items on sale! A traveling magician is displaying a variety of new goods:
- Amor: +2 mithral breastplate
- Potions & Oils: bull’s strength (300 gp), continual flame (350gp), cure moderate wounds (300 gp), delay poison (300 gp), enlarge person (50 gp), remove curse (750 gp)
- Rings: chameleon power (12,700 gp), improved jumping (10,000 gp)
- Scroll (Arcane): true strike (25 gp)
- Scrolls (Divine): prayer (375 gp), protection from good (25 gp)
- Staves: fire (18,950 gp), healing (29,600 gp), illumination (51,500gp), transmutation (82,000 gp)
- Wands: daze (41 charges, 307 gp, 5 sp), enthral (32 charges, 2,880 gp), invisibility (4 charges, 360 gp), magic stone (24 charges, 360 gp), soften earth and stone (31 charges, 3,060 gp), stinking cloud (24 charges, 6,975 gp)
- Weapons: +1 shock unholy wounding lucerne hammer, nine lives stealer
- Wondrous Items: belt of mighty constitution +2 (4,000 gp),bracers of armour +6 (36,000 gp), rope of entanglement (21,000 gp)
Cecelia nods stiffly, still not making eye contact with Nahia. "Very well. Tomorrow. First thing." With that, she exits once one more, determined to spend her day far away from any reminders of her earlier embarrassment.
Cecelia's eyes wander about the room until they finally land upon Nahia and the bottles she carries. Immediately she looks towards the ground. Oh dear...I am supposed to be going easier on the drinking... she considers, ...but it would also be unwise to reject a peace offering. Sighing with the weight of a hundred sleepless night, Cecelia looks back towards Nahia and remarks, "I am not too picky. But if there is a choice to be made, whiskey sounds good...thank you."
Accepting a glass and taking a large sip, she lets out another deep sigh. "I must apologize for my behavior earlier. It was...unprofessional." Taking another sip, she continues, "I do not like having my loyalties questioned, nor do I enjoy reminders of my past. As such, I reacted brashly. I regret this and hope we will be able to move forward."
Cecelia's eyes examine Nahia closely, trying to gauge a reaction, but reading people has never been an area in which she excels. That explanation was still rather stiff...I suspect it will not be satisfactory... Taking one large gulp, she coughs a bit and clears her throat of the burning sensation before elaborating. "Understand, the stiffness...it is not entirely Mitran trained. It is more of a shield against them. Being bristly and cold keeps people at a distance. Distant people don't ask questions...questions whose answers would send me to the..." Swallowing deeply, Cecelia finds herself unable to say the word pyre. "Well, that would earn me a not so pleasant death."
Nearing the end of her drink and feeling unusually talkative, she add, "I wasn't always like this, you know. It might surprise you to learn that I was considered an open and friendly person. Loyal and trusting to a fault." Cecelia laughs bitterly. "That girl is dead. Too innocent and naïve to survive once the curtains were dropped on the Mitran fairy tale. Now she is just one more thing they have taken from me...
Cecelia peruses the magician's wares for little while, but quickly determines he does not have what she is looking for. Moving through the market place, she begins discreetly asking around if there are any vendor that sells signal horns or other noise making devices.