Jaxx whispers. Come on, girl... Let's get outta here.
Roll a Handle Animal check - if you're not trained, roll a Charisma check.
You startle Daisy! With a loud, surprised whinny, she lashes out at you with her rear hooves!
Suny edges closer the the sound of the cool waters.....
Suny, if you're standing in the cave entrance, you can see shadows being thrown on the ceiling. The shadows resemble a demon horse assaulting a small shadow creature, quite a fearsome sight.
Suny 'Eeps' and takes cover behind the corner of the cave entrance, drawing her 'weapon' from beneath her poncho and looking a little wild eyed at her other companions.
Having heard nothing yet, Armelio tries to assure those waiting outside. "I'm pretty sure he'll be quite capable of retrieving the horse from in there. Not like she's gonna say 'No thanks I think I'll stay'. You ever hear of cave horses? I haven't." He then continues pantomiming tossing his chakram at "enemy" foliage... making sounds with his mouth it clearly does not make.
Upon hearing sounds of combat arwen will rush inside.
With a silent nod, Jaxx gives Arwen space and slips into the shadows.
Arwen is able to calm Daisy down, stroking her nose softly and whispering to her. Jaxx, the water appears to be fed from an underground stream, flowing from a large hole in the wall on the far side of the cave. The water falls about 3 feet down from the hole to make a mini-waterfall, creating the sound of flowing water that you heard earlier. The water looks clean, and you see nothing unusual at the bottom of the pool.
Around you are tall stone pillars, obviously artificial. Moss clings to every inch of their surfaces, and the rock itself looks smooth and worn from the ambient moisture over long periods of time. The pillars form an uneven, broken circle around the pool.
Reluctantly, the gnome slips from the shadows. If the horse is drinking, water's good. Neh? Shrine of some kind?
Maybe we remember this place to rest. Even better, find the source.. He points to the hole.
Jaxx draws a diminutive dagger, wondering if he should scrape a portion of a column clean.
Suny creeps into the cave, her weapon held out and ready....
Suny, you see Arwen standing calmly in front of Daisy and Jaxx thoughtfully scrutinizing a stone column in the bottom of the cave.
You do find markings on the stone pillars, Jaxx, but time has worn them down to barely-recognizable grooves. As you look around, a keen eye out for details, you notice swirls and patterns of grooves running the length of the stone columns.
Most of the grooves are far too simple and artistically-inclined to be a language. However, after searching every pillar, you do find a small, raised, flat surface. It's on the far side of the furthest pillar from the cave entrance, so that it is in shadow - but your gnomish vision can see just fine. On the raised surface you can make out words, in a language
Caln follows Suny (the only deputy he trusts) into the cavern.
"Nice cave but shouldn't we be getting back to the wagon with the horse before the goblins loot it?"
The writing is in Sylvan, the language of fey creatures. Even seeing the swirly, artistic letters the language uses inspires a stirring in your gnomish racial ancestry.
It reads: Lo! For though the enemy surroundest us and do shake their spears and call in their foul tongues for we to come and die, we have founded a sanctuary. As you read, motes of light appear in the air around you and the sun comes out from behind the clouds that have been obscuring it all day. The cave brightens. You read on. Against their hate and reckless malice we respond with serenity and reverence for the beauty of this place, hidden in the surrounding wastes like a precious sapphire found lying in the dirt. Everyone in the cave hears a sound over the bubbling of the water...a soft, lilting female voice, singing wordlessly. () Though we may perish in this harsh land and our feet will never again touch the soft grass of home, we sanctify this place, in memory of our loved ones - a quiet pool of clean water among the bloody puddles of Belkzen.
The writing ends there. The music fades away soon after.
Daisy lowers her head quietly, breathing slowly.
As Jaxx reads the Sylvan words softly, he alternates language. Translating for the others, he is nearly overwhelmed by emotion.
This place is special.
After seeing the display arwen will just nod and add Yes believe you are
Daisy is unharmed. When you touch her flank to feel for the cut that the goblin pit fighter inflicted on her - a critical strike, you recall - you find only scar tissue; signs of accelerated healing by magical means.
Still holding her weapon ready for what ever horrible monsters she's seen to come out, Suny creeps closer to the cool and very inviting looking waters.
Suny, the water may be very different than the saltwater you're used to, it still calls memories of home to mind.
Daisy nickers and prances her hooves, shifting impatiently away from Caln when Suny appears.
Suny puts her weapon away and absently moves over to pat the horsey on the nose. Though she still takes a few steps closer to the waters.
After Arwen examines Daisy, Jaxx extends his senses... sacred ground. Holy ground, sorta... Maybe the place or water has life properties. If it does, let's not take too much.
i think it does. When daisy left the was critically wounded. And now its only a scar. Magical healing was provided to her. he ponders for a second.
We recovered one horse, shall we pursue?
"It's pretty..."
Jaxx, you sense a magical aura all around you. It's very faint, but definitely there. It's untyped, but you think it's the cause of the "special effects" tied to the script you read. Under your enhanced magical sight, the pool of water gives off a soft, reassuring golden glow.
Suny creeps even closer to the waters and dips a dainty toe/foot into them....
"It feels...good..."
Well now we have daisy back we can go back to our carriage and move on to our destination he says escorting the horse toward the exit
Feeling homesick for a place he's never been, Jaxx follows.
Can we obscure our tracks?
Suny stands for a moment. Torn between her desire to stay and relax an enjoy the largest amount of water she's seen in what seems like forever and to carry on with the mission of talking to the other towns/peoples.
At Jaxx's words she gasps slightly, "Aye, but we's gon'a try rilly hard ta' remember where this place is, right?" She asks earnestly.
Well now we have daisy back we can go back to our carriage and move on to our destination he says escorting the horse toward the exit
Agreed, we are already behind schedule Images of dragons attacking Freedom Town play through Caln's head.
answering the gnome :I could do that when you all have exited the cave. go back to the wagon i'll meet you there
Arwen takes care in obscuring the cave entrance as best he can. When he's finished, it looks like a brushy hillside with part of an opening on the left that he simply couldn't cover completely. Nonetheless, it's far better hidden than it once was.
You find your way back to the site of the wagon easily enough. It's about 4 PM by your reckoning when you see the gruesome goblin gate once more.
The wagon sits where you left it, blessedly untouched. You'd guess that your martial display probably scared the goblins off this particular patch of land for quite some time.
Suny walks along but since she has no real idea about how to work with such a creature all she can really do is pat it and make soft, soothing noises.
Once back at the wagon, Suny is again unable to really help not having any real understanding of how all the leather straps and such work at keeping the horse attached to said vehicle. She climbs up onto the wagon's roof and resumes her vigilant perch.
"I'm the most worthless in a fight so I can drive if you all keep me pointed in the right direction." Caln helps secure Daisy to the wagon traces and then climbs onto the driver's bench. "Come on Daisy, let's get out of here..."
I might arm-wrestle you for most worthless. But, let's discuss it on the road.
People to see, places to be and all. Jaxx mind races as he falls silent.
Suny begins to slowly curl up beneath her poncho and hat....
Suny, climbing up on the wagon is somewhat more difficult than it was before. The oozes did some pretty noticeable damage to the left hand side especially.
It's a little awkward hitching just one horse to the wagon, but fortunately, there are adjustable levers on the wagon's front to bring the two wooden posts closer together. After about five minutes finagling, Arwen gets Daisy hooked back up, and I presume you head out again.
You pass by what remains of what the goblins left there, refuse mostly, covered in canvas strips that flop uselessly about in the breeze. Skulls and other body parts of former victims are also scattered in some places, especially near the cage of the giant orc.
You reach the Flood Road about twenty minutes after you put the goblin's mantrap at your back. You remember passing by this way in the morning of that day, and shake your heads at your own inattention for being fooled by so obvious a goblin trap. The roadsign that you followed to lead into the gullies was scrawled in childish-looking handwriting.
After setting yourselves on the right path again, your journey takes you alongside a riverbank. It's very low now, low enough to ford on horseback or in a carriage, if necessary, but it doesn't appear to be right now. The trail merely follows along the river a ways.
Suny recalls coming by this way when she was on her way to Freedom Town initially, looking for a new place.
You know that it'll be some days traveling before you reach real civilization again. Occasionally some die-hard survivalist will make his cabin somewhere in the wastes to live a hermit's life, but for the most part, the countryside is wild. You'll be camping on - or more accurately, off - the road tonight.
well we did get out of this trap already. i don't think someone even got hurt. turning to caln and the gnome We all got different skills and strenghts. In some situation you shine when other don't. Don't worry so much about it. We will stop in a few hours and i'll go look for an area that will make a nice camoing ground for tonight.
Caln will use his minimal survival skills to help look for a camping space.
(placeholder post too drunk for real one)
The Flood Road is quiet for the rest of the day. You cross over a primitive bridge constructed over a minor tributary river, now little more than a dirty creek. On the other side, you see an old metal sign. There's writing on it, in Dwarven. It reads "Rest area." and points to a well-trodden circular area within view of the road itself. There's a fire pit in the middle, and you see a few white objects buried in the ash inside. It's about 7 PM, and the sun is dipping low toward the horizon.
Arwen will make all the preparation for daisy to rest and will prepare a smokeless fire.