Injured, but standing, Arwyn seems okay. the last zombie goes down with a fierce chop from Gondork's battleaxe, and the four of you stand around catching your breath in the icy cold aftermath.
Plunking herself down inside the carriage where its slightly warmer, clutching the wound at her side, Arwyn notices something lumpy under the seat, and fishes out a small jewelry box
checking the rest of the camp, Seshiro notices broken chests and boxes strewn behind the second carriage, dresses thrown in the snow, some of them looking expensive, despite being discarded so.
Arwyn, can you walk?
"Good work, everyone, I certainly did not expect thisss. Arwyn, that's a nasty blow you took, let me tend to it."
Ah, so you're finally going to use my gifts for selfless reasons? This should be interesting...
"Bah, that barely did anything for me, and I took a way less severe blow than you. Let's see that again."
Even more? Was my first gift not enough for you? Tsk...
"Ahh, that'sss the stuff. You okay now, Arwn?"
Seshiro wanders through the camp, looking for clues.
"Hey, look, these are some pretty fancy clothes, not your usual everyday clothes. If they belonged to these people, we might've killed some nobles."
Gondork raises an eyebrow at Seshiro's words, but keeps his silence as he picks up his shield and inspects the other carriage.
there doesn't appear to be much of anything else here. the other carriage has the dead bodies of two women inside, though they're indeed dead, not zombies. the dresses were probably theirs, nice, but likely attendants to the Lady.
The man encased in ice, and quite dead, has his weapon still encased in ice, and his armor on his body, also encased in the thick block. The way he died likely prevented them from looting his things the way the took the others.
the easily located trail Arwyn pointed out before, maybe a dozen men and at least one horse, lead off to the southwest into deeper snow .
Maybe iceman here has some clues on him the attackers forgot to take care of..
I think we should take mister frozen yoghurt here to a campfire so we can see if he holds anything that might be a clue.
"Yes, at least give him a proper place to rest. And if he happens to carry anything we might be able to use if we get ambushed again..."
Sigh. Robbing the dead? Again? When do you learn...
Arwyn heard her ribs crack as she was hurled back by the frozen zombie. She had difficulty breathing, but she gathered her wits about her and staggered to the attack again. Fortunately, the others crushed the zombie before she could get back into the fight.
Relieved, she sat down gingerly in the carriage seat holding her ribs. Feeling something hard and angular, she pulled it out. It turned out to be a jewelry box hidden under the cushions. She boggled at the amount of wealth concentrated here. Must be a countess at least... she thought.
Arwyn, can you walk?
She nodded.
"Yes; I am fit enough for walking, but little else." She said."Ahh, that'sss the stuff. You okay now, Arwn?"
But then she felt great relief as Seshiro's healing channels washed over her, leaving nothing but a vague ache where her ribs had been pulverized.
"Thank you Seshiro. I am fit to fight again!" She said confidently."Look what the Lady left behind!" She said, displaying the jewelry box.
She admired the dresses, but would not take any; she bundled the ones she could find in with the deceased.
Arwyn pointed out the trail leading deeper into the forest and the snow which is deeper.
"If you haven't donned your winter garb, now is the time to do it. Normally I wouldn't bother, but something about this cold is... unnatural. It sinks right through my bones." She said, donning her own winter gear.
She looked at Gondork with a questioning glance.
"Are your... really going to melt that guy?" She asked, just short of disapproving.
Yes, he's obviously hiding something. I hate being tricked. Besides, don't you think we should head back first and take all this gold to the councellor? It'd pay for the weapons we ordered... and we can put this guy next to a fire somewhere.
Frowning for a moment he took the scenery in and when he listened to Gondork. "What makes you think he is hiding something, besides... melting parts of a human being like that is something I dissaprove..."
"I say follow the tracks and see where they lead us to, that is where we are needed, not roasting parts of a human icicle..."
Allright then, let's come back here on the way back. This man is the only one left encased like this, almost as if ment as a message, that's why. Besides, they all deserve a proper burial anyway.. I don't know where you are from, but in my lands they bury warriors.. in one piece.
Gondork shrugs,
takes out the weathered cold weather outfit, draping it over his shoulders like a bear hide.
[now or in an hour]
The chill worsens as you leave the perimeter of the unnaffected zone, and pass through like a thick curtain of Winter.
Starting down the trail, as it enters the full expanse of the Border Wood, it passes through a small clearing among the trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. As you approach the hill, you see a large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way and decided it was too much of a burden, tossing it so in the deeper snow.
Tall trees marking the end of the clearing, the half buried chest maybe thirty feet from you ahead up the trail in the deeper forest.
"Let's take the poor sap with us on our way back. I'm sure he'll still be here by then. I think we've got more pressing issues right now."
Are you sure? He might be vital in your quest...
[Sometime later]
"Huh, curious, who would leave a chest like that? They really seemed to be in a hurry if they're now dropping what they stole from that carriage. Let's take a look."
Go on, I'm sure it's safe...
Arwyn looked about the bodies.
"I see the handmaidens, but I don't see anyone of noble status. Does anyone see her?"
Back on the trail, Arwyn is curious about the chest. She checks for tracks and other traces.
I'd like to take an hour to get all this back to town. Caladan?
He gave a shrug when the call was made to return. If noone would use the cold iron longsword he would kindly ask if he could use it, since the sickle isn't ready yet. He frowned when they find the chest and waited till someone said it was clear to examine it. Whisps of frosted air coming from his lips as he gazed over the scene, musing to himself
Arwyn looks around and approaches the chest, when suddenly Seshiro throws out his hand, grabbing her and pulling her down to the ground. Visions of bubbling laughter clawing their eyes out and blood drenched tears stop Arwyn in her tracks. About ten feet from the chest, they both hit the snowy ground as a spiked log swings through the high trees down the trail you're on.
vs. AC +2
vs. AC +2
After all that, as the spiked log stops swinging, the half-buried chest itself doesn't seem trapped. you examine it and pop it open, unlocked, and find it's empty...
*groan*
Oh, apparently someone decided to trap something and the Tiefling felt the log hit him square in the chest and bones snap due to sheer force. Coughing some blood he whispered a short incanation in hopes of healing some of the internal damage.
Mad laughter rings inside Seshiro's head.
Seshiro steps over the log to examine the chest.
"Why would people trap an empty chest? Purely out of spite? There has to be something else...
Oh, by the way, you seem pretty injured. I have only a little bit of healing power left, should I use that right now, or resort to my spells? Once I'm out of that, we really need to be careful."
Giving a mere shrug while spitting out some blood and nursing the bruised chest he shook his head "I used some healing, not sure how bad Gondork is at this very moment tho...
Seshiro inspects everyone's wounds, and decides that everyone could do with some extra healing.
"Okay, so be careful guys, after this I only have two Cure spells left, better make 'em count."
Leave the chest alone... It's brought you nothing but trouble...
Stubbornly refusing to listen to the voice in his head, Seshiro starts tugging at the chest.
"There has to be something of value here. No one would just trap an empty chest just because they can, right? People got hurt for this chest, I'll lug the chest back home if that's the only thing of value here."
Either that, or they managed to remove whatever was inside without opening it. This doesn't fit well with me at all. Witches.. Bah.
Gondork spits on the ground.
You tug at the chest, its heavy but not inconveniently so. it comes out of the snow, and you can see a layer of lumpy snow underneath it, a light layer of snow, dusted over a hidden cache. Fishing things out from below, you find five sets of leather armor, three sets of studded leather armor, a masterwork chain shirt, two light wooden shields, seven longswords, two spears, a masterwork dagger, and three light crossbows, with a total of 25 bolts.
I think we found the reason it was trapped..
Gondork says while whiping some blood from the corner of his mouth.
Seshiro hefts one of the shields, straps it on and swings his arms back and forth a bit, testing the weight, then nods approvingly to himself, and lashes it to his pack.
The snow continues to help you follow the trail of the bandits, though inside the tree line, the snow continues to fall, making it harder to see far. You continue on, covering about a mile and a half in an hour , through the snow covered forest.
*oye.
by the end of the hour, Arwyn is fine, but she looks back at the group as she leads them following the trail, and sees them starting to show signs of hypothermia, and likely frostbite. Except Caladan bringing up the rear, he seems fine still too.
Following the trail southwest still, the snow becomes increasingly deep in this part of the forest, where the windswept gully carves a path through a tree-covered ridge. A soft cascade of snow falls from an overhead branch, hissing softly as it strikes the ground.
laying in wait, imperceptible in the deep snow by one of the ridges, pale white blue on freshly fallen snow, no one sees the large-mouthed creature as it waits. Deciding that Arwyn looks like the most tasty morsel, the least tin-canish of the band, it pounces. A white blur bursts out from the snowbank in a shower of ice and flurries, red plumes burst forth as it slashes Arwyn and bites, tearing off a large chunk of flesh by her neck, and lacerating her leg. Rolling to a halt, the fresh blood making it easier to see now that its moving, the creature looks like a dragon. a large wide fanged mouth, and smaller forearms, its hindquarters either obscured by the snow or nonexistant the beast looks fearsome.
k. arcana checks
[surprise round] - pounced; dragon not flat-footed
[ round 1: ] [17: Arwyn], [13: Dragon], [4: Seshiro], [3: Caladan], [3: Gondork]
Shocked at the attack, Arwyn reeled back with blood spattering from her neck, but through the pain she automatically drew an arrow, laid it in her bow, drew and fired at her attacker.
for a possible piercing damage.
Gondork takes out his brand new battleaxe once more, then loudly screams something in orcish:
Тримайтеся подалі від мого comrads, дракон!
Then he moves towards the beast.
the snow makes it difficult, but you manage to backflip away from the dragon, drawing your bow, the arrow seemingly knocking itself. feather to cheek you loose and it strikes true. a red rose blooming on its white scales, the shaft digging into the creature.
It eyes Gondork, as if pondering whether it can go after its tasty morsel, or needs to deal with the threat in front of it. it seems to decide, lunging at Gondork who seems slowed down enough by the cold that it slides past his defenses, landing a viscous blow, its lower body like a snake, coiling around gondork's leg as the creature grapples him, perhaps crumpling into the snow as the dragon wrestles his unconscious body, giving it a predatory tug and roaring at the three of you to back off and let it drag its prey away.
* the fatigue from the cold gives gondork a -2 penalty to str and dex, dropping his AC to 18. *
[ round 1: ] [4: Seshiro], [3: Caladan],
[ round 2: ] [17: Arwyn], [3: Gondork], [13: Dragon],
Drawing his shield and then moving forward to stand next to Gondork, unable to take any swings at the dragon.
Gondork lies unconscious in the creature’s jaws, but seems stable. He groans.
"Okay Arwyn, this might feel a little uncomfortable, but it won't last long, okay?"
With that, Seshiro casts Cure Light Wounds on Arwyn, also imparting some madness with his touch. He then moves one square forward to examine Gondork next round.
[ round 2: ] [17: Arwyn], [13: Gondork], [13: Dragon], [3: Caladan], [3: Seshiro],
the beast's taken 7 damage. Caladan thinks it might actually be a cousin to dragons, a Tatzlwyrm. but its got no real weakness to exploit.
Arwyn gasped at the relief Seshiro gave to her injuries.
She drew another arrow, drew and shot the creature again. She tries to avoid hitting Gondork in the process. (-4 shootin' into melee)
for a possible piercing damage.
it tries to drag Gondork away, pulling him five feet away into the snowbank.
Caladan swings as it as the dragon twists around Gondork and pulls his unconscious body a little further away, but the morningstar crashes down into the snow besides the creature as it moves.
* drawing an attack of opportunity from Caladan for the dragging.
[ round 2: ] [3: Caladan], [3: Seshiro],
[ round 3: ] [17: Arwyn], [13: Gondork], [13: Dragon],