Taissa notes that Suny too has fallen and is laying still in the snow.
"That's the last of those for you!"
move to flank w/tumble to avoid AoO. Attack cleric.
If not dropped by AoO...
damage
Polux grins as the half-orc falls down - a split second later he understands exactly what has happend, as the wave of foul energy washes over him, nauseating and insidious.
Dropping down to one knee, grasping the Earthbreaker for support, it seems as if he has been turned inside out, overwhelmed by feelings of despair and utter failure - he shakes it away though, not one to give in to fate.
He is not able to shake away the drowsiness though, as his body refuses to go any further and shuts down - Polux hits the ground before his weapon does.
The mighty human dozes off, hugging his weapon.
[dice=Fort Save]1d20+5-1
The mighty human dozes off, hugging his weapon.
When Taissa sees Polux drop to the group as well she begins to worry.
Calling out to Stefan who seemed steady enough on his feet, "Check the perimeter, Stefan. There still may be the child monster the cleric spoke of. I need to take care of the wounded. Also, carefully check the body of the cleric and those of the goblins to see if they carry healing draughts."
Turning her head up to her Roc, she begins a series of screeches,
Adding to Stefan, "I have asked Daya to look from the sky."
Daya gives a low scree and lifts higher into the sky, scanning the landscape above and below with her keen golden eyes.
With bandages and other augments from the Healer's Kit, Taissa attempts to aid the three fallen in the snow. She pulls their winter blankets from their packs and covers them to stop the cold from worsening their condition.
Afterward,
Stefan nods assent at Taissa's comment and begins to circle around trying to spot any incoming enemy. As he passes bodies he does a quick check of each for anything that might be useful (such as those foul healing draughts). But first he checks each of the fallen to make sure they are not bleeding out.
Seeing his efforts might do more harm than good, he decides to let Taissa handle that and continues patrolling.
A solid plan! I recommend rolling 2 natural 20's in a roll; that works pretty well; trust me - I used to do it all the time when I played table-top games with my friends and it was always a really good strategy ;)
Geser is a bit roughed up, but otherwise okay. If his healer's kit or surgeon's tools were recovered along with his weapons, he will offer his services in aiding his comrades. The chains might interfere, but he does his best.
If need be, Taissa can try to sunder/break the chains with her masterwork lucerne hammer.
Cumulated Search Results
Right, so – here’s the thing:
1. There are a lot of dead goblins. They were armed with knives and studded leather. Some had bows and arrows, though. None of them had any loose gear on them of note, other than cold weather clothes.
2. The priest had a strange holy symbol on his neck. It was a bronze ankh – with a strange glyph on it. He was not armed, that you could see. He was wearing leather armor, and also cold weather clothes. Clearly what he had on him was very utilitarian.
Yeah, I know no one mentioned it – but I’m pretending you’ll read this and come up with a clever way to suggest studying the snake’s corpse by pretending you didn’t read this ;)
As you all recall, the snake’s body was slightly swollen – as if it had feasted recently. In it’s belly, as you are able to gut it open, you notice the rotten corpse of something that looks like a very small warg.
3. Daya – in your careful search from above, you see very little of note. Unfortunately, it’s only been about 10-12 rounds – which is less than 2 minutes; plus the half hour to get there. So Johnny and his crew are still about a half-hour off, but they’re closing.
On the plus side there seems to be no action for a good while. Your fight and loud noises have scared away any wildlife. Naturally, of course, you alone notice there was some noise in the lodge that the cleric had gone in earlier.
4. Taissa – there are plenty of loose scraps to fashion some travois’s. The village is mostly intact – there’s plenty of wooden beams and lots of scarps of cloth laying in loose huts, plus plenty of bodies laying about.
Regarding the huts you didn’t search –
No one searched inside the mysterious hut the cleric entered alone; either alone with stealth and cunning, or jumping in “guns blazing” or at all.
Meanwhile, (according to Stefan) the bulk of any interesting material is likely stored in the primary hut that he, Geser and Suny were in. He was sure he saw warm blankets, foodstuffs, and collected arms/gear from the slaughtered villagers in a pile – and some chests in the corner that seemed to be in far too good condition to be native – they were likely brought here.
More than that will require you to search inside the buildings…
Taissa - Sundering manacles is kind of a pain.
The hardness is kind of like Damage Reduction. So in other words, if you did 10 point of damage to the chain, it wouldn't matter. If you did 11 points of damage to the chain, it would damage 1 point to the chain - and the chain has lots of points.
However, assuming you search the main hut that Stefan, Geser and Suny were in, it's possible you may find the key inside...
1. Geser's HP are now at 1. He should have less, but due to a mistake on my part, he's going to be up and around at 1.
2. Stefan was given specific instructions and they involved walking the perimeter and searching the bodies, not searching the huts. If he had given me a specific Perception Roll to search the huts, we'd know more about what he found, if anything, based on that roll.
As it is, his search involved the terrain itself. Obviously if he chose to search a specific building he'd want to check for other enemies, traps, or hidden things in general. But all of that depends specifically on details that Stefan hasn't provided m yet. I can't tell him how successful he is, because he may end up being very successful and finding things - or doing a really bad job and missing something potentially dangerous until it's too late.
It's not something he can take 10 or 20 on, because the potential for negative consequences for failure exist. And in any case, he's searching perimeter of the village and the bodies and I told him what he found there.
When Daya returns to the camp, she swiftly tells Taissa of the noise noise coming from the lodge where the cleric had hidden earlier.
Taissa stands immediately and finding Stefan searching the hut where they were held prison, tells him quietly what Daya had discovered.
"Stefan, there is a noise coming from the lodge where the cleric was hiding out in. If you go search it, be mindful and cautious. I cannot afford to have you hurt and unconscious as well."
After a few minutes of nothing appearing, Stefan goes back to the cleric to see if he can find the keys to the manacles. If not there, he will go to the hut he was held captive in.
Taissa turns and recruits Geser's help in collecting the wood, rope and blankets for the travoises. She shows him how to construct the travelling sledge and with his help, constructs two, one for Polux and Hack and the other for Suny.
Together, they lift and place each of their slumbering companions on the blankets, securing and covering them. Stefan and Geser could pull the travois with Hack and Polux and she would attempt the one with Suny.
She whispers to Geser, "There was something in the lodge where the cleric hid. I asked Stefan to check on it. But we must be ready in case we must fight again."
Now that Daya is back on the ground, she goes with Taissa and tries to aid her friend/mistress, looking and sensing with her keen sight and hearing.
Okay, I was all set to write what you found and so on, but unfortunately I can’t.
I can’t because I asked for specific information about what was being searched, and searched for and I didn’t get that information and I don’t want to guess, in case I guess wrong.
To sum up:
Stefan – your total of roll 1 was a 12 with a +2 (thanks to aid) or a 14.
Your total of roll 2 was a total of 1 with a 2+2 (thanks to aid) or a 5.
Your total of roll 3 was a 2 with a 2+2 (thanks to aid) or a 6.
But the thing is – what were those rolls for? Where you first looking for a trap in the first room, then looking for secret passages (also in the first room), than looking for treasure (first room; or was that a second room)? Or was it some other combination or order – or dividing the three rolls into two different rooms with other variations on the two rolls? Or did you just decide to make a generic “Search” for the room and whatever you find you find all at once (depending on your roll) – as in: your natural 20 revealed a pit trap, and big box of treasure, and a small lock box – or is there some other variation I haven’t even able to guess yet?
I’m positively confused at this point. However, the more information I get, the more I can help you with answers.
Tomorrow I’ll put full details on the board, once I know more information.
Taissa: Regarding your earlier post about leveling? Not quite – you won’t be able to formally “Level Up” until you’ve at least slept one night and can rest up.
There are a lot of things that can happen during the rest of the day, though. But hopefully not too much craziness.
Geser nods as Taissa tells him what she thinks they should do. "I agree--and I would submit that we should also crush that symbol the 'priest' is wearing. I don't like it or trust it."
Geser nods as Taissa tells him what she thinks they should do. "I agree--and I would submit that we should also crush that symbol the 'priest' is wearing. I don't like it or trust it."
Geser takes the ankh with a piece of cloth and tries bending it. He's not sure what he can expect--maybe he'll just bend it out of shape a little bit. He'll settle for what he gets and then try a different method.
Annoyed at the lack of success on hos first pass, Stefan will now take time to thoroughly investigate the main hut (i.e. take 20). If he still finds nothing, he will go to the hut that hid the snake and repeat the process.
"Geser, if you would break that accursed thing, move away from me, Daya and the injured ones. Gods are displeased when their artefacts are destroyed. Shield yourself, as well."
Taissa motions Daya to move back with her as Geser wrestles with the dark holy symbol.
"At once." He shakes his head in shame. "I do not know what I was thinking! Please forgive me."
Geser obliges the lady and gets out of sight of the party to continue his efforts.
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The priest collapsed to the ground in a bloody mess even as Taissa’s shot slammed into the whirling body of the air elemental.
Stefan stood panting a bit, still weary from the abuse from the enemy earlier as well as bloodsport in the snow, but had a small, somewhat triumphant grin on his face from disposing of his enemy.
Polux, Hack and Suny lay on the ground even as Geser hobbled to the corpse of the half-orc to examine the holy symbol a bit further.
Slinging her musket, Taissa advanced even as Stefan gave turned his somewhat game smile toward her
”Well! It seems we at least yet live…” he says to her, even as he stoops to examine his companions to check their health as well, than moves to check the priest for more practical assistance in bringing his friends around.
”Aye – it is well that you do live; it cost us much pains to save you and I would not see those efforts wasted,” Taissa responded a bit curtly to the duelist, noting that both Hack and Polux had fallen in fracas, but after quickly examining them she was relieved to find that they were both alive, yet badly hurt.
After this she moved over to study Suny as well, examining the elf for any wounds even as she sent Daya aloft to scout the terrain.
”We shall need to gather what we can to transport the bodies of our comrades back to the ship so that when Ren and the others return the priest can heal them,” she says in the same brisk manner, than moves to the bodies of the dead goblins searches them next, hoping to find something useful for their friends, but is annoyed to find nothing of worth on the goblins.
As she begins to gather things to prepare a litter for her friends, she looks at Stefan who continues to study the half-orc.
”You live and can move about. Instead of worrying about that dead half-orc why don’t you make yourself useful and help me with our fallen,” she says to him as she moves about the camp.
Stefan glances up at the red-headed half-elf, his eye cocking somewhat at her frustrated tone as he studies her for a moment.
”Yes, of course – you’re right. But – naturally – I feel that I’d be much more useful to that task if these chains were removed, hm?” he says, holding up his bound hands even as Taissa began to drag some long stout branches from a ruined hut to the center of the village.
”Well, you were hale enough to fight a moment ago; and those chains didn’t hinder you enough to kill – if that dead half-orc doesn’t have any key for your chains than leave him be and continue to help me find things to transport our friends safely and protected for the journey home,” she adds looking up at him with a stern expression, even as Stefan gingerly continues to examines the body of the dead priest.
He grins a bit crookedly as he studies the body, and pauses to delicately trace his finger over the tattoos over the hands of the dead half-orc, then pauses to turn the corpse on his belly and studies the sheath of his now missing weapon strapped to his back.
”Oh come!” he responds in a somewhat offended voice to Taissa’s stern words, but one that is more exaggerated and a bit playful, attempting to distract from the horror with a bit of brevity.
”Our friends yet live, and they will not suffer longer – I think – if they remain were they lay for only a few more moments, hm? Yet if my search can discover something more useful than mere sticks and cloth for a means to drag them to the shore, well… I’d say that’d be worth a few minutes of time, eh?” he adds, a bit of charming smile on his face to accompany his somewhat teasing tone.
Yet the charm seemed to be regrettably lost on the half-elf, however, as she stared hard at the man in front of her, already tired of the danger and risk she and her friends endured even as it seemed that he was responding to her jesting when things were still looking so grim.
”Enough! We risked our lives to save you and you think that this is a time for foolish jests? There’s work to be done, and we’ve got to get to it – there may be other threats around here, or had you forgotten,” she retorted a bit hotly.
Geser moves over to the half-orc as well, more bent on the holy symbol. He pauses in his work a moment to look up at the two of his allies.
”There are indeed other threats,” he says with a soft voice as he gingerly wraps the symbol in a cloth to attempt to dispose of it later ”but clearly we must never forget that there is strength in numbers,” he adds, looking between them.
”You are two folk that are of different worlds; that is clear. You have had different upbringings – one of you has lived a hard life in the wild, where niceties and jesting does not mean a certainty of survival, and in fact – such jests can very often lead to an error in judgment that can mean death.”
”The other has lived in a world where to survive one must surround oneself with as much protection as possible to elude the thrust of an enemy. Such training is so instilled from a young age that even his wordplay is dedicated to the delicate parry and thrust and the elusion of hardship, even by using his words to protect from darkness with a lighter heart.”
He grunts.
”These two lifestyles are on opposite sides of the world; but it is of no consequence. We must accept each other regardless of how different we may be. Indeed; in my life I have learned that we must endure the things that we find strange, or frustrating, or even repellent to our natural inclinations… if we wish to continue to survive here, or any world,” the half-orc says somewhat cryptically as his tongue slides unconsciously over the jagged edges of his incisors beneath his lips.
He glances to the others.
”What have we learned thus far?” he says to Taissa and Stefan, who look at the half-orc with surprise – as he is not one for talking at length, but both recognize the wisdom of his words and accept them.
Taissa takes a deep breath, even as Stefan clears his throat, trying to ease the mettle of the manacles against his wrists a bit.
After a moment, Taissa sees Daya land and converses with the bird, than turns to the others.
”Daya has seen no threats around us. I do not know what was meant by “Basterd Breeds” for none of us saw anything so far that has attacked. Perhaps it was merely an empty threat?”
”Perhaps... But what of the body of the fallen?” Geser prods, looking at Taissa and Stefan, who had both examined the corpse at length.
”The half-orc seems strange – he is not like you; his features seem different somehow. His skin seems darker somehow, and there are odd tattoos on his hands – I cannot make them out,” she says to Geser.
Stefan nods.
”Aye – also, at his back was an empty sheath – it looked like it held a dagger; but where is the blade now? Indeed, there is a mystery here; for in truth, I am wondering why it is they had barely the clothes on their back, never mind missing the weapon,” he says thoughtfully.
Geser grunts a bit at the facts so far and shrugs.
”The answers seem obvious to me, if we consider them in sequence,” he says helping Stefan and Taissa bundle their friends gently on the make-shift litters.
”Firstly we know that this half-orc has used bronze as his holy symbol is in bronze."
"On a seemingly unrelated note, we recall also that in our last foray with the enemies that they had bronze as well to be used for payment… bronze is not a common metal, but it is used in both situations,” he says, putting all the skills of his training in investigation as a Bounty Hunter to bear on the situation.
”We know that many cultures in the south use bronze in their metal work as well – anyone who appraised the gear would have found that easily,” he says in a matter-of-fact voice.
”Coupled with the darker skin and curlier hair, we may assume his human parent was no native of this land, but came from a climate that has humans which have darker skin and curlier hair – even as men of the south have; men that may come from Osirion?”
”You’re suggesting that the attack we dealt with on the island a few days ago and these scum are somehow related?” Stefan says a bit eagerly.
”I’m suggesting nothing, sir – I’m merely stating the facts objectively,” Geser responds as Taissa watches them both, pulling the massive Hack onto the first collection of cloth and wood.
Geser glances at Taissa.
”You suggested multiple times that the serpent comes from warmer climate – is not native? Very well; than we have more empirical evidence to suggest that his company likely came from the southern climates; likely Osirion, and brought their trouble with them from that land.”
”Meanwhile, we all recall at least one of the human slaves we found on that island came from a fishing village? Perhaps this was not the same fishing village – but then again…” Geser adds with a shrug.
Stefan moves to help Taissa with Polux’s body as Geser rubs his chin.
Stefan thinks of his own blade, and recalls the weapons of the corsairs that they met with before, and now this priest.
”We know that the dogs we faced in our last little dance all carried scimitars, eh? And this one has a sheath on his back that is for a curved knife – they have curved blades in the lands of Osirion and the south – and the desert, or so it is said… Scimitars are curved swords; would not a curved knife be similar in design from similar lands” he adds, his Knowledge of Weapons prompting the statement.
Taissa adjusts Polux delicately as Geser nods and looks over at him.
Taissa seems a bit frustrated about all of these clues, however, and continues to move with a purpose.
”Well, what is your point? That both groups came from Osirion? If so – what of it? We are not going to stay in Osirion – true; we travel there to sell our ship; but we are concerned with the town of Beacon; not some southern nation,” she says to them both.
Geser nods.
”True. But don’t you find it a bit odd that two threats – likely from Osirion – have managed to do damage so close to Beacon in less than a fortnight?” he says glancing at her.
”And don’t you think it’s strange that an enemy would have traveled so long with a beast in their keeping; one seemingly as large as this serpent – all the way from southern lands? Why should they do that, and for what purpose? Is it simply to sit here and act as a guard at this place, or something else?”
”Now I am not certain of the connection; but I suspect that it has to do with their dark gods,” he says with a frown.
As Suny is loaded onto the last travois, Taissa stands up as Stefan does as well.
”Dark gods, southern enemies and strange creatures – they’re all foul; but we have a task to protect Beacon; we are aligned to a specific cause and not dark gods or mysterious cults of foreign lands are our business,” she says with a Neutral tone, speaking somewhat pragmatically of their true purpose, despite these unusual circumstances.
Stefan nods at her words.
”Aye! Now don’t get me wrong; I’d rather have any little dark cultist safely in his homeland or just as safely dead on the tip of my blade,” he says a bit drolly ”but she does have a point. These things are terrible; but the world has many horrors – we cannot save them all, as brutal as this is – we do have a town to protect, and it is many miles west of here and Osirion is many further miles east,” he adds supporting Taissa’s words.
Geser sighs.
”Yes – but these dark gods; these dark cults – these strange rituals – I am no priest, granted; but I can tell you that my heart warns me to beware of such dark and mysterious evils. These creatures came many miles for a purpose – even as you both suggested; and that purpose was in the waters near Varisia searching for some darkness… they came in force… they may come again… if we journey to sell this ship in Osirion, we must do what we can to Gather Information and record it, and return all of this information to our lords in Beacon so that they can examine the evidence we present them and use it to the best of their abilities.”
Stefan glances at Taissa and she nods at Geser’s words.
The half-orc is correct; these situations are far too coincidental for anyone’s comfort at this point.
”Well then, let’s search the hut that he kept us prisoner in – perhaps we can find some more of these “clues” you speak of,” Stefan says with a sudden bit of determination.
Moving with a purpose he strides intently into the hut, his wrists aching from the pain of the manacles on them and he kicks the pile of rugs and filth aside with frustration as he enters; the smell of the place nearly overpowering his already sickened belly.
Growling, he grabs a chest and flings it to the side as he feels the nausea of the medicine they fed him working on his insides.
Taissa enters after him and she sees his angry motions and the frustration at the filthy room; the smell foul and the air putrid. She does what she can to help him, but his efforts are not successful; likely due to the scent of unwashed bodies that cling to the furs on the ground and the lingering smell of urine and feces in the air from where the goblins casually soiled themselves in their own hut.
Taissa studies the area.
”Well… now we know why they had nothing on their body’s,” she says after a moment.
”Oh? And why is that,” Stefan says in a somewhat muffled voice, his arm raising over his face to ward off the stink.
”Goblins and orcs – they tend to bond together like big tribes. They sleep in groups in caves for warmth and protection, and they’re all used to dumping piles of their gear in a central area – food; supplies; warmth; loot; and the rest of the filth that they sleep in,” she says grimly, her knowledge of Survival and the lore she has of the wilderness lending credence to this claim.
Stefan coughs a bit; the goblin “healing” potion still making him feel a bit sick – not to mention the smell.
”You’re right, of course – I’m sorry for my frustration just now – it’s just with the manacles and the damn cold, not to mention the stink in here…” he says with a bit of an apology for his lack of ability to find something.
”Forget it,” she retorts somewhat curtly; but her tone is not cruel, but simply direct.
Indeed, Stefan quickly realizes her somewhat blunt and matter-of-fact method of speech; one without the subtleties of court niceties, is merely how she talks to her companions in general. It is a direct way, a way that is not layered with innuendo or light-hearted jests, but it is her way.
He dockets her manner of speech and action for later.
”Well – now what?” he says to her.
”Let us go about the business of stripping this place apart – stick by stick, if we must – and find anything of use,” she says to him, and he nods in agreement.
1. A small pack.
2. A small chest.
3. A large chest.
4. A ledger.
Small pack:
This looks like it may belong to the half-orc. It is about the size of a medium bookbag.
Inside you find the following:
1. A healer’s kit; fully stocked.
2. A ring of keys (one of them matches the manacles – a universal key); one of them matches the small chest, the other matches the big chest; and there is a forth key.
3. A small pouch with two Potions in it (unidentified at this time).
4. A small pouch with 50 Gold Pieces in it and 50 Silver pieces (your use of Appraise allows you to detect that the coins are the same mint that was on the other group you looted west of Beacon several days ago. It could be coin common in Osirion, or it could be a coin minted by a specific organization – you don’t know that at this time).
5. Some decent food (two days of rations).
6. A small flask of wine (your Appraise skill reveals it’s a type of wine made of dates and figs; certainly not a local brew).
The small Chest – once unlocked
Inside it you find a collection of stacked coin. There are 1,000 gold pieces. In addition to that there are also 500 Silver pieces and 500 copper pieces. Finally there is a small pouch with a bag of 10 rubies – universally cut. Your continued success with Appraise suggests that they are each worth 100 gold pieces each.
The large chest – once unlocked
The large chest has portable Alchemist Lab in it.
It also has various vials in it.
There are 4 Red Vials; 4 Green vials in it; a strange ink quill and several sheets of odd parchment and 8 Scrolls in which 4 have one type of writing and the other 4 have other writing on them. Finally you find other empty vials left for some purpose, but they have the same label that the Green bottles have, but they are currently empty.
The ledger
It’s in Osirion; none of you can read that language yet, but it seems like it contains notes and information. There are some pictures and diagrams as you thumb through it; and the notes near the diagrams are another language altogether – they seem a bit more… strange. Some of them have similar glyphs like the ones on the half-orc’s hands; and others look like a loose representation of constellations.
Laying loose in all the rest of the stuff –
1. 4 more of those Goblin Healing Potions –
2. Various pouches with a total collection of gold that tallies to 200 gold pieces between all the dead goblins stuff.
3. Spoiled “Trail Rations” – you can eat them, but they’ll likely make you sick.
4. Soiled furs from native creatures – animal skins and such.
Taissa and Stefan finally come out of the hut as Geser has a rock on the ground, and a wrapped item on the rock. He is pounding it repeatedly with another rock in his hand – clearly trying to destroy what is hidden by the cloth.
Stefan is using a ring of keys in his hands to remove the shackles from his wrists and throws them to the ground as he looks over at Geser.
As requested, Geser did not attempt to destroy the holy symbol near the others; and indeed – he has acted while his friends were searching.
”Did you find anything useful?” Geser says after a moment.
”Yes; plenty of stuff,” Taissa says to him as she watches his efforts intently, making sure there are no ill effects.
Than she moves over to Polux first and takes the stopper of the goblin healing potion and gently eases into his teeth.
Stefan seems surprised by the bold action.
”Wait – what are you doing? That’ll make him ill,” he says as he moves to unlock Suny’s bonds and pulls the chains off her wrists.
”If he can’t stomach it – aye; but it will revive him and he’ll be able to stand on his feet and fight as a man. That’s worth a little sickness,” she says to him, than pours the drink down Polux’s throat.
As it slides down Polux’s gullet, she leans back to watch the results.
She watches to see how Polux reacts, then turns to Hack and repeats the process on the barbarian even as Stefan tosses Geser the keys so he can unlock his manacles.
She turns to Suny, holding one in her hand.
”This has already been used on her, I heard. If we use another, what will it do to her? It will not kill her, will it?” she says with confusion.
As Polux and Hack struggle to sit upright and endure what the potion does to their body; Geser continues to work on the item a bit away from the group; leaving the decision of using the potion on Suny to wiser heads for now Taissa carries her musket loaded and ready while Stefan advances gingerly to the final hut – the one the half-orc had run in and out of.
As they enter the hut; they both make sure to get good rolls on Perception to avoid any traps – and are successful. They also decide to use Stealth so as not to tip off the hand of anyone in there; just in case.
As Taissa and Stefan move inside the smell is nearly overpowering – even for the hardened senses of a Beastmaster.
It stinks of death; but peering in the dim light they can see a plank is thrust into a deep pit. At the bottom of the pit is enough waste to make them both believe that the pit itself is what housed the snake. It’s lucky they were both as perceptive as they were, or in the darkened room they may have stumbled down the twenty foot shaft and hurt themselves badly.
However –
Across the pit they observe that there about a dozen small cages; each roughly three feet cubed.
All of the cages are empty but one.
The first cage is the one they notice right away.
It is fairly large; large enough that in the bottom of the cage they can each see a rather large female warg. She has a dagger thrust into her heart.
A quick examination suggests that the dagger matches the sheath on the half-orc’s back.
”He must have killed this warg... But why would the half-orc kill him? And why keep him in a cage anyway?” Stefan says in a confused voice, studying the body of the dead warg.
Taissa feels a pain in her chest. Even though the wargs are cruel and vicious, they are at least more intelligent than most beasts, and the Beastmaster suspects very clearly that their cruelty is a trait learned from goblin-kin and orc-kind; though it may be a natural quality in them, if they had been raised by goodly folk instead, who knows how they might have turned out...
Meanwhile, she studies the dead warg, feeling pain for what she sees, and her voice is raw when she answers.
”It is not a “he” but a “she”,” Taissa said after a moment, her Knowledge of Nature being somewhat handy here.
”I think – based on the refuse in the other cages – that this warg was a nursing mother. Perhaps that’s the “mother” he referred to? Anyway, it looks like she was being bred and her pups must have been kept in these cages for some reason.”
Stefan shakes his head.
”Gods! Why would goblins do that?”
Taissa recalls the lore she remembered from the old-lore master.
”I don’t think the goblins did this; I think it was the half-orc. I think he was trying to use the mother to breed many wargs and maybe use them for the goblins he recruited…” she says after a moment, thinking a bit.
”Would the wargs fight for goblins and a half-orc if he did that?” Stefan asked her as she placed her hand on the dead warg.
Its body still warm. It must have bled out in the last few minutes when we were searching the village…. Damn that half-orc!
She looks up on him after a moment.
”Maybe; I don’t know – wargs are smart, though. The half-orc might have been able to capture a female and a few males a while back and maybe the wargs worked for the goblins; not out of loot – that’d be “waste” for that gods cursed half-orc to give them things that wargs would favor – but maybe because they were being blackmailed? Maybe because they were forced to fight for his cause, or their mate would suffer? I don’t know…”
Stefan watches her, a look of compassion on his face for her concern over the beasts.
”Our companions are better; we have time to bury this one, if you’d like?” he says to her, but he shakes his head in confusion at what he sees.
”I don’t understand why he killed her, though – I mean, I understand why he didn’t let it out to help him fight – she wouldn’t do that, I’d imagine – but why kill her in the middle of the combat? That makes no sense to me,” he says in confusion.
Taissa looks at him a bit dejectedly.
”I think because he saw what I did with Daya and maybe he feared I could speak to her – ask her questions – and maybe converse with her; learn information from her – his plans…” she says somewhat helplessly.
Stefan nods, than suddenly recalls the words that the half-orc says about "Basterd Breeds".
”Hold on…” he says after a moment. Than he searches the area more carefully
At the back of the room is another stack of cages, there is some blankets tossed over them, and in a swift motion he flings them aside and studies them intently.
”Taissa – come here,” he says intently, calling her over urgently.
She shakes her frustration at what she sees when she looks at the dead warg mother and moves over to Stefan, her hands ready at a weapon.
There, in the back of one of the rear cages is warg pup; he is very small, and his coat is pure white.
It seems he is dead, though.
But suddenly the little pup moves his small paw and let’s out the barest of whimpers.
”Hold on, lady – I’ll get the keys from Geser and we’ll get him out of there,” he says to her with a firm voice.
Stefan grins with relief at the news at Taissa.
”Well, m’lady – at least we got here in time to save him. Though – I’m not sure what we can do with such a young warg pup; but I’ll leave that for you to decide on,” he says to her.
As the party gets together, they glace heavenward to the sky at the sun.
They can all see that it’s been nearly twenty minutes since the battle ended and – if their calculations are correct – Johnny should be bringing The Seahawk in to the cove in about ten to twenty minutes.
Taissa looked long and hard at the sickened pup, and, knowing its origins, wondered if she could raise it and teach it right.
Nature had its duality: light and dark. She could not see herself killing the pup based on its parentage. The Spirits would be unhappy with her.
She couldn't determine if the white pup would live or die soon. Healing had never been her strong suit and she required an expert opinion.
Taissa called out to Geser, "I need your help to see if this pup shall live or die yet?"
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Wow – okay, at least some feedback on the post.
That said:
You believe that a person who consumed one potion before can consume a second one as another Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+5).
However, what you suspect is as following –
For anyone who took a second potion that day, they would receive –
1d4+1 Constitution Damage. It heals naturally.
A third potion does an additional 1d4+1 Con damage.
You can continue drinking them, but they may end up killing you due to Con Damage.
With that in mind, it’s up to you if you want to give it to your companions; but they can’t make the call as they’re unconscious at this time.
You realize that most alignments are a general rule. But not all creatures are stuck with their alignment. For example, Elves tend to be Good and Humans tend to be Neutral – but not all Elves are good and not all Humans are neutral.
Therefore, given the right intelligence, it’s possible that with a good upbringing a warg has just as much chance as being good as – say – any other race that has the capacity to learn (a clear case of nurture winning over nature, it seems).
Scientific principle wins out in this case, if you can raise him in a loving environment.
Yeah, I’m not sure why you rolled this.
If you noticed, I had you roll this in the Campaign Page – clearly you got a Natural 20 (I didn’t bother to actually post the dice roll) – but it really did happen, and Stefan helped.
This is actually what I posted early, though, if it helps…
As you can see, he’s helpable, but you’ll need to take him back to a warm place with lots of blankets. After which he’d heal HP just as any other creature would via Bed Rest (though you can do an accelerated Bed Rest via Heal Check).
Oh yeah - if you have the cleric use a Channel Energy on the pup, you can heal the pup, that way, too.
Just let me know what you want to do.
At this stage he’s about 5 lbs. and roughly the size of a small toaster, if that helps?
Taissa lets out a sigh as she examines the others.
She’s not entirely sure about what she’s about to do, but feels it may be safer to gamble…
She slowly gives a second draught of the healing potion to Hack…
She turns and offers one to Polux next, not sure how Suny's Health may be effected yet...
Finally she turns to Suny and offers it to her, too.
Taissa is standing before you. Gently cradled in her arms is a small white pup. The pup is breathing shallowly and looks weak and undernourished.
Her usually stern face is marred only with concern for the pup.