Romon decides that Turtleback Ferry is preferable to returning immediately to Fort Drab and he follows along the Marak and Naria, practicing eavesdropping at various distances in between practicing his smiles on the local girls.
As they near where Lunas was guarding the other four-leg fast-runners, DireAliWolf flows to Wolf form and lopes quickly ahead, anxious to reunite with her den brother and be sure that all is well.
After a serious and licks and friendly nips, and roughhouse play, the two settle down and wait for the others to prepare themselves for the long ride back. Once her two-leg pack mates are ready, the two wolves lope ahead to scout the way, their long practice and communication making the task an easy and pleasant one for them both.
Naria does her best before they leave to put her enginerring and architecht skills to use helping them settle on a good spot to move the town.
it takes perhaps a dayto sort things out at the ferry and get a base plan for the movement..fortunately country folk are more adept at turning their hands to what needs doing than city dwellers and it looks like the new village should be safer from floods in future.
You estimate that the lake level is probably a permanent three feet higher than it was before you sorted things at the dam.
Returning to Rannick you spend a few uneventful days putting the place in order..one of the main orders of business being to pile the ogre corpses up in a ravine and cremate them.
All seems to be going well until one morning when Jakardros escorts a waifishly thin 2 foot tall fae into your presence.
"This is Yap" he says "and he has a disturbing tale."
The Pixie looks at you with tear filled eyes his rumpled clothes showing how rough things must have been for him in recent days.He speaks in a choking voice his sorrow evident.
“My mistress, she is… ill. Very ill. Death would have been a kindness. The land sickens with her heart, and it cannot be cleansed until her misery is purged. I cannot do this myself. Please, you must help her! You are friends with her human lover, yes? He wouldn’t want her left like this! I can take you to her—maybe you can do something. I have tried everything to cure her forlorn heart, but to no avail.
She wails and moans in Whitewillow, and the trees and plants and nixies and frogs and everything are dying or worse! I can take you there! Please!”
Jakardros informs you that the pixies Mistress is a nymph called Myrina and that she was the paramour of the Forts Commander Lamatar Bayden.. whose body has not been accounted for.
Nymph? I'm in!
Actually anything to get out of Fort Crematorium.
Are we here to solve all the problems of the world? Now I understand why wise men are said to seclude themselves atop distant mountaintops. On the other hand, it is probably more interesting than sitting around here and watching the Arrows rebuild their fort.
"Sounds good to me."
Her eyes welling with sympathetic tears, Ali approaches the pixie and enfolds him in a big, warm, hug. Eventually pulling back, she looks down at the smaller fae and says most kindly "Oh Yap Yap! Your story make Ali's heart sad too! She no like to hear the the trees and plants and nixies and frogs and everything are dying or worse! No no she does not! But you no worry no more Yap Yap. Ali and her friends go with you and make your Mis-Tress heart be happy again. Yes yes?" she turns and asks her pack-mates for confirmation.
Not waiting for any reply she turns back to Yap "You see! Ali friends be good good! Yes they do! We go help you right now. Let's go!"
And she links her arm in Yap's and proceeds to lead him out of the building, yammering on happily about many things, doing her best to cheer the poor pixie up, while he, for his part, keeps looking back over his shoulder to see if the others are coming too. Lunas, after giving a long look to the others, gives his equivalent of a wolf shrug and lops off to catch up with his den sister and her new companion.
The Ranger only nods, scratches Ursus behind his ear, then the two follow along.
There is no arguing with Ali, so Inikai falls in with the others.
Cute and innocent as a baby and, at the same time, a vicious killing machine Inikai thinks. I have such wonderful friends he adds with complete sincerity.
"Zis is an affair of ze 'eart...of course we will 'elp as we can," Esteriande pledges, though her expression is troubled.
"Zis story may not 'ave an 'appy ending," she murmurs to the others. "It is likely zat Commander Bayden is dead, or worse."
Yap is quite overwhelmed by Ali's compassion towards him.
It takes a while to put things together for the expedition..a trip of some 20 miles through the wilderness is not undertaken lightly.but you are ready to go well before noon.
Your route takes you back to the Ferry then over the Skull river and along the northern bank of the Willow River. The southern shore of this waterway borders on the Shimmerglens and Whitewillow is only a couple of miles beyond but the nature of the swamp is such that you must approach from the Northern side.
You finally arrive at the squalid little Hunting Camp known as Bitter Hollow. As you arrive the sun is westering fast
"Yap, when was Commander Bayden last seen alive? And did he go off to meet his ladyfriend? I can't imagine that she was overly fond of visiting a human camp."
"Might be an idea to find shelter for the night then head in fresh in the morning."
The camp consists of a few score rough log cabins and shanties as well as a rough stockade where the fur traders are set up.Population about 400.
Not the place I would expect to find a nymph," Esteriande murmurs. "I take it, Yap, that your Mistress does not live here?"
Upon reaching the encampment, AliWolf begins moving slowly all around the camp, sniffing for any information which might be valuable towards her pack or aid the nymph. Lunas pads alongside her, aiding his nose to her efforts.
Upon finishing she trots to the middle of the camp, flows to Gnome, and sits down cross-legged. She then begins chittering, chattering and making all kinds of strange noises. Slowly at first, and then more rapidly, all manner of beasts and birds come to her. Some land on her shoulders, some crawl on to her arms, legs or lap. Others sit by her. All make noise at her. For all intents and purposes, it looks like she's having a tea party or a grand chat with old friends. Sometimes she laughs, sometimes she cries, sometimes she looks serious or looks back or points at one or another of her pack mates.
Finally after some time she rejoins the others and shares all that her nose, and her animals friends, may have told her about what she needs to know to help the nymph, find the missing lover or anything else of import the nearby animals may have been able to impart to her.
Diplomacy to gather info from the animals?:
Or Wild Empathy?:
And Knowledge Nature:
Ali's communication with the wild denizens of the forest holds Inikai rapt. He tries to take note of every interaction between the gnome and her compatriots in the untamed world but the sheer level of activity is impossible to keep up with. After quickly losing track of the various frantic movements and interplay, he decides to take in the entire spectacle as best he can but the level of activity is still overwhelming. It is all he can do to make brief mental observations in the hope that he can ask his small friend after the fact and try to fathom her explanation.
Briefly, the thought that the local hunters might try to cull the visiting animals disturbs his concentration. Then he looks around and sees the way Muchorak is standing watch over Ali and thinks that should be enough to dissuade such ill-advised attempts.
"We will need to see the place where they meet," The Ranger says, "Or at least perhaps where the forest may be foul from the nymph's loss."
Romon looks around the camp. Sweet Calistria's points! Do people really live like this? Fort Rancid is looking pretty good right now.
Even Ali's antics, usually so entertaining, barely brighten the drear drabness of the hunters' huts.
Nothing responds to Ali's call.
yap tells you that Whitewillow is perhaps 5 miles south of the crossing on the opposite bank of the river.
"Then let us cross here, Yap. Will we need a boat? The ground is marshy beyond and we may be able to hire one here."
Romon works whatever bystanders are standing by. Explaining this is Esteriande d'Litran and the band of heroes who recaptured Fort Rannick from the giants and saved Turtleback Ferry from the ravages of Black Magga. Now the party is working on straightening out the local woodland. Can you tell us anything useful?
Diplomacy plus any bonus you might give us for the innuendo Romon includes in his pitch.
[Bald-faced Lie Bluff 3] Ali is a princess cursed to wander the woodlands as a gnomish werewolf. If the perfect man kisses her, she'll revert to her normal form, marry him, and they'll live forever in her father's castle.
Sense Motive
Sense Motive
The hunters here are concerned as the animals that provide their livelihood have for the most part disappeared of late.
They accept both of Romon's lies as gospel but no-one attempts the hand of 'Princess' Ali
"Romon, can one of zese good folk hire us a boat to assay this swamp - I do not like ze idea of wading through muck half ze night."
Boating sounds better than wading to the rogue. He quickly asks the locals if any of them are willing to rent boats. There's gold to be had.
It's easy enough to rustle up a boat..the night passes peacefully..
Taking the river route reduces an eight mile trip to two miles.However the Marshy ground on the opposite bank doesn't let the boat penetrate more than half a mile into Whitewillow.
The first thing that you pick up on is the total absence of any animal sounds at all..No birdsong, no tiny things rustling in the grass, no calls from any larger beasts. It is as if the whole area has been deserted by nature.
Both Ursas and Lunas seem ill at ease
ALi
Ill at ease would be a distinct understatement..you can feel the fear radiating from both animals and you are certain that it is only their bonds to you and Muchorak that stops them fleeing the place in terror.
You yourself can feel the darkness in the land here..you bond to nature tells you something is seriously wrong here. Indeed you can feel the darkness pressing in on you like a physical force
The ranger reassuringly strokes Ursus, "There is something strange here." He looks about the area, "This land is sick."
"Very," Esteriande agrees. "Is a nymph not a spirit of the land? If she is unright, so the land may be I guess. Let's make our way as we can from here, and carefully. You had best lead the way, my friend, if you leave it to me I'll probably sink up to my neck and this much is hard to clean of armour!"
The Ranger nods and takes the lead keeping alert for any...oddness...
Perception
Survival (Tracks)
Knowledge (Nature)
As the others press forward, they finally notice that a familiar small grey wolf is not padding along beside them. Looking back they Ali, still in her Gnome form, with Lunas beside her and looking up at her with great concern. For any that come back to check on her as they get closer they see that her big eyes are as wide as they have ever been and tears stream down her face. If you did not know better, it would almost seem like the fearless wild druid was...afraid.
Finally, she speaks "Ali no like it her, not she does not like it at all. This land be bad, bad, bad. It be...Dark" and her she shudders unconsciously Turning to their guide, a hint of anger in her voice now she demands "You no tell us everything about what happen here! You tell us ALL, NOW!. Are you see Ali MAD. And you trust Ali, fot you no like her when she be MAD." Her last words coming out in a growl as he form begins to grow and change, but this time very slowly.
Intimidate:
Muchorak points out trees that are dying, pools of stagnant water, dark moss and weeds that seem to grow as you watch.The whole atmosphere of this place is..wrong.
Yap stands his ground against the angry Druid..
Yap's will Save
"I do not know" the pixie tells her his voice filled with anguish "My Mistress..she is sick..mad even..but we do not know what caused this Madness..please you must help her.." he waves a hand around "you can see what is wrong..and I know you feel it..the land needs to be cured.."
Though he is not intimidated by Ali the pixie has tears streaming down his face
"This is very bad...this is not a broken heart...or if it is, it is broken with far worse zan I have every seen...Something very bad 'as 'appened to Myrena, Yap."
The Shoanti stops and turns back to the others, "Wolfspirit take to the air and see how far the damage is and the possibility of its center." Then looking at the others we must continue, be cautious with the wood this fouled it may act with an uncontrolled anger." He moves over to Yap and gently picks him up then places him on Ursus' large form, "Ride from there my friend and point the way we must go."
He nods and continues to be ever alert as the party moves ahead...
Perception
The moment Ali sees Yap's tears and his genuine confusion and sorrow, Ali's anger melts in a second replaced by guilt, regret and her own intense sorrow. Throwing her arms around the pixie she cries "Oh Yap! Ali so so sorry! Yes yes she is! She knows it not your fault Land is sick here. You please forgive her for being mad at you? Yes yes?"
Calming down after a little while she releases Yap and listens to the others and then nods slowly at Big Bear's order. Moving to Lunas, she kneels down beside him and puts her arms around him. Placing her head against his she whispers fervently "Den brother Lunas, Ali knows you be scared at yucky bad energy and pain of Land, but you stay strong and brave for Ali, yes yes. She go fly now to maybe see where Land is most sick. You stay with Big Bear and Little Bear and rest of the Pack and you help keep them safe. Ali will be back soon, she promise."
Then with a last big squeeze she rises, runs and leaps into the air flowing to hawk form as her feet leave the ground. Quickly winging up into the air, she begins to fly in larger and larger circles, doing exactly as her pack leader has asked of her.
There's nothing wrong here that a tavern or a good inn wouldn't fix.
Romon smiles encouragingly and keeps his thoughts to himself.
Ali
The Rest
Nothing but chill silence surrounds the you, though you occasionally glimpse tall, dark-robed figures in your peripheral vision. The
creatures’ enlarged skeletal claws extend from their outstretched arms as if reaching toward you but when you look , you see these apparitions are nothing more than horribly twisted black trees.
Naria nods and casts mage armour on herself.
"Keep your guard up," The ranger looks about the surrounding woods, "At any time one of this ghosts will surely not be an illusion."
Muchorak pats Ursus on his head then locks eyes with his friend, "Protect our guest my friend." The bear growls, clearing in understanding of his masters' command, then the ranger draws his blade heeding his own advice...
Handle Animal
"Ghosts? You think this nymph may be undead?" Esteriande asks, horrified. "Yet it may be, Iesha was drawn back from the grave by 'er rage for her lover...per'aps Myrena could be drawn back for similar reasons..." she pauses in thought for a moment, then draws herself up.
"Myrena of Whitewillow, we 'ave come from Magnimar to take back Fort Rannick from ze ogres!" She shouts into the swampy wood. "We 'ave 'eard you suffer from ze loss of ze Black Arrows. I am Esteriande, servant of Shellyn, I would ease your 'eart if I may approach!"
Snake-women, arch-devils, inbred ogres, and now Esteriende will counsel a love-sick nymph while ghosts claw at the periphery of our vision. Is it possible that all seven of us were born under a bad sign?
I think she's suffering from the loss of just one arrow in particular.
Nariya stands there somewhat flabagasted