Call of the Forgotten Realms

Game Master Charles Evans 25

Bronx will put his scythe away and get out his bow. "Well, I'm thirst, maybe we should head back to town."

Seebo stops with the rest and panting asks,

"Have any of you ever seen or sensed anything like that? and did you notice when one of those things hit the chain?"
"Donnie did you get a good look at the chain, was it just steel?"
" There was some white stuff around the wound on the bear, but I have no idea what it was, I didn't get the chance to study it?"

"What? Being scared, sure I've felt that before. And no, I didn't really see what happened, I was focused on getting out of there. Anyway, who cares about that bear and its chain. Let's get out of here."

Bronx did so bad on his save, he isn't even aware he was affected by anything.

Donnie didn't really have time to get a good look at the chain and leaf (circumstance penalty factored in) but in the event of making a retroactive DC 18 Appraise Check the official guess answer is:

untrained Appraise (1d20 2=16)

"I'm sorry Seebo, unfortunately there were many things still to be investigated, the chain, the markings on the wall, the symbol that undead had... at least we still have the satchel, perhaps we return to town get some sleep and come back here in the morning."

Anyway, who cares about that bear and its chain. Let's get out of here.

"There Was something significant about the chain, i'd say its why those things came, I to saw one of them fly into the chain itself... not to mention how many wild bears do you know wear chains?"

lets get back to inn and talk bout fings when we get dere
nim starts walking back towards the inn

Donnie follows after Nim

Seebo, watching the others starting to head back calls,
"Wait, if we go back to the inn, we'll never pick up this trail again!
I want to try and find a way to see what's happening, the way that thing hit the chain....."
Seebo tries to make some sort of sense of what he's seen.
"Before we go back, we should check out the satchel. It may give us some idea why and maybe where Fenwick was taken."
"Davkul, what was Fenwick supposed to deliver to you?"

"Fenwick delivered a small scroll to me, I managed to get it just before everything went to pot. We can have a look at it when we get back to the inn. Whatever it was seems to be very important."

seebo we can talk when we get back, please let us go now!

Grudgingly, Seebo follows along with all the others heading back to town.
"Davkul, could you get Nightsong to have a look back there for a little bit, before coming back with us?"

Random DM Percentile rolling (1d100=71)
Hmmm. Nothing to report there then. Carry on posting. I'm still waiting for confirmation that Davkul will go back down with the others and/or if he wants to do anything else.
Edit:
Davkul:

Information on what davkul can do with Nightsong - Spoilered for convenience.

Since everyone has expressed a desire now to head back to town, I shall post on the basis that you are all heading back that way, as a group, down through the forest.
You set off back towards town, the cloud sweeping the slopes thinning a little and becoming more irregular as you head back down; although the snow, if anything, seems to be becoming heavier, as if harsher weather is starting to move in. Occasional strange bird-calls continue to echo, although more distantly, through the trees.
Eventually you reach a point where the tracks you made coming up the ridge in the first place seem to have come up by different routes....

Seebo, Nim, Donnie, and Bronx:

Edit:
If Davkul hadn't lost concentration on his detect magic when he fled, the duration is long expired by now.

Eventually you reach a point where the tracks you made coming up the ridge in the first place seem to have come up by different routes....

I think I have the Dumb today, I can't seem to make sense of this statement. Are you saying we came down at a different spot than we went up?

DM Charles Evans wrote:

Eventually you reach a point where the tracks you made coming up the ridge in the first place seem to have come up by different routes....

I think I have the Dumb today, I can't seem to make sense of this statement. Are you saying we came down at a different spot than we went up?

I meant to say that Seebo, Nim, Donnie, & Bronx can see the tracks which they made coming up, but it looks like someone else (Davkul, most likely) had taken a detour at some point- or entirely different route- which only converged with Seebo, Nim, Donnie, & Bronx's trip up through the trees at this point. If this person was Davkul, he might remember this and have something to say at this point; this is why I have 'paused' the description of the return to Deadsnows at this point, at least in case any sort of discussions are going to take place. I'm trying to be fair to assumptions and or character knowledge that one or more PC's mght have, whether or not anything which may result from it will turn out to have any immediate impact.

hi everyone! is it safe to assume we all want to get back to the (relative) safety of the inn before we have an in depth discussion about what is happening?? also is it fair to say that we need to communicate with each other more about things only some of us know? for example things that have been spoilered (i still dont know we werer attacked by an invisible spellcaster in the inn!), obviously our characters will be keeping some things secret.

i still dont know we werer attacked by an invisible spellcaster in the inn!)

we were attacked by an invisable caster?

Davkul points out the lone set of tracks coming in off to the side. "That's the way I came up trying to get to you lot. I wouldn't go back that way, since there was something tried to get the jump on me back there."

Shaking his head Seebo says
"Lets get back to the inn and take stock of what we do know. Maybe we can share what we've seen and come up with something that makes sense."

"Probably that invisible sprite that was in the inn with us. Well, we'll worry about that later, the weather is getting bad."

Bronx seems to be very disheartened at the moment and just looks like he wasn't to get back to the inn.

Very well then....
After this brief pause, you resume your trip back towards town, and before much longer, have dropped below the level of the drifting clouds completely, although the snow continues to fall more steadily, and soon you are relieved to have followed (and deepened with the tread of your boots) such a trail on the way up, giving a reliable guide to follow on the way back. Occasional strange bird calls, and the swish and thump of a tree branch shedding its load continue to echo through the forest.
At length you reach the edge of the trees, and look out into a swirling maelstrom of white. Seebo (still carrying the torch) has to be careful to shield to avoid it being snuffed completely out. Some sixty feet across there, currently hidden from sight in the snowstorm, is Deadsnows (unless the town as been swallowed up by a planar rift or some equally bizarre occurance during your absence). Nearby is the pine where Nim practised his tree-climbing exploits earlier this evening. What next?
In particular here, I am looking for a group decision as to what your next intended port of call is going to be, whether it is the boarding house or some other location- and what you will be looking to do there.

"Let's get back to the boarding house. I could use a stiff drink that could curl my beard. Then maybe we can talk to some folks and find out if they know anything about what is going on. I wonder what the story is with that trapper, I don't think something like that should be wandering around. I wonder if he was tied to that bear thing."

"I agree, back to the boarding house, I could go a strong mulled wine."
Giving Nim a knowing look,
"We should keep the satchel to ourselves for the time being, I think maybe Bronx or Donnie should hide it, until we're sure what it is."

let us get back to inn and have a drink, then we talk

You've been gone from Deadsnows for coming upto a couple of hours now, and the duration of an average torch is only about one hour, so if someone wants to have done so, they can have lit a fresh torch during the journey back; either that or the one which Bronx lit could have been an unexpectedly long-burning one, that you've been up and down the ridge with. (And it should be guttering out about now.) My fault for not paying more attention to the length of time that torches burn!

given that all of us have low light vision, would it be safe to say that we would have just continued on when the torch went out?

given that all of us have low light vision, would it be safe to say that we would have just continued on when the torch went out?

If the night is too dark, Bronx will get out another torch if necessary. ... And we're back at the inn!

If the torch did go out it may have been a bit tricky getting another one going anyway with the snow, so we’ll say you got by on lowlight vision and took a bit longer....

You cross through the whirling field of falling white that is the fire break, assisted in keeping your bearings by the occasional sounds coming from the stables around the north side of Mrs. Prestwick’s boarding house, and after perhaps half a minute of stumbling through the driving snow regain the assuring solidity of buildings. Making your way around the side of the boarding house, and into the deserted street, you shuffle upto the front porch, and after much shedding of snow and pounding upon the front door, are admitted by the cranky gnome night porter, a retired sell-sword by the name of ‘Black Baz’ who wears a black patch over his left eye. (Word is that he used to ride as a guard on the caravan trails up and down the Sword Coast.)
“Common Room’s shut tonight.”, he mutters. “Closed for the next few days for renovations. Beetles chewed up the furniture or oozed on the carpet, or some such vandalism.” (There seem to be more aspidistras in the entrance hall now, those from the common room having presumably been moved out here. The polished wooden floor of the hall shows no signs beyond a few scratches of the recent invasion by those strange ‘beetles’, so cleaning up operations in the hall seem to have been virtually completed.)
After a few more moments, whilst Black Baz pushes shut the front-door and bolts it again, the gnome returns his attentions to you.
“Harumph. You look like some of the fellows who I hear whacked some of the beetles. I dare say that Mrs. P. might waive her normal rules for such things, and let you warm yourselves by the embers of the fire in the dining area. If you’ll follow me through- but mind you stamp your boots and shake your cloaks free of snow first- and then I’ll go check if that’s okay and see if any of the staff will find you something to warm you up inside. Bad day for halflings it seems. Word is some late travellers coming into town from the north found a dead halfling a little ways out in a spot just east of the road that’s had a reputation for bad pixie tricks this past ten day....”

Davkul:

Seebo quietly says "We need somewhere quiet and private, to talk things through, especially with the halfing news, I wonder if it was Fenwick."
"Davkul, is nightsong upto keeping a watch while we talk? Just enough to give us a warning if someone comes?"

"That should be easy enough." Walking to the other side of the the door we just came through, Davkul sends Nightsong to a rafter just above the door with a Defend command. Having no physical means of attack, Nightsong would just make a lot of noise if anyone approaches.

nim want to open satchel
bruther can you see if it is magic?

The dining area is a broad room, some thirty feet long, by twenty feet wide (long axis running north-south) which occupies much of the rear part of the ground-floor level of the boarding house. A ramp (for ease of serving trolley access) to the west leads down into the underground kitchens level to the west, and there are also two dumb-waiter arrangements set into the west wall which communicate with the kitchens and cellar levels. There is a large fireplace just north of the entrance from the hall on the eastern wall of the dining area, in which Black Baz will poke up the embers for you, before wandering off to the west to see if he can roust up some serving staff to see to drinks. At this time of night, the long tables and benches are empty, since Mrs. Prestwick has a 'no visiters in the area outside of eating hours' rule. There is a hatch let into the floor along the northern wall, with a ladder descending to the lower residential areas, but this is kept padlocked shut at night to stop visiters from sneaking up into the dining area and through to the kitchens for 'midnight raids'. The only 'public' access by night is from the door to the east, back to the hall where the porter is usually stationed. This is the doorway which Davkul has just stationed Nightsong on. This doorway has a door (opens into the dining area) which can be pushed shut as well, by the way.

"Right then, lets get down to business." Davkul pulls from his vest pocket 2 rolled pieces of parchment. Choosing the one given to him by Fenwick, Davkul starts to read.

Davkul draws out the plain lead scroll tube, given to him by Fenwick, unstoppers one of the ends, and draws out the contents.
The contents appear to consist of a highly illuminated page, apparently torn from a manuscript of some sort, which looks from the yellowing of the parchment to be *very* old, and a much more fresh and 'modern' sheet of paper, which seems to have been carelessy rolled up with it and stuffed into the tube; the latter is covered with scrawlings and dozens of diagrams. Davkul smoothes them out on a table.

Davkul:

The old piece of parchment about the size of a piece of A3 paper is occupied by what seems a historical or religious depiction. In the background there is a stone wall, through the arched windows of which terrible monstrosities are hinted at, in a dark place. In the foreground, a variety of elves seem to be kneeling, their backs to the viewer, seemingly in veneration of or to receive a blessing from the main subject of the illumination, an elven warrior-priestess (if the style of her armour and the religious thurible which she swings in one hand are anything to go by- the other hand is apparently raised in benediction). The whole illumination (except the black ink used for outlines and for the scenes in the background) has been mostly executed in a rich dark emerald green ink and shining gold leaf. Whilst the main central figure seems benevolent and reassuring, looking at the things in the background, through the arched windows, leaves a rather unsettling general impression of tentacles and eyes....amongst other things.
Underneath the illumination is a single sentence or phrase in a script that none of you recognise.
Waiting on Decipher Script results here if anyone with the skill wants to try their hand at it, since the margin of success (if any) determines how much information is gleaned.

The modern piece of paper seems to be covered (on both sides) mostly by a series of diagrams intended to depict the internal workings and mechanisms of a variety of lethal traps intended to slice, stab, or otherwise insert various bladed implements into someone activating pressure plates or trip-wires.
Underlined twice, in the middle of one side are the words: Silmerhelve plate? Daggers-Kelwyn Finesmith Adbar Midwinter Fair? (Nim is illiterate, therefore will not know that it says this unless someone tells him.)

The dining area, by the way, like the hall has wooden floorboards and white plastered walls. A faint odour of this evening's meal still lingers, although the tables have long been wiped clean and cleared of the dishes. The furniture in here is mostly sized for gnomes and halflings, with the exception of one table and a set of benches in the northwest corner sized for dwarves.

Davkul:
Just to point out that as far as you know, the other PCs have no idea where or how you obtained these documents, nor any other context by which to assess them.

Closely eximining the parchment and especially the clerical figure, Seebo tries a knowledge religion(1d20+2=5) to see if he can recognise any of the figures or symbols.
"Nim, you've been itching to have a look inside the satchel, put it on the table and lets see if it's magical."

Turning to Davkul, Seebo explains they found the satchel in a tree along the path they were following, looking for Fenwick.
"We haven't yet looked inside, there wasn't time."

"Some other things, though I'm not sure how they fit are:
1.whatever, those things that chased us were, they didn't like the bears' chain.
2.they were shepherding those birds. I don't know if they were trying to attack us or sheperd us too.
3 Something else caused that Midnight Cleric to rise and that wasn't a normal holy symbol for that sect."

Seebo:
You don't recognise anything about any of the likely religious elements being depicted in the illumination.

nim opens the satchel

Decipher Script: (1d20+7=9)

After a minute or so of frowning over the text, Davkul declares "I'm not entirely sure what this writing is, I'm probably going to have to sequester myself in a library for a few hours to even make heads or tails of it."

Davkul:
What happened to the languages in your profile? Are they being clipped off the bottom by the message boards when I bring it up? Whilst they are unlikely to have any bearing on your ability to comprehend the phrase on the illuminated page, I was wanting to be certain of them for when I respond to Nim opening the satchel, later today. I have double-checked the discussion thread, and during character creation you said that you would be posting them in your profile.

Very strange... For some reason, they only show up when I am editing my profile. I will post them here and separately in my profile now. Common, Gnome, Infernal, Undercommon, Chondathan, Netherese

EDIT: Also put my explaination of what Nightsong can do under his section(now spoilered for ease of use)