Round 2 Recap
Aneira keeps running away from the hut as the visions of her family swim before her eyes in gruesome detail. Mother and father frozen for all time in graphic display for all to see. Venja, not affected by the brief glimpse of the dead, rushes after her friend keeping track of where she is. Hopefully Venja can catch Anee and either calm her down enough to see reason or at least join her and console her in her misery.
Back at the hut, Xanxan moves closer using the tree for cover until he is almost right beneath the doll. Beck tries to toss his cudgel into the air at the doll but the weather and distance foil his attempt. Variel manages to hit the doll with his enchanted bow dong some damage but not enough to cause it to drop. Gabe's fire from the previous round continues to burn its way into the heart of the doll. Surely if this were a living creature it would be crying out in pain by now. Instead it just remains mute, its eye glaring at him.
Gabe draws back with his bow but the weather proves difficult again as the wind blows the arrow wide at the last minute.
The doll stays afloat in the air even with the wind buffeting it around. Its hands come together making another intricate gesture. With the flames from the alchemist fire out it is able to concentrate on the spell form it is trying to make and from its hands shoots out a globe of snow. It hits the ground below Gabe unleashing bitter cold over him and Beck.
spell cast was Frost Fall, 2d6 cold damage in a 5ft radius burst. Any creature that stays in the area of effect takes another d6 cold damage on their turn.
good guys up, Aneira you are off the map for this round and next as you flee,
Venja stays with Aneira, making sure she doesn't become lost in the blinding snows. Venja can walk on snow with no problem but she does leave tracks. If they both become lost, at least Beck or Gabe should be able to track them.
While not bothered terribly by the pain of the cold, Beck still shivers terribly, taking a moment to shift shape into that of a Small Gnome, holding his loaded sling, hopefully able to make an attack next round with either that or the alchemist fire.
Staggered
Standard: SLA alter self to take the shape of a small creature, AC=17 for dex and size
Variel continues his firing retreat to keep Aneira in sight yet still attack the doll. Hopefully the doll drops soon so that he can chase after his wife and see what the problem is. He know that he will never be able to catch her in the snow and to find her without tracks would be almost impossible, yet there is nothing else to do but to try it.
attack
damage
Again the tactics seem to work as Variel finds his target with the arrow. Surprisingly the shot seems to drop the doll out of the sky. Seeing Beck, Gabe and Xanxan there to meet its fall, Vareil runs after Aneira as fast as he can.
Variel runs back along the path the group took trying to follow the footsteps of Venja. Calling out to his wife, Anee, come back The doll is gone, heedless of the dangers around him he keeps shouting for her. Every once in a while he shouts out Venja just to try locate her voice as well. Its only a matter of a couple hundred feet but it seemed a lot farther that Variel is able to find Aneira and Venja together. Placing his arm around his wife and nodding to Venja, thanks for running after her Variel just holds Anee and lets her calm down in his arms.
Venja breathes a deep sigh of relief when Variel finds the two of them, despite the snow and wind. She gives him a warm smile and lays a gentle hand on Anee's shoulder for a moment before turning to follow her own tracks back to the hut. "You two shouldn't stay out here alone too long... come back to the others," she cautions Variel in a friendly tone.
"Well, it seems with fire and damage, you boys were able to drop the evil doll. Good work! Sorry I was unable to help, but I lacked teh strength and accuracy to be much help against her."
She casts a quick detect magic and observes both the doll... and then the hut.
The sapphire eye glows magical to your detections. Everything else is normal though with the doll and hut.
sweet, i keep my SLA then.
will try to post something later, or tomorrow
"Well, it seems with fire and damage, you boys were able to drop the evil doll. Good work! Sorry I was unable to help, but I lacked teh strength and accuracy to be much help against her."
Gabryjel looks at Venja.
"Well, we all did what we could; but the thing is - it's dead now," he says with a friendly nod to her.
As the others go about their business he moves to the shack and searches it.
"If it was ever alive," Xanxan says scratching his chin as he pops out of the snow.
Variel runs back along the path the group took trying to follow the footsteps of Venja. Calling out to his wife, Anee, come back The doll is gone, heedless of the dangers around him he keeps shouting for her. Every once in a while he shouts out Venja just to try locate her voice as well. Its only a matter of a couple hundred feet but it seemed a lot farther that Variel is able to find Aneira and Venja together. Placing his arm around his wife and nodding to Venja, thanks for running after her Variel just holds Anee and lets her calm down in his arms.
The scare is still present in Aneira's mind and she thrashes in Variel's arms, still frightened and attempting to escape the threat by running. Her husband's words do nothing to calm her and she keeps muttering "Must get away. Danger." softly, over and again as she wildly thrashes.
Shhh,Shhh. Hey, the doll is gone there is nothing to worry about. Don't worry Anee, it is over with nothing left to bother you.Variel continues this type of soft soothing words hoping that Anee will snap out of it eventually. Until she does though he doesn't press her to hurry up, instead he gives her as much time as she needs to calm down and return to normal. Trying to help her calm down Variel brushes her hair with a hand hoping the simple gesture and touch works where words seem to have failed.
Venja, you can't make out anything else other than the eye is magical. Gabe searching the hut reveals that there is no threat remaining and the hut is just a standard hut. The only thing strange about it is the sudden appearance of it and how quickly it must have been built as it was never here before the snowfall.
Venja cautions the others, "The eye is magical, and I can't figure out in what way, but perhaps Variel can do so. When he returns to join us, he can take a look at it. I suggest no one actually handle it until he arrives."
"But it's shiny," Xanxan sulks a bit as he's told NOT to do something. Still despite the expression, he doesn't reach for the eye..for now.
Shhh,Shhh. Hey, the doll is gone there is nothing to worry about. Don't worry Anee, it is over with nothing left to bother you.Variel continues this type of soft soothing words hoping that Anee will snap out of it eventually. Until she does though he doesn't press her to hurry up, instead he gives her as much time as she needs to calm down and return to normal. Trying to help her calm down Variel brushes her hair with a hand hoping the simple gesture and touch works where words seem to have failed.
Aneira continued to thrash in Variel's arms, mindless of anything but the fear, until she didn't.
Her wild movements stilled as her mind returned to normal and she regained control over herself.
Aneira felt Variel's hand in her hair, gently brushing the long strands with his fingers.
She turned slightly in his arms, so she could see his face, his eyes. The fear that was once foremost in her mind was now a mere memory and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Variel?" Aneira looked about her and saw only snow-laden trees and a snow-covered path. Her breathing was back to normal, though misted in the cold air. "Forgive me? The fear overwhelmed me, and, I could not stop." Thora. Aneira's mind attempted to piece the events together. The child had run away but she must have triggered some terrible magic and Aneira had succumb.
Her eyes moved swiftly over Variel, gauging if he was hale or wounded. Variel looked well enough.
"The others? Are they alright?"
Beck joins gabe in the search, looking for signs of this portal we've heard of or at least tries to determine where to go next, searching through drawers and for hidden compartments throughout the cabin.
Last I saw, everyone was safe and gathered around the body of the doll.. What has happened in the meantime i don't know but they are resourceful enough to be ok. Whenever you are ready to go back we will but not until you are ready. No sense heading back until you are ready.
Whenever they do rejoin the group, Variel will take a look at the doll.
Detect magic spell craft
I agree Venja the eye is magical. From what I can gather it seems like it is the focus for the doll. If placed in another doll it would create another one of these creatures. I would even go so far as to say that the eye is partially sentient and aware of us as we are examining it. How that may be exactly I am not sure. I would think they would need a sentient being originally to impart sentience to the doll.
There is nothing in the hut itself but the path continues on behind the hut and corresponds to the map that was found in the lodge.
"So they got a soul or sommat trapped in the gem, and the li'l girl was just an illusion? Or ya think it was partially real," beck asks, utterly skeeved out by the entire situation. He pulls our a rag, in which to wrap the gem. then he opens an empty compartment inside his pack. "Well, lets stick the thing in a sack so it can't see too much, and not say who's carryin it, jsut in case it can communicate somehow."
Beck is ready to keep walking. "Everybody alright? I don't got too much magic left, just a li'l healin' if anybody's too hurt, but savin it may be good, eh?"
"It might be able to hear as well. Better to crush the thing and destroy it, than to carry it with us."
"There by be an innocent coul tied to gem, or an evil spirit trapped inside it. Right now, we got no way o' knowin what'll happen if we shatter it, or even if we can. Could be that it removes the issue, or it could let the thing go and it might be able to tell whoever it is pulling the strings that we're on our way. Carryin it may be dangerous, but lettin it go might be too" Not really sure what the best thing to do is, and we're not sure what this thing even is...
Gabryjel turns to Beck.
"It's nearly 2:00 PM... and the snow isn't stopping."
"Who knows how long it will continue?"
"Perhaps we should use this hut as a place to camp? If we stay here, we can rest the night and refresh spells - if necessary. I'm all for pressing on, but what if we walk another two hours and find no where else to camp?"
He shrugs.
"It's all the same to me either way - I just wondered what you think would be best. Either way, I'm on board."
He pauses, considering the talk about a gem or jewel.
"How much do you think it costs? I mean, if we sold it? Gems normally are around fifty to a hundred gold... but I've heard of more expensive ones, too."
"If we sold it, it could be worth coin; and there's not much out here that'll take care of things."
"Just a suggestion..."
Since there is an inquiry about the doll and soul...
Clearly the image of the girl and the resemblance of the doll is too uncanny to not have some connection. It is very possible that the soul of the girl inhabits the gem and part of her soul escaped causing the manifestations you saw earlier. By destroying the gem you would free the rest of the soul and hopefully put the spirit to rest.
The gem is worth about 600gp if left intact.
Gabryjel will attempt an appraise check on the gem.
"I don't know the nature of the magic involved or what will happen if we keep the gem versus destroying it, but I am of a mind to destroy it now. The magic in it strikes me as wrong, and I think we will be observed or at least overheard if we take it with us. "
"THe gem alone without the magic is worth about 600gp. Despite that, which is worth barely over a hundred each, I still think we should crush the gem and let the magic free. Once we have done that, we can sell the broken pieces for a lesser amount of money perhaps. If you are mercenary to the point of taking it for its value and selling it with its magic intact, I will find some way to repay you your loss in the future, if that is what is required to destroy the gem."
Aneira stood up and informed Variel she was ready and able to walk and return with him to the strange hut.
As Variel moved to look at the jewelled eye of the doll, Aneira stood by the door, silently observing.
She had nothing to add to the conversation, so Aneira simply listened to the others.
If a lull presents itself in the conversation and Venja is not studying the doll or speaking to one of the others, Aneira will move a little closer and quietly thank her, "You followed me when my mind was wholly overtaken with fear. Thank you, Venja." And then she will return to her position by the door, watchful and silent, and lost in her own thoughts.
"Thanks for confirming the cost of the gem," he says with a nod.
"Six hundred gold's a lot of loot," he says thoughtfully.
"Of course, right now it's just a rock until we get to a place we can sell it either way."
"But I got to say, one-hundred gold pieces a piece ain't too shabby."
"If you are mercenary to the point of taking it for its value and selling it with its magic intact, I will find some way to repay you your loss in the future, if that is what is required to destroy the gem."
"Wait, why do you want to kick over loot for a random rock?" he responds with confusion.
"I mean - who cares about the gem or the stuff bonded to it? It ain't any of our business, so why worry about it?" he says with genuine surprise.
"Worst case scenario we put it deep in a tight sack, right? I mean, how can magic overhear us if the thing's all covered up?"
"Well, I dunno about that kind o' magic or nonesuch like that. At this point it's all just guesswork. Could be that the innocent soul'd trapped an'd be freed if we break it, or the innocent girl were an illusion an the evil in gem what powered the doll'd be let loose once we break it. Or we'd be harmin whatever's inside, good or bad."
"Think it'd make sense if the girl what we saw was an illusion? She tol' us ta run away, but also seemed like she were in trouble... do ya think the monster'd have been usin the illusion o' the girl like that, it may ha' on the ol' hunter, but seemed like she wanted help, was scared." he looks at the others, asking, "So, breakin the thing could free the girl, if yer willin ta take the risk that it harms her or releases sommat else."
Since Beck's not sure and is not willing to guess, he's going to differ to the others to make the call, unless somebody else has K(Religion) to make a check.
"Whatever about the gem, you know? We can get that sorted out on the road," he says with a wave of his hand.
"Meantime; are we going to keep legging it now, or are we going to stick it out in the hut?"
He turns to Beck.
"Beck - what's the call on this - do we move on, or do we crash out here?"
"It's no too far down the way, and we planned on bein' able ta make it ta the portal site by the end of the day. So we'll get a move on then?" Beck says after we've dealt with the Gem.
"It's no too far down the way, and we planned on bein' able ta make it ta the portal site by the end of the day. So we'll get a move on then?" Beck says after we've dealt with the Gem.
Gabryjel nods.
"Alright, chief. Than let's leg it," he says and begins to trudge up the path.
As for the gem; he honestly doesn't care about it, although he was both surprised and pleased that Venja would offer them money to destroy it - the fact is, he's no jeweler; he doesn't know how to destroy gem stones.
Know religion
Wisdom
Variel sits and ponders the recents events of what just transpired and his own studies. Something kept nagging at him until he gave in to the demand and relaxed. Sitting against the hut Variel closed his eyes to better focus on what was going on. With a jolt he realized what it was. Standing up Variel's face is lit with a smile for figuring the puzzle out. Anee, dear I know why it was you that was affected and not the rest of us. This doll is housing the soul of the girl we saw. I would guess that the girl was some sort of specter or ghost created from a frqgment of soul that has escaped the doll. it would also explain why it disappeared so suddenly. Perhaps that little bit of soul was what tried towarn us at the end to run. If my hunch is correct then I would agree with Venja to destroy the eye. Not only would it free the girl's soul but any spirits would flee and not bother Anee any more.
Variel heads over to his wife and takes her hands in his. Looking into her eyes he can still see a bit of the terror lingering there. Whqt say you dear? Do we destroy the gem in an attempt to silence the spirit and put the soul to rest or find out someone who knows more about it in the hopes that they know what to do with it? I am for destroying it but I wish to know your thoughts on the matter as whatever is decided may affect you more than the rest of us. Know though that I will not leave your side and will be here next to you to give you my strength and support in whatever may happen.
When the discussion turns to continuing on, Variel listens to the group quietly before throwing his small thoughts in. If Beck is right and we are almost there then I agree let us continue on. Depending what we find. Cn always come back here to rest with the hut standing as it is. It is in a handy location should we not find anything farther along or it takes longer than we expect it to once we find this portal.
When the discussion turns to continuing on, Variel listens to the group quietly before throwing his small thoughts in. If Beck is right and we are almost there then I agree let us continue on. Depending what we find. Cn always come back here to rest with the hut standing as it is. It is in a handy location should we not find anything farther along or it takes longer than we expect it to once we find this portal.
Gabryjel can barely hear Whitestorm as the party is currently advancing...
"That's great, Whitestorm - but shake a leg; we got quests to deal with!" Gabryjel calls from their place down the path as he's currently following Beck, Sheelah and the rest of them who have already voiced the decision to advance.
Confident that Variel will be able to catch up with the party, he calls out one other small point -
"So the thing's haunted - who cares? But if you want to bust it up, don't sweat it - Venja said she'd comp us for the coin, so we're all good!"
Aneira looks down at her hands held in Variel's. She had been right to be distrustful of the little girl, Thora, and have misgivings about chasing after her. It was good to have an explanation of what had happened to her among the ice boulders.
She lifted her eyes to Variel's and then looked about at the others, and responded in a quiet manner, "I think we should destroy the gem and lay Thora's soul to rest. I am not afraid of the consequence and I am glad for your support, Variel, come what may." Aneira trembled a little but not out of fear, but of remembrance of what had passed with the ghostly Thora, and how she was the only one who had been affected.
"Do we have anything strong enough to break the gem?"
"Let's break it and run in case it explodes or something.." Xanxan nods in agreement with Aneria, "And I'm not sure what's required to break such a thing."
Very well then Anee. I will do what I can to destroy it. I have a pick amongst my gear. a solid blow should do the trick I would think.
Turning to the others that may still be there as GAbe started down the trail already, Anyone want to do the honors so I may stay next to Anee should something happen unexpectedly? Perhaps spread ourselves out so we are not all close to this thing when it is destroyed. If no one wants to be the one to try I will try but I want someone next to Anee for her protection.
Aneira heeds Variel's warning and moves back away from the doll with the gem eye, giving a silent prayer as she does. Thora may you rest in peace and find your mother. May any spirit find its resting place away from here.
"If you must strike it with your pick then be careful, Variel. The others who remain can watch in case my mind is overtaken again by spirits or worse."