you had 2 damage after the last bit of healing you all stopped for, took 10 damage from the bite, that put you at -1 according to your sheet's hp ( 11 ). and then you also have the 1 nl which gives you the fatigued condition. =(
Seshiro curses the snow as he tries to plow his way through it on his way to the dragon.
Arwyn's arrow chattered on the riser of her bow, trying to draw a bead on the creature. But the chaotic melee, as well as the concealment of the snowbank made it impossible. She threw her bow down in disgust and drew her sword as she surged forward through the snow to get into combat with the monster that had Gondork.
for a possible piercing damage.
['botting Caladan upon request until his PC is ready this week]
20 ft to move up 1 square adjacent to the grappling dragon.
its in snow but doesn't really provide cover in melee.
the Tatzlwyrm drops Gondork, and takes a snap at Caladan in retribution.
digging its teeth in and leaving a nasty ring of bleeding punctures on his leg.
the dragon then turns and tries to abandon its meal, leaving an opening Arwyn manages to take advantage of, scoring it along is hind-tail with her short sword, as it squirms away into the snow as it nimbly twists into the bank, somehow moving a little faster than y'all in the snow, still alive but bleeding pretty badly from the sword and spike punctures.
Caladan double moves after it, trudging through the deep snow, unsure but wanting to end the threat.
[ round 3: ] [3: Seshiro],
[ round 4: ] [17: Arwyn], [13: Gondork], [13: Dragon], [3: Caladan],
"Stop beating up my friends! We haven't done anything to harm you!"
Realising he'll never be able to catch up with the dragon, Seshiro uses his last resort. He grabs his spear and chucks it at the creature out of pure frustration.
Feel the anger coursing through your veins... Can you feel the power, my champion?
Arwyn pursues the creature with a vengeance, stepping into flank with it.
for a possible piercing damage.
the spear sinks into him, lodging him in place to the ground, hissing and spitting, the fight goes out of him as arwyn approaches and makes sure the dragon is indeed dead.
You pause to collect yourselves, looking around, bloodied and tired, you know its not even true evening yet, but the shadow of the canopy overhead casts a twilight on the snow covered glade, the mist of your breath filling the air as you calm down and the adrenaline eases. The pain returns as you wince and check your wounds.
Here seems as good as any a place to make camp, exhausted as you are. with the tents, if you clear away some of the snow, it might actually insulate you from the wind since the snow's so deep. the struggle with the dragon has started a bit of a clear area off the trail.
As soon as Gondork wakes up, he grunts and achingly takes some rations from his backpack. He just sits net to the fire for a long time, chewing jerky. His eyes betray some kind of rergret but he keeps his silence. After this he goes to sleep, loudly snoring.
With the dragon dead, Seshiro sinks into the snow as he sits on the ground to catch his breath.
"Stupid sssnow! I couldn't even catch up to it! I hope this won't be an example of what we'll be facing from now on."
Aren't you forgetting something, my dear?
Seshiro looks up, then realises he's sitting in front of Gondork's groaning body.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. Hope you won't have nightmares while I tend to you."
its a few hours later, as dusk sets, your camp and tents are well set up, the fire warming you a bit, you've been able to stave off the frostbite and warm yourselves up
Gondork hears as twig snap in the woods though as you're finishing your evening meal and recovering. He looks up and sees a a white stag, maybe six feet tall at its shoulders, its proud many tipped rack of antlers tuffted and sprinkled with snow.
Greetings Summerlanders it astounds you all, apparently speaking! from a distance of about thirty feet, its voice a whisper carried by the chill dusk wind. You realize it probably snapped the twig on purpose, to allow you to notice it. It regally stands there as you take in the situation.
Gondork grudgingly stands up, eyeing his axe nearby.
What in the name of the lady...
Who are you? What do you want?
I am Fawfwein, a guardian of the winterlands. I'm curious as to why Summerlanders would venture this way. What brings you to these lands?
"Good day, noble stag. We've come here to investigate the sudden appearance of this wintry weather. The village up north isn't too pleased with the fact that most of their crops have frozen to the ground. So far we've only found some zombies and a dragon, and we're all very confused by it all. Would you happen to know any more about this?"
Blindly trusting the first thing you meet? I taught you better than this...
Winterlands? You are in southern lands, far from any winter. Explain yourself!
Gondork nervously eyes the stag, not sure what to make of its sudden appearance.
This better not be some kind of fey trick...
Summer lands. North or south this makes no difference. I speak of the lands beyond. The snows of winter are here now. And here they'll stay. Pleased or not, best learn to adapt to things now.
Frozen crops, plant wisely, harvest will be difficult, but it can be done, with the right crops. As I've introduced myself he takes a bow, Might I know who you are then? adventurers of Man?
"We know the snow is here now. We're just wondering why it's here, and why it arrived so suddenly. If there's a good reason for this, I'm sure we can come to an agreement of sorts.
As for us, we're just people. I come from the south, but I wouldn't call myself an adventurer. Most of my travels have been peaceful, only doing an odd job to pay of a bill. I don't get to stay around for long, because people get... uneasy around me."
"Uh, yes, this little slice of winter is of some curiosity to us. However, our urgent task is to pursue a gang of bandits. They have committed murder on our roads and they may have taken prisoners.
"We are here to catch the criminals and rescue anyone taken by them." Arwyn said, hoping beyond hope that the group had not given offense to the notoriously mercurial fey.
Ahh, a rescue then. It shall be quite a tale someday I'm sure. You hardly seem like knights on a quest though. Is there a damsel? One of you is the betrothed, off to rescue her? You mention already slaying the dragon, and I see its body behind you, quite fearsome, but I thought them to be bigger, with wings.
Fair travelers, I wish you good night then. Be careful in these woods now. They're no longer of your lands. This bubble of winter is new, and dangerous. Tread carefully.
And with that, the white stag backs up slowly a bit into the shadows, and disappears into the trees.
Having set some watches, and take turns resting in your tents. By morning you're all feeling a bit better, and, having gone to ground and rest early, have an early start in the cold predawn after a quick breakfast. Gondork groggily rises and breaks down his tent, seeming a bit perturbed.
A fresh blanket of snow seems to have fallen overnight, aside from this little glade where the wind blows the snow. The trail seems a bit more obscured, but its still not too hard to follow, Gondork picks up the hint of it, and Arwyn continues to follow it. Another day though and it could well be lost.
Fort saves vs. the cold
gondork takes:
Its particularly cold this morning, and an hour after setting out, Gondork is shivering again by the time you reach an odd area. Feathered bundles and strange fetishes hang from the lowest branches of the trees in this part of the forest, swaying and shifting in the wind. All are stuck through with small pins, holding pieces of leather bound around them.
Seshiro, do you have any healing magics left? My body is bruised and this blasted cold isn't helping either.
Those bandits better be close, or I'm going to have trouble keeping things civilized. There sure is some strange stuff going on here...
"Nope, I'm all out. I could give you a footrub, though?"
As you break camp and begin taking down your tents and packing up, having had a decent breakfast. A short rider approaches from back the way you came.
When everyone's making camp, a Halfling comes riding in on a horse, the Halfling balancing in the saddle.
"Apologies sirs and madam, I'm looking for a man named Seshiro. Elder Natharen says he's found a cure for him, and he needs him back at the temple. Meanwhile, he sent me to accompany you, because he thought you might need some assistance when it comes to treating wounds. I'm a Cleric of Erastil, and I'm halfway decent with a bow as well."
The Halfling wobbles for a bit, but he manages to not slip from the saddle and lands on his feet.
"The name's Giacomo Rumble, by the way. I help out in the Temple when I'm needed, and otherwise I work the land. I'm very curious to see who has the gall to mess with my piece of land.
Oh, Seshiro, you can take the horse back to the village, I don't need her anymore."
Its been a cold journey early this morning, even by horseback, it took an hour to reach Arwyn and the others, leaving Giacomo a little chilled.
Let's find these bandits and get it over with.
It's hard to make out wether Gondork's surly face is either dead serious or comical.
Arwyn smiled brightly at the newcomer.
"Welcome Giacomo! Did the elder by chance send something 'cold iron' with you?" She asked hopefully.
==========================================
Following the trail left by the bandits, Arwyn suddenly looked up at a strange sight.
Feathered bundles and strange fetishes hang from the lowest branches of the trees in this part of the forest, swaying and shifting in the wind. All are stuck through with small pins, holding pieces of leather bound around them.
Arwyn peered at the strange fetishes, wondering what they were.
Giacomo beamed back at Arwyn.
"Nope, sorry! Smith said it'd take a few more days. Something about good craftsmanship not being done overnight. It's true, I guess, I've never broken one of his hoes in my life!"
As you get closer to the weird fetishes, you can see that they're frozen corpses of dead crows, pierced with tiny needles.
An hour up the trail, the chill has settled in, enough that even Arwyn feels it. You come to Wishbone Creek. Normally a pretty fast moving but shallow creek, its frozen over. Sitting in front of the frozen stream is a human-sized snowman, built in the middle of the trail, a few inches of snow already covering it. If you didn't know the stream was there, you'd almost think its just part of the frozen forest landscape.
A crude wooden sign leans against the snowman, but the snow and the angle make it impossible to read
Gondork plows ahead through the snow, wiping the snow off the sign.
Whaddya reckon it says?
Nice of these bandits, at least they're honest enough to let us know what they're up to...
"Oh, Smith did say we could have a test run of items, here they are."
Giacomo hands over the items.
"Trespassers? This bit of land is uninhabited! Who should we trespass on?"
Giacomo looks around wildly almost in a panic as if embarrassed to be caught trespassing.
"I don't see anyone! Why aren't we welcome if there's no one we're supposed to stay away from?"
As Gondork moves to get closer, the snowman stirs to life, dusting itself off, and tapping the sign. It points to it with its little wooden arm and shouts in common. Can't you READ?? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!!
Giacomo dives behind Gondork for cover.
"Whelp! So they have a defense mechanism, but I still have no clue who "they" are!"
Arwyn approached the snowman cautiously...
When it stirred, she leapt back with a startled oath.
"Stand and name yourself! Are you with the bandits?" She demanded, arrow nocked.
At the snowman's outburst, startled looks appear and the few that approached lept back adroitly. The snowman however makes no further movements, having returned back to his position carrying the sign, now easily read since his movement brushed off the snowfall.
Gondork dashes backwards, shocked and unsure.
initiative
The snowman waits patiently, not moving a sinew, coldly watching you with his barren eyeholes that seem to follow you, though you can't imagine they're actually moving.
[ round 1 ]: [16: arwyn], [15: caladan], [14: gondork], [11:giacomo]
[ round 2 ]: [18: snowy]
Giacomo nocks an arrow, but seems unsure about his course of action.
"What should we do? I don't want to just fire at it, but it does seem hostile..."