Vasily keeps an arrow ready as Crackjaw slows down and finally comes to a stop, then sighs and puts it away. Once the enormous turtle is dead he goes over to run a hand over its shell. "Sorry, fella. You start eating people and that's what happens. At least you had a good, long life."
Strelka sits once it's clear the danger has passed and starts to clean her wounds- now fewer due to the good Doktor's assistance- with her tongue.
Beatrix drops her sword and looks a bit uneasy on her feet as she tentatively feels the deep gash where the turtle slashed between her armor. Closing her eyes, she whispers a quick prayer, "Erastil, please take some of this pain that I may remain strong in your work."
She opens her eyes in surprise as she feels the familiar healing warmth flow through her and then continue out towards her friends. She watches in wonder as the remaining wounds in the big cat mostly fade away. "I...I didn't know I could do that. The great stag be praised."
"As far as surprises go, I'd say that's a pretty good one, Bea." He looks over at Strelka. "If you're done being a baby about your little scratch, do me a favor and see if you can dig up anything interesting."
The big cat sneezes in response, almost as if it understood his words, and goes back to grooming. Vasily rolls his eyes and sighs, then begins combing the shoreline of the fishing pond himself.
The ranger finds little except bone fragments, bits of moldering fabric, and a badly corroded (to the point of uselessness) scimitar. No eggs or baby turtles about.
Picking up her sword where she dropped it, she wipes it down before sheathing it again on her back. "The turtle and storm cost us a fair bit of time, we'd best move on quickly. There's still plenty of unseen land to cross."
Katya nods as she lowers her staff, letting the magic die out for the moment, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from her face. "Definitely an interesting diversion however... I wonder what drove it to start attack people."
Vasily shrugs. "It could've just outgrown its little pond and figured out that people are good to eat and liked coming close to its house. Sometimes animals develop a taste for human flesh." He nods at Bea. "We should go tell that fisherman he can have his fishing hole back."
The Doktor nods in agreement. Food is food.
He heals Bea, then proceeds to inspect the fallen creature. Realizing that the rest of the group is probably anxious to continue moving, he decides not to argue for staying here to properly butcher the turtle and have a proper meal.
He whistles tunelessly as he carves out a few choice hunks for later use in stew, pausing to gaze into the fascinating wreckage of the beast's wounds.
The rest of the day is spent in exploration, and it's clear to Vasily that Bea and Katya, at least, have done this sort of thing often enough to have a well-established routine. (It's also apparent that they're used to having someone else write things down for them; they keep starting to say things like, "Make a note of that, A--." )
That evening you encounter Arven as he sails back towards the town with a boat full of fish. "How'd you make out?" He does a quick head count. "Looks like you're all still there, and no missing parts."
Vasily smiled at the fisherman. "Your fishing hole is safe again. Though you might want to give it a wide berth for a few days. There was a lot of meat left for scavengers."
The old man beaches his boat near you. "Well, my thanks. Here, take this--I find all kinds of things when I'm fishing, and Deadeye knows I don't have much use for it." He hands you a ring. "If you wear it, it'll keep you safe if you fall."
"Well, I'd best be getting these back to town before they go off. Thanks again!"
Bea smiles and waves as the fisherman departs. Looking down at the ring, she frowns. "Vasily, could you make use of this? I'm not much for tree climbing in this armor."
Vasily shrugs. "Sure, I guess. It's the kind of thing where when you need it, you really need it. Thanks."
He must have found it in a flying fish. Zlotii makes a rimshot noise. Budum-bum. Then he stares off into space for most of the rest of the day, mumbling to himself.
Katya shifts on her horse as the ring gets pasted to Vasily, "Hopefully you never have a need to test it Vasily. Who knows, maybe next time it'll be a giant bird assaulting loggers from a rookery."
Vasily smirks. "One can hope. A bird, I could shoot."
The next morning, you have a choice to make: which way do you go from here? WSW will take you along the Tuskwater; ENE will take you into the plains; ESE will take you along the Gurdin River, and due S will taken you into more plains.
Zlotii prefers to continue along the Tuskwater, but will follow along with the group without argument, no matter the decision on direction.
"Let's follow the Tuskwater for now. Keeping to the river will give us a good reference to map by."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Vasily nods at Bea and moves out in front to scout the way.
Katya follows closely behind Bea, her eyes aimlessly scanning the horizon as she speaks her thoughts aloud, "These waters seem to be infused with as much strangeness as the forest, probably the real reason no one's ever conquered these lands."
Day 1: The weather that morning is excellent--warm and breezy, with just enough cloud cover to provide some intermittent respite from the sun. You ride out along the shore of the Tuskwater, mapping the coastline as you go. Around midday, you come to a medium-sized stream running into the Tuskwater from the south; all of you can tell that the water smells and (if you check that) tastes rather sulfurous. At this point you can either continue along the shore, or follow the stream inland.
Strelka sniffs at the water and shakes her head furiously, sneezing and moving away from the foul-smelling river. Vasily frowns absently from atop his horse at the river, thinking.
Zlotii wrinkles his nose. Can't make a proper turtle soup with that foul water.
Bea frowns. "Could be the work of orcs or just springing up from the ground like that. I'd rather something natural but we'd better know for sure."
Vasily nods at Bea. "Somebody's got to map the stream, in any case. It might as well be us." He heads off, leading the group up the stream.
Zlotii says nothing as he follows the group upstream; his attention is entirely on the sky. He gazes absently upward, allowing his horse to pick its way along with little guidance.
Zlotii is observing an interesting flight of birds when they scatter and head to ground, apparently fleeing from another bird...but the oracle soon realizes that it's shaped wrong to be a bird, and it may be moving in the party's direction.
Katya grumbles under her breath, "Of course it has to be a stinking river." Her concentration focused completely on ignoring the smell.
Cruel fate! Zlotii points up at the source of the disturbance. Avian predator of some sort, if I have it right.
With a closer look at the source of the birds' distraction, the party is able to tell that it is 1) definitely not a bird; 2) much further away than originally thought, and so it's 3) pretty big. As noted, it's coming in your direction, though still maintaining altitude.
Katya, you're pretty sure it's a wyvern. They are related to dragons, tend to be quite aggressive and territorial, and although much less intelligent than true dragons can sometimes be parleyed with. They're known for having a sting in their tails, which delivers a potent and lethal toxin.
Vasily peers up at the creature and nocks an arrow to his bow. After realizing it is farther away than it first appeared, he relaxes somewhat. "It's big. It's coming at us, but is it coming for us, is the question."
Zlotii's jaw goes slack as he stares, eyes unfocused, at the approaching creature.
Zlotii, it's not coming across as actively hostile; it might be reasoned with.
Zlotii's eyes come back into focus, and he intones, I see us speaking with the beast.
For his part, the Doktor checks to ensure that his crossbow is loaded, but points it at the ground.
Katya looks towards Zlotii in disbelief as the creature gets closer, "We're going to talk with that beast? They can talk for sure but wyverns are such brutish creatures." Pulling up her staff slightly she gives the wyvern another look as she says "Beware its tail, the stinger is lethal and they are very aggressive in its use."
The wyvern approaches the party at about sixty feet up. Your horses are getting a little skittish, even the war-trained ones. It gives a loud hissing roar, then shouts, "What will you give me not to slay you all?"
Even with a pair of arrows nocked to his bow, Vasily was able to keep Sev settled and nearly still. He called back to the huge flying creature. "We can tell you the location of a much larger, more satisfying, and less troublesome meal, for one thing. A very recent, very large kill."
Bea nods and calls out to the beast, "He speaks the truth. Giant turtle, less than a day since we left it at the edge of the lake." She pauses for a moment, regarding it carefully and frowning. Images of bodies torn apart by an owl-bear flash before her eyes. "What assurance will you give us that a single meal will suffice before moving beyond this point, so we're not forced to slay you?"
Almost unconsciously, Bea reaches for her spear to hold it ready against potential attacks while she speaks.
Try to make a meal of us, wyrm, and you'll find only death! Take the offered turtle carcass and be glad of it.